Purpose and Scope. Focus Areas Functions and Priorities Actions and Progress Examples Efforts/Community Input Future Directions

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1 Interagency Working Group on Ocean Social Science: Integrating g Social Science into Ocean and Coastal Decision Making and Governance Thomas E. Fish U.S. Department of the Interior, CESU Network Marilyn Buchholtz ten Brink U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development Strategic Collaborative Science Program Summit II July 2013 Washington, DC

2 Overview Formation and Charge Purpose and Scope Members Focus Areas Functions and Priorities Actions and Progress Examples Efforts/Community Input Future Directions

3 Interagency Working Group on Ocean Social Science (IWG OSS) Formation and Charge Final Recommendations of the Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force 2010: Social sciences can inform decisions about how to achieve societal itlobjectives from the Nation s ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes waters Advisory to the National Ocean Council Assists 2 Interagency Policy Committees: ORM, OST

4 IWG OSS Formation and Charge Official IWG OSS Charter 2010 & 2013 Members from CENRS Agencies with oceanrelated responsibilities Co Chairs from different Departments + Currently: DOI & EPA + Formerly: DOI & NOAA

5 National Ocean Policy & Implementation Plan maintain a healthy, productive, and resilient ocean that can continue to provide the benefits and resources humans want and need. Achieving this goal will require both a sound scientific foundation and a commitment to management practices that are adaptable to changing conditions and responsive to new challenges and opportunities that emerge. Working together, resource managers, ocean users, and other stakeholders can develop and apply ecosystem-based management incrementally, by learning and sharing effective practices as knowledge and experience increase.

6 National Ocean Policy & Implementation Plan specific actions to implement the Policy will benefit: (1) The Ocean Economy, (2) Safety and Security, and (3) Coastal and Ocean Resilience by supporting (4) Local Choices, and providing foundational (5) Science and Information.

7 Themes Stewardship of Natural and Cultural Ocean Resources Increasing I i R Resilience ili tto Natural N t lh Hazards d and de Environmental i t l Disasters Di t Maritime Operations and the Marine Environment The Ocean s Role in Climate Improving Ecosystem Health Enhancing g Human Health

8 Purpose and Scope Interagency Working Group on Ocean Social Science (IWG OSS) is tasked with assisting the Joint Subcommittee on Ocean Science and Technology and Subcommittee on Integrated Management of Ocean Resources in integrating social science into ocean, coastal, tland Great tlk Lakes governance structures, t agency functions, policies, and decision making.

9 IWG OSS Members * Department of Agriculture Department of Justice Department of Commerce + NOAA Department of Defense + Navy, OSD, USACE Department of Energy Department of Health and Human Services Department of Homeland Security Department of the Interior + BOEM, NPS, USGS Department of State Department of Transportation Environmental Protection Agency Federal Emergency Management Agency National Aeronautics and Space Administration National Science Foundation Smithsonian i Institution i * Federal agencies under CENRS; currently not all represented

10 Current Focus Areas Theworking group s efforts arefocused on three key areas: coastal and marine spatial planning; resiliency and adaptation to climate change and ocean acidification; and informed decision making and improved understanding of ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes governance.

11 IWG OSS ImplementationPriorities Provide input to agencies on how they could establish or improve internal mechanisms for coordinating ocean related social science efforts; Develop strategies t to address gaps in Fd Federal social ilscience capabilities and capacity; Coordinate with the Federal scientific and management communities to identify social science information needs across agencies and academia; E i id if h b fi f i l di h Encourage agencies to identify the benefits of including the social sciences in climate change research and identify best practices for incorporating the results into research and management actions;

12 IWG OSS ImplementationPriorities Facilitate communication and collaboration between physical and social scientists, ocean, coastal and Great Lakes managers, and agency leaders; Provide guidance to fd federal agencies and regional ocean partnerships on how to use social science to evaluate the effectiveness of their programs; Recommend methods for improving public understanding of the ocean, coastal and Great Lakes related matters; and Through h IPCs, provide best practices to the Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force on integrating the social sciences in the implementation of coastal and marine spatial planning.

13 Implementation Actions Stewardship ofthe Ocean, Our Coasts, and the Great Lakes (EO #13547) : Priority Area: Inform Decisions and Improve Understanding Increase knowledge to continually inform and improve management and policy decisions and the capacity to respond to change and challenges. Better educate the public through hformal and informal programs about the ocean, our coasts, and the Great Lakes.

14 IWGOSS ImplementationActions Coordinate a review of recent and ongoing social indicator efforts that characterize human interactions with the ocean, our coasts, and Great Lakes, with synthesis and recommendations for application to inform longterm trend analyses and integrated ecosystem assessments for coastal communities. (2013) Identify and collaborate with an ongoing project to employ public input and use socioeconomic and natural sciences to identify, develop, and apply valuation frameworks for ecosystem services. (2014) Coordinate a review of recent and ongoing efforts related to social science data collection and analysis methods and best practices, with synthesis and recommendations for application to inform ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes decision making. (2014)

15 Actions and Progress to Date Raising awareness within agencies Creating forum to discuss SS activities across agencies Participating in development of NOP implementation plan Developing principles and guidelines framework Convening conference sessions for cross disciplinary exchange Assessing agency capabilities, capacities, and needs Developing IWG strategic t plan, fact sheets, and web site

16 Convening Dialog Sessions Coastal Zone Coastal Society Coastal and Estuarine Research Federation Interagency Social Science Roundtable Social Coast Forum ACES HDFW ISSRM

17 Examples from DiscussionSession * What is Social Science?

18 What is Social Science? Social science is commonly used as an umbrella term to refer to a plurality of disciplines outside of the natural sciences such as, anthropology, archaeology, economics, geography, political science, psychology, and sociology. Social science methods are often applied in other fields such as, communications and education.

19 Discussion Session Summary Points Recommend methods for improving gpublic understanding of the ocean, coastal and Great Lakes related matters; and Full understanding of environmental problems, and hence solving them, requires inclusion of knowledge that is traditionally excluded in formulating solutions (e.g., local knowledge, human use and behavior, complex decision processes). Through IPCs, provide best practices to the Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force on integrating the social sciences in the implementation of coastal and marine spatial planning. Share examples and results of social science applications successes, persistent constraints, and lessons learned.

20 IWG OSS Future Directions National Ocean Policy Implementation Plan actions and coordination Enlist members from under represented federal agencies Explore discussion session recommendations vis à vis IWG OSS charge, priorities, and strategic plan formulation Develop methodsto to better assess and utilize socialscience science capacities within the agencies Provide consultative review for relevant interagency efforts (e.g., PCAST) Work with other convened groups to increase social science application and capacity building