NERC Policy Placement Secondment to support Defra's Chief Scientific Advisor
Lead Research Organisation:
Royal Holloway University of London
Department Name: Geography
Abstract
Making evidence-based policy decisions relies on assessing the totality of the evidence from all sides of the policy debate. The UK Government Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is responsible for policy on the natural environment, marine and fisheries, food and farming, animal and plant health, and rural communities. The broad remit of Defra means their evidence needs are substantial and cross multiple disciplines. Strong links between government and the wider research community are therefore particularly important for improving the access and use of evidence in policy development and evaluation.
The Defra Chief Scientific Advisor (CSA) and strategic evidence and analysis teams are responsible for Defra's approach to the acquisition and use of evidence to inform strategy, policy and operational delivery. The fellowship will work with Defra's CSA to promote knowledge exchange between academic organisations and Defra to provide research-informed evidence to develop and review policy.
The aims of the fellowship are to: i) Help drive improvements in the evidence base and its use in Defra by providing high-quality, strategic analyses of challenging science-policy issues; ii) Work with the CSA and Defra evidence teams to support the development of Evidence Statements for science-policy issues; iii) Support the development of other innovative approaches to the management and use of evidence in Defra as it develops the Evidence Investment Strategy; iv) Provide the CSA and Defra with assessments of emerging scientific issues of importance to Defra's remit; v) Act as a conduit between Defra evidence teams and the wider academic community, and facilitate new links and networks.
The outcome of the fellowship is improved use of evidence for policy decisions. Specifically, the outcomes and impacts of the fellowship are: i) A series of assessments of high-profile science policy issues to support the CSA in improving the use of science and evidence in Defra; ii) The development of Evidence Statements in partnership with Defra evidence teams to enable policymakers to benefit from the widest and most comprehensive evidence base; iii) The development of innovative mechanisms for the management and use of evidence in Defra, including arrangements for working with external experts; iv) New and strengthened links between Defra and the wider research community.
The Defra Chief Scientific Advisor (CSA) and strategic evidence and analysis teams are responsible for Defra's approach to the acquisition and use of evidence to inform strategy, policy and operational delivery. The fellowship will work with Defra's CSA to promote knowledge exchange between academic organisations and Defra to provide research-informed evidence to develop and review policy.
The aims of the fellowship are to: i) Help drive improvements in the evidence base and its use in Defra by providing high-quality, strategic analyses of challenging science-policy issues; ii) Work with the CSA and Defra evidence teams to support the development of Evidence Statements for science-policy issues; iii) Support the development of other innovative approaches to the management and use of evidence in Defra as it develops the Evidence Investment Strategy; iv) Provide the CSA and Defra with assessments of emerging scientific issues of importance to Defra's remit; v) Act as a conduit between Defra evidence teams and the wider academic community, and facilitate new links and networks.
The outcome of the fellowship is improved use of evidence for policy decisions. Specifically, the outcomes and impacts of the fellowship are: i) A series of assessments of high-profile science policy issues to support the CSA in improving the use of science and evidence in Defra; ii) The development of Evidence Statements in partnership with Defra evidence teams to enable policymakers to benefit from the widest and most comprehensive evidence base; iii) The development of innovative mechanisms for the management and use of evidence in Defra, including arrangements for working with external experts; iv) New and strengthened links between Defra and the wider research community.
Publications
Bilotta G
(2014)
Quality assessment tools for evidence from environmental science
in Environmental Evidence
Bilotta G
(2014)
On the use of systematic reviews to inform environmental policies
in Environmental Science & Policy
Bilotta G
(2015)
How to increase the potential policy impact of environmental science research
in Environmental Sciences Europe
Kass G
(2022)
The 'borderlands' of the science-policy interface
in The Geographical Journal
Milner AM
(2017)
Toward pesticidovigilance.
in Science (New York, N.Y.)
