Integrated system dynamics modelling of the water-energy-food-land-climate nexus in Latvia: exploring the impact of policy measures in a nexus-wide context

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janez Sušnik ◽  
Sara Masia ◽  
Daina Indriksone ◽  
Ingrida Bremere ◽  
Lydia Vamvakeridou-Lyroudia ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
System Dynamics ◽  
Crop Yields ◽  
Policy Design ◽  
Climate Change Policy ◽  
Resource Scarcity ◽  
Integrated System ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Future System ◽  
Policy Objectives ◽  
The Impact

<p>Water-energy-food-land-climate interact in a complex system operating on many scales. Better understanding this system, and its response to change (e.g. climate change, policy change) is urgently required, yet little progress has been made on integrating real policy objectives into nexus models to assess potential nexus-wide impacts of policy decisions. Given current concerns on resource scarcity, and on the growing appreciation of how connected the sectors are, understanding how the implementation of policy objectives in one area will impact (1) other nexus sectors and (2) potential future system behaviour, is becoming vitally important. Despite this, little progress has been towards such an understanding. In this work, a fully integrated system dynamics model of the water-energy-food-land-climate nexus in Latvia is presented. The model couples all the sectors in a feedback driven modelling framework. In addition, real Latvian policies are integrated within various nexus sectors (e.g. a policy to improve crop yields or to expand agricultural lands at the expense of other land use types). Due to the integrated nature of the model, executing any policy will not only have an impact within the policy sector (e.g. water), but the nexus-wide impacts can also be determined. Results show that due to the interconnectedness, impacts range far more widely than may be anticipated. As such, synergies can be identified and harnessed, while trade-offs can be avoided. Policy can then be (re-)designed to maximise nexus-wide benefits. This work is carried out in the framework of the H2020 project SIM4NEXUS, which will deliver 10 more such models exploring the policy impacts on the nexus at different scales (sub-national to European). As such, the work starts to fill a crucial academic and applied knowledge gap: how policies designed for a single sector have impacts that ripple throughout the entire nexus. As such, guidelines for more intelligent policy design can start to be formulated, something that is lacking in current nexus research.</p>

Integrated system dynamics modelling of the water-energy-food-land-climate nexus in Latvia: exploring the impact of policy measures in a nexus-wide context

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janez Susnik ◽  
Sara Masia ◽  
Daina Indriksone ◽  
Ingrida Bremere ◽  
Lydia Vamvakeridou-Lyroudia ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
System Dynamics ◽  
Crop Yields ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Resource Scarcity ◽  
Integrated System ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Future System ◽  
Policy Objectives ◽  
The Impact

<p>The water-energy-food-land-climate nexus sectors interact in a complex system operating on many scales. Better understanding this system, and its response to change (e.g. climate change, policy implementation) is urgently required, yet little progress has been made on integrating real policy objectives into nexus models to assess potential nexus-wide impacts of policy decisions. Given current concerns on resource scarcity, and on the growing appreciation of how connected the sectors are, under-standing how the implementation of policy objectives in one area will impact (1) other nexus sectors and (2) potential future system behaviour, is becoming vitally important. Despite this, little progress has been towards such an understanding. In this work, a fully integrated system dynamics model of the water-energy-food-land-climate nexus in Latvia is presented. The model couples all the nexus sectors in a feedback driven modelling framework. Latvia is represented in five distinct yet inter-acting regions, allowing finer scale interrogation of results and policy implications. In addition, real Latvian policies are integrated within various nexus sectors (e.g. a policy to improve crop yields or to expand agricultural lands at the expense of other land use types). Due to the integrated nature of the model, executing any policy will not only have an impact within the policy sector (e.g. water), but the nexus-wide impacts can also be determined (e.g. on GHG emissions). Results show that due to the inter-connectedness, impacts range far more widely than may be anticipated. For example, implementing policies to achieve goals related to cereal land coverage in Latvia prevents the attainment of policy goals relating to emissions reductions. As such, synergies can be identified and harnessed, while trade-offs can be avoided. Policy can then be (re-)designed to maximise nexus-wide benefits. This work is carried out in the framework of the H2020 project SIM4NEXUS, which will deliver 10 more such models exploring the policy impacts on the nexus at different scales (sub-national to European). As such, the work starts to fill a crucial academic and applied knowledge gap: how policies designed for a single sector have impacts that ripple throughout the entire nexus. As such, guidelines for more intelligent policy design can start to be formulated, something that is lacking in current nexus research.</p>

scholarly journals Agricultural diversification promotes multiple ecosystem services without compromising yield

