Rising to the challenge? : the state of the art and future research directions of Polish environmental sociology

Environmental sociology has been developing since the 1970s; however, it only recently became institutionalized in Poland with the establishment of a respective section in the Polish Sociological Association. We argue that environmental sociology in Poland and the broader area of Central and Eastern Europe has made an important contribution to international research on relations between humanity and nature in the Anthropocene. This paper presents the current state of the art in Polish environmental sociology and discusses future research questions. Our contribution is based on a literature review and the results of a workshop with Polish environmental sociologists. Future research areas discussed in this paper emerge from the following five main thematic domains: (I) social aspects of nature conservation; (II) environmental groups and movements; (III) sustainable development and the participation of local communities in rural and urban areas; (IV) environmental risks and threats and (V) and energy and society

Assessment of climate change and associated impact on selected sectors in Poland

The present paper offers a brief assessment of climate change and associated impact in Poland, based on selected results of the Polish–Norwegian CHASE-PL project. Impacts are examined in selected sectors, such as water resources, natural hazard risk reduction, environment, agriculture and health. Results of change detection in long time series of observed climate and climate impact variables in Poland are presented. Also, projections of climate variability and change are provided for time horizons of 2021–2050 and 2071–2100 for two emission scenarios, RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 in comparison with control period, 1971–2000. Based on climate projections, examination of future impacts on sectors is also carried out. Selected uncertainty issues relevant to observations, understanding and projections are tackled as well

Adaptation of Wielkopolska municipalities to extreme weather events in the light of the resilience theory

Wydział SocjologiiPraca, wpisując się w nurt socjologii katastrof, polskim (max 1400 znaków) skupia się na zjawisku ekstremalnych zdarzeń pogodowych, przyglądając się sposobom, w jaki lokalne systemy społeczno-ekologiczne - gminy - radzą sobie z zagrożeniem, jak i konsekwencjami wystąpienia tychże ekstremów. Gminy stanowią przestrzeń najbardziej narażoną na skutki zdarzeń, ale też najbardziej zaangażowaną w związane z ekstremami działania. Badanie koncentruje się zarówno na pewnych procedurach i działaniach w związku z zagrożeniem intensywnymi zjawiskami meteorologicznymi, ale też eksploatując koncepcję elastyczności (resilience), zwraca uwagę na funkcjonalny kontekst zdarzeń meteorologicznych, dzięki którym systemy społeczne modyfikują swój potencjał do działania w związku z konsekwencjami ekstremalnych zjawiskpogodowych. Cel, jaki jest stawiany 't' niniejszej pracy, to analiza sposobów funkcjonowania wybranych gmin w Wielkopolsce w obszarze zarządzania ryzykiem związanym z ekstremalnymi zdarzeniami pogodowymi, wskazanie typów elastyczności lokalnych systemów i określenie, jakie układy typów elastyczności dają się stwierdzić w tych gminach. W badaniu wykorzystano dane statystyczne dotyczące interwencji PSP w Wielkopolsce w latach 2010-2016, dane meteorologiczne, a także zrealizowano 40 wywiadów pogłębionych z przedstawicielami lokalnych systemów zarządzania ryzykiem związanym z ekstremalnymi zdarzeniami pogodowymi w ośmiu wielkopolskich gminach.Praca powstała dzięki badaniom sfinansowanym w ramach projektu przez Narodowe Centrum Nauki, (konkurs Preludium: UMO-2014/15/N/HS6/04129)

Adaptation of Wielkopolska municipalities to extreme weather events in the light of the resilience theory

Wydział SocjologiiPraca, wpisując się w nurt socjologii katastrof, polskim (max 1400 znaków) skupia się na zjawisku ekstremalnych zdarzeń pogodowych, przyglądając się sposobom, w jaki lokalne systemy społeczno-ekologiczne - gminy - radzą sobie z zagrożeniem, jak i konsekwencjami wystąpienia tychże ekstremów. Gminy stanowią przestrzeń najbardziej narażoną na skutki zdarzeń, ale też najbardziej zaangażowaną w związane z ekstremami działania. Badanie koncentruje się zarówno na pewnych procedurach i działaniach w związku z zagrożeniem intensywnymi zjawiskami meteorologicznymi, ale też eksploatując koncepcję elastyczności (resilience), zwraca uwagę na funkcjonalny kontekst zdarzeń meteorologicznych, dzięki którym systemy społeczne modyfikują swój potencjał do działania w związku z konsekwencjami ekstremalnych zjawiskpogodowych. Cel, jaki jest stawiany 't' niniejszej pracy, to analiza sposobów funkcjonowania wybranych gmin w Wielkopolsce w obszarze zarządzania ryzykiem związanym z ekstremalnymi zdarzeniami pogodowymi, wskazanie typów elastyczności lokalnych systemów i określenie, jakie układy typów elastyczności dają się stwierdzić w tych gminach. W badaniu wykorzystano dane statystyczne dotyczące interwencji PSP w Wielkopolsce w latach 2010-2016, dane meteorologiczne, a także zrealizowano 40 wywiadów pogłębionych z przedstawicielami lokalnych systemów zarządzania ryzykiem związanym z ekstremalnymi zdarzeniami pogodowymi w ośmiu wielkopolskich gminach.Praca powstała dzięki badaniom sfinansowanym w ramach projektu przez Narodowe Centrum Nauki, (konkurs Preludium: UMO-2014/15/N/HS6/04129)

