Environmental audit: III. Improving the management of environmental information for toxic substances

Environmental programs have been commonly driven by a preoccupation with the collection of data in the mistaken belief thatdata is synonymous withinformation. The distinction between data (that is, the quantified and qualitative attributes of a particular environment) and information (specifically, data processed so as to focus upon a particular environmental problem) will become far more important to environmental managers. They will increasingly manage their information through use of what has become known as information resource management (IRM) and the attendant use of critical success factors methodology. Environmental managers will thereby move away from concerns about data and specific EDP hardware and applications toward managing information as a valuable agency resource. In applying IRM, they will find it helpful to include a number of planning elements and to resolve early a number of issues critical to its successful use.     

Developing a GIS based integrated approach to flood management in Trinidad, West Indies

Trinidad and Tobago is plagued with a perennial flooding problem. The higher levels of rainfall in the wet season often lead to extensive flooding in the low-lying areas of the country. This has lead to significant damage to livestock, agricultural produce, homes and businesses particularly in the Caparo River Basin. Clearly, there is a need for developing flood mitigation and management strategies to manage flooding in the areas most affected. This paper utilizes geographic information systems to map the extent of the flooding, estimate soil loss due to erosion and estimate sediment loading in the rivers in the Caparo River Basin. In addition, the project required the development of a watershed management plan and a flood control plan. The results indicate that flooding was caused by several factors including clear cutting of vegetative cover, especially in areas of steep slopes that lead to sediment filled rivers and narrow waterways. Other factors include poor agricultural practices, and uncontrolled development in floodplains. Recommendations to manage floods in the Caparo River Basin have been provided.     

Enhanced water resource base for sustainable integrated water resource management

The article states the case for greatly enhanced reliance on desalination in the provision of freshwater. It argues that the concept of integrated water resource management (IWRM), should be expanded to routinely include desalination, and that sea water and brackish water should be listed among available sources of freshwater. In recent years, the price per m3 of freshwater obtained from desalination has steadily declined, and is now within competitive range of conventional sources, especially as extracting water from surface sources (rivers, lakes) is becoming increasingly expensive as well as ecologically harmful, and groundwater in many locations is saline or depleted. With the expectation that by 2020, five billion people will reside in megacities, today's conventional water resources are likely to become insufficient. As many of these megacities are located near ocean coasts, sea water seems a logical solution.     

An approach to optimise nutrient management in environmental sanitation systems despite limited data

The material flow analysis method can be used to assess the impact of environmental sanitation systems on resource consumption and environmental pollution. However, given the limited access to reliable data, application of this data-intensive method in developing countries may be difficult. This paper presents an approach allowing to develop material flow models despite limited data availability. Application of an iterative procedure is of key importance: model parameter values should first be assessed on the basis of a literature review and by eliciting expert judgement. If model outputs are not plausible, sensitive input parameters should be reassessed more accurately. Moreover, model parameters can be expressed as probability distributions and variable uncertainty estimated by using Monte Carlo simulation. The impact of environmental sanitation systems on the phosphorus load discharged into surface water in Hanoi, Vietnam, is simulated by applying the proposed approach.     

Building an integrated environmental,health, and safety management system

This article discusses an integrated management system that aligns and integrates the various environmental, health, and safety functions and disciplines. This model is easily adopted to provide performance measures required to satisfy Responsible Care®, ISO 14001, and the European Union EMAS requirements.     

