Place attachment and place identity: First-year undergraduates making the transition from home to university

This paper examines the issues emanating from the transition into a new social and cultural environment distant from the home, the context of which is provided by the transition from home to university. The study analyses the transitional process over a period of 5 months, using data obtained from in-depth semi-structured interviews and participant observation of ten first-year undergraduates who moved to study at the University of Gloucestershire in Cheltenham. It explores the mediating variables that impact place attachment and place identity during the transition from home to university. Within this context consideration is given to how participants made sense of changes in their socio-spatial environment, the ensuing problems and challenges of doing so, and how these meanings affected self-perceptions and self-evaluations. The analysis demonstrates how participant's stories of the transition evince an abiding concern with the loss of place, manifest in terms of an erosion of a sense of belonging, attachment and continuity and an undermining of home's capacity to symbolise the self. The implications of such accounts for our understanding of place attachment and identity are then explored. The paper concludes by advocating a holistic approach to our conceptualisation of place, given that place meanings are constantly being evaluated and redefined in light of changing social and physical relationships with place and between people and place.     

Catalytic reductive dechlorination of p–chlorophenol in water using Ni/Fe nanoscale particles

Nanoscale bimetallic Ni/Fe particles were synthesized from the reaction of sodium borohydride （NaBH4） with reduction of Ni^2＋ and Fe^2＋ in aqueous solution. The obtained Ni/Fe particles were characterized by TEM （transmission electron microscope）, XRD （X-ray diffractometer）, and N2-BET. The dechlorination activity of the Ni/Fe was investigated using p-chlorophenol （p-CP） as a probe agent. Results demonstrated that the nanoscale Ni/Fe could effectively dechlorinate p-CP at relatively low metal to solution ratio of 0.4 g/L （Ni 5 wt%）. The target with initial concentration ofp-CP 0.625 mmol/L was dechlorinted completely in 60 rain under ambient temperature and pressure. Factors affecting dechlorination efficiency, including reaction temperature, pH, Ni loading percentage over Fe, and metal to solution ratio, were investigated. The possible mechanism of dechlorination ofp-CP was proposed and discussed. The pseudo-first- order reaction took place on the surface of the Ni/Fe bimetallic particles, and the activation energy of the dechlorination reaction was determined to be 21.2 kJ/mol at the temperature rang of 287-313 K.     

Degradation mechanism of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene in supercritical water oxidation

The 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene(TNT)is a potential carcinogens and TNT contaminated wastewater,which could not be effectively disposed with conventional treatments.The supercritical water oxidation(SCWO)to treat TNT contaminated wastewater was studied in this article.The TNT concentration in wastewater was measured by high-performance liquid chromatograph(HPLC)and the degraded intermediates were analyzed using GC-MS.The results showed that SCWO could degrade TNT efficiently in the presence of oxygen.The reaction temperature,pressure,residence time and oxygen excess were the main contributing factors in the process.The decomposition of TNT was accelerated as the temperature or residence time increased.At 550℃,24 MPa,120 s and oxygen excess 300%,TNT removal rate could exceed 99.9%.Partial oxidation occured in SCWO without oxygen.It was concluded that supercritical water was a good solvent and had excellent oxidation capability in the existence of oxygen.The main intermediates of TNT during SCWO included toluene,1,3,5-trinitrobenzene,nitrophenol,naphthalene,fluorenone,dibutyl phthalate,alkanes and several dimers based on the intermediate analysis.Some side reactions,such as coupled reaction,hydrolysis reaction and isomerization reaction may take place simultaneously when TNT was oxidized by SCWO.     

旅游地居民态度调查研究──以皖南旅游区为例

旅游业的发展必然对旅游地社会、经济、环境产生影响。通过旅游地居民态度调查研究，可以从一个侧面了解旅游对旅游地影响的性质和影响程度。本文在较详尽的实地调查基础上，以皖南旅游区为研究案例，尝试进行旅游地居民态度研究，以期较准确地了解皖南旅游区居民对当地旅游发展的态度。为皖南旅游区发展、规划提供有益的咨询。并希望以此为国内旅游地居民态度研究提供有益的参考。     

地方依恋有助于提高农户村庄环境治理参与意愿吗?——基于湖北省调查数据的分析

在农村社会转型背景下,从人地关系视角探讨农户地方依恋对其村庄环境治理参与意愿的影响,对剖析农村环境治理难题意义重大。以湖北省为例,利用1074份农户微观调查数据,从环境心理学视角下的人地关系出发,探讨了地方依恋对农户村庄环境治理参与意愿的影响,并进一步运用工具变量法(IV-Oprobit)进行内生性处理与稳健性检验。结果表明:①农户地方依恋水平整体一般,通过提高农户对村庄的依恋水平,可显著提升其村庄环境治理参与意愿。具体而言,农户地方依恋水平每提高1个单位,可使其环境治理“非常愿意”参与的概率提升35.51%。②社会信任在地方依恋对农户村庄环境治理参与意愿影响中发挥显著的调节和中介作用。一方面,地方依恋对农户村庄环境治理参与意愿的影响会随着农户社会信任水平的提高而不断增强;另一方面,地方依恋能够显著增强农户社会信任水平,从而提升其村庄环境治理参与意愿,即社会信任是地方依恋影响农户村庄环境治理参与意愿的重要传导中介,中介效应占总效应的比重为23.37%。③代际差异分析表明,在新生代和老一代农民群体中,地方依恋对其村庄环境治理参与意愿影响均显著。此外,性别、环保意识和环保态度等对农户村庄环境治理参与意愿也产生显著影响。据此,应加强村庄基础设施和文化建设等,不断增强农户的村庄认同感和依恋感,进而在美丽乡村建设中提升农户村庄环境治理参与水平。     

