As progress towards a greater knowledge in sustainability science continues, the question of how better to integrate scientific progress with actual decisions made by practitioners remains paramount. This book aims to help close the gap between science and practice. Based on a two year collaborative project between Harvard and Clark Universities, the book takes as its focus the vulnerability and resilience of people around the world to the effects of environmental change, a mature area of research in which one might expect the gap between science and policy/practice to have been extensively bridged. The book presents analysis of past studies, interviews conducted with the producers and users of scientific knowledge, and case studies performed by leading scholars across a spectrum of international settings and political systems. Crucially, the authors identify new directions and tools for closing the gap between science and policy across a range of situations and societies. The result is an illuminating collection of studies and analyses that suggest to researchers, students, practitioners, and policy-makers alike how best to ensure that high quality environmental research informs good environmental policy and practice. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The editors and authors are grateful to Lu Ann Pacenka, who formatted the text of the book. The editors also wish to express their appreciation to Bill Clark and Nancy Dickson of Harvard University, who commissioned and provided oversight for the preparation of the volume. Both editors and authors wish to express their appreciation to the David and Lucile Packard Foundation for providing funds to support the project. Finally, the editors are grateful for the continuing support of the George Perkins Marsh Institute at Clark University. Published with Science in Society

This open access book bridges the divide between political science and public health, whilst simultaneously embracing the complexities and differences of both. Although public health is inherently political, the tools and insights of political science are often ignored in public health scholarship. Bringing together academics and researchers working at the intersection of both, the book demonstrates how integrating these fields can help reconcile the roles of politics and scientific evidence in policymaking. It also highlights the key conceptual, methodological and substantive implications for bridging this divide, and charts a path forward for a movement towards political science with public health. It will be of interest to academics, researchers and students interested in public health, political science, public policy, and the role of scientific evidence in policymaking.

This publication provides the proceedings of an international workshop, held in South Africa, intended to address how international co-operation in science and technology can further the three inter-related aspects (economic, social and environmental) of the development process.

Integrated Science: Science without Borders” is the first volume of the INTEGRATED SCIENCE Book series, aiming to publish the results of the most updated ideas and reviews in transdisciplinary fields and to highlight the integration of discrete disciplines, including formal sciences, physical-chemical sciences and engineering, biological sciences, medical sciences, and social sciences. This volume primarily focuses on the research involving the integration of two or more academic fields offering an innovative, borderless view, which is one of the main focuses of the Universal Scientific Education and Research Network (USERN). The whole world is suffering from complex problems; these are borderless problems; thus, a borderless solution could merely solve such complex issues. Transdisciplinarity is a domain, that researchers work jointly, using a shared conceptual framework, drawing together disciplinary-specific theories, concepts, and approaches to address common problems. Lack of confidence, lack of expertise, complexities of healthcare, the confusing nature of healthcare environments, and lack of organization and standardization are the obstacles of successful scientific communication. Consequently, this book provides an overview of the essential elements of transdisciplinary studies and integrated science. The unique aspect of this book -privileging it from other books- is covering all aspects of science as harmonies of a single symphony.

Across science and engineering, new opportunities are unfolding at the convergence of traditional fields. To meet the demands for students with interdisciplinary education, new undergraduate curricula have emerged. Biomedical engineering, for example, builds upon foundations in biology, physics, chemistry and materials science coupled with engineering design principles. In building successful interdisciplinary science programs, however, many questions must be addressed. Although many resources exist for developing and implementing new academic programs, there does not exist in a single volume that adequately address this important topic. Integrated Science: New Approaches to Education is a focused collection of essays addressing the myriad challenges associated with conceptualizing, developing, implementing and measuring the success of new undergraduate programs in interdisciplinary science and engineering fields. This book will provide an overview of this process drawn from a broad perspective of experts within their respective fields.

This book summarizes three symposia that were convened in the California, Gulf of Maine, and Gulf of Mexico regions to seek new ways to improve the use of science in coastal policymaking. The book recommends actions that could be taken by federal and state agencies and legislatures, local authorities, scientists, universities, the media, nongovernmental organizations, and the public to yield better coastal decisions and policies. It is unique in that it resulted from a partnership among natural scientists, social scientists, and policymakers.

Growing pressure from increasingly diverse human activities coupled with climate change impacts threaten the functional integrity of coastal ecosystems around the globe. A multi-disciplinary approach towards understanding drivers, pressures and impacts in the coastal zone requires effective integration of data and information in policy and management, combining expertise from nature and social science, to reach a balanced and sustainable development of the coastal zone. This important book comprises the proceedings of The International Symposium on Integrated Coastal Zone Management, which took place in Arendal, Norway between 3-7 July 2011. The main objective of the Symposium was to present current knowledge and to address issues on advice and management related to the coastal zone. The major themes of papers included in this book are: Coastal habitats and ecosystem services Adaptation/mitigation to change in coastal systems Coastal governance Linking science and management Comprising a huge wealth of information, this timely and well-edited volume is essential reading for all those involved in coastal zone management around the globe. All libraries in research establishments and universities where marine, aquatic and environmental sciences, and fisheries and aquatic sciences are studied and taught will need copies of this important volume on their shelves.

First book to consider citizens playing a role in the science-policy interface to help formulate durable responses to sustainability challenges Discusses all aspects to enhance the connectivity of actors in the sustainable water management field, with three pilot case studies showing how citizens and stakeholders can be engaged early and effectively in the river basins and coastal waters planning processes Provides tips and recommendations for the transferability of the approach in different coastal areas of Europe and beyond. Sustainable Water Ecosystems Management in Europe examines the anthropogenic deterioration of water ecosystems, in particular in coastal areas. It proposes a new approach to enhance connectivity between research and policy-making. The book exploits the concept of integrated adaptive ecosystem management, by engaging scientists, policy makers and the public (the latter including both stakeholders and lay citizens/water users) in comparable case studies. Emphasis is given to the role of the public to enlarge the concept of organisational learning to the wider concept of social learning. The EC 7th Research Framework Program funded project AWARE engaged a panel of randomly selected citizens living in three different coastal areas of Europe – in a pilot experience of knowledge brokerage with water scientists and decision makers focused on coastal waters quality. Results and lessons learned from the project are summarized in this volume, and recommendations are made for this pilot’s replication and transferability to different coastal areas and sustainable water management tasks - and beyond to other sustainability research and policy issues. This book is a must-read for water managers and policy makers looking to effectively organize citizen and stakeholder participation in river basin and coastal water planning, as required by the EU Water Framework Directive. Sustainable Water Ecosystems Management in Europe provides useful recommendations for organising effective participation of citizens in the science and policy dialogue, promoting a collective awareness of the plans and actions needed to protect the water environment and ensure sustainable use of water resources. Editor: Carlo Sessa, AWARE Project Coordinator, Director at ISIS – Institute of Studies for the Integration of Systems, Italy