A higher level of civilisation? The transformation of Ny-Ålesund from Arctic coalmining settlement in Svalbard to global environmental knowledge center at 79° North

Polar Record ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 56 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric Paglia

Abstract This article provides an historical account and analysis of the repurposing of Ny-Ålesund from Arctic coalmining settlement to Norwegian-administered international research base in Svalbard. Three levels of analysis are employed to explain the settlement’s transformation and its rising geopolitical significance, focusing primarily on the period of rapid internationalisation and expansion of scientific activities starting in the late 1980s. The local level examines Norway’s efforts to maintain effective occupation of greater Kongsfjorden by promoting research, underpinned by the economisation of the area’s near-pristine natural environment as a non-extractive resource for science; the global level applies the concept of telecoupling to consider the role of events and processes at larger spatial scales that facilitated Ny-Ålesund’s transformation; and the “glocal” level explains how the interaction of Norwegian and global actors in the locality of Ny-Ålesund have collectively shaped the community’s institutions over some 30 years. The article also reflects on recent policy changes signalling more assertive Norwegian administration and greater coordination of research in Ny-Ålesund.

Author(s):  
Kirstin Kerr

This chapter examines similarities in patterns of inequality in education and in health. Using England as a case study, it considers broad patterns of educational inequality and recent policy responses to these, emphasising the need for greater understanding of, and engagement with, the underlying causes of educational inequalities. The chapter first provides an overview of patterns of inequality in educational outcomes before discussing policy responses to educational inequalities in England. It argues that a central part of efforts to address educational inequalities must be for education, as a field, to think and act more comprehensively in ways that parallel thinking about the social determinants of health. It also highlights the important role of schools in leading the development of innovative responses to educational inequalities at a local level and concludes with an analysis of overlaps between educational and health inequalities and the responses needed to address these.


Author(s):  
S. S. Boora ◽  
Kusum ◽  
Megha Gupta

With the increase in travel frequency at global level, destinations compete with each other to attract tourists. The tourists have a vast array of destinations to choose from. The destinations compete at global as well as regional level. These developments in tourism bring forth the importance of marketing for a destination. The destination marketing is generally undertaken by destination marketing organizations (DMOs) which operate at national, regional as well as local level in a country. In context of India, MOT (Ministry of Tourism, Government of India) undertakes the role of a DMO and is responsible for formulation and implementation of marketing strategies to promote India as a destination at global level. Further, it is imperative to understand the perception of other stakeholder about the marketing strategies of MOT in order to recognize the effectiveness of its marketing efforts. Being co-creator of destination image, inbound tour operators are considered as the key stakeholders at the destination. The objective of this chapter is to understand the perception Indian inbound tour operators towards the marketing strategies carried out by MOT. The data for the study was collected through structured questionnaire. The findings of the study indicated that inbound tour operators perceived marketing plans adopted by Ministry of tourism were effective to position India as a tourist destination at global level. At planning stage of strategy making for promoting India as tourist destination, MOT does not seek the opinion of inbound tour operators. It is suggested that MOT should involve inbound tour operators for drawing the marketing strategies for India as they are key seller for the tourism product.


Economies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 74 ◽  
Author(s):  
Enrico Maria Mosconi ◽  
Andrea Colantoni ◽  
Filippo Gambella ◽  
Eva Cudlinová ◽  
Luca Salvati ◽  
...  

A complex interplay of socio-ecological drivers of change exists at the different spatiotemporal scales affecting environmental degradation. This is a key issue worldwide and needs to be understood to develop efficient management solutions. One of the most applied theories in the regional analysis is the U-shaped relationship between environmental degradation and the level of income in a given economic system or Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC). Specifically, the EKC hypothesis underlines the (potentially positive) role of formal responses to environmental degradation grounded on government policies that are usually more ambitious in wealthier economic systems. However, there is a lack of knowledge on the role of space in EKC, arguing that spatial variability in the environment–income relationship may indicate additional targets for integrated socio–environmental policies. We hypothesize that a spatially differentiated response to environmental degradation could better adapt to differentiated local contexts. Therefore, to achieve this goal, we present a multi-scale investigation of degradation processes at the local level, providing a refined knowledge of the environment–economy linkages considering more traditional, cross-country and cross-region exercises. Our results demonstrated that—together with temporal, sectoral, and institutional aspects—space and, consequently, the related analysis’ spatial scales, are significant dimensions in ecological economics, whose investigation requires improvements in data collection and dedicated statistical approaches.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 199-212
Author(s):  
Kevin Eric Andrawina ◽  
Ahmad Zulfikri ◽  
Tio Roberth Ryan Maranatha ◽  
Widhi Handayani

