scholarly journals The 2030 Agenda as Agenda Setting Event for Water Governance? Evidence from the Cuautla River Basin in Morelos and Mexico

Water ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 314 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anita Breuer ◽  
Ursula Oswald Spring
Keyword(s):  
River Basin ◽  
Agenda Setting ◽  
Water Governance ◽  
Explanatory Power ◽  
Global Environmental Change ◽  
Policy Science ◽  
Paradigm Shifts ◽  
Focusing Events ◽  
2030 Agenda ◽  
Starting Point

Policy science has developed various approaches, such as agenda-setting and goal-setting theory, aimed at explaining the emergence of policy shifts and behavioural changes. The 2030 Agenda sets an ambitious vision for human development in times of global environmental change and makes for an interesting subject to study the explanatory power of these approaches. While the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) enshrined in the 2030 Agenda resulted from a process of intergovernmental negotiations, they will ultimately have to be implemented by national governments. Using the case of Mexico, we take the governance of water as a starting point to investigate whether the 2030 Agenda has indeed become a focusing event for sustainability transformation. Building on data from 33 expert interviews and findings of a Social Network Analysis of communications between water stakeholders from different sectors in the Cuautla River Basin, we conclude that major paradigm shifts in water governance in Mexico are thus far rather attributable to domestic focusing events and windows of opportunity than to the motivating impact of globally set goals. The Mexican case also illustrates that the implementation of the 2030 Agenda is strongly dependent on political will at the highest level. Ensuring the continuity of its implementation across administrations will, therefore, require mainstreaming and anchoring the SDGs into the sectorial strategies that determine activities at the lower working level of government.

scholarly journals Water Governance and Water Management Systems in the Tekeze River Basin

2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 439-449
Author(s):  
Getahun Antigegn Kumie
Keyword(s):  
Water Resources ◽  
Fresh Water ◽  
River Basin ◽  
Water Governance ◽  
Management Systems ◽  
Governance System ◽  
Difficult Situation ◽  
Bilateral Agreements ◽  
Water Supply Management ◽  
Facility Maintenance

The fact that a lot of fresh water resources in Ethiopia are shared between several sovereign states creates a difficult situation in terms of water governance and management. Since there is no central agency that can regulate the utilization of water, the autonomous riparian actors pursue their respective interests. Water is shared at local, national and international levels; and difficulty in water supply management arises from lack of coordination between local, national and international authorities. Most of the Ethiopian rivers are trans-boundary, i.e. shared by several sovereign states. The purpose of this paper is to examine water governance and management systems in the Tekeze River basin. The author uses the qualitative research method to critically examine the existing scarce literature sources and governmental policy documents. The findings of the study revealed the absence of any kinds of bilateral agreements among the riparian states of the Tekeze River basin. As the water governance system in the region is highly politicized, there exists a certain clash of interests between the Tekeze River nations. The constant conflict in the region disrupts cooperation needed for facility maintenance in the Tekeze River basin. The problems in the area arise due to the following factors: no demarcated boundaries between the basin states; no effective water governance system, and, as a result, no efficient and cooperative utilization of fresh water resources; lack of institutional and legal arrangements between the major riparian states.

scholarly journals Silent and a audible stereotypes: The constitution of "ethnic character" in Serbian epic poetry

2005 ◽  
pp. 105-120 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gordana Djeric
Keyword(s):  
Explanatory Power ◽  
Mental Image ◽  
Epic Poetry ◽  
National Character ◽  
The Other ◽  
Relevant Feature ◽  
Explanatory Relevance ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Epic Poems

The article deals with the explanatory relevance of the concept of stereotype in one of its original meanings - as a "mental image". This meaning of the term is the starting point for further differentiations, such as: between linguistic and behavioral stereotypes (in the sense of nonverbal, expected responses); universal and particular stereotypes; self representative and introspective stereotypes; permanent and contemporary stereotypes; and finally, what is most important for our purposes, the difference between silent and audible stereotypes. These distinctions, along with the functions of stereotype, are discussed in the first part of the paper. In the second part, the relations of silent and audible stereotypes are tested against the introduction of "innovative vocabularies" in popular lore. In other words, the explanatory power of this differentiation is checked through an analysis of unconventional motives in Serbian epic poems. The goal of the argument is to clarify the procedure of self creation of masculinity as a relevant feature of the "national character" through "tactic games" of silent and audible stereotypes. The examination of these "poetic strategies" serves a twofold purpose: to illustrate the process of constructing particular features of the "ethno type", on one hand, and to check hypotheses and models which are taken as frameworks in analyzing stereotypes, on the other.

