Re-conceptualising desert landscapes: unpacking historical narratives and contemporary realities for sustainable livelihood development in central Australia

Desert landscapes of central Australia have inspired various narratives for nation building. These narratives, based upon discourses of land as a commodity for the colonial project, include the inferior peripheral wastelands of the colonial centre; the wild and pristine haven of ‘noble aborigines’; and the frontier home of heroic explorers and pastoralists. These narratives continue to influence land management policy and practice. However they do not reflect the diverse contemporary realities of individuals living in the region. In this paper I juxtapose these narratives and realities to reveal the multitude of ways in which desert landscapes are known and understood. A case study of a fire management project that involved Aboriginal, pastoral and conservation land managers from the southern Tanami region of central Australia provides evidence as to why desert landscapes should be re-conceptualized as cultural, contested and dynamic. To conceive of these spaces and places in this way can facilitate open discussion and dialogue between land managers from the region. It is the first step in working towards the process of cultural hybridity that I argue is necessary for equitable and sustainable environmental governance and management in Australia.     

生态区评价研究的兴起与发展——以美国森林生态系统管理评价(FEMAT)研究为例

生态区评价是近年来出现在美国的一种新型区域生态系统管理方法的理论与实践科学研究,起始于美国总统森林会议(1993)后成立的森林生态系统管理评价组(FEMAT),目标是实现地区生态系统的科学管理.本文评介了生态区评价首项案例--美国西北太平洋沿岸区原始森林及其他各类森林经营管理方案的生态、经济、社会影响综合评价的科学与方法实践意义.指出FEMAT的生态区评价:1)迈出了生态区评价历史上坚实的第一步,实现了区域土地利用规划与生态系统管理方案从以行政疆域为准划分向以生态区域为准划定边界的转变;2)方案优化过程充分考虑区域生态、经济、社会的历史、现状与未来趋势等各方面,将科学、政策、管理融为一体,使之易于在实践中贯彻;3)促进了不同政府机构和利益团体间为实现资源开发与生态保育双重目标而共同协作.     

Sediment transport analysis as a component of coastal management— a UK example

Detrimental effects of engineering works on the coast and a wish to conserve parts of the coastline have increased realization among coastal managers of the need to examine shoreline problems and proposals for protection in a wider spatial context than the site itself and over a longer time scale than the past few years. This paper outlines the approach taken in one region of the United Kingdom, the central south coast of England, to provide that wider perspective. Authorities responsible for coastal protection and sea defenses formed a coastal group, which, among other activities, commissioned research aimed at providing a greater understanding on which to base shoreline management decisions. A major project undertaken was a sediment transport study in which all existing information relating to coastal sediment processes in the region was collated and analyzed. All inputs, flows, and outputs of sediment were documented. Links between processes were examined for each part of the region. Finally, nine littoral cells of sediment circulation were identified and were suggested as forming a framework for shoreline management. The methods of compilation and analysis are outlined here and are exemplified for one area in the region. The approach is recommended as a cost-effective basis for strategic management of the coast in developed regions.     

长江三峡工程的地质构造环境及地球动力学演变分析

根据卫星遥感影像特征和区域地质调查与地球应力分析的综合材料,运用遥感地质学和地球动力学及地质环境演变的分析方法,对长江三峡工程的背景构造(区域构造)-岩块构造(体域构造)-坝区构造(局域构造)进行了多层次的系统研究,查清了地质构造环境演变过程及其变化规律,发现了多级构造序次及多级构造应力场之间的相互转变关系,提出区域应力场与库区荷载应力场和周边采矿卸载应力场的共振效应,是对工程安全运行和长周期工程寿命的最大潜在威胁,为大型工程优化管理和工程灾害风险预防及国家建设合理决策等方面提供科学依据。     

对“白加白”改造旧水泥砼路面实施方案的探讨

G318怀宁段路面改善工程设计方案为旧水泥砼路面加铺水泥砼路面(简称"白加白"),在安庆市公路系统尚属首次实施,在我省亦无成功的实践经验可直接借鉴。为此,安庆市公路局专门成立了科研小组,并与浙江大学合作,以"白加白改造旧水泥砼路面方案的研究"为课题,将G318怀宁段作为实践项目,申报2010年度安徽省交通科技项目。笔者作为小组三位主要成员之一,全过程参与该项目的建设与管理。现就该方案的实践成果进行一次全面系统的总结,并就有关技术问题进行探讨。     

