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Robust knowledge for Sustainability
- Policies for sustainability cannot wait until all the facts are known.
- We must plan and implement radical changes in technology and lifestyle, in spite of irreducible uncertainty, ignorance, and value-conflicts.
- The commitment of all of civil society is necessary for such changes to be accomplished; thus sustainability is a moral issue.
- The relevant knowledge base must be robust in relation to the constraints and demands of this new context of use.
- It must be designed to be fit for its various functions in the discursive, inclusive policy processes on complex issues that are essential for
consensus.
- All stakeholders (including those who produce, use and are affected by policy-relevant knowledge) should be equipped with tools for a critical self-awareness of their engagement with that knowledge.
- These are now being created by developments based on the insights of NUSAP and Post-Normal Science.
- In that way we will achieve the robust knowledge that is essential for sustainability.
Jerry Ravetz, 14-08-2002
This website is maintained by Jeroen van der Sluijs (editor-in-chief, Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, e-mail: j.p.vandersluijs@uu.nl), Silvio Funtowicz, Jerry Ravetz, Serafin Corral Quintana, James Risbey and Ângela Guimaraes Pereira.
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PNS 5 Symposium - 21-23 Sept 2020, Florence
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| Posted by Jeroen on Friday, June 14 2019 @ 10:10:00 CEST (5984 reads) |
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PNS 5 Symposium: Knowledge, Science Practices and Integrity: Quality through Post-Normal Science Lenses.
University of Florence (Florence, IT)
Palazzo Fenzi-Marucelli
21-23 September 2020
PNS5 Website
As science's inter-penetration with technology, finance, politics and mass-media becomes ever more profound, new challenges arise. Scientific practices are becoming increasingly diverse — for example, as citizen science, DIY and makers movements gain prominence, and traditional, local and indigenous knowledge are (re)valued. Plurality in the forms of knowledge increases complexity. In this context, the protection of integrity and quality of knowledge includes critical thinking about science itself. New demarcations are needed, between science practices with qualities that are negotiated with society, and practices that are shoddy, entrepreneurial, opportunistic, reckless, vacuous, or outright dirty. Confronting issues at the science-technology-policy interface with PNS lenses yields something more rigorously managed than politics, less precise than laboratory science, more challenging than either of them, and with the potential to restore integrity to science practice and prudence in policy advice. |
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PNS 4 Symposium: Post-normal science as a movement
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| Posted by Jeroen on Thursday, February 01 2018 @ 16:24:07 CET (8936 reads) |
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Post-normal science as a movement:
between informed critical resistance, reform and the making of futures
@Barcelona, 15-17 November 2018
Call for contributions
Science, as it stands today, faces a crisis of public and political trust, combined with an inner erosion of standards of quality and integrity. Scientific findings are increasingly recognised as neither as reliable, nor reproducible, as they used to be portrayed. Beliefs in, and self-declarations of, the disinterestedness of scientific endeavours, separated from vested interest, political agenda or social and cultural context are recognised as empirically and philosophically problematic. Scientific elites are, for better or for worse, challenged by an erosion of trust on a par with that experienced by political elites in modern societies. Scientific institutions charged with higher education face demands of high societal relevance and impact which they do not know how to meet and how to prepare for.
This crisis on multiple fronts calls for a fundamental reform. Post-normal science (PNS) offers direction to such a reform, as a critical concept challenging mainstream practices of science, as an inspiration for new styles of research practice, and as an inspiration and support for new conventions of research quality assurance that better respond to the post-normal conditions of today's societal challenges. This multifaceted nature of PNS is both descriptive and normative. It provides a framework for describing and diagnosing urgent decision problems – post-normal issues – characterized by incomplete, uncertain or contested knowledge and high decision stakes, and critical reflection on how these characteristics change the relationship between science and governance. At the same time, PNS inspires a movement of critical resistance and reform towards a new style of scientific inquiry and practice that is reflexive, inclusive (in the sense that it seeks upstream engagement of extended peer communities) and transparent in regards to scientific uncertainty, ignorance, values and framings, and moving into a direction of democratisation of expertise.
