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March 14, 2019
March 14, 2019
Insights for the Water Sector
Identify opportunities to catalyze progress and accelerate success
Frame what is known and unknown into useful, actionable insights
Shape important conversations on water policy and practice
New Knowledge for Source Water Protection
Produce high-quality science to understand threats to drinking and source water
Engage with partners to translate knowledge into outcomes for enhanced water security
Develop the leader’s of tomorrow and sustain source water protection advancements
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@CdnWaterNetwork @forWaterNetwork
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Join the conversation! #CWNSYP
cwn-rce.ca forwater.ca
Peter DuinkerDalhousie University
Dani LindamoodforWater Network
Allie DusomeWater Institute
Webinar Speakers
Embeddedness
Peter Duinker
March 2019
The Ticket for Speaking Truth to Power
Agenda
• What is “speaking truth to power”?
• What is embeddedness in this context?
• What experiences have I had with this?
Millar Western Forest Products, 1990s
Bowater Mersey Paper Company, 2000s
Halifax Regional Municipality, 2010s
• Conclusion: How to bias for success in embeddedness, and therefore for speaking truth to power.
What is speaking truth to power?
What is embeddedness?
• The researcher (as knowledge producer) becomes deeply embedded in the problem situation of the client (knowledge user)
AND
• The client becomes deeply embedded in the research process led by the researcher
Not…
The Dal Ivory Tower
The Real World
But…
KnowledgeAND
Application!
Traditional academic research process
The Professor
Invent the research question
Get $$ and students
Design approach/methods
Get and analyze data
Kick student butts
Theses and defenses
Journal papers and confs
Return to top with new Qs
An embedded academic research process
The Professor
Refine the research question
Get students
Design approach/methods
Get and analyze data
Kick student butts
Theses and defenses
Journal papers and confs
The Client
Invent the research question
Vet approach/methods
Get $$
Help get and analyze data
Assist in kicking butts!
Get out of the way!
Participate fully in dissem.
Put findings to work
Return to top with new Qs
Assist! & monitoring!
Case #1: Millar Western Forest Products
• Where: Whitecourt, AB
• Who: Jonathan Russell
(and Laird Van Damme)
• What: Biodiversity assessment tools for sustainable forest management
• When: 1995-2000
Case #1: Millar Western Forest Products
• How:
PD at Lakehead with grad students, and KBM
$$
• Two years – MWFP only
• Two years – MWFP direct and SFM Network
• Two years – SFM Network (MWFP indirect)
• Russell became deeply embedded in the research and Duinker became deeply embedded in the forest plan development
• Russell and Duinker became good friends
DFMP OverviewFormalized Impact Assessment Framework for Values
in MWFP Forest Planning
Yield Curves & Succession Rules
ForestManagement
Strategies
Current Forest Inventory
Other Data
ForestInventory
ProjectionModel
ForestInventory
Projections BiodiversityForecasts
LandscapeEcologyModels
BiodiversityModels
WildlifeHabitatModels
Feedback Loop
WRENNS
Fire
WRENNS
Forecasts
RTE Plants Model
Archeological Sites
MitigativeActions
Species Selection
Barred OwlBrown CreeperCanada LynxElkLeast FlycatcherAmerican MartenMooseNorthern Flying SquirrelNorthern Goshawk Pileated WoodpeckerRuffed GrouseSnowshoe HareSouthern Red-backed VoleSpruce GrouseThree-toed WoodpeckerVaried ThrushWoodland Caribou
for Habitat Supply Models
Landscape Configuration:Contrast Weighted Edge Length
Contrast Weighted Edge Length (km)
0
20,000
40,000
60,000
80,000
100,000
120,000
140,000
160,000
180,000
200,000
1998
2008
2018
2028
2038
2048
2058
2068
2078
2088
2098
2108
2118
2128
2138
2148
2158
2168
2178
2188
2198
Year
Co
ntr
ast
we
igh
ted
ed
ge
le
ng
th (
km
)
BAU
ASP
I2P
ETP
R22
Embeddedness Case #1Millar Western Forest Products
What did the embeddedness mean?
Russell had a high influence on research design and implementation – he made sure it fit his needs
Duinker had a high influence on plan process and direction – he made sure that the results of his work were taken up
Embeddedness Case #1Millar Western Forest Products
Documentation:
MWFP DFMP – most sophisticated forest-management plan in Canada to that date
Van Damme, L., P.N. Duinker and D. Quintilio. 2008. Embedding science and innovation in forest management: recent experiences at Millar Western in west-central Alberta. Forestry Chronicle 84:301-306.
Van Damme, L., J.S. Russell, F. Doyon, P.N. Duinker, T. Gooding, K. Hirsch, R. Rothwell, and A. Rudy. 2003. The development and application of a decision support system for sustainable forest management on the Boreal Plain. Journal of Environmental Engineering and Science 2:S23-S34.
Embeddedness Case #2Bowater Mersey Paper Company
• Where: Liverpool, NS
• Who: Peter Jones et al.
• What: refinement of company policy on old-growth forest
• When: 2004-2009
Embeddedness Case #2Bowater Mersey Paper Company
• How:
– PD, Peter Bush, and graduate students at Dal
– $$: entirely from SFM Network
• indirect BMPC – parent AbitibiBowater paid into SFM Network
• PB spent time doing forest modelling in BMPC premises – embeddedness went no further
Embeddedness Case #2Bowater Mersey Paper Company
• What did the non-embeddedness mean?
