Asset-building payments for ecosystem services: assessing landowner perceptions of reforestation incentives in Lebanon

Aim of study: Incentivising landowners to supply ecosystem services remains challenging, especially when this requires long-term investments such as reforestation. We investigated how landowners perceive, and would respond to, distinct types of incentives for planting diverse native trees on private lands in Lebanon. Our aim was to understand landowners’ attitudes towards hypothetical Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) contracts options; their likely participation; and the potential additionality they would provide. Area of study: Highland villages situated within eight of Lebanon’s 20 Important Plant Areas Materials and methods: Mixed-methods surveys were conducted with 34 landowners to determine past, present and future land-use strategies. Study participants were presented with three differently structured reforestation contract options (or schemes). The three schemes (results-based loan, action-based grant, and results-based payments) differed in their expected risks and benefits to landowners. Qualitative debriefing questions followed each of the schemes presented. Main results: Although the results-based loan did deter uptake relative to the lower risk action-based grant, results-based payments did not significantly increase uptake or planting area, suggesting asymmetric attitudes to risk. Qualitative probing revealed economic, social (e.g. trust) and institutional factors (e.g. legal implications of planting forest trees on private land) that limited willingness to participate in the results-based contract option. Research highlights: This study demonstrates the importance of combining qualitative and quantitative methods to better understand landowner perceptions of incentives and risks, particularly in challenging socio-political contexts.

Download Full-text

No pay, no care? A case study exploring motivations for participation in payments for ecosystem services in Uganda

Oryx ◽

10.1017/s0030605311001384 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 46 (1) ◽

pp. 45-54 ◽

Cited By ~ 61

Author(s):

Janet Fisher

Keyword(s):

Ecosystem Services ◽

Environmental Ethic ◽

Payments For Ecosystem Services ◽

Conservation Action ◽

Private Lands ◽

Profitability Analysis ◽

Existence Values ◽

Western Uganda

AbstractA key question in the literature on payments for ecosystem services (PES) is how payments incentivize conservation action and, in particular, how they interact with other motivations, including motivations for environmental stewardship. Related to this question are concerns about the temporal sustainability of PES: what happens when payments cease and whether a ‘no pay, no care’ environmental ethic is fostered. I present empirical research from a case study in western Uganda, where forest-adjacent communities are paid in exchange for planting trees on private lands, for carbon sequestration. The study demonstrates the range of values people have for trees in the landscape and the range of motivations for participating in PES schemes. However, the analysis shows that payments are clearly the main motivation for involvement, except in one area where people are more motivated by aesthetic and existence values for trees. Given the widespread importance of money in motivating involvement, I investigate the profitability of participation over time. This profitability analysis, in combination with qualitative data on perceptions of, and plans for, the future, contributes to understanding the temporal sustainability of PES. I draw on various strands of evidence to argue that the way participants prioritize payments may constitute a threat to the long-term maintenance of PES activities, particularly in situations such as in this case study, in which there is a mismatch between payments and contract length.

Download Full-text

Perspectives on the Capabilities for the Selection of Strategic Projects

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su12198191 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (19) ◽

pp. 8191

Author(s):

Khalifa Mohammed Al-Sobai ◽

Shaligram Pokharel ◽

Galal M. Abdella

Keyword(s):

Large Scale ◽

Quantitative Methods ◽

Project Selection ◽

Economic Benefits ◽

Research Directions ◽

Qualitative And Quantitative Methods ◽

Strategic Project ◽

Managerial Capabilities ◽

Selection Of

Strategic projects are large scale, complex, and require significant investments and resources. These projects aim at gaining long-term social and economic benefits. Therefore, organizations focusing on strategic projects should use a consistent approach that suits their strategy, capability, and long-term expectations. Based on the four research questions and content analysis of the literature, generic processes used for the strategic project selection in tandem with the managerial capabilities are identified in this paper. The generic processes and managerial capabilities are used to develop a generic framework for strategic project selection. The framework is used for literature analysis in the paper. The review shows that both qualitative and quantitative methods are used for strategic project selection. Some possible research directions have also been proposed at the end of the review. The paper provides value to both researchers and practitioners in terms of tools available and a guidance on project selection through a structured process framework.

