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Climate change adaptation is currently an important community concern in developing countries like Bangladesh. The conceptualization of adaptation within the government system matters for the promotion of activities such as employment generation for local communities. The lesser the gap between government policy and the local community's needs for adaptation the more effective outcomes are for ensuring policy success and promoting sustainable community livelihoods or vice versa. This interface between policy and community is important for climate change adaptation which is explored in this paper along with the findings of the research project, DEltas, vulnerability and climate change: Migration and Adaptation (DECCMA) conducted during 2014–2018 in Bangladesh, Ghana, India, and the United Kingdom. The data from Bangladesh was collected from 1384 survey respondents, 19 Focus Group Discussions (FGDs), 3 workshops, and 43 Key Informant Interviews (KIIs). The findings of the paper show that government adaptation activities mainly reflect the Reactive Approach of Limited Action (RALA) perspective rather than the Proactive Approach To Adaptation (PATA). The RALA perspective is characterized by piecemeal and top-down approaches to adaptation which fail to recognize a community conceptualization of climate change, policy perspectives for coping with local concerns, and governance approaches for effective adaptation. In response, the government needs to focus on the PATA in policy, programs, and projects with the governance approach implemented from the bottom-up or, in other words, from the local perspective. Community participation in decision-making processes is characteristic of this bottom-up governance model. Local community participation, consultation, and representation are essential parts of PATA in adaptation policy formulation and execution, providing important lessons for Bangladesh. • Adaptation to climate change is a high policy priority for developing countries such as Bangladesh. • The conceptualization of adaptation in government policy matters for community sustainability. • The top-down, centralised Reactive Approach of Limited Action (RALA) causes further concern for effective adaptation policy. • A Proactive Approach to Adaptation (PATA) is better for community sustainability. • Community participation and representation within governance approaches can expedite a PATA approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Knowledge of climate patterns and associated risks is relevant to making planning and resource management decisions at the urban scale. However, available scientific climate information is often poorly suited to decision-making needs. New ways of producing knowledge, both about the climate and urban decision-making, are required to address this disconnect. Transdisciplinarity aims to span the boundaries between scientific research, policymaking and practice to tackle complex problems, including those of urban sustainability and climate change. This paper focuses on the role that intermediaries play in spanning disciplinary, organizational and sectoral boundaries to facilitate collaborative problem-solving and mutual learning to connect knowledge with action. It presents empirical findings of how embedded researchers facilitate the co-production of knowledge on climate-sensitive urban public policy and planning decisions based on the experiences of seven embedded researchers operating in six Southern African cities – Lusaka (Zambia), Maputo (Mozambique), Windhoek (Namibia), Harare (Zimbabwe), Durban and Cape Town (South Africa). Data from the activities, outputs and experiences of these embedded researchers, documented in monthly reports during their tenure in the period 2015 to 2019, were coded for four aspects of transdisciplinary boundary spanning identified in existing literature, namely: trust-based relationships; collaborative agenda-setting and combining different knowledges; promoting reflexivity and innovation; and navigating multiple accountabilities. The analysis reveals that embedded researchers play a key role in supporting other researchers better understand and navigate the policy and practice domain. It also highlights the challenges that embedded researcher face when transitioning out of the role. The paper concludes that creating the inter-organizational agreements to co-host an embedded researcher, and allocating finances, time, intellectual and emotional support to the embedded researchers to effectively span boundaries, can be an effective way to promote the transdisciplinary collaboration needed to tackle climate risks in cities. Furthermore, it suggests that having embedded researchers operating within a cohort of peers, enhances their reflexivity, learning and thereby effectiveness as intermediaries. • Embedded researchers (ERs) make research and policy processes more legible. • A cohort approach enhances learning to navigate multiple accountabilities. • Trust and mutual understanding underpin climate-sensitive decision-making. • Career-pathing for ERs remains a challenge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on the emergence and implementation of a specific policy option in a national plan aiming to reduce pesticide consumption: the substitution of biological substances for chemicals. I argue that substitution is a singular method of handling the removal of pesticides and analyze the political consequences of this approach. Empirically, this work is based on a three-year qualitative investigation (2015–2018) into the French policy plan for pesticide use reduction (Ecophyto). Drawing on the literature on categories and classifications, I show that making substitution a viable policy option relies primarily on categorization processes and on the establishment of clear distinctions. By shedding light on the specific type of administrative and technical intervention substitution as a policy option requires, the aim of this paper is to contribute to a better understanding of the political dimension of transitions. • Substitution is not only a complex sociotechnical process but also as a specific course of action in policymaking. • Making substitution a viable policy option relies primarily on categorization processes. • The establishment of such boundaries and categories is a political activity involving various actors. • As substitution relies on boundaries, this policy option is weakened when the practices of field actors challenge them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dominant narratives on artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) often portray mining regions as 'informal' zones that suffer massively from environmental degradation problems. Such insistence on the poor environmental performance of ASM zones has dovetailed with a lack of scholarly attention to some of the 'golden' environmental management practices taking place in some of these mining areas. In this paper, we explore how the operations of a formalised (registered) small-scale mining operator in Ghana, as objectified in its obligatory and ethical functions, contribute to reducing pollution and mine-degraded landscapes, which have long been viewed as the inevitable consequence of ASM. Emphasizing how the dynamic interplay between resources and environmental demands may come to support public policy, our study shows how mutually constituting demands on mining in highly differentiated contexts could translate into productive outcomes. Contrary to the popular perception that ASM operators are not good stewards of the environment, findings from our study suggest that these operators can be caretakers of the environment and local communities through land reclamation mechanisms. Localisation of labour could, however, contribute to more sustainable livelihoods in mining communities and help curb rising community tensions. • We explore the operations of a formalised (registered) small-scale mining operator in Ghana. • We unpack mutually constituting demands on them in highly differentiated contexts. • We identified 'golden' environmental management practices of formalised small-scale mining. • Formalised small-scale mining can be caretakers of the environment and local communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nature-based solutions (NBS) are multifunctional and cost-effective innovations delivering urban sustainability, but they are not yet mainstream in urban development. This can be explained by persistent structural conditions in the urban infrastructure regime, resulting in barriers such as lack of collaborative governance, inadequate knowledge and limited funding availability. In this paper we argue that (supra)national governments could play an important role in breaking down these barriers by employing policy instruments and strategically combining these into policy mixes targeting multiple regime structures. By means of an empirical analysis across six European countries and the European Union (EU), we provide an overview of regulatory, financial and soft (supra)national policy instruments supporting urban NBS mainstreaming and how these are combined in policy mixes across cases. In addition, we investigate policy mix comprehensiveness by mapping the extent to which these target each of the relevant urban infrastructure regime structures underpinning barriers to urban NBS mainstreaming. We demonstrate that, with the exception of the EU, none of the studied cases employs a fully comprehensive policy mix. We conclude that by strategically adopting policy instruments with the aim of crafting a comprehensive policy mix, obstacles in pathways to urban NBS mainstreaming could be overcome. • Regulatory, financial and soft policy instruments support urban NBS mainstreaming. • A typology of 11 instrument subtypes is identified based on the international cases. • Comprehensive policy mixes address all urban infrastructure regime structures. • Policy mix comprehensiveness helps to overcome barriers to urban NBS mainstreaming. • The European Union is the only case with a comprehensive policy mix for