Environmental Expertise: Connecting Science, Policy and Society

Description

An important goal of environmental research is to inform policy and decision making. However, environmental experts working at the interface between science, policy and society face complex challenges, including how to identify sources of disagreement over environmental issues, communicate uncertainties and limitations of knowledge, and tackle controversial topics such as genetic modification and the use of biofuels. This book discusses the problems environmental experts encounter in the interaction between knowledge, society, and policy on both a practical and conceptual level. Key findings from social science research are illustrated with a range of case studies, from fisheries to fracking. The book offers guidance on how to tackle these challenges, equipping readers with tools to better understand the diversity of environmental knowledge and its role in complex environmental issues. Written by leading natural and social scientists, this text provides an essential resource for students, scientists and professionals working at the science-policy interface. Contents List of Contributors Preface List of Abbreviations 1 Introduction: The Plight of the Environmental Scientist 1.1 Science and the Environment 1.2 The Challenges for Environmental Professionals 1.3 The Book 2 What Is Science? (And Why Does This Matter?) 2.1 Trust Me, I’m a Scientist 2.2 The Reputation of Science and Its Uses 2.3 Science as a Particular Way of Reasoning 2.4 Science as a Particular Way to Organise Knowledge Creation 2.5 The Diversity of the Sciences 2.6 So How Do We Proceed? 3 Frames: Beyond Facts Versus Values 3.1 What Are Frames? 3.2 Framing and the Sciences 3.3 How to Identify Frames in Language 3.4 Institutional Frames 3.5 The Nature of Frames 3.6 The Relevance of Frame Reflection Case A Framing Climate Change mike hulme 4 Science, Politics, and the Public in Knowledge Controversies 4.1 Introduction 4.2 Speaking Truth to Power and the Linear Model of Science–Society Relationships 4.3 Science, Policy, and Politics in Knowledge Controversies 4.4 Science and the Public in Knowledge Controversies 4.5 Making Sense of Knowledge Controversies 4.6 Building Trust Case B What Does ‘Climategate’ Tell Us About Public Knowledge Controversies? Case C Whose Deficit Anyway? Institutional Misunderstanding of Fracking-Sceptical Publics 5 The Limits to Knowledge 5.1 Introduction 5.2 Different Conceptions of Uncertainty 5.3 Different Conceptions of Risk 5.4 Risk Perception and Trust 5.5 Dealing with Uncertainty in Policy Practices 5.6 Conceptualising Strategies to Deal with Uncertainty and Risk 5.7 Conclusion Case D Angry Bulbs 6 Usable Knowledge 6.1 Introduction 6.2 What Do Scientific Experts Do? 6.3 Characterising Science–Policy Dynamics 6.4 Strategies to Connect Knowledge Production and Use 6.5 What Counts as Usable Knowledge? 6.6 The Importance of Context 6.7 Starting from Practice and Looking for Impact 6.8 Credibility, Salience, and Legitimacy Case E Expertise for European Fisheries Policy 7 Interdisciplinarity and the Challenge of Knowledge Integration 7.1 Why Integrate? 7.2 What Is Interdisciplinarity? 7.3 Barriers to Knowledge Integration 7.4 Approaches to Knowledge Integration 7.5 The Politics of Knowledge Integration Case F Knowledge Integration in the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment Case G Integrated Assessment for Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution 8 Lay Expertise 8.1 Introduction 8.2 The Value of Lay Expertise 8.3 What Happens When Different Forms of Knowledge Meet? 8.4 Knowledge as Situated Practice 8.5 Participatory Knowledge Production 8.6 Conclusion Case H Lay Expertise and Botanical Science: A Case of Dynamic Interdependencies in Biodiversity Conservation Case I The Loweswater Care Project 9 Environmental Experts at the Science–Policy–Society Interface 9.1 Navigating the Science–Policy–Society Interface 9.2 Servicing 9.3 Advocating 9.4 Diversifying 9.5 Expert Roles and Dilemmas 9.6 Ethics and Integrity at the Science–Policy–Society Interface Case J Groupthink and Whistle Blowers in CO2 Capture and Storage 10 Environmental Knowledge in Democracy 10.1 Improving Environmental Knowledge 10.2 Beyond Technocracy 10.3 Democratising Environmental Knowledge 10.4 Democratic Expert Institutions 11 Conclusion: Science, Reason, and the Environment Index