Challenges to the Implementation of the Water Framework Directive in Scotland: A Personal View

The Water Framework Directive was implemented in December 2000 and has to be transposed into Scottish legislation by 2003. The Directive provides a major opportunity to enhance the water environment of Scotland and to improve its management through the implementation of river-basin management planning with stakeholder and public engagement and the delivery of a programme of environmental-improvement measures to deliver good ecological status. Whilst the Directive provides unparalleled opportunities, there are significant challenges to its successful implementation in Scotland, where a step-change in managing the water environment will be required. This paper explores some of the challenges which include technical aspects, scale and timing issues, and capacity limitations.     

Environmental change, land use and water quality in Scotland: current issues and future prospects

An outline of both the scientific and management needs facing the future water quality issues of Scotland is discussed. The scientific needs are considered in terms of monitoring to increase the understanding of hydrochemical processes, issues of scaling, and the need for improved modelling under changing environmental processes. In terms of the management needs, the requirements highlighted relate to improving the ecological quality of Scottish rivers and the implementation of integrated river basin management plans.     

Trends in stream water quality in Environmental Change Network upland catchments: the first 5 years

Hydrochemical data from catchment streams at three Environmental Change Network (ECN) upland catchments in north-east Scotland, south-east Scotland and northern England have been subjected to statistical analysis to separate the components due to long-term trend, season and flow. The relative variances due to each are presented for pH, Ca, SO4-S, NO3-N, DOC and Cl. Long-term trends have been identified with increases in concentration for NO3-N and DOC, decreases in SO4-S concentrations, along with short-term seasonal fluctuations. Application of this trend technique has allowed the detection of changes and contributed to an improved understanding of catchment behaviour.     

Surface-Water Abstraction Controls in Scotland

ABSTRACT The system of abstraction controls for irrigation in Scotland is one of local control orders where, to limit abstractions from any particular watercourse, the river purification authority must apply for an order from the Secretary of State for Scotland to cover abstractions from that one watercourse and its catchment. This contrasts sharply with the heavily protective system in England and Wales where the National Rivers Authority has statutory powers to license all abstractions. The purpose of this paper is to examine the abstraction control system in Scotland with a view to highlighting its advantages and limitations, and to suggest ways by which the system can be improved or made more effective.     

对勘察质量检查的思考

强制性条文是工程建设现行国家和行业标准中,涉及生命财产安全、环境保护和公共利益的条文。本文通过在施工图审查、检查发现问题,提出加强对规范、规程学习的理解,正确执行规范强制性条文及一般性条文的时应注意问题进行了探讨。     

苏格兰小城镇：面临威胁的遗产

作为英国的一部分,苏格兰拥有其地方议会以及大量小城镇。在国际经济形势变化的冲击下,由于缺乏国家和地方政府的持续关注以及自身的某些局限性,苏格兰小城镇正面临重大挑战。尤其是那些位于偏远地区并失去传统产业支柱的小城镇,表现出较高的脆弱性。小城镇遗产保护是环境更加可持续发展的重要组成部分。创新性再定位,以及苏格兰建筑环境论坛提出的＂小城镇体检＂,为小城镇保护提供了新的思路和方法。     

一级学科背景下的中国风景园林教育发展回顾与展望

自2011年风景园林学成为一级学科以来,中国风景园林教育在培养规模、课程体系、教育管理等方面均取得了较大发展,形成了内涵清晰化、培养层次化、交叉深度化和合作协同化的学科教育发展特点。在对一级学科成立以来中国风景园林教育发展概况进行回顾的基础上,指出当前风景园林教育面临的变化与挑战,整体水平尚存提升空间,学科竞争力还有待加强,并从营造学科环境、服务社会需求、提升质量控制等方面对风景园林教育的进一步发展提出展望。     

Understanding urban China with open data

A solid understanding of urbanizing China – the world’s largest and most rapidly transforming urban society – calls for improved urban data provision and analysis. This paper therefore looks at major technological, social–cultural, and institutional challenges of understanding urban China with open data, and showcases our attempt at understanding Chinese cities with open urban data. Through our showcases, we hope to demonstrate the usefulness of open urban data in (1) mapping urbanization in China with a finer spatiotemporal scales; (2) reflecting social and environmental dimensions of urbanization; and (3) visualizing urban China at multiple scales.     

