A GIS-based method to identify spatiotemporal gaps in public service delivery

The focus of methodological approaches to identify (public) service deprivation has been predominantly on the shortcomings in the spatial coverage of the transportation system and the urban opportunity landscape. Accessibility is thereby generally modeled as a static concept with little - if any - account for temporal variations in services and transportation provision across the diurnal cycle and week, such as those resulting from opening hours and congestion effects. This paper suggests the use of time-specific measures of service accessibility and demand. The measures are integrated in a GIS-based multi-criteria analysis with the aim to detect spatiotemporal variations in service deprivation. The applicability of the method has been illustrated in a case study about the planning of a mobile government office bus in the city of Ghent (Belgium). It has been shown that the suitability of alternative stop locations for the bus depends on the time interval during which it will be operated.     

A participatory framework for developing public participation GIS solutions to improve resource management systems

Participatory approaches elicit information from multiple stakeholders while planning and implementing resource management systems. Such elicited information is often associated with significant variability. Public participation geographical information science (GIS) (PP-GIS) solutions can reduce this variability by helping stakeholders to measure the factors involved and provide the elicited information. We propose a ‘Quality Function Deployment’-based participatory framework for developing such PP-GIS solutions. It is demonstrated using a case study to enhance an existing PP-GIS into a solution for rainwater harvesting systems in Indian villages. The novelty of the proposed framework is that it identifies metrics and carries out comparative analysis of three existing solutions: participatory rural appraisal, participatory mapping and PP-GIS. In the case study, PP-GIS scored less than participatory mapping as it scored less on usability and affordability. To improve PP-GIS in these aspects, an easy-to-use mobile and web based, free and open source PP-GIS solution, Watershed GIS, was developed. It scored better than the three existing solutions and its usage resulted in substantial reduction of variability in criteria values and thus better ranking of alternatives, with the average coefficient of variation decreasing from 0.12 to 0.05.     

Environmental Rationalism and Beyond: Toward a more just sharing of power and influence

Economics, especially the narrowly defined form of economics known as neo-liberal economics, along with its policy derivative known as economic rationalism, dominates public and political debate and decision-making in Australia and many other nations as the twentieth century approaches its close. In the context of environmental issues, as also in that of welfare issues, the present over-dominance is unhealthy. Despite the best attempts of environmental economists and ecological economists, they have had relatively little influence on the broader economic profession, or on the political and business communities. Economics and free trade also dominate the international scene at the expense of equity and environmental issues. Environmental debates, by their very nature, are usually complex, requiring interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary approaches which include the economic perspective, but much else besides. Despite the importance of local context and spatial and temporal location, there is a need for a meta-theory or national philosophy to allow the integration across space and time so often needed. The present meta-theory, firmly based in economic rationalism, is inadequate as a basis for environmental decision-making. We desperately need a new meta-theory that explicitly integrates economic, environmental, welfare and many other perspectives. Perhaps such a meta-theory could be broadly based on the concept of sustainability, though much more work is needed to refine such an approach. A major swing in public opinion from the old meta-theory to the new is essential as a forerunner to political action, and education at all levels is needed to bring about this change. There are some signs that this change is already informing public opinion, and that it may have begun to influence mainstream Australian politics.     

政策、公众参与在洪湖湿地生态恢复中的作用

通过构建最优控制模型及实证调查的方法,分析洪湖湿地恢复过程的公众参与与政府政策的可取之处及亟需进一步解决的问题。系统地探讨了洪湖湿地永续发展的管理模式并为其他地区的湿地管理提出建议。通过理论构建和实证调查提出以公众参与为主、政府政策为辅的环境管理模式,阐述了以公众参与为主、政府政策为辅的环境政策的必要性和可行性。     

科尔沁沙地公众沙漠化意识调查报告

对科尔沁沙地部分旗、县、市的公众沙漠化意识进行调查的结果表明:①81.6%的受访者知道"沙漠化"一词;②62.8%的受访者认为当地沙漠化主要是由于人类不合理的活动所造成的,其中"三滥"为主要因素;③75.7%的受访者认为目前当地土地沙漠化程度较10a前有所好转或有明显好转(1:1.07);84%的受访者认为10a后当地沙漠化治理会取得成效(根治:13.1%;大有成效:45.1%;有些成效:25.8%);④认为当地治沙措施"多"的分值为5.76(10分制,下同);⑤认为国家、地方政府、集体和个人四者在治沙事业中各自应负责任之比为15:18:10:12;77.9%的受访者认为当地政府重视治沙工作,平均重视度为7.4;94.2%的受访者表示愿意参加义务治沙劳动;70.8%的受访者愿为制止樵采而修建沼气池或使用其它替代能源;⑥受访者对当地生活的满意度为6.73,认为治理沙漠、发展经济、发展教育、改善医疗、提供社会保障5个方面的重要度分别为9.04、9.05、8.78、7.78、7.73。     

国外地质资料社会化服务总体趋势

地质资料是地球信息的重要载体,作为公益性组织的各国地质调查机构,均十分重视地质资料的社会化服务工作。通过查阅美国、加拿大、澳大利亚、英国等发达国家地质调查机构的官网和有关文献,本文总结出当前世界地质资料社会化服务的总体趋势是：各国地调机构均十分重视社会公众需求服务,提供多样化、系列化地质产品;严格管理各类产品的地质资料的维护与发布,以确保地质资料的质量;建立各级各类专业化服务机构,服务不同层次、不同类型的群体,普及地质科学知识;服务类型及服务模式多样,公益性与商业性服务共存;制定完善的客户服务制度体系,明确考核标准。     

Performative justice: New directions in environmental and social justice

New explorations of justice are arising in the wake of post-structuralist and feminist critiques of abstract, generalized notions of justice in Western liberal democracies. These interventions are opening new avenues of study on discursive practices and performances that contest social and environmental injustices in everyday life. Feminist scholars argue for greater attention to the local and the particular, the embodied, gendered, emotion-based, ethnic subject of justice and injustice. Yet, limited research has been conducted on performative and performance-based relationships to justice, despite its potential to inform matters related the use and conservation of public goods and common spaces in everyday life. This critical review examines the notion of performativity and its application to justice, aiming to clarify and advance understanding and theorizing of a potentially valuable direction in environmental and social justice at the local level. We draw on Hobson’s articulation of performative justice, as it offers some useful insights into how injustices related to the appropriation of public green spaces agendas are being identified and new meanings are being constituted through local-level citizen practices. We argue, however, that such attempts appear to be identifying injustices and demonstrating the ‘what is’ of environmental and social justice, but not ‘what ought to be’. Directions for future research are offered, which include clarifying the application of performative theories to the study and practice of justice at the local level.     

公众为何对气候变化的科学结论信任不充分

通过系统分析世界各国气候传播领域近年来的进展,以解释为何公众对气候变化的科学结论缺乏信任这一复杂问题.文中首先概述了各国公众对气候变化的态度以及影响公众态度的社会、政治与经济因素,再分析了各国媒体对气候变化的报道及其媒体效果,并重点探究了社会心理因素如何影响人们对气候变化的认知与态度.此外国际气候传播研究对我国气候传播...