Environmental organisations are increasingly using social science research to help understand people’s attitudes, motivations and behaviours around environmental challenges.
To improve the integrity of social research being done in these organisations, partners from a range of environmental organisations and universities* were funded through the ACCESS Flex Fund to collaboratively scope the need and develop a ‘Social Science Resources Guide for Environmental Organisations’ (Appendix 1).
The guide is intended as a resource for environmental organisations with growing demand for social science support and a need to upskill their organisations in understanding and using social science. We encourage organisations to use and adapt it for their own purposes and to add to it with their own resources and insights. Get in contact with socialscience@naturalengland.org.uk to let us know if you find it useful or have feedback.
The collaborative development of the guide is detailed in this joint report JP060 ‘Developing across-organisational social science resources for non-social scientists within environmental organisations’.
* Environmental organisations that form the ‘Natural Environment Social Research Network’ (Natural England, Environment Agency, Forest Research, Nature Scot and Natural Resources Wales), Newcastle University and the National Centre for Research Methods.