Introduction: Resilience and sustainability

1998 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 221-262 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles Perrings
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Degradation ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Low Income Countries ◽  
Poverty Traps ◽  
Economic Systems ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Ecological Concept ◽  
Ecological Economic ◽  
Lock In

One of the most interesting and potentially useful outcomes of recent collaboration between natural and social scientists concerned with the sustainability of jointly determined ecological-economic systems is the application of the ecological concept of resilience. In its broadest sense, resilience is a measure of the ability of a system to withstand stresses and shocks – its ability to persist in an uncertain world. For many policy-makers, however, the concern that desirable states or processes may not be ‘sustainable’ is balanced by the concern that individuals and societies may get ‘locked-in’ to undesirable states or processes. Many low-income countries, for example, are thought to have been caught in poverty traps, and poverty traps have since been seen as a major cause of environmental degradation (Dasgupta, 1993). Other examples of ‘lock-in’ include our dependence on hydrocarbon-based technologies, or the institutional and cultural rigidities that stand in the way of change (Hanna, Folke, and Mäler, 1996). Such states or processes are too persistent.

scholarly journals The traditional belief system in relation to mental health and psychiatric services in Sudan

2012 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 18-19
Author(s):  
E. A. Sorketti ◽  
N. Z. Zuraida ◽  
M. H. Habil
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Healthcare Providers ◽  
Belief System ◽  
Traditional Healers ◽  
Low Income Countries ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Central Sudan

Traditional healers' centres may constitute community resources for people with a mental illness. Many low-income countries are seeking to integrate mental health into their mainstream health services and primary healthcare, so as to decrease the duration of untreated illness. Traditional healers can help to meet these needs. A series of four studies has been conducted in central Sudan. In-patients with mental disorders undergoing treatment with traditional healers were recruited, as well as some of the healers themselves. The resulting observations should help practitioners trained in Western psychiatry to better understand traditional healing as an alternative healthcare system. The results should contribute to current debates on whether or not traditional healers in Africa should be officially recognised as healthcare providers. They should also deepen social scientists' understanding of the role of culture in mental health and help policy makers to improve mental health services.

scholarly journals African Studies Keyword: Oil

2021 ◽  
Vol 64 (2) ◽  
pp. 458-483
Author(s):  
John R. Heilbrunn
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Degradation ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Global Economy ◽  
Causal Agent ◽  
Low Income Countries ◽  
African Studies ◽  
Local Content ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
Key Concepts ◽  
Oil Curse

AbstractOil is a metonym for terms in books and articles in diverse disciplines in African studies. Some portray oil as a causal agent that thrusts formerly low-income countries into the highly competitive neoliberal global economy. Others present it according to the oil curse/blessing binary. As a curse, petroleum causes dysfunctional and costly behavior. But increased revenues from oil just as certainly result in concrete improvements demonstrating a resource blessing. Heilbrunn uses case materials to explore environmental degradation, oil theft, community-company relations, post-conflict reconstruction, local content in contracts, and corruption. These key concepts form a basis for the keyword/concept essay on oil in Africa.

Infrastructure deficit and opportunities in Africa

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Albert Mafusire ◽  
Zuzana Brixiova ◽  
John Anyanwu ◽  
Qingwei Meng
Keyword(s):  
Private Sector ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Private Investment ◽  
Low Income Countries ◽  
Infrastructure Development ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Private Sector Investment ◽  
Investment Opportunities ◽  
Financing Infrastructure

Private sector investment opportunities in Africa’s infrastructure are huge. Regulatory reforms across African countries are identified as critical to the realization of the expected investment flows in the infrastructure sector. However, planners and policy makers need to note that there are infrastructure deficiencies in all subsectors with low income countries (LICs) in Africa facing the greatest challenge. Inefficiencies in implementing infrastructure projects account for USD 17 billion annually and improving the capacity of African countries will help minimize these costs. In this regard, the donor community must play a greater role in African LICs while innovative financing mechanisms must be the focus in the relatively richer countries of the continent. Traditional sources of financing infrastructure development remain important but private investment is critical in closing the current gaps. Countries need to devise mechanisms to exploit opportunities and avoid pitfalls in investing in infrastructure.

