Despite heightened interest in creating local food systems that enhance health of ecologies, economies, and all members of communities, the public space of farmers' markets is far less than inherently equitable. This is particularly concerning given America's unprecedented crisis of food hardship and related disease, which disproportionately affects lower income populations. This research addresses the social justice implications of SNAP (food stamp) operations for locally oriented food systems. Pioneering practices of three of Florida's SNAP-authorized farmers' markets, and the attitudes and behaviors of one-hundred-seventy-six market patrons, were explored through customer surveys, market manager interviews, and environmental assessments. Qualitative and quantitative results uncovered associations between SNAP at the farmers' market and heightened embeddedness. This work advances the embeddedness concept by applying it to the understudied population of lesser advantaged consumers for which the interplay of marketness and embeddedness is particularly relevant to food purchasing decisions. Qualitative results showed success in SNAP operations centered on extending the reach of healthy foods to greater share of community, enhancing local farm income, and repositioning farmers' markets from their reputation as exclusive and expensive. Despite being heterogeneous place-making spaces with unique socio-cultural qualities, the markets shared commonality in their EBT operations and strong mission to serve the local SNAP population. Nonetheless, capacity for implementing and sustaining SNAP operations appears contingent upon innovative strategies and long-range synergistic efforts. Quantitative results uncovered several benefits in attaching SNAP to farmers' markets: expanded diversity of patron demographics, strengthened market-shopping behavior, diminished tension between economic and non-economic in food valuation, and fortification of the market as a social space for effecting change. Much remains to be understood regarding consumer values tied to local food systems, and the impact of SNAP operations on embedded market exchange. Hence, it is premature to predict whether SNAP operations will indeed enable farmers' markets to serve as a transformative mechanism for addressing the social justice arm of sustainability in the developing, alternative food system. Nonetheless, the discoveries made herein hint at the viability for SNAP to better position farmers' markets aiming to strengthen food system justice; and in so doing, bolster the role of farmers' markets in helping communities move towards their sustainability objectives.

As the landscape of the United States changes and world resources face depletion, shale gas development has become a major social justice issue. Social workers may be called upon to help support communities undergoing change from industry as well as the environmental and social justice concerns that are arising in areas with rich natural resource supplies. This research examines how a rural population perceives change when industry enters an area. It explores community change and social justice concerns that are occurring with shale gas development in order to help determine implications for social work practice. Using a phenomenological approach, this work examined the perceptions of 20 residents of the Pennsylvania community of the Laurel Highlands who live within 10 miles of where fracking has occurred. In depth interviews were carried out with this population to explore their perceptions of community change from shale gas development. Residents of the Laurel Highlands report anxiety about the future of their environment, including negative impacts to the air and water. They are angry about the outsourcing of local natural resources to other areas in both the United States and abroad. Residents feel a loss of power and sense of control due to shale gas development and the large corporations which support its growth. These factors are negatively impacting their quality of life. Shale gas development and the changes it brings are influencing residents' decisions about investing in the Laurel Highlands as well as staying in the area long term. As a result of these factors, community action is increasing to help build support during industrial development in the area. This work examines these themes and concludes with a discussion of how social work practice can help assist rural residents with their changing communities.

Not available / text

Not available / text

Den här studien är grundad på intervjuer med personer som arbetar med miljömål, både de nationella och de miljömål som Ramdirektivet för vatten vill genomföra. Jag har intervjuat sammanlagt 7 respondenter från Naturvårdsverket, Jordbruksverket, Vattenmyndigheten för norra Östersjön, Länsstyrelsen i Södermanland och Flens kommun. Genom att göra dessa intervjuer hoppades jag på att få svar på de frågor som är underställda mitt syfte. Vilka är: - Når all information om Vattendirektivet ut till alla instanser som är berörda och får de informationen i tid inför sitt handlingsplansarbete? -Hur samarbetar de olika instanserna över de nationella, regionala och lokala gränserna med att göra handlings- och åtgärdsplaner? -Och har då Sverige större möjlighet att nå upp till de miljömål vi har satt upp om Vattendirektivet implementeras i handlingsplanerna? Mitt syfte är att se hur Vattendirektivet påverkar arbetet med att nå de två miljökvalitetsmålen Ett rikt odlingslandskap och Ingen övergödning på nationell, regional och lokal nivå. Genom att analysera resultaten både ur implementeringsteorin och ur ett rättsligt perspektiv kom jag fram till att den information som finns ut till berörda myndigheter har stannat på länsstyrelsenivå och har ej gått ut till de som arbetar med handlingsplanerna. De enda som har använt sig av Vattendirektivet i handlingsplansarbetet är Naturvårdsverket när de arbetade fram handlingsplanerna för Ingen övergödning. Bland annat på grund av detta finns det inte så mycket samarbete mellan myndigheterna. För att en implementering ska kunna genomföras krävs information och samarbete. Tillämparen ska förstå beslutet, kunna genomföra det och de ska också vilja genomföra beslutet skriver Anders Sannerstedt. Det framkom att de flesta respondenterna trodde att implementeringen av Vattendirektivet skulle hjälpa dem att nå våra nationella miljökvalitetsmål, åtminstone de mål som går att sätta gränsvärden i, därför att EG´s direktiv är rättsligt bindande och att miljökvalitetsnormer blir införda i miljöbalken. Enligt Lena Gipperth så måste miljökvalitetsnormer införas om vi ska nå Vattendirektivets miljömål. Än så länge har inte Ramdirektivet för vatten påverkat uppnåelsen av de två miljömålen Ett rikt odlingslandskap och Ingen övergödning. Mer information och resurser ut till berörda myndigheter, för att få igång ett intresse, behövs för att implementeringen av Vattendirektivet ska komma igång. / ISRN i pdf-filen är felaktigt. Det korrekta ISRN visas nedan.

