Getting the message across: biodiversity science and policy interfaces

Lettere En WysbegeerteSosiologie & Sosiale AntropologiePlease help us populate SUNScholar with the post print version of this article. It can be e-mailed to: [email protected]

Global investment flows in land restoration and nature conservation

Global Challenges (FSW

Living on Other People’s Land; Impacts of Farm Conversations to Game Farming on Farm Dwellers’ Abilities to Access Land in the Eastern Cape, South Africa

This contribution analyses the impacts of conversions of commercial – mainly white-owned – farms to wildlife-based production on access to land for farm workers and dwellers in South Africa. They depended on informal arrangements with landowners for access, hence the notions of ‘abilities to access’ and ‘bundles of power’ are more appropriate concepts to analyze their access than bundles of rights. In post-apartheid South Africa, the state attempted to formalize farm dwellers’ land rights, but simultaneously deregulated the agricultural sector, which stimulated land concentration and land investments, and changed social relations on commercial farms. These contradictory interventions impact negatively on farm dwellers’ abilities to access to land on commercial farms. The paper furthermore demonstrates that conversions to wildlife-based production constitute one response by landowners to the changes in the agricultural sector, but also play a role in struggles about identity and belonging in post-apartheid South Africa.Global Challenges (FSW

Connecting diverse knowledge systems for enhanced ecosystem governance: The multiple evidence base approach

Indigenous and local knowledge systems aswell as practitioners’ knowledge can provide valid anduseful knowledge to enhance our understanding of governanceof biodiversity and ecosystems for human wellbeing.There is, therefore, a great need within emergingglobal assessment programs, such as the IPBES and otherinternational efforts, to develop functioning mechanismsfor legitimate, transparent, and constructive ways of creatingsynergies across knowledge systems. We present themultiple evidence base (MEB) as an approach that proposesparallels whereby indigenous, local and scientificknowledge systems are viewed to generate differentmanifestations of knowledge, which can generate newinsights and innovations through complementarities. MEBemphasizes that evaluation of knowledge occurs primarilywithin rather than across knowledge systems. MEB on aparticular issue creates an enriched picture of understanding,for triangulation and joint assessment ofknowledge, and a starting point for further knowledgegeneration

Remodeling environments: anthropological perspectives on the limits of computational models

Global Challenges (FSW

Deaths among wild birds during highly pathogenic avian influenza A(H5N8) virus outbreak, the Netherlands

During autumn–winter 2016–2017, highly pathogenic avian influenza A(H5N8) viruses caused mass die-offs among wild birds in the Netherlands. Among the ≈13,600 birds reported dead, most were tufted ducks (Aythya fuligula) and Eurasian wigeons (Anas penelope). Recurrence of avian influenza outbreaks might alter wild bird population dynamics

The programme on ecosystem change and society (PECS): a decade of deepening social-ecological research through a place-based focus

The Programme on Ecosystem Change and Society (PECS) was established in 2011, and is now one of the major international social-ecological systems (SES) research networks. During this time, SES research has undergone a phase of rapid growth and has grown into an influential branch of sustainability science. In this Perspective, we argue that SES research has also deepened over the past decade, and helped to shed light on key dimensions of SES dynamics (e.g. system feedbacks, aspects of system design, goals and paradigms) that can lead to tangible action for solving the major sustainability challenges of our time. We suggest four ways in which the growth of place-based SES research, fostered by networks such as PECS, has contributed to these developments, namely by: 1) shedding light on transformational change, 2) revealing the social dynamics shaping SES, 3) bringing together diverse types of knowledge, and 4) encouraging reflexive researchers.FSW - Global Connections --- Ou

Conversations in a Crowded Room: An Assessment of the Contribution of Historical Research to Criminology

The relationship between history and social science generally, as well as history and criminology specifically, has long been considered problematic. But, since the likes of Burke (1992) and King (1999) spoke of a ‘dialogue of the deaf’, crime history has rapidly expanded and, more latterly, historical criminology has begun to emerge. This article reappraises the relationship of the subject areas by considering the impact that historical research has had on criminology. Although the impact is found to be somewhat patchy, the article identifies positive signs within the two fields that might point towards a more mutually‐enriching future