Geir Inge Orderud

The role of learning and knowledge in adapting to climate change: a case study of Norwegian municipalities

Coping with climate change includes the role of learning and knowledge. Taking a process perspective, this article analyses how municipal officers in the Oslo region of Norway are acquiring knowledge and building competence for adapting to climate change. The article illustrates the interaction between elements of experiential learning, transformative learning and social learning as bases for adapting to emerging climate changes; each being necessary and none alone being sufficient. Their importance differs according to how profound the changes in knowledge and competence are. Experiential learning and transformative learning are stronger under single-loop learning whereas social learning might emerge as more important under triple-loop learning. Because of the uncertainties of climate change, the central government might be wise not to issue detailed regulations for adaptation by municipalities.

Trans-disciplinarity required in understanding, predicting and dealing with water eutrophication

Eutrophication remains a challenge for water quality, and leaching of phosphorus (P) from agriculture remains usually the determining factor as point source emissions of sewage are mainly under control. The Morsa watershed, southeast of Oslo, is a case in point. In spite of abatement actions during the past 20 years, the total concentration of P in the lake has decreased less than expected, causing growing frustration and scepticism among farmers. Hydro-biochemical interactions between phosphate (PO4) and calcium, aluminium and iron in soil and water have produced unexpected results. Decline in acid rain deposition over Norway has reduced the leaching of aluminium into water. This has caused a loss of an important fixation and removal of P by sorption to precipitating aluminium oxy-hydroxides. The combination of more precipitation and higher winter temperatures causes more flushing of P from surface soil horizons. Furthermore, water-logged soil loses much of its ability to hold PO4 in that iron is reduced, thereby allowing more P to escape. Farmers proved to have good agronomical knowledge and are taking part in an active network for spreading of agricultural practices. Reducing the amount of P in fertilizers was accepted fairly easily, whereas minimal autumn tillage has been a much harder task to implement. Therefore, just applying economic incentives will not do; developing basic environmental literacy with an ability to understand feedback loops and rebound effects is necessary. Following this, interaction between science and stakeholders is required, calling for trans-disciplinary research and trans-disciplinary processes.

Norwegian mayoral awareness of and attitudes towards climate change

The willingness of local politicians to implement measures for curbing greenhouse gas emissions and to adapt to emerging conditions is essential for successful climate change policies. This article reports findings from a survey of attitudes amongst Norwegian mayors, who prove to be fairly well informed about, and have confidence in, the climate change message. They think that Norway should do more to curb emissions, and that the municipal level should have a stronger role in policy design, but the central government should pay the costs. Most mayors favour a reduction in car driving, but have mixed opinions about jobs and environmental concerns, potentially causing tensions in policy-making. Mayors with an environmental education, representing left-wing parties, and from central rather than peripheral areas contribute to a more supportive attitude towards climate change policies.

Environmental values and attitudes among farmers in China – a case study in the watershed of Yuqiao reservoir of Tianjin Municipality, China

Failure to curb water pollution in China brings to the fore the issue of environmental values and attitudes among Chinese farmers. Applying the New Ecological Paradigm Scale this study finds that the pro-environmental value of New Ecological Paradigm (NEP) Worldview has a stronger standing among the studied Chinese farmers than the Dominant Social Paradigm (DSP) Worldview.

Explaining and understanding environmental actions in Chinese agriculture: the case of Yuqiao watershed of Tianjin municipality

Most of China’s surface waters are undergoing anthropogenic eutrophication, mainly due to leaching of phosphorus (P) from both sewage and agriculture. This is causing quality deterioration in their scarce water resources. The problem has been acknowledged by Chinese authorities and actions sought implemented, though expected ameliorations are on hold. This interdisciplinary study focuses on actions taken by farmers adjacent to Yuqiao reservoir; the raw water source for five million people in Tianjin City. As is often the case, these farmers apply excessive amounts of fertilisers. The leaching of P is aggravated by poor P sorption capacity of the soils and a practically impermeable clay layer below a shallow ploughing layer. During heavy rainfalls the soils become saturated, causing P to be flushed out through shallow-water flow paths. A low content of organic matter in the soils makes things worse. This study documents how farmers are taking action to improve crop yield, the environment, and health issues. Farmers taking more action than others consider themselves as having good farming competence, they are usually local members of the Chinese Communist Party (CPC), and have a relatively low family income. The study concludes with suggested policy measures. The main recommendation is to collect household sewage and most of their manure and use it as feedstock for large-scale biogas reactors, combined with returning the residual organic matter to the soil. Cooperating with well-respected farmers and drawing on local CPC members’ willingness to take action may facilitate a successful implementation of the above measures.

The Pollution Caused by Protection: The Unintended Consequences of the Local Governance of the Urban Drinking Water Source Protection in Tianjin, China

