TY - JOUR
T1 - Socio-scientific research and practice
T2 - evaluating outcomes from a transdisciplinary urban water systems project
AU - Flint, Courtney G.
AU - Dean, Kent Taylor
AU - Yang, Bo
AU - Jackson-Smith, Douglas
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by the National Science Foundation under EPSCoR Grant 1208732 awarded to Utah State University as part of the State of Utah EPSCoR Research Infrastructure Improvement Award. Opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. The authors thank interview participants for their time and contributions.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019, Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
PY - 2019/3/1
Y1 - 2019/3/1
N2 - The impact of academic research on socio-ecological practice remains elusive. In this paper we assess outcomes of a National Science Foundation-funded project (iUTAH: innovative Urban Transitions in Aridregion Hydro-sustainability) that applied social and engineering water science to increase urban water system sustainability in Utah, the USA. We combined an assessment of published papers and semi-structured interviews with participants to explore the degree to which this effort generated outcomes associated with successful transdisciplinary projects: providing useful products, enhancing the capacity of water system managers, strengthening social and professional networks, and changing water management structures or decisions. Results suggest that efforts to translate published scientific results in more accessible formats, incorporating stakeholders and decision-makers early and throughout the research process, and cultivating personal and professional social ties between researchers and non-academics are all important ways to ensure that research is relevant and impactful on society. The paper ends with a discussion on the need to further bridge gaps between social and engineering water sciences, and how to make science more actionable for socio-ecological problems through socio-scientific practice.
AB - The impact of academic research on socio-ecological practice remains elusive. In this paper we assess outcomes of a National Science Foundation-funded project (iUTAH: innovative Urban Transitions in Aridregion Hydro-sustainability) that applied social and engineering water science to increase urban water system sustainability in Utah, the USA. We combined an assessment of published papers and semi-structured interviews with participants to explore the degree to which this effort generated outcomes associated with successful transdisciplinary projects: providing useful products, enhancing the capacity of water system managers, strengthening social and professional networks, and changing water management structures or decisions. Results suggest that efforts to translate published scientific results in more accessible formats, incorporating stakeholders and decision-makers early and throughout the research process, and cultivating personal and professional social ties between researchers and non-academics are all important ways to ensure that research is relevant and impactful on society. The paper ends with a discussion on the need to further bridge gaps between social and engineering water sciences, and how to make science more actionable for socio-ecological problems through socio-scientific practice.
KW - Actionable science
KW - Engineering science
KW - Interdisciplinary integration
KW - Social science
KW - Stakeholder engagement
KW - Utah
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U2 - 10.1007/s42532-019-00007-5
DO - 10.1007/s42532-019-00007-5
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85155452153
SN - 2524-5279
VL - 1
SP - 55
EP - 66
JO - Socio-Ecological Practice Research
JF - Socio-Ecological Practice Research
IS - 1
ER -