Future of Hydraulic Fracturing Application in Terms of Water Management and Environmental Issues: A Critical Review

This paper deals with a stakeholder-focused perception of stakeholder engagement and the question of how much media and corporate communication influence people to get engaged with environmental issues and resources and the water issue in particular. With five case studies at a European, national, regional and local level it is shown that only a high degree of problematization of an issue (here: flooding or water scarcity and droughts) leads to participation as well as engagement which – much more than participation or activism – depends on the existence of organizational structures. Study findings conclude that stakeholder engagement equals a highly complex, autonomous and individual process that requires qualitative research methods. Organizations, political institutions as well as corporations have to acknowledge that stake - holders get engaged “themselves”, whereas the problematization of issues can foster engagement. Implications also refer to the field of Public Relations, where highly individual and customized communication strategies are needed.

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Building hydrosocialism in Czechoslovakia

Global Environment ◽

10.3197/ge.2020.130305 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 13 (3) ◽

pp. 610-633

Author(s):

Jiří Janáč

Keyword(s):

Water Management ◽

Social Change ◽

Natural Resource ◽

Environmental Issues ◽

State Socialism ◽

Communist Society ◽

The West ◽

Transformative Power ◽

Reflexive Modernity ◽

The 1960S

Throughout the period of state socialism, water was viewed as an instrument of immense transformative power and water experts were seen as guardians of such transformation, a transformation for which we coin the term 'hydrosocialism'. A reconfiguration of water, a scarce and vital natural resource, was to a great extent identified with social change and envisioned transition to socialist and eventually communist society. While in the West, hydraulic experts (hydrocrats) and the vision of a 'civilising mission' of water management (hydraulic mission) gradually faded away with the arrival of reflexive modernity from the 1960s, in socialist Czechoslovakia the situation was different. Despite the fact they faced analogous challenges (environmental issues, economisation), the technocratic character of state socialism enabled socialist hydraulic engineers to secure their position and belief in transformative powers of water.

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The environment and politics in science education: the case of teaching fracking

Cultural Studies of Science Education ◽

10.1007/s11422-021-10017-z ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Lynda Dunlop ◽

Lucy Atkinson ◽

Maria Turkenburg-van Diepen

Keyword(s):

High School ◽

Science Education ◽

Critical Thinking ◽

Young People ◽

Hydraulic Fracturing ◽

Environmental Issues ◽

School Science ◽

Research Literature ◽

High School Science ◽

Illustrative Case

AbstractHydraulic fracturing (‘fracking’), like other complex social and environmental issues, is a controversy about science which raises educational questions about how best to prepare young people to understand, respond to and, where necessary, act (or not) in response. It raises political questions. We present a state-of-the-art review of research literature on fracking and education using systematic strategies, with a view to finding out how it is framed in educational situations and how politics enters the science classroom. This serves as an illustrative case of how contested scientific and technological interventions with implications for the environment and society are treated in school science. The review is supplemented by interviews with 10 teachers of science and engineering working in schools or colleges near sites of operational exploratory fracking. We find that the research literature on teaching hydraulic fracturing is sparse, with only 25 studies relating to teaching and learning about fracking. Few studies (n = 7) relate to high school education. Where it features in science education, fracking is used as a context for interdisciplinarity and critical thinking, and lends itself to approaches using discussion, dialogue and modelling. Outcomes from fracking education range include knowledge gains and critical thinking. Teachers interviewed tended not to see a place for fracking in the curriculum or in the classroom and were averse to including politics in upper high school science education. Our analysis suggests depoliticization through absence of this specific complex environmental issue from the public (education) sphere, reinforced by the desire for ‘balance’ in high school science education and instrumental approaches to science education which prioritize assessed learning outcomes. Dealing with complex social and environmental issues such as hydraulic fracturing in the years of compulsory science schooling is necessary because scientific knowledge is necessary but not sufficient to prepare young people for the critical scientific literacy required to meet sustainable development goals. There is a need to assess and respond to the educational needs of local communities affected by industrial interventions such as fracking. These findings are likely to be relatable to other issues where there are local and global consequences of action or inaction and where the environment and health are pitted against economic and energy demands.

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Development of Košice Region by Implementation of Environmental Projects in the Field of Water Management - Case Study

Ekológia (Bratislava) ◽

10.2478/eko-2014-0034 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 33 (4) ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Henrieta Pavolová ◽

Adriana Csikósová ◽

Tomáš Bakalár

Keyword(s):

Water Management ◽

Agricultural Production ◽

Wastewater Treatment Plants ◽

Environmental Issues ◽

Environmental Benefits ◽

Treated Wastewater ◽

Management Case Study ◽

Application Specific

AbstractThe development of the regions in Slovakia in recent years has significant disparities in both so-cio-economic as well as environmental issues, as evidenced by the eight environmentally polluted areas (these areas are highly urbanised with industrial agglomerations or intensive agricultural production).This article deals with a management system model of regional by implementation of projects in environmental field of water management with application-specific benefits and risks arising from the process of their implementation in relation to regional development. It analyses projects in the area of water management of one of the regions of Slovakia, KoŠice region in particular, in terms of connection to public water duct and sewer, identifes a strategy for development of the region and its socio-economic and environmental benefits based on the analysis of drinking water, the quan-tity and quality of treated wastewater through wastewater treatment plants (WTPs). It identifes the infuencing factors of benefits and risks and proposes procedure for solving at various stages.

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Biocides in Hydraulic Fracturing Fluids: A Critical Review of Their Usage, Mobility, Degradation, and Toxicity

Environmental Science & Technology ◽

10.1021/es503724k ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 49 (1) ◽

pp. 16-32 ◽

Cited By ~ 188

Author(s):

Genevieve A. Kahrilas ◽

Jens Blotevogel ◽

Philip S. Stewart ◽

Thomas Borch

Keyword(s):

Hydraulic Fracturing ◽

Critical Review ◽

Mobility Degradation ◽

Fracturing Fluids

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Investments in Polish Agriculture: How Production Factors Shape Conditions for Environmental Protection?

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su12198160 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (19) ◽

pp. 8160

Author(s):

Piotr Bórawski ◽

Marta Guth ◽

Aneta Bełdycka-Bórawska ◽

Krzysztof Józef Jankowski ◽

Andrzej Parzonko ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Water Management ◽

Environmental Protection ◽

Agricultural Land ◽

Environmental Issues ◽

Organic Production ◽

Explanatory Variables ◽

Production Factors ◽

Fixed Assets ◽

Total Investment ◽

The Impact

In recent years, social and economic goals have been preferable compared to environmental issues. However, global problems with the environment, increasing pollution, and gas heating emissions have made environmental issues a major priority. Suddenly, human beings have realized that environmental investments are needed to maintain better world conditions for future generations. This article investigates the development of agricultural investment in the context of production factors in Polish voivodeships in the years 2000–2018. Farmers have to choose between investing and developing production or being more environmentally friendly and invest on a smaller scale or transform their farms into organic production. Moreover, the investment in environmental protection in Poland was analyzed. Investment outlays on fixed assets for environmental protection and outlays on fixed assets for water management were investigated. The level of investment has changed since Poland joined the EU. With membership, Poland gained access to new markets and technology. Particular attention has been focused on production factors (land, capital, and the work force). We have conducted as a proxy regular regression analysis and after panel regression to measure the impact of the chosen factors on explained variables: investment outlays in agriculture, and investment outlays per 1 ha of agricultural land. We have used correlation analysis to examine the relations between explanatory variables and total gross investment in agriculture and total investment outlays in agriculture per 1 ha of agricultural land, outlays on fixed assets for environmental protection, and outlays on fixed assets for water management. Our analysis confirms that explanatory variables are important in shaping total investment outlays in agriculture and total investment outlays per 1 ha of agricultural land.

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