‘Nature makes people happy,that’s what it sort of means:’ children’s definitions and perceptions of nature in rural Northwestern Ontario

ABSTRACT

Nature exposure positively impacts children’s physical, socio-emotional, and cognitive health and development. We know less about how children perceive their connection with nature and what nature means to them. This study uses focus groups to understand how rural Canadian children define, experience, and perceive benefits of nature. Using thematic analysis, we identified three primary themes. First, while children associate nature with specific activities, natural elements, and locations, they also conceptualize nature as ‘a whole community.’ Second, children experienced nature through doing, highlighting how activities connected them with nature while recognizing constraints on those engagements. Finally, children demonstrated agency in accessing nature to improve their emotional states. These findings indicate that from children’s views, nature is more than just space with natural elements. Children are also knowledgeable about the health benefits of nature, and capitalize on this knowledge. These findings can inform interventions to increase children’s interactions with outdoor environments.     

The Iron Age lower settlement at Kabri revisited

ABSTRACT

During the 2017 excavation season at Tel Kabri, Iron Age remains were found cutting into the western part of the Middle Bronze Age palace. These remains consisted of a segment of a large structure and a series of sizable pits. Similar Iron Age remains were unearthed during previous soundings in Areas D and F of the excavation and were loosely dated to the Iron Age II. The ceramic assemblage from these soundings demonstrated a disproportionate number of imports and cooking pots, which prompted the excavators to suggest that the lower settlement was engaged in the processing of agricultural products connected to the nearby forts located elsewhere on the tell. A recent re-examination of the pottery from the previous excavations suggest that the forts could have only existed during the Iron Age IIA and IIC. Our examination of the pottery indicates that the imports can be dated to the Iron Age IIA, while the large number of cooking pots should mostly be dated to the Iron Age IIC. We would therefore like to suggest a new interpretation for the function of the lower settlement at Kabri during the Iron Age II in relation to the forts and the political reality in the Galilee at that time.     

驻村工作队与乡村精英互助作用下的乡村治理研究

基于乡村“公”、“共”、“私”三分领域的治理理论，以G省F贫困村为例，运用实地考察、深度访谈等质性研究方法，结合F村实证特征和问题分析，探讨政府（驻村工作队）与社会（乡村精英）互助作用下的乡村治理特征。研究指出，驻村工作队代表政府权威，领导并协助村两委工作；新乡贤利用自身社会资本，与驻村工作队在项目确定、资金使用、村庄发展等方面协商互助，降低治理成本；村两委则以维持乡村生产、生活秩序为主，并领导/协助新乡贤参与村中事务。总体而言，驻村工作队嵌入乡村，代表上层政府的外部政府权威，乡村精英代表乡村内生权威，二者作为“中间者”在乡村层面协作互助，实现“上、中、下相结合”的较为均衡的乡村治理。     

中国西南贫困地区乡村韧性研究——以重庆市为例

文章聚焦于我国西南贫困地区乡村韧性，以重庆市 120 个抽样村为研究对象，采用熵值法，从经济韧性、社会韧性、工程韧性多维度视角评价重庆市乡村韧性水平。研究发现：①重庆市抽样村庄的乡村韧性平均值为0.46（满分为1），处于中等偏下水平。②重庆市北部地区的乡村韧性水平较高，交通不便、少数民族聚居的东南部地区乡村韧性水平相对较低。③经济韧性水平偏低限制了抽样村的韧性水平，体现在生产资本投入不足、人力资本水平偏低、土地资源禀赋不优。④相较于乡村状态韧性，抽样乡村的响应韧性水平较低，主要原因在于乡村经济子系统与基础设施（减灾防灾）子系统的响应韧性值较低。文章基于研究结果提出了旨在提升我国西南地区乡村韧性的建议。     

协同学视角下的村域贫困风险耐受度诊断——以陕西省平利县为例

以陕西省平利县79个贫困村为研究对象，基于协同理论，建立贫困风险耐受度评价模型，利用主成分分析与地理加权回归方法，辨识平利县村域贫困风险因子，评测贫困村风险耐受度，并与贫困发生率进行对比验证。结果显示：自然本底、区位-生产资料、内外助力和生产生活保障等四个贫困风险因子作用方向有所差别；全县贫困风险耐受度处于中下水平；比对贫困风险耐受指数模型与贫困发生率现状，发现二者分布趋势相似性特征明显，未出现异常现象。后续应建立针对性的风险预测和防范机制，适量减少直接性福利供给，激发农户脱贫的内生动力，提升贫困户风险抵御力和恢复力，构建持续稳定的脱贫-振兴的扶贫新模式，持续监测县域贫困村贫困风险耐受度的时序变动特征。     

