Search results for: rural policy
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 5298

Search results for: rural policy

3918 Public Policy as a Component of Entrepreneurship Ecosystems: Challenges of Implementation

Authors: José Batista de Souza Neto

Abstract:

This research project has as its theme the implementation of public policies to support micro and small businesses (MSEs). The research problem defined was how public policies for access to markets that drive the entrepreneurial ecosystem of MSEs are implemented. The general objective of this research is to understand the process of implementing a public policy to support the entrepreneurial ecosystem of MSEs by the Support Service for Micro and Small Enterprises of the State of São Paulo (SEBRAESP). Public policies are constituent elements of entrepreneurship ecosystems that influence the creation and development of ventures from the action of the entrepreneur. At the end of the research, it is expected to achieve the results for the following specific objectives: (a) understand how the entrepreneurial ecosystem of MSEs is constituted; (b) understand how market access public policies for MSEs are designed and implemented; (c) understand SEBRAE's role in the entrepreneurship ecosystem; and (d) offer an action plan and monitor its execution up to march, 2023. The field research will be conducted based on Action Research, with a qualitative and longitudinal approach to the data. Data collection will be based on narratives produced since 2019 when the decision to implement Comércio Brasil program, a public policy focused on generating market access for 4280 MSEs yearly, was made. The narratives will be analyzed by the method of document analysis and narrative analysis. It is expected that the research will consolidate the relevance of public policies to market access for MSEs and the role of SEBRAE as a protagonist in the implementation of these public policies in the entrepreneurship ecosystem will be demonstrated. Action research is recognized as an intervention method, it is expected that this research will corroborate its role in supporting management processes.

Keywords: entrepreneurship, entrepreneurship ecosystem, public policies, SEBRAE, action research

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3917 Antiplatelets and Anticoagulants in Rural Emergency General Surgery

Authors: Jeong-Moh John Yahng, Angelika Na

Abstract:

Introduction: Increasing numbers of general surgical patients are being prescribed antiplatelet and anticoagulant medications (APAC) for various cardiovascular and cerebrovascular conditions. Surgical patients who are on APAC present a management challenge as bleeding risk needs to be balanced with thromboembolic risk. Although guidelines exist in regards to APAC management in elective surgery, there is a lack of guidelines in the emergency surgery setting. In this study we aim to characterise APAC usage in emergency general surgical patients admitted to a rural hospital. We also assess the impact of APAC usage on clinical management of these patients. Methods: Prospective study of emergency general surgical admissions at Northeast Health Wangaratta (Victoria) from 2 July to 25 Oct 2014. Questionnaire collected demographics data, admission diagnosis, APAC usage, anaesthesia techniques, operation types, transfusion requirement and morbidity / mortality data. Results: During the 4 month study, 118 patients were classified into two groups: non-APAC (n=96, 81%) and APAC (n=22, 19%). Patients in the APAC group were older compared to the non-APAC patients (mean age 72 vs 42 years old). Amongst patients younger than 60 years old, only 1% of them were on APAC. In contrast, 49% of patients older than 60 years old were on APAC (p<0.001). Patients who were admitted with a bleeding problem were more likely to be on APAC (p<0.05). 19% of emergency general surgery patients were on APAC. The majority (91%) of them were on antiplatelet medication, with two patients being on dual antiplatelet agents (aspirin + clopidogrel or ticagrelor). 15% of emergency general surgical patients requiring operations were on APAC. 11% of all laparotomies and 33% of gastroscopy for haematemesis/melaena patients were on APAC. Both of the patients operated for bleeding following surgery at another hospital were in the APAC group. In regards to impact on clinical management, 59% of APAC patients had their medications interrupted or ceased, on average by 3.5 days (range 1-13 days). 2 out of 75 operations were delayed due to APAC usage. There was no difference in the use of central venous or arterial line for increased monitoring (p=0.14) or in the use of warming blanket (Bair Hugger™) (p=0.94). Overall, transfusion rate was higher amongst APAC patients (14% vs 3%) (p 0.04). The recorded morbidity (n=2) and mortality (n=1) in this study were all in the APAC group. Discussion: Nineteen percent of emergency general surgical admissions and fifteen percent of operated patients were on APAC. The prevalence of APAC usage was higher in those aged sixty and above. General surgical patients who were admitted with a bleeding problem were more likely to be on APAC. Two patients who were operated for bleeding following surgery at another hospital were in the APAC group. Note that there was no patient in the non-APAC group who was admitted for post-operative bleeding. We observed two cases in which operation was delayed due to APAC usage. Transfusion, morbidity and mortality rate were higher in the APAC group. Conclusion: In this study, nineteen percent of emergency general surgical admissions were on APAC. The use of APAC is more prevalent in the older age group, particularly those aged sixty and above. Higher proportion of APAC compared to non-APAC patients were admitted and operated for bleeding problems. There is an urgent need for clinical guidelines regarding APAC management in emergency general surgical patients.

Keywords: antiplatelet, anticoagulants, emergency general surgery, rural general surgery, morbidity, mortality

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3916 Dynamic Modelling and Assessment for Urban Growth and Transport in Riyadh City, Saudi Arabia

Authors: Majid Aldalbahi

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In 2009, over 3.4 billion people in the world resided in urban areas as a result of rapid urban growth. This figure is estimated to increase to 6.5 billion by 2050. This urban growth phenomenon has raised challenges for many countries in both the developing and developed worlds. Urban growth is a complicated process involving the spatiotemporal changes of all socio-economic and physical components at different scales. The socio-economic components of urban growth are related to urban population growth and economic growth, while physical components of urban growth and economic growth are related to spatial expansion, land cover change and land use change which are the focus of this research. The interactions between these components are complex and no-linear. Several factors and forces cause these complex interactions including transportation and communication, internal and international migrations, public policies, high natural growth rates of urban populations and public policies. Urban growth has positive and negative consequences. The positive effects relates to planned and orderly urban growth, while negative effects relate to unplanned and scattered growth, which is called sprawl. Although urban growth is considered as necessary for sustainable urbanization, uncontrolled and rapid growth cause various problems including consumption of precious rural land resources at urban fringe, landscape alteration, traffic congestion, infrastructure pressure, and neighborhood conflicts. Traditional urban planning approaches in fast growing cities cannot accommodate the negative consequences of rapid urban growth. Microsimulation programme, and modelling techniques are effective means to provide new urban development, management and planning methods and approaches. This paper aims to use these techniques to understand and analyse the complex interactions for the case study of Riyadh city, a fast growing city in Saudi Arabia.

