Leslie Mabon
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ljmabon.bsky.social
Leslie Mabon
@ljmabon.bsky.social
510 followers 190 following 190 posts
Senior Lecturer in Environmental Systems, Faculty of STEM, Open University, UK. Sustainability science for resilient and just coastal places. Scotland - Japan - Taiwan. Future Earth Coasts Fellow. Big Raith Rovers fan.

resilientcoastal.zone
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ljmabon.bsky.social
Very geographically-specific safety information on KNB Toyama this week - stay away from farm ditches when drunk. Good advice.
A screenshot of a Tiktok-style video showing an actor playing a drunk salaryman in the Japanese countryside walking home, in danger of falling into a farm ditch.
November 25, 2025 at 12:08 AM
ljmabon.bsky.social
Another great @ouscotland.bsky.social Mock COP, this time in Dumfries! Really enjoyed talking to high school pupils from all over Dumfries and Galloway about what happens at international climate change negotiations, and very impressed with how engaged and knowledgeable the students were!
A man in a grey shirt standing at the front of a room with a microphone.
November 21, 2025 at 12:02 AM
ljmabon.bsky.social
Brilliant to see our @openuniversity.bsky.social Environmental Management: Pathways to Sustainability module reach fruition. The result of several years of research, writing, filming - and lots and lots of Teams meetings! Books are just one small - but very tangible - part of the OU experience #T330
Three Open University textbooks sitting on a table in a pile. The top book has an image of an onshore windfarm on the cover.
November 17, 2025 at 5:10 PM
ljmabon.bsky.social
Terrific day at @ouscotland.bsky.social @howdec.bsky.social Mock COP in Inverness today. Talked to a group of students from all over the Highlands about what will happen at #COP30 - as well as the merits and drawbacks of the COP process, and what they can do as citizens. Feeling very energised!
A group of people in a room, listening to a panel discussion on climate justice.
November 10, 2025 at 10:19 PM
ljmabon.bsky.social
Through our @openuniversity.bsky.social partnership with the BBC, I've been working with The One Show on the future of fisheries in the UK. Wonderful to see Hans Unkles' fully-electrified boat, which fishes out of Tayvallich just down the road from me, featured:

connect.open.ac.uk/the-one-show/
A colour painting of a fishing boat, with a blue background, white Open University logo, and text reading 'The Future of Fishing'
November 7, 2025 at 8:51 AM
ljmabon.bsky.social
Very interesting documentary about population decline and lifeline rural railways in Hiroshima Prefecture. The irony of a train with a 'Rail is Baton' livery running on a line where the operator is pushing to shrink services due to lack of profitabilty.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3WH...
A screenshot of a Japanese TV programme. There is a blue and yellow train running through fields, with a livery reading 'Rail is Baton'.
October 22, 2025 at 9:54 PM
ljmabon.bsky.social
A very full week in Aceh as part of @britishacademy.bsky.social supported study into evidence + policy for seawalls in Indonesia, building on @raeng.org.uk research. Great to see students of our partner Universitas Syiah Kuala learning how to check the characteristics and performance of seawalls.
A seawall built out of boulders between a blue sea, a beach, and a mixed forest. A team of students measures distances and angles of a mound of tetrapods on a beach, between the sea and some low trees. Two men measure a seawall, holding opposite ends of a measuring tape. A concrete curved seawall on a coral beach, in front of a tall broad-leaved tree, in Sabang, Indonesia.
September 26, 2025 at 5:28 AM
ljmabon.bsky.social
A pleasure to be in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, to progress @britishacademy.bsky.social work on evidence-driven policy for seawalls with @openuniversity.bsky.social, Syiah Kuala Uni + London South Bank Uni. Honoured to deliver keynote for Aceh Intl Symposium on Civil Engineering today during our visit.
A man in a grey suit stands on a podium in front of a large projector screen showing coastal erosion. A group of people in a room looking at a projector screen. A public building in Indonesia, with green vegetation and white walls. Four people stand on a seawall in Indonesia. It is a low rubble wall, with the sea on one side and a port on the other.
September 17, 2025 at 3:37 PM
ljmabon.bsky.social
Cycled from Oban to the former aluminium smelting town of Kinlochleven and back, 100 miles all-in including a couple of scenic detours on the way home. Now incapable of any form of movement.
A former aluminium smelter building in Kinlochleven, Scotland. A bicycle leaning against a tree, with a brown mountain in the background and grey sky. A bicycle leaning against a granite bench, with Castle Stalker on a small island in the background. A small river flows into a loch, with forested hills on either side.
September 6, 2025 at 9:54 PM
ljmabon.bsky.social
Something quite unsettling about how impacts of climate change filter through into very banal and everyday aspects of our lives.
Screengrab of BBC News article saying "What to do if your planned holiday destination is affected by wildfires"
August 2, 2025 at 12:50 PM
ljmabon.bsky.social
It's been exactly 10 years to the month since I first visited the Institute of Human Geography at the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences. Great timing to have our fourth paper together published, this time on just transitions and resource-dependent livelihoods:

