11 results
Search Results
2. Monitoring ecological change in UK woodlands and rivers: An exploration of the relational geographies of citizen science.
- Author
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Dunkley, Ria Ann
- Subjects
CITIZEN science ,ENVIRONMENTAL organizations ,ECOLOGISTS ,DATA ,COMMUNITIES ,VOLUNTEERS - Abstract
The adoption of citizen science methodologies by environmental organisations and ecologists entrusts the task of collecting ecological data to non‐experts operating at a local scale. This presents individuals and communities with opportunities to monitor ecological change and contribute to local environmental management. Little is known about why volunteers choose to participate in burgeoning contemporary citizen science research initiatives. The aim of this paper is thus to explore volunteer motivation for involvement in two environmental citizen science initiatives, based in the United Kingdom. It contributes to understandings of the socio‐geographical influences that act on participation in environmental citizen science. It is proposed within this paper that affective connections with local geographies provide a conceptual framework for understanding citizen science motivations. The paper discusses the main themes emerging from site‐based, in‐depth interviews with 22 citizen science participants in various UK locations. The study revealed that early affective bonds formed with ecological spaces endured throughout life courses, while citizen science participation offered a way of remaining connected to local environments. The paper reflects on the endurance of affective environmental bonds and their manifestation within the expressed motivations for citizen science participation, which emerged as fulfilling a compulsion to observe ecological surroundings, a desire to participate in environmental research and a commitment to protecting local environments. The paper proposes that citizen science participation offers a framework to connect to and protect local and global affinity spaces, while assisting in monitoring global environmental change. Little is known about why volunteers choose to participate in burgeoning contemporary citizen science research initiatives, this paper's aim is to explore volunteer motivation for involvement in two environmental citizen science initiatives, based in the United Kingdom. It is proposed that affective connections with local geographies provide a conceptual framework for understanding citizen science motivations. The paper reflects on the endurance of affective environmental bonds and their manifestation within the expressed motivations for citizen science participation, which emerged as fulfilling a compulsion to observe ecological surroundings; a desire to participate in environmental research and a commitment to protecting local environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2019
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
3. Connection to nature and sustainability in small‐ and medium‐sized environmental organizations: A dynamic strategic thinking approach.
- Author
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Karami, Azhdar and Gorzynski, Robert Anthony
- Subjects
ENVIRONMENTAL organizations ,STRATEGIC planning ,PARTICIPANT observation ,RESEARCH methodology ,SUSTAINABILITY - Abstract
Strategic thinking has evolved from a concept predominantly based on analysis, closely integrated with strategic planning, to a broader mindset, yet it remains strongly 'head based'. The aim of this paper is to explore a context where a broader, more holistic perspective exists, focused on the connection of small‐ and medium‐sized environmental organizations with the natural world, why and how this relationship influences strategic thinking and how it enables organizations to leverage limited resources. The research methodology reflects the rationale that a holistic perspective of strategic thinking is best understood by adopting an interpretivist research philosophy, using an inductive, ethnographic approach, focused on interpreting deep, rich layers of meaning within participant data to inform new theory and existing practice. The triangulated multi‐method approach, within an embedded case study setting, comprised 38 individual interviews and 4 workshops (group interviews, participant observation) drawn from 29 organizations across the United Kingdom. The findings indicate that the strategic thinking process is emergent, complex, interconnected, informal and is embedded within pivotal places alongside governance, strategic planning and other key processes. Participants are driven by a strong embodied personal connection with nature, extending well beyond the cognitive dimension (mind) to a diverse range of sensibilities (heart, body and spirit) and share an experiential process of connection that binds them together as purpose‐ and value‐driven organizations. The implication is that a connection to nature underpins all aspects of the strategic processes within participant organizations and is fundamentally important to decision‐making at all levels, both strategic and implementational. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2022
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
4. The values of trees and woodland: a discourse-based cross-disciplinary perspective on integrating 'revealed' evaluations of nature into environmental agendas.
