Relevant information is essential for finding solutions in Integrated Water Management (IWM). Complex water systems and a need for increasing integration of sectors, actors and scales in IWM require new methods for developing and managing such information. This thesis investigates the role of information within the IWM process, as well as the main challenges for development of representative, accessibleand harmonized information. Results show how information needs and the information production process for IWM may be systematized, and indicate a large potential for information system development for IWM. However, in order to reach the full potential, today’s limited and heterogeneous water information needs to become more comprehensive, transparent, interoperable, dynamic, scalable and openly accessible. Large pressures on water systems are found in coastal catchment areas that are unmonitored across the local to the global scale, indicating a large importance of these areas for nutrient and pollutant loading. The globally accessible runoff data from catchment areas that are rich in pressures from population, agriculture and general economic activity further exhibit a rapidly declining trend during recent years. Major water system changes may therefore pass unnoticed if analyzed on the basis of openly accessible runoff global data. Furthermore, large discrepancies are found between land cover databases, which may result in major uncertainties in quantification of water and evapotranspiration flows. Identified information challenges may be relatively easily overcome by making better use of available information, while other challenges such as development of consistent baselines of core data and a possible re-prioritization of water-environmental monitoring programs may be both difficult and costly.

European Union published IPPC Directive in 1996 aiming to create an integrated approach in order to manage and control industrial facilities better. IPPC provides the development of a new concept of &ldquo / Best Available Techniques (BAT)&rdquo / , the most effective, advanced and applicable methods, preventing emissions to the environment and providing efficient use of resources. Within this framework, numerous sectoral Best Available Techniques Reference Documents were published giving information on the sector and BAT alternatives for this sector. Iron and steel industry, which causes quite significant amount of resource depletion and waste production, is one of the industries within the scope of IPPC Directive. In the this study, environmental performance of an integrated iron and steel plant in Turkey is evaluated and compared with the EU&rsquo / s integrated iron and steel plants, in order to suggest applicable BAT alternatives for the studied plant. Totally 74 BAT alternatives were evaluated and among them 36 alternatives were determined to be applicable for this plant. Finally, two of these applicable BAT alternatives were selected and compared by use of cross-media effects and financial analysis. The results of this study indicated that dust emission and high energy consumption are the common problems in the facility. Moreover, sintering process was found to be the least compatible sub-process with EU&rsquo / s iron and steel plants. Additionally, it was determined that with respect to application of BAT alternatives, facility is quite compatible with EU&rsquo / s iron v and steel plants. Furthermore, cross media effect and financial analysis revealed that the selected BAT alternatives, &ldquo / Advanced Electrostatic Precipitator (ESP)&rdquo / and &ldquo / Bag Filter-combined or integrated reduction of solid and gaseous pollutants&rdquo / , have different cross media effects on the environment, however, the second alternative is a more cost-effective alternative than the first one. Since this study was undertaken in an integrated iron and steel plant that represents Turkish iron and steel industry with respect to its production process, production capacity and environmental performance / the results of this study can be used to aid decision makers to make environmental initiatives in iron and steel industry in Turkey.

Today, there is a general notion that water resources are best managed according to their river basins. River basin management may be approached from a wide variety of angles. This thesis focuses on information management, institutional arrangements and strategic policy support, with special reference to the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD). The overall objective is to examine strategies, possibilities and hindrances for river basin management, with the ultimate goal of identifying key aspects to be considered - and prioritised - for “successful” European water management and WFD implementation. An assessment of the information management of three transboundary water regimes in Europe showed that a technical/scientific paradigm ap-pears to dominate in river basin accords. This is visible, for example, in the data collection, which is dominated by state and environmental impact information, and the use of passive channels for communicating with stakeholders and other interest groups. The studies addressing institutional arrangements for river basin management according to the WFD showed that the implementa-tion level of the directive is relatively low – both at national and international levels. For instance, competent authorities have not been established (strictly) according to the borders of the estab-lished River Basin District (RBDs). Further, in international RBDs, the ambitions and plans for cooperation vary considerably. Despite the general low implementation level, steps have still been taken in the “direction” of river basin management. At the national level, all examined countries have established RBDs according to river basins, and at the international level, joint river basin management plans will probably be coordinated for a majority of river basins shared by EU Member States. However, the same pattern could not be discerned for river basins extending outside the borders of the EU. In order to support strategic policy making on issues related to the implementation of the WFD, two assessments were made, one addressing international co-operation and water quality in the Baltic Sea Region, and one encompassing rankings of all the newly established RBDs based on a number of identical indicators. Although there is a need to refine these assessments, they may be regarded as simple – but yet robust – models for bench-marking. / QC 20100914

