scholarly journals Management of Soil Resources for Sustainable Development under a Changing Climate

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 159-170 ◽  
Author(s):  
MMR Jahangir ◽  
I Jahan ◽  
NJ Mumu
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Agricultural Production ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Greenhouse Gas Emission ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Holistic Approach ◽  
Resource Use Efficiency ◽  
Soil Resources ◽  
Use Efficiency

Development was conventionally driven by one particular need, without fully considering the wider or future impacts. This kind of approach has now been considered to be responsible for the economic and environmental catastrophes that humans are facing: from large scale financial crises caused by irresponsible banking to the changes in global climate resulting from our dependence on fossil fuel based energy sources. Soils provide essential ecosystem services such as primary production, regulation of biogeochemical cycles (with consequences for the climate), water filtration, resistance to diseases and pests, and regulation of above-ground biodiversity. Changing of the climate systems is unequivocal. Adaptation to global climate change through improved soil quality by adoption of improved management practices is key to maintaining sustainable agricultural production. A holistic approach to soil management as the engine for increasing productivity by increasing resource use efficiency and making agriculture environmentally compatible is more important than ever before. Strategies of greenhouse gas emission reduction include those that increase the use efficiency of inputs. Herein, we discussed how management and protection of soil resources can contribute to sustainable development through sustainable agricultural production while maintaining sustenance of soil fertility. J. Environ. Sci. & Natural Resources, 11(1-2): 159-170 2018

Analyzing the Russian tool-making industry within the sustainable development concept

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 662-677 ◽  
Author(s):  
T.N. Ryzhikova ◽  
V.G. Borovskii
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Hierarchical Level ◽  
Economic Systems ◽  
Resource Use Efficiency ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Case Methods ◽  
Hierarchical Levels ◽  
Use Efficiency ◽  
Intensive Development

Subject. The article explores the economic component of sustainable development through the classification of industries from the perspective of assigning the output goods to fixed or current assets, using different types of resources and assessing their condition. It considers factors of production affecting the achievement of the result and determining the development of economic systems at the meso- and micro-hierarchical level. Objectives. The aim is to assess the function of economic systems of different hierarchical levels on the tool-making facilities case. Methods. We apply an approach using general and special methods of comparative and statistical analysis, synthesis and analogies. Results. The paper analyzes the development of the Russian tool-making industry on the basis of resource-oriented approach to assess the functioning of economic systems at various levels. We review interrelations between resource use efficiency, types of sustainable development of economic systems at various hierarchical levels and strategic security of the country. Conclusions. Any development can be considered sustainable, if there is an increment in the intensive development of economic systems at all three levels.

scholarly journals Paddy Rice Mapping in Thailand Using Time-Series Sentinel-1 Data and Deep Learning Model

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (19) ◽  
pp. 3994
Author(s):  
Lu Xu ◽  
Hong Zhang ◽  
Chao Wang ◽  
Sisi Wei ◽  
Bo Zhang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Time Series ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Conditional Random Field ◽  
Paddy Rice ◽  
Growth Patterns ◽  
Selection Strategy ◽  
Svm Classifier ◽  
Humid Climate

The elimination of hunger is the top concern for developing countries and is the key to maintain national stability and security. Paddy rice occupies an essential status in food supply, whose accurate monitoring is of great importance for human sustainable development. As one of the most important paddy rice production countries in the world, Thailand has a favorable hot and humid climate for paddy rice growing, but the growth patterns of paddy rice are too complicated to construct promising growth models for paddy rice discrimination. To solve this problem, this study proposes a large-scale paddy rice mapping scheme, which uses time-series Sentinel-1 data to generate a convincing annual paddy rice map of Thailand. The proposed method extracts temporal statistical features of the time-series SAR images to overcome the intra-class variability due to different management practices and modifies the U-Net model with the fully connected Conditional Random Field (CRF) to maintain the edge of the fields. In this study, 758 Sentinel-1 images that covered the whole country from the end of 2018 to 2019 were acquired to generate the annual paddy rice map. The accuracy, precision, and recall of the resultant paddy rice map reached 91%, 87%, and 95%, respectively. Compared to SVM classifier and the U-Net model based on feature selection strategy (FS-U-Net), the proposed scheme achieved the best overall performance, which demonstrated the capability of overcoming the complex cultivation conditions and accurately identifying the fragmented paddy rice fields in Thailand. This study provides a promising tool for large-scale paddy rice monitoring in tropical production regions and has great potential in the global sustainable development of food and environment management.

scholarly journals Development and the Environment: Overview of the Development Planning Process in Agricultural Sector, in Uganda

