Institutional deficiencies and capacity building constraints: the dilemma for environmentally sustainable development in Africa

SUMMARY

The authors question Africa's ability to achieve sustainable development in view of the erosion of its institution building capacity, a problem compounded by the alarming rate of Africa's continuing marginalisation in the world economy. The situation has been provoked by inappropriate domestic policies which have not only compromised Africa's competitiveness, but also made it particularly vulnerable given the increasing globalisation of markets and factors of production. The benefits associated with effective global economic participation transcend direct financial gains and include technology transfers, technical and managerial skills transfers, and other skills transfers associated with the ‘learning and doing’ process. These benefits are instrumental in the development of the economic, administrative, legislative and social institutions that prescribe the organisational and managerial structure of an economy and define its capacity for sustainable growth. In Africa, the absence of such structures has undermined development efforts and created large impoverished populations. But poverty in living standards is not only prevalent, there is also the acute poverty in knowledge and skills which is so damaging to institution building capacity. The socio-economic impact is manifest in dilapidated infrastructure, decaying institutions, the exodus of the professional and managerial cadre, and the almost total disintegration of society. It is within this context that Africa's ability to evolve and effectively manage sustainable development policies is questioned. The study concludes that the continent's capacity to initiate sound environmental and sustainable development policies depends crucially on its ability to develop appropriate and functional institutions.     

生草栽培下果园土壤固碳潜力研究

果园是我国南方红壤丘陵区重要的土地利用类型之一,但目前丘陵区果园中存在一些不合理开发、传统粗放式的经营、水土保持技术缺乏等因素,导致水土流失严重,土壤退化严重。寻求合理的土壤管理措施,减少果园水土流失,增加红壤的碳汇功能一直是学术界和生产实践面临的重要问题。本研究以福建尤溪长期定位试验为研究平台,研究顺坡开垦＋清耕、梯台开垦＋清耕、梯台开垦＋套种平托花生Arachis pintoi这3种垦殖方式对红壤果园有机C含量的影响,并利用Jenny模型对不同处理的土壤有机碳动态进行模拟。结果表明,经过14年的垦殖,清耕模式导致土壤容重增大,而梯台生草处理土壤容重比开垦前降低了1.8%;生草栽培不但提高了果园土壤有机碳含量,且生草栽培处理的土壤有机碳储量比清耕处理提高了13.9%～34.7%,其与清耕处理间的差异达到显著性水平;本试验条件下果园土壤有机碳平衡值为16.607~25.608 g/kg,并以此估算得到生草栽培处理0~20 cm土层有机碳储量平衡值为54.801 t/hm2,其固碳潜力为24.6951 t/hm2,分别是顺坡清耕和梯台清耕处理的4.2倍和1.5倍。因此可以认为生草栽培有利于提高土壤的碳汇功能。     

Alternatives to evacuation during wildland fire: Exploring adaptive capacity in one Idaho community

The use of alternatives to evacuation during wildfire events continues to be an intensely debated strategy in the professional and policy circles of numerous fire-prone countries. The most recent chapter comes in response to the Black Saturday Fires in Australia, which has led to policy changes concerning alternatives to evacuation in both Australia and USA. This study explores the local context that influenced the development of alternatives to evacuation in one Idaho community through in-depth interviews with local residents and officials. It acknowledges alternatives as one ‘fire-adaptive behaviour’ of the local community, a key characteristic that US fire professionals identify as a means to better manage wildfire. We apply and extend a recently created adaptive capacity framework for wildfire to uncover specific community characteristics that both led to and reinforce the development of alternatives to evacuation that are tailored to the local population. Identification of these characteristics serves as one important step towards better local assessment of adaptive capacity for a broad classification of ‘fire-adaptive’ behaviours. We conclude that no one combination of local resources can guarantee the development of alternatives to evacuation. Rather, diverse local context will result in different approaches and applicability of the practice.     

生态承载力的概念及其研究方法

生态承载力研究是可持续发展科学领域关注的热点问题,是判定可持续发展的重要分析手段,对生态承载力的概念和评价方法的研究有利于可持续发展科学的发展与完善。对国内外相关研究中的生态承载力概念进行了总结,并深入探讨了不同学者对于生态承载力概念达成的共识及存在的分歧,在此基础上提出了生态承载力概念的内涵。依据生态承载力评价的思路,将国内外生态承载力评价方法分为3类,第1类是指标体系评价法,第2类是以能量、物质流为基础的产品周期评价,第3类是综合性评价。上述评价方法在处理复杂系统问题上都有各自的优缺点,需要评价者根据评价目的采用互补的方式对方法进行集成,加强综合集成的方法在生态承载力评价中的应用。最后,结合生态承载力研究的发展趋势,分析了目前生态承载力研究的不足,提出了生态承载力中主动因子与被动因子、生态承载力预测及其与区域规划的结合、经济发展和科技进步对生态承载力的影响、生态承载力方法改进等亟待开展的研究内容。     

