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This working paper preserves all contributions to the "Media Watchblog" as they appeared during the UN climate conference in Paris 2015 (and as they are still available at https://climatematters.blogs.uni-hamburg.de/media-watch-blog/all-articles/). The idea of the Media Watch Blog was to provide space for presenting an analytical view of the media coverage and the debates surrounding COP 21 through the lens of academic observers from social and climate sciences, and allowing for comments in our role as citizens that we would not include in our academic publications. The point of the blog is not to bash the media: Covering climate change is a demanding challenge for journalists and we do not pretend that we could do better than journalists do. Yet, as outside observers of the debate, we hope to add new perspectives to a debate that deserves humanity’s most alert attention. The blog is at the University of Hamburg. Going beyond Hamburg, its authors are climate researchers, social scientists and also some journalists from a range of different backgrounds united by an interest in the interdisciplinary study of climate change.

This working paper preserves all contributions to the "Media Watchblog" as they appeared during the UN climate conference in Paris 2015 (and as they are still available at https://climatematters.blogs.uni-hamburg.de/media-watch-blog/all-articles/). The idea of the Media Watch Blog was to provide space for presenting an analytical view of the media coverage and the debates surrounding COP 21 through the lens of academic observers from social and climate sciences, and allowing for comments in our role as citizens that we would not include in our academic publications. The point of the blog is not to bash the media: Covering climate change is a demanding challenge for journalists and we do not pretend that we could do better than journalists do. Yet, as outside observers of the debate, we hope to add new perspectives to a debate that deserves humanity’s most alert attention. The blog is at the University of Hamburg. Going beyond Hamburg, its authors are climate researchers, social scientists and also some journalists from a range of different backgrounds united by an interest in the interdisciplinary study of climate change.

This data covers Phases 1, 3 and 4 of the ISULabaNtu project. The project collected interview, focus group and survey data as well as photographs and participatory workshops. This collection represents a complete data compilation from across the project's duration and its different phases during which data was collected. Data from Phase 2 is available from a separate collection, see Related resources.This project focuses on 'informal settlements' in South Africa (SA), which are often characterised by the lack of basic services and infrastructure (eg safe sanitation, reliable electricity), poorly performing building materials (eg wood, cardboard, metal sheets, mud) without any building plans approved and often on illegally-accessed and hazardous land. The idea that the communities in informal settlements should be involved in improving their homes and neighbourhoods is often discussed in the international development community. However, the tools and processes needed to ensure a successful upgrade of environmental and construction management are poorly understood, and top-down policies used by central and local government in SA have not been successful to date. If communities can improve their neighbourhoods through participatory techniques, enhancing construction skills and using available materials, then there could be local, regional and national environmental, social and economic benefits. The research seeks to explore the underpinning barriers and enabling drivers for communities to upgrade their informal settlements in SA. The central question for this research is how can participatory approaches be utilised in an environmental and construction management strategy to achieve self-reliance in informal settlements in Durban. This question will be investigated under six discrete project phases. Phase 1: Local Context and Gap Analysis (UKZN) -Examining factors that have helped communities in Durban upgrade their housing and communities, and barriers to upgrading. Phase 2: Mapping Urban Transitions through Community Participation (Westminster) Through a participatory action-research methodology, the project team will produce findings on bottom-up construction and environmental management in Namibia Stop 8 (NS8) with the involvement of the community living there. NS8 is a good practice case study in Inanda, Durban. Phase 3: Integrated Closed-Loop Environmental Management Systems (UCL with UKZN) - Exploring the potential of closed-loop systems where wastewater generated from NS8 can be reused for agriculture. - Investigating the processes, partnership models and business models required to ensure resilient infrastructure is provided. Phase 4: Skills Enhancement in Construction (Westminster) - Mapping the skills developed and enhanced through the 'self-build' approach adopted in NS8. - Transferring lessons from the UK Government Construction 2025 Strategy. Phase 5: Developing and Testing an Integrated Collaborative Toolkit (Westminster and UKZN) - Bringing together the key findings of individual Phases 1 to 4, this toolkit will take the form of a dynamic decision-making model, which will map potential ways for communities, businesses, and policymakers to collaborate. It will also identify the resources required, skills developed, and the business models created for mobilising private sector involvement and economic growth. Phase 6: Project Management, Communication and Dissemination (Westminster with UKZN) - Allocating around 10% of the total cost of grant to communicate and disseminate findings to a varied audience. The research findings are intended to impact on SA government policy and practice in the field of sustainable urban transitions, building on best practice from the UK. However, this does not negate the potential to transfer knowledge from SA back to the UK or elsewhere. The intended target audience includes local communities seeking to enhance their quality of life and well-being and local authorities enhancing their planning. The research outputs can be also utilised by international agencies (eg UN), policy-makers and practitioners working on upgrading programmes, plans and policies, particularly under the SDG post-2015 development agenda. Stakeholder interviews; household surveys; photography; settlement mapping; transect walks. 1. Participatory action-research methods: The team undertook a number of one-day action research workshops in Phase 2 and Phase 5 attended by at least 20 community members. An innovative aspect of this methodology was the use of ‘Collaborative labs’. This was an activity acting as a knowledge laboratory, based on discussions on specific themes with communities and experts using various methods, such as photo-voice, participatory mapping, gaming, and model-making. 2. Semi-structured interviews: The team undertook semi-structured interviews across all project phases; Phases 1 to Phase 5. Interviews were recorded, where participants permitted. 3. Focus groups: The team undertook focus groups in Phases 1 to Phase 5. Focus groups involved two researchers and also community researchers and were recorded, where participants permitted. 4. Surveys: The team undertook a large number of household surveys to gather quantitative and qualitative information needed for the individual project Phases 3 and 4. Data will be inputted in available spreadsheet format using MS Excel. For the participatory workshops, semi-structured interviews and focus groups the team used encrypted recording devices. Transcriptions were anonymised, and stored in word format. Supporting documentation was provided, such as topic guides, sampling strategies, and date of data gathering.

