On the links between nature's values and language

Recent research into the plural values about nature is focusing on relational values as a concept through which to better understand the breadth and importance of situated human–nature relations. However, potential relevance of language as a mediating factor in relational values has not been sufficiently examined. To investigate the links between language and values, we explore the influence of the ancient non-Indo-European Basque language (‘Euskara’) upon people's relationships with mountain forests in the Western Pyrenees of the Basque Country. Results based on triangulation of data from Q-methodology, focus groups and a socio-demographic survey indicate that while relational values are highly rated in all principal viewpoints about local forests, there is an emergent perspective that emphasises Euskara's key role in relations with the forest via cultural identity and place attachment. We conclude that positive relational values linked to Euskara may be seen as key levers for local sustainability transitions. The fact that positive rapports with language can have a meaningful role in human–nature relations points to the need for further research into the consequential links between biological and linguistic diversity. A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article. © 2021 The Authors. People and Nature published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Ecological SocietyWe would like to thank Simon West, Maraja Riechers, Antonio Castro and Kai Chan for their comments and suggestions during the review process. We also thank Mollie Chapman, Joe Gerlach, Rachelle Gould, Christopher Raymond, Aiora Zabala and Imanol Zabaleta for their comments on earlier drafts of the paper

A typology of elementary forms of human-nature relations: a contribution to the valuation debate

This article aims to contribute to the debate about the role of relational values in environmental decision making, by putting forward a typology of human-nature relational models . We argue that human-nature relational models, which stress the notion of cognitive frameworks, can be useful to understand core drivers of individual and social behavior that underlie environmental change and socio-environmental conflicts. A relational models approach calls for taking into consideration the diversity of cognitive frameworks conditioning our interaction with nature, with the ultimate goal of avoiding, mitigating, transforming and resolving socio-environmental conflicts and achieving a wiser relationship with the natural environment. © 2018 Elsevier B.V

Remissis cenis publicis : las reglas del juego del evergetismo. A propósito de CIL II 1046 con un apéndice sobre CIL VIII 11058

Gracias a dos versiones manuscritas de CIL II 1046 no utilizadas hasta ahora, es posible restituir el texto auténtico de esta inscripción mal transmitida y por lo tanto erróneamente interpretada. El nuevo texto documenta una forma de homenaje público hasta la fecha desconocido, a saber, que al beneficiario de una estatua honorífica decretada por el ordo le eran condonados, como un honor adicional, los gastos del banquete que habría tenido que pagar para los decuriones y seviri con ocasión de la dedicación de la estatua; eran los mismos participantes en el banquete los que en este caso corrían con los gastos. En el apéndice, la nueva interpretación de A. Beschaouch de la recuperada inscripción CIL VIII 11058 es discutida y rechazada.Dank zweier bisher nicht herangezogener Manuskriptfassungen lässt sich der ursprüngliche Wortlaut der schlecht überlieferten und daher missverstandenen Inschrift CIL II 1046 wiederherstellen. Der neue Text belegt eine bisher unbekannte Form der öffentlichen Ehrung, dass nämlich dem Empfänger einer vom Ordo beschlossenen Ehrenstatue als zusätzliche Ehre die Kosten des Festmahls für Dekurionen und Seviri, dessen Ausrichtung von ihm aus Anlass der Statuendedikation erwartet wurde, erlassen werden konnten; für die Kosten kamen in diesem Fall die Teilnehmer an dem Mahl selbst auf. Im Anhang wird die Neuinterpretation der Inschrift CIL VIII 11058 von A. Beschaouch diskutiert und als verfehlt zurückgewiesen

Chemical Bonding and Charge Distribution at Metallic Nanocontacts

We present results of electronic structure calculations for aluminium contacts of atomic size, based on density functional theory and the local density approximation. Addressing the atomic orbitals at the neck of the nanocontact, we find that the local band structure deviates strongly from bulk fcc aluminium. In particular, hybridization between Al 3s and 3p states is fully suppressed due to directed bonds at the contact. Moreover, a charge transfer of 0.6 electrons off the contact aluminium site is found. Both the suppressed hybridization and the violated charge neutrality are characteristic features of metallic nanocontacts. This fact has serious consequences for models aiming at a microscopic description of transport properties.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, accepted by Chemical Physics Letter

The economics of agrobiodiversity conservation for food security under climate change

Subsistence-based and natural resource-dependent societies are especially vulnerable to climate change. In such contexts, food security needs to be strengthened by investing in the adaptability of food systems. This paper looks into the role of agrobiodiversity conservation for food security in the face of climate change. It identifies agrobiodiversity as a key public good that delivers necessary services for human wellbeing. We argue that the public values provided by agrobiodiversity conservation need to be demonstrated and captured. We offer an economic perspective of this challenge and highlight ways of capturing at least a subset of the public values of agrobiodiversity to help adapt to and reduce the vulnerability of subsistence based economies to climate change

Multilingualism for pluralising knowledge and decision making about people and nature relationships

The need for a pluralistic approach to biodiversity conservation science and policy is increasingly being recognized. We argue that plural perspectives require multilingualism in the sources and processes. Unless the linguistic bias and the related issues in terms of legitimacy and validity, resistance to inclusion, and knowledge coproduction are meaningfully addressed, biodiversity science and its positive effects for conservation policy and practices will necessarily be limited. We propose a series of options to address the linguistic biases in biodiversity conservation science and policy, including extending and tightening collaboration with environmental humanities scholars from diverse traditions as well as researchers from diverse linguistic contexts. We conclude by showing how multilingualism is especially relevant for cross-scale and global biodiversity governance. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.This research was partially funded by Swiss National Science Foundation Grant No. P2SKP1_194948, and by Maria de Maeztu excellence accreditation 2023‐2026 (Ref. CEX2021‐001201‐M), funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033

Editorial overview: Relational values: what are they, and what's the fuss about?