Severe Drought in the Spring of 2020 in Poland—More of the Same?

Two consecutive dry years, 2018 and 2019, a warm winter in 2019/20, and a very dry spring in 2020 led to the development of severe drought in Poland. In this paper, changes in the Standardized Precipitation-Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) for the interval from 1971 to the end of May 2020 are examined. The values of SPEI (based on 12, 24 and 30 month windows, i.e., SPEI 12, SPEI 24 and SPEI 30) were calculated with the help of the Penman–Monteith equation. Changes in soil moisture contents were also examined from January 2000 to May 2020, based on data from the NASA Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center, presenting increasing water shortages in a central belt of Poland. The study showed that the 2020 spring drought was among the most severe events in the analyzed period and presented decreasing trends of SPEI at most stations located in central Poland. This study also determined changes in soil moisture contents from January 2000 to May 2020 that indicate a decreasing tendency. Cumulative water shortages from year to year led to the development of severe drought in the spring of 2020, as reflected in very low SPEI values and low soil moisture

Is Controlled Drainage of Agricultural Land a Common Used Practice?—A Bibliographic Analysis

Controlled drainage (CD) is one of the basic techniques used to manage groundwater levels. Farmers can optimize water levels for crop growth at different stages of the growing season. Proper drainage water management can reduce the risk of soil erosion and surface water pollution. By controlling drainage, sediment and nutrient runoff can be minimized, leading to improved water quality in nearby streams and rivers. A mixed methods approach was used, which was based on the bibliometric analysis and content analysis of 462 articles using the bibliometrix R package and VOSviewer software. The article aimed to analyze the Author Keywords and KeyWords Plus to indicate the resulting clusters of complex interdependence that emerge from the main research areas. Continuous research continues to improve drainage techniques and systems to optimize agricultural water use. The results indicated the importance of researching the feasibility of CD for agriculture. The innovation of this study is that it points out the relevance of taking up the possibility of changing the use of unilateral subsurface drainage systems with another method of controlling drainage outflows as a current global challenge, contributing to filling this gap in the literature

The Emergence of Different Local Resilience Arrangements Regarding Extreme Weather Events in Small Municipalities—A Case Study from the Wielkopolska Region, Poland

Compared with other parts of the world, Poland is a relatively safe country in terms of natural disasters. Nevertheless, extreme weather events have become a significant threat in recent years, especially for local communities. These are exposed to intense rainfall, heavy wind, and heatwaves, as are larger towns. However, small municipalities have different economic, social, and human potential for undertaking preventive actions regarding meteorological extremes. In this paper, we are looking at what activities local communities from the Wielkopolska region in Poland undertake to cope with extreme weather events—specifically, heavy rainfall and heatwaves. We analyze the municipalities that are most and least exposed to extremes, based on meteorological data. These are further compared with local resilience measures in the event of extreme meteorological events through the risk management analysis of selected municipalities. The emergence of two approaches regarding extreme weather events has been observed. First, local arrangements consist of different resilience types. Both of the identified approaches are concentrated around rescue activities, representing recovery resilience. They differ in the second component of resilience: municipalities that have suffered more from weather extremes manifest more resistance resilience, whereas those communities where fewer meteorological events took place demonstrate more creativity-type resilience

A Review of Environmental Impacts of Wheat Production in Different Agrotechnical Systems

