Making Waves
Making Waves is a series of short thought pieces, written by CSIP scholars and researchers, on issues that are driving the conversation within science and innovation policy.
The problem with science-based public policy
By: Peter WB Phillips, CSIP Director and Distinguished Professor, Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy, University of Saskatchewan
We have a problem with how we situate science in our policy system. Increasingly we hear politicians, policy makers, policy entrepreneurs and citizens invoking science as the ratio...
Central Bank Digital Currencies and Consumer Acceptance
By: Rafael Morales Guzman, JSGS Ph.D. student
In early March, the president of the United States signed an executive order instructing different agencies to study the development of a framework to regulate digital assets, i.e....
Net zero: what governments have learned about public engagement and nuclear energy
By: Jeremy Rayner, Researcher, Centre for the Study of Science and Innovation Policy; and Professor, Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy
In this new edition to Making Waves, Dr. Jeremy Rayner reviews the latest report on the future of small modular reactors issued by four provincial governments.
Reframing the Innovation Debate
By: Brian Wixted, Adjunct Professor, Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy
The very best human communication is in the form of stories. This might be in the form of the latest crime series or the latest hard core non-fiction book on the past or the presen...
Non-completion in Postsecondary education: Why are so many students not finishing their courses?
By: Lenin C. Guerra, Sessional Lecturer, Edwards School of Business, University of Saskatchewan and Licensed Professor in Public Policies at the Federal Institute IFRN (Brazil)
Non-completion is one issue about postsecondary education (PSE) that attracts much attention from the non-educational community. Yet, it seems to be avoided or even hidden for PSE ...
Canada’s carbon future
By: Peter W.B. Phillips, CSIP Director and JSGS Distinguished Professor
Canada has made a commitment to move to net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. This raises two fundamental questions: can the available technologies help us meet our goal or do we need...
Net-zero in play – #GameZero, world’s first net-zero soccer match is a game changer
By: Mac Osazuwa-Peters, CSIP Postdoctoral Research Fellow; and Senior Planning and Performance Improvement Consultant, Government of Saskatchewan.
Following the release of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report in August, the scale and depth of the challenge facing the future of the world’s climate was c...
Status of Gene Editing Use in Public Canadian Crop Breeding
By: Peter W.B. Phillips, CSIP Director and JSGS Distinguished Professor; Diego Maximiliano Macall, Research Assistant, CSIP; and Simona Lubieniechi, Professional Research Associate, CSIP
In Spring 2021, Health Canada released proposed new guidance for the Novel Food Regulations, specifically focused on plant breeding, and conducted an open consultation seeking feed...
Part 2 - Lessons from the Covid-19 Pandemic: Returning to Normal in a Post-Pandemic World
By: Peter W.B. Phillips, Director, Centre for the Study of Science and Innovation; and Distinguished Professor, Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy
Health remains an important consideration as we make choices about how we collectively and individually live our lives in a post-pandemic world. One risk we face in the post-pandem...
Part 1: Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic: Where We’ve Succeeded and Where We’ve Failed
By: Peter W.B. Phillips, Director, Centre for the Study of Science and Innovation; and Distinguished Professor, Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy
The COVID-19 pandemic has raised several interesting questions about the management of risks and the role of science in decision making. While risk management is a part of life, so...
What needs to be done to make the most of CRISPR in Canadian Agriculture?
By: Diego Macall
This Making Waves post was written following an event hosted by Ag-West Bio Inc. featuring Nobel Laureate Jennifer Doudna, codeveloper of CRISPR, on September 21, 2021.
Will Election 2021 Produce a More Innovative Canada?
By: Ken Coates, Canada Research Chair in Regional Innovation and JSGS Professor
To describe the 2021 election as unnecessary is to repeat a sentiment that has been shared several million times since the start of the campaign.