Ian Convery

Animal Disease and Human Trauma: The Psychosocial Implications of the 2001 UK Foot and Mouth Disease Disaster

The 2001 UK foot and mouth disease (FMD) crisis is commonly understood to have been a nonhuman animal problem, an economic industrial crisis that was resolved after eradication. By using a different lens, a longitudinal ethnographic study of the health and social consequences of the epidemic, the research reported here indicates that 2001 was a human tragedy as well as an animal one. In a diary-based study, it can be seen that life after the FMD crisis was accompanied by distress, feelings of bereavement, fear of a new disaster, loss of trust in authority and systems of control, and the undermining of the value of local knowledge. Diverse groups experienced distress well beyond the farming community. Such distress remained largely invisible to the range of “official” inquiries into the disaster. That an FMD epidemic of the scale of 2001 could happen again in a developed country is a deeply worrying prospect, but it is to be hoped that contingency plans are evolving along with enhanced understanding of the human, animal, and financial cost.

What factors enable community leadership of renewable energy projects? Lessons from a woodfuel heating initiative:

Increasing renewable energy generation is fundamental to sustainable development as current reliance on fossil fuel combustion is an environmentally damaging, inequitable use of finite resources with far-reaching negative social impacts. To date, UK energy policy has sought to increase renewable energy capacity by encouraging large-scale commercially led developments. Recently, however, there has been growing interest in the scope for alternative small scale and community-led renewable energy development. This case study research from northwest England investigates the development of a community-led woodfuel heating project in a remote rural setting. Qualitative data from project participants’ interviews show the project was conceived as means of addressing multiple threats to the sustainability of their rural community. Participants’ vision of the project was found to fit the eco-economy paradigm.

Forest Schools and environmental attitudes: A case study of children aged 8–11 years

Abstract There is growing evidence that children in the UK are suffering from a lack of engagement with nature and the outdoor environment. This paper investigates the attitudes of children towards the natural environment and focuses on Forest School programmes as a mechanism to promote a “pro-environmental” attitude. The study identified that there was a statistically significant difference in environmental attitude between groups of children that had participated in a Forest Schools programme and those that had not participated, with children who have taken part in Forest Schools demonstrating a more pro-environmental attitude. Whilst it is recognised that Forest Schools may not be the only factor influencing these attitudes, this is still an important finding that adds to the overall benefits of participation in Forest Schools programmes.

Flooding and schools: experiences in Hull in 2007

Hull, a city in the East Riding of Yorkshire, United Kingdom, suffered severe flooding in June 2007, affecting some 8,600 households and most schools. Despite the potential for damage in such disasters, no studies of the effects of floods on teachers and schools in the UK appear to have been published previously. This study analysed the impacts of the floods on teachers in Hull in two stages: first through correspondence with Hull City Council and a mailed questionnaire to 91 head teachers of primary, secondary, and special schools; and second, through in-depth interviews with head teachers from six flooded schools, representing different degrees of flood experience, and a questionnaire completed by eight teachers from the same schools. The findings reveal the importance and the complexity of the role of the school in the wider community in a time of crisis. The study highlights issues concerning preparedness for floods, support for schools, and flood protection for schools.

What Does It Mean to Be a Friendly Outsider? Critical Reflection on Finding a Role as an Action Researcher with Communities Developing Renewable Energy Projects.

This paper is a reflective account exploring the value of using action research in a relatively new context in the United Kingdom; the development of community renewable-energy projects. There is a strong rationale for using action research in this setting due to the synergies between the principles and practice of action research and localised renewable energy provision, which simultaneously aims to empower communities and address the complex social problem of climate change. A doctoral study of the development and impacts of community renewable energy projects using an action research approach provided an opportunity to assess the benefits and challenges of following this approach in this setting. Personal reflection on the research process is used to evaluate the outcomes for researcher and co-participants, and to identify opportunities for future application of action research techniques to improve understanding of how to develop community-based approaches to renewable energy provision and other sustainability issues.

Energy utilisation in peri-urban areas: issues of demand

Whilst energy issues are generally understood in both rural and urban areas, there is a poor grasp of the same issues where the rural meets the urban. These peri-urban areas have their own characteristics and own dynamics that require a specific focus if energy needs are to be satisfied. There are specific problems, constraints and opportunities in peri-urban zones that are both areas of consumption and production. This paper explores the range of energy demand issues in the periurban interface. This includes an examination of household livelihood strategies, energy conservation, fuel-switching, gender issues, peri-urban energy markets and participatory planning for energy interventions.

Sense of place in Northern England

This paper presents a summary of work undertaken by the authors as a contribution towards the International Centre for the Uplands Sense of Place project. The aims of this action research project are to identify if, and how, elements in the cultural landscape of upland Northern England (focusing on the three LEADER+ areas: Fells and Dales (Cumbria), North Pennines and North Northumberland) might contribute to community sustainability.

Wild Ennerdale : a cultural landscape

Ennerdale is located in the Lake District National Park, north-west England. The valley has been managed as coniferous plantation forest since the 1920s by the Forestry Commission. Since 2002, however, the Forestry Commission has been a partner (along with the National Trust and United Utilities) in the Wild Ennerdale (WE) initiative. The vision of WE is ‘to allow the evolution of Ennerdale as a wild valley for the benefit of people, relying more on natural processes to shape its landscape and ecology’. This chapter considers the relationship between WE and the cultural landscape of the Ennerdale valley, and has identified disparities between the WE view of engagement and participation and corresponding feelings of alienation, dispossession and dislocation expressed by some respondents. The chapter presents an argument for stronger links between the wilding project and the local community, and in doing so highlights many of the tensions and complexities found in wilding programs globally. We argue for a much greater appreciation of the role (rural) communities have played, and continue to play, in shaping the local landscape. Recognition of this role is important in terms of delivering sustainable wilding projects in the future.

Bears, Place-Making, and Authenticity in British Columbia

ABSTRACT: Extreme sports, adventure, and ecotourism are bringing increasing numbers of people into remote backcountry areas worldwide. The number of people visiting wilderness areas is set to increase further, and nature tourism is the fastest growing sector in the

Of Humans and Animals

3.5 trillion global annual tourism market (Mehmetoglu 2006). What impacts will this have on the social perceptions, economic, and conservation values of these areas and the species that are found there? Reflecting on over a decades research on the impacts of the bear-viewing (Ursus spp.) ecotourism industry in British Columbia, Canada, this paper considers authenticity, place, and ‘place making’ via a case study of bear tourism in British Columbia (B.C.), Canada.