Relationship-centered engagement bridges the divide between science and management, and enhances climate adaptation

Abstract

The rapid pace of climate change demands changes in management practices. Despite abundant climate adaptation research, the implementation of climate adaptation can lag in the management space. In the present article, we argue that relationship-centered engagement—establishing and maintaining relationships among researchers and natural resource managers—is critical for bridging the research–management gap. We evaluated researcher–manager partnerships within the US Northeast Climate Adaptation Science Center and identified three cultural shifts that institutions, funders, researchers, and managers could adopt to boost the odds of translating findings into action: acknowledging and supporting the central role of relationships in creating and implementing actionable science, lengthening funding timelines to better support establishing and maintaining relationships, and aligning institutional rewards to support relationship building. A renewed focus on relationships can lead to more diverse and effective partnerships that bridge knowledge to practice and hasten adaptation to climate change.