The adaptive cycle metaphor provides insight into how and why social-ecological systems change. Literature on 'resilience thinking' has built upon this foundation and further developed the concepts of resilience, adaptation, and transformation to describe social-ecological system behavior. The resilience-thinking literature also describes systems that do not change, even when such change is desirable, as being in a trapped state. However, relatively little research has explored why such systems are trapped and how to free them. This thesis is the product of doctoral research which resolves how to identify, evaluate, and free a system caught in a maladaptive system trap. The study setting is water management in Grenada, a small island developing state in the southeastern Caribbean. Four research questions guide this study: (1) To what extent is Grenadian water management in a trap?, (2) To what extent is Grenadian water management transformable?, (3) Do current and recent interventions effectively foster or utilize transformability?, and (4) Which interventions should be pursued to facilitate transformation of water management in Grenada?. The study is informed by literature on social-ecological systems and integrated water resources management. Methodologically, the study is an explanatory single-case study of water management in Grenada, conducted from 2012 to 2013. The study utilizes data from semi-structured interviews (n=19), a questionnaire (n=180), a document review (n>200), and observation. The general strategy was to evaluate attempts to transform Grenadian water management within the 3-phase transformation framework described in the resilience-thinking literature. 'Points of failure' in transformation are defined as the cause(s) of a trap, and interventions to relieve the points of failure are proposed. Results indicate Grenadian water management is in a rigidity trap, although it exhibits some capacity to transform. A key point of failure of attempts to transform the Grenadian water sector into an integrated and holistic management system has been an inability to seize windows of opportunity to pass key legislation. I conclude the primary cause for this failure is poor fit among the problem, as perceived by various stakeholders, the proposed solution prescribed by water sector reform proponents, and political reality. In addition, reform proponents focus on advocating for reform to water sector professionals and do little to broker passage of legislation politically. Finally, reform proponents also assume legislation will be effectively implemented, which is not certain. Contributions specific to the Grenadian setting include a post-mortem on why efforts to reform the water sector have failed, described above. Five recommendations are made for future interventions to foster transformation of Grenadian water management: (1) engage residents as part of a vision to create political pressure for proposed solutions, (2) frame the problem with substantial resident input and focus, (3) craft solutions which take advantage of political realities such as funding restrictions, (4) anticipate and prepare for crises, and (5) enlist one or more people or organizations to serve as brokers. Empirical contributions include support for the three-streams framework of seizing windows of opportunity as fundamental to explain transformation of social-ecological systems. The primary conceptual contribution is the development of resilience thinking to illuminate ways to free trapped systems. I begin by providing a nomenclature to quantify and describe traps, which includes the type of trap, the degree of persistence and undesirability of the trap, and recent changes in these properties. Then, I develop a framework to assess transformability of a given system based on the existing 3-phase framework of transformation. When applied empirically, this framework illuminates points of failure of transformation, which I define as the cause of a given trap. Once identified, specific strategies can be devised to foster transformation and to break free of a trap.

Thesis (M.Sc. (Geography)) - Rhodes University, 2009.

No description available.

Este artículo explora el proceso de bricolaje institucional que se desarrolla en una comunidad nativa y que conduce a la creación de una comisión de regantes. A partir de una revisión histórica, se identifican las dinámicas de préstamo de arreglos previos, como relaciones familiares o modalidades de reunión, para dar sentido a nuevos marcos institucionales promovidos por proyectos de desarrollo, como el trabajo cooperativo o el pago de una tarifa por el uso del agua. El argumento sostiene que se trata de un proceso de alteración institucional, dado que no conduce a la creación de un nuevo organismo cualitativamente distinto sino que reproduce lógicas y acuerdos previamente establecidos. / This article explores the institutional bricolage process developed in a native community, which derives in the creation of a water user’s association. Based on a historical review, the article identifies the borrowing dynamics from previous arrangements, such as family relationships and meetings, in order to make sense of the new institutional frameworks promoted by development projects, such as cooperative work and the payment of a water tariff. The argument proposes that this is a process of institutional alteration, because it does not led to the creation of a qualitatively different organism, but rather it reproduces previously stablished logics and agreements.

