Social Sciences Coordinating Committee

The Social Sciences Coordinating Committee (SSCC) fosters integration of the methods, findings, and disciplinary perspectives of the social, behavioral, and economic sciences and interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approaches into USGCRP activities in support of the Program’s strategic goals. The SSCC liaises with and serves as a social science resource to other USGCRP Interagency Groups, the Subcommittee on Global Change Research and Subcommittee on Climate Services, and other USGCRP activities such as the National Climate Assessment (NCA) and forthcoming National Nature Assessment (NNA).

Activities

Sustained Assessment Process Input

• After the release of NCA4, the SSCC developed a white paper outlining findings and recommendations for the further integration of social science topics into future NCAs, based on focus groups conducted with report authors. Group members developed a journal article reporting the findings of the white paper.

• Building on insights post-NCA5 release gathered from conference workshops and meetings, the SSCC submitted a joint public comment on the first NCA6 Federal Register Notice (FRN), which requested input on the assessment scope and themes.

• SSCC members have actively engaged the social science academic community in the sustained assessment process. For instance, the SSCC  helps advertise FRNs and other opportunities for public input on the National Climate Assessment.The group has hosted public webinars, targeted mainly at the social scientist community, outlining the various pathways for participation in NCA5 and NCA6. These outreach efforts have resulted in increasing numbers of social scientists making recommendations and volunteering as authors. 

• The SSCC plans to continue engagement in the ongoing NCA6 and NNA1 development processes.

Webinars, Seminars, and Other Events

• In 2022 and 2023, the SSCC hosted a “Social Sciences Jamboree” to support the broader network of social scientists working on global change in the federal government. The meeting features plenary speakers, interactive networking activities, and breakout discussions to provide an opportunity to share opportunities, insights, and awareness of programmatic activities. Seeking to make this an annual event, the group is planning a 3rd Jamboree to take place in October 2024.

• The SSCC hosted a public webinar series in Fall 2021 on the intersection of food, climate, and culture. The three-part series connected researchers and practitioners working on some subset of that intersection in land- and water-based food systems and motivated discussion about how the three pieces connect. This work builds on past efforts from USGCRP and USDA, specifically the 2015 publication Climate Change, Global Food Security, and the U.S. Food System, by approaching the topic through the lens of a wider variety of social sciences. The SSCC is now developing follow-up activities on food, climate, and health in collaboration with the CCHHG. Read the webinar series report here.

• In collaboration with the Board on Environmental Change and Society (BECS) of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM), SSCC co-hosted a seminar, “Climate Resilient Pathways and Social Science Research to Action,” in February 2019. The seminar brought together federal managers and scientists, academic scientists, NASEM, and representatives from civil society. Participants discussed the role of social science research in informing actions to meet global change and sustainability challenges, and opportunities to advance interdisciplinary research in federal programs. The SSCC and BECS have remained in contact to serve as a resource to each other on the social dimensions of climate change.

• SSCC has provided input to the Indicators Interagency Working Group on methods for identifying and incorporating social indicators of drivers of change, impacts, vulnerability, and resilience. A workshop, “Socio-environmental Systems Indicators for Climate Change Adaptation and Resilience in the U.S.,” funded by the National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center and NSF, took place in 2019. 

Resources

• Webinar series report: Food, Culture, and Climate

• Webinar series on Food, Culture, and Climate: full recording

• White papers: Social Science Perspectives on Climate Change

• In developing its initial focus, the SSCC drew heavily upon the recommendations of the USGCRP Social Science Task Force (SSTF) which was established in 2012 after the release of the 2012–2021 Strategic Plan. The SSTF fulfilled its mandate in early 2014 with the publication of a white paper and journal article:

  • Weaver, C. P., S. Mooney, D. Allen, N. Beller-Simms, T. Fish, A. E. Grambsch, W. Hohenstein, et al. “From Global Change Science to Action with Social Sciences.” (2014) Nature Climate Change 4(8): 656–59. https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2319.

• After these publications, the SSCC was formed as a committee of USGCRP to implement the suggestions of the white paper and aid USGCRP in interagency coordination with respect to social science research and perspectives.

• Recommendations for the NCA4 Steering Committee