TIM: Assessing the sustainability of agricultural land management

TIM (Threat Identification Model) is a framework for the ex ante assessment of agricultural land management sustainability at the land unit scale that identifies sources of unsustainability within agricultural land management systems. The model explicitly links defined hazards to land productivity and environmental integrity, land resource data and information, and land management practice options using expert and local knowledge on land management and its potential effects. The model was tested in the Crystal Creek Subcatchment, a narrow coastal strip of land situated in north Queensland, Australia. This area was chosen due to the expansion of the sugar industry onto increasingly marginal land in the area, which represents a threat to sustainable land use and a requirement for careful land-use planning and land management.TIM may be used in a relational database as a stand alone decision support system for land-management planning. Its usefulness in land-use planning is greatest when it is linked to a Geographic Information System (GIS) as shown in this paper. GIS allows TIM outputs, such as constraints to agriculture and site-specific best-management practices, to be identified in a spatially explicit manner.The main advantages of TIM are that it can be done ex ante, it removes the need to define sustainability assessment criteria and indicators, it utilises current understanding of the causes and effects of land degradation and how different land-management practices influence these, and links this knowledge to definite land-management options.     

Enduring decisions: Evaluating environmental impacts for sustainability planning

This paper aims to establish a framework in which potential methods for evaluating environmental impacts can be considered, with particular reference to the UK planning system. To do this a number of complementary ways of conceptualising sustainable development and making it more practical are outlined. Some basic arguments about the meaning of sustainability are reviewed; and some common misconceptions about the concept exposed. The concept of sustainability constraints is outlined and a functional distinction between quantitative and qualitative constraints is proposed. The adoption of sustainability constraints based on measures of environmental capacity is proposed. These suggest significant reductions in consumption of most environmental resources. The efficiency and sufficiency strategies that would be needed to meet the proposed quantified constraints are outlined. In conclusion, evaluation processes and indicators of sustainability, including environmental foot-printing and environmental impact assessment, are discussed, offering some pointers towards the type of measures that will be needed to help implement sustainability strategies.     

GIS-based urban sustainability assessment: The case of Dammam city, Saudi Arabia

This paper applies an integrated approach to assessing urban sustainability in Dammam City, Saudi Arabia. The approach, based on geographic information systems (GIS), involves the evaluation of the planning process, the master plan and the land use activities resulting from planning. It concludes that some aspects of sustainability are not addressed by the planning process and the plan document. The planning process and the plan document addressed economic sustainability issues more than social and environmental issues. The result of the GIS-based sustainability assessment of the study area produces similar findings. The paper develops a sustainable planning guidance and makes some recommendations based on the findings.     

Mainstreaming environmental sustainability into South Africa's integrated development planning process

The advent of democracy in South Africa in 1994 has resulted in a radical law reform process, new systems of governance, and significantly transformed planning and decision-making processes. At the same time, principles of sustainability, integration, participation, social and environmental justice have also been placed squarely on the South African political agenda. Local government has become the intended focal point for addressing the socio-economic needs of local communities and sustainable service delivery, with the principal tool for achieving these developmental objectives the Integrated Development Plan (IDP). This paper examines the available policy frameworks, including those at the national level, guiding incorporation of environmental sustainability considerations into IDPs and highlights difficulties of achieving this in practice. Ideas for moving beyond rhetoric to practical mainstreaming of environmental sustainability considerations in IDPs are provided.     

土地利用规划环境影响评价的技术方法

评价方法的选择是实现土地利用规划环境影响评价的重点。借鉴项目环评和规划环评的某些方法，根据土地利用规划的层次、类型和阶段的特点，给出一个土地利用规划环评的方法集，并对几种主要方法的适用范围、优缺点进行分析，最后指出方法选择应注意的事项。     

The Impotence of Cumulative Effects Assessment in Canada: Ailments and Ideas for Redeployment

Cumulative effects assessment (CEA) in Canada is in dire straits. Despite a huge amount of talk and a flurry of developmental activity associated with CEA concepts, it has not lived up to its glowing promise of helping to achieve sustainability of diverse valued ecosystem components. This article aims to articulate that failure, to examine it in terms of six major problems with CEA, and to propose solutions. The six problem areas include (1) application of CEA in project-level environmental impact assessments (EIAs), (2) an EIA focus on project approval instead of environmental sustainability, (3) a general lack of understanding of ecologic impact thresholds, (4) separation of cumulative effects from project-specific impacts, (5) weak interpretations of cumulative effects by practitioners and analysts, and (6) inappropriate handling of potential future developments. We advocate improvements not only within the purview of project-specific EIAs, but also mainly in the domain of region-scale CEAs and regional environmental effects frameworks (or perhaps land use planning). Only then will the CEA begin to approach the promise of securing sustainability of valued ecosystem components.     

The future of local planning and development control

This paper examines the various pressures for state action in respect of land use and environmental management. It then considers the processes through which these pressures are currently being articulated into policies and actions. A brief assessment of the effectiveness of local planning practice follows and then the paper considers the questions which should be addressed in land use and environmental issues in the UK.     

An optimization model for integrated urban planning: development and application to Algeria's Reghaïa and Heraoua municipalities

In this paper, I develop an optimization model for integrated urban planning for land use at the municipality level, in which decisions arise from an area-based weighted-GDP maximisation algorithm whose weights represent the sustainability and implementability of the land uses. The model favours the involvement of stakeholders in urban governance, but does not use complicated assessment procedures for non-economic indicators or relative weights to combine economic, social and environmental indicators; instead, the integration between economic activities and environmental status is represented objectively and non-linearly by referring to initial and sustainability conditions. The model accounts for both human and environmental dynamics by adopting a spatial structure that permits compromises between economic information (available at a macro level) and ecological information (available at a micro level). A single value is attached to each urban governance, with an elicitation of future decisions (including acceptance of the status quo) and the ability to provide an evaluation of past decisions: some environmental policies are considered. The model’s predictions are based on reasonably reliable knowledge that can be easily collected, with reliability determined by calculating the confidence level. The resulting urban governance can then be presented and further analysed within a geographical information system. A case study of the model’s application to Algeria’s Regha?a and Heraoua municipalities provides insights into optimal urban governance, with and without water quantity or quality policies, in terms of resource sustainability, sectoral development, and pollution sustainability. I also assess the previous master plan in terms of the land uses suggested by the model.     

Drivers of agricultural sustainability in developing countries: a review

Agricultural development has been an effective instrument for poverty alleviation and economic development in developing countries over the latter half of the twentieth century, and over 80 % of rural people globally still depend on agriculture for their living. However, issues such as water availability, land degradation and an increasing dependence on chemical fertilisers and pesticides continue to be on-going threats to sustainable agricultural development. These threats are being driven by the pressing need to ensure food security in the face of rapidly growing and urbanising populations. Developing countries will therefore continue to need improved methods for planning sustainable agricultural development. This paper presents a review of agricultural sustainability assessment in developing countries. The review highlights some of the key weaknesses that persist in sustainability assessment and the need to consider not only indicators of sustainability but also the drivers that influence indicator behaviour. We argue that without a good understanding of the drivers of sustainability and their systemic relationships to indicators, sustainability assessments run the risk of focusing on symptoms without addressing underlying causes of adverse indicator trends. Drivers of agricultural sustainability in developing countries encompass a range of demographic, natural, socio-economic, political, institutional and management factors. Understanding these and their relationships to sustainability indicators is needed in order to develop agricultural development policy that supports sustainability. The paper presents a conceptual framework for guiding systemic agricultural sustainability assessment and agricultural development planning in developing countries that includes both sustainability indicators and drives, and considers the broad relationships between them.     

From the inside looking out: knowledge, justice and modernity in the assessment of St. Julian's environmental capacity

The aim of this paper is to examine whether the concept of environmental capacity is useful for implementing local sustainability. This concept suggests that there may be thresholds to the total amount of development that an area can sustain without losing its critical environmental features. By means of a case study in the popular seaside town of St. Julian's, Malta, the research uncovers a number of tensions for environmental capacity assessment, surrounding the themes of knowledge, environmental justice and modernity. It concludes that the concept does have transformative potential, challenging received wisdom about the relative usefulness of expert and lay knowledge, bringing to light processes responsible for significant differences between the residents themselves, and with other groups, and uncovering a critique of understandings of progress based on physical land development. However this potential is curtailed by weak institutions and the impotence of local residents when business and politics strike an alliance.     

构建土地利用规划环境影响评价的指标体系

20世纪90年代中期,土地科学界和生态学界曾提出:"无论将土地作为生产性利用还是非生产性利用,都会形成一种干扰,使生态环境的不确定性增大,从而降低土地利用规划的科学性和合理性".在这一背景条件下,尝试性地按照土地利用类型对其所带来的环境变化影响与效应进行了分析,并在此基础上构建土地利用规划环境影响评价指标体系及可采用的评价方法.     

土地利用规划战略环境影响评价浅探

本文在介绍国内外规划环境影响评价发展概况的基础上，提出了土地利用规划环境影响评价的重要意义。初步探讨了土地利用规划战略环境影响评价的范畴、体系、指标体系与评价方法，并建议应深入开展土地利用规划战略环境影响评价理论研究，健全相关制度，尽快出台相关技术规程。     

Sustainability appraisal in local land‐use planning: patterns of current performance

The UK government has identified the land‐use planning system, and development plans in particular, as potentially powerful instruments for integrating national sustainability objectives into strategic decision making at local levels. One method for achieving this is through the use of so‐called ‘sustainability appraisals’, which are an extension of the established system of environmental appraisal used by planners since the early 1990s. A national framework is outlined in Planning Policy Guidance Note 12. Local authorities are now expected to conduct an environmental appraisal of their development plans which covers sustainable development issues. However, little research has been conducted on the effectiveness of current guidance in meeting this aim. By evaluating the implementation of sustainability appraisals nationally, this paper suggests that while government advice to appraise is generally being applied, the actual use of key sustainability principles in practice is rather variable. It then discusses these findings in relation to the changing context of appraisals in the UK and other national planning systems.     

Pathways Towards Sustainability: The Australian Approach

Following its rise to international prominence, sustainability has become an official principle or goal in many countries. Due to contextual differences, countries have followed different paths in the pursuit of sustainability. Approachescan be classified into three categories: green planning; institutional reform; and social mobilization. None of these courses on its own is likely to achieve sustainability. Yet, countries often appear to develop a path dominated by one of these approaches. This paper focuses on Australia, sketches the extent to which green planning, institutional reform and social mobilization have been playing a role in the pursuit of sustainability, and illustrates the difficulties of developing a pathway that combines these approaches.     

Policy and Practice

Saudi Arabia has recently begun to implement its General Environmental Regulations. The main purpose is to ensure that environmental considerations are taken into account at all levels of planning with an emphasis on incorporating EIA (Environmental Impact Assessment) into development activities. However, there is a need to develop a broad framework of SEA (Strategic Environmental Assessment) for the proper integration of sustainability into decision‐making processes. This paper reviews and discusses a framework for ensuring sustainability in Saudi Arabia, particularly at the local level. The paper develops guidelines and a framework for implementing the principles of sustainability in Saudi municipalities through SEA.     

Environmental dimensions of residential development and the implications for local planning practice

The purpose of this paper is to provide an account of the many dimensions of environmental assessment of residential development, so that planning policy may take substantive steps towards the environmental goal of sustainability in an urban context. It proceeds largely by literature review, drawing together research findings from a wide variety of sources originating in many different disciplines. The conclusion summarizes the analysis in terms of concrete suggestions for revised planning practice, emphasizing the important role that planning can play in this area as well as the constraints placed on planning by economic considerations.     

Environmental management within an institutionalized planning process—Avoiding a paradox in the belgian environmental movement

