Proposal of Indicators to Assess Urban Sustainability in Brazil

The research related here focuses on municipal situations where problems of sustainability may be defined and tackled on the basis of bottom-up management procedures with the participation of organized society. The aim is to build management models that may be implemented with reasonable administrative effort and cost. Implementation pursues the target of approaching a sustainable situation in the municipality. Environmental parameters for an ideal municipality with undefined geographical location are presented. For each parameter, a set of indicators is developed that can measure the prospect of sustainability. The indicators are defined in terms of numbers or literal concepts according to the possibility of measurement. Examples of management models are presented, which are able to approach the situation defined as sustainable by the indicators. The basic management tool is the learning curve of targeted communities, which is experimentally developed and applied. The indicators are grouped according to their range of applicability.     

由参加"生态管理高级培训班"看中意环保合作项目的影响

在意大利举办的生态管理学习班,通过意大利专家学者的授课,使我在该领域的知识有所提高.这次学习的宗旨,是要把欧洲比较发达的意大利的环境保护领域的先进经验,尤其是生态管理方面的经验向中国环保工作者作介绍,希望在进一 步缩小中国环境保护领域与发达国家差距方面做出贡献.     

Advisory Committee: A Powerful Tool for Helping Decision Makers in Environmental Issues

/ It has been suggested that the general public should be moreinvolved in environmental policy and decision making. It is important forthem to realize that they will have to live with the consequences ofenvironmental policies and decisions. Consequently, policy makers shouldconsider the concerns and opinions of the general public before makingdecisions on environmental issues. This raises questions such as: How can weintegrate the perceptions and reactions of the general population inenvironmental decisions? What kind of public participation should weconsider? In the present study, using a new regional ecosystem model, weattempted to integrate these aspects in its decision making model byincluding the formation of an advisory committee to resolve problems relatedto waste management. The advisory committee requested the activeparticipation of representatives from all levels of the community: economic,municipal, and governmental intervenors; environmental groups; and citizens.Their mandates were to examine different management strategies available inthe region, considering all the interdisciplinary aspects of each strategy,elaborate recommendations concerning the management strategies that are mostsuitable for all, and collaborate in communication of the information to thegeneral population. The results showed that at least in small municipalitiessuch an advisory committee can be a powerful tool in environmental decisionmaking. Conditions required for a successful consultation process, such aseveryday lay language and the presence of a facilitator other than ascientific expert, are discussed.KEY WORDS: Public consultation; Environmental policies;Interdisciplinary aspects; Municipal sewage sludge management; Generalpopulation; Decision-making process     

Public Participation and Effective Water Governance at the Local Level: A Case Study from a Small Under-Developed Area in Chile

The concept of participation in rural development has been evolutionary for the past two decades with those involved, such as development agencies and governments, particularly in rural water supply, re-evaluating their active role. The move towards effective community participation has encouraged a shift from the traditional top-down to a bottom-up approach whereby there is a decentralisation of unevenly distributed resources and power to empower a community and allow mobility of ‘people participation’. The Molinos water project is the first large-scale development project of its kind introduced into the village of Molinos in an under-developed area of Chile, where there has been no tradition of people participation. The project objective was to implement a low technology, low budget water treatment plant to the village of Molinos. Various aspects have hindered the continued development of the project including both technical and financial. In terms of people participation, the initial approach used was the top-down approach. There was a failure to fully integrate the community or inform the community in a formal manner about the project and consult them regarding key project issues. This case study illustrates that the lack of comprehensive consultation and the low level of participation of the community on the participatory scale does not achieve much in terms of people-centred benefits. For governance at the local level to be effective, participation should be inclusive and communicative so as to enhance transparency throughout the project lifetime. Readers should send their comments on this paper to: BhaskarNath@aol.com within 3 months of publication of this issue.     

The Precautionary Principle and Chemicals Regulation: Past Achievements and Future Possibilities (8 pages)

Background, Aim and Scope

The paper investigates the development of the institutional basis of the present modes of chemicals regulation and management, with special attention to interrelations with the precautionary principle. Main Features: The paper elucidates on how the precautionary principle has been shaped in relation to chemicals regulation and management since Carson's Silent Spring (years before the principle was confirmed as a policy-principle in German and European legislation. Furthermore, it is examined how the precautionary principle interacted with the development of the present chemicals regulatory regime, in a complex interplay within the OECD and Member Countries. The present modes of precaution in the new EU chemical legislation – REACH – are investigated with respect to the precautionary principle, and tested against two contemporary problems; brominated flame retardants and endocrine disrupting substances. Results: The analysis demonstrates the changing character of the integration of the precautionary principle. The main tendencies are from implicit to more explicit precaution and from a closed expert-orientation towards a more deliberative approach to scientific knowledge and uncertainty. The results demonstrate that the precautionary principle is manifest in both the design of the testing strategy and in policy provisions. In particular, the substitution of hazardous substances with less hazardous is important. Discussion: Despite explicit attention to the precautionary principle, is the present reformulation of the European Chemicals policy in danger of falling into loop-holes that equal problems related to the present regulation of existing chemicals? 'Precaution' has been reduced virtually to an abstract concept that is more or less devoid of practical meaning in the regulatory process. Conclusions: It is concluded that the role of the precautionary principle in chemicals regulation will require continued scrutiny in the future shaping of the REACH strategy. Perspectives: Continued development of robust and precaution-based chemicals regulation will have to involve both new data-generation strategies and new forms of political decision-making, with special attention given to transparency and deliberative policymaking.     

