The Advanced Technology Institute – opportunities and challenges for academia

Welcome to SciPoDS

Welcome to the Centre for Science in Policy, Diplomacy and Society (SciPoDS), in the Public Policy Institute of the University of Auckland. Positioned at the nexus of science and public policy, SciPoDS combines a commitment to academic research with policy practice. Bridging scientific and policy cultures, SciPoDS focuses on the knowledge component of policy-making in its many aspects:

• How to generate scientific evidence in policy-ready ways while understanding the contested nature of research and its application to complex policy areas;
• How to develop the knowledge brokering skills and capacity that can combine scientific and policy approaches to complex problems
• How to communicate scientific knowledge to multiple audiences through meaningful engagement that can help build trust

In today’s world of complex policy problems from climate change to child poverty, there is an increasing need for reliable scientific input, yet such input has never been more contested. When a policy response threatens an entrenched status quo a common reaction is to question the evidence.  Yet we know that evidence alone is but one input into policy response.  What are the conditions, structural arrangements and skills needed to enable better use of evidence in developing public policy, international relationships and social license for decisions? SciPoDS research and practice are focused on this very question.