Building Science for Environmental Protection in the 21st Century - Science For Environmental Protection: The Road Ahead - page 96

o Innovate.
o Take the long view.
o Be collaborative.
 EPA will need to continue to evaluate and apply the new tools for data
acquisition, modeling, and knowledge development described in Chapter 3.
 EPA will need to continue to develop and apply new systems-level
tools and expertise for systematic analysis of the health, environmental, social,
and economic implications of individual decisions.
 EPA will need to continue to develop tools and methods for synthesiz-
ing science and characterizing uncertainties, and will need to integrate methods
for tracking and assessing the outcomes of actions (that is, for being account-
able) into its decision process from the outset.
STAYING AT THE LEADING EDGE OF SCIENCE
EPA can maintain its global position in environmental protection by staying
at the leading edge of science and engineering research. Staying at the edge of
science knowledge requires staying at the edge of science practice. In addition to
understanding the latest advances in the science and practice of environmental
protection, EPA will need to continue to engage actively in the identification of
emerging scientific and technologic developments, respond to advances in science
and technology, and use its knowledge, capacity, and experience to direct those
advances. That is consistent with the two principal goals for science in the agency:
to safeguard human health and the environment and to foster the development and
use of innovative technologies (EPA 2012).
For EPA to stay at the leading edge, the committee presents a set of over-
arching principles for research and policy that begins to address the challenges
of wicked problems. To be able to predict and adequately address existing chal-
lenges and prevent on-the-horizon challenges, EPA's science will need to
 Anticipate . Be deliberate and systematic in anticipating scientific,
technology, and regulatory challenges.
 Innovate . Support innovation in scientific approaches to characterize
and prevent problems and to support solutions through more sustainable tech-
nologies and practices.
 Take the long view. Track progress in ecosystem quality and human
health over the medium term and the long term and identify needs for midcourse
corrections.
 Be collaborative . Support interdisciplinary collaboration in and outside
the agency, across the United States, and globally.
Those four principles support the flow of science information (from data
to knowledge) in EPA to inform environmental decision-making and strategies
for inducing desirable environmental behaviors.