生产班组安全生产承载度评估体系研究

一线生产班组工作安排超能力已经成为基层供电局安全风险增加的主因。为有效规避此类风险,通过分析安全生产承载度三要素,建立起具有针对性和可操作性的承载度模型。利用统计分析工具,对工作项目涉及到的人力资源状况等历史数据进行筛选,抽取各类工作承载度指标,以确定现有人力资源配置状况下各工作项目的承载能力。安全生产承载度评估体系对于基层供电局安全生产风险评估和控制提供了一种新的发展思路。     

应急准备任务设置与应急响应能力建设——基于情景-任务-能力应急预案编制技术研究之二

应急准备任务设置和应急响应能力建设是应急管理中重要内容,是突发事件应急预案编制前置条件和基础。基于情景-任务-能力应急预案管理思想,描述了突发事件应急准备任务和应急响应能力的概念、方法和内容,提出了突发事件应急准备的共同任务和职责任务的一览表,并对共同任务中应急准备一项的内容做了具体介绍。在提出应急响应能力一览表的同时,论述了其功能及发展。     

应急准备文化现状调研与分析研究

应急准备文化是国家应急管理重要的基础,也是当前应急准备研究领域颇受关注的热点之一。为进一步调查了解我国广大公众应急准备文化现状与存在的主要问题,以公众应急意识,应急准备能力、公众对应急管理现状满意度和未来的应急准备需求四个方面为主要内容,通过调查问卷和统计分析了解公众对突发事件的风险感知和基本应对能力。结果显示,我国应急准备文化基础薄弱,政府应急管理能力亟待提高。并提出应急准备文化建设的具体建议。     

大空间仓库堆垛特性对水炮雾状射流灭火性能影响的实验研究

大空间堆垛储物仓库的消防安全日益引起重视,自动消防炮灭火系统已广泛应用其中。堆垛物遮挡和柱状射流特性对水炮灭火有影响,雾状射流由于覆盖区域增大可提高灭火效率,堆垛特性可能会影响雾状射流灭火效果,目前缺乏相关研究。通过预喷水、布水和灭火实验研究大空间仓库堆垛特性对水炮雾状射流喷水强度分布和灭火性能的影响。结果表明:该文所研究自动消防炮(安装高度8m,雾化角度90°)在5m至15m射程间,能够有效扑灭或控制大空间仓库火灾;喷水强度和有效保护面积随射程的增大而减小,仓库危险级Ⅰ级和Ⅱ级储物高度为3.0m-3.5m时有效保护面积在5m射程处分别为27.5m2和25.5m2;堆垛高度一定时存在最小堆垛间距,小于此值时火灾将不能被扑灭或控制。     

山东半岛蓝色经济区海域生态环境综合评价

海域生态环境评价作为承载力研究的基础,在近海生态管理中得到了广泛关注. 针对海洋生态环境研究中评价指标体系简单、标准相对单一及不利于实际应用等问题,以生态系统为研究视角构建了基于环境因子和生态响应的近海生态环境综合评价指标体系与指数计量方法,根据环境因子指数和生态响应指数在交叉判断矩阵中的位置,将近海生态环境状态分为优、良、中、差和劣5个等级,并将该方法应用于山东半岛蓝色经济区海域评价. 结果表明:研究海域整体环境因子指数为0.41~0.84(平均值为0.67),生态响应指数为0.17~0.75(平均值为0.45),综合评价等级为良,但已非常接近中等级别;其生态环境问题主要表现为溶解无机氮负荷较高、重金属和浮游动物密度负荷过低. 不同海域生态环境状态存在明显差异,25个近岸海域中等级优和良的共占60%,主要分布在山东半岛东部和西南部;海域等级为中和差的各占16%,另有8%海域等级为劣. 该评价模型与方法从生态环境整体性揭示海域存在问题,可为山东半岛蓝色经济区建设提供科学依据.      

Removal of clofibric acid from aqueous solution by polyethylenimine-modified chitosan beads

Polyethylenimine （PEI）-modified chitosan was prepared and used to remove clofibric acid （CA） from aqueous solution. PEI was chemically grafted on the porous chitosan through a crosslinking reaction, and the effects of PEI concentration and reaction time in the preparation on the adsorption of clofibric acid were optimized. Scanning electron microscopy （SEM） showed that PEI macromolecules were uniformly grafted on the porous chitosan, and the analysis of pore size distribution indicated that more mesopores were formed due to the crosslinking of PEI molecules in the macropores of chitosan. The PEI-modified chitosan had fast adsorption for CA within the initial 5 h, while this adsorbent exhibited an adsorption capacity of 349 mg· g^-1 for CA at pH 5.0 according to the Langmuir fitting, higher than 213 mg· g^-1 on the porous chitosan. The CA adsorption on the PEI- modified chitosan was pH-dependent, and the maximum adsorption was achieved at pH 4.0. Based on the surface charge analysis and comparison of different pharmaceu- ticals adsorption, electrostatic interaction dominated the sorption of CA on the PEI-modified chitosan. The PEI- modified chitosan has a potential application for the removal of some anionic rnicropollutants from water or wastewater.