Towards a new economic paradigm : exploring mental models and message framing effects about ecological economics

The transition to a sustainable economic paradigm may be one of the most important issues of our times. This study contributes to the effective communication of ecological economics, by: 1) identifying mental models on people’s perceptions about economic growth and the environment, 2) exploring the prevalence of expansionist and ecological attitudes, and segmenting the audience based on these attitudes, and 3) exploring the effects of different messages (about the transition to economies not centered on growth) on people’s thoughts, emotions and attitudes. Sixty interviews and 1,250 online surveys were carried out in British Columbia and Canada, respectively. Data were analysed with NVivo 10, IBM SPSS Statistics 23 and Latent Gold 5.1. Based on the interviews, five mental models were described. These sat in a spectrum of views anchored to an expansionist or to an ecological worldview. The most expansionist views (Cluster A) expressed great faith in indefinite economic growth and human ingenuity. The most ecological perspectives (Cluster E) acknowledged limits to economic growth, recognized the ecological crisis and expressed techno-skepticism. The other perspectives were in the middle of the spectrum. Based on the surveys, three audience segments were identified. Participants in Cluster 1 (41.1%) were the most optimistic towards technology and indefinite economic growth. Members of Cluster 2 (36.3%) did not express strong opinions. Participants in Cluster 3 (22.6%) acknowledged human unsustainability, expressed higher environmental concern and did not believe in indefinite growth. Sociodemographic factors (e.g. gender, political identification) correlated with the mental models and segments. Regarding the framing experiments, the messages influenced participant’s thoughts and emotions. Environmental messages invoked more references to resources and sustainability, while well-being messages generated more comments about overconsumption and happiness. Loss-framed messages caused greater negative emotions than gain-framed messages and the environmental message focused on losses generated the least hope and the greatest fear and anger among frames. There was no evidence that attitudinal responses were influenced by the frames. Most participants agreed with moving into an economic model with reduced consumption levels. This study provides data on topics that have been little explored and offers insights about the impacts of different post-growth messages.Forestry, Faculty ofGraduat

Limitations and opportunities for small and medium forest enterprises in The Gambia : an exploration of the business environment, business development services, and financial services

Small and medium forest enterprises (SMFEs) can promote the sustainable use of forested ecosystems, while also contributing to the livelihoods of forest-dependent people. SMFEs often face several challenges that threaten their ability to develop and grow, therefore, they usually require support in: reforming the Business Environment (BE), accessing Business Development Services (BDSs), and obtaining Financial Services (FSs). According to the literature, in The Gambia, the environment for community forestry has improved and communities have received training for developing sustainable SMFEs. Nevertheless, more information is needed about the challenges facing these enterprises, especially with regard to their access to FSs. This qualitative research had three objectives: 1) identify the opportunities and limiting factors facing SMFEs regarding the BE of The Gambia; 2) determine the opportunities and constraints of SMFEs concerning their business development and their need for BDSs; and 3) evaluate the accessibility to FSs for SMFEs, and determine strategies to improve the delivery of these services. A multiple case study approach was employed. In total, 16 SMFEs and 14 financial institutions were studied in the Western Region of The Gambia. Results indicate that the government has exerted a positive impact on the studied SMFEs by devolving land tenure to local communities, coupled with capacity building and support activities, and the application of simplified regulations. Associations of enterprises have been valuable in supplementing government efforts. Nevertheless, ill-conceived policies tied with weak enforcement, corruption and illegal activities, are major limitations still confronting wood-related SMFEs in the BE of The Gambia. The studied enterprises are at different stages in their business development; nevertheless, all revealed the need for a continual provision of BDSs. Concerning FSs, our data show that SMFEs have easy access to deposit accounts, but face limitations when accessing credit, especially from banks. Cooperative credit unions have been notable in providing loans; however, NGOs, associations, and government projects have taken the lead in delivering credit-only schemes. This study offers an updated view of SMFEs in The Gambia and illustrates some of the major challenges still facing them. Additionally, it is a contribution to the literature on small-scale forest enterprises and microfinance.Forestry, Faculty ofGraduat

Promoting Community Forestry Enterprises in National REDD+ Strategies : A Business Approach

Community forestry and related small and medium forest enterprises (SMFEs) can contribute towards the achievement of REDD+ goals, since they can promote sustainable use and conservation of forests and, therefore, a reduction in forest-related carbon emissions. Additionally, they can improve the quality of life of forest-dependant people by generating alternative sources of income and employment. However, SMFEs often face a number of challenges, including non-conducive policy environments, inadequate business skills, and moreover, limited access to financial services. In this paper, we propose to direct a portion of REDD+ readiness efforts towards promoting the generation of an enabling environment for SMFEs that includes: the construction of an adequate Business Environment (BE), the provision of Business Development Services (BDS) and better access to Financial Services (FS). With the application of this framework, SMFEs will be more likely to proliferate and succeed, leading to enhanced community resilience and empowerment, in addition to increasing the likelihood of forest carbon stock permanence and the long term achievement of REDD+ goals. Opportunities and challenges of applying this approach in Latin America are discussed.Forestry, Faculty ofForest Resources Management, Department ofWood Science, Department ofReviewedFacult

