Towards better integration of environmental science in society: Lessons from BONUS,the joint Baltic Sea environmental research and development programme

Integration of environmental science in society is impeded by the large gap between science and policy that is characterised by weaknesses in societal relevance and dissemination of science and its practical implementation in policy. We analyse experiences from BONUS, the policy-driven joint Baltic Sea research and development programme (2007–2020), which is part of the European Research Area (ERA) and involves combined research funding by eight EU member states. The ERA process decreased fragmentation of Baltic Sea science and BONUS funding increased the scientific quality and societal relevance of Baltic Sea science and strengthened the science-policy interface. Acknowledging the different drivers for science producers (academic career, need for funding, peer review) and science users (fast results fitting policy windows), and realising that most scientists aim at building conceptual understanding rather than instrumental use, bridges can be built through strategic planning, coordination and integration. This requires strong programme governance stretching far beyond selecting projects for funding, such as coaching, facilitating the sharing of infrastructure and data and iterative networking within and between science producer and user groups in all programme phases. Instruments of critical importance for successful science-society integration were identified as: (1) coordinating a strategic research agenda with strong inputs from science, policy and management, (2) providing platforms where science and policy can meet, (3) requiring cooperation between scientists to decrease fragmentation, increase quality, clarify uncertainties and increase consensus about environmental problems, (4) encouraging and supporting scientists in disseminating their results through audience-tailored channels, and (5) funding not only primary research but also synthesis projects that evaluate the scientific findings and their practical use in society – in close cooperation with science users − to enhance relevance, credibility and legitimacy of environmental science and expand its practical implementation.     

Value Plurality among Conservation Professionals

Abstract: Debate on the values that underpin conservation science is rarely based on empirical analysis of the values conservation professionals actually hold. We used Q methodology to investigate the values held by international conservation professionals who attended the annual Student Conference in Conservation Science at the University of Cambridge (U.K.) in 2008 and 2009. The methodology offers a quantitative means of examining human subjectivity. It differs from standard opinion surveys in that individual respondents record the way they feel about statements relative to other statements, which forces them to focus their attention on the issues they believe are most important. The analysis extracts the diverse viewpoints of the respondents, and factor analysis is used to reduce the viewpoints to a smaller set of factors that reflect shared ways of thinking. The junior conservation professionals attending the conference did not share a unifying set of core values; rather, they held a complex series of ideas and a plurality of opinions about conservation and how it should be pursued. This diversity of values empirically challenges recent proposals for conservation professionals to unite behind a single philosophy. Attempts to forge an artificial consensus may be counterproductive to the overall goals conservation professionals are pursuing.     

Evaluating the best available social science for natural resource management decision-making

Increasing recognition of the human dimensions of natural resource management issues, and of social and ecological sustainability and resilience as being inter-related, highlights the importance of applying social science to natural resource management decision-making. Moreover, a number of laws and regulations require natural resource management agencies to consider the “best available science” (BAS) when making decisions, including social science. Yet rarely do these laws and regulations define or identify standards for BAS, and those who have tried to fill the gap have done so from the standpoint of best available natural science. This paper proposes evaluative criteria for best available social science (BASS), explaining why a broader set of criteria than those used for natural science is needed. Although the natural and social sciences share many of the same evaluative criteria for BAS, they also exhibit some differences, especially where qualitative social science is concerned. Thus we argue that the evaluative criteria for BAS should expand to include those associated with diverse social science disciplines, particularly the qualitative social sciences. We provide one example from the USA of how a federal agency − the U.S. Forest Service − has attempted to incorporate BASS in responding to its BAS mandate associated with the national forest planning process, drawing on different types of scientific information and in light of these criteria. Greater attention to including BASS in natural resource management decision-making can contribute to better, more equitable, and more defensible management decisions and policies.     

毒死蜱在香蕉、土壤中的残留动态及安全性评价

为了监测香蕉中毒死蜱的残留量,科学、安全地使用毒死蜱防治香蕉上的害虫,确保产品质量,采用气相色谱法及田间试验方法,研究了毒死蜱在香蕉及其土壤中的残留降解动态.结果表明:在香蕉中,毒死蜱的原始沉积量较高,残留降解规律符合一级动力学关系,推荐剂量和加倍剂量处理的降解动态方程分别为y=1.0724e-014149t和y=1.7840e-0.1468t,半衰期(T1/2)为4.8 d,降解99％所需要的时间(T0.99)为31.4～31.8d;在土壤中,毒死蜱的残留降解动态方程为y=6.4365e-1412t,T1/2为4.9d,T0.99为32.7 d.距第2次施药后60～68d,最终在香蕉与土壤中均未检出毒死蜱残留量(检出限为0.005mg/kg).研究表明,漳州蕉区在香蕉生产上科学、合理地施用毒死蜱,其最终残留符合NY/T 750-2011规定的MRL要求,不会对蕉园土壤环境造成污染.     

一株高效絮凝剂产生菌的分离鉴定与絮凝特性研究

采用富集培养及平板分离方法从成都某污水处理厂活性污泥中筛选出一株具有絮凝活性的菌株SNUX-1,经形态特征及16S rRNA鉴定该菌株为约氏不动杆菌(Acinetobacter johnsonii).对该菌株絮凝活性分布及在不同生长条件下所产絮凝剂的絮凝率进行了研究,并对其絮凝剂成分进行了分析.结果表明,该菌株所产微生物絮凝剂为胞外产物,显色剂显色结果表明,该絮凝剂不含蛋白质成分,含有糖类成分;在以蔗糖为碳源、培养基初始pH值为8、以氯化铜为助凝剂的条件下培养12 h,该菌株所产微生物絮凝剂的絮凝率最高,达96.71％,可作为治理环境污染的菌种资源.     

