Search Results (12)

The objectives of this article are (i) to identify the most challenging ethical dilemmas and questions arising from the experiences of communities and professionals affected by or involved in volcanic eruptions, including risk management, the dissemination of information, and tourism; and (ii) to provide arguments for intercultural ethics to address these dilemmas. Intercultural ethics provide invaluable resources to disaster ethics across all three phases of the complete disaster management cycle. In this article, intercultural ethics is viewed as an ethics grounded in ongoing dialogue, facilitating the examination and establishment of norms and a critical reflection on values and their evolution. This approach recognizes power dynamics that may influence fair participation in dialogues and aims to address them, while also integrating elements of deliberative ethics to ensure that dialogues genuinely contribute to legitimizing decisions. Intercultural sensibility helps bridge the gap between experts and non-experts in both directions (a) by emphasizing the duty of transferring scientific knowledge (for experts) and the responsibility of acquiring scientific literacy (for citizens); and (b) by highlighting the importance of a ‘knowledge dialogue’ that acknowledges the non-scientific knowledge of citizens, rooted in their cultural background and experiences of dealing with past disasters, and shaping life in volcanic territories. Full article

This paper examines the role of social research and communication methodologies in fostering substantive democratic participation and policy co-production within the context of urban regeneration initiatives anchored in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. This research critically analyzes the “becoming public” of sociology and social research in participatory design processes related to traditional urban planning instruments at the local scale (Regulatory Plans) in the Italian context, specifically through the case study of the Municipality of Appignano. It questions the role of sociology in activating a competent public sphere and promoting deliberative democracy at urban and territorial design levels and whether we can identify the traits of public sociology in facilitating the different stages of these processes. This paper details a participatory process in Appignano that sought to innovate urban regeneration within complex legislative frameworks, emphasizing community engagement and interdisciplinary approaches. The findings reveal a community actively participating in the regeneration process, demonstrating a high level of agreement on various urban development strategies aimed at sustainability. This study underscores the capacity of public sociology to facilitate public debate and democratic dialogue and suggests that such participatory approaches can significantly contribute to sustainable and resilient urban development, highlighting the potential of sociology as a moral and political force in urban planning. Full article

This article explores different ways that preachers and congregations have used the sermon-dialogue-sermon process to address social issues in their churches and engage their local community. I begin with a brief review of the homiletic theory behind the emergence of dialogical preaching, including the ways I have integrated this theory into my own method of the sermon-dialogue-sermon (SDS) process. I then explain the work I have performed training preachers and congregations in the SDS method. This article then focuses on the Rev. Dr. Stephanie Moon, a pastor in Kentucky who undertook the SDS process with her congregation, North Middletown Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), in Middletown, Kentucky. Their work allows for a longitudinal case study of the ways in which the SDS process can assist a congregation in engaging and strengthening democratic practices through deliberation and community outreach. The article concludes with a reflection on the implications of this process for a congregation’s engagement with social issues as well as recommendations for further research and analysis. Full article

This study uses an Integrated Agent-Centered (IAC) framework to investigate the socio-psychological drivers of Iranian farmers’ unsustainable groundwater management practices. Empirical land use change analysis of US Geological Survey Landsat satellite images of the Jaz-Murian wetland region for 1990, 2010, and 2022, is combined with community surveys conducted with randomly selected farmers in five townships within the region (n = 356). Visual analysis reveals dramatic increases in agricultural land coverage, diminished water bodies, and increased salt lands over the 32-year sampled period. We use survey data to explain the socio-psychological drivers of unsustainable groundwater use that lead to these adverse environmental changes. In the IAC survey analysis, we find that variables for “expectation” and “subjective culture” have a negative influence on pro-environmental “intention”. “Intention” and “habit” have a positive influence and “contextual factors” have a negative influence on the drivers of “unsustainable water use behavior”. We conclude that situational influences, habitual process, intentional process, and normative processes must be considered together to alleviate pressure on wetland ecosystems. Policy makers must provide effective agricultural extension training, deliberative dialogue amongst farmer networks, well-governed local water markets and financial support to shift farmer short-termist economic gain-thinking towards socially-supported pro-environmental habits over the longer term. Full article

