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The heuristic method is one of the methods used for the scheduling of resource-constrained projects. This method is commonly used in programming the projects with high number of activities and resources such as construction investments. This paper investigates the effectiveness of three heuristic method priority rules applied in the resource scheduling of ten Turkish housing estate projects which were scheduled according to three preselected priority rules [maximum remaining path length (MRPL), latest finish time (LFT), and minimum slack time (MNSLCK)] in resource-constrained conditions. The performance of each priority rule was evaluated in relation to the duration of the project. The results revealed that MRPL priority reduced the project duration to minimum in six projects, whereas LFT priority yielded the best duration results in three projects and MNSLCK priority in only one project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Decentralised environmental governance based on community participation is increasingly replacing top-down natural resource management. There is increasing awareness, however, that such mechanisms might fail to ensure effective participation by all stakeholders and be prone to producing and/or perpetuating power inequalities. Against this backdrop, we claim that ‘power’ should be positioned at the centre of analyses of natural resource management. In this paper we provide a taxonomy of positions to analyse participatory decision making in natural resource management. We operationalise this framework to analyse two ‘failures’ of participatory natural resource management in Turkey, focusing on reasons for failure and the role of power asymmetries. Our results are based on case studies comprising in-depth interviews, focus groups and a survey administered to 944 individuals. We conclude that participatory mechanisms are highly unlikely to bring democratic and equitable outcomes unless power relations are addressed at both institutional and local levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Changes in precipitation events due to climate change might have significant influences on the characteristics of most hydrological events as well as its own related variables such as intensity, duration, and frequency. Since the intensity–duration–frequency (IDF) curve is an important tool to design infrastructures in water resources management, updating IDF curves under future climate projections nowadays becomes a necessary practice. Therefore, we intended to investigate potential changes in the IDF curves due to climate change using the equidistance quantile matching method in the wettest region of Turkey. We aimed to examine two critical issues: (i) the estimation of changes in IDF curves for three future periods (namely, 2013–2039, 2040–2069, and 2070–2099) and (ii) a comparison analysis between the outcomes based on the two worst-case climate change scenarios (namely, SRES A2 and RCP 8.5) released for the fourth and fifth assessment reports by the IPCC. Our analysis results showed that the outcomes based on SRES A2 revealed an increase in intensities during all the future periods for recurrence intervals under 50 years. According to the outcomes of recurrence interval above 50 years, there is an increase in intensities at the beginning period of the century; however, a decrease in intensities prevails at the ending period of the century. On the contrary, the results based on RCP 8.5 showed that there is a decrease in intensities at the beginning of the century while there is an increase in intensities at the end of the century for all return periods. Our results were discussed according to the indications of the IPCC 5th assessment report. Although conflicting indications were noted between the two worst-case scenarios, our study results may be an inspiration to call a need to update all former design storms based on IDF in any region all over the globe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]