A critical review of hydrological data collection for assessing preservation risk for urban waterlogged archaeology: A case study from the City of York, UK

Environmental change caused by urban development, possibly augmented by climate change, may result in accelerated decay of in situ archaeological resources. Damage may be related to changes in hydrological processes. Such archaeological resources have to be considered in environmental planning. In this paper we highlight the need for improved hydrological data from urban archaeological sites using the case study of the City of York, UK, arguably one of the most well studied and well preserved urban archaeological environments globally. We suggest that the quality of hydrological data collected during routine surveys and experimental work must be improved and standardised in order for us to produce reliable archaeological risk models for urban sites.     

Land loss in coastal Louisiana (U.S.A.)

This paper examines causes and consequences of wetland losses in coastal Louisiana. Land loss is a cumulative impact, the result of many impacts both natural and artificial. Natural losses are caused by subsidence, decay of abandoned river deltas, waves, and storms. Artificial losses result from flood-control practices, impoundments, and dredging and subsequent erosion of artificial channels. Wetland loss also results from spoil disposal upon wetlands and land reclamation projects.Total land loss in Louisiana's coastal zone is at least 4,300 ha/year. Some wetlands are converted to spoil banks and other eco-systems so that wetland losses are probably two to three times higher. Annual wetland losses in the Barataria Bay basin are 2.6% of the wetland area. Human activities are the principal determinants of land loss. The present total wetland area directly lost because of canals may be close to 10% if spoil area is included. The interrelationship between hydrology, land, vegetation, substrate, subsidence, and sediment supply are complicated; however, hydrologic units with high canal density are generally associated with higher rates of land loss and the rate may be accelerating.Some cumulative impacts of land loss are increased saltwater intrusion, loss of capacity to buffer the impact of storms, and large additions of nutrients. One measure of the impact is that roughly $8–17 × 10⁶ (U.S.A.) of fisheries products and services are lost annually in Louisiana.Viewed at the level of the hydrologic unit, land loss transcends differences in local vegetation, substrate, geology, and hydrology. Land management should therefore focus at that level of organization. Proper guideline recommendations require an appreciation of the long-term interrelations of the wetland estuarine system.     

Evaluation of environmental management resources (ISO 14001) at civil engineering construction worksites: a case study of the community of Madrid

In recent years, significant advances have been made in business organization and management. The growing demands of clients as well as the globalization of world markets are among the many factors that have led to the establishment of systems of quality control and environmental management as a competitive strategy for businesses. When compared to other professional sectors, the construction sector has been slower to respond to environmental problems and to adopt Environmental Management Systems (EMS). In the world today the ISO 14001 standard is currently the main frame of reference used by construction companies to implement this type of management system. This article presents the results of a general study regarding the evaluation of the application of the ISO 14001 standard at civil engineering construction worksites in the Community of Madrid (Spain), specifically pertaining to requirement 4.4.1, Resources, roles, responsibilities, and authority. According to requirement 4.4.1, company executives should appoint people responsible for implementing the EMS and also specify their responsibilities and functions. The personnel designated for supervising environmental work should also have sufficient authority to establish and maintain the EMS. The results obtained were the following: - EMS supervisors did not generally possess adequate training and solid experience in construction work and in the environment. Furthermore, supervisors were usually forced to combine their environmental work with other tasks, which made their job even more difficult. - Generally speaking, supervisors were not given sufficient authority and autonomy because productivity at the construction site had priority over environmental management. This was due to the fact that the company management did not have a respectful attitude toward the environment, nor was the management actively involved in the establishment of the EMS. - Insufficient resources were allocated to the Environmental Management Unit. As a result, the application of EMSs in construction projects often appeared to be more of a formality, which was merely a way of maintaining the certification of the Environmental Management System. It was more a means of meeting the requirements for submitting a tender to contracting organisms rather than an indicator of any real commitment to improving the environmental performance of construction companies.     

Collective risk management: insights and opportunities for DoD decision-makers

Individuals make decisions every day in group contexts which vary in size, structure, and purpose. The US Department of Defense (DoD) is a large organization composed of many groups, and like many organizations, it has a vested interest in improving the performance of its affiliated groups, especially as it concerns risk-informed decision-making. This article discusses current foibles and considerations for decision-making in DoD groups as identified through a workshop with experts in risk-informed decision-making, cognitive science, and military operations. Experts noted that terms associated with risk-informed decision-making were often misconstrued, that formal decision-making frameworks are underutilized, and that many considerations should be taken into account when attempting to improve decision-making performance.     