urban NBS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Proximity to extreme weather event plays role in type of policy response. • Little connection between city media engagement and its influence on policy response. • Boston and New York City overlapped in communicating current and projected climate risk. • Boston displayed proactive climate policy responses while New York City pursued reactive climate policies. The potential for extreme weather events to open windows for public policy changes or transitions has been studied from various theoretical and analytical perspectives. Following extreme weather events, the media (including popular press and journalism) contributes to critical moments, where a potential window opens to transform public understandings of issues and challenges in established extreme event discourses. This paper examines government engagement with the media to better understand conditions of the post-event policy window from the perspective of critical discourse moments. More specifically, the paper uses keyword analysis and critical discourse analysis to examine discursive constructions of the post-event policy window following Hurricane Sandy by two city governments– Boston and New York. We contrast the language of city government engagement with media about post-disaster policy responses and compare this with the language of proposed city policies on climate risk adaptation and mitigation strategies. The outcomes of this analysis illustrate differences between government engagement with media in the post-disaster window and their eventual climate policy responses. The results raise questions regarding the influence of the media on post-disaster policy responses and focus attention on the proximity of an extreme weather event as potentially affecting the type of policy response (either proactive or reactive) by a governing body. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Government policy shall address the strategic nature of local resource use decisions. • Local resource users face linked coordination, prisoner's dilemma, and zero-sum/externality situations. • Governments shape the behavior of local resource users via bundles of policy instruments. • Policy instruments contribute to local collective action via a handful of mechanisms. This paper presents a diagnostic approach to the role and capacity of governments to facilitate local collective action and alleviate environmental problems. The paper adds to a nascent scholarship aiming to conciliate theories on "governance by government" and "governance by self-organization". We adopt two premises for that purpose: (1) policy instruments shall be tailored to the strategic nature of local resource management decisions; and (2) such nature is not static and can be modified via governmental policies. We first build on the Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) framework to characterize the decision-making situations that local resource users face and the local rules that shape said situations. Then, based on common pool resource (CPR) and policy instrument choice theory, we identify four mechanisms through which different policy instruments can facilitate local collective action (change in payoffs and their perception, reduction of transaction costs, reduction of uncertainty, and normative consonance). This analytical approach is then applied to four illustrative cases of water management in Germany, France, Greece and Spain. As shown, local resource users are embedded in not one but many overlapping decision-making situations. In this context, the promotion of collective action is rarely accomplished via a single policy instrument or mechanism but via bundles of them. Also, the paper illustrates the importance of understanding how governmental policies modify the structure of rules and incentives that affect local resource users, potentially facilitating local collective action and the solution of environmental problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • The impact of historical technocratic constructions of flood defence on contemporary flood risk management. • How one size fits all engagement processes fail to appreciate the heterogenous nature of flood communities. • How flood communities are constructed through 'collaborative', 'contractual' and 'hybrid' approaches. • The importance of equitable ways of working in the establishment of partnerships within flood risk management. • How knowledge hierarchies negatively affect partnership working and flood communities. Abstract In this paper, we discuss the need for flood risk management in England that engages stakeholders with flooding and its management processes, including knowledge gathering, planning and decision-making. By comparing and contrasting how flood communities experience 'community engagement' and 'partnership working', through the medium of an online questionnaire, with the process's and ways of working that the Environment Agency use when 'working with others', we demonstrate that flood risk management is caught up in technocratic ways of working derived from long-standing historical practices of defending agricultural land from water. Despite the desire to move towards more democratised ways of working which enable an integrated approach to managing flood risk, the technocratic framing still pervades contemporary flood risk management. We establish that this can disconnect society from flooding and negatively impacts the implementation of more participatory approaches designed to engage flood communities in partnership working. Through the research in this paper it becomes clear that adopting a stepwise, one-size-fits-all approach to engagement fails to recognise that communities are heterogenous and that good engagement requires gaining an understanding of the social dimensions of a community. Successful engagement takes time, effort and the establishment of trust and utilises social learning and pooling of knowledge to create a better understanding of flooding, and that this can lead to increasing societal connectivity to flooding and its impacts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Citizen science is currently at the forefront of environmental scientific research and public policy for its potential to improve environmental governance, restore epistemic trust and help address some of the most stressing environmental challenges. Although citizen science is gaining increasing popularity, there is little empirical evidence to support these claims and demonstrate how bottom-up citizen science shapes public trust in environmental governance and science. In this paper we reflect on three grassroot environmental citizen science initiatives in Cameroon, Japan, and the UK to identify and present an instrumental framework which includes trustee attributes and conditions that influence how epistemic trust is shaped, and which should inform citizen science and other participatory practices. We explain that citizen science is an approach which enables political processes through the construction of well-informed techno-scientific arguments, which expose deficit assumptions about the public's ability to participate in knowledge co-production process. To avoid repeating the failures of the past and risk amplifying issues of public distrust further, we provide suggestions built around key trustee attributes which can be incorporated in citizen science practices and we urge that environmental policy needs to create clear policy frameworks to enable the generation of actionable data, especially when such approaches are initiated and implemented as instrumental public participation methods. • Citizen Science is increasingly utilised in environmental research and policy. • As a knowledge co-production mechanism has the potential to restore epistemic trust. • Restoring epistemic trust is essential for addressing environmental challenges. • We identify key cognitive and affective trustee attributes to improve trust through CS. • We stress that if these are ignored CS will erode public trust further. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines whether or not specific forms of adaptation governance that involve city administrations and citizens can help (or hinder) creating a foundation for more sustainable climate adaptation and transformation. Based on the analysis of recurring patterns of social adaptation dilemmas (caused by the interdependencies between adaptation providers and beneficiaries), associated actor constellations, policy approaches, and gaps, this paper presents principles for supporting city–citizen commoning for climate adaptation (i.e. joint actions needed to create systems to manage ‘shared’ adaptation resources). The presented principles can assist in facilitating the management of public goods for adaptation, including privately-provided adaptation goods, and relate to four strategic aims: i) the effective management of collective and individual resources; ii) comprehensive risk reduction; iii) sustained local–institutional linkages (mainstreaming); and iv) matching different actors’ views, efforts and capacities. The principles synthesise and extend the literature by considering, and providing space for, a comprehensive understanding of risk and its root causes, and for alternative rationalities or (‘nonrational’) behaviours intended to address them. The latter takes account of the subjectivities (e.g. emotional attachments to resources and seascapes), which are as important as power structures with respect to how climate adaptation is managed. In fact, subjectivities are central to the operation of city administrations as they are an integral part of how people understand their relationship to others. In an adaptation context, this means focusing on practices and interactions that are required for taking adaptation actions, and how they can both promote and frustrate attempts to collaborate. We conclude that the developed principles can support more sustainable climate adaptation and transformation by holistically addressing existing adaptation dilemmas, actor constellations, and the associated policy gaps