Transparent Planning Research Articles

Ключові аспекти та підходи управління ESG-програмами на підприємствах агропромислового комплексу України

The article analyzes the importance of integrating environmental, social and governance (ESG) principles into the activities of enterprises of the agro-industrial complex of Ukraine in the context of global challenges, such as climate change and social inequality. There is a substantiated need to adapt international experience to Ukrainian realities and include ESG programs in the strategic management of enterprises. The key aspects of this approach are characterized, including transparent planning, organization, management and control of resources. The article also discusses the practical aspects of the implementation of ESG programs, in particular the project approach, which consists of clearly defining goals and objectives, detailed planning, creating a project team, effective communication and coordination, constant monitoring of progress and making adjustments. It is proved that the implementation of an ESG strategy requires a system approach and constant adaptation to changes in the external environment and internal processes of the company. The structure of the program for the implementation of the ESG strategy is proposed, which includes the analysis of the current state of the enterprise, the definition of goals and indicators, the development and implementation of policies and procedures, training and involvement of staff, monitoring and reporting. The main stages of the implementation of ESG programs are characterized, such as management involvement and policy setting, risk and opportunity assessment, development of an ESG action plan, implementation of ESG measures, monitoring and evaluation of results, communication and reporting. It is proved that the implementation of ESG programs at the level of enterprises of the agro-industrial complex of Ukraine contributes to reducing risks, increasing competitiveness, attracting investments and ensuring long-term sustainable development. Research shows that effective implementation of ESG programs requires a systematic approach that includes clear planning, organization, management, and control of resources. It is also important to ensure proper communication and coordination between project team members, as well as regularly monitor progress and make adjustments. Therefore, the management of ESG programs in the agro-industrial complex of Ukraine should become a strategic priority, which will help increase competitiveness, attract investment and ensure long-term sustainable development.

Small- or Medium-Sized Enterprise Uses Operations Research to Select and Develop its Headquarters Location

Location decisions are strategic and usually multicriteria. In decision making, companies need to anticipate future developments at potential locations. Company-driven and municipal development measures change location conditions over time. For location-seeking companies, the realization of municipal measures is fraught with uncertainty. They are planned by several municipal actors, and their long-term implications are hard to predict. Thus, the early-systematic consideration of company-internal and -external development measures is vital for decision makers (DMs) in a future-oriented location assessment. In our paper, we develop a robust decision support framework for companies to solve the regional facility location and development planning problem (RFLDP). Our framework includes a quantitative planning approach based on established operations research (OR) optimization models and a practical guideline for a structured acquisition of relevant data. The chief executive officer (CEO) (or DM) of a small- or medium-sized enterprise (SME) asked us to solve his acute RFLDP. For this, we proposed a systematic workflow and accompanied the SME’s regional facility location and development planning. In doing so, we structured the CEO’s decision-making process effectively and created an objective-transparent basis for his strategic decisions. The core feature of our work is the inclusion of the human factor of DMs, as we interacted with the CEO along his decision-making process to gradually develop decision recommendations. As a result, the SME benefited from a better-informed and transparent planning process. We recommended a decision option that was structurally superior to other options, which emerged from the CEO’s intuition and conventional facility location problem solution approaches. Other stakeholders also benefited from the results of our work. History: This paper was refereed. Funding: This work was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) [Grant 439640382].

Environmental governance of a Belt and Road project in Montenegro – National agency and external influences

China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is an ambitious effort to increase trans-continental connectivity and cooperation mainly through infrastructure investments and trade. On the one hand, this globally unparalleled initiative is expected to foster economic growth, but on the other hand, it can have substantial environmental implications. The BRI creates new challenges and opportunities for environmental governance as new actor constellations emerge in BRI host countries to plan and construct large infrastructure projects. Although China has outlined its vision of building a “green Belt and Road”, it remains unknown how it unfolds on the ground.As an example of a BRI project with clear environmental implications, we present a case study of the Bar-Boljare highway in Montenegro. Based on expert interviews, we elucidate the complex web of actors and contractual arrangements involved, and demonstrate how internal and external actors exert influence on domestic environmental governance in this EU candidate country in the Western Balkans. We find that Montenegro has substantial agency over the environmental governance of this BRI project, but shows little concern over the environmental impacts of the project. Environmental issues could have been prevented during the spatial planning phase, but important governance instruments such as the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) were of limited effectiveness due to its fast and late completion, lack of assessment of alternative routes, and the limited enforcement of the provisions therein. International institutions like the EU or UNESCO have drawn on their normative power in environmental governance to demand greater environmental safeguards from Montenegrin authorities. This case is illustrative of a larger set of BRI projects which run the risk of falling short on sustainability due to a lack of environmentally sound and transparent planning and implementation.

