SOCIAL CLASS DIFFERENCES IN RESERVOIR VISITS1

ABSTRACT: Previous research provides evidence of a socioeconomic bias in outdoor recreational participation. One explanation of this bias is that socioeconomic groups have differential opportunities to participate, with the “costs” of this participation especially serving to restrict the recreational access of lower class persons living in urban areas. Using driving distance as a measure of cost, this study assessed the effects of travel costs on the attendance of three social class groups from an urban population at rural reservoir facilities. Findings support the contention that, while increased driving distance has a dampening effect on recreational participation, this effect is most pronounced for the lower class person. These findings point to the importance of equity considerations in the planning of outdoor recreational facilities.     

“Measuring Sustainability”: A Multi-Criterion Framework

So far, the elementary question of whether one country’s or region’s economy is moving towards sustainability or away from it cannot be answered with unanimous consensus on the ‘measuring rod(s)’ to be employed. The main assumption of this article is that sustainability assessment needs a set of multi-dimensional indicators. From this assumption a question arises: how could such indicators be aggregated? Often, some indicators improve while others deteriorate. For instance, when incomes grow, SO₂ might go down while CO₂ increases. It has to be noted that this is the classical conflictual situation studied in multi-criteria decision theory. The use of a multi-criterion framework for making operational the ‘measuring of sustainability’ is discussed here by means of illustrative examples and more formal arguments.     

TECHNOLOGY,INSTITUTIONS, AND SOCIAL GOALS1

ABSTRACT: The cries of pending water crises are usually cast in terms of water availability and/or water quality. Unfortunately, the real factors underlying a perceived crisis are often overlooked and the solutions prescribed are fax from optimal when measured in either economic or social terms. Today's technology outstrips its implementation, yesterday's solutions are imposed on a new breed of problems, and a static game is being played in a dynamic world. There is a need for the application of innovative and revolutionary tactics, for modernizing institutions, and for educating technologists and decision makers alike in the art of communicating their views and skills. This is the challenge. If it is met, some predicted crises will not materialize, and many others will be diminished in scale. An exciting opportunity exists to extend the boundaries of a new era in water management.     

考虑过渡区影响的粉喷桩复合地基承载特性的有限元数值分析

粉喷桩成桩过程中不可避免地会带动桩间土产生强烈的挤压和振动,在固化剂与桩体发生物理化学反应的同时,桩周一定范围内的土体也进行了固化和挤密,使得在桩土交界处形成环向变化的过渡区,过渡区的材料由桩逐渐过渡到桩间土,因此有必要考虑该过渡区对粉喷桩复合地基承载特性的影响。本文从粉喷桩复合地基桩土交界处的特点出发,考虑了桩土材料性质变化的过渡区单元,利用上的摩尔—库仑本构模型,和Plaxis专业岩土软件对粉喷桩复合地基进行了有限元数值分析,就粉喷桩复合地基中桩和土的承载特性得出了一些有益的结论。     

美国减灾的应急及社会联动机制研究——以卡特里娜飓风为例

卡特里娜飓风是美国历史上最严重的一次自然灾害.本文从法律依据和国家灾难恢复和反应框架入手分析美国政府、社会各方对卡特里娜飓风灾害的应急反应和灾难恢复体系,从社会参与角度探讨美国的灾难联动参与反应机制,从新奥尔良市Broadmoor社区的恢复重建过程剖析美国的自下而上的社区主导型恢复重建体制,美国特色的防灾减灾社会联动机制能对加强和完善我国应急反应体系,对建设符合我国国情的减灾救灾社会参与机制提供启示与借鉴.     

建筑企业员工职业病危害认知影响因素的调查分析

随着建筑行业的持续快速发展,建筑企业作业场所中的职业病危害呈现出高发性、复杂性和持续性等特点.通过针对建筑企业员工的实际状况设计调查问卷获取第一手资料,并运用SPSS17.0统计软件建立相关分析、回归分析等模型进行数据分析,可以得知建筑企业作业场所员工遭受职业病危害的可能性与对安全知识的了解程度、从业时间、性别及文化背景这四个因素的线性相关性.通过对建筑企业作业人员职业病危害的调查与分析,辨识出影响职业病危害的人为因素,提出相关的建议措施以改善建筑企业作业场所职业病危害严重的局面,提高建筑企业员工自我保护意识,增加其职业病危害防护知识,减少职业病危害事故的发生.     

