Environmental Problem Solving Research Articles

An Environmental Pedagogy of Care: Emotion, Relationships, and Experience in Higher Education Ethics Learning

Field philosophy is interdisciplinary experiential environmental humanities learning. It grows from a community-focused conception of environmental ethics and place-based environmental education, and it aims to help students develop an awareness of the role of environmental ethics in environmental issues, as well as cultivate an empathetic environmental ethic that might enable them to participate in environmental problem solving. The emotional, cognitive, and physical relationships with people, place, and ideas at the core of field philosophy necessitate a pedagogy that attends to affective learning objectives and relationship building. A shared focus connects literature in experiential education, educational psychology research on emotional engagement, and the ethic of care. A synthesis of this literature grounds an environmental pedagogy of care with meaningful potential for field philosophy.

Training hydrologists to be ecohydrologists and play a leading role in environmental problem solving

Abstract. Ecohydrology is a relatively new and rapidly growing subject area in the hydrology curriculum. It is a trans-disciplinary science derived from the larger earth systems science movement and examining mutual interactions of the hydrological cycle and ecosystems. It is also an applied science focused on problem solving and providing sound guidance to catchment-scale integrated land and water resources management. The principle spheres of ecohydrology include (i) climate-soil-vegetation-groundwater interactions at the land surface with special implications for land use, food production and climate change; (ii) riparian runoff, flooding, and flow regime dynamics in river corridors with special implications for water supply, water quality, and inland fisheries; and (iii) fluvial and groundwater inputs to lakes/reservoirs, estuaries, and coastal zones with special implications for water quality and fisheries. We propose an educational vision focused on the development of professional and personal competencies to impart a depth of scientific knowledge in the theory and practice of ecohydrology and a breadth of cross-cutting knowledge and skills to enable ecohydrologists to effectively collaborate with associated scientists and communicate results to resource managers, policy-makers, and other stakeholders. In-depth knowledge in hydrology, ecology, and biogeochemistry is emphasized, as well as technical skills in data collection, modeling, and statistical analysis. Cross-cutting knowledge is framed in the context of integrated water resources management. Personal competencies to be fostered in educational programs include creative thinking, cooperation, communication, and leadership. We consider a life-long learning context but highlight the importance of master's level training in the professional formation of ecohydrologists.

Tourism, Environment, and Development on the Inca Trail

Abstract This article shows how tourism has shaped Latin American environments by constructing touristic landscapes, causing environmental impacts, and affecting environmental problem solving. The author utilizes written records and interviews to document the environmental history of the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. The transformation of the Inca Trail from overgrown path to global hiking destination began in the early twentieth century. Foreign and Peruvian scientific expeditions socially constructed the trail as natural and cultural heritage. State and corporate actors sought to advance regional and national development via tourism. In Machu Picchu and the Inca Trail, this took the form of archaeological restoration and tourism infrastructure to showcase Cusco’s heritage and modernity. Backpacking guidebooks and trekking operators helped internationalize the trail in the 1970s. By the late 1990s, it had become an experiential pilgrimage for thousands of hikers. For state officials and tour agencies, it had become an environmental problem. In 2000, new regulations took measures to improve the trail’s environment and produce an aesthetic touristic landscape. The new rules also regimented commerce, labor, and trail users to promote tourism development. The author suggests new ways of conceiving heritage tourism and park policy as part of development as well as conservation.

The Value of Conceptual Models in Coping with Complexity and Interdisciplinarity in Environmental Sciences Education

Conceptual models are useful for facing the challenges of environmental sciences curriculum and course developers and students. These challenges are inherent to the interdisciplinary and problem-oriented character of environmental sciences curricula. In this article, we review the merits of conceptual models in facing these challenges. These models are valuable because they can be used to (a) improve the coherence and focus of an environmental sciences curriculum, (b) analyze environmental issues and integrate knowledge, (c) examine and guide the process of environmental research and problem solving, and (d) examine and guide the integration of knowledge in the environmental-research and problem-solving processes. We advocate the use of various conceptual models in environmental sciences education. By applying and reflecting on these models, students start to recognize the complexity of human—environment systems, to appreciate the various approaches to framing environmental problems, and to comprehend the role of science in dealing with these problems.

