The “Sustainable Destination Structure” for Sustainable Tourist Demand - Selective Marketing for Sustainable Tourism Demand for Unpolluted Areas

Observing the recent developments of the demand for tourist products, we notice some very important changes in the tourists’ preferences of consumption toward a different sense of quality, asking for new quality models based on virginity, pure nature, highly maintained clean spaces, authenticity, cultural heritage and high responsibility and consciousness on sustainability. The natural environment represents the main resource to this demand on many tourism destinations. This is related to the fact that tourists increasingly are interested in spending their holidays in unspoiled natural territories. To this end, destination managers recently are under increased pressure to improve their eco-quality, maximize the hygiene, as well as to implement ecologically sustainable practices and systems. Based and stimulated by this evidence, a process of selective targeting/segmentation of tourist market could be an approach to sustainable destination management, both generally in the international market, but very promising to the Albanian case of the tourist sector future development, focusing at the region of Elbasan. Considering and analyzing the ecological footprint of Albania, and particularly that of Elbasan region, this paper will try to test these possibilities. To observe the feasibility of this approach, the study will be focused on tourists, between Albanians and foreign visitors, regarding their main reasons of returning in the same destinations. The questions to be treated will be mainly focused on the quality of the tourist services, the environmentally friendly behavior, as well as psychographic, behavioral, and socio-demographic personal characteristics of the tourists. Focusing and deepening in sustainable tourism destinations’ management could foster the increase in the number of day-vacations for one year, strongly also influencing the normal development of the supporting industries. This asks for techniques which focus on eco-tourism and sustainability at the destinations, even why the tourist himself generally may not necessarily be interested in protecting and caring to the local environment. In conclusion, the study confirms the increasing trend of the orientation of the tourist demand toward unpolluted destinations and attractions, as well as the tendency to safeguard the environment and to use sustainable tourist resources

Culex Mosquitoes at Stormwater Control Measures and Combined Sewer Overflow Outfalls after Heavy Rainfall

Mosquito borne diseases are increasingly problematic as climate change continues to alter patterns of precipitation, flooding, and temperatures that may favor mosquito habitats. Stormwater control measures (SCMs), ecologically sustainable methods of stormwater management, may have varying impacts on Culex mosquitoes, such as in areas with combined sewer overflows (CSOs). We studied spatial and temporal associations of SCMs and Culex mosquito counts surrounding the SCMs, stratifying our examination amongst those that do/do not use pooling and/or vegetation, as well as surrounding CSO outfalls after heavy rainfall (≥95th percentile) during summer 2018. Results indicate Culex mosquito counts after heavy rainfall were not significantly different at SCMs that use vegetation and/or ponding from at those that do not. We also found a 35.5% reduction in the increase of Culex mosquitoes the day of, and 77.0% reduction 7–8 days after, heavy rainfall at CSO outfalls treated with medium SCM density compared to those without SCMs. Our results suggest that SCMs may be associated with a reduction in the increase of Culex mosquitoes at the CSO outfalls after heavy rainfall. More research is needed to study how the impacts of SCMs on mosquito populations may affect human health.

Book Review: Towards a Just and Ecologically Sustainable Peace

Book review of Joseph Camilleri and Deborah Guess (eds): Towards a Just and Ecologically Sustainable Peace: Navigating the Great Transition. Palgrave Macmillan, 2020, 363 pp.

Identification and Characterization of Triple Action Bioagents (TAB) and Their Potency against Fusarium Wilt of Lentil

Fusarium wilt is a severe disease that plays a significant role in reducing the yield of lentil. Under favorable conditions for disease growth, the disease can cause complete crop failure and can be a crucial limiting issue for lentil cultivation in specific geographical zones. The current work focused on isolating potentialbio-agents exhibiting copper oxychloride resistance and evaluating their efficacy in seed treatment for ecologically sustainable management of Fusarium wilt of lentil. Seventy biocontrol agent isolates were isolated and tested for resistance by growing them on Potato Dextrose Agar medium (PDA) amended with copper oxychloride at the rate of 2500 ppm. Isolate-H10 and isolate-C9 showed more excellent compatibility with copper oxychloride fungicide with 69 mm and 65 mm radial growths, respectively. The isolates H10 and C9 had the highest inhibitory percentages of 84.30% and 83.94% against Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lentis, respectively, and the highest phosphorus solubilization index (PSI). Primers (ITS 1 and ITS 4) identified these putative bioagents as Trichoderma harzianum isolate skua-tab-1 and Penicillium crysogenum strain Tab2. Sequences were submitted to the NCBI and assigned the accession numbers MK414603 and MK418066. In pot culture, these isolates also demonstrated their superiority in reducing the disease incidence and severity if seeds were treated with H10 and C9 alone or in combination with copper oxychloride fungicide. The two isolated bioagents exhibit three fundamental properties: compatibility with copper oxychloride, antagonistic activity toward the pathogen fall armyworm, and the ability to dissolve phosphorus minerals.

The Future of Marine Spatial Planning—Perspectives from Early Career Researchers

In early 2021, the Erasmus+ knowledge flows partnership organised a session to discuss the future of marine spatial planning (MSP) at an international conference. We, a group of nine early career researchers, came together after the conference to continue the discussion: which topics should be considered in future MSP, what are the challenges, and which solutions are there to overcome these challenges? This communication shall raise awareness of the topics of climate change, ecological sustainability, blue justice, ecosystem services, and blue governance, which we identified as important for future MSP endeavours. We show the interconnectedness of the topics and argue that transdisciplinary education is required to contribute to a common understanding of MSP, which adopts an ecosystem-based approach, ensures equitable distribution of benefits, and secures ecologically sustainable development within an adaptive governance framework.

Role of the Land-Based Private Sector in Low-Emission Development: An Indonesian Case

The land-based private sector is a critical player in reducing emissions in Indonesia. While the Indonesian Government has undertaken various national efforts to reduce the rate of deforestation and land degradation, the involvement of land-based private sectors are still minimal. Using content and thematic analysis, this study explores why land-based private sector is not leading to low carbon development in Indonesia. More specifically, this study aims to: (1) analyse two key policies critically shaping the land-based private sector’s involvement in low emission development in Indonesia; (2) identify the land-based sector’s practices to engage in the development of low carbon policies in the East Kalimantan Province in Indonesia; and (3) conduct a participants’ perceptions analysis to identify the critical factors influencing their involvement in low emissions development. The results show that even though the Government has adopted several mandatory regulations to support the land-based private sector’s participation in emission reduction activities, to date, only a handful of businesses are actively involved in emission reduction efforts. The key barrier identified is the lack of incentives for the businesses to implement low emission programs/activities. This study offers four specific policy recommendations that could support land-based private sector involvement in low emission development in Indonesia. These include (1) establishment of an independent monitoring agency; (2) incentives for ecologically sustainable companies that meet predetermined standard criteria; (3) strict and fair sanctions as disincentives for companies that ignore regulations, and (4) building capacity of the land-based private sector to adopt and develop innovative low emission practices.

Lobsters, Whales, and Traps: The Politics of Endangerment in the Gulf of Maine

In 2019, a debate arose among Maine lobster fishers and environmental groups over the role of lobster traps in killing North Atlantic right whales, the world's most endangered whale species. Maine fishers denied that their gear was killing whales. To do so, they leveraged longstanding representations by regional natural and social scientists of lobster fishing as part of a unique and ecologically sustainable “heritage” economy—one that was itself “endangered” by over-regulation. Setting this debate in the context of a global climate crisis that is irrevocably changing Atlantic coastal environments, this article shows how ecological fragility and white working-class fragility become yoked together. Efforts to understand what lobster traps do, and how they might do it differently, perpetuated a key feature of settler colonialism, namely, the tendency to seek harmony between resource extraction and conservation.

Promoting Sustainability through Regional Food and Wine Pairing

Sustainable development has been growingly recognized as important in the scope of tourism and hospitality industry practices. Gastronomic tourism associated with regional food-and wine pairing helps the emerging of higher quality services and contributes to the sustainability of tourist destinations. This study presents a pairing model based on three Real-Time Delphi (RTD) questionnaires to allow experts to select and pair regional wines with regional foods. In the first questionnaire, the experts were asked to choose, by category, the most representative regional dishes from the Algarve region (Portugal). In the second questionnaire, for each dish, experts voted on the best regional wines for the dish. In the third questionnaire, experts made quantitative and qualitative analyses for each of the three most voted wines for each dish. The resulting pairing model of regional food and wines will be communicated to tourism professionals and the general public. By promoting the consumption of these pairings, we promote an efficient, socially fair, and ecologically sustainable local economy. At the same time, we stimulate the circular economy in tourism.

Intermediary Liability in the EU Digital Common Market

The European Union is committed to its transition towards climate neutrality and digital leadership, and synergies to be created in the EU Digital Common Market provide ample opportunities to achieve these goals: While from an economic perspective, the maximisation of market opportunities and the creation of a globally competitive digital economy are desirable, the transition must be technologically and ecologically sustainable and additionally compatible with established EU consumer protection standards. The latter is especially relevant in terms of the liability of online intermediaries for digital services, taking into account the rapid transformation of the digital architecture and the emergence of new major digital platforms for sales and services. This chapter, which is based on the Bachelor thesis handed in by Sander Sagar and supervised by Thomas Hoffmann for graduation at TalTech Law School, Tallinn University of Technology, intends to elucidate how the transition towards a common digital market is legally established in practice using as an example the adoption of the intermediaries’ liability regime to a digitalized environment from the E-Commerce Directive to the Digital Services Act.

Small artificial impoundments have big implications for hydrology and freshwater biodiversity

Headwater streams are critical for freshwater ecosystems. Global and continental studies consistently show major dams as dominant sources of hydrological stress threatening biodiversity in the world’s major rivers, but cumulative impacts from small artificial impoundments concentrated in headwater streams have rarely been acknowledged. Using the Murray Darling River basin (Australia)and the Arkansas River basin (USA) as case studies, we examine the hydrological impact of small artificial impoundments. The extent of their influence is significant, altering hydrology in 280 - 380% more waterways when compared to major dams alone. Hydrological impacts are concentrated in smaller streams (catchment area < 100 km2), raising concerns that the often diverse and highly endemic biota found in these systems may be under threat. Adjusting existing biodiversity planning and management approaches to address the cumulative effects of many small and widely distributed artificial impoundments presents a rapidly emerging challenge for ecologically sustainable water management.