scholarly journals Downscaling a human well-being index for environmental management and environmental justice applications in Puerto Rico

2020 ◽  
Vol 123 ◽  
pp. 102231 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan H. Yee ◽  
Elizabeth Paulukonis ◽  
Kyle D. Buck
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Management ◽  
Puerto Rico ◽  
Environmental Justice ◽  
Well Being

scholarly journals Contributions of Ecosystem Services to Human Well-Being in Puerto Rico

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (22) ◽  
pp. 9625
Author(s):  
Susan Harrell Yee
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Management ◽  
Puerto Rico ◽  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Human Health ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Explanatory Power ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Ecological Condition ◽  
Unintended Consequences ◽  
Neighborhood Scale

Ecosystem services, including availability of greenspace, clean air, and clean water, can have benefits to human well-being, but their relative importance compared to economic or social services is often overlooked. In Puerto Rico, for example, improving community well-being, including economic and cultural opportunities, human health, and safety, are often overarching goals of environmental management decisions, but the degree to which improvements in ecological condition and provision of ecosystem services could impact local communities is complicated by wide variation in social and economic conditions. This study quantifies and maps neighborhood-scale indicators of human well-being and ecosystem services for Puerto Rico to better understand the degree to which ecosystem services provisioning, alongside co-occurring social and economic services, explains variability in a number of indicators of human well-being. In Puerto Rico, variability in indicators of human well-being were predominately explained by economic services related to accumulating income and personal savings, and social services, including availability of family services, healthcare services, and access to communication technology. Despite the large explanatory power of economic and social services, however, the analysis detected that substantial portions of well-being, in particular education and human health, could be explained by variability in ecosystem services over space and time, especially availability of greenspace. Linking ecosystem services to multivariate elements of human well-being can serve to complement more traditional community planning or environmental management efforts by helping identify potential unintended consequences or overlooked benefits of decisions.

scholarly journals A Bottom-up picture of intra-national welfare regimes: the case of marginalised communities in Puerto Rico

2020 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 175-199 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gibrán Cruz-Martínez
Keyword(s):  
Puerto Rico ◽  
National Level ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Welfare Regimes ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Bottom Up ◽  
Social Risks ◽  
Welfare Mix ◽  
National Welfare

ABSTRACTThe main purpose of this article is twofold: (1) an examination of welfare regimes using a bottom-up approach, which enables a comprehensive analysis of welfare production based on recipients perceptions; and (2) an examination of more than one type of welfare-mix coexisting inside the national level across policy sectors. A classification of welfare regimes is carried out following a bottom-up approach and relying on the basis of the importance of welfare providers to satisfy social risks and promote well-being. Three traditional (e.g. state, market, family) and one alternative welfare providers (e.g. community) are considered. Data is collected through twenty semi-structured interviews in seven marginalised communities of Puerto Rico. The results show five configurations of intra-national welfare-mixes across the following welfare areas: housing, nourishment, health, education, maternity/paternity, disability, work-unemployment and older-age. This paper contributes to the theoretical proposals of intra-national welfare regimes, and alternatives providers in the welfare-mix.

scholarly journals Nexus between Indigenous Ecological Knowledge and Ecosystem Services: A Socio-Ecological Analysis for Sustainable Ecosystem Management

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manob Das ◽  
Arijit Das ◽  
Selim Seikh ◽  
Rajiv Pandey
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Management ◽  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Statistical Tests ◽  
Belief Systems ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Ecological Knowledge ◽  
Human Society ◽  
Indigenous Ecological Knowledge ◽  
Demographic Attributes ◽  
The Impact

