scholarly journals Collective and Social Representations on Nature and Environment: Social Psychology Investigation in Rural Areas

Land ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 1385
Author(s):  
Iulian Dincă ◽  
Dragoș Dărăbăneanu ◽  
Ionuț Mihai Oprea

This is a qualitative research based on a phenomenological perspective of understanding, that aim to captures the way in which the population of rural areas from the western part of Romania understands the terms of nature and environment. Starting from valuable scientific studies related to the relationship between man and nature, we propose an original interdisciplinary approach that combines social methodology with a geographical, ecological and land use perspective. This study aims to identify the forms in which social representations about nature and environment are outlined on the level of rural areas people perceptions. As Romania is a European Union member state, its rural areas have seen transformations and changes in detail that reflect in the environmental-geographical ambience typical of the three main relief types (mountains, hills and plains), the mixed geomorphological type, its residents’ basic aspirations and conscious attitudinal and behavioral levels. The two study benchmarks are the notions of nature and environment, raising perception sensitivities and everyday concerns belonging to the residents of the rural areas surveyed. The administrative unit of Bihor County, belonging to the northern half of the Crișana Province and comprised of rural communities in 97 villages, was selected as the study’s target area. These villages were selected in such a way that they had to meet the requirements of balance and diversity of local environmental conditions, land use and the result of changing their land cover and the socio-geodemographic conditions of the population. A series of 1576 questionnaires were administered to subjects who are over 18 years old and are aware of the reality of their places. The results of the applied tests (Levene’s test) show that the concrete factors of daily activities are very good predictors of the relationship between man and nature.

Author(s):  
Andriy Sava ◽  
Borys Sydoruk ◽  
Roman Voloshyn

Introduction. Under decentralization, there is a gradual transfer of powers and resources to local governments. In this case, one of the most urgent problem for rural areas, is the organization of rational land management from the position of financial support improving through the disposing of lands, and using available lands for community needs. Methods. General and special methods – monographic and abstract-logical, methods of generalization, comparison and analysis have been applied for data processing. Results. During the decentralization reform, it was found that 488 rural united territorial communities were formed, covering almost half the area of all UTCs created. In addition, nearly 800 village councils joint to the city-based UTCs. The ways of the redistribution of powers on the UTC land resources management are established at the expense of acquiring their own powers, obtaining delegated ones, as well as acquiring the rights of other institutions. Emphasis is placed on the benefits of managing land resources of rural communities at the local level. It has been determined that the applicable law restrict communal land use of UTC. At the same time, the importance of agricultural land outside the settlement transfer to the disposal of communities is emphasized. The importance of the land payment in the structure of local budget revenues is analyzed in detail, the key problems and contradictions that accompany the process of land management powers reallocation are identified. Suggestions are made to improve the rural communities land resources management through their inventory, accounting and monitoring, revision of rental rates for communal property, strengthening control over compliance with the terms of land use agreements, use of free lands in the interests of communities. Discussion. Further studies in this area are going to be aimed at developing a comprehensive mechanism for ensuring effective management of land resources in rural areas after the completion of decentralization. Keywords: land resources, rural territories, decentralization, united territorial communities, local governments.


2020 ◽  
pp. 45-60
Author(s):  
Dr. Anan Alkass Yousif

One of the global and crucial concerns of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries is the ecological preservation of the life-supporting system of the earth. It is considered one of the most important current studies that challenge the rapid degradation of the environment and wildlife.  The purpose of this paper is to explore Kathleen Jamie’s (1962) vital ecological vision that she conveys through her ecopoetry and some of her nonfiction writings, arguing that developing ecological consciousness is crucial not merely to rediscover the value of natural world but also to realize that it is another form the human self. The paper also argues that ecological degradation as revealed by Jamie's ecopoetry paradoxically stands as the very reason that would foster the ecology of mind to observe the natural world as a valuable entity in itself. Jamie’s literary output extends to generate citizens of the natural world, a world that is based on comprehending the interconnectedness and interdependence between people and their physical landscape. Otherwise, the contemporary individual would be inclined to live in self-isolation. To examine Jamie’s portrayal of the relationship between man and his environment, ecocriticism is employed as an interdisciplinary approach that emerged in the 1980s to interrogate man’s patterns of relationships with nature, questioning the common notions of belonging and dwelling. In so doing, ecopoetry is demonstrated as essential in cultivating a new canon of nature poetry that promotes a maneuver beyond the politics of place and the limitation of nationhood. Jamie is a prominent contemporary Scottish poet who endeavors not only to promote ecological consciousness but also to advocate a breakdown of all the barriers between the human and non-human world, man's individual 'I' and the assumed 'Otherness' of nature. It is the construction of a new poetic and ecological mode towards an ecology of encounter, a path towards empathy between man and nature that would render the former more human and the latter more natural.


