Avoiding the presumptive policy errors of intergovernmental environmental planning programmes: a case analysis of urban stormwater management planning

This social research aims to identify and examine the implementation presumptions of intergovernmental environmental planning programmes and how to improve their effectiveness in future practice. It contrasts and explains the organisational dynamics and implementation responses of municipalities that succeeded and failed in realising the objective of such a programme. The research involved a qualitative multiple-case comparison between four high- and four low-performing municipalities implementing a stormwater programme within metropolitan Sydney, Australia. These two organisational types substantially differed in corporate expertise, environmental leadership, extended relational activity, and overall disposition to learning and ownership of local environmental issues. The paper identified five presumptions underpinning the programme design which privileged the high-performing organisations, but did little to garner commitment and develop capacity among the low-performing group. These implementation insights not only provide guideposts for intergovernmental programme design, but also reveal how policy design can undermine policy intent if empathy to local organisational dynamics is lacking.     

青年旅游者乡村旅游消费行为实证分析——以成都市为例

国内不少文献对乡村旅游消费者行为做了实证研究,但专门针对某一年龄群体的研究却不多。事实上,不同年龄的旅游消费者的心理特征有很大的差别,表现出不同的旅游消费行为。以成都城郊乡村旅游地为例,采用问卷调查和现场访谈结合的方法,从出游意愿、时空行为、出游方式、消费行为和旅游偏好等方面对18—30岁的青年旅游者消费行为做了详细分析,试图发现青年旅游者的消费行为规律,提出开发青年旅游者乡村旅游市场的建议。     

How green is your thumb? Environmental gardening identity and ecological gardening practices

For gardeners, the garden is a significant aspect of identity. The number of people who garden and consider themselves environmentally friendly is growing. This exploratory study investigated whether “environmental gardening identity” is a measurable construct that motivates environmentally-friendly home gardening cultivation practices above that predicted by the previously validated environmental identity scale (EID, Clayton, 2003). A mail questionnaire was sent to a random sample of 800 urban-suburban self-identified gardeners (61% return rate.) The survey contained four sections: (1) the environmental identity scale (EID); (2) a new scale instrument designed to measure environmental gardening identity (EGID), (3) multiple choice questions addressing specific gardening practices, and (4) demographic questions. Results show that environmental identity, as measured by the EID, significantly predicts ecological gardening behavior. Additionally, it was found that the environmental gardening identity scale (EGID) comprises five subscales, all of which are highly correlated with the environmental identity scale (EID), and three of which explain the variability in gardening practices above that explained by the EID. However, it does not appear that these three subscales of the EGID specifically measure identity. Additional analyses show that respondents' reasons to have a garden are linked to the strength of both EID and EGID, especially for those respondents who garden as a way to connect with nature.     

The role of perceived government style in the facilitation of self-determined and non self-determined motivation for pro-environmental behavior

Most North Americans are concerned about the environment and feel that responsibility for its protection lies primarily with government; however, no research to date has examined the influence of the government's approach toward environmental regulation on the motivation of individual citizens. According to self-determination theory, social contexts that support one's autonomy should facilitate self-determined motivation and social contexts that thwart autonomy should lead to non self-determined motivation and a sense of apathy or amotivation. In this study (n = 283), we examined the influence of perceptions of the government's approach toward environmental regulation on motivation toward the environment and frequency of self-reported pro-environmental behavior (PEB). Using structural equation modeling, we tested the hypothesis that frequency of PEB is predicted by motivation toward the environment and that motivation is predicted by the extent to which individuals perceive the government to be autonomy-supportive versus controlling in the implementation of environmental policies. The analysis revealed that perception of government autonomy-support contributed positively to autonomous motivation and negatively to amotivation, while perception of government control was positively related to both controlled motivation and amotivation. As predicted, autonomous motivation was positively, and amotivation was negatively, associated with frequency of PEB.     

Multi-indicator assessment of water environment in government environmental auditing

This study focused on a multi-indicator assessment methodology for governmental environmental auditing of water protection programs. The environmental status of Wuli Lake in China was assessed using the global indicators （driver-status-response） developed by the Commission on Sustainable Development, and four additional indicators proposed by the author： water quality, pollution load, aquatic ecosystem status, and lake sediment deposition. Various hydrological, chemical, biological and environmental parameters were used to estimate the values of the indicators for assessment of environmental status of the lake based on time series data sets for twenty years. The indicators proposed can be customized to meeting the needs for particular assessment of water protection programs. This method can be used to evaluate the performance of national environmental protection programs and provide technical support for environmental auditors.     

