Implementing post-normal science with or for EU policy actors

There is increasing recognition of the wicked nature of the intertwined climate, biodiversity and economic crises, and the need for adaptive, multi-scale approaches to understanding the complexity of both the problems and potential responses. Most science underpinning policy responses to sustainabil...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Blackstock, Kirsty|||0000-0002-0429-0215, Waylen, K. A., Matthews, Keith B, Juarez-Bourke, A., Miller, D. G., Hague, A., Wardell-Johnson, D. H., Giampietro, Mario|||0000-0002-5569-7023
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2023
País:España
Institución:Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Repositorio:Dipòsit Digital de Documents de la UAB
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:ddd.uab.cat:281578
Acceso en línea:https://ddd.uab.cat/record/281578
https://dx.doi.org/urn:doi:10.1007/s11625-022-01265-1
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Quantitative story-telling
Post-normal science
Science-policy interactions
European Union
Agriculture
Descripción
Sumario:There is increasing recognition of the wicked nature of the intertwined climate, biodiversity and economic crises, and the need for adaptive, multi-scale approaches to understanding the complexity of both the problems and potential responses. Most science underpinning policy responses to sustainability issues, however, remains overtly apolitical and focussed on technical innovation; at odds with a critical body of literatures insisting on the recognition of systemic problem framing when supporting policy processes. This paper documents the experience of implementing a mixed method approach called quantitative story-telling (QST) to policy analysis that explicitly recognises this normative dimension, as the methodology is part of a post-normal science (PNS) toolkit. The authors reflect on what was learnt when considering how QST fared as a tool for science-policy interaction, working with European Union (EU) level policy actors interested in sustainable agriculture and sustainable development goal 2. These goals-also known as UN Agenda 2030-are the latest institutionalisation of the pursuit of sustainable development and the EU has positioned itself as taking a lead in its implementation. Thus, the paper illustrates our experience of using PNS as an approach to science policy interfaces in a strategic policy context; and illustrates how the challenges identified in the science-policy literature are amplified when working across multiple policy domains and taking a complex systems approach. Our discussion on lessons learnt may be of interest to researchers seeking to work with policy-makers on complex sustainability issues.