The project aims to theorize the scalar organization of natural resource governance in the European Union. This research agenda is inspired by critical geographers' work on the politics of scale. The research will examine an analytical framework derived from theories of institutional change and multi-level govern-ance to fill this theoretical gap. Furthermore, it will review conceptualizations of the state in institutional economics, evaluate their adequacy to capture the role of the state in the dynamics identified, and develop them further. The described processes may imply shifts in administrative levels, shifts in relations between different levels and changes in spatial delimitations of competent jurisdictions that result, for example, from decentralization or the introduction of river basin oriented administrative structures. The research investigates the implications of two European Directives: the Water Framework Directive (WFD) and the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). They both have potentially great significance for the organization of marine and water governance at the level of Member States and below, and adhere to similar regulatory ideas for achieving good ecological status of waters. A multiple case study on changes in the scalar reorganization of marine and water governance that result from the implementation of the Directives will be carried out. It will rely on qualitative and quantitative data gathering based on semi-structured interviews and review of secondary and tertiary sources looking at Portugal, Spain, and Germany. It specifically addresses the role of social ecological transactions, the structure of decision making processes and the role of changes in contextual factors (such as ideologies, interdependent institutions and technology).
Egypt passed a revolution and changed its political system, but many problems are still lacking a solution. Especially in the field of water the North African country has to face many challenges. Most urgent are strategies to manage the limited water resources. About 80% of the available water resources are consumed for agriculture and the rest are for domestic and industrial activities. The management of these resources is inefficient and a huge amount of fresh water is discarded. The shortage of water supply will definitely influence the economic and cultural development of Egypt. In 2010, Egypt was ranked number 8 out of 165 nations reviewed in the so-called Water Security Risk Index published by Maplecroft. The ranking of each country in the index depends mainly on four key factors, i.e. access to improved drinking water and sanitation, the availability of renewable water and the reliance on external supplies, the relationship between available water and supply demands, and the water dependency of each countrys economy. Based on this study, the situation of water in Egypt was identified as extremely risky. A number of programs and developed strategies aiming to efficiently manage the usage of water resources have been carried out in the last few years by the Egyptian Government. But all these activities, however, require the availability of trained and well-educated individuals in water technology fields. Unfortunately, the number of water science graduates are decreasing and also there are few teaching and training courses for water science offered in Egypt. However, there is still a demand for several well-structured and international programs to fill the gap and provide the Egyptian fresh graduates with the adequate and up-to-date theoretical and practical knowledge available for water technology. IWaTec is designed to fill parts of this gap.
Prehistoric pits are filled with ancient topsoil material, which has been preserved there over millennia. A characteristic of these pit fillings is that their colour is different depending on the time the soil material was relocated. Soil colour is the result of soil forming processes and soil properties, and it could therefore indicate the soil characteristics present during that specific period. To the best of our knowledge, no investigation analysed and explained the reasons for these soil colour changes over time. The proposed project will investigate soil parameters from pit fillings of different archaeological periods in the loess area of the Lower Rhine Basin (NW-Germany). It aims to implement the measurement of colour spectra as a novel analytical tool for the rapid analyses of a high number of soil samples: the main goal is to relate highresolution colour data measured by a spectrophotometer to soil parameters that were analysed by conventional pedogenic methods and by mid infrared spectroscopy (MIRS), with a main focus on charred organic matter (BPCAs). This tool would enable us to quantify the variation of soil properties over a timescale of several millennia, during different prehistoric periods at regional scale and for loess soils in general. Detailed information concerning changing soil properties on a regional scale is necessary to determine past soil quality and it helps to increase our understanding of prehistoric soil cultivation practices. Furthermore, these information could also help to increase our understanding about agricultural systems in different archaeological periods.