Download Full-text

Partner Selection, Power Dynamics, and Mutual Care Giving in Long-Term Self-Defined BDSM Couples

10.51681/1.624 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 6 (2) ◽

pp. 86-114

Author(s):

Bert Cutler ◽

Ellen Lee ◽

Nadine Cutler ◽

Brad Sagarin

Keyword(s):

Quantitative Methods ◽

Perfect Match ◽

Dropping Out ◽

Power Dynamics ◽

Qualitative And Quantitative Methods ◽

Care Giving ◽

Power Exchange ◽

Mutual Care ◽

High Level

Historically, writers from within and outside the BDSM/Leather community have argued that long-term BDSM relationships are likely to fail due to the incompatibility between satisfying SM and romantic affection (Townsend, 1972) and the unlikelihood of finding a perfect match of fetishes and interests (Money, 1986). The present study tested these arguments using in-depth interviews with 33 individuals in 17 long-term BDSM relationships. Qualitative and quantitative methods were used to understand the dynamics of the relationships including the ways the partners met, formed their relationship, negotiated the scope of their power exchange, and navigated the challenges of an unconventional relationship style. Compatibility regarding dominance and submission appeared more important than compatibility regarding sadism and masochism or specific BDSM activities. Power exchange appears to serve purposes beyond sexual satisfaction, including facilitating partner bonding and providing a sense of security. Key relationship values that emerged across couples include a commitment to communication and transparency, a high level of trust, a focus on the partner’s happiness, and the co-construction of a reality that satisfies the needs of both partners. The use of rituals and protocol in difficult times returned the partners to a state of connection to each other, and this re-established bond helped the partners resolve the present upset. The use of deeper protocol when issues arise is contrary to prevailing community rhetoric that advises dropping out of role to solve issues. Thus, rituals give these individuals a different, possibly safer, way to interact so that conflict doesn’t damage their relationships. Results demonstrate that long-term BDSM relationships exist and can be highly functional.

Download Full-text

Valoración participativa de servicios ecosistémicos en Laguna de Nuxco, Guerrero

Regions & Cohesion ◽

10.3167/reco.2021.110205 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (2) ◽

pp. 83-110

Author(s):

Sandy A. Medina-Valdivia ◽

Carmen Maganda-Ramírez ◽

R. Carlos Almazán-Núñez ◽

América L. Rodríguez-Herrera ◽

Columba Rodríguez-Alviso ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Ecosystem Services ◽

Cultural Heritage ◽

Quantitative Methods ◽

Coastal Wetland ◽

Local Scale ◽

English Abstract ◽

Empirical Results ◽

De Se ◽

Patrimoine Culturel

English Abstract: How do societies value and interact with ecosystem services (ES) to favor their long-term conservation? Under the premise that sociocultural assessment of ES offers an expanded perspective for potential societal nature contributions, we present here the empirical results of a participative assessment of ES in the Laguna de Nuxco coastal wetland in 2019. The methodological design includes the combination of applied qualitative tools on site and quantitative methods for analysis of information. The results emphasize that the ES of the wetland support socioeconomic needs and important socio-cultural community traits, such as cultural heritage and identity as fishing communities. We identify emerging socio-ecological conflicts that promote the decrease of ES. We suggest conceptual and methodological adaptations for the participative assessment of ES on the local scaleSpanish Abstract: ¿Cómo las sociedades valoran e interactúan con los servicios ecosistémicos (SE) que les rodean para favorecer su conservación a largo plazo? Bajo la premisa que la valoración sociocultural de SE ofrece una perspectiva ampliada para potenciales contribuciones sociedad-naturaleza, presentamos aquí los resultados empíricos de una valoración participativa de SE del humedal costero Laguna de Nuxco en 2019. El diseño metodológico incluyó la combinación de herramientas cualitativas aplicadas en sitio y cuantitativas para el análisis de información. Los resultados enfatizan que los SE del humedal sustentan necesidades socioeconómicas e importantes aspectos socioculturales como patrimonio cultural e identidad como comunidades pesqueras. Identificamos conflictos socioecológicos emergentes que promueven la disminución de SE. Sugerimos adecuaciones conceptuales y metodológicas para la valoración participativa de SE en la escala local.French Abstract: Comment les sociétés valorisent-elles et interagissent-elles avec les services écosystémiques (SE) pour favoriser leur conservation à long terme? Le principe de l’évaluation socioculturelle des SE off re une perspective élargie des contributions potentielles société-nature, et est utilisé pour présenter les résultats empiriques d’une évaluation participative des SE réalisée en 2019 dans la zone humide côtière de Laguna de Nuxco, au Mexique. La méthodologie comprenait la combinaison d’outils qualitatifs sur site et d’outils quantitatifs pour l’analyse de l’information. Les résultats soulignent que les SE de la zone humide répondent aux besoins socio-économiques et à des aspects socioculturels tels que le patrimoine culturel et l’identité en tant que communautés de pêcheurs. Nous identifions les conflits socio-écologiques émergents qui favorisent la diminution des SE. Nous suggérons des adaptations conceptuelles et méthodologiques pour l’évaluation participative des SE à l’échelle locale.

