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The Need
- Trusted convener institutions
- The best tools of science, practical knowledge and public values to allow confident action
- Collaborative decision-making for complex sustainable development problems
- Facilitation of social learning
- Empowering people to make facts-based choices
- An educational observatory and cutting-edge collaboration between science and public policy
Goals and Objectives
- Integrate science and policy capabilities of the University of Washington and other major regional institutions
- Assist political leaders to use scientific, social, economic, cultural and technological information with confidence
- Create a collaboration for scientific research
- Build neutral, trusted, interactive problem-solving environments
- Create a classroom where science and public policy come together in a cutting-edge collaboration
The Timing
- Many political leaders want to better use physical and biological information to manage natural resources
- New governance tools and credible innovative institutions are needed
- Much data are unused, despite models, simulations, and technologies
- Scientific research too often fails to inform decision-makers
- Scientists are frustrated with political processes
- Stakeholders criticize decisions that ignore their values
- Current models of mediation and facilitation are based on immediate political tradeoffs, and have limited long-term success