Plastic waste becomes a global environmental problem that is still difficult to overcome by countries over the world, including Indonesia. In fact, Indonesia is the second largest contributor of plastic waste in the world. This problem is even not only encountered by the countries, but also faced by a small town such as Salatiga, Central Java. To overcome the problem, the society should actively be the pioneer since they are the main producer of plastic waste. However, our previous research showed that the households performed limited efforts to manage the waste, and unexpectedly, any activity of waste collection was preferably motivated by financial reasons. Therefore, this study sheds light on the housewives’ perception on plastic and their awareness in managing waste, especially plastic waste. The data of this quantitative study were gathered by means of interview, survey, observation, and documentation from 96 housewives in 6 RW in Kecandran, Sidomukti Sub-District, Salatiga as the participants. The results showed that approximately 60% of the housewives in Kecandran village, Sidomukti sub-district were able to differentiate which waste belonged to non-biodegradable and biodegradable as well as to understand the negative impact of plastic waste toward the environment. They also participated in managing the plastic waste by sorting them (64.58%), participating in waste banks or Bank Sampah (53.13%), and reducing the plastic waste (64.58%). In addition, 85.42% of them were willing to support the government policy in reducing the use of plastic, and 40% of them participated in the payable plastic policy. The role of Bank Sampah is really important to equip the housewives with environmental knowledge. In terms of the payable plastic policy, however, their understanding is not necessarily followed by the willingness to act, which might be related to different orientations and motives.


Author(s):  
Nicolas Poirel ◽  
Claire Sara Krakowski ◽  
Sabrina Sayah ◽  
Arlette Pineau ◽  
Olivier Houdé ◽  
...  

The visual environment consists of global structures (e.g., a forest) made up of local parts (e.g., trees). When compound stimuli are presented (e.g., large global letters composed of arrangements of small local letters), the global unattended information slows responses to local targets. Using a negative priming paradigm, we investigated whether inhibition is required to process hierarchical stimuli when information at the local level is in conflict with the one at the global level. The results show that when local and global information is in conflict, global information must be inhibited to process local information, but that the reverse is not true. This finding has potential direct implications for brain models of visual recognition, by suggesting that when local information is conflicting with global information, inhibitory control reduces feedback activity from global information (e.g., inhibits the forest) which allows the visual system to process local information (e.g., to focus attention on a particular tree).


2016 ◽  
pp. 73-76
Author(s):  
B.M. Ventskivskiy ◽  
◽  
I.V. Poladych ◽  
S.O. Avramenko ◽  
◽  
...  

In recent years there has been an increase in the frequency of multiple pregnancies and the associated perinatal losses. It is a result of multiple pregnancy in ART refers to a high-risk gestation, at which premature births occur in 2 times more often than in singleton pregnancies. The objective: to determine the role of pro-inflammatory cytokines in the pathogenesis of premature labor in multiple pregnancy, as a result of assisted reproductive technology. Patients and methods. to determine the pro-inflammatory cytokines that all pregnant with bagtopliddyam held immunosorbent assay, defined concentrations of interleukin (IL) in serum and cervical mucus. Results. The analysis of the levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-1, IL-8) in the test environment, found high concentrations in the surveyed women with multiple pregnancy, due to the use of ART, compared with spontaneous multiple and singleton pregnancy. Increased concentration of proinflammatory cytokines in patients with multiple pregnancy by ART is associated with their synthesis at the system level, it stimulated foci of inflammation in the female genitals and extragenital localization. This correlates with the clinical data and statistical analysis, patients with multiple pregnancy as a result of ART had weighed infectious-inflammatory history. Conclusion. The study showed that elevated levels of proinflammatory cytokines in the systemic and local level in patients with multiple pregnancy due to ART, typical for women with miscarriage, because of the physiological course of pregnancy characterized by the predominance of anti-inflammatory cytokines that prevent rejection of the fetus as a foreign factor. Based on the data obtained proved the role of systemic inflammatory factors in the genesis of preterm labor in women with a multiple pregnancy, as a result of assisted reproductive technology. Key words: multiple pregnancy, assisted reproductive technology, premature birth, interleukine-1, interleukine-8.


Author(s):  
Jessica F. Green

This book examines the role of nonstate actors in global environmental politics, arguing that a fuller understanding of their role requires a new way of conceptualizing private authority. It identifies two distinct forms of private authority—one in which states delegate authority to private actors, and another in which entrepreneurial actors generate their own rules, persuading others to adopt them. Drawing on a wealth of empirical evidence spanning a century of environmental rule making, the book shows how the delegation of authority to private actors has played a small but consistent role in multilateral environmental agreements over the past fifty years, largely in the area of treaty implementation. This contrasts with entrepreneurial authority, where most private environmental rules have been created in the past two decades. The book traces how this dynamic and fast-growing form of private authority is becoming increasingly common in areas ranging from organic food to green building practices to sustainable tourism. It persuasively argues that the configuration of state preferences and the existing institutional landscape are paramount to explaining why private authority emerges and assumes the form that it does. In-depth cases on climate change provide evidence for the book's arguments. The book demonstrates that authority in world politics is diffused across multiple levels and diverse actors, and it offers a more complete picture of how private actors are helping to shape our response to today's most pressing environmental problems.


