Landmine Clearance and Peacebuilding: Evidence from Somaliland

The mine action sector has struggled to demonstrate the socioeconomic benefits of mine clearance. Previous academic studies have made important contributions but have been limited in offering in-depth discussions of causal pathways. This paper seeks to fill that gap. It proposes a new framework, the Mine Clearance and Peacebuilding Synergies (MPS) framework that combines the Humanitarian Mine Action Peacebuilding Palette, the Mine Action- Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) framework and theoretical considerations from the Infrastructure as Peacebuilding framework to interrogate this interaction. Using Somaliland's post-conflict reconstruction as a case study, we analyze qualitative and quantitative data to map both the direct and indirect benefits of mine clearance in relation to infrastructure development. We find that mine clearance can influence both economic and physical reconstruction through its impact on dominant economic sectors as well as critical strategic infrastructure, including ports and roads, and demonstrate the synergies therein with an array of SDGs.

The Costs, Benefits and Stakeholder Analysis of an Irish Social Housing Deep Energy Retrofit Case Study

This paper analyses the results of a pilot deep energy retrofit (DER) implementation including the financial perspectives of the stakeholders with the aim of assisting DER policy development. The Multiple Beneficiary Analysis (MBA) provides technical and energetic details for a recent 12-unit DER social housing project and quantifies the multiple direct and indirect benefits – e.g. financial, economic and societal to enable a stakeholder (beneficiary) analysis. The analysis is apposite given the urgent need for effective policy development in order to enable the achievement of the low-energy retrofit mandated by the EU. The MBA finds that the stakeholder who benefits most (the tenant) makes no financial contribution to the higher standards and while the Central Exchequer also benefits significantly, the stakeholder who makes the upgrade decision (landlord) is financially dis-incentivised. Given the significant benefits which accrue to the Central Exchequer, there is an opportunity for strategic investment by the government to unlock the benefits of low energy dwellings. This would simultaneously realise ongoing financial benefits, “seed” the capability within industry and crucially increase the knowledge and understanding of low energy dwellings which is necessary to enable widespread adoption. The key finding is that despite potential returns of approximately twice the investment, and the urgent need to retrofit existing buildings, the required DER uptake is unlikely as the decision-makers require financial support to unleash the multiple benefits of energy efficient dwellings. A self-financing support is suggested for the case study for consideration.

Towards Green(er) Cities: Contextualizing Green Benefits for Urban Spaces and Contemporary Societies

<p>There is an expanding understanding of the value and critical need for green(er) cities. It comes at a time when green spaces are depleting on a global scale, in order for cities to host the majority of the world’s population. The contest between diverse land-uses is inflating the pressure on already strained resources, intensifying the growing carbon footprint and impairing water quality, and compromising health and overall quality of life. Soon our cities will be far removed from the safe, clean, and liveable environments, as envisioned in planning theory, if we continue with business-as-usual. There is an increasing scientific appreciation of the interrelated role of green land-uses, the value of our environment and its related ecosystem services, which acts as catalyst to realise the objectives of broader sustainability. Although literature is clear on the importance, role, benefits, and impact of green(er) cities, the realisation of the greening initiatives in practice is still limited, and more should be done to embed green(er) thinking as part of mainstream urban planning. Urban spatial transformation is needed to reclaim nature for cities and to enhance the direct and indirect benefits that nature provides to contemporary societies. This thematic issue considered various trans-disciplinary approaches to provide a way forward in the quest of prioritising the notion of green(er) cities, while drawing on a range of evidence-led initiatives.</p>

Community-driven tree planting greens the neighbouring landscape

Nature-based solutions to climate change are growing policy priorities yet remain hard to quantify. Here we use remote sensing to quantify direct and indirect benefits from community-led agroforestry by The International Small group and Tree planting program (TIST) in Kenya. Since 2005, TIST-Kenya has incentivised smallholder farmers to plant trees for agricultural benefit and to sequester CO2. We use Landsat-7 satellite imagery to examine the effect on the historically deforested landscape around Mount Kenya. We identify positive greening trends in TIST groves during 2000–2019 relative to the wider landscape. These groves cover 27,198 ha, and a further 27,750 ha of neighbouring agricultural land is also positively influenced by TIST. This positive ‘spill-over’ impact of TIST activity occurs at up to 360 m distance. TIST also benefits local forests, e.g. through reducing fuelwood and fodder extraction. Our results show that community-led initiatives can lead to successful landscape-scale regreening on decadal timescales.