This paper examines how the hierarchical way of governing erodes and distorts the function of environmental policies by analyzing the unintended consequences of the governance of the urban drinking water source protection in Tianjin, a mega-city in China, as a case study. Since the 1990s, Tianjin Municipal Government and Jixian Government (China) have setup a series of local measures for environmental governance to protect Yuqiao Reservoir, which is the water source of Tianjin and its surroundings. In general, the measures fall into three categories: water management, residence management, and the waste management. The governing principle is “no use, no pollution”. However, according to the field study, unintended consequences come along: some new kinds of pollution, from both household and production, occur in this area as a result of the implementation of these measures. Through the combination of functional analysis and the unintended consequences approach, three responsible factors have been found: Firstly, the absence of local residents in the whole decision-making process leads to distrust of the government, especially at the grass-roots level. Secondly, the “no use, no pollution” logic vastly reduces the reservoir’s utility and significance to the local residents, which leads to “no use, no protection”. Thirdly, the collapse of the traditional rules of mutual supervision also contributes to the deterioration. In conclusion, the typically hierarchical way of governing in this area leads to inevitable unintended consequences. This paper starts by summarizing relevant literature on local protective governance of the environment, especially in China, focusing on the consequences and their causes, in relation to research done in the area of unintended consequences of purposive social action. Then, following the empirical objects and the data collection methods, we present the case study in Yuqiao reserve, Tianjin, China, and analyze the unintended consequences. Moving to the result, the three reasons for the occurrence of the situation are shown. The last part is a discussion of the relevance of the findings in relation to the current urban governance study in China, and some practical suggestions are also given to point out a pathway for work in the next steps.

Agriculture and the Environment—A Case Study of the Želivka Catchment, Czech Republic

In spite of reduction in some types of pollution, environmental degradation continues in former Central and Eastern European countries, partly as new forms of pollution, partly as reappearance of previous types of pollution and partly as structural inertia and remnants of the old system. Taking the Želivka area, a water catchment in South Bohemia of the Czech Republic, as a case study, this article provides an institutional analysis of the environmental dimension of the transition process by focusing on agriculture, the usage of mineral fertilizers, soil erosion, the use and role of water and the landscape. This analysis shows that in spite of a break-out of the overall path dependency of the previous institutional system of the Soviet bloc, path dependencies linger on at other levels but are wrapped in new clothing. For instance, the habitus of large-scale, environmentally degrading farming practice prevails, shifting its legitimacy from production targets set by the state to profitability targets. These actors are challenged by small-scale farmers, however, as well as by popular support for agricultural practices more in harmony with the natural environment. However, against the backdrop of eroding viability of local communities, environmentalism is fighting an up-hill battle.

The understanding and role of uncertainty and risk in climate change adaptation: local and central authorities in Norway

ABSTRACT A common claim is that emerging and future climate change is rendering traditional conceptions of uncertainty and risk obsolete. This is because a changing climate makes it quite a challenge to calculate uncertainties, establishing the measurable uncertainty as the basis for quantifying risk. Approaches that are capable of accommodating and possibly countering the wickedness caused by increasing uncertainty are necessary, the argument holds. Following up on previous studies of learning–knowledge and adapting to a changing climate, this article provides an analysis of how differences in the understanding of uncertainty and risk inform and determine governmental adaptation policies and actions of the local and central government in Norway, also discussing governance implications. The study finds that the understanding of uncertainty and risk generally is poor at the local level, but better at the state level, especially among highly educated staff with a background in, for example, natural sciences and engineering. On the other hand, a traditional understanding of uncertainty and risk is dominating: seeking to establish measurable uncertainty as a basis for quantifying risk. The article discusses combining different approaches of uncertainty and risk, thereby introducing a broader basis for governance, also implying multi-level network governance. On the one hand, this may help the local–central government in handling wicked problems of adapting to a changing climate but on other hand, it also possibly nurture struggles between different knowledge bases and stakeholder interest, thereby fuelling the wickedness of adaptation policies.

The Role of Information and Knowledge in Achieving Environmentally Sound Farming: A Chinese Case

The paper analyzes the role of information–knowledge for making farming environmentally friendly, using eutrophication of the main drinking water reservoir of Tianjin, China as a case. The analysis considers information and instruction sources used by farmers in relation to their farming and environmental issues, in particular application of fertilizers, and on this basis it discusses governance and policy measures. The study is interdisciplinary, covering both natural and social sciences, and it is based on quantitative methodology, employing descriptive and multivariate statistical methods. The main findings are: (i) farmers make use of a broad range of information and instruction sources, thereby confirming the claim that eutrophication and hence good farming practices are a “wicked” problem; (ii) the young and the members of the Communist Party are more active than others in using a broad range of information and instruction sources; (iii) different categories of farmers give priority to different information and instruction sources, providing a basis for tailor-made disseminations; (iv) the majority of farmers report receiving clear instructions for using fertilizers, yet half of them conceive using fertilizers correctly as difficult; (v) receiving instructions from other farmers and suppliers cater for high scores on clear instructions; and (vi) farmers are best seen as muddling through different pressures from above and different knowledge bases, and not just willy-nilly responding to top-down policy instructions.

Social Construction Based on Long-Distance Water Diversion Projects — A Case Study on the Yuqiao Reservoir in Tianjin

The exploding population in megacities and large cities has led to increasingly tight water supply, and large-scale cross-regional water diversion projects have arisen accordingly. A long-distance water diversion project creates environmental, economic, and social connections between the water source and receiving areas. In this paper, the Yuqiao Reservoir in Tianjin is taken as an example. Its severe situation of environmental pollution is introduced, and an analysis is conducted that the weaknesses of its current management measures are public service and social relations construction. This paper proposes the key concept of water relationship, defining it as a new-type, peer-to-peer, inter-area connection, and suggests that the construction should be steered in the four dimensions of social infrastructure, balanced mechanism design, environmental information communication, and mutual-aid environmental actions. This paper advocates that an environmental protection concept should be specifically directed, an action plan that gives balanced and reasonable consideration to public and private interests should be available for environmental actions, and environmental undertaking should be carried out on the basis of internal needs of participants.