that make current approaches ineffective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water security is widely recognised as an important and increasingly urgent policy challenge. To address this challenge, appropriate indicators are needed to stimulate policy action and measure the effectiveness of interventions. Indicators are more likely to have an impact on policy formulation when they are valid, credible and salient. This paper applies a co-production approach to develop a set of Urban Water Security Indicators which aim to meet these criteria. The approach was piloted in two cities, Singapore and Hong Kong. Data for a 15-year period were collected and stakeholder consultation and validation conducted. The paper reports on the indicator development process and findings, and reflects on the value of the Urban Water Security Indicators as a tool in policy formulation. The approach is being replicated in a larger group of cities as part of an ongoing research programme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Advancing climate change causes multiple direct and indirect impacts on ecological systems and human societies remarkably increasing diverse vulnerabilities and threatening human security, health and societal stability. Climate policies on national level have so far failed to systematically address structural causes of vulnerability which, if left unresolved, can hinder effective adaptation outcomes and adaptive abilities in society. In this paper, we examined how equity (fairness) has been addressed and operationalised through the justice dimensions both in the EU and Finnish national policies to explore key justice concerns from the viewpoint of just transition. We found that social justice is highlighted in the policies especially in terms of economic impacts and welfare gaps exacerbated by climate change impacts. Adaptive capacity is thus essentially intertwined in the ability of institutions to recognise and enforce processes that ensure the distribution of goods and resources in way that is responsive to the needs of the most vulnerable. • Key justice dimensions in environment, health and climate policies. • Identifying justice related concerns from the viewpoint of adaptation. • Recognition of institutional vulnerability to enable adaptive capacity. • EU and national policies highlight social justice as key element for fair transition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water sector reforms based on the concept of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) are criticized for not considering context, local realities or legitimacy during the implementation of water sector reforms. Universal remedies of IWRM can thus lead to resistance, conflicts and ultimately failures of interventions. This paper examines how conflicts and disharmony can be addressed by IWRM's instruments. It conceptualizes institutional security as a highly relevant issue to be addressed during water management interventions. Further, the paper advocates a reform of the holistic concept of IWRM to incorporate ‘peace and security’ as a new pillar of water management based on a broad understanding of societal goals that are embedded in the principles of good governance and sustainable development. It also reviews recent criticism of and debates in IWRM and explains the advantages of expanding the normative idea behind it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses social constraints influencing air quality governance in four European Union (EU) countries. The comparative analysis carried out here is the outcome of the EU FP7 SEFIRA project. Starting from study of implemented measures the paper marks out the structure of double-delegation in policy-making for air quality governance; that is to say the delegation from the EU to national governments who further delegate to regional and local authorities the burden to put in place concrete measures. Therefore, our analysis has followed a multi-level approach considering all the territorial level down to the urban scale. In doing so, we found out commonalities in the strategies which have been followed by policy-makers. The comparison has been made possible through the analysis of operationalised categories such as Domain, Objectives and Modalities on air quality plans. The analysis went further: through interviews with selected key stakeholder the social constraints which may limit the choices made by institutions have been investigated. The -lack of- success in attaining EU requirements for the air quality cannot be considered only as the outcome of the −lack of- awareness of which may be the best practices or choices, rather as the result of complex entanglements of social forces. Indeed, one of the main outcomes of this explorative investigation has been the breakdown of such complexity into its social component in a comparative study. The paper finally points out the need to promote an integrated approach for air quality policy as a strategy for the design of new measures for the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coastal areas of developed countries have been altered by human activities, especially since the mid-20th century. This has notably affected the flow of ecosystem services that these environments provide. In this context, this paper’s research has focused on the historical evolution of socio-ecological dynamics and ecosystem services in a Mediterranean coastal landscape, characterized by the intense development of recent decades and the high biodiversity value. Qualitative and quantitative data were gathered and analyzed through different methods (document and spatial analysis, statistical treatment). Results show the long history of many ecosystem services (increase/decrease in food provisioning, stabilization/decline of regulating services and no use/intense use of cultural services) and their decline in recent decades due to industrial and residential development (which expanded from 1.7 to 47.5%). To overcome this situation, this paper discusses the current state of ecosystem services and conservation tasks carried out and how the results of the research can be included in the different elements of the governance of shoreline areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ambitious objective pursued by the European Water Framework Directive (WFD) is good status for all European waters. However, “less stringent environmental objectives” are permissible if the costs of achieving good status are disproportionately high. This exemption, if abused, carries the risk of watering down the ambitions of the Directive. Currently, no transparent, well-established, universally applicable method for routinely testing disproportionality exists throughout Europe. In this paper, such a method is developed for surface water bodies. The core idea is to determine a water body-specific disproportionality threshold which is then compared to the projected costs of achieving “good status/potential”. For the sake of practicability, the benchmark for disproportionality is estimated on the basis of prior expenditure on water quality enhancement. The paper argues that the proposed method combines both possible interpretations of (dis-)proportionality—affordability and cost-benefit considerations. Due to the method’s moderate data requirements it can be used readily in most German federal states and is transferable in principle to other EU Member States. The method was tested empirically for a river in the German federal state of Rhineland–Palatinate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates how the notion of ‘sustainability’ is strategically framed in the context of Dutch infrastructure governance in the Netherlands. By conducting a frame analysis (based on policy documents, websites and semi-structured interviews), the paper discerns six sustainability frames. These frames concern substantive (e.g., more focus on ecology), process (activating new networks) and organizational (e.g., new practices of work) aspects. The paper also illustrates how these sustainability frames relate to the changing institutional context of infrastructure policy and governance more broadly. The paper discusses some of the productive and challenging implications of the dynamics of sustainability in today’s complex and multi-dimensional world of governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There has been considerable interest and discussion surrounding institutional design and governance in the areas of planning, political studies and policy development and more recently natural resource management. Within England, like much of Europe, an integrated catchment management, called the catchment-based approach (CaBA), has been developed when implementing the European Union (EU) Water Framework Directive (WFD). This is seen as both a driver for stricter standards for water quality and ecological status in water course and encouraging the active involvement of stakeholders and communities in both planning and action. This paper analyses institutional design at the local level from the perspective of two concepts, namely institutional governance and social–ecological systems. The intension is to highlight synergies between the two concepts. Through this a new aspect of institutional design is revealed, the micro-level or ‘crafting’ of institutions by local actors. The paper identifies criteria that are associated with this aspect and analyses an integrated catchment case study in England. The paper concludes that the current policy approach in England, and potentially elsewhere in Europe, offers potential for the ‘crafting’ of institutions and at the local social–ecological systems scale this has potential for positive benefits such as great understanding and locally effective governance. Both would assist in achieving policy objectives, such as those of the WFD. The case study utilised an effective participatory approach that was, according to the criteria, robust and transferable in developing an adaptive governance approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Ecosystem services and processes play key, if overlooked, roles