Die Effekte des Klimawandels sind spürbar und es sind Maßnahmen erforderlich, diese schwerwiegenden Auswirkungen zu kontrollieren oder zu verringern. Diese Maßnahmen beinhalten die Vermeidung von Treibhausgasemissionen oder die Reduktion der atmosphärischen Konzentration sowie eine Anpassung an das vorhandene Klima und seine Auswirkungen. Erneuerbare Energiequellen tragen zur Eindämmung des Klimawandels durch die Reduzierung von Treibhausgasen konventioneller Energiequellen bei. Wie auch alle anderen sauberen Energiequellen spielt die Windenergie durch Reduzierung des CO2-Ausstoßes eine entscheidende Rolle bei der Bekämpfung des Klimawandels. Deutschland und Schottland sind beide Vorreiter bei der Entwicklung und Gewinnung landgebundener Onshore-Windenergie. Beide Staaten haben Im Rahmen ihrer Planungspolitik ehrgeizige Zielsetzungen durch Reduzierung von Treibhausgasemissionen die Auswirkungen des Klimawandels in Grenzen zu halten. In Deutschland und Schottland werden die Entwicklungen der Onshore-Windenergie durch Raumordnungsverfahren gesteuert, nach denen in der Regel Umweltverträglichkeitsprüfungen durchgeführt werden. In der Tat werden Umweltverträglichkeitsbewertungen als Mittel zur Umsetzung des Klimaschutzes in den Raumordnungsverfahren benutzt. Diese Forschungsarbeit soll zu einem strategischen Ansatz für die Entwicklung der Onshore-Windenergie in Deutschland und Schottland beitragen, wobei das Ausmaß der durch den Klimawandel verursachten Probleme und die klimatischen Faktoren der SEA in Raumordnungsverfahren auf regionaler und lokaler Ebene bei der Onshore-Windenergieplanung berücksichtigt werden. Diese Untersuchung hilft, die Beziehung zwischen SEAs prozessualer Wirksamkeit und den Herausforderungen bei der Umsetzung in Hinblick auf die Auswirkungen des Klimawandels in Deutschland und Schottland für die Onshore-Windenergiebranche besser verständlich zu machen. Der methodische Rahmen basiert auf der Auswertung relevanter Gesetze und Vorschriften, Grundsatzdokumenten und wissenschaftlicher Literatur bezüglich der Umweltbewertung von Onshore-Windplanungen. Zusätzlich wurden Experten befragt und Fallstudienanalysen deutscher und schottischer Onshore-Windenergiepläne durchgeführt. Ein Vergleich der Ergebnisse beider Länder zeigt, dass sowohl Deutschland als auch Schottland die SEAs auf politischer Ebene verbessern müssen, um die Auswirkungen des Klimawandels auf verschiedenen räumlichen Ebenen angehen zu können. Die Studie zeigt ferner, dass es gleichermaßen wichtig ist, aktuelle und zukünftige Trends des Klimawandels und des Windverhaltens mithilfe von Klimamodellen zu verfolgen, da diese Informationen dazu beitragen, das komplexe Phänomen des Klimawandels und dessen Auswirkungen effizient anzugehen. Die Studienergebnisse zeigen auch den Einfluss der SEA auf die Onshore-Windenergieplanung in Deutschland und Schottland in Hinblick auf Abschwächung und Anpassung der Auswirkungen des Klimawandels mit der Betonung der Notwendigkeit eines hohen Maßes an politischer Unterstützung, um die Belange des Klimawandels in die Onshore-Windenergie Planungsaktivitäten integrieren zu können. Auf dieser Grundlage wird empfohlen, in der Raumplanung der Onshore-Windenergieentwicklung die Auswirkungen des Klimawandels als ein kritisches Thema zu erkennen und auf den verschiedenen Planungsebenen wirksam zu berücksichtigen. Darüber hinaus sind für die Onshore-Windenergieplanungen starke politische Zielsetzungen erforderlich, um die Entscheidungsfindungen im Bereich des Klimawandels zu unterstützen.

