New tools for emergency managers: an assessment of obstacles to use and implementation

This paper focuses on the role of the formal response community's use of social media and crowdsourcing for emergency managers (EMs) in disaster planning, response and recovery in the United States. In‐depth qualitative interviews with EMs on the Eastern seaboard at the local, state and federal level demonstrate that emergency management tools are in a state of transition—from formal, internally regulated tools for crisis response to an incorporation of new social media and crowdsourcing tools. The first set of findings provides insight into why many EMs are not using social media, and describes their concerns that result in fear, uncertainty and doubt. Second, this research demonstrates how internal functioning and staffing issues within these agencies present challenges. This research seeks to examine the dynamics of this transition and offer lessons for how to improve its outcomes—critical to millions of people across the United States.     

Cultural issues in post‐disaster reconstruction: the case of Typhoon Morakot in Taiwan

Most members of Taiwan's indigenous communities live in areas that are prone to natural disasters. Yet, due to their marginalised cultural, economic and political status, each time such calamities strike, any assistance they receive is usually provided without considering their actual needs. The areas hardest hit by Typhoon Morakot in August 2009 were the indigenous villages in the southern and eastern parts of the island. After the initial emergency relief efforts had been completed, there remained the highly challenging task of reconstruction and the resettlement of those who lost their homes and livelihoods. This paper examines the cultural conflicts that arose during the reconstruction process, with special emphasis on the participation of Taiwan's indigenous communities and their capacity for resilience. It was found that community participation and identification are key issues in effective disaster governance.     

Creation of a Gilded Trap by the High Economic Value of the Maine Lobster Fishery

Abstract: Unsustainable fishing simplifies food chains and, as with aquaculture, can result in reliance on a few economically valuable species. This lack of diversity may increase risks of ecological and economic disruptions. Centuries of intense fishing have extirpated most apex predators in the Gulf of Maine (United States and Canada), effectively creating an American lobster (Homarus americanus) monoculture. Over the past 20 years, the economic diversity of marine resources harvested in Maine has declined by almost 70%. Today, over 80% of the value of Maine's fish and seafood landings is from highly abundant lobsters. Inflation‐corrected income from lobsters in Maine has steadily increased by nearly 400% since 1985. Fisheries managers, policy makers, and fishers view this as a success. However, such lucrative monocultures increase the social and ecological consequences of future declines in lobsters. In southern New England, disease and stresses related to increases in ocean temperature resulted in more than a 70% decline in lobster abundance, prompting managers to propose closing that fishery. A similar collapse in Maine could fundamentally disrupt the social and economic foundation of its coast. We suggest the current success of Maine's lobster fishery is a gilded trap. Gilded traps are a type of social trap in which collective actions resulting from economically attractive opportunities outweigh concerns over associated social and ecological risks or consequences. Large financial gain creates a strong reinforcing feedback that deepens the trap. Avoiding or escaping gilded traps requires managing for increased biological and economic diversity. This is difficult to do prior to a crisis while financial incentives for maintaining the status quo are large. The long‐term challenge is to shift fisheries management away from single species toward integrated social‐ecological approaches that diversify local ecosystems, societies, and economies.     

Welfare Balance of Different Interest Groups During Rural-urban Land Conversion

Rural-urban land conversion is currently a common social economic phenomenon during the process of economic development and rural urbanization in China. Rural-urban land conversion is positively effective as far as social and economic benefits are concerned （Yang, 2002）, but its negative effect is also evident, resulting in such problems as low efficiency of rural land configuration and loss of social welfare. Consequently, farmers should also have an equal chance to enjoy the social welfare enhanced by land conversion. Based on the theories of welfare economy, this paper puts forward policy suggestions by discussing the welfare changes of various interest groups, builds the model of welfare distribution, and analyzes the conditions of maximizing social welfare. The absolute and opposite value of social welfare is closely related with the speed of rural-urban land conversion, and governments should give farmers and collectives fair compensation to make up for the utility loss caused by land expropriation, which are conclusions drawn from this paper. This study aims to provide a theoretical basis for regulating targets and evaluation criteria, realizing the mechanism and implementation of public polices during rural-urban land conversion.     

