Analysis of Global Change Assessments Lessons Learned (2007) / Chapter Skim
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Given the continuing need for assessment activities in the future, it is an opportune time to systematically evaluate the approach and effectiveness of past assessments and learn from the available experience. In the United States, the Global Change Research Act (GCRA)
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TABLE S.1 The Eight Examples of Assessment Processes Included in the Comparative Analysis Assessment Brief Description Stratospheric Ozone Prior to the 1987 Montreal Protocol, there were several Assessments national (including NRC) and international assessments analyzing ozone-depleting chemicals and the state of the stratospheric ozone layer (WMO 1982, 1986)
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For example, a well-defined mandate and consistent support from the requesters of the assessment contributed importantly to the effectiveness of the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment (ACIA) and the stratospheric ozone assessments, while the process outcome of the Global Biodiversity Assessment (GBA)
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A clear strategic framing of the assessment process, including a wellarticulated mandate, realistic goals consistent with the needs of decision makers, and a detailed implementation plan.
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In this summary, the committee highlights some especially challenging aspects of assessment processes and emerging approaches. These challenges include effectively framing assessments, engaging stakeholders, weighing the benefits of assessments against their opportunity costs, employing nested assessment strategies, and developing decision-support tools.
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The guidance document should specify decisions the assessment intends to inform; the assessment's scope, timing, priorities, target audiences, leadership, communication strategy, funding, and the degree of interdisciplinary integration; and measures of success. Although CCSP has a mandate under GCRA to conduct assessments, the program lacks a long-term strategic framework for meeting this mandate.
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Other unintended consequences include a decreased ability to recruit a balanced pool of high-quality assessment participants and volunteer reviewers, and the diminished impact of an individual assessment if target audiences are overwhelmed with the sheer volume of information from assessments. Given the important contributions of assessments to policy making and to society in general and the growing number of international treaties and national mandates, efficiency considerations become increasingly important to minimize the opportunity cost to the research community.
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The target audience may also comprise intermediaries, such as media, non-governmental organizations, professional organizations, business associations, or "science translators" such as policy advisers and congressional staff members. Because engagement of target audiences in the policy arena is resource intensive and may require expert facilitation, both human and financial resources for such activities should be identified early in the process.
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In addition, involvement of too many stakeholders could make the assessment process inefficient and too costly. The appropriate balance between broad stakeholder engagement to achieve legitimacy and salience, and the need to achieve efficient and credible outcomes, will depend on the specific context of each assessment and requires careful consideration early in the assessment design process.
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Recommendation: Capacity building efforts for diverse stakeholders and assessment participants from various disciplines should be undertaken by CCSP in order to develop a common language and a mutual understanding of the science and the decision-making context. This capacity building may be required to ensure the most salient questions are being addressed and to meaningfully engage diverse stakeholders in assessment activities.
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New analytical and predictive tools can then be devised that have direct benefits in specific assessment applications. NESTED MATRIX CONCEPT Adaptive approaches are needed to continually integrate advances in knowledge into the policy context.
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