scholarly journals Impact of ICT on Environment

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samaneh Mahdavi ◽  
Sakineh Sojoodi
Keyword(s):  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Environmental Degradation ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Generalized Method Of Moments ◽  
Low Income Countries ◽  
Environmental Damage ◽  
Particulate Emissions ◽  
Improve Energy Efficiency ◽  
Ict Development ◽  
The Impact

Abstract The impact of information and communications technologies (ICT) on the environment is a complex highly-debated subject. Indeed, ICT can have both positive and negative impacts on the environment. While ICT tools and devices can be used to improve energy efficiency, which results in reduced CO2 emissions and environmental degradation, the manufacturing and use of ICT devices can become a major source of emission. Also, many ICT devices contain non-renewable and non-recyclable components that can cause significant environmental damage. Therefore, one may question that whether ICT improves environmental quality in countries with different income levels? To answer this question, this study investigated the environmental impacts of ICT in three groups of high, middle, and low-income countries from 2005 to 2019 using the Generalized Method of Moments (GMM). The ICT Development Index (IDI) was used as the measure of ICT development. Empirical results showed that the use of ICT led to reduced total CO2 emissions, CO2 emissions from solid fuel consumption, CO2 emissions damage, particulate emissions damage, and energy consumption in the studied countries. Therefore, ICT was found to have a generally negative (favorable) impact on environmental degradation in these countries. Considering this effect of ICT on environmental degradation and pollution, governments are recommended to pursue their energy consumption and emission objectives by promoting the use of ICT in the environmental sector and the implementation of green ICT projects.

scholarly journals Pollution-Free Road Lighting

2001 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 364-364 ◽  
Author(s):  
Duco A. Schreuder
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Road Traffic ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Low Income Countries ◽  
Industrialized Countries ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Beneficial Effects ◽  
Road Lighting ◽  
Technical Report

The beneficial effects of road lighting are often seen as very important. They relate to reducing road accidents and some forms of crime but also enhance the social safety of residents and pedestrians and the amenity for residents. Road traffic in developing countries is much more hazardous than in industrialized countries. Accident rates in ‘low’ income countries may be as much as 35 times higher than in ‘high’ income countries. Thus, it might be much more cost-effective to light roads in the developing world than in the industrialized world. Fighting light pollution is more pressing in developing countries as most of the major high-class astronomical observatories are there. Astronomical observations are disturbed by light from outdoor lighting installations, part of which is scattered in the atmosphere to form ‘sky glow’. The International Lighting Commission CIE has published a Technical Report giving general guidance for lighting designers and policy makers on the reduction of the sky glow.

scholarly journals Between a hygiene rock and a hygienic hard place: Avoiding SARS-CoV-2 while needing environmental exposures for immunity

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
William Parker ◽  
Joshua T Sarafian ◽  
Sherryl A Broverman ◽  
Jon D Laman
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Sewage Treatment ◽  
Complete Removal ◽  
High Income ◽  
Low Income Countries ◽  
Personal Hygiene ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Persistent Problem ◽  
The Public ◽  
Treatment Facilities

