Diversity in the biophysical and socio-economic attributes of agricultural systems makes them uniquely niche based. Farmers are expert in local biophysical and socio-economic situations and can contribute in developin...Diversity in the biophysical and socio-economic attributes of agricultural systems makes them uniquely niche based. Farmers are expert in local biophysical and socio-economic situations and can contribute in developing pragmatic indicators of agro-environmental development. During evaluation of an agricultural research project in Yunnan, China, local farmers were capable of evaluating the effects of modified technologies on existing cropping systems and discussed their attitudes to the interventions using their own indicators. Farmers' response can be grouped into seven major aspects: i) effects on income, ii) effects on production resources, iii) effects on crop management, iv) existing local knowledge about the technology, v) availability of inputs, vi) access to information, and vii) socio-economic conditions of farming households. Farmers concluded that environmental conditions in the experimental catchment in comparison to an adjacent untreated catchment were better in terms of soil and water losses, vegetation cover and natural resources, infrastructures and catchment management, use of environmentally-friendly technologies, and crop productivity. Success in soil and water conservation programmes depends on the efforts of the farmers and other local users and their greater involvement helps to identify more pragmatic indicators. Furthermore, it increases ownership of the programme, enhances interactions with the project scientists, increases farmers' awareness of ago-environmental problems and their possible consequences. These development will enable scientists to develop better targeted interventions and increase the likelihood of adoption of tested technologies by local communities. The use of paired adjacent catchments improved evaluation activities and is proposed as good practice for future catchment improvement programmes.展开更多
Around two thirds of the Swedish rural areas experienced positive net migration during the period 2003-2005. This paper examines the development in the Swedish rural areas from the perspective of the "new rurality" ...Around two thirds of the Swedish rural areas experienced positive net migration during the period 2003-2005. This paper examines the development in the Swedish rural areas from the perspective of the "new rurality" or the new rural economic order with regard to migratory movements. The paper analyzes determinants of net migration to rural areas in general and to different types of regions, and the impacts of in-migration on rural labor markets, self-employment and other socio-economic conditions. The determinants of the migration pattern were mainly the size of adjacent local and regional centers, income and education levels that all had positive impacts, while commuting distance and unemployment rate had contrary effects. In comparison with the original inhabitants, the newcomers had lower incomes, a lower employment ratio and a lower degree of entrepreneurial activities, but higher education levels. These differences might be explained by the age differences between stayers (older) and in-migrants (younger). This indicates that the two groups were in different stages of their life cycles. One central conclusion drawn from the paper is that the effect of in-migration on the composition of the rural population is about the same in rural areas all over Sweden.展开更多
Generally, the sequence decision of the development and utilization of Chinese mineral resources is based on national and provincial overall plan of the mineral resources. Such plan usually cannot reflect the relative...Generally, the sequence decision of the development and utilization of Chinese mineral resources is based on national and provincial overall plan of the mineral resources. Such plan usually cannot reflect the relative size of the suitability of the development and utilization of mineral resources. To solve the problem, the paper has selected the gift condition, the market condition, the technological condition,socio-economic condition and environmental condition as the starting-points to analyze the influential factors of the priority-sequence of mineral resources' development and utilization. The above 5 conditions are further specified into 9 evaluative indicators to establish an evaluation indicator system. At last,we propose a decision model of the priority sequence based on grey relational analysis method, and figure out the observation objects by the suitability index of development. Finally, the mineral resources of a certain province in China were analyzed as an example. The calculation results indicate that silver(2.0057), coal(1.9955), zinc(1.9442), cement limestone(1.9077), solvent limestone(1.5624) and other minerals in the province are suitable for development and utilization.展开更多
This paper aims to establish a methodological frame work and its validation as a response to the need of a demand management tool in the face of recurring comparisons of building revitalization or retrofits. As the in...This paper aims to establish a methodological frame work and its validation as a response to the need of a demand management tool in the face of recurring comparisons of building revitalization or retrofits. As the investment and implementation actions improve and the social economic criteria are delimited by regulatory frameworks, it is extremely necessary to monitor previous performances and further prospects, regarding projects, it is necessary to measure the extent of which efforts have been meeting regulatory requirements and aiming to contribute with sustainable development. In this context, the use of indicators has been a major management tool.展开更多
