Abstract
As coastal landscapes change, management professionals are working hard to transition research results into actions that support scientifically informed decisions impacting coastal communities. This type of research faces many challenges due to competing priorities, but boundary spanning organizations can help mediate these conflicts by forming transdisciplinary collaborations. The National Sea Grant College Program (Sea Grant), a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration based agency, is a networked organization of 34 university-based state programs that uses a three pronged approach of research, extension, and education to move academic research into the hands of stakeholders and decision makers. The objective of this study is to better understand strategies for successful research to application (R2A) projects that address complex environmental problems occurring in a socio-economic context. Specifically, this work examines R2A projects from the Sea Grant network to better understand the drivers for project development and common deliverables produced through the R2A process. We identify five common facilitating factors that enabled ‘successful’ R2A across all projects: platforms for partnerships, iterative communication, transparent planning, clear examples of R2A, and graduate student involvement. By providing examples of successful frameworks, we hope to encourage more organizations to engage in the R2A process.
Highlights
Coastal communities and ecosystems are facing multiple unprecedented challenges caused, in part, by increased urbanization, over exploitation of natural resources, climate change, and associated threats such as sea-level rise and increased extreme storm events (Nguyen et al, 2016; Stott, 2016)
Stakeholder need was defined as the project idea originating with an individual or organization outside of the core researcher who applied for Sea Grant funding; whereas scientific inquiry was defined as being formulated solely by the researcher applying for the funding
‘Success’ was self-identified within the definition of application as, information products, assessments, and tools used in decision making and resource management that enhances stakeholder ability to avoid, mitigate, or adapt to new threats or risks (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 2017)
Summary
Coastal communities and ecosystems are facing multiple unprecedented challenges caused, in part, by increased urbanization, over exploitation of natural resources, climate change, and associated threats such as sea-level rise and increased extreme storm events (Nguyen et al, 2016; Stott, 2016). Sea Grant uses a three pronged approach of research, extension, and education to move academic science up the Scale of Public Participation from informing to consulting, involving, collaborating, and eventually empowering stakeholders through two-way communication that allows stakeholders to directly influence decision making (Figure 1). This three pronged approach is facilitated by an expansive communications community, which allows Sea Grant to create knowledge to action networks to meet coastal stakeholder and ecosystem needs
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