| 1. |
- Abu Hatab, Assem, et al.
(författare)
-
Perceptions of the impacts of urban sprawl among urban and peri-urban dwellers of Hyderabad, India : a Latent class clustering analysis
- 2022
-
Ingår i: Environment, Development and Sustainability. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1387-585X .- 1573-2975. ; 24:11, s. 12787-12812
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Like many other developing countries, urban sprawl is a growing phenomenon in India, which poses socio-economic and environmental challenges that worryingly affect urban sustainability. In this study, a latent class clustering approach was used to investigate perceptions of urban sprawl among 622 urban and peri-urban dwellers in Hyderabad. The empirical results clustered the respondents into three distinct classes based on their perceptions of urban sprawl impacts: ‘undecided respondents’, ‘negative perceivers’, and ‘opportunity perceivers’. The majority of respondents were undecided with no strong views towards the impacts of urban sprawl, which may increase their vulnerability and hinder effective adaptation to the adverse economic, social and environmental effects of urban sprawl. This also provokes concerns about the effectiveness of government interventions to build public awareness of urban development and its impacts on the city. With regard to the role of demographic and socio-economic characteristics in shaping the perception of the respondents, the results revealed that social caste plays a determining role in forming dwellers’ perception. In particular, members of marginalised social castes were more likely to form positive perceptions of the impacts of urban sprawl as urban expansion generates better and stable income that improve their social status. In addition, individuals with higher levels of education were more likely to form negative or positive perceptions, implying that efforts to raise social capital could be a useful means for mitigating the impacts of urban sprawl. Finally, membership in community development organisations was a key factor in dictating membership of the negative perceivers’ class. Overall, our findings suggest that an appropriate policy framework and specific programmes are needed for enhancing dwellers’ perception towards the impacts of urban sprawl, which can enhance the design, acceptance, and implementation of a more sustainable governance of urbanisation and contribute to achieving urban sustainability in developing countries.
|
|
| 2. |
|
|
| 3. |
- Aguilar Cabezas, Francisco X
(författare)
-
Impact of biopower generation on eastern US forests
- 2023
-
Ingår i: Environment, Development and Sustainability. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1387-585X .- 1573-2975. ; 25, s. 4087-4105
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Biopower, electricity generated from biomass, is a major source of renewable energy in the US. About ten percent of US non-hydro renewable electricity in 2020 was generated from biomass. Despite significant growth in woody biomass use for electricity in recent decades, a systematic assessment of associated impacts on forest resources is lacking. This study assessed associations between biopower generation, and selected timberland structure indicators and carbon stocks across 438 areas surrounding wood-using and coal-burning power plants in the Eastern US from 2005 to 2017. Timberland areas around plants generating biopower were associated with more live and standing-dead trees, and carbon in their respective stocks, than comparable areas of neighboring plants only burning coal. We also detected an inverse association between the number of biopower plants and number of live and dead trees, and respective carbon stocks. We discerned an upward temporal trajectory in carbon stocks within live trees with continued biopower generation. We found no significant differences related to the amount of MWh biopower generation within the analysis areas. Net impacts of biopower descriptors on timberland attributes point to a positive trend in selected ecological conditions and carbon balances. The upward temporal trend in carbon stocks with longer generation of wood-based biopower may point to a plausibly sustainable contribution to the decarbonization of the US electricity sector.
|
|
| 4. |
- Aguilar Cabezas, Francisco X
(författare)
-
Smallholder farmer resilience to water scarcity
- 2021
-
Ingår i: Environment, Development and Sustainability. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1387-585X .- 1573-2975.
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Water scarcity poses one of the most prominent threats to the well-being of smallholder farmers around the world. We studied the association between rural livelihood capitals (natural, human, social, financial, and physical) and resilience to water scarcity. Resilience was denoted by farmers' self-reported capacity to have avoided, or adapted to, water scarcity. Proxies for livelihood capitals were collected from two-hundred farmers in South Sulawesi, Indonesia, and their associations with a typology denoting water scarcity impacts analyzed with a Taylor-linearized multinomial response model. Physical and natural assets in the form of irrigation infrastructure and direct access to water sources were saliently associated with overall resilience (avoidance and adaptation) to water scarcity. Years of farming experience as a form of human capital asset was also strongly associated with resilience to water scarcity. Factors solely associated with the capacity to adapt to water scarcity were more nuanced with social capital assets showing closer associations. A household with a larger number of farm laborers had a higher likelihood of being unable to withstand water scarcity, but this relationship was reversed among those who managed larger farming areas. We discuss possible mechanisms that could have contributed to resilience, and how public policy could support smallholder farmers cope with water scarcity.
|
|
| 5. |
- Bagheri, Ali, et al.
