Young adult households and domestic sustainabilities

Young adults in the Global North occupy a contradictory environmental identity: they are purportedly more environmentally concerned than older generations, but are also labelled hedonistic consumers. Most studies have focused on young adults still residing in parental homes, neglecting that Generation Y (born between 1975 and 1991) has ‘grown up’. The consumption patterns and environmental implications of their newly established households demand scholarly attention. Through a large-scale household sustainability survey, conducted in Australia, we have uncovered important inter-generational differences in environmental attitudes and everyday domestic practices. We found that generational cohorts hold distinct environmental attitudes. Younger households were most concerned with climate change, and least optimistic about future mitigation. However, generational differences influenced everyday domestic practices in more complex ways. All households engaged extensively with those ‘pro-environmental’ practices that reflected established cultural norms, government regulations and residential urban form. For other pro-environmental practices there were clear differences, with Generation Y households being the least engaged. A widening ‘value-action gap’ was apparent across our sample population, from oldest to youngest. However, rather than reflecting Generation Y’s supposed hedonism, we argue that this gap reflects generational geographies: how lifecourse intersects with housing and labour markets and norms of cleanliness to shape everyday domestic practices. Our research illuminates the shortcomings of a one-size-fits-all approach to household sustainability. The young adult stage is a time of transition during which homes and independent lifestyles are established, and practices are altered or become entrenched, for better or worse.     

Sustainable lifestyles: Framing environmental action in and around the home

This paper examines the nature of environmental action in and around the home. Given the rise of local sustainable development and the emphasis placed on individual actions for sustainability, the paper examines the role of citizens in adopting sustainable lifestyles, incorporating a range of behavioural responses from energy saving and water conservation, to waste recycling and green consumption. Focussing on the debate in geography concerning the engagement of the public in environmental action, the paper argues that despite the assertions of those who advocate a deliberative approach to engagement (see [Owens, S., 2000. Engaging the public: information and deliberation in environmental policy. Environment and Planning A 32, 1141–1148]), an approach based on a social–psychological understanding of behaviour can have significant benefits. Such an approach is being developed by geographers in a range of settings and in this paper these developments are situated within the context of existing research that has identified environmental ‘activists’ in terms of their values, attitudes and demographic composition. The paper aims to examine environmental behaviour in relation to two key issues: (1) the way in which environmental action is framed in everyday practices (such as consumption behaviour) and (2) how these practices are reflected amongst different segments of the population to form lifestyle groups. The paper provides new insights for examining sustainable lifestyles that further our appreciation of how actions to help the environment are lived in everyday practices and framed by different lifestyle groups. Accordingly, the paper offers both academics and policy makers new insights into the potential use of focussing on lifestyle groups as a means for changing behaviour.     

Questioning the virtues of pro-environmental behaviour research: Towards a phronetic approach

Drawing on Flyvbjerg’s (2001) call for the development of phronetic social science, this paper argues that much current research into pro-environmental behaviour (PEB) is misguided, and even potentially dangerous. After outlining Flyvbjerg’s argument, it reviews existing work on PEB and argues that, to date, it has predominantly sought after the Aristotelian intellectual virtues of either episteme or techne, and has neglected phronesis which Aristotle himself saw as most important. It then explores the ways in which aspects of a phronetic approach are being developed in cultural geography and environmental sociology, before offering a brief empirical case study of a PEB-change initiative to illustrate what a phronetic approach to research might look like. It concludes by calling for an improved and more reflexive dialogue between PEB researchers regarding the purpose and approach of their work, both in order to improve the relevance and impact of their research, and in order to help individuals and communities understand and confront the significant environmental challenges they currently face.     

