We are in the process of updating the online version of the Atlas of Migration. The edition with an improved navigation experience will be launched in March 2023.
With the global biodiversity conference COP15 taking place in my home country of Canada this month, the fundamental relationship between agricultural biodiversity and food systems is top of mind.
With the global biodiversity conference COP15 taking place in my home country of Canada this month, the fundamental relationship between agricultural biodiversity and food systems is top of mind.
The first trans-European advanced course on science-based policy advice in agriculture and environment was held in October 2022 at VAC in Ghent, Belgium. More than 30 researchers, advisors and administrators from 10 European countries, all working with science-based policy advice participated. And what a success it was!
Values are everywhere, but at the same time difficult to fully grasp. They build the foundation for what people want from politics and it is high time that we understand them better. Knowledge on how to take values into account in policy design and communication is crucial to build a trusting relationship with citizens.
November 2022 available
Dear friends,
In the framework of the COP27 conference in Sharm-el-Sheikh under the Presidency of Egypt, the European Commission organised more than 120 Side Events from 7 to 18 November 2022.
One of these was the thematic side event on drought, in the aftermath of the 2022 extreme drought episode in Europe. As highlighted in its title, Europe is not the only region which has been affected by such an extreme event. Indeed, the Global and European Drought Observatories (GDO and EDO) have released a series of reports throughout the year detailing the drought episodes affecting many areas of the globe: Europe (with focused reports on the Western Mediterranean, Northern Italy, and the Netherlands), Eastern Africa (with focused reports on Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania, and Ethiopia), and China. South America continues to experience- since 2019 one of its worst droughts and an updated report on the situation in the La Plata Basin and its impacts is in preparation.
Furthermore, in the coming decades, drought events are expected to be more frequent, affect larger areas and become more severe, affecting key socio-economic sectors and ecosystems, often triggering cascading effects
Scientific findings have become increasingly important for policy-makers, for instance when developing new public interventions or when current solutions must be modified. However, as clearly shown during the Covid-19 pandemic, evidence-informed policymaking does not enjoy the acceptance of the entire public. While reliance on scientific arguments can be rational, it is not always obvious to expect citizens to massively support the use of evidence in policymaking, as they often know little about the process leading to this evidence. In explaining citizen skepticism about the inclusion of scientific advice in policymaking, available literature predominantly focuses on trust in political institutions. With trust in citizens and governments shown to be determined by different antecedents, it is relevant to apply a multi-trustee approach for a full understanding of the relationship between trust and support for evidence-informed policymaking. Beyond trust in experts, trust in governments and other citizens are important factors to consider, too.
With biodiversity declining to alarming levels around the world, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) calls upon leaders participating in the biggest global biodiversity conference in a decade starting tomorrow, to reach a robust agreement which preserves, restores and promotes biodiversity, thus ensuring future global food security and protecting the livelihoods of rural communities everywhere.
What you eat matters much more for your carbon footprint than where your food has come from. Your local beef emits more than your soy shipped in from South America.
In complex times, democratic government and scientific knowledge become ever more important Scientific knowledge contributes to addressing societal needs – in particular in moments of complexity and adversity. Science, based on the rigorous analysis of empirical data and the testing of competing explanatory theories, offers a source of robust knowledge of the world corroborated through peer review processes that cannot be produced elsewhere. At the same time, in crisis situations citizens turn to governments whose substantial resources and collective decision-making processes can provide response adequate to the challenges.
On 2 December 2022, the Czech Presidency invited the EU-27 research ministers to discuss “science as an instrument to facilitate policymaking in the Member States” during the meeting of the Competitiveness Council of the EU. The debate followed the publication of the European Commission Staff Working Document “Supporting and connecting policymaking in the Member States with scientific research” (SWD(2022) 346 final). In this blog, Kristian Krieger and Lorenzo Melchor sum up the main points raised and their implications for different actors at the science-policy interface.
The questionnaires that will be at the basis of our forthcoming competence self-assessment tool are now open for feedback. We ask policymakers and researchers advising on policy to help us make them as clear and easy to understand as possible. To make the questions used for this self-assessment as clear as possible, we would need your feedback. Please answer to one of the following surveys.
Europe, the world's biggest consumer of chocolate, and West Africa, the leading grower of the cocoa beans used to make it, share a common goal to make the sector sustainable.
National food systems transformation pathways, submitted by 117 countries, were perhaps the most tangible outcomes from last year’s United Nations Food Systems Summit, or UNFSS.
I have come across this funny story on social media many times in various versions, but I find that this adaptation captures particularly well some of the most significant challenges around science policy. We are living in a world that demands answers to highly complex problems. From the COVID-19 pandemic, to climate change, from the green transitions to artificial intelligence. At the same time, never have we had access to such an incredible wealth of scientific knowledge and expertise to accurately and effectively tackle some of the “wicked” problems of our time.
