Public-private partnerships for solid waste management services

The increasing cost of municipal solid waste (MSW) management has led local governments in numerous countries to examine if this service is best provided by the public sector or can better be provided by the private sector. Public-private partnerships have emerged as a promising alternative to improve MSW management performance with privately owned enterprises often outperforming publicly owned ones. In Lebanon, several municipalities are transforming waste management services from a public service publicly provided into a public service privately contracted. In this context, a regulated private market for MSW management services is essential. The present study examines a recent experience of the private sector participation in MSW management in the Greater Beirut Area. The results of a field survey concerning public perception of solid waste management are presented. Analysis of alternatives for private sector involvement in waste management is considered and management approaches are outlined.     

Creating biodiversity partnerships: The Nature Conservancy's perspective

The Nature Conservancy is an international organization dedicated to the mission of conserving biodiversity throughout the world. By working in a nonconfrontational manner, an approach that has promoted both government and corporate sponsorship of its activities, The Nature Conservancy has developed symbiotic relationships with many electric utility companies. Drawing on the organization's experiences, and the experiences of the author as the President and Chief Executive Officer of The Nature Conservancy, five broad areas of cooperation between conservation organizations and the utility industry are explored: landmanagement agreements, mitigation projects, conflictavoidance programs, program support, and volunteer activities. The paper is concluded with comments on the future trends of biodiversity conservation, challenging the electric utility industry to become involved with conservation efforts by forming cooperative partnerships.     

Opportunities and Challenges in Applying the 3Rs to Zoos and Aquariums

Since Russell and Burch (1959) suggested the principles of replacement, reduction, and refinement (3Rs) as a foundation for animal research, their influence has only grown in the research community. In this paper, we discuss whether the 3Rs can be constructively used as a prism to analyse decisions regarding the welfare of animals housed in zoos and aquariums (henceforth “zoo animals”). We analyse opportunities and challenges for each of the three Rs when applied to zoo animals. We discuss the following reasons to consider the use of the 3Rs in relation to zoo animals: (1) there are similarities between motivations for housing animals in zoos and using them in research that are ethically relevant to consider; (2) the professional zoo community has committed to progress towards evidence-based best practice models to ensure and enhance the welfare of animals housed in zoos; and (3) there is a growing public concern regarding the welfare of zoo animals which can, to some extent, be met by viewing current practices through the prism of the 3Rs.

     

Building partnerships — the Ohio Materials Exchange

This paper discusses a method by which individuals working in government, private business, not-for-profit and educational organizations developed a collaborative statewide program involving the exchange of materials from manufacturers, commercial business and not-for-profit organizations in Ohio.     

Enhanced learning from multi-stakeholder partnerships: Lessons from the Enabling Rural Innovation in Africa programme

Despite increasing interest and support for multi‐stakeholder partnerships, empirical applications of participatory evaluation approaches to enhance learning from partnerships are either uncommon or undocumented. This paper draws lessons on the use of participatory self‐reflective approaches that facilitate structured learning on processes and outcomes of partnerships. Such practice is important to building partnerships, because it helps partners understand how they can develop more collaborative and responsive ways of managing partnerships. The paper is based on experience with the Enabling Rural Innovation (ERI) in Africa programme. Results highlight the dynamic process of partnership formation and the key elements that contribute to success. These include: (i) shared vision and complementarity, (ii) consistent support from senior leadership; (iii) evidence of institutional and individual benefits; (iv) investments in human and social capital; (v) joint resources mobilization. However, key challenges require coping with high staff turnover and over‐commitment, conflicting personalities and institutional differences, high transaction costs, and sustaining partnerships with the private business sector. The paper suggests that institutionalizing multi‐stakeholder partnerships requires participatory reflective practices that help structure and enhance learning, and incrementally help in building the capacity of research and development organisations to partner better and ultimately to innovate.     

Adaptive management in the U.S. National Wildlife Refuge System: science-management partnerships for conservation delivery

Adaptive management is an approach to recurrent decision making in which uncertainty about the decision is reduced over time through comparison of outcomes predicted by competing models against observed values of those outcomes. The National Wildlife Refuge System (NWRS) of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is a large land management program charged with making natural resource management decisions, which often are made under considerable uncertainty, severe operational constraints, and conditions that limit ability to precisely carry out actions as intended. The NWRS presents outstanding opportunities for the application of adaptive management, but also difficult challenges. We describe two cooperative programs between the Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Geological Survey to implement adaptive management at scales ranging from small, single refuge applications to large, multi-refuge, multi-region projects. Our experience to date suggests three important attributes common to successful implementation: a vigorous multi-partner collaboration, practical and informative decision framework components, and a sustained commitment to the process. Administrators in both agencies should consider these attributes when developing programs to promote the use and acceptance of adaptive management in the NWRS.     

Assessment of public–private–NGO partnerships: Water and sanitation services in slums

The Self‐Employed Women's Association (SEWA) is a trade union founded in 1972 to organize women in the informal sector in the western Indian state of Gujarat for better working conditions and social security provisions. The Gujarat Mahila Housing SEWA Trust (MHT) and the SEWA Bank are independently registered SEWA sister organizations that facilitate self‐employed women's access to housing and financial services, respectively. This paper seeks to document and critically analyze the experiences of MHT and SEWA Bank in partnering with the state, the private sector, funding agencies, urban local bodies and other NGOs in developing and delivering housing, water and sanitation programs for low‐income urban families living in slums. Using MHT as a case study, this paper will shed light upon challenges and opportunities NGOs may face while collaborating with partners with different core philosophies, motivations, working styles, strengths and constraints. The paper also makes recommendations that would enable different actors to play an optimal role in partnerships designed to improve the living and working conditions of the poor.     

Corporate social responsibility, partnerships, and institutional change: The case of mining companies in South Africa

Internationally and in South Africa, mining companies are increasingly referring to corporate social responsibility (CSR) and partnerships in terms of the business case, or the expectation that being responsible and collaborating with stakeholders is good for profits. Based on a case study of platinum and chrome mining in South Africa, this article argues that the business case is circumscribed by companies’ institutional context. In the past, mining companies’ dominant interpretation of CSR has been in terms of charitable donations and support to good causes. These efforts have not alleviated the contribution of mining companies to growing social problems around the mines, primarily because they have not impacted on core business practices and have not contributed to necessary cross‐sectoral collaboration. Recently, however, there has been an important transition involving the broadening of the interpretation of CSR and increasing commitment to these issues amongst corporate leadership. Though market‐based incentives have contributed to this, the key driver has been the State's legislated transformation programme premised on State sovereignty over mineral resources. Hence, while the interrelationship between companies and their institutional context has, in the past, brought about a vicious cycle of irresponsibility and minimal collaboration, this cycle may be reversed into a virtuous one, driven in particular by the State. The broader implication is that references to a business case for CSR and partnerships cannot be relied upon independently of continued efforts at shaping the public sector context of companies.     

Coastal spreading of olivine to control atmospheric CO2 concentrations: A critical analysis of viability

Qualitative proposals to control atmospheric CO₂ concentrations by spreading crushed olivine rock along the Earth's coastlines, thereby accelerating weathering reactions, are presently attracting considerable attention. This paper provides a critical evaluation of the concept, demonstrating quantitatively whether or not it can contribute significantly to CO₂ sequestration. The feasibility of the concept depends on the rate of olivine dissolution, the sequestration capacity of the dominant reaction, and its CO₂ footprint. Kinetics calculations show that offsetting 30% of worldwide 1990 CO₂ emissions by beach weathering means distributing of 5.0 Gt of olivine per year. For mean seawater temperatures of 15–25 °C, olivine sand (300 μm grain size) takes 700–2100 years to reach the necessary steady state sequestration rate and is therefore of little practical value. To obtain useful, steady state CO₂ uptake rates within 15–20 years requires grain sizes <10 μm. However, the preparation and movement of the required material poses major economic, infrastructural and public health questions. We conclude that coastal spreading of olivine is not a viable method of CO₂ sequestration on the scale needed. The method certainly cannot replace CCS technologies as a means of controlling atmospheric CO₂ concentrations.     

电子设备的三防设计

在电子工业中,三防设计是指防潮湿、防盐雾、防霉菌设计,在我国南方和沿海地区使用的,尤其是在户外使用的电子设备必须具备三防设计才能保证其正常工作.本文对电子设备的三防设计作了一些介绍和探讨.     

Environmental education in the South Pacific: an evaluation of progress in three countries

Summary In this paper the formal environmental education being delivered in three countries in the South Pacific Region, Fiji (Melanesia), Kiribati (Micronesia) and Niue (Polynesia) is evaluated. The findings reveal that environmental education is at different stages of evolution in each of these countries. At present only Niue appears to deliver environmental education effectively when compared with models of good practice suggested in the literature. Some general recommendations are included for the improvement of environmental education in Fiji and Kiribati.Neil Taylor was until recently a Fellow in Science Education at the University of the South Pacific, PO Box 1168, Suva, Fiji. He is now a senior research student at the Centre for Mathematics and Science Education at Queensland University of Technology. Dr Teny Topalian has until very recently been the co-ordinator of the Public Marine Education Programme run as part of the Marine Studies Programme of the University of the South Pacific. She has now returned to her position as Assistant Professor in Natural Sciences and Biology at California State University, Long Beach, California, USA.     

Monitoring of nitrate leaching in sandy soils: comparison of three methods

Proper N fertilizer and irrigation management can reduce nitrate leaching while maintaining crop yield, which is critical to enhance the sustainability of vegetable production on soils with poor water and nutrient-holding capacities. This study evaluated different methods to measure nitrate leaching in mulched drip-irrigated zucchini, pepper, and tomato production systems. Fertigation rates were 145 and 217 kg N ha(-1) for zucchini; 192 and 288 kg N ha(-1) for pepper; and 208 and 312 kg N ha(-1) for tomato. Irrigation was either applied at a fixed daily rate or based on threshold values of soil moisture sensors placed in production beds. Ceramic suction cup lysimeters, subsurface drainage lysimeters and soil cores were used to access the interactive effects of N rate and irrigation management on N leaching. Irrigation treatments and N rate interaction effects on N leaching were significant for all crops. Applying N rates in excess of standard recommendations increased N leaching by 64, 59, and 32%, respectively, for pepper, tomato, and zucchini crops. Independent of the irrigation treatment or nitrogen rate, N leaching values measured from the ceramic cup lysimeter-based N leaching values were lower than the values from the drainage lysimeter and soil coring methods. However, overall nitrate concentration patterns were similar for all methods when the nitrate concentration and leached volume were relatively low.     

Application technique and slurry co-fermentation effects on ammonia,nitrous oxide,and methane emissions after spreading: I. Ammonia volatilization

Ammonia emissions after spreading animal manure contribute a major share to N losses from agriculture. There is an increasing interest in anaerobic co-digestion of liquid manure with organic additives. This fermentation results in a change of physical and chemical parameters of the slurry. Among these are an increased pH and ammonium content, implying a higher risk of NH3 losses from fermentation products. To compare different application techniques and the effect of fermentation on NH3 volatilization, we used the standard comparison method and tested it for reliability. This method seems to be perfectly suited for experiments with a large number of treatments and replicates if prerequisites concerning the experimental layout are considered. We tested four different application techniques on arable and grassland sites. The more the substrate was incorporated into the soil or applied near the soil surface on the grassland site, the less NH3 was lost. Injection of the substrate reduced losses to less than 10% of applied NH4+ on both sites, whereas losses after splash plate application amounted to more than 30%. Trail shoe application on grassland performed as well as injection. Harrowing on arable land also reduced emissions efficiently, if harrowing occurred within the first 2 h after application. Emissions from trail hose-applied co-fermentation product were not greater than from unfermented slurry. Better infiltration of the less viscous substrate seemed to have compensated for the increased loss potential.     

Application technique and slurry co-fermentation effects on ammonia,nitrous oxide,and methane emissions after spreading: II. Greenhouse gas emissions

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of different application techniques on greenhouse gas emission from co-fermented slurry. Ammonia (NH3), nitrous oxide (N2O), and methane (CH4) emissions were measured in two field experiments with four different application techniques on arable and grassland sites. To gather information about fermentation effects, unfermented slurry was also tested, but with trail hose application only. Co-fermented slurry was applied in April at a rate of 30 m3 ha(-1). Measurements were made every 4 h on the first day after application and were continued for 6 wk with gradually decreasing sampling frequency. Methane emissions were <150 g C ha(-1) from co-fermentation products and seemed to result from dissolved CH4. Only in the grassland experiment were emissions from unfermented slurry significantly higher, with wetter weather conditions probably promoting CH4 production. Nitrous oxide emission was significantly increased by injection on arable and grassland sites two- and threefold, respectively. Ammonia emissions were smallest after injection or trail shoe application and are discussed in the preceding paper. We evaluated the climatic relevance of the measured gas emissions from the different application techniques based on the comparison of CO2 equivalents. It was evident that NH3 emission reduction, which can be achieved by injection, is at least compensated by increased N2O emissions. Our results indicate that on arable land, trail hose application with immediate shallow incorporation, and on grassland, trail shoe application, bear the smallest risks of high greenhouse gas emissions when fertilizing with co-fermented slurry.     

Market structure and bargaining power: A study of three international mineral markets

This paper considers how differences in the structure and arrangements between the international markets for bauxite, iron ore and copper affect the bargaining strength and division of benefits between buyers and sellers. After describing the characteristic features of each market, and noting the absence of appropriate economic theory to disentangle the issue at hand, an attempt is made to clarify the problem by considering the difference between the markets in terms of five factors - degree of concentration, ability of the parties to inflict losses on each other, varying shares of the raw material in final product prices, structure of the market in which the final products are sold, and the process of trade negotiation.     

Potentially toxic elements contamination in urban soils: a comparison of three European cities

Studies on several cities around the world confirm that urban soils are subject to heavy anthropogenic disturbance. However, these surveys are difficult to compare due to a lack of common sampling and analytical protocols. In this study the soils of Ljubljana (Slovenia), Sevilla (Spain), and Torino (Italy) were extensively sampled and analyzed using common procedures. Results highlighted similarities across the cities, despite their differences in geography, size, climate, etc. Potentially toxic elements (PTE) showed a wide range in concentration reflecting a diffuse contamination. Among the "urban" elements Pb exceeded the legislation threshold in 45% of Ljubljana, 43% of Torino, and 11% of Sevilla samples while Zn was above the limits in 20, 43, and 2% of the soils of Ljubljana, Torino, and Sevilla, respectively. The distribution of PTE showed no depth-dependant changes, while general soil properties seemed more responsive to anthropogenic influences. Multivariate statistics revealed similar associations between PTE in the three cities, with Cu, Pb, and Zn in a group, and Ni and Cr in another, suggesting an anthropogenic origin for the former group and natural one for the latter. Chromium and Ni were unaffected by land use, except for roadside soils, while Cu, Pb, and Zn distribution appeared to be more dependent on the distance from emission sources. Regardless of the location, climate, and size, the "urban" factor--integrating type and intensity of contaminant emission and anthropogenic disturbance--seems to prevail in determining trends of PTE contamination.     

Local attitudes on protected areas: Evidence from three Natura 2000 wetland sites in Greece

Environmental policies aimed at the conservation of protected areas are significantly influenced by social factors revealing the importance of investigating local knowledge and perceptions during their planning and implementation. The present article aims to explore perceptions and awareness of citizens in three protected areas of Greece: The National Park of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace, the Wetland of Kalloni, and Lake Tavropou. The survey explores perceptions of individuals on environmental issues and alternative management scenarios referring to management actors, funding sources, and management schemes for the conservation of biodiversity. Differences between the three research areas are also explored. According to the results of the study, citizens are in general supportive of protected areas and present relatively high levels of knowledge of environmental issues. However, environmental awareness is not accompanied by active participation for the resolution of environmental problems. By exploring differences between the three research areas, it is revealed that the provision of information significantly influences individuals’ perceptions on relevant issues. Also, a significant finding of the study is that citizens are supportive of some forms of participatory management. It is essential, to encourage public participation and deliberation in order to promote their sustainable management.