Download Full-text

Workplace change process and satisfaction with activity-based office

Facilities ◽

10.1108/f-12-2020-0127 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽

Author(s):

Pia Sirola ◽

Annu Haapakangas ◽

Marjaana Lahtinen ◽

Virpi Ruohomäki

Keyword(s):

Change Process ◽

Quantitative Methods ◽

Long Term Effects ◽

Workplace Change ◽

Content Type ◽

Office Design ◽

Qualitative And Quantitative Methods ◽

One Year

Purpose The purpose of this case study is to investigate how the personnel in an organization experienced the process of change when moving from private offices to an activity-based office (ABO) and how their perceptions of change were associated with changes in their satisfaction with the work environment a year after relocation. Design/methodology/approach A comparative pre-post study design and mixed methods were used. Survey data was obtained from 154 employees before the relocation and 146 after the relocation. The data on the 105 employees who responded to both surveys were statistically analyzed. Representatives of different units were interviewed (n = 17) and documentary material was analyzed as complementary material. Findings The personnel’s criticisms concerned the reasons for the change, their opportunities to influence the office design and the extent to which their views were taken into account. Environmental satisfaction decreased after moving to the ABO. The personnel’s ratings of the workplace change process before the relocation were associated with the later change in environmental satisfaction. Based on logistic regression, the degree of agreement with management’s reasons for the change was the strongest predictor of the change in environmental satisfaction. Practical implications Organizations that move from private offices to an ABO should invest in high-quality change management and simultaneously develop both work and facilities. Special attention should be paid to clarifying the rationale for the change to the employees and to providing them with opportunities to influence during the change. Organizations should continue to monitor user experiences and evaluate the effects of the change after the office redesign and should take corrective action as needed. Originality/value This empirical case study is unique as it combined qualitative and quantitative methods and investigated the process of relocation and its outcomes in a one-year follow-up. This approach captured the importance of managing change and assessing the long-term effects of office redesign when moving from private offices to an ABO.

Download Full-text

Role-Emergent Model: An Effective Strategy to Address Clinical Placement Shortages

Internet Journal of Allied Health Sciences and Practice ◽

10.46743/1540-580x/2013.1455 ◽

2013 ◽

Author(s):

Rosemin Kassam ◽

Mona Kwong ◽

John Collins

Keyword(s):

Quantitative Methods ◽

Care Delivery ◽

Pharmacy Practice ◽

Learning Objectives ◽

Learning Performance ◽

Term Care ◽

Qualitative And Quantitative Methods ◽

Practice Experience ◽

Patient Care Delivery

Purpose: To evaluate the effectiveness of an advanced pharmacy practice experience (APPE) delivered at “role-emergent” placement sites within long-term care (LTC) facilities that are preceptored by off-site community pharmacists.Method: Seven LTC facilities participated: five newly recruited test sites preceptored by off-site pharmacists who supervised students remotely (“role-emergent” placements), and two previously established hospital-based facilities with on-site pharmacists who provided continuous student supervision (“role-established” placements) as a comparison group. Students participated in pre-APPE training. Both qualitative and quantitative methods were used to obtain student learning performance on 13 pre-defined learning objectives and 21 indicators of site resources and skills-development opportunities. Structured open-ended feedback questions and reflective student observations elicited more personal and situational experiences. These combined with faculty reviews of student documentation of their patient care delivery encounters and LTC Staff perspectives enabled comparisons between the two APPE formats. Results: A total of 23 students participated: three at role-established and 20 at role-emergent sites. Evaluations indicated that all students successfully completed their learning objectives. Some differences were apparent – for example students at role-emergent sites expressed a desire for more one-to-one time with their pharmacy preceptor, but they also benefitted from more inter-professional collaboration and interacted with a broader range of health professionals than students with on-site APPE preceptors. Conclusions: This study demonstrated that equivalent but non-identical learning occurs at LTC locations with off-site preceptors (role-emergent) as in role-established hospital-based settings with on-site preceptors. Importantly, it also opens opportunities for many new APPE placement opportunities since there about three times as many LTC facilities as acute care hospitals in our jurisdiction.

