Environmental Change and Food Production: Improving the Effectiveness of the Science-Policy Interface Using a Collaborative, Integrated and Holistic Framework

摘要

Devising good policy for environmental and other challenges is difficult to achieve when regional, national and global goals and stakeholder interests and values diverge or when outcomes and impacts cannot be foreshadowed with certainty. In order to develop policies that focus on the common good and meet human and environmental needs for now and for the future, we propose the use of a collaborative, holistic and integrated assessment and policy development approach. This approach builds on a previous model we developed for modern food biotechnologies, where scientific-technical innovations regularly intersect with the needs and principles of civil society. When supported by a global ethical framework, a practical and dynamic assessment and policy regime is created that remains socially embedded while drawing on and integrating different knowledge and conceptual understanding. An integrated approach to policy development thus sets the scene for engaged and future-oriented governance, leading to strong policies where creative, innovative and sustainable solutions are more likely.