A B S T R A C T Insights from the social identity approach can be useful in understanding the dri... more A B S T R A C T Insights from the social identity approach can be useful in understanding the drivers of dysfunctional conflict in environmental and natural resources management (ENRM). Such conflicts tend to be shaped by multiple factors including: the governance arrangements that are in place and how deliberations are undertaken; the conduct and interactions of stakeholders and the wider citizenry; and the conflict legacy, which can perpetuate a 'culture of conflict' around particular issues. This paper presents an integrative conceptual model of the socio-political landscape of ENRM conflict, which draws these multiple factors together. The social identity approach is then introduced as an appropriate lens through which the drivers of conflict in ENRM can be further interrogated. Key social identity mechanisms are discussed along with their contribution to the proliferation of dysfunctional conflict in ENRM. Based on this analysis, it is found that the social identity approach presents a way to understand the subtle and sometimes invisible social structures which underlie ENRM, and that ENRM issues ought to be viewed as a series of conflict episodes connected across time and contexts by the conflict legacy. The conceptual model, and its interpretation through the social identity approach, raises a number of implications for the current theory, practice and institutions involved in the wicked socio-political landscape of ENRM. These implications are examined, followed by a discussion of some opportunities to address the impact of social identity on dysfunctional conflict drawn from empirical Australian and international examples in the literature.
Stakeholder analysis and engagement processes are recognised as essential in environmental and na... more Stakeholder analysis and engagement processes are recognised as essential in environmental and natural resources management (ENRM). Underpinning these processes is the identification of stakeholders, an often tacit process which finds the practitioner responsible for stakeholder analysis or engagement sifting through all of society to determine who is awarded stakeholder status for the given project or issue. While the ENRM literature provides guidance for stakeholder analysis and engagement, there has not been the same level of examination of the practical approaches to—and assumptions underlying—stakeholder identification by practitioners working in the field. This research extends on the ENRM stakeholder analysis and engagement literature by exploring the approaches to identification as used by ENRM practitioners. Semi-structured interviews (n = 20) were conducted with ENRM practitioners, leading to the classification of eight approaches to stakeholder identification. These approaches are discussed as the 'art' and 'science' of stakeholder identification. Practitioners' conceptualisations of the terms stake-holder, community, and the citizenry are discussed, and differences in understandings of these critical terms are outlined based on the broad domain of ENRM in which the practitioner is operating (land use change versus agricultural extension or community engagement). The social structures of relevance to stakeholder identification (individual, social constituency, group, organisation) are presented, and practitioners' perspectives on the role of groups are discussed. Through explicating the approaches to identification of stakeholders, this research offers new perspectives on a significant element of ENRM. These insights provide greater clarity on the practices which shape stakeholder analysis and engagement in ENRM, and highlight the importance of acknowledging the privileged position of the practitioner in deciding who is awarded stakeholder status in a project or issue.
Resilience thinking has developed separately in the bodies of literature on social-ecological sys... more Resilience thinking has developed separately in the bodies of literature on social-ecological systems, and that published principally within developmental psychology and mental health on the resilience of individuals. This paper explores what these bodies of literature might learn from the other towards a more integrated and enriched understanding of both social-ecological systems and social resilience. The psychology-based literature recognises a strong set of factors that enhance the strengths of individuals and communities, but lacks a sophisticated integration of the physical environmental context. The social-ecological systems literature offers an excellent foundation in complex adaptive systems, but tends to superimpose ecological concepts of system function onto the human domain, and needs to include an array of core social science concepts that are important to a full understanding of social-ecological systems. An example on north eastern Australia suggests how a converged understanding of social resilience could assist managers to acknowledge, enhance and foster social resilience in linked social-ecological systems.
