Assessing the 'usability' of climate change research for decision-making: A case study of the Canadian International Polar Year
The creation of ‘usable science’ is widely promoted by many environmental change focused research programs. Few studies however, have examined the relationship between research conducted as part of such programs and the decision-making outcomes that the work is supposed to advance, and is constr...
Published in: | Global Environmental Change |
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2013.06.001 |
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ftunivscoast:usc:10474 2023-05-15T14:58:07+02:00 Assessing the 'usability' of climate change research for decision-making: A case study of the Canadian International Polar Year Ford, J D Knight, M Pearce, T 2013 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2013.06.001 eng eng Pergamon usc:10474 URN:ISSN: 0959-3780 Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. FoR 1604 (Human Geography) climate change usable science Arctic Canada knowledge user International Polar Year indicators decision-making Journal Article 2013 ftunivscoast https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2013.06.001 2019-06-17T22:27:51Z The creation of ‘usable science’ is widely promoted by many environmental change focused research programs. Few studies however, have examined the relationship between research conducted as part of such programs and the decision-making outcomes that the work is supposed to advance, and is constrained by limited methodological development on how to empirically assess the ‘usability’ of science. Herein, this paper develops a conceptual model and assessment rubric to quantitatively and systematically evaluate the usability of climate change research for informing decision-making. We focus on the process through which data is collected, analyzed and reported and examine the extent to which key principles of usable science are integrated into project design, using grant proposals as our data source. The approach is applied to analyze climate change research conducted as part of the International Polar Year in Canada, with 23 projects identified as having explicit goals to inform decision-making. While the creation of usable science was promoted by funded projects in the International Polar Year, this was not generally reflected in research design: fewer than half determined objectives with input of decision makers, decision context was not widely considered, and knowledge users were not widely reported to be engaged in assessing the quality of data or in resolving conflict in evidence. The importance of science communication was widely emphasized, although only 8/23 projects discussed tailoring specific results for end user needs. Thus while International Polar Year research has made significant advances in understanding the human dimensions of Arctic climate change, key attributes necessary for determining success in linking science to decision-making (pertinence, quality, timeliness) were not captured by many projects. Integrating these attributes into research design from the outset is essential for creating usable science, and needs to be at the forefront of future research programs which aim to advance societal outcomes. The framework for assessing usability here, while developed and tested in an Arctic climate change context, has broader applicability in the general environmental change field. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Climate change International Polar Year University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia: COAST Research Database Arctic Canada Global Environmental Change 23 5 1317 1326 |
institution |
Open Polar |
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University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia: COAST Research Database |
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ftunivscoast |
language |
English |
topic |
FoR 1604 (Human Geography) climate change usable science Arctic Canada knowledge user International Polar Year indicators decision-making |
spellingShingle |
FoR 1604 (Human Geography) climate change usable science Arctic Canada knowledge user International Polar Year indicators decision-making Ford, J D Knight, M Pearce, T Assessing the 'usability' of climate change research for decision-making: A case study of the Canadian International Polar Year |
topic_facet |
FoR 1604 (Human Geography) climate change usable science Arctic Canada knowledge user International Polar Year indicators decision-making |
description |
The creation of ‘usable science’ is widely promoted by many environmental change focused research programs. Few studies however, have examined the relationship between research conducted as part of such programs and the decision-making outcomes that the work is supposed to advance, and is constrained by limited methodological development on how to empirically assess the ‘usability’ of science. Herein, this paper develops a conceptual model and assessment rubric to quantitatively and systematically evaluate the usability of climate change research for informing decision-making. We focus on the process through which data is collected, analyzed and reported and examine the extent to which key principles of usable science are integrated into project design, using grant proposals as our data source. The approach is applied to analyze climate change research conducted as part of the International Polar Year in Canada, with 23 projects identified as having explicit goals to inform decision-making. While the creation of usable science was promoted by funded projects in the International Polar Year, this was not generally reflected in research design: fewer than half determined objectives with input of decision makers, decision context was not widely considered, and knowledge users were not widely reported to be engaged in assessing the quality of data or in resolving conflict in evidence. The importance of science communication was widely emphasized, although only 8/23 projects discussed tailoring specific results for end user needs. Thus while International Polar Year research has made significant advances in understanding the human dimensions of Arctic climate change, key attributes necessary for determining success in linking science to decision-making (pertinence, quality, timeliness) were not captured by many projects. Integrating these attributes into research design from the outset is essential for creating usable science, and needs to be at the forefront of future research programs which aim to advance societal outcomes. The framework for assessing usability here, while developed and tested in an Arctic climate change context, has broader applicability in the general environmental change field. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Ford, J D Knight, M Pearce, T |
author_facet |
Ford, J D Knight, M Pearce, T |
author_sort |
Ford, J D |
title |
Assessing the 'usability' of climate change research for decision-making: A case study of the Canadian International Polar Year |
title_short |
Assessing the 'usability' of climate change research for decision-making: A case study of the Canadian International Polar Year |
title_full |
Assessing the 'usability' of climate change research for decision-making: A case study of the Canadian International Polar Year |
title_fullStr |
Assessing the 'usability' of climate change research for decision-making: A case study of the Canadian International Polar Year |
title_full_unstemmed |
Assessing the 'usability' of climate change research for decision-making: A case study of the Canadian International Polar Year |
title_sort |
assessing the 'usability' of climate change research for decision-making: a case study of the canadian international polar year |
publisher |
Pergamon |
publishDate |
2013 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2013.06.001 |
geographic |
Arctic Canada |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Canada |
genre |
Arctic Climate change International Polar Year |
genre_facet |
Arctic Climate change International Polar Year |
op_relation |
usc:10474 URN:ISSN: 0959-3780 |
op_rights |
Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2013.06.001 |
container_title |
Global Environmental Change |
container_volume |
23 |
container_issue |
5 |
container_start_page |
1317 |
op_container_end_page |
1326 |
_version_ |
1766330201877250048 |