Climate Change Adaptation as a New Global Norm in the Water Sector ? : Between Symbolism and Dilution

Climate change impacts on societies and ecosystems are relatively new concerns in the water sector. A steadily growing literature emphasizes the need to reform water governance in order to make it more adaptive. In this contribution, I ask whether climate change adaptation can be considered as a new norm of policymaking and what this is implying for the governance of water. Building on the literature and on empirical material gathered from case studies, this chapter emphasizes the complex and erratic nature of adaptation policy processes, which may result in outputs that highly diverge from the positive expectations held in the literature and in international fora

Explaining through causal mechanisms : resilience and governance of social–ecological systems

This paper synthesizes and builds on recent critiques of the resilience literature; namely that the field has largely been unsuccessful in capturing the complexity of governance processes, in particular cause–effects relationships. We demonstrate that absence of a causal model is reflected in the black-boxing of governance processes which is problematic for resilience studies with explanatory ambitions. We introduce mechanism-based thinking as alternative research perspective that offers more analytical rigour and elaborate the key principles of this approach. Mechanism-based approaches are aligned to the ways of thinking in systems theory and complexity sciences and can be used to advance scientific inquiry and policy practice to govern complex sustainability issues

S’adapter au changement climatique. Analyse critique des nouvelles politiques de gestion de l’environnement. Cas spécifiques de l’agriculture en Inde et du tourisme hivernal en Suisse

Climate change has become a real problem in our time. This book examines the issue of how public policies can adapt to climate change. The study of two very specific cases, situated at opposing points of the world – India and Switzerland – illustrate this question.Depuis le début des années 2000, l’insuffisance des efforts politiques pour réduire drastiquement les émissions globales de gaz à effet de serre a conduit au renforcement d’un discours sur la nécessité de s’adapter au changement climatique. Particulièrement dans les régions vulnérables aux effets du changement climatique, une transformation des politiques de gestion de l’environnement apparaît comme nécessaire afin de réduire les risques et d’exploiter les nouvelles opportunités découlant du changement climatique et de ses im-pacts. Or, si les analystes constatent un développement des activités d’adaptation au changement climatique, peu de travaux interrogent l’efficacité réelle des mesures actuelles et leurs éventuelles limites. Cet ouvrage tente de combler cette lacune en déconstruisant la notion d’adaptation au changement climatique et en interrogeant sa signification réelle pour la conduite des politiques à incidence environnementale. Il exa-mine de manière théorique en quoi l’adaptation au changement climatique nécessiterait des réformes de l’action publique. Puis, il examine l’état des pratiques actuelles au travers d’études de cas dans le secteur agricole en Inde (Rajasthan et Maharashtra) et dans le secteur du tourisme hivernal en Suisse (Alpes vaudoises et vallée de Joux). Sur la base de cette incursion théorique et empirique dans l’univers de ces nouvelles politiques de gestion de l’environnement, l’auteur discute des limitations observées et suggère des voies d’amélioration pour le futur

S’adapter au changement climatique. Analyse critique des nouvelles politiques de gestion de l’environnement. Cas spécifiques de l’agriculture en Inde et du tourisme hivernal en Suisse

Climate change has become a real problem in our time. This book examines the issue of how public policies can adapt to climate change. The study of two very specific cases, situated at opposing points of the world – India and Switzerland – illustrate this question

Arbeitspapier "Operationalisierung funktionierende Ökologische Infrastruktur"

Die Ökologische Infrastruktur (ÖI) ist für die Erhaltung und Förderung der Biodiversität unerlässlich und stellt lebenswichtige Leistungen für den Menschen bereit. ÖI basieren auf natürlichen und halbnatürlichen Lebensräumen. Die Entwicklung und der Schutz solcher ÖI wurden als zentrale Schritte für den Erfolg der Strategie Biodiversität Schweiz (SBS) identifiziert. Konzepte wie «Grüne Infrastruktur» oder «Naturbasierte Lösungen (Nature-based Solutions)», die sich auf ÖI beziehen, haben sich in den letzten Jahrzehnten zunehmend etabliert. Ihre teils unterschiedlichen Sichtweisen erschweren jedoch eine klare Anwendung in der Praxis. Dieses Arbeitspapier ist eine literaturbasierte Auslegeordnung und stellt verschiedene Zugänge zur Operationalisierung einer «funktionierenden» ÖI vor. Für das Projekt ValPar.CH ist das Arbeitspapier eine wichtige Grundlage für ein gemeinsames Begriffsverständnis im Projektteam. Das Forschungsteam wird das Funktionieren einer ÖI sowohl aufgrund ökologischer Aspekte (Module A), wie auch basierend auf den gesellschaftlichen und wirtschaftlichen Nutzen der ÖI (Module B) und deren langfristige Sicherung durch verschiedene «policy»-Mechanismen (Module D) beurteilen. Darauf aufbauen wird das Team Empfehlungen für die Sicherstellung einer funktionierenden ÖI erarbeiten. Ecological infrastructure (EI) is essential for the conservation and promotion of biodiversity and provides vital services for humans. EI is based on natural and semi-natural habitats. The development and protection of EI have been identified as key steps for the success of the Swiss Biodiversity Strategy (SBS). Concepts such as "Green Infrastructure" or "Nature-based Solutions", which refer to EI, have become increasingly established in recent decades. However, their partly different perspectives make application in practice difficult. This working paper is a literature-based overview and presents different approaches to the operationalization of a "functioning" EI. For the ValPar.CH project, this working paper is an important basis for arriving at a common understanding of the term within the project team. The research team will assess the functioning of an EI based on ecological aspects (Module A), as well as based on the societal and economic benefits of the EI (Module B) and its long-term safeguarding through different "policy" mechanisms (Module D). Based on this, the team will develop recommendations for ensuring a functioning EI

Genetic association study of QT interval highlights role for calcium signaling pathways in myocardial repolarization.