Access and Local Government Research: Methodological Reflections

Abstract

This methodological paper draws on research from Australia to examine the question of gaining access to local governments in undertaking work on natural resource management. It is argued that a range of macro-level changes have impacted on the local government sector in Australia, and these changes have rendered access problematic for researchers. These changes include an expansion of local government roles, an increase in financial pressure within the sector, a proliferation of audit measures across local governments and a low level of respect amongst local government personnel for academics and academic work. The paper concludes by identifying the reasons why understanding access in qualitative research on local government and environmental sustainability is important.     

Leverage points to foster human–nature connectedness in cultural landscapes

Calls for a reconnection to nature and the biosphere have been growing louder over the last decades. Cultural landscapes are rapidly changing, posing a threat to ecosystems and biodiversity, but also to human–nature connections. Human–nature connectedness may be a potential lever to shift the unsustainable trajectory that we are currently proceeding, but is also negatively influenced by it. To concretize the call for a reconnection to nature, we used the leverage points perspective on five empirical case studies with focus on human–nature connectedness. Based on the synthesis of our yearlong work, in this perspective paper, we propose four leverage points to foster a sustainability transformation: (1) maintain and enhance the structural diversity of landscapes, (2) maintain and enhance economically and ecologically sustainable small-scale agriculture, (3) strengthen sense of place and (4) strengthen sense of agency in actors. Intervening in these leverage points could be effective to foster human–nature connectedness and ultimately contribute towards a sustainable trajectory. We further argue that the interconnection between leverage points is equally important as their systemic depth.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13280-021-01504-2.     

Effectiveness of Environmental Surrogates for the Selection of Conservation Area Networks

Abstract:  Rapid biodiversity assessment and conservation planning require the use of easily quantified and estimated surrogates for biodiversity. Using data sets from Québec and Queensland, we applied four methods to assess the extent to which environmental surrogates can represent biodiversity components: (1) surrogacy graphs; (2) marginal representation plots; (3) Hamming distance function; and (4) Syrjala statistical test for spatial congruence. For Québec we used 719 faunal and floral species as biodiversity components, and for Queensland we used 2348 plant species. We used four climatic parameter types (annual mean temperature, minimum temperature during the coldest quarter, maximum temperature during the hottest quarter, and annual precipitation), along with slope, elevation, aspect, and soil types, as environmental surrogates. To study the effect of scale, we analyzed the data at seven spatial scales ranging from 0.01° to 0.10° longitude and latitude. At targeted representations of 10% for environmental surrogates and biodiversity components, all four methods indicated that using a full set of environmental surrogates systematically provided better results than selecting areas at random, usually ensuring that ≥90% of the biodiversity components achieved the 10% targets at scales coarser than 0.02°. The performance of surrogates improved with coarser spatial resolutions. Thus, environmental surrogate sets are useful tools for biodiversity conservation planning. A recommended protocol for the use of such surrogates consists of randomly selecting a set of areas for which distributional data are available, identifying an optimal surrogate set based on these areas, and subsequently prioritizing places for conservation based on the optimal surrogate set.     

Social innovation and the governance of sustainable places

This article explores social innovation as a tool for the promotion of place-based sustainable development. The literature highlights the satisfaction of basic needs and situations of crises as two major drivers of socially innovative actions. We use these insights to explore the conditions under which social innovation can lead to social transformation and sustainable place making. We also recognise that social processes occur through, and are shaped by, the material forms that constitute and are constituted in place-specific settings. This highlights the deep interconnections that exist between place making and the resources, attributes and characterises – the materiality (such as rivers, soil, trees) – that exist within that locality. It is here that a close tie can be discerned between understanding the adaptive process in complex socio-ecological systems and the role of social innovation in such adaptation. Socially innovative initiatives at the community level can also be scaled upwards through the co-ordinating role of the state, while at the same time act as a pressure for more participatory forms of governance. Governance processes that enhance the role of both economic and social actors in the steering of social change help to infuse more open, democratic practices into social steering. With social, economic and state actors co-mingling as agents of social change, social innovation can come to play a key role in enhancing sustainable human–environment interactions.     

Children's perspectives on playground use as basis for children's participation in local play space management

Implementing children's perspectives into playground management could be a way of improving play possibilities for children in the local public space and supporting sustainable development, but it requires adults' understanding. Children's perspectives on playground use were studied through group interviews in two Swedish towns and were also compared with the understanding among the local park workers. Children described their playground use through challenges, manipulation and place-making, something which was partly recognised by the park workers. The results indicate that children's perspectives on playground use, particularly manipulation, should be implemented more fully into management work. Children's participation in on-site management activities is discussed as a way of making playgrounds more adapted to children's use and perspectives.