Globally, the call for Family-Friendly (FF) workplaces is loud and clear. However, this call is inaudible in medical workplaces, despite both well-established benefits of FF workplaces across businesses and well-known effects of work–family conflict on the well-being and practice of doctors. We aimed to use the Delphi consensus methodology to: (i) operationalise the Family-Friendly medical workplace and (ii) develop a Family-Friendly Self-Audit tool for medical workplaces. The expert medical Delphi panel was deliberatively recruited to capture a breadth of professional, personal, and academic expertise, diversity of age (35–81), life stage, family contexts and lived experience of dual commitments to work and family, and diversity of work settings and positions. Results reflected the inclusive and dynamic nature of the doctor’s family and the need to adopt a family life cycle approach to FF medical workplaces. Key processes for implementation include holding firms to zero discrimination; flexibility and openness to dialogue and feedback; and a mutual commitment between the doctor and the department lead to best meet the doctor’s individualised needs while still ensuring optimal patient care and team support and cohesion. We hypothesise that the Department Head may be the key to implementation but recognise the workforce constraints to realising these aspirational systemic shifts. It is time we acknowledge that doctors have families, to narrow the gap between identifying as a partner, mother, father, daughter, son, grandparent, and identifying as a doctor. We affirm the right to be both good doctors and good family members. Full article

Although the global population is aging, the proportion of potential caregivers is not keeping pace. It is necessary for society to adapt to this demographic change, and new technologies are a powerful resource for achieving this. New tools and devices can help to ease independent living and alleviate the workload of caregivers. Among them, socially assistive robots (SARs), which assist people with social interactions, are an interesting tool for caregivers thanks to their proactivity, autonomy, interaction capabilities, and adaptability. This article describes the different design and implementation phases of a SAR, the CLARA robot, both from a physical and software point of view, from 2016 to 2022. During this period, the design methodology evolved from traditional approaches based on technical feasibility to user-centered co-creative processes. The cognitive architecture of the robot, CORTEX, keeps its core idea of using an inner representation of the world to enable inter-procedural dialogue between perceptual, reactive, and deliberative modules. However, CORTEX also evolved by incorporating components that use non-functional properties to maximize efficiency through adaptability. The robot has been employed in several projects for different uses in hospitals and retirement homes. This paper describes the main outcomes of the functional and user experience evaluations of these experiments. Full article

Responding to the multiculturalist critiques of deliberative democratic education, Amy Gutmann and Sigal Ben-Porath suggested a more inclusive version of deliberative democratic education that emphasizes toleration, public recognition, and mutual respect. Despite its benefits and possibilities, however, their concept of democratic education fails to embrace poststructuralist ideas regarding democratic education. In the pursuit of a sustainable vision for democratic citizenship education, this study sought to conceptualize hybrid spaces wherein an ontology of plurality is woven into Gutmann and Ben-Porath’s idea of deliberative democratic education. By proposing an alternative way to integrate poststructuralist ideas such as intersubjective accounts of self-identity and human agency into the current practice of deliberative democratic education, the authors seek to promote continued dialogue on the purposes and possibilities of education for a more sustainable and democratic society. Full article

With advances in information communication technologies and sustainability-driven changes in consumer behavior, farmer–citizen communication is a communicative dyad that is receiving attention. Farmers and citizens view farming practices through very different lenses of prior knowledge, experiences, beliefs, and values, presenting unique communication challenges. Dialogue-based communication can help to build empathy and trust. Initiated by a committee of farmers, a public consultation exercise was carried out to facilitate citizens to deliberate over farming and farming practices in Ireland to better understand their views and perspectives, and identify information needs and knowledge gaps. Employing a participatory deliberative approach, 10 focus groups were carried out with members of the public (n = 65) carefully selected to represent diverse demographics in the general population. Findings are structured around two central themes. ‘Bridging the disconnect’ reflects the strong support found across the focus groups for farmer-led dialogic communication with citizens on farming practices. ‘Understanding knowledge gaps’ revealed the nature and underlying motivations of public information needs and knowledge gaps in specific areas: (1) the basics of farming; (2) the life of the farmer; (3) minding animals; (4) minding the environment; and (5) buying local and natural. Dialogue-based communication between farmers and citizens offers opportunities for supporting connected and sustainable food and farming systems through value-driven and responsive behavior change. Full article

