At the heart of the cultural approach in geography: Thinking space

The way that space is thought of is at the heart of the cultural approach in geography. The passing down of all the components of a culture depends upon the way data is aquired and processed, the results memorized or broadcast. Communication shapes the experience and the knowledge of space and time. It gives to everyone the idea that the real world is doubled by a beyond which plays a central role in social life, since it is upon such a beyond that normative thinking relies and that a significance is given to individual and social life. The spheres of lived-in and known space and time, as well as that of the beyond, vary according to available technologies. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

The socialization potential of the CDM in EU–Vietnam climate relations

This article argues that the material incentives associated with climate policies such as the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) may contribute to the socialization of emerging economies such as Vietnam in economic-oriented climate change norms. In current academic research, the CDM has both been extolled as a cost-effective and vilified as an environmentally inadequate instrument. Few studies so far, however, have looked into the CDM's potential contribution to socialization-related phenomena such as raising climate change awareness. This article aims to fill that gap by studying the CDM in EU–Vietnam relations in four periods, namely initiation (2001–2007), improvement (2008–2010), consolidation (2010–2012), and potential habit formation (2012 and beyond), with both the EU and Vietnam being important players in the market for CDM credits (Certified Emission Reductions or CERs). We argue that there is at least a strong potential for habit formation resulting from the CDM's material incentives, and that the underlying causal mechanism involves the emergence and activities of norm entrepreneurs and habit formation through a process of legal institutionalization.

Policy relevance

Normative transformation or change is increasingly attracting the attention of both climate policy makers and scholars alike, certainly in view of the failures of ‘standard’ economic or technological solutions to tackle climate change. There is a need, however, to apply insights from social theory to specific policies and cases. The policy relevance of this article lies here: does the CDM (a specific policy) affect climate concerns (norms) in Vietnam (a specific case)? And, if so, to what extent and why? Based on previous research regarding the Chinese case, it is expected that the CDM's material incentives result in a mild effect in Vietnam, probably less pronounced than in China in view of the latter's relative level of economic development, and the strength of its political and legal-institutional system and (human) capacity to develop CDM projects. This article's research findings point out that whether and how ‘deep’ these new shared ideas will succeed in becoming standards of appropriate behaviour in Vietnam might to some extent depend on whether the international community is able to offer a material incentive structure that fosters such a normative transformation.     

The role of social norms in climate adaptation: Mediating risk perception and flood insurance purchase

Flood insurance plays an important role in climate adaptation by recovering insured losses in the event of catastrophic flooding. Voluntary adoption of flood insurance has been seen as a function of risk perception that is shaped by social norms. This paper attempts to clarify the relationship between these factors. It is based on a household survey conducted in the eastern cities of Australia and involving a total of 501 randomly selected residents. Results of a path analysis show that the likelihood of having flood insurance cover was associated with perceived social norms, but not perceived flood risk. In addition, perceived norms and risk were statistically related to each other. It is concluded that social norms played a mediating role between insuring decision and risk perception. Risk perception might influence the insuring decision indirectly through shaping perception of social norms. This implies that adaptive behaviour is not necessarily a function of risk perception, but an outcome of its impacts upon the ways in which the individuals situate themselves in their social circles or the society. There is a feedback process in which individual perceptions of risk manifest as both a cause and effect, shaping and being shaped by the socio-cultural context.     

滑坡稳定性评价中地震作用力计算的讨论

阐述了目前国内外在滑坡地震稳定性评价方面的理论研究成果和实际应用情况,指出地质矿产行业规范在采用静力法计算地震力时没有乘以0.25的综合影响系数,和其它规范的差别是巨大的.分析后认为这个规定是值得商榷的.最后根据宏观震害现象提出易引起滑坡的地质情况并对其进行了分析,为滑坡治理工程设计和以后的规范修编提供了方法和思路.     

浅谈提高地质岩心钻探质量指标的若干问题

结合新发布的地质岩心钻探规程中的钻探工程质量要求,通过多年来的生产实践,就如何提高钻探质量指标问题进行探讨,并浅谈几点认识.     