– PD and PB wrote comprehensive report leading to an OGF policy for the company
– It was not received well:
• Slight decrease in long-run timber-harvest levels
• Different approach than company was used too
• Quietly critical of company protocols
• Insufficient grounding in peer-reviewed literature
• Overly aggressive approach to policy proposal
• No influence on company approach to OGF
Embeddedness Case #3Halifax Regional Municipality
• Start of relationship:PPP Comprehensive Plan
• Next task:HRM Urban Forest Master Plan!
Embeddedness Case #3Halifax Regional Municipality
• Who?
HRM
• John Charles, planner
• John Simmons, urban forester
Dal
• Me, planning supporter and R&D chief
• Students and research assistants/associates
• When?
2010-2012 – plan development
2013-present – plan implementation
Embeddedness Case #3Halifax Regional Municipality
How?
• Annual contract to hire 2 MREMs on internship
• 2010-2012 – planning activities, background research
• 2013-present
• Planting and pruning – tree measurements and database
• Regulation – little progress
• Citizen outreach and engagement – workshops, walkabouts, information (e.g., plan digest)
Embeddedness Case #3Halifax Regional Municipality
• Success factors:
– Local for all players
– Continuity of key players
– Planner in the research projects, researcher in the planning/implementation projects
– Respectful and warm relationships among leaders
– Excellent research assistants
Final thoughts re: embeddedness
• Embeddedness hugely raises the chances that research results aimed at influencing practice will actually do so.
• What does successful embeddedness require?
– Right attitudes and skills in key participants
– “Skin in the game” for key participants
– Time to invest, and persistence
– Continuity of key participants
Final thoughts re: embeddedness
Right attitudes and skills?
• Willingness to embed
• Keen on intense work and intense play
• Ability across domains
Researcher with planning-process skills
Planner with research-process skills
Dani Lindamood, forWater
Allie Dusome, The Water Institute
EFFECTIVE PARTNER COMMUNICATIONS
WORKING WITH PARTNERS
• Going beyond the status quo– Sharing in problems
– Co-designing solutions
– Utilizing (& trusting) each others’ expertise
– Relationship-building as an on-going process
• Importance of communications
EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATIONS
The ability for two or more parties to convey meaning to one another and create a shared understanding through mutually-held
language.
PURPOSE OF A POSTER
• Posters create an opportunity for interactive engagement between researchers and external stakeholders
• Improve applicability of research outcomes
• Improve research methods, variables, focus areas
• Opportunity to practice communicating your research in a way that’s applicable to your end user/partner
CREATING POSTERS
DETERMINE YOUR
AUDIENCE
DECIPHER KEY
MESSAGE
SIMPLIFY THE
LANGUAGE
VISUALIZE YOUR KEY MESSAGE
COME UP WITH A LAYOUT
FIVE TIPS WHEN CREATING YOUR POSTER
KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE
Identify your audience - who is going to find your research helpful or valuable?
Be as specific as possible when identifying audience (department in the government/company)
Understand your audience:
Current priorities, challenges/ limitations, research needs, etc.
How does your audience digest information?
Whom do they trust as suppliers of information?
Where do they get information? (their network, media, community, journals, etc.)
How do they get information? (word of mouth, printed materials, etc.)
RESOURCE TIP
Government staff directories• Federal: http://www.geds.gc.ca• Provincial: http://www.infogo.gov.on.ca
DECIPHER KEY MESSAGE – “WHY” NOT “HOW”
Outline the goals of your poster
• Provide information your target audience wants/needs in a way that is easy for them to understand
Develop content to achieve your goals
• The burning problem• Key research result(s) (or the range of potential results)• Potential research applications (or anticipated applications)
– Policy development – Informing a program– New technology– Inform monitoring
CATCHY TITLE
• First opportunity to draw people into your poster and learn about your research
• Frame as a question – what is the main question your research is trying to answer?
• Examples:– How does climate change affect drinking water quality?
– How cost-effective are phosphorus reduction actions?
– How will changing winter conditions affect Canadian agriculture best practices?
– How do the water quality impacts of wildfire change across different geographies?
– How can we make the results of forWater research accessible to decision-makers?
– How does habitat degradation impact walleye in the Southern Grand River?
VISUAL HIERARCHY
Visual hierarchy refers to the arrangement or presentation of elements in a way that implies importance. In other words, visual hierarchy influences the order in which the human eye perceives
what it sees.
VISUAL HIERACRHY
• Use size to enhance (or reduce) visibility
• Colour and contrast to direct viewer’s attention– Make sure colours compliment one another
• Typography (font) to organize design– Header, sub-header, paragraph
– Make sure they compliment one another and are easy to read
• Spacing: Give your layout balance, flow and focus– White space is okay
– Separate into sections
CALL TO ACTION
What do you want your audience to do after they have looked at your poster and engaged with you?
• Link to a website to learn more
• Business card to follow up / relationship building
• Survey to fill out
• Schedule a meeting to discuss your research in more detail
• One-pager/brochure with more detailed information
LAYOUT EXAMPLES
COMMON MISTAKES
Distracting visual elements
Visual hierarchy
Unclear/wordy text/jargon
Graphs/figures
Research methodology
