Environmental Education: Biodiversity

Environmental education was a principal topic on the agenda of the Stockholm 1972 Conference. In response to its recommendation UNESCO and UNEP developed and launched the International Environmental Education Program (IEEP) in 1977. Environmental education was perceived to encompass in-school and out-of-school activities and public awareness. Later developments added training to its objectives and the concept of sustainable development to its dimensions. The international Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) represented a phase in the world commitment to conservation of nature. It underpinned biodiversity in the fields of environmental education. Biodiversity education is based on five pivots: scale of boundaries (from local to worldwide), perspectives, goals, themes (vary according to actors), and assimilation (evaluation of programs of action). Directions relate to learners and teachers, and processes address: awareness, school education, education (and professional training) at tertiary level, roles of communication and media institutions.     

Agenda setting and acid precipitation in the United States

The objective of this research was to analyze the retention of acid precipitation as a viable policy issue on the Congressional agenda during the 1980s. Issue maintenance (a term borrowed from Barbara Nelson's discussion of the four stages associated with agenda decision making) was examined in relation to a set of issue characteristics originally developed by Roger Cobb and Charles Elder, i.e., concreteness, social significance, temporal relevance, complexity, and categorical precedence. Each issue attribute was found to be somewhat useful in explaining the longevity of acid rain as an agenda item although the direction of influence for two factors, complexity and temporal relevance, was contrary to expectations. It was suggested that a conceptual merger of this sort could contribute to the comparative analysis of agenda policy decisions by providing a clearer and more restricted set of decision points to be explained.     

Status of refuse recycling

The Second International Recycling Conference provided a follow-up to the 1975 Conversion of Refuse to Energy Conference and the 1976 Materials and Energy from Refuse Conference. The four year timespan provided a valuable opportunity to assess developments in the many, varied and often enthusiastic proposals for material and energy recovery put forward on those occasions. The organizers presented a comprehensive programme of 229 papers, with a concurrent wide-ranging exhibition of pertinent equipment and systems suppliers. Second International Recycling Conference, Berlin, 1–3 October 1979. Many of the views expressed were reaffirmed at an EEC Congress a few weeks later. EEC Congress on Packaging Waste Recycling, Utrecht, the Netherlands, 23–24 October 1979.     

从斯德哥尔摩到约翰内斯堡的发展道路

文章详细论述了从斯德哥尔摩人类环境会议到约翰内斯堡可持续发展会议召开的三十年间，人类经历了从工业文明走向绿色文明三个历史过程的发展之路。     

BEYOND THE UNITED NATIONS WATER CONFERENCE

We are pleased to print a preliminary review of the United Nations Water Conference by Mr Fano who has been intimately associated with the preparations for the Conference. Other viewpoints will be presented in future issues.     

Paradigms,paradoxes and a propitious niche: conservation and Indigenous social justice policy in Australia

In Australia, redressing past injustices and recognising Indigenous peoples' spiritual and cultural connections to land have resulted in the return of significant amounts of land to Indigenous people. Parallel to this, in attempts to address declining biodiversity, innovative and neo-liberal approaches to conservation under a new paradigm have been promoted. The role and influence of the non-state sector are increasing, and Indigenous peoples’ involvement in conservation is also growing. This paper reviews the history of conservation and Indigenous social justice policy in Australia. It describes how the social justice agenda has been the primary motivator of returning land to Indigenous Australians, and historically has been the driver and catalyst for Indigenous peoples' involvement in conservation, whilst the conservation agenda has increased conservation on private lands and the role and influence of the non-state conservation sector. The paper reveals how the trajectories of conservation and Indigenous social justice have become intrinsically linked with the emergence of new paradigms, providing opportunities for a propitious niche. Yet it also shows how the two trajectories have manifested themselves with a paradox of disparity; achievements secured under an Indigenous social justice agenda are being enjoyed by conservation under the new paradigm, whilst Indigenous social justice is increasingly becoming dependent on a conservation agenda.     

