This is the final CPAS Seminar of the 2023 Year, 14 December! 

Title -- Connecting environmental research with policy and practice: Lessons from science-policy ‘bright-spots’

Abstract: The unprecedented sum of human impacts on the environment requires the integration of the best-available knowledge into environmental management. Many researchers have the ambition to inform decision-making, but traditional one-way transfer of research to management does not seem to do justice to this ambition. Recently, interactive two-way knowledge exchange (KE) has become a promising approach towards achieving evidence-informed environmental management. However, to date research has mostly reported barriers and challenges for KE. This thesis builds on existing research by seeking to learn from successful examples of KE (i.e., bright-spots) at the science-policy interface. Through a mix-methods approached that utilises systematic literature syntheses, surveys, and interviews, this thesis asks the question ‘what makes knowledge exchange work?’, with a focus on marine ecosystem management. In doing so, I generate evidence of the strategies, achievements, and enablers of knowledge exchange at the interface of marine science and management and put a spotlight on the costs of participatory engagement. The main argument of this thesis is that most enablers of science-policy knowledge exchange can be planned for within a specific context, that a legacy of trusted relationships plays a key role within such context, and that successful KE can lead to more diverse impacts than often appreciated. 

To learn more about Denis: https://cpas.anu.edu.au/people/denis-b-karcher