A multidimensional decision-support approach to sustainable development planning

SUMMARY

The concept of sustainable development has become widely accepted as an instrumental objective of resource planning and environmental policy analysis. Nevertheless, applied planning approaches appropriate to this task have been slow in forthcoming. This paper suggests that one avenue for the application of sustainable development principles to resource management problems may be through multidimensional decision-support models. This approach recognizes that contemporary decision problems in the field of environmental planning are characterized by a diversity of structures and processes, incommensurable variables, and conflicting development objectives and constraints. On the basis of the articulated approach to sustainable development, a case study centred on Clayoquot Sound, British Columbia, Canada is presented. The case study serves to illustrate the efficacy of a multidimensional decision-support approach to sustainable development.     

国家实施污染预防的政策建议

文章对我国污染预防现状进行了评估,并对如何进一步实施污染预提出初步建议,形成污染预防框架行动计划,试图人们从行为和观念转向污染预防提供方向。框架行计划着重从政策和法律,组织和人力资源,研究和开发,污染预防活动和实践到评估、推广等方面进行了建议。     

Land-use planning of Minoo Island,Iran, towards sustainable land-use management

Land-use planning is one aspect of sustainable development that determines the integrity of socioeconomic and ecological nuance. Land evaluation is an approach to sustainable land-use planning, which predicts the capability of the land-use system. This means that a specific land area should be under specific use, considering certain factors and characteristics of the land and its location. In other words, lack of proper information on land capability and rational and irrational use of land leads to destruction of land resources. This paper discusses the findings of ecological and socioeconomic resource issues for Minoo Island and the surrounded zone. The study covers an area of about 172km² in southwest Iran. To establish environmental unit maps, digital layer maps of the soil texture were overlapped. The study empirically established that the area has the capability to accommodate ‘levels two’ urban and industrial development. Moreover, Minoo Island is considered to have potential for conservation and ecotourism, with a 60% potentiality for dryland farming.     

An integrated sustainability decision-support framework Part II: Problem analysis

One of the main goals in decision-making for sustainable development is to identify and choose the most sustainable option among different alternatives. This process usually involves a large number of stakeholders with multiple, often conflicting objectives. Facilitating and resolving such difficult decision situations can be complex, so that a more formal and systematic approach to decision-making may be necessary. This paper proposes an integrated multiple criteria decision-support framework specifically developed to provide a systematic, step-by-step guidance to decision-makers. The framework, which is suitable for both corporate and public policy-making in the context of sustainable development, comprises three steps: problem structuring, problem analysis and problem resolution. This paper concentrates on problem analysis and resolution, where decision-makers articulate their preferences for different decision criteria. A suitable Multiple Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) technique, such as multi-objective optimisation, goal programming, value-based and outranking approaches, is then used to model the preferences. These techniques are discussed here in some detail, to provide guidance on the choice of the most appropriate MCDA method. Based on the outcome of preference modelling, which estimates the overall 'value' of each alternative being considered, decision-makers can then choose the 'best' or most sustainable option. Such an integrated decision-support framework is useful for providing structure to the debate, ensuring dialogue among decision-makers and showing trade-offs between conflicting objectives. In this way, it may be possible to create shared understanding about the issues, generate a sense of common purpose and, often, resolve 'difficult' decision problems.     

Planning and implementing sustainability in higher education institutions: an overview of the difficulties and potentials

Planning in sustainable development is believed to be an important element in allowing higher education institutions to set their goals and to commit themselves towards undertaking concrete actions and measures at all levels in order to implement sustainability. Yet, there is a paucity of research that has looked at the extent to which planning can support institutions of higher education to assess their performances and to determine whether the set aims have been met. This research gap needs to be met to allow a better understanding of how planning can help to promote the integration of the three components of sustainable development – economic development, social development and environmental protection in higher education. This paper explores the challenges for planning the sustainable development in higher education, also outlining the potentials lessons learned that could assist in improving Education for Sustainable Development efforts in Higher Education Institutions. Among its main results are the fact that many universities wish to pursue sustainable development, but their efforts are hindered by lack of institutional support and planning and limited emphasis on approaches, such as problem-based learning. The universities that are engaged in the field have to face many problems, varying from limited resources to lack of trained staff. As a result, integrated approaches to sustainability become difficult to implement. Finally, the paper has identified the fact that many opportunities offered mainstream developments, such as the UN Declaration ‘The World we Want’ or the UN Sustainable Development Goals are not being put to full use.     

中国农村环境污染防治研究综述

农村环境污染防治是农村生态环境建设的核心内容,加强农村环境污染防治研究,对解决我国独特的农村环境污染问题,具有积极的理论和现实指导意义。如何进一步探索农村环境污染防治机制的研究范式,需要在理论和方法上均有所突破。采用文献资料法和对比分析法,在简要分析了国外的研究进展基础上,重点总结了中国农村环境污染防治的研究现状,提出当前研究中存在的问题以及今后的探索方向。结果表明,近年来我国农村环境污染防治及其相应的理论与实践研究均取得较大进展,但与农村社会可持续发展的现实要求尚有不小差距。国内学者对于农村环境污染的研究主要集中在污染防治的基础理论、污染状况及质量评价、基于不同层次的农村环境污染影响因素以及污染防治机制和政策4个方面。当前的研究存在诸多不足,例如：综合防控研究的理论体系不完善,较多地关注造成农村环境污染的显性影响因子,而忽视了大量限制因子,研究中采用的数据和参照标准缺乏统一口径,空间尺度选择不一和时间尺度难以衔接等,这些都将成为今后研究亟需解决的问题。     

Theorising pathways to sustainability

Using a Pathways approach, controversies over environmental and natural resource management are viewed as expressions of alternative, or competing, pathways to sustainability. This supports deeper understanding of the underlying causes of natural resource management controversies. The framework is composed of two elements: the STEPS (Social, Technological, and Environmental Pathways to Sustainability) Pathways approach and frame analysis. Many sustainable development dilemmas are played out in specific places and consequently, the Pathways approach is integrated with a place-based frame analysis. The resulting framework guides empirical investigation in place-based contexts. This theorising about sustainability science can be used to cast light on contested natural resource management issues, in this case mining in northern Sweden. By exposing the range of alternative Pathways to critical norms of sustainable development, we ascertain whether action alternatives are compatible with sustainable futures. The framework provides a way in which sustainability science can better understand the origins of natural resource management conflicts, characterise the positions of the actors involved, identify the potential for cooperation between stakeholders leading to policy resolution and judge what Pathways help or hinder the pursuit of sustainable development. In addition, it can enhance sustainability science by guiding integrative sustainability research at the project scale.     

Advancing objectives-based,integrated ocean management through marine spatial planning: current and future directions on the Scotian Shelf off Nova Scotia,Canada

The national legislative and policy context for integrated ocean management in Canada is provided by the Oceans Act (1996) and the supporting policy statement, Canada’s Oceans Strategy. Under the Oceans Act, Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) is the lead federal authority for ocean affairs and is charged with leading and facilitating the development and implementation of integrated management plans for all marine waters. Integrated management efforts in Canada are being undertaken through an area-based approach that enables marine planning, management and decision making to occur at appropriate spatial scales, from regional to site-specific. This article focuses on the Eastern Scotian Shelf Integrated Management (ESSIM) process, an offshore-focused effort to develop an integrated ocean management plan for a large portion of the Scotian Shelf, off Nova Scotia. The resulting Eastern Scotian Shelf Integrated Ocean Management Plan (the ESSIM plan) has been developed through a collaborative process involving all interested and affected government departments and ocean stakeholders, and provides an objectives-based approach to ocean management. The ESSIM plan contains a set of long-term, overarching goals for collaborative governance and integrated management, sustainable human use, and healthy ecosystems. These goals are supported by more specific objectives that express desired outcomes and conditions for the marine region. The objectives-based approach seeks to ensure that interrelationships among ecosystem and human use objectives are recognized and reflected in the identification of management strategies and supporting actions. This article considers the role of marine spatial planning within the context of the integrated ocean management process underway for the Scotian Shelf. The policy and management context for integrated ocean management in Canada is briefly described and a summary of the ESSIM plan is provided. The current and potential role for marine spatial planning in implementing the objectives and strategies of the ESSIM plan is highlighted using examples related to multiple ocean use and marine conservation and protected area planning. The article concludes by drawing out key lessons learned to date through the ESSIM process for marine spatial planning and looks to the future in terms of the development of tools and approaches for this integral aspect of integrated ocean management.     

