Connecting Social Science and Science in Environmental Policy

ESRC Festival of Social Science, 2^nd November 2011

William Davis Hall, IBERS, Gogerddan Campus, Aberystwyth

Provisional Programme

This event, hosted by Aberystwyth University in association with the Welsh Government and the Wales Institute of Social and Economic Research, Data and Methods (WISERD), will bring together social scientists, scientists and policy-makers to discuss how social science and science perspectives can be integrated to inform environmental policy.

There is growing recognition of the need to engage with social science research in developing policy responses to major environmental challenges including climate change, biodiversity, land management and pollution. The Welsh Government, in particular, has acknowledged this requirement in developing its new Natural Environment Framework. However, whilst there are established mechanisms for feeding evidence from scientific research into environmental policy-making, knowledge exchange with social scientists is less well developed, and science and social science perspectives are rarely presented to policy-makers in an integrated way.

This workshop will aim to highlight the contribution of social science research to environmental policy-making and its integration with scientific evidence, through presentations by social scientists and scientists on key environmental topics, and discussion of the practicalities of developing an integrated approach.

The intended audience are officials involved in environmental policy development and implementation in the Welsh Government and public bodies including the Countryside Council of Wales, Environment Agency and Forestry Commission, social scientists and scientists working on policy-relevant research, and interested members of the public.

12.30	Arrival and lunch
1.00	Presentations on Science and Social Science in Environmental Policy Making Dr Barbara McLean (Senior Researcher, Welsh Government) Dr Shaun Russell (Director,Wales Environment Research Hub)
2.15	Coffee break
2.45	Round table Discussion What are the practical challenges to integrating science and social science in environmental policy-making? Chair: Dr Mark Whitehead (Aberystwyth University) Panellists: Dr Hugh Evans (Forest Research Wales) Sue Williams (Countryside Council for Wales) and previous speakers
4.00	Closing discussion

 For more information please contact Joanne Walker: jnw@aber.ac.uk