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Communicating Climate Change: Making Environmental Messaging Accessible (Routledge Studies in Environmental Communication and Media)
by Juita-Elena Wie Yusuf And Burton St. John IIIThis edited collection focuses on theoretical and applied research-based observations concerning how experts, advocates, and institutions make climate change information accessible to different audiences. Communicating Climate Change concentrates on three key elements of climate change communication – access, relevance, and understandability – to provide an overview of how these aspects allow multiple groups of stakeholders to act on climate-related information to build resilience. Featuring contributions from a wide range of scholars from across different disciplines, this book explores a multitude of different scenarios and communication methods, including social media; public opinion surveys; participatory mapping; and video. Overall, climate change communication is addressed from three different perspectives: communicating with the public; communicating for stakeholder engagement; and organizational, institutional, risk, and disaster communication. With each chapter focusing on implications and applications for practice, this book will be of great interest to students and researchers of climate change and environmental communication, as well as practitioners interested in understanding how to better engage stakeholders through climate change-related communication.
Communicating Climate Change: The Path Forward (Palgrave Studies in Media and Environmental Communication)
by Susanna PriestThis book asks and answers the question of what communication research and other social sciences can offer that will help the global community to address climate change by identifying the conditions that can persuade audiences and encourage collective action on climate. While scientists often expect that teaching people the scientific facts will change their minds about climate change, closer analysis suggests this is not always the case. Communication scholars are pursuing other ideas based on what we know about influence and persuasion, but this approach does not provide complete answers either. Some misconceptions can be corrected by education, and some messages will be more powerful than others. The advent of the Internet also makes vast stores of information readily available. But audiences still process this information through different filters, based on their own values and beliefs - including their understanding of how science works. In between momentous events, media coverage of climate tends to recede and individuals turn their attention back to their daily lives. Yet there is a path forward: Climate change is a social justice issue that no individual - and no nation - can solve on their own. A different sort of communication effort can help.
Communicating Endangered Species: Extinction, News and Public Policy (Routledge Studies in Environmental Communication and Media)
by Eric Freedman; Sara Shipley Hiles; David B. SachsmanCommunicating Endangered Species: Extinction, News, and Public Policy is a multidisciplinary environmental communication book that takes a distinctive approach by connecting how media and culture depict and explain endangered species with how policymakers and natural resource managers can or do respond to these challenges in practical terms. Extinction isn’t new. However, the pace of extinction is accelerating globally. The International Union for Conservation of Nature classifies more than 26,000 species as threatened. The causes are many, including climate change, overdevelopment, human exploitation, disease, overhunting, habitat destruction, and predators. The willingness and the ability of ordinary people, governments, scientists, nongovernmental organizations, and businesses to slow this deeply disturbing acceleration are uncertain. Meanwhile, researchers around the world are laboring to better understand and communicate the possibility and implications of extinctions and to discover effective tools and public policies to combat the threats to species survival. This book presents a history of news coverage of endangered species around the world, examining how and why journalists and other communicators wrote what they did, how attitudes have changed, and why they have changed. It draws on the latest research by chapter authors who are a mix of social scientists, communication experts, and natural scientists. Each chapter includes a mass media and/or cultural aspect. This book will be essential reading for students, natural resource managers, government officials, environmental activists, and academics interested in conservation and biodiversity, environmental communication and journalism, and public policy.
Communicating Environmental Patriotism: A Rhetorical History of the American Environmental Movement (Routledge Explorations in Environmental Studies)
by Anne Marie ToddEnvironmental patriotism, the belief that the national environment defines a country’s greatness, is a significant strand in twentieth century American environmentalism. This book is the first to explore the history of environmental patriotism in America through the intriguing stories of environmental patriots and the rhetoric of their speeches and propaganda, The See America First movement began in 1906 with the aim of protecting and promoting the landscapes of the American West. In 1908, Gifford Pinchot and President Theodore Roosevelt hosted the White House Conservation Conference to promote the wise use of natural resources for generations of Americans. In 1912, Pittsburgh’s smoke investigation condemned the effects of coal smoke on the city’s environment. In World War II, a massive propaganda effort mobilized millions of Americans to plant victory gardens to save resources for the war abroad. While these may not seem like crucial moments for the American environmental movement, this new history of American environmentalism shows that they are linked by patriotism. The book offers a provoking critique of environmentalists’ communication strategies and suggests patriotism as a persuasive hook for new ways to make environmental issues a national priority. This original research should be of interest to scholars of environmental communication, environmental history, American history and environmental philosophy.
