As more and more organizations and scholars have recognized the importance of social science in conservation, many organizations have incorporated human dimensions of conservation into their mission and vision statements. However, it is unclear how conservation organizations have overcome barriers and implemented this shift in practice. This summer, I will explore this topic at the Institute for Ecological Research (IPE), a 32-year-old, established conservation organization and Environmental Leadership and Training Initiative (ELTI) partner in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
My summer research will ask: How does IPE integrate social science questions, methods, and insights into their conservation work? Recognizing that a key part of integrating social science into conservation is stakeholder engagement, I will also ask: What processes does IPE use for stakeholder engagement? How are these processes explicitly or implicitly incorporated as standard organizational practices? I will answer my research questions by engaging with IPE staff and project stakeholders (via observation, conversation, semi-structured interviews, and surveys) at three IPE project sites in Nazare Paulista, Pontal do Paranapanema, and Southern Bahia.
The objective of this research is to glean lessons from a conservation NGO that is considered to have successfully integrated social science into its work to create lasting restoration projects that serve people and nature, and apply these lessons to other restoration projects, within and beyond IPE. This research may also be used to develop a case study for ELTI's online certificate program that supports conservation practitioners in the tropics.