Embedding scientific information into forestry praxis: Explaining knowledge transfer in transdisciplinary projects by using German case
Section snippets
Introduction: challenges of transferring scientific knowledge into praxis
A disconnect between scientific knowledge and its utilisation in praxis is evident in many fields (Bowen, 2015; Ion et al., 2019; Jürges and Jahn, 2020; Locke, 2009). “Repeated claims are well recognized, on the one hand that practitioners make too little use of research and on the other that researchers pay insufficient attention to making their findings known, useful, and usable” (Gray et al., 2015, p. 1955). In addition, “Research funders, and the society as a whole, have noted the waste of
Theoretical approach: the essence of transferring scientific information into praxis
The connection between science and praxis is evolving. The most recent overview of Sokolovska et al. (2019) discriminates between three distinct phases: (i) in the first phase, in the 1960s, knowledge was expected to be implemented linearly by politicians and bureaucrats (decisionists, technocratic and legitimisation models); (ii) in the second phase, in the 1970s–1990s, attention was drawn to the active part that politicians and bureaucrats can play while interacting with scientists and
Case study and methods
To check our hypotheses, we rely on the most recent empirical evidence gained within the Horizon 2020 project, ALTERFOR. ALTERFOR conducts an advanced scenario modelling to analyse the existing and alternative forest management models in the context of future ecosystem services provision (https://alterfor-project.eu). The project involves robust, natural, quantitative, high-quality modelling data, which are of great importance for science-to-praxis communication (Oliver and Cairney, 2019, ref.
Results
The case of Augsburg Western Woods allowed us to analyse scientific knowledge transfer throughout all three RIU spheres: research – the theory and empirically-driven knowledge production (4.1), integration – the bi-directional science-praxis communication (4.2), and utilisation – the actor-driven implementation (4.3). The key results are summarized in Table 1 and described in chapters 4.1 Research: forest growth simulations, 4.2 Integration: selection processes and their results, 4.3 Utilisation
Discussion: power and interest-driven selection of scientific information
In ALTERFOR's German case, three scenarios were selected for modelling: maximized sustainable “timber production”, the “multifunctional” and the “set aside” scenarios. Within each, the provision of diverse ecosystem services was simulated over 100 years. A tailored form of this scientific information was communicated to the forestry praxis in Augsburg Western Woods through the three integration forums. These forums represented an integration process involving a three-step selection. During the
Conclusions: increasing the effectiveness of knowledge transfer and deepening RIU-based explanations
The ALTERFOR project shows that the ambitious Horizon 2020 goal of facilitating knowledge transfer is attained more effectively when using a multi-actor (or multi-stakeholder) approach. This approach opens multiple options for dialogue between researchers and praxis. In addition, the RIU-based concept of knowledge transfer provides a valuable basis to structure that dialogue further. The RIU's pragmatic view on different actors and their (often conflicting) interests in forestry accentuates the
Author statement
Equal contribution to the published work.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the EU Horizon project ALTERFOR [grant agreement No 676754].
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