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Ecological security early warning (ESEW) research can solve the dilemma of 'treatment after pollution' and reduce the cost of ecological governance. However, most studies have focused on evaluating ecological security (ES) in the current rather than predicting its development trend. This paper explores the methodology of ESEW and constructs a set of urban ESEW systems. Firstly, an index system of urban ESEW is established based on the PSR model. Secondly, the system dynamics method is introduced, and the integrated index method is combined to construct an ESEW model. Three typical Chinese cities (Chongqing, Wuhan and Shanghai) in the Yangtze River Economic Belt are taken as samples for empirical research. The results show that the ES situation in Shanghai is the best, and the error rate is within 10%, indicating that the proposed system has a high prediction accuracy. It can be used across the world not only to evaluate the current ES situation, but also to predict its future trend. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Allocation of public budgets requires deliberate analyses of the costs and benefits of alternative budget usages, which must be made using the same metric. The use of monetary term is the standard metric in government budgeting and is ideal for cost-benefit analysis. This paper systematically searched and reviewed literature on monetary valuation of urban nature's health effects. Although extensive research has demonstrated urban nature's positive health effects for humans, the review only found ten items in the literature, including four peer-reviewed journal articles, one book chapter, and five reports. Large monetary values were found. These estimates are useful as an argument for urban planners promoting investment in urban green infrastructure. The small number of studies calls for more research. Specifically, more research is required to investigate the monetary values of urban nature's other health effects, including the impact on depression and obesity. Case studies covering larger geographical areas are needed to account for heterogeneities across countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most environmental assessment (EA) processes are based on a rational technocratic paradigm, in which experts are expected to review value-neutral scientific evidence and objectively assess project impacts. Critics argue that this model is flawed even with increased public participation because it does not recognize the significant role of subjectivity in EA and assumes that expert analysis and judgement can be objective and value free. This paper re-evaluates the assumptions of the rational technocratic model by examining new evidence from a case study in which scientific experts in two separate, but concurrent, EA reviews of the same project came to opposite conclusions even though they relied on the same terms of reference and similar information and evaluation criteria. The case study analysis provides new evidence showing that subjective judgments of expert assessors are an important determinant of the EA findings and that there is inconsistency in the exercise of subjective judgement by experts that can result in fundamentally different conclusions, even if the experts are assessing the same project and similar evidence. The nature of the subjective judgements is assessed in detail and implications of the findings for EA are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human activities have caused the degradation of rivers and streams, and consequently, the disruption of the provision of valuable services. Therefore, the rehabilitation of these ecosystems can provide many benefits that will contribute to the well-being of society. However, these projects often meet with controversial public responses because of conflicting interests and expectations. Through a literature review, this paper identifies and describes the main public preference factors for river rehabilitation. Understanding the multiple factors that inform the public's preference for rehabilitation actions might assist decision-makers in anticipating conflicts and outline rehabilitation management strategies that can improve the acceptability of river rehabilitation, thus helping to ensure the sustainability of these projects. These factors are categorised as: socio-cultural, perceptual, and physical. Using these findings, we develop a conceptual framework for understanding how these preference factors and the knowledge about them can be used to increase the acceptance of river rehabilitation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasingly, Protected Areas (PAs) are sustained by a multilevel governance where demands for public participation have occurred against the backdrop of state reconfiguration. Little scholarly attention has been paid to how these shifts have taken place; this paper aims to diachronically assess the involvement of non-state actors in the governance of PAs in Portugal. Our findings indicate that while the range of actors involved in the decision-making process has progressively widened, their engagement remains mainly consultative. Moreover, PAs managed by local authorities and private actors have been recognised, yet local authorities' involvement in PAs managed by state actors has been recently reduced. These apparently contradictory trends seem to illustrate a common rationale: state actors are fighting to retain control while adapting to the broadening role of multiple actors in nature conservation policies. We conclude that new governance approaches do not necessarily pave the way for more public participation in conservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the climate emergency, there is still no consensus on renewable energies, which have to confront forms of social opposition that may well affect the success of any project (especially wind energy and biogas). We propose an original analytical framework to go beyond the nimbyist approach, combining the proximity theory and the exit-voice model. This enables us to examine the thinking adopted by biogas production stakeholders and the ensuing associations in order to identify and understand the obstacles to the development of joint biogas production projects. Taking further other theories that highlight the importance of place attachment and place identity, we show that the challenges linked to a project's territorial governance can explain conflicts that may lead the project initiators to abandon a biogas plant's construction. We show that considering the local residents' interests and including them in the participative procedures are not the only factors that count, but also, more generally, coordination between all of the stakeholders. Our paper also highlights the need for an intermediary actor to play the role of facilitator in organising different types of proximity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite increasing evidence that understanding and integrating local people's perceptions of water quality and governance helps improve water governance processes, only a limited volume of research addresses this topic in developing countries. Therefore, using in-depth interviews and content analysis, the goal of this paper is to explore stakeholders' perceptions of the quality and governance of water resources in Wenchi, Ghana. Results show that stakeholders perceive river water quality to be deteriorating. Stakeholders' judgement of river quality is influenced by water use value, pollution sources, organoleptic properties and sanitary conditions of the riverbank. Stakeholders highlighted key areas that require authorities' efforts: formulation and enforcement of by-laws, awareness raising, provision of financial, logistic and technical support, conducting research and community mobilisation. These findings need to be carefully reviewed and systematically integrated into expert views to advance our understanding of the problem, how best to address it and who to target during interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A consequence of the interconnectedness of global supply chains is that disturbances in one location can propagate between continents. This means that for companies to manage climate risks, it is important not just to assess risks in operation locations, but also throughout supply chains. In this paper, we analyse how 14 Swedish large export-oriented businesses view and address risks from physical climate impacts on their international supply chains. We find that climate change is not considered a priority risk and there is little evidence of risk management strategies implemented at the operational level. Businesses fail to see a clear causality between climate change as a global phenomenon and operational risks in the supply chain. Furthermore, the complicated structures of many supply chains make comprehensive risk assessment and management very resource-demanding. We conclude that there is a need for novel strategies to improve businesses' capabilities to assess emerging risks from climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper exploits World Development Indicators and IUCN Red-List data to empirically assess the socio-economic and environmental drivers of conservation efforts. In addition to spatial spillovers, our results first indicate that forest cover, income level along with good political institutions positively drive protected area (PA), while human population growth conflicts with nature conservation efforts. Second, indicators of biodiversity (species richness and extinction risk) are found to be non-significant predictors of PA share, suggesting that species-rich countries are not predominantly the ones sheltering the largest PA share. Although species-poor forests matter as well, in addition to ecosystem-centered approaches, our results encourage conservation practitioners to further account for species richness and extinction risks in global conservation policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the complexity of change processes and related management challenges of rural landscapes. With a reference to the European Landscape Convention, a need for integrated and collaborative approaches to landscape governance is discussed. A landscape strategy-making approach with the potential to meet such demands is introduced. Two examples where the approach has been applied are analysed in respect of processes and immediate outcomes, including goals, spatial plans and strategic projects. With reference to the cases, the applied model is discussed within a wider landscape governance perspective. It is concluded that the model represents a way forward towards a more inclusive, integrating and pro-active landscape governance. Landscape strategy making is suitable for bringing different types of landscape-related challenges and perspectives together with different forms of collaboration and social capacity building to guide rural landscape developments. However, the approach cannot replace traditional land use regulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change is one of the greatest challenges facing society and the spatial planning system plays a crucial role in ensuring that important adaptations to the built environment are evaluated. Drawing upon a mixed-methods research approach, this paper explores the progress that has been made by the planning system in England in addressing the challenge of climate change adaptation in coastal urban areas. The results indicate that the adaptation produced through the planning system remains incremental rather than transformative. It is focused on experienced hazards, especially flooding, and there is a lack of attention being paid to wider impacts of climate change, such as rising average temperatures. Furthermore, it was found that the contemporary contribution of planning to climate change adaptation is seriously limited by the government's emphasis on housing and economic growth and by the development industry's emphasis on economic viability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wild Atlantic salmon and sea trout are in danger in several fisheries of the northern hemisphere due to anthropic activities. The pressures on fish stocks include excessive commercial and recreational harvests, as well as habitat depletion. In this paper, we present a choice experiment assessment of recreational anglers' preferences for conservation options, aiming to reduce harvest and improve ecosystem quality of salmon fisheries using Ireland as a case study. Data were collected by online survey and analysed with a latent class logit model. Results indicate two groups of anglers with diverging opinions and preferences on salmon conservation priorities, which will likely be reflected in different levels of acceptance of conservation initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public participation is playing an increasingly important role in the process of environmental protection, especially in some developing countries such as China. However, the studies that have focused on public participation in air pollution control, especially those that have used quantitative research, are comparatively insufficient in China. This paper investigated residents' participation intention and behavior in air pollution control in Beijing, China, and related the theory of planned behavior and the concepts of risk perception to analyze the formation mechanism of