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 def...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.展开更多
The voice of calling for humanistic concern is always from uncountable doctor-patient conflicts, from which we often hear a doctor is killed or injured for disputes. Prejudice has been rooted in mind that all doctors ...The voice of calling for humanistic concern is always from uncountable doctor-patient conflicts, from which we often hear a doctor is killed or injured for disputes. Prejudice has been rooted in mind that all doctors and nurses are interest-centered and cold-blooded. To some extent, it's true that patterned questions with a poker face are always more than gentle words with warm smile. Nurses are the ones who keep patients company for the longest time. Therefore, caring matters more for them. The explicit concept of "caring" will be introduced and we will attach great importance to how nurses can achieve caring. From the following aspects:the practices of loving kindness, the instillation of faith and hope, sensitivity to indicators of disease, improvem ent of healing environment, communication arts etc, you will understand why nurse is the symbol of angel. We can begin with caring about people around us. Our duty is not only to deal the ill but to warm the chill.展开更多
Eeotourism aims to deliver the philosophy of sustainable development through environmental conservation as well as socio-economic development. Areas with rich biodiversity and scenic beauty, like the Indian Himalayan ...Eeotourism aims to deliver the philosophy of sustainable development through environmental conservation as well as socio-economic development. Areas with rich biodiversity and scenic beauty, like the Indian Himalayan region, have been one of the major destination centers for nature lovers from historical time. In view of conserving the rich biodiversity and natural heritage of the Himalayan region 92 protected areas have been set aside, of these Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve (NDBR) is a well known world heritage site. Over a period of time establishing NDBR has invited conficts between the local people and reserve authorities on the management approaches and utilization criteria of the natural resources, especially banning the traditional bio-resource collection rights of local community, expeditions, trekking, and other anthropogenic activities in the core zones. The present study aims to understand and analyze the various people - park conflicts, and also to suggest ways to mitigate such conflicts in view of biodiversity conservation and improvement of economic status of local people by promoting eeotourism. With this view the study further discusses the various aspects of eeotourism, its pros and cons, and the avenues of developing appropriate strategies for promotion of ecotourism in buffer zone areas of NDBR.展开更多
As the most desirable option for sustainable development of tourism industry, ecotourism still suffers from lack of a clear-cut and widely accepted definition, posing many risks and threats in its practices. Based on ...As the most desirable option for sustainable development of tourism industry, ecotourism still suffers from lack of a clear-cut and widely accepted definition, posing many risks and threats in its practices. Based on collection and collation of various concepts and explanations of ecotourism both at home and abroad, this paper reflects on the current connotations of ecotourism in terms of four aspects, namely, objects of ecotourism, ecotourists, nature of ecotourism as well as the relationship between ecotourism and communities. In-depth analysis was performed in an effort to revise the misinterpretation of ecotourism and provide implications for ecotourism initiatives. The main conclusions and fruits of this article include: 1) The objects of eeotourism should go beyond natural, pristine, or even only primitive natural areas to including cultural resources together with their natural context which also deserve preservation. 2) Tourism operators, compared to tourists, have more leverage and hence should shoulder more responsibilities for conservation. 3) Ecotourism should serve as a principle to guide tourism initiatives towards sustainability, rather than merely a special tour package. 4) The theoretic foundation was laid for community participation in ecotourism.展开更多
When applying conservation agriculture based on DD (direct drilling), soil is rarely disturbed by machinery, but is often subject to vehicle pressure that is frequent and intense. Soil compaction could be deeply mod...When applying conservation agriculture based on DD (direct drilling), soil is rarely disturbed by machinery, but is often subject to vehicle pressure that is frequent and intense. Soil compaction could be deeply modified, and DD can improve soil sustainability during rainy seasons. The technique of cone penetration resistance is still the easiest and most direct way to charaeterise soil compaction distribution of soils. Then measurements of cone penetration resistance were conducted on two typical agricultural soil zones in Tunisia. At the experimental site, soils were submitted to DD during different durations in the context of the conservative agriculture in order to investigate the evolution of compaction measured by a cone penetrometer during different time periods and to describe the trafficability of the tested soils. The results showed that (1) soil compaction increased with time application (years) of DD; (2) soil compaction was affected by soil depth and (3) DD improved the uniformity of soil compaction distribution within soil profile. Consequently, DD seems to improve trafficability of agriculture soils, which makes an easy access to a field during rainy times.展开更多
