“Science is Everywhere,but No One Knows It”: Assessing the Cultural Distance to Science of Rural South African Publics

ABSTRACT

In science communication, a prerequisite for reaching different parts of a society is to find out how these publics experience and interpret science. Since rural South African publics are perceived to exhibit a large cultural distance to science, the present exploratory study aimed to know in more detail how rural South Africans perceive and understand science in their local and social contexts. Theoretical notions on cultural distance and the methodological approach of segmentation studies were considered. Semi-structured interviews with rural South Africans were carried out in four towns (n?=?52) that differ with respect to having a large scientific installation in their vicinity, or not. Sensitively comparing local and social contexts helped identifying three different publics who differed regarding their perceptions of science; however, the large scientific installations only made a difference in perceptions for those publics who were generally less exposed to and less knowledgeable about science.     

Exploration of relationships between safety performance and unsafe behavior in the Chinese oil industry

Safety performance is comprised of two components, safety compliance and safety participation. However, relationships between safety performance and unsafe behavior have not been thoroughly investigated. In this work, scales for safety compliance and safety participation were revised for use in the oil industry, and job burnout scale was developed on the basis of the Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey (MBI-GS). A structural equation model was then employed to investigate the interactions of these factors for 238 front-line oil workers from the PetroChina Huabei Oilfield Company in China. From the results, it was determined that workers' unsafe behavior could not be reduced significantly solely from these two dimensions of safety performance. Compared with safety participation, safety compliance was found to have a greater influence on unsafe behavior. However, job burnout was found to be a significant moderator between these two components and unsafe behavior. Furthermore, it was determined that oil workers' occupational psychological health conditions must be taken into account to improve organizational safety management and reduce workers’ unsafe behavior.     

Factors influencing perceptions of aquatic ecosystems

While factors influencing perceptions of drinking water have been well studied, those of aquatic ecosystems have been to lesser extent. We conducted a review to improve awareness of these factors. Environmental factors found to influence public perceptions of aquatic ecosystems were presence/absence of water plants and algae, presence/absence of floating debris, the odor, movement (for flowing waters) and clarity/turbidity of the water, and the type, condition, setting, naturalness, and overall aesthetic appeal of the ecosystem. Sociocultural factors found to influence public perceptions of aquatic ecosystems included age, education, gender, and place-based knowledge. We provide perspectives of how managers can better meet the diverse social demands placed on aquatic ecosystems. The importance and benefits of considering these perspectives may be especially beneficial where significant multi-generational and culturally relevant place-based knowledge exist.     

实现节能减排的科学路径

在全球资源短缺、环境恶化的大背景下,中国作为一个人口众多、生产和消费相当惊人的发展中国家加强节能减排工作意义深远。鉴于中国的基本现状,应通过结构调整、技术创新、管理优化和公众参与四种途径来实现节能减排,力促经济、社会、环境和资源的可持续发展。     

发挥城市基层组织作用,有效进行公众参与工作

根据作者从事环境评价工作的经验,结合北京市的城市建设项目的案例,说明在公众参与工作中结合中国城市基层组织特点,发挥基层组织作用,能够有效使公众参与环境保护、体现公众环境知情权、制止群体事件的发生,进一步做好公众参与工作。     

灌溉管理改革的进展、特征及决定因素:黄河流域灌区的实证研究

论文采用两年的面板数据实证研究了我国黄河流域灌区灌溉管理改革的进展、特征及决定因素。研究结果表明,自20世纪90年代开始,黄河流域灌区灌溉管理改革取得了很大的进展,传统的集体管理已经逐步被承包管理和用水协会管理所取代,不同管理制度下农民参与的程度与管理的透明度都有所区别,政府的政策干预在促进灌溉管理改革上发挥了十分重要的作用,改革具有明显的政策导向性。在未来的灌溉管理改革中,政府部门应进一步出台相关鼓励改革政策,积极引导广大农民参与到改革的事业中,促进改革在更加广阔的农村地区的有效推进和良性发展。     

环境保护公众参与制度回顾、评估和建议

文章总结了国际上公众参与环境保护的发展与趋势,分析了中国公众参与环境保护现状、存在问题及原因,并借鉴国际经验,明确中国公众参与的具体方式和主要内容,提出了进一步推进中国公众参与环境保护的政策建议。     

宿迁市公众环境意识调查研究

采用问卷调查与社会访问相结合的方法,对江苏省宿迁市居民的环境意识进行了调查。统计结果表明宿迁市居民对当地环境处于基本满意阶段,并认为政府对环境保护工作比较重视;宿迁市公众具备了一定的环境保护基础知识．但是环境意识比较低,环境保护行为相对滞后,需要政府加以引导,加强环境宣传教育,提高民众的环境意识。     

条件价值评估法研究居民改善空气质量需求

采用条件价值评估方法,调查了北京市居民改善空气质量的支付意愿,初步分析居民对空气质量这种公共环境物品的需求状况,探讨了影响居民对公共环境物品需求的人口和社会经济因素.研究结果表明,居民的经济状况是影响对公共环境物品需求的重要因素,居民的经济状况比较好则对公共环境物品的需求越高,但是支付意愿与家庭收入弹性<1.随着教育水平的提高,对公共环境物品的需求也增加.另外,性别和健康状况也影响居民对公共环境物品的需求.从政策实施的角度来看,政府必须完善人们对公共环境物品需求偏好的表达机制,才能制定政策实现公共环境物品的有效供给.