The scientific study of human-environment interactions is a coherent interdisciplinary research area that is related to but distinct from conventional environmental science. Research on environmental social and behavioral science seeks to integrate knowledge from the disciplines that focus on human action, cognition, and institutions with natural science knowledge to understand the human causes of environmental change; the human consequences of such change; and the ways in which individuals, organizations, and social institutions respond to the potential or actuality of environmental variation and change in pursuing their objectives. To facilitate research and community-development in the emerging field of human-environmental interaction, the National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences has operated a Committee on the Human Dimensions of Global Change (CHDGC). This award will provide support for core operations of the CHDGC, including identification of issues needing research attention and overseeing studies on these topics; interactions with various federal agencies on issues requiring scientific analysis of human-environment interactions; contributions to international research programs addressing human-environment relationships; and organization of workshops and other ad hoc activities that enhance scientific contributions to understanding of human-environment interactions but that might not be requested by federal environment agencies.
Continued support for the CHDGC will facilitate that group's functioning as the primary NRC committee that spans social and behavioral science fields and looks to involve leading researchers in those communities in studies of problems related to human-environmental interaction. This award will facilitate the conduct of one special workshop each year to examine specific topics, and it will enable the committee to examine topics that are not directly related to climate change but instead to other forms of human-natural system dynamics. Publications resulting from committee workshops and studies will continue to be major foundations for future work across a diverse set of fields. The research fostered by CHDGC activities will continue to directly address environmental topics of great public interest and concern. The results of committee workshops and studies will have benefits for land and resource managers as well as policy makers at all levels of government. The committee's work also will enhance interactions between social and behavioral scientists and natural scientists and engineers who already are active in environmental discussions, thereby enhancing the likelihood that more comprehensively framed and more integrated research activities will result in the future.
(CHDGC), which since 1989 has worked to build understanding of human interactions with the biophysical environment; BECS continues in that tradition. BECS provides a standing social science presence at the National Research Council to help ensure that social science knowledge and insights are integrated into the Council’s efforts to advise federal agencies and others on matters of environmental analysis and policy. The members of the Board are a group of highly qualified academics and others who meet twice a year to discuss policy issues that could be informed by work of the Board and committees under its direction; they also conduct oversight of ongoing sponsored projects, and engage in dialog with representatives of federal agencies, foundations, non-governmental organizations, professional societies, and others. BECS meetings have since 2009 featured symposia and / or extended discussions of important and substantive socio-environmental issues, or provided guidance from board members about ways to integrate social and natural science knowledge and insights into federal agency (or other entity) programs. These events, which were supported by Award 0908432, have attracted audiences of up to 40 or so persons, and included the following topics: Autumn 2009: Human dimensions of the carbon cycle Spring 2010: Developments in social science Spring 2010 and 2011: Behavioral and social science research on energy issues Spring 2011: International global change research planning and its implications for the U.S. Global Change Research Program Autumn 2011: Integrated observations, data systems, and monitoring Spring 2012: Assessment of outcomes and trade-offs in climate adaptation decisions Spring 2013: Incorporating global change information into regional planning Spring 2013: The USGCRP and social science knowledge Autumn 2013: Science to support the President’s Climate Action Plan and a sustained National Climate Assessment Spring 2014: Scoping a Workshop on Integrating Socio-Economic Factors with Abrupt Change and Extreme Events in Climate Models In 2012, the National Research Council added a website for the Board on Environmental Change and Society (www.nationalacademies.org/BECS) through which it is possible to access all of the reports from sponsored projects carried out under the supervision of both the Committee on Human Dimensions of Global Change (CHDGC) and the Board on Environmental Change and Society (BECS). The reports are also directly accessible as free PDF and print versions via the National Academies Press website (http://www.nap.edu). Projects and reports produced during the current NSF award include: Informing Decisions in a Changing Climate (NRC, 2009). Identified six principles of decision support for climate-affected regions, sectors, and constituencies; project supported by EPA and NOAA. In the wake of this effort, attention to decision support has increasingly been a hallmark of the U.S. Global Change Research Program’s (USGCRP) activities. Facilitating Climate Change Responses (NRC, 2010a). Demonstrated to federal agencies that the contributions the behavioral and social sciences make for more effective mitigation (reducing the extent of climate change) and adaptation (reducing the damage resulting from climate change). Describing Socioeconomic Futures for Climate Change Research and Assessment: Report of a Workshop (NRC, 2010b). Reviewed the state of science for developing scenarios of long-term socioeconomic futures and considered new approaches to scenario development, including key uncertainties and methodological challenges. Climate and Social Stress: Implications for Security Analysis (NRC, 2013). Evaluated the evidence on possible connections between climate change and U.S. national security concerns, identified needs for monitoring key climatic and social phenomena to anticipate climate-related national security risks, and recommended roles for the U.S. intelligence community in a whole-of-government approach to inform choices about adapting to and reducing vulnerability to climate change. Effects of U.S. Tax Policy on Greenhouse Gas Emissions (NRC, 2013). A review of the Internal Revenue Code to identify the types of and specific tax provisions that have the largest effects on carbon and other greenhouse gas emissions and to estimate the magnitude of those effects. Can Earth’s and Society’s Systems Meet the Needs of 10 Billion People? A multi-disciplinary workshop convened in October 2013 explored how to increase the world's population to 10 billion in a sustainable way while simultaneously increasing the well-being and standard of living for that population. This report examines key issues in the science of sustainability that are related to overall human population size, population growth, aging populations, migration toward cities, differential consumption, and land use change, by different subpopulations, as viewed through the lenses of both social and natural science. Risk Management and Governance Issues in Shale Gas Development. Workshops in May and August 2013 identified the full range of public concerns about risks of shale gas development and their governance, and assessed the state of knowledge about those concerns.
