Developing a Digital Flood Evacuation Model for Climate Change and Wellbeing. Research Summary 02

This project developed a 3D virtual reality model to simulate the flooding of an urban space in real time. Showing how a built-up area is likely to flood can help emergency services, local governments and community leaders to consider how a flood might unfold in their local area, helping them to be better prepared for future contingencies in the event of extreme weather. The project took as its basis the town of Ballater, and used available data to construct a 3D virtual reality model of the effects of Storm Frank over 2015-16 on the town. Findings from social science research carried out at the start of the project were used to feed stakeholders’ information requirements—and lessons learned from the 2015-16 events—into the development of the model, and a feedback session was held in Ballater to shape the direction for future collaboration

Enhancing post-disaster resilience by ‘building back greener’: Evaluating the contribution of nature-based solutions to recovery planning in Futaba County, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan

This research evaluates the contribution of nature-based solutions to urban resilience in post-disaster situations. Post-disaster recovery planning is an opportunity to ‘build back greener’ by fostering ecosystem approaches towards social and ecological resilience. Yet understanding of specific post-disaster resilience benefits which nature-based solutions provide is still emerging. This paper contributes to this field through evaluation of how ecosystem approaches bring resilience benefits in Futaba County, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, following the 2011 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster. Content analysis is undertaken on disaster recovery plans produced by the 8 municipalities in Futaba County. The ecosystem services included in each plan are identified, as well as the extent to which municipalities are capable of assessing the services provided. This is supplemented with insights from field visits and wider documentation produced by the municipalities. The analysis shows that cultural ecosystem services feature especially strongly within the plans, and that these cultural services are critical to recovering sense of identity and pride post-disaster. However, the analysis also indicates that municipalities may lack the technical competence to assess ecosystem services, especially in a post-disaster setting where resources are stretched. One implication from the research is the need for further consideration in other empirical contexts of how cultural services – especially citizen participation - can be integrated with more technical approaches to post-disaster ecosystem management. A second implication is that whilst ecosystem approaches offer post-disaster resilience benefits, these should be an aid to recovery and not a substitute for long-term support from national governments

Making climate information services accessible to communities: What can we learn from environmental risk communication research?

This paper evaluates the role of socio-cultural issues in developing climate information services that are accessible and engaging to urban communities. Two public-facing city-level climate information provision initiatives in Japan are evaluated in light of theory in environmental risk communication. The first case is Fukuoka City, Kyushu, in particular increased flood and heat risk. The second case is Tomakomai City, Hokkaido, particularly municipal data provision on potential localised climate risks related to marine environmental change. Evaluation is undertaken through in-depth interviews with local-level actors (policymakers, scientists, NGOs, citizens), and field observation in each location. The paper argues that at a stage where principles and best practices on climate information service provision are still emerging, it is crucial to avoid assumptions about what communities will want to know about climate risks. The paper hence proposes principles for more appropriate climate risk communication. These include (a) identifying which institutions citizens look to for information on local weather and climate; (b) acknowledging that publics can, in appropriate contexts, be able and willing to engage with complex information on urban climate risk; and (c) considering how data-driven information services fit with the more informal ways in which people can experience environmental change

Football and climate change: what do we know, and what is needed for an evidence-informed response?

Association football is popular and influential globally. Interest in how football relates to climate change, and the climate policy required for football, is growing. Clubs, players and fans increasingly call for action to reduce football’s impact on the climate, and for plans to adapt to climate impacts on football. However, well-intentioned actions must be underpinned by robust evidence. This synthesis reviews research at the interface of football and climate change. After summarizing the main climate actions identified for fans, players, clubs and organizing bodies, the review looks in-depth at four areas: impacts of football on climate; impacts of climate on football; football as a driver for pro-climate actions; and the relationship between football and carbon-intensive industries. The review then outlines research gaps for an evidence-driven response to climate change in football: adaptation across different geographical contexts; understanding what climate change means for community-level football; understanding how carbon-intensive industries relate to sense of place identity in football under a just transition; developing principles for phasing-out fossil fuel financing; and considering how climate change relates to women’s football

Treated water releases from the Fukushima Dai’ichi nuclear power plant: An overview of the decision-making process and governing institutions

In August 2023, the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), with permission of the Japanese government, began to release treated water stored on the site of the Fukushima Dai’ichi nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean. Given their unprecedented nature in terms of scale and duration, with over one million tons of water to be released over thirty years, the releases have drawn international scholarly attention from marine policy, law, conservation and social sciences, as well as from policy and science-media sectors more widely. The purpose of this communication is therefore to provide an international audience with an outline of the processes through which the decision to release the treated water was made; and of the institutions and policy frameworks that govern the treated water releases from Fukushima Dai’ichi

