scholarly journals Making it Concrete: Analysing the Role of Concrete Plants’ Locations for Circular City Policy Goals

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karel B.J. Van den Berghe ◽  
Teun J. Verhagen
Keyword(s):  
Urban Areas ◽  
Flow Analysis ◽  
Material Flow Analysis ◽  
Critical Material ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Circular Loop ◽  
Policy Goals ◽  
The Hague ◽  
City Policy

Increasingly, space for remanufacturing is seen as the most valuable resource to achieve circular economy (CE) policy goals, in particular for cities. However, in many cities, industrial urban areas are increasingly subject of – mostly circular designed - residential redevelopment. The proposition of this paper is that these diminishing industrial areas host, at least potentially, essential functions necessary to “close the material loop.” The reason why policy makers neglect the necessity of remanufacturing capacity, is because it is difficult to pinpoint the “ideal” geography of a circular loop. Most (circular) products can be transported limitless, thus their remanufacturing functions can be located around the world. But what if a critical material cannot be transported limitless and has circular potential? Therefore, this paper focusses on concrete for two reasons. First, concrete is by far the most abundant material in urban areas. Second, newly/circular made fluid concrete can only be transported for a limited time and distance. The hypothesis of this paper is that concrete plants are and will become essential for circular cities. Subsequently, we focus on the Dutch city of The Hague and combine a Material Flow Analysis with the locations of the concrete resupply chain. Our results show that potentially The Hague has a 100% circular concrete chain, but the importance of its concrete plant is (implicitly) neglected. We conclude that The Hague is illustrative for the problem of many circular cities that are without (implicitly) taking into account the whole circular resupply chain, jeopardized today a future urban CE.

Shaping citizen’s freedom of social media interaction in Tanzania: The role of city policy experts in digital policy-making

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-87 ◽  
Author(s):  
Josephine Philip Churk ◽  
Ingrid Volkmer
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Societal Development ◽  
Study Results ◽  
Media Interaction ◽  
City Policy

Digital communication, especially social media interaction, has emerged as a key domain for civic debates specifically in urban areas of Tanzania. However, how policy-makers perceive these as opportunities for societal development is rarely assessed in research. This study will fill this gap through semi-structured interviews with policy-makers in Dar es Salaam and focus on assessing their perception of the role of social media in digital policy-making in society. Based on the study results, we suggest a new strategic approach for policy collaboration across African regions for building sustained policy capacity and to enable resilient public spheres as a core component of societal development in digital Africa.

The Politics of Energy Security

2019 ◽  
pp. 247-274 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica Jewell ◽  
Elina Brutschin
Keyword(s):  
Energy Security ◽  
Energy Systems ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Social Actors ◽  
Academic Communities ◽  
Policy Goals ◽  
Main Driver ◽  
Productive Research

Energy security has long been a main driver of energy policies, but its meaning has been contested by policy makers and scholars. The concept incorporates both material and intersubjective aspects, finding different expressions in different contexts and attracting the interest of diverse social actors and academic communities. This chapter identifies, compares, and contrasts five major approaches for analyzing energy security rooted in different scholarly traditions. It argues that in order to facilitate a dialogue among these approaches as well as policy comparison and learning, it is useful to conceptualize energy security as “low vulnerability of vital energy systems.” This definition opens avenues for productive research, unpacking the interplay between material and intersubjective aspects of “vulnerability” and “vitality” of energy systems. Future research should investigate the role of material factors alongside power, values, and trust in defining energy security; explain the gap between energy securitization and action; and explore the interaction between energy security and other energy policy goals.

scholarly journals Application of Material Flow Analysis (MFA) in Electronic Waste (E-Waste) Management: A Review

Proceedings ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (23) ◽  
pp. 1457 ◽  
Author(s):  
Md Tasbirul Islam ◽  
Nazmul Huda
Keyword(s):  
Waste Management ◽  
Electronic Waste ◽  
Flow Analysis ◽  
Material Flow Analysis ◽  
Economic Assessment ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Waste Products ◽  
Material Recovery ◽  
Research Perspectives

This paper reviews around 41 articles providing the trends, characteristics, research gaps and challenges of these studies that may help e-waste management-related academics and practitioners with an overview of the need for such tool to be applied. The results and highlighted future research perspectives discussed in this study will definitely help to analyze e-waste management systems with more critical aspects, i.e., hidden and known flows of waste products and associated materials, economic assessment of material recovery and the role of responsible authorities.

scholarly journals The Design of Sustainable City Multi-Floor Manufacturing Processes Under Uncertainty in Supply Chains