Applying DPSIR to sustainable development

The DPSIR framework was devised in the late 1990s as a tool for the reporting and analysis of environmental problems, ranging in scale from global systems to localized watersheds. Since then, international organizations have begun to apply this framework to the evaluation of sustainable development initiatives, to better understand and overcome barriers to sustainability. While this may seem a logical application for an integrated environmental assessment tool, the use of DPSIR in sustainable development will likely perpetuate the least satisfactory outcomes of development. DPSIR cannot address the impact of aggregated, informal responses on the drivers and pressures related to environmental problems and sustainability challenges. This problem is not merely an oversight of the framework, but an issue that emerges within the structure of DPSIR itself through the unexamined, unacknowledged hierarchy of actors that this framework implicitly creates with its typology. Therefore, a DPSIR-centered approach is not a new direction for development within international organizations, but instead, a reproduction of existing inequalities between actors and stakeholders within current approaches.     

An integrated sustainability decision-support framework Part I: Problem structuring

One of the main goals in decision-making for sustainable development is to identify and choose the most sustainable option from among different alternatives. This process usually involves a large number of stakeholders with multiple, often conflicting, objectives. Facilitating and resolving such difficult decision situations can be complex, so that a more formal and systematic approach to decision-making may be necessary. This two-part paper proposes an integrated multiple criteria decision-support framework specifically developed to provide systematic, step-by-step guidance to decision-makers. The framework, which is suitable for both corporate and public policy-making in the context of sustainable development, comprises three steps: problem structuring, problem analysis and problem resolution. In this paper, the focus is on problem structuring while Part II concentrates on problem analysis and resolution. Problem structuring includes identification of stakeholders, sustainability issues and indicators relevant for a particular decision problem. Sustainability indicators are used as decision criteria for identifying and choosing the most sustainable option. In the problem analysis step, decision makers articulate their preferences for different decision criteria. A suitable Multiple Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) technique, such as multi-objective optimisation, goal programming, value-based and outranking approaches, is then used to model the preferences. These techniques are discussed in Part II, which also gives guidance on the choice of the most appropriate MCDA method. Based on the outcome of preference modelling, which estimates the overall 'value' of each alternative being considered, decision-makers can then choose the 'best' or most sustainable option. Such an integrated decision-support framework is useful for providing structure to the debate, ensuring dialogue among decision-makers and showing trade-offs between conflicting objectives. In this way, it may be possible to create shared understanding about the issues, generate a sense of common purpose, and often, resolve 'difficult' decision problems.     

Ecological processes and sustainability

SUMMARY

Ecology has developed from its position as an obscure science to being at the interface of science and public policy. The impact of mankind can be described in ecological terms relating to population size, energy use and non-renewability. Sustainable development needs to be addressed on the basis of knowledge of ecological processes which maintain the environment in a state of change; the processes need to be conserved, not maintained in any particular state. Recent advances in the understanding of ecological processes are reviewed to highlight the potential contribution of this knowledge to the development of a sustainable policy. At the level of the population the significance of considering the extinction risks in the framework of spatio-temporal dynamics is now established indicating opportunities for planning land use more precisely to sustain biodiversity. Whilst the maintenance of habitats is generally the key to the persistence of biodiversity, they must be viewed as ever-changing mosaics within which cycles of succession, best described by Markovian sets of probabilities, are occurring continually. The extent to which these probabilities are distorted will determine whether the ecosystem returns to the same system or moves to a novel one. At the global level, biogeochemical cycles have a certain flexibility in relation to fluxes and stocks, hence pollution must be defined by relating the flow rate of the substance to this flexibility, which often permits the accommodation of anthropogenic perturbations. Non-sustainable processes can be defined in ecological terms, thus providing functional definitions of a sustainable policy and of sustainable development.     