The article surveys the development of the environmental movement in Israel from the establishment of the state through the present day. Based on trends and transformations in the institutional planning system, it app...The article surveys the development of the environmental movement in Israel from the establishment of the state through the present day. Based on trends and transformations in the institutional planning system, it appears that activism by environmental movement organizations in Israel can be divided into three sub-periods: the establishment period, marked by the Sharon Plan, the founding of the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel and MALRAZ--Council for the Prevention of Noise and Air Pollution in Israel, and the enactment of the Kanovitch Law and the National Parks and Nature Reserves Law (1963). The next phase of institutionalization is characterized by the establishment of designated institutional bodies--the Nature Reserves Authority, the National Parks Authority and the Environmental Protection Service, and their integration into the national planning system. The institutionalization period concludes with the establishment of the Ministry of the Environment (1989) and the transition to the third period, sustainability. Prominent during this period is a trend toward multidimensional proactive environmental planning and policymaking, reaching across many areas and including extensive regulation As far as environmental organizations are concerned, these three periods comprised a framework of cultural action in which they developed, acted and shaped environmental discourse and practice in Israel. Based on other studies, the article offers a model that illustrates the development of the environmental movement while emphasizing the interaction between individual actors, local organizing and national organizations. Finally, some characteristics and insights regarding activism by environmental organizations in Israel are suggested.展开更多
Climate sustainability has become a key issue of our time. Measures protecting the environment, however, can have an impact on the competitiveness of domestic firms and on cross-border trade. Therefore, regulatory bod...Climate sustainability has become a key issue of our time. Measures protecting the environment, however, can have an impact on the competitiveness of domestic firms and on cross-border trade. Therefore, regulatory bodies should enlarge the scope of their policies and treat climate sustainability as global public good; based on such concept trade rules are to be designed in a way that allows a fair balancing between the diverse interests.展开更多
This qualitative research study addresses the research question of how the environmental sustainability initiative of 7G (Seventh Generation), a product design, marketing, and distribution company in the household a...This qualitative research study addresses the research question of how the environmental sustainability initiative of 7G (Seventh Generation), a product design, marketing, and distribution company in the household and personal care products, could be understood within its supply chain context using Tornatzky and Fleischer's TOE (Technology-Organization-Environment) framework. Content analysis, a research technique for making valid inferences from text following a set of procedures, was used and applied to secondary data materials on 7G. The findings reveal that the environmental, organizational, and technological contexts, which are key elements of the TOE framework, are useful in analyzing and comprehending the business practices and business processes adopted by 7G to pursue its sustainability initiative. Of particular interest are those business processes that were included by 7G's EMS (Environment Management System) and enabled by green IS (Information Systems). Both the strengths and weaknesses of 7G's efforts are discussed and suggestions are presented for modifying certain phases of the systems development life cycle methodology when implementing green IS.展开更多
文摘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.
文摘The voice of calling for humanistic concern is always from uncountable doctor-patient conflicts, from which we often hear a doctor is killed or injured for disputes. Prejudice has been rooted in mind that all doctors and nurses are interest-centered and cold-blooded. To some extent, it's true that patterned questions with a poker face are always more than gentle words with warm smile. Nurses are the ones who keep patients company for the longest time. Therefore, caring matters more for them. The explicit concept of "caring" will be introduced and we will attach great importance to how nurses can achieve caring. From the following aspects:the practices of loving kindness, the instillation of faith and hope, sensitivity to indicators of disease, improvem ent of healing environment, communication arts etc, you will understand why nurse is the symbol of angel. We can begin with caring about people around us. Our duty is not only to deal the ill but to warm the chill.
文摘Eeotourism aims to deliver the philosophy of sustainable development through environmental conservation as well as socio-economic development. Areas with rich biodiversity and scenic beauty, like the Indian Himalayan region, have been one of the major destination centers for nature lovers from historical time. In view of conserving the rich biodiversity and natural heritage of the Himalayan region 92 protected areas have been set aside, of these Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve (NDBR) is a well known world heritage site. Over a period of time establishing NDBR has invited conficts between the local people and reserve authorities on the management approaches and utilization criteria of the natural resources, especially banning the traditional bio-resource collection rights of local community, expeditions, trekking, and other anthropogenic activities in the core zones. The present study aims to understand and analyze the various people - park conflicts, and also to suggest ways to mitigate such conflicts in view of biodiversity conservation and improvement of economic status of local people by promoting eeotourism. With this view the study further discusses the various aspects of eeotourism, its pros and cons, and the avenues of developing appropriate strategies for promotion of ecotourism in buffer zone areas of NDBR.
基金supported by National Natural Science Foundation (Grant No.90102013)
文摘As the most desirable option for sustainable development of tourism industry, ecotourism still suffers from lack of a clear-cut and widely accepted definition, posing many risks and threats in its practices. Based on collection and collation of various concepts and explanations of ecotourism both at home and abroad, this paper reflects on the current connotations of ecotourism in terms of four aspects, namely, objects of ecotourism, ecotourists, nature of ecotourism as well as the relationship between ecotourism and communities. In-depth analysis was performed in an effort to revise the misinterpretation of ecotourism and provide implications for ecotourism initiatives. The main conclusions and fruits of this article include: 1) The objects of eeotourism should go beyond natural, pristine, or even only primitive natural areas to including cultural resources together with their natural context which also deserve preservation. 2) Tourism operators, compared to tourists, have more leverage and hence should shoulder more responsibilities for conservation. 3) Ecotourism should serve as a principle to guide tourism initiatives towards sustainability, rather than merely a special tour package. 4) The theoretic foundation was laid for community participation in ecotourism.
文摘When applying conservation agriculture based on DD (direct drilling), soil is rarely disturbed by machinery, but is often subject to vehicle pressure that is frequent and intense. Soil compaction could be deeply modified, and DD can improve soil sustainability during rainy seasons. The technique of cone penetration resistance is still the easiest and most direct way to charaeterise soil compaction distribution of soils. Then measurements of cone penetration resistance were conducted on two typical agricultural soil zones in Tunisia. At the experimental site, soils were submitted to DD during different durations in the context of the conservative agriculture in order to investigate the evolution of compaction measured by a cone penetrometer during different time periods and to describe the trafficability of the tested soils. The results showed that (1) soil compaction increased with time application (years) of DD; (2) soil compaction was affected by soil depth and (3) DD improved the uniformity of soil compaction distribution within soil profile. Consequently, DD seems to improve trafficability of agriculture soils, which makes an easy access to a field during rainy times.
文摘The article surveys the development of the environmental movement in Israel from the establishment of the state through the present day. Based on trends and transformations in the institutional planning system, it appears that activism by environmental movement organizations in Israel can be divided into three sub-periods: the establishment period, marked by the Sharon Plan, the founding of the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel and MALRAZ--Council for the Prevention of Noise and Air Pollution in Israel, and the enactment of the Kanovitch Law and the National Parks and Nature Reserves Law (1963). The next phase of institutionalization is characterized by the establishment of designated institutional bodies--the Nature Reserves Authority, the National Parks Authority and the Environmental Protection Service, and their integration into the national planning system. The institutionalization period concludes with the establishment of the Ministry of the Environment (1989) and the transition to the third period, sustainability. Prominent during this period is a trend toward multidimensional proactive environmental planning and policymaking, reaching across many areas and including extensive regulation As far as environmental organizations are concerned, these three periods comprised a framework of cultural action in which they developed, acted and shaped environmental discourse and practice in Israel. Based on other studies, the article offers a model that illustrates the development of the environmental movement while emphasizing the interaction between individual actors, local organizing and national organizations. Finally, some characteristics and insights regarding activism by environmental organizations in Israel are suggested.
文摘Climate sustainability has become a key issue of our time. Measures protecting the environment, however, can have an impact on the competitiveness of domestic firms and on cross-border trade. Therefore, regulatory bodies should enlarge the scope of their policies and treat climate sustainability as global public good; based on such concept trade rules are to be designed in a way that allows a fair balancing between the diverse interests.
文摘This qualitative research study addresses the research question of how the environmental sustainability initiative of 7G (Seventh Generation), a product design, marketing, and distribution company in the household and personal care products, could be understood within its supply chain context using Tornatzky and Fleischer's TOE (Technology-Organization-Environment) framework. Content analysis, a research technique for making valid inferences from text following a set of procedures, was used and applied to secondary data materials on 7G. The findings reveal that the environmental, organizational, and technological contexts, which are key elements of the TOE framework, are useful in analyzing and comprehending the business practices and business processes adopted by 7G to pursue its sustainability initiative. Of particular interest are those business processes that were included by 7G's EMS (Environment Management System) and enabled by green IS (Information Systems). Both the strengths and weaknesses of 7G's efforts are discussed and suggestions are presented for modifying certain phases of the systems development life cycle methodology when implementing green IS.