- Author
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Pounds, Gabrina
- Subjects
ENVIRONMENTAL organizations ,FORESTS & forestry ,CRITICAL discourse analysis ,DISCOURSE analysis ,CHARITIES - Abstract
Discourse analysis has been widely applied to the study of environmental communication, highlighting how language is used to reflect and affect our attitudes towards the natural world. The potential of discourse analysis to 'reveal' the values that people attribute to nature has recently been recognized in the context of environmental debates. This paper takes a new cross-disciplinary approach to the analysis of evaluation, combining a discourse approach (specifically Appraisal analysis) and insights from environmental philosophy and environmental policy to address the following main questions: (1) Which values of nature may be embedded in discourse about nature? (2) To what extent are these values represented in people's narratives about trees and woodland in the U.K.? (3) What are the implications of the findings for the critical analysis of evaluative discourse? (4) What are the implications of the findings for environmental organizations? The analysis is applied to a sample of 514 woodland narratives collected by the U.K. charitable environmental organization Woodland Trust in 2016. The study highlights new critical perspectives that may be gained from the analysis of evaluative discourse and the importance of considering and fostering people's affective relationship with the natural world in building a strong basis for environmental action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2021
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
5. Channeling advocacy? Assessing how funding source shapes the strategies of environmental organizations.
- Author
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Chewinski, Max and Corrigall–Brown, Catherine
- Subjects
ENVIRONMENTAL organizations ,PRESSURE groups ,NONGOVERNMENTAL organizations ,WILDLIFE conservation ,PANEL analysis - Abstract
All non–governmental organizations (NGOs) rely on funding to support their work. But how does the source of funding shape the types of advocacy groups engage in? Using novel panel data collected by the Environmental Funders Network, this research examines how funding from government, foundations, business, and members shape the advocacy work of environmental NGOs (ENGOs) in the UK. Past research suggests that elite funding sources channel groups into institutional advocacy, such as lobbying or litigation, and away from public advocacy, such as protesting. This paper confirms previous research while also showing that all types of funding channel group actions. Foundation and business funding is associated with more institutional advocacy, government funding is associated with non–political advocacy such as species conservation, and member funding is associated with public advocacy. By comparing across funding types, this study demonstrates the ways in which groups are both helped and hindered by funding from different sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2020
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
6. Membership Support for Environmental Organizations: A Cross-National Comparison of Political, Welfare and Media Explanations.
- Author
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Vliegenthart, Rens
- Subjects
MEMBERSHIP in associations, institutions, etc. ,ENVIRONMENTAL organizations ,MASS media ,WELFARE economics - Abstract
In this paper, I investigate the question what affects membership support for thirty large environmental organizations in three Western countries: the Netherlands, United Kingdom and United States during the period 1995-2004. Taking into account political and economic opportunity variables, 'real-world' environmental developments and media-coverage, I formulate specific hypothesis about the effects of each of these variables. The hypotheses are tested in a pooled time-series model, using ordinary least square regression with panel corrected standard errors. Results show the importance for organizations of a favorable political environment and of being covered by the media. In two of our three countries, economic growth has a surprising negative effect on membership support, while the country-level indicators of the state of the environment do not have a consistent influence on membership support. Results differ in important ways between the Netherlands and the U.K. on the one hand and the U.S. on the other. In the discussion, I formulate possible explanations for these differences, that can function as a starting point for further research. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2006
7. A linguistic interpretation of Welford's hijack hypothesis.
- Author
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Brown, Mark
- Subjects
NONGOVERNMENTAL organizations ,GREEN business ,ENVIRONMENTAL organizations ,CORPORATIONS - Abstract
This paper makes a linguistic reinterpretation of Welford's 1997 hijack hypothesis, arguing that the hijack of the discourse of the radical environment is simply a process of appropriation, i.e., the adoption of particular words in order to make use of them within the green corporations' own frames of experience. Results are presented from an empirical study using two large ‘databases’ of language. These are electronic collections of texts taken from British environmental organizations – the radical non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and UK corporations that wish to be environmentally friendly – green business. The results show that there are very marked differences in the physical contextualization of a selection of words which are used by both the radical NGOs and green business. The paper concludes by noting the need to take the analysis a stage further by comparing the usage of particular words by the two discourse communities. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2010
