This session is linked to Plenary 3: EVIDENCE FOR EMERGING CRISES: How international collaboration and innovation can solve global humanitarian crises, such as Ebola
The Collaboration for Environmental Evidence, Johannesburg, invites researchers, decision makers, and practitioners who work in the environmental sector, and specifically those with an interest or remit to address issues related to climate change, to attend this session. Participants can expect to leave with practical suggestions about how to use evidence-synthesis methodologies in their daily decision making. More specifically, decision makers whose work requires showing what practical steps have been taken to consult with research evidence before making a decision regarding climate change would benefit greatly from this session. And environmental researchers concerned with how to use evidence synthesis methodologies to enhance the policy alignment of their work would benefit from the two practical presentations given, as well as the in-depth open-floor discussions that will follow.
Objectives:
Climate change represents one of the most pressing global crises for which evidence on policies and actions are urgently sought. The overall objective of this threaded session is for researchers and decision makers to leave with practical suggestions for how they can apply evidence-synthesis methods to help tackle this emerging crisis. The specific outcomes of this special session include providing participants with:
- A better understanding of how evidence-synthesis methods (systematic reviews, systematic maps) can benefit climate change research; and,
- Ideas about how policy needs regarding climate change may be anticipated and addressed through various evidence-synthesis methods.
Examples of questions discussed in each focus area include, but are not limited to:
- Pragmatically, how can interdisciplinary teams undertake syntheses in climate change research?
- How might we go about horizon scanning for pressing concerns relating to climate change that could be predicted in advance of the relevant policy window?
Description:
The overall structure of this session will involve a short welcoming address delivered by the session chair, followed by short presentations on two themes: how evidence synthesis methods (systematic reviews, systematic maps) can benefit climate change research, and how policy needs regarding climate change may be anticipated and addressed through various evidence synthesis methods. Each presentation will provide new and provoking content on these themes, including suggested strategies to address them. After each presentation, participants will break out into smaller groups that will develop points to support or challenge the presented suggestions. Participant discussions will be facilitated, and each discussion time will be wrapped up with a short report-back to the larger audience of the group’s main learning points by a nominated member.
These shared learning points will be captured by the discussion facilitator and shared with the group after the session has ended. The session chair will close the session with a final summary.