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Andrew Waaswa ◽  
Felix Satognon
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Agricultural Production ◽  
Agricultural Sector ◽  
Planning Process ◽  
Life Support ◽  
Greenhouse Gas Emission ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Development Planning ◽  
Conservation Strategies ◽  
The Social

The social component of the environment associated mostly with human activities has significantly imposed a threat to the only life-support systems of the earth. Uganda made adjustments in its planning process to prioritize environment conservation. However, in the recent past years, mostly between 2013 and 2017, the country stretched its resources to increase agricultural production, both livestock and crops. The objective of this study was to establish and document the development and the environment conservation strategies at global and regional levels with an overview on the development planning process in agricultural sector, in Uganda. The results showed that the sustainable development plans with participatory approach at international, regional, national and local or community levels are the best methods to cope with and reduce the negative impacts of man’s activities on the environment. The understanding of the complexes of the environment is very important to ensure the relationship between the social, economic and environmental protection for a sustainable development. The results also indicated that in Uganda, the agriculture industry made consistent efforts to increase agricultural production by 431,161 hectares and livestock heads by 7,878,000 (cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, and poultry) between 2013 and 2017. This increased agricultural greenhouse gas emission due to the use of synthetic fertilizers, burning of the cleared grasses, and use of manures applied to boost soil fertility and the reduction in the trees that sequester CO2. This study recommended that the agricultural sector should opt for sustainable agriculture by adopting practices like use of multipurpose crops that can offer environmental services like binding soil particles together to control erosion as well as yielding more food products. Dual-purpose livestock breeds should be adopted to avoid immense numbers that serve different purposes that will probably lead to increased GHG emissions.

scholarly journals Agriculture Adaptation to Consequences of Global Climate Changes

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 13-20
Author(s):  
D. G. Galkin
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Agricultural Production ◽  
Climate Changes ◽  
Greenhouse Gas Emission ◽  
Traditional Approach ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Global Climate Changes ◽  
Change Impact ◽  
Agriculture Development

The goal of the article is to work out recommendations aimed at providing sustainability of agriculture development on the level of national economy in conditions of changing climate. The agriculture development within the frames of traditional approach can be studied in two aspects: as a sector subjected to the global climate change impact; as a sector promoting climate change due to greenhouse gas emission. The authors showed that in regard to present trends scientific recommendations aimed at agriculture adaptation to climate changes are the most significant for Russia. On the basis of provided concepts they identified key lines in the said adaptation: to develop innovation connected with adaptation to consequences of climate changes; to upgrade the system of agro-insurance; to use methods of organic food production; to monitor and appraise adaptation of agriculture to climate changes; to introduce strategic planning of sustainable development and location of agricultural production. These lines should be realized on the basis of integrity, strategic orientation and scientific support of agricultural production. These lines can stabilize the level of key parameters of the sector in the long-term perspective.

scholarly journals Opinion: Gigacity – a source of problems or the new way to sustainable development

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Markku Kulmala ◽  
Tom V. Kokkonen ◽  
Juha Pekkanen ◽  
Sami Paatero ◽  
Tuukka Petäjä ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Air Quality ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Grand Challenges ◽  
Research And Innovation ◽  
Regional Air Quality

Abstract. The eastern part of China as a whole is practically a gigacity, a conglomeration of megacities with ca 650 000 000 inhabitants. The gigacity, with its emissions, processes in pollution cocktail, numerous feedbacks and interactions, has a crucial and big impact on regional air quality within itself as well as on global climate. A large-scale research and innovation program is needed to meet the interlinked grand challenges in this gigacity and to serve as a platform for finding pathways for sustainable development of the whole Globe.

scholarly journals LEGAL BASIS FOR THE RATIONAL USE AND PROTECTION OF SOILS: CURRENT SITUATION AND PROPOSED REGULATORY MEASURES

2020 ◽  
pp. 127-141
Author(s):  
D.M. Khomyakov ◽  
V.M. Тarbaeva
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Soil Fertility ◽  
Agricultural Production ◽  
Soil Cover ◽  
Terrestrial Ecosystems ◽  
The State ◽  
Land Policy ◽  
Hierarchical Level ◽  
Soil Resources ◽  
Rational Use

