J. Hubbart, Nathanael A. Blake, I. Holásková, Domingo Mata Padrino, Matthew Walker, M. Wilson
Estimates of global population growth are often cited as a significant challenge for global food production. It is estimated that by 2050 there will be approximately two- billion additional people on earth, with the greatest proportion of that growth occurring in central Africa. To meet recommended future protein needs (60 g/d), approximately 120 million kg of protein must be produced daily. The production of ruminant meat (particularly beef cattle) offers the potential to aid in reaching increased global protein needs. However, advancements in beef cattle production are necessary to secure the industry’s future sustainability. This article draws attention to a subset of sustainable beef cattle production challenges, including the role of ruminant livestock in meeting global human protein needs, the environmental relationships of advanced beef cattle production, and big data and machine learning in beef cattle production. Considering the significant quantities of resources necessary to produce this form of protein, such advancements are not just a moral imperative but critical to developing advanced beef cattle production practices and predictive models that will reduce costs and liabilities and advance industry sustainability.
{"title":"Challenges in Sustainable Beef Cattle Production: A Subset of Needed Advancements","authors":"J. Hubbart, Nathanael A. Blake, I. Holásková, Domingo Mata Padrino, Matthew Walker, M. Wilson","doi":"10.3390/challe14010014","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/challe14010014","url":null,"abstract":"Estimates of global population growth are often cited as a significant challenge for global food production. It is estimated that by 2050 there will be approximately two- billion additional people on earth, with the greatest proportion of that growth occurring in central Africa. To meet recommended future protein needs (60 g/d), approximately 120 million kg of protein must be produced daily. The production of ruminant meat (particularly beef cattle) offers the potential to aid in reaching increased global protein needs. However, advancements in beef cattle production are necessary to secure the industry’s future sustainability. This article draws attention to a subset of sustainable beef cattle production challenges, including the role of ruminant livestock in meeting global human protein needs, the environmental relationships of advanced beef cattle production, and big data and machine learning in beef cattle production. Considering the significant quantities of resources necessary to produce this form of protein, such advancements are not just a moral imperative but critical to developing advanced beef cattle production practices and predictive models that will reduce costs and liabilities and advance industry sustainability.","PeriodicalId":91008,"journal":{"name":"Challenges","volume":"19 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-02-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"81877202","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Marianne Lévesque, Mariame O. Ouédraogo, Romina Fakhraei, Alysha Dingwall Harvey, Elizabeth Bratton, Mark Walker, L. Dodds, L. Gaudet
Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are toxic chemicals with demonstrable effects on pregnancy and neonatal outcomes. The associations of early pregnancy body mass index (BMI) and antenatal weight changes with circulating POP concentrations are poorly understood in the Canadian context. The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between maternal BMI in the first trimester, weight change from pre-pregnancy to 6–13 weeks of pregnancy, and first-trimester plasma POP concentrations among Canadian pregnant women. We analyzed data collected as part of the Maternal-Infant Research on Environmental Chemicals (MIREC) study and evaluated POP concentrations based on first-trimester BMI and early gestational weight change categories. We tested for overall differences using Kruskal-Wallis tests. The associations between first-trimester maternal BMI, weight change, and plasma concentrations of 41 POPs were evaluated using censored regression models. After controlling for potential confounders, first-trimester plasma levels of multiple POPs differed significantly across BMI categories, with the highest concentrations in underweight/normal-weight individuals and the lowest in class III obese individuals. Our findings provide preliminary evidence of higher circulating POP levels in individuals with obesity and align with previous findings of an inverse relationship between circulating POP concentrations and BMI in pregnancy. Future studies should prospectively evaluate the interplay between weight change and POP concentrations throughout pregnancy to inform gestational weight gain recommendations for pregnant individuals with obesity.