PLACE ELASTICITY: EXPLORING A NEW CONCEPTUALIZATION OF MOBILITY AND PLACE ATTACHMENT IN RURAL AMERICA

Migration and place attachment are often coupled within the migration decision‐making literature with the underlying assumption that individuals with strong place attachments are less likely to migrate than individuals with weaker ties to place. As communication technologies have improved, however, new forms of place attachment and connections between individuals and places are evolving. We introduce the concept of place elasticity as a new conceptualization of place attachment made possible by innovations in communication and transportation technologies. Place elasticity allows individuals to live in distant locales while maintaining close interaction with a particular place. We explore this concept with questionnaires and interviews from a sample of individuals from rural Appalachian counties in eastern Kentucky. Rural residents of this region have been noted for their strong place attachments and connections to their home county. Based on our questionnaires and interviews from family reunions we propose that place elasticity has three distinct characteristics: portability, strong place bonds, and permanence and that these traits allow individuals to remain connected to home counties and family, thereby allowing migration and settlement in distant locations with minimal loss of connectedness.     

Economic resilience of metropolitan,old industrial,and rural regions in two subsequent recessionary shocks

ABSTRACT

In this paper, we focus on the question of how particular types of regions react to economic shocks. Drawing on a case study of Czech microregions, we aim to determine if the old industrial regions differ significantly from other types of regions (metropolitan, urban, rural) in (post)crisis economic development. Two aspects of regional resilience (measured by unemployment growth) were considered: recession and recovery. We focused on the comparison of two subsequent recessionary shocks: the 2008–2010 global recession and the 2012–2013 austerity crisis. Metropolitan regions showed relatively stable economic development. Old industrial regions were more resilient than expected. Rural regions exhibited highly diverse reactions: lower resistance was characteristic for regions specialized (mostly) in automotive and some labour-intensive industries. The first wave of recession increased unemployment mostly in (rural) regions dependent on export-oriented manufacturing, the second wave especially hit larger cities with metropolitan functions. Regions that experienced a sharp unemployment increase in the first recession were generally more resistant in the second wave. All types of regions were internally highly diverse in their reactions to economic crises, which points to the importance of micro-regional variations of economic resilience, the performance of individual local firms and subsidiaries, and extra-regional factors of regional development.     

旅游乡村治理演变机理及模式研究——陕西袁家村1949-2019年纵向案例研究

乡村治理是乡村研究的显题，研究发展新兴产业的乡村治理对振兴乡村意义重大，但较为匮乏。本研究基于对陕西省袁家村1949—2019年的治理历程的梳理，探讨旅游乡村治理的演变机理以及成功模式。研究发现：①中国乡村治理经历“宗族自治”、“寡头他治”两个阶段，良性的治理模式需要内生动力和外生要素的共同作用。②旅游乡村治理的主体更加多元、目标更聚焦于集体发展、机制更追求正义、系统更不稳定。③有效的旅游乡村治理需要构建“集体共治”模式和动态开放的治理系统，注重社区精神的约束力，促进旅游乡村发展健康可持续。     

中国乡村交通出行与地域系统

交通是乡村地域系统形成的重要内容，也是刻画乡村地域系统特征的关键指标。本文采用住建部全国小城镇调查的村镇居民调查数据，从交通出行视角对我国乡村地域系统特征进行识别和分析。结果表明，村-镇-县逐级体系仍占主导地位，村-县联系成为新趋势；农业相关活动仍以村-镇-县等级为主，但其他活动在村-县间联系比例较高，且东部地区及城市近郊更明显；不同目的出行形成20分钟生活圈；随着村民出行范围扩大，传统乡村地域等级体系将发生较大变化。研究结论对乡村空间规划和乡村基础设施布局等具有重要实践价值。     

Geographic earnings inequality by race, 1960–2016

Geographic inequality and racial disharmony are considered major factors in America's political divergence. This paper calculates geographic earnings inequality from 1960 to 2016 separately by race. From 2000 to 2016, White geographic inequality was significantly higher, and Hispanic geographic inequality was significantly lower, than Black and Asian geographic inequality. White geographic inequality rose from 1980 to 2008. Black and Hispanic geographic inequality fell from 1960 to 1980. Rural controls explain substantial shares of White geographic inequality in all years. Region and rural controls account for large shares of Black geographic inequality, especially from 1960 to 1990. Post-1990, geographic inequality changes are largely explained by changes in overall earnings inequality, but 1960–1990 changes are not. Between-race differences in geographic inequality translate into high-income metropolitan statistical areas having had, since 1980, significantly smaller shares of Whites among their low-income residents.