Achieving “Total Sanitation” in Rural African Geographies: Poverty,Participation and Pit Latrines in Eastern Zambia

Over one billion of the poorest people on earth continue to practice open defecation. A complex assemblage of factors, embedded within prevailing inequities and inequalities, continue to betray efforts to improve this. Subsidy-based projects have had little impact in rural Africa where sanitation remains under-prioritised by the state and donors. Community-led total sanitation (CLTS) offers a new, people-centric approach conceptually grounded in participatory development. But despite its broad appeal, the CLTS policy narrative has become equated with quick results, low-cost, provocative language and the potential for community self-help. Drawing on research in Katete district, Eastern Zambia, this paper explores tensions between CLTS theory, policy, practice and local realities. Rapidly scaled-up by local government, poor management and stakeholder engagement effectively diluted the approach, and continued the “projectification” of the sanitation sector. Open defecation, both symbolically and practically, represented an embedded marginalisation from the modern Zambian state where multiple barriers to latrine construction coexisted in the context of fragile livelihoods. In such agrarian communities, CLTS cannot be conceptualised as a blanket approach quickly bringing total sanitation to the masses. For its strengths to be realised in contexts of rural poverty, a targeted strategy that builds local institutional capacity and iteratively scales-up over time is needed. But realising this in practice requires moving beyond a prevailing emphasis on “open defecators” to engage complex issues of power and politics in sanitation governance.     

NGO involvement in marine spatial planning: A way forward?

Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) are playing important roles in environmental conservation and management. Some are actively involved in the development and implementation of marine spatial planning (MSP), especially in Europe where this has been embodied within a European Directive. MSP is being used by many countries to sustainably manage coastal and marine areas, and reduce conflicts. However, recommendations regarding specific NGO roles within the MSP process are lacking. Consequently, to fill this gap and discuss a way forward, a session at the 5th Global Conference on Oceans, Coasts and Islands (GOF5) brought together MSP experts and NGO representatives. This paper reports the conclusions of these discussions and presents a summary guideline document for efficient and effective NGO MSP engagement.     

Institutional challenges for resolving conflicts between fisheries and endangered species conservation

Successful species conservation typically results in conflicts between wildlife protection and economic uses of natural resources as in fisheries and aquaculture. This article shows why managing these conflicts require a more comprehensive approach than currently pursued by endangered species conservation programmes. Against the background of several case studies focussing on wildlife conflicts in European waters this article derives two challenges for institutional response: First, the question of mandate—which societal actor initiates management related processes that require multiple actors to collaborate? Second, how can continuous processes of collaboration be sustained?     

试论我国民主党派的参政与监督

我国的民主党派既不同于执政党 ,也不同于反对党 ,它们是接受中国共产党领导、致力于社会主义现代化建设的参政党。所谓参政 ,首先是参加国家政权 ,其次是参与国家大政方和国家领导人人选的协商 ,其三是参与国家事务的管理。民主党派不仅要参政 ,还要对执政的中国共产党进行有效的监督 ,因为执政党 .的状况如何 ,路线、方、政策正确与否 ,直接关系到社会主义事业的兴衰成败。所以 ,作为执政党的中国共产党 ,一定要充分认识并切实发挥各民主党派的监督作用。     

Is Europe ready for a results-based approach to fisheries management? The voice of stakeholders

The reformed Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), adopted by the European Union in 2013, aims to achieve sustainable exploitation of marine resources. Beyond the mainstream of stakeholders׳ engagement, the literature increasingly calls for shared accountability in fisheries management. In such scenarios, identifying stakeholders׳ insights becomes critical for a successful design of innovative management approaches. This paper analyses how the stakeholders perceive a results-based management system for four fisheries in different European sea-basins as well as at a pan-European level. The results indicate a need for adaptive and participatory management approaches, building on regional adaptations within transparent and plural frameworks for fisheries. To succeed, the system should explicitly address its associated public and private costs; neither participation nor accountability comes for free.     

Participation and influence of REDD+ actors in Vietnam, 2011–2019

Reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD+) is an important component of the Paris Agreement. Inclusive decision making is essential to ensure REDD outcomes, but there is limited anecdotal and empirical evidence demonstrating that stakeholder participation in REDD+ decision making has improved over time. This paper presents an analysis of the Vietnamese government’s claim that stakeholder participation in REDD+ had been improved over the course of 2011–2019, specifically focusing on various actors’ perceptions of their level of interest, engagement and influence in REDD+ policy events. Findings show that the country’s legal framework on REDD+ demonstrated Vietnam’s political commitment to improve inclusive decision making, and initial effort was made to provide political space for actors to engage in REDD+ decision making. However, momentum has been lost over time. This suggests that understanding the political context, addressing underlying power dynamics in the existing government regime, building up coalitions for change among political elites and civil society, and fostering sustainable political will and commitment are all essential to ensuring inclusive REDD+ decision making in Vietnam.     

Dimensions of environmental justice in anti-gold mining movements in Latin America

The present article examines two Latin American gold mining conflicts, one in the city of Esquel (Patagonia in Argentina) and the other in Pascua–Lama (Chilean border with Argentina). We identify the emergence of three dimensions of environmental justice (distribution, recognition, participation) in the anti-mining movements of these two cases. The study finds that some dimensions of justice appear first (participation and recognition), while distribution emerges later, as movements jump scales engaging with national and international networks that provide a systemic perspective of the conflicts. The findings are consistent with other studies that refer to environmental justice as multi-scalar and context related. We also point to the relevance of studying decision-making procedures and jumping scales to understand how environmental justice claims are framed in resource extraction conflicts.     

Is the catch quota management (CQM) mechanism attractive to fishers? A preliminary analysis of the Danish 2011 CQM trial project

There is a demand for a management mechanism that can reduce the discarding problems of EU fisheries. Catch quota management (CQM) seems to be a promising candidate for such a mechanism. Drawing on a principal–agent model, the objective of this study is to develop and test a method for investigating if the CQM mechanism is efficient in providing fishers with incentives for participating in CQM and complying with the rules. The study uses the 2011 Danish CQM trial project as its empirical basis. The results indicate that CQM fishers have a higher average gross income compared to fishers harvesting according to the conventional rules. Hence, there is an incentive for fishers to participate in the trial. However, with the possibility to cheat, CQM fishers may achieve even higher gross income. It is not obvious that the CQM mechanism׳s payoff structure (incentives) is attractive enough to ensure that the fishers comply with the rules. The empirical data illustrate that without discarding the CQM fishers achieve a lower average price for their catches. Therefore, to make the CQM mechanism sufficiently attractive to fishers, the participating fishers must be compensated.     

Exploring Landcare Effectiveness Using Organisational Theory

Landcare is an important example of the potential of state-sponsored participation to establish viable local organisations and contribute to rural development. In this paper, the authors discuss their research using organisational theory to explore Landcare effectiveness. Data were obtained from a mailed survey to Landcare groups in the state of Victoria during 1998. Levels of group activity were used as a surrogate measure of group effectiveness. Groups were ranked according to their level of activity to assess the impact of factors likely to affect group performance, the efficacy of program logic, and the extent groups were contributing to program goals. Survey data suggested key aspects of Landcare Program logic were sound. Examination of the membership and activity profiles of groups suggested 90 per cent of the respondent groups were making a worthwhile contribution to program goals. This research also confirmed the importance of factors identified by others as significant influences on organisational effectiveness: the importance of having clear goals, objectives and plans; resource availability; facilitation by an outside agency; access to a funded group co-ordinator; and communication between stakeholders. Unfortunately, there are critical, ongoing management issues surrounding many of these topics.