Contaminated sediments represent a common environmental problem because they can sequester large quantities of contaminants which can remain long after the source of pollution has been removed. From the sediment these hazardous compounds are released into the sediment porewater where it can partition into organisms in the sediment and bioaccumulate up the food web; leading to an ecological and human health concern. The objective of this work is to investigate an emerging option in contaminated sediment remediation; specifically an option for in-situ treatment known as active capping. Conventional capping uses clean sediment or sands to separate contaminated sediment from overlying water and biota. Active capping is the use of a sorptive amendment to such a cap to improve its effectiveness. This work focuses on granular materials as direct amendments to conventional caps including; granular activated carbon (GAC), iron/palladium amended GAC, alumina pillared clay, rice husk char, and organically modified clays. All materials were investigated in batch sorption tests of benzene, chlorobenzene, and naphthalene in DI water. Additionally porewaters from three sites were extruded and the concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were measured. At Manistique Harbor and Ottawa River PCBs were identified as the primary contaminant of concern while PAHs were the contaminant of concern at the Grand Calumet River. At these sites a solvent extraction method was used to analyze the sediment concentrations of the contaminants of concern. From the former batch tests activated carbon and a commercially available organoclay were chosen for further investigation. This includes PAHs in batch sorption tests using extruded sediment porewater to investigate matrix effects, and PCB sorption in distilled water. / text

Total phosphorus concentrations in the open waters of the Laurentian Great Lakes are currently at or beneath target concentrations set by international agreement. Despite the success of phosphorus loading controls in remediating nearshore eutrophication problems in the past, nuisance growth of Cladophora has recently returned to the lower Great Lakes. This thesis examines soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP) in a northwestern segment of Lake Ontario to assess whether allochthonous or autochthonous sources of phosphate lead to localized areas of PO43- enrichment that may help to explain the seemingly paradoxical resurgence of Cladophora. As SRP is often an overestimate of PO43- in P-limited waters, measures of SRP made with the standard method were compared with measures of SRP made with modified methods (i.e., using dialysis and magnesium-induced co-precipitation) designed to more accurately measure phosphate when it was expected to be at low concentrations. Measures of SRP made with standard and modified methods did not differ, however, SRP was 1 to 3 orders of magnitude higher than a more sensitive steady-state radiobioassay for PO43- used for comparison in offshore waters. Although the utility of SRP is limited when phosphate concentrations are very low, SRP is useful to measure localized areas of phosphate enrichment, and its relative concentrations can be compared in time and space. To quantify the degree to which allochthonous inputs and dreissenids contribute to PO43- concentrations that permit Cladophora growth, intensive sampling for SRP was carried out prior to, during and following the Cladophora growing season. SRP was higher in the nearshore than offshore and near the mouth of a large tributary and a treated wastewater outfall than in samples from other locations along the shoreline, but only in the spring and autumn. Phosphate turnover times indicated lower P-limitation in the nearshore and near local inputs versus the offshore. Higher concentrations of SRP were measured in samples taken 15 cm and 50 cm above dreissenid mussel-beds than in those obtained at corresponding depths over other substrata and from higher up in the water column through the Cladophora growing season, while Chl a concentrations displayed the reverse trend. These results suggest that PO43- excreted by dreissenids could be more important in time and space than external inputs in supporting nuisance Cladophora growth in the current nearshore environment. Continued research and monitoring of P dynamics in the nearshore combined with model approaches should better predict whether more stringent P controls would be effective in managing Cladophora growth.

La théorie transgouvernementale s’appuie sur l’existence de réseaux transfrontaliers entre composantes de l’État exerçant des fonctions similaires dans une optique de gestion de problèmes communs. Le transgouvernementalisme canado-américain se caractérise par un faible abandon de souveraineté des partenaires, une forte participation des acteurs régionaux, une informalité dans les relations et une intégration des secteurs privé et public et de la société civile au sein de réseaux mixtes. Le modèle de gouvernance binationale en place dans la région du bassin du Saint-Laurent et des Grands Lacs présente toutes les caractéristiques du modèle typique d’intégration transgouvernementale canado-américain. Une analyse poussée révèle en effet une matrice complexe et solide de réseaux transgouvernementaux dont les multiples ramifications s’étendent aujourd’hui beaucoup plus loin que le strict cadre des ententes sous l’égide desquelles ces réseaux ont pris naissance. Si le modèle de l’intégration par réseaux transgouvernementaux apparaît comme la solution retenue par les pouvoirs publics dans la gestion collaborative du bassin du Saint-Laurent et des Grands Lacs, s’agit-il du modèle à privilégier en ce qui a trait à la gouvernance du Passage du Nord-Ouest? Bien que le modèle en place dans la région du Saint-Laurent et des Grands Lacs ne puisse être reproduit intégralement relativement à la gestion du Passage du Nord-Ouest, un modèle d’intégration transgouvernementale, du « bas vers le haut », axé sur la mise en place d’une réglementation commune en matière de navigation et sur une intégration opérationnelle visant à assurer la mise en œuvre de cette règlementation, s’avère approprié pour la gestion du Passage du Nord-Ouest. / Transgovernmentalism is based on the existence of transboundary networks between sub-national entities exercising similar functions in order to address common issues. Canada-United States transgovernmentalism can be characterised by limited relinquishment of sovereignty by partners, significant participation of regional actors, informality in the relations and the integration of the private and public sectors and civil society into mixed networks. The governance model in place in the St. Lawrence basin and the Great Lakes region presents all the features of the typical model of Canada-United States transgovernmentalism. A thorough analysis indeed reveals a complex and strong matrix of transgovernmental networks which ramifications now extend far beyond the strict framework of agreements under whose auspices these networks arose. However, if transgovernmentalism is the solution adopted by both governments for the collaborative management of the St. Lawrence basin and the Great Lakes, it is an appropriate governance model for the management of the Northwest Passage? Although the model in place in the region of the St. Lawrence basin and the Great Lakes can not be entirely reproduced for the management of the Northwest Passage, a “bottom-up” transgovernmental model focused on the implementation of common rules in the field of navigation, and on collaboration at the operational level to ensure the implementation of this regulation, is appropriate for the management of Northwest Passage.

