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How do welfare state policies affect the political support for environmental action of economically vulnerable social groups? Two competing hypotheses can be delineated. On the one hand, a synergy logic would imply that welfare state generosity is associated with higher support for environmental action among economically vulnerable groups due to the insecurity reducing effects of the welfare state. On the other hand, a crowding-out logic would suggest that welfare state generosity is associated with lower support for other policy priorities like environmental action. We test these two hypotheses using 2019 Eurobarometer survey data and country-level indicators of welfare state generosity in 22 European countries. We find that the working class and the elderly are particularly opposed to individual and national environmental action and that the welfare state plays a complex moderating role. Consistent with a synergy logic, welfare state generosity increases pro-environmental behaviour among the working class, but its association with more positive attitudes towards national environmental policies is less strong. Consistent with a crowding-out logic, the elderly appear less likely to behave in environmentally friendly ways if retirement benefits are high. To explore the mechanisms behind this association, we show that the working class who struggle to pay their bills are most opposed to environmental action. Overall, economic insecurities are key obstacles for support of environmental actions and the effects of the welfare state depend both on which social group is concerned and whether individual behaviour versus policy preferences are considered.

Der Artikel untersucht, welche suffizienzorientierten Maßnahmen sich Bürger*innen im Rahmen partizipativer Prozesse auf kommunaler Ebene wünschen und wie sie diese begründen. Neben der ökologischen Wirkung werden zahlreiche Co-Benefits in den Bereichen Gesundheit, Gemeinschaft und Teilhabe sowie Wirtschaftlichkeit identifiziert. Aufgrund dieser Begründungszusammenhänge wurden auch Maßnahmen als Zugewinn für die Lebensqualität interpretiert, die von Gegner*innen häufig als 'Verzicht' abgewertet werden. Der Beitrag argumentiert, dass eine Orientierung an den identifizierten Co-Benefits die Legitimation von Suffizienzmaßnahmen steigern kann. Grundlage der qualitativen Dokumentenanalyse sind Dokumentationen aus 15 Beteiligungsprozessen des bundesweiten Wettbewerbs 'Zukunftsstadt 2030', in dem Kommunen Konzepte für ihre nachhaltige Entwicklung erarbeitetet haben. This article examines what sufficiency-oriented measures citizens would like to see in participation processes at the municipal level and how they justify them. In addition to the ecological impact, numerous co-benefits are identified in the fields of public health, community and participation as well as economic viability. Based on these justification contexts, measures that are often dismissed by opponents as 'sacrifice' were also interpreted as gains in quality of life. The article argues that an orientation toward the identified co-benefits may increase the legitimacy of sufficiency measures. The qualitative document analysis is based on documentation from 15 community participation processes of the nationwide competition 'Zukunftsstadt 2030' (City of the future 2030), in which municipalities developed concepts for their sustainable development.

The current mode of ocean governance in the biogeographically defined space of the Coral Triangle emerged due to the framing of marine degradation as a de-bounded risk with a transboundary nature. This framing justified the rescaling of the issue’s governance from the national to the regional. This article will explore how ocean governance in the form of the Coral Triangle Initiative on Coral Reefs, Fisheries, and Food Security (CTI-CFF) is an example of a regional multi-level regulatory governance arrangement based on disaggregated, regulatory forms of statehood. These new kinds of regional regulatory governance are defined by the dominance of policy and technical expertise. As such, non-state actors work closely with national and supranational actors in the development, implementation, and regulatory functions of the CTI-CFF. The organizational structure of the CTI-CFF’s governance framework provides an example of how regional regulatory systems are networked into existing national government structures. The CTI-CFF’s Regional Plan of Action and corresponding mechanisms serve as a model for each member country’s National Plan of Action and domestic programs. These plans of action promote the transformation and rescaling of national governance to be consistent with regional standards of marine resource governance. To summarize, CTI-CFF is a multi-level governance structure constructed to strengthen regulatory regionalism.

The governance of ocean and polar regions is among the most relevant challenges in the combat against global environmental degradation and global inequalities. Ocean and polar regions are climate regulators and very much affected by climate change. They are an important source of nutrition for life in and above the sea. At the same time, they are subject to an increasing number of geopolitical and geo-economic conflicts. Due to the lasting virulence of many security issues, economic conflicts, legal disputes, new technological developments, and environmental crises in global marine areas as well as the intricate overlap of sovereign, semi-sovereign, and global commons territories, the relevance of ocean and polar governance is bound to rise. This thematic issue sketches important trends in research on these issues and identifies future avenues of inquiry. In this editorial, we first provide an overview of governance challenges for ocean and polar regions and their relevance for geopolitical and geo-economic conflicts. In a second step, we present the eight contributions that make up the thematic issue by clustering them around three themes: (a) challenges to norm-creation in ocean governance, (b) the impact of territorialisation on governance and the construction of authority, and (c) the effectiveness of regimes of ocean and polar governance.

Renewable energy communities (RECs) might be an interesting new stakeholder in stimulating home energy-saving efforts by tenants and homeowners due to their potential of raising awareness locally and gaining public support for low-carbon energy and energy-savings projects, because RECs are often locally sited, in close social proximity of residents, and are already part of local structures and share local institutions. This comes with many benefits since they already have a reputation locally, a social history with the local community, and can be trusted by the latter. This makes them potentially better suited than other—often less-trusted—parties (i.e., government and business companies) to use their agency to encourage sustainable change. The article builds on empirical data from the EU Horizon 2020 project REScoop Plus, using a mixed-methods research approach, including desk research, expert interviews, validation workshops, and multiple surveys among RECs in six EU member states about energy-saving actions implemented, and their effectiveness in terms of raising awareness, influencing the intention to save energy, and actual energy-saving behaviour. This article provides more insight into the assessment of actions and measures for coaching householders to achieve energy savings and low carbon goals. In addition, it shows the potential of using RECs as a new strategy to address home energy savings in the current housing stock, including options to improve the energy performance thereof.

Although there is an array of technical solutions available for retrofitting the building stock, the uptake of these by owner-occupants in home improvement activities is lagging. Energy performance improvement is not included in maintenance, redecoration, and/or upgrading activities on a scale necessary to achieve the CO2reduction aimed for in the built environment. Owner-occupants usually adapt their homes in response to everyday concerns, such as having enough space available, increasing comfort levels, or adjusting arrangements to future-proof their living conditions. Home energy improvements should be offered accordingly. Retrofit providers typically offer energy efficiency strategies and/or options for renewable energy generation only and tend to gloss over home comfort and homemaking as key considerations in decision-making for home energy improvement. In fact, retrofit providers struggle with the tension between customisation requirements from private homeowners and demand aggregation to streamline their supply chains and upscale their retrofit projects. Customer satisfaction is studied in three different Dutch approaches to retrofit owner-occupied dwellings to increase energy efficiency. For the analysis, a customer satisfaction framework is used that makes a distinction between satisfiers, dissatisfiers, criticals, and neutrals. This framework makes it possible to identify and structure different relevant factors from the perspective of owner-occupants, allows visualising gaps with the professional perspective, and can assist to improve current propositions.

