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Understanding acceptability of fuel management to reduce wildfire risk: Informing communication through understanding complexity of thinking

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  • Mylek, Melinda R.
  • Schirmer, Jacki

Abstract

Understanding the social acceptability of managing forest fuels to reduce wildfire risk is essential to achieving long-term investment in fuel management that is supported publicly and politically. Integrative Complexity Theory (ICT) examines how people think about complex issues, and provides a way to better understand acceptability of potentially controversial issues, and inform design of communication that can achieve more stable social and political support; higher integrative complexity (IC) is argued to result in more moderate, but resilient attitudes. However, existing IC measures have limitations in identifying the distribution of IC across a population, restricting their usefulness for informing communication strategies targeted to differing levels of complex thinking. We propose a modified IC measure that aligns more closely with IC theory to better understand IC across a population, and test it using a sample of 435 Australians. The modified IC measure enables better identification of the groups who have lower complexity of thinking, and their preferred ways of receiving information: those with lower IC preferred information about fuel management delivered via traditional one-way mediums that typically use simpler styles of messaging. To achieve long-term resilient attitudes to fuel management, communication may need to use these mediums to both build complexity of thinking, and to encourage a shift to accessing information via mediums that are better suited to communicating the complexities of fuel management.

Suggested Citation

  • Mylek, Melinda R. & Schirmer, Jacki, 2020. "Understanding acceptability of fuel management to reduce wildfire risk: Informing communication through understanding complexity of thinking," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:forpol:v:113:y:2020:i:c:s1389934119305568
    DOI: 10.1016/j.forpol.2020.102120
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Eckerberg, Katarina & Buizer, Marleen, 2017. "Promises and dilemmas in forest fire management decision-making: Exploring conditions for community engagement in Australia and Sweden," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 133-140.
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    4. Floress, Kristin & Vokoun, Melinda & Huff, Emily Silver & Baker, Melissa, 2019. "Public perceptions of county, state, and national forest management in Wisconsin, USA," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 110-120.
    5. Czaja, Michael R. & Bright, Alan D. & Cottrell, Stuart P., 2016. "Integrative complexity, beliefs, and attitudes: Application to prescribed fire," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 54-61.
    6. Walker, Susan H. & Rideout, Douglas B. & Loomis, John B. & Reich, Robin, 2007. "Comparing the value of fuel treatment options in northern Colorado's urban and wildland-urban interface areas," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 9(6), pages 694-703, February.
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    Cited by:

    1. Sergio Tobón & Josemanuel Luna-Nemecio, 2021. "Complex Thinking and Sustainable Social Development: Validity and Reliability of the COMPLEX-21 Scale," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(12), pages 1-19, June.

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