The action research methodology and several of its methods have previously been highlighted and described by the authors as a fitting and rigorous framework approach for complex waste management systems.  This was in response to criticism of the ex ante selection of traditional empiric systems analysis tools to provide decision support and ‘sustainable improvement’ in such complex systems which often involve strong human and political factors.   Several of the action research methods described have recently been utilized in a case study around mineral (aggregate) construction and demolition waste in the Stockholm region.  These methods were integrated through a series of workshops and work areas undergone together with project members from several private and public sectors.  Leaving the problem fuzzy (loosely defined) in the beginning; utilizing convergent interviewing, rich pictures and focus groups allowed the researchers and partner stakeholders to identify not one but several problem areas within the system of focus.  Indicator creation and a dialectic processes were then used to identify qualitative and quantitative aspects of salience around these problem areas.  These resulting indicators were strengthened through a process of verification.  Each indicator was then analyzed by what was deemed to be appropriate and transparent means.  It is argued that this approach may create better communication, transparency, and understanding by the stakeholders.  These factors in turn allowing stronger stakeholder ownership of the process and assisting in more informed decisions and help to provide stability for desired change. However the process was not without its drawbacks such as intense communication and time requirements. / QC 20120110 / Project BRA

Detta är en studie som undersöker lärares inställningar kring området joniserande strålning samt hur de upplever arbetsförutsättningarna inom detta område. Studien tar även upp skillnader mellan nya och gamla kursplaner (Lpf94 och Gy11) och läromedel i fysik och biologi analyseras.      I studien intervjuades sju gymnasielärare och sex läroböcker analyserades. Som teori har Post normal science (PNS) använts, vilket är en vetenskapsteori som förespråkar att man erkänner och tillåter utomstående aktörer och andra discipliner än sin egna komma in i diskussionen. PNS kräver att man ser på saker från flera olika synvinklar och ämnesområden för att få en helhet. PNS brukar tillämpas när fakta är osäkra, värdena omtvistade och insatserna höga samt när problemet innehåller lika mycket politik och värdering som vetenskap.      Resultatet av studien visade att lärarna hade en ganska avspänd inställning till joniserande strålning, ofta med en vetenskaplig grund för sina argument och åsikter. Studien visade också på att undervisningens utformning inte gav eleverna en mångfacetterad bild av strålningsområdet. Detta eftersom lärarna arbetade isolerat i sitt ämne utan något samarbete med lärare i andra ämnen. Till sist visade studien att det inte fanns några tydigt uttryckta skillnader mellan den gamla och nya kursplanen och läromedel kring fältet joniserande strålning, trots att lärarna upplevde vissa skillnader.      För att eleverna ska kunna få en helhetsbild kring ett område tror jag att det krävs att lärarna och skolan arbetar med att ge eleverna verktyg för att koppla samman olika ämnessynsätt.

Scientific information is required to make environmental policy that will enhance and protect the health of ecosystems. The issues placed on the policy agenda come from the interactions amongst stakeholders, decision makers and other influential actors. These actors include government, civil society, private sector, and planning regimes. Ideally, scientific research then provides members of the policy community with assessed options upon which final decisions are eventually made. <br /><br /> This process is more complex than most in the realm of environmental policy because the goal of sustainability, commonly advocated by government, should serve to guide choices regarding policy alternatives. Sustainability, in practice, requires simultaneous attention to factors such as the needs of present and future generations; consideration for vastly differing social, environmental, and economic perspectives; and development of effective strategies to deal with the interconnectedness and complexity of the world. Management of these factors demands an ability to collect and process massive amounts of information at different temporal and spatial scales. The complexity of such situations means that there are instances when scientific information is not available and decisions need to be made quickly. <br /><br /> Using a case study approach, this thesis investigates the Canadian Wildlife Service?s attempts to achieve its mandate of conserving migratory birds while approving bismuth as an alternative to lead that was shown to cause poisoning of birds. This case study serves as an example of the tension between limited or ambiguous scientific information and urgent decisions. The chosen policy alternative to the use of lead shot was the approval of bismuth shot as a non-toxic substitute in 1997 and banning the use of lead shot nationwide in 1999. This decision to approve bismuth shot was based upon a few studies that were interpreted in a way that made it appear benign when compared to lead. This thesis examines the implications of this decision by conducting a comprehensive literature review of bismuth?s interactions with soil, vegetation, and animals, with some medical information on humans to put findings into an anthropocentric context. Also, analysis has been carried out on the results of a four-year study on bismuth in a wetland site near Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Finally, a ?post-normal perspective? exploration of the Canadian Wildlife Service revealed that decisions could be harmful to both human and environmental health if the values and knowledge of stakeholders are not taken into account and if uncertainties are overlooked. <br /><br /> Key findings generated by the literature review were potential chronic impacts to the neurological and reproductive health of animals exposed to bismuth shot. In turn, bismuth-contaminated meat may be a source of bismuth for humans and therefore guidelines for consumption should be investigated. Also, soil and vegetation have also been shown to accumulate bismuth, but it is unknown if it amounts to toxic levels. The wetland study helped to address the literature gap of bismuth?s fate in the environment. The mean concentration of bismuth in the soil after four years was 6. 40 µg/g, which was significantly higher than the control soil mean of 0. 42 µg/g. Ultimately, in terms of environmental policy, a ?post-normal perspective? offers three main tools for decision makers faced with urgent issues and uncertain facts. Namely, extended peer communities, acknowledgement and demonstration of uncertainty, and making values explicit.

