Learning from community forestry experience: Challenges and lessons from British Columbia

A multiple case study approach is used to investigate community forest implementation challenges in British Columbia, Canada. Stakeholder interviews, document review and visits to the case sites (Denman Island, Malcolm Island, Cortes Island and Creston) were used to collect data on events occurring between 1990 and 2005. In addition to case-specific challenges, our analysis confirmed common challenges related to a lack of support, consensus, and organizational resources as well as poor forest health and timber profiles, resistance from conventional forest management, and competition for land and tenures. Development pressure emerged as a challenge for communities without land use decisionmaking authority. The final section offers some lessons and recommendations. / Une approche d’études de cas multiples est utilisée pour étudier les défis découlant de l’implantation de forêts communautaires en Colombie-Britannique, Canada. Nous avons effectué des entrevues auprès des intervenants, une revue des documents et des visites sur le terrain (Denman Island, Malcolm Island, Cortes Island et Creston) afin de recueillir des données sur les événements survenus entre 1990 et 2005. En plus des défis spécifiques à chaque cas, notre analyse a confirmé des défis communs reliés à la faiblesse des appuis, à un consensus mitigé et un manque de ressources organisationnelles ainsi qu’un mauvais état de santé des forêts et une pauvre répartition de la qualité au niveau des tiges, à la résistance par rapport à l’aménagement forestier conventionnel et à la compétition pour l’utilisation du territoire et la forme de tenure. Les communautés n’ayant pas d’autorité en matière de prise de décision sur l’utilisation du territoire ont connu l’émergence de défis face à des pressions de développement. La dernière section présente quelques leçons et recommandations.Support for this work has been provided by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and inkind support has been generously provided by Western Forest Products.http://pubs.cif-ifc.org/doi/10.5558/tfc85293-

Ecosystem service provision by road verges

1. Roads form a vast, rapidly growing global network that has diverse, detrimental ecological impacts. However, the habitats that border roads (‘road verges’) form a parallel network that might help mitigate these impacts and provide additional benefits (ecosystem services; ES). 2. We evaluate the capacity of road verges to provide ES by reviewing existing research and considering their relevant characteristics: area, connectivity, shape, and contextual ES supply and demand. We consider the present situation, and how this is likely to change based on future projections for growth in road extent, traffic densities and urban populations. 3. Road verges not only provide a wide range of ES, including biodiversity provision, regulating services (e.g. air and water filtration) and cultural services (e.g. health and aesthetic benefits by providing access to nature) but also displace other habitats and provide ecosystem disservices (e.g. plant allergens and damage to infrastructure). Globally, road verges may currently cover 270,000 km2 and store 0.015 Gt C/year, which will further increase with 70% projected growth in the global road network. 4. Road verges are well placed to mitigate traffic pollution and address demand for ES in surrounding ES‐impoverished landscapes, thereby improving human health and well‐being in urban areas, and improving agricultural production and sustainability in farmland. Demand for ES provided by road verges will likely increase due to projected growth in traffic densities and urban populations, though traffic pollution will be reduced by technological advances (e.g. electric vehicles). Road verges form a highly connected network, which may enhance ES provision but facilitate the dispersal of invasive species and increase vehicle–wildlife collisions. 5. Synthesis and applications. Road verges offer a significant opportunity to mitigate the negative ecological effects of roads and to address demand for ecosystem services (ES) in urban and agricultural landscapes. Their capacity to provide ES might be enhanced considerably if they were strategically designed and managed for environmental outcomes, namely by optimizing the selection, position and management of plant species and habitats. Specific opportunities include reducing mowing frequencies and planting trees in large verges. Road verge management for ES must consider safety guidelines, financial costs and ecosystem disservices, but is likely to provide long‐term financial returns if environmental benefits are considered

