Maximising the impact of NERC research: facilitating knowledge exchange between the UK atmospheric science community and Defra.

空气质量在英国和全球都是一个重大的公共健康问题；联合国环境规划署称空气污染是世界上最严重的环境健康风险(1)，2012年全球有370万人死于空气质量下降(2)。2013年，英国《公共健康结果框架》纳入了与空气污染相关的死亡率指标，进一步证明了空气污染作为对健康的主要环境风险的重要性。因此，至关重要的是，必须建立有效的机制，确保自然环境研究理事会(NERC)进行的高质量空气污染研究适当地传达给负责这一问题的政府部门环境、食品和农村事务部(Defra)，并由其通报。虽然现有的程序可以促进空气污染研究与Defra的沟通，但越来越多的证据表明，空气污染对英国公共健康的成本强烈支持研究与政策之间日益扩大的互动规模。随着更有效地为政策提供科学证据的压力继续存在，既需要也有机会改进现有机制的使用，开发新的渠道和工具，以便更有效地将研究与政策沟通，并将证据需求从食品与药品管理局相互转让给研究界。这一奖学金将促进英国大气科学研究界与Defra的大气和工业排放团队(AIE)之间的有效沟通，扩大现有机制，以在这两个团队之间发展更长期和更可持续的工作关系，并增加英国政府、公共政策和欧洲的NERC空气质量研究的影响潜力。主要目标是促进共同研究成果，并提高对政策证据需求的认识，以增加NERC科学的政策影响。这些活动的重点是将NERC大气研究人员和Defra的大气和工业排放团队聚集在一起，在不造成不必要的时间或资源负担的情况下，促进知识交流、讨论研究重点和机会以及建立关系。作为NERC国家大气科学中心会议计划的一部分，将为研究人员和政策制定者组织论坛，讨论与政策相关的大气科学以及这些关键科学领域研究的未来。还将在关键会议上组织研讨会和专门会议，并在开展NERC空气污染研究的英国大学举办会议和研讨会。Defra用来综合庞大而复杂的空气质量研究基地的一个有效机制是空气质量专家组(AQEG)。AQEG是一个专家委员会，向Defra和下放的政府提供关于空气质量的独立科学建议。该奖学金将旨在提高AQEG及其成果的可见度，以最大限度地发挥这一资源的价值，向政策制定者传达空气质量证据。这一奖学金旨在让NERC社区更好地了解Defra的空气质量证据需求，并改善Defra获得NERC正在进行的高质量研究的机会。通过这项工作，可以建立和维护有效的网络，使政策科学界面上的长期知识交流成为可能，最大限度地提高英国产生与政策相关的尖端空气质量研究的能力，并实现对社会的潜在好处。参考：1.我们全球环境中的新问题，联合国环境规划署年鉴2014.2。2012年环境空气污染造成的疾病负担，世卫组织2014.3。环境商业，2015/16年度交付计划，NERC

Air quality is a significant public health issue in the UK and globally; the United Nations Environment Programme called air pollution the World's Worst Environmental Health Risk (1), with 3.7 million deaths worldwide attributed to degraded air quality in 2012 (2). In 2013, the Public Health Outcomes Framework for England included an indicator of mortality associated with air pollution, further demonstrating its recognised importance as a major environmental risk to health. It is essential, therefore that effective mechanisms are developed to ensure that the high quality air pollution research carried out by the Natural Environmental Research Council (NERC), the UK's largest funder of independent environmental science research, is appropriately communicated to and informed by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) who are the government department responsible for this issue. While there are existing processes to facilitate the communication of air pollution research to Defra, mounting evidence of the costs of air pollution on UK public health strongly favour an increasing scale of interactions between research and policy. With continuing pressure to deliver scientific evidence for policy more efficiently, there is both the need and opportunity to improve the use of existing mechanisms and to develop new channels and tools for more effective communication of research to policy and the reciprocal transfer of evidence needs from Defra to the research community. This fellowship will facilitate effective communication between the UK atmospheric science research community and Defra's Atmosphere and Industrial Emissions Team (AIE), extending existing mechanisms to develop longer-term and more sustainable working relationships between these two groups and increasing the potential for impact from NERC air quality research in UK government, public policy and Europe.The primary aim is to promote co-production of research and to increase awareness of the evidence needs of policy to provide increased policy impact from NERC science. The activities focus around getting NERC atmospheric researchers and Defra's Atmosphere and Industrial Emissions team together in situations that facilitate knowledge exchange, discussion of research priorities and opportunities, and relationship building, without creating unnecessary burdens on time or resources. As part of the NERC National Centre for Atmospheric Science programme of meetings, fora will be organised for researchers and policy-makers to discuss policy relevant atmospheric science and the future of research in these crucial areas of science. Workshops and dedicated sessions will also be organised at key meetings and conferences and seminars will be delivered at UK universities that carry out NERC air pollution research. An effective mechanism already used by Defra to synthesise the vast and complex research base for air quality is the Air Quality Expert Group (AQEG). AQEG are an Expert Committee that provides independent scientific advice on air quality to Defra and the Devolved Administrations. The fellowship will aim to increase the visibility of AQEG and its outputs to maximise the value of this resource for communicating air quality evidence to policy-makers. This fellowship aims to provide greater awareness from the NERC community of Defra's air quality evidence needs and an improvement in Defra's access to the high quality research being carried out by NERC. Through this work effective networks can be built and maintained enabling long-term knowledge exchange across the policy-science interface maximising the UK's ability to produce cutting-edge air quality research with policy relevance and to realise the potential benefit for society.References:1. Emerging issues in our global environment, UNEP Yearbook 2014.2. Burden of disease from Ambient Air Pollution for 2012, WHO 2014.3. The business of the environment, Delivery Plan 2015/16, NERC