Integrating the Human Sciences to Scale Societal Responses to Environmental Change: Proceedings of a Workshop (2023)
Chapter: 5 Reflections from Day One
5
Reflections from Day One
The second day of the workshop began with a recap of themes from the previous day, led by Planning Committee Chair Robyn Wilson, Professor of Risk Analysis and Decision Science at The Ohio State University, with input from other committee members. Wilson suggested that the field of human sciences can benefit from community input, especially in terms of building resilience in the face of climate-related events. She referred to ways that applying best practices from the 1970s to scientific papers and reports, international development, and community-based participatory research can build on this knowledge. For example, some communities are already doing great work in water justice (e.g., on water-based inequalities and discrimination), and there is more agreement than previously thought regarding the capacity of the human sciences to address the challenges of environmental change. However, Wilson specified that certain factors are hindering collaboration and shared learning. To facilitate widespread implementation and scale up successful practices, it is essential to focus on themes that successfully build resilience. Wilson split this conversation into four distinct themes: learning resilience-related lessons, improving community-science partnerships, noting opportunities for improvement in the field of human sciences, and recognizing and supporting community innovation.
RESILIENCE LESSONS LEARNED
Wilson highlighted that researchers might do well to focus on high-risk areas, such as minority communities in low-lying coastal areas. She noted that focusing on collective action at the community level will require individual buy-in and structural support. Investing in people on the ground and building on existing community initiatives could increase the impact of interventions. Other important facets include designing interventions grounded in practice and co-creation; leveraging best practices; using narratives and stories for change; and incorporating psychological flexibility, mindfulness, coping strategies, and transformational processes. Ultimately, Wilson said, focusing on community needs and building on existing successes can promote greater resilience and address challenges posed by climate-related events.
IMPROVING COMMUNITY-SCIENCE PARTNERSHIPS
Community-science partnerships can be critical in addressing complex challenges such as those related to climate change, Wilson noted. To form better partnerships, it is essential to “meet communities where they are
at” and provide the resources needed for participation, including food and transportation. Wilson explained that early and frequent engagement and the co-creation of research questions are important for promoting intended outcomes and disseminating findings. She conveyed that including trusted community members on research teams, especially as boundary spanners (i.e., those who connect with individuals across one more boundaries or external environments), can help facilitate engagement and build trust. Wilson noted the importance of recognizing that expertise is contextual and that science is a resource not a solution; and for this reason expertise should not be imposed in a top-down manner. Ultimately, earning trust by giving trust and engaging in collaborative, community-led approaches can help to build effective, equitable community-science partnerships.
OPPORTUNITIES FOR IMPROVEMENT
Wilson pointed out several opportunities for improvement in the field of human sciences, particularly with regard to building resilience in the face of climate change. One such opportunity involves the integration of knowledge and expertise across disciplines and levels, such as integrating multilevel models and adopting interdisciplinary approaches. Additionally, she stated, there is a need for better integration of human and natural sciences, including a shared respect for the language and approaches of each. Wilson suggested that allowing the necessary time and energy to translate research findings into practical solutions could better bridge the gap between research and practice. She noted that scaling up successful environmental change-related interventions and practices to the community and international levels is an additional key opportunity. She further noted that synthesizing, applying, and sharing collective knowledge are all critical for ensuring that best practices are widely adopted. Data and approaches require improved spatial and temporal resolution, and a deeper understanding of the underlying factors that influence descriptive trends is also necessary. Finally, Wilson said expanding diversity in effects, disciplines, methods, experience, and interpretation is necessary for building more inclusive and equitable approaches to resilience-building. By seizing these opportunities for improvement, greater resilience can be built, improving responses to the challenges posed by climate change.
RECOGNITION AND SUPPORT FOR COMMUNITY INNOVATION
In her final point, Wilson noted that recognition and support of community innovation are important for building resilience in the face of climate change. Supporting community innovation requires incentivizing the inclusion of community-led approaches so that such approaches are more highly valued within the scientific community. Wilson suggested that actionable team sciences1 and research done with the end user in mind are methods of explicitly engaging in translation and co-creation. These techniques involve ground truthing (i.e., supplementation by empirical evidence) and connecting community-level innovations to relevant theories and approaches. Another key element, she said, is educating the workforce differently, by promoting a greater emphasis on openness about and accessibility to data. She proposed that funders could also play a role, by prioritizing community engagement and interdisciplinary science. Wilson noted that, rather than looking for new approaches, it is important to recognize the value of existing research and proven approaches that can be scaled up and replicated for greater impact. She explained that, to ensure all voices are heard and valued within the scientific community, safe spaces are required to promote trust and build equity. Supporting and recognizing community innovation in the above-mentioned ways, Wilson concluded, will not only build greater resilience but will also ensure a more equitable response to the challenges posed by climate change.
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1 Team science is the “scientific collaboration, i.e., research conducted by more than one individual in an interdependent fashion, including research conducted by small teams and larger groups” (National Academies, 2015, p. 22). More information about team science is available at National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. (2015). Enhancing the effectiveness of team science. The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/19007
