Toward the development of a conceptual framework for the complex interaction between environmental changes and rural-urban migration

Environmental changes can result in dramatic increases in human migration as households become unable to adapt to such changes. Addressing environmental migration is a complex puzzle that can become a wicked problem. Despite the growing literature on the nexus between environmental change and migration, the inextricable link between nature and society has made it difficult to establish causal relations between the two. To examine the relationship between environmental change and migration, it is necessary to develop a conceptual model that includes environmental changes as potential causes of rural-urban migration (RUM). Such a model should be built on an enhanced understanding of the different factors that stimulate environmentally induced RUM. This paper proposes such a model, focusing on loss of agricultural land, loss of agricultural productivity and the economic repercussions of these losses. The model is based on the model of Perch-Nielsen et al. but extends this model by incorporating additional factors. In our model, the three leading causes of RUM are climate change, human maladaptive activities, and hydro-climatic disasters (the push factors). In addition, there may be pull factors in the cities. RUM may be counteracted or reduced by governmental policy and individuals' characteristics. The model was applied to Iran. The results show that the model can help to bridge the knowledge gap regarding environmentally induced RUM and may inform policymaking on RUM and related issues, such as environmental management and adaptation to climate change.</p

Multi Attribute Decision Making Approach for the Selection of Urban Wastewater System

Implementation and operation of municipal wastewater collection systems is an essential part of qualitative water resource management. In this paper, the most appropriate alternative among a set of limited of wastewater collection systems was selected using different quantitative and qualitative attributes. Moreover, the impact of risk attitudes of decision makers (DMs) on selection of the most preferred alternative was evaluated. As a case study the best alternative was examined using four MADM methods including Simple Additive Weighting (SAW), Compromise Programming (CP), TOPSIS, and Hybrid Weighted Averaging (HWA) to validate the application of RB-MADM methods in wastewater collection systems. Then, the impact of selection of MADM method on the final outcome was studied and the results were compared

A fuzzy group decision making approach to construction project risk management

Implementation of the risk management concepts into construction practice may enhance the performance of project by taking appropriate response actions against identified risks. This research proposes a multi-criteria group decision making approach for the evaluation of different alternative response scenarios. To take into account the uncertainties inherent in evaluation process, fuzzy logic is integrated into the revaluation process. To evaluate alternative response scenarios, first the collective group weight of each criterion is calculated considering opinions of a group consisted of five experts. As each expert has its own ideas, attitudes, knowledge and personalities, different experts will give their preferences in different ways. Fuzzy preference relations are used to unify the opinions of different experts. After computation of collective weights, the best alternative response scenario is selected by the use of proposed fuzzy group decision making methodology which aggregates opinions of different experts. To evaluate the performance of the proposed methodology, it is implemented in a real project and the best alternative responses scenario is selected for one of the identified risks

Spatiotemporal Characterization and Analysis of River Morphology Using Long-Term Landsat Imagery and Stream Power

Meandering rivers are among the most dynamic Earth-surface systems, which generally appear in fertile valleys, the most valuable lands for agriculture and human settlement. Landsat time series and morphological parameters are complementary tools for exploring river dynamics. Karun River is the most effluent and largest meandering river in Iran, which keeps the Karun’s basin economy, agriculture, and industrial sections alive; hence, investigating morphological changes in this river is essential. The morphological characteristics of Karun have undergone considerable changes over time due to several tectonic, hydrological, hydraulic, and anthropogenic factors. This study has identified and analyzed morphological changes in Karun River using a time series of Landsat imagery from 1985–2015. On that basis, morphological dynamics, including the river’s active channel width, meander’s neck length, water flow length, sinuosity index, and Cornice central angle, were quantitatively investigated. Additionally, the correlation between the stream power and morphological factors was explored using the data adopted from the hydrometric stations. The results show that the dominant pattern of the Karun River, due to the sinuosity coefficient, is meandering, and the majority of the river falls in the category of developed meander rivers. Moreover, the number of arteries reduced in an anabranch pattern, and the river has been migrating towards the downstream and eastern sides since 1985. This phenomenon disposes a change in the future that can be hazardous to the croplands and demands specific considerations for catchment management

Spatiotemporal Characterization and Analysis of River Morphology Using Long-Term Landsat Imagery and Stream Power

Meandering rivers are among the most dynamic Earth-surface systems, which generally appear in fertile valleys, the most valuable lands for agriculture and human settlement. Landsat time series and morphological parameters are complementary tools for exploring river dynamics. Karun River is the most effluent and largest meandering river in Iran, which keeps the Karun&rsquo;s basin economy, agriculture, and industrial sections alive; hence, investigating morphological changes in this river is essential. The morphological characteristics of Karun have undergone considerable changes over time due to several tectonic, hydrological, hydraulic, and anthropogenic factors. This study has identified and analyzed morphological changes in Karun River using a time series of Landsat imagery from 1985&ndash;2015. On that basis, morphological dynamics, including the river&rsquo;s active channel width, meander&rsquo;s neck length, water flow length, sinuosity index, and Cornice central angle, were quantitatively investigated. Additionally, the correlation between the stream power and morphological factors was explored using the data adopted from the hydrometric stations. The results show that the dominant pattern of the Karun River, due to the sinuosity coefficient, is meandering, and the majority of the river falls in the category of developed meander rivers. Moreover, the number of arteries reduced in an anabranch pattern, and the river has been migrating towards the downstream and eastern sides since 1985. This phenomenon disposes a change in the future that can be hazardous to the croplands and demands specific considerations for catchment management

Consensus-Based Fuzzy Group Decision-Making Framework for Tailoring Good Water Governance to the Context: A Case Study of Sistan, Iran

Although good water governance (GWG) is a widely accepted concept, mistaking its principles for silver bullet approaches has hindered its successful applications. This highlights the idea that one-size-fits-all thinking does not satisfy the need to navigate toward sustainable outcomes in ever-changing complex water systems. This also indicates that endeavors toward governing water systems must be tailored to the specific context that these systems are nested within. Scholars have pointed out the importance of residents' input in contextualizing water governance practices. With that being said, this paper proposes an innovative approach to tailoring principles of GWG to the context by building an analytical framework upon which survey research was conducted. The survey, it took input from three categories of residents, namely experts, authorities, and experienced locals. Analyzing the data led to a group decision-making problem that was approached using fuzzy risk-based multiple-attribute decision-making methods, including technique for order of preference by similarity to ideal solution and ordered weighted averaging, while considering the amount of consensus among mentioned groups. Furthermore, to validate the results of the decision-making problem analysis, additional interviews were conducted to get a more pragmatic picture of the situation. Sistan Delta in Iran was selected as a case study mainly due to the current undesirable situation and also the international social, political, and environmental significance of the area. This study aims to take the first step of rethinking water governance in the area. The results indicated that to operationalize good governance, the principles of collaboration, legitimacy, adaptability, and trust and engagement must be prior considerations to redefine the water governance structure in the Sistan region. Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository 'You share, we take care!' - Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.Energie and Industri