A renovação da outorga que permite reverter as águas das bacias dos rios Piracicaba, Capivari e Jundiaí (PCJ) para abastecer a Região Metropolitana de São Paulo através do Sistema Cantareira constituiu um importante momento de decisão sobre a gestão dos recursos hídricos. Diante disso e do processo de descentralização na gestão das águas, possibilitando a ação de diversos atores, com a instituição do Sistema Integrado de Gerenciamento de Recursos Hídricos em São Paulo (SIGRH), existe a necessidade de conciliação de interesses, de cooperação entre os atores e de negociação de conflitos. Este trabalho pretendeu analisar como a existência de um histórico de cooperação entre os membros dos Comitês das Bacias PCJ contribuiu para o fortalecimento da sua capacidade de negociação no processo de renovação da outorga do Sistema Cantareira. Para tanto, a pesquisa contou com a aplicação de um questionário fechado junto aos membros dos Comitês PCJ, que permitiu observar a existência de cooperação entre eles e de outros elementos que constituem o conceito de capital social. Percebeu-se que os Comitês PCJ possuem uma estrutura de organização que possibilita um desempenho satisfatório na tomada de decisões, na mobilização de recursos, na facilidade de comunicação e na solução de conflitos. Verificou-se que entre os seus membros existem relações consistentes de cooperação, confiança, solidariedade e reciprocidade, através das quais foram construídos arranjos institucionais nesses Comitês para resolver problemas relacionados à gestão dos recursos hídricos, como foi o caso da renovação da outorga do Sistema Cantareira. Com a nova outorga, a operação do Sistema passou a ser descentralizada e transparente. Todo esse processo contribuiu para que o capital social existente entre os atores envolvidos na gestão das águas se desenvolvesse e fortalecesse os seus laços. Também contribuiu para o amadurecimento técnico e político dos Comitês PCJ, para sua capacidade de negociar o recurso comum e para a institucionalização do SIGRH na busca pela gestão compartilhada das águas. / The renovation of the water permit that makes possible the reversion of water from the Piracicaba, Capivari and Jundiaí (PCJ) river basin to supply the Sao Paulo Metropolitan Region, through Cantareira System, consisted of an important decision making moment on the water management. With regard to that and to the decentralization process on water management, that enables the participation of several actors with the Integrated Water Management (IWM) in Sao Paulo, the conciliation of interests, cooperation among actors and conflict negotiation have become necessary. This research aimed to analyze how the existence of cooperation among the members of the PCJ River basin Committee contributed to strengthen their negotiation capacity during the process of renovation of the Cantareira System water permit. A questionnaire, applied to the members, enabled the observation of cooperation and other elements that constitute the concept of social capital among them. It was possible to observe that the PCJ Committee has an organization structure that enables a satisfactory performance on the decision making process, resource mobilization, communication and conflict resolution. It was also observed that among them there are consistent cooperation, trust, solidarity and reciprocity relations, through which institutional arrangements were built to solve problems related to the water management. With the new water permit, the System operation has become more decentralized and transparent. All the process contributed to develop and strengthen the existent social capital and ties among the actors. It also contributed to the technical and political maturity of PCJ Committee, to its capacity of negotiating the common resource and to the institutionalization of IWM in the search for an integrated water management.

Magister Philosophiae - MPhil / Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) is viewed by policy makers and practitioners as facilitating the achievement of a balance between water resources use and protection, and the resolution of water-related conflicts. The IWRM approach has found particular use in the new water policies of Southern African countries such as Zimbabwe, where water scarcity, after the land question, is perceived to be a major threat to political, economic, social, military and environmental security. Ultimately, IWRM is seen as providing a framework towards ensuring broader security at the local, national, regional and global levels. However, the pilot phase implementation of the new water policy in the various regional countries has revealed that although the legal and institutional frameworks have been put in place, the implementation of the IWRM approach has tended to be problematic (Latham, 2001; GTZ, 2000; Leestemaker, 2000; Savenige & van der Zaag, 2000; Sithole, 2000). This study adopts a case study approach and empirically examines the institutional challenges of implementing the IWRM approach in the post-pilot phase of Zimbabwe's new water policy. The focus is mainly on the institutional arrangements surrounding the Pungwe-Mutare Water Supply Project located within the Save Catchment Area in Eastern Zimbabwe. The major finding of the study is that, while there are some problems associated with the traditional management approach, there have also emerged new challenges to IWRM. These mainly relate to the transaction costs of the water sector reforms, institutional resilience, stakeholder participation, and the achievement of the desired outcomes. There have also been problems emanating from unexpected political developments at the local and national levels, particularly with regard to the government's "fast track" land resettlement programme. The study also raises some questions concerning the ideological bases of IWRM and the conceptualization of the institutional problem.

Like other scientists, hydrologists encode mathematical formulations that simulate various hydrologic processes as computer programs so that problems with water resource management that would otherwise be manually intractable can be solved efficiently. These computer models are typically developed to answer specific questions within a specific study domain. For example, one computer model may be developed to solve for magnitudes of water flow and water levels in an aquifer while another may be developed to solve for magnitudes of water flow through a water distribution network of pipes and reservoirs. Interactions between different processes are often ignored or are approximated using overly simplistic assumptions. The increasing complexity of the water resources challenges society faces, including stresses from variable climate and land use change, means that some of these models need to be stitched together so that these challenges are not evaluated myopically from the perspective of a single research discipline or study domain. The research in this dissertation presents an investigation of the various approaches and technologies that can be used to support model integration. The research delves into some of the computational challenges associated with model integration and suggests approaches for dealing with these challenges. Finally, it advances new software that provides data structures that water resources modelers are more accustomed to and allows them to take advantage of advanced computing resources for efficient simulations.

