Butler, James R.A. (author), Darbas, Toni (author), Addison, Jane (author), Bohensky, Erin L. (author), Carter, Lucy (author), Cosijn, Michaela (author), Maru, Yiheyis T. (author), Stone-Jovicich, Samantha (author), Williams, Liana J. (author), and Rodriguez, Luis C. (author)
Format:
Book chapter
Publication Date:
2017
Published:
International: CSIRO Publishing, Clayton South, Victoria, Australia
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 18 Document Number: D10513
Notes:
217 pages., Pages 109-129 in Heinz Schandl and Lain Walker (eds.), Social science and sustainability. CSIRO Publishing, Clayton South, Victoria,Australia. 2017. 217 pages.
11 pages., Online via journal by open access., Outlined a transdisciplinary research approach to issues of justice and equity in a real-life social conflict concerning the allocation of water for irrigation farming.
Posted at http://www.ipra.org/frontlinedetail.asp?articleid=1357, Author emphasizes courting stakeholders and building alliances strong enough to withstand media attack.
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 138 Document Number: D05764
Notes:
Extension Methods 1. From AgroInsight, Ghent, Belgium. 1 page., Summary of research suggesting that the attitude of the extension staff when working with farmers can be as important as the extension method itself. 1 page.
14 pages., via online journal., Issue arenas, as places for societal discussions, have recently been studied as an important aspect of organizational environments. While a fundamental part of any issue arena is the distinction between active and passive actors, empirical analyses have mainly focused on active stakeholders. We approach issue arenas as communication networks in which active stakeholders discuss topics and involve passive stakeholders. Based on network theory, we introduce an automated method for mapping these issue arenas on Twitter. In particular, we combine manual coding of active stakeholders, and automated semantic network analysis of addressed, passive stakeholders and their topics of discussion. Empirically, we focus on the issue of bird flu affecting poultry farming in the Netherlands from 2015 to 2017 with a sample of 704 Twitter messages. Instead of pre-defining a set of stakeholders for the analysis, our approach to study communication networks in online settings allows for mapping issue arenas based on the stakeholders that communicate about the topic.
13 pages, via online journal, Purpose: This study examined knowledge sharing mechanisms in coffee IPs and their effect on actor linkages in four districts of Uganda.
Design/methodology/approach: Thirty one respondents from the public and private sector were interviewed using a qualitative approach. Data were analyzed using the Atlas ti qualitative software version 7.5.18 to generate themes for information sources, types and channels. Social network analysis was used to measure the actor centrality positions and influence in the IP network.
Findings: Results revealed seven main categories of actors in the Coffee IPs who shared information on coffee inputs, agronomic practices, processing and markets through three main channels. Level of cohesion was less than 10% which had negative implications on the knowledge flow, trust and collaboration among the actors. Influential positions were occupied by the processors and farmer leaders in IPs in the southern districts of Luwero and Rakai, while nursery operators were most influential in IPs of the western districts of Ntungamo and Bushenyi. Weak linkages within the social networks indicated that initiatives of the actors were fragmented, as each actor acted as an individual detached from the platform activities limiting inter-actor knowledge sharing.
Practical implications: Innovation intermediaries should focus on integrated systemic and innovative approaches to strengthen actor social linkages for knowledge sharing and better platform performance.
Theoretical implications: Actor positions and relationships in innovation networks are critical tenets for fostering knowledge exchange and performance. In an innovation platform, diverse actors are multiple sources for accessing information within a given social and institutional context.
Originality/value: The study contributes to existing debate and knowledge on institutional change in agricultural innovation systems.
12 pages., via online journal., Similar to other parts of the world, European society is becoming increasingly urban, both in a physical as in an economic and socio-cultural sense. As a result, the relationships between society and nature, including forests, are changing, and forestry as structural intervention in forest ecosystems has had to adapt itself to changing societal pressures and demands. The planning and managing of woodlands in and near urban areas has been the most directly affected by the urbanisation process. Many European countries have a long tradition of ‘town forestry’, serving as basis for current developments in urban forestry, i.e. the planning and management of all forest and tree resources in and near urban areas for the benefit of local society. Through the adaptation to the specific demands of local urban societies, a type of forestry has emerged which is structurally different from classic forestry. It focuses, for example, on the social and environmental values of urban woodlands rather than on wood production and emphasising the importance of communication — ranging from information to participation/power sharing — between stakeholders. This paper investigates ways to communicate urban forests and forestry to urban inhabitants and other stakeholders, based on results of a comparative study of main European cities. It explores the role which urban forestry has been playing in the development of forestry at large, especially with regards to better incorporating changing social values and interests.
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Document Number: C29789
Notes:
Pages 134-135 in Ian Scoones and John Thompson (eds.), Farmer First revisited: innovation for agricultural research and development. Practical Action Publishing, Warwickshire, U.K. 357 pages.