Integrative analysis of multimodal traffic data: addressing open challenges using big data analytics in the city of Lisbon

Worldwide cities are establishing efforts to collect urban traffic data from various modes and sources. Integrating traffic data, together with their situational context, offers more comprehensive views on the ongoing mobility changes and supports enhanced management decisions accordingly. Hence, cities are becoming sensorized and heterogeneous sources of urban data are being consolidated with the aim of monitoring multimodal traffic patterns, encompassing all major transport modes—road, railway, inland waterway—, and active transport modes such as walking and cycling. The research reported in this paper aims at bridging the existing literature gap on the integrative analysis of multimodal traffic data and its situational urban context. The reported work is anchored on the major findings and contributions from the research and innovation project Integrative Learning from Urban Data and Situational Context for City Mobility Optimization (ILU), a multi-disciplinary project on the field of artificial intelligence applied to urban mobility, joining the Lisbon city Council, public carriers, and national research institutes. The manuscript is focused on the context-aware analysis of multimodal traffic data with a focus on public transportation, offering four major contributions. First, it provides a structured view on the scientific and technical challenges and opportunities for data-centric multimodal mobility decisions. Second, rooted on existing literature and empirical evidence, we outline principles for the context-aware discovery of multimodal patterns from heterogeneous sources of urban data. Third, Lisbon is introduced as a case study to show how these principles can be enacted in practice, together with some essential findings. Finally, we instantiate some principles by conducting a spatiotemporal analysis of multimodality indices in the city against available context. Concluding, this work offers a structured view on the opportunities offered by cross-modal and context-enriched analysis of traffic data, motivating the role of Big Data to support more transparent and inclusive mobility planning decisions, promote coordination among public transport operators, and dynamically align transport supply with the emerging urban traffic dynamics.

Exploring the Synergy between Two Modular Learning Techniques for Automated Planning

In the last decade the emphasis on improving the operational performance of domain independent automated planners has been in developing complex techniques which merge a range of different strategies. This quest for operational advantage, driven by the regular international planning competitions, has not made it easy to study, understand and predict what combinations of techniques will have what effect on a planner’s behaviour in a particular application domain. In this paper, we consider two machine learning techniques for planner performance improvement, and exploit a modular approach to their combination in order to facilitate the analysis of the impact of each individual component. We believe this can contribute to the development of more transparent planning engines, which are designed using modular, interchangeable, and well-founded components. Specifically, we combined two previously unrelated learning techniques, entanglements and relational decision trees, to guide a “vanilla” search algorithm. We report on a large experimental analysis which demonstrates the effectiveness of the approach in terms of performance improvements, resulting in a very competitive planning configuration despite the use of a more modular and transparent architecture. This gives insights on the strengths and weaknesses of the considered approaches, that will help their future exploitation.

A Systematic Review to Compare Chemical Hazard Predictions of the Zebrafish Embryotoxicity Test With Mammalian Prenatal Developmental Toxicity.

Originally developed to inform the acute toxicity of chemicals on fish, the zebrafish embryotoxicity test (ZET) has also been proposed for assessing the prenatal developmental toxicity of chemicals, potentially replacing mammalian studies. Although extensively evaluated in primary studies, a comprehensive review summarizing the available evidence for the ZET’s capacity is lacking. Therefore, we conducted a systematic review of how well the presence or absence of exposure-related findings in the ZET predicts prenatal development toxicity in studies with rats and rabbits. A two-tiered systematic review of the developmental toxicity literature was performed, a review of the ZET literature was followed by one of the mammalian literature. Data were extracted using DistillerSR, and study validity was assessed with an amended SYRCLE's risk-of-bias tool. Extracted data were analyzed for each species and substance, which provided the basis for comparing the 2 test methods. Although limited by the number of 24 included chemicals, our results suggest that the ZET has potential to identify chemicals that are mammalian prenatal developmental toxicants, with a tendency for overprediction. Furthermore, our analysis confirmed the need for further standardization of the ZET. In addition, we identified contextual and methodological challenges in the application of systematic review approaches to toxicological questions. One key to overcoming these challenges is a transition to more comprehensive and transparent planning, conduct and reporting of toxicological studies. The first step toward bringing about this change is to create broad awareness in the toxicological community of the need for and benefits of more evidence-based approaches.

