MSC certification in Argentina: Stakeholders’ perceptions and lessons learned

Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification is a market-based incentive program recognizing well-managed fisheries. Currently, four Argentine fisheries are involved in the MSC program. Using in-depth, semi-structured interviews with fishery stakeholders, the study surveys their perceptions regarding MSC certification. MSC certification is positively perceived because stakeholders focus on knowledge of the process. Most respondents consider certification as encouraging effective fishery stakeholders’ participation: access to information, increased communication, and reaching consensus. Market/political/social realities will prove whether a more intense participation of Argentine fisheries in the certification initiative is useful. Because some markets in the EU and USA are demanding MSC certified products, there is a need to work towards a governance structure that helps link certification with policy market outcomes to ensure exportation of Argentine fish. MSC certification may suggest improved management of participatory bottom-up planning. This bottom-up approach provides an opportunity to establish feedback mechanisms and organizational changes.     

Improving marine environmental health through marine citizenship: A call for debate

This paper presents an evaluation of the role of marine citizenship in improving marine environmental health and marine governance. Marine citizenship describes the rights and responsibilities of an individual towards the marine environment, which support the achievement of marine policy objectives at the national level. It is argued that marine citizenship requires an enhanced awareness of marine environmental issues, an understanding of the role of personal behaviour in creating and resolving marine environmental issues, and a shift in values to promote marine pro-environmental behavioural choices. It is concluded that the value shift is likely to be produced by the development of an altered relationship between the state and the individual, in which the expectations placed on citizens by the state are extended to include marine pro-environmental behaviour. The paper is intended to stimulate debate and the authors invite and encourage replies to the ideas contained within the paper.     

Community characteristics of wild fruit forests along elevation gradients and the relationships between the wild fruit forests and environments in the Keguqin Mountain region of Iii

In this paper,the quantitative relationship between the wild fruit communities and direct environmental factors is discussed on the basis of detailed data on landscape scale habitats obtained through field vegetation investigation.The results from TWINSPAN and DCCA showed that:1) In the distribution sections of the wild fruit forest in the Keguqin Mountain region,the basic patterns characteristic of the different habitats are due to topographic factors,nutrients and moisture conditions;2) The elevation affected the most basic differentiation of plant communities in the study area,indicating that the elevation condition was the most important factor restricting the distribution of the wild fruit communities in the study area;3) The close relationship between the moisture content in the upper soil layer and the elevation reflected the influence of moisture conditions on both wild fruit and herb-layer communities;4) Nutrient differences not only indicated that the habitat conditions were different in themselves but also showed that the present nutrient conditions of the habitats were seriously affected by human activities.In summary,under complicated mountainous topographic conditions,the habitat conditions for the communities differed very significantly,and the combination of elevation,soil moisture content,total nitrogen,slope aspect,and pH value influenced and controlled the formation of community distribution patterns in the study area.     

Application of Participatory Development Theory in Wetland Ecotourism Initiatives——A Case Study of Baiyangdian in Anxin of Hebei Province

As one of the few ecological wetlands in North China,Baiyangdian bears multiple important ecological functions,including ①adjusting the ecological balance of North China;②safeguarding the downstream areas,especially Tianjin City,the Beijing-Shanghai Railway and Huabei Oil Field;③serving as the reservoir for the North-to-South Water Diversion Project and the emergent use of water for Beijing;④conserving biodiversity.Wetland ecotourism is a scientific and wise use pattern for wetland resources,through which,a source of financing is provided for wetland conservation,economic alternatives are generated for local people to reduce overexploitation on wetland resources and the public awareness of environmental protection is enhanced.Since wetland ecotourism can benefit the co-existence between human and nature and promote social equity between people,it enjoys broad promise for popularization and implementation.The proactive cooperation and sound interaction between main stakeholders,and the wide participation of the community residents,will guarantee the sustainable development of wetland ecotourism.Based on the analysis of current status of participation and interactive relationships of the main stakeholders in Baiyangdian tourism,this article made an attempt to apply the theory of participatory development to the ecotourism initiatives of Baiyangdian wetland,discussed and brought forward the countermeasures to improve community participation in wetland ecotourism under the guidance of this theory.     

陇中黄土高原LAS在非均匀下垫面的观测优势及其在区域陆面模式验证中的初步应用

目前通用的通量观测技术涡动相关仪（EC）在区域陆面模式验证中存在能量不闭合和空间代表性有限的问题,寻求改进EC观测热通量的新技术是提高陆面模式验证效果的关键环节,大孔径闪烁仪（LAS）的出现有效改善了这一现状。基于黄土高原定西站2010年1月和6月的同步综合观测资料以及目前比较有代表性的陆面过程模式CLM的模拟数据,分析研究了LAS对EC观测地表能量不平衡问题的改进以及LAS对EC在区域陆面模式验证中的提高,结果表明：LAS可有效解决EC观测存在的地表能量不平衡问题,提高EC的地表能量闭合度,在非均匀下垫面LAS观测优势突出;利用LAS观测的感热通量进行区域陆面模式的验证,能够很大程度地避免EC能量不闭合和空间尺度不匹配在验证中造成的偏差,LAS观测更适合于大尺度模拟的验证,验证效果更好。     