Tales of transformation: The potential of a narrative approach to pro-environmental practices

Individual lifestyles and practices play an important part in governmental strategies to improve environmental outcomes, both in the UK (DEFRA, 2008) and elsewhere. This often involves promoting actions deliberately aimed at reducing one’s environmental impact, or pro-environmental practices. However, our understanding of these practices has weaknesses; notably regarding the “Value-Action Gap” and the conditions promoting enduring change. This article explores how narrative methods could further our knowledge of pro-environmental practice. It illustrates the utility of the approach using the example of moments of sudden change, or “transformative moments”, in the lives of individuals who take action to address climate change. Drawing on three cases from an ongoing study, it uses narrative tools to explore the nature of these transformations, including the inter-related roles of context, information, emotions and relationships with other people. The discussion highlights tentative conclusions regarding these moments of sudden change, and offers suggestions for future research. Finally, it evaluates the utility of narrative approaches to pro-environmental practice, suggesting that despite some limitations, this method has significant potential to address unresolved issues in the field.     

Behavioural-geographical aspects of environmental quality

The behavioural approach in human geography accentuates the view of quality of the environment through man and his value orientations. The quality of environment from the point of view of human experience raises behavioural-geographical questions that are the core of the presented topic. Aspects of environmental imaginations and sensations as well as human value system are presented as variables affecting the structure of the perceived environment and human spatial behaviour. In this context, the authors present results of two behavioural studies that correspond to new models of man and environment from the viewpoint of a behavioural approach. The suggested humanistic approach in behavioural geography emphasizes above all the emotional aspect of the relationship between man and environment, which through environmental values, spatial sensations, and meanings, leads to human spatial behaviour.     

Are we all environmentalists now? Rhetoric and reality in environmental action

Throughout the western world, public support for environmental protection measures has grown consistently during the past three decades. Endorsement for a wide array of measures to reduce the human impact on nature and conserve resources has been high among individuals in the UK, relating to a variety of environmental issues, such as transport, waste management, water quality and green consumerism. These stated concerns are somewhat in contrast to the behavioural responses which similar research projects have reported. This attitude-behaviour inconsistency, or more colloquially, the ‘value-action gap’, has become a major area of soul searching for policy makers who have used techniques such as contingent valuation and willingness to pay models to construct their policy measures. Accordingly, this paper presents an alternative means of investigating the attitude-behaviour inconsistency, with the use of research by social psychologists, sociologists and geographers. A framework of environmental behaviour is presented, so as to provide environmental researchers with a means of examining which variables modify the relationship between stated intention and action. The results indicate that whilst there is a moderately strong relationship between stated intention and behaviour, the factors influencing these two constructs are significantly different so as to suggest that public rhetoric towards environmental action may be influenced by different antecedents to that of actual behaviour. As such, the paper provides a fresh perspective on the difference between rhetoric and reality in environmental action.     

The spatial shopping behaviour of the urban elderly: A review of the literature

The spatial shopping behaviour of the urban elderly has received increasing attention from researchers in a variety of disciplines including geography, marketing, city planning, and social gerontology. Relevant literature from these diverse sources is reviewed within an organizational framework based on two ‘behavioural’ approaches to retail geography: ‘empirical-behavioural’ and ‘cognitive-behavioural’. Overall, the research findings suggest that the elderly represent a distinctive consumer segment with special problems and needs. In particular, many older shoppers are subject to a wide variety of mobility constraints which ultimately restrict their access to shopping opportunities. However, some work has discovered important differences in the spatial behaviours of subgroups of elderly consumers defined on the basis of such characteristics as health, age, household composition, marital status, income level, and residential location. It is suggested that further research needs to explore more fully how these characteristics may impose variable personal and environmental constraints upon the shopping activities of the urban elderly.     

关于意愿调查价值评估法在我国环境领域应用的可行性探讨——以北京市居民支付意愿研究为例

从意愿调查价值评估法的优越性和局限性出发，以在北京市进行的关于市民为改善大气环境质量的支付意愿的调查研究为例，详细分析了调查方法和结果。通过对结果的评价，探讨了意愿调查价值评估法在我国进行环境物品价值评估实践中的可行性，得出了这一方法在我国具有推广前景的结论。最后对意愿调查价值评估法今后在我国实践中的应用提出了几点建议。     

Preliminary Rock-Slope-Susceptibility Assessment Using GIS and the SMR Classification

