Lessons from bright-spots for advancing knowledge exchange at the interface of marine science and policy

Authors

• Denis B. Karcher, Australian National University
• Christopher Cvitanovic, Australian National University
• Putten IE van
• Rebecca M. Colvin, Australian National University
• Derek Armitage, University of Waterloo
• Shankar Aswani, Rhodes University
• Marta Ballesteros, Centro Tecnológico del Mar- Fundación CETMAR
• Natalie C. Ban, University of Victoria BC
• María José Barragán-Paladines, Charles Darwin Foundation Santa Cruz
• Angela Bednarek, The Pew Charitable Trusts
• Johann D. Bell, Conservation International
• Cassandra M. Brooks, University of Colorado Boulder
• Tim M. Daw, Stockholm Resilience Centre
• la Cruz-Modino R de
• Tessa B. Francis, University of Washington
• Elizabeth A. Fulton, CSIRO
• Alistair J. Hobday, CSIRO
• Draško Holcer, Blue World Institute of Marine Research and Conservation
• Charlotte Hudson, The Pew Charitable Trusts
• Tim C. Jennerjahn, Leibniz Center for Tropical Marine Research
• Aimee Kinney, University of Washington
• Maaike Knol-Kauffman, University of Tromsø – The Arctic University of Norway
• Marie F. Löf, Stockholm University
• Priscila F.M. Lopes, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte
• Peter C. Mackelworth, Blue World Institute of Marine Research and Conservation
• Abigail McQuatters-Gollop, School of Biological and Marine Sciences
• Ella Kari Muhl, University of Waterloo
• Pita Neihapi, Vanuatu Fisheries Department
• José J. Pascual-Fernández, University of La Laguna
• Stephen M. Posner, University of Vermont
• Hens Runhaar
• Keith Sainsbury
• Gunnar Sander
• Dirk J. Steenbergen
• Paul M. Tuda
• Elizabeth Whiteman
• Jialin Zhang

ORCID

• Abigail McQuatters-Gollop: 0000-0002-6043-9563

Abstract

Evidence-informed decision-making is in increasing demand given growing pressures on marine environments. A way to facilitate this is by knowledge exchange among marine scientists and decision-makers. While many barriers are reported in the literature, there are also examples whereby research has successfully informed marine decision-making (i.e., ‘bright-spots’). Here, we identify and analyze 25 bright-spots from a wide range of marine fields, contexts, and locations to provide insights into how to improve knowledge exchange at the interface of marine science and policy. Through qualitative surveys we investigate what initiated the bright-spots, their goals, and approaches to knowledge exchange. We also seek to identify what outcomes/impacts have been achieved, the enablers of success, and what lessons can be learnt to guide future knowledge exchange efforts. Results show that a diversity of approaches were used for knowledge exchange, from consultative engagement to genuine knowledge co-production. We show that diverse successes at the interface of marine science and policy are achievable and include impacts on policy, people, and governance. Such successes were enabled by factors related to the actors, processes, support, context, and timing. For example, the importance of involving diverse actors and managing positive relationships is a key lesson for success. However, enabling routine success will require: 1) transforming the ways in which we train scientists to include a greater focus on interpersonal skills, 2) institutionalizing and supporting knowledge exchange activities in organizational agendas, 3) conceptualizing and implementing broader research impact metrics, and 4) transforming funding mechanisms to focus on need-based interventions, impact planning, and an acknowledgement of the required time and effort that underpin knowledge exchange activities.

DOI Link

10.1016/j.jenvman.2022.114994

Publication Date

2022-07-15

Publication Title

Journal of Environmental Management

Volume

314

ISSN

0301-4797

Acceptance Date

2022-03-27

Deposit Date

2022-03-05

Embargo Period

2023-04-19

Funding

We would like to thank Rebecca Shellock for her support with the sampling method, and Aislinn Dunne for the fruitful discussions. We thank Gun Rudquist for her contribution regarding bright-spot 15. PFML thanks CNPq for a productivity grant (301515/2019-0). DJS has funding support from the Australian Government through project ACIAR FIS-2016-300. TJ and JZ gratefully acknowledge financial support by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (Grant No. 01DO17018) is gratefully acknowledged. AMG is supported by the UK Natural Environment Research Council (NE/R002738/1) Knowledge Exchange fellowship scheme and the EMFF-funded NEA PANACEA project (110661/2020/839628/SUB/ENV.C.2.RWS). DA and EKM are supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. NCB was supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. PCM was funded by the EU LIFE Euroturtles project (LIFE15 NAT/HR/000997). RCM was funded by the Fundación CajaCanarias and Fundación Bancaria “La Caixa'' [grant number 2017REC23], as well as the Ramón Areces Foundation for their support via their Social Research Grants [grant number CISP17A5887].

Keywords

Research impact, Marine environmental governance, Science-policy interface, Evidence-informed decision-making, Transdisciplinary research

Recommended Citation

Karcher, D., Cvitanovic, C., van, P., Colvin, R., Armitage, D., Aswani, S., Ballesteros, M., Ban, N., Barragán-Paladines, M., Bednarek, A., Bell, J., Brooks, C., Daw, T., de, l., Francis, T., Fulton, E., Hobday, A., Holcer, D., Hudson, C., Jennerjahn, T., Kinney, A., Knol-Kauffman, M., Löf, M., Lopes, P., Mackelworth, P., McQuatters-Gollop, A., Muhl, E., Neihapi, P., Pascual-Fernández, J., Posner, S., Runhaar, H., Sainsbury, K., Sander, G., Steenbergen, D., Tuda, P., Whiteman, E., & Zhang, J. (2022) 'Lessons from bright-spots for advancing knowledge exchange at the interface of marine science and policy', Journal of Environmental Management, 314. Available at: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2022.114994