Scientists’ urgent call: end destruction and forge a just, sustainable future

UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII AT MANOA

 

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UNLESS HUMAN VALUES SHIFT DRAMATICALLY AND SOON, THE RESULTING DAMAGE TO THE NATURAL WORLD WILL LIKELY BE CATASTROPHIC, WITH LONG-LASTING CONSEQUENCES FOR SPECIES AND ECOSYSTEMS, AND DEVASTATING UPHEAVALS FOR HUMANITY. A SYSTEMIC CHANGE IN HUMAN VALUES IS NEEDED THAT FOCUSES ON EARTH-CENTERED GOVERNANCE, AND ENTAILS A TRANSITION IN COLLECTIVE VALUES, BEHAVIORS, AND INSTITUTIONAL PRACTICES TO PRIORITIZE LONG-TERM ECOLOGICAL HEALTH AND SOCIAL WELL-BEING OVER IMMEDIATE GAINS. 

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CREDIT: FLETCHER, ET AL., 2024.

An international team of scientists published a study today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences NEXUS emphasizing the urgent need to align political will, economic resources, and societal values to ensure a more sustainable and equitable world. Led by University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa researchers, the 18 authors combine their expertise in earth and ocean sciences, politics, law, public health, renewable energy, geography, communications, and ethnic studies to assess causes, impacts, and solutions to a multitude of worldwide crises.

“Climate change, ecological destruction, disease, pollution, and socio-economic inequality are pressing global challenges facing humanity in the 21st century,” said Chip Fletcher, lead author and interim Dean of the UH Mānoa School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology. “These crises are not isolated problems but are interwoven, exacerbate each other, and create amplifying feedbacks that pose a grave threat to both the environment and human well-being.”

“Environmental and human health are inextricably linked,” said David Karl, co-author and professor of oceanography at UH Mānoa. “Urgent and comprehensive action is called for, including rapid decarbonization, fostering a more harmonious relationship with nature, and equitable human development.”

Global cultural shift

The authors argue that centuries of imperialism, extractive capitalism, and population growth have pushed Earth's ecosystems beyond their limits, and created a broadening pattern of social inequality. The review summarizes the grave threats facing the planet but rejects a “doom and gloom” philosophy. Instead, the authors argue, the threats should motivate swift and substantial actions.

According to the authors, a global economic model focused on wealth accumulation and profit, rather than true sustainability, is a major impediment to decarbonization, conserving natural resources, and ensuring social equity. Therefore, the authors argue, governments should enforce radical, immediate cuts in fossil fuel use, eliminate environmentally harmful subsidies, and restrict trade that generates pollution or unsustainable consumption.

The most vulnerable human populations, those who bear the least responsibility, disproportionately bear the consequences of these interwoven global crises. The broadening pattern of this inequity breeds displacement, disease, disillusionment, and dissatisfaction that ultimately erode social cohesion.

A grossly unequal distribution of wealth has coupled with the increasing consumption patterns of a rising global middle class to amplify ecological destruction. Studies show that the poorest half of the global population owns barely 2% of total global wealth, while the richest 10% owns 76% of all wealth. The poorest 50% of the global population contribute just 10% of emissions, while the richest 10% emit more than 50% total carbon emissions. Climate change, economic inequality, and rising consumption levels intertwine to amplify ecological destruction.

Marine and terrestrial biomes face critical tipping points, while escalating challenges to food and water access foreshadow a bleak outlook for global security. The consequences of these actions are disproportionately borne by vulnerable populations, further entrenching global inequities.

“To avoid these consequences, we advocate a global cultural shift that elevates kinship with nature and communal well-being, underpinned by the recognition of Earth's finite resources and the interconnectedness of its inhabitants,” said Krista Hiser, professor of English at Kapiolani Community College at the University of Hawai‘i.

Kinship with nature

The authors welcome signs that humanity is interested in changing its value system to prioritize justice and reciprocity within human societies and between humans and natural landscapes and ecosystems, which they see as the best route to true sustainability.

