Delivering Environmental Monitoring Data to Decision Makers

CSIN Learning Event #22 Presentation by Carissa Wieler Canadian Sustainability Indicators Network

Introductions

 Please spend 1 minute yourself    Your name Your area of work Your interest in this topic introducing

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Order of Introductions

Barb Buckland, Environment Canada Bob Cox, BC Ecosystems Branch Bill Dalton, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources Nancy Doucet, Centre for Sustainable Watersheds Marlene Doyle, Ecological Monitoring and Assessment Network Israel Dunmade, Mount Royal College, Alberta Mattu Gevan, Environment Canada Lynn Husted, BC Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection Wendy Kalkan, Municipality of Pincher Creek, Alberta Steve Litke, Fraser Basin Council Tadeu Malheiros, University of Sao Paulo, Brazil Tom Niemann, BC Ministry of Forests and Range Lionel Normand, Toronto and Region Conservation Carey Oglivie, Environment Canada Andy Sharpe, Clean Annapolis River Project Luc Vescovi, Ouranos

Premise for Research

 How can monitoring groups be more strategic about delivering their information to decision-makers?  As part of that strategy, how can monitoring groups convert their data into information and knowledge in a way that can be used by decision-makers?

Research Goals

 To identify practices that enable community-based monitoring groups to successfully deliver their data to decision makers.  To address both the “push” and the “pull” for environmental monitoring data.

Community –Based Monitoring Groups

Data

Decision-Makers and Policy-Makers

Sometimes, it’s hard to coordinate the push and pull… …even when there’s a connection

Research Protocol

  Literature review 15+ semi-structured interviews with 6 community monitoring groups:       Rocky Mountain Trench National Resources Society, BC Arctic Borderland Ecological Knowledge Coop, Northern Canada Black River First Nation / Tembec, Manitoba Monitoring the Moraine, ON H2O Chelsea, ON Atlantic Coastal Action Plan, Cape Breton

Research Outputs

 Training session at the Ecological Monitoring and Assessment Network (EMAN) National Science Meeting  Paper and worksheets distributed via EMAN and CSIN

This Learning Event Opportunities for engagement:

 Ideas and practices for delivering data and knowledge to decision-makers  Feedback on approach and concepts

Quick Poll

 Who here is familiar with the Ecological Monitoring and Assessment Network (EMAN) and/or the Canadian Community Monitoring Network (CCMN)?  Who is planning on attending EMAN’s National Science Meeting in Winnipeg?

What is an impact strategy?

An impact strategy consists of the steps you take to ensure that the work you do will leverage

real progress

on key issues or concerns. It is

proactive

in nature, and

adaptive

in a public policy environment where priorities of governments and citizens can shift and change.

Purpose Audience

An impact strategy builds on communications activities…

Impact Strategy

Goal is to effect change and to identify your potential role as a change agent.

Small group of key actors and those who have access to those actors.

Traditional Communications Activities

Goal is to ensure people understand the findings and recommendations.

Broader audiences.

Timing

Developed at the beginning of a monitoring and assessment process, monitored and adjusted throughout the process.

Part of the impact strategy; usually implemented towards the end of the strategy when findings and recommendations are known.

UNEP’s Impact Strategy

     Adopted by the United Nations Environmental Protection Agency (UNEP) IISD’s Knowledge and Communications Team developed this approach internally UNEP subsequently expressed interest in it It is being applied in UNEP’s Global Environmental Outlook (GEO) Resource Book A capacity building manual for integrated environmental assessment (IEA)

Components of an Impact Strategy

     Creating the change statement. What you would like the impact of your monitoring data to be?

Relationship management. Identify the key actors and processes that you are seeking to influence, and build connections to them.

Knowledge management. Gather and analyze the data.

Opportunity management. Move the knowledge into the hands of those you want to influence.

Monitoring and improvement. Determine whether your impact strategy is working, and adjust it as necessary.

Step 1

. What is the change you seek?

Step 5.

Monitoring and Evaluation

Step 4

. What are the key opportunities to communicate?

Step 2

. Who are the people and what are the processes that are positioned to have influence on the change?

Step 3

. What knowledge do they/we need?

Push

Knowledge and Opportunity Management

Impact Strategy

Relationship Management

Pull

Step 1. What is the change you seek?

  What would you like to see changed or done differently as a result of your monitoring? An impact statement may be broad, may identify key policy mechanisms, or may focus on one priority area.

Examples of Change Statements

 A change statement may be broad, such as getting policy makers to use the data.

Key departmental decision-makers will use the information gathered during the monitoring to develop policy priorities around integrated watershed management.

(adapted from ACAP CARP)

Examples of Change Statements

 The change statement could identify key policy mechanisms.

The Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) will declare the yellow lamp mussel a Red Listed Species, as a result of our monitoring work. (adapted from ACAP Cape Breton)

Examples of Change Statements

 The change statement could focus on one key priority you want your findings to address.

The municipality will use the information gathered from our monitoring to assess the performance of current water quality policies. (adapted from Monitoring the Moraine)

Step 1

. What is the change you seek?

Step 5.

Monitoring and Evaluation

Step 4

. What are the key opportunities to communicate?

Step 2

. Who are the people and what are the processes that are positioned to have influence on the change?

