Environmental Science & Policy

Journal: Environmental Science & Policy

Abbreviation

Environ. Sci. Policy

Publisher

Elsevier

ISSN

1462-9011
1873-6416

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Publications 1 - 10 of 59

Perspectives on social capacity building for natural hazards: outlining an emerging field of research and practice in Europe
Kuhlicke, Christian; Steinführer, Annett; Begg, Chloe; et al. (2011)
Environmental Science & Policy
Muddling through: A typology of interdisciplinary research practices in environmental sciences
Thierfelder, Jana; Matthews, Blake; Risch, Anita C.; et al. (2026)
Environmental Science & Policy
Interdisciplinary research (IDR) is vital for tackling complex global challenges such as climate change and biodiversity loss. Despite its prominence as a research approach, both expertise and experience in IDR are often lacking in projects or programs aiming to address these challenges. This results in a gap between an ideal type of doing IDR and the actual implementation of IDR in practice. This paper addresses this disconnect, drawing on insights from an IDR program, the Blue-Green Biodiversity (BGB) Initiative, in Switzerland. We propose a typology of IDR practices based on our case study: (1) Ideal IDR, where experience in ID practice and expertise in ID scholarship are both leveraged and ID scholars are fully integrated throughout the whole duration of an IDR project; (2) Pragmatic IDR, where experience in ID practice is leveraged by scholars who have conducted IDR in the past, but have only minimal or no formal training and thus only minimal or no expertise in ID scholarship; (3) On-the-go IDR, where emerging ID challenges are tackled, often mid-project, by consulting ID experts or relevant ID scholarship, thus counteracting missing experience in ID practice; and (4) Muddle through IDR, where upcoming ID challenges are addressed ad hoc with no experience in ID practice and only little or no formal training or expertise in ID scholarship. By contrasting empirical practices drawn from our case study with ideal types from IDR scholarship, we provide actionable guidance for more effective IDR, fostering better alignment between the theory and practice of IDR.
Research shaped through context: Lessons from transdisciplinary projects
Schegg, Julia; Pärli, Rea; Fischer, Manuel; et al. (2025)
Environmental Science & Policy
Transdisciplinary research (TDR) targets societal challenges through equitable knowledge co-production with non-academic actors for a given case context. Frequently, results of TDR projects are harder to generalize compared to those of non-TD projects, primarily because TD projects are designed to address specific, context- dependent situations. Including context (factors, such as COVID-19, public discourse, and action resources of project actors) when assessing TDR projects is thus important for the transferability of effects of TDR projects to other contexts. This study investigates the influence of context factors on TDR projects and their effects. Empirically, we rely on interviews with 23 researchers and non-academic actors involved in 9 TDR projects in the field of natural resources in Switzerland. We find that, particularly, the effects of knowledge integration into practice and into politics are most affected by context factors. We find the context factors: action resources of political support, organisation and consensus, and the system conditions of private economy and external natural events to be most influential for the achievement of aspired effects in TDR projects.
Carbon dioxide removal: A source of ambition or of delays? Examining expectations for CDR in Swiss climate policy
von Rothkirch u. Panthen Gómez, Juanita; Ejderyan, Olivier; Stauffacher, Michael (2024)
Environmental Science & Policy
Carbon dioxide removal (CDR) is recognized as an important tool for addressing residual emissions and achieving net-zero emission targets. While some have cautioned that a focus on CDR in policy processes may lead to delayed efforts to mitigate emissions, others have argued that such concerns are unwarranted. Nevertheless, the circumstances under which CDR could help or delay emissions mitigation in given contexts remain unclear. This paper explores the emerging discourse on CDR in Switzerland. We examined how the CDR community legitimizes CDR and limits its scope, and what the implications are for emissions mitigation. Switzerland is home to growing businesses in CDR and has pioneered the implementation of international offsetting projects under Article 6.2 of the Paris Agreement. We found that numerous promises help legitimize and attract interest in CDR. Actors use discursive strategies and rules to limit CDR and avoid disappointment in its contribution to climate mitigation. The idea that emission reduction should prevail over removal is promoted accordingly, which ironically helps legitimize the CDR idea yet dodges the question of how much removal is possible and for balancing which emissions. Superficial engagement with the issue is reinforced by the normalization of inflated promises and the sentiment that the mitigation deterrence rhetoric erodes trust in CDR. We argue that this can contribute to mitigation delays by evading the debate on what it is possible to remove and taking resources from alternative measures. We recommend a thorough discussion to examine the risks and the implementation of rules that minimize them.
