scholarly journals Climate-Environmental Governance in the Mexico Valley Metropolitan Area: Assessing Local Institutional Capacities in the Face of Current and Future Urban Metabolic Dynamics

World ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 32-48
Author(s):  
Gian Carlo Delgado Ramos

This paper focuses on the evaluation of local institutional capacities for advancing climate-environmental governance in the Mexico Valley Metropolitan Area (MVMA). It starts with a brief contextualization of the MVMA, followed by an estimation of current and tendential urban inflows and outflows by 2050 with the objective of delineating the challenges and potential implications ahead. Next, an assessment of local climate-environmental institutional capacities is offered. For that, the methodology and main outcomes of the so-called ICI-CLIMA index is presented for 2019. A qualitative discussion continues in order to assert the challenges and opportunities for advancing a coordinated urban agenda for sustainability and resilience. Such discussion has been enriched with documental and other type of information gathered through field research in all of the 76 municipalities that comprise the MVMA. The paper concludes that, in addition to the limited current climate-environmental local capacities, there is a mismatch between them and both the level of climate vulnerability officially identified and the environmental challenges currently facing. Therefore, for coping with a tendential scenario of increasing urban inflows and outflows and their associated climate-environmental implications, MVMA governments will have to improve their capacities while advancing, at all levels of government, the coordination of climate-environmental agendas, and of the later with urban planning and development agendas.

2021 ◽  
pp. 251484862110185
Author(s):  
Walker DePuy ◽  
Jacob Weger ◽  
Katie Foster ◽  
Anya M Bonanno ◽  
Suneel Kumar ◽  
...  

This paper contributes to global debates on environmental governance by drawing on recent ontological scholarship to ask: What would it mean to ontologically engage the concept of environmental governance? By examining the ontological underpinnings of three environmental governance domains (land, water, biodiversity), we find that dominant contemporary environmental governance concepts and policy instruments are grounded in a modernist ontology which actively shapes the world, making certain aspects and relationships visible while invisibilizing others. We then survey ethnographic and other literature to highlight how such categories and their relations have been conceived otherwise and the implications of breaking out of a modernist ontology for environmental governance. Lastly, we argue that answering our opening question requires confronting the coloniality woven into the environmental governance project and consider how to instead embrace ontological pluralism in practice. In particular, we examine what taking seriously the right to self-determination enshrined in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) could mean for acknowledging Indigenous ontologies as systems of governance in their own right; what challenges and opportunities exist for recognizing and translating ontologies across socio-legal regimes; and how embracing the dynamism and hybridity of ontologies might complicate or advance struggles for material and cognitive justice.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (15) ◽  
pp. 8246
Author(s):  
Marta Gemma Nel-lo Andreu ◽  
Alba Font-Barnet ◽  
Marc Espasa Roca

Following a long history of using various strategies and policies for diversification and seasonal adjustment in the face of the challenges of achieving economic, social, and environmental sustainability, sun and beach destinations should also consider targeting the wellness tourism market as a post pandemic opportunity and long-term solution. Salou is a mature sun and beach destination in the Mediterranean, but one which, for some time, has had an increasing commitment to family and sports tourism as a result of a strategic renewal process. Now, with the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, the destination management organization is considering the evolution of the model, the internalization of sustainability as a fundamental value, and the impact of different markets. In this study, we examined the challenges the Salou Tourist Board has faced during the development of a post pandemic model for sustainable tourism and what strategies it has adopted in response. We also considered the opportunities and competitive advantages that Salou has in the field of wellness tourism. The results obtained should encourage the continuation of work that promotes the environmental axis of sustainability and adds value to the natural resources on which it depends, including the sea and the landscape, while maintaining the environmental quality of the resources.


2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 241
Author(s):  
Jovana Brankov ◽  
Ana Milanović Pešić ◽  
Dragana Milijašević Joksimović ◽  
Milan M. Radovanović ◽  
Marko D. Petrović

The paper analyzes the water quality of hydrological resources in the wider area of Tara National Park (NP Tara) in Serbia and the opinions of the local community and the national park visitors about the grade of the possible damage. The pollution level of the Drina River at the Bajina Bašta hydrological station was analyzed using the Water Pollution Index. The results showed that water quality corresponded to classes II (clean water) or III (moderately polluted water) and revealed the presence of organic pollution. In addition, using a survey combined with field research, the perceptions of local inhabitants and national park visitors related to environmental pollution were analyzed. The community believed that tourism does not cause significant damage to the environment. However, the older and more educated groups of residents and visitors had a more critical perception of the environmental impact of tourism. The results also indicated that the perceptions of visitors were mostly in agreement with measured water quality in the Drina River. The findings of this study have important implications for the management of protected areas and future policies related to national parks.


