A critical discussion of research on the social acceptance of renewable energy generation and associated infrastructures and an agenda for the future

Social sciences’ research on the social acceptance of renewable energy generation and associated technologies (RET), such as high voltage power lines, has been growing in the last decades. In fact, while RET are considered one of the main mitigation measures of climate change, opposition to their construction, and namely from the local communities living nearby, is often found. Important conceptual proposals have been made for a better understanding of opposition, however, this literature still presents some limitations. Here, I will discuss two of them: first, the main focus on the local and, with it, the lack of a relational and critical approach, which recognizes opposition and other types of responses to RET as public participation in RET-related issues; second, the focus on the individual and the consequent lack of examining people’s material practices and engagements.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Brojevni sustavi

Prvi brojevni sustavi razvili su se oko 3500. g. pr. Kr. kada su i prvi puta uvedene brojke. Stare civilizacije koristile su brojevne sustave s bazama 10, 12, 20 i 60. Nas u ovom radu zanimaju općeniti brojevni sustavi s bazom koja je proizvoljan prirodni broj veći od 1. Za njih proučavamo funkciju sume znamenaka definiranu na prirodnim brojevima te općenitije brojanje blokova znamenki. U drugom dijelu rada promatramo prikaz u bazi $k$ s drugim skupom znamenki te neke nestandardne prikaze poput Fibonaccijevog, Ostrovskijevog ili prikaza u negativnoj ili kompleksnoj bazi.The first numeration systems evolved around 3500 BC. when the numbers were introduced for the first time. Old civilizations used numeration systems with bases 10, 12, 20, and 60. In this work, we are interested in general numeration systems with a base that is an arbitrary positive integer greater than one. We study the sum of digits function defined on positive integers and, more generally, functions counting blocks of digits. In the second part of this work, we examine representations in base $k$ with alternative set of digits and some non-standard representations such as Fibonacci's, Ostrowsky's and also representations in negative or complex bases

Rural Disparities in Lung Cancer Mortality: An Ecologic Study in Florida

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in the United States and worldwide. The higher mortality among patients with lung cancer is related to cases being diagnosed in late stage where treatment is limited. Urban and rural health outcomes are potentially influenced by differences in accessibility to health care services. We are unaware of existing research examining geographic differences in or factors related to lung cancer mortality in Florida. Therefore, this study aims to examine lung cancer mortality differences between urban and rural counties in Florida. We examined all 67 counties in Florida to investigate if a rural disparity exists in lung cancer mortality. We collected data from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) State Cancer Profile. We assigned urban and rural designation using the United States Census Bureau definition based on population density. We then used a t-test for unequal variances to compare the mean lung cancer mortality rate for the urban counties versus rural counties using Microsoft Excel. We used ArcGIS Pro software to create three maps: one showing urban and rural county designations, one showing lung cancer mortality, and a third bivariate map of urban and rural designations combined with age-adjusted lung cancer mortality rates together to examine the geographic distributions in Florida. We observed a mean age-adjusted lung cancer mortality of 62.7 per 100,000 for rural counties in Florida and a mean of 44.2 per 100,000 for urban counties which was significantly different using a t-test for unequal variances (p \u3c 0.0001). The counties with the highest lung cancer mortality were grouped geographically in Florida’s Big Bend area. Overall, rural counties had a significantly higher average lung cancer mortality than the urban counties in Florida. Future research should examine factors affecting higher lung cancer mortality in rural counties such as screening locations and access to care

Research on the social acceptance of renewable energy technologies: past, present and future

Social sciences have been very prolific in the last decades in publishing research that attempts to better understand the social acceptance of renewable energy technologies and associated infrastructures (RET) – such as high voltage power lines – and processes – such as communities’ participation in related decision-making processes. This Perspective proposes that this might be a good point in time, roughly 30 years after social sciences begun looking at the social side of RET, to offer a (over)view on that research, if and how it has changed over time and where it leaves us currently or, in other words, which directions we should follow in the future. I first provide an overview of research on the social acceptance of RET, suggesting that it can be roughly organized around three waves - normative, criticism and critical -; for then identifying and discussing some avenues for future research.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Ecological crisis, sustainability and social worlds: developing a critical agenda

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A social representations approach to the communication between different spheres: an analysis of the impacts of two discursive formats

