Levels and distribution of Dechlorane Plus in coastal sediments of the Yellow Sea, North China

Dechlorane Plus (DP) has been determined in surface sediments from three Chinese coastal bays, e.g. Jiaozhou, Sishili and Taozi Bay in North China. DP concentrations ranged from <1.2 to 187 pg g⁻¹ dry weight (dw) (mean: 24.7 pg g⁻¹ dw) in Jiaozhou Bay, <1.2 to 135 pg g⁻¹ dw (mean 69.9 pg g⁻¹ dw) in Sishili Bay and <1.2 to 66.7 pg g⁻¹ dw (mean: 40.4 pg g⁻¹ dw) in Taozi Bay, respectively. Additionally, two dechlorinated species were quantified, which accounted for 0.6-5.1% of the ∑DP concentration.The f_syn values (syn-isomer/(syn- + anti-isomer)) in sediments from Jiaozhou Bay (mean 0.29) were close to the technical DP mixture (0.2-0.4), probably indicating local inputs of DP. In contrast, sediments in Sishili and Taozi Bay showed much lower f_syn values (mean 0.16). During transportation the DP isomers are subject to stereo selective degradation which partly resulted in the relative enrichment of anti-DP in coastal sediments.     

Choosing a Food Future: Differentiating Among Alternative Food Options

This article examines the diversity of food networks that fit within the alternative food system of the United States. While farmers’ markets, community supported agriculture schemes, and corporate organic food markets all fit within the alternative food system, they differ greatly in the conventions and beliefs that they represent. The alternative food system has divided into two movements: corporate, weak alternative food networks; and local, strong alternative food networks. The weak corporate version focuses on protecting the environment; however, it neglects issues concerning labor standards, animal welfare, rural communities, small-scale farmers, and human health. Local, strong alternative food networks not only assure environmental protection, but they also address the issues that weak alternatives neglect. Using three case studies from the Washington, D.C. metro area, the author explains that strong alternative food networks are better suited to create social and political change because they challenge the foundations of the conventional food system: standardized and generic products, price-based competition, consolidated power, and global scale. To affect true social and political change in the United States, the author recommends supporting strong alternative food networks by creating the requisite cultural and political space for them to succeed.     

Making Capacity Building Meaningful: A Framework for Strategic Action

This paper aims to give practical meaning to ‘capacity building’ through (a) identifying a suite of practical measures, such as mentoring or best practice guidelines, that have been shown to or are considered to build human, social, institutional, and economic capital; (b) placing these measures within a broader systems framework; and (c) exploring stakeholder feedback on specific measures to inform framework implementation. The 29 measures described provide actors, whether government or nongovernment, with a suite of practical investment choices for building capacity. These measures are then clustered into eight groups according to their primary purpose and placed within a systems framework. The framework provides a tool for actors with responsibilities for or an interest in capacity building to inform more holistic and strategic targeting of effort and investment. Stakeholder feedback gathered through surveys and workshops is subsequently reported to further inform implementation of specific measures within the framework’s eight groupings. The framework presented may be built upon through the identification and inclusion of further capacity building measures. The research is conducted within the context of decentralized governance arrangements for natural resource management (NRM), with specific focus on Australia’s recently formalized 56 NRM regions and their community-based governing boards as an informative arena of learning. Application of the framework is explored in the Australian setting through the identification and comparison of measures supported and most preferred by four major stakeholder groups, namely board members, regional NRM organization staff, policy/research interests, and Indigenous interests. The research also examines stakeholder perceptions of capacity issues, and whether these issues are likely to be addressed through implementing their preferred measures.

Implementation of resource management plans: identifying keys to success

One of the primary challenges in resource and environmental planning is successful implementation of plans. Plan implementation is a complex process influenced by many factors. This study identifies 19 criteria affecting implementation success and tests the impact of these criteria through a case study of collaborative plan implementation in British Columbia, Canada. The significance of criteria and degree to which they are met is assessed by a survey of senior officials responsible for plan implementation. An implementation evaluation index (IEI) is constructed to assess the quality of plan implementation systems and best practices for effective implementation are identified.     

