Cultural ecosystem services and the challenge for cultural geography

Copyright © 2014 The Author(s) Geography Compass © 2014 John Wiley & Sons LtdCultural ecosystem services are one of four services identified by the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment as critical to the support of human life on earth and therefore in need of proper valuation and protection. Cultural services seem to embody the objects of enquiry for cultural geographers interested in landscape, identity and place. However, potentially insurmountable epistemological challenges face the participation of cultural geographers in the following: (i) the identification and evaluation of CES; and (ii) the operationalisation of environmental governance. One challenge for cultural geographers is to make the relevance of their theoretical and conceptual insights felt in a field dominated by the natural sciences and scientific epistemologies. Meanwhile, the problems of defining and identifying cultural services in ways that make them compatible with provision, regulating and supporting services, even threaten the continued inclusion of cultural services in the ecosystem services approach. The concept of landscape seems to provide a shared intellectual terrain over which cultural geographers can work with others interested in cultural ecosystem services

Critical issues in social science climate change research

Copyright © 2014 Academy of Social SciencesThis paper examines the challenges and opportunities for social scientists working on climate change research. Much work is required to expose and destabilise taken-for-granted assumptions about: (i) the nature of climate change, its complex ontology and knowledge-making practices; and (ii) how academic knowledge is made at the expense of other ways of knowing, doing and being in the world. I examine the relationship between the natural and social sciences, the epistemological question of what people are, and the multiple spaces, sites and practices across which and about which social science research on climate change is being produced

TEMPORAL CHANGES TO FIRE RISK IN DISPARATE WILDLAND URBAN INTERFACE COMMUNITIES

Since 1990, thirteen fires over 100,000 acres in size have burned in California seven of which were recorded to be some of the most destructive wildfires of all time (California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection 2013). To aid the development of policy that reduces the destruction caused by wildfires, it is important to evaluate how risk changes through time in communities that are expanding into fire-prone areas. The objective of this study is to discover how the likelihood of structural loss is changing in WUI as newer; more fire resilient structures replace older structures on the edges of the WUI. Geographical Information Systems and remote sensing techniques were used to observe changes in urbanization, structural materials, housing density and defensible space over time in the communities of Rancho Santa Fe, Ramona and Julian in San Diego County. Fire Risk ratings were calculated using the equation Fire Risk= Hazard – Mitigation. Mitigation scores for each structure were informed using a binary logistic regression of variables influencing home loss in the Witch Creek Fire. Fire Risk Ratings were given to the 11,747 structures in the three communities for the years 2005, 2009, 2010 and 2012. The study found that the initial 0-1.5m zone around the home is the most critical for defensible space. In this zone, increased tree cover increases the odds of structure loss by over double that of grass cover. In Rancho Santa Fe and Julian, the majority of very high risk homes were located in high income communities despite moderate mitigation due to very high fire hazard levels. In Ramona most very high fire risk homes were located in lower income areas due to poor mitigation levels. Rancho Santa Fe and Julian decreased their fire risk over the 7 year study period with improved mitigation, Rancho Santa Fe improved the most (1.7% decrease in Very High and High risk homes). The proportion of very high fire risk homes increased in Ramona by .5% over the 7 year study period. Development on the outskirts of the WUI could increase the risk of the overall community if proper construction standards are not met and defensible space is not implemented. If fire resistant communities are constructed and maintained to high standards of defensible space, they could potentially provide a buffer for older high fire risk homes

Landscape Narratives in Practice – Implications for Climate Change Adaptation

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Wiley via the DOI in this record.Research on the societal dynamics of climate change adaptation has advanced during recent years from merely focusing on technical and economic factors to taking into consideration people’s individual perspectives and personal values. Within this context a growing literature on the relationship between people’s place attachment and climate change adaptation has emerged. This literature seeks to explain how individuals’ relationships with the places in which they live influence current and potential future responses to climate change at the local scale. Nevertheless, critical limitations are evident in the conceptualisation of place and people–place relationships within this literature. In particular, differences between individual place constructions and their possible implications for landscape management are given insufficient attention. To address these shortcomings, we mobilise research on the societal construction of landscapes to uncover how actors in landscape management perceive ‘their’ places and changes to them. Drawing on qualitative interviews with key actors in landscape management in Cornwall (UK), we present four contrasting narratives about local landscapes and climate change and highlight their potential implications for adaptation to climate changeThis research was supported through the Cluster of Excellence ‘CliSAP’ (EXC177), Universitat Hamburg, funded through the German Science Foundation (DFG). Many thanks to the editor and the anonymous reviewers for their thorough and useful comments

