Evolution of the societal value of water resources for economic development versus environmental sustainability in Australia from 1843 to 2011

被引:64
作者
Wei, Jing [1 ]
Wei, Yongping [2 ]
Western, Andrew [1 ]
机构
[1] Univ Melbourne, Dept Infrastruct Engn, Parkville, Vic 3010, Australia
[2] Univ Queensland, Sch Geog Planning & Environm Management, St Lucia, Qld 4072, Australia
来源
GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE-HUMAN AND POLICY DIMENSIONS | 2017年 / 42卷
基金
澳大利亚研究理事会;
关键词
Societal values; Water catchment management; Newspaper content analysis; Transition theory; Co-evolved social-ecological system; NEWSPAPER COVERAGE; SOCIO-HYDROLOGY; RIVER-BASIN; ISSUES; SYSTEM; POLICY; ANTHROPOCENE; TRANSITION; MANAGEMENT; SCIENCE;
D O I
10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2016.12.005
中图分类号
X [环境科学、安全科学];
学科分类号
08 ; 0830 ;
摘要
Societal values are generally seen as leading to changes in human decisions and behavior, but have not been addressed adequately in current water management, which is blind to changes in the social drivers for, or societal responses to, management decisions. This paper describes the evolution of the societal value of water resources in Australia over a period of 169 years. These values were classified into two groups: those supporting economic development versus those supporting environmental sustainability. The Sydney Morning Herald newspaper was used as the main data source to track the changes in the societal value of water resources. Content analysis was used to create a description of the evolution of these societal values. Mathematical regression analysis, in combination of transition theory, was used to determine the stages of transition of the societal value, and the co-evolved social-ecological framework was used to explain how the evolution of societal values interacted with water management policies and practices, and droughts. Key findings included that the transition of the societal value of water resources fitted the sigmoid curve - a conceptual S curve for the transition of social systems. Also, the transition of the societal value of water resources in Australia went through three stages: (1) pre-development (1900s-1962), when the societal value of water resources was dominated by economic development; (2) take-off (1963-1980), when the societal value of water resources reflected the increasing awareness of the environment due to the outbreak of pollution events; (3) acceleration (1981-2011), when the environment-oriented societal value of water resources combined with the Millennium Drought to trigger a package of policy initiatives and management practices focused on sustainable water resource use. The approach developed in this study, provides a roadmap for the development of new disciplines across social and natural science. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
引用
收藏
页码:82 / 92
页数:11
相关论文
共 72 条
[1]  
Abs, 2005, YB 2005
[2]  
Alexandra J., 2007, FUTURES, V324
[3]   Applying content analysis for investigating the reporting of water issues [J].
Altaweel, Mark ;
Bone, Christopher .
COMPUTERS ENVIRONMENT AND URBAN SYSTEMS, 2012, 36 (06) :599-613
[4]   AQUATOOL, a generalized decision-support system for water-resources planning and operational management [J].
Andreu, J ;
Capilla, J ;
Sanchis, E .
JOURNAL OF HYDROLOGY, 1996, 177 (3-4) :269-291
[5]  
[Anonymous], 2002, The Content Analysis Guidebook
[6]  
[Anonymous], 2011, WAT TRAD DAT RES
[7]   Overcoming systemic roadblocks to sustainability: The evolutionary redesign of worldviews, institutions, and technologies [J].
Beddoe, Rachael ;
Costanza, Robert ;
Farley, Joshua ;
Garza, Eric ;
Kent, Jennifer ;
Kubiszewski, Ida ;
Martinez, Luz ;
McCowen, Tracy ;
Murphy, Kathleen ;
Myers, Norman ;
Ogden, Zach ;
Stapleton, Kevin ;
Woodward, John .
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 2009, 106 (08) :2483-2489
[8]   A new approach to monitoring the social environment for natural resource management and policy: The case of US national forest benefits and values [J].
Bengston, DN ;
Fan, DP ;
Celarier, DN .
JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT, 1999, 56 (03) :181-193
[9]   Producing vertical territory: Geology and governmentality in late Victorian Canada [J].
Braun, B .
ECUMENE, 2000, 7 (01) :7-46
[10]   Integrated hydro-economic modelling: Approaches, key issues and future research directions [J].
Brouwer, Roy ;
Hofkes, Marjan .
ECOLOGICAL ECONOMICS, 2008, 66 (01) :16-22