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The work described in this thesis concerns the development of a Brownfield Site Sustainable Regeneration - Decision Support System (BSSR-DSS). The project aims to develop a pilot system that can provide information and alternatives for sustainable brownfield regeneration as a platform to make decisions in this context. One of the main characteristics of the BSSR-DSS is its ability to process the input data (related to site characteristics), run simulations and assess/evaluate different scenarios in order to obtain the most sustainable solution. The process input data for the BSSR-DSS relates to a wide range of sustainability indicators that have been developed in the European Project "RESCUE - Regeneration of European Sites in Cities and Urban Environments". The system involves the elaboration of methods and approaches using innovative mathematical techniques such as Artificial Neural Networks and Fuzzy Logic to analyze and evaluate the input data (site characteristics and sustainability indicators) to produce a significant output. The literature review undertaken confirmed that no current system integrating the two above mathematical techniques has been implemented to date. The system is also linked to a Geographic Information System (GIS) called MAPINFO. This allows extensive information searches to be undertaken that can be site specific, and the information displayed on a map.

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The study attempts to assess employees’ environmental awareness at a personal and organisational level as well as their perception of their organisations’ environmental policies in order to propose a theoretical model on environmental awareness. The research focuses on employees’ knowledge, perception and behaviour toward the environment. The respondents (composed of 43% males and 53% females) are employed in a variety of industries in the United Kingdom. The objectives of the study are: (1) to demonstrate how employees’ environmental awareness and behaviour differs according to their sociodemographic characteristics (i.e. gender, age, parental status, education level, income); (2) to investigate organizations’ environmental awareness and actions, as well as factors influencing organisations’ environmental decisions; (3) to evaluate the environmental actions of organisations, and to determine if organisations’ environmental policies influence employees’ environmental knowledge and behaviour; (4) to identify ways of how to improve and promote environmental awareness in the workplace; and (5) to make recommendations for the improvement of environmental awareness and behaviour and hence environmental management in organisations. A quantitative research approach is adopted by the study and data was collected through the use of questionnaires. The analysis of 93 questionnaires (response rate was 31%) revealed that no association exists between people’s gender, age, earnings (employment), and parental status and environmental awareness. However, a correlation exists between employees’ education level and their environmental knowledge and behaviour. Furthermore, tests revealed that an association exists between employees’ parental status and their perception of their organisations’ environmental actions. There was also an association between people aged 35 or under and those aged over 35 years old and their environmental knowledge and perception of environmental issues. It is hoped that the research will contributes to knowledge by developing a theoretical model representing the development process of environmental awareness and behaviour. Such model enables employees to acquire sufficient environmental knowledge so that they can engage into pro-environmental initiatives and organisations to fully embrace environmental management policies and practices.

Shortage of suitable landfill sites in South Yorkshire has aroused interest in recycling domestic refuse. The Doncaster separating plant reclaims useful materials from domestic refuse; a non-useful by-product is the highly organic "putrescible" fraction. Pilot studies established the biochemical nature of this material and indicated that it was amenable to biodegradation in soil and potentially valuable as a soil conditioner. This investigation aimed to establish optimum dosage rates for its disposal and identify patterns of biodegradation with or without nitrogen supplementation using digested sewage sludge. Effects on the soil, and the maintenance of healthy plant life were considered using field and laboratory experimentation. Results showed that organic materials in the refuse followed an exponential pattern of breakdown, increasing in rate up to a dosage of 47 tonnes/hectare and thereafter declining. Growth of barley and ryegrass responded well to refuse additions but again the increased yield was suppressed slightly at high dosages. This suppression appeared to be closely linked with soil levels of available nitrogen. It is generally assumed that nitrogen supplementation is required to aid the breakdown of carbonaceous domestic refuse in soil. Sewage sludge addition was not found to increase the rate of breakdown of the Doncaster refuse separates in the long term. However, mineralisation studies suggested that nitrogen in the refuse was immobilised during the early stages.of biodegradation until microbial utilisation of the carbonaceous materials had reduced the carbon:nitrogen ratio to a level at which mineralisation could proceed. Soil physical properties were generally improved by the refuse and soil humic material was increased. There was little evidence of phytotoxicity and toxic metals were at acceptable soil concentrations. The main problems were high initial levels of boron and the persistence of some non-biodegradable material present in the refuse separates.