Scientific information is required to make environmental policy that will enhance and protect the health of ecosystems. The issues placed on the policy agenda come from the interactions amongst stakeholders, decision makers and other influential actors. These actors include government, civil society, private sector, and planning regimes. Ideally, scientific research then provides members of the policy community with assessed options upon which final decisions are eventually made. <br /><br /> This process is more complex than most in the realm of environmental policy because the goal of sustainability, commonly advocated by government, should serve to guide choices regarding policy alternatives. Sustainability, in practice, requires simultaneous attention to factors such as the needs of present and future generations; consideration for vastly differing social, environmental, and economic perspectives; and development of effective strategies to deal with the interconnectedness and complexity of the world. Management of these factors demands an ability to collect and process massive amounts of information at different temporal and spatial scales. The complexity of such situations means that there are instances when scientific information is not available and decisions need to be made quickly. <br /><br /> Using a case study approach, this thesis investigates the Canadian Wildlife Service?s attempts to achieve its mandate of conserving migratory birds while approving bismuth as an alternative to lead that was shown to cause poisoning of birds. This case study serves as an example of the tension between limited or ambiguous scientific information and urgent decisions. The chosen policy alternative to the use of lead shot was the approval of bismuth shot as a non-toxic substitute in 1997 and banning the use of lead shot nationwide in 1999. This decision to approve bismuth shot was based upon a few studies that were interpreted in a way that made it appear benign when compared to lead. This thesis examines the implications of this decision by conducting a comprehensive literature review of bismuth?s interactions with soil, vegetation, and animals, with some medical information on humans to put findings into an anthropocentric context. Also, analysis has been carried out on the results of a four-year study on bismuth in a wetland site near Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Finally, a ?post-normal perspective? exploration of the Canadian Wildlife Service revealed that decisions could be harmful to both human and environmental health if the values and knowledge of stakeholders are not taken into account and if uncertainties are overlooked. <br /><br /> Key findings generated by the literature review were potential chronic impacts to the neurological and reproductive health of animals exposed to bismuth shot. In turn, bismuth-contaminated meat may be a source of bismuth for humans and therefore guidelines for consumption should be investigated. Also, soil and vegetation have also been shown to accumulate bismuth, but it is unknown if it amounts to toxic levels. The wetland study helped to address the literature gap of bismuth?s fate in the environment. The mean concentration of bismuth in the soil after four years was 6. 40 µg/g, which was significantly higher than the control soil mean of 0. 42 µg/g. Ultimately, in terms of environmental policy, a ?post-normal perspective? offers three main tools for decision makers faced with urgent issues and uncertain facts. Namely, extended peer communities, acknowledgement and demonstration of uncertainty, and making values explicit.

Solid waste management (SWM) is a growing problem in developing countries around the world. In Guatemala, indigenous communities, which are predominantly rural and remote, are particularly hard hit by a lack of basic SWM services. Todos Santos, situated in the Cuchumatanes mountain range of northwestern Guatemala, is one such community. As projects developed, planned, and implemented from 'the top down' continue to be ineffective, the literature provides little insight about remote communities' perspectives on exactly what issues SWM creates, influences, and exacerbates, and how they might respond to these concerns themselves. Using a participatory systems approach, this study investigated the systemic structures and behaviours that maintain and exacerbate SWM challenges in Todos Santos, and where key places (leverage points) to intervene in the system may exist. The study presents a wide selection of locally appropriate SWM solutions to target these leverage points in the form of four future scenarios These scenarios act as a step-wise implementation plan for gradual implementation in the community, each building upon the previous, ultimately reaching a community-defined vision for SWM.

