scholarly journals A framework to support alien species regulation: the Risk Analysis for Alien Taxa (RAAT)

NeoBiota ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 62 ◽  
pp. 213-239 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sabrina Kumschick ◽  
John R. U. Wilson ◽  
Llewellyn C. Foxcroft
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Risk Analysis ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Regulatory Requirements ◽  
The World ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Almost All ◽  
New Framework

Human livelihoods and well-being in almost all regions of the world depend on taxa which are alien. Such taxa also, however, threaten human health, sustainable development, and biodiversity. Since it is not feasible or desirable to control all alien taxa, decision-makers increasingly rely on risk analyses to formalise the best available evidence of the threats posed and whether and how they can be managed. There are a variety of schemes available that consider the risks of alien taxa, but we argue a new framework is needed: 1) given major recent developments in international frameworks dealing with biological invasions (including the scoring of impacts); 2) so that decisions can be made consistently across taxa, regions and realms; 3) to explicitly set out uncertainties; and 4) to provide decision-makers with information both on the risks posed and on what can be done to mitigate or prevent impacts. Any such scheme must also be flexible enough to deal with constraints in capacity and information. Here we present a framework to address these points – the Risk Analysis for Alien Taxa (RAAT). It outlines a series of questions related to an alien taxon’s likelihood of invasion, realised and potential impacts, and options for management. The framework provides a structure for collating relevant data from the published literature to support a robust, transparent process to list alien taxa under legislative and regulatory requirements, with the aim that it can be completed by a trained science graduate within a few days. The framework also provides a defensible process for developing recommendations for the management of assessed taxa. We trialled the framework in South Africa and outline the process followed and some of the taxa assessed to date.

scholarly journals Religious perspectives on Vaccination: Mandatory Covid-19 vaccine for SA Churches

2021 ◽  
Vol 103 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonas Sello Thinane
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Vaccine Safety ◽  
Religious Groups ◽  
Health History ◽  
Public Health History ◽  
The World ◽  
Religious Perspectives ◽  
African Churches ◽  
Almost All

In public health history, vaccinations have been seen as very helpful as they help protect societies from preventable diseases and save many lives around the world. Despite the fact that few religious groups oppose vaccination for a variety of reasons, almost all major religions in the world support vaccination as long as it complies with religious precepts for the preservation, protection, or well-being of livelihoods. However, during the surge of Covid-19 outbreak in South Africa and elsewhere, governments witnessed unprecedented hesitancy and opposition to the Covid-19 vaccination by the general public. Those who opposed the Covid-19 vaccine cited multiple concerns or reasons, ranging from possible side effects, adverse events, vaccine safety, vaccine effectiveness, conspiracy theories, and religious or cultural reasons. Based on a literature search, this paper attempts to discuss various religious views on the subject of vaccination in general and subsequently make use of such perspectives to support calls for a compulsory Covid-19 vaccination, especially for South African churches. This is a timely topic of central concern as it seeks to politely dispel religious misunderstandings and confusion that could arise as a result of debates on mandatory vaccines for Covid-19. Health and religion will be brought together to shape the ongoing discussions about the moral urgency of a mandatory Covid-19 vaccination in South Africa.

Social Design for Services Framework

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Melanie SARANTOU ◽  
Satu MIETTINEN
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Research Group ◽  
Design Research ◽  
Service Design ◽  
Social Design ◽  
Practical Action ◽  
The Social ◽  
The World

This paper addresses the fields of social and service design in development contexts, practice-based and constructive design research. A framework for social design for services will be explored through the survey of existing literature, specifically by drawing on eight doctoral theses that were produced by the World Design research group. The work of World Design researcher-designers was guided by a strong ethos of social and service design for development in marginalised communities. The paper also draws on a case study in Namibia and South Africa titled ‘My Dream World’. This case study presents a good example of how the social design for services framework functions in practice during experimentation and research in the field. The social design for services framework transfers the World Design group’s research results into practical action, providing a tool for the facilitation of design and research processes for sustainable development in marginal contexts.

