The aim of this thesis is to examine the extent to which tourism is a sustainable development (SD) option in the Waterberg Biosphere Reserve (WBR), South Africa. It examines the discourses of those stakeholders who can actively affect decisions or actions regarding sustainable tourism development (STD). The literature on tourism points to it being a contested development option, with a number of positive aspects which are mainly economic fitting with the neoliberal development paradigm. There are however critical concerns over the ability of tourism to contribute to the wider issues surrounding SD. There are also conceptual and practical issues regarding SD/STD with stakeholders having varying approaches to, and positions on, the concepts. This case-study examines tourism development in the predominantly rural WBR which has seen tourism become the major economic and land-use sector in the area. Biosphere reserves are a United Nation’s designation stipulating that the region should endeavour to follow the principles of SD. Therefore, how tourism develops in the area has implications for the SD of the biosphere reserve area. An inductive qualitative methodology was designed to collect and analyse the discourses of those stakeholders who can actively affect STD concerns within the WBR. Critical discourse analysis is used to reveal notions of power, ideology and knowledge relating to the macro contexts of development, SD, STD and the micro context of the geographical area. The discourses of the active stakeholders reveal that tourism is seen mainly as an economic driver and SD discourses do emerge regarding the environment and futurity or concern for future generations. The discourses also uncover a strong ‘sense of place’ attachment to the region and a desire to conserve the environment. However they show that tourism does not contribute to wider SD objectives of basic needs, poverty reduction, quality of life improvement and population levels. This thesis reveals how levels of knowledge from active stakeholders, influenced by ideology, affect power in the region. The main contribution of this research is that active stakeholder discourses need to be understood in the contexts of development and that the link between discourse, knowledge, ideology and power needs to recognised when examining tourism as a sustainable development option.

The application of salt-marsh foraminifera to reconstruct historical sea-level trends was investigated for the Croatian coast of the Adriatic Sea using a transfer function approach. This technique, whilst well practised from north Atlantic sites along the shores of America and UK, has previously evaded any published study in the Mediterranean region. A total of 70 surface samples were collected across separate transects established at two micro-tidal salt-marsh sites from the central Croatian coastline to establish a modern dataset of foraminifera. In addition, environmental variables were also investigated including salinity, pH, organic matter, particle size, distance (from open water) and altitude, relative to the Croatian national datum. Three sediment cores were sampled for fossil foraminifera and composite chronologies involving short-lived radionuclides, radiocarbon dating and pollution indicators from XRF. Age-depth models were created using classical and Bayesian approaches. Quantitative analysis of the foraminiferal assemblages revealed on average three faunal zones in which characteristic species occurred. This comprised a faunal zone composed almost exclusively of agglutinated species; J. macrescens, T. inflata and M. fusca extending between mean tidal level (MTL) and beyond MHWST (higher altitude). A second faunal zone was more variable and comprised of a mixed assemblage of agglutinated species described above in addition to calcareous species; Ammonia spp., Elphidium spp., Haynesina germanica and Quinqueloculina spp. This zone spanned a large vertical range above and below MTL. In a third faunal zone calcareous species dominated and was restricted to the lower altitudes of the salt-marsh environments. Further quantitative measures were employed to test the hypothesis that foraminiferal distributions were controlled by altitude. Partial ordination techniques revealed altitude as a statistically significant control confirming their suitability as proxies for sea-level in transfer function reconstructions. An analysis of species environment relationships revealed strong linear response suggesting the use of PLS regression models. Transfer functions were then developed for both site specific and a total combined dataset, where small r2 jack values largely reflected the short environmental gradients despite relatively low predictions errors (RMSEP jack = <0.11). The total combined dataset was chosen and screened to remove sample outliers improving model performance (r2 jack = 0.54 and RMSEP jack = 0.08). Finally, the transfer function model was applied to core sediments to reconstruct mean sea-level where an inflexion observed at AD 1940 showed acceleration comparable to other proxy reconstructions. Indeed this trend was similar to instrumental data from Trieste tide-gauge records. Similarly the transfer function reconstruction identifies the dramatic increases in MSL observed in both tide-gauge (Split and Trieste) and satellite observations since the early 1990s.

