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.     

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。     

我国环境信息公开现状、问题与对策

环境信息公开是一项基础性、全局性工作。它不仅是公众参与环境保护的前提条件,也是推进我国环境管理工作全方位提升的重要手段。我国环境信息公开工作近年来进展迅速,但仍存在关键性环境信息严重缺失等现象,不仅无法满足社会及政府环境管理工作的需要,有时甚至会影响到社会稳定。本文从政府、企业、社会的不同层面和不同角度分析了我国环境信息公开存在的问题及其产生原因,并在此基础上从法律法规、组织监管和沟通协调等方面提出了一系列改进建议,包括:1加强组织领导,任命副部级官员主管环境信息公开工作;2推动国务院出台《环境信息公开条例》,推动各类环境政策法规纳入信息公开条款;3加强与社会各界的沟通和互动,充分发挥社会组织的作用;4建立主要污染源环境信息公开平台,刺激企业改进环境表现;5加强对地方政府环境信息公开工作的督查、考核、评价及表现公开;6加强各级政府环境信息公开能力建设;7实现环保部及环保系统内部数据信息统一管理、协调共享;8全面改善环境数据质量;9细化环境信息公开政策,包括环境风险及健康信息公开政策;10加强与其他部委关于环境信息公开工作的合作与协调。     

Local economic situation,local environmental mobilization and local government environmental policy in Hungary

Studies of advanced capitalist societies have shown that relatively wealthy localities with organized environmental groups are able to avoid unattractive facilities. The aim of this article is to ask whether the same logic applies in Hungary, a middle-income ‘transition’ society. The focus is not on the formal legal powers of local governments but on some of the influences on local government environmental policy. Drawing on a survey of mayors, notaries and environmental officials in 600 local government units in Hungary (from Budapest to villages), it explores the relation between environmental group mobilization, environmental group influence and environmental policy. It is shown that there are systematic differences in environmental group mobilization between settlements of different types, and that these differences, together with differences in local economic situation, explain the differing levels of perceived influence of environmental groups on policy. The localities where perceived environmental group influence is greatest are identified and shown to be places where there are higher education institutions and a tradition of ‘civic culture’, or where the local government is using the environment as an asset as part of an economic development strategy. It is concluded that similar processes to those found in advanced capitalist societies exist in Hungary. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

安全管家服务模式探析

为进一步提高企业安全管理水平和能力,提升政府安全监管力度,本文阐释了安全管家的概念与内涵,提出了以安全管家为核心,构建"安全管家+政府"和"安全管家+企业"的双重安全管理与服务模式,探析了安全管家在以"安全管家+政府"和"安全管家+企业"为两个主线的政府和企业全生命周期中的专业技术服务内容与重点问题。该模式通过在烟台市芝罘区部分企业进行实践,收到了良好的效果,表明了安全管理服务模式的科学性,安全管家能够作为安全智库,为企业和政府提供全生命周期的专业技术服务,能够促使政府、企业、安全管家形成安全管理的合力,有助于形成良好的安全生产局面,促进经济社会和谐健康安全发展。     

Place-based local governance and sustainable communities: lessons from Canadian biosphere reserves

The quest for sustainable communities might be fostered by a new ‘place-based’ governing approach that engages civil society and other actors in local decision-making processes. In Canada, lessons can be learned from the establishment and maintenance of biosphere reserves by networks of local communities of interests and other organisations. Biosphere reserves are created to promote conservation, biodiversity and sustainable livelihoods. Municipal and public participation in these reserves can be encouraged, promoting a local sense of place as well as sustainable community and regional development. An examination of two Canadian biosphere reserves, Riding Mountain and Long Point, illustrates how local governments and these reserves might assist each other in their mutual goals of long-term sustainability while offering a worthwhile model of local collaborative, place-based governance.     

