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Catalog of Conservation Social Science Tools v 1.0

Welcome to the SSWG Catalog of Conservation Social Science Tools!

This Catalog is designed for conservation practitioners, planners, students and researchers interested in the social dimensions of conservation. The aim is to provide conservation practitioners with greater capacity to integrate social sciences into their work by linking practitioners to key social science tools and methodological approaches, and by providing context for these tools.

“Social science” is a huge realm of knowledge about how people live and work: how they organize, negotiate, plan, make decisions, and manage natural resources. Social science help us to understand what people and groups are doing, and why. Social science consists of multiple disciplines and sub-disciplines, each with its own history and set of theories, methods, approaches and tools relevant to conservation.

The Catalog is designed to facilitate more effective conservation initiatives based on a better understanding of the relationship between humans and nature. The tools in the Catalog are intended to be used by practitioners with social and environmental backgrounds: social scientists familiar with biodiversity conservation, and conservation practitioners with knowledge of theoretical and methodological insights provided by the social sciences.

The Catalog is organized for use by a wide audience. It provides:

• An overview of the Catalog, its purpose, and its structure
• Introductions to the principal disciplines in conservation social science
• Brief descriptions of the methodological approaches underlying social science tools
• Introductions to common social challenges facing conservation practitioners
• Brief descriptions of the different types of conservation interventions
• A searchable database of social science tools
• Links to web sites containing other useful resources

Each tool in the database has been categorized by discipline, methodological approach, social challenge, and conservation intervention. Users may search for tools by category or by keyword.

The Catalog includes three types of complimentary resources:

• Practical Tools: Manuals and guides about how to accomplish a task
• Academic Sources: Key theoretical papers or books that have influenced thinking about a specific issue or problem within conservation; important research findings.
• Other Resources: Case studies, maps, programs, workshop proceedings, policy briefs, and other resources that illuminate a topic or issue.

As a complement to this Catalog, the SSWG is developing a Graduate Student Guidebook and a Directory of Conservation Social Scientists. If looking for more biologically-oriented conservation tools and methodologies, visit the Earth Conservation Toolbox.

For further information, to provide feedback, or to contribute additional tools to the Catalog, please contact Diane Russell, SSWG Conservation Committee Chair (dirussell@usaid.gov).

Explore the contents of the Catalog by selecting any option from the menu at the left.

Last update: March, 2007

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