Communicating Sustainability: Making Sustainability Legible
by Margaret RobertsonCommunicating Sustainability is a book of evidence-based strategies for making sustainability vivid, accessible, and comprehensible. To do this, it brings together research from a range of specialties including cognitive psychology, visual perception, communication studies, environmental design, interpretive exhibit design, interpretive signage, wayfinding, storytelling, courtroom litigation, information graphics, and graphic design to illustrate not only what approaches are effective but why they work as they do. The topic of sustainability is vast and complex. It interconnects multiple dimensions of human culture and the biosphere and involves a myriad of systems and processes, many of which are too large, too small, too fast, or too slow to see. Many people find verbal explanations about all of this too abstract or too complicated to understand, and for most people the concepts of sustainability are regarded as quirky, peripheral, and not essential to everyday life. Yet the challenges of sustainability concern the very survival of most species of life on Earth, including the human species. In order for life as we know it to survive and thrive into the future, sustainability must become broadly understood—by everyone, not just activists or specialists. This book offers tools to help make complex systems and nuanced, abstract ideas concrete and comprehensible to the broadest range of people. The goal of communication, and of this book, is to build understanding.
Communication And The Natural World
by Judith HendryCommunication and the Natural World introduces students to the complex issues and arguments that pervade current discourse about the environment. The book explores the ways our communication profoundly affects how we perceive and interact with the natural world. And it shows, clearly and vividly, how cultural, philosophical, commercial, mass-mediated, and popular discourse shape social as well as environmental policy. Thoroughly updated to reflect current theoretical perspectives, recent events and controversies, and evolving issues and concerns, the second edition also has a heightened emphasis on digital citizen activism, environmental justice, and the challenges arising from the erosion of trust in science and media.
Communication Skills for Conservation Professionals
by Susan Kay JacobsonWhether you are managing wetlands, protecting endangered species, or restoring ecosystems, you need to be able to communicate effectively in order to solve conservation and resource management problems. Communication Skills for Conservation Professionals can help you do just that--it is a practical and inspiring book that provides user-friendly guidance on achieving conservation goals through effective communication. Following introductory chapters that draw on research from communication, psychology, sociology, and education to highlight elements critical for effective communication, the book describes how to gather background information and target audiences, explains how public relations can influence attitudes and behaviors, and outlines how to design and conduct a communications campaign. In addition, it provides step-by-step guidance for using print, broadcast, and electronic mass media; demonstrates methods for developing public talks, interpretive brochures, exhibits, and trails; and explores long-term conservation education strategies for students and adults. This second edition of a widely praised book, originally published in 1999, includes new material on working with stakeholders, volunteers, and other groups to multiply conservation success. It also expands on the use of electronic media with examples of conservation Web pages, blogs, e-newsletters, and other new media. The book's citations have been updated to include a host of Web sites and other electronic sources useful for planning and implementing communication programs. Communication Skills for Conservation Professionals is a valuable addition to the conservationist's toolbox that will help scientists, managers, concerned citizens, and students communicate more effectively.
