scholarly journals History Lessons from the Late Joseon Dynasty Period of Korea: Human Technology (Ondol), Its Impacts on Forests and People, and the Role of the Government

Forests ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 1314
Author(s):  
Jae Soo Bae ◽  
Yeon-Su Kim

Historical analogies can help us contextualize new technical developments with social, cultural, and political forces at work. The late Joseon Dynasty period of Korea (1639–1910), a closed economy with detailed written records, provides a rare opportunity to examine a social-ecological system (SES) responding to drivers of change over a long period of time. Based on historical records and reconstructed data, we aim to: (1) characterize how the expansion of human technology, Ondol (traditional underfloor heating system), affected different subsystems and their interactions within the SES over time, (2) examine the role of the government in promoting the technology and regulating its impacts, and (3) summarize the pertinent lessons learned from old Korea for governing a modern-day bioeconomy. Ondol allows various forest biomass to be utilized as household fuel, including fuelwood, forest litter, and grass scraped from forest floor. Continuous biomass harvesting over 250 years to feed Ondol contributed to forest degradation and the forest ecosystem condition trapped in the early successional stage in the Korean Peninsula. The ecological changes were exacerbated by the Pine Policy with a singular focus on reserving Korean red pine (Pinus densiflora Siebold and Zucc.) for government uses. The policy failed to recognize basic needs of the public while countenancing an expansion of Ondol and a cultural preference for heated floors that propagated an increased use of biomass fuel. This case illustrates the importance of recognizing potential technology traps where a human innovation opened opportunities for more resource use. The lessons learned from old Korea show that bioeconomy transitions would require multifaceted governance responses while being cautious about being too closely tied to the dominant national agenda. Environmental history has much to offer for understanding the social and ecological systemic risks of the current technical developments. We call for more historical analogs from different parts of the world to “move forward by looking back”.

Author(s):  
John Armstrong

This book collects seventeen previously published essays by John Armstrong concerning the British coastal trade. Armstrong is a leading maritime historian and the essays provided here offer a thorough exploration of the British coastal trade, his specialisation, during the period of industrialisation and technological development that would lead to modern shipping. The purpose is to demonstrate the whether or not the coastal trade was the main carrier of internal trade and a pioneer of the technical developments that modernised the shipping industry. Each essay makes an original contribution to the field and covers a broad range of topics, including the fluctuating importance of the coastal trade and size of the coastal fleet over time; the relationship between coastal shipping, canals, and railways; a comparison between the coastal liner and coastal tramp trade; the significance of the river Thames in enabling trade; coastal trade economics; maritime freight rates; the early twentieth century shipping depression; competition between coastal liner companies; and a detailed study of the role of the government in coastal shipping. The book also contains case studies of the London coal trade; coastal trade through the River Dee port; and the Liverpool-Hull trade route. It contains a foreword, introduction, and bibliography of Armstrong’s writings. There is no overall conclusion, except the assertion that coastal shipping plays a tremendous role in British maritime history, and a call for further research into the field.


2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-55
Author(s):  
Robert Mikac

The COVID-19 pandemic and the crisis that has affected all parts of the world, all industries and business processes, have significantly changed the usual way of life, introduced society to the ‘new normal’ and imposed the need for crisis management. Many organizations and countries were not ready for the crisis and consequently are suffering great consequences. The aim of this paper is to analyze how Croatia responded to this crisis from the aspect of the existing normative framework for crisis management and the operational solutions in practice, as well as to explore the role of the Government of the Republic of Croatia and its leaders in strategic decision making and interpretation of the crisis, and the extent to which homeland security and civil protection systems were put in function in managing the crisis. As an additional aim, the paper intends to mark a certain number of contradictions, controversies and paradoxes that arose during the crisis, as well as certain observations that can serve for further analysis and elements in the lessons learned process.


2017 ◽  
pp. 148-159
Author(s):  
V. Papava

This paper analyzes the problem of technological backwardness of economy. In many mostly developing countries their economies use obsolete technologies. This can create the illusion that this or that business is prosperous. At the level of international competition, however, it is obvious that these types of firms do not have any chance for success. Retroeconomics as a theory of technological backwardness and its detrimental effect upon a country’s economy is considered in the paper. The role of the government is very important for overcoming the effects of retroeconomy. The phenomenon of retroeconomy is already quite deep-rooted throughout the world and it is essential to consolidate the attention of economists and politicians on this threat.