This article introduces a method for advancing environmental and social sustainability objectives in relation to home renovations laid out in European and Belgian policies. The comfort tool is an instrument that simultaneously addresses the energy efficiency and universal design aspects of a sustainable home renovation while being usable and meaningful to laymen homeowners and improving their communication with building professionals. It is based on recent research exploring a synergetic merging of energy efficiency and universal design in housing through the concept of indoor environmental comfort. It employs comfort as a way of intervening in the decision-making process for energy efficiency and universal design measures in home renovations. The comfort tool takes a user-centered approach and rests on an interdisciplinary set of theoretical constructs bringing together knowledge from psychology, nursing, design, and building sciences. Besides describing the method itself, the article lays out the theoretical underpinnings and motivations behind its development and discusses relevant future considerations for sustainable home renovations research and practice.

One of the most complex and urgent challenges in the energy transition is the large-scale refurbishment of the existing housing stock in the built environment. In order to comply with the goals of the Paris convention, the aim is to live “energy-neutral,” that is, a dwelling should produce as much sustainable energy as it consumes on a yearly basis. This means that millions of existing houses need to undergo a radical energy retrofit. In the next 30 years, all dwellings should be upgraded to nearly zero-energy buildings, which is a challenge to accomplish for a reasonable price. Across the EU, many projects have developed successful approaches to the improvement of building technologies and processes, as well a better involvement of citizens. It is important to compare and contrast such approaches and disseminate lessons learned. In practice, it is crucial to raise the level of participation of inhabitants in neighborhood renovation activities. Therefore, the central question of this issue is: How can we increase the involvement of tenants and homeowners into this radical energy renovation?

The development of community-based ecotourism (CBE) has the potential to preserve biodiversity and protect the environment, as well as play an important role in the socio-cultural, economic and politically sustainable development of the community. This paper assesses the implementation of CBE development and compares the sustainability of ecotourism development between the Zhabagly community and the Abaiyl community. The data is obtained mainly through the household questionnaire survey, field observations, in-depth interviews and focus group discussions. 222 representative families were surveyed with 5-point Likert scale questions in this paper including 166 Zhabagly and 56 Abaiyl participants. The study used 18 indicators based on 4 dimensions: environmental, socio-cultural, economic and political. Results from this analysis indicate that the sustainability of CBE development in two communities is slightly different in all 4 dimensions. Zhabagly community is more successful in achieving sustainable CBE development than the Abaiyl community. The results reveal that the overall evaluation of the two communities on sustainability is moderate. However, both communities demonstrate that, potentially, they are politically unsustainable. As a result, we initially assert that the sustainability of CBE development in the Aksu-Zhabagly nature reserve (NR) is far from perfect. In particular, the positive economic and political impact of tourism development is not obvious. To address this shortcoming, tourism development organizations need to jointly develop a design policy for the sustainable development of CBE.

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Climate change is compounding the Democratic Republic of Congo's tangle of problems - a long-running civil war, weak governance, and deeply entrenched poverty and inequality. The country's future is of global significance: its vast Congo-basin rainforest is a crucial carbon sink and a haven of biodiversity. DRC's hydropower potential and its deposits of copper and cobalt could enable the energy transition, but a green resource looms over development prospects. Germany will need flexible and well-aligned national strategies to effectively support peace, human progress, and environmental protection in the DRC while putting the focus on the needs of marginalized populations.

Studies about disasters have focused on large-scale and extreme weather events. However, slow-onset hazards such as drought-like seasons and monsoons also pose challenges since they are dynamic and experienced differently from place to place. This paper shows how difficulties in livelihood of the agricultural sector can be made evident using a place-based approach for identifying vulnerability in an island setting. A household survey was conducted to gather perceptions of hazard impacts and coping strategies for extreme weather events and pervasive hazards. Results show that the perceived impacts of hazards differ by events, and respondents cope with extreme weather events and pervasive hazards in almost the same ways. The coping strategies include diversification of livelihood and mutual help, a common tradition among Philippine villages. Community-based disaster risk management strategies through indigenous ways also enabled the island community to bridge the interventions of the national government to the local context in terms of reducing risks. In conclusion, a place-based approach adds value to the current way of assessing vulnerability as it shows that social vulnerability is more dynamic in the local context, and social bonding is crucial for coping during difficult times., Advances in Southeast Asian Studies, ONLINE FIRST

The prospect of implementing the concept of the Blue Economy is currently still at a relatively early stage of achieving its full potential. The purpose of this paper is to present the idea of the ocean economy and selected aspects of its financing, including initiatives undertaken in this area by the European Union. Part I characterises the Blue Economy, part II discusses selected aspects of financing a sustainable ocean economy, and part III analyses the institutional approach, particularly within the EU, to the financing process of this type of economy. The descriptive method was used to conduct this study, and the available literature on and legal acts related to the subject of the article has been analysed. The undertakings made so far, especially by the EU, are impressive and, moreover, are driving global activity towards the sustainable financing of the Blue Economy. It is becoming a fundamental priority to realise the governments' and international organisations' aspirations to make economies independent from excessive carbon emissions, to counteract water degradation, overfishing, and shrinking drinking water resources. In the long term, it is important to develop coherence between the actions of national entities and the sources and methods of international funding. This is in order to develop a mutual, global good of innovative financing of coastal projects for sustainable development.

The decades of increased Green House Gas (GHG) emissions have increased global average temperature to 1.1 degrees over pre-industrial levels. In order to hold the global average temperature rise below 2 degrees Celsius and, if possible, 1.5 degree Celsius, the governments signed various treaties. However, countries' collective agreements to reduce their emissions were never kept. This study outlines why the method of mitigating global climate change has failed. The main problem was the inability to enforce goals and timelines. Ideas for even tighter emission limits will be ineffective unless they solve the enforcement gap. Trade restrictions are one method, but they introduce significant complications, particularly when used to enforce economy-wide carbon reduction agreements. The applied methodology is qualitative. This study proposes a novel strategy to unpack the climate challenge, targeting various gasses and industries with various instruments. It also illustrates how failing to address the climate problem fundamentally would generate incentives for various solutions, offering new problems for climate change governance.