The UN General Assembly declared 2021–2030 the “Decade of Ecosystem Restoration to Achieve the SDGs,” which means the need to unleash, strengthen and maintain the potential of soils not only for food production, but also for the conservation of water resources, biodiversity and the biosphere as a whole, reducing carbon emissions, increasing resilience in the face of climate change. Soil enters into the composition of all terrestrial ecosystems of a certain hierarchical level as a mandatory and irreplaceable subsystem or component. Russia has the largest soil cover area of approximately 14.5 million km2 – one sixth of the planet. The global importance of the country’s unique soil resources is increasing due to global processes of soil degradation and loss, as well as the impossibility of the soil cover of the world to carry out biospheric functions in the same volume. The authors have analyzed the legal framework for the implementation of sustainable development goals, taking into account the state of soils in Russia. There have been found no documents determining how much soil resources the country requires to conduct modern agricultural production and fulfill the SDGs. The lack of understandable, clear and long-term land policy leads to a lack of complete and objective information about the condition and fertility of soils used in agriculture. The monitoring being carried out at present does not provide monitoring of land plots and crop rotation fields as a production resource. It does not include a number of parameters characterizing soil fertility, which are essential for agricultural production. To implement the provisions of the concept of sustainable development, it is necessary, first of all, to introduce a full-fledged, scientifically based and legal (legally significant), general legal, accurate, unambiguous, definite, well-established, non-contextual definition of soil and its fertility as a fundamental unique property into the federal legislation. Soils, their condition and fertility should be among the mandatory criteria for the effectiveness of land policy and land management, which, in turn, should be defined as a set of measures for studying the state of soils, planning and organizing their rational use and protection. Ensuring national, environmental, economic and food security has interconnected goals. Sustainable development implies “climate neutral” agriculture, where reproduction of soil fertility is necessarily ensured, their degradation being completely excluded.

scholarly journals Students and education for sustainable development – what matters? A case study on students’ sustainability consciousness derived from participating in an ESD project

2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 6
Author(s):  
Majken Korsager ◽  
Eldri Scheie
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Holistic Approach ◽  
Education For Sustainable Development ◽  
Social Dimension ◽  
Economic Dimension ◽  
Explicit Teaching ◽  
The Impact

AbstractThis article presents a qualitative case study exploring how students’ partici-pation in a project about sustainable development (SD) influences their sustainability consciousness. Sustainability consciousness is a concept that integrates the environmental, economic and social dimensions of SD with knowledge, skills and attitudes. This study follows up the results from a recent quantitative large-scale study conducted in Sweden, investigating the impact of education for sustainable education (ESD) on students’ sustainability consciousness. Results from our study show that the students’ sustainability consciousness is dominated by a mono-dimensional approach from the environmental perspective. However, their motivation to act (Attitudes) was highest within the economic dimension. The skills they expressed they had attained, were mainly practical and mostly within the environmental dimension and to some extent the social dimension. Analysis of the project showed both a lack of collaboration between the teachers and a lack of explicit teaching, which could explain why the holistic approach to SD was under-communicated to the students. The students’ sustainability consciousness seemed improved after a re-design of the ESD project, where the main changes were more explicit teaching and learning goals, and adding Norwegian as a subject. The results are discussed in relation to what should be emphasized in ESD projects in order to empower pupils and students for action competence for SD.Keywords: education for sustainable development, students’ sustainability consciousnessElever og utdanning for bærekraftig utvikling – hva er viktig? En case-studie om elevers bærekraftbevissthet etter deltakelse i et prosjekt om bærekraftig utviklingSammendragDenne artikkelen presenterer en kvalitativ case-studie som utforsker hvordan elevers deltakelse i et prosjekt om bærekraftig utvikling påvirker deres bærekraftbevissthet. Bærekraftbevissthet er et konsept som integrerer den miljømessige, økonomiske og sosiale dimensjonen av bærekraftig utvikling med kunnskap, ferdigheter og holdninger. Denne studien følger opp resultatene fra en nylig kvantitativ storskalaundersøkelse gjennomført i Sverige, der effekten av utdanning for bærekraftig utvikling (UBU) på elevers bærekraftbevissthet er undersøkt. Resultatene fra denne studien viser at elevenes bærekraftbevissthet domineres av en mono-dimensjonal tilnærming fra miljøperspektivet. Men deres motivasjon til å handle (Holdninger) var høyest innenfor den økonomiske dimensjonen. De ferdighetene de uttrykte de hadde oppnådd, var hovedsakelig praktiske og for det meste innenfor miljødimensjonen og noen innen den sosiale dimensjonen. Analyse av prosjektet viste at det var både mangel på samarbeid mellom lærerne og mangel på eksplisitt undervisning, noe som kunne forklare hvorfor den holistiske tilnærmingen til bærekraftig utvikling ble underkommunisert til elevene. Elevenes bærekraftbevissthet ble forbedret noe etter re-design av prosjektet, hvor hovedendringene var mer eksplisitt undervisning og læringsmål samt å inkludere norsk som emne. Resultatene diskuteres med sikte på hva som bør vektlegges i prosjekter i bærekraftig utvikling for å gi elever og studenter handlingskompetanse i bærekraftig utvikling.Nøkkelord: utdanning for bærekraftig utvikling, elevers bærekraftbevissthet

scholarly journals Soils in the modern society

2017 ◽  
pp. 304-313
Author(s):  
Stepan Pozniak
Keyword(s):  
Soil Fertility ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Ecological Crisis ◽  
Modern World ◽  
Soil Fertility Management ◽  
Soil Resources ◽  
The World ◽  
Global Soil

