Translation & Actionable Science

Social Science and Ecoforecasting Planning Award RFP

Based on the need to develop interdisciplinary ecological forecasting projects with social scientists, the Translation and Actionable Science Working Group is coordinating to provide $1,000 awards to support five Project Groups. The awards are not restricted to just the US or to specific career stages.

Each Project Group will use the award to either 1) develop a proposal for an identified external funding opportunity or2) convene a group to explore ideas and potential funding sources.

These activities should advance the use of social science in ecological forecasting andaddress ethical, methodological, or empirical gaps and advancements in the field ofecological forecasting.

Proposals are due August 26, 2024. Awards will be announced by September 16,2024.

Find further details about the funding opportunity, FAQs, the application form, and criteriafor evaluating proposals at: https://ecoforecast.org/social-science-ecological-forecasting-projects-rfp/
A short 3-minute overview can be found at: https://youtu.be/UxD2uQhGfMs

Overview of the Translation Group

Translational ecology aims to increase the usability of knowledge and products beyond scientific communities by integrating socio-environmental knowledge and stakeholders as partners in the process and projects. Co-production is an inclusive process of knowledge production that engages partners from a range of sectors including academia, agencies, businesses, and communities.  Ideally, co-production starts at the beginning of a project, to generate questions, share system insights, and inform decision making with end products being operationalized with accelerated use.

The Translation Working Group organically developed from the overlap in activities by the Social Science and Partners & Knowledge Transfer Working Groups. The Partners working group was focused on fostering collaborations and forecast co-production among academics, government agencies, industry, NGOs, and citizen scientists. Whereas, the Social Science Working Group was focused on: developing methods, interdisciplinary collaboration on improving ecological forecasting models, co-production with stakeholders who may or will use ecological forecasts, developing and testing new ecological forecasting decision support products, and improving the tools and processes that advance the use of forecasts in environmental decisions.

Translation Working Group Schedule of Calls:
The Translation Group will meet on Tuesdays at noon US Eastern on September 10, October 8, November 12, and December 10. A new schedule will be set up for January to May 2025. We are always open to people joining the calls, contact us at eco4cast.initiative@gmail.com

Kira Sullivan-Wiley provides an overview of the Translation Working Group for the EFI 2022 Conference held on May 23-25, 2022.

Resources Previously Developed by the Social Science and Partners & Knowledge Transfer Groups

Notes from Working Group Calls
Co-chairs: Kira Sullivan-Wiley (The Pew Charitable Trust), Michael Gerst (University of Maryland)

  1. September 10, 2024
  2. August 1, 2024
  3. July 11, 2024
  4. June 6, 2024
  5. May 16, 2024
  6. April 18, 2024
  7. March 21, 2024
  8. February 15, 2024
  9. January 18, 2024
  10. December 5, 2023
  11. November 7, 2023
  12. October 10, 2023
  13. September 12, 2023
  14. August 15, 2023
  15. July 18, 2023
  16. June 13, 2023
  17. May 23, 2023
  18. April 25, 2023
  19. March 28, 2023
  20. February 14, 2023
  21. January 24, 2023
  22. December 12, 2022
  23. November 14, 2022
  24. October 10, 2022
  25. September 12, 2022
  26. August 9, 2022
  27. July 12, 2022
  28. June 21, 2022
  29. May 5, 2022
  30. March 8, 2022 – joint Social Sciences and Partner Working Groups call