The Ecosystem Approach is increasingly being adopted as a framework for developing environmental policy because it forms a strategy for the management and sustainable use of land, water and living resources. Yet it is not clear how this approach translates into policies that will create the integrated management necessary to protect the environment and supply the benefits which society values. Here we explore the disconnect between current policy and legislation aiming to conserve and protect specific components of coastal wetland ecosystems, and the aspirations of the Ecosystem Approach. Using an estuarine case study, we illustrate the benefits that people value from coastal wetlands and evaluate the extent to which current institutional arrangements protect these benefits. We find that cultural services are the most valued, particularly recreational activities and the enhancement of human wellbeing through a sense of belonging. Although many laws exist that relate to different components of coastal wetland areas, a diversity of organisations are responsible for their implementation, and they do not always adequately protect the benefits most valued by people. In order to successfully move towards the implementation of an Ecosystem Approach, we argue that new institutional arrangements are required. These need to encompass formal laws that protect those ecosystem processes and functions that are necessary to support valued benefits, whilst recognising the need for bridging and coordinating networks of organisations for the integrated management of coastal wetlands.

Recent years have seen the emergence of two policy objectives and associated development trends in UK city centres relating to urban vitality and to the urban renaissance policy agenda. These involve a shift towards more city centre residential development and, associated with the 24-Hour City agenda, a shift towards the development of evening/night-time economies (ENTEs). Mixed land uses are seen as an essential component of this vitality. But conflicts often arise from different land uses in close proximity, which, in turn, suggests a need for the sensitive management of urban areas in general and the ENTE in particular. Focusing on the management of activities in space and time in the ENTE of UK cities, this article explores how planning and liquor licensing controls, the two main sets of contextual controls for the ENTE, provide both the context for more active forms of management and policing and frame an opportunity space for behaviour and conduct. The article's overarching argument is that the management of the ETNE should be considered in terms of a fine-grained understanding of space and time.

This paper considers the concept of environmental justice in Scotland. It reviews the research and developments in law and policy in this area, starting with the Dynamic Earth speech in Edinburgh in 2002. It analyses the findings by grouping causes and solutions to environmental justice and identifies a particularly wide definition of the concept in Scotland. It concludes that the inclusion of social justice is a defining feature of environmental justice in Scotland; however, measures to mitigate environmental injustice are being implemented in an incremental way, with the most significant achievements being through the implementation of international obligations.

ISBN 978 1 78471 810 7 (cased) ISBN 978 1 78471 811 4 (eBook)

This study considers the planning system in Scotland as it relates to waste management. It examines local, structure and waste disposal plans in nine areas to identify links between the two systems. Initial findings reveal that statutory plans have limited influence on the location of new waste facilities and the reasons for this are explored. The European Union now requires the preparation of a National Waste Strategy (NWS) based on the principle of the waste hierarchy. The research concludes that effective waste management requires a close relationship between the NWS and development plans.