Solar power (i.e., solar photovoltaic) accounts for about 0.3% of total electricity production in Canada. To enhance this contribution to energy supply from solar power, financial incentives and ...technological breakthroughs alone may not guarantee change. Drawing on a national survey of 2065 Canadian residents, we identify the determinants of technology adoption intention with the exemplary case of rooftop solar. Using a combination of latent and observed variables within a non-linear structural equation model, our analysis quantifies how a set of individual and community level factors affect adoption intention. Analysis reveals that the visibility of solar technology has a particularly strong effect on intention, lending support to social learning and social network theories of diffusion of innovation. Our findings also show that the perceived knowledge of energy systems and being publicly engaged in energy issues significantly increases adoption intention. These conclusions encourage policy options that enhance public engagement and the visibility of solar technology within neighborhoods and communities.
•Visual exposure to solar technology, public engagement and perceived knowledge influence adoption intentions.•General factual knowledge, and socio-economic indicators fail to predict adoption intentions.•Methods include latent factors in a non-linear structural equation model.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZRSKP
With climate change, it is becoming more challenging for water-limited cities to sustain historic watering levels in urban parks, leading park managers to consider changes to park designs. However, ...the extent to which people value parks that deviate from conventional designs featuring primarily irrigated lawn remains uncertain. We use a choice experiment to assess public preferences for different park designs in Perth, Australia. With a scale-adjusted latent class model, we identify optimal groundcover compositions for four preference classes. We find that while having some watered grass in urban parks is important, the public are also accepting of non-irrigated alternatives. Incorporating at least 40% native vegetation groundcover can both increase the utility the public derives from parks and conserve water. Park managers also have a high degree of flexibility in designing parks that vary from the optimal groundcover composition but that still deliver near-optimal benefits to communities.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Despite low levels of agreement that climate change is caused primarily by humans, respondents to a survey of climate change beliefs and adoption of climate-mitigative practices among beef and grain ...producers in Alberta, Canada, indicate a high level of adoption of several agricultural practices with climate-mitigative benefits. Respondents' motivations for adoption of climate-mitigative practices rarely include the belief that climate change is caused by humans, but rather expectations for economic benefits, improvements in soil quality, and biodiversity, among other things. The strongest predictor of mitigative practice adoption is a learning orientation, defined as valuing improvement, research, learning, and innovation, followed by a conservation orientation that values land stewardship. Predictors are not consistent across practices; however, in some but not all cases adoption is predicted by climate change norms, or assumption of personal responsibility to address climate change, and other predictors vary by practice as well.
Research examining the relationship between trust, public engagement, and natural resource management asserts that trust fosters positive behavior and enhanced cooperation. Yet some scholars are ...finding that certain kinds of distrust are helpful in achieving democratic outcomes by providing would-be participants with the motivation to engage in issues of public concern. This article seeks to clarify this apparent disjuncture in the trust literature by examining the multidimensional nature of trust as it relates to public engagement on energy-related issues in Canada. Based on a national online survey (n = 3000) we use a binary probit model to explore the connections between trust, knowledge, and public engagement. About 70% of respondents had participated in at least one form of public engagement over the last 3 years. Drawing on a two-dimensional conception of trust, we find that general trust on its own is not positively linked to public engagement. A combination of general trust and skepticism, however, is positively associated with public engagement and confirms our hypothesis that at least some concern regarding credibility, bias, and vested interest can motivate public engagement. In this sense, trust is not uniformly good for public engagement. These results signal a need to further refine our assumptions about the relationship between public trust, public engagement and environmental governance.