The "healthy dose" of nature: A cautionary tale

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available on open access from Wiley via the DOI in this recordGrowing cross‐disciplinary interest in understanding if, how, and why time spent with nature can contribute to human health and well‐being has recently prompted efforts to identify an ideal healthy dose of nature; exposure to a specific type of nature at a specified frequency and duration. These efforts build on longstanding attempts to prescribe nature in some way, most recently in the form of so‐called “green prescriptions.” In this critical discussion paper, we draw on key examples from within the fields of health and cultural geography to encourage deeper and more critical reflection on the value of such reductionist dose‐response frameworks. By foregrounding the relationally emergent qualities of people's dynamic nature encounters, we suggest such efforts may be both illusory and potentially exclusionary for the many individuals and groups whose healthy nature interactions diverge from the statistical average or “normal” way of being. We suggest value in working towards alternative more‐than‐human approaches to health and well‐being, drawing on posthumanist theories of social practice. We present two practice examples—beach‐going and citizen science—to demonstrate how a focus on social practices can better cater for the diverse and dynamic ways in which people come to conceptualise, embody, and interpret nature in their everyday lives. We close by reflecting on the wider societal transformations required to foster greater respect for embodied difference and diversity.Economic and Social Research Council. Grant Number: ES/N015851/

‘We’re on the edge’: Cultures of care and Universal Credit

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Routledge via the DOI in this recordAusterity and welfare reforms – such as Universal Credit (UC) – are changing the ways in which care is delivered in the UK, increasing the precarity of individuals and the organisations who care for them. New cultures of care are emerging as a result. We show how an emplaced affect of ‘edgy-ness’ shaped a culture of care within third-sector organisations and housing associations working in Cornwall, UK. Drawing on a collaborative project consisting of four housing associations and four VCSOs, we explore ‘edgy-ness’ as one specific affect of precarity through an analysis of practitioners’ narratives of the project and its success.European Social Fund (ESF

Digital possibilities and social mission in the voluntary sector: the case of a community transport organisation in the UK

This is the author accepted manuscriptDigital technology is seen as a panacea to meeting the financial and operational challenges faced by voluntary and community sector organisations (VCSOs), through delivering efficiencies and cost-saving, alongside improving quality of service. However, according to recent assessments in the UK, the rate of digital adoption is slow compared with other sectors. This article identifies how a VCSO in a period of austerity prioritises its social mission over functionality and efficiency gains from digital technology. Employing the heuristic of phronesis, we argue that VCSOs seeking to implement digital innovations need to strike a balance between instrumental rationality (that is, what is possible to achieve with technology) and value rationality (that is, what is desirable to pursue by VCSOs). Our key argument is that theories of value rationality provide a new explanation for the slow adoption of digital technology among VCSOs.Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC

Guided Conversations: Findings and Social Impact

This is the final version.European Regional Development Fund (ERDF

‘Where’ is the evidence? A starting point for the development of place‐based research reviews and their implications for wellbeing‐related policymaking

This is the final version. Available on open access from Wiley via the DOI in this recordData availability statement: This paper concerns the development of a review methodology and did not involve any primary or secondary data collection.This paper aims to stimulate debate around the development of a place-based research review methodology. We present place-based reviews as a potential source of support for wellbeing-related local policymaking. Our introductory discussions highlight an ever-growing need for insights about specific localities and a lack in resources—including time—for local policymakers to engage with research. Additionally, increasing demands for local insights have been driven by devolution shifts, which redistribute policymaking responsibilities to local authorities. Hence, we explore the challenges and opportunities that arise when places are considered in reviewing research relevant to wellbeing. We build a case study around two related places of different scale: Truro, a small cathedral city in the United Kingdom's Southwest; and Cornwall, the regional county that contains Truro. We use these places as search terms in combination with terms concerning health and social care (HSC) services. HSC services are included as a component of our case study, as the topic is a consistent concern for wellbeing-related policies. In our findings, we report a lack of papers on our smaller scale of place (Truro). One might expect this outcome. Nonetheless, we reflect on current research practices and processes that might have further limited our ability to generate insights about Truro. Encouragingly, our findings on Cornwall demonstrate the potential of place-based reviews in supporting local policymaking more broadly. We make initial judgements around knowledge gaps—including the exclusion of perspectives from certain groups and identities—and topological insights, that is, those that are relevant to Cornwall as a whole. Our discussions also consider how place-based reviews can be enhanced via the retrieval and inclusion of non-academic studies. Finally, key questions to induce debate on this subject are posed in the conclusion.European Unio