摩崖石刻及碑刻文物保护与管理的GIS应用构想——以琅琊山为例

GIS在琅琊山摩崖石刻及碑刻文物资源保护和管理中,能够支持数字化地图并对文物进行精确定位、文物点的多媒体信息管理、文物时空分布规律研究、文物点周边环境的综合分析以及文物保护和管理的日常办公等。     

Beyond pollution prevention: A vision for an integrated environmental business management strategy

In this article the authors assert that successful long-term pollution prevention will require changes in the culture and business practices of an organization such that the term “pollution prevention” eventually becomes obsolete. They envision firms evolving to a point where actions that today are referred to as pollution prevention will simply be part of standard business practices and thoroughly embedded in the firms' culture. Although pollution prevention projects and programs need to be highly visible at the outset to communicate throughout the organization and to demonstrate the benefits that can be gained, companies should adopt a long-term strategy aimed at making fundamental changes in the way they do business, rather than relying solely on piecemeal projects and special plans or programs. Such evolution of the firm will maximize the chances of meeting the dual challenges of business competitiveness and environmental stewardship. This article presents a vision for integrating environmental performance with business objectives and suggests practical steps to begin moving toward that vision.     

New view of environmental health: Toward an environmental research policy for international strategies

We are witnessing a growing concern with the global dimension of many environmental issues, reflected in the increase in the number and significance of international environmental organizations. Yet there is no internationally applicable strategy for environmental research which is management oriented. A new type of research policy, which integrates ideas derived from environmental and human ecology, is required in order to deal with cultural and ecological diversity and their interactions as reflected in the ecology of landscapes. The newly defined concept of environmental health is proposed to fill this gap. This concept integrates the latest developments in landscape evolutionary ecology and environmental health, bringing out a conflict between making the environment conducive to human health and increasing the available options for supporting the essential biological and ecological processes of the environment. Lessons derived from the evolution of human environments are used in order to illustrate how health may become un umbrella for developing an environmental research policy, which could also serve as a catalyst for international environmental projects.     

A paradigm of an integrated transboundary environmental education,training, and technology transfer project

The Rodopi mountain range is located between Greece and Bulgaria and constitutes a natural and political boundary whose crest delimits the frontier between the two countries. However, these two neighboring countries have significant differences: Greece is one of the oldest members of the European Union (EU) while Bulgaria has just recently entered the European family. As a result, the existing financial and political differences between the two nations are also reflected in issues concerning the environmental know-how, education, and training, since Greece seems to have a small lead in these fields. On the other hand, given that Bulgaria possesses exceptional scientific personnel, it has made significant progress in all aspects of environmental policy during the last decade by absorbing up-to-date knowledge and putting it into practice; thus, catching up with the other EU countries in environmental issues is just a matter of time. Taking these factors into account, the Department of Forestry and Natural Environment Management of the Technological Educational Institute of Kavala (Greece) and the Department of Geography-Ecology and Natural History (Bulgaria) prepared a joint proposal which was approved and financed by the European Union Initiative ΙNTERREG IIIΑ/PHARE CBC GREECE-BULGARIA. The proposal concerns the Rodopi mountains and focuses on integrated environmental education, technology exchange, and transfer between the two institutions. The Rodopi complex constitutes a very important ecosystem of particular ecological and biological interest for both countries. This paper reveals the cooperation possibilities on environmental education and know-how exchange with regard to the shared natural resources of these contiguous countries.     

River environmental decision support system development for Suzhou Creek in Shanghai

The Suzhou Creek Rehabilitation Project (SCRP) is one of the largest water-related environmental rehabilitation schemes ever undertaken in the vicinity of Shanghai, China. This paper details the development and application of a River Environmental Decision Support System (REDSS) for scientific planning and decision-making on the Suzhou Creek project, and illustrates the flexibility of the REDSS framework. We developed the following components: (1) a GIS-based analysis employing Component technology; (2) a "data mart" for multi-dimensional, multi-level, integrated, dynamic, and flexible data querying; and (3) a set of hydrodynamic and water quality models which can simulate complex tidal river networks. In addition, we detail how a water quality assessment model is embedded into the REDSS by employing an Identification Index Method. With the REDSS, all GIS and non-GIS components are integrated seamlessly and data from different sources can be queried simultaneously. This allows for various scenarios to be simulated and analyzed in advance to predict and assess the effects of proposed engineering and management measures. Generated information can thus support effective decisions. All operations of the REDSS can be implemented conveniently through user-friendly interfaces. The function of the REDSS framework is demonstrated through an application to Suzhou Creek. Because the REDSS characteristics are quite general, it may be applied in different geographic regions.     