This article combines a brief overview of the theoretical approach of the Vienna School of Social Ecology with a report on the results of a long-term study on the coincidence of countries’ first access to fossil fuels with social revolutions. The theoretical approach views societies in a system-theoretical perspective as hybrids of materiality and meaning, with "social metabolism" and "colonization of nature" as key links. Historical changes in the energy metabolism of societies are viewed as key drivers of change in social organization, distinguishing broadly between foraging and agrarian societies, both solar based energetically, but distinct by the latter applying elaborate colonization technologies that allow for higher energy returns at the price of a higher labor burden, the emergence of cities, and land-based steep social hierarchies. Finally, we report on a series of studies on the coincidence of countries’ access to fossil fuels as allowing a transition to industrial societies, again on a much higher energy level. The very early transition phase ("critical energy transition period"), as we show empirically for a large number of countries worldwide across the past 500 years, was typically marked by what we characterize as social revolutions. Finally, we ask what societal changes a next energy transition, required to avoid catastrophic climate change, will bring about., Historical Social Research Vol. 48, No. 1 (2023)

The European Green Deal is the European Union's latest expression of its ambition to become a world leader in addressing climate change (Kleinberga, 2020). Adaptation to climate change (CCh) is a key priority of the European Union (EU), exemplified by the EU's efforts to become "the first climate-neutral continent" (European Union, 2019) in the world by 2050. This article aims to analyse opportunities to increase consumer involvement in the context of waste sorting and climate change in Latvia, based on theoretical knowledge about consumer behaviour and empirical data analysis, to develop recommendations for marketing communication and consumer behaviour in the context of climate change content for waste management companies. There is a necessity to understand how to increase consumer involvement in waste-sorting due to the increasing amount of waste both in Latvia and the rest of the world. The following research methods have been used: the monographic method, secondary data analysis, the discourse analysis/coding method, the graphical method, and the qualitative method - a focus group interview. The most significant barriers that discourage consumers from sorting waste are the lack of infrastructure, the lack of information on how to sort waste properly and waste's environmental impact, as well as the complex system that allows for differences in waste-sorting between municipalities and even neighbourhoods in the same city. Recommendations were developed as a result of the research for waste management companies in terms of communication, NGOs on education, and information for consumers, businesses, and waste management companies.

In Russia as a whole, climate change has led to higher temperatures, permafrost thawing, human health impacts due to extreme heat, and higher incidence of forest fires and other natural disasters, among other country-wide consequences. Warming associated with a changing climate is best viewed as a risk multiplier that will exacerbate existing environmental stresses in locally nuanced ways. The most significant impacts of climate change in the Republic of Kalmykia, located in Russia's southwest, are distinct from those visible nationally and include desertification and increased pressure on an already low-quality water supply.

Der vorliegende Bericht befasst sich mit den Flächennutzungen und -umwandlungen der letzten 30 Jahre in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, mit besonderem Fokus auf den Betrachtungszeitraum 2016-2020. Zudem werden die politischen Ziele der Bundesregierung mit Bezug zu Flächenumwandlung beschrieben. Hierfür wurden Literaturrecherchen und Datenanalysen durchgeführt (siehe Kap. 2). 6 Beobachtungen fassen die Flächenveränderungen von Nutzungskategorien (Kap. 3) zusammen. Es sei angemerkt, dass die Flächennutzungskategorien nur begrenzt aussagekräftig in Hinblick auf den Zustand sind (z.B. Kategorie Wald): 1. Die Siedlungsfläche steigt jährlich. 2. Die Nutzfläche für Verkehrsbelange wächst stetig. 3. Die Vegetationsfläche, insbesondere landwirtschaftliche Flächen und Moorflächen nehmen kontinuierlich ab; Waldflächen nehmen zu. 4. Gewässerflächen nehmen ab. 5. Die als vollständig versiegelt geltende Fläche steigt jährlich. 6. Wind- und Photovoltaik-Freiflächenanlagen belegen nur einen sehr geringen Anteil des Bundesgebiets. Die Konsequenzen der Zunahme der Siedlungs- und Verkehrsflächen sind (Kap. 4): 1. Der Anstieg der Siedlungs- und Verkehrsflächen wirkt sich negativ auf Umwelt und Mensch aus. 2. Die zunehmende Versiegelung beeinträchtigt Kleinklima, Wasserhaushalt und Bodenfunktionen. 3. Landwirtschaftsflächen bedingen Deutschlands interne Nahrungsmittelproduktion - abnehmende Flächen bedeuten einen ansteigenden Lebensmittelimport. 4. Eine Abnahme der Vegetationsflächen verringert das Vermögen der CO2-Entnahme aus der Atmosphäre. Die politischen Flächenziele der Bundesregierung wurden in einer Übersicht zusammengeführt. Im Ausblick diskutieren wir die Herausforderung, diese Flächenziele miteinander vergleichen zu können (Kap. 5). Es lassen sich drei Beobachtungen im Rahmen der Flächenziele festhalten: 1. In Deutschland existiert ein Flächendruck, welcher durch politische Flächenziele verstärkt wird, siehe Abbildung 1. 2. Die Flächenziele der Bundesregierung bewirken den Schwund landwirtschaftlicher Flächen. 3. Es besteht eine Diskrepanz zwischen den Flächenzielen der Bundesregierung und deren föderalistischer Umsetzung. Im letzten Teil des Berichts werden Lösungsansätze und Maßnahmen aufgeführt, die Flächenveränderungen und ihren negativen ökologischen und sozialen Folgen punktuell entgegenwirken können (Kap.6). Es werden an dieser Stelle Ansätze der Flächeneinsparung (z.B. durch Geschossaufstockung), des Flächenrückbaus (z.B. Entsiegelung) und des Multisolvings (z.B. AgriPV) diskutiert.

Seit November 2022 werden durch das Institut für Kriminologie an der Universität Hamburg (UHH) und das German Institute for Global and Area Studies (GIGA) alle zwei Monate in Deutschland geschichtete Stichproben von etwa 2500 Erwachsenen online befragt. Ziel dieser Studie "Menschen in Deutschland International" (MiDInt) ist es, Meinungen der Bevölkerung zu international bedeutsamen Geschehnissen zu erfassen und deren Einflüsse auf politische Einstellungen der Menschen in Deutschland zu untersuchen. In der ersten Welle von MiDInt wurden im November 2022 insgesamt N=2 429 Personen erreicht. Bei diesen wurden u.a. Einstellungen zum Klimawandel erhoben und Meinungen zur 27. Weltklimakonferenz thematisiert, die vom 6. bis 20. November 2022 in Scharm El-Sheikh (Ägypten) stattfand. Im Ergebnis zeigte sich eine große Besorgnis der Menschen in Deutschland wegen der Klimakrise. Die weit überwiegende Mehrheit befürwortete die mit der 27. Weltklimakonferenz 2022 verfolgten Ziele. Bei etwa einem Fünftel der Befragten war allerdings eine Leugnung des Klimawandels sowie eine deutliche Skepsis bezüglich der wissenschaftlichen Befunde zur Klimakrise festzustellen.

