scholarly journals Mapping Ground Water Access in Two Rural Communes of Burkina Faso

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (10) ◽  
pp. 1356
Author(s):  
Silvia Díaz-Alcaide ◽  
Wennegouda Jean-Pierre Sandwidi ◽  
Pedro Martínez-Santos ◽  
Miguel Martín-Loeches ◽  
José Luis Cáceres ◽  
...  

Granting safe water access worldwide is a major objective of the Sustainable Development Goals. Water access is a manifold concept that encompasses collection time, distance from the household, water quality, affordability, and reliability of water sources, among other factors. GIS-based methods can be particularly useful in improving water access estimates, particularly in rural areas of developing countries. Based on an extensive water point database (n = 770), this paper explores the main challenges involved in mapping water access in two rural communes of Burkina Faso. Water access is estimated in terms of coverage per surface area. Coverage is filtered into four distinct categories of improved water sources, namely existing infrastructures, operational infrastructures, permanent infrastructures, and permanent infrastructures that provide safe water. The outcomes suggest that the study area is better endowed with water access than rural Burkina Faso and the remainder of the African continent, although there are important questions regarding groundwater quality. The outcomes highlight the conceptual differences between coverage and access, as well as some of the practical difficulties involved in estimating water access beyond standard ratios. The shortcomings include the absence of continuous monitoring of infrastructure functionality and water quality, as well as water affordability, among others. Enhancing national borehole databases with items aligned with the United Nations’ definition of water access is recommended.

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 392-396 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah L. Smiley ◽  
Herbert Hambati

Abstract Floods are the most common type of natural disaster and they impact human health and well-being. In cities such as Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, it is the poorest residents who experience the worst impacts from flooding. Yet although the negative effects of floods on drinking water quality are known, there is little empirical evidence on how they affect water access more broadly. This paper uses interviews from Dar es Salaam's Kigogo Ward to understand perceptions of drinking water source changes during floods. It frames these perceptions in the Sustainable Development Goals, which seek to achieve universal and equitable access to water. Results show that households experience flooding both inside and outside the house and that these episodes impact water quality, accessibility, and availability. In particular, floods can increase contamination, force residents to wait to fetch water, and require them to walk through floodwater to reach water sources. Floods also cause them to discard stored drinking water. These results demonstrate the need for additional research on the impacts of floods on water access. This article has been made Open Access thanks to the generous support of a global network of libraries as part of the Knowledge Unlatched Select initiative.


Author(s):  
Alua Omarova ◽  
Kamshat Tussupova ◽  
Peder Hjorth ◽  
Marat Kalishev ◽  
Raushan Dosmagambetova

Rural water supplies have traditionally been overshadowed by urban ones. That must now change, as the Sustainable Development Goals calls for water for all. The objective of the paper is to assess the current access to and the perceived water quality in villages with various types of water supply. The survey was carried out during July–December 2017 in four villages in central Kazakhstan. Overall, 1369 randomly selected households were interviewed. The results revealed that even though villagers were provided with tap water, significant numbers used alternative sources. There were three reasons for this situation: residents’ doubts regarding the tap water quality; use of other sources out of habit; and availability of cheaper or free sources. Another problem concerned the volume of water consumption, which dropped sharply with decreased quality or inconvenience of sources used by households. Moreover, people gave a poor estimate to the quality and reliability of water from wells, open sources and tankered water. The paper suggests that as well decentralization of water management as monitoring of both water supply and water use are essential measures. There must be a tailor-made approach to each village for achieving the Sustainable Development Goal of providing rural Kazakhstan with safe water.


2008 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 279-287 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Jiménez ◽  
A. Pérez-Foguet

The Millennium Development Goals set the target to “halve by 2015 the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation”. The current international definition of indicators of access is insufficient for measuring this target. Furthermore, the lack of an internationally agreed definition and measurement methodology is causing confusion and uncertainty regarding the figures that are disseminated worldwide. Moreover, the current context, in which almost 70% of funds for the sector are channelled through national governments, emphasises the importance of a monitoring system for national water sectors in developing countries. From this, an improvement in investment efficiency is expected. The water point mapping methodology, promoted and widely developed by the international organization WaterAid, is presented as an alternative way of defining water access indicators. The present paper describes its potential for defining new indicators and making improvements. Our research is based on the results of a pilot study carried out by Ingeniería Sin Fronteras (Engineering without Borders, Spain) in the Same district, Tanzania. The paper concludes with a discussion of the challenges posed by the implementation of this methodology and proposes further steps for improvement.


