Integrating Social Science in Puget Sound Restoration

Social science is central to effective ecosystem restoration. It can enhance stakeholder-driven management practices; excavate assumptions about management strategies; and improve understanding of failures and successes from restoration efforts. In the Puget Sound of Washington State, social science is beginning to play a larger role in ecosystem recovery. In this paper, we use a governance-oriented science-policy framework to assess the ways in which social science has gained structural support in the Puget Sound. We then compare this analysis to responses from client users of Puget Sound restoration science to identify the extent to which they perceive governance support for social science integration. We found that the Puget Sound region has substantively enhanced the governance structure for integrating social science in restoration and partner agencies have improved their ability to engage in meaningful dialogue around social science needs. Nevertheless, existing top-down planning processes dominated by natural science perspectives often hinder its application.