Are we leaving the community out of rural community sustainability?

SUMMARY

The Rio Earth Summit and publication and distribution of Agenda 21 (UN, 1992) have generated much activity in many nations towards development and implementation of community indicators of sustainable development (SI). In recent years efforts at development and implementation of SI have intensified at regional and urban government levels, although fewer efforts are evident at a rural community level. In response to initial ad hoc efforts, methodologies for SI construction are currently being proposed, tested and refined. Within this evolutionary process, increasing recognition is being given to the critical need for, and importance of, ‘stakeholder’ involvement in SI development and implementation. This paper critically reviews these and related efforts from the perspective of rural communities in Canada. The argument is presented that the process of development and implementation of rural community-level SI can significantly benefit from development and implementation of a methodological approach in support of principles and practices of effective stakeholder involvement. It is further argued that development of SI must be stakeholder-driven, and that a pivotal element in the SI development process is the facilitation of information sharing. The paper concludes with a proposal for an approach to stakeholder participation and information sharing achieved through research, testing and refinement, and integration of these concepts within the process of rural community sustainable indicator development.     

Public involvement in the Red River Basin management decisions and preparedness for the next flood

Abstract

The focus of this study is public participation in the water resource and associated hazards management decision-making processes. It explores the importance, feasibility, and effectiveness of public participation in the flood management, decision-making process, with particular attention to the case of the Red River Basin of Manitoba, Canada. The nature and efficacy of public participation in the hearings conducted by the International Joint Commission (IJC) in the aftermath of the 1997 Red River flood are critically reviewed. The results of the analysis suggest that the IJC has been more sensitive to the views of the public and concerned stakeholders than the Red River Basin Task Force. The IJC incorporated a substantial portion of the opinions, suggestions, and concerns expressed by the public into the final recommendations produced by the commission for the Canadian and American federal governments. Public participation was an integral component of the IJC hearings, and was expected to contribute to flood preparedness in the future. The reasons for such accommodation of public and the stakeholders' views in decision-makingare primarily attributed to making the proposed projects and programs socio-economically and politically feasible. Because of their general characteristics, the lessons from the case of the Red River Basin could be used as an effective tool in other resource and environmental hazard management areas.     

现代农业快速发展背景下的农业生产废弃物管理对策探析——政府与农户的动态博弈

随着农业集约化、规模化发展,农业生产废弃物的管理问题凸显。循环农业、低碳农业的发展,在一定程度上激励了农户对农业生产废弃物资源化管理,取得了一定的成绩,但是也存在一定的问题,严重制约了农业生产废弃物资源化管理。文章通过构建政府与农户的动态博弈模型,分析补贴政策对农户提高农业生产废弃物资源化管理效率的作用,并基于政府与农户的动态博弈分析提出了促进农业生产废弃物管理效率提升及其可持续发展的建议,即：（1）根据不同的资源化管理方式的差异制定并实施差别补贴政策;（2）实行区域差别补贴标准;（3）延长补贴期限,实行分年度对农户进行不同数量的补贴;（4）培养农户管理意识,加强农户技能培训。     

中国公众参与环境管理的研究

回顾了中国公众参与环境管理的发展历程,分析了公众参与环境管理存在的问题。针对公众参与环境保护管理的有效性的影响因子,例如主观因素、传统背景、时效因素及执行技巧等进行一系列的探讨,并根据公众参与计划的设计构思、公众参与计划的关键两方面的讨论,提出增加公众参与环境保护管理有效性的一些建议。     

Characterizing Spatial Uncertainty when Integrating Social Data in Conservation Planning

Recent conservation planning studies have presented approaches for integrating spatially referenced social (SRS) data with a view to improving the feasibility of conservation action. We reviewed the growing conservation literature on SRS data, focusing on elicited or stated preferences derived through social survey methods such as choice experiments and public participation geographic information systems. Elicited SRS data includes the spatial distribution of willingness to sell, willingness to pay, willingness to act, and assessments of social and cultural values. We developed a typology for assessing elicited SRS data uncertainty which describes how social survey uncertainty propagates when projected spatially and the importance of accounting for spatial uncertainty such as scale effects and data quality. These uncertainties will propagate when elicited SRS data is integrated with biophysical data for conservation planning and may have important consequences for assessing the feasibility of conservation actions. To explore this issue further, we conducted a systematic review of the elicited SRS data literature. We found that social survey uncertainty was commonly tested for, but that these uncertainties were ignored when projected spatially. Based on these results we developed a framework which will help researchers and practitioners estimate social survey uncertainty and use these quantitative estimates to systematically address uncertainty within an analysis. This is important when using SRS data in conservation applications because decisions need to be made irrespective of data quality and well characterized uncertainty can be incorporated into decision theoretic approaches.     

