Challenging the current strategy of radiological protection of the environment: arguments for an ecosystem approach

The system of radiological protection of the environment that is currently under development is one contribution to the general need to adequately protect the environment against stress. Dominated by operational goals, it emphasizes conceptual and methodological approaches that are readily accessible today: reference organisms supported by individual-based traditional ecotoxicological data. Whilst there are immediate advantages to this approach (pragmatism, consistency with other approaches in use for man and biota), there are also clear limitations, especially in a longer run perspective, that need to be acknowledged and further considered. One can mention a few: uncertainties generated by the need for various extrapolations (from lower to higher levels of biological organisation, …), various features missed such as potential ecological impact through impairment of ecosystem processes, trans-generational impacts as mediated through genomic instability, indirect effects mediated through trophic interactions or disruption of ecological balances,… Such limitations have already been faced in other fields of environmental protection against other stressors, pushing a number of environment professionals to assign stronger emphasis on more systemic approaches. This review discusses the advantages and limitations of the current approach designed for the radiological protection of non-human biota in the broader context of environment protection as a whole, with especial reference to upcoming trends and evolutions. This leads in particular to advocating the need to boost scientific and methodological approaches featuring the ecosystem concept as a mean to access a unified goal of protection: preserving life sustainability through protection of ecosystem structure and functioning.     

Radioecology, radiobiology, and radiological protection: frameworks and fractures

A framework for the protection of the general public has been in existence for a very long time, although steps have recently been made by the ICRP to ensure that it is more fully comprehensive with regard to all actual and potential exposure situations. Protection of the environment, however, has only recently begun to be addressed in a structured manner, and is still an evolving subject. Nevertheless, it needs to be centred around some form of parallel framework to that which has evolved for the protection of human beings, although clearly on a different scale. It also needs to be embedded within the basic science of radiobiology, and form a central part of radioecology.     

A Review of Environmental Sociology and the Sociology of Natural Resources： Insights for the Development of Environmental Sociology in China

Environmental sociology and the sociology of natural resources are two key subdisciplines of the sociological study on the interactions between nature and human society. Previous discussion on the relationships of these two fields has largely focused on their distinctions and synthesis in western （particularly American） academia. Environmental sociology emerged as an important sociological subdiscipline in China in the early 1990s and is under vigorous disciplinary construction at present. By contrast, the sociology of natural resources is still a novel term for most Chinese researchers. This article provides a systematic review of recent literature on the relationships between environmental and natural resource sociologies, which should provide important implications for the further development of environmental sociology in China.     

On causes of gigantism in herbaceous plants

Landscape-geochemical features providing for manifestation of gigantism in herbaceous plants have been revealed in natural habitats in the south of Sakhalin and Kunashir islands. Tall herb assemblages have proved to be associated with geochemical landscapes characterized by reducing (gley or hydrogen sulfide) conditions and increased contents of petroleum hydrocarbons and some trace elements (total and movable forms). A hypothesis is put forward that gigantism in herbaceous plants is manifested in zones of active faults, which serve as a kind of conduits supplying endogenous heat, matter, and water to the root systems.     

Think global,act local: The effect of goal and mindset specificity on willingness to donate to an environmental organization

This paper investigated the effect of goal and mindset specificity on goal-related behavior in the environmental domain. Two studies demonstrated that goal-related behavior was maximized when participants focused on an abstract goal in combination with a specific mindset, or when they focused on a specific goal in combination with an abstract mindset. When goals and mindsets instead matched in terms of abstractness, goal-related behavior was reduced. Study 2 demonstrated that the effect of goal specificity on behavior was mediated by different processes in each of the mindset conditions. When mindsets were abstract, self-efficacy mediated the positive effect of specific goals on behavior; when mindsets were specific, the value of collective environmental action mediated the positive effect of abstract goals on behavior. The results are discussed in the framework of a complementarity approach. It is argued that complementarity of levels of specificity of goals and mindsets may affect behavior particularly strongly in domains where the discrepancy between the abstract and the specific is large (e.g. the environmental domain).     

Vegetation and outdoor recess time at elementary schools: What are the connections?

Empirical and anecdotal evidence suggests that landscapes with more vegetation have a positive impact on children's focus, attention, and cognitive development. In school, children are able to regain focus, suppress impulses, and pay attention in class longer after exposure to natural settings. Because children spend much of their time in school, the amount and types of vegetation on school grounds may influence their development. Public elementary schools in the Commonwealth of Virginia (N = 988) were surveyed to examine correlations between school ground vegetation and outside recess. The number of trees on school grounds, the size of the school grounds, and the presence of sports fields were modestly correlated with greater outside recess time. These correlations support common sense because sports fields facilitate supervised play and larger school grounds provide space for sports fields and playgrounds and additional opportunities for free play. More trees on school grounds provide a welcoming environment for students and teachers, and encourage outside play. These results may help school personnel design and maintain school grounds that increase outdoor recess time.     

