NERC High level Policy Placement with Welsh Government

该职位的目的是支持和加强确保由自然环境研究理事会（NERC）进行的广泛科学研究有效转移到苏格兰政府（及其合作伙伴）的过程，从而形成有效制定相关政策和实践的证据基础。与此同时，它希望影响NERC研究的重点和范围，以更好地满足苏格兰的独特需求。苏格兰政府是农村事务，食品和环境领域科学的主要资助者。每年的投资超过5000万英镑，它支持广泛的研究课题，这些课题支持并为苏格兰政策的发展提供信息，从土地使用战略到城市空气质量。这影响到每个人的生活，在这方面的核心重点是支持农业，食品，环境变化，野生动物和农村社区的研究。NERC是英国独立环境科学的主要资助者，每年通过大学和研究中心花费约3.3亿英镑。该局致力与其他机构合作，以确保其研究开支的重点和优先次序，能切合在这些科学范畴制订和检讨政策和做法的人士的需要。与每个领域的关键人员合作，改善NERC提供的科学与苏格兰政府及其合作伙伴组织制定政策的证据需求之间的联系在公共部门。这方面的关键将是一些具体目标和产出：1.调整苏格兰政府和NERC战略的重点和内容，包括其方法，优先事项和机会目标1的初始阶段将涉及根据当前NERC科学计划和优先事项2审查苏格兰政府及其合作伙伴当前的证据计划。支持为制定政策建立科学证据库。作为这些调查的一部分，还将审查RESAS和CAMERAS领导人利用什么来源来建立他们的政策立场-什么是最能说明当前政策的证据基础？政策领导人从哪里获得知识？3.经纪人与NERC资助的科学家和相关数据和证据来源的联系，为苏格兰政府参与更广泛的证据计划提供信息。NERC和苏格兰政府已经有一些发展良好的联合活动领域，支持关键领域的具体项目和方案。苏格兰政府还提出了创新的想法，通过气候变化和水等领域的科学专门知识中心，将学者和决策者聚集在一起。因此，这一目标的第一阶段将是审查这些现有的伙伴关系，以掌握最佳做法，并确定在哪些方面可能出现参与和吸收科学的障碍，从而阻碍有效的知识转让。作为NERC和苏格兰政府之间的战略联系，以确定范围并采取措施，确保为NERC和苏格兰政府（及其机构和专业知识中心）如何合作建立长期可持续的战略框架。最后一个目标将汇集前三个目标的调查结果，探索机制，使苏格兰政府的政策证据的需求，反之亦然，在一个更持久和可持续的基础上，通过一个联合战略框架的发展。影响：这项工作的直接受益者将是决策者和科学专题领导在苏格兰政府和NERC，最终导致更有效和及时地提供相关的科学，以支持政策和实践。

The aim of this placement is to support and enhance the processes that ensure that the wide range of science research that is undertaken by and through the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) is effectively transferred to Scottish Government (and its partners), and so forms the evidence base for effective development of relevant policies and practice. At the same time, it looks to influence the focus and scope of NERC research to better meet the distinctive needs of Scotland.The Scottish Government is a major funder of science in the area of rural affairs, food and the environment,. With an investment of over £50 million a year, it supports a broad range of research topics which underpin and inform the development of Scottish policies, ranging from the land use strategy to urban air quality. This impacts on the lives of everyone, with the core focus in this context being the support for research in agriculture, food, environmental change, wildlife, and rural communities.NERC is the leading funder of independent environmental science in the UK, spending some £330 million per year through universities and Research Centres. It is committed to working in partnership with others to ensure that its focus and priorities for research spending meet the needs of those who are developing and reviewing polices and practices in these areas of science.The post being established in this project will act as a conduit between these two organisations, working with key persons in each to improve the the links between the science delivered by NERC and the evidence needs of those developing policies in Scottish Government and its partner organisations in the public sector. Key to this will be a number of specific objectives and outputs:1. Aligning the focus and contents of Scottish Government's and NERC strategies, including their approaches, priorities and opportunitiesThe initial stage in objective 1 will involve a review of the Scottish Government and their partners current evidence plans against the current NERC science programmes and priorities2. Support the development of the science evidence base for policy development. As part of these investigations, a review will also be undertaken of what sources RESAS and CAMERAS leads have utilised to create their policy positions - what is the evidence base that most informs the current policy? and from where do policy leads get their knowledge?3. Broker links with NERC-funded scientists and relevant data and evidence sources to inform Scottish Government engagement with wider evidence programmes. NERC and Scottish Government already have some well-developed areas of joint activity, supporting specific projects and programmes in key areas. Scottish Government also developed innovative ideas to bring academics and policy makers together through their Centres of Science Expertise in such areas as Climate Change and Water. An initial stage of this objective will therefore be to review these existing partnerships in order to capture best practice and identify where any barriers to engagement and uptake of science may be occurring and thus hindering effective knowledge transfer.4. Act as a strategic link between NERC and Scottish Government to scope and initiate measures to ensure a long-term sustainable strategic framework for how NERC and Scottish Government (and their agencies and Centres of Expertise) can work together. The final objective will bring together the findings of the first three objectives to explore mechanisms for engaging the NERC community with Scottish Government policy evidence needs and vice-versa on a more permanent and sustainable basis, through the development of a joint strategic framework.Impact:The immediate beneficiaries of this work will be policy-makers and science thematic leads in both Scottish Government and NERC, leading ultimately to more effective and timely delivery of relevant science to support policy and practice.