in all policy areas. • Realising the values of ecosystems requires embedding across all societal interests. • Collaborative learning amongst senior players helped identify actionable outcomes. • All sectors of society are key role players in achieving this society-wide transformation. • Exemplar ecosystem-based approaches show the feasibility of societal transformation. Recent high-profile analyses of trajectories and prognoses of ecosystem decline around the world have called for a renewed focus on embedding the values of the natural world across all areas of public policy. This paper reports the results of a UK-based deliberative process involving experts from a wide range of policy domains and across societal sectors: government departments, associated agencies, national and international NGOs, professional institutions, academia and independent experts. A symposium, based on a collaborative learning approach, explored instances in which ecosystem values have successfully been embedded into public policy, identified challenges to their more widespread embedding despite commitments to do so over generational timescales, and took a backcasting approach to develop actionable outcomes required to deliver transformation change across state and civil society. Emergent themes were expressed in social, technological, environmental, economic and political terms. Recommendations for interventions in complex social-ecological systems are cross-sectoral in scope and will necessarily entail multiple agents of change, well beyond governmental leadership, within any given sphere of societal activity and interest. We identify strategic challenges for, and between, a spectrum of societal policy areas, many currently overlooking ecosystem dependencies, impacts and potential benefits. Reflections on the collaborative learning approach are also provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Responsible incentivisation requires attention to situated stakeholder perspectives. • We develop four policy scenarios and subject them to deliberation in the UK and Sweden. • New incentives and enabling reforms to existing policy instruments are needed. • Mitigation deterrence must be considered in real world (not abstracted) contexts. • Multi-instrument approaches are needed to overcome single instrument deficiencies. Bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) plays a central role in scenario pathways that limit global warming in line with the objectives of the Paris Agreement. Yet deliberate policy efforts to incentivise BECCS—whether through amending existing climate policies or introducing entirely new ones—remain rare. In this paper, we contend that BECCS must be incentivised responsibly, through policy-making processes which account for diverse and geographically varying societal values and interests. More specifically, we make the case for responsible incentivisation by undertaking a comparative analysis of stakeholder attitudes to four idealised policy scenarios for BECCS, including representatives of government, business, nongovernmental and academic communities, in the UK and Sweden. The scenarios were: business as usual; international policy reform; national BECCS policy; and national policy for negative emissions technologies. Based on our findings, we recommend that policymakers 1) recognise the need to develop new incentives and make enabling reforms to existing policy instruments; 2) consider the risk of mitigation deterrence in their real world (and not abstracted) contexts; 3) employ multi-instrument approaches to incentivisation that do not overly rely on carbon pricing or 4) force a choice between technology specific or technology neutral policies; and 5) attend to the diversity of stakeholder and wider public perspectives that will ultimately determine the success—or failure—of their policy designs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Sustainable policymaking model develops regional clusters using neural networking. • Simplex algorithm verifies the economic optimality of the environmental clusters. • Budget allocation planning according to the socio-environmental indicators. • The intelligent environmental plan ensures environmental funding flexibility. This paper introduces an environment-driven, artificial intelligence model for sustainable policymaking in the European countries, focusing on Ukraine. It develops regional clusters using artificial neural networking and then it dynamically optimises budgeting allocations. It is a hybrid, environment-driven model which: i) clusters regionalised-data, using Kohonen's self-organising map; and ii) optimises budget allocations, using simplex modified distribution method (U–V-MODI). Model benefits focus on: i) regional public policies; ii) environmental development; and iii) core-periphery balanced growth. Results reveal an innovative plan that: i) activates participation of the environmental stakeholders in public policymaking ii) reforms regions based on sustainability criteria set; and iii) optimises regional funding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] This paper uses the framework of the co-production of knowledge and social order to examine how knowledge–action systems work in the context of urban sustainable governance. [•] The paper presents and applies the knowledge–action systems analysis (KASA) approach to operationalize dynamics of co-production. [•] Existing institutional configurations and dynamics shape how knowledge is produced and used in policy-making. [•] Sustainability involves managing networks, politics of knowledge, and diverse social visions. [•] KASA can be used as a foundation to design new knowledge systems or joint-knowledge production efforts. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Facing the changes in the agricultural sector as well as new growing demands from society in relation to the European countryside, new questions emerge as to the management of the agricultural landscapes. The multiple combination of production with the support of multiple functions is a challenge for present day management. Tools are needed that make it possible to assess how a certain landscape can support in particular cultural and amenity functions, those that directly depend on the public preferences. The objective of this paper is to describe the proposed Landscape Amenity Model (LAM), a landscape amenities evaluation tool developed within the framework of the Integrated Project SEAMLESS. The LAM is based on the calculation of the Index of Function Suitability (IFS) for a given landscape, based on the distance between that landscape and the preferred landscape, as expressed by different users. The paper goes further in applying IFS namely by examining two different approaches for deriving land cover pattern preferences by users, either gathered from questionnaire surveys or expert panels in two case-studies, one in Portugal and another in France, respectively. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The opportunities and limitations of electrically driven mobility are currently widely discussed in public debates on vehicles and future transport. E-mobility has by and large been communicated in the context of sustainable mobility and its central idea is an urban e-car. Questioning the hype for this technology, this paper presents the development of the hegemonic discourse of e-mobility focusing on the actors involved. The study is based on a media analysis of selected German print media. The various phases of the e-mobility discourse were reconstructed by the detailed study of thematic focuses brought about by various actors such as politicians, electric supply companies and traditional automotive industry, and by the temporal distribution of the articles dealing with e-mobility. In addition the actor configuration is clarified by reference to the statements of the actors in the articles. The phases in the e-mobility discourse can be explained by a certain constellation of actors and how they manage to enforce their claims and interests. While the government plays a prominent role in the current development of the e-mobility discourse, the change of the automobile industry''s common position towards the electric vehicle and the rising interests of the power supply industry also play an important role. Finally, the paper reveals the internal and external driving forces of the e-mobility discourse and evaluates whether it is promoted in a sustainable way. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The United States and Australia confront the challenge of meeting multi-faceted Indigenous water requirements within the wider context of intensified competition for freshwater supplies and expiation of historic inequality of access. Fulfilment of Indigenous water claims requires acceptance of currently unrecognised uses that may be in conflict with water planning in irrigation-dominated basins. Adaptive governance regimes have been applied to deal with uncertainly and change in water planning and allocation decisions, including changes related to the recognition of Indigenous water claims, values, and knowledge. This paper examines the prospects of adaptive governance regimes to combine: (a) insights into decision-making and policy learning in contexts of high levels of uncertainty over the information base and legal and policy arrangements; with (b) institutional arrangements to coordinate decision-making and accountability across multiple decision-making units, values and jurisdictions, to accommodate Indigenous water claims. In both countries, efforts have involved (re)allocation of water entitlements and greater participation in multi-stakeholder basin planning. In this paper we find that a mix of these adaptive governance mechanisms shows greatest promise for overcoming resistance to the recognition of Indigenous water claims. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• Coherence is critical to governance integration. • We provide a typology of 8 types of coherence regarding governance scope. • We measure coherence types in the case of water supply management in Switzerland. • Incoherences among levels of governance are more problematic than among sectors. • Major and unexpected incoherences occur between public policies and property rights. • Discrete coherence of each public policy and property rights is satisfying. Coherence is pivotal to integrate governance and, presumably, to improve sustainability because of more coordination efficiency. The coherence of governance refers to the clarity and the compatibility of public policies and property rights. The institutional resource regimes framework put forward that integration also depends on the scope of uses regulated (extent). Coherence has been under-investigated in comparison to extent. Notably, there is no common avenue of appraising it. In this paper, we propose a typology of coherence and assess it through an operationalisation in the Swiss water supply sector. It offers methodological tools and theoretical developments contributing to the comparative analysis of these policy studies central aspects. The typology stands on the IRR definition of integration, and we introduce the relation of coherence to extent, which emphasises the impact of polycentricity and transaction costs. To put into practice the typology and assess the different types of coherence, we gathered data from 96 water utility managers in French-speaking Switzerland. Results indicate that extent-related coherence is troublesome while the discrete coherence of each public policy and property right reveal satisfying. Despite an increasing focus on horizontal issues (siloisation, intersectoral), we observe more coherence issues related to vertical aspects of the governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Subsidies for technology-driven intensification of agriculture are widely considered. • Negative effects of subsidies to promote biomass production can be mitigated. • An integrated Ecosystem Services Framework is a promising policy option. • Alternatives include rural development approaches for agricultural extensification. Abstract Scenario-based approaches provide decision makers with accessible storylines of potential future changes. The parameterisation of such storylines as input variables for integrated assessment models allows using models as a test bed for assessing the effects of alternative land use policy options in different scenarios. However, the potential of this kind of policy-screening analysis can be further improved by assessing the institutional compatibility of the policy options under review. The aim of this paper is to explore the added value of combining institutions-oriented policy analyses with scenario-modelling approaches for improved assessments of EU land use policy options. We describe an expert-based, stepwise process to combine four scenario storylines and two integrated assessment model approaches (CLIMSAVE & IMAGE-GLOBIO) with a procedure for institutional compatibility assessment. Among the subsidies we assessed were those for technology-driven intensification of agricultural production, which would contribute to decreasing demand for cropland across a range of scenarios. In regionalised policy designs, they also contribute to ecological effectiveness, and higher costs of governing. Subsidies to promote biomass production can have negative effects on ecosystems including land conversion, conversion of grassland into cropland as well as conversion of natural forests into managed forests. These effects can to some extent be mitigated by careful policy design which considers the institutional context and features cross-sectoral coordination. An integrated Ecosystem Services Framework policy could accommodate regionalised policy designs and cross-sectoral coordination, however, it can operate only under specific circumstances and needs particular efforts. Rural development approaches are another alternative which feature expansion of cropland by means of a large-scale, bottom-up transformation based on voluntary changes in behaviour, flexibility, participation, and local and regional collaboration. Apart from a vast number of interdisciplinary lessons learned, we also gained insights from the science-policy interface. A weak EU appeared as a plausible scenario from a scientific perspective, given the current political environment. However, it appreaded to be unacceptable at EU level policy making. We decided to maintain scientific independence and looked at policy options also in the context of a weak EU yielding environmentally beneficial opportunities for regional decision making at the expense of relevance of our scenarios to EU level policy makers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: National outlooks of emission levels are important components of international environmental policymaking and associated national policy development. This is the case for both greenhouse gas emissions and transboundary air pollutants. However, there is uncertainty inherent in the production of forecasts. In the climate context, IPCC guidelines have been established to support national teams in quantifying uncertainty within national inventory reporting of historic emissions. These are presented to indicate the potential range of deviation from reported values and to offer added evidence for policy decisions. However, the method and practice of accounting for uncertainty amongst emission forecasts is both less clear and less common. This paper posits that the role of forecasts in setting international targets and planning policy action renders the management of ‘forecast’ uncertainty as important as addressing uncertainty in the context of inventory and compliance work. Failure to explicitly present uncertainty in forecasting delivers an implicit and misplaced confidence in a given future scenario, irrespective of parallel work on other scenarios and sensitivities. However, it is acknowledged that approaches to uncertainty analyses within the literature are often highly technical and the models used are both computationally demanding and time-intensive. This can limit broader adoption where national capacities are limited and scenario development is frequent. This paper describes an approach to presenting uncertainty, where the aim is to balance the technical and temporal demands of uncertainty estimation against a means of delivering regular and practical estimation and presentation of uncertainty for any given scenario. In turn this methodology should help formalise the recognition of the uncertainty dimension in emissions forecasts, for all stakeholders engaged. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Drought is recognized as a major issue in the EU, particularly in the Mediterranean region, posing risks to the environment as well as to local and regional economies. The EU policy on water management is continuously evolving, particularly in relation to water scarcity and drought. Starting with the Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC), which sets the general policy framework for water management across the EU, the EC Communication on Water Scarcity and Drought COM(2007) 414 final set the priorities for managing water scarcity and drought risks. Three follow-up reports (COM(2008) 875 final, COM(2010) 228 final and COM(2011) 133) highlighted achievements and yearly progress within the context of the implementation of the Water Framework Directive, whereas guidance has further been provided through the issue of Technical Reports (e.g. the EC Water Scarcity Drafting Group Technical Report 2008–023 on Drought Management, Including agricultural, drought indicators and climate change aspects). The 2012 EU Water Review (“Blue Print for Safeguarding European Waters” will assess achievements and identify further requirements towards long-term sustainable water use across the EU. However, a harmonized approach on drought risk management at the EU level is still lacking, whereas drought risk in several countries and regions has not been yet fully integrated in water management and relevant sectoral policies. This paper focuses on a proposed paradigm shift from crisis to risk management, which is currently gaining ground as a means of reducing societal vulnerability to droughts. The paper underlines the importance of engaging into risk assessment and management practices and identifies policy gaps and requirements for further improvement of the drought management policy framework at all levels of governance: at the EU, at the national and at the river basin and regional levels. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Highlights • Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) addresses both ecosystems and livelihoods. • EbA-specific scholarship provides an opportunity to study adaptation constraints. • We identify six different classes of constraints in the current literature. • Existing lessons could inform future design and implementation of EbA projects. • Further theoretical development of EbA is needed as a research and policy issue. Abstract In the international climate policy arena, Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) has become the preferred adaptation approach to climate change in the least developed and developing countries. Its perceived strength lies in the premise that adaptation strategies need to address both ecosystems and livelihoods simultaneously, given these are crucially intertwined and both under a threat from climate change. While EbA has certainly made progress as an adaptation approach, a lack of understanding still exists how EbA approaches contribute to 'effective' adaptation, including the circumstances where they face constraints and limits. Furthermore, implementation of EbA approaches ideally requires a level of understanding about ecosystem structure, productivity and dynamics, and how these are affected by climate change and other direct anthropogenic stressors, that are rarely available in developing countries. This paper aimed to synthesise the current knowledge in the emerging body of EbA specific literature on the kinds of constraints that hamper the use of EbA. Our analysis examined the following constraints: economic and financial, governance