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In order to promote good water governance practices, harmonize multiple objectives, and reflect the linkages between environmental, socioeconomic and politico-administrative aspects, it is imperative to define appropriate regions for water resources planning and management. The Water Resources Planning and Management Decision Support System (WARPLAM DSS) is presented here as a tool to support the definition of suitable limits for water resources regions. Although river basins are generally considered the most suitable regions to achieve Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) goals, WARPLAM DSS facilitates the analysis of politico-administrative, historic-cultural, socioeconomic, and physical-environmental aspects. This paper summarizes an initiative to define integrated water resources regions for the establishment of River Basin Committees (RBCs) in Peru, based on a comprehensive analysis of the Peruvian territory. The study was developed through a partnership between ANA-Peru and ANA-Brazil, with the cooperation of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). The results simulated in this attempt anticipate a more harmonized division of Peru's territory into water resources regions. Such an approach aims to establish more robust RBCs and to increase the chances of attaining IWRM goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses the system of economic and environmental accounting for water to demonstrate how the water sector interacts with the social-economic sectors of the economy. Furthermore, it reviews the existing institutional and policy framework in Uganda, and proposes an analytical framework which can be used to provide sound intersectoral planning in order to achieve sustainable water resource use. The proposed framework also articulates how outcomes of water policies and social-economic policies can be analyzed. In Uganda, the uneven distribution of water resources both in space and time, poses constraints to economic activity particularly in the water-scarce regions of the country. The problem is being exacerbated by the increasingly erratic rainfall and rising temperatures. The accounting results show that the current level of water use within the economy is less than the available quantity. In this regard, there is room for the development of mechanisms to increase its utilization. This would serve to mitigate the scarcity especially of water for production which primarily emanates from climate variability. This in turn affects the performance of the economy, as key sectors such as agriculture are rainfall-dependent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The risk of flooding in urban areas could be better approached by complementing conventional sewer systems with sustainable urban drainage systems (SUDS) for storm-water management. This may be the case for developing world cities like Dar es Salaam with incomplete sewer services, as well as cities like Copenhagen with fully developed sewer systems. This paper explores some theories relevant to understanding how the implementation of SUDS may be one option for supporting a transition towards sustainable urban water management (SUWM). Using interviews, document analysis and observation, a comparison of the opportunities and barriers to the implementation of SUDS in Dar es Salaam and Copenhagen is presented. The results indicate that a bottom-up approach in Dar es Salaam is important, with the community level taking the lead, while in Copenhagen the top-down approach currently employed is promising. The ability of the institutional frameworks of both cities to support the implementation of SUDS is also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article uses international environmental law as a lens for analysing States' obligations in relation to cyber activities of non-State actors operating under their jurisdiction. We begin by exploring opportunities for borrowing well-established rules of harm prevention and due diligence from the more advanced, but not dissimilar, field of international environmental law. We argue that these rules can provide a legal foundation for the emerging field of international cyber law, and have already made their way into the cyberspace discourse. We then draw on the experience of international environmental law with conceptual notions such as 'global commons' and 'shared resources', as well as with institutional models such as multilateral environmental agreements and norm-developing bodies. We highlight the risks and drawbacks of the conceptual and institutional leap from States' transboundary harm prevention duties to protection of a commons in the 'virtual' world of cyberspace. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional road safety approaches are not enough to find a permanent solution to the road safety problem. The safe system approach is a holistic and systemic approach to road safety. This idea assumes that transport is a complex system and the only possible solution to the effects of this system is to design each element with the system in mind. There are great challenges to implement such a perspective in Latin America. Among this perspectives there is the creation of a strong institutional framework, able to implement the required measures, and the rise of awareness among professionals involved in the design of the road system. CAF has been working with the countries in the region since 2010, in order to help them to improve the conditions that will allow the reduction of the fatalities and injuries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given that climate change is likely to exacerbate drought in certain parts of the world, a critical issue is how appropriate context-relevant drought policy can be developed and implemented. This paper examines how China is developing policies to help local communities in the Lancang River Basin to cope with the problems of climate variability and change. The research process includes (a) content analysis of relevant policies at different levels of administration and (b) stakeholder interviews to examine how effective policies are at the local level along the Lancang River in Yunnan province. The paper concludes that China needs to provide more emphasis on (a) enhancing the adaptive capacity of institutions and individuals, (b) drought risk rather than disaster management, (c) enhancing coordination between different departments and levels of government, (d) decentralization in policymaking as local governments can make context-relevant comprehensive policies more easily and are less hierarchical in their relationships, (e) involving farmers or other stakeholders in decision making, (f) building up grass root organizations to support policy implementation to compensate for the retreat of governmental organizations from the local level and (g) adopting market mechanisms which are still in a nascent stage now. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effective governance is regarded as essential for national water management frameworks. Many countries are therefore striving to institute effective governance in their water sector. Kenya is one country that has instituted such governance framework in the recent past. This article evaluates Kenya's water governance framework in the area of water services provision in line with the conventional principles of effective governance. The outcome of this evaluation is that the framework has strived to achieve a structure for effective governance but falls slightly short of it. Recommendations are therefore made to help fill the gap. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]