Resource utilization and regional planning information systems (RURPIS) in Botswana

Abstract

Problems with data organization for increasingly complex resource utilization and regional programmes have encouraged Botswana to turn to a geographical information systems approach. A major project to carry this out, based in the Department of Environmental Science, University of Botswana, is outlined in this paper. The paper documents the design of the programme and lists its modules and variables. It also reports on important considerations that have been taken into account in evaluating the programme's data sets and gives results from an illustrative pilot project that has been undertaken.     

Innovation networks and green restructuring: Which path development can EU Framework Programmes stimulate in Norway?

ABSTRACT

With combined insights from evolutionary economic geography and transition studies, the article examines the engagement of different regions in Norway in the innovation networks created within the European Union’s environmental programmes. The aim is to explore the programmes’ potential for supporting green economy and economic restructuring through branching and new path creation. The authors assess which regions participate in the programmes, which international networks they build, and which organisations participate in different regions. They compare three regions with different restructuring needs and research capacity – the counties of Rogaland, Hordaland, and Sør-Trøndelag (now part of the county of Trøndelag). They find that overall, Norwegian organisations participate relatively frequently in the programmes, but private firms play a marginal role. Their partners are mainly in core EU regions. Regional participation in the programmes is a function of research capacity as well as oil dependence. The authors conclude that in research-oriented regions, research establishments tend to dominate participation, creating potential for restructuring mainly through path creation. In oil-dependent regions, private firms account for a higher share of participants, enhancing the potential for branching. As the former regions participate more, the programme can mainly stimulate path creation.     

Evaluating the impact of two energy conservation programmes in a midwestern city

This paper presents a general methodology for evaluating energy conservation programmes, and uses the methodology to assess a home audit and an energy tax credit programme. The data base contains utility bill histories, audit forms, and personal surveys for 319 Decatur, Illinois homeowners. These data enable analysis of the extent of adoption of the two programmes; characteristics of adopters and non-adopters; the role of information in the adoption process; the actions prompted by the programmes; and the impact of the programmes on residential energy consumption.Adopters of the programmes are found to be better educated, wealthier, have newer homes, and engage in more conservation practices than non-adopters. Lack of information is one barrier to programme adoption, with adopters receiving more useful information from the local utility company and government sources. The programmes appear to have prompted certain conservation practices, but they have not reduced energy consumption. Policy implications are discussed.     

Urban fieldwork in geographical education in Levanger,Norway

Despite a long tradition of fieldwork and outdoor education in Norwegian schools, teachers and pupils are not familiar with conducting systematic field studies of modern urban environments. The authors of the present article are convinced that urban fieldwork ought to be included in the teaching syllabus in Norwegian schools, and for several years they have worked on developing urban fieldwork as a part of the study programme in teacher education at Nord-Trøndelag University College (Høgskolen in Nord-Trøndelag or HiNT). The fieldwork element has gradually been expanded, and in recent years pupils from neighbouring primary schools have participated in the programme. The use of ICT has increasingly become an important part of the work in the field as well as in the follow-up phase. Special emphasis has been put on the use of digital stories. The experiences of this work are presented and discussed in the article. In the final section of the article the authors discuss further development of urban fieldwork, paying particular attention to the use of new digital technology and enquiry approaches.     

Sustainable Community-Based Forestry Development: A Policy and Programme Framework to Enhance Women's Participation

Conventional development theory and practice have often failed to recognise the centrality of women in sustainable resource management. A conceptual shift in environment and resource policies, planning and programmes is required to affirm that women are active participants rather than passive recipients of change. To address the need for enhanced women's participation in community-based forestry development, this paper focuses on the policy and programme elements important in the design and implementation of successful community forestry projects. Consequently, the intention of this paper is to increase the awareness of planners and decision-makers regarding methods of operationalising women's participation in community-based forestry. Building upon previous work from aid agencies and other researchers, a range of institutional, organisational, socio-cultural and project elements are identified. These elements provide a comprehensive framework of the policy and programme issues requiring consideration when promoting women's participation in successful community-based forestry activities.     

US and EU experiences of tax incentives

The purpose of this paper is to shed light on the controversial issue of regional development incentives. Although extensive research has been conducted, a review of the literature gives an inconclusive answer to whether economic incentives are effective. Why do researchers arrive at different conclusions, even after analysing the same programmes? Among the problems that we find, for example, is the fact that for some researchers 'effective' means the significant location of new firms in targeted areas, while for others the creation of jobs regardless of whether new firms are arriving in a significant fashion. Furthermore, as we elaborate, the selection of an econometric model will have a significant impact on expected results. Different models, with different limitations, will lead researchers to evaluate the same incentive programme but arrive at different conclusions regarding its effectiveness. The contribution of the paper is to inform policymakers about the potential opportunities and pitfalls when designing incentive strategies. This is particularly relevant, given that both the US and Europe have been promoting incentives as a tool for regional economic development.     

