International Network of Boundary Organizations on Adaptation

What is a boundary organization?

The term boundary organization was first introduced over 20 years ago to describe specific organizational efforts to mediate between science and policy. While there is ongoing debate on the concept and its wider application, the term is often applied in studies of knowledge transfer and science-policy interactions. It is widely used in the environmental field to describe collaborative arrangements and processes that allow for mutual understanding and sustained joint efforts between those working in the very different worlds of science and decision-making.

One example of an international boundary organization is the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. It was created within the United Nations system to provide governments at all levels with scientific information they can use to develop climate policies. With the input of thousands of experts, it coordinates scientific assessment reports about the drivers, impacts and future risks of climate change, and how adaptation and mitigation can reduce those risks.

These are some general understandings of boundary organizations that shed light on the work of the members:

  • Boundary organizations involve both scientists and decision-makers, along with professionals who facilitate collaboration between them. 

  • They provide an institutionalized place for developing long-term relationships, promoting two-way communication, and developing tools to facilitate collaborative work. 

  • They provide opportunities and reasons to create information and analytical tools and products, such as interactive maps or cost-benefit analyses, that help decision-makers and scientists communicate with each other and collaborate. 

  • They are increasingly evolving as networks and social arrangements between scientific and decision-making bodies such as political institutions.

Examples of boundary work

  • Facilitating discussions between engineers, planners and other information users and the producers of scientific or technical knowledge, such as research institutes or experts in vulnerability assessment 

  • Using predictive climate models and providing analysis to inform adaptation planning 

  • Training decision-makers to better understand adaptation options and trade-offs OR training scientists and technical experts to better understand the needs of adaptation decision-makers

  • Creating and sharing climate datasets and analytical tools, guidance frameworks and other resources for decision-makers

  • Conducting or commissioning applied research that responds directly to the needs of adaptation decision-makers

For further reading

  • Carr, Anna and Wilkison, Roger (2005). Beyond Participation: Boundary Organizations as a New Space for Farmers and Scientists to Interact. Society & Natural Resources 18 (3): 255–265

  • Cash, D. et al. (2002). Salience, Credibility, Legitimacy and Boundaries: Linking Research, Assessment and Decision Making. Faculty Research Working Papers Series

  • Crona, Beatrice I., Parker, John N. (2011). Network Determinants of Knowledge Utilization: Preliminary Lessons from a Boundary Organization. Science Communication 33 (4)

  • Global Center on Adaptation and Climate and Development Knowledge Network (2023).

  • Stories of Resilience: Lessons from Local Adaptation Practice. Rotterdam and Cape Town.

  • Gustafsson, Karin M. and Lidskog, Rolf (2018). Boundary organizations and environmental governance: Performance, institutional design, and conceptual development. Climate Risk Management 19: 1-11

  • Guston, David H. (1999). Stabilizing the Boundary between US Politics and Science. Social Studies of Science 29 (1): 87–111

  • Kirchhoff, C. J., Esselman, R., & Brown, D. (2015). Boundary organizations to boundary chains: Prospects for advancing climate science application. Climate Risk Management, 9, 20-29. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crm.2015.04.001

  • Kirchhoff, Christine J., Lemos, Maria Carmen and Dessai, Suraje. (2013). Actionable Knowledge for Environmental Decision Making: Broadening the Usability of Climate Science. Annual Review of Environment and Resources, Volume 38

  • Miller, Clark (2001). Hybrid Management: Boundary Organizations, Science Policy, and Environmental Governance in the Climate Regime. Science, Technology, & Human Values26 (4)

  • Williams, David S. and Jacobs, Daniela (2021). From participatory to inclusive climate services for enhancing societal uptake. Climate Services, Volume 24

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