Barriers to pro-environmental behaviours at Bournemouth University

This study investigates the main barriers to pro-environmental behaviours at Bournemouth University (BU). The University is committed to help achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals and over the years has implemented several activities to improve its sustainability performance covering aspects such as energy and carbon management, recycling, travelling, sustainable and ethical food, ethical purchasing and investment, education for sustainable development, and student and staff engagement in sustainability via the Green Impact scheme run by the National Union of Students (NUS). While most of the activities have been successful, participation to the Green Impact scheme, particularly of staff, has been slow. This research project investigates the main barriers at the university to more participation and engagement in environmental initiatives like the Green Impact. It compares cross-faculty behavioural habits and also investigates what the main barriers are to staff engaging further. The research takes a two-step approach, employing both quantitative and qualitative methods. The first part of the research includes a questionnaire and the second a semi-structured interview with staff at the University of Sheffield who is championing the Green Impact scheme. Surprisingly, results demonstrated that there was no significant difference in behaviours between faculties where staff participated to the Green Impact scheme and faculties where staff did not. Results also showed that the main barriers to pro-environmental behaviours were time, funding, and institutional hurdles, in line with other similar recent research in the field. The semi-structured interview with staff at the University of Sheffield helped in defining possible solutions for BU to increase Green Impact participation and ultimately staff engagement in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals

Dynamics and Conservation Management of a Wooded Landscape under High Herbivore Pressure

We present the use of a spatially explicit model of woodland dynamics (LANDIS-II) to examine the impacts of herbivory in the New Forest National Park, UK, in relation to its management for biodiversity conservation. The model was parameterized using spatial data and the results of two field surveys and then was tested with results from a third survey. Field survey results indicated that regeneration by tree species was found to be widespread but to occur at low density, despite heavy browsing pressure. The model was found to accurately predict the abundance and richness of tree species. Over the duration of the simulations (300 yr), woodland area increased in all scenarios, with or without herbivory. While the increase in woodland area was most pronounced under a scenario of no herbivory, values increased by more than 70% even in the presence of heavy browsing pressure. Model projections provided little evidence for the conversion of woodland areas to either grassland or heathland; changes in woodland structure and composition were consistent with traditional successional theory. These results highlight the need for multiple types of intervention when managing successional landscape mosaics and demonstrate the value of landscape-scale modelling for evaluating the role of herbivory in conservation management

Managing landscape resilience: the example of the New Forest. Wild Thing?

Are wild landscapes relatively resilient to environmental change? This question is examined in relation to the New Forest National Park, UK. As the most extensive area of semi - natural vegetat ion in lowland England, the New Forest offers a valuable opportunity for examining resilience at the landscape scale. Evidence is provided from historical profiling, species distribution modelling, long - term monitoring and landscape - scale modelling, suppor ted by collection of empirical data. Results indicate that: (i) the New Forest has been remarkably resilient as a socio - ecological system, having withstood many internal and external shocks over the past nine centuries; (ii) the extent of woodland cover ap pears to be very resilient to multiple forms of disturbance, despite the high densities of large herbivores present; (iii) climate change will likely improve the availability and condition of habitat for some species, while adversely affecting others; (iii ) some elements of this system are currently undergoing major changes in structure and composition as a result of multiple stressors, including climate change. While this research has highlighted the resilience of the New Forest, results also suggest that the value of this landscape to both wildlife and people could be vulnerable, particularly if climate change interacts with the other novel stressors now affecting the syste

Shaping and enhancing resilient forests for a resilient society.

The world is currently facing uncertainty caused by environmental, social, and economic changes and by political shocks. Fostering social-ecological resilience by enhancing forests' ability to provide a range of ecosystem services, including carbon sequestration, habitat provision, and sustainable livelihoods, is key to addressing such uncertainty. However, policy makers and managers currently lack a clear understanding of how to operationalise the shaping of resilience through the combined challenges of climate change, the biodiversity crisis, and changes in societal demand. Based on a scientific literature review, we identified a set of actions related to ecosystem services, biodiversity conservation, and disturbance and pressure impacts that forest managers and policy makers should attend to enhance the resilience of European forest systems. We conclude that the resilience shaping of forests should (1) adopt an operational approach, which is currently lacking, (2) identify and address existing and future trade-offs while reinforcing win-wins and (3) attend to local particularities through an adaptive management approach

Lessons Learned from Developing a New Distance-Learning Masters Course in the Green Economy

It is widely recognised that for the green economy to develop successfully, new educational curricula will be required to help professionals develop appropriate knowledge and skills. Relatively few university courses have been developed to date that explicitly focus on the green economy, reflecting its recent origins. Here we present the lessons learned from developing and implementing a new Masters course in the green economy, at Bournemouth University in the UK. The most significant challenges were institutional barriers, such as different departmental policies and procedures and decentralised budget strategies, which inhibited the cross-departmental collaboration desired for interdisciplinarity. Uncertainty about the future development of the green economy and its value as a concept, among both teaching staff and prospective students, presented a further challenge. In addition, the development of an appropriate curriculum for green economy courses has received little attention previously. Here, we present an overview of the curriculum developed for this Masters-level course, and, based on our experience, we demonstrate how the challenges in developing such a course can successfully be overcome