Five propositions for improving decision making about the environment in developing communities: insights from the decision sciences

Decisions focused on managing natural resources in developing areas present some of the most imposing challenges to policy makers, scientists, and stakeholders alike. The response of policy makers and the technical community in the face of these challenges has been significant. However, our experiences as researchers and facilitators of group planning and decision-making processes have left us concerned about the lack of attention devoted to supporting the underlying processes used to make these complex decisions. To this end, we present five propositions based on work in the decision sciences that we believe stand out as essential for improving decision-making processes in developing communities.     

An inexact reverse logistics model for municipal solid waste management systems

This paper proposed an inexact reverse logistics model for municipal solid waste management systems (IRWM). Waste managers, suppliers, industries and distributors were involved in strategic planning and operational execution through reverse logistics management. All the parameters were assumed to be intervals to quantify the uncertainties in the optimization process and solutions in IRWM. To solve this model, a piecewise interval programming was developed to deal with Min-Min functions in both objectives and constraints. The application of the model was illustrated through a classical municipal solid waste management case. With different cost parameters for landfill and the WTE, two scenarios were analyzed. The IRWM could reflect the dynamic and uncertain characteristics of MSW management systems, and could facilitate the generation of desired management plans. The model could be further advanced through incorporating methods of stochastic or fuzzy parameters into its framework. Design of multi-waste, multi-echelon, multi-uncertainty reverse logistics model for waste management network would also be preferred.     

矿山项目生态环境影响评价研究

以矿山项目生态环境影响评价特点为基点,对矿山项目生态环境影响评价的因子等进行简要论述,重点阐述了生态环境状况指数法、潜在生态危害指数法和景观指数法。     

环境保护中的公众参与制度分析

环境保护公众参与环节在环境保护理论与实践中具有十分重要的地位,要使环境保护得到有效实施必须要坚持公众参与制度。本文从环境保护公众参与的概念出发,在探讨公众参与原则的理论基础的前提下,论述了环境保护中的公众参与的必要性,通过我国环境保护公众参与制度的缺陷的分析,就如何建立完善的环境保护中的公众参与机制提出对策建议,以期完善我国公众参与环境保护的有效性。     

从人性角度考量环境教育的价值及转向

环境危机产生的根本原因是人性危机。人性危机也就是人对待自然的意识危机。人们将环境问题局限于自然环境本身,只是看到了环境问题的表面症状,而没有看到环境问题产生的内在根源。真正的环境教育不是单纯指向环境的专门教育,而是对整体教育的重新思考。从人性的角度看,环境教育具有智育价值、生态思维价值和美育价值,因此,环境教育的本质应该由物化     

中国光环境质量管理体系研究

介绍了光环境及光污染的特点、危害,并对我国现行的光环境管理标准和技术规范进行了研究,在分析美国、英国等光环境管理体系的基础上对我国光环境管理体系中的标准和技术规范构建的必要性和原则进行了探讨,并提出了存在的问题和建议,以期为今后的光环境管理体系的完善提供一定的参考。     

The Video Rhizome: Taking Technology Seriously in The Meatrix

This essay discusses how The Meatrix, an animated criticism of factory farming, functions to entice and engage its viewers in productive dissemination. Widely distributed online, The Meatrix is often categorized with other popular new media phenomena as a viral video. This essay first argues that the use of the viral metaphor is flawed with mechanistic thinking. Second, the author introduces Deleuze and Guattari's rhizome as an alternative model. Third, The Meatrix rhizome is discussed as an intricate relationship of intertextuality, technological dissemination, and user experience. Finally, the author encourages academics and activists alike to reconsider mechanistic thinking of new media in favor of the text as an open, distributed system.     

Rapid Issue Tracking: A Method for Taking the Pulse of the Public Discussion of Environmental Policy

Environmental communication professionals and other decision makers need to understand public sentiment toward environmental issues to effectively carry out their stewardship responsibilities. However, it is often difficult to obtain timely and reliable information about public discussion and debate regarding these issues. This paper describes an approach designed to address this dilemma: Rapid Issue Tracking is a method for quickly “taking the pulse” of public and other stakeholder discussion. The data source for Rapid Issue Tracking is online media stories, including traditional news media, social media, and other textual data such as public comments received by an agency. Two US Forest Service cases of Rapid Issue Tracking are presented to explicate the method and its usefulness in environmental communication and decision making.     

Diversity of Television Exposure and its Association with the Cultivation of Concern for Environmental Risks

Cultivation theory claims that individuals who watch a greater amount of television are more likely to accept the representation of reality as presented on television. This study introduces the variable of exposure diversity and attempts to investigate if the diversity of television channels viewed plays a significant role beyond the amount of television viewed in the cultivation of concern about environmental risks. Data from the 2002 annual Life Style Study conducted by Synovate for DDB-Chicago was paired with a corresponding content analysis of environmental television coverage. Ordinary-Least-Squares regression suggests that exposure diversity is associated with concern of environmental risks above and beyond both the effects of the amount of television watched and individual differences, suggesting the variable of exposure diversity holds promise for further explicating cultivation theory.     

Ken Burns' The National Parks: America's Best Idea (2009): Missed Opportunities for Environmental Messages

Ken Burns, over the course of a long and celebrated career, has developed an effective and popular formula for his documentary films, and a comfortable relationship with the Public Broadcasting System. With such a convincing, accomplished style, his work has the opportunity to tackle ecological concerns in his latest series, but Burns chooses not to do so, offering no explicit lessons to apply to current problems. While stressing the importance of the people's parks, ecological debates on land use for future citizen-owners are minimized; the conflict of conservation versus preservation policies is barely differentiated. With the skill and reputation of Burns, his researchers, and his production team, there is a singular opportunity for their films to address ecological issues, creating productive conversation using America as a microcosm of the larger global issues faced today. Nostalgia and national pride are useful, but those attributes should be channeled to look to the future.