Integrated river basin management in rapidly urbanizing areas: a case of Shenzhen, China

The rapid urbanization of China is causing a burden on their water resources and hindering their sustainable development. This paper analyzes effective methods to integrated river basin management (IRBM) using Longgang River basin of Shenzhen as an example, which is the city with the fastest rate of urbanization in China and even the whole world. Over the past 20 years, China has undergone a population boom due to the increase of immigrant workers and rapid development of laborintensive industries, which led to the sharp increase of water consumption and sewage discharge. However, the construction of the water infrastructure is still lagging far behind the environmental and social development, with only 32.7% of sewage in the district being treated. Currently, every water quality indicator of the Longgang River basin was unable to meet the required corresponding environmental standards, which further aggravated the water shortages of the region. Thus, an analytical framework is proposed to address the IRBM of the study area. The problems with the current management system include the lack of decentralization in decision-making, lack of enforcement with redundant plans, weak management capacity, financial inadequacy, and a poor system of stakeholder participation. In light of the principles of IRBM and the situation of the region, corresponding measures are put forward, including an increase of power given to sub-district offices, fewer but more feasible plans, capacity building among stakeholders, a combination of planning and marketing for overcoming financial inadequacy, and profound reform in the public participation system. The framework and institutional suggestions could inform similar processes in other representative river basins.     

Review on environmental policies in China: Evolvement, features, and evaluation

This article reviews the development of current environmental policies in China and the great progress made during 1979–2006. Applying lessons learned from industrialized countries to its own situation, China’s environmental policies have the following main features: (1) to explore command and control measures to their fullest extent, (2) to strive to raise funding for environmental protection, (3) to identify who should take accountability for environmental protection; (4) to encourage strategies of “combination of prevention and control” and “integrated utilization”, (5) to embrace openness in the field of environmental policy and early international cooperation. During the past 30 years, China’s environmental policies have evolved and deepened: status expanded the national basic policies of environmental protection by adding a sustainable development strategy, focus changed from pollution control to a combination of pollution control and ecological protection, method changed from end control to source control, scope changed form point source control to watershed and territory pollution control, and management style changed from primarily using executive power to using legal and economic measures. This article introduces how they are evaluated by the international community and provides the prospects of the policies.     

From local sustainable development towards climate change adaptation: a case study of Serbia

The recent 2014 floods in Serbia highlighted the potential extent of climate-related risks in the region, resulting in more than 30 deaths and more than 30,000 displaced people, with the overall cost of the damage close to €1.5 billion. By the end of this century, Serbia will experience an increase in temperature of up to 4°C and a decrease in summer precipitation of up to 50%. Adaptation to those changes calls for the redefinition of a strategic approach and the integration of climate change challenges into the processes of local sustainable development planning. The objective of this study was to assess current local sustainable development strategies (LSDSs) and highlight some of the threats and opportunities which may help or hinder the adaptation process, the evaluation of development priorities, coordination mechanisms at the local level and risk management practice. Based on climate trends and vulnerability level, 20 of the potentially most vulnerable municipalities in Serbia were selected. The analysis shows that although local sustainable development planning still lacks cross-sectorial planning practice and risk management plans and measures, and does not yet recognize vulnerable sectors as climate sensitive, it can still serve as a platform for adaptation planning. Based on the assessed LSDS framework, the most suitable approach to the development of an adaption strategy is the vulnerability-based approach. At the same time, the potential for initiating adaptation planning is recognized in the utilization of already established networks with external and international donors and planning experts, joined county or regional adaptation planning, and cross-border collaboration.     

An overview of flood mitigation strategy and research support in South Asia: implications for sustainable flood risk management

South Asia faces increasing flooding risks due to climatic and socio-economic changes. Various measures have been adopted by the governments of the countries in this region. However, these measures are not adequate to protect the vulnerable communities from ever-increasing flood losses. This study assesses the policy and planning processes and flood-related scientific research in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Based on a systematic review, a comparison of the existing flood management systems of the three countries is undertaken, and a framework for sustainable flood management in the region is suggested. Insights from the literature show that Bangladesh has been able to develop an effective governance structure to address flood hazards, while Pakistan’s approach to flood management planning is found to be largely inadequate. This inadequacy is mainly attributed to missing links in policy formulation and planning processes, along with a lack of institutional coordination. The results of the literature analysis reveal poor support from scientific research focusing on flooding issues in the case of Pakistan, while Bangladesh and India seem to have benefited from research support in formulating their flood management strategies. Based on these findings, an alternative framework is suggested, emphasizing the need to enhance institutional linkages, community participation and evidence-based research.     