This fourth PNS symposium [PNS1 in Bergen, NO, PNS2 in Ispra, IT (summarized in a recent special issue of Futures) and PNS3 in Tübingen, DE] provides a platform to discuss and explore the guidance that post-normal science can offer in finding a way out of the present crisis in and around science. |
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Futures Special Issue on Post Normal Science in Practice
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| Posted by Jeroen on Thursday, June 01 2017 @ 21:31:07 CEST (7043 reads) |
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Futures Special Issue on Post Normal Science in Practice
Guest editors: Dorothy Dankel, Nora Vaage and Jeroen P. van der Sluijs
Dankel, D.J., Vaage, N.S., Van der Sluijs, J.P. (2017) Editorial: Post-Normal Science in Practice. Futures.
Saltelli, A., & Funtowicz, S.O. (2017). What is science’s crisis really about? Futures.
Kønig, N., Børsen, T. and Emmeche, C. (2017). The ethos of Post-normal science. Futures.
Hiis Hauge, K. and Barwell, R. (2017). Post-normal science and mathematics education: educating future citizens for extended peer communities. Futures.
Benessia, A., & De Marchi, B. (2017). When the earth shakes ... and science with it. The management and communication of uncertainty in the L’Aquila earthquake. Futures.
Wildschut, D. (2017). The need for citizen science in the transition to a sustainable peer-to-peer-society. Futures.
Guimaraes Pereira, Â, and Saltelli, A. (2017). Post-normal Institutional Identities: Re-inventing Advice to Policy. Futures.
Saltelli, A., & Giampietro, M. (2017). What is wrong with evidence based policy? Futures.
Bremer, S. (2017). Have we given up too much? On yielding climate representation to experts. Futures.
Verrax, F. (2017). Engineering ethics and post-normal science: A French perspective. Futures.
Kovacic, Z. (2017). Investigating science for governance through the lenses of complexity. Futures.
Tsukahara, T. (2017). New Currents in Science: The Challenge of Quality, examining the discrepancies and incongruities between Japanese technoscientific policy and the citizens' science movement in post-3/11 Japan. Futures.
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PNS3 Symposium: Post-truth and a crisis of trust? 25-26 Sept 2017, Tübingen
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| Posted by Jeroen on Tuesday, May 09 2017 @ 12:31:07 CEST (9841 reads) |
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Perspectives from post-normal science and extended citizen participation
@Tübingen, 25-26 September 2017
Venue
University of Tübingen, “Alte Aula”, Münzgasse 30, Tübingen, Germany
25th September 2017 10:00 AM - 26th September 04:00 PM
Call for contributions
Discussions of recent political events – most notably the presidential election in the United States and the referendum in the United Kingdom to (Br)exit the European Union - frequently refer to ideas of ‘post-truth’, ‘post-evidence’ or ‘post-factual’ politics. In its ambiguity, the idea of a ‘post-truth’ age manifests a crisis of trust in both democratic and scientific institutions. At the same time, it implies the untenable assumption that politics and policies were once, and should be again, based on a unique truth provided by science (comprising the whole spectrum of natural and social sciences, and humanities).
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New Currents in Science: The Challenges of Quality 3-4 March 2016, Ispra, Italy
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Guidance for Uncertainty Assessment and Communication - Revised edition
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| Posted by Jeroen on Tuesday, June 10 2014 @ 11:43:21 CEST (14930 reads) |
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After a decade of fruitful use and further methodological development, PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency publishes the second edition of its Guidance for Uncertainty Assessment and Communication. The first edition was published by PBL’s predecessor, RIVM/MNP, in 2003. Without adequate attention for the implications of uncertainty, there is a risk of compromising the credibility of assessment studies. The Guidance is intended as an instrument to guide analysts, in order for them to reach thorough conclusions that reflect the underlying uncertainties and provide maximum transparency.