Summary The position and weaknesses of the Belgian environmental movement are assessed within their historical context. Recent intentions pronounced by prominent members of the movement are put into the context of the on-going constitutional and administrative reformation in Belgium. An analysis is made of the organizational and operational problems that exist within any planning process, including environmental planning processes. The problems in the latter type of process are severe due to the derived or indirect nature of the subject matter of environmental management and planning. It is argued that an appropriate response to the unique opportunities furnished by the administrative reorganization consists of demanding the establishment of a central planning and strategic control authority. This authority would be the initiator of the general planning processes within the Flemish Community. It would act on the indication of the Executive Cabinet and it would be charged with planning, programming, budgeting, and strategic control of goals and policy guidelines adopted by the Flemish Community Council. The role of environmental managers and planners will be twofold. They would be members of the planning teams within the central planning and strategic control authority, thus they would ensure the environmental soundness of planning. Secondly, they will be the implementators of specific planning actions, undertaken solely to enhance the quality of Flanders' battered environment. To execute the latter function, they will constitute the personnel of peripheral, implementation-geared, environmental agencies. Walter E. J. Tips holds degrees in general biology, ecology and town and regional planning from the State University of Ghent (Belgium). He has published in fields as varied as conservation, animal ecology, environmental planning and environmental impact assessment, and rural development planning. He has been a lecturer in planning in Malaysia and an advisor to Belgian landscape planning authorities. At present his main interest is in research on the possibilities of organizational reform of government administration to include environmental planning procedures in decision making and planning.     

Environmental sustainability assessment in the process industry: A case study of waste-to-energy plants in Spain

This study proposes a technical procedure based on a life cycle approach for implementation of the environmental sustainability assessment (ESA) of several waste-to-energy (WtE) plants located in Spain. This methodology uses two main variables: the natural resources sustainability (NRS) and the environmental burdens sustainability (EBS). NRS includes the consumption of energy, materials, and water, whereas EBS considers five burdens to air, five burdens to water, and two burdens to land. To reduce the complexity of ESA, all variables were normalised and weighted using the threshold values proposed in the European Pollutant Release and Transfer Register regulation. The results showed the plants studied had a greater consumption of natural resources than Spain, ranging from 1.1 to 2.0 times higher than the Spanish reference consumption. The comparison of Spain with the BREF reference on waste incineration showed that only in the variable related to materials, did Spain have a lower consumption (1.80 times lower). In terms of EBS, air and land impacts were the highest contributors to global burden. The WtE plants presented higher burdens to air and water than Spain, whereas only one plant exceeded the average burden to land of Spain. Finally, this paper demonstrated the usefulness of the ESA methodology to reduce the complexity of LCA and assist the decision-making process in choosing the best option from an environmental point of view. This procedure can be used to obtain an overview of the environmental performance of WtE plants, as well as to assess individual burdens and thereby determine the main environmental hotspots, thereby improving the critical points of the process.     

Rendering reform: local authority planners and perceptions of public participation in Great Britain

Public participation in planning is frequently linked to ideas of environmental justice and sustainability; yet, despite the voluminous literature on the topic, the reaction of frontline planning professionals to the broadly pro-participation agendas of central and devolved government in Great Britain has not been sufficiently examined. This is important because of their role in implementing such agendas, and the space for frontline professionals to shape the contours of reform. Drawing on extensive empirical material, I explore the reaction of local authority planners to participation policies, finding divided opinion as to whether more participation is needed to improve planning, but a strong framing of participation as something requiring careful management. I conclude that planners are broadly supportive of participation so long as they are in control, which can be understood through an institutionalist perspective that suggests there will be a similar reaction to further, ongoing, efforts to make planning more participatory.     

Designing sustainable and economically attractive brownfield revitalization options using an integrated assessment model

We describe the development of an integrated assessment model which evaluates redevelopment options of large contaminated brownfields and we present the application of the model in a case study. Aiming to support efficient and sustainable revitalization and communication between stakeholders, the presented assessment model integrates three pinnacles of brownfield revitalization: (i) subsurface remediation and site preparation costs, (ii) market-oriented economic appraisal, and (iii) the expected contribution of planned future land use to sustainable community and regional development. For the assessment, focus is set on the early stage of the brownfield redevelopment process, which is characterized by limited data availability and by flexibility in land use planning and development scope. At this stage, revealing the consequences of adjustments and alterations in planning options can foster efficiency in communication between the involved parties and thereby facilitates the brownfield revitalization process. Results from the case-study application indicate that the integrated assessment provides help in the identification of land use options beneficial in both a sustainable and an economical sense. For the study site it is shown on one hand that brownfield redevelopment is not automatically in line with sustainable regional development, and on the other hand it is demonstrated that additional contributions to sustainability are not intrinsically tied to increased costs.