Desertification caused by land degradation and overexploitation of natural resources is threatening large parts of eastern and southern Mediterranean. The actual state of desertification sensitivity in Lebanon was spa...Desertification caused by land degradation and overexploitation of natural resources is threatening large parts of eastern and southern Mediterranean. The actual state of desertification sensitivity in Lebanon was spatially assessed using site specific environmental bio-physical indicators, demographic pressure and socioeconomic conditions. Bio-physical assessment included the aridity index derived from integrated assessment of the historical data for 48 climatic stations spread throughout the country, the new detailed soil map at 1:50,000 scale, and the updated land cover/use map at 1:20,000 derived from IKONOS 2005. The methodology also included livelihood conditions and poverty at local administrative "Caza" level. Results showed the integrated impact of local climate, soil and vegetation quality and socioeconomic conditions on sensitivity to desertification. A total of 78% of the territories have low and very low climate quality index preconditioning the sensitivity to desertification. Fourteen Cazas out of 26 in total, representing more than 66% of the country, have low socioeconomic satisfaction index. Furthermore, negative trends are alleviated by good quality relict soils and vegetation cover. The actual extent of desertification covers 40.48% of the national territory, much of which occurs under semi-arid climate, moderate or low soil and vegetation quality and poor living conditions. The outcome of this research adjusted the previous coarse estimates of desertification prone areas at the national level. Results allow for realistic, policy oriented local assessment for responsive land use planning and proactive sustainable, national and local land management in the context of the national action plan to combat desertification.展开更多
Development and judicious management of available water resources play a key role for economic upliftment of any region. The agricultural pattern and social and demographic status in the upper basin of the Dulung Nala...Development and judicious management of available water resources play a key role for economic upliftment of any region. The agricultural pattern and social and demographic status in the upper basin of the Dulung Nala Stream (a tributary of the Subarnarekha River) in the western part of the State of West Bengal, India, reveals growing demand of water in the basin. The paper reports different management plans involving different types of water harvesting structures (and associated different types of water distribution systems) and different crop combinations and with benefit/cost ratios varying from 1.3 to 11.2 for the basin. The study points out that the judicious choice of both the water harvesting structure as well as the water distribution system is important. Proper planning of crop pattern is also to be emphasized for reaping maximum benefit. It further emphasizes that cost- benefit ratio cannot solely govern the choice of structure and that maximum utilization of catchmental water and thus enhancement of agricultural output (and also economic return from the catchment) i.e. quantum of benefit is also important. The water harvesting structures proposed in this study can be implemented in other semi-arid regions of India having almost the same climatic and socio-economic conditions.展开更多
Livestock sector occupies a very crucial position in the economy of Pakistan. The sector is equally important in irrigation as well as in arid/rain fed areas. Based on the valid reasons and available data, some scient...Livestock sector occupies a very crucial position in the economy of Pakistan. The sector is equally important in irrigation as well as in arid/rain fed areas. Based on the valid reasons and available data, some scientists believe that livestock can strengthen and boost-up the economy of the rain fed/arid lands like Pothowar plateau where other enterprises like crops do not flourish and witness success due to drought and uncertain weather conditions. In this article, an attempt has been made to establish the role of livestock rearing in both the high and low potential areas. Their role in the overall economy of the country has been highlighted. Also many constraints in livestock business have been identified. The livestock sector in Pakistan has tremendous potential for growth. Therefore, a workable strategy for the promotion of the livestock has been outlined to uplift the rural economy and improve the socio-economic conditions of the rural dweller of the country.展开更多
In this study, urban environmental condition using Terra ASTER (advanced spaceborne thermal emission and reflection radiometer) remotely sensed satellite imagery was estimated and compared to statistically derived s...In this study, urban environmental condition using Terra ASTER (advanced spaceborne thermal emission and reflection radiometer) remotely sensed satellite imagery was estimated and compared to statistically derived socioeconomic condition data from Semarang Municipality in Central Java Province: Indonesia. From satellite imagery: U1 (urban index) and NDVI (normalized difference vegetation index) were calculated and used that information to construct urban density and vegetation distribution maps of the study area. Urban density and vegetation distribution were combined to estimate urban environmental condition; then compared to socioeconomic conditions. The results revealed that the Semarang Municipality had a higher percentage of developed or urbanized areas (49%) compared to the percentage of area covered by vegetation (42%). In general, southern Semarang had a higher quality urban environment and socioeconomic condition compared to northern Semarang, which had a higher urban density, lower quality urban environment and lower socioeconomic condition. The indicate that socioeconomic condition can be determined using satellite-derived urban and vegetation indices even in places like Semarang Municipality, where the population settlement was sparse and unorganized.展开更多