BOOK REVIEWS

Book reviewed in this article:
Water Pollution Microbiology, Volume 2, Ralph Mitchell, editor
Values and Choices in the Development of the Colorado River Basin, Dean F. Peterson and A. Berry Crawford, editors
Individual Onsite Wastewater Systems, Proceedings of a National Conference, Nina T. McClelland, editor
Safe Drinking Water: Current and Future Problems, Proceedings of a National Conference in Washington, D.C., Clifford S. Russell, editor.     

Desertification: The time for action

Summary Following the severe droughts in the Sahel and Ethiopia in the late 1960s and early 1970s, which focused the world’s attention on drought and desertification, the United Nations system organized and held the UN Conference on Desertification (UNCOD) in Nairobi in 1977. The principal outcome of the Conference was a Plan of Action to Combat Desertification (PACD), containing 28 major recommendations. The follow-up and coordination of implementation of the PACD was entrusted to UNEP, which created a Desertification Branch in 1978 to undertake the task. Desertification Branch UNEP     

How to encourage conflict in the environmental decision-making process: imparting lessons from civic environmentalism to local policy-makers

The literature on civic environmentalism suggests that the environmental decision-making process must be perceived by citizens to be inclusive, transparent, and legitimate in order to avoid conflict and encourage stakeholder collaboration. We suggest that studies of environmental decision-making must apply this framework to three key variables: agenda setting, conflicts of interest, and politicised institutions, which impact the potential for citizen collaboration at the local level. Using content analysis of newspaper articles, participant observations, and informal field interviews, we evaluate a case study of citizen opposition to a power plant air permit. We demonstrate how citizen perceptions of agenda setting by local officials, conflicts of interest, and the inability of citizens to affect final decisions after winning in multiple legal and administrative venues, creates conflict by not embodying these civic environmentalist principles. We conclude with policy suggestions for creating a less conflict-riddled process.     

Print Media Framing of the Environmental Movement in a Canadian Forestry Debate

In a recent paper, it was suggested that one of the reasons behind the decline in public regard toward British Columbia's environmental movement was an increasingly negative portrayal of them by the print media. To investigate this suggestion, we undertook a content analysis of print media reporting of forestry and environmental activities in the province's most widely read newspaper, the Vancouver Sun, during 1993 and 1997. We hypothesized that if the print media did contribute to the decline in public regard toward the environmental movement, we would find increasingly negative coverage of the environmental movement over the periods studied. We also hypothesized that this would be accompanied by a decrease in the frequency of articles dealing with issues consistent with the agenda of the environmental movement. We were not able to provide support for our initial hypothesis, nor did we observe a decrease in coverage emphasizing the environmental issues. We did, however, observe an increase in coverage of articles emphasizing typically proindustry issues with many more articles written with a proforestry slant in 1997 than articles written in 1993. This suggests that there had been an agenda shift from environmentally oriented concerns in British Columbia to those associated with the forest industry. As an explanation for the agenda shift, we point to changes in the management and reporting philosophy at the Vancouver Sun, the emergence of an organized, proindustry counterframing strategy by the BC Forest Alliance, and the implementation of several government policies aimed at regulating the activities of the forest industry.     

Plant Tissue Culture and Biotechnology

Conference Reports and Comment

Plant Tissue Culture and Biotechnology     

The impact of basic sciences on modern biotechnology

Conference Reports

The impact of basic sciences on modern biotechnology     

The role of rural communities in the transition to a low-carbon Scotland: a review

The Scottish Government is committed to carbon reduction targets which are the most ambitious across the devolved administrations of the UK. Whilst Scotland operates within broader international and UK policy contexts, it has developed particular programmes and approaches to engage communities in the transition towards low-carbon futures. Rural areas have a role in the transition to a low-carbon Scotland; however, beyond land use and agriculture contributions, little research has explored the “rural” dimension of “low-carbon” transitions. The paper presents a policy and literature review relating to the low-carbon agenda in Scotland. It reflects on Scottish low-carbon policy and governance, the positioning of “rural communities” within this, and the opportunities and challenges this might present. Based on this, we develop an understanding of how rural communities may contribute to a low-carbon Scotland and identify a future research agenda to explore in more detail the nature and relative effectiveness of diverse governance structures to support this.     

