scholarly journals Sustainability in Peripheral and Ultra-Peripheral Rural Areas through a Multi-Attribute Analysis: The Case of the Italian Insular Region

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (22) ◽  
pp. 9380
Author(s):  
M.Bruna Zolin ◽  
Paola Ferretti ◽  
Mirco Grandi
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Rough Set Theory ◽  
Decision Rules ◽  
Physical Distance ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Attribute Analysis ◽  
Fund Governance ◽  
Insular Region ◽  
Different Levels

Italy has adopted the strategy of inner areas, mainly based on physical distance from public services. The strategy promotes a multi-level and multi-fund governance approach and the local partnership of mayors. Our paper focuses on rural areas, identified by the national strategy of inner areas, as peripheral and ultra-peripheral, in the Italian insular region (Sicily and Sardinia). It analyzes, at the municipality level, socio-demographic, economic, and environmental sustainability using appropriate indicators. Aiming at discovering the underlying relationship portrayed by multi-attribute data in an information system, we applied rough set theory. The inductive decision rules obtained through this data mining methodology reveal the simultaneous presence or absence of important characteristics aiming at reaching different levels of sustainability. Without the requirement of statistical assumptions regarding data distribution or structures for collecting data, such as functions or equations, this method ensures the description of patterns exhibited by data. Of particular interest is the assessment of conditional attributes (i.e., the selected indicators), and the information connecting them to sustainability, as a decision attribute. The most important result is rule generation, specifically, decision rules that are able to suggest tools for policy makers at different levels.

Developing and Validating a Scale of Tourism Gentrification in Rural Areas

2021 ◽  
pp. 109634802110149
Author(s):  
Chaohui Wang ◽  
Yumei Xu ◽  
Tingting (Christina) Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Rural Areas ◽  
Living Standards ◽  
Rural Tourism ◽  
Measurement Scale ◽  
Community Culture ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Qualitative And Quantitative ◽  
Cultural Appreciation ◽  
Great Progress ◽  
Development And Validation

In recent years, tourism gentrification has made great progress in rural areas and has had significant impacts on these areas’ development, specifically in the domains of the economy, living standards, community, culture, and environment. Tourists play a key role in developing tourism gentrification in rural areas, but research investigating tourism gentrification in rural areas from the tourist perspective is scarce. To fill this gap, we focus on tourism gentrification and develop a measurement scale from the tourist perspective through multiple qualitative and quantitative steps. Our findings confirm that tourism gentrification in rural areas from the tourist perspective comprises eight dimensions: economic growth, enhanced environment, enhanced living standards, individual civilization, improved communication, promoted social environment, cultural appreciation, and improved individual quality. Through development and validation of the scale, we hope to offer a comprehensive referencing index of tourism gentrification in rural areas to policy makers and rural tourism practitioners.

scholarly journals Systemic Innovation Areas for Heritage-Led Rural Regeneration: A Multilevel Repository of Best Practices

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. 5069
Author(s):  
Aitziber Egusquiza ◽  
Mikel Zubiaga ◽  
Alessandra Gandini ◽  
Claudia de Luca ◽  
Simona Tondelli
Keyword(s):  
Best Practices ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Role Models ◽  
Social Inclusion ◽  
Work Support ◽  
Community Capitals ◽  
Community Capitals Framework ◽  
Systemic Innovation

This paper presents the result of the analysis of the data gathered from 20 Role Models (RM) case studies regarding their successful heritage-led rural regeneration models. For the study and comparison of the narratives of these Role Models two tools were used: the Community Capitals Framework, which studied the transference of capitals in each process and the identification of six Systemic Innovation Areas that allow this capital transference. A multilevel repository of best practices has been developed allowing the identification of common features, mechanisms for mobilisation of capitals and required resources that will facilitate the replication in other rural areas. The results of this work support the acknowledgement of the contribution of culture, together with cultural and natural heritage, to economic growth, social inclusion and environmental sustainability in rural areas reinforcing the role of culture as the fourth pillar of sustainable development.