 

According to Phoebe Barnard, affiliate professor at the University of Washington, “The imperative is clear: to navigate away from this precipice, we must collectively harness political will, economic resources, and societal values to steer toward a future where human progress does not come at the cost of ecological integrity and social equity.”

The authors call for a global cultural shift in values, aided by education, robust policy, economic incentives, cross-sector partnerships, community empowerment, corporate accountability, technological innovation, leadership, and cultural narratives delivered through art and media. They conclude that humanity must stop treating these issues as isolated challenges and establish a systemic response based on kinship with nature that recognizes Earth as our lifeboat in the cosmic sea of space.

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JOURNAL

PNAS Nexus

DOI

10.1093/pnasnexus/pgae106 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Systematic review

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

Earth at risk: An urgent call to end the age of destruction and forge a just and sustainable future

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

2-Apr-2024

 

Intergenerational altruism and climate policy support

PNAS NEXUS

 

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EXPOSURE TO THE INTERGENERATIONAL DILEMMA IMPACTS CLIMATE POLICY SUPPORT AMONG WOMEN AND NON-BINARY PEOPLE BUT NOT AMONG MEN.

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CREDIT: AGNEMAN ET AL

Investments in mitigating climate change in many cases benefit future generations more than those alive today. However, initial costs must be borne by those living now, so many climate mitigation policies rely on some level of intergenerational altruism for support. To investigate the strength and shape of intergenerational altruism, Gustav Agneman and colleagues asked Swedish study participants to engage in an experimental task in which they allocated fictional resources across generations, after being told how many descendants they might be expected to have in the next 250 years.  On average, participants allocated most of the resources to the present generation, and fewer and fewer resources to each subsequent generation in a nearly quasi-hyperbolic curve. Participants who allocated more resources to future generations showed stronger support for contemporary climate policies. In addition, those who engaged in the intergenerational resource allocation task supported climate policies more strongly than those who did not, suggesting that thinking about potential connections to future people reduces the perceived social distance of future people and increases willingness to bear some costs in the present to benefit people in the future. Finally, although all genders allocated resources between the generations in a similar manner, the authors find that the impact of participating in the intergenerational allocation task on support for climate policies is strongly significant for women and non-binary people, but not for men. The results could have implications for creating effective climate policy communications, according to the authors.  

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JOURNAL

PNAS Nexus

ARTICLE TITLE

Intergenerational altruism and climate policy preferences

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

2-Apr-2024

 

What are the best Nature-Based Solutions in Spain to adapt to climate change?

A new project aims to identify and catalogue the most effective proposals to better adapt the territory to climate change.

UNIVERSITAT AUTONOMA DE BARCELONA

As a country particularly vulnerable to climate change, Spain faces significant challenges, risks and impacts to which it must adapt both proactively and reactively. The scarcity of water resources, an increase in temperatures, and an increase in the intensity and volume of extreme rainfall events are causing droughts, water shortages, fires, floods and soil erosion, among other problems.

A new ICTA-UAB project titled “Systematization of nature-based solutions in Spain (E:SBN), will carry out a comprehensive identification and compilation of nature-based solutions in Spain, as a reference of good practices for adequate adaptation to climate change in each territory. The project is funded by the Biodiversity Foundation of Spanish Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge through the Grants call in competition regime for the execution of projects that contribute to implementing the 2021-2030 National Plan for Adaptation to Climate Change (PNACC).

Climate change affects ecosystems and their biodiversity, as well as human health and well-being. The extent of the impact depends on the degree of vulnerability of natural and agroforestry areas, of people and their urban environment, and on the prevention, adaptation, and resilience capacities of territories.