Implementing urban development projects in planning practice while simultaneously providing sufficient green spaces has proven to be challenging. As a result, there is a growing need for practical approaches and tools for the integration of urban green qualities in the on-going densification of cities. Environmental assessment, as a proactive decision aiding tool, can hold an important role in integrating green qualities in urban development plans and projects. However, in recent years environmental assessment has only added moderate value to planning issues regarding green space. Therefore, this thesis was designed to contribute to the knowledge and understanding on the role environmental assessment can have in the integration of green qualities in future urban development plans and projects in efforts to aid practitioners. This aim was achieved through examination of existing urban green space planning practice in the Stockholm region (Paper I) and the practice of environmental assessment in a selection of European countries in relation to the following factors identified to be important for practice: timing, quality control, alternatives, monitoring and public participation (Paper II). The findings from both studies were then analysed to identify possibilities of green space planning within the framework of these factors. A qualitative research was employed for this study including: semi-structured interviews with municipal planners in the Stockholm region and environmental assessment experts for the European Commission, literature review, document analysis and case study analysis. The case studies analyzed in Paper I were located in municipalities of Haninge and Huddinge, suburban areas located to the south of Stockholm. In Paper II, the experts interviewed were environmental assessment experts from the European Commission from: Austria, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway and Slovenia. Through analysis of the results from both studies, the potential role of environmental assessment in integrating green qualities in urban development plans and projects are explored and discussed in relation to the factors. The potential of environmental assessment to enhance public participation and dialogues amongst actors, or bring forth green space issues within alternatives are a few of the roles discussed. Furthermore, a selection of pathways is suggested for the integration of green qualities in future urban development through the application of environmental assessment. For example, the implementation of developer dialogues in the environmental assessment process and the development of knowledge exchange platforms for sharing experiences in relation to green space planning and environmental assessment. / <p>QC 20171122</p>

Various international conventions and several theories and approaches from the planning and environment fields of study have focused on enhancing the public’s access to information and its participation in strategic decision making. However, it seems that it is challenging to encourage a meaningful public participation in decision making processes, since it is difficult to engage civil society in strategic discussions, it is complex to institutionalise participative processes, and it is demanding to include traditionally marginalised groups in current debates on development. Despite this, it appears that deciding how participative approaches should be designed and when these approaches should be applied is of crucial importance to secure appropriate forums for dialogue. To study these claims and foster participation and dialogue, a study was carried out to examine the development of flexible, adaptable and participative strategic environmental assessment processes. Even though designing the processes demanded time and constant adaptation, it is argued that adequately conceptualising and implementing flexible, adaptable and participative approaches to strategic environmental assessment can lead to inclusive, legitimate and anchored outputs that can significantly influence decision making processes. / QC 20111115

Since the beginning of the 1990s, a discussion has been going on in most western countries about the introduction of Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) in planning systems. As a result, SEA has been incorporated in national legislation for the assessment of government plans and programs. Additionally, developing nations have started to consider strategic environmental issues and SEA due to the stimulus that has been given by international environmental conventions like the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands. However, until now few investigations have been carried out to assess how the current SEA framework suits developing nations. That is why an SEA pre-study that applies the current SEA process together with Ramsar specifications was developed in a case study for the Sonso Lagoon in Colombia. In this study an account of both the positive and negative experiences that resulted from applying the SEA/Ramsar framework is given, the importance of stakeholder participation throughout the SEA process is stressed, stakeholder inequalities created by social differences in developing nations are discussed, the importance of an interdisciplinary working approach is highlighted, and finally a strategic working methodology is proposed for the Sonso Lagoon.

