Search results for: European economic area

Authors: Gasto Lyakurwa, Glory Bakari, Edwin Sabuhoro

Abstract:

Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs) are established to promote and act as a remedy to the protection of wildlife resources outside the core protected area. WMAs aim to address issues of poverty, ensure sustainable use of wildlife resources, and share benefits from wildlife with the member villages. Successfully managed WMA in Tanzania improves local livelihood and conserves local biodiversity through tourism revenues and the protection of wildlife, respectively. Benefits accrued at household levels as a result of conservation activities in WMA can positively influence attitudes towards wildlife conservation. This research intends to assess the positive socio-economic impacts of WMA benefits on households in Burunge WMA in Tanzania. A questionnaire survey was conducted among four randomly selected villages in the ten villages forming the Burunge WMA to explore the household-level benefits of conservation activities. An example of a question item was whether household heads feel that they are benefiting from WMA and if they could remember some of the benefits. Interviews with leaders from WMA and member villages combined the survey to capture aspects of benefit distribution to households. A total of 80 households were used as samples of the recruited study sites. Moreover, the four WMA leaders and the eight village leaders of the respective study villages were interviewed. The study findings revealed that the shared benefit has mostly reached the community level and is less likely to reach the household level. Economic activities such as agriculture and livestock keeping were found to be more important for households than conservation-related economic activities. Conservation-related economic activities generate marginal direct benefits from WMA benefits to households, with ecotourism accounting for only 19.5%. The study also indicates that a direct share of financial benefits from WMA to households is lacking. Wildlife conservation benefits are less likely to reach household levels in WMAs, with the implication of reducing people's conservation attitudes and impeding community conservation success. WMA can utilize the finances from tourism fees and concessions to establish a Community Considerations Bank, which can lend money to some individuals at no or low interest rates. Considering the importance of education and health to households, WMA stands in a good position to provide health insurance premiums and student scholarships to motivate household participation in conservation activities. Community-based organizations and governments responsible for wildlife conservation should create mechanisms to channel conservation benefits to households in order to ensure the achievement of wildlife conservation objectives through WMA. These findings are expected to contribute to forming more WMAs with enhanced mechanisms for sharing conservation benefits to benefit the conservation of natural resources outside of the core protected areas. Motivated households are expected to respect wildlife and are less likely to engage in illegal activities such as poaching and harvesting conserved natural resources while coexisting with wildlife.

Keywords: social economic benefits, individuals, wildlife management areas, biodiversity, community

Procedia PDF Downloads 56

Authors: Yulia Kasperskaya, Ramon Xifré

Abstract:

Budgetary procedures are considered to be important for countries’ fiscal performance. The objective of this paper is to analyze this relationship for the OECD countries in the wake of global economic crisis taking into consideration countries’ fiscal conditions and institutional arrangements. We test whether groups of countries that are fiscally different after the crisis differ in their use of budgetary procedures including performance budgeting, transparency mechanisms and medium-term expenditure framework. For this purpose, we classify OECD countries in two groups according to the variations, in debt to GDP ratio between 2008 and 2014. We then analyze the intensity of use of budget procedures taking into account countries’ economic conditions during the crisis. Our first finding is that there is no monotonic relationship between the intensity of use of these three budgetary procedures and enhanced fiscal performance. Countries showing similar fiscal performance scored differently in terms of on budgetary procedures. We, therefore, review the budgetary frameworks and trajectories of several countries that are fiscally sound. From this qualitative analysis, we derive a set of factors that may enhance the efficiency of budgetary procedures. This suggests that a given budgetary procedure may have different effects in different countries depending on their economic and administrative settings. Our results are thus in line with those studies that reject one-size-fits-all approaches.

Keywords: budget procedures, fiscal performance, OECD, performance budgeting

Procedia PDF Downloads 234

Authors: C. Bateira, J. Fernandes, A. Costa

Abstract:

The Douro Demarked Region (DDR) is a production Porto wine region. On the NE of Portugal, the strong incision of the Douro valley developed very steep slopes, organized with agriculture terraces, have experienced an intense and deep transformation in order to implement the mechanization of the work. The old terrace system, based on stone vertical wall support structure, replaced by terraces with earth embankments experienced a huge terrace instability. This terrace instability has important economic and financial consequences on the agriculture enterprises. This paper presents and develops cartographic tools to access the embankment instability and identify the area prone to instability. The priority on this evaluation is related to the use of physically based mathematical models and develop a validation process based on an inventory of the past embankment instability. We used the shallow landslide stability model (SHALSTAB) based on physical parameters such us cohesion (c’), friction angle(ф), hydraulic conductivity, soil depth, soil specific weight (ϱ), slope angle (α) and contributing areas by Multiple Flow Direction Method (MFD). A terraced area can be analysed by this models unless we have very detailed information representative of the terrain morphology. The slope angle and the contributing areas depend on that. We can achieve that propose using digital elevation models (DEM) with great resolution (pixel with 40cm side), resulting from a set of photographs taken by a flight at 100m high with pixel resolution of 12cm. The slope angle results from this DEM. In the other hand, the MFD contributing area models the internal flow and is an important element to define the spatial variation of the soil saturation. That internal flow is based on the DEM. That is supported by the statement that the interflow, although not coincident with the superficial flow, have important similitude with it. Electrical resistivity monitoring values which related with the MFD contributing areas build from a DEM of 1m resolution and revealed a consistent correlation. That analysis, performed on the area, showed a good correlation with R2 of 0,72 and 0,76 at 1,5m and 2m depth, respectively. Considering that, a DEM with 1m resolution was the base to model the real internal flow. Thus, we assumed that the contributing area of 1m resolution modelled by MFD is representative of the internal flow of the area. In order to solve this problem we used a set of generalized DEMs to build the contributing areas used in the SHALSTAB. Those DEMs, with several resolutions (1m and 5m), were built from a set of photographs with 50cm resolution taken by a flight with 5km high. Using this maps combination, we modelled several final maps of terrace instability and performed a validation process with the contingency matrix. The best final instability map resembles the slope map from a DEM of 40cm resolution and a MFD map from a DEM of 1m resolution with a True Positive Rate (TPR) of 0,97, a False Positive Rate of 0,47, Accuracy (ACC) of 0,53, Precision (PVC) of 0,0004 and a TPR/FPR ratio of 2,06.

