Developing evidence briefs for landscape fire management

Abstract Consolidating and translating knowledge about complex environmental processes for decision makers and the public is a multifaceted challenge. Landscape fire, for instance, impacts a wide range of ecological and social values, and communication takes place in a crowded and contested information environment. Evidence briefs are a tool for clearly communicating current knowledge and are commonly used in the health sector and public policy. This raises the questions of whether, and how, evidence briefs could support the management of landscape fire and other environmental issues. Drawing on findings from existing interdisciplinary fire research, we develop four principles to support effective use of evidence briefs for landscape fire applications: (1) Actively engage with complexity and uncertainty whilst highlighting areas of agreement, (2) Recognise diverse ways of knowing, (3) Continually refer back to the problem and goal at the centre of the brief and (4) Embed evidence briefs within a larger process of relationship building and decision‐making. Synthesis and applications. For evidence briefs to provide value to the ecological management and natural hazards community and to the broader public, researchers and practitioners need clear guidance on how briefs must be developed to address a broad spectrum of issues. We propose that principles relating to complexity, diverse forms of knowledge, clear objectives and relationship building will support the delivery of effective and timely evidence briefs.