Joint Fact Finding: Resolving Science-Intensive Policy Disputes

Why is high-quality scientific evidence so often ignored or contested when critical environmental and public policy decisions are made? In science-intensive disputes, stakeholders frequently clash over data, leading to gridlock and adversarial outcomes. This text-only course introduces you to Joint Fact Finding (JFF), a collaborative approach that brings scientists, decision-makers, and stakeholders together to agree on data collection, analysis, and interpretation methods. By shifting from adversarial advocacy science to shared learning, you will understand how to build stable, science-informed agreements that diverse stakeholders can support. Through clear written explanations, you will learn how to design collaborative inquiry processes that bridge the gap between technical expertise and public values. What you'll learn: - Understand the core principles and foundational definitions of Joint Fact Finding (JFF). - Analyze why traditional, adversarial science fails to resolve value-laden public policy disputes. - Design structured processes to select neutral experts and agree on shared research questions. - Apply collaborative techniques to manage conflicting data and scientific uncertainty. - Address modern challenges including public misinformation and digital stakeholder engagement. - Evaluate structured scenarios in environmental and natural resource management. This course begins with key terminology and foundational concepts of public dispute resolution before guiding you through the practical steps of planning and executing a JFF process. It is designed for beginners, including aspiring policy analysts, environmental advocates, science communicators, and public administrators. No prior experience in public policy or scientific research is required. Start building the skills to turn scientific gridlock into collaborative progress today.