From science to action: Principles for undertaking environmental research that enables knowledge exchange and evidence-based decision-making.

Effective conservation requires knowledge exchange among scientists and decision-makers to enable learning and support evidence-based decision-making. Efforts to improve knowledge exchange have been hindered by a paucity of empirically-grounded guidance to help scientists and practitioners design and implement research programs that actively facilitate knowledge exchange. To address this, we evaluated the Ningaloo Research Program (NRP), which was designed to generate new scientific knowledge to support evidence-based decisions about the management of the Ningaloo Marine Park in north-western Australia. Specifically, we evaluated (1) outcomes of the NRP, including the extent to which new knowledge informed management decisions; (2) the barriers that prevented knowledge exchange among scientists and managers; (3) the key requirements for improving knowledge exchange processes in the future; and (4) the core capacities that are required to support knowledge exchange processes. While the NRP generated expansive and multidisciplinary science outputs directly relevant to the management of the Ningaloo Marine Park, decision-makers are largely unaware of this knowledge and little has been integrated into decision-making processes. A range of barriers prevented efficient and effective knowledge exchange among scientists and decision-makers including cultural differences among the groups, institutional barriers within decision-making agencies, scientific outputs that were not translated for decision-makers and poor alignment between research design and actual knowledge needs. We identify a set of principles to be implemented routinely as part of any applied research program, including; (i) stakeholder mapping prior to the commencement of research programs to identify all stakeholders, (ii) research questions to be co-developed with stakeholders, (iii) implementation of participatory research approaches, (iv) use of a knowledge broker, and (v) tailored knowledge management systems. Finally, we articulate the individual, institutional and financial capacities that must be developed to underpin successful knowledge exchange strategies.

[1]  Franke van der Molen,et al.  The coproduction of knowledge and policy in coastal governance: Integrating mussel fisheries and nature restoration , 2015 .

[2]  N. Marshall,et al.  Overcoming barriers to knowledge exchange for adaptive resource management; the perspectives of Australian marine scientists , 2015 .

[3]  L. Lebel,et al.  Coproductive capacities: rethinking science-governance relations in a diverse world , 2015 .

[4]  P F E Addison,et al.  Are we missing the boat? Current uses of long-term biological monitoring data in the evaluation and management of marine protected areas. , 2015, Journal of environmental management.

[5]  C. Prell,et al.  Stakeholder Analysis and Social Network Analysis in Natural Resource Management , 2009, Society & Natural Resources.

[6]  W. Sutherland,et al.  The need for evidence-based conservation. , 2004, Trends in ecology & evolution.

[7]  Sarah Michaels,et al.  Matching knowledge brokering strategies to environmental policy problems and settings , 2009 .

[8]  Pieter A. Zuidema,et al.  Making conservation research more relevant for conservation practitioners , 2012 .

[9]  A. Kinzig.  Bridging Disciplinary Divides to Address Environmental and Intellectual Challenges , 2001, Ecosystems.

[10]  Fabio Boschetti,et al.  A call for empirically based guidelines for building trust among stakeholders in environmental sustainability projects , 2016, Sustainability Science.

[11]  N. Marshall,et al.  Improving knowledge exchange among scientists and decision- makers to facilitate the adaptive governance of marine resources: A review of knowledge and research needs , 2015 .

[12]  Dorothy E. Leidner,et al.  Review: Knowledge Management and Knowledge Management Systems: Conceptual Foundations and Research Issues , 2001, MIS Q..

[13]  F. Johnson,et al.  Global change and conservation triage on National Wildlife Refuges , 2015 .

[14]  Louisa Evans,et al.  Factors Influencing Adaptive Marine Governance in a Developing Country Context: a Case Study of Southern Kenya , 2011 .

[15]  David W. Cash,et al.  Knowledge systems for sustainable development , 2003, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[16]  Morgan Meyer.  The Rise of the Knowledge Broker , 2010 .

[17]  Judith E. Innes,et al.  Outcomes of Collaborative Water Policy Making: Applying Complexity Thinking to Evaluation , 2001 .

[18]  S. Mark Howden,et al.  Linking adaptation science to action to build food secure Pacific Island communities , 2016 .

[19]  Anil Graves,et al.  Who's in and why? A typology of stakeholder analysis methods for natural resource management. , 2009, Journal of environmental management.

