WorldWideScience

Sample records for sustainable rural systems

  1. Assessing the Financial Sustainability of China’s Rural Pension System

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lijian Wang

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available Considering the rapid growth of China’s elderly rural population, establishing both an adequate and a financially sustainable rural pension system is a major challenge. Focusing on financial sustainability, this article defines this concept of financial sustainability before constructing sound actuarial models for China’s rural pension system. Based on these models and statistical data, the analysis finds that the rural pension funding gap should rise from 97.80 billion Yuan in 2014 to 3062.31 billion Yuan in 2049, which represents an annual growth rate of 10.34%. This implies that, as it stands, the rural pension system in China is not financially sustainable. Finally, the article explains how this problem could be fixed through policy recommendations based on recent international experiences.

  2. Is Romanian Rural Tourism Sustainable? Revealing Particularities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Daniela Ruxandra Andrei

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available Research on sustainable tourism involves developing an appropriate framework to highlight the interdependences of economic, social and environmental systems. The interdependence is based on the entropy of the system while respecting the principle of holism and diversity of rural tourism sustainability. In this context, sustainability in general and rural tourism in particular can be considered a complex system of development, which in some ways can be studied by statistical and econometric methods that allow the analysis of the interdependences between the variables of rural tourism at county level and at the level of rural communities. Conducting such studies involves identifying the rural communities where rural tourism has reached significant levels. Based on this consideration, this paper aims to identify the development regions and counties of Romania where the trends of development of rural tourism are significantly above the average recorded at country level, as a first step towards particular studies of sustainability in rural communities.

  3. Workshop in a Box: Sustainable Management of Rural and Small Water and Wastewater Systems Workshops

    Science.gov (United States)

    A resource to help rural and small systems and communities to conduct workshops, either for an individual system or for a group of systems, based on the Rural and Small Systems Guidebook to Sustainable Utility Management.

  4. Development of Sustainable Rural Tourism

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sandra Kantar

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents a sociological view of possibilities for the development of sustainable rural tourism in Koprivnica-Krizevci county, which is located in the north-western part of Croatia. The possibilities for developing rural tourism within the concept of sustainable development have been researched through qualitative empirical research interview method. Research subjects were the owners of tourist farms, decision makers, experts and other stakeholders in the tourism development. Rural tourism represents an alternative to maritime tourism and is relatively undeveloped but important in terms of development of rural areas and family farms. This paper enables an insight into an integrated sustainability of rural tourism which consists of four dimensions: biologicalecological, economic, socio-cultural and political sustainability. In conclusion, integral sustainability in rural tourism is not achieved in all dimensions. Therefore, rural tourism could be a strategy for sustainable development for rural areas and also could be a tool for product differentiation for area that are at stagnation stage.

  5. Sustainable solar home systems model: Applying lessons from Bangladesh to Myanmar's rural poor

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Newcombe, Alex; Ackom, Emmanuel

    2017-01-01

    Myanmar's rural population has very low access to electricity, mainly due to low disposal income and the remoteness of communities. This paper attempts to test the potential applicability of Grameen Shakti-Infrastructure Development Company Limited (IDCOL), which is a Bangladeshi public private...... partnership microfinance model, to rural Myanmar towards enhanced solar home systems (SHS) deployment. Rural poor are enabled by this microfinancing scheme to own SHSs in a few years for as low as US$6.40 per month. The objectives of this paper are to assess the experience of Grameen Shakti-IDCOL and other...... similar projects for invaluable lessons, identify barriers to sustainable electrification for Myanmar's rural poor and to apply these lessons learned to overcome barriers by developing policy recommendations for sustainable electrification for rural poor in Myanmar. Recommendations are provided suggesting...

  6. A Life-cycle Approach to Improve the Sustainability of Rural Water Systems in Resource-Limited Countries

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nicholas Stacey

    2012-11-01

    Full Text Available A WHO and UNICEF joint report states that in 2008, 884 million people lacked access to potable drinking water. A life-cycle approach to develop potable water systems may improve the sustainability for such systems, however, a review of the literature shows that such an approach has primarily been used for urban systems located in resourced countries. Although urbanization is increasing globally, over 40 percent of the world’s population is currently rural with many considered poor. In this paper, we present a first step towards using life-cycle assessment to develop sustainable rural water systems in resource-limited countries while pointing out the needs. For example, while there are few differences in costs and environmental impacts for many improved rural water system options, a system that uses groundwater with community standpipes is substantially lower in cost that other alternatives with a somewhat lower environmental inventory. However, a LCA approach shows that from institutional as well as community and managerial perspectives, sustainability includes many other factors besides cost and environment that are a function of the interdependent decision process used across the life cycle of a water system by aid organizations, water user committees, and household users. These factors often present the biggest challenge to designing sustainable rural water systems for resource-limited countries.

  7. Energy for sustainable rural development

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Hulscher, W.S.; Hulscher, W.S.; Hommes, E.W.; Hommes, E.W.

    1992-01-01

    Rural energy in developing countries is discussed with a view to sustainable development. The project-oriented approach in rural energy which has often dominated in the past, is contrasted with an overall strategy for sustainable rural energy demand and supply. An outline for a demand-oriented

  8. Integrated farm sustainability assessment for the environmental management of rural activities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Stachetii Rodrigues, Geraldo; Aparecida Rodrigues, Izilda; Almeida Buschinelli, Claudio Cesar de; Barros, Inacio de

    2010-01-01

    Farmers have been increasingly called upon to respond to an ongoing redefinition in consumers' demands, having as a converging theme the search for sustainable production practices. In order to satisfy this objective, instruments for the environmental management of agricultural activities have been sought out. Environmental impact assessment methods are appropriate tools to address the choice of technologies and management practices to minimize negative effects of agricultural development, while maximizing productive efficiency, sound usage of natural resources, conservation of ecological assets and equitable access to wealth generation means. The 'system for weighted environmental impact assessment of rural activities' (APOIA-NovoRural) presented in this paper is organized to provide integrated farm sustainability assessment according to quantitative environmental standards and defined socio-economic benchmarks. The system integrates sixty-two objective indicators in five sustainability dimensions - (i) Landscape ecology, (ii) Environmental quality (atmosphere, water and soil), (iii) Sociocultural values, (iv) Economic values, and (v) Management and administration. Impact indices are expressed in three integration levels: (i) specific indicators, that offer a diagnostic and managerial tool for farmers and rural administrators, by pointing out particular attributes of the rural activities that may be failing to comply with defined environmental performance objectives; (ii) integrated sustainability dimensions, that show decision-makers the major contributions of the rural activities toward local sustainable development, facilitating the definition of control actions and promotion measures; and (iii) aggregated sustainability index, that can be considered a yardstick for eco-certification purposes. Nine fully documented case studies carried out with the APOIA-NovoRural system, focusing on different scales, diverse rural activities/farming systems, and contrasting

  9. The Quest for Rural Sustainability in Russia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Stephen K. Wegren

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available Rural depopulation and the disappearance of villages in rural Russia occurred as part of the historical process of urbanization and industrialization. Rural depopulation also occurred for structural reasons having to do with village location, and for behavioral reasons whereby villagers react to primitive living conditions and poor economic prospects. Three possible strategies for addressing the problem of sustainable villages are considered. The government is attempting to improve rural living conditions, but rural depopulation is likely to continue. Characteristics of sustainable villages are outlined. Agro-tourism is analyzed for its potential to support sustainable villages.

  10. Sustainable Development of New Rural Finance in China

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    NIE Yong

    2012-01-01

    Rural finance is the weakest link in China’s financial system. There are still many problems in the traditional rural finance, such as poor business conditions, imperfectly competitive financial markets, and credit information asymmetry; the phenomenon of farmers’ loans difficulty has not been fundamentally changed. In order to improve the current situation of rural finance, the state proposes to develop new rural finance and innovate upon rural financial system. The new rural finance has many good development advantages, such as adequate information, flexible operation, and good potential quality of the assets. It is necessary to innovate upon financial products and services, establish the purpose of serving agriculture, countryside and farmers, strengthen the supervision of credit, and improve the financial infrastructure construction, so as to achieve sustainable developments.

  11. Sustainable rural development and communicative learning

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Noe, Egon; Langvad, Anne-Mette

    2006-01-01

    Functional differentiation within society at large poses a major challenge to practising sustainable rural development. Multiplication of perspectives on sustainability calls for a theoretical position that is based on the integrity of each of the perspectives in play and for an approach that is ......Functional differentiation within society at large poses a major challenge to practising sustainable rural development. Multiplication of perspectives on sustainability calls for a theoretical position that is based on the integrity of each of the perspectives in play and for an approach...

  12. Quality of life of the population as an indicator of sustainable development of rural territories

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Larisa Alexandrovna Tretiakova

    2012-09-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of this study is theoretical justification of socio-economic foundations of sustainable livelihoods in rural areas and development of practical recommendations for evaluating and improving quality of life in rural areas. The subject of this study is a system of socio-economic relations that defines processes and patterns of sustainable livelihoods in rural areas. Methodological basis is a systematic approach and method of dialectical cognition, which examine processes of development of rural territories in relationship and complementarity. The results described in this paper are: the degree of differentiation of rural population under qualitative levels of well-being was studied; the authors’ system of indicators of regional socio-economic development on a basis of detailed hierarchical structure was presented; priority areas for improving standards and quality of life of the rural population were identified. A scope of results was developed and science-based recommendations and suggestions for sustainable development of rural territories based on authors’ methodology for evaluating quality life in rural areas may be subject to legislative and executive authorities in development socio-economic projects and programmes aimed at enhancing rural employment and income were made. The conclusions are: sustainable development of rural territories involves not only increase of efficiency of rural economy, but, above all, increasing and improving the quality of life of the rural population; on a system of complementarities, the evaluation of sustainability of livelihood strategies should take into account the economic, environmental, social and institutional factors

  13. Is Peru Prepared for Large-Scale Sustainable Rural Electrification?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sarah Feron

    2018-05-01

    Full Text Available Peru has historically been among the Latin-American countries with a low rural electrification rate. Aiming to improve this situation, the country conducted several electrification efforts in the last few decades that included off-grid photovoltaic (PV solutions for remote areas (where the grid expansion was unviable. More recently, the government has also sponsored a ‘massive program’ that aims to deploy a minimum of 150,000 off-grid PV solutions in the upcoming years. In this paper, we assess the sustainability of rural electrification programs in Peru, paying special attention to the ongoing “massive program”. Our assessment considers four dimensions of sustainability (institutional, economic, environmental, and socio-cultural and is based on an exhaustive qualitative document analysis complemented by semi-structured expert interviews. We found that the lack of strong formal institutions with a flexible and decentralized structure seriously compromises the sustainability of rural electrification efforts in Peru. Staff rotation and overlapping competences have caused disturbing changes and inhibited following a strategic line, while widespread outsourcing combined with weak controls have often affected the reliability of the deployed systems. Although cross subsidies have made off-grid PV systems affordable for users, systems often fell short of energy demand. Notably, we found that Peruvian officials appear to be unaware of the importance of local participation, and there is a significant mistrust between the government and the rural population (especially in areas where mining is extensive. As a consequence, most of the projects are still designed without the participation and engagement of the communities, which has frequently led to project failures, payment defaults, and inhibited seizing opportunities regarding productive uses of off-grid PV systems. We expect that our findings may help Peruvian institutions to address the most

  14. Sustainable rural development and cross-border cooperation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Stojanović Žaklina

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available The concept of sustainable rural development comprises three aspects - social, economical and ecological. They are supposed to act in synergy, but, at the same time, these aspects are supposed to be competitive. Agriculture, as a traditional activity of rural economy, contributes to the sustainable development of rural areas only if there is an adequate resources management. If not, there will be a significant degradation of rural environment. These are the reasons why sustainable agriculture development is emphasized since it maximizes productivity and minimizes negative effects on nature and human resources. In this context, one should observe the connection between agriculture and tourism existing in the EU, where the application of sustainable agricultural development concept produces external effects connected to biodiversity protection and environment in rural areas. These become a good foundation for the development of rural and ecotourism. EU enlargement induced diversification of support programmes that EU gives to the candidate countries, as well as to those who are just entering the process of stabilization and association to the EU. Through cross-border cooperation projects, many goals can be accomplished, among which aspiration for promotion of sustainable economical and social development in border regions is one of the leading. Knowing that these regions are usually passive and underdeveloped, the projects of cross-border cooperation could induce development of those activities in local economy, which could bring better living conditions and economic prosperity on the one hand, and protection of environment on the other. Examples of this kind of projects in Serbia can usually be found in rural and ecotourism development.

  15. Sustaining the Entrepreneurship in Rural Tourism Development

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Norhafiza Md Sharif

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Entrepreneurs play an important role in sustaining rural tourism and formulation of sustainable strategies being the initiators of the tourism business and the engine of the local development. Therefore, it is necessary to stimulate the development of entrepreneurial activities for the recovery of rural tourism potential and regional traditions, maintaining local employment growth and increase living standards in line with identifies needs and priorities of regional human resources development. This article aims to discuss the involvement of local communities in development of rural tourism entrepreneurship as well as addressing the issue of entrepreneurship in rural tourism.

  16. Sustainable water for rural security - A transdisciplinary approach [Presentation

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Maherry, A

    2012-05-01

    Full Text Available -research through effective transfer of knowledge and technologies; and to identify the critical design criteria that ensure sustainability of rural water supply systems in South Africa....

  17. Greenways for rural sustainable development

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ottomano Palmisano, Giovanni; Govindan, Kannan; Loisi, Rosa V.

    2016-01-01

    within the CAP because they help to protect and manage environmental heritage, promote economic activities and enhance the social assets of rural areas; furthermore, given their natural ability to simultaneously connect these resources, greenways promote Rural Sustainable Development (RSD......Policy makers have recently begun to agree on environmental, economic and social aspects of rural areas that are enhanced according to the European Union (EU) Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), and in particular in the national Rural Development Programmes (RDPs).Greenways are an acknowledged tool...... Aiding (MCDA) technique "Group Analytic Hierarchy Process" (GAHP). The validity of this MC-SDSS was tested on three rural municipalities of Apulia Region (Southern Italy). In particular, a GIS was used to detect the rural resources and existing linear elements, which were used to perform overlay mapping...

  18. Renewable energy rural electrification. Sustainability aspects of the Mexican programme in practice

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Huacuz, J.M.; Martinez, A.M.

    1995-01-01

    During the last 20 years Mexico has been fertile ground for rural projects using renewable energy technologies. In many cases, however, sustainability aspects were either improperly handled or essentially ignored. Such was the case, for instance, with solar thermal water pumping projects, solar water desalination, and even complete 'solar towns'. Painful but important lessons were learned from such failed projects. Now, sustainability is the focal point of a current rural electrification programme with renewable energy. As of this writing, over 24,000 individual home photovoltaic lighting systems have already been installed in different regions of Mexico; another 12,000 systems are estimated to have been installed in rural areas as a result of private commercial activities; seven village-size hybrid systems (photovoltaic-wind and photovoltaic-wind-diesel) have also been implemented. With this, the Mexican renewable energy rural electrification programme stands among the largest programmes of its kind in the world today. The question of the programme's sustainability has been a major concern at the Electrical Research Institute of Mexico (IIE), where activities have been under way since the start to lend it technical support. The lessons learned in the process will be discussed in this article. (author). 8 refs

  19. TECHNIQUES AND SYSTEMS OF INDICATORS USED IN THE ANALYSIS OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF RURAL AREAS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sabina VITALIA

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available The present article exposes the summary of a research project whose purpose is measuring sustainable development in Romania at the level of rural areas. Sustainable Development (Sustainable Development in English means better quality of life now and for future generations. According to the vision of sustainable development, progress integrates immediate and long-term objectives, local actions and global economic and environmental issues, all of which are inseparable. Such a vision of society can not be imposed only by political, society as a whole must adopt certain principles (political, economic, social, thinking. Sustainable development can be defined simply as a better quality of life for everyone, both now and for future generations. Sustainable development means: balanced and equitable economic development; high levels of employment, social cohesion and inclusion; a high level of environmental protection and responsible use of natural resources; generating a coherent political system open, transparent and accountable; effective international cooperation to promote global sustainable development (Gothenburg Strategy, 2001.

  20. Empowering Women in Agricultural Education for Sustainable Rural Development.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ugbomeh, George M. M.

    2001-01-01

    Discusses the concepts of agricultural education, women empowerment, and sustainable rural development. Suggests that, because women make up more than half of Nigeria's population, their empowerment would assist the efforts for sustainable rural development. (Contains 48 references.) (JOW)

  1. The sustainability and efficient use of renewable energy sources in rural areas

    Science.gov (United States)

    Adetunji, Kayode E.; Akinlabi, Akindeji O.; Joseph, Meera K.

    2018-04-01

    The energy system in African countries is mostly dependent on coal, gas, and oil, which in turns leads to environmental challenges and an imbalance of energy usage in some area of the countries. Given that, a mostly rural area in Africa suffers from the unsustainable energy system, thus it necessary to integrate renewable energy into the rural area for social and economic development. A sustainable energy system built on a clean energy such as renewable energy based on the availability of the natural resource is the main focus of this paper. Renewable energy is a solution for service delivery and when deployed everyone would be able to access electricity power, particularly in the remote area (which can be a suburb or rural environment) where the absence of national power grids. Renewable energy opens new opportunities for an economic development and sustainable solution to employ for energy efficiency, energy delivery, and energy management by the people and upon that a platform to promote environmental friendliness. In this paper, we explored the reasons for switching to renewable energy, saving energy and the awareness of potential and use of renewable energy in the rural area. IBM's SPSS is used for the quantitative data analysis. The results showed that sustainability of the National utility grid to the rural area is low, with over 80 percent of participants agreeing to disruption of power supply. The Positivity of the rural peoples' awareness of renewable also brought about the conclusion and recommendations from this paper.

  2. Sustainability and meanings of farm-based bioenergy production in rural Finland

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Huttunen, S.

    2013-06-01

    Rural bioenergy production has accrued interest in recent years. EU pressure for climate change abatement and energy political concerns regarding the availability of fossil fuels, have increased bioenergy production objectives in Finland. In addition, rural regions in Finland have encountered structural changes following EU inclusion, including an emergent interest in auxiliary production lines of which bioenergy production is an example. Local bioenergy production has the potential to increase rural sustainability and provide a model for sustainable rural development and energy production. Focusing on the recent emergence of small-scale farm-related bioenergy production: heat provision from wood fuels and biogas and biodiesel production, this study aims to discover if and how farm-based bioenergy production contributes to sustainable rural development. The study derives from the field of rural studies and evaluates sustainable rural development via the concepts of multifunctionality, embeddedness, ecological modernization and sustainable livelihoods, with a particular focus on social sustainability. The empirical portion of the study is comprised of thematic qualitative interviews of bioenergy producing farmers, and on newspaper and periodical article material. The results demonstrate how rural small-scale bioenergy production can have important positive developmental effects that ameliorate and sustain livelihoods in remote areas. This occurs via the multifunctional benefits of bioenergy production to the producers and local communities. The positive effects include social, economical and environmental aspects and rural bioenergy production can present traits of sustainable rural development, predominantly manifested in the social aspects of increased capabilities and reinforced social networks. There are, however, important differences between the examined production models. As an example of achieving sustainable rural development and livelihoods, heat

  3. Local Action Groups and Rural Sustainable Development. A spatial multiple criteria approach for efficient territorial planning

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Palmisano, Giovanni Ottomano; Govindan, M.E., PhD.,, Kannan; Boggia, Antonio

    2016-01-01

    Local Action Groups in order to promote the objectives of Rural Sustainable Development within rural municipalities. Each Local Action Group applies the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats analysis in order to identify for its own rural municipalities the strategic elements to which...... and a Weakness factors and decision alternatives, as well as impossibility of ranking the decision alternatives. Thus, this research aims to overcome the drawbacks of the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats analysis and to support Local Action Group partnerships in the sustainability evaluation...... of their rural municipalities, and therefore to aid the identification of a common Rural Sustainable Development strategy to allocate the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development budget. This decision problem was tackled by applying a Multiple Criteria Spatial Decision Support System that integrates...

  4. Expanding Agricultural and Rural Extension Roles for Sustainable ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Expanding Agricultural and Rural Extension Roles for Sustainable Extension ... privatization of the public sector of national economies of developing nations has ... include marketing extension, non-farm rural micro enterprise development, ...

  5. Energy, environment and sustainable rural development

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Best, G [Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome (Italy)

    1992-12-01

    This paper addresses the energy needs of the three quarters of the World's population living in the rural populations of many developing countries whose daily struggle to obtain the energy needed for survival is unaffected by international energy politics. It aims to identify energy-related actions in certain policy and technical areas which may contribute to ending rural poverty. The mutual benefits of a transition to modern technologies is stressed both for rural and urban groups, especially in terms of a more efficient use of fossil fuels and renewable energy sources such as biomass or solar power. Recommendations for sustainable rural and agricultural development are made. (UK)

  6. Prerequisites of Sustainable Development of Rural Tourism in Continental Croatia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bartoluci Mato

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available The goal of this paper was to analyze the current status of rural tourism in Croatia and to identify possibilities, guidelines and methods of its sustainable development. The research has shown that rural tourism in Croatia falls behind the sun-and-beach holiday tourism in coastal Croatia and that numerous and diverse natural and social resources in Continental Croatia are insufficiently employed, especially in the Continental part of the country Past research of rural tourism in continental Croatia relied on individual entrepreneurial initiative and scarce funding resources, so that consequently a heterogeneous and fragmented rural tourism offer, based on various tourism forms and special interest tourism types, has developed in an unorganized way. However, rural tourism can become a driving force for the development of rural areas, taking into account the concept of sustainable development, based on the balance of economic, ecological and social responsibility. In the future, it should encourage development projects that ensure integrated tourist offer and thereby enable long-term sustainable development of rural tourism in continental Croatia.

  7. Photovoltaic battery charging stations for sustainable off-grid rural electrification in the Philippines

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pascual, C.M.; Acebedo, I.P.; Gudoy, F.

    2005-01-01

    The Mariano Marcos State University-Affiliated Non Conventional Energy Center (MMSU-ANEC) in partnership with the Energy Management Bureau-Renewable Energy Management Division, Department of Energy implemented the Barangay Electrification Program (BEP) of the government in the off-grid rural areas at the northern Philippines from 1995-2004 with a common vision of promoting the use of new and renewable energy systems for rural electrification in order to spur development in the far-flung, off-grid rural areas. Such activity of the MMSU-ANEC on BEP used modified and improved Photovoltaic battery charging stations (PVBCS) to energize households and augment their livelihood in collaboration with the local government units and the beneficiaries. Socioeconomic and environmental impacts using long-range energy alternative planning or LEAP software showed that PVBCS are indispensable, feasible, economical, environmental-friendly and sustainable renewable energy resources systems in off-grid areas. Improvement of a locally-made battery charging unit (patent applied at IPO, Manila) which is cheaper and comparable than the imported unit, enabling project implementation strategies in community organizing and lessons learned during the implementation of BEP are also presented. Such improvement of the PVBCS is considered an innovative advancement in renewable energy that can be commercialized towards a sustainable agro-industrial development in far-flung, off-grid rural areas, among other applications for rural electrification and power generation using clean and environment-friendly sustainable technologies. (author)

  8. Sustaining the rural workforce: nursing perspectives on worklife challenges.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hunsberger, Mabel; Baumann, Andrea; Blythe, Jennifer; Crea, Mary

    2009-01-01

    Concerns have been raised about the sustainability of health care workforces in rural settings. According to the literature, rural nurses' work satisfaction varies with the resources and supports available to respond to specific challenges. Given the probable effects of stressors on retention, it is essential to understand the unique requirements of nurses in rural practice environments. To investigate whether nurses receive the resources and supports necessary to meet the challenges of rural practice. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 21 managers and 44 staff nurses in 19 selected rural hospitals in Ontario, Canada. The interviews were taped and transcripts interpreted through a thematic analysis. Major worklife themes were identified and analyzed within a healthy work environment model based on the work of Kristensen. Three interrelated dimensions of the model were relevant to workforce sustainability: the balance between demands and the resources of the person, the level of social support, and the degree of influence. The availability of resources and supports affected whether the nurses perceived challenges as stimulating or overwhelming. Deficits interfered with practice and the well-being of the nurses and patients. The nurses felt frustrated and powerless when they lacked resources, support, and influence to manage negative situations. Strategies to achieve workforce sustainability include resources to reduce stress in the workplace, education to meet the needs of new and experienced nurses, and offering of employment preferences to the workforce. Addressing resources, support, and influence of rural nurses is essential to alleviate workplace challenges and sustain the rural nursing workforce.

  9. Development of Rural Communities by Diversification of Rural Economy in the Context of Sustainable Development

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Manuela Dora Orboi

    2012-05-01

    Full Text Available The sustainable development is a process taking place at the same time with the complex and sustainable agricultural development; agriculture and the rural area being interdependent sides specific to rural communities. When analysing economic activity in the rural area we should pay a particular attention to the identification of such alternative activities that have a real chance for development and create new jobs that compensate the diminution of labour occupancy degree in agriculture. Opportunities of rural economy represent a source of having alternative income for the population from rural communities in order to escape from poverty and in order to accelerate the social progress in the rural area. Alternative activities with economic, social and cultural impact, providers of jobs and incomes are: the development of agro tourism and rural tourism, processing and promoting foodstuff, local traditional drinks, ecological foodstuff, handicraft and silviculture. Improving the conditions for business in the rural area is a main condition for the generation of economic activities generating jobs in the rural area.

  10. The Issues Facing the Sustainable Development of Rural Tourism and the Path Selection

    OpenAIRE

    ZHANG, Jianhong

    2013-01-01

    There is a long way to go for sustainable development of rural tourism. It is necessary to strengthen the planning for training rural tourism talents, and establish sustainable reserve tourism service personnel; innovate upon the promotion mode of rural tourism and open the tourist source market; strengthen the building of characteristic brand of rural tourism, and create sustainable development core of tourism; give play to the role of government in guiding rural tourism, strengthen the opti...

  11. Rural Tourism: Development, Management and Sustainability in Rural Establishments

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Juan-José Villanueva-Álvaro

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available Tourism is one of the economic driving forces of Spain: the consolidation of existing tourist destinations and new market niches encourage an upward trend of tourism. The economic impacts produced by tourism are one of the major concerns of the authorities; the question is whether it is possible to continue growing without compromising our environment. This work attempts to answer this issue by analysing one of the tourism segments with higher growth in recent years: rural tourism. Using a model of partial least squares (PLS, we will analyse the environmental impacts from the point of view of the supply and its relationships with the environmental management conducted. We will also analyse the rural establishments from a global point of view and, depending on their category, explain the factors which determine the sustainable behaviour of providers, and identify that the establishments of low categories have a more sustainable conduct.

  12. Examining Success Factors for Sustainable Rural Development ...

    International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

    This collaborative project will examine the role the Integrated Co-operative Model can play in reducing poverty and promoting development in rural African communities. Specifically, it aims to add to the knowledge of how to improve livelihoods and reduce poverty in a sustainable way in rural communities. It will strive to: ...

  13. Sustainability of Rural Nonprofit Organizations: Czech Republic and Beyond

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vladislav Valentinov

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available Sustainability of nonprofit organizations is a key concern for today’s nonprofit scholars and practitioners. Building upon the nonprofit economics literature, the present paper introduces the distinction between the demand-side and supply-side determinants of nonprofit sustainability and makes the case for the discrepancy between them. This discrepancy presents not only a generic conceptual explanation of the nonprofit sustainability problems but is also applicable to the context of the European rural nonprofit sector. Three arguments are advanced. First, the notorious implementation problems of LEADER partnerships can be explained as a manifestation of the above discrepancy. Second, and related, the rural context implies the tendency of the supply-side determinants of nonprofit sustainability to undermine the demand-side ones. Third, recent empirical findings from the Czech Republic show that this tendency does not necessarily imply the possibility of a clear classification of the demand-side and supply-side sustainability determinants. Rather, those features of rural areas and communities that significantly affect the size of the local nonprofit sector exhibit a controversial entanglement of demand-side and supply-side identities.

  14. Social-economic and environmental sustainability of short supply chains: opportunities for development rural territories

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mykola Babych

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available The paper substantiates the expediency of developing short supply chains at the local level. The focus of this paper is to determine opportunities for developing rural territories in Ukraine on the basis of the development of short supply chains in terms of ensuring social, economic and environmental sustainability. It is established that such an approach provides stability of development of rural territory, in particular, it promotes: social interaction (trust, justice, solidarity and common values between consumers and producers, community development (just relationships, pride, social cohesion and community affiliation, strengthening local culture and identity, health and well-being of the population (healthy diet; access to healthy food, health improvement, which ensures social sustainability of the system; rural development and economic recovery (increase of workplaces, tourism development, increase of local incomes, development of small and medium-sized farms, achievement of economic benefits to farms (reduction of overheads, fixed margin and premium for quality, increase of competitiveness and economic viability, sustainable use resources, which ensures economic stability of the system; reducing energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions (reducing transport and storage time; using alternative technologies; maximizing manual labor; reducing the use of plastic packaging; reducing food losses; sustainability of agro-systems (promoting agro-biodiversity; using local varieties; highlighting ecological and organic production, which ensures the ecological stability of the system.

  15. Sustainable development of rural areas: Case studies Vojvodina - Serbia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Forcan Dejana

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available One of the most important strategic aims of Serbian economic development is supporting of the villages sustainable development through rural economy diversification where rural tourism development has an important place. In spite of this model of tourism importance recognition as a possible way of rural areas development, Serbia is in an opening phase of. Although there are several positive examples, it is significant that recent projects haven't been established according to national and European development programs, but according to private initiatives of individuals and groups. Rural tourism is an important component of integrated and sustainable development and revitalization of villages, as well an an important factor in encouraging the development of local agricultural and non-farmer activities in rural areas and villages, and also a special incentive to employment. This work highlights the importance of rural tourism in the function of the revitalization of the village, focusing on the challenges of the environment and the possible directions of development in the context of creating a recognizable tourist product and brand of rural tourism in Vojvodina.

  16. Innovative factors and conditions of sustainable development of rural territories

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Voloshenko Ksenya

    2012-03-01

    Full Text Available This article considers the main features of sustainable development of rural territories, identifies the factors of innovative entrepreneurship, and assesses their influence on the condition of rural economy. Special attention is paid to the analysis of concepts, programmes, and projects in the field of rural territory development. The authors summarise conceptual and strategic approaches and actions of the Baltic region states in the field of sustainable development of rural territories. The article identifies objectives, common for the Baltic region, relating to sustainability of rural territories, including sustainable use of natural resource potential, diversification of production through support for non-agricultural activities and employment, application of innovations and efficient technologies, and manufacturing of environmentally friendly products. The analysis of the development of agricultural and innovations in the Baltic Sea regions serves as a basis for identifying the factors and conditions of supporting innovative entrepreneurship. Of special importance are the research, technological, and innovative potential of the territory, the availability of adequate innovative infrastructure, and the formation of innovative culture. The authors corroborate the idea of innovative entrepreneurship development in rural territories through the transformation of organizational and economic mechanism of management relating to the creation of institutional, infrastructure, and spatial conditions. Research and technological cooperation in the Baltic region is emphasised as a priority area.

  17. Community-Based Rural Tourism: A Proposed Sustainability Framework

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kayat Kalsom

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Many tourism projects run by community in the rural areas are labelled as Community-based Rural Tourism (CBRT, a type of a more ‘responsible’ tourism that contributes to sustainable development. However, a framework is needed to enable planners and managers to understand its criteria thus ensuring that the CBRTs fulfil the sustainability requirement. This paper presents findings from a literature review on previous writings in this topic. Findings from an analysis on the criteria of a sustainable CBRT product are discussed. It is found that in order for it to play a role in sustainable development, a CBRT product must focus on competitive management, resource conservation, and benefit creation to the community. The three elements need to be supported, in turn, by community involvement and commitment. As the proposed conceptual framework of sustainable CBRT product can be a basis for further research in CBRT, it offers producing theoretical and practical implications.

  18. Factors affecting sustainability of rural water schemes in Swaziland

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peter, Graciana; Nkambule, Sizwe E.

    The Millennium Development Goal (MDG) target to reduce the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water by the year 2015 has been met as of 2010, but huge disparities exist. Some regions, particularly Sub-Saharan Africa are lagging behind it is also in this region where up to 30% of the rural schemes are not functional at any given time. There is need for more studies on factors affecting sustainability and necessary measures which when implemented will improve the sustainability of rural water schemes. The main objective of this study was to assess the main factors affecting the sustainability of rural water schemes in Swaziland using a Multi-Criteria Analysis Approach. The main factors considered were: financial, social, technical, environmental and institutional. The study was done in Lubombo region. Fifteen functional water schemes in 11 communities were studied. Data was collected using questionnaires, checklist and focused group discussion guide. A total of 174 heads of households were interviewed. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) was used to analyse the data and to calculate sustainability scores for water schemes. SPSS was also used to classify sustainability scores according to sustainability categories: sustainable, partially sustainable and non-sustainable. The averages of the ratings for the different sub-factors studied and the results on the sustainability scores for the sustainable, partially sustainable and non-sustainable schemes were then computed and compared to establish the main factors influencing sustainability of the water schemes. The results indicated technical and social factors as most critical while financial and institutional, although important, played a lesser role. Factors which contributed to the sustainability of water schemes were: functionality; design flow; water fetching time; ability to meet additional demand; use by population; equity; participation in decision making on operation and

  19. Evaluation of sustainable rural tourism development in Serbia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    JOVANOVIC Verka

    2012-09-01

    Full Text Available Serbian rural tourism face a growing number of challenges. A competitive Serbian rural economy requires a balance between agricultural production, other economic activities, environmental protection and social development. Rural development has focuset on improving agricultural competitiveness consolidating land, improvingmarket orientation, and developing economic infrastructure. Rural tourism is seen as one of the aspects of sustainable economic growth of the four rural areas in Serbia. The paper gives an evaluation of rural tourism development in Serbia through rural tourism product and rural tourism clusters prioritizing. Rural tourism is highlighted as one possible solution for the poor rural areas development. It is seen as an instrument for revitalization of the rural space and for the increasing of their attractiveness.Leisure, recreation and tourism in rural areas are perspectives of a new approach in which society is changing from the concern of production to concern of consumption.

  20. Challenges of sustainable rural tourism development in KwaZulu ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Challenges of sustainable rural tourism development in KwaZulu-Natal. ... for promoting tourism as a sustainable economic driver in their municipalities. ... the nature of tourism, evaluating community's sensitivity and associated impacts should ...

  1. Premises of Sustainable Development on Rural Communities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anca Turtureanu

    2011-05-01

    Full Text Available In this paper the authors want to highlight the opportunity on rural areas and development in termsof durability. The content of sustainable development offers to local communities real and lasting solutions.In this sense for a community to be truly sustainable, it must adopt a holistic approach, taking into accountshort-term environmental and economic sustainability of natural and cultural resources. The authors believethat a sustainable community among its objectives to include their major environmental issues, povertyeradication, improvement of quality of life, developing and maintaining an effective and viable localeconomies, leading to a global vision of sustainable development of all sectors of the community.

  2. Dynamics of sustained use and abandonment of clean cooking systems: lessons from rural India

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chalise, Nishesh; Kumar, Praveen; Priyadarshini, Pratiti; Yadama, Gautam N.

    2018-03-01

    Clean cooking technologies—ranging from efficient cookstoves to clean fuels—are widely deployed to reduce household air pollution and alleviate adverse health and climate consequences. Although much progress has been made on the technical aspects, sustained and proper use of clean cooking technologies by populations with the most need has been problematic. Only by understanding how clean cooking as an intervention is embedded within complex community processes can we ensure its sustained implementation. Using a community-based system dynamics approach, we engaged two rural communities in co-creating a dynamic model to explain the processes influencing the uptake and transition to sustained use of biogas (an anaerobic methane digester), a clean fuel and cooking technology. The two communities provided contrasting cases: one abandoned biogas while the other continues to use it. We present a system dynamics simulation model, associated analyses, and experiments to understand what factors drive transition and sustained use. A central insight of the model is community processes influencing the capacity to solve technical issues. Model analysis shows that families begin to abandon the technology when it takes longer to solve problems. The momentum in the community then shifts from a determination to address issues with the cooking technology toward caution in further adhering to it. We also conducted experiments using the simulation model to understand the impact of interventions aimed at renewing the use of biogas. A combination of theoretical interventions, including repair of non-functioning biogas units and provision of embedded technical support in communities, resulted in a scenario where the community can continue using the technology even after support is retracted. Our study also demonstrates the utility of a systems approach for engaging local stakeholders in delineating complex community processes to derive significant insights into the dynamic feedback

  3. Analysis of Sustainability of New Rural Housing (Case of ole Baba Hoseyn Bridge Village

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jeyran Chamcham

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available Modernization of rural housing based on the principles of sustainability is one of the most important prerequisites for achieving sustainable development in rural areas. This can only be achieved by knowing the exact status of rural housing and its range of stability. And rural planning is not possible without it. On the other hand, survey of the stability of the different aspects of rural housing will have a decisive role in decisions related to how to promote this project aimed at sustainable rural development. Therefore, this study we have investigated and compared the economic, Social, environmental, technical and physical aspects of new rural housing with sustainability approach, quantitative paradigm and the case study method. The statistical population in the study were all the people of Baba Hoseyn Bridge Village from which a number were selected who had reconstructed their homes. The results are shown in 4 dimensions of new housing's economic, social, environmental, technical and physical aspects in the Baba Hoseyn Bridge Village although they have very little inclination towards sustainability. Despite this, the hybrid economic index for reconstruction of rural housing turned out to be more stable than other metrics.

  4. Application of geoinformation techniques in sustainable development of marginal rural

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leszczynska, G.

    2009-04-01

    The basic objective of the studies is to create a geographic information system that would assure integration of activities aimed at protecting biological diversity with sustainable development of marginal rural areas through defining the conditions for development of tourism and recreation in the identified areas. The choice of that solution is a consequence of the fact that numerous phenomena and processes presented in maps are linked to functional relations or they can be viewed as functions of space, time and attributes. The paper presents the system development stage aimed at elaborating the template for the system serving solution of the above-presented problem. In case of this issue the geographic information system will be developed to support development of marginal rural areas through selection of appropriate forms of tourism for the endangered areas including indication of locations for development of appropriate tourist infrastructure. Selection of the appropriate form of tourism will depend on natural, tourist and infrastructure values present in a given area and conditioned by the need to present the biodiversity component present in those areas together with elements of traditional agricultural landscape. The most important problem is to reconcile two seemingly contradictory aims: 1. Preventing social and economic marginalization of the restructured rural areas. 2. Preserving biological diversity in the restructured areas.Agriculture influences many aspects of the natural environment such as water resources, biodiversity and status of natural habitats, status of soils, landscape and, in a wider context, the climate. Project implementation will involve application of technologies allowing analysis of the systems for managing marginal rural areas as spatial models based on geographic information systems. Modelling of marginal rural areas management using the GIS technologies will involve creating spatial models of actual objects. On the basis of data

  5. Youth retention in rural areas, a prerequisite for sustainable rural entrepreneurship and employment

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ali Ghasemi Ardahaee

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available Entrepreneurship and sustainable rural employment are the main concerns of rural planners. One of the most basic requirements for this is that young people remain in the rural areas. Accordingly, the aim of this paper is to identify individual and structural factors that are effective in keeping young people in rural areas. Statistical results of the bivariate and multilevel modeling (HLM shows that rural youth are not willing to stay in rural regions. One may cite the following individual factors contributing to this lack of interest in staying in rural areas: age, marital status, education, communication with relatives in the city, as well as employment status and job skills. People with higher human capital who have technical skills and building related non-agricultural skills are not interested in staying in rural areas. Moreover, the increased population in the villages and lack of social welfare facilities in village are highly effective in reducing the tendency of young people to stay in the villages.

  6. Bioenergy: a sustainable resource for rural population

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gehlawat, J.K.

    2000-01-01

    Bio energy is a renewable resource. It is a product of the abundant solar energy. The plant kingdom collects solar energy by photosynthesis and stores it as biomass. This is a big source of energy that sustains the mankind in many ways-food, fuel, fibre and several others. The non-food biomass like agro-waste and forest residues already constitute a large component of the traditional energy sources of most rural population the world over. A scientific study and proper planning are required for an optimum use of this abundant renewable bio energy (biomass). This paper discusses various options to evolve workable technologies for an efficient use of biomass as a sustainable energy resource for rural areas where it is mostly produced. An integrated strategy is proposed. (author)

  7. Evaluating waterpoint sustainability and access implications of revenue collection approaches in rural Kenya

    Science.gov (United States)

    Foster, T.; Hope, R.

    2017-02-01

    Water policies in many sub-Saharan African countries stipulate that rural communities are responsible for self-financing their waterpoint's operation and maintenance. In the absence of policy consensus or evidence on optimal payment models, rural communities adopt a diversity of approaches to revenue collection. This study empirically assesses waterpoint sustainability and access outcomes associated with different revenue collection approaches on the south coast of Kenya. The analysis draws on a unique data set comprising financial records spanning 27 years and 100 communities, operational performance indicators for 200 waterpoints, and water source choices for more than 2000 households. Results suggest communities collecting pay-as-you-fetch fees on a volumetric basis generate higher levels of revenue and experience better operational performance than communities charging flat fees. In both cases, financial flows mirror seasonal rainfall peaks and troughs. These outcomes are tempered by evidence that households are more likely to opt for an unimproved drinking water source when a pay-as-you-fetch system is in place. The findings illuminate a possible tension between financial sustainability and universal access. If the Sustainable Development Goal of "safe water for all" is to become a reality, policymakers and practitioners will need to address this issue and ensure rural water services are both sustainable and inclusive.

  8. Factors influencing sustainability of communally-managed water facilities in rural areas of Zimbabwe

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kativhu, T.; Mazvimavi, D.; Tevera, D.; Nhapi, I.

    2017-08-01

    Sustainability of point water facilities is a major development challenge in many rural settings of developing countries not sparing those in the Sub-Saharan Africa region. This study was done in Zimbabwe to investigate the factors influencing sustainability of rural water supply systems. A total of 399 water points were studied in Nyanga, Chivi and Gwanda districts. Data was collected using a questionnaire, observation checklist and key informant interview guide. Multi-Criteria analysis was used to assess the sustainability of water points and inferential statistical analysis such as Chi square tests and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) were used to determine if there were significant differences on selected variables across districts and types of lifting devices used in the study area. The thematic approach was used to analyze qualitative data. Results show that most water points were not functional and only 17% across the districts were found to be sustainable. A fusion of social, technical, financial, environmental and institutional factors was found to be influencing sustainability. On technical factors the ANOVA results show that the type of lifting device fitted at a water point significantly influences sustainability (F = 37.4, p planning stage of water projects was also found to be critical for sustainability although field results showed passive participation by communities at this critical project stage. Financial factors of adequacy of financial contributions and establishment of operation and maintenance funds were also found to be of great importance in sustaining water supply systems. It is recommended that all factors should be considered when assessing sustainability since they are interrelated.

  9. How to use sustainability indicators for tourism planning: the case of rural tourism in Andalusia (Spain).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blancas, F J; Lozano-Oyola, M; González, M; Guerrero, F M; Caballero, R

    2011-12-15

    This paper proposes an indicators system to analyse the sustainability of tourist activity at rural destinations in countries with a consolidated tourism sector. The proposed system aims at providing tourist managers and policy-makers with information to better understand the transition to sustainability at specific destinations and to encourage them to carry out corresponding policy and management responses. To illustrate how indicators can be quantified, we create a practical guideline on how to use the statistical information available. Likewise, we suggest a method for obtaining sustainability indexes by aggregation that reduces the subjectivity associated with the composite indicator. This procedure is based on the combination of principal component analysis and distance to a reference point. Together with the definition of sustainable tourism indicators, we explain how to use these systems and sustainability indexes to fulfil three practical uses in tourism sector planning: the comparison and characterisation of destinations, the definition of benchmarking practices, and the quantification of sustainable tourism objectives. Each practical use is illustrated using the case of rural zones in a consolidated destination such as Andalusia. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  10. SUSTAINABLE FARMS: INTEGRATION OF AGRICULTURAL SYSTEMS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Manolo Muñoz-Espinosa

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available The inappropriate use of agrochemicals and technologies in farming systems can cause an accelerated deterioration of agricultural and soil pollution. Thus, agriculture and livestock are becoming an environmental problem in the world, which implies the need to assess the efficiency of agricultural production systems related to sustainability. The traditional peasant system is apparently unsustainable, while farm with an integral production approach have better opportunities for development over time as they tend to sustainability. This type of farms incorporate productive alternatives that improve as a whole, the system and the livelihood of the peasants. The trends towards sustainability of farms are mainly due to a better land use. As well as, implementing systems adapted to each soil and production type to ensure profitability and persistence, achieving the highest possible agricultural productivity. The urgency to produce food for a growing population is almost a paradigm that reinforces the imperative for maximum yield per unit area, and creates a vision of the rural world aimed at increasing profit at the expense of the attributes and core values of livelihood in rural areas. It can be concluded that the integrated farming articulate various subsystems, which working together could allow higher sustainability of agricultural production practices, environmentally friendly, safeguarding the food sovereignty of the population and improving the quality of life of farmers

  11. How do small rural primary health care services sustain themselves in a constantly changing health system environment?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Buykx Penny

    2012-03-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The ability to sustain comprehensive primary health care (PHC services in the face of change is crucial to the health of rural communities. This paper illustrates how one service has proactively managed change to remain sustainable. Methods A 6-year longitudinal evaluation of the Elmore Primary Health Service (EPHS located in rural Victoria, Australia, is currently underway, examining the performance, quality and sustainability of the service. Threats to, and enablers of, sustainability have been identified from evaluation data (audit of service indicators, community surveys, key stakeholder interviews and focus groups and our own observations. These are mapped against an overarching framework of service sustainability requirements: workforce organisation and supply; funding; governance, management and leadership; service linkages; and infrastructure. Results Four years into the evaluation, the evidence indicates EPHS has responded effectively to external and internal changes to ensure viability. The specific steps taken by the service to address risks and capitalise on opportunities are identified. Conclusions This evaluation highlights lessons for health service providers, policymakers, consumers and researchers about the importance of ongoing monitoring of sentinel service indicators; being attentive to changes that have an impact on sustainability; maintaining community involvement; and succession planning.

  12. Can solar -biogas hybrid systems be the solution to sustainable energy supply in rural areas?

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Tazvinga, Henerica

    2011-04-01

    Full Text Available Access to modern energy services is a fundamental prerequisite for property reduction and sustainable human development. Many remote rural South African communities are characterized by low energy demand and low population densities, making...

  13. The Road Towards Sustainable Rural Development : Issues of Theory, Policy and Research Practice

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Marsden, T.; Banks, J.; Renting, H.; Ploeg, van der J.D.

    2001-01-01

    Developing a more widespread diffusion of sustainable agricultural practices as part of progressing rural sustainable development is being hampered by different modes of environmental social thought. This introduction to this special issue on Reconstituting of nature through rural development

  14. Australia's Sustainability: A New Policy Front for Rural Education?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Halsey, R. John

    2009-01-01

    Rural education and its policy agenda has for many decades primarily focussed upon responding to decline to "keep things going; keep things open". While this has been understandable and much has been achieved, it is now opportune--essential?--that rural education and its leaders embrace a new challenge, sustainability, and use it to…

  15. Promoting implementation of sustainable development goals in rural ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Promoting implementation of sustainable development goals in rural Nigeria: II food security issues and their determinants among cassava-based farming households in Akpabuyo Local Government Area, Cross River State, Nigeria.

  16. Assessing the Sustainability of the Built Environment in Mountainous Rural Villages in Southwest China

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Li Wan

    2016-02-01

    Full Text Available Mountainous rural areas such as those in southwest China are developing rapidly. This requires scientific understanding and a framework for assessing the sustainability of the built environment that is suitable to such areas. At present, no such framework exists. This lack of assessment options has contributed to the unsustainable development of these areas, which has caused a series of environmental, social, and economic problems. This article analyzes existing assessment frameworks, reviews the theory on sustainable rural development as it applies to rural southwest China, and proposes a new assessment framework that is more suitable to this region and others like it. This framework is based on a sustainable development model for rural areas that emphasizes endogenous development; addresses the environmental, social, and economic dimensions of sustainability; and takes the natural and social conditions of mountainous rural areas into account. Our study tested its applicability to rural southwest China and its sensitivity to local conditions and found them to be better than those of existing assessment frameworks.

  17. Sustainable rural learning ecologies- a prolegomenon traversing transcendence of discursive notions of sustainability, social justice, development and food sovereignty

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dipane Hlalele

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available This paper contributes, through traversing contested notions of sustainability, social justice, development and food sovereignty, to discourses around creation of sustainable rural learning ecologies. There has always been at least in the realm of scientific discourse, an attempt to dissociate the natural or physical environment from the social and human environment. This trend did not only affect the two spheres of existence only. It is further imbued and spawned fragmented and pervasive terminology, practices and human thought. Drawing from the ‘creating sustainable rural learning ecologies’ research project that commenced in 2011, I challenge and contest the use of such discourses and argue for the transcendence of such. This would, in my opinion, create space for harmonious and fluid co-existence between nature and humanity, such that the contribution of learning practices exudes and expedites sustainability in rural ecologies.

  18. Smart sustainable energy for the rural built environment

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Szewczuk, S

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available robust methodology to adapt innovative and renewable smart grid technologies to deliver real and sustainable decentralised energy solutions for remote and rural communities, thereby improving livelihoods and opportunities for inclusive growth...

  19. Rural Electrification Efforts Based on Off-Grid Photovoltaic Systems in the Andean Region: Comparative Assessment of Their Sustainability

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sarah Feron

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available In this paper, we comparatively assess the sustainability of rural electrification efforts based on off-grid solutions in Chile, Ecuador, and Peru. Our assessment considers four dimensions of sustainability (institutional, economic, environmental, and socio-cultural. We found that Ecuador and Chile have consistently failed to ensure mechanisms for the operation and maintenance of the deployed off-grid systems, which has made these solutions in poor Chilean and Ecuadorian communities inevitably unsustainable. Although Peru has adopted a cross-tariff scheme, the Peruvian case shows that ensuring the funding of off-grid PV solutions is not enough. Peruvian officials appear to be unaware of the importance of local participation (local values and lifestyles are constantly disregarded and most of the projects have been designed without the participation and engagement of the communities, which has often led to project failures and payment defaults. However, although each country has its particular challenges, we found that the three Andean countries have consistently neglected the importance of strong formal institutions with a flexible and decentralized structure, which in turn significantly compromised the rural electrification effort in these countries.

  20. Sustainable Rural Development Policy in Poland – Environmental Aspects

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    Mosiej Józef

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available The author discusses issues of sustainable development in rural areas in Poland from the perspective of natural resources management. Sustainable development of rural areas is the way of managing which links economic, social and ethical principles with ecological safety. This may be reached by proper management, directed on cautious usage of ecosystems’ self-controlling mechanisms, with the progress of science and technology. Agriculture in Poland is one of the most important sectors from an economic perspective and its importance is greater in Poland than in other countries in the EU. It has an influence not only on the social and economic situation of the rural population, but also on the natural environment, structure of landscape and biodiversity. From ecological point of view, functions of rural areas are not only being a place for production of food, resources for industry and green energy, but also supplying environmental goods such as protection of biodiversity and influencing air and water quality as well as landscape. The author presents ways to reduce the pressure of agricultural activities on water resources in the region, catchment and farm scale

  1. Multi criteria analysis for sustainability assessments of electricity generation systems in a rural community in South Africa

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Amigun, B.; Mehlwana, M. [Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Pretoria (South Africa). Sustainable Energy Futures, Natural Resources and the Environment; Musango, J.K. [Department of Energy (DoE), Pretoria (South Africa); Brent, A.C. [Stellenbosch Univ. (South Africa). Centre for Renewable and Sustainable Energy Studies

    2011-07-01

    One of the key challenges of the energy policy in South Africa is to ensure that rural areas have access to electricity. This is reflected in the key energy policy documents (the 1998 Energy White Paper and the 2002 Renewable Energy White Paper). Both these documents identified renewable energy resources as immediate alternatives to grid electricity in especially remote rural communities that are characterised by low population densities. Centralised energy generation and transmission is very costly and inefficient in these areas due to greater transmission and distribution losses. While the cost of electricity in South Africa is relatively cheaper, it is not accessible for many rural households. There are still over two million households in rural areas without access to electricity. This paper presents a multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) using the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) technique to compare various electricity technologies (mainly renewables) in a specific rural community of South Africa using social, economic, environment and technical indicators. These technologies were than ranked against each indicator assuming that the high-level criteria have equal importance for sustainable development. It is demonstrated that energy from wind is the most sustainable, followed by photovoltaic, anaerobic digestion (biogas) and then gasification. A sensitivity analysis was also performed to verify the stability of the priority ranking. The outcome of this study will specifically assist energy planners and decision-makers to choose the best alternative from a range of technology alternatives in a milieu of conflicting and competing criteria. (orig.)

  2. [Letter to the] Environment & Rural Development Committee meeting on sustainable development

    OpenAIRE

    Sustainable Development Commission Scotland

    2006-01-01

    On December 13th 2006, the Sustainable Development Commission gave evidence as part of the Environment & Rural Development Committee's enquiry into sustainable development. This letter was sent as a written submission before the meeting. Publisher PDF

  3. AGROECOSYSTEMS SUSTAINABILITY OF CASSAVA PRODUCTION OF PARAÍBA RURAL AREA FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF BIOGRAM

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Valdenildo Pedro da Silva

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available Agriculture modernization resulting from green revolution occurred through means of diverse technological innovations as soluble fertilizers, pesticides, agricultural machinery and genetically modified seeds, aimed at increasing food production. However, the indiscriminate use of these innovations by farmers has been highlighted numerous environmental problems, affecting the productive agricultural system. This technological innovations reality and environmental obstacles, is also been experienced by cassava production in Paraíba rural area. Therefore, this study tried to assess the agroecosystems sustainability of cassava production (Manihot esculenta Crantz of Paraíba Rural Mesoregion, using Sustainable Development Index (S³ method, and its graphical representation, the Biogram. The results showed sustainability differences between the agroecosystems of investigated municipalities, of which Araçagi showed stable levels of sustainability, Araruna and Bananeiras demonstrated unstable levels, and Puxinanã showed the most critical sustainably level. It was concluded that, even the agroecosystems of Araçagi municipality showing better levels of sustainability, when compared with other municipalities assessed, cassava production showed unsustainability situations regarding its technological innovation levels, average yield of cassava production, land in erosion process, water scarcity and lack of social participation.

  4. “Rejecting the inevitability of poverty”: Empower women for sustainable rural livelihoods through community-based employment intensive rural infrastructure maintenance projects

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Mashiri, M

    2008-11-01

    Full Text Available This paper discuses the extent to which employment-intensive rural infrastructure maintenance projects can be used as a tool to empower women to achieve sustainable rural livelihoods using Siyatentela rural road maintenance program in Mpumalanga...

  5. Extended exergy-based sustainability accounting of a household biogas project in rural China

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yang, J.; Chen, B.

    2014-01-01

    Biogas has been earmarked as one of the leading renewable energy sources capable of mitigating environmental emissions in rural areas. Thus, developing an accounting technique is of particular importance in coping with increasing problems related to renewable agriculture and rural energy supply. In this study, extended exergy was generalised for the sustainability evaluation of biogas projects. Furthermore, a series of extended exergy-based indicators was presented as benchmarking from the perspectives of resources, economics and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The sustainability of a “Three-in-One” biogas production system in southern China was thereby evaluated based on the proposed framework. The results show that economic costs concentrate in the construction phase. GHG emissions are mainly derived from bricks and cement, with proportions of 36.23% and 34.91%, respectively. The largest resource depletion occurs during the consumption of feedstock (87.06%) in the operation phase. Compared with other renewable energy conversion systems, the biogas project has a higher renewability (0.925) and economic return on investment ratio (6.82) and a lower GHG emission intensity (0.012). With the merit of bridging thermodynamics and externality, the extended exergy-based approach presented in this study may effectively appraise the energy and environmental performance of biogas projects. - Highlights: • Extended exergy is used to describe the sustainability level of biogas projects. • A set of extended exergy based sustainability indicator is established. • Biogas project has high renewability and greenhouse gas emission abatement potential. • Multiple utilization of biogas digestate is a promising way to improve sustainability

  6. Sustaining rural livelihoods: On-farm climate-smart adaptation ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Rural livelihoods, incidence of poverty and climate change are intricately connected in the Offinso Municipality in the Ashanti region of Ghana. Conscious of the vagaries of climate change, smallholder farmers have developed adaptation measures to sustain their subsistent livelihoods. This paper examines the various ...

  7. Spatial planning for sustainable rural municipalities

    OpenAIRE

    Thellbro, Camilla

    2017-01-01

    Local natural resources (LNRs) are essential for the socioeconomy of rural societies. The United Nations (UN) Agenda 21 and “Our Common Future” state that local spatial planning is central for the prospect of balancing ecological, social and economic sustainable development (SuD). Stakeholder participation in spatial planning enhances acceptance and improves preconditions for successful planning outcomes. Consequently, it is important to increase knowledge about LNRs and the use of them and t...

  8. Electric power and sustainable rural development: a way for the citizenship

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ribeiro, Fernando Selles; Pazzini, Luiz Henrique Alves; Pelegrini, Marcelo Aparecido; Galvao, Luiz Claudio Ribeiro; Udaeta, Miguel Edgar Morales

    1999-01-01

    The present paper is an analysis of the rural electrification usage. Rural production requires efficient energy sources, and the State must encourage landowners to make use of market forces to modernize their activities. Important authors have claimed that rural electrification should be viewed as an investment in the energy structure of a region, an investment to achieve economic returns. In this paper, this opinion is criticized in light for the need of sustainable rural development. More than just a macroeconomic policy, electrification should be viewed through a social lens, as indispensable component of citizenship. (author)

  9. Can photovoltaic technologies help attain sustainable rural development in Bangladesh?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Biswas, W.K.; Diesendorf, Mark; Bryce, Paul

    2004-01-01

    The paper explores a model of sustainable rural development and poverty alleviation in Bangladesh, based on the creation of village businesses that sell solar electricity generated from the photovoltaic (PV) technologies. The model shows that the solar electricity business model is in principle economically viable up to the maximum investment available from a micro-credit organisation. Furthermore, the transfer of the existing subsidy from the centralised power system to these businesses would create significant additional income for one-third of the total landless and marginal farmers (LMFs) to meet their income deficits for basic needs. It would also electrify all rural wealthier households. From this additional income, the LMF households employed by the scheme would be able to conserve their environmental resources of animals, land and trees that otherwise are being lost. Appropriate government policies are proposed to disseminate PV technologies

  10. Solarising tropical Africa’s rural homes to sustainably overcome energy poverty

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kanyarusoke, K. E.

