Plural valuation of nature for equity and sustainability: Insights from the Global South

Plural valuation is about eliciting the diverse values of nature articulated by different stakeholders in order to inform decision making and thus achieve more equitable and sustainable outcomes. We explore what approaches align with plural valuation on the ground, as well as how different social-ecological contexts play a role in translating plural valuation into decisions and outcomes. Based on a co-constructed analytical approach relying on empirical information from ten cases from the Global South, we find that plural valuation contributes to equitable and sustainable outcomes if the valuation process: 1) is based on participatory value elicitation approaches; 2) is framed with a clear action-oriented purpose; 3) provides space for marginalized stakeholders to articulate their values in ways that can be included in decisions; 4) is used as a tool to identify and help reconcile different cognitive models about human-nature relations; and 5) fosters open communication and collaboration among stakeholders. We also find that power asymmetries can hinder plural valuation. As interest and support for undertaking plural valuation grows, a deeper understanding is needed regarding how it can be adapted to different purposes, approaches, and social-ecological contexts in order to contribute to social equity and sustainability.     

生物标志物稳定氢同位素研究进展及在海洋古环境重建中的应用

生物标志物稳定氢同位素是一种比较新的古环境指标,越来越多的研究者利用生物标志物稳定氢同位素重建了陆地和海洋中古水循环的变化。在陆地上,生物标志物δD值可以用来重建降雨δD值、古海拔以及蒸散作用大小或者湖泊水的输入输出平衡。在海洋中,生物标志物δD值的变化能更好地反映与其相关的生物和环境信息。培养实验以及现场数据显示生物标志物δD值能很好地反映表层海水δD值以及表层海水盐度的变化。许多研究者也利用海洋中生物标志物δD值重建了长时间尺度降雨量以及表层海水盐度的变化。对近年来生物标志物稳定氢同位素的研究进展,尤其是在海洋古环境重建中的应用进行了总结。     

Of questionable value: The role of practitioners in building sustainable cities

The reshaping of South African cities is being guided by policies aiming to build socially and environmentally just communities. Despite widespread commitment to this goal, there is little consensus on what it means and how it should and could translate into practice. The paper shows that despite the emphasis on environmental justice and building sustainable communities in policy, the institutional context for implementation (including expert driven and deliberative approaches) do not always deliver on this mandate. Consequently, policy outcomes do not reflect those of the communities and households it is meant to serve, raising challenging moral and ethical questions for institutions involved in environmental governance. This paper shows how the institutional context of environmental assessment combined with the role played by the values held by environmental practitioners charged with influencing decision-making result in the perpetuation of environmental injustices. The lack of a clearly defined profession and professional body, reflecting a diversity of values, debating, regulating, defining and defending a set of principles to guide decision-making in cities is identified as a possible reason for the lack of congruence between the values reflected in policy with those held by the communities these interventions are intended to serve. The resulting value added by sustainable cities interventions in the light of this mismatch is therefore questionable, raising challenges regarding international calls for local action as well as an increasing policy focus in South Africa on the local level as the agent of political and spatial transformation of cities.     

Communicating the climate impacts of meat consumption: The effect of values and message framing

Meat production for human consumption has serious environmental implications and contributes significantly to climate change. Changing people’s food choices is an important step towards reducing human impacts on the climate. Previous research shows that self-enhancement (i.e. self-interest) and self-transcendence (i.e. altruism) values are related to meat consumption. This study examined the effectiveness of the provision of information about climate impacts of meat consumption in influencing concern about these climate impacts of meat consumption, attitudes towards eating meat and behavioural intentions in a New Zealand sample (N = 848). Further, the study examined whether framing the message to align with people’s value sets would enhance the information’s effectiveness in affecting concern, attitudes and intentions. Survey participants were randomly assigned to a no-information control group, a message targeting self-enhancement values, or a message targeting self-transcendence values. Results indicated that the information provision was associated with significantly higher levels of concern about the climate impacts of meat consumption and significantly lower intentions to eat meat, but it did not affect attitudes towards meat consumption. However, the framing of the message did affect attitudes towards meat consumption, depending on existing values. Implications of this research can be applied to future climate change communication campaigns, through the use of targeted, value-congruent information.     

Linking internal and external transformation for sustainability and climate action: Towards a new research and policy agenda

Climate change is an increasing threat to sustainable development worldwide. However, the dominant incremental policy approaches have not generated action at anywhere near the rate, scale or depth that is needed. This is largely due to the fact that climate change has historically been framed as a purely external, technical challenge. There is an urgent need for a more integral understanding that links internal and external (collective and systems) approaches to support transformation. However, related knowledge is scarce and fragmented across disciplines. This study addresses this gap. Through a systematic literature review, we analyse how the linkages between internal and external change are portrayed and understood in current research. We assess the scope, perspectives and approaches used to understand why, and how, internal change relates to climate action and sustainability. Our results highlight patterns and gaps regarding foci, conceptualisation, methods, epistemology, ontology and ethics that hamper emergent solutions and progress. Starting from the status quo, we propose an integrated model of change as an agenda and roadmap for future research, policy and practice.     

