Local‐level governance of risk and resilience in Nepal

This paper explores the circumstances in which communities may effectively reduce risks. It draws on the example of two ‘Risk and Resilience Committees’ (RRCs) that were established in Nepal as part of an action research project: one in Panchkhal in the central region, operating as a community‐based organisation (CBO); and the other in Dhankuta in the eastern region, embedded in municipal government. In‐depth interviews were conducted with RRC members. Wider community preferences for risk reduction were examined through a questionnaire survey. In Dhankuta, the RRC obtained further funding, developed strong upward and downward institutional links, and applied a ‘disaster risk reduction lens’ to existing local government responsibilities. In Panchkhal, RRC activities have been limited by funding and have focused on the strengthening of livelihoods. It may be concluded tentatively that community‐based disaster risk reduction activities are more successful when they are institutionally embedded in local government structures.     

柔性时间约束突发事件交通疏散规划研究

柔性时间约束突发事件是对疏散时间强制程度较小的突发事件。为有效处理城市中这类突发事件下的人员疏散问题,在分析柔性时间约束突发事件特点的基础上,提出完整的突发事件交通疏散规划框架。根据我国现阶段国情,以总的疏散时间最少为决策目标,同时面向私人汽车和公共汽车2种方式,综合考虑成本费用、车辆保有量、道路容量等资源约束条件,建立求解突发事件交通疏散方案的整数线性规划(ILP)模型,并给出有效的求解算法。最后通过算例,演示应用模型及算法求解交通疏散规划方案的详细过程。结果表明,应用研究成果求解得到疏散交通工具选择及其路线安排方案,可以实现在一定资源约束下总的疏散时间最少。     

气相置换合成Zn-Cu-BTC及其吸附脱硫性能

采用气相置换法制备了Zn-Cu-BTC双金属有机骨架化合物,运用XRD,SEM-EDS,BET等技术对材料进行了分析表征,并以二苯并噻吩-正辛烷为模拟油（硫含量450 μg/g）,通过吸附脱除二苯并噻吩评价了材料的吸附脱硫性能。表征结果显示,Zn的引入改变了Cu-BTC特有的八面体结构。实验结果表明：在模拟油与吸附剂的质量比100∶1、吸附温度30 ℃的条件下,吸附90 min后Zn-Cu-BTC对硫的吸附达到平衡,吸附量可达38.8 mg/g,脱硫率为94.20%,而Cu-BTC吸附120 min后达到平衡,吸附量仅为26.6 mg/g;Langmuir等温吸附模型可有效描述Zn-Cu-BTC对硫的吸附过程。     

Hierarchical methodological framework to improve Policy Environmental Assessment: Based on policy layer research

This study explores the current implementation challenges of the Policy Environmental Assessment (PEA), including the implementation of a far richer, more diverse (at macro level), and better understanding of PEA and integration with decision making. The results contribute to the analysis of PEA through different hierarchies of assessment. Stemming from the theory and practice of policy, a concept of PEA hierarchies is proposed including the uppermost PEA, upper-lower PEA, and lowermost PEA. Afterward, the differences of the three hierarchies are interpreted, in terms of aims, principles, processes, and methods. The evaluation of the policy environmental impacts from different lens helps solve the complexities of policies and identify opportunities for improvement of PEA.     

Adaptive Comanagement for Building Resilience in Social–Ecological Systems

Ecosystems are complex adaptive systems that require flexible governance with the ability to respond to environmental feedback. We present, through examples from Sweden and Canada, the development of adaptive comanagement systems, showing how local groups self-organize, learn, and actively adapt to and shape change with social networks that connect institutions and organizations across levels and scales and that facilitate information flows. The development took place through a sequence of responses to environmental events that widened the scope of local management from a particular issue or resource to a broad set of issues related to ecosystem processes across scales and from individual actors, to group of actors to multiple-actor processes. The results suggest that the institutional and organizational landscapes should be approached as carefully as the ecological in order to clarify features that contribute to the resilience of social–ecological systems. These include the following: vision, leadership, and trust; enabling legislation that creates social space for ecosystem management; funds for responding to environmental change and for remedial action; capacity for monitoring and responding to environmental feedback; information flow through social networks; the combination of various sources of information and knowledge; and sense-making and arenas of collaborative learning for ecosystem management. We propose that the self-organizing process of adaptive comanagement development, facilitated by rules and incentives of higher levels, has the potential to expand desirable stability domains of a region and make social–ecological systems more robust to change.Published online     