The Arctic is directly affected by the interaction of two ongoing global crises: climate change and Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine. With its temperatures rising four times faster than the global average, the Arctic is facing dramatic environmental consequences. Meanwhile, retreating sea ice has led to increased economic interest in the Arctic and its growing geopolitical importance. Thus, understanding and managing the global and local implications of environmental change in this region requires urgent scientific and diplomatic collaboration.

Ulrike Herrmann: Das Ende des Kapitalismus: Warum Wachstum und Klimaschutz nicht vereinbar sind - und wie wir in Zukunft leben werden. Köln: Verlag Kiepenheuer & Witsch 2022. 978-3-462-00255-3

In Zusammenarbeit mit dem Leibniz-Institut für Globale und Regionale Studien (GIGA) führt das Institut für Kriminologie (Fakultät für Rechtswissenschaft der UHH) seit November 2022 unter der Bezeichnung "Menschen in Deutschland: International" (MiDInt) im Abstand von zwei bis drei Monaten Umfragen bei nach Alter, Geschlecht, Bildung und regionaler Herkunft geschichteten, repräsentativen Stichproben von jeweils etwa 2500 erwachsenen Personen durch (vgl. https://doi.org/10.25592/uhhfdm.11564). Thema der ersten Welle von MiDInt im November 2022 waren unter anderem Sorgen der Befragten mit Blick auf den Klimawandel und Meinungen zu der damals stattfindenden Weltklimakonferenz (vgl. dazu MOTRA-Spotlight 01/23: https://doi.org/10.57671/motra-2023001). In der zweiten Welle, im Februar 2023, wurden neben Besorgnissen wegen des Klimawandels auch Ansichten zu spezifischen Maßnahmen zum Klimaschutz erhoben (für Erhebungsinstrument und Stichprobe vgl. https://doi.org/10.25592/uhhfdm.11836 ).

The demands of the climate movement ‐ for rapid and profound change ‐ are based on scientific findings and the political commitments to theParis Agreement.The activists are, therefore, factually “right”. However, being right is not enough to justify or to accelerate the practical implementation of knowledge and decisions. We explain which social factors are at work, and how the climate movement can benefit if they incorporate these factors into actions for social change.

People who reside in informal settlements in the Global South are most vulnerable to extreme weather events and their consequences, such as flooding, landslides, and fires. Those located in coastal areas face severe challenges from seasonal and typhoon-induced flooding. Research shows that uncertain land rights exacerbate community vulnerability because residents are under constant threat of eviction by private sector actors or the state. Individual and community upgrading is rarely possible in such a situation. This article focuses on the efforts to secure tenure and upgrade their community by the residents of Sitio Libis, located in Canumay East, City of Valenzuela, Philippines. The study demonstrates that while community-based approaches require skills and capacities of community members, enabling conditions created by government and/or NGOs are required for transformational outcomes. While the people of Sitio Libis did not conceptualize their efforts in terms of climate change adaptation, their success suggests the possibility for smart partnerships among state-civil society/private sector actors to emerge in support of small-scale climate action.

The articles in this thematic issue represent a variety of perspectives on the challenges for equity that are attributable to climate change. Contributions explore an emerging and important issue for communities in the Global North and Global South: the implications for urban social equity associated with the impacts caused by climate change. While much is known about the technical, policy, and financial tools and strategies that can be applied to mitigate or adapt to climate change in communities, we are only now thinking about who is affected by climate change, and how. Is it too little, too late? Or better now than never? The articles in this thematic issue demonstrate that the local impacts of climate change are experienced differently by socio-economic groups in communities. This is especially the case for the disadvantaged and marginalized—i.e., the poor, the very young, the aged, the disabled, and women. Ideally, climate action planning interventions should enhance quality of life, health and well-being, and sustainability, rather than exacerbate existing problems experienced by the disadvantaged. This is the challenge for planners and anyone working to adapt to climate change in our communities.

This article aims to examine the impact of plastic waste and the expansion of Jayapura city on the people of Enggros village from a green theory perspective. This perspective, which is often considered one of the counter standpoints in international relations, puts forward an environmentally-grounded perspective from the traditional focus on humans. This study adopted descriptive-qualitative analysis as well as library research methods to collect data. Several findings are summarized: 1) the problem of plastic waste in Enggros village is an environmental crisis that needs to be addressed because it has an impact on the decline in fish populations, difficulty accessing clean water, and contamination of mangrove forests; 2) development in the context of modernization in Jayapura city should prioritize the environmental aspects of sustainable development; 3) cooperation from various stakeholders is required – both state and non-state actors – in overcoming the environmental crisis in Enggros village; 4) strengthening the capacity of the indigenous Enggros is required, considering them as important stewards who will protect their environment in the future.KEYWORDSEnggros; Green Theory; Jayapura; Plastic

Leseprobe ----- Bibliographie: Lehmann, Albrecht: Wald als „Lebensstichwort“. Zur biographischen Bedeutung der Landschaft des Naturerlebnisses und des Naturbewusstseins [BIOS 9 (1996), Heft 2, 143-154], BIOS – Zeitschrift fur Biographieforschung, Oral History und Lebensverlaufsanalysen, 1+2-2019, S. 218-229. ----- Open-Access-Lizenz: Dieser Beitrag ist ab dem 16.11.2023 im Open Access unter der Creative-Commons-Lizenz CC BY 4.0 (Namensnennung 4.0 International) verfugbar. Weitere Informationen zur Lizenz und den Nutzungsbedingungen finden Sie hier .

This article contributes to debates about trade unions and the environment by studying differences between union members and non-members when asked to prioritize between environmental protection and jobs and economic growth. Differences are explored in a multi-level framework based on European Values Study data from 2017, covering 22 European countries. The empirical results show that members are more pro-environmentally inclined than non-members. This is demonstrated to be attributable to a large extent to the fact that members tend to be more left-leaning politically, a disposition which tends to be associated positively with environmental concern. While those employed in transport and manufacturing generally are least likely to be willing to prioritize environmental protection, membership has the most pronounced positive effect in this group. The tendency for members to be more pro-environmentally inclined is consistent across the studied countries. The article also shows that both members and non-members in countries with higher collective bargaining coverage tend to be more pro-environmentally inclined. Implications of the findings are discussed in terms of the political nature of collective interest representation with which unions are concerned, broader debates about union renewal and the importance of unions in garnering workers’ support for a greener economy.