Geotechnics on the move: guidance for a risk-driven way of working

This paper presents a summary of a guide for practitioners about the implementation of geotechnical risk management in organisations in the construction industry. Currently, the guide is only available in Dutch. This paper aims to share the key elements of the book with an international readership. First, the perhaps unusual content and style of the guide and its summary are explained, which is the result of organisational rather than technical research. Then, the reality of geotechnical engineering and construction and an ambitious vision of their future perspective are sketched. In this vision, geotechnical risk management plays a dominant role. However, while straightforward in theory, applying complete geotechnical risk management as a routine proves to be a tough exercise in client, contractor, engineering and project organisations. For this reason, a selection of scientifically derived and practically tested organisational key conditions is presented. These conditions aim to facilitate successfully implementing geotechnical risk management in (project) organisations. Finally, this paper gives 10 lessons that have been learned from practice. The lessons aim to support engineers, managers and executives, while they are routinely applying geotechnical risk management in their organisations. This should increase the success rate of projects at a reasonable cost.     

全国土地质量地球化学调查二十年

土地质量地球化学调查计划是我国继区域化探全国扫面计划之后一个新的国家地球化学填图计划,该计划实施20年来,在支撑土壤环境污染防控、土地资源管理、国家重大立法、精准扶贫等方面做出了重大贡献,显著拓展了地质工作服务链。本文从计划的提出背景、项目的组织实施、主要进展、调查技术的进步和分析测试技术的提高与质量控制方案的完善等方面回顾了该计划的发展历程。从全国耕地地球化学状况、全国省会城市土壤环境质量状况、中国主要淡水湖泊沉积物环境质量状况、中国主要农耕区20年来土壤碳库变化4个方面对调查成果做了全面总结。全方位介绍了调查应用成果在土地管理、土壤污染防治、农业种植结构调整、脱贫攻坚、地方病防治、油气勘查、固体矿产勘查等7个领域中的应用。并在调查技术革新、评价方法创新和调查与研究融合三个方面对土地质量地球化学调查工作的未来发展趋势做了展望。     

"973"计划资源环境领域数据汇交进展与数据分析

国家科技计划项目数据汇交对于促进科学数据的整合集成,增强国家科技投入的效益,提高我国科技计划项目管理水平具有重要意义。经过充分研究,科技部基础司选择国家重点基础研究发展计划(973计划)资源环境领域作为试点,于2008年启动数据汇交工作,并专门成立数据汇交中心。2008年,按照数据汇交计划制定、数据汇交准备、数据实体汇交、数据共享服务4个阶段的工作流程,分"已结题"、"即将于2008年结题"和"在研"3种类型开展汇交工作,完成了24个结题项目的数据汇交,汇交数据总量超过620 GB。为了保证数据汇交的可操作性和规范化,数据汇交中心制定了包括核心元数据规范、数据文档格式等7项标准规范;研制了数据汇交软件工具;建立了海量数据存储环境;设计开发了数据汇交共享服务网络平台。面向数据服务进一步的需要,分析了已汇交数据情况,具体分为5种类型,即定点长期监测和野外定点调查类、区域调查和统计分析类、模型计算类、试验化验分析类、客观或主观描述类,并提出了相应的数据展示策略。     

Pragmatic localism uncovered: The search for locally contingent solutions to national reform agendas

This paper analyses the complexity and attempted pragmatism of current practices surrounding the management of current local government policy reform in England. In particular, it focuses on the tensions and contradictions between a national policy dynamic which seeks to encourage locally contingent solutions to be developed for localised problems, and the centralising tendencies of the national state which result in ‘blueprints’ and ‘models’ being developed for local policy delivery and a requirement to meet centrally derived targets. These assumptions are explored through the experiences of local government attempts to introduce innovative and experimental praxis in line with the complex cultural and political changes of ‘modernisation’ agendas advanced by the UK government. This is being rolled out by an overarching project of ‘new localism’ - an attempt to devolve power and resources from the central state to front line local managers, sub-local structures and partnerships and to deliver ‘what works’. It is argued that new attempts at subsidiarity should be more flexible to local conditions rather than directed by national policy and that greater discretion and freedom should be given to local managers to achieve this task. Using the concept of ‘pragmatic localism’ and grounded examples from a recent initiative - Local Area Agreements - it is highlighted that there are signs that local state management of national policy could be becoming increasingly adaptable, enabling managers to deal with the fluid nature of ongoing public policy reform, although this is far from a completed project with many factors still constraining this change process.     