This paper discusses the potential of the notions of reification and consensualization as developed by the theory of social representations as analytical tools for addressing the communication between the lay and scientific spheres. Social Representations Theory started by offering an over-sharp distinction between the reified and the consensual universes of which science and common sense, respectively, were presented as paradigmatic. This paper, however, suggests that the notions of consensual and reified can be considered as describing two distinct communicative formats: reification implying the use of arguments which establish prescriptions for representations and action, and consensualization relying on arguments which recognize the heterogeneity of representation and action. We illustrate this proposal through the analysis of a case in which the expert and the lay spheres of a Lisbon neighborhood opposed each other regarding the new laws of public participation in community matters. This analysis showed how reification and consensualization can be used as discursive formats by both spheres. The implications of the use of reification and consensualization and how they may depend on several power resources and have different impacts on social change are discussed

A critical framework to develop human-centric positive energy districts: Towards justice, inclusion, and well-being

Positive Energy Districts (PEDs) are a new energy initiative from European member states. They are, simply put, local districts which produce more energy than they consume. PEDs are expected to adopt a more human-centric perspective in order to create more liveable and sustainable urban neighbourhoods. However, as previous research on energy transitions has demonstrated, the mainstream approach and technocratic tradition of research and policy vis-à-vis energy transitions could result in the perpetuation of social inequalities, energy injustices, and the passive participation of citizens also within PEDs. Hence, it is crucial in these early days of PEDs to discuss what a human-centric approach should entail and how it should be enacted. Based on a narrative literature review of critical social sciences' energy research (and specifically from social and environmental psychology), this paper will propose a critical framework containing five key dimensions which are relevant for creating more just and inclusive PEDs. These are: uncertainty, risk perception and trust; distributive justice; recognition justice and people-place relations; procedural justice; and, routines, capabilities and lived experiences. To that end, it will also discuss the different implications of mainstream and critical approaches in energy research and social sciences in relation to the deployment of human-centric PEDs. The review concludes that in order to successfully deploy human-centric PEDs, a critical approach is needed and presents some concrete recommendations for future research and policy in order to adopt such an approach. These include: considering justice, inclusion and the well-being of affected socio-ecological systems in the whole-life cycle of PEDs; better integration of indigenous capabilities; and, an ethos of de-growth and circularity in their deployment.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Politicizing hydroelectric power plants in Portugal: Spatio-temporal injustices and psychosocial impacts of renewable energy colonialism in the Global North

The extent to which infrastructures being deployed for a postcarbon transition can be considered sustainable has been increasingly scrutinized within the critical turn in energy justice research. However, the focus therein tends to be on how new megaprojects still reveal Global North–Global South colonial relations and energy-related injustices. In this paper, we aim to contribute to widening critical energy justice research by illustrating how it needs to also consider the spatio-temporalities of renewable energy colonialism in the Global North. To that end, we undertake a psychosocial historiography of selected large-scale hydroelectric power plants in Portugal, from the twentieth century to the present day. This historiography is undertaken via archival data and interviews. Our analysis illustrates how hydrocolonialism has been enacted–discursively, infrastructurally, and psychosocially–in rural areas in Portugal, across different socio-political regimes; and also how it can be contested, by identifying some examples of resistance.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Time, history and meaning-making in research on people's relations with renewable energy technologies (RETs) – A conceptual proposal

The research field of the social acceptance of renewable energy technologies (RETs) has shown that people as central actors in current low-carbon energy transitions relate to RET projects and associated processes and infrastructures in diverse ways. These relations depend on the local context and history in which RET projects are deployed. Despite being an everyday reality for all actors involved, the experience of time has not been of central concern for this research field. References to temporality in social acceptance work are both omni-present and frequently vague, used as a mere backdrop to the main story; most research has examined local residents' responses at a specific moment in a project's life cycle; some consider RET projects as independent from histories of infrastructure and place and people's relations with RETs as void of past experience. This paper advocates for a deeper engagement with time in the field. Based on a milestone literature review highlighting how time and history have been tackled in analyzing local residents' relations with RET projects in specific case contexts so far, we propose differentiating physical from historical time dynamics and by developing this distinction we offer a first conceptual framework for considering time in people's relations with RET projects. Through this, our proposal contributes to recent critical work in social acceptance research of RETs and provides analytical tools for researchers who intend to approach the temporal embeddedness of people's relations to RET projects.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio