Research core and framework of sustainability science

This paper reviews recent achievements in sustainability science and discusses the research core and framework of sustainability science. We analyze and organize papers published in three selected core journals of sustainability science: Sustainability Science, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, and Sustainability: Science, Practice, & Policy. Papers are organized into three categories: sustainability and its definition, domain-oriented research, and a research framework for sustainability science. First, we provide a short history and define the basic characteristics of sustainability; then we review current efforts in the following research domains: climate, biodiversity, agriculture, fishery, forestry, energy and resources, water, economic development, health, and lifestyle. Finally, we propose a research framework for sustainability science that includes the following components: goal setting, indicator setting, indicator measurement, causal chain analysis, forecasting, backcasting, and problem–solution chain analysis. We emphasize the importance of this last component for improving situations and attaining goals.     

Comparing the Use of Indigenous Knowledge with Classification and Ordination Techniques for Assessing the Species Composition and Structure of Vegetation in a Tropical Forest

dentification of groups that are similar in their floristic composition and structure (habitat types) is essential for conservation and forest managers to allocate high priority areas and to designate areas for reserves, refuges, and other protected areas. In this study, the use of indigenous knowledge for the identification of habitat types in the field was compared against an ecological characterization of habitat types, including their species composition obtained by using classification and ordination techniques for a tropical landscape mosaic in a rural Mayan area of Quintana Roo, Mexico. Plant diversity data calculated from 141 sampled sites chosen randomly on a vegetation class’s thematic map obtained by multispectral satellite image classification were used for this propose. Results indicated high similarity in the categorization of vegetation types between the Mayan classification and those obtained by cluster and detrended correspondence analysis. This suggests that indigenous knowledge has a practical use and can be comparable to that obtained by using science-based methods. Finally, identification and mapping of vegetation classes (habitat types) using satellite image classification allowed us to discriminate significantly different species compositions, in such a way that they can provide a useful mechanism for interpolating diversity values over the entire landscape.     

Perceptions of behaviors that cause and mitigate global warming and intentions to perform these behaviors

Individual household and travel behaviors represent a sizeable contribution to U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. This paper investigates people's knowledge of these behaviors and perceptions of these behaviors' impact in causing and mitigating climate change. In the present study, a sample of college students were asked to list the behaviors they perform that cause global warming (GW) and the behaviors they could perform to mitigate GW, to rate the impact of the behaviors in terms of their effect on causing or mitigating GW, and to rate their intention to perform each of the behaviors. Results revealed that this sample was well aware of the effect of driving on GW. However, participants underestimated the relative impact of adjusting the thermostat and eating meat on GW and overestimated the impact of littering on causing GW. Although knowledge about GW-mitigating behaviors was not consistently related to behavioral intention, belief that a behavior mitigated GW (whether accurate or not) was strongly related to intention to perform that behavior. Specifically, correlations between belief in the mitigating potential of a behavior and intention were relatively high for adjusting the thermostat, reducing meat consumption, and several behaviors that do not mitigate GW, but were relatively low for reducing driving and not littering. Practical implications and comparisons with previous literature are discussed.     

Exploring safety knowledge sharing among experienced and novice workers

Introduction: This paper investigates how members of a culinary and hospitality arts program generate, share, and learn safety knowledge via social and identity mechanisms. Method: We conducted semi-structured interviews with 20 participants of varying roles and experience (i.e., students, culinary instructors, and restaurant chefs) in the culinary and hospitality arts program at a large polytechnic in western Canada. Results: The emergent themes from these interviews indicated that the circulation of safety knowledge relied on the interaction among individuals with various levels of experience, such that those who were more experienced in the culinary arts were able to share safety knowledge with novices, who had less experience. Comparing safety knowledge gleaned from within the school against that gleaned from within the industry highlighted differences between the construction of safety in the two contexts. Notably, many aspects of safety knowledge are not learned in school and those that are may not apply in the industry context. We found that safety knowledge was shared through informal means such as storytelling, a process that allowed members to come to a deep, collective understanding of what safety meant, which they often labeled “common sense.” Conclusion: We found that safety knowledge was a currency through which participants achieved legitimacy, generated through continual practical accomplishment of the work in interaction with others. Practical Applications: Our findings provide novel insights into how safety knowledge is shared, and we discuss the implications of these findings for classroom, work-based learning, and other forms of curricula.     

