Confluence

Confluence
Author: Sara B. Pritchard
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Total Pages: 392
Release: 2011-04-04
Genre: History
ISBN: 0674061233

Because of its location, volume, speed, and propensity for severe flooding, the Rhône, France’s most powerful river, has long influenced the economy, politics, and transportation networks of Europe. Humans have tried to control the Rhône for over two thousand years, but large-scale development did not occur until the twentieth century. The Rhône valley has undergone especially dramatic changes since World War II. Hydroelectric plants, nuclear reactors, and industrialized agriculture radically altered the river, as they simultaneously fueled both the physical and symbolic reconstruction of France. In Confluence, Sara B. Pritchard traces the Rhône’s remaking since 1945. She interweaves this story with an analysis of how state officials, technical elites, and citizens connected the environment and technology to political identities and state-building. In the process, Pritchard illuminates the relationship between nature and nation in France. Pritchard’s innovative integration of science and technology studies, environmental history, and the political history of modern France makes a powerful case for envirotechnical analysis: an approach that highlights the material and rhetorical links between ecological and technological systems. Her groundbreaking book demonstrates the importance of environmental management and technological development to culture and politics in the twentieth century. As Pritchard shows, reconstructing the Rhône remade France itself.

Water and Sanitation Services

Water and Sanitation Services
Author: Jose Esteban Castro
Publisher: Earthscan
Total Pages: 392
Release: 2012
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1849773750

Focusing on how to provide clean water for all - one of the key Millennium Development Goals, this book integrates technical and social perspectives. A broad, international range of case studies are provided, from developed, middle income and developing countries, in Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas.

Urban Water Conflicts

Urban Water Conflicts
Author: Bernard Barraque
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 344
Release: 2011-12-02
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0203877020

Urban water conflicts manifested first in Europe in the 19th century and are observed nowadays in various forms throughout the world; in particular, in developing countries. Main causes of these conflicts are characterized by complex socioeconomic and institutional issues related to urban water management. The debate about public water services ver

Urban Water Infrastructure

Urban Water Infrastructure
Author: K.E. Schilling
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 302
Release: 2012-12-06
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9400905599

URBAN WATER INFRASTRUCTURE NATO ADVANCED RESEARCH WORKSHOP SUMMARY 22-27 JUNE 1989 KYLE E SCHILLING P E Workshop Director The Workshop was based on the recognition that all NATO countries are concerned with similar water infrastructure issues. Present problems are aggravated by aging and neglected facilities, by inadequate financing and by water management institutions reflecting the needs of an earlier era. Service needs to be provided for expanding populations, at the same time that corrective measures must be taken for decaying older urban centers, resulting both from neglect and expiring service life. These needs exist within the framewode of other competing and conflicting uses for existing and yet to be developed water sources. The problems have generated some highly visible national debates over financing due to the large sums involved. Despite differences in the age of the North American, European and other societies, the technological ages of water supply and storm water systems are much the same and provide a common denominator in the worldwide trend to urbanization. Examination of approaches to urban water management also indicates that they are generally based on past experience and institutions created in a non-urban era. The physical, financial and institutional alternatives are consequently often out-of-step with current urban environment. Historically, the supply of adequate water and efficient storm water management have also been top priority items with water quality and other aspects of environmental protection assuming a lower priority after basic supply needs have been met.

The Shaping of Environmental Policy in France

The Shaping of Environmental Policy in France
Author: Joseph Szarka
Publisher: Berghahn Books
Total Pages: 266
Release: 2002
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 9781571814951

"This excellent study combines considerable institutional and policy detail with an assured analysis of government and private sector agent interactions." - Modern and Contemporary France "One of the main conclusions the reader of [this] book can draw is that the best specialists of French contemporary political movements come from the Anglo-Saxon academic world." - H-Net: Humanities and Social Science Reviews OnLine "... a most welcome contribution to [the development of environmental policy] ... Overall, this book is well worth buying, both from an individual and from an institutional perspective. It is excellent value for money and an excellent source of information on environmental policy development and practice that allows one's knowledge to be pushed beyond the traditional Anglo-American axis." - Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy "[A] solid, insightful, fair-minded survey of French environmental policies" - Choice Drawing on an extensive range of political, legal and sociological materials, the author presents and evaluates environmental policy-making in France at a time when environmental problems are growing in complexity and gravity. He highlights the range of inputs to the policy process - including popular movements, green parties, interest group representation, EU legislation and international treaties - and evaluates the diverse nature of the outcomes which lead him to conclude that because new developments involve not only changes in policy content but also adaptation of policy style, environmental demands are progressively changing the shape of politics itself.

Water System Science and Policy Interfacing

Water System Science and Policy Interfacing
Author: Philippe Quevauviller
Publisher: Royal Society of Chemistry
Total Pages: 463
Release: 2009-11-20
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1847556620

Recent discussions among scientists and policy-makers have highlighted that knowledge generated by many research and demonstration projects is not reaching policymakers in an efficient way. Conversely, the consideration of research results by the policy making community is not straightforward, and difficulties arise in integrating the latest research developments in legislation. The difficulty is enhanced by the fact that the policy-making community is not defining its role as "client" sufficiently well and the dialogue and communication channels are far from ideal to ensure an efficient flow of information. An increasing number of experts consider that improvements could be achieved through the development of a "science-policy interface" so that R&D results are synthesised in a way to efficiently feed policy implementation and that short, medium and long term research needs may be identified. This book examines the issue of integrating science into policy, with an emphasis on water system knowledge and related policies. An important feature of the book is the discussion of science-policy interfacing needs, illustrated by examples from authors from different countries in relation to water system management. This publication is timely in that the science-policy interfacing is now identified as a key challenge worldwide with regard to integrated water resource management, and therefore the book will be of great interest to scientists, water managers and stakeholders. Readers will also benefit from a better understanding of the needs, benefits and drawbacks of an established transfer mechanism of scientific outputs to policies.