download the report (PDF, 976 kB)
web application first edition
Guide for Uncertainty Communication
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Guide for Uncertainty Communication
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| Posted by Jeroen on Tuesday, June 10 2014 @ 11:36:31 CEST (13862 reads) |
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Recent journal articles on Post Normal Science and Knowledge Quality Assessment
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| Posted by Jeroen on Tuesday, October 02 2012 @ 05:47:15 CEST (19092 reads) |
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Post-normal reflections on the Science-Policy Interface
- S. Funtowicz, R. Strand. (2011) Change and commitment: beyond risk and responsibility. Journal of Risk Research, 14 (8) 995-1003, DOI:10.1080/13669877.2011.571784
- J.P. van der Sluijs, R. van Est, M. Riphagen (2010) Beyond consensus: reflections from a democratic perspective on the interaction between climate politics and science, Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability 2, 409-415, DOI: 10.1016/j.cosust.2010.10.003
- D.J. Dankel, R. Aps, G. Padda, C. Rockmann, J.P. van der Sluijs, D.C. Wilson, and P. Degnbol (2012) Advice under uncertainty in the marine system, ICES Journal of Marine Science, 69 (1) 3-7. doi:10.1093/icesjms/fsr179
- J.A. Curry and P.J. Webster, (2011) Climate Science and the Uncertainty Monster. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society
- Turnpenny, J.R. (2012) Lessons from post-normal science for climate science-sceptic debates, Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change 3 (5) 397-407.
- Röckmann, C., Ulrich, C., Dreyer, M., Bell, E., Borodzicz, E., Haapasaari, P., Hauge, K.H., (...), Pastoors, M. (2012) The added value of participatory modelling in fisheries management - what has been learnt?, Marine Policy 36 (5) 1072-1085.
Methods for knowledge quality assessment
- L. Maxim and J.P. van der Sluijs (2011). Quality in environmental science for policy: Assessing uncertainty as a component of policy analysis, Environmental Science and Policy, 14, (4) 482-492. doi:10.1016/j.envsci.2011.01.003
- P. Kloprogge, J.P. van der Sluijs and A.C. Petersen (2011). A method for the analysis of assumptions in model-based environmental assessments, Environmental Modelling & Software 26, 289-301, Doi: 10.1016/j.envsoft.2009.06.009
- J. de Boer, J.A. Wardekker, J.P. van der Sluijs (2010), Frame-based guide to situated decision-making on climate change, Global Environmental Change 20 (3) 502-510.
- A.B. Knol, P. Slottje, J.P. van der Sluijs, E. Lebret (2010), The use of expert elicitation in environmental health impact assessment: a seven step procedure, Environmental Health 9:19.
Case studies applying tools for knowledge quality assessment
- J.A. Wardekker, A. de Jong, L. van Bree, W.C. Turkenburg, J.P. van der Sluijs (2012) Health risks of climate change: An assessment of uncertainties and its implications for adaptation policies. Environmental Health, 11 (1) 67 doi:10.1186/1476-069X-11-67
- A. de Jong, J.A. Wardekker, J.P. van der Sluijs (2012) Assumptions in quantitative analyses of health risks of overhead power lines. Environmental science & policy, 16: 114-121. doi:10.1016/j.envsci.2011.11.012
- E. Laes, G. Meskens and J.P. van der Sluijs (2011). On the contribution of external cost calculations to energy system governance: The case of a potential large-scale nuclear accident. Energy Policy, 39 (9) 5664-5673. doi:10.1016/j.enpol.2011.04.016
- L. Maxim and J.P. van der Sluijs (2010) Expert explanations of honeybee losses in areas of extensive agriculture in France: Gaucho® compared with other supposed causal factors. Environmental Research Letters, 5 (1) 014006 (12pp)
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Nature and Culture 2012 special issue: Climate Change as Post Normal Science
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| Posted by Jeroen on Thursday, September 20 2012 @ 15:44:48 CEST (17326 reads) |
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Special Issue of Nature and Culture 7 (2) pp 121-230 Post Normal Climate Science
This special symposium grew out of a workshop held in Hamburg in 2011
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| Posted by Jeroen on Friday, November 25 2011 @ 12:11:02 CET (32864 reads) |
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STH Special issue on Post Normal Science
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| Posted by jeroen on Tuesday, May 31 2011 @ 14:53:31 CEST (20246 reads) |
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Special issue on Post Normal Science, Science, Technology & Human Values May 2011
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Futures Special Issue on Post Normal Science
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| Posted by jeroen on Tuesday, May 31 2011 @ 14:52:32 CEST (20288 reads) |
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Special Issue on Post Normal Science, Futures, March 2011
A selection of papers from the symposium "Post Normal Science – perspectives & prospectives 26-27th June 2009: Oxford On the occasion of the 80th birthday of Jerry Ravetz, has been published in a special issue of Futures.
