This exploratory research project is investigating the social dynamics of dam construction, or removal, through the integrated application of social and ecological sciences. Working from an anthropocentric viewpoint, we are evaluating the role of dams as agents of change on the ecological, economic, and socio-cultural determinants of a community. Through this exploratory project, we seek to 1) promote an international and interdisciplinary research community, 2) develop a platform for equivalently comparing metrics describing ecological, economic, and socio-cultural determinants, 3) produce a net-effect indicator of dam construction (and removal) on communities of various organizational scales, 4) expand the project through future collaborations to test this net-effect indicator in areas of new dam construction.
INTELLECTUAL MERIT: The key innovative features of this project are in the international and interdisciplinary study of dams as agents of change on social dynamics. Two international symposia and a state of the science synthesis provide the foundation from which investigators are defining a framework to integrate the ecological, economic, and socio-cultural sciences. This framework is built upon existing knowledge of the risks and benefits associated with dams to develop a new net-effects indicator of dams on people. Only through such a tool will it be possible to conduct a multi-disciplinary cost-benefit analysis that incorporates ecological and socio-cultural determinants into traditional economic analyses. The larger objectives of this collaborative research are to study the effect of dams on one pre-dam and one post-dam community in the Yunnan province of China, where dam construction is driving rapid ecological, economic and social change. This will allow policymakers and scientists to address important management and science questions, such as whether a difference exists in the distribution of costs and benefits between culturally and geographically defined communities. BROADER IMPACTS - We believe that the results of our project may lead to the formulation of more equitable strategies for managing and mitigating the risks and benefits of dams around the world. The proposed net-effects indicator will be globally relevant to those seeking to meet increasing demands of freshwater and electricity through dam construction, as well as to those planning dam removals. Because this study brings together infrequently partnered disciplines and faculty from a research university, an undergraduate college, and government research institutions, lasting relationships will be formed between junior and senior faculty and between researchers with diverse experiences, research focuses, and perspectives. In addition, this exploratory study will create broader impacts by providing for an integrated, international research and education experience for two underrepresented undergraduate students.