This paper aims to examine the impact of large-scale structuraladjustments (like the Greater Dhaka Flood Protection Project, GDFPP) on local living environment.It focuses the importance of environmental factors in flood hazard mitigation, and examines theenvironmental attitudes of the floodplain residents arising from the large-scale structural adjustments.Based on `perceived natural hazard research perspectives', this paper examines: (i) the reasons for persistentfloodplain occupation, and (ii) the importance of environmental factors in the choice, motivations and decision-makingof floodplain residents.This research used data collected from 300 households situated inthe eastern part of Dhaka. The face-to-face household survey data provided individuals' responses to a structuredquestionnaire on hazards and environment. Survey concerned urban floodplains, and looked fordata on housing, household characteristics, and residents' attitudes. Results of interview surveys wereused to: (i) explore the reasons of floodplain occupation, and (ii) residents' attitudes to tolerable levelof flood risk and willingness to accept environmental change resulting from the proposed structural embankments inthe eastern perimeter of Dhaka City, Bangladesh.Findings revealed that floodplain occupation (by theindividuals' decision-making) was a result of overall reaction to the Government's structuraladjustment policies that resulted from institutional, locational and socio-economic factors. The attitude survey results provided residents' perception to hazards and environment to be dependenton the socio-economic factors – but in a complex manner, many factors are interrelated.In addition to support for structural embankments, the study sample displayed a common concernand widespread environmental awareness. In terms of any `trade-off' between thebenefits (resources) from the embankments and costs (hazards) due to the detrimental impact on environment, the residents of Dhaka, despite some concern forsacrificing embankments for environment, tended to show a generalconsensus for embankments.     

The use of diary survey techniques: the rural studies case

The use of diary techniques in social surveys has been discouraged because of the difficulties which have often been associated with their implementation and the analysis of the results. This paper argues that given the use of proper safeguards, diary techniques may be employed to provide high quality data for behavioural analysis, particularly in rural studies. This view is supported by an examination of two case studies where a diary technique was successfully used.     

Shopping to save lives: Gender and environment theories meet ethical consumption

Much of the current work in the field of ‘gender and environment’ has been developed around case studies of environmental roles, rights and responsibilities at the community or household scale in the South. This paper asserts that the theoretical insights developed through these case studies can be of great use when examining issues of gender and environment in the North, particularly when it comes to issues of ethical consumption. In this paper I examine the promotional discourses of two cause-related marketing (CRM) campaigns (where consumption of a CRM product triggers a donation to a development cause) using two such insights: (i) the mutual constitution of gendered subjectivities and environments and (ii) a gender and environment approach to questioning neoliberalization. This approach highlights the ways in which – through consumption – gender is constituted transnationally at the same time that it is constituted in relation to environments. This approach also emphasizes a series of questions about the neoliberal aspects of CRM campaigns that are usually hidden behind discourses of motherhood and responsibility. Overall, I argue that bringing gender and environment and ethical consumption research together allows us to advance both areas of study in critical and insightful ways.     

An unsustainable state: Contrasting food practices and state policies in the Czech Republic

This paper brings together consideration of food policies and practices and of post-socialist transition to raise neglected questions about means of nurturing more sustainable food systems in the developed world. The last three decades have been marked by the growing salience of food as a political and scholarly concern. While market-based alternative food systems have been heralded for their potential to promote environmental sustainability, the benefits of non-market practices such as household food self-provisioning and barter have been assumed rather than being the focus of research. In the western context, both types of food consumption have positive connotations. Although food self-provisioning in European post-socialist societies is a more wide-spread practice than in western societies, it has been on the periphery of research. The existing literature has conceptualised them as ‘coping strategies’ or as a legacy of irregular supply of goods in the state socialist era. Drawing on empirical research in the Czech Republic, we are proposing a novel approach to the phenomenon of household food production in post-socialist societies as a practice compliant with principles of sustainability. First, we highlight the large extent and social inclusivity of food self-provisioning in Czech society to demonstrate how post-socialist societies are a repository of a rich set of sustainability-promoting consumption practices in relation to food systems. Second, we show that international and domestic policy actors in these societies have ignored these alternative, socially inclusive and environmentally effective practices in favour of far less effective market-based sustainability oriented food policy initiatives. The paper promotes a more integrated view of non-market and market approaches in the pursuit of more sustainable food systems.     