安全人性学的方法论研究

为正确利用和改善安全人性及有效开展安全教育,有必要开展宏观层面的安全人性方法论研究。首先,给出安全人性学方法论的定义及研究内容。基于人性学方法论和安全科学方法论等,构建包括时间维、数量维、专业文化维、环境维、技术维和理论维的安全人性学方法论的多维结构体系。其次,从学科特性出发,描述了安全人性学的研究方法,确立了安全人性学研究的一般步骤;并在此基础上,建立安全人性学研究的范式体系。研究表明,安全人性学方法论是在安全人性学原理以及相关理论的指导下所形成的系统化和程式化思想,对安全人性学的研究有理论指导作用。     

煤基胶体特征及其在多孔介质中的运移行为

采集了长焰煤粉并提取其中的胶体,用激光粒度仪、红外光谱仪、扫描电镜和Zeta电位仪对煤基胶体的特征进行了定性和定量表征,研究了煤基胶体在石英砂的多孔介质柱中的运移特征及p H值、阳离子等环境因子的影响。结果表明,该方法提取煤基胶体的实测粒径与理论计算粒径基本吻合,煤基胶体表面具有丰富的褶皱和极其丰富的孔隙结构并呈片状,煤基胶体的化学组成以芳香烃为主,在试验范围内,煤基胶体的Zeta电位在-34.0~-21.2 e V,随p H值升高而下降。溶液p H=7时,煤基胶体在多孔介质中的运移能力最强,c/c0为0.664,增加p H值或降低p H值,运移能力下降。Ca离子对煤基在多孔介质中的运移具有明显的抑制作用,当离子强度IS(Ca Cl2)由0.001 mmol/L增加到0.1 mmol/L时,胶体悬液c/c0从0.569降至0.129。     

Management challenges of urban biosolids: narratives around facility siting in rural Ontario

The emerging challenge of managing increasing volumes of urban sewage has resulted in municipalities pursuing sustainable ways to manage urban biosolids and their by-products. Using content analysis of public debates, and situating the debate within science, policy and facility siting literature, this study examines claims and counterclaims relating to the siting of a biosolid processing facility in rural Ontario. The equivocal evidence on the health and environmental effects of biosolids resulted in a heated “expert versus lay” debate. The study critically evaluates the importance of trust and the shifting role of scientific evidence in politicised settings, while making relevant policy recommendations.     

新农药硫肟醚在土壤中降解的影响因子研究

在实验室条件下对新农药硫肟醚(O(3苯氧苄基)2甲硫基1(4氯苯基)丙基酮肟醚)在土壤中降解的影响因子进行了研究.结果表明,在20 d的培养时间内,随着土壤含水量的增加,硫肟醚的降解速率加快.当土壤含水量增加到80%(质量分数)时,其降解率达到最大(46.73%),然后随土壤含水量增加反而下降.随着土壤温度的升高,硫肟醚在土壤中的降解速率增加.30 ℃时降解速率达到最大(47.83%),以后温度继续升高,其降解速率呈现出下降趋势.在5～100 mg/kg的质量比范围内硫肟醚在土壤中的降解速率随其质量比的增加而提高;但当质量比继续增加时,硫肟醚的降解速率表现出下降趋势.硫肟醚在土壤中的降解遵循一级动力学方程,其在非灭菌与灭菌土壤中的降解速率常数k分别为8.106×10-3和1.63×10-3;半衰期分别为85.5 d和425.2 d.微生物对硫肟醚在土壤中的降解具有显著的影响.     

National pathways to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): A comparative review of scenario modelling tools

The recently-adopted global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) will have significant implications for national development planning in both developed and developing countries in the post-2015 period to 2030. Integrated, nationally-owned SDG strategies will be at the centre of national efforts to implement the new sustainable development agenda. The long-run processes and systems perspective that are inherent in the SDGs present complex analytical problems for policymakers and analysts. Scenario analysis and quantitative modelling will be important analytical tools to support national sustainable development planning, and there is an increasingly sophisticated suite of models available to decision makers. This paper reviews and assesses a broad range of different quantitative models that have the potential to support national development planning for the SDGs. The study develops a typology and inventory of 80 different models, and then reviews the comparative strengths, weaknesses and general utility of different models through an initial screening and subsequent multi-criteria analysis of short-listed models. Current gaps in model capabilities are highlighted in the context of providing analytical support for national development planning for the SDGs. While some existing models are particularly relevant, it is unlikely that an ideal model can analyse all SDG targets and variables of interest within a single modelling framework. Top-down ‘macro framework’ models are likely to be more useful for undertaking system-level or economy-wide scenario analysis driven by the national long-term goals and targets, and for exploring trade-offs and synergies among sectors. Bottom-up sectoral models will be able to support far more detailed option-level impact analysis of concrete interventions, technologies and investments. Combining both approaches within an analytical framework will provide a robust approach for analysis and decision-making. The results highlight a range of potential gaps in current modelling capabilities, and provide some new tools to assist with model selection.