The role of research networks for science-policy collaboration in coastal areas

This paper reviews the approach taken by several UK coastal partnerships in developing research strategies and programmes. It reports on the status of these research initiatives and describes how the co-ordination and communication of scientific research have been approached through active partnerships with universities and the wider research community. Results of semi-structured interviews are followed by in-depth case studies of research networks on the Sefton Coast (focusing on coastal morphology) and the Severn Estuary (focusing on coastal change and climate change impacts). The results reveal the constraints and opportunities that exist in bringing together a variety of knowledge holders in the coastal zone. The paper identifies key elements of these initiatives and highlights lessons that can be applied to the development of other research initiatives in order to achieve science supported, ecosystem-based management.     

An evaluation of the implementation of the European ICZM principles

The European principles of Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) are often viewed as central, defining features of the EC approach to ICZM, enshrined within the EC Recommendation (2002/413/EC) and endorsed by the European Commission in its Communication on ICZM (COM(2007) 308 final). This paper presents the findings of COREPOINT surveys which evaluated the extent to which the ICZM principles are addressed and interpreted across the North West European region. An interpretation of these findings is undertaken in order to provide an assessment of local ICZM development against the European ICZM Progress Indicator. The surveys revealed rather mixed adherence to with the EC ICZM principles at national, regional and local levels, although there were some promising results related to the principles of local specificity and stakeholder engagement. The principles providing the greatest challenge were those promoting the broad holistic approach, the long-term approach and adaptive management. The surveys demonstrated the value of using a structured, clearly designed ‘expert’ survey for providing an insight into operational aspects of the ICZM principles and provided a means of assessing ICZM progress. As such, this paper provides a useful contribution to the ongoing European and wider debate about the principles and their evaluation.     

Redshift-space distortions in the PSCz galaxy catalogue

We apply a spherical harmonic analysis to the Point Source Redshift Survey (PSC z ), to compute the real-space galaxy power spectrum and the degree of redshift distortion caused by peculiar velocities. We employ new parameter eigenvector and hierarchical data compression techniques, allowing a much larger number of harmonic modes to be included, and correspondingly smaller error bars. Using 4644 harmonic modes, compressed to 2278, we find that the IRAS redshift-space distortion parameter is     and the amplitude of galaxy clustering on a scale of     is     . Combining these we find the amplitude of mass perturbations is     . While this is compatible with results from the cosmic microwave background (CMB), with a small degree of tilt, it disagrees with the amplitude of matter perturbations estimated from the abundance of clusters by a factor of 2, independent of cosmology. A preliminary model fitting analysis combining the CMB with either the PSC z or cluster abundances shows that the cosmological matter density parameter     , and the IRAS bias parameter     . However, the cluster abundances suggest that     and     , while the PSC z requires     and     . Given the physics of galaxy formation is poorly constrained, we conclude that IRAS galaxies and mass are only partially correlated.     

Integrated Coastal Management: A comparative analysis of four UK initiatives

The effectiveness of institutional arrangements and policies for governance has become a key question within the sustainability paradigm, not least in coastal areas which have unique issues and jurisdictions across the land–sea interface. In the UK, approximately 60 non-statutory coastal management initiatives have been established at the local/regional level since the 1990s, based on a variety of programmes and projects. Proposals for a UK Marine Bill have raised questions about the role of non-statutory initiatives in the system of governance. The traditional sectoral approach to management and planning is being modified due to the pressure of increased human activities, but doubts exist about what effective contribution local and regional partnerships can make. The paper reports extensive examples of Integrated Coastal Management initiatives engaging institutions and society to produce outputs which have transformed management, promoting long-term, collaborative, participatory and ecologically sustainable approaches. The paper concludes that there are demonstrable benefits in taking a partnership approach to coastal management at a local level, yet these forms of planning and management are not widely accepted or embedded within the current system of governance.     

Overlap of global Köppen–Geiger climates,biomes, and soil orders

Climate types, biome types, and soil orders are commonly used among physical geographers in research and to describe natural environmental characteristics. However, little attempt has been made to quantify the percentage of global land surface that is covered by combinations of climate types, biomes, and soil orders. This research overlays a world map of 31 climate types produced based on the Köppen–Geiger criteria using gridded NCAR/NCEP reanalysis monthly mean surface air temperature and precipitation data from 1981 to 2010 with global maps of eight biomes adapted from World Wildlife Federation and 12 soil orders from United States Natural Resources Conservation Service. Areas covered by each of the 2976 combinations are then calculated. Results suggest that, as expected, a few climate/biome/soil combinations are most common, such as desert climate/desert biome/entisols, tundra climate/tundra biome/gelisols, and desert climate/desert biome/aridisols. The local nature of soil properties causes small enclaves of unexpected combinations of climate, biome, and soils, and the 10 most extensive climate/biome/soil combinations occupy only one-quarter of the global land surface. The strong correspondence between climate and biome types validates the Köppen–Geiger criteria for categorizing climates based on vegetation realms, even today, despite the general paucity of data available when the criteria were established.     

Urban planning and politics in Ghana

Through an analysis of Ghana’s political and administrative structure, which established the basis of urban planning practice, this paper shows how urban planning has failed to create liveable and functional cities in Ghana. This paper uses semi-structured interviews and agency consultations to supplement document reviews and news paper articles to address the dearth of research on the subject in Ghana. Findings show that dominant political elites, with little or no urban planning background, control and dictate urban planning activities resulting in chaotic scenes and urban blight across Ghanaian cities. Analyses here reinforce the growing recognition that urban planning outcomes in Ghana, and most African countries are not shaped by professional practice and do not reflect the aspirations of the community, but instead political elites. Urban planning agencies are left vulnerable as their activities are interfered, dictated and hindered by both traditional and mainstream political elites. This paper advocates for independence of urban planning agencies in the performance of their duties.     

Coastal governance in North West Europe: An assessment of approaches to the European stocktake

Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) necessitates not only an understanding of the coastal environments to be managed but also an understanding of the nature of the governance systems in place. The latter not only vary between individual European Member States but also within States. This paper explores the governance systems in operation and focuses on the approaches taken in completing the ICZM stocktakes and strategies in North West Europe, as required by the European ICZM Recommendation. The paper not only synthesises existing European documentation, but also incorporates some of the key experiences of ICZM from the COREPOINT project and its partners. The paper findings suggest that effective inter-organisational linkages and coordinated efforts are required to deliver ICZM and the European ICZM Recommendation's principles of good governance. However, such aspects are largely non-existent in North West Europe.