doi.org/10.3390/worl...
Abstract text reads: The aim of this research is to identify policy and practice interventions that support a just transition towards resilient practices for resource-dependent communities. We focus on Thai Nguyen and Phu Tho, two provinces in the Northern Midlands and Mountains of Vietnam. The region is reliant on agriculture but is assessed as highly vulnerable to climate change. We surveyed 105 farming households. A Likert-type questionnaire asked respondents to self-assess their experiences of weather extremes and of changes they had made to their farming practices. Our results show that for both Thai Nguyen and Phu Tho, farmers see the effects of climate change on their crops. Respondents in Thai Nguyen were more likely to report technically driven adaptation and engagement with extension services. Respondents in Pho Tho were more likely to continue traditional practices. For both, use of traditional knowledge and practices was related to taking measures to adapt to climate change. Our main conclusion is that at least three actions could support a just transition to resilient livelihoods. First is incorporating natural science and traditional knowledge into decision-making for just transitions. Second is considering long-term implications of interventions that appear to support livelihoods in the short term. Third is tailoring messaging and engagement strategies to the requirements of the most vulnerable people. The main message of this study is that a just transition for resource-dependent communities will inevitably be context-specific. Even in centralized and authoritarian contexts, flexibility to adapt top-down policies to locals’ own experiences of changing climates is needed.
July 31, 2025 at 9:51 AM
ljmabon.bsky.social
My life in a nutshell: searching for information on the development of Onahama port in Iwaki, Japan for a book chapter takes me to Getty Images, where the "More Search Results" heading offers me a library of photos of Gregory Tade circa 2010.
A screengrab of a Getty Images page, with a truck driving over a bridge above some industrial ships and cranes. A screengrab of a Getty Images page, showing former Raith Rovers footballer Gregory Tade.
July 21, 2025 at 10:59 PM
ljmabon.bsky.social
More exciting news from @ougradsch.bsky.social and @openuniversity.bsky.social as Meng-Chin Tsai publishes a lead-authored paper, which explores planning + governance arrangements for greening + resilience in Taipei. This is one part of her thesis, which is taking shape!

doi.org/10.1080/1523...
ABSTRACT Green infrastructure (GI) has emerged as a key component in urban resilience strategies for integrating ecological and social benefits. Initially driven by government bodies, GI initiatives have expanded to include different groups of participants in co-production and co-implementation. This study proposes that Taipei's GI governance is determined by formal and informal regulations and connected with other discourses. The policy arrangement approach (PAA) is therefore used to study actor roles, discourses' effects on institutional arrangements, and GI planning issues. By assessing existing strategies and interactions among key actors, the study identifies how shifts in community participation and government authority shape GI design and functionality. The use of PAA in Taipei also offers valuable insights for global cities engaged in similar initiatives and challenges encountered in GI delivery. Findings demonstrate that participatory and collaborative approaches to governance of open spaces and greenspace are aggressively promoted and support communities in developing stewardship capabilities, but also that these alone are unlikely to be transformative without alternative funding mechanisms in the future. Overall, the participatory approach emphasises transparency and accountability for residents, however, new financial schemes are required to carry on GI design and management in the long term.
June 25, 2025 at 11:20 AM
ljmabon.bsky.social
New paper on relationships and responsibility in Fukushima coastal fisheries, and treated water releases from the Daiichi nuclear plant. We share interviews from before and during releases with fishers, managers, sellers +more working on the Fukushima coast.

