Connecting science with policy and practice: Lessons from science-policy 'bright-spots'
Creators: name: Karcher, Denis
Publisher: name: The Australian National University
Year: 2024

description: Unprecedented human impacts on the environment require 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 and 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 by compilation 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 this thesis generates empirical evidence of the strategies, achievements, and enablers of knowledge exchange at the interface of marine science and management. This thesis contributes to the definition of 'success' in KE and shows that there are mismatches between what KE aims for and what it achieves. Success at the science-policy interface is much more multifaceted than 'simply' influencing policy. Conceptual or intangible impacts and inclusive processes are important achievements valued by decision-makers. Unlike the ambition of researchers to have an 'impact on policy', end-users do not aim for being 'impacted by research', rather for gaining direct access to science experts. This thesis shows that KE requires meaningful, inclusive, and interactive engagement of diverse actors and knowledge types to form trusted collaborations. Results also show that it is critical to tailor KE processes to their specific context and pre-story. Boundary spanning roles such as knowledge brokers, end-user liaisons, or community champions help to generate usable knowledge. I show that funding modes including co-identification of priorities with researchers and end-users, co-funding of projects, and opportunities for emerging priorities can actively contribute to KE success. This thesis outlines that KE comes with a range of often overlooked costs that apply before, during, and after the actual engagement. Related to that, I collate considerations for planning KE and introduce the idea that KE cost-benefit relations exist within pre-conditions defining their operating space and can be shifted by the enablers identified through this thesis. However, I identify the need to better understand cost-efficiency in selecting, planning, and performing KE in support of evidence-informed environmental management. In sum, the main argument of this thesis is that most enablers of science-policy knowledge exchange can be planned for within a specific context, and by doing so, successful KE can lead to diverse outcomes and impacts across various scales. This thesis has implications for the future research, practice, and funding of KE and science-society engagement more broadly. It shows the critical role of research funders by illustrating the potential of an engaged funder coordinating interactions to meet end-user needs. However, we still need a better understanding of the selection of the most promising and efficient KE strategy in a specific context. Science-society engagement should get more attention in both academic and professional training with opportunities to gain required competencies and nurture literacy in KE engagement. This is also related to the need for more, and more meaningful, engagement of local and Indigenous peoples and knowledge systems in KE processes, including creating an inclusive environment for Indigenous leadership. This thesis makes very clear that even if focusing on science-policy engagement, legitimate KE for informing management decisions needs to engage a diverse range of actors and knowledge types.