Urban Physics: Effect of the micro-climate on comfort,health and energy demand

The global trend towards urbanisation explains the growing interest in the study of the modification of the urban climate due to the heat island effect and global warming, and its impact on energy use of buildings. Also urban comfort, health and durability, referring respectively to pedestrian wind/thermal comfort, pollutant dispersion and wind-driven rain are of interest. Urban Physics is a well-established discipline, incorporating relevant branches of physics, environmental chemistry, aerodynamics, meteorology and statistics. Therefore, Urban Physics is well positioned to provide key-contributions to the current urban problems and challenges. The present paper addresses the role of Urban Physics in the study of wind comfort, thermal comfort, energy demand, pollutant dispersion and wind-driven rain. Furthermore, the three major research methods applied in Urban Physics, namely field experiments, wind tunnel experiments and numerical simulations are discussed. Case studies illustrate the current challenges and the relevant contributions of Urban Physics.     

Convergence and Policy Transfer: An Examination of the Extent to which Approaches to Spatial Planning have Converged within the Context of an Enlarged EU

The paper explores the evolution of approaches to spatial planning within the enlarged European Union (EU) and seeks to assess the extent to which such approaches have converged. The context for the evolution of the discipline is examined before the extent of convergence is assessed on the basis of case studies examining spatial policy in Ireland, Scotland and Wales and the Baltic States of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The assessment reveals a certain ambiguity where a significant degree of convergence in approach and practice can be detected until closer examination raises the question of how far such convergence has gone beyond the level of rhetoric. Evidence from the case studies also suggests that a lacuna between rhetoric and reality appears to be an emerging characteristic of spatial planning throughout the EU. In this context the need for and value of context sensitive local solutions is clear.     

Sustainability of Scottish water quality in the early 21st century

This paper reviews some of the current water quality issues relating to the surface waters of Scotland and highlights some of the key issues likely to be significant over the next decade. The sustainable management of water quality requires an appreciation of the temporal and spatial assessment of the resource, together with an identification of reference or natural conditions from which to determine change, and the elucidation of the drivers of change. Only through this integrated approach, can appropriate management strategies be developed and prioritised, bearing in mind that impacts may be decoupled from sources in both time and space. This paper highlights recent trends in water quality (from a hydrochemical perspective) with separation into three broad groups: rivers, lochs and estuaries. For rivers, a general reduction in concentration of determinants that are more indicative of urban point sources (phosphorus, ammonium, suspended solids, biochemical oxygen demand etc.) is apparent, while in more agriculturally-dominated areas, an increase in concentration of solutes that are considered more diffuse in origin, (e.g. nitrate) is reported. The increasing contribution to total loads from diffuse pollutants is a priority area for both research and policy. Current scientific challenges are to define the most appropriate spatial context within which regional water quality issues can be monitored and managed. It is likely that future emphasis will be placed on making an initial ecoregion based grouping in conjunction with physically defined catchment, which will be used to quantify site-specific impacts. Such an organisational approach will provide a mechanism that enables a targeted monitoring strategy to be developed. This will allow the establishment of ecologically based targets for water quality, and an improved understanding the biogeochemistry of pollution reversibility and ecosystem recovery. It is also fundamental to the development of tools through which to predict the time scale and magnitude of any recovery, such that environmental benefit can be optimised against realistic socio-economic constraints. The inter-relations between water quality objectives and the development of legislation for water resources management in Europe are discussed.     

