Conceptual framework for scenarios development in the Water futures and Solutions project

The major purpose of the Water Futures & Solutions (WFaS) initiative is to develop a set of adaptable resilient and robust solutions and a framework to facilitate access to and guidance through them by decision makers facing a variety of water-related challenges to sustainable evelopment, and a set of optional pathways to achieve plausible sustainable development goals by 2050. The WFaS Initiative addresses the multidimensional aspects of the water system and is guided by stakeholders representing these various aspects. The Initiative views freshwater systems as being strongly interweaved with human activities (Economy, Society) and Nature as a whole. Dynamics and health of freshwater systems is critical to human well- being. The Initiative will go beyond scenario production and model comparisons and will focus on exploring solutions and necessary innovations to address the growing water challenges. Solutions can be combinations of technological innovations, regulatory approaches, manageent or institutional changes that improve the balance of water supply and demand, improve water quality, or reduce water-related risks for society. Solutions will often be embedded in and cut across all sectors of social and economic activities. In order to represent the aspirations and interdependencies as described above, the conceptual framework has been developed, to communicate project results to the target audiences. This document describes this conceptual framework that will be used: -to support development of qualitative water scenarios -to identify and select critical dimensions of the water scenarios -to guide integration of scenarios with quantitative models -to guide integration of information from various data sources into the scenarios -to support development and assessment of solutions -to support collaboration between project and stakeholder groups -to facilitate presentation of results to target audiences The WFaS conceptual framework is developed using the 'concept maps' technique (Caqas and Carff, 2005; Novak and Caqas, 2006b). Concept maps method was develop to represent knowledge in an organized way. It allows practitioners to represent concepts and specific relationships between concepts. It is flexible enough to adapt to different knowledge domains to support better understanding and communication between individuals and groups from different backgrounds

Towards Innovative Solutions through Integrative Futures Analysis - Preliminary qualitative scenarios

This report presents preliminary results of developing qualitative global water scenarios. The water scenarios are developed to be consistent with the underlying Shared Socio- Economic Pathways (SSPs). In this way different stakeholders in different contexts (climate, water) can be presented with consistent set of scenarios avoiding confusion and increasing policy impact. Water scenarios are based on the conceptual framework that has been developd specifically for this effort. The framework provides clear representation of important dimensions in the areas of Nature, Economy and Society and Water dimensions that are embedded in them. These critical dimensions are used to describe future changes in a consistent way for all scenarios. Three scenarios are presented based on SSP1, SSP2 and SSP3 respectively. Hydro-economic classes are introduced to further differentiate within scenarios based on economic and water conditions for specific regions and/or countries. In the process of building these preliminary water scenarios assumptions that are presented in this report, the number of challenges have been met. In the conclusions section these challenges are summarized and possible ways of tackling them are described

Renin inhibition by substituted piperidines: A novel paradigm for the inhibition of monomeric aspartic proteinases?

BackgroundThe aspartic proteinase renin catalyses the first and rate-limiting step in the conversion of angiotensinogen to the hormone angiotensin II, and therefore plays an important physiological role in the regulation of blood pressure. Numerous potent peptidomimetic inhibitors of this important drug target have been developed, but none of these compounds have progressed past clinical phase II trials. Limited oral bioavailability or excessive production costs have prevented these inhibitors from becoming new antihypertensive drugs. We were interested in developing new nonpeptidomimetic renin inhibitors.ResultsHigh-throughput screening of the Roche compound library identified a simple 3,4-disubstituted piperidine lead compound. We determined the crystal structures of recombinant human renin complexed with two representatives of this new class. Binding of these substituted piperidine derivatives is accompanied by major induced-fit adaptations around the enzyme's active site.ConclusionsThe efficient optimisation of the piperidine inhibitors was facilitated by structural analysis of the renin active site in two renin-inhibitor complexes (some of the piperidine derivatives have picomolar affinities for renin). These structural changes provide the basis for a novel paradigm for inhibition of monomeric aspartic proteinases

Governance Conditions for Improving Quality Drinking Water Resources: the Need for Enhancing Connectivity

Realising the water quality objectives of the European Water Framework Directive have appeared to stagnate over the last decade all across Europe because of their highly complex nature. In the literature, interactive governance approaches tend to be regarded as the best way of dealing with complex water issues, but so far little empirical evidence has been reported on this perspective in regard to water quality issues. In this paper we have analysed how conditions of governance contribute to the realisation of water quality objectives at different types of drinking water resources in the Netherlands. The analysis demonstrates the importance of addressing different hydrological scales, institutional levels and sectors and thus enhance connectivity in order to improve water quality. The two other important conditions of governance approaches for water quality improvement which were identified are the use of joint fact-finding to gain a shared perception of risks, and the use of explicit decision-making and close monitoring of outcomes (re. water quality improvement), both of which contribute to this enhanced connectivity

Adaptive Management of Riverine Socio-ecological Systems

If ongoing change in ecosystems and society can render inflexible policies obsolete, then management must dynamically adapt as a counter to perennial uncertainty. This chapter describes a general synthesis of how to make decision-making more adaptive and then explores the barriers to learning in management. We then describe how one such process, known as adaptive management (AM), has been applied in different river basins, on which basis we discuss AM’s strengths and limitations in various resource management contexts

Water Managers' Boundary Judgments and Adaptive Water Governance. An Analysis of the Dutch Haringvliet Sluices Case

__Abstract__ In this paper, we explore how managing actors' boundary judgments influence the adaptability of water governance. We approach this question by examining the relationship between the way water managers frame, and act in, complex water issues on the one hand and develop adaptive water governance strategies on the other. We define four categories of boundary judgments made by water managers in order to deal with the complexities in water governance issues. An in-depth case study analysis of an attempt to adjust the management of the water regime in the south-west Delta of the Netherlands is provided in order to reconstruct the water managers' boundary judgments and their impact upon governance strategies used. We found that, most of the time, the water managers involved predominantly made tight boundary judgments. These tight boundary judgments seemed to hamper the mutual learning process among a variety of stakeholders that is needed to realize adaptive water governance. We argue that wide boundary judgments enhance the chance of realizing adaptive practices and build upon exploration, learning, and connection

Renin and angiotensinogen expression and functions in growth and apoptosis of human glioblastoma

The expression and function in growth and apoptosis of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) was evaluated in human glioblastoma. Renin and angiotensinogen (AGT) mRNAs and proteins were found by in situ hybridisation and immunohistochemistry in glioblastoma cells. Angiotensinogen was present in glioblastoma cystic fluids. Thus, human glioblastoma cells produce renin and AGT and secrete AGT. Human glioblastoma and glioblastoma cells expressed renin, AGT, renin receptor, AT(2) and/or AT(1) mRNAs and proteins determined by RT-PCR and/or Western blotting, respectively. The function of the RAS in glioblastoma was studied using human glioblastoma cells in culture. Angiotensinogen, des(Ang I)AGT, tetradecapaptide renin substrate (AGT1-14), Ang I, Ang II or Ang III, added to glioblastoma cells in culture, did not modulate their proliferation, survival or death. Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors did not diminish glioblastoma cell proliferation. However, the addition of selective synthetic renin inhibitors to glioblastoma cells decreased DNA synthesis and viable tumour cell number, and induced apoptosis. This effect was not counterbalanced by concomitant addition of Ang II. In conclusion, the complete RAS is expressed by human glioblastomas and glioblastoma cells in culture. Inhibition of renin in glioblastoma cells may be a potential approach to control glioblastoma cell proliferation and survival, and glioblastoma progression in combination therapy