Suchergebnisse

The global controversy regarding the use of genetically modified (GM) crops has proved to be a challenge for "science‐based" risk assessments. Although risk analysis incorporates societal perspectives in decision making over these crops, it is largely predicated on contrasts between "expert" and "lay" perspectives. The overall objective of this study is to explore the role for farmers' knowledge, and their decade‐long experience with herbicide‐tolerant (HT) canola, in the risk analysis of GM crops. From 2002 to 2003, data were collected using interviews (n= 15) and mail surveys (n= 370) with farmers from Manitoba and across Canada. The main benefits associated with HT canola were management oriented and included easier weed control, herbicide rotation, and better weed control, whereas the main risks were more diverse and included market harm, technology use agreements (TUAs), and increased seed costs. Benefits and risks were inversely related, and the salient factor influencing risk was farmer experiences with HT canola volunteers, followed by small farm size and duration using HT canola. These HT volunteers were reported by 38% of farmers, from both internal (e.g., seedbank, farm machinery, etc.) and external (e.g., wind, seed contamination, etc.) sources, and were found to persist over time. Farmer knowledge is a reliable and rich source of information regarding the efficacy of HT crops, demonstrating that individual experiences are important to risk perception. The socioeconomic nature of most risks combined with the continuing "farm income crisis" in North America demonstrates the need for a more holistic and inclusive approach to risk assessment associated with HT crops and, indeed, with all new agricultural technology.

Source at: http://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph14121462 ; Circumpolar regions, and the nations within which they reside, have recently gained international attention because of shared and pressing public policy issues such as climate change, resource development, endangered wildlife and sovereignty disputes. In a call for national and circumpolar action on shared areas of concern, the Arctic states health ministers recently met and signed a declaration that identified shared priorities for international cooperation. Among the areas for collaboration raised, the declaration highlighted the importance of enhancing intercultural understanding, promoting culturally appropriate health care delivery and strengthening circumpolar collaboration in culturally appropriate health care delivery. This paper responds to the opportunity for further study to fully understand indigenous values and contexts, and presents these as they may apply to a framework that will support international comparisons and systems improvements within circumpolar regions. We explored the value base of indigenous peoples and provide considerations on how these values might interface with national values, health systems values and value bases between indigenous nations particularly in the context of health system policy-making that is inevitably shared between indigenous communities and jurisdictional or federal governments. Through a mixed methods nominal consensus process, nine values were identified and described: humanity, cultural responsiveness, teaching, nourishment, community voice, kinship, respect, holism and empowerment.

Circumpolar regions, and the nations within which they reside, have recently gained international attention because of shared and pressing public policy issues such as climate change, resource development, endangered wildlife and sovereignty disputes. In a call for national and circumpolar action on shared areas of concern, the Arctic states health ministers recently met and signed a declaration that identified shared priorities for international cooperation. Among the areas for collaboration raised, the declaration highlighted the importance of enhancing intercultural understanding, promoting culturally appropriate health care delivery and strengthening circumpolar collaboration in culturally appropriate health care delivery. This paper responds to the opportunity for further study to fully understand indigenous values and contexts, and presents these as they may apply to a framework that will support international comparisons and systems improvements within circumpolar regions. We explored the value base of indigenous peoples and provide considerations on how these values might interface with national values, health systems values and value bases between indigenous nations particularly in the context of health system policy-making that is inevitably shared between indigenous communities and jurisdictional or federal governments. Through a mixed methods nominal consensus process, nine values were identified and described: humanity, cultural responsiveness, teaching, nourishment, community voice, kinship, respect, holism and empowerment.

Community-based adaptation (CBA) has emerged over the last decade as anapproach to empowering communities to plan for and cope with the impacts ofclimate change. While such approaches have been widely advocated, few havecritically examined the tensions and challenges that CBA brings. Responding tothis gap, this article critically examines the use of CBA approaches with Inuitcommunities in Canada. We suggest that CBA holds signifi cant promise to makeadaptation research more democratic and responsive to local needs, providing abasis for developing locally appropriate adaptations based on local/indigenousand Western knowledge. Yet, we argue that CBA is not a panacea, and its com-mon portrayal as such obscures its limitations, nuances, and challenges. Indeed,if uncritically adopted, CBA can potentially lead to maladaptation, may be inap-propriate in some instances, can legitimize outside intervention and control, andmay further marginalize communities. We identify responsibilities for research-ers engaging in CBA work to manage these challenges, emphasizing the central-ity of how knowledge is generated, the need for project flexibility and opennessto change, and the importance of ensuring partnerships between researchers andcommunities are transparent. Researchers also need to be realistic about whatCBA can achieve, and should not assume that research has a positive role to playin comm unity adaptatio n just because it utilizes participatory approaches