Communication Strategies for Engaging Climate Skeptics: Religion and the Environment (Routledge Advances in Climate Change Research)
by Emma Frances BloomfieldCommunication Strategies for Engaging Climate Skeptics examines the intersection of climate skepticism and Christianity and proposes strategies for engaging climate skeptics in productive conversations. Despite the scientifically established threats of climate change, there remains a segment of the American population that is skeptical of the scientific consensus on climate change and the urgent need for action. One of the most important stakeholders and conversants in environmental conversations is the religious community. While existing studies have discussed environmentalism as a factor within the religious community, this book positions religion as an important factor in environmentalism and focuses on how identities play a role in environmental conversation. Rather than thinking of religious skeptics as a single unified group, Emma Frances Bloomfield argues that it is essential to recognize there are different types of skeptics so that we can better tailor our communication strategies to engage with them on issues of the environment and climate change. To do so, this work breaks skeptics down into three main types: "separators," "bargainers," and "harmonizers." The book questions monolithic understandings of climate skepticism and considers how competing narratives such as religion, economics, and politics play a large role in climate communication. Considering recent political moves to remove climate change from official records and withdraw from international environmental agreements, it is imperative now more than ever to offer practical solutions to academics, practitioners, and the public to change the conversation. To address these concerns, this book provides both a theoretical examination of the rhetoric of religious climate skeptics and concrete strategies for engaging the religious community in conversations about the environment. This book will be of great interest to students, scholars, and practitioners of climate change science, environmental communication, environmental policy, and religion.
Communities Surviving Migration: Village Governance, Environment and Cultural Survival in Indigenous Mexico (Routledge Studies in Environmental Migration, Displacement and Resettlement)
by James P. Robson Dan Klooster Jorge Hernández-DíazOut-migration might decrease the pressure of population on the environment, but what happens to the communities that manage the local environment when they are weakened by the absence of their members? In an era where community-based natural resource management has emerged as a key hope for sustainable development, this is a crucial question. Building on over a decade of empirical work conducted in Oaxaca, Mexico, Communities Surviving Migration identifies how out-migration can impact rural communities in strongholds of biocultural diversity. It reflects on the possibilities of community self-governance and survival in the likely future of limited additional migration and steady – but low – rural populations, and what different scenarios imply for environmental governance and biodiversity conservation. In this way, the book adds a critical cultural component to the understanding of migration-environment linkages, specifically with respect to environmental change in migrant-sending regions. Responding to the call for more detailed analyses and reporting on migration and environmental change, especially in contexts where rural communities, livelihoods and biodiversity are interconnected, this volume will be of interest to students and scholars of environmental migration, development studies, population geography, and Latin American studies.
Communities and Museums in the 21st Century: Shared Histories and Climate Action (ICOM Advances in Museum Research)
by Karen BrownCommunities and Museums in the 21st Century brings together innovative, multidisciplinary perspectives on contemporary museology and participatory museum practice that contribute to wider debates on museum communities, heritage, and sustainability. Set within the context of globalisation and decolonisation, this book draws upon bi-regional research that will enrich our understanding of the complex relationships between Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean through museum studies and practice. Chapters reflect upon the role of museums in defining community identities; the importance of young people’s participation and intergenerational work for sustainability; the role of museums in local development; and community-based museums and climate change. Contributors examine these issues through the lens of museum partnerships and practices, as well as testing the continued relevance of the notion of ‘integral museum’ and its relatives in the form of ecomuseums. With its focus on regional museums in Latin America and Caribbean, this book highlights how the case studies promote greater intercultural dialogue, global understanding and social cohesion. It also demonstrates how the methodology can be adapted to other communities who are facing the perils of climate change and unsustainable forms of development. Communities and Museums in the 21st Century proposes creative and sustainable strategies relevant to a globalised future. With its focus on global societal challenges, this book will appeal to museologists and museum practitioners, as well as those working in heritage studies, cultural studies, memory studies, art history, gender studies, and sustainable development.
