Crowd science : it is not just a matter of time (or funding)

The last years, citizen science, or crowd science, has increased tremendously, both in number of projects, and number of participants. Most literature on crowd science focuses on its advantages, for both scientists, and the participating citizens. The challenges of crowd science come mainly from limited organizational capacity of some of these projects. As a result of this line of reasoning, the main issue becomes, how we can facilitate citizen science, and help it expand to more projects, and involve more (types of) participants. My aim in this discussion note is to make two points: first, that, most recent work on citizen science fails to elaborate on the new types of relationships, practices and interactions that are facilitated by information and communication technologies, when compared to traditional volunteer science. The second point is that there are pronounced disciplinary differences among citizen science projects, something that, again, is generally being missed in much recent work. Missing these points can lead us to imagine that it’s only a matter of time (and of course funding) before all sciences catch up with citizen science. Such a line of thought can result in investing resources (money, time, effort) in projects and infrastructures that are doomed to fail, because of their topic. I conclude by offering some thoughts on a research agenda

Communicating adaptation with emotions : the role of intense experiences for concern about extreme weather

Adaptation to extreme weather is often considered as having a low urgency and being a low priority governance option, even though the intensity of extreme weather events is expected to increase as a result of climate change. An important issue is how to raise an adequate level of concern among individuals, policy makers, and broader decision makers in companies and organizations so that adaptation to extreme events becomes mainstream practice. We conducted 40 indepth interviews with individuals from different sectors in The Netherlands to identify the different types of experiences with extreme events, as well as the relationship between such experiences and the level of concern about extreme weather. Our results indicate that individuals who have experienced an intense, life-threatening event have a significantly higher level of concern than those without such an experience. Professional experience and secondhand experience through participating in information events do not significantly affect the level of concern about extreme events. This suggests limited intervention possibilities for communication of adaptation, as well as for raising support for adaptation measures. Framing adaptation measures in relation to personal circumstances and emotions during extreme events could help raise concern about extreme weather events, as well as societal support for adaptation measures

Opening up the societal debate on climate engineering: How newspaper frames are changing

The use of climate engineering or geoengineering technologies to combat climate change has been a controversial topic, even in the scientific debate. In recent studies, it has been claimed that the debate on climate engineering technologies may be closing down prematurely, with detrimental effects on the possibility of social and ethical reflection in appraising these controversial technologies. We examined the extent to which the debate on climate engineering is opening up or closing down, analyzing the diversity of English-speaking newspaper frames in the period 2006–2011. The results provide strong support for an opening of the debate, especially since 2009, given the decline of overly deterministic frames, the emergence of frames related to sociopolitical issues and an overall more balanced distribution of the various frames. This provides evidence that different perspectives are voiced in the public debate, which may enable societies to critically reflect on these emerging technologies

Exploring the transition potential of renewable energy communities

Renewable energy communities are grassroots initiatives that invest in ‘clean energy’ in order to meet consumption needs and environmental goals and thereby – often unwittingly – conduce to the spread of renewables. Our aim in the present study is to explore the potential of renewable energy communities in the Netherlands, as social niches, to contribute to transitions in the energy system. To do so, we propose three proxies for measuring the transition potential of social niches, based on proxies for technological innovations derived from the literature. In addition, we reinterpret the notion of niches and the way transition occurs by arguing that niches are complex systems in which both technological and social innovations develop simultaneously and that during a transition entire niches link up with the regime. Furthermore, we make a distinction between internally and externally oriented niches based on their orientation and application focus. We use a comparative case study analysis complemented by a systematic literature and documentary review to show that these communities are already changing the Dutch energy system, by connecting to regime actors. Their further advancement depends on strengthening their links to established actors, but also on providing a favorable regulatory framework

Estudio preliminar de micromamíferos del Pleistoceno Superior de la cueva de Loutraki (Pella, Macedonia, Grecia)

[Abstract] The Loutraki Bear-cave (Northern Greece) yielded a rich Pleistocene fauna including mammals, amphibians and reptiles. In the present study the small mammal fauna associated with cave-bear remains is studied. The material comes from a long-time excavation project, which is still in progress. This study allows us to propose a Late Pleistocene age for the Loutraki fauna. The composition of the LAC-micromammalin fauna suggests a complex environment

Early Miocene gastropod and ectothermic vertebrate remains from the Lesvos Petrified Forest (Greece)

