Kerry and Juliette explored what role this high profile assessment played in promoting knowledge use between science and policy. They show that the NEA did help to support science-policy links on ecosystem services topics, and this largely arose from opportunities to communicate and interact. By contrast, the large report that resulted from the assessment may have relatively few direct practical uses, despite expectations that it would do so. This has implications for the design of other environmental assessments: they should be explicitly based on the literature on knowledge use, and emphasise processes that allow interaction between scientists, policy, and other groups.  

Waylen, K.A., Young, J. (2014). Expectations and experiences of diverse forms of knowledge use: the case of the UK National Ecosystem Assessment, Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy, 32: 229-246.

Please contact Kerry or Juliette for a copy of the pdf.