Geo-Geography and Environment最新文献

In the recent decades, the increase in irrigated agricultural areas has been a constant trend in the Mediterranean region, being concurrent with a reduction in the availability of water resources, due not only to an increase in demand but also to a reduction in supply as a result of the climate crisis. This study has analysed the evolution in land use changes between 1991 and 2021 in the Mediterranean region of southern Spain; the increase in the areas occupied by irrigated crops has been quantified; the climatic and edaphic dynamics linked to water risks have been identified, analysing the evolution of the annual precipitation, the number of rainy days and the distance to the wilting point of the soil; and, finally, it has been determined which factors are the most explanatory in this dynamic of land use. Using several machine learning methods, we could state how the current dynamics of land use are not in accordance with the availability and evolution of water resources, and how the areas where irrigated crops have increased the most are those where the climatic pattern shows a greater decrease in water resources, indicating how decisions on land uses are not done considering climatological conditions, but economic benefits.

As dominant approaches to biodiversity loss and climate change continue to fail in mitigating current socio-environmental crises, scholars and activists are exploring novel conceptual frameworks to drive transformative change in conservation. Among these, more-than-human care has emerged as a concept at the intersection of feminist debates about care and post-humanist discussions around the more-than-human. Although more-than-human care is increasingly referenced in the literature, it remains sparsely situated in the Global South. This article investigates the concept's potential to articulate care relations that can foster more plural, respectful, and transformative biodiversity conservation practices in local communities. Our research is situated in an artisanal fishing village in Brazil, where we engaged with both human and non-human members of the community to engage with their perspectives on more-than-human care and its relevance to their local concerns. From our analysis, four key dimensions emerged: the vital and everyday nature of caring; the relationality between humans and non-humans; reciprocity; and the fostering of flourishing for as many as possible. Our core argument is that the interaction between community practices and care theory enables new perspectives that center on daily and reciprocal care relations often overlooked in mainstream conservation approaches. By situating the conceptual potential of more-than-human care within the Global South, we underscore its ability to make the invisible visible and to inspire action for transformative change.

In light of the UK's 2024 general election and new government, UK policy on climate change is likely to see a shift in direction. This paper presents the proceedings of an event held at the UK Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) (RGS-IBG) in February 2024, exploring the path ahead for UK climate policy. Four expert panelists were asked to reflect on the achievements and shortcomings of climate policy over the past five years and to provide insights into the future of climate policy for the coming five years. Presenting the transactions of this panel, this dialogue paper aims to highlight the interrelationship between research and scholarship, media portrayals, and political discourse on climate change in the UK, demonstrating how preconceptions and dominant ideas in each sphere will shape action and policy in the coming years.

Field courses are widely regarded as integral to geography degree programmes, providing students with opportunities for experiential learning, often in unfamiliar international environments. Yet, this key area of pedagogy appears increasingly unsustainable and complex for Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) within the context of the urgent need for decarbonisation, increasing financial costs, and the institutional challenges of comprehensively embedding necessary Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) considerations into these activities. Here, we report on a national-level workshop (April 2024) that brought together a wide range of HE practitioners to discuss the future of UK field course pedagogy, using the fieldwork principles adopted by the Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers) (RGS-IBG) in 2020 as a basis for framing future discourse. Using a Three Horizons approach to guide our conversations, we critically explored the (un)sustainability of current academic and institutional practices, alongside future directions and ‘disrupting’ (innovative) practices for promoting transformative change in this area of education. Here, we argue for two sector-wide discussions that require collaborative engagement with practitioners, institutions and students. Firstly, we highlight the urgent need for transparent and critical reflection on the challenges and hypocrisy of aeromobility in academia and the need for more widespread adoption of low-carbon (‘slower’) modes of travel. Secondly, we call for the immediate reconceptualization of field course pedagogy to place EDI considerations at the core of field course design and practice, aiding a transition towards Universal Design for Learning (UDL). As such, we call on the geography community in higher education to engage in critical reflection on how we take meaningful and urgent action to address the disconnect between our stated educational values around environmental sustainability and EDI, and our actual educational practices.

Large-scale marine protected areas (LSMPAs) are an increasingly important feature of global conservation as countries strive to meet international commitments to protect 30% of all land and sea areas by 2030. In this paper, we contribute to current interest in the imaginaries that underpin environmental governance. Drawing together work on spatial and sociotechnical imaginaries, we examine how ocean imaginaries get bound up with the rise of large, protected areas in the ocean. We develop a typology of three ocean imaginaries associated with LSMPAs, which is elaborated through an empirical analysis of the political discourse that surrounded the designation of 17 LSMPAs since 2010. We examine extracts of government statements, speeches and press releases predominantly in news article sources and government websites to consider how these ocean imaginaries are institutionally stabilised and aligned with advances in science and technology. Our analysis reinforces an understanding that the kinds of spatial imaginaries that are created for environmental governance shape and are shaped by policy and management strategies. We also find that both visions of ocean spaces and the social worlds that perceive them can be multiple. We contend that research and policy need to recognise LSMPAs and other area-based conservation measures as more-than-technical pursuits, and harness geographic scholarship to consider and enable a multiplicity of imaginaries in exploring options for environmental governance.

