Advancing research to understand the people, places, and practices that influence stewardship and management.

By Rupu Gupta

The Hudson River Foundation has long supported actionable science to better understand the challenges facing the Hudson River watershed and the people who depend on it. Decisions about managing and taking care of this resource are shaped by changing ecological conditions and the people, institutions, and systems that interact with it. For this reason, it is essential to understand the social, cultural, economic, and governance dynamics that shape how the watershed is used, managed, and cared for—especially as it faces compounding pressures and competing demands.

Recognizing this need, the Foundation launched its inaugural Social Science Research Program in 2024 to support collaborative, applied research that brings together social scientists and decision makers. The program focuses on understanding how human thought, emotion, and behavior as individuals and in groups influence interactions across the watershed, including about its protection and management. The first cohort of grantees brought together teams of researchers and their partners from nonprofit organizations, government agencies, and municipalities to generate insights that can inform practical solutions to address the region’s complex social-ecological challenges.

Creating a collaborative research program grounded in knowledge gaps

To shape the program, we began by asking a question: How do people experience and impact the Hudson River watershed and where are the gaps in our understanding?

We reviewed existing research and held informal discussions with social scientists to better understand how people interact with the waterways around the Hudson. We were particularly interested in how those interactions impacted the watershed and, in turn, how interacting with the watershed affected connected communities. We noted strong alignment between researchers’ perspectives and the themes that emerged from our annotated bibliography which helped us identify three core focus areas to guide our request for proposals (RFP):

• • • Exploring relationships between various societal systems (e.g., economic, social, political) and environmental protection in the Hudson River watershed across scale and time.
    • Understanding decisionmakers’ capacity to support protection of the Hudson River watershed.
    • Understanding the motivations and barriers faced by the public to protect current and future conditions of the Hudson River watershed, through: 1) Identifying individual and collective capacity to address the impacts of changing weather conditions; and 2) Examining social, emotional, and cultural connections with local ecologies and their role in stewardship.

Relationship building as a pathway to meaningful impact

A defining feature of our RFP was its emphasis on partnerships. Applicants were asked to demonstrate a clear commitment to working with decision makers so that the knowledge generated could lead to tangible real-world impact. Our theory of change was also grounded in collaboration, so we engaged closely with teams throughout the process to understand and support their efforts to build or strengthen relationships that would allow their findings to inform action.

To help teams describe their impact, we defined impact as the positive shifts in human or natural systems as a result of informed decision making at relevant systems-levels, including through projects or initiatives (design or implementation), institutions and/or organizations (shifts in management practices or staff procedures), policy (developments or revisions), and effects on the environment (more biodiversity). This collaborative approach was embedded across all phases of the Social Science Research Program, from RFP development to application and review, and will continue to be a central focus as the program grows.

From ideas to investment: Launching the program

The response to our RFP was enthusiastic. We hosted informational calls with interested researchers to clarify the program’s priorities and learn more about their research ideas. In total, we received more than 30 letters of interest and invited a select group of teams to submit full proposals. We invited social scientists within and beyond the Foundation’s network to serve as external reviewers for the submissions, and ultimately six research teams were selected for funding. We then engaged each team in an iterative revision process to address reviewers’ feedback and inform funding decisions before the final awards were made. In the end, six proposals were selected to receive funding:

• • Values of Nature and Stewardship in Urban Green Spaces
  • Intersections of Marine Debris, Spiritual Practices, and Stewardship
  • Research and Collaborations to Understand Urban Small-Scale Fisheries
  • Locally Led Adaptation to Climate Risks
  • Preparing for Climate Change through Community Science and Actionable Data
  • Strengthening Watershed Stewardship for Climate Resilience

The Hudson River Foundation’s role as an engaged funder

True to its legacy of turning science into action, the Foundation approached this proposal process not just as a funder, but as an engaged partner—leveraging its expertise as a convener, facilitator, and co-collaborator to help projects translate research into meaningful, watershed-wide impact.

The first cohort of grantees spanned New York City, the Hudson Valley, and New Jersey, reflecting both the geographic spread of the watershed and the many groups interacting with it. Some research teams sought out to examine how different social-cultural communities interact with blue and green spaces to inform more responsive management and regulatory strategies. Others focused on building the capacity of nonprofits, government agencies, and municipalities to more effectively engage the public in environmental protection.

The Foundation also initiated cohort-wide meetings to support grantees through the lifespan of their projects and to foster peer learning, networking, and knowledge sharing. During the first virtual session, grantees shared early progress, learned about each other’s work, and reinforced their eagerness to co-produce research with one another. They then discussed potential areas where the Foundation could provide ongoing support so that their projects achieved the intended impacts on decision making.

Next steps for the Social Science Research Program

Looking ahead, the Foundation plans to continue facilitating cohort-wide meetings as well as to engage a broader community of social scientists interested in the Hudson River watershed—an effort that, if successful, would be the first of its kind. Through check-ins, shared learning opportunities, and expanded dialogue, we aim to support funded researchers and a wider network of social science scholars and decision makers in knowledge exchange, addressing emerging issues, and informing solutions. Join us as we advance the role of social science to influence real-world actions that help protect the Hudson River and its connected watershed for years to come.

Interested in staying connected? Click here to join our social science community. For questions, please contact Rupu Gupta at: rgupta@hudsonriver.org.