Anthropology and Sociology link with Environmentalism

Environmental anthropology assists policy-making and program planning by combining expertise in ecology with methods and tools for understanding of the social and cultural dynamics of communities potentially affected by policy decisions. The extensive body of relevant scientific knowledge included in environmental anthropology includes: understanding and building on the social organization of communities in larger social systems for use in identifying and solving environmental problems, recognizing and addressing differences in culturally diverse perceptions, categories, linguistic terms, values and behaviors related to the environment in order to confront differences and improve communication among specific cultural/ethnic groups with respect to addressing environmental concerns identifying and utilizing culturally specific styles of communication and rhetoric typical of designated groups to enhance communication and mutual understanding among groups
The methods and tools of environmental and other domains of applied anthropology are far-ranging. Prominent among them are observation techniques, qualitative and survey interviews, systematic data collection techniques for accessing core values or areas of cultural consensus, ways of identifying and interpreting social networks and a variety of participatory cultural, social and environmental assessment techniques designed to improve intersect oral understanding of demographic composition, social/political dynamics, cultural and other forms of diversity, and capacity for planning and development.