State of Our Estuaries 2013

Every three years the Piscataqua Region Estuaries Partnership (PREP) produces this condition and environmental trends report in an effort to provide communities and citizens with an informed and comprehensive evaluation of what is being observed in our estuaries. This report presents our assessment of 22 key indicators of the health of our bays: 15 of which are classified as having cautionary or negative conditions or trends, while 7 show positive conditions or trends. The overall assessment shows that there is reason to be concerned about the health of our estuaries, and that increased efforts to study and restore our estuaries are needed. It also shows that there are effective efforts that can be made now to begin to reverse trends of concern

Engaging Pre-Service Teachers in Interactive Social Justice-Themed Read-Alouds

This qualitative case study explored how pre-service teachers responded to social justice-themed picture book read-alouds in an undergraduate literacy course. Data were collected from personal observations, semi-structured focus group interviews, and student work, and were analyzed using inductive analysis. Findings indicate how reading multicultural literature aloud plays an important role in post-secondary students’ content understanding and preparation for a career in teaching. This case study may inspire teacher educators to incorporate multicultural read-alouds into higher education coursework

The common characteristics of land and water resources to develop agricultural cultivation : a case of a developing nation

Indonesia produces rice as a staple crop, but its water resources are limited, resulting in a severe battle for water between industry and agriculture. In many regions, the overexploitation of groundwater has resulted in a significant lack of water resources, creating a formidable obstacle to agricultural development. To maintain regional food security and sustainable rice agriculture, eight cities in the province of South Sulawesi were studied as study units in this work. The study's objective was to establish the optimal layout for rice cultivation regarding agricultural water and land resources. Secondly, the author evaluated the cultivated area based on existing agricultural water resources and irrigation development. Second, the study determined the layout for water-appropriate rice cultivation. Results indicated that the amount of agricultural and irrigated area that available water resources can support has about reached its maximum capacity. Ensure the sustainable development of the entire region, mitigate water scarcity, and ensure national food security. Yet, the spatial distribution of water demand for rice production has altered in the opposite direction of the quantity of water resources for agriculture per unit of irrigated area and precipitation. This indicates a mismatch between rice production and water availability, necessitating more water to sustain rice agriculture. The growing trend of the Gini coefficient shows that water restrictions constrain large-scale expansion of agricultural and irrigated regions. The study suggested focusing on regions with abundant water resources to promote irrigation and water-appropriate rice agriculture further.Ida Hodiyah (Department of Agrotechnology, Faculty of Agriculture, Universitas Siliwangi)Includes bibliographical references

Water chemistry variations below regulating reservoirs in Great Britain

The downstream influence of storage reservoirs upon river water chemistry is an area largely devoid of literature. Yet approximately fifty per cent of such reservoirs in Great Britain significantly regulate flow, both by flood control, and increasingly through irregular but discrete large-volume releases. Natural patterns of stream water chemistry are shown to be disturbed by the effects of Man, through changing land-use and effluent discharge. Moreover, the establishment of a reservoir in the head waters of a major river, can change the water quality regime for a considerable distance below the dam. [Continues.

