Research on political partisans suggests that social media offer ideal playing fields for the group game of politics. This study considers how political and social identities interact to influence political communication on social media. Using an original two-wave survey of Americans fielded during the 2020 election period, we analyzed how social media users' levels of social sorting-the alignment between racial, religious, ideological, and political identities-related to perceptions of and engagement in politics on social media. Results suggest that those with higher (vs. lower) levels of social sorting were more likely to perceive their social media environments as dominated by political content and conflict, and populated with politically interested and like-minded people. Auto-regressive panel models suggested that social sorting and political use of social media may be reciprocally related. Findings indicate social sorting may be a key concept for unearthing the group roots of politics on social media.

Despite the centrality of race and ethnicity in social and political life, they are often absent from studies of the urgent questions in contemporary political communication research. In this essay introducing a special issue focused on "Race and Ethnicity as Foundational Forces in Political Communication," we examine factors that may contribute to the relative absence of race/ethnicity in the political communication scholarship, including: 1) structural inequalities in the field, 2) contested conceptualizations of race, and 3) the domination of certain epistemological and methodological traditions. We introduce the articles in this issue as a means of moving toward a richer integration of race/ethnicity into the field's "big questions" and expanding the boundaries of the field itself. In making a case for a more robust conversation about race and ethnicity in political communication, we note crucial areas for self-reflection, debate, and inspiration.

Scholars have often used generational changes in citizenship norms to theorize new forms of youth political expression on social media. Public opinion data has been employed to demonstrate that young people’s perceptions of what it means to be a “good citizen” (i.e., injunctive citizenship norms) have shifted toward models of citizenship that value self-expression. Yet several fundamental assumptions of this dominant image of the young “expressive citizen” remain untested. Using data from a national survey of young Americans (ages 18–24) collected during the 2018 US midterm election, the present study examines: a) if youth indeed view expression as a relatively important part of being a good citizen; and b) if injunctive norms concerning political expression are positively associated with engagement in political expression on social media. Findings indicate that injunctive expressive norms are distinct, but rated as the least important of all injunctive norms. Further, injunctive expressive norms were only modestly associated with social media political expression and difficult to empirically distinguish from what respondents viewed as personally important (i.e., personal expressive norms). While these findings challenge the way past research has theorized and measured the normative role of political expression among young people, they also reveal promising future directions. Specifically, the finding that traditionally marginalized youth place more normative value on political self-expression suggests an important next step for studying the expressive citizen in the age of social media.

Global calls for action on climate change have become more urgent in recent years. However, how to act to achieve climate sustainability remains elusive. The evidence is clear that governmental initiatives – global, national, and provincial – have not been able to coalesce into a meaningful strategy for climate sustainability. What is required is a shift in climate responsibility from governments to individuals and communities who think globally but are best able to act locally. To encourage the citizenry to act requires a science-based information and education whereby climate action is clearly defined along with the consequences of actions (or inaction). Education must include a climate curriculum as a mainstream subject in our schools. Using this approach, local community baselines of climate information, vulnerability, and adaptive capacity can be established. In enhancing their climate roles, governments’ need to shift from carrying out mandates for climate response, to becoming auditors of carbon use in which citizens and businesses are given incentives to reduce carbon footprints. Finally, increased investments need to be directed to communities so that they can take more responsibility and be more prepared to live with climate change impacts. Governments also need to engage the community in participatory strategic long-term planning for adaptation to the changing climate. Keywords: climate action, climate responsibility, institutional arrangements, science-based information, education legacy, strategic planning, community investment

Essential service organizations fulfill critical roles in maintaining public health during a disaster; therefore, business continuity planning is paramount to ensure continued functioning of core operations during a disruption. Business continuity planning is typically oriented around a predict and prevent approach. Asset-mapping activities have the potential to balance the predominantly risk-based approach by focusing on strengths and capability already present within organizations. The purpose of this study is to identify a suite of organizational-level assets that support resilience, and to contribute to the empirical evidence base for business continuity planning. Two focus group consultations with essential service organization representatives (n = 22) were held in Ottawa, Canada, in March and April 2014, using the Structured Interview Matrix facilitation format. Inductive analysis was used to identify eight emergent themes that highlight the importance of organizational-level assets and their contribution to adaptive capacity. Leadership and culture in adopting and promoting preparedness strategies were predominant themes, as well as the importance of communication and connectedness across micro, meso, and macro levels. A suite of 25 assets were identified and grouped into seven categories: (a) awareness, (b) human resources, (c) information and communication, (d) leadership and culture, (e) operational infrastructure, (f) physical resources, and (g) social capital. This evidence base can be used as a template to guide asset-mapping activities, and support organizations engaging in business continuity planning.

