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Environmental Research and Education Report Released
February 10, 2009
The National Council for Science and the Environment
<http://www.ncseonline.org/> (NCSE) has released a new report,
Environmental
<http://www.ncseonline.org/Conference/Environmental%20Research%20and%20Educa
tion%20Recommendations/NCSE%20Research%20and%20Education%20Recommendations%2
0with%20Covers2.pdf> Research and Education Needs: An Agenda for a New
Administration. The report organizes the recommendations relating to
environmental and sustainability research and education policy from NCSE's
first eight annual National Conferences on Science, Policy and the
Environment (2000-2008).
The recommendations represent the collective wisdom of the more than 5000
scientists, engineers, students, and decisionmakers who have participated in
the conferences. They identify research needed to improve scientific
knowledge, and education needed to improve public understanding,
professional capacity and a strong workforce.
The recommendations cover critical topics including agriculture,
biodiversity, the built environment, business, demographics, education,
energy, forecasting, global climate change, health, security and water. They
cover nearly every Cabinet department of the US government and many
independent agencies. The recommendations are directed to specific agencies,
but are often applicable to other agencies.
Few of these recommendations have been fully implemented. They collectively
constitute an agenda that is a necessary foundation for science-based
decisionmaking. There is a critical need for strategic approaches that
involve interagency initiatives, often coordinated through the Office of
Science and Technology Policy (OSTP).
The recommendations are grouped by topic and cross-referenced by agency and
by the conference at which the recommendations were made.
Key themes include the following:
* Current investment in environmental and energy research and
education is inadequate. The ability to prevent and solve environmental,
economic and other societal challenges is bounded by limited investment in
research and education.
* Multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches are essential.
The human dimensions of issues are often ignored, and funding for approaches
that explore human dimensions and coupled human and natural systems must be
greatly expanded.
* Current programs must be enhanced by vigorous competitively awarded
merit based research, integrated with training of the next generation of
scientists, managers and citizens.
* Clearinghouses and other mechanisms are needed to link scientific
information with the needs of decisionmakers.
* The goal of sustainability - ensuring healthy people and a healthy
planet for many generations to come - must be achieved through life-long
learning in partnership with research of the highest quality.
An earlier version of this report was presented to the Obama Energy and
Environment Transition Team. This report is being provided to key research
and education leaders in the Obama Administration.
The report is available in PDF format only and available on the NCSE website
at
http://www.ncseonline.org/Conference/Environmental%20Research%20and%20Educat
ion%20Recommendations/NCSE%20Research%20and%20Education%20Recommendations%20
with%20Covers2.pdf
For more information, contact Dr. David Blockstein, Senior Scientist,
202-207-0004, da...@ncseonline.org
Original copies of the reports of the NCSE conferences are available at
www.ncseonline.org/conference or by contacting NCSE at
confere...@ncseonline.org or 202-530-5810.
The National Council for Science and the Environment is a nongovernmental
organization dedicated to improving the scientific basis for environmental
decision-making.
The Council specializes in programs that bring together individuals,
institutions and communities to collaborate on broad-based projects that
cannot be carried out by individual entities.
The Council's annual National Conference on Science, Policy and the
Environment brings together representatives from all levels of government,
leaders in research and education, civil society and business to develop
strategies for improved decision-making on critical environmental
challenges.
Please mark your calendar for the 10th National Conference on Science,
Policy and the Environment, January 21-22, 2010, The New Green Economy
<http://ncseonline.org/conference/greeneconomy/> .
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