Mainstreaming the social sciences in conservation

Despite broad recognition of the value of social sciences and increasingly vocal calls for better engagement with the human element of conservation, the conservation social sciences remain misunderstood and underutilized in practice. The conservation social sciences can provide unique and important contributions to society's understanding of the relationships between humans and nature and to improving conservation practice and outcomes. There are 4 barriers—ideological, institutional, knowledge, and capacity—to meaningful integration of the social sciences into conservation. We provide practical guidance on overcoming these barriers to mainstream the social sciences in conservation science, practice, and policy. Broadly, we recommend fostering knowledge on the scope and contributions of the social sciences to conservation, including social scientists from the inception of interdisciplinary research projects, incorporating social science research and insights during all stages of conservation planning and implementation, building social science capacity at all scales in conservation organizations and agencies, and promoting engagement with the social sciences in and through global conservation policy‐influencing organizations. Conservation social scientists, too, need to be willing to engage with natural science knowledge and to communicate insights and recommendations clearly. We urge the conservation community to move beyond superficial engagement with the conservation social sciences. A more inclusive and integrative conservation science—one that includes the natural and social sciences—will enable more ecologically effective and socially just conservation. Better collaboration among social scientists, natural scientists, practitioners, and policy makers will facilitate a renewed and more robust conservation. Mainstreaming the conservation social sciences will facilitate the uptake of the full range of insights and contributions from these fields into conservation policy and practice.     

Exploring the emergence of a tipping point for conservation with increased recognition of social considerations

Despite a common understanding of the harmful impacts of Western conservation models that separate people from nature, widespread progress toward incorporating socioeconomic, political, cultural, and spiritual considerations in conservation practice is lacking. For some, the concept of nature-based solutions (NbS) is seen as an interdisciplinary and holistic pathway to better integrate human well-being in conservation. We examined how conservation practitioners in the United States view NbS and how social considerations are or are not incorporated in conservation adaptation projects. We interviewed 28 individuals working on 15 different such projects associated with the Wildlife Conservation Society's Climate Adaptation Fund. We completed 2 rounds of iterative coding in NVivo 12.6.1 to identify in the full text of all interview responses an a priori set of themes related to our research questions and emergent themes. Many respondents saw this moment as a tipping point for the field (one in which the perceived values of social considerations are increasing in conservation practice) (76%) and that social justice concerns and the need to overcome racist and colonial roots of Western conservation have risen to the forefront. Respondents also tentatively agreed that NbS in conservation could support social and ecological outcomes for conservation, but that it was far from guaranteed. Despite individual intention and awareness among practitioners to incorporate social considerations in conservation practice, structural barriers, including limited funding and inflexible grant structures, continue to constrain systemic change. Ultimately, systemic changes that address power and justice in policy and practice are required to leverage this moment to more fully address social considerations in conservation.     

Exploring nationality and social identity to explain attitudes toward conservation actions in the United States and Australia

Understanding human attitudes toward wildlife management is critical to implementing effective conservation action and policy. Understanding the factors that shape public attitudes toward different wildlife management actions is limited, however, which can result in unpredictable public responses to interventions. We drew on comparisons between residents of 2 countries on separate continents to explore differences in attitudes toward wildlife management and determine factors important in shaping these attitudes. We surveyed representative publics via market research panels in Australia (n = 881 respondents) and the United States (n = 1287). We applied a social-identity approach and demography to identify factors that explained variance between responses about wildlife management. We compared responses between countries overall and within subgroups of respondents who strongly identified as environmentalists, animal rights activists, wildlife conservation advocates, and farmers. We created aggregate scores for the management-related response items per respondent and used regression analyses to identify the relative importance of country, identity, age, and gender in explaining variance between responses. These factors accounted for 15.3% of variance among responses. Australians overall were generally more accepting of lethal wildlife management actions than U.S. respondents. Differences in national attitudes reflected differences between United States and Australian wildlife management and policy, highlighting the importance of understanding social attitudes in shaping conservation policy. Identifying as a farmer followed by identifying as an animal rights activist most shaped attitudes toward wildlife management. Identity-related conflicts could be initiated or exacerbated by conservation interventions that fail to consider identity-related processes.     

不同楼梯布局条件下行人疏散效果仿真研究

为研究不同楼梯类型的行人疏散效果，改进传统社会力模型，模拟4种常见梯形中行人的疏散过程，并通过总疏散时间和平均疏散速度指标以及微观速度密度分布图分析其疏散效果中存在的内在物理机制。研究表明:从安全和高效疏散角度上看，在限定空间中，单跑无平台梯形布局有利于低密度人群下人员的快速疏散；在中、高密度人群中，双分梯形的分流特点更有利于人员安全、快速疏散。从微观密度、速度分布图可看到这4种梯形在人员疏散过程中均易造成人员聚集拥堵，但发生事故风险的位置不同。单跑有、无平台梯形在楼梯上端和下端均易发生拥堵，且此时速度值大，发生事故的风险高；双分与双跑梯形在楼梯与平台的转角处易发生拥堵。     

