Integrated Mission-directed Research

Experiences from Environmental and Natural Resource Management

Wendy Proctor

• Publisher: CSIRO PUBLISHING
• Year: 2010
• Print ISBN: 9780643096943
• eBook ISBN: 9780643101982
• Topic: Biological Sciences
• Subtopic: Ecology
• Index: Biological Sciences

This book offers readers the chance to learn from the experiences of researchers involved in integrated mission-directed research, particularly in the areas of natural resource management and regional development.

Integrated Mission-directed Research covers important issues in integration science, supported by case studies that detail how to engage individuals and communities, and support policy decisions and development. The authors explore case studies undertaken in Australia, Europe, Thailand and Indonesia, as well as perspectives from the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. Closing chapters demonstrate key challenges for researchers and essential questions that should be answered when trying to set up integrated research. Potential benefits that could be obtained from effective integrated mission-directed research are included, as well as assessment questions to assist researchers to see if such benefits have been truly obtained.

Written by experienced researchers, many of whom were involved in CSIRO's Social and Economic Integration Emerging Science Initiative, the book explores how integrated research is now seen as crucial in achieving sustainability outcomes in natural resource management.

Chapter 1

Introduction

Wendy Proctor, Lorrae van Kerkhoff and Steve Hatfield Dodds

The idea of sustainability has posed new challenges for all sectors of society – government, community, industry and business – and also for science. New forms of science are emerging that attempt to retain and capitalise on the established analytical strengths of traditional science, but also address the concerns and values inherent in efforts to move towards sustainability. These concerns and values are wide ranging, but include social justice, intergenerational equity and a more balanced approach to understanding the consequences of human action, which includes ecological, economic and social dimensions.

The consequences for research are extensive, and have been discussed at length over the past two decades. In this book, we characterise two major dimensions of these consequences – that research has become more integrated – in counteraction to traditional scientific approaches that favour fragmentation – and that it has become more mission-directed, or targeted towards achieving innovative solutions to complex problems. This book documents and reflects on these two dimensions of science in the context of sustainability. We describe the challenges, the lessons and, in some cases, the rewards of taking an integrated mission-directed approach to research. By documenting these efforts, we hope to contribute to a larger ‘mission’ of learning that focuses not on questions of what research contributes to sustainability, but how – and how we can collectively make that contribution more effective, more innovative and better attuned to the demands of sustainability.

In this chapter, we will outline the broad context for integrated mission-directed research and list some key themes and questions identified by the authors as challenges we confront in this territory. These themes and questions form the basis for the following chapters, which we summarise in an overview at the end of this chapter.

THE NATURE OF INTEGRATED MISSION-DIRECTED RESEARCH

The idea of integrated mission-directed research arises from discussion of the nature of science and the design of appropriate policies that generate tangible outcomes and support innovation. This literature reveals that attitudes towards research and research funding have shifted, from primarily valuing academic outputs, such as peer-reviewed papers, to the assessing and valuing of research outputs and the economic, social and environmental benefits (which are fundamental to reaching ‘sustainable’ outcomes) achieved through research investments.

Gibbons, Nowotny and colleagues argue that this social context requires a rethinking of past presumptions about science governance and the drivers of innovation (Gibbons et al. 1994; Nowotny et al. 2001). Old-fashioned science thinking, they argue, emphasised the distinction between pure and applied science, and presumed that science breakthroughs are generally achieved through deep specialisation and research guided by self-generated disciplinary research agendas. Taking this view, innovation is thus directly correlated with withdrawal into highly compartmentalised specialist science communities. These authors contrast the curiosity driven research paradigm (termed ‘Mode 1’ science) with ‘Mode 2’ mission-directed research, which is characterised by transdisciplinary integration, strong stakeholder engagement in framing research goals and the use of heterogeneous research teams that marshal and integrate the methods required to address externally defined goals.

The important message for the traditional science community from these influential authors is that mission-directed research, not traditional curiosity driven research, will be the source of the outstanding science breakthroughs in the next century. Engagement with the difficult and complex problems of others is presented as the crucible of innovation. New insights and innovation are driven by deep engagement with stakeholders, respect for their views and insights, and commitment to addressing their issues and problems. Accountability to others – at least if done well – has the potential to drive better science outcomes, rather than being a distraction from the core business of science, or a necessary evil to be endured.

In practice, many of the outstanding innovations of the past were the result of mission-directed research – such as the development of antibiotics, new food solutions and improved transport technologies. Others were curiosity driven. Some were a fortuitous blend of both. It seems likely that curiosity driven and mission-directed research will both continue to be important sources of innovation, and that both will continue to contribute to improvements in our quality of life and sustainability.

THE SCIENCE–SOCIETY–POLICY INTERFACE: THE NEED FOR INTEGRATION AND STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT

Attention to the instrumental value of research outputs (rather than a presumption that research is intrinsically valuable) raises wider questions about the role of knowledge in shaping human action. It is clear that ‘mental models’ have a significant role in shaping human action, including through perceptions of cause and effect relationships, and the ways in which people learn over time (see Gintis 2000, 2003). The adaptive governance literature identifies a number of general conditions that facilitate the development of rules and management practices that meet the evolving needs and desires of a specific community (see Dietz et al. 2003, Arrow et al. 1995). In the context of managing common environmental resources, such as a fishery or urban air quality, this literature suggests that collective action is most likely to be effective when:

(1) the major determinants of resource condition and resilience are well known, including key cause and effect relationships; and

(2) the condition of the asset or resource is subject to human influence, including the fact that any damage inflicted is not irreversible; and

(3) formal or informal arrangements can be crafted that are supported and valued by (or result in net benefits to) key constituencies.

