Research and Resources
Editorial overview: The science of actionable knowledge
April 4, 2020
Scaling Actionable Knowledge
What is the science of actionable knowledge?
The science of actionable knowledge is an interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary endeavor. Science and technology studies, political science, environmental social science, psychological and decision science, and the humanities all lend distinctive methods and perspectives for understanding different aspects of the science system and its relationship to decision-making and society. Furthermore, modes of research with long track records of use, including community and citizen science and participatory action research, have much to contribute along with more recent attention being paid to the role of knowledge co-production. The insights of people working at the interface of science and practice at local, regional, and international scales are additionally critical.
This editorial introduces a special issue on this topic, in which ten teams of scholars working on the science of actionable knowledge provide reviews of research across diverse topics and questions in this space. Taken together, these articles highlight the breadth and depth of work that this line of inquiry can produce, even as they underscore the knowledge gaps. The remainder of this editorial provides a brief summary of the articles included in this issue as well as a concluding note about possible future directions for the science of actionable knowledge.
