Environmental Sciences Commons^™

Socio-Environmental Considerations At The Usuma Reservoir In Abuja, Nigeria, Fanan Ujoh Mr, James Ikyernum Mr, Olarewaju O. Ifatimehin Dr

Dr. Fanan Ujoh

Reservoirs are Man’s attempt towards water re-distribution from regions/seasons of abundance/surplus to regions/seasons of scarcity. This study focuses on socio-environmental impacts of the Lower Usuma dam in Abuja, on its four surrounding communities. Stratified random sampling technique was employed in the administration of a questionnaire to 200 respondents. Using descriptive statistics and the student t-test for the analysis, the study discovered that: (i) there has been no significant improvement in infrastructure provision by Government; (ii) cases of water-borne diseases are high; (iii) the communities have lost land for cultivation; and, (iv) the communities believe that the resettlement scheme is not …

Towards A Resilient Sydney: Research Into The Role Of Emergency Management In Climate Change Adaptation (Research Summary), Neil Dufty, Tim Morrison

Neil Dufty

No abstract provided.

Community Flood Education And Awareness In Fairfield City (Report), Neil Dufty

Neil Dufty

No abstract provided.

Sea No Evil, Hear No Evil - Community Engagement On Adaptation To Sea Level Change, Neil Dufty, Heather Stevens, Stuart Waters, Greg Giles

Neil Dufty

No abstract provided.

Building Capability For Disaster Resilience, Lynn Crawford, Craig Langston, Bhishna Bajracharya

Lynn Crawford

All levels of government recognise the widespread devastation of communities by natural or other disasters. They have responded with emergency management arrangements and policies to enhance government and community capacity to anticipate, withstand and recover from disastrous events. Although the construction industry has a significant role to play, particularly in recovery and reconstruction, it has not generally been considered as a key stakeholder in building capability for disaster resilience. One barrier to more active involvement of the construction industry in disaster response and management is that traditional methods of construction project management have been criticised as too time consuming and …

Building Capability For Disaster Resilience, Lynn Crawford, Craig Langston, Bhishna Bajracharya

Craig Langston

All levels of government recognise the widespread devastation of communities by natural or other disasters. They have responded with emergency management arrangements and policies to enhance government and community capacity to anticipate, withstand and recover from disastrous events. Although the construction industry has a significant role to play, particularly in recovery and reconstruction, it has not generally been considered as a key stakeholder in building capability for disaster resilience. One barrier to more active involvement of the construction industry in disaster response and management is that traditional methods of construction project management have been criticised as too time consuming and …

Building Capability For Disaster Resilience, Lynn Crawford, Craig Langston, Bhishna Bajracharya

Bhishna Bajracharya

All levels of government recognise the widespread devastation of communities by natural or other disasters. They have responded with emergency management arrangements and policies to enhance government and community capacity to anticipate, withstand and recover from disastrous events. Although the construction industry has a significant role to play, particularly in recovery and reconstruction, it has not generally been considered as a key stakeholder in building capability for disaster resilience. One barrier to more active involvement of the construction industry in disaster response and management is that traditional methods of construction project management have been criticised as too time consuming and …

Transforming The Tourist City Into A Knowledge And Healthy City: Reinventing Australia's Gold Coast, Daniel O'Hare, Bhishna Bajracharya, Isara Khanjanasthiti

Bhishna Bajracharya

Purpose – With rapid growth of Australia’s Gold Coast into a tourist consumption city (Mullins 2008) of half a million people, Gold Coast City Council (GCCC) seeks to diversify the city’s economy, lifestyle and culture. This paper investigates this transformation by reviewing policies, projects and programs arising from GCCC visions of a healthy city benefiting from knowledge based urban development (KBUD) (Yigitcanlar et al., 2008). Secondly, the paper aims to identify opportunities and challenges in developing the emerging cosmopolitan city as a knowledge and healthy city. The paper focuses not only on larger knowledge and health nodes along major highways …

