The importance of place in early disaster recovery: a case study of the 2013 Colorado floods

Recovery is an important but understudied phase in the disaster management cycle. Researchers have identified numerous socio-demographic factors that help explain differences in recovery among households, but are less clear on the importance of place, which we define as a household's locality and local governance. In this paper, we examine the influence of place on disaster recovery through a study of the 2013 Colorado floods. Our findings are based on data collected from interviews, observation of recovery meetings, and a survey of 96 flood-affected households. We show that place shapes a household's disaster recovery by structuring: (1) physical exposure to hazards; (2) which local government has jurisdiction over recovery decisions; (3) local planning culture and its approach to citizen participation; and (4) the strength of social capital networks. Our findings expand the recovery literature and show that place-level variables should be taken into consideration when conceptualizing household recovery and resilience.     

The Power of Legitimation: The Role of Expert Networks in Global Environmental Governance

As part of the debate on the legitimacy of governance networks in global environmental politics, this article investigates the conditions under which policy solutions can be transferred worldwide as a result of a particular type of interaction within transnational expert networks and technical committees. To this end, the article hypothesises that policy solutions can be legitimised in governance networks meeting four cumulative criteria: participation, flexibility, horizontality and inclusiveness. This hypothesis is then tested by means of two heuristic case studies dedicated to the worldwide transfer of environmental standards via United Nations specialized agencies. The empirical work partly strengthens the validity of the hypothesis but also underscores the limits of legitimation strategies in the face of strong heterogeneity of interests. In such cases, environmental policy networks may adopt fairly “vertical” features and resort to classical bargaining and constraint strategies whereby compromises are exchanged and power asymmetries are mobilised.     

Tackling wicked problems and tricky transitions: change and continuity in Cape Town's environmental policy landscape

This paper offers a reflection on 15 years of policy change in the City of Cape Town aimed at fostering sustainability from the perspective of a City practitioner. The persistent continuation of unsustainable outcomes, despite ongoing policy reforms, is understood as a combination of the emergence of wicked problems, within a changing local government mandate, in the absence of a transformation of institutional structures, tools and approaches. While the approach to policy reform in Cape Town has focussed on reducing substantive uncertainty through its knowledge-based approach, we show that in the context of an expanding local government mandate, sustainability becomes an aspect of many departments’ directive resulting in strategic uncertainty. The untransformed traditional line-function-based structure of local government in turn works against integration between departments (fundamental for addressing non-linear wicked problems), thus promoting institutional uncertainty. In addressing this combination of strategic and institutional uncertainty, our findings indicate that integration has to happen in the policy stage in order for sustainability principles to be implemented in relevant departments; that implementation requires resourcing across the institution, and ought to be included in departments’ targets; and that competing and conflicting rationalities underpin the policy–practice gap. It is suggested that a first step in breaking down the strategic and institutional uncertainties would be to foster shared values through creating deliberative spaces within the City in which debate, discussion and learning can occur.     

微囊藻毒素生物毒性作用机制与调控策略的研究进展

近年来,有关水体富营养化导致微囊藻毒素污染以及对微囊藻毒素生物毒性的调控研究成为全球环境关注的热点。基于对微囊藻毒素结构特性、生成机制、迁移转化规律和污染现状的探讨,归纳总结了微囊藻毒素的典型生物毒性及其毒性作用机制。为有效防控微囊藻毒素环境风险,深入探讨了微囊藻毒素的源消减调控策略、针对微囊藻毒素迁移过程的调控策略及针对微囊藻毒素毒理过程的调控策略。最后,对微囊藻毒素生物毒性作用机制及调控策略的研究进行了展望,为微囊藻毒素污染防治提供理论与技术支持。     

Organizational Factors of Environmental Sustainability Implementation: An Empirical Analysis of US Cities and Counties

Environmental sustainability goals are increasingly embedded in local planning, but implementation proves difficult. Using a survey of 217 planners working in a random sample of 146 small to mid-sized American cities and counties, we identify the organizational factors that support and hinder the implementation of environmentally sustainable practices. The analysis is based on a conceptual framework that encompasses organizational capacity, culture, structure, participatory decision-making, the framing of sustainability and contextual factors. We find that environmental sustainability implementation is lagging (although cities are generally ahead compared to counties) and that outcome evaluation is rare, precluding adaptive learning. The major barrier to implementation is that sustainability is low on political and managerial agendas. As expected, local public support, innovation-supportive organizational culture and the prioritization and framing of environmental sustainability support implementation. Surprisingly, innovation diffusion does not occur across neighbouring localities, local capacity and public participation are irrelevant for implementation and hierarchical rather than integrated institutional structures support implementation.     