In light of the environmental challenges currently facing humanity, the issue of the environmental sustainability of crop production is becoming increasingly pressing. This is due to the fact that global population growth and the related demand for food are placing significant pressure on the environment. Wheat is a strategic crop globally due to its extensive cultivation area, high production and consumption levels, and vital nutritional properties. It is cultivated across diverse climatic conditions and within various agricultural production systems. It is of the utmost importance to pursue sustainable wheat production on a global scale, given the necessity to protect the environment and climate. The application of life cycle assessment (LCA) enables the identification of potential avenues for enhancing wheat production processes, thereby reducing the negative environmental impacts associated with these processes. This paper presents a synthesis of the existing literature on the environmental LCA of wheat grain production. It compares the impacts of different production systems, highlights critical stages in wheat cultivation, and provides recommendations for sustainable practices and directions for future research

Rising to the Challenge? The State of the Art and Future Research Directions of Polish Environmental Sociology

Environmental sociology has been developing since the 1970s; however, it only recently became institutionalized in Poland with the establishment of a respective section in the Polish Sociological Association. We argue that environmental sociology in Poland and the broader area of Central and Eastern Europe has made an important contribution to international research on relations between humanity and nature in the Anthropocene. This paper presents the current state of the art in Polish environmental sociology and discusses future research questions. Our contribution is based on a literature review and the results of a workshop with Polish environmental sociologists. Future research areas discussed in this paper emerge from the following five main thematic domains: (I) social aspects of nature conservation; (II) environmental groups and movements; (III) sustainable development and the participation of local communities in rural and urban areas; (IV) environmental risks and threats and (V) and energy and society

Does "more" always mean "better"? Analysis of domination and diversification of flood risk management strategies in selected countries of European Union

Observations of the past and projections for the future show an increase of flood risk in the world, at any spatial scale, due to changes in land use, including urbanization, increase of damage potential and due to climate change. No country can satisfactorily cope with floods. Flood losses have not been diminishing, despite attempts to reduce the flood risk and related high capital investment. These problems were tackled in the “Strengthening and Redesigning European Flood Risk Practices towards Appropriate and Resilient Flood Risk Governance Arrangements” (STAR-FLOOD) project of the European Union, funded within the 7th EU Framework Programme and implemented in 2012-2016. The object of the study were flood risk management strategies in six EU Member States: Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Poland, Sweden and the UK, as well as in 18 urban regions in these countries. The aim of the project was to establish theoretical principles for designing a system to reduce the flood risk and the aim of this article was to present research results on flood risk management systems in six of the EU countries. Because the absolute flood protection is not possible, the existence of hazard and risk should be reconciled and flood risk reduction solutions should be sought via flood risk management. Bridging between essential, and usually separate, domains such as water management, spatial planning and crisis management should be sought. In the STAR-FLOOD project, five flood risk management strategies were identified: (i) prevention, (ii) defense, (iii) mitigation, (iv) preparation, and (v) restoration. In this paper, different types of strategies operating in the studied countries were identified, dominant ones were indicated and the status of diversification of strategies was examined. Defense is traditionally considered the dominating strategy in most countries, since construction of technical facilities: levees, embankments, dams, gives impression of increasing safety against floods. However, this strategy, despite increasing expenditures, turns out to be insufficient, in light of soaring flood damages. Flood risk management strategies should be appropriate to the context in which they are used and the technical means of flood defenses do not necessarily have to play the most important role. The current form of the applied flood risk management strategy depends on several factors, such as the flood-related experience, the competence of the authorities, as well as available measures. Also the degree and the ways in which integration of water management, spatial planning and crisis management is carried out, are important. The article examines cooperation mechanisms and binding acts undertaken within the realms of different strategies. Applicable standards and the purpose of discourses regarding flood risk management, as well as existing policies and development paths also play a role. The strategies are embedded in the flood risk management system, which should be appropriate, effective and efficient. Through the identification and analysis of the components of the system, i.e. participants of the process of flood risk management (the actors), functioning discourses, rules and available (or unavailable) resources, we get a picture of the flood risk management system. Of particular importance are the identification and interpretation of changes of flood risk management strategies and solutions, as well as the identification of factors that contribute to such changes, promote, inhibit, or limit them. Nevertheless, evaluation of strategies with respect to targeted funding can lead to erroneous conclusions, because the defense strategy, even carried to a lesser extent as compared to other strategies, requires significant financial expenses - technical infrastructure is expensive. Also the impact of shock events on the shape of the flood risk management system was examined. In some countries, such shocks – large floods – functioned as turning points exposing the ineffectiveness of the existing methods (Belgium, the UK). In other countries, despite unveiling weaknesses of the system, they caused a consolidation of existing schemes of action – doing the same but better (the Netherlands, Poland)