We were asked by our Transformation Board to produce a strategy for our use of science, evidence, and evaluation so as to take us from being an evidence-based organisation to being an evidence-led one. The Strategy in question necessarily has a broad scope, ranging from scientific process to cultural change within Natural England, to how we measure the effectiveness of what we do; the use of science, evidence and evaluation touches in some way on the whole of our work.
We will be continually improving the evidence base we depend on, through a variety of new technologies including remote sensing and eDNA analysis, through partnerships and collaborations, and through using experiments and demonstration projects. These will test novel and innovative approaches and share our knowledge and understanding. Investing in expertise and capability throughout Natural England for the present and for the future is crucially important to this.
The next step is identifying and taking the tangible steps necessary to implement this Strategy; doing so will form the basis of our future Science, Evidence and Evaluation Action Plan.