    2017-11-01

    At less than 30% electrification, Tropical Africa is the most energy-poor electrified region of the world. At home level, the annual per-capita electric energy consumption ranges between 0 and 150 kWh in rural areas, where 83% of the population reside. This is well below the 250 kWh recommended by the International Energy Agency (IEA) as the threshold for exiting rural ‘Energy Poverty’. Some governments have tried to extend the grid to such areas but these efforts have not yielded much. The approaches of rural electrification - as is being done now have therefore failed - and they may not be able to electrify every home in the countries concerned. An alternative approach promoting stand-alone photovoltaic (PV) and other solar powered heat and mass transfer systems at home level is proposed. An example of the approach in a village home in rural Uganda, East Africa is given. It is estimated that the combined unit energy cost over the systems’ lifespan would be just about US 3 cents. Health, Education, and Sustainability in all its forms would be greatly improved. The main recommendation is for policy makers to adopt this approach for rural homes while sparing grid supply only for commercial and industrial activities.

  11. Sustainable Energy Solutions for Rural Alaska

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Allen, Riley [Regulatory Assistance Project, Montpelier, VT (United States); Brutkoski, Donna [Regulatory Assistance Project, Montpelier, VT (United States); Farnsworth, David [Regulatory Assistance Project, Montpelier, VT (United States); Larsen, Peter [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

    2016-04-22

    The state of Alaska recognizes the challenges these rural communities face and provides financial support via the Power Cost Equalization (PCE) program. The PCE subsidizes the electricity prices paid by customers of these high-cost utilities. The PCE program is designed to spread the benefits of Alaska’s natural resources more evenly throughout the state. Yet even with this subsidy, electricity is still much more expensive for these rural customers. And beyond the PCE, other forms of assistance to rural utilities are becoming scarce given the state’s current fiscal environment. Nearly 90 percent of Alaska’s unrestricted budget funds in recent years have been tied to oil royalties—a sector experiencing significant declines in production and oil prices. Consequently, as Alaska looks to tighten budgets, the challenge of lowering rural utility costs, while encouraging self-sufficiency, has become more urgent.This study examines reliability, capital and strategic planning, management, workforce development, governance, financial performance and system efficiency in the various communities visited by the research team. Using those attributes, a tier system was developed to categorize rural Alaska utilities into Leading and Innovating Systems (Tier I), Advanced Diesel Systems (Tier II), Basic Systems (Tier III), and Underperforming Systems (Tier IV). The tier approach is not meant to label specific utilities, but rather to provide a general set of benchmarks and guideposts for improvement.

  12. Perspectives on Cultural and Sustainable Rural Tourism in a Smart Region: The Case Study of Marmilla in Sardinia (Italy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chiara Garau

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available This paper is being inserted into the current debate on the topic of sustainability, as it applies to rural tourism. In particular, it addresses the need to identify strategic actions that will enhance the dissemination of cultural resources to facilitate cultural planning. Balancing the dynamic tension that characterizes the relationship between tourism development and protection of the landscape is key to finalizing appropriate planning strategies and actions, especially in the context of marginal rural areas. In support of theoretical and methodological reflections pertinent to this relationship, this paper presents a case study of the region of Marmilla on Italy’s island of Sardinia. The absence of both a “cultural planning” philosophy and a strategic approach to systemic and sustainable rural tourism in this country has been acknowledged. This paper concludes by discussing the results that emerged during the preparation of this case study, with respect to smart, sustainable, rural tourism development, while accepting the need for compromises between the force of globalization, nature, tourism, places, and people.

  13. Assessing Sustainable Rural Community Tourism Using the AHP and TOPSIS Approaches under Fuzzy Environment

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mujiya Ulkhaq M.

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Tourism is currently a sector that is growing into an important and significant world activity. The development of an area where the tourist destination located in affects the growth of the tourism. In addition, the success of tourist destinations are influenced by their relative competitiveness; hence, they do compete each other to offer the best service to satisfy their customers. Rural tourism in Indonesia is believed as emerging business since there are abundant sites located in rural area that offers fascinating attractions to the visitors. This study aims to evaluate the rural tourism using sustainable indicators, namely, service quality, facilities, management system, and outcome. A combination of fuzzy AHP and TOPSIS are employed to select five rural tourism in Central Java Province. Result shows that service quality is considered as the most important attribute with weight of 28.6%, while Dieng is named for the excellent rural tourism. This finding might offer the service providers with valuable insights into the attribute that reflects customers’ perceptions about rural tourism; also to position their services based on their competitors.

  14. Sustainability effects of household-scale biogas in rural China

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Gosens, J.; Lu Yonglong,; He Guizhen,; Bluemling, B.; Beckers, T.A.M.

    2013-01-01

    Households in rural China rely heavily on low quality fuels which results in reduced quality of life and environmental degradation. This study assesses the comparative contribution of household scale biogas installations to the broad set of sustainability objectives in the Chinese biogas policy

  15. Systemic Analysis of Food Supply and Distribution Systems in City-Region Systems—An Examination of FAO’s Policy Guidelines towards Sustainable Agri-Food Systems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vanessa Armendáriz

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available The world is continuously transforming to supply growing cities and urbanization processes are still driving important changes in our current food systems. Future sustainability constraints are emphasizing that Food Supply and Distribution Systems (FSDS are deeply embedded in city-region systems with specific technical and socio-ecological characteristics. This paper aims to provide a systemic understanding on FSDS focusing the integration of urban and rural structures considering the system biophysical boundaries and societal targets. A qualitative framework model, based on the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO’s FSDS literature, has been developed by using Systems Thinking (ST and System Dynamics (SD approaches. The model analysis suggested that to increase sustainability and resilience of food systems large emphasis has to be maintained on: (i estimation of local territorial carrying capacities; (ii land use planning to enhance connections among rural supplies and city needs; (iii city policies, to regulate emergent market size and local scale of production; (iv technological efficiency at farm, distribution and market levels; (v urban, peri-urban and rural functional linkages that considers social metabolic balances; (vi rural development as a core point for building sustainable food systems and counteracting the urbanization growth. These key areas are relevant to test new paths of cities-regions reconfiguration towards the transition to resilient agri-food systems.

  16. Problems and social policy priorities sustainable development of rural territories (on the Republic Komi example

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vitaliy Nikolaevich Lazhentsev

    2011-12-01

    Full Text Available This paper deals with the concept of term «sustainable development» of rural areas. Social problems of rural development of the republic of Komi are identified. An intra-rural typology creation is performed. An increasing differentiation in the development of rural areas is concluded. Rural settlements in the republic are characterized by low population density and a rare network of settlements. Low level and quality of rural life (low rural incomes, poor living conditions and high unemployment and better living conditions in urban areas adversely affect migration processes of the village. Characteristic features of modern rural labour market are: inconsistency of supply and demand of labour in vocational and qualification angle, seasonality of production and temporary nature of the proposed work, low wages, low competitiveness of the youth labour market, high level of registered unemployment and even higher — of unregistered. Analytical material allowed the authors to determine the direction of social policy for sustainable development of rural areas according to the conditions of the North.

  17. The potentials for creating sustainable rural tourism in Bačka

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Stankov Uglješa

    2007-01-01

    Full Text Available Average rural household in Bačka mostly depend on agricultural activities. Modern society changes, especially changes in agriculture production imply need for diversification of business activities. Rural tourism can be important part of rural economy for some villages in Bačka. Fertile plain, Danube, Tisa and other smaller rivers, animals and games represent base of natural tourist attractions of rural tourism. However, main competitive advantages of Bačka are anthropogenic values. Traditional pannonian houses, baroques churches, numerous rural festivities, and "melting point" of different nationalities make good base for rural tourism development. Different combinations of rural attractions create several tourist experiences of this region: authentic tourist experience at "szalashes", particular tourist experience in villages, intensive tourist experience of rural events and manifestations, not authentic tourist experiences of pseudo rural attractions and complex tourist experience in rural areas. Regarding to emitive centers of rural tourist demand can be specified tree regions for development of rural tourism - region of Novi Sad, Subotica, and Sombor. Rural tourism can make a valuable contribution to rural economies, job creation, landscape conservation, retention of rural population, support to rural culture and tradition, nature conservation and other. At the same time, rural tourism is facing various limitations. With in this context, rural tourism planning has to include principles of sustainable development.

  18. Figuring rural development : concepts and cases of land use, sustainability and integrative indicators

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Hobbes, Marieke

    2010-01-01

    Sustainable economic development is essential for hundreds of millions of poor households in rural areas. This book represents a merger of environmental science and rural development economics. It elucidates the linkage between rational choice theory and theories on land use change. It builds a

  19. Multi-Generation Concentrating Solar-Hydrogen Power System for Sustainable Rural Development

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Krothapalli, A.; Greska, B.

    2007-07-01

    This paper describes an energy system that is designed to meet the demands of rural populations that currently have no access to grid-connected electricity. Besides electricity, it is well recognized that rural populations need at least a centralized refrigeration system for storage of medicines and other emergency supplies, as well as safe drinking water. Here we propose a district system that will employ a multi-generation concentrated solar power (CSP) system that will generate electricity and supply the heat needed for both absorption refrigeration and membrane distillation (MD) water purification. The electricity will be used to generate hydrogen through highly efficient water electrolysis and individual households can use the hydrogen for generating electricity, via affordable proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells, and as a fuel for cooking. The multi-generation system is being developed such that its components will be easy to manufacture and maintain. As a result, these components will be less efficient than their typical counterparts but their low cost-to-efficiency ratio will allow for us to meet our installation cost goal of $1/Watt for the entire system. The objective of this paper is to introduce the system concept and discuss the system components that are currently under development. (auth)

  20. Smart Integrated Renewable Energy Systems (SIRES: A Novel Approach for Sustainable Development

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zeel Maheshwari

    2017-08-01

    Full Text Available Technical and economic aspects of the viability of SIRES (Smart Integrated Renewable Energy Systems for sustainable development of remote and rural areas of the world are discussed. The hallmark of the proposed SIRES is the smart utilization of several renewable resources in an integrated fashion and matching of resources and needs a priori with the ultimate goal of “energization”, not just “electrification”. Historical background leading to this approach is succinctly presented along with a comprehensive schematic diagram. Modeling of various components and their collective use in optimizing SIRES with the aid of genetic algorithm are presented using a typical hypothetical example. SIRES is also compared with various approaches for rural development based on Annualized Cost of System (ACS and installation costs. Implementation of SIRES will lead to overall sustainable development of rural communities.

  1. Sustainable Rural Development in Russia Through Diversification: The Case of the Stavropol Region

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Erokhin, V.; Heijman, W.J.M.; Ivolga, A.

    2014-01-01

    The contemporary relevance of ensuring sustainable rural development is stipulated, on the one hand, by the growing economic and social backwardness of rural territories, and on the other hand by their ultimate importance for the nation in such issues as food security, preservation of soil and

  2. Balancing Rural and Urban Development: Applying Coordinated Urban–Rural Development (CURD Strategy to Achieve Sustainable Urbanisation in China

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ling-Hin Li

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available Land in rural China has been under a separate and closed management system for decades even after the urban land reform that started in the late 1980s. The blurred property rights over rural land have been hindering the rural welfare as surplus rural land in sub-urban areas cannot be circulated into more economic use without first being requisitioned by the state. This traditional conversion process creates a lot of problems, among them are the compensation standard as well as displacement of rural residents to the city, where they cannot find adequate welfare protection. The prolonged disparity in economic outcomes for rural and urban residents in China in the process of urbanisation has made the authority realise that land-based local finance is no longer an option. Coordinated Urban and Rural Development (CURD ideology arises to set a level playing field by giving the rural residents comparable welfare status as their urban counterparts’ one. The CURD ideology is basically linked to the strategic development of the three main issues in the rural area of China, or in the Chinese terminology: San Nong. These three issues are rural villages, rural enterprises and rural farmers (nong cun, nong ye, nong min. CURD ideology is to preserve the livelihood of rural villages, facilitate and promote rural enterprises and increase the living standard of rural farmers. Most importantly, however, CURD policy package bestows rural residents with property rights over their farmland so that they could sub-co1ntract the user-rights to other urban commercial entities for higher benefits. While CURD policies are applied in a lot of different regions in China including Chongqing in the West, Qingdao in the North, Zhongshan in the South and Wuhan in the middle, we focus our examination in Chengdu as the Chengdu model has been widely documented and highly regarded as the most successful model in implementing the CURD strategies. From our case study, we find that

  3. Sustaining Agriculture and the Rural Environment; governance, policy and multifunctionality

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Brouwer, F.M.

    2004-01-01

    Apart from food and raw materials, agriculture can also provide ancillary benefits such as landscapes, biodiversity, cultural heritage and thriving rural communities. This book offers a state-of-the-art overview of strategies for sustainable management practices and their implementation through the

  4. Satisfaction and sustainability: a realist review of decentralized models of perinatal surgery for rural women.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kornelsen, Jude; McCartney, Kevin; Williams, Kim

    2016-01-01

    This article was developed as part of a larger realist review investigating the viability and efficacy of decentralized models of perinatal surgical services for rural women in the context of recent and ongoing service centralization witnessed in many developed nations. The larger realist review was commissioned by the British Columbia Ministry of Health and Perinatal Services of British Columbia, Canada. Findings from that review are addressed in this article specific to the sustainability of rural perinatal surgical sites and the satisfaction of providers that underpins their recruitment to and retention at such sites. A realist method was used in the selection and analysis of literature with the intention to iteratively develop a sophisticated understanding of how perinatal surgical services can best meet the needs of women who live in rural and remote environments. The goal of a realist review is to examine what works for whom under what circumstances and why. The high sensitivity search used language (English) and year (since 1990) limiters in keeping with both a realist and rapid review tradition of using reasoned contextual boundaries. No exclusions were made based on methodology or methodological approach in keeping with a realist review. Databases searched included MEDLINE, PubMed, EBSCO, CINAHL, EBM Reviews, NHS Economic Evaluation Database and PAIS International for literature in December 2013. Database searching produced 103 included academic articles. A further 59 resources were added through pearling and 13 grey literature reports were added on recommendation from the commissioner. A total of 42 of these 175 articles were included in this article as specific to provider satisfaction and service sustainability. Operative perinatal practice was found to be a lynchpin of sustainable primary and surgical services in rural communities. Rural shortages of providers, including challenges with recruitment and retention, were found to be a complex issue, with

  5. Health inequalities among rural and urban population of Eastern Poland in the context of sustainable development.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pantyley, Viktoriya

    2017-09-21

    The primary goals of the study were a critical analysis of the concepts associated with health from the perspective of sustainable development, and empirical analysis of health and health- related issues among the rural and urban residents of Eastern Poland in the context of the sustainable development of the region. The study was based on the following research methods: a systemic approach, selection and analysis of the literature and statistical data, developing a special questionnaire concerning socio-economic and health inequalities among the population in the studied area, field research with an interview questionnaire conducted on randomly-selected respondents (N=1,103) in randomly selected areas of the Lubelskie, Podkarpackie, Podlaskie and eastern part of Mazowieckie Provinces (with the division between provincial capital cities - county capital cities - other cities - rural areas). The results of statistical surveys in the studied area with the use of chi-square test and contingence quotients indicated a correlation between the state of health and the following independent variables: age, life quality, social position and financial situation (C-Pearson's coefficient over 0,300); a statistically significant yet weak correlation was recorded for gender, household size, place of residence and amount of free time. The conducted analysis proved the existence of a huge gap between state of health of the population in urban and rural areas. In order to eliminate unfavourable differences in the state iof health among the residents of Eastern Poland, and provide equal sustainable development in urban and rural areas of the examined areas, special preventive programmes aimed at the residents of peripheral, marginalized rural areas should be implemented. In these programmes, attention should be paid to preventive measures, early diagnosis of basic civilization and social diseases, and better accessibility to medical services for the residents.

  6. Energy services and energy poverty for sustainable rural development

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kaygusuz, K.

    2011-01-01

    In many rural areas, poor people still depend on wood and other biomass fuels for most of their household and income-generating activities. The difficult, time-consuming work of collecting and managing traditional fuels is widely viewed as women's responsibility, which is a factor in women's disproportionate lack of access to education and income, and inability to escape from poverty. Therefore, it is important for energy access programs to have a special focus on women. New options for energy access and sustainable livelihoods, like small-scale biofuels production, can have dramatic benefits for rural women, and their families and communities. Energy development, as both a driving force and a consequence of such tremendous changes, has had profound impact on economic, social, and environmental development. Rural energy has always been a critical issue due to years of energy shortage for both households and industries. Biomass, for long time, has been the only available fuel in many rural areas. The situation in rural areas is even more critical as local demand for energy outstrips availability and the vast majority of people depend on non-commercial energy supplies. Energy is needed for household uses, such as cooking, lighting, heating; for agricultural uses, such as tilling, irrigation and post-harvest processing; and for rural industry uses, such as milling and mechanical energy and process heat. Energy is also an input to water supply, communication, commerce, health, education and transportation in rural areas. (author)

  7. Community management and sustainability of rural water facilities in Tanzania

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Mandara, C.G.; Butijn, C.A.A.; Niehof, Anke

    2013-01-01

    This paper addresses the question of whether community management in water service delivery affects the sustainability of rural water facilities (RWFs) at village level, in terms of their technical and managerial aspects, and what role capacity building of users and providers plays in this process.

  8. Sustainability effects of household-scale biogas in rural China

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gosens, Jorrit; Lu, Yonglong; He, Guizhen; Bluemling, Bettina; Beckers, Theo A.M.

    2013-01-01

    Households in rural China rely heavily on low quality fuels which results in reduced quality of life and environmental degradation. This study assesses the comparative contribution of household scale biogas installations to the broad set of sustainability objectives in the Chinese biogas policy framework, which targets household budget, fuel collection workload, forest degradation, indoor air quality and health, renewable energy supply, and climate change. A household survey was used to determine how biogas affected consumption levels of crop residues, fuel wood, coal, LPG, and electricity. Biogas users were found to reduce consumption of biomass fuels but not coal. Although LPG is not a highly commonly used fuel in rural China, biogas users nearly cease to use it altogether. A big reduction in fuel wood consumption results in strongly reduced workload and forest degradation. Although household scale biogas has alleviated all sustainability issues targeted by Chinese policies, low quality fuel use remains abundant, even in households using biogas. Continued promotion of the construction of biogas installations is advisable, but additional policies are needed to ensure higher quality heating energy supply and cleaner uses of biomass fuels. - Highlights: ► Household biogas alleviated all sustainability issues targeted by policy. ► Biogas users consume less biomass fuels, much less LPG, but similar amounts of coal. ► Strongest sustainability effects are reduced workload and forest degradation. ► Household budget effects are slight as commercial cooking fuel use is limited. ► Low quality fuel use remains abundant and further policy efforts are needed

  9. Sustainability of donor-funded rural water supply and sanitation projects in Mbire district, Zimbabwe

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kwangware, Johnson; Mayo, Aloyce; Hoko, Zvikomborero

    The sustainability of donor-funded rural water supply and sanitation projects was assessed in Mbire district, Zimbabwe in terms of level of community participation, quality of implementation and reliability of the systems. The study was carried out through questionnaires, focus group discussions, interviews and field observations. The results show that the quality of implementation of the projects was deemed to be good and participation of the communities in project ideas initiation and choice of technology was found to be very low. Reliability of the systems was found to be very high with 97% of the boreholes in all the three wards studied being functional. Financial management mechanisms were very poor because water consumers were not willing to pay for operation and maintenance. The projects were classified as potentially sustainable with sustainability index between 5.00 and 6.67. Poor financial management mechanisms for effective borehole maintenance, poor quality of construction and lack of community participation in project planning were found to be potential threats to the sustainability of the projects. Future projects should establish the need for the service and should thus be demand driven to ensure effective participation of the water consumers and enhance project's potential for sustainability.

  10. The WHS Designation—A Factor of Sustainable Tourism Growth for Romanian Rural Areas?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Corneliu Iațu

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available The presence of World Heritage Sites has been frequently used as a mean of tourism promotion and increased attractiveness. However, previous studies showed contradictory results regarding the territorial impact of World Heritage Sites, and very few researchers discussed their impact in Eastern Europe. This paper examines how the presence of World Heritage Sites in rural localities influenced the tourism growth and sustainable development in Romania after 2000. Independent Sample t-test was used to analyse the evolution of tourism and sustainable development indicators between 2001 and 2016. The results suggest an absence of a positive effect induced by World Heritage Sites in rural areas. It seems that, by itself, the brand has not enough power to sustain tourist attractiveness if it is not endorsed by national, regional, and local initiatives. These findings lead a discussion about how certain sites managed to induce a sustained tourism growth while others failed to do so.

  11. Sustainable Community Sanitation for a Rural Hospital in Haiti

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jason Jawidzik

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available A fully sustainable sanitation system was developed for a rural hospital in Haiti. The system operates by converting human waste into biogas and fertilizer without using external energy. It is a hybrid anaerobic/aerobic system that maximizes methane production while producing quality compost. The system first separates liquid and solid human waste at the source to control carbon to nitrogen ratio and moisture content to facilitate enhanced biodegradation. It will then degrade human waste through anaerobic digestion and capture the methane gas for on-site use as a heating fuel. For anaerobic decomposition and methane harvesting a bioreactor with two-stage batch process was designed. Finally, partially degraded human waste is extracted from the bioreactor with two-stage batch process and applied to land farming type aerobic composter to produce fertilizer. The proposed system is optimized in design by considering local conditions such as waste composition, waste generation, reaction temperature, residence time, construction materials, and current practice. It is above ground with low maintenance requirements.

  12. METHODOLOGICAL APPROACHES FOR MODELING THE RURAL SETTLEMENT DEVELOPMENT

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gorbenkova Elena Vladimirovna

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available Subject: the paper describes the research results on validation of a rural settlement developmental model. The basic methods and approaches for solving the problem of assessment of the urban and rural settlement development efficiency are considered. Research objectives: determination of methodological approaches to modeling and creating a model for the development of rural settlements. Materials and methods: domestic and foreign experience in modeling the territorial development of urban and rural settlements and settlement structures was generalized. The motivation for using the Pentagon-model for solving similar problems was demonstrated. Based on a systematic analysis of existing development models of urban and rural settlements as well as the authors-developed method for assessing the level of agro-towns development, the systems/factors that are necessary for a rural settlement sustainable development are identified. Results: we created the rural development model which consists of five major systems that include critical factors essential for achieving a sustainable development of a settlement system: ecological system, economic system, administrative system, anthropogenic (physical system and social system (supra-structure. The methodological approaches for creating an evaluation model of rural settlements development were revealed; the basic motivating factors that provide interrelations of systems were determined; the critical factors for each subsystem were identified and substantiated. Such an approach was justified by the composition of tasks for territorial planning of the local and state administration levels. The feasibility of applying the basic Pentagon-model, which was successfully used for solving the analogous problems of sustainable development, was shown. Conclusions: the resulting model can be used for identifying and substantiating the critical factors for rural sustainable development and also become the basis of

  13. Strategies for Sustainable Urban Development and Urban-Rural Linkages

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nilsson, Kjell; Nielsen, Thomas Alexander Sick; Aalbers, Carmen

    2014-01-01

    , identified how land use conflicts and the pressure towards peri- urban areas can be strategically managed in different development and regulatory contexts. To summarise, the following strategies were identified as important steps towards more sustainable urban-rural futures: (i) better coordination...... of transport, land use and open space planning; (ii) urban containment and densification – development a green compact city; (iii) preservation of blue and green infrastructure; and (iv) preservation of agricultural land and the promotion of local production. The need also remains to strengthen governance...... at the regional level while at the pan-European level there is clearly a need for more policy attention to be given to urban-rural linkages....

  14. Sustainable development of rural regions; Insights on land use and policy from the Shetlands Islands

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Horlings, L.G.; Kanemasu, Y.

    2015-01-01

    To address rural diversity, a place-based approach to sustainable development becomes more relevant. Place-based approaches to development are said to strengthen the resilience of rural areas against global pressures by decreasing state dependencies and increasing the economic competitiveness of

  15. Trends in Organic Farming Development in Bulgaria: Applying Circular Economy Principles to Sustainable Rural Development

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dimitrov Dimitar K.

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available The paper examines the development of organic farming in Bulgaria through the viewpoint of its links to circular economy concept and its potential to contribute to sustainable rural development. The significant increase in the number of organic operators and areas is analyzed in the context of stable growth in the European sector and worldwide and the increase in consumer demand. Main indicators reported by the Ministry of Agriculture and Food of the Republic of Bulgaria and the support provided by the National Rural Development Program are used to present the characteristics of organic production and agricultural holdings. The advantages of Bulgaria are underlined as a country offering the necessary conditions, along with the main problems in production and marketing. Recommendations are provided for organic sector encouragement as a sustainable business model and an entrepreneurial initiative for sustainable rural development putting a special accent on networking and capacity building activities in connection to potential solutions and policy development.

  16. Territorial Rural Development: Biosphere Reserves as an opportunity for sustainable development

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Antonio Benete Reyes

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available The strategy to strengthen the field of rural development planning aims the search for social cohesion, regional competitiveness and environmental sustainability of the territories. In this sense, the current uncertain context characterized by the globalization of the economy, increasing demand for energy, erosion and pressure on natural resources demand for innovative models that promote rural development territorial strategies that give priority to local resources and that support local development models  In this stage, the model of territorial planning is established as a preferred option on models of local development settled under the concept of the municipality, since mobilizes resources and capabilities between regions that have common strengths and opportunities for promoting development and exceeding the vision and concept of the local as political-administrative unit. It is in this supra-municipal and territorial approach where Biosphere Reserves are an opportunity for sustainable territorial development.

  17. LOCAL INITIATIVES FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN RURAL HOKKAIDO: A CASE STUDY OF SAMANI

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Devon Dublin

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available The paper presents the results of a field investigation about sustainable development of Samani town—a rural area in Hidaka region, Hokkaido, Japan. Local activities, business, environmental, social and economic challenges that affect the town as well as the advantages were investigated. The research was done by means of field visits, questionnaires and interviews involving the local people and government. The main economic sectors: olivine industry, fishery, agriculture and tourism were targeted as well as the government sector and the local high school with a particular focus on rural-urban migration. Samani has quite unique natural features on hand but a few strong comprehensive challenges on the other hand. The authors focused on the citizens opinions and positions which were based on the uniqueness of Samani and their own local activities and initiatives for the sustainable development of the town in the future which can be replicated in other rural communities around the world.

  18. How to develop sustainable tourism in rural destinations in Serbia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Štetić Snežana

    2008-01-01

    Full Text Available The classical distinction between countries of tourist offer and countries of tourist demand has already been surpassed considering that many countries of tourist demand (USA, Germany, Great Britain … earn much more from tourism than the countries of tourist offer (Italy, Greece, Portugal …. The changes in customers' behaviour are reflected through restructuring of tourist movements towards new destinations. What is essential in creating, promoting and marketing tourist destinations for the specific tourism forms development is the identification of all the positive and negative factors that influence the development of these destinations. Converting a potential into a tourist destination depends on many factors both in qualitative and in quantitative sense. Discovering an area of preserved environment that also possesses attractive motifs presents the beginning of the possible tourist destination creating. Further 'destiny' of a tourist destination depends on its planning and development intensity. Rural tourism is a significant component of integral and sustainable development and revitalization of the village, as well as a component that is missing in stimulating the local market development for agricultural and non-agricultural activities in the country, along with a special stimulation to employment. Serbia possesses remarkable natural resources and other potentials for the development of all forms of rural tourism. However, rural tourism in Serbia is an insufficiently organized field that is not being developed adequately to the possibilities available to it. That is why this paper wants to point out the potential opportunities for the development of rural tourism in Serbia through sustainable development and correct performance policy on both national and international tourist market.

  19. Systemic levers for change towards sustainable institutionalisation of ICT in schools

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Meyer, I

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available pressure on the school environment, since schools are unable to sustain the change introduced without support from their formal support systems. Although the ICT for Rural Education Development (ICT4RED) initiative was successful in integrating technology...

  20. Establishing Priorities for Sustainable Environmental Design in the Rural Villages of Yunnan, China

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Adrian Pitts

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available This paper addresses sustainable rural village development in China. Rural development is unlike the process of urbanization in Chinese cities and reflects different land ownership rules and different organizational structures. Even though there are an increasing number of Chinese residents in cities, there are still more than 600 million people living in the countryside. The attention lavished on city development has been, in part, now refocused to rural villages. Since 2006, the support for large-scale investment in the countryside has created much change; however, not all of this change is well organized, with potential for less than optimum impacts on the environment and sustainability. The paper identifies the key influences and drivers from historic and contemporary points of view. The sustainability of the villages will derive from long-term self-sufficiency, and this must include the understanding of environmental design principles, which enable suitable dwelling design. Two villages are taken as contrasting examples, and information derived from other sources is discussed. Technologies and techniques that can help determine environmental design priorities are evaluated and directions for future development suggested. This includes development of a design support aid with key drivers of: orientation and site location, window design and key construction features.

  1. SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF RURAL TOURIST PRODUCT IN ROMANIACASE STUDY GORJ COUNTY

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    NEAMȚU Liviu

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available Development of rural tourism as a tourism branch meets all requirements of sustainable development considering that can be touched all three pillars of this type of development: economic development, social development, environmental protection. In recent years rural tourism has benefited of sustainable development approaches, like other tourist product, unfortunately more in economically developed countries than in less developed countries such as Romania. A balanced development can be ensured through planning and zoning land to allow adapted development for tourism to the capacity of ecosystems. Any equipment or infrastructure item that is done at community level is a potential incentive for local development. Natural and human environment will become more active, stimulating local people to conserve natural monuments, archaeological sites, historical buildings and remains as important resources for economic growth and social welfare of local communities. The setting up of the tourist village typology is based on the highlighting of the specific of the rural localities, their classification within the tourist area of Romania, on a few fundamental types. From the theoretical point of view, the issue of the tourist villages typology could be optionally approached, but its application represents a necessary solution for the determination of the tourist features to be applied.

  2. Clusters as a factor for sustainable development in rural areas

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    Justyna Socińska

    2012-09-01

    Full Text Available Sustainable development is one of the determinants of strategic thinking and current operation of modern companies. Sustainable development is a factor in other words, in which companies come to work. It is an important factor, and having far-reaching repercussions, but it is not the only one. Enterprises should therefore take in its action it into account, adapt to it and benefit from its existence, but that does not mean that this fact can and should be the only determinant of their performance. The determinant of its action should reflect the clusters, especially those operating in rural areas.

  3. Harnessing the sun: Developing capacity to sustain local solar energy systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Olarewaju, Olufemi

    2011-12-01

    Use of solar photovoltaic (PV) and other renewable sources to meet rising electricity demand by a growing world population has gained traction in many countries in recent years. In rural Sub-Saharan Africa, where 86 percent of the populace has no access to electricity, solar energy systems represent partial solutions to demand, especially in support of rural development initiatives to supply potable water, health care services and education. Unfortunately, development of human and organizational capacity to maintain solar technology has not kept pace with the rate of installation, causing many to fall into disrepair and disuse. This has stimulated interest in capacity development processes required to make solar systems sustainable. To cast light on the practical meanings and challenges of capacity development for solar energy, this study compares the experiences of two rural projects, one in Lagos State (Nigeria) that disregarded the importance of capacity development, and the other in Texas (United States) that, in contrast, made such development the centerpiece of its operations. Based largely on interviews with 60 key actors, findings underscore the crucial importance of sustained investment in capacity development to assurance of durable power supply from renewable sources.

  4. Locally manufactured wind power technology for sustainable rural electrification

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Leary, J.; While, A.; Howell, R.

    2012-01-01

    To date, the use of wind power for rural electrification has been limited. However the fact that micro-wind turbines can be manufactured using only basic workshop tools, techniques and materials, and therefore can be produced locally is often overlooked. Local manufacture has the potential to boost the local economy, build local capacity, reduce costs and produce resilient and flexible energy systems. However, locally manufactured technology must be seen as socially embedded due to the variety of local knowledge, skills, equipment and materials needed to construct and maintain such systems, as well as the organisational structures needed to ensure their long term sustainability. Evidence from successful initiatives suggests that stable institutional support from intermediaries such as the local/national government or NGOs is necessary to foster the development of a wind power industry based on local manufacture. The roles of these intermediaries include identifying and targeting windy areas with favourable environmental conditions, conducting research and development, collecting feedback from end users, creating supply chains for new parts and materials and developing relevant knowledge and skills. In this paper, three case studies of specific initiatives are analysed to draw out the social, economic and technical factors that could facilitate wider adoption of the technology. - Highlights: ► Local manufacture of wind turbines often overlooked for rural electrification. ► Flexible to adapt to local context and benefits local economy, capacity and supply chain. ► Development of technology discussed and 3 case studies of dissemination analysed. ► Critical factors: institutional support, system level planning, continuity of supply. ► Dissemination successful in Inner Mongolia; work continues elsewhere.

  5. Nigeria: Positioning Rural Economy for Implementation of Sustainable Development Goals

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    Akinbode Michael Okunola

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available Nigeria as nation has over the years engaged in lots of developmental activities without actions which makes achievements to elude the people. Development of societies doesn’t happen in the vacuum. Thus, the adoption of Structural Adjustment Program, SAP, by Nigeria leading to the neglect of the custom periodic National Plan at a time when Nigeria had no structure for development was the beginning of journey to widened inequality and large poverty incidence, depth and severity. To close the gap between the rich and the poor, the Nigeria government had designed and implemented some programs and policies whose implementation has not solved the inherent problems. In year 2000, the world leaders subscribed to the Millennium Development Goals to ensure synergized global approach to solving the poverty menace. Programs designed in Nigeria to achieve the MDGs focused on the urban centers thereby relegating the rural areas which are responsible for the feeding of the teeming population of the urban dwellers. Farming households and the general rural communities do not have access to clean water, quality education and health facilities, good feeder roads, affordable and safe energy as well as other socioeconomic and socio-infrastructural facilities that would ensure sustainable living for the people whose contribution to the national economy cannot be overemphasized. This study therefore looks at the structural actions the Nigeria government should embarked upon to ensure that the rural dweller have access to life. As the government would be developing programs and policies to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals whose priority is the end poverty in all forms and everywhere by 2030, this study reveals how to position the rural economy for developmental attention from the policy makers.

  6. Tourism as a factor of sustainable development of rural areas belonging to Rudnička Morava

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    Ristić Lela

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The paper looks at tourism as an essential component of sustainable development of rural areas belonging to Rudnička Morava territory. The aim of the paper is to point to the role of tourism in the integration of rural areas into the national and international economy based on the analysis of the relevant rural development model and in terms of more efficient endogenous development. The main hypothesis is that rural areas belonging to Rudnička Morava territory have significant natural and anthropogenic resources for tourism development. However, what lacks is an integrated strategy that would contribute to sustainability and strengthening of the competitiveness of the rural economy. In accordance with the subject of the paper, its aim and the set hypotheses, qualitative, quantitative and SWOT analysis were applied during the research. A survey was conducted in order to obtain positions and feedback from the key actors involved in tourism development. The paper is organized in eight sections. The main result of the research points to the necessity of giving priority to rural tourism development as an essential component of the revitalization of villages and local communities.

  7. Integrated water resources management for sustainable development of in western rural China

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    CHEN Gui-bao; HUANG Gao-bao

    2010-01-01

    Management in water resources development of Jinghe watershed of western rural China is examined with Participatory Rural Appraisal method--a rare applied method in China and questionnaire survey of stakeholders.Combination of these two survey methods derives good results as it could avoid personal bias in identifying and ranking the issues on a concrete basis in following up households'survey.Statistic Package for Social Sciences(SPSS)was used for data analysis.Results indicate that since the early 1980s.issues of water scarcity,river pollution,soil erosion,insufficient participation of stakeholders in water resources use and management,as well as centrahzed water planning and management system have created difficulties for sustainable development of the watershed.The stakeholders and local governments are fully aware of the challenges and are committed to achieving a solution through integrated water resource management(IWRD).The concept and the application of IWRD for rural China are reviewed and analyzed,and a framework for implementation of IWRD in China is developed.It is conchided that the keys to successful implementation of the approach will depend on optimal arrangement of institutions,policy reforms,community involvement and capacity building in water sector,which need to fully integrate various management functions within the watershed.

  8. GLOBAL CHALLENGES FOR SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT IN SLOVAKIA

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    Magdalana Bartosova

    2013-09-01

    Full Text Available The paper is focused on the evaluation of economic, social and environmental challenges of sustainable agriculture. The selected indicators of the economic challenges of sustainable agriculture imply that agriculture in Slovakia is not in long term be able to ensure competitiveness in the European market, gross agricultural output is characterized by a faster decline in animal production than in crop production and the value of import of agri-food commodities is higher than the value of export. According to selected indicators of social challenges of sustainable agriculture the number of persons working in agriculture has decreasing tendency in last years. The evaluation of selected indicators of environmental challenges of sustainable agriculture implies that area of organic agriculture is the most widely applied sub-measure within the measure agri-environmental payments. For ensuring the balance of the three mentioned dimensions of sustainable agriculture is necessary to increase of local production and consumption of local products, to ensure the protection of nature and landscape, to ensure rural development and to increase the employment opportunities in countryside.

  9. A new systems paradigm for the rural electrification program, Philippines

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Roxas, Fernando; Santiago, Andrea

    2010-09-15

    The Philippines has pushed rural electrification for two decades. Recently, the government achieved 100% electrification at the village level. Despite the significant recent economic growth, poverty has increased in some areas. These are usually agricultural and have many un-electrified areas. The multilaterals have launched programs that couple electricity with livelihood projects. The authors argue this is insufficient to guarantee sustainability. A systems view of rural poverty suggests that several components must be designed to work together. In addition to the electricity and livelihood, skills, attitudes, management and markets must be incorporated to make a lasting impact on poverty.

  10. Assessing the impact of pluriactivity on sustainable agriculture. A case study in rural areas of Beotia in Greece.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Giourga, Christina; Loumou, Angeliki

    2006-06-01

    Pluriactivity of farms, or part-time farming, is a common feature of agriculture in all countries regardless of their socioeconomic system and level of development. Currently, pluriactivity is related to the values of sustainable agriculture. The objective of this study is to delineate those specific characteristics of pluriactive farms that contribute to sustainable agriculture. In rural areas of Boetia in Greece, a socioeconomic survey was carried out on 114 farms to determine the types of farming applied. The results demonstrate that pluriactivity is a stable component of the agricultural structure in the rural areas of Boetia. It is widespread in plains, but its presence is more important in mountainous and semimountainous areas. The choice of young farmers is to opt for pluriactivity. Farm size does not differ between pluriactive and full-time farms. Pluriactive and full- time farms use the same level of input and get the same output for the same type of crop. However, pluriactive farmers under the same land-productive conditions are oriented toward a more extensive farming system, managing their land with crops that need less inputs. Considering these findings, it can be claimed that pluriactivity can contribute to diminishing the demand on natural resources in favored (level and irrigated) areas, to continue agricultural production in unfavorable (mountainous and semimountainous) areas, and to help the sustenance of the rural population.

  11. Sustainable Development of Rural Tourism in An Giang Province, Vietnam

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    Nguyen Thanh Long

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available This study aims at sustainably developing rural tourism in An Giang Province, an agricultural province located in the South of Vietnam, by identifying the determinants of the satisfaction and revisit intention of tourists based on both qualitative and quantitative approaches. From exploratory interviews with experts and comprehensive group discussions, we developed a questionnaire for an official survey of 507 tourists at different tour-sites in An Giang Province. It is found that: (1 there are seven key factors affecting the satisfaction of the tourists, including: spirituality, tourism safety and security, people, food and beverage, natural environment, service prices and tourism infrastructure; and (2 revisit intention of tourists is affected by six factors, including: satisfaction, spirituality, tourism safety and security, people, food and beverage and service prices. Among them, spirituality is a new factor to be thoughtfully considered due to its significant influence on both the tourist satisfaction and revisit intention. From these findings, we proposed some managerial implications for the sustainable development of rural tourism in An Giang Province by enhancing the satisfaction and revisit intention of the tourists after they visit the province.

  12. Galvanizing Local Resources: A Strategy for Sustainable Development in Rural China

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cho, Eun Ji

    2014-01-01

    China has been undergoing a rapid development over the past decades, and rural areas are facing a number of challenges in the process of the change. The "New Channel" project, initiated to promote sustainable development and protect natural and cultural heritage in Tongdao county in China from a rapid urbanization and economic…

  13. SUSTAINABILITY IN AGROFORESTRY SYSTEMS: SOCIO-ECONOMICAL INDICATORS

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    Omar Daniel

    2009-09-01

    Full Text Available It is wide the discussion involving the importance of production adjustment activities in general, to the concept of sustainable development. Among the agricultural activities, the agroforestry systems have been considered sustainable, coming as alternatives to the intensive systems of agricultural production. To monitor the sustainability of agricultural activities, includings  AF,  the  literature  emphasizes  the  biophysical  indicators,  in  detriment  of  the  socio-economical ones. Seeking to define a list of socio-economical indicators that can be adapted to the several models recommendations of  AF a study was developed, supported by specialists and technicians and wide literature review. The conclusions were: the categories related  to the operation of the systems had the largest number of indicators in the socioeconômic component, with larger concentration in the endogenous operations of the system, followed by the endogenous and exogenous resources; the largest number of indicators suggested in the category operation of the system was in the descriptors health and nutrition, employment, habitation and sanity and economic analysis; in the category operation of exogenous systems, there were certain larger number of indicators for the descriptors commercialization and rural infrastructure; practically there was no difference among the number of indicators obtained for the agroforestry systems with and without the animal component.

  14. Are micro-benefits negligible? The implications of the rapid expansion of Solar Home Systems (SHS) in rural Bangladesh for sustainable development

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Komatsu, Satoru, E-mail: skomatsu@hiroshima-u.ac.jp [Graduate School for International Development and Cooperation, Hiroshima University, 1-5-1 Kagamiyama, Higashi-hiroshima, Hiroshima 739-8529 (Japan); Kaneko, Shinji, E-mail: kshinji@hiroshima-u.ac.jp [Graduate School for International Development and Cooperation, Hiroshima University, 1-5-1 Kagamiyama, Higashi-hiroshima, Hiroshima 739-8529 (Japan); Ghosh, Partha Pratim, E-mail: partha1975@gmail.com [Arc Bangladesh (Bangladesh)

    2011-07-15

    This paper examines the multiple benefits of the adoption of Solar Home Systems (SHS) and discusses the dissemination potential for sustainable rural livelihoods in developing countries. Based on a household survey conducted in rural Bangladesh, we first identify the impact of SHS on the reduction in energy costs and compare purchasing costs. We then examine household lifestyle changes following the adoption of SHS. Finally, we consider several price-reduction scenarios to examine the potential demand for SHS and to evaluate its future dissemination potential. The results of the analysis indicate that households with SHS successfully reduce their consumption of kerosene and dependency on rechargeable batteries, with the cost reductions accounting for some 20-30% of monthly expenditures on SHS. Moreover, most households with SHS can enjoy its benefits, including electric lighting, watching television, and the ease of mobile phone recharging at home. Further, the price reduction can make possible potential demand in more than 60% of households without SHS, while additional price reductions promote the purchase of even larger SHS packages. This study concludes that even though the scale of single SHS is small, the micro-benefits for each household and the dissemination potential are substantial. - Research Highlights: > Price reductions on Solar Home Systems potentially generate demand. > Solar Home Systems enable a reduction in energy costs and improvements in lifestyle. > The micro-benefits for households and the dissemination potential are substantial.

  15. Placing value on the products and patrimony of rural lands in southern Brazil: contribution to sustainable land development.

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    Claire Cerdan

    2009-10-01

    Full Text Available This article contributes an analysis of the way in which agents of rural development have elaborated and implemented mechanisms to place value on the local specificities within two states of Brazil’s southern region. Within this context, consideration of biological and cultural diversity from a perspective of sustainable development imposes itself, whether directly or indirectly. We base our argument on two case studies of experiences that promote these mechanisms through placing emphasis on origins: i beef produced in native pastures of Rio Grande do Sul and ii Goethe wine, made in the Urussanga region of Santa Catarina. Both cases are considered illustrative of the current phase of evolution of debates dealing with the interface of geographic origins, protection of national heritage and sustainable rural development. Keywords: rural development, sustainable development, cultural heritage, Southern Brazil.

  16. Rural Sanctuaries as ‘Smart Destinations’ – Sustainability Concerns (Mazovia Region, Poland

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    Pawlikowska-Piechotka Anna

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available The general objective of this paper is to present and discuss the factors that need to be taken into account to ensure that the development and management of religious tourism at rural sites was sustainable from an economic, environmental and socio-cultural point of view. Among other issues, sustainable religious tourism means accessibility to the sanctuaries, protection of cultural and heritage values of the local community, benefits for the local residents and meaningful experience for visitors. Authors were especially interested in the less popular, more remotely located holy sites in Mazovia Region (Poland and two concerns: readiness to respond the needs of persons with different disabilities and local community opinion on tourists. As was documented by our research outcomes despite the recent numerous improvements, the most popular rural sanctuaries in Mazovia Region, remain only partially accessible for persons with disabilities. As masses of pilgrims have a significant effect on wellbeing and everyday life quality of residents (contributing both to positive and to negative effects, those who accept that tourists are important for economic development, benefit from it, creating ‘smart host area’. These rural communities which are not knowledgeable about positive impacts – see only negative consequences.

  17. Dynamics of sustained use and abandonment of clean cooking systems: study protocol for community-based system dynamics modeling.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kumar, Praveen; Chalise, Nishesh; Yadama, Gautam N

    2016-04-26

    More than 3 billion of the world's population are affected by household air pollution from relying on unprocessed solid fuels for heating and cooking. Household air pollution is harmful to human health, climate, and environment. Sustained uptake and use of cleaner cooking technologies and fuels are proposed as solutions to this problem. In this paper, we present our study protocol aimed at understanding multiple interacting feedback mechanisms involved in the dynamic behavior between social, ecological, and technological systems driving sustained use or abandonment of cleaner cooking technologies among the rural poor in India. This study uses a comparative case study design to understand the dynamics of sustained use or abandonment of cleaner cooking technologies and fuels in four rural communities of Rajasthan, India. The study adopts a community based system dynamics modeling approach. We describe our approach of using community based system dynamics with rural communities to delineate the feedback mechanisms involved in the uptake and sustainment of clean cooking technologies. We develop a reference mode with communities showing the trend over time of use or abandonment of cleaner cooking technologies and fuels in these communities. Subsequently, the study develops a system dynamics model with communities to understand the complex sub-systems driving the behavior in these communities as reflected in the reference mode. We use group model building techniques to facilitate participation of relevant stakeholders in the four communities and elicit a narrative describing the feedback mechanisms underlying sustained adoption or abandonment of cleaner cooking technologies. In understanding the dynamics of feedback mechanisms in the uptake and exclusive use of cleaner cooking systems, we increase the likelihood of dissemination and implementation of efficacious interventions into everyday settings to improve the health and wellbeing of women and children most affected

  18. Sustainable renewable energy projects for intelligent rural electrification in Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ortiz, Brisa; Vetter, Matthias [Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (ISE), Freiburg (Germany); Bourg, Catherine [Fondation Energies pour le Monde (France); Crehay, Romain [Centre Wallon de Recherches Agronomiques (Belgium)

    2010-07-01

    The project ''Renewable Energy Sustainable Programs for Intelligent Rural Electrifrication'' RESIREA has been looking for the creation of conditions that make possible the establishment of Renewable Energy Technologies (RET) markets in targeted provinces to Lao PDR, Cambodia and Vietnam. As a main result of the project, in three different selected provinces (one in each country) have been proposed villages as ''ready to implement''. The ''ready to implement'' villages are specific RET projects resulted from applying developed methodologies. One methodology is a deeply well structured cross-analysis of technical and economic parameters and the results have been integrated in a Geographical Information System GIS. Based on the least-cost methodology, off-grid biomass and photovoltaic PV power supply systems have been designed and asset for the proposed villages. In the case of PV system designs, a detailed study has been carried out by means of simulations tools and extensive field data. The PV system design looks to contribute to an ''easy scale-up'' concept for off-grid power supply systems, especially when rural communities are too diverse. Further expected benefits besides the supply of electricity services are the improvement of the living and health conditions of the populations, the stimulation of local markets for RET and economic activities. (orig.)

  19. Field Testing of a Small Water Purification System for Non-PRASA Rural Communities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Small, rural communities typically do not have adequate water purification systems to sustain their life quality and residents are exposed to pathogens present in drinking water. In Puerto Rico (PR), approximately 4% of the population does not have access to drinking water provi...

  20. Irrigation water quality as indicator of sustainable rural development

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    Trajković Slaviša

    2004-01-01

    Full Text Available The sustainable rural development more and more depends on the efficient usage of water resources. Most often, at least in one part of the year, the rain is not sufficient for plant growth and rain plant production significantly depends on the yearly precipitation variation. The increase and stability of the agricultural production is possible in the irrigation conditions. The most part (around 70% of the global water resources is used for food production. Irrigation water quality indicator is used to show if the available water resources have the required quality for application in agriculture. Irrigation is characterised by the complex water-plant-soil relationship, and in that eco-system the man as the end user of the irrigated fields occupies a very important place. That explains the difficulties in producing one universal classification of irrigation water quality. The paper analyses numerous water quality classifications from the aspect of the applicability on the quantifying of this indicator. The adopted classification should possess understandable, qualified and internationally comparable indicator. Thus, local classifications (Neigebauer, Miljkovic cannot be used for this indicator. United Nation Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO and US Salinity Laboratory (USSL classifications are used for the evaluation of the irrigation water quality throughout the world. FAO classification gives the complex picture of the usability of the irrigation water from the point of its influence on the soil and the plants. However, the scope of the analyses is not often suited to the needs of that classification, which makes it difficult to apply. The conclusion is that the USSL (US Salinity Laboratory classification is best suited to this range of chemical water analyses. The evaluation of the irrigation water quality indicator in the Juzna Morava river basin, upstream from the Toplica river estuary is given in this paper. Based on the obtained

  1. The role of cooperatives in sustaining the livelihoods of rural communities: The case of rural cooperatives in Shurugwi District, Zimbabwe

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    Smart Mhembwe

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available The main focus of the research was to analyse the role of cooperatives in sustaining the livelihoods of local rural communities in Shurugwi District in Zimbabwe. Descriptive survey design was used in this mixed method approach to the study. A questionnaire, interviews and observation methods were employed as the main research instruments. Purposive sampling technique was adopted and data were collected from government officials and from members of the six cooperatives in Shurugwi District. A total of 50 research participants were involved in the study. It was found that cooperatives were established as a strategy to sustain livelihoods of rural communities. With the adoption of cooperatives, people in the rural communities managed to generate employment, boost food production, empower the marginalised, especially women, and promote social cohesion and integration, thereby improving their livelihoods and reducing poverty. Most cooperatives face a number of challenges that include lack of financial support, poor management and lack of management skills, and lack of competitive markets to sell their produce. The study recommends that the government and the banking sector render financial support to cooperatives in rural communities to allow them to expand and diversify their business operations; constant training on leadership and management skills is provided to cooperatives’ members. There is also a need for cooperatives, especially those in the agricultural sector, to form some producer associations so as to easily market their produce. Lastly, the study recommends that future research should focus on investigating issues that hinder the growth of the cooperative movement in rural communities of Zimbabwe. It is hoped that policy-makers, the academia and communities would benefit from the study.

  2. Sustainable fuelwood use in rural Mexico. Volume 1: Current patterns of resource use

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Masera, O.

    1993-04-01

    The present report summarizes the results of the first phase of a project of cooperation between the Mexican National Commission for Energy Conservation (CONAE) and the United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) on sustainable biofuel use in rural Mexico. This first phase has been devoted to (i) conducting an in-depth review of the status of fuelwood use in rural and peri-urban areas of Mexico, (ii) providing improved estimates of biomass energy use, (iii) assessing the socioeconomic and environmental impacts of fuelwood use, and (iv) identifying preliminary potential lines of action to improve the patterns of biomass energy use in Mexico; in particular, identifying those interventions that, by improving living conditions for rural inhabitants, can result in global benefits (such as the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions). A comprehensive review of the existing documentation of biofuel use in rural and peri-urban Mexico was conducted. Reports from official, academic, and non-governmental organizations were gathered and analyzed. A computerized rural energy database was created by re-processing a national rural energy survey. Because of the paucity of information about biofuel use in small rural industries, most of the analysis is devoted to the household sector.

  3. Adaptation measures to sustain indigenous practices and the use of indigenous knowledge systems to adapt to climate change in Mutoko rural district of Zimbabwe

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shingirai S. Mugambiwa

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available This article examines adaptation measures used to sustain indigenous practices and the use of indigenous knowledge systems (IKS to adapt to climate change in Mutoko rural district of Zimbabwe. Community-based adaptation is able to reduce the vulnerability as well as improve the resilience of the local people to climatic variability and change. Subsistence farmers have always adopted adaptive strategies to some of these changes over the years. As such, the adoption of indigenous practices will significantly help rural community members to adapt to climate change. This study employed a qualitative method and an exploratory design, and the results are derived from 30 purposively selected in-depth interviews. The study discovered that there are numerous measures used to adapt to climate change and subsequently to sustain indigenous practices. The study also found that the community no longer grows maize in large quantities, having shifted to millet and sorghum in order to adapt to climate change. The community also provided various strategies to adapt to climate change. These strategies include mulching, creating large storage houses for produce and creating temporary walls on riverbanks in order to store water when the rivers dry up. This study concludes that climate change adaptation measures employed by the community have significantly helped them to sustain their indigenous practices in many ways. Also, the use of IKS, through activities such as crop type change from maize to traditional millet and sorghum (which facilitates traditional lifestyle and activities, re-establishes the community’s indigenous practices since they are made to observe the practices of yesteryear.

  4. THE HOUSING SITUATION OF THE RURAL POPULATION IN THE SUSTAINABLE CONSUMPTION

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    Alicja Stolarska

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available  The basic research material comprised empirical data on household budgets conducted by CSO (The Central Statistical Offi ce. The analysed housing conditions of 15 742 rural households in 2012 in Poland. Attention is paid to some households in poor housing situation. Diversity of housing situation and factors affecting this state of affairs is presented. We observe not only the diversity of household wealth, but there are also disparities in housing situation. Disturbing and contrary to the principles of sustainable development and sustainable consumption is the fact that there are signifi cant differences in the size (10–900 m2 and quality of fl ats. Some have more than one house, others are not able to meet their basic needs. Until 13% fl ats of rural households had leaky roofs, damp walls or rotting windows and fl oors. Nearly 1.3% of them also was too tight and located in an area with a low level of infrastructure. It was associated with poor revenue situation, but also the type of the main source of income, family situation and who was the owner of the apartment. Approx. 1.4% of the fl ats had no running water, and almost 18% were heated using heating furnaces, which are not only a nuisance in operation, but also emit carbon dioxide harmful to the environment. Some rural households (5% had credit, but they have better fi nancial situation than others.

  5. Spatial Heterogeneity of Sustainable Transportation Offer Values: A Comparative Analysis of Nantes Urban and Periurban/Rural Areas (France

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    Julie Bulteau

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available Innovative solutions have been implemented to promote sustainable mobility in urban areas. In the Nantes area (northwestern part of France, alternatives to single-occupant car use have increased in the past few years. In the urban area, there is an efficient public transport supply, including tramways and a “busway” (Bus Rapid Transit, as well as bike-sharing services. In periurban and rural areas, there are carpool areas, regional buses and the new “tram-train” lines. In this article, we focus on the impact on house prices of these “sustainable” transportation infrastructures and policies, in order to evaluate their values. The implicit price of these sustainable transport offers was estimated through hedonic price functions describing the Nantes urban and periurban/rural housing markets. Spatial regression models (SAR, SEM, SDM and GWR were carried out to capture the effect of both spatial autocorrelation and spatial heterogeneity. The results show patterns of spatial heterogeneity of transportation offer implicit prices at two scales: (i between urban and periurban/rural areas, as well as (ii within each territory. In the urban area, the distance to such offers was significantly associated with house prices. These associations varied by type of transportation system (positive for tramway and railway stations and negative for bike-sharing stations. In periurban and rural areas, having a carpool area in a 1500-m buffer around the home was negatively associated with house prices, while having a regional bus station in a 500-m buffer was non-significant. Distance to the nearest railway station was negatively associated with house prices. These findings provide research avenues to help public policy-makers promote sustainable mobility and pave the way for more locally targeted interventions.

  6. Sustainable Development of Rural Tourism in An Giang Province, Vietnam

    OpenAIRE

    Nguyen Thanh Long; Thanh-Lam Nguyen

    2018-01-01

    This study aims at sustainably developing rural tourism in An Giang Province, an agricultural province located in the South of Vietnam, by identifying the determinants of the satisfaction and revisit intention of tourists based on both qualitative and quantitative approaches. From exploratory interviews with experts and comprehensive group discussions, we developed a questionnaire for an official survey of 507 tourists at different tour-sites in An Giang Province. It is found that: (1) there ...

  7. ElectroChemical Arsenic Removal (ECAR) for Rural Bangladesh--Merging Technology with Sustainable Implementation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Addy, Susan E.A.; Gadgil, Ashok J.; Kowolik, Kristin; Kostecki, Robert

    2009-12-01

    Today, 35-77 million Bangladeshis drink arsenic-contaminated groundwater from shallow tube wells. Arsenic remediation efforts have focused on the development and dissemination of household filters that frequently fall into disuse due to the amount of attention and maintenance that they require. A community scale clean water center has many advantages over household filters and allows for both chemical and electricity-based technologies to be beneficial to rural areas. Full cost recovery would enable the treatment center to be sustainable over time. ElectroChemical Arsenic Remediation (ECAR) is compatible with community scale water treatment for rural Bangladesh. We demonstrate the ability of ECAR to reduce arsenic levels> 500 ppb to less than 10 ppb in synthetic and real Bangladesh groundwater samples and examine the influence of several operating parameters on arsenic removal effectiveness. Operating cost and waste estimates are provided. Policy implication recommendations that encourage sustainable community treatment centers are discussed.