Communities in Transition: Protected Nature And Local People In Eastern And Central Europe (Routledge Studies in Environmental Policy and Practice)
by Saska PetrovaThe role of local people in contemporary nature conservation practices is often poorly understood or neglected. This book, therefore, examines questions of local participation at the nature-society nexus within national parks in the transitional context of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). The post-1990 reconfiguration of conservation paradigms in this part of the world has re-opened various age-old debates about the protection and administration of natural heritage. Further complicating the situation has been the introduction of market-based principles, which has embedded the entire process in broader dynamics of neoliberalization and the capitalist space economy. Providing an integrated perspective on why, how and for whom nature conservation practices have been implemented in CEE, this book sheds further light upon the mechanisms through which such practices both redefine and are affected by the everyday life of people living in national parks. Offering a critical global review of the environmental motivations and power interests behind the creation of national parks, as well as a typology of the relations between local people and the dynamics of nature protection in them, this work challenges the dichotomy between developed and developing countries that pervades much of the academic literature on nature protection. Author Saska Petrova highlights the lessons that can be learnt by applying the experiences of local community participation in environmental management in CEE to other locations undergoing major systemic change in their environmental governance practices, such as the 'low carbon transition' that is currently unfolding at a global scale.
Community Action and Climate Change (Routledge Advances in Climate Change Research)
by Jennifer KentThe failure of recent international negotiations to progress global action on climate change has shifted attention to the emergence of grassroots sustainability initiatives. These civil society networks display the potential to implement social innovation and change processes from the 'bottom up'. Recent scholarship has sought to theorise grassroots community-based low carbon practices in terms of their sustainability transition potential. However there are few empirical examples that demonstrate the factors for success of community-based social innovations in achieving more widespread adoption outside of their local, sustainability 'niche'. The book seeks to address two significant gaps related to grassroots climate action: firstly the continuing dominance of the individualisation of responsibility for climate change action which presupposes that individuals hold both the ability and desire to shift their behaviours and lifestyle choices to align with a low carbon future. Secondly, the potential for community-based collectives to influence mainstream climate change governance, an area significantly under researched. Drawing on empirical research into Australian Climate Action Groups (CAGs) and related international research, the book argues that grassroots community-based collective action on climate change holds the key to broader social change. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of climate change, citizen participation, environmental sociology and sustainable development.
Community Action for Conservation: Mexican Experiences
by Luciana Porter-Bolland Isabel Ruiz-Mallén Claudia Camacho-Benavides Susannah R. MccandlessThis book provides an in-depth analysis on community conservation in Mexico. The volume explores vivid examples and case studies that illustrate some of the critical issues at stake, including the participation of local communities in national and global conservation, indigenous and local perceptions of conservation initiatives in Southern Mexico, and challenges in ICCA governance and ecotourism. The book also reviews methodological approaches for understanding and strengthening community conservation, touching upon such topics as community-based biodiversity monitoring and tools for understanding children's perceptions of community conservation. Written by international experts in the field, Community Action for Conservation: Mexican Experiences is a lively and deep-running resource that offers invaluable stories and analyses of the Mexican experience with conservation.
Community Adaptation and Vulnerability in Arctic Regions: Framework Document For An International Polar Year Consortium
by Barry Smit Grete K. HovelsrudUnder the auspices of International Polar Year (IPY), the CAVIAR consortium was formed with partners from all eight Arctic countries. The aim of the interdisciplinary CAVIAR project is to increase understanding of the vulnerability of Arctic communities to changing environmental conditions, including climate change, and to contribute to the development of adaptive strategies and policies. In partnership with local collaborators in over two dozen communities, researchers have documented the conditions and forces that contribute to vulnerabilities, identified adaptive strategies and attempted to assess the prospects for adaptation in the future.