Citizen feedback in a fragile setting: social accountability interventions in the primary healthcare sector in Sierra Leone

Fragile and conflict‐affected states are frequently characterised by their inability to fulfil three core governance functions: provision of security, effective delivery of basic public goods and services, and managing political participation and accountability. This article explores the utility of social accountability interventions in fragile environments. Successful social accountability interventions can lead to joint examinations of public service standards by service‐users and providers, resulting in collaborative improvement efforts. The few available studies of such interventions implemented in fragile or conflict‐affected states show reasons for optimism as well as challenges. This article advocates the continued use of social accountability methods in fragile settings and provides examples of social accountability interventions in the health sector in Sierra Leone. The study suggests that social accountability can improve interaction between citizens and public service providers. Successful social accountability interventions can also lead to better quality and more accessible public services, which, in turn, can enhance state legitimacy.     

Local governance of energy transition: sustainability,transactions and social ties. A case study in Northeast France

This paper tackles the process of energy transition from a transactional perspective. It addresses the governance of energy transition by studying its local actualizations, moving beyond purely technical and normative readings. The paper shows that through the local socio-technological energy systems, sustainability governance filters down to the level of individual, everyday behavior, thus questioning the link between public and private spaces, especially regarding the issue of housing. Going beyond the results commonly yielded by transition studies, which favor large-scale analysis, it details how the discourse of citizen involvement, which often boils down to a mere call to control one’s individual energy consumption, conceals environmental inequalities, confirming the socioeconomic divide materialized in deprived areas such as public housing estates or remote rural areas. From a methodological standpoint, the analysis is based on four case studies in Northeast France, in more or less privileged areas, and in both urban and rural environments: the renovation of a heating network in the public housing estate of Cité de l’Ill, north of Strasbourg; the solar energy systems designed for property owners in Plobsheim, a residential suburb of Strasbourg; the energy-efficient equipment set up in a public housing estate in the city of Saint-Dié, in the Vosges; and citizen participation in a cooperative program to finance wind turbines in the small Alsacian city of Saâles, in a mountain rural area. The paper draws on the results of these sociological investigations, carried out using field observations, questionnaires and interviews.     

Perceived importance of sustainability dimensions in the Portuguese metal industry

The growing interest of stakeholders regarding the contribution of organizations to Sustainable Development is influencing organizational behavior and strategic planning. The purpose of the present paper is to analyze the perception of the importance of organizational sustainability dimensions in a relevant economic sector: the metal industry. Survey data was collected from a sample of 211 Portuguese industries, and non-parametric statistical tests were used to validate five research hypotheses regarding the importance of the economic, environmental, social and cultural dimensions of sustainability. The results obtained demonstrate awareness of the sampled industries regarding all sustainability dimensions, recognizing that their importance has been increasing over the years, and prospecting that this importance will continue to increase in the future. The industries in this sample revealed different degrees of perceived importance for the different sustainability dimensions: the highest importance was given to the economic dimension, and culture was considered the least important sustainability dimension. However, the perception of the respondents is that these differences will be less relevant in the future. The results also show that companies with certified management systems reveal a higher perceived importance regarding sustainability dimensions. Also, industries with higher values of annual turnover, number of employees and export sales tend to give higher degrees of importance to sustainability dimensions. Considering the economic, environmental and social impacts of metal industries at an international level, the awareness of this industrial sector regarding the importance of sustainability is a relevant step to the commitment towards Sustainable Development.     

Barriers to worldwide institutionalization of social and environmental disclosure

This study analyzes how groups of organizations that share their social and environmental information are formed in a similar way to identify barriers to the homogenization of social and environmental disclosure (SED) at the international level. Based on a sample of observations of listed firms from six different countries, results suggest that SED does not homogenize globally, spontaneously, because of cultural and geographical barriers. The institutions of environmental disclosure (ED) and social disclosure (SD) are different, thus forming different organizational fields at the international level. The spoken language is a barrier to the international isomorphism of ED and therefore to its comparability. However, language is a less important barrier to SD. When cultural institutions are weaker or have the same roots as North American institutions, cultural diversity does not stop the homogenization of the SD. Moreover, the ED is more isomorphic/comparable at the global level than SD, while the SD is more isomorphic/comparable at the level of culturally distinguishable subsets than ED.