scholarly journals Changes in Tobacco Use Patterns during COVID-19 and Their Correlates among Older Adults in Bangladesh

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 1779
Author(s):  
Sabuj Kanti Mistry ◽  
Armm Mehrab Ali ◽  
Md. Ashfikur Rahman ◽  
Uday Narayan Yadav ◽  
Bhawna Gupta ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Tobacco Use ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Use Patterns ◽  
Telephone Interviews ◽  
Related Information ◽  
Structured Questionnaire

The present study explored the changes in tobacco use patterns during the COVID-19 pandemic and their correlates among older adults in Bangladesh. This cross-sectional study was conducted among 1032 older adults aged ≥60 years in Bangladesh through telephone interviews in October 2020. Participants’ characteristics and COVID-19-related information were gathered using a pretested semi-structured questionnaire. Participants were asked if they noted any change in their tobacco use patterns (smoking or smokeless tobacco) during the COVID-19 pandemic compared to pre-pandemic (6 months prior to the survey). Nearly half of the participants (45.6%) were current tobacco users, of whom 15.9% reported increased tobacco use during the COVID-19 pandemic and all others had no change in their tobacco use patterns. Tobacco use was significantly increased among the participants from rural areas, who had reduced communications during COVID-19 compared to pre-pandemic (OR = 2.76, 95%CI:1.51–5.03). Participants who were aged ≥70 years (OR = 0.33, 95% CI: 0.14–0.77), widowed (OR = 0.36, 95% CI: 0.13–1.00), had pre-existing, non-communicable, and/or chronic conditions (OR = 0.44, 95% CI: 0.25–0.78), and felt themselves at the highest risk of COVID-19 (OR = 0.31, 95% CI: 0.15–0.62), had significantly lower odds of increased tobacco use. Policy makers and practitioners need to focus on strengthening awareness and raising initiatives to avoid tobacco use during such a crisis period.

scholarly journals Role of Urban Greening Strategies for Environmental Sustainability—A Review and Assessment in the Context of Saudi Arabian Megacities

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 6457
Author(s):  
Abdullah Addas ◽  
Ahmad Maghrabi
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Saudi Arabian ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Geographical Information ◽  
Design Management ◽  
Urban Greening ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Local Climate ◽  
Questionnaire Surveys

The review and assessment of urban greening patterns play a crucial role in sustainable urban planning and green spaces (GSs) management, helping to improve human well-being. In recent years, various methods and strategies were applied to examine the relationship between GSs and environmental sustainability, but so far, no studies on systematic review and empirical assessments were carried out in Saudi Arabian context. Thus, a comprehensive review and assessment of current GSs patterns and planning strategies are important for achieving urban environmental sustainability. This study aims to assess spatial pattern of GSs across the cities and a bibliographic review on the urban greening strategies in the Saudi context. These six urban strategies were further supported from empirical evidence on Saudi cities. Geographical information system (GIS) techniques and questionnaire surveys were performed for spatial mapping of GSs and the perceived role of GSs strategies of the respondent to environmental sustainability across cities. The findings showed that (i) highest PCGS was reported from Dammam (5.4 m2) followed by Riyadh (1.18 m2), and Jeddah (0.5 m2); (ii) most of the respondents use GSs for picnic (59%), mental well-being (53%), and physical activities (47%), respectively; (iii) GSs play a significant role for local climate regulation such as temperature control (78%) and UHI reduction (81%), and GSs provide thermal comfort (84%), respectively; and (iv) 40% respondents do not use GSs due to the lack of availability, accessibility, design, management, and safety of GSs. Thus, such findings of the study surely assist planners and policy makers to understand and implement the suggested GSs strategies to meet the satisfaction level of the respondents as well as to manage GSs at neighborhood and city level for urban environmental sustainability.

