Integrating Climate Forecasts and Societal Decision Making: Challenges to an Emergent Boundary Organization

Agrawala, Shardul; Broad, Kenneth; Guston, David H.

doi:10.1177/016224390102600404

Cited by 122 publications

(83 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…Others have also begun to explore such questions (Agrawala 2001;Carr and Wilkinson 2005;Mollinga 2008). Nonetheless, a recent comprehensive survey conducted under the auspices of the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) concluded that despite a broad consensus on the need for boundary work in strengthening science-policy dialogue in developing countries, there is no consensus on how boundary work is actually carried out, or on how its effectiveness can be improved (Jones et al 2008).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Toward a General Theory of Boundary Work: Insights from the CGIAR's Natural Resource Management Programs

et al. 2010

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Previous research on the determinants of effectiveness in knowledge systems seeking to support sustainable development has highlighted the importance of "boundary work" through which research communities organize their relations with other fields of science, other sources of knowledge, and the worlds of action and policymaking. A growing body of scholarship postulates specific attributes of boundary work that promote used and useful research. These propositions, however, are largely based on the experience of a few industrialized countries. We report here on an effort to evaluate their relevance for efforts to harness science in support of sustainability in the developing world. We carried out a multi-country comparative analysis of natural resource management programs conducted under the auspices of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). We discovered 6 distinctive kinds of boundary work contributing to successes of the CGIAR programs-a greater variety than has been documented in previous studies. We propose that these different kinds of boundary work can be understood as a dual response to the different uses for which the results of specific research programs are intended, and the different sources of knowledge drawn on by those programs. We show that these distinctive kinds of boundary work require distinctive strategies to organize them effectively. Especially important are arrangements regarding participation of stakeholders, governance, and the use of boundary objects. We conclude that improving the ability of research programs to produce useful knowledge for sustainable development will require both greater and differentiated support for multiple forms of boundary work.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Toward a General Theory of Boundary Work: Insights from the CGIAR's Natural Resource Management Programs

et al. 2010

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“…From a knowledge systems perspective Cash et al (2003Cash et al ( , 2005 defend the need for producing salient, credible and legitimate scientific information in order to make it 'actionable climate knowledge' (Meinke et al 2006). Other contributions to this discussion include end-to-end systems (Agrawala et al 2001) and co-production of science and policy (Lemos and Morehouse 2005). These underlying narratives permeate much of the discussion around the production of climate science and information and its use in policy and decision-making contexts.…”

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confidence: 99%

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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“…After having studied the region's basic social structure, the IRI chooses the regions and partners it wants to be involved with (Agrawala et al, 2001). It focuses on its partners' climate risks management strategies and aims at strengthening them through the integration of climate risk management.…”

Section: Irimentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It focuses on its partners' climate risks management strategies and aims at strengthening them through the integration of climate risk management. "IRI participates in the transnational flow of technical knowledge and skills, usually along a gradient from North to South" (Agrawala et al, 2001). Their research and tools help address development and adaptation issues in developing countries (IRI, 2007).…”

Section: Irimentioning

confidence: 99%

Cities, Climate Change and Multilevel Governance

2009

OECD Environment Working Papers

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Cities represent a challenge and an opportunity for climate change policy. As the hubs of economic activity, cities generate the bulk of GHG emissions and are thus important to mitigation strategies. Urban planning will shape future trends and the concentration of population, socio-economic activity, poverty and infrastructure in urban areas translates into particular vulnerability to increased climate hazards. City governments and urban stakeholders will therefore be essential in the design and delivery of cost-effective adaptation policies. Further, by empowering local governments, national policies could leverage existing local experiments, accelerate policy responses, foster resource mobilization and engage local stakeholders. This paper presents a framework for multilevel governance, showing that advancing governance of climate change across all levels of government and relevant stakeholders is crucial to avoid policy gaps between local action plans and national policy frameworks (vertical integration) and to encourage cross-scale learning between relevant departments or institutions in local and regional governments (horizontal dimension). Vertical and horizontal integration allows two-way benefits: locally-led or bottom-up where local initiatives influence national action and nationally-led or top-down where enabling frameworks empower local players. The most promising frameworks combine the two into hybrid models of policy dialogue where the lessons learnt are used to modify and fine-tune enabling frameworks and disseminated horizontally, achieving more efficient local implementation of climate strategies.globalisation, environmental policy, competitiveness, supply chain, eco-innovation

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Integrating Climate Forecasts and Societal Decision Making: Challenges to an Emergent Boundary Organization

Cited by 122 publications

References 19 publications

Toward a General Theory of Boundary Work: Insights from the CGIAR's Natural Resource Management Programs

Toward a General Theory of Boundary Work: Insights from the CGIAR's Natural Resource Management Programs

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

Cities, Climate Change and Multilevel Governance

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