and institutional, social and cultural, knowledge constraints and gaps, and physical and biological constraints and limits. The identified constraints demonstrate the complexities in developing, implementing, monitoring and evaluating EbA and propose significant further areas of research, including the need to provide well-documented case studies of EbA, which crystallise the main lessons learned such as practical challenges in designing and implementing EbA projects and research programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: There has been resurgence in interest in new nuclear power stations over the last couple of years. The UK Government has taken steps to encourage the private sector to build new stations in the UK, a change in its previous neutral stance toward nuclear power. This paper examines the change in government policy asking what drivers have led to this decision and what barriers were preventing new nuclear power in the past and what barriers are still faced by both government and industry. Three main drivers are discussed: security of energy supply; diminishing energy generation capacity; and climate change. The paper also examines other key factors that play a part in facilitating a shift in government policy, namely economics, public perception and waste management policy. Barriers are identified through examination of public perception, and policy. The changes to the planning system are also discussed. The paper concludes by comparing drivers and barriers for other technologies and contrasting the UK experience with that of other countries. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper argues that regulatory processes and outcomes in the context of a new industry could respond to mechanisms and factors that shape governmental agendas, illustrating how policy can behave reactively rather than in a precautionary manner. In the case of salmon aquaculture, an emerging industry characterized by risks, uncertainties, exponential growth, economic significance and environmental controversy, the outcomes of such reactive policies are generally reflected in siting criteria that yield implicit environmental and socio-economic disadvantages and trade-offs. This paper proposes a conceptual framework based on specific mechanisms and factors that attempt to explain how policy evolves in the context of a new industry. It then links regulatory events back to the concepts to discuss how siting policy has been shaped using the salmon aquaculture industry in British Columbia as an example. The paper finally argues that, although in practice, policy makers generally tend to make incremental choices that are reactive to diverse issues, new industries could adopt more precautionary policies based on processes of public negotiation, analytical decision making and regional planning based on a systems approach. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

At the interface between politics and science-informed regulatory action there is hardly a more controversial combination in Europe today than the recently adopted chemicals policy overhaul entitled Registration, Evaluation, and Authorization of CHemicals (REACH) and the precautionary principle (PP). The European Commission states that REACH is underpinned by the PP. However, it is not evident how this is crystallized throughout the registration, evaluation and authorization process of REACH. Additionally, it is unclear how REACH will proactively support development of safer alternatives, a key component of precaution. The present paper examines to what extent the PP has actually been integrated in REACH. Several elements of the PP are included in REACH such as changing the burden of proof and assessment of alternatives. However, a number of important elements apparently are missing. This paper outlines some of the limitations in REACH for applying precaution and discusses possible improvements of the REACH framework to make it more supportive of precautionary decision-making. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Long-term reviews are necessary to appreciate the full outcomes and impacts of the scientific, societal and policy perspectives of transdisciplinary projects. Here, thirteen years after its completion, we assess the significance of a five-year (1999–2004) Swiss research project. The Fischnetz project aimed to identify the causes of fish catch decline and propose remedial measures. Engineers and scientists from different disciplines collaborated with practitioners and policy makers to approach this real-world problem and develop and implement policy interventions. Fischnetz proved to be an exemplarily successful case of how transgressive and socially robust research can be conducted and result in high-quality scientific outputs and policy impacts. As a result of Fischnetz , The Swiss Federal Water Protection Act was fully revised, two by-laws were changed, and several parliamentary interventions were launched. Fischnetz produced 68 scientific ISI-papers with higher than average citations. In this report, the project setup and its overall outcomes were analysed via a Mode-2 knowledge production approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flood and water management governance may be enhanced through partnership working, intra- and cross-organisational collaborations, and wide stakeholder participation. Nonetheless, barriers associated with ineffective communication, fragmented responsibilities and ‘siloed thinking’ restrict open dialogue and discussion. The Learning and Action Alliance (LAA) framework may help overcome these barriers by enabling effective engagement through social learning, and facilitating targeted actions needed to deliver innovative solutions to environmental problems. By increasing the adaptive capacity of decision-makers and participants, social learning through LAAs may lead to concerted action and sustained processes of behavioural change. In this paper, we evaluate the LAA framework as a catalyst for change that supports collaborative working and facilitates transition to more sustainable flood risk management. We use a case study in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK, to demonstrate how the LAA framework brought together disparate City stakeholders to co-produce new knowledge, negotiate innovative actions and, ultimately, work towards implementing a new vision for sustainable urban flood risk management. The shared vision of Newcastle as a ‘Blue-Green City’ that emerged is founded on a strong platform for social learning which increased organisations’ and individuals’ capacities to manage differences in perspectives and behaviours, reframe knowledge, and make collective decisions based on negotiation and conflict resolution. Broad recommendations based on lessons learned from the Newcastle LAA are presented to aid other cities and regions in establishing and running social learning platforms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to examine the association between double-loop disaster learning and transformations of political systems. The particular question is how disasters increase the rapidity and complexity, with which the transforming regimes face the unsuitability and inadequacy of the past forms and processes of disaster governance. The centennial evolution of the disaster relief law at a country scale (Czech Republic, resp. Czechoslovakia, 1918-present) is used as an example. The thorough search in digital repository of Czech and Slovak Parliamentary Library was performed to obtain legislative norms and protocols from parliamentary debates, whereas major disasters that induced new laws (1927 flash flood, 1947 drought, 1997 and 2002 floods) were identified from existing databases and from detailed reconstructions of historical disastrous events. The described cases enabled to add new empirical evidence contesting (i) the process scheme of disaster politics during critical junctures and institutional transformations, and (ii) the progressive nature of the double-loop learning approach related to disasters. It is shown that the double-loop learning from disasters and its benefits should be considered as time-dependent and related to permissive and productive conditions that facilitated the adoption of the new disaster relief law (i.e. the learning process). Finally, the implications for the research agenda (historical disaster research) and for disaster policy (evaluation of disaster relief effectiveness) are summarized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change adaptation now occupies central stage on the agenda of most environmental initiatives in Africa. Our current understanding on the state of adaptation is limited, however, both globally and in Africa in particular. This study examines the status of adaptation in the Sahel by reviewing the primary peer review literature that reports concrete climate change adaptation actions. Based on an analysis of 70 peer review papers that document 414 discrete adaptations, we create a snap shot of adaptations developed between 1975 and 2015, and also calculate the percentages of adaptation. The results show that from a country to country perspective, Kenya has the highest number of reported adaptation actions (75 or 18.1%). The percentages indicate that the adaptive capacity of the entire study area is generally low for all the countries being that the highest country-level percentage is recorded in Kenya and it is 18%. Regionally, West Africa has more adaptation actions (261 or 63%) when compared to other regions of the Sahel. Regional level percentages suggest a higher level of adaptation at the regional level being that the percentage falls within the high scale range. The most commonly used adaptation actions reported are income diversification and water harnessing respectively. When categorized, technically related adaptation actions dominate the adaptation charts. The decade 2008–2016 recorded the highest number of adaptations (65.2%). Adaptation actions are also reported to be triggered by climatic and non-climatic drivers which both record high frequencies but the climatic drivers (98%) of adaptation are slightly dominant relative to the non-climatic drivers (95%). These results should be viewed as proxies of climate change adaptation as much information may be found in grey literature and non-peer review national communications which are left out here because of their relative low standardization and acceptability due to the absence of peer review. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The EU Flood Directive 2007/60 requires the assessment and delineation of flood risk maps. The latter should provide the required knowledge for the development of flood risk management plans (FRMPs), that should deal with all features of risk management: e.g. preparation, protection and prevention, comprising also the phase of the flood forecasting and warning systems, in addition to the emergency management. The risk maps, delineated through the expert-drive qualitative ( EDQ ) approach currently adopted in several European countries, such as Italy, fail to represent the information base that needed by stakeholders for selecting the suitable objectives and designing the appropriate mitigation actions for flood risk management. In the EDQ approach, the flood hazard and the potential damage degree maps are combined by means of a matrix to obtain a qualitative flood risk map. However, the performance of the risk matrix is not usually rigorous validated and, therefore, presents limits, such as subjective and not careful explained interpretation of rating and poor resolution, (due to range compression), that can produce errors in comparative ranking of risk areas. In this context, this paper proposes the FloodRisk approach that aims to improve the efficacy of flood risk map overcoming the limits of EDQ approach in supplying the knowledge base that allow to analyze costs and benefits of potential mitigation measures. However, the proposed approach is also able to involve the citizens in the flood management process, enhancing their awareness. An application of FloodRisk procedure is showed on a pilot case in “Serio” Valley, (North Italy), and its strengths and limits, in terms of additional efforts required in its application compared with EDQ procedure, have been discussed focusing on the efficacy of the outcomes provided for the fulfillment of FRMPs. The results have demonstrated the ability of FloodRisk , respect to EDQ approach, to distinguish successfully different levels of vulnerability of exposure elements, thanks to the use of asset value and depth-damage curves, that allows a suitably evaluation of the effectiveness of risk mitigation strategies. In this light, a successfully application of a cost-benefit analysis of FloodRisk approach on a portfolio of alternative mitigation actions, (i.e. structural and non-structural measurements), has been demonstrated on the proposed study case. However, FloodRisk requires additional information, e.g. water depths assessment and assets values, and it needs a proper analysis and communication of the uncertainty in its results. Although they still exist limitations that impede, at present, the FloodRisk application without an adequate understanding and a critical consideration of the hazard, exposure and vulnerability characteristics of the study area, considerations are supplied on how the utilization of this approach can be maximized in the light of the next flood risk maps revision due by December 2019. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper contributes to an emerging body of literature on policy experimentation and governance transformation processes. We use the example of REDD+ as consisting of policy experiments in an emerging domestic policy domain to understand obstacles to transformations in forest and climate governance. We ask two interlinked questions: to what extent did the establishment of the REDD+ Agency challenge ‘business as usual’ in Indonesia’s forest and climate policy arena?; and what does this mean for a transformation away from policies and governance that enable deforestation and forest degradation? We draw on the transformation literature to better understand the role of REDD+ to achieve a transformative shift in climate governance. As an experiment of transformative climate governance, the study of REDD+ provides important insights for other forest or climate programs. Our analysis shows that the REDD+ Agency was successful in some extend in introducing an alternative governance mechanism and in shaking the governance structures but we also note that some of the key actors thought that greater ownership was achieved when the REDD+ Agency was dissolved and the mandate was returned to the ministries. We conclude that policy experimenting is a process, and while the creation of novel policies and their experimentation is important, also their assimilation may lead to new opportunities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the notion of a nexus involving water, energy, and food has been gaining attention in the scholarly literature and popular press, due partly to the impetus provided by an international conference on the nexus in 2011, and partly to the increasing interest among researchers and public officials in determining the investments and policies needed to achieve and sustain water, energy, and food security. While the notion of such a nexus is compelling to some observers, interactions involving water, energy, and food have been known and studied for many years by scientists and policy analysts. The need for greater integration of research and policy discourse across sectors and regions has been expressed in international meetings since the late 1940s. In addition, the conceptual basis for including water, energy, and food in the “nexus,” to the exclusion of other resources and inputs is not evident. In many cases, the information excluded from studies claiming to implement a nexus approach might be of greater importance to science and policy than the information included in the analysis. In this paper, I review some of the experience gained in earlier attempts to enhance integration and policy coherence, and to promote systems analysis. The challenges observed in implementing programs of integrated natural resources management (INRM) and integrated water resources management (IWRM), in particular, suggest that efforts to implement a water-energy-food nexus approach will not enhance the policy process in all settings. In sum, it is not clear that the increasing attention given to studies claiming to implement a nexus approach is warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 2008 European Air Quality Directive (AQD) (2008/50/EC) encourages the use of models in combination with monitoring in a range of applications. It also requires Member States to design appropriate air quality plans for zones where the air quality does not comply with the AQD limit values. In order to cope with these various elements, a wide range of different modeling methods have been developed and applied by EU Member States in the last decade to assess the effects of local and regional emission abatement policy options on air quality and human health. However, an overall review of the methodologies that are used in different countries to compile local and regional air quality plans has not been performed so far. Such a review has been the objective of the APPRAISAL EU FP7 project with the main goal to identify methodologies and their limitations and to propose possible key areas to be addressed by research and innovation on the basis of this review. To fulfill these objectives, a structured online database of methodologies has been developed in collaboration with experts involved in the design of air quality plans (AQP). The current work relies on the APPRAISAL database which currently totals 59 contributions from 13 Member States. In this paper we summarize the outcome of the APPRAISAL project with respect to the review of current Integrated Assessment Modeling practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Decision making in the field of air quality and greenhouses gases reductions can nowadays be supported by a clear overall framework and by computer tools that integrate the most relevant aspects of the problem. This approach is particularly important at local scale since new general rules on emission abatement at European level can only marginally modify the most critical hotspots and may be very costly. This paper adapts the general Drivers, Pressures, State, Impacts, Responses (DPSIR) scheme proposed by the European Environment Agency to the specific case of local air quality policies and shows how the most recent scientific developments in impact evaluation and social acceptance can be integrated. The proposed decision framework represents a general methodology to design Integrated Assessment Modelling (IAM) systems aimed at the implementation of effective Air Quality Plans (AQP). An extensive survey across European countries shows the current degree of adoption of these approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The measurement of environmental impact through composite indexes provides information about the effects of human activities on the ecosystem. Over recent years proposals regarding the environmental composite indexes (ECI) have emerged, suggesting that they can be used to help in decisions about public policies. Due the number of these indicators, issues arise about the asymmetry of information provided, although all ECI seek to measure ecosystem quality or damage. The present paper compares the Composite Index of Environmental Performance (CIEP) ( García-Sánchez et al., 2015 ) and the Environmental Performance Index (EPI) ( Hsu et al., 2014 ) in order to find convergent and divergent characteristics, studying methodological aspects and empirical evidence through statistical analysis, in order to favour the decision-making by stakeholders and to improve the existing ECI in order to determine adequately the environmental impact. The results show that the indexes were developed using different methods and variables, however, they share around 20% identical variables. Despite these