Financial Inclusion and CO2 Emissions in Asia: Implications for Environmental Sustainability

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shahzad Hussain ◽  
Tanveer Ahmad ◽  
Syed Jawad Hussain Shahzad
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Emissions ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
Financial Inclusion ◽  
Causality Test ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Long Term Impact ◽  
Sustainable Economic Growth ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract We examine the relationship between financial inclusion and carbon emissions. For this purpose, we develop a composite indicator of financial inclusion based on a broad set of attributes through principal component analysis (PCA) for 26 countries in the Asia region. Our robust panel regression analysis reveals a significant positive long-term impact of financial inclusion on carbon emissions. The pairwise causality test reveals unidirectional long-term causality running from financial inclusion to carbon emissions. The study suggests that policy makers may design policies that integrate accessible financial systems into climate change adaptation strategies in order to neutralize the side effect of financial inclusion deteriorating environmental quality and inclusive sustainable economic growth. JEL ClassificationO16; O44, Q54

scholarly journals Rural Credit and Rural Development: Some Issues

1984 ◽  
Vol 23 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 273-285
Author(s):  
Sarfraz K. Qureshi ◽  
Kalbe Abbas ◽  
Ahmed Naeem Siddiqui ◽  
Ejaz Ghani
Keyword(s):  
Rural Areas ◽  
Green Revolution ◽  
Policy Instrument ◽  
Rapid Expansion ◽  
Working Capital ◽  
Occupational Groups ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Access To Credit ◽  
Rural Credit ◽  
Rural Income

Credit is an important instrument of acquiring command over the use of working capital, fixed capital and consumption goods. In the wake of Green Revolution, land and labour have receded into the background as predominant factors of growth. Use of capital and adoption of modern techniques of production which have become major sources of growth of agricultural output necessitate access to credit markets for financing their use. Institutional sources of credit have become quite significant during the last few years. The rapid expansion of credit from institutional sources can be seen from various indicators. The total disbursement of agricultural loans has gone up from Rs. 306.75 million in 1972-73 to Rs. 5,102.14 million in 1981-82. On a per acre basis, the loans increased from Rs. 7.33 in 1972-73 to Rs. 106.83 in 1981-82. In this perspective, the disparities in income and wealth in rural areas would crucially depend on the distribution of capital among farms of different sizes and occupational groups. Neglecting equitable distribution of credit as a policy instrument for rural income redistribution may be a serious omission by the policy makers interested in an improvement of rural equity.

scholarly journals Leave No Child Behind: Using Data from 1.7 Million Children from 67 Developing Countries to Measure Inequality Within and Between Groups of Births and to Identify Left Behind Populations

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonio P. Ramos ◽  
Robert E. Weiss ◽  
Martin Flores
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Socioeconomic Status ◽  
Mortality Risk ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Socioeconomic Group ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Socioeconomic Groups ◽  
Mortality Risks ◽  
Multiple Risk Factors ◽  
Left Behind

