No examination of the role of information in public policy development is complete without a discussion of the science-policy interface. This post will outline defining characteristics of the interface, and issues and difficulties surrounding its functionality. First, what is meant by the science-policy interface? Essentially, this term refers to the interplay between scientific research and […]
News
Influence of Environment Canada’s Grey Literature
Peter Wells, a member of the EIUI team, recently co-authored a paper published in the Water Quality Research Journal of Canada entitled “Regulatory Ecotoxicity Testing in Canada – Activities and Influence of the Inter-Governmental Ecotoxicological Testing Group (IGETG)”(48(1),14-29, 2013; www.iwaponline.com/wqrjc/o48/). This ad-hoc scientific group, affiliated with Environment Canada, has been working since 1976 on the […]
New Graduate Course on the Role of Information in Public Policy & Decision Making
The Environmental Information: Use and Influence initiative (EIUI) has launched a new graduate course on the “Role of Information in Public Policy and Decision Making” to prepare students for public management careers and to capitalize on the interdisciplinary strengths of the EIUI research team. This innovative, new course offers graduate students the opportunity to examine […]
EIUI Team Presents Seminar at the FAO, Rome
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) recently became a partner to the EIUI research initiative in a three-year research project supported by funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. Seven other governmental, intergovernmental, and non-governmental organizations are also partners in this project, which is studying the communication […]
EIUI Participation in 14th International Conference in Grey Literature, Rome
The 14th International Conference on Grey Literature, hosted by the Italian National Research Council, brought over 100 researchers and librarians from eighteen countries to Rome on 29-30 November 2012. “Tracking innovation through grey literature” served as the theme of the conference. The opening keynote addresses by Dr. Carlos Morais-Pires of the European Commission (Belgium) and […]
Doctoral Student wins a Student Writing Award
Suzuette Soomai received the Nova Scotian Institute of Science (NSIS) 2012 Graduate Student Writing Award for a paper entitled “The Use and Influence of Scientific Information in Environmental Policy Making: Lessons Learned from Nova Scotia”. Based on a multi-disciplinary literature review and research related to the release of The 2009 State of the Nova Scotia […]
Tension in Canada at the Science-Policy Interface
An important, insightful article published in The Globe and Mail on Friday, 4 January 2013, discussed “the limits being placed on the ability of government-employed scientists to communicate their findings” without government interference or indeed without requiring permission from the bureaucracy. The article underlines the importance of science and scientific advice to be independent of […]
Participation in the 14th International Conference on Grey Literature
Members of the EIUI research team will participate in the upcoming 14th International Conference on Grey Literature (GL14) to be held at the National Research Council, Rome, Italy, 29-30 November 2012. To see the conference program please click here. (logo courtesy of www.textrelease.com)
50th Anniversary of Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring
Silent Spring (1962), widely considered to be one of the most influential books of the 20th century, celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. It is believed that Carson’s work initiated the genre of publications describing new scientific knowledge on threats to the environment and largely conditioned the global attention to environmental issues. Carson’s work shows the […]
Participation in the 2012 Coastal Zone Canada Conference in June 2012
Suzuette Soomai and Peter Wells participated in the 2012 Coastal Zone Canada Conference in Rimouski, Quebec, June 9-14, 2012 and presented a paper “Advancing effective integrated coastal and ocean management (ICOM): Recognizing the critical role of marine information use and influence”.