The Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries: Issues, Terminology, Principles, Institutional Foundations, Implementation and Outlook

Ecosystems are complex and dynamic natural units that produce goods and services beyond those of benefit to fisheries. Because fisheries have a direct impact on the ecosystem, which is also impacted by other human activities, they need to be managed in an ecosystem context. The meaning of the terms 'ecosystem management', 'ecosystem based management', 'ecosystem approach to fisheries'(EAF), etc., are still not universally defined and progressively evolving. The justification of EAF is evident in the characteristics of an exploited ecosystem and the impacts resulting from fisheries and other activities. The rich set of international agreements of relevance to EAF contains a large number of principles and conceptual objectives. Both provide a fundamental guidance and a significant challenge for the implementation of EAF. The available international instruments also provide the institutional foundations for EAF. The FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries is particularly important in this respect and contains provisions for practically all aspects of the approach. One major difficulty in defining EAF lies precisely in turning the available concepts and principles into operational objectives from which an EAF management plan would more easily be developed. The paper discusses these together with the types of action needed to achieve them. Experience in EAF implementation is still limited but some issues are already apparent, e.g. in added complexity, insufficient capacity, slow implementation, need for a pragmatic approach, etc. It is argued, in conclusion, that the future of EAF and fisheries depends on the way in which the two fundamental concepts of fisheries management and ecosystem management, and their respective stakeholders, will join efforts or collide

Questioning, exploring, narrating and playing in the control room to maintain system safety

Systems whose design is primarily aimed at ensuring efficient, effective and safe working, such as control rooms, have traditionally been evaluated in terms of criteria that correspond directly to those values: functional correctness, time to complete tasks, etc. This paper reports on a study of control room working that identified other factors that contributed directly to overall system safety. These factors included the ability of staff to manage uncertainty, to learn in an exploratory way, to reflect on their actions, and to engage in problem-solving that has many of the hallmarks of playing puzzles which, in turn, supports exploratory learning. These factors, while currently difficult to measure or explicitly design for, must be recognized and valued in design

'What is to be sustained for whom?': Equity as a key to sustainable sanitation in South African informal settlements

Universal access to sustainable and equitable sanitation is a Sustainable Development Goal on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The South African government has taken strides to try and meet both international and domestic development goals with its Free Basic Sanitation policy, for which a national implementation strategy was developed in 2008. Although the policy was formulated at a national level, municipal governments are delegated the authority to ensure service delivery at the local level. Municipalities have adapted and interpreted the policy to suit their own contexts. In particular, they have attempted to address the challenge of providing sanitation services to informal settlements using different approaches with varying degrees of success and often without explicit consideration or guidance for how to incorporate sustainability and equity principles. The aims of this thesis are thus to explore how the concepts of sustainability and equity can be applied to improve municipal sanitation services in South African informal settlements and to explore how various dimensions of sanitation and equity relate to sanitation. A comparative case study method using the lens of sustainability and equity was used to critique the approaches to providing sanitation services to informal settlements in three of South Africa's largest municipalities: eThekwini (Durban), Johannesburg and Cape Town. Each municipal case study incorporated an embedded case study that was used to examine sanitation services in selected informal settlements at a programme, project or settlement level. Primary data was collected using interviews and field visits. Secondary data was obtained from national and municipal records such as water and sanitation department reports, census data from Statistics South Africa, and municipal geographical information system databases. Findings from the thesis indicate that there is a need to better incorporate multiple stakeholders' perspectives on what sustainable and equitable sanitation services should be like. Strengths and weaknesses of each municipality's approach to sanitation service provision were compared and used to identify factors relating to sustainability and equity. A major conceptual gap identified in sanitation service delivery approaches is the need to emphasise equity as a core tenet of sustainability, especially in a socio-economic context of extreme inequality. This thesis makes a contribution towards knowledge by highlighting the importance of equity to support sustainable sanitation service delivery in South African informal settlements, adding new perspective into different dimensions of equity in sanitation and a suggested framework for how they could be incorporated into M&E practices

Cultural oak landscapes as green infrastructure for human well-being

Human and nature interactions have been the ancestral normative model to provide and secure livelihoods worldwide. Hence, humans have been coevolving in an intrinsic relation with the natural system until medieval times. The mentioned interactions formed the so-called cultural landscapes as a result of human gradual re-organization and adaptation of the biophysical system to adapt better to changing societal demands. Concerned to balance sustainable development of landscapes among its social, economic and environmental dimensions, as well as aware of the important role of landscapes for individual and social well-being through their protection, management and planning, the European Landscape Convention emerged. The cultural dimension of landscapes has proven difficult to measure and thus commonly neglected in ecosystem services (ES) research. To tackle this knowledge gap, I first reviewed methods and tools to fully capture cultural ecosystem services in landscapes, to focus thereafter on the diagnosis of the cultural oak landscape in Östergötland (Sweden). I identified and analyzed the diversity of ES important for stakeholders at local and regional levels that represent different societal sectors. The private sector locally emphasized provisioning ES, whereas the civil and public sectors highlighted the importance of cultural services in terms of recreational values and landscape beauty. Supporting services were considered only in relation to biodiversity, especially species and habitats linked to old oaks. Hotspot of ES were identified and discussed in terms of green infrastructures for human well-being. Traditional farming practices are in a steady regression which entails greater uncertainty for the long term survival of such systems and associated diversity of delivered services and values. Solutions, including adaptations of modern farming techniques to better mimic the traditional ones are urgently needed, as well as the generation of additional income through alternative rural development initiatives such as tourism and recreation. Complex realities demand multi-disciplinary methods and approaches to find viable ground-based solutions. We suggest holistic research methods, hands on with stakeholders, i.e. transdisciplinary research, to satisfy the increasingly complex needs, improved understanding of conservation objectives and demands of a changing society

