Barriers to evidence use for sustainability: Insights from pesticide policy and practice
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Author / Producer
Date
2023-02
Publication Type
Journal Article
ETH Bibliography
yes
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Abstract
Calls for supporting sustainability through more and better research rest on an incomplete understanding of scientific evidence use. We argue that a variety of barriers to a transformative impact of evidence arises from diverse actor motivations within different stages of evidence use. We abductively specify this variety in policy and practice arenas for three actor motivations (truth-seeking, sense-making, and utility-maximizing) and five stages (evidence production, uptake, influence on decisions, effects on sustainability outcomes, and feedback from outcome evaluations). Our interdisciplinary synthesis focuses on the sustainability challenge of reducing environmental and human health risks of agricultural pesticides. It identifies barriers resulting from (1) truth-seekers’ desire to reduce uncertainty that is complicated by evidence gaps, (2) sense-makers’ evidence needs that differ from the type of evidence available, and (3) utility-maximizers’ interests that guide strategic evidence use. We outline context-specific research–policy–practice measures to increase evidence use for sustainable transformation in pesticides and beyond.
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Publication status
published
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Editor
Book title
Journal / series
Volume
52 (2)
Pages / Article No.
425 - 439
Publisher
Springer
Event
Edition / version
Methods
Software
Geographic location
Date collected
Date created
Subject
Agriculture; Evidence; Pesticides; Policy and practice; Sustainability; Transformation
Organisational unit
09564 - Finger, Robert / Finger, Robert
02351 - TdLab / TdLab
Notes
Funding
193762 - Evidence-based Transformation in Pesticide Governance (SNF)