  8. Food system sustainability for health and well-being of Indigenous Peoples.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kuhnlein, Harriet V

    2015-09-01

    To describe how Indigenous Peoples understand how to enhance use of their food systems to promote sustainability, as demonstrated in several food-based interventions. Comments contributed by partners from case studies of Indigenous Peoples and their food systems attending an international meeting were implemented with public health interventions at the community level in nine countries. The Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Conference Center in Bellagio, Italy, where experiences from case studies of Indigenous Peoples were considered and then conducted in their home communities in rural areas. Leaders of the Indigenous Peoples' case studies, their communities and their academic partners. Reported strategies on how to improve use of local food systems in case study communities of Indigenous Peoples. Indigenous Peoples' reflections on their local food systems should be encouraged and acted upon to protect and promote sustainability of the cultures and ecosystems that derive their food systems. Promoting use of local traditional food biodiversity is an essential driver of food system sustainability for Indigenous Peoples, and contributes to global consciousness for protecting food biodiversity and food system sustainability more broadly. Key lessons learned, key messages and good practices for nutrition and public health practitioners and policy makers are given.

  9. Evaluation of Sustainable Development in Rural Territories in Latgale Region (Latvia) by Using the Conception of Smart Specialization

    Science.gov (United States)

    Šipilova, Viktorija; Ostrovska, Inta; Jermolajeva, Elita; Aleksejeva, Ludmila; Olehnovics, Dmitrijs

    2017-01-01

    One of the approaches to achieve sustainable development is based on smart specialization. Rural areas are of particular importance in ensuring sustainable development, the smart development of which largely determines the balanced sustainable development of a state as a whole. The present study reflects the quantitative and the qualitative…

  10. Are micro-benefits negligible? The implications of the rapid expansion of Solar Home Systems (SHS) in rural Bangladesh for sustainable development

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Komatsu, Satoru; Kaneko, Shinji; Ghosh, Partha Pratim

    2011-01-01

    This paper examines the multiple benefits of the adoption of Solar Home Systems (SHS) and discusses the dissemination potential for sustainable rural livelihoods in developing countries. Based on a household survey conducted in rural Bangladesh, we first identify the impact of SHS on the reduction in energy costs and compare purchasing costs. We then examine household lifestyle changes following the adoption of SHS. Finally, we consider several price-reduction scenarios to examine the potential demand for SHS and to evaluate its future dissemination potential. The results of the analysis indicate that households with SHS successfully reduce their consumption of kerosene and dependency on rechargeable batteries, with the cost reductions accounting for some 20-30% of monthly expenditures on SHS. Moreover, most households with SHS can enjoy its benefits, including electric lighting, watching television, and the ease of mobile phone recharging at home. Further, the price reduction can make possible potential demand in more than 60% of households without SHS, while additional price reductions promote the purchase of even larger SHS packages. This study concludes that even though the scale of single SHS is small, the micro-benefits for each household and the dissemination potential are substantial. - Research Highlights: → Price reductions on Solar Home Systems potentially generate demand. → Solar Home Systems enable a reduction in energy costs and improvements in lifestyle. → The micro-benefits for households and the dissemination potential are substantial.

  11. Rail travel: Conceptualizing a study on slow tourism approaches in sustaining rural development

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mohamad Noor Farah Atiqah

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Rail transportation in Peninsular Malaysia is a popular transportation mode for locals to return to their hometown but is not frequently used as the mode of transport when travelling for holidays. Rural towns in Peninsular Malaysia have immense opportunity to be promoted as a popular tourism destination without the need of intense modern development. Using train rather than taking a car or a bus would endorse the concept of slowness during travel enabling tourists to enjoy the time taken to travel rather than rushing to travel to a destination. Encouragement of travelling by rail to the rural towns will enable improved utilization of the existing rail network and further uplift the travel appeal to rural towns in Peninsular Malaysia. In order to promote the concept of slow tourism that would benefit the rural towns’ sustainability, the perception of tourists on travelling slowly by train should first be understood and taken for consideration. A qualitative methodology of in depth interviews with domestic and international tourists whom have travel on trains to the rural towns will be conducted.

  12. Potential applications of the Internet of Things in sustainable rural development in South Africa

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Dlodlo, N

    2012-05-01

    Full Text Available Conference of Information Science and Computer Applications (ICISCA), Bali, Indonesia, 19-20 November 2012 Potential applications of the Internet of Things in sustainable rural development in South Africa Nomusa Dlodlo and Mofolo Mofolo CSIR...

  13. Land system science and sustainable development of the earth system

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Verburg, Peter H.; Crossman, Neville; Ellis, Erle C.

    2015-01-01

    Land systems are the result of human interactions with the natural environment. Understanding the drivers, state, trends and impacts of different land systems on social and natural processes helps to reveal how changes in the land system affect the functioning of the socio-ecological system...... as a whole and the tradeoff these changes may represent. The Global Land Project has led advances by synthesizing land systems research across different scales and providing concepts to further understand the feedbacks between social-and environmental systems, between urban and rural environments and between...... distant world regions. Land system science has moved from a focus on observation of change and understanding the drivers of these changes to a focus on using this understanding to design sustainable transformations through stakeholder engagement and through the concept of land governance. As land use can...

  14. Sustainable diets within sustainable food systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Meybeck, Alexandre; Gitz, Vincent

    2017-02-01

    Sustainable diets and sustainable food systems are increasingly explored by diverse scientific disciplines. They are also recognised by the international community and called upon to orient action towards the eradication of hunger and malnutrition and the fulfilment of sustainable development goals. The aim of the present paper is to briefly consider some of the links between these two notions in order to facilitate the operationalisation of the concept of sustainable diet. The concept of sustainable diet was defined in 2010 combining two totally different perspectives: a nutrition perspective, focused on individuals, and a global sustainability perspective, in all its dimensions: environmental, economic and social. The nutrition perspective can be easily related to health outcomes. The global sustainability perspective is more difficult to analyse directly. We propose that it be measured as the contribution of a diet to the sustainability of food systems. Such an approach, covering the three dimensions of sustainability, enables identification of interactions and interrelations between food systems and diets. It provides opportunities to find levers of change towards sustainability. Diets are both the results and the drivers of food systems. The drivers of change for those variously involved, consumers and private individuals, are different, and can be triggered by different dimensions (heath, environment, social and cultural). Combining different dimensions and reasons for change can help facilitate the transition to sustainable diets, recognising the food system's specificities. The adoption of sustainable diets can be facilitated and enabled by food systems, and by appropriate policies and incentives.

  15. Agritourism Rural Development Public Administration

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maria MORTAN

    2006-02-01

    Full Text Available For Romania agritourism development represents the opportunity to differentiate between the rural and urban environment, as well as the best way for the preservation of traditions and customs in the rural areas, supplying a sustainable rural development. This work portrays agritourism as an element of rural development and critically analyzes the way in which the public administration should become involved in sustaining rural development in general and in sustaining agritourism development in particular.

  16. Study on the “3F-in-1” Sustainable Reconstruction of Rural Architecture from Placeality Perspective--A Case Study of Caiyuan Village in Jingmen City, Hubei Province

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fangyu, Fu; Yu, Cao

    2017-05-01

    This paper takes Caiyuan Village in Jingmen City of Hubei Province as the research object, analyzes the production, life and ecological functions of rural buildings and the “3F-in-1” inherent mechanism from the local perspective. Based on the concept analysis of placeality and “3F-in-1”, this paper clarifies the relationship among the value of life function, production function, ecological function so as to analyze the “3F-in-1” mode of rural architecture with placeality. On this basis, this thesis puts forward the strategy of sustainable spatial transformation (1) preserve the traditional overall spatial structure of villages, (2) improve the adaptability and function of rural architecture, (3) extend the rural social culture, (4) pay attention to local perception, with a view to explore an organic system design method for the exhibition of placeality and sustainable development of beautiful countryside.

  17. Planning and Management Directed to Urban Sustainability: an analysis of the Italian Circuit of Rural Tourism (CITUR), Colombo, Paraná

    OpenAIRE

    Arruda Dias, Eliza Mara; Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Paraná; Bollmann, Harry Alberto; Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Paraná

    2017-01-01

    This text’s objective is to discuss the importance of urban planning and management directed to sustainability, presenting the rural tourism as an alternative public policy. For the case study, the Italian Circuit of Rural Tourism (CITUR) in Colombo, Parana was considered, analyzing it as a public policy that contributes to a sustainable municipal development. For the research’s development, CITUR entrepreneurs, visitors, and representatives of the municipal government were interviewed. For a...

  18. Methodology for Monitoring Sustainable Development of Isolated Microgrids in Rural Communities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Claudia Rahmann

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available Microgrids are a rapidly evolving and increasingly common form of local power generation used to serve the needs of both rural and urban communities. In this paper, we present a methodology to evaluate the evolution of the sustainability of stand-alone microgrids projects. The proposed methodology considers a composite sustainability index (CSI that includes both positive and negative impacts of the operation of the microgrid in a given community. The CSI is constructed along environmental, social, economic and technical dimensions of the microgrid. The sub-indexes of each dimension are aggregated into the CSI via a set of adaptive weighting factors, which indicate the relative importance of the corresponding dimension in the sustainability goals. The proposed methodology aims to be a support instrument for policy makers especially when defining sound corrective measures to guarantee the sustainability of small, isolated microgrid projects. To validate the performance of the proposed methodology, a microgrid installed in the northern part of Chile (Huatacondo has been used as a benchmarking project.

  19. Potential of hybrid PV systems for rural South Africa: addressing income activities and water supply

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Ortiz, B

    2009-10-01

    Full Text Available " player to develop sustainable solutions and to scale-up hybrid PV systems for supplying energy and water to rural areas and to other African countries. The challenge to scale-up new renewable energy technologies in the next years is that they have...

  20. On the sustainability of aquaponics

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bettina Konig

    2016-04-01

    Full Text Available Aquaponics is an evolving closed-system food production technology that integrates recirculating aquaculture with hydroponics. In this paper we give a brief literature overview of the sustainability aspects of aquaponics by discussing its social, environmental, and economic impacts in different potential settings. The technology might be applied to commercial or community based urban food production, industrial scale production in rural areas, small scale farming in developing countries or as systems for education and decoration inside buildings. We conclude that due to the different potential applications and settings for installing the technology, sustainability impacts need to be considered separately and that due the complexity within markets, value chains, communities, urban and rural infrastructure  and policy settings, further research and data acquisition is needed to be able to assess all sustainability aspects.

  1. Water Quality, Mitigation Measures of Arsenic Contamination and Sustainable Rural Water Supply Options in Bangladesh

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    HOSSAIN M. ANAWAR

    2012-06-01

    Full Text Available Arsenic contamination of groundwater has created a serious public health issue in Bangladesh and West Bengal (India, because groundwater is widely used for drinking, household and agriculture purposes. Given the magnitude of the problem of groundwater contamination facing Bangladesh, effective, acceptable and sustainable solutions are urgently required. Different NGOs (Non-government organizations and research organizations are using their extensive rural networks to raise awareness and conduct pilot projects. The implication of the results from the previous studies is robust, but coastly arsenic reduction technologies such as activated alumina technology, and As and Fe removal filters may find little social acceptance, unless heavily subsidized. This review paper analysed the quality of surface water and ground water, all mitigation measures and the most acceptable options to provide sustainable access to safe- water supply in the rural ares of Bangladesh. Although there are abundant and different sources of surface water, they can not be used for drinking and hosehold purposes due to lack of sanitation, high faecal coliform concentration, turibidity and deterioration of quality of surface water sources. There are a few safe surface water options; and also there are several methods available for removal of arsenic and iron from groundwater in large conventional treatments plants. This review paper presented a short description of the currently available and most sustainable technologies for arsenic and iron removal, and alternative water supply options in the rural areas.

  2. Tourism as an Approach to Sustainable Rural Development in Post-Socialist Countries: A Comparative Study of Serbia and Slovenia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marko D. Petrović

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available The research deals with the sustainable development of the Serbian and Slovenian countryside, under the influence of tourism progress. The article identifies the main rural tourism competitiveness in Serbia and Slovenia, as one of the essential factors of rural development in both countries, analyzing the main contributions and making a series of proposals to guide the future research agenda. The aim of the paper is to clarify around one obviously defined objective—to point out the competitiveness of sustainable rural tourism in typical post-socialist settings. The data for this study were collected using the Integrated Model of Destination Competitiveness to observe Serbian and Slovenian competitiveness in tourism. Determinants were assessed using a survey evaluating four demanding factors and 20 supporting factors, based upon a five-point Likert Scale. The results indicated that the friendliness of residents towards visitors, easy communication between them, together with quality of infrastructure and health facilities show the highest level of statistical correlation. These are the main propositions to start an initiative for the authorities in local communities to actively participate in sustainable rural development. The findings provide tourism stakeholders with relevant respondents’ perceptions pertaining to the tourism development in non-urban areas.

  3. Dragons with Clay Feet? : Transition, sustainable land use and rural environment in China and Vietnam

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Spoor, M.; Heerink, N.; Qu, F.

    2007-01-01

    Dragons with Clay Feet? presents state-of-the-art research on the impact of ongoing and anticipated economic policy and institutional reforms on agricultural development and sustainable rural resource in two East-Asian transition (and developing) economies--China and Vietnam.

  4. Social Impacts of Solar Home Systems in Rural Areas: A Case Study in Bangladesh

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ehsanul Kabir

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available As an alternative source of off-grid electric power, solar home systems (SHS stand out above all other options (e.g., wind, hydro, geo-thermal, tidal systems because of their wide-scale potential at latitudes less than 45° north or south of the Equator where daily solar irradiance is more constant throughout the year and where the bulk of the Third World’s population live. A questionnaire-based survey study was carried out in a rural area of Bangladesh to ascertain the impacts of SHSs on the lives of the rural population. The installation of an SHS was found to improve the comfort and living standard of rural dwellers. Easier access to TV, radio, cellphone, and the Internet helped the rural population become part of a more global culture. More attractive down-payment and installment package options will allow poor target groups to adopt this system. The standard of SHS components and after-sales service should be improved to ensure sustainably and popularity among the mass population for at least 10 years at minimal cost to the consumer. Our findings can also help policymakers adopt more SHS-friendly policies to further the interests of inhabitants of rural areas that are not connected to the grid.

  5. Implications of rural tourism and agritourism in sustainable rural development

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Flavia-Lorena Cut-Lupulescu

    2014-10-01

    Full Text Available Romania shows: a variety of historical cultural values ​​- folk art, ethnography, folklore, traditions, historical artifacts - a natural harmoniously combined with a varied and picturesque landscape background. All these are facets of Romanian rural tourism in particular. Occurred and developed by the various forms of relief since the time of the Thracian-Dacian, Romanian rural settlements kept and still keeps in good measure ancient customs and traditions, a rich and varied folklore, ethnography and folk original elements that can be travel exploited in a strategy for the organization and development of rural tourism. Rural tourism in our country always practical, but spontaneous, sporadic, random, and mostly unorganized form of manifestation is the beginning of the '20s and '30s, the casual visitor accommodation citizens of rural settlements.

  6. SUSTAINABLE TOURISM IN RURAL REGION: THE EXPERIENCE OF THE ALTAI TERRITORY

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A. G. Redkin

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Aggravation of global environmental problems in the second half of XX century set the task of search of new options for modern world evolution. Thus in one of the first reports – «World Conversation Strategy», published in 1980 by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, the concept of sustainable development was just being discussed, in 1987 the World Commission on Environment and Development in the renowned report «Our Common Future» recognized sustainable development as the central guiding principle for civilization (Our Common Future 1989. By the middle of the 1990s all fields of economic activity including tourism were incorporated with a view to the long-term development. First appeared in the materials of the World Conference on Sustainable Tourism (Lanzarote in 1995 the concepts of sustainable tourism development and sustainable tourism have gained increasing importance and were inscribed into many UNWTO documents and initiatives (Seselkin 2014. There’ so no well-established definition of sustainable tourism for now, while there’s distinct vision and framework approach to how it should be. Sustainable tourism is tourism that meets the needs of present tourists and host regions while protecting and enhancing opportunity for the future development, capable to adapt to specific ethnic and cultural environment, meeting the requirements of social justice, ecologically compatible and retaining the economic advantages (Arsenyeva and others. Various types of tourism can be the basis for sustainable tourism industry in various regions. It must be the type most appealing for local community which by integrating other types of tourism will form tourist destinations due to the principles of sustainable development. Rural tourism serves as the basis for sustainable tourism in Altai krai.

  7. Sustainability and the Rural Education Course: is such approach possible?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Juliana Pereira Araújo

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available The Licentiate Course in Rural Education with a degree in Nature Sciences from the Federal University of Goiás - Region Catalão was created in 2014 and since then has been facing challenges for its consolidation. Besides the implementation of a new curriculum design and the training of teacher trainers who also approach field issues, we notice from our daily practice the need to establish anchorage in concepts and theories that actually act for the benefit of the project itself in training for the field. It is in this context, from the absence of anchorages, that we carry out a reflexive study about the concept of sustainability, seeking both the understanding about it and the evaluation of the possibilities of its use as a guide to the practice or theoretical-methodological inspiration. The result of this study indicates that the concept of sustainability is more complex than it seems and requires greater understanding, however, we consider that it derives from it possibilities that should be admitted as the assumption of another role for education in the dimension of sustainable development.

  8. Reflections on Beijing Rural Energy Policies and New Rural Construction ——Using Digital Information Means

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhi, Wang

    2017-05-01

    In recent years, the Beijing construction in accordance with the philosophy of environmental protection, solid depth to carry out a series of policies and measures, such as rural energy structure optimization and adjustment; rural residential seismic energy-saving; village green landscaping. If displaying and recording movement states and regulars of the beautiful countryside construction through this information process, It will greatly strengthen regulation of the relationship between new rural people, to realize system optimization, make urban and rural become conducive to human survival and sustainable development of space.

  9. Assessment of SIP Buildings for Sustainable Development in Rural China Using AHP-Grey Correlation Analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bai, Libiao; Wang, Hailing; Shi, Chunming; Du, Qiang; Li, Yi

    2017-10-25

    Traditional rural residential construction has the problems of high energy consumption and severe pollution. In general, with sustainable development in the construction industry, rural residential construction should be aimed towards low energy consumption and low carbon emissions. To help achieve this objective, in this paper, we evaluated four different possible building structures using AHP-Grey Correlation Analysis, which consists of the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and the Grey Correlation Analysis. The four structures included the traditional and currently widely used brick and concrete structure, as well as structure insulated panels (SIPs). Comparing the performances of economic benefit and carbon emission, the conclusion that SIPs have the best overall performance can be obtained, providing a reference to help builders choose the most appropriate building structure in rural China.

  10. College Students' View of Biotechnology Products and Practices in Sustainable Agriculture Systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Anderson, William A.

    2008-01-01

    Sustainable agriculture implies the use of products and practices that sustain production, protect the environment, ensure economic viability, and maintain rural community viability. Disagreement exists as to whether or not the products and practices of modern biotechnological support agricultural sustainability. The purpose of this study was to…

  11. Analysis of the Role of Handicraft Production in Rural Sustainable Development: A Case of Sar Aqa Seyyed, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Javad Divandari

    2017-02-01

    Full Text Available Prioritizing the Rural development is one of the fundamental concerns of the Islamic Republic of Iran that is not achieved only through the agriculture development in villages of Iran, since weakness of agricultural foundations affect the unstable ecological conditions including the shortage of agricultural fields and the lack of the increase in number of land plots under cultivation, and cannot provide the proper social and economic indices for rural development. Experiences of successful countries in the rural development show the importance of the village industrialization in creating the job opportunities and preventing the rural migration to the cities. Theory of development and industrialization of rural areas is a factor affecting the economic and social development process and may be considered as the last solution for solving the problem of poverty in the rural areas as we see its success in China through this paper. Therefore, this paper examines the role of the handicraft production in sustainable development in the Sar Aqa Seyyed village. A number of handicrafts including carpet weaving as the main handicrafts of Sar Aqa Seyyed village are still flourishing. Handicraft production and development in this village not only creates employment opportunities and income, but also can play a major role in sustainable development and the village independence.

  12. Biomass District Heat System for Interior Rural Alaska Villages

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wall, William A.; Parker, Charles R.

    2014-09-01

    Alaska Village Initiatives (AVI) from the outset of the project had a goal of developing an integrated village approach to biomass in Rural Alaskan villages. A successful biomass project had to be ecologically, socially/culturally and economically viable and sustainable. Although many agencies were supportive of biomass programs in villages none had the capacity to deal effectively with developing all of the tools necessary to build a complete integrated program. AVI had a sharp learning curve as well. By the end of the project with all the completed tasks, AVI developed the tools and understanding to connect all of the dots of an integrated village based program. These included initially developing a feasibility model that created the capacity to optimize a biomass system in a village. AVI intent was to develop all aspects or components of a fully integrated biomass program for a village. This meant understand the forest resource and developing a sustainable harvest system that included the “right sized” harvest equipment for the scale of the project. Developing a training program for harvesting and managing the forest for regeneration. Making sure the type, quality, and delivery system matched the needs of the type of boiler or boilers to be installed. AVI intended for each biomass program to be of the scale that would create jobs and a sustainable business.

  13. Rural Development Policies and Sustainable Land Use in the Hillside Areas of Honduras: a Quantitave Livelihoods

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Jansen, H.G.P.; Pender, J.; Damon, A.; Schipper, R.A.

    2006-01-01

    The survey was a research collaboration between International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Wageningen University and Research Center (WUR), and the National Program for Sustainable Rural Development (PRONADERS) of the Honduran Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (SAG).The data were

  14. Model-based explorations to support development of sustainable farming systems: case studies from France and the Netherlands.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Rossing, W.A.H.; Meynard, J.M.; Ittersum, van M.K.

    1997-01-01

    Sustainable land use requires development of agricultural production systems that, in addition to economic objectives, contribute to objectives in areas such as environment, health and well-being, rural scenery and nature. Since these objectives are at least partially conflicting, development of

  15. Tools of Realization of Social Responsibility of Industrial Business for Sustainable Socio-economic Development of Mining Region's Rural Territory

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jurzina, Tatyana; Egorova, Natalia; Zaruba, Natalia; Kosinskij, Peter

    2017-11-01

    Modern conditions of the Russian economy do especially relevant questions of social responsibility of industrial business of the mining region for sustainable social and economic development of rural territories that demands search of the new strategy, tools, ways for positioning and increase in competitiveness of the enterprises, which are carrying out the entrepreneurial activity in this territory. The article opens problems of an influence of the industrial enterprises on the territory of presence, reasons the theoretical base directed to the formation of practical tools (mechanism) providing realization of social responsibility of business for sustainable social and economic development of rural territories of the mining region.

  16. Tools of Realization of Social Responsibility of Industrial Business for Sustainable Socio-economic Development of Mining Region's Rural Territory

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jurzina Tatyana

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Modern conditions of the Russian economy do especially relevant questions of social responsibility of industrial business of the mining region for sustainable social and economic development of rural territories that demands search of the new strategy, tools, ways for positioning and increase in competitiveness of the enterprises, which are carrying out the entrepreneurial activity in this territory. The article opens problems of an influence of the industrial enterprises on the territory of presence, reasons the theoretical base directed to the formation of practical tools (mechanism providing realization of social responsibility of business for sustainable social and economic development of rural territories of the mining region.

  17. Assessment Framework and Decision—Support System for Consolidating Urban-Rural Construction Land in Coastal China

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fangfang Cai

    2014-11-01

    Full Text Available Urbanization transforms urban-rural landscape and profoundly affects ecological processes. To maintain a sustainable urbanization, two important issues of land-use need to be quantified: the comprehensive variation of urban-rural construction land and the specific models for consolidating these lands. The purpose of this study is to develop a framework to assess the change of urban-rural construction land and build a decision-support system for consolidating these lands. Four sub-layers were first built in the assessment framework, including the characteristic layer, the coordination layer, the potential layer and the urgency layer. Each layer encompassed specific indices for evaluating the change of urban-rural construction land in different aspects. The entropy method was then applied to the data resources from Landsat TM (Thematic Mapper images, statistical data and overall land-use and land consolidation planning of Nantong city in coastal China to allocate weightings to the indices in each sub-layer. Finally, the decision-support system was built based on the assessment results and the degree of importance for consolidating urban and rural construction land, respectively. The results of our study show an overall investigation and quantitative description of the change of urban-rural construction land and provide an effective framework for land consolidation and land use management.

  18. Renewable energy for rural electrification

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Strebkov, D. [All Russian Research Institute for Electrification of the Agriculture, Moscow (Russian Federation); Bezrukich, P. [Ministry for Fuel and Energy of Russian Federation, Moscow (Russian Federation); Kozlov, V. [Intersolarcenter Association, Moscow (Russian Federation)

    1997-12-31

    In spite of quite good centralized power supply system, rural electrification level across Russia vary widely: in some regions there are densely populated communities which lack power, while in the other the most pressing need is to electrify dispersed, isolated villages or homes. The main objective of the Russian project `Renewable energy for rural electrification` is the elaboration and application of new technologies of rural electrification in order to ensure the sustainable development of unelectrified areas of the Russia. The long-term objective of the project are: to improve the living standards of people in rural areas, who lack centralized energy supply systems, by introducing a new system for generation, transmission and distribution of electric power on the base of renewable energy systems; to provide a reliable cost-effective electric service for electrified and uncertified communities; to reduce the consumption of organic fuel in power generation systems; to support the military industry in converting their activity into the renewable energy sector; and to protect the environment

  19. Renewable energy for rural electrification

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Strebkov, D [All Russian Research Institute for Electrification of the Agriculture, Moscow (Russian Federation); Bezrukich, P [Ministry for Fuel and Energy of Russian Federation, Moscow (Russian Federation); Kozlov, V [Intersolarcenter Association, Moscow (Russian Federation)

    1998-12-31

    In spite of quite good centralized power supply system, rural electrification level across Russia vary widely: in some regions there are densely populated communities which lack power, while in the other the most pressing need is to electrify dispersed, isolated villages or homes. The main objective of the Russian project `Renewable energy for rural electrification` is the elaboration and application of new technologies of rural electrification in order to ensure the sustainable development of unelectrified areas of the Russia. The long-term objective of the project are: to improve the living standards of people in rural areas, who lack centralized energy supply systems, by introducing a new system for generation, transmission and distribution of electric power on the base of renewable energy systems; to provide a reliable cost-effective electric service for electrified and uncertified communities; to reduce the consumption of organic fuel in power generation systems; to support the military industry in converting their activity into the renewable energy sector; and to protect the environment

  20. Planning for rural energy system: Part 2

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Devadas, V.

    2001-01-01

    This paper discusses the central importance of energy inputs in development, and presents the complex interactions within subsystems that contribute a Rural Energy System. This paper also brings about the importance of the primary data for realistic renewable energy planning at the micro level in a given rural system. Factors that render secondary data somewhat inadequate for such applications are discussed. The differences between energy related data from secondary and primary sources in respect of representative villages in Kanyakumari District of Tamil Nadu, India, are detailed. A rural system model for computing the output from various components of a rural system is also presented. This projection is made by making use of a set of technical coefficients, which relate the inputs to the outputs from individual segments of the rural production system. While some of the technical coefficients are developed based on previously published data, a large number have been quantified on the basis of careful survey. The usefulness of the model is discussed. The paper also presents a Linear Programming Model for optimum resource allocation in a rural system. The objective function of the Linear Programming Model is maximizing the revenue of the rural system where in optimum resource allocation is made subject to a number of energy and non-energy related relevant constraints. The model also quantifies the major yields as well as the byproducts of different sectors of the rural economic system. (Author)

  1. Innovation Systems for Inclusive Development : Lessons from Rural ...

    International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

    Both China and India are currently attempting to balance rapid economic growth, technological growth and globalization with social equity and sustainable economic growth. This project will analyze inclusive innovations in two subsectors that are prominent in the rural context: agriculture and micro, small and medium ...

  2. Integrated Soil, Water and Nutrient Management for Sustainable Rice–Wheat Cropping Systems in Asia

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2016-08-01

    The rice-wheat system is a predominant cropping system in Asia providing food, employment and income, ensuring the livelihoods of about 1 billion of resource poor rural and urban people. However, the productivity of the current rice-wheat systems is seriously threatened by increasing land degradation and scarcity of water and labour, inefficient cropping practices and other emerging socio economic and environmental drivers. Responding to the need to develop alternate crop establishment methods and improved cropping practices, this publication summarizes the results from a joint FAO/IAEA coordinated research project on optimizing productivity and sustainability of rice-wheat cropping systems. It provides relevant information on how to modify existing water and nutrient management systems and improve soil management in both traditional and emerging crop establishment methods for sustainable intensification of cereal production in Asia

  3. PROBLEMS OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF RURAL TERRITORIES OF THE REGION: ECOLOGICAL AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC ANALYSIS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    V. I. Tikhij

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available The current economic situation in rural territories is characterized by many challenges to their sustainable development. The level and quality of life in rural areas, underdevelopment of social infrastructure, the environmental situation significantly contributes to the depopulation of the rural territories. In this regard, it is very important to research and discuss the possible decision of problems of development of rural settlements.The actions of the state on formation of the complex of normative-legal documents regulating state policy in the field of rural development are aimed at ensuring the management of these areas by federal authorities which leads to some extent to resource dependence on it, and reduces the motivation of regional and municipal management to the formation of effective policy of rural development.The management of the regions chooses its directions of developing rural areas, without taking into account the prevailing socio-economic situation at the municipal level and features of development of rural settlements, which reduces the effectiveness of the management of the territory.As an example the authors have evaluated the level of rural areas development in Orel Region and proposed a classification of areas at regional level. The results of the research show that there could be three levels of rural territories development: highly stable, moderately stable and unstable areas. The main indicators of development of rural territories were selected as follows: incomes and expenses of budgets of rural areas, the volume of investments in fixed capital, average monthly nominal accrued wages of employees of enterprises and organizations, agricultural production in farms of all categories of the rural population. The authors have made some proposals as to how to solve the problems of instability in rural areas. The implementation of these decisions should happen on the background of permanent monitoring of the status and

  4. Dynamics and forecast in a simple model of sustainable development for rural populations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Angulo, David; Angulo, Fabiola; Olivar, Gerard

    2015-02-01

    Society is becoming more conscious on the need to preserve the environment. Sustainable development schemes have grown rapidly as a tool for managing, predicting and improving the growth path in different regions and economy sectors. We introduce a novel and simple mathematical model of ordinary differential equations (ODEs) in order to obtain a dynamical description for each one of the sustainability components (economy, social development and environment conservation), together with their dependence with demographic dynamics. The main part in the modeling task is inspired by the works by Cobb, Douglas, Brander and Taylor. This is completed through some new insights by the authors. A model application is presented for three specific geographical rural regions in Caldas (Colombia).

  5. Co-innovation of family farm systems: A systems approach to sustainable agriculture

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Dogliotti Moro, S.; García, M.C.; Peluffo, S.; Dieste, J.P.; Pedemonte, A.J.; Bacigalupe, G.F.; Scarlato, M.; Alliaume, F.; Alvarez, J.; Chiappe, M.; Rossing, W.A.H.

    2014-01-01

    Meeting the goals of sustainable growth of food production and reducing rural poverty requires assisting family farmers to develop more productive, profitable, resource efficient and environmentally friendly farms. Faced with decreasing product prices and increasing production costs during the last

  6. A methodology for the sustainability assessment of agri-food systems: an application to the Slow Food Presidia project.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cristiana Peano

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available New and alternative models for agri-food production and consumption have brought up questions regarding the effects they have on local development processes in terms of the economic exploitation of rural areas as well as environmental, cultural, and social factors. The agri-food system proposed by the Slow Food (SF Presidia Project, which focuses on farm-to-market systems for local, high-quality, sustainable products, can respond to the new and emerging needs of both rural and urban populaces via several approaches in addition to food production itself. However, evaluating these parameters is challenging. The aim of this study was to develop an indicator-based tool to monitor the sustainability in agri-food systems that considers quality as well as economic, ecological, social, and cultural aspects. We: (i translated the major SF principles of "good," "clean," and "fair" into five major criteria to evaluate sustainability; (ii designed multiple indicators to monitor progress toward sustainability for each of those criteria; and (iii applied the monitoring tools to three case studies as a first attempt at end-use validation. Indicators and criteria were weighted either equally or based on their importance to surveyed stakeholders, i.e., consumers, producers, and scientists/experts. The proposed approach performed well as a tool for a broad sustainability evaluation by effectively combining the indicators with the same feedback. With this approach, we demonstrated that the SF Presidia project increases all dimensions of sustainability and in particular socioeconomic and cultural capital by preserving the environmental and quality aspects of the food products.

  7. Assessments of wind-energy potential in selected sites from three geopolitical zones in Nigeria: implications for renewable/sustainable rural electrification.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Okeniyi, Joshua Olusegun; Ohunakin, Olayinka Soledayo; Okeniyi, Elizabeth Toyin

    2015-01-01

    Electricity generation in rural communities is an acute problem militating against socioeconomic well-being of the populace in these communities in developing countries, including Nigeria. In this paper, assessments of wind-energy potential in selected sites from three major geopolitical zones of Nigeria were investigated. For this, daily wind-speed data from Katsina in northern, Warri in southwestern and Calabar in southeastern Nigeria were analysed using the Gumbel and the Weibull probability distributions for assessing wind-energy potential as a renewable/sustainable solution for the country's rural-electrification problems. Results showed that the wind-speed models identified Katsina with higher wind-speed class than both Warri and Calabar that were otherwise identified as low wind-speed sites. However, econometrics of electricity power simulation at different hub heights of low wind-speed turbine systems showed that the cost of electric-power generation in the three study sites was converging to affordable cost per kWh of electric energy from the wind resource at each site. These power simulations identified cost/kWh of electricity generation at Kaduna as €0.0507, at Warri as €0.0774, and at Calabar as €0.0819. These bare positive implications on renewable/sustainable rural electrification in the study sites even as requisite options for promoting utilization of this viable wind-resource energy in the remote communities in the environs of the study sites were suggested.

  8. Assessments of Wind-Energy Potential in Selected Sites from Three Geopolitical Zones in Nigeria: Implications for Renewable/Sustainable Rural Electrification

    Science.gov (United States)

    Okeniyi, Joshua Olusegun; Ohunakin, Olayinka Soledayo; Okeniyi, Elizabeth Toyin

    2015-01-01

    Electricity generation in rural communities is an acute problem militating against socioeconomic well-being of the populace in these communities in developing countries, including Nigeria. In this paper, assessments of wind-energy potential in selected sites from three major geopolitical zones of Nigeria were investigated. For this, daily wind-speed data from Katsina in northern, Warri in southwestern and Calabar in southeastern Nigeria were analysed using the Gumbel and the Weibull probability distributions for assessing wind-energy potential as a renewable/sustainable solution for the country's rural-electrification problems. Results showed that the wind-speed models identified Katsina with higher wind-speed class than both Warri and Calabar that were otherwise identified as low wind-speed sites. However, econometrics of electricity power simulation at different hub heights of low wind-speed turbine systems showed that the cost of electric-power generation in the three study sites was converging to affordable cost per kWh of electric energy from the wind resource at each site. These power simulations identified cost/kWh of electricity generation at Kaduna as €0.0507, at Warri as €0.0774, and at Calabar as €0.0819. These bare positive implications on renewable/sustainable rural electrification in the study sites even as requisite options for promoting utilization of this viable wind-resource energy in the remote communities in the environs of the study sites were suggested. PMID:25879063

  9. Effects of Rural – Urban Interaction on Socio-Economic Status of ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    economic status of rural dwellers in the study area. Policy makers and development workers should exploit the role of rural-urban interaction to bring about sustainable livelihood in the present changing perspective of extension system in ...

  10. Sustainable Development of Rural Areas in the EU and China: A Common Strategy for Architectural Design, Research Practice and Decision-Making

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tiziano Cattaneo

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available This paper describes the results of a research project to develop a set of goals and strategies aimed at policymakers, stakeholders, researchers, designers and/or some other groups of citizens’ communities whose development actions are undertaken in a specific rural context. The aim of the project was to move beyond the knowledge of the articulated architectural and social evolution of the rural areas in both the EU and China, looking at the local and global challenges, at the need for continuous adaptation and at the experiences of resilience that the countryside faces today. The paper shows, through two-pronged methods, such as semantic analysis and a meta-project design, that a common strategy can be set to support actions for the development of rural areas both in China and the EU. In doing so, this study has defined a strategy system tool that is a type of interactive and generative key-checklist that can be used by stakeholders in specific contexts, becoming a reading tool, a set of design guidelines or a decision facilitator support system. The results achieved have been tested through design application in two meta-projects that confirm the validity of the whole research framework with the aim of promoting a sustainable development and enhancement of places and rural communities.

  11. Evaluation of criteria for sustainability of community-based rural homestay programs via a modified pairwise comparison method

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ramli, Rohaini; Kasim, Maznah Mat; Ramli, Razamin; Kayat, Kalsom; Razak, Rafidah Abd

    2014-12-01

    Ministry of Tourism and Culture Malaysia has long introduced homestay programs across the country to enhance the quality of life of people, especially those living in rural areas. This type of program is classified as a community-based tourism (CBT) as it is expected to economically improve livelihood through cultural and community associated activities. It is the aspiration of the ministry to see that the income imbalance between people in the rural and urban areas is reduced, thus would contribute towards creating more developed states of Malaysia. Since 1970s, there are 154 homestay programs registered with the ministry. However, the performance and sustainability of the programs are still not satisfying. There are only a number of homestay programs that perform well and able to sustain. Thus, the aim of this paper is to identify relevant criteria contributing to the sustainability of a homestay program. The criteria are evaluated for their levels of importance via the use of a modified pairwise method and analyzed for other potentials. The findings will help the homestay operators to focus on the necessary criteria and thus, effectively perform as the CBT business initiative.

  12. The role of green energy systems and sustainable development

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mustafa Omer, Abdeen

    2017-01-01

    People are relying upon oil for primary energy and this will continue for a few more decades. Other conventional sources may be more enduring, but are not without serious disadvantages. The renewable energy resources are particularly suited for the provision of rural power supplies and a major advantage is that equipment such as flat plate solar driers, wind machines, etc., can be constructed using local resources. Without the advantage results from the feasibility of local maintenance and the general encouragement such local manufacture gives to the buildup of small-scale rural based industry. This communication comprises a comprehensive review of energy sources, the environment and sustainable development. It includes the renewable energy technologies, energy efficiency systems, energy conservation scenarios, energy savings in greenhouses environment and other mitigation measures necessary to reduce climate change. This study gives some examples of small-scale energy converters, nevertheless it should be noted that small conventional, i.e., engines are currently the major source of power in rural areas and will continue to be so for a long time to come. There is a need for some further development to suit local conditions, to minimise spares holdings, to maximise the interchangeability of the engine parts, and of the engine applications. Emphasis should be placed on full local manufacture. It is concluded that renewable environmentally friendly energy must be encouraged, promoted, implemented and demonstrated by a full-scale plant (device) especially for use in remote rural areas. (author)

  13. Regional factor of sustainable development of rural settlements of Kalna and Minićevo at the foot of the Stara Planina mountain

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Aranđelović Miloš

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Developmental potential of rural settlements of Kalna and Minićevo should be reviewed in the wider context of the area in which they are located. The natural resources of Stara Planina mountain, as a special purpose area focused on tourism and agriculture, represent the basic components for sustainable development of the mentioned settlements. The heritage of autochthonus, traditional rural architecture and sacral buildings, together with natural resources potentials, represent attractors for the development of a specific form of rural tourism. This research paper presents an analysis of the options for the development of rural tourism in the territory of Knjaževac municipality, aimed at sustainable development of rural settlements of Kalna and Minićevo. The basic idea of the paper is for Kalna and Minićevo to become the centres towards which the population of smaller surrounding villages will gravitate: towards Kalna as a potential tourism centre and towards Minićevo as a transit tourist settlement with accompanying public and other services. The purpose of the paper is not to offer a solution that would completely eliminate economic and demographic changes, but to review different options for the development of rural settlements that could keep up with modern social needs.

  14. METHODOLOGICAL PECULIARITIES OF RURAL ECONOMY RESEARCH FROM NEORURALISM STANDPOINT

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nataliia Kutsmus

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of the study is to summarize the existing theoretical and methodological approaches to understanding the essence of the notion ‘rural economics’ and to reason that multifunctionality is a precondition of stable development. The methodology of research is based on a systematic approach, according to which rural economics is considered to be an open type of social and economic system that transforms exogenous and endogenous potential of rural territories into a certain level of rural development. The methodology of rural economic development is based on the following methodological approaches: economic, ecological, social and institutional, each one of which completes the idea of interdependence of rural economics and its territorial basis, i.e. rural area. The subject of study is a scientific-theoretical and applied principles of rural economy development. The results of the study demonstrate that agro-centric model of rural economics, the development of which focuses on formation and support of goods safety, is being displaced by multifunctional model in conditions of strengthening of human-centric priorities of the social development. Contents of this model lies in the perception of the rural economy as a diversified, multifunctional socio-economic system, whose development aimed at the welfare of the rural population. As the goal of rural economies is ensuring high welfare standards of the rural population, providing interconnection problems in the functioning of the system of rural development policy. It’s proved that the sustainable development of the rural economy it provides for the implementation of the set of economic and socially important function that displays the development of socio-economic system beyond the actual production and contributes to its focus on material and non-material welfare of the rural population. Qualitative changes in the properties of the rural economy aiming at self-development and self

  15. Towards an integrated analysis of rural systems: the case study of the Alento basin

    Science.gov (United States)

    Quaranta, Giovanni; Salvia, Rosanna

    2014-05-01

    The role and the functions of rural areas are undergoing considerable change due to economic, social and environmental drivers. The outcome of the transformation is the production of highly heterogeneous landscapes, rural mosaics, which are home to varying degrees of intensity of land-use and processes of deactivation, abandonment and land degradation. The identification of rural mosaics has implications both for determining the impacts on the stock of connected natural resources and for defining measures and policies able to support the resilience of rural territories and the identification of sustainable strategies for development. The study proposes a methodology for the integrated analysis of the rural territory which combines the analysis of land cover dynamics, using GIS, with an assessment of socio-economic dynamics, reconstructed through the combined use of indicators and local history, and which is aware that the differences and peculiarities within rural territories are the result of actions taken over time and of the different adaptive strategies undertaken by communities operating in different fields, under the influence of specific ecologic and environmental conditions. The methodology, applied to a socio-ecological system which is representative of the Mediterranean basin, is proposed as a tool to support the territorialisation of polices, opening the process up to perspectives able to better comprehend the dynamic evolution of rural territories, internalising that evolution in the definition of the instruments and measures to adopt.

  16. Report of the FAO/NACA Consultation on Aquaculture for Sustainable Rural Development: Chiang Rai, Thailand, 29-31 March 1999

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    1999-01-01

    This is the report of the consultation on Aquaculture for Sustainable Rural Development jointly organised by FAO and NACA in Chiang Rai, Thailand on 29-31 March 1999 to develop the detailed structure...

  17. The Sustainable Development of Industry Clusters: Emergent Knowledge Networks and Socio Complex Adaptive Systems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Susu Nousala

    2009-10-01

    Full Text Available In a highly competitive global economy the development of sustainable, innovative responses from Industry is now vital. Many industries globally need to respond rather than react to current economic climate through sustainable (economically and environmentally development. The steel industry is a critical player in the urban landscape. Like many industries, small, medium enterprises (SMEs are vital players within the steel industry supply chain. The Australian SME steel housing sector (based in rural and regional areas are still developing systemic capabilities with the aim of realizing its full potential. The question of an effective sustainable industry is much larger than any one player. This paper aims to present a proposed methodological approach for sustainable cluster development based on previous industry wide investigations. Through the lens of scalability of a socio complex adaptive system, SME development becomes arguably the most significant player with regards to industry cluster development. By starting with SME development it's possible to build an understanding of a simultaneous two layered approach, "bottom up – top down" whilst including a very diversified group.

  18. Rural community sustainable development portal - towards sustainable knowledge management and development

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Chakwizira, J

    2010-09-01

    Full Text Available prime rural and development knowledge and solutions resource site for Africa and the developing world. This should ultimately facilitate the development of projects and programmes that transform rural spaces, cultures and people from poverty...

  19. The Social Dimensions of Sustainability and Change in Diversified Farming Systems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Christopher M. Bacon

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available Agricultural systems are embedded in wider social-ecological processes that must be considered in any complete discussion of sustainable agriculture. Just as climatic profiles will influence the future viability of crops, institutions, i.e., governance agreements, rural household and community norms, local associations, markets, and agricultural ministries, to name but a few, create the conditions that foster sustainable food systems. Because discussions of agricultural sustainability often overlook the full range of social dimensions, we propose a dual focus on a broad set of criteria, i.e., human health, labor, democratic participation, resiliency, biological and cultural diversity, equity, and ethics, to assess social outcomes, and on institutions that could support diversified farming systems (DFS. A comparative analysis of case studies from California's Central Valley, Mesoamerican coffee agroforestry systems, and European Union agricultural parks finds that DFS practices are unevenly adopted within and among these systems and interdependent with institutional environments that specifically promote diversified farming practices. Influential institutions in these cases include state policies, farmers' cooperatives/associations, and organized civic efforts to influence agroenvironmental policy, share knowledge, and shape markets for more 'sustainable' products. The Californian and Mesoamerican cases considers organic and fair trade certifications, finding that although they promote several DFS practices and generate social benefits, they are inadequate as a single strategy to promote agricultural sustainability. The complex governance and multifunctional management of Europe's peri-urban agricultural parks show unexpected potential for promoting DFS. Unless DFS are anchored in supportive institutions and evaluated against an inclusive set of social and environmental criteria, short-term investments to advance diversified agriculture could

  20. Emerging issues on the sustainability of the community based rural water resources management approach in Zimbabwe: A case study of Gwanda District

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Thulani Dube

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available Although there is considerable on-going debate about the suitability and sustainability of community based water resources management (CBWRM in Africa as a water provision strategy, evidence shows that this approach has gone a long way in promoting access to clean water amongst rural African communities. CBWRM provides an alternative approach to water provision for rural communities. This paper examines how the strategy has been operationalised in Gwanda District in Zimbabwe. The paper examines the experiences of rural communities in using CBWRM. Data was collected using focus group discussions, key informant in-depth interviews and a survey of 685 households in Gwanda district across five wards. The findings of this study are that 67% of the surveyed rural communities in Gwanda depended on community managed water resources mostly in the form of boreholes and protected wells. High rates of nun-functional sources were reported at 60-70% in most wards. Several system weaknesses were noted in the current CBWRM set-up including a depletion of committee memberships, inadequate community resources, limited agency and government support. This paper makes several recommendations on strengthening the capacity of CBWRM in Zimbabwe and Africa.

  1. National report for CSD-16 The Netherlands: A review of sustainable development in agriculture, land and rural development, drought and desertification, and Africa

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Andriesse, W.; Boone, K.; de Bont, C.; Brouwers, J.; Hack-Ten Broeke, M.; Migchels, G.; Oenema, O.; van de Peet, G.; Pinxterhuis, I.; Smit, A.; Stuiver, M.; Sukkel, W.; Verkerke, W.; Verzandvoort, S.; Visser, A.; Zwart, K.; Damen, M.

    2008-01-01

    This report forms the Netherlands’ contribution to CSD-16 (2008) of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development. It comprises an overview of the Netherlands’ policies, priorities and activities with regard to sustainable development in the fields of agriculture, land and rural development, drought

  2. Biogas/photovoltaic hybrid power system for decentralized energy supply of rural areas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Borges Neto, M.R.; Carvalho, P.C.M.; Carioca, J.O.B.; Canafistula, F.J.F.

    2010-01-01

    Biomasses created from natural resources such as firewood, charcoal and forest crops are still the main source of energy in many communities in the developing countries of the world. The absence of modern techniques, in terms of energy conversion and the lack of resource planning, places a great burden on the environment, not only in terms of deforestation but the polluting residual emissions created by the burning of such fuels. Even in some developed countries, it is possible to find rural areas that have no access to the conventional national electrical grid. The lack of this facility is detrimental to the social and economic development of any country or community. Renewable energy systems have been used in many cases to mitigate these problems. The present paper introduces the concept of an alternative Hybrid Power System configuration that combines photovoltaic modules and digesters fuelled by goat manure as the basis for rural sustainable development. Attention is drawn to the Northeast Region of Brazil, one of the largest semi-arid regions in a single country. The regional conditions of Northeast of Brazil are not unique, suggesting that other countries of a similar nature would benefit from the same energy system.

  3. Biogas/photovoltaic hybrid power system for decentralized energy supply of rural areas

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Borges Neto, M.R. [Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology of Sertao Pernambucano - IFSertao-PE, BR407, km 8, 56314-520 Petrolina, PE (Brazil); Federal University of Ceara, Department of Electrical Engineering, Caixa Postal 6001 - Campus do Pici, 60455-760 Fortaleza, CE (Brazil); Carvalho, P.C.M. [Federal University of Ceara, Department of Electrical Engineering, Caixa Postal 6001 - Campus do Pici, 60455-760 Fortaleza, CE (Brazil); Carioca, J.O.B. [Federal University of Ceara, Department of Food Engineering, Caixa Postal 6001 - Campus do Pici, 60455-760 Fortaleza, CE (Brazil); Canafistula, F.J.F. [Federal University of Ceara, Department of Agricultural Engineering, Caixa Postal 6001 - Campus do Pici, 60455-760 Fortaleza, CE (Brazil)

    2010-08-15

    Biomasses created from natural resources such as firewood, charcoal and forest crops are still the main source of energy in many communities in the developing countries of the world. The absence of modern techniques, in terms of energy conversion and the lack of resource planning, places a great burden on the environment, not only in terms of deforestation but the polluting residual emissions created by the burning of such fuels. Even in some developed countries, it is possible to find rural areas that have no access to the conventional national electrical grid. The lack of this facility is detrimental to the social and economic development of any country or community. Renewable energy systems have been used in many cases to mitigate these problems. The present paper introduces the concept of an alternative Hybrid Power System configuration that combines photovoltaic modules and digesters fuelled by goat manure as the basis for rural sustainable development. Attention is drawn to the Northeast Region of Brazil, one of the largest semi-arid regions in a single country. The regional conditions of Northeast of Brazil are not unique, suggesting that other countries of a similar nature would benefit from the same energy system. (author)

  4. Design for sustainability: rural connectivity with village operators

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Roux, K

    2011-10-01

    Full Text Available South Africa has approximately 26500 primary and secondary schools, of which at least 17000 are in remote rural villages. None of these rural schools have any form of Internet connectivity. The same rural villages may have one health facility...

  5. Sustainable sewerage servicing options for peri-urban areas with failing septic systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sharma, A K; Tjandraatmadja, G; Grant, A L; Grant, T; Pamminger, F

    2010-01-01

    The provision of water and wastewater services to peri-urban areas faces very different challenges to providing services to cities. Sustainable solutions for such areas are increasingly being sought, in order to solve the environmental and health risks posed by failing septic systems. These solutions should have the capability to reduce potable water demand, provide fit for purpose reuse options, and minimise impacts on the local and global environment. A methodology for the selection of sustainable sewerage servicing systems and technologies is presented in this paper. This paper describes the outcomes of applying this methodology to a case study in rural community near Melbourne, Australia, and describes the economic and environmental implications of various sewerage servicing options. Applying this methodology has found that it is possible to deliver environmental improvements at a lower community cost, by choosing servicing configurations not historically used by urban water utilities. The selected solution is currently being implemented, with the aim being to generate further transferable learnings for the water industry.

  6. Using overseas registered nurses to fill employment gaps in rural health services: quick fix or sustainable strategy?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Francis, Karen; Chapman, Ysanne; Doolan, Glenn; Sellick, Ken; Barnett, Tony

    2008-06-01

    This study sought to identify and evaluate approaches used to attract internationally trained nurses from traditional and non-traditional countries and incentives employed to retain them in small rural hospitals in Gippsland, Victoria. An exploratory descriptive design. Small rural hospitals in Gippsland, Victoria. Hospital staff responsible for recruitment of nurses and overseas trained nurses from traditional and non-traditional sources (e.g. England, Scotland, India, Zimbabwe, Holland, Singapore, Malaysia). Recruitment of married overseas trained nurses is more sustainable than that of single registered nurses, however, the process of recruitment for the hospital and potential employees is costly. Rural hospitality diffuses some of these expenses by the employing hospitals providing emergency accommodation and necessary furnishings. Cultural differences and dissonance regarding practice create barriers for some of the overseas trained nurses to move towards a more sanguine position. On the positive side, single overseas registered nurses use the opportunity to work in rural Australian hospitals as an effective working holiday that promotes employment in larger, more specialized hospitals. Overall both the registered nurses and the employees believe the experience to be beneficial rather than detrimental.

  7. AN ANALYSIS OF THE ROUMANIAN RURAL TOURISTIC PHENOMENON

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marius BOIŢĂ

    2014-04-01

    Full Text Available The paper addresses the main aspects and tendencies of the tourism in the context of sustainable development, of the place and importance of rural tourism, the usefulness of using an index system in touristy and rural tourism activity, of measuring the rural tourism activity on a country level and the need to develop it, considering its possible integration into the European touristic market. Furthermore, a new index system, to be applied in the rural tourism is set up, as well as an original structure concerning data processing and analyzing for the data acquired by sampling. These elements are only useful if applied by I.C.T (Touristy Research Institute, by other government- and non-government institutions, or even by companies interested in developing business in rural tourism, or make research work on certain aspects of the rural tourism activity, on the tourists’ behaviour in the context of this type of tourism.

  8. Feasibility and Sustainability of Community Based Health Insurance in Rural Areas Case Study of Musana, Zimbabwe

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lazarus MUCHABAIWA

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available The Zimbabwe Demographic Health Survey (ZDHS 2010-11 showed that only 6 percent of the population is covered by health insurance in Zimbabwe. This study investigated the feasibility, acceptability and sustainability of Community Based Health Insurance (CBHI as an alternative to pooling risk and financing social protection in Zimbabwe. Willingness to Pay (WTP for health insurance and socioeconomic data were collected through interviews with 121 household heads selected using a 2-stage sampling procedure on 14 villages in Musana and Domboshava rural areas, a population which is largely unemployed and reliant on subsistence agriculture. A CBHI scheme was established and followed up for 3 years documenting data on visits made, financial contributions from recruited households and their actual health expenditures. Findings indicate that CBHI is generally accepted as a means of health insurance in rural communities. The median willingness to pay for health insurance was $5.43 against monthly expenditures ranging of up to $180. The low WTP is attributable to low incomes as only 3.4 percent of the respondents relied on formal employment. Trust issues, adverse selection, moral hazard, and administration costs were challenges threatening sustainability of CBHI. A financial gap averaging 42% was generally on a downward trend and was closed by the end of the follow-up study as contributions were equivalent to medical expenses. We conclude that CBHI is feasible, has potential for sustainability and should be considered as a springboard for the planned Zimbabwean National Health Insurance.

  9. Sustainable electricity generation for rural and peri-urban populations of sub-Saharan Africa: The 'flexy-energy' concept

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Azoumah, Y.; Yamegueu, D.; Ginies, P.; Coulibaly, Y.; Girard, P.

    2011-01-01

    Access to energy is known as a key issue for poverty reduction. Electrification rate of sub-Saharan countries is one of the lowest among the developing countries. However, this part of the world has natural energy resources that could help raising its access to energy, then its economic development. An original 'flexy-energy' concept of hybrid solar PV/diesel/biofuel power plant, without battery storage, is performed in this paper. This concept is developed in order to not only make access to energy possible for rural and peri-urban populations in Africa (by reducing the electricity generation cost) but also to make the electricity production sustainable in these areas. For landlocked countries like Burkina Faso, this concept could help them reducing their electricity bill (then their fuel consumption) and accelerate their rural and peri-urban electrification coverage. - Research highlights: → Design and load management Optimization are big concerns for hybrid systems. → Hybrid solar PV/Diesel is economically viable for remote areas and environmental friendly. → 'Flexy-energy' concept is a flexible hybrid solar PV/diesel/biomass suitable for remote areas. → 'Flexy-energy' concept is a flexible hybrid solar PV/diesel/biomass suitable for remote areas.

  10. PERFORMANCES COMPARISON BETWEEN URBAN AND RURAL PIG FARMING SYSTEMS IN MANOKWARI, WEST PAPUA PROVINCE INDONESIA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Desni Triana Ruli Saragih

    2015-10-01

    were no differences in household members, experience, average pig owned, working hours, selling period, litter size and number of farrowing. There are nine point of pig farming improvement that should be done to sustain pig farming systems in Manokwari Papua. Education may be improved by provide informal and skillful education. Pig ownership should be increased. Working hours must be increased. Pig keeping in the pens should be done by farmers. Managing pigs with additional time is important so that pigs will be maintained well. Litter sizes both in urban and rural are low, therefore further improvements are needed. Recording pig productivities must be done by every farmer. (Key words: Arfak pig farmers, Pig performance, Rural pig farming, Urban pig farming

  11. Assessing the Sustainability of Decentralized Renewable Energy Systems: A Comprehensive Framework with Analytical Methods

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Aparna Katre

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available The number of models of Decentralized Renewable Energy (DRE systems, particularly for rural electrification, is growing globally. Most approaches to assess the sustainability of these solutions beyond simple techno-economic considerations are comparative in nature, and only allow us to evaluate performance within a set of other interventions. This leaves a gap in our understanding of the conditions for a specific model to be sustainable and whether its replication is likely to succeed. The approach suggested develops a framework to evaluate the sustainability of specific models for energy access individually and proposes analytical methods to illustrate its use. It combines the multi-dimensional analysis over five sustainability dimensions and the Multi-Tier Framework (MTF to assess technical sustainability, extending MTF’s rigorous scoring methodology to the other dimensions. The scores are based on qualitative and quantitative data collected from key stakeholders, taking into account different perspectives and aims. The framework and analytical methods are exemplified using a subset of data collected in over 40 off-grid DRE systems utilizing a common community ownership and hybrid financial structure. The proposed methodology can be used to understand the sustainability conditions of a given approach to energy access and can therefore be used by practitioners and policy makers to develop strategies and guide policies to roll out effective solutions.

