The importance of evidence-informed decision-making is being recognized more and more within the broader scientific and political landscape. For critical issues like climate change, well-informed and structured policies can bring substantial progress to current and future mitigation and adaptation strategies. This awareness has resulted in increased efforts to design science-policy engagement strategies and best practices […]
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Challenges in Measuring the Use and Influence of Research-Based Information
Conducting research and producing reports are important pursuits, but they are only some of the activities found in research-to-policy processes. When data have been collected, analysed, and reports prepared, the next step, namely, communication, can be fraught with challenges that can impede use of the research. Some studies are conducted to address questions posed directly […]
Disinformation, Misinformation, and Decision Making
The recent literature selected for review in this post examined the role that social media plays in propagating disinformation amongst the public and how this activity can influence decision-making. The following questions spurred our interest in this investigation: What is the role of the news media and contemporary social media in promoting awareness and use […]
The Role of Public Consultations and Public Advisory Processes in Decision Making
Over the last several decades, the role of public participation in policy and decision making has expanded in scope and importance. Public participation is being used increasingly to complement technical expertise and empirical evidence in decision-making processes, both to strengthen the democratic legitimacy of policies and to benefit from a wide range of experiential knowledge. […]
Enablers and Barriers in the Communication of Research Information for Policy Development
The development of meaningful policies is dependent on effective communication of research-based information and evidence from scientists and other researchers to policymakers. Poor communication of research-based information can have serious consequences for environmental management. This post explores factors that enable and prevent the communication of research-based information into public policy contexts, including language, accessibility of […]
Pathways and Models: Recent Literature on Communication of Research Information
A gap in the flow of information often exists between science and policy. This gap commonly occurs in the science-policy interface. Many social processes and components may exist at the interface in order to bridge information flow. Within the interface, a complex meshwork of models (about knowledge transfer, science-policy advice, influence), pathways, and organizations can […]
The Complex Space between Science and Policy
In its most linear form, the science-policy interface exists as a “two-world” model where data and facts are generated by researchers to be taken up and used by decision makers as instruments to aid in finding an optimal policy solution (Adelle et al., 2019; Hoppe, 2005). However, the reality of the science-policy interface is often […]
Information Production and Selection in Development of Effective Policies
In evidence-based decision making, policy creation does not simply mean developing policies that implement recommendations from research. The policy makers must think carefully about the information that they use and whose interests the different policies serve. Some studies may be biased since they favour some interest groups above others. As a result, policies based on […]