Whose marginalisation? Politics around environmental injustices in India's Chilika lagoon

The article examines marginalisation in small-scale fishing communities in a large lagoon system. It explores what marginalisation looks like from the fishers' point of view, and examines the extreme discrepancy between the official government account of the lagoon's resources, and the fishers' account. We analyse two major drivers of marginalisation: (1) role of aquaculture development in the loss of resource access rights and decline of local institutions, and (2) ecological displacement and livelihood loss brought about by the opening of a new (2001) “sea mouth”. We consider evidence collected through household- and village-level surveys combined with a host of qualitative and quantitative research methods. The fishers' point of view, and the data obtained using this point of view as a guide, presents a more complex, multidimensional concept of marginalisation, not simply as a state of being but as a process over time, impacting social and economic conditions, political standing, and environmental health.     

A case for urban liveability from below: exploring the politics of water and land access for greater liveability in Kampala,Uganda

ABSTRACT

Improving urban liveability and prosperity is commonly set as a priority in urban development plans and policy around the world. Several annual reports produced by international consulting firms, media, and global agencies rank the liveability of cities based on a set of indicators, to represent the quality of life in these cities. The higher is the ranking, the more liveable is the city. In this paper, we argue that such quantitative approaches to framing and addressing urban liveability challenges leave little room to reflect on people's experiences of this liveability, which cannot be expressed through numbers. To illustrate our argument, we draw on empirical evidence of urban liveability challenges in access to water and land in Kampala, the capital city of Uganda, ranked recently as the most liveable East African city by various global agencies and media outlets. By showing that increasing the number of water connections does not guarantee improved access to water and sanitation in the long run, first, we demonstrate how urban liveability challenges are tightly linked with land-title issues in the city. Second, we highlight the political game-playing between the central government, the opposition, the traditional leadership, and the slum dwellers in governance processes of service delivery. Finally, by arguing that urban liveability can be enhanced by broadening political participation in city development planning, we discuss some of the strategies that can be used by communities to make collective claims towards improving their quality of life and the environment.     

Governance of seed and food security through participatory plant breeding: Empirical evidence and gender analysis from Syria

This paper presents the findings of a study on the governance of seed conducted in the framework of a participatory plant breeding (PPB) programme, based on a multi‐year inquiry with a panel of ten Syrian households. The study assessed the interactions between governance regimes regulating the rights to access and control genetic resources at international and national level, compared to the actual ability of the respondent women farmers to access and control the seed of varieties they co‐developed with the PPB programme. The paper argues that gender equal access to seed can “optimally” contribute to enhancing household food security in small scale farming. The paper also argues that to support a gender‐equal access to seed in the respondent households legislation needs to explicitly protect the rights of women farmers to access and share the benefits of genetic material and draw from empirical evidence of the actual access to and control of seed at ground level.     

Identifying implementation gaps in water recycling policy of Beijing municipality

ABSTRACT

Due to its dry climate, growing population, and overexploited groundwater, China’s capital is plagued by water scarcity. Since the late 1980s, Beijing has adopted water reuse solutions to bring relief; today, however, the intentions of these reuse policies are often not reflected in practice. Three significant implementation gaps exist: lack of use of installed decentralized reuse systems, limited understanding of the operation of decentralized treatment plants by operators, and inadequate service of centralized reuse treatment systems. By understanding the cause, impact, and severity of these gaps, Beijing’s policymakers can work to meet existing needs via a range of municipal and national policy-driven actions.

AbbrevationBWA Beijing Water AuthorityCECEPChina Energy Conservation and Environmental Protection GroupCNY Chinese yuanIPEInstitute of Public and Environmental AffairsENGOEnvironmental non-governmental organizationMACMunicipal Action CommitteeMEEMinistry of Ecological Environment MEP Ministry of Environmental ProtectionMEPBMunicipal Bureau of Environmental ProtectionMNRMinistry of Natural ResourcesOECDOrganization for Economic Cooperation and DevelopmentO&MOperation and maintenanceSNWTPSouth-North Water Transfer ProjectSOEState-Owned Enterprise     

Water resource governance in China’s regional cooperation

ABSTRACT

A series of water disputes and conflicts have gradually emerged between China and some neighboring countries after 2000, influencing China’s neighborhood relations. China increasingly realizes the importance and urgency of the water resource governance in the regional cooperation, but under complicated geopolitical context, China’s water resource governance must serve several important main functions in its regional cooperation. Overall, water resource governance is the demands of crisis management and conflict prevention, and also is a kind of positive factor that promotes sub-regional cooperation. From the perspective of the current situation, China should take more proactive attitude toward the water resource governance, expand the areas and stakeholders of the water resource governance, and thus promote the formulation of water resource governance strategy.     

飞行管理中防撞模型研究

随着民用航空业的不断发展,航空安全问题已经成为航空业发展中的重大问题。本文从空中防相撞的角度出发,建立一个防撞模型,当一架飞机进入一个区域时,判断该机与区域中其他飞机是否存在危险,如果有潜在危险,模型给出一个调整角度,保障飞行安全。     

浅谈电子支付系统及其安全性要求

阐述了电子支付系统的概念、特点,并论述了电子支付系统的安全性要求.     

基于生态安全的城市生命线系统评价与优化

随着我国经济和社会的不断发展，生态安全已经上升成为国家安全的一个重要方面，而城市生命线系统是城市生态安全的一个重要命脉。本文基于生态安全特点和城市生命线系统特征，分析了目前我国城市生命线系统存在的主要问题；从评价生命线系统易损性、协调城市生命线系统建设与城市总体规划关系、利用GIS和DSS等技术构建城市生命线系统数据库和决策支持系统等方面对城市生命线系统进行了优化设计；并分别以东部沿海典型城市厦门和连云港为例，从政策、规划、机构、管理、科研等层面提出优化建议。     

基于WINDOWS2000的无线局域网安全体系设计实践

无线局域网接入速率高,组网灵活,在传输移动数据方面具有得天独厚优势.但是,随着无线局域网应用领域的不断拓展,其安全问题也越来越受到重视.本文基于W INDOW S 2000操作系统,阐述了构建一个无线局域网安全体系的方法.     

珠江上游少数民族农业区域生态安全预警研究--贵州境内22县实证分析

区域生态安全是区域经济社会可持续发展的基础。珠江上游少数民族农业区域的生态安全形势严峻，其生态安全不仅事关本区域的经济社会可持续发展。而且影响珠江中下游地区（尤其是珠江三角洲地区）的经济社会可持续发展.本文以科学发展观为指导,建立珠江上游少数民族农业区域生态安全预警指标体系。并通过对贵州境内22县的样本分析,横向比较,作出珠江上游生态少数民族农业区域生态安全预警。