  12. Tourscape: A systematic approach towards a sustainable rural tourism management

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lo, M C; Wang, Y C; Yeo, A W; Songan, P

    2014-01-01

    Tourism plays an important role in the Malaysian economy as it is considered to be one of the corner stones of the country's economy. The purpose of this research is to conduct an analysis based on the existing tourism industry in rural tourism destinations in Malaysia by examining the impact of economics, environmental, social and cultural factors of the tourism industry on the local communities in Malaysia. 516 respondents comprising of tourism stakeholders from 34 rural tourism sites in Malaysia took part voluntarily in this study. To assess the developed model, SmartPLS 2.0 (M3) was applied based on path modeling and then bootstrapping with 200 re-samples was applied to generate the standard error of the estimate and t-values. Subsequently, a system named Tourscape was designed to manage the information. This system can be considered as a benchmark for tourism industry stakeholders as it is able to display the current situational analysis and the tourism health of selected tourism destination sites by capturing data and information, not only from local communities but industry players and tourists as well. The findings from this study revealed that the cooperation from various stakeholders has created significant impact on the development of rural tourism

  13. Tourscape: A systematic approach towards a sustainable rural tourism management

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lo, M. C.; Wang, Y. C.; Songan, P.; Yeo, A. W.

    2014-02-01

    Tourism plays an important role in the Malaysian economy as it is considered to be one of the corner stones of the country's economy. The purpose of this research is to conduct an analysis based on the existing tourism industry in rural tourism destinations in Malaysia by examining the impact of economics, environmental, social and cultural factors of the tourism industry on the local communities in Malaysia. 516 respondents comprising of tourism stakeholders from 34 rural tourism sites in Malaysia took part voluntarily in this study. To assess the developed model, SmartPLS 2.0 (M3) was applied based on path modeling and then bootstrapping with 200 re-samples was applied to generate the standard error of the estimate and t-values. Subsequently, a system named Tourscape was designed to manage the information. This system can be considered as a benchmark for tourism industry stakeholders as it is able to display the current situational analysis and the tourism health of selected tourism destination sites by capturing data and information, not only from local communities but industry players and tourists as well. The findings from this study revealed that the cooperation from various stakeholders has created significant impact on the development of rural tourism.

  14. 2012 international year for sustainable energy for all: African Frontrunnership in rural electrification

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mahama, Amadu

    2012-01-01

    2012 has been declared the “International Year for Sustainable Energy for All” by the UN. While Africa remains the most ‘underpowered’ continent, the prognosis for a brighter future is looking good, as key stakeholders (governments, private sector, civil society, and the donor community) have mobilized at an unprecedented scale to experiment with new policies, regulatory frameworks, and business models to rapidly upscale access to sustainable energy. The top-down, central grid expansion approach to increasing electricity access is very capital intensive and yet has gained considerable momentum at the expense of lower cost options that utilize decentralized off-grid solutions. A decentralized bottom-up approach could also use indigenous renewable energy sources and foster more significant linkages with livelihood opportunities in the rural un-served territories. This paper evaluates the emerging experiments through the lenses of C.K. Prahalad's “bottom of the pyramid” theory and Clayton Christensen's “disruptive technologies” perspective. Three front-runner initiatives involving new business models, innovative technologies, and institutional capacity building will be analyzed. In addition, the paper examines a regulatory policy initiative designed to stimulate clean energy investments in Ghana. Though the examples are all from Ghana, they illustrate general challenges to sub-Saharan Africa as a whole. - Highlights: ► An analysis of innovative electricity access case studies from Ghana. ► Off-grid electrification options are keys to expanding electricity access in Africa. ► Base of the pyramid strategies for rural electrification has a niche in Africa. ► International collaboration will be crucial to achieve universal electricity access.

  15. Guidebook : managing operating costs for rural and small urban public transit systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-05-01

    This guidebook is a resource for rural and small urban transit agency managers to use in better understanding, predicting, and managing operational costs. Doing so can improve the efficiency, effectiveness, and sustainability of public transit in the...

  16. Community-Based Rural Tourism in Inter-Organizational Collaboration: How Does It Work Sustainably? Lessons Learned from Nglanggeran Tourism Village, Gunungkidul Regency, Yogyakarta, Indonesia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Asnawi Manaf

    2018-06-01

    Full Text Available In recent years, socio-economic disparities, especially between rural and urban areas (Gini index up to 0.4 have attracted significant concern from the Government of Indonesia, which developed a community-based rural tourism program as one of the attempts to overcome this problem. Though the program seems quite promising, the implementation was challenging, especially regarding sustainability. Therefore, successful and sustainable practical examples are needed. This paper analyzes the results of a case study from the experiences of community-based tourism implementation in Nglanggeran Tourism Village, Gunungkidul Regency, Yogyakarta, Indonesia, which was considered as successful and sustainable. The main focus of this research is on how the collaboration and involvement of the related inter-organizational stakeholders, initiated by the local community, particularly the youth, has contributed to the program sustainability. Data and information for this study were obtained through in-depth interviews, observation, and documents review. This study found that the local community has a major role in implementing the program, among those various entities of stakeholders. Hence, the paper states this is the key to the success and sustainability of the program.

  17. Agroecology and the Sustainable Production of Food and ...

    Science.gov (United States)

    The silvopastoral, agricultural system of the montado in Southern Portugal is an example of the self-organization of an agroecological system adapted to the climate and soil conditions of the Mediterranean basin. This system with its consistent production of food, fiber, and ecosystem services along with its concomitant rural social organization has been sustained in the region for over 1000 years. However, the system has been gradually decreasing in extent since the 19th century and its rate of decline has accelerated since the 1980s. The causes of this decline have been traced in descending order of importance to land managment choices, spatial factors and environmental factors. In addition, past studies have shown that there is an optimum livestock support capacity for maintaining the health of the montado agroecosystem. In this study, we used the results of an emergy evaluation of a cattle farm as part of a montado agroecosystem to examine the effects of the European Union’s (EU) Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) on the viability of both cattle rearing and the long term regional sustainability of montado agroecosystems. We found that the CAP and its two pillars for providing subsidies, (1) Common Market Organization (CMO) and (2) Rural Development Policy (RDP) are complex and take into account many aspects of prices and markets for particular products, e.g., beef and veal (CMO) and sustainable rural development, e.g., silvopastoral agroecosystems (RDP). How

  18. Use of renewable sources of energy in function of the sustainable development of rural communities: Sierra del Escambray, Cuba

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Olalde Font, Raul; Quintana, Candido; Martinez Yon, Idielin; Cherni, Judilh

    2003-01-01

    This paper shows preliminary results of the result project. Theoretical aspects related to sustainable development of the communities are discussed. The likely success or failure of renewable energy solutions in isolated rural areas is assessed. The methodology is based on interviews with experts and political actors

  19. Use of renewable sources of energy in function of the sustainable development of rural communities: Sierra del Escambray, Cuba

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Olalde Font, Raul; Quintana, Candido; Martinez Yon, Idielin; Cherni, Judith

    2003-01-01

    This paper shows preliminary results of the RESUR Project. Theoretical aspects related to sustainable development of the communities are discussed. The likely success or failure of renewable energy solutions in isolated rural areas is assessed. The methodology is based on interviews with experts and political actors

  20. Making sustainable water and sanitation in the Peruvian Andes: an intervention model.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Campos, Marco

    2008-01-01

    Sustainability of water supplies in remote rural communities is problematic and resource consuming. CARE has a long history of working hand in hand with remote rural communities and devising programs tailored to their needs. We present here an intervention that integrates development of water supplies and sanitation, with operation and maintenance skills development and training of health promoters that can educate from within the community that ensures the sustainability of drinking water supply systems in rural communities. The training used is innovative in that it uses a series of video-workshops which are found to be particularly useful in communities with high illiteracy rates.

  1. A Framework for Revitalisation of Rural Education and Training Systems in Sub-Saharan Africa: Strengthening the Human Resource Base for Food Security and Sustainable Livelihoods

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wallace, Ian

    2007-01-01

    Recent studies of the current state of rural education and training (RET) systems in sub-Saharan Africa have assessed their ability to provide for the learning needs essential for more knowledgeable and productive small-scale rural households. These are most necessary if the endemic causes of rural poverty (poor nutrition, lack of sustainable…

  2. Building Customer Loyalty in Rural Destinations as a Pre-Condition of Sustainable Competitiveness

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kateřina Ryglová

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available The paper is dedicated to the issues of rural tourism with regard to the visitor’s loyalty towards the destination in a sustainable development context. Particularly, the findings of the research focused on exploring mutual relations among quality dimensions of the rural destination, overall satisfaction of the visitor, and his or her loyalty towards the destination are presented. A structural model was used to explore the relations among quality dimensions, overall satisfaction, and loyalty in the specific environment of the Czech Republic (inland European country, EU member, until 1989 a socialist country, nearly 93% municipalities with fewer than 3000 inhabitants. The research results allow deeper understanding of the visitor’s behavior and the factors influencing the loyalty towards the destination. The significance order of the dimensions according to their direct influence on the required loyalty towards the destination, i.e., coming back to the destination and spreading positive references to the destination, is as follows: 1. well-being, 2. image, 3. services. We conclude that overall satisfaction directly influences loyalty towards the destination.

  3. Modelling a sustainability yardstick in modern energisation of rural sub-Saharan Africa

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sebitosi, A.B.; Pillay, P.

    2007-01-01

    The bulk of rural Africa (as well as much of the third world) remains un-electrified and is underserved or poorly served by any other form of modern energy infrastructure. In case of a deep sub-Sahara African country like Kenya it is often dismissively argued that lack of finance and appropriate technology are the obvious causes. This argument would however not hold when applied to the more technologically advanced South Africa where a whopping 50% of rural households still suffer a similar fate. The common perception is that in the presence of modern technology the desired social change process will automatically commence. Unfortunately (and possibly due to pressure from donors) typical post project reports from the third world often contain deliberate commissions or omissions that essentially belie the grim reality on the ground. What seems to lack is a well-defined yardstick or standard check-off list as to the essential attributes of a sustainable energy dissemination project. Problems in modern society are now largely tackled using a wide range of software applications. However even with all the well-tested skills in computer coding endless consumer complaints abound. 'Usability Engineering' is an example a state-of-the-art scientific tool that has been extensively used in recent times by the software design industry to tackle such problems as enhancement of the human/computer interface. This paper proposes that these modern scientific tools could be adopted to create a yardstick and break the intangible technological barrier to African rural modernization to better the lot of our communities

  4. Mini-review: high rate algal ponds, flexible systems for sustainable wastewater treatment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Young, P; Taylor, M; Fallowfield, H J

    2017-06-01

    Over the last 20 years, there has been a growing requirement by governments around the world for organisations to adopt more sustainable practices. Wastewater treatment is no exception, with many currently used systems requiring large capital investment, land area and power consumption. High rate algal ponds offer a sustainable, efficient and lower cost option to the systems currently in use. They are shallow, mixed lagoon based systems, which aim to maximise wastewater treatment by creating optimal conditions for algal growth and oxygen production-the key processes which remove nitrogen and organic waste in HRAP systems. This design means they can treat wastewater to an acceptable quality within a fifth of time of other lagoon systems while using 50% less surface area. This smaller land requirement decreases both the construction costs and evaporative water losses, making larger volumes of treated water available for beneficial reuse. They are ideal for rural, peri-urban and remote communities as they require minimum power and little on-site management. This review will address the history of and current trends in high rate algal pond development and application; a comparison of their performance with other systems when treating various wastewaters; and discuss their potential for production of added-value products. Finally, the review will consider areas requiring further research.

  5. La aplicación del modelo de estrategias locales sostenibles (sustainable livelihoods en los estudios de comunidades rurales de montaña La aplicación del modelo de estrategias locales sostenibles (sustainable livelihoods en los estudios de comunidades rurales de montaña

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bogumiła Lisocka-Jaegermann

    2009-12-01

    Full Text Available Globalization affects all types of rural places and it is time to know whether this process is in accordance to sustainable development. Here, I analyze the concept of sustainability and its strategies applied at local levels.The sustainable local strategies model brings the opportunity to see the interrelationships of events and current phenomena at spatial scales and at different organizational levels; it allows to see more clearly the intrinsic of the unions of the socioeconomic, political-cultural and environmental dimensions. It allows to pick-up the vulnerabilities of the local systems and the opportunities involved. It contemplates individuals, families, and communities as active actors and appreciates their knowledge and creativity. In my opinion, this model has also the potential to develop as the application experiences are accumulated.La globalización afecta a las zonas rurales de todo tipo y ya es tiempo de saber si esta va de acuerdo con lo que se entiende como desarrollo sostenible. Aquí se analiza el concepto de sostenibilidad y sus estrategias a nivel local, a la vez que se señalan sus limitaciones y defectos.El modelo de estrategias locales sostenibles permite apreciar las interrelaciones de eventos y fenómenos ocurrentes a escalas espaciales y a niveles organizacionales diferentes; deja ver con más claridad lo intrínseco de las uniones de las dimensiones socioeconómica, político-cultural y medioambientales de la realidad. También, permite captar las vulnerabilidades de los sistemas locales y las oportunidades que encuentran. Contempla a los individuos, a las familias y a las comunidades como actores activos y aprecia su saber y su creatividad. En mi opinión, el modelo tiene también el potencial de su desarrollo, a medida que se vayan acumulando las experiencias de su aplicación.

  6. System Innovation for Sustainability

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    System Innovation for Sustainability 2 focuses on change towards sustainable personal mobility based on implemented cases analysed from a system perspective. It examines what changes can be made to help us reduce our need for mobility, or start to make use of more sustainable mobility systems...... in order to provide sustainable solutions to our current ‘lock-in’ problems. Three major problem areas are considered (the ‘three Cs’): carbon emissions (and the growing contribution of mobility to the climate change crisis), congestion, and casualties. And each strategy proposed addresses one or more...... of these problem areas. Among the cases discussed are: Norway’s carbon compensation scheme for air travel; Madrid’s high-occupancy vehicle lanes; London’s congestion charge scheme; market-based instruments such as eco-labelling for cars; and taxation. The book identifies opportunities for actors...

  7. Managerial Strategies for the Conservation of Rurality in Rural Tourism

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cornelia Petroman

    2010-10-01

    Full Text Available If we admit that rurality designates small densities, open areas, small settlements below 1,000 inhabitants, and land reserved mainly to agricultural and forestry practices, and as natural area, if we admit that society tends to be traditional and that government al policies tend to conserve rather than to make rapid or radical changes, then we should admit that rural tourism should be an activity generating new incomes in the area. Rurality also means preserving a continuum in the approach of different types of areas with different characteristics, a concept that can also be of use in the identification of activities specific to rural tourism. Be they activities specific to the rural environment or activities common to the rural area, they need to aim at the conservation of rurality as a main tourism resource. Managerial strategies in rural tourism contribute effectively to rural development, provided they are sustainable and that rural tourism be not the only solution for rural development.

  8. Sustainability of common pool resources.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Timilsina, Raja Rajendra; Kotani, Koji; Kamijo, Yoshio

    2017-01-01

    Sustainability has become a key issue in managing natural resources together with growing concerns for capitalism, environmental and resource problems. We hypothesize that the ongoing modernization of competitive societies, which we refer to as "capitalism," affects human nature for utilizing common pool resources, thus compromising sustainability. To test this hypothesis, we design and implement a set of dynamic common pool resource games and experiments in the following two types of Nepalese areas: (i) rural (non-capitalistic) and (ii) urban (capitalistic) areas. We find that a proportion of prosocial individuals in urban areas is lower than that in rural areas, and urban residents deplete resources more quickly than rural residents. The composition of proself and prosocial individuals in a group and the degree of capitalism are crucial in that an increase in prosocial members in a group and the rural dummy positively affect resource sustainability by 65% and 63%, respectively. Overall, this paper shows that when societies move toward more capitalistic environments, the sustainability of common pool resources tends to decrease with the changes in individual preferences, social norms, customs and views to others through human interactions. This result implies that individuals may be losing their coordination abilities for social dilemmas of resource sustainability in capitalistic societies.

  9. Socioeconomic Collapse of Rural Areas, Atlantic Forest Transition and Sustainability

    Science.gov (United States)

    Silva, R. F. B. D.; Batistella, M.; Moran, E. F.

    2017-12-01

    Centuries of human pressure over the Atlantic Forest has led the biome to encompass only 11.7 percent of forest remnants. On the other hand, natural regeneration has explained forest cover increase in specific regions since the 1960s as an outcome of land use policies, environmental legislation, agricultural modernization, economic development, and landscape biophysical conditions. We analyze Forest Transition (FT) pathways for the Paraíba Valley region, São Paulo State, Brazil looking for more sustainable relationships between land use and natural land cover. During the 18th and 19th centuries, the Valley's farms were responsible for providing the largest portion of the state's wealth. Nowadays, the Valley contributes with only 6% to the state's gross product and the share of rural activities is now insignificant. Between 1962 and 2011, forest cover area increased from 225 to 446 thousand hectares. Rural household survey was conducted in three municipalities (n=90, thirty in each municipality). To select the municipalities among the thirty-four present in the Paraíba Valley, we applied the modified Thompson Tau technique to detect outlier values for three selected variables: natural forest cover, eucalyptus plantation cover, and municipal revenue. The outliers were discharged and the municipality with the best performance (maximum value) for each variable was selected. Based on the rural household surveys and GIS analysis of satellite imagery classifications, topography and hydrology variables, we conclude that the diminished land use pressure in the Paraíba Valley is allowing the regeneration of forest cover. Over the observed period, the FT was strongly influenced by the unsuitable topography for agriculture (steep slopes) and the economic urban development since the 1960s. However, more recently (2000s), FT is more affected by the vicinity of eucalyptus plantations, the active role of local communities denouncing illegal environmental threats (e

  10. Rural energy - ODA`s perspective

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Woolnough, D.

    1997-12-01

    The Overseas Development Administration has as a goal `to improve the quality of life of people in poorer countries by contributing to sustainable development and reducing poverty and suffering.` Rural energy fits into this goal as a means to an end. The emphasis is firmly on the service provided, with the aim being provision of basic needs as a part of rural development. ODA plays a role in this task on a number of fronts: research and development; support for NGO`s; aid in a bilateral or multilateral form. The view of ODA is that even rural energy projects must emphasize the service provided and must be economically sustainable. Within its sphere of influence, there is a clearly growing position for the employment of rural energy programs.

  11. Review and comparison study of hybrid diesel/solar/hydro/fuel cell energy schemes for a rural ICT Telecenter

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Abdullah, M.O.; Yung, V.C.; Anyi, M.; Othman, A.K.; Ab. Hamid, K.B. [Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS), 94300 Kota Samarahan, Sarawak (Malaysia); Tarawe, J. [e-Bario ICT Telecenter, Bario, Sarawak (Malaysia)

    2010-02-15

    In this paper, the rural electrification study of an ICT Telecenter in particular reference to the Kelabit Highland of Sarawak is presented. The use of diesel generator and its associated environmental implications is first discussed. The cost-effectiveness of the present solar PV system and the solar/hydro schemes for rural electrification of the rural ICT are evaluated employing the HOMER simulation software, considering sustainability factors such as system efficiency, weather, fuel costs, operating and maintaining costs. Subsequently, simple novel Hybrid Energy Performance Equations and the associated Energy Performance Curves are derived and introduced, respectively, which provide a visualization model, simplifying hybrid system analysis. Results obtained in this study have shown that combined power schemes is more sustainable in terms of supplying electricity to the Telecenter compared to a stand-alone PV system due to prolong cloudy and dense haze periods. The hybrid systems can have efficiency range of {proportional_to}15%-75% compared to PV stand-alone of only {proportional_to}10%, indicating hybrid systems are more reliable and sustainable - in minimizing both energy losses and excess energy. (author)

  12. Research on the Evaluation System for Rural Public Safety Planning

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    Ming; SUN; Jianxin; YAN

    2014-01-01

    The indicator evaluation system is introduced to the study of rural public safety planning in this article.By researching the current rural public safety planning and environmental carrying capacity,we select some carrying capacity indicators influencing the rural public safety,such as land,population,ecological environment,water resources,infrastructure,economy and society,to establish the environmental carrying capacity indicator system.We standardize the indicators,use gray correlation analysis method to determine the weight of indicators,and make DEA evaluation of the indicator system,to obtain the evaluation results as the basis for decision making in rural safety planning,and provide scientific and quantified technical support for rural public safety planning.

  13. A new model for commercially sustainable renewable energy-based rural electrification in Indonesia

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Walt, Robb [Integrated Power Corporation-Indonesia, (United states)

    1995-12-31

    Rapidly increasing demands and requirements for access to electricity throughout the remote areas of Indonesia coupled with annual subsidies in excess of $500 million of dollars for rural electrification have forced the Government of Indonesia to search for alternatives to the conventional utility model for rural electrification. In 1992-1993 a study was conducted in collaboration with the Government of Indonesia`s Agency Application and Assessment of Technology (BPPT) and the national power utility, PLN to support the search for sustainable solutions for electrification of remote communities. This study produced a New commercial model for electrification of off-grid rural communities in Indonesia with utility quality electricity services. This new model is characterized by the use of new technologies for power generation, distribution, and sales of electricity. Key to the success of the new model are renewable energy-based hybrid power plants and the use of flexible, on-demand electricity dispensing meters. Estimated fees for electricity service are based on the current amounts now being paid by rural households for kerosene, candles and battery services at different income levels. The study showed that most rural households are willing and able to pay additional amounts for reliable, utility grade electricity for valuable services, such as better lighting, TV entertainment and for productive (economic) uses during daytime hours. A financial assessment was conducted for investments in hybrid power systems for off-grid communities with revenues generated on the basis of market fees, and collected through new technology for electricity purchase and prepayment on a commodity basis. The assessment demonstrates that this approach would provide superior electricity services on a full-time basis, with little or no subsidy required during the three- to five-year commercialization phase, and with profitability as an achievable goal in the full commercial phase. [Espanol

  14. A new model for commercially sustainable renewable energy-based rural electrification in Indonesia

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Walt, Robb [Integrated Power Corporation-Indonesia, (United states)

    1996-12-31

    Rapidly increasing demands and requirements for access to electricity throughout the remote areas of Indonesia coupled with annual subsidies in excess of $500 million of dollars for rural electrification have forced the Government of Indonesia to search for alternatives to the conventional utility model for rural electrification. In 1992-1993 a study was conducted in collaboration with the Government of Indonesia`s Agency Application and Assessment of Technology (BPPT) and the national power utility, PLN to support the search for sustainable solutions for electrification of remote communities. This study produced a New commercial model for electrification of off-grid rural communities in Indonesia with utility quality electricity services. This new model is characterized by the use of new technologies for power generation, distribution, and sales of electricity. Key to the success of the new model are renewable energy-based hybrid power plants and the use of flexible, on-demand electricity dispensing meters. Estimated fees for electricity service are based on the current amounts now being paid by rural households for kerosene, candles and battery services at different income levels. The study showed that most rural households are willing and able to pay additional amounts for reliable, utility grade electricity for valuable services, such as better lighting, TV entertainment and for productive (economic) uses during daytime hours. A financial assessment was conducted for investments in hybrid power systems for off-grid communities with revenues generated on the basis of market fees, and collected through new technology for electricity purchase and prepayment on a commodity basis. The assessment demonstrates that this approach would provide superior electricity services on a full-time basis, with little or no subsidy required during the three- to five-year commercialization phase, and with profitability as an achievable goal in the full commercial phase. [Espanol

  15. Can you model growth of trust? A study of the sustainability of a rural community health centre in North India

    OpenAIRE

    Smith, H. K.; Harper, Paul Robert

    2015-01-01

    Trust in the service provided by any health facility is of vital importance to its sustainability, whether it is a community clinic in a rural area of a developing country or an international telemedicine service. Community health centres can be used as a means of delivering highly accessible, low-cost health service in the developing world. A major strategic issue for planners of such centres is the expected level of uptake of services throughout a region and its effect on sustainability of ...

  16. The role of land use planning in sustainable rural systems.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Lier, van H.N.

    1998-01-01

    The creation of a more sustainable countryside has become a very important item across the world. Several methods, approaches and policies can be applied and agencies, interests groups etc. can become active in this regard. Land-use planning, as one of these activities, is challenged to play an

  17. Short-term and sustained effects of a health system strengthening intervention to improve mortality trends for paediatric severe malnutrition in rural South African hospitals: An interrupted time series design

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M Muzigaba

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available Background. Case fatality rates for childhood severe acute malnutrition (SAM remain high in some resource-limited facilities in South Africa (SA, despite the widespread availability of the World Health Organization treatment guidelines. There is a need to develop reproducible interventions that reinforce the implementation of these guidelines and assess their effect and sustainability. Objectives. To assess the short-term and sustained effects of a health system strengthening intervention on mortality attributable to SAM in two hospitals located in the Eastern Cape Province of SA. Methods. This was a theory-driven evaluation conducted in two rural hospitals in SA over a 69-month period (2009 - 2014. In both facilities, a health system strengthening intervention was implemented within the first 32 months, and thereafter discontinued. Sixty-nine monthly data series were collected on: (i monthly total SAM case fatality rate (CFR; (ii monthly SAM CFR within 24 hours of admission; and (iii monthly SAM CFR among HIV-positive cases, to determine the intervention’s effect within the first 32 months and sustainability over the remaining 37 months. The data were analysed using Linden’s method for analysing interrupted time series data. Results. The study revealed that the intervention was associated with a statistically significant decrease of up to 0.4% in monthly total SAM CFR, a non-statistically significant decrease of up to 0.09% in monthly SAM CFR within 24 hours of admission and a non-statistically significant decrease of up to 0.11% in monthly SAM CFR among HIV-positive cases. The decrease in mortality trends for both outcomes was only slightly reversed upon the discontinuation of the intervention. No autocorrelation was detected in the regression models generated during data analyses. Conclusion. The study findings suggest that although the intervention was designed to be self-sustaining, this may not have been the case. A qualitative enquiry

  18. Modeling Sustainable Food Systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Allen, Thomas; Prosperi, Paolo

    2016-05-01

    The processes underlying environmental, economic, and social unsustainability derive in part from the food system. Building sustainable food systems has become a predominating endeavor aiming to redirect our food systems and policies towards better-adjusted goals and improved societal welfare. Food systems are complex social-ecological systems involving multiple interactions between human and natural components. Policy needs to encourage public perception of humanity and nature as interdependent and interacting. The systemic nature of these interdependencies and interactions calls for systems approaches and integrated assessment tools. Identifying and modeling the intrinsic properties of the food system that will ensure its essential outcomes are maintained or enhanced over time and across generations, will help organizations and governmental institutions to track progress towards sustainability, and set policies that encourage positive transformations. This paper proposes a conceptual model that articulates crucial vulnerability and resilience factors to global environmental and socio-economic changes, postulating specific food and nutrition security issues as priority outcomes of food systems. By acknowledging the systemic nature of sustainability, this approach allows consideration of causal factor dynamics. In a stepwise approach, a logical application is schematized for three Mediterranean countries, namely Spain, France, and Italy.

  19. PV power and profit? Electrifying rural South Africa

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Karottki, R.; Banks, D.

    2000-01-01

    This article traces the background to the implementation of a programme of sustainable off-grid energy services delivered to rural areas through private-public partnership. The implementation of the school photovoltaic (PV) electrification programme, electrification of rural clinics, the solar electrification of rural households on a large scale through a joint venture between Shell Renewables and the national utility ESKOM, and the electrification of widely scattered homesteads are discussed. Details are given of the financial support from the government and the National Electricity Regulator, the development of a national standard for Solar Home Systems, identification of target regions, the regulatory framework, and the opportunities for business and for real improvement. (UK)

  20. Rural entrepreneurship: Between place and space

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Korsgaard, Steffen; Müller, Sabine; Tanvig, Hanne Wittorff

    for a better use of rural resource-bases as well as for sustainable economic development. On the basis of an exploration of the spatial dynamics of rural entrepreneurship we develop propositions concerning rural entrepreneurship as a distinct form of entrepreneurial activity, emphasising bricolage, mixed......This paper proposes a distinction between rural entrepreneurship and entrepreneurship in the rural. While the latter is incidentally located in a rural area, the former engages with the localised resources of the rural area. We argue that rural entrepreneurship in this form holds promise...

  1. RSW-MCFP: A Resource-Oriented Solid Waste Management System for a Mixed Rural-Urban Area through Monte Carlo Simulation-Based Fuzzy Programming

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    P. Li

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available The growth of global population and economy continually increases the waste volumes and consequently creates challenges to handle and dispose solid wastes. It becomes more challenging in mixed rural-urban areas (i.e., areas of mixed land use for rural and urban purposes where both agricultural waste (e.g., manure and municipal solid waste are generated. The efficiency and confidence of decisions in current management practices significantly rely on the accurate information and subjective judgments, which are usually compromised by uncertainties. This study proposed a resource-oriented solid waste management system for mixed rural-urban areas. The system is featured by a novel Monte Carlo simulation-based fuzzy programming approach. The developed system was tested by a real-world case with consideration of various resource-oriented treatment technologies and the associated uncertainties. The modeling results indicated that the community-based bio-coal and household-based CH4 facilities were necessary and would become predominant in the waste management system. The 95% confidence intervals of waste loadings to the CH4 and bio-coal facilities were 387, 450 and 178, 215 tonne/day (mixed flow, respectively. In general, the developed system has high capability in supporting solid waste management for mixed rural-urban areas in a cost-efficient and sustainable manner under uncertainty.

  2. Principles of sustainable energy systems

    CERN Document Server

    Kreith, Frank

    2013-01-01

    … ""This is an ideal book for seniors and graduate students interested in learning about the sustainable energy field and its penetration. The authors provide very strong discussion on cost-benefit analysis and ROI calculations for various alternate energy systems in current use. This is a descriptive book with detailed case-based analyses of various systems and engineering applications. The text book provides real-world case studies and related problems pertaining to sustainable energy systems.""--Dr. Kuruvilla John, University of North Texas""The new edition of ""Principles of Sustainable En

  3. Rural maternity care.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miller, Katherine J; Couchie, Carol; Ehman, William; Graves, Lisa; Grzybowski, Stefan; Medves, Jennifer

    2012-10-01

    To provide an overview of current information on issues in maternity care relevant to rural populations. Medline was searched for articles published in English from 1995 to 2012 about rural maternity care. Relevant publications and position papers from appropriate organizations were also reviewed. This information will help obstetrical care providers in rural areas to continue providing quality care for women in their communities. Recommendations 1. Women who reside in rural and remote communities in Canada should receive high-quality maternity care as close to home as possible. 2. The provision of rural maternity care must be collaborative, woman- and family-centred, culturally sensitive, and respectful. 3. Rural maternity care services should be supported through active policies aligned with these recommendations. 4. While local access to surgical and anaesthetic services is desirable, there is evidence that good outcomes can be sustained within an integrated perinatal care system without local access to operative delivery. There is evidence that the outcomes are better when women do not have to travel far from their communities. Access to an integrated perinatal care system should be provided for all women. 5. The social and emotional needs of rural women must be considered in service planning. Women who are required to leave their communities to give birth should be supported both financially and emotionally. 6. Innovative interprofessional models should be implemented as part of the solution for high-quality, collaborative, and integrated care for rural and remote women. 7. Registered nurses are essential to the provision of high-quality rural maternity care throughout pregnancy, birth, and the postpartum period. Maternity nursing skills should be recognized as a fundamental part of generalist rural nursing skills. 8. Remuneration for maternity care providers should reflect the unique challenges and increased professional responsibility faced by providers in

  4. Multicriteria method to evaluate the operation of technologies of renewable energy in rural areas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cherni, Judilh

    2003-01-01

    This paper evaluates the problem of the selection of renewable energy alternatives in rural regions in the developing world. We discuss a multicriteria method, map result, for assessing the effectiveness and sustainability of the energy systems that have been installed in rural areas. The purpose is to improve the effectiveness of energization policies

  5. Multicriteria focus to evaluate the operation of technologies of renewable energy in rural areas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cherni, Judith A

    2003-01-01

    This paper evaluates the problem of the selection of renewable energy alternatives in rural regions in the developing world. We discuss a multicriteria method, MAP RESURL, for assessing the effectiveness and sustainability of the energy systems that have been installed in rural areas. The purpose is to improve the effectiveness of energization policies

  6. Sistemas territoriais de financiamento rural: para pensar o caso brasileiro (Territorial Systems for Rural Financing: considering the Brazilian case Doi: 10.5212/Emancipacao.v.13i2.0009

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ademir Antonio Cazella

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available Normal 0 21 false false false PT-BR X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 No Brasil, a construção de sistemas territoriais de financiamento em zonas rurais passa pela inclusão de segmentos sociais pobres nas políticas de desenvolvimento rural. Neste artigo, parte-se da contextualização do perfil elitista do Sistema Financeiro Nacional (SFN e de sua baixa capacidade de operar com microfinanças, pré-condição para se gestar projetos inovadores, inclusivos e territorializados. Na sequência, discutem-se experiências que aportam ensinamentos para a concepção de sistemas territoriais de financiamento, a exemplo do Desenvolvimento Regional Sustentável do Banco do Brasil e do cooperativismo de crédito rural solidário. Por fi m, elaboram-se sugestões depossíveis parcerias interinstitucionais, visando reduzir a exclusão de segmentos sociais empobrecidos dos mercados financeiros formais. Palavras-chave: Microfinanças. Inclusão financeira. Territórios.  Abstract: In Brazil, the construction of territorial systems of financing in rural zones involves the inclusion of poor segments of society in public rural developmentpolicies. This article begins describing the elitist nature of the National Financial System and its limited capacity to operate with microfinance, which is considered here as a pre-condition for managing innovative, inclusionary and territorializedprojects. Then it discusses experiences that can help guiding the conception of territorial finance systems, such as the Sustainable Regional Development program of the Banco do Brasil and solidarity-oriented rural credit cooperatives. In conclusion, it suggests possible inter-institutional partnerships, seeking to reduce exclusion of poor social segments from the formal financial markets.  Keywords: Microfinance. Financial inclusion. Territories.

  7. Sustainable Energy Systems and Applications

    CERN Document Server

    Dinçer, İbrahim

    2012-01-01

    Sustainable Energy Systems and Applications presents analyses of sustainable energy systems and their applications, providing new understandings, methodologies, models and applications along with descriptions of several illustrative examples and case studies. This textbook aims to address key pillars in the field, such as: better efficiency, cost effectiveness, use of energy resources, environment, energy security, and sustainable development. It also includes some cutting-edge topics, such as hydrogen and fuel cells, renewable, clean combustion technologies, CO2 abatement technologies, and some potential tools for design, analysis and performance improvement. The book also: Discusses producing energy by increasing systems efficiency in generation, conversion, transportation and consumption Analyzes the conversion of fossil fuels to clean fuels for limiting  pollution and creating a better environment Sustainable Energy Systems and Applications is a research-based textbook which can be used by senior u...

  8. Do entrepreneurial food systems innovations impact rural economies and health? Evidence and gaps.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sitaker, Marilyn; Kolodinsky, Jane; Jilcott Pitts, Stephanie B; Seguin, Rebecca A

    A potential solution for weakened rural economies is the development of local food systems, which include affordable foods sources for consumers and economically feasible structures for producers. Local food systems are purported to promote sustainability, improve local economies, increase access to healthy foods, and improve the local diets. Four entrepreneurial food systems innovations that support local economies include farmers' markets, community supported agriculture, farm to institution programs and food hubs. We review current literature to determine whether innovations for aggregation, processing, distribution and marketing in local food systems: 1) enable producers to make a living; 2) improve local economies; 3) provide local residents with greater access to affordable, healthy food; and 4) contribute to greater consumption of healthy food among residents. While there is some evidence for each, more transdisciplinary research is needed to determine whether entrepreneurial food systems innovations provide economic and public health benefits.

  9. Sheep and Goat Farming in Greece: Implications and Challenges for the Sustainable Development of Less Favoured Areas

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Evangelia N. Sossidou

    2013-10-01

    Full Text Available Sheep and goat farming is considered to be one of the most dynamic sectors of the rural economy in Greece, both in terms of employment and overall income. The aim of this paper is to review the levels of sustainability in the small ruminant production systems in two Less Favoured Areas of Greece (LFAs: (1 in the mountainous areas of Epirus, and (2 in the island of Lesvos. In this context, the characteristics of the production systems that have significant impact on the sustainable development of rural areas under study are underlined. The sustainability is examined by the ecological, social and economic points of view, supplemented with cultural and regional elements. The ultimate purpose is to conclude with the challenges for the future rural development in LFAs through the sustainable development of sheep and goat farming. Data is based on surveys undertaken by the SEE-ERA.NET PLUS ‘INDI_SHEEP TRADI_CHEESE’ Project and the ARIMNET ‘DoMEsTIc’ Project, still in process.

  10. Rural aquaculture as a sustainable alternative for forest conservation in the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve, Mexico.

    Science.gov (United States)

    López-García, José; Manzo-Delgado, Lilia L; Alcántara-Ayala, Irasema

    2014-06-01

    Forest conservation plays a significant role in environmental sustainability. In Mexico only 8.48 million ha of forest are used for conservation of biodiversity. Payment for Environmental Services in the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve, one of the most important national protected areas, contributes to the conservation of these forests. In the Reserve, production of rainbow trout has been important for the rural communities who need to conserve the forest cover in order to maintain the hibernation cycle of the butterfly. Aquaculture is a highly productive activity for these protected areas, since it harnesses the existing water resources. In this study, changes from 1999 to 2012 in vegetation and land-use cover in the El Lindero basin within the Reserve were evaluated in order to determine the conservation status and to consider the feasibility of aquaculture as a means of sustainable development at community level. Evaluation involved stereoscopic interpretation of digital aerial photographs from 1999 to 2012 at 1:10,000 scale, comparative analysis by orthocorrected mosaics and restitution on the mosaics. Between 1999 and 2012, forested land recovered by 28.57 ha (2.70%) at the expense of non-forested areas, although forest degradation was 3.59%. Forest density increased by 16.87%. In the 46 ha outside the Reserve, deforestation spread by 0.26%, and land use change was 0.11%. The trend towards change in forest cover is closely related to conservation programmes, particularly payment for not extracting timber, reforestation campaigns and surveillance, whose effects have been exploited for the development of rural aquaculture; this is a new way to improve the socio-economic status of the population, to avoid logging and to achieve environmental sustainability in the Reserve. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  11. Rural bioenergy: innovative integrated biosystem design for fuel and food from agrowastes

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Selvam, Pagandai V. Pannir; Santiago, Brunno Henrique de S. [Universidade Federal de Alagoas (UFAL), Maceio, AL (Brazil)], email: pannirbr@gmail.com; Almeida, Louizy Minora C.A. de; Israel, Samy B.S. [Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte (DEQ/CT/UFRN), Natal, RN (Brazil). Centro de Tecnologia. Dept. de Engenharia Quimica

    2008-07-01

    Brazil is the leader known for its ethanol biofuel development, but also for biomass charcoal, yet lacks in clean rural biofuel production. This paper deals with the system design for sustainable rural projects developments based on the the bioenergy production from biomass wastes using Innovative process equipment design and the process optimization. With the economic objective towards sustainable clean small scale rural energy production, and also the co-production of hot, cold thermal energy, at first, several preliminary projects had been developed and analysed. Then, a detailed project engineering and the results on economical viability were obtained. The dynamic material, energy and cash flow models of the complex integrated food processing and small scale energy productions, were at first constructed using excel electronic spread sheet for Windows. Computer aided system for process modeling and simulation using SUPERPRO, Intelligent Inc. Economic feasibilities studies using genetics algorithms are under developments. The preliminary analysis of cost and investments of the the integrated biomass utilisation projects which are included for this study are: biological aerobic treatment process, methane gas production using anaerobic digestion process, aerobic composting, drying of tropical fruits, effluent treatments, biogas and syngas production as well as cogeneration of energy production for drying and cooling using biogas. These models allowed us the identification of tech economical and scale up problems. The results obtained with several preliminary project development with few case studies are reported for integrated project developments for fuel and food using process and cost simulation models. Several economic problems related with implementation of the small scale rural energy system for sustained local developments based on tropical fruit producing rural areas are analysed and a concept of the integrated bio system for micro enterprise has been

  12. Proactive sustainability strategy and corporate sustainability performance: The mediating effect of sustainability control systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wijethilake, Chaminda

    2017-07-01

    This study examines to what extent corporations use sustainability control systems (SCS) to translate proactive sustainability strategy into corporate sustainability performance. The study investigates the mediating effect of SCS on the relationship between proactive sustainability strategy and corporate sustainability performance. Survey data were collected from top managers in 175 multinational and local corporations operating in Sri Lanka and analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). SCS were observed to only partially mediate the relationship between proactive sustainability strategy and corporate sustainability performance. The mediating effect of SCS is further examined under three sustainability strategies; environmental and social strategies reveal a partial mediation, while the economic strategy exhibits no mediation. The study also finds that (i) a proactive sustainability strategy is positively associated with SCS and corporate sustainability performance and (ii) SCS are positively associated with corporate sustainability performance. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  13. Rural Aging

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... for Success Am I Rural? Evidence-based Toolkits Economic Impact Analysis Tool Community Health Gateway Sustainability Planning ... Transportation to medical appointments, grocery shopping, and other essential and leisure activities Housing quality and affordability, including ...

  14. RURAL TOURISM AS AN IMPORTANT SOURCE OF INCOME FOR RURAL PLACES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mariana IATAGAN

    2009-06-01

    Full Text Available Tourism is the most important economic branch, worldwide, owning 12% of all areas of activity and revenue of approximately 530 billion dollars per year. In the past 10 years we could see an increasing demand for rural tourism and ecotourism, many of the international travel agencies offering ecotourism packages. Our country is attractive from the perspective of international travel agencies, because of unpolluted nature, the authenticity of traditions, the Danube Delta, old forests and not least, because the Romanian hospitality.Rural tourism had been practiced for a long time in Romania but for the past 15-20 years, it was casual and without any form of organization. Tourism activities in rural areas are carried out when agricultural activities takeplace and contribute to the welfare of rural communities that practice it.The development of tourism activities requires attention to the quality of the environment by preserving and developing the quality in the areas that have entered the tourist circuit, controlling the activity quality for a rational use of tourism resources.Our country benefits from EU funding through several programs including SAPARD, taking one of the measures, Measure 3.4, which is called the development and diversification of economic activities that generate multiple activities and alternative incomes.A deciding role in the development of rural tourism is held by the general infrastructure, requiring subsidies from the budget for tourism attraction areas for sustaining, by public administrations, programs to support tourism in rural areas.Rural tourism contributes to the sustainable development of the Romanian rural environment by proper use of local resources, establishing youth in rural areas, reducing the number of unemployed, women's involvement in economic and social life of rural settlements, raising living standards, growth in household rural areas, increasing the industry's contribution to the formation of gross

  15. Rural Communatcation: legitimizing digital inclusion in rural field

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Juliana Correa Bernardes

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available Through contemporary analysis, it was noted that the countryside of São Paulo experienced drastic transformation and demanded rural family farmers to adapt themselves to technological innovations, where the most striking is the use of the internet in search of information to the sustainable development of rural property.  The research adopted a methodological way of exploratory, through the case study, which analyzed the general objective the dissemination and usability of information and communication technologies in rural areas in the interior of forms-based applied to farmers in the family farms belonging to theAssociation of banana growers of Tupã. In seeking to achieve this goal, reflected on the use of internet in rural areas and measured-factors that enhance digital communication barriers in rural addressing the digital divide becomes a limiting factor to access. In this sense, the rural communication emerges as relational link mediating solutions and incorporating the diffusion of innovations in the pursuit of digital literacy of farmers contributing to the democratization of society in the information age.

  16. Strengthening training in rural practice in Germany: new approach for undergraduate medical curriculum towards sustaining rural health care.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Holst, Jens; Normann, Oliver; Herrmann, Markus

    2015-01-01

    After decades of providing a dense network of quality medical care, Germany is facing an increasing shortage of medical doctors in rural areas. Current graduation rates of generalists do not counterbalance the loss due to retirement. Informed by international evidence, different strategies to ensure rural medical care are under debate, including innovative teaching approaches during undergraduate training. The University of Magdeburg in Saxony-Anhalt was the first medical school in Germany to offer a rural elective for graduate students. During the 2014 summer semester, 14 medical students attended a two-weekend program in a small village in Northern Saxony-Anhalt that allowed them to become more familiar with a rural community and rural health issues. The elective course raised a series of relevant topics for setting up rural practice and provided students with helpful insight into living and working conditions in rural practice. Preliminary evaluations indicate that the rural medicine course allowed medical students to reduce pre-existing concerns and had positive impact on their willingness to set up a rural medical office after graduation. Even short-term courses in rural practice can help reduce training-related barriers that prevent young physicians from working in rural areas. Undergraduate medical training is promising to attenuate the emerging undersupply in rural areas.

  17. A review of social sustainability considerations among EU-approved voluntary schemes for biofuels, with implications for rural livelihoods

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    German, Laura; Schoneveld, George

    2012-01-01

    The rapid expansion of biofuel production and consumption has raised concerns over the social and environmental sustainability of biofuel feedstock production, processing and trade. The European Union (EU) has thus balanced its commitment to biofuels as one option for meeting its renewable energy targets with sustainability criteria for economic operators supplying biofuels to member states. Seven voluntary “EU sustainability schemes” were approved in July, 2011 as a means to verify compliance. While mandated sustainability criteria have a strong environmental focus, a number of these voluntary schemes have social sustainability as a significant component of the requirements put forward for achieving certification. As several of these voluntary schemes are incipient, thereby limiting evidence on their effectiveness in practice, this analysis is based on a comparative analysis of the substantive content or ‘scope’ of these schemes and the likely procedural effectiveness of the same. Findings show that while some schemes have considerable coverage of social sustainability concerns, poor coverage of some critical issues, the presence of schemes lacking any social sustainability requirements, and gaps in procedural rules are likely to undermine the likelihood that social sustainability is achieved through these schemes or the EU sustainability policies lending credibility to them. - Highlights: ► Among 7 voluntary schemes approved by EC-RED for biofuel, social sustainability is sorely lacking. ► 2 Schemes lacking any social sustainability criteria collectively cover all feedstock/regions. ► The strong climate metric effectively sidelines development aspirations of southern producers. ► Only one of 7 standards will leverage the industry's potential as a stimulus to rural development. ► Policies in consumer markets are critical to give teeth to industry-led sustainability schemes.

  18. Discussion based on the adaptability design for the construction of rural tourism for the revival of villages in China

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xie, Guanyi; Li, Xingyi; Zhao, Hanyu

    2018-05-01

    Tourist development has been an increasingly popular part in rural construction in contemporary China, and has become a juncture of rural renewal and revival. Taking the three perspectives of rural physical form, rural culture, human action and activities, this article summarizes the problems and conflicts created by Chinese rural tourism, and analyzes the root reason for the conflicts. We try to generalize valuable experience learned from Chinese New Village experimental base so far from different aspects such as architectural forms, spatial scales, ecological environment, arts and culture and residential life, integrated with notion of ‘adaptability design’ in the theoretical system of sustainable development, and then deduct a strategy for designing rural sustainable development, under the intervention of tourism. Lastly, the example of a Chinese village - Fenshui Village is chosen to practice, and construction conception is raised accordingly.

  19. Developing Sustainable Life Support System Concepts

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thomas, Evan A.

    2010-01-01

    Sustainable spacecraft life support concepts may allow the development of more reliable technologies for long duration space missions. Currently, life support technologies at different levels of development are not well evaluated against each other, and evaluation methods do not account for long term reliability and sustainability of the hardware. This paper presents point-of-departure sustainability evaluation criteria for life support systems, that may allow more robust technology development, testing and comparison. An example sustainable water recovery system concept is presented.

  20. Rural Electrification Program in Indonesia: Comparing SEHEN and SHS Program

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maxensius Tri Sambodo

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available In 2014, the Indonesian government has targets to obtain 80% of electrification ratio and 98.9% of rural electrification ratio. Extending the grid and off-grid connection has been done to obtain the targets. This paper aims to compare two main programs on rural electrification namely Super Extra Energy Saving (Super Ekstra Hemat Energi, SEHEN that is belong to PLN (state owned company in electricity and the Solar Home System (SHS that is financed by the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (MEMR. Indonesia has started the rural electrification program in the late 1950s, but how to provide electricity in a sustainable ways both organizationally and institutionally still become a big challenge. The experiences from East Nusa Tenggara provinces showed that both SEHEN and SHS can instantly improve electrification ratio, but government needs to synchronize the technical, administrative, and financial aspect from the two programs. Without any improvements in designing the program, we argue that the existing program is not sustainable.

  1. Sustainable Tourism Development: the Adaptation and Resilience of the Rural Communities in (the Tourist Villages of Karimunjawa, Central Java

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Budi Setiawan

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available From 2009 to 2015, the growth of tourism in the tourist villages (desa wisata of Karimunjawa underwent rapid progress. However, the level of poverty in Karimunjawa remained high. Nevertheless, the involvement of rural people in the sustainable development of tourism has received only limited discussion. Therefore, this article discusses the rural communities’ adaptation and resilience in Karimunjawa with the support of sustainable development planning in tourist villages. It covers the background of sustainable development, the elements of the communities’ adaptive capacity and resilience, and the role of the regional government. Empirical evidence of variations in the capacity to respond to changes of socioeconomic and ecological environments due to tourism development is presented. In addition, a case study is used in this article to describe how the people learned from their experience, knowledge, and past efforts. To obtain the necessary information, in-depth interviews were conducted with a number of key informants in the tourist villages of Karimunjawa, which were selected via purposive and snowball sampling. The results of the research show that social resilience will increase among those communities that are capable of accessing flexible social networks. These social networks are practical tools that open up the dissemination of new information and knowledge. This is a key element for a stronger process of transformation. Furthermore, communities that have capital and financial access as well as skills will also be capable of adaptation to the transformation process.

  2. The use of Jatropha curcas to achieve a self sufficient water distribution system: A case study in rural Senegal

    Science.gov (United States)

    Archer, Alexandra

    The use of Jatropha curcas as a source of oil for fueling water pumps holds promise for rural communities struggling to achieve water security in arid climates. The potential for use in developing communities as an affordable, sustainable fuel source has been highly recommended for many reasons: it is easily propagated, drought resistant, grows rapidly, and has high-oil-content seeds, as well as medicinal and economic potential. This study uses a rural community in Senegal, West Africa, and calculates at what level of Jatropha curcas production the village is able to be self-sufficient in fueling their water system to meet drinking, sanitation and irrigation requirements. The current water distribution system was modelled to represent irrigation requirements for nine different Jatropha curcas cultivation and processing schemes. It was found that a combination of using recycled greywater for irrigation and a mechanical press to maximize oil recovered from the seeds of mature Jatropha curcas trees, would be able to operate the water system with no diesel required.

  3. Reaching rural customers: the challenge of market-based rural electrification

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Reinmueller, Dorothee [International Solar Energy Society (ISES), Freiburg (Germany); Adib, Rana [Fraunhofer Inst. for Solar Energy Systems ISE, Freiburg (Germany)

    2002-06-01

    The large number of households that need catering for in market based approaches to rural energy supply in developing countries makes different demands on all involved players: an extensive infrastructure for reaching the rural customer needs to be established, extensive investments have to be realised, financial sustainability must be assured, and the business must even show profit. Thus, for successful market and infrastructure development it is a major necessity to understand the mechanisms involved. The authors describe a new guide to assist governments, business, and financing organisations in providing energy to rural areas using renewables. (Author)

  4. Reaching rural customers: the challenge of market-based rural electrification

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Reinmueller, Dorothee; Adib, Rana

    2002-01-01

    The large number of households that need catering for in market based approaches to rural energy supply in developing countries makes different demands on all involved players: an extensive infrastructure for reaching the rural customer needs to be established, extensive investments have to be realised, financial sustainability must be assured, and the business must even show profit. Thus, for successful market and infrastructure development it is a major necessity to understand the mechanisms involved. The authors describe a new guide to assist governments, business, and financing organisations in providing energy to rural areas using renewables. (Author)

  5. Development of an integrated and sustainable rural service for people with diabetes in the Scottish Highlands.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cramp, Geoffrey J

    2006-01-01

    The number of people with diabetes is increasing leading to a greater burden on health care services. The impact of the growing prevalence is accentuated by remote and rural demographic and geographic characteristics. Highland is a sparsely populated remote and rural area in the north of Scotland, characterised by poor access to health-care services and pockets of marked deprivation. Centralised policy developments demanding local implementation compounded the pressures on a system that already had waiting times of over 90 weeks for some people with diabetes. A regional review of services, engaging stakeholders from all disciplines and geographical locations was required to develop acceptable and sustainable solutions. This article describes the extensive mapping process involved, how solutions were derived, and suggests a new service structure to encompass remote health-care issues. Health-care professionals with an interest in diabetes were identified and workshops were organised to include the remote areas of Highland. Patient and carers views were ascertained through workshops and supplemented by written submissions. Using the redesign methodology the patient pathway was mapped, noting service deficiencies and good practice. The information gathered was constructed into a service-level map representing the patient journey. A conference was organised to develop solutions to the issues raised during the mapping process. From these solutions a new service configuration was constructed. Over 300 health-care professionals patients and carers contributed. Fourteen workshops were held across the region including the remote areas, providing 15 local maps of the patient pathways subsequently amalgamated into a service-level map. The current patient pathway in Highland follows a traditional and dichotomous cycle of care in the primary and secondary care setting, partly reflecting the rural nature of healthcare in the Highlands. Four main areas for service improvement

  6. Rural poverty and environmental degradation in the Philippines: A system dynamics approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Parayno, Phares Penuliar

    Poverty among the small cultivators in the Philippines remains widespread despite a general increase in per capita income during the last three decades. At the same time, the degradation of agricultural land resources, as sources of daily subsistence for the rural workers, is progressing. Past policy studies on the alleviation of rural poverty in the developing countries have centered on the issue of increasing food production and expanding economic growth but gave little attention to the issue of constraints imposed by degradation of agricultural land resources. Only in recent years have there been increasing focus on the relationship between rural poverty and environmental degradation. Inquiry is, however, often done by simplistic one way causal relationships which, although often illuminating, does not provide a comprehensive understanding of the different interacting processes that create rural poverty and land degradation. Thus, policies ensuing from such analyses provide only short-term gains without effecting lasting improvement in the living conditions of the small cultivators. This dissertation examines the complex interrelationships between rural poverty and land degradation and attempts to explain the inefficacy of broad development programs implemented in alleviating rural poverty and reversing deterioration of land resources. The study uses the case of the Philippines for empirical validation. The analysis employs computer simulation experiments with a system dynamics model of a developing economy consisting of an agricultural sector whose microstructure incorporates processes influencing: agricultural production; disbursement of income; changes in the quality of agricultural land resources; demographic behavior; and rural-urban transfer of real and monetary resources. The system dynamics model used in this study extends the wage and income distribution model of Saeed (1988) by adding to it decision structures concerning changes in the quality of

  7. Traditional formwork system sustainability performance: experts’ opinion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Taher Al-ashwal, Mohammed; Abdullah, Redzuan; Zakaria, Rozana

    2017-11-01

    The traditional formwork system is one of the commonly used systems in concrete construction. It is considered as one of the least observed activities in term of sustainability performance. In this paper, the sustainability performance of the traditional formwork has been assessed by using a multi-criteria assessment tool to facilitate the decision on the sustainability performance measurement. A quantitative five Likert scale survey study using judgemental sampling is employed in this study. A sample of 93 of engineering construction experts, with different fields including contractors, developers, and consultants in the Malaysian context has made the body of the collected primary data. The results show variety in the distribution of the respondents’ working experience. The sustainability performance is considered moderately sustainable by the experts with only given 40.24 % of the overall total score for the three sustainable categories namely environmental, social and economic. Despite the finding that shows that the economic pillar was rated as the most sustainable aspect in comparison to the environmental and social pillars the traditional formwork system sustainability still needs enhancement. Further incorporation of the social and environmental pillars into the concrete construction the sustainability performance of traditional formwork system could be improved.

  8. Renewables for sustainable village power

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Flowers, L.

    1997-03-01

    It is estimated that two billion people live without electricity and its services. In addition, there is a sizeable number of rural villages that have limited electrical service, with either part-day operation by diesel gen-sets or partial electrification (local school or community center and several nearby houses). For many villages connected to the grid, power is often sporadically available and of poor quality. The U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden, Colorado, has initiated a program to address these potential electricity opportunities in rural villages through the application of renewable energy (RE) technologies. The objective of this program is to develop and implement applications that demonstrate the technical performance, economic competitiveness, operational viability, and environmental benefits of renewable rural electric solutions, compared to the conventional options of line extension and isolated diesel mini-grids. These four attributes foster sustainability; therefore, the program is entitled Renewables for Sustainable Village Power (RSVP). The RSVP program is a multi-technology, multi-application program composed of six activities, including village applications development, computer model development, systems analysis, pilot project development, technical assistance, and Internet-based village power project data base. While the current program emphasizes wind, photovoltaics (PV), and their hybrids with diesel gen-sets, micro-hydro and micro-biomass technologies may be integrated in the future. NREL's RSVP team is currently involved in rural electricity projects in thirteen countries, with U.S., foreign, and internationally based agencies and institutions. The integration of the technology developments, institutional experiences, and the financial solutions for the implementation of renewables in the main line rural electrification processes in both the developing world and remote regions of the developed world is the goal

  9. Strategies for gender-equitable HIV services in rural India

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sinha, Gita; Peters, David H; Bollinger, Robert C

    2009-01-01

    The emergence of HIV in rural India has the potential to heighten gender inequity in a context where women already suffer significant health disparities. Recent Indian health policies provide new opportunities to identify and implement gender-equitable rural HIV services. In this review, we adapt Mosley and Chen's conceptual framework of health to outline determinants for HIV health services utilization and outcomes. Examining the framework through a gender lens, we conduct a comprehensive literature review for gender-related gaps in HIV clinical services in rural India, focusing on patient access and outcomes, provider practices, and institutional partnerships. Contextualizing findings from rural India in the broader international literature, we describe potential strategies for gender-equitable HIV services in rural India, as responses to the following three questions: (1) What gender-specific patient needs should be addressed for gender-equitable HIV testing and care? (2) What do health care providers need to deliver HIV services with gender equity? (3) How should institutions enforce and sustain gender-equitable HIV services? Data at this early stage indicate substantial gender-related differences in HIV services in rural India, reflecting prevailing gender norms. Strategies including gender-specific HIV testing and care services would directly address current gender-specific patient needs. Rural care providers urgently need training in gender sensitivity and HIV-related communication and clinical skills. To enforce and sustain gender equity, multi-sectoral institutions must establish gender-equitable medical workplaces, interdisciplinary HIV services partnerships, and oversight methods, including analysis of gender-disaggregated data. A gender-equitable approach to rural India's rapidly evolving HIV services programmes could serve as a foundation for gender equity in the overall health care system. PMID:19244284

  10. Building Bridges across Sectors and Scales: Exploring Systemic Solutions towards A Sustainable Management of Land —Experiences from 4th Year Status Conference on Research for Sustainable Land Management

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Annegret Repp

    2015-04-01

    Full Text Available Interacting land use demands and competing interests originating from fields such as agriculture, housing, mobility and nature conservation call for integrated governance approaches that incorporate disciplinary perspectives and arbitrate between them. The German research program “Sustainable Land Management” targets this challenge and provides an umbrella for a number of regional projects involving transdisciplinary system-oriented approaches to sustainable land use, connecting researchers and practitioners. This research note gives an insight into the experiences presented at the program’s fourth year status conference, held in October 2014 in Berlin. It focuses on cross-scalar and cross-sectoral approaches to governing urban-rural interdependencies of land use and scrutinizes debates on how to implement and disseminate project results.