Challenges and strategies for better use of scientific information in the management of coastal estuaries

Numerous studies have concluded that better use of scientific information could improve the quality of coastal and estuarine environmental management. Approaches for effecting such a change include ecosystem-based, integrated, and adaptive management, but such basic re-orientation of estuarine and coastal management has proved difficult to achieve. Even environmental indicators, seemingly straightforward ways of injecting scientific information into decision making, have achieved broad on-the-ground use in relatively few instances—principally the largest estuary management programs. A conceptual framework useful for examining environmental management systems affecting the five PNCERS (Pacific Northwest coastal Ecosystems Regional Study) estuaries conceives of environmental managers, researchers, and interested and affected parties in the public as interacting through the multi-layered institutional arrangements that currently promote the utilization, management, or protection of coastal and estuarine resources. Considerable variation exists in the approach and effectiveness of the region's environmental management organizations. Interaction between science and management in the region appears to be limited to an extent by high transaction costs; a cultural divide between environmental scientists and environmental managers is perceived by members of both groups who work with the PNCERS estuaries as inhibiting communications between them. Mechanisms that both groups identify as useful for improving the flow of information between science and management are little used, perhaps as a result. The two groups have very different patterns of information dissemination and acquisition, and though both chose agency archives and databases as their top methods for disseminating information, neither group relies much on these vehicles for information they seek. Both residents' and practitioners' perceptions of threats to the PNCERS estuaries show patterns of estuary-to-estuary variation. One theme that emerges is that problems associated with poor land management in adjacent uplands are common to most of these estuaries, potentially providing a sense of commonality through which a more regional approach to estuary management could emerge. A common set of estuarine environmental indicators implemented for all estuaries could help instigate such a regional approach, but resource constraints, especially at the local level, will have to be overcome for that to occur. There is currently substantial lack of common vision among coastal practitioners as to the purpose and desirability of indicators, and relatively little experience or knowledge of their use, particularly at the local level. Use of estuarine science in the management of these estuaries appears to be greatest during periods in which the largest programmatic shifts in environmental management approaches occur, an observation consistent with other studies that have concluded that the use of environmental science in environmental management tends to be episodic.     

我国北方地区农业生态系统水分运行及区域分异规律研究的内涵和研究进展

概述了国家自然科学基金重大项目"我国北方地区农业生态系统水分运行及区域分异规律研究"的内涵及初步研究进展,提出要通过对我国北方地区农业生态中水分运行和转换规律的综合田间试验及联网研究,确立北方地区农业生态系统水平衡、水循环过程的机制,确立北方地区有限水环境下作物生产力模型,对北方地区农业生态系统中水分运行与农业可持续发展及其区域分异规律作出评估,研究给出了我国北方地区主要作物的耗水、需水规律,夏玉米的水肥优化耦合模式和农田生态系统综合模型;获得了近40年来我国北方蒸发潜力自东向西逐渐递增的空间变化和自90年代以来北方部分地区潜在蒸发有明显下降趋势的时间变化特征;得出了黄土高原旱作高产农田土壤干燥化是高产田产量产生波动性的主要原因,比较了森林和草地的水文效应差异,指出在郁闭度相同的情况下,森林小流域较自然牧草小流域有较小的径流量、较大的蒸散量和较低的3 m土层平均含水量。     

Advances in the study of the Crop Evapotranspiration in Changing Environment

Significant changes in the regional energy process, water recycling and the biological process have taken place due to the climate change and human activities, and the regional agriculture has been affected by these changes. It is therefore a key issue for the regional agricultural water resource management to accurately monitor and evaluate the change of crop evapotranspiration under a changing environment. The development of the evapotranspiration theory was first reviewed, and then, the driven mechanisms and the research progress of crop evapotranspiration were illustrated. The suitability of the current monitoring method and evaluation model of the evapotranspiration in the crop evapotranspiration research under climate change were analyzed. After that, the current studies of the agricultural water resources management of “ET-based” were reviewed, and finally, the research tendency of the crop evapotranspiration on the theory, methods and application management in the future were prospected.     