Complementarity between water pricing, water rights and local water governance: A Bayesian analysis of choice behaviour of farmers in the Krishna river basin, India

2011 ◽  
Vol 70 (10) ◽  
pp. 1756-1766 ◽  
Author(s):  
Prakashan Chellattan Veettil ◽  
Stijn Speelman ◽  
Aymen Frija ◽  
Jeroen Buysse ◽  
Guido van Huylenbroeck
Keyword(s):  
Bayesian Analysis ◽  
River Basin ◽  
Water Governance ◽  
Water Rights ◽  
Water Pricing ◽  
Choice Behaviour ◽  
Local Water

scholarly journals Planetary Health Ethics: Beyond First Principles

Challenges ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Foster ◽  
Jennifer Cole ◽  
Andrew Farlow ◽  
Ivica Petrikova
Keyword(s):  
Code Of Ethics ◽  
Global Environmental Change ◽  
Ethical Framework ◽  
Future Health ◽  
Transdisciplinary Approach ◽  
Planetary Health ◽  
Global Environmental ◽  
Health Community ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Operating Space

Planetary health is a transdisciplinary approach that aims to advance the understanding of the links between human-driven changes to the planet and their consequences, and to develop appropriate solutions to the challenges identified. This emerging movement has not yet agreed upon a code of ethics to underpin the rapidly expanding body of research being carried out in its name. However, a code of ethics might support the principles for planetary health set out in the Canmore Declaration of 2018. Phrases such as “Public Health 2.0”, “Human Health in an Era of Global Environmental Change”, or “A safe and just operating space for humanity” are often used in planetary health discussions, but are not always clearly defined and so far, the field lacks a strong guiding ethical framework. In this paper, we propose a starting point towards a code of ethics for planetary health that builds on the Canmore Declaration. We chose to propose 12 ethical principles in recognition of the need for a 12-Step Programme for the planet. The human race must identify and reject damaging behaviours. Evidence of the harm we are causing the planet is no longer enough and refraining from certain current practices is essential for Earth’s future health. We must motivate advocacy and calls for action. We believe a shared ethical code can act as a tool to enable and encourage that process. This paper is presented to the planetary health community as a starting point, not as a finished agenda. We welcome comments, critiques, additions and the opportunity to rework our approach accordingly.

scholarly journals Examining Water Security in the Challenging Environment in Togo, West Africa

Water ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 231 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mawulolo Yomo ◽  
Khaldoon A. Mourad ◽  
Masamaeya D. T. Gnazou
Keyword(s):  
Water Resources ◽  
River Basin ◽  
Evaluation System ◽  
Global Environmental Change ◽  
Water Environment ◽  
Water Security ◽  
Fuzzy Comprehensive Evaluation ◽  
Economic Security ◽  
Financial Instruments ◽  
Governmental Institutions

Water shortages across the globe have increased due to climate change among other factors with negative impacts expected at the river basin level. Anticipating these impacts will help experts act in a timely manner to avoid a future water crisis. As part of addressing the future water shortage impacts on the Togolese community, this paper assessed water security in the context of the global environmental change in the Oti River Basin taking Oti Nord sub-basin (ONSB) as a case study. Key informants’ interviews were done with staff from governmental institutions, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), community-based organizations, and private operators. The Improved Fuzzy Comprehensive Evaluation Model (IFCEM) was used for assessing water security (WS). A basin level WS evaluation system including five subcomponents (external environment security, water resources security, water-society security, water economic security, and water-environment security) and 23 indicators related to climate, socio-economy, water availability, and consumption were constructed. The results showed that the water level is very insecure in the sub-basin for the assessed years (2010, 2015, and 2025) with the year 2025 being the worst (expected a decrease of water security by 20% and 1% in 2025 compared to the years 2015 and 2010, respectively). This insecurity is found to be the result of many factors including technical, institutional, juridical, environmental, socio-cultural, hydrogeological, and demographical factors. However, managerial factors such as institutional instability, the inadequacies in water and related sector evolution, and the absence of de-centralized water management structures, the non-operationalization of management organs/financial instruments, and culture (i.e. taboos and bylaws) are found to be key to the study area. The paper concluded that the operationalization of management organs/financial instruments may enable the application of adopted water policies and regulations, which may lead to a sound and coordinated management of the available water resources since this will enable the government’s self-investment in clean water provision, data acquisition (potential water available and the estimation of economic driven potential water needs, which are key for any sound development), and a stimulated joined effort from the existing institutions. In addition, the establishment of a sound waste management system and awareness raising, and educative activities regarding water pollution will be of great benefit for this cause.