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10....
ABSTRACT Treated water releases into the Pacific from the Fukushima Dai'ichi nuclear plant in Japan have drawn opposition from fishing communities, who accused proponents of acting irresponsibly in commencing releases before gaining local support. The controversy reflects questions in social licence to operate and social impact assessment about how proponents' responsibilities to host communities encompass knowledge production and fit with broader visions for a locality. Research into geographies of responsibility—how society takes care and enacts responsibility across space and place—helps think through what it means to take responsibility for host communities. Focusing on the Fukushima Dai'ichi treated water releases, we therefore aim to explore how relational responsibility becomes manifest in a complex and emotive environmental situation. Through interviews with people working in coastal Fukushima fisheries, we find that alongside economic motivations, a desire to ‘defend’ the Fukushima coast for future generations drives cooperatives to continue fishing and demonstrate safety and quality of Fukushima seafood. Those working in fisheries understand marine radioactivity cannot neatly be managed across scales, and that providing more and better scientific data is unlikely to bring others on-side if proponents are not seen as taking responsibility for the Fukushima coast. We argue that in a complex and emotive environmental situation like Fukushima Dai'ichi, multiple actors may hold responsibilities to place and people, and that intermediary organisations are important in enabling relational responsibility. However, proponents must be cognisant of power and resourcing differentials, and ensure those assuming responsibility for place receive financial and technical support.
June 25, 2025 at 10:53 AM
ljmabon.bsky.social
Full day at the tiny forest in Pencoedtre Park in Barry, Wales yesterday, filming a case study of community environmental management for our new @openuniversity.bsky.social #T330 Environmental Management module. Really happy to be able to have our fantastic EDIA interns on-site working with us too!
A very small and dense forest in a park in Barry, Wales A camera crew film a woman in a grey t-shirt standing in front of some dense vegetation. A camera crew film a woman standing in front of a small, dense forest. A gravel pathway through a dense forest of thin trees.
June 19, 2025 at 5:36 PM
ljmabon.bsky.social
A privilege to be at @iaeaorg.bsky.social International Conference on Stakeholder Engagement for Nuclear Power Programmes, and to be on panel sharing insights from our decade+ of ongoing research with coastal and fishing communities in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. #LetsTalkNuclear #TrustTheDialogue
A man in a floral shirt outside a UN building with a conference banner above the door. A flyer for a panel session at the IAEA. A white pin badge being held up outside a high-rise United Nations building.
May 30, 2025 at 1:59 PM
ljmabon.bsky.social
At the @iaeaorg.bsky.social International Conference on Stakeholder Engagement for Nuclear Power Programmes this week. Sally Njogu of @ougradsch.bsky.social doing a great job of introducing a framework to guide risk governance for decommissioning of nuclear sites. #LetsTalkNuclear #TrustTheDialogue
A room of people looking at a Powerpoint slide.
May 29, 2025 at 3:04 PM
ljmabon.bsky.social
Also managed a day of fieldwork doing transects at Nijinomatsubara pine grove in Karatsu when in Kyushu, Japan - because I haven't seen enough coastal forests in the last six weeks.