Adapting project management method and ANFIS strategy for variables selection and analyzing wind turbine wake effect

We present a project management methodology designed for the selection of wind turbines wake effect most influential parameters, who need to run wind farm project for large energy conversion. Very frequently, the managers of these projects are not project management professionals, so they need guidance to have autonomy, using minimal time and documentation resources. Therefore, agile method is adapted to assist the project management. Wind energy poses challenges such as the reduction in the wind speed due to the wake effect by other turbines. If a turbine is within the area of turbulence caused by another turbine, or the area behind another turbine, the wind speed suffers a reduction and, therefore, there is a decrease in the production of electricity. In order to increase the efficiency of a wind farm, analyzing the parameters, which have influence on the wake effect, is one of the focal research areas. To maximize the power produced in a wind farm, it is important to determine and analyze the most influential factors on the wake effects or wake wind speeds since the effect has most influence on the produced power. This procedure is typically called variable selection, and it corresponds to finding a subset of the full set of recorded variables that exhibits good predictive abilities. In this study, architecture for modeling complex systems in function approximation and regression was used, based on using adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS). Variable searching using the ANFIS network was performed to determine how the five parameters affect the wake wind speed. Our article answers the call for renewing the theoretical bases of wind farm project management in order to overcome the problems that stem from the application of methods based on decision-rationality norms, which bracket the complexity of action and interactions in projects.     

岩溶地区冲（钻）孔桩施工常见事故防治及其对策

在岩溶地区进行冲（钻）孔灌注桩施工时,经常因发生和处理各种孔内或质量事故而造成施工难度大、工期长、成本高、效率低,如处理不当或不及时,还可能导致桩孔报废、地面沉陷等重大隐患。通过多年来在岩溶发育地区从事岩土工程地质勘察、设计、监理、技术咨询及施工管理等实践,简要地概述了各种常见孔内和质量事故的发生原因及防治方法;并提出了一些有关进一步加强岩土工程地质勘察、设计、监管和施工技术等方面的对策及建议。     

Comparative urbanization project for the Asian pacific region

This short article outlines the objectives, organization, research frame and content areas of a comparative urbanization project which will start in 1981. The project involves a total of nine national teams each of which is composed of three or more experts from the fields of urban geography, city and regional planning, demography, development economics and other related disciplines. One unique feature of the project is that each of the countries covered will be researched on by its own local researchers. And, the organizer tries to get at least one government official involved, in his personal capacity, as a team member, to get better insight and interpretation of official policies and objectives regarding urbanization. The responsible persons of the national teams and the time table of the project have also been included in this article.     

Regional planning and citizen participation in South Korea: The case of Chungbook Province

Regional planning in Korea has seldom been influenced by the demands and pressures of interested groups or citizens. To remedy this and open up the planning process to citizen participation, the Korean government developed the Regional Development Regulations of 1981. This mechanism directs regional development planning and citizen participation in it.The experience of the Chungbook Regional Development Plan (1981–1982) is characteristic of the present process of citizen participation in planning in Korea. The methods of insuring citizen participation are fourfold: the citizen advisory committee, the survey of citizens' opinions, the study conference, and the public hearing. Nonetheless, both planners and citizens often assess the participatory elements as being unsatisfactory.Citizen participation in the planning process in Korea can be improved. Specific measures include the addition of a pre-plan phase to the current regional planning process. This phase would require widespread publicity informing citizens of the opportunity to participate in the planning process and improved mechanisms to elicit from citizens their views on the key issues of the regional plan before the decision making phase begins. Finally, the government needs to develop a long-term approach to improving citizen participation in the regional planning process. This should involve the development of training programs that advocate a bottom-up approach to planning based on grassroots citizen participation.     