Keywords: policy implications, urban planning, traffic congestion, urban growth, Suadi Arabia, Riyadh

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3915 Hand in Hand with Indigenous People Worldwide through the Discovery of Indigenous Entrepreneurial Models: A Systematic Literature Review of International Indigenous Entrepreneurship

Authors: Francesca Croce

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Governmental development strategies aimed at entrepreneurship as a major resource for economic development and poverty reduction of indigenous people. As initiatives and programs are local based, there is a need to better understand the contextual factors of indigenous entrepreneurial models. The purpose of this paper is, therefore, to analyze and integrated the indigenous entrepreneurship literature in order to identify the main models of indigenous entrepreneurship. To answer this need, a systematic literature review was conducted. Relevant articles were identified in selected electronic databases (ABI/Inform Global, Business Source Premier, Web of Science; International Bibliography of the Social Sciences, Academic Search, Sociological Abstract, Entrepreneurial Studies Sources and Bibliography of Native North America) and in selected electronic review. Beginning to 1st January 1995 (first International Day of the World’s Indigenous People), 59 academic articles were selected from 1411. Through systematic analysis of the cultural, social and organizational variables, the paper highlights that a typology of indigenous entrepreneurial models is possible thought the concept of entrepreneurial ecosystem, which includes the geographical position and the environment of the indigenous communities. The results show three models of indigenous entrepreneurship: the urban indigenous entrepreneurship, the semi-urban indigenous entrepreneurship, and rural indigenous entrepreneurship. After the introduction, the paper is organized as follows. In the first part theoretical and practical needs of a systematic literature review on indigenous entrepreneurship are provided. In the second part, the methodology, the selection process and evaluation of the articles are explained. In the third part, findings are presented and each indigenous entrepreneurial model characteristics are discussed. The results of this study bring a new theorization about indigenous entrepreneurship and may be useful for scientists in the field in search of overcoming the cognitive border of Indigenous business models still too little known. Also, the study is addressed to policy makers in charge of indigenous entrepreneurial development strategies more focused on contextual factors studies.

Keywords: community development, entrepreneurial ecosystem, indigenous entrepreneurship model, indigenous people, systematic literature review

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3914 Post Apartheid Language Positionality and Policy: Student Teachers' Narratives from Teaching Practicum

Authors: Thelma Mort

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This empirical, qualitative research uses interviews of four intermediate phase English language student teachers at one university in South Africa and is an exploration of student teacher learning on their teaching practicum in their penultimate year of the initial teacher education course. The country’s post-apartheid language in education policy provides a context to this study in that children move from mother tongue language of instruction in foundation phase to English as a language of instruction in Intermediate phase. There is another layer of context informing this study which is the school context; the student teachers’ reflections are from their teaching practicum in resource constrained schools, which make up more than 75% of schools in South Africa. The findings were that in these schools, deep biases existed to local languages, that language was being used as a proxy for social class, and that conditions necessary for language acquisition were absent. The student teachers’ attitudes were in contrast to those found in the schools, namely that they had various pragmatic approaches to overcoming obstacles and that they saw language as enabling interdisciplinary work. This study describes language issues, tensions created by policy in South African schools and also supplies a regional account of learning to teach in resource constrained schools in Cape Town, where such language tensions are more inflated. The central findings in this research illuminate attitudes to language and language education in these teaching practicum schools and the complexity of learning to be a language teacher in these contexts. This study is one of the few local empirical studies regarding language teaching in the classroom and language teacher education; as such it offers some background to the country’s poor performance in both international and national literacy assessments.

Keywords: language teaching, narrative, post apartheid, South Africa, student teacher

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3913 Disarmament and Rehabilitation of Women Maoists: A Case Study of Chhattisgarh, India

Authors: Pinal Patel

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The study defines the problems and issues of women in Maoist groups, also referred as ‘Naxalites’, in Chhattisgarh, India. It analyses the causes and consequences of increasing number of women joining Maoists groups and measures taken by the central and state government to retreat them. The main aspect of the study is, how to counter the challenges to resolve the issues and restore normalcy in the life of women Maoists to resettle them in mainstream once they become physically inactive and wish to become part of the society. The rationale behind this study is that women Maoists once inactive, has no place either with Maoist camps/rebel groups or particularly in society. The problems faced by the women Maoists, in society as well as in Maoists camps, can be studied through social, economic, cultural, political and humanitarian aspects. The methodology of the study is dependent on primary sources of information which includes a research survey in majorly affected areas, statistical analysis. Secondary sources of information are helpful for understanding the background of the problem. Government’s strategy of rewarding with cash and providing resettlement and rehabilitation benefits including houses and jobs to ex-women Maoists and their families is a well formulated and feasible policy and effectively implemented by the concerned authorities. But, the survey results show that the policy has not been able to have impacts as it was intended. Because inactive and physically disabled women are still left deserted in deep forests to die and police or authorities are not able to reach them and bring them back. The difficult terrain and dense forest areas are major hurdles to reach to Maoists camps. Moreover, to make people aware of government’s surrendering and rehabilitation schemes and policies as communication networks are very poor due to the lack of development in the state.

Keywords: maoists, women, government, policy

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3912 Evolution of Sustainable Municipal Solid Waste Management in Nigeria: Lagos Case Study

Authors: Chinedu Bevis Dibia, Hom Nath Dhakal

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Effective waste management in sub-Saharan Africa has been identified as a means of resolving the wicked problems posed by climate change. Municipal solid waste management in Nigeria could be argued to be ineffective and unsustainable, despite the tag of sustainable ascribed to most municipalities’ waste management. Relatively, few studies have enquired on the evolution of Sustainable Municipal Waste Management (SMWM) in Nigeria. The main objective of this research is to examine the evolution of SMWM in Nigeria using Lagos state as a case study. A qualitative method was used as methodology, soft systems analysis is the main tool of evaluation. Results indicated that effective policy implementation and management is the main challenge to the proper evolution of SMWM. These findings highlight the relevance of effective stakeholder’s engagement and management, policy consistency as major determinants in SMWM.

Keywords: high income localities, low middle income localities, SMWM, upper middle income localities, waste collection, waste disposal

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3911 Bilingual Siblings and Dynamic Family Language Policies in Italian/English Families

Authors: Daniela Panico

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Framed by language socialization and family language policy theories, the present study explores the ways the language choice patterns of bilingual siblings contribute to the shaping of the language environment and the language practices of Italian/English families residing in Sydney. The main source of data is video recordings of naturally occurring parent-children and child-to-child interactions during everyday routines (i.e., family mealtimes and siblings playtime) in the home environment. Recurrent interactional practices are analyzed in detail through a conversational analytical approach. This presentation focuses on the interactional trajectories developing during the negotiation of language choices between all family members and between siblings in face-to-face interactions. Fine-grained analysis is performed on language negotiation sequences of multiparty bilingual conversations in order to uncover the sequential patterns through which a) the children respond to the parental strategies aiming to minority language maintenance, and b) the siblings influence each other’s language use and choice (e.g., older siblings positioning themselves as language teachers and language brokers, younger siblings accepting the role of apprentices). The findings show that, along with the parents, children are active socializing agents in the family and, with their linguistic behavior, they contribute to the establishment of a bilingual or a monolingual context in the home. Moreover, by orienting themselves towards the use of one or the other language in family talk, bilingual siblings are a major internal micro force in the language ecology of a bilingual family and can strongly support language maintenance or language shift processes in such domain. Overall, the study provides insights into the dynamic ways in which family language policy is interactionally negotiated and instantiated in bilingual homes as well as the challenges of intergenerational language transmission.