Author(s):  
Bair Ts. Gomboev ◽  

Introduction. Retrospective studies of the human-society-environment system are increasingly ranked among the interdisciplinary problems of philosophy, ecology, paleography, history, ethnology and other scientific disciplines. Scientists are beginning to understand that the current ecological conditions require increased interest not only towards the environment as such but also towards deep historical research of the relationship between man and nature, require further studies and preservation efforts for natural, historical, and cultural heritage. Goals. The paper analyzes archaeological sites and places of worship for the possibility of correlating their locations with real geoactive zones through the example of the Barguzin Valley, and seeks to identify features of the territory, comparing it to separate Mongolia-based places of worship. Materials and Methods. The work attempts to apply an interdisciplinary approach in characterizing the origin of sites of worship from the standpoint of different disciplines, such as geology, geography, history, archeology, ethnology, and folkloristics. Results. The interdisciplinary approach to the research of places of worship makes it possible to once again highlight challenges faced by scholars engaged therein more broadly, and involve materials that have not been previously examined in this perspective. Nowadays, this constitutes a most urgent problem in contexts of aggravated man-nature relations, violations of harmonious ties, and increased anthropogenic impacts in certain areas for extensive use of natural resources contrary to opinions of the local population.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 36-47
Author(s):  
Mohammad Rashid ◽  
Debapratim Pandit

Abstract Management of wastewater and stormwater is required for achieving total sanitation and conservation of fresh water resources. The wastewater and stormwater management (WSM) infrastructure suitable to rural areas is usually determined based on technical, environmental, and economic considerations and local communities' perception of infrastructure is ignored. This study analyses the rural communities' choice and perception of WSM infrastructure and their willingness to pay (WTP) for their improvement and maintenance. The households' choice and perception of different aspects of rural WSM infrastructure are determined using the RIDIT (relative to an identified distribution and transformation) analysis, service quality gap analysis, through establishing the relationship between households' satisfaction with individual aspects and overall quality of WSM, and WTP for the service improvement and maintenance. The study finds that rural people like to dispose of wastewater offsite as a good network of drains is found in the villages. However, several aspects of WSM are perceived as poor and require the attention of the policymakers. The rural households want improvement in several attributes and are willing to pay for the maintenance of improved service. The service quality of individual attributes of WSM infrastructure and socioeconomic characteristics of the households are essential determinants of their WTP.


2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-60
Author(s):  
Lairenlakpam Shanta Meitei

This article discusses the need and importance of information literacy as an essential component in information society. The article highlights the role of information and information technology as well as the relationship between information and literacy. This article also studies the impact of ICT in rural areas and examines the awareness of the term like, information, information literacy, computer literacy etc. in the rural communities in Manipur, India. Further, it elaborates the need for information literacy and challenges faced by the rural communities in the global information environment.


2008 ◽  
Vol 2 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 81-88
Author(s):  
Ildikó Edit Tikász

According to the data of population density, most of Hungary’s territory has rural features. Achieving EU supports in order to focus on developing the most underdeveloped communities, and in order to lessen the differences between communities, to establish priorities and to determine the rank of rural communities based on their development potential is necessary.The need of measurability arises because of comparison and classification.A possible target area is an analysis of population retaining ability and the ability to economically provide for a population of rural areas.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 4357
Author(s):  
Nebras Khadour ◽  
Nawarah Al Basha ◽  
Máté Sárospataki ◽  
Albert Fekete

The phenomenon of urban sprawl has caused radical changes in the spatial structure of cities and rural areas all around the world. Syria is among the developing countries that have experienced this phenomenon. Some of the resulted processes of urban sprawl like urbanization and counter-urbanization have had a clear impact on the land use and lifestyle in both cities and the countryside of different regions in Syria. This research focuses on the coastal region and the spatial changes that affected the nature of social life, such as the rapid growth of the population, the expansion of cities, and the new developments, which in turn have led to considerable changes in the relationship and scale of the house, garden, and landscape. The research studies the development of the rural housing model in the coastal region and its relation to the surrounding landscape. It tracks three phases of the housing unit’s development and conducts a comparative study on four villages using a questionnaire to evaluate the performance of those units. The results of this research show significant change in the relationship between rural and urban areas resulting from the new residential developments, as well as the relationship of land use and the historic plot structure and that of the garden and the house into the overall character of the landscape.


2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (16) ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdul Ghapar Othman ◽  
Kausar Hj Ali ◽  
Wan Mohammad Fazil Asli

Urbanization process has a significant impact on land use planning. It not only affects major cities but also extends to small towns in rural areas where it has a significant role in providing urban services to rural communities. The expansion of urban areas also resulted in the loss of many agricultural lands as well as forests that are rich in natural resources. In both instances, the land use composition is substantially affected. This study uses a "mixed method approach" combining GIS spatial analysis and AHP technique to study land use changes, identify land use growth parameters, determine land use growth suitability areas and identify the direction of urban land use development. The study area is the town of Pendang, which is the main administrative centre for Pendang District, Kedah. The main findings of the study show that changes were not that significant during the period between 2005 to 2012. However, significant land use changes occurred during the period of 2012 to 2020, especially in agricultural land use, vacant land and even water bodies. These land use changes have contributed to the increase in built-up areas. The direction of development is seen heading north, south and southwest of the study area. Accessibility is a major factor influencing the growth of land use and development direction in the study area.


2019 ◽  
Vol 63 ◽  
pp. 06003
Author(s):  
Silvia Boca ◽  
Aleksa Korolija

Mapping is a key research tool to understand the relationship between specific geographical features and territorial transformations (settlement patterns, hydraulic works, new rail and road infrastructure, land-use change). Starting from the Italian academic tradition (Muratori, Caniggia, Rossi) that focused mainly on the urban context we have developed mapping for fringe-areas at various scales: from city and countryside to expanding rural areas that mark the shifting boundaries(using the agricultural Behera-Region/Alexandria in Egypt and the Belgrade urban evolution in Serbia). Mapping should envision not only the geomorphological features but also the complexity of the landscape structure, as a repository of layers, questioning what are we looking for through mapping and constructing the legend accordingly: selecting which elements need to be highlighted or remain latent and which additional elements need to be identified with the help of complementary sources. GIS holds potential for showing key physical features, their extent, quantity and position in a single glance but is mapping the same as tracing? Is it capable of showing the space-time whirl in landscape transformations?


Forests ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 1105
Author(s):  
Raúl Cerda ◽  
Rosa Gallardo-Cobos ◽  
Pedro Sánchez-Zamora

The relationship between the forest sector and the well-being of people that depend on it for their economic livelihoods in rural areas is of strong interest in forest policy. In this sense, Chile has developed a forest policy that has had positive impacts, particularly on economic and productive aspects, but also negative impacts, such as the reduction of natural forest area, biodiversity, and provision of ecosystem services, as well as the increase in social conflicts and land abandonment. However, there are few studies that have evaluated the impacts of forest policy on rural population and development of the territory. Therefore, the objective of this research is to evaluate the impacts of Chilean forest policy on rural communities, particularly in terms of demographic variables and indicators of community well-being. The study area corresponds to the Bio Bio and Ñuble Regions (Chile), and the analysis includes productive, demographic, socioeconomic, and educational characteristics of population. The results show that the forestry policy implemented was able to generate a significant increase in the proportion of forest area. However, when this increase is mainly of the type of exotic forest plantations, it is associated with a demographic and socio-economic detriment of the population in some counties of the study area.


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