Changes to fire regimes associated with European colonisation are implicated in declines in biodi... more Changes to fire regimes associated with European colonisation are implicated in declines in biodiversity and productivity in rangelands globally. However, for many areas there is incomplete knowledge of historical fire regimes and purported changes can become accepted wisdom with little empirical evidence. In the Mulga Lands of southwestern Queensland, the dominant narrative implicates reduced fire frequency as a cause of woody vegetation thickening. We present a fire history of the Mulga Lands since pastoral exploration in the 1840s based on a review of explorer and early pastoralist journals, newspaper articles, interviews with long-term landholders and collation of satellite imagery. Fires in mulga communities are infrequent and only occur after at least two years of above-average summer rainfall. The assumption of regular pre-pastoral fires is not supported by available evidence. Since pastoral settlement in the 1860s, fire events affecting >1000 km 2 have occurred seven times only the 1950s fires affecting a >10% of the total area of mulga-dominated vegetation. We argue that fire is limited by fuel loads, which are in turn limited by rainfall events occurring only a few times a century. Even in the absence of grazing and active fire suppression fire intervals would be extremely long, perhaps 30–50 years in relatively fire-prone communities and much longer throughout most of the region. Combined with quantitative studies of fire and tree and shrub population dynamics, detailed fire histories will allow for more informed and nuanced debates about the role of fire in rangelands subject to abrupt management upheavals.
This paper chronicles the experience of academic staff in developing
a course to enhance the cri... more This paper chronicles the experience of academic staff in developing a course to enhance the critical thinking skills of environmental management undergraduates. We outline our considerations and process for course development, discuss insights from course evaluations, and reflect on the challenges encountered. We believe these perspectives will be useful for others who are developing critical thinking skills curricula, especially first year courses. Aspects of the course design which were considered particularly effective were the use of scaffolded assessment, the application of threshold concepts, and well-structured collaborative learning activities paired with quality tutors. The key learning for the authors from the evaluation of the course was that while the tools and strategies developed were very useful, interweaving these tools into year 2 and 3 courses would help students see the ongoing value of critical thinking in their work.
The societal costs of disasters around the world are continuing to increase and Pacific Island co... more The societal costs of disasters around the world are continuing to increase and Pacific Island countries are considered some of the most vulnerable. This is primarily due to a combination of high hazard exposure coupled with a range of social, economic, physical, and political vul-nerabilities. This article contributes to the growing body of work that aims to understand the causal factors of disaster vulnerability, but with a specific focus on small island developing states. The article first develops a framework for understanding disaster vulnerability, drawing on extensive literature and the well-established Methods for the Improvement of Vulnerability in Europe (MOVE) framework, and second, applies this adapted framework using empirically-derived data from fieldwork on Emae Island, Vanuatu to provide a working understanding of the causal elements of disaster vulnerability. Drawn from a significant body of scholarship at the time, the MOVE framework was primarily developed as a heuristic tool in which disaster vulnerability is considered to be a function of exposure, susceptibility (socially, economically, physically , culturally, environmentally, institutionally), and a lack of resilience. We posit that this adapted framework for small islands should also include historical susceptibility, and we prefer livelihood resilience (as capabilities, social capital, knowledge, participation, and human rights) over lack of resilience. We maintain that understanding disaster vulnerability holistically, which is inclusive of both strengths and drawbacks, is crucial to ensure that limited resources can target the causal factors that produce vulnerability and help safeguard and improve livelihoods in both the short and long term.
To provide multi-centennial, annually-resolved records of climate for arid and semi-arid areas of... more To provide multi-centennial, annually-resolved records of climate for arid and semi-arid areas of Australia it is necessary to investigate the potential climate signals in tree species in this large region. Using a stable isotope and x-ray fluorescence approach to dendrochronology in Acacia cambagei, this study demonstrates short (10 years) proxies of temperature and precipitation are possible. Because rings in A. cambagei are difficult to see, precluding traditional dendrochronology, we used elemental abundances of Ca and Sr as an annual chronometer back to 1962. Radiocarbon analysis confirmed that our dating of wood from two trees. We compared d 13 C and d 18 O from the a-cellulose of the dated wood over the most recent 10 years (n ¼ 10) to local climate records demonstrating significant relationships between d 18 O and precipitation (r ¼ À0.85, p < 0.002); mean monthly maximum temperature (r ¼ 0.69, p < 0.03); and drought indexes (CRU scPDSI 0.5 , r ¼ À0.89, p < 0.001) for February and March. Acacia cambagei may be useful in developing regional networks of climate proxies for drought. Using modern trees, in combination with architectural timbers, it may be possible to construct a multi-century, annually-resolved proxy-record of rainfall and temperature for semi-arid northeastern Australia.
