Abstract

K4C09 Portal
K4C09 Forum

in progress

Knowledge for Policy (K4P)
Enhancing information systems for innovation-friendly biodiversity policies

(Last revised: 08 Jan. 2009)

Policies dedicated to conserving biodiversity (BD) lack effectiveness and integration. Many responses to BD loss are locked in a paradigm isolating ecological conservation from economic production. Eco-innovative approaches integrate BD into productive agro-eco-systems, enabling its profitable conservation. Knowledge about such approaches does exist, but policies often ignore it: BD-enhancing agricultural strategies are - at best - marginal in CAP and in product quality policy; plant and animal health protection policies make little case of BD's potential benefits for pest control. Current BD management should change in line with recent policy trends emphasising the need to better manage natural resources, to increase the societal impact of research, and to use the best available knowledge. BD can arguably benefit both pest control and product quality, but policy rarely reflects this virtuous cycle. K4P aims to test relevant policy information systems and enhance the learning processes at play.

K4P will focus on two benefits of BD in agriculture: pest control and product quality. Both strands will undergo an innovative exploitation of existing knowledge, entailing monitoring codified knowledge, tacit knowledge, policy measures and knowledge gaps, and producing scientific consensus digests addressing those gaps. Collaborative design and testing with policy-makers will result in a pilot learning platform relying on an innovative Drupal-based architecture and obeying a set of pre-defined quality criteria. Developed by Eco Innovation via a needs assessment, these criteria give priority to learners over contents and promote interactive learning services. Testing and evaluating this information system approach will enable its improvement and extended application. K4P will promote innovative use of research and provide a range of recommendations for decision-making, education and the eco-innovative use of BD in agriculture.

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Keywords: Agriculture, Biodiversity, ICT, Knowledge, Learning, Policy, Product quality, Sustainable development.