Policy Practicum: Creating an Impact Framework for Stanford's School of Climate and…

Catalog description

Clients: Stanford Dean Kathryn "Kam" Moler and Vice Dean Stephan Graham, respectively transition dean and vice dean of the new School. The mission of Stanford University's new School of Climate and Sustainability is to "create a future where humans and nature thrive in concert and in perpetuity." The School intends to pursue this mission through three pathways: 1. Advancing knowledge critical to sustaining life on Earth and to ensuring the benefits of a healthy planet extend to all people. 2. Preparing students as future sustainability leaders through rigorous, engaged education and research. 3. Engaging with partners to generate and scale local, national, and global solutions to the defining challenge for humanity. This Policy Lab practicum will examine how the School can marshal its resources most effectively to advance knowledge through research, prepare students for leadership roles, and engage with partners to scale these core functions. With respect to the advancement of knowledge, we will seek to understand how research aimed at improving sustainability in several areas (e.g., climate change, agriculture) can be supported and disseminated to educate and influence decisions and behaviors of policy makers, businesses, nonprofit organizations, and citizens, while remaining impartial and balanced throughout the process. Without limiting ourselves to these areas, we will look at examples where research has and has not influenced decision making, with an eye to understanding conducive pathways and barriers. To use a recent example, suppose that a researcher wishes to influence policy makers', builders', or homeowners' decisions to install residential gas stoves because of the climate and health problems caused by their methane emissions: What are the roles of publication in peer-reviewed journals, publication in popular media, public lectures, and legislative…