The threats that arise from climate change and their associated economic, social, and environmental impacts are leading to the transformation of the spatial structures of cities. The growing demand for climate adaptability calls for the development of normative criteria for the design of forms of urban settings that integrate vegetation. Climate-responsive urban design reacts to the challenges of urban physics, which depend heavily on the forms of urban structures and the role of greenery. This method includes research on vegetation indexes and their impact on urban regulatory functions. The goal is to propose a comprehensive framework for assessing the functioning of urban public space, which considers the role and maintenance of green infrastructure. The intersection with the subject matter of analytical urban morphology is evident, in terms of the resolution of the urban fabric and its transformations over time. The framework of climate-responsive urban design also covers examining the parameters of surrounding built structures, such as the floor area ratio, the building coverage ratio, and building heights. In particular, the requirements of climate adaptation have an impact on the design of outdoor spaces in cities. In this article, we apply the selected methods that contribute to the climate-responsive urban design model to recommend the transformations of two urban nodes, in Lodz and Warsaw (Poland). Our goal is to indicate the future form of nodal public spaces with a focus on the needs of urban greenery, and to determine indicators for the local climate zone. After an initial literature review, we discuss a number of available indicators from the perspective of how they might contribute to determine the environmental conditions. We focus on urban water cycle, the requirement of trees for water, and insolation conditions.

Climate risk management evolves rapidly from one additional challenge for urban planning into a radical driver of urban development. In addition to fundamental changes in urban planning to increase long-term resilience, the creation of new opportunities for sustainable transformation is imperative. While urban planners increasingly add climate risks to their menu, implementation of effective action is lagging. To reduce urban infrastructure’s vulnerability to heat and flooding, cities often rely on short-term incremental adjustments rather than considering longer-term transformative solutions. The transdisciplinary co-development of inspiring urban visions with local stakeholders over timescales of decades or more, can provide an appealing prospect of the city we desire—a city that is attractive to live and work in, and simultaneously resilient to climate hazards. Taking an historic perspective, we argue that re-imagining historical urban planning concepts, such as the late 19th-century garden city until early 21st century urban greening through nature-based solutions, is a pertinent example of how climate risk management can be combined with a wide-range of socio-economic and environmental goals. Climate knowledge has expanded rapidly over the last decades. However, climate experts mainly focus on the refinement of and access to observations and model results, rather than on translating their knowledge effectively to meet today’s urban planning needs. In this commentary we discuss how the two associated areas (urban planning and climate expertise) should be more fully integrated to address today’s long-term challenges effectively.

Despite significant renewable energy expansion in the past, Germany has encountered difficulties in meeting its national greenhouse gas emission targets. In response, Germany adopted the Federal Climate Change Act (CCA) in 2019. We analyze the state of climate governance in Germany before the CCA, the main design elements of the CCA, and assess the potential of the CCA to change German climate governance. Drawing on policy integration theory and 26 semi-structured interviews with senior policymakers and stakeholders, we find that German climate governance before the CCA was only moderately integrated. The sectoral emission targets legislated by the CCA make climate change mitigation a priority sector goal in non-energy sectors, and CCA provisions for monitoring, assessing and implementing policy reforms promise to enhance alignment of instruments with targets over time. Overall, the CCA advances a multi-rather than cross-sector climate governance, failing to advance coordination across sectors and ministries.

Climate change will affect the way cities work substantially. Flooding and urban heating are among the most tangible consequences in cities around the globe. Extreme hydro-meteorological events will likely increase in the future due to climate change. Making cities climate-resilient is therefore an urgent challenge to sustain urban living. To adapt cities to the consequences of climate change, new ideas and concepts need to be adopted. This oftentimes requires action from different stakeholder groups and citizens. In other words, climate adaptation of cities needs governance. Facilitating such urban governance for climate adaptation is thus a big and increasing challenge of urban planning. Smart tools and its embedding in smart urban governance is promising to help in this respect. To what extent can the use of digital knowledge technologies in a collaborative planning setting be instrumental in facilitating climate adaptation? This question entails visualising effects of climate adaptation interventions and facilitating dialogue between governments, businesses such as engineering companies, and citizens. The aim of this thematic issue is to explore how the application of technologies in urban planning, embedded in smart urban governance, can contribute to provide climate change adaptation. We understand smart urban governance in this context both in terms of disclosing technical expert information to the wider public, and in terms of supporting with the help of technologies the wider governance debates between the stakeholders involved. The contributions reflect this dual focus on socio-technical innovations and planning support, and therefore include various dimensions, from modelling and interacting to new modes of urban governance and political dimensions of using technologies in climate change adaptation in urban areas.

With the growing populations and range of large wild mammals in Europe, wildlife governance has grown in importance and provoked social conflicts, pressuring policy-makers to provide adequate policy responses. Some countries chose decentralised approaches, while others retain traditional top-down mechanisms. However, evolutionary mechanisms behind those changes and their impact on steering have attracted relatively little attention. We investigated the evolution of the governance of three wildlife species (European bison, moose, and wolf) in Poland (1945–2020) to map their existing paths and explore external and internal factors influencing steering patterns. The results suggest that despite the persistent dominance of state-centred governance and top-down hierarchical instruments characteristic for a post-socialist country, steering involved intense and often informal communication with influential actors. A growing diversity of actors and discourses in wildlife governance increased the state’s steering options and improved conservation outcomes. Concurrently, the government’s steering shifted from concrete policy results to managing tensions and interests within the field. These transformations helped to retain the effectiveness of steering in the changing context, while retaining state-dominated governance.

Geneva prides itself on being an international city, home to the United Nations and international organizations. The airport plays an important role in this image, tied to a quest for hypermobility in an increasingly globalized society. Yet, mobility accounts for close to one quarter of the territory’s carbon emissions, with flights responsible for 70% of these emissions. With recent legislation that includes ambitious targets for net zero carbon emissions by 2050, the role of air travel can no longer be ignored. In 2020, a partnership was formed between the City, the University of Geneva, and a community energy association to explore the possibility of co-designing a city-wide change initiative, focused on reducing flights through voluntary measures. The team consulted with a variety of actors, from citizens who fly for leisure, to those who fly for professional reasons, with a spotlight on academic travel. A review of the scientific and grey literature revealed what initiatives already exist, leading to a typology of change initiatives. Inspired by this process, we then co-designed a series of workshops on opportunities for flying less in Geneva. We demonstrate the value of going beyond an ‘individual behaviour change’ approach towards understanding change as embedded in socio-material arrangements, as well as identifying interventions that seek to address both negative and positive anticipated outcomes. We conclude with insights on how a social practice approach to understanding mobility reveals both material and immaterial challenges and opportunities, involving infrastructures and technologies, but also social norms and shared meanings.