(författare)
-
A framework for process indicators to monitor for sustainable development: Practice to an urban water system
- 2007
-
Ingår i: Environment, Development and Sustainability. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1573-2975 .- 1387-585X. ; 9:2, s. 143-161
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Although very often used, the concept of sustainable development has not yet been perceived pragmatically. Due to its process nature, in this paper, we argue that sustainable development is a process in which the essential feedback loops, or Viability Loops as we name them, in the system in question are kept healthy and functional. This process deals with evolutionary changes with the end point not known in advance. According to this perception, measurement of sustainable development does not make sense. Rather, we should look for the process indicators to monitor systems for sustainable development. The purpose of the paper is to develop a methodology to deal with monitoring systems for sustainable development and its practice in an urban water system. Using a system dynamics approach, the paper adopts a systemic monitoring framework based on the idea of Viability Loops to define process indicators to monitor systems for sustainable development. To illustrate the application of the framework, its practice in the urban water system of Tehran, the capital of Iran, is provided as an example. The example of the urban water supply system of Tehran is given as a case study, albeit with some unavailable data. Here, four typical viability loops are discussed. The results of this application show that the flows of informative signals are lacking. Adopting the process indicators, we can see the gaps between the public perceptions of water abundance, the costs of water provision and energy utilizations, and what is going on in the reality are getting wider. That indicates that the viability loops are not functional enough to produce effective changes to offset the reinforcing mechanisms. The sustainable development of the system is impaired due to the persistence of those reinforcing mechanisms.
|
|
| 6. |
- Bautista-Puig, Núria, Postdoc Researcher, 1987-, et al.
(författare)
-
Developing a sustainability implementation framework: insights from academic research on tools, initiatives and approaches
- 2023
-
Ingår i: Environment, Development and Sustainability. - : Springer. - 1387-585X .- 1573-2975. ; , s. 11011-11031
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Sustainability has been proposed to address societal challenges. A number of efforts have been undertaken to implement sustainability, particularly through frameworks such as tools, initiatives and approaches (TIAs). Most of the research on the implementation efforts has been in the corporate context. This paper is aimed at analysing the implementation of TIAs in academic research. A bibliometric analysis of twenty TIAs during the period 1961–2020 was carried out to analyse their implementation in academic research. The results highlight that there has been research published on all the TIAs analysed. The TIAs have a better balance and interrelations between the sustainability dimensions in their implementation than in the theory. The results show that for a better implementation of TIAs in academic research it is necessary to address sustainability dimensions (economic, environmental, social, and time) in a holistic and balanced way considering alignment of general and specific efforts, i.e. TIAs, and congruence (linking ‘theory’ and ‘implementation’). The results were integrated to propose a ‘Sustainability Implementation Framework’ (SIF), which is divided into three levels (i.e., Initiatives, Approaches, and Tools). The TIAs implementation should follow more strictly the definitions, or, perhaps, the TIAs definitions should be redefined to encompass the insights from their implementation.
|
|
| 7. |
- Bennett, Nathan James, et al.
(författare)
-
Community-based scenario planning: a process for vulnerability analysis and adaptation planning to social–ecological change in coastal communities
- 2016
-
Ingår i: Environment, Development and Sustainability. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1387-585X .- 1573-2975. ; 18:6, s. 1771-1799
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The current and projected impacts of climate change make understanding the environmental and social vulnerability of coastal communities and the planning of adaptations important international goals and national policy initiatives. Yet, coastal communities are concurrently experiencing numerous other social, political, economic, demographic and environmental changes or stressors that also need to be considered and planned for simultaneously to maintain social and environmental sustainability. There are a number of methods and processes that have been used to study vulnerability and identify adaptive response strategies. This paper describes the stages, methods and results of a modified community-based scenario planning process that was used for vulnerability analysis and adaptation planning within the context of multiple interacting stressors in two coastal fishing communities in Thailand. The four stages of community-based scenario planning included: (1) identifying the problem and purpose of scenario planning; (2) exploring the system and types of change; (3) generating possible future scenarios; and (4) proposing and prioritizing adaptations. Results revealed local perspectives on social and environmental change, participant visions for their local community and the environment, and potential actions that will help communities to adapt to the changes that are occurring. Community-based scenario planning proved to have significant potential as an anticipatory action research process for incorporating multiple stressors into vulnerability analysis and adaptation planning. This paper reflects on the process and outcomes to provide insights and suggest changes for future applications of community-based scenario planning that will lead to more effective learning, innovation and action in communities and related social–ecological systems.
|
|
| 8. |
- Berglund, Teresa, 1976-, et al.
