Community relations and mining: Core to business but not “core business”

Over the past two decades the global mining industry has witnessed the necessity and emergence of community relations and development (CRD) functions, essentially under the rubric of sustainable development and corporate social responsibility (CSR). These functions provide companies with mechanisms through which to engage and manage their relationships with key stakeholder groups, share development benefits and protect business interests. Despite widespread claims by the industry that companies have adopted CSR as a ‘core competence’, we argue that the industry has yet to incorporate the CRD function as part of ‘core business’ at the level of practice. This article characterises a CRD function and related processes within the context of a large-scale mining operation in West Africa. Findings reflect a more universal trend relating to the function and organisational positioning of CRD practice in the resources sector. The authors argue that functional equity needs to be established if the sustainable development agenda is to have a genuine future within the mining industry.     

“Coal is in our food,coal is in our blood”: everyday environmental injustices of rural community gardening in Central Appalachia

ABSTRACT

Central Appalachia's historical dependence on natural resource extraction industries has contributed to a long history of under- and uneven development, including trends of persistent poverty, cycles of unemployment, weakened local governance, environmental degradation, and severe social inequalities relative to the rest of the nation. Though these trends have been well documented at structural and community-levels, scholarship is more limited in assessing how the conditions of natural resource dependency may shape the everyday experiences of those who live in such regions and how those everyday experiences may illuminate challenges for future development. Employing an embedded case study design, this study examines how everyday environmental injustices may be experienced via community gardening activities, a sustainable development-oriented activity celebrated in urban locations but largely unexplored in rural environments. Drawing upon in-depth interviews with 43 gardening programme coordinators and participants, the findings demonstrate that everyday environmental injustices are experienced across four distinct, yet overlapping and mutually reinforcing, dimensions: natural, built, human health, and socioeconomic environments. These factors in turn constrain programme participation and beneficial programme outcomes, particularly for more disadvantaged households that are affected by chronic illness, geographic isolation, and environmental hazards. Although the interviewees viewed many of these challenges as further justification for pursuing grassroots initiatives like community gardening programmes, these constraints also interacted in a way that limited the success of these locally-oriented sustainable development efforts, particularly for individuals who are the most socially, economically, and environmentally marginalised.     

An examination of community flood warning systems: Are we providing the right assistance?

The technology transfer of flood warning systems offers a large potential for reducing human losses and property damage in flood-prone regions; much of the technology and methodology is readily transferable from developed countries and “appropriate” for developing countries. This paper examines some community folk warning systems in the United States that could be incorporated into a rational strategy for technology transfer. It discusses why official organized systems should not be relied on completely and how participation in and transfer of highly cost-effective and reliable community warning systems by development assistance agencies could greatly benefit the people as well as the governments of developing countries.     

Assessing corporate–community involvement strategies in the Nigerian oil industry: An empirical analysis

The desire of oil companies operating in the Niger Delta to secure their social license to operate, and address their community development obligations, has led in recent years to the adoption of corporate social responsibility (CSR) policies and strategies. Drawing on quantitative and qualitative data collected in host communities within the Niger Delta in Nigeria, the paper compares the effectiveness of two different corporate–community involvement strategies. The evidence suggests that while the corporate–community foundation model has certain advantages over the in-house community investment model, both approaches suffer from a common shortcoming that limits the impact of oil companies’ efforts on community development in their host communities. The paper concludes by exploring the implications of the research findings for corporate–community involvement in the Nigerian oil industry.     

基于底栖动物完整性指数的常州武南区域水生态健康评价

通过2018年对常州市武南区域26个点位的水质和底栖动物的调查及分析,并基于底栖动物完整性指数（B-IBI）对该区域水生态健康状况进行评价。结果表明：武南区域中部及京杭运河以北氮、磷污染严重。该区域共发现底栖动物78种,隶属3门7纲21目36科62属,物种数和个体密度均表现出显著的时空变化性,耐污种霍普水丝蚓（Limnodrilus hoffmeisteri）为优势种。该区域水生态健康评价等级以一般和中为主。B-IBI与TN、TP存在显著相关性,NH3-N与底栖动物的群落结构显著相关。氮、磷污染是影响底栖动物多样性及水生态健康评价等级提升的重要因素。     

京杭运河江苏段底栖动物群落结构调查

通过2018年5月在京杭运河江苏段布设23个采样点调查底栖动物群落结构和生境状况,并用Shannon-Wie-ner多样性指数评价底栖动物多样性,用聚类法分析采样点底栖动物群落结构相似性,用ANOSIM分析检验聚类组差异性,用SIMPER对聚类组作主要特征物种分析.结果显示:23个采样点共采集底栖动物42种,其中甲壳纲...     

Evaluation of the Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) model version 4.5: Sensitivities impacting model performance: Part I—Ozone

This study examines ozone (O₃) predictions from the Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) model version 4.5 and discusses potential factors influencing the model results. Daily maximum 8-h average O₃ levels are largely underpredicted when observed O₃ levels are above 85 ppb and overpredicted when they are below 35 ppb. Using a clustering approach, model performance was examined separately for several different synoptic regimes. Under the most common synoptic conditions of a typical summertime Bermuda High setup, the model showed good overall performance for O₃, while associations have been identified here between other, less frequent, synoptic regimes and the O₃ overprediction and underprediction biases. A sensitivity test between the CB-IV and CB05 chemical mechanisms showed that predictions of daily maximum 8-h average O₃ using CB05 were on average 7.3% higher than those using CB-IV. Boundary condition (BC) sensitivity tests show that the overprediction biases at low O₃ levels are more sensitive to the BC O₃ levels near the surface than BC concentrations aloft. These sensitivity tests also show the model performance for O₃ improved when using the global GEOS-CHEM BCs instead of default profiles. Simulations using the newest version of the CMAQ model (v4.6) showed a small improvement in O₃ predictions, particularly when vertical layers were not collapsed. Collectively, the results suggest that key synoptic weather patterns play a leading role in the prediction biases, and more detailed study of these episodes are needed to identify further modeling improvements.