Building Adaptive Capacity Through Civic Environmental Stewardship: Responding to COVID-19 Alongside Compounding and Concurrent Crises

A growing body of community resilience literature emphasizes the importance of social resources in preparing for and responding to disturbances. In particular, scholars have noted that community based organizations and strong social networks positively contribute to adaptive capacity, or the ability to adjust and respond to change while enhancing the conditions necessary to withstand future events. While it is well established that strong civic engagement and social networks contribute to enhanced adaptive capacity in times of change, there is more to learn about how adaptive capacity at the civic group and network level is impacted temporally by multiple and compounding crises. Research has shown that the ability for communities to adapt and respond to crisis is closely tied to longer term recovery. In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has overlapped and intersected with multiple additional climate crises as well as a reigniting of the ongoing American reckoning with racial injustice, the ability for communities to adapt and respond to compounding crises seems more crucial than ever. This paper uses qualitative data from semi-structured interviews with 34 civic environmental stewardship groups in New York City to explore their role in building adaptive capacity. In order to better understand how past crises have impacted stewardship groups' response to COVID-19, we focus on how groups have demonstrated flexibility and learning at an organizational scale. We look at two other crises, both acute (Superstorm Sandy, which hit the East Coast in 2012) and chronic (systemic racism) to identify instances of learning that lead to organizational transformation. We further aim to understand how group professionalization, measured by budget and staff size, and network connectivity impact their actions. By comparing the groups' experiences and responses to each event, we uncover strategies learned from past events (e.g., sharing contact lists, holding internal dialogues, leveraging new funding sources) that enable stewardship groups to respond to disaster in a way that builds their organizational adaptive capacity as well as contributes to the long-term resilience of their communities.

Emergence of and Learning Processes in a Civic Group Resuming Prescribed Burning in Norway

Background: Coastal Norwegian heathlands have been regularly managed by burning for about 5000 years. This practice, supporting sustainable herbivore production, did, however, seize in the 1950s and was virtually absent for 60–70 years. Loss of biodiversity, increased fire hazard due to biomass accumulation and loss of visual landscape qualities recently propelled new interest in traditional landscape management. Loss of know-how makes this a dangerous activity. The present study focuses on the emergence and learning processes of a civic group established for resuming prescribed burning in Northern Rogaland in order to possibly assist similar initiatives elsewhere. Methods: Study of written information, interviews with core prescribed burners and participant observation have been undertaken. The topics at four annual prescribed burning seminars, arranged by the studied civic group, have been analyzed. Participant observation at civic group winter meetings, debriefing sessions and field work has also been undertaken. Results: Pioneers who, without guidance, resumed prescribed burning relied on experience gained as part-time firefighters and relations to farming, in particular sheep grazing. Building good relations with local fire brigades and support by local and regional environmental authorities (especially the local agricultural advisory office) enhanced the practice. Short weather window, assembling a big enough burner group on the working days, as well as possible liability issues were identified as challenges. They were self-taught through “learning by doing” and open to new technologies/artifacts, i.e., leaf blowers for fire control. Their use of artifacts, together with supporting the fire brigades during a wildfire, strengthened their group identity. A connection to academia improved the focus on safe and effective prescribed burning through deeper insight into the physical parameters that govern burning in the terrain. Conclusions: The study provides valuable insight into favorable preconditions and possible key personnel for resuming prescribed burning in other areas in Norway and elsewhere. Content and teaching methods for a possible future standardized prescribed heathland burning course are suggested.

Citoyenneté, universalisme et cosmopolitisme stoïciens: le cas romain = Citizenship, Universalism and Stoic Cosmopolitanism: The Roman Case

Résumé: La question de la citoyenneté a très vite dépassé dans le cadre de l’empire territorial romain le problème du simple statut juri­dique pour poser la question de l’articula­tion philosophique et politique d’une ci­toyenneté en quelque sorte déterritorialisée puisqu’être citoyen romain ne signifie plus forcément habiter Rome ou venir exercer ses droits civiques à Rome.L’extension territoriale et l’intégra­tion plus ou moins rapide des opulations a suscité une réflexion sur le rapport entre l’individu citoyen et le groupe civique dé­sormais dispersé à l’échelle de l’empire. S’il existe des citoyens romains sur l’ensemble territorial de l’empire, la citoyenneté est-elle simplement une citoyenneté romaine qui se répand dans l’espace impérial en conser­vant la centralité romaine ou, au contraire, est-elle en train d’acquérir une spécificité telle qu’elle peut être comprise comme une citoyenneté supra-civique qui acquiert un caractère universel tout en gardant ces spé­cificités initiales ou alors devient-elle une citoyenneté qui se substitue à l’idée même du civique ? Les débats sur ces mutations potentielles ont agité les juristes, les philo­sophes et les hommes politiques entre Ré­publique et Empire.Abstract: The question of citizenship very quickly went beyond the problem of simple legal status within the Roman territorial empire to raise the question of the philosophical and political articulation of a somewhat deterritorialized citizenship, since being a Roman citizen no longer necessarily means living in Rome or coming to exer­cise your civil rights in Rome.The territorial extension and the more or less rapid integration of populations has prompted reflection on the relation­ship between the individual citizen and the civic group now dispersed through­out the empire. If there are Roman citi­zens throughout the empire, is citizenship simply a Roman citizenship that spreads throughout the imperial space while pre­serving Roman centrality or, on the con­trary, is it acquiring such a specificity that it can be understood as a supra-civic citi­zenship that acquires a universal character while retaining its initial specificities or does it become a citizenship that replac­es the very idea of the civic? The debates on these potential changes have stirred up lawyers, philosophers and politicians be­tween the Republic and the Empire.Mots clé: Citoyenneté, Rome, Universalisme, Cosmopolitisme, Stoïcisme.Key words: Citizenship, Rome, Universalism, Cos­mopolitanism, Stoicism.

Exploring Perceptions of Sustainable Development in South Korea: An Approach Based on Advocacy Coalition Framework’s Belief System

The concept of sustainable development has been criticized for its broadness and ambiguity that permits different interpretations in separate views. However, the prior studies on sustainable development generally relied on survey data, so they have some limitations that preclude congruent conclusions. In contrast to prior studies, we used Q methodology, which is designed to investigate subjective perceptions as it is. This study aims to explore the South Koreans’ perceptions of sustainable development among various stakeholders such as experts, bureaucrats, legislatures, civic group members, company employees, and journalists. Based on the hierarchical belief system of the advocacy coalition framework, we classified all statements into three categories: core value, policy core, and secondary aspects. Using Q methodology, we extracted five types: (1) democrat; (2) idealist; (3) green growth advocate; (4) skeptics; and (5) elitist. We examined the distribution of the five types according to a hierarchical belief system, and discussed implications of the findings.

The Radical Right in Japan

This chapter presents an overview of the radical right in Japan by answering the question of why contemporary radical right groups hate Koreans. This is key to understanding the features of Japan’s radical right and how it has changed during the last half century. Unlike its predecessors, the group Zaitokukai (Civic Group Against Privileges of Koreans in Japan) seems quite similar to European radical right groups in the sense that it targets ethnic minorities with violent attacks. Is it a sign, then, that Japan’s radical right is converging with the European counterparts? The answer is partly yes but mostly no. The chapter first illustrates the three-layered structure of Japan’s radical right organizations and explains the recent rise of radical right parties. It then clarifies why historical revisionism produced nativist violence.