Municipal Environmental Management Research Articles

Study of Citizen Satisfaction in Rural Versus Urban Areas in Public Services: Perspective of a Multi-group Analysis

This study proposes a comparative analysis between urban and rural areas concerning the magnitude or intensity with which the constructs are related to expected quality-perceived quality-perceived value as influencing aspects in the level of satisfaction and citizen loyalty in three dimensions: Territorial planning and roads; provision of municipal services and environmental management. This research used the PLS software applying the ACSI model in the 5-hypothesis approach. A questionnaire was delivered to a sample population of 428 citizens in the rural area of Tenguel and 521 citizens in the urban area of Tarqui in the city of Guayaquil. The statistical result shows significant differences in citizen perception between urban and rural populations about the quality of public services, which determines satisfaction and loyalty in choosing the place of residence. Through a multi-group analysis, the main differences in the perception of the quality of services between rural citizens and urban citizens have been identified. These findings are essential for public policy design to improve the territory’s satisfaction, well-being, and people’s sense of belonging.

Sustainable Human Development at the Municipal Level: A Data Envelopment Analysis Index

The development of indexes for human development and environmental sustainability issues are an emerging topic in the current literature. However, the literature has put less emphasis on municipal indexes, which is the focus of this research. In this paper, we considered municipal environmental management as the adoption of environmental activities and the development of infrastructural and technical capacities in municipalities. This article aims to create a sustainable human development index with municipal data from the state of São Paulo in Brazil. Using information from the Municipal Human Development Index (IDHm) and the GreenBlue Municipal Program (PMVA), we applied the data envelopment analysis (DEA) technique to connect human development and environmental sustainability in 645 Brazilian municipalities. Our findings show that regions with higher human development present better DEA scores on the Sustainable Human Development Index. In contrast, regions with a low or a middle level of human development do not present significant change considering both dimensions. Moreover, our findings reveal that PMVA certification has a different and statistically significant impact on the DEA score considering certified, qualified, or not qualified regions. We found similar results for urbanized and service-oriented municipalities. Our indicator is an essential and straightforward tool for regional policymakers, helping to allocate resources and to find human development and environmental sustainability benchmarks among developing regions.

Municipal environmental management and regional conservation in eastern Amazon: perceived performance by public agents in the Pará state, Brazil

Public agents play a key role in municipal environmental management (MEM) under decentralised regimes. This study aimed to evaluate the MEM through the combined perception of municipal agents and the municipal performance previously calculated by secondary data in Pará, Brazil. A questionnaire with a 5-point Likert scale was applied to environmental agents. The respondents (n = 75) from 53 municipalities were divided into poorly performing and well-performing municipalities. The perception of agents from poorly performing municipalities was more optimistic than shown by empirical data. Agents from well-performing municipalities prioritised “economic issues” as significant threats to management over the “institutional capacity” chosen by the other group, indicating a broader view of the reality. As the perception over land-use practices was vital to differentiate the agents from different groups, we concluded for the use of mixed monitoring methods and feedback information for agents for a better MEM, focusing on five variables (Rural environmental register – CAR, in Portuguese acronym; degraded area; deforested area; rural credit; and abandoned pasture) that differentiated the municipalities.

The municipal council, my neighbors and me: Social environmental influences in the city

This study seeks to examine the extent to which the level of municipal environmental management affects and complies with the behavioral norms of urban communities (city norms), and to what extent these affect environmental behavior at the individual level. We used a two-step, mixed-methods approach: a quantitative study of a representative sample of the urban sector (n = 1000) in Israel, followed by a qualitative in-depth interview process (n = 20). Municipal environmental management was found to be strongly correlated with city norms. Multiple regression analyses revealed that the residents' environmental behavior was strongly influenced solely by city norms (and not by the municipal council's conduct). However, our interviews revealed that residents explicitly attributed their pro- or anti-environmental behavior almost solely to the municipal council's conduct (and not to city norms). These relative contributions of municipal environmental management versus city norms on environmental behavior varied across environmental domains. In the Discussion section, we offer an explanation to the seemingly contradictory findings, and offer specific recommendations for several actions and initiatives that local authorities can adopt to promote pro-environmental behavior among its residents' and thus reduce the ecological footprint of the city as a whole.

