Researchers in the environmental sciences are often frustrated because actors involved with practice do not follow their advice. This is the starting point of this book, which describes a new model for scientific knowledge transfer called RIU, for Research, Integration and Utilization. This model sees the factors needed for knowledge transfer as being state-of-the-art research and the effective, practical utilization to which it leads, and it highlights the importance of “integration”, which in this context means the active bi‐directional selection of those research results that are relevant for practice. In addition, the model underscores the importance of special allies who are powerful actors that support the application of scientific research results in society. An important product of this approach is a checklist of factors for successful knowledge transfer that will be useful for scientists. By using this checklist, research projects and research programs can be optimised with regard to their potential for reaching successful knowledge transfer effects.

An analysis of the challenges involved in incorporating science and other kinds of knowledge into making environmental policy. During the George W. Bush administration, politics and ideology routinely trumped scientific knowledge in making environmental policy. Data were falsified, reports were edited selectively, and scientists were censored. The Obama administration has pledged to restore science to the policy making process. And yet, as the authors of Knowledge and Environmental Policy point out, the problems in connecting scientific discovery to science-based policy are systemic. The process—currently structured in a futile effort to separate policy from science—is dysfunctional in many respects. William Ascher, Toddi Steelman, and Robert Healy analyze the dysfunction and offer recommendations for incorporating formal science and other important types of knowledge (including local knowledge and public sentiment) into the environmental policymaking process.The authors divide the knowledge process into three functions—generation, transmission, and use—and explore the key obstacles to incorporating knowledge into the making of environmental policy. Using case studies and integrating a broad literature on science, politics, and policy, they examine the ignorance or distortion of policy-relevant knowledge, the overemphasis of particular concerns and the neglect of others, and the marginalization of certain voices. The book's analysis will be valuable to scientists who want to make their work more accessible and useful to environmental policy and to policymakers who want their decisions to be informed by science but have had difficulty finding scientific knowledge that is useful or timely.

First Published in 2000. The timing of this book is auspicious in that we can look backwards at the twentieth century as the period of maximum environmental impact by humans in their history, while looking forward to a new era of potential improvement by drawing on and learning from this experience. This book's purpose, therefore, is to consider how to address education for children to become informed and concerned adults who will be able to understand critically the implications of these choices and act wisely in the wider interests of society and the planet as a whole.

Longlisted for the Fleck Prize from the Society for Social Studies of Science (4S) Citizen science—research involving nonprofessionals in the research process—has attracted both strong enthusiasts and detractors. Many environmental professionals, activists, and scholars consider citizen science part of their toolkit for addressing environmental challenges. Critics, however, contend that it represents a corporate takeover of scientific priorities. In this timely book, two sociologists move beyond this binary debate by analyzing the tensions and dilemmas that citizen science projects commonly face. Key lessons are drawn from case studies where citizen scientists have investigated the impact of shale oil and gas, nuclear power, and genetically engineered crops. These studies show that diverse citizen science projects face shared dilemmas relating to austerity pressures, presumed boundaries between science and activism, and difficulties moving between scales of environmental problems. By unpacking the politics of citizen science, this book aims to help people negotiate a complex political landscape and choose paths moving toward social change and environmental sustainability.

Provides an overview of the important role that environmental experts play at the science-policy interface, and the complex challenges they face.

Water for the Environment: From Policy and Science to Implementation and Management provides a holistic view of environmental water management, offering clear links across disciplines that allow water managers to face mounting challenges. The book highlights current challenges and potential solutions, helping define the future direction for environmental water management. In addition, it includes a significant review of current literature and state of knowledge, providing a one-stop resource for environmental water managers. - Presents a multidisciplinary approach that allows water managers to make connections across related disciplines, such as hydrology, ecology, law, and economics - Links science to practice for environmental flow researchers and those that implement and manage environmental water on a daily basis - Includes case studies to demonstrate key points and address implementation issues

Annotation Explores the contributions and challenges presented when scientific authority enters the realm of environmental affairs. Practical examples and case studies illustrate that science must be relevant, credible, and democratic.