Download Full-text

Water funds and payments for ecosystem services: practice learns from theory and theory can learn from practice

Oryx ◽

10.1017/s0030605311001050 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 46 (1) ◽

pp. 55-63 ◽

Cited By ~ 108

Author(s):

Rebecca L. Goldman-Benner ◽

Silvia Benitez ◽

Timothy Boucher ◽

Alejandro Calvache ◽

Gretchen Daily ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Ecosystem Services ◽

Best Practices ◽

Service Provider ◽

Service Provision ◽

Well Being ◽

Landscape Scale ◽

Payments For Ecosystem Services ◽

Land Uses ◽

Trust Fund

AbstractPayments for ecosystem services (PES) are emerging worldwide as important mechanisms to align investments in human and natural well-being. PES projects are often defined as voluntary transactions where well-defined environmental/ecosystem services (or land uses likely to secure those services) are bought by a minimum of one service buyer, from a minimum of one service provider, if and only if the service provider continuously secures service provision (conditionality). Further criteria of PES include limiting additional objectives and ensuring that payments reward behaviour that would otherwise not occur (additionality). Together these best practices for PES are increasingly accepted as the most efficient means to achieve desired outcomes and are guiding funding for PES projects. We used a series of water funds (watershed-oriented PES projects based on a trust fund model) to examine how theoretical best practices could inform and improve practice and also how theory could learn from practical efforts. We conclude that thoughtful consideration is required when evaluating the promise of a PES approach against a theoretical ideal. We found that requiring conditionality may limit the use of creative finance mechanisms such as trust funds that can provide long-term benefits for conservation and human well-being, and that requiring additionality can exclude benefits from social diffusion and result in the inefficient targeting of PES funds. Finally, public–private partnerships in water funds lead to multiple additional/side objectives but partnerships are likely to lower transaction costs and provide transparent, long-term landscape-scale watershed management.

Download Full-text

Experiences using the poststroke checklist in Sweden with a focus on feasibility and relevance: a mixed-method design

BMJ Open ◽

10.1136/bmjopen-2018-028218 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 9 (5) ◽

pp. e028218 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Emma K Kjörk ◽

Gunnel Carlsson ◽

Katharina S Sunnerhagen ◽

Åsa Lundgren-Nilsson

Keyword(s):

Health Professionals ◽

Quantitative Methods ◽

Healthcare Services ◽

University Hospital ◽

Group Discussions ◽

Qualitative And Quantitative Methods ◽

Wide Range ◽

Long Term Follow Up

ObjectiveThe wide range of outcomes after stroke emphasises the need for comprehensive long-term follow-up. The aim was to evaluate how people with stroke and health professionals (HPs) perceive the use of the poststroke checklist (PSC), with a focus on feasibility and relevance.DesignAn exploratory design with a mix of qualitative and quantitative methods.SettingOutpatient care at a university hospital and primary care centres in western Sweden.ParticipantsForty-six consecutive patients (median age, 70; range, 41–85; 13 women) and 10 health professionals (median age 46; range, 35–63; 7 women).ResultsMost patients (87%) had one or more problems identified by the PSC. The most common problem areas were life after stroke (61%), cognition (56%), mood (41%) and activities of daily living (39%). Three organisational themes emerged from the focus group discussions. The perception ofthe content and relevance ofthe PSC was that common poststroke problems were covered but that unmet needs still could be missed. Identifying needs was facilitated when using thePSC as a tool for dialogue.The dialogue between the patient and HP as well as HPs stroke expertise was perceived as important. The PSC was seen asa systematic routine and a base for egalitarian follow-up, but participants stressed consideration given to each individual. Addressing identified needs and meeting patient expectations were described as challenging given available healthcare services.ConclusionsThe PSC is a feasible and relevant tool to support egalitarian follow-up and identify patients who could benefit from targeted poststroke interventions. Stroke expertise, room for dialogue and caring for identified needs emerged as important issues to consider when using the PSC. Nutrition, sexuality and fatigue were areas mentioned that might need to be addressed within the discussions. The PSC can facilitate patients in expressing their needs, enhancing their ability to participate in decision-making.

