Establishing the green neighbourhood: approaches to neighbourhood-scale sustainability certification in Portland,Oregon

ABSTRACT

While local governance is widely acknowledged as an important element in the pursuit of sustainability, local action alone is insufficient to produce lasting change. One recent solution to this quandary has been the production of certification frameworks that encourage sustainable development at the neighbourhood scale by providing local actors with standardised definitions of sustainable practices. While these frameworks facilitate the spread of sustainable development strategies between local communities, there are significant contrasts between their approaches to encouraging local sustainable development that simultaneously fulfils global objectives. This article explores these contrasts through two neighbourhood-scale sustainability certification frameworks: LEED for Neighborhood Development (LEED-ND) and the EcoDistricts Protocol. Analysis of these frameworks in the context of two centrally-located neighbourhoods in Portland, Oregon, reveals substantial contrasts between the two frameworks in terms of the relative flexibility of their sustainability metrics, the time frame over which decisions regarding sustainable development are made, and community involvement in the process of pursuing specific objectives. Furthermore, it suggests that greater flexibility in the application of standards, continuous governance, and greater community involvement lead to more dynamic and holistic forms of sustainability that evolve as both local community needs and broader understandings of sustainability change over time.     

Co-Creating community gardens on untapped terrain – lessons from a transdisciplinary planning and participation process in the context of municipal housing in Vienna

ABSTRACT

Urban gardening in Vienna, Austria, has gained a new significance over the last ten years. However, although demand is constantly rising and urban gardening is being marketed in many ways, a vast majority of the urban population still has no access to gardening and its various benefits. While community gardening projects in Europe are usually viewed as temporary, self-organised bottom-up initiatives on public or abandoned private land, this case study of the Roda-Roda pilot project shows that community gardening can develop and persist even when favourable conditions for grassroots community gardens are lacking. The vast green spaces separating residential blocks (Abstandsgrün) commonly found in Vienna’s municipal housing (Wiener Gemeindebau) have a huge spatial potential for gardening, along with a forgotten tradition of self-organisation. Using an action research approach, this paper describes two principles for a successful implementation strategy under difficult conditions. Starting with a top-down approach, an interdisciplinary project team implemented a spatial and socio-economic framework that offered a stable basis for participatory community-building. As they “climbed” the ladder of participation stepwise – from exclusion to decision-making and true self-organisation – gardeners gained knowledge, skills and the self-confidence required to run a garden and create a well-working local community. At a more general level, the paper brings a co-creative planning perspective to the scientific discussion on community gardening in Europe and offers a practical approach to making local gardening opportunities available to suitable target groups by tapping into unused spatial potential.     

Using Ecological Footprints as a Policy Driver: The Case of Sustainable Construction Planning Policy in London

Abstract

The forests of Nepal, which in the past were at least nominally under the direct control of the state, are today increasingly entrusted to local people in the name of community forestry (CF). CF is considered a successful endeavour in managing forest resources, conserving biodiversity and supplying people with basic economic needs. In order to assess to what extent the two goals of biodiversity conservation and meeting economic needs of people have been integrated through CF, four community forestry user groups (CFUGs) were studied in the Mid-hills ecological zone. Based on a participatory survey and a critical review of the statutes and operational plans of these CFUGs, it was found that integration of biodiversity conservation was still insufficient, and that improvements in the policy and management regimes of CF are necessary to achieve a balance between biodiversity conservation and economic use of the forest resources.     

Estimating Crop Water Use via Remote Sensing Techniques vs. Conventional Methods in the South Platte River Basin,Colorado

We compared two methods of estimating crop water consumption to assess whether remote sensing techniques provide consumptive use (CU) estimates commensurate with conventional methods. Using available historical satellite and meteorological data, we applied Mapping EvapoTranspiration at high Resolution using Internalized Calibration (METRIC) to 317,455 ha in the South Platte basin, in northeastern Colorado, for the 2001 irrigation season. We then compared these derived CU estimates with values calculated by using the Colorado Water Conservation Board's South Platte Decision Support System StateCU model. Evaluating the data by irrigation ditch service area, we disaggregated the output to allow for comparison by service area size, crop type, irrigation method, water supply source, and water availability. We concluded that METRIC is a suitable alternative to StateCU in the South Platte basin and could help to identify areas with inhibited crop growth or deficit irrigation practices. In addition, METRIC could be used as a complement to StateCU to refine StateCU model parameters, allowing for more accurate estimates of crop water shortages and groundwater recharge associated with irrigation delivery and application.     

