The Role of Social Sciences in Nitrogen Research

The nitrogen challenge is one of the biggest environmental problems of the 21st century. With a growing world population that is also increasingly affluent, we have to produce enough food without excessive use of fertilizers. In addition, we must also pay attention to fossil fuel combustion. All these activities lead to nitrogen pollution which threatens water, air, and soil quality, and through these, also risks human health and biodiversity.

Humans play a key role in sustainable nitrogen management: how we contribute to nitrogen pollution, how we perceive it, and how we act on it. In this course, we present examples of interdisciplinary research and the exciting ways that the social sciences can be used in the field of nitrogen research – a field that has so far been dominated by natural sciences!

The first module introduces the relationships between nitrogen, society and the social sciences from the perspectives of a prominent social scientist and a world leading nitrogen scientist. The following course modules provide overviews of the types of social science methods applicable in nitrogen research, such as semi-structured interviews; policy analysis; and participatory approaches. Examples are drawn from the social science research studies being carried out by the GCRF UKRI South Asia Nitrogen Hub – a partnership that brings together 32 leading research organisations with project engagement partners from the UK and South Asia.

Each course module includes a variety of instructors from the UK and South Asia research institutes, who have a range of expertise and roles within the SANH project. The Chair of the International Nitrogen Initiative, David Kanter, contributes his path-breaking research on global nitrogen policy to the module on policy analysis.

During Week 1, we introduce the global nitrogen challenge and provide an overview of the current status of nitrogen research, as well as we present the perspectives of social science in nitrogen research and its possible contributions.

This is followed by the description of four methods from the field of social sciences, focusing on their application in nitrogen research, presenting data management and analysis techniques and providing insights to the impacts of these research methods, along with case studies from the South Asian Nitrogen Hub.

The topics of the four weeks of the course are:

Week 1: Introduction to the relationships between nitrogen, society and the social sciences

Week 2: Semi-structured interviews

Week 3: Participatory research approaches

Week 4: Nitrogen policy analysis