Ethically Researching Local Impacts of Environmental Change without Travel

publishedVersio

Antarcticness: Inspirations and imaginaries

Antarcticness joins disciplines, communication approaches and ideas to explore meanings and depictions of Antarctica. Personal and professional words in poetry and prose, plus images, present and represent Antarctica, as presumed and as imagined, alongside what is experienced around the continent and by those watching from afar. These understandings explain how the Antarctic is viewed and managed while identifying aspects which should be more prominent in policy and practice. The authors and artists place Antarctica, and the perceptions and knowledge through Antarcticness, within inspirations and imaginations, without losing sight of the multiple interests pushing the continent’s governance as it goes through rapid political and environmental changes. Given the diversity and disparity of the influences and changes, the book’s contributions connect to provide a more coherent and encompassing perspective of how society views Antarctica, scientifically and artistically, and what the continent provides and could provide politically, culturally and environmentally. Offering original research, art and interpretations of different experiences and explorations of Antarctica, explanations meld with narratives while academic analyses overlap with first-hand experiences of what Antarctica does and does not – could and could not – bring to the world

Words without meaning? Examining sustainable development terminology through small states and territories

Small states and territories have plenty of examples to offer of sustainable development as well as for analysing the terminology used in sustainable development. This paper uses conceptual discussion supported by specific examples from small states and territories to explore these issues, demonstrating limitations and improvements to contemporary sustainable development terminology. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) frequently illustrate the points, for which this paper examines water, waste, and energy. These three are built on for examining climate change through a slightly polemical discussion which mirrors the polemics of sustainable development terminology. Small states and territories are shown to contribute to indicating how and why sustainable development terminology can inhibit practicalities of sustainable development, through detracting and distracting from realities faced, pragmatic decisions which need to be made, and fruitful enactment of desired and desirable pathways.publishedVersionPaid open acces

Disaster vulnerability by demographics?

publishedVersio

Inclusive engagement for environmental sustainability in small island states

Environmental sustainability and inclusive engagement have had numerous interpretations over the past decades, with small island states being at the forefront of seeking and applying multiple approaches. This short review selects key peer-reviewed papers from 2020 to mid-2022 on the topic of inclusive engagement for environmental sustainability in small island states. It particularly focuses on and presents different approaches to and representations of inclusive engagement, environmental sustainability and their intersection. Much is obscured through complicated jargon and processes, in terms of knowledge systems valued, wordings expressed and underlying assumptions. Nonetheless, many of the papers selected provide important and beneficial contributions to support depth in and action for key aspects that have not always been fully recognised or applied in science or in practice

COVID-19: A Disaster Diplomacy Perspective

Disease has long been used in war and for peace. Consequently, some argue that addressing the COVID-19 pandemic provides an opportunity for health diplomacy, yet evidence is not provided regarding how and why it should or would succeed. This article adopts a disaster diplomacy perspective to summarize COVID-19 influencing or not influencing peace, cooperation, and diplomacy, focusing on the country-to-country level. It further analyzes whether any successes might contribute to rethinking and revitalizing diplomacy for a more peaceful future. Two main dimensions are detailed, pre-vaccine disease diplomacy and vaccine diplomacy. The conclusion is that a disaster diplomacy perspective indicates a more peaceful future is not likely to emerge from COVID-19 alone, especially not new and lasting diplomatic endeavors. Pandemic-related actions might sometimes work in tandem with ongoing peace, cooperation, and diplomacy

Categorising animals and habitats in disaster-related activities

publishedVersio

Critiquing the pursuit of island sustainability

This article critiques a focus on ‘sustainable development’ which highlights a liveable ‘future’ without paying adequate attention to what, we argue, are more pressing issues for a liveable present. We contend that, while inherently commendable, the thrust of many current initiatives related to sustainable development, especially those associated with climate change, promote an ethos which crowds out other pressing policy pursuits with more immediate relevance – although often also associated with sustainable development – such as health, basic education, poverty reduction, and productive employment and livelihoods. Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are at the forefront of these initiatives, given their prominence in discussions on sustainable development, but especially climate change, alongside the basic challenges that they face in maintaining viable economies. Long-term thinking and planning is needed and welcomed; but we may now have gone too far in the opposite direction in terms of aiming for sustainable development in, and for, a distant future that emphasises climate change, without better balancing of that concern with the pressing needs of the moment.peer-reviewe

Potential non-disasters of 2021

Author's accepted manuscript.This author accepted manuscript is deposited under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC) licence. This means that anyone may distribute, adapt, and build upon the work for non-commercial purposes, subject to full attribution. If you wish to use this manuscript for commercial purposes, please contact [email protected]: This short paper compiles some potential disasters that might not have happened in 2021 even though a major hazard occurred. No definitive statements are made of what did or did not transpire in each instance. Instead, the material offers a pedagogical and communications approach, especially to encourage deeper investigation and critique into what are and are not labelled as disasters and non-disasters—and the consequences of this labelling. Design/methodology/approach: This short paper adopts a subjective approach to describing situations in 2021 in which a hazard was evident, but a disaster might not have resulted. Brief explanations are provided with some evidence and reasoning, to be used in teaching and science communication for deeper examination, verification and critique. Findings: Examples exist in which hazards could have become disasters, but disasters might not have manifested, ostensibly due to disaster risk reduction. Reaching firm conclusions about so-called “non-disasters” is less straightforward. Originality/value: Many reports rank the seemingly worst disasters while research often compares a disaster investigated with the apparently worst disasters previously experienced. This short paper instead provides possible ways of teaching and communicating potential non-disasters. It offers an approach for applying lessons to encourage action on disaster risk reduction, while recognising challenges with the labels “non-disaster”, “success” and “positive news”.publishedVersio