scholarly journals Detection of sinkhole occurrence, experiences from South Africa

2020 ◽  
Vol 382 ◽  
pp. 77-82 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Ferentinou ◽  
Wojciech Witkowski ◽  
Ryszard Hejmanowski ◽  
Hennie Grobler ◽  
Agnieszka Malinowska
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Urban Communities ◽  
Earth Observation ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Water Ingress ◽  
Observation Methods ◽  
Ground Collapse ◽  
Sinkhole Collapse ◽  
Continuous Displacement

Abstract. Sinkholes are alarming and dangerous events, they have a worldwide occurrence, and are imposing a potential risk to urban communities and the widely developed built environment. Losses due to catastrophic sinkhole collapse, foundation, pavement and structural repairs, occur more often, due to the increased pressure to develop even on sinkhole prone land, and the aging of existing water supply infrastructure in the majority of cities. Remote sensing earth observation methods have proved to be valuable tools during the last two decades in long-term sinkhole hazard assessment. Satellite air borne and ground earth observation methods have primarily facilitated the wide detection of continuous displacement on the earth's crust. National sinkholes catalogues are necessary for town planers decision makers, and government authorities. In many instances the ground collapse is the result of water ingress from old poorly maintained leaking pipelines, or extensive dewatering activities. In the current study a comprehensive review of the current literature is presented in order to show experiences from South Africa and present recent mapping using PSInSAR methodology in Centurion South Africa.

scholarly journals Reflecting on Green Infrastructure and Spatial Planning in Africa: The Complexities, Perceptions, and Way Forward

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 455 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizelle Cilliers
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Urban Communities ◽  
Land Use Planning ◽  
Green Infrastructure ◽  
Spatial Planning ◽  
Local Context ◽  
Special Focus ◽  
Infrastructure Planning ◽  
Planning Approaches

Spatial planning decision-making is progressively acknowledging that nature-based solutions are substantially beneficial to urban communities and their host cities. This paper is a meta-study of the current state of spatial planning practice in South Africa, with special focus on nature-based solutions and green infrastructure planning. The complexities and perceptions relating to green infrastructure planning in South Africa is presented, based on the findings of nine independent studies conducted between 2014 and 2018. The collective interpretation of these findings are thematically reported on in terms of (i) the concept of Green Infrastructure as perceived from a local perspective, ii2) the functionality of green infrastructure in local (urban and rural) context, (iii) the benefits (and value) of green infrastructure in local context which probe to be contradicting international accepted theory, and (iv) long term planning strategies and opportunities relating to green infrastructure provision in South Africa and Africa. The paper emphasizes the importance of context-based planning based on the unique considerations illustrated in the (South) African case studies which amongst others disproved the green compensation hypothesis and disproved the green proximity principle. As a result, the paper calls on long-term strategies to align green infrastructure as part of mainstream spatial planning approaches, along with value capturing approaches to sensitize decision-makers to prioritize green infrastructure within broader land-use planning approaches.

Research for a sustainable European sugar sector

2010 ◽  
pp. 487-495
Author(s):  
Martin Bruhns ◽  
Peter Glaviè ◽  
Arne Sloth Jensen ◽  
Michael Narodoslawsky ◽  
Giorgio Pezzi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sugar Industry ◽  
Research Priorities ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Sustainable Chemistry ◽  
Technology Platforms ◽  
Research Themes ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Manufacturing Applications ◽  
European Technology

The paper is based on the results of international project entitled “Towards Sustainable Sugar Industry in Europe (TOSSIE)”. 33 research topics of major importance to the sugar sector are listed and briefly described, and compared with research priorities of the European Technology Platforms: “Food for Life”, “Sustainable Chemistry”, “Biofuels”, and “Plant for the Future”. Most topics are compatible with the research themes included in the COOPERATION part of the 7th Framework Program of the EU (2007-2013). However, some topics may require long-term R&D with the time horizon of up to 15 years. The list of topics is divided into four parts: Sugar manufacturing, Applications of biotechnology and biorefinery processing, Sugarbeet breeding and growing, Horizontal issues. Apart from possible use of the list by policy- and decision makers with an interest in sugarbeet sector, the description of each research topic can be used as a starting point in setting up a research project or other R&D activities.