In today‘s society, transport between places plays an important role in people‘s everyday life resulting in unavoidable effect on the environment. Emissions from the transport sector in the Nordic Region are expected to increase the coming years because of growing urbanization and population, so it becomes apparent that transport planners today are facing a complex system that requires to change in order to reach sustainability. Therefore, it is necessary to understand the planning systems and processes to enable improvements. The aim of this study is to analyse and compare how environmental aspects are incorporated in the process of defining measures at early stages in transport planning in the Nordic countries: Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, with the focus on each country‘s capital region. The focus is set on where and how collaboration between stakeholders and expert knowledge are included in the planning processes in the different countries. To meet the aim, a case study approach was chosen where semi-structured interviews with planning practitioners from all the countries were conducted to gather data, together with literature review and document analysis to set the scope of the study. The interview results showed that early-stage transport planning is practiced differently in the five countries. In Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden transport authorities or administrations are responsible for long-term strategic development of the transport system at a national and regional level, and they have defined how transport planning processes should be conducted. In these cases, collaboration between stakeholders and with experts occurs through workshops or working groups created at early stages. In Denmark, there is no longterm strategic transport planning at national or regional level. There, collaboration occurs at project level where experts and stakeholders are included when a project is being planned. Environmental assessment tools and methods were shown to be used at early stages and the interview results showed that CBA had a prominent role in Denmark and Norway, SEA and EIA had prominent roles in Iceland and an environmental assessment model in Finland. In Sweden, CBA and SEA are also used in transport planning, but in this study the focus was on Strategic Choice of Measures (SCM) which does not include those tools. In SCM, experts are included at early stages to incorporate environmental aspects and review chosen measures. Generally, the early-stage planning processes in the five countries are perceived as flexible which provides opportunities to adjust the processes to each case. Yet, planners need to motivate why a specific project or a solution is suggested and to do that they often use environmental assessment tools or expert knowledge.Integration of environmental concern in early planning stages has been identified as important in terms of reducing environmental problems in later stages. A suggestion for future studies is to investigate more in detail how different environmental assessment tools are used in the Nordic countries, as on what levels and stages they are applied. / Transporter spelar en viktig roll i människors vardag i dagens samhälle och bidrar till en oundviklig påverkan på miljön. Under de kommande åren förväntas utsläppen från transportsektorn i Norden öka till följd av urbanisering och stigande befolkningsmängd. Det bidrar till att transportplanerare idag står inför ett komplext system som kräver förändring för att kunna skapa en hållbar sektor. För att det ska ske är det viktigt att man förstår de bakomliggande planeringssystemen och processerna som kan bidra till förbättringar. Syftet med den här studien är att analysera och jämföra hur miljöaspekter integreras i ett tidigt skede där åtgärder definieras inom transportplaneringen i de nordiska länderna: Danmark, Finland, Island, Norge och Sverige, där fokus ligger på respektive lands huvudstadsregion. Fokus ligger även på var och hur samarbete sker mellan intressenter och experter i planeringsprocessen i de olika länderna. För att nå målen med studien har en fallstudie genomförts, där semistrukturerade intervjuermed planerare från samtliga länder har gjorts för att samla data, samt litteraturstudie och dokumentanalys för att bestämma studiens avgränsningar. Resultaten från intervjuerna visade att transportplaneringen i ett tidigt skede såg olika ut i de fem länderna. I Finland, Island, Norge och Sverige är transportmyndigheter eller styrelser ansvariga för att utveckla ett långsiktigt strategiskt transportsystem på national och regional nivå. De har även definierat hur transportplaneringsprocesser bör genomföras. I dessa fall sker samarbete mellan intressenter och experter genom seminarium eller arbetsgrupper skapade i ett tidigt skede. I Danmark finns ingen långsiktigt plan för strategiskt transportplanerande på nationell eller regional nivå. Samarbete mellan intressenter och experter sker istället på projektnivå. Olika verktyg och metoder för miljöbedömningar används i tidiga skeden, där kostnads-nyttoanalys används till största del i Danmark och Norge, strategisk miljöbedömning och miljökonsekvensbeskrivning används på Island och miljöbedömningsmodeller används i Finland. I Sverige genomförsocksåstrategisk miljöbedömningoch kostnads-nyttoanalys, meniden här studien är fokus på åtgärdsvalsstudier(ÅVS) i den svenska transportplaneringensom inte inkluderar de verktygen. I ÅVS är experter inkluderade från ett tidigt stadie för att inkludera miljöaspekter och utvärderaföreslagnaåtgärder. I de nordiska länderna uppfattas planering i ett tidigt skede under planeringsprocessen somflexibelvilket gör det möjligt att göra anpassningar till rådande planeringssituation. Trots flexibilitet behöverplanerare motiveravarför ett specifikt projekt eller lösningsförslag är framtagetoch för at göra det använder de ofta miljöbedömningsverktyg eller expertkunskap.Integrering av miljöhänsyn i tidiga planeringsstadier har identifierats som viktigt när det gäller att minska miljöproblem i senare skeden och för att åstadkomma ett hållbart transportsystem. Ett förslag för framtida studier är att undersöka mer i detalj hur olika miljöbedömningsverktyg används i de nordiska länderna, på vilka nivåer och stadier de används.

