159 research outputs found

    The Pragmatic Development of a Carbon Management Framework for UK SMEs

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    The UK's commitment to net-zero emissions by 2050 is challenged by critics citing current government strategies as inadequate, marked by a lack of concrete action and aspirational guidelines. Notably, businesses, including small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) which constitute about half of all business emissions, are pivotal to this goal. Yet, existing policies and standards often neglect the significant role of SMEs, who face barriers such as limited knowledge and resources in implementing carbon management practices. This thesis explores the development of a novel carbon management framework specifically designed for medium-sized organisations in the UK to address these problems. The research adopts a practical approach through collaboration with an industry partner, facilitating a case study for real-world application. Adopting a mixed-methods research design grounded in pragmatism, the study commenced with a qualitative study in the form of a focus group. This exploratory phase, critical for understanding SME challenges, yielded rich data revealing key management themes in strategy, energy, and data. The framework design was supported by a materiality assessment and input from key stakeholders on three major iterations. The final framework comprises three phases: establishing a baseline carbon footprint, creating a carbon reduction plan, and strategically implementing this plan. The validation process, conducted at Knowsley Safari, successfully tested the initial two phases but faced constraints in fully assessing the third phase due to time limitations. While the research achieved its primary aim of developing a novel carbon management framework for SMEs, it encountered limitations, notably in time and the generalisability of findings due to reliance on a single case study. Future research could test the framework across diverse SME settings to establish its broader applicability and effectiveness in aiding the UK's net-zero emission goals

    Conversations on Empathy

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    In the aftermath of a global pandemic, amidst new and ongoing wars, genocide, inequality, and staggering ecological collapse, some in the public and political arena have argued that we are in desperate need of greater empathy — be this with our neighbours, refugees, war victims, the vulnerable or disappearing animal and plant species. This interdisciplinary volume asks the crucial questions: How does a better understanding of empathy contribute, if at all, to our understanding of others? How is it implicated in the ways we perceive, understand and constitute others as subjects? Conversations on Empathy examines how empathy might be enacted and experienced either as a way to highlight forms of otherness or, instead, to overcome what might otherwise appear to be irreducible differences. It explores the ways in which empathy enables us to understand, imagine and create sameness and otherness in our everyday intersubjective encounters focusing on a varied range of "radical others" – others who are perceived as being dramatically different from oneself. With a focus on the importance of empathy to understand difference, the book contends that the role of empathy is critical, now more than ever, for thinking about local and global challenges of interconnectedness, care and justice

    ETHICAL EVALUATION IN WILDLIFE CONSERVATION: ART, ANIMAL-VISITOR INTERACTIONS AND EMERGENCIES IN WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT AND CONSERVATION