Reconciliation as Interdependence

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fanie du Toit
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Institutional Arrangements ◽  
Political Transition ◽  
Racial Groups ◽  
Just Society

This chapter endeavors to develop a coherent framework for political transition—as reconciliation. I argue that reconciliation explains how relationships emerge in unfavorable conditions; how once a modest beginning is achieved, cooperation can grow, trust strengthened, and understanding deepened through appropriate processes and institutional arrangements; and how eventually a fundamentally more just society is built—all as part of a comprehensive transitional agenda. In South Africa, reconciliation politics propagated the idea, diametrically opposed to apartheid, that racial groups were fundamentally and comprehensively interdependent. This provided a compelling rationale for taking reconciliation seriously—and twenty-four years on, it still does. Reconciliation embraces a shared future on the basis that this is not only desirable but unavoidable, and turns to deal with a troubled past because it obstructs this future. More broadly, therefore, reconciliation can be described as “working toward fairness and inclusivity, reconciliation entails the mutual acknowledgment, the progressive institutionalization, and the long-term socialization of a comprehensive and fundamental interdependence.”

The Imperial Army Project

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas E. Delaney
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
British Empire ◽  
Second World War ◽  
World War ◽  
Archival Research ◽  
Military Cooperation ◽  
High Point ◽  
The Military ◽  
Second World

How did British authorities manage to secure the commitment of large dominion and Indian armies that could plan, fight, shoot, communicate, and sustain themselves, in concert with the British Army and with each other, during the era of the two world wars? This is the primary line of inquiry for this study, which begs a couple of supporting questions. What did the British want from the dominion and Indian armies and how did they go about trying to get it? How successful were they in the end? Answering these questions requires a long-term perspective—one that begins with efforts to fix the armies of the British Empire in the aftermath of their desultory performance in South Africa (1899–1903) and follows through to the high point of imperial military cooperation during the Second World War. Based on multi-archival research conducted in six different countries on four continents, Douglas E. Delaney argues that the military compatibility of the British Empire armies was the product of a deliberate and enduring imperial army project, one that aimed at ‘Lego-piecing’ the armies of the empire, while, at the same time, accommodating the burgeoning autonomy of the dominions and even India. At its core, this book is really about how a military coalition worked.

scholarly journals Private retirement resorts in South Africa: Guidelines for wellness and sustainability in the long term.

2013 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Andries C. Hauptfleisch
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Knowledge Base ◽  
Quantitative Data ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The Other ◽  
Literature Study ◽  
Optimal Profile

Unsubsidised private retirement resorts in South Africa developed during the last three decades present residents with many challenges. There is no existing generally accepted knowledge base or guidelines to serve this sensitive market. The research objective was to establish which elements are experienced by residents of retirement resorts as satisfactory and which as problematic. A literature study was also undertaken. Quantitative as well as qualitative data were obtained by means of structured questionnaires, interviews and a seminar. The results reported pertain to eight resorts in the east of Pretoria, four in Bloemfontein and two in Knysna. The study is currently being extended to other centres. The quantitative data is arranged in order of the priorities set by the biggest group (Pretoria), with the other groups in comparison. So the research was based on the sourcing of quantitative and qualitative data, as well as on descriptive evaluations. The results offer insightful knowledge and guidelines towards establishing an optimal profile for the development of long-term sustainable private retirement resorts. The implications and value of this study are that both developers of retirement resorts and prospective residents are provided with guidelines to better equip them to evaluate a specific retirement resort with regard to the sustainable well- being of residents long-term.

scholarly journals Integrated Impact Assessment for Sustainable Hydropower Planning in the Vjosa Catchment (Greece, Albania)

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 1514
Author(s):  
Rebecca Peters ◽  
Jürgen Berlekamp ◽  
Ana Lucía ◽  
Vittoria Stefani ◽  
Klement Tockner ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Impact Assessment ◽  
Planning Process ◽  
Renewable Energy Sources ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Catchment Scale ◽  
Northern Greece ◽  
Hydropower Plants ◽  
Hydropower Planning

Mitigating climate change, while human population and economy are growing globally, requires a bold shift to renewable energy sources. Among renewables, hydropower is currently the most economic and efficient technique. However, due to a lack of impact assessments at the catchment scale in the planning process, the construction of hydropower plants (HPP) may have unexpected ecological, socioeconomic, and political ramifications in the short and in the long term. The Vjosa River, draining parts of Northern Greece and Albania, is one of the few predominantly free-flowing rivers left in Europe; at the same time its catchment is identified an important resource for future hydropower development. While current hydropower plants are located along tributaries, planned HPP would highly impact the free-flowing main stem. Taking the Vjosa catchment as a case study, the aim of this study was to develop a transferable impact assessment that ranks potential hydropower sites according to their projected impacts on a catchment scale. Therefore, we integrated established ecological, social, and economic indicators for all HPP planned in the river catchment, while considering their capacity, and developed a ranking method based on impact categories. For the Vjosa catchment, ten hydropower sites were ranked as very harmful to the environment as well as to society. A sensitivity analysis revealed that this ranking is dependent upon the selection of indicators. Small HPP showed higher cumulative impacts than large HPP, when normalized to capacity. This study empowers decision-makers to compare both the ranked impacts and the generated energy of planned dam projects at the catchment scale.

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