Grantee Research Project Results
2005 Progress Report: Strengthening Science-Based Decision-Making in Developing Countries
EPA Grant Number: X3830860Title: Strengthening Science-Based Decision-Making in Developing Countries
Investigators: Boright, John , Holliday, Laura
Current Investigators: Boright, John , Holliday, Laura , Koshel, Pat
Institution: The National Academies
EPA Project Officer: Aja, Hayley
Project Period: March 25, 2003 through August 31, 2006
Project Period Covered by this Report: March 25, 2005 through August 31, 2006
Project Amount: $260,000
RFA: Interdisciplinary (2002) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Environmental Justice
Objective:
The overall objective of this research project is to facilitate better communication between scientists, policymakers, and other decisionmakers so that scientific knowledge can influence more effectively public policy and private sector decisions relating to sustainability in developing countries.
The specific objectives of this research project are to: (1) foster improved understanding of the science and decisionmaking process, including national and local policy, industrial design and planning, and public choices; (2) establish a dialogue in which decisionmakers use science to inform their decisions and scientists consider the needs of decisionmakers in their choice of research; (3) identify gaps between the needs of decisionmakers and scientific research priorities and strategies for bridging these gaps, including ways to increase the professional connection between scientists and decisionmakers; and (4) share workshop results, via summaries and briefings, with a broader audience of scientists and decisionmakers in the host country and internationally.
To achieve these objectives, the partners have organized a series of science in decisionmaking workshops in developing countries on key issues of particular concern to the host country such as groundwater, persistent organic pollutants, and management of scarce water resources for agriculture. The workshops convene representatives from host country and U.S. scientific institutions, government, industry, nongovernmental organizations, academic institutions, and other relevant organizations. Crosscutting themes include monitoring and data evaluation, elements of good science advice, facilitating the flow of scientific information, and the roles of institutions that link scientists and decisionmakers.
Progress Summary:
Workshop topics are proposed by science organizations in developing countries. A committee established by the U.S. National Academies reviews all proposals and provides general oversight for the series. The workshop cochairs, one from the respective developing country and one from the United States, design each workshop. The workshops are then organized in a collaborative process involving the U.S. National Academies and one or more science organizations from the developing country.
Partners
Members of the partnership recognize that wise decisions about sustainable development must be based on a foundation of solid scientific and technical information. The partnership involves the following organizations:
- U.S. National Academies
- InterAcademy Panel
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
- American Chemistry Council
- Mexican Academy of Sciences
- State Environmental Protection Administration of China
- Chinese Academy of Sciences
- Scientific Committee on Programs of the Environment, China
- National Council for Science and the Environment
- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
- H. John Heinz Center for Science, Economics, and the Environment
- Third World Academy of Sciences
The partnership’s first workshop, “Strengthening Science-Based Decision-Making for Sustainable Management of Ground Water in Mexico,” was held February 8-10, 2004, in Mérida, Mexico. The second workshop, “Strengthening Science-Based Decision Making to Reduce Risks from Persistent Organic Pollutants,” was held June 8-10, 2004, in Beijing, China.
A third workshop titled, “Strengthening Science-Based Decision-Making for Agricultural Water Management,” took place June 4-9, 2005, in Tunisia. The workshop began in Tozeur with a field trip to observe Tunisian agriculture and agricultural management practices and culminating with the formal workshop in Tunis. The field trip was an integral part of the meeting and had the added benefit of allowing participants to become better acquainted with each other. The field trip participants, including almost all of the international and U.S. participants and several Tunisians, observed groundwater mining to produce dates, mangos, and other high-value crops; wastewater reuse experiments; oasis agriculture practices; erosion prevention systems; hothouse agriculture; and other agriculture and water management systems. Discussions at various sites revealed concerns about salinity, sustainability of the system (with groundwater levels declining rapidly), security implications of drawing down a shared aquifer, and the vulnerability to drought of the populations in the region.
The workshop was cochaired by Dr. Henry Vaux, Jr. of the University of California, Berkeley, and Dr. Sihem Benabdallah, of the Institut National de Recherche Scientifique et Technique in Tunisia. The meeting involved a total of approximately 30 attendees from Tunisia, other Organization of the Islamic Conference countries, and the United States, including decisionmakers from both the public and private sectors and scientists from relevant disciplines such as agronomy, economics, and natural resource management. The overarching question considered at the workshop was: How can Tunisia and other countries in the region marshal their considerable bodies of scientific talent to address the problem of insufficient agricultural production caused by water scarcity? The workshop also addressed two major subissues related to food production. First, how can existing water supplies, including recycled wastewater, be managed so as to optimize the domestic production of food and fiber? Second, what can the public and private sectors do to optimize production of high value agricultural products? Discussions of these issues included: (1) information about scientific advances in irrigation; (2)suggestions regarding communicating this information to the appropriate decisionmakers; (3)consideration of additional information that decisionmakers need; and (4) comments regarding what organizations are or should be involved in facilitating the flow of such information.
One of the high points of the meeting was a series of presentations from participants from several countries throughout the Middle East and North Africa, highlighting agriculture and water management issues in their countries, with a focus on scientific and management needs. Participants from Algeria, Senegal, Palestine, Jordan, Egypt, Iran, and Turkey gave presentations that highlighted their unique circumstances but revealed that water management issues faced in the United States can be similar to those faced in Jordan, for example. Although participants described research needs, the U.S. workshop chair pointed out that the parallel in the countries was that despite the existence of substantial scientific knowledge, much of that knowledge is not reflected widely in management practices.
Although the thematic focus of the discussions was the management of scarce water resources for agricultural production, the ultimate goal of the workshop and associated outreach activities was strengthening science-based decisionmaking. The presentations and discussions therefore explored, in the context of water resource management for agriculture, such questions as: (1)Where and in what form do decisionmakers get scientific advice? (2) What are some elements of good science advice? (3) What information is needed by decisionmakers from international and domestic scientific communities? (4) What can be done to improve communications and build trust? (5) What does the science community need to understand about decisionmakers?
Results
The most important result of the workshop and of the partnership more broadly has been to facilitate better communication among scientists, policymakers, and other decisionmakers so that scientific knowledge can more effectively inform public policy and private sector decisions relating to sustainability in developing countries. More specifically, the partners accomplished the following goals:
- Fostered improved understanding of the science and decisionmaking process, including national and local policy, industrial design and planning, and public choices.
- Established a dialogue in which decisionmakers use science to inform their decisions and scientists consider the needs of decisionmakers in their choice of research.
- Identified gaps between the needs of decisionmakers and scientific research priorities and strategies for bridging these gaps, including ways to increase the professional connection between scientists and decisionmakers.
- Shared information about the principles of science-based decisionmaking, via summaries and briefings, with a broader audience of scientists and decisionmakers in Islamic countries.
The workshop contributed to those goals by bringing key scientists and decisionmakers together to discuss ways to improve science-based decisionmaking. In addition, key themes of the workshop discussions will be summarized in a report, which will be shared with scientists and decisionmakers in Tunisia and in broader international communities, particularly in the Near East and the United States.
Future Activities:
Reports from each of the workshops will be compiled on CD and made available later this year. The Mexico workshop report has been reviewed and necessary changes are being made. The China report has been reviewed by three reviewers and now is being reviewed by a fourth. Several papers from the Tunisia workshop currently are being translated, and the report will be sent to review as soon as the translations are complete.
Journal Articles:
No journal articles submitted with this report: View all 3 publications for this projectSupplemental Keywords:
policymakers, decisionmaking process, scientific knowledge, developing countries, public health risks, research priorities, persistent organic pollutants, economic risks, nongovernmental organizations, national and local policy, science organizations,, RFA, Economic, Social, & Behavioral Science Research Program, Scientific Discipline, Environmental Chemistry, decision-making, Social Science, Economics & Decision Making, developing countries, science based decision making, decision making, environmental decision making, industrial chemists, behavior changeRelevant Websites:
http://www7.nationalacademies.org/sustainabilityroundtable/Type_II_Homepage.html Exit
Progress and Final Reports:
Original AbstractThe perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.