Water and the politics of sustainability transitions: from regime actor conflicts to system governance organizations

This study contributes to the analysis of the politics of sustainability transitions by developing a focus on regime actor conflicts and a processual model for how these conflicts develop and are resolved. In a comparison of water-supply systems in four U.S. cities, we show how conflicts among regime actors and political jurisdictions lead to the formation of system governance organizations (SGOs) that bridge jurisdictional boundaries to manage conflicts over a technological system (TS). SGOs coordinate relations among water utilities and diverse stakeholders to reduce pervasive conflicts, but they can also serve as drivers of improved sustainability. We analyze resistance that can emerge, such as from urban growth coalitions, which limit the capacity of SGOs to drive changes. We develop a four-stage processual model (first-order regime conflicts, SGO formation, sustainability transition expansion, and second-order regime conflicts) that opens research in the politics of transitions to the dynamic of regime actor conflicts and provides the basis for generalizations about the causes of SGO formation and their effects on the governance of TSs such as water-supply infrastructure. Policy implications regarding how to improve political support for SGO sustainability efforts are also discussed.     

Pigs in the city: reflective deliberations on the boundary concept of agroparks in The Netherlands

ABSTRACT

The concept of an agro-production park combines industrial with environmental and animal friendly agriculture. In The Netherlands, academics and government introduced this idea—what we consider a boundary concept—to align economic and environmental ambitions. In this contribution, we argue that boundary concepts are important in deliberations as they create a sphere of engagement that enables participants to scrutinize their routines and to explore new interpretations and practices that replace their normal ways. In this way we ground the notion of ‘reflexive governance’ in deliberative practices for sustainable agriculture. We explored if and how the concept of an agropark induced frame-reflective conversations about conflicting and overlapping interpretations. We conducted a frame analysis of four Dutch national newspapers from which we derived four possible interpretations of an agropark: Pigs in the City, Surviving Farmers, Pigs in the Mud and Surviving Citizens. Next, we analysed 10 deliberative sessions about agroparks to study if reflectivity occurred. Our findings suggest that to move to more sustainable agriculture, the introduction of innovative boundary crossing concepts invites participants to reflect on conflicting frames and engage in reflective governance. However, facilitators and governmental actors need to support this boundary crossing for it to become tangible.     

Les Reciproqueteurs: post-regulatory corporatism

ABSTRACT

Reflexive governance can be understood as an emergent encapsulated trust-building corporatism where network participants are neither state functionaries nor market entrepreneurs but network reciproqueteurs. This paper argues that such reflexive network governance results in a post-regulatory corporatism (PRC)—a more adaptable, less formalized, and flexible mode of interest intermediation, policy-making, and policy-implementation than previous modes of corporatist intermediation. Functional differentiation processes engender ‘negotiated connected contracts' in rescaled space in between inter-regional assemblages, a mode of structurally coupling new social partners in the emergent transnational knowledge-based economy. This involves the building of new social capital of network trust-building manifested in the norms of reciprocity and reflexive law constituted as a new mode of protocolism: one associated with the social learning and policy designing necessary for ecological systems' autopoeisis, resilience, and sustainability. This paper conceptualizes reflexive network governance as protocolism in constellations of PRC and discusses examples from the area of environmental policy-making. PRC is understood as a new mode of negotiated rule-making: as a recursive protocolism of multi-stakeholder social pacts constituted by frame agreements and negotiated connected network contracts.     

Speaking of fire: reflexive governance in landscapes of social change and shifting local identities

ABSTRACT

The concept of reflexive governance has to a large extent emerged from an increasing recognition of the need to consider different meanings of nature in the environmental policy-making process. Yet, so far, little attention has been paid to creating conditions for reflexive governance among different actors in intercultural settings, particularly in the context of environmental conflict and strong cultural change among indigenous peoples. This paper reviews three participatory research projects carried out in the Gran Sabana in Canaima National Park, Venezuela, which facilitated dialogue among indigenous people regarding their conflicting views of fire, in part by developing community-wide critical reflections on processes of cultural change and identity formations. These experiences suggest that once marginalized environmental knowledge is publicly acknowledged within the context of endogenous cultural processes, indigenous people feel more confident to engage in dialogue with other actors, thus allowing the emergence of reflexive environmental governance.     

From disaster management to adaptive governance? Governance challenges to achieving resilient food systems in Australia

Building resilient food systems in the context of climate change and increased natural disasters depends on governance being more ‘adaptive’. Through a case study of events surrounding the extensive flooding that occurred in Queensland, Australia, in 2011, this paper examines how governance settings and processes affected food system actors’ engagement with three aspects of adaptive governance – responsibility, participation and collaboration – as those actors sought to ensure food availability and access during the crisis. We found that, despite the existence of formal governance instruments committed to disaster management, food security and resilience at local, state and national levels, responsibilities for ensuring food supply during a disaster were not clearly articulated. Responsibility was largely assumed by supermarkets, who in turn increased the influence of retailer–government coalitions. The participation of non-supermarket food system actors in governance was low, and there was limited collaboration between local, and other, levels of governance. The policy challenge is to ensure that responsibility, participation and collaboration become a stronger foci for adaptive governance during and after a disaster such as flooding.     

Transformation of rural communities: lessons from a local self-initiative for building resilience in the Solomon Islands

Solomon Islands is vulnerable to negative impacts from climate change, where people’s livelihoods and their well-being are threatened, especially the viability of isolated communities. Realising the increasing risks from climate change on communities, government, in partnership with aid-donor partners, has invested millions of dollars in climate change projects, through mitigation and adaptation strategies. As a form of adaptation, the government invests in programmes aimed at increasing the adaptive capacity of the vulnerable communities through landscape and seascape projects across the rural communities. Focusing on the “transformation concept” as a long-term adaptation strategy and enlargement of climate engineering and ecological resilience concepts, the paper discusses why building resilience from transformation of rural communities, as well as from landscape and seascape projects, would benefit communities and relevant authorities. This paper describes the findings of a study on two rural villages, Keigold and Mondo, from Ranogha Islands, Western Province, in Solomon Islands, where 80% of households decided to relocate from their old village “Mondo” to their new home “Keigold” after an earthquake in 2007, as part of a self-initiative. The reallocation process can be seen as a case of pro-active community transformation that provides valuable lessons to other rural communities that may be forced to move due to impacts from natural catastrophes, including those explained by climate change risks. Lessons from this experience suggest that policy-makers and non-government organisations should consider and empower local transformation initiatives as a way to building long-term adaptation to climate change.     

Is Learning without teaching possible? The productive tension between network governance and reflexivity

ABSTRACT

Theories of reflexive governance are closely linked with the claim that more traditional modes of coordination have been replaced by networked structures, allowing reflexivity to emerge and reflexive learning to function as a steering mechanism in rapidly changing policy contexts. This paper explores this connection between reflexivity, governance, learning and networks in societal transitions, focusing particularly on the claim that networks will deliver reflexive learning. Using network theories from both policy networks and network governance and a case study of the Canadian agricultural biotechnology (agbiotech) policy network, it suggests that the kind of learning produced in networks will be a function of network structure. In particular, higher order reflexive learning will be compromised by the inevitability of the political struggle for nodality or central place in networks and the ensuing distribution of opportunities for bridging and bonding activities. Networks such as the Canadian agbiotech policy network that may promote learning but not necessarily reflexive learning are increasingly disadvantaged in contemporary policy settings.     

Energy balance and global warming potential of corn straw-based bioethanol in China from a life cycle perspective

As the second largest corn producer in this world, China has abundant corn straw resources. The study assessed the energy balance and global warming potential of corn straw-based bioethanol production and utilization in China from a life cycle perspective. The results revealed that bioethanol used as gasoline and diesel blend fuel could reduce global warming potential by 10%–97% and 4%–96%, respectively, as compared to gasoline and diesel for transport. The total global warming potential, net global warming potential, net energy, and Net Energy Ratio per MJ ethanol generated from corn straw-based bioethanol system are estimated to be 0.20 kg CO₂-eq, 0.012 kg CO₂-eq, 0.60 MJ, and 1.87, respectively. By using sensitivity analysis, we found that the collected coefficient and compressing density of straw have a more obvious influence on energy balance; transportation distance has a more obvious influence on global warming potential emission factor. The by-products may be utilized as fertilizer, animal feed, cement replacement, or high-value lignin chemicals, which make a contribution to offsetting 0.28 MJ per MJ ethanol of energy consumption.     

村镇生态化治理的问题、经验及对策

中国现代化的关键是农村现代化,中国绿色化的关键是村镇绿色化。本文在广泛调研并汲取他山经验和教训的基础上,提出村镇生态化治理的八大理念:坚持村镇规划的分区化,以功能分区原则引领村镇生态化建设;坚持村镇环境的宜居化,以人地和谐原则引领村镇生态化建设;坚持村镇道路的差异化,以融通古今原则引领村镇道路的分类建设;坚持村镇民居的特色化,以产品差别原则构筑村镇建筑的个性化特征;坚持村镇水系的生态化,以水体灵动原则引领村镇生态化建设;坚持村镇资源的循环化,以绿色发展理念引领自然资源高效利用;坚持村镇景观的园艺化,以美丽乡村目标引领村镇美丽家园建设;坚持村镇治理的科学化,以各司其职理念构建多主体协同治理格局。     

长江中下游地区21世纪气候变化情景预测

利用IPCC数据分发中心提供的7个模式的模拟结果,分析了由于人类活动影响,温室气体(GG)增加以及温室气体和硫化物气溶胶(GS)共同增加时,长江中下游地区未来50～100年的气候变化情景.结果表明,长江中下游地区21世纪的未来温度变化与全球和全国一样,都将呈增加的趋势.GG作用下,2050年和2100年长江中下游地区的变暖幅度分别为2.2℃和4.5℃左右,比全国以及东部和西部地区的变暖幅度小;GS作用下2050年和2100年,其分别为1.2℃和3.9℃,总体上,长江中下游地区的变暖幅度低于全球与全国的变暖幅度.各个季节相比,春季和冬季的增温幅度最大,夏季最小,在两种情形下,长江中下游地区21世纪中期夏季温度将分别增加2.3和0.8℃,2100年将分别增加4.1和3.1℃.对降水变化的分析表明,GG作用下,长江中下游地区与全球、全国以及中国西部和东部地区相比,降水增加的幅度最大;GS作用下,降水增加趋势不明显;综合7个模式的模拟结果,GG作用下,春季和秋季降水增加最明显,夏季次之;GS作用下,长江中下游地区的年平均降水变化不明显,夏季降水增加.同时,本文还对长江中下游地区21世纪中期和末期的温度和降水变化的地理分布进行了分析,两种情形下,都是长江以北的增温幅度大于长江以南.GG作用下,春季长江中下游地区21世纪中期降水将增加5%～7.5%,夏季则是长江下游地区降水增加较大,将增加10%,而长江中游地区降水增加不明显;21世纪末,春季和夏季长江中下游地区的降水增加幅度都将加大,尤其是长江以南地区的降水增加最明显;考虑GG和GS的共同影响后,长江以南的地区降水增加,长江以北地区降水减少.