differences, the rate of variation in ranking countries between the indexes is 21%, on average. The EPI policy category ‘water & sanitation (effects on humans)’ has two common variables and explains part of the CIEP performance. The effect dimension of the CIEP has one more identical variable and it reduces the individual variation between rank positions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As nations develop policies for low-carbon transitions, conflicts with existing policies and planning tools are leading to competing demands for land and other resources. This raises fundamental questions over how multiple demands can best be managed. Taking the UK as an empirical example, this paper critiques current policies and practices to explore the interdependencies at the water-energy-food nexus. It considers how current land uses and related policies affect the UK’s resilience to climate change, setting out an agenda for research and practice relevant to stakeholders in land-use management, policy and modelling. Despite recent progress in recognising such nexus challenges, most UK land-related policies and associated science continue to be compartmentalised by both scale and sector and seldom acknowledge nexus interconnections. On a temporal level, the absence of an over-arching strategy leaves inter-generational trade-offs poorly considered. Given the system lock-in and the lengthy policy-making process, it is essential to develop alternative ways of providing dynamic, flexible, practical and scientifically robust decision support for policy-makers. A range of ecosystem services need to be valued and integrated into a resilient land-use strategy, including the introduction of non-monetary, physical-unit constraints on the use of particular services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the beginning of the 20th century, the understanding of the relationship between science and policy making has altered significantly from one that separated the ‘truth seeking’ domain of science to one characterized by an increasingly close integration of science into the domain of politics, complete with contested values and opinions. Resilience scientists have only recently entered this discussion, but a coherent approach to purposeful institutional change and policy remains elusive, despite core theoretical concepts focusing on the scale and ‘fit’ of governance institutions for complex social–ecological systems. While the appropriateness of value-driven science is highly contested across all scientific fields, this paper argues that articulating a coherent position is of particular relevance for resilience scientists and others, who use a theoretical framework that is infused with a specific value-set, such as ecosystem and species protection, conservation, inclusiveness and participatory governance processes. Outlining both the challenges of navigating the science–policy interface and a set of approaches resilience scientists could take in response to these challenges, we seek to initiate reflection and debate within the resilience science community concerning their own role in growing the middle ground between science and politics, and conducting science within that hybrid space. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper critically examines how public policy makers limit policy and other institutional design choices by a failure to appreciate (i) how situations may be characterised or framed; (ii) how practices that generate neologisms (invented terms or concepts) or reify (make into a thing) abstract concepts can displace understandings, and (iii) the epistemological bases of governance mechanism choices. An inquiry into the coining of the neologisms ‘wicked’ and ‘tame’ problems is reported and the implications for research and policy practice explored. As practices, neologising, reifying, categorising and typologising have unintended consequences – they remove us from the primary experiences and underlying emotions that provided the motivation for formulating these concepts in the first place. The failure to institutionalise the understandings and experiences that sit behind the invention of the terms ‘wicked’ and ‘tame’ problems (or similar framing choices such as ‘problematique’, ‘messes’, ‘lowland real-life swamps’, ‘resource dilemmas’ or ‘complex adaptive systems’) present systemic constraints to institutionalising social learning as an alternative yet complementary governance mechanism within an overall systemic and adaptive governance framework. Ultimately situations usefully framed as ‘wicked’,’ such as water managing and climate change are problems of relationship – of human beings with the biosphere. Re-framings, such as institutions as social technologies and other research and praxis traditions concerned with the breakdown of relationships may offer ways forward in the purposeful designing and crafting of more effective institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The water industry faces the challenge of implementing privatization reforms. This process mainly adopts the following two approaches: the privatization of public water and sewerage services (WSS) and the privatization of water companies’ ownership. This paper investigates the impact of both privatization approaches on changes in productivity in the water industry. In doing so, the Luenberger productivity indicator (LPI) was computed for a sample of Chilean water and sewerage companies (WaSCs) for the period 1997–2013. Unlike the most commonly applied index (Malmquist productivity index), the LPI simultaneously takes into account output expansion and input contraction. The results evidenced that productivity in the Chilean water industry decreased after its privatization. However, in the sub-periods in which the ownership of WaSCs was privatized, the productivity of the water industry increased due to technical improvements. On the other hand, the concession of WWS to private WaSCs involved a regression in productivity. From a policy perspective, regulators and managers of WaSCs at the international level can learn important lessons from the Chilean case to improve the productivity of the water industries in their countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mainstream literature sees participation as critical to deepening democracy and solving complex environmental issues. An explosion of literature on public participation has occurred since Arnstein's ladder of participation in (1969). However, the literature does not address the conditions under which participation is likely to work and what it can achieve in different circumstances. In order to address these questions, this paper reviews the literature on participation, learning, trust, governance and management and conceptualizes the analysis through developing the split ladder of participation. It creates four ideal typical circumstances and explains what the nature and goal of stakeholder participation is for each circumstance. This model is then tested in four case studies in Mendoza, Argentina, Coquimbo, Chile, and Alberta and Saskatchewan, Canada. This split ladder is presented as both a diagnostic and evaluation tool and is supported through the use of examples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The portrayal of climate change in the news has been a major focus of research over the last decade, reflecting the importance of the media in affecting public opinion and policy. This work has primarily focused on the science of climate change, impacts, and mitigation, yet our understanding on how adaptation is being profiled in the media is limited. In response to this gap, this paper quantitatively examines the coverage and framing of climate change adaptation in four influential North American newspapers between 1993 and 2013. Over the observation period, the total number of articles focusing on adaptation published each year increases, with peaks in reporting in 2007, 2012, and 2013. While adaptation has permeated news coverage, it still remains overshadowed by stories on impacts and mitigation, with increased reporting consistent with increased media attention to climate change over the last two decades. Of the newspaper articles with adaptation content ( n = 271), the majority (53%) focus primarily on stating the need to adapt, as opposed to documenting actual preparations being undertaken for adaptation or profiling actual adaptations that have taken place. The types of adaptation being reported on are predominantly ‘hard’ in nature, profiling techno-engineering based responses to reduce potential climate change impacts, in contrast to ‘soft’ responses that seek to enhance resilience. This representation is particularly evident in reporting in 2012 and 2013. Adaptations being described in the selected newspaper articles are primarily anticipatory in nature up until 2011, after which adaptations are primarily discussed in terms of responding to extreme weather events, specifically in the context of a surge in reporting documented in response to Hurricane Sandy (2012) and flooding in Canada in 2013. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

More efficient and sustainable use of water is increasingly becoming an urgency in drought prone parts of the world. In particular, in water scarce regions such as the Mediterranean, water supply is expected to become more uncertain because of climate change. Consequently, pro-active policy initiatives are proposed to increase supply reliability. Local context is important when the effectiveness of policies is assessed. The aim of this paper is to evaluate farmers’ acceptance of policy strategies to increase water supply reliability in the Segura, a water scarce river basin in the south-east of Spain. Results from a choice experiment suggest that farmers are willing to pay twice as much as their current irrigation water price to ensure water supply reliability through government supply guaranteed programs. However, they are averse to any institutional changes that might assist the government to achieve increased water supply. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]