Keywords: bilingual siblings, family interactions, family language policy, language maintenance

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3910 Social Impacts of Gentrification: Protest and Resistance: A Case Study in Monterrey’s City Center

Authors: Paulina Ramirez Leal

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Current debates have examined the effects of market-oriented development on gentrification, as well as the role of urban renewal, interventions, and planning policy in exacerbating this phenomenon. Despite the growing body of research recognizing the social impacts of gentrification, to date, there has been very little research directly investigating how resisting gentrification increases social cohesion, a crucial dimension of urban resilience. This contribution set out to explore these social impacts while identifying the different forms of protest and expressions of resistance to gentrification in Monterrey’s city center. The methods employed include documentary analysis and qualitative methods such as surveys and photographic documentation. Monterrey’s city center's ongoing process of gentrification illustrates the impacts of planning policies, specifically TOD. Some of the unintended consequences of the policy have resulted in inhabitants facing forced inner migration and displacement caused by vandalism of their homes and neighborhoods, as well as losing part of their urban identity.

Keywords: gentrification, social impacts, neighborhood identity, urban resilience, Monterrey’s City Center

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3909 An Experimental Approach to the Influence of Tipping Points and Scientific Uncertainties in the Success of International Fisheries Management

Authors: Jules Selles

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The Atlantic and Mediterranean bluefin tuna fishery have been considered as the archetype of an overfished and mismanaged fishery. This crisis has demonstrated the role of public awareness and the importance of the interactions between science and management about scientific uncertainties. This work aims at investigating the policy making process associated with a regional fisheries management organization. We propose a contextualized computer-based experimental approach, in order to explore the effects of key factors on the cooperation process in a complex straddling stock management setting. Namely, we analyze the effects of the introduction of a socio-economic tipping point and the uncertainty surrounding the estimation of the resource level. Our approach is based on a Gordon-Schaefer bio-economic model which explicitly represents the decision making process. Each participant plays the role of a stakeholder of ICCAT and represents a coalition of fishing nations involved in the fishery and decide unilaterally a harvest policy for the coming year. The context of the experiment induces the incentives for exploitation and collaboration to achieve common sustainable harvest plans at the Atlantic bluefin tuna stock scale. Our rigorous framework allows testing how stakeholders who plan the exploitation of a fish stock (a common pool resource) respond to two kinds of effects: i) the inclusion of a drastic shift in the management constraints (beyond a socio-economic tipping point) and ii) an increasing uncertainty in the scientific estimation of the resource level.

Keywords: economic experiment, fisheries management, game theory, policy making, Atlantic Bluefin tuna

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3908 Acute Respiratory Infections in a Rural Area of the Southwestern Region of Bangladesh: Perceptions, Practices and the Role of First-Time Mothers

Authors: Sonia Mannan

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A qualitative study was conducted in a rural area of the southwestern region of Bangladesh to identify perceptions, practices, and the role of first-time mothers surrounding acute respiratory infections (ARI) in infants and children aged under four years. The study reveals that all mothers had knowledge of ARI and were able to identify a number of signs and symptoms. They also recognized pneumonia and thought it to be caused by exposure to cold or weather change, supernatural causes, evil influences, mothers’ negligence, and failure to observe ‘purdah’. They were able to identify chest retractions, difficult breathing, and inability to feed as signs of severe disease needing treatment outside the home. In these cases, spiritual healers were sought, and allopathic treatment was delayed or avoided. Home care practices involved massaging the child with oil and avoiding 'cooling' foods, including water. With the presence of fever and breathing difficulty, mothers tended to increase the number and diversity of medicines, although more concern was expressed about fever than about breathing difficulty. Effective medical care was more likely to be delayed for infants than for older children (they often waited 2-5 days after signs of illness appeared); infants were also more likely to be taken to a spiritual healer as the first-choice provider. The reasons for these perceptions and practices and their implications on the ARI of infants and young children are discussed. Community intervention is identified as viable, effective, and practical to address the body of local socio-cultural knowledge about family practices and the role of the mother regarding the mitigation of ARI in infants and young children.

Keywords: acute respiratory infections , public health, pneumonia, Bangladesh

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3907 A Modelling Study of the Photochemical and Particulate Pollution Characteristics above a Typical Southeast Mediterranean Urban Area

Authors: Fameli Kyriaki-Maria, Assimakopoulos D. Vasiliki, Kotroni Vassiliki

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The Greater Athens Area (GAA) faces photochemical and particulate pollution episodes as a result of the combined effects of local pollutant emissions, regional pollution transport, synoptic circulation and topographic characteristics. The area has undergone significant changes since the Athens 2004 Olympic Games because of large scale infrastructure works that lead to the shift of population to areas previously characterized as rural, the increase of the traffic fleet and the operation of highways. However, no recent modelling studies have been performed due to the lack of an accurate, updated emission inventory. The photochemical modelling system MM5/CAMx was applied in order to study the photochemical and particulate pollution characteristics above the GAA for two distinct ten-day periods in the summer of 2006 and 2010, where air pollution episodes occurred. A new updated emission inventory was used based on official data. Comparison of modeled results with measurements revealed the importance and accuracy of the new Athens emission inventory as compared to previous modeling studies. The model managed to reproduce the local meteorological conditions, the daily ozone and particulates fluctuations at different locations across the GAA. Higher ozone levels were found at suburban and rural areas as well as over the sea at the south of the basin. Concerning PM10, high concentrations were computed at the city centre and the southeastern suburbs in agreement with measured data. Source apportionment analysis showed that different sources contribute to the ozone levels, the local sources (traffic, port activities) affecting its formation.

