Climate change,conflict, and cooperation: Global analysis of the effectiveness of international river treaties in addressing water variability

Climate-driven water variability is a natural phenomenon that is observed across river basins, but one that is predicted to increase due to climate change. Environmental change of this kind may aggravate political tensions, especially in regions which are not equipped with an appropriate institutional apparatus. Increased variability is also likely to challenge regions with existing institutional capacity. We argue that our best attempts to assess the ability of states to deal with variability in the future rest with considering how agreements have fared in the past. In this paper, we explore treaty effectiveness, or treaty resilience, by investigating whether particular water allocation and institutional mechanisms help mitigate inter-country tensions over shared water. We use water-related events from the Basins at Risk events database as a dependent variable to test particular hypotheses regarding the impact of treaty design on conflict and cooperation over time. A broad set of climatic, geographic, political, and economic variables are used as controls. The analysis is conducted for the years 1948–2001 using the country dyad as the level of observation. Findings pertaining to our primary explanatory variables suggest that country dyads governed by treaties with water allocation mechanisms exhibiting both flexibility and specificity evince more cooperative behavior. Country dyads governed by treaties with a larger sum of institutional mechanisms likewise evince a higher level of cooperation, although certain institutional mechanisms appear to be more important than others.     

日本的循环社会建设

上世纪90年代以来,日本政府在环境基本法和环境基本计划的框架下推进了循环社会建设,新世纪以来通过实施《循环社会基本法》和《循环社会基本计划》,继续推进了循环社会建设。同时,环境立国战略也对循环社会建设提出了新的要求。第二次《循环社会基本计划》强调了建设循环社会的紧迫性和新课题,提出了2015年前的任务、目标、政策方向和政策措施。日本循环社会建设取得了初步成效,积累了有益的经验,可供我国学习、参考和借鉴。     

学术著作翻译的几个问题——以汉译《草原帝国》为例

以汉译《草原帝国》为例 ,学术翻译应注意以下几个问题 :诠释性学术著作的时效性 ;学术著作的思想倾向 ;学术著作翻译应遵循专业的学术规范 ,包括人名、地名和专业术语的翻译 ;学术翻译的语言 ,要在于确切 ,同时也要合乎汉语习惯     

Multiple land use planning for living places and investments spaces

Planning is assessed not only based on its ability to improve the living environment through place making, but also based on its role in facilitating investments in the built environment. This paper approaches the combination of these functions as planning for multiple land use. Contracts, rather than plans, are used to bridge these functions. This concept of multiple land use is used to reflect on the contributions in this special issue on regulation of private sector involvement and property market dynamics in urban development. Questions for further research are raised based on the concepts of legitimacy, effectiveness and efficiency. These questions can also be used to assess current planning practice in which private sector investment and place making are combined.     

Voluntary Environmental Programs in the Public Sector: Evaluating an Urban Water Conservation Program in California

Solving conflictual environmental policy problems is increasingly falling under the purview of local governments and public agencies. Nonregulatory approaches, such as the development of voluntary environmental programs (VEPs), could offer a useful policy alternative as they often have greater political traction and flexibility. However, there has been little work examining the use of VEPs in the public sector. This article uses a new dataset from California to examine how political institutions affect decisions by local governments and public agencies to participate in a voluntary urban water conservation program and whether this program has improved the water conservation performance of its members. The results show that special district governments, private utilities, and water suppliers dependent on purchased water are more likely to participate in the program and to join early. However, urban water agencies that have joined the program have not reduced their per capita water use more than those that have not. These results underscore the influence of political institutions in public‐sector decision making and demonstrate that, as in the private sector, commitment to a VEP by local government and public agencies does not guarantee implementation or environmental improvements. While voluntary programs offer political and administrative advantages, in order for VEPs in the public sector to be effective they must be accompanied and supported by credible enforcement mechanisms, performance standards, and rigorous monitoring programs.     

