601
and research coordination. The IJC also conducts a binational poll to understand
stakeholder concerns and aspirations for water resources.
4. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) (Chap. 11) is tasked
with engaging the scientific community to synthesize and communicate the current state of scientific understanding in three areas (physical science, impacts,
adaptation and vulnerability; and mitigation). Each of the reports includes a
Summary for Policymakers (SPM), which is drafted first by scientists and then
reviewed by governments who provide feedback. A second draft by scientists is
later discussed, sentence-by-sentence, in a meeting that includes delegates from
government and observer organizations and scientists.
Communication between different stakeholders often benefits from the use of a
third-party neutral facilitator to help people have more productive conversations and
meetings, as illustrated in Chap. 20 (Managing Human Conflicts). As noted in Sect.
17.1, the two-way, iterative engagement between producers and users of scientific
information builds trust, facilitates social learning, and increases the credibility,
saliency, legitimacy of research.
It is often surprising to non-scientists that scientists with different disciplinary
backgrounds have great difficulty communicating with each other. Scientific disciplines develop languages that have exact meanings to the practitioners of each discipline. Disciplinary scientists can become intellectually siloed within disciplinary
academic departments and profession advancement decisions based on publications
in disciplinary journals where adherence to shared definitions of terms is essential.
Thus, interdisciplinary science requires agreement on a common language and reference shared by scientists in different disciplines. Better interdisciplinary communication between scientists is therefore essential for FEW research.
Further, this common language must be shared and understood by practitioners
and decision-makers to facilitate communication with them. Often scientists can
adopt the general terms of practitioners and decision-makers. In Sect. 11.3, we
described an approach developed and used by the Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change to communicate scientific uncertainty and risk, using terms that are
generally accessible (see Table 11.1). Given that understanding and addressing
uncertainty and precision of information and decisions is essential for making highquality decisions (Sects. 1.5 and 17.4), this approach has valuable lessons to the
communication of FEW system science.
Visualizations of FEW nexus data, projections or predictions, and other scientific
results (see Sect. 17.3.3) can serve as a decision support system to decision-makers
and stakeholders with less knowledge about the underlying interconnected components. When using visualizations, it is important to identify the best means of visualization and modeling systems to represent stakeholder interests and provide
stakeholders with the greatest understanding and decision-support. Online platforms
(see Sects. 17.3.4 and 17.6.2) and immersive decision environments (see Sect. 17.3.5)
are examples of powerful communication tool we provide significant opportunities
for more effective communication. Visual communication is a powerful common
language that nearly all humans share, across disciplines and other boundaries.
21 Opportunities at the Nexus
and research coordination. The IJC also conducts a binational poll to understand
stakeholder concerns and aspirations for water resources.
4. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) (Chap. 11) is tasked
with engaging the scientific community to synthesize and communicate the current state of scientific understanding in three areas (physical science, impacts,
adaptation and vulnerability; and mitigation). Each of the reports includes a
Summary for Policymakers (SPM), which is drafted first by scientists and then
reviewed by governments who provide feedback. A second draft by scientists is
later discussed, sentence-by-sentence, in a meeting that includes delegates from
government and observer organizations and scientists.
Communication between different stakeholders often benefits from the use of a
third-party neutral facilitator to help people have more productive conversations and
meetings, as illustrated in Chap. 20 (Managing Human Conflicts). As noted in Sect.
17.1, the two-way, iterative engagement between producers and users of scientific
information builds trust, facilitates social learning, and increases the credibility,
saliency, legitimacy of research.
It is often surprising to non-scientists that scientists with different disciplinary
backgrounds have great difficulty communicating with each other. Scientific disciplines develop languages that have exact meanings to the practitioners of each discipline. Disciplinary scientists can become intellectually siloed within disciplinary
academic departments and profession advancement decisions based on publications
in disciplinary journals where adherence to shared definitions of terms is essential.
Thus, interdisciplinary science requires agreement on a common language and reference shared by scientists in different disciplines. Better interdisciplinary communication between scientists is therefore essential for FEW research.
Further, this common language must be shared and understood by practitioners
and decision-makers to facilitate communication with them. Often scientists can
adopt the general terms of practitioners and decision-makers. In Sect. 11.3, we
described an approach developed and used by the Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change to communicate scientific uncertainty and risk, using terms that are
generally accessible (see Table 11.1). Given that understanding and addressing
uncertainty and precision of information and decisions is essential for making highquality decisions (Sects. 1.5 and 17.4), this approach has valuable lessons to the
communication of FEW system science.
Visualizations of FEW nexus data, projections or predictions, and other scientific
results (see Sect. 17.3.3) can serve as a decision support system to decision-makers
and stakeholders with less knowledge about the underlying interconnected components. When using visualizations, it is important to identify the best means of visualization and modeling systems to represent stakeholder interests and provide
stakeholders with the greatest understanding and decision-support. Online platforms
(see Sects. 17.3.4 and 17.6.2) and immersive decision environments (see Sect. 17.3.5)
are examples of powerful communication tool we provide significant opportunities
for more effective communication. Visual communication is a powerful common
language that nearly all humans share, across disciplines and other boundaries.
21 Opportunities at the Nexus