Improving Global Knowledge Exchange for Mental Health Systems Improvement

Policymakers globally are paying increasing attention to the challenges of providing more accessible and integrated mental health care. For transformative change to take place, thought needs to be given to the structure and form of evidence-informed change strategies at all levels: individual, organizational, community and complex, large systems. Yet few frameworks specifically consider the transfer of evidence-based programs across jurisdictions at regional and national levels; most are focused on local service implementation. This paper examines how a specific analytical model developed to assess and develop Knowledge Exchange (KE) can be applied to regional and national KE initiatives.  It specifically examines the efforts of the International Knowledge Exchange Network for Mental Health (IKEN-MH), and the associated community of interest on change and improvement, to support mental health systems change at these levels. Using a theoretical model, the Promoting Action on Research Implementation in Health Services framework (Kitson, Harvey, & McCormack, 1998, Rycroft-Malone, et al., 2002), we explore systems change efforts according to the constructs of evidence, context and facilitation. By matching some exemplars in the use of KE for mental health best practice against this model, the potential strategies of the IKEN-MH to assist transformational change emerge

The Grizzly, December 5, 2019

Ursinus Cancels Swimming Seasons After Hazing Investigation • Students Detail Harassment on Main Street • Summer Internship Tips with CPD • Get to Know: Spring Break Service Trip • Opinion: Ursinus\u27 Judicial System is Broken • Q&A with Senior Linebacker Jake McCain • Women\u27s Basketball Walk-on Proves She is More Than Just a Ballerhttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/grizzlynews/1597/thumbnail.jp

Improving Global Knowledge Exchange for Mental Health Systems Improvement

Policymakers globally are paying increasing attention to the challenges of providing more accessible and integrated mental health care. For transformative change to take place, thought needs to be given to the structure and form of evidence-informed change strategies at all levels: individual, organizational, community and complex, large systems. Yet few frameworks specifically consider the transfer of evidence-based programs across jurisdictions at regional and national levels; most are focused on local service implementation. This paper examines how a specific analytical model developed to assess and develop Knowledge Exchange (KE) can be applied to regional and national KE initiatives.  It specifically examines the efforts of the International Knowledge Exchange Network for Mental Health (IKEN-MH), and the associated community of interest on change and improvement, to support mental health systems change at these levels. Using a theoretical model, the Promoting Action on Research Implementation in Health Services framework (Kitson, Harvey, & McCormack, 1998, Rycroft-Malone, et al., 2002), we explore systems change efforts according to the constructs of evidence, context and facilitation. By matching some exemplars in the use of KE for mental health best practice against this model, the potential strategies of the IKEN-MH to assist transformational change emerge

The Atmospheres of the Terrestrial Planets:Clues to the Origins and Early Evolution of Venus, Earth, and Mars

We review the current state of knowledge of the origin and early evolution of the three largest terrestrial planets - Venus, Earth, and Mars - setting the stage for the chapters on comparative climatological processes to follow. We summarize current models of planetary formation, as revealed by studies of solid materials from Earth and meteorites from Mars. For Venus, we emphasize the known differences and similarities in planetary bulk properties and composition with Earth and Mars, focusing on key properties indicative of planetary formation and early evolution, particularly of the atmospheres of all three planets. We review the need for future in situ measurements for improving our understanding of the origin and evolution of the atmospheres of our planetary neighbors and Earth, and suggest the accuracies required of such new in situ data. Finally, we discuss the role new measurements of Mars and Venus have in understanding the state and evolution of planets found in the habitable zones of other stars

Wildlife-friendly farming benefits rare birds, bees and plants

Agricultural intensification is a leading cause of global biodiversity loss, especially for threatened and near-threatened species. One widely implemented response is ‘wildlife-friendly farming’, involving the close integration of conservation and extensive farming practices within agricultural landscapes. However, the putative benefits from this controversial policy are currently either unknown or thought unlikely to extend to rare and declining species. Here, we show that new, evidence-based approaches to habitat creation on intensively managed farmland in England can achieve large increases in plant, bee and bird species. In particular, we found that habitat enhancement methods designed to provide the requirements of sensitive target biota consistently increased the richness and abundance of both rare and common species, with 10-fold to greater than 100-fold more rare species per sample area than generalized conventional conservation measures. Furthermore, targeting landscapes of high species richness amplified beneficial effects on the least mobile taxa: plants and bees. Our results provide the first unequivocal support for a national wildlife-friendly farming policy and suggest that this approach should be implemented much more extensively to address global biodiversity loss. However, to be effective, these conservation measures must be evidence-based, and developed using sound knowledge of the ecological requirements of key species