Wind is recognised as a key source of renewable energy. Despite broad public support for the sect... more Wind is recognised as a key source of renewable energy. Despite broad public support for the sector, wind energy proposals have routinely triggered social conflict and localised opposition. To promote social acceptance and avoid conflict, the wind energy sector undertakes community engagement. This paper interrogates the community engagement undertaken in King Island (Tasmania, Australia) for a large scale wind energy development proposal which did not proceed to implementation due to external economic factors. Despite the proponent's adoption of what was described as a 'best practice' community engagement strategy, the proposal caused significant social conflict for the community. In-depth interviews (n = 30) were conducted with members of the King Island community and were qualitatively analysed through the social identity lens. Five key drivers of the local conflict were identified: problematic pre-feasibility engagement; the lack of a third-party facilitator of the community consultative committee; holding a vote which polarised the community; the lack of a clear place in the engagement process for local opposition, and; the significance of local context. These findings are instructive for improving community engagement practice for wind energy and other energy generation and land use change sectors.
A B S T R A C T Insights from the social identity approach can be useful in understanding the dri... more A B S T R A C T Insights from the social identity approach can be useful in understanding the drivers of dysfunctional conflict in environmental and natural resources management (ENRM). Such conflicts tend to be shaped by multiple factors including: the governance arrangements that are in place and how deliberations are undertaken; the conduct and interactions of stakeholders and the wider citizenry; and the conflict legacy, which can perpetuate a 'culture of conflict' around particular issues. This paper presents an integrative conceptual model of the socio-political landscape of ENRM conflict, which draws these multiple factors together. The social identity approach is then introduced as an appropriate lens through which the drivers of conflict in ENRM can be further interrogated. Key social identity mechanisms are discussed along with their contribution to the proliferation of dysfunctional conflict in ENRM. Based on this analysis, it is found that the social identity approach presents a way to understand the subtle and sometimes invisible social structures which underlie ENRM, and that ENRM issues ought to be viewed as a series of conflict episodes connected across time and contexts by the conflict legacy. The conceptual model, and its interpretation through the social identity approach, raises a number of implications for the current theory, practice and institutions involved in the wicked socio-political landscape of ENRM. These implications are examined, followed by a discussion of some opportunities to address the impact of social identity on dysfunctional conflict drawn from empirical Australian and international examples in the literature.
Stakeholder analysis and engagement processes are recognised as essential in environmental and na... more Stakeholder analysis and engagement processes are recognised as essential in environmental and natural resources management (ENRM). Underpinning these processes is the identification of stakeholders, an often tacit process which finds the practitioner responsible for stakeholder analysis or engagement sifting through all of society to determine who is awarded stakeholder status for the given project or issue. While the ENRM literature provides guidance for stakeholder analysis and engagement, there has not been the same level of examination of the practical approaches to—and assumptions underlying—stakeholder identification by practitioners working in the field. This research extends on the ENRM stakeholder analysis and engagement literature by exploring the approaches to identification as used by ENRM practitioners. Semi-structured interviews (n = 20) were conducted with ENRM practitioners, leading to the classification of eight approaches to stakeholder identification. These approaches are discussed as the 'art' and 'science' of stakeholder identification. Practitioners' conceptualisations of the terms stake-holder, community, and the citizenry are discussed, and differences in understandings of these critical terms are outlined based on the broad domain of ENRM in which the practitioner is operating (land use change versus agricultural extension or community engagement). The social structures of relevance to stakeholder identification (individual, social constituency, group, organisation) are presented, and practitioners' perspectives on the role of groups are discussed. Through explicating the approaches to identification of stakeholders, this research offers new perspectives on a significant element of ENRM. These insights provide greater clarity on the practices which shape stakeholder analysis and engagement in ENRM, and highlight the importance of acknowledging the privileged position of the practitioner in deciding who is awarded stakeholder status in a project or issue.