No description available.

Offentlig upphandling är inte endast ett sätt att tillförskaffa sig varor, utan kan också användas som ett samhällspolitiskt instrument för att verka för sociala mål som ställts upp. Hur de varor och tjänster som upphandlas produceras inverkar på de arbetsrättsliga och sociala förhållandena i leverantörskedjan, och genom att ställa sociala krav vid en offentlig upphandling kan den upphandlande myndigheten förstärka förtroendet hos invånarna. Trots en omfattande EU-rättslig reglering på området är det idag dock osäkert vilka möjligheter den upphandlande myndigheten ges att ställa arbetsrättsliga krav på leverantören av upphandlingsföremålet. Syftet med uppsatsen är att utreda i vilken omfattning en upphandlande myndighet kan ställa arbetsrättsliga krav vid en offentlig upphandling, samt utreda om förslaget till nytt klassiskt upphandlingsdirektiv kommer innebära några förändringar för den upphandlande myndigheten vad gäller möjligheten att ställa arbetsrättsliga krav.  Av uppsatsen framkommer att det inte finns någon klar gräns vilka arbetsrättsliga krav den upphandlande myndigheten får ställa på leverantören vid en offentlig upphandling. Den största möjligheten att ställa ett arbetsrättsligt krav torde föreligga om kravet ställs såsom ett tilldelningskriterium, då EU-domstolen har klargjort att sociala krav får ställas för att tillgodose behov hos personer samt att ett tilldelningskriterium inte behöver vara kopplat till upphandlingsföremålet, utan det kan vara kopplat till hur en vara eller tjänst produceras. Förändringarna i förslaget till nytt klassiskt upphandlingsdirektiv innebär inte att möjligheterna att ställa arbetsrättsliga krav vid en offentlig upphandling ökar, dock ges den upphandlande myndigheten genom förslaget mer stöd i valet av vilka arbetsrättsliga krav som är tillåtna att ställa. / Public procurement is not only a method to acquire goods, but can also be used as a sociopolitical device to gain social visions. The method that supplied goods and services are produced by affect the labor and social conditions in the supply chain. By acquiring social conditions in a public procurement the procuring authority may strengthen the reliance of the citizens. Despite a comprehensive EU legislation in the area, it is uncertain which labor requirements the procuring authority may impose the supplier. The purpose of this thesis is to investigate to what extent a procuring authority may impose labor requirements in a public procurement, and to investigate if the proposal to a new procurement directive will result in an opportunity to impose labor requirements on the supplier. This thesis has concluded that it is not clear what labor requirements the procuring authority may demand the supplier of a public procurement. The biggest opportunity to demand a labor requirement to a supplier is by using award criteria. The Court of Justice of the European Union have clarified that social requirements may be used to meet needs of individuals and that award criteria do not need to be connected to the object of the procurement, but can be connected to the production of the goods or services of the contract. The thesis has also shown that the changes in the proposal to a new procurement directive do not increase the possibilities to require labor requirements in a public procurement. However, it does give the procuring authority further support in the choice of which labor requirements it may require.

Information technology (IT) is one of the fastest growing product groups on the market today (Babu et al., 2006). This technology has become inexpensive to produce and continues to improve in the areas of memory, speed, operating systems, weight, and audio/visual capabilities (Envirosris, 2000). All of these factors have led to a decrease in product lifespan and an increase in the amount of IT-waste produced. IT-waste contains a number of hazardous materials. If this waste is not managed appropriately it can create serious environmental and human health problems. In Canada, there are no federal policies in place to manage IT-waste. Management of IT-waste has largely been the responsibility of local governments. Consequently, there is no uniformity. A wide spectrum of management approaches ranges from ‘do nothing’ to enacting bans to prohibit this waste from entering landfills. Recently (April 1, 2009), a program (Ontario Electronic Stewardship Waste Electronic and Electrical Equipment- OES WEEE) has been created at the provincial level to help with IT management. Residential participation in this program remains voluntary. This research is exploratory and aims at examining the potential for a sustainable integrated waste management (IWM) plan for residential IT-waste, using the Regional Municipality of Waterloo (RMoW) as a case study. A multiple methods approach was employed to gain an understanding of IT-waste issues and to develop a set of sustainable IWM criteria for evaluation of the OES program and RMoW. Methods used to collect data included: a literature review, surveys, plan analysis, direct observation, key informant interviews, and archival research. A number of recommendations apply specifically to Waterloo Region. Others more broadly address local governments across Ontario for better management of residential IT-waste and other e-waste products.

The European Water Framework Directive (WFD; 2000/60/EC) was incorporated into the Swedish legislation in 2004 through the ordinance Förordningen om förvaltningenav kvaliteten på vattenmiljön (SFS 2004:660). The objective is that all water bodies shall reach a good status by the year 2015. In Sweden the comprehensive plans of the municipalities can play a large role in reaching these goals. A comprehensive plan deals with the long term water and land use of the municipality, which can facilitate an early consideration of water management in the planning process of the municipality. In Sweden five river basin districts have been established in accordance with the Water Framework Directive. The focus of this study is on the Northern Baltic Sea river basin district. Action strategies have been created for each river basin district, dictating what measures the authorities, among them the municipalities, need to take. The purpose with this study is to find out to what extent the municipalities have taken the action strategies regarding the Northern Baltic Sea river basin and the water quality standards set in Förordningen om förvaltningen av kvaliteten på vattenmiljön (SFS 2004:660) into account when working with their comprehensive plans. The study also sheds light on the municipalities’ view on the demands made on them and what actions can facilitate the working process. The study was made in three parts; a survey, literature studies and interviews. An overall study of all the municipalities in the county of Stockholm was made and three were selected for an in-depth study. The results of the study show that the demands on the municipalities have not been met due to lack of knowledge. The municipalities are aware of the existence of the Water Framework Directive but find it hard to interpret the environmental quality standards and the action strategies. The municipalities wish for a clearer legal definition of the environmental quality standards and a better definition of how the implementation of the action strategies can be made. The municipalities are asking for a clarification of the demands they can make on other organizations and of the demands made on them by the county boards and the River Basin District Authorities.

Information technology (IT) is one of the fastest growing product groups on the market today (Babu et al., 2006). This technology has become inexpensive to produce and continues to improve in the areas of memory, speed, operating systems, weight, and audio/visual capabilities (Envirosris, 2000). All of these factors have led to a decrease in product lifespan and an increase in the amount of IT-waste produced. IT-waste contains a number of hazardous materials. If this waste is not managed appropriately it can create serious environmental and human health problems. In Canada, there are no federal policies in place to manage IT-waste. Management of IT-waste has largely been the responsibility of local governments. Consequently, there is no uniformity. A wide spectrum of management approaches ranges from ‘do nothing’ to enacting bans to prohibit this waste from entering landfills. Recently (April 1, 2009), a program (Ontario Electronic Stewardship Waste Electronic and Electrical Equipment- OES WEEE) has been created at the provincial level to help with IT management. Residential participation in this program remains voluntary. This research is exploratory and aims at examining the potential for a sustainable integrated waste management (IWM) plan for residential IT-waste, using the Regional Municipality of Waterloo (RMoW) as a case study. A multiple methods approach was employed to gain an understanding of IT-waste issues and to develop a set of sustainable IWM criteria for evaluation of the OES program and RMoW. Methods used to collect data included: a literature review, surveys, plan analysis, direct observation, key informant interviews, and archival research. A number of recommendations apply specifically to Waterloo Region. Others more broadly address local governments across Ontario for better management of residential IT-waste and other e-waste products.

