Transforming Conservation : : a practical guide to evidence and decision making / / William J. Sutherland, editor.

• TeilnehmendeR: Sutherland, William J.,
• Place / Publishing House: Cambridge, UK : : Open Book Publishers,, 2022.
• Year of Publication: 2022
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (xiv, 408 pages)

There are severe problems with the decision-making processes currently widely used, leading to ineffective use of evidence, faulty decisions, wasting of resources and the erosion of public and political support. In this book an international team of experts provide solutions. The transformation suggested includes rethinking how evidence is assessed, combined, communicated and used in decision-making; using effective methods when asking experts to make judgements (i.e. avoiding just asking an expert or a group of experts!); using a structured process for making decisions that incorporate the evidence and having effective processes for learning from actions. In each case, the specific problem with decision making is described with a range of practical solutions. Adopting this approach to decision-making requires societal change so detailed suggestions are made for transforming organisations, governments, businesses, funders and philanthropists. The practical suggestions include twelve downloadable checklists. The vision of the authors is to transform conservation so it is more effective, more cost-efficient, learns from practice and is more attractive to funders. However, the lessons of this important book go well beyond conservation to decision-makers in any field.

Table of Contents

Intro -- Preface: A Vision of Transformed Conservation Practice -- References -- List of Authors -- Acknowledgements -- Reference -- PART I: WHAT IS THE PROBLEM? -- 1. Introduction: The Evidence Crisis and the Evidence Revolution -- 1.1 The Aim of the Book -- 1.2 The Evidence Crisis -- 1.3 Why is Poor Decision Making So Common? -- 1.4 The Evidence Revolution -- 1.5 The Case for Adopting Evidence Use -- 1.6 The Inefficiency Paradox -- 1.7 Transforming Decision Making -- 1.8 Structure of the Book -- References -- PART II: OBTAINING, ASSESSING AND SUMMARISING EVIDENCE 2. Gathering and Assessing Pieces of Evidence -- 2.1 What Counts as Evidence? -- 2.2 A Framework for Assessing the Weight of Evidence -- 2.3 Weighing the Evidence -- 2.4 Subjects of Evidence -- 2.5 Sources of Evidence -- 2.6 Types of Evidence -- 2.7 Acknowledgements -- References -- 3. Assessing Collated and Synthesised Evidence -- 3.1 Collating the Evidence -- 3.2 Systematic Maps -- 3.3 Subject-Wide Evidence Syntheses -- 3.4 Systematic Reviews -- 3.5 Rapid Evidence Assessments -- 3.6 Meta-Analyses -- 3.7 Open Access Effect Sizes -- 3.8 Overviews of Reviews -- References 4. Presenting Conclusions from Assessed Evidence -- 4.1 Principles for Presenting Evidence -- 4.2 Describing Evidence Searches -- 4.3 Presenting Different Types of Evidence -- 4.4 Presenting Evidence Quality -- 4.5 Balancing Evidence of Varying Strength -- 4.6 Visualising the Balance of Evidence -- 4.7 Synthesising Multiple Evidence Sources -- References -- 5. Improving the Reliability of Judgements -- 5.1 The Role of Judgements in Decision-Making -- 5.2 When Experts Are Good (and Not so Good) -- 5.3 Blind Spots of the Human Mind -- 5.4 Strategies for Improving Judgements 5.5 Structured Frameworks for Making Group Judgements -- 5.6 Practical Methods for Improving Routine Judgements -- References -- PART III: MAKING AND APPLYING DECISIONS -- 6. Identifying Stakeholders and Collaborating with Communities -- 6.1 The Benefits of Community-Working -- 6.2 Types of Community Engagement -- 6.3 Identifying Who to Collaborate With -- 6.4 Initiating Contact -- 6.5 Creating and Maintaining Trust -- 6.6 Collaborating -- References -- 7. Framing the Problem and Identifying Potential Solutions -- 7.1 The Approach to Identifying Problems and Potential Solutions 7.2 Defining the Scope of the Project and the Conservation Targets -- 7.3 Understanding the Biological and Human System -- 7.4 Identifying Threats and Opportunities -- 7.5 Taking Stock -- 7.6 Identifying Potential Actions -- 7.7 Developing Questions and Assumptions -- References -- 8 Making Decisions for Policy and Practice -- 8.1 What is a Structured Approach to Decision-Making? -- 8.2 Filter Easy Decisions: Deciding Whether to Invest in Decision Making -- 8.3 Preparing to Make the Decision -- 8.4 Making Decisions -- 8.5 Multi-Criteria Analysis -- 8.6 Strategy Table -- 8.7 Classifying Decisions.