Open workshops as sites of innovative socio-economic practices: approaching urban post-growth by assemblage theory

ABSTRACT

Current debates on knowledge-based and creative locational development have come to deal with small urban places of novelty that formerly remained unnoticed. A plethora of new forms of producing and working recently emerged in unplanned and uncoordinated ways, bearing odd names such as FabLabs, Open Worklabs, RealLabs, Open Design Cities, Techshops, Repair Cafés, and more (Smith, A., M. Fressoli, D. Abrol, E. Arond, and A. Ely. 2017. Grassroots Innovation Movements. London: Routledge). Political initiatives have been taken by surprise; at the same time, standard epistemic tools of the social sciences and economics have been rendered unfit. More concise analytical reconstructions are needed to adequately capture the variety and complexity of these “labs”, their heterogeneous causation, their contingent proceedings, their surplus of latency, their peculiar power relations and their local embeddings. Urban social contexts have a strong triggering function as they help to re-configure older, and create new, combinations of heterogeneous social and economic agency. Meanwhile strong elements of grassroots innovation (Smith et al. 2017) have informed the formation of various models of alternative work and production. Taking the phenotype of open workshops as a revealing example, we take assemblage theory to describe the constitutive features of these new types of self-organised work, and the associated places of innovation. A fresh gaze on the complexity and open-endedness of socio-material formations may help to better understand the nature of emerging post-growth economies.     

城乡结合解决府南河水质与水量问题的建议——把府南河建设成既是城市水景又是农灌水库的设想

本文通过对成都市府南河及都江堰灌溉系统的水资源利用现状分析,结合我国有关环保法规、水污染防治对策及工程实例,提出了城乡结合,把府南河建设成为既是城市水景又是农灌水库的建议,为解决成都市府南河水质污染与水量不足问题提出了一条新的途径。     

Noble goals and challenging terrain: organic and fair trade coffee movements in the global marketplace

Social relations associated with conventional agricultural exports find their origins in long term associations based on business, family, and class alliances. Working outside these boundaries presents a host of challenges, especially where small producers with little economic or political power are concerned. Yet, in many developing countries, alternative trade organizations (ATOs) based on philosophies of social justice and/or environmental well-being are carving out spaces alongside traditional agricultural export sectors by establishing new channels of trade and marketing. Coffee provides a case in point, with the fair trade and certified organic movements making inroads into the market place. In their own ways, these movements represent a type of economic and social restructuring from below, drawing upon and developing linkages beyond the traditional boundaries of how coffee is produced and traded. An examination of the philosophies of the fair trade and organic coffee movements reveal that the philosophical underpinnings of both certified organic and fair-trade coffee run counter to the historical concerns of coffee production and trade. Associations of small producers involved in these coffees face stiff challenges – both internal and external to their groups. More work, especially in situ fieldwork aimed at uncovering the challenges, benefits, tensions, and successes, is needed to understand better the ways these networks operate in the dynamic agro-food complex.     

北京地表水中三氟乙酸的测定

三氟乙酸是HFC-134a等氯氟烃替代品的降解产物,对植物和土壤微生物群落的生长有一定抑制作用。笔者建立了测定TFA质量浓度的实验方法:将样品中的三氟乙酸与硫酸二甲酯在浓硫酸介质中衍生为三氟乙酸甲酯(MTFA),利用MTFA的易挥发性,以顶空进样和气相色谱-质谱联用的方法检测样品中MTFA的质量浓度,进而得到环境水样中TFA的质量浓度。并应用该方法测定了北京部分地表水体中三氟乙酸的质量浓度。测定结果:北京青年湖水样和北海水样中的ρ(三氟乙酸)分别为78和93ng L,而北京大学自来水水样中ρ(三氟乙酸)低于方法检测限10ng L。      

Considerations for using alternative technologies in nutrient management on Cape Cod: Beyond cost and performance

Mitigating non-point source nitrogen in coastal estuaries is economically, environmentally, logistically, and socially challenging. On Cape Cod, Massachusetts, nitrogen management includes both traditional, centralized wastewater treatment and sewering as well as a number of alternative technologies. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 37 participants from governmental and non-governmental organizations as well as related industries to identify the barriers and opportunities for the use of alternative technologies to mitigate nitrogen pollution. The interviews were recorded, transcribed, and then analyzed using content analysis and rhetorical analysis. Cost and technical capacity to reduce nitrogen were the most discussed considerations. Beyond those, there were a slew of additional considerations that also impacted whether a technology would be installed, permitted, and socially accepted. These included: maintenance and monitoring logistics, comparisons to sewering, co-benefits, risk/uncertainty, community culture, extent of public engagement, permitting/regulatory challenges, and siting considerations. The insights about these additional considerations are valuable for transferring to other coastal areas managing nutrient impairments that may have not yet factored in these considerations when making decisions about how to meet water quality goals.     