La publication de Théorie de la justice par John Rawls en 1971 a apporté un nouvel élan à la philosophie politique. Plusieurs commentaires et critiques de ce livre ont ainsi nourri la réflexion sur la question de la justice sociale dans son application à l’échelle mondiale. Dans ce livre, l’auteur a démontré entre autres que la démocratie libérale permet aux citoyens ayant diverses conceptions du bien, conceptions religieuses, philosophiques ou morales, souvent incompatibles et irréconciliables, d’avoir par ailleurs une conception politique de la rectitude morale et de la justice comme fondement de la structure de base de leur société. Ceci permet alors de soutenir l’unité politique et sociale de cette structure sur une base rationnelle et raisonnable. Par la suite, dans The Law of Peoples, Rawls a présenté un autre projet, celui d’étendre cette conception à la ‘Société des peuples’ qui, pour lui, est une idéalisation du regroupement des peuples qui respectent les idéaux et les principes du ‘Droit des peuples’ dans leurs relations mutuelles, le ‘Droit des peuples’ étant, pour Rawls, une conception politique particulière de la rectitude morale et de la justice qui s’applique aux principes et aux normes du droit et des usages internationaux. Ce projet de Rawls est, comme il l’a nommé lui-même, une utopie réaliste. Partant de cette dernière comme d’un prétexte, notre étude s’inscrit dans un champ de recherche particulier de la philosophie politique, à savoir l’éthique des relations internationales. Elle se veut une contribution à l’élaboration d’une réflexion normative portant sur les principes fondamentaux de justice dans l’ordre international tel qu’il se présente dans les institutions qui l’incarnent aujourd’hui encore, comme le système des Nations Unies, et sur les conséquences de cet ordre dans l’intégration des pays de la région africaine des Grands Lacs. D’où ces questions : Qu’est-ce que l’utopie rawlsienne change-t-elle à l’ordre mondial actuel? Ses principes fondent-ils une éthique susceptible d’améliorer les relations internationales? Quelle serait la place des pays africains, et plus spécialement ceux de la région des Grands Lacs, dans l’ordre mondial inhérent à ce projet? Les réponses à ces questions déterminent ce qui pourrait être considéré comme l’éthique de la gouvernance démocratique globale et les structures pouvant l’incarner. / The publishing of A Theory of Justice by John Rawls in 1971 brought a new impetus to political philosophy. Several comments and critical analyses of this book have thus provided food for thought on the issue of social justice in its application on a world scale. In this book, the author has demonstrated, among other things, that liberal democracy allows citizens with different conceptions of good – whether religious, philosophical or moral – often incompatible and irreconcilable, to have, otherwise, a political conception of moral rectitude and justice as the foundation of the basic structure of their society. This allows to support the political and social unity of this basic structure on a rational and reasonable basis. Subsequently, in his book The Law of Peoples, Rawls presented another project, that of extending that concept to the “Society of Peoples” which, for him, is an idealization of the regrouping of those people who respect the ideals and principles of the Law of peoples in their mutual relations, the “Law of peoples” being, for him, a particular political conception of moral rectitude and justice that is applicable to principles and standards of international law and customs. This project, as Rawls called it himself, is a realistic utopia. Based on the latter as an excuse, our study is in keeping with a particular field of research in political philosophy – namely, the ethics of international relations. It is intended as a contribution to the development of a normative reflection on the fundamental principles of justice in the international order as it is found in the institutions that still embody it nowadays – such as the United Nations Organization – and on the consequences of that order in the integration of the countries of the African region of the Great Lakes. This raises questions such as: What changes does the rawlsian utopia bring to the current world order? Are its principles the basis for an ethic susceptible of improving international relations? What would be the role of African countries, particularly those of the Great Lakes, in the world order inherent in this project? The answers to these questions determine what could be considered the ethics of global democratic governance and the structures which embody it.

Thesis (M.A.)--The University of Manitoba, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references.