Multi-biological defects caused by lead exposure exhibit transferable properties from exposed parents to their progeny in Caenorhabditis elegans

Whether the multi-biological toxicity from lead exposure could be transferred to progeny has not been clarified.In the present study,we explored the Caenorhabditis elegans to analyze the multiple toxicities from lead exposure and their possibly transferable properties.The lead exposure could cause series of severe multi-biological defects with a concentration-dependent manner by affecting the endpoints of life span,development,reproduction and locomotion behaviors in nematodes.Moreover,most of these toxicities could be transferred to progeny from lead exposed animals and some of the defects in progeny appeared even more severe than in their parents,such as the body sizes and mean life spans.We summarized the defects caused by lead exposure into three groups according to their transferable properties or rescue patterns.That is,the defects caused by lead exposure could be largely,or partially,or became even more severe in progeny animals.Therefore,our results suggest that lead exposure can cause severely multi-biological defects,and most of these multiple toxicities can be considered as transferable for exposed animals in C.elegans.     

畜禽养殖户生态认知及行为决策研究——基于山东、安徽等6省养殖户的实地调研

食品安全及生态环境恶化问题日益成为社会广泛关注的焦点.而畜禽产业中的养殖环节更是同时关系着这两个焦点问题,尤其是养殖户的生产行为不仅决定着产品质量安全,更直接影响养殖区域的生态环境,与产品安全及环境保护息息相关.本文利用山东、安徽、湖北等6省271份调查数据,从养殖户生态认知角度出发,采用logistic模型,对养殖户生态行为决策影响因素进行了实证分析.结果显示:养殖户个人特征对其生态行为决策影响不大,而养殖户家庭年纯收入、养殖规模、是否参加养殖培训、是否进行过产品质量安全检测以及养殖户生态认知等5个因素对养殖户生态行为决策具有显著影响.这表明,为进一步规范养殖户生态行为决策,提高养殖户生态认知、加大农村技术培训以及加强政府对养殖者生产行为的监管尤为重要.     

中华鲟幼鱼生理生态行为研究进展

中华鲟(Acipenser sinensis)是珍稀鲟类,属极危物种。大坝建设造成水流状态、水温、水质、底质等因素的变化以及环境污染对中华鲟生境造成破坏,受到环境胁迫导致生理生态行为的变化对其生存、生长具有重要的影响。中华鲟幼鱼保护是中华鲟种质资源保护的重要环节,本文结合文献综述了中华鲟幼鱼的洄游、摄食、游泳行为以及环境污染对中华鲟幼鱼的生理生态行为影响的研究进展,以期为后续中华鲟行为的研究和其保护提供参考。     

新型城镇化进程中地方政府环境治理行为研究

环境污染已经成为困扰中国城市可持续发展和新型城镇化建设的重要问题。在新型城镇化的进程中,地方政府的治理策略面临着从以经济增长为中心向经济增长与环境治理并重的转型困境。在这一转型背景下,本文认为,地方政府的环境治理行为主要包含三个方面的内容:地方政府自身的环境治理行为、地方政府与地方政府之间的协作治理行为、地方政府与民众的环境协作治理行为。每一种地方政府环境治理行为都会受到不同因素的激励或制约。本文通过对官员晋升锦标赛、短任期制与官吏分途的分析,环境治理合作的群集型网络和松散型网络的探讨,以及对邻避抗争与公民参与的分析,提出地方政府自身环境治理行为的选择受到地方官员的晋升锦标赛、短任期制与官吏分途的影响;地方政府间的环境协作治理行为受到彼此权衡合作风险与收益结果的制约;地方政府与民众的环境协作治理行为受到地方政府与民众环境风险信息沟通情况和协商缓解机制建立与否等因素的影响。基于此,本文提出需要在构建与地方官员治理动机相兼容的激励机制、地方政府间高度集群型协作契约的签订与执行,以及民众对地方环保政策的参与机制和邻避冲突的缓解机制等方面进行改革,从而更有效地推进地方政府的环境治理。     

长江八里江江段江豚种群数量、行为及其活动规律与保护

1989－1999年，在长江八里江江段对江豚进行了28次往返观察和8次定点观察。结果表明，近10年八里江江段江豚种群数量遥感量逐年呈明显递减趋势，平均每年以7．3％速率递减；1996年后，枯水季节江豚不再进行江一湖迁移，其活动范围仅限于约20km长的八里江江口上下江段，较1993年以前缩短了约40km。江豚在八里江江段的行为多种多样，通过对江豚种群在八里江江段的集群、摄食、逃避、发情与交配、抚幼、歇息和玩耍行为的描述、比较和分析，认为长江八里江江段是江豚典型的摄食和抚幼场所，同时也是江豚大规模集群的适宜栖居地。提出了加强八里江江段江豚种群常年监测的必要性，并对八里江江段江豚种群的就地保护提出了建议。