Keywords: photochemical modelling, urban pollution, greater Athens area, MM5/CAMx

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3906 An Integrated Solid Waste Management Strategy for Semi-Urban and Rural Areas of Pakistan

Authors: Z. Zaman Asam, M. Ajmal, R. Saeed, H. Miraj, M. Muhammad Ahtisham, B. Hameed, A. -Sattar Nizami

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In Pakistan, environmental degradation and consequent human health deterioration has rapidly accelerated in the past decade due to solid waste mismanagement. As the situation worsens with time, establishment of proper waste management practices is urgently needed especially in semi urban and rural areas of Pakistan. This study uses a concept of Waste Bank, which involves a transfer station for collection of sorted waste fractions and its delivery to the targeted market such as recycling industries, biogas plants, composting facilities etc. The management efficiency and effectiveness of Waste Bank depend strongly on the proficient sorting and collection of solid waste fractions at household level. However, the social attitude towards such a solution in semi urban/rural areas of Pakistan demands certain prerequisites to make it workable. Considering these factors the objectives of this study are to: [A] Obtain reliable data about quantity and characteristics of generated waste to define feasibility of business and design factors, such as required storage area, retention time, transportation frequency of the system etc. [B] Analyze the effects of various social factors on waste generation to foresee future projections. [C] Quantify the improvement in waste sorting efficiency after awareness campaign. We selected Gujrat city of Central Punjab province of Pakistan as it is semi urban adjoined by rural areas. A total of 60 houses (20 from each of the three selected colonies), belonging to different social status were selected. Awareness sessions about waste segregation were given through brochures and individual lectures in each selected household. Sampling of waste, that households had attempted to sort, was then carried out in the three colored bags that were provided as part of the awareness campaign. Finally, refined waste sorting, weighing of various fractions and measurement of dry mass was performed in environmental laboratory using standard methods. It was calculated that sorting efficiency of waste improved from 0 to 52% as a result of the awareness campaign. The generation of waste (dry mass basis) on average from one household was 460 kg/year whereas per capita generation was 68 kg/year. Extrapolating these values for Gujrat Tehsil, the total waste generation per year is calculated to be 101921 tons dry mass (DM). Characteristics found in waste were (i) organic decomposable (29.2%, 29710 tons/year DM), (ii) recyclables (37.0%, 37726 tons/year DM) that included plastic, paper, metal and glass, and (iii) trash (33.8%, 34485 tons/year DM) that mainly comprised of polythene bags, medicine packaging, pampers and wrappers. Waste generation was more in colonies with comparatively higher income and better living standards. In future, data collection for all four seasons and improvements due to expansion of awareness campaign to educational institutes will be quantified. This waste management system can potentially fulfill vital sustainable development goals (e.g. clean water and sanitation), reduce the need to harvest fresh resources from the ecosystem, create business and job opportunities and consequently solve one of the most pressing environmental issues of the country.

Keywords: integrated solid waste management, waste segregation, waste bank, community development

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3905 Driver of Migration and Appropriate Policy Concern Considering the Southwest Coastal Part of Bangladesh

Authors: Aminul Haque, Quazi Zahangir Hossain, Dilshad Sharmin Chowdhury

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The human migration is getting growing concern around the world, and recurrent disasters and climate change impact have great influence on migration. Bangladesh is one of the disaster prone countries that/and has greater susceptibility to stress migration by recurrent disasters and climate change. The study was conducted to investigate the factors that have a strong influence on current migration and changing pattern of life and livelihood means of the southwest coastal part of Bangladesh. Moreover, the study also revealed a strong relationship between disasters and migration and appropriate policy concern. To explore this relation, both qualitative and quantitative methods were applied to a questionnaire survey at household level and simple random sampling technique used in the sampling process along with different secondary data sources for understanding policy concern and practices. The study explores the most influential driver of migration and its relationship with social, economic and environmental drivers. The study denotes that, the environmental driver has a greater effect on the intention of permanent migration (t=1.481, p-value=0.000) at the 1 percent significance level. The significant number of respondents denotes that abrupt pattern of cyclone, flood, salinity intrusion and rainfall are the most significant environmental driver to make a decision on permanent migration. The study also found that the temporary migration pattern has 2-fold increased compared to last ten (10) years. It also appears from the study that environmental factors have a great implication on the changing pattern of the occupation of the study area and it has reported that about 76% of the respondent now in the changing modality of livelihood compare to their traditional practices. The study bares that the migration has foremost impact on children and women by increasing hardship and creating critical social security. The exposure-route of permanent migration is not smooth indeed, these migrations creating urban and conflict in Chittagong hill tracks of Bangladesh. The study denotes that there is not any safeguard of the stress migrant on existing policy and not have any measures for safe migration and resettlement rather considering the emergency response and shelter. The majority of (98%) people believes that migration is not to be the adoption strategies, but contrary to this young group of respondent believes that safe migration could be the adaptation strategy which could bring a positive result compare to the other resilience strategies. On the other hand, the significant number of respondents uttered that appropriate policy measure could be an adaptation strategy for being the formation of a resilient community and reduce the migration by meaningful livelihood options with appropriate protection measure.

Keywords: environmental driver, livelihood, migration, resilience

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3904 From Sympathizers to Perpetrators: Examining the Involvement of Rural Women in Bangladesh in Violent Extremism

Authors: Shantanu Majumder

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This paper attempts to explain the factors contribute in attracting and engaging rural women in Bangladesh toward political Islam that in many cases manifests itself in the form of violent extremism (VE). Bangladesh, the fourth largest Muslim majority country in the world, has been confronting the problem of VE in the name of Islam since a long. The political Islamists, explaining the events like military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, anti-Muslim politics in neighboring India and Myanmar, Islamophobia in the West, and several other issues in their own way, have become to a vast extent successful in creating a high level of emotion, anger and a feeling of being oppressed worldwide among the ordinary Muslims masses. Half-hearted role of public intellectuals and political expediency of liberal political forces in explaining these events in a secular democratic way also facilitate the extremists to earn political dividend. VE was perceived as an all-male activism of the political Islamists’ in the past in Bangladesh. However, evidence in the recent times shows that there are sympathizers, recruiters, and perpetrators as well among the womenfolk in favor of VE-based political Islam. The first section in this paper sheds light on the way the political Islamists build rapport with and win over the heart of target women in countryside under the camouflage of preaching authentic Islam. This section also describes the role of family in involvement of women in VE. The second section discusses wide-ranging use of websites, facebook, laptop, mobile phones and several other means in the way to motivate and radicalize women. How the involvement with political Islamists brings changes in thinking process, lifestyle and family life of motivated women has been focused in the third section. The final section deals briefly with the way out relying on the argument that law and order forces alone cannot tackle this problem.

