Naylor, L. A. , Zheng, Y., Munro, N. , Stanton, A., Wang, W., Chng, N. R. , Oliver, D. M., Dungait, J. A.J. and Waldron, S. (2023) Bringing social science into Critical Zone science: exploring smallholder farmers’ learning preferences in Chinese human-modified critical zones. Earth's Future, 11(9), e2022EF003. (doi: 10.1029/2022EF003472)
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Abstract
There is a growing global emphasis on sustainable agriculture to reduce human impacts and improve delivery of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). With increasing investment in critical zone observatories (CZOs), it becomes important to understand how sustainable agricultural knowledge is produced, shared and used between different groups including farmers, scientists and government. To explore these issues, scientists leading the knowledge exchange (KE) component of a China-UK CZO program studied three farming regions with contrasting geologies and varying economic levels, using a practice-based research method. We demonstrate how additional funding for social science research allowed us to understand how farmers access and share farming knowledge through bonding, bridging and linking networks, and how this varies spatially, using interviews and survey questionnaires. Knowledge flows, barriers and opportunities for designing locally suited two-way KE activities were identified. First, we highlight the need for a more locally, socially embedded and reflexive approach to build trust and better address pressing local environmental challenges. Second, we show how social science can usefully inform KE for collaborative, international development science, to draw on local knowledge, promote research impacts and capacity building while avoiding knowledge mismatches. Lastly, a blueprint for the design and funding of future CZOs, social-ecological and planetary health research agendas that combine science, social science, local knowledge and KE is presented, including the need for substantive social science research to take place in addition to science research in human-modified landscapes—enabling the CZ science to be better grounded in, informed by and useful to local communities.
| Item Type: | Articles |
|---|---|
| Additional Information: | The UK team were supported by the Natural Environmental Research Council China CZO and MIDST-CZO projects (NE/S009167/1, NE/S009175/1, NE/S009140/1). |
| Status: | Published |
| Refereed: | Yes |
| Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: | Waldron, Professor Susan and WANG, WEIKAI and Naylor, Dr Larissa and Stanton, Alasdair and Munro, Dr Neil and Zheng, Dr Ying and Chng, Dr Nai Rui |
| Creator Roles: | Naylor, L.Conceptualization, Formal analysis, Funding acquisition, Methodology, Project administration, Supervision, Visualization, Writing – original draft, Writing – review and editing Zheng, Y.Formal analysis, Methodology, Writing – original draft Waldron, S.Funding acquisition, Project administration, Supervision, Writing – original draft Munro, N.Data curation, Methodology, Writing – original draft, Writing – review and editing Stanton, A.Data curation, Formal analysis, Methodology, Writing – original draft, Writing – review and editing Wang, W.Formal analysis, Methodology, Writing – original draft, Writing – review and editing Chng, N. R.Formal analysis, Methodology, Writing – original draft, Writing – review and editing |
| Authors: | Naylor, L. A., Zheng, Y., Munro, N., Stanton, A., Wang, W., Chng, N. R., Oliver, D. M., Dungait, J. A.J., and Waldron, S. |
| College/School: | College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Health & Wellbeing > MRC/CSO SPHSU College of Science and Engineering > School of Geographical and Earth Sciences College of Social Sciences > School of Social and Political Sciences > Politics |
| Journal Name: | Earth's Future |
| Publisher: | Wiley |
| ISSN: | 2328-4277 |
| ISSN (Online): | 2328-4277 |
| Published Online: | 18 September 2023 |
| Copyright Holders: | Copyright © 2023 The Authors |
| First Published: | First published in Earth's Future 11(9):e2022EF003472 |
| Publisher Policy: | Reproduced under a Creative Commons licence |
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