The transition to Net Zero marks a radical reshaping of many aspects of everyday life in the effort to reduce human-caused climate change. It also has the potential to influence positively a number of social challenges: improving public health, reducing the effects of poverty, increasing well-being and bringing neighbourhoods together. However, these positive outcomes are by no means a given. Households on low incomes are less resilient than ever following austerity, COVID-19 and the cost-of-living crisis. In this paper, we report on research undertaken in seven low-income neighbourhoods in Leeds and Newcastle in the UK, in which we ran a series of workshops to understand perspectives and concerns on this issue. We found that people's perceived ability to engage in Net Zero was shaped by the neighbourhood they live in (due to its geographical location, local services and infrastructure), their housing (the building and its tenure) and household (the people they live with) as well as by their inability to access funds. It is clear from our data that people have big concerns about their ability to participate in the substantial changes they can see ahead. Our research suggests that ensuring a successful Net Zero transition for low-income neighbourhoods will require a place-based and people-centred approach. We conclude by offering three principles for tailoring research and policy to specific geographic and socio-economic needs, including (1) recognising patterns of difference and their spatial and social roots, (2) bringing whole life experiences into narratives of the future and (3) prioritising social inclusion in climate policy.

Youth unemployment and under-employment in Ghana represent a major concern for policymakers and young people themselves. While the agriculture sector has been touted as having the potential to offer employment to the teaming youth, there is little research focusing on the steps and pathways with which young university graduates navigate to engage in commercial cashew production to build their livelihood. Drawing on qualitative research conducted with young university graduates in Nkoranza, a community in the Bono East Region of Ghana, we explore the steps and pathways with which they navigate engagement in commercial cashew production for the export market. A key finding of the study is that young university graduates engage in cashew production as a ‘side-hustle’ to supplement their income from their primary occupations, with some important gender and generational dimensions. We also found that young university graduates rely on social relations and existing land market to access the needed resources including land, credit and labour to engage in cashew production. The findings also indicate that young university graduates view cashew farms as long-term investments and have no plans to return to the city in future. Based on these findings, we argue that youth employment is not about a single job and that social relations continue to be a key resource in youth livelihood building. We further argue that despite the popular and existing policy narratives that young people are not interested in agriculture and/or rural areas, and that migration from rural to urban areas is the de facto option, investment and engagement in commercial agriculture as a side-hustle in addition to family concerns, rising cost of living in the cities and children's education motivate young university graduates to remain in the rural economy.

‘How would you feel about computers telling you how to save energy?’—was just one of many questions we asked our participants engaging with four artworks commissioned for the 'Electric Feels' project. In this paper, we tell our story of this unique art-research collaboration, share our illustrations and reflect on the power of visual methods to galvanise a new type of public conversation related to emotions, energy and digital innovation. By bringing together the literature from design research, STS and human geography, we intend to lay a path towards further interdisciplinary conversations. This commentary paper makes a case for collective energy ‘futuring’—embracing the role of affect, speculation and imagination, while moving away from the deficit model of public engagement in science.

In this paper, we explore the role of street vendors in enhancing access to sustainable food, using Mexico City as a case study. Through observational fieldwork, we quantify and spatialize the street food offer of two municipalities, which we compare to food offer in outlets (shops and restaurants). We use Mexican traditional food as a proxy for a sustainable diet. Street vendors represent 55% of the food retailers present in the study area. Over half of street vendors only sell traditional food (against 45% of food outlets), but most sell food to be consumed in moderation (e.g. tacos). A weak statistical correlation suggests that street vendors and food outlets tend to cluster in mixed-use areas; as such, street vendors' role in the urban food system is mainly to provide an alternative food offer in well-served areas, rather than providing a food offer in neighbourhoods where the formal offer is scarce. We conclude that street vending is a significant element of Mexico City's urban food environment and increases the availability of traditional food, thus enhancing food sovereignty and contributing to a sustainable food system. Street vending, as an unplanned, traditional daily practice that inadvertently contributes to a sustainable food system, is an example of ‘already existing sustainabilities’, which exploration can provide crucial insights to achieve sustainability transitions.

This study explored the potential application of deep learning techniques in sea surface temperature (SST) investigations using a mixed method, bibliometric analysis and methodological approach. CiteSpace software was utilized for a bibliometric study on 137 academic publications from 2018 to 2023. Various databases were employed for methodological analysis, which involved examining publications based on models, methodologies, applications and research areas. The data were manually organized in a relational framework of an SQL database. The analysis underscored China's prominence as a leader in the extensive research devoted to this field. The United States of America and the United Kingdom played pivotal roles in providing the essential data that served as the foundation for these studies. Moreover, the long short-term memory (LSTM) algorithm was the predominant computational deep learning algorithm extensively used in this specific context. The analysis highlighted significant knowledge gaps in areas such as SST forecasting, modelling, satellite remote sensing, extreme events and data reconstruction. Future scientists need to show more interest in these and related subjects, while Chinese and American scientists should prioritize paper quality over quantity. Additionally, fostering stronger collaborations between universities and institutions is vital for further advancements. Ultimately, this study offers valuable insights into hotspot research areas and development processes, establishing the foundation for research and suggesting possible avenues for future development. The results of this evaluation serve as an essential guide for researchers and modellers involved in prediction initiatives using deep learning.