Emergent publics and affects in environmental governance

Drawing on the wide social scientific literature on emotions and affects, we highlight the value and potential contribution of the affect theory for understanding public engagement in environmental policy and planning. We suggest that such theorization complements political ontologies that envision concerned publics to arise as citizens are attached to objects and other beings in their everyday life. Focus on emotions and affects enables in-depth exploration of the corporeality of these attachments, increasing understanding about how affected publics get driven for action and how new sensibilities and horizons for action are created. Based on the discussion of affect theory and case examples, we argue that emotions and affects should be treated as crucial carriers of knowledge about transformation of political subjects and their concerns. They also direct analytic gaze beyond public participation procedures and encourage the development of novel, more inclusive settings for public engagement.     

Educating for sustainable production and consumption and sustainable livelihoods: learning from multi-stakeholder networks

This paper examines how education for sustainable development (ESD) can be concretely advanced using the theoretical approaches of sustainable consumption and production (SCP) and sustainable livelihoods (SL). Five case examples illustrate a diverse set of strategic educational interventions focusing on: (1) education of specific organizational actors about these theoretical frameworks illustrated with case examples (such as SCP training by the United Nations University Institute of Advanced Studies [UNU-IAS] and CSR-Asia of government and business representatives), (2) regional education strategies focused on production and consumption in specific sectors (such as the food sector in Sk?ne, Sweden), (3) social learning directed at innovation for sustainable development (such as competitions of solar boats developed by universities in the region of Friesland, the Netherlands), (4) education of consumers and firms made possible by the adoption of certification systems affirming SCP and SL (such as Cradle-to-Cradle certification of a paper company in the Netherlands or the establishment of Fair Trade cities in Sweden), or (5) reorienting communities to address underutilized productive physical capital within communities (such as the sharing productive capital project in rural areas of Saskatchewan, Canada). The cases are drawn from the projects that the UNU-IAS, four of its regional centers of expertise (RCE) on ESD and other affiliates have conducted. In addition to documenting the educational processes emerging from specific regions, the paper highlights findings related to the success of these projects and opportunities for further research, including regional and inter-regional approaches.     

Indicators of perceived naturalness as drivers of landscape preference

The concept of naturalness is one of the more studied concepts in landscape preference research and describes how close a landscape is to a perceived natural state. In this study we explored the relationship between landscape preference and three landscape indicators of naturalness (level of succession, number of woodland patches and shape index of edges). We used computer-generated visualisations of a hypothetical landscape containing pasture and broadleaved woodland. In the landscape simulations we altered the values of the naturalness indicators between the levels of low, medium and high, creating 27 different visualisations. The survey was distributed as an on-line survey in seven different languages and obtained 703 respondents. The study showed a strong relationship with preference for both the level of succession and number of woodland patches, and a weaker relationship with shape index of edges. The two demographic factors which were shown to contribute most to the formation of preference were gender and having a landscape related profession. The results suggest that the selected indicators are more important drivers of preference than demographic factors.     

Effects of fertilization and development of the common mussel Mytilus edulis after long-term exposure to a nonionic surfactant

Common mussels (Mytilus edulis L.) were exposed over a 5-month period to low-level concentrations (0.5 to 1.5 ppm) of a nonionic surfactant. Upon maturation at the end of this period, spawning ability was examined. Fertilization occurred at low-level concentrations (0.1 to 2.0 ppm) of the surfactant, and was most successful for gametes from the long-term controls and the highest long-term concentration (1.5 ppm). Inhibited or delayed larval development was observed, related to the concentration gradient of the short-term exposures. Gametes from mussels long-term exposed to the surfactant were more sensitive than those from the long-term control.     

Estimation of riverine loads of nitrogen and phosphorus to the Baltic Sea, 1970–1993

This article presents the results of the first critical examination of time series of riverine nutrient-load data for the entire Baltic Sea drainage area. Water quality data collected by or for the different national environmental agencies were compiled and analysed statistically to identify and remove inconsistent or obviously incorrect observations. Moreover, sampling tours were undertaken to acquire additional information about the present nutrient concentrations in the largest rivers in the study area. Gaps in the time series of approved data were then filled in by employing statistical interpolation and extrapolation methods. Thereafter, the concentration and runoff data were combined to obtain estimates of monthly nutrient loads for the time period 1970–93. The results of the calculations showed that although there had been substantial changes in land use, atmospheric deposition and wastewater treatment in many parts of the study area, the total riverine loads of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) to the Baltic Sea have been fairly constant since 1980, and most likely also since 1970. Moreover, the interannual variation was clearly correlated to the runoff. The mean annual loads for the time period 1980–93 were found to be about 825 000 tonnes N and 41 000 tonnes P, respectively. This implies that (i) several other investigators have strongly underestimated the riverine loads of nutrients, especially the nitrogen, and that (ii) the riverine loads by far exceed the input to the Baltic Sea from other sources, {i.e.} atmospheric deposition, direct emissions from cities and industries along the Baltic Sea coast and nitrogen fixation by marine algae.     