Shallow lakes are an important ecological and socio-economic resource. However, the impact of human pressures, both at the lake and catchment scale, has precipitated a decline in the ecological status of many shallow lakes, both in the UK, and throughout Europe. There is now, as direct consequence, unprecedented interest in the assessment and monitoring of ecological status and trajectory in shallow lakes, not least in response to the European Union Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC). In this context, the spatially-resolving and panoramic data provided by remote sensing platforms may be of immense value in the construction of effective and efficient strategies for the assessment and monitoring of ecological status in shallow lakes and, moreover, in providing new, spatially-explicit, insights into the function of these ecosystems and how they respond to change. This thesis examined the use of remote sensing data for the assessment of (i) phytoplankton abundance and species composition and (ii) aquatic vegetation distribution and ecophysiological status in shallow lakes with a view to establishing the credence of such an approach and its value in limnological research and monitoring activities. High resolution in-situ and airborne remote sensing data was collected during a 2-year sampling campaign in the shallow lakes of the Norfolk Broads. It was demonstrated that semi-empirical algorithms could be formulated and used to provide accurate and robust estimations of the concentration of chlorophyll-a, even in these optically-complex waters. It was further shown that it was possible to differentiate and quantify the abundance of cyanobacteria using the biomarker pigment C-phycocyanin. The subsequent calibration of the imagery obtained from the airborne reconnaissance missions permitted the construction of diurnal and seasonal regional-scale time-series of phytoplankton dynamics in the Norfolk Broads. This approach was able to deliver unique spatial insights into the migratory behaviour of a potentially-toxic cyanobacterial bloom. It was further shown that remote sensing can be used to map the distribution of aquatic plants in shallow lakes, importantly including the extent of submerged vegetation, which is central to the assessment of ecological status. This research theme was subsequently extended in an exploration of the use of remote sensing for assessing the ecophysiological response of wetland plants to nutrient enrichment. It was shown that remote sensing metrics could be constructed for the quantification of plant vigour. The extrapolation of these techniques enabled spatial heterogeneity in the ecophysiological response of Phragmites australis to lake nutrient enrichment to be characterised and assisted the formulation of a mechanistic explanation for the variation in reedswamp performance in these shallow lakes. It is therefore argued that the spatially synoptic data provided by remote sensing has much to offer the assessment, monitoring and policing of ecological status in shallow lakes and, in particular, for facilitating the development of pan-European scale lake surveillance capabilities for the Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC). It is also suggested that remote sensing can make a valuable contribution to furthering ecological understanding and, most significantly, in enabling ecosystem processes and functions to be examined at the lake-scale.

Following the implementation of the Water Framework Directive (WFD) integrated catchment management plans must be prepared for all river basins, in order to achieve 'good ecological status' (GES) in all EU waters. This concept is a broader measure of water quality than the chemical and biological measures, which were previously dominant in EU water policy. The Directive also calls for a consideration of the economic costs and benefits of improvements to ecological status in catchment management plans, along with the introduction of full social cost pricing for water use. In this thesis, the primary focus is on the use of the Choice Experiment (CE) method. The CE method is reviewed and then used to estimate the value of improvements in a number of components of ecological status on two Irish waterways (the Boyne and the Suir). Apart from CE method another stated preference approach to environmental valuation is also considered; the Contingent Valuation Method (CVM). This thesis determines what value the targeted population of the two catchments place on the nonmarket economic benefits of moves towards GES by employing both approaches and various model specifications, while the applicability of Benefit Transfer (BT) method is also assessed under different tests. In addition, the design of the questionnaire used in the survey stage of the research, offered the possibility of investigating issues related to the effect of cognitive ability and psychometric factors on choice. Respondents with discontinuous preferences are identified and analysis is conducted to investigate the implications of not accounting for these preferences. Finally, due to experiencing protesting behaviour by a proportion of the sampling population an attempt is made to investigate the parameters that contributed to this inclination.