Realizing an effectiveness revolution in environmental management

The environmental movement of the 20(th) century has evolved into a large, diverse and well-financed global community that is increasingly required to prove its worth. Though the environmental sector collects and uses data to determine the status of ecological and social systems, the effectiveness of the programs and policies it uses to affect this status remains largely untested. As governments and donor institutions insist on greater transparency, accountability and evidence of what works and what does not, much is being learned from other fields (e.g. health services, education, international development) and increasingly sophisticated approaches are emerging to manage effectiveness. For example, program evaluation, adaptive management, and systematic review provide frameworks and methods to collect and use information to measure and improve performance. However, the critical data and collaborations necessary for an effectiveness revolution are marginalized by technical, cultural and political obstacles. Learning from other fields, the environmental sector must exploit key leverage points, such as flows of information and self-organization, to overcome impediments and create incentives to initiate and realize an era of effectiveness in environmental management.     

A mixed integer linear programming model for optimisation of organics management in an integrated solid waste system

In this paper, the authors propose a mixed integer linear programming model for designing an Integrated Solid Waste Management System (ISWMS) to meet specific economic goals. The model refers to a set of municipalities, known as ‘local basin’, which have to share a common waste management system. At the municipal level the model allows for an identification of the optimal collection service option; at the local basin level, the model provides the optimal waste flow appropriate to the collection service option of each municipality. The model has been applied to a full-scale case study of an area located in southeast Italy. A scenario analysis was carried out to investigate alternative municipal solid waste management options, which fundamentally differ in the organic flow mass rate to be either collected and composted or landfilled. Findings show that an increase in the cost of landfilling determines the optimal collection scenario and the configuration plants tend to recover higher rates of organics in separate collection and thus higher refuse derived fuel productions. The results obtained validate the application of the model in both the strategic planning and operational phases, by supporting public administrators at both municipality and local basin level in decision making and evaluation of technical and economic performances of ISWMSs.     

环境监测数据审核及异常数据的处理

准确、可靠、可比的环境监测数据是环境科学研究工作的基础,是环境管理的依据。本文介绍了环境监测数据审核的意义,提出环境监测数据应从代表性、完整性、精密性、准确性和可比性进行审核,才能保证监测数据的质量。并提出了监测结果异常数据的几种判断及处理方法。     

The organization of integrated environmental research in The Netherlands

This article presents new concepts for the organization of increasingly complex environmental research activities on the institutional, the national, or the international level. An environmental research cycle with four phases, similar to the industrial product cycle, is described, and its implications in managing the interface between research, policy making, and enforcement are depicted. Furthermore, five main themes of future environmental research are proposed, including advanced analytical methods, environmental monitoring, an environmental management information system (EMIS), and the development of ecological targets at a national and a global level. The specific tasks of universities, private organizations, and governmental institutions in the total environmental research area are defined and a structure is proposed to develop collaborative networks.     

An integrated environmental matrix for a social unit

An integrated network is conceived that qualitatively relates environmental actors and environmental systems within a social unit such as a town, an industrial district or the like. The resulting matrix shows the flow of decisions and information between its active vector representing the environmental objectives, and its passive vector representing the environmental achievements. By way of three additional vectors, the properties of environmental systems are determined and compared to the expectations created by provisions of the environmental actors. The result is a set of residuals that define the living comfort in the social unit. The network motivates interested parties such as administrations, schools or individuals to go through the exercise of finding the causes of the residuals. In order to eliminate them, definite responsibilities have to be assigned to community members. The study pretends to involve all citizens in the flow of information, facts and decisions, and to help them identify themselves in the matrix. It is anticipated that as a result of this educational exercise, individual and collective responsibilities become apparent and are accepted and practiced.     