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (45) ◽  
pp. eaba1715 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giovanni Tamburini ◽  
Riccardo Bommarco ◽  
Thomas Cherico Wanger ◽  
Claire Kremen ◽  
Marcel G. A. van der Heijden ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Nutrient Cycling ◽  
Soil Fertility ◽  
Pest Control ◽  
Crop Yields ◽  
Cropping Systems ◽  
Context Dependency ◽  
Water Regulation ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
The Impact

Enhancing biodiversity in cropping systems is suggested to promote ecosystem services, thereby reducing dependency on agronomic inputs while maintaining high crop yields. We assess the impact of several diversification practices in cropping systems on above- and belowground biodiversity and ecosystem services by reviewing 98 meta-analyses and performing a second-order meta-analysis based on 5160 original studies comprising 41,946 comparisons between diversified and simplified practices. Overall, diversification enhances biodiversity, pollination, pest control, nutrient cycling, soil fertility, and water regulation without compromising crop yields. Practices targeting aboveground biodiversity boosted pest control and water regulation, while those targeting belowground biodiversity enhanced nutrient cycling, soil fertility, and water regulation. Most often, diversification practices resulted in win-win support of services and crop yields. Variability in responses and occurrence of trade-offs highlight the context dependency of outcomes. Widespread adoption of diversification practices shows promise to contribute to biodiversity conservation and food security from local to global scales.

scholarly journals Analysis of the Validity of Environmental Kuznets Curve for the Baltic States

2013 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-46 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giedrė Lapinskienė ◽  
Manuela Tvaronavičienė ◽  
Pranas Vaitkus
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Environmental Kuznets Curve ◽  
Policy Design ◽  
Climate Change Policy ◽  
Development Stage ◽  
Kuznets Curve ◽  
Cubic Equation ◽  
Use Of Resources ◽  
The Baltic ◽  
The Impact

Abstract The paper analyses a traditional Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) relationship between greenhouse gases (GHG) and gross domestic product (GDP), extending the research to include some additional factors, such as environmental tax, research and development expenditure, implicit tax rate on energy, primary production of coal and lignite, energy intensity of the economy taken from the Eurostat database. The EKC indicates that, at the early stages of economic growth, pollution increases with the growing use of resources, but when a certain level of income per capita is reached, the trend reverses so that, at a higher development stage, further economic growth leads to the improvement of the environment. In the first part of the research, the validity of the reduced EKC for the Baltic region for the period 1995-2008 is determined. In the second part, the impact of selected factors is statistically tested. In both cases, the standard cubic equation is used because it is believed that this model is the most accurate for the development stage of this region. The research results may be useful for climate change policy design.

scholarly journals Designing for Adaptation in Workers’ Individual Behaviors and Collective Structures With Cognitive Work Analysis: Case Study of the Diagram of Work Organization Possibilities

2020 ◽  
pp. 001872081989351 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ben Elix ◽  
Neelam Naikar
Keyword(s):  
Work Organization ◽  
Integrated System ◽  
Cognitive Work Analysis ◽  
Work Analysis ◽  
Individual Behaviors ◽  
Industrial Setting ◽  
Future System ◽  
Cognitive Work ◽  
The Impact

Objective We demonstrate that the diagram of work organization possibilities, a recent addition to cognitive work analysis, can be used to develop designs that promote adaptation in the workplace. Background Workers in sociotechnical systems adapt not just their individual behaviors but also their collective structures in dealing with instability, uncertainty, and unpredictability in their tasks. However, conventional design approaches are limited in supporting adaptations in both workers’ behaviors and structures, especially during unforeseen situations. The work organization possibilities diagram has the potential to meet these requirements, but its value for design has not been established. Method We present a case study of a future system for maritime surveillance that provides an analytical demonstration of the utility of the diagram for design and empirical validation of the impact, uniqueness, and feasibility of this approach in an industrial setting. Results This application results in a team design that is integrated with the career and training progression pathway of the crew in a way that maximizes the system’s behavioral and structural possibilities for adaptation. Further, the approach has impact on practice, makes a distinct contribution to design relative to other techniques, and is implemented feasibly in an industrial setting. Conclusion The work organization possibilities diagram can contribute to the development of an integrated system design that supports actors’ possibilities for behavioral and structural adaptation in a unified fashion. Application This research provides a basis for designing interfaces, teams, training, and automation that preserve a system’s inherent capacity for adaptation.

