Coping strategies and risk manageability: using participatory geographical information systems to represent local knowledge

The accumulated knowledge and perceptions of communities 'at risk' are key elements in managing disaster risk at the local level. This paper demonstrates that local knowledge of flood hazards can be structured systematically into geographic information system (GIS) outputs. When combined with forecasting models and risk scenarios, they strengthen the legitimacy of local knowledge of at-risk populations. This is essential for effective disaster risk reduction practices by external actors, local non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and municipal authorities. The research focused on understanding coping strategies and 'manageability' of flood hazards as defined by communities. 'Manageability' is how people experience flooding in relation to their household capacity and the coping mechanisms available. The research in the Philippines highlights the significance of localised factors, including socioeconomic resources, livelihoods, seasonality and periodicity, for understanding manageability. The manageability concept improves practice at the municipal level by legitimising local coping strategies, providing better indicators, and developing understanding of flooding as a recurrent threat.     

Complementing institutional with localised strategies for climate change adaptation: a South-North comparison

Climate change and disasters pose a serious risk to sustainable development. In the South, local coping strategies are an important element of adaptation to climate and disaster risk. Such strategies have emerged because of the limited assistance provided by urban actors and associated social security and governance systems. In the North, in contrast, local coping strategies are comparatively poorly developed. However, the extent of the changing climatic conditions is also reducing the capacity of Northern institutions to deal with climatic extremes and variability, which emphasises the need for more local-level engagement in the North. This paper analyses the differences in local and institutional responses to climate change and disasters in a Southern and a Northern city (San Salvador, El Salvador, and Manchester, United Kingdom, respectively), and highlights how the lessons learned might be translated into an improved distributed governance system; that is, an 'integrated engagement model', where local and institutionalised responses support rather than hinder each other, as is currently the case.     

加强西部农业大开发必须转变观念

在党中央和国务院的关怀下 ,西部大开发的序幕即将拉开 ,全国人民为之振奋。如何保障西部大开发的顺利实施 ?本文认为必须转变传统观念 ,实施新的开发战略。     

Performance and dilemmas of urban containment strategies in the transformation context of Beijing

The implementation of urban containment policies is increasingly attracting attention in environment management. Rapid urban growth and the coexistence of decentralisation and marketisation challenge containment strategies that are implemented to control urban sprawl. This challenge is likely to be greater in a transformation country than in developed countries. This paper evaluates the performance of containment strategies in Beijing. The analysis shows that, to a large extent, containment strategies perform well; however, the decreased compactness of the fringes of the inter-suburban areas, caused by dispersed and illegal development, suggest that municipal containment strategies are being challenged by new trends towards local autonomy. Two similar dilemmas to those faced by developed countries are confronting those involved in the implementation of containment strategies in the current transformation process in Beijing: first, the municipal environmental goal might not be achieved by all local jurisdictions when local economic motivations are involved; and second, macro-scale containment policies are unlikely to control an urban sprawl fuelled by the growing power of market forces.     

Measuring the gains from improved air quality in the San Joaquin Valley

Many regions worldwide are experiencing rapid urbanization, and often along with growth in the local economy and population comes worsening air quality. Such regions typically find that addressing the additional challenge of polluted air is difficult. This paper reports the results of an assessment of the present health and related economic costs of poor air quality in the San Joaquin Valley of California. Further, it suggests how such assessments can support strategies to pursue pollution reductions that offer the largest near-term gains, by rigorously modeling the associations between pollution levels, demographic groups, and recognized adverse health effects.     

A framework for evaluation of flood management strategies

The resulting impact of disasters on society depends on the affected country's economic strength prior to the disaster. The larger the disaster and the smaller the economy, the more significant is the impact. This is clearest seen in developing countries, where weak economies become even weaker afterwards. Deliberate strategies for the sharing of losses from hazardous events may aid a country or a community in efficiently using scarce prevention and mitigation resources, thus being better prepared for the effects of a disaster. Nevertheless, many governments lack an adequate institutional system for applying cost effective and reliable technologies for disaster prevention, early warnings, and mitigation. Modelling by event analyses and strategy models is one way of planning ahead, but these models have so far not been linked together. An approach to this problem was taken during a large study in Hungary, the Tisza case study, where a number of policy strategies for spreading of flood loss were formulated. In these strategies, a set of parameters of particular interest were extracted from interviews with stakeholders in the region. However, the study was focused on emerging economies, and, in particular, on insurance strategies. The scope is now extended to become a functional framework also for developing countries. In general, they have a higher degree of vulnerability. The paper takes northern Vietnam as an example of a developing region. We identify important parameters and discuss their importance for flood strategy formulations. Based on the policy strategies in the Tisza case, we extract data from the strategies and propose a framework for loss spread in developing and emerging economies. The parameter set can straightforwardly be included in a simulation and decision model for policy formulation and evaluation, taking multiple stakeholders into account.     