Wildlife and integrated pest management

A number of options are available to those professionals interested in pest management through an integrated approach. The components of this approach are manipulation of vegetation; manipulation of population structure, dynamics, and interaction; and manipulation of the values associated with animal and plant crop production. Each component has numerous methods, which when used alone or in combination, offer a nearly infinite number of alternatives to the successful use of pesticides.Dr. Giles has taught a course in integrated plant pest management at Virginia Tech since 1977. The course is largely taught using computers. Students make management decisions to control pest damage and the computer determines how right they were.     

基于组件式GIS的地价评估与管理信息系统的设计与开发

结合组件式GIS技术，设计和开发了地价评估与管理信息系统。系统利用可视化工具软件Visual Basic6．0和MapX开发和实现了地价的空间信息和属性信息的存储、管理、显示、查询、操作与分析，并阐述了系统的关键技术和主要功能。系统摆脱了以往地价评估及管理信息系统所采用的单纯MIS系统模式，使办公自动化和地理信息系统融为一体，两者相结合形成图文一体化、可视化和生动化的信息系统。     

Information requirements of integrated environmental policy experiences in the Netherlands

During the last few years in the Netherlands an integrated environmental policy has been developed. Solving environmental problems by means of effective and efficient solutions requires that the entire environmental cycle be considered in order to take all relevant compartments and aspects into account. Four different phases can be identified during the treatment of an environmental problem by management: recognition, formulation, solution, and control.Some qualitative and quantitative aspects of the information demand of environmental policy are explored. Special attention is given to the consequences of the integral approach in environmental policy in terms of information requirements. The process of information supply starts with an analysis of the demand. Subsequently data from the environmental cycle have to be selected, aggregated, and presented adequately. Further, integrated environmental policy puts increased demands on the associative power of environmental information systems.     

How integrated is river basin management?

Land and water management is increasingly focused upon the drainage basin. Thirty-six terms recently used for schemes of “integrated basin management” include reference to the subject or area and to the aims of integrated river basin management, often without allusion to the multiobjective nature. Diversity in usage of terms has occurred because of the involvement of different disciplines, of the increasing coherence of the drainage basin approach, and the problems posed in particular parts of the world. The components included in 21 different approaches are analyzed, and, in addition to showing that components related broadly to water supply, river channel, land, and leisure aspects, it is concluded that there are essentially five interrelated facets of integrated basin management that involved water, channel, land, ecology, and human activity. Two aspects not fully included in many previous schemes concern river channel changes and the dynamic integrity of the fluvial system. To clarify the terminology used, it is suggested that the termcomprehensive river basin management should be used where a wide range of components is involved, whereasintegrated basin management can signify the interactions of components and the dominance of certain components in the particular area.Holistic river basin management is advocated as a term representing an approach that is both fully comprehensive and integrated but also embraces the energetics of the river system and consideration of changes of river channels and of human impacts throughout the river system. The paradigm of working with the river can be extended to one of working with the river in the holistic basin context.     

Integrated environmental management: strengthening the conceptualization

Although espoused by many, integrated environmental management (IEM) has been difficult to accomplish in practice. There are many reasons for this shortfall, but certainly a key factor is the lack of agreement among scholars and practitioners regarding the concept and its defining elements. Our purpose here is to sharpen the conceptual basis for IEM by elaborating and pragmatically characterizing a framework for the practice of more integrated environmental management. We outline four fundamental dimensions of IEM: (1) comprehensive, (2) interconnective, (3) strategic, and (4) interactive/coordinative. IEM efforts in the Black Earth Creek watershed in Wisconsin illustrate specific attributes and examples pertaining to our conceptualization of IEM. Acceptance of the conceptual framework elaborated here should alleviate some of the confusion associated with IEM and help move this widely heralded approach from theory into practice.