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.
Die Hochwasserereignisse im Dezember 1993 und Januar 1995 am Rhein, Juli/August 1997 an der Oder sowie im August 2002 an der Elbe und die hervorgerufenen Schäden haben in Deutschland zu der Erkenntnis geführt, dass baulich-technische Hochwasserschutzmaßnahmen nicht ausreichen, sondern dass ein vorsorgeorientiertes, die Ziele einer dauerhaft umweltgerechten Entwicklung verfolgendes Hochwassermanagement erforderlich ist. Dazu zählen der technische Hochwasserschutz, die weitergehende Hochwasservorsorge und die Flächenvorsorge zum natürlichen Rückhalt als vorbeugender Hochwasserschutz. Allerdings treten Defizite bei der Operationalisierung dieser politischen Ziele und Strategien auf der Umsetzungsebene auf. Es bleibt bisher die Frage unbeantwortet, ob es sich dabei um Regelungs- oder Vollzugsdefizite handelt. Das Forschungsvorhaben am Institut für Forst- und Umweltpolitik verfolgt das Ziel, die Bedingungen für die Implementation von existierenden politischen Initiativen zum vorbeugenden Hochwasserschutz zu untersuchen. Bedeutsam für die Untersuchung ist dabei die Betrachtung von Akteuren der verschiedenen politischen Ebenen und Sektoren im Durchführungsprozess, deren Kommunikations- und Machtstrukturen sowie der eingesetzten Instrumente, um hieraus Erkenntnisse über die politische Steuerung und deren Wirkung gewinnen zu können. Die Politikfeldanalyse sieht den Vergleich der Hochwasserschutzpolitik der Bundesländer Nordrhein-Westfalen, Rheinland-Pfalz und Baden-Württemberg vor und wird unter Verwendung von Methoden der qualitativen Sozialforschung durchgeführt. Im Ergebnis sollen Effizienzfaktoren ermittelt und schließlich Handlungsempfehlungen für die Implementation von ressort- und grenzübergreifenden Planungsprozessen in komplexen politischen Systemen abgeleitet werden.
This subproject aims to analyze the fragmentation of forest policy at both an international and national level for the selected countries, employing a discourse analysis approach. It is split into two sub-subprojects (SSPs). 'SSPa' conducts an analysis of discursive genealogies of forest policy in Germany, Sweden, and the US. 'SSPb' investigates the history of forest related discourses in three global environmental policy processes (UNFF, CBD, and UNFCCC). In doing so, both SSPs follow a three step procedure: In the first work package, relevant literature is reviewed and a theoretical and analytical framework is developed. In the second work package, empirical data (mostly formal and informal policy documents) are gathered and analyzed. In the third work package, emphasis is placed on the role of political 'elites' in the creation of fragmented forest policy discourses at different levels; in-depth interviews with policy stakeholders and experts add another perspective to the analysis in this work package. The project is expected to develop a new understanding not only of the fragmentation of multi-level and multi-sector forest policy discourses, but also of the way in which 'discourse elites' interact with and within these discourses. The results of the work packages will be published in peer reviewed journals and discussed with policy stakeholders and scientists in conferences and workshops.
Sandy soils of the arid/semiarid dune fields of the Palestinian Gaza Strip and the Israeli western Negev are extensively covered by biological soil crusts (BSC), which stabilize the surface and prevent desertification. Political discussions in Israel suggest transferring a large part of this sand belt to the Gaza Strip within a final peace accord. Inappropriate land uses may lead to destruction of the BSC and initiate desertification, as already occurring in parts of the Gaza Strip. In this interdisciplinary project the influence of environmental factors on the vitality, stability and the recovery potential of the BSC will be investigated in order to evaluate the carrying capacity of this fragile landscape, in relation to rainfall, soil and relief conditions. A transect stretching from the Mediterranean coast in the Palestinian Gaza Strip (370 mm rainfall) to 65 km southwards in Israel ( Nizzana , less than 100 mm rainfall) has been selected. The interactions of molecular biological, physiological, physical and soil chemical processes, expressed in specific characteristics of the BSC and the underlying soil, will be assessed from the molecular to the landscape scale.