The visibility of young people in climate change debates has risen significantly since the inception of the Fridays for Future movement, but little is known about the diversity of positions, perspectives and experiences of young people in Ireland, especially with respect to climate change adaptation planning. To close this knowledge gap, this article first interrogates key emergent spaces of public participation within the arena of climate action in Ireland in order to identify the extent of young people’s participation and whether any specific consideration is given to disadvantaged groups. It then tests the impacts of workshops specifically designed to support disadvantaged young people’s engagement with climate change adaptation which were rolled out with a designated Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools school in inner-city Dublin, Ireland. We found limited attention to public participation in climate change adaptation planning generally, with even less consideration given to engaging young people from disadvantaged communities. However, positive impacts with respect to enhanced knowledge of climate change science and policy processes emerged following participation in the workshops, providing the bedrock for a greater sense of self-efficacy around future engagement with climate action amongst the young people involved. We conclude that what is needed to help ensure procedural justice around climate action in Ireland are specific, relevant and interactive educational interventions on the issue of climate change adaptation; interventions which are sensitive to matters of place and difference.

Zusammenfassung Verschiedene Biookonomie-Strategien zielen auf die Substitution fossiler Brennstoffe durch nachwachsende Rohstoffe. Jedoch ist auch die Produktion agrarischer Ressourcen im derzeitigen Modell der industriellen Landwirtschaft ein extraktives System, das auf die standige Zufuhr externer Nahrstoffe angewiesen ist. Nach einer historisch-theoretischen Analyse dieser Nahrstoffflusse geht der Beitrag auf den Nahrstoff Phosphor bzw. den Rohstoff Phosphatgestein ein. Es zeigt sich, dass Phosphatgestein, jahrzehntelang eine „billige Massenware“, ab 2007 zu einem strategischen Rohstoff wurde, wobei auch Analysen uber ein mogliches Fordermaximum (Peak Phosphorus) um das Jahr 2030 entstanden sind. Anhand exemplarischer Strategien staatlicher und privater Akteure zum Umgang mit der neuen Situation wird deutlich, dass die Kontrolle uber Phosphor-Flusse zunehmend umkampft ist. Der Beitrag argumentiert, dass Biookonomie-Strategien bereits bestehende Auseinandersetzungen um die Phosphatversorgung verscharfen und globale Ungleichheiten verstarken, die unter anderem in Ernahrungskrisen hervortreten. Technologische Erneuerungen, die auch im Rahmen der Biookonomie vorangetrieben werden, erlauben nur eine bedingte Abkehr vom extraktiven Charakter der Landwirtschaft, konnen aber die Interessen dominanter Akteure sichern. Schlagworter: Phosphatgestein, Bergbau, peak phosphorus, Dungemittel, Industrielle Landwirtschaft, Biookonomie, Guterketten, Ernahrungskrisen, Globale Ungleichheit, Brasilien, Peru, Nahrstoff-Recycling ----- The Extractive Basis of the Bioeconomy. Synthetic Fertilisers, Peak Phosphorus and Alternative Technologies Abstract Various bioeconomy strategies aim to replace fossil resources with renewable agrarian resources without departing from the agro-industrial model. Paradoxically, the bioeconomy model is an extractive system itself, dependent on the constant supply of mineral resources to replace the nutrients extracted from the soil. Using a historical-theoretical approach, this article first analyses the flows of nutrients in this system and then focuses specifically on the nutrient phosphorus and the raw material phosphate rock. Classified as a “low-cost bulk commodity” for decades, since 2007 phosphate rock has become a strategic resource and scholars have started debating the possibility of reaching “Peak Phosphorus” by 2030. By analysing state and private actor strategies to adapt to this emerging situation, it becomes clear that the control over flows of phosphorous is increasingly contested. This article argues that bioeconomy strategies are aggravating existing conflicts over phosphate supply, as well as global inequalities, which inter alia become evident in food crises. Technological innovations, which are promoted within bioeconomy strategies, only reduce the extractive character of industrial agriculture in a limited way, while also securing the interests of dominant actors. Keywords: phosphate rock, mining, peak phosphorus, fertilizer, industrial agriculture, bioeconomy, commodity chains, food crises, global inequality, Brazil, Peru, nutrient-recycling ----- Bibliographie: Anlauf, Axel: Die extraktive Basis der Biookonomie. Synthetische Dungemittel, Peak Phosphorus und alternative Technologien, PERIPHERIE – Politik • Okonomie • Kultur, 3+4-2020, S. 284-307. https://doi.org/10.3224/peripherie.v40i3-4.04

The concept of green growth and sustainable development is turning into a global ideology guiding the transformation of national economies. The focus is shifting from quantitative assessments of performance to rational choice conditions. Rationality is becoming the decisive factor behind sustainable green growth, and a change in the financial model that supports such growth may be needed. Therefore, the most urgent problems relating to sustainable growth are the transformation of the finance system, on the one hand, and the creation of a new financial paradigm based on the principles of responsible investment and corporate social responsibility, on the other. This study aims to consider the theoretical and practical aspects of creating a national green finance model ensuring sustainable growth in the Russian Federation. The development of a green finance mechanism and a green bond market in Baltic Sea countries is analysed to determine national features and explore the possibility of translating the Baltic experience into practice in Russia. The research uses methods such as economic observations, economic description, structural and logical analysis, and systems analysis. Perhaps the most significant finding is the description of a methodological framework for sustainable development theory, as seen by major schools of economic thought. Studying the experience of Baltic Sea countries in creating a new finance model of responsible investment helped detect national features and development priorities that can be used in Russia in devising the ideology, principles, and mechanism of green growth and sustainable growth financing.

This work presents findings from research into the relationship between the structural organisation and cultural attitudes of local communities in the Baltic Sea region and the way they perceive environmental risks. The response of the Kaliningrad community to the development of a local potassium and magnesium salt mine is used as an illustration. The article deals with how local communities perceive the image of risks formed and reproduced via various communication channels. The structural context and the context of communication are taken into account. Another focus is on how this perception is affected by the type of community members’ cultural attitudes (according to Mary Douglas’s grid/group model). The space of categorical variables obtained through multiple correspondence analysis (MCA) aids in clustering the cases (respondents) as well as in testing theoretical assumptions for compliance with the findings. The communicative practices characteristic of all the clusters (classes of cases) are examined; the relationship between the structural organisation of groups, their cultural attitudes, their perception of environmental risks, and the performance of environmental agencies are explored. An evaluation of the comparative efficiency of different ways and means of risk communication with the identified groups is made. It is concluded that the proposed model is methodologically promising and there is a need for differentiated risk-communication strategies.