Marine spatial plans focusing on biodiversity conservation: The case of the Aegean Sea

AbstractThe expansion and intensification of marine uses have severe cumulative impacts on marine ecosystems and human well‐being, unless they are properly managed with an ecosystem‐based management approach.A systematic conservation planning approach, usingmarxan with zones, was applied to generate alternative marine spatial plans for the Aegean Sea. Relevant human uses were included and their cumulative impact on a wide set of key biodiversity features was considered in the analysis. Different cost scenarios were developed to gain insight on the effects of the approaches used to assess socio‐economic factors, and their potential impact on spatial plans.The spatial plans generated differed greatly depending on the method used to estimate opportunity costs and evaluate human activities in monetary terms.The vulnerability weights (the relative vulnerability of ecological features to specific human activities and their impacts) that were estimated based on a cumulative impact assessment, allowed the assessment of each zone in contributing to the achievement of conservation targets, through a transparent planning approach.Results indicate that special care should be given to how socio‐economic activities, their impact on the ecosystems, and related costs are incorporated into planning.The proposed approach demonstrates how EU member states may effectively comply with the new Biodiversity Strategy 2030 targets, while planning for the sustainable use of their marine resources.

Strategies for Successful Research to Application Projects: A Case Study of the National Sea Grant College Program

As coastal landscapes change, management professionals are working hard to transition research results into actions that support scientifically informed decisions impacting coastal communities. This type of research faces many challenges due to competing priorities, but boundary spanning organizations can help mediate these conflicts by forming transdisciplinary collaborations. The National Sea Grant College Program (Sea Grant), a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration based agency, is a networked organization of 34 university-based state programs that uses a three pronged approach of research, extension, and education to move academic research into the hands of stakeholders and decision makers. The objective of this study is to better understand strategies for successful research to application (R2A) projects that address complex environmental problems occurring in a socio-economic context. Specifically, this work examines R2A projects from the Sea Grant network to better understand the drivers for project development and common deliverables produced through the R2A process. We identify five common facilitating factors that enabled ‘successful’ R2A across all projects: platforms for partnerships, iterative communication, transparent planning, clear examples of R2A, and graduate student involvement. By providing examples of successful frameworks, we hope to encourage more organizations to engage in the R2A process.

Challenges posed by COVID-19 and neurosurgical nursing strategies in developing countries.

Background: Neurosurgical patients with stroke, trauma, and brain tumors can be among the victims of the COVID-19 pandemic in developing countries, which need to be managed efficiently.Methods: This is an overview of neurosurgical nurses’ challenges and strategies in the current COVID-19 pandemic environment in developing countries.Results: Here, we reviewed the unique challenges of providing neurosurgical nursing services during the COVID-19 pandemic in developing countries. We address specific issues such as transferring neurosurgical patients, allocating medical supplies, prioritizing neurosurgical services, COVID-19 testing protocols, and patient triage (emergent vs. urgent vs. delayed surgery). Teleconsultation, telenursing services for outpatient treatment, follow-up and virtual teaching strategies associated with neurosurgical nursing are discussed.Conclusion: Neurosurgical nursing during the COVID-19 pandemic in developing countries requires transparent planning, implementation, and careful consideration of various telemedicine strategies.

Impact of Utilizing Expertise to Project Risk and Performance

Organizations have had difficulty in finding good project and risk management techniques that will deliver high performing projects. Research has identified common risks that occur on projects, but previous research has had difficulty coming up with reliable methods to mitigate those risks. However, the Best Value Approach (BVA) has proven to be effective in minimizing risk and increasing project performance. The crux of the BVA is the utilization of experts to minimize project risk. The BVA approach is unique from other project management methodologies which focus on increasing communication, collaboration and decision making. Previous research shows that client stakeholders are the cause of the majority of project risks, while the expert vendors usually do not cause risk on a project. It has been observed that expert vendors are able to minimize client stakeholder risk by transparent planning and tracking. Using case study research, an expert contractor’s project is analyzed to determine the impact of using the BVA project management methodology to minimize project risk. As a result, the contractor did not cause any risk based on time and cost and helped the client minimize their risk. The research identifies eight risk mitigating actions the contractor applied through the BVA. The majority of the risk mitigating actions were performed primarily in the preparation and preplanning phases of the project.

From megaprojects to tourism gentrification? The case of Santa Cruz Verde 2030 (Canary Islands, Spain)

The inner-city oil refinery in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain, has been shaping the city’s urbanism as an employer, but also as a polluter and a physical barrier for more than 80 years. The megaproject Santa Cruz Verde 2030 aims at transforming this area into a mixed-use urban quarter. Based on a mixed methods approach, this paper analyses the impacts of the megaproject by means of document, spatial and statistical analyses. The project is estimated to increase the city’s green areas by 39 % and the number of hotel beds by 70 %, provoking a strong touristifaction. Santa Cruz Verde 2030 stands for a new type of megaprojects, offering a variety of uses and sustainability wordings. Nevertheless, the impacts might reconfigure the city’s urbanism as a whole, shifting centralities to its southwest. On a neighbourhood level, spillover effects are expected to have diverging consequences. While in the Los Llanos neighbourhood gentrification and tourism are fostered, in Buenos Aires the megaproject implies the opportunity to integrate this currently segregated quarter into the city. Against this background, the paper outlines the necessity of transparent planning and monitoring processes, in order to ensure the sustainability of this new urban quarter.

Development of magnesium implants by application of conjoint-based quality function deployment.

Biodegradable magnesium-based implants are the subject of a great deal of research for different orthopedic and vascular applications. The targeted design and properties depend on the specific medical function and location in the body. Development of the biomaterial requires a comprehensive understanding of the biological interaction between the implant and the host tissue, as well as of the behavior in the physiological environment in vivo. Research into and the development of innovative magnesium implants entails interdisciplinary research efforts and communication between materials science, bioscience, and medical experts. The present study provides a transparent planning and communication tool for market-oriented implant development processes. The objective was to identify medical needs at an early stage of the development process and to quantify the importance of the engineering characteristics of different research fields that cater to specific implant requirements. The method is demonstrated by the performance of a survey-based conjoint analysis, which was integrated into a quality function deployment approach. Twenty-seven medical professionals and 29 biomaterial scientists assessed the importance of identified medical requirements, whereby the control of mechanical integrity and degradation along with nontoxicity and nonimmunogenicity showed the highest number of preferences. The evaluation of implant options by 31 experts indicated that the engineering characteristic with the highest importance was the condition and sterilization of the surface. These values can be used to set priorities in strategic decisions. Research trials can be aligned to medical preferences, ensuring high product quality and an effective development process. This is the first paper to report on the application of conjoint-based quality function deployment in biomaterial research.

Tradeoffs in defense strategic planning: lessons from the U.S. Quadrennial Defense Review

ABSTRACT Defense ministries conduct strategic planning in various ways. In this article I outline tradeoffs in the design of strategic planning processes, and consider the implications of these tradeoffs for choices about the conduct of defense planning in different circumstances. Whereas an inclusive and transparent planning process is well-suited to building internal and external buy-in for a defense strategy, a more exclusive and opaque process is more likely to generate a defense strategy that departs from the status quo and speaks candidly about key challenges. The design of a defense planning process should therefore be informed by certain features of its context, such as whether the international security environment is stable or in flux and whether the defense ministry enjoys or lacks strong political support. I base the article’s findings on an in-depth analysis of the U.S. Quadrennial Defense Review, which served for nearly two decades as the major strategy process of the U.S. Department of Defense. This analysis draws on interviews I conducted of 23 defense officials and experts, as well as primary and secondary sources. More generally, my findings highlight for scholars and practitioners the importance of understanding how planning processes can shape defense and national security policies.

Review of Regional Development Planning Based on the Human Rights Principles

The current development paradigm is still dominated by the neoclassical economic perspective which sees economic development as a mechanical and simplistic process, without the need to look at aspects of respect, protection, and fulfillment of human rights, although, human rights is the first state responsibility of government. As a result, human rights are not the focus of development policy-making. Human rights and development have a mutually reinforcing relationship that will direct the efforts towards a higher quality of development.On this basis, this study shines a spotlight and examines the management of regional development planning with a human rights basis. To get an idea of ​​the reality, researchers use three areas as a sample, namely: Batang (Central Java), Trenggalek (East Java), and Tanjungpinang (Riau Islands). Existing practices are examined with a human rights-based approach, namely: the formulation process, main content, implementation mechanisms, and protection and restoration. Furthermore, a descriptive qualitative approach is selected to describe the process, understand the nonconformities as well as identify the planning process and the implementation of the development plan. For that, primary data collection is done through interview techniques, focused discussions, and field observation. While for secondary data collection through a literature study. The study shows that the fulfillment of the right to healthcare, education, and food has become priorities in regional development planning. A more transparent and accountable planning approach also opens opportunities to make human right-based development planning as the mainstream. The prerequisites driving factors lie in the dynamics of regional regulation and the commitment of the regional heads with the vision and mission outlined in the RPJMD, including a commitment to maintain a transparent, accountable and clean bureaucracy. In conclusion, the transparent planning approach in the RPJMD needs to be balanced by using human rights standards to improve the quality of human development in the region.

A Spatial Electricity Market Model for the Power System of Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan envisions a transition towards a green economy in the next decades which poses an immense challenge as the country heavily depends on (hydro-)carbon resources, for both its economy and its energy system. In this context, there is a lack of comprehensive and transparent planning tools to assess possible sustainable development pathways in regard to their technical, economic, and environmental implications. We present such a tool with a comprehensive techno-economic model of the Kazakh electricity system which determines the hourly least-cost generation dispatch based on publicly available data on the technical and economic characteristics of power plants and the transmission infrastructure. This modeling framework accounts for the particularities of the Kazakh electricity system: i) it has a detailed representation of combined heat and power, and ii) line losses are endogenously determined using a linear approximation. Model results are examined for a typical winter week (with annual peak load) and a typical summer week (with the hour of lowest annual load) presenting regionally and temporally disaggregated results for power generation, line utilization, and nodal prices. In an application to market design, the paper compares nodal and zonal pricing as two possible pricing schemes in Kazakhstan for the envisioned strengthening of the day-ahead market. In general, the model can be readily used to analyze the least-cost dispatch of the current Kazakh electricity system and can be easily expanded to assess the sector's development. Among others, possible applications include investment in transmission lines and in the aging power plant fleet, scenarios and policy assessment for emission reduction, and questions of market liberalization and market design.

The changing decision-making narratives in 25 years of TEN-T policies

Abstract This paper reviews changes in the role and practice of planners in the last 25 years of European policy on the Trans-European Network for Transport (TEN-T)., aiming at describing the role of technicians in the decision-making process, and their contribution to the consolidation of collaborative and transparent planning practices. The review highlights the driving forces that have use technical considerations to merely create a self-justifying narrative of a process dominated by the institutional stakeholders. The key aspects examined include (1) the respective roles of institutional decision makers (at EU and national levels), other stakeholders and the public; (2) the technical tools mobilized in the process; and (4) the evolution of the prevailing narratives, their rationale, the factual evidence behind them, and their capacity to build up consensus and to empower or to alienate key stakeholders. The TEN-T process was effectively captured by a coalition of EC and national transport services, as a means to claim more resources for transport infrastructure expansion. The coalition was backed by most of the transport stakeholders, in spite of some minor criticisms (on modal distribution….), as a way to get access to public funding. The academic criticism has not resulted in any changes (although has produced some self-justifying reports from the EC); legal and institutional windows to strengthen the planning process have not resulted in more collaborative practices or enhanced review practices.

Towards Regenerated and Productive Vacant Areas through Urban Horticulture: Lessons from Bologna, Italy

In recent years, urban agriculture has been asserting its relevance as part of a vibrant and diverse food system due to its small scale, its focus on nutrition, its contribution to food security, its employment opportunities, and its role in community building and social mobility. Urban agriculture may also be a tool to re-appropriate a range of abandoned or unused irregular spaces within the city, including flowerbeds, roundabouts, terraces, balconies and rooftops. Consistently, all spaces that present a lack of identity may be converted to urban agriculture areas and, more specifically, to urban horticulture as a way to strengthen resilience and sustainability. The goal of this paper is to analyse current practices in the requalification of vacant areas as urban gardens with the aim of building communities and improving landscapes and life quality. To do so, the city of Bologna (Italy) was used as a case study. Four types of vacant areas were identified as places for implementing urban gardens: flowerbeds along streets and squares, balconies and rooftops, abandoned buildings and abandoned neighbourhoods. Six case studies representing this variety of vacant areas were identified and evaluated by collecting primary data (i.e., field work, participant observations and interviews) and performing a SWOT analysis. For most cases, urban horticulture improved the image and quality of the areas as well as bringing numerous social benefits in terms of life quality, food access and social interaction among participants. Strong differences in some aspects were found between top-down and bottom-up initiatives, being the later preferable for the engagement of citizens. Policy-making might focus on participatory and transparent planning, long-term actions, food safety and economic development.

Targeted nanoparticle delivery of a novel nitric oxide donor increased fetal weight in a mouse model of fetal growth restriction

Promotion of bioenergy production is an important contemporary topic around the world. Vast amounts of research are allocated towards analysing and understanding bioenergy systems, which are by nature multi-faceted. Despite a focus on the deployment of multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) methods for planning of bioenergy systems, only little research has addressed the location component of bioenergy facility planning. In this paper the authors develop a model for sustainable capacity expansion of the Danish biogas sector allowing for an identification and prioritization of suitable locations for biogas production. The model builds on a framework for spatial planning and decision making through the application of spatial multi-criteria evaluation (SMCE). The paper is structured around a case study including four Danish municipalities in order to demonstrate the power of the spatial multi-criteria evaluation model. The model allows a two level comparison of suitability, within municipalities as well as between municipalities. Criteria weights for generation of alternatives are obtained through an analytical hierarchy process (AHP) analysis, carried out among a group of Danish central governmental decision makers. We find that resource and production economic criteria are given highest priority followed by environmental and social criteria. In all four case study municipalities, the identified alternatives are compared through incorporating economic, environmental and social criteria. It is found that 4–6% of the municipal area is suitable for biogas facility location and among the best performing sustainable locations the potential of reducing overall production costs is 3% as compared with current biogas plants. The results of this paper can provide support to central governmental decision makers, regarding regional allocation of subsidies in the country. Likewise local decision makers can obtain important information for planning and decision support, allowing for a more inclusive and transparent planning procedure.

Against the wind: Local opposition to the German Energiewende

A growing number of local energy conflicts around wind power and power-grid extensions are slowing down the deployment of the German Energiewende. In this paper, a local conflict on wind energy in the state of Baden-Württemberg is analysed in detail. In the little community of Engelsbrand, local opposition against a planned wind park was able to turn around a set of favourable a priori conditions, such as a supporting state government planning process, a local supporter group, a transparent planning process, including a majority vote pro wind energy, and a round table discussion. Distancing itself from the NIMBY-explanation (‘Not In My Back Yard’), the paper applies insights from discourse network analysis and micro-sociology in order to study the local conflict dynamics. Special attention is given to the resource mobilisation strategies of the opponents, including social networks, mass and social media use. The paper ends by drawing some general conclusions for the German Energiewende.

Building an eco-hydrological framework for the management of large river systems

1.Rehabilitating degraded riverine landscapes in order to restore their ecosystem services require a scientific approach. The tasks include the development of methods for the assessment of ecological conditions and trends, for benchmarking of management alternatives and for the definition of ecological goals.2.The central challenge is to develop a coherent eco-hydrological research protocol analyzing the causal effects of hydrology on geomorphic processes and ecology.3.A major aspect is the formulation of ecological targets: historical reference conditions can be used to illustrate ecological deficiencies. However, at the planning and operational levels, they have to be substituted by a set of models which predict the responses towards management measures.4.Large scale restoration programmes should be accompanied by hypothesis-based research in order to analyze the effects of engineering measures and advance our understanding of river-floodplain ecology.5.A focus has to be the promotion of comprehensive management concepts, taking into account all concerned parties and assuring their active involvement. It is important to take advantage of management initiatives of various stakeholders, because governmental water policies rarely promote ecological improvement as a goal in itself.6.Institutional frameworks should be established with the mandate to develop large-scale and comprehensive rehabilitation concepts and guaranteeing transparent planning and decision processes. It is imperative that expert panels comprising of scientists, river-engineers, planners and managers are installed, with long-term mandates, clearly defined responsibilities and authority for decision making.