Strengthening the capacity to adapt to climate change is therefore an urgent task to be addressed in Spain, and Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) must play a prominent role. According to the United Nations (UN; 2022), NBSs are actions to protect, conserve, restore, use, and sustainably manage different types of ecosystems to address social, economic, and environmental challenges in an effective and adaptive manner, while providing benefits to human well-being, ecosystem services, resilience and biodiversity. The use of NBSs is considered one of the key measures to adapt to climate change. However, in Spain there is no system for cataloguing NBSs at the national level, which could be useful for their future applicability at local level.

Therefore, the E:SBN project aims to create a system for identifying, classifying and cataloguing nature-based solutions created in different types of ecosystems in Spain, from parks, green corridors, coastal and wetland restoration to climate refuges, so that their planning and implementation, both in urban and rural areas, can be carried out with a global vision and in a coherent, effective and adapted manner to each territorial reality within the framework of climate action.

To this end, a bibliographic analysis of the state of the art of NBSs at international and national level will be carried out on at least 100 scientific publications, identifying their principles, classification systems, key parameters and impact assessment indicators. Moreover, more than 50 NBS projects will be collected and characterised and 15 of these projects, representative of different territories, different types of hazards and vulnerabilities to climate change, will be analysed in depth as examples of good practice, in order to understand their characteristics, institutional realities and perceptions regarding the use of NBSs and their enablers. All these tools will be validated with key stakeholders to ensure that they meet the needs of the PNACC.

 

Tracking the virus behind India's lumpy skin cattle crisis

INDIAN INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE (IISC)

 

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RESEARCH SCHOLAR PERFORMING WHOLE GENOME SEQUENCING OF LSDV

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CREDIT: PADMANAIDU CHAITANYA

In May 2022, cattle across India began dying of a mysterious illness. Since then, about 1,00,000 cows have lost their lives to a devastating outbreak of what scientists have identified as lumpy skin disease. The outbreak has severely affected India's agricultural sector, leading to staggering economic losses.

"It was a calamity in some ways … a national emergency," says Utpal Tatu, Professor in the Department of Biochemistry, Indian Institute of Science (IISc).

Tatu is part of a multi-institutional team that decided to probe the cause of the outbreak. Their study, published in BMC Genomics, provides critical insights into the evolution and origins of the virus strains fueling it.

A viral infection caused by the Lumpy Skin Disease Virus (LSDV), the disease is transmitted by insects like flies and mosquitoes. It causes fever and skin nodules, and can be fatal for cattle. LSDV was first found in Zambia in 1931 and remained confined to the Sub-African region until 1989, after which it started spreading to the Middle East, Russia and other southeast European nations, before spreading to South Asia. There have been two major outbreaks of this disease in India, the first in 2019 and a more severe outbreak in 2022, infecting more than two million cows.

To investigate the current outbreak, the team collected skin nodules, blood and nasal swabs from infected cattle in various states, including Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Karnataka, in collaboration with veterinary institutes. They performed advanced whole-genome sequencing of DNA extracted from 22 samples.

"The biggest challenge was the lack of an established LSDV genome sequencing and analysis pipeline. We had to adapt techniques from COVID-19 research," explains Ankeet Kumar, PhD student at IISc and co-lead author. "Data was also limited, so we compiled all available global LSDV genome sequences to make our analysis robust."

Their genomic analysis revealed two distinct LSDV variants circulating in India, one with a low number of genetic variations and another with a high number of genetic variations. The sequence with fewer variations was genetically similar to the 2019 Ranchi and 2020 Hyderabad strains that were sequenced previously. The samples with high variations, however, turned out to be similar to LSDV strains from an outbreak in Russia in 2015. 

Kumar says that there are no previous reports of such highly varied LSDV strains in India. Viruses that have DNA as the genetic material – like LSDV – are generally more stable than RNA viruses. Therefore, finding so many genetic variations was quite surprising, and could explain the severity of the disease, he adds.

The team found a large number of genetic variations – over 1,800. These include deletions and insertions in various genes, single-letter changes in DNA (called SNPs), and genetic variations in regions between genes. Importantly, they found a large number of genetic variations in viral genes critical for binding to host cells, evading immune response, and replicating efficiently. This likely enhanced the virus’s ability to cause disease. "Cattle developed more severe symptoms in areas where we found highly diverse strains. This suggests that the genetic variations could elevate virulence," says Kumar.

