Economic Sustainability Assessment of Groundwater Resources： Case Study of Hanoi, Vietnam

The most useful indicators should be established, designed and customized based on local issues of a target area. In order to establish groundwater sustainability indicators for the Vietnam capital, Hanoi, in this study, the sustainability assessment framework of groundwater resources from an economic perspective is proposed for the first time with the focus of Hanoi current groundwater problems. An AHP （Analytical Hierarchy Process） approach is employed to generate the main components （aspects and indicators） of this framework, because development of composite indicators is considered to be a best approach for sustainability evaluation. To do this, the current problems of Hanoi groundwater resources were carefully reviewed and explored to propose three main aspects （quantity, quality and management） and appropriately construct their 9 MESIs （Macroeconomic Sustainability Indicators）. As for the results, the sustainability indices of the quantity, quality and management aspects were appropriately assessed as good, excellent and good sustainability levels, respectively. As a result, the sustainability of Hanoi groundwater resources development is economically good, indicating that there has been a big effort to improve the groundwater sustainability from both sides, the local government and communities.

Sustainability Assessment for Wastewater Treatment Systems—Case Studies in Egypt

Low sanitation coverage is a significant problem in Egypt, especially in rural areas. The Rapid Sustainability Screening (RSS) model was developed to assess the sustainability of wastewater treatment systems (WWTS), both planned and existing, and support decision-makers in selecting alternatives. The model considers the three fundamental sustainability dimensions, namely, environmental, social, and economic. In the present paper, the model was successfully tested by evaluating the sustainability performance of three operating rural WWTS in Egypt (Constructed Wetland (CW)-BeniSuef, Constructed Wetland (CW)-Dakahlia, and Activated Sludge (AS)-Gharbia). CW-BeniSuef was the most sustainable system based upon environmental and social considerations with values of 2.50 and 2.71, respectively. On the other hand, CW-Dakahlia is the most economically sustainable system, with a value of 2.25. The highest sustainability overall ranking system was CW-BeniSuef with overall sustainability of 2.81, followed by CW-Dakahlia with a value of 2.18, and the least sustainable technology is AS-Gharbia (1.72). The RSS model can support the decision-makers and operators during the different phases of a wastewater treatment project development (e.g., feasibility, operation). The model has been developed in a user-friendly and straightforward manner. The simplicity of the model may encourage the decision-makers and EIA practitioners to expand the assessment to consider sustainability rather than focusing on one or two aspects only (i.e., environment and society) in isolation of the possible interaction between them.

Indicators and Influence Factors for Sustainability Assessment of Inclusive Smart Innovation Clusters

A new manufacturing and business infrastructure industrial ecosystem model with the state-of-the art core infrastructure and smart applications in the form of inclusive smart innovation cluster is seen as a powerful tool to drive industrial symbiosis, economic, social and inclusive development. Essentially an integrated eco-industrial park, these clusters demonstrate applications of industrial ecology principles among the occupant units, besides promoting sustainable societies from economic, environmental and social perspectives. The holistic planning and development of these clusters from economic, environmental and social sustainability considerations or alternatively, the sustainability assessment of these clusters is highly complex. The research reported upon forms part of a larger study that aims to develop an integrated decision support system for sustainability assessment of inclusive smart innovation cluster. The paper discusses the conceptual model of the cluster and the need to establish context specific key indicators and influence factors from economic, environmental and social sustainability considerations. The paper proposes a structured methodology for development of key indicators and influence factors. The paper concludes by identifying a set of 184 key indicators and influence factors for comprehensive sustainability assessment of inclusive smart innovation cluster.