{"title":"Relationships of First-Trimester Body Mass Index and Weight Change with Persistent Organic Pollutant Concentrations in Pregnant Canadian Individuals","authors":"Marianne Lévesque, Mariame O. Ouédraogo, Romina Fakhraei, Alysha Dingwall Harvey, Elizabeth Bratton, Mark Walker, L. Dodds, L. Gaudet","doi":"10.3390/challe14010013","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/challe14010013","url":null,"abstract":"Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are toxic chemicals with demonstrable effects on pregnancy and neonatal outcomes. The associations of early pregnancy body mass index (BMI) and antenatal weight changes with circulating POP concentrations are poorly understood in the Canadian context. The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between maternal BMI in the first trimester, weight change from pre-pregnancy to 6–13 weeks of pregnancy, and first-trimester plasma POP concentrations among Canadian pregnant women. We analyzed data collected as part of the Maternal-Infant Research on Environmental Chemicals (MIREC) study and evaluated POP concentrations based on first-trimester BMI and early gestational weight change categories. We tested for overall differences using Kruskal-Wallis tests. The associations between first-trimester maternal BMI, weight change, and plasma concentrations of 41 POPs were evaluated using censored regression models. After controlling for potential confounders, first-trimester plasma levels of multiple POPs differed significantly across BMI categories, with the highest concentrations in underweight/normal-weight individuals and the lowest in class III obese individuals. Our findings provide preliminary evidence of higher circulating POP levels in individuals with obesity and align with previous findings of an inverse relationship between circulating POP concentrations and BMI in pregnancy. Future studies should prospectively evaluate the interplay between weight change and POP concentrations throughout pregnancy to inform gestational weight gain recommendations for pregnant individuals with obesity.","PeriodicalId":91008,"journal":{"name":"Challenges","volume":"28 2 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-02-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"82721522","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Remote sensing monitoring of crop growth began from airborne photography to assist in crop pest management and has evolved into monitoring from satellites, manned aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and ground-based systems for crop production process modeling, optimization, and control. In recent years, for crop growth remote sensing monitoring, apart from satellites, manned aircrafts, and ground-based systems, UAVs have been developed and widely used for low-altitude remote sensing of crop fields to uniquely provide a cost-effective, flexible tool for field crop growth remote sensing. Additionally, their data create a critical layer between all other remote sensing platforms. This paper overviews the use of remote sensing from difference sources, especially airborne remote sensing from manned aircraft and UAVs, to monitor crop growth in the area of the lower northern Mississippi from the Mississippi Delta to the Black Prairie, one of the most important agricultural areas in the U.S. In this paper, three sites typical in the area are demonstrated for remote sensing monitoring of crop growth, and the issues and challenges are identified and discussed for future opportunities to integrate remote sensing data from different sources to improve crop monitoring in this area and surrounding areas.
{"title":"Remote Sensing from Different Sources for Crop Growth Monitoring in the Area of the Lower Northern Mississippi","authors":"Yanbo Huang, G. Feng, H. Tewolde, M. Shankle","doi":"10.3390/challe14010012","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/challe14010012","url":null,"abstract":"Remote sensing monitoring of crop growth began from airborne photography to assist in crop pest management and has evolved into monitoring from satellites, manned aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and ground-based systems for crop production process modeling, optimization, and control. In recent years, for crop growth remote sensing monitoring, apart from satellites, manned aircrafts, and ground-based systems, UAVs have been developed and widely used for low-altitude remote sensing of crop fields to uniquely provide a cost-effective, flexible tool for field crop growth remote sensing. Additionally, their data create a critical layer between all other remote sensing platforms. This paper overviews the use of remote sensing from difference sources, especially airborne remote sensing from manned aircraft and UAVs, to monitor crop growth in the area of the lower northern Mississippi from the Mississippi Delta to the Black Prairie, one of the most important agricultural areas in the U.S. In this paper, three sites typical in the area are demonstrated for remote sensing monitoring of crop growth, and the issues and challenges are identified and discussed for future opportunities to integrate remote sensing data from different sources to improve crop monitoring in this area and surrounding areas.","PeriodicalId":91008,"journal":{"name":"Challenges","volume":"24 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-02-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"87481324","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Grŵp Cynefin, a social housing association in North Wales, United Kingdom (UK) with other partner organisations, had a vision to create a community Hub in the Nantlle Valley to strengthen and support the health and well-being of the local community through the provision of a range of traditional and preventative services. Social prescribing (SP), which is a non-medical support using community assets, would be a part of this new innovative Hub. SP activities would be co-designed and co-produced by current community members. Drawing on the principles of citizens’ assembly deliberations and Future Design, four focus groups (n = 16) were conducted to develop sustainable strategies for SP activities as part of the proposed Hub. Deliberations on the perspectives of future generations were considered along with current community needs. Findings from the focus groups imply that current members of society are open to the concept of taking an inter-generational approach when designing SP activities to address the social and economic needs of the community along with integration of traditional and preventative community health services. Deliberations highlighted that the proposed Hub could strengthen communities and support community health and well-being, by providing a place to socialise and acting as a single point of access for community services, which could promote social cohesion in line with the Well-being for Future Generations (Wales) Act. Applying a long-term thinking approach to citizens’ assembly deliberation design offers a voice to the interests of future generations, providing inter-generational equity.