The Influences of China’s circular economy on Swedish companies

As the human ecological footprint is increasing and human consumption is disrupting thenatural ecosystem, the need for change towards sustainable development has never been more pressing. Due to globalisation, the impacts of consumption are not limited to a country’s border but rather an issue that influences the whole world. Historically have companies moved much of their production to countries with more financially beneficial conditions where China has been one of the main destinations. This has led to China becoming a major global player, where much of the world’s unsustainable manufacturing is happening. The companies that are contributing to this unsustainable development are now demanded by their stakeholders to take more responsibility for their impacts. A way to do this is to leave the traditional linear economy and work towards a circular economy instead. Circular economy has developed differently, depending on geographic location. It can be seen that within Europe, the concept has developed through a bottom-up approach where the market has been the main impeller for change. In China, circular economy has developed from a governmental direction, a top-down approach, where policies and regulations are the main drivers. Within this context, there are Swedish companies active in both the Chinese and European circular economy context and this could influence their work towards circular economy. Research on circular economy in China has mainly focused on macro and meso level, leaving the micro level less explored. Therefore, this study is conducted through a micro perspective and with the aim to gain a better understanding of how China’s approach towards circular economy is influencing Swedish companies in China and Hong Kong. This aim is met by conducting a qualitative, multiple case study on Swedish companies that are active in China and Hong Kong. The data is collected through semi-structured interviews and is analysed with the guidance of the theoretical framework based on perational drivers and barriers for companies to work with sustainability and circular economy. The study’s key findings are that sustainability and circular economy is complex and that the external factors; government, customer demand and public awareness seem to be more influential than the internal factors. The government is seen to be both a driver and a barrier, which can indicate that the government has an important role in the context of circular economy in China. The government has, through regulations, increased access to information and improved industries environmental performance. However, the government is not viewing circular economy through a holistic perspective which is seen to become a barrier for the companies’ sustainability work. The customer demand & public awareness are also external factors, identified by all companies to be influencing both their work but also the internal drivers and barriers to work with circular economy. The customer demand is mainly coming from the European market, whereas it is the low public awareness in China that still poses as a barrier for the companies. This further emphasis that these external factors importance when analysing the influences of Chinas circular economy approach on these companies. Furthermore, the study confirms the view that the concept circular economy is adaptive and changes depending on what context it is applied to. This is because it is seen that the companies are influenced by both the European and the Chinese context within their business practices and that the work towards circular economy differs between each company. Based on this, it can be seen that circular economy is a complex issue influenced by its context and in order for it to be further implemented, complex solutions are needed.I och med att det mänskliga ekologiska fotavtrycket ökar och att dagens konsumtionsmönster stör de naturliga ekosystemen, har behovet av förändring för en hållbar utveckling aldrig varit mer brådskande. Den globalisering som skett har lett till att effekterna av överkonsumtionen inte bara har nationella effekter utan även globala. Historiskt sett har företag valt att flytta sin produktion utomlands, till länder med mer fördelaktiga villkor, där Kina har varit en utav huvuddestinationerna. Denna utveckling har gjort Kina till en betydande global marknadsaktör, som påverkar internationella företag och deras arbete på den kinesiska marknaden. Dessa företag har allt eftersom medvetenheten ökar, fått högre krav på sitt hållbarhetsarbete från sina intressenter och är därmed en viktig aktör för att driva en hållbar utveckling framåt. Ett sätt för företag att arbete med detta i praktiken är attställa om till cirkulär ekonomi från den traditionella linjära ekonomin. Cirkulär ekonomi som koncept har utvecklats på olika håll i världen men med grundtanken att förändra resursflödet till cirkulära processer som minimerar uppkomsten av avfall. I Europa har utveckling främst skett utifrån marknads- och företagsinitiativ, samtidigt som i Kina har utvecklingen skett genom statliga initiativ och lagkrav. Internationella företag som är aktiva både i Europa och Kina kan därmed bli påverkade av båda dessa kontexter och även influera hur de väljer att ta sig an cirkulär ekonomi. Studier på cirkulär ekonomi i Kina har huvudsakligen fokuserat på makro- och meso-nivå, vilket har lett till att mikro-nivån är ett relativt outforskat område. Denna studie ämnar till att ur ett företagsperspektiv analysera hur svenska företag aktiva på den kinesiska marknaden påverkas av att arbeta i en multinationell kontext i deras arbete med cirkulär ekonomi. Syftet med studien är att skapa en ökad förståelse av hur den kinesiska cirkulär ekonomi-kontexten påverkar arbetet för cirkulär ekonomi för svenska företag aktiva i Kina och Hong Kong. Syftet uppfylls genom en kvalitativ, flerfallstudie av fem svenska företag i Kina och Hong Kong. Informationen samlas in genom semi-strukturerade intervjuer och analyseras med hjälp utav ett teoretiskt ramverk baserat på operativa faktorer - drivkrafter och barriärer – för företag att arbete med hållbarhet och cirkulär ekonomi. Det påvisas i studien att de externa faktorerna; staten, kundefterfrågan och allmänna medvetenheten är de faktorer med störst inflytande på företagens arbete med cirkulär ekonomi. Detta baseras på att flest företag identifierade dem som drivkrafter eller barriärer samt att de externa faktorerna även påverkade de interna drivkrafterna och barriärerna. Staten är identifierad som både en drivkraft och en barriär, vilket antyder att den kan ha en stor påverkan på hur företag arbetar med cirkulär ekonomi. Kundefterfrågan och den allmänna medvetenheten visade sig enligt studien inte bara påverka företagens hållbarhetsarbete i sig, men även hur de interna faktorerna influerade företagens arbete. Resultatet av denna studie indikerar även att cirkulär ekonomi och hållbarhet är komplexa koncept som både är adaptiva och dynamiska beroende på vart och vem som använder dem. Detta är på grund av att företagens arbete med cirkulär ekonomi varierar beroende på vilket företag och att företagen influeras av både den europeiska och den kinesiska kontexten. Därmed går det inte att dra slutsatsen att företag är influerade enbart av den ena eller den andra kontexten, utan formas och anpassas utefter företagets unika situation. Slutligen visar studien på att företag aktiva i multinationella kontexter påverkas av sin omgivning men även att för att arbeta med cirkulär ekonomi krävs komplexa tillvägagångssätt