Keywords: agricultural terraces, cartography, landslides, SHALSTAB, vineyards

Procedia PDF Downloads 166

Authors: Magdalena Barbara Kaziuk

Abstract:

Introduction: In December 2019, the first case of an acute infectious disease of the respiratory system caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus was recorded in Wuhan in Central China. On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization restrictions, among others, in the travel industry. Aim: The aim of the study was the assessment of the preparedness of European cultural institutions and catering establishments within the sanitary and epidemiological dimension during the COVID-19 pandemic by Polish tourists and their sense of safety in selected destinations. Material and methods: The study involved 300 Polish tourists (125 females, 175 males, age 46.5+/-12.9 years) who traveled during the COVID-19 pandemic to Southern European countries. 5 most popular travel destinations were selected: Italy, Austria, Greece, Croatia, and Mediterranean islands. The tourists assessed cultural institutions and catering establishments with the use of a proprietary questionnaire which concerned the preparedness regarding the sanitary and epidemiological requirements and the tourists' sense of safety. The number of respondents was deliberate - 60 persons per each country. Results: The more stringent sanitary regimes, the higher the sense of safety in the study group of females aged 45-50 (p<0.005), while the more stringent sanitary and epidemiological issues are implemented, the shorter the stay (p<0.001). Less stringent restrictions resulted in increased sense of freedom and mental rest in the group of studied males (p<0.005). Conclusions: The respondents' opinions revealed that the highest level of safety with regard to sanitary and epidemiological requirements (masks covering mouth and nose worn by both personnel and society, the necessity to present the COVID passport, the possibility to disinfect hands) was observed in Austria and Italy, while shorter length of the stay in these countries resulted from high prices, particularly in catering establishments. According to the respondents, less stringent restrictions, among others lack of the necessity to own the COVID passport, were linked to Croatia and Mediterranean islands. The sense of safety was satisfying, while the sense of freedom and mental rest was high. declared a string of COVID-19 cases a pandemic. Most countries implemented numerous sanitary and epidemiological

Keywords: sanitary and epidemiological regimes, tourist facilities, COVID-19 pandemic, sense of safety

Procedia PDF Downloads 119

Authors: S. Halioui, I. Arikan, M. Schmidt

Abstract:

Tourism sector in Tunisia faces several problems that range from economic challenges to environmental degradation and social instability. These problems have been intensified because of the increased competition in the tourism market, the political instability, financial crises, and recently terrorism problems have aggravated the situation. As a consequence, a new framework that promotes sustainable tourism in the country and increases its competitiveness is urgently needed. Planning for sustainable tourism sector requires the integration of complex interactions between economic, social and environmental aspects. Sustainable tourism principles can be implemented with the help of Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) process, which ensures the full integration of economic, social and environmental considerations while planning for the tourism sector in Tunisia. Results of the paper have broad implications for policy makers and tourism professionals.

Keywords: sustainable tourism, strategic environmental assessment, tourism planning, policy

Procedia PDF Downloads 482

Authors: Jayeola Olabisi, T. Olawale Oladunjoye, Ademola A. Adewumi

Abstract:

The study empirically examines the relationship that exists between the economic environment and entrepreneurial development in Nigeria. A structured questionnaire is administered on the study and data collected are analysed using Analysis of Variance and Regression. The following variables are indices of determination; Interest Rate (IR); Income Tax (IT). The results of the study show that there is a significant relationship between IR and ED in Nigeria (p < 0.5) with a positive correlation (r=0.526, r2=0.276). Also, there is a significant relationship between IT and ED in Nigeria (p < 0.05), with a positive association (r=0.546; r2=0.299). The study concludes that the emergence of the higher level of the stable economic environment is critical to entrepreneurial development in Nigeria. Therefore, government involvement in public private partnership for infrastructural development, enlargement of productive, judicious and transparent use of funds collected from income tax and affordable interest rate will galvanise the inward sourcing of raw materials that boost entrepreneurial development in Nigeria.

Keywords: interest rate, income tax, business environment and entrepreneurial development

Procedia PDF Downloads 356

Authors: Dong Yue, Hua Chen

Abstract:

The study region Xihu Harbor in Xiangshan County, Ningbo City is located in the central coast of Zhejiang Province. Concerning the wave dispating issue, Ningbo government firstly introduced Spartina alterniflora in 1980s. In the 1990s, S. alterniflora spread so rapidly thus a ‘grassland’ in the sea has been created nowadays. It has become the most important invasive plant of China’s coastal tidal flats. Although S. alterniflora had some ecological and economic functions, it has also brought series of hazards. It has ecological hazards on many aspects, including biomass and biodiversity, hydrodynamic force and sedimentation process, nutrient cycling of tidal flat, succession sequence of soil and plants and so on. On engineering, it courses problems of poor drainage and channel blocking. On economy, the hazard mainly reflected in the threat on aquaculture industry. The purpose of this study is to explore an ecological, feasible and economical way to manage Spartina alterniflora and use the land formed by it, taking Xihu Harbor in Xiangshan County as a case. Comparison method, mathematical modeling, qualitative and quantitative analysis are utilized to proceed the study. Main outcomes are as follows. By comparing a series of S. alterniflora managing methods which include the combination of mechanical cutting and hydraulic reclamation, waterlogging, herbicide and biological substitution from three standpoints – ecology, engineering and economy. It is inferred that the combination of mechanical cutting and hydraulic reclamation is among the top rank of S. alternifora managing methods. The combination of mechanical cutting and hydraulic reclamation means using large-scale mechanical equipment like large screw seagoing dredger to excavate the S. alterniflora with root and mud together. Then the mix of mud and grass was blown off nearby coastal tidal zone transported by pipelines, which can cushion the silt of tidal zone to form a land. However, as man-made land by coast, the reclamation area’s ecological sensitivity is quite high and will face high possibility of flood threat. Therefore, the reclamation area has many reasonability requirements, including ones on location, specific scope, water surface rate, direction of main watercourse, site of water-gate, the ratio of ecological land to urban construction land. These requirements all became important basis when the planning was being made. The water system planning, green space system planning, road structure and land use all need to accommodate the ecological requests. Besides, the profits from the formed land is the managing project’s source of funding, so how to utilize land efficiently is another considered point in the planning. It is concluded that by aiming at managing a large area of S. alterniflora, the combination of mechanical cutting and hydraulic reclamation is an ecological, feasible and economical method. The planning of reclamation area should fully respect the natural environment and possible disasters. Then the planning which makes land use efficient, reasonable, ecological will promote the development of the area’s city construction.

