Creating a Regional Nature Park: A Case Study on Community Engagement in Developing the Mill Creek Nature Park in the Town of Riverview, New Brunswick

The presence of atmospheric pollutants is regularly screened in Bulgaria. However, studies on the cytotoxic and genotoxic potential of air contaminants are scarce. Snow collects pollutants from the air. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of melted snow samples from Shumen region (Bulgaria) on mitotic cells using the A. cepa test.Samples were taken from three open spaces: 1) the city of Shumen, 2) a meadow on the Shumen plateau and 3) agricultural land located about 9.5 km northeast of the town of Shumen.The samples from the Shumen city and Shumen plateau indicated the presence of water soluble cytotoxic compounds. The lack of cytotoxicity in the sample from the agricultural land was established. This proves an anthropogenic origin of cytotoxic pollutions at the other two places. These results could serve as warning signals for health preventive programs regarding air quality in Shumen and the Nature Park Shumen plateau during the winter.

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Floodplain of the Orlice River (Eastern Bohemia, Czech Republic): The Natural Centre of Biodiversity

Journal of Landscape Ecology ◽

10.1515/jlecol-2015-0015 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 8 (3) ◽

pp. 68-90

Author(s):

Michal Vávra

Keyword(s):

Czech Republic ◽

Vascular Plants ◽

Field Research ◽

Actual State ◽

Oxbow Lakes ◽

Vegetation Diversity ◽

Dead End ◽

Nature Park ◽

The Town

Abstract The article presents the main results of a field research carried out between 2012 and 2014. It is a comparison case study of vegetation diversity of pools and dead-end branches of the Orlice River in Eastern Bohemia, Czech Republic. The actual state of wetland vegetation is being compared to data from literature that is several decades old. Botanical survey was conducted in the study area located between the town of Hradec Králové and parishes of Malšovice, Malšova Lhota a Svinary. The research confirmed that dead-end river branches and oxbow lakes form potential refugia of biodiversity of vascular plants in the landscape context of the river area despite the fact that the River Orlice was fully regulated in the urban area of Hradec Králové and the surrounding parishes in the past. Nevertheless, the river area is of a natural character there and belongs to the Nature Park of Orlice since 1996. The local ecosystems are also a part of the important locality of the River Orlice and Elbe. The total of 449 taxons of vascular plants (on the level of species and sub-species) and species rich associations of aquatic and wetland plants were recorded in the study area. Conservation of the water regime in the fluvial landscape and suitable regulation interventions against some spreading invasive species are crucial for the continuing existence of the precious species composition. For this reason the article also includes some management steps.

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Interactive acculturation of Turkish-Belgian parents and children in Flanders: A case study of Beringen

MIGRATION LETTERS ◽

10.33182/ml.v16i3.601 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 16 (3) ◽

pp. 417-428

Author(s):

Özgün Ünver ◽

Ides Nicaise

Keyword(s):

Early Childhood ◽

Maternal Employment ◽

Domain Specificity ◽

Specific Context ◽

Childhood Education ◽

Parents And Children ◽

Education And Care ◽

The Relationship ◽

The Town

This article tackles the relationship between Turkish-Belgian families with the Flemish society, within the specific context of their experiences with early childhood education and care (ECEC) system in Flanders. Our findings are based on a focus group with mothers in the town of Beringen. The intercultural dimension of the relationships between these families and ECEC services is discussed using the Interactive Acculturation Model (IAM). The acculturation patterns are discussed under three main headlines: language acquisition, social interaction and maternal employment. Within the context of IAM, our findings point to some degree of separationism of Turkish-Belgian families, while they perceive the Flemish majority to have an assimilationist attitude. This combination suggests a conflictual type of interaction. However, both parties also display some traits of integrationism, which points to the domain-specificity of interactive acculturation.

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Evaluating Community Engagement and Benefit-Sharing Practices in Australian Wind Farm Development

Case Studies in the Environment ◽

10.1525/cse.2017.000521 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 1 (1) ◽

pp. 1-6 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Nina Lansbury Hall ◽

Jarra Hicks ◽

Taryn Lane ◽

Emily Wood

Keyword(s):

Community Engagement ◽

Community Involvement ◽

Wind Farm ◽

Social Acceptance ◽

Wind Farms ◽

Clean Energy ◽

Benefit Sharing ◽

Delphi Panel ◽

Government Organizations

The wind industry is positioned to contribute significantly to a clean energy future, yet the level of community opposition has at times led to unviable projects. Social acceptance is crucial and can be improved in part through better practice community engagement and benefit-sharing. This case study provides a “snapshot” of current community engagement and benefit-sharing practices for Australian wind farms, with a particular emphasis on practices found to be enhancing positive social outcomes in communities. Five methods were used to gather views on effective engagement and benefit-sharing: a literature review, interviews and a survey of the wind industry, a Delphi panel, and a review of community engagement plans. The overarching finding was that each community engagement and benefit-sharing initiative should be tailored to a community’s context, needs and expectations as informed by community involvement. This requires moving away from a “one size fits all” approach. This case study is relevant to wind developers, energy regulators, local communities and renewable energy-focused non-government organizations. It is applicable beyond Australia to all contexts where wind farm development has encountered conflicted societal acceptance responses.

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Multi-Criteria Decision Making for Vulnerability Mapping of Flood Hazard: A Case Study of Pune City

10.21523/gcj5.18020105 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 2 (1) ◽

pp. 41-52

Author(s):

Nitin Mundhe

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Flood Hazard ◽

Geographical Information ◽

Multi Criteria Decision Making ◽

Flood Hazards ◽

Very High Frequency ◽

Flood Vulnerability ◽

Natural Risk ◽

The Town

Floods are natural risk with a very high frequency, which causes to environmental, social, economic and human losses. The floods in the town happen mainly due to human made activities about the blockage of natural drainage, haphazard construction of roads, building, and high rainfall intensity. Detailed maps showing flood vulnerability areas are helpful in management of flood hazards. Therefore, present research focused on identifying flood vulnerability zones in the Pune City using multi-criteria decision-making approach in Geographical Information System (GIS) and inputs from remotely sensed imageries. Other input data considered for preparing base maps are census details, City maps, and fieldworks. The Pune City classified in to four flood vulnerability classes essential for flood risk management. About 5 per cent area shows high vulnerability for floods in localities namely Wakdewadi, some part of the Shivajinagar, Sangamwadi, Aundh, and Baner with high risk.

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Policy Strategies to Revive Rural Land in Peri-Metropolitan Towns: Resource Identification, Capitalization, and Financialization

Land ◽

10.3390/land10020132 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (2) ◽

pp. 132

Author(s):

Wei Li ◽

Zhanwei Zhang ◽

Yang Zhou

Keyword(s):

Rural Areas ◽

Master Planning ◽

Leading Role ◽

Multifunctional Land Use ◽

Key Stakeholders ◽

Resource Identification ◽

The Government ◽

Interpretative Approach ◽

The Town

Previous planning for rural revival in towns has emphasized construction and government-led policies. However, we argue that the dilemmas of peri-metropolitan rural areas, such as Desakota in China, are far more complex faced with rural super village and hollowed village transformations. Rural revival planning needs to coordinate with the development of urbanized and rural areas towards multifunctional goals and plans as a whole. Therefore, we selected the town master plan of Lijia, a typical peri-metropolitan village in China, as a case study. Through a historical–interpretative approach involving analysis of planning policies, questionnaires, and in-depth interviews with the key stakeholders involved, we structured the process and mechanism of rural revival in Lijia into three phases: resource identification, capitalization, and financialization. In different phases, different stakeholders adopt different roles. The government takes a leading role in resource identification and capitalization, while firms take a leading role in the process of financialization. “Market-dominant and government-guided” planning stimulates villagers to participate in rural revival. We highlight the importance of multifunctional land-use in terms of rural revival in the master planning of peri-metropolitan villages and provide a practical reference for uniting multiple stakeholders, including governments, firms, and villagers.

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Medina Gounass: Constructing Extra-National Space in a West African Borderland

African Studies Review ◽

10.1017/asr.2020.130 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-26

Author(s):

David Newman Glovsky

Keyword(s):

Islamic Law ◽

West African ◽

Religious Community ◽

National Space ◽

Cross Border ◽

History Of ◽

Postcolonial Africa ◽

Postcolonial States ◽

The Town

Abstract The historical autonomy of the religious community of Medina Gounass in Senegal represents an alternative geographic territory to that of colonial and postcolonial states. The borderland location of Medina Gounass allowed the town to detach itself from colonial and independent Senegal, creating parallel governmental structures and imposing a particular interpretation of Islamic law. While in certain facets this autonomy was limited, the community was able to distance itself through immigration, cross-border religious ties, and smuggling. Glovsky’s analysis of the history of Medina Gounass offers a case study for the multiplicity of geographical and territorial entities in colonial and postcolonial Africa.