This thesis documents the rates and patterns of contemporary and recent overbank deposition along the lower reaches of the River Calm, S. E. Devon, England. Two temporal perspectives are adopted: (i) short-term rates based on contemporary flood events, using sediment traps, the sampling of in-channel suspended sediment and qualitative field observation of inundation processes; and, (ii) recent (over the past 35 years) rates of vertical accumulation, using the caesium-137 technique. These techniques also enable lateral and downstream trends to be identified. Longer-term implications are also addressed using a simple lithofacies classification of alluvial sections, supplemented by historical evidence of channel change and anthropogenic impact along the study reach. Overbank deposition rates are generally low along the study reach, averaging 0.7 mm year-1 (using estimates of suspended sediment conveyance losses), 0.4 mm year-1 (sediment traps) and 0.5 mm year-1 (caesium-137 studies). In general, the highest deposition rates are associated with the levee, depressions and breaches. Deposition rates, however, are temporally and spatially highly variable, being dependent upon the microtopographic relief and vegetation of the floodplain, the mode of inundation, and the extent of retention pondage. Anthropogenic impact on the floodplain is also noted, in particular the role of ditches in distributing floodwaters across the floodplain and the compartmentalisation effect of barriers to flow. These have important implications for the rates of overbank deposition and the sedimentological characteristics of deposits. The role of scour remobilisation of sediment is also assessed. The spatial detail afforded by the caesium-137 technique has been used to identify areas of the floodplain which may be locally susceptible to scour. This study highlights the potential for lowland floodplains undergoing regular flooding to suffer contamination from radionuclides and other pollutants, and leads to an improved understanding of the spatial and temporal rates and trends in deposition and sedimentological characteristics of overbank deposits on the floodplain of a suspension load-dominant river system.

This thesis aims to provide a contemporary account of the Dar es Salaam’s water sector as well as the role of the myriad stakeholders involved in it, taking into account the complexity history of the city’s water governance. As a rapidly growing city over recent years, the infrastructure of Dar es Salaam’s municipal system has not been updated for a significant period of time. As such, the areas served by this system face intermittent and piecemeal coverage whereas other large sections of the city are forced to come up with alternative, often expensive water resources that are unreliable and at times, unsafe. This thesis attempts to explore the lived realities of the individuals who reside in these unserved areas, and the ways in which community-based organisations and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) play a role in the city’s water sector. Through analysis of community-level water provision schemes in two case study areas of Dar es Salaam, this research provides a thorough account of the ways in which water resources are managed, debated and utilised at the local level and the challenges faces by these local organisations. In addition, through an observational research at two local NGOs working in the water sector in Dar es Salaam, this research examines these organisations’ place within the city’s broader water governance framework, as well as how they operate and prioritise their day to day work and their outputs. This research also takes into account the national and international policy environment, as well as the ways in which Tanzania’s socio- political history has influenced the current means of water governance. Through an exploration of the prevalent discourses in policy creation and implementation and the aforementioned stakeholders in the water sector, this thesis examines the multitude of influences on Dar es Salaam’s water governance, as well as the tensions that arise between rhetoric and reality, and the impacts these have upon its citizens.

This research explores the social life of street food in Hanoi, Vietnam, using a conceptual framework of social sustainability. Although the economic benefits of street vending are widely recognised, little attention has previously been paid to the social aspects. Focusing specifically on the selling of street food through the lens of social sustainability, this research develops a conceptual framework from the literature. The framework comprised eight key themes: social justice, quality of life and well-being, participation, safety and security, social interactions and social networks, social inclusion, sense of place and cultural heritage and was applied empirically to the street food environment of Hanoi. The themes used in the framework were identified as the most pertinent in the literature and were grouped under three broad ideas – social justice, social relations and culture – and used to frame the thesis. The application of the social sustainability framework revealed important details about the social life and social function of the street food environment. It highlighted key areas where street food in Hanoi can be shown to contribute to the principles of social sustainability, such as regarding social relations, cultural heritage and sense of place. It also drew attention to areas that require improvement, including some aspects of social justice, for example, participation, safety and security and food hygiene. The findings of this research suggest the challenges identified that prevent the social sustainability of street food in Hanoi, often manifested themselves through the inequalities experienced between the different types of street food vendors, specifically itinerant or migrant vendors compared to local vendors with fixed selling locations. The thesis argues that the approach adopted in the research offers a useful tool for understanding the social functions of street vending which can be applied and adapted to examine the social sustainability of street food vending in other economic and political contexts.

