Established in 1969, SCOPE is an ICSU Interdisciplinary Body. It reviews
scientific issues of major significance on the world environmental scene
and looks at the management and policy implications of these problems.
This Strategic Review has been requested by the Executive Committee of
SCOPE and the ICSU Committee on Scientific Planning and Review (CSPR)
to provide recommendations on the future of SCOPE. ICSU reviews its Bodies
from time to time, but in the case of SCOPE, this review has been prompted
by the rapid changes taking place in the scientific assessment landscape
and how these changes are affecting SCOPE.
ICSU is confident that this strategic review will be instrumental in
shaping the future of SCOPE.
A consultant will be hired to carry out this review.
A Reference Group familiar with ICSU, its organization, activities
and programmes, will be formed to provide information and guidance to
the consultant in carrying out his/her work.
The Reference Group will consist of two members of the CSPR—Anne
Whyte and Kari Raivio—and three from outside CSPR—Mateete
Bekunda (Uganda), Marie-Lise Chanin (France) and Annika Nilsson (Sweden).
Marie-Lise Chanin will chair the group.
To initiate the review process, the consultant will be provided with
background information by the members of the reference group and the
SCOPE Secretariat in Paris. The latter will also assure access to the
SCOPE archives including copies of all reports and volumes published
over the past 10 years (volumes 55 to 67), and the contact details for
contributing authors to volumes 65, 66 and 67.
The consultant will meet either electronically or in person with key
members of the SCOPE Executive to discuss the review objectives and
process.
There are currently 38 National and 22 Scientific Unions that are
members of SCOPE. SCOPE also has a number of partner organizations with
which it has had joint projects over the past five years. The names,
telephone numbers and email addresses of key contact persons in these
organizations will be provided to the consultant for the purpose of
this strategic review.
The draft report on the review should be discussed with the Reference
Group in February–March 2008 and the revised report submitted
to ICSU by 31 March for presentation to the 15th meeting of CSPR in
April 2008.
In carrying out the above strategic review, the consultant will
be expected to
(a) Assess the objectives of SCOPE. This assessment should:
clarify what has been expected of SCOPE in the last ten years from
different stakeholders
explain whether and if so how, when, and why SCOPE’s objectives
and stakeholder expectations changed
assess changes over the last five years in how priorities are set,
topics for projects are selected, and the role Members and the Executive
Board play in this process
assess the extent to which SCOPE’s objectives and stakeholder
expectations have taken into account changes in (i) the nature of competition
in the publishing field for reference collections or (ii) other factors
that might affect SCOPE performance overtime, especially the changes
in scientific assessments since the 1970s
(b) Evaluate the performance of SCOPE over time, including:
develop a set of indicators and apply these to assess (i) the extent
to which SCOPE has met its objectives and stakeholder expectations,
(ii) the impact of SCOPE on the broader scientific community (e.g.,
changes in the number of libraries that subscribe to SCOPE publications
or the number of citations of chapters in SCOPE reference collections
as recorded in a relevant citation index), and (iii) other SCOPE accomplishments
over time
assess the characteristics of SCOPE assessments, their frequency,
how the need for assessment is determined, and the extent to which their
timing is strategic and the outputs and audiences are well defined
identify the key audiences for SCOPE assessments and evaluate whether
SCOPE is successfully reaching them with its outputs and whether the
products fulfil the needs of those audiences
(c) Discuss the problems encountered by SCOPE in meeting its objectives
and the expectations of its stakeholders including the broader user community.
This should be based on assessment of:
SCOPE’s organizational and management structure and their relationship
to SCOPE’s ability to perform to the level expected
changes in the Members who are actively involved in SCOPE (e.g., governance,
assessments, funding, outreach) over time
the topicality and relevance of the research reviews undertaken in
SCOPE assessments
SCOPE’s financial situation, including
costs of recent assessments and how much is contributed to core
operating costs through overhead, etc; cost-effectiveness of the
assessments
magnitude and sources of SCOPE funding over time and how these
compare with SCOPE’s main competitors
approaches by and efficacy of the SCOPE Executive to attract
sufficient funding
the likelihood of SCOPE to attract funding from recent past donors
or from SCOPE members organizations (e.g., will Members consider
in principle an increase in dues or provide additional voluntary
support?)
competition with other ICSU bodies for donor funding, time of volunteer
scientists, and attention of policy makers, and the relative scarcity
of these three resources
SCOPE’s positioning to compete in a changing information environment
(e.g., on-line publication, rapid information dissemination) and in
a changing scientific assessment environment
(d) Recommendations with regard to the future of SCOPE. These should
address:
the relevance of SCOPE’s mission to its members and the broader
scientific community
the future viability of SCOPE including its economic viability
As the ICSU Secretariat is already involved in three major reviews (ESSP,
IGBP and WCRP),
an alternative model is being used. The review will be carried out by
a consultant with a Reference Group that will act as a sounding board
and the support of the ICSU Science Officer, Dr Patricia Ocampo-Thomason.
The consultant will report to the CSPR and will work closely with the
Executive Committee of SCOPE. The Reference Group will advise on the overall
design of the Review, the specific questions to be addressed and suggest
key stakeholders to be contacted. The Reference Group will also review
the draft report prior to submission to CSPR.
Following CSPR’s approval of the Terms of Reference for the review
(October 2007), the consultant will meet with members of the SCOPE Executive,
the Reference Group and the supporting ICSU Science Officer in November.
The main work of the review including data collection and analysis will
take place November 2007 – February 2008. The review will report
to CSPR at its 15th meeting on 28–29 April 2008.
Key milestones
2007
Activity
September–October
Development of Terms of Reference
with SCOPE and ICSU
October
Approval of Review Terms of Reference by CSPR
October–November
Meeting with SCOPE Executive and Reference Group
2008
February–March
Draft report discussed with Reference Group and
SCOPE
March 31
Revised report submitted to CSPR
April 28-29
Revised report presented at 15th meeting of CSPR in Paris
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