published_or_final_version / Urban Planning / Master / Master of Science in Urban Planning

Investigação acerca efetividade de um dos instrumentos da Política Nacional do Meio Ambiente brasileira, que é o da garantia da prestação de informações relativas ao ambiente e da obrigação do Poder Público em produzi-las, quando inexistentes (Lei federal nº 6.938, de 31 de agosto de 1981, artigo 9º, inciso XI). A pesquisa teve como foco o problema da abrangência e eficácia das estruturas normativas e políticas existentes para efetivação desse instrumento. Em se tratando das estruturas normativas, destacam-se além do estabelecido pela Constituição Federal brasileira, os dispositivos da Lei federal nº 10.650, de 16 de abril de 2003, acerca do acesso público aos dados e informações ambientais existentes nos órgãos e entidades integrantes do Sistema Nacional do Meio Ambiente. Para tanto se propôs investigar o que é abrangível nas informações ambientais relacionadas ao instrumento da Política Nacional do Meio Ambiente e sua efetividade no contexto da aplicabilidade do instrumento em estudo da Política Nacional do Meio Ambiente e o que foi efetivamente regulado pela Lei nº 10.650/2003. Entretanto, buscou verificar a possibilidade de não confirmação da hipótese de que o instrumento em foco não carece de mais regramento para sua aplicação em relação aos demais instrumentos. Partindo-se do pressuposto de ser este efetivamente um instrumento concomitante em relação aos demais. Como referenciais teóricos estão alguns princípios do direito constitucional e do direito ambiental, particularmente, os princípios da publicidade e da informação. Assim foram considerados os diversos fundamentos políticos e jurídicos para operação do instrumento estudado, associado que está a direitos e garantias fundamentais implicados, devem ser considerados na perspectiva constitucional. Para avaliar a efetividade da garantia da prestação de informações relativas ao meio ambiente, a que está obrigado o Poder Público a produzi-las, quando inexistentes, foi realizado o estudo de sua hipotética aplicação nos termos vigentes relativamente aos demais instrumentos de política ambiental brasileira de abrangência nacional. / Research concerning the effectiveness of one of the instruments of the Brazilian Environmental National Policy, that is the warranty of rendering the environmental information and the obligation of the authorities in producing them when they nonexistent (federal Law 6.938, of August 31, 1981, article 9th, XI). This research had as focus the problem of the embrace and efficacy of the existent normative and political structures for effectiveness of that instrument. The normative structures are that established by the Brazilian Federal Constitution, the federal Law 10.650, of April 16, 2003, concerning the public access to existing environmental information in the agencies of the Environmental National System. This research intended to investigate the embraceable of the environmental information related to the instrument of the Environmental National Policy. Adding to that, investigate the effectiveness of the studied instrument of Environmental National Policy in the context of this applicability and what was in fact regulated by the Law 10.650/2003. Another point was verifying the possibility of non confirmation of the hypothesis that the instrument in focus does not need more regulation for its application in relation to other instruments. This research assumes that the instrument is concomitant in relation to the others instruments of Environmental National Policy. As theoretical references have some principles of the constitutional right and of the environmental law, particularly, the principle of the publicity and principle of the information. As the several political and juridical bases were considered for the use of the studied instrument, associated to the fundamental rights and warranties, the research considered the constitutional perspective. To evaluate the effectiveness of the warranty of rendering environmental information, which the authorities are obliged to produce when they nonexistent, the study of its hypothetical application related to effectiveness of the other Environmental National Policy instruments was did.

University of Macau / Faculty of Business Administration. / Department of Accounting and Information Management

The submerged paleodrainage system of the early Balize delta complex that extended onto the inner continental shelf at 1500 YBP has not been completely studied in great detail. This study interprets the environmental deltaic facies of the Balize Delta, in the Sandy Point region offshore the southeastern Louisiana coast from 120 km of seismic data and 48 vibracores. The stratigraphic and environmental units established in this study provide a geological framework for this area. Overlying Holocene deposits interpreted to be muds of prodelta and lower delta front origin were interpreted as having been deposited from the retreating delta sit atop a transgressive surface, indicated by the toplapping seismic reflectors, the ravinement surface. The deltaic facies below the ravinement surface are of regressive origin an inner shelf delta with widespread delta front sheet sands from a dense group of many distributaries. This research provides a concise methodology adapted from multiple studies for modeling deltaic facies of offshore sand resource targets. / by Zachary Samuel Mester. / Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2011. / Includes bibliography. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2011. Mode of access: World Wide Web.

