Advanced training course in Ghent October 2022

Advanced Training Course on Science-Based Advice in the fields of agriculture and environment

When: 5-6 October 2022

Where: Ghent, Belgium

The first joint training course on Science-Based Advice took place in Ghent, Belgium on 5-6 October 2022. A total of 14 presenters and 20 participants (+14 online), spent two days of interesting presentations, discussion and learning. A group of 7 organising institutions was involved in the planning, with Aarhus University as coordinators and ILVO - Flanders Research Institute for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food as host.

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Programme at-a-glance:

Day 1:

What is science based advice, and how is it used?

Policy makers and experienced advisors setting the scene.

What are the pitfalls and how do we overcome them?

Examples of problems and best-practices when delivering scientific advice

Day 2:

From national to international advice, what is different?

What you should know when providing science-based advice in an international context

Stakeholder relations and communication

Dealing with criticism, conflicts and stakeholders with different agendas

Target group:

Experienced advisors willing to evolve and share their practice

Background:

Rising demand for scientific advice in order to solve complex issues

The European Union as well as national governments have adopted ambitious climate and environmental targets for agriculture and food production

At the same time, an efficient and competitive agricultural and food sector is important for food supply and the economy.

Decisions and regulations in this field can be both complicated and conflicting. The topics of agriculture,

food, climate and the environment are therefore high on the political agenda, and there is a growing demand for scientific knowledge advising policy formulation.

Agricultural and environmental policy subject to heated debates

In several member states, science-based advice has become the subject of heated debates. Stakeholders and lobbyists are strong and some has challenged both the policy as well as the science behind it.

This provides a new type of pressure on the researchers delivering the advice. The pressure from stakeholders and the strong political agenda has to be kept at bay, and at the same time the scientific results has to be both solid and transparent. This is not an easy task for single researchers, and strong institutional setups has been developed at some of the major European research institutes involved.

Growing demand for training and knowledge sharing

Aarhus University has a long experience in providing science-based policy advice to Danish ministries. The university hosted the first European Seminar on science-based government advice in agriculture, food, climate and the environment in March 2021. More than 200 researchers and advisers from all over Europe participated. One of the conclusions was, that there is a need to learn from each other, to share best practices and to discuss the main principles, in order to strengthen the evidence based policy development in Europe. As a result, 7 European research institutes have developed this training course, open to experienced resarchers and advisors from all of Europe.