An Econometric Analysis on the Relationship between Globalisation and Inequality in South Africa

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 89-89
Author(s):  
Jacques de Jongh
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Causality Analysis ◽  
Global Integration ◽  
Development Indicators ◽  
Long Run ◽  
The World ◽  
Distribution Of Resources ◽  
Short Run ◽  
The Impact

Globalisation has had an unprecedented impact on the development and well-being of societies across the globe. Whilst the process has been lauded for bringing about greater trade specialisation and factor mobility many have also come to raise concerns on its impact in the distribution of resources. For South Africa in particular this has been somewhat of a contentious issue given the country's controversial past and idiosyncratic socio-economic structure. Since 1994 though, considerable progress towards its global integration has been made, however this has largely coincided with the establishment of, arguably, the highest levels of income inequality the world has ever seen. This all has raised several questions as to whether a more financially open and technologically integrated economy has induced greater within-country inequality (WCI). This study therefore has the objective to analyse the impact of the various dimensions of globalisation (economic, social and political) on inequality in South Africa. Secondary annual time series from 1990 to 2018 were used sourced from the World Bank Development indicators database, KOF Swiss Economic Institute and the World Inequality database. By using different measures of inequality (Palma ratios and distribution figures), the study employed two ARDL models to test the long-run relationships with the purpose to ensure the robustness of the results. Likewise, two error correction models (ECM) were used to analyse the short-run dynamics between the variables. As a means of identifying the casual effects between the variables, a Toda-Yamamoto granger causality analysis was utilised. Keywords: ARDL, Inequality, Economic Globalisation; Social Globalisation; South Africa

scholarly journals The Impact of Lack of Clean Cooking Fuels on Sustainable Development in Developing Countries

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ifeoluwa Garba ◽  
Richard Bellingham
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Developing Countries ◽  
Fossil Fuels ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Business Models ◽  
Clean Energy ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The World ◽  
Cooking Fuels ◽  
The Impact

Access to energy is crucial in tackling many of the current global development challenges that impact on people’s economic, health and social well-being as well as the ability to meet the commitments of reducing carbon emissions through clean energy use. Despite increased attention from multiple governments and agencies, energy poverty remains a serious sustainable development issue in many developing countries. To date, most research have focused on general access to electricity and the generation of clean energy to replace fossil fuels, failing to address the lack of basic access to clean energy for cooking and heating. More people in the world lack access to clean cooking fuels than to electricity. This issue is one aspect of a broader research which investigates the impacts of optimized energy policy and energy business models on sustainable development in developing countries.

scholarly journals A conceptual simulation workflow to guide design decisions regarding the effects of daylight on occupants’ alertness

2021 ◽  
Vol 2042 (1) ◽  
pp. 012116
Author(s):  
Pierson Clotilde ◽  
Soto Magán Victoria Eugenia ◽  
Aarts Mariëlle ◽  
Andersen Marilyne
Keyword(s):  
Light Exposure ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Research Field ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Spectral Simulation ◽  
Design Decisions ◽  
Computational Tools ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Recent developments in the lighting research field have demonstrated the importance of a proper exposure to light to mediate several of our behavioral and physiological responses. However, we spend nowadays around 90% of our time indoors with an often quite limited access to bright daylight. To be able to anticipate how much the built environment actually influences our light exposure, and how much it may ultimately impact our health, well-being, and productivity, new computational tools are needed. In this paper, we present a first attempt at a simulation workflow that integrates a spectral simulation tool with a light-driven prediction model of alertness. The goal is to optimize the effects of light on building occupants, by informing the decision makers about the impact of different design choices. The workflow is applied to a case study to provide an example of what learnings can be expected from it.

scholarly journals Impact of Globalisation on African and Its Implications to Education

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. p81
Author(s):  
Titus Ogalo Pacho
Keyword(s):  
Well Being ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Cultural Economic ◽  
Global Society ◽  
The World ◽  
Theoretical Paper ◽  
Environmental Events ◽  
Almost All ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Diverse Cultures

Globalisation is one of the most powerful worldwide forces transforming society. It dominates today’s world as a major driver of change. Globalisation has brought about an agglomeration of cultures, where diverse cultures not only interact but also sometimes clash. It permeates through all spheres of life including the environment, politics, economy, prosperity, culture, religion, education, and human well-being in societies across the globe. The present “villagization” of the world has greatly affected many African countries in almost all aspects of life. It has done so in both positive and negative ways. With the emergence of a global society, social, cultural, economic, political, technological and environmental events in one part of the world quickly come to be significant for people in other parts of the world. This theoretical paper assesses the impact of globalisation for Africa and its implications to education.

Quantification of ESG Regulations: A Cross-Country Benchmarking Analysis

2021 ◽  
pp. 097226292110541
Author(s):  
Monica Singhania ◽  
Neha Saini
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Financial Information ◽  
Social Awareness ◽  
Financial Disclosures ◽  
Cross Country ◽  
Economic Choices

Environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria mean investment in economic choices which, without interference with the environment, are intended to promote long-term economic and social well-being. Due to high environmental and social awareness, customers expect companies to devote time and efforts to such sustainable practices. This attitude has led to an overall rise in ESG disclosures and reporting instruments globally with a focus on influence of ESG disclosures on financial performance of companies. Many European countries have already introduced mandatory disclosure of non-financial information. This transition from voluntary to mandatory motivated other countries to adopt mandatory ESG disclosure practices for sustainable development. The practice of reporting non-financial disclosures has been rising due to several reasons, such as increasing visibility, informing customers, avoiding the risk associated with firm performance and achieving sustainability. Countries in the early stages of ESG disclosure need to understand the benchmark practices used by countries with a well-developed ESG system. For preparing the ESG disclosure index and benchmarking based on disclosure score, this study considers a set of developed and developing countries with their ESG disclosures. On the basis of ESG disclosures, the countries have been classified into four different categories. We found Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, United Kingdom, Belgium and France, to have high ESG scores and have been classified as Countries with Well-Developed ESG Framework. Germany, Italy, USA, Australia, Switzerland, Canada, Japan, Brazil and South Africa have medium to high ESG scores and fall under the category Rapidly improving ESG framework. While Singapore, India, China, Philippines, Malaysia and Argentina are categorized as countries with ESG framework at developing stage, Russia, Indonesia, Thailand, Nigeria and Vietnam are classified as Countries with early-stage framework due to low ESG scores.

Thinking Systemically About Security and Resilience in an Era of Cybered Conflict

2019 ◽  
pp. 44-59
Author(s):  
Peter Dombrowski ◽  
Chris C. Demchak
Keyword(s):  
International System ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Systemic Approach ◽  
Economic Systems ◽  
The World ◽  
Peace And War ◽  
Over Time ◽  
Civil Societies

The international system now depends on cyberspace, a global ‘substrate' of massive, complex, insecurely designed networks providing systemic advantages to masses of predators and adversaries. States today face an unprecedented spectrum of ‘cybered conflict' between peace and war with growing existential implications. Their piecemeal searches for defensible jurisdictions are creating a rising Cyber Westphalian world crisscrossed with gateways, holes, national cyber forces, and often partial, uncoordinated, or vague strategies. Over time, the world will have robust, midlevel, and poor cyber powers, with the first tier coercing the others and dominating the rules of exchange. Democratic civil societies are not guaranteed to be robust. For acceptable future societal well-being in a deceptive and opaque cybered world, decision-makers need a systemic approach based on the logic of complex socio-technical-economic systems (STES) to create the systemic resilience and disruption capacities across shareable (across allies/sectors) secure architectures essential to becoming a robust cyber power, which is the focus of this chapter.

scholarly journals Protest against social inequalities in B.W. Vilakazi’s poem 'Ngoba ... sewuthi' ('Because ... you now say')

Literator ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-100 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Zondi ◽  
N. Canonici
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Social Inequalities ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Black Workers ◽  
National Party ◽  
Capitalist System ◽  
Working Classes ◽  
The World

Long before the National Party institutionalised apartheid in 1948, individuals and organisations tried to highlight the injustices of the colonial capitalist system in South Africa, but, as Lodge (1983:6) puts it, “it all ended in speeches”. This article seeks to demonstrate how Benedict Wallet Vilakazi effectively broke the silence by bringing the plight of the black masses to the attention of the world. He strongly protested against the enslavement of black labourers, especially in the gold and diamond mines, that he depicts as responsible for the human, psychological and physical destruction of the black working classes. As a self-appointed spokesperson of the oppressed, he protested against the injustices through the medium of his poetry. One of his grave concerns was the fact that black workers had been reduced to a class with no name, no rights, practically with no life and no soul. The chosen poem “Ngoba … sewuthi” (Because … you now say) is thus representative of the poems in which B.W Vilakazi externalised his commitment to the well-being of the black workers, and his protest against the insensitivity of white employers.

Regulatory Impact Assessment and Sustainable Development: Towards a Common Framework?

2010 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 276-280 ◽  
Author(s):  
Klaus Jacob
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Risk Analysis ◽  
Impact Assessment ◽  
Political Science ◽  
Strategic Thinking ◽  
Regulatory Impact ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Common Framework ◽  
The Eu ◽  
Regulatory Impact Assessment

This section regularly examines Regulatory Impact Assessment (IA) at three levels: the EU, the Member States and internationally. Contributions aim to cover aspects such as the interface between IA and risk analysis, looking at methodologies as well as legal and political science-related issues. Contributions are meant to report and critically assess recent developments in the field, develop strategic thinking, and make constructive recommendations for improving performance in IA processes.

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