After a two-year delay due to the pandemic, the Atlantic Canada Coastal and Estuarine Science Society (ACCESS) and the Bay of Fundy Ecosystem Partnership (BoFEP) jointly hosted a conference on “Advancing Estuarine and Coastal Science and Ocean and Climate Literacy,” 17-21 May 2022, at the Dalhousie University Agriculture Campus, Truro, Nova Scotia. Co-chaired by […]
Can Marine Spatial Planning Learn from Community-Based Engagement Practices?
Image Credit: Devon Beach, UK. (P. G. Wells) Did you know that in the moments it takes you to walk from your beach towel, out to where you start feeling cold and second-guessing your decision to go swimming, you are crossing three different governance jurisdictions? Governance in coastal and marine areas is complex and […]
What Is Public Consultation and Why Is It Important?
Public consultation and advisory processes are regulatory tools employed to improve efficiency, transparency, and effectiveness of decision-making processes used by various governing bodies, organizations and businesses (OECD, n.d.). Furthermore, consulting the public on key issues increases the scope of information available to governments and policy makers to better inform decision making. Engaging with a wide […]
Exploring the Role of the Media in Scientific Communication
A crucial component of the present-day understanding of media is the extent that traditional and modern forms have become interconnected with many other aspects of our lives. Referred to as a media ecology, Lester and Foxwell-Norton (2020) note that media has expanded beyond its traditional boundaries to become inseparable from our social lives and is […]
The Significance of Information in Impact Assessments: A New Paper Co-Authored by EIUI Researcher Ian Stewart
The current crisis unfolding in eastern Europe on Ukrainian soil has brought renewed media attention to the international geo-political stage of the importance of energy infrastructure. How energy is produced, processed, transported, and ultimately consumed plays a dominant role in shaping our world. So does the choice of that energy source. In the context of […]
Enablers and Barriers to Communicating Research-Based Information in Public Policy Contexts
Pressing concerns about protecting human and environmental well-being from climate change illustrates the need for public policy decisions to reflect scientific knowledge. Policy and decision-makers, local communities, and citizens depend on research-based information to make evidence-informed decisions. If scientific communities fail to engage with external audiences using appropriate methods of communication, the policy sphere is […]
What is Evidence?
What constitutes evidence varies with decision makers and decision processes. For example, in some contexts, evidence is viewed as the results of research obtained through data collection and analysis. In policy making contexts, however, evidence used in decision-making processes should adopt a holistic approach that identifies multiple streams of knowledge and efficiently synthesizes information to […]
Navigating Towards an Effective Science-Policy Interface
Science and scientific knowledge are utilized in everyday operations of society and policy (van den Hove, 2007). Moreover, scientific knowledge provided by scientists and scientific organizations directly impacts our society through its relationships with decision-making at various government levels (van den Hove, 2007). However, the different needs, expectations, and even language used by those involved […]
A tribute to Professor Edward O. Wilson, Harvard University
Image (E.O. Wilson, Wikipedia, Creative Commons License) Dr. E. O. (Ed) Wilson, one of America’s most recognized and influential biologists in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, sadly passed away during the Christmas holidays at the age of 92, after a long and highly productive career and retirement. His many papers and books, on topics […]
Controlling Global Climate Change at COP 26: Moving from Science-Policy Discussions to Meaningful and Timely Action
Image credit: North Cornwall (UK) coastline, P. G. Wells photo. The 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) will meet in Glasgow, Scotland, from 31 October to 12 November 2021 to move the climate change agenda forward from where it left off in Paris in 2015. COP 26 follows a large number […]