Improvement in urban storm water management: analysing the innovation process through the three observatories of urban hydrology in France

My thesis in sociology takes place in a big research program studying contaminated storm water in urban areas in order to develop new processes to cope with pollution. Most of the researchers of the program are biologists, chemists, hydrologists. The study also conveys sociology insisting on the importance of a multidisciplinary approach. Why would a sociologist be needed to help understand a topic such as water pollution, which seems to be a really technical issue? In fact, I am looking to “study my colleagues who study chemicals”, and the contribution of their discoveries. Because innovation isn’t just about technical inventions. It’s a political and social question too. How can a sociologist be part of such a project? What are his/her particular methods? These are important questions, as more and more scientific programs, especially regarding environmental issues, aim to associate hard sciences and social sciences.