scholarly journals Boundaries between inequality and difference in water governance

2015 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 211-228 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rodrigo Constante Martins
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Management ◽  
River Basin ◽  
Environmental Governance ◽  
Water Governance ◽  
Technical Competence

This article addresses the themes of inequality and difference in water governance in Brazil. The production of hierarchies in the arenas of governance is discussed, defending the hypothesis that the shift from difference to inequality is the result of practices of justification that consolidate the sovereignty of technical competence in environmental management. Some of the more significant findings of studies about the structure and functioning of River Basin Committees in different regions of the country are taken as reference for this discussion. Based on these findings, we discuss the discursive production of the Committees, the authority of the agents that embody the new principles of management, and the implications of the process of scientification of the politics. The article concludes by pointing out the importance of diversity in the construction of a new narrative of environmental governance.

Influence of land use on fine sediment in salmonid spawning gravels within the Russian River Basin, California

2005 ◽  
Vol 62 (12) ◽  
pp. 2740-2751 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeff J Opperman ◽  
Kathleen A Lohse ◽  
Colin Brooks ◽  
N Maggi Kelly ◽  
Adina M Merenlender
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Land Cover ◽  
River Basin ◽  
Forest Cover ◽  
Multiple Scales ◽  
Explanatory Power ◽  
Fine Sediment ◽  
Road Density ◽  
Watershed Land Use ◽  
Russian River

Relationships between land use or land cover and embeddedness, a measure of fine sediment in spawning gravels, were examined at multiple scales across 54 streams in the Russian River Basin, California. The results suggest that coarse-scale measures of watershed land use can explain a large proportion of the variability in embeddedness and that the explanatory power of this relationship increases with watershed size. Agricultural and urban land uses and road density were positively associated with embeddedness, while the opposite was true for forest cover. The ability of land use and land cover to predict embeddedness varied among five zones of influence, with the greatest explanatory power occurring at the entire-watershed scale. Land use within a more restricted riparian corridor generally did not relate to embeddedness, suggesting that reach-scale riparian protection or restoration will have little influence on levels of fine sediment. The explanatory power of these models was greater when conducted among a subset of the largest watersheds (maximum r2 = 0.73) than among the smallest watersheds (maximum r2 = 0.46).

Institutional networks and adaptive water governance in the Klamath River Basin, USA

2016 ◽  
Vol 57 ◽  
pp. 112-121 ◽  
Author(s):  
B.C. Chaffin ◽  
A.S. Garmestani ◽  
H. Gosnell ◽  
R.K. Craig
Keyword(s):  
River Basin ◽  
Water Governance ◽  
Klamath River ◽  
Klamath River Basin

Environmental Hazards, Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction: J. K. Mitchell’s Relevance to the Global Sustainable Development Agenda

2016 ◽  
Vol 03 (02) ◽  
pp. 1671006
Author(s):  
Juha I. Uitto
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Global Environmental Change ◽  
Environmental Hazards ◽  
Adaptation To Climate Change ◽  
Natural Systems ◽  
Development Agenda ◽  
Global Environmental ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Complex Disasters

This paper argues how Mitchell’s work on complex disasters and environmental hazards is highly relevant to the global Sustainable Development Agenda and the international organizations involved in its implementation. The paper takes as its starting point two United Nations University projects led by Mitchell in the 1990s and reviews their prescience in terms of current developments in the context of urbanizations, economic development, population growth, and global environmental change. The issue of adaptation to climate change is highlighted as exemplifying the importance of integrated approaches encompassing human and natural systems, as advocated by Mitchell. Challenges to program and policy evaluation are then discussed with regard to adaptation, adopting Mitchell’s approach of understanding local situations while anchoring evaluation in scientific knowledge.

Focusing Events, Mobilization, and Agenda Setting

1998 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-74 ◽  
Author(s):  
THOMAS A. BIRKLAND
Keyword(s):  
Agenda Setting ◽  
Focusing Events
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