Innovation in science policy organizations
The growing demand for policy-relevant knowledge has led to the emergence of a new class of science-policy or expert organizations. They bundle and translate scientific knowledge for global environmental governance. A prominent example is the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) which won the Nobel piece price for proving to the world that climate change is real. However, the IPCC as well as other science-policy organizations also experienced calls for innovation. Stakeholder engagement often framed in terms of knowledge co-production, shall make scientific knowledge more relevant and usable for policy.
The newly established Intergovernmental Platform for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) is one of the first international expert organizations to have systematically developed a strategy for stakeholder engagement in its own right. This lecture explores how IPBES addressed this challenge and finally adopted a formal stakeholder engagement strategy (SES). (Alejandro Esguerra)
Alejandro Esguerrais a post-doctoral researcher at the research group “Wicked Problems, Contested Administration: Knowledge, Coordination, Strategy” (WIPCAD) at the University of Potsdam. Before joining WIPCAD, Alejandro Esguerra was researcher at the Free University Berlin, the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), Leipzig, visiting researcher at Cornell University, and fellow at the Centre for Global Cooperation research at the University Duisburg-Essen. Alejandro holds a PhD in Political Science from the Berlin Graduate School for Transnational Studies (BTS), Free University Berlin. His publications are concerned with the role of knowledge in international relations theory, transnational private governance, and epistemic authority in global environmental politics. Most recently, he co-edited a book together with Nicole Helmerich and Thomas Risse titled “Sustainability Politics and limited Statehood. Contesting the new modes of governance” (Palgrave Macmillan).
Openness in public authorities
Disaster management requires the openness of public authorities, when their own resources are insufficient. In her lecture, Moreen Heine discusses different concepts of openness. In this context, public administrations face the challenge to balance between governance and self-organisation. Basically, this challenge is not new, but there are specific conditions in the light of the usage of social media. The resulting questions and approaches to solutions are addressed by the talk.
Moreen Heine has been working on Digital Government for over ten years. Since spring 2015 she is junior professor for Business Informatics at the University of Potsdam. Her research focuses on the design and transfer of adaptable e-government solutions. She addresses the question, how performant and successful e-government applications can be transferred to other authorities. This leads to the development of strategies for the diffusion of e-government solutions. Further, Moreen Heine carries on research concerning Open Government. She particularly studies the role of social media in general, but also in public disaster management. Her research is on the usage of social media by public authorities.
WIPCAD Lecture Series
Venue: University of Potsdam, Campus Griebnitzsee, House 7, Room 227
Date: 20 July 2016
Time: 12-14 c.t.