Knowledge-based decision-making model for the management of transit system alternative fuel infrastructures

Energy-efficient and environmentally sustainable public transportation systems are within the solution space provided by alternative fuel vehicles. Given the large revenue service potential of alternative fuel buses within the urban space, they are good candidates for emissions reductions when they are employed as part of a comprehensive urban transit planning process. The determination of the most appropriate alternative fuel bus asset for a given application is not necessarily that straightforward. The typical bus fleet is developed over a broad time horizon with each asset being acquired to meet a certain agency need or to close a perceived gap in the delivery of public transportation service. Therefore, as new assets are considered, it is critical for the fleet manager to consider as many factors of the fleet infrastructure to better ensure the positive impact that the newly acquired asset will have on fleet performance relative to the overall service goals and objectives of the fleet. This study investigates a broad range of alternative fuel bus technologies and the associated factors that will inform the decision-making process. Further, this work utilizes the inventory and understanding of the range of technology factors and leverages the perspective knowledge of industry experts on each of these factors to develop an expert systems decision-making philosophy to aid in the adoption of industry standards, best practices, consistency and sustainability in fleet asset management over time.     

直喷式柴油机燃用脂肪酸甲酯的排放特性

脂肪酸甲酯是由生物脂肪经过酯化反应得到的脂肪酸单酯,具有良好的燃料品质和环境友好性,是生物柴油众多种类中的一种.以纯矿物柴油、脂肪酸甲酯、含30%脂肪酸甲酯与70%柴油的混合燃料和含50%脂肪酸甲酯与50%柴油的混合燃料为燃料,在四缸涡轮增压直喷式柴油机上进行的性能对比实验,表明柴油机燃用脂肪酸甲酯能够保持其动力性和燃料经济性,可以显著降低HC和碳烟排放,但会增加CO和NOx排放.脂肪酸甲酯可以作为柴油机的代用燃料进行推广.     

江汉油田老二站提高水质达标率研究

江汉油田老二站采出水经典处理后回注,出水悬浮物、Fe2+和细菌均超标严重,水质达标率低.通过工艺调整,工艺前段利用SRB的除铁作用大幅度降低Fe2+含量;絮凝沉降阶段依据Fenton反应原理,借助H2O2的氧化除铁与杀菌作用,提高絮凝沉降效率,降低悬浮物含量;工艺末段选用多种杀菌剂交替杀菌.结果表明,工艺调整后以100 mg/L的H2O2代替原絮凝剂,间歇添加100 mg/L的杀菌剂Ⅱ,出水含铁1.5 mg/L、悬浮物3.0 mg/L、SRB 10个/mL,老二站水质达到注水水质标准要求,水质达标率达80％.     

Switching to alternative transit: combining bicycle safety improvements with parking regulations

Smart growth policies advocate for economically viable, environmentally conscientious, and socially equitable solutions for urban development. These policies were developed largely in response to issues rooted in the automobile-oriented culture: air pollution, high greenhouse gas emissions, traffic congestion, and sedentary lifestyles. In urban settings, a good transportation alternative is cycling, since it is able to serve the travel needs of nearly half of city dwellers’ daily trips. Many European and Canadian cities have successfully increased cycling rates by creating safer bicycle environments and restricting or discouraging automobile use. To evaluate the potential effects of the above measures on American urban areas, this paper examines case studies of cycle tracks and bicycle boulevards implemented in American cities, and how these facility improvements have changed how safe cyclists feel on the road and overall bicycle usage. Results show the two methods are indeed effective in increasing bicycle usage rates. Ultimately, increasing cycling rates needs policies to discourage people from driving, the greatest mode share in nearly all urban areas. Parking policy has major impacts on people’s decision to use the automobile. Currently, parking is oversupplied and underpriced in many cities, making it irresistible for people to drive. Decreasing the number of parking spaces available and increasing their price will increase pressure on drivers to drive less, especially for short trips, and to bike instead. It is important for planners and policy makers to realize that solutions from both directions, making biking more enjoyable and making parking, and hence driving, less affordable, should be used in tandem. The complementary nature of the two approaches makes it so the effect of the combination is greater than the sum of the two.     

杭州市区备用饮用水源地水质状况及安全分析

于2012—2014年对杭州市区贴沙河、珊瑚沙水库、湘湖、三白潭和喜庵港5个备用饮用水源地进行了109项指标及水质急性毒性监测,并采用加拿大水质指数法进行水质安全评价。结果显示,珊瑚沙水库水质基本符合生活饮用水源地一级保护区Ⅱ类水质标准,其余4个备用饮用水源地水质均不达标;各备用饮用水源地特定项目有少数指标检出但均未超标;湘湖、珊瑚沙水库和贴沙河水质安全已受到影响,三白潭和喜庵港水质安全性差;各备用饮用水源地水质均无急性毒性。