Over the past year, the ISSP has published multiple member blogs about how we need to transform decision-making to more effectively address grand challenges, such as transforming teaching, training and the science enterprise; fostering equity, diversity and inclusion in decision-making; putting into practice new decision-making models, and reframing how we think about science and technology in domestic and international policy. The compilation also includes a dedicated section on the grand challenges of COVID-19 and climate change.
A worldwide movement, citizen science is a phenomenon in which people without formal scientific credentials participate in scientific investigation. Citizen science is becoming important to environmental policy, because data collected by ordinary people can extend science’s field of vision to places and times that scientists would not be able to cover. It can increase the frequency of measurements and observations. It can speed up large-scale, labor-intensive tasks that computers don’t do a good job of, like identifying animals in images. These extensions of science can bolster the knowledge base of environmental science and make it possible for environmental agencies to make better decisions.
Physician & Founder, Digital Epidemiology and Population Health Lab (DEPtH Lab)
At the Digital Epidemiology and Population Health Laboratory, one of my first goals was figuring out how to build a research program that addresses existing and emerging population health issues. To do so, we need a seat at the “big data” table, playing a greater role in developing innovative digital health platforms.
In recent public opinion survey work, Positive Energy has identified that Canadians are polarized along partisan lines on a number of key energy and climate issues. At the same time, we have seen the negative effects of partisan politics on broader society. Against this backdrop, policymakers must consider how to build consensus in intensified partisan settings. This blog post discusses how consensus processes can help facilitate policymaking in divisive contexts.
On Wednesday, June 15th 2022, from 8:30AM to 5PM, the ISSP and Positive Energy will host a conference featuring a variety of speakers and industry representatives to discuss the findings of our latest research. This conference will be held in person at the University of Ottawa and offered virtually.
On Thursday, February 24, at 12:00 PM, the Institute for Science, Society and Policy will host Prof. Chelsea Schelly, 2022 Fulbright Research Chair in Science and Society, ISSP uOttawa and Associate Professor of Sociology in the Department of Social Sciences at Michigan Technological University to discuss the social aspects of socio-technological systems transitions.
On Tuesday, February 8, from 1:00 PM to 2:15 PM, RCIScience and the Institute for Science, Society, and Policy were happy to host a panel discussing the impact that citizen science has had on science and policy, and a discussion of the challenges to be overcome to make citizen science an even more powerful positive force.
On Thursday, January 27, at 12:00 PM, the Institute for Science, Society and Policy will host Prof. Lundy Lewis, 2019 Fulbright Research Chair in Science and Society, ISSP uOttawa and Professor of Computer Information Systems at Southern New Hampshire University to discuss inclusive approaches to the participation in the digital economy.
On Wednesday, June 15th 2022, from 8:30AM to 5PM, the ISSP and Positive Energy will host a conference featuring a variety of speakers and industry representatives to discuss the findings of our latest research. This conference will be held in person at the University of Ottawa and offered virtually.
A new study from the University of Ottawa’s Positive Energy program examines the work of the Ecofiscal Commission of Canada, an organization that aimed to depoliticize the debate about carbon pricing in Canada by using one specific tool: infusing the debate with non-partisan, academically rigorous research and evidence.
This Positive Energy study explores limits to consensus-building on energy and climate—specifically limits that flow from partisan politics. It identifies key drivers and events that have contributed to the polarization of certain energy and climate issues along partisan lines, and offers advice for decision-makers looking to navigate polarized contexts on the way to net zero by 2050.
New survey results from Positive Energy and Nanos Research evaluate how Canadians perceive the level of public consensus on a number of climate and energy issues. The survey asks Canadians about the current level of agreement on these issues, as well as the level of agreement relative to five years ago.
The fruit of eighteen months of engagement with our members, it is grounded in the ambitious vision of helping Canada to transform decision-making to meet the grand challenges of our time. The plan lays out multiple research, teaching and outreach goals, activities and target outcomes to realize this vision.