A Soft Systems Approach to Watershed Management: A Road Salt Case Study

Watershed management requires integration of social and ecological understanding. Participatory approaches to planning and management incorporate stakeholder knowledge and understanding. An action research strategy using focus groups with Michigan State University operations units helped generate a soft systems model of watershed impacts of organizational decision-making regarding road de-icing. The results reveal tensions and inconsistencies between the mission and operation of the institution. These tensions are exacerbated by inadequate communication among various elements of the campus watershed management system. The action research approach facilitated the researchers understanding of the complex institutional system and helped identify possible areas for making improvements. Specifically, the researchers were able to facilitate improvement in some linkages between scientists developing campus watershed models and the operations staff responsible for handling many of the inputs being modeled.     

Industrial-waste management in developing countries: the case of Lebanon

This paper presents a critical assessment of the existing Lebanese industrial sector, namely the current status and classification of industrial establishments based on a comparative synthesis and analysis of recent nationwide surveys and studies pertaining to industrial-waste management. Characterisation of solid and liquid industrial wastes generated, including hazardous wastes, is presented together with current and projected waste loads, recycling opportunities, and export/import practices. Institutional capacity and needs pertaining to the enforcement of relevant environmental legislation, staffing and resources, monitoring schemes, and public participation are critically evaluated. Finally, realistic options for industrial-waste management in the context of country-specific institutional economic and technical limitations are outlined. The industrial sector in Lebanon consists of small-scale industries (84% employ less than 10 persons), primarily involved in light manufacturing (96%). These industries which are distributed among 41 ill-defined zones and deficient in appropriate physical infrastructure, generate solid, liquid, and hazardous waste estimated at 346,730 tons/year, 20,169,600 m3/year and between 3000 to 15,000 tons/year, respectively. Although the growth of this sector contributes significantly to the socio-economic development of the country (industry accounts for 17% of the gross domestic product), in the absence of a comprehensive environmental management plan, this expansion may not be sustained into the coming millennium. The anticipated expansion will inevitably amplify adverse environmental impacts associated with industrial activities due to rising waste volumes and improper waste handling and disposal practices. These impacts are further aggravated by a deficient institutional framework, a lack of adequate environmental laws, and lax enforcement of regulations governing industrial-waste management.     

Developing a spatial framework of common ecological regions for the conterminous United States

In 1996, nine federal agencies with mandates to inventory and manage the nation's land, water, and biological resources signed a memorandum of understanding entitled “Developing a Spatial Framework of Ecological Units of The United States.” This spatial framework is the basis for interagency coordination and collaboration in the development of ecosystem management strategies. One of the objectives in this memorandum is the development of a map of common ecological regions for the conterminous United States. The regions defined in the spatial framework will be areas within which biotic, abiotic, terrestrial, and aquatic capacities and potentials are similar. The agencies agreed to begin by exploring areas of agreement and disagreement in three federal natural-resource spatial frameworks—Major Land Resource Areas of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service, National Hierarchy of Ecological Units of the USDA Forest Service, and Level III Ecoregions of the US Environmental Protection Agency. The explicit intention is that the framework will foster an ecological understanding of the landscape, rather than an understanding based on a single resource, single discipline, or single agency perspective. This paper describes the origin, capabilities, and limitations of three major federal agency frameworks and suggests why a common ecological framework is desirable. The scientific and programmatic benefits of common ecological regions are described, and a proposed process for development of the common framework is presented.     

社区参与旅游发展运行框架的初步研究

社区参与旅游发展是旅游可持续发展宏观系统中不可或缺的机制。提出了社区参与旅游的新目标观、新组织观、新系统观等理念,并尝试运用区域经济学的理论,对社区参与旅游发展运行框架进行了新的探讨,旨在为我国社区参与的有效实施和社区旅游的可持续发展提供借鉴。