Science history and philosophy researcher Max Bautista took part in a panel discussion on Wednesday at Parc Natural de la Zona Volcànica de la Garrotxa. The activity, for park workers, looked at the history and future of the connection between research and management.

Experts and professionals from different areas discussed the relationship between science and action. They spoke about the Ecological Forest Inventory of Catalonia (IEFC) and how it has been implemented and used by the managers of Parc Natural de la Zona Volcànica de la Garrotxa. They also reflected on the Land Cover Map of Catalonia (MCSC), which gives regional managers and administrators access to a whole wealth of forestry data.

Why hasn’t there been a second edition of the inventory? How has Parc Natural de la Zona Volcànica de la Garrotxa used the data and software? What are the park’s needs (data, information, knowledge, software)? What role does the scientific community play in producing tools that are useful to managers? What role do regional, national and European policies play in fostering a better symbiosis between science and action? These and other questions were discussed on Wednesday at Can Jordà.

Max Bautista Perpinyà (Madrid / Barcelona / Brussels) is a science history and philosophy researcher. He is at Faberllull to write a chapter of his PhD thesis on the desire to build environmental consciousness in Catalonia through science. Through interviews and archive work, he has collected information from people who worked on and promoted the first Ecological Forest Inventory of Catalonia in the 1980s and 1990s.