Download Full-text

Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability of Local Community: A Case Study of the Transnational Project in China-Pakistan Economic Corridor

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su11226456 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 11 (22) ◽

pp. 6456 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Sun ◽

Jai ◽

Zhao

Keyword(s):

Corporate Social Responsibility ◽

Social Responsibility ◽

Quantitative Methods ◽

Local Community ◽

Community Education ◽

Health Care Environment ◽

Qualitative And Quantitative Methods ◽

Belt And Road ◽

Corporate Social

While achieving great benefits, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has triggered potential problems between the transnational projects and local communities in the participant countries. However, there is still a knowledge gap on how corporate social responsibility (CSR) is adopted, and how CSR affects the local community. Based on a context of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), this research exploits a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods to fill the gap. It finds that the CSR activities in the CPEC project are initiated by the long-term CSR initiative. Organized by the professional CSR foundation in an autonomous environment, the panoramic CSR activities are governed in a discretionary way and focus exclusively on the sustainability of the local community. Education, health-care, environment, and employment improve greatly after the implementation of the CPEC project. Theoretically, this research not only provides new insights into CSR research by taking an under-studied context of CPEC into study, but also proposes a mechanism of how CSR leads to the sustainability of local community by building a CSR-sustainability framework.

Download Full-text

Nurturing constructive change that works: a critical theory-informed model for transforming health service psychologists’ views of people with disabilities

Qualitative Research in Medicine & Healthcare ◽

10.4081/qrmh.2017.6391 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 1 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Roy O. Gathercoal ◽

Kathleen A. Gathercoal ◽

Winston Seegobin ◽

Sarah Hadley

Keyword(s):

Health Service ◽

Attitude Change ◽

Quantitative Methods ◽

People With Disabilities ◽

Well Being ◽

Transformative Experience ◽

Qualitative And Quantitative Methods ◽

Before And After ◽

Objective Observer

We have been developing and refining a disability training exercise for health service psychologists that is ever more effective at encouraging lasting change in the way students regard disabilities and the people who live with those disabilities. Although research suggests that simulation exercises tend to be ineffective at creating long-term attitude change in participants, quantitative and qualitative results indicate our exercise, composed of a simulation followed by debriefing and reflection, helps professionals better understand some of the challenges people with disabilities daily face, and how those challenges can affect their well being. We found this combination is more likely to yield long-term changes than any of these approaches alone. This paper is not principally the description of a pedagogical technique, but instead is an examination of how the combination of simulation, debriefing, and reflective journaling may challenge taken-for-granted assumptions about disabilities, e.g., that disabilities transform individuals into a different kind of human being (with either superhuman powers or as object of pity) instead of seeing these individuals as ordinary people facing extraordinary, and often society-created obstacles. One frequent call of Critical Theorists is to challenge those things we take for granted. Social and cultural structures create specific viewpoints and thus problematizing the apparent is necessary for understanding of, and emancipation from, potentially oppressive social structures. Inspired by this call to render the taken-for-granted as problematic, the exercise we describe creates inversions of performer/audience, professional/student, and scientist/researcher positions. In each of these inversions, the role of the objective observer is denied and the student is invited to engage in his or her own evaluative and potentially transformative experience. Through each of these inversions, different realities can be more readily utilized by thoughtful students to render problematic some of the dominant views about people with disabilities. To make this case, we utilize both qualitative and quantitative methods. The students’ own words, captured in their journals before and after the exercise, are examined in comparison with program goals and features. The weight of the evidence is impressive, indicating that the combination of simulation, debriefing and journaling reflection are effective at creating a space in which change of attitudes does occur.

Download Full-text