Erik Grönlund

Involvement of Advanced Level Students Using Ecological Modelling in Research About Regional Sustainability

Higher education campuses are seen as one of society’s valuable resources for facing sustainability challenges in the urban context. However, one of the main challenges in the design of sustainable and liveable campus is to achieve comprehensive planning schemes that ensure the commitment of the Master Plan to the stakeholders. The paper reviews a specific methodology built on an inter-disciplinary approach basis, which includes a public participation process for creating a model of sustainable campus at the University of Cantabria, Spain. Traditionally, strategic planning on university campuses has been based on limited sectorial perspectives, which should be modified in order to meet new goals outlined in “The People’s Sustainability Treaty on Higher Education”. With traditional planning methods, stakeholders’ contribution is reduced to the participation of meetings where common intentions are declared. However, coordination with stakeholders in the process must be more tangible and accountable through documents approved by both parties. The article analyses the effectiveness of a Campus Planning methodology through the review of the commitments agreed in common (public documents approved by stakeholders), crossing them with concrete measures designated at the Master Plan. This C. Ribalaygua Batalla (&) Department of Geography, Urban and Regional Planning, Universidad de Cantabria, Santander, Spain e-mail: cecilia.ribalaygua@unican.es C. Ribalaygua Batalla ETSI Caminos, Canales y Puertos, Av. de Los Castros, s/n, Santander, Spain F. García Sánchez EDUC, Universidad de Cantabria, Santander, Spain e-mail: 15492garcia@coam.es

Performance of an experimental wastewater treatment high-rate algal pond in subarctic climate.

A pilot-scale experimental high-rate algal pond (HRAP) was investigated in the subarctic mid-Sweden region, at latitude 63 degrees N. During autumn 2002, conditions included temperatures below 10 degrees C and photosynthetic active radiation below 200 microE/m2 x s. Biochemical oxygen demand was reduced by approximately 90% (approximately 40 g/m3), chemical oxygen demand by 65% (approximately 80 g/m3), total phosphorus by 20% (approximately 1 g/m3), and total nitrogen by 46% (approximately 15 g/m3), at a retention time of approximately 2.5 days. During autumn 2003, the performance of the HRAP appeared better with a more dense microalgae culture; however, as a result of poor settling of the microalgae, the reduction was considerably lower. A major difference between the years was the microalgae composition. In 2002, the large green algae Coelastrum dominated with Chlamydomonas, Scenedesmus, Lagerheimia, and the Cryptophyte Rhodomonas. In 2003, there was a total dominance of the very small green algae Chlorella, known to be difficult to settle. In batch growth experiments during spring 2002, doubling times of 4 to 6 days were achieved. The period of temperatures above 10 degrees C and an insolation of more than approximately 270 uE/m2 x s (125 Langleys), which is well-documented as appropriate for HRAP function (Oswald, 1988a, 1988c), were measured to last for 4 to 4.5 months from early May to late September. However, the growth and treatment performance experiments indicated that a longer season may be possible-6.5 to 7 months, at best-from early April to late October.

Seasonal operation of ponds for chemical precipitation of wastewater.

Wastewater precipitation ponds (fellingsdams) are conventional stabilization ponds adapted to cold climate by the use of chemical precipitation to attain sufficient removal efficiency of impurities, primarily phosphorus. The objective with this investigation was to study the influence of an interruption of the dosage of coagulant during summer periods at two fellingsdam systems (Orrviken and Lockne) in the middle of Sweden. The investigation took place over two years characterized by unusual precipitation conditions; 2001 was intense in precipitation whereas summer 2002 represented a dry season. The results showed that there is a potential to utilize the summer biological activity in fellingsdams. At Orrviken the effluent quality measured as organic matter and phosphorus in the effluent was just slightly above the values that were reached by chemical precipitation. At Lockne the performance was lower. The organic matter reduction at Orrviken in the summers of 2001 and 2002 were 71 and 67%, respectively, c...

Emergy Assessment of a Wastewater Treatment Pond System in the Lake Victoria Basin

As part of efforts to reduce the eutrophying load to Lake Victoria, a wastewater treatment system at one of the sugar factories in Kenya was evaluated with the ecosystem ecology method emergy accou ...