Sammanfattning

Air pollution is among the most pressing environmental issues worldwide. Unfortunately, an effective reduction in air pollution remains elusive, and so does the incorporation of scientific evidence into air quality policies. This paper takes seven Mexican cities as study cases to document barriers and opportunities to incorporate scientific evidence into air quality policies. Supported by the Grounded Theory approach, we conduct and analyze interviews to decision-makers, researchers, and representatives of non-governmental organizations involved in programs aiming to improve air quality in Mexico. Findings from this study illustrate differences across cities in the technical capacity to produce evidence, and document barriers shared to incorporate evidence into air quality management – including institutional capacity, interest groups, legal frameworks, and limited knowledge transfer. Opportunities that increase integration of evidence into air quality policies include follow-up programs, guaranteed research funding, contextualizing the topics to be investigated as a public problem, and assigning a crucial role to research so that formal and informal links among decision-makers and scientists are formed and strengthened.

Nyckelord

evidence-based policy; air quality management; stakeholders’ perspective; Mexico

Publicerad i

Environmental Science and Policy
2022, Volym: 129, sidor: 87-95

SLU författare

• Martinez Cruz, Adan

  • Institutionen för skogsekonomi, Sveriges lantbruksuniversitet
    
  • Centro de Investigacion y Docencia Economicas A.C. (CIDE)

Globala målen

SDG11 Göra städer och bosättningar inkluderande, säkra, motståndskraftiga och hållbara
SDG16 Främja fredliga och inkluderande samhällen för hållbar utveckling, tillhandahålla tillgång till rättvisa för alla samt bygga upp effektiva, och inkluderande institutioner med ansvarsutkrävande på alla nivåer


UKÄ forskningsämne

Tvärvetenskapliga studier


Publikationens identifierare

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2021.12.022

Permanent länk till denna sida (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/115137