On the Science-Policy Bridge: Do Spatial Vulnerability Assessment Studies Influence Policy?

This article investigates into the frequent question if (or to what extent) research actually informs policy. For this purpose, the team screened a corpus of 37 recent papers on one of the most relevant (for Europe) climatic health impacts: extreme heat in urban heat islands. All of these studies provided urban heat maps, which is a straightforward and easily interpreted parameter of exposure. They followed up with an anonymous survey among the lead authors of the original study. Meta-analysis of the single studies and responses of their respective lead authors confirmed that—despite the inclusion of policy recommendations and the intent to raise awareness and support (adaptation) capacity building—the studies in their entirety “had not as yet had a substantive influence on policymaking or preventive action.”