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David Pannell. People, institutions and policy Session synthesis and audience reflections. David Pannell. Credit to LWA. Recognising the importance of research into people, institutions and policy Included some of the key research successes of LWA.
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David Pannell People, institutions and policySession synthesis and audience reflections David Pannell
Credit to LWA • Recognising the importance of research into people, institutions and policy • Included some of the key research successes of LWA
Challenges connecting research to policy and management • Research and policy are very different • Communication problems • Distrust • Lack of technical expertise by policy people • Incentives facing researchers • Other issues matter more to policy makers • Policy fashions and crises • Getting access to policy makers • Timing issues
What’s required? • Good relationships, trust • Knowledge of the policy world • Excellent, brief communication, simple compelling message, multiple channels • Persistence, repetition • Time, patience
What’s required? • Luck, grasping of opportunities • A decision-making focus • Simple solutions that will obviously work • Building broad support • Internal champions • Thick skin
Themes/messages • The adoption challenge – connecting research to policy • Not wanted (Steve Dovers) • “There is nothing a government hates more than to be well-informed, for it makes the process of arriving at decisions much more complicated and difficult.” John Maynard Keynes (1937)
Themes/messages • Case-specific nature of adoption (Siwan Lovett) • Understanding motivations (Siwan Lovett)
Themes/messages • Evidence-based policy • “… will always win” (in the long run) (Colin Creighton) • “In the long-run we’re all dead” (John Maynard Keynes) • Northern Australian Land and Water Taskforce (Rosemary Hill) • Highlights the challenges of adoption
Unpalatable messages • Expect failure and be prepared for it (Paul Martin) • We cannot purchase all environmental outcomes – too costly (Carl Binning) • Need big drivers of value for transformation of land management to be possible (Carl Binning, Kevin Goss) • The end of oil (Barney Foran)
But … • it is possible to influence policy “just” by doing excellent research (Neil Barr)
Conclusion • Extremely important work • It remains extremely difficult to connect research into management and policy • The government doesn’t even adopt findings from its own inquiries (Henry tax review)