Investing in different futures is an existential challenge that much research within and adjacent to Ecological Economics engages with, yet organizations that recognize this social ecological imperative have few options for funding and implementing radical transformations to the needs and well-being provisioning systems that currently exist. Ecological macroeconomic ideas and EE principles of long term well being and justice on a livable planet will be explored in the context of the housing crisis in Canada, and a rural Ontario community organization attempting to find transformative solutions to the lived, local experience of this crisis. Provisioning systems for housing, when tied to real estate markets, debt money creation, land enclosures, and financialized supply chains, contribute to capital accumulation cycles; it is hardly possible to meet our housing needs, in aggregate, without also perpetuating the form of this provisioning system. The idea presented here, that of Capital Sequestration, proposes to remove capital from markets and `invests' this capital in land trusts as an intentional transformation of financial capital into social and ecological values. Through land and housing trusts as well as non-market funding pathways, Capital Sequestration is a method of investing in the transformation of provisioning systems through the sustained and collective boundary management of financial markets and incommensurable values. This practice offers significant promise as it applies ecological macroeconomic theory work, is grounded in the normative goals of and emerges from empirical research of EE, and meets a pressing need within society for imagining alternative economies.

Citizen engagement around climate change remains a wicked problem. It is particularly challenging in relation to climate change adaptation at the local level. In response, this article presents the design steps taken to create a serious game for young people (aged 15–17) as a means to increase engagement in planning for climate change adaptation in Dublin. The iAdapt game acts as the capstone component of the audio and visual teaching and learning resources for adaptation education on the Climate Smart platform and uses open data, interactive in-browser 2.5D mapping and spatial analysis, and exemplar socio-technical adaptation interventions. Its primary aim is to empower young people to understand and engage with the complexities, uncertainties, and processes of climate adaptation planning by using scientifically validated flood data predictions, grounded in a place-based setting and with diverse examples of diverse adaptation interventions. Participants experience the difficulties of decision-making under conditions of democratic governance and uncertainty in order to educate, increase awareness, and stimulate discussions around the multiple possible pathways to planning for climate adaptation. Initial testing results with a cohort of young people in Dublin are presented. We conclude by reflecting upon the challenges of creating a game that has broad appeal yet remains enjoyable to play and the value of integrating real-world flood data with gamified elements. We also discuss the “value question” regarding the impact of games on expanding public engagement. Finally, the article sets out a plan for further development and dissemination of the platform and game.

Introduction: School-based programmes may promote knowledge and skills required to address climate change and better health and well-being in adolescents, yet evidence of their effectiveness is limited. In preparation for evaluating the Public Climate School, a school-based intervention to promote climate awareness and action in adolescents, we conduct a pilot study intended to assess procedures for participant recruitment, retention, and data collection, data quality issues and to provide preliminary parameter estimates to guide sample size calculations. Methods and analysis: This unblinded, cluster-controlled pilot study targets students in twelve classes from grades seven to thirteen in German public schools. Seven and five classes were allocated to the intervention and waitlist control arms, respectively. The intervention consisted of (1) live lessons on YouTube, (2) climate-related challenges of the day, (3) workshops and (4) peer exchange sessions. Waitlist control classes participated three weeks later. Measures included the proportion of students completing baseline and follow-up surveys, a comparison of baseline characteristics between students in the retained subsample and those lost to follow-up, proportions of students completing online and paper–pencil-based surveys and problems during data collection based on information reported by teachers. Data quality was assessed as proportions of missing data, associations between missingness and sociodemographic measures using logistic regression models and basic psychometric properties of scales including ceiling effects and internal consistency. Intentions to reduce one’s ecological footprint, the primary outcome, and all secondary outcomes for effect estimation were assessed one week pre- and post-intervention from November to December 2021 using items adapted from internationally used instruments and will be investigated using generalised linear mixed models and intention-to-treat analyses. Conclusions: The pilot study will lay the methodological groundwork for a large-scale cluster-randomised effectiveness and process evaluation of the Public Climate School. If proven effective and rolled out more broadly, the Public Climate School has the potential to contribute meaningfully to national climate mitigation and adaptation efforts by reaching a substantial share of adolescents in public schools, including those traditionally less involved in climate action.

Increased demand for land for economic and residential purposes has engendered tensions among different land users in Indian cities. Consequently, the development and management of environmentally just and organized green spaces involve major challenges. In this article, using the context of three Indian cities (Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, and Kolkata), the factors that contribute to environmentally unjust development and management of organized green spaces were examined and various strategies that would lead to environmental justice were evaluated. A survey research method was used to collect data, followed by factor analysis and ordinal regression modelling. Findings suggest that factors under five principal components contributed to environmental injustice, including: community features and infrastructure related to organized green space; the economics of development and management of organized green space; linking green space to environment and health; spatial development, land use, and accessibility; and land availability and governance of the supply of green space. Strategies such as community-led, green space development and management; fair and equitable distribution of green spaces; improvement of accessibility; connecting green spaces to benefits of health; and mandatory linkage of built infrastructure with the provision of green spaces would ensure environmental justice.

In der Klimadebatte ist derzeit ein neomalthusianischer Reflex zu beobachten: Der Klimawandel wird über statistische Berechnungen in Zusammenhang mit einer wachsenden Weltbevölkerung gebracht, und Strategien der Geburtenkontrolle werden nahegelegt. Der Text diskutiert diese gefährliche Entwicklung kritisch: Untote Geister eines Denkens in der Kategorie 'Bevölkerung' werden wiederbelebt, die untrennbar mit ihrer kolonialrassistischen und sozialdarwinistischen Geschichte verwickelt sind. Zunächst werden die Argumentationslinien sehr unterschiedlicher Akteur*innen rekonstruiert, die sich auf diese Rationalität einlassen: ein ökologischer Mainstream, der Bevölkerung als schädlichen ‚Faktor‘ berechnet, die extreme Rechte, für die biopolitische Argumentationsmuster eine Andockstelle an den Klimadiskurs darstellen, und feministische und klimaaktivistische Aufrufe zum ‚Gebärstreik‘. Daraufhin werden drei Dimensionen in diesen Argumentationslinien unterschieden: die abstrakte statistische Konstruktion eines Zuviels an menschlicher Bevölkerung, die historisch tief verwurzelte Zuschreibung dieses Zuviels an die 'Anderen', sowie totalitäre Planungsvisionen einer global zu managenden ‚Fertilität‘. Im Schlussteil plädiert die Autorin aus einer Perspektive reproduktiver Gerechtigkeit für ein radikales Zurückweisen dieser Verknüpfung von Bevölkerung und Klimawandel. A neo-Malthusian reflex can be observed in the climate debate: Statistical calculations link climate change to world population growth and suggest strategies for birth control. The text discusses this dangerous development: undead ghosts of thought referring to the category of ‘population’ are being revived, together with their colonial-racist and social-Darwinist history. First, the arguments of very different actors engaging in this rationality are reconstructed: an ecological mainstream that calculates population as a harmful ‘factor’; the extreme right, for whom biopolitical strategies represent a docking point to the climate discourse; and feminist and climate activist calls for a 'birth strike'. Three dimensions in these lines of argumentation are then distinguished: the abstract statistical construction of an excess population; the historically deeply rooted attribution of this excess to the 'Others'; and totalitarian planning visions of global ‘fertility’ management. In the conclusion, the author argues from the perspective of reproductive justice for a radical rejection of this population climate change link.