In the 2019-2020 school year, there are at least 30,000 pregnant students on U.S. university campuses who might need a place to pump or nurse while in school. National policies protect the need for time and space for employed lactators, but there are only suggested protections for space for lactating college students. Many postpartum people, members of the campus community, are falling through the gaps of support by their universities. Some universities have developed policies that require lactation rooms for capital construction projects. The state of the policies themselves and consistency of the application in the built space is poorly understood. Few policies address the larger issue of inclusion for this diverse population. This study investigated the issue of lactation rooms on campuses from three different perspectives or domains of knowledge. The work explored the claims made by universities about postpartum support and lactator inclusion (proclamations); the manifestation of those policies in the lactation space (actions); and the user experiences of lactating on their campus (perceptions). The perspectives provide contrasting views on the adequacy of lactation space in this complex ecosystem and the needs for improving the process of developing new policies, the application in capital construction, and the operation of lactation rooms. Merging the socio-ecological model with the human rights model (Availability, Accessibility, Acceptability, and Quality (AAAQ)), lactation policies on two case study campuses were assessed to evaluate the claims made by universities about inclusion and dignity as represented in the built environment. Using a mixed-methods approach of institutional ethnography, an environmental assessment (merging photovoice and indoor comfort measurements), and narrative interviews with lactators, the study centred the lactation room as a site of place-making to demonstrate the overall impact of the interrelationships and intersection of these three domains of knowledge. The results indicated that design and construction standards on the case study campus have changed over time in response to national policies and other influences. The findings illuminate that the facilities themselves have not changed to meet the contemporary needs of lactating bodies of varied academic intersectionalities. Despite policies focused on improving spaces for lactating people, best practice guidelines for lactation rooms, and many publications describing the barriers that users experience in meeting this basic need, universities are still struggling to include all of the lactating people in developing their physical infrastructure and to create the supporting social infrastructure. To address some of the gaps in the immediate future, universities could include the variety of lactating people when creating web-based messaging for lactation room access. Future needs include developing postpartum provisions for the lactators and clearly communicating what is available to them. Universities should develop additional sessions on postpartum support to include in their diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) trainings for supervisors. The dramatic change in abortion policies in the U.S. directly impacts this age population. Therefore, student health tracking systems need to incorporate more questions on birth experiences, postpartum needs, and lactation. Universities are unique ecosystems and the current desire to improve in policy and action. There is now an incredible opportunity to explore multi-tiered approaches to improving the DEI landscape. / Doctor of Philosophy / The policy that governs the provisions for lactation rooms for employed workers only requires an outlet, a flat surface, and a place to sit. There are no national policies that provide for dignity in spaces where people pump milk for their infants. College campuses offer a unique opportunity to assess social and physical infrastructures for lactation support. The research questions centred on the lactation room as a site of meaning making to explore questions of the creation of lactation rooms, the policies that govern postpartum bodies, and the experiences of lactating people on college campuses. Using the lactation room as the site, the research explored the claims made by universities about postpartum support and lactator inclusion (proclamations); the manifestation of those policies in the lactation space (actions); and the user experiences of lactating on their campus (perceptions). Using these specific domains of knowledge as a guide, the mixed-methods explored the institutional proclamations through document analysis and informational interviews with institutional employees; the rooms themselves assessed using photos and indoor comfort metrics; and in-depth interviews with lactators. Two universities were selected as case studies to examine the policies and practices of lactation programming and share the stories of lactating people. Results indicated numerous gaps in the connection between the policies, practices, and the needs of the lactating people in this unique ecosystem. Universities have some considerable work to do in overcoming these gaps, including breaking down silos between people and programs in different parts of the university. More work is needed to identify these lactators and bring them into the conversations about their needs as an act of inclusion. Universities can acknowledge this diverse group in their web-based resources, communications, and policies. Future work is needed to continue to identify and fill the gaps in all three areas of proclamations, actions, and perceptions. Improvements in these areas could promote more dignity in the built environment and increase sensations of belonging amongst lactating people on college campuses.