Looking forward to sitting down and comparing this to what we saw and learned in Lithuania and Scotland!
Suwa Shrine at the edge of the Nijinomatsubara pine grove in Karatsu, Japan. A medium-sized wooden Japanese shrine building, with granite slabs forming a path leading up to it. A local passenger train crosses a road at the edge of a grove of thin tall pine trees. A grove of thin, tall pine trees grow out of low grassy scrub. A metal sign provides visitors with safety information. A sandy beach and blue sea, in front of a dense, long, curved grove of pine trees.
May 23, 2025 at 9:58 AM
ljmabon.bsky.social
Excellent week in Taipei, continuing collaboration with @wyshih.bsky.social. Shared work on extreme heat + resilience with MDR3 students, and joined students for field measurement training. Also updated materials for Taipei case study in our new Open University Environmental Management module #T330.
A man in a pink Okinawan kariyushi wear shirt stands in front of a smal class of students. A man in a blue shirt at a lectern giving a lecture on how heat affects athletes. A woman and a man stand next to a small devise used for measuring local weather and climatic conditions, in the middle of a paved open area within high-rise housing. A community garden, with plants growing fruits and vegetables, occupies a corner of a courtyard in front of high-rise housing.
May 16, 2025 at 4:15 PM
ljmabon.bsky.social
Day-trip to Kitakyushu to collect material for our new T330 Environmental Management module. Environment Museum narrates the city's pollution history and highlights those who fought for a better environment. As well as old blast furnace, huge Nippon Steel site shows this is still an industrial city.
Historical site of Higashida Blast Furnace in Kitakyushu, which operated from 1901 to 1972. Entrance to demonstration eco-house outside Kitakyushu Environment Museum. Sigh marks the entrance to the Environment Museum. Display inside Kitakyushu Environment Museum, showing a large panel of smokestacks and items damaged by acid rain. Part of Nippon Steel's Yawata steelworks. A long, low warehouse with 'Rail and Shape Since 1901' written on the side.
May 3, 2025 at 1:40 PM
ljmabon.bsky.social
Productive trip up to Saikai City yesterday to interview people from the city government about how they see the Enoshima offshore wind farm benefitting the locality, and how the city's shipbuilding industry and the Matsushima thermal power statuon fit with a just transition and a zero-carbon future.
Saikai City Hall, a three-storey teracotta coloured local government building surrounded by green plants. A map titled 'Zero Carbon City Saikai', showing different actions including offshore wind and shipbuilding that could support local climate change action. A crane and a corrugated iron warehouse in Saikai City, Japan, belonging to Miura Shipbuilding. A view over the sea to the Matsushima coal power station on Matsushima island, Saikai, Japan.
April 26, 2025 at 5:13 AM
ljmabon.bsky.social
This week I was at Klaipeda University in Lithuania for the first bilateral visit of our @royalsociety.org international exchange project. We are working to assess the contributions coastal forested landscapes make to people and the threats they face. Great to lecture to some of KU's postgrads too!
A dune and forest landscape on the Curonian Spit in Lithuania, looking towards Kaliningrad. Trees on a high cliff on the Baltic Coast in Lithuania. In the foreground is a hardened surface to protect against erosion. A dense forest of trees, with a sign in Lithuanian explaining the protected habitat classification. Klaipeda University, a red-brick German building from the early 20th Century.
April 19, 2025 at 9:03 AM
ljmabon.bsky.social
Govan evidence cafe to launch reports from @britishacademy.bsky.social & @openuniversity.bsky.social OSC-supported work on urban nature for heat-resilient neighbourhoods. Our community researchers shared creative outputs + pushed us to think 'what next'? Look forward to continuing the relationship!
Several stacks of reports on a table, and a large illusrated 'zine' hanging from a washing line in a hall. A room full of people, sitting round small square tables discussing. A person stands at the front of a room, reading out a short provocation. A person stands at the front of a room, reading a poem to a group of people.
April 11, 2025 at 7:38 PM
ljmabon.bsky.social
Glorious day for some fieldwork down at Taynish National Nature Reserve, a bit further south in Argyll from where I am. A wee side project learning about how coastal forests can support us under a changing climate, and how environmental change affects them.
A coniferous tree on a rocky shoreline next to an inland sea. A flat calm body of water, with a forested hill on the far side. A decidious forest, with many small trees, stretching down to an inland sea. Small pleasure and artisanal fishing boats in a harbour on the west coast of Scotland.
April 8, 2025 at 10:41 PM
ljmabon.bsky.social
Stephen Miller: why are there no American cars on the streets of Europe?

Europen motoring journalists for the last thirty years:
A montage of negative reviews of US-built and designed cars from British motoring websites, from 1990s to present.
April 7, 2025 at 2:05 AM