TY - JOUR
T1 - Boundary spanning at the science–policy interface
T2 - the practitioners’ perspectives
AU - Bednarek, A. T.
AU - Wyborn, C.
AU - Cvitanovic, C.
AU - Meyer, R.
AU - Colvin, R. M.
AU - Addison, P. F.E.
AU - Close, S. L.
AU - Curran, K.
AU - Farooque, Mahmud
AU - Goldman, E.
AU - Hart, D.
AU - Mannix, H.
AU - McGreavy, B.
AU - Parris, A.
AU - Posner, S.
AU - Robinson, C.
AU - Ryan, M.
AU - Leith, P.
N1 - Funding Information:
We thank D. Sarewitz, R. Goldburg, C. Hudson, B. Shouse, J. Palardy, K. Koizumi, H. Fox, and T. Wang for insightful comments and feedback during the course of the May 2017 workshop. We also thank A. Hobday, R. Goldburg, C. Hudson, B. Shouse, and K. Jones for useful comments on earlier drafts of this manuscript. Support for the workshop was provided by Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies and The Pew Charitable Trusts. PFEA is supported by the U.K. Natural Environment Research Council (NE/N005457/1). Handled by Sharachchandra Lele, Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment, India.
PY - 2018/7/1
Y1 - 2018/7/1
N2 - Cultivating a more dynamic relationship between science and policy is essential for responding to complex social challenges such as sustainability. One approach to doing so is to “span the boundaries” between science and decision making and create a more comprehensive and inclusive knowledge exchange process. The exact definition and role of boundary spanning, however, can be nebulous. Indeed, boundary spanning often gets conflated and confused with other approaches to connecting science and policy, such as science communication, applied science, and advocacy, which can hinder progress in the field of boundary spanning. To help overcome this, in this perspective, we present the outcomes from a recent workshop of boundary-spanning practitioners gathered to (1) articulate a definition of what it means to work at this interface (“boundary spanning”) and the types of activities it encompasses; (2) present a value proposition of these efforts to build better relationships between science and policy; and (3) identify opportunities to more effectively mainstream boundary-spanning activities. Drawing on our collective experiences, we suggest that boundary spanning has the potential to increase the efficiency by which useful research is produced, foster the capacity to absorb new evidence and perspectives into sustainability decision-making, enhance research relevance for societal challenges, and open new policy windows. We provide examples from our work that illustrate this potential. By offering these propositions for the value of boundary spanning, we hope to encourage a more robust discussion of how to achieve evidence-informed decision-making for sustainability.
AB - Cultivating a more dynamic relationship between science and policy is essential for responding to complex social challenges such as sustainability. One approach to doing so is to “span the boundaries” between science and decision making and create a more comprehensive and inclusive knowledge exchange process. The exact definition and role of boundary spanning, however, can be nebulous. Indeed, boundary spanning often gets conflated and confused with other approaches to connecting science and policy, such as science communication, applied science, and advocacy, which can hinder progress in the field of boundary spanning. To help overcome this, in this perspective, we present the outcomes from a recent workshop of boundary-spanning practitioners gathered to (1) articulate a definition of what it means to work at this interface (“boundary spanning”) and the types of activities it encompasses; (2) present a value proposition of these efforts to build better relationships between science and policy; and (3) identify opportunities to more effectively mainstream boundary-spanning activities. Drawing on our collective experiences, we suggest that boundary spanning has the potential to increase the efficiency by which useful research is produced, foster the capacity to absorb new evidence and perspectives into sustainability decision-making, enhance research relevance for societal challenges, and open new policy windows. We provide examples from our work that illustrate this potential. By offering these propositions for the value of boundary spanning, we hope to encourage a more robust discussion of how to achieve evidence-informed decision-making for sustainability.
KW - Boundary organizations
KW - Boundary spanning
KW - Science-policy interface
KW - Sustainability
KW - Wicked problems
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U2 - 10.1007/s11625-018-0550-9
DO - 10.1007/s11625-018-0550-9
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85044467859
VL - 13
SP - 1175
EP - 1183
JO - Sustainability Science
JF - Sustainability Science
SN - 1862-4065
IS - 4
ER -