Keywords: ecological management, ecological planning method, reclamation area, Spartina alternifora, Xihu harbor

Procedia PDF Downloads 304

Authors: Zermina Q., Wasif Y., Naeem S., Urooj S., Sajid R. A.

Abstract:

Land degradation, a leading environemtnal problem and a decrease in the quality of land has become a major global issue, caused by human activities. By land degradation, more than half of the world’s drylands are affected. The worldwide scope of main saline soils is approximately 955 M ha, whereas inferior salinization affected approximately 77 M ha. In irrigated areas, a total of 58% of these soils is found. As most of the vegetation types requires fertile soil for their growth and quality production, salinity causes serious problem to the production of these vegetation types and agriculture demands. This research aims to identify the salt affected areas in the selected part of Indus Delta, Sindh province, Pakistan. This particular mangroves dominating coastal belt is important to the local community for their crop growth. Object based image analysis approach has been adopted on Landsat TM imagery of year 2011 by incorporating different mathematical band ratios, thermal radiance and salinity index. Accuracy assessment of developed salinity landcover map was performed using Erdas Imagine Accuracy Assessment Utility. Rain factor was also considered before acquiring satellite imagery and conducting field survey, as wet soil can greatly affect the condition of saline soil of the area. Dry season considered best for the remote sensing based observation and monitoring of the saline soil. These areas were trained with the ground truth data w.r.t pH and electric condutivity of the soil samples. The results were obtained from the object based image analysis of Keti bunder and Kharo chan shows most of the region under low saline soil.Total salt affected soil was measured to be 46,581.7 ha in Keti Bunder, which represents 57.81 % of the total area of 80,566.49 ha. High Saline Area was about 7,944.68 ha (9.86%). Medium Saline Area was about 17,937.26 ha (22.26 %) and low Saline Area was about 20,699.77 ha (25.69%). Where as total salt affected soil was measured to be 52,821.87 ha in Kharo Chann, which represents 55.87 % of the total area of 94,543.54 ha. High Saline Area was about 5,486.55 ha (5.80 %). Medium Saline Area was about 13,354.72 ha (14.13 %) and low Saline Area was about 33980.61 ha (35.94 %). These results show that the area is low to medium saline in nature. Accuracy of the soil salinity map was found to be 83 % with the Kappa co-efficient of 0.77. From this research, it was evident that this area as a whole falls under the category of low to medium saline area and being close to coastal area, mangrove forest can flourish. As Mangroves are salt tolerant plant so this area is consider heaven for mangrove plantation. It would ultimately benefit both the local community and the environment. Increase in mangrove forest control the problem of soil salinity and prevent sea water to intrude more into coastal area. So deforestation of mangrove should be regularly monitored.

Keywords: indus delta, object based image analysis, soil salinity, thematic mapper

Procedia PDF Downloads 612

Authors: M. Cuevas-González, O. Monserrat, A. Barra, C. Reyes-Carmona, R.M. Mateos, J. P. Galve, R. Sarro, M. Cantalejo, E. Peña, M. Martínez-Corbella, J. A. Luque, J. M. Azañón, A. Millares, M. Béjar, J. A. Navarro, L. Solari

Abstract:

Geohazard prone areas require continuous monitoring to detect risks, understand the phenomena occurring in those regions and prevent disasters. Satellite interferometry (InSAR) has come to be a trustworthy technique for ground movement detection and monitoring in the last few years. InSAR based techniques allow to process large areas providing high number of displacement measurements at low cost. However, the results provided by such techniques are usually not easy to interpret by non-experienced users hampering its use for decision makers. This work presents a set of tools developed in the framework of different projects (Momit, Safety, U-Geohaz, Riskcoast) and an example of their use in the Granada Coastal area (Spain) is shown. The ADA (Active Displacement Areas) tool have been developed with the aim of easing the management, use and interpretation of InSAR based results. It provides a semi-automatic extraction of the most significant ADAs through the application ADAFinder tool. This tool aims to support the exploitation of the European Ground Motion Service (EU-GMS), which will provide consistent, regular and reliable information regarding natural and anthropogenic ground motion phenomena all over Europe.

Keywords: ground displacements, InSAR, natural hazards, satellite imagery

Procedia PDF Downloads 202

Authors: Zheng Lulin, Xiong Guoping

Abstract:

In recent years, agriculture, rural development, and peasants are among the top concerns and priorities of the Chinese Government. Several related issues have been paid many attentions by academic communities, including the impacts of corresponding policies on the rural villages, the mechanisms of these impacts, and the future development of rural society. However, most of the researchers focus on single rural policy instead of integral rural policy system. Hence, this dissertation focused on the mechanisms of policies’ influence on rural changes through a case study from Changfu Village in central Guangxi Province, China, to propose the optimized suggestions for rural development. Forty-three relevant pivotal policies of significant influence on rural development are summarized from literature and documents, covering five aspects of agricultural production, rural living security, open rural markets, rural household registration systems, and farmland transferring. Besides, having been live in this area for more than 20 years, researchers obtain the basic information about changing the social connection between citizens and villagers, the habitat of villagers by years of informal interviews. Furthermore, more than 200 questionnaires are given to villagers to analyze the changing of their personal and family information. The summary of rural policies revealed that the development trend of public rural policies followed the U-shape curve and these policies are characterized by economic intentions and operative economy. Report of questionnaires and interviews show that the development of rural economy was promoted greatly by public policies. Firstly, Social communication and rural culture were affected to a certain extent. Secondly, the educational level of rural individuals was significantly enhanced, whereas the quality of population had limited progress. Finally, the freedom of occupational choice for rural individuals into cities was greater than before, but still restricted by the class solidification of social background, resulting in more obstacles for rural individuals to settle down in cities. From what we discuss about, we may reach the conclusion on several perspectives: Firstly, the impact of the rural policies has a significant role in promoting the economy development of the rural area. However, separations between rural and urban area are still a major problem since rural policy contributed little to improve the rural population quality. Therefore, in the future, providing high quality educational facilities including teachers, libraries, and opportunities of broadening their knowledge base are key issues of future rural policy. Secondly, the development of rural economy would be a lack of driving force for further improvement owning to the fact that working hard couldn’t get more improvement. In the future, public policies should support the rural development of culture, technology, and personal qualities to create favorable social environment for the free increase of rural population.

