Actionable Knowledge for Environmental Decision Making: Broadening the Usability of Climate Science

Kirchhoff, Christine; Lemos, Maria Carmen; Dessai, Suraje

doi:10.1146/annurev-environ-022112-112828

Cited by 422 publications

(297 citation statements)

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“…Simply put, this model (also known as Mode 1) assumes that basic research is developed by the scientific community and then applied by others to create products that (are expected to automatically) benefit society at large (Meyer 2011;Kirchhoff et al 2013;Sarewitz and Pielke 2007). Allied to this idea is also the Bcommon assumption that more [climate] information necessarily leads to better decision making or increased information use^ (Meyer 2011, p. 51, emphasis added).…”

Section: Usable Climate Informationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In this context, the differences in attitudes, priorities and expectations between the scientific and policy communities need to be recognised and addressed in order to bring these groups together (Choi et al 2005;Hering et al 2014). In this context, boundary organisations can help mediate the space between these communities or act as knowledge broker by helping to translate and aid communication between them (McNie 2007; Kirchhoff et al 2013). …”

Section: Usable Climate Informationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Barriers and enablers to the use of seasonal climate forecasts amongst organisations in Europe

2016

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Seasonal climate forecasts (SCF) provide information about future climate variability that has the potential to benefit organisations and their decision-making. However, the production and availability of SCF does not guarantee its use in decision-making per se as a range of factors and conditions influence its use in different decision-making contexts. The aim of this paper is to identify the barriers and enablers to the use of SCF across organisations in Europe. To achieve that, we conducted 75 in-depth interviews with organisations working across eight sectors (including energy, transport, water and agriculture) and 16 countries. The majority of the organisations interviewed do not currently use SCF. This was due to the low reliability and skill of SCF in Europe but also with other non-technical aspects such as the lack of relevance and awareness of SCF in the organisations. Conversely, the main enabler to the use of SCF was the interactions with the providers of SCF. In addition, the level of organisational resources, capacity and expertise were also significant enablers to the use of SCF in organisations. This paper provides the first empirical assessment of the use of SCF in Europe. Such insights provide not only an overview of the existing barriers and enablers to the use of SCF in Europe and how these can be overcome and negotiated to enhance the usability of SCF, but can also help inform the broader and emerging context of climate services development in Europe.

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Section: Usable Climate Informationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Usable Climate Informationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Barriers and enablers to the use of seasonal climate forecasts amongst organisations in Europe

2016

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“…Decision makers highlight the need for place-based climate science and options for responding to impacts (Bidwell et al, 2013). While there has been a rapid evolution of science-policy models toward addressing societal problems, there remains a persistent gap between the production and use of scientific knowledge (Kirchoff et al, 2013). To address this gap, Graham specifically seeks out partnerships with boundary organizations (watershed councils, municipalities, private sector organizations, non-governmental organizations, etc.)…”

Section: Theory Of Engagementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Partners in Local Resilience

Grace¹,

Gibbons²,

Naud³

et al. 2016

Michigan Journal of Sustainability

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Identifying mutually beneficial objectives for researchers and practitioners engaged in climate adaptation efforts can often be a challenge. Differences can occur in terms of motivations, objectives, scale, and decision-making authority.Drawing on the experience of researchers and practitioners involved in a climate adaptation project focused on cities in the Great Lakes region, this paper provides an overview of the relationship between the University of Michigan's Graham Sustainability Institute and the City of Ann Arbor, Michigan. Utilizing a thick description 4 Michigan Journal of Sustainability for reviewing participant experience, this paper offers analysis of the effectiveness of two approaches to translational research: the boundary chain model and integrated assessment model. The paper also discusses the application of these translational research approaches and an iterative engagement process for enhancing the city's climate resiliency while strengthening the university's research and outreach efforts.The deployment of these translational research models, coupled with numerous points of engagement between key university and city actors, has helped both entities emerge as national leaders in sustainability. Transferable lessons discussed include taking time to build trust among participants, the importance of proximity for being responsive, and utilizing organizational structures for supporting collaboration.

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“…There is a gap between knowledge production and use, to bridge this gap some have designed participatory processes to understand how decision makers use science (Kirchhoff et al, 2013). Participatory processes might also lead to improvement in dissemination and in understanding of the climate information by endusers, thus enable decision making based on climate information (Peterson and Broad, 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The process was facilitated by the CMCC acting as a "boundary organization", i.e. an organization that assists the interaction between science producers and users, following the definition reported in Kirchhoff et al (Kirchhoff et al, 2013) and coherent with other literature (see for example (Orlove et al, 2011;R. J. Swart, 2009)).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sharing Skills and Needs between Providers and Users of Climate Information to Create Climate Services: Lessons from the Northern Adriatic Case Study

Giannini

Bellucci

Torresan³

2016

SSRN Journal

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Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) Seasonal Forecast Email NotificationSystem 3 , and UKCIP climate change scenarios (for UK). In order to increase effectiveness and usability of outcomes of climate research, some researchers have engaged with the potential end-users: the co-production of climate services increases possible use of the information (Vaughan and Dessai, 2014).Information useful for decision making could integrate physical climate information with other specific information, according to the local specificities and the institutional mandates, e.g. land-use planning, disaster risk reduction, climate change adaptation, etc. (Asrar et al., 2012). Moreover, societies will benefit from climate services, if given in a timely and effective manner, because these, e.g., will give warnings on risks and impacts of climate change, support adaptation planning, sustainable development, water resources management, human health, weather risk management (Asrar et al., 2012;Scott et al., 2011). Climate research, in fact, can address specific needs arising from users, for example, the increase in climate knowledge and the improvement of its applicability can help us decrease impacts and risks associated with climate variability and change (Lyon et al., 2014). Forecasts of climate events, which are based on the understanding of the physical mechanisms, could, therefore, be used for decision making and prevention, if the consequences on the environment and on society are investigated, as is proven by interdisciplinary research stemming from climate research on the El Niño-Southern Oscillation, and its impacts on society: a transformation is in progress, which will bring change in institutions and in the way they act (Zebiak et al., 2014 hand, end-users will have the opportunity to discuss about their mandate while learning about how the use of climate services could improve their work, thus end-users' information needs will be assessed; on the other, climate scientists will learn how to communicate their research outcomes, so that end-users will be able to integrate this information in their decision making system (McNie, 2013).Two aspects need to be taken into account: (1) improving models, e.g. increasing predictive skill and reducing uncertainty, and (2) understanding end-users' needs, which could drive climate research. Within the climate research community there is discussion on how to improve knowledge produced, this could improve the application and dissemination of existing predictions, and bring new prediction methodology in operation (Graham et al., 2011). In this respect, an important coordinating role and guidance for the development and provision of climate services has been played by several sovranational initiatives and networks, such as (among others) the UN-led Global Framework for Climate Services (GFCS), the IRI-led Climate Services Partnership (CSP), the European Climate Services Partnership (ECSP), the European Climate Observations, Modelling and Services -2 (ECOMS2), and the EU JPI-Climate.The...

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Actionable Knowledge for Environmental Decision Making: Broadening the Usability of Climate Science

Cited by 422 publications

References 123 publications

Barriers and enablers to the use of seasonal climate forecasts amongst organisations in Europe

Barriers and enablers to the use of seasonal climate forecasts amongst organisations in Europe

Partners in Local Resilience

Sharing Skills and Needs between Providers and Users of Climate Information to Create Climate Services: Lessons from the Northern Adriatic Case Study

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