This paper analyzes the social and collaborative dynamic of coastal community response to severe weather events associated with the changing climate. Community emergencies arising from severe storms are considered to be exogenous events that affect community social activity. We developed a system dynamics model to depict the dynamic activity of the community system. The model incorporates structural equations for social collaboration among community members, social networking activity, and community well-being. The community system is described in terms of its population (social), land use (environmental), production (economic goods and services), and community capital (socio-cultural) resources. The community is also profiled by its demographic (population age distribution), education, work skill set, and health characteristics. Emergency events impact these components of the community profile. We present a system dynamics annualized simulation model that incorporates severe storm events; community profile dynamics in reaction to the severe storms; and community propensity for collaboration, well-being, and social activity. The results demonstrate the measurability of these concepts and provide indications for improved understanding and intervention of conditions that engage community collaborative actions. The model is motivated by examples from community research in the EnRiCH Project and the C-Change Project. Social mapping for collaboration, well-being, and social networking activity are illustrated for the C-Change coastal community of Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, which is subject to severe coastal storms. The results indicate the value of dynamic community support for improved social response in the event of environmental emergencies.

This research develops and applies a system dynamics（SD） model for the strategic evaluation of environmental adaptation options for coastal communities. The article defines and estimates asset-based measures for community vulnerability, resilience, and adaptive capacity with respect to the environmental, economic, social, and cultural pillars of the coastal community under threat. The SD model simulates the annual multidimensional dynamic impacts of severe coastal storms and storm surges on the community pillars under alternative adaptation strategies.The calculation of the quantitative measures provides valuable information for decision makers for evaluating the alternative strategies. The adaptation strategies are designed model results illustrated for the specific context of the coastal community of Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada. The dynamic trend of the measures and model sensitivity analyses for Charlottetown—facing increased frequency of severe storms, storm surges, and sea-level rise—provide impetus for enhanced community strategic planning for the changing coastal environment.This research is presented as part of the International Community-University Research Alliance C-Change project ‘‘Managing Adaptation to Environmental Change in Coastal Communities: Canada and the Caribbean’’ sponsored by the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada and the International Development Resource Centre.

In the current work, we experimentally examined the effect of exposure to a narrative of nonviolent resistance on third-party attitudes toward and support for a disempowered group involved in asymmetric conflict. Across three experiments, we found that Americans exposed to a brief video about Palestinian nonviolent resistance consistently registered more favorable attitudes toward Palestinians than people who watched a film trailer either unrelated to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict or a trailer to a Palestinian-made film about sympathetic Palestinians violently opposing Israelis. Americans' attitudes toward Palestinians and behavior supporting Palestinian collective action persisted weeks after exposure to nonviolent resistance and were mediated by decreased perceptions that Palestinians are inherently violent. Importantly, positive attitudes toward Palestinians did not result in increased negativity toward Israelis. These data show that exposure to nonviolent resistance can have lasting effects on third-party attitudes and behavior toward an underdog/disempowered group, without driving partisanship.

Disasters happen worldwide, and it is necessary to engage emergency management agencies, health and social services, and community-based organizations in collaborative management activities to enhance community resilience. Community-based participatory research (CBPR) has been widely accepted in public health research as an approach to develop partnerships between academic researchers and community stakeholders and to promote innovative solutions to complex social issues. Little is known, however, about how CBPR partnerships function and contribute to successful outcomes. In this article, the authors present a case study of a CBPR partnership formed with the community of Quebec City, Canada, under the Enhancing Resilience and Capacity for Health (EnRiCH) Project, to improve emergency preparedness and adaptive capacity among high-risk populations. This qualitative study presents participants’ perspectives on how the partnership functioned and the outcomes of this collaboration. Findings are discussed in relation to contextual and group dynamics, as well as system and capacity outcomes.

Adaptation to climate change will be a necessity for coastal zones in decades and even centuries to come. Although adaptation to climate and environmental changes has been a feature of human societies since the evolution of modern humans, current challenges posed by climate change and sea level rise in a crowded and developed world are of a vaster nature of those faced by humanity before and will necessitate new approaches, new techniques and new strategies. A conceptual framework is being developed, centered on the notions of vulnerability, adaptation and resilience. Adaptation to climate change will necessitate international cooperation and coherent strategies, although solutions will need to be developed with respect to local circumstances. The main strategies—protection, accommodation, retreat and precaution, are declined in various tools of technical, scientific, legislative, administrative, social or physical nature.

