Public–Private Governance Patterns and Environmental Sustainability

This paper discusses public–private governance patterns which have emerged in global environmental management. These patterns originate from a spontaneous non-governmental basis or have intentionally been created and constructed by international organisations or states. The paper identifies four patterns of environmental governance between international organisations, governments and private actors. Theoretically governance patterns in which private actors play a prominent role, pose a challenge to state sovereignty and remould the traditional state centric pattern of environmental management. However, the article emphasises the fact that these patterns remain no more than constructs of international organisations, non-governmental organisations and governments, whose first priorities are not always environmental conservation. The paper suggests that the oldest public–private type of environmental governance, in which the environmental organisations are in advocacy roles, reform environmental management in a more concrete and sustainable way than the more recently emerging patterns.     

土地利用和生态系统服务功能变化研究 ——以三峡库区大宁河流域为例

将土地利用类型分类为耕地、有林地（森林地）、灌木林地、草地、迹地、水体、建设用地和未利用地8类。以遥感数据为数据源，通过自动分类和人工解译相结合的方法获取了以上土地利用类型，并对三峡库区大宁河流域的土地利用变化过程和驱动力做了分析。以Costanza等人的全球生态系统服务价值的估测结果为基础，对各种地类生态服务功能价值重新赋值，进而估算近30年大宁河流域的生态服务价值，分析了其变化过程。结果表明：近30年，大宁河流域土地利用总的变化趋势是林、灌、草地经历了不断破坏和缓慢恢复的过程，耕地面积经历了先增后减，建设用地不断扩展。经济发展、人口增长和国家政策是土地利用变化的主要原因。生态系统服务功能经历了一个先损害后恢复的过程，表现为生态服务价值从1973年到1995年不断减少，而1995年到2002年连续增加。     

欧洲环境执政新模式分析

对欧盟新的、开放式的和更具弹性的环境治理模式进行了评估,发现该政策的新模式并不是一剂万能药.在实际的引进与使用过程中,存在很多障碍,这些障碍主要与机构和文化因素有关.对政策制定或(和)执行所做的任何创新都必须从现有的机构设置和旧有的工作常规起步.证明机构路径依循的影响取决于具体事件和国家.因此,即使对于相同的一件事,在不同的政治系统中影响也可能不同.同一项政策在某个国家可能成功执行,在另一个国家可能要产生严重的问题.即使是很多基本特征都相似的邻国,也可能会出现这种差异.环境执政新模式,如自愿或协商的协议和其他方式,关注对公共-私营关系的加强,尤其是决策权力从国家中央向执行的分支部门和私营部门的转移.这要求所有有关方面情愿脱离现有的行政路径,从根本上重新分配各自的权力.解决问题的适当形式和成功很大程度上取决于运用新模式的国家的政治和机构背景.一般说来,市场手段要求正常运作的市场经济氛围,而公众参与或公共-私营关系只有可能在国家、企业和公民社会之间有相对公开沟通的背景下才能进展良好.当满足这些基本条件后,根据创新模式的具体特点,还有各种具体的政治和机构因素与其执行有关.     

地方政府间环保合作机制研究——以海峡西岸城市群为例

区域环境的合作治理在城市群发展的背景下已经成为政府环境保护的重要内容,环保合作事务中各个政府部门的关系、合作的机制、组织行政、效果评估等方面都引起了学者的广泛关注。然而,大部分研究主要关注府际合作中静态的、程式化的制度关系,对合作发展的总体过程、各合作主体之间、事件之间的动态联系研究较少,这将阻碍我们深入理解城市群的环保合作机制。基于此,本文运用过程视角对海峡西岸城市群的合作历程进行梳理,追溯其发展轨迹,对合作主体和议题的演化进行分析,对海西城市群府际之间的动态合作治理机制进行深入挖掘,并针对合作机制的不足提出相应的改善措施。     

农村水环境治理的内生机制研究

农村水环境内生治理机制是外源治理力量"嵌入"的前提和运行保障,加强农村内在要素的水环境治理参与对于农村生态社区建设具有重要意义.内生治理效用的高低不仅取决于农村社区成员的组织化程度还较多受到环境政策执行效果的影响,细致分析时下农村水环境治理的内部结构,农户参与不足、民间组织承接能力不高、社区公共性消减和政策执行偏差等问题在较大程度上制约着农村内生秩序与农村生态社区建设的和谐共进.进一步厘清农村水环境内生治理的强化进路,可从参与渠道拓展、民间组织培育、内生秩序转型以及治理规范制定四个方面加以调整,不断促进农村水环境治理的内外互动.     

