Science informing Policy – a health warning for the environment 英文参考文献.docVIP

PullinandKnightEnvironmentalEvidence2012,1:15 /content/1/1/15 EDITORIAL OpenAccess ScienceinformingPolicy–ahealthwarningfor theenvironment AndrewSPullin*andTeriMKnight Environmental scientists regularly receive encourage- sections of their journals to broaden their impact. Of ment to engage with both their policy counterparts and course,where thereiscommercial interest there will al- wider society, to increase the effectiveness with which ways be selective relationships between scientists and they communicate their science and to demonstrate its those thatmight seektoexploittheresults.Manyorga- beneficial impact on wider society [1-3]. A significant nisations provide a service for those who wish to trans- bodyofliteraturenowexistsonwaysinwhichenviron- late their outputs and increase their impact in a mental scientists might engage with non-scientists and commercial setting (e.g. healthcare [5]). Putting com- be understood [4] and representative scientific societies mercial interests to one side, there are many situations and funders of science provide advice on how scientists in which collective (rather than selective) scientific evi- can increase their impact (e.g. Ecological Society of dence should be used for the collective good of society; America,BritishEcologicalSociety,UKNaturalEnviron- public health and environmental management are per- ment Research Council) and, in some cases, provide haps two examples. Unfortunately, in contrast to public fundsandtrainingforsuchactivities.Theneedforgood health, there is no widely adopted mechanism in envir- science to inform environmental policy decisions is ar- onmentalmanagementtofacilitatethisprocess. guably more urgent than ever before and it follows that Whilst we recognise that the translation of environ- good translation ofsciencebothfor policy communities mentalscienceintopolicyisnota simplelinearprocess andwidersociety,needsencouragement,butitdoesalso [6] and that there are