California Council on Science and Techno logy

For the past 35 years, CCST's approach to partnering and facilitating dialogue across institutions and disciplines has allowed CCST to create a collective impact that exceeds what any single institution could accomplish on its own.Collaboration was especially key in 2022. By working together across an extraordinary network of partners, researchers, public servants, and philanthropists, CCST paved the way for new and creative solutions to some of California's most daunting problems. CCST made headway on two disaster resilience efforts addressing the impacts of wildfire: a policy accelerator project with the Federation of American Scientists to support the work of the Federal Wildland Fire Mitigation and Management Commission; and a joint project with Blue Forest Conservation linking public health to forest health via wildfire smoke, which is slated for release in late summer 2023.CCST's COVID-19 Steering Committee released ""California Policy Actions for Pandemic Preparation, Response, and Recovery"" in summer 2022. The White Paper presented 34 recommendations for policymakers to consider in efforts to improve California's resilience to COVID-19 and prepare for future pandemics and other disasters. In 2022 the Committee held two facilitated workshops with experts and published their proceedings: ""Reimagining a 21st Century Public Health System"X and ""Designing Operable Privacy Standards for Data Sharing during Public Health Emergencies"".In January 2022, Issues in Science and Technology published ""States as Laboratories for Science Policy Innovation"", by Amber Mace, CCST CEO; and Jun Bando, former Senior Advisor at CCST.CCST Expert Briefings, often held in partnership with State leaders of peer organizations, convene leading experts from CCST's Partner Institutions and beyond to address pressing scientific and technical questions facing California policymakers. In 2022, CCST held a series of seven briefings, focused on identifying and addressing the key issues on the California policy landscape critical to ensuring long-term disaster resilience.In the fall, CCST also partnered with the Governor's Office of Planning and Research on a series of six public roundtables for California's Fifth Climate Change Assessment. The series helped to identify how future research can incorporate equity, traditional knowledges, governance, economic impacts, and climate financing.The 2022 class of Fellows marked the 13th year of placing PhD-level scientists, engineers, and social scientists directly into legislative offices, policy committees, and more recently State Agencies and Offices of the Governor, to prepare them for public service through the S&T Policy Fellowship Program. Working in placements that included the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services, California Natural Resources Agency, Assembly Utilities and Energy Committee, Assembly Judiciary Committee, Senate Environmental Quality Committee, California Air Resources Board, and more, CCST S&T Policy Fellows made an impact across a range of policy and regulatory fields. Altogether, CCST S&T Policy Fellows have worked on over 1,300 bills, briefings, hearings, and bill analyses. There are now 144 alumni of the program, many of whom serve in positions in legislative offices and agencies.As California's future unfolds, CCST will play a leading role in harnessing science and technology to shape policies that address the disproportionate impact of natural and man-made disasters and other threats to diverse communities throughout the state.