政府强互惠激励下跨界流域一级水权分散优化配置模型

我国跨界流域水资源冲突问题较严重,一级水权集中配置方案因其过于理想化而实施效率低下,难以应对冲突。提出应在规划和决策的前期给予各类主体充分的利益表达机会,创新一级水权配置模式,构建政府强互惠激励政策协调下的多用水主体分散优化配置模型。首先将分散优化与集中优化进行对比,分析政府强互惠激励下的分散优化协调机制对提高跨界流域水资源的配置效率和配置方案的可操作性的作用;基于分散优化的基本模型,加入政府强互惠节水激励政策,通过节水激励水价这一因子代替原分散优化模型的自利因子,构建一般的一级水权分散优化模型和政府强互惠激励下的一级水权分散优化模型;以漳河流域为例,对模型进行计算及对比分析。研究结果表明:一般分散优化配置模式中,主体的自利性使得流域整体利益受损,尤其是在来水极少的年份;政府强互惠激励下的分散优化配置模式能够兼顾流域宏观和微观的利益。来水量对于跨界流域一级水权配置模式有重要影响,来水量充裕时,政府可放手用水主体进行自主治理,降低行政管理成本;来水量短缺时,政府必须注意改变管理模式,对不同用水主体实施差异化政策激励,加强主体的节水动力;来水量越少,政府强互惠激励下的分散优化配置模式优势越明显。由于既充分考虑各用水主体的利益又能体现流域统一管理理念,因此,政府强互惠激励下的跨界流域一级水权分散优化配置模式在当前流域统一管理和区域分块管理相结合的管理体制下避免了权力冲突。     

从拒绝《京都议定书》看美国政府环境外交意图

作为国际社会最具影响力的环境协约,《京都议定书》却被美国政府拒之门外,通过对美国近年来针对该协约的态度及对全球变暖问题的外交举措分析,可以看出,美国政府环境外交行为的意图主要体现在三个方面,即规避不利条款的束缚;设计和实施替代性方案;积极争取国际环境领域的领导地位。     

经济增长是否能自动解决环境问题——倒U型环境库兹涅茨曲线是内生机制结果还是外部控制结果

环境库兹涅茨曲线(EKC)认为随着经济的增长,环境污染情况呈现先加剧后减轻的趋势。传统的观点认为经济增长能够内生性地自动解决环境问题,把倒U型EKC出现逆转趋势的原因归结为经济增长本身,认为经济增长达到一定程度后环境问题能够得到自动解决。本文使用2001-2010年的数据构造了综合污染指数CPI对环境和经济增长的关系进行实证研究,先使用实际污染物排放量和处理后污染物排放量作为对比,发现在不考虑污染物处理因素的情况下,使用实际排放量得出的结果全部是线性增加的,使用处理后排放量的计量结果显示CPI与人均GDP的关系呈倒U型。然后引入产业结构、居民素质、技术进步、政府行为、外商投资、产业集中度、人口密度七个变量对传统的EKC进行补充解释,找出了哪些是主要影响因素,哪些是次要影响因素,并对东部、中部、西部的区域差异进行实证和解释。结果表明,环境和经济增长的"倒U"型关系不是经济增长内生机制所致,而是诸多外部控制措施作用的结果,环境污染很难随着经济增长而自动减轻,改善环境质量要从经济和社会的方方面面入手,综合调整经济社会发展模式才是根本途径。     

Local Institutional Development and Organizational Change for Advancing Sustainable Urban Water Futures

This paper presents the local institutional and organizational development insights from a five-year ongoing interdisciplinary research project focused on advancing the implementation of sustainable urban water management. While it is broadly acknowledged that the inertia associated with administrative systems is possibly the most significant obstacle to advancing sustainable urban water management, contemporary research still largely prioritizes investigations at the technological level. This research is explicitly concerned with critically informing the design of methodologies for mobilizing and overcoming the administrative inertia of traditional urban water management practice. The results of fourteen in-depth case studies of local government organizations across Metropolitan Sydney primarily reveal that (i) the political institutionalization of environmental concern and (ii) the commitment to local leadership and organizational learning are key corporate attributes for enabling sustainable management. A typology of five organizational development phases has been proposed as both a heuristic and capacity benchmarking tool for urban water strategists, policy makers, and decision makers that are focused on improving the level of local implementation of sustainable urban water management activity. While this investigation has focused on local government, these findings do provide guideposts for assessing the development needs of future capacity building programs across a range of different institutional contexts.