Rubber tapper identities: Political-economic dynamics,livelihood shifts,and environmental implications in a changing Amazon

Rubber tappers promoted extractive reserves as a sustainable alternative to forest destruction in the Brazilian Amazon. However, the significance of rubber tapping itself has declined since the creation of extractive reserves, which raises questions about the contemporary cultural content of the rubber tapper identity. This paper therefore evaluates rubber tapper identity, using the case of the Chico Mendes Extractive Reserve (CMER) in Acre, Brazil. We first draw on household survey data from the CMER to construct a statistical model of who self-identifies as a rubber tapper. The model shows that socio-economic background, household assets, institutional context, and knowledge of the CMER’s management plan are relevant to understanding rubber tapper self-identification, but not resource management practices, including rubber tapping itself. We therefore pursue qualitative analysis of key informant interviews to better apprehend contemporary understandings of the “rubber tapper” identity, particularly in light of recent shifts in livelihoods from rubber tapping toward cattle ranching. The qualitative analysis shows that there are now several different foundations for self-identifying as a “rubber tapper,” and that there are disagreements concerning the acceptability of cattle ranching among “rubber tappers.” These findings bear implications for research on the relationship of livelihood-based identities with resource management practices and environmental change, as well as public policies that seek to reconcile regional development with forest conservation.     

气候变化适应对策的评价方法和工具

气候变化影响和适应对策方法评估的研究目的主要是建立和应用先进有效的分析工具和评价方法对气候变化脆弱性和适应对策进行科学评估. 因此需要了解当前已经在自然资源和环境研究中广泛使用的决策分析工具,掌握和了解各种适应对策评估工具的关键特性及其优缺点. 首先介绍各种有关适应对策的定义及两大类适应评估方法途径, 同时举例介绍不同方法在气候变化影响和适应评估研究中的应用. 常规的适应对策评估分析主要以政府间气候变化专业委员会(IPCC)气候变化影响和适应对策评估技术指南中的方法工具为代表, 另一种适应对策研究则致力于改善各种对气候变化敏感系统的适应能力和复原能力. 文中对各种适应对策评估方法和工具进行了介绍和讨论,并提出气候变化适应研究的新方向.     

环境地球化学研究近十年若干新进展

环境地球化学学科在中国生态文明和美丽中国建设、国际环境公约履约及过去全球变化研究中发挥着越来越大的作用.本文简要回顾了中国过去十年在环境地球化学领域的部分研究进展,介绍了汞、持久性有机污染物和其他重金属污染物长距离传输研究进展;总结了汞、镉、锑、铊等非传统稳定同位素在地表生物地球化学循环过程中的同位素分馏规律及污染来源...     

21世纪遗迹学热点与前沿:第14届国际遗迹组构专题研讨会综述*

第14届国际遗迹组构专题研讨会于2017年4月29日至5月2日在中国台北台湾大学顺利召开。从会议口头报告、展板、会间和会后野外地质考察以及交流讨论可以看出遗迹学热点与前沿: (1)遗迹化石的系统分类将一直是遗迹学家努力的方向,旨在为古生物学研究提供丰富的行为学资料,并为沉积学、古生态学等研究提供科学、客观和简便的遗迹分类学框架;(2)遗迹组构分析在沉积学中的深入应用,能提供大量传统沉积学、地球化学分析所无法揭示的生物学信息;(3)重大地质事件的遗迹学响应以及遗迹化石的演化古生态学为地质—生命突变期研究提供了独一无二的新素材;(4)地微生物学与遗迹学的结合进行了初步有益尝试;(5)特殊化石行为如求偶行为的报道扩大了深时行为类型;(6)定量形态表征和统计分析是遗迹学研究精细化和定量化的重要途径,通过遗迹组构分析来定量刻画沉积环境因子是遗迹组构研究的重要前景方向。     

Development and the Household: Missing the point?

