Post on 15-Jun-2015
description
Square pegs for round holes? Researchers, consultants
and staff practitioners as adaptation knowledge brokers
Scott Losee Dr Tony MatthewsScott Losee Consulting QUT
30/9/2014, NCCARF Conference, Gold Coast, Queensland
Scott LoseeConsultingQuote from last year
‘A lot of consultants have made a lot of money out of the Pacific Islands.’
This comment prompted thinking about the relative contribution of different knowledge broker groups in advising on climate change adaptation
Losee & Matthews, NCCARF Gold Coast, 2014 / loseeconsulting.com.au 2
Scott LoseeConsultingAims
Share proposed research approach and some pilot outcomes
Seed some fruitful discussion about the roles of professional advisor groups
Yeronga, Qld, 1974, BCC archives
Losee & Matthews, NCCARF Gold Coast, 2014 / loseeconsulting.com.au 3
Scott LoseeConsultingLiterature touchpoints
Gibbs, M.T. (unpub.)
Application of risk management; knowledge and treatment of climate change science by practitioners; service level of assets
Hegger et al., 2012
Joint knowledge production between science and policy. Incidental mention of consultants
McAllister et al., 2014
Network analysis of roles played by stakeholder groups. Consultants and local government engagement characterised as ‘advocacy’. ‘Biased learning associated with advocacy does not yield efficient use of science for contested problems with uncertain outcomes.’
Knaggård, Å, 2014
‘Scientific knowledge was not framed in a politically accessible way, and thereby became unhelpful as policy advice... When policymakers were unable to find or use scientific knowledge for their decisions, they tended to rely more on political knowledge of what works and what can be politically agreed upon...’ Knowledge brokers wield considerable power over how issues are understood as political problems.
Litfin, 1994 Knowledge brokers: ‘...intermediaries between the original researchers, or the producers of knowledge, and the policymakers who consume that knowledge.’
Losee & Matthews, NCCARF Gold Coast, 2014 / loseeconsulting.com.au 4
Scott LoseeConsulting
Decision makersand decisions
We argue that CC adaptation research tends to: Pay too much attention to community awareness and
education
Pay too little attention to communication with influential decision makers
Overwhelmingly focus on policy outcomes by governments
Give less attention to decision making in the corporate and government/utility sectors on
Operations and asset management
Investment
Strategic planning
Losee & Matthews, NCCARF Gold Coast, 2014 / loseeconsulting.com.au 5
Scott LoseeConsulting
NCCARF presenters as an indication of professional advisor groups
146, 51%42, 15%
18, 6%
Academic researcherApplied scientistGovernment/corporateStakeholder groupConsultantOther
The extensive list of presenters at the 2014 NCCARF Conference provides one (imperfect) indication of professional advisor groups involved in climate change adaptation
Losee & Matthews, NCCARF Gold Coast, 2014 / loseeconsulting.com.au 6
Scott LoseeConsultingProfessional advisor groups
Academicresearchers
Consultants In-house practitioners
Decision makers
3 groups selected for investigation, but decisions makers are influenced by many people, some professional CC adaptation advisors, many not...
Losee & Matthews, NCCARF Gold Coast, 2014 / loseeconsulting.com.au 7
Scott LoseeConsultingProfessional advisor groups
Academicresearchers
Consultants In-house practitioners
Government or corporate employees with expertise in climate change adaptation
Professionals hired on a project or fee basis to provide expert advice
Undertake research related to adaptation in the university sector(i.e. not CSIRO or BOM, etc.)
Losee & Matthews, NCCARF Gold Coast, 2014 / loseeconsulting.com.au 8
‘Scientists, public policymakers, businesses, and NGO officers have differing, often implicit, perspectives on the world around them and one could even say that these actors belong to communities with different epistemologies.’
— Hegger et al., 2012, after Hoppe, 2009
Losee & Matthews, NCCARF Gold Coast, 2014 / loseeconsulting.com.au 9
Scott LoseeConsultingApproach
What is the best way for these 3 groups of professionals to contribute to advising decision makers on climate change adaptation?
Investigate accessible information regarding the circumstances of the 3 groups
Conduct telephone survey Speaking with equal number of representatives of
each group
24 questions
Pilot interviews only so far
Scott LoseeConsulting
Is distinct consideration needed for climate change adaptation?
Not entirely, but sufficiently distinct to warrant attention Possible parallel domains?
Healthcare, education, security, marketing?