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    Nell’attuale crisi globale della biodiversità è sempre più cruciale valutare le questioni eticamente rilevanti e considerare la natura pluralistica della conservazione della biodiversità. L'etica della conservazione fornisce strumenti per eseguire tali valutazioni e assistere nei processi decisionali. La tesi di questo dottorato di ricerca presenta studi in cui vengono utilizzati strumenti per eseguire valutazioni etiche e multidisciplinari per valutare progetti di conservazione e gestione della fauna selvatica. Pertanto, questo lavoro di dottorato mostra tre diverse aree di applicazione dell'etica della conservazione: Conservation ART, le interazioni animale-visitatore e le sfide nella gestione della fauna selvatica durante l'emergenza COVID-19. Nella prima sezione, la valutazione etica è stata applicata nel contesto del progetto BioRescue, in cui le tecnologie di riproduzione assistita (ART) sono utilizzate nello sforzo di salvare il rinoceronte bianco settentrionale (Ceratotherium simum cottoni) dall’estinzione. Le tecnologie di riproduzione assistita possono fare la differenza nella conservazione della biodiversità, ma la loro applicazione può sollevare questioni eticamente rilevanti che necessitano di essere affrontate. Pertanto, in primo luogo, è stata utilizzata la Matrice Etica (EM) per presentare un quadro per l'analisi etica dell'applicazione delle procedure ART nella conservazione. L'EM, anche se specificamente costruita attorno alle procedure di prelievo di ovociti (OPU) effettuate su rinoceronti bianchi, ha permesso di raggruppare i fattori eticamente rilevanti, identificare e valutare complessi scenari morali in cui diversi bisogni, interessi e preoccupazioni etiche possono entrare in conflitto e fornire infine un modello per la valutazione delle procedure ART in progetti che coinvolgono altre specie in via di estinzione. In seguito, viene presentato un nuovo strumento di valutazione etica (ETHAS) specificamente sviluppato per valutare l’applicazione delle procedure ART in conservazione, e vengono illustrati i risultati delle prime applicazioni. ETHAS, con le sue due liste checklist che lo compongono, permette di effettuare un'autovalutazione integrata, multilivello e standardizzata della procedura in esame, generando una classifica di accettabilità etica e consentendo l'attuazione di misure per affrontare o gestire eventuali problemi in anticipo. ETHAS, specificatamente customizzato per l'OPU e le procedure di fecondazione in vitro eseguite sul rinoceronte bianco settentrionale, hanno permesso di garantire un elevato standard delle procedure, migliorare alcuni aspetti della comunicazione tra i partner del progetto e migliorare lo strumento stesso al fine di essere applicato nel prossimo futuro ad altri contesti in cui le ART vengono utilizzate per la conservazione di altre specie di mammiferi. Nell'ultimo studio presentato nella prima sezione, la matrice etica, l'albero decisionale e il cubo di Bateson sono stati adattati per assistere nell'analisi etica di un complesso scenario relativo alla decisione se continuare o meno la raccolta di biomateriale sul più anziano dei due rimanenti rinoceronti bianchi settentrionali, Najin. Strutturando questi strumenti per implementare le diverse dimensioni di valore (ambientale, sociale e benessere animale) coinvolte nell'etica della conservazione, è stato possibile raccogliere pro e contro, confrontare le diverse opzioni e stabilire una soglia di accettabilità etica. L'applicazione degli strumenti è stata fondamentale per strutturare il processo decisionale e aiutare a raggiungere la decisione condivisa, ragionata e trasparente di sospendere Najin da qualsiasi ulteriore procedura di prelievo di ovociti. L'etica della conservazione può anche aiutare ad esplorare le questioni etiche riguardanti la gestione della fauna selvatica durante le interazioni animale-visitatore (AVI) che si svolgono nelle strutture zoologiche. A questo proposito, la Sezione 2In the global biodiversity crisis, it is increasingly crucial to evaluate ethically relevant issues and consider the pluralistic nature of biodiversity conservation. Conservation ethics provides tools to perform such evaluation and assist in the decision-making processes. This Ph.D. thesis presents studies in which ethical tools are used to perform ethical evaluation and multidisciplinary assessments to approach conservation projects and wildlife management. Three different areas of application of conservation ethics are discussed: Conservation ART, animal-visitor interactions, and challenges in wildlife management during the COVID-19 emergency. In the first area, ethical evaluation has been applied in the context of the BioRescue project, an international project in which assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs) are used in the effort to save the endangered northern white rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum cottoni). Assisted reproductive technologies can make a difference in biodiversity conservation, but their application can raise ethical issues that need to be addressed. Therefore, firstly, an Ethical Matrix (EM) has been used to present a framework for the ethical analysis of the application of ART procedures in conservation. The EM, specifically built around the ovum pick-up (OPU) procedures carried out on white rhinoceros, allowed to collect ethically relevant factors to identify issues and value conflicts, evaluates complex moral scenarios where different needs, interests, and ethical concerns may conflict, and provides a template for the assessment of ART procedures in projects involving endangered species. Therefore, a new ethical evaluation tool (ETHAS) specifically developed to assess ART procedures in conservation is presented, and the first application results are reported. ETHAS, with its two checklists, provides an integrated, multilevel, and standardized self-assessment of the procedure under scrutiny, generating an ethical acceptability ranking and allowing for implementing measures to address or manage issues beforehand. ETHAS customized for OPU and in vitro fertilization procedures performed on the northern white rhinoceros allowed for ensuring a high standard of procedures, improving some aspects of the communication among the projects’ partners, and improving the tool itself, in order to be applied in the near future to other contexts in which ARTs are applied for the conservation of other mammal species. Finally, in the last study presented in the first section, the ethical matrix, decision tree, and Bateson’s cube have been adapted to assist in the ethical analysis of a complex conservation scenarios relative to the decision regarding whether or not to continue collecting biomaterial on the oldest of the two remaining northern white rhinoceroses. By structuring these tools to implement the different value dimensions (environmental, social, and animal welfare) involved in conservation ethics, it has been possible to gather ethical pros and cons, compare the different options at stake, and establish a threshold of ethical acceptability. The application of the tools was pivotal in structuring the decision-making process and helping reach the shared, reasoned, and the transparent decision to discontinue Najin from any further oocyte collection procedures. Conservation ethics can also assist in exploring the ethical issues concerning wildlife management during animal-visitor interactions (AVI). In this regard, Section 2 of this thesis presents studies concerning AVIs. Firstly, a participatory process has been followed with an Ethical Matrix to explore welfare and management issues related to AVIs. The inclusion of the stakeholders' perspectives allowed to record all the value demands concerning AVI and provide a map of the ethically relevant aspects involved. This map shows how the ethical acceptability of AVIs is linked to different relevant issues like animal welfare, education, and biodiversit