This project aims at analysing the influence of competing national and international bureaucracies on the fragmentation of the international forest regime complex (IFRC). Its objectives are: - describing the political dimension of fragmentation of the IFRC programme- explaining the political dimension of fragmentation based on the model of bureaucratic politics- analysing the steering consequences resulting from fragmentation - trans-disciplinary design of solutions for coping with political aspects of fragmentationBuilding on the bureaucratic politics approach these objectives will be pursued by testing the linking hypothesis: Interest and influence of the bureaucracies cause a fragmented programme of the IFRC. This programme supports the goal of profitable timber production but keeps the decision about biodiversity and CO2 sequestration open hindering the effective steering by the IFRC. The project develops an analytical framework consisting of the following independent variables: competing national and competing international bureaucracies, elected politicians, national and international non-state actors and media discourses. The fragmentation of the political programme of the IFRC is the overall dependent variable. This project will analyse the influence of bureaucracies and their coalitions on fragmentation at the international level as well as in national case studies in Sweden, Poland and Germany. The other independent variables will be covered by sub-projects 2, 3 and 4. The findings will be linked to the other political and to the economic and technic-ecological sub projects in order to contribute to the multi-disciplinary description and explanation of fragmentation and its steering consequences.
Absenkung der CO2 Emissionen, Anpassung und 'Climate Engineering' (CE) werden allgemein als drei unabhängige Vorgehensweisen gegen die negativen Auswirkungen des Klimawandels angesehen. Im Rahmen dieses Projektes zeigen wir die Grenzen des 'Solar Radiation Management' (SRM) durch Sulfataerosol-Eintrag in die Stratosphäre (SAI) und marine Wolkenimpfung (MCB) als Maßnahmen zur Reduktion der globalen bzw. regionalen Temperatur auf. Zum ersten Mal werden dabei die Auswirkungen von gleichzeitig ausgeführtem SAI und MCB umfassend quantifiziert. Wir vermuten, dass die Begrenzung der Wirksamkeit von SAI und MCB bedeutende Auswirkungen auf die rechtliche und politische Betrachtung hat, die das Zusammenwirken und die zeitliche Reihenfolge von Emissionsminderungs-, Anpassungs-, und 'Climate Engineering'- Maßnahmen sowie die Politik der Klimagerechtigkeit bestimmen. Komplexe globale und regionale numerische Simulationsmodelle der Atmosphäre, die dem Stand des Wissens entsprechen, und die eine detaillierte Beschreibung der Atmosphärenphysik und Chemie beinhalten, stellen das wesentliche Werkzeug für die Quantifizierung der Effekte dieser Maßnahmen dar. Die Ergebnisse erlaube es die physikalischen Grenzen der angedachten Maßnahmen zu bestimmen. Die Ergebnisse des Vorhabens dienen als wichtige Grundlagen für andere Projekte im SPP, um eine integrale Bewertung von 'CO2 Mitigation, Adaption und Climate Engineering' zu ermöglichen.