Such insights can pave the way for improved diagnostics, vaccines and interventions to combat emerging infectious diseases that threaten livestock and livelihoods. Tatu’s research group has conducted similar studies on COVID-19 during the pandemic, and more recently on the rabies virus.

“The genomic data will prove invaluable for vaccine development by revealing molecular hotspots and genetic variations to target,” notes Tatu. “This is a first for characterising the genomic landscape of LSDV during India's outbreak on a national scale.”

The study represents an example of the One Health approach in which multidisciplinary teams, including molecular biologists, computational experts and veterinary doctors come together to address issues of national relevance. Tatu also emphasises how collaboration between veterinary experts and multiple scientific institutions was critical to tracing the variants across the country. “We learned a lot from the veterinary doctors,” he says. “They understand the field knowledge, and their perception about the disease was very important for us.”

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JOURNAL

BMC Genomics

DOI

10.1186/s12864-024-10061-3 

ARTICLE TITLE

Unravelling the genomic origins of lumpy skin disease virus in recent outbreaks

 

The math problem that took nearly a century to solve

UC San Diego mathematicians unlock the secret to Ramsey numbers

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA - SAN DIEGO

 

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RAMSEY PROBLEMS, SUCH AS R(4,5) ARE SIMPLE TO STATE, BUT AS SHOWN IN THIS GRAPH, THE POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS ARE NEARLY ENDLESS, MAKING THEM VERY DIFFICULT TO SOLVE. 

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CREDIT: JACQUES VERSTRAETE / UC SAN DIEGO

We’ve all been there: staring at a math test with a problem that seems impossible to solve. What if finding the solution to a problem took almost a century? For mathematicians who dabble in Ramsey theory, this is very much the case. In fact, little progress had been made in solving Ramsey problems since the 1930s.

Now, University of California San Diego researchers Jacques Verstraete and Sam Mattheus have found the answer to r(4,t), a longstanding Ramsey problem that has perplexed the math world for decades.

What was Ramsey’s problem, anyway?

In mathematical parlance, a graph is a series of points and the lines in between those points. Ramsey theory suggests that if the graph is large enough, you’re guaranteed to find some kind of order within it — either a set of points with no lines between them or a set of points with all possible lines between them (these sets are called “cliques”). This is written as r(s,t) where s are the points with lines and t are the points without lines.

To those of us who don’t deal in graph theory, the most well-known Ramsey problem, r(3,3), is sometimes called “the theorem on friends and strangers” and is explained by way of a party: in a group of six people, you will find at least three people who all know each other or three people who all don’t know each other. The answer to r(3,3) is six.

“It’s a fact of nature, an absolute truth,” Verstraete states. “It doesn't matter what the situation is or which six people you pick — you will find three people who all know each other or three people who all don't know each other. You may be able to find more, but you are guaranteed that there will be at least three in one clique or the other.”

What happened after mathematicians found that r(3,3) = 6? Naturally, they wanted to know r(4,4), r(5,5), and r(4,t) where the number of points that are not connected is variable. The solution to r(4,4) is 18 and is proved using a theorem created by Paul Erdös and George Szekeres in the 1930s.

Currently r(5,5) is still unknown.

A good problem fights back

Why is something so simple to state so hard to solve? It turns out to be more complicated than it appears. Let’s say you knew the solution to r(5,5) was somewhere between 40-50. If you started with 45 points, there would be more than 10234 graphs to consider!

“Because these numbers are so notoriously difficult to find, mathematicians look for estimations,” Verstraete explained. “This is what Sam and I have achieved in our recent work. How do we find not the exact answer, but the best estimates for what these Ramsey numbers might be?”

