+Policy Homepage
+Policy Fellow Research Highlight: Theo Lim
+Policy Network
ANNOUNCEMENTS
SPRING 2024 STEP SEMINAR SERIES
DATE & LOCATION: FRIDAYS, 12:00-1:OO PM | ARCHITECTURE ANNEX 111 OR ZOOM
The weekly STEP seminar provides a space for informative presentations and discussions around work at the science-policy interface. The seminar is open to all VT community members, and is held in-person at Architecture Annex 111 and via Zoom. | Speaker Schedule
Virginia’s Science Policy Programs: Lessons Learned & New Directions
DATE & LOCATION: MAY 17TH, 9:00 AM-12:00 PM | VIRTUAL
Are you interested in how STEM-H researchers engage in policy and become more effective actors at the science-policy interface? Learn how organizations and initiatives like Virginia Tech’s Science, Technology, and Engineering in Policy (STEP) program and Science Policy Education and Advocacy Club (SPEAC) are making an impact in Virginia. A research team from George Mason University, Virginia Tech, and Bankston Policy Consulting has been speaking with leaders of Virginia's science policy programs to map the landscape of science policy opportunities in the state. During this webinar, they will describe preliminary findings and facilitate breakout discussions with program leaders to identify lessons learned and ways to support this growing network. | Click here to register
2024 POLICY CAMP
DATE & LOCATION: AUGUST 20TH, 9:00 AM-4:00 PM | SQUIRES 134
The +Policy Network Policy Camp is a synchronous experience where those who have completed Introduction to Policy Concepts or possess introductory policy knowledge can come together to apply basic concepts in interactive, fun activities with colleagues from other disciplines, units, and campuses who are interested in policy concepts. Participants will get a chance to engage with others through group exercises as well as reflecting on their own work and potential role in policy conversations. | Click here for details and to enroll
What is the +Policy Network?
The +Policy Network, formerly the Policy Destination Area, is a cross-university, interdisciplinary group that aims to raise the visibility of policy and policy-related research and practice across the University. We are dedicated to making research more "translation-ready" by helping faculty and graduate students consider policy considerations even at the start of the research enterprise (hence, the "+ Policy"). Since fall 2021, we are funded by and operate under the auspices of the Institute of Society, Culture and Environment (ISCE). A director and stakeholders who meet monthly direct activities.
Building capacity for policy research and development that connects STEM disciplines with the social sciences and humanities sets us apart from the "policy school" approach by leveraging our strengths in policy-related theoretical and methodological innovation and sophistication and the deliberate integration of policy considerations throughout the university, so as to advance the human condition in a just and equitable manner.
We view policy broadly as making decisions with wide-ranging or heightened impact under conditions of complexity, ambiguity, and uncertainty. Under such frequently volatile and poorly understood circumstances, “policy” encompasses more than statutes, regulations, and court decisions, often producing outcomes with major social, economic, and environmental ramifications.
We work toward achieving our aims through several interlocked strategies and that also reflect the mission of our land grant University. These include concentration of focal areas that are in turn reflected in our research, graduate certificate program, or curriculum, and engagement. Specific initiatives or programs are listed below.
Focal Areas
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Energy & Environmental PolicyPolicies debated and made now affect generations to come. Perhaps in few areas is this more true than for energy and environmental policies - which are national, but also international, state and local - making them especially complex.
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Health PolicyWe view health policy as an ever-evolving, interdisciplinary field that traverses many disciplines including those traditionally within public health and medicine, as well as across liberal arts, architecture and planning, engineering, and others.
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Technology PolicyWe are poised to enter perhaps the most consequential decade in the history of humankind. The potential of innovative technologies for good or ill, unfolding within an acceleratingly interconnected yet diverging world that is undergoing dramatic climate and social changes, means that governance and policy decisions made today have outsized ramifications across every sphere of future human activity.