Atmospheric CO2 concentrations present a repetitive pattern of gradual decline and rapid increase during the last climate cycles, closely related to temperature and sea level change. During the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM; 23-19 kyr BP), when sea level was ca. 120 m below present, the ocean must have stored additionally about 750 Gt carbon. There is consensus that the Southern Ocean represents a key area governing past and present CO2 change. The latter is not only of high scientific but also of socio-economic and political concern since the Southern Ocean provides the potential for an efficient sink of anthropogenic carbon. However, the sensitivity of this carbon sink to climate-change induced reorganizations in wind patterns, ocean circulation, stratification, sea ice extent and biological production remains under debate. Models were not yet able to reproduce the necessary mechanisms involved, potentially due to a lack of the dynamic representation/resolution of atmospheric and oceanic circulation as well as missing carbon cycling. Data on past Southern Ocean hydrography and productivity are mainly from the Atlantic sector, thus do not adequately document conditions in the Pacific sector. This sector is not only the largest part of the Southern Ocean, but it also represents the main drainage area of the marine-based West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS). In the proposed study we aim to generate paleo-data sets with a newly established proxy method from sediment core transects across the Pacific Southern Ocean. This will enhance the baselines for the understanding and modeling of the Southern Ocean's role in carbon cyling, i.e. ocean/atmosphere CO2 exchange and carbon sequestration. It will also allow insight into the response of the WAIS to past warmer than present conditions. Paired isotope measurements (oxygen, silicon) will be made on purified diatoms and radiolarians to describe glacial/interglacial contrasts in physical and nutrient properties at surface and subsurface water depth. This will be used to test (i) the impact of yet unconsidered dust-borne micronutrient deposition on the glacial South Pacific on shifts of primary productivity, Si-uptake rates and carbon export, (ii) the 'silicic-acid leakage' hypothesis (SALH) and (iii) the formation and extent of surface water stratification. Diatom and radiolarian oxygen isotopes will provide information on the timing of surface ocean salinity anomalies resulting from WAIS melt water. Climate model simulations using a complex coupled atmosphere ocean general circulation model (AOGCM) in combination with a sophisticated ocean biogeochemical model including Si-isotopes will be used for comparison with the paleo records. The analysis will cover spatial as well as temporal variability patterns of Southern Ocean hydrography, nutrient cycling and air-sea CO2-exchange. With the help of the climate model we aim to better separate and statistically analyse the individual impacts of ocean circulation and bio
Objective: The Integrated Project EURANOS, through the commitment of fifty operational emergency management organisations, 'stakeholder groups' and competent RTD institutes of many European countries who actively contribute to the following objectives, will build a fully interactive framework for initiating and promoting practical improvements of emergency management and rehabilitation strategies in Europe never reached before: (A) creating better communication links between those responsible for nuclear and radiological emergency management in European countries with the perspective of fast notifications, information exchange and interaction through more direct channels; (B) providing better coherence and transparency in decision processes on local, national and border crossing interventions as one input to improving public understanding and acceptance of off-site measures; (C) supporting decisions on effective and timely emergency actions and countermeasures in case of nuclear or radiological emergencies by access to reliable, consistent and comprehensive information, and in this way mitigating radiological and economic consequences; (D) developing a coherent framework for the sustainable rehabilitation of living conditions in contaminated areas by implementing integrated and decentralised approaches involving key stakeholders and the public. A common approach and an European perspective of a more harmonised emergency management and rehabilitation strategy on the local, national and supra-national levels will be created and promoted through common emergency exercises and their thorough evaluation together with all stakeholders involved and through 'stakeholder panels' on the key issues of rehabilitation. The common views on improved technical tools; methods, strategies and guidance will also create initiatives on the administrative and political levels to improve the efficacy of European emergency management and rehabilitation strategies.
The pattern of environmental governance is changing as national governments are under stress from new political agents. In addition to the traditional nation state centered policy-making system, including international cooperation, political power is also exercised on the trans-national and local levels of society. A simultaneous movement of political power is also exercised on the trans-national and local levels of government and downward to local communities. Sub national units such as local governments, civic organisations and even loosely constructed networks introduce their own environmental policies. Global sustainability problems are created by the interaction of all societal levels, and a new politics of sustainability involving local, national, regional as well as global efforts must be implemented to solve these problems. National governments have responsed to this situation by introducing programs promoting ecological modernisation as well as new policy instruments that involve communities and other actors. The Baltic Sea Region (BSR) is an area of special concern both from an environmental point-of-view as well as from a governance point-of-view. The sea itself is highly vulnerable to pollution. At the same time the region is an ideal setting for the research because it has introduced several new fora for sustainable decision making, while showing considerable strength in existing administrative and political structures. The main objectives for this project are: Module 1. to deepen understanding of the origins, development and operation of traditional environmental governance in the BSR
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