Keywords: changing of rural area, rural development of China, rural policy, social environment

Procedia PDF Downloads 423

Authors: Anju Batta Sehgal

Abstract:

Climate change is a major challenge in terms of agriculture, food security and rural livelihood for thousands of people especially the poor in Himachal, which falls in North-Western Himalayas. Agriculture contributes over 45 per cent to net state domestic product. It is the main source of income and employment. Over 93 per cent of population is dependent on agriculture which provides direct employment to 71 percent of its people. Area of operation holding is about 9,79 lakh hectares owned by 9.14 lakh farmers. About 80 per cent area is rain-fed and farmers depend on weather gods for rains. Region is a home of diverse ethnic communities having enormous socio-economic and cultural diversities, gifted with range of farming systems and rich resource wealth, including biodiversity, hot spots and ecosystems sustaining millions of people living in the region. But growing demands of ecosystem goods and services are posing threats to natural resources. Climate change is already making adverse impact on the indigenous people. The rural populace is directly dependent for all its food, shelter and other needs on the climate. Our aim should be to shift the focus to indigenous people as primary actors in terms of global climate change monitoring, adaptations and innovations. Objective of this paper is to identify the climate change related threats and vulnerabilities associated with agriculture as a sector and agriculture as people’s livelihood. Broadly it analyses the connections between the nature and rural consumers the ethnic groups.

Keywords: climate change, agriculture, indigenous people, Himachal Pradesh

Procedia PDF Downloads 268

Authors: Lucian Vasile Bagiu, Paraschiva Bagiu

Abstract:

The novel written in Italian and published in Italy in 1992 by the Romanian scholar Marin Mincu is meant for the foreign reader, aiming apparently at a better knowledge of the historical character of Vlad the Empalor (Vlad Dracul), within the European cultural, political and historical context of 1463. Throughout the very well written tome, one comes to realize that one of the underlining levels of the fiction is the exposing of various fundamental features of the Romanian culture and civilization. The author of the diary, Dracula, makes mention of Corpus Hermeticum no less than fifteen times, suggesting his own diary is some sort of a philosophical counterpart. The essay focuses on several ‘truths’ and ‘wisdom’ revealed in the fictional teachings of Dracula. The boycott of History by the Romanians is identified as an echo of the philosophical approach of the famous Romanian scholar and writer Lucian Blaga. The orality of the Romanian culture is a landmark opposed to written culture of the Western Europe. The religion of the ancient Dacian God Zalmoxis is seen as the basis for the Romanian existential and/or metaphysical ethnic philosophy (a feature tackled by the famous Romanian historian of religion Mircea Eliade), with a suggestion that Hermes Trismegistus may have written his Corpus Hermeticum being influenced by Zalmoxis. The historical figure of the last Dacian king Decebalus (death 106 AD) is a good pretext for a tantalizing Indo-European suggestion that the prehistoric Thraco-Dacian people may have been the ancestors of the first Romans settled in Latium. The lost diary of the Emperor Trajan The Bello Dacico may have proved that the unknown language of the Dacians was very much alike Latin language (a secret well hidden by the Vatican). The attitude towards death of the Dacians, as described by Herodotus, may have later inspired Pitagora, Socrates, the Eleusinian and Orphic Mysteries, etc. All of these within the Humanistic and Renascentist European context of the epoch, Dracula having a close relationship with scholars such as Nicolaus Cusanus, Cosimo de Medici, Marsilio Ficino, Pope Pius II, etc. Thus The Diary of Dracula turns out as exciting and stupefying as Corpus Hermeticum, a book impossible to assimilate entirely, yet a reference not wise to be ignored.

Keywords: Corpus Hermeticum, Dacians, Dracula, Zalmoxis

Procedia PDF Downloads 154

Authors: Apollinaire Barme, Simon Tamayo, Arthur Gaudron

Abstract:

This paper presents a statistical approach to identify explanatory variables linearly related to e-commerce sales. The proposed methodology allows specifying a regression model in order to quantify the relevance between openly available data (economic and demographic) and national e-commerce sales. The proposed methodology consists in collecting data, preselecting input variables, performing regressions for choosing variables and models, testing and validating. The usefulness of the proposed approach is twofold: on the one hand, it allows identifying the variables that influence e- commerce sales with an accessible approach. And on the other hand, it can be used to model future sales from the input variables. Results show that e-commerce is linearly dependent on 11 economic and demographic indicators.

Keywords: e-commerce, statistical modeling, regression, empirical research

Procedia PDF Downloads 219

Authors: Nesrine Bouguerra

Abstract:

Entrepreneurship is seen as a necessary ingredient for stimulating economic growth and employment opportunities in all societies. SMEs account for a wide share of economic activity and development. they are the primary engine of job creation, income growth and poverty reduction. Indeed, government support for entrepreneurship is a strategic option to foster economic growth and females’ input in this regard, is of equal significance not only for employability and productivity but also to narrow the gender gap created by social attitudes and beliefs. This study investigates the impact of socio–cultural factors, among other barriers on female entrepreneurial intention in Algeria. Data will be collected using a mixed method approach (Questionnaires and Interviews) from women intending to become entrepreneurs and those already in the field. This study has conceptual, theoretical and empirical contributions to the field of entrepreneurship which will be unveiled throughout.

Keywords: female entrepreneurship, SMEs, women, socio –cultural values, barriers

Procedia PDF Downloads 449

Authors: Hu Ding, Kai Liu, Guoan Tang

Abstract:

The Chinese Loess Plateau suffers from serious gully erosion induced by natural and human causes. Gully features detection including gully-affected area and its two dimension parameters (length, width, area et al.), is a significant task not only for researchers but also for policy-makers. This study aims at gully-affected area detection in three catchments of Chinese Loess Plateau, which were selected in Changwu, Ansai, and Suide by using unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The methodology includes a sequence of UAV data generation, image segmentation, feature calculation and selection, and random forest classification. Two experiments were conducted to investigate the influences of segmentation strategy and feature selection. Results showed that vertical and horizontal root-mean-square errors were below 0.5 and 0.2 m, respectively, which were ideal for the Loess Plateau region. The segmentation strategy adopted in this paper, which considers the topographic information, and optimal parameter combination can improve the segmentation results. Besides, the overall extraction accuracy in Changwu, Ansai, and Suide achieved was 84.62%, 86.46%, and 93.06%, respectively, which indicated that the proposed method for detecting gully-affected area is more objective and effective than traditional methods. This study demonstrated that UAV can bridge the gap between field measurement and satellite-based remote sensing, obtaining a balance in resolution and efficiency for catchment-scale gully erosion research.

