The decision maker's lament: If I only had some science!

Area of Science:

• Environmental science
• Decision science
• Science communication

Background:

• Decision-makers often face challenges due to a lack of actionable scientific information.
• Poor quality, unintelligible, or absent scientific data hinders confident environmental decision-making.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore alternative approaches for decision-makers when actionable science is lacking.
• To encourage mutual understanding and collaboration between scientists and decision-makers.

Main Methods:

• The study offers considerations for decision-makers to alleviate disappointment with scientific information.
• It encourages researchers to consider the decision-making context when proposing scientific studies.

Main Results:

• Both communities benefit from understanding the decision-making context beforehand.
• Identifying internal capacities within each community is key to producing and utilizing actionable science.

Conclusions:

• Producing actionable science requires a shared understanding of the decision context.
• Proactive engagement and internal reflection by both scientists and decision-makers are crucial for effective science-informed decisions.