O Programa Município VerdeAzul é um exemplo de Programa Ambiental Voluntário criado pelo Governo do Estado de São Paulo com o objetivo de incentivar e apoiar os municípios na melhoria da gestão ambiental local. Os Programas Ambientais Voluntários são mecanismos de política ambiental amplamente utilizados junto ao setor privado para induzir, as empresas a adotarem ações voluntárias que promovam a qualidade ambiental e o uso sustentável dos recursos. Todavia, esses programas podem ser efetivamente direcionados a organizações públicas, especialmente no contexto da descentralização da gestão do meio ambiente no Brasil, que exige a coordenação de centenas ou milhares de órgãos públicos envolvidos em diferentes realidades municipais. O crescente uso dos Programas Ambientais Voluntários tem suscitado variados estudos, no entanto, permanecem dúvidas, principalmente, a respeito das razões pelas quais as instituições participam de programas do tipo, especialmente instituições públicas. Nesse sentido, o objetivo desta pesquisa é examinar os fatores que contribuem para a participação voluntária das Prefeituras do estado de São Paulo no Programa Município VerdeAzul. Para alcançar o objetivo, foram aplicados questionários e realizadas entrevistas com três grupos de municípios do estado. Os resultados encontrados evidenciam que fatores como a quantidade de funcionários, a existência e atividade do Conselho e Fundo Municipal de Meio Ambiente, a compreensão e concordância com os objetivos do programa, a qualidade da comunicação intersetorial na prefeitura, o envolvimento da alta administração, o comprometimento dos funcionários com o programa, o tempo de experiência dos interlocutores e suplentes na função e o tamanho populacional são fatores que influenciam a participação e o desempenho dos municípios no programa. Ademais, os resultados revelaram que os fatores que mais motivam a participação das prefeituras são de cunho ambiental e financeiro e que os serviços mais valorizados estão relacionados a melhorias econômicas e de imagem. Como conclusão e recomendações merecem destaque a necessidade de melhoria da transparência do processo seletivo para repasse de recursos, a diversificação dos benefícios financeiros, a participação dos governos municipais no design do programa e na definição dos critérios de avaliação, o investimento em monitoramento, fiscalização e motivação da alta administração e a flexibilização dos critérios de acordo com as realidades municipais / The \"Município VerdeAzul\" Program is an example of Voluntary Environmental Program created by the State Government of São Paulo in order to encourage and support municipalities in improving local environmental management. The Voluntary Environmental Programs are environmental policy mechanisms widely used to promote environmental outcomes in the private sector. However, these programs can be effectively used in the public sector, especially in the national context of environmental management decentralization, which requires the coordination of hundreds or thousands of public agencies that are entrenched in unique contexts. The increasing use of Voluntary Environmental Programs have motivated the emergence of several studies, however, questions remain, especially about the decisions of public institutions to participate in program like these. In this sense, the objective of this research is to examine the factors that contribute to the voluntary participation of local governments of the state of São Paulo in the \"Município VerdeAzul\" Program. To address the major goal, we surveyed local governments and conducted semi-structured interviews with three different groups of local government. The results show that factors such as number of employees, the existence and activity of the Environmental Local Council and Municipal Fund for the Environment, understanding and compliance with the program objectives, the quality of intersectoral communication at City Hall, the involvement of top management, the level of employee commitment, how long the local representative have been working with the program and population size are factors that influence the participation and performance of the local governments in the program. Moreover, the results revealed that the factors that motivate the participation of municipalities are environmental and financial oriented and that the most valuable services are related to economic and image improvements. The recommendations to improve the efficacy of the program include: to improve the transparency of the selection process for the transfer of funds, diversification of financial benefits, the participation of municipal governments in program design and in the process of definition of the evaluation criteria, investment in monitoring, inspection and motivation of top management and the promotion of the flexibility of criteria in accordance with local realities