- Davies, 2011 Postmodern times: Are we there yet?
- Ravetz, 2011 Postnormal Science and the maturing of the structural contradictions of modern European science
- Ravetz, 2011 ‘Climategate’ and the maturing of post-normal science
- Beilin and Bender, 2011 Interruption, interrogation, integration and interaction as process: How PNS informs interdisciplinary curriculum design
- France, 2011 How Post Normal views of science have contributed to a model of communication about biotechnology
- Hiis Hauge, 2011 Uncertainty and hyper-precision in fisheries science and policy
- Howard, 2011 Environmental nasty surprise, post-normal science, and the troubled role of experts in sustainable democratic environmental decision making
- Elahi, 2011 Here be dragons… exploring the ‘unknown unknowns’
- Healy, 2011 Post-normal science in postnormal times
- Cole, 2011 Alliterative logic: A theory for postnormal times
- Kapoor, 2011 Is there a postnormal time? From the illusion of normality to the design for a new normality
- Montuori, 2011 Beyond postnormal times: The future of creativity and the creativity of the future
- Gary, 2011 Toward a new macrohistory: An extension to Sardar’s ‘postnormal times’
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Climate change impact assessment and adaptation under uncertainty
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| Posted by jeroen on Tuesday, May 31 2011 @ 13:40:04 CEST (16656 reads) |
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 Expected impacts of climate change are associated with large uncertainties, particularly at the local level. Adaptation scientists, practitioners, and decision-makers will need to find ways to cope with these uncertainties. Several approaches have been suggested as ‘uncertainty-proof’ to some degree, but their suitability depends on the specific situation. For instance, some approaches work well under deep uncertainty, while others perform better under lower levels of uncertainty. This thesis presents several empirical studies on climate change impacts & adaptation under uncertainty in actual adaptation decision-situations. Methods used include expert elicitation, document analysis, empirical workshops, discourse analysis, literature review, and case-study analysis.
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Book launch: Science for Policy
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NUSAP used in undergraduate science education at Aalborg University
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| Posted by Jeroen on Tuesday, October 13 2009 @ 14:45:51 CEST (10692 reads) |
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A group of students from Aalborg University applied the NUSAP approach to the risk of methane migration into houses situated on the terminated landfill “Skrænten” in Hjørring, Denmark”. The team consists of Marie Inger Dam, Jon Kjær Jensen, Jóhann Gunnar Jónsson, Mathias Krause Kristensen, Ane Katrine Mortensen, Ole Papsø, Mette Skovmand and Tom Børsen. Their report "Inclusion of Pedigree-analysis (NUSAP) in undergraduate science education: An example" is now available. It may serve as an example and source of inspiration for other students and professors who would like to use NUSAP in BSc and MSc education. |
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New Report: Tool catalogue frame-based information tools
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| Posted by Jeroen on Friday, May 29 2009 @ 12:33:08 CEST (22253 reads) |
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A new report Tool catalogue frame-based information tools has been published.
