Sponsoring actionable science: what public science funders can do to advance sustainability and the social contract for science

Producing actionable science to inform decisions on sustainability is an important opportunity for science to serve society and fulfill expectations that come along with public financial support. In turn, how public science funding is managed may help spur different ways of doing science that are better suited to linking kscience with sustainability action. This review identifies opportunities for science funding program management to bolster the generation of actionable science through different approaches to solicitation design, review processes, implementation support, and evaluation. To understand more about this opportunity space, we argue for a more interactive, iterative, and evaluation-centered approach to the study and practice of public science funding program management.