2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (87) ◽  
pp. 589-609
Author(s):  
Ana Flávia Rezende ◽  
Flávia Luciana Naves Mafra ◽  
Jussara Jéssica Pereira

ABSTRACT This paper addresses the case of five lack entrepreneurs who own businesses a public that for years has denied a esthetic and phenotypic traits. These spaces, branded as ‘ethnic salons’, aim to take care of the curly and / or Afrohair of Black men and women.In the face of this context, we ask: how canBlack entrepreneurs and enterprisesconfront colonialmentality in social relations, by creating businesses aimed at giving value to, and appreciatingthe identity of Black men and women? The field research was conducted via observations and interviews,collecting narratives from both. The narratives went through a process of synthesis and analysisprocesses that allowed us to flag the motivesbehind these enterprises, as well as the racial/ethnic acceptance present in these spaces. Thus, the main contribution of this paper is to discuss ‘hairtype’ as a constitutive element of Black racial identity, and the opportunity for more autonomywhen entering the labor market.


Author(s):  
Apurba Krishna Deb ◽  
C. Emdad Haque

Purpose Coastal and floodplain areas are on the frontline of climate change in Bangladesh. Small-scale coastal and floodplain fishing communities of the country face a host of cross-scale stressors continually, some induced by climate change, and they have developed coping and adaption strategies based on customary social and experiential learnings. This paper aims to examine the coping and adaptation strategies that small-scale fishing communities undertake in the face of stresses including climate change and variability. Design/methodology/approach This research takes a nuanced ethnographic-oriented approach based on around two-year-long field study in two coastal and floodplain fishing villages, represented by two distinct ethnic groups. The study adopts direct observational methods to denote the ways small-scale fishing communities address the arrays of stressors to construct and reconstruct their survival and livelihood needs. Findings It was observed that fishers’ coping and adaptation strategies comprise a fluid combination of complex overlapping sets of actions that the households undertake based on their capitals and capabilities, perceptions, socio-cultural embeddedness and experiential learnings from earlier adverse situations. Broadly, these are survival, economic, physiological, social, institutional and religiosity-psychological in nature. Adaptation mechanisms involve some implicit principles or self-provisioning actions that households are compelled to do or choose under given sets of abnormal stresses to reach certain levels of livelihood functions. Originality/value Based on empirical field research, this paper recognizes small-scale fishers’ capability and adaptability in addressing climate change-induced stresses. Policymakers, international development planners, climate scientists and social workers can learn from these grassroots-level coping and adaptation strategies of fishing communities to minimize the adverse effects of climate change and variations.


2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 55
Author(s):  
Teuku Amnar Saputra

Pandemi Covid-19 telah mewabah di hampir seluruh Dunia tidak terkecuali Indonesia. Kondisi ini membuat sebagian orang cemas dan bahkan panik. Potensi panik ini dapat menyerang siapapun tidak terkecuali mahasiswa. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk melihat kepanikan dan resiliensi mahasiswa pascasarjana Aceh-Yogyakarta dalam menghadapi pandemi Covid-19. Penelitian ini merupakan penelitian lapangan (Field Research) dengan menggunakan pendekatan kualitatif. Metode penelitian menggunakan metode deskriptif analitis. Pengumpulan data dilakukan dengan observasi partisipan dan wawancara dengan menggunakan Whatsapp. Teknik pengambilan sampel dalam penelitian ini menggunakan Purposive sampling yaitu pengambilan sampel berdasarkan kriteria yang telah ditentukan oleh peneliti. Analisis data dilakukan dengan cara reduksi, penyajian dan pengambilan kesimpulan. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa mahasiswa pasca sarjana tidak menunjukkan gejala kepanikan melainkan rasa kekhawatiran terhadap pandemi Covid-19. Mahasiswa pascasarjana Aceh-Yogyakarta juga memiliki resiliensi dalam menghadapi pandemi Covid-19. Hal ini terlihat dari kemampuan mahasiswa dalam menghadapi situasi dengan tenang dan menentukan langkah yang rasional dalam berbagai tindakan serta memiliki pandangan positif dalam menghadapi tantangan yang sedang dihadapi. Adapun bentuk-bentuk resiliensinya meliputi mengikuti instruksi dari pemerintah, meningkatkan daya tahan atau imun, mengurangi akses terhadap informasi Covid-19, mengambil hikmah dari Covid-19, menyerahkan segalanya kepada Allah SWT.__________________________________________________________Covid-19 pandemic has plague almost all of the World including Indonesia. This condition makes some people anxious and even panic. This potential panic can strike anyone, including students. This study aims to see the panic and resilience of Aceh-Yogyakarta postgraduate students in dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic. This research is a field research (Field Research) using a qualitative approach. The research method uses descriptive analytical method. Data collection is done by participant observation and interviews using Whatsapp. The sampling technique in this study uses purposive sampling that is sampling based on criteria determined by the researcher. Data analysis was carried out by means of reduction, presentation and conclusion. The results showed that post graduate students did not show symptoms of panic but rather a sense of concern for the Covid-19 pandemic. Aceh-Yogyakarta postgraduate students also have resilience in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic. This can be seen from the ability of students to deal with situations calmly and determine rational steps in various actions and have a positive outlook in facing the challenges being faced. The forms of resilience include following instructions from the government, increasing endurance or immunity, reducing access to Covid-19 information, taking wisdom from Covid-19, giving everything to Allah SWT.


