Boundary spanning at the science–policy interface: the practitioners’ perspectives

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 decisionmaking, 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

Make scientific data FAIR

All disciplines should follow the geosciences and demand best practice for publishing and sharing data, argue Shelley Stall and colleagues

Enabling FAIR data across the Earth and space sciences

Data experts from publishers, repositories, and other organizations met last month to kick off a project to promote open and Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable (FAIR) data principles

The Astra Gemini project - A dual-beam petawatt Ti : Sapphire laser system

The current Astra laser facility is capable of Terawatt operation at 10 Hz into one experimental area, and simultaneous 12 TW operation at 1 Hz into a second area. Both of these operational modes deliver a single beam with a pulse duration of 40 fs and a few times diffraction-limited quality. The Astra Gemini project will extend the capabilities of Astra to Petawatt level by providing two 0.5 PW beams in a completely new radiation-shielded interaction area. The new facility will be able to deliver two beams of 15 J in 30 fs at a rate of one shot per minute, and will support a wide range of experimental configurations, opening up many new possibilities for high-intensity laser-matter interaction studies

Adapting transformation and transforming adaptation to climate change using a pathways approach

Human actions have driven earth systems close to irreversible and profound change. The need to shift towards intentional transformative adaptation (ITA) is clear. Using case studies from the Transformative Adaptation Research Alliance (TARA), we explore ITA as a way of thinking and acting that is transformative in concept and objectives, but achieved through a mix of incremental and transformative co-production processes that ultimately lead to the social-ecological system being transformed. Central to ITA are social and political issues of how individuals and collectives address environmental and social change and deal with power imbalances. ITA approaches are claimed to help overcome adaptation challenges, including: 1) re-framing human-nature relationships; 2) dealing with uncertainty; 3) engendering empowerment and agency and 4) addressing conflicting values and interests. However, it is unclear if these approaches work in practice. We examined six adaptation case studies in which participants used processes of: 1) co-producing visions of the future; 2) re-framing values, rules and knowledge to shift decision contexts for adaptation and 3) implementing actions using theories of change and adaptation pathways. We assessed the extent to which participants could use these processes to address their adaptation challenges. We found evidence of many positive achievements towards the implementation of ITA, but also examples where processes were not working, such as communities having difficulties in finding ways to work co-operatively. Different processes will be needed to address these issues, such as promoting pluralism, knowledge contestation, and deliberative re-politicisation of the adaptation agenda to shift power imbalances and enable change