Community participation in international projects: an analytical perspective from the Russian Far East

International projects frequently struggle with the dilemmas of community participation, whether the community in question is the object of a development or aid intervention, or is to be persuaded to cooperate on a conservation project. This paper discusses the challenges facing interventionists and the obstacles and opportunities that local people encounter as they come into contact with exogenous conservation and development projects. The key issues presented can be summarized as legacy, legitimacy, agency and communication. We argue that project planners need to understand the history of past interventions in order to respond appropriately to local expectations. At the same time, the complexity of community leadership and representation complicates the sometimes conflicting agendas of project developers and communities. Much depends on personal relations, individual agency, and initiative. Finally, the physical means of communication—language, print and broadcast media, transport and telecommunications—are important aspects to consider when assessing the limitations to community participation. Although there have been valuable successes in international projects in Russia, as in other regions of the world, a better understanding of community participation is needed to ensure more effective and sustainable means for engaging communities in project development and implementation. This paper explores these questions through a locally-grounded analysis based on the academic research and practitioner experience of the two authors in the remote home of a World Heritage site—the Kamchatka Peninsula, in the Russian Far East.     

Public Participation and Effective Water Governance at the Local Level: A Case Study from a Small Under-Developed Area in Chile

The concept of participation in rural development has been evolutionary for the past two decades with those involved, such as development agencies and governments, particularly in rural water supply, re-evaluating their active role. The move towards effective community participation has encouraged a shift from the traditional top-down to a bottom-up approach whereby there is a decentralisation of unevenly distributed resources and power to empower a community and allow mobility of ‘people participation’. The Molinos water project is the first large-scale development project of its kind introduced into the village of Molinos in an under-developed area of Chile, where there has been no tradition of people participation. The project objective was to implement a low technology, low budget water treatment plant to the village of Molinos. Various aspects have hindered the continued development of the project including both technical and financial. In terms of people participation, the initial approach used was the top-down approach. There was a failure to fully integrate the community or inform the community in a formal manner about the project and consult them regarding key project issues. This case study illustrates that the lack of comprehensive consultation and the low level of participation of the community on the participatory scale does not achieve much in terms of people-centred benefits. For governance at the local level to be effective, participation should be inclusive and communicative so as to enhance transparency throughout the project lifetime. Readers should send their comments on this paper to: BhaskarNath@aol.com within 3 months of publication of this issue.     

Mainstreaming sustainability into biodiversity conservation in Lesotho

Biodiversity conservation is critical for the continued supply of ecosystem services to secure the sustainability of livelihoods, especially for poor rural people in developing countries. Current rates of biodiversity loss need to be curbed by using effective interventions and decision-making that again require timely information. Undertaking a community sustainability assessment to generate and structure this information for grassroots levels is critical for decision-making and actions. This paper presents insights from a community sustainability assessment initiative undertaken in Lesotho within a trans-boundary project area known as the Maloti-Drakensberg Transfrontier Project. A qualitative case study approach was employed through a combination of several data collection techniques, including a literature review, field observations, key informant interviews, group discussions and key informant workshops. Study participants consisted of members of the community conservation forums from three districts that had been established by the project. Regarding progress towards the sustainability of biodiversity in the study area, the results indicated that current practices are unsustainable, more from the point of view of the socio-ecological components than the socio-cultural and spiritual or the socio-economic components. Consequently, there is a need to raise awareness at the community level and implement action plans to realize changes that support the sustainability of biodiversity in the long term.     

Community partnered projects: a case study of a collaborative effort to improve sanitation in a marginalized community in northwest Mexico

There is a growing recognition in developing countries that community participation in water and sanitation projects is a necessary strategy in sustainable development. The main advantage of following such an approach is that, if participation can encourage a sense of ownership of the projects, the benefits of the project are more likely to extend over the long term. The case study at hand focuses on the challenges faced in implementing a wastewater treatment system to solve an environmental and public health problem in a rural community, Rosario de Tesopaco, in northwest Mexico. Until recently, the community has been unable to implement an effective plan to treat the wastewater generated in the community. The problems faced by the community can be attributed to the political arrangement of water and sanitation decentralization in Mexico that occurred in the mid 1980’s, whereby communities were required to meet wastewater treatment standards, but were not given the technical and political guidance needed to achieve this goal. However, in this instance, cooperation between the authorities in Rosario de Tesopaco, the federal agency for social development, and an academic institution has led to the successful design and approval of a wastewater treatment project. This achievement can be attributed to the use of an effective collaborative strategy, tailoring the project to the needs and capacity of the local community, positioning the community as the leaders and owners of the project. A model for following this strategy for developing rural sanitation projects in Mexico is proposed. Readers should send their comments on this paper to BhaskarNath@aol.com within 3 months of publication of this issue.     

Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM): a review of progress in Portuguese implementation

Coastal areas are the focus of intensive urbanisation and tourism and are subject to changing physical processes causing significant natural environment modifications. It is in this context that the European Commission (EC) developed the Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) Recommendation and invited coastal Member States to produce national implementation strategies. Its general aim of sustainable coastal development was based on policy integration in cooperation with all stakeholders in an informed and participatory context. Portugal responded to the EC request by creating, approving, and adopting the national ICZM strategy. This paper focuses on Portuguese experiences putting the ICZM recommendation into practice and begins with a brief overview of community guidelines, national legislation, and implementation. Subsequently, governance mechanisms are discussed and best practice identified. From an assessment of Portuguese ICZM progress and lessons learned, conclusions and recommendations for improved effectiveness included: strengthening governance; improving sustainable decision-making processes supported by technical and scientific knowledge; and securing financial sustainability.     

Transdisciplinary research in support of land and water management in China and Southeast Asia: evaluation of four research projects

Transdisciplinary research (TDR) aims at identifying implementable solutions to difficult sustainability problems and at fostering social learning. It requires a well-managed collaboration among multidisciplinary scientists and multisectoral stakeholders. Performing TDR is challenging, particularly for foreign researchers working in countries with different institutional and socio-cultural conditions. There is a need to synthesize and share experience among researchers as well as practitioners regarding how TDR can be conducted under specific contexts. In this paper, we aim to evaluate and synthesize our unique experience in conducting TDR projects in Asia. We applied guiding principles of TDR to conduct a formative evaluation of four consortium projects on sustainable land and water management in China, the Philippines, and Vietnam. In all projects, local political conditions restricted the set of stakeholders that could be involved in the research processes. The set of involved stakeholders was also affected by the fact that stakeholders in most cases only participate if they belong to the personal network of the project leaders. Language barriers hampered effective communication between foreign researchers and stakeholders in all projects and thus knowledge integration. The TDR approach and its specific methods were adapted to respond to the specific cultural, social, and political conditions in the research areas, also with the aim to promote trust and interest of the stakeholders throughout the project. Additionally, various measures were implemented to promote collaboration among disciplinary scientists. Based on lessons learned, we provide specific recommendations for the design and implementation of TDR projects in particular in Asia.     

南水北调中线水源区生态环境变化分析研究

南水北调中线水源区生态环境情况直接关系南水北调中线工程的水质安全。采用遥感监测技术,根据南水北调中线水源区2000年和2013年的生态环境监测结果,对比分析了整个水源区土地覆被、水土流失、土壤侵蚀等变化情况,从宏观上评价水源区生态环境状况,为有关部门制定相关政策提供参考。研究结果表明,在十多年中,水源区森林覆盖率提高,农田面积比例明显下降,水土流失面积减少,水源区生态环境总体上呈趋向变好的态势。随着农村人口向沿江地带城镇集中,在进一步加强山地植被保护的同时,要进一步重视和加强沿江地带的生态环境保护工作     

Restoring ecosystems,restoring community: socioeconomic and cultural dimensions of a community-based coral reef restoration project