Resilience thinking has developed separately in the bodies of literature on social-ecological sys... more Resilience thinking has developed separately in the bodies of literature on social-ecological systems, and that published principally within developmental psychology and mental health on the resilience of individuals. This paper explores what these bodies of literature might learn from the other towards a more integrated and enriched understanding of both social-ecological systems and social resilience. The psychology-based literature recognises a strong set of factors that enhance the strengths of individuals and communities, but lacks a sophisticated integration of the physical environmental context. The social-ecological systems literature offers an excellent foundation in complex adaptive systems, but tends to superimpose ecological concepts of system function onto the human domain, and needs to include an array of core social science concepts that are important to a full understanding of social-ecological systems. An example on north eastern Australia suggests how a converged understanding of social resilience could assist managers to acknowledge, enhance and foster social resilience in linked social-ecological systems.
Changes to fire regimes associated with European colonisation are implicated in declines in biodi... more Changes to fire regimes associated with European colonisation are implicated in declines in biodiversity and productivity in rangelands globally. However, for many areas there is incomplete knowledge of historical fire regimes and purported changes can become accepted wisdom with little empirical evidence. In the Mulga Lands of southwestern Queensland, the dominant narrative implicates reduced fire frequency as a cause of woody vegetation thickening. We present a fire history of the Mulga Lands since pastoral exploration in the 1840s based on a review of explorer and early pastoralist journals, newspaper articles, interviews with long-term landholders and collation of satellite imagery. Fires in mulga communities are infrequent and only occur after at least two years of above-average summer rainfall. The assumption of regular pre-pastoral fires is not supported by available evidence. Since pastoral settlement in the 1860s, fire events affecting >1000 km 2 have occurred seven times only the 1950s fires affecting a >10% of the total area of mulga-dominated vegetation. We argue that fire is limited by fuel loads, which are in turn limited by rainfall events occurring only a few times a century. Even in the absence of grazing and active fire suppression fire intervals would be extremely long, perhaps 30–50 years in relatively fire-prone communities and much longer throughout most of the region. Combined with quantitative studies of fire and tree and shrub population dynamics, detailed fire histories will allow for more informed and nuanced debates about the role of fire in rangelands subject to abrupt management upheavals.
This paper chronicles the experience of academic staff in developing
a course to enhance the cri... more This paper chronicles the experience of academic staff in developing a course to enhance the critical thinking skills of environmental management undergraduates. We outline our considerations and process for course development, discuss insights from course evaluations, and reflect on the challenges encountered. We believe these perspectives will be useful for others who are developing critical thinking skills curricula, especially first year courses. Aspects of the course design which were considered particularly effective were the use of scaffolded assessment, the application of threshold concepts, and well-structured collaborative learning activities paired with quality tutors. The key learning for the authors from the evaluation of the course was that while the tools and strategies developed were very useful, interweaving these tools into year 2 and 3 courses would help students see the ongoing value of critical thinking in their work.
The societal costs of disasters around the world are continuing to increase and Pacific Island co... more The societal costs of disasters around the world are continuing to increase and Pacific Island countries are considered some of the most vulnerable. This is primarily due to a combination of high hazard exposure coupled with a range of social, economic, physical, and political vul-nerabilities. This article contributes to the growing body of work that aims to understand the causal factors of disaster vulnerability, but with a specific focus on small island developing states. The article first develops a framework for understanding disaster vulnerability, drawing on extensive literature and the well-established Methods for the Improvement of Vulnerability in Europe (MOVE) framework, and second, applies this adapted framework using empirically-derived data from fieldwork on Emae Island, Vanuatu to provide a working understanding of the causal elements of disaster vulnerability. Drawn from a significant body of scholarship at the time, the MOVE framework was primarily developed as a heuristic tool in which disaster vulnerability is considered to be a function of exposure, susceptibility (socially, economically, physically , culturally, environmentally, institutionally), and a lack of resilience. We posit that this adapted framework for small islands should also include historical susceptibility, and we prefer livelihood resilience (as capabilities, social capital, knowledge, participation, and human rights) over lack of resilience. We maintain that understanding disaster vulnerability holistically, which is inclusive of both strengths and drawbacks, is crucial to ensure that limited resources can target the causal factors that produce vulnerability and help safeguard and improve livelihoods in both the short and long term.