Sustainability Assessment and Land Use Optimization of Oasis Agro-economic System Based on Emergy Analysis

Oases are important habitats for human survival and development in northwest arid China;however, they are fragile. To realize ecological construction and sustainable development in northwest China, an analysis of the economic and ecological benefits of the oasis system with a focus on sustainability and land use optimization of oasis agro-economic systems are needed. This paper selects Fukang City as a study area. It is located on the northern slope of Mt Tianshan, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. The authors discuss the ecological and economic benefits of the oasis system, annual variation and establish an optimized allocation scheme of oasis land use structure in Fukang City based on emergy analysis and linear programming modeling. From 1996 to 2006 the oasis system was in a weak sustainable development state. Ecological and economic benefits analysis of the oasis system based on emergy analysis shows that the development of an oasis system in Fukang City is restricted by land, climate and water resources, being a typical example of the high-input and low-output type. The comparative advantage analysis of oasis cropping based on economics and ecological economics shows that the farming structure will vary across different goals. If the maximum ecological efficiency is pursued, farming structure is determined by emergy density;and if the maximum ecological and economic benefits with limited water resources are pursued, farming structure is determined by the emergy value per unit area of irrigation.

CONSTRUCTION OF AN INDEX SYSTEM FOR SUSTAINABILITY ASSESSMENT IN SMALLHOLDER FARMING SYSTEMS

Smallholder farming systems are important for global food security,but these faces multiple environmental challenges hindering sustainable development.Although sustainable smallholder agriculture issues have been widely discussed and addressed by scientists globally,harmonized approaches in evaluating sustainability are still lacking.This paper proposes a five-step process for constructing a sustainability assessment method for smallholder farming systems,namely definition of system boundary&functional unit,indicator selection,indicator weighting,indicator conversion,and indicator aggregation.The paper summarizes the state-of-art progresses in agricultural sustainability assessment at different stages,and systematically discussed the benefits and limitations of weighting and aggregation methods.Overall,this evaluation process should be useful by providing rational and comprehensive results for quantifying the sustainability of smallholder farming systems,and will contribute to practice by providing decision-makers with directions for improving sustainable strategies.

Assessment of the agricultural sustainability of Shaanxi Province,China

It is significant for the study on the sustainable development of regional agriculture to monitor and measurethe trend of agricultural development with an effective method. The sustainable development of regional agricultureshould accord with regional population, rural economic development, social progress, resource and environmentalsupport. This paper establishes the evaluating indicators system of sustainable development of regional agriculture,evaluates the agricultural sustainable development in Shaanxi Province with a comprehensive multi-indicator method,analyzes the support of resource and environment for regional agriculture by the resource-development index and theenvironment-development index, and gets the conclusion that the indicators, such as education level, the income gapbetween urban and rural residents, the per capita area under cultivation and the consumption of pesticides and chemicalfertilizers per hectare, are the main factors to restrict agricultural sustainability, and that the pressure of the developmentof subsystems of population, economy and society on the subsystems of resource and environment turns out to bestronger and stronger. Agricultural environment gets better, but resource becomes one of the important factors to restrictthe development of regional agriculture. In a word, this paper highlights the potentials and limitations of sustainableagriculture of Shaanxi and helps identify the development direction in the future.

Assessment of Sustainable Regional Development Policies： A Case Study of Jambi Province, Indonesia

This paper presents a study of sustainable regional development using multi-criteria analysis. The aim of this paper is to provide an evaluation framework that can be used for the assessment of sustainable regional development using multi criteria linked to development scenarios set by stakeholders. This study was carried out in Jambi Province in Indonesia where balancing sustainable development is constrained by the fact that conservation areas make up the majority of the region. The study employs four alternative policy scenarios for regional sustainable development： （1） business as usual; （2） development based on regional competitiveness; （3） development based on local resources; and （4） regional development based on non-extractive scenario. These four scenarios were assessed using the FLAG Model and the Imprecise Decision Model. Results from analysis show that development policy scenarios based on utilization of local resources and non-extractive economic activities are the most sustainable way of regional development. The study shows the trade-off among policy scenarios must be faced by policy makers in the region either to pursue high economic growth at the cost of the environment or vice versa.

A Matrix-Based Approach for Sustainability in Product Design

The paper proposes a matrix-based approach that a designer can use to evaluate the sustainability of one or more design solutions in the conceptual phase of a product development process. The methodology is structured in two main phases. In the first one, a data structure, called Augmented-DSM （Design Structure Matrix）, has to be drawn in order to collect design information such as functional links among product components, indicators that provide information about the life cycle of each element, connections with the environment and toward other systems. The matrix is based on a DSM format, where new records were introduced to store and organize different types of data and an editing protocol was formalized. In the second stage, a set of procedures have to be applied in order to evaluate sustainability of a design solution and compare it with the others. The presented procedures, in fact, allow designers to assess a product in its proper characteristics, evaluate a device during its use stage and verify the coherence of links present in the functional model. This new approach is conceived to manage different performance indicators and, as a support tool, it is an attempt to aid designers in a quantitative evaluation.