Strong attributes of CC adaptation:1. Polarised politics
2. New and expanding discipline
3. Centrality of physical sciences
4. Multi-discipline scientific complexity, sophisticated modelling
5. Degree of uncertainty
6. Long-term implications
Losee & Matthews, NCCARF Gold Coast, 2014 / loseeconsulting.com.au 11
Scott LoseeConsulting
Possible influencing factors
Time
Cost Quality
Che
ap
GoodFast
Possible framework for influences on professional advisor groups found in the ubiquitous concept for understanding trade-offs in consulting projects and determining the key variables in the ‘scope’ of a project
Losee & Matthews, NCCARF Gold Coast, 2014 / loseeconsulting.com.au 12
Scott LoseeConsultingIndicative division of time
Academic researchers 40% Teaching
40% Research
20% ‘Service’
Consultants 80% billable
Project work
Project management
20% indirect costs
Bid writing
Administration
Management
Marketing
In-house practitioners 30% Research
25% People Management
20% Program and Project Management
15% Communication and marketing
10% Administration
Losee & Matthews, NCCARF Gold Coast, 2014 / loseeconsulting.com.au 13
Scott LoseeConsultingIndicative division of time
Academic researchers 40% Teaching
40% Research
20% ‘Service’
Consultants 80% billable
Project work
Project management
20% indirect costs
Bid writing
Administration
Management
Marketing
In-house practitioners 30% Research
25% People Management
20% Program and Project Management
15% Communication and marketing
10% Administration
Delivery, but the focus of output is
publication in scholarly journals, not
deliverables to decision makers
Losee & Matthews, NCCARF Gold Coast, 2014 / loseeconsulting.com.au 14
Scott LoseeConsultingIndicative division of time
Academic researchers 40% Teaching
40% Research
20% ‘Service’
Consultants 80% billable
Project work
Project management
20% indirect costs
Bid writing
Administration
Management
Marketing
In-house practitioners 30% Research
25% People Management
20% Program and Project Management
15% Communication and marketing
10% AdministrationHeavy emphasis on delivering outputs to
satisfy client requirements
Losee & Matthews, NCCARF Gold Coast, 2014 / loseeconsulting.com.au 15
Scott LoseeConsultingIndicative division of time
Academic researchers 40% Teaching
40% Research
20% ‘Service’
Consultants 80% billable
Project work
Project management
20% indirect costs
Bid writing
Administration
Management
Marketing
In-house practitioners 30% Research
20% Program and Project Management
25% People Management
15% Communication and marketing
10% Administration
Deliverables tailored to needs, but
potentially fluid priorities depending
on needs of ‘the hierarchy’
Losee & Matthews, NCCARF Gold Coast, 2014 / loseeconsulting.com.au 16
Scott LoseeConsultingCost of advice
Group
Median gross salary
(15y exp.)
Basis of calculation(1725 h/y)
Hourly cost of advice
Academic researcher(Senior Lecturer grade C.01)
$120,85660% overhead
added on salary $111
Consultant(Senior Consultant) $136,325
2.5 multiplier on direct salary $142
In-house practitioner(Senior Advisor)
$112,026Total cost of
employment ÷ work hours
$65Sources: PayScale, Inc.
‘If you think it's expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur.’
—Attributed to Red Adair, brainyquote.com
Losee & Matthews, NCCARF Gold Coast, 2014 / loseeconsulting.com.au 17
Scott LoseeConsultingQuality
Differing interpretations of quality emerging Reflecting deep knowledge vs. error-free and reliable outputs
Academic researchers Peer review, ethical guidelines and research data management
But do these apply in ‘consulting mode’ advice to decision makers?
Consultants ISO 9001 quality management systems applied to processes and deliverables
In-house practitioners Often quality systems are in place; application may depend on organisational
culture
Hierarchical checks on written adviceLosee & Matthews, NCCARF Gold Coast, 2014 / loseeconsulting.com.au 18
Scott LoseeConsultingWhich group provides the best...
Academicresearchers
Consultants
In-housepractitioners
Quality
Timeliness
Practicalit
y
Relevance
Value for
money
Objectivit
y
Comprehensibility
Innovativeness
Reliability
ClarityPredictio
n
Losee & Matthews, NCCARF Gold Coast, 2014 / loseeconsulting.com.au 19
Scott LoseeConsultingWhich group provides the best...
Academicresearchers
Consultants
In-housepractitioners
Quality
Timeliness
Practicalit
y
Relevance
Value for
money
Objectivit
y
Comprehensibility
Innovativeness
Reliability
Clarity
3 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 0
0 2 2 1 1 1 2 0 2 2
0 1 1 2 2 0 1 1 1 1
Pilot interviews
Losee & Matthews, NCCARF Gold Coast, 2014 / loseeconsulting.com.au 20
Scott LoseeConsulting
When is advice most appropriate from these groups?
