There are many reasons why strategic intelligence is required to support policy decisions. These primarily stem from the nature of today's kno- edge society with two contrasting trends. On the one hand, there is a trend of increasing human intelligence in the economic, social and political s- tems. On the other hand, there is a trend towards dissolving certainties about the problems and solutions of today's society. Clearly, more inf- mation does not necessary imply more certainties on how to act. What is more, the same facts are often interpreted in markedly different ways: the same policy relevant information can – and often does – results in confli- ing framing of a problem by different stakeholders. This is mainly due to competing assumptions, rather then because of inconsistent facts. The- fore, it is not surprising that policy-makers are calling for strategic intel- gence to support their understanding of today's challenges, including the relevant aspects of science and technology, their impact and their possible future developments. Over the last 15 years, Europe has rapidly adopted the practice of dev- oping and using Impact Assessment (IA) tools to support decision-making. Formal procedures and guidance for IA are well established within the European Commission and in most EU Member States. The adoption of IA procedures alone, however, does not guarantee that every policy domain is actually using the full potential of these assessment tools in the preparation of policies and legislation.

The urgent need to enhance sustainable development in developing countries has never been greater: poverty levels are growing, land conversions are uncontrolled, and there is rapid loss of biodiversity through land use change. This timely book highlights the need for integrated assessment tools for developing countries, considering the long-term impacts of decisions taken today. The success of land use policies has in the past often been hampered by the fact that we simply do not know enough about their impact on sustainable development across developing countries. This book contributes to bridging this knowledge gap whilst facilitating the successful design and implementation of land use policies. The challenge of land use changes in response to changes in the policy environment – macro policy, agricultural and forest policy, environmental policy – is explored with a focus on the South. Detailed case studies encompassing seven countries across Africa, Asia and Latin America are presented via a common framework of analysis. In each case, sustainable development concerns are identified from environmental, economic and social perspectives. The interrelated causes of these problems are analysed by identifying key drivers and relevant land use policies, and the potential impact of prioritized land use policies are then discussed. This important book will prove invaluable to academics, researchers, postgraduate students and policy makers concerned with land-use planning, sustainable development and environmental studies.

This Handbook presents state-of-the-art methodological guidance and discussion of international practice related to the integration of biodiversity and ecosystem services in impact assessment, featuring contributions from leading researchers and practitioners the world over. Its multidisciplinary approach covers contributions across five continents to broaden the scope of the field both thematically and geographically.

This is the first book on global agromining/phytomining technology. It presents the complete metal farming or agromining chain; an emerging technology expected to be transformative in the extraction of resources of those elements not accessible by traditional mining techniques. Meeting the demand for critical minerals (rare earth elements, platinum group elements, nickel cobalt) is increasingly difficult in the 21st century due to resource depletion and geopolitical factors. Agromining uses hyperaccumulator plants as “metal crops” farmed on sub-economic soils or mineral waste to obtain valuable elements. This book, which follows the metal farming chain, starts with the latest information on the global distribution and ecology of hyperaccumulator plants, biogeochemical pathways, the influence of rhizosphere microbes, as well as aspects of propagation and conservation of these unusual plants. It then presents the state of the art in new tools for identifying hyperaccumulator plants and for understanding their physiology and molecular biology. It goes on to describe the agronomy of “metal crops,” and opportunities for incorporating agromining into rehabilitation and mine closure, including test-cases of nickel, cobalt, selenium, thallium, rare earth elements and PGEs. Finally, it concludes with an overview of the latest developments in the processing of bio-ores and associated products. This book is edited and authored by the pioneers in the field who have been at the foreground of the development of agromining over the past three decades. It is timely as agromining is now at a pivotal point in its development with rapid expansion of activities in the field around the globe. As such it is of interest to environmental professionals in the minerals industry, government regulators and academics.

Since becoming editor-in-chief in 2009 Thomas Fischer has overseen the publication of 22 issues of the Journal of Environmental and Policy Management. This wide-ranging and thought-provoking volume presents a selection of papers from this period. A number of these papers discuss the topics of the journal's special issues. The others offer various international and comparative perspectives on the development and implementation of environmental assessment (EA) and strategic environmental assessment (SEA). By drawing on the expertise of a number of global experts, this comprehensive volume considers the challenges, successes and progress of EA/SEA policy and management since 2009. This volume is perfect for students and researchers interested in environmental policy and its implementation and management.

This book on the sustainable use of soils and water addressed a variety of issues related to the utopian desire for environmental sustainability and the deviations from this scene observed in the real world. Competing interests for land are frequently a factor in land degradation, especially where the adopted land uses do not conform with the land capability (the natural use of soil). The concerns of researchers about these matters are presented in the articles comprising this Special Issue book. Various approaches were used to assess the (im)balance between economic profit and environmental conservation in various regions, in addition to potential routes to bring landscapes back to a sustainable status being disclosed.

Presently, peri-urbanisation is one of the most pervasive processes of land use change in Europe with strong impacts on both the environment and quality of life. It is a matter of great urgency to determine strategies and tools in support of sustainable development. The book synthesizes the results of PLUREL, a large European Commission funded research project (2007-2010). Tools and strategies of PLUREL address main challenges of managing land use in peri-urban areas. These results are presented and illustrated by means of 7 case studies which are at the core of the book. This volume presents a novel, future oriented approach to the planning and management of peri-urban areas with a main focus on scenarios and sustainability impact analysis. The research is unique in that it focuses on the future by linking quantitative scenario modeling and sustainability impact analysis with qualitative and in-depth analysis of regional strategies, as well as including a study at European level with case study work also involving a Chinese case study.

This Encyclopedia of Land Use, Land Cover and Soil Sciences is a component of the global Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (EOLSS), which is an integrated compendium of twenty one Encyclopedias. Land is one of our most precious assets. It represents space, provides food and shelter, stores and filters water, and it is a base for urban and industrial development, road construction, leisure and many other social activities. Land is, however not unlimited in extent, and even when it is physically available its use is not necessarily free, either because of natural limitations (too cold, too steep, too wet or too dry, etc.) or because of constraints of access or land tenure. This 7-volume set contains several chapters, each of size 5000-30000 words, with perspectives, applications and extensive illustrations. It carries state-of-the-art knowledge in the fields of Land Use, Land Cover and Soil Sciences and is aimed, by virtue of the several applications, at the following five major target audiences: University and College Students, Educators, Professional Practitioners, Research Personnel and Policy Analysts, Managers, and Decision Makers and NGOs.

The originality of this book is to review and characterize the current body of scientific publications that describe the complete causal sequence from reorganization of agricultural production to land use changes (LUC) and the resulting environmental impacts. The chapters examine both the range of territorial reorganizations leading to LUC and the range of associated environmental impacts considered in the literature, including GHG emissions, atmospheric pollution, biodiversity impacts, water resources, and soil quality.

This Special Issue explores the cross-disciplinary approaches, methodologies, and applications of socio-environmental vulnerability assessment that can be incorporated into sustainable management. The volume comprises 20 different points of view, which cover environmental protection and development, urban planning, geography, public policymaking, participation processes, and other cross-disciplinary fields. The articles collected in this volume come from all over the world and present the current state of the world’s environmental and social systems at a local, regional, and national level. New approaches and analytical tools for the assessment of environmental and social systems are studied. The practical implementation of sustainable development as well as progressive environmental and development policymaking are discussed. Finally, the authors deliberate about the perspectives of social–environmental systems in a rapidly changing world.