Der Wasserdampfgehalt der Atmosphäre gehört zu den Hauptkontrolleuren des Treibhauseffektes und spielt eine Schlüsselrolle im globalen Energiekreislauf, wobei den Polargebieten als globale Wärmesenken eine besondere Bedeutung zukommt. Im Rahmen dieser Arbeit wurde aus Messungen des Global Positioning System (GPS) der integrierte Wasserdampfgehalt innerhalb der letzten Dekade bestimmt und analysiert. Die Untersuchungen stützen sich auf die Reprozessierung eines aus 195 Stationen bestehenden globalen GPS-Netzes. Die aus den geschätzten GPS-Troposphärenparameter bestimmten Wasserdampf- zeitreihen wurden hinsichtlich Genauigkeit und Homogenität untersucht. Nach Korrektion der Inhomogenit äten ist es möglich, mit GPS mehrjährige Schwankungen im potenziellen Niederschlagswasser mit einer Genauigkeit besser als 0,3 mm Höhe der Wassersäule zu erfassen. Als Ergebnis der Untersuchungen zeigen sich in Europa und großen Teilen Nordamerikas Anomalien des Wasserdampfgehaltes im Bereich eines Millimeters, welche sich vor allem auf thermodynamische Effekte zurückführen lassen. In den Tropen und im Südosten der USA können die Wasserdampfanomalien 3 bis 5 mm betragen. Sie sind durch dynamische Prozesse bedingt, die mit der Südlichen Oszillation im Zusammenhang stehen. Eine Anwendung der aus GPS-Beobachtungen bestimmten Wasserdampfzeitreihen ist die Validierung des Wasserdampfes im globalen Wettervorhersagemodell des National Center for Environmental Predicton (NCEP). Über Europa und großen Teilen Nordamerikas reproduziert NCEP die Schwankungen des Wasserdampfgehaltes sehr gut und stellt damit eine gute Datengrundlage für ?ächendeckende Untersuchungen langfristiger Veränderungen im Wasserdampfgehalt dar. In der Antarktis und den Tropen wird jedoch das saisonale und mehrjährige Signal des Wasserdampfes von NCEP um 25% bis 40% unterschätzt. Als zweite Anwendung der GPS-Wasserdampfzeitreihen erfolgt die Validierung satellitenbasierter Radiometermessungen über der Antarktis. Sie zeigt eine gute Übereinstimmung der Wasserdampfwerte aus GPSund Radiometermessungen. Die im Rahmen dieser Arbeit aus GPS-Beobachtungen bestimmten Wasserdampfzeitreihen bilden eine sehr gute Datengrundlage für weitergehende Untersuchungen der Wetter- und Klimaforschung. / The atmospheric water vapour is one of the main variables controlling the greenhouse effect and it plays a crucial role in the global energy cycle. In this context the polar regions which act as global heat sinks are especially important. This study uses observations from the Global Positioning System (GPS) to investigate changes of the integrated atmospheric water vapour. It is based on a reprocessing of a global GPS network consisting of 195 stations. A strong emphasis was placed on the investigation of the accuracy and the homogeneity of the GPS derived water vapour time series. After correcting the inhomogeneities interannual ?uctuations in the precipitable water can be determined from GPS data with an accuracy of 0.3 mm in water column height. As a result, the interannual variations in the water vapour content are in the order of one millimetre over Europe and over large areas of North America. They are mainly related to thermodynamic effects. In the tropics and in the south east of the USA water vapour anomalies can reach 3 to 5 mm caused by dynamic processes connected to the Southern Oscillation. As one application of the estimated GPS water vapour time series a validation of water vapour from the global numerical weather prediction model of the National Center for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) was carried out. Over Europe and large parts of North America the seasonal signal and the interannual variations of the water vapour are very well reproduced by NCEP. Hence, in these regions NCEP presents a good database for area-wide investigations of long-term changes in the water vapour content. However, in Antarctica and in the Tropics the seasonal and also the interannual signals of the NCEP water vapour are strongly underestimated by 25% to 40%. A second application of the estimated GPS water vapour time series is the validation of satellite-based radiometer measurements over Antarctica. A good agreement was found between the water vapour derived from GPS and radiometer data. The water vapour time series estimated in this study provide a good basis for further weather and climate related investigations.

