the-BA : Science meets policy

European environment policy: water conservation in the Netherlands

Zitouni Ould-Dada reflects on a European event

Researchers and policy-makers throughout the enlarged EU need to engage more on environmental policy.
This was one of the outcomes of a recent workshop in London, which brought together representatives of 18 European states to explore how science could better be used in environmental policy-making.

Taking a fresh approach

The workshop followed a series of ‘Science meets policy’ events which started in 1998 on the relationship between science and policy in the environmental domain in Europe. Following the recent EU enlargement, we need to take a more general overview of how the science-policy interface is developing across Europe.
Before the event, the sponsors commissioned a review of the way the relationship between science and policy is developing across Europe. The findings from this study provided a focus for the workshop, which considered two key questions: how to improve linkages between policy needs and research programmes, and how to make scientific knowledge more accessible to and useful for policy makers.
The workshop identified three areas for action:

1. Engagement between scientists and policy-makers

The priorities here are to
• Create incentives for researchers and policy-makers to engage with each other
Research funders should consider providing funding for this, and recognise the necessity for engagement and inter-disciplinarity. They should create a ‘policy citation index’ to track the policy impact of research and the quality of policy-makers’ use of evidence
• Policy-makers to seek dialogue with researchers throughout the policy cycle
Ensure systematic evaluation of the impacts of policies; review long-standing policies in the light of new evidence
• Support training, education and secondments
Train scientists in communicating with non-scientific groups; educate policy-makers on the use of scientific evidence in policy-making
• Support inter-disciplinarity
Create inter-disciplinary research programmes; ensure inter-disciplinary research is not penalised in project selection, publication and research assessment; provide seed funding for researchers to put together inter-disciplinary teams and proposals
• Maintain a longer-term perspective
Support long-term and independent research and environmental monitoring.

2. Planning and managing research programmes

• Identify clear policy needs for research
Policy-makers need to identify their research needs and ensure that these influence other current research programmes
• Engage with stakeholders
Researchers should engage with a broad range of stakeholders throughout the research process; invite stakeholders onto research steering committees; seek out policy ‘mentors’ to create links into policy networks and processes; and gain an understanding of how policy processes work.

3. Dissemination and uptake of research

• Express science accessibly
Support for people and organisations who can ‘translate’ scientific information and ideas into more accessible language
Synthesise knowledge
Policy and research organisations should support intermediaries to synthesise available information relevant to current policy questions
• Communicate with non-academic audiences
Research projects should dedicate a proportion of their budget to communicating with stakeholders; explore making science more accessible by using ‘science cafes’ and working with media specialists
• Be transparent
Research evidence used in policy needs to be subjected to quality control (for example, peer review); uncertainties in research results need to be acknowledged and clearly identified; policy processes need to be transparent so that all can see the evidence used, the assumptions made, and the questions asked
• Set up databases
Research results need to be made accessible to policy-makers in databases in plain language and in searchable format.

Implementation

These ideas are being implemented with colleagues from the European Commission. They are also feeding in to European initiatives exploring the link between science and policy (for example, the Scientific Knowledge for Environmental Protection project: SKEP ERA-NET 1), and the hosts of the next event. Some of these recommendations are for the individual Member States to act on as well.
The event was organised by the Department for the Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) as part of the UK Presidency of the European Union, and was co-sponsored by Defra, the Natural Environment Research Council and the Environment Agency. It was launched by Professor Howard Dalton, Defra’s Chief Scientific Adviser, and chaired by Professor Sir John Lawton, chairman of the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution.

Reference
1. This project is funded by the Sixth Framework Programme. See www.skep-era.net/site/2.asp

Dr Zitouni Ould-Dada is a Science Policy Advisor at Defra.
Zitouni.ould-dada@defra.gsi.gov.uk

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