Factors associated with financial support in old age for young and middle-aged rural residents in China

This study examined the factors associated with financial support in old age from three primary mechanisms-personal savings,family support,and social insurance-to explore the implications for the future development of China’s rural social welfare system.Cross-sectional surveys of 1392 young and middle-aged rural residents were conducted in July and August2012.The results showed that while social insurance was increasingly acceptable,personal savings and family support still had fundamental value.Combining the three mechanisms,the rural old-age welfare system presented nontraditional features.China’s new rural endowment insurance is discussed as a means to address the need for financial support among the rural aging population.     

基于生态文明的最严格环保制度的框架体系研究

“十八大”报告明确了生态文明建设的突出地位,提出了建立“最严格的环境保护制度”的目标。而当前的环境保护制度已无力应对资源、环境、生态问题。本文首先对生态文明建设实施途径进行解读;然后构建了以“环境规划一社会经济类规划一规划环评”为核心的“最严格环境保护制度”的框架,明确了各自功能定位,并提出了与社会经济类规划相适应的环境规划和规划环评的实施形式、工作内容。     

Economic analysis of gradual “social exhaustion” of waste management capacity

This article proposes to analyze the quantitative effects of a gradual physical and "social" exhaustion of a landfill site on an equilibrium waste management service. A gradual social exhaustion of a landfill is defined here as an upward shift of a "subjective factor" associated with the amount of waste, based on the plausible hypothesis that an individual will not accept excessive presence of landfilled waste. Physical exhaustion occurs when the absolute capacity of a landfill site decreases. The paper shows some numerical examples using specific functions and parameters, and proposes appropriate directions for three policy objectives: to decrease the equilibrium waste disposal, to increase the economic surplus of the individual and/or the waste management firm, and to lower the equilibrium collection fee.     

湖泊整治项目环境影响评价中社会影响评价方法探讨

社会影响评价作为环境影响评价的重要内容,已经得到环境影响评价工作者的重视,但目前尚未有规范的技术方法和导则进行参考。本文以广州花都湖整治项目环评为例,对环评中社会影响评价方法及防范措施进行探讨,通过实际案例分析社会影响评价方法,并针对湖泊整治项目提出社会影响防范措施。     

基于环保投资特征的广西环境保护问题研究

以2004年-2014年中国环境统计年鉴和广西年鉴数据为基础,分析了广西环保投资水平、规模、结构、增长速度等特征,并剖析广西环保投资存在的问题.结果表明,2004年-2014年广西环保投资规模呈增加趋势,占GDP的比例低于全国平均水平,存在环保投资不足、增速与GDP速度不匹配、投资结构不合理等问题.建议应完善环保投资机制,调整环保投资核算体系,优化环保投资结构以及建立多元机制提高环保投资效率,确保环保投资与社会经济发展水平相适应.     

The effect of intergroup comparison on willingness to perform sustainable behavior

The present research examines the effects of intergroup comparison on willingness to perform sustainable behavior. In Experiment 1, university students compared current students with past or future students, and then completed measures of willingness to perform sustainable behavior. Participants who compared to past students reported more willingness to perform sustainable behavior than those who compared to future students. In Experiment 2, university students again compared current students with past or future students and completed measures of sustainable beliefs and willingness to perform sustainable behavior. Participants who compared to past students reported more willingness to perform sustainable behavior than those who compared to future students. This effect was mediated by strengthened sustainable beliefs. The results show that intergroup comparison can be strategically employed to promote motivation to perform sustainable behavior.     

城市交通安全风险文化系统三维结构体系构建

为提高道路交通安全文化建设主体的广泛性、主动性、积极性,增强交通安全文化的社会凝聚、激励等功能,探讨构建一种新型的城市道路交通安全风险文化模式。应用道路交通安全风险理论、安全心理学理论、行为理论、系统分析理论与方法,研究城市道路交通安全风险文化的定义、系统模型及系统的逻辑关系、运行机制、承载和作用形式等内容。结果表明:从道路交通安全风险控制与应对的角度考虑,可以建立包括逻辑维度、运行机制维度、承载作用形式维度的城市交通安全风险文化系统三维结构体系。城市交通安全风险文化具有多层次、多层面、多维度复杂的主体结构,是多元素组成的复杂系统。     

Alaska’s Freshwater Resources: Issues Affecting Local and International Interests1

Alessa, Lilian, Mark Altaweel, Andrew Kliskey, Christopher Bone, William Schnabel, and Kalb Stevenson, 2011. Alaska’s Freshwater Resources: Issues Affecting Local and International Interests. Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA) 47(1):143‐157. DOI: 10.1111/j.1752‐1688.2010.00498.x Abstract: The State of Alaska faces a broad range of freshwater challenges including limited resource access in rural communities, increasing freshwater use, and a pressing need to better understand and prepare for climate‐driven change. Despite these significant issues, Alaska is relatively water‐rich and far more equipped to address its water resource concerns compared with other regions of the world. Globally, simultaneous and rapid water stresses have influenced and complicated conflicts and are motivating nations to develop markets and trade as one of the primary means to manage their needs for this resource. This paper presents these interacting issues in the context of Alaska’s relationship with a world undergoing significant social and ecological changes that affect freshwater supplies. We present the challenges faced by Alaska in the context of a larger global perspective, and briefly explore the relative effects these issues have on local, regional, and global scales. We present the argument that Alaska needs to develop more robust institutions and policies that can alleviate both household concerns and ensure that Alaska plays a significant role in the international freshwater arena for its long‐term resilience.     

Community strategies to improve flood risk communication in the Red River Basin, Manitoba, Canada

More than a decade after the 1997 Red River Flood, vulnerability to future flooding exists due to a lack of risk communication. This study identifies risk communication gaps and discusses the creation of strategies to enhance information-sharing, bottom-up activity and partnership development. The objectives were achieved using mixed methods, including interviews, a floodplain-wide survey, and a decision-makers' risk management workshop. The results highlight a number of external pressures exerted by regional floodplain policies and procedures that restrict risk communication and affect social vulnerability in the rural floodplain. The failures of a top-down approach to floodplain management have impacted on communities' abilities to address floodplain risks, have amplified local risks, and have decreased community cooperation in floodplain management initiatives since the 1997 'Flood of the Century'. Recommended policies promote the establishment of community standards to compensate for gaps in risk communication and the development of partnerships between floodplain communities.     

Evaluating post-Katrina recovery in Mississippi using repeat photography

Hurricane Katrina of August 2005 had extensive consequences for the state of Mississippi in the United States. Widespread infrastructure and property damage, massive social dislocation, and ecological loss remain among the many challenges faced by communities as they work towards 'normalcy'. This study employs repeat photography to understand differential recovery from Hurricane Katrina in Mississippi. Revealing change with conventional landscape photography, a process known as repeat photography, is common in the natural sciences. Simply stated, repeat photography is the practice of re-photographing the same scene as it appears in an earlier photograph. Photographs were taken at 131 sites every six months over a three-year period. Each photograph was assigned a recovery score and a spatially interpolated recovery surface was generated for each time period. The mapped and graphed results show disparities in the progression of recovery: some communities quickly entered the rebuilding process whereas others have lagged far behind.