Community Biodiversity Management: Promoting resilience and the conservation of plant genetic resources (Issues in Agricultural Biodiversity)
by Walter Simon de Boef Abishkar Subedi Nivaldo Peroni Marja Thijssen Elizabeth O’KeeffeThe conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity are issues that have been high on the policy agenda since the first Earth Summit in Rio in 1992. As part of efforts to implement in situ conservation, a methodology referred to as community biodiversity management (CBM) has been developed by those engaged in this arena. CBM contributes to the empowerment of farming communities to manage their biological resources and make informed decisions on the conservation and use of agrobiodiversity. This book is the first to set out a clear overview of CBM as a methodology for meeting socio-environmental changes. CBM is shown to be a key strategy that promotes community resilience, and contributes to the conservation of plant genetic resources. The authors present the underlying concepts and theories of CBM as well as its methodology and practices, and introduce case studies primarily from Brazil, Ethiopia, France, India, and Nepal. Contributors include farmers, leaders of farmers’ organizations, professionals from conservation and development organizations, students and scientists. The book offers inspiration to all those involved in the conservation and use of agrobiodiversity within livelihood development and presents ideas for the implementation of farmers’ rights. The wide collection of experiences illustrates the efforts made by communities throughout the world to cope with change while using diversity and engaging in learning processes. It links these grassroots efforts with debates in policy arenas as a means to respond to the unpredictable changes, such as climate change, that communities face in sustaining their livelihoods.
Community Empowerment, Sustainable Cities, and Transformative Economies
by Jacob Wood Taha ChaiechiThis edited volume presents the conference papers from the 1st International Conference on Business, Economics, Management, and Sustainability (BEMAS), organized by the Centre for International Trade and Business in Asia (CITBA) at James Cook University.This book argues that the orthodox methods of external risks, climate change adaptation plans, and sustainable economic growth in cities are no longer adequate. These methods, so far, have not only ignored the ongoing structural changes associated with economic development but also failed to account for evolving industries’ composition and the emergence of new comparative advantages and skills. Specifically, this book looks at the vulnerable communities and exposed areas, particularly in urban areas, that tend to experience higher susceptibility to external risks (such as climate change, natural disasters, and public health emergencies) have been largely ignored in incremental adaptation plans. Vulnerable communities and areas not only require different adaptive responses to climate risk but also possess unlocked adaptive capacity that can motivate different patterns of sustainable development to achieve the goals of the 2030 Agenda. It is essential, therefore, to view transformative growth and fundamental reorientation of economic resources as integral parts of the solution. Social disorganisation and vulnerability are other undesired outcomes of the unpredictable and widespread external economic shocks. This is due to a sudden and tough competition between members of society to acquire precious resources, most of which may be depleted during unprecedented events such as natural disasters or pandemics resulting in an even more chaotic and disorganised conditions.
Community Engagement for Sustainable Practices in Higher Education: From Awareness to Action
by Prabhat Mittal Rachna BansalThis book provides a deeper understanding of the concept of community engagement in higher education, encompassing crucial aspects such as stakeholder involvement, collaboration, community organization, and mobilization. It highlights the pivotal role of student engagement in promoting sustainable practices within higher education. The book goes beyond theory by showcasing real-world case studies and best practices from various institutions on successful student-led sustainability projects, campaigns, and initiatives. Furthermore, it uniquely highlights students' efforts in digitalizing communities, reflecting the relevance of technology in modern sustainability practices. It offers actionable insights to effectively engage students and empower them to translate their passion for sustainability into tangible actions. In doing so, the book equips readers to bridge the awareness-action gap, empowering students to implement sustainability practices in real life.
Community Food Initiatives: A Critical Reparative Approach (Routledge Studies in Food, Society and the Environment)
by Stefan Wahlen Oona Morrow Esther VeenThis book examines a diverse range of community food initiatives in light of their everyday practices, innovations, and contestations. While community food initiatives aim to tackle issues like food security, food waste, or food poverty, it is a cause for concern for many when they are framed as the next big "solution" to the problems of the current industrialised food system. They have been critiqued for being too neoliberal, elitist, and localist; for not challenging structural inequalities (e.g. racism, privilege, exclusion, colonialism, capitalism); and for reproducing these inequalities within their own contexts. This edited volume examines the everyday realities of community food initiatives, focusing on both their hopes and their troubles, their limitations and failures, but also their best intentions, missions, and models, alongside their capacity to create hope in difficult times. The stories presented in this book are grounded in contemporary theoretical debates on neoliberalism, diverse economies, food justice, community and inclusion, and social innovation, and help to sharpen these as conceptual tools for interrogating community food initiatives as sites of both hope and trouble. The novelty of this volume is its focus on the everyday doings of these initiatives in particular places and contexts, with different constraints and opportunities. This grounded, relational, and place-based approach allows us to move beyond more traditional framings in which community food initiatives are either applauded for their potential or criticized for their limitations. It enables researchers and practitioners to explore how community food initiatives can realize their potential for creating alternative food futures and generates innovative pathways for theorising the mutual interplay of food production and consumption. This volume will be of great interest to students and scholars of critical food studies, food security, public health, and nutrition as well as human geographers, sociologists, and anthropologists with an interest in food.