2019 ◽  
pp. 3-9
Author(s):  
Krzysztof Rejman ◽  
Roman Fedan

Processes of the expected spatial socio-economic changes arise as a result of rational planning and continuation of development at regional and local level. A three-tier division ofthe local self-government creates opportunities for engagement of community in the rational planning model and local resource management, as well as usage of production factors; for socio-economic growth and improvement in the quality of life of the residents. The aim of the article is to show the functional structure and role of local government units in formation of regional and local policy toincrease economic growth, while maintaining the environmental protection requirements.


GEOgraphia ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (41) ◽  
pp. 39
Author(s):  
Agripino Souza Coelho Neto

Resumo: O presente texto pretende analisar o papel das ações coletivas (associações, cooperativas e sindicatos de agricultores) no acionamento e na ativação das escalas geográficas para o desenvolvimento de suas atividades. O estudo foi realizado no Espaço Sisaleiro da Bahia (Brasil), onde um conjunto significativo de associações e cooperativas de agricultores e sindicatos de trabalhadores rurais tem se organizado em torno das escalas espaciais para viabilizar sua ação político-institucional e econômico-produtiva. A ação desses coletivos organizados em rede tem permitido a conformação e o fortalecimento de novas escalas de ação política, como no caso da criação do conselho territorial para viabilização da implantação de políticas de governo. Cooperativas, associações e sindicatos se apoiam nas escalas para compor organizações em diferentes níveis escalares (escala local, escala regional, escala do estado federado e escala nacional), buscando fortalecer seus propósitos e ampliar seu poder de barganha e influência. Analisando o comportamento espacial dessas variadas modalidades de ações coletivas, é possível considerar que elas desenvolvem políticas de escala, ou seja, a escala passa a significar muito mais que uma categoria de análise, mas se torna uma categoria da prática social e política. Nesse sentido, parte-se do pressuposto de que os grupos humanos produzem e tornam efetivas suas próprias escalas visando a alcançar suas metas e organizar seus comportamentos coletivos. Palavras-chave: Escala. Rede. Cooperativismo. Associativismo. Sindicalismo. Espaço Sisaleiro da Bahia. SCALE POLICIES AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF NETWORK STRATEGIES OF COLLECTIVE ACTIONS IN THE SISAL REGION OF BAHIA (BRAZIL)Abstract: This paper aims to analyze the role of collective initiatives of associations, cooperatives and farmers’ unions in the mobilization and activation of geographical scales for the development of their activities. The study was conducted in the Sisal Region of Bahia (Brazil), where a significant number of farmers associations and cooperatives and rural workers’ unions have been organizing their actions around spatial scales to enable their political-institutional and economic-productive influence. The gathering and action of these organized groups in a network have allowed the establishment and strengthening of new scales of political action, as seem in the case of the creation of a territorial council to facilitate the implementation of government policies. Cooperatives, associations, and unions rely on scales to form organizations at different scale levels (local, regional, federal and national scales), seeking to strengthen their performance and increase their bargaining power and influence. After analyzing the spatial behavior of these various forms of collective actions, it’s reasonable to say that they develop scale policies, which means the scale becomes more than a category of analysis, but also a category of social and political practice. In this sense, it’s assumed that human groups produce and utilize the scales in order to reach their goals and organize their own collective behaviors. Keywords: Scale. Network. Cooperativism. Associativism. Syndicalism. Sisal Region of Bahia. POLITIQUES D’ÉCHELLE ET FORMATION DES STRATÉGIES-RÉSEAU DES ACTIONS COLLECTIVES DANS LA RÉGION DU SISAL DE L’ÉTAT DE BAHIA Resumé: Cet article analyse le rôle des actions collectives (associations, coopératives et syndicats d’agriculteurs) dans la prise en compte et l’utilisation des échelles géographiques pour le développement de leurs activités. L’étude a été menée dans la région du sisal à Bahia (Brésil), où un ensemble important d’associations et de coopératives d’agriculteurs et de syndicats de travailleurs ruraux se sont organisés autour d’échelles spatiales pour que puisse être mise en place leur action politique et institutionnelle, économique et productive. L’action de ces groupements organisés en réseaux a permis la conformation et le renforcement de nouvelles échelles d’action politique, comme lors de la création du conseil territorial, pour permettre la mise en œuvre des politiques gouvernementales. Les coopératives, les associations et les syndicats prennent les échelles comme point de départ pour former des organisations à différents niveaux scalaires (échelle locale, échelle régionale, échelle fédérée et échelle nationale), dans le but de renforcer leurs objectifs et d’accroître leur pouvoir de négociation et d’influence. Si nous analysons le comportement spatial de ces diverses formes d’action collective il est possible de considérer qu’ils développent des politiques d’échelle, à savoir l’échelle vient signifier bien plus qu’une catégorie d’analyse, puisqu’elle devient une catégorie de la pratique sociale et politique. En ce sens, on suppose que les groupes humains produisent et rendent efficaces leurs propres échelles pour atteindre leurs objectifs et organiser leurs comportements collectifs. Mots-clés: Échelle. Réseau. Coopérativisme. Associations. Syndicalisme. Région du sisal de l’État de Bahia.


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