Sharing communication insights of the citizen science program Plastic Pirates—best practices from 7 years of engaging schoolchildren and teachers in plastic pollution research

Engaging the general public in research processes through citizen science allows for innovative scientific studies and makes science accessible to the general public. Effective communication strategies are crucial for the success of such initiatives. The citizen science program Plastic Pirates investigated the plastic pollution of rivers and implemented a variety of communication strategies with participating schoolchildren, teachers, and youth groups (e.g., sport associations, scouts or educational vacation programs, representing approximately 6% of participating groups). These were continuously revised and adapted since its start in 2016. Without time-efficient communication and strategies to keep track of conversations, it would not have been possible to achieve the scientific and educational goals of the program, i.e., to help teachers increase the environmental awareness and scientific literacy of their schoolchildren, and to produce peer-reviewed articles based on the collected citizen science data. Communication within the Plastic Pirates program was divided into four distinct phases: 1) recruiting and motivating participants, 2) coordination and guidance of participants, 3) data reception and revision, and 4) sharing updates and results. Some of the obstacles that had to be overcome to achieve successful communication were e.g., time constraints to obtaining scientific data from the participants, the time lag between the active involvement of the participants and the actual data analysis and publication of results, and limited personnel resources available for communication efforts. Our recommendations for other citizen science practitioners include regular and transparent communication with the participants regarding their contribution, the use of adequate and various communication channels, shifting the workload from the participants to the coordinating team of a citizen science initiative, as well as offering feedback on the research findings to the citizen scientists, thereby disseminating the results of the program

Opportunities for the Local Government of Bremerhaven Provided by the Project "Klimastadt Bremerhaven" in Times of Limited Municipal Room for Manoeuvre

Climate change policy is part of the voluntary tasks of local self-government in Germany. Therefore, municipal room for manoeuvre could be substantial. However, local government experts argue that local authorities lost steering capacity due to three major trends â EU liberalisation, New Public Management, and budgetary crisis. In contrast, the multi-level governance approach in EU integration theories does not predict a clear cut trend for local steering capacity, but emphasises â softâ steering instruments. Against this theoretical background, the dissertation analyses project examples in the area of buildings, construction, and remediation within the project Klimastadt Bremerhaven to examine whether the project enables the local authority to expand its scope of action and/or to develop new spheres of activity in the policy area of climate protection. This thesis uses an policy analysis approach to examine framework programmes, political processes and key decisions, core actors and their positions, as well as central administrative structures of the Klimastadt project. Apart from political and administrative documents, the thesis draws on four semi-structured interviews. Overall, the empirical findings suggest that the local government has been partially successful in increasing its spheres of (political) influence and its scope of action by using the project Klimastadt Bremerhaven as a coordination mechanism. Yet, especially the budgetary crisis has reduced municipal room for manoeuvre in the building sector. Thus, â softâ steering instruments are indeed very important for the city to encourage the implementation of specific projects.Breme

A Socio-Economic and Institutional Portrait of Bremerhaven - A case study from a local government research perspective

The city of Bremerhaven has suffered from declining maritime-related industries (e.g. shipbuilding and fishing), high unemployment rates, and a shrinking and aging population during the last decades. Nevertheless, Bremerhaven still functions as a regional centre, both economically and with regards to the labour market. This working paper summarises relevant data regarding the socio-economic development of Bremerhaven and provides explanations for most of the findings. First, the paper outlines the political and institutional frame conditions of the â freest municipalityâ in Germany and its particular legal situation within the city state of the Free Hanseatic city of Bremen. Secondly, recent findings regarding Bremerhavenâ s socio-economic dynamics are presented, drawing mainly on two cluster analyses on urban and regional development in Germany. These studies conclude that Bremerhaven belongs to the â severely underprivileged citiesâ which face a strong pressure to adapt. The working paper was prepared as a knowledge base for consecutive research within the comparative study â The Ecological Modernisation of Structurally Disadvantaged European Maritime Port Citiesâ . This study investigates whether climate change can create new ecological modernisation opportunities for selected cities to transform their local economies, governance structures, and external images.Breme

Developing Countries in the Lead—What Drives the Diffusion of Plastic Bag Policies?

While diffusion patterns are quite well understood in the context of the Global North, diffusion research has only been applied to a limited extent to investigate how policies spread across developing countries. In this article, we therefore analyze the diffusion patterns of plastic bag bans and plastic bag taxes in the Global South and Global North to contribute to the further refinement of diffusion theory by specifically addressing the under-researched Global South. Moreover, with an in-depth investigation of plastic bag policies through the lens of diffusion research, the article provides insights in the rather new and still underexplored policy field of plastic pollution. We find that industrialized countries have mostly adopted plastic bag taxes, while developing countries have mainly introduced plastic bag bans and thus more stringent legislation than countries in the Global North. So far, the key driving force for the diffusion of plastic bag policies in the Global North has been the global public pressure. In the Global South, where plastic bag litter is much more visible and harmful due to limited waste collection and recycling rates, national problem pressure has been much more influential

Climate pioneership and leadership in structurally disadvantaged maritime port cities

© 2018, © 2018 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. Innovative climate governance in small-to-medium-sized structurally disadvantaged cities (SDCs) are assessed. Considering their deeply ingrained severe economic and social problems it would be reasonable to assume that SDCs act primarily as climate laggards or at best as followers. However, novel empirical findings show that SDCs are capable of acting as climate pioneers. Different types and styles of climate leadership and pioneership and how they operate within multi-level and polycentric governance structures are identified and assessed. SDCs seem relatively readily willing to adopt transformational climate pioneership styles to create ‘green’ jobs, for example, in the offshore wind energy sector and with the aim of improving their poor external image. However, in order to sustain transformational climate pioneership they often have to rely on support from ‘higher’ levels of governance. For SDCs, there is a tension between learning from each other’s best practice and fierce economic competition in climate innovation

The concerns of the young protesters are justified: A statement by Scientists for Future concerning the protests for more climate protection

In March 2019, German-speaking scientists and scholars calling themselves Scientists for Future, published a statement in support of the youth protesters in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland (Fridays for Future, Klimastreik/Climate Strike), verifying the scientific evidence that the youth protestors refer to. In this article, they provide the full text of the statement, including the list of supporting facts (in both English and German) as well as an analysis of the results and impacts of the statement. Furthermore, they reflect on the challenges for scientists and scholars who feel a dual responsibility: on the one hand, to remain independent and politically neutral, and, on the other hand, to inform and warn societies of the dangers that lie ahead. © 2019 G. Hagedorn et al.; licensee oekom verlag.This Open Access article is published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License CCBY4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0)