Parsing “Participation” in Action Research: Navigating the Challenges of Lay Involvement in Technically Complex Participatory Science Projects

Participatory action research (PAR) is widely recognized for its potential to improve environmental problem solving. However, PAR proponents and observers have paid relatively little attention to the ways in which lay participation complicates the research process. In this article, I examine the challenges presented by lay participation in the case of the Drift Catcher, a participatory air monitoring program in which community residents in the United States work with scientists from an environmental nongovernmental organization (NGO) to sample their own air for pesticides and then to use those data to press for social change. My findings suggest the need for a more nuanced understanding of “participation,” one that accounts for the technical complexity of a PAR project, other challenges, and the participants' organizational capacity. Successfully executing a participatory research project, especially one that produces politically controversial data, may require substantial capacity building to weather the political and technical challenges that arise.

Trends and Dilemmas Facing Environmental Education in Portugal: From Environmental Problem Assessment to Citizenship Involvement

Environmental education (EE) emerged in Portugal as an organized field of collective action about 30 years ago. At this time of the return to democracy, major social and environmental changes had begun to occur. Yet, after 30 years of EE, together with significant improvements in the education system and curricula, the real impacts of these mostly voluntary and aggressive efforts aimed at preparing future citizens to deal effectively and sensitively with environmental problem solving are not yet evident. The pathways and social context of these efforts aimed at upgrading EE in Portugal, and their apparent failure to meet their objectives, form the basis of the analysis in this paper. The authors examine the results of a survey questionnaire sent to 15,000 public and private schools all running projects formally associated with both EE and education for sustainable development (ESD). The primary purpose of the analysis was to identify the trends, constraints, and potentials for these EE/ESD projects and initiatives within primary and secondary schools. In addition, perspectives as to the emerging trends in ESD in Portugal are discussed, bearing in mind the shifting educational context.

Institutional design for improved forest governance through REDD: Lessons from the global environment facility

This contribution focuses on carbon mitigation and biodiversity conservation in the context of the UN initiative for Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation in Developing countries (REDD). The design of REDD is important as it may channel much of the international funding that will potentially be made available for future environmental problem-solving in developing countries. The most important multilateral environmental funding mechanism is the Global Environment Facility (GEF). With its basic structural similarity to the emerging REDD, it provides a good starting point for drawing lessons relevant to the design of REDD. In explaining GEF priorities and performance we discuss the role of key actors as well as the organizational and institutional structure of GEF. These factors do not encourage coalitions for addressing environmental problems in the poorest countries. The institutional setting of REDD in the Convention on Climate Change may further exacerbate this trend, as neither conservation nor socioeconomic concerns like the rights and well-being of indigenous peoples and local communities are addressed. Factors that favour utilizing a similar organization structure include scope for donor trust, for bringing in established competence and a comprehensive approach. REDD must be wary of catering solely to a Northern environmental agenda.

Where Did All the Blue Skies Go? Sustainability and Equity: The New Paradigm

Environmental problem emerging in the postindustrial world have characteristics that distinguish them from problems perceived during the industrial era. These distinguishing characteristics have driven the environmental movement towards recognition of the importance of social science, social justice, and behavioral change in seeking lasting solution to these environmental problems. This article explores the core values of this new paradigm of sustainability in both is substantive and procedural aspects. The article is divided into six parts: Part I examines ways in which values and ethics affect the perception and definition of environmental problems and the approaches to environmental problem solving; Part II examines environmental problems and behavioral change though the lens of risk assessment, risk perception, and risk management; Part III explores the relationship between equity, social justice movements, and sustainability; Part IV examines procedural values inherent in the sustainability movement; Part V discusses the barriers to achieving sustainability and the role of law in overcoming those barriers; finally, Part VI describes the new ecological paradigm based upon the values of sustainability and equity.

Pre-Service Teachers’ Knowledge of and Attitudes to Some Environmental Education Concepts Using Value Education Strategies

The culture of environmental valuing has not been taken seriously in Nigeria at present. This has resulted into the deteriorating state of the environment. It is therefore important that strategies for effective environmental control be put in place. When preparing teachers for EE, innovative strategies should be explored because teachers normally teach the way they were taught. The study therefore investigated the effects of value analysis, value clarification and action learning on the environmental knowledge, attitudes and problem solving skills of pre-service teachers in some Nigeria Colleges of Education. The pre-test, post-test, control group, quasi-experiment design was used for the study. Two null hypotheses were generated and tested at.05 level of significance. Environment knowledge Test (EKT) and Environmental Attitudes Scale (EAS) were the instruments used for data collection. The data were analyzed using Analysis of covariance, multiple classification analysis and Duncan post-hoc test. The study found out that value education strategies were more effective in promoting subjects' cognitive and affective achievement in environmental education than conventional lecture method. Based on the findings, the study recommended that innovative instructional strategies like value analysis, value clarification and action learning should be adopted in Nigerian Colleges of Education to enhance effective teaching and learning of environmental education.

