Search results for: green climate fund

Authors: Kirstin Burger, Paul Watts, Nicole Vorster

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Green chemistry focuses on synthesis which has a low negative impact on the environment. This research focuses on synthesizing novel compounds from an all-natural Eucalyptus citriodora oil. Eight novel plasticizer compounds are synthesized and optimized using flow chemistry technology. A precursor to one novel compound can be synthesized from the lauric acid present in coconut oil. Key parameters, such as catalyst screening and loading, reaction time, temperature, residence time using flow chemistry techniques is investigated. The compounds are characterised using GC-MS, FT-IR, 1H and 13C-NMR techniques, X-ray crystallography. The efficiency of the compounds is compared to two commercial plasticizers, i.e. Dibutyl phthalate and Eastman 168. Several PVC-plasticized film formulations are produced using the bio-based novel compounds. Tensile strength, stress at fracture and percentage elongation are tested. The property of having increasing plasticizer percentage in the film formulations is investigated, ranging from 3, 6, 9 and 12%. The diastereoisomers of each compound are separated and formulated into PVC films, and differences in tensile strength are measured. Leaching tests, flexibility, and change in glass transition temperatures for PVC-plasticized films is recorded. Research objective includes using these novel compounds as a green bio-plasticizer alternative in plastic products for infants. The inhibitory effect of the compounds on six pathogens effecting infants are studied, namely; Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Shigella sonnei, Pseudomonas putida, Salmonella choleraesuis and Klebsiella oxytoca.

Keywords: bio-based compounds, plasticizer, tensile strength, microbiological inhibition , synthesis

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Authors: Jai Heui Kim, Sotheara Veng

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This paper studies the portfolio optimization problem for a pension fund under a hybrid model of stochastic volatility and constant elasticity of variance (CEV) using asymptotic analysis method. When the volatility component is fast mean-reverting, it is able to derive asymptotic approximations for the value function and the optimal strategy for general utility functions. Explicit solutions are given for the exponential and hyperbolic absolute risk aversion (HARA) utility functions. The study also shows that using the leading order optimal strategy results in the value function, not only up to the leading order, but also up to first order correction term. A practical strategy that does not depend on the unobservable volatility level is suggested. The result is an extension of the Merton's solution when stochastic volatility and elasticity of variance are considered simultaneously.

Keywords: asymptotic analysis, constant elasticity of variance, portfolio optimization, stochastic optimal control, stochastic volatility

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Authors: Luisa Kynast

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It is obvious that buildings and infrastructure are highly impacted by climate change (CC). Both, design and material of buildings need to be resilient to weather events in order to shelter humans, animals, or goods. As well as buildings and infrastructure are exposed to weather events, the construction process itself is generally carried out outdoors without being protected from extreme temperatures, heavy rain, or storms. The production process is restricted by technical limitations for processing materials with machines and physical limitations due to human beings (“outdoor-worker”). In future due to CC, average weather patterns are expected to change as well as extreme weather events are expected to occur more frequently and more intense and therefore have a greater impact on production processes and on the construction businesses itself. This research aims to examine this impact by analyzing an association between responses to CC and financial performance of businesses within the construction industry. After having embedded the above depicted field of research into the resource dependency theory, a literature review was conducted to expound the state of research concerning a contingent relation between climate change adaptation measures (CCAM) and corporate financial performance for construction businesses. The examined studies prove that this field is rarely investigated, especially for construction businesses. Therefore, reports of the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) were analyzed by applying content analysis using the software tool MAXQDA. 58 construction companies – located worldwide – could be examined. To proceed even more systematically a coding scheme analogous to findings in literature was adopted. Out of qualitative analysis, data was quantified and a regression analysis containing corporate financial data was conducted. The results gained stress adaptation measures as a response to CC as a crucial proxy to handle climate change impacts (CCI) by mitigating risks and exploiting opportunities. In CDP reports the majority of answers stated increasing costs/expenses as a result of implemented measures. A link to sales/revenue was rarely drawn. Though, CCAM were connected to increasing sales/revenues. Nevertheless, this presumption is supported by the results of the regression analysis where a positive effect of implemented CCAM on construction businesses´ financial performance in the short-run was ascertained. These findings do refer to appropriate responses in terms of the implemented number of CCAM. Anyhow, still businesses show a reluctant attitude for implementing CCAM, which was confirmed by findings in literature as well as by findings in CDP reports. Businesses mainly associate CCAM with costs and expenses rather than with an effect on their corporate financial performance. Mostly companies underrate the effect of CCI and overrate the costs and expenditures for the implementation of CCAM and completely neglect the pay-off. Therefore, this research shall create a basis for bringing CC to the (financial) attention of corporate decision-makers, especially within the construction industry.

Keywords: climate change adaptation measures, construction businesses, financial implication, resource dependency theory

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Authors: Slim Amami

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A model is developed to prevent the risks related to climate conditions in the agricultural sector. It will determine the yearly optimum premium to be paid by a farmer in order to reach his required turnover. The model is mainly based on both climatic stability and 'soft' responses of usually grown species to average climate variations at the same place and inside a safety ball which can be determined from past meteorological data. This allows the use of linear regression expression for dependence of production result in terms of driving meteorological parameters, main ones of which are daily average sunlight, rainfall and temperature. By a simple best parameter fit from the expert table drawn with professionals, optimal representation of yearly production is deduced from records of previous years, and yearly payback is evaluated from minimum yearly produced turnover. Optimal premium is then deduced, and gives the producer a useful bound for negotiating an offer by insurance companies to effectively protect their harvest. The application to wheat production in the French Oise department illustrates the reliability of the present model with as low as 6% difference between predicted and real data. The model can be adapted to almost every agricultural field by changing state parameters and calibrating their associated coefficients.

