Public participation in monitoring programmes as a tool for lakeshore monitoring: the example of Lake Pyhäjärvi, Karelia, Eastern Finland

Lake Pyhäjärvi, on the border between Finland and Russia in Karelia, is a very valuable clear-water lake of the Lobelia type. It belongs to the European Union's Natura 2000 programme in Finland, and has been included in regional and national monitoring programmes since the 1960s. The main monitoring station is situated near the outlet of the lake. Deterioration of its water quality was suspected already in the 1980s because of decreasing Secchi depths (transparency) and increasing chlorophyll a.The occurrence of algal blooms on the lakeshores is monitored weekly during each summer at one site on Lake Pyhäjärvi (site 1). This is a part of nationwide intensive algae monitoring programme organised by the environmental authorities together with voluntary observers at some 270 lake sites in Finland since 1998. Since 1997, Secchi depth observations have been carried out by volunteers biweekly or monthly at 17 sites on the lake. In the vicinity of one of these transparency observation sites (station 100), intensive monitoring of algae has been carried out. At this lakeshore monitoring site 69 algal observations were made, ten of which recorded algal blooms during the study period 1998–2002. The observed algal blooms were caused by algae of the Anabaena species, mainly by Anabaena lemmermannii. At Lake Pyhäjärvi the number of algal bloom observations received from the public have decreased from the 1990s to the 2000s. The range of Secchi disc transparency was 5.0–8.4 m with a mean value of 6.2 m at station 100 and 4.3–7.7 m (mean 6.1 m) at the main monitoring station 2 during the open water periods in 1998–2002. During this study period, the maximum values at site 100 seem to have increased slightly, which might indicate some improvement in the water quality due to decreased point source loading.We conclude that the intensive algal monitoring results of 5 years at the lakeshore site and the transparency results — both compiled by trained volunteers — reflect an improvement in the state of Lake Pyhäjärvi in Karelia. This conclusion is in accordance with the long-term water quality and short-core studies of sedimentary diatoms in Lake Pyhäjärvi. We suggest that the intensive algal observations and transparency measurements are both suitable methods for the monitoring of lakeshores and lakes, and that both are suitable for voluntary monitoring. We found public participation a good tool for monitoring lakes and lakeshores.     

Consulting as a threat to local democracy? Flexible management consultants,pacified citizens,and political tactics of strategic development in German cities

These days, it is often claimed that democratic procedures are under threat. The detachment of policy decisions from political debates is partly a result of the increasing influence of non-elected organizations and experts. Following a conceptual discussion of the spatiality of democracy, this paper focuses on management consultants as constraint on collective political participation in urban development; namely on McKinsey and Roland Berger. (De-)democratization is assessed alongside processes of inclusion and exclusion of both topics and people from political decisions. Based on a comparison of strategy-making projects in six German cities, the findings reveal three different types of urban policymaking ranging between expert-led and participatory versions. Despite the differences, each of the projects relied on a notion of passive citizens, who primarily need to be “gotten on board” and who lack the power to make decisions. This paper exposes the political tactics involved in an expert-influenced curtailment of democratic procedures.     

西藏申扎县野生动物旅游社区参与模式研究

西藏申扎县野生动物旅游资源丰富,发展野生动物旅游可促进色林错国家级自然保护区的资源环境保护与申扎县社会经济可持续发展。分析申扎县野生动物旅游发展的基础与现状,提出野生动物旅游社区参与发展的理念和原则,从管理经营、资源环境保护、产品生态化开发、利益合理分配四方面构建申扎县野生动物旅游的社区参与模式,并探讨其保障机制。研究成果可为西藏申扎县野生动物旅游持续发展及其它地区野生动物旅游发展提供理论指导与案例借鉴。     

Transparency: aid or obstacle to effective defence of vulnerable environments from reservoir construction? Dam decisions and democracy in North East England

Public participation in transparent decisionmaking has been proposed as a panacea for environmental protection. Bargaining theory suggests drawbacks to transparency such as hardening of attitudes and intransigence. Yet achievement of consensus on environmental values for integrated water resource management demands public involvement. Historical study of attempts to prevent reservoir construction in upland valleys designated for protection of nature suggests that 'closed-door' bargaining proved more effective for environmentalists than open, public debate. Records now open for analysis of disputes over Teesdale and Farndale, 1950–1970, allow comparisons to be made between behind-the-scenes deliberations and 'open-door' public discussion. The ambition of progressing from public participation to devolution of environmental decisionmaking and responsibility to the local scale demands more conceptualization of the process of decisionmaking on water resource development.     