This data covers Phases 1, 3 and 4 of the ISULabaNtu project. The project collected interview, focus group and survey data as well as photographs and participatory workshops. This collection represents a complete data compilation from across the project's duration and its different phases during which data was collected. Data from Phase 2 is available from a separate collection, see Related resources.This project focuses on 'informal settlements' in South Africa (SA), which are often characterised by the lack of basic services and infrastructure (eg safe sanitation, reliable electricity), poorly performing building materials (eg wood, cardboard, metal sheets, mud) without any building plans approved and often on illegally-accessed and hazardous land. The idea that the communities in informal settlements should be involved in improving their homes and neighbourhoods is often discussed in the international development community. However, the tools and processes needed to ensure a successful upgrade of environmental and construction management are poorly understood, and top-down policies used by central and local government in SA have not been successful to date. If communities can improve their neighbourhoods through participatory techniques, enhancing construction skills and using available materials, then there could be local, regional and national environmental, social and economic benefits. The research seeks to explore the underpinning barriers and enabling drivers for communities to upgrade their informal settlements in SA. The central question for this research is how can participatory approaches be utilised in an environmental and construction management strategy to achieve self-reliance in informal settlements in Durban. This question will be investigated under six discrete project phases. Phase 1: Local Context and Gap Analysis (UKZN) -Examining factors that have helped communities in Durban upgrade their housing and communities, and barriers to upgrading. Phase 2: Mapping Urban Transitions through Community Participation (Westminster) Through a participatory action-research methodology, the project team will produce findings on bottom-up construction and environmental management in Namibia Stop 8 (NS8) with the involvement of the community living there. NS8 is a good practice case study in Inanda, Durban. Phase 3: Integrated Closed-Loop Environmental Management Systems (UCL with UKZN) - Exploring the potential of closed-loop systems where wastewater generated from NS8 can be reused for agriculture. - Investigating the processes, partnership models and business models required to ensure resilient infrastructure is provided. Phase 4: Skills Enhancement in Construction (Westminster) - Mapping the skills developed and enhanced through the 'self-build' approach adopted in NS8. - Transferring lessons from the UK Government Construction 2025 Strategy. Phase 5: Developing and Testing an Integrated Collaborative Toolkit (Westminster and UKZN) - Bringing together the key findings of individual Phases 1 to 4, this toolkit will take the form of a dynamic decision-making model, which will map potential ways for communities, businesses, and policymakers to collaborate. It will also identify the resources required, skills developed, and the business models created for mobilising private sector involvement and economic growth. Phase 6: Project Management, Communication and Dissemination (Westminster with UKZN) - Allocating around 10% of the total cost of grant to communicate and disseminate findings to a varied audience. The research findings are intended to impact on SA government policy and practice in the field of sustainable urban transitions, building on best practice from the UK. However, this does not negate the potential to transfer knowledge from SA back to the UK or elsewhere. The intended target audience includes local communities seeking to enhance their quality of life and well-being and local authorities enhancing their planning. The research outputs can be also utilised by international agencies (eg UN), policy-makers and practitioners working on upgrading programmes, plans and policies, particularly under the SDG post-2015 development agenda. Stakeholder interviews; household surveys; photography; settlement mapping; transect walks. 1. Participatory action-research methods: The team undertook a number of one-day action research workshops in Phase 2 and Phase 5 attended by at least 20 community members. An innovative aspect of this methodology was the use of ‘Collaborative labs’. This was an activity acting as a knowledge laboratory, based on discussions on specific themes with communities and experts using various methods, such as photo-voice, participatory mapping, gaming, and model-making. 2. Semi-structured interviews: The team undertook semi-structured interviews across all project phases; Phases 1 to Phase 5. Interviews were recorded, where participants permitted. 3. Focus groups: The team undertook focus groups in Phases 1 to Phase 5. Focus groups involved two researchers and also community researchers and were recorded, where participants permitted. 4. Surveys: The team undertook a large number of household surveys to gather quantitative and qualitative information needed for the individual project Phases 3 and 4. Data will be inputted in available spreadsheet format using MS Excel. For the participatory workshops, semi-structured interviews and focus groups the team used encrypted recording devices. Transcriptions were anonymised, and stored in word format. Supporting documentation was provided, such as topic guides, sampling strategies, and date of data gathering.

