The social sciences in climate assessments in the United States.

This article looks at the inclusion of the social sciences in recent climate assessment reports from national and sub-national jurisdictions (state, territory, district) of the United States. It compares and contrasts interdisciplinary integration based on three criteria: inclusion of societal topics; the use of social science frameworks, theory, and literature to interpret findings; and processes of knowledge production. National and sub-national climate assessments serve different societal purposes and decision-making goals, and are produced in distinct knowledge governance contexts.

Disaster waste and debris clean-up decisions of government actors in the United States: social process and socio-material systems.

In the United States, debris removal is one of the costliest and most time-consuming elements of disaster response and recovery. It is essential to reducing secondary environmental and health risks, and to community recovery and rebuilding. Analysis of debris removal and waste management, though, primarily treats it as a series of operational steps and technical decisions.

Inclusive engagement for equitable resilience: community case study insights.

Incorporating equity into climate resilience planning, especially through participatory processes, is important to adequately address social vulnerability and avoid reproducing inequities. Recent analyses of resilience and adaptation plans in the United States suggest that there is increasing attention on equity and justice, but a wide variation in how it is being incorporated and implemented. Available studies of resilience planning are limited by their focus on larger urban areas and on plan contents.

Centering equity in the development of a community resilience planning resource.

Building community resilience requires centering equity in resilience planning processes. Tools and resources for strengthening community resilience need to address equity in both their content and the process for using them. This is especially so for communities living in proximity to contaminated lands that face compounding hazards (i.

Toward Coequality of the Social Sciences in the National Climate Assessment.

Integration of the social sciences into climate assessments enhances report content and actionable science. The literature has identified the benefits and challenges in achieving coequal intellectual partnerships between the social and biogeophysical sciences in climate research. Less has been written on how to rectify the issue in the particular institutional context of a climate assessment.

Rethinking the design of resilience and adaptation indicators supporting coastal communities.

As resilience and adaptation considerations become mainstreamed into public policy, there is an overarching desire to measure and quantify metrics and indicators that seek to evaluate the efficiency, effectiveness, and justness associated with outcomes of such processes. While much research has sought to develop specific indicators that may serve as proxies for these considerations, less research has focused on those normative aspects of indicator design that support a variety of goals associated with the accuracy, reproducibility, proxy value and multi-stakeholder translation of indicators, among various other goals and values. This perspective article sets forth a range of potential considerations that may be useful for those who seek to design and develop novel resilience and adaptation indicators ("RAIs").

Conceptualizing and Capturing Outcomes of Environmental Cleanup at Contaminated Sites.

Our article analyzes interdisciplinary literature within the social sciences on outcomes of environmental cleanups at Superfund, brownfield, and other contaminated sites. By focusing on postremediation sites and outcomes, we expand the understanding of the sociopolitical life of contaminated sites over time. First, we examine the technoscientific practices of how scientists and environmental managers seek to make cleanup outcomes legible and meaningful.

The sedimented social histories of environmental cleanups: An ethnography of social and institutional dynamics.

The scrutiny of environmental cleanups within the United States has been a growing area of interest for social scientists. Scholars have used case studies and modeling to analyze struggles for environmental justice and the economics of stigma associated with Superfund sites. This research has primarily analyzed community perspectives on remediation and removal, such as local strategies for participating in cleanup decisions.

Institutional insights on integrating social and environmental science for solutions-driven research.

Solving complex environmental problems requires interdisciplinary research involving the social and environmental sciences. The U.S.

How clean is clean: a review of the social science of environmental cleanups.

Environmental cleanup may involve decontaminating an area affected by a radiological release, containing an oil spill, or remediating a Superfund site or brownfield. It is a key component of how environmental agencies work to protect public health and the environment. There are many publications on technical protocols for cleanup and waste disposal.

A coupled human-natural systems framework of community resilience.

This article compares and contrasts resilience frameworks to identify commonalities and gaps. It proposes use of a coupled human-natural systems framework (CHNS) to analyze community resilience to disasters. CHNS builds on the human ecosystem model that analyzes how institutions and social order shape fluxes and flows of resources between and within social and environmental systems.