Working with non-scientists can double the impact of scientific research

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2024-12-18 03:00

New Zealand

What does this mean?

Jump to: MultimediaAttachmentsExpert Reaction

For the Our Land and Water National Science Challenge, working with councils, businesses, land managers, and iwi significantly increased the impact of their research. This approach more than doubled the uptake of new tools to improve landscape health, with adoption jumping from 20% to 53% compared to traditional research. While the Challenge produced fewer academic papers than may have been expected, its publications were easy for non-scientists to understand, which helped farmers evaluate the benefits of new innovations. The authors say publicly-funded research delivers the most for New Zealand when scientists work with those it affects.