scholarly journals Building bridges between experts and the public: a comparison of two-way communication formats for flooding and air pollution risk

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-53 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Loroño-Leturiondo ◽  
Paul O'Hare ◽  
Simon J. Cook ◽  
Stephen R. Hoon ◽  
Sam Illingworth
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Serious Games ◽  
Knowledge Exchange ◽  
Pollution Risk ◽  
The Public ◽  
Safe Spaces ◽  
Raising Awareness ◽  
Personal Experiences ◽  
Educational Programmes ◽  
First Time

Abstract. Urban centres worldwide are adversely affected by flooding and air pollution. Better-prepared citizens are crucial to limiting the impacts of these hazards, and both lay knowledge and personal experiences are important in complementing and challenging expert opinion. For the first time, this study offers a critical comparison of how different two-way communication formats have been used worldwide between experts and the public in relation to flooding and air pollution risk. Through a systematic review, we analyse social media, educational programmes, serious games, citizen science, and forums in terms of their effectiveness in respect of dealing with incidents, raising awareness, and promoting knowledge exchange in the context of flooding and air pollution risk. We find that there is neither a one-size-fits-all nor superior format of communication. No single format is effective in fulfilling all three communication purposes. All five formats analysed appear to be successful under different circumstances and are never suitable for all segments of the population. Communication between experts and the public is difficult and full of tensions; information alone is not enough. Our study shows different ways of incorporating strategies to build trust between experts and the public and make communication more fun and accessible, breaking down hierarchies and creating safe spaces for co-creation where everyone feels empowered to participate and everyone benefits.

scholarly journals Building bridges between experts and the public: a comparison of two-way communication formats for flooding and air pollution risk

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Loroño-Leturiondo ◽  
Paul O'Hare ◽  
Simon J. Cook ◽  
Stephen R. Hoon ◽  
Sam Illingworth
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Serious Games ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Pollution Risk ◽  
The Public ◽  
Safe Spaces ◽  
Personal Experiences ◽  
Educational Programmes ◽  
First Time

Abstract. Urban centres worldwide are adversely affected by flooding and air pollution. Better prepared citizens are crucial to limiting the impacts of these hazards, and both lay knowledge and personal experiences are important in complementing and challenging expert opinion. For the first time, this study offers a critical comparison of how different two-way communication formats have been used worldwide between experts and the public in relation to flooding and air pollution risk. Through a systematic review, we analyse social media, educational programmes, serious games, citizen science, and forums in terms of their effectiveness in respect of communicating short-term incidents, long-term awareness, and long-term knowledge in the context of flooding and air pollution risk. We find that there is neither a one-size-fits-all, nor superior, format of communication. No single format is effective in fulfilling all three communication purposes. All five formats analysed appear to be successful under different circumstances and are never representative of all segments of the population. Communication between experts and the public is difficult and full of tensions, information alone is not enough. Our study shows different ways of incorporating strategies to build trust between experts and the public and make communication more fun and accessible, breaking down hierarchies and creating safe spaces for co-creation where everyone feels empowered to participate and benefits.

Take a photo, post it, alert it!

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mite Ristov
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Human Health ◽  
Google Earth ◽  
Google Maps ◽  
The Public ◽  
Raising Awareness ◽  
Interactive Map ◽  
The Given ◽  
The City ◽  
Harmful Effects