Controversial sectors in banks’ sustainability reporting

Albeit indirectly, through its lending and investing, the financial sector can contribute substantially to achieve sustainable development. One of such practices concerns investment on or financing of entities that deal with environmentally or socially sensitive transactions (gambling, tobacco, alcohol, arms, etc.). Although there is a wealth of literature on banks’ CSR and its reporting, one can count on the fingers of one hand the studies mentioning explicitly these issue. What is more, this CSR practice gets treated only cursorily in these few studies. This study focuses on the communication of information on investment and financing of firms from controversial sectors in banks’ sustainability reports. We begin by examining whether financial institutions in our sample report having such policies or not. Then, we investigate what kind of policies are reported. In addition, this study seeks to capture the influence of national culture and firm-specific characteristics (type of property, listing status and multinationality) on the reporting of such issues. Ordinal regression analysis is used to analyse the relation of these factors with such reporting. Our findings suggest that the disclosure of information on policies regarding investment on and financing of firms from controversial sectors is not widespread, and the organizations reporting policies of total exclusion of some sectors or projects on ethical grounds are few. This study may encourage more detailed analyses of the type of CSR policies examined and of their impacts. It also may be of utility to banks by raising awareness about the need to consider these issues.     

民族地区优势产业振兴路径的三重维度——以广西百色芒果产业为例

民族地区受自然条件、市场和资金等因素影响,产业发展缓慢。从“深度”、“广度”和“融合度”三重维度出发,提升产业层次、培育品牌产业、延伸产业链、挖掘产业附加值、对接生态保护,实现乡村振兴,构建民族地区产业新模式。以百色芒果产业为例,从三重维度出发创新优势产业,总结实践贡献和理论成果,发挥其在西南少数民族地区的示范引领作用,为实现民族地区巩固脱贫攻坚效果和乡村振兴有机衔接做出积极贡献。     

公共安全应急国际标准化最新进展及对我国的启示

当前,主要国际标准化组织和主要发达国家标准化组织高度重视公共安全标准化工作,分别开展了具有自身特色的公共安全和应急管理标准化工作。本文在总结国际和国外发达国家应急标准化工作的基础上,提出了我国公共安全应急标准化工作的一些启示。     

The Scientific Basis of Marine Pollution Prevention Strategies

Prevention of marine pollution, particularly in semi-enclosed seas, embayments and areas with limited exchange of water, requires a well conceived and harmonized legal system, specified standards, a monitoring programme, and effective control and enforcement capabilities. This comprehensive approach is often called a strategy. Three generations of strategies have been devised and applied historically in Europe and North America, each a step further in integrating environmental protection, technical advancement and economic capabilities. the overpowering socio-economic problems of transition from a centrally planned to a market economy, a task facing a dozen central and eastern European coastal states, compound the problem of application of an integrated approach.

No management strategy can achieve its set goals unless based on scientific evidence. the data base has to offer information on two basic questions, one specific and one of a general nature.

The specific question is: Has the area under consideration some features, an activity, or one or more living species, which must be protected at any cost? the answer to this question will invoke the precautionary principle into strategic considerations, and leads to the general question: What is the carrying (= assimilative or environmental) capacity for each activity and for the discharge of each contaminant into the impacted area? Answers to these questions lead to the choice of the strategy for environmental management.     

Is the economic dimension inducing the other sustainability dimensions,or is it the reverse? Perceptions from the Portuguese metal industry

ABSTRACT

In organizational sustainability, the economic dimension is recognized as having a very important role. However, the discussion regarding whether it is exclusively the economic dimension that has the power to induce the other sustainability dimensions is far from agreement. The purpose of the present paper is to analyze the perceptions regarding the existence of mutual influences between the economic dimension of sustainability and the other sustainability dimensions – environmental, social and cultural – in a relevant Portuguese economic sector: the metal industry. The analysis and statistical tests performed with the 211 collected answers led to the conclusion that the influence exerted by the economic dimension on the other sustainability dimensions is perceived as dominant, both in present and future perspectives. The results also show the perception that the economic dimension is equally influenced by the environmental and social dimensions, and in a less extent, by the cultural dimension, and that all these mutual influences are perceived to increase in the future. The existence of organizational management systems has a positive effect on the perceptions regarding the existence of mutual influences between sustainability dimensions, but only for those companies with more than one certified management system. These results confirm that organizational management systems are connected to higher degrees of awareness regarding sustainability issues. Given that the great majority of the sampled industries are SMEs, the results obtained in this research demonstrate that the existence of mutual influences between sustainability dimensions is recognized even in small-sized industries.     

Social dimensions of science–humanitarian collaboration: lessons from Padang,Sumatra, Indonesia

This paper contains a critical exploration of the social dimensions of the science–humanitarian relationship. Drawing on literature on the social role of science and on the social dimensions of humanitarian practice, it analyses a science–humanitarian partnership for disaster risk reduction (DRR) in Padang, Sumatra, Indonesia, an area threatened by tsunamigenic earthquakes. The paper draws on findings from case study research that was conducted between 2010 and 2011. The case study illustrates the social processes that enabled and hindered collaboration between the two spheres, including the informal partnership of local people and scientists that led to the co‐production of earthquake and tsunami DRR and limited organisational capacity and support in relation to knowledge exchange. The paper reflects on the implications of these findings for science–humanitarian partnering in general, and it assesses the value of using a social dimensions approach to understand scientific and humanitarian dialogue.