PDF

The Science Policy Workshop on Metals in the Environment MITE-RN hosted a Science/Policy Workshop in March 2001 for scientists and decision makers to discuss the policy implications regarding research of metals in the environment. The workshop had two principal goals:

• To determine the current knowledge gaps and science questions, related to the impact of metals in the environment, that must be addressed from a government policy perspective in order to facilitate the development of public policy; and
• to identify mechanisms that could improve and enhance the communication of relevant research results to the key officials involved in developing public policy in the metals-in- the-environment area.

The workshop program included plenary presentations by three keynote speakers: Dr. Barry Stemshorn, Assistant Deputy Minister, Environmental Protection Service, Environment Canada; Ms. Justyna Laurie-Lean, Vice President, The Mining Association of Canada; Mr. Robert Lyng, Manager, Environment Programs, Ontario Power Generation, Inc., and shorter presentations by Domain leaders from the three MITE- RN Domains.

Through the plenary discussion, it became clear that methods of communicating policy advice are essentially marketing strategies. As such, Networks like MITE may benefit from specialized expertise in communications, which is available both in the private sector and in the research community. It was equally clear that the particular communication strategy should be tailored to the issue, and interested agency(ies). It is unlikely that a single communication mechanism will suffice for any policy issue; rather, it will be important to use several different kinds of tools, perhaps at several levels, to achieve the desired policy impact. The timing of communication is also critical – the issue must be seen as urgent relative to other agenda items, or it will not attract the attention of decision makers.

Online