Increase in surface water color (browning), caused by rising dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and iron concentrations, has been widely reported and studied in the last couple of decades. This phenomenon has implications to aquatic ecosystem function and biogeochemical carbon cycling. While recovery from acidification and changes in climate‐related variables, such as precipitation and length of growing season, are recognized as drivers behind browning, land‐use change has received less attention. In this study, we include all of the above factors and aim to discern their individual and combined contribution to water color variation in an unprecedentedly long (1940–2016) and highly resolved dataset (~20 times per month), from a river in southern Sweden. Water color showed high seasonal variability and a marked long‐term increase, particularly in the latter half of the dataset (~1980). Short‐term and seasonal variations were best explained by precipitation, with temperature playing a secondary role. All explanatory variables (precipitation, temperature, S deposition, and land‐use change) contributed significantly and together predicted 75% of the long‐term variation in water color. Long‐term change was best explained by a pronounced increase in Norway spruce (Picea abies Karst) volume—a measure of land‐use change and a proxy for buildup of organic soil layers—and by change in atmospheric S deposition. When modeling water color with a combination of explanatory variables, Norway spruce showed the highest contribution to explaining long‐term variability. This study highlights the importance of considering land‐use change as a factor behind browning and combining multiple factors when making predictions in water color and DOC.
The aim of this paper is to sharpen the ways in which power dynamics can be analytically 'seen' in complex governance contexts where particular ways of governing, and their associated horizons of thought, shape and are in turn shaped by intricate interactions between actors. A theoretical approach is proposed, combining a governmentality perspective with Stewart Clegg's theory of circuits of power. The framework is applied in a case study of experimentation by the World Bank with a new tool for Environmental Policy Integration (EPI). Rather than conceptualising the EPI tool as a governmental technology through which the World Bank could promote its favoured vision of political culture in a local setting (here urban planning in Dhaka, Bangladesh), an alternative account is generated that reveals a will to power among the international development community, realised through the construction of knowledge. This alternative approach suggests that the primary motivation for the will to power is not, as a neo-colonial perspective might suggest, power over developing countries, but relational power at the international scale. It is concluded that the narrative generated through our hybrid analytical perspective demonstrates the usefulness of multi-theoretic approaches and offers a useful extension to the analytical purchase of governmentality.
This professional practice report reflects upon lessons learned from piloting and evaluating an innovative approach to policy strategic environmental assessment (SEA) in developing countries. The primary analytical focuses of the approach are institutions and governance characteristics, plus it places strong emphasis on learning. The piloting provides valuable insights about the conduct of SEA at the policy level and in socio-political where there is limited experience with SEA. From our observations we reflect upon the importance of appropriate ownership of an SEA; the practical implications of working in contested political environments; the challenges in using SEA as a tool to promote good governance; and the centrality of a long-term perspective to environmental and social mainstreaming.
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