Previous research consistently finds a relatively weak relationship between environmental concern and pro-environmental behavior, as environmentally concerned individuals often fail to act pro-environmentally, both in the private and public spheres. While the strength of the concern - behavior relationship varies considerably across countries, existing research has yet to provide a complete account of these cross-national differences. In this study, we add to previous cross-national research on the concern - behavior relationship by focusing on the quality of government. Using multilevel analysis and data from the International Social Survey Programme (ISSP), we demonstrate that people who are environmentally concerned are more likely to act pro-environmentally (in the public sphere), in countries where government institutions are fair, effective and impartial. We also find that people are generally more likely to engage in pro-environmental behavior in both the private and public sphere in countries where the quality of government is high.

Alarming plastic production growth worldwide reinforces the public debate about the prevailing environmental crisis, whereby single-use-plastic (SUP) items are considered as by far the most harmful to the environment and public health. Accordingly, European environmental policy aims at eliminating SUP. Recently, we presented a model of plastic governance that derives from a circular economy approach identifying and taking into consideration perspectives of different actors in the plastic governance, such as producers, wholesalers, shop keepers, consumers, citizen scientists, and academia. Our results illustrate that the vast majority of stakeholders cared for the natural environment and understood the need to phase out SUP from the global economy. We proposed that a knowledge brokerage, undertaken by scientists via means of citizen science, as the most effective method to implement elimination policy, as it provides stakeholders with knowledge on why and how to handle SUP issues. However, at the time of the global COVID-19 pandemic, a plastic governance model required a re-assessment. The perceived role of SUP has changed, as it reflects the health emergency. Namely, due to the health safety reasons stakeholders and consumers are requesting even more SUP than previously. Following up on our data gathered prior to the pandemic, we suggest that under the new circumstances health concerns outweigh the environmental concerns being determined by a shift in the value hierarchization. The paper discusses preliminary results.

While climate change has become a salient political and social issue in Western societies, we know relatively little about how these societies will react to one of the potentially important consequences of climate change: increasing migration flows. By means of a representative online survey in Germany, this paper therefore investigates for the very first time to what extent citizens in industrialized societies are willing to accept climate change migrants, especially in comparison with other groups of migrants and refugees, and the circumstances and principles under which they would accept them. The findings show that climate change migrants receive high support levels comparable with those enjoyed by political refugees (migrants who need special protection) and that contrast with attitudes towards economic migrants (who are often not seen as in need of special protection). We also see that people are more likely to accept justifications for taking climate change migrants when they realize that the expected number of migrants is relatively low. While arguments about morality, corrective justice, and a country’s capacity lead to similar acceptance rates in general, the latter argument plays a more important role for highly educated people and non-environmentalists than the former two. The findings of this study allow us to better prepare for potential conflicts that might emerge with increasing migration flows caused by climate change., University of Bamberg

The affordability of property-level adaptation measures against flooding is crucial due to the movement toward integrated flood risk management, which requires the individuals threatened by flooding to actively manage flooding. It is surprising to find that affordability is not often discussed, given the important roles that affordability and social justice play regarding flood risk management. This article provides a starting point for investigating the potential rate of unaffordability of flood risk property-level adaptation measures across Europe using two definitions of affordability, which are combined with two different affordability thresholds from within flood risk research. It uses concepts of investment and payment affordability, with affordability thresholds based on residual income and expenditure definitions of unaffordability. These concepts, in turn, are linked with social justice through fairness concerns, in that, all should have equal capability to act, of which affordability is one avenue. In doing so, it was found that, for a large proportion of Europe, property owners generally cannot afford to make one-time payment of the cost of protective measures. These can be made affordable with installment payment mechanisms or similar mechanisms that spread costs over time. Therefore, the movement toward greater obligations for flood-prone residents to actively adapt to flooding should be accompanied by socially accessible financing mechanisms.

The aim of the text is to reflect on defining animals as negative opposites of human beings, that contradict humanistic values and ideals. In a posthuman thought Rossi Braidotti proposes zooegalitarism, aiming at providing animals and humans with equal rights. In cultural human tradition, one can find deeply rooted tendency to oppose humans and animals. Looking at this phenomenon from a humanistic point of view, we can notice that proposed by Lévinas cathegory of the Other, has no application here. To contrary: animal is treated as an alien, and all negative qualities of the alien are automatically assigned to animal as well. What purpose this opposition serves? And what happens if this opposition disappears?

In 2018, more homes in the US have pets than those that have children. Though pets are regarded as property by US law, a majority of people identify pets as part of the family unit. Animal abuse and cruelty have been identified as a potential indicator and precursor to interpersonal violence (IPV). Moreover, child maltreatment, domestic violence, elder abuse, and animal abuse co-occur in households and communities link together to indicate the nexus of these heinous crimes; these co-occurring forms of violence have been increasingly referred to as The Link, to indicate the linked violence. However, there is an incongruence in the definition of animal abuse and cruelty; thus, documenting cases, bringing charges, and achieving a conviction is difficult. Furthermore, the initial education to learn of these topics in human service professions, such as social work, remains absent from many curricula. In practice, cross-reporting of suspected abuse or neglect is a vital mechanism for connecting human and animal professionals to address the issues between human and animal welfare systems. This sharing of information can increase the likelihood that clients experiencing IPV will receive comprehensive services that can improve their level of safety and quality of life. By providing professionals with education for indicators of abuse, and strategies for how to make a report, communities can build stronger support networks for those in need. Herein, Ohio legislation and current community efforts serve as a case study to define animal abuse, delineate transdisciplinary factors for relevance, and make recommendations for addressing this vital social welfare need. The strategies within this case-study are encouraged to be adapted and applied nationally and internationally.

Human dreams of a long and healthy life are becoming increasingly real. The advancement of medical technology allows to modify the genome or personalised therapy in order to avoid troublesome side effects. This process also leads to the blurring of boundaries between humans and animals. Rats with induced human diseases are used for testing drugs for incurable illness; humanised pigs can donate organs that are compatible with the genome and immune system of the recipient. A brave new human is approaching, and new “human” animals are making this possible. The main objective of the article is to show the differences between the refinement of people and other animals and to analyse this phenomenon from an ethical point of view.