Collaboration and co-production of climate knowledge: lessons from a network on the front-line
Abstract
The science-practice gap is broadly considered a major barrier to the production and application of decision-relevant science. This study uses a social network analysis, based on 126 interviews, to analyze the roles and network ties among climate scientists, service providers, and decision makers in Alaska. Our research highlights the importance of key actors and significant differences in bonding and bridging ties across roles - structural characteristics that provide a basis for informing recommendations to build adaptive capacity and support the co-production of knowledge. Our findings also illustrate that some individuals in the network engage in multiple roles, suggesting that conceptualizing the science-practice interface as consisting of "producers" and "consumers" oversimplifies how individuals engage in climate science, services, and decision making. This research supports the notion that the development and use of climate information is a networked phenomenon. It also emphasizes the importance of centralized individuals who are capable of engaging in multiple roles for the transition of knowledge action.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2016
- Bibcode:
- 2016AGUFMPA43B2215K
- Keywords:
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- 1630 Impacts of global change;
- GLOBAL CHANGEDE: 1807 Climate impacts;
- HYDROLOGYDE: 6309 Decision making under uncertainty;
- POLICY SCIENCESDE: 6344 System operation and management;
- POLICY SCIENCES