Governance of environmental risk: new approaches to managing stakeholder involvement

Disputes concerning industrial legacies such as the disposal of toxic wastes illustrate changing pressures on corporations and governments. Business and governments are now confronted with managing the expectations of a society increasingly aware of the social and environmental impacts and risks associated with economic development and demanding more equitable distribution and democratic management of such risks. The closed managerialist decision-making of the powerful bureaucracies and corporations of the industrial era is informed by traditional management theory which cannot provide a framework for the adequate governance of these risks. Recent socio-political theories have conceptualised some key themes that must be addressed in a more fitting approach to governance. We identify more recent management and governance theory which addresses these themes and develop a process-based approach to governance of environmental disputes that allows for the evolving nature of stakeholder relations in a highly complex multiple stakeholder arena.     

The influence of suburban land use on habitat and biotic integrity of coastal Rhode Island streams

Watershed land use in suburban areas can affect stream biota through degradation of instream habitat, water quality, and riparian vegetation. By monitoring stream biotic communities in various geographic regions, we can better understand and conserve our watershed ecosystems. The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between watershed land use and the integrity of benthic invertebrate communities in eight streams that were assessed over a 3-year period (2001-2003). Sites were selected from coastal Rhode Island watersheds along a residential land-use gradient (4-59%). Using the rapid bioassessment protocol, we collected biological, physicochemical, habitat, and nutrient data from wadeable stream reaches and compared metrics of structure and integrity. Principal component analyses showed significant negative correlation of indicators for stream physicochemical, habitat, and instream biodiversity with increasing residential land use (RLU) in the watershed. The physicochemical variables that were most responsive to percent RLU were conductivity, instream habitat, nitrate, and dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN). The positive correlation of DIN with percent RLU indicated an anthropogenic source of pollution affecting the streams. The biotic composition of the streams shifted from sensitive to insensitive taxa as percent RLU increased; the most responsive biological variables were percent Ephemeroptera, percent Scrapers, percent Insects, and the Hilsenhoff biotic index. These data show the importance of land management and conservation at the watershed scale to sustaining the biotic integrity of coastal stream ecosystems.     

Development of a reference coastal wetland set in Southern New England (USA)

Various measures of plants, soils, and invertebrates were described for a reference set of tidal coastal wetlands in Southern New England in order to provide a framework for assessing the condition of other similar wetlands in the region. The condition of the ten coastal wetlands with similar hydrology and geomorphology were ranked from least altered to highly altered using a combination of statistical methods and best professional judgment. Variables of plants, soils, and invertebrates were examined separately using principal component analysis to reduce the multidimensional variables to principal component scores. The first principal component scores of each set of variables (i.e., plants, soil, invertebrates) significantly (p?<?0.05) correlated with both residential land use and watershed nitrogen (N) loads. Using cumulative frequency diagrams, the first principal component scores of each plant, soil, and invertebrate data set were plotted, and natural breaks and best professional judgment were used to rank the first principal component scores among the sites. We weighted all three ranked components equally and calculated an overall salt marsh condition index by summing the three ranks and then transforming the index to a 0–1 scale. The overall salt marsh condition index for the reference coastal wetland set significantly correlated with the residential land use (R?=???0.87, p?=?0.001) and watershed N loads (R?=???0.86, p?=?0.001). Overall, condition deteriorated in salt marshes and their associated discharge streams when subjected to increasing watershed residential land use and N loads.     

Citizen science on speed? Realising the triple objective of scientific rigour,policy influence and deep citizen engagement in a large-scale citizen science project on ambient air quality in Antwerp

Citizen science projects are increasingly recognised as catalyst for triggering behaviour change and building social capital around environmental issues. However, overview studies observe recurrent challenges in many citizen science projects in terms of combining high levels of data quality with deep citizen engagement and policy influence. This paper reports on the findings of the CurieuzeNeuzen project (www.CurieuzeNeuzen.eu), a large-scale citizen science project on air quality in Antwerp, delivering results in the three areas described above. Through CurieuzeNeuzen, 2,000 citizens studied the air quality levels in and around Antwerp in 2016 and were intensively deliberating on possible causes and solutions. Surveys were conducted at the start and towards the end of the project, with participants stating that their participation resulted in changed views and behaviour towards air pollution, mobility solutions, and city planning. The findings were picked-up academically and contributed to policy debates on air quality at city and regional level.     

INVOLVING WATERSHED STAKEHOLDERS: AN ISSUE ATTRIBUTE APPROACH TO DETERMINE WILLINGNESS AND NEED1

ABSTRACT: The development of effective solutions for addressing nonpoint source pollution on a watershed basis often involves watershed stakeholders. However, success in engaging stakeholders in collaborative decision making processes varies, as watershed managers are faced with the challenges inherent to finding the right process for the decisions needed and in successfully engaging stakeholders in that process. Two characteristics that may provide guidance for determining the appropriateness of applying a collaborative process to a watershed problem are the need to collaborate and the willingness of stakeholders to engage in a collaborative decision making process. By examining seven attributes of the issues confronted by stakeholders in a collaborative process, the consequences of these attributes on the need for collaboration and stakeholders' willingness to engage can be estimated. The issue attributes include: level of uncertainty, balance of information, risk, time horizon of effects, urgency of decision, distribution of effects, and clarity of problem. The issue attribute model was applied to two collaborative decision making processes conducted by the same watershed stakeholder group in a North Carolina coastal watershed. Need and willingness to engage did not coincide for either issue; that is, stakeholders were more willing to engage on the issue that required less need for their involvement.     

POPs — Stand der Entwicklung zur Emissionsinventarisierung

The measures undertaken for reducing the impact of POPs on the environment are discussed in international conventions concerned with these substances and are related to the reporting of obligations which should ensure the control of their implementation and verify the effects of these measures on the environment. An essential element of this reporting involves the data concerning the emissions and environmental impact of these substances in emission inventories. A summary of the current status of emission inventories for POPs with a special focus on atmospheric emissions under EMEP is also presented. There are considerable uncertainties of reported emission data by the individual countries and in expert evaluations regarding marine and atmospheric impacts. Harmonized instruments for emission evaluation are required and under development in the form of guidance documents for the marine environment in ‘Harmonized Quantification and Reporting Procedures for Hazardous Substances (HARP-HAZ)’ and under EMEP in the ‘Atmospheric Emission Inventory Guidebook for UNECE/LRTAP’. The problems and the reasons for uncertainties in the quantification of environmental impacts are presented using the example of lindanes (hexachlorocyclohexane, HCH), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) und hexachlorobenzene (HCB).