论环境科学专业的特色建设

针对环境科学专业的特点和发展中存在的主要问题,提出了以学科群为特色构建专业体系;强化学生的工程实践能力;按照环境科学与工程大类专业培养;主要为地方经济建设服务等方面入手来进行专业特色建设,不断提高学生的专业素质和竞争能力,满足社会对环境人才的需求。     

污染源调查实习课程的参与式教学探索——以市政污水处理厂为例

参与式教学是我国为培养创新型人才所倡导的一种教学模式,在环境工程专业污染源调查实习课程中引入参与式教学是一次有益的教学探索。参与式教学的实施过程由分析阶段、方案形成阶段、方案执行监控阶段和方案评价反馈阶段组成。尽管参与式教学面临教学环境、实习内容、学生差异性和教师灵活性等诸多挑战,但也取得了一定的收获,比如教师的教学行为得到理解和尊重,学生的学习主动性增强。     

Customer Service and Operational Efficiency as Drivers for Distribution Capital Investment

In order to realize the maximum improvement in customer service and operational efficiency from infrastructure improvement, a rational, integrated and structured approach to capital investment planning is required. This involves undertaking an operational review and predictive study based upon a full understanding of the hydraulic behaviour of the water supply and distribution system, and considers wider issues such as consequences of (a) long-term future demands, (b) environmental issues, and (c) external regulatory pressures.
The methodology has been demonstrated in work carried out for East of Scotland Water as part of their 'integrated network management strategy'.     

Dilemmas of integrated water resources management implementation in the Awash River Basin,Ethiopia: irrigation development versus environmental flows

Environmental flows allocation is an intrinsic part of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM). This paper analyses socio‐political issues and effects of environmental flows integration on water availability under the context of increased agricultural intensification in an effort to tackle food insecurity. Lack of appropriate framework comprising the procedural requirements and strategic directions as well as prevalence of politically motivated ad hoc development programmes are among major challenges identified. Introducing environmental flows to a perceived satisfactory level would result in a significant increase of unmet irrigation water demand, yet, “productivity first” norm overtakes. This is presumed to be due to skewed focus on irrigation expansion and low awareness on the possible consequences. The particular challenges highlighted generally unveil the inherent contradictions in the IWRM concept putting its claim that the set of principles and entire course stand universally accepted as a means to balance socio‐economic and environmental outcomes under question.     

Life cycle assessment: A case study of a dwelling home in Scotland

The article provides a life cycle assessment (LCA) of a 3-bed room semi detached house in Scotland. Detailed LCA of five main construction materials i.e. wood, aluminium, glass, concrete and ceramic tiles have been provided to determine their respective embodied energy and associated environmental impacts. Embodied energy of various construction materials involved has been estimated to be equal to 227.4 GJ. It is found that concrete, timber and ceramic tiles are the three major energy expensive materials involved. It as been calculated that concrete alone consumes 65% of the total embodied energy of the home while its share of environmental impacts is even more crucial.     

Mathematics and the Sensible World: Representing,Constructing, Simulating

The Paris-based scientific historian Amy Dahan-Dalmedico asks why a knowledge of numbers, algebra and abstract forms should be key to our understanding of the sensible world. As she reveals, mathematics, like the world itself, has shifted and fluctuated over time since its earliest origins in ancient Egypt. Evolving and morphing as a discipline, it has covered a diverse range of practices and theories. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

环境设计教育回顾与展望

通过回顾环境设计专业教育的发展历史,指出环境设计是整体的人居环境艺术与设计,该专业的创办具有划时代的意义。另一方面,环境设计正面临着环境艺术或环境设计的基本定位,以及专业整合与学科分化的抉择。研究结果表明,环境设计专业应该继续秉承整体的人居环境设计办学理念,依托"设计学"一级学科,以专业性教育为基本定位,设置合理的本科和研究生课程体系,探索环境设计中的技术科学问题。     

The Planning System and the Provision of Affordable Housing in Rural Britain: A Comparison of the Scottish and English Experience

This paper compares recent experience in the use of the planning system to facilitate the provision of affordable housing in rural areas of Scotland and England. Following an introduction summarising key issues arising from the relevant literature, the paper first sets out the scale of need for rural affordable housing in the two countries and then summarises the differing planning policy frameworks. Scale of delivery is then addressed and an attempt is made to establish the extent to which differences in performance reflect variations in policy, delivery mechanisms or differing housing markets. The hypothesis is advanced that Scotland, although a more rural country, has made less use of planning policy to tackle issues relating to the need for rural social housing. In both countries scale of provision has lagged behind perceived need and a major reason for this would appear to be the tensions in planning policy between environmental and social sustainability objectives, with the scales so far weighted towards the environmental rather than the social imperative.