Social Science

Assessing Assessments

We are building a comprehensive database of stakeholder characteristics and needs. In collaboration with other RISA programs, we are analyzing reports and other documents that describe stakeholders' climate information needs in our respective regions. Our main goal is to summarize the evolution of stakeholders' thinking, engagement, and perception of climate knowledge needs in the Great Lakes region. Activities within this project include the development of a comprehensive list of reports and the creation of a comprehensive baseline database of stakeholders currently engaged, including information about what organizations they belong to, at what scale and in what sector, and what are their expressed knowledge needs.

In the Stakeholder Reports section, GLISA provides access to a range of such reports and other documents that describe stakeholders' information needs in the Great Lakes region. These documents include climate action plans, workshop summaries, and recommendations from researchers. They have been used by our research team and are available in PDF format. Learn more »

Mapping Stakeholder Networks

GLISA is mapping climate policy networks in the region. By surveying stakeholders on the people and organizations with whom they communicate and collaborate on climate-related issues, we are better able to understand the structure of relationships around these issues and develop more effective engagement strategies for subsequent assessment activities. This network analysis will also provide critical information about stakeholder views, concerns, behaviors and preferences. This information will be vital in developing effective engagement strategies and allow us to follow changes in stakeholder views and the structure of the network over time.

In a study part of NOAA funded-GLISA research, GLISA Team Members explored the link between network location, clusters, and structural holes with policy-oriented behavior concerning climate science. This article, Network Location and Policy-Oriented Behavior: An Analysis of Two-Mode Networks of Coauthored Documents Concerning Climate Change in the Great Lakes Region, seeks to address the gap between climate scientists working collectively in diverse fields, decision makers, and, ultimately, the public. Read the article here »

Figure (right): Clusters in a Two-Mode Network of Actors and the Documents They Coauthored.
(Frank, K., Chen, I.-C., Lee, Y., Kalafatis, S., Chen, T., Lo, Y.-J. and Lemos, M. C., 2012.)