本研究聚焦2009年到2013年，中國廣州的一場圍繞垃圾處理展開的社會運動。運動最初是當地居民動員起來反對市政府垃圾焚燒項目的鄰避抗爭。勝利後，運動領袖成立了一個環保組織，和政府從對抗走向合作，力圖推动焚燒技術以外的替代性垃圾治理方案。不過，儘管政府和環保者致力於解決垃圾，垃圾問題在消費社會中始終無法消除。本研究試圖理解後社會主義中國的綠色治理和環保行動之間的對抗與合作。 / 首先，我分析當代中國高速城市化和消費社會急速發展所帶來的垃圾危機。然后，我檢視圍繞垃圾焚燒技術的主要爭議，並描繪廣州居民是如何針對政府計劃中的垃圾焚燒項目做出抗爭的。我指出，他們結合地方性知識和科學話語，將自己建構為"常民專家"，對全球性的焚燒科技的"地方適用性"作出成功挑战。接下來，我提供一個民族誌，追溯抗議成功后運動的歷史軌跡。我注意到，通過成立一個環保組織"EC"，反焚運動走向合法化、組織化和制度化，抗爭被體制吸納，轉變為參與協助國家環境治理的運動。最後，我描繪EC與广州政府聯手推動的垃圾分類運動。指出，國家在此運動中的尷尬身份、以利潤為導向的回收市場影響、理想化的垃圾分類知識與普通民眾的知識存在斷裂，都使得推動垃圾分類異常艱難。 / 通過展示運動變遷與國家治理轉型相互交織的辯證关系，本研究挑戰了國家與社會的二元對立，指出在國家在治理轉型過程中不斷收編反抗的行動和話語，而於此同時反焚者又在不斷生產新的另類知識做出挑戰。此外，本研究還貢獻於對廢棄物的理解，將廢棄物視為是一個動態的範疇，國家、市場、科學技術、普通消費者、環保行動者等多個行動者共同生產、競爭、建構其意義。還有，本研究對於科技知識的普遍性的探討，對科學技術研究領域做出了貢獻。 / This is a study on social movements that focused on waste treatment in Guangzhou, China from 2009-2013. The campaign began as a NIMBY (Not-In-My-Backyard) movement that mobilized community residents to protest against municipal government's proposed incineration projects. After its success, the movement leaders changed their dissident role to form an environmental protection NGO, collaborating with the state to explore alternative waste treatment solutions other than incineration. However, despite of the politicians and activists' attempt to eliminate waste, waste continues to exist in tandem of our consumption spree. I endeavor to understand the contradiction as well as collusion between green governance and environmental activisms in post-socialist China. / Firstly, I analyze the garbage crisis caused by the rapid urbanization and the dramatic growth of consumer society in contemporary China. Then I examine a few major technological controversies of waste incineration and depict how the activists protest against the pro-incineration government. I argue that through deploying local knowledge, the activists, as "lay experts", successfully challenged the "local appropriateness" of the global technology of incineration. Next, I provide an in-depth ethnography of the transformation of this campaign after its initial success. I notice that by taking the form of an environmental NGO called "EC", the campaign was legitimized, institutionalized and incorporated into the state’s governance framework. The environmental activism became an aid to the state’s green governmentality. Lastly, I take a detailed look at the waste classification campaign jointly launched by Guangzhou government and EC. I point out that the ambiguous role of the state in this campaign, the profit-oriented recycling market together with the idealist knowledge/practice systems of this project make this campaign extremely difficult. / My research challenges the state-society dichotomy by showing that the trajectory of the campaign is dialectically entangled with the transformation of the state’s governance. The state constantly incorporates the resistance and alternative discourses produced in the movement, whereas the activists keep on producing alternative knowledge to challenge the state. Moreover, this study deepens the understanding of waste by considering waste as a flexible category in which various actors such as state, market, technosicence, consumers as well as the environmental activists are producing, competing and reconstructing its meaning. Also, my discussions of the universal knowledge of science contribute to the field of science and technology studies. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / 張劼穎. / Parallel title from added title page. / Thesis (Ph.D.) Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2015. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 220-236). / Abstracts also in English. / Zhang Jieying.