九华山旅游竞争力提升研究

九华山是我国以佛教为主要特色兼有自然山岳风光的国家级重点风景名胜区。近几年来,九华山旅游业发展迅速,在资源、生态、区位和宗教旅游方面具有一定的旅游竞争优势,但在市场营销、旅游形象、基础设施、服务质量、景区景点开发等方面仍存在不少问题。要提升九华山旅游竞争力,就必须打造品牌形象、提高知名度、改善基础设施、加强人才培养、创新旅游项目和整合旅游资源等。     

一次性塑料制品的替代管理策略研究

一次性塑料是指生产生活中使用一次或几乎不重复利用的塑料,约占塑料总消费量的50%,是塑料制品的重要构成部分.近年来,随着电子商务的兴起,一次性塑料的生产和消费量迅速增长.随着人们对塑料以及由此引起的微塑料污染危害的认识不断提高,国际社会对削减一次性塑料污染的呼声日益高涨,迫切需要开发可持续、环境友好的替代品以减少一次性塑料的消费量.从全球范围来看,一次性塑料制品替代主要包括非塑料材料替代和可生物降解塑料材料替代两大类.建议我国尽快完善相关立法和标准,鼓励一次性塑料制品替代并加强替代产品的质量监管;为一次性塑料制品替代提供差别化的产业政策,提高环境友好替代产品的市场竞争力,同时还应将一次性塑料制品的环境治理成本纳入其价格成本;鼓励科技创新,研发更具市场竞争力的替代材料和产品;最后,还要唤起社会公众的共同参与,主动选择替代产品并减少一次性塑料制品的使用,才能从源头上解决塑料垃圾的污染问题.      

VOCs污染场地风险管理策略的筛选及评估

以某VOCs(volatile organic compounds,挥发性有机化合物)污染场地为例,结合实地调查,将健康风险评估用于场地风险管理策略的筛选. 结果表明:①该场地不同深度土壤均受到氯仿、二氯甲烷和苯的污染,污染物垂向迁移特征明显,最大迁移深度达25.8 m,其中深度≤15.0 m的土壤污染较重. ②基于保守的通用场地概念模型对将其规划为居住用地时的健康风险进行评估显示,氯仿、二氯甲烷和苯的致癌风险分别达6.0×10-2、2.9×10-4、7.4×10-5,均超过可接受风险水平(1.0×10-6),三者修复目标分别为0.22、12.00和0.64 mg/kg. 如采取策略一,即将场地内超过修复目标的土壤进行清除,需修复的土壤深度达24.0 m,修复土方量为33.4×104 m3. ③结合污染物垂向分布及场地未来地下空间开发规划,提出策略二,即对0~15.0 m深度范围内重污染土壤进行清除异位修复、>15 m深度范围内土壤采取工程控制措施. 实施策略二后的风险评估结果显示,虽然>15.0 m深度范围内土壤中依然存在w(氯仿)超过修复目标的采样点,但致癌风险(8.3×10-8)远低于可接受水平;概率风险评估显示,该风险值对应的累计频率为99.5%,考虑各参数取值的不确定性后,风险模拟结果最大值也仅为1.06×10-7. 可见,策略二足够保守,能够保障未来居民的身体健康;与策略一相比,策略二可减少修复土方量6.4×104 m3,因此更具经济性,为风险管理策略的优选方案.      

不同污水生物脱氮工艺中N2O释放量及影响因素

微生物的硝化及反硝化过程为污水处理过程中N2O的主要产生源.从微生物学和生物化学反应的角度,阐述了硝化及反硝化过程中N2O的生成机理以及与N2O产生相关的关键酶的基本特性,同时给出了几种典型硝化及反硝化菌的N2O产生与释放情况.通过对实际污水处理厂、不同污水处理工艺,尤其是新工艺过程中N2O释放量及产因的分析,指出污水生物处理过程中N2O的释放量与污水水质、污水处理工艺、工艺的运行工况及微生物的种群结构有关,并对底物浓度、DO浓度、SRT等关键性因素进行了重点论述.在综合分析N2O产生机理及影响因素的基础上,从工艺运行工况及微生物种群优化2个角度,初步提出了控制污水生物处理过程中N2O释放的策略.