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
8. THE DIVERSITY OF ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE.
- Author
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Elvers, Horst-Dietrich, Gross, Matthias, and Heinrichs, Harald
- Subjects
ENVIRONMENTAL justice ,POLLUTION -- Social aspects ,ENVIRONMENTAL organizations ,ENVIRONMENTAL policy - Abstract
By comparing the US environmental justice movement with recent European developments, this paper suggests an environmental justice framework which is based on the idea of environmental justice as a heterogeneous process rather than an analytical or normative category. Using major debates on environmental justice particularly in the UK and Germany as a touchstone, eight dimensions of environmental justice are carved out and integrated into a processual model. It is discussed how environmental justice as a process may become robust enough to integrate and react to changing natural and social conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2008
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
9. The Spatial Properties of Radical Environmental Organizations in the UK: Do or Die!
- Author
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Almquist, Zack W. and Bagozzi, Benjamin E.
- Subjects
ENVIRONMENTAL organizations ,ENVIRONMENTALISM ,ENVIRONMENTAL protection ,COMMUNICATION & technology ,COMMUNICATION & education - Abstract
Radical environmental groups and their members have a wide and varied agenda which often encompasses both local and global issues. In their efforts to call attention to environmental problems, communicate with like-minded groups, and mobilize support for their activities, radical environmental organizations also produce an enormous amount of text, which can be used to estimate the complex communications and task-based networks that underlie these organizations. Moreover, the tactics employed to garnish attention for these groups’ agenda can range from peaceful activities such as information dissemination to violent activities such as fire-bombing buildings. To obtain these varied objectives, radical environmental organizations must harness their networks, which have an important spatial component that structures their ability to communicate, coordinate and act on any given agenda item. Here, we analyze a network built from communications and information provided by the semi-annual “Do or Die” (DoD) magazine published in the UK over a 10 year period in the late 1990s and early 2000s. We first employ structural topic model methods to discover violent and nonviolent actors within the larger environmental community. Using this designation, we then compare the spatial structure of these groups, finding that violent groups are especially likely to engage in coordination and/or communication if they are sufficiently close, but exhibit a quickly decreasing probability of interaction over even a few kilometers. Further, violent and nonviolent groups each have a higher probability of coordination with their own group than across groups over even short distances. In these respects, we see that violent groups are especially local in their organization and that their geographic reach is likely very limited. This suggests that nonviolent environmental groups seek each other out over both large and short distances for communication and coordination, but violent groups tend to be highly localized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2016
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
10. Politics is Ordinary: Non-governmental Organizations and Political Participation in Contemporary Britain.
- Author
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Hilton, Matthew
- Subjects
NONGOVERNMENTAL organizations ,POLITICAL participation ,20TH century British history ,BRITISH politics & government, 1945- ,ENVIRONMENTAL organizations ,HISTORY - Abstract
An essay is presented on the history of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Great Britain since 1945. It examines the relationship between NGOs and political activism and engagement. The author particularly explores environmental NGOs and NGOs committed to international development and aid. He links support for NGOs to declining public trust in elected officials and political institutions. The role of professional and technocratic expertise in NGOs is also considered.
- Published
- 2011
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
11. Backing renewable energy.
- Subjects
LEGISLATIVE bills ,RENEWABLE energy source laws ,LEGISLATIVE amendments ,ENVIRONMENTAL organizations ,ASSOCIATIONS, institutions, etc. - Abstract
The article reports that the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) has joined forces with other professional, industry and environmental bodies to urge the British House of Lords to vote for a cross-party amendment to the Energy Bill in May 2008. The bill involves inserting a new clause on a renewable energy feed-in tariff. The proposed clause is designed to encourage households and businesses to obtain their own renewable energy by setting up a legislation for a range of tariffs covering small-scale renewable initiatives. It states that the said clause has been rejected by the House of Commons in April.
- Published
- 2008
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