Transforming The Tourist City Into A Knowledge And Healthy City: Reinventing Australia's Gold Coast, Daniel O'Hare, Bhishna Bajracharya, Isara Khanjanasthiti

Daniel O'Hare

Purpose – With rapid growth of Australia’s Gold Coast into a tourist consumption city (Mullins 2008) of half a million people, Gold Coast City Council (GCCC) seeks to diversify the city’s economy, lifestyle and culture. This paper investigates this transformation by reviewing policies, projects and programs arising from GCCC visions of a healthy city benefiting from knowledge based urban development (KBUD) (Yigitcanlar et al., 2008). Secondly, the paper aims to identify opportunities and challenges in developing the emerging cosmopolitan city as a knowledge and healthy city. The paper focuses not only on larger knowledge and health nodes along major highways …

Planning And Design Of Master-Planned Communities For Healthy Living, Bhishna Bajracharya, Linda Too

Bhishna Bajracharya

Due to growing health concerns linked to inactive living, a number of new master-planned communities in South East Queensland are creating supportive environments for physical activities. Varsity Lakes in Gold Coast is an example of such community which provides both infrastructures and programs to encourage active living. The objective of the paper is to examine the relationship between built environment and healthy communities through a review of current literature. Synthesising these findings, a conceptual framework is developed for supporting active and healthy living in master-planned communities. The three key factors are 1) place; 2) program and 3) partnership. This framework …

Planning And Design Of Master-Planned Communities For Healthy Living, Bhishna Bajracharya, Linda Too

Linda Too

Due to growing health concerns linked to inactive living, a number of new master-planned communities in South East Queensland are creating supportive environments for physical activities. Varsity Lakes in Gold Coast is an example of such community which provides both infrastructures and programs to encourage active living. The objective of the paper is to examine the relationship between built environment and healthy communities through a review of current literature. Synthesising these findings, a conceptual framework is developed for supporting active and healthy living in master-planned communities. The three key factors are 1) place; 2) program and 3) partnership. This framework …

Public-Private Partnership In Disaster Management: A Case Study Of The Gold Coast, Bhishna Bajracharya, Peter Hastings, Iraphne Childs, Peter Mcnamee

Bhishna Bajracharya

Public-private partnership has important roles to play in disaster management, including building business and community resilience, developing community risk awareness and providing essential services. This paper reports on two recent initiatives in public-private partnerships on Queensland’s Gold Coast. The first is an initiative by a local community group ‘Varsity Lakes Community Limited’ to prepare a disaster management guide for the masterplanned community of Varsity Lakes with support from NRMA insurance company and the local council. The second is the ‘Community Watch’ program initiated by the Gold Coast City Council to involve local community groups in various parts of the City …

Water. World Water, A Crisis Of Global Governance?, Robert Weiner

Robert Weiner

In a global world, how can water, a necessary and increasingly scarce resource, be managed? We understand that water is a basic need. Do we also share the belief that water is a basic right? Does the international community share beliefs about water that may be the foundation of an international regime or system of global governance for the equitable implementation of global water policy? And finally, what international body or bodies might handle the disputes that arise as our population and need for water increase? The author tackles these questions and looks at models to guide us.

Promoting: Programs For And Challenges Of The Knowledge-Based Small Business, Joan Imukuka, Bhishna Bajracharya, Linda Too, Greg Hearn

Bhishna Bajracharya

ExtractSmall businesses have long been recognized for their contributions to innovation, job creation and the overall health of most economies (Audretsch, 2004; North et al., 2001; Tilley and Tonge, 2003). Government policies in most countries, therefore, often include support measures and infrastructure to help nurture small businesses, particularly in relation to their innovation-related needs (North et al., 2001). Most recently, there has been growing interest in fostering the emergence of new and innovative small businesses, especially in the high-technology and knowledge-intensive sectors (Bridge et al., 2009). The ’high technology’ and ’knowledge-intensive sectors’ are those sectors of the economy that have …

Report Of The 2012 North East Flood Review (Report), Neil Dufty

Neil Dufty

No abstract provided.

