Suchergebnisse

As state governments increasingly turn to the process of quantitative risk assessment to set environmental policy, the question of what state lawmakers know and believe about risk and the risk assessment process has become critical. The perceptions of state legislators may affect their decisions about a wide range of environmental conflicts, from funding water treatment facilities to siting hazardous waste incinerators. This article reports the results of a nationwide survey of state legislators and their staff that explored their intuitive understanding of environmental risk and risk assessment. The survey revealed strong support for the use of risk assessment by most state lawmakers, but significant differences, by gender and political affiliation, in perceptions of the risks from chemicals, the value of risk assessment for setting environmental policies, and the environmental risks faced by racial minorities.

National survey data from state legislators & their staff (total N = 121) explored their intuitive understanding of environmental risk & risk assessment. Findings revealed strong support for the use of risk assessment by most state lawmakers, but significant differences by gender & political affiliation in perceptions of the risks from chemicals, the value of risk assessment for setting environmental policies, & environmental risks faced by racial minorities. 6 Tables, 37 References. Adapted from the source document.

Examines results of a nationwide survey of legislators and staff exploring their understanding of environmental risk and risk assessment; since 1990, chiefly; US.

Ensuring public participation in environmental decision making is advantageous to government officials and the general public. Technical assistance can make participation more effective by enabling citizens to understand complex technologies. This paper examines whether providing technical assistance has made a difference in New York City, where officials have funded consultants so that citizens can more effectively monitor the city's waste management and sludge disposal programs. While city-financed consultants have enabled citizen advisory groups to monitor environmental review and project design and to secure environmental improvements to proposed facilities, they have not helped to promote citizen acceptance of the technologies or their locations. The paper concludes with a brief discussion of alternative methods of providing technical assistance and suggests areas for further research.

Seeing beyond the kale -- New York City's urban agriculture system -- Growing more than just food -- Embodying socially just systems -- Cultivating policy -- Addressing uneven power and privilege -- Rethinking scholarship to advance social justice -- Taking a collective step beyond the kale

International audience ; Throughout history, urban agriculture practitioners have adapted to various challenges by continuing to provide food and social benefits. Urban gardens and farms have also responded to sudden political, economic, ecological, and social crises: wartime food shortages; urban disinvestment and property abandonment; earthquakes and floods; climate-change induced weather events; and global economic disruptions. This paper examines the effects on, and responses by, urban farms and gardens to the COVID-19 pandemic. The paper is based on data collected in the summer of 2020 at the onset of the pandemic when cities were struggling with appropriate responses to curb its spread. It builds on an international research project (FEW-meter) that developed a methodology to measure material and social benefits of urban agriculture (UA) in five countries (France, Germany, Poland, UK and USA) over two growing seasons, from a Food-Energy-Water nexus perspective. We surveyed project partners to ascertain the effects of COVID-19 on those gardens and farms and we interviewed policy stakeholders in each country to investigate the wider impacts of the pandemic on UA. We report the results with respect to five key areas: (1) garden accessibility and service provision during the pandemic; (2) adjustments to operational arrangements; (3) effects on production; (4) support for urban farms and gardens through the pandemic; and (5) thoughts about the future of urban agriculture in the recovery period and beyond. The paper shows that the pandemic resulted in multiple challenges to gardens and farms including the loss of ability to provide support services, lost income, and reductions in output because of reduced labor supply. But COVID-19 also created several opportunities: new markets to sell food locally; more time available to gardeners to work in their allotments; and increased community cohesion as neighboring gardeners looked out for one another. By illustrating the range of challenges faced by the pandemic, and ...