Grŵp Cynefin是联合王国(联合王国)北威尔士的一个社会住房协会，它与其他伙伴组织有一个愿景，即在楠特尔谷建立一个社区中心，通过提供一系列传统和预防性服务，加强和支持当地社区的健康和福祉。社会处方(SP)是一种使用社区资产的非医疗支持，将成为这个新的创新中心的一部分。SP活动将由现有社区成员共同设计和制作。根据市民集会审议和未来设计的原则，进行了四个焦点小组(n = 16)，以制定作为拟议中心一部分的SP活动的可持续战略。考虑了对未来几代人的看法以及当前社区的需要。焦点小组的调查结果表明，当前的社会成员在设计社会福利活动以满足社区的社会和经济需求，同时将传统和预防性社区保健服务结合起来时，对采用代际方法的概念持开放态度。审议强调，拟议的中心可以加强社区，支持社区健康和福祉，提供一个社交场所，并作为社区服务的单一访问点，这可以根据《后代福祉(威尔士)法》促进社会凝聚力。在公民会议审议设计中运用长远思维，为子孙后代的利益发声，提供代际公平。
{"title":"Intergenerational Deliberations for Long Term Sustainability","authors":"L. Spencer, M. Lynch, Gwenlli Thomas, R. Edwards","doi":"10.3390/challe14010011","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/challe14010011","url":null,"abstract":"Grŵp Cynefin, a social housing association in North Wales, United Kingdom (UK) with other partner organisations, had a vision to create a community Hub in the Nantlle Valley to strengthen and support the health and well-being of the local community through the provision of a range of traditional and preventative services. Social prescribing (SP), which is a non-medical support using community assets, would be a part of this new innovative Hub. SP activities would be co-designed and co-produced by current community members. Drawing on the principles of citizens’ assembly deliberations and Future Design, four focus groups (n = 16) were conducted to develop sustainable strategies for SP activities as part of the proposed Hub. Deliberations on the perspectives of future generations were considered along with current community needs. Findings from the focus groups imply that current members of society are open to the concept of taking an inter-generational approach when designing SP activities to address the social and economic needs of the community along with integration of traditional and preventative community health services. Deliberations highlighted that the proposed Hub could strengthen communities and support community health and well-being, by providing a place to socialise and acting as a single point of access for community services, which could promote social cohesion in line with the Well-being for Future Generations (Wales) Act. Applying a long-term thinking approach to citizens’ assembly deliberation design offers a voice to the interests of future generations, providing inter-generational equity.","PeriodicalId":91008,"journal":{"name":"Challenges","volume":"128 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-02-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"72407835","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Most people know the fabled story of the elephant and the “six blind men”, with each of them separately examining a different portion of the mysterious object before them and drawing a different conclusion without awareness of the whole picture—which could have been gleaned by sharing information with their neighbours (Figure 1) [...]