Walk The Talk With Portfolio Management, Aileen Koh

Aileen Koh

The increasing use of project and programs by organizations to achieve business strategy and goals have led to the need to understand project portfolio management. If project management answers the question “Are we managing the project correctly?“ then project portfolio management answer the questions “Do we have the right project?“ This study is to investigate the governance structures and the practices, roles, responsibilities of portfolio management in service and manufacturing organisations in Australia. This paper presents the result of the six case studies and discuss the challenges and the journey of portfolio management implementation.

Designing For Future Buildings: Adaptive Resuse As A Strategy For Carbon Neutral Cities, Sheila Conejos, Craig Langston, Jim Smith

Craig Langston

Adapting existing buildings is a viable alternative to demolition and replacement in order to mitigate climate change and global warming. Australian cities with inherent cultural heritage fabric, like Melbourne and Sydney, are actively promoting building adaptive reuse as a strategy that supports their programme for developing carbon-neutral cities. Thus, designing for future buildings with embedded adaptive reuse potential is a useful criterion for sustainability. Building adaptive reuse entails less energy and waste, protects the buildings’ heritage values- its socio-cultural and historic meanings; while giving them a new lease of life. This paper looks into urban conservation-- an interdisciplinary field that …

Designing For Future Buildings: Adaptive Resuse As A Strategy For Carbon Neutral Cities, Sheila Conejos, Craig Langston, Jim Smith

Sheila Conejos

Adapting existing buildings is a viable alternative to demolition and replacement in order to mitigate climate change and global warming. Australian cities with inherent cultural heritage fabric, like Melbourne and Sydney, are actively promoting building adaptive reuse as a strategy that supports their programme for developing carbon-neutral cities. Thus, designing for future buildings with embedded adaptive reuse potential is a useful criterion for sustainability. Building adaptive reuse entails less energy and waste, protects the buildings’ heritage values- its socio-cultural and historic meanings; while giving them a new lease of life. This paper looks into urban conservation-- an interdisciplinary field that …

Learning For Disaster Resilience, Neil Dufty

Neil Dufty

No abstract provided.

Climate Change In Cyprus: Impacts And Adaptation Measures, Theodoros Zachariadis

Theodoros Zachariadis

No abstract provided.

Climate Change In Cyprus – Impacts And Adaptation Policies, Elpida Shoukri, Theodoros Zachariadis

Theodoros Zachariadis

This report provides a literature review of climate change facts and projections globally, for Europe, Mediterranean and Cyprus until the end of the 21st century. It focuses on climate change effects in Cyprus by sector and presents specific recommendations on the implementation of a proper adaptation strategy. The report is based on a review of the most important recent studies on climate change, including reports from international organizations as well as European and Mediterranean authorities and research institutions. The report has also benefited from information gathered through personal communication of the authors with public authorities, non-governmental organizations and researchers.

Why Are People So Unkind? Unravelling Community Responses To Floodplain And Emergency Management (Powerpoint), Neil Dufty, Mel Taylor, Garry Stevens

Neil Dufty

No abstract provided.

Berkshire Encyclopedia Of Sustainability, Louis Kotzé, Stephen Morse

No abstract provided.

Development Of Waste Collection Services On Rural Territory From Neamț County, Florin C. Mihai, Liviu Apostol

Florin C MIHAI

This paper analyzes the expansion of sanitation services in rural areas after the closure and rehabilitation of rural dumpistes having as deadline July 16, 2009. Following this period local authorities are forced to collect and dispose the waste generated in urban landfills from proximity until the transfer stations will be operational. Most of the rural population has no access to waste collection services, waste generated and uncollected are uncontrolled disposed polluting the local environment. Development of sanitation services is a basic condition for an efficient implementation of integrated waste management system at county level.

