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 […]
Science-Policy Interface
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 […]
Doctoral Student Receives SSHRC Awards for Research Involving Governmental Organizations
Suzuette Soomai, Interdisciplinary PhD student with the EIUI initiative, has been named a recipient of a Michael Smith Foreign Study grant by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). Suzuette currently holds a prestigious three-year Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarship (CGS) from SSHRC. The Michael Smith Foreign Study grant will support her […]
Communicating Fisheries Information: Challenges and Opportunities
Fisheries governance and information pathways in fisheries management are exceptionally complex. At the same time, large quantities of fisheries information on numerous subjects are available from a wide range of providers for a diversity of users. These points were emphasized in a public lecture at Dalhousie University on 20 September 2013 by Dr. Richard Grainger, […]
EIUI Attends NAFO’s Annual Meeting as Official Observer
The Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO) – a regional, intergovernmental fisheries management body that conducts scientific research, provides advice, and facilitates cooperation among member states on management and conservation of fisheries resources – held its 35th annual meeting in Halifax on 22-27 September 2013. As a recently accredited official Observer, the Environmental Information: Use and […]
Richard Grainger to Give Public Lecture in Halifax on How Fisheries Information Influences Policy
Dr. Richard Grainger, recently Chief of Statistics and Information in the Fisheries and Aquaculture Department of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN, will give a public lecture at Dalhousie University on Friday, 20 September, entitled “How does information influence policy? The role of fishery organizations in policy-making for fisheries.” Date / Time: […]
Information Mobilization in the Science-Policy Interface for Integrated Coastal Management
A recent paper by Bremer and Glavovic (2013) reviews the practice and theory of the science-policy interface in integrated coastal management (ICM). They describe two interpretations of the science-policy interface: the science-based interface and the participatory interface. Advocates of the science-based interface see the inherent uncertainty in science as a lack of available information, warranting […]
Does the global focus on Marine Protected Area (MPA) targets undermine long-term conservation objectives?
Elizabeth De Santo, a member of the EIUI research team, has published a paper in the Journal of Environmental Management titled “Missing marine protected area (MPA) targets: How the push for quantity over quality undermines sustainability and social justice.” The paper takes a critical look at the global trend towards designating enormous swaths of marine […]
New EIUI Paper on the Necessity and Benefits of Interdisciplinary Research
The Environmental Information: Use and Influence (EIUI) research team’s new paper “Tracking the influence of grey literature in public policy contexts: The necessity and benefits of interdisciplinary research has been published in The Grey Journal (vol. 9, no. 2, 2013). As this paper notes: “The necessity of interdisciplinary investigation becomes clear when the complexity of […]