Matching Food Security Analysis to Context: the Experience of the Somalia Food Security Assessment Unit

This case study reviews the experience of the Somalia Food Security Assessment Unit (FSAU) of operating a food security information system in the context of a complex emergency¹ In particular, it explores the linkages between selected features of the protracted crisis environment in Somalia and conceptual and operational aspects of food security information work. The paper specifically examines the implications of context characteristics for the establishment and operations of the FSAU field monitoring component and for the interface with information users and their diverse information needs. It also analyses the scope for linking food security and nutrition analysis and looks at the role of conflict and gender analysis in food security assessment work. Background data on the food security situation in Somalia and an overview of some key features of the FSAU set the scene for the case study. The paper is targeted at those involved in designing, operating and funding food security information activities.     

气候异常与中国小麦白粉病灾害流行关系的研究

分析了厄尔尼诺事件与我国冬小麦白粉病发病面积的相关关系。结果表明：在厄尔尼诺出现的起始年，冬小麦白粉病发病面积相对较小；在厄尔诺起始年至下一个厄尔诺起始年前的前一年，冬小麦白粉病发病面积趋势逐年增大，并在下一个厄尔尼诺起始年前一年达到最大值；在连续出现厄尔尼诺的年份，冬小麦白粉病发生面积逐年降低。厄尔尼诺事件通过引发主要麦区的诱水、温度异常来影响小麦白粉病的流行程度。造成厄尔尼诺年我国小麦白粉病发病面向相对较低的原因，与厄尔尼诺起始年前的冬半年寒潮活动加强造成冬小麦冻害严重，大大降低了小麦白粉菌的越冬基数及春季干旱不利于小麦白粉菌的侵染有关。     

Interrupting the balance: reconsidering the complexities of conflict in South Sudan

By the start of 2014, violent conflict had erupted across much of South Sudan following initial violence in Juba on 15 December 2013. The speed with which the fighting has spread raises questions regarding the impact of national‐level politics on violence at the local level. This article develops a framework in which violent conflict can be comprehended as a response to the interruption of the negotiation of the balance of power between groups; the negotiation is interrupted when that balance tips in favour of one group, such as through changes in the national political market or government reforms. The article provides two cases studies of attempts to strengthen the state that inadvertently interrupted local power relations between groups. In response, the groups engaged in violent conflict to reinstate a balance of power. Both examples involve conflict among Dinka groups from 2005 to 2008.     

我国应急预案体系现状及展望——以上海为例

应急预案在自然灾害等突发事件发生时可以起到迅速反应的作用,因此成为突发事件应急管理中重要的一环。我国的应急预案体系已经基本建成,但还存在着预案格式雷同、脱离部门实际、分级体系科学性和可操作性不强、不同预案间接洽性不够、预案建设数量质量不够、缺乏后续管理等种种问题。分析了国内应急预案体系的现状,并探讨了对应急预案体系的改进方法。     

Seeing the Wind (Farm): Applying Q-methodology to Understand the Public’s Reception of the Visuals Around a Wind Farm Development

This research investigates the reception of the visual representations of a wind farm (WF) development by local stakeholders. Using non-verbal Qmethodology, residents of Lesvos’ island, Greece, sort images according to how these images represented their opinion about the proposed Aegean Link WF project. We found three opinion types. The “Risk Averter” type is focused on the various risks of constructing and operating the Aegean Link wind development. The “Green Developer” type believes that the renewable energy project will benefit both their local community and the environment. The “Realist” type defers to expert knowledge to make decisions about project outcomes and is sceptical of media bias. While the former two types seem to form their visual opinions based on whether they are in favour or against (respectively) of the WF development, the Realist opinion is rather guided by carefully considering whether the visual stimuli are representative of the project’s actual characteristics.     