Keywords: agriculture, database, meteorological factors, production model, optimal price

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Authors: Anthony Halog

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In the coming decades the world that we know today will be drastically transformed. Population and economic growth, particularly in developing countries, are radically changing the demand for food and natural resources. Due to the transformations caused by these megatrends, especially economic growth which is rapidly expanding the middle class and changing consumption patterns worldwide, it is expected that this will result to an increase of approximately 40 percent in the demand for food, water, energy and other resources in the next decades. To fulfill this demand in a sustainable and efficient manner while avoiding food and water scarcity as well as environmental catastrophes in the near future, some industries, particularly the ones involved in food and energy production, have to drastically change its current production systems towards circular and green economy. In Australia, the agri-food industry has played a very important role in the scenario described above. It is one of the major food exporters in the world, supplying fast growing international markets in Asia and the Middle East. Though the Australian food supply chains are economically and technologically developed, it has been facing enduring challenges about its international competitiveness and environmental burdens caused by its production processes. An integrated framework for sustainability assessment is needed to precisely identify inefficiencies and environmental impacts created during food production processes. This research proposes a combination of industrial ecology and systems science based methods and tools intending to develop a novel and useful methodological framework for life cycle sustainability analysis of the agri-food industry. The presentation highlights circular economy paradigm aiming to implement sustainable industrial processes to transform the current industrial model of agri-food supply chains. The results are expected to support government policy makers, business decision makers and other stakeholders involved in agri-food-energy production system in pursuit of green and circular economy. The framework will assist future life cycle and integrated sustainability analysis and eco-redesign of food and other industrial systems.

Keywords: circular economy, eco-efficiency, agri-food systems, green economy, life cycle sustainability assessment

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Authors: Edmar N. Franquera, Renato C. Mabesa, Rene Rafael C. Espino, Edralina P. Serrano, Eduardo P. Paningbatan Jr.

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The potential of growing lettuce with different colored plastic mulch silver (control), red, orange, yellow and green was evaluated using two lettuce varieties, Looseleaf and Romaine. The experiment was laid out on split plot design following the Randomized Complete Block Design. The Looseleaf variety had better performance in terms of plant fresh weight, leaf fresh weight, leaf dry weight, root length, plant height and yield. However, better response was observed in Romaine in terms of leaf diameter, leaf length, root dry weight and root fresh weight. The color of the mulch reflected different qualities of light and hence the quality of absorbed light by the lettuce plants. A higher Far red and red ratio (FR:R) was obtained from green plastic mulch which was followed by the red plastic mulch. The different colored plastic mulch affected the growth and developmental responses of leaf lettuce morphological and leaf anatomical characteristics. Data in all growth morphological and yield parameters showed that those grown with red plastic mulch had better response and had longer stomates than those lettuce grown with the other colored plastic mulch. The soil temperature 10 cm below the plastic mulch was significantly influenced by the color of the mulch. The red plastic mulch had the highest soil temperature recorded while the lowest soil temperature recorded was within the yellow plastic mulch.

Keywords: anatomical, lettuce, morpholological, plastic mulch

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Authors: Pankaj Kumar

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Rapid global changes resulted in unfavorable hydrological, ecological, and environmental changes and cumulatively affected natural resources. As a result, the local communities become vulnerable to water stress, poor hygiene, the spread of diseases, food security, etc.. However, the central point for this vulnerability revolves around water resources and the way people interrelate with the hydrological system. Also, most of the efforts to minimize the adverse effect of global changes are centered on the mitigation side. Hence, countries with poor adaptive capacities and poor governance suffer most in case of disasters. However, several transdisciplinary numerical tools are well designed and are capable of answering “what-if questions” through scenario analysis using a system approach. This study has predicted the future water environment in Marikina River in the National Capital Region, Metro Manila of Philippines, using Water Evaluation and Planning (WEAP), an integrated water resource management tool. Obtained results can answer possible adaptation measures along with their associated uncertainties. It also highlighted various challenges for the policy planners to design adaptation countermeasures as well as to track the progress of achieving SDG 6.0.

Keywords: water quality, Philippines, climate change adaptation, hydrological simulation, wastewater management, weap

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Authors: Manijeh Ghahroudi Tali, Ladan Khedri Gharibvand

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Gavkhouni lagoon, in the South East of Isfahan (Iran), is one of the pluvial lakes and legacy of Quaternary era which has emerged during periods with more precipitation and less evaporation. Climate change, lack of water resources and dried freshwater of Zayandehrood resulted in increased entropy and activated a dynamic which in turn is converted to Playa. The morphometry of 61 polygonal clay microforms in wet zone soil, 52 polygonal clay microforms in pediplain zone soil and 63 microforms in sulfate soil, is evaluated by fractal model. After calculating the microforms’ area–perimeter fractal dimension, their turbulence level was analyzed. Fractal dimensions (DAP) obtained from the microforms’ analysis of pediplain zone, wet zone, and sulfate soils are 1/21-1/39, 1/27-1/44 and 1/29-1/41, respectively, which is indicative of turbulence in these zones. Logarithmic graph drawn for each region also shows that there is a linear relationship between logarithm of the microforms’ area and perimeter so that correlation coefficient (R2) obtained for wet zone is larger than 0.96, for pediplain zone is larger than 0.99 and for sulfated zone is 0.9. Increased turbulence in this region suggests morphological transformation of the system and lagoon’s conversion to a new ecosystem which can be accompanied with serious risks.

Keywords: fractal, Gavkhouni, microform, Iran

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Authors: Tarun Kumar Dalakoti, Debajyoti Majumder, Aditya Prasad Das, Samir Chandra Saxena