| Description | The overarching aim of the research was to improve the evidence base and its use for setting environmental policy in Defra. Policy needs concise and easily digestible summaries of relevant evidence. This enables policy-makers to quickly grasp the key aspects of the evidence base. Traditionally, policy briefs have been used to summarise evidence for policymakers but there is little control and standardisation of methods. They are typically developed using a narrative literature review which are known to have low transparency, low auditability and a high risk of bias, all of which are problematic for contentious policy issues. Detailed and exhaustive systematic reviews are an alternative but they are typically expensive and often take months or years to produce, and are difficult to update. There is a need for a middle way. A key output of the award is the development of a robust methodology to produce Evidence Statements: evidence summaries that are quick to produce, transparent, auditable, able to withstand scrutiny, and quickly updated in light of new evidence. The Evidence Statements gather evidence from published literature in a defined policy setting and are written for senior policy officials and a general non-expert audience, with the aim of improving the evidence-base of policy decisions. The methodology for producing Evidence Statements has been developed and published by Defra for internal use, and a series of Defra Evidence Statements have been produced, with more under production. Capacity-building skills to produce Evidence Statements within Defra and other government departments is ongoing. Monitoring of the policy impact of Evidence Statements is ongoing. |
| Exploitation Route | Evidence Statements have been tested in a real policy environment to help identify which policy options have the greatest chance of success and are most likely to lead to favourable outcomes. They have been designed to be produced on any science-policy issue and provide a mechanism for policy teams to access a systematic and transparent summary of the evidence-base, which is particularly useful for high-profile policy issues. The standardisation of the summaries brings advantages both to ensure that time-limited policy professionals can be familiar with the format and quickly access the relevant information, and avoid the need for initial creation and updating only by scientists with deep specialist knowledge. The methodology for Evidence Statements and the Evidence Statement produced are available for other government departments or policy-focussed organisations to adopt. |
| Sectors | Agriculture, Food and Drink,Environment,Government, Democracy and Justice |
| Description | The methodology for the production of Evidence Statements has been adopted by Defra, and the Evidence Statement production guidance document has been published for internal Defra use. Evidence Statements are being produced by Defra on a range of high-profile science-policy issues and each Evidence Statement is contributing to policy decisions at local, national or international level. At a strategic level, the use of robust, systematic and transparent techniques for reviewing evidence in Defra is contributing to improving the consistency, reliability and transparency of evidence that is communicated to senior policy officials and non-experts. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2014 |
| Sector | Agriculture, Food and Drink,Environment,Government, Democracy and Justice |
| Impact Types | Policy & public services |
| Description | Government guidance on reviewing and communicating evidence |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
| Impact | I worked with the UK Government Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) to improve the quality and impact of evidence used to make policy decisions. The growing scientific evidence-base on many environmental topics makes it difficult for decision-makers to synthesise evidence effectively to make informed decisions. Narrative literature reviews are predominantly used by decision-makers to summarise evidence but these types of review have a high risk of bias. My work aimed to bring evidence-based academic rigour to the synthesising of primary evidence to decision-makers through the use of systematic evidence reviews and summaries. In collaboration with Defra's Chief Scientific Adviser's Office, I developed a new method of producing short summaries of evidence for senior policy officials (Evidence Statements) using rigorous methods of secondary synthesis. A guidance document for Defra and accompanied guidance and advice are hosted on their intranet pages. The outputs have been used to guide Defra processes of reviewing evidence for decision making, including assessing the quality of evidence and communicating uncertainty of evidence, both of which are crucial to understand for policy decisions. The guidance adopts the quality assessment tool outlined in the research publication Bilotta, Milner and Boyd (2014) developed in collaboration with G.S. Bilotta, University of Brighton, and the uncertainty assessment developed in collaboration with A.M. Collins, Imperial College London. |
| Description | Secondment to support Defra's Chief Scientific Adviser |
| Amount | £29,354 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Department For Environment, Food And Rural Affairs (DEFRA) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 07/2016 |
| End | 03/2017 |
| Description | Defra added as host for UKRI Policy Internship Scheme |