[20]  J. Spoon.  Research, part of a Special Feature on Conceptual, Methodological, Practical, and Ethical Challenges in Studying and Applying Indigenous Knowledge Quantitative, qualitative, and collaborative methods: approaching indigenous ecological knowledge heterogeneity , 2014 .

[21]  M. Reed,et al.  Stakeholder mapping for the governance of biosecurity: a literature review , 2015 .

[22]  R. W. Carter,et al.  Conservation in the dark? The information used to support management decisions , 2010 .

[23]  Lael Parrott,et al.  Future landscapes: managing within complexity , 2012 .

[24]  John Seddon.  Freedom from Command and Control , 2003 .

[25]  Jeffrey M. Dambacher,et al.  Enhancing science in coastal management through understanding its role in the decision making network , 2012 .

[26]  M. Schwartz,et al.  Achieving Conservation Science that Bridges the Knowledge–Action Boundary , 2013, Conservation biology : the journal of the Society for Conservation Biology.

[27]  David W. Cash,et al.  Linking global and local scales: designing dynamic assessment and management processes , 2000 .

[28]  C. Gonzalez,et al.  Undergraduate Research, Graduate Mentoring, and the University's Mission , 2001, Science.

[29]  Keri Parker,et al.  Defining Leadership in Conservation: a View from the Top , 2004 .

[30]  D. Bellwood,et al.  New paradigms for supporting the resilience of marine ecosystems. , 2005, Trends in ecology & evolution.

[31]  D. Lindenmayer,et al.  What do conservation biologists publish , 2005 .

[32]  A. Bryman.  Social Research Methods , 2001 .

[33]  B. Chaffin,et al.  A Decade of Adaptive Governance Scholarship: Synthesis and Future Directions , 2014 .

[34]  Laura C. Rosella,et al.  Exploring the function and effectiveness of knowledge brokers as facilitators of knowledge translation in health-related settings: a systematic review and thematic analysis , 2015, Implementation Science.

[35]  S. Wilson,et al.  Utility of primary scientific literature to environmental managers: An international case study on coral-dominated marine protected areas , 2014 .

[36]  Patrick McConney,et al.  Governing fisheries as complex adaptive systems , 2008 .

[37]  B. Crona,et al.  WHAT you know is WHO you know? Communication patterns among resource users as a prerequisite for co-management , 2006 .

[38]  Nadine Marshall,et al.  Considering the social dimension of invasive species: the case of buffel grass , 2011 .

[39]  W. Linklater.  Science and Management in a Conservation Crisis: a Case Study with Rhinoceros , 2003 .

[40]  B. Crona,et al.  The role of social networks in natural resource governance: What relational patterns make a difference? , 2009 .

[41]  Z. Sardar.  Welcome to Postnormal Times , 2010, Świat i Słowo.

[42]  Deborah Eade,et al.  Capacity building: who builds whose capacity? , 2007 .

[43]  Louis Lebel,et al.  Linking Knowledge and Action for Sustainable Development , 2006 .

[44]  David Policansky,et al.  SCIENCE AND DECISION MAKING FOR WATER RESOURCES , 1998 .

[45]  Carl Folke,et al.  Emergence of Global Adaptive Governance for Stewardship of Regional Marine Resources , 2013 .

[46]  Frank Vanclay,et al.  Using discourse analysis to better inform the practice of extension , 2009 .

[47]  M. S. Reed,et al.  Five principles for the practice of knowledge exchange in environmental management. , 2014, Journal of environmental management.

[48]  M. J. Werff ten Bosch,et al.  KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT FOR LAND DEGRADATION MONITORING AND ASSESSMENT: AN ANALYSIS OF CONTEMPORARY THINKING , 2013 .

[49]  Scott E. Stephens,et al.  Leadership: a New Frontier in Conservation Science , 2009, Conservation biology : the journal of the Society for Conservation Biology.

[50]  W. Sheate,et al.  Knowledge exchange: a review and research agenda for environmental management , 2012, Environmental Conservation.

[51]  Dominic Moran,et al.  Evaluating the effectiveness and efficiency of biodiversity conservation spending , 2011 .

[52]  S. Briggs,et al.  Integrating policy and science in natural resources: Why so difficult? , 2006 .