Keywords: unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), object-analysis image analysis, gully erosion, gully-affected area, Loess Plateau, random forest

Procedia PDF Downloads 209

Authors: David Nkurunziza, Rahman Tafahomi

Abstract:

The population growth rate of the city of Kigali is increasing annually. In 1960 the population was six thousand, in 1990 it became two hundred thousand and is supposed to be 4 to 5 million incoming twenty years. With the increase in the residents living in the city of Kigali, there is also a need for an increase in social and economic infrastructures connected by the road networks to serve the residents effectively. A road network is a route that connects people to their needs and has to facilitate people to reach the social and economic facilities easily. This research analyzed the social and economic aspects of three selected roads networks passing through all three districts of the city of Kigali, whose center is the city center roundabout, thorough evaluation of the proximity of the social and economic facilities to the road network. These road networks are the city center to nyabugogo to karuruma, city center to kanogo to Rwanda to kicukiro center to Nyanza taxi park, and city center to Yamaha to kinamba to gakinjiro to kagugu health center road network. This research used a methodology of identifying and quantifying the social and economic facilities within a limited distance of 300 meters along each side of the road networks. Social facilities evaluated are the health facilities, education facilities, institution facilities, and worship facilities, while the economic facilities accessed are the commercial zones, industries, banks, and hotels. These facilities were evaluated and graded based on their distance from the road and their value. The total scores of each road network per kilometer were calculated and finally, the road networks were ranked based on their percentage score per one kilometer—this research was based on field surveys and interviews to collect data with forms and questionnaires. The analysis of the data collected declared that the road network from the city center to Yamaha to kinamba to gakinjiro to the kagugu health center is the best performer, the second is the road network from the city center to nyabugogo to karuruma, while the third is the road network from the city center to kanogo to rwandex to kicukiro center to nyaza taxi park.

Keywords: social economical aspect, road network functionality, urban road network, economic and social facilities

Procedia PDF Downloads 148

Authors: Michael Lognoul

Abstract:

In April 2021, the European Commission released its AI Act Proposal, which is the first policy proposal at the European Union level to target AI systems comprehensively, in a horizontal manner. This Proposal notably aims to achieve an ecosystem of trust in the European Union, based on the respect of fundamental rights, regarding AI. Among many other requirements, the AI Act Proposal aims to impose several generic transparency obligationson all AI systems to the benefit of natural persons facing those systems (e.g. information on the AI nature of systems, in case of an interaction with a human). The Proposal also provides for more stringent transparency obligations, specific to AI systems that qualify as high-risk, to the benefit of their users, notably on the characteristics, capabilities, and limitations of the AI systems they use. Against that background, this research firstly presents all such transparency requirements in turn, as well as related obligations, such asthe proposed obligations on record keeping. Secondly, it focuses on a legal analysis of their scope of application, of the content of the obligations, and on their practical implications. On the scope of transparency obligations tailored for high-risk AI systems, the research notably notes that it seems relatively narrow, given the proposed legal definition of the notion of users of AI systems. Hence, where end-users do not qualify as users, they may only receive very limited information. This element might potentially raise concern regarding the objective of the Proposal. On the content of the transparency obligations, the research highlights that the information that should benefit users of high-risk AI systems is both very broad and specific, from a technical perspective. Therefore, the information required under those obligations seems to create, prima facie, an adequate framework to ensure trust for users of high-risk AI systems. However, on the practical implications of these transparency obligations, the research notes that concern arises due to potential illiteracy of high-risk AI systems users. They might not benefit from sufficient technical expertise to fully understand the information provided to them, despite the wording of the Proposal, which requires that information should be comprehensible to its recipients (i.e. users).On this matter, the research points that there could be, more broadly, an important divergence between the level of detail of the information required by the Proposal and the level of expertise of users of high-risk AI systems. As a conclusion, the research provides policy recommendations to tackle (part of) the issues highlighted. It notably recommends to broaden the scope of transparency requirements for high-risk AI systems to encompass end-users. It also suggests that principles of explanation, as they were put forward in the Guidelines for Trustworthy AI of the High Level Expert Group, should be included in the Proposal in addition to transparency obligations.

Keywords: aI act proposal, explainability of aI, high-risk aI systems, transparency requirements

Procedia PDF Downloads 295

Authors: Runlin Liu, Shilong Li

Abstract:

China is a mountainous country, with two-thirds of its territory covered by plateaus, hills, and mountains, and nearly half of the cities and towns are distributed in mountainous areas. Compared with the environmental constraints in the development path of cities and towns in the plains, there are heterogeneities in aspects such as spatial characteristics, growth mode, and ecological protection and so on for mountain village and townlets, and the development path of mountain village and townlets has a bidirectional relationship between mountain space and economic growth. Based on classical growth theory, this article explores the two-dimensional coupling relation between space and economy in mountain village and townlets under background of rural rejuvenation. GIS technology is adopted in the study to analyze spatial trends and patterns, economical spatial differentiation characteristics of village and townlets. This powerful tool can also help differentiate and analyze limiting factors and assessment systems in the economic growth of village and townlets under spatial dimension of mountainous space. To make the research more specific, this article selects mountain village and townlets in Southwest China as the object of study; this provides good cases for analyzing parallel coupling mechanism of the duality structure system between economic growth and spatial expansion and discussing the path selection of spatial economic growth of mountain village and towns with multiple constraints. The research results can provide quantitative references for the spatial and economic development paths of mountain villages and towns, which is helpful in realizing efficient and high-quality development mode with equal emphasis on spatial and economic benefits for these type of towns.

Keywords: coupling mechanism, geographic information technology, mountainous town, synergetic development, spatial economy

Procedia PDF Downloads 144

Authors: Maria A. Castillo H., Andrés R. Leandro C.

Abstract:

During the last decades, agricultural productivity in Latin America has increased with precision agriculture and more efficient agricultural technologies. The use of automated systems, satellite images, geographic information systems, and tools for data analysis, and artificial intelligence have contributed to making more effective strategic decisions. Twenty years ago, the state of Mérida, located in the Venezuelan Andes, reported the largest area covered by greenhouses in the country, where certified seeds of potatoes, vegetables, ornamentals, and flowers were produced for export and consumption in the central region of the country. In recent years, it is estimated that production under greenhouses has changed, and the area covered has decreased due to different factors, but there are few historical statistical data in sufficient quantity and quality to support this estimate or to be used for analysis and decision making. The objective of this study is to compare data collected about geoposition, use, and covered areas of the greenhouses in 2007 to data available in 2021, as support for the analysis of the current situation of horticultural production in the main municipalities of the state of Mérida. The document presents the development of the work in the diagnosis and integration of geographic coordinates in GIS and data analysis phases. As a result, an evaluation of the process is made, a dashboard is presented with the most relevant data along with the geographical coordinates integrated into GIS, and an analysis of the obtained information is made. Finally, some recommendations for actions are added, and works that expand the information obtained and its geographical traceability over time are proposed. This study contributes to granting greater certainty in the supporting data for the evaluation of social, environmental, and economic sustainability indicators and to make better decisions according to the sustainable development goals in the area under review. At the same time, the methodology provides improvements to the agricultural data collection process that can be extended to other study areas and crops.

Keywords: greenhouses, geographic information system, protected agriculture, data analysis, Venezuela

Procedia PDF Downloads 88

Authors: M. Shahadat Hossain

Abstract:

People experiencing economic disadvantages have limited access to justice system. Employment status is a key indicator of economic disadvantage. There is a link between employment status and vulnerability to legal problems. This paper addresses the obstacles unemployed people experience to secure justice in Australia. This paper further explores exiting services for economically disadvantaged people to secure justice where these unemployment people can get access. It reveals that unemployed people are vulnerable to multifaced crime and violence. Due to high cost of legal services, these unemployed people are unable to afford legal services to access justice. They are often found higher levels of nonactions in terms of access to justice also due to lack of their initiatives. This paper further reveals that legal aid commissions are state and territory statutory agencies in Australia which provide free legal information, advice, duty lawyers, and legal representation services. Community legal centres are independent, non-profit government organizations with a focus of early advice, problem solving, and working with other agencies to address connected, financial, and health problems. Moreover, the private profession helps people who cannot afford to pay for a lawyer in several ways. But there are problems of shortage of funding for these legal services and making available to economically disadvantaged people. However, this paper argues that people experiencing long-term unemployment face barriers to secure justice due to their economic disadvantages. It further argues that services available for them to access to justice is inadequate.

Keywords: economic disadvantages, unemployment, access to justice, Australia

Procedia PDF Downloads 129

Authors: Fernando Vega, Esmeralda Portillo, Sara Camino, Benito Navarrete, Elena Montavez

Abstract:

The European Union aims at strongly reducing their CO₂ emissions from energy and industrial sector by 2030. The energy sector contributes with more than two-thirds of the CO₂ emission share derived from anthropogenic activities. Although efforts are mainly focused on the use of renewables by energy production sector, carbon capture and storage (CCS) remains as a frontline option to reduce CO₂ emissions from industrial process, particularly from fossil-fuel power plants and cement production. Among the most feasible and near-to-market CCS technologies, namely post-combustion and oxy-combustion, partial oxy-combustion is a novel concept that can potentially reduce the overall energy requirements of the CO₂ capture process. This technology consists in the use of higher oxygen content in the oxidizer that should increase the CO₂ concentration of the flue gas once the fuel is burnt. The CO₂ is then separated from the flue gas downstream by means of a conventional CO₂ chemical absorption process. The production of a higher CO₂ concentrated flue gas should enhance the CO₂ absorption into the solvent, leading to further reductions of the CO₂ separation performance in terms of solvent flow-rate, equipment size, and energy penalty related to the solvent regeneration. This work evaluates a portfolio of CCS technologies applied to fossil-fuel power plants. For this purpose, an economic evaluation methodology was developed in detail to determine the main economical parameters for CO₂ emission removal such as the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) and the CO₂ captured and avoided costs. ASPEN Plus™ software was used to simulate the main units of power plant and solve the energy and mass balance. Capital and investment costs were determined from the purchased cost of equipment, also engineering costs and project and process contingencies. The annual capital cost and operating and maintenance costs were later obtained. A complete energy balance was performed to determine the net power produced in each case. The baseline case consists of a supercritical 500 MWe coal-fired power plant using anthracite as a fuel without any CO₂ capture system. Four cases were proposed: conventional post-combustion capture, oxy-combustion and partial oxy-combustion using two levels of oxygen-enriched air (40%v/v and 75%v/v). CO₂ chemical absorption process using monoethanolamine (MEA) was used as a CO₂ separation process whereas the O₂ requirement was achieved using a conventional air separation unit (ASU) based on Linde's cryogenic process. Results showed a reduction of 15% of the total investment cost of the CO₂ separation process when partial oxy-combustion was used. Oxygen-enriched air production also reduced almost half the investment costs required for ASU in comparison with oxy-combustion cases. Partial oxy-combustion has a significant impact on the performance of both CO₂ separation and O₂ production technologies, and it can lead to further energy reductions using new developments on both CO₂ and O₂ separation processes.

Keywords: carbon capture, cost methodology, economic evaluation, partial oxy-combustion

Procedia PDF Downloads 140

Authors: Klio Monokrousou, Maria Giannopoulou

Abstract:

Urban areas, as they have been developed and operate today, are areas of accumulation of a significant amount of people and a large number of activities that generate desires and reasons for traveling. The territorial expansion of the cities as well as the need to preserve the importance of the central city areas lead to the continuous increase of transportation needs which in the limited urban space results in creating serious traffic and operational problems. The modern perception of urban planning is directed towards more holistic approaches and integrated policies that make it economically competitive, socially just and more environmentally friendly. Over the last 25 years, the goal of sustainable transport development has been central to the agenda of any plan or policy for the city. The modern planning of urban space takes into account the economic and social aspects of the city and the importance of the environment to sustainable urban development. In this context, the European Union promotes direct or indirect related interventions according to the cohesion and environmental policies; many countries even had the chance to actually test them. This paper is part of a wider research still in progress and it explores the methods and processes that have been developed towards this direction and presents a review and systematic presentation of this work. The ultimate purpose of this research is to effectively use this review to create a decision making methodological framework which can be the basis of a useful operational tool for sustainable urban planning.

Keywords: methods, sustainable urban development, urban mobility, methodological framework

Procedia PDF Downloads 430

Authors: Andrea Miconi

Abstract:

The research will focus on the results of the Tempus European Project eMEDia dedicated to Cross-Media Journalism. The project is founded by the European Commission as it involves four European partners - IULM University, Tampere University, University of Barcelona, and the Mediterranean network Unimed - and three Tunisian Universities – IPSI La Manouba, Sfax and Sousse – along with the Tunisian Ministry for Higher Education and the National Syndicate of Journalists. The focus on Tunisian condition is basically due to the role played by digital activists in its recent history. The research is dedicated to the relationship between political participation, news-making practices and the spread of social media, as it is affecting Tunisian society. As we know, Tunisia during the Arab Spring had been widely considered as a laboratory for the analysis the use of new technologies for political participation. Nonetheless, the literature about the Arab Spring actually fell short in explaining the genesis of the phenomenon, on the one hand by isolating technologies as a casual factor in the spread of demonstrations, and on the other by analyzing North-African condition through a biased perspective. Nowadays, it is interesting to focus on the consolidation of the information environment three years after the uprisings. And what is relevant, only a close, in-depth analysis of Tunisian society is able to provide an explanation of its history, and namely of the part of digital media in the overall evolution of political system. That is why the research is based on different methodologies: desk stage, interviews, and in-depth analysis of communication practices. Networked journalism is the condition determined by the technological innovation on news-making activities: a condition upon which professional journalist can no longer be considered the only player in the information arena, and a new skill must be developed. Along with democratization, nonetheless, the so-called citizen journalism is also likely to produce some ambiguous effects, such as the lack of professional standards and the spread of information cascades, which may prove to be particularly dangerous in an evolving media market as the Tunisian one. This is why, according to the project, a new profile must be defined, which is able to manage this new condition, and which can be hardly reduced to the parameters of traditional journalistic work. Rather than simply using new devices for news visualization, communication professionals must also be able to dialogue with all new players and to accept the decentralized nature of digital environments. This networked nature of news-making seemed to emerge during the Tunisian revolution, when bloggers, journalists, and activists used to retweet each other. Nonetheless, this intensification of communication exchange was inspired by the political climax of the uprising, while all media, by definition, are also supposed to bring some effects on people’s state of mind, culture and daily life routines. That is why it is worth analyzing the consolidation of these practices in a normal, post-revolutionary situation.

Keywords: cross-media, education, Mediterranean, networked journalism, social media, Tunisia

Procedia PDF Downloads 192

Authors: Ahmad Ammar, Umar Khan Khattak, Muhammad Majid

Abstract:

Empirically based lumped hydrologic models have an extensive track record of use for various watershed managements and flood related studies. This study focuses on the impacts of LULC change for 10 year period on the discharge in watershed using lumped model HEC-HMS. The Indus above Tarbela region acts as a source of the main flood events in the middle and lower portions of Indus because of the amount of rainfall and topographic setting of the region. The discharge pattern of the region is influenced by the LULC associated with it. In this study the Landsat TM images were used to do LULC analysis of the watershed. Satellite daily precipitation TRMM data was used as input rainfall. The input variables for model building in HEC-HMS were then calculated based on the GIS data collected and pre-processed in HEC-GeoHMS. SCS-CN was used as transform model, SCS unit hydrograph method was used as loss model and Muskingum was used as routing model. For discharge simulation years 2000 and 2010 were taken. HEC-HMS was calibrated for the year 2000 and then validated for 2010.The performance of the model was assessed through calibration and validation process and resulted R2=0.92 during calibration and validation. Relative Bias for the years 2000 was -9% and for2010 was -14%. The result shows that in 10 years the impact of LULC change on discharge has been negligible in the study area overall. One reason is that, the proportion of built-up area in the watershed, which is the main causative factor of change in discharge, is less than 1% of the total area. However, locally, the impact of development was found significant in built up area of Mansehra city. The analysis was done on Mansehra city sub-watershed with an area of about 16 km2 and has more than 13% built up area in 2010. The results showed that with an increase of 40% built-up area in the city from 2000 to 2010 the discharge values increased about 33 percent, indicating the impact of LULC change on discharge value.

Keywords: LULC change, HEC-HMS, Indus Above Tarbela, SCS-CN

Procedia PDF Downloads 502

Authors: Gabriela Tutuanu

Abstract:

The economic, social and environmental undesirable impact of the existing development pattern pushes to the adoption and use of a new development paradigm that of sustainable development. This paper intends to substantiate how the marketing can help the sustainable development. It begins with the subjects of sustainable development and sustainable marketing as they are discussed in literature. The sustainable development is a three dimensional concept which embeds the economic dimension, the social dimension and the environmental dimension that ask to have in view the simultaneous pursuit of economic prosperity, social equity and environmental quality. A major challenge to achieve these goals at business level and to integrate all three dimensions of sustainability is the sustainable marketing. The sustainable marketing is a relationship marketing that aims at building lasting relationships with the social and natural environment on a long-term thinking and futurity and this philosophy allows helping all three dimensions of sustainability. As marketing solutions that could contribute to the sustainable development. We advance the stimulation of sustainable demand, the constant innovation and improvement of sustainable products, the design and use of customized communication, a multichannel distribution network and the sale of sustainable products and services at fair prices. Their implementation will increase the economic, social and environmental sustainability at a large extent in the future if they are supported by political, governmental and legal authorities.

Keywords: sustainable development, sustainable marketing, sustainable demand, sustainable product, credible communication, multi-channel distribution network, fair price

Procedia PDF Downloads 465

Authors: Waleed Baloch

Abstract:

This paper investigates the problems and challenges in social-economic research in the case study of the province of Sindh after the COVID-19 pandemic; the pandemic has significantly impacted various aspects of society and the economy, necessitating a thorough examination of the resulting implications. The study also investigates potential strategies and solutions to mitigate these challenges, ensuring the continuation of robust social and economic research in the region. Through an in-depth analysis of data and interviews with key stakeholders, the study reveals several significant findings. Firstly, researchers encountered difficulties in accessing primary data due to disruptions caused by the pandemic, leading to limitations in the scope and accuracy of their studies. Secondly, the study highlights the challenges faced in conducting fieldwork, such as restrictions on travel and face-to-face interactions, which impacted the ability to gather reliable data. Lastly, the research identifies the need for innovative research methodologies and digital tools to adapt to the new research landscape brought about by the pandemic. The study concludes by proposing recommendations to address these challenges, including utilizing remote data collection methods, leveraging digital technologies for data analysis, and establishing collaborations among researchers to overcome resource constraints. By addressing these issues, researchers in the social economic field can effectively navigate the post-COVID-19 research landscape, facilitating a deeper understanding of the socioeconomic impacts and facilitating evidence-based policy interventions.

Keywords: social economic, sociology, developing economies, COVID-19

Procedia PDF Downloads 56

Authors: Odeh Ibn Iganga

Abstract:

Globalization as a process is gradually taking mankind along a uniform path of ‘one world, one destiny’ whether coercively or voluntarily. As a phenomenon, it is gradually ascending the status of the New World Order ideology, questioning the fundamental assumptions of the state -centric system- independence, sovereignty, equality of states, non-interference in internal affairs etc. by the demands it makes of, and the attendant consequences upon all nations, especially the less developed and weaker states of the Third World. Thus one of the raging and contentious issues in contemporary development discourse is whether globalization comparatively favors developing economies of the third world countries generally and Africa in particular. Narrowing the issue home also is the contentious issue of whether globalization comparatively favors a developing economy like Nigeria. This paper examines the impact of globalization on the economic and cultural development of Nigeria (given her active and continued participation in the global process spanning a period of about 3 decades now). It reveals the negative and positive consequences of the process and concept of globalization on the economic and cultural development of Nigeria adjudging the country did not benefit much from globalization. The paper then recommends measures as to how the negative consequences could be reduced considerably and to make Nigeria benefit maximally from globalization.

Keywords: globalization, developing countries, economic and cultural growth, third world

Procedia PDF Downloads 330

Authors: Marina Kapsali, John S. Anagnostopoulos

Abstract:

On the basis of comparative analysis of alternative “development scenarios” for electricity generation, the main objective of the present study is to investigate the techno-economic viability of high wind energy (WE) use at the local (island) level. An integrated theoretical model is developed based on first principles assuming two main possible scenarios for covering future electrification needs of a medium–sized Greek island, i.e. Lesbos. The first scenario (S1), assumes that the island will keep using oil products as the main source for electricity generation. The second scenario (S2) involves the interconnection of the island with the mainland grid to satisfy part of the electricity demand, while remarkable WE penetration is also achieved. The economic feasibility of the above solutions is investigated in terms of determining their Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) for the time-period 2020-2045, including also a sensitivity analysis on the worst/reference/best Cases. According to the results obtained, interconnection of Lesbos Island with the mainland grid (S2) presents considerable economic interest in comparison to autonomous development (S1) with WE having a prominent role to this effect.

Keywords: electricity generation cost, levelized cost of energy, mainland, wind energy surplus

Procedia PDF Downloads 338

Authors: Khiddir Iddris, Martin Oteng – Ababio, Andreas Bürkert, Christoph Scherrer, Katharina Hemmler

Abstract:

Agbogbloshie, as an informal settlement and economy where the e-waste sector thrives, has become a global hub of complex urban contestations involving sociocultural, economic, and environmental dimensions due to the implication that e-waste and informal economic patterns have on livelihoods, urbanisation, development and sustainability. Multi-author collaborations have produced an ever-growing body of literature on Agbogbloshie and the informal e-waste economy. There is, however, a dearth of an assessment of Agbogbloshie as an urban informal settlement's intricate nexus of socioecological contestations. We address this gap by systematising, from literature, the context knowledge, navigating the complex terrain of Agbogbloshie's challenges, and employing a multidimensional lens to unravel the sociocultural intricacies, economic dynamics, and environmental complexities shaping its identity. A systematic critical review approach was espoused, with a pragmatic consolidation of content analysis and controversy mapping, grounded on the concept of ‘sustainable rurbanism,’ highlighted core themes and identified contrasting viewpoints. An analytical framework is presented. Five categories – geohistorical, sociocultural, economic, environmental and future trends - are proposed as an approach to systematising the literature. The review finds that the sociocultural dimension unveils a mosaic of cultural amalgamation, communal identity, and tensions impacting community cohesion. The analysis of economic intricacies reveals the prevalence of informal economies sustaining livelihoods yet entrenching economic disparities and marginalisation. Environmental scrutiny exposes the grim realities of e-waste disposal, pollution, and land use conflicts. The findings suggest that there is a high resilience within the community and the potential for sustainable trajectories. Theoretical and conceptual synergy is limited. This review provides a comprehensive exploration, offering insights and directions for future research, policy formulation, and community-driven interventions aimed at fostering sustainable transformations in Agbogbloshie and analogous urban contexts.

Keywords: Agbogbloshie, economic complexities, environmental challenges, resilience, sociocultural dynamics, sustainability, urban informal settlement

Procedia PDF Downloads 62

Authors: S. Dey, P. Sibanda, S. Gupta, A. Chakraborty

Abstract:

The occurrence of high nocturnal surface ozone over a tropical urban area (23̊ 32′16.99″ N and 87̊ 17′ 38.95″ E) is analyzed in this paper. Five incidences of nocturnal ozone maxima are recorded during the observational span of two years (June, 2013 to May, 2015). The maximum and minimum values of the surface ozone during these five occasions are 337.630 μg/m³ and 13.034 μg/m³ respectively. HYSPLIT backward trajectory analyses and wind rose diagrams support the horizontal transport of ozone from distant polluted places. Planetary boundary layer characteristics, concentration of precursor (NO₂) and meteorology are found to play important role in the horizontal and vertical transport of surface ozone during nighttime.

Keywords: nocturnal ozone, planetary boundary layer, horizontal transport, meteorology, urban area

Procedia PDF Downloads 281