bifa hat ein Vorhaben für die G8- Staaten bearbeitet, in dem die Entwicklungen in Deutschland innerhalb der neun Handlungsfelder ( Actions ) des Kobe 3R Action Plan dargestellt werden. Mit der 3R-Initiative beabsichtigen die G8-Staaten seit 2004 eine bessere Verankerung der Nachhaltigkeit im Umgang mit Rohstoffen durch die stärkere Förderung der drei Prinzipien Reduce, Reuse, Recycle , abgekürzt 3R , in den nationalen Abfallwirtschaftspolitiken. Im Rahmen der Beauftragung untersuchte bifa, welche Punkte aus dem Kobe 3R Action Plan bereits hinreichend durch bestehende Entwicklungen bzw. ergriffene Maßnahmen abgedeckt sind, bei welchen Aktionen noch Lücken bestehen und wie diese Lücken gefüllt werden können. Legt man die drei Zielsetzungen des Kobe 3R Action Plan und die ihnen zugeordneten Handlungsfelder als Prüfraster über die deutsche Abfallwirtschaftspolitik, lässt sich ein sehr hoher Erfüllungsgrad feststellen. Ein erheblicher Teil der vorgeschlagenen Handlungsoptionen war in Deutschland bereits vor 2008 durch konkrete Maßnahmen umgesetzt worden. Für einen anderen Teil wiederum lässt sich der Ursprung, z. B. in Form eines ersten Gesetzentwurfs, auf die Zeit vor 2008 zurückdatieren, die Umsetzung durch die Veröffentlichung im Bundesgesetzblatt aber fand 2008-2011 statt. Einige Regelungen setzen Richtlinien oder Verordnungen der EU, die ihrerseits zum Teil auf Bestrebungen Deutschlands hin zustande kamen, in nationales Recht um. Mit dem in einer fortgeschrittenen Version vorliegenden Entwurf eines novellierten Kreislaufwirtschaftsgesetzes vollzieht Deutschland einen weiteren wichtigen Schritt hin zu einer Abfallwirtschaft, deren Markenzeichen insbesondere eine hohe Ressourceneffizienz ist. Dennoch verbleiben Optimierungspotenziale, zu deren Ausschöpfung bifa Vorschläge für das Bundesumweltministerium erarbeitet hat. Im Zuge des Projekts analysierte bifa u. a. die Importe und Exporte notifizierungspflichtiger Abfälle. Der Saldo hat sich den bifa-Analysen zufolge seit 1998 umgekehrt: Wurden 1998 noch etwa doppelt so viel notifizierungspflichtige Abfälle exportiert wie importiert, hat sich der Import seitdem vervierfacht und die Exporte sind sogar leicht gesunken. Ein wichtiger Grund ist die Verfügbarkeit von Behandlungs- und Verwertungskapazitäten von hoher Leistungsfähigkeit in Deutschland. Die Schadstoffentfrachtung von Abfällen aus Ländern mit einer wenig entwickelten Entsorgungsinfrastruktur führt jedoch innerhalb der deutschen Öffentlichkeit immer wieder zu Kontroversen. Methoden: Analyse und Moderation sozialer Prozesse.
Whether primordial bodies in the solar system possessed internally-generated dynamos is a fundamental constraint to understand the dynamics and timing of early planetary formation. Paleointensity studies on several meteorites reveal that their host planets possessed magnetic fields within an order-of magnitude of the present Earths field. Interpretation of paleointensity data relies heavily on fundamental knowledge of the magnetic properties of the magnetic carriers, such as the single to multidomain size threshold or how the saturation magnetization varies as a function of grain size, yet very little knowledge exists about these key parameters for some of the main magnetic recorders in meteorites: the iron-nickel alloys. Moreover, most meteorites have experienced some amount of shock during their histories, yet the consequence of even very small stresses on paleointensity data is poorly known.We wish to fill these gaps by magnetically characterizing Fe-Ni alloys as a function of grain size and by determining how absolute and relative paleointensity data are biased by strain levels lower than those petrologically observable (less than 4-5 GPa). For example, our preliminary work shows that an imposed stress of 0.6 GPa will reduce absolute paleointensity estimates by 46Prozent for single domain magnetite-bearing rocks. In general, paleointensity determinations possess inherent disadvantages regarding measurement precision and the inordinate amount of human time investment. We intend to overcome these limitations by extending and improving our fully automated magnetic workstation known as the SushiBar.
Degradation of the soil productivity due to salt accumulation (salinization) is a major concern in arid, semi-arid and coastal regions. Soil salinization is an old issue but encouraged irrigation practices have been rapidly increasing its intensity and magnitude in the past few decades. Studies have shown that excess of the irrigated water contributes significantly to evaporation from the bare soil surface and therefore to the salinization. In some parts of the world soil salinity has grown so acute that the agricultural lands have been abandoned. Evaporation salinization is mainly influenced by interaction between the flow and transport processes in the atmosphere and the porous-medium. On the atmosphere side, wind velocity, air temperature and radiation have a strong impact on evaporation. Furthermore, turbulence causes air mixing, influences the vapor transport and creates a boundary layer at the soil-atmosphere interface which indeed influences evaporation. On the porous-medium side, dissolved salt is transported under the influence of viscous forces, capillary forces, gravitational forces and advective and diffusive fluxes. The water either directly evaporates from the water-filled pores or it is transported to air due to diffusive processes. Continuous evaporation promotes salt accumulation and precipitation resulting in soil salinization. In the scope of this work we attempt to develop a model concept capable of handling flow, transport and precipitation processes related to evaporative salinization of an unsaturated porous-medium.