Math students learn about Ramsey problems early on, so r(4,t) has been on Verstraete’s radar for most of his professional career. In fact, he first saw the problem in print in Erdös on Graphs: His Legacy of Unsolved Problems, written by two UC San Diego professors, Fan Chung and the late Ron Graham. The problem is a conjecture from Erdös, who offered $250 to the first person who could solve it.

“Many people have thought about r(4,t) — it’s been an open problem for over 90 years,” Verstraete said. “But it wasn’t something that was at the forefront of my research. Everybody knows it's hard and everyone’s tried to figure it out, so unless you have a new idea, you’re not likely to get anywhere.”

Then about four years ago, Verstraete was working on a different Ramsey problem with a mathematician at the University of Illinois-Chicago, Dhruv Mubayi. Together they discovered that pseudorandom graphs could advance the current knowledge on these old problems.

In 1937, Erdös discovered that using random graphs could give good lower bounds on Ramsey problems. What Verstraete and Mubayi discovered was that sampling from pseudorandom graphs frequently gives better bounds on Ramsey numbers than random graphs. These bounds — upper and lower limits on the possible answer — tightened the range of estimations they could make. In other words, they were getting closer to the truth.

In 2019, to the delight of the math world, Verstraete and Mubayi used pseudorandom graphs to solve r(3,t). However, Verstraete struggled to build a pseudorandom graph that could help solve r(4,t).

He began pulling in different areas of math outside of combinatorics, including finite geometry, algebra and probability. Eventually he joined forces with Mattheus, a postdoctoral scholar in his group whose background was in finite geometry. 

“It turned out that the pseudorandom graph we needed could be found in finite geometry,” Verstraete stated. “Sam was the perfect person to come along and help build what we needed.”

Once they had the pseudorandom graph in place, they still had to puzzle out several pieces of math. It took almost a year, but eventually they realized they had a solution: r(4,t) is close to a cubic function of t. If you want a party where there will always be four people who all know each other or t people who all don’t know each other, you will need roughly t3 people present. There is a small asterisk (actually an o) because, remember, this is an estimate, not an exact answer. But t3 is very close to the exact answer.

The findings are currently under review with the Annals of Mathematics. 

“It really did take us years to solve,” Verstraete stated. “And there were many times where we were stuck and wondered if we’d be able to solve it at all. But one should never give up, no matter how long it takes.”

Verstraete emphasizes the importance of perseverance — something he reminds his students of often. “If you find that the problem is hard and you're stuck, that means it's a good problem. Fan Chung said a good problem fights back. You can't expect it just to reveal itself.”

Verstraete knows such dogged determination is well-rewarded: “I got a call from Fan saying she owes me $250.”

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JOURNAL

Annals of Mathematics

DOI

10.4007/annals.2024.199.2.8 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

ARTICLE TITLE

The asymptotics of r(4,t)

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

5-Apr-2024

 

From lab to legislation: How research shapes health policies in Latin America

MAXIMUM ACADEMIC PRESS

 

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WORD CLOUD OF THE ANSWER TO THE QUESTION: WHY DO HEALTH POLICYMAKERS NOT INCORPORATE RESEARCH RESULTS INTO THEIR PLANS AND PROGRAMS?

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CREDIT: AIMS PUBLIC HEALTH

A study reveals significant insights into the influence of health education and literacy research on policy-making across Latin America and the Caribbean. Spearheaded by a multidisciplinary team, this research addresses the crucial gap between scientific evidence and its practical application in public health policies.

Health literacy and education are pivotal for shaping effective health policies, yet the integration of research findings into policy-making processes remains a challenge. Prior studies indicate a disconnect between academic research and its practical policy implications, underscoring the need for enhanced communication and collaboration between researchers and policy-makers.

A recent study (DOI: 10.3934/publichealth.2024017) published in AIMS Public Health on March 18, 2024, reveals that the integration of health education research findings into policy documents in Latin America and the Caribbean is significantly influenced by the strength of scientific evidence, the timeliness of dissemination, and social media activity.

