1,720,981 research outputs found
Thinking Like a Mountain: Exploring the Potential of Relational Approaches for Transformative Nature Conservation
No full textBuilding on a review of current mainstream paradigms of nature conservation, the essence of transformations necessary for effective and lasting change are presented—namely, convivial solutions (or ‘living with others’), in which relationality and an appreciation of our interdependencies are central, in contrast to life-diminishing models of individualism and materialism/secularism. We offer several areas for improvement centred on regenerative solutions, moving beyond conventional environmental protection or biophysical restoration and focusing instead on critical multidimensional relationships—amongst people and between people and the rest of nature. We focus, in particular, on the potential of people’s values and worldviews to inform morality (guiding principles and/or beliefs about right and wrong) and ethics (societal rules defining acceptable behaviour), which alone can nurture the just transformations needed for nature conservation and sustainability at all scales. Finally, we systematize the potential of regenerative solutions against a backdrop of relational approaches in sustainability sciences. In so doing, we contribute to current endeavours of the conservation community for more inclusive conservation, expanding beyond economic valuations of nature and protected areas to include more holistic models of governance that are premised on relationally-oriented value systems.Arts, Faculty ofNon UBCAsian Research, Institute ofReviewedFacultyResearche
The Roles of Culture and Values in Sustainable Development
No full textSustainable development has long been accepted in principle as a good aspiration, yet it has been variably defined and often has been applied in ways that inadequately account for real-world complexities of integrated social-ecological systems. Individualistic and economically centered approaches in development have dominated most programs and policies—over and against more community-oriented worldviews, beliefs, values and ethics of indigenous peoples and local communities globally. Furthermore, it is recognized that virtually all human groups including formal, informal and natural associations, corporations, faith communities, and more, i.e., all major stakeholders and rights holders—have intrinsic cultures (whether these are recognized as such or not) and hold certain values, leading to particular norms and modes of thinking and action. Yet, the critical roles of culture and values for achieving sustainability in diverse social-ecological settings have largely been overlooked, especially with critically important relational values of some stakeholders often ignored or suppressed in favor of narrower economic valuations and consequently with the commodification of nature often implicitly and sometimes explicitly endorsed and promoted by more powerful agencies.
In this Special Issue, contributions are sought from a plurality of places and cultures across the world’s diverse socio-ecological systems—seeking to bring together in a single issue a diverse range of players, places, and perspectives—aiming especially to explore how culture and value systems are contributing, positively and negatively, to sustainability. How we see the world around us and how we relate to other stakeholders (and rights holders) is broadly oriented through the “lens” of culture and worldviews, and guided more specifically within the context of deeply held values and socially agreed norms of behavior, i.e., ethics. This Special Issue will draw together experiences and literature from across the fields of social-ecological theory and sustainability science, the latter focused especially on recently emerging dialogues in relational theory and practice; building synergies and crystalizing new ways of envisaging sustainability. Descriptive, normative and mixed contributions are welcome, but all must engage with the broader literature and be informed by concrete examples since sustainability is only ever achieved within the contexts and tangible realities of particular ecological and sociopolitical places and spaces
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Environmental and social impacts of infrastructure development in East Africa
No full textKey points:
1. Many megaprojects are underway within development corridors in Africa, focused on mineral and oil extraction, along with auxiliary infrastructure developments; including Kenya’s Standard Gauge Railway project, the largest post-independence project.
2. East African savannah ecosystems and local livelihoods are highly vulnerable to habitat fragmentation from linear infrastructure, especially due to the importance of mobility for both migratory wildlife and livestock.
3. Independent EIAs and free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) from local communities is necessary to reduce social and environmental impacts.
4. New linear infrastructure should be located where costs are smaller, in highly settled areas with high agricultural potential, and built with mitigating infrastructure to avoid ecosystem fragmentation.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Full text linkWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
Environmental and social impacts of infrastructure development in East Africa
Full text linkKey points:
1. Many megaprojects are underway within development corridors in Africa, focused on mineral and oil extraction, along with auxiliary infrastructure developments; including Kenya’s Standard Gauge Railway project, the largest post-independence project.
2. East African savannah ecosystems and local livelihoods are highly vulnerable to habitat fragmentation from linear infrastructure, especially due to the importance of mobility for both migratory wildlife and livestock.
3. Independent EIAs and free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) from local communities is necessary to reduce social and environmental impacts.
4. New linear infrastructure should be located where costs are smaller, in highly settled areas with high agricultural potential, and built with mitigating infrastructure to avoid ecosystem fragmentation.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
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