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.     

Marine mammal co-management in Canada’s Arctic: Knowledge co-production for learning and adaptive capacity

This paper examines the challenge of knowledge co-production and the implications for learning and adapting in the context of a narwhal co-management in Nunavut, Canada. Knowledge co-production is the collaborative process of bringing a plurality of knowledge sources and types together to address a defined problem and build an integrated or systems-oriented understanding of that problem. The paper considers knowledge co-production by examining five interrelated dimensions: knowledge gathering, sharing, integration, interpretation, and application. Voices of hunters, community representatives, and managers engaged in co-management are highlighted to identify primary challenges and opportunities. The analysis reveals how compartmentalized views of knowledge continue to constrain adaptive and collaborative management. An understanding of knowledge co-production processes, however, may help to overcome the resilience of top-down management approaches.     

Increased knowledge about sharks increases public concern about their conservation

Gaining support for shark conservation has been extremely difficult due to the negative preconceived notions the general public holds toward sharks. In order to achieve public support for conservation initiatives the factors that will change an individual’s attitude and behavior toward sharks must first be determined. Using structured questionnaire interviews (n=186), indices were created that rated an individual’s knowledge, attitude, and potential behavior toward sharks and shark conservation. Generally public knowledge levels about sharks were low. However, people with more knowledge pertaining specifically about sharks had potential behaviors more supportive of their conservation. Therefore, it would seem that increases in public knowledge on sharks would help gain support for shark conservation. Males, members of environmental groups, and viewers of shark documentaries and “Shark Week” all showed significantly higher levels of knowledge about sharks. The media (such as “Shark Week” ) can play a significant role in promoting conservation, but unfortunately media coverage of sharks has been controversial recently with the airing of several non-factual, fake documentaries. To promote shark conservation the media’s message has to be unbiased, non-sensationalized, and accurate to ensure people are receiving the information necessary to build strong pro-shark conservation behaviors.     

Groundwater assessment and management: implications and opportunities of globalization

The present and predicted increase in groundwater’s share of human freshwater withdrawals, its unprecedented importance for human activities globally, and the emerging threats from escalated and unplanned use and degradation, especially in the developing countries, point to the need for intensified efforts to cope with the imbalances. Despite these facts, there is little intervention by governments in developing countries. Sufficient knowledge, awareness and understanding of the groundwater resources and their proper management are missing in these countries, as well as in the international community. Links and trends are described, which highlight problem areas, such as water contamination, urbanization, and socio-economic factors related to groundwater management practices. Globalization provides novel opportunities for facilitating the process of acquiring and applying the necessary knowledge and can, and should, be further explored and developed. The likely benefits of this are: increase in convergence of understanding and approaches; the sharing of knowledge; and potentially wide-reaching, lasting, and scale-crossing networks. The international development and research community is in a particularly fortunate position to promote and facilitate such a process, which should go hand in hand with well focused and coordinated “on the ground” tasks, such as local networking, field investigations, capacity building, and advocacy activities.

云南"十五"区域地质调查取得丰硕成果

“十五”期间承担区域地质调查项目七项18个图幅。地层古生物、区域岩石及地质构造、地质灾害、矿产资源及旅游地学等方面取得较多的新成果和新认识。提交地质图及地质报告外,还提交专题研究成果7份,以测区所收集的地质资料为基础编写硕士论文7篇,公开发表文章7篇,从而极大地提高了云南及西藏基础地质的研究程度和水平。     

Creative industries, creative class and competitiveness: Expert opinions critically appraised

In the debate on urban and regional competitiveness, it has become fashionable to stress the growing importance of creativity for economic development. Especially scientist-consultants with a keen eye for what politicians and business people want to hear have taken centre stage in this discussion. Each city and region in the advanced capitalist world seems to prefer a label as creative city or region, and all look after the same type of industries and try to produce the same set of conditions, while investing in higher education and research institutes, networking and lobbying institutions, and the promotion of spin-off companies. A vast number of leaders and spokesmen of local and regional (quasi) governments believe that a major thing to do is to become more attractive places to live for creative knowledge workers or the ‘creative class’, as it is euphemistically labelled.However, in academia there is a lot of scepticism with regard to the use of these concepts and their meaning for urban and regional competitiveness. Also citizen movements and NGOs, and some political parties, voice their concern about the extent to which policies that apply these concepts and ideas might only benefit an elite of higher educated, well- paid professionals while at the same time these policies might result in decline of other activities and in social polarisation and poverty as well.In this paper we contribute to the critical discussion through a critical appraisal of local experts’ views on developments in seven European city-regions, first with regard to policies towards the development of creative and knowledge-intensive industries; and secondly with regard to the impact the development of ‘creative knowledge regions’ may have in social and other respects. In contrast to the rather homogeneous yet dominant advice to facilitate ‘the creative class’, in this paper we will argue that a range of parameters related to the firms and regional institutional, geographical and historical contexts promote a much more diversified view on urban economic development.     