Nature-Based Solutions and a Just Transition: Understanding the Jobs, Skills and Training Requirements for NBS to Contribute to the Green Economy

This paper evaluates potential for nature-based solutions (NbS) to contribute to a just urban transition, through fair and decent work for people in cities with industrial or high-emitting economies. The idea of a just transition –a move to a zero-emission and sustainable society that does not leave behind the people and places whose jobs and livelihoods rely on high-emitting industries – is gaining signficant attention in international scholarship and policy, including urban policy. However, although there is increasing awareness of the “green jobs” opportunity associated with energy, understanding of the potential for new jobs associated with NbS in the urban economy is more limited. At the same time, there is also a growing acknowledgement that successful urban NbS interventions will require long-term stewardship. Developing a workforce with the skills to maintain and enhance NbS is thus critical if multiple benefits are to be realised. The role of nature-based solutions in a just transition, and skills requirements for NbS stewardship, are explored through the case of Glasgow in Scotland, United Kingdom. Glasgow is a valuable case as it is a post-industrial former manufacturing and shipbuilding city, which has in recent years suffered deprivation and public health. From an urban planning and policy perspective, city- and national-level climate adaptation and transition plans have given impetus towards a just recovery and transition towards resilience for the Clyde Corridor and for the Glasgow City Region more widely. Glasgow is thus valuable for understanding the jobs, skills and training requirements for NbS, in that it is (a) at a stage where there is a clear policy and planning vision of what NbS deployment in the city region might look like; and (b) home to a large workforce who are likely to need retraining or up-skilling in response to the climate change challenge. A typology of jobs requried to realise a just urban transition through NbS is developed from review of international scholarly literature, and is used as the analytical framework for the paper. Key job areas that are identified include jobs in construction, land-based sectors, civil engineering and cross-cutting sectors to support societal transformation. Governmental statistics are then used to identify opportunities for particular neighbourhoods or sections of the workforce to benefit from training or upskilling, so that NbS jobs may contribute to just resilience for Glasgow. Existing skilled workers in sectors such as manufacturing and utility supply, which are projected to see declines, may be able to re-skill to support embedding NbS into new-builds and retrofitting in the construction industry. Expanding ‘skills passports’ to encompass NbS jobs may support this. Data also suggests, however, that in construction- and land-based sectors, there is an ageing workforce and a coming need for replacement labour. Particularly in employment-deprived areas, qualifications in construction, civil engineering and land-based sectors may provide younger people with vocational-level qualifications with an opportunity to develop a sustainable career pathway that will support stewardship for NbS. Moreover, the significance of cross-cutting skills at community level should not be underestimated as support for putting NbS implementation and stewardship into practice. Reflecting on the urban just transitions and urban NbS policy literature more widely, based on insights from Glasgow City Region, I argue there is a need for particular attention to, and emphasis on, NbS jobs that may be available to sections of the workforce that may be more likely to struggle to find work as traditonal industries are wound down. In other words, there remains a need for more understanding of adaptation and resilience jobs for those with vocational qualifications, alongside the planning and management-type jobs that are perhaps better understood. There is also a need to ensure that understanding of the skills and capabilities for NbS stewardship are integrated into univeristy and college curricula for sectors such as construction and civil engineering, and to protect and update curriucla in areas such as land management and urban ecology Fuller spatial data on workforce skills and adaptation job requirements will help to better understand how the NbS urban green economy opportunity links to the existing and future workforce

Urban shrinkage as a catalyst for transformative adaptation

Transformative climate adaptation is argued to reduce underlying vulnerability whilst adapting to impacts. However, transformative actions may face resistance in post-industrial shrinking city contexts. Resources to act may be limited and social, cultural and economic links to high-emitting industries make conversations on climate action difficult. This paper assesses how transformative adaptation may be initiated in a post-industrial shrinking city, by evaluating the former coal mining city of Yubari in Hokkaido, Japan. Interviews with organisations and a residents’ discussion group assess how citizens of Yubari experience social and environmental changes. A review of policies that support transformative adaptation in Yubari is undertaken. Although strong ties to Yubari’s mining identity have constrained discussion on climate action, the need to physically shrink the city’s size and engage third-sector organisations beyond local government created opportunities for transformative actions that also support adaptation. The findings support the existing shrinking cities literature. Place attachment can energise residents to take action and defend their locality against the worst effects of urban shrinkage. This highlights the value of intermediary organisations outside local government in initiating discussions on transformative actions towards climate adaptation. Policy relevance The study contributes a climate adaptation angle to applied research and practice for cities facing demographic or economic shrinkage. Shrinkage can initiate transformative and disruptive actions, but limited resources can make it difficult for urban planners and environmental policymakers to promote resilience. The findings from Yubari show that planning decisions can reduce vulnerability from hazards and enhance resilience to shocks and stresses by reducing the physical footprint of the city and engaging third-sector organisations in managing the natural environment. When trust in local governments is low because of a perceived failure to anticipate problems of shrinkage, then intermediary organisations are needed to facilitate dialogue with citizens on significant changes to place that enable transformative adaptation

