The environment is changing under the human footprint. Environmental change and environmental protections affect lives and livelihoods of resource-dependent people. A group of scholars based at the Beckman Institute are trying to find socially sustainable and just policy responses.

“The University of Illinois has a critical mass of world-class scholars focused on the political-economic relations between people and environment,” Jesse Ribot, director of SDEP, said. “We’re trying to find better ways to intervene in the world to make it a more livable place.”

SDEP conducts social-science research on the causes of environmental change; causes of social problems related to the environment; and on the making, implementation, and effects of policy solutions on society and the environment. The initiative’s first phase research focuses on two themes: climate-society interactions and environment-democracy linkages.

“We’re training young African scholars to analyze and advocate for better policy in forestry in a continent-wide network. Forestry should be a profitable venture for workers in Africa, but because of oppressive forestry policies, they are not receiving the pay they deserve,” Ribot said. “We’re working to change this to create a more sustainable economic and environmental situation.”

Another program SDEP directs is the Initiative for Climate Research and Understanding through the Social Sciences (ICARUS), which is a forum for exchange of research on the social causes of, effects of, and responses to global environmental change. SDEP is committed to furthering research on climate and society by responding to the call for greater social science engagement in discussion about climate change mitigation and adaptation. ICARUS is planning its fourth symposium to discuss the future implications of climate change.

According to Ribot, vulnerability and adaptation are key concepts in climate-change policy. “Scholars have found that vulnerability to acute disasters, hunger, famine, and dislocation stems from social organization. Adaptation based on a deep understanding of vulnerability can reduce the impacts of a climate event from a major disaster into a mere nuisance,” Ribot said. “SDEP is working to bring these two concepts together to improve understanding of their inter-relatedness, and then build and apply innovative frameworks and approaches to understand social dimensions of climate phenomena.”