Expert scientific knowledge is fast becoming an integral part of disaster management, and, in the process, is changing the role of science for the reduction of disaster risks at the policy level. Yet science and policy operate in different domains between which there are often competing interests and modes of valuing knowledge. Based on research done as part of the research project Enhancing Synergies for Disaster Prevention in the European Union (ESPREssO), we discuss three major issues facing European Union member states with respect to the interface between science and policy for disaster risk reduction: knowledge transfer, disaster expertise, and risk awareness. In doing so, we hone in on three gaps: an epistemological gap, an institutional gap, and a strategic gap. We argue that these gaps can help explain underlying systematic challenges for the integration between science and policy for disaster risk reduction. These gaps need to be addressed by focusing on changes at the governance level.

中文翻译：

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灾害知识鸿沟：探索欧洲减少灾害风险的科学与政策之间的接口

专业的科学知识正在迅速成为灾难管理的组成部分，并且在此过程中，正在改变科学在政策层面降低灾难风险的作用。然而，科学和政策在不同的领域中运作，在这两个领域之间往往存在相互竞争的利益和评价知识的方式。基于作为增强欧盟防灾协同效应研究项目（ESPREssO）的一部分所做的研究，我们讨论了欧盟成员国在科学与减少灾害风险政策之间的接口方面面临的三个主要问题：知识转移，灾难专业知识和风险意识。在此过程中，我们需要弥合三个差距：认识论差距，体制差距和战略差距。我们认为，这些差距可以帮助解释科学和减少灾害风险政策之间整合的潜在系统性挑战。这些差距需要通过关注治理级别的变化来解决。