Bridging Science, Policy and Sustainability

In the context of escalating environmental challenges and an increasingly complex global policy landscape, the course provides students with the critical knowledge and analytical tools to understand, evaluate, and influence the science-policy interface. With a particular focus on climate change and air quality, two of the most pressing global sustainability issues, this course equips students to assess scientific evidence, comprehend policy dynamics, and develop strategies that effectively integrate scientific insights into decision-making. The course begins with foundational modules on the role of science in policymaking and introduces the scientific methods relevant to environmental governance. Students will explore the scientific underpinnings of climate change and air quality, examining how knowledge is produced, validated, and communicated. Historical dimensions of science-policy interaction are considered, along with institutional, political, and stakeholder dynamics that shape real-world outcomes. In the latter part of the course, students will engage with key contemporary challenges at the science-policy interface, including uncertainty, complexity, science denial, communication barriers, and the evolving geopolitical context of a multipolar world. Through interdisciplinary perspectives and critical reflection, the course prepares students to contribute meaningfully to sustainable development by navigating and shaping the evolving relationships between science, policy, and society.

By the end of the course, students will be able to:

1. Critically analyse the theoretical foundations of the science-policy interface and apply key concepts to contemporary environmental governance challenges

2. Identify institutional, political, and stakeholder dynamics in environmental governance

3. Explain the physical and biogeochemical science underpinning climate change and air quality, and interpret scientific uncertainty for policy audiences

4. Identify and apply appropriate methods and tools for science-policy integration

5. Critically assess issues such as uncertainty, misinformation, and science denial

6. Communicate scientific findings effectively to non-specialist policy and public audiences

7. Discuss future challenges in global science-policy relations