Challenges and Solutions
Searching for a Social Solution for the Humidifier Disinfectant Disaster in Korea
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Young Hee Lee
Ten years have passed since the South Korean government’s medical agency officially reported that the fatal lung disease found in some hospitals in 2011 was caused by chemical disinfectants used in household humidifiers, marking the introduction of the humidifier disinfectant disaster. Over the past ten years, a medical-scientific approach has been taken by the Korean government in its efforts to solve the problems in terms of relief of and compensation for the potential victims. One of the unintended consequence of this approach has been the fact that the number of “official victims” recognized by the government is quite small compared to the total number of applicants who claim to be suffering from the humidifier disinfectant disaster. This is mainly due to the fact that the medical-scientific approach relies on excessively strict, rigid, and narrow medical-scientific criteria provided by medical experts for judging the degree of applicants’ bodily damage from the use of humidifier disinfectants. As a result, this medical-scientific approach is becoming increasingly criticized by patients’ organizations mainly composed of rejected applicants. Based on the analysis of the limits of this medical-scientific approach and after clarifying the social implications of the disaster from a sociological perspective, this paper proposes certain social approaches focused on participatory governance as a means of sustainable solution to the problem. Finally, the paper emphasizes that the act of taking social responses to the humidifier disinfectant disaster should also be considered a process of enlarging and deepening democracy in Korea.
Identifying the Driving Factors of Community Social Acceptance for Green Technological Artefacts: A Mixed Methods Approach Applied to Two Mining Sector Demonstrators View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Zack Klockar
The matter of social acceptance is a pre-requisite for social sustainability and of increasing importance to mining and renewable energy industry projects. If the social acceptance is low on a community level, it can result in local resistance to new green technological artefacts, in turn causing delays and disruption to the green transition. This research applies a mixed method to two pilot demonstrators in the mining sector. The research identifies the most relevant stakeholder communities and model the driving factors that influence the acceptance of a technological artefact in a community, by using the industry’s resources. By combining an Actor-Network Theory framework with theories on social acceptance and NIMBY, including the scalar model of the Social License to Operate and the social gap, the method seeks to inductively identify the drivers of a community’s social acceptance based on the community’s perception of an artefact. The applied method is (to be) used on two Nordic demonstrator projects in the mining industry in different phases of operation. The two demonstrators are mines looking to achieve sustainable practices contributing to the green transition and good community relations. The identification of driving factors is thought to inform better community engagement from industry.
Examining Geospatial PPE Waste Patterns and Associations with Neighborhood-level Sociodemographic Indicators and Social Capital in Boston Neighborhoods during Fall 2022 View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Gloria Schmitz
Personal protective equipment (PPE) waste has been proliferating in the urban environment since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. PPE waste can harbor pathogens, pollutes the environment and contributes to climate change in its incineration and landfilling during disposal. Based on data from 15 neighborhoods in the city of Boston, MA, USA, including primary geocoded PPE waste data, and socioeconomic and social capital data from secondary datasets, this study used hot spots-cold spots analysis and bivariate Spearman correlations to examine spatial patterns and associations between PPE waste and key variables. The results show that areas with lower social capital and lower median household income had higher amounts of PPE litter overall and per 100,000 residents. Areas with higher numbers of Big Belly waste collection receptacle bins had less PPE litter, whereas PPE litter tended to cluster around major hospital and medical facility locations. The implications of these findings can help inform urban and regional policymakers about where to place smart Wi-Fi-enabled waste receptacles, ways to target public information campaigns aimed at enhancing urban waste-reduction dynamics and how to optimize waste collection using geospatial metrics. Overall, the results and implications highlight the importance of proper waste system planning and implementation across neighborhoods of varying structural indicators for both pandemic resilience and global climate change mitigation.
