Beyond Evidence Supply: Lessons from Science Brokerage in Climate and Disaster Policymaking in Nepal and Scotland.

Evidence-based disaster and climate change policymaking is critical for accountability and public trust before, during and after a crisis. Drawing on lessons from two contrasting but complementary initiatives, we will discuss how science brokerage can strengthen accountable and effective policy. This presentation highlights how demand for evidence, its translation, and its use shape governance outcomes across different policy contexts.

The first case is Bato, a 12-month British Academy funded research project that examined mechanisms, processes, and institutional factors shaping the uptake of evidence in Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) policymaking in Nepal. The second is ClimateXChange (CXC), a 15-year national knowledge brokerage programme delivering research-based evidence to the Scottish Government. Despite differences in scale, duration, and governance context, both cases underscore the critical role of science brokerage in aligning research supply with policy demand. Findings from Bato reveal persistent structural and institutional barriers to evidence uptake in DRR policymaking. While the project aimed to identify a roadmap for science uptake, it instead exposed fundamental knowledge gaps specific to hazard management and response, including fragmented evidence flows, limited demand articulation, and weak institutional incentives for evidence use. These findings point to the need for brokerage approaches that go beyond dissemination, towards strengthening demand-side capacity and clarifying the role of evidence in governance.

ClimateXChange demonstrates how sustained investment in science brokerage can systematically address government knowledge needs. A recent review of CXC research outputs since 2011 shows that evidence demand has been dominated by climate mitigation, particularly in the sectors of energy, land use, and built infrastructure. While mitigation research often integrates multiple sectors, climate impacts and adaptation research has been more fragmented, frequently focusing on single hazards or sectors. The review also identifies a mix of instrumental evidence (directly informing policy decisions) and conceptual evidence (supporting understanding of complex or emerging issues) demand from government. With a recent shift towards anticipatory evidence needs, including understanding policy impacts, behavioural responses, and public scrutiny.

Together, these cases offer key lessons for strengthening policy through science brokerage. First, effective brokerage requires explicit attention to evidence demand, not just supply. Second, long-term, trusted brokerage arrangements enable policy-relevant learning over time, particularly as governments shift towards anticipatory and transition-focused policymaking. Finally, science brokerage plays a crucial role in supporting good governance by connecting evidence use to accountability, transparency, and public trust. The presentation concludes by reflecting on how policymakers can use these insights to critically assess not only how research is used, but what types of evidence are commissioned to support disaster and climate policy in increasingly complex and uncertain contexts.