THE GRAND RIVER CONSERVATION COMMISSION: HISTORY, ACTIVITIES, AND IMPLICATIONS FOR WATER MANAGEMENT

Despite its contribution to water management in Canada, very little has been published about the Grand River Conservation Commission. This paper examines the formation and operation of this organization. The evolution of water resource strategies is documented by describing the plans completed between 1932 and 1966 by the Grand River Conservation Commission and Grand Valley Conservation Authority which was formed in 1948. The strengths and weaknesses of the Conservation Commission are identified through information gathered from meeting minutes, financial statements, newspaper accounts, and interviews. Local initiative, provincial-municipal partnership, watershed perspective, and collaboration among public agencies are viewed as attributes. The absence of a basin-wide administration and the confined nature of the financial arrangements are noted as weaknesses. The evolution of the Commission indicates that effective institutional arrangements maybe facilitated when context, legitimation, functions, structures, processes and mechanisms, and organizational culture and participant attitudes are considered adequately.     

NEUTRON TOMOGRAPHIC ASSESSMENT OF INCISIONS ON PREHISTORIC STONE SLABS: A CASE STUDY FROM WONDERWERK CAVE,SOUTH AFRICA*

This study presents the application of neutron tomography to the analysis of ironstone slabs found in a late Earlier Stone Age context (Fauresmith industry) at the back of Wonderwerk Cave, Northern Cape Province, South Africa. These slabs have markings on the surface that might be anthropogenic, and thus significant to understanding the emergence of human symbolic behaviour. Neutron tomography proved to be an effective tool for distinguishing surface incisions from lines that are the expression of internal fissures in the rock.     

中国海外劳务移民的发展变迁与管理保护——以移民工人维权和争议处理为中心的分析

论文从移民工人维权和劳动争议处理这一新视角,较为系统地分析中国海外劳务移民的历史发展与管理体制,深入剖析中国劳务移民管理的法律政策框架及维权和争议处理机制,比较借鉴劳务移民典型国家的经验做法,并对实现中国劳务移民有效管理的对策与措施,提出了四点建议:一是完善相关国内立法,构建多边合作协议框架;二是确立劳动行政部门主管,建立多部门政策协调机制;三是强化政府公共服务职能,加强海外劳务移民监管;四是加大工会组建、培训和维权力度,充分发挥工会组织的作用。     

Public participation geographic information systems (PPGIS): challenges of implementation in Churchill,Manitoba

Public participation geographic information systems (PPGIS) increasingly are utilized in geographic research, yet researchers rarely are provided with guidance on how to implement PPGIS in an appropriate and effective manner. This article reports on the process of research that explores responses to current and future local tourism development offered by a sample of residents using a modified PPGIS approach called ‘community action geographic information system’ (CAGIS). The conceptual development of CAGIS is reported and the challenges encountered during its implementation in Churchill, Manitoba during 2005–2007 are reviewed. It is suggested that researchers wishing to conduct similar research should undertake thorough preliminary fieldwork to assess the likelihood of finding agreement on a common problem; acquiring adequate resources; establishing collective responsibility for the project's outcome; attaining stakeholder support; developing trust and meaningful relationships; and incorporating indigenous knowledge appropriately. Feedback of results to community members also should be an integral part of the research process. A number of feedback mechanisms are reported, including an interactive weblog, which helped facilitate communication between heterogeneous groups in Churchill. Although ambitions for a truly participatory GIS approach to this project have been set aside, it is held that PPGIS can yield positive outcomes for communities and academia. Sharing this research experience will be useful to others who venture into PPGIS research, especially in northern communities.     

BASE-ISOLATION DESIGN PRACTICE IN JAPAN: INTRODUCTION TO THE POST-KOBE APPROACH

Japan has twenty years of experience in designing and constructing base-isolated building structures. Construction has increased significantly since the 1995 Hyogoken-Nanbu (Kobe) earthquake, having reached over 150 annual construction projects. Many new developments and refinements have been made in the material, device, design, and construction of these structures. This paper summarises recent design and construction of base-isolated building structures in Japan, including statistical data with respect to the common usage as well as the number of new projects. It is notable that the size, height, and fundamental natural period of new base-isolated buildings increase steadily with time, indicating that base-isolation in Japan is reaching maturity. Base-isolators and dampers commonly adopted in Japan are also introduced, with emphasis on recent design efforts to enlarge the natural period of base-isolated structures and reduce the lateral forces induced in the superstructure. Basic design procedures are presented, including determination of design earthquake forces, modelling of base-isolation layers, modelling of the superstructure, selection of ground motions, time-history analyses, and performance criteria. A mandated peer-review system, unique for design of base-isolated structures, is also noted. Several characteristic issues in the design of base-isolated structures are discussed: Variation of base-isolation material properties, applications to high-rise buildings, effects of vertical ground motions, and response when subjected to near-fault ground motions.     

The Roman Catholic Church: committed to the poor in Guatemala

The coexistence of conservative and liberation perspectives within the Roman Catholic Church still causes disagreements. However, since Vatican II, the Catholic Church in Guatemala has established a commitment to act as a church of the poor. There is tension between Guatemala's elite and the Church, which has led to the murders of Church members and the issuance of death threats to others. Although the growth of evangelical movements has caused the Church to lose influence, the Church remains committed to the poor, which places it in sharp contradistinction to neoliberalism.     