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India’s ambitious target to achieve a 50 percent share of energy from non-fossil fuels and the 500-gigawatt (GW) renewable energy capacity before the deadline of 2030, coupled with the global pursuit of sustainable development, will compel the nation to embark on a rapid clean energy transition. As a result, electricity market reforms will emerge as critical policy instruments to facilitate this transition and achieve ambitious environmental targets. This paper will present a comprehensive analysis of the various electricity market reforms to be introduced in the Indian Electricity sector to facilitate the integration of clean energy sources and will assess their impact on the overall energy landscape. The first section of this paper will delve into the policy mechanisms to be introduced by the Government of India and the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission to promote clean energy deployment. These mechanisms include extensive provisions for the integration of renewables in the Indian Electricity Grid Code, 2023. The section will also cover the projection of RE Generation as highlighted in the National Electricity Plan, 2023. It will discuss the introduction of Green Energy Market segments, the waiver of Inter-State Transmission System (ISTS) charges for inter-state sale of solar and wind power, the notification of Promoting Renewable Energy through Green Energy Open Access Rules, and the bundling of conventional generating stations with renewable energy sources. The second section will evaluate the tangible impact of these electricity market reforms. By drawing on empirical studies and real-world case examples, the paper will assess the penetration rate of renewable energy sources in India’s electricity markets, the decline of conventional fuel-based generation, and the consequent reduction in carbon emissions. Furthermore, it will explore the influence of these reforms on electricity prices, the impact on various market segments due to the introduction of green contracts, and grid stability. The paper will also discuss the operational challenges to be faced due to the surge of RE Generation sources as a result of the implementation of the above-mentioned electricity market reforms, including grid integration issues, intermittency concerns with renewable energy sources, and the need for increasing grid resilience for future high RE in generation mix scenarios. In conclusion, this paper will emphasize that electricity market reforms will be pivotal in accelerating the global transition towards clean energy systems. It will underscore the importance of a holistic approach that combines effective policy design, robust regulatory frameworks, and active participation from market actors. Through a comprehensive examination of the impact of these reforms, the paper will shed light on the significance of India’s sustained commitment to a cleaner, more sustainable energy future.

Keywords: renewables, Indian electricity grid code, national electricity plan, green energy market

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Authors: Lauren B. Birney

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Summer STEM Institute for Middle and High School Students at Pace University The STEM Collaboratory NYC® Summer Fellows Institute takes place on Pace University’s New York City campus during July and provides the following key features for all participants: (i) individual meetings with Pace faculty to discuss and refine future educational goals; (ii) mentorship, guidance, and new friendships with program leaders; and (iii) guest lectures from professionals in STEM disciplines and businesses. The Summer STEM Institute allows middle school and high school students to work in teams to conceptualize, develop, and build native mobile applications that teach and reinforce skills in the sciences and mathematics. These workshops enhance students’STEM problem solving techniques and teach advanced methods of computer science and engineering. Topics include: big data and analytics at the Big Data lab at Seidenberg, Data Science focused on social and environmental advancement and betterment; Natural Disasters and their Societal Influences; Algal Blooms and Environmental Impacts; Green CitiesNYC; STEM jobs and growth opportunities for the future; renew able energy and sustainable infrastructure; and climate and the economy. In order to better align the existing Summer STEM, Institute with the CCERS model and expand the overall network, Pace is actively recruiting new content area specialists from STEM industries and private sector enterprises to participate in an enhanced summer institute in order to1) nurture student progress and connect summer learning to school year curriculum, 2) increase peer-to-peer collaboration amongst STEM professionals and private sector technologists, and 3) develop long term funding and sponsorship opportunities for corporate sector partners to support CCERS schools and programs directly.

Keywords: environmental restoration science, citizen science, data science, STEM

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Authors: Hafsah Javed

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Environment protection is a major issue grabbing widespread attention of policymakers, both, locally and globally. Pakistan is among the countries most affected by global climate changes; media, besides governments, have a prime responsibility to create awareness among people about its hazards, and managing strategies. Advances in Information Communication Technologies have eased people's access to information and created an interactive space to discuss environment related issues and influence the policy decisions on the issue. This study, therefore, aims to examine, from the perspective of the audience, the contribution of Pakistani traditional and social media in creating awareness about Environment Protection and its implications. The objectives are achieved through quantitative survey method. Young university students are selected as ‘audience’ for the study. The findings show lack of awareness among people regarding environment protection. Neither traditional media outlets like radio, TV and newspapers prioritize the issue on their agenda, nor audience pull information about the issue from social media. A stark indifference and non-serious attitude is being exercised towards the issue from two quarters. People do not know much about local and international laws on environment; media are used more than a source of entertainment than awareness. The study implicates that there is an exigency to launch a nationwide awareness campaign on the issue, and for that media need to be on the driving seat.

Keywords: awareness, climate change, environment protection, new media, role of media, youngsters

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Authors: Eleni Giouli

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Distance learning provides a flexible approach to education, enabling busy learners to complete their coursework at their own pace, on their own schedule, and from a convenient location. This flexibility combined with a series of other issues; make the benefits of lifelong distance learning numerous. The purpose of the paper is to investigate whether distance education can contribute to the improvement of adult skills in Greece, highlighting in this way the necessity of the lifelong distance learning. To investigate this goal, a questionnaire is constructed and analyzed based on responses from 3,016 attendees of lifelong distance learning programs in the e-learning of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens in Greece. In order to do so, a series of relationships is examined including the effects of a) the gender, b) the previous educational level, c) the current employment status, and d) the method used in the distance learning program, on the development of new general, technical, administrative, social, cultural, entrepreneurial and green skills. The basic conclusions that emerge after using a binary logistic framework are that the following factors are critical in order to develop new skills: the gender, the education level and the educational method used in the lifelong distance learning program. The skills more significantly affected by those factors are the acquiring new skills in general, as well as acquiring general, language and cultural, entrepreneurial and green skills, while for technical and social skills only gender and educational method play a crucial role. Moreover, routine skills and social skills are not affected by the four factors included in the analysis.

Keywords: adult skills, distance learning, education, lifelong learning

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Authors: Fan Yu

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An atrium is a place for natural climate exchanging of indoor and outdoor space of buildings, which plays an active role in the overall energy conservation, climate control and environmental purification of buildings. Its greatest contribution is serving as a natural light collector and distributor to solve the problem of natural lighting in large and deep spaces. However, in real situations, the atrium space often results in energy consumption due to improper design in considering its big size and large amount use of glass. Based on the purpose of energy conservation of buildings, this paper emphasizes the significance of natural lighting of atriums. Through literature research, case analysis and other methods, four factors, namely: the light transmittance through the top of the atrium, the geometric proportion of the atrium space, the size and position of windows and the material of the surface of walls in the atrium, were studied, and the influence of different architectural compositions on the natural light distribution of the atrium is discussed. Relying on the analysis of relevant cases, it is proposed that when designing the natural lighting of the atrium, the height and width of the atrium should be paid attention to, the atrium walls are required being rough surfaces and the atrium top-level windows need to be minimized in order to introduce more natural light into the buildings and achieve the purpose of energy conservation.

Keywords: energy conservation, atrium, natural lighting, architectural design

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Authors: Osagbai Joshua Eriki, Ngozi Agunwamba, Alice Hill, Lorna Almond, Maniya Duffy, Devashini Naidoo, David Ho, Raman Deo

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Aims: To evaluate the baseline eating pattern in a psychiatric hospital through quantifying purchases of food and drink items at the hospital shop and to implement a traffic light healthy eating labeling system. Method: A electronic till with reporting capabilities was purchased. A two-week period of baseline data collection was conducted. Thereafter, a system for labeling items based on the nutritional value of the food items at the hospital shop was implemented. Green labeling represented the items with the lowest calories and red the most. Further data was collated on the number and types of items purchased by patients according to the category, and the initial effectiveness of the system was evaluated. Result: Despite the implementation of the traffic light system, the red category had the highest number of items purchased by patients, highlighting the importance of promoting healthy eating choices. However, the study also showed that the system was effective in promoting healthy options, as the number of items purchased from the green category increased during the study period. Conclusion: The implementation of a traffic light labeling system for items sold at the hospital shop offers a promising approach to promoting healthy eating habits and choices. This is likely to contribute to a toolkit of measures when considering the multifactorial challenges that obesity and weight issues pose for long-stay psychiatric inpatients

Keywords: mental health, nutrition, food, healthy

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Authors: Kamila Widziewicz-Rzonca

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The presence of PM bound water as an integral chemical compound of suspended aerosol particles (PM) has become one of the hottest issues in recent years. The UN climate summits on climate change (COP24) indicate that PM of anthropogenic origin (released mostly from coal combustion) is directly responsible for climate change. Chemical changes at the particle-liquid (water) interface determine many phenomena occurring in the atmosphere such as visibility, cloud formation or precipitation intensity. Since water-soluble particles such as nitrates, sulfates, or sea salt easily become cloud condensation nuclei, they affect the climate for example by increasing cloud droplet concentration. Aerosol water is a master component of atmospheric aerosols and a medium that enables all aqueous-phase reactions occurring in the atmosphere. Thanks to a thorough bibliometric analysis conducted using CiteSpace Software, it was possible to identify past trends and possible future directions in measuring aerosol-bound water. This work, in fact, doesn’t aim at reviewing the existing literature in the related topic but is an in-depth bibliometric analysis exploring existing gaps and new frontiers in the topic of PM-bound water. To assess the major scientific areas related to PM-bound water and clearly define which among those are the most active topics we checked Web of Science databases from 1996 till 2018. We give an answer to the questions: which authors, countries, institutions and aerosol journals to the greatest degree influenced PM-bound water research? Obtained results indicate that the paper with the greatest citation burst was Tang In and Munklewitz H.R. 'water activities, densities, and refractive indices of aqueous sulfates and sodium nitrate droplets of atmospheric importance', 1994. The largest number of articles in this specific field was published in atmospheric chemistry and physics. An absolute leader in the quantity of publications among all research institutions is the National Aeronautics Space Administration (NASA). Meteorology and atmospheric sciences is a category with the most studies in this field. A very small number of studies on PM-bound water conduct a quantitative measurement of its presence in ambient particles or its origin. Most articles rather point PM-bound water as an artifact in organic carbon and ions measurements without any chemical analysis of its contents. This scientometric study presents the current and most actual literature regarding particulate bound water.

Keywords: systematic review, aerosol-bound water, PM-bound water, CiteSpace, knowledge domain

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Authors: Syed Hammad Ali, Rijan Bhakta Kayastha, Danial Hashmi, Richard Armstrong, Ahuti Shrestha, Iram Bano, Javed Hassan

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This paper presents the results of a semi-distributed modified positive degree-day model (MPDDM) for estimating snow and ice melt contributions to discharge from the glacierized Hunza River basin, Pakistan. The model uses daily temperature data, daily precipitation data, and positive degree day factors for snow and ice melt. The model is calibrated for the period 1995-2001 and validated for 2002-2013, and demonstrates close agreements between observed and simulated discharge with Nash–Sutcliffe Efficiencies of 0.90 and 0.88, respectively. Furthermore, the Weather Research and Forecasting model projected temperature, and precipitation data from 2016-2050 are used for representative concentration pathways RCP4.5 and RCP8.5, and bias correction was done using a statistical approach for future discharge estimation. No drastic changes in future discharge are predicted for the emissions scenarios. The aggregate snow-ice melt contribution is 39% of total discharge in the period 1993-2013. Snow-ice melt contribution ranges from 35% to 63% during the high flow period (May to October), which constitutes 89% of annual discharge; in the low flow period (November to April) it ranges from 0.02% to 17%, which constitutes 11 % of the annual discharge. The snow-ice melt contribution to total discharge will increase gradually in the future and reach up to 45% in 2041-2050. From a sensitivity analysis, it is found that the combination of a 2°C temperature rise and 20% increase in precipitation shows a 10% increase in discharge. The study allows us to evaluate the impact of climate change in such basins and is also useful for the future prediction of discharge to define hydropower potential, inform other water resource management in the area, to understand future changes in snow-ice melt contribution to discharge, and offer a possible evaluation of future water quantity and availability.

Keywords: climate variability, future discharge projection, positive degree day, regional climate model, water resource management

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Authors: Yananda Siraphatthada

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The current study was the succession of a previous study on value added of recycling business management. Its aims are to 1) explore conditions on how to increasing value add of Thai recycling business, and 2) exam the implementation of the 3-staged plan (short, medium, and long term), suggested by the former study, to increase value added of the recycling business as immediate mechanisms to accelerate government operation. Quantitative and qualitative methods were utilized in this research. A qualitative research consisted of in-depth interviews and focus group discussions. Responses were obtained from owners of the waste separation plants, and recycle shops, as well as officers in relevant governmental agencies. They were randomly selected via Quota Sampling. Data was analyzed via content analysis. The sample used for quantitative method consisted of 1,274 licensed recycling operators in eight provinces. The operators were randomly stratified via sampling method. Data were analyzed via descriptive statistics frequency, percentage, average (mean), and standard deviation. The study recommended three-staged plan: short, medium, and long terms. The plan included the development of logistics, the provision of quality market/plants, the amendment of recycling rules/regulation, the restructuring recycling business, the establishment of green-purchasing recycling center, support for the campaigns run by the International Green Purchasing Network (IGPN), conferences/workshops as a public forum to share insights among experts/concern people.

Keywords: strategies, value added, recycle, business

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Authors: Athanasia Chatzifotiou, Karen Tait

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Eco-school is an international initiative that offers schools the opportunity to develop practices on education for sustainable development (EfSD). Such practices need to focus on nine areas, namely: energy, water, biodiversity, school grounds, healthy living, transport, litter, waste and global citizenship. Acquiring the green flag status is the ultimate stage (silver and bronze are the other two) that is awarded by a committee external to the school and it lasts for two years. Our project focused on two such primary schools that had acquired the green flag status. The aim of our project is to describe the schools’ approach of becoming an eco-school, the practitioners’ role in promoting the values and principles of such endeavors, thus identifying the impact of EfSD. We chose the eco-schools initiative as it gives a clear and straightforward way to identify a school with an interest in EfSD. The project is important because even though EfSD attracts high attention in rhetoric, there is evidence indicating that EfSD may be neglected in practice. This paper presents part of a bigger project that aims to compare how primary schools and early years settings have approached EfSD via the eco-school initiative in the North East of England. This is a qualitative project that used a case study design to focus on the practices of two particular primary schools to gain a green flag status. A semi-structured interview was used with the lead teachers/practitioners of the schools; an audit was also conducted as part of a tour of the schools’ premises highlighting the initiatives, curriculum work, projects undertaken as well as resources available to school. A content analysis of the interview transcripts was conducted with the creation of response categories and response narratives by the two researchers first working individually and then collaboratively; the findings of the project reflected issues that concerned: a) pupils’ cognitive, physical and socio-emotional development, b) the wider community and c) the lead practitioners’ role and status in school. In relation to EfSD, our findings indicated that its impact upon these two eco-schools was rather minimal; a mismatch was identified between the eco-school practices and a holistic understanding of issues that EfSD aims to achieve. This mismatch between eco-school practices and EfSD is discussed with regard to: a) pupils’ understanding of the sustainability dimension in the topics they addressed; and b) teachers’ knowledge of sustainability and willingness to keep on such work in schools.

Keywords: eco-schools, environment, primary schools, sustainability education

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Authors: Melody Mandevere, Roselyn Cheruiyot

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Through Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), organizations contribute to a stable environment that leads to a predictable climate for investment and trade. Organizations are now deviating from traditional CSR, where it was believed that the only responsibility of an organization is to meet its shareholder's needs. Organizations and society now believe that an organization has many stakeholders that it must satisfy for it to be viable. The function of State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) is not profit making but providing service and accomplishing public policy objectives. SOEs demand consideration in the current economic climate because they represent an important part of the economies of many countries. Given the importance and complex relationship of the stakeholders in SOE, the paper seeks to examine how full name first Zimra is implementing its CSR activities. SOE managers are responsible for CSR implementation and stakeholder engagement. ZIMRA is one of the parastatals that plays a crucial role in the Zimbabwean economy. It is, therefore, important to understand how Zimra is implementing CSR. Qualitative research was used for the research. Interviews were contacted with Zimra managers to understand how they are implementing CSR. Although Zimra managers understand the CSR concept, the organization does not have a CSR strategy that includes their stakeholders, which may have a negative impact on stakeholder perception and the organization's reputation. The funding of the CSR strategy is also not sustainable.

Keywords: corporate social responsibility, managers, stakeholders, state-owned enterprises

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Authors: Lya Porto, Giulia Giacchè, Mario Aquino Alves

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The paper aims to describe the linkage between government and civil society proposing a study on agro-ecological agriculture policy and urban action in São Paulo city underling the main achievements obtained. The negotiation processes between social movements and the government (inputs) and its results on political regulation and public action for Urban Agriculture (UA) in São Paulo city (outputs) have been investigated. The method adopted is qualitative, with techniques of semi-structured interviews, participant observation, and documental analysis. The authors conducted 30 semi-structured interviews with organic farmers, activists, governmental and non-governmental managers. Participant observation was conducted in public gardens, urban farms, public audiences, democratic councils, and social movements meetings. Finally, public plans and laws were also analyzed. São Paulo city with around 12 million inhabitants spread out in a 1522 km2 is the economic capital of Brazil, marked by spatial and socioeconomic segregation, currently aggravated by environmental crisis, characterized by water scarcity, pollution, and climate changes. In recent years, Urban Agriculture (UA) social movements gained strength and struggle for a different city with more green areas, organic food production, and public occupation. As the dynamics of UA occurs by the action of multiple actresses and institutions that struggle to build multiple senses on UA, the analysis will be based on literature about solidarity economy, governance, public action and networks. Those theories will mark out the analysis that will emphasize the approach of inter-subjectivity built between subjects, as well as the hybrid dynamics of multiple actors and spaces in the construction of policies for UA. Concerning UA we identified four main typologies based on land ownership, main function (economic or activist), form of organization of the space, and type of production (organic or not). The City Hall registers 500 productive unities of agriculture, with around 1500 producers, but researcher estimated a larger number of unities. Concerning the social movements we identified three categories that differ in goals and types of organization, but all of them work by networks of activists and/or organizations. The first category does not consider themselves as a movement, but a network. They occupy public spaces to grow organic food and to propose another type of social relations in the city. This action is similar to what became known as the green guerrillas. The second is configured as a movement that is structured to raise awareness about agro-ecological activities. The third one is a network of social movements, farmers, organizations and politicians that work focused on pressure and negotiation with executive and legislative government to approve regulations and policies on organic and agro-ecological Urban Agriculture. We conclude by highlighting how the interaction among institutions and civil society produced important achievements for recognition and implementation of UA within the city. Some results of this process are awareness for local production, legal and institutional recognition of the rural zone around the city into the planning tool, the investment on organic school public procurements, the establishment of participatory management of public squares, the inclusion of UA on Municipal Strategic Plan and Master Plan.

Keywords: public action, policies, agroecology, urban and peri-urban agriculture, Sao Paulo

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Authors: Lisa J. Piergallini

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This project uses panel regression analyses to investigate the relationships between geography, institutions, and economic development, as guided by the theories of the 18^th century French philosopher Montesquieu. Contemporary scholars of political economy perpetually misinterpret Montesquieu’s theories on climate, and in doing so they miss what could be the key to resolving the geography vs. institutions debate. There is a conspicuous gap in this literature, in that it does not consider whether geography and institutors might have an interactive, dynamic effect on economic development. This project seeks to bridge that gap. Data are used for all available countries over the years 1980-2013. Two interaction terms between geographic and institutional variables are employed within the empirical analyses, and these offer a unique contribution to the ongoing geography vs. institutions debate within the political economy literature. This study finds that there is indeed an interactive effect between geography and institutions, and that this interaction has a statistically significant effect on economic development. Democracy (as measured by Polity score) and rule of law and property rights (as measured by the Fraser index) have positive effects on economic development (as measured by GDP per capita), yet the magnitude of these effects are stronger in contexts where a low percent of the national population lives in the geographical tropics. This has implications for promoting economic development, and it highlights the importance of understanding geographical context.

Keywords: Montesquieu, institutions, geography, economic development, political philosophy, political economy

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Authors: Renata Shitakubo, Hanyu Yangcheng, Jay-lin Jane, Fernanda Peroni Okita, Beatriz Cordenunsi

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In the degradation transitory starch model, the enzymatic activity of glucan/water dikinase (GWD) and phosphoglucan/water dikinase (PWD) are essential for the granule degradation. GWD and PWD phosphorylate glucose molecules in the positions C6 and C3, respectively, in the amylopectin chains. This action is essential to allow that β-amylase degrade starch granules without previous action of α-amylase. During banana starch degradation, as part of banana ripening, both α- and β-amylases activities and proteins were already detected and, it is also known that there is a GWD and PWD protein bounded to the starch granule. Therefore, the aim of this study was to quantify both Gluc-6P and Gluc-3P in order to estimate the importance of the GWD-PWD-β-amylase pathway in banana starch degradation. Starch granules were isolated as described by Peroni-Okita et al (Carbohydrate Polymers, 81:291-299, 2010), from banana fruit at different stages of ripening, green (20.7%), intermediate (18.2%) and ripe (6.2%). Total phosphorus content was determinate following the Smith and Caruso method (1964). Gluc-6P and Gluc-3P quantifications were performed as described by Lim et al (Cereal Chemistry, 71(5):488-493, 1994). Total phosphorous content in green banana starch is found as 0.009%, intermediary banana starch 0.006% and ripe banana starch 0.004%, both by the colorimetric method and 31P-NMR. The NMR analysis showed the phosphorus content in C6 and C3. The results by NMR indicate that the amylopectin is phosphorylate by GWD and PWD before the bananas become ripen. Since both the total content of phosphorus and phosphorylated glucose molecules at positions C3 and C6 decrease with the starch degradation, it can be concluded that this phosphorylation occurs only in the surface of the starch granule and before the fruit be harvested.

Keywords: starch, GWD, PWD, 31P-NMR

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Authors: Cathy T. Mpanga Kowet, Aghaegbuna Obinna U. Ozumba

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This study examined and identified the inconsistencies, relationships, gaps and recurring themes in literature regarding the relationship between procurement strategies employed in the construction projects for sustainable buildings and realization of sustainability goals. A systematic literature review of studies on the relationship between various procurement strategies and attainment of sustainability outcomes was conducted. Using specific terms, papers published between 2002 and 2018 were identified and screened according to an inclusion and exclusion criteria. Current findings reveal that, although the attainment of sustainability goals is achievable with both traditional and contemporary procurement strategies, only projects delivered using modern procurement strategies are capable of meeting and exceeding targeted sustainability objectives. However, traditional procurement strategy remains the preferred method for most green building construction projects. The results suggest implications for decision makers in considering the impact of selected procurement strategies on targeted sustainability goals, in the early stages of sustainable building construction projects. The study shows that there is a gap between the reported appropriate procurement strategies and what is being practiced currently. Theoretically, the study expands on the literature on adoption and diffusion of contemporary procurement strategies, by consolidating existing studies to highlight the current gaps. While the study is at the literature review stage, deductions will serve as basis for field work involving empirical data.

Keywords: green buildings construction, procurement method, procurement strategy, sustainability objectives, sustainability outcomes

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Authors: Helen Dilman, Eyal Oz, Shmuel Hayun, Nahum Frage

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The conventional approach for manufacturing silicon carbide and boron carbide reaction bonded composites is based on infiltrating a ceramic porous preform with molten silicon. The relatively high melting temperature of the silicon infiltrating medium is a drawback of the process. The present contribution is concerned with an approach that allows obtaining reaction bonded composites by pressure-less infiltration at a significantly lower (850-1000oC) temperature range. This approach was applied for the fabrication of fully dense SiC/(Si-Al) and (SiC+B4C)/(Si-Al) composites. The key feature of the approach is based on using Si alloys with low melting temperature and the Mg-vapor atmosphere, under which an adequate wetting between ceramics and liquid alloys for the infiltration process is achieved. In the first set of the experiments ceramic performs compacted from multimodal SiC powders (with the green density of about 27 vol. %) without free carbon addition were infiltrated by Si-20%Al alloy at 950oC. In the second set, 19 vol. % of a fine boron carbide powder was added to SiC powders as a source of carbon. The green density of the SiC-B4C preforms was about 23-25 vol. %. In both cases, successful infiltration was achieved and the composites were fully dense. The density of the composites was about 3g/cm3. For the SiC based composites the hardness value was 750±150HV, Young modulus-280GPa and bending strength-240±30MPa. These values for (SiC-B4C)/(Si-Al) composites (1460±200HV, 317GPa and 360±20MPa) were significantly higher due to the formation of novel ceramics phases. Microstructural characteristics of the composites and their phase composition will be discussed.

Keywords: boron carbide, composites, infiltration, low temperatures, silicon carbide

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Authors: Mohan H., C. Elajchet Senni

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In the present of high energy consumption in every sphere of life, renewable energy sources are emerging as alternative to conventional fuels for energy security, mitigating green house gas emission and climate change. There has been a world wide interest in searching for alternatives to petroleum derived fuels due to their depletion as well as due to the concern for the environment. Vegetable oils have capability to solve this problem because they are renewable and lead to reduction in environmental pollution. But high smoke emission and lower thermal efficiency are the main problems associated with the use of neat vegetable oils in diesel engines. In the present work, performance, combustion and emission characteristics of CI engine fuelled with 20% by vol. methyl esters mixed with Karanja seed Oil, and Fuel injection pressures of 200 bar and 240 bar, injection timings (21°,23° and 25° BTDC) and Proportion B20 diesel respectively. Vegetable oils have capability to solve this problem because they are renewable and lead to reduction in environmental pollution. But, high smoke emission and lower thermal efficiency are the main problems associated with the use of neat vegetable oils in diesel engines. In the present work, performance, combustion and emission characteristics of CI engine fuelled with 20% by vol. methyl esters mixed with Karanja seed Oil, and Fuel injection pressures of 200 bar and 240 bar ,Injection timings (21°,23° and 25° BTDC) and Proportion B20 diesel respectively. Various performance, combustion and emission characteristics such as thermal efficiency, and brake specific fuel consumption, maximum cylinder pressure, instantaneous heat release, cumulative heat release with respect to crank angle, ignition lag, combustion duration, HC, NOx, CO, exhaust temperature and smoke intensity were measured.

Keywords: karanja oil, injection pressure, injection timing, karanja oil methyl ester

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Authors: Azeem Tariq, Stephane De Tourdonnet, Lars Stoumann Jensen, Reiner Wassmann, Bjoern Ole Sander, Quynh Duong Vu, Trinh Van Mai, Andreas De Neergaard

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Rice growing area is increasing to meet the food demand of increasing population. Mostly, rice is growing on lowland, small landholder fields in most part of the world, which is one of the major sources of greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions from agriculture fields. The strategies such as, altering water and residues (carbon) management practices are assumed to be essential to mitigate the GHG emissions from flooded rice system. The actual implementation and potential of these measures on small farmer fields is still challenging. A field study was conducted on red river delta in Northern Vietnam to identify the potential challenges and barriers to the small rice farmers for implementation of climate smart rice practices. The objective of this study was to develop and access the feasibility of climate smart rice prototypes under actual farmer conditions. Field and scientific oriented framework was used to meet our objective. The methodological framework composed of six steps: i) identification of stakeholders and possible options, ii) assessment of barrios, drawbacks/advantages of new technologies, iii) prototype design, iv) assessment of mitigation potential of each prototype, v) scenario building and vi) scenario assessment. A farm survey was conducted to identify the existing farm practices and major constraints of small rice farmers. We proposed the two water (pre transplant+midseason drainage and early+midseason drainage) and one straw (full residue incorporation) management option keeping in views the farmers constraints and barriers for implementation. To test new typologies with existing prototypes (midseason drainage, partial residue incorporation) at farmer local conditions, a participatory field experiment was conducted for two consecutive rice seasons at farmer fields. Following the results of each season a workshop was conducted with stakeholders (farmers, village leaders, cooperatives, irrigation staff, extensionists, agricultural officers) at local and district level to get feedbacks on new tested prototypes and to develop possible scenarios for climate smart rice production practices. The farm analysis survey showed that non-availability of cheap labor and lacks of alternatives for straw management influence the small farmers to burn the residues in the fields except to use for composting or other purposes. Our field results revealed that application of early season drainage significantly mitigates (40-60%) the methane emissions from residue incorporation. Early season drainage was more efficient and easy to control under cooperate manage system than individually managed water system, and it leads to both economic (9-11% high rice yield, low cost of production, reduced nutrient loses) and environmental (mitigate methane emissions) benefits. The participatory field study allows the assessment of adaptation potential and possible benefits of climate smart practices on small farmer fields. If farmers have no other residue management option, full residue incorporation with early plus midseason drainage is adaptable and beneficial (both environmentally and economically) management option for small rice farmers.

Keywords: adaptation, climate smart agriculture, constrainsts, smallholders

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Authors: Nguyen-Thanh Son

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Flood is among the most frequent and costliest natural hazards. The flood disasters especially affect the poor people in rural areas, who are heavily dependent on agriculture and have lower incomes. Cambodia is identified as one of the most climate-vulnerable countries in the world, ranked 13th out of 181 countries most affected by the impacts of climate change. Flood monitoring is thus a strategic priority at national and regional levels because policymakers need reliable spatial and temporal information on flood-prone areas to form successful monitoring programs to reduce possible impacts on the country’s economy and people’s likelihood. This study aims to develop methods for flood mapping and assessment from MODIS data in Cambodia. We processed the data for the period from 2000 to 2017, following three main steps: (1) data pre-processing to construct smooth time-series vegetation and water surface indices, (2) delineation of flood-prone areas, and (3) accuracy assessment. The results of flood mapping were verified with the ground reference data, indicating the overall accuracy of 88.7% and a Kappa coefficient of 0.77, respectively. These results were reaffirmed by close agreement between the flood-mapping area and ground reference data, with the correlation coefficient of determination (R²) of 0.94. The seasonally flooded areas observed for 2010, 2015, and 2016 were remarkably smaller than other years, mainly attributed to the El Niño weather phenomenon exacerbated by impacts of climate change. Eventually, although several sources potentially lowered the mapping accuracy of flood-prone areas, including image cloud contamination, mixed-pixel issues, and low-resolution bias between the mapping results and ground reference data, our methods indicated the satisfactory results for delineating spatiotemporal evolutions of floods. The results in the form of quantitative information on spatiotemporal flood distributions could be beneficial to policymakers in evaluating their management strategies for mitigating the negative effects of floods on agriculture and people’s likelihood in the country.

Keywords: MODIS, flood, mapping, Cambodia

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Authors: Svetlana Petrikova, Alexander Yu Kostinskiy

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Management of research evaluation in the Higher School of Economics (HSE) originates from the HSE Academic Fund created in 2004 to facilitate and support academic research and presents its results to international academic community. As the means to inspire the applicants, science projects went through competitive selection process evaluated by the group of experts. Drastic development of HSE, quantity of applied projects for each Academic Fund competition and the need to coordinate the conduct of expert evaluation resulted in founding of the Office for Research Evaluation in 2013. The Office’s primary objective is management of research evaluation of science projects. The standards to conduct the evaluation are defined as follows: - The exercise of the process approach, the unification of the functioning of department. - The uniformity of regulatory, organizational and methodological framework. - The development of proper on-line evaluation system. - The broad involvement of external Russian and international experts, the renouncement of the usage of own employees. - The development of an algorithm to make a correspondence between experts and science projects. - The methodical usage of opened/closed international and Russian databases to extend the expert database. - The transparency of evaluation results – free access to assessment while keeping experts confidentiality. The management of research evaluation of projects is based on the sole standard, organization and financing. The standard way of conducting research evaluation at HSE is based upon Regulations on basic principles for research evaluation at HSE. These Regulations have been developed from the moment of establishment of the Office for Research Evaluation and are based on conventional corporate standards for regulatory document management. The management system of research evaluation is implemented on the process approach basis. Process approach means deployment of work as a process, which is the aggregation of interrelated and interacting activities processing inputs into outputs. Inputs are firstly client asking for the assessment to be conducted, defining the conditions for organizing and carrying of the assessment and secondly the applicant with proper for the competition application; output is assessment given to the client. While exercising process approach to clarify interrelation and interacting main parties or subjects of the assessment are determined and the way for interaction between them forms up. Parties to expert assessment are: - Ordering Party – The department of the university taking the decision to subject a project to expert assessment; - Providing Party – The department of the university authorized to provide such assessment by the Ordering Party; - Performing Party – The legal and natural entities that have expertise in the area of research evaluation. Experts assess projects in accordance with criteria and states of expert opinions approved by the Ordering Party. Objects of assessment generally are applications or HSE competition project reports. Mainly assessments are deployed for internal needs, i.e. the most ordering parties are HSE branches and departments, but assessment can also be conducted for external clients. The financing of research evaluation at HSE is based on the established corporate culture and traditions of HSE.

Keywords: expert assessment, management of research evaluation, process approach, research evaluation

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Authors: Violina Angelova, Huu Q. Lee

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A field study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of Vetiver (Chrysopogon zizanioides L.) for phytoremediation of contaminated soils. The experiment was performed on agricultural fields contaminated by the Non-Ferrous-Metal Works near Plovdiv, Bulgaria. The experimental plots were situated at different distances (0.5, 3.5, and 15 km) from the source of pollution. The concentrations of Pb, Zn, and Cd in vetiver (roots and leaves) were determined. Correlations between the content of the heavy metal mobile forms extracted with DTPA and their content in the roots and leaves of the Vetiver have been established. The Vetiver is tolerant to heavy metals and can be grown on soils contaminated with heavy metals. Plants are characterized by low ability to absorb and accumulate Pb, Cd, and Zn and have no signs of toxicity (chlorosis and necrosis) at 36.8 mg/kg Cd, 1158.8 mg/kg Pb and 1526.2 mg/kg Zn in the soil. Vetiver plants can be classified as Pb, Cd and Zn excluder, therefore, this plant has the suitable potential for the phytostabilization of heavy metal contaminated soils. Acknowledgements: The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support by the Bulgarian National Science Fund (Project DFNI 04/9).

Keywords: contaminated soils, heavy metals, phytoremediation, vetiver

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Authors: Yemane Tadesse Gebreslassie, Fisseha Guesh Gebremeskel

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Nanotechnology has made remarkable advancements in recent years, revolutionizing various scientific fields, industries, and research institutions through the utilization of metal and metal oxide nanoparticles. Among these nanoparticles, copper oxide nanoparticles (CuO NPs) have garnered significant attention due to their versatile properties and wide-range applications, particularly, as effective antimicrobial and anticancer agents. CuO NPs can be synthesized using different methods, including physical, chemical, and biological approaches. However, conventional chemical and physical approaches are expensive, resource-intensive, and involve the use of hazardous chemicals, which can pose risks to human health and the environment. In contrast, biological synthesis provides a sustainable and cost-effective alternative by eliminating chemical pollutants and allowing for the production of CuO NPs of tailored sizes and shapes. This comprehensive review focused on the green synthesis of CuO NPs using various biological resources, such as plants, microorganisms, and other biological derivatives. Current knowledge and recent trends in green synthesis methods for CuO NPs are discussed, with a specific emphasis on their biomedical applications, particularly in combating cancer and microbial infections. This review highlights the significant potential of CuO NPs in addressing these diseases. By capitalizing on the advantages of biological synthesis, such as environmental safety and the ability to customize nanoparticle characteristics, CuO NPs have emerged as promising therapeutic agents for a wide range of conditions. This review presents compelling findings, demonstrating the remarkable achievements of biologically synthesized CuO NPs as therapeutic agents. Their unique properties and mechanisms enable effective combating against cancer cells and various harmful microbial infections. CuO NPs exhibit potent anticancer activity through diverse mechanisms, including induction of apoptosis, inhibition of angiogenesis, and modulation of signaling pathways. Additionally, their antimicrobial activity manifests through various mechanisms, such as disrupting microbial membranes, generating reactive oxygen species, and interfering with microbial enzymes. This review offers valuable insights into the substantial potential of biologically synthesized CuO NPs as an alternative approach for future therapeutic interventions against cancer and microbial infections.

Keywords: copper oxide nanoparticles, green synthesis, nanotechnology, microbial infection

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