Limits of stakeholder participation in sustainable development : "where facts are few, experts are many"

Extract from: The Mediterranean coastal areas from watershed to the sea : interactions and changes / by L.F. Cassar ... [et al.]. Proceedings of the MEDCORE International conference, Florence, 10th-14th November 2005The notion of including stakeholders, those affected (positively or negatively) by a sustainable development programme in both its design and implementation, has become a central concern for those implementing such programmes. Such an approach is often referred to as ‘stakeholder participation’, as ‘participatory development’ or more simply still as ‘participation’. How best to achieve this has been the topic of a substantial literature, with a host of different methodologies presented and promoted. Each has its own advantages and disadvantages, but there has been surprisingly little discussion in the sustainable development literature as to the limits and dangers of participation irrespective of the approach employed to ‘best’ facilitate it. Inter-linked with the limits of participation is the role of specialists and expert opinion in sustainable development. This paper discusses the results of participatory exercises conducted in Gozo (Malta) between 2003 and 2005. On the positive side, participation yielded many useful and interesting insights and invoked a sense of ‘involvement’ in sustainable development, but there were problems and these are discussed in this paper. For example, the outcome of the exercise crucially depends upon representation, and a simplified vision of ‘community’ often employed in participation to make it practicable can load the process in favour of certain stakeholder groups at the expense of others.peer-reviewe

Analyzing urban sprawl patterns through fractal geometry: the case of Istanbul metropolitan area

Over the last decade, there has been a rapid increase in the amount of literature on the measurement of urban sprawl. Density gradients, sprawl indexes which are based on a series of measurable indicators and certain simulation techniques are some quantitative approaches used in previous studies. Recently, fractal analysis has been used in analyzing urban areas and a fractal theory of cities has been proposed. This study attempts to measure urban sprawl using a sprawl index and analyses urban form through fractal analysis for characterizing urban sprawl in Istanbul which has not been measured or characterized yet. In this study, measures of sprawl were calculated at each neighborhood level and then integrated within sprawl index through “density” and “proximity” factors. This identifies the pattern of urban sprawl during six periods from 1975 to 2005, and then the urban form of Istanbul is quantified through fractal analysis in given periods in the context of sprawl dynamics. Our findings suggest that the fractal dimension of urban form is positively correlated with the urban sprawl index score when urban growth pattern is more likely “concentrated”. However, a negative relationship has been observed between fractal dimension and sprawl index score when the urban growth pattern changes from the concentrated to the semi-linear form

Urban detection, delimitation and morphology: comparative analysis of selective "megacities"

Postprint (published version

Farm Technology and Technical Efficiency: Evidence from Four Regions in China

In this paper we fit stochastic frontier production functions to data for Chinese farms grouped into each of four regionshousehold farm; labor migration; land fragmentation; stochastic production frontier; technical efficiency

PERSPECTIVES ON FUTURE RESEARCH IN CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPEAN TRANSITION AGRICULTURE

Measuring the Progress Toward Market is proposed as the unifying theme for the next stage of transition research. The main areas included in the research agenda focus on land ownership and land markets, changes in farming structure and farm organization, agricultural labor adjustment, introduction of hard budget constraints and real bankruptcy procedures. The emergence of functioning market services should be studied in the perspective of demonopolization and competition, with special emphasis on development of service cooperatives.International Development,

Measuring Urban Sprawl - how Can we Deal with It?

Measuring urban sprawl is a controversial topic among scholars who investigate the urban landscape. In fact, most researchers agree that sprawl is a complex phenomenon, and moving from “sprawl” to “compact” form is more likely to be a direction on a continuum rather than a fixed and measurable category. This study attempts to measure sprawl in Israel from a landscape perspective. The measures and indices used in the study derive from various research disciplines, such as urban research, ecological research, and fractal geometry. Five main groups of indices that quantify the urban landscape were included in the research: density, shape/fractals, leapfrog, mean patch size, and land-use composition. The examination was based on an urban land-use survey that was performed in 78 urban settlements over the course of 15 yeas. Thirteen measures of sprawl were calculated at each settlement and then weighted into one integrated sprawl index through factor analysis. The calculations were performed for the beginning and the end of the period investigated, thus enabling a description of sprawl rates and their dynamics during a time period of two decades. The results show that urban sprawl is a multidimensional phenomenon that is better quantified by various measures; thus, it cannot be measured by only one or two popular measures, such as density or growth rates, as often is done in many urban studies. In addition, the results indicate that most urban settlements in Israel showed less sprawling and became more compact during the past two decades: density and mean patch-size measures became higher; shape, fractal, and leapfrog measures became lower; and land-use composition did not dramatically change during the period investigated. Furthermore, some measures were found to be more dominant and effective and others less effective on a municipal scale.

Technical efficiency of water use and its determinants, study at smallscale irrigation schemes in North-West Province, South Africa

This paper analyses the efficiency with which water is used in small-scale irrigation schemes in North-West Province in South Africa and studies its determinants. In the study area, small-scale irrigation schemes play an important role in rural development, but the increasing pressure on water resources and the approaching introduction of water charges raise the concern for more efficient water use. With the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) techniques used to compute farm-level technical efficiency measures and sub-vector efficiencies for water use, it was shown that under Constant Returns to Scale (CRS) and Variable Returns to Scale (VRS) specification, substantial technical inefficiencies, of 49% and 16% respectively, exist among farmers. The sub-vector efficiencies for water proved to be even lower, indicating that if farmers became more efficient using the technology currently available, it would be possible to reallocate a fraction of the irrigation water to other water demands without threatening the role of small-scale irrigation. In a second step, Tobit regression techniques were used to examine the relationship between sub-vector efficiency for water and various farm/farmers characteristics. Farm size, landownership, fragmentation, the type of irrigation scheme, crop choice and the irrigation methods applied showed a significant impact on the sub-vector efficiency for water. Such information is valuable for extension services and policy makers since it can help to guide policies towards increased efficiency

Soil Fragmentation and Friability. Effects of Soil Water and Soil Management

Soil fragmentation is a primary aim in most tillage operations in order to create a soil environment favourable for crop establishment and growth. Soils vary around the world from those exhibiting a self-mulching nature to those of a hardsetting nature. These extremes have been reported for Australian and other tropical and subtropical soils. In humid temperate climates, soil tillage is generally needed in order to produce a favourable environment for crop establishment and growth. The ease of preparing a favourable arable layer depends on complex interactions between climate, soil and the tillage implement. Especially soil water affects soil strength and fragmentation properties and thereby the ease of preparing a suitable arable layer. Soil management affects soil fragmentation and friability indirectly through effects on soil structure formation and stabilization and directly through the influence of soil tillage and traffic. The overall purpose of this thesis is to contribute to the understanding of soil fragmentation and friability as affected by soil management and soil water regime. The reaction of the soil upon tillage was evaluated within the concept of soil tilth as defined by Soil Science Society of America (SSSA) "the physical condition of soil as related to its ease of tillage, fitness as a seedbed, and its impedance to seedling emergence and root penetration". The study involved soils from two case studies, the Askov long-term experiment on animal manure and mineral fertilizers, a field experiment with non-inversion tillage and a field experiment on compaction and intensive tillage. All the soils included in the study were humid sandy loams predominantly developed on Weichselian glacial moraine deposits. The soils were classified as Oxy aquic Agriudolls/Glossic Phaeozems according to Soil Taxonomy/WRB except for the Askov soil that was classified as Ultic Hapludalfs/Dystric Luvisols according to Soil Taxonomy/WRB. For all soils the clay content ranged from about 12 to 21 g per 100g-1 and soil organic matter ranged from 1.8 to 3.9 g 100g-1. The case studies included two long-term forage cropping system soils with a grass ley in the crop rotation (DFG(1) and DFG(2)), which were compared with a neighbouring counterpart. DFG(1) was compared with a forage cropping system soil without grass ley in the crop rotation (i.e., only annual crops), labelled DFA, whereas DFG(2) was compared with a continuously cash cropped soil with very low input of organic matter (no animal manure and straw removed), labelled CCC. An unfertilized (UNF), animal manured (AM) and a mineral fertilized (NPK) soil was included from the Askov long-term experiment on animal manure and mineral fertilizers established in 1894. The tillage experiment included a non-inversion tilled soil, labelled NINV, (non-inversion subsoil loosening to 35 cm depth and seedbed preparation with rotovator) and a conventionally tilled soil, labelled CONV, (mouldboard ploughing to 22 cm and secondary tine cultivation). The experiment on soil compaction and intensive tillage involved two "extreme" tillage and traffic treatments and a reference treatment (REF). The extreme treatments were soil compaction (PAC) and intensive tillage (INT) that were performed on wet soil just after spring ploughing and prior to seedbed preparation. The field experiments on non-inversion tillage, and soil compaction and intensive tillage were both conducted at the organically managed Rugballegård Research Station. Ease of tillage is commonly extrapolated from measurement of tensile strength in a compression test using air-dry or oven-dry aggregates. This procedure may lead to erroneous conclusion on soil behaviour of moist soil in the field. Therefore a multi-level analytical strategy was followed, i.e., soil fragmentation and friability were characterized using qualitative and quantitative in situ, on-field and laboratory methods. Soil fragmentation and friability were assessed in the field qualitatively by visual examination and quantitatively by employing a simple drop-shatter fragmentation test, denoted soil drop test. The energy input in the soil drop test was low in comparison with the energy input in typical seedbed cultivation. However, the soil drop test was sensitive enough to display significant differences between treatments in most cases. In the laboratory soil fragmentation and friability were evaluated