The value of evidence-based policy making cannot be overstated, according to speakers at the special session “Does Information Matter? A Critical Question for the Future of Coastal Zone Management” at the Coastal Zone Canada Conference 2014. This session was organized by the EIUI team and brought together eight scholars to address questions such as: Where […]
Science-Policy Interface
Environmental Information: Use and Influence (EIUI) Featured in Dalhousie Faculty of Management Magazine
Dalhousie University’s Faculty of Management’s annual magazine features EIUI in an article entitled “Dams, drugs, dissemination and demographics” that discusses a range of research work pursued in the Faculty’s four schools. Special mention is given to the Environmental Information: Use and Influence research program, which is lauded for its interdisciplinary approach: the EIUI “makes the […]
Successes and Challenges in Evidence-Based Policy-Making in Canada: a Book Review
If you are a scientist, policy-maker, or somewhere in-between, Evidence-Based Policy-Making in Canada is a must-read. As editor Shaun P. Young observes in his introduction, publications discussing evidence-based policy-making (EBPM) generally focus on single policy fields and view policy issues from a single rather than a holistic perspective. This book “represents a humble, initial effort to […]
Climate Change Communication: Sustaining the Planet’s Climate through Public Engagement
Climate change is now unequivocally recognized as a consequence of human actions and choices; therefore, in order to mitigate the impacts of climate change, it is necessary to engage both governments and citizens in discourse about solutions to climate change. The George Mason University’s Center for Climate Change Communication is a unique initiative that conducts […]
Doctoral Research Highlighted in NAFO’s Annual Report 2013
EIUI’s research partner, the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO), released its 2013 Annual Report, which includes an account of the research being conducted by Suzuette Soomai, Interdisciplinary PhD student with the EIUI research program. As a research partner, NAFO has accredited EIUI with official observer status for attendance at meetings of the Scientific Council and […]
Marine Information Matters: Report of the EIUI-Partnership Workshop, 20-21 September 2013
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. […]
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 […]
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 […]