Fronteira Agrícola e a política de priorização dos municípios no combate ao desmatamento no Estado do Pará, Amazônia

The expansion of the agricultural frontier is a reality in the Amazon region and in the State of Pará, agricultural activities have moved to the Southwest mesoregion of the state, implying in the increase of deforestation in the municipalities embargoed and priority sayings according to the Green Municipalities Program (PMV). Therefore, this research aimed to analyze the advance of the agricultural frontier in view of the PMV policy that prioritizes its actions to combat deforestation in the so-called embargoed municipalities, diametrically opposed to the group of green municipalities (MVs), which according to the PMV, has lower risk of deforestation in the State of Pará. It was verified that among the municipalities controlled (green municipalities)by the PMV deforestation remained stable and among the priority municipalities, deforestation increased substantially in the period from 2004 to 2016 even in the face of the impositions imposed by the program. Concomitantly, a large part of these municipalities are in the new frontier expansion areas, and the growth of agricultural and logging activities in terms of quantity and monetary values has stimulated this displacement. Energy projects and opening roads also contribute to this scenario. The inflection of environmental policies and the effective municipal environmental management that permeates the emerging concept of local governance are fundamental for the control of deforestation in Pará.Keywords: deforestation; frontier; priority municipalities.Article received on September 23, 2019. Accepted on March 9, 2020.How to citeCASTELO, Thiago Bandeira; ADAMI, Marcos; SANTOS, Ricardo Bruno Nascimento dos. Fronteira Agrícola e a política de priorização dos municípios no combate ao desmatamento no estado do Pará, Amazônia. Estudos Sociedade e Agricultura, Rio de Janeiro, v. 28, n. 2, p. 434-457, jun. 2020.

The impact of decentralization policies: the environmental performance applied to municipalities of the Amazon

The historical environmental problems in the Amazon urge greater governance and transparency at the municipal level. The decentralizing of municipal environmental management (MEM) is an ongoing process in the Brazilian Amazonbut a monitoring mechanism is missing. We used an index (iMEM) derived by factorial analysis to rank the environmental management performance of 143 municipalities in Para state at the beginning of the decentralizing process (2009) and six years after that (2015). Multiple regression analysis indicated that iMEM was positively affected by factors such as population, communication and protected areas in the municipalities and negatively affected by rural credit, GDP and property registration program. Decentralizing measures seem to be more politically than environmentally effective since only 21.7% of 143 municipalities were classified as having good environmental management in 2015. Para’s poorly performing municipalities in both periods illustrate regions where unsustainable and misguided national policies were fostered in the 70s. The monitoring of the decentralization progress and synergic policies is crucial for the effectiveness of the policy in the Amazon.

Monitor - an information system for improved municipal environmental management

MONITOR is a joint research effort between a number of research institutions and the city of Stockholm. It aims at developing an environmental information system based on (i) accounlings of flows and stocks of materials and energy (environmental pressure) as well as describing the (ii) state of the environment and the (iii ) environmental impact in an integrated way. In MONITOR, data from existing environmental monitoring in Stockholm is integrated with new information on material flows and stocks. A first prototype, illustrating the potential benefits of MONITOR has been developed. A long-term goal is to develop a tool for an improved economising of materials and energy in the Stockholm region. In the paper, the MONITOR programme is presented as well as initial practical approaches to the work.

Problems of development of environmental initiatives of the public and business in cooperation with municipal management

The article studies the problems of the public and business in the field of development of environmental initiatives and the problems of interaction with the municipal environmental management. The research was conducted in the tourist city of Russia, where ecology is of great importance for the development of tourism. The regulatory legal acts of the city and the municipal environmental management system were researched. A survey was also conducted of public organizations and businesses, which in the city became the initiators and participants of environmental projects. The research confirmed that there are problems highlighted by the public and business in the development of environmental initiatives in collaboration with municipal environmental management. Some problems create obstacles to the development of initiatives and reduce the level of business’s desire to spend their time and resources in the field of ecology. The initiatives of business and the public were ahead of the legislation both at the state level and at the municipal level. These initiatives made it possible to organize work to promote the environmental literacy of the population and separate waste collection. The absence of a system of interaction with organizations involved in environmental activities and responsible for this system of the post, the lack of educational work in the field of environmental literacy of the population and representatives of the city administration, the lack of a single information resource in the field of ecology and environmental initiatives of the city have a negative impact on the number of city initiatives in the field of ecology., insufficient education and clarification in the implementation of state legislation in the field of ecologic and separate waste collection.

