Building the Capacity of Grassroots Conservation Organizations to Conduct Participatory Evaluation

Stakeholder participation has become a key factor in the success of grassroots conservation and natural resource management programs. Yet the majority of program evaluations are conducted by external consultants for the purposes of accountability, rather than program improvement. Too often, systematic evaluations of conservation programs are not conducted at all. The objective of this study was to build the capacity of a grassroots conservation organization to conduct participatory evaluation, involving project stakeholders in the design, implementation, and use of evaluation. The study applied a conceptual model for participatory evaluation to the Wildlife Clubs of Kenya (WCK), the largest grassroots conservation program for youth in Africa, involving more than one million youth since 1968. Seven trainings in participatory evaluation were conducted with WCK staff, teachers, and community members. The 120 participants, representing nine WCK regions with 800 clubs, showed a significant increase in attitudes and knowledge regarding evaluation, as reflected by mean test scores before and after training. To institutionalize evaluation at WCK, existing organizational practices were assessed and used as a foundation for developing an evaluation system. Based on club competitions, a new evaluation initiative was launched called the WCK Incentive Program. Participants in all seven workshops identified indicators and sources of evidence for this evaluation system, which now serves as a basis for rewarding outstanding performance in WCK. This study revealed the importance of incentives for evaluation, the need to build on existing structures to promote organizational learning, and the necessity for the conservation community to commit resources to capacity building in participatory evaluation.     

大型建筑内部火灾温度场的数值模拟

利用CFD技术对在建筑火灾情况下，温度场的变化趋势进行数值模拟。针对大型建筑内部火灾温度场数值模拟特点，考虑建筑火灾中温度、烟气扩散以及尺度较大等因素，通过小尺度数值实验，在模型的效率性和准确性方面对不同模型加以比较、分析，选取带浮力修正的模型。同时，选用国际通用CFD计算软件FLUENT6．1针对某大型建筑内部火灾温度场进行数值模拟。并结合区域模拟软件CFAST对结果进行比较分析。表明CFD场模拟软件FLUENT6．1具有较高的可靠性，可针对大型工程项目进行分析模拟。     

浅谈住宅小区楼前排水检查井的做法

住宅小区污水管道施工是小区建设的重要环节.因小区面积不等、户型多样、情况复杂,检查井砌筑不慎将导致污水渗漏,污染地下水.检查井新施工工艺在施工前的准备工作、注意事项、优缺点以及与规范做法的不同之处.     

北京地区未来地震中各种类型建筑可能造成的人员死亡率

地震房屋倒塌率CR和地震死亡率FR存在一定的关系,据此,本文研究计算得到了北京地区在未来地震中各类建筑可能造成的人员死亡率FR.     

Nontraditional settlement patterns and typhoon hazard on contemporary Majuro atoll,Republic of the Marshall Islands

Low-lying islands and atolls are particularly prone to storm surges created by tropical depressions and typhoons. This paper presents a case study of traditional and contemporary settlement patterns of Majuro, the capital of the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and discusses its vulnerability to such storm surges. The paper shows that the application of traditional knowledge extends to the realm of urban planning and that, in fact, ignoring this traditional knowledge as expressed in pre-World War II settlement patterns, exposes urban development to increased flood hazards, a risk which may exact a price too high in life and property.     

某煤气柜储气罐地基差异沉降评测

通过补勘、沉降计算及依据实测资料对后期沉降量的推算,对某煤气柜储气罐地基差异沉降问题进行了评测。     

ON THE MISMATCH BETWEEN DATA AND MODELS OF HYDROLOGIC AND WATER RESOURCE SYSTEMS1

ABSTRACT: Many difficulties exist in the matching of models with data. This paper identifies elements of this problem and discusses considerations involved in model evaluation. The well known multivariate linear regression model is used to illustrate the distinctions between accuracy and precision and between estimation and prediction (because the model is commonly misused.) No amount of additional data will improve the accuracy of a poor model. A high R², while indicative of a good matching between the observed data and model estimates, is a poor criterion for judging adequacy of the model to make good predictions of future events. Model evaluation also includes the problem of introducing secondary data and proxy variables into a model. Secondary data frequently enter, for example, the mass, energy and water budget equations because of difficulties in measuring the primary variables. Proxy variables arise because of a desire to collapse a vector of incomparable values, say, of water quality into a single number. Review of the above issues indicates that model evaluation is a multi-criterion problem, often imbedded in a larger framework where models are intended to meet multiple objectives. The mismatch of models and data has increasing legal and social consequences.     