Land-use planning for sustainable resource development in Kumaon Lesser Himalaya—a study of the Gomti watershed

SUMMARY

The Lesser Himalaya, as the most densely populated part of the tectonically active and ecologically sensitive Himalayan mountain ranges, deserves specific attention to the conservation of the environment and the sustainable development of natural resources. Rapid growth of the human population during recent years, and the absence of any viable means of livelihood other than uneconomic crop farming have led to the uncontrolled exploitation of land areas and the consequent degradation and depletion of critical biophysical resources in the region. The need for sustainable development in Himalaya, therefore, makes it imperative to adopt a comprehensive land-use policy based on land capacity analysis that is scientific and practical. The main objective of this paper is to evolve an optimal land-use framework for the Gomti Watershed, situated in Kumaon, Lesser Himalaya. A detailed study of the traditional land use, regional agricultural system and the areas prone to environmental hazards was made throughout the watershed, through the preparation of large scale topographical forest and land record maps, field surveys and mapping. The average slope was considered as the principal parameter of land capacity, the potential for landslides and the intensity of erosion. Recognising the drastic changes that have taken place in the traditional land use, the watershed area has been proposed to be defined as protected forests (33.41%), community forests (32.86%), cultivation (23.33%) and horticulture (8.30%).     

Managing Biodiversity in a Forestry Environment

In forest management and other land-use planning, ecological, social, and economical demands often conflict. Forest planning in particular has been biased towards maximizing economic output while disregarding the ecological effects of forestry practices. In this paper we present an approach for taking biological diversity into account in strategic forest management planning. We used the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) method for resource allocation and priority setting. We carried out a case study, whereby a set of management strategies was evaluated in order to identify the strategy which best fulfills the requirement of maintaining biological diversity while at the same time yielding a reasonable income from timber production. We discuss applicability of the approach in solving different forest management and conservation planning problems, as well as in assessment of ecological impacts.     

Integrated coastal zone management in Italy: a gap between science and policy

This paper introduces the need, in Italian countries, of a real integration of scientific knowledge into coastal policy. Actually, in Italy, still exists a gap between Science and Policy, interfering the implementation of an Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) process, while there is no coordination between local, regional and national authorities. This lack of an overall strategy has induced some regions to adopt regional plans for the sustainable development of their coastal areas, to compensate the shortcomings of a national planning. Besides, along Italian coasts, there is a heavy landscape urbanization producing conditions of environmental decay and highlighting the risk of erosions in littoral areas. In this critical context, it is necessary to adopt an effective Integrated Coastal Zone Management policy, to connect ecosystem and environmental approaches with the social and economic development of coastal areas. So, in Italian landscape, it is necessary to integrate the national cultural heritage into coastal management, joining scientific and cultural issues. In this framework, ICZM process could play an important role connecting scientists and policy makers towards an effective integration for the social and economic growth of local people.     

旅游规划的发展历程与发展趋势

简要介绍了国内外旅游规划的发展历程,分析了旅游规划的现状和存在的问题,指出旅游规划的发展趋势是走向合成规划,走向社会实践,走向系统优化和走向可持续发展。     

Moving towards sustainable development: rhetoric,policy and reality of ecological agriculture in China

Past decades have witnessed the rise of sustainable agriculture movements throughout the world. In parallel with this international trend, ecological agriculture (with essential goals of food security, rural employment, poverty alleviation, natural resource management and environmental protection) has been advocated as a workable approach for the realization of sustainable agriculture in China. Two decades of ecological agricultural development have shown that it not only gained legitimacy at the senior policy level but also became a focus of scientific research in fields such as ecological economics, ecology, and agricultural and environmental sciences. However, this endeavour is hardly known in the West and little attention has been paid so far to examining the broader politico-economic and sociocultural contexts within which it has evolved. This paper attempts to provide a general review of the emerging background, development history, policy initiatives and recent tendencies of ecological agriculture. In addition, the extant problems and potential contributions of this alternative practice to China's sustainable agricultural development are discussed. The purpose of this study is to identify the gap between the policy rhetoric and practical implementation of Chinese ecological agriculture and therefore to facilitate its moving towards sustainable development.