Knowledge exchange is one way we can overcome the science policy-gap. In partnership with the Canadian Forest Service at NRCan, we use various approaches from systematic reviews to interviewing knowledge exchange practitioners to better understand how to bridge the gap between science and policy in the forestry sector, and enable evidence-informed decision-making and practices.

Living Labs are an approach that brings various actors together (stakeholders, researchers, decision-makers, users, etc.) to co-create solutions through testing, experimentation, evaluation, and dialogue within a real-world environment. It is user-centric and allows for potentially more accelerated adoption of solutions and best practices. Working with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada as well as LLiO, we aim to better understand and promote the potential of Living Lab as a collaborative open innovation approach within the environmental and agricultural sector.  

Timely and relevant scientific knowledge is critical to inform fishery management decision-making. Over the past decade, the Great Lakes Fishery Commission invested millions of dollars in telemetry (fish tracking) infrastructure and projects, giving valuable insights and understanding of freshwater spatial ecology and long-term sustainability of fishery production. Yet, questions remain whether this “disruptive technology” has informed management and policy, and how we can facilitate this science transfer.