Human dimensions – envirobites

Sunday, April 28, 2024

A Grizzly Situation: Saving Bears by Mitigating Conflict

October 25, 2019 Jessica Espinosa 0 Comments conflict mitigation, Conservation, grizzly bear, Human dimensions, humans and wildlife

Many people become fearful at the mention of “bear country.” But is the risk of being hurt by a bear, or even seeing a bear, on your trip really that high? The answer is no: many campers and hikers don’t even know they have passed close to a bear during their time outdoors because bears largely try to avoid humans. When bears do come close to people, it is usually due to conflicts over food and space. Humans often retaliate against bears in these situations, which can ultimately threaten the survival of bear populations. In an effort to save these bears, a team of scientists came up with a program to mitigate human-bear conflicts and create spaces where both humans and bears can coexist.

Climate Environmental Science

Parents, Listen to Your Kids: how intergenerational learning could save our planet

May 7, 2019May 7, 2019 Alina Spera 0 Comments Climate, Climate Change, Education, Human dimensions

Only 54% of adults world-wide believe in that climate change is caused by humans. Can kids convince their parents that climate change is real, let alone that it is worth it to take action?

Case Studies Climate Environmental Science

What counts as evidence? Local vs. research knowledge in the evidence-based policymaking movement

March 4, 2019September 12, 2022 Lushani Nanayakkara 0 Comments Evidence, Human dimensions, Sustainability

While evidence-based decision- and policy-making have become quite the buzzwords in recent decades, what constitutes ‘evidence’ in evidence-based is less straightforward. In this paper, Persson and colleagues help unpack the term evidence in the context of sustainability studies, discuss how scientific evidence sits at the top of the evidence hierarchy, and why ignoring local knowledge can be detrimental to sound decision- and policy-making. Additionally, they suggest an alternate model for considering both local and research knowledge to obtain a more holistic understanding of the subject matter at hand, which they argue may ultimately lead to more applicable and suitable decision- and policy-making.