Abstract Suboptimal understanding of concepts related to hygiene by the general public, clinicians, and researchers is a persistent problem in health and medicine. Although hygiene is necessary to slow or prevent deadly pandemics of infectious disease such as COVID-19, hygiene can have unwanted effects. In particular, some aspects of hygiene cause a loss of biodiversity from the human body, characterized by the almost complete removal of intestinal worms (helminths) and protists. Research spanning more than half a century documents that this loss of biodiversity results in an increased propensity for autoimmune disease, allergic disorders, probably neuropsychiatric problems, and adverse reactions to infectious agents. The differences in immune function between communities with and communities without helminths have become so pronounced that the reduced lethality of SARS-CoV-2 in low-income countries compared to high-income countries was predicted early in the COVID-19 pandemic. This prediction, based on the maladaptive immune responses observed in many cases of COVID-19 in high-income countries, is now supported by emerging data from low-income countries. Herein, hygiene is subdivided into components involving personal choice versus components instituted by community wide systems such as sewage treatment facilities and water treatment plants. The different effects of personal hygiene and systems hygiene are described, and appropriate measures to alleviate the adverse effects of hygiene without losing the benefits of hygiene are discussed. Finally, text boxes summarizing this information are provided to function as stand-alone, public-domain handouts with the goal of informing the public about hygiene and suggesting solutions for biomedical researchers and policy makers.

scholarly journals Energy Consumption, Environmental Degradation and Growth: A Panel Data Analysis

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
Sayed Kushairi Sayed Nordin ◽  
Siok Kun Sek
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Carbon Dioxide ◽  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Environmental Degradation ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Cointegration Test ◽  
Low Income Countries ◽  
Long Run ◽  
Short Run ◽  
The Relationship

Energy is essential as an input to develop economic, although it could bring negative effect on environmental quality. The relationship between energy consumption, environmental degradation and economic growth have been widely studied, but there is no consistency in the relationship. The objectives of this study are to determine the short-run relationship (one-way or bidirectional) and to reveal the long-run relationship for each pair of variables. The second-generation panel unit root and cointegration test were used in the analysis. Breusch-Pagan LM test suggests that there is a cross-sectional dependency for all the models and integrated of order one, I (1). Cointegration test indicates that economic growth has long-relationship with carbon dioxide and energy consumption in high-income countries. In low-income countries, carbon dioxide has a long-run relationship with energy consumption and economic growth. In the short run, we have evidence of a bidirectional relationship between energy consumption and economic growth in high-income countries but a one-way relationship in low-income countries. Overall, it can be concluded that the three variables are related. This study develops a deeper awareness and understanding of the relationship between the variables in distinct levels of economies. Keywords: energy consumption; CO2, economic growth

scholarly journals Pap Testing in a High-Income Country with Suboptimal Compliance Levels: A Survey on Acceptance Factors among Sicilian Women

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (9) ◽  
pp. 1804 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vincenzo Restivo ◽  
Claudio Costantino ◽  
Antonello Marras ◽  
Giuseppe Napoli ◽  
Sabrina Scelfo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Pap Test ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
High Income ◽  
The Other ◽  
Low Income Countries ◽  
Pap Testing ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Lower Socioeconomic

Cervical cancer screening is uncommon, especially in low-income countries and among lower socioeconomic status people in high-income countries. The aims of this study were to examine the adherence of Sicilian women to Pap testing and to identify the determinants of this in a population with a secondary prevention attitude lower than high-income countries and the national average. A cross-sectional study called “Save Eva in Sicily” was conducted among all women aged 25–64 years, with a sample drawn by the list of general practitioners (GPs), using a proportional sampling scheme, stratified by age and resident population. The study outcome was performing a Pap test within the past three years. The association between the outcome and Pap test determinants was analyzed through a multivariable logistic regression. Among the 365 interviewed women, 66% (n = 243) had a Pap test during the last 3 years. On the other hand, 18% of the other women (n = 66) had performed at least one Pap test previously and 16% (n = 56) had never had a Pap test. In a multivariable model, GPs’ advice (adjusted OR 2.55; 95% CI 1.57–4.14) and perceived susceptibility (adjusted OR 3.24; 95% CI 1.92–5.48) increased the likelihood of the execution of a Pap test. The “Save Eva in Sicily” study identified GP advice and perceived cancer severity as the main correlates of Pap testing among Sicilian women, producing evidence regarding how policy makers can increase compliance. Interventions to increase Pap test adhesion should focus on stimulating GPs to identify patients who regularly do not undergo it and to recommend testing on a regular basis to their patients.

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