<p>Encouraged by the problem of constantly air pollution, especially in the winter mounts, a group of students from the Josip Broz – Tito High School from Bitola, North Macedonia, under the mentorship of the geography teacher and in cooperation with the NGO Geosfera, conducted a school project. The main objectives of the project were: raising awareness among pupils about the harmful effects of PM particles on human health, identifying the city's air polluters, measuring PM particles concentrations in different locations around the city and informing the public and preparing draft mitigation measures of air pollution.</p><p>First, the students held an educative lecture in front of the rest of the pupils at the school about the harmful effects of PM particles on human health. Then, we started a campaign to involve students and all citizens of Bitola in identifying the city's air polluters. Through the social networks, instructions were given, such as through an online Аpp and the GPS signal from the smart phone, to take a picture from a suspicious air polluter and to post the image with the given geographic coordinates on our Facebook group. A working group of students, according to the given coordinates of the citizens, put the polluters on an interactive map of Google Maps. A link from the map was sent to the authorized environmental inspector in the municipality, with the goal of faster response and inspection to those polluters.</p><p>The absence of multiple measuring stations created numerous speculations among the citizens, but also with the institutions in the city, where the enormous air pollution originated, whether from the Thermal Power Plant Bitola or from the city itself.</p><p>Therefore, in cooperation with the NGO Geosfera, we decided to measure the current concentrations of PM10 particles in two periods of the day, between 14 and 15, and between 19 and 20 hours. The measurements were made with a mobile particle detector at 14 locations. After the measurements were made, using the Google Earth, two maps were created, showing the results of the measurements. The obtained results confirm the suspicions that the cause of enormous air pollution in Bitola is not TPP Bitola, but households that mostly warm their homes with firewood (over 60%, Source: State Statistical Office). Also, a large number of citizens of our Facebook group have commented that part of the problem are Forest enterprises, which usually supply wet firewood. According to the US EPA, wet wood produces three times more PM particles compare with dry wood.</p><p>The students from the school, in cooperation with the NGO Geosfera and the geography teacher, developed and submitted to the Municipality measures for reduction of air pollution. All these proposed measures were placed on an interactive map on Google Maps, through which all the citizens of Bitola will be able to visualize them.</p><p>The action received positive reviews from the public in the city and achieved the desired effect, which is raising awareness among young people and alerting the competent institutions to solving the accumulated problems.</p>

Communicating air pollution science to the public and politicians

2006 ◽  
Vol 139 (1) ◽  
pp. 413-423 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Brimblecombe ◽  
E. Schuepbach
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
The Public

PROBLEMS CAUSED BY SMALL PIG FARM ODOR AROUND THE WESTERN SONGKHLA LAKE BASIN

2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Papontee Teeraphan
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Lake Basin ◽  
Urgent Problem ◽  
The Public ◽  
Pig Farms ◽  
Pig Farm ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Moment ◽  
Source Of Information ◽  
Proper Solutions

Pollution is currently a significant issue arising awareness throughout the world. In Thailand, pollution can often be seen in any part of the country. Air pollution is pointed as an urgent problem. This pollution has not damaged only to human health and lives, it has destroyed environment, and possibly leading to violence. In Phattalung, air pollution is affecting to the residents’ lives. Especially, when the residents who are mostly agriculturists have not managed the waste resulted from the farm. In Phattalung, at the moment, there are many pig farms, big and small. Some of them are only for consuming for a family, some, however, are being consumed for the business which pigs will be later purchased by big business companies. Therefore, concerning pollution, the researcher and the fund giver were keen to focus on the points of the air pollution of the small pig farms. This is because it has been said that those farms have not been aware on the pollution issue caused by the farms. Farm odor is very interesting which can probably lead to following problems. The researcher also hopes that this research can be used as a source of information by the government offices in order to be made even as a policy or a proper legal measurement. As the results, the study shows that, first, more than half of the samples had smelled the farm odor located nearby their communities, though it had not caused many offenses. Second, the majority had decided not to act or response in order to solve the odor problem, but some of them had informed the officers. The proper solutions in reducing offenses caused by pig farm odor were negotiation and mediation. Last, the majority does not perceive about the process under the Public Health Act B.E. 2535.

scholarly journals Activating Data through Eco-Didactic Design in the Public Realm: Enabling Sustainable Development in Cities

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 4577
Author(s):  
Carmela Cucuzzella ◽  
Morteza Hazbei ◽  
Sherif Goubran
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Public Space ◽  
Knowledge Exchange ◽  
Public Spaces ◽  
Public Realm ◽  
Design Data ◽  
Art And Design ◽  
The Public ◽  
Community Based Design ◽  
The City

This paper explores how design in the public realm can integrate city data to help disseminate the information embedded within it and provide urban opportunities for knowledge exchange. The hypothesis is that such art and design practices in public spaces, as places of knowledge exchange, may enable more sustainable communities and cities through the visualization of data. To achieve this, we developed a methodology to compare various design approaches for integrating three main elements in public-space design projects: city data, specific issues of sustainability, and varying methods for activating the data. To test this methodology, we applied it to a pedogeological project where students were required to render city data visible. We analyze the proposals presented by the young designers to understand their approaches to design, data, and education. We study how they “educate” and “dialogue” with the community about sustainable issues. Specifically, the research attempts to answer the following questions: (1) How can we use data in the design of public spaces as a means for sustainability knowledge exchange in the city? (2) How can community-based design contribute to innovative data collection and dissemination for advancing sustainability in the city? (3) What are the overlaps between the projects’ intended impacts and the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)? Our findings suggest that there is a need for such creative practices, as they make information available to the community, using unconventional methods. Furthermore, more research is needed to better understand the short- and long-term outcomes of these works in the public realm.

