The Puget Sound Institute plans a second Human Dimensions workshop to develop a social science strategy for Puget Sound ecosystem recovery.

On June 13th, 2011, the Puget Sound Institute and Washington Sea Grant sponsored a workshop to bring together social sciences academics and professionals. Participants were asked to focus on several areas identified as important and urgent by the Puget Sound Partnership and the Social Science Advisory Committee.

The goal of the workshop was to support the Puget Sound Partnership and other regional agencies in understanding the existing research and gaps in scientific understanding about the human dimensions of ecosystem recovery.

“A proactive and strategic plan of social sciences actions targeted towards ecosystem recovery in Puget Sound is a critical need,” reads the workshop report, Human Dimensions of Puget Sound and Washington Coast Ecosystem-based Management.

The second workshop, to be held at a date to be determined, will engage the social sciences professional community in a peer review of the plan, based on the recommendation of the Advisory Committee. The goal of the review during this second workshop will be to develop a social science strategy for Puget Sound ecosystem recovery that explicitly links social science inputs to the biophysical sciences and decision-making needs of lead agencies, NGOs, and the region’s Tribes.

The report recommends inviting disciplines such as “organizational theorists, psychologists, landscape designers and planners, public administration professionals, and risk analysts (especially from the climate change community).”

Read the full report from the Document Archive: 2011 Human Dimensions of Puget Sound and Washington Coast Ecosystem-based Management (pdf)