To provide multi-centennial, annually-resolved records of climate for arid and semi-arid areas of... more To provide multi-centennial, annually-resolved records of climate for arid and semi-arid areas of Australia it is necessary to investigate the potential climate signals in tree species in this large region. Using a stable isotope and x-ray fluorescence approach to dendrochronology in Acacia cambagei, this study demonstrates short (10 years) proxies of temperature and precipitation are possible. Because rings in A. cambagei are difficult to see, precluding traditional dendrochronology, we used elemental abundances of Ca and Sr as an annual chronometer back to 1962. Radiocarbon analysis confirmed that our dating of wood from two trees. We compared d 13 C and d 18 O from the a-cellulose of the dated wood over the most recent 10 years (n ¼ 10) to local climate records demonstrating significant relationships between d 18 O and precipitation (r ¼ À0.85, p < 0.002); mean monthly maximum temperature (r ¼ 0.69, p < 0.03); and drought indexes (CRU scPDSI 0.5 , r ¼ À0.89, p < 0.001) for February and March. Acacia cambagei may be useful in developing regional networks of climate proxies for drought. Using modern trees, in combination with architectural timbers, it may be possible to construct a multi-century, annually-resolved proxy-record of rainfall and temperature for semi-arid northeastern Australia.
Wind is recognised as a key source of renewable energy. Despite broad public support for the sect... more Wind is recognised as a key source of renewable energy. Despite broad public support for the sector, wind energy proposals have routinely triggered social conflict and localised opposition. To promote social acceptance and avoid conflict, the wind energy sector undertakes community engagement. This paper interrogates the community engagement undertaken in King Island (Tasmania, Australia) for a large scale wind energy development proposal which did not proceed to implementation due to external economic factors. Despite the proponent's adoption of what was described as a 'best practice' community engagement strategy, the proposal caused significant social conflict for the community. In-depth interviews (n = 30) were conducted with members of the King Island community and were qualitatively analysed through the social identity lens. Five key drivers of the local conflict were identified: problematic pre-feasibility engagement; the lack of a third-party facilitator of the community consultative committee; holding a vote which polarised the community; the lack of a clear place in the engagement process for local opposition, and; the significance of local context. These findings are instructive for improving community engagement practice for wind energy and other energy generation and land use change sectors.
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a course to enhance the critical thinking skills of environmental
management undergraduates. We outline our considerations
and process for course development, discuss insights from course
evaluations, and reflect on the challenges encountered. We believe
these perspectives will be useful for others who are developing critical
thinking skills curricula, especially first year courses. Aspects of the
course design which were considered particularly effective were the
use of scaffolded assessment, the application of threshold concepts,
and well-structured collaborative learning activities paired with
quality tutors. The key learning for the authors from the evaluation
of the course was that while the tools and strategies developed were
very useful, interweaving these tools into year 2 and 3 courses would
help students see the ongoing value of critical thinking in their work.
a course to enhance the critical thinking skills of environmental
management undergraduates. We outline our considerations
and process for course development, discuss insights from course
evaluations, and reflect on the challenges encountered. We believe
these perspectives will be useful for others who are developing critical
thinking skills curricula, especially first year courses. Aspects of the
course design which were considered particularly effective were the
use of scaffolded assessment, the application of threshold concepts,
and well-structured collaborative learning activities paired with
quality tutors. The key learning for the authors from the evaluation
of the course was that while the tools and strategies developed were
very useful, interweaving these tools into year 2 and 3 courses would
help students see the ongoing value of critical thinking in their work.