DO THE RIGHT THING! PRO-SOCIAL DISOBEDIENCE, MORAL REASONING, AND ENGAGEMENT VALUES AS PREDICTORS OF A (NEW) MODEL OF COLLECTIVE ACTION

Il contributo presenta i risultati di un progetto multi-fase che ha avuto come obiettivo la creazione di un nuovo modello di azione collettiva solidarity-based. Sviluppatosi in tre fasi conseguenti e necessarie, tale progetto mira a fornire indicazioni teoriche, metodologiche ed applicative per interventi di cittadinanza globale capaci di favorire condizioni di giustizia sociale. La prima fase consta di uno studio cross-culturale condotto in Italia, Austria e Stati Uniti volto a rilevare le rappresentazioni sociali dei concetti di obbedienza e disobbedienza in gruppi di giovani-adulti. La discussione dei risultati evidenzia similitudini e differenze cross-culturali tra le rappresentazioni e definisce, per la prima volta in letteratura, attraverso l’utilizzo di mixed methods completamente bottom-up i concetti di obbedienza e disobbedienza. Nella seconda fase è stato creato e validato uno strumento psicometrico in grado di misurare l’atteggiamento relativo alla disobbedienza pro-sociale poiché, nella terza e ultima fase, tale costrutto, insieme alle variabili ragionamento morale e valori di impegno, sono state testate come predittrici del modello EMSICA, modello esplicativo di un’azione collettiva a favore di un out-group in condizioni di svantaggio sociale. La discussione dei risultati indica la rilevanza empirica di tali variabili offrendo interessanti spunti di riflessione per i policy maker.This dissertation presents the results of a multi-phase project whose goal was the creation of a new model of solidarity-based collective action. Developed in three consequential and necessary phases, this project aims to provide theoretical, methodological and practical guidance for interventions of global citizenship to favor conditions of social justice. The first phase consists of a cross-cultural study conducted in Italy, Austria and the United States aimed at detecting the social representations of the concepts of obedience and disobedience in young adults groups. The discussion of the results highlights the similarities and the differences between cross-cultural representations and defines the concepts of obedience and disobedience for the first time in literature, through the use of completely bottom-up mixed methods. In the second phase has been created and validated a psychometric instrument that can measure the attitude related to pro-social disobedience because, in the third and final stage, this construct, along with the variables moral reasoning and engagement values, have been tested as predictors of the EMSICA model, that explains collective action in favor of a disadvantaged out-group. The discussion of the results indicates the empirical relevance of these variables offering interesting insights for policy makers

Re-civilizing the land : conservation and postwar reconstruction in Ontario, 1939-1961

Includes such topics as land use, flooding, rural landscape, fishing, agriculture, family farms, watershed conservation, river basins, flood control, reforestation, woodlot management, underground water supplies, wildlife and recreation

History of Federal water resources programs and policies, 1961-1970

This publication is a comprehensive account of major Federal programs and policies relating to conservation and development of water and related land resources and to water pollution control in the years 1961 to 1970. It discusses most relevant Federal legislation and the functioning of Federal and federally-assisted programs involving research, planning, construction, and regulation. Also discussed are national, regional, and local political issues related to water programs and policies; presidential, congressional, and agency policymaking processes; and origins of the environmental movement and its effects on water resources programs and policies. Keywords: Water resources development, water pollution control, water resources planning, water legislation, environmental legislation, Federal agencies, environmental movement, and water politics.Gerald W. Williams Collectio