Recombinant Bovine Somatotropin (rBST) is a biotechnology for increasing milk production in dairy cattle. The purpose of this research was to investigate and to build a better understanding of the complexities and controversies around this product in Canada. To accomplish this, I examined the Standing Senate Committee on Agriculture and Forestrys inquiry into rBST and the drug approval process. I compared and contrasted the testimony of witnesses and Senators and I uncovered emerging issues, patterns, and themes. This research was an exploratory and qualitative exercise that analyzed how the participants of this Senate inquiry conceptualized and contested the meaning of science, safety, and the states regulatory functions. <p> This research revealed several commonalities between Health Canada management, the human safety panel, and industry representatives. These witnesses argued that the drug approval process must be efficient, standard-driven, and based upon available scientific studies. These witnesses stated that they had confidence in the neutrality and competency of internal standard setting-agencies. They emphasized transparency rather than public participation in the drug approval process. Health and safety were conceptualized as static phenomena to be measured and evaluated by experts. <p>In contrast, Health Canada employees had several commonalities with the Senators, dairy representatives, and witnesses from citizen interest groups. Their testimony supports the argument that health and safety are dynamic social constructs. These actors transformed the boundaries of science to accommodate their precautionary framing of safety. They highlighted several problems with Canadas science-based regulatory framework and demanded that they have a decisive voice in the rBST decision. They challenged the hegemony of industrial capitalism by combining both scientific and lay knowledge to expose the limits and contradictions of industrialized agriculture.

Recombinant Bovine Somatotropin (rBST) is a biotechnology for increasing milk production in dairy cattle. The purpose of this research was to investigate and to build a better understanding of the complexities and controversies around this product in Canada. To accomplish this, I examined the Standing Senate Committee on Agriculture and Forestrys inquiry into rBST and the drug approval process. I compared and contrasted the testimony of witnesses and Senators and I uncovered emerging issues, patterns, and themes. This research was an exploratory and qualitative exercise that analyzed how the participants of this Senate inquiry conceptualized and contested the meaning of science, safety, and the states regulatory functions. <p> This research revealed several commonalities between Health Canada management, the human safety panel, and industry representatives. These witnesses argued that the drug approval process must be efficient, standard-driven, and based upon available scientific studies. These witnesses stated that they had confidence in the neutrality and competency of internal standard setting-agencies. They emphasized transparency rather than public participation in the drug approval process. Health and safety were conceptualized as static phenomena to be measured and evaluated by experts. <p>In contrast, Health Canada employees had several commonalities with the Senators, dairy representatives, and witnesses from citizen interest groups. Their testimony supports the argument that health and safety are dynamic social constructs. These actors transformed the boundaries of science to accommodate their precautionary framing of safety. They highlighted several problems with Canadas science-based regulatory framework and demanded that they have a decisive voice in the rBST decision. They challenged the hegemony of industrial capitalism by combining both scientific and lay knowledge to expose the limits and contradictions of industrialized agriculture.

abstract: This project uses the tools of speculative climate fiction to explore and imagine the future of the United Nations climate negotiations in each of the five Shared Socioeconomic Pathway (SSP) scenarios. Climate fiction (cli-fi) proves a powerful but imperfect tool for envisioning future challenging and turning scientific models into meaningful narratives. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Sustainability 2020

<p>This essay describes the philosophy of science that Thomas Kuhn puts forth in his work The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. The question is, does his description of the scientific paradigm work as well today as in the examples he gave in the book?</p><p>The conclusion is that there are certain factors that make for a number of differences between science today and, for example in the seventeenth century. There is also a growing theory or vision of a post normal science laid developed by among others Jerome Ravetz. This theory or vision is an idea of a science close to peer-communities and fast as well as critical decisions involving opposite values.</p>

This essay describes the philosophy of science that Thomas Kuhn puts forth in his work The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. The question is, does his description of the scientific paradigm work as well today as in the examples he gave in the book? The conclusion is that there are certain factors that make for a number of differences between science today and, for example in the seventeenth century. There is also a growing theory or vision of a post normal science laid developed by among others Jerome Ravetz. This theory or vision is an idea of a science close to peer-communities and fast as well as critical decisions involving opposite values.