The whole decision system
EAI considers evidence, interpretation, judgment, authority, affected people, implementation, consequences, accountability and learning together.
About EAI
Strengthening the systems through which decisions are made, justified and revised.
The Evidence Adoption Institute is a Canadian non-profit research and innovation organization focused on the institutional space between evidence and action.
Purpose
Evidence enters institutions. People still have to decide.
EAI studies how institutions interpret evidence, combine it with professional expertise, lived knowledge and local realities, allocate decision authority, use AI and other decision tools, and remain accountable for their choices.
Our purpose is to help build decision systems that are rigorous, equitable, transparent, contestable and capable of learning.
Our Approach
A whole-system view of evidence, judgment and responsibility.
EAI’s approach provides the conceptual foundation for its services, research and programs without treating evidence adoption as a simple transfer from research to practice.
Evidence in context
Evidence acquires practical meaning within a particular population, place, institution and decision.
Human agency and responsibility
People and institutions remain responsible when decisions are informed by research, data, professional expertise, lived knowledge, AI or other tools.
Knowledge, participation and power
Decision quality is shaped by whose knowledge is recognized, whose interests carry influence and who has authority.
Accountability and contestability
Responsible decision systems allow choices and their reasoning to be scrutinized, challenged and reviewed.
Learning and correction
Consequences, emerging evidence and affected experience should support continued learning and correction.
Decision-system model
Action is not the end of the decision process.
Evidence inputs
Interpretation
Judgment
Authority
Action and accountability
Consequences
Learning, contestation and redress
Learning and correction feed back into future interpretation and decisions.
Areas of application
One decision-system lens across different settings.
Health and equity
Health systems, population health, health equity, digital health and responsible health innovation.
Responsible AI and innovation
Human judgment, meaningful oversight, accountability and responsible technology adoption.
Climate and sustainable systems
Evidence use and institutional decisions across complex environmental and place-based systems.
Policy and public systems
Evidence-informed policy, governance, public-sector innovation and institutional decision-making.
Governance
Building an interdisciplinary Board of Directors.
EAI is establishing its inaugural Board of Directors to strengthen governance, strategic direction, research and innovation oversight, funding readiness, partnerships, and long-term institutional sustainability.
We are recruiting multiple volunteer directors whose expertise and perspectives complement one another across the Board as a whole.
- Governance & Strategy — non-profit governance, organizational development, risk, and institutional growth.
- Finance & Audit — financial oversight, budgeting, audit, controls, and funding readiness.
- Research & Innovation — interdisciplinary research, innovation systems, evaluation, knowledge mobilization, and technology.
- Government Relations & Public Policy — public-sector ecosystems, policy relationships, and pathways for evidence uptake.
- Partnerships & Resource Development — philanthropy, grants, strategic partnerships, and institutional relationships.