Loading...
3 results
Search Results
Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
- Adaptive-participative sustainability indicators in marine protected areas: designPublication . Marques, A. S.; Ramos, Tomás B.; Caeiro, Sandra; Costa, Maria HelenaRecently there has been an effort to put in practice integrated management plans in Marine Protected Areas (MPA) not only because of their high natural and cultural importance but also due to usual conflicts related to local activities. These plans should include the use of adaptive sustainability indicators that reflect stakeholders concerns, and community interests, allowing a better assessment, management and reporting. An adequate set of indicators for the MPA should help their managers to improve management policies in order to achieve better decision making processes. This study aimed to develop a set of adaptive-participative sustainability indicators (SDI) for the assessment, management and reporting of MPAs that include, through the all process, the participation of local stakeholders at every levels, integrating the stakeholders knowledge and perceptions about the SDI meaning and a self-assessment of the SDI state produced also by the stakeholders. The proposed approach was tested in Luiz Saldanha’s Marine Park, located in South East of Portugal between the municipalities of Sesimbra and Setúbal. The framework to design the SDI comprised four phases: i) an international analysis of SDI sets for coastal zones and MPAs; ii) a participatory process, where the stakeholders had the possibility to state their concerns through an online and face to face questionnaire surveys about the strengths and weaknesses of the MPA; iii) an analysis conducted by a team of experts to reach a set of indicators that include the main relevant aspects of environmental, socioeconomic, and governance issues, taking into account the information from the first two phases and iv) a workshop and questionnaires held to assess the stakeholders’ global views and perception about the selected set of indicators and each indicator’s relative importance. This study showed the importance of a dynamic participative process involving the local stakeholders. It is concluded that this methodology allows a better understanding of each indicator by the local stakeholders and how it could respond to their concerns. It should also help the MPA managers, to define the most suitable management actions and monitor the management plan itself.
- An open participatory conceptual framework to support state of the environment and sustainability reportsPublication . Ramos, Tomás B.; Martins, Ivone P.; Martinho, Ana Paula; Douglas, Calbert H.; Painho, Marco; Caeiro, SandraIt is fundamental to monitor, evaluate and report the state of the environment at global and local levels, to better implement sustainable development principles and practices. The State of the Environment and Sustainability Reports should be written in an understandable and accessible way for stakeholders and also be developed from the beginning with its involvement and participation. Despite several initiatives that refer public engagement in State of the Environment and Sustainability Reports, from the national to the corporate levels, usually the participatory approaches are restricted to consultations of key actors. They do not explore the role that could be played by stakeholders as part of the report staff, from designing to production and reviewing. The aim of this research is to develop a conceptual framework to support open participatory, interactive and adaptive State of the Environment and Sustainability Reports, where the stakeholders’ involvement (non-experts and experts) will effectively contribute to the design, data gath- ering and evaluations produced in the reports. The proposed open participatory approach will support the design and implementation of a collaborative report. The stakeholders’ assessment of the State of the Environment and Sustainability Reports can also be used as an indirect way for formal results evaluation, allowing for cross-validation. The paper analyses and explores two practices of regular and formal State of the Environment reports: the “European Environment e State and Outlook (transnational scale) and the “Portuguese State of the Environment Report” (national scale). In both reporting initiatives, the partici- patory approaches in the design and production of the reports are weak or inexistent and many times merely formal. A set of steps and procedures, embedded in a formal framework, is proposed for adoption in the both initiatives. The proposed framework should be implemented through gradually and prioritised steps to mitigate practical difficulties, due to the complexity of institutional reporting processes. The open participatory State of the Environment and Sustainability Report will represent a joint commitment among stakeholders for active reporting development with new information and knowledge. Rethinking tradi- tional reporting and related participatory approaches can move the State of the Environment and Sus- tainability Reports to a new stage of evolution: a continuous updating of information. In this process, data and information will come from formal and informal sources and, stakeholders can scrutinize each other’s participation and increase the overall content and quality of the collaborative disclosures.
- Bridges for a more sustainable future: joining Environmental Management for Sustainable Universities (EMSU) and the European Roundtable for Sustainable Consumption and Production (ERSCP) conferencesPublication . Lozano, Rodrigo; Ciliz, Nilgun; Ramos, Tomás B.; Blok, Vincent; Caeiro, Sandra; van Hoof, Bernardus; Huisingh, Donald