Respect for nature at 200 km/h? Rally driving in Scotland and environmental responsibility

This thesis explores how rally drivers in Scotland perceive environmental issues and the environments through which they drive. The overarching aim behind this is to think about a group of people who may be more hostile towards questions of environmental responsibility, and look at how such stakeholders reason round their behaviours and perceive environmental issues. I argue that due to the potentially farreaching impacts of contemporary environmental challenges, it is crucial to take seriously the viewpoints and values of those who are perhaps not so willing to engage with environmental issues. The work draws on several bodies of literature. First is work in environmental philosophy on the practical contribution of this sub-discipline, in particular environmental pragmatism. Second is thinking in sociology and human geography on responsibility, especially the interface between responsibility and care. Third is recent material in geography on the body and movement, in particular the burgeoning field of automobility. These issues are addressed through a three-fold research design. Ethnographic and participatory techniques are used to foster an understanding of what exactly ‘the environment’ might mean to rally drivers (and indeed other users of the forest with whom rallying may come into conflict) and how it is experienced. In-depth interviews and subsequent narrative analysis seek to delve further into participants’ narratives and life histories in order to get a handle on how rally driving sits in relation to broader life contexts. Finally, two small-scale participatory projects with rally organisers relating to environmentally-responsible practice look at how this all comes together when participants make practical responses to environmental challenges. The key conclusions arising from the empirical data are that environmental problems are experienced through a range of senses, with different groups using different sensory ‘evidence’ to make claims about environmental damage; that in some cases stakeholders’ views of environmental issues are based on perceived conflict with others as opposed to actual conflict; and that the values activities such as motor sport may represent are just as significant as their physical environmental impacts. In terms of the broader applicability of this research, I suggest two things. Firstly, that one of the key challenges in responding to contemporary environmental issues lies in thinking through how publics link up their everyday practices with much bigger discourses on global environmental change. Secondly, that careful and critical reflection on the rich narratives of place and people, and on the range of emotions shaped by embodied experience, can go some way to explaining why people may persist with more environmentally damaging practices in spite of ethical and environmental criticisms

Making sense of complexity in risk governance in post-disaster Fukushima fisheries: A scalar approach

This paper evaluates how geographical theories of scale can give a more robust understanding of the governance of complex environmental risks. We assess the case of fisheries in Iwaki City, Fukushima Prefecture in Japan following the 2011 nuclear disaster. Fisheries in Iwaki and Fukushima more widely are operating on a trial basis as understanding of the marine radiation situation becomes clearer, however questions remain over whether consumers will buy produce and to what extent full-scale fisheries will resume. Based on empirical fieldwork undertaken in Fukushima plus supporting documentary analysis, we construct a scalar account of post-disaster Iwaki fisheries. We use this to argue that framing post-disaster fisheries governance at the municipal scale rather than the prefectural scale has opened up opportunities for enacting the more two-way forms of risk governance that contemporary environmental issues may require. We also argue locally-situated ‘experts’ (e.g. fisheries extension officers and citizen science groups) play a key role in negotiating citizens’ and fishers’ relationships with larger-scale scientific discourses due to their ability to work across scales, despite having less techno-scientific expertise than their national-level counterparts. In turn, we suggest that in governance of complex environmental issues, policymakers ought to (a) consider how community-level expectations may differ from risk governance processes developed at larger scales; (b) identify key institutions or figures who can work across scales and support them accordingly; and (c) show cognisance to the social effects that may arise from spatial demarcation of environmental problems

Engagement on risk and uncertainty – lessons from coastal regions of Fukushima Prefecture, Japan after the 2011 nuclear disaster?

This paper uses the case study of the south-east coast of Fukushima Prefecture in Japan to draw lessons for risk communication under situations of high uncertainty and conditions of varying trust. Based on an existing field of research into the social and ethical aspects of governing risks around environmental radioactivity, empirical qualitative material collected in Fukushima Prefecture over 2014 and 2015 is analysed around three key questions: who is undertaking risk communication and how they are perceived (in particular their motivations and perceived competence); what is the purpose of engagement with citizens and stakeholders on risk and uncertainty (i.e. whether it is to ‘convince’ people or allow them to come to their own informed decision); and whether risk communication may be considered responsive to the needs of the affected populations. The findings are then applied to Kasperson’s four questions for the future of risk communication in order to assess their wider implications. Particular attention is paid to how the individual or institution conveying the risk message is perceived, and in whose interests risk communication is undertaken