There is wide recognition among contemporary researchers that sustaining community-managed projects in rural areas remains a herculean challenge. Empirical evidence shows that about 65% of community-managed projects in sub-Saharan Africa including Cameroon are not sustainable. Community management is one of the strategies widely adopted by project providers at grassroots levels to ensure the sustainability of community projects, yet sustaining these projects after the depature of donor agency has remained a difficult task. It was in furtherance of this approach that this study set out to gain insights into why sustaining community-managed projects in the NWRC after being handed down to the grassroots has proven to be challenging despite the widespread popularity of community management as a bottom-top development strategy that allows grassroots community members to have overall support for their project ongoing operations. The study was guided by five objectives, and data were collected through 4 focus group discussions held with projects end-users, 12 interviews granted to project committee staffs, traditional authorities and political elite. Additional data were gathered through a survey questionnaire administered to 77 respondents in the four chosen community-managed project sites, documentary review and on-the-spot appraisal of projects. Qualitative and quantitative analyses of the data paved the way for the drawing up of meaningful conclusions and suggestions of ways to improve the sustainability of community-managed projects in the NWRC. What emerges from the data collected, analysed and interpreted enabled the study to conclude that the strategies adopted so far by community project providers in the NWRC were not effective. The implementation of these projects disregarded the traditional beliefs and practices of end-users and engendered loss of access to shrines, groves and forest-based or water-based resources without providing alternatives. The findings equally show that increasing temperature and reducing amount of rainfall result in a greater incidence of bushfires, which threaten the sustainability of some community-managed projects. Handing down project management to a local community is not synonymous with sustainability. If community-managed projects are to be sustainable, they require the project end-users to have a real sense of ownership and control over the project‟s ongoing operations as well as an increase in governance capacity and environmentally friendly practices.

The success of Reduced Emission from Deforestation and land Degradation, forest conservation, sustainable forest management and enhancement of carbon stocks (REDD+), depends on effective participation of local communities because ultimately they are the ones to implement REDD+ on the ground and are the potential benefactors of such policy. But few studies have examined community involvement in the design, implementation and monitoring of REDD+ projects. This study critically examines the level of community’s engagement in the Mount Cameroon National Park (MCNP) conservation project. Cluster multi-stage random sampling was used to collect data from 259 respondents from four geographical clusters with cultural and livelihood differences. Quantitative data were analysed using Chi-square, Mann-Whitney test, t-test, ANOVA and linear-regression models to understand the contribution of predictors on independent variables, while Kruskal-Wallis and Jonckheere-Terpstra tests compare results and establish trends between different clusters respectively. Qualitative data were coded and thematically analysed to show different perceptions between different levels of stakeholders. Results show that insecure tenure, ineffective and inappropriate communication between park managers and communities, inadequate benefit-sharing mechanism, and top-down government strategies have impeded community's engagement in the REDD+ projects within all clusters. Communities perceive REDD+ as having the potential to conserve forest, generate income and improve livelihoods. However, the present level of local engagement in the MCNP conservation project makes the attainment of these goals difficult. REDD+ should be based on effective participatory bottom-up approaches that empower and allow more decision-making powers to communities to achieve effectiveness and potential co-benefit expectations of REDD+. Assessing community’s engagement as the project progresses should be embedded within strategies to ensure sustainability in REDD+. This study provides practical insights into the effective co-management of MCNP-REDD+ projects and recommends adaptable management strategies that favour appropriate social-safeguard standards for sustainability of any REDD+ projects.