Guidelines for organizing a fisheries learning exchange

This short communication piece presents guidelines and challenges for organizing fisheries learning exchanges (FLEs). Non-governmental organizations, government agencies, and resource users use FLEs to share best practices and bridge knowledge gaps between small-scale fishing communities and stakeholder groups. Even though FLEs are widely used and have numerous cited benefits, there are challenges associated with planning and implementing FLEs. To overcome these challenges and maximize FLEs’ effectiveness, the authors describe guidelines for FLE organizers. The guidelines are based on the perspectives of over 20 FLE experts collected during 2013 through questionnaires, interviews, discussions, and surveys. The guidelines include steps that organizers should take before, during, and after a FLE. For instance, there was broad consensus that before a FLE, it is important to select a diverse group of participants, including both conservation advocates and critics, and to create an exchange agreement outlining the roles and responsibilities of participants. During a FLE, cultural activities and daily reflections by participants are valuable to the exchange process. After a FLE, activities that formalize the participants’ involvement in the FLE are important, such as welcome-home ceremonies and participation certificates. Follow-up support for FLE participants is perceived as an essential step in the FLE and should be included in the FLE's budget. Finally, challenges in organizing FLEs are explicitly described and potential solutions to overcome those challenges are provided. The authors researched and compiled these guidelines and challenges to inform and improve the increasingly widespread use of FLEs.     

The role of local taboos in the management of marine fisheries resources in Tanzania

Contemporary government rules for fisheries resources management in developing countries have been challenged for their inadequacy. The search for modern management models for coastal and marine resources could be usefully informed by wealth of traditional knowledge that enabled communities to sustainably live with their environment for centuries or millennia. Local taboos, defined as implicit or explicit social rules prohibiting certain actions, have played an important part in many traditional approaches to resource use. A mixed methods approach was used to investigate how local taboos play a role in the management of fisheries resources in some rural and urban coastal communities of Tanzania. Focus group discussions, key informant interviews, participant observations and questionnaire surveys were used to gather primary data. Data were analyzed both qualitatively and quantitatively. The study identified a number of potential local taboos in the management of fisheries resources and their habitats in coastal Tanzania. While these taboos showed some potential for applications in modern management approaches, a majority of fishers indicated non-compliance to most of them, especially in urban areas. A number of reasons are revealed to have attributed to the non-compliance of these taboos. These findings suggest the prospect for judicious integration of traditional practices with modern strategies, to enhance compliance. More studies on traditional knowledge that has a role in fisheries resources management are recommended, as are biophysical assessments in conjunction with traditional practices to reveal their scientific benefits. Successful community-based fisheries resources management in Tanzania will draw on modern and traditional perspectives.     

Strong growth in weakly-developed networks: Producer-user interaction and knowledge brokers in the Greater Shanghai chemical industry

This paper investigates the developing spatial and social division of labor in the Greater Shanghai chemical industry. This industry experienced strong growth after the Asian financial crisis, when policy support was extended beyond “new economy” industries to include traditional manufacturing sectors. Based on a conceptualization that emphasizes the role of producer-user networks and interactive learning as a basis for ongoing innovation and business success, an explorative study was designed to investigate the supplier and customer linkages in different locations of the Greater Shanghai region. The results suggest that inter-firm networks are not extensive and often involve limited producer-user interaction. Important chemical firms in the region concentrate on business with their established international customer basis, use state-controlled distribution channels or rely on intermediaries that act as knowledge brokers. Neither of these practices of market interaction includes intensive information exchange and feedback on products, customer experience and demand changes. As such, these practices do not provide a sound basis for self-sustained growth or innovation in the future. The paper concludes that regional policy needs to support the establishment of combined “bonding” and “bridging” relations between chemical producers and their user industries.     

Negotiating the boundary between state-led and farmer approaches to knowing nature: An analysis of UK agri-environment schemes

This paper explores the role of knowledge in the development of more environmentally sustainable farming systems in the UK and specifically seeks to reveal the porosity of the boundary between state-led and farmer approaches to knowing nature. Its empirical focus is two government sponsored ‘agri-environment schemes’—the Countryside Stewardship scheme and the Environmentally Sensitive Area scheme—which offer financial incentives to farmers and other land managers who agree to undertake environmentally beneficial practices. As a framework for analysis, the paper draws on the notion of ‘knowledge culture’, with agri-environment schemes represented as an emerging ‘policy knowledge culture’ that is seemingly distinct, in its approach to knowing nature, from pre-existing ‘agrarian knowledge cultures’. Data are derived from two large scale, countrywide surveys of agreement holders in the two agri-environment schemes. These reveal that alongside some resistance to the policy knowledge culture of AES, there is also negotiation and interchange taking place between knowledge cultures, and the policy knowledge culture is adapting to and accommodating aspects of the other. As such, the paper contests the findings of previous studies which assert that the codified knowledge of agri-environment schemes always wins out in the implementation of scheme agreements, with the subsequent marginalisation of other knowledge(s). In turn, it suggests that policy knowledge cultures can give voice to farmers’ ways of knowing nature with benefits both for them and nature itself. The paper concludes with some reflections on the extent of knowledge culture transformation and offers some policy recommendations.