Agro-biodiversity in rice–wheat-based agroecosystems of eastern Uttar Pradesh,India: implications for conservation and sustainable management

In this study, we analysed the indigenous practices of agro-biodiversity, changing patterns of cropping systems and conservation of agriculturally important natural resources of rice–wheat-based agroecosystems. The research was carried out in three villages of Azamgarh district, eastern Uttar Pradesh, India. Participatory approaches and personal interviews were combined to collect the data from 180 farmers. The results indicated that resource-poor (RP) farmers, by applying traditional practices of natural resource conservation, outperform their rich (RR) counterparts in conserving agro-biodiversity. Increase in irrigation facilities, adoption of improved crop varieties, commercialisation of farming and socio-economic changes have threatened the agro-biodiversity and related natural resources of these agroecosystems. For most of the crops, the RP farmers had better production stability as compared to the RR ones because the former tend to apply more sustainable and ecologically sound indigenous practices. A negative growth rate was observed in the area/numbers and production of legumes, livestock, pasture lands and community forestry. Women, who are the local custodians of conserving indigenous biodiversity (uncultivated species) and crop varieties through localised knowledge and sociocultural institutions, had significantly higher knowledge on agro-biodiversity than men. We concluded that integration of farmers’ eco-friendly practices with formal science and policy-making in a participatory mode may enhance sustainability of functions of agroecosystem leading to the strengthening of adaptive practices in changing climate and socio-economic scenario.     

论知识经济与成人教育

本文阐述了知识经济的内涵与特点,提出了知识经济对人才的要求及对成人教育的影响和对策.     

Five approaches to producing actionable science in conservation

The knowledge produced by conservation scientists must be actionable in order to address urgent conservation challenges. To understand the process of creating actionable science, we interviewed 71 conservation scientists who had participated in 1 of 3 fellowship programs focused on training scientists to become agents of change. Using a grounded theory approach, we identified 16 activities that these researchers employed to make their scientific products more actionable. Some activities were more common than others and, arguably, more foundational. We organized these activities into 3 nested categories (motivations, strategies, and tactics). Using a co-occurrence matrix, we found that most activities were positively correlated. These correlations allowed us to identify 5 approaches, framed as profiles, to actionable science: the discloser, focused on open access; the educator, focused on science communication; the networker, focused on user needs and building relationships; the collaborator, focused on boundary spanning; and the pluralist, focused on knowledge coproduction resulting in valuable outcomes for all parties. These profiles build on one another in a hierarchy determined by their complexity and level of engagement, their potential to support actionable science, and their proximity to ideal coproduction with knowledge users. Our results provide clear guidance for conservation scientists to generate actionable science to address the global biodiversity conservation challenge.     

Meeting the Climate Change Challenge (MC3): The Role of the Internet in Climate Change Research Dissemination and Knowledge Mobilization

This paper explores the role that Internet and online technologies played in research dissemination and knowledge mobilization in a recent climate change research project, MC³. In addition, the team looked at the potential of online expert-practitioner research collaborations for these purposes. Electronic communication was seen as a key element for creating distributed networks essential to the project and for building new practitioner/research knowledge collaboratives. The paper discusses how online communication strategies and technologies were used for wide dissemination of its research outcomes. MC³'s research dissemination and knowledge mobilization strategies are analyzed, using engagement as the primary measure, to gain insights on the effectiveness and challenges of using Internet-based tools for communicating climate change innovations and actions.     

Privileged Knowledge and Social Change: Effects on Different Participants of Using Geographic Information Systems Technology in Natural Resource Management

The use of geographic information systems (GIS) technology in natural resource management has expanded rapidly: It is the preferred tool of spatial data analysis addressing large landscapes and is typically the presentation medium for conveying landscape-scale scientific findings to all kinds of audiences. In a case study using the Coastal Landscape Analysis and Modeling Study in western Oregon, it was found that the use of GIS to analyze and display natural resource data in that project produced a variety of responses among different participants and participant groups. The findings offer insights into the workings of groups attempting public involvement in natural resource management.