欧盟民防机制经验及其借鉴

突发公共事件产生的原因往往是多方面的,发生过程也不是孤立的,其处置需要多个部门和区域的配合协调.为了应对跨区域灾难,我国政府付出了诸多努力以提高本国应急管理能力.然而,我国横向的管理碎片化问题仍然存在,大大影响了我国的应急管理效果.欧盟作为一个区域一体化组织,其民防机制涵盖多方参与者,跨国、跨区域协调功能得到国际社会的普遍认可.研究欧盟如何成功协调各国在应急管理行动中的关系将为我国有效应对跨区域灾难带来启示.     

Local governance of energy transition: sustainability,transactions and social ties. A case study in Northeast France

This paper tackles the process of energy transition from a transactional perspective. It addresses the governance of energy transition by studying its local actualizations, moving beyond purely technical and normative readings. The paper shows that through the local socio-technological energy systems, sustainability governance filters down to the level of individual, everyday behavior, thus questioning the link between public and private spaces, especially regarding the issue of housing. Going beyond the results commonly yielded by transition studies, which favor large-scale analysis, it details how the discourse of citizen involvement, which often boils down to a mere call to control one’s individual energy consumption, conceals environmental inequalities, confirming the socioeconomic divide materialized in deprived areas such as public housing estates or remote rural areas. From a methodological standpoint, the analysis is based on four case studies in Northeast France, in more or less privileged areas, and in both urban and rural environments: the renovation of a heating network in the public housing estate of Cité de l’Ill, north of Strasbourg; the solar energy systems designed for property owners in Plobsheim, a residential suburb of Strasbourg; the energy-efficient equipment set up in a public housing estate in the city of Saint-Dié, in the Vosges; and citizen participation in a cooperative program to finance wind turbines in the small Alsacian city of Saâles, in a mountain rural area. The paper draws on the results of these sociological investigations, carried out using field observations, questionnaires and interviews.     

Public perception of air pollution sources across Europe

Air pollution is one of the primary concerns of our society for its effect on human health and the environment. Among the policy measures that can be put in place to limit air pollutant emissions, end-of-pipe technologies and/or regulatory instruments may be implemented through legislative acts. Also, equally important are behavioural measures, requiring citizens’ active involvement. The success of any measure to limit pollutant emissions requires the acceptance by the citizens that, in turn, implies a correct perception of the main pollutant emission drivers. We present here the comparison between the public perception of air pollution sources and the real-world situation through a survey carried out in seven European countries and involving 16 101 respondents. Our study shows a dramatic underestimation of the contribution of the agri-food sector to air pollution. This result is common to all respondents in the seven countries examined and only to a small extent depends on gender, age and socio-economic status of the respondents.     

双风机并联机站局阻特性研究

为探究双风机并联机站局部阻力特性、完善机站局部阻力及其系数的计算公式,以实际矿井通风机站为工程背景,在分析机站流场能量损失机理的基础上,采用物理模型实验和数值计算相结合的方法,分析了机站入口分流、出口汇流的断面速度不均匀程度与机站阻力损失的关系,同时对不同宽高比的矩形断面进行多工况模拟。结果表明:断面速度不均匀性越大,速度分布重组造成的阻力损失越大;确定了机站局阻计算所需参数的合理测定位置,得出机站局阻系数计算时的综合影响系数Kc随风机工况增大而增大、随断面宽高比A增大而减小,并呈现较好的线性关系。研究结果可为多级机站通风系统通风阻力特性分析以及工程优化设计提供参考。     

基于机器学习的电热防除冰表面温度变化趋势预测

针对飞机部件周期控制律电加热防除冰的应用,提出基于机器学习以预测电加热防除冰表面温度的变化趋势.依靠大型结冰风洞及其电加热防除冰控制系统完成防除冰试验,获得有效的试验数据,以通、断电周期为分割单元,将试验数据划分成验证集和训练集.根据电热防除冰过程的换热情况,构建样本的特征参数,利用机器学习的有监督学习方式,选择KNN近邻回归算法和局部线性加权回归算法预测温度变化率,再转换为温度,得到的温度变化与测量数据的线性相关性达到80％以上的高相似度结果,表明使用机器学习可快速预测电热防除冰部件的表面温度变化趋势,且不同的回归算法针对模型不同测温点位置的预测效果存在差异.