Knowledge Indicators for Great Lakes Environmental Governance

Session: 21. - The Science-Policy Interface in Great Lakes Research

Debora VanNijnatten, Wilfrid Laurier University, [email protected]
Carolyn Johns, Ryerson University, [email protected]

Abstract

Science, and the knowledge and understanding that science can bring us, play a critical role in governance of the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Basin. Knowledge, and specifically knowledge that incorporates a broader range of evidence, values and ethics (including traditional ecological knowledge), is a key requirement if the Great Lakes governance regime is going to be able to anticipate, to react to change and uncertainty, and to transform its structural elements in response to these new conditions; in other words, to be adaptive. Several studies have found that the knowledge attributes of policy systems, including knowledge production and data-sharing systems that are future-oriented and provide advanced handling of uncertainties, are important for adaptive governance, and the institutions and networks which support governance in the Great Lakes need to actively promote these functions. Yet how do we know whether this is the case or not? This contribution to the Science-Policy Interface Session will outline a set of indicators and associated measures to assess the knowledge attributes of the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence transboundary governance system. We will also discuss the opportunities and challenges of applying knowledge indicators across scales of decision-making and across different policy problems.

1. Keyword
indicators

2. Keyword
policy making

3. Keyword
Great Lakes basin

4. Additional Keyword
governance

5. Additional Keyword
knowledge