Common and Conflicting Interests in the Engagements between Conservation Organizations and Corporations

The conservation community increasingly views the corporate sector as a positive force for conservation. Collaborations between corporations and nongovernmental conservation organizations (NGOs) seek to mitigate the negative effects of corporate activities and augment positive conservation outcomes. I reviewed the establishment of corporate social responsibility (CSR) policies by corporations; the emerging focus on environmental practices and sustainability; and the history of engagement between corporations and nongovernmental organizations. I considered the ethical and reputation vulnerabilities of these collaborations, which depend especially on the financial nature of the relationship and reviewed how CSR approaches have influenced corporate practices. I concluded that whereas CSR practices can act to mitigate negative environmental impact, to date they have had limited positive effect on biodiversity conservation. Intereses Comunes y Conflictivos en los Compromisos entre Organizaciones y Corporaciones de Conservación     

Multi-objective Programming and Social Welfare Analysis of Rural-urban Land Conversion Decision-making

Rural-urban land conversion is an inevitable phenomenon in urbanization and industrialization. And the decision-making issue about this conversion is multi-objective because the social decision maker (the whole of central government and local authority) has to integrate the requirements of different interest groups (rural collective economic organizations, peasants, urban land users and the ones affected indirectly) and harmonize the sub-objects (economic, social and ecological outcomes) of this land allocation process. This paper established a multi-objective programming model for rural-urban land conversion decision-making and made some social welfare analysis correspondingly. Result shows that the general object of rural-urban land conversion decision-making is to reach the optimal level of social welfare in a certain state of resources allocation, while the preference of social decision makers and the value judgment of interest groups are two crucial factors which determine the realization of the rural-urban land conversion decision-making objects.     

水科技发展及在人类社会发展中的作用

本文从给水及水污染防治科学与技术两方面对水科技的发展及其在人类社会发展中的作用进行了讨论。水科技在人类社会的现代化进程中起到了重要的支撑，保障和推动作用，解决人类面前日益严峻的水污染与水资源危机问题，大力发展水科技是一条根本途径。     

Assessing corporate–community involvement strategies in the Nigerian oil industry: An empirical analysis

The desire of oil companies operating in the Niger Delta to secure their social license to operate, and address their community development obligations, has led in recent years to the adoption of corporate social responsibility (CSR) policies and strategies. Drawing on quantitative and qualitative data collected in host communities within the Niger Delta in Nigeria, the paper compares the effectiveness of two different corporate–community involvement strategies. The evidence suggests that while the corporate–community foundation model has certain advantages over the in-house community investment model, both approaches suffer from a common shortcoming that limits the impact of oil companies’ efforts on community development in their host communities. The paper concludes by exploring the implications of the research findings for corporate–community involvement in the Nigerian oil industry.     

The network imaginary: coherence and creativity within a multiscalar collaborative effort to reform US fire management

In response to the ongoing crisis in fire management, the US Fire Learning Network (FLN) engages partners in collaborative, landscape-scale ecological fire restoration. The paper contends that the FLN employs technologies, planning guidelines and media to articulate an FLN imaginary that co-ordinates independent efforts to engage in ecological fire restoration work without need of either hierarchal authority or collective social capital. This imaginary may allow the FLN to draw on the creativity and adaptive innovation of collaboration to reform fire management institutions and fire-adapted ecosystems.     

Relationship between occupational social class and exposure to organochlorine pesticides during pregnancy

Background

Little evidence is available on the influence of socioeconomic factors on exposure to persistent organic pollutants, especially during vulnerable periods such as pregnancy and early life.

Objective

To investigate the relationship of maternal social class with placental concentrations of organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) and their combined estrogenic activity measured with a biomarker of exposure.

Methods

Exposure to 16 OCPs (DDTs, endosulfans, and seven other compounds) and the total effective xenoestrogenic burden (TEXB) were analyzed in placentas from a mother-child cohort. OCP concentrations were quantified by gas chromatography and mass spectrometry, and TEXB was assessed with the E-Screen bioassay. Social class was classified according to maternal occupation. Multivariate regression analysis was conducted to examine variations in pesticide exposure and TEXB as a function of maternal social class in 257 subjects.

Results

Placental p,p′-DDT concentrations were higher in social classes III and IV than in classes I-II (the most affluent); concentrations of the sum of DDTs were higher in class IV; and exposure to the sum of endosulfans was greater in class III. HCB concentrations were higher among women in class IV than in classes I-II and among manual (classes III-V) than non-manual workers. However, the trend across social classes was only statistically significant for HCB. Social class significantly explained 10% of the variability in concentrations of the sum of endosulfans.

Conclusion

There is a need to explore whether more disadvantaged populations suffer higher levels of exposure to pesticides or other environmental chemicals and how different social processes contribute to this exposure.