The Zhenhua Case: the emergence of civil environmental public interest litigation in China

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 116-128
Author(s):  
Wenjun Yan
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Environmental Protection ◽  
Public Interest ◽  
Pollution Control ◽  
Environmental Damage ◽  
Air Pollution Control ◽  
Public Interest Litigation ◽  
First Time ◽  
Restoration Cost

Abstract In 2015, the All-China Environment Federation v Dezhou Jinghua Group Zhenhua Corporation Limited case was the first civil environmental public interest litigation (CEPIL) against air pollution in China. Constituting a milestone in the field of air pollution control in China, this case (i) confirms the eligibility of a non-governmental organisation (NGO) to file civil public interest litigations; (ii) discusses remedies for the ecological destruction caused by air pollution; (iii) assesses the ecological and environmental damage using the ‘virtual restoration cost’ method; and (iv) uses public apology as an innovative way for Zhenhua to assume liability. By applying and interpreting several important rules under the Environmental Protection Law of China (EPLC) for the first time, this case sets an example for future CEPILs against air pollution in China.

Air pollution risk associated with unconventional shale gas development

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 645-651
Author(s):  
Nur H. Orak ◽  
Natalie J. Pekney
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Shale Gas ◽  
Pollution Risk

Adapting game’s evaluation metrics to virtual reality serious games and its validation on “Hellblade: Senu’s Sacrifice” (Preprint)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kim Martinez ◽  
Maria Isabel Menéndez-Menéndez ◽  
David Checa ◽  
Andres Bustillo
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Game Design ◽  
Serious Games ◽  
Research Field ◽  
Raising Awareness ◽  
Quantitative Rating ◽  
Study Case ◽  
Definition Of

BACKGROUND The design of Virtual Reality Serious Games (VR-SG) is a subject still developing. One of its open developments is the definition of metrics to evaluate the fun and learning result. In this way, weaknesses and strengths in the design of serious games can be found for future works in this research field. OBJECTIVE This paper aims to create a metric that can be used to rate the gameplay of VR-SG. This metric’s novelty allows to evaluate the different fun and learning features and give them a quantitative rating. A study case shows the capability of implementing this evaluation to identify strengths and weaknesses of VR-SGs. METHODS The new VR-SG metric is developed on the basis of the Mechanics, Dynamics and Aesthetic (MDA) framework but including User Experience (UX) elements and adapting them to VR-SG. This metric includes 1) UX aspects: VR-headsets, training tutorials and interactive adaptions to avoid VR inconveniences; and 2) MDA aspects: exclusive VR audiovisual elements and its aesthetics interactions. RESULTS The selected indie serious game is Hellblade, developed to raise awareness about the difficulties of people suffering from psychosis with two versions: one for 2D-screens and the other for VR devices. The comparison of metric´s scores for both versions shows: 1) some VR dynamics increase the gameplay impact and therefore, the educational capacity; and 2) flaws in game design where the scores drop down. Some of these flaws are: reduced number of levels, missions and items, lack of a tutorial to enhance usability and lack of strategies and rewards in the long-term to increase motivation. CONCLUSIONS This metric allows to identify the elements of the gameplay and UX that are necessary to learn in VR experiences. The study case shows this research is useful to evaluate the educational utility of VR-SG. Further works will analyze VR applications to synthetize every game element influencing its intrinsic sensations. CLINICALTRIAL The trials have not been registered, as testing for this metric has not involved people with mental conditions or addressed other medical applications. Hellblade is a commercial video game that anyone can purchase and play. The trials have been carried out to obtain results on the gaming experience of different people in relation to the educational purpose of raising awareness of psychosis.

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