A follow-up study to Brüggemann et al. (2017), The appeasement effect of a United Nations climate summit on the German public Abstract Heat waves occurring around the world, outspoken warnings from scientists, international climate ac-tivism, and ensuing political debates on climate protection have ensured that climate change has finally caught the public’s attention. This comparative analysis of public opinion during three UN climate sum-mits illustrates the awakening of public awareness of and an increased willingness to actively engage with climate change, probably as the cumulative effect of this combination of events. Comparing cli-mate change awareness, communicative engagement, knowledge, attitudes, and climate-friendly be-haviour during the 2015 (n = 1,477), 2018 (n = 1,044) and 2019 (n = 1,000) UN climate summits, we find major and consistently positive changes in various forms of active engagement with the issue. These results indicate that the appeasement effect observed in an earlier study during the 2015 Paris summit is over: the German public is now ready to take decisive steps to tackle the climate problem.

A follow-up study to Brüggemann et al. (2017), The appeasement effect of a United Nations climate summit on the German public Abstract Heat waves occurring around the world, outspoken warnings from scientists, international climate ac-tivism, and ensuing political debates on climate protection have ensured that climate change has finally caught the public’s attention. This comparative analysis of public opinion during three UN climate sum-mits illustrates the awakening of public awareness of and an increased willingness to actively engage with climate change, probably as the cumulative effect of this combination of events. Comparing cli-mate change awareness, communicative engagement, knowledge, attitudes, and climate-friendly be-haviour during the 2015 (n = 1,477), 2018 (n = 1,044) and 2019 (n = 1,000) UN climate summits, we find major and consistently positive changes in various forms of active engagement with the issue. These results indicate that the appeasement effect observed in an earlier study during the 2015 Paris summit is over: the German public is now ready to take decisive steps to tackle the climate problem.