The development and application of CFD models for water treatment flocculators

The use of CFD to simulate turbulent flows in laboratory and full scale flocculation processes commonly found at water treatment works is reported. The paper considers a range of modelling strategies and simulation techniques including, inter alia, steady and unsteady flow, two-equation and Reynolds stress turbulence modelling, sliding mesh and multiple reference frames approaches to rotational flow simulation, and mesh density optimisation. Through analysis of turbulence dissipation rate, this work considers the development of models for environmental engineering problem solving and demonstrates clearly the benefits to be gained from the use of CFD in flocculation vessels.

Interdisciplinary Problems and Agency Boundaries: Exploring Effective Cross-Agency Collaboration

Interagency collaboration is frequently described as a pivotal element of environmental and public health problem solving; yet, there is little systematic evidence to document the conditions under which interagency collaboration is effective. If, as is widely believed, collaboration can promote comprehensive problem solving, then understanding the determinants of interagency collaboration is fundamental to improving environmental quality and promoting public health. This article examines factors promoting or inhibiting effective working relationships between environmental agencies and state and local public health departments in Wisconsin on a range of environmental and public health policy problems. Data collected using a web-based Internet survey of agency personnel are analysed. The results suggest that previous collaborative experience is important for public health departments at the state and local level, and structural incentives to collaborate are systematically linked to effective interagency collaboration.

Getting the Public Interested in the Public Interest: Collaborative Environmental Problem Solving in the Puget Sound Region

Getting the Public Interested in the Public Interest: Collaborative Environmental Problem Solving in the Puget Sound Region

Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration and Learning

Complex environmental problem solving depends on cross-disciplinary collaboration among scientists. Collaborative research must be preceded by an exploratory phase of collective thinking that creates shared conceptual frameworks. Collective thinking, in a cross-disciplinary setting, depends on the facility with which collaborators are able to learn and understand each others' perspectives. This paper applies three perspectives on learning to the problem of enabling cross-disciplinary collaboration: Maslow's hierarchy of needs, constructivism, and organizational learning. Application of learning frameworks to collaboration provides insights regarding receptive environments for collaboration, and processes that facilitate cross-disciplinary interactions. These environments and interactions need time to develop and require a long phase of idea generation preceding any focused research effort. The findings highlight that collaboration is itself a complex system of people, scientific theory, and tools that must be intentionally managed. Effective management of the system requires leaders who are facilitators and are capable of orchestrating effective environments and interactions.

How to Achieve Effectiveness in Problem-Oriented Landscape Research: The Example of Research on Biotic Invasions

It is increasingly expected from environmental research such as landscape research that science directly contributes to the solving of pressing societal problems. However, despite increased eorts to direct research towards societal problems, it is not obvious if science has become more eective in supporting environmental problem-solving. We present in this article a framework that facilitates the analysis and design of problem-orientation in research fields. We then apply the proposed framework to a concrete example of a problem-oriented landscape research field ‐ namely research on biotic invasions. Invasion research addresses the problem that some organisms, that have been introduced by humans to a new geographic area where they were previously not present, spread in the landscape and pose negative impacts. We argue that problem-oriented research is more than applied research. Besides research on specific questions it also encompasses boundary management, i.e., deliberations among experts and stakeholders on the framing of adequate research questions about processes, values and practices for eective problem-solving. We postulate that such research may assist problem-solving in three ways, by analysing causal relationships (systems knowledge), clarifying conflicts of interests and values (target knowledge), or contributing to the development of appropriate means for action (transformation knowledge). We show that over the past decades a broad range of dierent research approaches has emerged in the young field of invasion research in order to produce systems, target and transformation knowledge for invasive species management. Early research in the field was dominated by the development of systems knowledge, but increasingly the three knowledge forms are

Environmental problem solving: a how-to guide

Environmental problem solving: a how-to guide

Environmental problem solving in coastal ecosystems: A paradigm shift to sustainability

The human ecological footprint now extends to the entire globe, and human impacts are the dominant feature of many ecosystems, resulting in our current era being coined the ‘anthropocene’. This is particularly apparent in coastal ecosystems as human populations are increasing rapidly in coastal cities and the ecosystem services in these areas are rapidly being compromised. Science has historically progressed as a series of paradigm shifts and this paper reviews this history of paradigm shifts and makes the case that the next major paradigm shift will be directed at sustainability, resulting in a shift in scientific focus on solving rather than just studying our current environmental problems. Traditionally, science has been extremely effective at data acquisition and then successively less effective at translating this into information, knowledge and finally environmental problem solving. The currently required paradigm shift is to focus on environmental problem solving, filling gaps in knowledge, information and data only as required to solve a particular problem. A key element in turning this process around is better science communication between scientists, key stakeholders and the community. This will require more ‘science communicators’ who can use credibility, tenacity, creativity and virtue to effect solutions.

