First-Class but not for Long: Heterogeneous Infrastructure and Water Bricolage in Accra’s Kiosk Compounds

This paper explores the micro-geographies of water access in the context of a first-class residential neighborhood of Accra served by the city’s networked infrastructure. We focus our analyses on how water is accessed and supplied to six kiosk compounds—privately owned, walled plots of land provisionally inhabited by urban dwellers living in kiosk-like structures with the (tacit) knowledge of the plot-owners. We document how kiosk inhabitants access pipe-born water, despite not being directly connected to the city’s network, through diverse configurations of actors, practices, and material set ups. Our findings suggest more attention should be paid to the micro-geographies of water distribution in networked neighborhoods as this contributes to more nuanced understandings of the uneven and diverse ways through which water is distributed in the context of Accra’s incremental urbanization. To analyze this diversity, we suggest combining the heuristic of heterogenous infrastructure configurations with the concept of water bricolage and using the plot as a unit of analysis.Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100002347Universität Trier (3163)Peer Reviewe

Das Anthropozän und die große Transformation - Perspektiven für eine kritische raumwissenschaftliche Governance- und Transformationsforschung

Der Beitrag setzt sich kritisch mit dem neuen raumwissenschaftlichen Leitbegriff "Transformation" auseinander, indem das zugrunde liegende Begründungsnarrativ - das Anthropozän - in den Blick genommen wird. Geschieht dies nämlich nicht, so unterliegt die raumwissenschaftliche Forschung der Gefahr, zu einer a-politischen, räumlich undifferenzierten und eurozentrischen Governance- und Transformationsforschung beizutragen. Stattdessen schlage ich vor, das Politische und Fragen der Macht stärker in den Fokus des theoretischen, methodischen und empirischen Interesses zu rücken und eine generelle Ungleichheitsperspektive einzunehmen. Pluralität und Diversität (in sozialer und räumlicher Perspektive sowie mit Blick auf die Produktion von Wissen) werden so zu zentralen querliegenden Dimensionen einer raumwissenschaftlichen Governance- und Transformationsforschung, die vom Wesen her reflexiv angelegt sein sollte.The article critically engages with the concept of the great transformation in regard to the underlying narrative - namely the Anthropocene concept. If we miss to reflect on the epistemologies underpinning the Anthropocene debate, governance and transformation research might - unconsciously - contribute to a-political, spatially undifferentiated and Eurocentric scholarship. Hence, I propose to actively engage with politics and the political as well as power dimensions that are related to transformation in order to inform its theoretical, methodological, and empirical foundations. Generally, a perspective on inequality, plurality and diversity (also with regard to knowledge production) should be starting point for a critical and reflexive governance and transformation research

Governance im Küstenraum: europäische Umweltpolitik im Wandel ; die Umsetzung des Integrierten Küstenzonenmanagements und der Wasserrahmenrichtlinie an der Westküste Schleswig-Holsteins

Die Wasserrahmenrichtlinie und das Integrierte Küstenzonenmanagement gelten als Beispiele für einen umweltpolitischen Paradigmenwandel des europäischen Gemeinschaftsrechts. Die Arbeit geht der Frage nach, ob und wie diese Ansätze zu einer Veränderung von Governance auf regionaler Ebene führen. Die Fallstudienanalyse bedient sich der Governance-Perspektive, um auf Formen des Regierens mit zivilgesellschaftlicher Beteiligung zu fokussieren. Von besonderem Interesse ist das Zusammenspiel zwischen institutionellen ¬Bedingungen und kollektivem Handeln von Akteuren. Die regionale Ebene steht im Vordergrund der Empirie, weil ihr von der EU eine besondere Bedeutung zugeschrieben wird. Neu an den gemeinschaftsrechtlichen Ansätzen und für eine geographische Arbeit von hoher Relevanz ist, dass ein integriertes Management in neuen Raumeinheiten angestrebt wird (Küstenraum / Flusseinzugsgebiet)

Das Integrationsprinzip in der raumbedeutsamen Umweltplanung - das Handlungsfeld Klimawandel

