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This book is about governance for drought resilience. But that simple sentence alone might rouse several questions. Because what do we mean with drought, and how does that relate to water scarcity? And what do we mean with resilience, and why is resilience needed for tackling drought? And how does governance enter this equation? We argue that governance assessment—the study of restricting and facilitating characteristics of a governance setting—can greatly aid implementation of drought adaptation measures, thereby increasing drought resilience. In this chapter we will first discuss the occurrence of drought in (Northwest) Europe, and why governance matters for increasing drought resilience (Sect. 1.1). Second, we will shed more light on the notion of governance and how governance is dealt with by us (Sect. 1.2). Third, we will review existing governance assessment methods (Sect. 1.3). Fourth, we will use this knowledge on governance and governance assessment to introduce our key principles in governance assessment, and discuss how we have applied these in a real-life project setting (Sect. 1.4). Fifth, and last, this chapter ends with an outlook into the rest of the book, to guide the reader in reading (Sect. 1.5).

Reflect on the present, on the dynamics and the conditions that built it, and look forward at the same time, in search of a prospect to improve the future. Since Howard (1850–1928) and Geddes (1854–1932), this has been the dominant logic supporting the work of all those (architects, urban planners, planners, landscape architects, etc.) who grappled with city and territorial management and planning. However, from the 1970s, territorial planning has been confronted with new concepts – such as sustainable development, environmental sustainability and social equity – and more recently, new challenges – such as the ones linked to climate change, which led to the need to redefine territorial planning in disciplinary and operational terms. For some years now, the planner’s new role is under discussion, especially in relation to the challenges posed by climate change. Sustainability, mitigation, adaptation, renewable energy, low-carbon transition, ecosystem approach and post-disaster planning are just some of the new keywords surrounding the discussion on territorial management and planning. This chapter aims to present rationally, what it means to re-organize and re-think the city, in a long-term perspective. It wants to show how it is possible, and above all is a duty to integrate the new concepts mentioned above in urban planning, to deal with the effects of climate change. The Urban Heat Islands contrast enters fully into the feasible experimentation with appropriate innovations in territorial planning. The paper draws attention to the Italian situation, in the light of the European reference framework.

Training in best practice chemical management was identified as a key need for Pacific Island countries in their planning for implementation of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants. In addition, it was recommended that the training should be applicable to all types of chemicals, rather than just those covered under the Convention. The training component of the Pacific Persistent Organic Pollutants Release Reduction Project was developed in response to these needs. This involved the delivery of training courses within 14 Pacific Island countries with the overall aim of improving regional chemical management. The courses were developed and delivered by the Institute of Applied Science of the University of the South Pacific under a contract to the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme. Funding for the work was provided by the Global Environment Facility and implemented by the United Nations Environment Programme. The objectives, comments, and actions from the existing Sound Chemicals Management Policy (2011) remain relevant to Palau’s management of hazardous chemicals. Some are discussed again in the Action Plan from the Training Workshop but the full policy is included here for completeness. This appears in Appendix 4. Similarly, the 2007 Stockholm Convention National Implementation Plan for the management of pesticides, PCBs, and unintentional POPs contains some action points that remain relevant (Appendix 5). Additional ones for the new POPs will be relevant when the Stockholm Convention NIP is updated. As Palau continues with their refinement of the Draft Action Plan for Hazardous Chemicals developed during the Training, they will harmonize these two attachments.

The Knowledge Manager's Handbook takes you step by step through the processes needed to define and embed an effective knowledge management framework within your organisation. Knowledge management experts Nick Milton and Patrick Lambe guide you through each stage of creating and implementing a knowledge management framework to deliver business value and organisational knowledge. This book tackles the essential aspects of knowledge management - including roles and accountabilities, processes, technology and governance - and shows how each of these can be tailored to your organisation's specific needs and optimized to deliver long-term benefits.

This book is meant primarily to serve as a tool for the science and conservation of Samoan birds. Teachers, students, government workers, tourists, and visitors interested in Samoan wildlife should be able to benefit from what is being provided here. More than 325 colour photographs have been included, from bird studies during 1975 and 2015, mostly by the authors. All endemic bird species are illustrated and discussed, many of them for the first time. Land birds of this remote chain of islands, including the rare Tooth-billed Pigeo and the Mao-Honeyeater, are listed and described. Numerous spectrograms convey an idea of how the songs of Samoan land birds can be identified.

Regulation of Director General of Marine Spatial Management No. 03/PER-DJPRL/2016 on the guidance of the use of marine protected area sustainable fishery zone for local and traditional community fishing activities

A Sustainable Future for Small States: Pacific 2050 is part of the Commonwealth Secretariat’s regional strategic foresight programmes that examines whether current development strategies set a region on a path to achieve sustainable development by 2050. The publication follows a previous study on the Caribbean entitled Achieving a Resilient Future for Small States: Caribbean 2050, which was launched at the Commonwealth Global Biennial Conference on Small States in May 2016.

Emission reductions by developed countries are indispensable to protect the global environment. However, alongside those efforts, emission reductions by developing countries (especially high CO2 emitting developing countries like China and India) have surfaced as an important area to address. In order to attain this outcome, the simultaneous achievement of emissions reductions and economic growth for developing countries (especially high CO2 emitting developing countries like China and India) has become an unavoidable obstacle.

The landmark agreement reached in Paris in December, 2015 committed countries to ambitious actions to cut greenhouse gas emissions and strengthen their resilience to the impacts associated with global climate change. The Climate Technology Centre and Network, the operative arm of the UNFCCC's Technology Mechanism, featured prominently in that text - and we have spent the months since COP21 working to realise the vision with which the Parties have entrusted us.