Geomorphology of snow avalanche impact landforms in the southern Canadian Cordillera

Snow avalanche impact landforms (SAILs) are typically elliptical-shaped depressions bounded by an arcuate ridge located at the base of avalanche paths. The geomorphology of these features is controlled by the topography of the avalanche path, the availability of unconsolidated debris in the impact area and the ability of the avalanche impacts to displace the available debris in the direction of avalanche flow. Ground-based snow avalanches move debris by bulldozing, and airborne snow avalanches move sediment by excavation on impact .
This paper reports on the geomorphology, and surface age and stability of three SAILs in the southern Canadian Cordillera. Dendrochronology and lichenometry were used to date geomorphic activity at the sites. Evidence of present SAIL stability suggests they result from episodic, high-magnitude avalanche impact events over many hundreds of years. All three landforms share common morphologies: a water-filled bowl-shaped depression distally bounded by an arcuate ridge-oriented transverse to the avalanche path. Despite sharing many attributes, field investigations revealed that the origin of each SAIL was a function of the local variations in snow avalanche path topography and availability of unconsolidated debris in the impact area. The snow avalanche path associated with the Blackhorn site has a gentle gradient, which suggests that this SAIL is a result of ground-based avalanches. The SAIL at Spoon Lake appears to be a consequence of a resistant geologic feature that focuses snow avalanches in the impact area and results in explosive excavation. The morphology of the snow avalanche track at Peyto Lake causes large snow avalanches to become airborne prior to impacting and excavating an impact pool. All three SAILs examined in this paper are historically persistent landforms and these observations support previous findings indicating that SAILs require hundreds of years to develop .     

The Role of Location and Regional Networks for Biotechnology Firms in Israel

This article presents results of a study of the Israeli biotechnology sector. The findings of the study show that despite the small geographical size of the country, the Israeli biotechnology industry tends to a great extent to cluster around leading research institutes. Based on a survey of 109 high-tech projects, the study suggests that the relatively weak business background of the entrepreneurs, the fact that most of them have worked at research institutes and that most new biotechnology firms were originated from ideas that came out of universities or research institutes, can provide possible explanations for this geographical concentration. The research emphasizes the relative importance biotechnology entrepreneurs ascribe to networking, both in very early stages as well as in advanced stages of the firm development process. It is argued that although the focus of the network changes over time, both geographically and in content, its links to local research partners are maintained. It is suggested that earmarked regional support policies are crucial to the development of networks required by new biotechnology firms.     

Progress in Canadian Geomorphology and Hydrology 1996–2000

Since 1996, a broad range of publications has been produced by Canadian geomorphologists and hydrolo‐gists. These publications have been distributed in journals with national and international circulations. Although there remains a major focus on the study of observable processes in fluvial, aeolian, coastal and slope environments there is also a strong, historical component to explanations oflandforms, landform assemblages and sedimentary sequences. Some of these histories have incorporated the effects of high‐magnitude (catastrophic) events, some of which may have no modern analogues. Perspectives on the interactions among microclimatic variables, including changes induced by human actions, continue to evolve. Forest clearance and its effects on evaporation rates, water‐table levels and timing ofsnowmelt, the human use of wetlands and release of methane and carbon dioxide, will continue to demand the attention of scholars interested in explaining future climatic scenarios. Depuis 1996, un large éventail de publications a été produit par les géomorphologues et hydrologues du Canada. Ces travaux ont été diffusés dans des revues nationales et internationales. Bien qu'il y ait encore une attention privilégiée portée à l'étude des processus observables dans des environnements fluviaux, éoliens, côtiers et de pente, il existe aussi une importante composante historique dans l'explication des formes du paysage et de leurs assemblages ainsi que des séquences sédimentaires. Certaines de ces reconstitutions historiques ont incorporé les effets d'événements de haute magnitude (catastrophique), dont certains n'ont peut‐être pas d'analogues modernes. Les points de vue sur les interactions entre les variables microclimatiques, et notamment les changements d'origine anthropique, continuent d'évoluer. Le recul des forêts et ses effets sur les taux d'évaporation, le niveau des nappes phreatiques et le calendrier de la fonte des neiges, l'utilisation humaine des zones humides et l'émission de méthane et de gaz carbonique, continueront d'exiger l'attention des spécialistes qui se penchent sur l'explication des scénarios climatiques futurs.     

Constructing Water Shortages on a Huge River: The Case of Shanghai

Shanghai is located on the world's third largest river (by volume). Yet it faces the risk of shortages of drinking water. Many decisions and environmental characteristics have contributed to this threat. First, Shanghai has become dependent on water brought into the municipality by rivers. Second, it has become increasingly reliant on water from the Changjiang (Yangzi River), principally in order to control the levels of pollution in the water that enters its treatment plants. Third, for reasons associated with inter‐provincial administrative arrangements, the city's water intakes are located within the municipality, within the estuary zone and subject to tidal intrusions of salt water. Fourth, at high tide and when the Changjiang's discharge is low, salt intrudes far into the estuary, beyond the current water intakes. If sea levels rise, these intrusions will become more pronounced. Fifth, large‐scale central government infrastructure projects (such as dams and the South‐North Transfer) are altering the hydrological characteristics of the river. Such projects raise the probability of salt water intrusions into the water intake zone. The Shanghai and central governments have thus made a series of decisions that, taken together, have led the municipality to rely on a source of drinking water that is increasingly unreliable and subject to the risk of shortages due to salt water intrusions. Why these decisions have been made – independently – is an important problem for those who would understand the provision of water for cities and the practical efficacy of Chinese governance systems.