Implementing post-normal science with or for EU policy actors

Using quantitative story-telling

Bibliographic Data

ID12950328
AuthorsKirsty Blackstock (0000-0002-0429-0215, James Hutton Institute, corresponding author), Kerry Waylen (0000-0002-6593-2795, James Hutton Institute), Keith Matthews (0000-0001-8472-8872, James Hutton Institute), Alba Juarez Bourke (0000-0003-4069-2067, James Hutton Institute), D Gary Miller (0000-0002-9311-1708, James Hutton Institute), Alice Hague (0000-0003-4874-7050, James Hutton Institute), D Wardell‐Johnson (0000-0003-4979-0202, James Hutton Institute), M Giampietro (0000-0002-5569-7023, Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats)
Year2023
Volume18
Issue3
Pages1235-1250
Publication date2023-01-20
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSustainability Science (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1862-4057 • E-ISSN: 1862-4065
PublisherSpringer Science+Business Media (PUBLISHER • DE)
DOI10.1007/s11625-022-01265-1
PMID36694671
OpenAlexW4317520052
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited83

There is increasing recognition of the wicked nature of the intertwined climate, biodiversity and economic crises, and the need for adaptive, multi-scale approaches to understanding the complexity of both the problems and potential responses. Most science underpinning policy responses to sustainability issues, however, remains overtly apolitical and focussed on technical innovation; at odds with a critical body of literatures insisting on the recognition of systemic problem framing when supporting policy processes. This paper documents the experience of implementing a mixed method approach called quantitative story-telling (QST) to policy analysis that explicitly recognises this normative dimension, as the methodology is part of a post-normal science (PNS) toolkit. The authors reflect on what was learnt when considering how QST fared as a tool for science-policy interaction, working with European Union (EU) level policy actors interested in sustainable agriculture and sustainable development goal 2. These goals-also known as UN Agenda 2030-are the latest institutionalisation of the pursuit of sustainable development and the EU has positioned itself as taking a lead in its implementation. Thus, the paper illustrates our experience of using PNS as an approach to science policy interfaces in a strategic policy context; and illustrates how the challenges identified in the science-policy literature are amplified when working across multiple policy domains and taking a complex systems approach. Our discussion on lessons learnt may be of interest to researchers seeking to work with policy-makers on complex sustainability issues

Context (archaeology · Economics · Engineering ethics · European union · Framing (construction · Institutionalisation · Management science · Normative · Policy Sciences · Political science · Public relations · Science policy · Social science · Social sustainability · Sociology · Sustainability · Sustainability science · Sustainable development · Transdisciplinarity · Underpinning · Climate Change Communication and Perception · Complex Systems and Decision Making · Engineering · Public Administration · Sustainability and Climate Change Governance

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