Complex, messy, hot, experimental, wicked, and post-normal are just a few of the words used to describe problems of grave concern that challenge existing conceptual and methodological preconceptions (Rittel and Webber 1973, Funtowicz and Ravetz 1993, Cilliers 2000, Nowotny, Scott et al. 2001, Cilliers 2002, Stengers 2005, Manson and O'Sullivan 2006, Whatmore 2009, Donaldson, Ward et al. 2010). In the context of human geography, complexity has long been implicit, but only relatively recently has the theory and its premises been incorporated into conceptualizations of the socio-natural problems common to the discipline (Byrne 1998, Thrift 1999, O'Sullivan 2004, Ratter 2005, Urry 2005, Harrison, Massey et al. 2006, Manson and O'Sullivan 2006, Portugali 2006, Demeritt 2009). This discussion focuses on three interwoven challenges associated with the analysis of complex controversies in human geography, which are: 1) the need to consider a wide range of different issues, 2) the ability to account for competing perspectives associated with those issues; and 3) exposing and engaging with the rationalizations that are used to substantiate those competing perspectives.
Ecological shifts due to rainfall variability and land degradation have produced significant impacts on the social-ecological system in the Sahel, especially the loss of ecosystem services that support human adaptation to hydro-climatic hazards. The recent IPCC Special Report on Extreme Events (2012) indicates with high confidence that development practices, policy and outcomes are critical to the impacts of climate-related extreme events. Stemming from social ecological systems theories on adaptation and adaptive capacity, this study examines how institutions influence divergent adaptation, or a process in which one’s adaptation produces the increase, decrease, or neutral change in another individual’s or community’s adaptive capacity in a shared ecosystem. Divergent adaptations stem from social inequalities that inevitably create optimal situations for some and not others. Institutions, while seeking to maximize social benefits for all actors do not always achieve Pareto-optimal outcomes, contributing barriers to adaptation.
In the context of the rapid development of agriculture, aquaculture and industry in the lower Mekong delta since the mid 1980s, agricultural chemicals and antibiotics have been used in increasingly large quantities, causing in many instances water pollution. As many communities and individuals still rely on untreated surface and groundwater for their daily livelihoods, this poses a potential risk for local populations. To assess this potential risk a survey was conducted on the use of different drinking water sources as well as on the application of pesticides and antibiotics in rural areas in Can Tho and An Giang provinces in 148 households between September 2011 and June 2012. In the study sites, surface water and groundwater were the main sources of water for domestic use, accounting for 68% and 51% of all water resources, respectively. Besides, some households (up to 38% in Thoai Son - An Giang) extracted canal water for drinking purpose. In parallel, the amount and spraying frequency of pesticides applied were different among the study sites.
In the context of the rapid development of agriculture, aquaculture and industry in the lower Mekong delta since the mid 1980s, agricultural chemicals and antibiotics have been used in increasingly large quantities, causing in many instances water pollution. As many communities and individuals still rely on untreated surface and groundwater for their daily livelihoods, this poses a potential risk for local populations. To assess this potential risk a survey was conducted on the use of different drinking water sources as well as on the application of pesticides and antibiotics in rural areas in Can Tho and An Giang provinces in 148 households between September 2011 and June 2012. In the study sites, surface water and groundwater were the main sources of water for domestic use, accounting for 68% and 51% of all water resources, respectively. Besides, some households (up to 38% in Thoai Son - An Giang) extracted canal water for drinking purpose. In parallel, the amount and spraying frequency of pesticides applied were different among the study sites.
Science and practitioners have increasingly acknowledged the significance of water-related hazards in the Vietnamese Mekong Delta and have recognised their pressing nature in the light of a changing climate and rapid socio-economic developments. Consequently, a wide debate on possible adaptation strategies has emerged. The complexity of a strategy’s implication for nature and society and distinct values of adaptation for different social groups have rarely been addressed, though.
This presentation gives an overview of a PhD project that is carried out within the German-Vietnamese WISDOM project (see http://www.wisdom.caf.dlr.de/ for more information) and focuses on the evaluation of climate change adaptation strategies in an urban setting in the Vietnamese Mekong Delta.
The reduced emissions from avoided deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) involves payments for carbon sequestered and stored in existing forests as a means to mitigating climate change. REDD is supported within the UNFCCC as a mechanism to incentivize forest conservation in developing countries and this is expected to offset about 20-30% of all CO2 emissions annually. However, the political and scientific debates on REDD continue to grapple with key governance questions in the context of global and local interests. REDD is expected to draw its long term legitimacy and results from forests- an important livelihood asset in most developing settings. Yet again, REDD comes on the back of a layered history of prior interventions, vulnerabilities and perceptions established from prior state or non-state resource management regimes. The local situations challenge the global novelty of the REDD, drawing into the debate multiple actors all seeking to influence the process and explain- in different ways- what REDD means for local livelihoods and ecologies. Based on a policy analytical process, a mix of UNFCCC negotiation literature and fieldwork experience from sub-Sahara Africa, some established and emerging narratives about REDD+ design and potential outcomes are presented here. Such narratives provide a basis for an ongoing PhD research that attempts to question the negotiated consensus against empirical realities.
Globally, countries in West Africa are among the most vulnerable to the effects of climate change because of the reliance of much of the population on agriculture. IPCC report in 2012 projected a more intense and increase in frequency in the occurrence of hydrological hazards of droughts and floods. Already, these hazards are being experienced in combination within a single farming season or in yearly succession. In a region where 60% of the labour force is directly engaged in a climate sensitive sector of agriculture, the impacts of climate risks are likely to magnify the uneven social and spatial distribution of risk in West Africa, and possibly amplify poverty in the region. The combination of multiple hazards of drought and floods in increased magnitude and frequency impacting vulnerable communities and ecosystems in West Africa demands significant attention in research so as to pre-empt the worst. However, there has not been any single risk and vulnerability model than can be applied relatively easily in the region.
The thesis addresses the question if policy learning is a relevant factor for heat risk management in London, or if change in this domain rather roots in different structural factors. It builds on the observation that heat risk management varies considerably across London’s 33 local authorities. The study analyses whether learning processes can explain these differences in heat risk management across London.