participation behavior. The results indicated a remarkable discrepancy between participation intention and behavior. Subjective norm was the major factor in predicting participation intention, followed by risk perception and attitude. Income was observed to have a negative effect on participation intention and a positive effect on participation behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to analyze and compare the impacts of land-use policies on wind power deployment at the regional levels in Germany and Sweden. We use data for the period 2008–2012, and an econometric approach in which the probability of having any wind power capacity additions and the actual level of increased capacity, given that it is positive, are permitted to be determined by different processes. The results confirm the importance of land-use policies, e.g., priority and exclusion areas, and interesting differences across the two countries are found. The impact of priority areas has been more profound in Germany, while the assignment of protected areas instead has constituted a more binding policy tool in Sweden. Cross-country differences in the relevance of various explanatory variables are linked to factors such as geographical patterns, design of wind power support schemes, and the allocation of decision-making power in planning processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental sustainability is a major focal point of urban planning, yet scholarly discourse often fails to grapple with the environmental contradictions inherent in the reliance on economic growth found within the prevailing sustainable development paradigm. This paper develops an ecological-sociological framework for analyzing sustainable planning best practices, which shape local sustainable planning implementation. A key argument of ecological-sociological scholarship is that sustainable development is an expression of ecological modernization, which erroneously tries to solve environmental problems through economic growth-based strategies. The authors use content analysis to examine the American Planning Association's 2015 Sustaining Places: Best Practices for Comprehensive Plans and find that its principles and environmental harm mitigation strategies incorporate an ecological modernizationist approach to sustainable planning. The authors argue that embrace of economic growth and underspecification of ecological standards hinder the field of sustainable planning from promoting best practices that mitigate environmental harm in the long term. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Changes relating to the development of land use often negatively impact on ecosystem services (ES), which in turn impairs the ability of ecosystems to sustain such services. The assessment of land suitability is a critical step in land use planning, but it may have some shortcomings and may fail to represent the diversity of ES-related features of geographical places. To address this issue, this paper proposes a method that integrates the ES approach with contemporary land suitability evaluation. The study consists of three steps: (1) Land suitability analysis: represents the geology, morphology, land capability, hydrology, erosion and habitat vulnerability, (2) Integrated ES mapping: represents the integrated value of provisioning, regulating and cultural ES potential together and (3) Land suitability evaluation based on integrated ES mapping (ES-Integrated Suitability Map): represents ES-based land suitability. The results demonstrate that there is a significant difference between the conventional and ES-integrated land suitability evaluations. According to the results of the conventional land suitability analysis, while 29.8% of land has excellent and 23.6% good suitability conditions for new development, the ES-integrated land suitability evaluation reveals that only 0.18% and 5.35% of land has excellent and good suitability for new development, respectively, in Duzce. This study shows that the introduction of the ES approach can have an important contribution to spatial decision-making. In addition, this method provides an approach to represent the place-based attributes of space better through the integration of ES into land suitability and can thus help to make environmental concerns a priority in spatial decision-making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transportation has significant economic, social and environmental impacts and is an important dimension of urban sustainability. Public transportation is recognisably a smart, efficient and sustainable mode of transportation. This paper describes a multi-criteria analysis to assess the sustainable performance of a bus transportation system in a Portuguese mid-sized municipality. The assessment is based on a list of 18 environmental, social, economic and institutional indicators. A group of specialists and political stakeholders defined the relative importance of these indicators. Results showed significant disparities in the sustainable performance of the analysed bus system. Political stakeholders were more sensitive to institutional indicators while specialists were more concerned with operational issues. The research also indicates that the institutional dimension is important for assessing the sustainability of a bus transportation system. The method proves to be useful for identifying the main problems of a bus transportation system and for supporting policies to mitigate these problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over recent decades, the number of people and the capital invested in flood-prone areas has undergone a significant increase worldwide, particularly in coastal areas. There are several studies that show how the influence of socio-economic factors over local planning authorities seems to be the main reason for exposure increase. This paper explores the causes and consequences of inefficient flood risk governance along the Spanish Mediterranean coastal municipalities. For that purpose, national and regional flood management policies were contrasted with the outcomes of a spatial intersection between cadastral data at local level and floodable areas, for different return periods (10, 50, 100 and 500 years). The results demonstrate a significant growth in exposure due to inefficient spatial planning and flood reduction strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the impacts of solid waste on human health and environmental wellbeing in Johannesburg, South Africa. Using both secondary and primary data collected through semi-structured interviews with members of a local community of Windsor, municipal officials and other stakeholders involved in solid waste management (SWM) in Johannesburg, it finds that mismanagement of solid waste negatively affects the urban environment and human health, leading to reduced productivity and economic growth. Further, it is argued that ineffective SWM must be seen as a consequence both of institutionalised failure to implement and enforce urban policies and regulations and a parallel failure to recognise the importance of private agents and community participation in urban development and management. Developing an effective and sustainable SWM system in Johannesburg requires city authorities to devolve resources and authority to local level along with clear guidelines and strategies to strengthen local management processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China is enlisting information communication technologies (ICTs) and citizens to address gaps in environmental management. In this paper, we empirically evaluate ICT-facilitated, citizen-generated data collection through China's "Black and Smelly Waters Program." Utilizing the app's citizen reports and water quality data in Guangzhou, we assess whether the reports led to significant improvement in four common water quality indicators. We found water bodies that received citizen reports had poorer levels of water quality than those that did not receive complaints. Through a fixed effects regression model, we find that COD levels decreased by 36.3% and 38.9% five and six months after reports were made. We did not observe a significant effect on other water indicators considered. We conclude that China's preliminary experience suggests ICT-enabled citizen engagement, combined with strengthening governance through political avenues, may enable governments to overcome challenges related to implementing top-down policies and fostering civic participation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The practice of citizen science (CS) is emerging in China as an apparatus for environmental monitoring (EM). It complements the State's EM system by ameliorating its coverage, continuity, and accuracy. It has achieved remarkable results in fostering public participation, information transparency, and accountability of State authorities. While acknowledging these achievements, we contend that such an instrumental use of CS cannot deliver the innovative solutions needed to cope with China's socio-ecological crisis. In fact, it may reinforce the anthropocentric and technocratic vision of progress that lies at the roots of China's – and the World's – dramatic environmental emergency. We therefore propose a framework for transforming the practice of China's CS beyond its current patterns. The framework is structured along three pathways: ecological awareness, emotional responsiveness, and institutional engagement. Emerging trends consistent with these pathways are introduced in the paper, and their scientific and institutional relevance discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are ambitious plans to construct an extensive network of off-road walking and cycling routes, known as greenways, across Ireland. However, land acquisition has proven challenging in some rural areas. This paper uses a contingent valuation study, based on the Teagasc National Farm Survey (NFS) of Ireland, to explore farmers' willingness to participate in greenway development. The results reveal that farmers are split on the issue of greenway land acquisition: approximately half would not allow a route to run through their farm, irrespective of compensation. Farmers' main concerns in this regard are: insurance, impact on farming operations and nuisance/crime. Of the farmers willing to participate in greenway development, the mean (once-off) payment required is €56,000 per kilometre of greenway length. These findings suggest that Irish Government agencies and local authorities must work to alleviate farmers' concerns and undertake extensive consultation to yield acceptable route options. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Obtaining the support of affected stakeholders is a crucial first step to successful implementation of any public policy, including flood mitigation policies. Public support for flood mitigation policies is largely influenced by flood risk perceptions and flood risk perceptions are, in turn, shaped by a multitude of factors. This paper explores the impact of the determinants of risk perception on willingness to pay for flood risk prevention in Dunkerque (France) using a contingent valuation survey. We find that whether or not respondents include their home within their perceived flood risk areas, trust in flood mitigation measures, environmental beliefs and socio-economic factors are strong predictors of public support for flood risk prevention, whereas actual distance of a respondent's home to the flood source, knowledge of flood risk, prior experience and trust in local authorities have a limited influence. Policy implications and suggestions for future research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the United States, new legislation has given regulatory authorities greater oversight of municipal stormwater management programs. However, estimating the impact of greater oversight on municipal actions is difficult due to the uncertainty in current compliance efforts and their associated costs. This paper seeks to fill this gap through a case study of NPDES stormwater runoff permit reports from municipalities in Southeast Wisconsin. Specifically, this study evaluates the reported actions and expenditures against socioeconomic variables to identify the relationships between cost, socioeconomics, and the best management practices (BMPs) used for compliance. Results indicate that there are distinct differences between municipalities with and without financial and personnel resources, clear high- and low-cost BMPs, and large variation in the practices municipalities implement to meet regulatory requirements. Furthermore, results suggest that regulators should take a flexible and pragmatic approach that considers individual municipal constraints and limitations when exercising greater regulatory authority. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Protected areas (PAs) are social-ecological systems (SES) and are contested spaces. The challenges in governing PAs call for a governance system that works with human-nature relations and is capable of adapting to each PA. This necessitates innovative processes and adaptive governance. This paper contributes to the discussion on adaptive governance in SES by offering empirical evidence from Costa Rica on how the processes of social innovation occur in practice. We discuss the evolving governance of the Juan Castro Blanco National Water Park, particularly the contribution of a local association that drives conservation and management of the park. We show that social mobilisation caused social innovation, which was revealed by the achievement of three interconnected process outcomes: satisfaction of interests; effective socio-political arrangements; and empowerment. The socially-innovative governance of the park has contributed to sustainability and to social-ecological change at many levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Northern communities are experiencing greater climate variability, with extreme climate impacts occurring more frequently and with more intensity; with the need for adaptation to reduce the risk becoming more immediate. Specific stressors and decision dynamics surrounding the nature of local government policy and planning for climate adaptation are underrepresented in the scholarship. This paper seeks to contribute to the literature by exploring the case of Homer, Alaska. Through narratives of key informants connected to the community's climate change agenda, this research explores primary climate stressors and the nature of adaptation policy integration. Findings suggests that while Homer is experiencing a variety of climate change impacts, adaptation remains a low priority for city officials. This study sheds light on some of the challenges of integrating climate adaptation policy with strategic community planning, and in turn provides decision-makers with insight into considerations for mainstreaming resilience thinking at a local government scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Permits are a critical tool for ensuring that infrastructure projects provide the benefits they promise without harming nearby people or the environment. However, the environmental permitting process is complex, often resulting in long review times and increased administrative costs. Identifying ways to hasten permitting processes without compromising environmental rigor is important for enabling efficient and effective infrastructure regulation. This paper evaluates the relationship between permitting duration and characteristics of the projects, applicant organizations, and regulatory regime, using a novel dataset of US Clean Water Act permits. Longer review time was associated with projects proposed by a business (rather than state or federal agencies); using an engineering consultant; requiring some combination of environmental impact analysis, historic preservation, and/or endangered species review; and located in Arizona. Project type, agency workload, and socioeconomic characteristics did not correlate with review time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainable development principles are based on the fundamental recognition of humans as an integral part of the ecosystem. Participation of civil society should therefore be central to marine planning processes and enabling ecosystem-based management, and development of mechanisms for effective participation is critical. To date, little attention has been given to the role of Environmental Non-Governmental Organisations (ENGOs) in public participation. In this paper, the results of two workshops, which involved various stakeholders and addressed public participation in marine planning, are reported and discussed in the context of the Scottish marine planning process. ENGOs' role in communicating complex policies, representing members' interests and contributing towards participatory governance in marine planning is highlighted. Innovative outreach methods are still required by decision-makers to translate technical information, integrate local knowledge, improve public representation and conserve resources. This could include collaboration with ENGOs to help promote public participation in decision-making processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last decade, promotion of competitiveness represents one of the central goals of economic policy of most of the countries. Moreover, in recent years, the promotion of competitiveness has been seen as a way of achieving desirable changes in economy and society. While there is no unity of views in the theory regarding the conceptual definition of the phenomenon of competitiveness, it is becoming less arguable that in strictly economic terms, competitiveness is a synonym for productivity. However, it should be noted that productivity growth that is accompanied by increasing social imbalance (for example, inequality in income distribution), on the one hand, and environmental pollution, on the other hand, cannot be a guarantee of improving the competitiveness of countries in the long run. Acknowledging precisely this fact and using the data from World Economic Forum on Global Competitiveness 2013, this paper elaborates on the phenomenon of sustainable competitiveness and tests the hypothesis about the positive impact of its social and environmental dimension on the economic dimension of sustainable competitiveness that is represented by the value of the Global Competitiveness Index. The survey of 34 countries confirmed the indisputable positive impact of the social dimension of sustainability, but also variable direction of the impact of the environmental dimension of sustainability (depending on the level of GDP per capita) on the economic dimension of sustainable competitiveness of European countries in 2013. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper examines the determinants of illegal waste dumping at the county level in Slovakia (in 77 of 79 counties), using a truncated regression model. It analyzes a unique data-set composed of illegal dumping data provided by the TrashOut platform and sociodemographic data from the national statistical authority. This study shows that a higher level of expected overall waste production results in a higher rate of illegally dumped waste and a higher number of illegal dumping sites. More precisely, income has a positive impact on the rate of illegal waste dumping, poverty influences the rate of illegal dumping negatively and a higher level of education does not result in more responsible waste management. On the contrary, higher education has a positive influence on the rate of dumping. A negative relationship between costs of illegal waste disposal and dumping rate, as well as a positive relationship between costs of legal waste disposal and dumping rate has been revealed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes efforts to bridge the gap between the existing research and proposed recreation access management for public lands in southwestern Alberta, Canada. Recreation access management has been identified as a complex problem and public consultation is one element in addressing the complexity. An Internet-based survey (n = 945) examined the acceptability and desirability of