Im Rahmen der Tagung des Jungen Forums im Jahr 2009 widmete sich eine Arbeitsgruppe aktuellen Debatten der raumbedeutsamen Umweltplanung. Das Interesse für das Integrationsprinzip in diesem Handlungsfeld leitet sich aus den gegenwärtigen Bestrebungen der Europäischen Union, integrierte Managementstrategien für ausgewählte Räume (Küstenräume, Flussgebiete) bzw. für ausgewählte globale Herausforderungen (Klimawandel) zu implementieren, ab. Die Beiträge werden durch ihren Fokus auf die Abgrenzung und Bildung von (neuen) Planungs- und Handlungsräumen, den Wandel der Steuerungsformen und -prozesse und einem daraus möglicherweise resultierenden veränderten Verhältnis von räumlicher Querschnittsplanung zu ausgewählten Fachplanungen verbunden.At the 2009 meeting of the Young Professionals’ Forum, one working group was dedicated to considering the current state of discussion in the field of environmental planning with spatial impacts. In this field, interest in the principle of integration stems from current endeavours on the part of the European Union to implement integrated management strategies for selected areas (coastal areas, river catchment areas) as well as in response to selected global challenges (climate change). The papers presented share a common focus on the demarcation and creation of (new) areas for planning and for action, on changes to forms and processes of control, and the possibly ensuing change in the relationship between overarching spatial planning and selected types of sectoral planning

Stadt, Land Me(e/h)r - ein Mosaik der Integration?

Zum Abschluss des Jungen Forums 2009 wurde im Sinne des Tagungsthemas "Integration" ein neuer Ansatz der Plenumsarbeit ausprobiert. Mithilfe der Methode "OpenSpace" wurden in den Arbeitsgruppen vorbereitete Fragestellungen übergreifend diskutiert und die Ergebnisse reflektiert. Hier erreichte die Diskussion zwar eine geringere Tiefe als in den Arbeitsgruppen, aber es konnten wichtige Querbezüge der einzelnen Themen hergestellt werden. Das Ergebnis war eine übergreifende Diskussion des Tagungsthemas "Integration - Stadt, Land, Mee(h)r" deren Ergebnis das Junge Forum 2009 gewinnbringend abrundete. Integration wurde als eine Aufgabe herausgestellt, die Planung und Akteure in vielfältiger Weise fordert, was Planungsinhalte und nötige Qualifikationen der Planenden angeht.At the end of its conference, the Junges Forum 2009 (Young Professionals’ Forum) tried a new approach to working in the plenum within the spirit of the conference topic of "integration". The "OpenSpace" method allowed for joined-up discussion of the questions prepared in the working groups and reflection on the results of discussion. This discussion could not be as in-depth as the preceding discussions in the respective working groups, but the results revealed important cross-connections. In a very positive way, the discussion pulled together various aspects of the conference topic of "Integration - Stadt, Land, Mee(h)r" ("Town, country and beyond"), a title which in German plays on the homophony of the words for ‘sea’ and ‘more’. Integration was seen as a multi-faceted challenge to planning and to all of the actors involved, touching both on the content of planning as well as on the qualifications required on the part of planners

A transdisciplinary account of water research

TK acknowledges funding by the German Excellence Initiative through IRI THESys. GC acknowledges funding from the Austrian Science Funds (FWF) as part of the Vienna Doctoral Programme on Water Resource Systems (DK-plus W1219-N22).Water research is introduced from the combined perspectives of natural and social science and cases of citizen and stakeholder coproduction of knowledge. Using the overarching notion of transdisciplinarity, we examine how interdisciplinary and participatory water research has taken place and could be developed further. It becomes apparent that water knowledge is produced widely within society, across certified disciplinary experts and noncertified expert stakeholders and citizens. However, understanding and management interventions may remain partial, or even conflicting, as much research across and between traditional disciplines has failed to integrate disciplinary paradigms due to philosophical, methodological, and communication barriers. We argue for more agonistic relationships that challenge both certified and noncertified knowledge productively. These should include examination of how water research itself embeds and is embedded in social context and performs political work. While case studies of the cultural and political economy of water knowledge exist, we need more empirical evidence on how exactly culture, politics, and economics have shaped this knowledge and how and at what junctures this could have turned out differently. We may thus channel the coproductionist critique productively to bring perspectives, alternative knowledges, and implications into water politics where they were not previously considered; in an attempt to counter potential lock‐in to particular water policies and technologies that may be inequitable, unsustainable, or unacceptable. While engaging explicitly with politics, transdisciplinary water research should remain attentive to closing down moments in the research process, such as framings, path‐dependencies, vested interests, researchers’ positionalities, power, and scale.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