This thesis examines consumers’ ethical agency within the responsible tourism experience. It aligns with a post-structuralist, (late) Foucauldian position, adopting the theoretical constructs of ‘power struggles’ (1982), ‘problematisations’ (1984a) and ‘self-care practices’ (1984c) to engender a more fluid view of the market-consumer interface. It investigates (i) how consumers conform to, critique or resist market-promulgated ways of being a ‘responsible tourist’; (ii) how consumers (re)negotiate alternative meanings of how to be ethical and act ethically; (iii) what this reveals about the ways in which consumers retain, apportion or relinquish a sense of autonomy over their ethicality; and (iv) the tensions, struggles and dilemmas that consumers concurrently face. The thesis adopts a participative methodology in order to foster the involvement of participants across the total tourism experience. More specifically, the thesis conducts a PARTicipative inquiry in order to facilitate data collection before, during and after the holiday; enabling ‘prospective’, ‘active’ and ‘reflective’ triangulation (Ingram et al, 2017). To this end, the thesis presents data from participants’ pre-holiday and post-holiday interviews, as well as their (on-holiday) diaries and photographs. The findings of this thesis suggest that consumers’ ethical agency manifests in three main ways. Agency is represented through a critical awareness of the rhetorical construction of ‘responsibility’ within three types of market-consumer interface, namely ethical tourism spaces, ethical policies and market materials. Agency is also represented through consumers’ resistance towards three key areas of the organised tourism industry, specifically large corporations (e.g. chain hotels, international franchises), the tourism ‘package’, and tourism ‘hotspots’. Further, agency is represented through consumers’ self-reflexivity. Tourists are highly introspective of the ways in which they transform personal ethical reflection into action (‘walk the talk’); the ways in which they reflect on ethics but are unwilling to make any material alterations to their behaviour (‘reflexive inertia’); and the personal, product, and destination level considerations that impede their engagement in certain ethical practices (‘pragmatic utility’). Overall, this thesis aims to contribute to existing literature by fulfilling four research gaps. First, it focusses on the practices and narratives of responsible tourists, as opposed to the ‘responsibility’ discourses of travel companies (e.g. Caruana & Crane, 2008; Hanna, 2013). Second, it attends to the current lack of Foucauldian ethics within the consumer responsibility and responsible tourism literatures (Crane et al, 2008). Third, it progresses from studying the ethical consumption of commodity goods to focus on experiential consumption; specifically, highly performative experiential consumption in a potentially environmentally and socio-culturally disparate context to the ‘home’ setting (e.g. Jamal, 2004). Finally, it focusses on the total responsible experience by triangulating tourists’ prospective, active and reflective data. This thesis also has important practical implications. A stronger awareness of how tourists experience responsible tourism will better enable the tourism industry to tailor their products, services and spaces in a way which more effectively matches consumer demand. Further, an improved understanding of how consumers evaluate discourses on ‘responsibility’ will inform the tourism industry as to how responsible policies, guidebooks and other marketing messages are interpreted, and thereby constructed and communicated.

The investigation of extreme precipitation events over the western coast of Saudi Arabia is necessary to estimate their potential impact on both socioeconomic activities and the regional environment. The current study aims at understanding the atmospheric dynamics leading to extreme precipitation, to improve weather forecasting in the target region and the development of long-term adaptation policies. Preliminary results reveal that extreme precipitation events in this region occur during the wet season (Nov–Jan). The synoptic mechanisms of these events are a function of the complex interaction between tropical, subtropical and middle-latitude dynamics. The synoptic dynamic processes were identified by a subjective study of the highest 30 extreme events. In addition, the weather circulation patterns (WCPs) of all extreme events were classified objectively by means of an empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis based on the mean sea level pressure. WCPs were linked with synoptic dynamic processes and teleconnected with large-scale climate variability modes. Furthermore, WCPs, precipitation and data regarding other atmospheric variables from different regional climate models were used to investigate future changes in extreme precipitation events under climate change. The most important weather circulation patterns, which are associated with extreme precipitation events, were identified. The possibility of extreme precipitation events increases with great uncertainty.