Do Recent Amendments to Alberta's Municipal Government Act Enable Management of Surface Water Resources and Air Quality?

Since 2015, new provisions have been added to Alberta’s Municipal Government Act (MGA) that arguably authorize municipalities to manage components of the environment, such as surface water resources and air quality at the local and regional geopolitical landscape scales. Since 2013, Part 17.1 enabled voluntary formation of “growth management boards” (GMBs) by two or more participating municipalities, and once appointed by the Minister, GMBs are empowered to create “growth plans” to govern growth-related land use decision-making processes within the boundaries of the participating municipalities. Part 17.1 was amended in 2016 and new regulations followed in 2017. City Charter provisions enacted in 2015 give broad governance powers to cities. MGA provisions that create both these new institutional arrangements do not preclude GMBs or cities from developing municipal environmental management objectives. Recent additional MGA amendments enacted as the Modernized Municipal Government Act (MMGA) in December 2016, and further amendments in the spring of 2017 added a preamble, defined “body of water” for the purposes of the MGA, provided for intermunicipal collaborative governance of land use, and amended the environmental reserve provisions and other regulatory aspects of Part 17: Planning and Development. Two new purposes of municipal government were added: “to work collaboratively with neighbouring municipalities to plan, deliver and fund intermunicipal services,” and “to foster the well-being of the environment.” In this article, amendments to the MGA since 2015 are examined and analyzed in light of Alberta’s regional watershed scale land use policy, legislation, and regulations to determine if Alberta municipalities are now authorized to manage the environment, specifically surface water resources and water quality.

Municipal Environmental Management Indicators: A Bottom-Up Approach Applied to the Colombian Context

The participation of local governments is one of the determining factors for achieving the objectives of sustainable development, whereby municipalities must have planning, assessment, control instruments, and indicators which will lead to proper environmental management and sustainable development. In this respect the existing models of sustainability indicators reflect, mainly, the state of the environment. However, these indicators do not allow the identification of the state of the environment’s direct responsible actors and do not contribute towards the formulation of specific objectives and goals for each of the responsible actors. Furthermore, the sustainable development indicators are elaborated and measured by higher level entities, and are aimed towards a regional and national level, using a top-down approach. In this context, this paper proposes a model of environmental management indicators that lets us observe the state of the environment and identifies those responsible for that state. The set of indicators was developed in the municipalities of the department of Narino, Colombia, through a participatory bottom-up approach which includes: the vision and needs of the stakeholders, who are responsible for the information, and the vision of the regional control organisms. Thus, a set of 40 environmental management indicators was formulated, and a framework to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the local environmental management was proposed. Their application indicates that a majority of the municipalities are in a weak environmental management situation and it lets the stakeholders critically analyze their performance through the set of indicators and also identify areas for improvement.

Municipal Governance, Environmental Management and Disaster Risk Reduction in Developing Countries: Comparative Analysis and Lessons from Chile

Municipal Governance, Environmental Management and Disaster Risk Reduction in Developing Countries: Comparative Analysis and Lessons from Chile

Municipal Governance, Environmental Management and Disaster Risk Reduction in Chile

Given the vulnerability of Latin American countries to extreme events of climatic and geophysical origin and the frequency of these events, how do local governments manage environmental and disaster risk reduction? This article contributes to the Latin American literature about environmental management and disaster risk reduction at the local level. Employing a comparative perspective, the article examines and explains the responses of Chilean municipalities and the role of municipal commitments and social capital.

MUNICIPAL ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT: A PROPOSAL OF INSTRUMENTS FOR DIAGNOSIS OF PUBLIC ENVIRONMENTAL POLICIES IN THE METROPOLITAN AREA OF SALVADOR (MAS)

The aim in this paper is to propose a model for mapping strategies of municipal environmental management for local environmental public policies. To do so, the study adopted a theoretical approach. More specifically, there is discussion on the concepts of public policies and the scenario of the Brazilian municipal environmental management, a brief history of the aspects that involve current national environmental policies. Methodologically, a bibliographical study was carried out through a literature review, which enabled the proposal of instruments for mapping actions and strategies of environmental management in the municipalities of the Metropolitan Area of Salvador (MAS). This theoretical study resulted in the creation of a model form that will be used by empirical researches for mapping the environmental public policies in the MAS City Halls.

Estudio de los instrumentos normativos de ordenamiento ambiental del municipio de turbo (Antioquia), en el marco de las políticas de ordenamiento ambiental de Colombia

The municipality of Turbo (Antioquia, Colombia) has a great ecosystemic richness and associated with this, and the national policies and regulations, environmental authorities have built various instruments for environmental management, formulated with different policy framework systems with dissimilar methodologies (map scales, normative and methodological approaches), which has caused uncertainty about the articulation, complementarity, harmonization and comprehensiveness of the instruments in the territorial, protection of ecosystems and sustainable development promotion fields. This article is part of one of the results of a Master's degree requirement research project aimed at analyzing how the environmental management instruments in the territorial context (physical-spatial) intersect and affect each other positively or negatively from the environmental management policies and regulations and how these policies have an impact on the ecosystems in the Municipality of Turbo, Antioquia. Methodologically the project was developed under a mixed approach, addressing eight instruments for environmental management and using techniques such as summary cards, meetings with experts using the Delphi technique and Likert's scale for the application of the survey. Also the geographic information systems were used to perform spatial analysis and a comparative instrument to generate the analysis was developed. The main result shown in this article is an analysis of the role played by national and regional environmental authorities in articulating municipal environmental management instruments. The main conclusion obtained was that the focal shortcomings of the instruments of environmental management in the municipality of Turbo, have their origin in the way planning and formulation of environmental public policy is approached from environmental authorities, as well as in issuing regulations since at SINA level there is no conceptual unity of the scale or approach on the design and orientation of public environmental policy in relation to the territory, which shows conceptual cracks and various disjointed forms for development planning and of the environmental scope.

Levantamento e representatividade das Unidades de Conservação instituídas no estado de Santa Catarina, Brasil

O Sistema Nacional de Unidades de Conservação (UCs) constitui-se em uma das mais importantes políticas públicas de proteção da biodiversidade. Dessa forma, este estudo teve o intuito de levantar as UCs criadas nas três esferas governamentais no estado de Santa Catarina. Para isso, foram realizadas consultas à legislação e sites oficiais dos órgãos ambientais pertinentes; aos técnicos da Fundação do Meio Ambiente de Santa Catarina (FATMA) e a bibliografias disponíveis. Verificou-se que Santa Catarina possui 16 UCs federais e 10 UCs estaduais, sendo ainda prevista a instituição de duas UCs estaduais pela FATMA. Em relação às RPPNs, Santa Catarina possui 56 unidades federais e quatro estaduais, duplicando seu número a cada cinco anos desde a década de 1990. Porém, no que tange as UCs municipais, existem 163 áreas protegidas, muitas das quais não são reconhecidas como categorias de UCs e não implantadas efetivamente (65 UCs enquadradas e 98 não enquadradas no Sistema Nacional de Unidades de Conservação). Isso indica uma grande fragilidade no que se refere à gestão ambiental municipal e à proteção da biodiversidade local.

Pictures Don’t Lie

Ghana is confronted with persistent environmental challenges such as its inability to re-cycle its domestic and industrial waste. Ghana has no adequate waste treatment plant in any of its leading cities or towns and a general lack of best environmental practices, although there are currently plans to install state of the art waste management plant in the capital city. The Central Government does not adequately resource the municipal governments with the constitutionally allocable portions from the centrally planned budget to be able to provide services such as sanitation, refuse collection, road maintenance and related functions to improve the health of the environment and thus the communities. The public-private-partnership meant to supplement municipal environmental waste and sanitation management has been co-opted by central government operatives so much so that they appear as if they are inseparable and integral part of the municipal governments. Due to such close association and other systemic failures, the public-private-partnership in the industry is fraught with allegations of cronyism, renting seeking behaviors, and sweet-heart arrangements. As a result, the arrangements do not function efficiently or effectively, except in very limited city spaces in the central business districts and neighborhoods with large expatriate presences together with high ranking government functionaries. Generally, the public health of the population is compromised. The lack of good programs and operations in Ghana’s environmental practices has led to the outbreak of diseases such as malaria and cholera resulting in morbidity and mortality among the population on a yearly basis. Cholera, an internationally reported disease, is a significant killer in Ghana today. In many nations in the 21st Century, this disease does not even feature in the list of threats to the health of the public. Malaria continues to be a major public health saboteur disease. There appears to be official denial about the lack of real improvements towards the Millennium Development Goal 7. This paper attempts to provide photographic evidence about the situation on the ground in the capital city of Ghana, Accra; and to raise the alarm that the veracity of Ghana about its progress towards MDG 7 may be in serious doubt.

Social and Environmental Management in the Municipalities of Minas Gerais, Brazil

The objective of this study is to analyze the ability of the public management of environmental problems faced by the municipalities in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. The theoretical elements that underlie this article are related to environmental management and municipal public administration. We used the results of the natural vulnerability and the social potential of the indicator of municipal environmental management, as well as data on sanitation and waste disposal. The weaknesses of public administration are located in the counties of low population group. These municipalities do not have suitable structure, formal organization and power of decisiveness in dealing with environmental problems.

Políticas Públicas Indutoras do Desenvolvimento Sustentável Local: Um Estudo Sobre o Programa Município VerdeAzul na Região do Grande ABC

This article presents exploratory study about the program Municipio VerdeAzul, established in 2007 by the state government of Sao Paulo as an incentive to municipalities that operate on improving environmental conditions. The research analyzed the municipalities of the Grande ABC (State of Sao Paulo). The analysis prioritized three policies of the Program: Treated Sewage, Solid Waste and Environmental Education. Ribeirao Pires and Sao Caetano do Sul had the best average, followed by Santo Andre. The results show that when it comes to the Treated Sewage policy, Sao Caetano do Sul is better positioned; about the Solid Waste Policy, the highlighted is Santo Andre; and about Environmental Education, all of the cities have a description and evidence of environmental education. Keywords: Sustainable Development, Public Policies, Municipal Environmental Management, Environment.

Conceptual design of a municipal energy and environmental system as an efficient basis for advanced energy planning

Effectively implementing various energy and environmental policies contributes to the acceleration of energy performance, a reduction in negative environmental impacts, and increased deployment of renewable resources. The MEEMS (municipal energy and environmental management system) performs the almost inconceivable role of accomplishing prerequisite targets at the national level and, consequently, the European and World levels also. Therefore, a proper infrastructure for MEEMS needs to be effectively applied in order to implement policy initiatives. A novel organisational framework of MEEMS is proposed and is constituted upon three pillars: integration of the municipal metabolism approach, the KBS (knowledge-based system), and the MTIS (municipal technology innovation system). By properly addressing the dynamics of the MEES (municipal energy and environmental system), and the new conceptual organisation of MEEMS, a need for the inclusion of innovative elements can be defined regarding support mechanisms. Integration of the end-user approach defines the fundamental orientation of modern MEEMS. This new concept paves a pathway towards an intelligent energy and environmental system. This paper describes an implementation of the new conceptual design of MEEMS within the urban municipality energy system of Ptuj, Slovenia.

Análise de conflitos socioambientais: o caso da comunidade rural de Rio Maior, município de Urussanga, Santa Catarina

The conflict occurs in the rural community of Rio Maior, municipality of Urussanga, SC, and is related to the community mobilization against mining activities of basalt, diabase and asphalt mill conducted by Setep Construction Company, held in Criciuma, SC. The case was analyzed based on the hypothesis that the increasing of environmental conflicts is one of the determining factors for the strengthening of environmental actions and for the formation of local environmental governance structures and, consequently, for the institutionalization of the municipal environmental management. Therefore, after a theoretical review on the subject, it was identified the main players and conditionings that shaped the dispute. Finally, based on the conflict analysis, it was designed a conflict mapping and identified the main outcomes of the conflict that confirms the research hypothesis.