Tasos Hovardas

The challenge of implementing the European network of protected areas Natura 2000.

Established under the European Union (EU) Birds and Habitats Directives, Natura 2000 is one of the largest international networks of protected areas. With the spatial designation of sites by the EU member states almost finalized, the biggest challenge still lying ahead is the appropriate management of the sites. To evaluate the cross-scale functioning of Natura 2000 implementation, we analyzed 242 questionnaires completed by conservation scientists involved in the implementation of Natura 2000 in 24 EU member states. Respondents identified 7 key drivers of the quality of Natura 2000 implementation. Ordered in decreasing evaluation score, these drivers included: network design, use of external resources, legal frame, scientific input, procedural frame, social input, and national or local policy. Overall, conservation scientists were moderately satisfied with the implementation of Natura 2000. Tree modeling revealed that poor application of results of environmental impact assessments (EIA) was considered a major constraint. The main strengths of the network included the substantial increase of scientific knowledge of the sites, the contribution of nongovernmental organizations, the adequate network design in terms of area and representativeness, and the adequacy of the EU legal frame. The main weaknesses of Natura 2000 were the lack of political will from local and national governments toward effective implementation; the negative attitude of local stakeholders; the lack of background knowledge of local stakeholders, which prevented well-informed policy decisions; and the understaffing of Natura 2000 management authorities. Top suggestions to improve Natura 2000 implementation were increase public awareness, provide environmental education to local communities, involve high-quality conservation experts, strengthen quality control of EIA studies, and establish a specific Natura 2000 fund.

Structural and narrative reconstruction of rural residents' representations of 'nature', 'wildlife', and 'landscape'.

The objective of this paper is the structural and narrative reconstruction of representations of ‘nature’, ‘wildlife’ and ‘landscape’, held by rural residents of the Dadia Forest Reserve. Data collection involved in-depth interviews. Employing a social representations’ approach, we recovered representational elements that are expected in the case of rural belief systems, such as negative dispositions towards wolves and foxes, as well as elements of an urban adherence, such as nature’s independence. Representational elements refer to visual aspects of the countryside, which seem compatible with the figurative nucleus of the rural idyll. Concerning ‘wildlife’, residents focused on vultures, which comprise the main tourist attraction of the reserve. Scientific knowledge adds to the complexity of the narrative schema, which corresponds to the representation of ‘wildlife’. Interviewees perceived the rural landscape as an interface between the natural and the human-conditioned environment. Our study shows that interviewees make no reference to environmental conservation or quality of life issues, as it could be expected according to relatively wide definitions of the term ‘environmentalism’. Environmental messages reinforced by ecotourism development seem to be recalled primarily in terms of their compatibility with the perceived economic benefit of local people. Despite ecotourism development, representational elements that diverge from a tourist version of ‘nature’, ‘wildlife’ and ‘landscape’ were not pronounced within rural belief-systems. Further interventions within the study area are needed, in order to address a variety of topics under the environmental conservation discourse and raise the environmental awareness of rural residents.

Understanding people's ideas on natural resource management : research on social representations of nature

Ongoing fragmentation between social groups on the appropriate targets and relevant actors for nature conservation signals the need for further advancements in theorizing about the human–nature interaction. Through a focus on the complexity of social thought and confrontations between social groups, the theory of social representations may provide a useful addition to conventional approaches. However, environmental issues have so far not been among the primary topics studied by social representation scholars. This article sets out to fill this gap. After an introduction to the theory, we report on three case studies that illustrate the use of this theory in the context of natural resource management. These studies show how groups negotiate meanings, intentions, and action related to complex issues such as wolf management, invasive species, and conflicts over protected forests, landscapes, and national parks. We discuss strengths and weaknesses of the approach and suggest future challenges and opportunities.

Structural and Narrative Reconstruction of Representations of “Environment,” “Nature,” and “Ecotourism”

ABSTRACT This study aims at the structural and narrative reconstruction of representations of “environment,” “nature,” and “ecotourism” held by growth coalition members involved in ecotourism management and visitors to the Dadia Forest Reserve. We employed a word association task method and used a classification system to content analyze associations. The structural reconstruction revealed that the degree of homogeneity of association category profiles between respondent groups proved to be quite high for each stimulus term. Sample demographics did not influence associations elicited significantly. The loose interrelation of the tourism image of “ecotourism” with the environmentalist one, shown by the narrative reconstruction, should be attributed to the incompatibility between biophobic depictions of the term “environment” and biophilic depictions of the term “nature.” To face this dualism, it is suggested that ecotourism managers focus environmental messages promoted through ecotourism on the interplay between society and nature.