Using existing scientific capacity to set targets for ecosystem-based management: A Puget Sound case study

Human actions have altered the structure and function of coastal ecosystems worldwide. In many locations, the overall portfolio of goods, cultural amenities, and supporting services provided by the marine environment has deteriorated. Ecosystem-based management (EBM) offers significant promise for addressing these issues because it is a comprehensive and integrated approach designed to reconcile conflicts and trade-offs among users of marine resources. A key step in the implementation of EBM is the establishment of target reference levels, or desired states, for indicators that reflect the status of the ecosystem. This paper reviews five approaches, borrowed from a variety of disciplines, to establish target reference levels for EBM. The approaches include the use of existing reference levels, reference directions, and reference levels based on nonlinear functional relationships, baselines, or social norms. Each approach is particularly suitable for EBM because it can be used alone or in combination with others to contextualize status for a diverse suite of ecosystem goals influenced by a wide variety of human activities. Perhaps most importantly, these approaches offer a prospectus for moving forward with EBM by using readily available information, motivating existing scientific capacity, and addressing trade-offs implicit to the setting of targets. This last point is articulated via examples of how each type of reference level might be applied in Puget Sound, WA, USA, where the efforts of scientists, managers, and policy makers have aligned recently in the interest of EBM implementation.     

Environmental Policies Can Buttress Conservation Norms

In an attempt to solve large-scale environmental problems, government agencies often resort to formal sanctioning systems: market-based incentives or command-and-control regulations, to promote cooperation. The purpose of this study was to investigate how the presence of these formal sanctioning systems impacts informal sanctioning systems for environmental protection. Study 1 used an experimental game to explore the influence of market-based and regulatory programs on informal sanctioning in a laboratory setting. Study 2 was a quasi-experimental field survey that compared informal sanctioning among Massachusetts residents living in towns with voluntary, mandatory, and pay-as-you-throw recycling programs. Results showed that in the presence of a formal sanctioning system, individuals felt guiltier for not engaging in the cooperative behavior and expressed more disapproval for non-cooperators. Combined, these results show that environmental policies can buttress conservation norms.     

Voluntary citizen participation in carbon allowance markets: the role of norm-based motivation

The results from a semi-experimental study of Swedish students’ stated willingness to purchase emission allowances for carbon dioxide are presented. Drawing heavily on recent developments in the literature on integrating norm-motivated behaviour into neoclassical consumer theory, it is assumed that individuals have a preference for maintaining a self-image as a responsible (and thus norm-compliant) person. The results indicate that students’ willingness to purchase carbon allowances is determined by both price and the presence of norms: those who feel personally responsible for contributing to reducing climate damages also appear more inclined to buy allowances. The empirical findings are consistent with the notion that a person's beliefs about others’ stated willingness to purchase carbon allowances imply improvements in their own self-image and ultimately behavioural change. This suggests that information campaigns that attempt to influence beliefs about others’ intentions could promote ‘green’ consumer behaviour in the carbon allowance market. Such (stated) behaviour also appears to be influenced by a person's awareness of the problem of climate change and their beliefs about their own ability to contribute to solving it.

Policy relevance

Although there is a concern that public goods such as reduced climate change may be under-provided in the free market, individual concern for the environment occasionally has profound impacts on consumer choice and voluntary action. This research suggests that information campaigns that attempt to influence beliefs about others’ intentions could promote ‘green’ consumer behaviour in carbon allowance markets. Publicly-provided information about the impacts of climate change and the ways in which these damages stem from individual choices could also induce this type of behaviour.     

To be ethical or to be good? The impact of ‘Good Provider’ and moral norms on food waste decisions in two countries

One-third of all food produced in the world is lost or wasted, which has negative consequences for societies and the environment. Thus, curbing food waste is critical to securing human well-being and protecting the environment. This study examines the drivers of household food waste decisions by investigating the activation and deactivation of moral norms and introducing the concept of the ‘good provider’ in an augmented norm-activation model (NAM). A survey of 643 consumers in Australia and Singapore explores the ‘good provider’ norm as a driver of food waste behaviours in both cultures. For Australians, ‘good provider’ norms suppress intentions to avoid food waste, most likely to provide for the immediate family, which can be a motive that overrides moral concern about food waste in an individualistic culture. For Singaporeans, ‘good provider’ norms do not suppress food waste intentions, possibly due to the value placed on thrift by a long-term-oriented culture. The paper significantly extends the previous research on norms, culture and sustainable consumption and provides policy and practical implications for curbing food waste in different cultural contexts.     

论经典平差模型的几何统一

为了更直观、深入地理解参数平差与条件平差的本质区别并找出它们的内在联系,在参数平差、条件平差、具有参数的条件平差、附有限制条件的条件平差和具有条件的参数平差模型中引入线性泛函,构建其统一的几何模型,从几何角度统一经典平差模型.