Sustaining co-operation for coastal sustainability

Coastal-zone sustainability policies are socially constructed. It follows that their effective implementation depends on the sustainable voluntary co-operation of stakeholders with competing interests and priorities. No form of integrated coastal-zone management can nurture such co-operation as long as the objective is to determine ‘best’ policies, derived by expert-based rational analysis, instead of seeking to identify ‘correct’ policies, ones that can draw the maximum possible stakeholder support. The latter task requires a co-operative coastal-zone management that incorporates the relevant public discourse into the policy formation process in a direct, proactive and conflict minimizing manner. Towards this end, four major challenges are examined for maximizing the stakeholders' motivation for voluntary co-operation: (1) optimism about the level of optimism; (2) agenda setting; (3) value discourse; and (4) information and empowerment.     

Applying integrated assessment methodologies to air quality plans: Two European cases

Air pollution Integrated Assessment Models (IAM) can be used for determining how emissions should be reduced to improve air quality and to protect human health in a cost-efficient way. The application of IAM is also useful to spread information to the general public and to explain the effectiveness of proposed Air Quality Plans. In this paper, the application of the RIAT+ system to determine suitable abatement measures to improve the air quality at a regional/local level is presented for two European cases: the Brussels Capital Region (Belgium) and the Porto Urban Area (Portugal). Both regions are affected with PM10 or NO₂ concentrations that exceed the limit values specified by the European Union legislation. To properly assess air quality abatement measures a surrogate model was used, allowing the implementation of an efficient optimization procedure. This model is derived in both cases through a set of simulations performed using a Chemistry Transport Model fed with different emission reduction scenarios. In addition, internal costs (due to the implementation of emission reduction measures) and external costs (due to population exposure to air pollutant concentrations) of policy options were considered. The application of this integrated assessment modelling system in scenario (Brussels case) and optimization (Porto) modes contributes to identifying some advantages and limitations of these two approaches and also provides some guidance when urban air quality has to be assessed.     

Models at the interface between science and society: impacts and options

Within the CLEAR project a new approach to integrated assessment modelling has been developed for the participatory integrated assessment of regional climate change involving citizens' focus groups. The climate change decision problem was structured by focusing separately on climate impacts and mitigation options. The attempt was made to link the different scales of the problem from the individual to the global level. The abstract topic of climate change was related to options on the level of a citizen's individual lifestyle. The option of a low energy society was emphasised in order to embed the climate change decision problem in a wider range of societal concerns. Special emphasis was given to the characterisation and communication of uncertainties. The chosen approach allows different kinds of uncertainties in one framework to be addressed. The paper concludes with a summary of the experience made, and recommendations for the use of models in participatory integrated assessments. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Framing an independent,integrated and evidence-based evaluation of the state of Australia's biophysical and human environments

A new approach was developed for Australia's 2011 national State of the Environment (SoE) report to integrate the assessment of biophysical and human elements of the environment. A Common Assessment and Reporting Framework (CARF) guided design and implementation, responding to jurisdictional complexity, outstanding natural diversity and ecosystem values, high levels of cultural and heritage diversity, and a paucity of national-scale data. The CARF provided a transparent response to the need for an independent, robust and evidence-based national SoE report. We conclude that this framework will be effective for subsequent national SoE assessments and other integrated national-scale assessments in data-poor regions.     

The multiple communities of low-carbon transition: an assessment of communities involved in forest carbon measurement

In recent writing on sociotechnical transitions theory communities are mostly conceived of as being local and place-based (“grassroots”). In this paper the implications for sociotechnical transitions theory of having multiple communities operating at different geographical scales, and with different objectives, are examined through a case study of low-carbon innovation in forests. The focus of analysis is the communities promoting sociotechnical innovations in the measurement of forest carbon. Innovation is being driven by the international United Nations climate policy initiative “Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation” (REDD+). The rise of REDD+ policy has prompted a flurry of activity in related scientific research, especially in the field of remote sensing. But other types of community are also actively positioning themselves as experts in forest carbon measurement: there are multiple communities at work, each with varying claims to innovation and expertise, from local (place-based) forest communities to international communities of foresters and forest ecologists. Recognition of the multiple communities operating within sociotechnical systems usefully draws our attention to the politics of innovation.     