scholarly journals Plant Responses to an Integrated Cropping System Designed to Maintain Yield Whilst Enhancing Soil Properties and Biodiversity

Agronomy ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (10) ◽  
pp. 229 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cathy Hawes ◽  
Colin Alexander ◽  
Graham Begg ◽  
Pietro Iannetta ◽  
Alison Karley ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Management System ◽  
Crop Yields ◽  
Integrated Management ◽  
Cropping System ◽  
Integrated System ◽  
Agricultural System ◽  
Integrated Management System ◽  
Trade Offs

The intensification of arable production since the 1950s has resulted in increases in yield but only at significant cost to the environment, raising serious concerns about long-term consequences for the sustainability of food production systems. While a range of policies and practices have been put in place to mitigate negative effects in terms of pollution, soil degradation and loss of biodiversity, their efficacy has not been properly quantified. Whole-system effects of management change are rarely studied and so trade-offs and conflicts between different components of the agricultural system are poorly understood. A long-term field platform was therefore established in which conventional arable management was compared with a low-input, integrated cropping system designed with the goal to maintain yields whilst enhancing biodiversity and minimizing environmental impact. Over the first rotation, only winter wheat yielded less under integrated management; yield was maintained for the remaining five crops (spring and winter barley, winter oilseed rape, potato and field beans), suggesting a negligible impact on economic returns. Beneficial broad-leaved weeds were significantly more abundant in the integrated management system across all crops whereas grass weeds showed no overall response to treatment. Soil carbon, pH and soil concentrations of the main plant growth-limiting macronutrients were enhanced under the integrated management system. The integrated system was therefore successful in meeting the goals to enhance biodiversity and reduce environmental impact without jeopardizing crop yields.

scholarly journals Does Accountability Undermine Service Delivery? The Impact of Devolving Agriculture in Ghana

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Danielle Resnick
Keyword(s):  
Service Provision ◽  
National Policy ◽  
Budget Process ◽  
Electoral Accountability ◽  
Goods And Services ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Policy Objectives ◽  
Original Survey ◽  
The Impact ◽  
District Assemblies

AbstractIn recent years, many developing countries have devolved services to locally elected governments. Although this may strengthen downwards accountability to citizens, does devolution improve service provision? Ghana began devolving agriculture in 2012 to its Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies (MMDAs). Drawing on an original survey with 80 District Directors of Agriculture and 960 households, as well as district-level budget data and interviews with national and local government stakeholders, this paper shows that agricultural expenditures and services have been negatively affected by the transition. The imperative of electoral accountability encourages assembly members to de-prioritize agriculture in the budget process in favor of more visible goods and services. Budget allocations, however, do reflect the preferences of local citizens, a majority of whom value using elections to sanction their district politicians. The findings indicate that devolution may increase accountability but result in sectoral trade-offs in service provision, which may undermine national policy objectives.

Independent commissions and labour migration: The British MAC

2014 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-32
Author(s):  
Philip L. Martin ◽  
Martin Ruhs
Keyword(s):  
Labour Force ◽  
Migration Policy ◽  
Foreign Workers ◽  
Foreign Born ◽  
Independent Evidence ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Labour Immigration ◽  
British Labour ◽  
Policy Objectives ◽  
The Uk

The independent Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) was created in 2007 after a decade in which the share of foreign-born workers in the British labour force doubled to 13 per cent. The initial core mandate of the MAC was to provide “independent, evidence-based advice to government on specific skilled occupations in the labour market where shortages exist which can sensibly be filled by migration.” The MAC's answers to these 3-S questions, viz, is the occupation for which employers are requesting foreign workers skilled, are there labour shortages, and is admitting foreign workers a sensible response, have improved the quality of the debate over the “need” for foreign workers in the UK by highlighting some of the important trade-offs inherent in migration policy making. The MAC can clarify migration trade-offs in labour immigration policy, but cannot decide the ultimately political questions about whose interests should be prioritised and how competing policy objectives should be balanced.