湖南东江湖湿地公园的资源(产)服务功能与价值研究

分析了拟建的湖南东江湖国家湿地公园的资源(产)与服务功能体系,主要包括物质生产、生态、旅游休闲功能和科研文化功能4个方面,并对其价值进行了定量估算,得出东江湖湿地公园总价值不完全估计可达1057070.74万元/a。定量化价值估算能更好地为东江湖湿地公园的规划和建设服务,以确保东江湖这一具有人类资源文化遗产价值的森林—湿地复合生态系统得到有效保护与可持续利用。     

基于动态重现期的极端高温气候评估方法研究

利用全国754站逐日最高气温观测序列,在论证极端温度概率分布与非平稳性关系的基础上,构建和比较了多种非平稳广义极值模型,定义了极端高温的动态重现期和重现水平,提出了一种极端高温事件的新型评估思想和方法,并将其应用于极端气候变化研究。通过该方法可以更好地解释极端事件的真实极端性,有效地增强极端事件之间的可比性,从而保留更多历史极端气候事件的信息。动态重现期的变换运用可对当前极端事件发生的真实状态和趋势提出更准确评估。该方法的提出可有效澄清学术领域和公共舆论对于多年一遇极端事件的理解上长期混淆重现期的绝对值和概率性这一分歧和谬误。     

Modelling collective Yawuru values along the foreshore of Roebuck Bay,Western Australia using fuzzy logic

The cadastral model has played a key role in Indigenous dispossession in settler states. Yet, the recognition of Indigenous land rights, which has increased globally since the 1960s, frequently requires Indigenous communities to directly engage with this spatial model. In Australia, native title claimants must use entity-based models of space to delineate their traditional territories during the claim process. They must also engage with planning and development documents which use the cadastral model of space to assert and defend their rights following native title recognition. This is often problematic as Indigenous spatial ontologies emphasise complexity and continuity which is inimical to the ‘crisp’ representations of cadastral space.This study explores the potential of a fuzzy index modelling approach to represent cultural values using a case study from Broome, Western Australia. Sketch mapping, fuzzy index modelling and combinatory techniques were used to produce a model of several cultural values held by the Yawuru community for the in-town foreshore of Roebuck Bay. This model was overlaid on local planning documents to provide the Yawuru community with strategic intelligence for post native title governance. The experience of co-producing this model suggests that such techniques may assist Indigenous communities to engage with settler structures. This implies that policies which fail to extend analytical capacity to interested native title groups as part of programmes of spatial enablement continue to perpetuate historical processes of colonial domination.     

Linear combinations of order statistics to estimate the quantiles of generalized pareto and extreme values distributions

 Ad hoc techniques for estimating the quantiles of the Generalized Pareto (GP) and the Generalized Extreme Values (GEV) distributions are introduced. The estimators proposed are based on new estimators of the position and the scale parameters recently introduced in the Literature. They provide valuable estimates of the quantiles of interest both when the shape parameter is known and when it is unknown (this latter case being of great relevance in practical applications). In addition, weakly-consistent estimators are introduced, whose calculation does not require the knowledge of any parameter. The procedures are tested on simulated data, and comparisons with other techniques are shown. The research was partially supported by Contract n. ENV4-CT97-0529 within the project “FRAMEWORK” of the European Community – D.G. XII. Grants by “Progetto Giovani Ricercatori” are also acknowledged.     

Assessing environmental impacts of urban growth using remote sensing

ABSTRACT

This paper provides a study of the changes in land use in urban environments in two cities, Wuhan, China and western Sydney in Australia. Since mixed pixels are a characteristic of medium resolution images such as Landsat, when used for the classification of urban areas, due to changes in urban ground cover within a pixel, Multiple Endmember Spectral Mixture Analysis (MESMA) together with Super-Resolution Mapping (SRM) are employed to derive class fractions to generate classification maps at a higher spatial resolution using an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) predicted Wavelet method. Landsat images over the two cities for a 30-year period, are classified in terms of vegetation, buildings, soil and water. The classifications are then processed using Indifrag software to assess the levels of fragmentation caused by changes in the areas of buildings, vegetation, water and soil over the 30 years. The extents of fragmentation of vegetation, buildings, water and soil for the two cities are compared, while the percentages of vegetation are compared with recommended percentages of green space for urban areas for the benefit of health and well-being of inhabitants. Changes in Ecosystem Service Values (ESVs) resulting from the urbanization have been assessed for Wuhan and Sydney. The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) for urban areas are being assessed by researchers to better understand how to achieve the sustainability of cities.