Hybrid governance tensions fuelling self-reflexivity in Alternative Food Networks: the case of the Brussels GASAP (solidarity purchasing groups for peasant agriculture)

This paper applies the concept of Hybrid Governance to the analysis of the GASAP (Groupe d’Achats Solidaires de l’Agriculture Paysanne), a solidarity-based producers–consumers network established in Brussels in 2006. The Hybrid Governance concept allows to capture the role of key governance tensions in driving the self-organisation, scaling out and self-reflexive dynamics of Alternative Food Networks (AFNs). The approach provides a multifaceted and sound socio-political account of the ways AFNs arise, self-organise, associate and build networks in the pursuit of their food allocation objectives, often facing a contradictory socio-institutional environment. Three types of governance tensions, i.e. organisational, resource, and institutional, as well as the interactions among them, are analysed throughout the life-course of the GASAP network. The analysis identifies three phases in the GASAP’s life-course, showing how governance tensions and their interrelations arise and play a critical role in conditioning the overall development of the organisation through time. The paper concludes with highlighting prospective values of the hybrid governance approach for the analysis of AFNs in general. These values relate to: the role of the hybrid approach in illuminating on key drivers behind the scaling out of AFNs; the hybrid governance as a tool to conceptualise and sustain the self-reflexive capacity of local food initiatives and the ways by which this approach unravels challenges to build cooperative alliances and networks among a diversity of agents in the food arena.     

我国可持续发展十大目标：关于“十五”计划制定的建议

“十五”计划是我国２１ 世纪的重大发展计划,直接关系着国民经济的发展方向,而实施可持续发展战略是我国“十五”计划和２０１５ 年远景规划的重要内容之一。为改善人民生活质量,改变“高资本投入、高资源消耗、高污染排放”发展模式,建立适合中国国情的“资源节约型”和“环境友好型”国民经济体系,充分利用“两种资源”和“两个市场”,本文提出了我国可持续发展的十大目标     

A Framework of Lessons Learned from Community-Based Marine Reserves and Its Effectiveness in Guiding a New Coastal Management Initiative in the Philippines

Community-based coastal resource management has been widely applied within the Philippines. However, small-scale community-based reserves are often inefficient owing to management inadequacies arising because of a lack of local support or enforcement or poor design. Because there are many potential pitfalls during the establishment of even small community-based reserves, it is important for coastal managers, communities, and facilitating institutions to have access to a summary of the key factors for success. Reviewing relevant literature, we present a framework of lessons learned during the establishment of protected areas, mainly in the Philippines. The framework contains summary guidance on the importance of (1) an island location, (2) small community population size, (3) minimal effect of land-based development, (4) application of a bottom-up approach, (5) an external facilitating institution, (6) acquisition of title, (7) use of a scientific information database, (8) stakeholder involvement, (9) the establishment of legislation, (10) community empowerment, (11) alternative livelihood schemes, (12) surveillance, (13) tangible management results, (14) continued involvement of external groups after reserve establishment, and (15) small-scale project expansion.These framework components guided the establishment of a community-based protected area at Danjugan Island, Negros Occidental, Philippines. This case study showed that the framework was a useful guide that led to establishing and implementing a community-based marine reserve. Evaluation of the reserve using standard criteria developed for the Philippines shows that the Danjugan Island protected area can be considered successful and sustainable. At Danjugan Island, all of the lessons synthesized in the framework were important and should be considered elsewhere, even for relatively small projects. As shown in previous projects in the Philippines, local involvement and stewardship of the protected area appeared particularly important for its successful implementation. The involvement of external organizations also seemed to have a key role in the success of the Danjugan Island project by guiding local decision-makers in the sociobiological principles of establishing protected areas. However, the relative importance of each component of the framework will vary between coastal management initiatives both within the Philippines and across the wider Asian region.Published on line     

推进养殖污染防治,实现产业优化与环境保护双赢——对《水污染防治行动计划》的解读

针对《水污染防治行动计划》提出的畜禽养殖污染治理思路和措施,梳理了我国现阶段畜禽养殖污染防治中存在的问题,对《水污染防治行动计划》中提出的"调布局、建设施、促利用"三大举措进行了分析和解读,提出了落实《水污染防治行动计划》的几项重点工作,为地方推进畜禽养殖污染防治工作提供参考。     

Integration of technologies and alternative sources of water and energy to promote the sustainability of urban landscapes

Recent research has highlighted the positive role of green areas in urban environments, providing numerous social, environmental and economic services, such as mitigation of the urban heat island effect, storm attenuation, increased water infiltration into the soil, reduction of noise and air pollution, among others. However, the maintenance of green areas may result in high consumption of water, reaching 50% of the total consumption in some municipalities, and energy, becoming a reason of concern. The present study aimed to integrate techniques and technologies that promote the automatic and efficient irrigation of urban landscapes, using alternative sources of energy and water, toward its sustainability. The conceptual unit was able to reduce in 64% the water consumed in irrigation. Rainwater met 69% of the demand and the photovoltaic system supplied all the energy required. The economic feasibility analysis showed that the conceptual unit is financially unfeasible, under the conditions of this study. However, with some interventions for reusing the surplus energy and water, and considering the higher fees charged by other cities, the investment became attractive. In this new scenario, the internal rate of return (15 years) was 27.3% and the discounted payback period was 4.9 years.