Should Attitudinal Views toward Innovation Development Play a Role in Policy in Peripheral EU Regions?: New Evidence from Vouchers Program in Northern Ireland

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 121-137
Author(s):  
Sean M. McDonald ◽  
Remi C. Claire ◽  
Alastair H. McPherson
Keyword(s):  
Economic Development ◽  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Policy Design ◽  
Regional Economic Development ◽  
Innovation Development ◽  
Regional Economic ◽  
Eu Regions ◽  
Future Policy ◽  
The Impact ◽  
New Evidence

The impact and effectiveness of policies to support collaboration for Research & Development (R&D) and Innovation is critical to determining the success of regional economic development. (O’Kane, 2008) The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the level of success of the Innovation Vouchers Program operated by Invest Northern Ireland (Invest NI) from 2009 to 2013 and address if attitudinal views towards innovation development should play in a role in future policy design in peripheral EU regions. 

HOW CLIMATE CHANGE CAN INFLUENCE THE AGRICULTURE IN UKRAINE: A REVIEW

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Maidanovych ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Crop Yields ◽  
Soil Surface ◽  
Winter Period ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Resource Saving ◽  
Impact Of Climate Change ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Average Annual Temperature ◽  
The Impact

The purpose of this work is to review and analyze the main results of modern research on the impact of climate change on the agro-sphere of Ukraine. Results. Analysis of research has shown that the effects of climate change on the agro-sphere are already being felt today and will continue in the future. The observed climate changes in recent decades have already significantly affected the shift in the northern direction of all agro-climatic zones of Europe, including Ukraine. From the point of view of productivity of the agro-sphere of Ukraine, climate change will have both positive and negative consequences. The positives include: improving the conditions of formation and reducing the harvesting time of crop yields; the possibility of effective introduction of late varieties (hybrids), which require more thermal resources; improving the conditions for overwintering crops; increase the efficiency of fertilizer application. Model estimates of the impact of climate change on wheat yields in Ukraine mainly indicate the positive effects of global warming on yields in the medium term, but with an increase in the average annual temperature by 2 ° C above normal, grain yields are expected to decrease. The negative consequences of the impact of climate change on the agrosphere include: increased drought during the growing season; acceleration of humus decomposition in soils; deterioration of soil moisture in the southern regions; deterioration of grain quality and failure to ensure full vernalization of grain; increase in the number of pests, the spread of pathogens of plants and weeds due to favorable conditions for their overwintering; increase in wind and water erosion of the soil caused by an increase in droughts and extreme rainfall; increasing risks of freezing of winter crops due to lack of stable snow cover. Conclusions. Resource-saving agricultural technologies are of particular importance in the context of climate change. They include technologies such as no-till, strip-till, ridge-till, which make it possible to partially store and accumulate mulch on the soil surface, reduce the speed of the surface layer of air and contribute to better preservation of moisture accumulated during the autumn-winter period. And in determining the most effective ways and mechanisms to reduce weather risks for Ukrainian farmers, it is necessary to take into account the world practice of climate-smart technologies.

Global Algorithmic Capital Markets

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Capital Markets ◽  
Systemic Risk ◽  
High Frequency ◽  
Investor Protection ◽  
High Frequency Trading ◽  
Market Making ◽  
Market Governance ◽  
Policy Objectives ◽  
The Impact

This book illustrates and assesses the dramatic recent transformations in capital markets worldwide and the impact of those transformations. ‘Market making’ by humans in centralized markets has been replaced by supercomputers and algorithmic high frequency trading operating in often highly fragmented markets. How do recent market changes impact on core public policy objectives such as investor protection, reduction of systemic risk, fairness, efficiency, and transparency in markets? The operation and health of capital markets affect all of us and have profound implications for equality and justice in society. This unique set of chapters by leading scholars, industry insiders, and regulators sheds light on these and related questions and discusses ways to strengthen market governance for the benefit of society at large.

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