    Decentralized Finance (DeFi): A Survey

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    Decentralized Finance (DeFi) is a new paradigm in the creation, distribution, and utilization of financial services via the integration of blockchain technology. Our research conducts a comprehensive introduction and meticulous classification of various DeFi applications. Beyond that, we thoroughly analyze these risks from both technical and economic perspectives, spanning multiple layers. Lastly, we point out research directions in DeFi, encompassing areas of technological advancements, innovative economics, and privacy optimization

    The Gnu Normal: Interactions Between Wildebeest, Maasai, and Conservation in Kenya

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    The Serengeti-Maasai Mara ecosystem is a dynamic environment that is home to some of the last megafauna on earth, the world’s largest mammalian migration, and a diversity of human subsistence strategies. This research focuses on the spread of the disease malignant catarrhal fever from wildebeest calves in the northern part of the ecosystem to cattle belonging to Maasai pastoralists and how subsequent loss of cattle and avoidance of diseased areas affects Maasai livelihoods, attitudes toward wildebeest and conservation, and the behavior of wildebeest in the area. Understanding the attitudes local Maasai hold toward wildebeest and conservation, and the consequences of those attitudes on conservation success and wildebeest behavior, is critical to successful conservation of the wildebeest and the ecosystem that depends on them. To investigate the attitudes and behaviors of Maasai pastoralists toward wildebeest and conservation, an online survey of 114 Kenyan Maasai people was conducted using social media. In order to inform the interpretation of attitudes on conservation, an email survey of 16 conservation practitioners who had worked or were currently working in Africa was conducted. In order to determine possible differences in wildebeest behavior in Maasai versus non-Maasai inhabited areas, behavioral data (collected by the Snapshot Serengeti Project and analysed by citizen scientists) in Enonkishu Conservancy in Kenya (a Maasai area) and Serengeti National Park in Tanzania (where Maasai are largely excluded) were compared. The results of the survey of Maasai people indicated high levels of disturbance and livelihood loss due to the presence of wildebeest infected with malignant catarrhal fever. Respondents reported broad dislike and avoidance of wildebeest that strained their livelihoods and a strong desire for a malignant catarrhal fever vaccine. The survey of conservation practitioners indicated a great desire to work with local people and a broad belief that respondents were currently doing so. However, the conservation practitioner survey indicated involvement of local people as mainly peripheral members of conservation research—as drivers or guides. The Maasai survey indicated a desire among Maasai respondents to be involved on a deeper level with conservation (e.g., as educators and members of the research team). The wildebeest behavioral data showed wildebeest in Enonkishu Conservancy had significantly lower rates of standing, resting, eating, and interacting and significantly higher rates of moving. Though further study is needed to determine the exact cause, it does indicate a difference in behavior between the two sites. Though this study was limited in the sample sizes of the two surveys and in the multiple differences between the two sites used for the wildebeest behavioral analysis, it has helped expound on the conservation encounter between wildebeest, Maasai pastoralists, and conservation efforts in Kenya. These results suggest that more cooperation between local Maasai and conservation personnel is needed for more effective conservation, and that a vaccine for malignant catarrhal fever could help support Maasai livelihoods. This study has also indicated that Maasai presence could be affecting wildebeest behavior. This could be critical in investigating the degree that wildebeest may adapt to changing conditions, such as human encroachment and climate change