生态文明建设评价考核的党政同责问题

党政同责是生态文明建设的关键落实手段。评价考核适用于哪些党政机关,如何针对党政机关区别设计评价考核指标,评价考核的结果如何运用等,是落实生态文明党政同责的也是相当重要的内容。中共中央和国务院联合发布生态文明建设党政同责评价考核办法,十八届三中全会文件等党的文件和《环境保护法》等国家法律成为实行党政同责的依据。在角色定位方面,党政同责作为一个保障手段比较稳妥;在指导思想方面,明确党政系统对生态文明建设的主导作用,强化党政领导干部的生态文明责任意识,健全党政领导干部的追责体制和机制;在考核对象方面,把党政系统以及相关领导作为考核对象予以明确;在评价考核指标方面,要区别设计党政两个系统的考核指标体系;在评价考核原则方面,坚持党统领生态文明建设和党政考核并重的原则。地方党政系统的评价考核应分为年度、中期和离任评价考核,评价考核结果要能引起党委特别是组织和纪检监察机关的重视。既应对成绩突出的地区和领导干部给予表彰奖励,也要建立生态补偿、区域限批等损害责任追究制度,健全党政领导干部任内考核责任制和终身责任制。     

地方政府生态环境治理注意力研究——基于30个省市政府工作报告(2006—2015)文本分析

注意力代表着政府决策者对特定事务的关注,注意力的变化是政府决策选择变化的直接原因。环境治理注意力是环境治理进入议程设置,进而出台政策、实施治理的前提。政府工作报告是政府进行资源配置与精力投入的指挥棒,也是"政府将重视什么、哪些领域得到更多投入资源"的通知书和承诺书,它是政府注意力分配或者变化的重要载体。本文收集了30个省市地方政府自2006年到2015年共300份工作报告,通过文本分析方法,试图发现地方政府生态环境治理注意力的变化规律。分析结果呈现:1从时间轴上看,地方政府对于生态环境的注意力强度逐渐增加;2从地域轴上看,东、中、西部政府生态环境注意力差距并不明显,相比而言,中部处于一个稍低的位次;3从生态环境的范畴看,具体领域得到进一步扩展,中央与地方对环境具体事务保持了较高的一致性,注意力的变化与决策环境和中央宏观政策有重要相关关系。尽管在某些时间点,某些地域存在离散点,但总体而言,在中央政府强调经济发展需要与当地环境资源承载能力相协调的大背景下,地方政府将注意力大幅转向民生事务和生态环境。鉴于地方领导人任期以及注意力本身的"易变性",要保持地方政府环境治理注意力的强度和持续性,1增加制度供给,使环境治理成为法治常项;2将环境治理在公共事务治理的排序中前置,将环境治理放在突出位置;3提升环境事件的信息强度,向地方政府传导积极的环境治理压力。     

经济增长和环境规制对雾霾的区际影响差异

为探究不同省级区域雾霾、经济增长和环境规制之间的空间关联效应,本文提出针对雾霾的引力模型空间权重矩阵,并利用该矩阵建立了空间杜宾模型,分别对全国、西部、中部和东部省区的面板数据进行了空间计量检验。实证结果显示:全国雾霾的莫兰指数值显著,且取值介于0.367—0.460之间;雾霾"重心"呈现先向东南再向西北移动的趋势,移动距离为76 557 m;雾霾的莫兰指数值为东部省区最大,西部省区最小,中部省区介于二者之间。全国的雾霾与经济增长之间呈显著的"U"型曲线,而西部、中部和东部省区则呈倒"U"型曲线,其中中部省区的曲线最为陡峭,西部省区次之,东部省区最为平缓。环境规制每增加1%,只有西部和东部的雾霾相应减少,且各自相应下降0.009和0.010个百分点。西部和东部经济增长的溢出效应均显著,而环境规制的溢出效应不显著。研究结果表明:(1)雾霾在空间上表现出集聚的特点,全国和三个区域的雾霾都存在显著的正向空间溢出效应,这种空间依赖性在时间维度上大致呈加强的趋势;雾霾的空间相关性表现为东部省区最强,西部省区紧随其后,中部省区最低。(2)西部和东部省区部分省市还未过拐点,全国意义上的环境库茨涅兹假说是不存在的,或者是至少还未出现。(3)西部和东部环境规制效果较为理想,而中部省区的环境规制效果不佳;从全国总体来看,当前的环境规制整体上对雾霾并未起到有效的抑制作用。(4)东西部省区和中部省区经济增长对雾霾溢出效应分别表现为正向和反向;环境规制对雾霾的溢出效应并不显著。建议加强对雾霾的区域协同治理,重点推进西部和东部省区经济结构的转型升级,调整和完善西部、中部和东部省区的环境规制政策。     

从《“十三五”生态环境保护规划》看环境监管的转变

"十三五"时期是以环境质量为核心的生态文明建设的重要时期,完善环境监管制度转变是推进生态文明制度体系建设的重要内容。本文研究提出了加快实现环境监管的三个重要转变:环境管理向环境治理的转变,环境监管能力向环境治理能力现代化的转变和环境监管方式向环境综合监管的转变。另外,本文还对三个转变如何落地提出了建议。     

探讨河道治理类工程环境影响评价及环保措施

本文对河道治理工程对大气环境、水环境、生态环境、声环境等方面产生的负面影响进行分析和评价,并提出具有针对性的解决对策,力求通过注重建材堆放、科学设置污水池、保持水土、减低噪声等方式,在确保工程顺利开展的同时,使环境问题得到有效解决。