Natural and human systems of the coastal zone are vulnerable to climate change and its various consequences. One of the main impacts of climate change is sea level rise which affects coasts world wide. Ecosystems are also vulnerable to changes in water temperature and acidity, both of which have already changed notably in the world's oceans. In many, but not all regions, the intensity of extreme weather events has increased. In addition to these, local conditions, especially winter conditions in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, are evolving and altering the natural dynamics of the coastline. All taken together, these factors lead to a generalized increase in coastal erosion rates, in added stresses for ecosystems and ultimately threats to properties, infrastructures and the livelihood of communities.

Small islands and coastal communities around the world are particularly vulnerable to climate change impacts, mainly from storm surge attributed to more frequent and severe coastal storms, and mounting sea-level rise. Coastal hazards including inundation, salinisation of the water supply, and land erosion all threaten vital infrastructure that support coastal communities. This research, part of the International Community-University Research Alliance (ICURA) C-Change project “Managing Adaptation to Environmental Change in Coastal Communities: Canada and the Caribbean”, develops and applies a multicriteria decision evaluation and support system for evaluating adaptation options for coastal communities. The paper estimates vulnerability, resilience, and adaptive capacity measures associated with adaptation strategies in coastal communities with respect to their environmental, economic, social, and cultural dimensions. Results are determined using a multi-participant formulation of the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) for identifying multicriteria decisions as adaptation strategies in a specific coastal context. The application of the framework is conducted for the coastal community of Little Anse on Isle Madame, Nova Scotia. Specifically, the state of the Little Anse breakwater is analysed and adaptation options for protecting, accommodating, and retreating are presented and evaluated in the face of predicted storm scenarios. The results indicate that, in the case of Little Anse, the strategic decision to protect the community by a new breakwater arm provides preferred measures for resilience and adaptive capacity.

This chapter will present some case studies of collaborative action research projects on adaptation to climate change, erosion and sea level rise in coastal communities in New Brunswick. Those communities are Bathurst/Bayshore, Shippagan, Le Goulet, Cocagne, Grand-Digue and Shediac. The projects mainly involved researchers from the university of Moncton, in collaboration with other establishments. Through the case studies presented here, it will be possible for the reader to get a better idea of how the adaptation process unfolds in the chosen approach of progresses through various stages of deliberation, risk evaluation, scientific analysis, public debate, prioritisation, legislation and implementation. It will be interesting to observe how this process differs from place to place and how often very different solutions emerge from the collective deliberation process as the ideal answer depending on the geographical, socio-economic, political or historical context.

Collaborative teamwork is becoming more common in several domains including healthcare and disaster management. While collaborative teamwork can benefit from information system (IS) support, designing IS models to support collaboration is a significant challenge owing to the variations in tasks and people that must be supported, and the different contexts within which collaboration takes place. Collaborative teamwork can vary greatly because of context, which is the integration of diverse, dynamic, and heterogeneous needs for groups to achieve a specific goal. However in the literature there has been limited emphasis on how contextual underpinnings can be incorporated into IS design. This paper uses a case study of the design of a user-driven prototype disaster management IS. We used the think aloud method to capture participant thoughts while interacting with the IS prototype. The think aloud data was analyzed and used to develop an ontology of contextual considerations to support IS design.

This multi-author report is the product of collaborative interdisciplinary research about the use of the precautionary and adaptive management principles in administrative decision-making when faced with scientific uncertainty. Using four case studies about genetically modified organisms, pesticides, fisheries and invasive species, the report discusses (i) how the principles of precaution and adaptive management are understood and applied; (ii) how their introduction might affect the operation of traditional administrative law values (fairness, legitimacy and effectiveness); and, (iii) how the new principles may be most appropriately accommodated within the general framework of administrative law values. The authors observe that the precaution, adaptive management and administrative law principles must be framed and applied in a way that reflects the social values that support their existence, and will thus be influenced by the context in which administrative decisions are made. The report concludes with recommendations for standards of review in administrative law, accounting for various factors: expertise, participation, evidentiary and other procedural rules and mechanisms for review and accountability.

Asset-mapping is a strategy used in disaster preparedness planning, however participation is typically limited to a small number of organizations with specific expertise related to disaster response. Broader strategies are needed to ensure identification of assets is comprehensive and to stimulate innovative thinking about which attributes of a community are potential assets for response and recovery. As part of The EnRiCH Project intervention, asset-mapping was used as a collaborative activity to promote identification of a broad range of assets which could be used to enhance resilience and promote preparedness among high risk populations. In this paper we present a study (in progress) which explores innovation and empowerment among a collaborative community group in Canada. Qualitative content analysis was used to analyze focus group transcripts from 2 sessions where the participants (n=18) learned how to use google docs and create a database of community assets, while developing collaborative relationships.