Despite six years of crisis in Syria, agriculture remains a key part of the economy. The sector still accounts for an estimated 26 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) and represents a critical safety net for the 6.7 million Syrians – including those internally displaced - who still remain in rural areas. However, agriculture and the livelihoods that depend on it have suffered massive loss. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has now conducted the first comprehensive nationwide assessment on the cost of the war to the agriculture sector.

Environmental governance in the context of climate change and land use is examined with the aim of specifying the conditions under which the incorporation of effective public participation in the governance process can be achieved. This is done through an examination of the preferences of the actors involved, an analysis of the land use issues in climate change governance in Thailand, the extant institutional arrangements for public participation, the difficulties of implementing effective public participation, and possible ways of mitigating these challenges.

Het nuttig toepassen van grond of baggerspecie kan als kans worden gezien in gebiedsontwikkeling of natuurontwikkeling in en rond een diepe plas. Om een optimale keuze voor inrichting en functie te kunnen maken, moeten verschillende aspecten worden afgewogen. Hiervoor is de MCA Verondiepen ontwikkeld, een multicriteria-instrument om stakeholders op een gestructureerde wijze een analyse te kunnen doen van de huidige functie en kwaliteit, impact van herinrichting, en mogelijke nieuwe functie en kwaliteit.

This guide presents the 'Mapping for Rights' approach, which combines participatory mapping techniques, facilitation and hands-on support with the application of relevant and available technology. This combination of tools, guidance and equipment enables communities to identify advocacy goals that their maps could support. The maps are designed to provide a snapshot of the communities’ reality, including information on their history and socio- economic situation and demonstrate occupation and use of specific areas by communities.

Meaningful citizen participation in governance is a key ingredient for public reforms that were instituted by the Constitution of Kenya (CoK) 2010. Article 1 (1) of the Constitution vests all sovereign power to the people of Kenya. This power can be expressed through direct participation or indirectly through elected representatives. In addition, various pieces of legislations anchoring devolution highlight the principles of citizen participation. Together, these constitutional and legislative provisions avail various platforms for citizen participation in devolved governance.

De winning van delfstoffen uit de oppervlakte, het ontgronden, veroorzaakt een onomkeerbare verandering van het landschap. Naast het winnen van zand (ontzanden) kan het daarbij gaan om klei, grind, mergel en schelpen. Het proces om tot een ontgronding te komen is een langdurig traject waarbij verschillende belangen van ontgronder, gemeente en bewoners tegen elkaar dienen te worden afgewogen.

Public participation is an action or a series of actions a person takes to involve themselves in affairs of government or community. These activities include voting, attending meetings, participating in public or private political discussion or debate on issues, signing a petition on a desired government action or policy, volunteering in community activities and contributing money to a political party or candidate of one’s choice among other similar activities.

Objective: we want to explore values and methods of public participation in land use planning through analysis on values of public participation and case of Ji’an County in Jiangxi Province. Methods: document and data method, case analysis method, qualitative and quantitative combined methods. Results: public participation in land use plays a positive role in improving science and practice of planning.

This study examines the experiences and opinions of a “public” which became involved in a government driven comprehensive land use and natural resource planning exercise in British Columbia, Canada during the 1990s. While it is generally assumed to be an inherently good thing, or at least a politically necessary thing, to involve the public in natural resources or land use planning, few studies have examined the experiences of the public or examined perceived failures from the public's perspective.

In this report the authors aim to assess and evaluate historic and current changes in land use and forestry at the national and sub-national level in Sri Lanka. Different drivers, policies and data related to forest and land use are assessed to explore factors that have contributed to changes.

These are the main conclusions of the report:

Participants and non-participants of place-based groups: An assessment of attitudes and implications for public participation in water resource management

This article focuses on the role of environmental movements that have an influence on state policies regarding community forestry in Thailand. It analyses how conflicts between the state and local people over the right to manage forest resources have ceased to be seen as isolated incidents, but as part of a structural shortcoming in Thai law.