A Boundary Organization
Sustainability builds on knowledge from biological, social, engineering, and geophysical disciplines. Unfortunately, many policy and technology options never see the light of day for lack of a champion to validate, demonstrate and communicate their merits.
The boundary organization can facilitate interactions between "producers" and "users" of scientific information.HARC often plays this bridging role, linking the producers and users of scientific information to facilitate society's adoption of best technologies and policies. HARC has assembled a team with the technical and academic credibility to work closely with research communities while maintaining a businesslike culture that emphasizes accountability to sponsors in achieving program goals and managing research processes.
HARC's research staff has broad experience in basic and applied science, government, technology, social science, policy analysis and the corporate sector, allowing it to respond to the needs of various practitioners. To this experience base HARC adds organizational strengths in contract management, financial accountability, project management, and stakeholder convening on behalf of project goals.
|
"Efforts to mobilize science & technology for sustainability are more likely to be effective when they manage boundaries between knowledge and action in ways that simultaneously enhance the salience, credibility, and legitimacy of the information they produce. Effective systems apply a variety of institutional mechanisms that facilitate communication, translation and mediation across boundaries."
Cash et al., "Knowledge Systems for Sustainable Development" in
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,
July 8, 2003, vol. 100, no. 14, 8086-8091
|