Academic researchers
Consultants In-house practitioners
Testing feasibility of something new
New topic not encountered before
Popularising research – getting commentary out to public faster than other, more constrained, groups
When balancing the needs of clients and practicalities, advantages, disadvantages, costs and benefits of different adaptation pathways
Strategic decision making that will have a long-term impact
Daily decision making directly relevant to the organisation
When understanding of organisational barriers and constraints is critical
Losee & Matthews, NCCARF Gold Coast, 2014 / loseeconsulting.com.au 21
Scott LoseeConsulting
What factors influence advice provided by these groups?
Academic researchers
Consultants In-house practitioners
Goals of their universities If they have funding for their research Ideological drivers Personal intellectual interests
Some appreciation of organisational practicalities
Current knowledge of field
Influenced by who is paying
Generally driven by time pressures
Appreciation of how advice would impact on other areas of the organisation
Awareness of ‘cascading consequences’
Culture, politics and strategies of organisations and stakeholders
Losee & Matthews, NCCARF Gold Coast, 2014 / loseeconsulting.com.au 22
Scott LoseeConsulting
What are the best qualities of these groups regarding CC advice?
Academic researchers
Consultants In-house practitioners
Reliable and considered advice
Attempt to be as free of bias as possible
Climate change scientists’ able to understand risk
Able to say what's worked for others Able to interpret technical info and translate it for a non-technical audience Deliver within a specific time, efficient work Pragmatic Best risk practitioners
Very holistic view Understand impact on a functional level
Understand and respond to risks
Understand implementation barriers and politics and strategies of end users
Understand what can implemented
Losee & Matthews, NCCARF Gold Coast, 2014 / loseeconsulting.com.au 23
Scott LoseeConsulting
What are your greatest reservations about these groups?Academic researchers
Consultants In-house practitioners
Perspective limited by discipline Trouble in making decisions because considering all factors Research funding drives topics Longer timelines Can be too ‘wishy-washy’ in advice Bias associated with ideology
Cost Reports ‘sit on a shelf’ phenomena Knowledge transfer not always effective Lean towards what client wants. Most pragmatic solutions but not necessarily the best Knowledge gaps with climate science
Level of knowledge and their interpretation of the subject matter Generalists, not qualified in areas they may advise on Subject to whims and strategies of their organisations Not always open to good/best risk management (due to org. culture)
Losee & Matthews, NCCARF Gold Coast, 2014 / loseeconsulting.com.au 24
Scott LoseeConsulting
Concluding points for discussion
Time, cost, quality triangle provides one framework Structural drivers part of the influences on advice from the 3 groups Greatest strengths are sometimes also greatest weaknesses
E.g. It is good that in-house practitioners have the best understanding of organisational barriers, but this may also constrain them from being open to the best adaptation responses
Discussion Is this a useful avenue of inquiry?
What should we include at this early stage to make the most of the opportunity?
Do we need to obtain the views of decision makers?
Losee & Matthews, NCCARF Gold Coast, 2014 / loseeconsulting.com.au 25
Scott LoseeConsultingReferences
Gibbs, M.T. (unpublished). Guiding principles for infrastructure climate change risk and adaptation studies.
Hegger, D. Lamers, M., Van Zeijl-Rozema, A. and Dieperink, C. (2012). Conceptualising joint knowledge production in regional climate change adaptation projects: success conditions and levers for action, Environmental Science & Policy, 18, 52-65.
Hoppe, R. (2009). Scientific advice and public policy: expert advisers’ and policymakers’ discourses on boundary work. Poiesis and Praxis 6 (3-4), 235-263.
Knaggård, Å. (2014). What do policy-makers do with scientific uncertainty? The incremenbal character of Swedish climate change policy-making, Policy Studies, 35 (1), 22-39.
Litfin, K.T. (1994). Ozone Discourses: Science and Politics in Global Environmental Cooperation, Columbia University Press, New York.
McAllister, R.J., McCrea, R., Lubell, M.N. (2014). Policy networks, stakeholder interactions and climate adaptation in the region of South East Queensland, Australia, Reg. Environ. Change, 14, 527-539.
Losee & Matthews, NCCARF Gold Coast, 2014 / loseeconsulting.com.au 26
Thank you
Scott Losee / 0404 467 228 / scott@loseeconsulting.com.au