    User-Generated Data Network Effects and Market Competition Dynamics

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    This Article defines User-Generated Data (“UGD”) network effects, distinguishes them from the more familiar concept of traditional network effects, and explores their implications for market competition dynamics. It explains that UGD network effects produce various efficiencies for digital service providers (“data platforms”) by empowering their services’ optimization, personalization, and continuous diversification. In light of these efficiencies, competition dynamics in UGD-driven markets tend to be unstable and lead to the formation of dominant multi-industry conglomerates. These processes will enhance social welfare because they are natural and efficient. Conversely, countervailing UGD network effects also empower data platforms to detect and neutralize competitive threats, price discriminate among users, and manipulate users’ behaviors. The realization of these effects will result in inefficiencies, which will undermine social welfare. After a comprehensive analysis of conflicting economic forces, this Article sets the ground for informed policymaking. It suggests that emerging calls to aggravate antitrust enforcement and to “break up” Big Tech are ill-advised. Instead, this Article calls for policymakers to draw inspiration from traditional network industries’ public utility and open-access regulations

    Modeling Health Video Consumption Behaviors on Social Media: Activities, Challenges, and Characteristics

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    Many people now watch health videos, such as diet, exercise, mental health, COVID-19, and chronic disease videos, on social media. Most existing studies focused on video creators, leaving the motivations and practices of viewers underexplored. We interviewed 18 participants, surveyed 121 respondents, and derived a model characterizing consumers' video consumption practices on social media. The practices include five main activities: deciding to watch videos driven by various motivations, accessing videos on social media through a socio-technical ecosystem, watching videos to meet informational, emotional, and entertainment needs, evaluating the credibility and interestingness of videos, and using videos to achieve health goals. The five activities do not necessarily proceed in a linear fashion; rather, their arrangement is situational, depending on individuals' motivations and their social and technological environments. We further identified challenges that consumers face while consuming health videos on social media and discussed design implications and directions for future research.Comment: 28 pages, 8 figures, submitted to Computer Supported Collaborative Work (CSCW 24

    Persona Play in Videogame Livestreaming: An Ethnography of Performance on Twitch

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    Twitch.tv (‘Twitch’) is a livestreaming platform known for the live broadcasting (‘streaming’) of videogame-related content. It is also the most popular livestreaming platform in most countries. Drawing upon over one thousand hours of ethnographic observation across twenty-one Twitch channels, and six months of part-time streaming, this thesis investigates how streaming persona is constructed and performed on Twitch. Streaming persona, the thesis posits, is to be differentiated from more straightforward readings of streamer identity as performance. This thesis instead shows that streaming persona is constructed and performed collectively by both human and nonhuman actors in a Twitch stream. It does this by intervening in five core areas of interdisciplinary concern. The first of these explores new ways of understanding perceptions of authenticity that are constructed and denied as a result of streamer decisions, including an analysis of ways that gendered streamer performances affect perceptions of authenticity. Secondly, this thesis presents a new perspective on the conflicting and negotiated agencies of different stream actors during a stream, including games and the Twitch platform as nonhuman actors. The third core area of interest extends existing scholarship on moderation and governance by investigating boundary-work as a playful activity performed by multiple stream actors, including focused examinations of boundary-work associated with game-centric practices, such as spoiling content, and toxic behaviours. Fourthly, this thesis presents a highly novel exploration of how time on Twitch is arranged and experienced differently by different stream actors and the associated temporal politics of the platform. And fifthly, it intervenes in existing research on both games and Twitch by examining (digital) games as stream actors that perform alongside the streamer, spectators, and platform, thereby presenting new ways to understand games, game play, and why streaming and spectating game play are compelling activities. The concept of streaming persona allows for an exploration of how social identities are constructed and performed through and with the Twitch platform and its users. As such, it provides novel insights into the sociality, culture, politics, and economics of Twitch
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