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BFBNIB, GIS, IJS, KISLJ, NUK, PNG, UL, UM, UPUK
Choice models are used by applied economists for many purposes, such as non‐market valuation or estimating willingness to pay for novel food and product attributes. Mixed‐logit models allow ...researchers to account for preference heterogeneity and complex decision‐making processes when modelling choices. In mixed‐logit models, parameters of monetary attributes such as prices typically are assumed to follow a negative lognormal random distribution to ensure that the marginal utility of a price increase is strictly negative. However, this practice can cause means and standard deviations of welfare estimates to ‘explode’ to unfeasibly large levels, as the model assumes there are some marginal utilities of cost approaching zero. This paper examines whether cost non‐attendance, which occurs when respondents ignore costs in stated‐preference studies, could be a cause of inflated welfare estimates when a lognormal cost parameter is used. A two‐class equality‐constrained latent‐class model is proposed, in which the cost parameter is fixed at zero for a cost non‐attender class and is specified as a random lognormal parameter for cost attenders. This proposed model produces mean welfare estimates that are 17 times lower than a mixed‐logit model with a lognormal cost parameter, and 10% lower than a model with a non‐random cost parameter. These results suggest that cost non‐attendance can result in inflated welfare estimates when employing a lognormal cost parameter, and that accounting for cost non‐attendance could be a simple, parsimonious solution to this problem.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Rural transformation can improve poverty reduction, living standards, and health outcomes in developing countries. However, impacts associated with rural transformation vary by region, household, and ...individual trait (including gender). While research on rural transformation has been increasing over the last decade, there has been no comprehensive review conducted on the relationships between gender and rural transformation. Here, we conduct a systematic literature review to investigate the impacts of rural transformation on gender and the influence of gender inclusiveness on rural transformation. We reviewed 82 studies from 1960–2021 that explore the relationships between rural transformation and gender. We then developed a framework that captures incidences and flow directions between indicators. Results show that most studies examined the impacts of rural transformation on women and between gender indicators. Few investigated the role of women and the influence of gender inclusiveness on rural transformation. Overall, studies showed that rural transformation typically leads to positive outcomes for women regarding employment, income, and empowerment. However, negative impacts on women’s control over income, stability of new income sources, and access to healthy food are also common. Tailoring future development policies and programs to explicitly account for gender inclusiveness can lead to more successful rural transformation.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
We examine public opinion of planting genetically improved poplars on public lands in western Canada. Policy scenarios consider the use of three different breeding methods (traditional selective ...breeding, genomics-assisted breeding, and genetic modification), each with and without poplars being used for biofuels. We employ a choice experiment to provide alternative outcomes to policy scenarios and to investigate differences among characteristics of respondents. Overall, a majority of respondents voted in favour of policies that allowed improved poplars on public land if the fibre is used to generate biofuels. Adding biofuel production to a policy scenario increases the probability of acceptance by 17%–32%. In contrast, the various types of breeding technology do not matter as much regarding public acceptance. Responses differ among segments of the population, but these differences do not greatly influence choices. Attributes that increase the probability of acceptance are being a male, being from Alberta, and being from a population centre of 10 000–100 000 people (relative to centers that are >100 000 people). Attributes that decrease the probability of acceptance are age, being from British Columbia, and being from a population centre of <10 000 people (relative to centers that are >100 000 people). Despite these significant patterns of preferences, there is substantial uncertainty underlying the responses.
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BF, DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
We evaluate an agricultural extension program aimed at increasing on‐farm biodiversity in Alberta. Using reports prepared for program participants by the extension agency, customized surveys were ...used to collect data on whether recommended practices were adopted. Data were also collected from producers who were willing but unable to participate in the program due to its unexpected cancellation. A count model compared the number of practices adopted by participants and nonparticipants to evaluate the program's efficacy, and a probit model using participants’ adoption data were used to understand factors affecting adoption. Simple, low‐cost, and easily trialed practices were adopted at high rates, though some higher cost practices associated with observable benefits were also adopted at moderate or high rates. Farm‐specific characteristics, such as size, tenure, or group membership were also significantly linked to the likelihood of adoption. Results suggest that the extension program was successful in encouraging adoption of environmentally beneficial practices with caveats; project completion and quality were not verified, and decreasing marginal returns to extension efforts may have been realized within the small participant pool.
Nous évaluons un programme d'éducation permanente en agriculture visant l'augmentation de la biodiversité fermière en Alberta. Utilisant des rapports préparés par les agences d'éducation pour les participants de programmes, des sondages individualisés ont servi à la collecte de données concernant l'adoption de pratiques recommandées. Des données ont aussi été recueillies auprès de producteurs qui auraient voulu participer mais qui n'ont pas profité du programme suivant son annulation inattendue. Un modèle de comptage a servi à comparer le nombre de pratiques adoptées par les participants et non‐participants pour évaluer l'efficacité du programme, et un modèle probit basé sur les données d'adoption par les participants a servi à comprendre les facteurs ayant un impact sur l'adoption. Les pratiques simples, peu coûteuses et faciles à tester ont été hautement adoptées. Certaines pratiques à coûts plus élevés, associées à des avantages observables, ont aussi vu des taux moyens et élevés d'adoption. Les caractéristiques spécifiques aux exploitations agricoles comme la taille, la longévité et l'adhésion à un groupe se sont aussi trouvées liées de façon significative aux probabilités d'adoption. Les résultats suggèrent que le programme d'éducation permanente a réussi à encourager l'adoption de pratiques bénéfiques pour l'environnement avec quelques bémols: la réalisation des projets et leur qualité n'ont pas fait l'objet de vérification, et la diminution des rendements marginaux en fonction des efforts d'éducation pourrait avoir été réalisée dans le cadre d'un petit bassin de participants.
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FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
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