Suchergebnisse

AbstractAustralia has just witnessed one of the longest resources booms in the country's history. But who benefited? Was the rapid expansion managed in such a way to protect affected communities, ecosystems, and water resources? And what legislative approach has delivered the best outcome? Unconventional gas has been touted as the great saviour in terms of energy, providing a transitional resource that will enable the global economy to shift from a non‐renewal hydrocarbon‐based economy to renewable energy sources. The development of the unconventional gas industry in the state of Queensland has created opportunities for the significant capital investment, job creation, and the beginnings of a massive liquefied natural gas export industry within the State. During the period of expansive development, water and environmental legislation was often at odds with both the industry and the community. Successive governments grappled with the best approach for capturing community concerns and supporting the development of a new industry that promised significant benefits to the State through jobs, taxes, and royalties. This paper evaluates the adaptive environmental management approach adopted by Queensland to manage the new unconventional gas industry and whether this has been successful.

The past two decades have overseen a dramatic shift in the way Australians view water resources, their value, and the way in which it is allocated and managed. Water law and regulatory reforms within government and industry at National and State levels have resulted in unprecedented changes in the way governments, councils, and corporate bodies are structured to manage it. Although Western Australia has been at the forefront of the planning and regulatory reforms required to manage two decades of declining rainfall and expanding population, much of the reform is driven by the National agenda. Modifications in water policy, water industry re‐structure, and water supply and drinking water quality guidelines were introduced with this reform agenda. This paper evaluates the changes in the water industry, and in the way in which water resources are managed and water is licensed and regulated to deliver quality drinking water through the framework of the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines in Western Australia.

AbstractThe African Water Vision 2025 emphasized the disadvantages of the rural population in the context of water supply infrastructure, water management, and access. The vision extolled the virtues of providing improved decentralized governance and localized actions to deliver on this agenda. Furthermore, policies and investment should support climate resilience, by strengthening the security and availability of adequate water quality and quantity in rural communities, for example, by mainstreaming the adoption of rainwater harvesting systems. This is reflected in the government policy alignment towards enabling a devolution of responsibilities to regional and local political structures, while addressing concerns linked with water availability, climate change, and its impact on a country's water resources in Kenya. Despite efforts through different strategic plans and policies, there is a perceived gap between the general understanding of the importance of the RWH system at the national level and actions at the operational level in the counties. An absence of formal policy frameworks and coordination of investments has resulted in insufficient adoption and implementation of RWH systems in Kenya to date. This is despite the fact that in some counties, RWH systems are considered a key solution for increasing climate resilience and suggestions for improvement have been formulated by the affected communities. This analysis shows that RWH systems strengthen the resilience of rural populations but are dependent on a well‐formulated governmental structure, which could be improved by refining national policies and investment in RWH systems.

The scale, pace, and intensity of human activity on the planet demands radical departures from the status quo to remain within planetary boundaries and achieve sustainability. The steering arms of society including embedded financial, legal, political, and governance systems must be radically realigned and recognize the connectivity among social, ecological, and technological domains of urban systems to deliver more just, equitable, sustainable, and resilient futures. We present five key principles requiring fundamental cognitive, behavioral, and cultural shifts including rethinking growth, rethinking efficiency, rethinking the state, rethinking the commons, and rethinking justice needed together to radically transform neighborhoods, cities, and regions.

The scale, pace, and intensity of human activity on the planet demands radical departures from the status quo to remain within planetary boundaries and achieve sustainability. The steering arms of society including embedded financial, legal, political, and governance systems must be radically realigned and recognize the connectivity among social, ecological, and technological domains of urban systems to deliver more just, equitable, sustainable, and resilient futures. We present five key principles requiring fundamental cognitive, behavioral, and cultural shifts including rethinking growth, rethinking efficiency, rethinking the state, rethinking the commons, and rethinking justice needed together to radically transform neighborhoods, cities, and regions. ; Peer reviewed