The research meticulously combined quantitative data, including altmetric scores and policy document citations, with qualitative insights from interviews with health policymakers in Peru. Through this multifaceted approach, it was discovered that the timing of research dissemination plays a crucial role; studies that were promptly shared with the public and policymakers had a higher chance of influencing health policies. Moreover, the strength and reliability of the research evidence were found to significantly affect its policy impact, with robust findings being more likely to be utilized in policy formation. Interestingly, the study also highlighted the emerging role of social media as a powerful channel for researchers to amplify their findings' reach and engagement with policymakers. This blend of traditional and modern dissemination methods underscores a paradigm shift in how research influences health policy, pointing towards a more interconnected and responsive future in health policymaking.

Lead researcher Carlos Vílchez-Román emphasized, "Our study not only highlights the importance of timely, strong scientific evidence in informing health policies but also sheds light on the critical role of social media in disseminating research findings to policy-makers."

This research underscores the critical intersection between scientific research and health policy-making in Latin America and the Caribbean, highlighting the pivotal role of evidence strength, timely dissemination, and social media in bridging the gap. It provides actionable strategies for researchers and policymakers, aiming to improve health outcomes through more informed, effective policy decisions.

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References

DOI

10.3934/publichealth.2024017

Original Source URL

https://doi.org/10.3934/publichealth.2024017

Funding information

This study is part of the research project Literacy under Covid-19 in Viñani/Alfabetización en Salud en Viñani (ALSAVI) in Tacna-Peru (https://alsavi.org/ and https://www.mmu.ac.uk/news-and-events/news/story/?id=15815) (accessed 15 February 2024). This project is funded by the Universidad Nacional Jorge Basadre Grohmann, Tacna, Peru, via the Canon Minero aid research program. Funding institution: Universidad Nacional Jorge Basadre Grohmann (UNJBG).

About AIMS Public Health

AIMS Public Health is Open Access and an international quarterly publication devoted to publishing peer-reviewed, high quality, original papers in the field of public health. We publish the following article types: original research articles, reviews, editorials, letters, and conference reports. All published papers will be indexed in Web of Science (ESCI), Scopus and PMC.

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JOURNAL

AIMS Public Health

DOI

10.3934/publichealth.2024017 

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

The impact of research on health education/health literacy on policymaking in Latin America and the Caribbean Region

 U$A

Landmark advances in employment reframe the outlook for people with disabilities in post-pandemic era

Research and policy development needed to extend the upward trend in employment for people with disabilities

KESSLER FOUNDATION

 

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A WOMAN WITH LONG DARK HAIR WEARING AN ORANGE DRESS SITS IN A MOTORIZED WHEELCHAIR AND SMILES AT COLLEAGUES SEATED AROUND A CONFERENCE TABLE. 

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CREDIT: DISABILITY: IN/ JORDAN NICHOLSON

East Hanover, NJ – April 2, 2024 – A recent commentary published in The Journal of Spinal Cord Medicine highlights the unprecedented upward trend in employment for people with disabilities, accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic's economic recovery phase.

In ”Employment and people with disabilities: Reframing the dialogue in the post-pandemic era,” (DOI: 10.1080/10790268.2024.2315927) published on February 22, 2024, the authors examine the confluence of factors contributing to the recent record-high employment levels among people with disabilities. This trend has been supported by a favorable labor market, evolving employer attitudes, and the adoption of inclusive workplace practices. A series of National Trends in Disability Employment (nTIDE) reports issued by Kessler Foundation and the University of New Hampshire Institute on Disability explored the contributions of diverse subgroups within the disability community to this positive shift.

A contributing factor was the rapid adaptation by employers to the acute labor shortages caused by the pandemic. Innovations in recruiting, hiring, training, and employee retention have expanded opportunities for people with disabilities. Notably, a 2022 Kessler Foundation survey revealed significant shifts in supervisors' perceptions towards more inclusive hiring practices and accommodations, signaling a sustainable change in workplace culture.