The `global city' misconceived: the myth of `global management' in transnational service firms

The `global city hypothesis' proposed by Saskia Sassen - and subsequently developed by Manuel Castells and others in the theory of a globalized urban network - has in recent years formed the basis for the argument that power and control in transnational firms (TNCs) is primarily situated in global head-offices. Such offices are located in key urban centres such as London, New York or Tokyo where global managerial power is ultimately wielded and where senior managers make strategic decisions about transnational business activity. This paper takes issue with this theoretical legacy, arguing that the idea of strong centralised managerial power and control in contemporary TNCs is far more complex than this literature suggests. It explores how managerial control in some of the supposedly most globalized of business service industries - investment banking and management consultancy - cannot be understood as being centralised in global headquarter offices, and nor does it purely reside with a few senior managers at the top of the transnational organisation. Rather, it argues that managerial control in TNCs is diffused throughout a transnational network of management-level employees, and that strategic power in transnational firms resides with a larger and more dispersed group of actors than has been previously suggested. These arguments are developed through analysis of qualitative research into the managerial strategies and practices of senior business practitioners in the transnational investment banking and management consultancy industries. In presenting qualitative data from interviews with senior management in transnational corporate head offices, the paper thus examines the decision-making process of global management practice and unpacks the complex context in which transnational corporate strategy develops in such firms.     

Compromise not consensus: designing a participatory process for landslide risk mitigation

With the escalating costs of landslides, the challenge for local authorities is to develop institutional arrangements for landslide risk management that are viewed as efficient, feasible and fair by those affected. For this purpose, the participation of stakeholders in the decision-making process is mandated by the European Union as a way of improving its perceived legitimacy and transparency. This paper reports on an analytical-deliberative process for selecting landslide risk mitigation measures in the town of Nocera Inferiore in southern Italy. The process was structured as a series of meetings with a group of selected residents and several parallel activities open to the public. The preparatory work included a literature/media review, semi-structured interviews carried out with key local stakeholders and a survey eliciting residents’ views on landslide risk management. The main point of departure in the design of this process was the explicit elicitation and structuring of multiple worldviews (or perspectives) among the participants with respect to the nature of the problem and its solution. Rather than eliciting preferences using decision analytical methods (e.g. utility theory or multi-criteria evaluation), this process built on a body of research—based on the theory of plural rationality—that has teased out the limited number of contending and socially constructed definitions of problem-and-solution that are able to achieve viability. This framing proved effective in structuring participants’ views and arriving at a compromise recommendation (not, as is often aimed for, a consensus) on measures for reducing landslide risk. Experts played a unique role in this process by providing a range of policy options that corresponded to the different perspectives held by the participants.     

Compromise not consensus: designing a participatory process for landslide risk mitigation

With the escalating costs of landslides, the challenge for local authorities is to develop institutional arrangements for landslide risk management that are viewed as efficient, feasible and fair by those affected. For this purpose, the participation of stakeholders in the decision-making process is mandated by the European Union as a way of improving its perceived legitimacy and transparency. This paper reports on an analytical-deliberative process for selecting landslide risk mitigation measures in the town of Nocera Inferiore in southern Italy. The process was structured as a series of meetings with a group of selected residents and several parallel activities open to the public. The preparatory work included a literature/media review, semi-structured interviews carried out with key local stakeholders and a survey eliciting residents’ views on landslide risk management. The main point of departure in the design of this process was the explicit elicitation and structuring of multiple worldviews (or perspectives) among the participants with respect to the nature of the problem and its solution. Rather than eliciting preferences using decision analytical methods (e.g. utility theory or multi-criteria evaluation), this process built on a body of research—based on the theory of plural rationality—that has teased out the limited number of contending and socially constructed definitions of problem-and-solution that are able to achieve viability. This framing proved effective in structuring participants’ views and arriving at a compromise recommendation (not, as is often aimed for, a consensus) on measures for reducing landslide risk. Experts played a unique role in this process by providing a range of policy options that corresponded to the different perspectives held by the participants.

     

藏木水电站某标段边坡预应力锚固工程风险评价模型

藏木水电站某标段边坡预应力锚固工程施工中面临众多的风险,且存在多种不确定因素,项目管理难度大。构建了项目风险评价指标体系,使用三标度法和层次分析法对指标进行权重分析,引入了模糊综合评判模型,将管理者和专家的经验由定性转为定量,对项目风险进行了定量化评价,评价结论为＂风险较大＂,为进一步制定项目管理方案提供了依据。