  11. Is Sustainable Intensification Pro-Poor? Evidence from Small-Scale Farmers in Rural Tanzania

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kathleen Brüssow

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available The transition of farming systems to higher levels of productivity without overusing natural resources is of rising interest especially in African countries, where population growth has often been larger than past productivity increases. This paper aims to contribute to the debate on whether environmentally friendly agricultural practices are compatible with economic interests. In the context of small-scale farm households in Tanzania, the analysis focuses on Conservation Agriculture (CA at different levels of agricultural output, as CA is a promising toolbox for sustainable intensification. The results are based on a household survey conducted in 2014 with 900 randomly selected small-scale farmers in rural Tanzania, i.e., in semi-arid Dodoma and in semi-humid Morogoro region. We find that mulching is most frequently applied, followed by crop rotation, fallowing, intercropping and tree planting. Logit regressions show that CA adoption is influenced by socio-economic factors, farm characteristics and the regional context. Quantile regressions explain different levels of agricultural output through variables related to the extent of using CA. They indicate that marginalized farmers have the strongest crop income effect from an increased use of mulching. With increasing levels of agricultural output, the use of mulching remains beneficial for farmers, but the effect appears less pronounced.

  12. Health financing and integration of urban and rural residents' basic medical insurance systems in China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhu, Kun; Zhang, Luying; Yuan, Shasha; Zhang, Xiaojuan; Zhang, Zhiruo

    2017-11-07

    China is in the process of integrating the new cooperative medical scheme (NCMS) and the urban residents' basic medical insurance system (URBMI) into the urban and rural residents' basic medical insurance system (URRBMI). However, how to integrate the financing policies of NCMS and URBMI has not been described in detail. This paper attempts to illustrate the differences between the financing mechanisms of NCMS and URBMI, to analyze financing inequity between urban and rural residents and to identify financing mechanisms for integrating urban and rural residents' medical insurance systems. Financing data for NCMS and URBMI (from 2008 to 2015) was collected from the China health statistics yearbook, the China health and family planning statistics yearbook, the National Handbook of NCMS Information, the China human resources and social security statistics yearbook, and the China social security yearbook. "Ability to pay" was introduced to measure inequity in health financing. Individual contributions to NCMS and URBMI as a function of per capita disposable income was used to analyze equity in health financing between rural and urban residents. URBMI had a financing mechanism that was similar to that used by NCMS in that public finance accounted for more than three quarters of the pooling funds. The scale of financing for NCMS was less than 5% of the per capita net income of rural residents and less than 2% of the per capita disposable income of urban residents for URBMI. Individual contributions to the NCMS and URBMI funds were less than 1% of their disposable and net incomes. Inequity in health financing between urban and rural residents in China was not improved as expected with the introduction of NCMS and URBMI. The role of the central government and local governments in financing NCMS and URBMI was oscillating in the past decade. The scale of financing for URRBMI is insufficient for the increasing demands for medical services from the insured. The pooling fund

  13. Sustainable, Reliable Mission-Systems Architecture

    Science.gov (United States)

    O'Neil, Graham; Orr, James K.; Watson, Steve

    2007-01-01

    A mission-systems architecture, based on a highly modular infrastructure utilizing: open-standards hardware and software interfaces as the enabling technology is essential for affordable and sustainable space exploration programs. This mission-systems architecture requires (a) robust communication between heterogeneous system, (b) high reliability, (c) minimal mission-to-mission reconfiguration, (d) affordable development, system integration, and verification of systems, and (e) minimal sustaining engineering. This paper proposes such an architecture. Lessons learned from the Space Shuttle program and Earthbound complex engineered system are applied to define the model. Technology projections reaching out 5 years are mde to refine model details.

  14. The metodical approaches to analysis of sustainable regional development with a focus on agritourism

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Barbora Kysilková

    2006-01-01

    Full Text Available Economies in rural regions are characterised by a wide range of economic activities and that in 1990 even in the most rural regions of economically developed countries the agricultural sector accounted for less than 20% of regional labour force (OECD. Non-agricultural activities become dominant in rural regions. Among others, rural tourism and agri-tourism belong to the most frequent types of these activities in rural areas. However prerequisites and conditions for sustainable regional development and rural and agri-tourism differ between countries economy with long tradition of market economy and countries with transition economies. There are many factors behind this difference, when intensive character of agricultural production even in less favourite areas, which was typical for these areas in transition economies still a few years ago, is one of decisive.The article addresses the problem of evaluation of sustainable regional development and evaluation of rural and agritourism in the context of various world regions. The three dimensions of sustainable development, the environmental, the economic and the social dimension are equally important and should not be ranked or separated.Indicator systems and evaluation methods have the potential to play a significant role in the decision making process at a regional level. They can form the basic information that is necessary to allow strategic planning as well as informed participatory processes for the decision among different pathways into the future.

  15. Rural Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and Trauma

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... for Success Am I Rural? Evidence-based Toolkits Economic Impact Analysis Tool Community Health Gateway Sustainability Planning ... Program offers direct loans and/or grants for essential community facilities in rural areas, which can include ...

  16. Rural development in Nigera: Problems and remedies | Eteng ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Rural development in Nigeria constitutes a fundamental problem. Over the years, rural development has been neglected. Rural areas are regarded as abodes of diseases, superstition, poverty, lethargy, low income and low productivity. This problem, which is primarily due to government non sustainable policy action ...

  17. Sustainable agricultural development in a rural area in the Netherlands? Assessing impacts of climate and socio-economic change at farm and landscape level

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Reidsma, P.; Bakker, M.M.; Kanellopoulos, A.; Alam, S.J.; Paas, W.H.; Kros, J.; Vries, de W.

    2015-01-01

    Changes in climate, technology, policy and prices affect agricultural and rural development. To evaluate whether this development is sustainable, impacts of these multiple drivers need to be assessed for multiple indicators. In a case study area in the Netherlands, a bio-economic farm model, an

  18. Energy in rural Ethiopia: consumption patterns, associated problems, and prospects for a sustainable energy strategy

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Mulugetta, Y.

    1999-07-01

    This paper provides a picture of energy resources and their current use in rural Ethiopia and presents an analysis of energy supply patterns and consumption trends. This exercise aims to build an empirical knowledge of ''real'' energy systems in the country and also to synthesize and analyze the general and specific problems that exist within the current energy system. Based on these lines of analysis, a series of technical and policy-oriented recommendations for rural energy development are discussed. (author)

  19. Synthetic sustained gene delivery systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Agarwal, Ankit; Mallapragada, Surya K

    2008-01-01

    Gene therapy today is hampered by the need of a safe and efficient gene delivery system that can provide a sustained therapeutic effect without cytotoxicity or unwanted immune responses. Bolus gene delivery in solution results in the loss of delivered factors via lymphatic system and may cause undesired effects by the escape of bioactive molecules to distant sites. Controlled gene delivery systems, acting as localized depot of genes, provide an extended sustained release of genes, giving prolonged maintenance of the therapeutic level of encoded proteins. They also limit the DNA degradation in the nuclease rich extra-cellular environment. While attempts have been made to adapt existing controlled drug delivery technologies, more novel approaches are being investigated for controlled gene delivery. DNA encapsulated in nano/micro spheres of polymers have been administered systemically/orally to be taken up by the targeted tissues and provide sustained release once internalized. Alternatively, DNA entrapped in hydrogels or scaffolds have been injected/implanted in tissues/cavities as platforms for gene delivery. The present review examines these different modalities for sustained delivery of viral and non-viral gene-delivery vectors. Design parameters and release mechanisms of different systems made with synthetic or natural polymers are presented along with their prospective applications and opportunities for continuous development.

  20. Some Enlightenments of "Beautiful Rural Construction" on Rural Energy Policy in Beijing—Applying Informatization Means

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhi, Wang; Kongan, Wu

    2018-06-01

    "Beautiful rural construction" is a systematic project, rural energy is one of the important contents of its construction. In accordance with the concept of eco-friendly construction, Beijing carried out a thorough "structural adjustment of rural energy optimization," "Earthquake energy-saving projects of rural housing" and other measures. By conventional heating technology research in Beijing 13 counties and 142 villages, we predict the future of rural energy will further the implementation of solar heating, electric heating and other new green energy technologies. It is suggested to establish the "Beijing Rural Information Service Platform" and "Beautiful Rural Information Resource Bank" through the means of informatization, which will greatly strengthen the regulation and control of rural people-land relationship and realize the systematic optimization, making the cities and villages have. Space for human survival and sustainable development.

  1. SOME PROBLEMS REGARDING THE AGRICULTURAL AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN ROMANIA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Condrea DRAGANESCU

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available The old rural civilization which assured a long and miraculous surviving of the Romanian people, it is at present in a critical breaking up moment. Production and rural living standard have become lacked of competitiveness, traditions and customs are left and people move to cities. Production looks to be unefficient and not sustainable from an ethnical and social point of view. Under the pressure of this situation, and also of the international concerns (ONU 1972, FAOSARD, UE and European concerns (LEADER 199, EU RDP 2007-2013, sustainable development has become the core of the activity of Romanian scientists and authorities (SNDD 2013-2020-2030, PNDR 2007-2013 . Taking into consideration the previous research results and programmes, the present study approaches the need to pass to real actions based on the analysis of the thresholds of the affected space, some aspects of the agricultural and rural sustainable development, regarding: farm modernization as an economical and social imperative and mention some aspects of the rural sustainable development including also the preservation of cultural, natural and rural heritage.

  2. WASTE OF LOCAL RESOURCES IN RURAL AREAS IN THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT CONTEXT – AN ATTEMPT OF THE PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anna Bruska

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of this article was to explore the real problem of wasting local resources, which is in opposition to the principles of sustainable development, understood as avoiding waste of any resources. The article highlights the key manifestations of this problem and its implication for rural development. Some actions realised in the world are also mentioned – their implementation contributes to the prevention of this phenomenon.

  3. Using Causal Loop Diagramming to Explore the Drivers of the Sustained Functionality of Rural Water Services in Timor-Leste

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kate Neely

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available It is recognized that international water sector development work has issues with a lack of sustained positive outcomes. A large driver of this outcome is how NGOs work with communities to implement and then manage water services. Many NGOs tend to focus their efforts on improving their reach and organisational growth by continually engaging in new projects. This behaviour is largely driven by short-term donor funding models that reward extended coverage, leaving little focus on sustained outcomes. Similarly, community-based management (CBM schemes often impede sustained services as a result of the community’s limited capacity to operate and maintain the technology. To explore these complicated drivers on water service sustainability, we used causal loop diagramming to analyse the key aspect influencing the combined dynamics between NGOs, donors and CBM. We demonstrate this methodology through a study in Timor-Leste, where we gathered data necessary to develop and apply causal loop diagrams to analyse rural water supply program outcomes. The analysis of these diagrams allowed identification of leverage points used to suggest structural changes for sustained benefits of water services. These structural changes emphasize the importance of increased robustness and reliability of water technology and the associated impact this has on community satisfaction and, conjointly, on water service sustainability.

  4. Managing Sustainable Information Systems Development

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kautz, Karlheinz

    2013-01-01

    Sustainable information systems development (ISD) in the context of this paper is not about products that support sustainability at large with its environmental, economic and social dimensions and little about the development of sustainable products, which are both without doubt important topics....... This paper is about a prerequisite for such products, namely, a sustainable ISD process, a process which exhibits reasonable and responsible stewardship and utilisation of the existing resources for ISD—people and information in the context of scope, time/schedule, budget/cost, quality and risk....

  5. Study protocol: Evaluating the impact of a rural Australian primary health care service on rural health

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Buykx Penny

    2011-03-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Rural communities throughout Australia are experiencing demographic ageing, increasing burden of chronic diseases, and de-population. Many are struggling to maintain viable health care services due to lack of infrastructure and workforce shortages. Hence, they face significant health disadvantages compared with urban regions. Primary health care yields the best health outcomes in situations characterised by limited resources. However, few rigorous longitudinal evaluations have been conducted to systematise them; assess their transferability; or assess sustainability amidst dynamic health policy environments. This paper describes the study protocol of a comprehensive longitudinal evaluation of a successful primary health care service in a small rural Australian community to assess its performance, sustainability, and responsiveness to changing community needs and health system requirements. Methods/Design The evaluation framework aims to examine the health service over a six-year period in terms of: (a Structural domains (health service performance; sustainability; and quality of care; (b Process domains (health service utilisation and satisfaction; and (c Outcome domains (health behaviours, health outcomes and community viability. Significant international research guided the development of unambiguous reliable indicators for each domain that can be routinely and unobtrusively collected. Data are to be collected and analysed for trends from a range of sources: audits, community surveys, interviews and focus group discussions. Discussion This iterative evaluation framework and methodology aims to ensure the ongoing monitoring of service activity and health outcomes that allows researchers, providers and administrators to assess the extent to which health service objectives are met; the factors that helped or hindered achievements; what worked or did not work well and why; what aspects of the service could be improved and how

  6. Rural Tourism - Alternative to the Development of Rural Areas

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maria Cristina PAIU

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available Rural tourism through its content and its features is a distinct component in the economy of a region, and the sustainable, efficient use of local tourism resources can be an extremely important activity by: adding added value, boosting productivity, employment and increasing the living standard of the population. Rural tourism is considered a lever to mitigate local imbalances and besides attracting touristic areas in the circuit, it also has consequences on territorial development: housing construction, road development, development of public services and the development of small and medium-sized enterprises. Consequently, rural tourism has an impact on a country's economic and social development strategy, but also on a branch level.

  7. China's rural public health system performance: a cross-sectional study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tian, Miaomiao; Feng, Da; Chen, Xi; Chen, Yingchun; Sun, Xi; Xiang, Yuanxi; Yuan, Fang; Feng, Zhanchun

    2013-01-01

    In the past three years, the Government of China initiated health reform with rural public health system construction to achieve equal access to public health services for rural residents. The study assessed trends of public health services accessibility in rural China from 2008 to 2010, as well as the current situation about the China's rural public health system performance. The data were collected from a cross-sectional survey conducted in 2011, which used a multistage stratified random sampling method to select 12 counties and 118 villages from China. Three sets of indicators were chosen to measure the trends in access to coverage, equality and effectiveness of rural public health services. Data were disaggregated by provinces and by participants: hypertension patients, children, elderly and women. We examined the changes in equality across and within region. China's rural public health system did well in safe drinking water, children vaccinations and women hospital delivery. But more hypertension patients with low income could not receive regular healthcare from primary health institutions than those with middle and high income. In 2010, hypertension treatment rate of Qinghai in Western China was just 53.22% which was much lower than that of Zhejiang in Eastern China (97.27%). Meanwhile, low performance was showed in effectiveness of rural public health services. The rate of effective treatment for controlling their blood pressure within normal range was just 39.7%. The implementation of health reform since 2009 has led the public health development towards the right direction. Physical access to public health services had increased from 2008 to 2010. But, inter- and intra-regional inequalities in public health system coverage still exist. Strategies to improve the quality and equality of public health services in rural China need to be considered.

  8. Sustainability and Cities as Systems of Innovation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Johnson, Bjørn; Lehmann, Martin

    Cities often constitute relevant environments for interactive learning and innovation potentially capable of tackling sustainability problems. In this paper we ask if the concept of systems of innovation can increase our understanding of city dynamics and help promoting the sustainable development...... of cities. Through a combination of the innovation system approach and the perspective of creative cities, we argue that a slightly modified concept – sustainable city systems of innovation – may be helpful in this context. To underline this, we discuss certain ‘city-traits’ of sustainability and conclude...

  9. The concept of sustainable tourism development in rural areas – A case study of Zbąszyń commune

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lisiak Marta

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available Tourism in rural areas has been defined as all tourist activities conducted in rural areas. The development of tourism in rural areas is dependent on external factors (e.g. landscape attractiveness, as well as internal factors (e.g. involvement of local authorities and society. Hence, it is important to increase the tourism potential for further increase of local tourism, and in turn to intensify the social-economic development according to a sustainable policy and multifunctional rural development. The main aim of the present study was to indicate possibilities to improve tourism management of the Zbąszyń urban-rural commune. For this purpose the following detailed aims were set: to evaluate local society satisfaction with tourism development in Zbąszyń commune, to evaluate the natural-landscape state of the analyzed area, to designate a new tourist trail or to revise the existing trails, and to propose modernization of existing tourism infrastructure. The obtained results revealed that in the opinion of local society there is still not sufficient tourism development despite some natural-landscape values. Hence, activities connected with tourism enrichment should be mainly connected with designation of two new cycling trails and supplementation of tourist information signs and tables. All proposed activities leading to an increase of tourism potential should bear in mind social aspects as well as natural values and would have a positive effect on economic income of the area.

  10. Socio-cultural Issues for Sustainable Development in Africa ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Socio-cultural Issues for Sustainable Development in Africa. ... focal areas of sustainable development – social, economic and environmental factors. ... that designed a Sustainable Integrated Rural Development in Africa (SIRDA) programme.

  11. The walk out of the rural kitchen : towards planning energy services for sustainable rural livelihoods in Sudan

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Ahmed, Nouralla

    2008-01-01

    This thesis is about rural energy services, the problems with accessibility and the consequences of their inaccessibility on rural livelihoods in the traditional rural areas of Sudan. The thesis is organised in six chapters. Chapter 1 starts by providing a background to the political and economic

  12. Design Strategies and Preliminary Prototype for a Low-Cost Arsenic Removal System for Rural Bangladesh

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Mathieu, Johanna L.; Gadgil, Ashok J.; Kowolik, Kristin; Qazi, Shefah; Agogino, Alice M.

    2009-09-14

    Researchers have invented a material called ARUBA -- Arsenic Removal Using Bottom Ash -- that effectively and affordably removes arsenic from Bangladesh groundwater. Through analysis of studies across a range of disciplines, observations, and informal interviews conducted over three trips to Bangladesh, we have applied mechanical engineering design methodology to develop eight key design strategies, which were used in the development of a low-cost, community-scale water treatment system that uses ARUBA to removearsenic from drinking water. We have constructed, tested, and analysed a scale version of the system. Experiments have shown that the system is capable of reducing high levels of arsenic (nearly 600 ppb) to below the Bangladesh standard of 50 ppb, while remaining affordable to people living on less than US$2/day. The system could be sustainably implemented as a public-private partnership in rural Bangladesh.

  13. Towards a sustainable knowledge management and development perspective approach: The sustainable rural community development portal

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Chakwizira, J

    2010-09-01

    Full Text Available development. The philosophy and thinking behind the rural community planning portal is that it will act as a seed for the generation of an inclusive and dynamic rural development agenda that is sensitive and relevant to contemporary issues and challenges...

  14. Health Systems Sustainability and Rare Diseases.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ferrelli, Rita Maria; De Santis, Marta; Egle Gentile, Amalia; Taruscio, Domenica

    2017-01-01

    The paper is addressing aspects of health system sustainability for rare diseases in relation to the current economic crisis and equity concerns. It takes into account the results of the narrative review carried out in the framework of the Joint Action for Rare Diseases (Joint RD-Action) "Promoting Implementation of Recommendations on Policy, Information and Data for Rare Diseases", that identified networks as key factors for health systems sustainability for rare diseases. The legal framework of European Reference Networks and their added value is also presented. Networks play a relevant role for health systems sustainability, since they are based upon, pay special attention to and can intervene on health systems knowledge development, partnership, organizational structure, resources, leadership and governance. Moreover, sustainability of health systems can not be separated from the analysis of the context and the action on it, including fiscal equity. As a result of the financial crisis of 2008, cuts of public health-care budgets jeopardized health equity, since the least wealthy suffered from the greatest health effects. Moreover, austerity policies affected economic growth much more adversely than previously believed. Therefore, reducing public health expenditure not only is going to jeopardise citizens' health, but also to hamper fair and sustainable development.

  15. Business system: Sustainable development and anticipatory system

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vojko Potočan

    2002-01-01

    Full Text Available The existence and development of humankind depends mainly upon the co-ordinated operation of all areas and levels of human activity. However, in theory and in practice there is no model of operation, which would provide a harmonized and target oriented development. A partial solution is offered by sustainable development, which tries to define and carry out common goals of mankind with a harmonized implementation of human activities at all levels of its living and behaviour. Companies belong to central institutions of modern society which essentially co–create the sustainability of society. The company’s endeavour by simulation to prepare models of their goals concerning their internal and external environment. On the base of systemic treatment, we can define companies as business system, which can survive in a log-run only on the basis of sustainable development. The business system can also be supported by the application of the anticipatory systems. The anticipatory systems can be, in this sense, understood as an entity of the methodological approach, techniques and modes of work. Their characteristics have, a direct impact on the determination of goals, on the orientation of operation, and hence on the achievement of the business system results.

  16. Marketing mix for rural development in Romania

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    POLGÁR (DESZKE Klára-Dalma

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available The sustainable development supposes a uniformly increasing of living level for the entire population of a nation. The reducing of disparities between the urban and rural regions is a purpose of the rural development policy, as a part of Community Agriculture Policy and also subject of European financing programs. A marketing approach of rural development could ensure an integrated implementation of LEADER program in Romania. This paper defines the components of marketing mix for rural development and their content for Romanian rural development marketing.

  17. Stimulating transitions towards sustainable farming systems

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Elzen, B.; Barbier, M.; Cerf, M.; Grin, J.

    2012-01-01

    How can the dynamics of the agro-food sector in the long run be addressed? We argue that sustainable agro-food systems cannot be developed through a simple improvement of existing systems, but will require a transition. Therefore, we focus on how transitions to sustainability could be initiated and

  18. Building reactor operator sustain expert system with C language integrated production system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ouyang Qin; Hu Shouyin; Wang Ruipian

    2002-01-01

    The development of the reactor operator sustain expert system is introduced, the capability of building reactor operator sustain expert system is discussed with C Language Integrated Production System (Clips), and a simple antitype of expert system is illustrated. The limitation of building reactor operator sustain expert system with Clips is also discussed

  19. Sustainability, Smart Growth, and Landscape Architecture

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sustainability, Smart Growth, and Landscape Architecture is an overview course for landscape architecture students interested in sustainability in landscape architecture and how it might apply to smart growth principles in urban, suburban, and rural areas

  20. Problems of Rural Food Safety and Strategies of Constructing Supervision System

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    2011-01-01

    This paper expounds the practical necessity of constructing diversified rural food safety supervision system as follows: it is the necessary requirements of guaranteeing people’s health and life safety; it is an important component of governmental function of social management and the logical extension of administrative responsibilities; it is the basis of maintaining order of rural society and constructing harmonious society. The main problems existing in the supervision of rural food safety are analyzed as follows: first, the legislative work of rural food safety lags behind to some extent; second, the supervision of governmental departments on rural food safety is insufficient; third, the industrial supervision mechanism of rural food security is not perfect; fourth, the role of rural social organizations in supervising food safety is limited; fifth, the farmers’ awareness of food safety supervision is not strong. Based on these problems, the targeted strategies of constructing diversified rural food safety supervision system are put forward as follows: accelerate the legislation of rural food safety, and ensure that there are laws to go by; give play to the dominant role of government, and strengthen administrative supervision on rural food safety; perfect industrial convention of rural food safety, and improve industrial supervision mechanism; actively support the fostering of social organizations, and give play to the role of supervision of organizations; cultivate correct concept of rights and obligations of farmers, and form awareness of food safety supervision.

  1. Development Strategy for Mobilecommunications Market in Chinese Rural Area

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Liwei; Zhang, Yanjun; Xu, Liying; Li, Daoliang

    Based on full analysis of rural mobile communication market, in order to explore mobile operators in rural areas of information services for sustainable development model, this paper presents three different aspects, including rural mobile communications market demand, the rural market for mobile communications business model and development strategies for rural mobile communications market research business. It supplies some valuable references for operators to develop rural users rapidly, develop the rural market effectively and to get access to develop a broad space.

  2. Restrictions and Countermeasures of Rural Vocational Education in Urban-rural Integration

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    2012-01-01

    Developing rural vocational education is of great significance to urban-rural integration: developing rural vocational education is helpful to cultivating new farmers for construction of new socialist countryside,favorable to improving farmers’ ability of finding jobs and starting undertaking, and beneficial to transfer of rural surplus labor and acceleration of urbanization. Restrictions on development rural vocational education mainly include: low value cognition of society and social assessment of rural vocational education; out of balance of cost and expected return of rural vocational education; the quality of supply of rural vocational education failure to satisfy demand of socio-economic development; imperfect rural vocational education system. In view of these,following countermeasures and suggestions are put forward: strengthen propaganda and guidance to build environment of public opinion for rural vocational education; push forward rural vocational compulsory education system to lay social foundation for rural vocational education; reinforce policy support to assist in building rural vocational education system; improve education system to build overall framework of rural vocational education; perfect laws and regulations to establish system and norm for development of rural vocational education.

  3. Sustainable Capture: Concepts for Managing Stream-Aquifer Systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Davids, Jeffrey C; Mehl, Steffen W

    2015-01-01

    Most surface water bodies (i.e., streams, lakes, etc.) are connected to the groundwater system to some degree so that changes to surface water bodies (either diversions or importations) can change flows in aquifer systems, and pumping from an aquifer can reduce discharge to, or induce additional recharge from streams, springs, and lakes. The timescales of these interactions are often very long (decades), making sustainable management of these systems difficult if relying only on observations of system responses. Instead, management scenarios are often analyzed based on numerical modeling. In this paper we propose a framework and metrics that can be used to relate the Theis concepts of capture to sustainable measures of stream-aquifer systems. We introduce four concepts: Sustainable Capture Fractions, Sustainable Capture Thresholds, Capture Efficiency, and Sustainable Groundwater Storage that can be used as the basis for developing metrics for sustainable management of stream-aquifer systems. We demonstrate their utility on a hypothetical stream-aquifer system where pumping captures both streamflow and discharge to phreatophytes at different amounts based on pumping location. In particular, Capture Efficiency (CE) can be easily understood by both scientists and non-scientist alike, and readily identifies vulnerabilities to sustainable stream-aquifer management when its value exceeds 100%. © 2014, National Ground Water Association.

  4. Perceptions and Attitudes Toward Eco-Toilet Systems in Rural Areas: A Case Study in the Philippines

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jonathan Jared Ignacio

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available Death due to diseases from poor sanitation is a serious global issue and it has become one of the priorities of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (i.e., SDG6. This SDG6 aims to provide adequate improved sanitation facilities to over 2.3 billion people around the world who have no or limited access to sanitation, wherein more than two-thirds of these un-served people live in rural areas. One of the strategies for addressing this global issue is through emerging sustainable sanitation technologies such as the Eco-Toilet System (ETS, which uses small amounts of water or is even waterless and recovers nutrients from human waste thereby promoting water-energy conservation, improved sanitation and supplement nutrients essential to plant growth. Social acceptance, however, remains a key barrier in deploying the ETS. A social perception study on the use of the ETS was conducted in a rural community in Mulanay, Philippines. The researchers analyzed the proposed combined technology acceptance model and theory of planned behavior (C-TAM-TPB using multiple linear regression and the Mann-Whitney U-test to evaluate the perceptions and attitudes of a rural community towards the use of the ETS. The results showed that more than 50% of the respondents are aware of the nutrient value of human excreta and believe that it is usable as fertilizer; however, less than 25% prefer to utilize it for food production. Results also indicate that the behavior of the users is driven by their attitude (β = 0.420, p-value < 0.010. Moreover, the Mann-Whitney U-test results revealed that people who are knowledgeable of the nutrient value of human excreta and are willing to collect them have more positive attitude towards the ETS.

  5. Nutrient budgets, soil fertility management and livelihood analysis in Northeast Thailand: a basis for integrated rural development strategies in developing countries

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Wijnhoud, J.D.

    2007-01-01

    Keywords:  Rainfed lowland rice-based systems, Northeast Thailand, nutrient balance analyses, sustainability assessment, sustainable natural resource management, integrated rural development strategies, livelihood

  6. System theoretic approach to sustainable development problems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Batanović Vladan

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper shows that the concepts and methodology contained in the system theory and operations research are suitable for application in the planning and control of the sustainable development. The sustainable development problems can be represented using the state space concepts, such as the transition of system, from the given initial state to the final state. It is shown that sustainable development represents a specific control problem. The peculiarity of the sustainable development is that the target is to keep the system in the prescribed feasible region of the state space. The analysis of planning and control problems of sustainable development has also shown that methods developed in the operations research area, such as multicriteria optimization, dynamic processes simulation, non-conventional treatment of uncertainty etc. are adequate, exact base, suitable for resolution of these problems.

  7. Electric distribution infrastructures for rural areas in developing countries

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Thirault, D.

    2004-03-01

    The main objective of the thesis was to study the architecture (network topology, mode of distribution, operation of energy sources, etc) distribution networks possible and adapted to the problem of rural electrification. Chapter I sets the context of rural electrification by detailing first the challenges of rural electrification for sustainable economic development and energy resources of these countries and the various existing network architectures. Specifications for the study is finally defined. Chapter II describes the design method developed to compare the costs of different architectures and choose the most suitable. Chapter III shows a method of sizing systems Decentralized Rural Electrification including generators, batteries and windmills. Chapter IV describes the results of a reliability study was carried out on different solutions. Chapter V describes the work done to analyze the operation of a production center consists of a generator and a wind turbine. (author)

  8. The Gtz system management applied to photovoltaic rural electrification projects

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Rosenthal, Pablo [Brendel Proper, (Bolivia)]|[GTZ-Cooperacion Tecnica de la Republica de Alemania, (Germany)

    1995-12-31

    The GTZ (Federal Republic of Germany Technical Cooperation Society) has developed a general project design system, particularly for Renewable Energy, that systematically covers all aspects necessary in their planning and implementation, so that their effects are sustainable in the long run, and cover as well all the requirements of a determined diffusion. This is what they have called System Management. This methodology of project implementation can be described as capable of being applied to any action area, and has already proved and validated its efficiency in projects where it has been applied. The main reason for its use is based on the correction of previous experiences with projects that had a tendency towards one area of action alone, in a much too exclusive way -mainly the technological- neglecting important aspects in the sustainability of technologies being introduced. The experience of PROPER - Bolivia (Programa para la difusion de energias renovables), who has been applying this system to its projects, is being used as a methodological basis. PROPER started in 1991, and is programed to last until September or 1996. Among the main components being described in the system`s methodology, in the particular case of PHOTOVOLTAIC RURAL ELECTRIFICATION PROJECTS, stand out the areas of Technological Transference; Training; Diffusion; Financing; Energy Policy; Planning, Monitoring, and Evaluation; and Support and Follow-up to the supply and demand. [Espanol] La GTZ (Sociedad de Cooperacion Tecnica de la Republica Federal de Alemania) ha desarrollado un proyecto de sistema de diseno general, particularmente para Energia Renovable, que cubre sistematicamente todos los aspectos necesarios en su planeacion y puesta en practica , de tal manera que sus efectos son a la larga sustentables y cubren, asimismo todos los requerimientos de una difusion determinada. Esto es lo que han llamado {sup A}dministracion del Sistema{sup .} Esta metodologia de puesta en practica

  9. The Gtz system management applied to photovoltaic rural electrification projects

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Rosenthal, Pablo [Brendel Proper, (Bolivia); [GTZ-Cooperacion Tecnica de la Republica de Alemania, (Germany)

    1996-12-31

    The GTZ (Federal Republic of Germany Technical Cooperation Society) has developed a general project design system, particularly for Renewable Energy, that systematically covers all aspects necessary in their planning and implementation, so that their effects are sustainable in the long run, and cover as well all the requirements of a determined diffusion. This is what they have called System Management. This methodology of project implementation can be described as capable of being applied to any action area, and has already proved and validated its efficiency in projects where it has been applied. The main reason for its use is based on the correction of previous experiences with projects that had a tendency towards one area of action alone, in a much too exclusive way -mainly the technological- neglecting important aspects in the sustainability of technologies being introduced. The experience of PROPER - Bolivia (Programa para la difusion de energias renovables), who has been applying this system to its projects, is being used as a methodological basis. PROPER started in 1991, and is programed to last until September or 1996. Among the main components being described in the system`s methodology, in the particular case of PHOTOVOLTAIC RURAL ELECTRIFICATION PROJECTS, stand out the areas of Technological Transference; Training; Diffusion; Financing; Energy Policy; Planning, Monitoring, and Evaluation; and Support and Follow-up to the supply and demand. [Espanol] La GTZ (Sociedad de Cooperacion Tecnica de la Republica Federal de Alemania) ha desarrollado un proyecto de sistema de diseno general, particularmente para Energia Renovable, que cubre sistematicamente todos los aspectos necesarios en su planeacion y puesta en practica , de tal manera que sus efectos son a la larga sustentables y cubren, asimismo todos los requerimientos de una difusion determinada. Esto es lo que han llamado {sup A}dministracion del Sistema{sup .} Esta metodologia de puesta en practica

  10. Sustainability Indicators for Coupled Human-Earth Systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Motesharrei, S.; Rivas, J. R.; Kalnay, E.

    2014-12-01

    Over the last two centuries, the Human System went from having a small impact on the Earth System (including the Climate System) to becoming dominant, because both population and per capita consumption have grown extremely fast, especially since about 1950. We therefore argue that Human System Models must be included into Earth System Models through bidirectional couplings with feedbacks. In particular, population should be modeled endogenously, rather than exogenously as done currently in most Integrated Assessment Models. The growth of the Human System threatens to overwhelm the Carrying Capacity of the Earth System, and may be leading to catastrophic climate change and collapse. We propose a set of Ecological and Economic "Sustainability Indicators" that can employ large data-sets for developing and assessing effective mitigation and adaptation policies. Using the Human and Nature Dynamical Model (HANDY) and Coupled Human-Climate-Water Model (COWA), we carry out experiments with this set of Sustainability Indicators and show that they are applicable to various coupled systems including Population, Climate, Water, Energy, Agriculture, and Economy. Impact of nonrenewable resources and fossil fuels could also be understood using these indicators. We demonstrate interconnections of Ecological and Economic Indicators. Coupled systems often include feedbacks and can thus display counterintuitive dynamics. This makes it difficult for even experts to see coming catastrophes from just the raw data for different variables. Sustainability Indicators boil down the raw data into a set of simple numbers that cross their sustainability thresholds with a large time-lag before variables enter their catastrophic regimes. Therefore, we argue that Sustainability Indicators constitute a powerful but simple set of tools that could be directly used for making policies for sustainability.

  11. Towards Improving Local Government Administration on the Rural ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Towards Improving Local Government Administration on the Rural Poor in Nigeria: The Role of ... African Journal of Sustainable Development ... Using a threshold population of less than 20,000 rural areas in the region were identified and ten ...

  12. Characterization of traditional production systems of sugarcane for panela and some prospects for improving their sustainability

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Joaquín Guillermo Ramírez Gil

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Sugarcane used for the production of “panela” (unrefined cane sugar is a crop of great importance for Colombia’s rural economy. Additionally, it serves a fundamental role in the food security and sovereignty of the Colombian population and daily consumption. However, the small production system presents problems of sustainability, as a direct consequence of its technological arrears and loss of interest in this crop. In this study, a characterization of 30 small productive units located in three municipalities in Antioquia was performed with the objective of identifying the problems associated with this production system and stablish the causes associated with loss of area dedicated to this crop in the study area. The results demonstrate that in the region of study, this production system and its associated agro-industry have problems associated with low technological level, poor infrastructure, deficient agro-industry processing and low levels of associativity and marketing. This situation has generated a low economic solvency for the farmers, leading many to abandon this activity and migrate towards other economic sectors. The findings of this study indicate the need to reengineer this production system, for which they could make technological adaptations that improve productivity and product quality and generate added value. On the other hand, must the rural countryside attractive to avoid the loss of labor and make young people become interested in this economic activity. As strategies to improve productivity, we suggest the effective use of information technologies, improve rural living conditions, increase associativity and value added, involve the consumer in the production chain and design development policies for the entire chain of value.

  13. Agricultural Development in Rural Nigeria: A Review of Approaches ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Agricultural Development in Rural Nigeria: A Review of Approaches. ... African Journal of Sustainable Development ... the country's very low human development indicators, particularly in the rural areas, is a serious cause of concern.

  14. Smart sustainable energy for rural community development

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Szewczuk, S

    2014-10-01

    Full Text Available Reliable access to electricity is a basic precondition for improving people’s lives in rural areas, for enhanced healthcare and education, and for growth within local economies. Currently more than 1.5 billion people worldwide do not have access...

  15. Renewable Energy for Rural Health Clinics (Energia Removable para Centros de Salud Rurales)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jimenez, A. C.; Olson, K.

    1998-09-01

    This guide provides a broad understanding of the technical, social, and organizational aspects of health clinic electrification, especially through the use of renewable energy sources. It is intended to be used primarily by decision makers within governments or private agencies to accurately assess their health clinic's needs, select appropriate and cost-effective technologies to meet those needs, and to put into place effective infrastructure to install and maintain the hardware. This is the first in a series of rural applications guidebooks that the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) Village Power Program is commissioning to couple commercial renewable systems with rural applications. The guidebooks are complemented by NREL's Village Power Program's development activities, international pilot projects, and visiting professionals program. For more information on the NREL Village Power Program, visit the Renewables for Sustainable Village Power web site at http://www.rsvp.nrel .gov/rsvp/.

  16. Hydrokinetic power for energy access in rural Ghana

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Miller, Veronica B.; Schaefer, Laura A. [Energy Systems Laboratory, Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science, Mascaro Center for Sustainable Innovation, Swanson School of Engineering, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA (United States); Ramde, Emmanuel W. [Department of Mechanical Engineering, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi (Ghana); Gradoville, Robert T. Jr. [Sustainability and Green Design, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Mascaro Center for Sustainable Innovation, Swanson School of Engineering, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA (United States)

    2011-02-15

    Approximately half of Ghana's overall population has access to electricity and, of this, much of it is in urban areas. Often in regions where modern energy is not available, kerosene lamps, for example, are used for indoor lighting. This produces harmful emissions, leading to poor respiratory effects. Implementation of hydrokinetic power (HKP) within nearby streams can provide low impact, robust energy to rural communities. Such a system lends itself to a simple design with ease of maintenance, which can be used as a stand alone power system (SAPS). With Ghana's renewable energy policies coming to fruition, it is sought to establish the economic viability and sustainability of this technology. This paper discusses site selection and the HKP technology in rural areas of Ghana. (author)

  17. Desenvolvimento sustentável com perspectiva de gênero - Brasil, México e Cuba: mulheres protagonistas no meio rural Sustainable development from a gender perspective - Brazil, Mexico, and Cuba: women as protagonists in rural areas

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Teresa Kleba Lisboa

    2010-12-01

    Full Text Available Este artigo traz para o debate as concepções de alguns autores sobre desenvolvimento sustentável e, a partir de uma pesquisa realizada em três países (Brasil, México e Cuba, ressaltamos o protagonismo das mulheres camponesas junto à produção de alimentos e ao manejo de recursos naturais; a força dos movimentos de mulheres camponesas na conquista de direitos; e a decisiva participação das mulheres na definição e propostas de políticas públicas que garantam a equidade de gênero no meio rural. Uma breve análise comparativa nos leva a deduzir que o modelo de desenvolvimento, nos três países, ainda prioriza a figura masculina no espaço agrícola, no que se refere à titularidade da terra, ao acesso à crédito e à aquisição de equipamentos ou outros recursos materiais. Sugere-se que, tanto em Cuba, um país socialista, como no México e Brasil, países capitalistas, os pressupostos das políticas sociais direcionadas para as trabalhadoras rurais devem levar em conta as necessidades básicas das mulheres camponesas para garantir um desenvolvimento mais humano e sustentávelThis article discusses different views about sustainable development, emphasizing - on the basis of a survey conducted in Brazil, Mexico, and Cuba - the role of rural women in food production and natural resource management, the strength of the rural women's movement in the conquest of rights, and the decisive participation of women in defining proposals for public policies that guarantee gender equality in rural areas. A brief comparative analysis leads us to conclude that the development model in the three countries still prioritizes the male figure in relation to land tenure, access to credit and purchase of equipment or other material resources. It is suggested that both in Cuba, a socialist country, and in Mexico and Brazil, capitalist countries, the assumptions of social policies directed to rural female workers should take into account the basic needs

  18. Rural Renewal of China in the Context of Rural-Urban Integration: Governance Fit and Performance Differences

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rongyu Wang

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available In recent years, rural-urban integrated development has become a vital national strategy in China. In this context, many regions have implemented rural renewal projects to enhance the vitality and development of rural areas. The objective of this study is to reveal the reasons why different rural renewal modes have emerged in contemporary China and assess their ability to facilitate rural-urban integration. An analytical framework, the Institution of Sustainability (IoS and a comparative analysis of two cases are used for the rural renewal evaluation. Our findings indicate that the properties of transactions and the characteristics of the actors involved jointly determine the governance structures of rural renewal. Furthermore, different governance structures contribute to performance differences, particularly differences in the physical outcomes, distribution effects and process efficiency. Finally, we suggest relevant policy recommendations.

  19. Bioenergy for sustainable development: An African context

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mangoyana, Robert Blessing

    This paper assesses the sustainability concerns of bioenergy systems against the prevailing and potential long term conditions in Sub-Saharan Africa with a special attention on agricultural and forestry waste, and cultivated bioenergy sources. Existing knowledge and processes about bioenergy systems are brought into a “sustainability framework” to support debate and decisions about the implementation of bioenergy systems in the region. Bioenergy systems have been recommended based on the potential to (i) meet domestic energy demand and reduce fuel importation (ii) diversify rural economies and create employment (iii) reduce poverty, and (iv) provide net energy gains and positive environmental impacts. However, biofuels will compete with food crops for land, labour, capital and entrepreneurial skills. Moreover the environmental benefits of some feedstocks are questionable. These challenges are, however, surmountable. It is concluded that biomass energy production could be an effective way to achieve sustainable development for bioenergy pathways that (i) are less land intensive, (ii) have positive net energy gains and environmental benefits, and (iii) provide local socio-economic benefits. Feasibility evaluations which put these issues into perspective are vital for sustainable application of agricultural and forest based bioenergy systems in Sub-Saharan Africa. Such evaluations should consider the long run potential of biofuels accounting for demographic, economic and technological changes and the related implications.

  20. Partnership for Self-Reliant Change: Institute for Integrated Rural Development.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dancey, John

    1994-01-01

    The Institute for Integrated Rural Development in the Maharashtra State of India seeks to break the cycle of poverty through sustainable rural development. It works closely with rural women on health and nutrition education and in other community partnerships based on horizontal structures. (SK)

  1. partnering, poverty reduction and rural enterprise advancement

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    p2333147

    establishment of the Rural Enterprise Advancement Programme (REAP) and its ... poverty, enabling food security and managing natural resources in a sustainable ... Extending the area under sustainable land management and .... the challenges facing the implementation of poverty reduction .... perceived “most beneficial.

  2. Sustainable natural resource use in rural China: Trends and policies

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Qu, F.; Kuyvenhoven, A.; Shi, X.; Heerink, N.

    2010-01-01

    In this paper we provide an overview of recent trends in the availability and quality of land and water resources in rural China, and examine the common presumption that rural resources are rapidly degrading in China. Data based on consistent definitions and measurement methods that have recently

  3. METHODICAL APPROACHES TO ASSESSMENT OF EFFICIENCY OF INVESTMENT PROJECTS OF DEVELOPMENT OF RURAL TERRITORIES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nadejda Shatsilo

    2018-05-01

    Full Text Available The purpose is to justify the principles of assessing the effectiveness of innovation and investment projects of rural areas development on the basis of sustainability. Research methodology. In the course of the research general scientific and special methods for solving the tasks and obtaining the corresponding results were used, in particular: the method of logical analysis - in determining the factors of influence on the efficiency of investment projects; Systematization and generalization - in the synthesis of modern methodological approaches to the evaluation of innovation and investment projects of rural areas development; Abstract-logical - for theoretical generalizations and formulation of the findings of the study. Results.The principles of estimation of efficiency of innovative-investment projects are generalized. The interrelation and interdependence of goals and tasks in the development of three subsystems of sustainability have been studied, which need to be taken into account when identifying the effects arising from the implementation of investment projects. The methodological principles of evaluation of innovation-investment projects of rural areas development in conditions of observance of the requirements of sustainable development are highlighted. The deterrent factors hindering the implementation of the processes of investment of investment resources in the development of rural areas are determined. The principles of implementation of investment projects oriented on sustainable development are substantiated. Priority directions of investing resources investment in the development of rural areas on the principles of sustainability within the framework of solving economic, social and environmental problems have been identified. The mechanism of estimation of efficiency of innovative-investment project of development of rural territory in the conditions of limited financial resources is offered. It is substantiated that it is

  4. EL TURISMO COMO ESTRATEGIA DE DESARROLLO RURAL SOSTENIBLE. LOS PARQUES NATURALES ANDALUCES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mª de la O Barroso González

    2012-07-01

    Full Text Available This paper analyzes the role of the rural tourism and nature tourism as strategy that it can contribute to sustainable development in rural backward regions. First, we analyze the relations between tourism and rural development from a theoretical point of view. Later, we analyze the strategy that follows Andalusia to promote the tourism in its natural protected spaces and, more concretely, in its nature reserves in order to promote processes of sustainable development in these territories.

  5. The Poor Rural Areas That Must Support The City of the Future

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ron Wimberley

    2006-11-01

    Full Text Available Cities have exported poverty to rural areas, yet we forget that cities do not exist in nature. Sociologists and others often seem to forget that. Cities are a product of social behavior. Neither do cities exist in self-sustained vacuums unto themselves. Cities are dependent and interdependent with rural areas and through forms of social interaction that link people living in urban and rural areas. While cities are a product of social behavior, they are dependent upon natural resources. It is from rural areas that the natural resources which sustain cities are produced and extracted.

  6. ASPECTE PRIVIND OPŢIUNEA SCOLARĂ ŞI PROFESIONALĂ A ELEVILOR DIN MEDIUL RURAL

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alina-Lidia MĂRGHITAN

    2008-01-01

    Full Text Available To achieve sustainable rural development of educational system is essential to pay particular attention to educational and vocational guidance to the village, in keeping with the architectural skills of young people, their level of intelligence and aspiration, answering their value system and especially emotional response to positive. Because of the importance it attaches to the individual and society today, school and professional orientation became a subject of many scientific disciplines. This is true for rural areas where shifts are moving or graduates or even adults, some unfortunately when defeated in battle with the existence of urban areas too expensiv.

  7. Local commitment for sustainable rural landscape development

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Volker, K.

    1997-01-01

    In Dutch rural planning, constraints concerning the accessibility and other physical characteristics of an area are no longer a major problem. More important is the policy-making process at higher levels of society and processes of economic and social restructuring, over which local people do not

  8. The Effectiveness of New Solar Photovoltaic System with Supercapacitor for Rural Areas

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Muhammad Izuan Fahmi Romli

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available Countries like Malaysia have more that 70% of its population living in rural areas. Majority of these rural areas lie in regions where most villages do not have grid connected electricity. Renewable energy using photovoltaic (PV panels offers an alternative and cost efficient solution that exploits the yearlong abundance of sunlight available in countries like Malaysia. The main problem with PV systems is the high maintenance costs in replacing batteries every few years which makes PV systems unattractive for rural areas. A full scale PV system, developed in Semenyih Malaysia, aims to increase battery lifetime and reduce maintenance costs by incorporating supercapacitors. The system was developed in a life-sized cabin to mimic a rural home. A programmable load is used to test the system with the load profile of a typical rural household usage. Experimental and simulation results show that the supercapacitor bank is able to reduce the stress on the battery by absorbing peak current surges. Results also show that the system is able to maintain a high battery state of charge during the entire day. Article History: Received June 17th 2016; Received in revised form August 16th 2016; Accepted Sept 10th 2016; Available online How to Cite This Article: Fahmi, M.I., Rajkumar, R.,  Wong, Y.W., Chong, L.W., Arelhi, R., and Isa, D. (2016 The Effectiveness of New Solar Photovoltaic System with Supercapacitor for Rural Areas. Int. Journal of Renewable Energy Development, 5(3, 249-257. http://dx.doi.org/10.14710/ijred.5.3.249-257

  9. RURAL TOURISM IN DOBRUDGEA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Elena, SIMA

    2014-11-01

    Full Text Available The natural and anthropic tourism resources of a certain area generate specific tourism forms, which complete each other within the different destination categories.The rural area in Dobrudja has diversified tourism potential, provided by the contrast of natural environment factors, ranging from the oldest and to the youngest relief units, natural protected areas, spa resources and cultural, historical, religious sites, as well as multicultural local customs and traditions of the rural area. This potential can be used under various kinds in the rural area: cultural tourism, historical tourism, religious tourism, ecotourism, fishing tourism or bird-watching tourism, and other kinds of rural tourism. By linking these tourism resources and tourism forms, tourism routes can result, which together with the local customs, traditions and cuisine may contribute to the social and economic development of Dobrudja's rural area, through sustainable tourism as alternative to seasonal seashore tourism.

  10. Revisiting System Paradigms from the Viewpoint of Manufacturing Sustainability

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zhuming Bi

    2011-08-01

    Full Text Available A system paradigm is an abstract representation of system; it includes system architecture used to determine the types and numbers of components and their relations in the system. The design of system paradigm relies on customers’ requirements and the characteristics of the manufacturing environment. Many system paradigms and design guidelines have been proposed for a variety of customers’ needs including functions, cost, quality, personalization, and lead time of products. However, the consideration of sustainability becomes essential to today’s manufacturing systems; a new challenge is how to evolve existing paradigms to accommodate the requirements of sustainability. In contrast to ample research activities on system paradigms in past decades, recent studies on system paradigms have been restricted, partially due to unclear research directions. Limited works can be found on conceiving new manufacturing system paradigms from the perspective of sustainability; most of the related literature concerns the new requirements of sustainability. The objectives of this work are (i to examine the requirements of manufacturing systems in a wider scope; (ii to revisit existing paradigms to clarify their limitations and bottlenecks; and eventually (iii to identify some research directions, which will lead to a solution of sustainable manufacturing. To achieve these objectives, firstly, a brief description of today’s manufacturing environment is provided. Secondly, the requirements of sustainability are discussed, and the relevant researches on system sustainability are surveyed. Thirdly, the reconfigurable system paradigm is focused, and the gaps between a reconfigurable manufacturing system and a sustainable manufacturing system are discussed. Finally, the future endeavors towards to the next-generation manufacturing system paradigms are discussed.

  11. Exploring intrinsic, instrumental, and relational values for sustainable management of social-ecological systems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Paola Arias-Arévalo

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available The values (i.e., importance that people place on ecosystems have been identified as a crucial dimension of sustainable management of social-ecological systems. Recently, the call for integrating plural values of ecosystems beyond intrinsic and instrumental values has prompted the notion of "relational values." With the aim of contributing to environmental management, we assess the environmental motivations (i.e., egoistic, biospheric, altruistic and values that people attribute to the ecosystems of the mid-upper stream of the Otún River watershed, central Andes, Colombia. We analyzed 589 questionnaires that were collected in urban and rural areas of the Otún River watershed using the nonparametric Mann-Whitney U test and logistic regressions. We found salient biospheric motivations and the attribution of plural values (i.e., intrinsic, relational, and instrumental to the ecosystems of the mid-upper stream of the Otún River watershed. Particularly, relational values were the most frequently mentioned value domain. Further, our results showed that environmental motivations and socioeconomic factors are associated with the expression of different value domains. We found negative associations between egoistic motivations and intrinsic values and between rural respondents and instrumental values. We found positive associations between altruistic motivations and relational values and between rural respondents and both intrinsic and relational values. In light of our results, we argue that intrinsic, instrumental, and relational values coexist in people's narratives about the importance of ecosystems. Plural valuation approaches could be enhanced by differentiating relational from instrumental values and by expressing them in nonmonetary terms. We argue that multiple values of ecosystems expressed by rural and urban societies should be included in environmental management to tackle social conflicts and consider the diverse needs and interests of

  12. Rural Diversity and heterogeneity in less-favoured areas: the quest for policy targeting

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Ruben, R.; Pender, J.

    2004-01-01

    Wide diversity among farmers and fields is a prime characteristic of livelihoods and production systems in less-favoured areas. One-size-fits-all policies can therefore not provide adequate solutions to poverty and degradation problems. Sustainable rural development strategies in these areas need to

  13. Virtual Rural Community Development: Human Links That Sustain Web Links.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bright, Larry K.; Evans, Wayne H.; Marmet, Kathy

    Outmigration in the rural Upper Midwest prompted a group of citizens and University of South Dakota faculty to form the Center for the Advancement of Rural Communities (ARC). ARC considers how to stimulate traditionally competitive and isolated South Dakota peoples to collaborate for economic, social, educational, political, and cultural gains. As…

  14. Rural electrification in isolated systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Solorzano, Benjamin; Ruiz, Otto

    2000-01-01

    This paper discusses the plan of the rural electrification in Guatemala considering the factors that affect costs of installation of power systems such as topography, energy consumption and homes density. Also advantages and limitations of hydro power, solar energy and wind energy are discussed with analyses of costs of production of wind energy. The geothermal energy in Guatemala is also described with analyses of feasibility

  15. Rural Schools and Traditional Knowledge: Representing Alternatives to a Consumer-Dependent Existence

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barter, Barbara

    2014-01-01

    Given the present pace of educational globalization, educators--especially in rural schools--will benefit from an awareness of traditional knowledge as a significant contributor to sustainability. Many countries operate through a system whereby major decision making, especially in such areas as education and health, emanate from state levels of…

  16. Achieving Sustainability: Insights from Biogas Ecosystems in India

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gita Surie

    2017-02-01

    Full Text Available This paper focuses on how the use of renewable energy technologies such as biogas can help to achieve environmental and socio-economic sustainability. It combines research on sustainable consumption and production, natural and industrial ecosystems and renewable energy adoption to develop a framework for an industrial ecosystem for biogas for bottom-of-the-pyramid and rural populations. The framework suggests that three dimensions of industrial ecosystems and a meta-dimension can be embedded in the design of a new industrial ecosystem for biogas to facilitate environmental and socio-economic sustainability. Case studies of an organization engaged in using biogas to create a sustainable bioenergy ecosystem for rural populations and two organizations producing biogas in urban India provide support for the framework.

  17. Assessing Various Aspects of Sustainability in Wheat and Pistachio Agro-ecosystems of Kerman Province

    OpenAIRE

    Mehdi Naghizadeh; Rooholla Moradi

    2018-01-01

    Introduction Agricultural sustainability is the ability of an agro-ecosystem to either maintain or to implement the productive characteristics and taking into consideration both the ecological-environmental and socio-economic aspects. Sustainable agriculture implies long term maintenance of natural systems, optimal production with minimum input, adequate income per farming unit, fulfillment of basic food needs, and provision for the demands and necessities of rural families and communities...

  18. The rural tourism’s development from the conception of people’s education

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mónica Darías Fuertes

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available The rural tourism needs the community’s participating in order to guarantee its sustainability and the achievement of its main goals: the client’s satisfaction and the local development with a positive impact on the community. The Popular Education and the participating action research altogether, make possible the direct involvement of the community in identifying their needs, decision making and designs of possible solutions. The purpose of this study is demonstrating the necessity of the community’s empowerment across the Popular Education to develop the rural tourism. The study has achieved key concepts’ systematizing who confirms the systemic approach of the community and the rural tourism. At the same time the study shows how theparticipating action research stimulatesthe community’s motivation and leadership from the collective work to develop the rural tourism.

  19. An Outline of the Evolution of Rural Cultural Landscapes in Poland

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    KRZYSZTOF KORELESKI

    2007-01-01

    Full Text Available The paper outlines the evolution of rural cultural landscapes in Poland against the background of landscape classification. It defines cultural landscape types and subtypes, based on several criteria of landscape classification, such as: genetic, morphological, functional, and economic. A review of rural landscapes, based on genetic criteria, considers the following historical periods: the primeval community, the feudalism, the manorial system, the industrial revolution, the interwar period of 1918 – 1939, the period of socialist economy, and market economy. The processes that most significantly influenced the contemporary shape of the rural landscape occurred just after the Second World War: urbanization and industrialization, settlement in western and northern territories, as well as structural and spatial transformations that took place after the year 1989 related to the promotion of sustainable and multifunctional development of rural areas.

  20. Policy Priorities In Rural Women Empowerment Sustainability ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The female gender can not be sidelined while discussing issues of poverty and food security. In like manner, equitability can not be divorced from sustainability as it is one major issue in sustainability. History has revealed that Nigerian women are not always allowed by men to exert themselves fully. Some encumbrances ...

