Why it takes an ‘ontological shock’ to prompt increases in small firm resilience: Sensemaking, emotions and flood risk

This article uses a sensemaking approach to understand small firms’ responses to the threat of external shocks. By analysing semi-structured interviews with owners of flooded small firms, we investigate how owners process flood experiences and explore why such experiences do not consistently lead to the resilient adaptation of premises. We, conclude that some of the explanation for low levels of adaptation relates to a desire to defend existing sensemaking structures and associated identities. Sensemaking structures are only revised if these structures are not critical to business identity, or if a flood constitutes an ‘ontological shock’ and renders untenable existing assumptions regarding long-term business continuity. This article has implications for adaptation to the growing risk of flooding, climate change and external shocks. Future research analysing external shocks would benefit from using a sensemaking approach and survey studies should include measurements of ‘ontological’ impact as well as material and financial damage. In addition, those designing information campaigns should take account of small firms’ resistance to information that threatens their existing sensemaking structures and social identities.

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Contrasting Perspectives Regarding Climate Risks and Adaptation Strategies in the New York Metropolitan Area after Superstorm Sandy

Journal of Extreme Events ◽

10.1142/s2345737614500055 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 01 (01) ◽

pp. 1450005 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Stephanie Miller ◽

Griffin Kidd ◽

Franco Montalto ◽

Patrick Gurian ◽

Cortney Worrall ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

New York ◽

Adaptation Strategies ◽

Mitigation Strategies ◽

Strong Impact ◽

Structured Interviews ◽

Superstorm Sandy ◽

Climate Risks ◽

York Metropolitan Area

The purpose of this study was to examine stakeholder perceptions of climate change and local adaptation strategies in the New York City area. A side-by-side comparison of expert and resident opinions provided a clear picture of the region's climate change attitude in the year following Superstorm Sandy. Semi-structured interviews with regional environmental experts provided material for a structured survey, which was then distributed to 100 experts and 250 residents in coastal NY and northern NJ counties. In the survey both stakeholder groups were asked to choose the top three climate threats to the NYC region and rate adaptation and mitigation strategies on a 1–5 Likert scale regarding their ability to protect the region and their cost-effectiveness. Results show that experts and residents agree that sea level rise, coastal flooding and storm surge, and an increased frequency and intensity of extreme events pose the greatest threats to NYC over the next 25 years. While both groups showed a preference for long-term planning over immediate action, experts and residents could not agree on which specific strategies would best serve the region. The aftermath of Superstorm Sandy had a strong impact on both the expert and resident opinions and efforts to monitor stakeholder opinions continue.

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Climate change impacts the protective effect of forests: A case study in Switzerland

10.21203/rs.3.rs-346221/v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Christine Moos ◽

Antoine Guisan ◽

Christophe F. Randin ◽

Heike Lischke

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Protective Effect ◽

Climate Warming ◽

Swiss Alps ◽

Present Species ◽

Future Research ◽

Change Scenario ◽

Climate Change Scenarios ◽

Ground Truth Data

Abstract In steep terrain, forests play an important role as natural means of protection against natural hazards, such as rockfall. Due to climate warming, significant changes in the protection service of these forests have to be expected in future. Shifts of current to more drought adapted species may result in temporary or even irreversible losses in the risk reduction provided by these forests. In this study, we assessed how the protective effect against rockfall of a protection forest in the western part of the Valais in the Swiss Alps may change in future, by combining dynamic forest modelling with a quantitative risk analysis. Current and future forest development was modelled with the spatially explicit forest model TreeMig for a moderate (RCP4.5) and an extreme (RCP8.5) climate change scenario. The simulated forest scenarios were compared to ground-truth data from the current forest complex. We quantified the protective effect of the different forest scenarios based on the reduction of rockfall risk for people and infrastructure at the bottom of the slope. Rockfall risk was calculated on the basis of three-dimensional rockfall simulations. The forest simulations predicted a clear decrease in basal area of most of the currently present species in future. The forest turned into a Q. pubescens dominated forest, for both climate scenarios, and mixed with P. sylvestris in RCP4.5. F. sylvatica completely disappeared in RCP8.5. With climate warming, a clear increase in risk is expected for both climate change scenarios. In the long-term (> 100 years), a stabilization of risk, or even a slight decline may be expected due to an increase in biomass of the trees. The results of this study further indicate that regular forest interventions may promote regeneration and thus accelerate the shift in species distribution. Future research should address the long-term effect of different forest management strategies on the protection service of forests under climate change.