Relational values as preferences, principles and virtues about human-nature relationships have attracted a great deal of attention in recent years. The term has been used to include concepts and knowledge from a wide range of social sciences and humanities, e.g., importantly making space for qualitative approaches often neglected within environmental management and science. Meanwhile, crucial questions have emerged. What counts as a relational value, and what does not? How do relational values (RVs) compare with other value categories and terms, including held, assigned, instrumental, moral, shared, social, and non-material values (e.g., associated with cultural ecosystem services)? In this article, we address these issues, partly by providing context about how the RV term originated and how it has evolved to date. Most importantly, because of their somewhat unique combination of groundedness and moral relevance, positive relational values may offer important opportunities for the evolution of values that may be necessary for transformative change towards sustainability. The special issue includes contributions that contemplate particular concepts (e.g., care, stewardship, eudaimonia human flourishing), applications (e.g., environmental assessment, environmental policy design), and the history of relevant scholarship in various intellectual traditions (e.g., ecological economics, human ecology, environmental education). Together with this suite of thought-provoking papers, we hope that the clarification we provide here facilitates a broad and productive interdisciplinary exchange to create and refine a reflective but powerful tool for sustainability and justice. © 2018We have been funded by a Canadian SSHRC Insight Grant (#435-2017-1071) and a UBC Killam Research Fellowship (KC)

Payments for Pioneers? Revisiting the Role of External Rewards for Sustainable Innovation under Heterogeneous Motivations

© 2017, Elsevier Acknowledging the diversity of preferences, goals and motivations of individuals is key to promote the effectiveness of incentive-based conservation interventions. This paper analyses the heterogeneity of motivations to adopt silvopastoral practices, a social-ecological innovation for soil conservation and carbon emission reduction. We use Q methodology to identify smallholders' views with regard to these practices in a community in the forest frontier in Chiapas (Mexico). The analysis uncovers three main perspectives: self-sufficient pioneers, environmentally-conscious followers and payment-dependent conservatives. We discuss these perspectives around three topics: smallholders' predisposition to adopt silvopastoral practices, their views about needing external payments to sustain their livelihood and the diffusion of innovative sustainable practices. We relate these perspectives with livelihood characteristics and with observed adoption levels under a pilot programme to promote silvopasture. Our findings suggest that incentives other than payments may be more appropriate for those more likely to adopt, and that payments could encourage rent-seeking strategies and not necessarily promote permanent behavioural change. We suggest ways for designing more effective and adaptive environmental conservation programmes to foster adoption and continuation of social-ecological innovations

Land markets, Property rights, and Deforestation: Insights from Indonesia

We examine the emergence of land markets and their effects on forest land appropriation by farm households in Jambi Province, Sumatra, using micro-level data covering land use and land transactions for a period of more than 20 years (1992 2015). Based on a theoretical model of land acquisition by a heterogeneous farming population, different hypotheses are developed and empirically tested. Farm households involved in forest land appropriation differ from those involved in land market purchases in terms of migration status and other socioeconomic characteristics. In principle, these differences provide opportunities for market-induced deforestation. However, the appropriated forest land is not extensively traded, which we attribute to the lack of de jure property right protection and the resulting undervaluation in the market. While the de facto property right protection under customary law provides sufficient security within the village community, the sense of external tenure security is low when the land cannot be formally titled. Clearing forests for trading in the land market is, therefore, financially less lucrative for farm households than engaging in own cultivation of plantation crops, such as oil palm and rubber. We conclude that land markets did not have significant effects on deforestation. On the other hand, the emergence of land markets alone has also not been able to deter forest appropriation by local farm households. (c) 2017 The Author(s)This study was undertaken as part of the research project SFB 990.Ecological and Socioeconomic Functions of Tropical Lowland Rainforest Transformation Systems, Sumatra (Indonesia)- (EFForTS) funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG)

The role of the social network structure on the spread of intensive agriculture: an example from Navarre, Spain

Social networks influence decision-making in agricultural landscapes by affecting how farmers access knowledge and resources. However, researchers ignore the disparate structures built to access different kinds of knowledge and resources and the social mechanisms that take place on such farmers advice networks. We explored the role of social networks in decision-making among farmers in Navarre (Spain) to understand how and why some practices spread among farming communities. Social network analysis allows us to understand how farmers in this region share both knowledge and resources, and the potential implications of this sharing for the landscape. We find that large-scale farmers undertaking intensive land management are at the core of the network in this region, controlling the flow of knowledge and resources related to farm management, policy, technology, and finance. The central position of these farmers in the social network, and their reputation, is key to the spread of intensive farming practices in the region, which ultimately may lead to homogenization of local agricultural landscapes. Understanding farmer network structures in a context of agricultural intensification can help tease out the social mechanisms, such as farmers joining each other in cooperatives, behind the spread of agricultural practices. © 2020, Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.Many thanks to all the participants, especially to the lead author?s host Patxi Sueskun, and the people from the local cooperative: Rogelio Rodriguez, Andrea Ayestaran, and Leire Elorz. Without their help, this work would have not been possible. The lead author would also like to mention Julen Ugalde for his support in Canada during the data analysis and Jesse Rieb, Jesse Sayles, Jacopo Baggio, Karina Benessaiah, Carrie Dai, and Yevgen Nazarenko for their help at different stages of this research. Likewise, we are grateful for the insightful comments of the four reviewers that have made this paper stronger and sharper