  1. Review: Animal health and sustainable global livestock systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Perry, B D; Robinson, T P; Grace, D C

    2018-04-10

    This paper discusses the sustainability of livestock systems, emphasising bidirectional relations with animal health. We review conventional and contrarian thinking on sustainability and argue that in the most common approaches to understanding sustainability, health aspects have been under-examined. Literature review reveals deep concerns over the sustainability of livestock systems; we recognise that interventions are required to shift to more sustainable trajectories, and explore approaches to prioritising in different systems, focusing on interventions that lead to better health. A previously proposed three-tiered categorisation of 'hot spots', 'cold spots' and 'worried well' animal health trajectories provides a mental model that, by taking into consideration the different animal health status, animal health risks, service response needs and key drivers in each system, can help identify and implement interventions. Combining sustainability concepts with animal health trajectories allows for a richer analysis, and we apply this to three case studies drawn from North Africa and the Middle East; Bangladesh; and the Eastern Cape of South Africa. We conclude that the quest for sustainability of livestock production systems from the perspective of human and animal health is elusive and difficult to reconcile with the massive anticipated growth in demand for livestock products, mainly in low- and middle-income countries, as well as the aspirations of poor livestock keepers for better lives. Nevertheless, improving the health of livestock can contribute to health sustainability both through reducing negative health impacts of livestock and increasing efficiency of production. However, the choice of the most appropriate options must be under-pinned by an understanding of agro-ecology, economy and values. We argue that a new pillar of One Health should be added to the three traditional sustainability pillars of economics, society and environment when addressing

  2. Changes in Veterinary Students' Attitudes Toward the Rural Environment and Rural Veterinary Practice: A Longitudinal Cohort Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hashizume, Cary T; Woloschuk, Wayne; Hecker, Kent G

    2015-01-01

    There is a paucity of research regarding veterinary students' attitudes toward the rural environment and rural veterinary practice and how these attitudes might change over the course of a veterinary medicine program that includes rural clinical experience. Using a 23-item questionnaire, attitudes toward rural lifestyle, rural work-life balance, opportunities for career and skill development in rural veterinary practice, and inter-professional teamwork in the rural environment were assessed at the beginning and completion of a four-year veterinary medicine program. Eighty-six students (74.4% female) were included in this Canadian study over a six-year period. Thirty-one participants (36.1%) were rural students. Overall, students' attitudes toward the rural lifestyle, rural work-life balance, and inter-professional teamwork in rural veterinary practice all significantly decreased (pstudents, rural students had significantly higher rural lifestyle scores at both the beginning (pworking in a rural environment could influence students to exclude rural veterinary practice as a career choice. Rural clinical experiences designed to sustain or increase veterinary student interest in rural practice may not be sufficient to support positive rural attitudes. Given the demand for rural veterinary services in developed countries, the implications of this study may extend beyond Canada.

  3. Renewable Energy for Rural Health Clinics (Energia Removable para Centros de Salud Rurales); TOPICAL

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jimenez, A. C.; Olson, K.

    1998-01-01

    This guide provides a broad understanding of the technical, social, and organizational aspects of health clinic electrification, especially through the use of renewable energy sources. It is intended to be used primarily by decision makers within governments or private agencies to accurately assess their health clinic's needs, select appropriate and cost-effective technologies to meet those needs, and to put into place effective infrastructure to install and maintain the hardware. This is the first in a series of rural applications guidebooks that the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) Village Power Program is commissioning to couple commercial renewable systems with rural applications. The guidebooks are complemented by NREL's Village Power Program's development activities, international pilot projects, and visiting professionals program. For more information on the NREL Village Power Program, visit the Renewables for Sustainable Village Power web site at http://www.rsvp.nrel .gov/rsvp/

  4. Valorisation of vernacular farm buildings for the sustainable development of rural tourism in mountain areas of the Adriatic-Ionian macro-region

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dina Statuto

    2017-08-01

    Full Text Available Rural buildings play a central role on the environmental characteristics of the extra-urban land. They accompanied in the centuries the development of agricultural activities by humans, who was so able to breed cattle, to grow and yield crops, and to store, transform and process agricultural products in a functional and efficient way, working into intensive conditions, so being unaffected by the external climate. On the other hand, constructions built by the farmer-man marked the territory, influencing and steering the spontaneous development of nature, while leading to production that enabled humanity to get food. Vernacular farm buildings, often used as seasonal settlements, are in some cases organised in areas of mountain pasture for summer cattle grazing. Even if in most case they were abandoned during recent years - since people living there moved to more comfortable residences within urban settlements - their contemporary potential for preserving traditional cattle-raising procedures and dairy products, rich cultural-historical heritage and perspectives of organised tourism activities, appears a very intriguing task to be approached. Rural tourism - including agro-, eco- and cultural tourism - offers indeed new opportunities for enjoying the extra-urban land in close contact with naturally untouched landscapes. It enables to appreciate some traditional aspects that the new industrialised modern society may have forgotten. The opportunities offered by rural tourism could help in the development of environmentally friendly tourism, which is growing three times faster than those choosing mainstream trips. With the aim to valorise the vernacular rural buildings in some mountain areas of the Adriatic-Ionian macro-region, in the present paper a first approach was proposed, through the implementation of a geographical information system aimed to survey the current situation into two different mountain areas within this macro-region, located in

  5. Identifying the Conditions for Rural Sustainability through Place-Based Culture: Applying the CIPM and CDPM Models into Meibei Ancient Village

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jing Lin

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available Transitional rural China faces more serious challenges in its sustainable development. How to regain the vital momentum of those historically and culturally preeminent villages, among over 680,000 administrative villages in total, has become the pressing agenda for all the stakeholders, due to the fact that these villages have huge potential to be the leverage for successful rural transition and new urbanization in China. This paper therefore tries to diagnose and identify the current situation of those villages from a cultural perspective by taking the Meibei ancient village as the case. By applying the proposed Cultural Inverted Pyramid Model (CIPM and Cultural Dual Pyramid Model (CDPM with seven layers, i.e., root/vision, value, symbol, hero, ritual, lifestyle, and governance & management, Meibei’s development mechanism has been systematically explored from a cultural perspective through the comparison between its past prosperity and present challenges. It is found that the great merit of Meibei’s past prosperity lied in the organic integration of cultural elements in all the layers through the five development dimensions, i.e., economic, social, institutional, environmental and cultural dimensions. The empirical study proves that CIPM is a useful tool for diagnosing and identifying the current situation of the village, while CDPM is an effective instrument for planning and designing a culture-embedded and improved place for the future. Unless Meibei can recreate a new cultural ecosystem with resilience fitting to its existed heritage with cultural excellence and tourism promotion, the village cannot catch up with its past prosperity. Finally, this paper calls for more in-depth culture-oriented research to improve the CIPM and CDPM paradigm to allow for the realization of rural sustainability, particularly from the perspectives of policy options and academic concerns.

  6. Digital Earth - A sustainable Earth

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mahavir

    2014-02-01

    All life, particularly human, cannot be sustainable, unless complimented with shelter, poverty reduction, provision of basic infrastructure and services, equal opportunities and social justice. Yet, in the context of cities, it is believed that they can accommodate more and more people, endlessly, regardless to their carrying capacity and increasing ecological footprint. The 'inclusion', for bringing more and more people in the purview of development is often limited to social and economic inclusion rather than spatial and ecological inclusion. Economic investment decisions are also not always supported with spatial planning decisions. Most planning for a sustainable Earth, be at a level of rural settlement, city, region, national or Global, fail on the capacity and capability fronts. In India, for example, out of some 8,000 towns and cities, Master Plans exist for only about 1,800. A chapter on sustainability or environment is neither statutorily compulsory nor a norm for these Master Plans. Geospatial technologies including Remote Sensing, GIS, Indian National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI), Indian National Urban Information Systems (NUIS), Indian Environmental Information System (ENVIS), and Indian National GIS (NGIS), etc. have potential to map, analyse, visualize and take sustainable developmental decisions based on participatory social, economic and social inclusion. Sustainable Earth, at all scales, is a logical and natural outcome of a digitally mapped, conceived and planned Earth. Digital Earth, in fact, itself offers a platform to dovetail the ecological, social and economic considerations in transforming it into a sustainable Earth.

  7. ESFER computer tool for the evaluation of photovoltaic systems used in rural electrification; ESFER herramienta de computadora para evaluar sistemas fotovoltaicos utilizados en electrificacion rural

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Villasenor, Francisco; Perez, Miguel; Huacuz, Jorge M [Instituto de Investigaciones Electricas, Cuernavaca (Mexico)

    1996-12-31

    ESFER (Evaluacion de Sistemas Fotovoltaicos para Electrificacion Rural) Photovoltaic Systems Evaluation for Rural Electrification is a computerized calculation tool for the analysis of information and evaluation of photovoltaic systems for rural electrification. This article describes such a tool, as well as the parameters that are taken into account for analyzing the systems, the methodology to qualify and the computer program operation. The graphic results of a typical case are presented. ESFER pretends to be a program of general use for the evaluation of photovoltaic systems for rural electrification. [Espanol] ESFER, Evaluacion de Sistemas Fotovoltaicos para Electrificacion Rural, es una herramienta de calculo computarizada para el analisis de informacion y evaluacion de sistemas fotovoltaicos para electrificacion rural. En el presente articulo se describe dicha herramienta, asi como los parametros que se toman en cuenta para analizar los sistemas, la metodologia de calificacion y la operacion del programa de computadora. Se presentan los resultados graficos de un caso tipico. ESFER pretende ser un programa de uso generalizado para la evaluacion de sistemas fotovoltaicos de electrificacion rural.

  8. ESFER computer tool for the evaluation of photovoltaic systems used in rural electrification; ESFER herramienta de computadora para evaluar sistemas fotovoltaicos utilizados en electrificacion rural

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Villasenor, Francisco; Perez, Miguel; Huacuz, Jorge M. [Instituto de Investigaciones Electricas, Cuernavaca (Mexico)

    1995-12-31

    ESFER (Evaluacion de Sistemas Fotovoltaicos para Electrificacion Rural) Photovoltaic Systems Evaluation for Rural Electrification is a computerized calculation tool for the analysis of information and evaluation of photovoltaic systems for rural electrification. This article describes such a tool, as well as the parameters that are taken into account for analyzing the systems, the methodology to qualify and the computer program operation. The graphic results of a typical case are presented. ESFER pretends to be a program of general use for the evaluation of photovoltaic systems for rural electrification. [Espanol] ESFER, Evaluacion de Sistemas Fotovoltaicos para Electrificacion Rural, es una herramienta de calculo computarizada para el analisis de informacion y evaluacion de sistemas fotovoltaicos para electrificacion rural. En el presente articulo se describe dicha herramienta, asi como los parametros que se toman en cuenta para analizar los sistemas, la metodologia de calificacion y la operacion del programa de computadora. Se presentan los resultados graficos de un caso tipico. ESFER pretende ser un programa de uso generalizado para la evaluacion de sistemas fotovoltaicos de electrificacion rural.

  9. Sustaining an Effective ABC-ABM System

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gary COKINS

    2011-02-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of this paper is to describe the Activity- Based Costing (ABC and Activity-Based Management (ABM system and techniques to sustain them as a permanent and repeatable production reporting system, not just for one-off analysis. A comparison is made between ABC/ABM modeling software that extracts source data and business systems that include ABC/ABM modeling features. There are presented the stages of updating, running and rerunning the ABC/ABM system. The resulting information calculated and provided by the ABC/ABM system are analyzed and interpreted in terms of a multidimensional data analysis. The article ends with the authors' conclusions about the benefits of continued operation of sustaining the ABC/ABM system.

  10. Grasslands in India: Problems and perspectives for sustaining livestock and rural livelihoods

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ajoy K. Roy

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available In India, grazing-based livestock husbandry plays an important role in the rural economy as around 50% of animals depend on grazing. Pasturelands over an area of 12 Mha constitute the main grazing resources that are available. Temperate/alpine pastures are spread across elevations higher than 2000 m in the Eastern and Western Himalayas including the Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttaranchal, West Bengal, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim states. Nearly 30 pastoral communities in hilly or arid/semi-arid regions in northern and western parts of India, as well as 20 in temperate/hilly regions, depend on grazing-based livestock production. Due to overgrazing coupled with poor management and care, these grazing lands have deteriorated to a large extent and need amelioration or rehabilitation. Appropriate technologies have been developed, refined and tested in various research and academic institutions. These technologies need to be implemented on a large scale in different parts of the country for augmenting forage resources, enhancing livestock production and sustaining livelihood options in an eco-friendly manner.

  11. Indonesia solar home systems project for rural electrification

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sanghvi, A.P.

    1997-12-01

    This paper presents, from a financing aspect the broad issues involved in a plan to provide solar home systems (SHS) to provide rural electrification in several areas of rural Indonesia. The paper discusses the approaches being used to provide funding, develop awareness of the technology, and assure the success of the project. The plan involves the use of grant money to help with some of the initial costs of such systems, and thereby to encourage local financing on a terms rather than cash basis. There are needs for market development, and development of a business structure in the country to support this type of technology. Provided this plan can succeed, it may serve as a model for further efforts.

  12. Leveraging Small-Scale Sport Events: Challenges of Organising, Delivering and Managing Sustainable Outcomes in Rural Communities, the Case of Gorski kotar, Croatia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marko Perić

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Sports and events play an important role in local identity building and creating a sense of community that encourages participation and increases social capital. Rural communities are specific areas with special needs and can face challenges and restraints when it comes to event organisation. The purpose of this paper is to identify organisational challenges and analyse the potential to achieving long-term sustainable social and economic outcomes linked to small-scale sports events in rural communities. Organisational challenges of rural communities in terms of organising sport events are examined and discussed using the framework of event leveraging developed by O’Brien and Chalip. This methodology is applied and discussed to a case study focusing on small-scale winter sport events in rural Croatia. Semi-structured interviews with local organisers were conducted in order to collect data on the overall event organisation and management, local coordination, role of community stakeholders and challenges facing strategic planning, with the intent to identify objectives for future events. Results were discussed independently and in the context of the leverage framework, with reflection on its applicability to rural communities as the event organisers. Recommendations are provided based on critical insight from the literature and are oriented on how to streamline the process of organising, delivering and managing of events in remote rural communities. Finally, the idea of inter-community organisation is proposed to ensure long-term social and economic benefits and to address the existing issues of overlapping of stakeholder categories, mixed objectives, distrust among stakeholders and inefficiently used local resources.

  13. Innovative sewerage solutions for small rural towns.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Diaper, C; Sharma, A

    2007-01-01

    The development and implementation of alternative wastewater servicing approaches in rural communities in Australia appears more feasible than in larger urban developments as many rural centres rely on septic tanks and surface discharge of greywater. This method of disposal creates many environmental, social and economic issues and is seen to limit potential for growth in many towns. This paper describes a generic methodology for the selection of innovative sewerage options for six regional towns in Victoria, Australia. The method includes consultation with stakeholders, multi-criteria assessment and concept design of the most favourable option. Despite the broad range of initial wastewater servicing options presented which included cluster-scale systems, upgrade of existing systems, greywater reuse and alternative collection, the outcome for five of the six towns was a modified centralised collection system as the preferred option. Lack of robust and reliable data on the human health risks and environmental impacts of alternative systems were identified as the primary data gaps in the sustainability assessment. In addition, biases in the assessment method due to stakeholder perceptions were found to be an additional issue.

  14. Model of sustainable development of energy system, case of Hamedan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sahabmanesh, Aref; Saboohi, Yadollah

    2017-01-01

    Sustainable economic growth and improvement of the social welfare depend upon the sufficient supply of energy resources, while the utilization of energy resources is one of the main factors of environmental degradation. This research is involved with development of a sustainable energy system model and a new method for sustainability assessment. This model represents the flow of energy from primary resources through processing, conversion, and end-use technologies in an optimization framework where the useful energy demand in various social and economic sectors is met. The impact of energy supply and consumption chain on the environment at each level of energy system is also embedded in the model structure. A multi-criteria analysis of changes is then applied and sustainable development indices of the whole system are concluded. Finally, effects of the energy subsidy policy and high economic growth rate on sustainability of the energy system in three scenarios are analyzed. Results demonstrate that energy subsidy decelerates the improvement rate of the total sustainability index. Also, when a high economic growth is accompanied with the energy subsidy this index reduces considerably. Results show that how penetration of renewable energy potentials changes the sustainability situation of energy systems. - Highlights: • Developing a new model for sustainable energy systems. • Presenting a new method for sustainability assessment of energy systems. • Optimizing the energy flow and capacity expansion of Hamedan energy system. • Utilizing an MCDA approach to obtain sustainability indices of the whole system. • Analysis of energy subsidy and high economic growth on energy sustainability.

  15. Paths to Work in Rural Places: Key Findings and Lessons from the Impact Evaluation of the Future Steps Rural Welfare-to-Work Program. Final Report

    Science.gov (United States)

    Meckstroth, Alicia; Burwick, Andrew; Ponza, Michael; Marsh, Shawn; Novak, Tim; Phillips, Shannon; Diaz-Tena, Nuria; Ng, Judy

    2006-01-01

    Helping low-income families in rural areas find gainful employment and achieve economic self-sufficiency is an ongoing policy concern. The Rural Welfare-to-Work Strategies demonstration is using rigorous experimental designs to build knowledge about how to help low-income families in rural areas strive toward sustained employment and…

  16. Sustainability concept for energy, water and environment systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Afgan, N.H.

    2004-01-01

    This review is aimed to introduce historical background for the sustainability concept development for energy, water and environment systems. In the assessment of global energy and water resources attention is focussed in on the resource consumption and its relevancy to the future demand. In the review of the sustainability concept development special emphasize is devoted to the definition of sustainability and its relevancy to the historical background of the sustainability idea. In order to introduce measuring of sustainability the attention is devoted to the definition of respective criteria. There have been a number of attempts to define the criterions for the assessment of the sustainability of the market products. Having those criterions as bases, it was introduced a specific application in the energy system design

  17. Sustainable Energy Development: The Key to a Stable Nigeria

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kalu Uduma

    2010-06-01

    Full Text Available This paper proposes the use of sustainable energy systems based on solar and biomass technologies to provide solutions to utility challenges in Nigeria and acute water shortage both in rural and urban areas of that country. The paper highlights the paradoxes of oil-rich Nigeria and the stark reality of social infrastructure deprivations in that country. Perennial power outages over many years have translated to the absence of or poorly-developed basic social infrastructures in Nigeria. The consequences of this lack have been an increase in abject poverty in rural and urban communities as well as the erosion of social order and threats to citizen and their property. This paper proposes the adaptation of two emerging technologies for building sustainable energy systems and the development of decentralized and sustainable energy sources as catalyst for much-needed social infrastructure development through the creation of Renewable Energy Business Incubators, creative lending strategies, NGO partnerships and shifting energy-distribution responsibilities. These changes will stimulate grassroots economies in the country, develop large quantities of much needed clean water, maintain acceptable standards of sanitation and improve the health and wellbeing of Nigerian communities. The proposed strategies are specific to the Nigerian context; however, the authors suggest that the same or similar strategies may provide energy and social infrastructure development solutions to other developing countries as well.

  18. Sustainability of Pension Systems in the Baltic States

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Olga Rajevska

    2016-02-01

    Full Text Available Objective: The objective of the paper is to identify how the concept of sustainability is understood and ensured in the pension systems of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania; and what implications it brings to the performance of pension schemes. Research Design & Methods: Analysis of various conceptual and methodological approaches to the notion of sustainability of pension systems. Comparative analysis of present pension legislation, as well as preceding stage of pension reforms,   accompanied by a number of numerical models. Findings: The understanding of sustainability is limited by narrow ‘fiscal’ meaning in Latvia, compared to more a multifaceted concept that includes the principle of social fairness and which can be traced in the logic of Estonian and Lithuanian legislators. Implications & Recommendations: In the long-term, pure financial appreciation of sustainability is misleading, low level of credibility may cripple a financially sound but socially unfair system; the perceived unfairness of redistribution can undermine the public support to, and, therefore, sustainability of pension systems. Contribution & Value Added: The originality of this work lies in studying how differences at policy formulation stage and in the very design of pension schemes influence pension system sustainability in countries with a very similar initial conditions and socio-economic environment.

  19. Sustainability of portable water services in the Philippines

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bohm, Robert A.; Essenburg, Timothy J.; Fox, William F.

    1993-07-01

    Financial sustainability of rural water systems in the Philippines is evaluated based on a comparison of willingness to pay for improved water and the costs of service delivery. Willingness to pay estimates indicate that user fees are unlikely to be sufficient to cover the full cost of service and subsidies are necessary, at least for a major portion of capital costs, or the water systems will become unsustainable because of insufficient resources. Sustainability is more probable when care is exercised in selecting villages for improved water services. Economies of scale lead to lower unit costs in larger villages. Willingness to pay is greater for household connections than for public faucets. Willingness to pay increases with income and wealth, family size, education, and dissatisfaction with traditional water sources.

  20. Sustainable Deforestation Evaluation Model and System Dynamics Analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Feng, Huirong; Lim, C. W.; Chen, Liqun; Zhou, Xinnian; Zhou, Chengjun; Lin, Yi

    2014-01-01

    The current study used the improved fuzzy analytic hierarchy process to construct a sustainable deforestation development evaluation system and evaluation model, which has refined a diversified system to evaluate the theory of sustainable deforestation development. Leveraging the visual image of the system dynamics causal and power flow diagram, we illustrated here that sustainable forestry development is a complex system that encompasses the interaction and dynamic development of ecology, economy, and society and has reflected the time dynamic effect of sustainable forestry development from the three combined effects. We compared experimental programs to prove the direct and indirect impacts of the ecological, economic, and social effects of the corresponding deforest techniques and fully reflected the importance of developing scientific and rational ecological harvesting and transportation technologies. Experimental and theoretical results illustrated that light cableway skidding is an ecoskidding method that is beneficial for the sustainable development of resources, the environment, the economy, and society and forecasted the broad potential applications of light cableway skidding in timber production technology. Furthermore, we discussed the sustainable development countermeasures of forest ecosystems from the aspects of causality, interaction, and harmony. PMID:25254225

  1. Sustainable deforestation evaluation model and system dynamics analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Feng, Huirong; Lim, C W; Chen, Liqun; Zhou, Xinnian; Zhou, Chengjun; Lin, Yi

    2014-01-01

    The current study used the improved fuzzy analytic hierarchy process to construct a sustainable deforestation development evaluation system and evaluation model, which has refined a diversified system to evaluate the theory of sustainable deforestation development. Leveraging the visual image of the system dynamics causal and power flow diagram, we illustrated here that sustainable forestry development is a complex system that encompasses the interaction and dynamic development of ecology, economy, and society and has reflected the time dynamic effect of sustainable forestry development from the three combined effects. We compared experimental programs to prove the direct and indirect impacts of the ecological, economic, and social effects of the corresponding deforest techniques and fully reflected the importance of developing scientific and rational ecological harvesting and transportation technologies. Experimental and theoretical results illustrated that light cableway skidding is an ecoskidding method that is beneficial for the sustainable development of resources, the environment, the economy, and society and forecasted the broad potential applications of light cableway skidding in timber production technology. Furthermore, we discussed the sustainable development countermeasures of forest ecosystems from the aspects of causality, interaction, and harmony.

  2. Sustainable Deforestation Evaluation Model and System Dynamics Analysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Huirong Feng

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available The current study used the improved fuzzy analytic hierarchy process to construct a sustainable deforestation development evaluation system and evaluation model, which has refined a diversified system to evaluate the theory of sustainable deforestation development. Leveraging the visual image of the system dynamics causal and power flow diagram, we illustrated here that sustainable forestry development is a complex system that encompasses the interaction and dynamic development of ecology, economy, and society and has reflected the time dynamic effect of sustainable forestry development from the three combined effects. We compared experimental programs to prove the direct and indirect impacts of the ecological, economic, and social effects of the corresponding deforest techniques and fully reflected the importance of developing scientific and rational ecological harvesting and transportation technologies. Experimental and theoretical results illustrated that light cableway skidding is an ecoskidding method that is beneficial for the sustainable development of resources, the environment, the economy, and society and forecasted the broad potential applications of light cableway skidding in timber production technology. Furthermore, we discussed the sustainable development countermeasures of forest ecosystems from the aspects of causality, interaction, and harmony.

  3. An evaluation of China's new rural cooperative medical system: achievements and inadequacies from policy goals.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Chengyue; Hou, Yilin; Sun, Mei; Lu, Jun; Wang, Ying; Li, Xiaohong; Chang, Fengshui; Hao, Mo

    2015-10-23

    Although much public scrutiny and academic attention has focused on the evaluations of system implementation since the beginning of New Rural Cooperative Medical System (NRCMS) in China, few studies have systematically evaluated the achievements of the stated policy goals. The purpose of this study is to examine to what extent the policy goals of NRCMS have been achieved. Using multistage sampling processes, two rounds of cross-sectional household surveys including 9787 and 7921 rural households were conducted in Eastern China in year 2000 and year 2008, respectively. A pre- and post-implementation comparison was used to evaluate the achievement of policy goals in three measures: impoverishment from major health hazards, household financial risk from medical expenses, and rural income inequity. Intention surveys were also applied to find out potential obstacles in the implementation of NRCMS. The rate of re-impoverishment from health hazard was reduced from 2.69 % ex ante to 2.12 % ex post, a decrease of 21.13 %. The severity of impoverishment fell from a previous 4.66 % to 3.02 %, a decline of 35.18 %. Economic risk of medical treatment population relative to the whole population fell from 2.62 ex ante to 2.03 ex post, a 22.52 % reduction. As indication of effect on improving income equity, the Gini coefficient fell from 0.4629 to 0.4541. The effects of NRCMS were significantly better than those of RCMS. Despite the preliminary achievements, our intention survey of key respondents identified that technical difficulties in actuarial funding and more sustainable reimbursement schedules has become the most challenging barriers in achieving the goals of NRCMS, while raising the insurance premium on NRCMS was no longer as big a barrier. With NRCMS, China has established a medical security system to reduce the financial burden of healthcare on rural residents. NRCMS has achieved some positive though limited effects; but technical difficulties in the implementation of

  4. FAR from the grid: A rural electrification field study

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Diaz, P.; Pena, R. [Escuela Politecnica, Universidad de Alcala, Campus Universitario, 28805 Alcala de Henares, Madrid (Spain); Arias, C.A.; Sandoval, D. [Empresa Jujena de Servicios Energeticos Dispersos (EJSEDSA), Independencia 60, 4600 San Salvador de Jujuy, Jujuy (Argentina)

    2010-12-15

    This paper analyses the field performance of different off-grid generation technologies applied to the electrification of rural villages. Autonomous diesel generators are the most extended technology. It is a well known application, although it has also some disadvantages: fuel transportation and consumption costs, maintenance needs or environmental problems. In places where accessibility is difficult and costly, the use of local energy resources (basically renewable) constitutes a significant advantage. Due to the intermittent character of those resources, renewable generation systems are sometimes associated to diesel gen-sets in order to increase the reliability of supply of small and medium-size communities. A comparative analysis between diesel, hydro-diesel and photovoltaic-diesel technologies is presented in this article. It is based on data collected from systems installed in the rural area of the province of Jujuy, northwest of Argentina. The study covers from year 2001 to 2008, with a research universe of 16 locations supplied by thermal diesel generation (1 with a large-diesel system and other 15 with smaller ones), 5 locations with hydro-diesel and 7 with photovoltaic-diesel systems. The energy demand evolution of rural villages is also studied because of its influence on the system operation and sustainability. (author)

  5. Enabling Factors for Sustaining Open Defecation-Free Communities in Rural Indonesia: A Cross-Sectional Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Odagiri, Mitsunori; Muhammad, Zainal; Cronin, Aidan A; Gnilo, Michael E; Mardikanto, Aldy K; Umam, Khaerul; Asamou, Yameha T

    2017-12-14

    Community Approaches to Total Sanitation (CATS) programmes, like the Sanitasi Total Berbasis Masyarakat (STBM) programme of the Government of Indonesia, have played a significant role in reducing open defecation though still little is known about the sustainability of the outcomes. We assessed the sustainability of verified Open Defecation Free (ODF) villages and explored the association between slippage occurrence and the strength of social norms through a government conducted cross-sectional data collection in rural Indonesia. The study surveyed 587 households and held focus group discussions (FGDs) in six ODF villages two years after the government's ODF verification. Overall, the slippage rate (i.e., a combination of sub-optimal use of a latrine and open defecation at respondent level) was estimated to be 14.5% (95% CI 11.6-17.3). Results of multivariate logistic regression analyses indicated that (1) weaker social norms, as measured by respondents' perceptions around latrine ownership coverage in their community, (2) a lack of all-year round water access, and (3) wealth levels (i.e., not being in the richest quintile), were found to be significantly associated with slippage occurrence. These findings, together with qualitative analysis, concluded that CATS programmes, including a combination of demand creation, removal of perceived constraints through community support mechanisms, and continued encouragement to pursue higher levels of services with post-ODF follow-up, could stabilize social norms and help to sustain longer-term latrine usage in study communities. Further investigation and at a larger scale, would be important to strengthen these findings.

  6. Critical reflections on the New Rurality and the rural territorial development approaches in Latin America

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    César Ramírez-Miranda

    2014-04-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents a critical approach to the New Rurality and the Rural Territorial Development (RTD perspectives, which nowadays are hegemonic for governmental organizations and Latin American academies. RTD's core requirements, which are functional for neoliberal policies resulting in the loss of food sovereignty, the globalization of agribusinesses, and migration as a consequence of peasant agricultural weakening, were critically reviewed on the basis of the principal challenges faced by Latin American rural areas. In light of the above consequences, it is thought that changes in such areas are based on neoliberal rurality rather than on the purported New Rurality. By stressing the need for a global historical view that reintroduces the Latin American critical thinking tradition, the urgency for public policies that stop neoliberal prescriptions and seek to strengthen peasant and indigenous agriculture in order to encourage rural development based on food sovereignty, democracy, equity and sustainability were established.

  7. Rural energy and development

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Stern, R.

    1997-12-01

    The author discusses the worldwide problem and need for rural electrification to support development. He points out that rural areas will pay high rates to receive such services, but cannot afford the capital cost for conventional services. The author looks at this problem from the point of energy choices, subsides, initial costs, financing, investors, local involvement, and governmental actions. In particular he is concerned with ways to make better use of biofuels, to promote sustainable harvesting, and to encourage development of more modern fuels.

  8. Not planning a sustainable transport system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Finnveden, Göran; Åkerman, Jonas

    2014-01-01

    The overall objective of the Swedish transport policy is to ensure the economically efficient and sustainable provision of transport services for people and business throughout the country. More specifically, the transport sector shall, among other things, contribute to the achievement of environmental quality objectives in which the development of the transport system plays an important role in the achievement of the objectives. The aim of this study is to analyse if current transport planning supports this policy. This is done by analysing two recent cases: the National Infrastructure Plan 2010–2021, and the planning of Bypass Stockholm, a major road investment. Our results show that the plans are in conflict with several of the environmental quality objectives. Another interesting aspect of the planning processes is that the long-term climate goals are not included in the planning processes, neither as a clear goal nor as factor that will influence future transport systems. In this way, the long-term sustainability aspects are not present in the planning. We conclude that the two cases do not contribute to a sustainable transport system. Thus, several changes must be made in the processes, including putting up clear targets for emissions. Also, the methodology for the environmental assessments needs to be further developed and discussed. - Highlights: • Two cases are studied to analyse if current planning supports a sustainable transport system. • Results show that the plans are in conflict with several of the environmental quality objectives. • Long-term climate goals are not included in the planning processes. • Current practices do not contribute to a sustainable planning processes. • Methodology and process for environmental assessments must be further developed and discussed

  9. Not planning a sustainable transport system

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Finnveden, Göran, E-mail: goran.finnveden@abe.kth.se; Åkerman, Jonas

    2014-04-01

    The overall objective of the Swedish transport policy is to ensure the economically efficient and sustainable provision of transport services for people and business throughout the country. More specifically, the transport sector shall, among other things, contribute to the achievement of environmental quality objectives in which the development of the transport system plays an important role in the achievement of the objectives. The aim of this study is to analyse if current transport planning supports this policy. This is done by analysing two recent cases: the National Infrastructure Plan 2010–2021, and the planning of Bypass Stockholm, a major road investment. Our results show that the plans are in conflict with several of the environmental quality objectives. Another interesting aspect of the planning processes is that the long-term climate goals are not included in the planning processes, neither as a clear goal nor as factor that will influence future transport systems. In this way, the long-term sustainability aspects are not present in the planning. We conclude that the two cases do not contribute to a sustainable transport system. Thus, several changes must be made in the processes, including putting up clear targets for emissions. Also, the methodology for the environmental assessments needs to be further developed and discussed. - Highlights: • Two cases are studied to analyse if current planning supports a sustainable transport system. • Results show that the plans are in conflict with several of the environmental quality objectives. • Long-term climate goals are not included in the planning processes. • Current practices do not contribute to a sustainable planning processes. • Methodology and process for environmental assessments must be further developed and discussed.

  10. ENHANCING RURAL LIVELIHOODS THROUGH SUSTAINABLE LAND AND WATER MANAGEMENT IN NORTHWEST ETHIOPIA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mehretie Belay

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Rural livelihoods (RLs in highland Ethiopia is critically threatened by increasing degradation of land and water resources (LWRs and lack of sufficient livelihood assets. In response, farmers adapted diverse indigenous land and water management (LWM technologies and livelihood strategies. This paper describes farmers’ methods of soil erosion identification and the practices of managing LWRs to enhance RLs. It presents the results of studies focusing on assessment of soil erosion indicators, farmers’ in-built sustainable land and water management practices (LWMPs and RLs in Dangila woreda (district in the northwestern highlands of Ethiopia. Data were gathered from May 2010 to October 2013 through participatory transect walks, field observation, formal and informal discussions with farmers, examination of office documents and from a survey of 201 rural households. Descriptive statistics and the livelihood strategy diversification index (LSDI were used to analyze the data. Results indicated that farmers employ around 13 indicators to identify soil erosion on their farmlands. Over 79% of the farmers indicated the occurrence of soil erosion on their farm fields and some 59% reported the trend was increasing for twenty years, 1991-2011. More than 174 km soil-bunds and greater than 4 km stone-bunds were constructed on farmlands and on grazing fields through farmer participatory watershed development campaigns. Some 34 gullies were stabilized using check-dams and vegetative measures. Almost 72% of the households applied cattle manure on about of their 75 ha lands to improve soil fertility. A total of 44 diversion canals and 34 water committees were established to facilitate the irrigation practice of 33% rural households. Over 20% farmers obtained results ranging from moderate to excellent by combining manure with chemical fertilizers in the same field. Nevertheless, introduced methods such as improved seeds and fertilizers were commented for

  11. Promoting interactions between local climate change mitigation, sustainable energy development, and rural development policies in Lithuania

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Streimikiene, Dalia; Baležentis, Tomas; Kriščiukaitienė, Irena

    2012-01-01

    Lithuania has developed several important climate change mitigation policy documents however there are no attempts in Lithuania to develop local climate change mitigation policies or to decentralize climate change mitigation policy. Seeking to achieve harmonization and decentralization of climate change mitigation and energy policies in Lithuania the framework for local climate change mitigation strategy need to be developed taking into account requirements, targets and measures set in national climate change mitigation and energy policy documents. The paper will describe how national climate change mitigation and energy policies can be implemented via local energy and climate change mitigation plans. The aim of the paper is to analyze the climate change mitigation policy and its relationship with policies promoting sustainable energy development in Lithuania and to present a framework for local approaches to climate change mitigation in Lithuania, in the context of the existing national and supra-national energy, climate change, and rural development policies. - Highlights: ► The framework for local energy action plans is offered. ► The structural support possibilities are assessed with respect to the Lithuanian legal base. ► The proposals are given for further promotion of sustainable energy at the local level.

  12. Restoration of soil fertility and improvement of cropping systems for sustainable development in the humid savannahs of the Ivory Coast

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bachmann, T.

    2000-01-01

    In late 1998, FAO launched a Technical Co-operation Project to assist the government of the Ivory Coast in rural development by promoting agricultural production as the main source of economic growth, and by improving the management of natural resources. The sustainable development of the humid-savannah region and western highlands is being allotted primary consideration. The goal of the project is to replace traditional shifting cultivation with more-sustainable production systems. This paper describes the origins and scope of the problem and the research strategies being considered and employed. The project will be executed in three phases: constraint analysis and formulation of a pilot project, execution of the pilot project (1999-2003), and long-term extension (15 years) from 2004, based on the data generated in the pilot phase. (author)

  13. Restoration of soil fertility and improvement of cropping systems for sustainable development in the humid savannahs of the Ivory Coast

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bachmann, T [Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome (Italy)

    2000-06-01

    In late 1998, FAO launched a Technical Co-operation Project to assist the government of the Ivory Coast in rural development by promoting agricultural production as the main source of economic growth, and by improving the management of natural resources. The sustainable development of the humid-savannah region and western highlands is being allotted primary consideration. The goal of the project is to replace traditional shifting cultivation with more-sustainable production systems. This paper describes the origins and scope of the problem and the research strategies being considered and employed. The project will be executed in three phases: constraint analysis and formulation of a pilot project, execution of the pilot project (1999-2003), and long-term extension (15 years) from 2004, based on the data generated in the pilot phase. (author)

  14. Green innovation and sustainable industrial systems within sustainability and company improvement perspective

    Science.gov (United States)

    Edi Nugroho Soebandrija, Khristian

    2017-12-01

    This paper comprises discussion of Green Innovation and Sustainable Industrial Systems within Sustainability and Company Improvement Perspective of beverage manufacturing company (BMC). The stakeholder theory is the grand theory for the company improvement perspective in this paper. The data processing in this paper is conducted through software which are SEM-PLS with SmartPLS 2.0 and SPSS 19. The specified objective of this paper has focus on sustainability as one of 6 variables, in lieu of those 6 variables as the big picture. The reason behind this focus on sustainability is the fact that there are assorted challenges in sustainability that is ranging from economic, environment and company perspectives. Those challenges in sustainability include the sustainable service supply chain management and its involvement of society. The overall objective is to analyze relationship hypothesis of 6 variables, 4 of them (leadership, organizational learning, innovation, and performance) are based on Malcolm Baldrige’s performance excellence concept to achieve sustainability and competitive advantage through company-competitor and customer questionnaire, and its relation to Total Quality Management (TQM) and Quality Management System (QMS). In conclusion, the spearheaded of company improvement in this paper is in term of consumer satisfaction through 99.997% quality standards. These can be achieved by ambidexterity through exploitation and exploration innovation. Furthermore, in this paper, TQM enables to obtain popularity brand index achievement that is greater than 45.9%. Subsequently, ISO22000 of food security standard encompasses quality standard of ISO9000 and HACCP. Through the ambidexterity of exploitation and exploration (Non Standard Product Inspection) NOSPI machine, the company improvement generates the achievement of 75% automation, 99.997% quality control standard and 80% of waste reduction.

  15. PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS OF MANAGEMENT OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Inna Tomashuk

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of the research is to study problems of rural development management, to analyse the effectiveness of management of the resource potential of rural areas, and to study the socio-economic priorities of their development, as well as to determine the justified ways of their solution in modern conditions. Methodology. The system approach to studying the development of rural areas makes it possible to consider components in the relationship between themselves and interaction with components of other systems. The state, problems, and prospects of rural development management are considered. The necessity of significant changes in the state policy of rural management is determined. It is substantiated that the current trends in the development of rural areas of Ukraine take place in the direction of narrowing the sphere of application of labour and the mismatch of professional and skilled workers’ quality to the needs of employers, and the growth of unemployment. The results showed that the revival of rural areas depends primarily on the level of economic development of the country. Multifunctional development of the village should be carried out taking into account the integrated approach to solving the problems of the agrarian complex, villages, rural areas in general, through the combination of interests of inhabitants of rural areas, rural communities, local government, and the state, applying social and economic levers of regulation of the relevant relations in conjunction with the organizational and legal ones. The subject of the research is the mechanisms for managing the development of rural areas. The emphasis is made on the imperfection of the modern mechanism of the financial and economic provision of rural development management, in particular, regarding the distribution of state budget funds in this area. The impact of a clear state policy that is aimed at supporting regional development is outlined. The importance of the

  16. A System of Systems (SoS) Approach to Sustainable Energy Planning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Madani, Kaveh; Hadian, Saeed

    2015-04-01

    The general policy of mandating fossil fuel replacement with "green" energies may not be as effective and environmental-friendly as perceived, due to the secondary impacts of renewable energies on different natural resources. An integrated systems analysis framework is essential to developing sustainable energy supply systems with minimal unintended impacts on valuable natural resources such as water, climate, and ecosystem. This presentation discusses how a system of systems (SoS) framework can be developed to quantitatively evaluate the desirability of different energy supply alternatives with respect to different sustainability criteria under uncertainty. Relative Aggregate Footprint (RAF) scores of a range of renewable and nonrenewable energy alternatives are determined using their performance values under four sustainability criteria, namely carbon footprint, water footprint, land footprint, and cost of energy production. Our results suggest that despite their lower emissions, some renewable energy sources are less promising than non-renewable energy sources from a SoS perspective that considers the trade-offs between carbon footprint of energies and their effects on water, ecosystem, and economic resources. A new framework based on the Modern Portfolio Theory (MPT) is also proposed for analyzing the overall sustainability of different energy mixes for different risk of return levels with respect to the trade-offs involved. It is discussed how the proposed finance-based sustainability evaluation method can help policy makers maximize the energy portfolio's expected sustainability for a given amount of portfolio risk, or equivalently minimize risk for a given level of expected sustainability level, by revising the energy mix.

  17. Virginia Sustainable Travel Choices : Effects of Land Use and Location on Current and Future Travel Options

    Science.gov (United States)

    2015-06-01

    Diverse states like Virginia, with a mix of urban, suburban, and rural environments and transportation systems, cannot rely on a single approach to increasing transportation sustainability, but require an understanding of what has worked and what mig...

  18. Sustainability Impact Assessment of land use policies

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Helming, K.; Pérez-Soba, M.; Tabbush, P.

    2008-01-01

    The principle of multi-functionality simultaneously considers a variety of social, economic and environmental goods and services related to land use. It is thus a key to sustainable development of land and rural areas. Land use policies seek to support the economic competitiveness and sustainable

  19. Assessing the sustainability of small wastewater systems

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hoffmann, Birgitte; Nielsen, Susanne Balslev; Elle, Morten

    1999-01-01

    The authors present a planning tool for comparing and assessing the sustainability of different wastewater systems. The core of the planning tool is an assessment method based on both technical and social elements. The point of departure is that no technique is inherently sustainable or ecological...... in itself, but that the sustainability of the total system of technologies for a particular settlement in a given location must be assessed in a holistic and transparent manner. A pilot case is used to demonstrate the structure and the results of the assessment method. The assessment method is still under...

  20. Environmental Sustainability of Some Cropping Systems in the ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Results from most findings reviewed in this paper had shown that there was no one size fits cropping system that can be use for sustainability of the humid environment but the best approach was the diversification of both traditional and modern cropping systems. The transition to systems which are both sustainable and ...

  1. China's rural energy system and management

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Catania, Peter

    1999-01-01

    The issues related to rural energy development and the corresponding escalating economic activities have given rise to a complex, interrelationship among societal, economics, energy, environment and rural policies. With 7% of the world's farm land to produce food for 23% of the world's population, combined with the increasing energy demands for modernised farming has resulted in a dynamic rural energy policy for China. This paper discusses the characteristics of a rural society, outlines the relationship for rural energy supply and demand management, and discusses the interrelationship between energy and the environment utilisation. An illustration of the diffusion of biomass as a success story highlights some of the policies related to self-building, self-managing and self-using. Also discussed in this paper are the results of the integrated rural energy-policy, that is, the social benefits to farmers and the decrease of energy consumption per unit of output. Emerging nations must undertake a comprehensive analysis and synthesis of their respective rural energy developments and the corresponding interrelationships between technology, economics and the environment. (Author)

  2. Innovation Systems for Inclusive Development : Lessons from Rural ...

    International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

    Both China and India are currently attempting to balance rapid economic growth, ... Interrogating innovation systems : challenges of the excluded rural in India ... IWRA/IDRC webinar on climate change and adaptive water management.

  3. Scientific appraisal of the Irish grass-based milk production system as a sustainable source of premium quality milk and dairy products

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    O’Brien B.

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available The Irish dairy industry is critically important to the economy and general well-being of a large section of the Irish population. Its quality, sustainability and maintenance are the key for a vibrant rural society in the future. Two important elements for the future of this industry include (a the quality, marketing and sale of dairy products on the export market and (b sustainability from the perspectives of people, planet and profit. This paper provides a short review of current scientific evidence in relation to a number of topics, each of which is important in maintaining and developing dairy product quality and the sustainability of the Irish dairy industry. The topics addressed in the paper are as follows: the parameters of milk composition; milk processing; hygiene quality and safety; farm management practices and the regulations that govern such practices; animal health and welfare; environmental impacts; economic implications for farm families and rural communities; and the overall future sustainability of the family-based dairy farm structure.

  4. Life Cycle Thinking, Measurement and Management for Food System Sustainability.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pelletier, Nathan

    2015-07-07

    Food systems critically contribute to our collective sustainability outcomes. Improving food system sustainability requires life cycle thinking, measurement and management strategies. This article reviews the status quo and future prospects for bringing life cycle approaches to food system sustainability to the fore.

  5. Environmental resources and poverty in rural communities

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Charlery, Lindy Callen

    , is to be sustainably realized. However, most datasets on rural livelihoods do not accurately account for environmental income and therefore cannot answer this question. The Poverty Environment Network (PEN) project was initiated specifically to address this issue in the assessment of rural livelihoods in developing......D study focuses on answering two main research questions: 1) What is the importance of environmental income in assessments of poverty and poverty dynamics in rural forest reliant communities? and 2) What are the impacts of infrastructural development, in the form of rural roads, on rural household income......Over the last two decades, the burgeoning empirical evidence on the importance of forests and environmental resources to rural livelihoods in developing countries has attracted the attention of policy makers aiming to develop and implement strategies for reducing poverty and improving livelihoods...

  6. Access to Drinking Water and Sanitation in Rural Kazakhstan.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tussupova, Kamshat; Hjorth, Peder; Berndtsson, Ronny

    2016-11-09

    The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) require nations to ensure adequate water supply for all. For Kazakhstan, this means that rural areas will need much stronger attention as they have been rather neglected in efforts to comply with the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). This study aims to establish a baseline data concerning the current situation in villages that will need interventions according to the SDGs. The study was performed by means of questionnaires. The results should be seen as initial guidelines that can help to illuminate some of the uncounted challenges in future efforts to meet the SDG targets. As hardly any information exists about sanitation in rural Kazakhstan, the study essentially focuses on water services. The results show that 65% of rural dwellers want to connect and pay for the piped water supply. At the same time, about 80% have toilets outside their home. Consequently, the water program aiming at providing 80% of rural people with access to tap water from a centralized piped system will not be possible. However, by carefully managing the existing water supply and sanitation system in joint collaboration with the local users, significant progress can be made. The present results show the important first steps that need to be taken in this direction.

  7. Access to Drinking Water and Sanitation in Rural Kazakhstan

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kamshat Tussupova

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs require nations to ensure adequate water supply for all. For Kazakhstan, this means that rural areas will need much stronger attention as they have been rather neglected in efforts to comply with the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs. This study aims to establish a baseline data concerning the current situation in villages that will need interventions according to the SDGs. The study was performed by means of questionnaires. The results should be seen as initial guidelines that can help to illuminate some of the uncounted challenges in future efforts to meet the SDG targets. As hardly any information exists about sanitation in rural Kazakhstan, the study essentially focuses on water services. The results show that 65% of rural dwellers want to connect and pay for the piped water supply. At the same time, about 80% have toilets outside their home. Consequently, the water program aiming at providing 80% of rural people with access to tap water from a centralized piped system will not be possible. However, by carefully managing the existing water supply and sanitation system in joint collaboration with the local users, significant progress can be made. The present results show the important first steps that need to be taken in this direction.

  8. Utilising a collective case study system theory mixed methods approach: a rural health example.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Adams, Robyn; Jones, Anne; Lefmann, Sophie; Sheppard, Lorraine

    2014-07-28

    Insight into local health service provision in rural communities is limited in the literature. The dominant workforce focus in the rural health literature, while revealing issues of shortage of maldistribution, does not describe service provision in rural towns. Similarly aggregation of data tends to render local health service provision virtually invisible. This paper describes a methodology to explore specific aspects of rural health service provision with an initial focus on understanding rurality as it pertains to rural physiotherapy service provision. A system theory-case study heuristic combined with a sequential mixed methods approach to provide a framework for both quantitative and qualitative exploration across sites. Stakeholder perspectives were obtained through surveys and in depth interviews. The investigation site was a large area of one Australian state with a mix of rural, regional and remote communities. 39 surveys were received from 11 locations within the investigation site and 19 in depth interviews were conducted. Stakeholder perspectives of rurality and workforce numbers informed the development of six case types relevant to the exploration of rural physiotherapy service provision. Participant perspective of rurality often differed with the geographical classification of their location. The numbers of onsite colleagues and local access to health services contributed to participant perceptions of rurality. The complexity of understanding the concept of rurality was revealed by interview participants when providing their perspectives about rural physiotherapy service provision. Dual measures, such as rurality and workforce numbers, provide more relevant differentiation of sites to explore specific services, such rural physiotherapy service provision, than single measure of rurality as defined by geographic classification. The system theory-case study heuristic supports both qualitative and quantitative exploration in rural health services

  9. Models of rural disperse electrification by means of renewable energies in Latin America: an alternative proposal based on rural development

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fuentes, M.; Fuentes, M.; Alvarez, M.

    2004-01-01

    This paper discusses the overdue change in the processes of rural electrification by means of renewable energies. The actors involve in these processes have failed to contemplate every dimension of this issue: Social, Institutional, Technological, Economical, Financial and Political. We will account for the reason why the concept of sustainability must be closely related to that of local socioeconomic development. Rural electrification must be a vector for social development. It is in this context that it cannot depend exclusively on the market and its actors, but it must be immersed within rural development planning. For this new paradigm to work properly, donor agencies -mainly- should understand the dynamics of socioeconomic development, contemplating the different local characteristics of small rural communities; they should provide genuine financial support within an adequate regulatory framework and active participation should be encouraged, both of the local community and of local enterprises. The sustainability of these initiatives is determined not only by the consideration of the dimensions above but also by the creation of labour possibilities or lack thereof. (authors)

  10. Digital Earth – A sustainable Earth

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mahavir

    2014-01-01

    All life, particularly human, cannot be sustainable, unless complimented with shelter, poverty reduction, provision of basic infrastructure and services, equal opportunities and social justice. Yet, in the context of cities, it is believed that they can accommodate more and more people, endlessly, regardless to their carrying capacity and increasing ecological footprint. The 'inclusion', for bringing more and more people in the purview of development is often limited to social and economic inclusion rather than spatial and ecological inclusion. Economic investment decisions are also not always supported with spatial planning decisions. Most planning for a sustainable Earth, be at a level of rural settlement, city, region, national or Global, fail on the capacity and capability fronts. In India, for example, out of some 8,000 towns and cities, Master Plans exist for only about 1,800. A chapter on sustainability or environment is neither statutorily compulsory nor a norm for these Master Plans. Geospatial technologies including Remote Sensing, GIS, Indian National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI), Indian National Urban Information Systems (NUIS), Indian Environmental Information System (ENVIS), and Indian National GIS (NGIS), etc. have potential to map, analyse, visualize and take sustainable developmental decisions based on participatory social, economic and social inclusion. Sustainable Earth, at all scales, is a logical and natural outcome of a digitally mapped, conceived and planned Earth. Digital Earth, in fact, itself offers a platform to dovetail the ecological, social and economic considerations in transforming it into a sustainable Earth

  11. Towards systemic sustainable performance of TBI care systems: emergency leadership frontiers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Caro, Denis H J

    2010-11-10

    Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) continue as a twenty-first century subterranean and almost invisible scourge internationally. TBI care systems provide a safety net for survival, recovery, and reintegration into social communities from this scourge, particularly in Canada, the European Union, and the USA. This paper examines the underlying issues of systemic performance and sustainability of TBI care systems, in the light of decreasing care resources and increasing demands for services. This paper reviews the extant literature on TBI care systems, systems reengineering, and emergency leadership literature. This paper presents a seven care layer paradigm, which forms the essence of systemic performance in the care of patients with TBIs. It also identifies five key strategic drivers that hold promise for the future systemic sustainability of TBI care systems. Transformational leadership and engagement from the international emergency medical community is the key to generating positive change. The sustainability/performance care framework is relevant and pertinent for consideration internationally and in the context of other emergency medical populations.

  12. National rural drinking water monitoring: progress and challenges with India's IMIS database

    OpenAIRE

    Wescoat, James; Fletcher, Sarah Marie; Novellino, Marianna

    2015-01-01

    National drinking water programs seek to address monitoring challenges that include self-reporting, data sampling, data consistency and quality, and sufficient frequency to assess the sustainability of water systems. India stands out for its comprehensive rural water database known as Integrated Management Information System (IMIS), which conducts annual monitoring of drinking water coverage, water quality, and related program components from the habitation level to the district, state, and n...

  13. PSSD - Planning System for Sustainable Development

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    PSSD - Planning System for Sustainable Development - is a part of the Baltic Sea Region's INTERREG II C program. The current report describes some theories, methods and tools developed under the PSSD project. First, the theoretical foundation of the project is described. Secondly, the role...... of indicators in sustainable development is discussed and a Web-based indicator generator is described. Thirdly, we describe a number of methods and tools, which support planning for sustainable development. Finally, some technical interface tools - especially a Web-based interface to the methods and tools...

  14. The rural areas electrification with a hybrid photovoltaic systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kocev, Kiril I.; Dimitrov, Dimitar; Tudzharov, Gjorgji

    2001-01-01

    Depending on a daily load demand, distance from the utility grid and the available solar energy, the rural villages electrification with a hybrid photovoltaic (PV) system can be a cheaper solution than the classic electrification, by connecting them to the utility grid. Besides PV generator, the considered hybrid system is consisted of a battery and a diesel gen set. For the concrete case - rural village with estimated daily load demand of 15.5 kWh/day, with the computer program PVFORM, which is modified for such hybrid system, were simulated a few hundreds PV systems, with different sizes of the PV generator and of the battery capacity. Analyzing the obtained results, it can be foreseen the influence of the component size on the system functionality. From the mass of possible system combinations, it is chosen one that has 42 % lower initial investment, than the initial investment for connection of the village to the utility grid. (Original)

  15. Rural environmental planning in a family farm: education, extension and sustainability

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dayana Almeida

    Full Text Available ABSTRACT: Developing research, teaching and extension in university programs is fundamental to capacitate professionals for the challenging endeavors. Considering the importance of these three university functions as relevant learning practices, the objective of this study was to analyze qualitatively the development of teaching project proposals associated with extension activities, directed to the rural environmental planning in an Agricultural Production Unit, in order to identify the issues and their degree of applicability. Twenty project proposals were developed in the "Rural Environmental Planning" course to plan an Agricultural Production Unit, which were subsequently evaluated by the farmer. This discipline is part of the Bachelor's degree course in Environmental Management and Analysis of the Universidade Federal de São Carlos. The projects followed qualitative research methods using the systemic and participatory approach. At the end of the process the farmer answered an evaluation matrix of the projects. Development of the projects was particularly important for the students and for their knowledge on the various topics covered, which also resulted in factual improvement perspectives in the Agricultural Production Unit. Construction of knowledge was participatory and integrated between the students and farmer.

  16. Sustainable Transport in Romania vs. European Union. Analysis of Road Transport System from the Sustainable Transport Perspective

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Clitan Andrei - Florin

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available Sustainability is a term used more often lately, based on three factors: social, economic, and environmental. Sustainable transport systems increase social cohesion, reduce environmental problems and help create a more efficient economy. Sustainable transport consists in a complex system that is designed to ensure mobility needs of present generations without damaging the environment and health factors. By improving energy and material consumption, it must be capable to satisfy in optimum conditions the need for mobility for future generations. The current transportation system has not a character of sustainability.

  17. Sustainability and deliberate transition of socio-technical systems

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hansen, Ole Erik; Søndergård, Bent; Stærdahl, Jens

    or developing socio-technical systems in order to integrate the concept of sustainability as a driver for the deliberate and purposeful shaping and transition. The article discusses the requirements to effective governance networks and governing of governance networks. Research within innovation systems......The article suggests that deliberate planning for sustainability demands a focus on the transition of socio-technical systems in order to establish robust and more sustainable patterns of production and consumption. This implies the necessity of a new perspective for environmental planning......, transition management and technology systems combined with planning and experimental activities provides both a theoretical and empirical body of knowledge of such governance processes. The article discusses how this perspective can be used in relation to the process of developing bio-fuel systems...

  18. Multilevel and multi-user sustainability assessment of farming systems

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Van Passel, Steven, E-mail: Steven.vanpassel@uhasselt.be [Hasselt University, Faculty of Business Economics, Centre for Environmental Sciences, Agoralaan, Building D, 3590, Diepenbeek (Belgium); University of Antwerp, Department Bioscience Engineering, Groenenborgerlaan 171, 2020 Antwerp (Belgium); Meul, Marijke [University College Ghent, Department of Biosciences and Landscape Architecture, Campus Schoonmeersen, Building C, Schoonmeersstraat 52, 9000, Gent (Belgium)

    2012-01-15

    Sustainability assessment is needed to build sustainable farming systems. A broad range of sustainability concepts, methodologies and applications already exists. They differ in level, focus, orientation, measurement, scale, presentation and intended end-users. In this paper we illustrate that a smart combination of existing methods with different levels of application can make sustainability assessment more profound, and that it can broaden the insights of different end-user groups. An overview of sustainability assessment tools on different levels and for different end-users shows the complementarities and the opportunities of using different methods. In a case-study, a combination of the sustainable value approach (SVA) and MOTIFS is used to perform a sustainability evaluation of farming systems in Flanders. SVA is used to evaluate sustainability at sector level, and is especially useful to support policy makers, while MOTIFS is used to support and guide farmers towards sustainability at farm level. The combined use of the two methods with complementary goals can widen the insights of both farmers and policy makers, without losing the particularities of the different approaches. To stimulate and support further research and applications, we propose guidelines for multilevel and multi-user sustainability assessments. - Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer We give an overview of sustainability assessment tools for agricultural systems. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer SVA and MOTIFS are used to evaluate the sustainability of dairy farming in Flanders. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Combination of methods with different levels broadens the insights of different end-user groups. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer We propose guidelines for multilevel and multi-user sustainability assessments.