Waste Recycling: Feasibility Of Saw Dust Based Spent Mushroom Substrate And Goat Manure In Vermicomposting, Adi Ainurzaman Jamaludin, Noor Zalina Mahmood, Noorlidah Abdullah

Adi Ainurzaman Jamaludin

Vermicomposting for 140 days by using Lumbricus rubellus was conducted after 21 days of natural pre-composting. Five treatments in different ratio of goat manure: spent mushroom substrate were prepared as feed materials with four replicates for each treatment namely; 20:80 (TA), 40:60 (TB), 50:50 (TC), 60:40 (TD) and 80:20 (TE). As for control, each treatment without earthworm was prepared. On the basis of nutrient elements, goat manure and spent mushroom substrate can be decomposed through both methods of vermicomposting and natural composting. Findings of this study indicated that the higher usage of goat manure with longer duration resulted in the …

Beyond Business-As-Usual: Achieving A Paradigm Shift Towards Low-Carbon Transport, Theodoros Zachariadis

Theodoros Zachariadis

Transportation is responsible for a continuously rising share of global carbon emissions. Carefully designed regulations, supported by land use strategies, fiscal policies and local incentives, and enabled through targeted international development assistance, can reverse these unsustainable trends.

Climate Change In Cyprus: Impacts And Adaptation Policies, Theodoros Zachariadis

Theodoros Zachariadis

This paper provides an overview of facts and projections related to climate change in Cyprus until the end of the 21st century. It highlights the main climate change impacts foreseen and presents recommendations for the preparation of a national adaptation strategy. Coping with climate change is possible, provided that proactive actions are taken by both the public and the private sector. Public authorities need to set clear priorities and implement well designed policies. Most importantly, adequate monitoring mechanisms should be set up in order to provide much needed data which can send early warnings to policy makers and the public …

Landscape Management For Sustainable Supplies Of Bioenergy Feedstock And Enhanced Soil Quality, Douglas L. Karlen, David J. Muth Jr.

David J. Muth

Agriculture can simultaneously address global food, feed, fi ber, and energy challenges provided our soil, water, and air resources are not compromised in doing so. As we embark on the 19th Triennial Conference of the International Soil and Tillage Research Organization (ISTRO), I am pleased to proclaim that our members are well poised to lead these endeavors because of our comprehensive understanding of soil, water, agricultural and bio-systems engineering processes. The concept of landscape management, as an approach for integrating multiple bioenergy feedstock sources, including biomass residuals, into current crop production systems, is used as the focal point to show …

Economics Of Residue Harvest: Regional Partnership Evaluation, David W. Archer, David J. Muth Jr., Jacob J. Jacobson, Douglas L. Karlen

David J. Muth

Economic analyses on the viability of corn (Zea mays, L.) stover harvest for bioenergy production have largely been based on simulation modeling. While some studies have utilized field research data, most field-based analyses have included a limited number of sites and a narrow geographic distribution. An Iowa case study is developed illustrating the use of data extracted from a database of geographically distributed field studies for a region-specific economic analysis. The analysis utilizes grain and residue yield and associated management information from two Iowa field research sites that are Sun Grant Regional Partnership locations associated with the Corn Stover Regional …

High Speed Rail In America: An Evaluation Of The Regulatory, Real Property, And Environmental Obstacles A Project Will Encounter, Darren A. Prum, Sarah L. Catz

Darren A. Prum

In 2009, President Barak Obama allocated $8 billion in stimulus funding for high speed rail projects across the United States. One year later, in 2010, an additional $2.5 billion was distributed to corridors with High Speed Rail Projects. Even though the most recent congressional budget eliminated high speed rail funding, many corridors are working diligently to break ground by the end of 2012. Before a high speed rail project can be fully implemented there are many legal and environmental issues and regulations to examine. This paper conducts a complete analysis of those issues and regulations and suggests how to apply …