The effects of flooding upon buildings in developing countries

The genera] effects of flooding on buildings and structural materials in developing countries are comprehensively reviewed. The aim of the paper is to stimulate further field based research as to how and what type of building improvements can be introduced, given the prevailing economic and cultural constraints of many communities, and to examine the appropriateness of floodproofing measures in developing countries where there are often few floodplain management or large scale flood prevention schemes. Proposals are suggested as to the method and type of information which is required for detailed studies prior to developing new and more effective building designs.     

Science, Research, Knowledge and Capacity Building

A small part of the scientific community is seeking hard to enhance the contribution of science, knowledge and capacity building to environmentally sustainable and socially fair human development around the world. Many researchers over the globe share the same commitment – anchored in concerns for the human condition. They believe that science and research can and have influenced sustainability. Therefore their main goals are to seek and build up knowledge, know-how and capacity that might help to feed, nurture, house, educate and employ the world's growing human population while conserving its basic life support systems and biodiversity. They undertake projects, that are essentially integrative, and they try to connect the natural, social and engineering sciences, environment and development of communities, multiple stakeholders, geographic and temporal scales. More generally, scientists engaged in sustainable development are bridging the worlds of knowledge and action. This pro-active, heavily ethics- and wisdom-based "science for sustainability" can be seen as the conclusion of all dialogues and discussions amongst scientists at the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) 2002 in Johannesburg. The "Plan of Implementation" after WSSD will be based on political will, practical steps and partnerships with time-bound actions. Several "means of implementation" are going to be proofed and initiated: finance, trade, transfer of environmentally sound technology, and, last but not least, science and capacity building.Some characteristics of working scientific sustainability initiatives are that they are regional, place-based and solution-oriented. They are focusing at intermediate scales where multiple stresses intersect, where complexity is manageable, where integration is possible, where innovation happens, and where significant transitions toward sustainability can start bottom-up. And they have a fundamental character, addressing the unity of the nature – society system, asking how that interactive system is evolving and how it can be consciously, if imperfectly, steered through the reflective mobilization and application of appropriate knowledge and know-how. The aims of such sustainability-building initiatives conducted by researchers are: first to make significant progress toward expanding and deepening the research agenda of science and knowledge-building for sustainability; secondly to strengthen the infrastructure and capacity for conducting and applying science, research and technology for sustainability – everywhere in the world where it is needed; and thirdly, to connect science, policy and decision-making more effectively in pursuit of a faster transition towards real sustainable development. The overall characteristic is, that sustainability initiatives are mainly open-ended networks and dialogues for the better future. A world society that tries to turn towards sustainable development has to work hard to refine their clumsy technologies, in "earthing" their responsibility to all creatures and resources, in establishing democratic systems in peace and by heeding human rights, in building up global solidarity through all mankind and in commit themselves to a better life for the next generations.     

DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF A COOPERATIVE WATER QUALITY MONITORING PROGRAM IN COLORADO'S BIG THOMPSON WATERSHED1

ABSTRACT: In 1996, the Big Thompson Watershed Forum (BTWF) was formed “to assess and protect the quality of water” in the Big Thompson Watershed in northern Colorado. However, until 1999, water quality monitoring in the watershed was performed by many state, local, and federal agencies with no coordination among programs and with few efforts toward efficiency, data comparability, or information exchange. To better meet the needs of its stakeholders, the BTWF since 1999 has been actively pursuing the design and implementation of a cooperative water quality monitoring program. The program design involved consensus building among the funding participants, primarily drinking water providers. The final design included 38 parameters to be sampled 15 times per year at 24 stream and canal locations plus two reservoirs. Although the collaborative consensus based approach has been successful for the BTWF, this approach has its drawbacks; most notable among these are the time and labor this approach requires. Also, the BTWF struggled with achieving equal representation of all interests, since those agencies that provided funding had the greatest voice in the final product. While a collaborative approach may not always be best for monitoring program design, it should be appropriate for many watershed organizations that face the common problem of severe financial constraints.