Background: Goal 3.2 from the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) calls for reductions in national averages of Under-5 Mortality. However, it is well known that within countries these reductions can coexist with left behind populations that have mortality rates higher than national averages. To measure inequality in under-5 mortality and to identify left behind populations, mortality rates are often disaggregated by socioeconomic status within countries. While socioeconomic disparities are important, this approach does not quantify within group variability since births from the same socioeconomic group may have different mortality risks. This is the case because mortality risk depends on several risk factors and their interactions and births from the same socioeconomic group may have different risk factor combinations. Therefore mortality risk can be highly variable within socioeconomic groups. We develop a comprehensive approach using information from multiple risk factors simultaneously to measure inequality in mortality and to identify left behind populations. Methods: We use Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) data on 1,691,039 births from 182 different surveys from 67 low and middle income countries, 51 of which had at least two surveys. We estimate mortality risk for each child in the data using a Bayesian hierarchical logistic regression model. We include commonly used risk factors for monitoring inequality in early life mortality for the SDG as well as their interactions. We quantify variability in mortality risk within and between socioeconomic groups and describe the highest risk sub-populations. Findings: For all countries there is more variability in mortality within socioe- conomic groups than between them. Within countries, socioeconomic membership usually explains less than 20% of the total variation in mortality risk. In contrast, country of birth explains 19% of the total variance in mortality risk. Targeting the 20% highest risk children based on our model better identifies under-5 deaths than targeting the 20% poorest. For all surveys, we report efficiency gains from 26% in Mali to 578% in Guyana. High risk births tend to be births from mothers who are in the lowest socioeconomic group, live in rural areas and/or have already experienced a prior death of a child. Interpretation: While important, differences in under-5 mortality across socioeconomic groups do not explain most of overall inequality in mortality risk because births from the same socioeconomic groups have different mortality risks. Similarly, policy makers can reach the highest risk children by targeting births based on several risk factors (socioeconomic status, residing in rural areas, having a previous death of a child and more) instead of using a single risk factor such as socioeconomic status. We suggest that researchers and policy makers monitor inequality in under-5 mortality us- ing multiple risk factors simultaneously, quantifying inequality as a function of several risk factors to identify left behind populations in need of policy interventions and to help monitor progress toward the SDG.

scholarly journals Renewable Energy (RE) and Theory on Business Sustainability: Malaysia Policy Development

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (6S3) ◽  
pp. 623-627 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Renewable Energy ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Policy Development ◽  
Critical Analysis ◽  
Clean Energy ◽  
Future Generation ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Business Sustainability ◽  
Corporate Managers ◽  
Development Plans

Sustainable energy is described as energy that meets the present demand without jeopardizing the needs of future generation. Sustainable development of energy has become the main focus of recent national policies, strategies and development plans of many countries. Renewable energy (RE) is brought to play as it is deemed sustainable and has the potential to thrive in the vastly competitive market of contemporary business. Growing deployment of RE resources in businesses will provide an impetus to accelerate the drive towards clean energy as well as interest and funding for research and development works. In Malaysia, RE was introduced into the energy mix through the Five Fuel Diversification Policy in 2000 and its share has been growing ever since. This article offers a critical analysis of the developing theories linking environmental sustainability to businesses practice, and discusses their implications on Malaysia’s policy development toward RE. The extensive review presented in this work offers a useful reference for policy makers, corporate managers and researchers who have vested interest in business sustainability and renewable energy related studies.

scholarly journals Policy interventions for attraction and retention of female teachers in rural secondary schools

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 50-59
Author(s):  
Isabela M. Kamere ◽  
M I Makatiani ◽  
Arthur Kalanza Nzau
Keyword(s):  
Secondary Schools ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Female Teachers ◽  
Policy Interventions ◽  
Life Long Learning ◽  
Key Policy ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Attraction And Retention

The potential role of female teachers in achieving the Education for all (EFA) and the Sustainable Development Goals, specifically on  ensuring  inclusive and equitable quality education and promoting life-long learning opportunities for all (Goal 4), achieving gender equality and empowering  all women and girls(Goal 5 ) is well documented. Available evidence, however, suggests that attraction and retention of female teachers in secondary schools located in rural areas remains a significant and on-going challenge. In response, policy makers in Kenya have recommended three key policy interventions namely decentralization of teacher recruitment, payment of hardship allowance and provision of housing. A literature search reveals a dearth of information on the perspectives of rural educators on the effectiveness of these interventions. The paper presents findings based on one objective of a broader study which was to: Establish the views of female teachers’ and other stakeholders’ regarding the effectiveness of strategies for attraction and retention of female teachers in Makueni County. This study adopted a mixed methods design. The paper presents findings from the qualitative component of the study. Interviews were used to gather data. Based on their interpretations, the authors provide useful   insights and offer suggestions on how the implementation of these policies could be improved.  

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