Preface

Water, Air, &; Soil Pollution: Focus -     

Oxygen saturation trends in the Baltic Sea

Marine monitoring programmes are seldom planned and realized to fulfil the requirements of the statistical methods used. The shortcomings of these methods are rarely discussed in the literature. In this work two different methods for trend analysis are applied to a real case and attention is given to the possible violation of the underlying assumptions. Long-term changes in oxygen supersaturation in the Baltic Sea are the object of the study. Linear regression and non-parametric methods are those chosen. The linear regression gave significantly increasing trends of oxygen saturation in Arkona, Eastern Gotland basin and in the Bothnian Sea, but the tested assumptions turned out to be violated. The corresponding non-parametric trend test only confirmed the increasing trend in Arkona. It is suggested that non-parametric methods, like the one used in this work, should be favoured in the future for similar types of marine environmental data.     

Influence of Processing Additives on the Degradation of Melt-Pressed Films of Poly(ε-Caprolactone) and Poly(Lactic Acid)

Melt-pressed films of polycaprolactone (PCL) and poly(lactic acid) (PLA) with processing additives, CaCO₃, SiO₂, and erucamide, were subjected to pure fungal cultures Aspergillus fumigatus and Penicillium simplicissimum and to composting. The PCL films showed a rapid weight loss with a minor reduction in the molecular weight after 45 days in A. fumigatus. The addition of SiO₂ to PCL increased the rate of (bio)erosion in A. fumigatus and in compost. The use of a slip additive, erucamide, was shown to modify the properties of the film surface without decreasing the rate of bio(erosion). Both the rate of weight loss and the rate of molecular weight reduction of PCL increased with decreasing film thickness. The addition of CaCO₃ to PLA significantly reduced the thermal degradation during processing, but it also reduced the rate of the subsequent (bio)degradation in the pure fungal cultures. PLA without additives and PLA containing SiO₂ exhibited the fastest (bio)degradation, followed by PLA with CaCO₃. The degradation of the PLA films was initially governed by chemical hydrolysis, followed by an acceleration of the weight change and of the molecular weight reduction. PLA film subjected to composting exhibits a rapid decrease in molecular weight, which then remains unchanged during the measurement period, probably because of crystallization.     

Toxic effects of arsenic on Sinorhizobium-Medicago sativa symbiotic interaction

Recently, the Rhizobium-legume symbiotic interaction has been proposed as an interesting tool in bioremediation. However, little is known about the effect of most common contaminants on this process. The phytotoxic effects of arsenic on nodulation of Medicago sativa have been examined in vitro using the highly arsenic resistant and symbiotically effective Sinorhizobium sp. strain MA11. The bacteria were able to grow on plates containing As concentrations as high as 10 mM. Nevertheless, as little as 25-35 microM arsenite produced a 75% decrease in the total number of nodules, due to a 90% reduction in the number of rhizobial infections, as could be determined using the strain MA11 carrying a lacZ reporter gene. This effect was associated to root hair damage and a shorter infective root zone. However, once nodulation was established nodule development seemed to continue normally, although earlier senescence could be observed in nodules of arsenic-grown plants.     

Living in grey areas: Industrial activity and psychological health

The main goal of this paper was to explore the relationship between living in industrial areas and individual’s level of psychological health. Using a quasi-experimental design main findings suggest that, regardless of the type of industry that is operating, there was a significant association between living in industrialized areas and decreased levels of well being, optimism and use of active coping strategies. However, results on anxiety and depression were especially high in areas associated with air pollution. Moreover, there was also a significant association between more subjective meanings of place and psychological health. According to a reality-orientation criterion, evidences showed that when individuals live in industrial areas perceptions of their places as industrial are associated with lower depression, anxiety and psychiatric symptoms.