Soils are one of the most important, basic resources that is essential for the creation of a large number of goods and services that are an integral part of the ecosystem and human well-being. Soils, both actively used and others, provide ecosystems services which are important for regulating of the global climate and for large-scale regulation of various natural resources. About 33 % of global soil resources are degraded due to erosion, pollution, compaction, salinization, acidification, dehumidification and other adverse processes associated within appropriate management of ground water resources. About 33 % of global soil resources are degraded due to erosion, pollution, compaction, salinization, acidification, dehumidification and other adverse processes associated with inappropriate management of soil resources. Excessive lowing of the land fund, non-compliance of modern agricultural systems, neglect to agronomic land use norm sand ecology, lack of proper system of soil fertility management contributes to the development of degradation processes. The degradation is almost inevitable companion of humanity for many centuries of its development. Of course there are differences in this process, and they depend on the level of development of society, the understanding of the patterns of soil formation, and the state of the economy. Providing the rational, scientifically grounded use of soil, Ukraine, possessing a huge reserve of soil fertility, may be one of the world leaders in the production of high-quality food products. However, unfortunately, the soil does not occupy a privileged position in society. It is considered exclusively from the utilitarian side as a means of getting of agricultural products. The most important thing for the survival of humanity is the attitude of people to the soil, which is formed by culture, economic and social system of society. In the modern world, when the interconnection of elements in the mechanism of the world economy intensifies and the number of the population is steadily increasing, the management of soil resources plays more important role than ever before. Societies that have almost exhausted their environmental potential are often forced to maximize their crops to feed the population, regardless of the depletion of the soil and the need to protect and preserve it for next generations. Key words: soil, degradation, use of the soils, fertility, ecological crisis, society, soil area.

Applying the climatic water balance to the Volta basin as an accounting framework to aid policy makers in understanding climate pressures on the water-energy-food (W-E-F) nexus

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nathan Forsythe ◽  
David Pritchard ◽  
Hayley Fowler
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Water Balance ◽  
Land Management ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Volta Basin ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Moisture Supply

<p>The multinational FutureDAMS consortium -- funded by the UK's Global Challenges Research Fund -- is working to improve the design, selection and operation of dams to support sustainable development. Existing and planned large water storage infrastructure systems have the potential to make a significant contribution towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and Paris climate change commitments. But maximising the benefits while minimising the negative social and environmental impacts of large-scale infrastructure in the river basins comprising the multifunctional cores of the Water-Energy-Food (WEF) nexus remains a challenge. One critical aspect of this challenge is the difficulty of achieving uptake of scientific guidance by policy makers and other influential stakeholders.</p><p>The climatic water balance (CWB), i.e. precipitation minus potential evapotranspiration, provides a methodological framework for understanding moisture supply-demand equilibrium at a range of spatial scales including those relevant to land management – administrative districts and tributary watersheds – within basins. The CWB framework understood as an accounting analogy – i.e. rainfall as income, evapotranspiration as expenditure – can be comprehensible to scientific lay persons and help to understand the climate pressures which constrain WEF resource management. Viewed through a CWB framework, rural lands are critical both as determinants of rainfall partitioning between runoff and infiltration as well as areas of consumptive water usage for food production. Runoff entering engineered river systems becomes available for satisfying water supply and (hydropower) energy demands. As a transboundary river basin in a region experiencing substantial demographic growth and with strong aspirations for rapid economic development, inter-sectoral tensions are likely as Volta basin decision makers and economic actors seek to satisfy elements of the W-E-F nexus. By quantifying spatiotemporal moisture supply-demand balance conditions the CWB can provide valuable information to quantify trade-offs and potential synergies resulting from land management practices, infrastructure development and water allocation policies.</p><p>In this work we will examine point/site-based values and spatial aggregates of CWB for a range of locations and scales within the larger Volta basin. For each case we will identify key WEF issues which are influenced by the CWB as well as stakeholders whose decision-making processes could be informed by insights derived from the CWB (accounting) framework.</p>

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