In the perception, knowledge production and policymaking on complex issues (‘wicked
problems’), such as climate change, frames and framing play an important but often hidden
role. Frames relate to one’s ‘schemas of interpretation’; the conceptual images, values,
starting points, and mental models that one may have of an issue. This can include, for
instance, one’s problem definition, perceptions of the cause-effect relationships in an issue,
one’s primary goals, perception of one’s and others’ roles and responsibilities relating to the
issue, and views on suitable strategies and interaction with (other) stakeholders
Differences in frames can lead to miscommunication and conflicts.
This tool catalogue is intended as an idea-guide and eye-opener for organisations who are
confronted with framing-related issues and who want to take these into account when
developing knowledge, policy, or viewpoints.
The catalogue does not aim to give a complete list of methods. Rather, it will present
a number of characteristic examples of how various tools deal with framing. Some
suggestions will be given on the situations for which these approaches are most suitable. For
more extensive overviews of participatory methods, refer to the various stakeholder
participation guidelines and catalogues that are available (several references have been
included in the present document).
Download Tool catalogue frame-based information tools
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Recent journal articles on Post Normal Science and Uncertainty
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| Posted by Jeroen on Friday, May 29 2009 @ 11:53:22 CEST (22395 reads) |
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An overview of recent papers in the field of Post Normal Science
- Knol et al., 2009 Dealing with uncertainties: The case of environmental burden of disease assessment Environmental Health 8:21
- Turnpenny et al. 2009, Noisy and definitely not normal: responding to wicked issues in the environment, energy and health Environmental Science and Policy 12 (3), pp. 347-358.
- Boone et al., 2009, NUSAP method for evaluating the data quality in a quantitative microbial risk assessment model for salmonella in the pork production chain Risk Analysis 29 (4), pp. 502-517
- Van der Sluijs et al., 2008, Exploring the quality of evidence for complex and contested policy decisions, Environ. Res. Lett. 3 (2008) 024008 (9pp)
- Wardekker et al., 2008 Uncertainty Communication in Environmental Assessments: Views from the Dutch Science-Policy interface Environmental Science & Policy, 11, 627-641
- Farrell, 2008, The Politics of Science and Sustainable Development:
Marcuse’s New Science in the 21st Century Capitalism Nature Socialism, 19 (4), 68-83.
- Maxim and Van der Sluijs, 2007, Uncertainty: cause or effect of stakeholders' debates? Analysis of a case study: the risk for honey bees of the insecticide Gaucho® Science of the Total Environment, 376, 1-17.
- Refsgaard et al., 2007, Uncertainty in the Environmental Modelling Process: A Review Environmental Modelling & Software. 22 (11), 1543-1556.
- Kloprogge and Van der Sluijs, 2006, The inclusion of stakeholder knowledge and perspectives in integrated assessment of climate change Climatic Change, 75 (3) 359-389
- Risbey et al., 2005, Application of a Checklist for Quality Assistance in Environmental Modelling to an Energy Model. Environmental Modeling & Assessment 10 (1), 63-79.
- Van der Sluijs et al., 2005 Combining Quantitative and Qualitative Measures of Uncertainty in Model based Environmental Assessment: the NUSAP System, Risk Analysis, 25 (2). p. 481-492
- Van der Sluijs 2005, Uncertainty as a monster in the science policy interface: four coping strategies, Water science and technology, 52 (6) 87–92
- Janssen et al, 2005, A guidance for assessing and communicating uncertainties, Water science and technology, 52 (6) 125–131
- Craye et al, 2005 A reflexive approach to dealing with uncertainties in environmental health risk science and policy International Journal for Risk Assessment and Management, 5 (2), p. 216-236
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Expert Elicitation: Methodological suggestions
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| Posted by Jeroen on Thursday, January 22 2009 @ 15:21:00 CET (33069 reads) |
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A new report Expert Elicitation: Methodological suggestions for
its use in environmental health impact assessments has been published. It provides practical guidance on organising expert panels to assess uncertainty and risk.
Download Expert Elicitation report
This document contains three parts: (1) an introduction, (2) an overview with building blocks
and methodological suggestions for a formal expert elicitation procedure; and (3) a literature
list with key sources of information used and suggestions for further reading. |
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Uncertainty Communication: Issues and good practice.
