Social Sciences and landscape analysis: Opportunities for the improvement of conservation policy design

2008 ◽  
Vol 88 (2) ◽  
pp. 360-371 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ismael Vaccaro ◽  
Karma Norman
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Policy Design ◽  
Conservation Policy ◽  
Landscape Analysis

Spatial modelling of biodiversity conservation priorities in Portugal’s Montado ecosystem using Marxan with Zones

2019 ◽  
Vol 46 (4) ◽  
pp. 251-260 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rute Pinto ◽  
Paula Antunes ◽  
Stefan Blumentrath ◽  
Roy Brouwer ◽  
Pedro Clemente ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Protected Areas ◽  
Biodiversity Conservation ◽  
Policy Design ◽  
Land Use Changes ◽  
Species Conservation ◽  
Conservation Policy ◽  
Conservation Priorities ◽  
Opportunity Costs ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Environmental Measures

SummarySpatial models are increasingly being used to target the most suitable areas for biodiversity conservation. This study investigates how the spatial tool Marxan with Zones (MARZONE) can be used to support the design of cost-effective biodiversity conservation policy. New in this study is the spatial analysis of the costs and effectiveness of different agro-environmental measures (AEMs) for habitat and biodiversity conservation in the Montado ecosystem in Portugal. A distinction is made between the financial costs paid to participating landowners and farmers for adopting AEMs and the broader economic opportunity costs of the corresponding land-use changes. Habitat and species conservation targets are furthermore defined interactively with the local government agency responsible for the management of protected areas, while the costs of agro-forestry activities and alternative land uses are estimated in direct consultation with local landowners. MARZONE identifies the spatial distribution of priority areas for conservation and the associated costs, some of which overlap with existing protected areas. These results provide useful insights into the trade-offs between nature conservation and the opportunity costs of protecting ecologically vulnerable areas, helping to improve current and future conservation policy design.

scholarly journals Social incentive factors in interventions promoting sustainable behaviors: A meta-analysis

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (12) ◽  
pp. e0260932
Author(s):  
Phu Nguyen-Van ◽  
Anne Stenger ◽  
Tuyen Tiet
Keyword(s):  
Social Influence ◽  
Policy Design ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Conservation Policy ◽  
Network Size ◽  
Policy Outcomes ◽  
Environmental Behaviors ◽  
Network Connection ◽  
Perceptions And Attitudes ◽  
Trust In Institutions

Based on a meta-analysis, this paper highlights the strength and relevance of several social incentive factors concerning pro-environmental behaviors, including social influence, network factors (like network size, network connection and leadership), trust in others, and trust in institutions. Firstly, our results suggest that social influence is necessary for the emergence of pro-environmental behaviors. More specifically, an internal social influence (i.e., motivating people to change their perceptions and attitudes) is essential to promote pro-environmental behaviors. Secondly, network connection encourages pro-environmental behaviors, meaning that the effectiveness of a conservation policy can be improved if connections among individuals are increased. Finally, trust in institutions can dictate individual behaviors to shape policy design and generate desired policy outcomes.

The idea of policy design: Intention, process, outcome, meaning and validity

2017 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 365-383 ◽  
Author(s):  
HK Colebatch
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Policy Design ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Science Literature ◽  
Systematic Design ◽  
Systematic Calculation ◽  
Policy Practice ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Science Literature ◽  
Applied Social Sciences

While policy design is a relatively recent term in the social science literature, the concept itself is ancient. The modernist incarnation, from the mid-20th century onwards, is grounded in the applied social sciences: the systematic calculation of problems, values, practices and outcomes. But in many ways, the confidence of the faith in systematic design was not borne out by experience. It became clear that rather than finding expert designers advising authoritative decision-makers and perhaps monitoring the activities of subordinate ‘implementers’, the world of policy was populated by multiple participants in distinct organisational locations, with divergent framings, continuing negotiation on practice, and ambiguity in the understanding of outcomes. There is clearly a tension between the image of policy design and the experience of the activity. The response to this tension in the literature on policy design has largely been aimed at reconciling the experience of practice with the norms of instrumental rationality. It has tended to give little attention to the interpretive significance of ‘design talk’ in the process of governing. This paper argues that ‘policy design’ is an exercise in giving meaning – framing activity in a way that makes practices and outcomes appropriate and valid – and develops a more comprehensive analysis of ‘policy design’ as a concept in use in both policy practice and the analysis of that practice.

scholarly journals Mainstreaming the social sciences in conservation

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nathan Bennett ◽  
Robin Roth ◽  
Sarah C. Klain ◽  
Kai M. A. Chan ◽  
Douglas A. Clark ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Social Science ◽  
Full Range ◽  
Social Science Research ◽  
Science Research ◽  
Conservation Policy ◽  
Conservation Science ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
The Social

Despite broad recognition of the value of social sciences and increasingly vocal calls for better engagement with the human element of conservation, the conservation social sciences remain misunderstood and underutilized in practice. The conservation social sciences can provide unique and important contributions to society's understanding of the relationships between humans and nature and to improving conservation practice and outcomes. There are 4 barriers—ideological, institutional, knowledge, and capacity—to meaningful integration of the social sciences into conservation. We provide practical guidance on overcoming these barriers to mainstream the social sciences in conservation science, practice, and policy. Broadly, we recommend fostering knowledge on the scope and contributions of the social sciences to conservation, including social scientists from the inception of interdisciplinary research projects, incorporating social science research and insights during all stages of conservation planning and implementation, building social science capacity at all scales in conservation organizations and agencies, and promoting engagement with the social sciences in and through global conservation policy‐influencing organizations. Conservation social scientists, too, need to be willing to engage with natural science knowledge and to communicate insights and recommendations clearly. We urge the conservation community to move beyond superficial engagement with the conservation social sciences. A more inclusive and integrative conservation science—one that includes the natural and social sciences—will enable more ecologically effective and socially just conservation. Better collaboration among social scientists, natural scientists, practitioners, and policy makers will facilitate a renewed and more robust conservation. Mainstreaming the conservation social sciences will facilitate the uptake of the full range of insights and contributions from these fields into conservation policy and practice.

Environmental Dilemmas and Policy Design

2002 ◽  
Author(s):  
Huib Pellikaan ◽  
Robert J. van der Veen
Keyword(s):  
Policy Design

What Can We Learn From Factorial Surveys About Human Behavior?

Methodology ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Knut Petzold ◽  
Tobias Wolbring
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Behavioral Intentions ◽  
Actual Behavior ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Factorial Survey ◽  
Survey Experiment ◽  
Intended Behavior ◽  
The Social ◽  
Survey Experiments ◽  
High Level

Abstract. Factorial survey experiments are increasingly used in the social sciences to investigate behavioral intentions. The measurement of self-reported behavioral intentions with factorial survey experiments frequently assumes that the determinants of intended behavior affect actual behavior in a similar way. We critically investigate this fundamental assumption using the misdirected email technique. Student participants of a survey were randomly assigned to a field experiment or a survey experiment. The email informs the recipient about the reception of a scholarship with varying stakes (full-time vs. book) and recipient’s names (German vs. Arabic). In the survey experiment, respondents saw an image of the same email. This validation design ensured a high level of correspondence between units, settings, and treatments across both studies. Results reveal that while the frequencies of self-reported intentions and actual behavior deviate, treatments show similar relative effects. Hence, although further research on this topic is needed, this study suggests that determinants of behavior might be inferred from behavioral intentions measured with survey experiments.

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