Energy, Resource Efficiency and the Climate Connection
Social Science Research in Support of Pollution Prevention: What Remains to be Done?
The importance of understanding human behavior – individually and collectively, and in our roles as consumers, decision makers, educators, learners and myriad other places in our lives – rapidly becomes apparent to anyone who does technical assistance work. Where a scientific approach to behavior has been applied -- for instance, the application of diffusion of innovation principles in small business technical assistance – the benefits have often been significant. Yet for the most part, a cohesive social science research agenda for pollution prevention does not exist, and research efforts in this area are often not as well visible to the P2 community as they should be. This discussion forum will provide a brief overview of social science research that has been applied to pollution prevention and sustainability technical assistance, and will then open up the discussion to include the audience. We hope to address such questions as: What IS the role of the social sciences in helping technical assistance programs become more effective? How is this research being incorporated into current program thinking and planning? What questions would the technical assistance community most like to see the social science research community address? What are some of the most relevant areas of research currently underway? What other application areas (such as preventative health, energy efficiency, etc.) might help to shed light on the social science issues facing P2?
Moderator: Elizabeth Longenecker, Vice President, Terrachord, LLC
- Scott Butner, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