Abstract The well-being of the human society cannot be ensured and sustainable unless the flow of Ecosystem Services (ESs) would be matching with their consistent demand. The consistent flow of ESs required sustainable management of ecological resources of the ecosystem. The management of ecosystem can be ensured with variety of approaches. Integration of indigenous ecological knowledge (IEK) in management prescription with the view that IEK based extraction of ESs ensures removal of resources from the ecosystem within the limit thereby ensuring the sustainability of ecosystem. Present study is an evaluation to understand the nexus between ESs and IEK for sustainable environmental management. The focus of the study was a tribal dominated socio-ecological patch of Barind Region of Malda district, Eastern India. The assessment of ESs and IEK was based on the data collected from the randomly selected tribal households following the pre-tested questionnaire containing questions on ESs as per millennium ecosystem assessment. The data were analyzed following social preference approach, and statistical tests (Krushkal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney). General linear model (GLM) has also been used to examine the impact of socio-demographic attributes on the perceived valuation of ESs. The results revealed that the provisioning ESs (such as water, fuel wood, medical plants) was most preferred followed by cultural and regulating ESs by tribal. Differential importance of ESs was observed among tribal and accounted by gender, education as well as age of the tribe. A gap between the actual accessibility and evaluation of ESs by the tribal communities was also apparent. The socio-demographic attributes have an immense impact on the valuation of ecosystem services and also governed based on the IEK. Various types of indigenous ecological belief systems were closely linked with conservation of ecosystem and sustainable supply of ESs. Present study can contribute to understand socio-ecological nexus with the lens of IEK in tribal dominated ecological landscapes for improved ecosystem and environmental management besides ensuring sustainability of flow of ecosystem services.

scholarly journals The Terror Raids: An analysis of the criminalisation of green activism in Aotearoa

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Megan Paish
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Justice ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Media Analysis ◽  
State Violence ◽  
Specific Reference ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
The Public ◽  
Mainstream Media ◽  
State Agents ◽  
Democratic Freedom

<p>The objective of this thesis is to identify how criminalisation by mainstream media, police, politicians, ‘the public’ and court processes affected green activists, with specific reference to the Terror Raids of October 2007. Drawing on media analysis - covering news articles from 15 October 2007 to 15 November 2007, and 1 January 2017 to 31 July 2018 - and semi-structured interviews with eight participants (all green activists, two of whom were arrested in the Terror Raids), this research explores the issues of colonisation, activism, criminalisation, and resistance to criminalisation in detail.   The research concludes that state agents and mainstream media contributed to a ‘blanket criminalisation’ of activists in the Terror Raids and that this criminalisation had significantly detrimental effects on the activists, whānau , and wider groups. This intense criminalisation was produced as a result of activists being labelled as ‘terrorists’. As a result, the Raids represented an evolution in the criminalisation of green activists in Aotearoa - from inconsistent forms of criminalisation (in which previous criminalising narratives had been joined by narratives relating to democratic freedom and environmental justice) to the application of intense criminalisation by the state and mainstream media of all activists in the Raids. This research demonstrates, therefore, the power of labelling. However, this thesis also identifies the power of green activism and the resilience of campaigners to this intense criminalisation. It emphasises that resistance can survive even when confronted by intense criminalisation and state violence. It concludes by emphasising the significant contributions green activists make to the environmental well-being of Aotearoa and to the international environmental justice movement.</p>

scholarly journals How are nature based solutions contributing to priority societal challenges surrounding human well-being in the United Kingdom: a systematic map protocol

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Dick ◽  
James D. Miller ◽  
Jonathan Carruthers-Jones ◽  
Anne J. Dobel ◽  
Steve Carver ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
Environmental Justice ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Acoustic Environment ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Societal Challenges ◽  
Cost Efficacy ◽  
Management Issues

