Standards and corporate reconstruction in the Michigan dry bean industry

Since the turn of the lastcentury, Michigan farmers, elevators, and stategovernment have used production and processstandards to shape the dry bean industry totheir interests and set a worldwide standardfor quality dry beans. Over the last 20 years,however, multinational agro/food firms haveintroduced their market criteria into standardssetting, and recent changes in Michigan beanstandards largely accommodate the interests ofthese firms. A review of the changes in thesestandards over time allows us to explore howconcepts of accountability and control improveour understanding of changes in the structureand operation of food production and marketing.What is the measure of state governmentaccountability to corporate capital and to thestate's bean farmers? In what ways can farmersuse standards to re-assert their priorities andgain a greater measure of influence overmarketing? What challenges do changing qualitystandards pose for public research as well asfor the institutions representing Michiganfarmers and elevators?     

具有法律约束力的欧洲森林协议谈判进程

由于缔结具有法律约束力的森林公约对推动全球森林可持续经营目标的实现具有重要的意义, 联合国森林论坛谈判各方一直在进行着不懈的努力。面对国际森林公约谈判的困难, 欧洲各国开始了具有法律约束力的欧洲森林协议的相关谈判。文中简要总结国际森林问题的发展历程, 概述欧洲森林现状和谈判的背景, 并对具有法律约束力的欧洲森林协议的框架形成过程、政府间谈判委员会的4次谈判过程、2次欧洲森林问题专家组会议及其各方代表观点进行梳理, 指出未来的谈判走向。     

无线传感网应用于设施农业的节能方案研究

对著名的S-MAC协议进行改进,提出ATCA算法,采取异步工作模式、协商划分时隙、数据聚合并直线路由等措施,有效地降低了系统的能量消耗。仿真结果表明,该算法在不同的活动/睡眠周期里都具有优秀的能量效率。     

Rules for participation and negotiation and their possible influence on the content of a National Forest Programme

The participation of stakeholders in National Forest Programmes (NFPs) was internationally recommended by the IPF and IFF Proposals for Action. However, where rules for participation and negotiation are absent, unclear or unsuitable, substantive stakeholder involvement may be impeded. Starting from a survey of some relevant elements of rational choice, game, and negotiation theory, the paper outlines some of the problems associated with the concept of participation. Specifically, it discusses how NFP results may be influenced by the selection of participants, their self-organisation, their possible involvement in hierarchies, by co-ordination and decision rules within NFP discussion groups, and by the interrelation of these issues with participants’ bargaining power. The paper discusses how negotiations can be organised in order to surmount the obstacles to achieving a substantive participatory NFP.     

长江流域跨界水污染防治协商机制的构建探讨

为构建长江流域水污染治理协调平台,从中央和地方2个角度进行思考和改革。从国家层面上来说,构建国家水事协调管理委员会作为国家协调平台;从地方层面上来说,构建长江流域水事管理协调委员会作为长江流域协调平台。2个平台间构建良性互动机制,协调处理好全国水事管理和长江流域水事管理。     

我国粮食产业市场结构对粮食定价权的影响研究

从产业市场结构的角度出发,分析我国粮食产业链上生产、流通、加工环节上的市场结构特征对于粮食定价权的影响。研究表明,在粮食生产、流通和加工环节上,不同的产业市场结构特征对于农户、粮食企业等微观经济主体在生产、交易环节中的定价权产生决定性的影响作用,而市场结构也决定了该市场消费者剩余与生产者剩余的福利分配模式。     

协商参与：农村传统手工技艺的保护——以福建省永春漆篮为例

在现代中保护农村传统手工技艺具有重要的现实意义。通过对福建永春漆篮手工行业的调查分析,研究当地传统手工技艺的发展困境和保护措施,得出农村传统手工技艺实现可持续发展的启示。     

Collective action in watershed management -- experiences from the Andean hillsides

Watersheds constitute a special case of multiple-use common pool resources (CPRs). In a textual sense, watersheds tend to be mosaics of privately owned and managed patches of land. At the same time, however, watersheds are also ecosystems in which multiple resources and people interact through an infinity of bio-physical processes. Through such interaction, new watershed-level qualities emerge that, together with other factors, condition watershed users' continued resource use and access. In this perspective, watersheds become common-pool resources. Hence, watershed users do not only manage their individual plots, crops, forests, etc., knowingly or not, they manage landscape patterns and bio-physical processes that transcend their private property. In this context, drawing on experiences gained through participatory action research in a micro-watershed in the Andean hillsides of southern Colombia, this paper describes a process aimed at fostering collective watershed management. The paper illustrates the importance of platforms as a mechanism for negotiating and coordinating collective action by multiple users and discusses the issues of representation on such platforms as well as the importance of third party facilitation.     

Economic and Social Appraisal of the Feasibility of Land Restoration,Rehabilitation, and Reallocation in Arid and Semiarid Zones: A Holistic Approach

The evaluation of economic benefits obtained by the actions of restoration, rehabilitation, or reallocation of degraded lands is problematical, since the goods and services induced are not always marketable. Faced with such uncertainty, and taking into account the magnitude of the funds at stake, it is essential to consider social acceptability of the proposed interventions. A complementary analytic approach of the local production systems is also required, to help in negotiations with the principal actors and decision makers and in the collective apprenticeship in this new holistic approach.