Strengthening business with a new vision at avery dennison

This article presents a case study regarding initiatives, apparent failures, and successes that the Avery Dennison Materials Group organization encountered over the last five years in creating and sustaining environmental awareness throughout its organization. This awareness encompasses considerations thought to position the organization to compete against the core elements proposed within the ISO 14001 environmental management system protocol. While Avery Dennison's Materials Group has undertaken many initiatives which strive to achieve business integration, this article focuses primarily on three environmental management systems believed to be the foundation for a manufacturing or service organization—a foundation built on sustainable compliance, incorporation of quality management concepts, and the fulfillment of environmental performance expectations driven by the community at large. Those three programs are (1) an Environmental Stewardship Policy with specific environmental operating principles, (2) Environmental Control Instructions (ECIs), which establish accountability for proper operation, and (3) an Environmental Management System Assessment similar to the Global Environmental Management Initiatives (GEMI) environmental self-assessment tool. These cornerstones provide a basis for the construction of a management program pyramid, the top of which results in a quality process for making effective business decisions by integrating core environmental operating principles.     

The clustering conditions for managing creative tourism destinations: the Alqueva region case,Portugal

The paper discusses conditions and format of a cluster model to support the management of a potential creative tourism destination in a setting where regional cross-sectoral collaboration is lacking. Creative tourism development requires a flexible framework and a healthy collaboration environment, more so when associated with resources shared by several stakeholders. This article focuses on the tourism potential of archaeological knowledge discovered during the environmental impact assessment of the Alqueva dam (Alentejo, Portugal). Interviews were conducted with 38 regional actors in the tourism and heritage sectors, as well as the dam developers and the companies responsible for archaeological interventions. Findings indicate that the lack of specific local policy addressing archaeological heritage hampers its potential use for tourism development, which is further aggravated by the absence of stakeholder communication and cooperation. A conceptual cluster model for the management of creative tourism destinations based on heritage resources and other local resources is proposed.     

Outsourcing sustainability: a game-theoretic modeling approach

As a response to stakeholders’ interest in sustainable products and services, an organization may change its approach to sustainability issues, from isolated social and environmental projects to corporate sustainability strategies and practices that are part of their core business. However, many of the efforts associated with these sustainability strategies cannot be directly exerted by focal organizations. We consider the situation in which a focal organization (sustainability buyer) outsources sustainability efforts to another organization (sustainability seller). While buyers cannot directly exert sustainability efforts, they can provide economic or technical support to their sellers in order to incentivize these efforts. We investigate how the effort and support decisions change according to characteristics of stakeholders, buyers, and sellers. Additionally, the presence of sustainability-minded stakeholders may lead to buyers’ competition on the sustainability effort exerted by their sellers. Therefore, we extend our analysis of sustainability efforts and incentives to the case of two competing buyers, and we determine conditions under which sharing a seller is preferred by the buyers to having a separate seller for each buyer.     

Communication in Ecosystem Management: A Case Study of Cross-Disciplinary Integration in the Assessment Phase of the Interior Columbia Basin Ecosystem Management Project

Effective communication is essential to the success of collaborative ecosystem management projects. In this paper, we investigated the dynamics of the Interior Columbia Basin Ecosystem Management Projects (ICBEMP) cross-disciplinary integration process in the assessment phase. Using a case study research design, we captured the rich trail of experience through conducting in-depth interviews and collecting information from internal and public documents, videos, and meetings related to the ICBEMP. Coding and analysis was facilitated by a qualitative analysis software, NVivo. Results include the range of internal perspectives on barriers and facilitators of cross-disciplinary integration in the Science Integration Team (SIT). These are arrayed in terms of discipline-based differences, organizational structures and activities, individual traits of scientists, and previous working relationships. The ICBEMP organization included a team of communication staffs (CT), and the data described the CT as a mixed group in terms of qualifications and educational backgrounds that played a major role in communication with actors external to the ICBEMP organization but a minor one in terms of internal communication. The data indicated that the CT-SIT communication was influenced by characteristics of actors and structures related to organizations and their cultures. We conclude that the ICBEMP members may not have had a sufficient level of shared understanding of central domains, such as the task at hand and ways and timing of information sharing. The paper concludes by suggesting that future ecosystem management assessment teams use qualified communications specialists to design and monitor the development of shared cognition among organization members in order to improve the effectiveness of communication and cross-disciplinary integration.     