Electoral behaviour behind the gates: partisanship and political participation among Canadian gated community residents

Gated communities have been characterised as representing processes of 'forting up' and 'civic secession', in which their residents use gating as a strategy for withdrawing from political life and from taking collective responsibility for others. The assumption is that the residents of private gated communities should be less likely to participate in political life, and/or be more likely to support political parties on the right who advocate privatisation, reduced government expenditures and lower taxes. If the act of living in a gated community is associated with either greater support for parties and policies on the right of the political spectrum, or limited political participation, then the growth of such forms of privatised communities has potential implications for the future of urban politics and even for national political systems. However, despite surveys that have dealt with social attitudes 'behind the gates', insufficient attention has been paid to the politics of gated community residents. This paper fills this gap through a comparative analysis of electoral behaviour during the 2006 federal election at the level of the polling station. Electoral participation and partisanship in 27 gated communities in three Canadian metropolitan areas is compared against that of non-gated residents. Regression analysis is conducted in order to determine whether gated community residents differ from their non-gated counterparts in the way they vote and their levels of electoral turnout, after controlling for social composition. The potential implications of this research are then discussed.     

遗产地农村社区参与旅游发展的制度嵌入性——丹霞山瑶塘村与断石村比较研究

基于制度嵌入性理论,采用质性研究方法,采取主位的研究立场,揭示正式制度与非正式制度对农村社区参与旅游发展的约束与影响。研究发现：遗产地农村社区参与旅游发展是一个制度约束下的理性行动过程,同时嵌入在多层正式制度和非正式制度中;不同农村社区在参与旅游发展过程中,由于制度嵌入的差异,导致相异的行动决策和发展结果,社区内部非正式制度嵌入的差异是主要影响因素;当社区内部非正式制度脱嵌时,外部正式制度的有效嵌入是协调遗产地与社区发展的关键因素。研究认为,制度嵌入性范式可以深入地解释不同农村社区参与旅游发展的差异性,为中国农村社区参与旅游发展的增权行动、制度设计和监督管理提供有益参考。     

Older People and Transitions from Employment to Nonemployment: International Perspectives and Policy Issues

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has identified population aging as one of the most important challenges facing OECD countries and has highlighted the need for people to work longer and for job prospects for older workers to be enhanced. This article provides a summary review of a recent OECD report, Ageing and Employment Policies—Live Longer, Work Longer, as a platform to highlight differences between countries in demographic profiles and projections and in patterns of formal labor market participation among older workers. Drawing on selected information from a broader evidence base, it unveils important differences between countries in the scale of demographic and associated labor market challenges. It also explores factors affecting labor market transitions among older workers and age-related and other barriers to paid work among older people, emphasizing the diversity of experience between individuals. Finally, it highlights some strategic challenges for policy.     

Connecting Local to Global: Geographic Information Systems and Ecological Footprints as Tools for Sustainability

Tools that support public engagement with sustainability are essential for local sustainability planning. This research investigates the ability of two geographic information system (GIS)-based tools to promote discussion of sustainability in a suburban context. A local ecological footprint tool and a community environmental atlas (an environmentally themed online mapping system) were created for seven suburban boroughs of Montreal. Variations of both tools have been used to support sustainability efforts, but their use has not been widely evaluated. Working from a public participation GIS (PPGIS) framework that recognizes the powerful influence of data representation, this research uses focus groups to evaluate how well these tools address three criteria that have emerged from the literature on public engagement in sustainability: interdependency across systems, reflexivity about personal and social decision making, and interactions across spatial scales. Whereas the atlas remains advantageous for discussing local spatial specifics, it was found that the ecological footprint helped people see the interconnections among systems, integrate local and global aspects of sustainability, and reflect on the values and assumptions underlying current social and economic structures.     

Climate change scenario planning in Alaska's National Parks: Stakeholder involvement in the decision-making process

This article studies the participation of stakeholders in climate change decision-making in Alaska's National Parks. We place stakeholder participation within literatures on environmental and climate change decision-making. We conducted participant observation and interviews in two planning workshops to investigate the decision-making process, and our findings are three-fold. First, the inclusion of diverse stakeholders expanded climate change decision-making beyond National Park Service (NPS) institutional constraints. Second, workshops of the Climate Change Scenario Planning Project (CCSPP) enhanced institutional understandings of participants' attitudes towards climate change and climate change decision-making. Third, the geographical context of climate change influences the decision-making process. As the first regional approach to climate change decision-making within the NPS, the CCSPP serves as a model for future climate change planning in public land agencies. This study shows how the participation of stakeholders can contribute to robust decisions, may move climate change decision-making beyond institutional barriers, and can provide information about attitudes towards climate change decision-making.