Suchergebnisse

This article investigates the history of land and water transformations in Matadepera, a wealthy suburb of metropolitan Barcelona. Analysis is informed by theories of political ecology and methods of environmental history; although very relevant, these have received relatively little attention within ecological economics. Empirical material includes communications from the City Archives of Matadepera (1919-1979), 17 interviews with locals born between 1913 and 1958, and an exhaustive review of grey historical literature. Existing water histories of Barcelona and its outskirts portray a battle against natural water scarcity, hard won by heroic engineers and politicians acting for the good of the community. Our research in Matadepera tells a very different story. We reveal the production of a highly uneven landscape and waterscape through fierce political and power struggles. The evolution of Matadepera from a small rural village to an elite suburb was anything but spontaneous or peaceful. It was a socio-environmental project well intended by landowning elites and heavily fought by others. The struggle for the control of water went hand in hand with the land and political struggles that culminated - and were violently resolved - in the Spanish Civil War. The displacement of the economic and environmental costs of water use from few to many continues to this day and is constitutive of Matadepera's uneven and unsustainable landscape. By unravelling the relations of power that are inscribed in the urbanization of nature (Swyngedouw, 2004), we question the perceived wisdoms of contemporary water policy debates, particularly the notion of a natural scarcity that merits a technical or economic response. We argue that the water question is fundamentally a political question of environmental justice; it is about negotiating alternative visions of the future and deciding whose visions will be produced.

Land use change is influenced by a complexity of drivers that transcend spatial, institutional and temporal scales. The analytical framework of telecoupling has recently been proposed in land system science to address this complexity, particularly the increasing importance of distal connections, flows and feedbacks characterising change in land systems. This framework holds important potential for advancing the analysis of land system change. In this article, we review the state of the art of the telecoupling framework in the land system science literature. The article traces the development of the framework from teleconnection to telecoupling and presents two approaches to telecoupling analysis currently proposed in the literature. Subsequently, we discuss a number of analytical challenges related to categorisation of systems, system boundaries, hierarchy and scale. Finally, we propose approaches to address these challenges by looking beyond land system science to theoretical perspectives from economic geography, social metabolism studies, political ecology and cultural anthropology. ; Peer Reviewed

Analizamos el dramático incendio de Horta de Sant Joan de 2009 en Cataluña, bajo el marco de la ecología política. La historia ambiental local, los cambios de usos del paisaje forestal anterior al incendio y el choque entre los diferentes discursos sociales alrededor de éste revelan diferentes formas sociopolíticas de construir la relación entre la naturaleza y la sociedad. Cada actor social explica y evalúa la gestión del territorio y del incendio mediante escalas de tiempo e intereses diferentes. Estos distintos discursos se pueden clasificar según el grado en que favorecen la inclusión o la exclusión del fuego en el sistema socioecológico. Nuestro análisis muestra los diferentes «paisajes deseados» propuestos por los actores sociales, cuya contextualización y análisis permiten realizar una reflexión más profunda sobre los valores dominantes y dominados en relación con los bosques y los incendios. Concluimos que es necesaria una adecuada politización del debate en torno a las causas de los incendios forestales y las formas en las que la sociedad catalana responde a ellos. Analitzem el dramàtic incendi d'Horta de Sant Joan de 2009 a Catalunya en el marc de l'ecologia política. La història ambiental local, els canvis d'usos del paisatge forestal anterior a l'incendi i el xoc entre els diferents discursos socials al voltant d'aquest ens parlen de diferents formes sociopolítiques de construir la relació entre natura i societat. Cada actor social explica i avalua la gestió del territori i de l'incendi d'acord amb escales temporals i interessos diferents. Els diversos discursos es poden classificar segons el grau d'inclusió o exclusió del foc en el sistema socioecològic. La nostra anàlisi mostra els «paisatges desitjats » de cada actor social, la contextualització i l'anàlisi dels quals permeten realitzar una reflexió més profunda sobre els valors dominants i dominats en relació amb els boscos i els incendis. Concloem que és necessària una politització adequada del debat sobre les causes dels incendis forestals i les respostes que la societat catalana hi dóna. Nous analysons le dramatique incendie de Horta de Sant Joan en 2009 en Catalogne, dans le cadre de l'écologie politique. L'histoire locale de l'environnement, les changements dans le paysage forestier utilisé avant l'incendie et l'affrontement entre différents discours sociaux autour du feu, réalisent différentes façons socio-politiques de construire la relation société-nature. Chaque acteur social, explique et évalue la gestion des terres et du feu selon différentes échelles de temps et intérêts. Ces différents discours peuvent être classés en fonction de la mesure qui favorisent l'inclusion ou l'exclusion du feu dans le système socio-écologique. Notre analyse met en lumière les différents «paysages souhaités» proposé par les acteurs sociaux, dont la contextualisation et l'analyse de permettre une réflexion plus profonde sur les valeurs dominantes et dominées par rapport aux forêts et aux incendies. Nous concluons qu'il doit y avoir politisation appropriée autour les causes et les réponses des feux de forêt en Catalogne. This paper analyses the tragic 2009 wildfire of Horta de Sant Joan in Catalonia. The local environmental history, the changes in land use of the pre-fire forest landscape, and the clash between different social discourses after the wildfire reveal different sociopolitical forms of constructing the relationship between nature and society. Each social actor explains wildfire and forest management according to different time scales and interests. These discourses can be classified by the degree of inclusion or exclusion of fire in the social-ecological system. The contextualisation and analysis of the «desired landscapes» proposed by the social actors allows for a deeper reflection on contested understandings and values in relation to forests and wildfires. We conclude by arguing in favour of a proper re-politicisation of the debate around the causes of and the responses to wildfires.

Unidad de excelencia María de Maeztu CEX2019-000940-M ; Participatory planning networks made of government agencies, stakeholders, citizens and scientists are receiving attention as a potential pathway to build resilient landscapes in the face of increased wildfire impacts due to suppression policies and land-use and climate changes. A key challenge for these networks lies in incorporating local knowledge and social values about landscape into operational wildfire management strategies. As large wildfires overcome the suppression capacity of the fire departments, such strategies entail difficult decisions about intervention priorities among different regions, values and socioeconomic interests. Therefore there is increasing interest in developing tools that facilitate decision-making during emergencies. In this paper we present a method to democratize wildfire strategies by incorporating social values about landscape in both suppression and prevention planning. We do so by reporting and critically reflecting on the experience from a pilot participatory process conducted in a region of Catalonia (Spain). There, we built a network of researchers, practitioners and citizens across spatial and governance scales. We combined knowledge on expected wildfires, landscape co-valuation by relevant actors, and citizen participation sessions to design a wildfire strategy that minimized the loss of social values. Drawing on insights from political ecology and transformation science, we discuss what the attempt to democratize wildfire strategies entails in terms of power relationships and potential for social-ecological transformation. Based on our experience, we suggest a trade-off between current wildfire risk levels and democratic management in the fire-prone regions of many western countries. In turn, the political negotiation about the landscape effects of wildfire expert knowledge is shown as a potential transformation pathway towards lower risk landscapes that can re-define agency over landscape and foster community ...