Building the capacity of EU early career marine researchers to operate effectively at the science-policy-society interface

The ecological goods and services provided by the world's oceans are critical to human well-being and prosperity. However, the sustainable management of these resources remains a significant challenge. Embedded within large, complex socio-ecological systems and facing uncertain and unpredictable threats, such as those associated with climate change and population growth, successfully protecting marine resources requires the integration of science into policy to support evidence-informed decision-making.

Despite widespread efforts to improve the integration of marine science into policy and practice around the world, the practicalities of how to successfully achieve this remains elusive to many environmental scientists. This is particularly true for early career researchers (ECRs). Evidence indicates that while influencing policy is an important goal for many ECRs, they often lack the skills to understand the complexities of policy processes, or are inadequately trained in how to engage with decision-makers.

To this end, the Network of Early Career Scientists of the Integrated Marine Biosphere Research (IMBeR) project, together with the EU project EKLIPSE, is holding a workshop to equip EU-based early career marine scientists with the practical knowledge, skills and tools that are needed to operate more effectively at the science-policy-society interface.

Lecturers will enable workshop participants tol develop a strong theoretical and applied understanding of the science-policy-society interface as it relates to the management of coastal and marine resources in Europe and elsewhere. Participants will also have the opportunity to interact and learn from local policy-makers and managers to gain firsthand insights into the world of policy and decision-making, and ways to influence decision-making processes.

Workshop topics

• The role of science in marine and natural resources governance
• Introduction to the marine estate
• Governing marine resources
  • the range of actors
  • models and key features of governance
  • issues of scale (local to global)
  • case studies to highlight challenges and complexities

How to produce usable marine science

• Features of ‘usable’ marine science
• Practical approaches to producing usable marine science
• Dealing with uncertainty in data/models/projection

Improving knowledge exchange between scientists and decision-makers

• Introduction to knowledge exchange
• Barriers to knowledge exchange
• Models/frameworks for improving knowledge exchange
• Strategies to improve knowledge exchange with decision-makers
• Practical skills/attributes for improved knowledge exchange

Careers pathways to have impact at the science-policy-society interface

• Traditional academic (ECR & Established researchers)
• NGO/Conservation group
• Knowledge broker
• University-based boundary organisation
• MPA Manager
• Tourism Manager
• Policy maker

Practical activities

• Writing policy briefs
• Developing infographics
• Turning a scientific paper into a blog that people want to read
• Developing a Research Impact Plan
• Communicating research with social media and other web-based tools
• Building and maintaining strong stakeholder networks
• Simulated science-policy discussions with invited policy-maker
• Citizen Science –its role, when to use it, available data types