In this post, we discuss the pathways of research-based information in policy and decision-making contexts, and models that scholars have proposed about how research information flows from production to readers. Five publications inform this discussion. The third chapter of Sandra M. Nutley, Isabel Walter and Huw T. O. Davies’s Using evidence: How research can inform […]
Public Policy & Decision-Making
Characteristics of the Science-Policy Interface
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 […]
New EIUI Paper on Communicating Environmental Information
A new paper by the Environmental Information: Use and Influence research initiative (EIUI) has been published in Marine Policy: Soomai, S. S., MacDonald, B. H., & Wells, P. G. (2013). Communicating environmental information to the stakeholders in coastal and marine policy-making: Case studies from Nova Scotia and the Gulf of Maine/Bay of Fundy region. Marine […]
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 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 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”.
Participation in the Global Conference on Oceans, Climate and Security in May 2012
Elizabeth De Santo presented a poster at the Global Conference on Oceans, Climate and Security in Boston, 22-23 May, 2012: “Understanding the influence of marine environmental information on policy-making in a changing climate.” Global Conference on Oceans, Climate and Security in Boston, 22-23 May 2012