Above- and below-ground biomass and carbon dynamics in Brazilian Cerrado wet grasslands

Questions\ud Grasslands are usually neglected as potential carbon stocks, partially due to the lack of studies on biomass and carbon dynamics in tropical grasslands. What is the importance of Brazilian tropical wet grasslands as carbon sinks? Does fire frequency and season affect biomass and carbon allocation in Brazilian wet grasslands?\ud \ud Location\ud Wet grasslands, tropical savanna, Jalapão, Tocantins, northern Brazil.\ud \ud Methods\ud We determined biomass above- and below-ground, estimated carbon stocks in biennially burned plots (B2) and plots excluded from fire for 4 yr (B4). Moreover, we determined biomass in both rainy and dry seasons. Samples were 0.25 m × 0.25 m × 0.2 m (eight samples per treatment, applying a nested design, total of 48 samples). The biomass was classified in above-ground graminoids, forbs and dead matter, and below-ground roots and other below-ground organs. We used ANOVA to compare variables between treatments and seasons.\ud \ud Results\ud More than 40% of the total biomass and carbon stocks were located below-ground, mostly in roots. A high proportion of dead biomass (B4) was found in the above-ground material, probably due to low decomposition rates and consequent accumulation over the years. Although these grasslands do not experience water stress, we found significant evidence of resource re-allocation from below-ground organs to the above-ground biomass in the rainy season.\ud \ud Conclusions\ud We found more dead biomass in the rainy season, probably due to low decomposition rates, which can increase fire risk in these grasslands during the following dry season. These tropical wet grasslands stored high amounts of carbon (621 to 716 g C.m−2), mostly in the roots. Thus, policymakers should consider tropical grasslands as potential carbon stocks, since they are one of the most threatened and unprotected ecosystems in Brazil.This research was supported by FAPESP – Fundac¸a˜o de Amparo a` Pesquisa do Estado de Sa˜o Paulo (Project 2008/10049-9), Neotropical Grassland Conservancy and CNPq – Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientı´- fico e Tecnolo´gico (475434/2010-2). A.F. and M.F.S.L received financial support from FAPESP (2008/10049-9; 2009/14978-7) and V.R.P. from CNPq

A global metagenomic map of urban microbiomes and antimicrobial resistance

We present a global atlas of 4,728 metagenomic samples from mass-transit systems in 60 cities over 3 years, representing the first systematic, worldwide catalog of the urban microbial ecosystem. This atlas provides an annotated, geospatial profile of microbial strains, functional characteristics, antimicrobial resistance (AMR) markers, and genetic elements, including 10,928 viruses, 1,302 bacteria, 2 archaea, and 838,532 CRISPR arrays not found in reference databases. We identified 4,246 known species of urban microorganisms and a consistent set of 31 species found in 97% of samples that were distinct from human commensal organisms. Profiles of AMR genes varied widely in type and density across cities. Cities showed distinct microbial taxonomic signatures that were driven by climate and geographic differences. These results constitute a high-resolution global metagenomic atlas that enables discovery of organisms and genes, highlights potential public health and forensic applications, and provides a culture-independent view of AMR burden in cities.Funding: the Tri-I Program in Computational Biology and Medicine (CBM) funded by NIH grant 1T32GM083937; GitHub; Philip Blood and the Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment (XSEDE), supported by NSF grant number ACI-1548562 and NSF award number ACI-1445606; NASA (NNX14AH50G, NNX17AB26G), the NIH (R01AI151059, R25EB020393, R21AI129851, R35GM138152, U01DA053941); STARR Foundation (I13- 0052); LLS (MCL7001-18, LLS 9238-16, LLS-MCL7001-18); the NSF (1840275); the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (OPP1151054); the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation (G-2015-13964); Swiss National Science Foundation grant number 407540_167331; NIH award number UL1TR000457; the US Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute under contract number DE-AC02-05CH11231; the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center, supported by the Office of Science of the US Department of Energy; Stockholm Health Authority grant SLL 20160933; the Institut Pasteur Korea; an NRF Korea grant (NRF-2014K1A4A7A01074645, 2017M3A9G6068246); the CONICYT Fondecyt Iniciación grants 11140666 and 11160905; Keio University Funds for Individual Research; funds from the Yamagata prefectural government and the city of Tsuruoka; JSPS KAKENHI grant number 20K10436; the bilateral AT-UA collaboration fund (WTZ:UA 02/2019; Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, UA:M/84-2019, M/126-2020); Kyiv Academic Univeristy; Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine project numbers 0118U100290 and 0120U101734; Centro de Excelencia Severo Ochoa 2013–2017; the CERCA Programme / Generalitat de Catalunya; the CRG-Novartis-Africa mobility program 2016; research funds from National Cheng Kung University and the Ministry of Science and Technology; Taiwan (MOST grant number 106-2321-B-006-016); we thank all the volunteers who made sampling NYC possible, Minciencias (project no. 639677758300), CNPq (EDN - 309973/2015-5), the Open Research Fund of Key Laboratory of Advanced Theory and Application in Statistics and Data Science – MOE, ECNU, the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong through project 11215017, National Key RD Project of China (2018YFE0201603), and Shanghai Municipal Science and Technology Major Project (2017SHZDZX01) (L.S.