Environmental Management in India: Recent Challenges to the Indian Forest Service

This paper examines the impact of various social, economic and political changes on the work of the Indian Forest Service, the elite organization concerned with environmental management in India. It is noted that whilst many leading authors criticize this organization, nobody has taken the time to analyse the role of the Indian Forest Service and the way it has responded to the many challenges it has faced in the last 20 years. This paper seeks to rectify this by focusing on three key challenges: (1) due to economic liberalization the actual work that the forest officer is expected to undertake has changed beyond recognition; (2) political manipulation and correspondingly accusations of corruption have increased; (3) social changes and their impact on recruitment into the Indian Forest Service. It is concluded that, despite the many challenges which the Indian Forest Service has faced over the years, it is remarkably resilient and remains the most powerful agent in rural India.     

The application of an indicator based on taxonomic distinctness for UK marine biodiversity assessments

Mankind needs to use the resources and opportunities offered by the marine environment while protecting ecological processes and systems. This is the foundation for sustainable development, which can only be achieved by adopting an appropriate management approach. Whether internationally or at a regional scale, successful management of marine ecosystems needs to be based on a scientifically robust approach to monitoring environmental change. Within such a framework, the conservation of marine biological diversity is problematic, as many conventional measures of diversity are not appropriate for measuring the types of change that require management. New indicators are required and in this paper we summarise some of the current methodology being used to derive such indices, which may be used to evaluate the effectiveness of marine stewardship initiatives. Through a series of examples we demonstrate the application of the taxonomic distinctness indicator of biodiversity to marine environmental assessment and its development towards becoming an operational tool.     

西安高校校园考古遗址“活态保护”规划探究

校园考古遗址在西安高校中星罗棋布,但多数遗址面临保护与利用失衡、整体规划缺失等问题。基于校园考古遗址的"活态保护"理念,分析了遗址现状与高校的联动关系,构建了"校园遗址保护+场景复原、人文景观、研学旅行、校企共建"保护更新模式,并通过城郊型为代表的战国(秦)大墓遗址,立足于遗址背景与校园环境,提出了"形制—内核—共享"的活态营造思路,积极探寻具有可操作性的校园遗址保护规划策略。     

Environmental management system vs green specifications: How do they complement each other in the construction industry?

Environmental Management System (EMS) has been one of the important tools for sustainable construction for around two decades. However, many issues concerning sustainable development have not been properly addressed, and there is a need for the introduction of green specifications to advance green performance in construction through contract management. This paper defines green specifications, identifies the reasons for adopting green specifications and highlights the environmental issues that may not be addressed by solely adopting EMS. It also presents the results of a recent survey of practitioners concerning their opinions towards green specifications and possible impacts arising from their adoption. From the results of the survey, a framework for developing green specifications is deemed valuable for the cities striving for sustainability. Interestingly, the level of acceptable changes brought about by green specifications as perceived by different industry stakeholders is found to be unrelated to whether they were from organizations implementing EMS or not.     

Conservation and management of the Bangladesh coastal ecosystem: Overview of an integrated approach

Although the coastal ecosystem of Bangladesh contains a highly functional and structurally diverse ecology, this ecology is gradually being degraded. As a consequence, the quality of life of a large section of the coastal community is in economic decline. This poses a daunting challenge to the sectoral coastal management programmes, active since the 1960s, aiming at simultaneously ameliorating people's livelihood and supporting the ecosystem. These programmes have been reasonably successful in managing the ecosystem, but in many cases, the situation has become worse. The limitations of these programmes include the tendency to adopt an exclusionist approach, a narrowly departmentalized administration and weak management. Currently, the integrated coastal zone management (ICZM) approach is espoused as the main strategy. With the adoption of Bangladesh's Coastal Zone Policy of 2005, the foundation for integrated management was laid. The next realistic target will be to bring about changes in culture and mandate among coastal institutions in favour of integrated management.     

Ecological effects of coastal marsh impoundments: A review

Many coastal resource managers believe estuarine marshes are critically important to estuarine fish and shellfish, not only because of the habitat present for juvenile stages, but also because of the export of detritus and plant nutrients that are consumed in the estuary. Concern has been widely expressed that diking and flooding marshes (impounding) for mosquito control and waterfowl management interferes with these values of marshes. Major changes caused by impoundment include an increase in water level, a decrease in salinity, and a decrease in the exchange of marsh water with estuarine water. Alteration of species composition is dramatic after impoundment. Changes in overall production and transport phenomena, however—and the consequences of these changes— may not be as great in some cases as the concern about these has implied. Although few data are available, a more important concern may be the reduction of access by estuarine fish and shellfish to the abundant foods and cover available in many natural, as well as impounded, marshes. Perhaps even more important is the occasional removal of free access to open water when conditions become unfavorable in impounded marsh that is periodically opened and closed. Collection of comparative data on the estuarine animal use of various configurations of natural and impounded marshes by estuarine animals should lead to improved management of both impounded and unimpounded marshes.     

集安市世界遗产旅游发展现状及对策分析

高句丽王城、王陵和贵族墓葬世界文化遗产是已消失的高句丽文明的历史见证。该遗产地包括3座王城、14座王陵和26座贵族墓葬,其中除五女山城外,其他遗产均位于中国吉林省集安市境内。通过对集安遗产旅游发展的自身优势、机遇、问题进行综合分析,认为集安遗产旅游发展处于初级阶段,潜力巨大,并提出发展策略：确立旅游发展目标、加强城市营销,完善基础设施、提升交通网络通达性,拓宽融资渠道、构建文化遗产产业链及加强区域合作、协同发展。     

Creation of the natural reserve of La Crau: implications for the creation and management of protected areas

Grasslands were once widespread and species-rich ecosystems. They have drastically decreased throughout the world, largely due to changes in land-uses. Remnant grasslands are often highly degraded and disconnected and require active conservation. In order for grasslands to be maintained worldwide, protected areas need to be created. While adequately creating and managing protected areas has proven difficult, this can be improved by following a three-point guideline: (1) consider many ecological groups (birds, insects, plants); (2) use conservation biology knowledge; (3) seek agreements with concerned parties by comprehending elements of economy, politics and sociology. Based on the example of La Crau, a steppe area in South-eastern France, this review aims at (i) illustrating that this guideline can facilitate creating and managing protected areas and (ii) proposing improvement to the guideline while keeping it simple. In La Crau, the need for conservation was first acknowledged in 1975. Between 1983, when a request for a protection decree was made and 1990, when the first concrete protection measure was taken, 20% of the steppe disappeared. It took another 8 years to reach a concerted management plan in 1998. The review shows how using ecological guidelines would have helped better and faster protection of the steppe. Improvements to the guideline drawn from the La Crau experience include: the protection of some traditional practices; the protection of some degraded habitats that can substitute for habitats that no longer exist; the restoration of degraded habitats that do not qualify for protection; and the flexibility of the management plan.     

A Perspective on Nonstationarity and Water Management1

Hirsch, Robert M., 2011. A Perspective on Nonstationarity and Water Management. Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA) 47(3):436‐446. DOI: 10.1111/j.1752‐1688.2011.00539.x Abstract: This essay offers some perspectives on climate‐related nonstationarity and water resources. Hydrologists must not lose sight of the many sources of nonstationarity, recognizing that many of them may be of much greater magnitude than those that may arise from climate change. It is paradoxical that statistical and deterministic approaches give us better insights about changes in mean conditions than about the tails of probability distributions, and yet the tails are very important to water management. Another paradox is that it is difficult to distinguish between long‐term hydrologic persistence and trend. Using very long hydrologic records is helpful in mitigating this problem, but does not guarantee success. Empirical approaches, using long‐term hydrologic records, should be an important part of the portfolio of research being applied to understand the hydrologic response to climate change. An example presented here shows very mixed results for trends in the size of the annual floods, with some strong clusters of positive trends and a strong cluster of negative trends. The potential for nonstationarity highlights the importance of the continuity of hydrologic records, the need for repeated analysis of the data as the time series grow, and the need for a well‐trained cadre of scientists and engineers, ready to interpret the data and use those analyses to help adjust the management of our water resources.     

Management strategy for acidic deposition in Western and Northern Canada

The governments of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Northwest Territories, and Canada held joint consultations in 1980 to review the available information on acid rain from Western and Northern Canada. It was concluded that acid rain might become a problem in the future and, hence, a research, monitoring, and management strategy for acidic deposition was needed. An overview of the joint governments' management strategy, organization of research and monitoring programs, and accomplishments to date are discussed in this article.The authors are members of the Technical Committee for the Long Range Transport of Atmospheric Pollutants (LRTAP)/Acid Deposition in Western and Northern Canada, and represent Alberta and British Columbia, respectively.     

临夏回族自治州旅游客源市场分析与定位

本文在临夏州客源市场调查与分析的基础上,确定其客源市场应定位在周边地区,包括兰州、定西、甘南、青海省西宁、同仁等地市;在完善和发展观光休闲旅游的基础上,发展文化修学游、民族节庆体验游、生态休闲度假游、黄河三峡风情游、穆斯林民俗游、古生物考古游,并提出了相应的市场开发策略。