Community Forestry
by Ryan C. L. Bullock Kevin S. HannaProviding a critical and incisive examination of community forestry, this is a detailed study of complex issues in local forest governance, community sustainability and grassroots environmentalism. It explores community forestry as an alternative form of local collaborative governance in globally significant developed forest regions, with examples ranging from the Gulf Islands of British Columbia to Scandinavia. Responding to the global trend in devolution of control over forest resources and the ever-increasing need for more sustainable approaches to forest governance, the book highlights both the possibilities and challenges associated with community forestry implementation. It features compelling case studies and accounts from those directly involved with community forestry efforts, providing unique insight into the underlying social processes, issues, events and perceptions. It will equip students, researchers and practitioners with a deep understanding of both the evolution and management of community forestry in a pan-national context.
Community Governance and Citizen-Driven Initiatives in Climate Change Mitigation (Routledge Advances in Climate Change Research)
by Jens Hoff Quentin GaussetOne of the most heartening developments in climate change mitigation in recent years has been the increasing attention paid to the principle of ‘thinking globally and acting locally’. The failure of the international community to reach significant global agreements on the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions has led local governments, environmental organisations and citizens themselves to focus increasingly on the local possibilities for action on climate change. This book analyses the strengths and weaknesses of the co-production of climate policies that take place where citizen engagement and local initiatives converge with public agencies. Case studies from Northern Europe, Australia/New Zealand and the USA reveal that traditional individualist approaches to promoting environmental behaviour epitomised by information campaigns and economic incentives cannot trigger the deep behavioural changes required to materially improve our response to climate change. Only by marshalling the forces of thousands, and eventually millions of citizens, can we manage to reach environmental sceptics, reinforce political action and create the new social norms that are sorely needed in our local, and global, response to climate change. This book will be of great relevance to scholars and policy makers with an interest in climate change politics and governance, community engagement and sustainable development.
Community Lost: The State, Civil Society, and Displaced Survivors of Hurricane Katrina
by Ronald J. Angel Holly Bell Julie Beausoleil Laura LeinNeither government programs nor massive charitable efforts responded adequately to the human crisis that was Hurricane Katrina. In this study, the authors use extensive interviews with Katrina evacuees and reports from service providers to identify what helped or hindered the reestablishment of the lives of hurricane survivors who relocated to Austin, Texas. Drawing on social capital and social network theory, the authors assess the complementary, and often conflicting, roles of FEMA, other governmental agencies, and a range of non-governmental organizations in addressing survivors' short- and longer-term needs. While these organizations came together to assist with immediate emergency needs, even collectively they could not deal with survivors' long-term needs for employment, affordable housing, and personal records necessary to rebuild lives. Community Lost provides empirical evidence that civil society organizations cannot substitute for an efficient and benevolent state, which is necessary for society to function.
Community Planning: An Introduction to the Comprehensive Plan, Second Edition
by Eric Damian KellyThis book introduces community planning as practiced in the United States, focusing on the comprehensive plan. Sometimes known by other names--especially master plan or general plan--the type of plan described here is the predominant form of general governmental planning in the U.S. Although many government agencies make plans for their own programs or facilities, the comprehensive plan is the only planning document that considers multiple programs and that accounts for activities on all land located within the planning area, including both public and private property. Written by a former president of the American Planning Association, Community Planning is thorough, specific, and timely. It addresses such important contemporary issues as sustainability, walkable communities, the role of urban design in public safety, changes in housing needs for a changing population, and multi-modal transportation planning. Unlike competing books, it addresses all of these topics in the context of the local comprehensive plan. There is a broad audience for this book: planning students, practicing planners, and individual citizens who want to better understand local planning and land use controls. Boxes at the end of each chapter explain how professional planners and individual citizens, respectively, typically engage the issues addressed in the chapter. For all readers, Community Planning provides a pragmatic view of the comprehensive plan, clearly explained by a respected authority.
Community Rights, Conservation and Contested Land: The Politics of Natural Resource Governance in Africa
by Fred NelsonNatural resource governance is central to the outcomes of biodiversity conservation efforts and to patterns of economic development, particularly in resource-dependent rural communities. The institutional arrangements that define natural resource governance are outcomes of political processes, whereby numerous groups with often-divergent interests negotiate for access to and control over resources. These political processes determine the outcomes of resource governance reform efforts, such as widespread attempts to decentralize or devolve greater tenure over land and resources to local communities. This volume examines the political dynamics of natural resource governance processes through a range of comparative case studies across east and southern Africa. These cases include both local and national settings, and examine issues such as land rights, tourism development, wildlife conservation, participatory forest management, and the impacts of climate change, and are drawn from both academics and field practitioners working across the region. Published with IUCN, The Bradley Fund for the Environment, SASUSG and Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Community Science in Ecology: Case Studies of Public Participation in Ecological Research in Japan (Ecological Research Monographs)
by Yukari Suzuki-OhnoThis book introduces community science (or citizen science) projects in Japan with a focus on ecology. Environments and ecosystems that have been slowly built up over time are changing and collapsing dramatically. In this rapidly changing environment, ecologists need to collaborate with volunteers in their research and activities to investigate and conserve a vast area. This book aims to guide ecologists in the practice of community science. The authors, who are leading ecologists and practitioners of community science projects, share their methods and lessons learned from practice. The book begins with the definition of community science and the following chapters introduce monitoring in ecological community science, using various methods such as observation, specimens, photographs, videos, sounds, and environmental DNA. Readers can learn about the advantages and disadvantages of these methods in ecological community science monitoring. The book also coverstopics such as scientific communication, data obtained from ecological community science monitoring, the rights of participants, decision-making in community science, and conservation activities with volunteers such as invasive alien species extermination and nature restoration. This book serves as a valuable resource for readers interested in ecological community science and its practice. The book is suitable for both undergraduate students and researchers as well as practitioners.
Community Seed Banks: Origins, Evolution and Prospects (Issues in Agricultural Biodiversity)
by Bhuwon Sthapit Ronnie Vernooy Pitambar ShresthaCommunity seed banks first appeared towards the end of the 1980s, established with the support of international and national non-governmental organizations. This book is the first to provide a global review of their development and includes a wide range of case studies. Countries that pioneered various types of community seed banks include Bangladesh, Brazil, Ethiopia, India, Nepal, Nicaragua, the Philippines and Zimbabwe. In the North, a particular type of community seed bank emerged known as a seed-savers network. Such networks were first established in Australia, Canada, the UK and the USA before spreading to other countries. Over time, the number and diversity of seed banks has grown. In Nepal, for example, there are now more than 100 self-described community seed banks whose functions range from pure conservation to commercial seed production. In Brazil, community seed banks operate in various regions of the country. Surprisingly, despite 25 years of history and the rapid growth in number, organizational diversity and geographical coverage of community seed banks, recognition of their roles and contributions has remained scanty. The book reviews their history, evolution, experiences, successes and failures (and reasons why), challenges and prospects. It fills a significant gap in the literature on agricultural biodiversity and conservation, and their contribution to food sovereignty and security.