Abstract SEA is currently becoming an important tool for sustainable development. The main principles of SEA are to incorporate environmental considerations to the process of development of strategic documents and to make the process of the decision-making more transparent. Over the past years, there have been an increasing number of countries especially transitional and developing countries such as Belarus that consider joining the international conventions for SEA such as EU Directive 2001/42/EC (the SEA Directive) and UNECE SEA Protocol. This research focuses on the capacity assessment for SEA implementation in Belarus. The benchmarks for SEA capacity assessment were defined. For identifying the approaches for SEA implementation in the countries in transition, the experience of the countries of Central and Eastern Europe was analyzed. The capacity assessment for Belarus was made involved three levels, namely, system level, as well as organizational and individual levels. The paper analyses strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats for SEA implementation in Belarus. The study concludes with some suggestions that might help to improve capacity for SEA implementation.

The total number of mobile subscriptions has been announced to reach 6 billion in the market, of which 4 billion are individual users. The rest of the people on earth are potential subscribers that mainly live in rural areas lacking mobile connectivity today. Many of these users do not have access to electricity and have 6 U.S. dollar per month (USD/month) of average revenue per person.   Referring to the year 2007, the telecommunication industry had a contribution of 0.6 percent of direct global carbon dioxide (CO2) or 0.4 percent of global carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e). From 2007 to 2009, the number of off-grid radio base stations located in rural areas went up from 350,000 to 500,000. Nearly all of these sites use diesel generators and large amounts of fossil fuels during the operational stage. In addition the grid sites with diesel back-up were about 0.5 million in 2009. The financial and environmental consequences of the life cycle impact of the diesel fuel depleted can be significant. Adaptation of renewable energy has therefore become important for both environmental and economic reasons.   In this master thesis a Life Cycle Assessment of Ericsson’s Managed Rural Coverage (MRC) solution was made. Four main life cycle stages were included: manufacturing, transportation, operation and end-of-life treatment. MRC is an off-grid site solution consisting of electronic communication equipment (radio base station, base station controller, hub, cable) photovoltaic cells, battery, antenna, and constructions part (antenna pole, tower and foundation). This study also includes the satellite connection as well as Ericsson and operator activities in the assessment. The MRC distinguishes itself from the conventional base stations, by its significant decrease of energy consumption in its operational stage as well as the business model around the offering. The assessment in this thesis was carried out in accordance with data retrieved from an Ericsson’s pilot system in Dungunab, Sudan. The ISO 1404X series of LCA standards was followed and Gabi software w used to evaluate the results.   The carbon footprint was found to be 0.3 kg CO2e/subscriber for the pilot setup. These calculations were based on an assumption that each pilot site serviced 1000 users. The maximum number of subscribers can be about 3200, which would decrease the life cycle CO2 emissions per user by 2/3. According to the sensitivity analysis the maximum CO2 emissions for a conservative MRC scenario is less than 1 kg CO2e/subscriber. Although this figure represents a very conservative scenario, the result is low in comparison with an average GSM network which has an approximate carbon footprint of 15 kg CO2e/subscriber. It is important to note that the MRC is not intended to replace all conventional macro RBS sites due to limitations in performance and capabilities, but is rather a complement to conventional macro radio base station sites for applicable scenarios. / <p>Thesis registration number: EGI-2013-024MSC  EKV941</p>