{"title":"Planetary Health Requires Tapestry Thinking—Overcoming Silo Mentality","authors":"S. Prescott","doi":"10.3390/challe14010010","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/challe14010010","url":null,"abstract":"Most people know the fabled story of the elephant and the “six blind men”, with each of them separately examining a different portion of the mysterious object before them and drawing a different conclusion without awareness of the whole picture—which could have been gleaned by sharing information with their neighbours (Figure 1) [...]","PeriodicalId":91008,"journal":{"name":"Challenges","volume":"64 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-02-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"90571750","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
D. Soleri, D. Cleveland, Flavio Aragón Cuevas, Violeta Jimenez, May-Choo Wang
We are in the midst of an unprecedented public and planetary health crisis. A major driver of this crisis is the current nutrition transition—a product of globalization and powerful multinational food corporations promoting industrial agriculture and the consumption of environmentally destructive and unhealthy ultra-processed and other foods. This has led to unhealthy food environments and a pandemic of diet-related noncommunicable diseases, as well as negative impacts on the biophysical environment, biodiversity, climate, and economic equity. Among migrants from the global south to the global north, this nutrition transition is often visible as dietary acculturation. Yet some communities are defying the transition through selective resistance to globalization by recreating their traditional foods in their new home, and seeking crop species and varieties customarily used in their preparation. These communities include Zapotec migrants from the Central Valleys of the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca living in greater Los Angeles, California. Focusing on the traditional and culturally emblematic beverage tejate, we review data from our research and the literature to outline key questions about the role of traditional foods in addressing the public and planetary health crisis. We conclude that to answer these questions, a transnational collaborative research partnership between community members and scientists is needed. This could reorient public and planetary health work to be more equitable, participatory, and effective by supporting a positive role for traditional foods and minimizing their harms.
{"title":"Traditional Foods, Globalization, Migration, and Public and Planetary Health: The Case of Tejate, a Maize and Cacao Beverage in Oaxacalifornia","authors":"D. Soleri, D. Cleveland, Flavio Aragón Cuevas, Violeta Jimenez, May-Choo Wang","doi":"10.3390/challe14010009","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/challe14010009","url":null,"abstract":"We are in the midst of an unprecedented public and planetary health crisis. A major driver of this crisis is the current nutrition transition—a product of globalization and powerful multinational food corporations promoting industrial agriculture and the consumption of environmentally destructive and unhealthy ultra-processed and other foods. This has led to unhealthy food environments and a pandemic of diet-related noncommunicable diseases, as well as negative impacts on the biophysical environment, biodiversity, climate, and economic equity. Among migrants from the global south to the global north, this nutrition transition is often visible as dietary acculturation. Yet some communities are defying the transition through selective resistance to globalization by recreating their traditional foods in their new home, and seeking crop species and varieties customarily used in their preparation. These communities include Zapotec migrants from the Central Valleys of the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca living in greater Los Angeles, California. Focusing on the traditional and culturally emblematic beverage tejate, we review data from our research and the literature to outline key questions about the role of traditional foods in addressing the public and planetary health crisis. We conclude that to answer these questions, a transnational collaborative research partnership between community members and scientists is needed. This could reorient public and planetary health work to be more equitable, participatory, and effective by supporting a positive role for traditional foods and minimizing their harms.","PeriodicalId":91008,"journal":{"name":"Challenges","volume":"39 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"80103362","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
H. Oladipo, Y. Tajudeen, I. Oladunjoye, Sheriff Taye Mustapha, Yusuff Inaolaji Sodiq, Rashidat Onyinoyi Yusuf, O. Egbewande, A. Muili, Taofeekat Oluwatosin Adigun, Emmanuel O. Taiwo, M. El-Sherbini
Arbovirus control depends on accurate projections of likely changes in the arthropod vector species, essential to inform local and global public health authorities. According to the WHO Assembly and the Global Vector Control Response (GVCR), by 2030, the burden of vector-borne diseases, particularly arbovirus infections, is expected to be greatly decreased. However, anthropogenic drivers, including climate change, insecticide resistance, and a lack of operational local databases for risk management of emerging and re-emerging arboviruses, hinders effective implementation plans. This article presents a statistical, mechanistic, integrated surveillance, thermal biology, and holistic framework (termed SMITH) to discuss how temperature variations affect the biological transmission, replication, extrinsic incubation period, nutritional behavior, distribution, and survival (TRENDS) of arboviruses. Future transdisciplinary research that involves knowledge translation between local and global communities is required for early detection and risk management of the growing threat posed by arboviruses for human, animal, and planetary health.