AI and Ethics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aimee van Wynsberghe

AbstractWhile there is a growing effort towards AI for Sustainability (e.g. towards the sustainable development goals) it is time to move beyond that and to address the sustainability of developing and using AI systems. In this paper I propose a definition of Sustainable AI; Sustainable AI is a movement to foster change in the entire lifecycle of AI products (i.e. idea generation, training, re-tuning, implementation, governance) towards greater ecological integrity and social justice. As such, Sustainable AI is focused on more than AI applications; rather, it addresses the whole sociotechnical system of AI. I have suggested here that Sustainable AI is not about how to sustain the development of AI per say but it is about how to develop AI that is compatible with sustaining environmental resources for current and future generations; economic models for societies; and societal values that are fundamental to a given society. I have articulated that the phrase Sustainable AI be understood as having two branches; AI for sustainability and sustainability of AI (e.g. reduction of carbon emissions and computing power). I propose that Sustainable AI take sustainable development at the core of its definition with three accompanying tensions between AI innovation and equitable resource distribution; inter and intra-generational justice; and, between environment, society, and economy. This paper is not meant to engage with each of the three pillars of sustainability (i.e. social, economic, environment), and as such the pillars of sustainable AI. Rather, this paper is meant to inspire the reader, the policy maker, the AI ethicist, the AI developer to connect with the environment—to remember that there are environmental costs to AI. Further, to direct funding towards sustainable methods of AI.


2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (45) ◽  
pp. 11-17
Author(s):  
T. O. Zinchuk ◽  
◽  
T. V. Usiuk ◽  

The articles aims to substantiate the socio-economic, environmental, historical and cultural role played by green tourism and its contribution to the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals based on current innovative trends and capabilities of tourism in the face of challenges posed by the ongoing crisis in global economy caused by the latest pandemic. The objectives of the research were to detail the theoretical, methodological and applied approaches to the development of green tourism, which is a market sector providing travel services. The definition of green tourism has been made more profound through connecting it with the Sustainable Development Goals, which is rather logical. The motivating factors for the development of green tourism have been analyzed taking into account the model of multifunctionality in agriculture and its importance in rural development policy. The nature of changes in the green tourism sector has been identified with respect to the peculiarities of the current global situation, when a pandemic is restraining the world tourism intensity, on the one hand, and is stimulating local tourism, on the other. It is worth adding that local tourism is mostly green and focused on the conservation of the environmental and natural resources, as well as sustainment of mostly rural areas. The research carried out shows that green tourism can become a driving force for economic growth in rural areas, a motivator for employment, a factor in preserving rural culture and traditions in a particular area. At the same time, the results of the research prove the existence of a link between green tourism and national economic, environmental, socio-cultural, intellectual, energy security due to the most typical development priorities of such tourism. On analyzing the experience of the countries that suffered the pandemic most, we have found some prospects for green tourism development. It is a new system of partnership between the state, business and civil society which can become an additional incentive to preserve the potential of green tourism. Thus, strategic guidelines for green tourism development based on institutional priorities, with the current economic crisis challenges in mind, have been designed.


2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 50-59
Author(s):  
Isabela M. Kamere ◽  
M I Makatiani ◽  
Arthur Kalanza Nzau

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.  