Cette étude doctorale a été réalisée avec objectif de déterminer le niveau d’efficacité interne de l’enseignement primaire aux pays de la CEPGL et le progrès atteint vers l’éducation pour tous après la période des conflits ethniques et armés. En plus, spécifiquement pour le Rwanda, d’identifier les facteurs individuels, familiaux et scolaires explicatifs du phénomène redoublement et abandon à l’école primaire. Les données de notre analyse proviennent des différents rapports des ministères, des organisations internationales et des travaux des chercheurs. L’analyse de l’enseignement primaire des pays de la CEPGL, à partir des indicateurs d’offre et de la demande, montre que des progrès ont été réalisés après la période des conflits, mais des contraintes majeures persistent : gestion de l’information, insuffisance d’infrastructures et d’équipements d’appui à l’apprentissage, traitement des enseignants, inégalité entre milieux urbain et rural. L’analyse de l’efficacité interne a démontré que le taux de déperdition est très élevé, rendant le système moins efficace ; peu d’élèves terminent le cycle de l’enseignement primaire et les écoles privées sont plus performantes que les écoles publiques. Pour répondre à la question « quels sont les facteurs individuels, familiaux et scolaires qui expliquent le redoublement et d’abandon », nous avons mené une enquête dans 89 écoles primaires au Rwanda, sur 831 élèves, 890 enseignants, 89 directeurs d’écoles, 354 parents d’élèves et 32 personnes en charge de l’éducation au niveau des districts et au niveau central du ministère de l’Education. Les données collectées pendant l’année scolaire 2008 ont été saisies et analysées à partir du logiciel SPSS et STATA. Les statistiques descriptives et de régression logistique binaire ont permis d’obtenir les résultats qui démontrent les facteurs explicatifs et non explicatifs de redoublement et d'abandon scolaire. Parmi les facteurs explicatifs de redoublement scolaire à l’école primaire au Rwanda, il y a le statut de l’école, le milieu de vie, des variables individuelles qui caractérisent l'élève (sexe, âge), des variables qui caractérisent la famille (niveau d’études de la mère, nombre d’enfants en famille, distance domicile-école) ainsi que d'autres variables comme la taille des classes, âge et ancienneté professionnelle de l'enseignant et connaissance d’ordinateur. Parmi les facteurs qui expliquent l’abandon scolaire à l’école primaire au Rwanda il y a principalement la survie des parents, leur profession, la taille des classes et le fait d'avoir redoublé. / This PhD study has been achieved with objective to carry out the level of internal efficiency of the primary education in the CEPGL countries and the progress reaches toward the education for all after the period of ethnic and armed conflicts. In addition, specifically for Rwanda, to underline the individual, families and school factors explanatory of the repetition and drop-out in the primary schools. The data of our analysis come from different reports of ministries, international organizations and publications of researchers. The analysis of the primary education inside CEPGL countries, by the indicators that document education supply and demand, show that, after the period of conflicts, progress has been achieved, but some major constraints persist: management of information, lacks of infrastructures, equipment support to teaching and learning, remuneration of teachers, inequality between urban and rural area, insufficiency of financial supports, etc. The analysis of the internal efficiency demonstrated that the rate of dwindle is high and influenced a poor level in internal efficiency of primary education of all those countries; few pupils achieve the cycle of primary education and the private schools and “libre subsidié” (mainly clerical schools subsidized by Government) are more effective than the public schools as well as for levels P3 and P5. To answer the question "what are the individual, families and school factors that explain the repetition and drop-out", we conducted a survey in 89 primary schools in Rwanda, on 831 pupils, 890 teachers, 89 head teachers, 354 parents of pupils and 32 persons in charge of education at central ministry of Education and districts level. The data, collected during the school year 2008, have been treated and analyzed using SPSS and STATA. The descriptive statistics and binary logistical regression permitted to get the results that demonstrate the explanatory factors of repetition and school drop-out. Among the explanatory factors of school repetition in the primary school in Rwanda, there is the statute of school, area of residence, the individual variables that characterize pupil (sex, age), the variables characterized families (level of study of the parents, number of children in family, distance) as well as other school variables (size of the classes, age and experience of teacher and computer skills of teachers). Among the factors that explain the school drop-out in the primary school in Rwanda, there are survival of parents, the profession of parents, the classes' size and the past repetitions in the school career.

External policy of the European Union as it is defined by the Lisbon Treaty incorporates, among others, the development cooperation policy and the Common foreign and security policy. Development assistance, as a shared policy, represents a traditional form of cooperation between the Union and the developing countries and as such works as a mean to promote the objectives of its external policy. On the other hand the Common foreign and security policy was established by the Maastricht Treaty and until today the decisions made depend on the will of the Member states. The aim of this thesis is to analyze how the European Union uses the development cooperation to achieve the objectives of its external policy and to demonstrate, that using the means of the Common foreign and security policy is essential as well. To do this, the thesis will study the African Great Lakes region in particular.

The thesis focuses on analysis of causes of armed conflicts within security complex of the African Great Lakes region. Explored period is situated between 1990 and present. The major part of text is devoted concrete analysis of causes of conflicts according to sector approach. The thesis attempts to describe main causal frameworks of conflicts within researched area eventually to find some their common features.

No description available.

Since the 1990s the Great Lakes Region has continued to be mired in intractable conflict, with the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) being at the center of it. The aim of this study is therefore an attempt to understand how the InternationalConference of the Great Lakes Region has fared in the transformation of conflict in the region, through its attempts in the DRC. For the purpose of the study, conflict transformation as presented by John Paul Lederachwas used as a theory of analyzing the selected peace efforts by the ICGLR. Furthermore, the data used in the study were secondary data which consists of archival records and documentation. The study revealed two key issues in the ICGLR’s approach to peace attempts in DRC; it showed that there are gaps in the conflict transformation approach of the earlier attempts by the ICGL, which favored more political solutions. Secondly, a rethink of the approach revealed a much more robust approach, which seeks to address not only the political conflicts but also seeks to address the historical and structural conflicts in the region. However, with the positive change in the approach, there are still high levels of conflict in the DRC.