Environmental restoration projects are commonly touted for their ecological positives, but such projects can also provide significant socioeconomic and cultural benefits to local communities. We assessed the social dimensions of a large-scale coral reef restoration project in Maunalua Bay, O‘ahu, where >1.32 million kg of invasive marine macroalgae was removed from 11 hectares (90,000 m²; 23 acres) of impacted coral reef in an urbanized setting. We interviewed 131 community stakeholders and analyzed both quantitative and qualitative data to assess human uses of the environment, assess perceptions of environmental health, and characterize social dimensions (+/?) associated with the invasive algae removal effort. Results indicate substantial direct economic benefits, including the creation of more than 60+ jobs, benefiting more than 250 individuals and 81 households. The project helped develop a skilled workforce in a local business dedicated to environmental restoration and increased the capacity of community organizations to address other threats to reefs and watersheds. Other major benefits include revitalization of Native Hawaiian cultural practices and traditions and the successful use of harvested invasive algae as compost by local farmers. Our results show the project heightened community awareness and a broader sense of stewardship in the area, creating enabling conditions for collective community action. Our findings show that restoration projects that explicitly incorporate efforts to build community awareness, involvement, and a shared responsibility for a site may ultimately create the long-term capacity for sustainable stewardship programs. We conclude by discussing lessons learned for engaging productively with communities in environmental restoration and stewardship, which remains a central focus in conservation worldwide.     

基于物元可拓模型的水土保持综合效益评价

针对水土保持综合效益评价中信息屏蔽和单指标评价结果不相容的问题，采用物元可拓模型，对湖北省世行水土保持项目区的6个区域进行了综合效益评价，结果表明：项目区水土保持生态效益等级Ⅱ级以上的区域占整个项目区的833%，经济效益等级Ⅱ级以上的占50%，社会效益等级全部属于Ⅱ级以上，表明项目的实施产生了良好的生态、经济、社会效益；综合效益等级为Ⅱ级以上的占整个项目区的833%，项目整体上实施效果较好。利川水土保持综合效益等级为Ⅰ级，长阳和浠水水土保持综合效益具备向Ⅰ级转化的潜力，但长阳的转化潜力高于浠水。红安和麻城具有向Ⅲ级转化的潜力，夷陵水土保持综合效益等级最低。物元可拓模型评价结果与传统的综合指数评价法结果基本一致，表明该方法评价结果可靠。研究结果对水土保持综合效益评价方法体系建立具有一定意义，同时可为水土流失综合治理提供决策依据     

Household water in rural asia: a case study of the construction of a piped water system in Bangui,Ilocos Norte,Philippines

In early 1980 an extension agent was assigned to the rural municipality of Bangui, Ilocos Norte, Philippines to work on development projects – in particular the improvement of the supply of safe water for drinking and sanitation. After many months of visiting spring sites and meeting with community leaders, a small part of the municipality was selected to build a gravity fed piped water system. Although the system took many months to plan, identify funding and construct, the 600 community members were ultimately rewarded with house to house connections that enabled them to achieve per capita water consumption levels above the minimum levels recommended by the World Health Organization. Of course, money was critical to ensure the project’s success, but many other factors played an equally critical role. For instance, without the active participation of the community and the unwavering support of the community leadership the project would not have survived the initial planning stage. Also, the extension agent played a critical role by acting as a conduit between funding agencies, the Bureau of Public Works and the community. The primary lesson to be learned from this experience is that the success of rural development projects is largely driven by the synergy between the community, technical support, financial support, and agents of change such as extension agents. If any of these ingredients had been lacking, the project result would likely have been far different.     

Wind power projects in Brazil: challenges and opportunities increasing co-benefits and implications for climate and energy policies

The purpose of this article is to analyze the challenges to, and opportunities for, increasing sustainable development (SD) co-benefits delivered by clean development mechanism (CDM) wind power projects in northeastern Brazil and the resulting implications for climate and energy policies. Five methodological phases were met: First, a documentary research was conducted in the main CDM database; second was a literature review, creating the analytical framework and a survey questionnaire needed to assess the SD co-benefits from the projects; third, documentary research was used to enable ex-ante analysis of the SD co-benefits proposed in the CDM Project Design Documents (PDDs); fourth, survey allowed for the analysis of SD co-benefits perceived by project entrepreneurs (ex-post analysis); and finally, a comparison between the ex-ante and ex-post analyses was completed. The results show the importance of carrying out SD co-benefit studies after the implementation of CDM projects in order to learn lessons for new mechanisms of climate governance. The lowest SD co-benefits were water management improvement in the project influence area, soil pollution prevention, health and safety improvements and technology transfer. The greatest opportunities for increasing SD co-benefits come from the environmental licensing process and the strengthening of Corporate Social Responsibility. The greatest challenges are new technology development, stakeholders’ engagement and SD co-benefit audits. We conclude that the improvement of multi-level climate and energy governance plays a key role in increasing SD co-benefits.

