The political economy of urbanization in Melanesia

The authors attempt to provide a comprehensive review of urbanization in three Melanesian countries (Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu) and in Fiji. The focus of the paper is on the development and perpetuation of various forms of inequality exemplified by Melanesian urbanization and its colonial origins.     

Bridging the gap: empowering decision-making for adaptation through the UK Climate Impacts Programme

Abstract

The methods, tools and outputs of the UK Climate Impacts Programme (UKCIP) show how building adaptive capacity to climate change can be embedded within a wide range of organizations. UKCIP has been operating since 1997 to support decision-makers' assessments of their vulnerability to climate change so that they can plan how to adapt. Whilst stakeholder engagement is now generally regarded as vital to ensure that research meets the needs of decision-makers for information, this usually means that stakeholders are positioned in a ‘consultative’ role in research. In contrast, the UKCIP aims to bridge the gap between research and policy so that decision-makers take control to produce research in ways that are useful to them. The Programme has been flexible and was developed incrementally, with increased scientific understanding, taking advantage of collaborative funding and facilitating long-standing partnerships. Whilst the core framework of scenarios and tools has been developed centrally, most studies have been stakeholder-funded and led. The Programme's results suggest that if decision-makers are supported, capacity is built for assessments, and crucially, research outputs are directly applicable to their ongoing work and strategic planning. This capacity-building has worked across scales and sectors and is an effective route to mainstreaming climate change adaptation. The implication, therefore, is that more support should be given by funding agencies to develop institutional capacity to support adaptation to climate change in both the private and public sectors.     

Mean horizontal wind profiles measured in the atmospheric boundary layer about a simulated block building

Instrumented wind towers are used to measure the three components of wind about a simulated block building. The mean horizontal wind profiles over the building are compared with wind profiles measured in the absence of the building and the wind speed deficit in the wake of the building is correlated.Horizontal mean wind speeds measured in the natural atmospheric boundary layer with and without the presence of a simulated building show excellent reproducibility and agreement with fundamental concepts of fluid mechanics. The data possess all the characteristic features reported from wind-tunnel studies of building flows. In the present study the turbulence intensity is of the order of 20% in the undisturbed flow whereas the free stream turbulence intensity of wind-tunnel studies is generally not more than 5%. The effect of smaller averaging periods and the structure of the turbulence will be reported at a later time.The velocity profiles measured in the undisturbed flow zones support the representation of a neutrally stable atmospheric boundary layer with a logarithmic wind profile.