Stigmatisation and rejection of survivors of sexual violence in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo

Studies report that between 6 per cent and 29 per cent of survivors of sexual violence in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) are rejected by their families and communities. This research project was designed to provide insights into survivors' experiences of stigmatisation and rejection. Surveys were conducted with 310 women as they sought psychosocial services in eastern DRC. In total, 44.3 per cent of women reported suffering rejection after sexual violence. The majority of women felt that their status in the household (58.0 per cent) and community (54.9 per cent) diminished after rape. The odds of rejection were greater among women reporting ongoing displacement, pregnancy owing to sexual violence, worsening family relations, and diminished community status. This work highlights the extremely high levels of loss associated with the war in eastern DRC, particularly among survivors of sexual violence. The rejection of a survivor of rape has concrete and devastating psychosocial consequences.     

The evolving local social contract for managing climate and disaster risk in Vietnam

How do disasters shape local government legitimacy in relation to managing climate‐ and disaster‐related risks? This paper looks at how local authorities in Central Vietnam perceive their social contract for risk reduction, including the partial merging of responsibilities for disaster risk management with new plans for and investments in climate change adaptation and broader socioeconomic development. The findings indicate that extreme floods and storms constitute critical junctures that stimulate genuine institutional change. Local officials are proud of their strengthened role in disaster response and they are eager to boost investment in infrastructure. They have struggled to reinforce their legitimacy among their constituents, but given the shifting roles of the state, private sector, and civil society, and the undiminished emphasis on high‐risk development models, their responsibilities for responding to emerging climate change scenarios are increasingly nebulous. The past basis for legitimacy is no longer valid, but tomorrow's social contract is not yet defined.     

Private Participation Going Public? Interpreting the Nexus Between Design,Frames, Roles,and Context of the Fracking ‘InfoDialog’ in Germany

At an early stage of the rising fracking controversy in Germany, ExxonMobil initiated a rather large and costly company dialogue to defuse public concerns over fracking. To shed light on the public implications of private participation, this study analyses how this so-called InfoDialog attempted to reach this goal, and what the consequences were. For this purpose, an interpretive analytical perspective that employs concepts of conflict and participation analysis is adopted. Following this perspective, several design features of the InfoDialog and their implications for the framing of the fracking issue are reconstructed. This provides the ground for analysing the roles that the InfoDialog could play in coping with the fracking controversy. Finally, the dialogue's embeddedness in the context of the emerging fracking debate in Germany is examined. The analysis suggests that the InfoDialog could not defuse the public controversy over fracking by scientization. However, as a forerunner in the emerging politics of expertise, it has supported a particular framing of the public controversy. These insights provoke further critical questions about the implications of privately organized participation arrangements regarding public controversies.     

关于死海地区臭氧耗损现象(ODEs)的研究综述

自1997年在死海地区的大气边界层中观测到午间臭氧浓度迅速下降的现象后,研究学者们即对该地区的臭氧耗损现象(ozone depletion events,简称ODEs)展开了研究.而在此之前,大气边界层内的ODEs现象普遍被认为只会发生在极地地区的特殊大气现象.本文综述了关于死海地区ODEs研究的发展历史,主要展示了促...     

Sustainable Water Resources Management in a Conflict Resolution Framework1

Abstract: A decision support system for sustainable water resources management in a water conflict resolution framework is developed to identify and evaluate a range of acceptable alternatives for the Geum River Basin in Korea and to facilitate strategies that will result in sustainable water resource management. Working with stakeholders in a “shared vision modeling” framework, sustainable management strategies are created to illustrate system tradeoffs as well as long‐term system planning. A multi‐criterion decision‐making (MCDM) approach using subjective scales is utilized to evaluate the complex water resource allocation and management tradeoffs between stakeholders and system objectives. The procedures used in this study include the development of a “shared vision model,” a simulated decision‐making support system (as a tool for sustainable water management strategies associated with water conflicts, management options, and planning criteria), and the application of MCDM techniques for evaluating alternatives provided by the model. The research results demonstrate the utility of the sustainable water resource management model in aid of MCDM techniques in facilitating flexibility during initial stages of alternative identification and evaluation in a basin suffering from severe water conflicts.