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (15) ◽  
pp. 6024 ◽  
Author(s):  
Velia Bigi ◽  
Alessandro Pezzoli ◽  
Elena Comino ◽  
Maurizio Rosso

In Kenyan rural areas belonging to the Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASALs), water quantity and water quality are major issues for the local population. In North Horr Sub-County water quality is threatened by nitrate contamination due to fecal matter pollution. This research, hence, aims at assessing the vulnerability of open shallow water sources to nitrate contamination due to fecal intrusion following flooding events and nitrate percolation in groundwater. The present research, indeed, provides, on one hand, new insights into the analysis of the vulnerability in a scant data context; on the other hand, it assesses the adaptation measures contained in the local development plan. Applying the reference definition of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the results demonstrate that the open shallow water sources in the northern part of the sub-county are more vulnerable to nitrate contamination. Furthermore, the consistency of the results proves the suitability of the methodology selected. Understanding the vulnerability at the local scale is key to planning risk-reduction strategies as well to increasing the local population’s knowledge about flood-related risks and water quality.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (24) ◽  
pp. 10561
Author(s):  
Maria Cerreta ◽  
Alessia Elefante ◽  
Ludovica La Rocca

The international debate on the adaptive reuse of cultural heritage sites consistent with the Sustainable Development Goals has become increasingly important in the implementation of circular economy models for urban policies. The new values that characterize cultural assets, considered the result of a collaborative process, can enhance both manufactured and human capital, and provide the basis for a system of relationships that binds them. Furthermore, the values of historical artistic assets produced by community-based regeneration processes are particularly relevant when they characterize abandoned commons and cult buildings, to which communities attribute an identity and symbolic value. Starting from the definition of the concept of complex social value, we propose a methodological process that combines approaches and techniques typical of deliberative evaluations and collaborative decision-making processes. The aim is to identify the complex value chains generated by adaptive reuse, in which intrinsic values can play a driving role in the regeneration strategies of discarded cultural heritage. The experimentation, tested with the project “San Sebastiano del Monte dei Morti Living Lab” (SSMOLL), activates a creative and cultural Living Lab in the former Morticelli church, in the historic center of Salerno, in southern Italy. The reuse project is part of a more comprehensive process of social innovation and culture-led urban regeneration triggered in Salerno starting from SSMOLL. The partial results of the process show how a co-exploration phase has characterized the cultural characteristic of the living lab and how the co-evaluation of the individual activities orient the possible reuse scenarios. Finally, the results provide a first analysis of the relationship types activated.


2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 (11-12) ◽  
pp. 104-121
Author(s):  
Olena BORODINA ◽  
◽  
Ihor PROKOPA ◽  

Content of the concept of the rural sector as a socio-territorial subsystem of society is revealed. The key features of the subsystem are habitation of people in rural areas and their relationship with production and processing of agricultural products. It is proved that opportunities of rural residents and persons engaged in agriculture are limited in comparison with other citizens in terms of meeting their vital needs. Evolution of the term “inclusive development” in the context of its relationship to “inclusive growth” and “inclusive welfare” is considered. From the standpoint of inclusiveness, the socioeconomic situation in Ukraine’s agriculture in the Soviet period, in the years of active market transformations and at the present stage is characterized. It is shown that the extractive development of agriculture and rural areas gained an advantage at all stages, despite the declaration by political forces of the intentions to protect the interests of rural residents and producers of agricultural products, as well as the recommendations of scientists on realization of these interests. The extractive development was accompanied by resource-exhausting nature of management and restriction of real access of peasants to productive resources and distribution of benefits from their use. The necessity of transition to inclusive development in domestic rural sector is substantiated and conditions for this transition are revealed. Important factors in this should be: (i) Ukraine’s implementation of measures to ensure the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals proclaimed at the UN summit in 2015, and (ii) support and implementation of the ideas of the Declaration of the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas, draft of which is being discussed at the United Nations Human Rights Council.


2021 ◽  
Vol 301 ◽  
pp. 03002
Author(s):  
Peter Čajka ◽  
Veronica Grebennikova ◽  
Hoang Manh Trung Vu ◽  
Van Tran Ngo

Our article tackles the timely and important issue of the university collaboration aimed at shaping up the sustainable urban areas and contributing to their development through the teaching and research. Universities provided qualified labour force, yield novel research solutions and act as hubs for entrepreneurial activity in urban areas. In this article, we show that even though most of the universities are concentrated in large urban centres and capital regions, many of them are located in small rural areas and have a profound effect on them. We also demonstrate the impact of universities on the sustainable development which is done through the sustainable education as well as the R&D approaches. These effects are very relevant for the co-designing of sustainable rural areas that can follow the principles of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals and the green policies imposed by the majority of the local and central governments around the world.


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