The Nature Conservancy's approach to prioritizing conservation action

Like many conservation organizations and federal and state agencies, The Nature Conservancy is in the process of large-scale planning and prioritization efforts. To improve the efficiency of these planning efforts, the Conservancy has developed a methodology for these efforts. The results of these planning efforts will be a conservation blueprint which identifies the conservation areas necessary for conserving biodiversity and a subset of those areas where the Conservancy will focus its immediate efforts over the next 10 years. The subset of all the conservation areas identified in the planning process help The Nature Conservancy determine where it will work. This subset of areas (referred to as action sites) is selected using a tool which ranks key criteria for each conservation area. These criteria include the current conservation status of each area, complementarity to other areas selected, the diversity and viability of targets at the area, the urgency and degree of threats to the targets, the feasibility or opportunity to abate the threats at the area and the leverage potential of working at a conservation area. Taken together, these criteria help planners to select the areas where they will focus their conservation efforts.     

突发事件警报通知系统关键要素规划技术研究*

为了解决自然灾害或生产安全事故风险影响区域的警报通知问题,针对突发事件警报通知系统规划与建设过程中的关键要素,通过相关突发事件特征归纳总结、警报通知需求分析、法规要求与现实差距对比等方法,结合国内外相关标准和研究成果,总结、提炼出规划和建设高时效性警报通知系统必须考虑的关键要素,并研究相关警报通知实现技术的适用性。最后,结合西南某油气开采企业的突发事件警报通知系统规划与建设实际,分析该企业警报通知系统的特点并有针对性地提出优化建议。研究结果可对相关企业或政府开展警报通知系统的规划与建设提供参考和借鉴。     

城市高污染燃料禁燃区规划方法及案例研究

在总结高污染燃料禁燃区实际规划过程中的经验、参考已有的大气污染控制规划方法的基础上,针对目前高污染燃料禁燃区规划实践中的不足,将情景分析法、模型分析法以及地理信息系统技术(GIS)应用于规划中,提出并发展了一套解决城市或地区高污染燃料禁燃区规划的整体技术方案,并通过该方法体系在珠海市高污染燃料禁燃区规划中的实际案例分析,显示了该方法的可行性与可操作性,为全国其他城市的高污染燃料禁燃区的合理规划提供了一个实例和参考。     

线性规划法计算工业区大气承载力的探讨

分析了目前我国常用的模拟法、线性规划法和A-P值法三种大气承载力计算方法各自的缺点和局限性,探讨了线性规划法在工业园区规划环评大气承载力计算中的应用。以福建省某石化工业园区为实例,采用线性规划法计算了大气环境对SO2的承载力并用模拟法进行验证,计算结果10846t/a与模拟法结果13141t/a吻合性较好,表明线性规划法是计算区域大气承载力的科学可行的方法。     

我国规划环评相关技术问题探析

中国是立法认可规划环评并作为促进环境保护和可持续发展重要手段的亚洲国家之一。由于我国环评法2003年9月1日才施行,可以说我国规划环评技术尚处于探索中。文章回顾了国际上和我国规划(战略)环评的主流概念、主要任务、基本型式和总体技术路线,提出了我国规划环评的主要任务及适宜的基本型式和总体技术路线。     

苏州盛泽湖湿地生态恢复初探

湿地是分布于陆生生态系统和水生生态系统之间具有独特水文、土壤、植被与生物特征的生态系统。盛泽湖是位于苏州相城区东北部的天然浅水湖泊,东临阳澄湖,面积为3.86 km^2。由于当地居民对湖泊进行过度养殖和捕捞、大量的围湖造田和进行农业生产建设、工农业废水和生活污水直接排入水体及湿地附近砖瓦厂的取土等原因引起盛泽湖湿地的生态退化。用生态规划的方法来探讨如何对盛泽湖湿地进行生态恢复,并从环境效益、社会效益和经济效益来分析规划方案实施后的效果。