TY - JOUR
T1 - A Framework for Convergence Research in the Hazards and Disaster Field
T2 - The Natural Hazards Engineering Research Infrastructure CONVERGE Facility
AU - Peek, Lori
AU - Tobin, Jennifer
AU - Adams, Rachel M.
AU - Wu, Haorui
AU - Mathews, Mason Clay
N1 - Funding Information:
We wish to thank our colleagues at the Natural Hazards Engineering Research Infrastructure (NHERI) as well as the students and full-time team members at CONVERGE at the Natural Hazards Center at the University of Colorado Boulder. Jessica Austin and Candace Evans compiled and formatted references for this article. Jolie Breeden edited the article. Two reviewers as well as Jolie Breeden, David Johnson, Ali Mostafavi, and Elaina Sutley offered generous and thoughtful feedback on earlier drafts of this article. We are especially indebted to Michael Lindell, who served as the managing editor for this article and who has inspired us with his own convergence-oriented research. Funding. This work was supported by the National Science Foundation, Division of Civil, Mechanical, and Manufacturing Innovation (NSF Awards #1841338, #1745611, and #1635593). Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the NSF.
Publisher Copyright:
© Copyright © 2020 Peek, Tobin, Adams, Wu and Mathews.
PY - 2020/7/7
Y1 - 2020/7/7
N2 - The goal of this article is twofold: to clarify the tenets of convergence research and to motivate such research in the hazards and disaster field. Here, convergence research is defined as an approach to knowledge production and action that involves diverse teams working together in novel ways – transcending disciplinary and organizational boundaries – to address vexing social, economic, environmental, and technical challenges in an effort to reduce disaster losses and promote collective well-being. The increasing frequency and intensity of disasters coupled with the growth of the field suggests an urgent need for a more coherent approach to help guide what we study, who we study, how we conduct studies, and who is involved in the research process itself. This article is written through the lens of the activities of the National Science Foundation-supported CONVERGE facility, which was established in 2018 as the first social science-led component of the Natural Hazards Engineering Research Infrastructure (NHERI). Convergence principles and the Science of Team Science undergird the work of CONVERGE, which brings together networks of researchers from geotechnical engineering, the social sciences, structural engineering, nearshore systems, operations and systems engineering, sustainable material management, and interdisciplinary science and engineering. CONVERGE supports and advances research that is conceptually integrative, and this article describes a convergence framework that includes the following elements: (1) identifying researchers; (2) educating and training researchers; (3) setting a convergence research agenda that is problem-focused and solutions-based; (4) connecting researchers and coordinating functionally and demographically diverse research teams; and (5) supporting and funding convergence research, data collection, data sharing, and solutions implementation.
AB - The goal of this article is twofold: to clarify the tenets of convergence research and to motivate such research in the hazards and disaster field. Here, convergence research is defined as an approach to knowledge production and action that involves diverse teams working together in novel ways – transcending disciplinary and organizational boundaries – to address vexing social, economic, environmental, and technical challenges in an effort to reduce disaster losses and promote collective well-being. The increasing frequency and intensity of disasters coupled with the growth of the field suggests an urgent need for a more coherent approach to help guide what we study, who we study, how we conduct studies, and who is involved in the research process itself. This article is written through the lens of the activities of the National Science Foundation-supported CONVERGE facility, which was established in 2018 as the first social science-led component of the Natural Hazards Engineering Research Infrastructure (NHERI). Convergence principles and the Science of Team Science undergird the work of CONVERGE, which brings together networks of researchers from geotechnical engineering, the social sciences, structural engineering, nearshore systems, operations and systems engineering, sustainable material management, and interdisciplinary science and engineering. CONVERGE supports and advances research that is conceptually integrative, and this article describes a convergence framework that includes the following elements: (1) identifying researchers; (2) educating and training researchers; (3) setting a convergence research agenda that is problem-focused and solutions-based; (4) connecting researchers and coordinating functionally and demographically diverse research teams; and (5) supporting and funding convergence research, data collection, data sharing, and solutions implementation.
KW - Science of Team Science
KW - convergence research
KW - disasters
KW - interdisciplinary
KW - natural hazards
KW - research coordination networks
KW - training
KW - transdisciplinary
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U2 - 10.3389/fbuil.2020.00110
DO - 10.3389/fbuil.2020.00110
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85088439244
SN - 2297-3362
VL - 6
JO - Frontiers in Built Environment
JF - Frontiers in Built Environment
M1 - 110
ER -