The wetlands of the Brahmaputra valley include lake-like natural water bodies locally known as 'beel', and degenerated lakes, which are often called as swamps. The role of such wetlands in socio-economic condition o...The wetlands of the Brahmaputra valley include lake-like natural water bodies locally known as 'beel', and degenerated lakes, which are often called as swamps. The role of such wetlands in socio-economic condition of the people is significant from various angles. Apart from the wetlands act as the ideal habitats for feeding, nesting and breeding of a large variety of fishes, birds and other aquatic animals, these features maintain the environmental quality of the region. Present study has been conducted primarily in eight selected beels in the Dimoria region, which is located almost at the south-central part of the Brahmaputra valley. The water and soil samples from these wetlands had been collected using random sampling technique and analyzed to know about the nature of degradation of the wetlands. Once highly productive wetland waters now show very low DO, high BOD and COD, indicating dwindling productivity of fish and other aquatic resources. Higher value of pH in soils of most of the wetlands found probably due to the impact of industrial effluents and urban sewage and use of chemical fertilizers in the paddy field of the fringe areas, which again create toxic environment and ultimately reduces fish productivity.展开更多
The work's main purpose was to design and implement a model of agricultural production for the attention of food demand of the coal complex in the center of the department of Cesar, Colombia, by mounting Profitable P...The work's main purpose was to design and implement a model of agricultural production for the attention of food demand of the coal complex in the center of the department of Cesar, Colombia, by mounting Profitable Productive Units in rural areas of the zone with mining influence. The aforementioned rural communities are at a socioeconomic disadvantage concerning to the local economic development policies. It was taken a rural society with socio-economic conditions at a disadvantage, level 1 in the classification scale of 1 to 5 of Colombia, several associations were organized in each one of the affected municipalities with strong agricultural vocation to train them in profitable production strategies, authors performed technical and technological support for 12 months. In synthesis, there were meaningful differences among gross income per month of people who worked in the projects of the Young Rural Entrepreneurs, a fact confirmed by the P-value 0.00000005 (Prob. 〉 F) and the F-value 29.3, both denote the significance statistic for this case is best gross income per month of persons covered by the program, this implies that for a person of the rural community it is more meaningful economically linked to the SENA's Young Rural Entrepreneurs, in contrast to search for jobs in the informal sector, there is even an average value of 530.000 COP/month (about 265 US/month) higher than the statutory minimum wage for 2009, equivalent to 497.000 COP/month (about 245 US/month).展开更多
Residential energy consumption is varying considerably worldwide. In order to understand these variations, and thus design effective policies for energy reductions, one needs a better understanding of the different dr...Residential energy consumption is varying considerably worldwide. In order to understand these variations, and thus design effective policies for energy reductions, one needs a better understanding of the different drivers behind these variations. A comparison of geographical areas with similar climate and socio-economic conditions has shown significant variations in residential energy consumption across otherwise comparable case studies. This research paper aims to identify cultural and historical parameters that contribute to these significant variations, including economic, environmental and social traditions related to local availability of natural resources. Furthermore, the transferability of these parameters is evaluated, taking into consideration local legislation and planning documents, and historic and socio-economic accessibility of resources. It is evaluated to which degree these parameters can be transferred and included into building assessment tools and policy documents for planning and transformation of sustainable urban neighborhoods.展开更多
Though with slight ups and downs, Vietnamese economies have been flourishing for recent decades. Just like other remaining historical districts in Asia, those of Vietnam have been going through rapid urbanization and ...Though with slight ups and downs, Vietnamese economies have been flourishing for recent decades. Just like other remaining historical districts in Asia, those of Vietnam have been going through rapid urbanization and transformation. The rapid urbanization impacts on traditional living environment. This paper examines the impacts of rapid urbanization to traditional living environment and community linkage, illustrating a case study of the Gia Hoi area of the historic old district in the city of Hue in Central Vietnam. To identify the impacts, a comparative analysis is conducted between neighbors along a main street which were more impacted by urbanization and those along a small alley which were less impacted. Through the analysis of field and questionnaire surveys, it found out that socioeconomic conditions, in particular, community linkage of households along main street and small ally varied significantly. It argues that in historical district, social capital is not well-spread, but rather concentrated along small allies, and small allies play an important role for sustainable community.展开更多