Dissent and descent: tracing Canada’s environmental governance from regulatory beginnings to dismissal and reversals by the Harper government

Since Confederation in 1867, official Canadian settler government policy on the environment has sought to simultaneously preserve “wilderness” and exploit natural resources for market gain. In the 1960s, the nascent North American modern environmental movement pushed for stronger regulation on pollution and toxics – and a more institutionalised state-led response to environmental problems emerged. Throughout the last five decades, three principal “eras” of federal government reaction have emerged in response to mounting scientific evidence and public pressure to act on environmental issues. The first, from the late-1960s to mid-1980s, saw the development and implementation of early environmental policy and programmes. The second era, from the mid-1980s to mid-2000s co-occurred alongside the rise of the sustainable development paradigm, and is marked by the Canadian government’s attempt at leadership on the global stage. The third era, from the mid-2000s to 2015, demonstrates a shift from environmental regime-building and multilateral collaboration toward rollbacks and obstructionism. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, the government of Canada reversed decades of progress and cooperation on the environment and sustainable development through its muzzling of government scientists, superficial co-optation of climate policy, rollbacks of environmental legislation and disparagement of environmental activists. In total, by shifting the federal government from a position of ineffective benevolence on environmental issues to one of contention and antagonism, the Harper government’s approach represents a departure from Canadian environmental governance norms and sought to remake the identity of Canada as an energy superpower inextricably tied to its oil and gas industry.     

More than just linking the nodes: civil society actors as intermediaries in the design and implementation of payments for ecosystem services–the case of a blue carbon project in Costa Rica

While in many cases the benefits of ecosystem services (ES) can be enjoyed on different scales, the provision of ES requires engagement and commitment at the local scale. Therefore, the local level becomes important when thinking about compensation schemes or payments for ecosystem services (PES) as an approach to managing ES. The difficult task of bringing together different actors and institutions at different scales for specific conservation projects at the local level often remains in the hands of intermediaries. In this paper, we investigate the role of a civil society organisation (CSO) as an intermediary organisation in a PES scheme, the Community Blue Carbon Project (CBCP) in Costa Rica. To assess the role of intermediaries in a PES scheme, we rely on social network analysis and examine the position and role of the intermediary organisation. Based on Net-Map interviews, which is an interview-based mapping tool that helps people understand, visualise, discuss and improve situations in which many different actors influence outcomes, we find that the intermediary organisation in the CBCP is composed of several institutional and individual intermediaries who create both formal networks for connecting the international to the local level and informal networks for creating trusting relationships among the actors. Different spatial levels are reflected within the CSO’s organisational structure, and the CSO mitigates the distributional, procedural, recognition and contextual aspects of environmental justice.     

Emergent publics and affects in environmental governance

Drawing on the wide social scientific literature on emotions and affects, we highlight the value and potential contribution of the affect theory for understanding public engagement in environmental policy and planning. We suggest that such theorization complements political ontologies that envision concerned publics to arise as citizens are attached to objects and other beings in their everyday life. Focus on emotions and affects enables in-depth exploration of the corporeality of these attachments, increasing understanding about how affected publics get driven for action and how new sensibilities and horizons for action are created. Based on the discussion of affect theory and case examples, we argue that emotions and affects should be treated as crucial carriers of knowledge about transformation of political subjects and their concerns. They also direct analytic gaze beyond public participation procedures and encourage the development of novel, more inclusive settings for public engagement.     

Governance innovations for climate change adaptation in urban Denmark

Urban areas worldwide are challenged by climate change and urban flooding. Within the academic literature, adaptive measures that can be integrated into other issues such as recreation, nature reserves, and social issues are considered the way forward. Adaptation has recently become a mandatory planning theme for Danish municipalities, which in the absence of established practices are struggling to find the best institutional set-up to address adaptation as an integrated issue. Based on a case study of an integrated project organised as a partnership, this article identifies and discusses governance challenges that must be addressed if municipalities are to benefit from synergies through integrated projects. The municipality in question has established a partnership with housing organisations, foundations, and a utility company as well as facilitated a dialogue with citizens and institutions to address flooding threats and social issues at the neighbourhood scale. Because of strong political and leadership support, funding from partners, and good project facilitation both partners and politicians are enthusiastic about the project and its potential. Several challenges, however, needed to be addressed, particularly in relation to clashing norms from different governance paradigms. This is an issue requiring more attention both in research and practice.     

Scale and self-governance in agri-environment schemes: experiences with two alternative approaches in the Netherlands

Agri-environment schemes in the Netherlands have been criticized for their lack of effectiveness. Explanations were sought in the limited size of the individual farm and in the shallowness of the measures. We distinguish three scale problems: in the spatial dimension (from farm element to landscape), in the management dimension (from add-on measure to farming system) and in the governance dimension (from little to much space for self-governance by farmers). These scale concepts are used to translate insights from ecology and agro-economy to governance approaches. We analyse case studies of two new approaches: an area approach with group contracts and spatial coordination of agri-environmental measures, and a farming system with substantial adaptations of the farming concept. Both approaches have elements of increased self-governance and could offer inspiration for schemes elsewhere. We propose that appropriate space for self-governance is necessary when choosing another scale approach for making agri-environment schemes more effective.