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| Posted by Jeroen on Wednesday, January 09 2008 @ 10:58:19 CET (35188 reads) |
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A practical guide to uncertainty communication has been developed for the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency. It offers background information on uncertainty communication, and contains suggestions and guidance on how to communicate uncertainties in environmental assessment reports to several target audiences in an adequate, clear, and systematic way. It is not claimed that this is the only way or the best way to communicate uncertainty information, but the guidance in this report draws upon insights from the literature, insights from an international expert workshop on uncertainty communication, and several uncertainty communication experiments in the Utrecht Policy Laboratory. |
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New report on uncertainty and climate change adaptation
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| Posted by Jeroen on Friday, December 21 2007 @ 15:34:19 CET (22112 reads) |
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Copernicus Institute Utrecht University and Tyndall Centre for climate change research issued a new report reviewing state-of-the-art of methods and tools available in the literature in helping
inform adaptation decisions under uncertainty. The report reviews existing frameworks for decision making under uncertainty for
adaptation to climate change. It explores how different ways of including
uncertainty in decision making match with uncertainty information provided by various
uncertainty assessment methods. It reviews a broad range of areas of climate change impacts
and impacted sectors of society and economy that may require a response of planned
adaptation. |
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Monday, October 15 2007
· Towards a new paradigm of science in scientific policy advising
Wednesday, April 11 2007
· Post Normal Science, working deliberatively within imperfections
Monday, July 31 2006
· e-KAM SCHOOL E-Learning Course On Knowledge Assessment & Extended Participation
Monday, September 26 2005
· Global Systems Failures
Tuesday, July 19 2005
· The Precautionary Principle
Sunday, February 27 2005
· The Post-Normal Times
Friday, February 25 2005
· Interactive Web application of Uncertainty Guidance instruments
Wednesday, October 20 2004
· Uncertainty and Precaution in Environmental Management: insights from UPEM
Wednesday, September 01 2004
· WORLDWIDE VIRTUAL NETWORK OF YOUNG PRACTITIONERS WORKING ON SCIENCE AND SOCIETY
Wednesday, August 25 2004
· Short Course Model Uncertainty Analysis (13-14 October 2004)
Wednesday, July 28 2004
· Summer school on sensitivity analysis in Venice
Wednesday, May 26 2004
· Course: Genetic engineering; Connecting science, risk and communities
Tuesday, April 27 2004
· Uncertainty and Precaution in Environmental Management (UPEM 2004)
Monday, April 26 2004
· New book on sensitivity analysis
Tuesday, March 16 2004
· Uncertainty assessment of NOx, SO2 and NH3 emissions in the Netherlands
Wednesday, March 03 2004
· Safety Paradoxes - revised
· Towards Guidance in Assessing and Communicating Uncertainties
Saturday, November 29 2003
· Professor Poul Harremoës died
Monday, August 04 2003
· Towards a synthesis of qualitative and quantitative uncertainty assessment
Monday, July 21 2003
· Workshop: Interfaces between science and society, 27-28 nov 2003, Milano
Monday, June 23 2003
· RIVM/MNP guidance for uncertainty assessment and communication
Thursday, June 12 2003
· Workshop: Uncertainty in environmental health risk science and policy
Saturday, May 17 2003
· Mini sysmposium:
The management of uncertainty in risk science and policy
Tuesday, January 28 2003
· Symposium: Uncertainty and Precaution in Environmental Management (June 2004)
Tuesday, November 05 2002
· Ruskin and the Scientists
Tuesday, October 29 2002
· The Precautionary Principle, Knowledge Uncertainty, and Environmental Assessment
Monday, October 07 2002
· MUST Session at November FP6 conference
Thursday, September 12 2002
· Safety in the Globalising Knowledge Economy
Wednesday, June 19 2002
· One day free course on Sensitivity Analysis at the JRC - Ispra.
Friday, June 07 2002
· Conference announcement: Foresight
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