public consultation processes to assist with access management planning. Non-parametric tests indicate significant differences in desirability of public consultation types existed for all variables except gender. Respondents expressed the desire for a diversity of public consultation approaches with a strong preference for face-to-face field visits. Mechanisms for engagement in access management planning should be based on public consultation preferences to ensure broad, on going engagement and subsequent user acceptance and compliance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper looks into the complexity of managing flood risks in the Hawkesbury–Nepean catchment, Australia. Several aspects are explored: (1) the complexities created by the way different agencies are involved in assessing flood risks; (2) different perceptions on acceptable flood risk level; (3) community engagement in defining acceptable flood risk level; (4) views on a holistic flood risk management plan; and (5) challenges of a centralised information system. This study concludes that the complexity of managing a large catchment is exacerbated by the difference in the way professionals perceive the problem. This has led to (1) different standards for acceptable risks; (2) inconsistent attempt to set up a regional-scale flood management plan beyond the jurisdictional boundaries; (3) absence of a regional-scale agency with licence to share and update information; and (d) lack of forums for dialogue with insurance companies to ensure an integrated approach to flood management. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper investigates farmers' willingness to participate in Best Management Practices (BMPs) through a proposed Water quality trading (WQT) program in Kentucky. This analysis includes two parts: the first part is to investigate the factors influencing farmers' current usage of BMPs; the second part is to estimate farmers' willingness to implement BMPs given different levels of compensation given in a survey. The results show that farmers who participate in the conservation programs are more likely to use BMPs, but these farmers may not accept the offer to implement additional BMPs. Farmers' experiences about BMPs are more likely to persuade them to adopt additional BMPs than the level of compensation. The results find that using riparian buffers, fencing off animals and building up waste storage facilities are responsive to the levels of compensation offered. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

General backcasting as a decision support and planning method starts from desired future states and simulates developments backwards until reaching the present state. Development pathways that reveal steps to be taken to reach a certain future state, and milestones that serve as interim goals, are created during the process. Backcasting has hitherto only been applied in workshops or as a theoretical framework and no spatially explicit backcasting model has previously been established. This paper presents the development of a spatially explicit backcasting model. The proposed model first creates a future scenario utilizing an agent-based model and then simulates backwards. It is implemented using the programming language Python. The model has been applied to a case study for sustainable land-use planning in Salzburg, Austria. The results of the model run show a successful backcasting of land-use classes from a future state back to the present, in 10 year time steps. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper analyses how discourses of “new nature” have been implemented in the Dutch context – as a front runner of broader “rewilding” processes throughout Europe – frequently tied to imperatives of water safety. Drawing on the specific case of the Millingerwaard, we first examine how such discourses have materially, as well as socially, transformed the landscape in question. The paper then explores how these transformations have erstwhile affected those living in the area – in ways that are perceived, positively or negatively – according to varied groups of residents and users. In doing so, we critically reflect not only on “new nature” as it has been conceived within planning processes, and empirically practiced, in the Netherlands, but also how it is described and experienced by those whose lives are intimately tied to the landscape. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This study explores the potential for societies to create more green jobs for the disadvantaged. The research questions are related to how policy instruments can support green jobs and how green jobs can support the disadvantaged. These questions are asked in the context of the province of British Columbia in Canada, with implications for the global economy. Findings indicate that green jobs policies have direct and indirect effects on the growth of sustainable industries at a municipal level. Furthermore, in BC policy, green jobs are unmistakably connected to the government perception of green growth. Finally, the preferred pathway for policy implementation appears to involve local municipalities that apply for funding for projects that can potentially connect local actors and include the disadvantaged. Several policies accomplish the inclusion of the disadvantaged. The first section of this paper provides the BC provincial context on green jobs. The second section describes and analyzes a sample of thirteen BC policy instruments, as well as concurrent labor market policy activities for their inclusion of the disadvantaged. The third section posits a provisional policy framework for training and hiring more inclusively for green jobs. The fourth section offers six recommendations to bolster green jobs for all at a national and international level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change policies can compete with policies on other social and environmental problems for limited economic resources. This paper investigates the potential influence of alternative policies on citizens’ preferences for climate change policies. A contingent valuation study was implemented to estimate the impact of observable and unobservable contextual effects of competing polices on climate change valuation. Individuals are also investigated about their endowment of knowledge and emotional reactions to such problems. The results show that citizens’ valuation of climate change policies crucially depends on the context-dependent competing policies. The valuation rises as the number of competing policies increases. This increment becomes economically significant when the competing policies are related to specific problems such as forest fires and development. In addition, the valuation also rises with the amount of knowledge endowed by the individual about the climate change problem, and with the experience of negative emotions such as fear and sadness. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Environmental impact assessment (EIA) has been promoted as an instrument for preventive environmental management in construction projects, but its performance in safeguarding the environment through influencing project decision-making is questioned. This paper probes the underlying reasons from a governance perspective as an important supplement to the regulatory and technical perspectives. A framework, with process integration, professional governance, and public engagement being its key components, is proposed to analyze the governance arrangements that enable or inhibit the effective functioning of EIA, based on which a comparative study of three infrastructure projects in China, the United States and Finland was conducted. The results reveal that, while the level of process integration and public engagement of EIA determines the degree to which EIA influences project decisions, it is the professional governance that controls the accountability of EIA. The paper has implications on institutionally where efforts should be directed to improve the performance of EIA. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper discusses residents’ willingness to pay (WTP) for improved liquid waste treatment in Addis Ababa based on data collected in 2011 using random parameter logit model. Findings indicate that respondents are willing to contribute for improved liquid waste treatment with higher quantity and quality. Their mean WTP for the medium improvement scenario is found to be 15.53 ETB (0.93 USD) per month. The compensation surplus tends to increase from the status quo to the alternative scenarios with aggressive improvement. Finally, the paper concludes by indicating the socioeconomic difference across households, and sub-cities need to be considered in designing environmental protection plans for the city. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper computes and analyses, for the first time, environmental efficiencies in waste generation of 116 European regions in NUTS 2 level in five European countries over the period of 2008–2010. For this reason, different data envelopment analysis (DEA) model formulations are used for modeling the pollutant in the form of waste generation as a regular output and as a regular input. In the latter case, we also use the notion of eco-efficiency. The empirical findings reveal environmental inefficiencies among the regions, indicating the lack of a uniform regional environmental policy among the European countries. This finding is observed not only for regions between different countries but also among the regions within countries, implying the need for implementation of unified appropriate municipal environmental policies in waste management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent climate change projections and a push towards a universal agreement on carbon emission reductions suggest that firms will need to respond to future regulatory changes. This paper employs an influencing strategies lens to examine how large-scale firms might respond to future climate change regulations. The study uses a structured qualitative methodology to explore and explicate the strategic responses from 21 international firms to the proposed emissions trading scheme outlined in Australia's Garnaut Climate Change Review. The results of the analysis show that firms can use pre-emptive influencing strategies in attempts to shape and mould regulatory design parameters, secure high levels of transitional economic support, and shift the balance of public policies and expenditure. Complementary defensive strategies may also target policy makers and regulators with some of the potential negative consequences of the new regulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conservation and enhancement of ecosystem services have become a priority of rural policies. Feedback loops from rural policies on ecosystem service supply have often been highlighted in the literature, but only vaguely investigated. In this paper, we model feedback loops from rural policies through an agent-based model, and we analyse whether feedback loops can indirectly create a system in which voluntarily landscape enhancement emerges from the interactions between farmers and rural tourists. The results suggest that, in certain conditions, feedback loops from policies can be a relevant element to take into account, but that greater attention to the ecosystem service demand is required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the last 50 years, the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) has impacted the evolution of European agricultural landscapes by driving changes in land use and farming practices. We propose a typology characterising the scales relevant for agricultural landscapes management and argue that action is required on three scales: (1) a landscape oriented management at the farm level; (2) the coordination of land managers’ actions at the landscape level; and (3) the conservation of the diversity of agricultural landscapes in the EU. We provide evidence that until now the CAP has mainly focused on the first scale. We also illustrate how agricultural policy could encourage coordinated actions at the landscape- and EU-scales. In particular, we propose policy instruments to coordinate actions of individual land owners (e.g. collective bonus in agro-environmental contracts or support to environmental cooperatives (scale 2)). We also analyse how the recognition and transposition of the European Landscape Convention could promote trans-frontier landscape cooperation in order, not only to conserve high-quality rural landscapes, but also to ensure the conservation of the diversity of EU landscapes (scale 3). This paper provides a knowledge base to support an integrated CAP design in the direction of improved landscape management, as an important component of the EU project towards more sustainable agriculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The EU Water Framework Directive calls for cost effective measures to achieve a “good status” in all European ground, surface and coastal waters. Besides eutrophication, the degradation of hydromorphology is the main reason for failing this objective. In this paper, we conceptualise the interactive decision support process BASINFORM-M for finding proper locations for river restoration. The concept combines the recently proposed “stepping stone approach” from aquatic ecology with elements from cost effectiveness analysis, multi-criteria analysis and participatory approaches. BASINFORM-M exemplifies a shift away from the isolated restoration of single river reaches towards a consideration of functional relationships within river networks. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Government agencies in cities across Asia recognise that municipalities must take steps to adapt to projected climate changes if people and places are to be kept above water. This paper focuses on planning for climate change in Bangkok because it ranks among the top 10 port cities vulnerable to climate change related flooding. It is also understood that the most devastating impacts of climate change will be suffered by the city's most vulnerable residents: the poor. Not only do impoverished people occupy physically vulnerable space, such as riverbanks, but they are also the least equipped to recover from the disruption of their livelihoods. Several scholars have identified “institutional traps” that prevent the Thai government from successfully aiding poor and marginalised flood victims in the past. These include poor coordination, lack of monitoring and evaluation, rigidity, crisis management and elite capture. Lebel, Manuta, and Garden (2011, 56) pose the crucial question: “How have individuals – from local community leaders through to national level politicians and bureaucrats – successfully influenced policy and programmes to avoid institutional traps and improve adaptive capacities to climate change?” In this paper, we begin to address this question through examining emergent methods of “community based adaptation” and reviewing case studies of adaptation action from other vulnerable communities in the Global South. These lessons – such as overcoming institutional rigidity and avoiding elite capture – are important for Bangkok and other cities in the Global South that face many different challenges by global environmental change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies of urban metabolism provide important insights for environmental management of cities, but are not widely used in planning practice due to a mismatch of data scale and coverage. This paper introduces the Spatial Allocation of Material Flow Analysis (SAMFA) model as a potential decision support tool aimed as a contribution to overcome some of these difficulties and describes its pilot use at the county level in the Republic of Ireland. The results suggest that SAMFA is capable of identifying hotspots of higher material and energy use to support targeted planning initiatives, while its ability to visualise different policy scenarios supports more effective multi-stakeholder engagement. The paper evaluates this pilot use and sets out how this model can act as an analytical platform for the industrial ecology–spatial planning nexus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The System of Environmental and Economic Accounting aims at the integration of national accounts with the contributions of the environment. After three decades of development, though, only a portion of it has become an international standard for national accounting. Its uncertain, experimental status reflects the complexities faced by a project that requires a clear and implementable concept of valuation to be applied to non-market goods. In this paper, we review the debate between competing theories of value that had a role in the early development of the System and we follow the discussion that first accompanied the drafting of its current version and is now informing a revision process that will lead to a new edition of the Experimental Ecosystem Accounting module by 2021. The next developments and every step made toward integration will affect not just the content of the national accounts but also how it can be collected and used. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Protection areas are commonly delineated in water supply watersheds to manage anthropogenic activities that pose pollution risks. These areas are frequently determined based on geographical distances that are not representative of the travel time of water. For surface waters, the total travel time for water between an anthropogenic activity and the drinking water intake is the sum of the overland travel time and the travel time in a river. In previous research, we reported methods for evaluating travel time in a river. The present paper focuses on the estimation of overland travel times. Four methods were applied, evaluated and compared based on a land use database representing anthropogenic activities that potentially release contaminants. Methods for overland travel times that provided more precise results required abundant data and expertise to be implemented, but can contribute to improved decision-making for land use planning in the context of source water protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many studies in the literature examine the income inequality-environment nexus at the country level. In this paper, we argue that the impact of inequality on sectoral emissions might vary and should be examined by considering sectoral-level differences. We focus on 28 OECD economies and use DOLSMG, BA-OLS, and CUP-FM estimators. Our findings reveal that a cointegration relationship exists among the series in the long run, indicating that both income and income inequality are crucial factors in sectoral emissions. The estimates show that a 1% increase in the Gini index leads to an increase in emissions from the power and building sectors by about 1.4%. On the other hand, a 1% rise in the Gini index positively contributes to the environment in the transport, other industrial combustion, and other sectors by about 0.05%, 0.05%, and 0.02%, respectively. Policies aimed at reducing carbon emissions should be designed at the sectoral level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental impact assessment (EIA) is implemented in most countries as an administrative procedure. In this context, it is subject to the principles of administrative justice. However, to date, no empirical research has been conducted to determine the extent to which EIA decisions comply with the principles of administrative justice. In this paper, empirical data from 42 EIA cases in South Africa are used to establish EIA compliance with the administrative justice principles of lawfulness, procedural fairness and reasonableness. This is achieved by measuring EIA decisions against specially developed key performance indicators (KPIs). Overall, decisions were found to mostly comply with the principles of administrative justice. However, questions arise with regards to the quality and substance of the information feeding into the decision-making process and on which decisions are ultimately based. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]