(författare)
-
A cross-cultural comparative study of sustainability consciousness between students in Taiwan and Sweden
- 2019
-
Ingår i: Environment, Development and Sustainability. - : Springer. - 1387-585X .- 1573-2975. ; 22:7, s. 6287-6313
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Education for sustainable development (ESD) is promoted as one important component in the endeavor toward sustainable development. Goal 4 in the Sustainable Development Goals (UN in Sustainable development goals—17 goals to transform our world, 2017) in particular targets the role of ESD in this respect. The importance of cultural specificity in ESD is emphasized in numerous international policy documents, but there are few cross-cultural studies that focus on the broad context of sustainable development and ESD. The current study investigates the sustainability consciousness of grade 12 students (age 18–19) in Taiwan (N = 617) and Sweden (N = 583) and discusses the implications for ESD policy and practice. The findings indicate that significant differences exist between the two samples, both with respect to their sustainability consciousness and within the three sub-constructs of knowingness, attitudes and self-reported behaviors. The differences are considered in light of the cultural value orientations of the East Asian and Western European regions. Implications for ESD are discussed from the perspective of cultural specificity.
|
|
| 9. |
- Boonstra, Wiebren J., et al.
(författare)
-
Adaptation to climate change as social-ecological trap : a case study of fishing and aquaculture in the Tam Giang Lagoon, Vietnam
- 2015
-
Ingår i: Environment, Development and Sustainability. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1387-585X .- 1573-2975. ; 17:6, s. 1527-1544
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The ways in which people respond to climate change are frequently analyzed and explained with the term adaptation. Conventionally, adaptation is understood as adjustments in behavior either to mitigate harm or to exploit opportunities emerging from climate change. The idea features prominently in scientific analyses as well as in policy programs. Despite its growing popularity over the years, the concept has also received critique. Social scientists in particular take issue with the implicit assumptions about human behavior and fitness advantages (or optimal behavior) that come with the term. Clearly, not all human and animal behavioral responses are optimal or display fitness advantages. To the contrary, sub-optimal and maladaptive behavior is rather widespread. Explaining the possibility of maladaptive or sub-optimal behavior led scholars to introduce the idea of traps. Trap situations refer to a mismatch between behavior and the social and/or ecological conditions in which this behavior takes place. This paper reviews the analytical value of traps for the study of human responses to climate change. It first lays out the theoretical assumptions underpinning the concept. A case study of the Tam Giang Lagoon, in central Vietnam, is used to evaluate how well the trap concept captures the sub-optimality and variety of human responses to climate change.
|
|
| 10. |
- Borg, Josefin, 1985, et al.
(författare)
-
Collaborating for energy efficiency in Swedish shipping industry: interrelating practice and challenges
- 2020
-
Ingår i: Environment, Development and Sustainability. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1573-2975 .- 1387-585X. ; 22:5, s. 4289-4310
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- As achieving environmental sustainability is a complex problem, it is often recognized that no organization can accomplish this systemic change by itself; thus, multi-actor collaboration is needed. Regarding the specific issue of increased energy efficiency, previous research has highlighted the need for collaboration and knowledge exchange among actors. However, insights from literature suggest that despite all the good intentions, establishing multi-actor collaboration can be both complicated and difficult to achieve in practice. In this paper, an in-depth qualitative, ethnographic-inspired study of an emerging collaboration aiming for increased energy efficiency within the shipping industry is used as a foundation to better understand the practices and challenges involved in the organizing of multi-actor collaboration. The findings reveal how the interrelating of collaboration practices and experienced challenges influenced the development of the collaboration. The paper contributes to the current discussion on how to organize for sustainable development. Also, practitioners managing and participating in multi-actor collaborations addressing complex societal issues can benefit from the findings.
|
|