Understanding the roots of a sense of place in farmlands is crucial for stopping rural exodus to urban areas. Farmers’ experiences related to their way of life, peace and quiet, rootedness, pleasure, and inspiration are fundamental components of a sense of place in farmlands. Here, we used the city of Pereira located in the Coffee Cultural Landscape of Colombia (CCLC) to examine the role of nature’s contributions to people (NCP) in forming meanings and attachments that shape their sense of place to this region. This region has experienced intense agricultural lands abandonment due to rapid urbanization over the last decades. To do so, a mixture of qualitative and quantitative methods was used, including semi-structured interviews, observation, and dialogue, to capture farmers’ perceptions and emotions associated with farmlands, reasons for remaining, and the diversity of NCPs. Results indicated that farmers recognized farmlands as a quiet and safe space that support family cohesion. Results also showed that the characteristics of the farms (e.g., agricultural practices, distance to cities, and gender) play an important role in articulating a farmer’s attachment to farmlands. Finally, farmers identified nonmaterial NCP (e.g., physical and psychological experiences and supportive identities) to be the most important contributions for shaping their sense of place. We call for the need to include robust and transparent deliberative and negotiation mechanisms that are inclusive of all relevant stakeholders, to aim to address unequal power, and to recognize and strengthen communities’ mechanisms of action on the CCLC. Full article

In March 2020, COVID-19 disrupted global society. Impacts as a result of COVID-19 were seen in all industries, including higher education research, which was paused in order to accommodate newly imposed restrictions. Social science research, specifically stakeholder engagement research, was one area that was potentially impacted given its need for person-to-person interaction. Here, we describe how we successfully adjusted our stakeholder engagement methodology to accommodate for socially distant requirements. Initially, we planned to host in-person workshops to assess stakeholder perceptions of microplastics impacts on oysters in Boston Harbor and coastal Massachusetts using the deliberative multicriteria evaluation (DMCE) methodology. To transfer these workshops online, we used familiar, open-access platforms, Zoom and GoogleDrive, to enable dialogue among participants and evaluate preferences. While modifications to length (5 to 3 h) and order (participants were asked to watch expert videos before their participation date) of the workshop were necessary, most other elements of the methodology remained the same for the online format. The main element that was lacking was the in-person interactions. However, with video conferencing tools available, this element was not completely lost. Full article

Policy dialogs are deliberative dialogue that gather policy makers and relevant stakeholders from across disciplines to discuss a topic of mutual interest. They typically serve as a single element in a broader policymaking cycle, either informing the content of new policy or forming a component of policy evaluation and review. In the joint action CHRODIS PLUS, national policy dialogs were conducted in fourteen EU Member States. The aim of the dialogs was to identify new policies or changes to existing policies and legislation that are capable of tackling major risk factors for chronic disease, to strengthen health promotion and prevention programs and to ensure health systems are equipped to respond to priority issues within the chronic diseases field. In this paper, we present the CHRODIS PLUS policy dialog methodology, as well as results and lessons learnt from three national policy dialogs held in Ireland, Portugal and Spain. After discussion of the results, we conclude that the CHRODIS PLUS methodology is an effective mechanism to provoke deliberative discussion around chronic disease prevention and management in different countries. However, it is essential to ensure adequate human and financial resources—as well as political commitment—to accomplish objectives set out during the policy dialogs. We argue that priority-setting across sectors can improve the resilience of health systems and opportunities for investment in Health in All Policies (HiAP), both at European Union and Member State levels. Full article

Conservation conflicts in protected areas are varied and context-specific, but the resulting effects are often similar, leading to important losses for both humans and wildlife. Several methods and approaches have been used to mitigate conservation conflicts, with an increasing emphasis on understanding the human–human dimension of the conflict. In this article, we present a revision of several conservation conflict cases in the management of protected areas, transdisciplinary and participatory approaches to address conservation conflicts, and finalize by illustrating the application of the nominal group technique (NGT) with the case of the human–giant tortoise interactions in Santa Cruz Island, Galapagos. In this article, we demonstrate the use of novel and systematic participatory and deliberative methodology that is able to engage stakeholders in a constructive dialogue to jointly identify and explore options for shared strategies and solutions to conservation conflicts. The results are comparable with other conservation conflicts cases around the world and illustrate the importance of generating legitimatized information that will further help policy and decision-making actions to address conservation conflicts in the management of protected areas. Full article