基于流域视角的水环境综合治理规划研究——以江苏省淀山湖为例

以流域为单元进行水资源综合规划和管理是实现水环境改善的重要途径。本文以太湖流域第二大省界湖泊—淀山湖为例,在综合分析流域水环境质量基础上,利用GIS 分析工具划分流域治理片区并制定分区管控策略。根据流域所含骨干河流流向、骨干河流与淀山湖交汇特点、上中下游不同河段及镇域行政边界,将淀山湖流域分为吴淞江流域、千灯浦- 淀山湖流域、昆南湖荡流域、元荡湖荡流域、太浦河流域五大片区138 个子评价单元。通过水环境容量与压力两类空间叠加分析,构建形成污染重点减排区、污染综合治理区、产业绿色化提升区、生态环境保育区等四个类型区域,并提出差异化的产业准入和环境治理措施。本研究不仅为以流域为治理单元的水环境治理规划提供了较为可行的技术体系,而且为太湖流域水环境综合整治思路创新提供了可借鉴的案例。     

气浮-·OH强氧化组合工艺处理高藻水的研究

以库区天然水培养的二形栅藻(Scenedesmus dimorphus)为研究对象,利用大气压强电场电离放电产生羟基自由基(·OH),结合压力溶气气浮前处理工艺处理高藻水.实验结果表明,对于藻密度为65.6×10~4 cells/mL,浊度为10.8NTU,COD_(Mn)为6.74mg/L的高藻水,在总氧化剂TRO浓度为1.03 mg/L时,藻类去除效率达到100%;总细菌,总大肠菌群和大肠埃希氏菌均未检出;出水COD_(Mn)由1.43 mg/L降至1.25mg/L,降低了10%;浊度由0.66NTU降至0.54NTU,降低了12.59在排放高藻水的主管路中·OH杀藻的接触反应时间仅为6s.因此汽浮-·OH强氧化组合工艺可高效快速地处理高藻水,为保障水源水的供水安全探索了一种新的思路.     

The integrated project AquaTerra of the EU sixth framework lays foundations for better understanding of river-sediment-soil-groundwater systems

The integrated project "AquaTerra" with the full title "integrated modeling of the river-sediment-soil-groundwater system; advanced tools for the management of catchment areas and river basins in the context of global change" is among the first environmental projects within the sixth Framework Program of the European Union. Commencing in June 2004, it brought together a multidisciplinary team of 45 partner organizations from 12 EU countries, Romania, Switzerland, Serbia and Montenegro. AquaTerra is an ambitious project with the primary objective of laying the foundations for a better understanding of the behavior of environmental pollutants and their fluxes in the soil-sediment-water system with respect to climate and land use changes. The project performs research as well as modeling on river-sediment-soil-groundwater systems through quantification of deposition, sorption and turnover rates and the development of numerical models to reveal fluxes and trends in soil and sediment functioning. Scales ranging from the laboratory to river basins are addressed with the potential to provide improved river basin management, enhanced soil and groundwater monitoring as well as the early identification and forecasting of impacts on water quantity and quality. Study areas are the catchments of the Ebro, Meuse, Elbe and Danube Rivers and the Brévilles Spring. Here we outline the general structure of the project and the activities conducted within eleven existing sub-projects of AquaTerra.     

长江三角洲创新发展空间溢出效应的测度与分解

一体化深化背景下,准确把握城市群创新互动关系,对于推动高质量发展具有重要现实意义。空间溢出是创新发展互动关系重要体现之一,基于城市尺度数据、空间计量方法,对长江三角洲创新发展空间溢出效应进行多角度研究。主要结论如下：（1）城市创新发展存在显著为正的空间溢出效应,创新人才、资金投入、经济发展、交通设施和对外开放等都是创新发展重要驱动因素,但不同因素空间溢出效应存在差异。（2）不同区域、不同时期对比发现,创新发展空间溢出效应存在显著差异,如区域对比核心区时间演变明显增强等。（3）空间溢出效应随距离增加呈现“倒U型”演变趋势,且这一效应在325 km处最大,而后空间溢出效应的缓慢波动下降与中心城市相对均衡分布有关。本文为识别城市创新发展互动关系提供了新视角,对推动城市群创新发展、一体化深化等具有现实指导意义。     

长江三角洲跨界流域生态产品交易机制——以天目湖流域为例

生态价值多元化实现是落实区域一体化生态保护格局的经济政策保障。针对当前生态产品交易制度不完善与市场活跃度问题,以天目湖流域水质净化服务产品为例,提出一条生态保护市场化与生态产品增值的双向促进道路：基于长序列监测数据与水文水质过程模型,提出流域生态保护基准概念及其约束下生态产品交易边界,精准核算基准年水质净化产品的可交易量为1.37 t,基准价格为1186.71万元/t/年;面向近10年产品实际供需主体的内在联系,揭示了“三类五种”生态产品交易机制类型,并选择设计了低端产品退出—高端产品激励的典型交易模式。生态产品交易实施为研究区生态价值实现提供市场化路径,为国内同类地区一体化生态保护格局保障提供思路。