Keywords: Bangladesh, political Islam, violent extremism, women

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3903 The Mental Health Policy in the State of EspíRito Santo, Brazil: Judicialization

Authors: Fabiola Xavier Leal, Lara Campanharo, Sueli Aparecida Rodrigues Lucas

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The phenomenon of judicialization in health policy brings with it a great deal of problematization, but in general, it means that some issues that were previously solved by traditional political bodies are being decided by the Judiciary bodies. It is, therefore, a controversial topic that has generated many reflections both in the academic and political fields, considering that not only a dispute of public funds is at stake, but also the debate on access to social rights provided for in the Brazilian Federal Constitution of 1988 and in the various public policies, such as healthcare. With regard to the phenomenon in the Mental Health Policy focusing on people who use drugs, the disputes that permeate this scenario are evident: moral, cultural, sanitary, economic, psychological aspects. There are also the individual and collective dimensions of suffering. And in this process, we all question: What is the role of the Brazilian State in this matter? In this context, another question that needs to be answered is the amount spent on this procedure in the state of Espírito Santo (ES), Brazil (in the last 04 years, around R$121,978,591.44 were paid only for compulsory hospitalization of individuals) in the field in question, which is the financing of the services of the Psychosocial Care Network (RAPS). Therefore, this article aims to problematize the phenomenon of judicialization in Mental Health Policy through the compulsory hospitalization of people who use drugs in Espírito Santo (ES). We proposed a study that sought to understand how this has been occurring and making an impact on the provision of RAPS services in the Espírito Santo scenario. Therefore, the general objective of this study is to analyze the expenses with compulsory hospitalizations for drug use carried out by the State Health Department (SESA) between 2014 and 2019, in which we will seek to identify its destination and the impact of these actions on public health policy. For the purposes of this article, we will present the preliminary data of this study, such as the amount spent by the state and the receiving institutions. For data collection, the following data sources were used: documents available publicly on the Transparency Portal (payments made per year, institutions that received, subjects hospitalized, period and the amount of the daily rates paid); as well as the processes generated by SESA through its own system - ONBASE. For qualitative analysis, content analysis was used; and for quantitative analysis, descriptive statistics was used. Thus, we seek to problematize the issue of judicialization for compulsory hospitalizations, considering the current situation in which this resource has been widely requested to legitimize the war on drugs. This scenario highlights the moral-legal discourse, pointing out strategies through the control of bodies and through faith as an alternative.

Keywords: compulsory hospitalization, drugs, judicialization, mental health

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3902 Positivity of Pathogenic Leptospira in Pigs from Rural Communities on the Coast of Ecuador

Authors: Veronica Barragan, Ligia Luna, Maria Patricia Zambrano, Carlos Bulnes, Eduardo Diaz, Talima Pearson

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Leptospirosis impacts animal production and is responsible for important economic losses in the pig industry. Infection is associated with reproductive failures that lead to abortions, stillbirth, and perinatal mortality. The leptospira serogroups that have been traditionally linked to disease in pigs are Pomona, Australis, and Tarassovi. Unfortunately, knowledge about pig leptospirosis is biased towards infection in large-scale commercial farms from developed countries, where exposure is usually limited to host-specific serotypes. The aim of our study is to describe leptospirosis in pigs from rural communities located in the coast of Ecuador-South America, where leptospirosis is endemic. A particularity of these pigs is that, because they are usually raised in the backyard of their owner’s houses, exposure to other leptospira excreted by other animals is likely to occur. Therefore, we collected 420 kidney samples from pigs sacrificed at a local slaughterhouse, and Leptospira positivity was tested in all samples by amplifying the Lipl32 gen. Our results show pathogenic Leptospira positivity in 19.3% (81/420) of pigs. Microaglutination test was performed in 60 PCR positive samples with titers >1:100 in 17 pigs, titers of 1:50 in 28 pigs, and no MAT titers in 15 pigs even though Leptospira DNA was found in their kidneys. Interestingly, reacting serovars were very diverse, with 18.3% of pig sera reacting with two or more serovars. Additionally, serovar Canicola was found in 16.7% of pigs followed by Tarassovi (10%), Australis (6.7%), Pyogenes (5%), Icterohaemorrhageae (1.7%), and Grippotyphosa (1.7%). It is also important to highlight that most of the analyzed animals came from small-scale farms where pigs may be exposed to the pathogen by exposure to other domestic and peridomestic animals such as rats, dogs, horses, donkeys, and even wildlife. This would explain the finding of non-pig adapted Leptospira serovars such as Canicola, which is commonly reported in dogs.

Keywords: Leptospira, Lipl32, peridomestic, pig, serovar

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3901 Discussing the Values of Collective Memory and Cultural / Rural Landscape Based on the Concept of Eco-Village; Case of Turkey, Gölpazarı, Kurşunlu Village

Authors: Parisa Göker, Hilal Kahveci, Özlem Candan Hergül

Abstract:

Humans are generating culture while being in touch with nature. Along with skills, local knowledge based on experience, and many other subjects developed within this process, 'culture' offers humans a chance to survive. For this reason, culture forms the equipment for humans, which facilitates their survival in all ecosystems. Together with technology, quick consumption of natural sources and overuse culture of humans have brought up the eco-village concept. Ecovillages are ecologically, economically, socio-culturally, and spiritually sustainable settlement models. It is known that the eco-village approach is applying a proper methodology on behalf of integrative and versatile solution generation. Today, the eco-village approach, introducing a radical criticism to the understanding of civilization and consumption culture and deeming urban solutions inadequate as a spatial reflection to civilization and consumption culture, while making a difference about integrative solution offering with multidimensional features, along with the goal of creating self-sufficient communities, is creating solutions on the subject of both reducing the ecological footprint of humans and to provide social order and also to solve the injustice seen in terms of income and life standards. In this study, environmental issues, sustainable development, and environmental sustainability topics are examined within the context of eco-tourism and eco-village. Alongside this, the natural and cultural landscape values of Kurşunlu village which are located in Bilecik province’s Gölpazarı county, and a contextual frame is created for the facilitation of sustainability in the event of dynamizing the Kurşunlu village in terms of tourism-oriented activities.

Keywords: eco village, sustainability, rural landscape, cultural landscape

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3900 In-Situ Redevelopment in Urban India: Two Case Studies from Delhi and Mumbai

Authors: Ashok Kumar, Anjali Sharma

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As cities grow and expand spatially, redevelopment in urban India is beginning to emerge as a new mode of urban expansion sweeping low-income informal settlements. This paper examines the extent and nature of expanding urban frontier before examining implications for the families living in these settlements. Displacement of these families may appear to be an obvious consequence. However, we have conducted ethnographic studies over the past several months in a Delhi slum named Kathputli Colony, Delhi. In depth analysis of the study for this slum appears to present a variegated set of consequences for the residents of informal settlements including loss of livelihoods, dismantling of family ties, and general anxiety arising out of uncertainty about resettlement. Apart from Delhi case study, we also compare and contrast another redevelopment case from Mumbai located at Bhendi Bazar. These examples from the two mega cities of Mumbai and Delhi are analysed to understand and explore expanding urban frontiers and their consequences for informing future public policy.