by measuring tensile strength and specific rupture energy on field-sampled aggregates. In general, tensile strength was determined on air-dry aggregates and in some cases on aggregates adjusted to pressure potentials in the range -100 hPa to -166 MPa (air-dry). In addition, a direct tension test was developed to measure tensile strength of moist soil without making assumptions on the mode of failure. Undisturbed field-sampled soil cores were used in the test. The method was applicable at high matric potentials (-50 and -100 hPa) but not at -300 hPa. The direct tension test results corresponded well with the predicted values determined from the indirect measurements of aggregate tensile strength. In general, a fairly good agreement was found between the different methods in the hierarchy of methods applied. This indicates that sophisticated laboratory methods for assessing soil strength and fragmentation characteristics may well be used for evaluating soil behaviour under conditions prevailing in the field at the time of tillage. Nevertheless, it is recommended that laboratory methods are evaluated by using simple field methods at times and soil conditions appropriate for tillage. The friability index showed in general a low sensitivity to long- and short-term differences in soil management. However, a clear effect of soil water was found, i.e. maximum friability index values at -300 to -1000 hPa pressure potential. The effect of soil water on tensile strength and specific rupture energy of aggregates and on estimation of friability was investigated. As expected the study revealed the paramount influence of soil water. Interactions between soil water regime and treatment were found for cropping system soils (DFG(2) vs. CCC) and the fertilization treatments (UNF, NPK and AM) but not for the compaction treatments (PAC vs. REF). It was concluded that it might be hazardous to characterize soil fragmentation and friability properties of different treatments based on measurements at a single pressure potential and significant influence of pore characteristics was detected. Macroporosity was found to correlate to tensile strength and friability index. However, a clear correlation between tensile strength properties and pore geometry characteristics (e.g. tortuousity and continuity) was not shown. This may be due to large small-scale variations in these properties, i.e. the samples for tensile strength determination were taken next to the samples for pore characterization. Marked long-term effects of cropping systems and fertilization were found. For two neighbouring soils with a high input of organic matter, poorer soil mechanical characteristics were found for a soil with grass in the rotation (DFG(1)) than for a soil solely grown with annual crops (mainly cereals). This difference in strength and friability characteristics may be related to a higher amount of biological structural binding and bonding agents in the soil with grass included in the rotation. Two soils with high inputs of organic matter (DFG(2) and AM) displayed more desirable aggregate strength and soil fragmentation characteristics than their counterparts (CCC and UNF, respectively) receiving low inputs of organic matter. Evidence suggests that cementation of dispersed clay was a determining factor for the stronger increase in aggregate tensile strength with increased dryness (decreased pressure potential) found for the CCC and UNF soils receiving low inputs of organic matter compared with DFG(2) and AM. An early-stage effect of non-inversion tillage treatment (NINV) resulted in a poorer soil tilth in the topsoil layer (i.e., higher soil strength and lower ease of fragmentation and friability index) than for a conventionally mouldboard ploughed soil (CONV). Surprisingly, the effect of tillage on topsoil tilth was clearer by the end of the growing season in September than in May. This indicates that natural soil processes occurring during the growing season were not able eliminate the differences between the primary tillage treatments. Soil compaction (PAC) resulted in strongly increased aggregate tensile strength at all the investigated water regimes (i.e., pressure potentials: -100 hPa to -166 MPa) in comparison with a reference treatment (REF). Surprisingly, soil compaction did not significantly affect the specific rupture energy of the aggregates. This was related to a clear difference in the stress-strain relationship for the soils. Aggregates from the compacted soil failed at higher stress but at lower strain than aggregates from the reference soil (i.e., higher Young modulus, (Y/()). This was characteristic for all size-classes and at all pressure potentials. The results obtained in this study indicate that the prediction of soil fragmentation from tensile strength properties of soil elements may be very complex. We need more basic understanding of the fragmentation of "unconfined" soil at the different size-scales (aggregates to bulk soil) and the correlation between the different scales in order to be able to predict soil fragmentation in tillage (mainly superficial tillage) from a priori information. More specifically, the role of soil biology and soil water and pore characteristics needs to be studied in further detail. The development of new methods and the application of well-know methods to quantify soil fragmentation and friability of soil at conditions similar to soil conditions at tillage (including water content) has been a primary aim in this thesis. However, there is still a strong need to develop new methods and modify existing methods to quantify soil fragmentation and friability under controlled conditions. This study shows that soil compaction and intensive tillage significantly influence soil fragmentation and friability. Increasingly heavier machinery and - to some extent - more intensive seedbed preparation (PTO-driven implements) are being used in Danish agriculture. A thorough evaluation of this development on soil fragmentation and friability is needed. Furthermore, the accumulated knowledge of soil fragmentation and tensile failure in soil ought to be implemented in the design of new tillage implements

Assessment of Road Crossings for Improving Migratory Fish Passage in the Winnicut River Watershed

This report summarizes the results of a river continuity assessment focused on roadstream crossings. The Winnicut River is the site of a restoration project that removed a head-of-tide dam and resulted in the only free-flowing major tributary to the Great Bay Estuary. The river system currently supports a small annual run of river herring, and with the removal of the dam and ladder system, migratory fish will now have access to a total of 37 miles of potential upstream habitat. In anticipation of improved access, The Nature Conservancy conducted a fish passage assessment for all stream crossings above the head-of-tide dam. We used an assessment methodology based on the Massachusetts Riverways Program, with adjustments following a similar crossing study in the Ashuelot River system (NH). We assessed a total of 42 road crossings in the Winnicut watershed, and classified them as severe, moderate, minor, or passable for fish passage. One crossing was identified as severe, thirty-five were moderate, six were minor, and no crossings were determined to be fully passable for all fish. To develop a priority list of crossings for improvements, we focused on culverts with moderate or severe barrier rankings and screened out crossings associated with major highway infrastructure. We then used GIS analysis to determine the habitat potential upstream of each crossing, and prioritized crossings with greater than 0.5 miles of upstream habitat. We ordered priority crossings from nearest to furthest from the dam site at the river mouth. Our analysis produced a final list of 11 crossings that, if all were improved, would reestablish 19.5 miles of unfragmented habitat for migratory fish. We are sharing results of this study with local and state officials in hopes of securing funds and making structural enhancements to priority road crossings. Going forward, we hope that this information will lead to increases in migratory fish populations in the Winnicut River and throughout the entire Great Bay Estuary

Institutions, policy reforms and efficiency in new member states from Centraland Eastern Europe

This paper investigates determinants of agricultural sector efficiency in ten new member states (NMS-10) of the European Union (EU) from Central and Eastern European countries by the non-parametric method Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and the panel data analysis. The agricultural sector efficiency varies between the NMS-10. We have found positive and significant association of the agricultural sector efficiency with the natural agricultural factor endowments, average farm size, farm specialization, small-scale farms, and the EU integration process. The foreign direct investments have an ambiguous affect, while the nominal assistance rate is not found significant. Reform and institutional developments and liberalization are associated with the agricultural sector efficiency positively, and vice versa infrastructure development and agricultural policy reforms, which have caused job flows and agricultural employment adjustments. The urban-rural income gap with job flows and agricultural labour adjustments have caused the agricultural sector efficiency positively. --agricultural efficiency,institutions,policy reforms