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Abstract
Interdisciplinary research and transdisciplinary processes as part of environmental management respond to the increasing complexity of socio-natural changes in recent decades. Two similar studies of eutrophication in raw water reservoirs for drinking water production in Norway and China are used to discuss interdisciplinary research and transdisciplinary processes organised through the DPSIR framework (drivers, pressures, states, impacts, and responses) as instruments for environmental management. The conclusion is that interdisciplinary research and transdisciplinary processes can enhance the understanding of complex socio-natural processes under distinctly different institutional systems. The DPSIR framework was not necessary for achieving the desired result.
Acknowledgement
The authors want to thank anonymous peer reviewers, as well as the editor for constructive comments. Furthermore, we thank all respondents and interviewees, as well as local assistants for contributing to the project; and the Research Council of Norway which funded the research, project numbers RCN: 190028 (Eutropia) and RCN: 209687 (SinoTropia).
Notes
1. The highest preserved shoreline of the Holocene Epoch.
2. In addition to interviews, the project also included an economic modelling based on Bayesian theory. This is not presented here since it is not used in the current article.
3. The respondents were asked beforehand whether they allowed recording or not. All except one agreed to recording of the interview. G.I. Orderud was taking part in all and S. Holen was taking part in nine of the 23 interviews.
4. The 18 that were recorded and transcribed were conducted by G.I. Orderud, and the four others were conducted by J. Naustdalslid. The reason for not recording and transcribing was a preference for taking notes during interviews.
5. These documents were analysed by J. Naustdalslid.
6. The survey was overseen by the responsible researcher (G.I. Orderud) and carried out with the help of four graduate students from the Nankai University (Tianjin). J. Luo (Chinese Academy of Sciences) organised the survey and J. Wang (Nankai University) was present on the first day.
7. The interviews were conducted by three graduate students from the Nankai University (Tianjin) – R. Li, L. Shi, and H. Tan, under the guidance of J. Luo (Chinese Academy of Social Sciences).
8. The focus group interviews were conducted by J. Luo and J. Shu (Chinese Academy of Social Sciences).
9. The county governor’s office is the representative of the central government at the regional level, monitoring, guiding, and controlling activities and actions at the local level.
10. The members are the 11 municipalities of the watershed (Enebakk, Ski, Vestby, Äs, Frogn, Spydeberg, Hoböl, Väler, Moss, Rygge and Räde) represented by their mayors (voting power), the County Governors of Östfold and of Oslo and Akershus, the Counties of Östfold and of Akershus, The Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate, and the Norwegian Food Safety Authority. In addition representatives of Oslo municipality, the Farmers’ Union of Östfold and of Akershus, the Association of Nature and Leisure, MOVAR, Vansjö Property Owners’ Association, and Moss User Rights’ Association all have the right to attend meetings.
11. Agricultural production in Norway is strongly regulated, with annual negotiations between representatives of farmers’ organisations and the central government, with the Parliament voting on the results; that is, both the overall allocation of funds and its structure.
12. The dominant producer of mineral fertilisers had to develop a new production line for providing a type with less phosphorus and was reluctant to do so.
13. The map basis did not have the necessary granularity and actual classification work may not have been sufficiently detailed. The map basis is being improved by digital topographical scanning with two points per square metre as the standard, but with options for more points in prioritised areas.
14. Interdisciplinary papers on the Chinese case have been written and published, by social scientists from both countries, but the natural scientists have been Norwegians.
15. Research Centre for Eco-environmental Sciences (RCEES) under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Tianjin Research Academy of Environmental Sciences (TAES), Institute of Urban and Environmental Studies (IJUES) under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
16. Department of Chemistry and Department of Biology at the University of Oslo (UiO); Norwegian Institute for Water Research (NIVA); and Norwegian Institute of Urban and Regional Research (NIBR).