The aims of this research are to examine and explore perceptions of the built environmental impacts of heritage tourism in urban settlements; to explore the practice of heritage tourism management; and to examine the consequences of both for the sustainability of the heritage environment. The literature review explores the concepts of heritage management, the heritage production model, the tourist-historic city, and sustainability and the impact of tourism on the built environment. A theoretical framework is developed, through an examination of literature on environmental impacts, carrying capacity, sustainability, and heritage management; and a research framework is devised for investigating the built environmental impacts of heritage tourism in urban settlements, based around five objectives, or questions. The research methodology is explained. Fieldwork took place in Ludlow, Shropshire from 2006 to 2010. It included an analysis of the national and local planning policy framework; and the phenomenon of the small English heritage town, of which Ludlow is a prime example. Linked surveys were undertaken in Ludlow of visitors, business providers, and managers of heritage tourism. The study establishes (a) the concept of 'perceived impact' of heritage tourism on the built environment is a stronger analytical and management tool than the concept of carrying capacity; and (b) that understanding stakeholder's perception of the built environmental impacts of heritage tourism provides empirical evidence that can contribute a new dimension to debates on the definition of 'heritage'; (c) takes forward the typology of the built environmental impacts of tourism as developed by Hunter and Green, using empirical data to show what different stakeholders think about the relative importance of different aspects of heritage.

This thesis assesses long-term runoff projections from global multi-model ensembles used in hydrological impact studies. Firstly, the study investigates global-scale changes in frequency of high and low flow days towards the end of the current century, quantifying the relative contribution to uncertainty from global climate (GCMs) and global impact models (GIMs). Results show increases in high flows for northern latitudes and in low flows for several hotspots worldwide. Overall, GCMs provide the largest uncertainty; but GIMs are the greatest source of uncertainty in snow-dominated regions. Secondly, the ability of a set of GIMs to reproduce observed runoff is evaluated at the regional scale, indicating that GIMs capture well trends in low, medium, and high flows, but differ from observations with respect to medium and high flows timing. Thirdly, the contribution to uncertainty from GCMs, GIMs, Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs), and internal variability is quantified for transient runoff until 2099. Over the USA, GCMs and GIMs are responsible for the largest uncertainty. Efforts to improve runoff projections should thus focus on GCMs and GIMs. In particular, GIMs should be evaluated in the region of study, so that models reproducing unrealistic runoff can be excluded, potentially yielding greater confidence in ensemble projections.

The field of nanotechnology has seen much growth in recent years as nanoparticles have found usage in many applications. This has led to increases in nanoparticle production and as such it is ever more likely that these nanoparticles will find their way into the aquatic environment. In this work, sterically stabilised polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) 7 nm gold nanoparticles (NPs) were synthesised and characterised as prepared by their surface plasmon resonance (SPR), size, aggregation, morphology and surface charge. They were then exposed to changes in environmentally relevant conditions (pH, ionic strength, Ca concentration and fulvic acid presence) and the results quantified. These sterically stabilised NPs showed no aggregation with changes in pH or inorganic ions, even under high (0.1 M) Ca concentrations. In addition, the presence of fulvic acid resulted in no observable and significant changes in SPR, size, aggregation or surface chemistry, suggesting limited interaction between the PVP stabilised nanoparticles and fulvic acid. Due to the lack of aggregation and interaction, these NPs are expected to be highly mobile and potentially bioavailable in the environment. The second half of this investigation focused upon how these NPs were transported within a recirculating flume with both a plane bed structure and with a bedform present. This showed that the nanoparticles moved freely between the stream and the bed and appear to be under the influence of water flow rather than simply diffusion.