The Environmental Information: Use and Influence research program is pleased to present the report of the workshop, Marine Information Matters: Probing Its Use and Influence in Policy and Decision Making, held on 20-21 September 2013, in collaboration with our governmental and non-governmental partners. The workshop report contains an overview of the public lecture by Dr. […]
Public Policy & Decision-Making
Call for Abstracts – Special Issue of Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability on Informational Governance
A Call for Abstracts for papers for a special issue on Informational Governance, to be published in Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability in 2015, has been issued by an international editorial team, led by researchers at Wageningen University & Research Centre. The rapid developments of different types of new information technologies, information networks, and social […]
Information Use in Policy Formulation: Determining Impact
Determining the impact of research in policy-making contexts is a challenging task, a fact which recent literature highlights. This blog post surveys several publications that address this subject. We begin with Sandra Nutley, Isabel Walter, and Huw Davies, who draw attention to important issues regarding measurement of the impact of research. They point out, for […]
Iteration and Innovation: Using the Right Models for Improving the Use of Research in Policy and Practice
This post briefly describes several models for research-policy and research-practice relationships, and then explores how two models– the interactive model and the context, evidence, and links model– best capture the complexities inherent in the use of climate change research in policy and practice. This post argues that models that promote the understanding of context, the […]
Communication of Research Information: Barriers and Enablers
Evidence-based policy making depends on effective communication of scientific and social science research-based information. Several barriers that bear on the ability to effectively communicate information are identified in the literature. Similarly, several enablers are described that can create more effective communication. Ultimately, enablers and barriers are two sides of the same coin. Many of enablers […]
The Importance of Public Consultations in Policy Making
Public consultations are a key feature of effective policy making. This blog post analyzes four publications on the topic of public consultations with regard to key findings, limitations, and best practices. The four publications vary in their focus: a book chapter by Leslie Pal provides the theoretical underpinnings of public consultations (Pal, 2010), a document […]
“Does Information Matter?” – Special Session at Coastal Zone Canada 2014 Conference presented by EIUI
The Environmental Information: Use and Influence research initiative (EIUI) will present a special session entitled “Does Information Matter? A Critical Question for the Future of Coastal Zone Management” at the 2014 Coastal Zone Canada conference to be held in Halifax on 15-19 June 2014. This session will offer interdisciplinary perspectives on the challenges of communicating […]
What is the science-policy interface?
The science-policy interface is the complex intersection between science and policy, which has been explained as “a socially constructed and negotiated ‘boundary’ between two social groups; the scientific and policy communities” (Bremer & Glavociv, 2013, p.45), or as “institutional arrangements that reflect cognitive models and provide normative structures, rights, rules and procedures that define and […]
Fifth Canadian Science Policy Conference, Toronto, November 2013 – Some Major Messages
Peter Wells represented the EIUI research initiative at the Fifth Canadian Science Policy Conference on the theme “Science Next: Incubating Innovation and Ingenuity,” which was held in Toronto in November 2013. The primary messages from the sessions he attended on science policy (nuts and bolts), science and technology policy conundrums, the policy solitudes, ocean research […]
Social Science Information in Policy: Evidence-Based or Evidence-Informed?
The relationship between social science research and policy-making suggests policy may be informed by, rather than based on, evidence. Weiss (1977) supports this statement and claims that government uses social science to enlighten rather than dictate policy. Recently, Reimer & Brett (2013) agreed and believe that municipalities often do not have the expertise to make use […]