The new environmental regulation

Environmental regulation in the United States has succeeded, to a certain extent, in solving the problems it was designed to address; air, water, and land, are indisputably cleaner and in better condition than they would be without the environmental controls put in place since 1970. But Daniel Fiorino argues in The New Environmental Regulation that -- given recent environmental, economic, and social changes -- it is time for a new, more effective model of environmental problem solving. Fiorino provides a comprehensive but concise overview of U.S. environmental regulation -- its history, its rationale, and its application- -- and offers recommendations for a more collaborative, flexible, and performance-based alternative. Traditional environmental regulation was based on the increasingly outdated assumption that environmental protection and business are irreversibly at odds. The new environmental regulation Fiorino describes is based on performance rather than on a narrow definition of compliance and uses such policy instruments as market incentives and performance measurement. It takes into consideration differences in the willingness and capabilities of different firms to meet their environmental obligations, and it encourages innovation by allowing regulated industries, especially the better performers, more flexibility in how they achieve environmental goals. Fiorino points to specific programs -- including the 33/50 Program, innovative permitting, and the use of covenants as environmental policy instruments in the Netherlands -- that have successfully pioneered these new strategies. By bringing together such a wide range of research and real world examples, Fiorino has created an invaluable resource for practitioners and scholars and an engaging text for environmental policy courses.

Biodiversity and ecosystem informatics

The field of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Informatics (BDEI) brings together computer scientists, biologists, natural resource managers, and others who wish to solve real-world challenges while advancing the underlying ecological, computer, and information sciences. The potential for synergies among these disciplines is high, because our need to understand complex, ecosystem-scale processes requires the solution to many groundbreaking technological problems. Fortunately, we are beginning to see increased support for applied computer science and information technology research in the context of environmental problem-solving. In July, 2001, the National Science Foundation (NSF), in collaboration with the United States Geological Survey (USGS), and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), invited proposals for high-risk, small-scale planning and incubation activities to catalyze innovation and rapid advances in this new research community. The papers included in this special issue are selected, peer-reviewed summaries from principal investigators involved in this first NSF BDEI effort. These papers provide an overview of this emerging area and remind us that computer and information science and engineering play a crucial role in creating the technologies from which advances in the natural sciences evolve.

Psychology and Environmental Sustainability: A Call for Integration

Environmental scientists warn that the health of the planet is rapidly deteriorating, and the primary cause of the crisis is human behavior. Psychology can contribute greatly to understanding and changing behaviors that negatively impact global ecosystems; however, environmental issues are not generally included in psychology curricula, and psychology is not often represented in environmental curricula. We describe the relevance of psychology to environmental problem solving; suggest how to integrate environmental issues into psychology courses; and urge psychology faculty to collaborate with environmental studies and science faculty to strengthen the training of future policy makers, conservation scientists, and activists. We conclude that psychology has a critical role to play in creating a sustainable society.

Interdisciplinary perspectives on environmental appraisal and valuation techniques

Techniques of environmental appraisal and valuation play an important role in the context of sustainability assessment. They are at the heart of methods for quantifying economic and social costs and benefits, as well as the direct ecological impacts that are an inevitable side-effect of material ‘progress’. Concepts such as the physical life cycle of products and processes, and the need for clearly defined system boundaries, are key elements in environmental problem-solving. However, some economists would claim that, as a ‘normative’ discipline, their methods can be extended to incorporate all of society's environmental concerns. In contrast, engineers and environmental professionals have at times argued that economic techniques (such as cost–benefit analyses) may well obscure the impacts of different courses of action, and that decision makers consequently become less well informed rather than the reverse. Aggregate decision criteria, for example, often conceal the weighing of various impacts. By contrast, the sort of ‘prescriptive’ analytical tools emanating from engineering and the physical sciences can provide alternative insights that complement those that spring from economics. These include thermodynamic (energy and exergy) analysis and environmental life-cycle assessment. A range of interrelated environmental project appraisal techniques is therefore examined in order to determine their relative merits. Practical examples involving resource (energy and hydraulic oil) use, pollutant emissions, and waste disposal and recycling (of hydraulic oils) indicate that many of these methods can play an important evaluative role as part of an interdisciplinary toolkit within a general systems framework. Nevertheless, caution needs to be used when adopting economic and engineering analysis techniques so as to ensure that they are fit for their sustainability purpose.