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (22) ◽  
pp. 9439
Author(s):  
Tygran Dzhuguryan ◽  
Agnieszka Deja ◽  
Bogusz Wiśnicki ◽  
Zofia Jóźwiak
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chains ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Flow Analysis ◽  
Material Flow Analysis ◽  
Performance Model ◽  
Sustainable City ◽  
Sustainable Supply Chains ◽  
Capacity Loss ◽  
Proposed Model ◽  
The City

The application of multi-floor manufacturing (MFM) in huge cities is related to the rational use of urban areas and the solution to traffic problems. The operation of the city MFM clusters depends on the efficiency of production and transport management considering technical, economic, environmental, and other factors. The primary goal of this paper was to identify and analyze the drivers of sustainable supply chains (SSCs) that influence or encourage the design of sustainable processes in city MFM clusters under uncertainty in supply chains. This paper presents an SSC performance model for city MFM clusters under uncertainty. The proposed model is universal and is based on material flow analysis (MFA) methodology. The presented analysis helps to determine the conditions for rhythmic deliveries with the use of the multi-IRTs. The coefficients of rhythmic deliveries for multiple intelligent reconfigurable trolleys (IRTs) and the capacity loss of freight elevators allow us to periodically assess the sustainability processes in city MFM clusters related to the flow materials. These assessments are the basis for the decision-making and planning of SSCs.

scholarly journals An inclusive and participatory approach to counter-radicalization? Examining the role of Muslim associations in the Swedish policy process

Ethnicities ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 146879682093228
Author(s):  
Markus Holdo
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Communication Networks ◽  
Policy Process ◽  
Participatory Approach ◽  
Policy Area ◽  
Negative Stereotypes ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Policy Goals ◽  
Special Responsibilities

Policies on preventing radicalization and recruitment to violent Islamist organizations have been widely criticized for reinforcing negative stereotypes of Muslims as a group. Sweden has stood out by international comparison by announcing an approach built on inclusion and participation, especially with regard to Muslim civil society. But what does it mean to make a policy process inclusive and participatory? How can values of inclusion and participation be combined with efficient implementation and realization of policy goals, especially in a policy area where discourse and practice have tended to reinforce patterns of exclusion and discrimination? This article develops a framework that puts the roles of participants at the center: what expectations, boundaries and capacities come with an invitation to participate? Based on interviews with actors involved in the Swedish policy process, including Muslim civil society leaders, the study suggests that participation, in this case, meant primarily being present, thereby confirming commitment and stakeholder status and contributing legitimacy, and providing instrumental knowledge and communication networks. While Muslim representatives were often not expected to be more involved, some indicated that they themselves hesitated to go beyond these roles for several reasons. They expressed a concern that merely having opinions or critique could be interpreted as ‘radical’ and as not accepting the idea that Muslims as a group should have special responsibilities for preventing radicalism. One way of overcoming such obstacles is through subtle, indirect exercises of influence that allow policy-makers and administrators to anticipate the concerns and interests of affected groups without requiring their direct participation.

Maize remittances, smallholder livelihoods and maize consumption in Malawi

2011 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Agnes Andersson
Keyword(s):  
Urban Areas ◽  
Food Production ◽  
Consumption Patterns ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Household Level ◽  
Production And Consumption ◽  
Urban Livelihoods ◽  
National Production ◽  
Micro Level

ABSTRACTThis article explores the phenomenon of in-kind remittances of maize and its implications for rural household livelihoods and food consumption. Interviews with a sample of 391 households in eight villages in Malawi are used to substantiate the discussion. Explanations for in-kind remittances are sought in the micro-level interaction between the formal market realm, informalised exchange systems and the household. Remittances are not connected to lower commercialisation levels, suggesting that the explanation for remittances should be sought in the production and consumption patterns of the households. Remittances function as an important redistributive mechanism for food across space. The role of smallholder food production for urban livelihoods as well as the subsistence responsibilities of rural households are underestimated if agrarian household level linkages from rural to urban areas are not recognised in national production and consumption surveys and among policy makers.

scholarly journals Method for Quantifying Supply and Demand of Construction Minerals in Urban Regions—A Case Study of Hanoi and Its Hinterland

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 4358
Author(s):  
Georg Schiller ◽  
Tamara Bimesmeier ◽  
Anh T.V. Pham
Keyword(s):  
Urban Areas ◽  
Building Materials ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Supply And Demand ◽  
Flow Analysis ◽  
Material Flow Analysis ◽  
Resource Efficiency ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Urban Structures

