Abstract

This report is an evaluation of the embedding of climate research conducted under the National Research Programme for Global Air Pollution and Climate Change (NRP) in the Netherlands. The evaluation was based on interviews and document analysis. The term climate research is used in a broad sense, embracing impacts, sustainable solutions and integrated assessment. The term 'embedding' can be conceived in a variety of ways, depending on what aspect of science is being emphasised. Therein lies its power: it combines a variety of objectives. An evaluation thus automatically reveals the diversity of definitions. The report first makes the differing interpretations explicit. Secondly, it shows that the fundamentally different opinions on how science functions have consequences in terms of what may be expected from the NRP. Three images are differentiated in the report: science as organism, as regime, and as network. The report shows the effects of NRP on different groups of research institutes and ends with an analysis of strengths, weaknesses and recommendations for the NRP.