RESILIENCE COVERAGE OF GLOBAL SUSTAINABILITY ASSESSMENT FRAMEWORKS:A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW

Sustainable development has been a popular concept since 1987 and the issuance of the Brundtland report.A diverse number of sustainability assessment frameworks are available to examine the environmental performance of buildings and communities.With the current pace of climate change and the increasing threat of stronger,more frequent natural hazards,however,there are doubts that sustainability alone is an effective response.Sustainability assessment frameworks in recent years have been criticized for not incorporating hazard resilience.To better understand the current level of emphasis put on resilience to natural hazards in green building rating systems,this study aims to assess the level of resilience integration in existing sustainability assessment frameworks.The results demonstrate an overall lack of resilience coverage in the frameworks with only four frameworks,CASBEE,LEED,Green Globes,and DGNB having resilience coverage of 27.5%,15%,2.6%,and 1.1%respectively.This confirms a need for more systematic integration of resilience indicators into sustain-ability rating systems to create combined frameworks for sustainability and resilience.

Frameworks for health systems performance assessment:how comprehensive is Ghana’s holistic assessment tool?

Background:Measuring the performance of a health system is an essential requirement in creating systems that generate efficient,equitable,patient-focused,accessible and sustainable results.A fundamental requirement for a performance measurement system is the development of an assessment framework within which specific performance measures could be defined and applied regularly.This paper examines the comprehensiveness of Ghana’s health system assessment framework called the Holistic Assessment Tool in relation to some of the internationally recognized frameworks.The paper also analyzes trends in the performance of the health system to understand whether or not an improvement has been recorded following the adoption and implementation of the Holistic Assessment Tool.Methods:Mainly secondary data were used in this analysis.Searches were conducted on Google Scholar,PubMed,Scopus and Science Direct between May and July,2019 for published documents on health system performance assessment.We also obtained unpublished documents from Ghana’s Ministry of Health,Ghana Health Service website,and Ghana Statistical Service database.Descriptive statistics were used to examine trends in the performance of the Ghanaian health system.Results:While the tool provides a national framework for evaluating the performance of the Ghana Health system in several domains,the Holistic Assessment Tool does not cover key health system domains such as information systems for health,access to essential medicines,and patient-centeredness.Also,the scope of the assessment program seems limited to the evaluation of the Ministry of Health’s annual plans,programs and projects.However,the health system has recorded improvements in population health indicators,such as life expectancy at birth,infant mortality,under-5 mortality,HIV prevalence and disease burden(in terms of disability adjusted life years).Conclusions:The Holistic Assessment Tool is a useful framework,but needs further refinement,both in scope and in conceptual robustness.Future studies should consider exploring factors influencing performance of the Ghanaian health system.Such information will help in strategizing for better and more improvements.

Establishment of a Risk Assessment Framework for Analysis of the Spread of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza

To evaluate the risk of highly pathogenic avian influenza （HPAI） in China's Mainland, a risk assessment framework was built. Risk factors were determined by analyzing the epidemic data using the brainstorming method; the analytic hierarchy process was designed to weigh risk factors, and the integrated multicriteria analysis was used to evaluate the final result. The completed framework included the risk factor system, data standards for risk factors, weights of risk factors, and integrated assessment methods. This risk assessment framework can be used to quantitatively analyze the outbreak and spread of HPAI in China's Mainland.

Integrated risk assessment framework for transformation products of emerging contaminants:what we know and what we should know

The continuous input of various emerging contaminants(ECs)has inevitably introduced large amounts of transformation products(TPs)in natural and engineering water scenarios.Structurally similar to the precursor species,the TPs are expected to possess comparative,if not more serious,environmental properties and risks.This review summarizes the state-of-the-art knowledge regarding the integrated risk assessment frameworks of TPs of ECs,mainly involving the exposure-and effectdriven analysis.The inadequate information within existing frameworks that was essential and critical for developing a better risk assessment framework was discussed.The main strategic improvements include(1)non-targeted product analysis in both laboratory and field samples,(2)omics-based highthroughput toxicity assessment,(3)multichannel-driven mode of action in conjugation with effectdirected analysis,and(4)machine learning technology.Overall,this review provides a concise but comprehensive insight into the optimized strategy for evaluating the environmental risks and screening the key toxic products from the cocktail mixtures of ECs and their TPs in the global water cycle.This facilitates deciphering the mode of toxicity in complex chemical mixtures and prioritizing the regulated TPs among the unknown products,which have the potential to be considered a class of novel"ECs"ofgreatconcern.

Application of BCP-2007 and UBC-97 in seismic vulnerability assessment of gravity designed RC buildings in Pakistan

Recent earthquakes in Pakistan （Kashmir 2005, Balochistan 2008, and Balochistan 2013） revealed the vulnerability of existing building stock and the deficiencies in the then prevalent Pakistan Seismic Code （PSC-86 （1986））. This study investigates, through an analytical framework, the seismic vulnerability of these and other such buildings, in accordance with the newly developed Building Code of Pakistan - Seismic Provisions 2007 （BCP-SP 07）. Detailed failure mode is presented for buildings designed as per the new code. Collapse of structures is predicted for only 8% increase in PGA after moderate damage. A previously developed method, based on Eurocode-8 （2004）, is used as baseline. A deficient reinforced concrete frame, typical to local building practices, is analyzed and assessed for vulnerability using the BCP- SP 07 （2007） framework. A comparison is drawn for the same building, based on Eurocode- 8 （2004）. Derived vulnerability curves show that the previous framework overestimated the damage and hence the vulnerability. Comparison of vulnerability parameters with previous studies show slight difference in performance of buildings.

A landscape persistence-based methodological framework for assessing ecological stability

Ecological stability is a critical factor in global sustainable development,yet its significance has been overlooked.Here we introduce a landscape-oriented framework to evaluate ecological stability in the Qingzang Plateau(QP).Our findings reveal a medium-high stability level in the QP,with minimal changes over recent years.The driving factors vary across landscape types,with climate and anthropogenic factors emerging as crucial determinants.While anthropogenic factors are strong but unstable due to policy changes and economic development,climatic factors exert a consistent influence.Based on our results,we propose site-specific ecological conservation and restoration measures.The ecological stability assessment framework provides a practical tool to understand the link between environmental conditions and ecosystems.

How to assess the success of the open data ecosystem?

Open data are currently a hot topic and are associated with realising ambitions such as a more transparent and efficient government,solving societal problems,and increasing economic value.To describe and monitor the state of open data in countries and organisations,several open data assessment frameworks were developed.Despite high scores in these assessment frameworks,the actual(re)use of open government data(OGD)fails to live up to its expectations.Our review of existing open data assessment frameworks reveals that these only cover parts of the open data ecosystem.We have developed a framework,which assesses open data supply,open data governance,and open data user characteristics holistically.This holistic open data framework assesses the maturity of the open data ecosystem and proves to be a useful tool to indicate which aspects of the open data ecosystem are successful and which aspects require attention.Our initial assessment in the Netherlands indicates that the traditional geographical data perform significantly better than non-geographical data,such as healthcare data.Therefore,open geographical data policies in the Netherlands may provide useful cues for other OGD strategies.

The vulnerability evolution and simulation of social-ecological systems in a semi-arid area: A case study of Yulin City, China

Taking the semi-arid area of Yulin City as an example, this study improves the vulnerability assessment methods and techniques at the county scale using the VSD(Vulnerability Scoping Diagram) assessment framework, integrates the VSD framework and the SERV(Spatially Explicit Resilience-Vulnerability) model, and decomposes the system vulnerability into three dimensions, i.e., exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity. Firstly, with the full understanding of the background and exposure risk source of the research area, the vulnerability indexes were screened by the SERV model, and the index system was constructed to assess the characteristics of the local eco-environment. Secondly, with the aid of RS and GIS, this study measured the spatial differentiation and evolution of the social-ecological systems in Yulin City during 2000–2015 and explored intrinsic reasons for the spatial-temporal evolution of vulnerability. The results are as follows:(1) The spatial pattern of Yulin City's SESs vulnerability is "high in northwest and southeast and low along the Great Wall". Although the degree of system vulnerability decreased significantly during the study period and the system development trend improved, there is a sharp spatial difference between the system vulnerability and exposure risk.(2) The evolution of system vulnerability is influenced by the risk factors of exposure, and the regional vulnerability and the spatial heterogeneity of exposure risk are affected by the social sensitivity, economic adaptive capacity and other factors. Finally, according to the uncertainty of decision makers, the future scenarios of regional vulnerability are simulated under different decision risks by taking advantage of the OWA multi-criteria algorithm, and the vulnerability of the regional system under different development directions was predicted based on the decision makers' rational risk interval.