     

德国豪特尔·勒瑙洪泛区土地利用综合设想

“德国豪特尔·勒瑙洪泛区土地利用综合设想”是EC INTERRDⅡc项目IRMA的一部分。该项目旨在通过一种综合性的方法，即空间规划、水资源管理和灾害预防，来解决莱茵河上游沿岸高水位洪水泛滥问题。莱茵马列丁奈州环保局负责该项目的实施。项目的基本目标是改善现有防洪计划并减轻莱茵河流域日益严重的洪水危害。考虑到具体的实施问题，该项目突出体现了工程的特征：运用综合性跨学科学的方法，精心设计，以实现恢复洪泛平原的目标。与以往防洪计划与防洪过程不同的是，该项目进行土地利用规划，并采取了一系列的对策措施。其主要方法是通过设计多种土地利用备选方案来协调各种冲突。     

Scenarios for integrated river catchment and coastal zone management

The European Water Framework Directive requires EU Member States to introduce water quality objectives for all water bodies, including coastal waters. Measures will have to be introduced if these objectives are not met, given predictions based on current trends. In this context, the estimation of future fluxes of nutrients and contaminants in the catchment, and the evaluation of policies to improve water quality in coastal zones are an essential part of river basin management plans. This paper investigates the use of scenarios for integrated catchment/coastal zone management in the Humber Estuary in the U.K. The context of this ongoing research is a European research project which aims to assist the implementation of integrated catchment and coastal zone management by analysing the response of the coastal sea to changes in fluxes of nutrients and contaminants from the catchments. The example of the Humber illustrates how scenarios focusing on water quality improvement can provide a useful tool to investigate future fluxes and evaluate policy options for a more integrated coastal/catchment management strategy.     

山水林田湖生命共同体健康评价——以红枫湖区域为例

了解、掌握山水林田湖生命共同体健康情况能为共同体修复工作提供参考。以红枫湖所在地为研究区，借鉴VOR生态模型建立山水林田湖生命共同体健康评价的SC模型。评价体系中27个指标等级设定参考国际、国家行业标准、相关文献，未有明确标准的指标采取标准化或者自然断点发划定等级，权重采用AHP确定。结果表明：（1）研究区山水林田湖生命共同体健康整体属于亚健康状态；（2）因2010年百年一遇大旱，生命共同体健康（H）指数在2010年最低；（3）山的基本状态指数与评价其他子系统基本状态的多个指标存在相关性；（4）生命共同体基本状态（S）指数与林、湖强度相关；（5）2005～2015年H指数增加得益于湖的基本状态得到改善。以相关性分析结果与实地实施的方针政策相结合，确定影响生命共同体健康的主要因子有地形地貌、极端雨量、水利工程以及生态环境保护措施。最后，从重点湖泊区保护、水库生态环境优化、抗旱防汛水利工程实施、重点工业区、土地开发建设、水土流失治理等5个方面提出生命共同体健康维护建议。     

南水北调中线工程与汉江中下游地区农业的持续发展

南水北调中线工程是指从汉江的丹江口水库引水供给华北地区,同时考虑鄂,豫两省汉江唐白河流域和淮河流域的需水要求的战略性工程,是调整水资源的空白布局,解决我国北方缺水问题的紧迫任务。汉江中下游地区是湖北省的粮仓和重要的产业基地,是汉江流域经济发展的中心。由于调水的影响,汉江丹江口以下的流量及季节性分配将发生变化,航运,水质,农业灌溉,工业生产以及城市发展等将受到不同程度的影响,直接关系到汉江中下游地区     