Policy instrument mixes for operating modular technology within hybrid water systems
Pakizer, Katrin; Fischer, Manuel; Lieberherr, Eva (2020)
Environmental Science & Policy
Water systems are experiencing dynamic societal demands and extreme environmental changes. The integration of modular water systems into existing centralized infrastructures, creating hybrid systems, could mitigate these challenges by enabling more resilient water management. However, the existence of technological alternatives has not changed the continuous reliance on centralized water infrastructure. Supportive policy instruments are key to foster the operation of modular technology within hybrid water systems. This article focuses on the role of substantive and procedural policy instruments for the successful operation of modular water systems within a hybrid water infrastructure. Based on Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA), we can confirm the claim in the literature that relying on regulatory instruments is relevant for operating modular technology within hybrid systems. However, we also find combinations of policy instruments where regulatory instruments do not matter. Furthermore, we find that procedural instruments emphasizing stakeholder participation interplay with different substantive policy instruments to support the successful operation of modular systems.
Exploring procedural justice in stakeholder identification using a systematic mapping approach
Lemke, Leonard Kwhang-Gil; Beier, Julia; Hanger-Kopp, Susanne (2024)
Environmental Science & Policy
In the face of complex societal challenges, stakeholder participation/engagement and knowledge co-production have become increasingly important to the sustainability sciences. Why and how these stakeholders are identified frequently remains unclear, which raises concerns regarding rigor and procedural justice of research processes. Against this background, this paper seeks to contribute to a better understanding of how and why procedural justice issues materialize in stakeholder identification and assess the extent to which they can be addressed. We build on proposals for stakeholder identification in the academic literature that integrate three common approaches: analytical, sampling, and participant-based approaches. Further zooming into these approaches and related methods through a procedural justice lens, we show how the inclusion of stakeholders, the influence of stakeholders on the identification process, and the transparency of the overall identification process matter. We draw upon our own case study experiences to share the lessons learned, including the benefits of systematic mapping approaches for stakeholder identification. We conclude that stakeholder mapping facilitates accurate documenting of identification procedures and supports iterative refinement and adjustments of the stakeholders identified, whilst also creating reflexive potential to address intuitive and past experience-based practices, ultimately opening promising avenues to advance procedural justice in stakeholder identification.
Greening the Economy through Voluntary Private Sector Initiatives or Government Regulation? A Public Opinion Perspective
Kolcava, Dennis; Bernauer, Thomas (2021)
Environmental Science & Policy
Societal efforts towards greening the economy are typically accompanied by controversy over whether voluntary initiatives by firms or government regulation are more effective to that end. Recent research argues that public opinion plays an important role in this regard because citizens’ preferences are crucial when democratic policy-makers decide. We investigate whether and how citizens’ general attitudes regarding the relationship between the private sector and government can help explain their policy preferences. We argue that whether citizens perceive the state-private sector relationship as synergistic or antagonistic has an effect on their support for private sector self-regulation or government regulation respectively. We assess this argument based on information from a representative survey (N = 1677) in Switzerland. We find that citizens who regard the state-private sector relationship in environmental policy-making as synergistic favor private sector self-regulation. In contrast, citizens who regard the state-private sector relationship as antagonistic prefer either self-regulation or government intervention. We also observe that views on whether firms engage in self-regulation to gain a competitive economic advantage shape the perception of a synergistic state-private sector relationship. Our findings are relevant to current green economy debates as policy-makers in Europe and elsewhere are trying to move beyond the ‘either firms or the state’ paradigm in regulatory environmental politics.
Climate change and agricultural water resources: A vulnerability assessment of the Black Sea catchment
Bär, R.; Rouholahnedjad, Elham; Rahman, K.; et al. (2015)
Environmental Science & Policy
From science to policy through transdisciplinary research
Pohl, Christian Erik (2008)
Environmental Science & Policy
Governing and Managing Water Resources under Changing Hydro-Climatic Contexts
Hill-Clarvis, Margot; Fatichi, Simone; Allan, Andrew; et al. (2014)
Environmental Science & Policy

Publications 1 - 10 of 59

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