关于循环经济理论与政策的几点思考

作者结合学习贯彻十六大精神，详细论述了发展循环经济的重大意义、模式和前景，提出了我国发展循环经济的理论和政策建议。     

BOOK REVIEWS

Book reviewed in this article:
Cooper, Bryan, F. Niering Jr. and E. Symonds, Latin American and Caribbean Oil Report
World Energy Conference, Standard Terms of the Energy Economy
United Nations, Coal: 1985 and Beyond – A Perspective Study     

Clarifying relationships between participatory approaches,issues, processes,and results,through crosscutting case analysis in Japan’s environmental,energy, and food policy areas

Participatory public engagement approaches such as Consensus Conferences, Deliberative Polling^®, and Planning Cells have been used to try and resolve environmental disputes in Japan; however, the strengths and weaknesses of these approaches have not been analyzed adequately or comprehensively. This paper evaluates practical applications of each of the above participatory approaches and conducts a crosscutting analysis of these applications to evaluate how effectively each approach provides scientific information to participants and to consider how the quality of deliberations that occur during these processes affect their outputs. Based on existing classification of participatory processes, and methodology for public involvement in US environmental decision-making, this study compares and contrasts the processes and outcomes of 25 participatory planning case studies in Japan. After compiling a case inventory of participatory approaches, the features of one approach are documented using qualitative analysis, and the aspects of four other approaches are confirmed using crosscutting analysis. In so doing, the likely strengths and weaknesses of each approach are suggested as follows. When discussions require an understanding of scientific knowledge, the Consensus Conference tends to be more suitable than the DP approach. If the consensus of participants is expected, the Consensus Conference is also thought to be suitable. But through a DP process or Simplified Planning Cells approach, we can know the quantitative portion of each opinion through results of ballots. In sum, new participatory approach that incorporates strengths of the Consensus Conference and the Simplified Planning Cells into Local Environmental Planning is needed. Thus, the quality of consensus building could be improved.     

从“斯德哥尔摩“到“约翰内斯堡“

本文回顾了从1972年斯德哥尔摩联合国人类环境会议到2002年约翰内斯堡联合国可持续发展首脑会议(WSSD)的历程,提出了解决环境与发展问题以及实施可持续发展战略过程中值得认真思考的问题。     

Converging worlds

Summary Converging Worlds delineates how environmental events in the developing world can lead to economic and political instability—two major liabilities for US national security and economic interests abroad. Increasingly, US foreign policy analysis will have to include a close scrutiny of environmental events and a country’s natural resource profile to adequately anticipate global hot spots. A closer look at environmental events in the global context may also provide a sense of new options for foreign policy and private sector initiatives. Senior Liaison Officer United Nations Environment Programme Washington Representative and Senior Liaison Officer for the United Nations Environment Programme. Formerly National Director for Public Affairs of the US Environmental Protection Agency; Senior Coordinator for the American Petroleum Institute; and founder and President of the Bolton Institute. Major initiattives include Global Connections/Environment Conference (1980); City Care Conference (1979); and UN Habitat community assemblies (1975).     

International commodity policy: The integrated programme for commodities and the common fund

The author reviews the issues and problems which have arisen since May 1976, following the fourth meeting of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). He concludes that prospects for agreement between the developing countries in the Group of 77 and the industrialized West are slight unless there is substantial modification of position by either side.     

Constructing the sustainable city: examining the role of sustainability in the ‘smart city’ discourse

The idea of the ‘smart city’ is increasingly central to debates on urban development and sustainability, and a host of cities are now pursuing ‘smartness’ as a way to improve energy efficiency, transport, and public services. However, existing research does not provide a clear picture of how this smart city agenda actually contributes to sustainability. The social science literature has been critical toward urban smartness, with most of the empirical research focusing on the politics of data-driven and entrepreneurial urbanism. This article seeks to contribute to this debate by empirically examining the role that sustainability plays in the smart city discourse. Its distinctive approach is to investigate how urban smartness and sustainability are framed by an authoritative institution (the European Union) and then to trace these framings down to a particular city (Stavanger, Norway). The data show that the smartness approach is strongly tied to innovation, technology, and economic entrepreneurialism, and sustainability does not appear to be a very important motivating driver. Nevertheless, the ‘sustainability component’ of the smart city agenda becomes clearer the closer we come to the city level.