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The Wetland Contract as a Tool for Successful Wetland Governance: A Case Study of Ljubljansko Barje Nature Park, Slovenia

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13010425 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (1) ◽

pp. 425

Author(s):

Katarina Polajnar Horvat ◽

Ales Smrekar

Keyword(s):

Wetland Management ◽

Stakeholder Participation ◽

Shared Responsibility ◽

Economic Activities ◽

Wetland Ecosystems ◽

Positive Effects ◽

Management And Development ◽

Nature Park ◽

Ljubljansko Barje

Our research focuses on implementing multilevel governance of wetlands to achieve an effective participatory process and its overall positive effects on wetland ecosystems and their protection as well as on local sustainable development. The aim of the research is to develop a methodology for establishing the Wetland Contract, a voluntary agreement to foster sustainable management and development of wetlands, to ensure greater coordination and consensus building between various stakeholders involved in management and to limit conflicts between preservation issues and economic activities in wetlands. The Wetland Contract and the integration process for establishing it in Ljubljansko barje Nature Park proved itself able to overcome conflicts between institutional and legal jurisdiction and is showing itself to be a dynamic path capable of activating a desirable relationship between various interests and supporting new forms of multi-sectoral stakeholder participation in wetland management. It has also contributed to a dialogue and shared responsibility among stakeholders.

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Architectural and Urban Attractiveness of Small Towns: A Case Study of Polish Coastal Cittaslow Towns on the Pomeranian Way of St. James

Land ◽

10.3390/land10070724 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (7) ◽

pp. 724

Author(s):

Alicja K. Zawadzka

Keyword(s):

Small Towns ◽

Urban Life ◽

Added Value ◽

Development Policies ◽

Quality Of Urban Life ◽

Size Criterion ◽

The Town ◽

Modern Technologies

The paper presents the results of a study on the attractiveness to tourists and natives of the cultural qualities of coastal towns on The Pomeranian Way of St. James that are members of the Cittaslow network. Attention to the quality of urban life is inscribed in the development policies of towns applying to join the Cittaslow movement. In order to join the network (apart from the size criterion), towns need to meet a minimum of 50% plus one of the 72 criteria grouped into seven categories. One of the category is Quality of Urban Life Policy, so the towns applying to join Cittaslow commit themselves to actions aimed at improving the quality of urban life. The study on the attractiveness of cultural qualities of towns to tourists and natives was conducted using the author’s BRB method, whose added value is its universality and the possibility to study small towns regardless of their membership in the Cittaslow network. BRB is an acronym that stands for BUILDINGS, RELATIONSHIPS, BALANCE, and comprises three scopes of activities: BUILDINGS (iconic building and important sites where the inhabitants and the tourists are present); RELATIONSHIPS (the visual effects of the relations between the inhabitants and the town) and BALANCE (solutions that implement modern technologies). This method enables identification of places that are important to the inhabitants, where urban life takes place and which are often created with the involvement of the inhabitants. These are often the same spaces as those that attract tourists and perhaps stimulate them the desire to visit the town again (BRB—be right back). The aim of the BRB method is shown the attractiveness of small towns. The study has shown that the characteristic feature of Polish Cittaslow towns is their diversity: the architectural attractiveness of three towns is high both to tourists and natives. On the other hand, the urban attractiveness of the examined towns is an insufficient.

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Towards Zero Emissions Noosa

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su11174679 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 11 (17) ◽

pp. 4679

Author(s):

Carina Anderson ◽

Robert Passey ◽

Jeremy De Valck ◽

Rakibuzzaman Shah

Keyword(s):

Community Engagement ◽

Focal Point ◽

Contextual Information ◽

Renewable Electricity ◽

Community Group ◽

Course Of Action ◽

Engagement Process ◽

Set Up ◽

External Consultant

This paper reports on a case study of the community group Zero Emissions Noosa, whose goal is for 100% renewable electricity in the Noosa Shire (Queensland, Australia) by 2026. Described within this paper are the processes used by Zero Emissions Noosa to set up their zero emissions plan, involving community engagement and the use of an external consultant. The external consultant was employed to produce a detailed report outlining how to successfully achieve zero emissions from electricity in the Noosa Shire by 2026. This paper explains how and why the community engagement process used to produce the report was just as important as the outcomes of the report itself. Modeling was undertaken, and both detailed and contextual information was provided. Inclusion of the community in developing the scenario parameters for the modeling had a number of benefits including establishing the context within which their actions would occur and focusing their efforts on options that were technically feasible, financially viable and within their capabilities to implement. This provided a focal point for the community in calling meetings and contacting stakeholders. Rather than prescribing a particular course of action, it also resulted in a toolbox of options, a range of possible solutions that is flexible enough to fit into whatever actions are preferred by the community. The approach and outcomes discussed in this paper should, therefore, be useful to other communities with similar carbon emission reduction goals.

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