Innovative Tools for Increasing Research Impact and Evidence-Based Policy-Making

The menace of a post-truth era challenges conventional policy-making and science. Instead of fighting an uphill battle against populist solutions, those involved in both policy-making and science have to find innovative ways to collaborate, and make use of the vast amounts of knowledge that are already available. Knowledge brokerage, in this context, is more than a simple question-and-answer game: it is a process of co-creating and re-framing knowledge. In addition, Knowledge Brokerage for Sustainable Development has to deal with trade-offs and ambiguities, as well as world-views, cultures and the preferences of stakeholder groups.

This book is the first in-depth exploration of how knowledge brokerage has the potential to help manage the challenges of sustainable development across political and scientific systems. It presents a selection of innovative and practical tools to enhance the connectivity of research and policy-making on sustainable development issues. In doing so, this book will be an essential publication in research and policy-making. It supports networking among the developers and users of knowledge brokerage systems and will make their experience better known to the different communities involved.The book presents interviews with leading policymakers and researchers such as former EU Commissioner Franz Fischler, Robert-Jan Smits (Director-General of Research and Innovation at the EC), Uwe Schneidewind (President of the Wuppertal Institute), and Leida Rijnhout (European Environmental Bureau). It also provides insights into eleven EU funded projects dealing with different approaches of Knowledge Brokerage for Sustainable Development.