Yeung Wang On. / Thesis submitted in: November 2006. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 106-117). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Abstract --- p.i / Abstract (Chinese)/ 摘要(中文) --- p.iii / Acknowledgement --- p.v / Contents --- p.vi / Figures and Tables --- p.vii / Abbreviations --- p.viii / Chapter Chapter 1: --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter Chapter 2: --- Literature Review --- p.17 / Chapter Chapter 3: --- Long Valley Case Study (1998-2003) --- p.41 / Chapter Chapter 4: --- Victoria Harbour Reclamation Case Study (1994-2005) --- p.68 / Chapter Chapter 5: --- Conclusion --- p.99 / Bibliography --- p.106

O Programa Município VerdeAzul é um exemplo de Programa Ambiental Voluntário criado pelo Governo do Estado de São Paulo com o objetivo de incentivar e apoiar os municípios na melhoria da gestão ambiental local. Os Programas Ambientais Voluntários são mecanismos de política ambiental amplamente utilizados junto ao setor privado para induzir, as empresas a adotarem ações voluntárias que promovam a qualidade ambiental e o uso sustentável dos recursos. Todavia, esses programas podem ser efetivamente direcionados a organizações públicas, especialmente no contexto da descentralização da gestão do meio ambiente no Brasil, que exige a coordenação de centenas ou milhares de órgãos públicos envolvidos em diferentes realidades municipais. O crescente uso dos Programas Ambientais Voluntários tem suscitado variados estudos, no entanto, permanecem dúvidas, principalmente, a respeito das razões pelas quais as instituições participam de programas do tipo, especialmente instituições públicas. Nesse sentido, o objetivo desta pesquisa é examinar os fatores que contribuem para a participação voluntária das Prefeituras do estado de São Paulo no Programa Município VerdeAzul. Para alcançar o objetivo, foram aplicados questionários e realizadas entrevistas com três grupos de municípios do estado. Os resultados encontrados evidenciam que fatores como a quantidade de funcionários, a existência e atividade do Conselho e Fundo Municipal de Meio Ambiente, a compreensão e concordância com os objetivos do programa, a qualidade da comunicação intersetorial na prefeitura, o envolvimento da alta administração, o comprometimento dos funcionários com o programa, o tempo de experiência dos interlocutores e suplentes na função e o tamanho populacional são fatores que influenciam a participação e o desempenho dos municípios no programa. Ademais, os resultados revelaram que os fatores que mais motivam a participação das prefeituras são de cunho ambiental e financeiro e que os serviços mais valorizados estão relacionados a melhorias econômicas e de imagem. Como conclusão e recomendações merecem destaque a necessidade de melhoria da transparência do processo seletivo para repasse de recursos, a diversificação dos benefícios financeiros, a participação dos governos municipais no design do programa e na definição dos critérios de avaliação, o investimento em monitoramento, fiscalização e motivação da alta administração e a flexibilização dos critérios de acordo com as realidades municipais / The \"Município VerdeAzul\" Program is an example of Voluntary Environmental Program created by the State Government of São Paulo in order to encourage and support municipalities in improving local environmental management. The Voluntary Environmental Programs are environmental policy mechanisms widely used to promote environmental outcomes in the private sector. However, these programs can be effectively used in the public sector, especially in the national context of environmental management decentralization, which requires the coordination of hundreds or thousands of public agencies that are entrenched in unique contexts. The increasing use of Voluntary Environmental Programs have motivated the emergence of several studies, however, questions remain, especially about the decisions of public institutions to participate in program like these. In this sense, the objective of this research is to examine the factors that contribute to the voluntary participation of local governments of the state of São Paulo in the \"Município VerdeAzul\" Program. To address the major goal, we surveyed local governments and conducted semi-structured interviews with three different groups of local government. The results show that factors such as number of employees, the existence and activity of the Environmental Local Council and Municipal Fund for the Environment, understanding and compliance with the program objectives, the quality of intersectoral communication at City Hall, the involvement of top management, the level of employee commitment, how long the local representative have been working with the program and population size are factors that influence the participation and performance of the local governments in the program. Moreover, the results revealed that the factors that motivate the participation of municipalities are environmental and financial oriented and that the most valuable services are related to economic and image improvements. The recommendations to improve the efficacy of the program include: to improve the transparency of the selection process for the transfer of funds, diversification of financial benefits, the participation of municipal governments in program design and in the process of definition of the evaluation criteria, investment in monitoring, inspection and motivation of top management and the promotion of the flexibility of criteria in accordance with local realities

As coastal cities around the world identify and implement adaptations to sea level rise, they are faced with competing interests around what should be done and how to prioritize actions. Often, environmental problems--like confronting the challenge of sea level rise--are posed as requiring expert driven, technical solutions to identify and mitigate risks across the landscape. This framing, however, ignores the way in which diverse knowledge can help inform long-term planning horizons that address complex ways that sea level rise affects communities. The failure to integrate diverse knowledge into sea level rise adaptation can result in barriers to implementation and outcomes that can reproduce inequities. In environmental planning, knowledge integration challenges can stem from ambiguity around the construction of environmental risk knowledge, as well as institutional arrangements that inhibit diverse involvement. Ambiguity refers to a context in which there are different and sometimes conflicting views on how to understand the problem or system to be managed, for example, conflicts around what risks to measure and how to measure them. This manifests in the ways that different groups construct and use knowledge about risks. Often ignored in planning contexts and research on sea level rise adaptation, ambiguity--particularly around social risks--are critical to address, since they can determine whether diverse knowledge about risks are integrated or ignored in planning. This dissertation uses a case study of Miami-Dade County, Florida and is guided by the question: how do different groups understand risk within sea level rise, and what planning and governance factors influence the way diverse dimensions of risk are integrated into adaptation strategies? Findings from this case study suggest that baselines, projections, and the focus of risk rooted in an economic discourse based on short-term planning horizons and technical constructions of risk have more authority as compared with counter arguments around ecological and social risks. Recommendations include the need for transparent adaptation decisions and the inclusion of diverse stakeholders in the production of regional climate science, sea level rise assessments, and adaptation planning. A more integrated approach can better address diverse risks and facilitate long-term planning.

Two long-standing air quality challenges in the United States are the control of tropospheric ozone and particulate matter, both of which are responsible for widespread damage to human health and the environment. This thesis presents three modeling applications in support of policy development and regulatory actions for control of these pollutants in the eastern United States, taking advantage of recent advancements in sensitivity techniques in a regional Eulerian photochemical air quality model. A broad evaluation of regional atmospheric pollution and transboundary air quality management, including the international scale, and an analysis of successful transboundary management efforts are also presented. The first modeling application is an evaluation of local and interstate impacts on ozone and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) from ground-level and elevated nitrogen oxide plus nitrogen dioxide and from sulfur dioxide emissions from individual states. This analysis identifies states responsible for a significant amount of regional secondary pollution, and states which do not have independent control over much of their pollution concentrations. An average of approximately 77% of each state s ozone and PM2.5 concentrations that are sensitive to the emissions evaluated are found to be formed from emissions from other states. The second application is an assessment of impacts from emissions from a single power-plant on resulting regional ozone concentrations. Three sensitivity techniques and two 3D photochemical models are applied. Ozone increases greater than 0.5 ppbv are found over eight states downwind from the power-plant. The third application supports the extension of a body of research aimed at advancing understanding of the ozone formation potential, or reactivity , of VOCs for use in regional-scale, rather than urban-scale, regulations. Air quality impacts of VOCs emissions from solvent use and manufacture are presented, scientific barriers to accounting for reactivity in regulations are discussed, current and upcoming regulatory applications are described, and results from a regional scale evaluation of reactivity quantification are presented.