In this dissertation a study was undertaken of environmental administration in city-status local authorities in South Africa. Local authorities in South Africa constitute the third tier of government. They are established to provide essential goods and services to the community and to contribute to the national goal of community welfare. The services rendered by a local authority affects the quality of life of its inhabitants. South Africa is presently undergoing a period of transition and there are demands placed on local authorities to improve the quality of life of its inhabitants. Local authorities have become increasingly sensitive to environmental matters. Environmental administration plays a pivotal role in improving the quality of life of the community. In order that local authorities carry out their environmental functions efficiently and effectively, it is essential that the enabling generic administrative processes, managerial, functional, auxiliary and instrumental activities be instituted and executed. The enabling administrative processes include policy-making, organising, financing, staffing, determining methods and procedures and exercising of control. In the execution of these duties it is imperative that the normative factors, namely respect for environmental rights, ethics of environmental conservation, requirements of administrative law, maintenance of public accountability, fairness and reasonableness, efficiency and effectiveness and transparency and freedom of information be taken cognisance of. Attention was focused on the policy-making process emphasising environmental concepts and applications, environmental projects, pressing environmental issues, environmental awareness and external participation. Organisational structures in the form of committees are regarded essential to ensuring effective environmental administration. Appropriate and specific financial allocations are necessary for the environmental administration function. Well defined staffing practices are basic to ensuring that municipal functionaries involved in environmental administration achieve their objectives. Methods and procedures have to be constantly reviewed in the light of overall changes in environmental administration. The exercising of control is vital to ensure that the processes of environmental administration are performed within the context of the normative factors. The recommendations contained in the dissertation are directed at continuous review of environmental administration in local authorities within a conceptual framework which constitutes the following functions, policy-making, organising, financing, staffing, determining methods and procedures and exercising of control. Focus was placed on processes such as : (i) the formulation of environmental policy; (ii) designing separate organisational structures; (iii) specific budgetary allocations; (iv) the need for staffing practices to ensure that objectives are achieved; (v) the need for uniform and constant review of methods and procedures; and (vi) establishing codes of conduct relevant to environmental administration. / Thesis (MPA)-University of Durban-Westville, 1994.

This dissertation addresses the impact of principles of soft law on the development of international regimes for environmental protection. It focuses on three such principles that have attracted a certain degree of consensus in international environmental law and are therefore influential in international environmental regimes: namely, the principle of common but differentiated obligations; the principle of common heritage of mankind and its corollary, the principle of common concern of humankind; and the precautionary principle. The regimes analysed are the Antarctic regime, the regime for control of trade in endangered species, the regime for protection of the stratospheric ozone layer, and the emerging regime governing conservation and management of straddling fish stocks. It is argued that these principles influence normative development in international environmental regimes through processes of discourse in which participants, both state and non-state actors, seek to determine the rules by which their mutual relations will be governed and their common interests protected. Such discourse also connects the evolution of legal rules with a broader set of concerns relating to the interest of human communities in achieving a certain level of environmental protection. In this respect, the legal rules may be contemplated within a moral framework in which members of international society seek to determine what they ought to do with respect to global environmental protection.