向家坝工程扰动区的景观变化及其生态恢复

大型水利水电工程扰动常造成土地利用的显著变化。为研究工程扰动对景观的影响以及采取修复措施后的景观生态效果，以向家坝水利水电工程建设为例，以工程扰动区的航空摄影图像分析和野外样地调查为手段，分别针对工程区域在被扰动前（2004年）、扰动后（2006~2007年）和进行恢复重建之后（2008年）的3个代表年份展开了区域景观变化及现有生态恢复工程对生态景观恢复效应的研究。选取景观破碎化指数、多样性、优势度和景观形状指数4个参数，量化分析了向家坝工程建设区整体景观结构特征，包括不同阶段景观格局变化、景观斑块类型面积与斑块数量变化、斑块破碎化和斑块形状变化，以及各年份景观指数和各景观类型破碎化指数变化等。此外，从景观生态学原理的角度，提出了向家坝工程扰动区将来实施生态恢复重建的对策措施。其中特别强调扰动区今后的生态恢复工作应在科学规划扰动区景观格局和功能的基础上，注重景观连接性的建设，同时不断改善群落结构和丰富物种多样性     

Greening flood protection through knowledge processes: lessons from the Markermeer dikes project in the Netherlands

Greening flood protection (GFP) is increasingly recognized as an adaptive and flexible approach to water management that is well suited to addressing uncertain futures associated with climate change. In the last decade, GFP knowledge and policies have developed rapidly, but implementation has been less successful and has run into numerous barriers. In this paper, we address the challenge of realizing green flood protection goals by specifically considering knowledge in the decision-making of a Dutch flood protection project in Lake Markermeer. In this project, an ecological knowledge arrangement and a traditional flood protection knowledge arrangement are compared and their interactions analysed. The analysis provides insight into the specific difficulties of implementing GFP measures and identifies ways to realize GFP goals. The primary challenge is twofold: First, a self-reinforcing cycle of knowledge production and decision-making in the flood protection domain inhibits the introduction of innovative and multifunctional approaches such as GFP; second, the distribution of power is severely unbalanced in terms of ecological enhancement and flood protection, favouring the latter. Implementation of GFP requires structural change and the integration of ecological and flood protection knowledge and policy. Potentially rewarding routes towards this integration are the exploration of shared interests in GFP and the creation of mutual dependency between knowledge arrangements. The case study and the insights it provides show that GFP is far from mainstream practice and that implementation requires serious effort and courage to break with historical practices.     

Using a diagnostic tool to evaluate the longevity of urban community sanitation systems: A case study from Indonesia

Improving access to water and sanitation does not necessarily guarantee longevity of those systems transferred. Lessons from past interventions suggest that success depends on acceptance of the technology from the recipients and sustained use after donor assistance ends. A qualitative evaluation of urban community sanitation systems in Indonesia is conducted by use of a diagnostic tool, called RECAP, focusing on technology performance and experience. By means of surveys and qualitative interviews, the perceptions of involved stakeholders (local government, implementing agency and users) are evaluated. Conclusions suggest bridging the gap between governments and users in relation to maintenance and monitoring would improve the quality and longevity of interventions.     

Examining Community Perceptions of Energy Systems Development: The Role of Communication and Sense of Place

An increasing demand for the development and implementation of low carbon energy systems has furthered the need to understand the factors that influence a community's support for or opposition to local energy developments. Carbon dioxide capture and geological storage (CCS) is one such energy system where it is widely acknowledged that public perceptions and acceptance of CCS technologies are critical to their implementation. CCS refers to the capture of carbon dioxide emissions from industrial sources and the long-term storage of these emissions in stable underground reservoirs. This case study examines how place attachment and community networks factored into resident's perceptions of a proposed CCS project that was ultimately canceled due to local opposition. Participants were concerned about preserving shared places, spaces, and interactions that were valued by community members. Results demonstrate the need to ascertain how locally affected populations view CCS or other energy developments, especially with regard to their ideas about community, sense of place (ties to area and local relationships), and how they communicate about those factors. Such factors are important given the initiative to develop low carbon energy systems in rural areas.     

Sustainability Capacity Building Based on Educational Method： A Case Study on China and Sweden Joint Program

Environmental Education and Education for Sustainable Development （EE＆ESD） have been widely accepted as an effective educational method to contribute to capacity development and processes of change in developing countries. This paper takes SIDA supported EE＆ESD in formal educationadvanced international training program, China as an example. By analyzing and reflecting its orientation, implementation, outcomes and evaluation, experiences and lessons learned are expected to help improve the sorts of international cooperation capacity building programs both from international and also Chinese perspectives.