Step 3

. What knowledge do they/we need?

 Step 2. Who are the people and what are the processes that are positioned to have an influence on the change you seek? (Relationship Management)

What are the perspectives of those you want to reach?



How do these people acquire information?



Who do they trust?



Who are the people they listen to, and how can you reach them? The core concept of relationship management is maintaining the connections and influence over time.

Practices



Identify policies and processes your monitoring could influence

  find out from local planners what policies the municipality would like to monitor but haven’t (within the realm of your interest area) (MTM) find out what processes are currently underway, such as the red listing of a species (ACB), or long term plans that will require monitoring (MTM)

Practices

 Become knowledgeable about who the opinion leaders and champions are in the community  start by talking with representatives from various stakeholder groups; find out who is who and what the relationship dynamics are (RMTS)   attend stakeholder meetings and other events that helps you understand the perspectives of those you want to build relationships with (RMTS) host a local workshop and invite a broad range of people; follow up with those who attend (they will likely be the champions) (MTM)

Practices

 Build relationships with leaders and champions    meet with the new mayor and/or councilors, provide brief materials, a concise overview of your work and make a small, yet clear request (RMTS) invite multiple stakeholders to sit on an advisory board for your group – include scientists, planners, industry, NGOs (MTM, RMTS, ABEKC) overcome us/them barriers by identifying common goals that work for “all of us” (MTM, RMTS)

Your thoughts (10 minutes)

 What has been your experience with identifying people and processes that you would like to influence?  What have been the “take away” messages from your experience?

Step 1

. What is the change you seek?

Step 5.

Monitoring and Evaluation

Step 4

. What are the key opportunities to communicate?

Step 2

. Who are the people and what are the processes that are positioned to have influence on the change?

Step 3

. What knowledge do they/we need?

Step 3. What knowledge do they need and do we need?

(knowledge management)

Analyze what they need to know, and what you need to know that will help them take or influence the decision.

 Consider how to build trust in your final product, such as using trusted monitoring protocols.

 Increase the relevance and salience of your findings by including decision makers and stakeholders in the process.

 Ensure greater legitimacy through participation of scientists in the knowledge development process.

Step 3. What knowledge do they need and do we need?



Convert your data into information and knowledge that can be more directly applied by policy makers.

Examples

 The Arctic Borderlands Ecological Knowledge Coop provided insight into relationships between weather, snow, overflow, caribou calving, and local livelihoods. This led to further research at a University.  Monitoring the Moraine partnered ecological monitoring and policy monitoring to better understand their inter-relationships in the Oak Ridges Moraine. Capacity to monitor both science and implementation of policy is increasing in the community.

One way moving from data to knowledge

Your thoughts (10 minutes)

 What has been your experience with turning data into information and knowledge for delivering to those you want to influence?

 What have been some of the key lessons learned?

Step 1

. What is the change you seek?

Step 5.

Monitoring and Evaluation

Step 4

. What are the key opportunities to communicate?

Step 2

. Who are the people and what are the processes that are positioned to have influence on the change?

Step 3

. What knowledge do they/we need?

Step 4. What are key opportunities to communicate? (opportunity management) Move knowledge into the hands of those you want to influence.

Take advantage of key windows to move the monitoring findings into the hands of others, and creating opportunity directly.

The development of “key messages” is essential in this step.

Key messages are short, simple, plain language statements that capture the essence of the work.

Develop a communications strategy

Include:       Communication goals Target audiences Objectives for each audience Guidelines Strategy Timetable Contact database

Practices

Provide annual reports to a target audience (like city council) (H20 Chelsea)

Have your report “translated” by someone working at city hall (i.e. a sustainability coordinator) to better reach policy makers (H2O Chelsea)

Keep it simple, be relevant, use clear and plain language for all audiences develop “sticky” messages (ABEKC) Follow issue cycles in the media and (H2OChelsea, MTM)

Step 1

. What is the change you seek?

Step 5.

Monitoring and Evaluation

Step 4

. What are the key opportunities to communicate?

Step 2

. Who are the people and what are the processes that are positioned to have influence on the change?

Step 3

. What knowledge do they/we need?

Step 5. Monitoring and Evaluation

 Measure incremental changes in attitudes, actions and behaviours.

 Identify and map incremental changes that will lead to decisions or changes you are seeking.  Track interactions with your contacts and the media.

A Possible Continuum of Behaviour Changes in Target Actors    

Receiving information

• • Information sent to target actors Meetings are set up with target actors

Seeking and processing information

• • Target actors seek information from others to verify information from monitoring report Media reports messages that are consistent with monitoring data

Acting

• Target actors issue new policy briefs, white papers, frameworks, regulations, other responses.

Demanding

• Target actors ask for more work from monitoring group (e.g., follow-up investigations, additional monitoring parameters).



Examples of Incremental Changes

City Council meets specifically to review H20 Chelsea’s Annual Report and develop a response strategy.

 The Arctic Borderland Ecological Knowledge Coop was asked to provide data for an Environmental Assessment process in the McKenzie Delta.

 The yellow lamb mussel was declared a red listed species based on monitoring data from ACAP Cape Breton.

Your thoughts (10 minutes)

 What are you thoughts about the Impact Strategy approach?  What are it’s strengths and limitations?  What parts were more or less clear than other parts?