Social Ecology

Nature's contributions to people (NCP) are all the contributions of living nature, both beneficial and detrimental, to the societies' life's quality. Ungulates play this dual role of providers of beneficial and detrimental NCP, as they are responsible of the supply of benefits (e.g. extractive experiences, habitat maintenance) and detriments (e.g. crops damage, traffic collisions). Our aim was to analyze the NCP provided by wild ungulates through examining the scientific priorities and the shepherds' perceptions in peninsular Spain. We reviewed scientific articles of NCP provided by ungulates in Spain and conducted questionnaires regarding NCP to shepherds in farming systems where domestic and wild ungulates cohabit. Then, we compared whether the scientific priorities match with those perceived by shepherds. Both stakeholders highlight more detrimental than beneficial NCP, although there are some mismatches between scientific priorities and shepherds' perceptions. Regarding detrimental NCP, soil alteration, silvicultural damage, human safety or traffic collision were included in scientific literature but not mentioned by shepherds. Contrarywise, shepherds mainly considered grazing competence and damage to animals (i.e. game species and livestock) as important detrimental NCP. Concerning beneficial NCP, whilst hunting was prominent in the publications, shepherds did not conceived it as an important beneficial contribution and considered the regulation of organisms (i.e. scavenging alternative prey) important benefits. These results can have twofold implications. The emphasis on detrimental NCP (studied and perceived) can reinforce the idea that ungulates can threaten humans rather than contribute to societies' wellbeing. The fact that research does not address the interests of shepherds can affect the social tolerance towards ungulates as the damages experienced or perceived by shepherds are not studied. Our results show the relevance of considering local knowledge held by shepherds and their perceptions, something highlighted by the NCP approach.

https://www.routledge.com/Environmental-Communication-Pedagogy-and-Practice/Milstein-Pileggi-Morgan/p/book/9781138393509
Intro paragraph: 'As teachers in the relatively new, but increasingly in-demand field of environmental communication, we often find ourselves introducing first-time courses to our departments, programs, and organizations. This chapter argues that, as we design courses, we also have the related opportunity and connected imperative to turn conventional learning inside-out. Indeed, this book as a whole provides a crucial moment to reflect on ways many environmental communication teachers are doing just that and a moment to further refine these practices. In this chapter, we elucidate an inside-out
classroom model (Milstein 2015) for teaching environmental communication, as well as environmental studies and the many related fields of learning. The model takes up Cox’s (2007) ethical duty of environmental communication within the realm of pedagogy, teaching learners about our current global anthropogenic ecological systemic crisis from a communication standpoint while empowering them to be ecocultural change agents. The goal with such an approach is to create transformative learning spaces in which learners’ inner concerns and passions find vital connection with their understandings of, and practices within, the wider biosphere.'

The recent development of what is known as queer ecology – the bringing together of queer and ecological theories and politics – was a key point of inspiration for this special issue. In order to honour that legacy, and to bring queer ecology discussions to ecopsychology and vice versa, I invited seven contemporary thinkers to sit together at a virtual roundtable. I began the discussion by asking each of the participants to offer their own individual reflection on the nature and value of queer ecology. These scholars bring a diverse range of perspectives to the table (as appropriate for the confluence of queer and ecological perspectives). From literary theory to anticapitalist activism, from the politics of knowledge to the vitality of the material world, from everyday performativities to the enormity of ecosystems, these seven writers offer thoughtful commentary on the intertwined nature of queer, oikos and psyche.
In the second round of the roundtable, each participant offers a response inspired by the contributions of the first round. Collectively, this discussion responds to Andy Fisher’s call for a radical ecopsychology (2002) by inviting a careful consideration of the ways in which we see ourselves and the world of which we are a part and, perhaps more importantly, how we can act to undermine, overflow or otherwise release mental and cultural patterns of domination and control. In doing so, we might free up much-needed energy to, in Gavin Brown’s words, “appreciate the queer exuberance of ecosystems”.

Es gibt Dinge, für die man Fachmann sein muss, um sie nicht zu verstehen. Hjalmar Söderberg Die Kluft zwischen "naturwissenschaftlich" und "sozial-oder geisteswissenschaftlich" arbeitenden Fächern gilt nach wie vor als nahezu unüberwindbar, auch wenn mittlerweile klar geworden ist, dass die drängenden Fragen des 21. Jahrhunderts weder allein durch naturwissenschaftliche Arbeiten noch durch rein sozialwissenschaftlich erarbeitete Lösungen beantwortet werden können. Für eine Verständigung über Disziplingrenzen hinweg braucht es Konzepte, die in ihren Grundannahmen ähnlich sind sowie auf vergleichbaren Weltdeutungen beruhen. Ansonsten bleibt die Arbeit über ein gemeinsames Thema ein Stückwerk verschiedener Disziplinperspektiven, das am Ende zusammengesetzt wird, dessen Verbindung jedoch offen bleibt.

We conducted a systematic review of 502 articles, published between 2000 and 2016, to characterize the research on human-carnivore relations according to (i) temporal and geographical distribution, (ii) biology, (iii) relations between carnivores and humans, (iv) social actors, (v) drivers of change, (vi) management, and (vii) applied methods. We performed a detrended correspondence analysis and Kruskal-Wallis tests to identify and describe thematic clusters used in human-carnivore relations research. Our results show that research is deeply biased so far, and four important knowledge gaps were detected. First, we found more studies had been conducted in the Global North than in the Global South, although risks and benefits of living alongside carnivores exist in the Global South equally. Second, most research focused on large predators, while small and medium-sized carnivores are also source of damages and ecosystem services. Third, relations were often framed around conflicts, with little attention to possible ecosystem services. Fourth, most research was carried out using natural sciences methods, despite methods from the social sciences having much to offer in this context. Research fell into seven thematic clusters focusing on: (1) North-American bears, (2) African large carnivores, (3) social research in America, (4) meso-carnivores, (5) Asian felids, (6) conflicts with the grey wolf, and (7) damages to human property. These results highlight the need for more integrative, social-ecological research on human-carnivore relations. We discuss how addressing existing knowledge gaps could contribute to mitigating conflicts as well as fostering coexistence between humans and carnivore species.