scholarly journals How People Foraging in Urban Greenspace Can Mobilize Social–Ecological Resilience During Covid-19 and Beyond

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mallika Sardeshpande ◽  
Patrick T. Hurley ◽  
Eefke Mollee ◽  
Hesekia Garekae ◽  
Annika C. Dahlberg ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Urban Areas ◽  
Good Governance ◽  
Financial Capital ◽  
Ecological Resilience ◽  
Urban Systems ◽  
Gradual Change ◽  
Economic Decline ◽  
Social Ecological ◽  
Long Run ◽  
Urban Greenspaces

Informal foraging for food and other natural materials in urban greenspaces is an activity undertaken by many across the world. For some, foraging is a necessary means of survival and livelihood, while for others, it provides cultural and recreational opportunities. In the socioeconomic crises induced by Covid-19, foraging can help communities, especially (but not exclusively) vulnerable people, cope with the impacts of lockdowns, and associated economic decline. In the long run, foraging can help improve social–ecological resilience in urban systems, particularly in response to climate, economic, and disease disruptions. First, we elaborate the ways in which urban foraging can provide immediate relief from the shocks to natural, human, social, physical, and financial capital. We then describe how over time, the livelihood, food, and income diversification brought about by foraging can contribute to preparedness for future uncertainties and gradual change. Cities are increasingly becoming home to the majority of humanity, and urban foraging can be one of the pathways that makes cities more liveable, for humans as well as other species we coexist with. Through the capitals framework, we explore the role foraging could play in addressing issues of biodiversity conservation, culture, and education, good governance and social justice, multifunctional greenspace, and sustainable nature-based livelihoods in urban areas.

scholarly journals Technology and Innovations: Empowering Citizens for Future Liveable Cities

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (11) ◽  
pp. 16-22
Keyword(s):  
Urban Areas ◽  
Planning Process ◽  
Good Governance ◽  
Relevant Literature ◽  
Location Based Services ◽  
Urban Systems ◽  
World Population ◽  
City Management ◽  
Governance System ◽  
The World

According to the UN State of the World Population 2007 report, by 2030, 40.76% of India's population is expected to reside in urban areas. This urbanization causing for demands of new housing, industries, commercial establishment and civic infrastructure is putting high pressure on the existing inner-city areas. To solve these issues apart from good planning and design, good governance system, public engagement and empowering citizens play an important role for better city management. To understand the city level issues information about the urban systems to information at a lower scale need to be propelled to the citizens where technology and innovations are the strings linking different sectors. We planners and urban designers are utilizing technology to address the daily works and needs of the people to effectively predict and respond to chronic urban issues to create liveable communities and improving the overall quality of life. Not only provision of good infrastructure and continuous energy supply can make a city liveable but people need to be aware of the facts and the conditions and engage themselves in governance system by giving inputs, ideas and feedback during all the stages of the planning process. The paper will discuss different attributes and components of technology and innovations around the world that has empowered citizens in various sectors for making of better liveable place. This paper is based on the information available in the secondary sources about the application of various citizen engagement platforms such as mobile applications, online mapping tools, tech-enabled solutions, online services, websites, telecommunication system, location-based services and information, etc to enhance urban governance. Through a review of the current relevant literature, observational investigation of publicly opened web portals, applications and tools, this paper systematically highlights some significant findings. The present study suggests technology innovations empowers citizens that enables the entire urban planning process in a more straightforward way for attaining future liveable cities.

Engineering in the time of cholera: overcoming institutional and political challenges to rebuild Zimbabwe's water and sanitation infrastructure in the aftermath of the 2008 cholera epidemic

2013 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 222-229 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clarissa Brocklehurst ◽  
Murtaza Malik ◽  
Kiwe Sebunya ◽  
Peter Salama
Keyword(s):  
Urban Areas ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Humanitarian Aid ◽  
Urban Systems ◽  
Political Crisis ◽  
Rapid Improvement ◽  
Cholera Epidemic ◽  
Rapid Action ◽  
Water And Sanitation Infrastructure ◽  
Urban Rehabilitation

A devastating cholera epidemic swept Zimbabwe in 2008, causing over 90,000 cases, and leaving more than 4,000 dead. The epidemic raged predominantly in urban areas, and the cause could be traced to the slow deterioration of Zimbabwe's water and sewerage utilities during the economic and political crisis that had gripped the country since the late 1990s. Rapid improvement was needed if the country was to avoid another cholera outbreak. In this context, donors, development agencies and government departments joined forces to work in a unique partnership, and to implement a programme of swift improvements that went beyond emergency humanitarian aid but did not require the time or massive investment associated with full-scale urban rehabilitation. The interventions ranged from supply of water treatment chemicals and sewer rods to advocacy and policy advice. The authors analyse the factors that made the programme effective and the challenges that partners faced. The case of Zimbabwe offers valuable lessons for other countries transitioning from emergency to development, and particularly those that need to take rapid action to upgrade failing urban systems. It illustrates that there is a ‘middle path’ between short-term humanitarian aid delivered in urban areas and large-scale urban rehabilitation, which can provide timely and highly effective results.

scholarly journals Coffee, Disasters and Social-Ecological Resilience in Guatemala and Chiapas, Mexico

2013 ◽  
pp. 174-180
Author(s):  
Hallie Eakin ◽  
Helda Morales ◽  
Edwin Castellanos ◽  
Gustavo Cruz-Bello ◽  
Juan F. Barrera
Keyword(s):  
Ecological Resilience ◽  
Social Ecological

scholarly journals Community Preferences for Urban Systems Transformation in Australia

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. 4749
Author(s):  
Milo Costanza-van den Belt ◽  
Tayanah O’Donnell ◽  
Robert Webb ◽  
Eleanor Robson ◽  
Robert Costanza ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Shared Vision ◽  
Urban Systems ◽  
Urban Structure ◽  
Sustainable Cities ◽  
Community Needs ◽  
National Workshop ◽  
Systems Transformation

Civil society engagement is important for enabling urban systems transformations that meet community needs. The development of Future Earth Australia’s Sustainable Cities and Regions: A 10-Year Strategy for Urban Systems was underpinned by cross-sectoral workshops in 7 Australian urban areas and interviews with key stakeholders to create a shared vision of both current and desired future urban structure and policy. We then created an online survey to gauge broader community feedback on the vision which emerged from these workshops and interviews, to compare their outcomes with the views of community members who could be directly impacted by urban decision-making. The survey consisted of 35 questions, which were shaped by the issues emerging from the workshops and interviews. The sample was self-selected, and the 641 respondents represented a cross-section of individuals interested in sustainable cities. Our survey results supported and expanded on the major conclusions of FEA’s National workshop and interview processes, including the need to develop transparent and responsive decision-making processes, limit waste and pollution and develop effective housing and transport alternatives with mixed-use neighborhoods and adequate green space.

scholarly journals Continuous integration in urban social-ecological systems science needs to allow for spacing co-existence

AMBIO ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dagmar Haase
Keyword(s):  
Urban Sustainability ◽  
Ecological Systems ◽  
Urban Systems ◽  
Systems Science ◽  
Ecological Research ◽  
Mutual Relationship ◽  
Continuous Integration ◽  
Social Ecological Systems ◽  
Social Ecological ◽  
Interdisciplinary Journal

AbstractUrbanization brings benefits and burdens to both humans and nature. Cities are key systems for integrated social-ecological research and the interdisciplinary journal of Ambio has published ground-breaking contributions in this field. This reflection piece identifies and discusses integration of the human and natural spheres in urban social-ecological research using the following foundational papers as important milestones: Folke et al. (1997), Ernstson et al. (2010) and Andersson et al. (2014). These papers each take unique approaches that aim to uncover core properties—processes, structures, and actors—of urban systems and set them into mutual relationship. This piece will end with a forward-looking vision for the coming 50 years of urban sustainability and resilience study in Ambio.

scholarly journals The impact of gender-blindness on social-ecological resilience: The case of a communal pasture in the highlands of Ethiopia

AMBIO ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 45 (S3) ◽  
pp. 287-296 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lemlem Aregu ◽  
Ika Darnhofer ◽  
Azage Tegegne ◽  
Dirk Hoekstra ◽  
Maria Wurzinger
Keyword(s):  
Ecological Resilience ◽  
Social Ecological ◽  
The Impact
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