Africa is the most affected continent with energy poverty. Wood fuel is the main source of energy for remote and rural populations. At the same time, most parts of Africa are endowed with abundant solar energy. Togeth...Africa is the most affected continent with energy poverty. Wood fuel is the main source of energy for remote and rural populations. At the same time, most parts of Africa are endowed with abundant solar energy. Together with a highly developed global solar industry and ever declining cost of solar systems, solar has unprecedented potential to combat energy poverty in Africa. However, dissemination of solar systems is faced with a number of barriers and challenges amongst where sustainable financing and lack of technological support for installation, maintenance and repair of systems are the most significant. This paper discusses the cases of Botswana and Namibia where financing schemes based on different partnership models have been successfully implemented. These schemes have the potential for success and adaptation by countries with similar socio-economic conditions. We conclude with recommendations on training programs for different levels of intervention to overcome the lack of technological support.展开更多
The major purpose of any university is high-quality education of its students for the needs of society. Qualified staff (including teachers and administration) is the necessary condition for high-quality education o...The major purpose of any university is high-quality education of its students for the needs of society. Qualified staff (including teachers and administration) is the necessary condition for high-quality education of students. The qualified staff (university teachers) can only be internationally competitive when they do high quality research andactively participate in the university management. Government and industry set up the "boundary conditions" for universities, but they should not interfere into the internal self-governance of the universities, and should respect academic freedom. A world-class university has its own Triple Helix uniting education, research and innovation. A few specific examples of practical realization of such "sub" Triple Helix are given, which are based on personal experience of the author during 24 years of his work as a professor at leading universities in the USA, Germany and Japan. Though some findings and conclusions may have limited use in any particular country, there are universal features that should be present in any modem university interested in increasing its impact on local environment, concerned with interaction to local government and local businesses, and striving for top positions in international rankings.展开更多
Distributing of the railway refrigeration container handling stations is influenced by multitudinous factors, such as technique and equipment conditions, intermodal traffic ability, foreground and social economy condi...Distributing of the railway refrigeration container handling stations is influenced by multitudinous factors, such as technique and equipment conditions, intermodal traffic ability, foreground and social economy conditions of the district. In this paper a maiden adoption of the matter-element is applied to combine with information entropy theory to analyze distributing the railway refrigeration container handling stations based on concerned literature and historical data, and a multi-objective decision-making model on analyzing distributing the railway refrigeration container handling stations is set up based on matter-element and extension model. Based on establishing sutra field and controlled field, we apply relating function of matter- element and extension set to get relating function value of the railway refrigeration container handling stations. Finally a case study is carried out to verify the validity, objectivity and applicability of this model through calculated and compared with traditional analysis methods. Practicality application indicates that this method can avoid subjectivity of weighting, but enhance the extensibility, the model mentioned above has guiding significance and applied value for analyzing distributing the railway refrigeration container handling stations.展开更多
基金Project supported by the University of Wolverhampton, UK.
文摘Diversity in the biophysical and socio-economic attributes of agricultural systems makes them uniquely niche based. Farmers are expert in local biophysical and socio-economic situations and can contribute in developing pragmatic indicators of agro-environmental development. During evaluation of an agricultural research project in Yunnan, China, local farmers were capable of evaluating the effects of modified technologies on existing cropping systems and discussed their attitudes to the interventions using their own indicators. Farmers' response can be grouped into seven major aspects: i) effects on income, ii) effects on production resources, iii) effects on crop management, iv) existing local knowledge about the technology, v) availability of inputs, vi) access to information, and vii) socio-economic conditions of farming households. Farmers concluded that environmental conditions in the experimental catchment in comparison to an adjacent untreated catchment were better in terms of soil and water losses, vegetation cover and natural resources, infrastructures and catchment management, use of environmentally-friendly technologies, and crop productivity. Success in soil and water conservation programmes depends on the efforts of the farmers and other local users and their greater involvement helps to identify more pragmatic indicators. Furthermore, it increases ownership of the programme, enhances interactions with the project scientists, increases farmers' awareness of ago-environmental problems and their possible consequences. These development will enable scientists to develop better targeted interventions and increase the likelihood of adoption of tested technologies by local communities. The use of paired adjacent catchments improved evaluation activities and is proposed as good practice for future catchment improvement programmes.
文摘Around two thirds of the Swedish rural areas experienced positive net migration during the period 2003-2005. This paper examines the development in the Swedish rural areas from the perspective of the "new rurality" or the new rural economic order with regard to migratory movements. The paper analyzes determinants of net migration to rural areas in general and to different types of regions, and the impacts of in-migration on rural labor markets, self-employment and other socio-economic conditions. The determinants of the migration pattern were mainly the size of adjacent local and regional centers, income and education levels that all had positive impacts, while commuting distance and unemployment rate had contrary effects. In comparison with the original inhabitants, the newcomers had lower incomes, a lower employment ratio and a lower degree of entrepreneurial activities, but higher education levels. These differences might be explained by the age differences between stayers (older) and in-migrants (younger). This indicates that the two groups were in different stages of their life cycles. One central conclusion drawn from the paper is that the effect of in-migration on the composition of the rural population is about the same in rural areas all over Sweden.
基金Financial support from the key project of the National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.71273118)is gratefully acknowledged
文摘Generally, the sequence decision of the development and utilization of Chinese mineral resources is based on national and provincial overall plan of the mineral resources. Such plan usually cannot reflect the relative size of the suitability of the development and utilization of mineral resources. To solve the problem, the paper has selected the gift condition, the market condition, the technological condition,socio-economic condition and environmental condition as the starting-points to analyze the influential factors of the priority-sequence of mineral resources' development and utilization. The above 5 conditions are further specified into 9 evaluative indicators to establish an evaluation indicator system. At last,we propose a decision model of the priority sequence based on grey relational analysis method, and figure out the observation objects by the suitability index of development. Finally, the mineral resources of a certain province in China were analyzed as an example. The calculation results indicate that silver(2.0057), coal(1.9955), zinc(1.9442), cement limestone(1.9077), solvent limestone(1.5624) and other minerals in the province are suitable for development and utilization.
文摘This paper aims to establish a methodological frame work and its validation as a response to the need of a demand management tool in the face of recurring comparisons of building revitalization or retrofits. As the investment and implementation actions improve and the social economic criteria are delimited by regulatory frameworks, it is extremely necessary to monitor previous performances and further prospects, regarding projects, it is necessary to measure the extent of which efforts have been meeting regulatory requirements and aiming to contribute with sustainable development. In this context, the use of indicators has been a major management tool.
文摘Desertification caused by land degradation and overexploitation of natural resources is threatening large parts of eastern and southern Mediterranean. The actual state of desertification sensitivity in Lebanon was spatially assessed using site specific environmental bio-physical indicators, demographic pressure and socioeconomic conditions. Bio-physical assessment included the aridity index derived from integrated assessment of the historical data for 48 climatic stations spread throughout the country, the new detailed soil map at 1:50,000 scale, and the updated land cover/use map at 1:20,000 derived from IKONOS 2005. The methodology also included livelihood conditions and poverty at local administrative "Caza" level. Results showed the integrated impact of local climate, soil and vegetation quality and socioeconomic conditions on sensitivity to desertification. A total of 78% of the territories have low and very low climate quality index preconditioning the sensitivity to desertification. Fourteen Cazas out of 26 in total, representing more than 66% of the country, have low socioeconomic satisfaction index. Furthermore, negative trends are alleviated by good quality relict soils and vegetation cover. The actual extent of desertification covers 40.48% of the national territory, much of which occurs under semi-arid climate, moderate or low soil and vegetation quality and poor living conditions. The outcome of this research adjusted the previous coarse estimates of desertification prone areas at the national level. Results allow for realistic, policy oriented local assessment for responsive land use planning and proactive sustainable, national and local land management in the context of the national action plan to combat desertification.
文摘Development and judicious management of available water resources play a key role for economic upliftment of any region. The agricultural pattern and social and demographic status in the upper basin of the Dulung Nala Stream (a tributary of the Subarnarekha River) in the western part of the State of West Bengal, India, reveals growing demand of water in the basin. The paper reports different management plans involving different types of water harvesting structures (and associated different types of water distribution systems) and different crop combinations and with benefit/cost ratios varying from 1.3 to 11.2 for the basin. The study points out that the judicious choice of both the water harvesting structure as well as the water distribution system is important. Proper planning of crop pattern is also to be emphasized for reaping maximum benefit. It further emphasizes that cost- benefit ratio cannot solely govern the choice of structure and that maximum utilization of catchmental water and thus enhancement of agricultural output (and also economic return from the catchment) i.e. quantum of benefit is also important. The water harvesting structures proposed in this study can be implemented in other semi-arid regions of India having almost the same climatic and socio-economic conditions.
文摘Livestock sector occupies a very crucial position in the economy of Pakistan. The sector is equally important in irrigation as well as in arid/rain fed areas. Based on the valid reasons and available data, some scientists believe that livestock can strengthen and boost-up the economy of the rain fed/arid lands like Pothowar plateau where other enterprises like crops do not flourish and witness success due to drought and uncertain weather conditions. In this article, an attempt has been made to establish the role of livestock rearing in both the high and low potential areas. Their role in the overall economy of the country has been highlighted. Also many constraints in livestock business have been identified. The livestock sector in Pakistan has tremendous potential for growth. Therefore, a workable strategy for the promotion of the livestock has been outlined to uplift the rural economy and improve the socio-economic conditions of the rural dweller of the country.
文摘In this study, urban environmental condition using Terra ASTER (advanced spaceborne thermal emission and reflection radiometer) remotely sensed satellite imagery was estimated and compared to statistically derived socioeconomic condition data from Semarang Municipality in Central Java Province: Indonesia. From satellite imagery: U1 (urban index) and NDVI (normalized difference vegetation index) were calculated and used that information to construct urban density and vegetation distribution maps of the study area. Urban density and vegetation distribution were combined to estimate urban environmental condition; then compared to socioeconomic conditions. The results revealed that the Semarang Municipality had a higher percentage of developed or urbanized areas (49%) compared to the percentage of area covered by vegetation (42%). In general, southern Semarang had a higher quality urban environment and socioeconomic condition compared to northern Semarang, which had a higher urban density, lower quality urban environment and lower socioeconomic condition. The indicate that socioeconomic condition can be determined using satellite-derived urban and vegetation indices even in places like Semarang Municipality, where the population settlement was sparse and unorganized.
文摘The wetlands of the Brahmaputra valley include lake-like natural water bodies locally known as 'beel', and degenerated lakes, which are often called as swamps. The role of such wetlands in socio-economic condition of the people is significant from various angles. Apart from the wetlands act as the ideal habitats for feeding, nesting and breeding of a large variety of fishes, birds and other aquatic animals, these features maintain the environmental quality of the region. Present study has been conducted primarily in eight selected beels in the Dimoria region, which is located almost at the south-central part of the Brahmaputra valley. The water and soil samples from these wetlands had been collected using random sampling technique and analyzed to know about the nature of degradation of the wetlands. Once highly productive wetland waters now show very low DO, high BOD and COD, indicating dwindling productivity of fish and other aquatic resources. Higher value of pH in soils of most of the wetlands found probably due to the impact of industrial effluents and urban sewage and use of chemical fertilizers in the paddy field of the fringe areas, which again create toxic environment and ultimately reduces fish productivity.
文摘The work's main purpose was to design and implement a model of agricultural production for the attention of food demand of the coal complex in the center of the department of Cesar, Colombia, by mounting Profitable Productive Units in rural areas of the zone with mining influence. The aforementioned rural communities are at a socioeconomic disadvantage concerning to the local economic development policies. It was taken a rural society with socio-economic conditions at a disadvantage, level 1 in the classification scale of 1 to 5 of Colombia, several associations were organized in each one of the affected municipalities with strong agricultural vocation to train them in profitable production strategies, authors performed technical and technological support for 12 months. In synthesis, there were meaningful differences among gross income per month of people who worked in the projects of the Young Rural Entrepreneurs, a fact confirmed by the P-value 0.00000005 (Prob. 〉 F) and the F-value 29.3, both denote the significance statistic for this case is best gross income per month of persons covered by the program, this implies that for a person of the rural community it is more meaningful economically linked to the SENA's Young Rural Entrepreneurs, in contrast to search for jobs in the informal sector, there is even an average value of 530.000 COP/month (about 265 US/month) higher than the statutory minimum wage for 2009, equivalent to 497.000 COP/month (about 245 US/month).
文摘Residential energy consumption is varying considerably worldwide. In order to understand these variations, and thus design effective policies for energy reductions, one needs a better understanding of the different drivers behind these variations. A comparison of geographical areas with similar climate and socio-economic conditions has shown significant variations in residential energy consumption across otherwise comparable case studies. This research paper aims to identify cultural and historical parameters that contribute to these significant variations, including economic, environmental and social traditions related to local availability of natural resources. Furthermore, the transferability of these parameters is evaluated, taking into consideration local legislation and planning documents, and historic and socio-economic accessibility of resources. It is evaluated to which degree these parameters can be transferred and included into building assessment tools and policy documents for planning and transformation of sustainable urban neighborhoods.
文摘Though with slight ups and downs, Vietnamese economies have been flourishing for recent decades. Just like other remaining historical districts in Asia, those of Vietnam have been going through rapid urbanization and transformation. The rapid urbanization impacts on traditional living environment. This paper examines the impacts of rapid urbanization to traditional living environment and community linkage, illustrating a case study of the Gia Hoi area of the historic old district in the city of Hue in Central Vietnam. To identify the impacts, a comparative analysis is conducted between neighbors along a main street which were more impacted by urbanization and those along a small alley which were less impacted. Through the analysis of field and questionnaire surveys, it found out that socioeconomic conditions, in particular, community linkage of households along main street and small ally varied significantly. It argues that in historical district, social capital is not well-spread, but rather concentrated along small allies, and small allies play an important role for sustainable community.
文摘Africa is the most affected continent with energy poverty. Wood fuel is the main source of energy for remote and rural populations. At the same time, most parts of Africa are endowed with abundant solar energy. Together with a highly developed global solar industry and ever declining cost of solar systems, solar has unprecedented potential to combat energy poverty in Africa. However, dissemination of solar systems is faced with a number of barriers and challenges amongst where sustainable financing and lack of technological support for installation, maintenance and repair of systems are the most significant. This paper discusses the cases of Botswana and Namibia where financing schemes based on different partnership models have been successfully implemented. These schemes have the potential for success and adaptation by countries with similar socio-economic conditions. We conclude with recommendations on training programs for different levels of intervention to overcome the lack of technological support.
文摘The major purpose of any university is high-quality education of its students for the needs of society. Qualified staff (including teachers and administration) is the necessary condition for high-quality education of students. The qualified staff (university teachers) can only be internationally competitive when they do high quality research andactively participate in the university management. Government and industry set up the "boundary conditions" for universities, but they should not interfere into the internal self-governance of the universities, and should respect academic freedom. A world-class university has its own Triple Helix uniting education, research and innovation. A few specific examples of practical realization of such "sub" Triple Helix are given, which are based on personal experience of the author during 24 years of his work as a professor at leading universities in the USA, Germany and Japan. Though some findings and conclusions may have limited use in any particular country, there are universal features that should be present in any modem university interested in increasing its impact on local environment, concerned with interaction to local government and local businesses, and striving for top positions in international rankings.
文摘Distributing of the railway refrigeration container handling stations is influenced by multitudinous factors, such as technique and equipment conditions, intermodal traffic ability, foreground and social economy conditions of the district. In this paper a maiden adoption of the matter-element is applied to combine with information entropy theory to analyze distributing the railway refrigeration container handling stations based on concerned literature and historical data, and a multi-objective decision-making model on analyzing distributing the railway refrigeration container handling stations is set up based on matter-element and extension model. Based on establishing sutra field and controlled field, we apply relating function of matter- element and extension set to get relating function value of the railway refrigeration container handling stations. Finally a case study is carried out to verify the validity, objectivity and applicability of this model through calculated and compared with traditional analysis methods. Practicality application indicates that this method can avoid subjectivity of weighting, but enhance the extensibility, the model mentioned above has guiding significance and applied value for analyzing distributing the railway refrigeration container handling stations.