A new conglomerate test in palaeomagnetism

The conglomerate test is widely used in palaeomagnetism to date components of natural remanent magnetization with respect to deposition of conglomerates. It has been demonstrated, however, that this test may be positive even if the data are strongly contaminated by a secondary remanence, especially for the commonly used small number of clasts Starkey & Palmer 1970). Here we show with the aid of numerical simulations that different statistical procedures employed in this test have similar low sensitivities to remagnetization. We suggest a new conglomerate test which incorporates additional information on the direction of a secondary palaeomagnetic component which is isolated from either clasts themselves or their host rocks. Numerical simulations show that this new test is about twice as sensitive to remagnetization as the previous procedures and is robust with respect to small errors in the direction of a secondary component.     

Monitoring grasshopper and locust habitats in Sahelian Africa using GIS and remote sensing technology†

Abstract

Development programmes in Sahelian Africa are beginning to use geographic information system (GIS) technology. One of the GIS and remote sensing programmes introduced to the region in the late 1980s was the use of seasonal vegetation maps made from satellite data to support grasshopper and locust control. Following serious outbreaks of these pests in 1987, the programme addressed a critical need, by national and international crop protection organizations, to monitor site-specific dynamic vegetation conditions associated with grasshopper and locust breeding. The primary products used in assessing vegetation conditions were vegetation index (greenness) image maps derived from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration satellite imagery. Vegetation index data were integrated in a GIS with digital cartographic data of individual Sahelian countries. These near-real-time image maps were used regularly in 10 countries for locating potential grasshopper and locust habitats. The programme to monitor vegetation conditions is currently being institutionalized in the Sahel.     

Rural rehabilitation in the Basotho labour reserve

The concept of the labour reserve is fundamental to the analysis of the historical development and contemporary form of the migrant labour system in southern Africa. Lesotho has for long been thoroughly integrated into this system as an internal supplier of labour and a labour reserve. Decomposition of the labour reserves of southern Africa, particularly since the 1930s, has led to increasing state involvement in programmes of rural rehabilitation. By their very nature such programmes have often proved to be focal points for rural resistance among local peasantries. Post-colonial rural policy in Lesotho and the rural response can be similarly interpreted. The case of rural forestry represents one contemporary rural rehabilitation strategy for the Basotho labour reserve. Peasant apathy and hostility towards the programme and to the structures of domination which precipitated it have been characteristic.     

Recent Studies in the Svartisen Area

This Article summarizes a number of unpublished reports of geomorphological and glaciological studies undertaken annually in the Svartisen area (Fig. 1) by parties from Cambridge, England; authors of the various reports are indicated in the appropriate sections below. The summarized papers cover part of a programme carried out between 1956 and 1963, the aims of which have been to achieve a comprehensive understanding of the geomorphology of the Svartisen area, and to investigate in detail certain aspects of the regime of glaciers there. Work in the area was continued in 1964.     

全球变化视角下人地系统研究面临的几个问题探讨

围绕全球变化问题，国际科技界从20世纪80年代以来已组织了4个大型国际研究计划，即WCRP、IGBP、IHDP、DIVERSITAS，在此基础上又形成了众多核心研究计划或支撑研究计划。随着这些研究计划的酝酿、实施和推进，其明显发展趋势是越来越强调人类社会对全球环境变化的影响、响应与适应问题研究。全球变化研究不仅为以“人地关系地域系统”为核心的地理学提出了新的科学命题，同时也为地理学与其它科学领域的融合、交叉提供了广泛途径。在分析全球变化国际研究计划进展基础上，指出入地关系地域系统研究面临5个关键问题。     

American viticultural areas: A problem in regional geography

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to examine a particular type of formal geographic region—the viticultural region—to promote an understanding of the geographical bases of wine production. The authors have found that the viticultural area is an excellent vehicle for teaching students how geographers construct and analyze regions. Although the wine industry in the United States is concentrated overwhelmingly in California and secondarily in a belt running from New York across Pennsylvania and into Ohio, most of the lower 48 states have at least one officially recognized viticultural area. The following problem has been developed to be used “as is” or to be modified for any state or region in the country. By the end of the problem, students have gained hands-on experience in defining regions, correlating physical geography with human activities, and thinking about the importance of place names and scale.     

Heterogeneity as a measure of spatial pattern for monitoring agricultural landscapes

The Norwegian monitoring programme for agricultural landscapes is a sample-based programme that aims to document the current state and patterns of change in the agricultural landscape for the entire country. For this broad geographical coverage an indicator approach is the most cost-effective methodology. Landscape metrics are used as indicators in the monitoring programme based on the assumed importance of landscape composition and spatial pattern for a number of countryside interests. However, although indicators have been used successfully over a long period of time in various disciplines, their use in landscape monitoring is relatively new and there is little empirical data with which to assess their validity. This paper provides information on the performance of landscape diversity and landscape heterogeneity indices as estimated by specific biodiversity measures. Preliminary results show increasing numbers of breeding bird species and numbers of vascular plant species with increasing landscape diversity and heterogeneity, two indices that capture information on landscape content and structure. Overall, the heterogeneity index provided a better surrogate for species richness than the diversity index.     