[53]  Hui Huang,et al.  The Wicked Problem of China's Disappearing Coral Reefs , 2013, Conservation biology : the journal of the Society for Conservation Biology.

[54]  Laura R. Meagher,et al.  Flows of knowledge, expertise and influence: a method for assessing policy and practice impacts from social science research , 2008 .

[55]  P. Shanley,et al.  Out of the Loop: Why Research Rarely Reaches Policy Makers and the Public and What Can be Done , 2009 .

[56]  Nora Jacobson,et al.  Organizational Factors that Influence University-Based Researchers’ Engagement in Knowledge Transfer Activities , 2004 .

[57]  Anne-Maree Dowd,et al.  Engaging communities in climate adaptation: the potential of social networks , 2016 .

[58]  M. Reed.  Stakeholder participation for environmental management: A literature review , 2008 .

[59]  S. Howden,et al.  Informed adaptation: ethical considerations for adaptation researchers and decision-makers , 2015 .

[60]  A. Best,et al.  Systems thinking, knowledge and action: towards better models and methods , 2010 .

[61]  Rebekah R. Brown,et al.  Delivering sustainable urban water management: a review of the hurdles we face. , 2009, Water science and technology : a journal of the International Association on Water Pollution Research.

[62]  C. Jones,et al.  Leadership and conservation effectiveness: finding a better way to lead , 2011 .

[63]  Peter Kareiva,et al.  Slow-moving journals hinder conservation efforts , 2002, Nature.

[64]  E. Ruto,et al.  Stakeholder engagement and knowledge exchange in environmental research. , 2012, Journal of environmental management.

[65]  C. Adair,et al.  Knowledge transfer and exchange: review and synthesis of the literature. , 2007, The Milbank quarterly.

[66]  Chaim Noy,et al.  Sampling Knowledge: The Hermeneutics of Snowball Sampling in Qualitative Research , 2008 .

[67]  Kasper Kok,et al.  Governance, scale and the environment: the importance of recognizing knowledge claims in transdisciplinary arenas , 2011 .

[68]  Ioan Fazey,et al.  Evaluating knowledge exchange in interdisciplinary and multi-stakeholder research , 2014 .

[69]  Lance Gunderson,et al.  Adaptive Law and Resilience , 2013 .

[70]  Roy Cameron,et al.  A description of a knowledge broker role implemented as part of a randomized controlled trial evaluating three knowledge translation strategies , 2009 .

[71]  S. Reinecke.  Knowledge brokerage designs and practices in four european climate services: A role model for biodiversity policies? , 2015 .

[72]  H. Humphrey,et al.  Mentoring in Academic Medicine , 2010 .

[73]  E. Chornesky,et al.  Using Science to Inform Controversial Issues: A Case Study from the California Ocean Science Trust , 2011 .

[74]  Joshua J. Lawler,et al.  Institutional Barriers to Climate Change Adaptation in U.S. National Parks and Forests , 2010 .

[75]  H P Possingham,et al.  Critical research needs for managing coral reef marine protected areas: perspectives of academics and managers. , 2013, Journal of environmental management.

[76]  N. Marshall,et al.  Perceptions of Australian marine protected area managers regarding the role, importance, and achievability of adaptation for managing the risks of climate change , 2014 .

[77]  Robert L. Pressey,et al.  Linking regional planning and local action: Towards using social network analysis in systematic conservation planning , 2014 .

[78]  Tom Franks,et al.  Capacity building and institutional development: reflections on water , 1999 .

[79]  C. Pahl-Wostl,et al.  A conceptual framework for analysing adaptive capacity and multi-level learning processes in resource governance regimes , 2009 .

[80]  Teja Tscharntke,et al.  Economic Evaluation of Pollination Services Comparing Coffee Landscapes in Ecuador and Indonesia , 2006 .

[81]  D. Roux,et al.  Bridging the Science-Management Divide: Moving from Unidirectional Knowledge Transfer to Knowledge Interfacing and Sharing , 2006 .

[82]  D. Sheil,et al.  Conservation in a Wicked Complex World; Challenges and Solutions , 2014 .

[83]  Sharon E Straus,et al.  Mentoring in academic medicine: a systematic review. , 2006, JAMA.