The Lesvos Petrified Forest (western Lesvos, Greece) has long been famous for its plant fossils. Recently, one proboscidean (from the Gavathas locality) and seven micromammalian species (from the Lapsarna locality) were described; these were the first animals to be found in the Early Miocene subtropical forest. For the first time, a fauna of gastropods and ectothermic vertebrates from the Lapsarna locality is now available. This fauna derives from lacustrine sediments under the pyroclastic material that contains the petrified plants. Based on fragmented mollusc remains, isolated fish pharyngeal teeth and utricular otoliths (lapilli), fragmented amphibian vertebrae and a tooth-bearing element, and reptile fragmented dentaries, teeth, osteoderms and vertebrae, the presence of eight freshwater and three terrestrial gastropod species, three freshwater cyprinid species, and two amphibian and five reptile taxa has been confirmed. Stratigraphical and radiometric data suggest an age older than 18.4 ± 0.5 Ma (latest Early Miocene), in good agreement with the faunal composition. This paper is the first report of the concurrent presence of three cyprinid fish species in a Greek Early Miocene locality, as well as the first documentation of an Early Miocene proteid amphibian in southeastern Europe. The present findings represent one of the best- documented Early Miocene gastropod and fish faunas in the Aegean/southern Balkans, thus adding to our knowledge of Early Miocene amphibians and reptiles from that region and providing valuable information on the local subtropical ecosystem

Genetic vs community diversity patterns of macrobenthic species: preliminary results from the lagoonal ecosystem

1 - The use of molecular data derived from multispecies assemblages in order to test ecological theory has only recently been introduced in the scientific literature.2 - As a first step, we compared patterns of abiotic environment, polychaeta distribution and their genetic diversity in five lagoon ecosystems in Greece. Our results confirm the hypothesis that higher genetic diversity is expected in the populations of the species occurring in the transitional waters rather than of those occurring in the marine environment.3 - Patterns derived from the polychaete community level and from the mitochondrial DNA (16S rRNA) obtained from Nephtys hombergii and Hediste diversicolor showed convergence, indicating the potential use of molecular matrices as surrogates in community analysis.4 - Finally, the high correlation between the genetic diversity pattern of H. diversicolor and the phosphorus concentration in the sediments may imply the broadening of the hierarchic-response-tostress hypothesis towards lower than species level

Roles of scientists as policy advisers on complex issues: A literature review

Background and Aims: Policymakers frequently encounter complex issues, and the role of scientists as policy advisers on these issues is not always clearly defined. We present an overview of the interdisciplinary literature on the roles of scientific experts when advising policymakers on complex issues, and in particular on the factors that influence these roles. / Methods: A structured literature search was combined with literature found in reference lists of peer reviewed papers (the snowball method). In total, 267 publications were analyzed using scientometrics analyses (discipline clustering analysis and co-citation analysis) followed by a qualitative analysis and interpretation. / Results: The scientometrics analysis shows an amalgam of disciplines that publish on our research topic. Five clusters of authors were identified based on similarities in the references used: post-normal science, science and technology studies, science policy studies, politics of expertise and risk governance. The content of the clusters demonstrates that authors in different clusters agree that the role of experts is influenced by the type of problem (simple or complex) and by other parties (the public and stakeholders). However, opinions vary on the extent to which roles can vary and the necessity to explicate different viewpoints. / Discussion and conclusions: Publications on scientific experts who provide policy advice affirm that such experts should and do hold different roles, depending on the type of problem and factors such as values held by the expert and the type of knowledge. We conclude that research on expert roles has remained mostly theoretical. Existing theories about science systems can be used to study real policy advice processes. Most theories are well elaborated, but empirical proof for the described changes, roles and processes is limited

Adaptation to extreme weather: identifying different societal perspectives in the Netherlands

The intensity and occurrence of extreme weather events are expected to change with climate change. This change necessitates adaptive responses to extreme events, which need to take into account different societal perspectives, in order to be robust. In this paper, we explore the perspectives of different social actors in the Netherlands with respect to extreme weather events and ways to adapt to these events. The paper reports on a set of 41 interviews, using the repertory grid technique. The results were analyzed, to identify (a) the perspectives that stakeholders hold as most important for adaptation to extreme weather events; (b) the determinants of differences in perspectives. We find six different perspectives, all of which prioritize different adaptive actions. Producing robust adaptive responses which include different perspectives is therefore not a straightforward matter and is likely to result in win–lose situations. Further, differences in perspectives were not closely related to different sectors the interviewees belonged to. Thus, the traditional approach of involving different sectors to discuss and produce adaptation measures may be too limiting and needs to be supplemented to involving actors with different perspectives. The level of concern and level of information influenced the ways interviewees perceive adaptation priorities for extreme weather events. Participation in information events does not always result in perceived need to prepare for extreme events, something that adaptation communication needs to take into account