| Organisation | United Kingdom Research and Innovation |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | In collaboration with Defra's Chief Scientific Adviser's Office, I instigated the process for Defra to be added as a host organisation for the UKRI Policy Internship Scheme, as a mechanism for Defra to produce Evidence Statements using skilled PhD students, and for PhD students to experience working in a policy environment on high-profile science-policy issues. I supported Defra through the process of advertising and selecting applicants with UKRI, and worked with the Chief Scientific Adviser's Office to design and implement processes to host the interns in a variety of policy teams. I provide ongoing support to the Chief Scientific Adviser's Office, the policy teams and interns to build capacity in the development of Evidence Statements. |
| Collaborator Contribution | UKRI supported Defra as a host organisation for the Policy Internship Scheme. |
| Impact | Being part of the UKRI Policy Internship Scheme has provided a mechanism for Defra to produce Evidence Statements using skilled PhD students, and for PhD students to experience working in a policy environment on high-profile science-policy issues. Five interns were allocated in the first year of the collaboration (2018-19). Each intern works with a policy team to develop Evidence Statements for high-profile science-policy issues. The student develops skills in policy, science communication and synthesising evidence, important for career development. Defra receive access to reliable reviews of evidence for a policy area. The Evidence Statement documents are used to inform policy decisions and are published internally and externally. The Evidence Statements cover Defra's remit: environment, food, and rural affairs. |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | Interview for national newspaper |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Media interview in response to the Milner and Boyd (2017) Science article on pesticidovigilance, focussing on global pesticide regulation and the lessons learned from the regulation and monitoring of pharmaceuticals, which could improve environmental sustainability and lead to better risk-based decisions for pesticide safety. The purpose of the interview was to raise awareness and start a discussion about how we can introduce a global monitoring programme for pesticides, similar to pharmaceuticals. The interview and subsequent Guardian article were aimed at the general public and international policymakers. The article was shared over 7500 times and received over 250 comments (March 2019 numbers). |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/sep/21/assumed-safety-of-widespread-pesticide-use-is-fa... |
| Description | Quality Framework for Evidence Reviews Workshop |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | One-day workshop on reviewing evidence for policy decision-making. The objectives of the workshop were to: i) Raise awareness in Defra of methods available for reviewing and communicating evidence, ii) Improve understanding in Defra of the sources of bias affecting evidence reviews. The participants reported improved understanding of the need for evidence review standards and clear communication of the quality of evidence being generated; ii) improve knowledge of different evidence review methods and examples of their use, iii) improved understanding of how to implement evidence review and communicate standards throughout their teams. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| Description | Reviewing and Communicating Evidence Seminar |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Invited seminar to UK Government Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) on best practice in reviewing and communicating evidence. Policy makers need reliable information in order to develop evidence-based policies. The volume of information generated on environment, food and rural issues is vast, making it difficult for policy makers to efficiently integrate information for rational decision making. Reviewing evidence reduces information into manageable nuggets, separating insignificant, unsound or redundant information from the salient. Common methods of reviewing information (e.g. literature review and expert opinion) are useful but may not detect all information required for rational decision making. There are methods available that can increase the credibility and transparency of evidence review findings. The aim of the talk was to: i) Outline the principles of systematic methods for reviewing evidence, ii) Discuss the strengths and limitations of the difference evidence reviewing methods available, iii) Provide practical tips on how to search, appraise and summarise evidence to achieve reliable, credible and transparent findings. Members of policy and evidence teams attended; the presentation was distributed to evidence teams across Defra; several requests received for further information; and it was reported that some attendees had changed their practice to reflect some of the considerations raised in the seminar. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| Description | Talk on increasing policy impact of research and knowledge exchange |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Invited presentation on the policy making process for NERC Knowledge Exchange Fellows. The audience engage with a wide range of sectors (industry, third sector organisations, governments, public) on a broad range of environmental issues. The talk aimed to increase awareness and skills of Knowledge Exchange Fellows on engaging with policy makers effectively. Further information and copies of the materials I presented were requested after the event to use at other training events. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |