Why we need Environmental Social Sciences

Environmental issues are ultimately social issues. They are caused by, understood by, and must be solved by, people as individuals, groups, communities, political and institutional systems.

Securing the future of our planet and the wellbeing of humankind requires an in-depth understanding of the interdependent relationships between people and their social and natural environment. It requires knowledge and expertise of all environmental social sciences.

Who is this document for?

This document is for anyone with an interest in understanding and tackling people-environment relationships and environmental problems. This includes those working as, or with, environmental social scientists in academia, policy and practice, as well as scientists, knowledge brokers and policy makers and practitioners wishing to explicitly consider people-environment relationships in their work. This may include questions around climate change, net zero emissions, nature-climate relations, biodiversity, use of natural resources, consumer choices, as well as people’s relationships with their natural environment and non-human nature.

Why this document is needed

Environmental problems are deeply rooted in social structures and tackling these problems requires significant social transformation for which environmental social science (ESS) knowledge and expertise is essential. However, the potential value and role of environmental social sciences in research and policy and practice is not always clearly valued or understood. Overlooking the vital role of people and ESS insights contributes to inadequate environmental policy.

Social sciences can sometimes be dismissed as common sense and is too often carried out by those without proper training and social science expertise is often under resourced. There is frequently a narrow understanding of the range of insights, tools and techniques that different environmental social sciences can offer.

Knowledge of and requests for environmental social sciences (for instance by other researchers or decision makers) is often limited to research that studies how end users (consumers) respond to new technologies or environmental policies after the problems have been framed and the solutions have been designed. Knowledge of ESS research is often based on outdated ways of thinking, for example the knowledge-deficit model, which assumes that people lack the knowledge to “do the right thing”. There is also less emphasis on more inclusive methods that bring different groups into framing the problem.

However, there is a huge variety of different types of environmental social sciences. Social science has played an important and significant role in research impact. Researchers have a vast array of methods and knowledge at their disposal that is critical to help understand and improve people-environment interactions and successful delivery of policy and practice. Environmental problems require insight and knowledge from a range of different disciplines, including social sciences. This document provides a synopsis of what environmental social science is, what it does and what it can offer to environmental research, policy and practice.