How organizational motives and communications affect public trust in organizations: The case of carbon dioxide capture and storage

Preventing climate change is among the greatest environmental challenges facing the world today. Recently developed carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) technology is an important strategy to mitigate climate change. Public trust in organizations involved in CCS technology is important for successful implementation of this technology. This work adresses how inferred organizational motives and organizational communications affect public trust in these organizations. Study 1 (N = 264) showed that Dutch citizens generally have less trust in the industrial organizations than in the environmental NGOs involved in CCS. As predicted, inferred organizational motives (organization-serving motives versus public-serving motives) accounted for this difference. In Study 2 (N = 78) and Study 3 (N = 51) we used experimental designs. Both experiments showed that organizations that communicated arguments incongruent with inferred organizational motives instigated less trust than organizations that communicated arguments congruent with inferred organizational motives. Study 3 additionally showed that communicating an incongruent and a congruent argument together diminished the negative effects of the incongruent argument. In both Study 2 and Study 3 the effect of congruency on trust was mediated by perceived honesty of the organizations.     

Long-term evaluation of coal fly ash and mine tailings co-placement: A site-specific study

This study presents the results of a laboratory investigation conducted to evaluate the efficiency of coal fly ash to control the formation of acid mine drainage (AMD) from mine waste. Site-specific materials, coal fly ash from Atikokan Thermal Generating Station and mine tailings from Musselwhite mine, were mixed at different proportions for the investigation of the drainage chemistry and the optimal mix using static testing (acid–base accounting) and kinetic (column) testing. The acid–base accounting (ABA) results indicated that the fly ash possessed strong alkaline (neutralization) potential (NP) and could be used in the management of reactive mine tailings, thus ensuring prevention of AMD in the long-term. Column tests conducted in the laboratory to further investigate long-term performance of fly ash in the neutralization and prevention of acid mine drainage from tailings similarly showed that mixing fly ash with mine tailings reduces dissolution of many heavy metals from tailings by providing alkalinity to the system. It was found that a fly ash to tailings mass ratio equal to or greater than 15% can effectively prevent AMD generation from Musselwhite mine tailings in the co-placement approach.     

Effectiveness of a publicly-funded demonstration program to promote management of dryland salinity

Community and catchment-based approaches to salinity management continue to attract interest in Australia. In one such approach, Catchment Demonstration Initiative (CDI) projects were established by the Western Australian (WA) Government in 2000 for targeted investment in large-scale catchment-based demonstrations of integrated salinity management practices. The aim was to promote a process for technically-informed salinity management by landholders. This paper offers an evaluation of the effectiveness of one CDI project in the central wheatbelt of WA, covering issues including: its role in fostering adoption of salinity management options, the role of research and the technical requirements for design and implementation of on-ground works, the role of monitoring and evaluation, the identification and measurement of public and private benefits, comparison and identification of the place and value of plant-based and engineering-based options, reliance on social processes and impacts of constraints on capacity, management of governance and administration requirements and an appreciation of the value of group-based approaches.A number of factors may reduce the effectiveness of CDI-type approaches in facilitating landholder action to address salinity, many of these are socially-based. Such approaches can create considerable demands on landholders, can be expensive (because of the planning and accountability required) on the basis of dollars per hectare impacted, and can be difficult to garner ownership from all involved. An additional problem could be that few community groups would have the capacity to run such programs and disseminate the new knowledge so that the CDI-type projects can impact outside the focus catchment. In common with many publicly-funded approaches to salinity, we found that direct benefits on public assets are smaller than planned and that results from science-based requirements of monitoring and evaluation have long lead times, causing farmers to either wait for the information or act sooner and take risks based on initial results. We also found that often it is a clear outline of the process that is of most importance in decision making as opposed to the actual results. We identified limitations in regulatory processes and the capacity for local government to engage in the CDI.The opportunities that CDI-type approaches provide centre around the value of its group-based approach. We conclude that they can overcome knowledge constraints in managing salinity by fostering group-based learning, offer a structured process of trialling options so that the costs and benefits can be clearly and transparently quantified, and avoid the costly mistakes and “learning failures” of the past.