How to improve the dialogue between science and society: The case of Global Environmental Change

The document argues that effective responses to global environmental change (GEC) require a non-linear, iterative dialogue between scientists, policy-makers, and society. Based on an assessment of the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (IAI) and the Scientific Committee on Problems of the Environment (SCOPE), it identifies key attributes for making science policy-relevant: credibility, practicality, usefulness, accessibility, and acceptability. The brief emphasizes that trust is the foundation of societal credibility and suggests that early engagement, interdisciplinary cooperation, and the involvement of social scientists are essential to bridge the gap between scientific research and concrete policy actions in the Americas.

• Global environmental change (GEC) science is currently evolving toward greater societal accountability and relevance, as it is specifically tasked with providing predictions on the rate and extent of change, supporting mitigation decisions, and guiding adaptation.
• The legitimacy of GEC policies depends on harmonizing development with the capacity of life-support systems, making decision-making a continuous learning process that requires early engagement between scientists and policy-makers to build trust.
• The societal and policy relevance of GEC science is determined by five main attributes: Credibility, Practicality, Usefulness, Accessibility, and Acceptability, which extend beyond standard academic measures of scientific quality.
• While scientific credibility is established via peer-review, societal credibility relies on trust, which is fragile and depends on communicating messages in unbiased, understandable terms and responding to evolving societal needs.
• To achieve practicality and acceptability in policy-relevant science, researchers must involve social scientists, recognize socio-political contexts in planning, and develop Decision Support Systems for immediate operational use.
• The IAI-SCOPE analysis suggests a cycle for policy-relevant science that involves incorporating social concerns into public agendas, integrating scientific knowledge into concrete actions, and using policy results to identify new research gaps.

APA

Tiessen, H. (2006). How to improve the dialogue between science and society: The case of Global Environmental Change. Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research. https://iai.int/admin/site/sites/default/files/Policy_Brief.pdf

Chicago

Tiessen, Holm. How to improve the dialogue between science and society: The case of Global Environmental Change. Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research, 2006. https://iai.int/admin/site/sites/default/files/Policy_Brief.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Tiessen |first1=Holm |title=How to improve the dialogue between science and society: The case of Global Environmental Change |publisher=Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research |date=December 2006 |url=https://iai.int/admin/site/sites/default/files/Policy_Brief.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{tiessen2006how, author = {Tiessen, Holm}, title = {{How to improve the dialogue between science and society: The case of Global Environmental Change}}, institution = {Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research}, year = {2006}, month = dec, url = {https://iai.int/admin/site/sites/default/files/Policy_Brief.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }