In South Asia, kilns used to make bricks are one of the largest emitters of greenhouse gases and air pollution. They have profound impacts on air quality, human health, agriculture, and climate change. Yet despite efforts to transition to more energy-efficient kilns, the higher-polluting, traditional kilns persist in high numbers.

In a recent publication in Energy Research and Social Science, authors from Stanford, Boston University, and multiple organizations in India and Bangladesh outline a practical, collaborative, and successful new approach.

“Solving complex global health and environmental problems, such as the pollution from brick manufacturing, requires deep understanding of the problem and the causal forces that maintain the status quo,” the authors write.

Experts across many disciplines collaborated to better understand obstacles to cleaner brick manufacturing, using a variety of research methods. They then adapted and tested an efficiency program in close collaboration with traditional kiln operators to understand their incentives for change. The researchers believe this interdisciplinary, mixed-methods, iterative approach can apply to other complex challenges involving human and environmental health. Steve Luby, Stanford Director of Global Health Research, was senior author.

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