scholarly journals Does Participation Foster Transformation Processes towards Sustainable Energy Systems? A Case Study of the German Energy Transformation

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 4313 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Ernst

Sustainable energy transformation depends on learning processes, which allow us to cope with constantly changing environmental and social systems. Participation processes are viewed as a means of fostering social learning. In this paper, social learning is applied as an analytical concept to investigate the cognitive effects of participation such as knowledge acquisition, changes of perspective, and knowledge dissemination. Previous studies have indicated that certain characteristics of the participation process foster social learning. However, empirical evidence is still inconclusive, which is why this paper investigates which factors foster social learning. An empirical analysis was conducted on the basis of a quantitative online survey (N = 516), which questioned people who are in some way involved in the German energy transformation (Energiewende). The results show that social learning can be enhanced through participation. In particular, moderated processes—which foster a productive exchange, encourage the building of trust among participants, and allow easy access to relevant information—are likely to provide the appropriate conditions for social learning. Personal characteristics such as an individual’s degree of knowledge might have a greater influence on why people change their perspectives than the intensity of participation.

Vaccines ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (7) ◽  
pp. 771
Author(s):  
Cathy Gobert ◽  
Pascal Semaille ◽  
Thierry Van der Schueren ◽  
Pierre Verger ◽  
Nicolas Dauby

General practitioners (GPs) play a critical role in patient acceptance of vaccination. Vaccine hesitancy (VH) is a growing phenomenon in the general population but also affects GPs. Few data exist on VH among GPs. The objectives of this analysis of a population of GPs in the Belgian Wallonia-Brussels Federation (WBF) were to: (1) determine the prevalence and the features of VH, (2) identify the correlates, and (3) estimate the discrepancy in vaccination’s behaviors between the GPs’ children and the recommendations made to their patients. An online survey was carried out among the population of general practitioners practicing in the WBF between 7 January and 18 March 2020. A hierarchical cluster analysis was carried out based on various dimensions of vaccine hesitancy: perception of the risks and the usefulness of vaccines as well as vaccine recommendations for their patients. A total of 251 GPs answered the survey. The average percentage of moderate to high vaccine hesitancy was 50.6%. Three factors were independently associated with increased risk of vaccine hesitancy: an age <50 years old, having no children, and having no contact with selected vaccine-preventable disease (measles, complicated influenza, chronic hepatitis B (HBV), bacterial meningitis, or cervical cancer) in the past 5 years. VH was associated with controversies on vaccines’ safety. GPs who had vaccinated their children against six diseases (MMR, meningococcus C (MenC), HBV, and HPV) tended not to recommend the same vaccines to their patients. Among GPs with all children vaccinated against HBV, only 37.5% recommended catch-up HBV immunization to their patients. In this small cohort of GP, moderate to high VH was associated with controversies on vaccines’ safety and with specific personal characteristics (age <50, no children, and no recent experience with a serious VPD). As previously reported, GPs have different vaccine prescription attitude toward their patients and children. These findings should be confirmed in larger cohorts.


2021 ◽  
pp. 003329412110278
Author(s):  
Alessandro Ansani ◽  
Marco Marini ◽  
Christian Cecconi ◽  
Daniele Dragoni ◽  
Elena Rinallo ◽  
...  

An online survey (N = 210) is presented on how the perceived utility of correct and exaggerated countermeasures against Covid-19 is affected by different pronominalization strategies (impersonal form, you, we). In evaluating the pronominalization effect, we have statistically controlled for the roles of several personal characteristics: Moral Disengagement, Moral Foundations, Health Anxiety, and Embracing of Fake News. Results indicate that, net of personal proclivities, the you form decreases the perceived utility of exaggerated countermeasures, possibly due to simulation processes. As a second point, through a Structural Equation Model, we show that binding moral values (Authority, Ingroup, and Purity) positively predict both fake news embracing and perceived utility of exaggerated countermeasures, while individualizing moral values (Harm and Fairness) negatively predict fake news embracing and positively predict the perceived utility of correct countermeasures. Lastly, fake news embracing showed a doubly bad effect: not only does it lead people to judge exaggerated countermeasures as more useful; but, more dangerously, it brings them to consider correct countermeasures as less useful in the struggle against the pandemic.


2021 ◽  
Vol 20 ◽  
pp. 103709
Author(s):  
Asif Mahmood ◽  
M. Rashid ◽  
Kanza Safder ◽  
M. Waqas Iqbal ◽  
N.A. Noor ◽  
...  

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (6) ◽  
pp. 7960-7968 ◽  
Author(s):  
Małgorzata Musiał ◽  
Michał Kuczak ◽  
Anna Mrozek-Wilczkiewicz ◽  
Robert Musiol ◽  
Edward Zorębski ◽  
...  

2017 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 207-224
Author(s):  
Ge Zhang ◽  
Wenwen Zhang ◽  
Subhrajit Guhathakurta ◽  
Nisha Botchwey

Open data have come of age with many cities, states, and other jurisdictions joining the open data movement by offering relevant information about their communities for free and easy access to the public. Despite the growing volume of open data, their use has been limited in planning scholarship and practice. The bottleneck is often the format in which the data are available and the organization of such data, which may be difficult to incorporate in existing analytical tools. The overall goal of this research is to develop an open data-based community planning support system that can collect related open data, analyze the data for specific objectives, and visualize the results to improve usability. To accomplish this goal, this study undertakes three research tasks. First, it describes the current state of open data analysis efforts in the community planning field. Second, it examines the challenges analysts experience when using open data in planning analysis. Third, it develops a new flow-based planning support system for examining neighborhood quality of life and health for the City of Atlanta as a prototype, which addresses many of these open data challenges.


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