<p>According to IPCC estimates, sea levels will rise between .18 and .6 meters by 2100. More recent estimates indicate that actual amounts of sea level rise may be much more, and that 1 meter of sea level rise by 2100 is likely a conservative estimate. These rising sea levels will result not only in more flooding during storm events, but also increased erosion and gradual inundation of coastal property. At the same time, coastal populations in the United States continue to increase rapidly: over half of all Americans live in coastal counties, and at least 25 million more people are expected to move to the coast by 2015. The end result is that human populations, coastal infrastructure, and coastal ecosystems will become increasingly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. This study examines the political and legal constraints to and opportunities for adaptation to rising sea levels. Using legal and policy analysis and case studies from California, North Carolina and Texas, this study explores the ability of governments to use market tools, land use regulations, and property acquisition to promote adaptation to rising sea levels. Because of market dynamics and political factors including flaws in public risk perception, I conclude that governments who wish to avoid extensive coastal engineering, , can address coastal community vulnerability through a combination of regulations and incentives that spur state and local governments to engage in forward land use planning and other measures to reduce their exposure to sea level rise impacts.</p> / Dissertation

A theme which currently dominates environmental regulation in Canada is for a strengthening of the "polluter pays" approach to environmental regulation. This trend sees those who impair the environment held increasingly financially responsible for their actions through such mechanisms as a new generation of statutory liabilities which include liability for environmental response and cleanup charges, the requirement of security in the event of environmental contamination, and the creation of statutory civil causes of action designed to assist claimants in recovering for losses resulting from environmental contamination. These mechanisms are supplemented by an increasing willingness by the courts to give serious consideration to innovative new approaches by private claimants to hold polluters civilly accountable for toxic tort related claims. As a result, those in Canada with potential exposure to this new generation of environmental liabilities will inevitably turn to the insurance industry for coverage. Ironically, it is these same new liabilities which will make it increasingly difficult for insurers to provide the desired coverage. Further, in the event that such coverage is provided, insurers will be required to be especially diligent in evaluating and delineating those environmental risks which they are prepared to cover. Many industrial and commercial enterprises will require environmental impairment insurance in order to carry out operations subject to environmental risk. Insurers providing environmental insurance in this context will effectively find themselves cast into the somewhat unlikely role of environmental regulators within Canadian society. For more than fifty years the insurance industry in Canada has provided a wide range of insurance products for liability resulting from impairment of the natural environment. In developing and marketing environmental impairment insurance products the insurance industry has primarily relied upon the risk-based analysis which it has historically utilized to provide coverage for more traditional insurance products such as fire, automobile, and marine insurance. However, it is submitted that the attempts by the industry to provide environmental impairment insurance has been fraught with problems, and the success of the products which have been provided has been limited. This in turn raises serious questions as to the ability of the insurance industry to assume responsibility for the regulation of environmental impairment in the future. It is the primary hypothesis of this thesis that the insurance industry has experienced significant difficulties in providing environmental impairment liability insurance in Canada, and that these difficulties are due in large part to the inability of the industry to accurately predict the incidence of loss associated with environmental impairment in Canada. Further, the difficulties with prediction experienced by the insurance industry are primarily the result of its failure to take into account perceptions of environmental risk by the Canadian public and by environmental decision-makers. Finally, this inability to accurately predict has been accompanied by the failure of the insurance industry to recognize the problem, resulting in overconfidence by the industry with respect to its environmental impairment liability products.

In 1992, the Americans completed its withdrawal from the Philippines, ending almost a century of U.S. military presence. However, it was soon discovered that the U.S. left behind several contaminated sites at its former military bases in the Philippines due to inadequate hazardous waste management. It appears that the U.S. Department of Defense failed to implement clear and consistent environmental policies at Clark and Subic. The U.S. maintains that it is under no obligation to undertake further cleanup at its former installations inasmuch as the Philippines has waived its right to do so under the basing agreement. It will be argued that the Philippines made no such waiver under the Manglapus-Schultz Agreement. Thus, the U.S. remains responsible under international law for the resulting environmental damage at its former bases. States have the responsibility under customary international law to ensure that activities within their jurisdiction or control do not cause damage to the environment of other states. A state will be responsible if it breaches this international obligation. It will be argued that the U.S. breached its obligation under international law when activities within its effective control caused significant environmental damage to areas forming part of Philippine territory. Such a breach may also result in the violation of the emerging right to a healthy environment. Existing human rights, such as the right to life and health, right to food and water, right to a safe and healthy working environment and right to information, will be applied from an environmental perspective to determine whether the Filipinos' right to a healthy environment was violated. While a legal claim can be made for the remediation of the environment and compensation of the victims, it will be argued that existing mechanisms for the settlement and adjudication of international claims are inadequate. States are generally reluctant to submit to the jurisdiction of international tribunals and most of these fora do not allow non-state entities to appear before them. Thus, it would be argued that the most promising approach may well be through political and diplomatic means.