Identifying the science and technology dimensions of emerging public policy issues through horizon scanning

Parker, Miles, Acland, Andrew, Armstrong, Harry J., Bellingham, Jim R., Bland, Jessica, Bodmer, Helen C., Burall, Simon, Castell, Sarah, Chilvers, Jason ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9238-1653, Cleevely, David D., Cope, David, Costanzo, Lucia, Dolan, James A., Doubleday, Robert, Feng, Wai Yi, Godfray, H. Charles J., Good, David A., Grant, Jonathan, Green, Nick, Groen, Arnoud J., Guilliams, Tim T., Gupta, Sunjai, Hall, Amanda C., Heathfield, Adam, Hotopp, Ulrike, Kass, Gary, Leeder, Tim, Lickorish, Fiona A., Lueshi, Leila M., Magee, Chris, Mata, Tiago, McBride, Tony, McCarthy, Natasha, Mercer, Alan, Neilson, Ross, Ouchikh, Jackie, Oughton, Edward J., Oxenham, David, Pallett, Helen ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5014-6356, Palmer, James, Patmore, Jeff, Petts, Judith, Pinkerton, Jan, Ploszek, Richard, Pratt, Alan, Rocks, Sophie A., Stansfield, Neil, Surkovic, Elizabeth, Tyler, Christopher P., Watkinson, Andrew R., Wentworth, Jonny, Willis, Rebecca, Wollner, Patrick K. A., Worts, Kim and Sutherland, William J. (2014) Identifying the science and technology dimensions of emerging public policy issues through horizon scanning. PLoS One, 9 (5). ISSN 1932-6203

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Abstract

Public policy requires public support, which in turn implies a need to enable the public not just to understand policy but also to be engaged in its development. Where complex science and technology issues are involved in policy making, this takes time, so it is important to identify emerging issues of this type and prepare engagement plans. In our horizon scanning exercise, we used a modified Delphi technique [1]. A wide group of people with interests in the science and policy interface (drawn from policy makers, policy adviser, practitioners, the private sector and academics) elicited a long list of emergent policy issues in which science and technology would feature strongly and which would also necessitate public engagement as policies are developed. This was then refined to a short list of top priorities for policy makers. Thirty issues were identified within broad areas of business and technology; energy and environment; government, politics and education; health, healthcare, population and aging; information, communication, infrastructure and transport; and public safety and national security.Public policy requires public support, which in turn implies a need to enable the public not just to understand policy but also to be engaged in its development. Where complex science and technology issues are involved in policy making, this takes time, so it is important to identify emerging issues of this type and prepare engagement plans. In our horizon scanning exercise, we used a modified Delphi technique [1]. A wide group of people with interests in the science and policy interface (drawn from policy makers, policy adviser, practitioners, the private sector and academics) elicited a long list of emergent policy issues in which science and technology would feature strongly and which would also necessitate public engagement as policies are developed. This was then refined to a short list of top priorities for policy makers. Thirty issues were identified within broad areas of business and technology; energy and environment; government, politics and education; health, healthcare, population and aging; information, communication, infrastructure and transport; and public safety and national security.

Item Type: Article
Additional Information: © 2014 Parker et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Faculty \ School: Faculty of Science > School of Environmental Sciences
Faculty of Science
Faculty of Science > School of Biological Sciences
UEA Research Groups: Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Science, Society and Sustainability
Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Resources, Sustainability and Governance (former - to 2018)
Faculty of Science > Research Centres > Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Conservation
Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Environmental Social Sciences
Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Collaborative Centre for Sustainable Use of the Seas
Depositing User: Pure Connector
Date Deposited: 28 Jan 2015 12:42
Last Modified: 04 Jul 2023 13:30
URI: https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/52046
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0096480

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