C_06 Distribution and Perception of Environmental Burdens and Natural Resources and Their Significance for Social Cohesion

Sections:: Halle, Hannover
Disciplines:: Sociology , Geography
Belongs to:: Cohesion in the socio-ecological transformation (C: Infrastructures and Public Goods)

Abstract

How does the unequal distribution of environmental burdens and natural resources affect social cohesion? This work package examines how green and blue infrastructure, as well as environmental stressors, shape people’s well-being and their perceptions of community.

Green and blue infrastructure—such as parks and forests—refers to urban green spaces that constitute essential natural resources for quality of life and well-being. They not only contribute to health but also foster social cohesion by bringing people together. In order to address the impacts of climate change on health and well-being, necessary transformations must be designed in socially just ways. Urban green spaces can play an important role in reducing social inequalities.

In this work package, we analyze the regional distribution of environmental burdens (for example, heat and air pollution) and urban green spaces. We examine how these factors influence well-being and social cohesion. Using survey questionnaires and spatial land-use data (geodata), we assess access to natural resources. The key question is how the use of these resources alters perceptions of community and cohesion. Subjective perceptions—including those related to well-being—are complemented by environmental data collected from a random sample of local residents. In this way, we demonstrate how the use of natural resources enhances well-being and contributes to stronger community formation. The project thus highlights how a just distribution of natural resources can promote social justice and social cohesion.

Transfer Activities

Through exchange with practice partners, sustainable and socially just solutions for the design of urban and rural spaces are developed. The findings are intended to support municipal participation processes and to raise awareness of the importance of environmental justice and socio-ecological transformation.

Situated within Research Focus 3 on social cohesion in socio-ecological transformation, this work package (WP) examines the influence of natural resources and environmental burdens on social cohesion, with particular attention to socio-ecological justice. Central to the analysis are questions concerning the spatial distribution of environmental qualities and burdens, participatory processes, and perceptions of environmental justice and green and blue infrastructure across different regions and their effects on cohesion. In doing so, the WP contributes to the guiding question of the research focus concerning which innovations in public goods are necessary to generate binding effects (loyalty) under conditions of socio-ecological transformation and when these effects instead turn divisive (exit).

In order to mitigate climate change in Germany, prepare for its impacts, and preserve living spaces for a growing population—particularly in cities—the involvement of diverse societal actors is indispensable. This requires preventing further losses of public goods (such as ecosystems, their services, and biodiversity), reducing environmental burdens (for example, urban heat islands), conserving vital natural resources, and creating additional green and blue infrastructure as nature-based solutions. Avoiding and reducing social inequality, structural disadvantage, and regional disparities constitute overarching goals and shared interests that promote social cohesion in democratic societies. In this regard, the WP is closely linked to WP C_05.

Measures to mitigate and adapt to climate change, biodiversity loss, and urbanization—and the associated challenges for health and well-being—must be designed in socially just ways under the conditions of the necessary “socio-ecological transformation” in order to preserve social cohesion. Health and well-being, for which social gradients can be demonstrated, may serve as important mediating variables between natural resources such as green and blue infrastructure and environmental burdens, on the one hand, and perceived social cohesion, on the other. Forests, recreational areas, and urban parks and green spaces have beneficial effects on health and well-being. In addition, natural resources—particularly in urban contexts—provide spaces in which social cohesion can emerge and be practiced, as social interaction is enabled and encouraged through the presence of green spaces such as parks or community gardens. The use of natural resources also influences social cohesion by creating opportunities for contact and contributing to the stabilization of social relationships. We assume a strongly positive association between social cohesion and well-being or health.

Addressing the guiding question of the research area concerning the binding and divisive effects of infrastructures and public goods, this project conceptualizes natural resources as infrastructures that on the one hand provide vital ecosystem services that promote cohesion, and on the other hand may also generate divisions when they become objects of local conflicts between interest groups (for example, in land-use disputes). This interdisciplinary WP investigates the significance of the regionally unequal distribution of environmental burdens and natural resources for social cohesion. It takes into account the political agenda of comprehensive socio-ecological transformation of infrastructures, including ecological modernization, as well as debates on environmental justice. Perceptions of life satisfaction and health are examined as central intermediary variables. In addition, the project analyzes how regional opportunity structures, accessibility, and actual use of natural resources as green infrastructure moderate ecological context effects. For example, it examines whether adequate mobility infrastructures are available to ensure access to natural resources so that their positive effects on well-being and cohesion can unfold.

The guiding research questions are as follows:

How are environmental burdens (heat, air pollution) and environmental qualities (for example, green and blue infrastructure) spatially distributed in terms of distributive justice?
How are participatory processes designed and experienced with regard to opportunities for participation and the promotion of social cohesion in socio-ecological transformation processes, for example in the implementation and design of green space measures (procedural justice)?
How are environmental justice, the establishment of green and blue infrastructures, and opportunities for participation perceived—individually and within social networks—in the context of social cohesion?
To what extent do these dimensions of justice vary spatially, for example between peri-urban areas, urban–rural interfaces, inner-city areas, or between different urban neighborhoods?
How do social factors (such as education and social position) and spatial access to natural resources influence perceived social cohesion, mediated through well-being and health?
How are municipal activities and individual responsibilities regarding socio-ecological transformation perceived by local residents?
Which areas of municipal natural resources require targeted development in order to achieve greater socio-ecological justice?