Lead As atmospheric CH4 is an important contributor to climate change, understanding CH4 turnover is crucial for global climate modeling and potential mitigation strategies. In this project we will quantitatively assess CH4 turnover in alpine glacier forefields through specifically adapted methods. Hintergrund Methane (CH4) is among the most abundant greenhouse gases in the atmosphere with a significantly higher global-warming potential than CO2. The CH4 cycle is largely microbially mediated, with anaerobic methanogenic archaea responsible for CH4 production, and aerobic or anaerobic CH4 oxidizing bacteria (MOB) responsible for consumption. Little is known about CH4 turnover and MOB abundance and diversity in pioneer ecosystems such as glacier forefields. Here, a transition occurs from partially anaerobic, methanogenic subglacial sediments to largely aerobic, well-developed CH4 consuming soils in alpine meadows or forests. An initial field survey confirmed substantial CH4 production and consumption in several Swiss glacier forefields, but was limited in its scope by currently available methods to assess CH4 turnover. Ziel The project's overall goal is to quantitatively assess CH4 turnover in alpine glacier forefields through specifically adapted methods. The project will fill a gap in knowledge regarding CH4 turnover during the transformation of soils from the subglacial to the proglacial environment. This is especially valuable for evaluating potential feedback of deglaciation to climate change, and will lead to an improved understanding of colonization patterns of MOB. Bedeutung Methane is a potent greenhouse gas that contributes to global warming. To date, information on CH4 turnover in glacier forefields is extremely scarce. Thus, it will be important to rigorously assess the occurrence and magnitude of CH4 turnover in this environment. Effects of soil age as well as seasonal effects on CH4 turnover during the transition from an anaerobic, subglacial environment to postglacial, aerobic alpine meadows or forests are hitherto unexplored. However, changes in CH4 turnover during this transition may represent an important feedback to the climate system, in particular in light of glaciers predicted to continue their rapid retreat.
The relations of many organisms to their environment and evolutionary relatives are experiencing unprecedented challenges with potentially far-reaching knock-on effects on the dynamics and functioning of whole ecosystems. This molecular ecological project aims to assess directly in the field the initial stages of community (re-) assembly in natural assemblages of members of the fungal phylum Glomeromycota after disturbance and forced large-scale dispersal. Most members of the Glomeromycota form arbuscular mycorrhizas, which, owing to assistance in mineral nutrient uptake and protection against pathogens, are both important for the ecological performance of individual plants as well as for the dynamics of whole plant communities. The goals of this project are to identify drivers of fungal community assembly and to explore whether controlled and selective association with only a subset of mycorrhizal fungal symbionts may contribute to plant invasiveness. Is it phylogenetic relatedness and thus shared traits that determine whether an immigrant can establish itself among members of an existing fungal assemblage? Do invasive plants selectively choose ruderal or competitive or even alien mycorrhizal fungi? In a field experiment top soil samples will be reciprocally transferred between eight field sites, four in the North and four in the South of the Swiss Alps, and two each in grasslands with either an alkaline or acidic soil. After mechanical soil preparation and mixing, non-mycorrhized seedlings of a native mycorrhizal generalist host, and such of congeneric non-indigenous plant species, differing in invasive spreading, will be brought to the field. The mycorrhizal fungal assemblages that will colonise the roots of these bioassay plants will be studied after different exposure times by Titanum 454 pyrosequencing of group-specific PCR amplicons of a phylogenetic marker and indicators of specific functional traits. Both, phylogenetic relatedness and relative abundances of assemblage members will be compared statistically and analysed to find evidence for different mechanisms of community assembly, such as neutral assembly, environmental filtering, or complementary functional niche filling. Management and efforts to manipulate the biodiversity of mycorrhizal fungi will immediately profit from knowing whether chance, abiotic and biotic factors, or the evolutionary history, or any combination of these decide about fungal establishment success among residents. Efforts to combat plant invasions may profit from information about possible specific selective partner choice and refusal in mycorrhizas.
Access to modern energy is widely considered an important ingredient in the strategy towards alleviating poverty and achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDG). In particular, it is expected that electrification removes bottlenecks for enterprise development and enables new potentials for income generation. At the same time, robust evidence for this hypothesis is hardly existent. In order to start filling this gap between practitioner's perception and lacking robust evidence, GIZ and World Bank launched the Productive Use of Electricity (PRODUSE) study. In the case of three African countries - Benin, Ghana, and Uganda - the usage of electricity in micro-enterprises was examined and the effect of electricity usage on firm performance was assessed. For this purpose, between 200 and 400 micro-enterprises were surveyed in target regions of GIZ electrification interventions in the three countries. RWI designed the overall survey and evaluation methodology, developed the research tools for all countries and conducted the field work in Benin and Uganda. The electrification interventions had not been implemented yet at the time when the surveys were conducted. While the collected data also serves as a baseline for future ex-post evaluation, a cross-sectional ex-ante approach was applied. In order to immediately derive insights on impacts of productive electricity usage the yet non-electrified GIZ target region was surveyed and, in addition, a comparable, already electrified region. Econometric evaluation techniques were used to identify comparable firms from both regions in order to establish a proper counterfactual situation. Results of this research effort suggest that impacts of electricity access on micro-enterprises are modest only. Take-up rates of both grid connections and appliances are low. On the other hand, electricity availability seems to trigger creation of new and particularly promising firms. One important objective of PRODUSE was to make rigorous evaluation techniques accessible for practitioners. Therefore, RWI developed a hands-on guide for designing evaluation studies regarding the impacts of productive electricity usage. Complementary to the existing literature on evaluation methods, this guide familiarizes project managers with the concrete steps that have to be undertaken to plan and implement an evaluation.
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