2005 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 355-370
Author(s):  
Jane Matthews Glenn

This paper examines the tension between centralizing and decentralizing forces in systems of land use planning. Its thesis, drawn from the LaHaye Report, is that the degree of centralization of the system is directly proportional to the breadth of jurisdiction of the planning authority. While Quebec's system of land use planning is reputed to be decentralized and political, the author questions whether this assessment is correct. The role of the government under the Land Use Planning and Development Act and other specialized legislation is more in accordance with the centralized and technocratic systems advocated in earlier Quebec proposals for land use planning. This conclusion is reinforced by a consideration of the suggestions put forward in Le Choix des régions and their present-day application.


2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 317-324
Author(s):  
Rizqi Maulana Syifa ◽  
Wasrob Nasruddin ◽  
Achdiyat Achdiyat

Rice commodity is one of the main commodities being cultivated by farmers in Kadugenep Village. .various kinds of agricultural activities carried out by rice farmers in Kadugenep Village, in carrying out agricultural activities not only on production activities or cultivation of plants, but how to market agricultural productsin order to generate profits that can prosper farmers in terms of the economy.the assessment activities have been carried out from March 1 to June 30, 2020, with a total sample of 32 people. Data mining is done by interviews, questionnaires that have been tested for validity and reliability, as well as direct observation. .farmer empowerment levels were analyzed descriptively, factors related to empowerment were analyzed using the Spearmean Rank Correlation, and counseling strategies were analyzed using Kendal's Wbased on the results obtained from interviews and questionnaires given to respondents, showed that 5 people (15.6%) of respondents stated helpless, while 27 people (84.4%) respondents stated helpless. factors related to the role of the government (X2.1) of 0,000 and the role of advisors (X2.2) of 0.001 have a significant relationship to the empowerment of rice farmers in marketing rice packaging. strategies that can be done in increasing the empowerment of rice farmers in marketing rice from the results of the Kendall W analysis, namely by providing counseling about the function of cooperatives as a place for marketing products and functionspackaging with lecture, discussion and demonstration methods as well as extension media used, namely the provision of videos and folders.


2021 ◽  
pp. 89-112
Author(s):  
Gary H. Jefferson ◽  
Renai Jiang

This chapter assesses China’s science and technology (S&T) progress through the lens of the patenting literature in the context of China. In particular, after presenting an overview of China’s patent production over the past twenty-five years, it investigates the following questions: What accounts for China’s patent surge? What are the implications of the surge for patent quality? Does the nature of the patenting reveal China’s S&T direction and comparative advantage? How has the international sector affected China’s patent production? What has been the role of the government—the central, provincial, and local governments—in shaping patent production? And finally, how heterogeneous is China’s regional patent production; are patenting capabilities diffusing across China?


2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 208
Author(s):  
Rahmat Kurniawan ◽  
Azhar Azhar

This research is to find out the perceptions of micro, small and medium enterprises to modern stores, MSME partnerships with modern stores, constraints, and the role of the government in overcoming the problems of modern shops and MSMEs in Padangsidimpuan City. This research is a descriptive qualitative study by conducting in-depth interviews. The results showed the perception of MSMEs towards modern stores had a negative and positive impact. The negative impact, the income of MSMEs has decreased. The positive impact, the presence of modern stores motivates MSMEs to evaluate themselves from modern stores. The partnership established by MSMEs with modern stores is the use of business locations provided by modern stores. The constraints of MSMEs are business capital, human resources, business legality, business permits and products, while the constraints of modern stores are business permits, human resources and partnerships with MSMEs. The role of the City Government of Padangsidimpuan is for modern stores, namely to give an appeal not to add to modern store outlets and to call for partnerships in terms of marketing local MSME products. For MSMEs, facilitate MSMEs with banking institutions in terms of providing venture capital, training and guidance to MSMEs, and making packaging houses.


Author(s):  
Jacqueline Cramer

Material efficiency is one of the major challenges facing our society in the twenty-first century. Research can help to understand how we can make the transition towards a material-efficient society. This study focuses on the role of the government in such transition processes. Use is made of literature in the field of public administration and innovation literature, particularly transition management. On the basis of three Dutch examples (plastics, e-waste and bio-energy), the complex system change towards a material-efficient society will be reflected upon. These case studies underline the need for a tailor-made governance approach instead of a top-down government approach to enhance material efficiency in practice. The role of the government is not restricted to formulating policies and then leaving it up to other actors to implement these policies. Instead, it is a continuous interplay between the different actors during the whole implementation process. As such, the government's role is to steer the development in the desired direction and orchestrate the process from beginning to end. In order to govern with a better compass, scientifically underpinned guiding principles and indicators are needed. This is a challenge for researchers both in public administration and in transition management.


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