A Bias Radar for Responsible Policy-Making: Foresight-Based Scientific Advice

ISBN-13: 9783030321284 / Angielski / Miękka / 2021 / 133 str.

Lieve Van Woensel

Spis treści

Foreword

Acknowledgements

Contents

List of Figures and Boxes

Abbreviations

Introduction

1 Scientific policy advising: Exploring the science-policy ecosystem

2 How bias distorts evidence and its assessment

3 Scientific foresight: Considering the future of science and technology

4 Systems thinking and assessing cross-policy impacts

5 Towards responsible scientific advice: Painting the complete picture

Conclusion: Scientific policy advice beyond the evidence

Appendix 1: Interviewees

Appendix 2: Further reading

Index 108

O autorze

Lieve Van Woensel is Head of Service at the European Parliament, where she introduced foresight methodologies into scientific advisory processes. She has a broad scientific background, has worked for over 30 years at the science-policy interface, and was the EU Visiting Fellow at St. Antony’s College, University of Oxford, UK, 2017-2018.

Blurb

Policymakers prepare society for the future and this book provides a practical toolkit for preparing pro-active, future-proof scientific policy advice for them. It explains how to make scientific advisory strategies holistic. It also explains how and where biases, which interfere with the proper functioning of the entire science-policy ecosystem, arise and investigates how emotions and other biases affect the understanding and assessment of scientific evidence. The book advocates explorative foresight, systems thinking, interdisciplinarity, bias awareness and the anticipation of undesirable impacts in policy advising, and it offers practical guidance for them. Written in an accessible style, the book offers provocative reflections on how scientific policy advice should be sensitive to more than scientific evidence. It is both an appealing introductory text for everyone interested in science-based policy and a valuable guide for the experienced scientific adviser and policy scholar.

Lieve Van Woensel is Head of Service at the European Parliament, where she introduced foresight methodologies into scientific advisory processes. She has a broad scientific background, has worked for over 30 years at the science-policy interface, and was the EU Visiting Fellow at St. Antony’s College, University of Oxford, UK, 2017-2018.