Bridging the gap between research and practice/policy

Discussion resulting in Breakout room 5, morning plenary, 22 Jan 2019

Sarah Dalrymple, Robert Scholes, Rovshen Abbosov, Sonigitu Asibong Ekpe

We discussed the need for transdisciplinarity to involve a strong dialogue, and tried to address the question of what was needed most - the greater willingness/ability of researchers to engage with other groups (particularly policy-makers) or more research on the process of transdisciplinarity working itself.

From the point of view of researchers, we posed questions such as: how do we get the policymakers to receive the right kind of information at the time they need it?  Are the knowledge gaps in the realm of technical advice or in terms of generating knowledge on how you make things work together in a messy situation?  Researchers need to take a more systemic approach to negotiating or brokering with policymakers.  Some gaps exist in understanding why these approaches don't get applied so maybe the obstacle is more accurately in the inability for policymakers to glean the best course of action from what researchers generate.  Do interventions make a difference?  Does this translate into better outcomes? It is important to adopt a multi-stakeholder approach for effective monitoring of policy. Ensuring evidence base researches are understood by put to use by policymakers.I mean putting the scientific product to use. This interaction can be monitored and realigned.  It may be that the issue is one of scale - researchers generate information that is often context-specific and hedged in language that prevents blanket application of their findings and recommendations. Policymakers meanwhile need to communicate why that mode of delivery cannot be useful.  This might need greater brokerage i.e. individuals that can recognise these discrepancies and guide researchers to produce polcy-relevant material.  Guidelines are a useful possible mechanism for this e.g. the IUCN  Guidelines for Reintroductions sets out technical best practice for threatened species management and provides the bounds within which responsible species translocations can occur.  It therefore removes the onus from policymakers to decide exactly when and where these interventions might be appropriate whilst avoiding irresponsible projects taking place.