大理古城旅游房地产的发展及社会文化影响研究

"旅游房地产"近年发展迅猛,也引发了一些争议和讨论。本文以大理为案例地,对旅游房地产的发展及影响进行研究,构建了"产权属性-使用时间"双维度的产品谱系图,并研究其空间布局特点,总结其发展的共同特征,包括从空间形态上推动旅游城市化、适应于从观光向度假时代转变的旅游房地产产品演进、政府角色从直接投资者转向"城市助推器"等。结合深入的田野调查,本文分析了大理旅游房地产的社会-文化影响,探讨了以旅游房地产作为推动区域发展和旅游产业转型工具的政策的有效性,并提出相关的政策建议。     

Neoliberalism and the Institutions for Regional Development in Australia

This paper examines some effects of the pursuit of neoliberalism on regional development policy and practice in Australia, and in particular on the activities and effectiveness of regional development organisations. The paper interprets data from a survey of 505 regional development organisations across Australia through the framework of Jessop's contribution to state theory and his identification of four key trends in economic management under neoliberalism. Regional development policies are seen as a response of governments to electoral pressure from regions, but a response that is constrained by the dominance of neoliberal ideology. The objectives of regional development are predominantly economic, but are often limited to the role of facilitation and the provision of information. Some responsibility for regional development has been shifted downwards to regions, but the effectiveness of the organisations given this responsibility is reduced by the short‐term and competitive nature of much of their funding, the lack of coordination between regional development actors at the local level, the proliferation of agencies and the competition between them. The paper concludes that regional development agencies in Australia are in many ways a product of neoliberalism, since they represent one way in which governments can be seen to be responding to regional pressure for assistance but they can do so without incurring significant costs. Yet regional development bodies are also a victim of neoliberalist thinking, since it denies them the resources and the powers they need to be more successful in their work.     

一种新的壁画修复材料黏结性评价装置及应用研究

为了可直接考察修复材料对壁画颜料层-地仗层(地仗层-地仗层)的黏结性,借鉴敦煌石窟泥塑制作"木骨泥胎"原理和涂层、黏接剂附着力和黏结强度测试方法,设计了一套拉拔模具。该装置解决了壁画修复材料评价中黏结界面错位,客观数据获取难,适用性差,耗时长等问题。试验测定了6种常用修复材料在质量浓度5%条件下的黏结强度,确定其黏结性强弱顺序为:纯丙乳液聚乙烯醇PVA-1788白乳胶硅丙乳液明胶(Paraloid b-72)。基于试验数据,提出选择修复材料及工作浓度时,应以接近原有胶结材料(明胶)黏结强度为宜。     

Evaluating the Relationship between Ceramic Wall Thickness and Heating Effectiveness,Fuel Efficiency,and Thermal Shock Resistance

ABSTRACT

In 1983, David Braun proposed that a shift from thicker- to thinner-walled cooking vessels in the midwestern United States was triggered by an increased dietary reliance on starchy grains (Braun 1983). Drawing on well-established principles of materials science (Van Vlack 1964), he suggested that, compared to thicker-walled vessels, thinner-walled ones would have been more thermally efficient and less likely to break from thermal shock. These attributes, he suggested, would have been advantageous for preparing seeds and grains that require lengthy cooking periods. Although consistent with materials science principles, Braun’s proposition has never been tested. In this paper, we present results of experiments undertaken to evaluate the relative cooking efficiency of thin- versus thick-walled vessels and consider the implications of these findings for understanding traditional ceramic technologies.     

An Assessment of the Effectiveness of Strategic Spatial Planning: A Study of Sardinian Municipalities

A political and technical debate about the effectiveness of strategic spatial planning results is ongoing. The debate has taken this direction, rather than focusing on the methods, procedures and organization of spatial planning, because it is difficult to contextualize the development of programmed steps within the time required for their implementation. This article explores the potentialities and challenges of this debate, focusing on its evolutionary excursus in Italy and the region of Sardinia. The aim of this article is to propose a qualitative assessment methodology, capable of comparing different spatial strategic plans, in order to understand the extent to which the plans’ stated objectives were achieved, and to assess what changes the implementation of these objectives achieved in the external environment over the medium and long term.