20 pages., Via open source journal., Adoption of soil conservation practices is promoted by increased engagement between researchers and stakeholders. By reporting a case study from southern Italy where farmers have been involved in research projects dealing with soil conservation over several years, we demonstrated that the rate of adoption of conservative technologies is positively linked to the degree of stakeholder participation in the project and that farmers (and other stakeholders) have been driven toward more conscious perception of the complex link between agricultural practices, environmental impacts and socioeconomic effects. The results of this study reinforce the pivotal role of effective participatory processes in soil conservation—evidencing the importance of (i) time required to build relationships and (ii) intensity (and persistence) of collaboration among similar initiatives. Empirical evidence highlights the need to combine different approaches to deal with soil degradation. As well as the participatory time length, the synergies between the methods utilized, and the range of interacting mind sets are also very important.
15 pages, via online journal article, Scientist-stakeholder partnerships are formed by scientists from academic institutions and industry representatives in an effort to address contingent science issues such as climate change, inform the public and influence public policies. Such organizations often lack expertise in communicating to the public and conducting outreach which are crucial components to building a good reputation. This study selected Florida Water and Climate Alliance [FWCA] as an example of such an organization, exploring its media attention and media framing to assess the visibility and reputation of [FWCA]. Results showed very limited media attention had been devoted to [FWCA]. The framing analysis results indicated that the coverage of [FWCA] is mostly introductory and descriptive information from public institutions, collaborators and funding agencies. These results demonstrate the need for such organizations to increase media visibility and build their reputations through strategic communication. Scientist-stakeholder partnership organizations like FWCA could gain from strategic collaborations with agricultural communications professionals and academic researchers. To better assist in building the reputation for these organizations, recommendations include developing strategic communication plans and conducting research about stakeholders’ and collaborators’ perceptions of an organization’s reputation.
8 pages., via online journal., Recent research and practice in environmental management suggest sentiment analysis of social media communication can be a useful tool in stakeholder analysis of environmental policy. This is certainly the case when it comes to the controversial use of biological controls in dealing with invasive species. Current numerical scored approaches of sentiment may not reveal the reasons for support or opposition to environmental policies in this and other areas. In this study, we examine how the use of more in-depth analysis based on what key stakeholders say about this issue in media at a national, city or regional geographic level. The analysis reveals quite different reasons for support and opposition to the biological control of carp in Australia, and that within each stakeholder group it is possible for individuals to hold conflicting views and attitudes on this issue. We find that there are concerns at the national and city level about the impact of the virus and mistrust of government and science and that the carp species may be viewed as a valuable resource. Those responding to regional media expressed hope that the virus may lead to the elimination of the carp problem, however, they were more interested in the possible impact on the local environment. The multi-scaled social media analysis of stakeholder views about the potential biological control of carp in Australia demonstrated how social media comments can be used to explore the nuanced and multidimensional nature of community attitudes and preferences.
Yoder, Landon (author), Chowdhury, Rinku Roy (author), and School of Public and Environmental Affairs, Indiana University
Graduate School of Geography, Clark University
Format:
Journal article
Publication Date:
2018
Published:
Elsevier
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 16 Document Number: D10459
8 pages., Via online journal., Agricultural nonpoint source pollution remains a pressing environmental problem despite decades of policy and environmental initiatives. Cooperative local actions are a crucial element of effective multilevel governance solutions to such problems, but securing farmer participation for water quality protection remains challenging. Social capital—relations of trust, reciprocity, and shared social norms within and between key stakeholder groups—has been found to enable cooperation for environmentally desirable outcomes. However, the downsides of social capital remain under-examined in multilevel governance, where cooperation within one stakeholder group (bonding social capital) may undermine cooperation with other stakeholders (bridging social capital). Given this important gap, researchers need to examine how bonding and bridging social capital may be formed, maintained, or undermined through stakeholder interactions, and the corresponding environmental consequences.
In this paper, we address these gaps through a case study of south Florida’s sugar-producing region, whose drainage water flows south into the Florida Everglades. In contrast to persistent water quality impairment elsewhere, Everglades water quality has improved steadily over the past 20 years. These improvements have taken place under a complex set of governance arrangements that established a mandatory long-term numeric water quality target but which relies on shared compliance among farms. These dynamics encouraged interactions among three key groups of stakeholders—farmers, agricultural extension agents, and state regulators—to implement management changes. Drawing on semi-structured interviews, we find that bonding social capital among farmers encourages them to improve their management through a sense of shared responsibility, while also potentially limiting restoration by maintaining perceptions that the regulations are unfair. Bridging social capital helps to legitimize new management efforts, while court-mandated water quality targets incentivize farmers to draw on multiple forms of social capital. We also discuss the relevance of this case for governing agricultural nonpoint source pollution in similar settings elsewhere.
3 pages., via online journal., We often wonder why many a time our policies defy logic and our engineering designs lack a human element. There is no dearth of advances in scientific research and technologies. However, the large‐scale implementation of this knowledge and capacity on the field lags behind several decades in some regions. Unfortunately, the farmers not always benefit from these, least on the large‐scale. Well, the mystery may lie in the underlying communication processes that are supposed to be part of designing policies, institutions, engineering infrastructure, machines, products or any man‐made thing or rule. Or, sometimes it may be just due to a complete lack of any such processes during the design phase. Obviously, agricultural water management (AWM) for food production, particularly in many developing countries, is no exception to this phenomenon.