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Physiological and morphological effects of climate change

Effects of Climate Change on Birds ◽

10.1093/oso/9780198824268.003.0010 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 120-133 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Andrew E. McKechnie

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Body Mass ◽

High Temperatures ◽

Arid Zone ◽

Future Research ◽

Long Term Effects ◽

Adaptation To Climate Change ◽

Heat Events

The direct impacts of higher temperatures on birds are manifested over timescales ranging from minutes and hours to years and decades. Over short timescales, acute exposure to high temperatures can lead to hyperthermia or dehydration, which among arid-zone species occasionally causes catastrophic mortality events. Over intermediate timescales of days to weeks, high temperatures can have chronic sub-lethal effects via body mass loss or reduced nestling growth rates, negatively affecting sev eral fitness components. Long-term effects of warming manifested over years to decades involve declining body mass or changes in appendage size. Key directions for future research include elucidating the role of phenotypic plasticity and epigenetic processes in avian adaptation to climate change, examining the role of stress pathways in mediating responses to heat events, and understanding the consequences of higher temperatures for species that traverse hot regions while migrating.

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In the eye of a quiet storm: A critical incident study on the quarantine experience during the coronavirus pandemic

PLoS ONE ◽

10.1371/journal.pone.0247121 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 16 (2) ◽

pp. e0247121

Author(s):

Ilaria Durosini ◽

Stefano Triberti ◽

Lucrezia Savioni ◽

Gabriella Pravettoni

Keyword(s):

Critical Incident ◽

Social Contact ◽

Future Research ◽

Critical Events ◽

Structured Interviews ◽

Positive Events ◽

Everyday Activities ◽

Italian Government ◽

External Stimuli

Objective In 2020, the COVID-19 appeared in Italy with an exponential transmission capacity and serious consequences for the whole population. To counter the spread of the virus, the Italian government has adopted an extensive lockdown, forcing citizens to stay at home and avoid social contact. The COVID-19 quarantine represents a unique phenomenon in the recent centuries, and its long-term consequences on people’s lives and mental health are still to be understood. This study aimed to explore significant experiences of people who did not contract the virus, yet experienced the quarantine as a potentially stressful condition. Methods Italians who did not contract the COVID-19 were invited to participate in semi-structured interviews employing the Critical Incident Technique. Interviews were designed to capture the significant experiences related to the lockdown period in Italy. Participants were asked to describe the most significant (1) negative and (2) positive critical events that they personally experienced during the ongoing quarantine. Such events were meant to provide information on their experience of the quarantine as a whole. The audio-taped interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed following Critical Incident Technique’s indications. Results Twenty two participants described a total of 43 critical events, including 22 negative episodes and 21 positive events experienced during the COVID-19 quarantine. Three categories emerged from the negative episodes and four categories emerged from the positive events described by the participants. Relevant themes both positive and negative concerned mostly relationships (with partners, family, and friends), and the alteration of everyday activities, Also a specific “sensation of emergency” that the participants felt during the pandemic emerged, as an emotionally-charged response to quarantine-related external stimuli. Conclusions To our knowledge this is the first in-depth qualitative study investigating the significant negative and positive events that people experienced during the COVID-19 quarantine. Future research could employ analogous event recollection methods but focus on other populations (e.g., fragile subjects or on other national contests), in order to extend the information on the quarantine experience and its possible long-lasting effects.

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Climate Change Adaptation in the Coastal Tourism Hotel Sector: The case of Sihanoukville, Cambodia

10.26686/wgtn.12612938 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Tinat Nhep ◽

Christian Schott ◽

Mondher Sahli

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Success Factors ◽

Future Research ◽

Coastal Tourism ◽

Structured Interviews ◽

International Agencies ◽

Critical Success ◽

Climate Action ◽

Hotel Sector ◽

Hotel Managers

Cambodia is a country, which has seen very rapid tourism development over the last decade, while also being identified as very vulnerable to the impacts of climate change (CC) by several key international agencies. This paper takes the form of a climate change-focused case study of the coastal tourism hotel sector in Cambodia’s Sihanoukville. It is based on semi-structured interviews with hotel managers and field observations. The paper’s aims are sequential and start by initially examining to what extent Sihanoukville’s hotel sector is vulnerable to CC, which is followed by an analysis of the hotel sector’s adaptation. Finally the type and nature of adaption is critically compared and contrasted by star rating and location relative to the seashore. Some interesting findings emerge that highlight paradoxes in the context of the vulnerability- adaptation dynamic. Future research should investigate the barriers and critical success factors (SF) for CC adaptation (CCA), as these factors will provide valuable insights into the vulnerability-adaptation dynamic in Sihanoukville, thereby contributing to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 13 Climate Action.