Trends in Deforestation and Forest Degradation after a Decade of Monitoring in the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve in Mexico

We used aerial photographs, satellite images, and field surveys to monitor forest cover in the core zones of the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve in Mexico from 2001 to 2012. We used our data to assess the effectiveness of conservation actions that involved local, state, and federal authorities and community members (e.g., local landowners and private and civil organizations) in one of the world's most iconic protected areas. From 2001 through 2012, 1254 ha were deforested (i.e., cleared areas had <10% canopy cover), 925 ha were degraded (i.e., areas for which canopy forest decreased), and 122 ha were affected by climatic conditions. Of the total 2179 ha of affected area, 2057 ha were affected by illegal logging: 1503 ha by large‐scale logging and 554 ha by small‐scale logging. Mexican authorities effectively enforced efforts to protect the monarch reserve, particularly from 2007 to 2012. Those efforts, together with the decade‐long financial support from Mexican and international philanthropists and businesses to create local alternative‐income generation and employment, resulted in the decrease of large‐scale illegal logging from 731 ha affected in 2005–2007 to none affected in 2012, although small‐scale logging is of growing concern. However, dire regional social and economic problems remain, and they must be addressed to ensure the reserve's long‐term conservation. The monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) overwintering colonies in Mexico—which engage in one of the longest known insect migrations—are threatened by deforestation, and a multistakeholder, regional, sustainable‐development strategy is needed to protect the reserve. Tendencias en la Deforestación y la Degradación de Forestal después de una Década de Monitoreo en la Reserva de la Biósfera de la Mariposa Monarca en México     

成渝地区双城经济圈社区参与自然生态保护监管的思考

近年来,监管成为自然生态保护的重要议题,考虑监管体系的全面性和实用性,社区参与自然生态保护监管是必要和有意义的。本文以成渝地区双城经济圈为研究区,梳理近年四川省与重庆市在生态保护红线、自然保护地、绿化提升及生态保护与修复方面取得的成效,指出生态退化仍未根本改变、行政区划隔断生态保护的连通性、自然生态保护监管能力有待加强等自然生态保护困境。从社区参与的角度,对社区参与自然生态保护的现状、社区参与自然生态保护监管的可行性与必要性进行分析,并从适应新要求新定位、注重操作实施、构建参与流程办法以及系统评价评估和典型区域试点示范方面提出对策建议,以期为成渝地区双城经济圈自然生态保护监管提供决策支撑。     

中国绿色服务政策演进、协同及文本内容分析

绿色服务作为促进绿色产业专业化、高端化、规范化发展的综合性服务业,是保障绿色产业持续健康发展的重要支撑。本文以《绿色产业指导目录》为依据,全面梳理1986年以来我国中央政府颁布的各类绿色服务政策,从政策演进、政策主体关系、文本类型、政策工具结构等方面对我国绿色服务政策进行量化分析。研究发现:(1)我国中央政府颁布的绿色服务政策数量及总力度都越来越大,绿色服务政策的制定已经渡过探索期,进入高质量发展的政策体系全面形成阶段;(2)政策主体牵涉广泛,部际合作现象明显且合作模式较为固定,整体上部际合作增强但又呈现出阶段性的发展特征;(3)政策类型多种多样,但不同形式的政策文件分布不均,多通知、公告类低效力文件,缺乏高效力文件;(4)政策客体结构较为完整,但行业分布不平衡;(5)总体上政策工具类型逐渐多样化,但过度重视管理,供给型、环境型、需求型三大政策工具间存在一定程度的失衡,具体表现为重环境,轻供给和需求。本文建议,应进一步加强部际协调和有效合作,平衡政策工具结构和政策的行业分布,完成绿色服务政策由量到质的升级发展。     

基于内容分析法的旅游安全管理政策设计研究

基于系统角度探讨了旅游安全管理的目标,借鉴公共部门激励、企业监管和旅游者行为等相关研究构建了政策效力—政策目标—政策工具的分析框架,并运用内容分析法对我国104份政策文件进行分析。结果发现:目前我国旅游安全管理法制建设仍不健全,政策工具使用存在对地方政府、旅游企业和旅游者激励不足的问题。在此基础上,提出完善旅游安全管理法律体系,优化对地方政府的激励机制设置,灵活运用政策工具等建议。     

Increasing the safety of children's vehicle travel: from effective risk communication to behavior change

INTRODUCTION: When installed and used correctly, child safety seats reduce the risk of fatal injury by 71% for infants and 54% for toddlers. However, four out of five safety seats are unintentionally misused. Yet, parents fail to participate in safety-seat checks and other child seat interventions aimed at correcting misuse. METHOD: Such lack of participation is the focus of this article, which argues that most caregivers are na?ve to their own vulnerability for misusing their child's seat. Research on risk perception is discussed as a guide to understanding both the high misuse rate and the lack of participation in interventions designed to correct this public safety problem. RESULTS AND IMPACT: A comprehensive intervention plan that incorporates risk communication techniques for maximum parental participation is proposed that includes three essential components: (a) establishing community locations for parents to turn for safety seat advice, (b) making these locations well known to the public, and (c) increasing caregivers' perceptions of risk of misusing their children's seats.