In an ongoing period of austerity in the UK, there is a growing assumption that communities will increasingly help deliver what have traditionally been seen as public services. This thesis seeks to explore the extent to which community groups make a significant contribution to the delivery and management of green infrastructure provision within a metropolitan context, using The Mersey Forest as the case study area. Whilst much has been made of the role of communities in managing land for food production the research identified that the range of community groups, and the differences between them in terms of their organisational structures and approaches to membership were in fact more nuanced and varied than much of the original literature suggested. Initially it was possible to create a typology of community-scale green infrastructure from a desk-search of 244 groups active within The Mersey Forest area. This provided a framework for defining, comparing and contrasting volunteer-led groups and projects actively managing sites of ecological or educational interest within their local environment. As a result, three distinct types of group were identified - Formal Group, Informal Group, Formal Project - differentiated according to approaches to governance, membership, funding, support and overall focus. This provided a thematic structure for exploring a number of case studies in more depth. Overall the findings of the qualitative study suggest that although community volunteers are a vital ingredient to the diversity of approaches to local greenspace management and environmental stewardship, the role of external stakeholders and professional bodies from the public and voluntary and community sector providing support and assistance is a crucial ingredient which is increasingly missing. In turn, the capacity of many groups and projects to achieve longevity and resilience in the face of unforeseen circumstance change, such as the end of a funding stream, or the discontinuation of a local authority funded environmental management role, is ultimately limited by the capacity inherent within the group; which in turn, is largely shaped around the experiential knowledge of individual members to capitalise on the skills necessary for land management and governance. From a policy perspective it can therefore be argued that ideological position encapsulated by the rhetoric of ‘The Big Society’ and legislated for within the Localism Act are inherently prejudiced towards groups and projects which can draw on individuals with experience of management, such as retired professionals in more affluent communities. In contrast, communities in less affluent areas are exposed to more risk with an inherently lower capacity for resilience; plus higher demands on existing budgets within these areas due to higher levels of public expenditure within areas of multiple deprivation, exacerbate an already pressurised situation. This finding is significant for the study and for wider decision-making in light of the mounting evidence illustrating the net positive benefits for health and wellbeing through regular access to natural greenspaces, particularly for individuals living in areas with high rates of health inequalities.

Northern Jordan has undergone tremendous land cover change during the last three decades. This study tried to answer the following question: How have population growth and socio-economic influences affected soil quality in northern Jordan? The underlying factors that have led to the changes in land use and land cover are poorly documented, but efforts in this area started to be effective with the creation of the Badia Research and Development Programme. However, there has been little effort to spatially correlate the land cover changes with soil quality. An empirical model based on high resolution spatial and temporal remotely sensed data offers the ability to assess the degradation impacts of changes in land cover in a spatial context. In an attempt to assess the impacts of changing land cover on soil, a GIS-based erosion model has been developed to predict annual soil loss by water in northern Jordan. This model uses the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE). Spatially distributed static (topographic and soil) parameters for this model are extracted from a regional GIS developed specifically for the Badia Programme area. The dynamic (vegetation cover) parameter is estimated from the land cover maps, derived by digital processing of multi-resolution, multi temporal Landsat MSS (14.9. 1972, 16. 7. 1985) and TM (28. 8. 1992). Mapping of vegetation cover was carried out by applying TM-Linear Mixture Modelling and NDVI, while mapping of fallow lands was carried out by both on-screen digitizing and sketch mapping in the field. The image difference technique was used in the change detection analysis. The erosion model predicts an increase in the amount of soil loss in the study area from 1972 to 1992, as a result of land cover changes. It was concluded that the degradation of the soil in the study area, observed during the last two decades, was caused by effects of these land cover changes.

Escherichia coli O157:H7 is a human pathogen capable of causing severe disease due to the release of the phage-encoded exotoxin Shiga toxin (Stx). The primary reservoir of E. coli O157:H7 is cattle from which the organism is shed asymptomatically and colonises specifically at the terminal rectum (TR). Prevalence rates in cattle vary and shedding is transient making determination of transmission routes difficult. This thesis aims to gain further understanding of shedding patterns and transmission of E. coli O157:H7 in cattle to inform future control strategies. Rates of E. coli O157:H7 replication in gut contents and exceptional replication rates in TR mucus revealed that passive shedding could explain both low and high faecal counts observed in epidemiological studies and that replication in TR mucus coincides with high rates of attachment to bovine terminal rectum epithelial (BTRE) cells. The rumen was identified as a critical point of control of bacterial numbers which could be exploited in future control strategies which should also consider the potential for passive shedding and environmental replication to maintain E. coli O157:H7 populations on farms in the absence of a colonised animal. Transmission studies showed that while useful for studying colonisation of cattle, Stx- strains of E. coli O157:H7 are unable to transmit effectively compared to Stx+ strains and are not appropriate for use in experimental transmission studies. Differences observed between shedding and transmission of phage type (PT) 21/28 and PT 32 strains could explain why PT 21/28 is more common in cattle and humans. Studies of replication and colonisation of the strains from the transmission studies revealed that PT 21/28 is better able to replicate, attach and increase in number on BTRE cells compared to PT 32 and Stx- W3. These advantages to survival and colonisation indicate how PT 21/28 strains could out-compete other strains to persist in cattle populations.