Ruth Stewart and colleagues from across the collaboration

ruths@uj.ac.za

Introducing the Collaboration for Environmental Evidence

What is the Collaboration for Environmental Evidence?

• Formally constituted in 2008, a global, not-for-profit, open collaboration of scientists, managers and policy formers interested in evidence synthesis.

• Provides guidelines for Review Teams encouraging Systematic Review activity to high standards.

• A repository of CEE Systematic Reviews to inform decision making and disseminates their findings through an open-access website and journal.

• Works with commissioners to provide reliable reviews of evidence to meet their evidence needs

www.environmentalevidence.org

CEE StructureCEE Governance - Board of Trustees, Editorial Board, Advisory Board, WebsiteCEE Centres – Currently four centres with lead centre in Bangor, UK. Centres provide regional co-ordination, training, liaison with Commissioners and networking across collaboration.

CEE Structure

CEE Methods Groups – Development of SR methodology and Guidelines. Improving standards of conduct and scientific rigour

CEE Review Groups – subject-based development of SR questions and co-ordinating conduct of reviews – subject (handling) editors

SR as a recognised standard

To date approx 60 SRs have been completed across the range of environmental management from species protection to sustainable forestry. A similar number is in progress.

Systematic reviews now commissioned by diversity of funders – DEMAND DRIVENUK – (Research Councils, Living with Environmental Change Programme, Defra, Environment Agency, Dept for International Development)Europe - EU FP7, US Forest Service, USDA, AusAid, Aus Land & Water, UNEP, FAO

Review Teams register with CEE, undertake SRs to CEE Guidelines and publish their SRs in the CEE journal, Environmental Evidence.

CEE Growth

CEE in the UK

• ADD

CEE in South Africa

• ADD

CEE Sweden We work for environmental management to be

placed on a scientific foundation. Through systematic reviews of various environmental

issues, we aim to improve the basis for decisions in Swedish environmental policy.

Financed by the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Environmental Research 2012-2016

EviEM Executive Committee

The Secretariat

Stockholm

SR3.Can biomanipulation improve water quality in eutrophicated lakes?

SR2. How effective are wetlands for nitrogen and phosphorus removal?

SR1. How is mountain vegetation affected by reindeer grazing?

Ongoing EviEM systematic reviews

SR4. How do different farming methods affect the organic carbon content of arable soils?

SR5.Have the phase-outs of PFASs affected concentrations in the environment?

SR6.How is biodiversity influenced by active management of protected forests?

CEE in Australia• The first Australian CEE Centre was

established in 2012 • The Centre has focussed on:

• advocacy and training of SR• using review findings to assist practitioners

in decision making• Using SR methods to undertake better

secondary research• integration of SR and SR methods into the

adaptive management cycle• the role of evidence based practice in the

environmental sectorContact: www.evidentiary.com.au Email: robr@evidentiary.com.au

Recent titlesCompleted• ADD URBAN AGRICULTURE• What are the major barriers to increased use of modern energy services among the world’s

poorest people and are interventions to overcome these effective? (DFID funded)• What is the evidence that scarcity and shocks in freshwater resources can cause conflict

instead of promoting collaboration in arid to subhumid hydroclimates? (DFID funded)• The evidence base for community forest management as a mechanism for supplying global

environmental benefits and improving local welfare (GEF funded)• Are interventions to reduce the impact of arsenic contamination of groundwater on human

health and crop productivity in developing countries effective? (Aus AID)• What are the effects of wooded riparian zones on stream temperature? (NERC funded)• Human well-being impacts of terrestrial protected areas (GEF funded)

In progress• Comparison of methods for the measurement and assessment of carbon stocks and carbon

stock changes in terrestrial carbon pools (FAO funded)• What is the impact of infrastructural investments in roads, electricity and irrigation on

agricultural productivity? (DFID funded)• How effective are slurry storage, cover or catch crops, woodland creation, controlled

trafficking or break-up of compacted layers, and buffer strips as on-farm mitigation measures for delivering an improved water environment? (Defra funded)