Craft villages played a significant role in the development of Vietnam’s rural economy for a long time. The range of products and production methods, including the processing of materials and chemicals, are now adapted to modern market requirements but environmental and labour protection issues are not adequately considered in the management of the craft villages. The reasons are various: poor education of responsible operators, deficient technical equipment or missing regulatory framework and implementation of existing regulations. The INHAND project (Integrated Water Management Concept for Craft Villages) started in 2011 and is studying the food processing village of Dai Lam located on the banks of the Cau River in the Bac Ninh province (about 40 km NE of the capital Hanoi). The household-scale business focus mainly on rice and cassava processing with 200 out of 1000 households producing alcohol from cassava and rice, 10 households producing tofu, and 30 households recycling aluminium. In addition, most households also raise pigs. The wastewater is released mostly untreated into the receiving stream. Within the framework of the INHAND project, four German und two Vietnamese partners will conduct a basic analysis inventory in the village with identification of suitable measure for an integrated, environmentally sound concept for the removal and reuse of all output streams. The second major task of the 3.5 years research project is the conceptualisation, development and implementation of pilot-scale treatment facilities in the village and the scientific monitoring of their planning and operation. / Đã từ lâu, làng nghề đóng vai trò quan trọng trong quá trình phát triển kinh tế nông nghiệp tại Việt Nam. Các sản phẩm và phương thức sản xuất, bao gồm cả giai đoạn xử lý vật liệu và hóa chất, đã từng bước được cải tiến cho phù hợp với yêu cầu của thị trường hiện đại. Tuy nhiên, những yếu tố về môi trường và an toàn lao động vẫn chưa được quan tâm đúng mức tại các làng nghề do nhiều nguyên nhân như: trình độ của nhà sản xuất, vận hành còn hạn hẹp, thiếu trang thiết bị kỹ thuật, các quy chuẩn còn thiếu hoặc chưa được thi hành triệt để. Dự án INHAND (đề án xử lý nước tổng thể cho làng nghề) được khởi động từ năm 2011 và hiện đang tiến hành nghiên cứu làng nghề chế biến thực phẩm Đại Lâm ,nằm bên bờ song Cầu, thuộc tỉnh Bắc Ninh, cách Hà Nội 40 km. Mô hình kinh tế hộ gia đình tại làng chủ yếu tập trung vào chế biến gạo và sắn: 200 trong số 1000 hộ gia đình nấu rượu gạo và sắn, 10 hộ sản xuất đậu phụ, 30 hộ tái chế nhôm. Ngoài ra, gần như tất cả các hộ đều có nuôi lợn. Nước thải của làng được dẫn trực tiếp ra các khối nước mở, gần như không qua xử lý. Trong khuôn khổ dự án INHAND, bốn đối tác Đức và hai đối tác Việt Nam sẽ tiến hành phân tích hiện trạng môi trường của làng để tìm ra những biện pháp thích hợp nhằm xử lý và tái sử dụng các dòng thải. Nhiệm vụ thứ hai trong thời gian 3,5 năm của dự án là lập ra đề án, phát triển và triển khai các trạm xử lý ở quy mô thử nghiệm, đồng thời quan trắc khoa học các quá trình thiết kế và vận hành.

<p>Management of water bodies according to their river basinsis becoming increasingly common, as the concept of IntegratedWater Resources Management (IWRM) is getting more and moreacknowl-edged. In Europe, a large portion of these“new”management units will probably be internationalor transboundary. Decisions and policies consideringtransboundary water issues need to be based on reliable andcomprehendible information. In this thesis, a review of variousexisting models that may be used for understanding the role anduse of information in (transboundary) water management ispresented. Further, the thesis reports on an assessment of theinformation management of three transboundary water regimes inEurope, namely the international water commissions for LakeNeusiedl, Lake Constance and Elbe River. Besides examining theinformation management of the regimes as such, the managementwas also related to information needs implied by the IWRMcon-cept and by the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD). Thereviewed models and approaches were grouped into threecategories: information management models, information cyclemodels and communication between actors. The first categorycomprised models that may be used for managing and assessingdifferent types of information. The second group dealt withmodels explaining the production and communication ofinformation predominately from an information producer/senderperspective. The third group focused on ideas concerninginteractions and communication of information between differentkinds of actors. The studies on information management intransboundary water regimes showed that the information needsand strategies often were defined primarily with watercommissions’own needs in mind. The data collected by thecommissions were predominated by monitoring data, describingthe status of the environment and the impact caused by humanactivities. Furthermore, any communication of information toother groups of actors was mainly done through passivechannels. The information management in these transboundarywater regimes was not fully in accordance with informationneeds implied by the IWRM concept and the EU WFD.</p><p><b>Keywords:</b>Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM);transboundary water management; information; EU Water FrameworkDirective (WFD); regimes; policy and decision making; LakeNeusiedl; Lake Constance; Elbe River.</p>