Collective Decision Dynamics in the Presence of External Drivers

We develop a sequence of models describing information transmission and decision dynamics for a network of individual agents subject to multiple sources of influence. Our general framework is set in the context of an impending natural disaster, where individuals, represented by nodes on the network, must decide whether or not to evacuate. Sources of influence include a one-to-many externally driven global broadcast as well as pairwise interactions, across links in the network, in which agents transmit either continuous opinions or binary actions. We consider both uniform and variable threshold rules on the individual opinion as baseline models for decision-making. Our results indicate that 1) social networks lead to clustering and cohesive action among individuals, 2) binary information introduces high temporal variability and stagnation, and 3) information transmission over the network can either facilitate or hinder action adoption, depending on the influence of the global broadcast relative to the social network. Our framework highlights the essential role of local interactions between agents in predicting collective behavior of the population as a whole.Comment: 14 pages, 7 figure

Why don’t pesticide applicators protect themselves? Exploring the use of personal protective equipment among Colombian smallholders

The misuse of personal protective equipment (PPE) during pesticide application was investigated among smallholders in Colombia. The integrative agent-centered (IAC) framework and a logistic regression approach were adopted. The results suggest that the descriptive social norm was significantly influencing PPE use. The following were also important: (1) having experienced pesticide-related health problems; (2) age; (3) the share of pesticide application carried out; and (4) the perception of PPE hindering work. Interestingly, the influence of these factors differed for different pieces of PPE. Since conformity to the social norm is a source of rigidity in the system, behavioral change may take the form of a discontinuous transition. In conclusion, five suggestions for triggering a transition towards more sustainable PPE use are formulated: (1) diversifying targets/tools; (2) addressing structural aspects; (3) sustaining interventions in the long-term; (4) targeting farmers’ learning-by-experience; and (5) targeting PPE use on a collective level

From single steps to mass migration: the problem of scale in the movement ecology of the Serengeti wildebeest

A central question in ecology is how to link processes that occur over different scales. The daily interactions of individual organisms ultimately determine community dynamics, population fluctuations and the functioning of entire ecosystems. Observations of these multiscale ecological processes are constrained by various technological, biological or logistical issues, and there are often vast discrepancies between the scale at which observation is possible and the scale of the question of interest. Animal movement is characterized by processes that act over multiple spatial and temporal scales. Second-by-second decisions accumulate to produce annual movement patterns. Individuals influence, and are influenced by, collective movement decisions, which then govern the spatial distribution of populations and the connectivity of meta-populations. While the field of movement ecology is experiencing unprecedented growth in the availability of movement data, there remain challenges in integrating observations with questions of ecological interest. In this article, we present the major challenges of addressing these issues within the context of the Serengeti wildebeest migration, a keystone ecological phenomena that crosses multiple scales of space, time and biological complexity. This article is part of the theme issue ’Collective movement ecology’

Collective bargaining in sport: challenges and benefits

This article analyses the relationship between sport law and employment law – in particular, the legal recognition and involvement of collective bargaining in professional sport. Drawing on a number of specific examples – professional rugby, Formula One motor racing and mixed martial arts – this article attempts to identify existing and possible future challenges for the applicability of collective bargaining in this unusual legal context. Section B sets out the general advantages of collective bargaining in a sporting context, then explores the applicable legal structures and characteristics present in professional sport in more detail. Section C examines these characteristics in the specific context of professional rugby, motor racing and mixed martial arts. Finally, Section D examines both systemic and specific legal issues that may arise if and when collective influence grows in the professional sporting employment relations. The conclusion of this article, Section E, is that, whilst collective bargaining presents a number of challenges to the law of professional sport, these challenges can (and should) be overcome

Diagnosis and the management constituency of small-scale fisheries

Diagnosis and adaptive management can help improve the ability of small-scale fisheries (SSF) in the developing world to better cope with and adapt to both external drivers and internal sources of uncertainty. This paper presents a framework for diagnosis and adaptive management and discusses ways of implementing the first two phases of learning: diagnosis and mobilising an appropriate management constituency. The discussion addresses key issues and suggests suitable approaches and tools as well as numerous sources of further information. Diagnosis of a SSF defines the system to be managed, outlines the scope of the management problem in terms of threats and opportunities, and aims to construct realistic and desired future projections for the fishery. These steps can clarify objectives and lead to development of indicators necessary for adaptive management. Before management, however, it is important to mobilize a management constituency to enact change. Ways of identifying stakeholders and understanding both enabling and obstructive interactions and management structures are outlined. These preliminary learning phases for adaptive SSF management are expected to work best if legitimised by collaborative discussion among fishery stakeholders drawing on multiple knowledge systems and participatory approaches to assessment. (PDF contains 33 pages

Understanding rural areas dynamics from a complex perspective. An application of Prospective Structural Analysis

The development of rural areas continues to be an international priority. The urgent need to fight poverty (mainly concentrated in rural areas) in developing countries, and the demand for increasing economic and social cohesion in developed countries, explain this priority on the political agendas of multilateral bodies, the EU and most other countries. When Development Economics was acknowledged as part of the social and economic theory in the 50’s, different theories and models have tried to explain the unevenness of development and the key elements or conditions that foster it. Traditional rural development programmes were characterised by the implementation of non coordinated, sectoral, horizontal and top-down policies and strategies. The lack of effectiveness and the failures prompted by these policies have propelled the development of new approaches. Territorial rural development is a policy approach embracing contributions from different theoretical frameworks that attempt to foster development strategies based on the consideration of territory as a social construction. Thus, the territory (including all the existing elements and its interactions) has become a key actor for development. However, most of these approaches contemplate rural world through simplistic and monodimensional analysis based on methodologies from single disciplines and on quantitative and/or qualitative morphological descriptions. The pretended multidisciplinarity, frequently ends up on an addition of mono-disciplinary analysis around the object of study. The objective of the present paper is to check the role different elements considered relevant for development by literature´s recent approaches play or can play in rural territories with a very different development situation, using techniques and tools that allow the analysis of rural areas from a complex perspective.territorial rural development, complexity, prospective structural analysis, Community/Rural/Urban Development,