Science and scientists have important roles in relation to each of these conditions, and thus have key roles in underpinning effective collective action and promoting sustainable development.

Much sustainability-oriented mission-directed research is focused on public good outcomes: raising issues around science and public policy engagement. Gibson (2003) provides a useful review of different perspectives on the research-policy nexus, critiquing the widespread ‘two communities’ view that emphasises the different roles, focus, values, cultures and operating environment of scientists and policy makers. Most of the insights from this review relate more generally to the relationships between science and key stakeholder communities, including business.

In very general terms, one of the key contributions of research to our wider society is its ability to provide new insights and better understanding, particularly through linking cause and effects, providing early warning of impacts and consequences, and exploring wider system interactions. These insights enable the identification or development of new technologies, management strategies and collective policy approaches. Paul Oquist (1978) provides a more formal typology of research modes:

• Descriptive research, which describes phenomena within typologies of facts and events (positive), and describes or advocates attitudes or evaluative systems (normative).
• Prediction and assessment (termed nomothethic research), which explains or predicts the consequences of specific events in terms of key variables and assesses or evaluates impacts against nominated criteria.
• Policy research, which involves the production of knowledge that guides policy practice, achieving impact through communication of research outputs.
• Action research, involving the production of knowledge that guides practice, where change occurs as part of the research process through engagement of stakeholders.

The contribution of scientists is somewhat broader than the contribution of science, and includes providing specialist expertise and advice (drawing on the stock of knowledge), undertaking new research (expanding or deepening the stock of knowledge), acting as an honest broker and helping to build capacity (both involving aspects of assisting access to knowledge). Scientists also potentially connect to goals of social justice, by identifying and making visible those communities who are not well represented in existing governance or decision-making structures.

Insights from this literature include that knowledge is crucial to effective decision making and action, and is influential in public debate. Expert knowledge is used selectively by competing interests, however, and communicating science findings and participating in public debate requires specific skills. More generally, researchers have strengths and weaknesses in contributing to policy, and constructive impact depends on clarity, relevance (of both form and content), rigour and perceived integrity.

OVERVIEW

The chapters in this book are divided into three main parts to reflect their different orientations. Part 1 deals with ‘Theoretical perspectives’ and contains four chapters describing case studies from Australia and the world. In Chapter 2, lessons from the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment provide the historical context of currently held beliefs about environmental systems and management and how dominant beliefs are intertwined with our environmental problems so that we can move beyond them to new institutional solutions. Chapter 3 provides a detailed explanation of what integrated research means and how it is done. Chapter 4 then provides some theoretical perspectives as well as challenges and success factors in undertaking integrated research in a 6-month review of this research within the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO). Chapter 5 provides a different perspective on integrated research in the context of environmental conflicts arising from the re-introduction of large carnivores in European landscapes.

The second part of the book covers ‘Engaging individuals and communities’ and comprises three chapters that give an international perspective of various methods incorporating participatory techniques to enhance integrative research and outcomes. Chapter 6 reviews a case study involving communities from Thailand and incorporates issues concerning ethical considerations in such research. Chapter 7 provides an overview of the role of technologies to enhance interactions between scientists and communities in integrated research using agricultural decision-support systems. Chapter 8 discusses two projects that used a regional development framework based on systems thinking in two Australian coastal regions (Augusta-Margaret River Shire in Western Australia, and the Central Coast in NSW) facing intense development pressures.

Part 3 is based on the theme of ‘Supporting policy development and decision making’, with Chapter 9 providing a systems approach to integrated research in a policy context by reviewing a program aimed at designing a Water Management Plan that will be used by decision makers within a town to improve the water supply. Chapter 10 details the Integrated Tool for Economic and Ecological Modeling (ITE²M): a network of several models addressing agro-economy, agricultural policy and environmental services with respect to soil, water, floral and faunal biodiversity. This model is used in Europe to assess different agricultural land use scenarios. Chapter 11 – the last chapter in Part 3 – covers multiple governance scales in integrated modelling and decision support, and argues that scales of decision making are a ‘meta-level’ for integration.

The book ends with Chapter 12: a set of conclusions that reflect on integrated mission-directed research and draw out important lessons from the theory and practice presented here.

REFERENCES

Arrow K, Bolin B, Costanza R, Dasgupta P, Folke C, Holling CS, Jansson B-O, Levin S, Mäler K-G, Perrings C and Pimental D (1995) Economic growth, carrying capacity, and the environment. Science 268, 520–521.

Dietz T, Ostrom E and Stern PC (2003) The struggle to govern the commons. Science 302, 1907–1912.

Gibbons M, Limoges C, Nowotny H, Schwartzman S, Cott P and Trow M (1994) The New Production of Knowledge. The Dynamics of Science and Research in Contemporary Societies. Sage, Thousand Oaks, California.

Gibson B (2003) Beyond ‘two communities’. In: Evidence-based Health Policy. Problems and Possibilities. (Eds V Lin and B Gibson) pp. 18–30. Oxford University Press, Oxford.

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Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• List of Contributors
• Chapter 1 Introduction
• PART 1 THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES
• PART 2 ENGAGING INDIVIDUALS AND COMMUNITIES 69
• PART 3 SUPPORTING POLICY DEVELOPMENT AND DECISION MAKING
• Index