Rainfed agriculture: unlocking the potential

Rainfed farming / Soil degradation / Crop production / Climate change / Irrigation methods / Water harvesting / Yield gap / Models / Supplemental irrigation / Water productivity / Watershed management / India

The Politics of Health: Community Engagement in South African HIV Vaccine Trial Sites

This research responds to limited evidence of the social and political aspects of health biotechnologies. Reaching beyond the literature on trial participation, it explores the extent to which members of Community Advisory Boards (CABs) play meaningful political roles in South African vaccine clinical trial sites. The thesis confirms the need to understand the socio-economic, political and historical contexts in which local health initiatives are situated, by identifying the combined impact of negative social norms and the politics of HIV/AIDS which limit access to health. Interviews, focus groups and observations gathered in trial sites and documentary data reveal complex interrelationships between global and national health governance and local agency. Concepts from theories of social justice, governance, power and citizenship develop the literature on health activism beyond the descriptive by providing a theoretical framework to understand that complexity. Empirical data reveal the complexities of the lives of people who are at the receiving end of global health policy and the realities of the political channels open to them; shedding light on previously unexplored factors enhancing or inhibiting community participation in health governance. Information on HIV/AIDS and vaccine science increases opportunities for negotiating rather than reacting to decisions over health strategies. Networking with wider health and other community-based and civil society organisations develops that agency. However,the ideals of community engagement are challenged by: the political dynamics of CABS which frustrate collective action; intermittent contact between trial site researchers and CABs; the accountabilities of researchers to donors and communities; and limited representation of those heterogeneous communities. The impact of multiple forms of stigma on marginalised and vulnerable women, Men Who have Sex with Men (MSM) and migrants confirms the value of looking at health inequalities in terms of variable health needs in context rather than seeking equal distribution of health resources

Biotechnology and the African Farmer

Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

Evaluation of WATSAN technologies in developing countires: development and testing of a diagnostic tool

For decades the problems of access to and sustained use of water and sanitation (WATSAN) technologies in developing countries has dominated the political agendas of international organisations and governments. Despite the significant investments made and the apparent appropriateness of technologies transferred, the effective implementation and sustained use of WATSAN technologies remains a chimera. More importantly, improving access to water and sanitation does not necessarily guarantee the longevity of those systems transferred. Lessons from past interventions suggest that the success of WATSAN interventions depends on the ability of ensuring users‟ broad acceptance of the technologies and sustained used after donor assistance ends. Yet, in the academic literature users‟ feedback and experiences in the post-implementation stage of technologies has received scarce attention. Against this background, this thesis aims to contribute to understanding the dynamics involved in the process of WATSAN technology adoption and sustained use in developing countries by reporting the design and evaluation of a diagnostic post- implementation tool, called RECAP, to address and investigate the problem. This research employs a multiple case study approach to evaluate users‟ post-implementation experience of WATSAN technologies in South Africa and Indonesia. Semi-structured interviews with technology users as well as in depth interviews with local governments and health clinics were conducted in three case studies. By comparing and contrasting technology intended performance and users‟ experiences in the post-implementation stage this study aims to identify potential challenges to technology sustained used. Conclusions relate to the existence of discrepancies between performance and experience, manifested in the post-implementation stage, which suggest the necessity to develop evolving mechanisms to routinely assess users‟ feedbacks of the technologies and assist them with appropriate interventions. Further conclusions relate to the validity, reliability and flexibility of a post-implementation diagnostic tool in investigating user experiences, diagnosing emerging challenges and suggesting remedial intervention to contribute to sustained technology use

Local housing allowance final evaluation : implementation and delivery in Lewisham

This report is the last in a series of evaluating the impact of the Local Housing Allowance (LHA) on the Housing Benefit (HB) administration in the Lewisham. The key stakeholder groups in Lewisham were identified as HB administration, the Rent Service and Jobcentre Plus. The Fraud Team within the Council, and Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) and Shelter as local stakeholders, were also included in the evaluation. Landlords were surveyed and interviewed at the Baseline stage of the evaluation, and a small focus group of landlords was convened at Wave 2. A series of interviews was conducted by senior staff from the Centre for Research in Social Policy with individuals from the stakeholder groups in Lewisham. These followed a set of topic guides, see Appendix, designed for each type of stakeholder (which were also used in the other eight Pathfinders)