Science for Policy Handbook
Science for Policy Handbook provides advice on how to bring science to the attention of policymakers. The handbook is dedicated to researchers and research organisations aiming to achieve policy impact. Today we face major policy challenges, which cannot be solved without scientific evidence. Science and policy are different worlds, but they must collaborate closely in order […]
Identifying climate information services users and their needs in Sub-Saharan Africa: a review and learning agenda
Climate information services (CIS) involve the production, translation, transfer, and use of climate information for individual and societal decision-making. After years of focus on building CIS around available information, today the CIS community recognizes that effective CIS are aimed at specific users of the service and their particular needs. In this review, we describe practical […]
Risk Governance and the Integration of Different Types of Knowledge
Starting from a definition of risk governance, the paper examines a number of environmental contingencies and crises where traditional risk assessments based on expert calculations and computer models proved inadequate. While the growing inclusion of uncertainty in scientific descriptions and forecasts is recognized, the tendency to express it in probabilistic terms is criticized because it […]
Narratives of change and the co-development of climate services for action
After the Paris Agreement, the transition towards a carbon-free society necessitates new forms of collaboration between climate science and society. In my article, I argue that the increasing participation of disciplines from the humanities represents a cultural turn in climate risk governance. In the example of my anthropological case study at the Northern German coastline, […]
Climate services for society: origins, institutional arrangements, and design elements for an evaluation framework
Climate services involve the generation, provision, and contextualization of information and knowledge derived from climate research for decision-making at all levels of society. These services are mainly targeted at informing adaptation to climate variability and change, widely recognized as an important challenge for sustainable development. This paper reviews the development of climate services, beginning with […]
Visualization of Climate and Climate Change Data: An Overview
Visualization is a key technology for analyzing and presenting climate simulations and observations as well as related social and ecological data. Furthermore, mediating research results to decision-makers and to the general public in an easily-understandable way is of growing importance. This paper provides the results of a questionnaire with climate impact researchers using visualization and […]
Adapting Social Impact Assessment to Flood Risk Management
In the context of climate change, a significant increase in flood risk is expected, which may lead to an intensification of the social impacts of disasters. Social impacts significantly affect the recovery processes of individuals, social groups, and institutions in the medium and long term. Hence, the management of such impacts throughout the disaster life […]
Evaluating agricultural weather and climate services in Africa: Evidence, methods, and a learning agenda
Weather and climate services (WCS) are expected to improve the capacity of Africa’s agricultural sector to manage the risks of climate variability and change. Despite this, a lack of evidence prevents a realistic analysis of whether such services are delivering on their potential. This paper reviews 66 studies that have evaluated outcomes and/or impacts of […]
Science, politics and society: the post-normal approach in theory and practice.
For years, the interaction between science and politics was a one-way relationship in which scientists would provide politicians with neutral, objective and reliable knowledge to support decision-making. The complexity of today’s challenges, where ‘facts are uncertain, values in dispute, interests high and decisions urgent’, has made this narrative inadequate concerning knowledge and its public sharing. […]
The tragedy of climate change science
The science-society contract is broken. The climate is changing. Science demonstrates why this is occurring, that it is getting worse, the implications for human well-being and social-ecological systems, and substantiates action. Governments agree that the science is settled. The tragedy of climate change science is that at the same time as compelling evidence is gathered, […]