{"title":"Adopting a Statistical, Mechanistic, Integrated Surveillance, Thermal Biology, and Holistic (SMITH) Approach for Arbovirus Control in a Changing Climate: A Review of Evidence","authors":"H. Oladipo, Y. Tajudeen, I. Oladunjoye, Sheriff Taye Mustapha, Yusuff Inaolaji Sodiq, Rashidat Onyinoyi Yusuf, O. Egbewande, A. Muili, Taofeekat Oluwatosin Adigun, Emmanuel O. Taiwo, M. El-Sherbini","doi":"10.3390/challe14010008","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/challe14010008","url":null,"abstract":"Arbovirus control depends on accurate projections of likely changes in the arthropod vector species, essential to inform local and global public health authorities. According to the WHO Assembly and the Global Vector Control Response (GVCR), by 2030, the burden of vector-borne diseases, particularly arbovirus infections, is expected to be greatly decreased. However, anthropogenic drivers, including climate change, insecticide resistance, and a lack of operational local databases for risk management of emerging and re-emerging arboviruses, hinders effective implementation plans. This article presents a statistical, mechanistic, integrated surveillance, thermal biology, and holistic framework (termed SMITH) to discuss how temperature variations affect the biological transmission, replication, extrinsic incubation period, nutritional behavior, distribution, and survival (TRENDS) of arboviruses. Future transdisciplinary research that involves knowledge translation between local and global communities is required for early detection and risk management of the growing threat posed by arboviruses for human, animal, and planetary health.","PeriodicalId":91008,"journal":{"name":"Challenges","volume":"240 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"73766654","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
High-quality academic publishing is built on rigorous peer review [...]
高质量的学术出版建立在严格的同行评审的基础上[…]
{"title":"Acknowledgment to the Reviewers of Challenges in 2022","authors":"","doi":"10.3390/challe14010007","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/challe14010007","url":null,"abstract":"High-quality academic publishing is built on rigorous peer review [...]","PeriodicalId":91008,"journal":{"name":"Challenges","volume":"110 11 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"83505756","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
As our planet faces more frequent and severe environmental threats due to climate change (including threats to biodiversity), environmental justice will be essential to ensure that the costs and burdens of combating these threats are shared equally, borne by all people worldwide in a fair and equitable manner. If the past is any indicator, however, environmental problems—and their “solutions”—disproportionately affect poor communities and communities of color, including Indigenous communities. Despite these past injustices, Indigenous lands, which make up only 20 percent of the Earth’s territory, contain 80 percent of the world’s remaining biodiversity—evidence that Indigenous peoples are among the most effective stewards of the environment. A primary reason for this remarkable statistic is the use and practice of Indigenous Traditional Ecological Knowledge; ecological wisdom which has been passed down for generations and has been shown to strengthen community resilience in response to the multiple stressors of global environmental change. While the United States government has been slow to acknowledge the value of Traditional Ecological Knowledge, it has recently begun to incorporate that knowledge into environmental policy in response to the worldwide climate crisis. Continuing the integration of Traditional Ecological Knowledge into government environmental policy will ensure that such policies will be more effective at the federal, state, and local levels and more equitable in their application. Western scientists, government officials, and global leaders need to build trusting and co-equal relationships with Indigenous communities by actively listening to all cultures and respecting the many kinds of knowledge systems required to conserve the natural world and all living beings. This paper will address how incorporating Traditional Ecological Knowledge into U.S. policy would help safeguard the environment from further biodiversity loss and other ecological destruction, and advance environmental justice to ensure the fair treatment of all.