The authors also address the uncertainties about the longevity of these gains as the pandemic's direct impact wanes. The widespread adoption of remote work, recognized as beneficial for many employees including those with disabilities, faces a future of mixed prospects as workplaces readjust and offices reopen. Yet, evidence suggests remote and hybrid work arrangements as viable, ongoing options that will continue to support employment equity for people with disabilities.

The article underscores the importance of continued research and policy development to extend the upward trend for employment of people with disabilities. By recognizing the achievements and challenges highlighted during the post-pandemic recovery, stakeholders can work towards further narrowing the employment gap and fostering a more inclusive economy.

About the Journal of Spinal Cord Medicine

The Journal of Spinal Cord Medicine (JSCM) serves the international community of professionals dedicated to improving the lives of people with injuries/disorders of the spinal cord. JSCM is the peer-reviewed official journal of the Academy of Spinal Cord Injury Professionals (ASCIP), a U.S.-based multidisciplinary organization serving scientists, physicians, psychologists, nurses, therapists and social workers in the field of spinal cord injury care and research. JSCM, a member benefit of ASCIP, is published six times a year by Taylor & Francis Publishing. The editor-in-chief is Dr. Florian Thomas of Hackensack University Medical Center, Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine, Hackensack, NJ, USA.

About Kessler Foundation
Kessler Foundation, a major nonprofit organization in the field of disability, is a global leader in rehabilitation research. Our scientists seek to improve cognition, mobility, and long-term outcomes, including employment, for adults and children with neurological and developmental disabilities of the brain and spinal cord including traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, stroke, multiple sclerosis, and autism. Kessler Foundation also leads the nation in funding innovative programs that expand opportunities for employment for people with disabilities. We help people regain independence to lead full and productive lives. For more information, visit KesslerFoundation.org.

Press Contacts at Kessler Foundation:
Deborah Hauss, DHauss@kesslerfoundation.org
Carolann Murphy, CMurphy@KesslerFoundation.org

Stay Connected with Kessler Foundation
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JOURNAL

Journal of Spinal Cord Medicine

DOI

10.1080/10790268.2024.2315927 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Commentary/editorial

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Employment and people with disabilities: Reframing the dialogue in the post-pandemic era,”

 

Tourism planning as a social practice in times of change and uncertainty: views from a troubled Latin American country

ESCUELA SUPERIOR POLITECNICA DEL LITORAL

 

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TOURISM PLANNING APPROACHES VS. DESIRED OUTCOMES OF TOURISM DEVELOPMENT.

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CREDIT: RICAURTE C. ET AL., 2024

Given the limited capabilities within the public sector, tourism planning consultants play a crucial role in public policy efforts in Ecuador.

Based on social practice theory, this study examined the planning practices of 46 consultants hired by public institutions in the country between 2017 and 2021. Multiple correspondence analysis identified associations within four analytical categories: theoretical and empirical understandings, the rules and power relations in planning processes, as well as the values and purposes of planning.

Their findings revealed differentiated sets of tourism planning practices in Ecuador. These range from traditional approaches focused on spatial, technical and strategic planning and emerging approaches that prioritize innovation, co-creation and action towards social change. By applying social practices theory, a new perspective is provided to understand tourism planning as a process strongly shaped by the knowledge, experience, beliefs and context of tourism consultants in a developing country.

Given that disruptive events can disproportionately affect vulnerable actors and nature, leading to the emergence of new inequalities, it becomes essential to recognize the reciprocal relationship between individuals and the actions they undertake. Social practice theories present opportunities for practitioners and academia to critically reflect on ethical dilemmas, social values, as well as biases and political embeddedness in tourism planning practices. 

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JOURNAL

Current Issues in Tourism

DOI

10.1080/13683500.2023.2300983 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Data/statistical analysis

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Tourism planning as a social practice in times of change and uncertainty: views from a troubled Latin American country