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.
Core Member, ISSP
Associate Director, Graduate Studies, Institute of the Environment
Associate Professor, Department of Biology, University of Ottawa
In 2007, I attended a workshop to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Bruntland Commission's publication of "Our Common Future". During a panel discussion devoted to a retrospective analysis of the impact of Bruntland on public policy, the audience was pinned down by a perfect fusillade of references to "the policy process". Bleeding from a dozen wounds (granted, mostly superficial, or so it seemed at the time), I pleaded for clemency. Said I: "I am but a humble natural scientist, so please forgive my ignorance, but what, precisely, is the policy process?"
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, May 12, at 12:00 PM, the Institute for Science, Society and Policy hosted Prof. Louis Simard, Faculty Affiliate, ISSP and Associate Professor, Faculty of Social Sciences - Public Administration, uOttawa, to discuss social acceptability and distributive justice. Please note, this event will be taking place in French.
On Wednesday, April 20, 2022, at 4:30 PM, the Institute for Science, Society and Policy at the University of Ottawa and the Institute for International Science and Technology Policy at the George Washington University was delighted to host Dr. Mona Nemer, Chief Science Advisor of Canada, as part of the 2022 Bromley Memorial Event.
On Thursday, March 31, at 12:00 PM, the Institute for Science, Society and Policy hosted Prof. Eda Kranakis, Faculty Affiliate, ISSP and Full Professor, Department of History, Faculty of Arts, uOttawa to discuss Monsanto’s research practices, intellectual property designs, commercial aims, and strategic scientific rhetoric.
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.
