The changing world under the corona virus threat-from human needs to SDGs and what next?

The COVID-19(coronavirus)disease has affected over 100 countries in a matter of weeks.The way humans live and work on planet Earth has changed profoundly over the last months.Many lives and livelihoods have been lost.Ways of working,shopping,and social interactions are all vastly different for most of us.We do not know when the current crisis will end,or how far we will“return”to the way things were before the pandemic.The world is experiencing one of the most transformative moments of the last 100 years.The social,economic,and political influences of the COVID-19 crisis have already been hugely momentous,we do not utterly understand it.Looking ahead,we have inevitably had to make important public health,economic,governance,and ecological decisions with less information than usual and to reverse recently adopted policies,which can lead to an era of disruptive transformations to sustainability.During these historic times,we must understand the hidden reality of the earth system and attempt to transform our needs so that we all have a sustained future on our planet.

The Matrix of Needs: Reframing Maslow’s Hierarchy

In his original article on human motivation, Abraham Maslow said “The present theory then must be considered to be a suggested program or framework for future research and must stand or fall, not so much on facts available or evidence presented, as upon researches yet to be done, researches suggested perhaps, by the questions raised in this paper” ([1], p370). This article endeavours to build on Maslow’s work, incorporating research in the neurobiological impact of childhood trauma which shows that safety is the most fundamental need for all human beings. Indigenous approaches to understanding human needs beyond the ending points of any one individual life and valuing cultural perpetuity are also integrated into this model. The methodology to synthesize this paper is the result of a transdisciplinary approach which values collaboration between disciplines that focus on the biological, social, and psychological factors that interact with each other in the dynamic dance of life. Communication is added as a core need of human beings, with Interdependent Actualization being seen as the capstone of human development. Incorporating the biological framework of the extra-cellular matrix with a visual model that shows the relationships between the parts of a whole, the Matrix of Needs restores the dynamic and interrelated nature of human needs in the same hope Maslow had, that this paper will generate ideas, launch discussions and build a framework for future researchers to better understand what it means to be human, and how to remove the barriers which impede our growth as individuals and as members of the human family.

The Concept and Theoretical Implications of Carbon Emissions Rights Based on Individual Equity

Climate change has become a hot topic in international environmental negotiations.For post-Kyoto international climate regime negotiations,many countries have proposed a variety of frameworks to share the emission reduction responsibilities and allocate carbon emission rights,and have tried to quantify the emission reduction obligations of all countries based on the perspectives of international equity and individual equity.In this paper,the authors have distinguished the concepts of carbon emissions rights based on these two perspectives respectively,have analyzed the relationship between carbon emissions per capita and economic development,and have calculated and compared the proportion of cumulative emissions per capita of different countries in history and future,and then authors conclude that emission reduction obligations should be allocated based on each country's conditions,including historical emissions,development stage,and future demands.Developed countries should take the initiative to significantly reduce their emissions because they have already accomplished their industrialization process.However,developing countries are still in the process of industrialization,which requires more emission rights to meet their development needs.For China,the concept of carbon emissions based on individual equity can be used as a theoretical tool for the allocating the international carbon emissions rights.

The meliorization process of urban green spaces: Integrating landsense creation for sustainable development

Urban green spaces play a crucial role in enhancing the well-being of urban residents and promoting sustainable urban development. However, optimizing the planning and management of urban green spaces to meet residents' diverse needs and preferences poses a considerable challenge. This study addresses this challenge by employing a landsenses ecology approach, integrating residents' perspectives into the planning and design of urban green spaces. Starting from human needs, a conceptual framework for the meliorization model of urban green spaces is constructed, grounded in the principles of landsense creation and incorporating a “design-simulation-management” process. Through this model, the mechanisms driving the meliorization process are explored. This study contributes to improving the meliorization process in landsenses ecology, while expanding the theoretical framework and methodology of landscape ecology. By emphasizing the dynamic interactions between land planning, construction, and residents' experiences, this study provides valuable insights into the dynamic development of urban green spaces, facilitating the implementation of sustainable urban development strategies and practices.

A New Understanding of the Information Civilization “Key” to “Development”

The exploration of information civilization provides a new key to a new understanding of contemporary development.As a higher level of civilization based on material energy,information civilization represents the information development of human civilization,involving development from material energy to information,development of resources from individual portions to joint sharing,development of the relationship between humans and resources from ownership to use,and the development of humanity itself and its activities from material energy to information.The unfolding of information in human civilization presents the development of information civilization as a mode of human existence,as information ecology and as a dynamic mechanism of social development.Information civilization highlights the profound significance of the fact that in the final analysis,development is human development;the inherent mechanics of human development proceeding from external conditions to internal needs;and the basic manner in which social development proceeds from quantitative increases to qualitative progress.As a result,contemporary development presents a two-way cycle of accelerating human development and social progress,in which human development increasingly takes precedence;the renewal of the drivers of development and the development of human needs are more and more directly related;and the overall level of social progress becomes the key to development.In the course of leading the rise of information civilization,China not only has unique advantages,but also faces the key task of liberating creativity.