The QT interval, an electrocardiographic measure reflecting myocardial repolarization, is a heritable trait. QT prolongation is a risk factor for ventricular arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death (SCD) and could indicate the presence of the potentially lethal mendelian long-QT syndrome (LQTS). Using a genome-wide association and replication study in up to 100,000 individuals, we identified 35 common variant loci associated with QT interval that collectively explain ∼8-10% of QT-interval variation and highlight the importance of calcium regulation in myocardial repolarization. Rare variant analysis of 6 new QT interval-associated loci in 298 unrelated probands with LQTS identified coding variants not found in controls but of uncertain causality and therefore requiring validation. Several newly identified loci encode proteins that physically interact with other recognized repolarization proteins. Our integration of common variant association, expression and orthogonal protein-protein interaction screens provides new insights into cardiac electrophysiology and identifies new candidate genes for ventricular arrhythmias, LQTS and SCD

Gravitational Wave Detection by Interferometry (Ground and Space)

Significant progress has been made in recent years on the development of gravitational wave detectors. Sources such as coalescing compact binary systems, neutron stars in low-mass X-ray binaries, stellar collapses and pulsars are all possible candidates for detection. The most promising design of gravitational wave detector uses test masses a long distance apart and freely suspended as pendulums on Earth or in drag-free craft in space. The main theme of this review is a discussion of the mechanical and optical principles used in the various long baseline systems in operation around the world - LIGO (USA), Virgo (Italy/France), TAMA300 and LCGT (Japan), and GEO600 (Germany/U.K.) - and in LISA, a proposed space-borne interferometer. A review of recent science runs from the current generation of ground-based detectors will be discussed, in addition to highlighting the astrophysical results gained thus far. Looking to the future, the major upgrades to LIGO (Advanced LIGO), Virgo (Advanced Virgo), LCGT and GEO600 (GEO-HF) will be completed over the coming years, which will create a network of detectors with significantly improved sensitivity required to detect gravitational waves. Beyond this, the concept and design of possible future "third generation" gravitational wave detectors, such as the Einstein Telescope (ET), will be discussed.Comment: Published in Living Reviews in Relativit

Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation for Severe Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome associated with COVID-19: An Emulated Target Trial Analysis.

RATIONALE: Whether COVID patients may benefit from extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) compared with conventional invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV) remains unknown. OBJECTIVES: To estimate the effect of ECMO on 90-Day mortality vs IMV only Methods: Among 4,244 critically ill adult patients with COVID-19 included in a multicenter cohort study, we emulated a target trial comparing the treatment strategies of initiating ECMO vs. no ECMO within 7 days of IMV in patients with severe acute respiratory distress syndrome (PaO2/FiO2 <80 or PaCO2 ≥60 mmHg). We controlled for confounding using a multivariable Cox model based on predefined variables. MAIN RESULTS: 1,235 patients met the full eligibility criteria for the emulated trial, among whom 164 patients initiated ECMO. The ECMO strategy had a higher survival probability at Day-7 from the onset of eligibility criteria (87% vs 83%, risk difference: 4%, 95% CI 0;9%) which decreased during follow-up (survival at Day-90: 63% vs 65%, risk difference: -2%, 95% CI -10;5%). However, ECMO was associated with higher survival when performed in high-volume ECMO centers or in regions where a specific ECMO network organization was set up to handle high demand, and when initiated within the first 4 days of MV and in profoundly hypoxemic patients. CONCLUSIONS: In an emulated trial based on a nationwide COVID-19 cohort, we found differential survival over time of an ECMO compared with a no-ECMO strategy. However, ECMO was consistently associated with better outcomes when performed in high-volume centers and in regions with ECMO capacities specifically organized to handle high demand. This article is open access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives License 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

Le climat : La Suisse, pionnière des politiques climatiques ?

Beschreibung &amp; Details Medieninformationen Comment gérons-nous l’environnement en Suisse ? Cet ouvrage présente l’évolution des discussions menées au cours de l’histoire suisse dans les domaines des forêts, des eaux et de la protection de la nature, et les rattache à des thèmes et des procédures actuels. Si le management environnemental et les études de l’impact sur l’environnement sont devenus des pratiques courantes dans les entreprises suisses, le grand public ne n’en connait toutefois pas tous les détails. Au travers des quinze chapitres que contient cet ouvrage, des experts issus de la pratique et de la recherche présentent les divers institutions, instruments et réglementations permettant de répondre aux questions environnementales dans les domaines juridique, économique et scientifique