AN ASSESSMENT FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPING CAPABILITY OF INTEGRATED AGRICULTURAL REGIONALIZATION IN CHINA

Based on the provincial units evaluation, this paper makes an assessment forsustainable developing capability of the integrated agricultural regionalization in China. At first,an index system of agricultural sustainable development in China is built up, which includes 5supporting subsystems of agricultural resources, agricultural development, environment andecosystem, rural society, sciences-education and management. We selected 95 factors on provinciallevel as basic indexes. Second, a relative assets/debt assessing method is used to gain relative netassets values (relative superiority) of every provincial unit, which are as supporting data forassessment. We also overlaid the Administrative Divisions Map of China and the Map of IntegratedAgricultural Regionalization of China by Geography Information System (GIS) to gain the area unitsof assessment. Third, according to the relative coherence principle of regionalizaticn, we transformadministration units to natural units through homogenizing all provincial relative net assetsvalues in every agricultural assessing unit. After making order and grade, we complete thesustainable developing capability assessment to integrated agricultural regionalization in China.The assessing outcome shows that the total sustainable agricultural developing capability of Chinais not high. Only about 1 /3 in number or in area has reached the level of agricultural sustainabledevelopment. The relative net assets values exists a reducing trend from East China to West China.It needs a long period and great efforts to realize sustainable agricultural development over allChina. Finally, there is a discussion to the study method.

Indicators and tools for assessing sustainability impacts of the forest bioeconomy

The sustainable use of renewable resources has become an important issue worldwide in the move towards a less fossil-fuel-intensive future.Mainstream method for fulfilling this aim is to increase the share of renewable energy and materials to substitute fossil fuels and to become fully independent from fossil fuels over the long-term.However, the environmental sustainability of this endeavor has been questioned.In addition,economic and social sustainability issues are also much debated topics in this particular context.Forest resources are often thought to contribute partially to achieving a so-called ＂carbon-neutral society＂.In this review, we discuss sustainability issues of using forest biomass.We present several sustainability indicators for ecological,economic and social dimensions and discuss the issues in applying them in sustainability impact assessments（SIAs）.We also present a number of tools and methods previously used in conducting SIAs.We approach our study from the perspective of the Finnish forestry; in addition, various aspects regarding the application of SIAs in a broader context are also presented.One of the key conclusions of the study is that although sufficient data are available to measure many indicators accurately, the impacts may be very difficult to assess（e.g.impact of greenhouse gases on biodiversity） for conducting a holistic SIA.Furthermore, some indicators, such as ＂biodiversity＂, are difficult to quantify in the first place.Therefore, a mix of different methods, such as Multi-criteria Assessment, Life-cycle Assessment or Cost-Benefit Analysis, as well as different approaches（e.g.thresholds and strong/weak sustainability） are needed in aggregating the results of the impacts.SIAs are important in supporting and improving the acceptability of decision-making, but a certain degree of uncertainty will always have to be tolerated.

Integrated Futures for Europe’s Mountain Regions: Reconciling Biodiversity Conservation and Human Livelihoods