WaterPower: studying physical and socio-political factors in water security

This briefing paper presents the initial findings as well as the integrative approach of the project WaterPower. WaterPower is a four year research project that is currently in its second year. The project combines multiple scientific perspectives to study how social and biophysical factors are interacting to shape the various uses and flows of water in Accra. The city of Accra has been chosen as a case study due to its status as a coastal capital in the global south where major global trends such as climate change and rapid urbanization intersect. Water as a natural resource, we content, is not only of great importance for the sustainability of ecosystems and socioeconomic systems. Flows and uses of water are also bound to questions of politics, security and accessibility. However, in spite of these interrelated social and biophysical challenges we maintain that Water Studies as a field of research is still surprisingly disciplinary in its approach and scientific outlook. This briefing paper therefore pursues a twofold objective. On the one hand, we seek to show how the WaterPower research approach can contribute to a more integrated understanding of Water Studies in an urban context. On the other hand, we present our initial findings on how individual and collective capacities for responding to the multiple water-related pressures at hand can be strengthened. In sum, we emphasize that an ongoing and intensive exchange with stakeholders, policy-makers and interested parties in Ghana is essential for WaterPower’s integrative approach

Achieving Sustainable Development Goals from a Water Perspective

Efforts to meet human water needs only at local scales may cause negative environmental externality and stress on the water system at regional and global scales. Hence, assessing SDG targets requires a broad and in-depth knowledge of the global to local dynamics of water availability and use. Further, Interconnection and trade-offs between different SDG targets may lead to sub-optimal or even adverse outcome if the set of actions are not properly pre-designed considering such interlinkages. Thus scientific research and evidence have a role to play in facilitating the implementation of SDGs through assessments and policy engagement from global to local scales. The paper addresses some of these challenges related to implementation and monitoring the targets of the Sustainable Development Goals from a water perspective, based on the key findings of a conference organised in 2015 with the focus on three essential aspects of SDGs- indicators, interlinkages and implementation. The paper discusses that indicators should not be too simple but ultimately deliver sustainability measures. The paper finds that remote sensing and earth observation technologies can play a key role in supporting the monitoring of water targets. It also recognises that implementing SDGs is a societal process of development, and there is need to link how SDGs relate to public benefits and communicate this to the broader public

Small-Animal PET Imaging of Amyloid-Beta Plaques with [11C]PiB and Its Multi-Modal Validation in an APP/PS1 Mouse Model of Alzheimer's Disease

In vivo imaging and quantification of amyloid-β plaque (Aβ) burden in small-animal models of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a valuable tool for translational research such as developing specific imaging markers and monitoring new therapy approaches. Methodological constraints such as image resolution of positron emission tomography (PET) and lack of suitable AD models have limited the feasibility of PET in mice. In this study, we evaluated a feasible protocol for PET imaging of Aβ in mouse brain with [11C]PiB and specific activities commonly used in human studies. In vivo mouse brain MRI for anatomical reference was acquired with a clinical 1.5 T system. A recently characterized APP/PS1 mouse was employed to measure Aβ at different disease stages in homozygous and hemizygous animals. We performed multi-modal cross-validations for the PET results with ex vivo and in vitro methodologies, including regional brain biodistribution, multi-label digital autoradiography, protein quantification with ELISA, fluorescence microscopy, semi-automated histological quantification and radioligand binding assays. Specific [11C]PiB uptake in individual brain regions with Aβ deposition was demonstrated and validated in all animals of the study cohort including homozygous AD animals as young as nine months. Corresponding to the extent of Aβ pathology, old homozygous AD animals (21 months) showed the highest uptake followed by old hemizygous (23 months) and young homozygous mice (9 months). In all AD age groups the cerebellum was shown to be suitable as an intracerebral reference region. PET results were cross-validated and consistent with all applied ex vivo and in vitro methodologies. The results confirm that the experimental setup for non-invasive [11C]PiB imaging of Aβ in the APP/PS1 mice provides a feasible, reproducible and robust protocol for small-animal Aβ imaging. It allows longitudinal imaging studies with follow-up periods of approximately one and a half years and provides a foundation for translational Alzheimer neuroimaging in transgenic mice

The Anthropocene and the great transformation: Perspectives for critical governance and transformation research in the spatial sciences

This article critically examines the new guiding concept of transformation in the spatial sciences with regard to its underlying narrative - namely the Anthropocene. Without such an examination, spatial science research might contribute to apolitical, spatially undifferentiated and Eurocentric governance and transformation research. Hence, I propose to place political aspects and questions of power more firmly in the focus of theoretical, methodological and empirical interest and to take up a general perspective of inequality. Plurality and diversity (from a social and spatial perspective as well as with regard to knowledge production) therefore become the central transverse dimensions of governance and transformation research, which should essentially be reflexive