This data collection includes a heterogeneous set of qualitative data which was collected to characterise the urban energy landscape in four cities: Bengaluru, India; Hong Kong, PR of China; Concepcion, Chile; and Maputo, Mozambique. Each case study contains data obtained by different methods including different types of semi-structured interviews, workshop transcripts, and observations. A report summarises the contents of the data for each case study. The case studies have supported a range of publications including publications about independent case studies; and publications that present a comparative analysis of the cases. Mapping Urban Energy Landscapes (MUEL) studies humanity's potential to achieve low carbon, socially just cities in rapidly urbanising areas in the global south. Achieving low carbon, socially just cities will require a spatial, socio-economic and political transformation. This transformation will depend on our ability to find low carbon development pathways for urban energy systems. Collection methods included qualitative interviewing, participatory workshops and transects. For more information, please see the 'DataCollectionMethod' file attached.

This data collection includes a heterogeneous set of qualitative data which was collected to characterise the urban energy landscape in four cities: Bengaluru, India; Hong Kong, PR of China; Concepcion, Chile; and Maputo, Mozambique. Each case study contains data obtained by different methods including different types of semi-structured interviews, workshop transcripts, and observations. A report summarises the contents of the data for each case study. The case studies have supported a range of publications including publications about independent case studies; and publications that present a comparative analysis of the cases. Mapping Urban Energy Landscapes (MUEL) studies humanity's potential to achieve low carbon, socially just cities in rapidly urbanising areas in the global south. Achieving low carbon, socially just cities will require a spatial, socio-economic and political transformation. This transformation will depend on our ability to find low carbon development pathways for urban energy systems. Collection methods included qualitative interviewing, participatory workshops and transects. For more information, please see the 'DataCollectionMethod' file attached.

We surveyed macroalgae at Hansneset, Blomstrand in Kongsfjorden, Svalbard, down to 30 m depth between 1996 and 1998. In total, 62 species were identified: 16 Chlorophyta, 25 Phaeophyceae, and 21 Rhodophyta. The majority of species (53.5%) belonged to the Arctic cold-temperate group, followed in frequency by species distributed from the Arctic to the warm-temperate region (25.9%). Four endemic Arctic species (Laminaria solidungula, Acrosiphonia flagellata, A. incurva, and Urospora elongata) were found. Two species (Pogotrichum filiforme and Mikrosyphar polysiphoniae) were new to Svalbard. Chlorophyta, Phaeophyceae, and Rhodophyta extended from the eulittoral zone down to 11, 21, and >30 m depths with maximum biomasses at 1-5 m, 5-10 m, and 5-30 m depths, respectively. Annual and pseudoperennial species had highest biomasses in the upper 5 m, while perennials were distributed deeper. The highest biomass (8600 g/m**2 wet weight) at 5 m depth comprised mainly L. digitata, Saccorhiza dermatodea, Alaria esculenta, and Saccharina latissima. The biogeographic composition of macroalgae at Hansneset was rather similar to that of northeastern Greenland, but different from that of northern Norway, which has a higher proportion of temperate species. Climate warming and ship traffic may extend some of the distribution ranges of macroalgae from mainland Norway to Svalbard. Supplement to: Hop, Haakon; Wiencke, Christian; Vögele, Barbara; Kovaltchouk, Nikolaj A (2012): Species composition, zonation, and biomass of marine benthic macroalgae in Kongsfjorden, Svalbard. Botanica Marina, 55(4), 399-414 replicate a: transect taken by Barbara Voegele: Late May-mid July 1996replicate b,c: transect taken by Haakon Hop: 26 August to 10 September 1996 and 14 August to 10 September 1998