Europe＇s mountains cover nearly half of the continent＇s area and are home to one fifth of the European population. Mountain areas are hotspots of biodiversity and agriculture has played a multifunctional role in defining and sustaining mountain biodiversity. Ongoing trends of agricultural decline are having negative impacts on mountain biodiversity. This paper presents results from an interdisciplinary European research project, BioScene, which investigated the relationship between agriculture and biodiversity in six mountain study areas across Europe to provide recommendations for reconciling biodiversity conservation with social and economic activities through an integrated rural development strategy. BioScene used scenario analysis and stakeholder participation as tools for structuring the analysis of alternative mountain futures. Three main BioScene scenarios were evaluated： Business as Usual （BAIT）, Agricultural Liberalisation （Lib）, Managed Change for Biodiversity （MCB）. BioScene brought together ecologists, economists, sociologists and rural geogra- phers, to carry out interdisciplinary analysis of the scenarios： identifying key drivers of change, assessing the biodiversity consequences and evaluating costeffectiveness. BioScene used a sustainability assessment to integrate the research outputs across natural and social science disciplines to assess the broader sustainability of the scenarios in terms of biodiversity, natural resources, rural development, social development, economic development and institutional capacity. The sustainability assessment showed that the MCB scenario was potentially the most sustainable of the three BioScene scenarios. Through the reconciliation of potentially conflicting objectives, such as conservation, economic development and human livelihoods, and with a strong participatory planning approach, the MCB scenario could represent an alternative approach to BaU for sustainable rural development in Europe＇s mountains. BioScene confirms the necessity for natural and social scientists to work together to seek solutions to environmental problems. Interdisciplinary research can assist with the definition of integrated strategies with the potential to reconcile the ecological, social and economic parameters that determine a sustainable future for European mountain areas.

Hepatitis C virus induced insulin resistance impairs response to anti viral therapy

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is an important risk factor for insulin resistance (IR). The latter is the pathogenic foundation underlying metabolic syndrome, steatosis and cirrhosis, and possibly hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The interplay between genetic and environmental risk factors ultimately leads to the development of IR. Obesity is considered a major risk factor, with dysregulation of levels of secreted adipokines from distended adipose tissue playing a major role in IR. HCV-induced IR may be due to the HCV core protein inducing proteasomal degradation of insulin receptor substrates 1 and 2, blocking intracellular insulin signaling. The latter is mediated by increased levels of both tumour necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and suppressor of cytokine signaling 3 (SOC-3). IR, through different mechanisms, plays a role in the development of steatosis and its progression to steatohepatitis, cirrhosis and even HCC. In addition, IR has a role in impairing TNF signaling cascade, which in turn blocks STAT-1 translocation and interferon stimulated genes production avoiding the antiviral effect of interferon.

Green Barriers： Obstacle or Stimulation ？

Most viewpoints in China consider green barrier is one kind of non-tariff barriers imposed by developed countries and is unfair to developing countries. Different from these, this paper points out that green barriers, evolving from the background of sustainable development theory and the principle of environment protection, have positive effect on ideology, international institutional arrangement and innovation stimulation. Demonstrating the rationality of green barriers, the paper puts forward that green barriers should be regarded as the stimulation for technology innovation and industrial restructure rather than obstacles. The best way to surmount the green barriers for Chinese government and enterprises is to implement circular economy and clean production so as to achieve the harmony of trade, environment and economic development.

Select indicators and prioritize solutions for desertification and drought in Binh Thuan,Vietnam

The link between climate change and desertification is an important global problem for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change(UNFCCC) and the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification(UNCCD).The coastal provinces in Southern Centre Vietnam are strongly influenced by desertification,which is further exacerbated by climate change.The Delphi method was used to select sustainability indicators and then a method of an analytical hierarchy process was applied to prioritize sustainable solutions in Binh Thuan experts to elicit the causes and effects of desertification.According to the panel of 23 experts,27 cause(e.g.rainfall and sunshine duration) and 22 effect(e.g.rice and agriculture) indicators were of particular importance to desertification and drought in the province.The highest priorities for cause are given to emigration,followed by income from industry and water supply for household use.The highest priorities for effect in the area are given to socioeconomic criteria,and in particular to the sub-criteria resettlement due to development projects,building hydropower reservoirs,and implementing irrigation schemes.The system of indicators provides useful information for the future studies.This study provides a means to uncover the most important criteria perceived as major contributors to desertification and as such enables policy-makers to prioritize solutions for Binh Thuan(Vietnam) by 2015 and a vision in 2020.

Effective and Sustainable Flood and Landslide Risk Reduction Measures:An Investigation of Two Assessment Frameworks

Natural events such as floods and landslides can have severe consequences.The risks are expected to increase,both as a consequence of climate change and due to increased vulnerabilities,especially in urban areas.Although preventive measures are often cost-effective,some measures are beneficial to certain values,while some may have negative impacts on other values.The aim of the study presented here was to investigate two frameworks used for assessing the effectiveness and sustainability of physical and nonphysical flood and landslide risk reduction measures.The study is based on literature,available information from authorities and municipalities,expert knowledge and experience,and stakeholder views and values.The results indicate that the risks for suboptimization or maladaptation are reduced if many aspects are included and a broad spectrum of stakeholders are involved.The sustamability assessment tools applied here can contribute to a more transparent and sustainable risk management process by assessing strategies and interventions with respect to both short- and long-term perspectives,including local impacts and wider environmental impacts caused by climate change,for example.The tools can also cover social and economic aspects.The assessment tools provide checklists that can support decision processes,thus allowing for more transparent decisions.

Quantifying the impacts of COVID-19 on Sustainable Development Goals using machine learning models

The COvID-19 pandemic has posed severe threats to global sustainable development.However,a comprehensive quantitative assessment of the impacts of COVID-19 on Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs)is still lacking.This research quantified the post-COVID-19 SDG progress from 2020 to 2024 using projected GDP growth and population and machine learning models including support vector machine,random forest,and extreme gradient boosting.The results show that the overall SDG performance declined by 7.7%in 2020 at the global scale,with 12 socioeconomic SDG performance decreasing by 3.0%-22.3%and 4 environmental SDG performance increasing by 1.6%-9.2%.By 2024,the progress of 12 SDGs will lag behind for one to eight years compared to their pre-COVID-19 trajectories,while extra time will be gained for 4 environment-related SDGs.Furthermore,the pandemic will cause more impacts on countries in emerging markets and developing economies than those on advanced economies,and the latter will recover more quickly to be closer to their pre-covID-19 trajectories by 2024.Post-COVID-19 economic recovery should emphasize in areas that can help decouple economic growth from negative environmental impacts.The results can help government and non-state stakeholders identify critical areas for targeted policy to resume and speed up the progress to achieve SDGs by 2030.

The sustainable development of innovative cities in China： Comprehensive assessment and future configuration

Innovative cities not only constitute an important basis for innovation activities, but also play a strategically critical role in constructing an innovative country, producing new forms of urban development, and fostering urban sustainable development. Currently, China is marching toward the goal of establishing an innovative country by 2020, but in the start-up phase of this process of innovative city construction, the fundamental transition from factor-driven development to innovation-driven development is not being realized. As a result,a wide gap currently exists between China＇s innovative cities and the advanced innovative cities in developed countries. This paper argues that this necessary transition is being constrained by a series of bottlenecks in investment, income, techniques, contributions, and talents. The article takes 287 prefecture-level cities as its object of comprehensive assessment, developing a comprehensive assessment system for innovative cities and devising innovative monitoring system software in order to evaluate the current situation in China＇s innovative city construction. The analysis addresses four key aspects – namely,independent innovation, industrial innovation, living environmental innovation, and institutional innovation – as well as the spatial heterogeneity of the innovative city construction process. The results demonstrate that the level of innovation in Chinese cities is low, and the paper warns that building an innovation-oriented country will, as a consequence,be difficult. Some 87.8% of the cities studied maintained comprehensive levels of innovation that were lower than the national average. The level of comprehensive innovation in a city was found to have close and positive correlation with economic development. The level of the eastern region of China was, in particular, found to be significantly higher than that of the central and western regions. The levels of urban independent innovation, industrial innovation,environmental innovation, and institutional innovation showed consistent spatial heterogeneity, as did the comprehensive level of innovation in cities. In the future, the authors suggest, China should speed up the construction process in accordance with the basic principles of ＂independent innovation, breakthroughs in key fields, market-oriented, regional interaction, talent-supported,＂ with the purpose of building up Beijing, Shenzhen, Shanghai,and Guangzhou as global innovation centers; and Nanjing, Suzhou, Xiamen, Hangzhou, Wuxi,Xi＇an, Wuhan, Shenyang, Dalian, Tianjin, Changsha, Qingdao, Chengdu, Changchun, Hefei,and Chongqing as national innovation centers, by 2020. Through this process, China will finally build a national urban innovation network that includes 4 global innovative cities, 16 national innovative cities, 30 regional innovative cities, 55 local innovative cities, and 182innovation-driven development cities, thereby contributing to the establishment of an innovative country by 2020.

基于利益相关者分析的传统集市型建成遗产保护——以青岛李村大集为例

In China,the urban construction and development mode is gradually changing from extensive renewal(large-scale demolition and con-struction)to more targeted micro regeneration.Against this backdrop,protection of traditional fairs which have witnessed the emergence and devel-opment of cities needs to be addressed urgently in the process of sustainable urban development.After summarizing the concept of cultural heritage and the international cultural heritage protection process,this paper affirms the value of traditional fairs as a kind of built heritage and proposes a sus-tainability assessment framework for traditional fair built heritage.Through analyzing the stakeholders involved in the traditional fair regeneration process,the paper identifies key stakeholders using Mitchell's score-based approach.From the perspective of stakeholders and taking the Licun Fair in Qingdao City as an example,it puts forward a public participation-based sustainable development and regeneration strategy,providing a reference for the protection and reutilization of traditional fair built heritage in China.

The Emergy-based Ecological Footprint (EEF) of Traditional Agricultural Areas in China: A Case Study of Congjiang County, Guizhou Province

Traditional agricultural systems are under severe threat from modernization, technological and economic changes, while substitution of traditional agriculture with so-called modern agriculture has caused serious non-point source pollution. Ecological footprint, though an approach to measure ecological sustainability, fails to reveal the true environmental condition of the traditional agricultural areas. This paper attempted to establish an enhanced emergy-based ecological footprint （EEF） which could include all the flows of ecosystem services that the local inhabitants had consumed, thus making EEF a better indicator of the regional sustainability. This new approach was then applied to evaluate the sustainability of Congjiang County in Guizhou Province, a typically traditional agricultural area in China. Results showed that the local biocapacity could only meet 64% of the total consumption needed by the local inhabitants, leaving an ecological deficit of 5.2327 gha per capita. This analysis was contrary to earlier findings obtained through the conventional method that Congjiang County was characterized by a small ecological reserve. Disaggregated analysis revealed that the consumption of waste treatment and erosion control services occupied a considerable proportion of the local ecological footprint, indicating that regional sustainability was under serious threat from waste discharge and soil erosion.

TOWARD SUSTAINABLE MAIZE PRODUCTION FOR SMALLHOLDERS THROUGH OPTIMIZED STRATEGIES IN NORTH CHINA

Agricultural production by smallholders is crucial for ensuring food provision in China.However,smallholders face a series of challenges on their farms including high-to-excess resource inputs,low use efficiency,as well as negative environmental impacts,which may be unfavorable for sustainable agriculture production.This study developed a county-level sustainability assessment of maize production in Hebei,China,by applying multiple data sources in combination with emergy,carbon footprint,nitrogen footprint and costbenefit analyses.Scenario analysis was applied to explore the localized implementation strategies to achieve the sustainable farming system.The results show that the average emergy sustainability index(ESI)of maize at 2.31 is relatively low.The average greenhouse gas(GHG)emissions and reactive nitrogen(Nr)losses are 0.15 g·kcal^(−1) CO_(2)-eq and 3.75 mg·kcal^(−1) N,respectively.The average cost and net income are 12,700 and 4340 CNY·ha^(−1),respectively.These results indicate a great potential to improve the environmental-economic sustainability of the maize production system of smallholders.In addition,the environmental and economic indicators calculated from the maize production show a substantial spatial heterogeneity among counties,indicating a requirement for different optimization strategies to improve the environment-economy sustainability at a finer scale.Based on the multiple scenario analysis,optimal strategies targeting each county are proposed.By adopting the optimal strategies,the average ESI and net income could increase by 32%and 83%,respectively,and the average GHG emissions and Nr losses reduce by 33%and 35%,respectively.These findings provide an important reference for adopting different strategies to achieve environmenteconomy sustainability for smallholders production systems with diverse landscapes in North China and propose a transition pathway toward achieving agriculture sustainability for smallholders worldwide.