Where have all the people gone? The limits of resilience in coastal communities

The concept of resilience has been used to assess community development and its prospects in natural resource-based localities. The objectives of the article are to evaluate the resilience of two Icelandic coastal communities, and to reflect on the possible shortcomings of the resilience concept for providing policy guidance. Mixed qualitative methods were used, with several weeks of fieldwork in each location. The results showed that the two case communities have had to adjust to a radical change in the fisheries management, with the loss of resource entitlements. Additionally, substantial differences were found in their level of resilience. One community was undergoing a transition towards a non-fisheries-based existence through several innovative new initiatives, while the other was struggling to adjust and seemed to have reached its limits of resilience, as witnessed by continuing outmigration and declining services. A state-sponsored programme to rekindle the local economy has had limited success so far. The authors conclude by identifying some of the limitations of the focus on endogenous strategies in much of the resilience literature, which does not pay much attention to the broader political economy.     

全球化视角的区域主义与区域一体化理论阐释

区域一体化作为重要的区域发展模式, 历来是地理学者关注的焦点。本文通过对区域一体化相关概念的辨析, 回顾区域主义发展历程, 并概括全球化赋予区域一体化的新内涵, 提出目前区域一体化研究的不足之处, 以期为区域经济发展研究提供有益的启示。区域主义与全球化是塑造当今世界经济格局的两种重要的力量, 自19世纪以来, 区域主义就伴随着全球化的趋势产生了4 次思想浪潮的变革;与此同时, 区域一体化的理论趋于系统化, 从早期的关税同盟理论、自由区贸易理论、大市场理论等以国际贸易为重点, 转而向空间、制度等方面扩展, 引入了新区域主义、新经济地理理论和新制度经济学等研究视角。随着区域行为主体的多元化、合作领域的深化、组织机制的复杂化, 形成了全球化背景下区域一体化新的内涵。根据国外的研究进展和国内区域一体化的现实需求, 未来应该对主权国家内部跨界一体化理论、内涵等方面加强研究。     

Syllabus change,student learning and teacher experiences

The new Republic of Ireland Leaving Certificate geography programme (taken by 16- to 18-year-olds), which was first examined in 2006, marked a major change in approach from its predecessor. This paper presents the results of a study that explored the learning outcomes in light of the stated aspirations of the syllabus, teacher perceptions and of society's expressed concerns about the nature of education today. Research data were obtained via interviews with teachers and questionnaire surveys with participants. The results from this study indicate that the new programme appears to have some impact on learning outcomes, both positive and negative.     

区域交通基础设施可达性研究进展

随着中国区域交通基础设施快速发展,可达性研究受到学界与规划界广泛关注.本文通过梳理近20 年来国内外区域交通基础设施可达性研究的发展脉络,从可达性时空变化及其地域效应方面总结国内外区域交通可达性研究的各自特点与发展方向,判断未来国内相关研究主题.综合比较可知,区域交通可达性的空间格局与时空演变研究仍是国内外交通地理学的研究热点问题.国外研究评价指标丰富,空间分辨率不断提高,分析技术方法日益多样,研究内容更趋于多元化,不断拓宽了可达性研究与应用领域.国内研究发展快,但研究指标体系有待完善,空间分辨率仍有待提高,亟待考虑交通需求与政策干预等现实因素.     

Mobile livelihoods among ethnic minorities in China: Insights from Yunnan

Ethnic minority populations in Yunnan have had diverse mobility patterns since the advent of globalized production and developmental programmes. The article presents insights into the various mobility patterns and their effects in Yunnan and contributes to an understanding of the present economic and social processes of mobilities and changes in China as a whole. The analysis is based on an empirical study conducted in the years 2010–2011 by the authors together with local researchers in Yunnan. The results revealed that the mobilities practised among members of the ethnic minority groups in Yunnan included not only outmigration but also cross-border cultivation of plantations, daily and circular mobility, inflows of labour and investors, and involuntary relocation. Although some mobilities may have been conducive to livelihoods and capabilities due to the income-earning and profit-making opportunities arising from the acquisition and appropriation of land and capital, they have also resulted in differentiation processes that confirm the counter-geographies of production, survival, and profit-making. The authors conclude that mobilities do not just concern physical location, but as a social process, mobilities have reconstituted relational references and networks in terms of ethnic and cultural identity, gender relations, labour division, and locality and community integration.     

The changing regional distribution of grain production in China in the 21st century

This paper examines the changing regional distribution of grain production in China. Based on the analysis of data from county statistics for the period 2000–2003, major differences in the main grain-output regions in China can be observed. The main grain-producing areas have shifted from the south to the north of China. New grain production regions have been also added to western China since the late 1990s. The per capita grain consumption in one third of China’s main grain-producing counties has fallen below 400 kg; most of these areas are located in southern China. In the new millennium, Northeast China, the central-south North China, and the arid and semi-arid regions of Northwest China produced three quarters of the surplus grains. Most of these areas are located in regions susceptible to environmental change. The amount of grain production in these regions shows high fluctuations. It is argued here that further studies of recent environmental changes as well as a risk assessment of China’s food security in main grain-output regions are needed.