Thesis (DPhil (Philosophy))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Through my research I have developed an alternative conceptual approach to project-level environmental assessment in South Africa, which begins to move beyond modernism in its philosophical, procedural and substantive aspects. This approach draws on the ideas of certain radical philosophers, and three innovative thinkers, namely: Bent Flyvbjerg, Amartya Sen and Paul Cilliers. The overall purpose of project-level environmental assessment (i.e. Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)) is to predict the impacts on the environment of proposed development, and to recommend ways to mitigate its negative consequences and enhance its positive effects. However, there are a number of recurring problems in the practice of EIA which include: achieving interdisciplinarity in the assessment process; effectively undertaking stakeholder engagement; and accurately predicting the impacts of proposed developments. Addressing uncertainty and adequately considering the implications of cumulative and social impacts are also often poorly addressed in environmental assessment procedures. In this thesis, I describe these problems as symptomatic of the modernist roots of environmental assessment, an argument, or similar, which has been made by others in related domains (e.g. philosophy), as well as in the international field of environmental assessment itself. I identify the following three main problematic assumptions of the modern worldview that are currently constraining the effectiveness of this field: A system can be understood by observing the behaviour of its parts; All processes flow along linear, deterministic, predictable and orderly paths; and Technical, objective, natural science-based information and processes are separate from, and superior to, non-technical, subjective, and value-based information and processes. Drawing on my investigation of the core ideas of radical ecologists and of the work of Bent Flyvbjerg, Amartya Sen and Paul Cilliers, I challenge the modernist assumptions listed above and propose an alternative conceptual approach to environmental assessment, which involves the formulation of a ‘sustainability argument’. I explain the philosophical tenets (for example, humans and nature are seen as part of an interrelated social-ecological system) and general principles on which this approach rests (for example, the normative nature of all knowledge of social-ecological systems should be recognised), as well as its key characteristics (for example, the team that undertakes the study should comprise disciplinary specialists, key stakeholders and at least one ‘sustainability practitioner’ who coordinates the development of the argument). These tenets, principles and characteristics are designed to guide the development of context-specific processes, for the formulation of a sustainability argument that informs project-level development decisionmaking. The ‘sustainability argument’ approach moves beyond the human-nature (or developmentenvironment) divide inherent in current environmental assessment, in which the impact of the former on the latter is determined. The focus is shifted to understanding how the social-ecological system is likely to alter, under different conditions, as a result of the proposed development, which is seen as a potential change in the system. In addition, the way in which the social-ecological system is likely to affect the implementation of this change is described. These effects are evaluated in relation to contextually defined sustainability values, which are identified by key stakeholders through a participatory process, and guided by the principles proposed as part of the sustainability argument approach. The principles include a view of humans and nature as part of an interrelated social-ecological system in which diversity, both human and natural, is valued as a pre-requisite to sustainability. Human needs are defined beyond the provision of basic goods and services, to include the promotion and enhancement of the valuable functionings and capabilities of an individual, as described by Sen (1988b). Nature is valued, not only for its role in enabling the achievement of these functionings and capabilities, but also for the fact of its existence, as part of the overall social-ecological system. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: In my navorsing het ek alternatiewe, konseptuele benadering tot omgewingsbeoordeling op projekvlak in Suid Afrika ontwerp, wat begin om verby die filosofiese, prosedurele en substantiewe aspekte van die modernisme te beweeg. Hierdie benadering berus op die idees van sekere radikale filosowe, en drie innoverende denkers, naamlik: Bent Flyvbjerg, Amartya Sen en Paul Cilliers. Die oorkoepelende doelstelling van omgewingsbeoordeling op projekvlak (i.e. Omgewingsimpakstudie (OIS)) is om die impakte op die omgewing van voorgestelde ontwikkeling te voorspel, en om voorstelle te maak om die negatiewe gevolge daarvan te beperk en die positiewe gevolge te bevorder. Tog is daar aantal herhalende probleme in die praktyk van OIS, wat die volgende insluit: Die bereiking van interdissiplinariteit in die proses van omgewingsbeoordeling; die versekering van effektiewe deelname van belangegroepe; en die akkurate voorspelling van die impakte van voorgestelde ontwikkeling. Die hantering van onsekerhede en die voldoende oorweging van die implikasies van kumulatiewe en sosiale impakte word ook nie voldoende aangespreek in die ontwerp van omgewingsbeoordeling nie. In hierdie tesis beskryf ek hierdie probleme as simptome van die modernistiese grondslag van omgewingsbeoordeling, wat soortgelyke punt maak as die argument wat nie alleen deur ander in verwante velde (e.g. filosofie) ontwikkel is nie, maar ook in die internasionale veld van omgewingsbeoordeling self. Ek identifiseer die volgende drie problematiese kernaannames van die moderne wêreldbeeld, wat tans die doeltreffendheid van omgewingsbeoordeling beperk: Sisteem kan verstaan word deur die gedrag van sy dele waar te neem; Alle prosesse volg liniêre, deterministiese, voorspelbare en geordende patrone; en Tegniese prosesse en objektiewe, natuurwetenskaplik-begronde inligting is apart van, en verhewe bo, nie-tegniese prosesse en subjektiewe en waardegebaseerde oorwegings. Op grond van my ondersoek van die kernidees van radikale ekoloë, asook die werke van Bent Flyvbjerg, Amartya Sen en Paul Cilliers, daag ek die bogenoemde modernistiese veronderstellings uit, en stel alternatiewe benadering tot omgewingsbeoordeling voor, wat die formulering van ‘volhoubaarheidsargument’ insluit. Ek verduidelik die filosofiese uitgangspunte (byvoorbeeld dat die mens en die natuur, in onderlinge wisselwerking met mekaar, gesien moet word as deel van geïntegreerde sosio-ekologiese sisteem) en algemene beginsels waarop hierdie benadering berus (byvoorbeeld dat die normatiewe aard van alle kennis van sosio-ekologiese sisteme erken behoort te word), asook die kenmerkende eienskappe daarvan (byvoorbeeld dat die span, wat die studie onderneem, saamgestel moet word uit kenners vanuit verskillende dissiplines, sleutelbelanghebbendes, en ten minste een ‘volhoubaarheidspraktisyn’ wat die ontwikkeling van die argument koördineer). Hierdie uitgangspunte, beginsels en eienskappe is ontwerp om die ontwikkeling van konteksspesifieke prosesse te stuur, en vir die formulering van volhoubaarheidsargument wat besluitneming oor ontwikkeling op projekvlak informeer. Die ‘volhoubaarheidsargument’ benadering beweeg verby die mens-natuur (of ontwikkelingomgewing) onderskeid inherent aan die huidige praktyk van omgewingsbeoordeling, waar die impak van die eersgenoemde op die laasgenoemde bepaal word. Die klem verskuif na begrip vir die manier waarop die sosio-ekologiese sisteem moontlik gaan verander, onder sekere toestande, as gevolg van die voorgestelde verandering, wat beskou word as moontlike verandering in die sisteem. Boonop word die manier waarop die sosio-ekologiese sisteem waarskynlik die implementering van die verandering gaan beïnvloed ook beskryf. Hierdie effekte word geëvalueer met betrekking tot konteks-gedefinieerde volhoubaarheidswaardes, wat deur deelnameproses geïdentifiseer word deur sleutel belanghebbendes, en gelei deur die beginsels wat voorgestel word as deel van die volhoubaarheidsargument benadering. Die beginsels sluit beskouing van mense en die natuur as deel van interverwante sosio-ekologiese sisteem waarin diversiteit, beide menslik en natuurlik, gewaardeer word as voorwaarde vir volhoubaarheid in. Menslike behoeftes is gedefinieer as meer as net die voorsiening van basiese goedere en dienste om die bevordering en verbetering van die waardevolle funksioneringe en vermoëns van individu, soos beskryf deur Sen (1988b), in te sluit. Die natuur word gewaardeer, nie slegs vir die rol wat dit speel om die verwesenliking van hierdie funksioneringe en vermoëns moontlik te maak nie, maar ook vir die feit van die natuur se bestaan, as deel van die algehele sosio-ekologiese sisteem.

Mémoire numérisé par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal.