Edit
Scott Bremer

Scott Bremer

Position

Researcher, Research professor

Affiliation

E-mail
scott.bremer@uib.no
Phone number
+47 55582985
Visitor address
Parkveien 9
5007 Bergen
Room: 201
Postal address
P.O. Box 7805
NO-5020 Bergen
Norway

Scott Bremer

Position

Researcher, Research professor

Affiliation

Research groups

Research

I am a Research Professor (Forsker I) with a background in environmental planning, policy and governance, and most of my recent work is on climate adaptation governance.

I am interested in how science and other ways of knowing are used in support of decisions and action in governance institutions, including at the so-called 'science-policy interface'. Over the past five years I've been uncovering the taken-for-granted, cultural and tacit knowledges of climate that influence how individuals and groups adapt; their cultural frameworks of seasons for example, or their notions of time.

I conduct research mainly in an 'extended' or participatory mode, in collaboration with groups in society, to co-produce knowledge and action for addressing the challenges they face. I aim to make visible those knowledges that have been overlooked or marginalised, including local, traditional, and practical knowledges. I am guided by perspectives on 'transdisciplinarity' and 'post-normal science', and practical approaches to 'citizen science', and 'climate services' for example.

Through my research I try to be active on both sides of the science-policy interface. I am a research associate at NORCE Climate, where I work closely with climate scientists in thinking about how to link their science to governance processes, including at the 'Climate Futures' centre. I am also vice-chair of the Young Academy of Europe (associated with Academia Europaea), providing targeted inputs to European science-policy and science-for-policy. I also have an adjunct assistant professor position at the University of Toronto Scarborough.

Beyond research, I am also passionate about developing and teaching curricula for early career researchers around 'how to do' transdisciplinary co-production in practice. Most recently, this sees me co-designing PhD schools in Africa as part of the Norwegian Research Council-funded CATER project.

I'm currently project leader of the ERC Starting Grant CALENDARS project.

Outreach

I see important overlaps between how we conduct research and how we communicate it. I'm interested in setting up creative spaces where groups can simultaneously learn from research, and contribute to it.

In the CALENDARS project, we have been asking people in Bergen to re-create the primstav - traditional calendar stick - for contemporary life in the city. We've run workshops in collaboration with Aldea atelier in 2020, and with school children at the science open day 2019.

I've been active in facilitating citizen science initiatives in Bangladesh and Bergen, and for me these are exercises for learning through doing research.

Though I have always worked in a transdisciplinary mode, I have been frustrated that the findings of this research often end up published through traditional scientific channels, in a format inaccessible to the communities we work with. In 2024 I published a book on Changing Seasonality, which aims to take transdisciplinarity 'full circle'. The book comprises 33 chapters from researchers, but also practitioners we collaborated with – beekeepers, artists, writers – from around the world. Chapters are real-life accounts of how people from many walks of life revise their seasonal frameworks, written in an authentic way for each author, and accessible to a public readership.

Teaching

I'm regularly invited to give guest lectures in courses at various departments of the University of Bergen, and the Norwegian School of Economics, and I'm a lecturer at the Norwegian Research School in Environmental Humanities.

I am passionate about developing and teaching curricula for early career researchers around 'how to do' transdisciplinary co-production in practice. Most recently, this sees me co-designing PhD schools in Africa as part of the Norwegian Research Council-funded CATER project; a spin-off of a PhD course on 'Co-producing climate adaptation research' that I developed with others in October 2019. 

I also co-led the design and implementation of a Europe-wide course on conducting transdisciplinary research, for undergraduate and masters level students in seven universities (circa 200 students), as part of the ARQUS alliance.

I currently supervise five PhD candidates and two masters students.

Publications

Bremer, S. (2012). Framing a ‘post-normal’ science-policy interface for Integrated Coastal Zone Management. In: E. Moksness, E. Dahl, and J. Støttrup (Eds.) Global Challenges in Integrated Coastal Zone Management (pp. 179-191).  Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell

Blanchard, A. & Bremer, S. (2012). Reflexively mapping the science-policy interface for coastal zones. In: E. Moksness, E. Dahl, and J. Støttrup (Eds.) Global Challenges in Integrated Coastal Zone Management (pp. 206-217).  Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell

Van den Belt, M., Forgie, V., Bremer S., McDonald, G., Lennox, J., Montes de Oca, O., Joy, M., (2010). Modelling tools for adaptive integrated assessment: a case study of New Zealand regional authorities. Research Monograph Series – No. 17. Palmerston North: EERNZ

Bremer, S. (2009). Evaluating the State of New Zealand’s Coastal Management: Application of Integrated Coastal Management Indicators at National and Local Scale. Research Monograph Series – No. 16. Palmerston North: EERNZ. ISBN 978-0-9582949-3-5. ISSN 1176-7251 (print). ISSN 1179-1179 (online)

Projects

Since working as a researcher at the University of Bergen, I have worked on the following research projects: