Example Environmental Studies Essay

The programme and promotion of global environmental concern and sustainability.

Cotswold Canal Regeneration Portfolio

The regeneration project can be considered an example of environmentalmicro-management. In the same way that it is possible to cause a change bytackling a major issue across a system, it is also possible to cause a changeby tackling a number of minor issues.

The disadvantage of tackling major issues is their inertia, whichrequires more resources and more time to achieve an effect. The disadvantage oftackling minor issues is that their individual impact is more difficult to beassessed within a global frame.

In the case of environmental sustainability, however, there is anadvantage in solving a problem close to the public. As long as the publicrealises the benefits of sustainability/restoration policies, small scaleenvironmental restoration projects may win over the public to support moreradical policies (on manufacturing, emissions, etc). This is important due tothe conflics between conservation, technology and economics in policy making(Portney, 1992)

Particular aspects of the environmental background of the Cotswold canals.

In the specific case of thisproject, there are a number of considerations concerning the environmentalbenefit of the canal restoration project. It is true that a more or lessrunning course of water (the open canal) is preferred to a more or lessstagnant water body (the derelict canal). Stagnant waters may not only lookunattractive, but in hot seasons may become a source of disease and discomfort.

The Cotswold canals had beenabandoned completely from 1941, although some sections had been abandoned in1927 and the last cargo boat passed its summit in 1911. The canal had beenbuilt in successive stages, starting in 1757. The climatic point was theopening of the summit of the canal in 1786. Connection from the Severn to theThames rivers was achieved in 1789. Because of a series of design flaws in thelocks, and also because of cracks in the canal bed at the summit, the canalwasted huge amounts of waters.

The Regeneration project in terms of sustainability.

The above information shows that the Cotswold canal was a disruption ofthe environment and actually was draining water from some areas, changing theavailability of water in the catchment area and the reception area (or wastingit, as was the case at the summit).

So, from a direct point ofview, the maximum apparent environmental benefit would come from undoing thecanal. By choosing adequately the landfill materials used to make sure they areinert (e.g. earth from a construction work) it could be closed. By digging outand building or rebuilding structures, actually pollution and materials to bedisposed will be generated. Topping (Turner, 1995) indicates that according toCIEC (1992) the construction industry was responsible by 1992 both of using 50%of all the available landfill volume and of wasting about 10% of all theconstruction materials used. However, undoing the canals is a negative actioncourse, and the complete undoing would not provide anything remarkable.Landscape management on the other hand falls within EU conservation policieis(Lowe and Ward, 1998).

On the other hand, policyaspects on sustainability can certainly be developed by supporting the CotswoldCanal Restoration Project.

Strengths and Weaknesses of the Programme.

Weaknesses include the factthat the canal is not going to be profitable commercially and that it relies onvolunteer work. This means that the programme may come under scrutiny on thegrounds that it will not be able to show benefits, for example, in terms ofreduced consumption of fuel for transportation of goods/passengers.

The Stroud District Council,in its Thames and Severn Canals Restoration Position Statement clearly statesthat it expects economic advantages to come from tourism and employment derivedfrom construction and development. It fails to mention the canal as acommercial trade route. Reliance on a volunteer workforce hints to the lack ofinterest by investors and companies in the project.

The environmental aims are minor and may be criticised by environmentalaction groups. After all, preserving or restoring wildlife is not the same aslandscape management. A more potent case of canal restoration is the RochdaleCanal, in Greater Manchester (Manchester Forum, 2001). In this case, therestoration has amongst its purposes to guarantee the survival of one of thelargest colonies of floating water plantain (Luronium Natans) which has thrivedin this canal during its disuse. This plant is a water weed nearly extinctwhich is protected by both UK and European legislation. The Rochdale Canal isalso home to other rare water weeds like water soldier, fringed water lily andAmerican pond weed. In the Rochdale case a strong case on conservation ofbiodiversity, relevant to gloval environmental issues is made (Harris, 2004)The Stroud District Council, in its Thames and Severn Canals RestorationPosition Statement fails to mention any specific cases in which biodiversitywill be preserved by the restoration project

Strengths are mainly two. Thefirst come from the fact that the programme creates a local volunteer workforceand therefore identifies highly motivated and environmentally aware individualswho might be committed to other environmental initiatives. This may includeeither working in other environmental projects, in specific environmentalcampaigns, or generally supporting sustainability policies and lobbying withthe political parties, and the various councils. Raising awareness is part ofthe EU Environmental Action Plan (EU EAP, 2002)

Additionally, the will havean effect which may be considered as environmentally conservative, as it willbe restoring a previous, more desirable state of being of the canals and theirenvironment. In the long run, restoring the canal may provide leisureopportunities, a relatively better ecological situation, some level ofbusiness, a more appealing landscape, increase the chances of population movinginto the area from more saturated parts of the country helping dispersepopulation and its environmental impact and, most importantly, will impressupon the local community of the benefits of environmental restoration projectsin general. In the long run, the programme may contribute to create in thewider population a favourable disposition to environmental sustainabilitypolicies.

Main Issues of theProgramme.

The main issues are economicand social. There is the potential interest of the owners of various stretchesof the former canals to retain current property. These include private ownersowning parts of the canal which have been filled in, and industrial owners,including water utilities owning stretches of the canals or transportauthorities controlling roads built in parts of the canals which have beenfilled in. However, private owners along the canals are going to benefit fromthe restoration, as in some points the state of conservation of the canal, withmuddy water, weeds, stagnant water does not add to the quality of life of thelocal population.

On the other hand, the aimsdeclared for exploitation by the Stroud District Council are mainly connectedwith leisure. They intend to attract tourism, to attract population to settlein the area (neighbourhood regeneration as described by Stroud DistrictCouncil) and to attract contracts for the development of the area around thecanal, besides the regeneration of the canal itself. It is difficult to imaginemajor tensions in connection with said initiatives.

Justification Of The Proposed Action Plan.

As indicated above, the mainconcern of the authorities and partnerships involved is on restoration of thecanal and its environment for leisure than with a view of recreating asustainable environment (which would mean a self-sustaining environment,protected to some extent from outside influences, e.g. pollution sources, andtherefore not requiring direct action to keep it going, but indirect action toprevent external factors to interfere).

With this in mind, andconsidering that the main purpose of my action plan is to promotesustainability, the logical direction is to use the project as a focus forenvironmentalist mobilisation. This idea was presented already in Strengths andWeaknesses. It can be further developed by declaring the aim of the Action Planto create a gathering of environmentally minded individuals, work with them inthe Action Plan, probe the inherent weaknesses of the initiative in discussionwith them, articulate on the basis of the debate between its members a cohesiveaction group, and have the action group take responsibility for politicallobbying for more effective environmental policies. A motivated action group,aware of the need to brake economic growth on a varied evidence of its impacton the environment through poor choice of technological options (Harremes etal, 2002)

The key strength of theProposal Action Plan is that it does not antagonise any of the parties involvedduring the execution of actions connected with the Restoration of the Cotswoldcanals. It does not antagonise town councils, the district council, theCotswold canals partnership or the residents (at least beyond what they may beantagonised by the intent of purchasing from them part of their property ofotherwise taking it back from them.

Adequacy of the proposed programme.

The programme includes assteps procurement of the local government, publicity of the plans, collectionof feedback, creation of task groups, generation of a background report,proposition of an action plan, discussion and amendment of the action plan,definition of a road map, identifying contractors and subcontractors, seekfunding, whether public funding, industrial sponsorship or privatesubscriptions. The procedure is straightforward and consistent with practicewithin organisation ranging from city council to EU research programmes (EUResearch, 2005).

The advantage of the specificactions points chosen is that they fit well with policies of urbanconservation, and therefore can be naturally embraced by the local governmentas they are identical to their own policies for urban areas. This prevents thepossibility of conflicts.

Strengths and weaknesses of the proposed partnership between local government and the community.

The main weakness of thepartnership is that being locally based and on the basis of its inherentweaknesses as a true environmental initiative, it is more likely to beshowcased as wasteful or resources which could be allocated to more clearlyconservationist policies. Against that criticism, which might come initiallyfrom small groups but could later be taken up by larger environmentalprotection organisations (e.g. Greenpeace) a small and little known partnershiphas a lower profile upon which to support its rebuttal of criticism. Also, asthe local authority has no control on decision making beyond its sphere ofinfluence, it is restricted in its ability to show how it can integrate itsinitiative within a larger framework of environmental protection activities.

On the other hand, thestrength of the partnership is based on the closeness of both parties and theirawareness, or ability to gain awareness, of the issues involved. Also, thepartnership derives strength from the immediacy and direct evidence of anybenefits derived from the implementation of the action plan, including theevident improvement in the landscape, and the potential for business andleisure. While the reasons why the wider community may be expected to becommitted are described before, the nature of the environmental action plan issynergistic with the broader aims of the local council.

Local population: needs and characteristics.

The population can be described in terms of their occupation and the trade sector they work in. Thereare some 76,000 people aged 16 to 74 years. Those working can be broken down asfollows:

By type of work
Managers	Professional	Clerical	Skilled trades	Personal service	Sales and customer service	Plant and machineoperatives	Elementary occupations
8,400	6,900	6,200	7,280	3,500	3,200	4,900	5,500

The breakdown suggests that there is a substantial number of people with relatively high income: one thirdof all people are managers (in fact, managers or senior officials). Thisbreakdown becomes more clear when distributing the po9pulation by trade:

By activity
Real state, renting,business activities	6,400	Wholesale, retail andrepair of motoring vehicles	8,000
Financial intermediation	1,950	Agriculture	1,300
Public administrations anddefence	2,400	Manufacturing	10,250
Education	4,400	Construction	3,800
Health & social work	5,700	Electicity and water supply	950
Hotels & catering	2,000	Mining and quarrying	140
Transport, storage andcommunication	2,600	Fishing	15
Other	2,400

It is not difficult to seewhy the emphasis by local councils is on the leisure potential of the project,and why the true sustainable character in it is limited. The fact that theenvironmental aspects of the project are weak and the strong influence of officialdom,estate-related business and financial services in the make-up of the communityreinforces the case for a soft environmentalist approach focused on creatinga committed lobbying group for future action.

The mechanism within the Action Plan.

As indicated, the action planis intended to mobilize individuals with a predisposition to workaltruistically in activities aimed to the improvement of the environment. Thespecific points of action, e.g. disposal of litter, elimination of graffiti,gardening are not conflictive with the leading aim to convert the area in aleisure and tourism resort. In this way the group could be formed, initiate itsactivities and consolidate.

Working with companies andthe administration will provide the group members with the contacts andhopefully insight of the aims and interests of the various parties, which wouldbe valuable when considering further initiatives on sustainability, in terms ofrelevance to the various parties, existence of conflicts or possibility ofsupport: companies willing to go green (Sadgrove 1992)

Internal debate within theaction group should provide it with the opportunity to establish a longer termaim on environmental issues within the region, e.g. availability of technologywhich may convert the Cotswold Canals in a significant goods transport routewith positive impact on issues like greenhouse gas emissions, etc.

CONCLUSIONS.

The proposed action planintends to use the momentum of the Cotswold Canals Restoration Project tocreate a local lobby of environmentally aware and motivated people to pursue abroad range of initiatives to promote environmental conservation andsustainability.