Wamsler, C., L. Niven, T. H. Beery, T. Bramryd, N. Ekelund, K. I. Jönsson, A. Osmani, T. Palo, and S. Stålhammar. 2016. Operationalizing ecosystem-based adaptation: harnessing ecosystem services to buffer communities against climate change. Ecology and Society 21(1):31.http://dx.doi.org/10.5751/ES-08266-210131

Safe water supply is one of the important Millennium Goals. For development of market water supply services, the willingness of consumers to pay is essential. The consumers’ willingness to pay (WTP) for piped water supply using the contingent valuation (CV) method with different starting point bids was investigated for the Pavlodar Region, Kazakhstan. The results showed that households with access to groundwater (well or borehole water users) perceived this as of good quality. Consumers without access to groundwater used open-source, standpipe or delivered water for which they had to travel and spend time or to pay. Open source water and standpipe water quality was perceived as bad or satisfactory. More than 90% of the consumers were willing to pay for better water quality and regular water supply. The mean WTP was estimated to be about 1120 in bids and about 1590 KZT per household per month in open-ended question format (150 KZT is ~1 USD as of January 2012). The results can be used to better identify the proper technological choice and the level of service to be provided making rural water projects both sustainable and replicable at a larger scale.

Waste is a valuable commodity and remains a livelihood source for waste pickers in the global South. Waste to Energy (WtoE) is often described as alternative to landfilling, as it provides cheap fuel while making waste disappear. In some European cities, this method has evolved into an impediment, slowing down the adoption of more sustainable technologies and waste prevention. These plants typically strain municipal budgets and provide fewer jobs than recycling and composting, thereby inhibiting the development of small-scale local recycling businesses. We applied the idea of ‘waste regime’ with an interdisciplinary and situated lens to provide insights to the following questions: How do different political developments in Brazil and Sweden, frame and reframe waste incineration and energy recovery, in the context of sustainability and waste management on local, regional and national levels? What forms of resistance against WtoE exist and what are the arguments of these protagonists? We evaluated the impact of WtoE and compare it with other waste management options with regard to CO₂ balances and general environmental and social impacts. We conclude by suggesting more socially and environmentally appropriate ways of waste management, particularly for the context of global South cities.