Urbanization is a global trend: Since 2007 more than 50% of the world’s population have been living in urban areas, and rates of urbanization are continuing to rise everywhere. This growth in urbanization has led to an increased demand for natural resources, in particular non-metallic minerals such as stones, sand and clay, which account for one third of the entire flow of materials. Generally, these materials are traded within regional markets. This close geographical link between the demand for building materials in urban areas and the material supply in the hinterland leads to massive interventions in the natural environment and landscape. These urban–rural linkages can be revealed by applying Material Flow Analysis (MFA) to the built environment in order to trace the flows of building materials. The objective of this paper is to present a method for quantifying regional material flows by considering the supply and demand of building materials. This will be applied to the Vietnamese case study area of Hanoi and its hinterland province Hoa Binh. The results indicate a consumption of almost 60% of the construction mineral reserves in total secured by planning in the hinterland province considering a period of 15 years. However, this does not allow for the general conclusion that raw materials are sufficiently available. The sand reservoirs are only sufficient for eight years and clay reserves are used up after four years. This increases the need to exploit further raw material reserves, which are becoming increasingly scarce and results in stronger interventions in nature In order to safeguard the hinterland from the negative impacts of urbanization, a new understanding of resource efficiency is needed—one that acknowledges both resource efficiency in the construction of urban structures and appropriate resource conservation in the provision of the raw materials from the hinterland. This will require the creation of new integrated planning approaches between urban and regional planning authorities. Regional MFA is one way of realising such an approach.

An exposé of the realpolitik of trade negotiations: implications for population nutrition

2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (16) ◽  
pp. 3083-3091 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sharon Friel ◽  
Phillip Baker ◽  
Anne-Marie Thow ◽  
Deborah Gleeson ◽  
Belinda Townsend ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Interest ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
Trade Negotiations ◽  
Government Officials ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Government Organizations ◽  
Policy Goals ◽  
Key Informant ◽  
Political Dimensions

AbstractObjective:To explore the formal and informal ways in which different actors involved in shaping trade agreements pursue their interests and understand the interactions with nutrition, in order to improve coherence between trade and nutrition policy goals.Design:The paper draws on empirical evidence from Australian key informant interviews that explore the underlying political dimensions of trade agreements that act as barriers or facilitators to getting nutrition objectives on trade agendas.Setting:Countries experiencing greater availability and access to diets full of energy-dense and nutrient-poor foods through increased imports, greater foreign direct investment and increasing constraints on national health policy space as a result of trade agreements.Participants:Interviews took place with Australian government officials, industry, public-interest non-government organizations and academics.Results:The analysis reveals the formal and informal mechanisms and structures that different policy actors use both inside and outside trade negotiations to pursue their interests. The analysis also identifies the discourses used by the different actors, as they attempt to influence trade agreements in ways that support or undermine nutrition-related goals.Conclusions:Moving forward requires policy makers, researchers and health advocates to use various strategies including: reframing the role of trade agreements to include health outcomes; reforming the process to allow greater access and voice to health arguments and stakeholders; establishing cross-government partners through accountable committees; and building circles of consensus and coalitions of sympathetic public-interest actors.

scholarly journals Achieving Sustainable Development through Environment Accounting from the Global Perspective: Evidence from Bangladesh

2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-61
Author(s):  
Tapos Kumar
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Standard Method ◽  
Material Flow ◽  
Flow Analysis ◽  
Material Flow Analysis ◽  
Environmental Reporting ◽  
Environmental Disclosure

The study visualizes the link between environment accounting & triple bottom line, quantitative environmental reporting & standard method, voluntary environmental disclosure & legal requirement, size of company & volume of environmental disclosure, material flow analysis & life cycle assessment to achieve sustainable development in Bangladeshi corporation. Therefore, the purpose of the study is to investigate the role of these factors to achieve sustainable development in Bangladeshi corporation. To investigate the role of these factors, ten factors that significantly contribute to achieve sustainable development were determined. A set of closed-minded questionnaire was developed on the basis of these factors to collect the data from employees & employers. Questionnaire was administered by using statistical tools such as matrix, cross tabulation & Paired Samples Tests as a data collection tool and analyses. Research finding shows that sustainability of corporation was associated with the performance of economic, social, and environment. Other factors like quantitative environmental reporting, standard method, voluntary environmental disclosure, legal requirement, size of the company, volume of environmental disclosure, material flow analysis & life cycle assessment were found that they worked as a complement to enhance the performance of economic, social, and environment to achieve sustainable development in Bangladeshi corporation.

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