CE-SciPol2
Responsible Research and Governance at the Science-Policy Nexus of Climate Change
New Discourses, Epistemic Communities and Climate Policy Regimes through Climate Engineering?
- Prof. Dr. Daniel Barben // Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt
- Dr. Silke Beck // Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research − UFZ
- Nils Matzner //Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt
- Felix Wittstock // Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research − UFZ
Summary
CE-SciPol2 empirically examines how potentials and risks of CE and responsible forms of research have been framed within and across multiple arenas of science, policy-making and civil society, how communities of scientists and policy relevant experts have emerged to conduct research on and assess CE, and it explores how their assessments are integrated into governance approaches and embedded in regime(s).
The project also addresses the consequences and implications of the Conference of Parties (COP 21) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) on CE discourses and the formation of the climate regime. It reviews the state of international research to identify the particular challenges how to govern CE research. It reconstructs the spectrum of guidelines, standards and criteria to evaluate responsible research and thus provides the baseline for the anticipatory governance of the SPP.
The project also addresses the consequences and implications of the Conference of Parties (COP 21) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) on CE discourses and the formation of the climate regime. It reviews the state of international research to identify the particular challenges how to govern CE research. It reconstructs the spectrum of guidelines, standards and criteria to evaluate responsible research and thus provides the baseline for the anticipatory governance of the SPP.
K E Y Q U E S T I O N S
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WP1 : RESPONSIBLE RESEARCH AND GOVERNANCE OF CE: DISCOURSES IN SCIENTIFIC AND POLICY ARENAS |
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WP2 : ACCEPTANCE POLITICS FOR AND AGAINST CE: PROMISES, FEARS, AND CREDIBILITY OF ACTORS INVOLVED |
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WP3 : EPISTEMIC COMMUNITY AT THE SCIENCE-POLICY NEXUS |
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WP4: EMERGENCE OF NEW CONFIGURATIONS OF EXPERTISE INSIDE THE IPCC |
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WP5: EMERGING GOVERNANCE APPROACHES AND REGIMES |
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WP6: ANTICIPATORY GOVERNANCE OF CE: SYNTHESIS AND OUTLOOK |
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Methods
WP1: RESPONSIBLE RESEARCH AND GOVERNANCE OF CE: DISCOURSES IN SCIENTIFIC AND POLICY ARENAS
Applying both quantitative and qualitative methods of discourse analysis, we further investigate how actors concerned with CE define problems and approach solutions in climate change research and governance, and how they position themselves to the various issues at stake, such as knowledge quality, risk management, acceptability, legitimacy, and climate policy design. In addition to the comprehensive corpus of documents from the natural sciences, we are systematically considering documents from the social sciences, law, and humanities, examining the distinct views on CE-related controversies they provide together with the argumentative dynamics across arenas.
WP2: ACCEPTANCE POLITICS FOR AND AGAINST CE: PROMISES, FEARS, AND CREDIBILITY OF ACTORS INVOLVED
We will conduct interviews with a selected group of vocal proponents and opponents of CE development. The interview partners will be chosen with regard to their prominence within, and possibly across, the arenas of science, policy-making and civil society. Because of the fundamental role science-based knowledge plays in the assessment of CE, we will pay particular attention to the controversies among CE experts from various disciplinary backgrounds in science and engineering.
WP3: EPISTEMIC COMMUNITY AT THE SCIENCE-POLICY NEXUS
WP3 will build typologies concerning the shared sets of normative and principled beliefs, the shared causal beliefs, the shared notions of validity of knowledge claims, and CE as a policy option. This research will be pursued following three methods: discourse analysis, qualitative interviews with researchers and practitioners, and participant observations in contexts where fundamental issues of climate science and climate policy are debated.
WP4: EMERGENCE OF NEW CONFIGURATIONS OF EXPERTISE INSIDE THE IPCC
WP4 synthesizes the state of research on global assessments and regulatory science to develop a framework and criteria for the analysis of expert organizations operating at the interface between science and policymaking. It analyzes IPCC reports and their uptake in international journals and conducts expert interviews to reconstruct and compare the assessments by IPCC working groups and special reports.
WP5: EMERGING GOVERNANCE APPROACHES AND REGIMES
WP5 reviews the state of research on multi-level governance and international regimes to develop a framework for the analysis of CE governance approaches and regimes emerging in the field of climate change, biodiversity and water, in combination with document analysis and expert interviews. It also uses a comparative approach to account for interactions, similarities and differences as well as forms of con- and divergence between single governance approaches and sectoral forms of regime building.
WP6: ANTICIPATORY GOVERNANCE OF CE: SYNTHESIS AND OUTLOOK
The project reviews the state of research on responsible CE research and it explains why particular concepts
of CE resonate with particular national and societal contexts. It also includes public engagement experiments as they are conducted in the UK for instance, discusses the role of social sciences and humanities and reflects their implications on
the self-understanding and public role of CE research. It aims provide science-based input to, and opening up, policy debates on climate change and CE. These findings are also presented at a public workshop and exhibition in cooperation with Museum für Naturkunde Berlin.
International Research Partner
- Prof. Peter Healey (University of Oxford, UK)
- Prof. Mike Hulme (King’s College, London, UK)
- Prof. Sheila Jasanoff (Harvard University, USA)
- Prof. Clark Miller (Arizona State University, USA)
- Prof. Arthur Petersen (UCL, UK/NL)
- Prof. Steve Rayner (University of Oxford, UK)
- Prof. Andrew Stirling (University of Sussex, UK)
- Prof. David Winickoff (Berkeley University, USA)