{"title":"Advancing Environmental Justice through the Integration of Traditional Ecological Knowledge into Environmental Policy","authors":"Jennifer B. Rasmussen","doi":"10.3390/challe14010006","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/challe14010006","url":null,"abstract":"As our planet faces more frequent and severe environmental threats due to climate change (including threats to biodiversity), environmental justice will be essential to ensure that the costs and burdens of combating these threats are shared equally, borne by all people worldwide in a fair and equitable manner. If the past is any indicator, however, environmental problems—and their “solutions”—disproportionately affect poor communities and communities of color, including Indigenous communities. Despite these past injustices, Indigenous lands, which make up only 20 percent of the Earth’s territory, contain 80 percent of the world’s remaining biodiversity—evidence that Indigenous peoples are among the most effective stewards of the environment. A primary reason for this remarkable statistic is the use and practice of Indigenous Traditional Ecological Knowledge; ecological wisdom which has been passed down for generations and has been shown to strengthen community resilience in response to the multiple stressors of global environmental change. While the United States government has been slow to acknowledge the value of Traditional Ecological Knowledge, it has recently begun to incorporate that knowledge into environmental policy in response to the worldwide climate crisis. Continuing the integration of Traditional Ecological Knowledge into government environmental policy will ensure that such policies will be more effective at the federal, state, and local levels and more equitable in their application. Western scientists, government officials, and global leaders need to build trusting and co-equal relationships with Indigenous communities by actively listening to all cultures and respecting the many kinds of knowledge systems required to conserve the natural world and all living beings. This paper will address how incorporating Traditional Ecological Knowledge into U.S. policy would help safeguard the environment from further biodiversity loss and other ecological destruction, and advance environmental justice to ensure the fair treatment of all.","PeriodicalId":91008,"journal":{"name":"Challenges","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"79925016","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Researchers and practitioners increasingly emphasise the need to complement dominant external, technological approaches with an internal focus to support transformation toward sustainability. However, knowledge on how this internal human dimension can support transformation across individual, collective, and systems levels is limited. Our study addresses this gap. We examined the narratives of participants in the sustainability course “One Year in Transition”, using micro-phenomenology and thematic analysis. Our results shed light on the dynamics of inner–outer change and action and the necessary capacities to support them. This related to changes regarding participants’ perspectives, which became more relational and interconnected. We also showed that participants increasingly seek an inner space that provides direction and freedom to act. The data suggested that this, over time, leads to increasing internalisation, and the embodiment of a personal identity as a courageous and principled change agent for sustainability. Our results complement extant quantitative research in the field by offering a nuanced picture of the entangled nature of inner–outer transformation processes and associated influencing factors. In addition, they point towards ways in which inner dimensions can be leveraged to achieve change, thus filling existing knowledge gaps for reaching sustainability and associated goals across all levels.
{"title":"Education for Sustainability: Understanding Processes of Change across Individual, Collective, and System Levels","authors":"Pöllänen Elin, Osika Walter, Bojner Horwitz Eva, Wamsler Christine","doi":"10.3390/challe14010005","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/challe14010005","url":null,"abstract":"Researchers and practitioners increasingly emphasise the need to complement dominant external, technological approaches with an internal focus to support transformation toward sustainability. However, knowledge on how this internal human dimension can support transformation across individual, collective, and systems levels is limited. Our study addresses this gap. We examined the narratives of participants in the sustainability course “One Year in Transition”, using micro-phenomenology and thematic analysis. Our results shed light on the dynamics of inner–outer change and action and the necessary capacities to support them. This related to changes regarding participants’ perspectives, which became more relational and interconnected. We also showed that participants increasingly seek an inner space that provides direction and freedom to act. The data suggested that this, over time, leads to increasing internalisation, and the embodiment of a personal identity as a courageous and principled change agent for sustainability. Our results complement extant quantitative research in the field by offering a nuanced picture of the entangled nature of inner–outer transformation processes and associated influencing factors. In addition, they point towards ways in which inner dimensions can be leveraged to achieve change, thus filling existing knowledge gaps for reaching sustainability and associated goals across all levels.","PeriodicalId":91008,"journal":{"name":"Challenges","volume":"20 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"86436984","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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