Over the past two decades development has been shifting its focus toward smaller scales and particular problems. As a result, the household has become an increasingly important institution for development, and has come under increased scrunity as development practitioners and scholars seek to better understand this institution’s functions and foundations, trying to ‘get the household right’. These efforts, rather than clarifying the character and the function of the household, have contributed to its indeterminacy by reifying the very institution they seek to analyse. Arguing that these efforts fundamentally miss the point of examining the household, this paper introduces a different framework of analysis that addresses the household not as a fixed object of research, but as a local construction that embodies flows of power and knowledge both within and transcending the local. Using the example of varying constructions of the household in two villages in Ghana’s Central Region, this article illustrates how such an approach allows us to address the various functions of the household as particular embodiments of these flows, an approach that better explains the endurance or ephemerality of these functions. Such an approach provides a stronger foundation for the consideration of how particular constructions of this institution may have troubling implications for issues like gender equity and sustainability.     

Development and the Household: Missing the point?

Over the past two decades development has been shifting its focus toward smaller scales and particular problems. As a result, the household has become an increasingly important institution for development, and has come under increased scrunity as development practitioners and scholars seek to better understand this institution’s functions and foundations, trying to ‘get the household right’. These efforts, rather than clarifying the character and the function of the household, have contributed to its indeterminacy by reifying the very institution they seek to analyse. Arguing that these efforts fundamentally miss the point of examining the household, this paper introduces a different framework of analysis that addresses the household not as a fixed object of research, but as a local construction that embodies flows of power and knowledge both within and transcending the local. Using the example of varying constructions of the household in two villages in Ghana’s Central Region, this article illustrates how such an approach allows us to address the various functions of the household as particular embodiments of these flows, an approach that better explains the endurance or ephemerality of these functions. Such an approach provides a stronger foundation for the consideration of how particular constructions of this institution may have troubling implications for issues like gender equity and sustainability.     

Imagining resilience: situating perceptions and emotions about climate change on Kamchatka, Russia

Global environmental change shapes places and people through ongoing transformation of ecological, socioeconomic, political, and cultural phenomena. One region construed as highly vulnerable to global environmental change, particularly anthropogenic climate change, is the North. Recent research about human communities in Western arctic and subarctic places revolve around vulnerability to anthropogenic climate change, focusing on loss of the ability to pursue traditional livelihoods, threats to ecosystems sustaining human communities and the need to adapt to new environmental regimes. Fewer studies address Russia and the perceptions and emotions related to climate change. To understand how people of the Russian North engage with climate change, I conducted ethnographic research in two rural and remote communities in subarctic alpine Kamchatka, Russia in 2009–2010. Local narratives about climate change largely reflect climate skepticism, and anthropogenic climate change is rejected as explaining environmental changes because: (1) climate is considered as naturally and cyclically changing, (2) humans are not considered a large enough force to alter natural climate cycles, (3) environmental problems are solvable with technology and (4) there is a lack of knowledge about climate change science. Thus, perceptions and emotions about transformation focus on other realms—socioeconomic, political, cultural—that are perceived as more critical to everyday life in the present and near future. Here, I describe these narratives and place the regional understanding of climate change in greater context to explain resistance to imagining environmental transformations due to climate change.     

Differential impacts of climate change on communities in the middle hills region of Nepal

There is a growing understanding that the impacts of climate change affect different communities within a country, in a variety of ways—not always uniformly. This article reports on research conducted in the middle hills region of Nepal that explored climate change vulnerability in terms of exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity across different well-being groups, genders of the head of household and household location. In the study region, dry land farming has increasingly experienced climate-induced changes to farm productivity and natural resources. The experience of vulnerability to decreased livelihood options and natural resource hazards due to a changing climate varied according to household wealth and well-being status, with very poor and poor households more vulnerable than medium and well-off households. The research indicates that the climate change adaptation would benefit by considering: (i) differential impacts of vulnerability mainly based on well-being status of households; (ii) understanding of the local socio-political context and underlying causes of vulnerability and its application; and (iii) identifying vulnerable populations for the units of vulnerability analysis and adaptation planning.