Research Projects in Social Sciences

Anses

The Agency is regularly required to work on highly controversial subjects where there are different types of uncertainty (scientific, social, political, etc.). To more effectively frame the context of some expert appraisals and document aspects that may be useful in the risk assessment process. ANSES now draws on the human and social sciences for support with its expertises activities. This takes the form of: 

  • Internal expertise (mainly driven by the Risks & Society unit)External expertise (by mobilising experts in these disciplines for certain working groups),
  • Academic collaborations/partnerships formalised by research and development agreements,
  • Research in the social sciences funded by ANSES calls for projects.

Various studies in sociology have been developed, particularly through partnerships established with research laboratories and teams such as :
The Centre for the Sociology of Organisations (CSO – Sciences Po/CNRS) :
See the report of the project conducted from 2011 to 2013 (in French).
See the ongoing project (in French).
The Pragmatic and Reflective Sociology Group (GSPR) at the Ecole des hautes études en sciences sociales (EHESS) 
This project consists of an Environmental Health observatory in the field of sociology and computer sciences. The report published in September 2013 is available in French.
See the 2013 report of the ANSES/GSPR research contract (in French)

HSE

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is Great Britain's national independent watchdog for work-related health, safety and illness.  As most accidents and work-related ill health are related to human behaviour, then an understanding of the drivers of human behaviour, and how human behaviour can be changed in ways that lead to better outcomes for the workforce, is vital to HSE’ s effectiveness.

Social researchers work closely with other analytical disciplines and policy and operational colleagues at all levels.
Recent and ongoing work includes:

  • A strategic workstream exploring how to bring about behaviour change by using non-regulatory ‘nudge’-style interventions.
  • Working with economists to improve the evidence base for iassessments of the impact of regulatory change and with policy colleagues to design and analyse consultations.
  • Exploring the drivers of compliance with the law. 
  • Working with policymakers in different sectors to ensure that their inventions are informed by evidence, and designed in such a way that they can be evaluated.

Recent research reports can be accessed here.
An archive of pre-2007 published social science reports is available here.

Health and Safety Laboratory (HSL)
The Health and Safety Laboratory (HSL) is one of the world's leading providers of health and safety solutions to industry, government and professional bodies. The main focus of HSL work is on understanding and reducing health and safety risks. HSL offers health and safety research, expert advice and consultancy, specialist training and products. 
HSL is an independant agency of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
See the Health and Safety Laboratory

INBO

CITY-SENSE
CITY-SENSE will develop “citizens’ observatories” to empower citizens to contribute to and participate in environmental governance, to enable them to support and influence community and societal priorities and associated decision making. CITI-SENSE will develop, test, demonstrate and validate a community-based environmental monitoring and information system using innovative and novel Earth Observation applications.

See the Project.