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The cost of risk management and multifunctionality in forestry: a simulation approach for a case study area in Southeast Germany

European Journal of Forest Research ◽

10.1007/s10342-021-01391-y ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Stefan Friedrich ◽

Torben Hilmers ◽

Claudia Chreptun ◽

Elizabeth Gosling ◽

Isabelle Jarisch ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Forest Management ◽

Tree Species ◽

Species Selection ◽

Forest Composition ◽

Future Research ◽

Adaptation Measures ◽

Financial Return ◽

The Cost

AbstractForest management faces growing uncertainty concerning environmental conditions and demand for ecosystem services. To help forest managers consider uncertainty, we applied a robust and multi-criteria approach to select the optimal composition of a forest enterprise from 12 stand types. In our simulation, the forest enterprise strives for either financial return or a multi-criteria forest management considering financial return, carbon storage and forest ecosystem stability. To quantify the influence of climate change on these decision criteria, we used the concept of analogous climate zones. Our results provide recommendations for long-term strategies for tree species selection in a Southeast German forest enterprise. The results show that considering both uncertainty and multifunctionality in forest management led to more diversified forest compositions. However, robust and multi-criteria optimisation required the forest enterprise to pay a premium in terms of lower income. Financial returns decreased when forest composition accounted for uncertainty or multiple objectives. We also found that adaptation measures could only partly financially compensate the effects of climate change. As the study is limited to two tree species, including additional tree species, variants of mixing proportions and further silvicultural strategies in the optimisation appears a promising avenue for future research.

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Living with Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis: Children's Experiences of Participating in Home Exercise Programmes

British Journal of Occupational Therapy ◽

10.1177/030802260907200806 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 72 (8) ◽

pp. 357-365 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Rachel De Monte ◽

Sylvia Rodger ◽

Fiona Jones ◽

Sarah Broderick

Keyword(s):

Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis ◽

Physical Disabilities ◽

Home Exercise ◽

Future Research ◽

Structured Interviews ◽

Social Emotional ◽

Children’S Perspectives ◽

Exercise Programmes ◽

Time Required

Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) is used to describe the different subgroups of arthritis in children. JIA is the most common chronic rheumatic condition in children. The long-term consequences are not limited to physical disabilities but also have an impact on the child's social, emotional and cognitive development. Home exercise programmes are a major part of the complex treatment regimen for JIA. Research to date is limited in providing insights into children's perspectives about JIA. This paper describes a qualitative study undertaken to identify children's perceptions about their participation in home exercise programmes. Using semi-structured interviews, the perspectives of 13 children (aged 8–16 years) about their experiences of living with JIA and specifically about participating in therapist-prescribed exercise programmes were investigated. Two major themes highlighted the pervasive impact of JIA on the children's lives. First, the children described living with JIA and associated feelings of ‘being different’. Secondly, they discussed their understanding of home exercise programmes and the barriers and facilitators to participation. Key barriers were having better things to do, time required, laziness, boredom, forgetfulness and pain. Facilitators included the incorporation of exercises into everyday routines, making them fun and having rewards. Clinical implications and avenues for future research are also outlined.

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Collaborative innovation: catalyst for a destination’s event success

International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management ◽

10.1108/ijchm-07-2016-0396 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 30 (6) ◽

pp. 2499-2516 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Peter Schofield ◽

Phil Crowther ◽

Leo Jago ◽

John Heeley ◽

Scott Taylor

Keyword(s):

Success Factors ◽

Single Case ◽

Future Research ◽

Multiple Perspectives ◽

Structured Interviews ◽

Content Type ◽

Collaborative Innovation ◽

Targeted Marketing

PurposeThis paper aims to contribute to theory concerning collaborative innovation through stakeholder engagement with reference to Glasgow City Marketing Bureau’s (GCMB’s) management strategies, which represent UK best practice in events procurement, leveraging and destination branding.Design/methodology/approachThe research adopts a case study design to facilitate an in-depth evaluation of the destination marketing organisation’s (DMO’s) critical success factors. Multiple perspectives on GCMB’s collaborative innovation are achieved through semi-structured interviews with senior managers from the bureau, key stakeholders and other DMOs.FindingsGCMB’s success results from long-term, extensive, collaborative engagement, a unique institutional structure and sustained political and financial support through to transformational leadership, strategic event selection and targeted marketing through “earned” distribution channels.Research limitations/implicationsThe study takes a single case study approach and focusses on GCMB’s event-led branding strategy. Given the importance but relative neglect of long-term inter-personal relationships in collaborative innovation, future research should focus on the development of social capital and adopt a longitudinal perspective.Practical implicationsThe paper provides insights into the collaborative innovation process with a range of stakeholders, which underpins GCMB’s events strategy and its leveraging of the city brand. In particular, the study highlights the need for entrepreneurial leadership and the development of long-term relationships for effective engagement with stakeholders.Originality/valuePrevious research has focussed on outcomes and neglected pre-requisites and the process of collaborative innovation between destination stakeholders. This study examines this issue from the perspective of a successful DMO and presents a conceptual framework and new engagement dimensions that address this gap in knowledge.

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