Factors shaping implementation of protected area management decisions: a case study of the Zakynthos National Marine Park

Institutional and non-institutional factors for the success of protected area (PA) governance have repeatedly been identified, but their relative weight has not been evaluated. To investigate the implementation of PA management in Zakynthos (Greece), meeting minutes of the local Park Authority for its first four years of operation were reviewed and statistically analysed. The Park Authoritys autonomy and management complexity were indicated and with reference to governance, members of the local Park Authority belonged to the ‘inner-circle’ of decision-making and the Ministry of Environment formed the ‘environment’, since administrative issues had to be approved by the latter. Implementation of actions referring to administrative issues was less likely than implementation of environmental, social and economic arrangements, where the Park Authority had a higher degree of autonomy. The implementation of arrangements for promoting administrative stability and viability was highly dependent on external actions (annual government funding and approval of by-law governance and implementation). The more sophisticated and complex the governance system became, the more likely it was that Park Authority encountered difficulty when trying to make choices and changes. The methodology proved effective in revealing the management behaviour of the Park Authority, as well as indicating institutional and non-institutional issues that most significantly affected the harnessing of resources and the degree of action implementation; this could offer crucial feedback to managers and governmental representatives on the factors responsible for the success or failure of PA management.

Learning Activity Spaces: Towards Flexibility in Learning Design?

Designing a computer-supported learning scenario involving a constructivist approach of learning lays on a paradox. On the one hand, learning flows must be precisely described – including role distribution, required resources, tools, and scaffolds – to be realized in computer-supported environments. On the other hand, a fine-grained formalization of learning flows diverges from the constructivist notion of learning that learners are responsible for their knowledge (co-)construction. This paper draws upon the fundaments of a new concept so called “Learning Activity Space” (LAS) aiming at realizing some necessary flexibility when designing learning scenarios. LAS is the basis of a graphical scenario modeling language intelligible for non-computer scientists but still rich enough in detail to describe a large set of computer-supported learning scenarios.

Rural Children's Views on Human Activities and Changes in a Greek Wetland

We studied the views of Greek children about their likes/dislikes regarding changes to a protected wetland as a result of human activities. We focused on two primary-sector (i.e., fishing, harvest) and two ecotourism (i.e., bird watching, boat tour) activities as these reflect the contrast between traditional land uses and newly established management regimes. We used photos as visual aids for conducting structured interviews with 200 children aged 4 to 10 years. Fishing generated the most negative dispositions, although all activities elicited positive reactions by the majority of children. Our findings add to the existing literature on the image of nature as unchanging and the divide between nature and society in the views of rural children. Messages promoted in the study area through environmental management and education should address the fact that primary-sector activities are not incompatible with environmental conservation but can be transformed toward a more sustainable form.

Adolescents' Beliefs about the Wolf: Investigating the Potential of Human–Wolf Coexistence in the European South

Previous research revealed a rural–urban divide in the acceptance of the wolf. We investigated adolescents’ beliefs about the wolf in rural and urban areas of Greece and Italy. By using a multiple-choice questionnaire, we attempted to reconstruct the conflictual nature of opposing beliefs about the wolf. For each item, there was one choice indicating a “pro-wolf” stance, one corresponding to an “anti-wolf” disposition, and a third, “neutral” choice. Respondents were clustered in a “pro-wolf,” an “anti-wolf,” and a “neutral” group. Rural or urban residence did not affect the classification of participants. Average responses for each cluster did reveal some degree of dispersal over rival positions. The permeability of “pro-wolf,” “anti-wolf,” and “neutral” positions might be regarded as a manifestation of the phenomenon of “cognitive polyphasia,” which refers to the cohabitation of inconsistent or contradictory beliefs. Implications for environmental education and outreach campaigns are discussed.

Effects of an Environmental Education Course on Consensus Estimates for Proenvironmental Intentions

An environmental education intervention in a university conservation-related course was designed to decrease students’ errors in consensus estimates for proenvironmental intentions, that is, their errors in guessing their classmates’ proenvironmental intentions. Before and after the course, the authors measured two intentions regarding willingness to contribute money and volunteer work for environmental causes. The false consensus effect, whereby contributors provide significantly higher consensus estimates compared with noncontributors, was displayed both before and after the course. Specifically, students intending to contribute believed most (51%-54%) of their classmates would contribute, and students not intending to contribute believed fewer (28%-35%) of their classmates would contribute. Accuracy in estimating consensus increased significantly after the course. Errors in consensus estimates were significant predictors of behavioral intentions. The study showed that the theoretical and methodological background of environmental education interventions can be enriched by incorporating consensus estimates for proenvironmental intentions in assessment procedures.

Primary school teachers and outdoor education: Varying levels of teacher leadership in informal networks of peers

ABSTRACT The study concentrated on an area in Greece with a multiplicity of sites for outdoor education. Informal networks of teachers were detected through a snowball technique and data were collected by means of a questionnaire and semi-structured interviews. A typology was first enriched to account for teacher interaction. This typology was then operationalized to assess teacher leadership in outdoor education. Participants were classified in three clusters, namely, “strugglers,” “domesticators,” and “succeeders”. Leadership covariated with ability to overcome obstacles, master “affordances” of destinations, and focus on on-site instruction. Peer interaction offered opportunities for reflection. Leadership categories revealed a transient character, which implied that peer interaction might facilitate empowerment. However, there were indications of protecting existing practice against innovation. Implications for leadership development are discussed.