Abstract Background The concept of Nature-based Solutions (NBS) has evolved as an umbrella concept embracing concepts such as Green/Blue/Nature Infrastructure, Ecosystem Approach, Ecosystem Services, but at their core, they cluster into the general theme of learning from and using nature to create sustainable socio-ecological systems, which enhance human well-being (HWB). NBS address societal challenges across a broad range of spatial scales—local, regional and global—and temporal scales—medium to long-term. While there are many reviews and a clear evidence base linking certain NBS to various elements of HWB, particularly urban greenspace and human health, no comprehensive mapping exists of the links between NBS interventions and the associated multiple positive and negative HWB outcomes across a range of habitats. The initial research phase used a participatory co-design process to select four priority societal challenges facing the United Kingdom: three related to management issues i.e. NBS cost-efficacy, governance in planning, environmental justice, and the fourth threats to the acoustic environment. These challenges collectively address priority management issues which stakeholders requested be investigated widely i.e. across landscapes, cityscapes, seascapes and soundscapes. Results of the study are intended to identify and define potential future environmental evidence challenges for UK science. Methods This protocol describes the methodology for approaching the research question: What evidence is there for nature based solutions and their impacts on human wellbeing for societal challenges related to cost-efficacy, governance in planning, environmental justice, and the acoustic environment? Using systematic mapping, this study will search for and identify studies that seek to assess nature-based solutions on human well-being with regard to these four societal challenges. Systematic searches across a number of academic/online databases are tested against a number of test articles. Search results are refined using eligibility criteria through a three stage process: title, abstract, full text. Data from screened studies are extracted using a predefined coding strategy. Key trends in data will be synthesized according to a range of secondary questions and be presented in a graphical matrix illustrating the knowledge gaps and clusters for research into nature-based solutions and human well-being for each societal challenge.

scholarly journals Contextualizing the COVID-19 Era in Puerto Rico: Compounding Disasters and Parallel Pandemics

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine García ◽  
Fernando I Rivera ◽  
Marc A Garcia ◽  
Giovani Burgos ◽  
María P Aranda
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Puerto Rico ◽  
Puerto Rican ◽  
Debt Crisis ◽  
Wealth Inequality ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Research Report ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Health And Well Being

Abstract Objectives The COVID-19 outbreak has worsened the ongoing economic crisis in Puerto Rico by creating “parallel pandemics” that exacerbate socioeconomic and health inequalities experienced by its most vulnerable residents. Unfortunately, conditions on the island have been largely overlooked by national media outlets and the mainland U.S. population. Thus, this research report aims to draw attention to the disparate burden multiple and compounding disasters have on older island-dwelling Puerto Rican adults’ health and well-being. Methods We characterize the lived experiences of the older population in Puerto Rico by incorporating data from multiple sources and contextualizing the effects of compounding disasters, the fiscal pandemic, and health care challenges to provide a more nuanced portrait of existing compounding factors that negatively affect the health and well-being of older adults in the era of COVID-19. Results We highlight 2 main factors that exacerbate pre-pandemic inequities experienced by the older adult population amid the COVID-19 pandemic in Puerto Rico: (a) the impact of multiple and compounding disasters; and (b) health care challenges. Discussion The human suffering of the Puerto Rican population is compounded by the consequences of fiscal austerity, increasing levels of income and wealth inequality, the debt crisis, significant emigration, and a dysfunctional health care system. Future governmental actions are required to lessen the burden of parallel pandemics on older adults in Puerto Rico.

scholarly journals The Search for Environmental Justice: The Story of North Birmingham

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (12) ◽  
pp. 2117 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shauntice Allen ◽  
Michelle V. Fanucchi ◽  
Lisa C. McCormick ◽  
Kristina M. Zierold
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Environmental Justice ◽  
Environmental Protection Agency ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
Daily Basis ◽  
Toxic Substances ◽  
Jefferson County ◽  
Environmental Injustice ◽  
Department Of Health

Environmental justice is a rising social movement throughout the world. Research is beginning to define the movement and address the disparities that exist among communities exposed to pollution. North Birmingham, a community made up of six neighborhoods in Jefferson County, Alabama, in the United States, is a story of environmental injustice. Heavy industry, including the 35th Avenue Superfund Site, has caused significant environmental pollution over time, leaving residents concerned that their health and well-being are at risk from continued exposure. For years, pollution has impacted the community, and residents have fought and challenged industry and government. The United States (U.S.) Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the U.S. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), and the Jefferson County Department of Health (JCDH) in Alabama have historically played a role in working with the community regarding their health concerns. In this manuscript, we describe a city entrenched in environmental injustice. We provide the history of the community, the responsible parties named for the contamination, the government’s involvement, and the community’s response to this injustice. Through this manuscript, we offer insight into a global concern that challenges local communities on a daily basis.

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