Recent international and national scientific assessments of climate change outline a multitude of possible future challenges for society in a warming world, with the magnitude of challenges increasing with each additional unit of warming. This Seminar will review the human dimensions of climate change and discuss the roles of social sciences for building a more resilient society.

The Seminar builds on insights from a 2017 USGCRP Social Science Coordinating Committee workshop Social Science Perspectives on Climate Change and will discuss: social vulnerability, drivers of and responses to climate change, innovative methods, data and analyses to understand interactions between human and natural systems, and values and challenges with knowledge integration.

Highlights of the IPCC 1.5C Special Report will lead in to panel sessions to explore strengthening interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research in federal programs with a focus on the infrastructure and integration needed for solution-based research. Case studies to be discussed may include: early warning systems, regional scale solution driven research efforts, and international and non-federal approaches (state, local, private), and types of training for knowledge integration to inform solutions.

Areas to be explored include:

• Social science contributions to understanding who is most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and alleviating the burdens faced by impacted communities
• Using social science insights in a risk management context
• Innovations in cross-boundary, transdisciplinary collaboration
• Lessons learned from successful solution-based research
• Needs for societal transitions and deep change (behavior changes, technology transition, social uptake)
• Synergies and trade-offs for adaptation/mitigation
• Opportunities for the federal agencies to enhance federal-academic collaborations
• Optimizing efforts and knowledge sharing across scales (from local to international)