The NATO Advanced Research Workshop, “Decision Support for Natural Disasters and Intentional Threats to Water Security” was the result of close collaboration between environmental, security, water resource, and health officials in the United States and Croatia. The premise of the Workshop is that multiple, disparate threats to water security exist, and that shared decision support structures provide effective means for avoiding and responding to potential or actual situations. The Workshop was co-directed by Professors Tissa Illangasekare of the Colorado School of Mines, and Dragutin Geres of Hrvatske vode. The Workshop was organized into a series of case studies, presentation of management tools, or a combination of the two. Presentations were further organized as to (1) Natural Occurrences, (2) Anthropogenic Causes, and (3) Decision Support Tools. Delegates from eleven countries assembled to explore these topics at the Hotel Dubrovnik President in Dubrovnik from April 22–25, 2007. A total of thirty delegates from NATO, Partner, Mediterranean Dialog, or other countries were in attendance. The final program included technical sessions using a presentation and dialog format, a field trip, and networking sessions. There were twenty five technical presentations supported by seventeen formal papers (many updated in late-2008 and 2009), and these form the basis for these proceedings. xi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The co-directors and organizers of this Advanced Research Workshop a- nowledge the NATO Science Programme for major financial support and for providing detailed guidance on how best to organize and execute a meeting of this nature.

The sheer quantity of widely diverse data which now results from multiple sources presents a problem for decision-makers and analysts, who are finding it impossible to cope with the ever-increasing flow of material. This has potentially serious consequences for the quality of decisions and operational processes in areas such as counterterrorism and security. This book presents the papers delivered at the NATO Advanced Research Workshop (ARW) 'Meeting Security Challenges through Data Analytics and Decision Support’, held in Aghveran, Armenia, in June 2015. The aim of the conference was to promote and enhance cooperation and dialogue between NATO and Partner countries on the subject of effective decision support for security applications. The attendance of many leading scientists from a variety of backgrounds and disciplines provided the opportunity to improve mutual understanding, as well as cognizance of the specific requirements and issues of Cyber Physical Social Systems (CPPS) and the technical advances pertinent to all collaborative human-centric information support systems in a variety of applications. The book is divided into 3 sections: counter terrorism: methodology and applications; maritime and border security; and cyber security, and will be of interest to all those involved in decision-making processes based on the analysis of big data.

The events of September 11, 2001 changed perceptions, rearranged national priorities, and produced significant new government entities, including the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) created in 2003. While the principal mission of DHS is to lead efforts to secure the nation against those forces that wish to do harm, the department also has responsibilities in regard to preparation for and response to other hazards and disasters, such as floods, earthquakes, and other "natural" disasters. Whether in the context of preparedness, response or recovery from terrorism, illegal entry to the country, or natural disasters, DHS is committed to processes and methods that feature risk assessment as a critical component for making better-informed decisions. Review of the Department of Homeland Security's Approach to Risk Analysis explores how DHS is building its capabilities in risk analysis to inform decision making. The department uses risk analysis to inform decisions ranging from high-level policy choices to fine-scale protocols that guide the minute-by-minute actions of DHS employees. Although DHS is responsible for mitigating a range of threats, natural disasters, and pandemics, its risk analysis efforts are weighted heavily toward terrorism. In addition to assessing the capability of DHS risk analysis methods to support decision-making, the book evaluates the quality of the current approach to estimating risk and discusses how to improve current risk analysis procedures. Review of the Department of Homeland Security's Approach to Risk Analysis recommends that DHS continue to build its integrated risk management framework. It also suggests that the department improve the way models are developed and used and follow time-tested scientific practices, among other recommendations.

Climate change has been identified as one of the greatest threats to humanity of all times. In addition to producing adverse environmental conditions such as rising sea level, drought, crop failure, vector-borne diseases, extreme events, degradation of water/air quality and heat waves, climate change is also considered a threat multiplier that leads to local and international conflicts and armed interventions. Urban areas may bear the brunt of climate change, as they are the centers of human habitation, anthropogenic stressors and environmental degradation, and the ensuing health impacts are of grave societal concern. The papers in this volume span a suite of climate change repercussions, paying particular attention to national security and human health aspects. It is an outcome of a NATO Advanced Research Workshop held during April 28-30, 2011 in Dubrovnik, Croatia, sponsored by the NATO Science for Peace and Security Program. The contributions cut across the elements of modeling, natural, political and social sciences, engineering, politics, military intervention, urban planning, industrial activities, epidemiology and healthcare.

Contributing to the growing debate on the need for sustainable water use and management, with concrete examples of new approaches, concepts, arguments, methods and findings which illustrate how this can be achieved, this book will be attractive for large groups of readers familiar with one or more of the themes it tackles, and to the general public. Within this context, the book makes use of many tables and graphics, which bring the many messages together. This approach is intended not only for those working on water matters (e.g. bureaucrats, water managers, policymakers, journalists, etc.) and interested in water management issues and sustainability at large, but also for students of water management, water politics, environmental policy, water economics, water engineering and sustainability studies. Located at the crossroads of two key phenomena: sustainability and water, this book brings forward academic research and discussions on water efficiency, new technologies, and the water-agriculture nexus. It also benefits readers by tackling matters related to trans-boundary cooperation on water (including rainwater) and river-basin management, pricing issues, participatory water management, and the role of women in sustainable water use, amongst others.

This unique book presents for the first time the current status of the Danube River Delta, the challenges facing it, and proposed strategies to solve it. One of the biggest challenges is the human effects on the Danube Delta Environment and its lakes that work as sinks for natural and anthropogenic environmental changes, the water management and water flow variability and under climatic conditions including the extreme temperature and precipitation events based on RCMs output and the impact of sedimentation processes on the evolution of the Danube Delta. The book also contains the impact of wind and solar energy on the Delta. The book also presents the integrated approach for sustainable development of the Delta including the structural dynamics of the local economy, the role of tourism activities, integrated waste management in the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve, demographic dynamics in the Delta, and the population health state. Also, a unique chapter on the opportunities of content exploitation as Language Learning Experiences is applied to Danube Delta. The book will be of great scientific interest to help the graduate students, researchers, stakeholder professional engineers, policy planners, policymakers of three countries to implement their sustainable development plan.

How to Make A Wetland tells the story of two Turkish coastal areas, both shaped by ecological change and political uncertainty. On the Black Sea coast and the shores of the Aegean, farmers, scientists, fishermen, and families grapple with livelihoods in transition, as their environment is bound up in national and international conservation projects. Bridges and drainage canals, apartment buildings and highways—as well as the birds, water buffalo, and various animals of the regions—all inform a moral ecology in the making. Drawing on six years of fieldwork in wetlands and deltas, Caterina Scaramelli offers an anthropological understanding of sweeping environmental and infrastructural change, and the moral claims made on livability and materiality in Turkey, and beyond. Beginning from a moral ecological position, she takes into account the notion that politics is not simply projected onto animals, plants, soil, water, sediments, rocks, and other non-human beings and materials. Rather, people make politics through them. With this book, she highlights the aspirations, moral relations, and care practices in constant play in contestations and alliances over environmental change.