  19. Multilevel and multi-user sustainability assessment of farming systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Van Passel, Steven; Meul, Marijke

    2012-01-01

    Sustainability assessment is needed to build sustainable farming systems. A broad range of sustainability concepts, methodologies and applications already exists. They differ in level, focus, orientation, measurement, scale, presentation and intended end-users. In this paper we illustrate that a smart combination of existing methods with different levels of application can make sustainability assessment more profound, and that it can broaden the insights of different end-user groups. An overview of sustainability assessment tools on different levels and for different end-users shows the complementarities and the opportunities of using different methods. In a case-study, a combination of the sustainable value approach (SVA) and MOTIFS is used to perform a sustainability evaluation of farming systems in Flanders. SVA is used to evaluate sustainability at sector level, and is especially useful to support policy makers, while MOTIFS is used to support and guide farmers towards sustainability at farm level. The combined use of the two methods with complementary goals can widen the insights of both farmers and policy makers, without losing the particularities of the different approaches. To stimulate and support further research and applications, we propose guidelines for multilevel and multi-user sustainability assessments. - Highlights: ► We give an overview of sustainability assessment tools for agricultural systems. ► SVA and MOTIFS are used to evaluate the sustainability of dairy farming in Flanders. ► Combination of methods with different levels broadens the insights of different end-user groups. ► We propose guidelines for multilevel and multi-user sustainability assessments.

  20. Sustainability of thermoplastic vinyl roofing membrane systems

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Graveline, S. P. [Sika Sanarfil, Canton, (United States)

    2010-07-01

    The International Council for Research and Innovation in Building and Construction (CIB-RILEM) has developed a framework for sustainable roofing based on a series of tenets divided into three key areas: preservation of the environment, conservation of energy, and extended roof life. This paper investigated the sustainability of thermoplastic vinyl roof membranes using these guidelines and the relevant tenets for roof system selection. Several tenets provided alternatives for minimizing the burden on the environment using non-renewable raw materials, conserving energy with thermal insulation, and extending the lifespan of all roof components by using long lasting membranes. A life cycle assessment was carried out to provide a quantitative framework for assessing the sustainability of roofing materials. It was found that the PVC membrane systems had a lesser impact on the environment than other competing systems.

  1. Designing sustainable work systems: the need for a systems approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zink, Klaus J

    2014-01-01

    There is a growing discussion concerning sustainability. While this discussion was at first mainly focused on a society level--and sometimes regarding especially environmental problems, one can now see that this topic is of increasing relevance for companies worldwide and even the social dimension of this three pillar approach is gaining more and more importance. This leads to some questions: Is sustainability already a part of human factors thinking or do we have to further develop our discipline? How can we define sustainable work systems? What are the topics we have to consider? Do we need a new systems ergonomics perspective regarding whole value creation chains and a life-cycle perspective concerning products (and work systems)? How can we deal with potential contradictions about social, ecological, and economic goals? Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd and The Ergonomics Society. All rights reserved.

  2. The potential impact of rural mayday systems on vehicular crash fatalities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Evanco, W M

    1999-09-01

    Rural mayday systems can reduce the time between the occurrence of an accident and the notification of emergency medical services--called the accident notification time. Reductions in this time, in turn, may affect the numbers of fatalities. A statistical analysis is used to estimate the quantitative relationship between fatalities and the accident notification time. The elasticity of rural fatalities with respect to the accident notification time was found to be 0.14. If a rural mayday system were fully implemented (i.e. a 100% market penetration) and the service availability were 100%, then we would expect monetary benefits of about $1.83 billion per year and comprehensive benefits (which includes the monetary value attached to the lost quality of life) of $6.37 billion per year.

  3. The role of health system governance in strengthening the rural health insurance system in China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yuan, Beibei; Jian, Weiyan; He, Li; Wang, Bingyu; Balabanova, Dina

    2017-05-23

    Systems of governance play a key role in the operation and performance of health systems. In the past six decades, China has made great advances in strengthening its health system, most notably in establishing a health insurance system that enables residents of rural areas to achieve access to essential services. Although there have been several studies of rural health insurance schemes, these have focused on coverage and service utilization, while much less attention has been given to the role of governance in designing and implementing these schemes. Information from publications and policy documents relevant to the development of two rural health insurance policies in China was obtained, analysed, and synthesise. 92 documents on CMS (Cooperative Medical Scheme) or NCMS (New Rural Cooperative Medical Scheme) from four databases searched were included. Data extraction and synthesis of the information were guided by a framework that drew on that developed by the WHO to describe health system governance and leadership. We identified a series of governance practices that were supportive of progress, including the prioritisation by the central government of health system development and certain health policies within overall national development; strong government commitment combined with a hierarchal administrative system; clear policy goals coupled with the ability for local government to adopt policy measures that take account of local conditions; and the accumulation and use of the evidence generated from local practices. However these good practices were not seen in all governance domains. For example, poor collaboration between different government departments was shown to be a considerable challenge that undermined the operation of the insurance schemes. China's success in achieving scale up of CMS and NCMS has attracted considerable interest in many low and middle income countries (LMICs), especially with regard to the schemes' designs, coverage, and funding

  4. Understanding sustainability from an exergetic frame in complex adaptive systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Aguilar Hernandez, Glem Alonso

    2017-01-01

    The concept of sustainability was developed from thermodynamic properties applied to complex adaptive systems. The origins of the perception about sustainable development and limitation in its application to analyze the interaction between a system and its surroundings were described. The properties of a complex adaptive system were taken as basis to determine how a system can to be affected by the resources restriction and irreversibility of the processes. The complex adaptive system was understood using the first and second law of thermodynamics, generating a conceptual framework to define the sustainability of a system. The contributions developed by exergy were shown to analyze the sustainability of systems in an economic, social and environmental context [es

  5. Rural Residents’ Perception of Construction Project Delays in Pakistan

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shahid Hussain

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available The construction industry is one of the key sectors that facilitate sustainable economic and social development in the region. Currently, community development mechanisms are adopted by many developed and developing nations, aimed at enhancing economic growth and quality of life along with social welfare of the local community. This study reviews the rural residents’ perception of public construction project delays and aims to explore economic and social challenges confronted by residents, especially in rural areas in Pakistan. A questionnaire with 26 factors identified from the literature was sent to rural educated residents. Through a questionnaire survey, the opinions of rural residents were sought and tested. Based on 366 (73% valid responses, this study examined the socio-economic influencing factors. The findings of the study revealed that problems faced while traveling, increase the price of consumer goods, high transportation costs, lack of educational opportunities, more expenditures on education, and barriers to primary healthcare access were the top most important factors. Research results confirmed that the delays in construction projects negatively affect the socio-economic conditions of the rural community, which directly influence the rural dwells’ sustainable life. The research findings suggest that the practitioners in public sector organization make sure to execute the project on time and within the quality. Otherwise, it has negative socio-economic implications for the rural community.

  6. Joys and challenges of relationships in Scotland and New Zealand rural midwifery: A multicentre study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Crowther, Susan; Deery, Ruth; Daellenbach, Rea; Davies, Lorna; Gilkison, Andrea; Kensington, Mary; Rankin, Jean

    2018-04-21

    Globally there are challenges meeting the recruitment and retention needs for rural midwifery. Rural practice is not usually recognised as important and feelings of marginalisation amongst this workforce are apparent. Relationships are interwoven throughout midwifery and are particularly evident in rural settings. However, how these relationships are developed and sustained in rural areas is unclear. To study the significance of relationships in rural midwifery and provide insights to inform midwifery education. Multi-centre study using online surveys and discussion groups across New Zealand and Scotland. Descriptive and template analysis were used to organise, examine and analyse the qualitative data. Rural midwives highlighted how relationships with health organisations, each other and women and their families were both a joy and a challenge. Social capital was a principal theme. Subthemes were (a) working relationships, (b) respectful communication, (c) partnerships, (d) interface tensions, (e) gift of time facilitates relationships. To meet the challenges of rural practice the importance of relationship needs acknowledging. Relationships are created, built and sustained at a distance with others who have little appreciation of the rural context. Social capital for rural midwives is thus characterised by social trust, community solidarity, shared values and working together for mutual benefit. Rural communities generally exhibit high levels of social capital and this is key to sustainable rural midwifery practice. Midwives, educationalists and researchers need to address the skills required for building social capital in rural midwifery practice. These skills are important in midwifery pre- and post-registration curricula. Copyright © 2018 Australian College of Midwives. All rights reserved.

  7. Solar lighting system delivery models for rural areas in developing countries

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Koirala, Binod Prasad; Ortiz, Brisa [Freiburg Univ. (DE). Center for Renewable Energy (ZEE); Fraunhofer-Institut fuer Solare Energiesysteme (ISE), Freiburg im Breisgau (Germany); Modi, Anish [KTH Royal Inst. of Technology, Stockholm (Sweden); Mathur, Jyotirmay [Malaviya National Institute of Technology, Jaipur (India); Kafle, Nashib [Alternative Energy Promotion Center (AEPC), Kathmandu (Nepal)

    2011-07-01

    Many rural areas in developing countries will not have electricity access from the central grid for several years to come. Autonomous Solar Lighting Systems (SLS) are attractive and enviromentally friendly options for replacing kerosene lamps and providing basic lighting services to such areas. In order to highlight the benefits of these technologies, analysis of reduction in indoor air pollution due to replacement of kerosene lamp by SLS has been carried out. Use of SLS in place of kerosene lamps saves an equivalent of 1341 kg CO{sub 2} emissions per annum from each household. If a suitable mechanism is created, this amount of GHG emissions saving could alone be sufficient to finance solar lighting system for rural households. However, these technologies have not reached most of the poor population. In order to guarantee the access of solar lighting to the people at the Base of the Pyramid (BOP), strengths of different organizations working in the rural areas should be combined together to form successful business models. This paper will discuss business models to disseminate such services to needy people. A comparative study of SLS delivery models based on cash, credit, leasing, subsidy and service is performed. In addition, SWOT analysis for each model is employed. Further, Case studies of few projects to elaborate different models are also presented. If suitable business models for its delivery to rural people are considered, solar lighting systems are viable for providing basic lighting needs of rural areas in developing countries. (orig.)

  8. Paradigmas del mercado financiero rural en países en desarrollo.

    OpenAIRE

    Fuentes Méndez, Luis Alberto; Gutiérrez S., Alejandro

    2007-01-01

    1.- Artículos Tenencia de la tierra y desarrollo rural sostenible: algunos puntos para la reflexión en el caso venezolano. Land tenure and sustained rural development: points for reflecting on the Venezuelan case. Tenure de la terre et développement rural durable : quelques points pour la réflexion dans le cas du Venezuela. Delahaye, Olivier Paradigmas del mercado financiero rural en países en desarrollo. Paradigms in the rural financial markets in developing countries. ...

  9. Pico hydro power for rural electrification in developing countries

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Maher, P.; Smith, N.P.A.; Williams, A.A.

    1998-01-01

    Pico hydro power is a renewable energy system which has the potential to provide millions of rural people world-wide with a cheap, sustainable source of electricity. The development of new, cost-reducing approaches, including local manufacture and implementation in developing countries, has increased the accessibility of this technology to large numbers of people. The new approaches are investigated and some of the present constraints to wider adoption of this technology are analysed. (Author)

  10. Assessment of community led total sanitation uptake in rural Kenya

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    K. N. Ogendo, Bsc, MPH, Living goods Nairobi, Kenya,Ministry of Health, Environmental Health ... led drive to set up pit latrines in rural kenya with an aim of promoting sustainable ... Development and Sustainable Development goals lay.

  11. A sustainability assessment system for Chinese iron and steel firms

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Long, Yunguang; Pan, Jieyi; Farooq, Sami

    2016-01-01

    from financial and sustainability reports of four leading Chinese iron and steel firms. The proposed sustainable assessment system is envisaged to help Chinese iron and steel firms to objectively investigate their sustainability performance, provide clear and effective information to decision makers......The environmental impact of the Chinese iron and steel industry is huge due to its high consumption of ore, coal and energy, and water and air pollution. It is important not only for China but also for the rest of the world that the Chinese iron and steel industry becomes more sustainable....... A sustainable assessment indicator system is an important tool to support that development. Currently, however, a sustainable assessment system, specifically designed to match the characteristics of Chinese iron and steel firms, is not available. In this paper such a system is proposed and evaluated using data...

  12. La incidencia social de las microfinanzas rurales de la Cooperativa Coopmego en el cantón Paltas - 2011

    OpenAIRE

    Tacuri Peña, Lorena del Cisne

    2015-01-01

    The present study expects to develop an analysis about the incidence of rural microfinance, to contribute and determine the actual perspective on the growth of the same, in the economic environment and their financial sustainability in 2011 and help to determine the actual growth of the Microfinance in the system of credit cooperatives of Paltas Canton. In recent years, rural microfinances have evolved, experienced a remarkable growth, expanding its coverage and improving its services, demons...

  13. Beliefs and expectations of rural hospital practitioners towards a developing trauma system: A qualitative case study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Adams, Ryan D F; Cole, Elaine; Brundage, Susan I; Morrison, Zoe; Jansen, Jan O

    2018-03-22

    An understanding of stakeholders' views is key to the successful development and operation of a rural trauma system. Scotland, which has large remote and rural areas, is currently implementing a national trauma system. The aim of this study was to identify key barriers and enablers to the development of an effective trauma system from the perspective of rural healthcare professionals. This is a qualitative study, which was conducted in rural general hospitals (RGH) in Scotland, from April to June 2017. We used an opportunistic sampling strategy to include hospital providers of rural trauma care across the region. Semi-structured interviews were conducted, recorded, and transcribed. Thematic analysis was used to identify and group participant perspectives on key barriers and enablers to the development of the new trauma system. We conducted 15 interviews with 18 participants in six RGHs. Study participants described barriers and enablers across three themes: 1) quality of care, 2) interfaces within the system and 3) interfaces with the wider healthcare system. For quality of care, enablers included confidence in basic trauma management, whilst a perceived lack of change from current management was seen as a barrier. The theme of interfaces within the system identified good interaction with other services and a single point of contact for referral as enablers. Perceived barriers included challenges in referring to tertiary care. The final theme of interfaces with the wider healthcare system included an improved transport system, increased audit resource and coordinated clinical training as enablers. Perceived barriers included a rural staffing crisis and problematic patient transfer to further care. This study provides insight into rural professionals' perceptions regarding the implementation of a trauma system in rural Scotland. Barriers included practical issues, such as retrieval, transfer and referral processes. Importantly, there is a degree of uncertainty

  14. A Framework for Supporting Organizational Transition Processes Towards Sustainable Energy Systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Buch, Rajesh

    Economic development over the last century has driven a tripling of the world's population, a twenty-fold increase in fossil fuel consumption, and a tripling of traditional biomass consumption. The associated broad income and wealth inequities are retaining over 2 billion people in poverty. Adding to this, fossil fuel combustion is impacting the environment across spatial and temporal scales and the cost of energy is outpacing all other variable costs for most industries. With 60% of world energy delivered in 2008 consumed by the commercial and industrial sector, the fragmented and disparate energy-related decision making within organizations are largely responsible for the inefficient and impacting use of energy resources. The global transition towards sustainable development will require the collective efforts of national, regional, and local governments, institutions, the private sector, and a well-informed public. The leadership role in this transition could be provided by private and public sector organizations, by way of sustainability-oriented organizations, cultures, and infrastructure. The diversity in literature exemplifies the developing nature of sustainability science, with most sustainability assessment approaches and frameworks lacking transformational characteristics, tending to focus on analytical methods. In general, some shortfalls in sustainability assessment processes include lack of: · thorough stakeholder participation in systems and stakeholder mapping, · participatory envisioning of future sustainable states, · normative aggregation of results to provide an overall measure of sustainability, and · influence within strategic decision-making processes. Specific to energy sustainability assessments, while some authors aggregate results to provide overall sustainability scores, assessments have focused solely on energy supply scenarios, while including the deficits discussed above. This paper presents a framework for supporting

  15. Impact of rural residence and health system structure on quality of liver care.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Catherine Rongey

    Full Text Available Specialist physician concentration in urban areas can affect access and quality of care for rural patients. As effective drug treatment for hepatitis C (HCV becomes increasingly available, the extent to which rural patients needing HCV specialists face access or quality deficits is unknown. We sought to determine the influence of rural residency on access to HCV specialists and quality of liver care.The study used a national cohort of 151,965 Veterans Health Administration (VHA patients with HCV starting in 2005 and followed to 2009. The VHA's constant national benefit structure reduces the impact of insurance as an explanation for observed disparities. Multivariate cox proportion regression models for each quality indicator were performed.Thirty percent of VHA patients with HCV reside in rural and highly rural areas. Compared to urban residents, highly rural (HR 0.70, CI 0.65-0.75 and rural (HR 0.96, CI 0.94-0.97 residents were significantly less likely to access HCV specialty care. The quality indicators were more mixed. While rural residents were less likely to receive HIV screening, there were no significant differences in hepatitis vaccinations, endoscopic variceal and hepatocellular carcinoma screening between the geographic subgroups. Of note, highly rural (HR 1.31, CI 1.14-1.50 and rural residents (HR 1.06, CI 1.02-1.10 were more likely to receive HCV therapy. Of those treated for HCV, a third received therapy from a non-specialist provider.Rural patients have less access to HCV specialists, but this does not necessarily translate to quality deficits. The VHA's efforts to improve specialty care access, rural patient behavior and decentralization of HCV therapy beyond specialty providers may explain this contradiction. Lessons learned within the VHA are critical for US healthcare systems restructuring into accountable care organizations that acquire features of integrated systems.

  16. Certification systems for sustainable neighbourhoods: What do they really certify?

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wangel, Josefin, E-mail: josefin.wangel@abe.kth.se [Division of Environmental Strategies Analysis (fms), KTH Royal Institute of Technology, SE-100 44 Stockholm (Sweden); Wallhagen, Marita, E-mail: marita.wallhagen@hig.se [Division of Environmental Strategies Analysis (fms), KTH Royal Institute of Technology, SE-100 44 Stockholm (Sweden); Department of Building, Energy and Environmental Engineering, University of Gävle, SE-801 76 Gävle (Sweden); Malmqvist, Tove, E-mail: tove.malmqvist@abe.kth.se [Division of Environmental Strategies Analysis (fms), KTH Royal Institute of Technology, SE-100 44 Stockholm (Sweden); Finnveden, Göran, E-mail: goran.finnveden@abe.kth.se [Division of Environmental Strategies Analysis (fms), KTH Royal Institute of Technology, SE-100 44 Stockholm (Sweden)

    2016-01-15

    Certification systems for sustainable neighbourhoods started to emerge around a decade ago. This study analysed the content, structure, weighting and indicators of two established certification systems for sustainable urban development – BREEAM Communities and LEED for Neighborhood Development. Several limitations of these systems were identified: both have a bias for procedure and feature indicators over indicators that assess actual performance; performance demands are set according to a relative understanding of sustainable development; the focus is on internal sustainability, while upstream and downstream impacts of construction are disregarded; the number and distribution of mandatory issues do not cover essential sustainability aspects; and the disproportionately large number of non-mandatory issues makes benchmarking difficult and signals that sustainability aspects are exchangeable. Altogether, this means that an area can be certified without being sustainable. Moreover, the lack of continuous development of certification requirements in the systems means that they risk exerting a conservative effect on urban development, rather than pushing it forward. - Highlights: • BREEAM-C and LEED-ND were analysed in terms of content and structure. • Specific attention was given to the type of indicators used for showing compliance. • In both systems procedure and feature indicators dominate over performance indicators. • Several other limitations of these certification systems were also identified. • Altogether the limitations imply that a certificate does not warrant sustainability.

  17. Certification systems for sustainable neighbourhoods: What do they really certify?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wangel, Josefin; Wallhagen, Marita; Malmqvist, Tove; Finnveden, Göran

    2016-01-01

    Certification systems for sustainable neighbourhoods started to emerge around a decade ago. This study analysed the content, structure, weighting and indicators of two established certification systems for sustainable urban development – BREEAM Communities and LEED for Neighborhood Development. Several limitations of these systems were identified: both have a bias for procedure and feature indicators over indicators that assess actual performance; performance demands are set according to a relative understanding of sustainable development; the focus is on internal sustainability, while upstream and downstream impacts of construction are disregarded; the number and distribution of mandatory issues do not cover essential sustainability aspects; and the disproportionately large number of non-mandatory issues makes benchmarking difficult and signals that sustainability aspects are exchangeable. Altogether, this means that an area can be certified without being sustainable. Moreover, the lack of continuous development of certification requirements in the systems means that they risk exerting a conservative effect on urban development, rather than pushing it forward. - Highlights: • BREEAM-C and LEED-ND were analysed in terms of content and structure. • Specific attention was given to the type of indicators used for showing compliance. • In both systems procedure and feature indicators dominate over performance indicators. • Several other limitations of these certification systems were also identified. • Altogether the limitations imply that a certificate does not warrant sustainability.

  18. Effect of yogic education system and modern education system on sustained attention.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rangan, R; Nagendra, H R; Bhatt, Ramachandra

    2009-01-01

    Sustained attention is a vital function mediated by the right frontoparietal cortex. The Six Letter Cancellation Task (SLCT) measures sustained attention. Development of sustained attention in a yoga-based education system compared to a modern one is the theme of the present study. To compare the effectiveness of the Modern Education System (MES) and the Gurukula Education System (GES) in developing sustained attention. Forty nine boys (11-13 years) were selected from two residential schools, one MES and the other GES, providing similar ambiance and daily routines. The boys were matched for age and socioeconomic status. The GES educational program is based around integrated yoga modules while the MES provides a conventional modern education program. Sustained attention was assessed using the SLCT at the start and end of an academic year. Within groups, the pre-post test differences were significant for both groups. However, the between groups result showed improvement in the GES group compared to the MES group at a P < 0.001 significance level. The study suggests that both MES and GES improve sustained attention in school boys, but GES is more effective.

  19. Sustaining the rural primary healthcare workforce: survey of healthcare professionals in the Scottish Highlands.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Richards, Helen M; Farmer, Jane; Selvaraj, Sivasubramaniam

    2005-01-01

    Many westernised countries face ongoing difficulties in the recruitment and retention of health professionals in remote and rural communities. Predictors of rural working have been identified by the international literature, and include: the individual having been born or educated in a rural location; exposure to rural healthcare during training; access to continuing professional education; good relationships with peers; spousal contentedness; adoption of a rural 'lifestyle'; successful integration into local communities; and educational opportunities for children. However, those themes remain unverified in the UK. The present study aimed to ascertain whether the internationally identified determinants of recruitment and retention of the rural health workforce apply in the Highlands of Scotland, which includes the most sparsely populated area of the UK mainland, as well as an urban area. In 2003, a questionnaire was sent to all 2070 primary healthcare professionals working in the Highlands (which makes up one-third of Scotland's land area (9800 square miles) and has just 4% of the country's population (209,000)). Approximately one-quarter of the Highland's population live in Inverness. The area is ideal for investigating the rural workforce due to its population sparsity and the inclusion of small towns and Inverness, allowing urban/rural comparisons. The questionnaire asked about places of birth and education; intentions to stay/leave current location; professional isolation; access to amenities; and perceptions of belonging to the local community. The response rate was 53%. Compared with respondents working in urban areas, those working in rural areas were more likely to have been born in rural areas. Professionals living in rural areas were more likely to have been born outside Scotland and to have completed their secondary education and professional training outside Scotland, compared with those living in urban areas. Approximately one-third (34%) had lived in

  20. Private–Public Partnership as a Tool to Promote Entrepreneurship for Sustainable Development: WWP Torrearte Experience

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ignacio De Los Ríos-Carmenado

    2016-02-01

    Full Text Available There is growing interest in the ability of both private–public partnerships and entrepreneurship to promote sustainable rural development. This research outlines the historical chronology and the importance of the PPP (Private Public Partnership for rural entrepreneurship; the complexity of PPP management dimensions is also analyzed. In addition, this research is based on an empiric study of a PPP for entrepreneurship in sustainable development in the North Highland of Madrid’s community, with more than 20 years of experience. This PPP is managed according to the Working With People (WWP model, which is for the management of complex projects in the sustainable rural development field, and aims to promote the development of competences amongst the parties involved. The results show the positive effects in terms of entrepreneurship’s competences for sustainable rural development and the parties involved who create the PPP management model for entrepreneurship and the Torrearte Project.

  1. Rurality and resilience in education: place-based partnerships and ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    In an ongoing longitudinal intervention study (STAR)1 we found that, although similarities existed in the way teachers promoted resilience, rural schools (in comparison to other STAR case schools) took longer to implement strategies to buoy support and found it difficult to sustain such support. Using rurality we wanted to ...

  2. The design and installation of Solar Home Systems in rural Cambodia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rebecca Alice Watts

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available This study contends that solar home systems (SHS are an appropriate solution to provide affordable, reliable and clean electricity in rural Cambodia. SHS provide decentralised electricity suitable for the electricity needs of rural households and with the decreasing cost of solar energy technologies, SHS are becoming an increasingly competitive source of energy. This study details the design and installation of two SHS in a rural community in Cambodia. The SHS have replaced the use of kerosene lamps and supplemented car battery usage, which has generated a cost saving of USD$2.50-3.20 per month. The SHS have increased the hours of quality lighting making it possible for users to improve educational outcomes by studying at night and participating in private education classes as well as potentially extending their working hours that provides an opportunity to increase their income. Community involvement in the installation of SHS and participation in an education program has ensured transfer of knowledge about system operation and maintenance at a local level that has ensured economic, social and environmental were benefits. This study builds a case in support of solar energy at the household level in rural Cambodia and makes recommendations for the deployment of SHS in rural communities throughout the developing world.

  3. Transforming rural health systems through clinical academic leadership: lessons from South Africa.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Doherty, J E; Couper, I D; Campbell, D; Walker, J

    2013-01-01

    Under-resourced and poorly managed rural health systems challenge the achievement of universal health coverage, and require innovative strategies worldwide to attract healthcare staff to rural areas. One such strategy is rural health training programs for health professionals. In addition, clinical leadership (for all categories of health professional) is a recognised prerequisite for substantial improvements in the quality of care in rural settings. Rural health training programs have been slow to develop in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs); and the impact of clinical leadership is under-researched in such settings. A 2012 conference in South Africa, with expert input from South Africa, Canada and Australia, discussed these issues and produced recommendations for change that will also be relevant in other LMICs. The two underpinning principles were that: rural clinical leadership (both academic and non-academic) is essential to developing and expanding rural training programs and improving care in LMICs; and leadership can be learned and should be taught. The three main sets of recommendations focused on supporting local rural clinical academic leaders; training health professionals for leadership roles in rural settings; and advancing the clinical academic leadership agenda through advocacy and research. By adopting the detailed recommendations, South Africa and other LMICs could energise management strategies, improve quality of care in rural settings and impact positively on rural health outcomes.

  4. The role of cogeneration systems in sustainability of energy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Çakir, Uğur; Çomakli, Kemal; Yüksel, Fikret

    2012-01-01

    Highlights: ► Energy source on the world is tending to run out day by day while the energy need of humanity is increasing simultaneously. ► There are two ways to overcome this problem; one of them is renewable energy sources like solar or wind energy systems. ► The other way is like cogeneration systems. ► Cogeneration system is one of the ways to save the energy and use the energy efficiently. ► A case study is made for a hospital to present the sustainability aspects of cogeneration systems. - Abstract: Cogeneration system (CHP) is one of the ways to save the energy and use the energy efficiently. When compared to separate fossil-fired generation of heat and electricity, CHP may result in a consistent energy conservation (usually ranging from 10% to 30%) while the avoided CO 2 emissions are, as a first approximation, similar to the amount of energy saving. In terms of sustainability, one of the primary considerations is energy efficiency. Sustainable energy is considered as a kind of energy which is renewable and continuous, meaning that the use of such energy can potentially be kept up well into the future without causing harmful repercussions for future generations. In this study, environmental benefits and sustainability aspects of cogeneration systems and importance of those systems to the use of sustainable energy are underlined. To support this idea, first we have referred some scientific studies previously made on cogeneration systems and then we have used our own case study. The case study made on gas engined cogeneration system was applied for a hospital to show the sustainability aspects of cogeneration systems.

  5. Sustainability of animal production systems: an ecological perspective.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vavra, M

    1996-06-01

    The question of sustainability of agricultural production and the use of natural resources has become a popular topic. Most scientists agree that current systems are generally non-sustainable. Current rates of resource extraction will lead us to a depleted earth in the future. Sustainability is defined in many ways. For this paper sustainability should be considered the overlap of what is wanted and what is ecologically possible. Attempts have been made to place a quantitative measure on sustainability. However, it should be considered a trajectory or goal, a direction that guides constructive change, rather than a single quantitative measure. Research and extension personnel may have to take a broader look at their efforts and expand their knowledge base in order to address the issue of sustainable production systems. Both natural events and those caused by humans bring about changes in production potential that require shifts in management. Uncertainty and change should be incorporated into adaptive management strategies. Interdisciplinary efforts are needed to confront these issues. Animal scientists need to formulate management systems that are environmentally compatible or face restrictive legislation that will force change. Members of the American Society of Animal Science seem to agree: efficient and sustainable use of natural resources appears in the draft of the Strategic Plan of the Society, and a poll of members revealed that environmental concerns about animal agriculture was a primary issue facing animal scientists.

  6. Analysis of Affecting Factors and Construction of Index System of Rural Domestic Pollution in Guangxi Province

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Hong; Duan, Chunyi

    2018-01-01

    This paper systematically analysed the influential factors of rural domestic pollution in Guangxi and the current situation and evaluation index of rural domestic pollution, constructed moisture contents indexes system, which included two kinds of indicators in three levels, in a total of 19 indicators of rural domestic pollution. According to the moisture contents indexes system, a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods were adopted to make regionalization of rural domestic pollution in Guangxi more reasonable and provided scientific support for the prevention and control of rural domestic pollution in Guangxi Province.

  7. Rural Tourism and Local Development: Typical Productions of Lazio

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Francesco Maria Olivieri

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available The local development is based on the integration of the tourism sector with the whole economy. The rural tourism seems to be a good occasion to analyse the local development: consumption of "tourist products" located in specific local contexts. Starting from the food and wine supply chain and the localization of typical productions, the aim of the present work will be analyse the relationship with local development, rural tourism sustainability and accommodation system, referring to Lazio. Which are the findings to create tourism local system based on the relationship with touristic and food and wine supply chain? Italian tourism is based on accommodation system, so the whole consideration of the Italian cultural tourism: tourism made in Italy. The touristic added value to specific local context takes advantage from the synergy with food and wine supply chain: made in Italy of typical productions. Agritourism could be better accommodation typology to rural tourism and to exclusivity of consumption typical productions. The reciprocity among food and wine supply chain and tourism provides new insights on the key topics related to tourism development and to the organization of geographical space as well and considering its important contribution nowadays to the economic competitiveness.

  8. Energy efficiency and sustainability of complex biogas systems: A 3-level emergetic evaluation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chen, Shaoqing; Chen, Bin

    2014-01-01

    Highlights: • The metabolism of complex biogas system increased from 2000 to 2008. • System renewability has been increased due to biogas utilization. • Electricity, diesels and infrastructure were the most efficient supplies. • All processes were challenged by high transformity and low sustainability. - Abstract: Biogas engineering and the biogas-linked agricultural industries as a whole has been used as both a developmental strategy for rural new emergy and an important part of renewable agriculture revolution in China. In this paper, we proposed a 3-level emergetic evaluation framework to investigate the energy efficiency and sustainability of a complex biogas system (CBS) in South China, comprising agro-industries such as planting, aquaculture, breeding and biogas. The framework is capable of tracking dynamical behaviors of the whole complex system (Level I), transformation processes (Level II) and resource components (Level III) simultaneously. Two new indicators, emergy contribution rate (ECR) and emergy supply efficiency (ESE) were developed to address the contribution and efficiency of resource components within each agro-industrial process. Our findings suggested the metabolism of the CBS were increased from 2000 to 2008, in which planting production was the biggest process in terms of total emergy input, while breeding was the most productive one with its highest total emergy yield. The CBS was under an industry transaction process stimulated by biogas construction, while the traditional agricultural activities still play an important role. For economic input, a trend towards a more renewable regime was found behind the total increase over time. With different preferences for renewable or non-renewable resources, planting and aquaculture production were proved natural donation-reliant, while breeding and biogas were economic input-dependent. Among all the economic inputs, electricity, diesels and infrastructure were the most efficient components

  9. Sustainability Challenge of Micro Hydro Power Development in Indonesia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Didik, H.; Bambang, P. N.; Asep, S.; Purwanto, Y. A.

    2018-05-01

    Rural electrification using renewable energy is the best choice for many locations that far away from national grid. Many renewable energy project have been built for rural electrification such as micro hydro power plant (MHPP) and solar photovoltaic (SPV). Sustainability still the main challenge of off-grid renewable energy development for off-grid rural electrification in Indonesia. The objective of this paper is to review sustainability of micro hydro power development in Indonesia. The research method was done by field observation, interview with MHPP management, and reviewing some research about MHPP in Indonesia. Sustainability issues include various aspects that can be classified into 5 dimensions: technical, economic, socio-cultural, institutional, and environmental. In technical factors that lead to sustainability problem are: improper MHPP design and construction, improper operation and maintenance, availability of spare parts and expertise. In the economic dimension are generally related to: low electricity tariff and utilization of MHPP for productive use. In the social dimension are: the growth of consumer’s load exceeding the capacity, reduced number of consumers, lack of external institutional support. In the institutional side, it is generally related to the ability of human resources in managing, operating and maintaining of MHPP. Environmental factors that lead the sustainability problems of MHPP are: scarcity of water discharge, conflict of water resources, land conversion over the watershed, and natural disasters.

  10. Does More Education Always Lead to Better Health? Evidence from Rural Malaysia

    Science.gov (United States)

    2015-01-01

    Background. Education is usually associated with improvement in health; there is evidence that this may not be the case if education is not fully utilised at work. This study examines the relationship between education level, occupation, and health outcomes of individuals in rural Malaysia. Results. The study finds that the incidence of chronic diseases and high blood pressure are higher for tertiary educated individuals in agriculture and construction occupations. This brings these individuals into more frequent contact with the health system. These occupations are marked with generally lower levels of education and contain fewer individuals with higher levels of education. Conclusions. Education is not always associated with better health outcomes. In certain occupations, greater education seems related to increased chronic disease and contact with the health system, which is the case for workers in agriculture in rural Malaysia. Agriculture is the largest sector of employment in rural Malaysia but with relatively few educated individuals. For the maintenance and sustainability of productivity in this key rural industry, health monitoring and job enrichment policies should be encouraged by government agencies to be part of the agenda for employers in these sectors. PMID:25685796

  11. Does More Education Always Lead to Better Health? Evidence from Rural Malaysia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gareth Leeves

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Background. Education is usually associated with improvement in health; there is evidence that this may not be the case if education is not fully utilised at work. This study examines the relationship between education level, occupation, and health outcomes of individuals in rural Malaysia. Results. The study finds that the incidence of chronic diseases and high blood pressure are higher for tertiary educated individuals in agriculture and construction occupations. This brings these individuals into more frequent contact with the health system. These occupations are marked with generally lower levels of education and contain fewer individuals with higher levels of education. Conclusions. Education is not always associated with better health outcomes. In certain occupations, greater education seems related to increased chronic disease and contact with the health system, which is the case for workers in agriculture in rural Malaysia. Agriculture is the largest sector of employment in rural Malaysia but with relatively few educated individuals. For the maintenance and sustainability of productivity in this key rural industry, health monitoring and job enrichment policies should be encouraged by government agencies to be part of the agenda for employers in these sectors.

  12. Does more education always lead to better health? Evidence from rural malaysia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leeves, Gareth; Soyiri, Ireneous

    2015-01-01

    Background. Education is usually associated with improvement in health; there is evidence that this may not be the case if education is not fully utilised at work. This study examines the relationship between education level, occupation, and health outcomes of individuals in rural Malaysia. Results. The study finds that the incidence of chronic diseases and high blood pressure are higher for tertiary educated individuals in agriculture and construction occupations. This brings these individuals into more frequent contact with the health system. These occupations are marked with generally lower levels of education and contain fewer individuals with higher levels of education. Conclusions. Education is not always associated with better health outcomes. In certain occupations, greater education seems related to increased chronic disease and contact with the health system, which is the case for workers in agriculture in rural Malaysia. Agriculture is the largest sector of employment in rural Malaysia but with relatively few educated individuals. For the maintenance and sustainability of productivity in this key rural industry, health monitoring and job enrichment policies should be encouraged by government agencies to be part of the agenda for employers in these sectors.

  13. Rural Health in the People's Republic of China; Report of a Visit by the Rural Health Systems Delegation, June 1978.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Public Health Service (DHHS), Rockville, MD.

    A 28-day visit to the People's Republic of China during June and July 1978 by the Rural Health Systems Delegation from the United States, sponsored by the Committee on Scholarly Communication with the People's Republic of China, resulted in an exchange of information about rural health policy and planning. Specific areas of emphasis included:…

  14. Medical students' and GP registrars' accommodation needs in the rural community: insight from a Victorian study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Han, Gil-Soo; Wearne, Ben; O'Meara, Peter; McGrail, Matthew; Chesters, Janice

    2003-01-01

    Medical education in Australia is currently entering a new era, including support for the significant extension of medical students and general practitioner (GP) registrars' training programs in rural communities. This commitment to rural medical student and general practitioner recruitment and retention has made the provision of accommodation in rural communities a vital issue. This study has found that approximately half of all medical students on placement with rural GPs are currently accommodated with their GP supervisor or with other practice staff. This is a burden for many GPs and when the anticipated increase in the frequency and length of rural placements occurs what is currently a burden will become unsustainable. The changing gender and cultural demographics of medical students and rural general practitioners will also contribute to stresses on this accommodation system. It is important to have a systematic approach towards more appropriate and sustainable models of accommodation for both medical students and GP registrars.

  15. Sustainable development of smallholder crop-livestock farming in developing countries

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ates, S.; Cicek, H.; Bell, L. W.; Norman, H. C.; Mayberry, D. E.; Kassam, S.; Hannaway, D. B.; Louhaichi, M.

    2018-03-01

    Meeting the growing demand for animal-sourced food, prompted by population growth and increases in average per-capita income in low-income countries, is a major challenge. Yet, it also presents significant potential for agricultural growth, economic development, and reduction of poverty in rural areas. The main constraints to livestock producers taking advantage of growing markets include; lack of forage and feed gaps, communal land tenure, limited access to land and water resources, weak institutions, poor infrastructure and environmental degradation. To improve rural livelihood and food security in smallholder crop-livestock farming systems, concurrent work is required to address issues regarding efficiency of production, risk within systems and development of whole value chain systems. This paper provides a review of several forage based-studies in tropical and non-tropical dry areas of the developing countries. A central tenet of this paper is that forages have an essential role in agricultural productivity, environmental sustainability and livestock nutrition in smallholder mixed farming systems.

  16. A Participatory Systemic Approach To Rural Community Development In Vietnam

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tuan M. Ha

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available Various failures of the traditional approach in community development in developing countries have led to the development of a more appropriate and holistic approach to address complex development issues. Systems approaches and cutting-edge tools have recently been embraced to deal with such complexities under contexts of interwoven relationships amongst social economic political cultural and environmental factors. This paper provides reflections on practical value of the Evolutionary Learning Laboratory ELLab through a case study on improving the quality of life for women farmers in northern Vietnam where gender-bias labour hardship and poor living-standard are evident. The first five steps of the participatory systems-based ELLab were implemented during 2013-2014 providing valuable results that have made both practical and theoretical contributions with substantial implications to community development. Our study finds that the context-based results reshaped the original project goal. The approach and framework helped to identify and engage right stakeholders in problem analyses and decision making activities. Fuzzy problems within the complex web of life of the women and rural households were uncovered using relevant systems tools to develop a big picture systems model of the current situation defining levers for systemic interventions. The ELLab helps to build capacity of local people for taking ownership of the process and outcomes to guarantee sustainability and long-term impacts. It also facilitates true participation and co-learning amongst stakeholders triggering transformative learning. Contributions to action research and an innovative mechanism for sharing reflections and lessons at both local and global levels via the online Think2ImpactTM are discussed.

  17. Rural Tourism Accommodation Prices by Land Use-Based Hedonic Approach: First Results from the Case Study of the Self-Catering Cottages in Asturias

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Celia Bilbao-Terol

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available This study analyses the impacts of environmental amenities associated with agricultural and silvicultural land use on the price of rural tourism accommodation in Asturias (Spain. A hedonic price model that relates the price of rural accommodation to environmental amenities as well as equipment, services offered, and the locational characteristics of the accommodation is estimated. The rural accommodations in the study are the self-catering cottages, the intrinsic features of which promote the development of rural tourism sustainability. Geographic information systems (GIS data are used to measure the location and the proximity to amenities of these self-catering cottages. The main results indicate that agricultural land use has an important impact on the price of accommodation in self-catering cottages. Specifically, a high percentage of grassland in the municipality where the self-catering cottage is sited has a positive effect on rental prices, while a high percentage of arable crops has the opposite effect. The analysis is interesting for decision-making in the context of environmental policies, land use conflict resolution, and rural tourism sustainability.

  18. A SHORT CONSIDERATIONS REGARDING SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF TOURISM

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    CEAUSESCU IONUT

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available The popularity created the concept of sustainable development has determined the conviction that tourism can develop in compliance with the philosophy of sustainability. For example, if we compare with other activities such as agriculture, forestry or in other sectors of the economy, tourism has a development relatively recent to human evolution. Tourism place in sustainable development is given the role of this economic activity that "sells" the physical and human environment as a product of his own. Tourism is one of the industries that should be involved in sustainable development, as industry resources, dependency on natural and human potential of cultural heritage in an efficient manner. Tourism "sell" these resources as some parts of his product, but at the same time shares certain resources with other users (local communities, the structure of the central administration. It is essential that tourism to be active in issues of sustainable development and to cooperate with other industries in ensuring the quality and longevity of the resources on which rests the whole tourist activity. Sustainable development in tourism is a necessity, and the connection between tourism and environment is much stronger than in the case of other industries. This paper presents the most important aspects of the rural turism and the contribution which it can bring to the wellbeing of a nation. The author like to stress some elements related to the concept of rural tourism which has nowadays become very important around the world. The rural tourism can revitalise the conventional concepts and views on tourism, and bring in a new dim ension to the sustainable development of tourism. It has been realised that tourism can play a major role in many countries economies, especially in developing ones, where it can substantially contribute to the increase of the national income..

  19. Integrating indigenous knowledge systems (IKS) in improving rural accessibility and mobility (in support of the comprehensive rural development programme in South Africa)

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Nhemachena, C

    2011-07-01

    Full Text Available INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE SYSTEMS (IKS) IN IMPROVING RURAL ACCESSIBILITY AND MOBILITY (IN SUPPORT OF THE COMPREHENSIVE RURAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME IN SOUTH AFRICA) CHARLES NHEMACHENA1, JAMES CHAKWIZIRA2, SIPHO DUBE1, GOODHOPE MAPONYA1, REMINA RASHOPOLA3... of Environmental Sciences, Private Bag X5050, Thohoyandou, 0950 3 Department of Rural Development and Land Reform, PO Box X833, Pretoria 0001 ABSTRACT This study discusses opportunities and challenges for integrating local knowledge in improving...

  20. An Integrated Sustainable Business and Development System: Thoughts and Opinions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rachel J. C. Chen

    2014-09-01

    Full Text Available Companies understand the importance of monitoring and managing their environmental impacts and aim to integrate, with consistent quality control, effective reduce-reuse-recycle programs and risk preventions. By building an integrated sustainable business and development system to meet certain environmental standards, many companies are eligible to be “green” certified. Companies may consider recognizing global visions on sustainability while implementing local best practices. An integrated sustainable business and development system includes talent management, sustainable supply chain, practicing strategies of leveraging resources effectively, implementing social responsibilities, initiating innovative programs of recycling, reducing, and reusing, advancing leaders’ perceptions towards sustainability, reducing innovation barriers, and engaging sustainable practices strategically.

  1. Biomass gasification as project for the rural development; A gaseificacao da biomassa como projeto para o desenvolvimento rural

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Fernandes, Marcelo Cortes; Sanchez, Caio Glauco; Angulo, Mario Barriga; Parodi, Fernando Aurelio [Universidade Estadual de Campinas, SP (Brazil). Faculdade de Engenharia Mecanica]. E-mails: mcortes@fem.unicamp.br; caio@fem.unicamp.br; mariobarriga@hotmail.com; jambock@rocketmail.com

    2002-07-01

    This paper presents a study on the gasification of the biomass as a project for the rural development. Consider the biomass gasification as an sustainable alternative for energy generation, with low pollutant emission.

  2. An ecosystem approach to climate policy : the role of rural renewable energy design

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Venema, H.D.

    2004-01-01

    Climate change provides renewed importance to the issues of rural energy and the task of providing modern, sustainable energy services to the 2 billion people around the world who rely on biomass energy. Impoverished countries are most vulnerable to the adverse affects of climate change. The author argues that energy deprivation must be addressed in order to alleviate poverty, and that increased energy provision to the world's poor is not a development option, rather a basic necessity. The choices made in how that energy is delivered can either intensify climate change or mitigate it. There are many changes that are transforming the power sector. Deregulation is providing new business opportunities for independent power producers and contributing to the break up of vertically integrated power utilities. Ecosystem and community-based methods to rural development are contributing to the application of decentralized renewable energy source development. In countries such as India, policy-makers have legislated decentralized renewable energy systems. This study addresses the fact that there are no appropriate design tools for ecosystem-oriented rural energy planning. The author therefore presents a newly developed ecosystem-based approach to rural energy systems design whose main components include the use of a complex adaptive system theory to establish rural energy system design principles; a human energetics model for studying the influence of bioenergy resource accessibility; and spatial optimization methods for rural biomass energy planning. The approach was refined to include landscape structure optimization for biodiversity objectives using landscape ecology concepts in subregions of India. It was then generalized for regional-scale distributed renewable energy system designs with integrated bioenergy, wind and solar resource assessment

  3. Sustainable intensification in agricultural systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pretty, Jules; Bharucha, Zareen Pervez

    2014-12-01

    Agricultural systems are amended ecosystems with a variety of properties. Modern agroecosystems have tended towards high through-flow systems, with energy supplied by fossil fuels directed out of the system (either deliberately for harvests or accidentally through side effects). In the coming decades, resource constraints over water, soil, biodiversity and land will affect agricultural systems. Sustainable agroecosystems are those tending to have a positive impact on natural, social and human capital, while unsustainable systems feed back to deplete these assets, leaving fewer for the future. Sustainable intensification (SI) is defined as a process or system where agricultural yields are increased without adverse environmental impact and without the conversion of additional non-agricultural land. The concept does not articulate or privilege any particular vision or method of agricultural production. Rather, it emphasizes ends rather than means, and does not pre-determine technologies, species mix or particular design components. The combination of the terms 'sustainable' and 'intensification' is an attempt to indicate that desirable outcomes around both more food and improved environmental goods and services could be achieved by a variety of means. Nonetheless, it remains controversial to some. This review analyses recent evidence of the impacts of SI in both developing and industrialized countries, and demonstrates that both yield and natural capital dividends can occur. The review begins with analysis of the emergence of combined agricultural-environmental systems, the environmental and social outcomes of recent agricultural revolutions, and analyses the challenges for food production this century as populations grow and consumption patterns change. Emergent criticisms are highlighted, and the positive impacts of SI on food outputs and renewable capital assets detailed. It concludes with observations on policies and incentives necessary for the wider adoption of

  4. Renewable energy for sustainable development and environment

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Omer, Abdeen

    2010-09-15

    The increased availability of reliable and efficient energy services stimulates new development alternatives. This article discusses the potential for such integrated systems in the stationary and portable power market in response to the critical need for a cleaner energy technology. Throughout the theme several issues relating to renewable energies, environment and sustainable development are examined from both current and future perspectives. It is concluded that renewable environmentally friendly energy must be encouraged, promoted, implemented and demonstrated by full-scale plan especially for use in remote rural areas.

  5. A Sustainable Energy System in Latvia

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rasmussen, Lotte Holmberg

    2002-01-01

    This paper presents some of the problems in the Latvian energy system, the Latvian economy and how a sustainable restructuring of the energy system with renewable energy, co-generation and the production of energy technology can help solve some of the problems....

  6. Domestic rainwater harvesting to improve water supply in rural South Africa

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mwenge Kahinda, Jean-marc; Taigbenu, Akpofure E.; Boroto, Jean R.

    Halving the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation, is one of the targets of the 7th Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). In South Africa, with its mix of developed and developing regions, 9.7 million (20%) of the people do not have access to adequate water supply and 16 million (33%) lack proper sanitation services. Domestic Rainwater Harvesting (DRWH), which provides water directly to households enables a number of small-scale productive activities, has the potential to supply water even in rural and peri-urban areas that conventional technologies cannot supply. As part of the effort to achieve the MDGs, the South African government has committed itself to provide financial assistance to poor households for the capital cost of rainwater storage tanks and related works in the rural areas. Despite this financial assistance, the legal status of DRWH remains unclear and DRWH is in fact illegal by strict application of the water legislations. Beyond the cost of installation, maintenance and proper use of the DRWH system to ensure its sustainability, there is risk of waterborne diseases. This paper explores challenges to sustainable implementation of DRWH and proposes some interventions which the South African government could implement to overcome them.

  7. Globalisation, sustainable development and competencies of landscape change in a European perspective

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Brandt, Jesper

    2005-01-01

    During the last 10 years the collective goals connected with the agenda of sustainable development has been challenged by the globalisation agenda furthering a global liberalised market with the individual producer and consumer in focus. Only in the local planning and management of the concrete...... landscape the two agendas seems to meet. In a European perspective the European landscape convention has been promoted as a common frame for the promotion of landscape aspect of the sustainability agenda. The paper analyses the EU proposal for a European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) from...... on the ability and strength of local authorities to unite for such goals, and that detailed analyses of the power balance between different geographical competences in the rural community is necessary to evaluate the possibilities for a sustainable landscape development in rural areas under the conditions...

  8. Rural Women organized around the Cultivation of Quinoa

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yenny Paola Oyola Carvajal

    2012-08-01

    Full Text Available Rural women have always participated in the reproductive and productive spheres of family systems. Today they are continuously participating in organizational spaces beyond the household, where they play a determinant role in the welfare of their family members by generating income that increases the possibility of the household’s economic sustainability. The article illustrates this phenomenon through the experience of a group of women from the municipality of Soracá (Boyacá, Colombia, who have started to cultivate quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.

  9. Rebuilding northern foodsheds, sustainable food systems, community well-being, and food security

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S. Craig Gerlach

    2013-08-01

    Full Text Available Background . Multiple climatic, environmental and socio-economic pressures have accumulated to the point where they interfere with the ability of remote rural Alaska Native communities to achieve food security with locally harvestable food resources. The harvest of wild foods has been the historical norm, but most Alaska Native villages are transitioning to a cash economy, with increasing reliance on industrially produced, store-bought foods, and with less reliable access to and reliance on wild, country foods. While commercially available market foods provide one measure of food security, the availability and quality of market foods are subject to the vagaries and vulnerabilities of the global food system; access is dependent on one's ability to pay, is limited to what is available on the shelves of small rural stores, and, store-bought foods do not fulfill the important roles that traditional country foods play in rural communities and cultures. Country food access is also constrained by rising prices of fuel and equipment, a federal and state regulatory framework that sometimes hinders rather than helps rural subsistence users who need to access traditional food resources, a regulatory framework that is often not responsive to changes in climate, weather and seasonality, and a shifting knowledge base in younger generations about how to effectively harvest, process and store wild foods. Objective . The general objective is to provide a framework for understanding the social, cultural, ecological and political dimensions of rural Alaska Native food security, and to provide information on the current trends in rural Alaska Native food systems. Design . This research is based on our long-term ethnographic, subsistence and food systems work in coastal and interior Alaska. This includes research about the land mammal harvest, the Yukon River and coastal fisheries, community and village gardens, small livestock production and red meat systems that

  10. Rebuilding northern foodsheds, sustainable food systems, community well-being, and food security.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gerlach, S Craig; Loring, Philip A

    2013-01-01

    Multiple climatic, environmental and socio-economic pressures have accumulated to the point where they interfere with the ability of remote rural Alaska Native communities to achieve food security with locally harvestable food resources. The harvest of wild foods has been the historical norm, but most Alaska Native villages are transitioning to a cash economy, with increasing reliance on industrially produced, store-bought foods, and with less reliable access to and reliance on wild, country foods. While commercially available market foods provide one measure of food security, the availability and quality of market foods are subject to the vagaries and vulnerabilities of the global food system; access is dependent on one's ability to pay, is limited to what is available on the shelves of small rural stores, and, store-bought foods do not fulfill the important roles that traditional country foods play in rural communities and cultures. Country food access is also constrained by rising prices of fuel and equipment, a federal and state regulatory framework that sometimes hinders rather than helps rural subsistence users who need to access traditional food resources, a regulatory framework that is often not responsive to changes in climate, weather and seasonality, and a shifting knowledge base in younger generations about how to effectively harvest, process and store wild foods. The general objective is to provide a framework for understanding the social, cultural, ecological and political dimensions of rural Alaska Native food security, and to provide information on the current trends in rural Alaska Native food systems. This research is based on our long-term ethnographic, subsistence and food systems work in coastal and interior Alaska. This includes research about the land mammal harvest, the Yukon River and coastal fisheries, community and village gardens, small livestock production and red meat systems that are scaled appropriately to village size and capacity

  11. Controllability of complex networks for sustainable system dynamics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Successful implementation of sustainability ideas in ecosystem management requires a basic understanding of the often non-linear and non-intuitive relationships among different dimensions of sustainability, particularly the system-wide implications of human actions. This basic un...

  12. Building a sustainable workforce in a rural and remote health service: A comprehensive and innovative Rural Generalist training approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Orda, Ulrich; Orda, Sabine; Sen Gupta, Tarun; Knight, Sabina

    2017-04-01

    Historically it has been challenging to recruit and retain an appropriately trained medical workforce to care for rural and remote Australians. This paper describes the Queensland North West Hospital and Health Service (NWHHS) workforce redesign, developing education strategies and pathways to practice, thereby improving service provision, recruitment and retention of staff. The Mount Isa-based Medical Education Unit sought accreditation for a Rural Generalist (RG) training pathway from Internship to Fellowship with the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine (ACRRM) and the Regional Training Provider (RTP). This approach enhanced the James Cook University (JCU) undergraduate pathway for rurally committed students while improving recruitment and retention of RMOs/Registrars. Accreditation was achieved through collaboration with training providers, accreditation agencies, ACRRM and a local general practice. The whole pathway from ignore Internship to Fellowship is offered with the RG Intern intake as a primary allocation site beginning in 2016. Comprehensive supervision and excellent clinical exposure provide an interesting and rewarding experience - for staff at all levels. Since 2013 RMO locum rates have been <1%. Registrars on the ACRRM pathway and Interns increased from 0 to 7 positions each in 2015, with similar achievements in SMO staffing. Three RMOs expressed interest in a Registrar position, CONCLUSIONS: Appropriate governance is needed to develop and advertise the program. This includes the NWHHS, the RG Pathway and JCU. © 2016 National Rural Health Alliance Inc.

  13. ROLE OF RURAL TOURISM FOR DEVELOPMENT OF RURAL AREAS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Andrej Udovč

    2001-09-01

    Full Text Available The paper analyse the role of rural tourism for the development of rural areas, on the comparison of two regions with different types of rural tourism. One area is of highly diversifi ed rural tourism with wide range of tourist products (rafting, hiking, cycling, farm tourism, skiing …. The tourism offer in the second area is much more uniform (mainly farm tourism and some spa. The study analysed how the two different types of tourist product diversifi cations influence the development possibilities of studied rural areas. We analysed how different systems are able to maintain its functions in the context of identifi ed perturbations (socio-economic and geophysical. We analysed the infl uence of different factors on systems stability, its resilience, robustness and integrity. The gained results show that only the higher level of diversifi cation is not a guarantee for systems higher stability, resilience, robustness and integrity, but there also other

  14. Public-Private Partnerships and Sustainable Regional Innovation Systems

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lehmann, Martin; Christensen, Per; Johnson, Bjørn

    -private partnerships. The role of universities if and when actively participating in ‘life outside the ivory tower’ is addressed. These partnerships are also discussed in a regional context. With point of departure in innovation theory, we combine ‘sustainable development’ with the Regional System of Innovation...... approach to propose a new concept – Sustainable Regional Innovation System – in which regional initiatives such as Public-Private(-Academic) Partnerships play an integrated role, not least in the context of ‘learning and innovation for sustainable development’. Two cases are presented to underline...... be playing in public-private partnerships for sustainable development, and the links and benefits this may provide towards universities fulfilling their first (science) and second (education) missions. In this paper, the first part is dedicated to the discussion and clarification of the concept of public...

  15. Piped water consumption in Ghana: A case study of temporal and spatial patterns of clean water demand relative to alternative water sources in rural small towns

    OpenAIRE

    Kulinkina, Alexandra V.; Kosinski, Karen C.; Liss, Alexander; Adjei, Michael N.; Ayamgah, Gilbert A.; Webb, Patrick; Gute, David M.; Plummer, Jeanine D.; Naumova, Elena N.

    2016-01-01

    Continuous access to adequate quantities of safe water is essential for human health and socioeconomic development. Piped water systems (PWSs) are an increasingly common type of water supply in rural African small towns. Despite providing the highest and most flexible level of service with better microbiological water quality to their users, these systems remain vulnerable to rural water sustainability challenges. We assessed temporal and spatial patterns in water consumption from public stan...

  16. Hydrothermal carbonization as innovative technology in sustainable sanitation in Tanzania

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Krause, Ariane [Engineers Without Boarders (Germany), Berlin (DE). Project ' ' Carbonization as Sanitation' ' (CaSa)

    2011-07-01

    The need for sustainable systems is apparent as climate change and other adverse anthropogenic activities continue to negatively affect the soil fertility in Africa. One of the indicators of the loss of soil fertility is the continuous decrease in soil organic matter, which is the major building block of a fertile soil. This is mainly attributed to the inappropriate practice of human-beings of taking more substances from the ecosystem than the amount replaced. As the soil fertility is increasingly lost, food insecurity, due to dropped productivity of the soil, is becoming a critical issue in many areas of Africa, Tanzania is not any different in this respect. On the other hand, most people in rural areas of Africa still lack possibilities to cover their daily energy needs in a more sustainable way and many people mainly rely on firewood. This, in turn, has an adverse impact on the climate and the soil, causing a local viscous circle of poor soil and productivity conditions. Moreover, the sanitation coverage of those areas is very low and there is a need for appropriate sanitation systems. Therefore, the aim of this project is, to conduct research on the possibility of establishing a self-sustaining system for the rural areas of Kagera, Tanzania, to address the three basic issues: sanitation, energy supply and soil fertility. The system consists of a small-scale biogas digester, a urine diverting dehydrating toilet (UDDT) and an adaptive hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) unit. Biogas is produced from crop residues and other domestic organic waste. The fermentation residues and the dehydrated fecal matter from the UDDT is then treated with HTC. The carbonised and sanitized residue is then applied as soil amendment to improve the soil fertility as manifested by the Terra Preta in the Amazon. This holistic approach is a new development in ecological sanitation. Therefore, a comprehensive sustainability assessment including environmental, economic and socio

  17. Um contributo do marketing sensorial para o marketing da experiência turística rural

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dora Lúcia Agapito

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available The importance of the five human senses - sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch on the positive, unique and memorable visitor experiences marketing has been emphasized in research on tourism. Particularly, multisensory richness and vulnerability of existing local resources in rural areas, with differing features of the urban environment and enhancer activity connected to nature and rural assets, justify marketing suitable for sustainable development of rural tourism experience. Considering the contribution of sensory marketing to design an environment enhancer desirable tourist experiences and for targeting tourists, this paper aims to reflect on the role of the five senses in tourist experiences that enhance the sustainable development of rural marketing destinations.

  18. Sustainable automotive energy system in China

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zhang, Xiliang (ed.) [Tsinghua Univ. Beijing (China). China Automotive Energy Research Center

    2013-06-01

    The latest research available on automotive energy system analysis in China. Thorough introduction on automotive energy system in China. Provides the broad perspective to aid in planning sustainable road transport in China. Sustainable Automotive Energy System in China aims at identifying and addressing the key issues of automotive energy in China in a systematic way, covering demography, economics, technology and policy, based on systematic and in-depth, multidisciplinary and comprehensive studies. Five scenarios of China's automotive energy development are created to analyze the possible contributions in the fields of automotive energy, vehicle fuel economy improvement, electric vehicles, fuel cell vehicles and the 2nd generation biofuel development. Thanks to this book, readers can gain a better understanding of the nature of China's automotive energy development and be informed about: (1) the current status of automotive energy consumption, vehicle technology development, automotive energy technology development and policy; (2) the future of automotive energy development, fuel consumption, propulsion technology penetration and automotive energy technology development, and (3) the pathways of sustainable automotive energy transformation in China, in particular, the technological and the policy-related options. This book is intended for researchers, engineers and graduates students in the low-carbon transportation and environmental protection field.

  19. Constructing low emitting power systems through grid extension in Papua New Guinea (PNG) with rural electrification

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Nagai, Y. [Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo, Ogimoto Lab. 4-6-1 Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 153-8505 (Japan); Yamamoto, H. [Department of Advanced Energy, The University of Tokyo, 5-4-5 Kashiwanoha, Kashiwa-shi, Chiba-ken 277-8561 (Japan); Yamaji, K. [Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Systems, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8656 (Japan)

    2010-05-15

    The effective rural electrification method varies with economic status and geographical location, and the benefits of decentralized generation differ for each energy system depending on its characteristics. This paper evaluates the most effective generation strategies with rural electrification in an optimized power system of Papua New Guinea (PNG) using a linear programming model. The energy system model developed for the study includes decentralized generation, centralized generation, and grid systems of electricity and gas with consideration for the current energy system and infrastructure. Two methods of rural electrification, decentralized generation and grid extension, are compared with and without the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). The results of simulations show that extending the power grid that allows economical generation such as coal-fired power and hydropower to supply rural electricity is a more cost effective way for rural electrification. Although grid extension is more capital intensive than decentralized generation, the former reduces the total system cost through reduction of the fossil fuel use. Extending the power grid is also effective at attracting CDM investments, since it makes the power system flexible and provides opportunities to advance low emitting energy such as hydropower. (author)

  20. Proceedings of the 8. Brazilian congress on energy: energy policy, regulation and sustainable development. v. 3: technological innovation, renewable sources and rural energization

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1999-01-01

    These proceedings cover the papers presented in the 8. Brazilian congress on energy held at Rio de Janeiro from November, 30 to December, 02, 1999, focusing energy policy, regulation and sustainable development, specifically the contribution of energy to a satisfactory quality of life for everyone. Within such a context, the congress technical programme has been structured around six different divisions: energy, environment and development; energy sector regulation; energy policy and planning; technology innovation; energy conservation; renewable energy sources and rural areas energy supply

  1. Toward Knowledge Systems for Sustainability Science

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zaks, D. P.; Jahn, M.

    2011-12-01

    Managing ecosystems for the outcomes of agricultural productivity and resilience will require fundamentally different knowledge management systems. In the industrial paradigm of the 20th century, land was considered an open, unconstrained system managed for maximum yield. While dramatic increases in yield occurred in some crops and locations, unintended but often foreseeable consequences emerged. While productivity remains a key objective, we must develop analytic systems that can identify better management options for the full range of monetized and non-monetized inputs, outputs and outcomes that are captured in the following framing question: How much valued service (e.g. food, materials, energy) can we draw from a landscape while maintaining adequate levels of other valued or necessary services (e.g. biodiversity, water, climate regulation, cultural services) including the long-term productivity of the land? This question is placed within our contemporary framing of valued services, but structured to illuminate the shifts required to achieve long-term sufficiency and planetary resilience. This framing also highlights the need for fundamentally new knowledge systems including information management infrastructures, which effectively support decision-making on landscapes. The purpose of this initiative by authors from diverse fields across government and academic science is to call attention to the need for a vision and investment in sustainability science for landscape management. Substantially enhanced capabilities are needed to compare and integrate information from diverse sources, collected over time that link choices made to meet our needs from landscapes to both short and long term consequences. To further the goal of an information infrastructure for sustainability science, three distinct but interlocking domains are best distinguished: 1) a domain of data, information and knowledge assets; 2) a domain that houses relevant models and tools in a curated

  2. Sustaining Rural Afghanistan under Limited Central Government Influence

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    John William Groninger

    2013-06-01

    Full Text Available Land and water access insecurity, land grabbing, and unstable common property status of critical local resources continue to drive conflicts, rural landlessness and environmental problems throughout many areas of Afghanistan where formal government is weak or entirely absent.  In contrast to traditional development strategies that favor infrastructure enhancement and backed by enforced national policies, we offer Afghan-specific strategies based on resource conservation and increased capacity of local resource management institutions that can function when and where central government cannot be relied upon to assume or maintain a supportive role. Resource conservation and building local capacity are key components of existing and proposed future efforts to increase stability. However, support for these efforts, whether government or community-based, has been limited in portions of rural Afghanistan , apparently due to low stakeholder confidence in retaining access to improved land, water and other critical resources when international forces withdraw. Powerful individuals and groups, operating outside local community structures, are increasingly impacting land use practices. We suggest a thorough assessment of the present and likely future social environment, including awareness of likely conflicts resulting from agricultural or natural resource improvements, before any tangible actions are taken.

  3. Rural electrification based on photovoltaic systems: systemic evaluation and analysis; Eletrificacao rural com sistemas fotovoltaicos: avaliacao e analise sistemicas

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Orellana Lafuente, Renan Jorge

    1995-07-01

    In spite of all advances made by modern technology, there are still regions which remoteness has made electrification of poor rural localities very difficult or impossible. The only practical solution for these localities is a local, decentralized form of electrical generation, such as solar energy. Based on its availability and potential, together with the scientific and technical advances made in photovoltaic conversion, solar energy is an alternative which is viable for many rural areas in developing countries. The technology has matured sufficiently, but in its application there is still a need for systematization for experiences, especially in the areas of planning and management. The present work deals with a project carried in the community of Chimboata, Chimboata department, Bolivia. The implementation aspects are analysed and the implementation methodology described. Finally, the forms of managing and funding this type of systems are analysed. (author)

  4. Practices of corporate social responsibility and sustainable systems work in Peruvian companies issuing sustainability reports

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    María Angela Prialé

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available Through a literature review, this exploratory study seeks to determine whether the practices related to its colaborators, who report as part of its action responsible Peruvian companies issuing sustainability reports can be considered sustainable management practices of human resources. To this end, it was used the approach of sustainable work systems as a general approach. It was found that some of the practices of responsible management of human resources that implement the analyzed companies address the human dimensions of sustainability, although not all dimensions are considered equally or similar depth.

  5. Renewable energy for rural communities in Maharashtra, India

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Blenkinsopp, T.; Coles, S.R; Kirwan, K.

    2013-01-01

    The desire for universal access to modern energy and the use of renewable energy technologies (RETs) as a means of delivering low carbon solutions are driven by several local and global factors, including climate change, population increase and future energy security. Social attitudes are a major challenge to overcome in order to successfully introduce low carbon technologies as a sustainable alternative to more traditional means of energy provision. It becomes a challenge to educate the target population in order to counteract any negative preconceptions or scepticisms in using these technologies which can have adverse effect upon their viability and long term success. This work presents the results of a rural energy survey conducted in the Indian state of Maharashtra. The survey highlights the opportunities and attitudes of these rural communities towards sustainable modern energy services and the technologies used to deliver them. Results from the survey show that there is interest in using sustainable or renewable technologies for energy provision and suggest that cost, reliability and ease of use are more important factors than the environmental benefits. A suggestion for a way to improve RET adoption in rural communities is also presented based on the results of this study. - Highlights: • Survey used to assess energy usage and perception of RETs in rural communities. • Despite lack of preference towards one RET the majority believe in their expanded use. • Cost, reliability and ease of use most influential factors when selecting a fuel. • Assessment of community needs can aid RET adoption by improving long term viability

  6. EDUCATION SYSTEMS AND ACADEMIC SATISFACTION: A Study on Rural and Urban Students of Traditional Vs Open Education System in India

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shashi SINGH,

    2012-07-01

    Full Text Available A satisfaction and dissatisfaction level within an individual influences the motivation level and his/her performance throughout the life. When an individual is satisfied with his/her work, he/she gets pleasure and feels motivated. Obtaining satisfaction from their education system is very important for students as this will lead to better learning possibilities. This paper aims to compare the level of academic satisfaction among the students of Traditional Education System and Open Education System. This paper also investigates academic satisfaction of urban and rural based students and comparing them over traditional (Urban: 110; Rural: 90, and open (Urban: 80; Rural: 71 education system. Statistical tests demonstrate that there is significant difference in the level of academic satisfaction among the students of Open Education System (OES and Traditional Education System (TES.

  7. Rural applications of Advanced Traveler Information Systems : evaluation of satellite communications systems for mayday applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    This report documents the results of an evaluation of satellite communication systems for mayday applications conducted as part of the Rural Applications of Advanced Traveler Information Systems (ATIS) study. It focuses on satellite communications sy...

  8. Education for Sustainability (EfS): Practice and Practice Architectures

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kemmis, Stephen; Mutton, Rebecca

    2012-01-01

    This paper reports some findings from an investigation of educational practice in ten (formal and informal) education for sustainability (EfS) initiatives, to characterise exemplary practice in school and community education for sustainability, considered crucial to Australia's future. The study focused on rural/regional Australia, specifically…

  9. Sustainable Drainage Systems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Miklas Scholz

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available Urban water management has somewhat changed since the publication of The Sustainable Drainage System (SuDS Manual in 2007 [1], transforming from building traditional sewers to implementing SuDS, which are part of the best management practice techniques used in the USA and seen as contributing to water-sensitive urban design in Australia. Most SuDS, such as infiltration trenches, swales, green roofs, ponds, and wetlands, address water quality and quantity challenges, and enhance the local biodiversity while also being acceptable aesthetically to the public. Barriers to the implementation of SuDS include adoption problems, flood and diffuse pollution control challenges, negative public perception, and a lack of decision support tools addressing, particularly, the retrofitting of these systems while enhancing ecosystem services. [...

  10. Is Western Australia's rural surgical workforce going to sustain the future? A quantitative and qualitative analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shanmugakumar, Sharanyaa; Playford, Denese; Burkitt, Tessa; Tennant, Marc; Bowles, Tom

    2017-03-01

    Objective Despite public interest in the rural workforce, there are few published data on the geographical distribution of Australia's rural surgeons, their practice skill set, career stage or work-life balance (on-call burden). Similarly, there has not been a peer-reviewed skills audit of rural training opportunities for surgical trainees. The present study undertook this baseline assessment for Western Australia (WA), which has some of the most remote practice areas in Australia. Methods Hospital staff from all WA Country Health Service hospitals with surgical service (20 of 89 rural health services) were contacted by telephone. A total of 18 of 20 provided complete data. The study questionnaire explored hospital and practice locations of practicing rural surgeons, on-call rosters, career stage, practice skill set and the availability of surgical training positions. Data were tabulated in excel and geographic information system geocoded. Descriptive statistics were calculated in Excel. Results Of the seven health regions for rural Western Australia, two (28.6%) were served by resident surgeons at a ratio consistent with Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS) guidelines. General surgery was offered in 16 (89%) hospitals. In total, 16 (89%) hospitals were served by fly-in, fly-out (FIFO) surgical services. Two hospitals with resident surgeons did not use FIFO services, but all hospitals without resident surgeons were served by FIFO surgical specialists. The majority of resident surgeons (62.5%) and FIFO surgeons (43.2%) were perceived to be mid-career by hospital staff members. Three hospitals (16.7%) offered all eight of the identified surgical skill sets, but 16 (89%) offered general surgery. Conclusions Relatively few resident rural surgeons are servicing large areas of WA, assisted by the widespread provision of FIFO surgical services. The present audit demonstrates strength in general surgical skills throughout regional WA, and augers well for the

  11. TOURISM RURAL DEVELOPMENT IN THE EUROPEAN CONTEXT: OVERVIEW

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    G. Rajović

    2017-02-01

    Full Text Available The European territory is characterized by a strong presence of rural areas. Approximately 52% of the European territory is classified as predominantly rural. In this context, Rural Tourism is one of the key opportunities in terms of potential growth for rural areas, in the wider context of the Sustainable Management and Promotion of Territory activities (Fagioli et al, 2014. In the last two decades, in many European Union member countries, rural tourism is considered as a strategy for the future, which can contribute to economic and social development of local communities, of less favored regions alike, in order to create jobs and reduce migration. At the same time, rural tourism has the advantage that it acts for the purpose of opening new investment prospects. Thus, it must be regarded as an economic activity that contributes to regional development and, consequently, to the overall economic growth

  12. Opportunities and challenges for multicriteria assessment of food system sustainability

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hugo F. Alrøe

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available The focus of the Special Feature on "Multicriteria assessment of food system sustainability" is on the complex challenges of making and communicating overall assessments of food systems sustainability based on multiple and varied criteria. Four papers concern the choice and development of appropriate tools for making multicriteria sustainability assessments that handle built-in methodological conflicts and trade-offs between different assessment objectives. They underscore the value of linking diverse methods and tools, or nesting and stepping their deployment, to help build resilience and sustainability. They conclude that there is no one tool, one framework, or one indicator set that is appropriate for the different purposes and contexts of sustainability assessment. The process of creating the assessment framework also emerges as important: if the key stakeholders are not given a responsible and full role in the development of any assessment tool, it is less likely to be fit for their purpose and they are unlikely to take ownership or have confidence in it. Six other papers reflect on more fundamental considerations of how assessments are based in different scientific perspectives and on the role of values, motivation, and trust in relation to assessments in the development of more sustainable food systems. They recommend a radical break with the tradition of conducting multicriteria assessment from one hegemonic perspective to considering multiple perspectives. Collectively the contributions to this Special Feature identify three main challenges for improved multicriteria assessment of food system sustainability: (i how to balance different types of knowledge to avoid that the most well-known, precise, or easiest to measure dimensions of sustainability gets the most weight; (ii how to expose the values in assessment tools and choices to allow evaluation of how they relate to the ethical principles of sustainable food systems, to societal

  13. Indicators for assessment of rural electrification-An approach for the comparison of apples and pears

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ilskog, Elisabeth

    2008-01-01

    Despite a large number of rural electrification projects being implemented in developing countries, there are few published in-depth evaluations of the effects of these projects on sustainable development. There is also no generally accepted method for the assessment of such effects that includes all relevant aspects of sustainability. An issue of growing importance is whether rural electrification implemented by private entrepreneurs or other non-governmental organisations contribute more effectively to sustainable development than the conventional approach where rural electrification is the responsibility of a government utility. This paper presents a method for sustainability evaluation based on the use of 39 indicators. The proposed indicators cover the five dimensions of sustainability: technical, economical, social/ethical, environmental and institutional sustainability. The paper presents the indicators and gives a detailed example of the procedure to calculate an indicator based on information that can realistically be collected in field studies. It is suggested that this interdisciplinary approach will lead to an improved basis for evaluation of projects than previous, more limited approaches. Projects promoted on the basis of information only about prioritised dimensions of sustainability, such as environment, may fail as a result of weaknesses in other dimensions. The proposed method may reduce this risk

  14. Framing in innovation. Towards sustainable agro-food systems

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Zwartkruis, J.V.

    2013-01-01

    Sustainability issues in the agro-food sector have become increasingly important, and in order to deal with these sustainability issues, innovations are deemed necessary. Only introducing new technologies is not enough, system innovations are needed in which changes in the whole socio-technical

  15. Chinese villages and their sustainable future: the European Union-China-Research Project "SUCCESS".

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dumreicher, Heidi

    2008-04-01

    be implemented during the research period. This work made an important impact on community thinking within these villages. However, it can also be seen as contributing to the dramatically changing development process in China, by finding a balance between traditional and contemporary approaches. In particular, the approach demonstrated a new, inter-disciplinary and trans-disciplinary negotiation processes whereby the local knowledge and the expert knowledge find common ground and outcomes. The article follows the hypothesis that only comprehensive concepts can contribute to an upgraded living standard, where living spaces and rural life should be recognised and esteemed in the future as a complement to urban lifestyles within the Chinese society. Innovative knowledge generation-such as the "systemic structure constellation" technique or the systems model approach-helped to bring out latent needs, hopes and potential of the villagers. Besides the practical usage of these implemented projects, the process leading there showed the stakeholders their own fields of action. One major impact of these projects is the visibility of the results, which is crucial for villagers' awareness, their self-confidence and their experience with a successful participation in decision-making processes. Another impact is the potential for replicating results of sustainability-oriented patterns throughout China, especially as three of the villages have been nominated official model villages. Scenarios of a sustainable future for Chinese villages were the objective of the SUCCESS project. The first condition for this future is the question whether they can persist into the future-and to picture the importance of the rural environment and living space as a relevant element of Chinese life that needs to get a better image and more attention from the authorities and from the public opinion. Therefore, the final sentence that the whole research consortium, composed of 17 scientific institutions

  16. Towards an Agent Based Framework for Modelling Smart Self-Sustainable Systems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Igor Tomičić

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Self-sustainability is a property of a system; a system is considered to be self-sustainable if it can sustain itself without external support in an observed period of time. If this property is mapped to a human settlement in context of resources (water, energy, food, etc., it would describe a human settlement which is independent of external resources (like the national electrical grid or a central water distribution system, where such external resources are either not available, or not desirable. This article contributes to presenting the state-of-the-art overview of self-sustainability-related research. While self-sustainability as in the above described form was not a direct subject of research, there are several fields which are either related to, or could be of significant value to the self-sustainability research in this context. The extensive literature overview also showed no frameworks for modeling self sustainable systems in the context of human settlements. Herein a motivation for using agent-based modeling and simulation techniques will be given.

  17. Rural-Urban Differences in Late-Stage Breast Cancer: Do Associations Differ by Rural-Urban Classification System?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pruitt, Sandi L; Eberth, Jan M; Morris, E Scott; Grinsfelder, David B; Cuate, Erica L

    2016-01-01

    Introduction Rural residence is associated with later stage of breast cancer diagnosis in some but not all prior studies. The lack of a standardized definition of rural residence may contribute to these mixed findings. We characterize and compare multiple definitions of rural vs. non-rural residence to provide guidance regarding choice of measures and to further elucidate rural disparities in breast cancer stage at diagnosis. Methods We used Texas Cancer Registry data of 120,738 female breast cancer patients ≥50 years old diagnosed between 1995–2009. We defined rural vs. non-rural residence using 7 different measures and examined their agreement using Kappa statistics. Measures were defined at various geographic levels: county, ZIP code, census tract, and census block group. Late-stage was defined as regional or distant disease. For each measure, we tested the association of rural residence and late-stage cancer with unadjusted and adjusted logistic regression. Covariates included: age; patient race/ethnicity; diagnosis year; census block group-level mammography capacity; and census tract-level percent poverty, percent Hispanic, and percent Black. Results We found moderate to high levels of agreement between measures of rural vs. non-rural residence. For 72.9% of all patients, all 7 definitions agreed as to rural vs. non-rural residence. Overall, 6 of 7 definitions demonstrated an adverse association between rural residence and late-stage disease in unadjusted and adjusted models (Adjusted OR Range = 1.09–1.14). Discussion Our results document a clear rural disadvantage in late-stage breast cancer. We contribute to the heterogeneous literature by comparing varied measures of rural residence. We recommend use of the census tract-level Rural Urban Commuting Area Codes in future cancer outcomes research where small area data are available. PMID:27158685

  18. “Marrying the ‘System of Innovation’ and micro enterprises in real world rural SADC”: an overview of collaborative SMME incubation in the Rural Living Lab of Sekhukhune

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Van Rensburg, JR

    2007-05-01

    Full Text Available ) Harnessing of increasing mobile connectivity and spatial /location awareness; and C) Enablement of rural service agents (like Infopreneurs™) Effectively localised, inter-operable and sustainable networks of ICT and allied services 3.2 Physical... Collaborative Procurement & Logistics above), i.e. providing GPS coordinates for places of interest to the users of such services (e.g. hospitals, SMMEs, shops, road intersections, mines). 2. Location Based Services /location intelligence service, including...

  19. Is sustainability achievable? Exploring the limits of sustainability with model systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shastri, Yogendra; Diwekar, Urmila; Cabezas, Heriberto; Williamson, James

    2008-09-01

    Successful implementation of sustainability ideas in ecosystem management requires a basic understanding of the often nonlinear and nonintuitive relationships among different dimensions of sustainability, particularly the system-wide implications of human actions. This basic understanding further includes a sense of the time scale of possible future events and the limits of what is and is not likely to be possible. With this understanding, systematic approaches can then be used to develop policy guidelines for the system. This article presents an illustration of these ideas by analyzing an integrated ecological-economic-social model, which comprises various ecological (natural) and domesticated compartments representing species along with a macroeconomic price setting model. The stable and qualitatively realistic model is used to analyze different relevant scenarios. Apart from highlighting complex relationships within the system, it identifies potentially unsustainable future developments such as increased human per capita consumption rates. Dynamic optimization is then used to develop time-dependent policy guidelines for the unsustainable scenarios using objective functions that aim to minimize fluctuations in the system's Fisher information. The results can help to identify effective policy parameters and highlight the tradeoff between natural and domesticated compartments while managing such integrated systems. The results should also qualitatively guide further investigations in the area of system level studies and policy development.

  20. Sustainable Agricultural Marketing Initiatives

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hakan Adanacıoğlu

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available Sustainable marketing is a holistic approach that puts equal emphasis on environmental, social equity, and economic concerns in the development of marketing strategies. The purpose of the study is to examine and discuss the sustainable agricultural marketing initiatives practiced throughout the World and Turkey, and to put forth suggestions to further improve the performance of agricultural marketing initiatives in Turkey. Some of the sustainable agricultural marketing initiatives practiced around the world are carried out through civil organizations. Furthermore; some of these initiatives have also launched by farmers, consumers, food processors and retailers. The long-term strategies to increase these initiatives should be determined due to the fact that examples of successful sustainable agricultural marketing initiatives are inadequate and cannot be spread in Turkey. In this context, first of all, the supports provided by the government to improve agricultural marketing systems, such as EU funds for rural development should be compatible with the goals of sustainable marketing. For this purpose, it should be examined whether all proposed projects related to agricultural marketing meet the social, economic, and environmental principles of sustainable marketing. It is important that supporting organizations, especially civil society organisations, should take an active role for faster dissemination and adoption of sustainable agricultural marketing practices in Turkey. These organizations may provide technical assistance in preparing successful project proposals and training to farm groups. In addition, the other organizations, such as local administrations, producers' associations, cooperatives, can contribute to the success of sustainable agricultural marketing initiatives. The use of direct marketing strategies and vertical integration attempts in sustainable agricultural marketing initiatives that will likely be implemented in Turkey is

  1. Communicable disease control programmes and health systems: an analytical approach to sustainability.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shigayeva, Altynay; Coker, Richard J

    2015-04-01

    There is renewed concern over the sustainability of disease control programmes, and re-emergence of policy recommendations to integrate programmes with general health systems. However, the conceptualization of this issue has remarkably received little critical attention. Additionally, the study of programmatic sustainability presents methodological challenges. In this article, we propose a conceptual framework to support analyses of sustainability of communicable disease programmes. Through this work, we also aim to clarify a link between notions of integration and sustainability. As a part of development of the conceptual framework, we conducted a systematic literature review of peer-reviewed literature on concepts, definitions, analytical approaches and empirical studies on sustainability in health systems. Identified conceptual proposals for analysis of sustainability in health systems lack an explicit conceptualization of what a health system is. Drawing upon theoretical concepts originating in sustainability sciences and our review here, we conceptualize a communicable disease programme as a component of a health system which is viewed as a complex adaptive system. We propose five programmatic characteristics that may explain a potential for sustainability: leadership, capacity, interactions (notions of integration), flexibility/adaptability and performance. Though integration of elements of a programme with other system components is important, its role in sustainability is context specific and difficult to predict. The proposed framework might serve as a basis for further empirical evaluations in understanding complex interplay between programmes and broader health systems in the development of sustainable responses to communicable diseases. Published by Oxford University Press in association with The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine © The Author 2014; all rights reserved.

  2. Sustainability and Convergence: The Future of Corporate Governance Systems?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Daniela M. Salvioni

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available In today’s world, a sustainable approach to corporate governance can be a source of competitive advantage and a long-term success factor for any firm. Sustainable governance requires that the board of directors considers economic, social and environmental expectations in an integrated way, no matter what ownership structure and formal rules of corporate governance apply to the company: this mitigates the traditional differences between insider and outsider systems of corporate governance. Previous studies failed to consider the contribution of sustainability in the process of corporate governance convergence. Therefore, the aim of this article is to fill the gap in the existing literature by means of a qualitative analysis, supporting the international debate about convergence of corporate governance systems. The article describes the evolution of outsider and insider systems in the light of the increasing importance of sustainability in the board’s decision-making and firm’s operation to satisfy the needs of all the company’s stakeholders. According to this, a qualitative content analysis developed with a directed approach completes the theoretical discussion, demonstrating that sustainability can bring de facto convergence between outsider and insider corporate governance systems. The article aims to be a theoretical starting point for future research, the findings of which could also have practical implications: the study encourages the policy makers to translate the sustainable business best practices into laws and recommendations, strengthening the mutual influence between formal and substantial convergence.

  3. A sustained-arc ignition system for internal combustion engines

    Science.gov (United States)

    Birchenough, A. G.

    1977-01-01

    A sustained-arc ignition system was developed for internal combustion engines. It produces a very-long-duration ignition pulse with an energy in the order of 100 millijoules. The ignition pulse waveform can be controlled to predetermined actual ignition requirements. The design of the sustained-arc ignition system is presented in the report.

  4. Organic versus Conventional Cropping Sustainability: A Comparative System Analysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tiffany L. Fess

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available We are at a pivotal time in human history, as the agricultural sector undergoes consolidation coupled with increasing energy costs in the context of declining resource availability. Although organic systems are often thought of as more sustainable than conventional operations, the lack of concise and widely accepted means to measure sustainability makes coming to an agreement on this issue quite challenging. However, an accurate assessment of sustainability can be reached by dissecting the scientific underpinnings of opposing production practices and crop output between cropping systems. The purpose of this review is to provide an in-depth and comprehensive evaluation of modern global production practices and economics of organic cropping systems, as well as assess the sustainability of organic production practices through the clarification of information and analysis of recent research. Additionally, this review addresses areas where improvements can be made to help meet the needs of future organic producers, including organic-focused breeding programs and necessity of coming to a unified global stance on plant breeding technologies. By identifying management strategies that utilize practices with long-term environmental and resource efficiencies, a concerted global effort could guide the adoption of organic agriculture as a sustainable food production system.

  5. Managing for Sustainable Development Impact

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kusters, C.S.L.; Batjes, Karen; Wigboldus, S.A.; Brouwers, J.H.A.M.; Dickson Baguma, Sylvester

    2017-01-01

    This guide is about managing development initiatives and organizations towardssustainable development impact. It builds on the work of Guijt and Woodhill inthe 2002 IFAD publication Managing for Impact in Rural Development: A Guide for Project M&E. Since then, the managing for sustainable

  6. Solar Home System (SHS) in rural Bangladesh: Ornamentation or fact of development?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rahman, Syed M.; Ahmad, Mokbul M.

    2013-01-01

    Energy requirement has been growing every day due to higher population growth, and consequently higher consumption. About one third of rural households of Bangladesh are connected to the grid. To meet the gap, solar energy has been treated as a feasible option for people in rural areas where grid connections are not available. A good number of organizations have been working together to provide Solar Home System (SHS) in rural Bangladesh. There is little evidence that supply of small scale energy supports significant rural development. This paper aims at understanding how increased energy access through SHS in rural Bangladesh contributes towards rural development. Recent published literatures on SHS in Bangladesh have been studied to get insight into the technical, financial, and operational as well as economic and social issues. Later the findings have been critically analyzed with respect to selected indicators of rural development. The study identified that increased access to energy through SHS in rural Bangladesh provides mostly recreational and leisure benefits with the so called ‘social status’; income generation is negligible while support for education is average. - Highlights: • No specific proof is there to conclude that SHS has contributed to development. • SHS's contribution to income generation and employment is not significant. • SHS is mostly used for entertainment and to uplift the so called ‘social status’

  7. Promoting Rural Income from Sustainable Aquaculture through ...

    International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

    ... from Sustainable Aquaculture through Social Learning in Sri Lanka (CIFSRF) ... And, they will explore the role of women as community conduits for applying and ... Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World (OWSD), IDRC ...

  8. Sustainable Waste Water Treatment in Developing Countries: A Case Study of IIT Kharagpur Campus

    Science.gov (United States)

    Das, Sutapa; Bokshi, Sanjit

    2017-06-01

    Treatment of wastewater and its reuse in irrigation and agriculture can mitigate the inevitable scarcity of safe drinking water in coming decades. For developing countries like India and especially in its under-privileged regions, it is high time to focus on sustainable wastewater treatment which will be economical and easy to construct, operate and maintain by unskilled users without much dependency on electricity. Addressing this issue, various sustainable methods of wastewater treatment was critically analyzed and the Waste Stabilization Pond system was selected. A facility was designed for 20,000 residents of Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur campus based on its geo-climatic and wastewater characteristics. Detailed calculations were carried out to demonstrate the effluent quality with reduced BOD and E-coli is suitable for unrestricted irrigation. This project with minor customisation can act as a prototype for adjacent vast rural areas where land is available but water, electricity and skilled technicians are not. If implemented, this project will bear social benefits beyond campus such as water supply to drought prone areas, better harvest and rural employment. Moreover, it underpins government' several initiatives to develop rural infrastructure and inclusive growth of the country.

  9. Managing Decline in Rural School Systems: Program Organization and Delivery.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sackney, L. E.

    Organizational theory offers rural school administrators several ways of thinking about retrenchment made necessary by declining enrollment. Obstacles to innovative responses to retrenchment include a shift in how organizations are perceived: from closed systems in which rational decisions are made about changes, to open systems in which…

  10. Improved services to enrollees into an HIV rural care and treatment ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Better quality of services is essential for the sustainability of HIV programs, in particular in rural Sub-Saharan Africa, to support the increasing number of individuals treated with combination antiretroviral therapy (cART). However, longitudinal data from rural care and treatment centers (CTC) are scarce. The objective was to ...

  11. An exploration of the longer-term impacts of community participation in rural health services design.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Farmer, Jane; Currie, Margaret; Kenny, Amanda; Munoz, Sarah-Anne

    2015-09-01

    This article explores what happened, over the longer term, after a community participation exercise to design future rural service delivery models, and considers perceptions of why more follow-up actions did or did not happen. The study, which took place in 2014, revisits three Scottish communities that engaged in a community participation research method (2008-2010) intended to design rural health services. Interviews were conducted with 22 citizens, healthcare practitioners, managers and policymakers all of whom were involved in, or knew about, the original project. Only one direct sustained service change was found - introduction of a volunteer first responder scheme in one community. Sustained changes in knowledge were found. The Health Authority that part-funded development of the community participation method, through the original project, had not adopted the new method. Community members tended to attribute lack of further impact to low participation and methods insufficiently attuned to the social nuances of very small rural communities. Managers tended to blame insufficient embedding in the healthcare system and issues around power over service change and budgets. In the absence of convincing formal community governance mechanisms for health issues, rural health practitioners tended to act as conduits between citizens and the Health Authority. The study provides new knowledge about what happens after community participation and highlights a need for more exploration. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  12. Analysis of the role of strategic products in sustainable rural livelihoods (Case study: saffron production in the Roshtkhar rural district

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sadegh Asghari Lafmejani

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available Saffron is the most expensive agricultural and pharmaceutical product in the world. It is significant for several reasons such as having high water productivity compared to other crops. It is providing rural employment and preventing their migration, having high medicinal and spice values, ease of maintenance and transportation. Most importantly, it is producing a high revenue compared to other agricultural products. On this basis, due to the suitability of some parts of Iran to saffron production and the role of this product in the livelihood of rural households, assessment of the sustenance impacts of saffron production in the active villages seems absolutely necessary. Therefore, the aim of the present study is to assess the status of saffron production and its role in the livelihood of rural households of the Roshtkhar Rural District. This research was done based on a descriptive-analytic approach. In this regard, the role of saffron cultivation in 355 households living in 13 villages with over 100 households in the study rural district was investigated. To this goal, after conducting documentary studies and initial field visits, a wide range of measures proportional to the circumstances of the study villages were adopted. Then, data collection was performed based on the selected indices and questionnaires were distributed to be filled by villagers and households... To analyze the data, the relevant statistical and spatial analyses were done through the application of Expert choice, SPSS, and ArcGIS software packages. The research findings indicated that the annual revenues derived from saffron production in 43.9% of the households under study were more than they obtained from other sources of income. Through the analysis of the study data, it can be concluded that saffron production has a significant effect on the improvement of the residents’ livelihood in the Roshtkhar Rural District and this fact has reinforced the households

  13. Global drivers, sustainable manufacturing and systems ergonomics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Siemieniuch, C E; Sinclair, M A; Henshaw, M J deC

    2015-11-01

    This paper briefly explores the expected impact of the 'Global Drivers' (such as population demographics, food security; energy security; community security and safety), and the role of sustainability engineering in mitigating the potential effects of these Global Drivers. The message of the paper is that sustainability requires a significant input from Ergonomics/Human Factors, but the profession needs some expansion in its thinking in order to make this contribution. Creating a future sustainable world in which people experience an acceptable way of life will not happen without a large input from manufacturing industry into all the Global Drivers, both in delivering products that meet sustainability criteria (such as durability, reliability, minimised material requirement and low energy consumption), and in developing sustainable processes to deliver products for sustainability (such as minimum waste, minimum emissions and low energy consumption). Appropriate changes are already being implemented in manufacturing industry, including new business models, new jobs and new skills. Considerable high-level planning around the world is in progress and is bringing about these changes; for example, there is the US 'Advanced Manufacturing National Program' (AMNP)', the German 'Industrie 4.0' plan, the French plan 'la nouvelle France industrielle' and the UK Foresight publications on the 'Future of Manufacturing'. All of these activities recognise the central part that humans will continue to play in the new manufacturing paradigms; however, they do not discuss many of the issues that systems ergonomics professionals acknowledge. This paper discusses a number of these issues, highlighting the need for some new thinking and knowledge capture by systems ergonomics professionals. Among these are ethical issues, job content and skills issues. Towards the end, there is a summary of knowledge extensions considered necessary in order that systems ergonomists can be fully

  14. African Journal of Sustainable Development - Vol 3, No 1 (2013)

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Local Knowledge and Livelihood Sustainability: The Role of Indigenous Institutions in Sustaining Rural Agriculture in North-eastern Ghana · EMAIL FULL TEXT ... Knowledge and Attitude of Mothers towards Risk Factors for Acute Respiratory Infections among Hospitalized Under-five Children in Ibadan, Nigeria · EMAIL ...

  15. Integrated Systems Mitigate Land Degradation and Improve Agricultural System Sustainability

    Science.gov (United States)

    Landblom, Douglas; Senturklu, Songul; Cihacek, Larry; Brevik, Eric

    2017-04-01

    Rain-fed agricultural production supported by exogenous inputs is not sustainable because a continuous influx of expensive inputs (fertilizer, chemicals, fossil fuel, labor, tillage, and other) is required. Alternatives to traditional management allow natural occurring dynamic soil processes to provide the necessary microbial activity that supports nutrient cycling in balance with nature. Research designed to investigate the potential for integrated systems to replace expensive inputs has shown that healthy soils rich in soil organic matter (SOM) are the foundation upon which microbial nutrient cycling can reduce and eventually replace expensive fertilizer. No-till seed placement technology effectively replaces multiple-pass cultivation conserving stored soil water in semi-arid farming systems. In multi-crop rotations, cool- and warm-season crops are grown in sequence to meet goals of the integrated farming and ranching system, and each crop in the rotation complements the subsequent crop by supplying a continuous flow of essential SOM for soil nutrient cycling. Grazing animals serve an essential role in the system's sustainability as non-mechanized animal harvesters that reduce fossil fuel consumption and labor, and animal waste contributes soil nutrients to the system. Integrated systems' complementarity has contributed to greater soil nutrient cycling and crop yields, fertilizer reduction or elimination, greater yearling steer grazing net return, reduced cow wintering costs grazing crop residues, increased wildlife sightings, and reduced environmental footprint. Therefore, integrating crop and animal systems can reverse soil quality decline and adopting non-traditional procedures has resulted in a wider array of opportunities for sustainable agriculture and profitability.

  16. Learning from the energetic rural area. Local and regional coalitions for sustainable development of rural areas; Leren van het energieke platteland. Lokale en regionale coalities voor duurzame plattelands ontwikkeling

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Farjon, H.; Arnouts, R.

    2013-07-15

    Citizens and businesses start on a regular basis, and in cooperation with the Dutch government, initiatives to improve the living environment in rural areas. In this study, 32 examples are discussed to detect issues that can be improved. The examples concern more or less successful partnerships for sustainable rural development, in which the market, citizens and civil society play a prominent role. Four issues for improvement are identified: (1) Other accents are required in laws and regulations for the living environment; (2) The Dutch government must give smart directions by means of levies and incentives; (3) A vision of the governments is essential; and (4) Towards a proactive, facilitating government [Dutch] Burgers en bedrijven nemen regelmatig samen met overheden initiatieven om de leefomgeving op het platteland te verbeteren. In deze studie zijn 32 praktijkvoorbeelden onder de loep genomen om die verbeterpunten op te sporen. Het gaat om meer of minder succesvolle samenwerkingsverbanden voor duurzame plattelandsontwikkeling, waarin marktpartijen, burgers en het maatschappelijk middenveld een vooraanstaande rol spelen. Hierbij worden vier verbeterpunten gesignaleerd: (1) Andere accenten gewenst in wet- en regelgeving voor de leefomgeving; (2) Slimmer sturen met heffingen en vergoedingen door de overheid; (3) Visie van overheden is onontbeerlijk; en (4) Naar een proactieve, faciliterende overheid.

  17. Information Systems Solutions for Environmental Sustainability

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Gholami, Roya; Watson, Richard T.; Hasan, Helen

    2016-01-01

    We contend that too few information systems (IS) academics engage in impactful research that offers solutions to global warming despite the fact that climate change is one of the most critical challenges facing this generation. Climate change is a major threat to global sustainability in the 21st...... themselves in creating solutions for environmental problems. Moreover, information is a perquisite for assessing the state of the environment and making appropriate decisions to ameliorate identified problems. Indeed, the IS scholarly community needs to help create a sustainable society. While...

  18. Practices of corporate social responsibility and sustainable systems work in Peruvian companies issuing sustainability reports

    OpenAIRE

    Prialé, María Angela; Fuchs, Rosa María; Sáenz, Manuel

    2014-01-01

    Through a literature review, this exploratory study seeks to determine whether the practices related to its colaborators, who report as part of its action responsible Peruvian companies issuing sustainability reports can be considered sustainable management practices of human resources. To this end, it was used the approach of sustainable work systems as a general approach. It was found that some of the practices of responsible management of human resources that implement the analyzed compani...

  19. An analysis of off grid electrical systems in rural Sub-Saharan Africa

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sebitosi, A.B.; Pillay, P.; Khan, M.A.

    2006-01-01

    The decade leading up to the end of the last millennium saw systematic unbundling and privatisation of power utility companies in Sub-Saharan Africa. The new profit driven entrepreneurs have swiftly moved to consolidate in urban enclaves and put paid to any remote hope for future rural electrification. Consequently, rural communities have resorted to fending for themselves by adapting to off grid electrification. Most of these emerging installations are individual isolated units. This paper looks at various off gird electric system configurations in rural Kenya and suggests ways in which they could be reconfigured to be more energy efficient

  20. Sustainability of organic, integrated and conventional farming systems in Tuscany

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Pacini, C.; Giesen, G.W.J.; Vazzana, C.; Wossink, G.A.A.

    2002-01-01

    Agricultural researchers widely recognise the importance of sustainable agricultural production systems and the need to develop appropriate methods to measure sustainability. The principal purpose of this paper is to evaluate the financial and environmental aspects of sustainability of Organic,

  1. Sustainability Decision Support Framework for Industrial System Prioritization

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ren, Jingzheng; Wei, Shunan; Goodsite, Michael Evan

    2016-01-01

    A multicriteria decision-making methodology for the sustainability prioritization of industrial systems is proposed. The methodology incorporates a fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process method that allows the users to assess the soft criteria using linguistic terms. A fuzzy Analytic Network Process...... method is used to calculate the weights of each criterion, which can tackle the interdependencies and interactions among the criteria. The Preference Ranking Organization Method for Enrichment Evaluation approach is used to prioritize the sustainability sequence of the alternative systems. Moreover......, a sensitivity analysis method was developed to investigate the most critical and sensitive criteria. The developed methodology was illustrated by a case study to rank the sustainability of five alternative hydrogen production technologies. The advantages of the developed methodology over the previous approaches...

  2. Evaluation of the sustainability of contrasted pig farming systems: breeding programmes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rydhmer, L; Gourdine, J L; de Greef, K; Bonneau, M

    2014-12-01

    The sustainability of breeding activities in 15 pig farming systems in five European countries was evaluated. One conventional and two differentiated systems per country were studied. The Conventional systems were the standard systems in their countries. The differentiated systems were of three categories: Adapted Conventional with focus on animal welfare, meat quality or environment (five systems); Traditional with local breeds in small-scale production (three systems) and Organic (two systems). Data were collected with a questionnaire from nine breeding organisations providing animals and semen to the studied farming systems and from, on average, five farmers per farming system. The sustainability assessment of breeding activities was performed in four dimensions. The first dimension described whether the market for the product was well defined, and whether the breeding goal reflected the farming system and the farmers' demands. The second dimension described recording and selection procedures, together with genetic change in traits that were important in the system. The third dimension described genetic variation, both within and between pig breeds. The fourth dimension described the management of the breeding organisation, including communication, transparency, and technical and human resources. The results show substantial differences in the sustainability of breeding activities, both between farming systems within the same category and between different categories of farming systems. The breeding activities are assessed to be more sustainable for conventional systems than for differentiated systems in three of the four dimensions. In most differentiated farming systems, breeding goals are not related to the system, as these systems use the same genetic material as conventional systems. The breeds used in Traditional farming systems are important for genetic biodiversity, but the small scale of these systems renders them vulnerable. It is hoped that, by

  3. Exploring cultural connectedness in the sustainability of rural community tourism development in Jamaica

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ernest Taylor

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available El enfoque de la investigación sobre la sostenibilidad del turismo rural comunitario en Jamaica a menudo gravita hacia los componentes económicos, ambientales, políticos y de gestión. Este estudio etnográfico explora cómo dos grupos distintivos- Charles Tow Marrons, descendientes de los esclavos combatientes de la resistencia y Seaford Town Germans, descendientes de trabajadore contratados en Alemania-están explotando su cultura por medio del turismo rural comunitario a la moda nuevas fuentes de sustento. La discusión se ofrece detalles sobre cómo la gente se basan en su pasado para generar tangibles e intagibles productos de turismo cultural. Se destac la cultura significados tiene para los habitantes rurales en relación con el sentido del lugar, la identidad y el desarrollo del turimo rural comunitario sostenible.

  4. Appraising the combustion of biogas for sustainable rural energy ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    This paper shows the combustion of biogas in rural households' appliances. Biogas has been known since 1800s as an odourless and colourless gas with high combustion rate. Its use is beginning to gain ground in most developing countries like Nigeria due to its availability, ease of generation and environmental ...

  5. Visions of sustainable urban energy systems. Proceedings

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Pietzsch, Ursula [HFT Stuttgart (Germany). zafh.net - Centre of Applied Research - Sustainable Energy Technology; Mikosch, Milena [Steinbeis-Zentrum, Stuttgart (Germany). Europaeischer Technologietransfer; Liesner, Lisa (eds.)

    2010-09-15

    Within the polycity final conference from 15th to 17th September, 2010, in Stuttgart (Federal Republic of Germany) the following lectures were held: (1) Visions of sustainable urban energy system (Ursula Eicker); (2) Words of welcome (Tanja Goenner); (3) Zero-energy Europe - We are on our way (Jean-Marie Bemtgen); (4) Polycity - Energy networks in sustainable cities An introduction (Ursula Pietzsch); (5) Energy efficient city - Successful examples in the European concerto initiative (Brigitte Bach); (6) Sustainable building and urban concepts in the Catalonian polycity project contributions to the polycity final conference 2010 (Nuria Pedrals); (7) Energy efficient buildings and renewable supply within the German polycity project (Ursula Eicker); (8) Energy efficient buildings and cities in the US (Thomas Spiegehalter); (9) Energy efficient communities - First results from an IEA collaboration project (Reinhard Jank); (10) The European energy performance of buildings directive (EPBD) - Lessons learned (Eduardo Maldonado); (11) Passive house standard in Europe - State-of-the-art and challenges (Wolfgang Feist); (12) High efficiency non-residential buildings: Concepts, implementations and experiences from the UK (Levin Lomas); (13) This is how we can save our world (Franz Alt); (14) Green buildings and renewable heating and cooling concepts in China (Yanjun Dai); (15) Sustainable urban energy solutions for Asia (Brahmanand Mohanty); (16) Description of ''Parc de l'Alba'' polygeneration system: A large-scale trigeneration system with district heating within the Spanish polycity project (Francesc Figueras Bellot); (17) Improved building automation and control systems with hardware-in-the loop solutions (Martin Becker); (18) The Italian polycity project area: Arquata (Luigi Fazari); (19) Photovoltaic system integration: In rehabilitated urban structures: Experiences and performance results from the Italian polycity project in Turin (Franco

  6. Towards sustainable livelihoods through indigenous knowledge and ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Water is integral to sustainable rural livelihoods and household food security due ... to poor access and supply of water, and resource limitation and degradation. ... implementation and a lack of understanding of water management structures.

  7. A Sustainable, Reliable Mission-Systems Architecture that Supports a System of Systems Approach to Space Exploration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Watson, Steve; Orr, Jim; O'Neil, Graham

    2004-01-01

    A mission-systems architecture based on a highly modular "systems of systems" infrastructure utilizing open-standards hardware and software interfaces as the enabling technology is absolutely essential for an affordable and sustainable space exploration program. This architecture requires (a) robust communication between heterogeneous systems, (b) high reliability, (c) minimal mission-to-mission reconfiguration, (d) affordable development, system integration, and verification of systems, and (e) minimum sustaining engineering. This paper proposes such an architecture. Lessons learned from the space shuttle program are applied to help define and refine the model.

  8. RURAL TOURISM AND AGRITOURISM - FORMS OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN MARGINIMEA SIBIULUI

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    V. Nicula

    2015-10-01

    Full Text Available The delightful geographical framework, the purity of nature, the accessibility of places, the richness and diversity of cultural heritage, make Mărginimea Sibiului an area with great tourism potential. The area holds more than 30% of the total accommodation capacity available in Sibiu. Although it is a rural area, tourist offer is diverse (active tourism and recreation, traditional cuisine, cultural tourism and business segment coverage through specific facilities, all these in addition to the multitude of leisure, and the degree of comfort is increased. In Mărginimea Sibiului, agritourism and rural tourism creates opportunities for local and regional economic growth and help create new jobs through harnessing the specific cultural and natural heritage. Also, an important part of the new jobs created represents an opportunity for regional female employment. Hence the need to implement many projects, which bring to the forefront the stabilization of the active population in rural areas, the capitalization of natural and anthropic tourism potential in the context of eco-economy, and thus raising living standards.

  9. Engineering biological systems toward a sustainable bioeconomy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lopes, Mateus Schreiner Garcez

    2015-06-01

    The nature of our major global risks calls for sustainable innovations to decouple economic growth from greenhouse gases emission. The development of sustainable technologies has been negatively impacted by several factors including sugar production costs, production scale, economic crises, hydraulic fracking development and the market inability to capture externality costs. However, advances in engineering of biological systems allow bridging the gap between exponential growth of knowledge about biology and the creation of sustainable value chains for a broad range of economic sectors. Additionally, industrial symbiosis of different biobased technologies can increase competitiveness and sustainability, leading to the development of eco-industrial parks. Reliable policies for carbon pricing and revenue reinvestments in disruptive technologies and in the deployment of eco-industrial parks could boost the welfare while addressing our major global risks toward the transition from a fossil to a biobased economy.

  10. Performance versus Values in Sustainability Transformation of Food Systems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hugo F. Alrøe

    2017-02-01

    Full Text Available Questions have been raised on what role the knowledge provided by sustainability science actually plays in the transition to sustainability and what role it may play in the future. In this paper we investigate different approaches to sustainability transformation of food systems by analyzing the rationale behind transformative acts-the ground that the direct agents of change act upon- and how the type of rationale is connected to the role of research and how the agents of change are involved. To do this we employ Max Weber’s distinction between instrumental rationality and value-rationality in social action. In particular, we compare two different approaches to the role of research in sustainability transformation: (1 Performance-based approaches that measure performance and set up sustainability indicator targets and benchmarks to motivate the agents in the food system to change; (2 Values-based approaches that aim at communicating and mediating sustainability values to enable coordinated and cooperative action to transform the food system. We identify their respective strengths and weaknesses based on a cross-case analysis of four cases, and propose that the two approaches, like Weber’s two types of rationality, are complementary-because they are based on complementary observer stances—and that an optimal in-between approach therefore cannot be found. However, there are options for reflexive learning by observing one perspective-and its possible blind spots-from the vantage point of the other, so we suggest that new strategies for sustainability transformation can be found based on reflexive rationality as a third and distinct type of rationality.

  11. Incentives and market development to establish sustainable biomass systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Matteson Gary, C.

    2009-01-01

    Business-as-usual is not acceptable when it comes to the future for biomass-to-energy/product conversion industry. Incentives and market development need to be applied to guide the owners and operators towards the sustainable practices. Sustainability for biomass is defined to be future energy fuels and bio products that are secure, renewable, and accessible locally, affordable, and pollution free. Intensives are required to convert biomass-to-energy/product conversion systems that are not sustainable into sustainable formats. (Author)

  12. Wood Energy Production, Sustainable Farming Livelihood and Multifunctionality in Finland

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huttunen, Suvi

    2012-01-01

    Climate change and the projected depletion of fossil energy resources pose multiple global challenges. Innovative technologies offer interesting possibilities to achieve more sustainable outcomes in the energy production sector. Local, decentralized alternatives have the potential to sustain livelihoods in rural areas. One example of such a…

  13. Framework for Imbuing Sustainable ‘Green’ Impact Among Local SMEs

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Sven Willemsen; Dr. Gerrita van der Veen

    2013-01-01

    SMEs within the rural Dutch municipality of Utrechtse Heuvelrug (UHG) are becoming increasingly aware of the need for sustainable ‘green’ business. Their sense of sustainability is strongly defined by the ‘green’ environment in which they live and work. They were seeking an entrepreneurial approach

  14. The development of a caseload midwifery service in rural Australia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tran, Tara; Longman, Jo; Kornelsen, Jude; Barclay, Lesley

    2017-08-01

    The past two decades have seen progressive decline in the number of rural birthing services across Australia. Despite health system pressures on small birthing units to close there have been examples of resistance and survival. This descriptive study explored the evolution of a rural birthing service in a small town to offer insight into the process of transition which may be helpful to other small healthcare services in rural Australia. Quantitative data derived from birth registers on number and types of birth from 1993-2011 were analysed. Interviews were conducted between January and August 2012 with nine participants (GP obstetricians, midwives, a health service manager and a consumer representative). This rural maternity service developed gradually from a GP obstetrician-led service to a collaborative care team approach with midwifery leadership. This development was in response to a changing rural medical workforce, midwifery capacity and the needs and wants of women in the local community. Four major themes were developed from interview data: (1) development of the service (2) drivers of change (3) outcomes and (4) collaborative care and inter-professional practice. The success of this transition was reported to rest on strategic planning and implementation and respectful inter-professional practice and alignment of birth philosophy across the team. This team created a unified, progressive community-focused birthing service. The development of collaborative care models that embrace and build on established inter-professional relationships can maximise existing rural workforce potential and create a sustainable rural service into the future. Copyright © 2016 Australian College of Midwives. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  15. Sustainable tourism types

    OpenAIRE

    Ion-Danut JUGANARU; Mariana JUGANARU; Andreea ANGHEL

    2008-01-01

    Tourism development must be based on sustainability criteria, be long term bearable economically and ethically and socially equitable for the local populations of the destinations. Tourism forms identified by the literature as being “sustainable” are numerous: ecological tourism (ecotourism), green tourism, soft, rural tourism and agrotourism, community tourism, solidarity and responsible tourism, all these opposing to the traditional, mass tourism. According to some specialists only tourism ...

  16. Sustainability or profitability?

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Khennas, Smail; Doig, Alsion [Intermediate Technology, Bourton on Dunsmore, Rugby (United Kingdom)

    1999-10-01

    For small rural communities off-grid, micro-hydro power is often the most cost-effective means of providing electricity. Whether the electricity should be provided without cost to the beneficiaries or whether it should be paid for are the points under discussion. Details of cost and technology of schemes in both Nepal and Sri Lanka show that micro hydro can be sustainable in small isolated communities. (UK)

  17. Sustaining an Effective ABC-ABM System

    OpenAIRE

    Gary COKINS; Sorinel CĂPUŞNEANU

    2011-01-01

    The purpose of this paper is to describe the Activity- Based Costing (ABC) and Activity-Based Management (ABM) system and techniques to sustain them as a permanent and repeatable production reporting system, not just for one-off analysis. A comparison is made between ABC/ABM modeling software that extracts source data and business systems that include ABC/ABM modeling features. There are presented the stages of updating, running and rerunning the ABC/ABM system. The resul...

  18. Sustainable use of endogenous touristic resources of rural areas: two portuguese case studies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cruz Vareiro, Laurentina

    2007-01-01

    Full Text Available Empirical evidence shows that tourism can give a real contribution to regional development and, in the case of certain remote and economic lagged territories, it is one of the best sectors to achieve this goal. This role of tourism as to do, namely, with the possibility of taking profit from the endogenous resources endowment of these territories. Meanwhile, the opportunities are not the same for each region and it is easy to understand that, considering the resources available, not every one has the choice to base its development strategy in the tourism sector. On the other hand, sustainable development depends, both, on conservation and valorisation of the resources potential and on diversification of tourism activities and products, no matter the agents or policy options are. Based on empirical research carried out in Caminha and Paredes de Coura portuguese municipalities, and in what Tourism in Rural Areas (TRA is concerned, we present in this paper a preliminary evaluation of the social and economic impacts of the tourism strategies followed. We also aim to extract some policy implications in order to better design future approaches to this issue of taking profit from resources endowment of territories. The starting point is the one of tourism based on quality, which serves the interests of local populations

  19. The sustainability indicators of power production systems

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Onat, Nevzat [Vocational School of Technical Studies, Marmara University, Istanbul 34722 (Turkey); Bayar, Haydar [Technical Education Faculty, Marmara University, Istanbul 34722 (Turkey)

    2010-12-15

    One of the most important elements of economical and social development is to provide uninterrupted electric energy to consumers. The increasing world population and technological developments rapidly increase the demand on electric energy. In order to meet the increasing demand for sustainable development, it is necessary to use the consumable resources of the world in the most productive manner and minimum level and to keep its negative effects on human health and environment in the lowest level as much as possible. In this study, alignment of hydrogen fuel cells, hydroelectric, wind, solar and geothermal sourced electric energy systems, in addition to fossil fueled coal, natural gas and nuclear power plants, in respect to sustainability parameters such as CO{sub 2} emission, land use, energy output, fresh water consumption and environmental and social effects is researched. Consequently, it has been determined that the wind and nuclear energy power plants have the highest sustainability indicators. The fuel cells that use hydrogen obtained by using coal and natural gas are determined as the most disadvantageous transformation technologies in respect to sustainability. This study contains an alignment related to today's technologies. Using of renewable energy resources especially in production of hydrogen, output increases to be ensured with nanotechnology applications in photovoltaic systems may change this alignment. (author)

  20. Placing Ecosystem Sustainability Within the Context of Dynamic Earth Systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Because the concept of ecosystem sustainability and the practice of sustainable land management both have long-term foci, it is necessary to view these from the perspective of dynamic rather than static systems. In addition to the typical static system approach for assessing ecos...