TY - JOUR
T1 - Mainstreaming the social sciences in conservation
AU - Bennett, Nathan J.
AU - Roth, Robin
AU - Klain, Sarah C.
AU - Chan, Kai M.A.
AU - Clark, Douglas A.
AU - Cullman, Georgina
AU - Epstein, Graham
AU - Nelson, Michael Paul
AU - Stedman, Richard
AU - Teel, Tara L.
AU - Thomas, Rebecca E.W.
AU - Wyborn, Carina
AU - Curran, Deborah
AU - Greenberg, Alison
AU - Sandlos, John
AU - Veríssimo, Diogo
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 The Authors. Conservation Biology published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Society for Conservation Biology.
PY - 2017/2/1
Y1 - 2017/2/1
N2 - Despite broad recognition of the value of social sciences and increasingly vocal calls for better engagement with the human element of conservation, the conservation social sciences remain misunderstood and underutilized in practice. The conservation social sciences can provide unique and important contributions to society's understanding of the relationships between humans and nature and to improving conservation practice and outcomes. There are 4 barriers—ideological, institutional, knowledge, and capacity—to meaningful integration of the social sciences into conservation. We provide practical guidance on overcoming these barriers to mainstream the social sciences in conservation science, practice, and policy. Broadly, we recommend fostering knowledge on the scope and contributions of the social sciences to conservation, including social scientists from the inception of interdisciplinary research projects, incorporating social science research and insights during all stages of conservation planning and implementation, building social science capacity at all scales in conservation organizations and agencies, and promoting engagement with the social sciences in and through global conservation policy-influencing organizations. Conservation social scientists, too, need to be willing to engage with natural science knowledge and to communicate insights and recommendations clearly. We urge the conservation community to move beyond superficial engagement with the conservation social sciences. A more inclusive and integrative conservation science—one that includes the natural and social sciences—will enable more ecologically effective and socially just conservation. Better collaboration among social scientists, natural scientists, practitioners, and policy makers will facilitate a renewed and more robust conservation. Mainstreaming the conservation social sciences will facilitate the uptake of the full range of insights and contributions from these fields into conservation policy and practice.
AB - Despite broad recognition of the value of social sciences and increasingly vocal calls for better engagement with the human element of conservation, the conservation social sciences remain misunderstood and underutilized in practice. The conservation social sciences can provide unique and important contributions to society's understanding of the relationships between humans and nature and to improving conservation practice and outcomes. There are 4 barriers—ideological, institutional, knowledge, and capacity—to meaningful integration of the social sciences into conservation. We provide practical guidance on overcoming these barriers to mainstream the social sciences in conservation science, practice, and policy. Broadly, we recommend fostering knowledge on the scope and contributions of the social sciences to conservation, including social scientists from the inception of interdisciplinary research projects, incorporating social science research and insights during all stages of conservation planning and implementation, building social science capacity at all scales in conservation organizations and agencies, and promoting engagement with the social sciences in and through global conservation policy-influencing organizations. Conservation social scientists, too, need to be willing to engage with natural science knowledge and to communicate insights and recommendations clearly. We urge the conservation community to move beyond superficial engagement with the conservation social sciences. A more inclusive and integrative conservation science—one that includes the natural and social sciences—will enable more ecologically effective and socially just conservation. Better collaboration among social scientists, natural scientists, practitioners, and policy makers will facilitate a renewed and more robust conservation. Mainstreaming the conservation social sciences will facilitate the uptake of the full range of insights and contributions from these fields into conservation policy and practice.
KW - biología de la conservación
KW - ciencia de la conservación
KW - ciencia social ambiental
KW - ciencia social de la conservación
KW - conservation biology
KW - conservation planning
KW - conservation science
KW - conservation social science
KW - dimensiones humanas
KW - environmental social science
KW - human dimensions
KW - manejo de recursos naturales
KW - natural resource management
KW - planificación de la conservación
KW - sistemas socio-ecológicos
KW - social–ecological systems
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84979021739&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1111/cobi.12788
DO - 10.1111/cobi.12788
M3 - Article
SN - 0888-8892
VL - 31
SP - 56
EP - 66
JO - Conservation Biology
JF - Conservation Biology
IS - 1
ER -