Keywords: informal settlements, policy, redevelopment, urban

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3899 UVA or UVC Activation of H₂O₂ and S₂O₈²⁻ for Estrogen Degradation towards an Application in Rural Wastewater Treatment Plant

Authors: Anaelle Gabet, Helene Metivier, Christine De Brauer, Gilles Mailhot, Marcello Brigante

Abstract:

The presence of micropollutants in surface waters has been widely reported around the world, particularly downstream from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). Rural WWTPs constitute more than 90 % of the total WWTPs in France. Like conventional ones, they are not able to fully remove micropollutants. Estrogens are excreted by human beings every day and several studies have highlighted their endocrine disruption properties on river wildlife. They are mainly estrone (E1), 17β-estradiol (E2) and 17α-ethinylestradiol (EE2). Rural WWTPs require cheap and robust tertiary processes. UVC activation of H₂O₂ for HO· generation, a very reactive molecule, has demonstrated its effectiveness. However, UVC rays are dangerous to manipulate and energy-consuming. This is why the ability of UVA rays was investigated in this study. Moreover, the use of S₂O₈²⁻ for SO₄·- generation as an alternative to HO· has emerged in the last few years. Such processes have been widely studied on a lab scale. However, pilot-scale works constitute fewer studies. This study was carried out on a 20-L pilot composed of a 1.12-L UV reactor equipped with a polychromatic UVA lamp or a monochromatic (254 nm) UVC lamp fed in recirculation. Degradation rates of a mixture of spiked E1, E2 and EE2 (5 µM each) were followed by HPLC-UV. Results are expressed in UV dose (mJ.cm-2) received by the compounds of interest to compare UVC and UVA. In every system, estrogen degradation rates followed pseudo-first-order rates. First, experiments were carried out in tap water. All estrogens underwent photolysis under UVC rays, although E1 photolysis is higher. However, only very weak photolysis was observed under UVA rays. Preliminary studies on both oxidants have shown that S₂O₈²⁻ photolysis constants are higher than H₂O₂ under both UVA and UVC rays. Therefore, estrogen degradation rates are about ten times higher in the presence of 1 mM of S₂O₈²⁻ than with one mM of H₂O₂ under both radiations. In the same conditions, the mixture of interest required about 40 times higher UV dose when using UVA rays compared to UVC. However, the UVA/S₂O₈²⁻ system only requires four times more UV dose than the conventional UVC/H₂O₂ system. Further studies were carried out in WWTP effluent with the UVC lamp. When comparing these results to the tap water ones, estrogen degradation rates were more inhibited in the S₂O₈²⁻ system than with H₂O₂. It seems that SO₄·- undergo higher quenching by a real effluent than HO·. Preliminary experiments have shown that natural organic matter is mainly responsible for the radical quenching and that HO and SO₄ both had similar second-order reaction rate constants with dissolved organic matter. However, E1, E2 and EE2 second-order reaction rate constants are about ten times lower with SO₄ than with HO. In conclusion, the UVA/S₂O₈²⁻ system showed encouraging results for the use of UVA rays but further studies in WWTP effluent have to be carried out to confirm this interest. The efficiency of other pollutants in the real matrix also needs to be investigated.

Keywords: AOPs, decontamination, estrogens, radicals, wastewater

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3898 European Environmental Policy for Road Transport: Analysis of the Perverse Effects Generated and Proposals for a Good Practice Guide

Authors: Pedro Pablo Ramírez Sánchez, Alassane Ballé Ndiaye, Roberto Rendeiro Martín-Cejas

Abstract:

The aim of this paper is to analyse the different environmental policies adopted in Europe for car emissions, to comment on some of the possible perverse effects generated and point out these policies which are considered more efficient under the environmental perspective. This paper is focused on passenger cars as this category is the most significant in road transport. The utility of this research lies in this being the first step or basis to improve and optimise actual policies. The methodology applied in this paper refers to a comparative analysis from a practical and theoretical point of view of European environmental policies in road transport. This work describes an overview of the road transport industry in Europe pointing out some relevant aspects such as the contribution of road transport to total emissions and the vehicle fleet in Europe. Additionally, we propose a brief practice guide with the combined policies in order to optimise their aim.

Keywords: air quality, climate change, emission, environment, perverse effect, road transport, tax policy

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3897 India’s Foreign Policy toward its South Asian Neighbors: Retrospect and Prospect

Authors: Debasish Nandy

Abstract:

India’s foreign policy towards all of her neighbor countries is determinate on the basis of multi-dimensional factors. India’s relations with its South Asian neighbor can be classified into three categories. In the first category, there are four countries -Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Afghanistan- whose bilateral relationships have encompassed cooperation, irritants, problems and crisis at different points in time. With Pakistan, the relationship has been perpetually adversarial. The third category includes Bhutan and Maldives whose relations are marked by friendship and cooperation, free of any bilateral problems. It is needless to say that Jawaharlal Nehru emphasized on friendly relations with the neighboring countries. The subsequent Prime Ministers of India especially I.K. Gujral had advocated in making of peaceful and friendly relations with the subcontinental countries. He had given a unique idea to foster bilateral relations with the neighbors. His idea is known as ‘Gujral Doctrine’. A dramatical change has been witnessed in Indian foreign policy since 1991.In the post-Cold War period, India’s national security has been vehemently threatened by terrorism, which originated from Pakistan-Afghanistan and partly Bangladesh. India has required a cooperative security, which can be made by mutual understanding among the South Asian countries. Additionally, the countries of South Asia need to evolve the concept of ‘Cooperative Security’ to explain the underlying logic of regional cooperation. According to C. Rajamohan, ‘cooperative security could be understood, as policies of governments, which see themselves as former adversaries or potential adversaries to shift from or avoid confrontationist policies.’ A cooperative security essentially reflects a policy of dealing peacefully with conflicts, not merely by abstention from violence or threats but by active engagement in negotiation, a search for practical solutions and with a commitment to preventive measures. Cooperative assumes the existence of a condition in which the two sides possess the military capabilities to harm each other. Establishing cooperative security runs into a complex process building confidence. South Asian nations often engaged with hostility to each other. Extra-regional powers have been influencing their powers in this region since a long time. South Asian nations are busy to purchase military equipment. In spite of weakened economic systems, these states are spending a huge amount of money for their security. India is the big power in this region in every aspect. The big states- small states syndrome is a negative factor in this respect. However, India will have to an initiative to extended ‘track II diplomacy’ or soft diplomacy for its security as well as the security of this region.Confidence building measures could help rejuvenate not only SAARC but also build trust and mutual confidence between India and its neighbors in South Asia. In this paper, I will focus on different aspects of India’s policy towards it, South-Asian neighbors. It will also be searched that how India is dealing with these countries by using a mixed type of diplomacy – both idealistic and realistic points of view. Security and cooperation are two major determinants of India’s foreign policy towards its South Asian neighbors.

Keywords: bilateral, diplomacy, infiltration, terrorism

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3896 The Role of British Public Opinion in the Process of the Great Britain’s Involvement in the Crimean War

Authors: Aysen Muderrisoglu

Abstract:

As a result of the policies constituted and pursued by Russia which aimed to gain territory and power at Ottoman expense, Crimean War broke out in 1853. Nevertheless, the Eastern policies of Russia were in contradiction with the interests of Great Britain which was the great power of the era. Yet, it did hesitate to be confronted with Russian on its route to India, so the Ottoman territorial integrity was defended. In that period, Tzar Nicholas II, to begin with, tried to eliminate a probable opposition coming from the British side, and then tried its chance to build up cooperation with Britain on the territories of the sick man. As a more positive relation was being observed between these two states before the Crimean War, Great Britain initially had adopted a neutral policy. However, in the end, Britain entered the war against Russia due to the efforts of the opposing side in the British Parliament and the rising pressure of the public opinion. The article aims to examine the role of British public opinion in the process of Great Britain’s Involvement in this war. Also, the article will try to find an answer to the following question: to what extent did the public opinion become effective on the foreign policy-making of Great Britain before the war?

Keywords: British press, Crimean war, Great Britain, public opinion

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3895 The Effect of Innovation Capability and Activity, and Wider Sector Condition on the Performance of Malaysian Public Sector Innovation Policy

Authors: Razul Ikmal Ramli

Abstract:

Successful implementation of innovation is a key success formula of a great organization. Innovation will ensure competitive advantages as well as sustainability of organization in the long run. In public sector context, the role of innovation is crucial to resolve dynamic challenges of public services such as operating in economic uncertainty with limited resources, increasing operating expenditure and growing expectation among citizens towards high quality, swift and reliable public services. Acknowledging the prospect of innovation as a tool for achieving high-performance public sector, the Malaysian New Economic Model launched in the year 2011 intensified government commitment to foster innovation in the public sector. Since 2011 various initiatives have been implemented, however little is known about the performance of public sector innovation in Malaysia. Hence, by applying the national innovation system theory as a pillar, the formulated research objectives were focused on measuring the level of innovation capabilities, wider public sector condition for innovation, innovation activity, and innovation performance as well as to examine the relationship between the four constructs with innovation performance as a dependent variable. For that purpose, 1,000 sets of self-administrated survey questionnaires were distributed to heads of units and divisions of 22 Federal Ministry and Central Agencies in the administrative, security, social and economic sector. Based on 456 returned questionnaires, the descriptive analysis found that innovation capabilities, wider sector condition, innovation activities and innovation performance were rated by respondents at moderately high level. Based on Structural Equation Modelling, innovation performance was found to be influenced by innovation capability, wider sector condition for innovation and innovation activity. In addition, the analysis also found innovation activity to be the most important construct that influences innovation performance. The implication of the study concluded that the innovation policy implemented in the public sector of Malaysia sparked motivation to innovate and resulted in various forms of innovation. However, the overall achievements were not as well as they were expected to be. Thus, the study suggested for the formulation of a dedicated policy to strengthen innovation capability, wider public sector condition for innovation and innovation activity of the Malaysian public sector. Furthermore, strategic intervention needs to be focused on innovation activity as the construct plays an important role in determining the innovation performance. The success of public sector innovation implementation will not only benefit the citizens, but will also spearhead the competitiveness and sustainability of the country.

Keywords: public sector, innovation, performance, innovation policy

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3894 Biases in Macroprudential Supervision and Their Legal Implications

Authors: Anat Keller

Abstract:

Given that macro-prudential supervision is a relatively new policy area and its empirical and analytical research are still in their infancy, its theoretical foundations are also lagging behind. This paper contributes to the developing discussion on effective legal and institutional macroprudential supervision frameworks. In the first part of the paper, it is argued that effectiveness as a key benchmark poses some challenges in the context of macroprudential supervision such as the difficulty in proving causality between supervisory actions and the achievement of the supervisor’s mission. The paper suggests that effectiveness in the macroprudential context should, therefore, be assessed at the supervisory decision-making process (to be differentiated from the supervisory outcomes). The second part of the essay examines whether insights from behavioural economics can point to biases in the macroprudential decision-making process. These biases include, inter alia, preference bias, groupthink bias and inaction bias. It is argued that these biases are exacerbated in the multilateral setting of the macroprudential supervision framework in the EU. The paper then examines how legal and institutional frameworks should be designed to acknowledge and perhaps contain these identified biases. The paper suggests that the effectiveness of macroprudential policy will largely depend on the existence of clear and robust transparency and accountability arrangements. Accountability arrangements can be used as a vehicle for identifying and addressing potential biases in the macro-prudential framework, in particular, inaction bias. Inclusiveness of the public in the supervisory process in the form of transparency and awareness of the logic behind policy decisions may assist in minimising their potential unpopularity thus promoting their effectiveness. Furthermore, a governance structure which facilitates coordination of the macroprudential supervisor with other policymakers and incorporates outside perspectives and opinions could ‘break-down’ groupthink bias as well as inaction bias.

Keywords: behavioural economics and biases, effectiveness of macroprudential supervision, legal and institutional macroprudential frameworks, macroprudential decision-making process

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3893 Equity and Accessibility for Inclusion: A Study of the Lived Experiences of Students with Disabilities in a Ghanaian University

Authors: Yaw Akoto

Abstract:

The education of people with disabilities remains one of the major concern of policymakers, advocacy groups and researchers. In Ghana, as in many other countries, there is a policy commitment for the educational inclusion of people with disabilities, including in the context of higher education. This qualitative research investigates how students with disabilities experience equity and accessibility in a Ghanaian university. The study also investigates factors that influence equity and accessibility in a Ghanaian university. The study draws on the views of students with disabilities, on lecturer insight and organisational and national policy documents. The findings specifies that the quality of students with disabilities lived experiences are affected by the physical environment, infrastructure facilities and lack of academic and non-academic information. The study highlights the need for the university to ensure equity in making the university accessible for all students in order to ensure retention and participation of students with disabilities; failure to make the university accessible for students with disabilities compromises the ability of this group of students to realise their academic potentials.

Keywords: accessibility, educational inclusion, equity, students with disabilities

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3892 A Policy Strategy for Building Energy Data Management in India

Authors: Shravani Itkelwar, Deepak Tewari, Bhaskar Natarajan

Abstract:

The energy consumption data plays a vital role in energy efficiency policy design, implementation, and impact assessment. Any demand-side energy management intervention's success relies on the availability of accurate, comprehensive, granular, and up-to-date data on energy consumption. The Building sector, including residential and commercial, is one of the largest consumers of energy in India after the Industrial sector. With economic growth and increasing urbanization, the building sector is projected to grow at an unprecedented rate, resulting in a 5.6 times escalation in energy consumption till 2047 compared to 2017. Therefore, energy efficiency interventions will play a vital role in decoupling the floor area growth and associated energy demand, thereby increasing the need for robust data. In India, multiple institutions are involved in the collection and dissemination of data. This paper focuses on energy consumption data management in the building sector in India for both residential and commercial segments. It evaluates the robustness of data available through administrative and survey routes to estimate the key performance indicators and identify critical data gaps for making informed decisions. The paper explores several issues in the data, such as lack of comprehensiveness, non-availability of disaggregated data, the discrepancy in different data sources, inconsistent building categorization, and others. The identified data gaps are justified with appropriate examples. Moreover, the paper prioritizes required data in order of relevance to policymaking and groups it into "available," "easy to get," and "hard to get" categories. The paper concludes with recommendations to address the data gaps by leveraging digital initiatives, strengthening institutional capacity, institutionalizing exclusive building energy surveys, and standardization of building categorization, among others, to strengthen the management of building sector energy consumption data.

Keywords: energy data, energy policy, energy efficiency, buildings

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3891 Accumulation of Trace Metals in Leaf Vegetables Cultivated in High Traffic Areas in Ghent, Belgium

Authors: Veronique Troch, Wouter Van der Borght, Véronique De Bleeker, Bram Marynissen, Nathan Van der Eecken, Gijs Du Laing

Abstract:

Among the challenges associated with increased urban food production are health risks from food contamination, due to the higher pollution loads in urban areas, compared to rural sites. Therefore, the risks posed by industrial or traffic pollution of locally grown food, was defined as one of five high-priority issues of urban agriculture requiring further investigation. The impact of air pollution on urban horticulture is the subject of this study. More particular, this study focuses on the atmospheric deposition of trace metals on leaf vegetables cultivated in the city of Ghent, Belgium. Ghent is a particularly interesting study site as it actively promotes urban agriculture. Plants accumulate heavy metals by absorption from contaminated soils and through deposition on parts exposed to polluted air. Accumulation of trace metals in vegetation grown near roads has been shown to be significantly higher than those grown in rural areas due to traffic-related contaminants in the air. Studies of vegetables demonstrated, that the uptake and accumulation of trace metals differed among crop type, species, and among plant parts. Studies on vegetables and fruit trees in Berlin, Germany, revealed significant differences in trace metal concentrations depending on local traffic, crop species, planting style and parameters related to barriers between sampling site and neighboring roads. This study aims to supplement this scarce research on heavy metal accumulation in urban horticulture. Samples from leaf vegetables were collected from different sites, including allotment gardens, in Ghent. Trace metal contents on these leaf vegetables were analyzed by ICP-MS (inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry). In addition, precipitation on each sampling site was collected by NILU-type bulk collectors and similarly analyzed for trace metals. On one sampling site, different parameters which might influence trace metal content in leaf vegetables were analyzed in detail. These parameters are distance of planting site to the nearest road, barriers between planting site and nearest road, and type of leaf vegetable. For comparison, a rural site, located farther from city traffic and industrial pollution, was included in this study. Preliminary results show that there is a high correlation between trace metal content in the atmospheric deposition and trace metal content in leaf vegetables. Moreover, a significant higher Pb, Cu and Fe concentration was found on spinach collected from Ghent, compared to spinach collected from a rural site. The distance of planting site to the nearest road significantly affected the accumulation of Pb, Cu, Mo and Fe on spinach. Concentrations of those elements on spinach increased with decreasing distance between planting site and the nearest road. Preliminary results did not show a significant effect of barriers between planting site and the nearest road on accumulation of trace metals on leaf vegetables. The overall goal of this study is to complete and refine existing guidelines for urban gardening to exclude potential health risks from food contamination. Accordingly, this information can help city governments and civil society in the professionalization and sustainable development of urban agriculture.

Keywords: atmospheric deposition, leaf vegetables, trace metals, traffic pollution, urban agriculture

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3890 Effects of Climate Change on Floods of Pakistan, and Gap Analysis of Existing Policies with Vision 2025

Authors: Saima Akbar, Tahseen Ullah Khan

Abstract:

The analysis of the climate change impact on flood frequency represents an important issue for water resource management and flood risk mitigation. This research was conducted to address the effects of climate change on flood incidents of Pakistan and find out gaps in existing policies to reducing the environmental aspects on floods and effects of global warming. The main objective of this research was to critically analyses the National Climate Change Policy (NCCP), National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), Federal Flood Commission (FFC) and Vision 2025, as an effective policy document which is not only hitting the target of a climate resilient Pakistan but provides room for efficient and flexible policy implementation. The methodology integrates projected changes in monsoon patterns (since last 20 years and overall change in rainfall pattern since 1901 to 2015 from Pakistan Metrological Department), glacier melting, decreasing dam capacity and lacks in existing policies by using SWOT (Strength, Weakness, Opportunities, Threats) model in order to explore the relative impacts of global warming on the system performance. Results indicate the impacts of climate change are significant, but probably not large enough to justify a major effort for adapting the physical infrastructure to expected climatic conditions in Vision 2025 which is our shared destination to progress, ultimate aspiration to see Pakistan among the ten largest economies of the world by 2047– the centennial year of our independence. The conclusion of this research was to adapt sustainable measures to reduce flood impacts and make policies as neighboring countries are adapting for their sustainability.

Keywords: climatic factors, monsoon, Pakistan, sustainability

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3889 Developing a Systems Dynamics Model for Security Management

Authors: Kuan-Chou Chen

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This paper will demonstrate a simulation model of an information security system by using the systems dynamic approach. The relationships in the system model are designed to be simple and functional and do not necessarily represent any particular information security environments. The purpose of the paper aims to develop a generic system dynamic information security system model with implications on information security research. The interrelated and interdependent relationships of five primary sectors in the system dynamic model will be presented in this paper. The integrated information security systems model will include (1) information security characteristics, (2) users, (3) technology, (4) business functions, and (5) policy and management. Environments, attacks, government and social culture will be defined as the external sector. The interactions within each of these sectors will be depicted by system loop map as well. The proposed system dynamic model will not only provide a conceptual framework for information security analysts and designers but also allow information security managers to remove the incongruity between the management of risk incidents and the management of knowledge and further support information security managers and decision makers the foundation for managerial actions and policy decisions.

Keywords: system thinking, information security systems, security management, simulation

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