Objectively best or most acceptable? Expert and lay knowledge in Swedish wind power permit processes

This article analyses legal aspects of the Swedish wind power development, theoretically based on how different types of knowledge are represented in legal contexts, mainly in the courts. A sample of appealed wind power permits is analysed, a handful of relevant informants are interviewed – including two judges in the Land and Environment Court and the appeal court – and the legal setting is analysed. Of key interest here is the interplay between expert and lay statements in the court cases, which here is related to the concepts of calculating and communicative rationalities that are developed in the planning literature. The results indicate that the juridification – which takes place as a permit issue is appealed in the judiciary system – supports the calculating rationality more than the communicative, and that the plaintiffs often attempt to adapt in how they shape their argumentation.     

Long-Term Indigenous Soil Conservation Technology in the Chencha Area,Southern Ethiopia: Origin,Characteristics, and Sustainability

The purpose of this study is to examine the origin, development, and characteristics of terraces (kella), plus their potentials and determinants for sustainable use in the Chencha–Dorze Belle area of southern Ethiopia. Field surveys were conducted to determine the various parameters of the indigenous terraces and in order to collect samples for radiocarbon dating. To identify farmers’ views of the terrace systems, semi-structured interviews and group discussions were also carried out. Terraces were built and used—as radiocarbon dating proves—at least over the last 800 years. The long-term continued usage of the indigenous terraces is the result of social commitments, the structural features of the terraces, and the farmers’ responses to the dynamics of social and cultural circumstances. We dubbed that the terraces are a success story of fruitful environmental management over generations. Thus, a strong need is to preserve and develop this important cultural heritage and example of sustainable land use.     

Opinions and Knowledge About Climate Change Science in High School Students

This study investigates the influence of knowledge on opinions about climate change in the emerging adults’ age group (16–17 years). Furthermore, the effects of a lecture in climate change science on knowledge and opinions were assessed. A survey was conducted in Austria and Denmark on 188 students in national and international schools before and after a lecture in climate change science. The results show that knowledge about climate change science significantly affects opinions about climate change. Students with a higher number of correct answers are more likely to have the opinion that humans are causing climate change and that both individuals and governments are responsible for addressing climate change. The lecture in climate change science significantly improved knowledge development but did not affect opinions. Knowledge was improved by 11 % after the lecture. However, the percentage of correct answers was still below 60 % indicating an urgent need for improving climate change science education.     

'It'll never happen to me': understanding public awareness of local flood risk

Following the severe flood events of 1998 and 2000, the United Kingdom's Environment Agency prioritised the need to increase public flood risk awareness. Drawing on data collected during research undertaken for the Environment Agency, this paper contributes to understanding of one aspect of flood awareness: people's recognition that their property is in an area that is potentially at risk of flooding. Quantitative analyses indicate that class is the most influential factor in predicting flood risk awareness, followed by flood experience and length of time in residence. There are also significant area differences. Our qualitative work explores how those defined as 'at risk' account for their lack of awareness or concern about their risk status. We conclude that the problem is often not simply a lack of awareness, but rather, assessments of local risk based on experience that underestimate the impact of rare or extreme events. We underline the importance of engaging with local perspectives on risk and making local people part of 'awareness-raising' processes.     

'All hazards approach' to disaster management: the role of information and knowledge management, Boyd's OODA Loop, and network-centricity

The ever-increasing complexity of disasters demands utilisation of knowledge that exists outside domains traditionally drawn upon in disaster management. To be operationally useful, such knowledge must he extracted, combined with information generated by the disaster itself, and transformed into actionable knowledge. The process, though, is hampered by existing, business-oriented approaches to knowledge management, by technical issues related to access to relevant, multi-domain information/knowledge, and by executive decision-making processes based predominantly on historical knowledge. Consequently, as shown by many recent incidents, the management of large-scale (mega) disasters is often inefficient and exceedingly costly. This paper demonstrates that the integration of modified information and knowledge management into the concepts of network-centric operations and network-enabled capabilities, and the employment of Boyd's OODA (Observe, Orient, Decide, and Act) Loop-based decision-making in unpredictable and dynamically changing environments, may address some of these problems.     

国内外康养旅游研究评述与展望

围绕健康/养生与旅游的关系、康养旅游相关概念辨析、康养旅游供给、康养旅游需求、康养旅游专项研究5个主题,对国内外康养旅游相关研究成果进行了系统梳理。结果发现:国内外学术界在康养旅游研究领域积累了较多学术成果,但整体而言学术研究滞后于实践发展,具体表现在基础概念界定不清、研究内容深度不足、理论体系尚未完全建立等方面。未来研究应围绕厘清康养旅游及相关术语的概念内涵、深化康养旅游供给研究、重视康养旅游需求研究、加强康养旅游专项研究等方面进一步拓展和深化,逐步构建系统的康养旅游研究知识体系。     

电镀工业污染最小化知识库系统

电镀工艺污染最小化知识库系统是在Windows95环境下采用Visual Basica5.0为编程语言和Access为数据库而开发的实用系统，该知识库系统具有清洁生产审计信息编辑、查询、统计、报表生成等功能，根据录入的信息提出推荐的清洁生产方案供使用者选择，并且可利用该知识库系统对工艺设计、操作人员进行该行业污染最小化技术的培训。该系统是一个动态可发展知识库系统，使用者可十分便捷地更新和添加知识库的内容。     

灾害地貌专家系统试验研究

介绍了灾害地貌专家的建造原理与方法,阐述了灾害地貌专家知识的分类分级方法,讨论了灾害地貌专家系统中知识表示的基本原则和知识库中专家知识的组织方式,以及推理机的设计和推理规则的构造原理与方法。系统采用压缩编码方式存储各种地学专题图形和遥感图像数据,具有与图像的存储更新,查询检索、分析处理、图像显少自动制图功能。该系统可以对灾害地貌过程进行专家级的预测和评价,并对灾害地貌的综合治理与区域规划提出几种可     

试论灾害教育在防灾减灾中的作用

人类社会在迅速发展的同时,遭受着多种灾害现实的或潜在的威胁与破坏。在我国,在整个防灾减灾工作的链环中,有关灾害的教育环节还十分薄弱,缺口很大,由此也导致公众的灾害意识还相当薄弱。本文即是从“人为营造”的灾害入手,系统地阐述了灾害教育在我国减灾防灾中的重要作用。     

基于文献计量学的“十三五”生态环境监测研究热点分析

利用科学计量与可视化相关工具,以《中文核心期刊要目总览(2017年版)》27种环境科学类核心期刊发表的2016—2020年生态环境监测论文数据为基础,从载文量分布、高被引论文、高产机构分布和技术主题分布等方面分析了"十三五"期间我国生态环境监测研究热点。结果表明:"十三五"期间生态环境监测论文数量有所增加,主要载文期刊分布于《环境科学》《中国环境监测》《环境科学与技术》;主要发文机构是中国环境科学研究院、中国环境监测总站、中国科学院大学;排名前10位的技术主题词分别是PM_(2.5)、重金属、土壤、污染特征、颗粒物、挥发性有机物、生态风险、臭氧、沉积物、多环芳烃,结合"十三五"前期和中后期热点主题词变化分析了生态环境监测研究关注点的变化趋势。