国外空间规划研究与实践的新动向及对我国的启示

空间规划是可持续发展必不可少的公共管理工具。20世纪90年代以来,人们认识到空间规划应该具有协调和整合空间发展的功能,而不仅仅是部门性的土地利用管理体系;应该关注地域的可持续发展,而不是一味地追求增长;应该关注不同利益人之间共识的形成,而不是简单地分析一定地域空间开发的适宜性和先后顺序。20世纪90年代以来国外空间规划实践的一些新动向： a) 重新分配空间规划的权利和职能; b)注重全纳性的参与; c) 重视空间规划的协调与整合; d)强化空间规划的环境维度; e)增强空间规划的灵活性。基于此对我国的空间规划实践得到几点启示： a)空间发展的战略框架和行动计划相结合; b)形成适合于我国的规划参与机制; c)在增强规划约束性的基础上增加灵活性; d)强化区域层次的空间规划; e)突出空间规划的公共管理职能。     

村落遗产地社区居民旅游发展态度的影响因素

构建了社区依恋、社区关注、社区参与、旅游影响感知和社区居民旅游发展态度的结构关系模型,并以村落遗产地——福建土楼为例,采用结构方程模型（SEM） 验证社区居民旅游发展态度的影响因素,并引入个人获益作为调节变量,剖析在获益居民和没有获益的居民中,各种旅游感知对旅游发展态度的影响是否存在显著差异。研究结果表明：① 经济获益感知、社会文化获益感知和环境获益感知均对态度具有显著正向影响,而经济成本感知对态度具有显著负向影响;② 社区依恋通过社会文化获益感知和环境获益感知对态度产生间接影响;③ 社区关注通过经济获益感知和环境获益感知间接影响态度,并通过经济成本感知间接影响态度;④ 社区参与通过经济获益感知、社会文化获益感知和环境获益感知对态度产生间接正向影响,并通过经济成本感知对态度产生间接负向影响;⑤ 经济获益感知、社会文化获益感知和环境获益感知对态度的影响对获益居民比没有获益的居民要大,而经济成本感知、社会文化成本感知与环境成本感知对态度的影响对没有获益的居民比获益居民要大。     

Participatory selection process for indicators of rangeland condition in the Kalahari

To develop indicator–based management tools that can facilitate sustainable natural resource management by non–specialists, meaningful participation of stakeholders is essential. A participatory framework is proposed for the identification, evaluation and selection of rangeland condition indicators. This framework is applied to the assessment of rangeland degradation processes and sustainable natural resource management with pastoralists in the southern Kalahari, Botswana. Farmer knowledge focused on vegetation and livestock, with soil, wild animal and socio–economic indicators playing a lesser role. Most were indicators of current rangeland condition; however 'early warning' indicators were also identified by some key informants. This demonstrates that some local knowledge is process–based. Such knowledge could be used to improve indicator–based management tools and extension advice on the livelihood adaptations necessary to prevent or reduce ecological change, capable of threatening livelihood sustainability. There is evidence that social background influences indicator use. Communal farmers rely most heavily on vegetation and livestock indicators, whilst syndicate and land–owning pastoralists cite wild animal and soil–based indicators most frequently. These factors must be considered if indicator–based management tools are to meet the requirements of a diverse community.     

Developing Contradictions: Women's Participation as a Site of Struggle Within an Indian NGO*

Women are being hired in increasing numbers by development projects to facilitate women's participation components. Once employed, however, women often find themselves marginalized within their organizations. In this paper, I find that the women's participation component of an Indian drinking water project has enabled the exclusion of women fieldworkers employed by the project. Drawing on the work of Bakhtin, I show participatory approaches as multiple, partial, and contentious. Moves to thwart women fieldworkers and women's participation give rise to struggles over development geography. Analysis of project records, interviews with staff, and observation of staff activities provide evidence for results.     

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.     

‘Committing to Place’ at the Local Scale: the potential of youth education programs for promoting community participation in regional natural resource management

Emerging approaches to environmental governance require a greater level of community participation than did previous approaches in which these responsibilities largely rested with government agencies. There is consequently a need for increased engagement with NRM among a broad community sector. This paper examines initiatives by two prominent government agencies, the Murray–Darling Basin Commission (MDBC) and the National Museum of Australia (NMA), to engage school children from regional communities using education programs that focus on place and environmental health. We focus on the MDBC's International Riverhealth Conference held in Mildura in 2003 and the associated Murray–Darling Basin TalkBack Classroom sponsored by the NMA and the Parliamentary Education Office (PEO). We explore how key themes of local scale, place-based identities, youth voice and critical engagement are developed in these programs and consider how they relate to the environmental agency of children. We then reflect on the potential for the kinds of environmental agency promoted through these programs to help build the capacity of local communities to progress larger goals of environmental restoration and sustainability in the Murray–Darling Basin. The evaluation research reported here forms part of the Committing to Place research project, an Australian Research Council Linkage grant involving the University of Tasmania, the National Museum of Australia and the Murray–Darling Basin Commission.