Author(s):  
Erkan Özdemir ◽  
Mine Yılmaz

Technological developments, changes in consumer behavior and intense competition are the most important threats of today, affecting many sectors as well as the retail industry. Innovative retailers, in the face of with these threats, have embraced and implemented the omni-channel retailing approach, which is the next step in multi-channel. However, other players in the retail industry lag behind this change. The aim of this chapter is to establish the experiences of innovative retailers that have adopted omni-channel retailing in the context of risks, challenges and opportunities. The research data were obtained using questionnaire method from the retailers in Turkey, one of the developing countries. As a result of the study, it was found that retailers who would adopt the omni-channel retailing would have the opportunities to be able to dominate all channels, provide better services to the customers, increase customer satisfaction and loyalty, keep in constant contact with the customers, get better customer recognition and increase sales volume.


2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam D Kay ◽  
Elizabeth Scherber ◽  
Hunter Gaitan ◽  
Amanda Lovelee

AbstractUnderstanding the environmental consequences of urbanization is a pressing objective, and more experimental ecology in urban areas would be useful in meeting this goal. Here we introduce the concept of Transitional Ecology, which involves incorporating ecological field research into temporary public art on vacant urban land. Ecological experiments can yield useful results about urban systems over short time periods. Incorporating such experiments into temporary public art allows the space to provide diverse community benefits. Although this fusion introduces challenges for both ecologists and artists, it can also create formal and informal science training activities while raising public awareness of environmental science. We illustrate these challenges and opportunities with the Urban Flower Field, a phytoremediation project in a temporary urban park.


Land ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia Ros-Cuéllar ◽  
Luciana Porter-Bolland ◽  
Martha Bonilla-Moheno

Protected Areas (PA) are the main strategy for nature conservation. However, PA are not always efficient for ecological conservation and social wellbeing. A possible alternative for conservation in human-dominated landscapes are Multifunctional Landscapes (ML), which allow the coexistence of multiple objectives, such as nature conservation and resource use. Using the activity system framework, we analyzed whether the ML concept was an operative alternative to PA within an area of interest for conservation in Veracruz, Mexico. Activity systems refer to the set of productive strategies that result from the mobilization of resources and which, within particular environmental governance contexts, shape the landscape. To understand the challenges and opportunities of our case study, we: (1) delimited the landscape according to local conservation interests; and (2) analyzed the role of stakeholders in shaping this landscape. The delimited landscape included areas considered wildlife reservoirs and water provisioning zones. Our results suggested that the existence of local conservation areas (private and communal), combined with shaded-coffee agroforestry practices, made this region an example of ML. Although local conservation initiatives are perceived as more legitimate than top-down approaches, agreements amongst stakeholders are essential to strengthen environmental governance. In specific socio-ecological contexts, ML can be effective strategies for conservation through agroecosystems that maintain a high-quality landscape matrix, allowing nature preservation and delivering economic benefits.


2011 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 75-97 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason Thistlethwaite

Although rarely studied, international accounting standards shape what information regarding a firm's environmental performance is communicated to international financial markets. This article builds on scholarship describing the influence of international accounting standards on private financial markets to show that nominally technical choices regarding how to recognize and measure firms' environmental impacts hold the potential to reduce these impacts. Obscure accounting debates within the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) mask important political choices about what a firm must disclose to investors about its environmental liabilities and risks. IASB decisions about how these appear on corporate balance sheets change the link between a firm's environmental performance and its economic value and, thereby, contribute to steering private financial markets toward rewarding sustainable behavior within the global economy. This analysis demonstrates the authority of the IASB as an overlooked source of global environmental governance.


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