Manufacturing Revolutions: Industrial Policy and Industrialization in South Korea

I study the impact of industrial policy on industrial development by considering a canonical intervention. Following a political crisis, South Korea dramatically altered its development strategy with a sector-specific industrial policy: the Heavy Chemical and Industry (HCI) drive, 1973-1979. With newly assembled historical data, I use the sharp introduction and withdrawal of industrial policies to study the impacts of industrial policy—during and after the intervention period. I show (1) HCI promoted the expansion and dynamic comparative advantage of directly targeted industries. (2) Using variation in exposure to policies through the input-output network, I show HCI indirectly benefited downstream users of targeted intermediates. (3) I find direct and indirect benefits of HCI persisted even after the end of HCI, following the 1979 assassination of the president. These effects include the eventual development of directly targeted exporters and their downstream counterparts. Together, my findings suggest that the temporary drive shifted Korea manufacturing into more advanced markets and created durable industrial change. These findings clarify lessons drawn from South Korea and the East Asian growth miracle.

Peat Land Oil Palm Farmers’ Direct and Indirect Benefits from Good Agriculture Practices

With economically unsustainable metroxylon sagu (sago palms) found in peat lands, small scale farmers are gradually converting their land to oil palm cultivation. Good agriculture practices (GAP) were inculcated to peat land farmers to ensure that the environmental ecosystem is conserved and oil palm productivity is enhanced, along with the farmer’s well-being. The present study examined the effect of GAP on farm performance and the perceived economic well-being of the peat land oil palm farmers. We interviewed randomly selected farmers with assistance from a locally trained native enumerator to complete the survey questionnaire. We conducted partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) to incorporate direct and indirect benefits on farmers’ economic well-being to estimate the significance of GAP. The empirical results show that GAP have direct positive effects on farm performance. Such practices lead to significant positive impacts on the economic well-being of peat land oil palm farmers. This solid evidence makes it much easier for small-scale farmers to convert from conventional farming to environmentally friendly farming, and ensures safe and healthy oil palm cultivation.

Pain and its management: Dante’s Divine Comedy

Dante Alighieri died in 1321; therefore, 2021 is the 700th anniversary of his death. His best known work is the Divine Comedy, which explores Dante’s journey through the three realms of the underworld. Each realm is associated with three different sensations: Inferno, bodily (pain); Purgatorio, acoustic (music); and Paradiso, visual (light). The progression of the painful experiences and the resolution through music and light mirror the modern understanding of pain and its management. Music has both direct and indirect benefits and can help with coping. Sunlight promotes well-being and self-awareness.

Female preferences for male golden snub-nosed monkeys vary with male age and social context

Age is a key factor affecting sexual selection, as many physical and social traits are age-related. Although studies of primate mate choice often consider particular age-related traits, few consider the collective effects of male age. We tested the hypothesis that female golden snub-nosed monkeys Rhinopithecus roxellana prefer prime aged males (10–15 years) over younger and older males. We examined a habituated, provisioned troop during a 3-year study in the Qinling Mountains, China. Prime age males were more likely to be resident males of one-male units (OMUs) than males of other ages. Since females are free to transfer between OMUs, the number of females per OMU can be indicative of female preferences. We examined the number of females per OMU, and found that it increased with resident male age up to 7–8 years, and declined after 12 years, such that prime age resident males had more females than other resident males. Females also initiated extra-unit copulations with high-ranking prime age males at significantly higher rates than with other males. Nevertheless, females tended to transfer from OMUs with high-ranking, older resident males to those with lower-ranking, younger resident males. Thus, females appear to use different strategies when choosing social mates and extra-unit mates (i.e., different social contexts). We speculate that females may perceive early signs of aging in males and trade off the benefits and costs of high rank vs. male senescence. This study lays the groundwork for future studies that examine possible direct and indirect benefits of such strategies.

Community-driven tree planting greens the neighbouring landscape

Nature-based solutions to climate change are growing policy priorities yet remain hard to quantify. Here we use remote sensing to quantify direct and indirect benefits from community-led agroforestry by The International Small group and Tree planting program (TIST) in Kenya. Since 2005, TIST-Kenya has incentivised smallholder farmers to plant trees for agricultural benefit and to sequester CO2. We use Landsat-7 satellite imagery to examine the effect on the historically deforested landscape around Mount Kenya. We identify positive greening trends in TIST groves during 2000-2019 relative to the wider landscape. These groves cover 27,198 hectares, and a further 27,750 hectares of neighbouring agricultural land is also positively influenced by TIST. This positive ‘spill-over’ impact of TIST activity occurs at up to 360m distance. TIST also benefits local forests, e.g. through reducing fuelwood and fodder extraction. Our results show that community-led initiatives can lead to successful landscape-scale regreening on decadal timescales.

Consumer’s Surplus: An Equity Measure of High Speed Rail Investments

An economic analysis identifies, measures, and compares the costs and benefits of alternative interventions, with the objective of supporting decisions concerning the best use of limited resources. The cost benefit analysis (CBA) has played a significant role within the entire decision-making process, and is the principal assessment methodology. In recent years, equity issues in relation to transportation planning have become a hot topic at an international level. In this paper, the objective was to integrate equity within the evaluation of transport projects, specifically high speed rail projects. Here, consumer surplus is conceived as a monetized measure of both direct and indirect benefits for all zones, and for all socioeconomic categories served and not served by HSR, respectively. The added value of this paper is in rethinking these two shares in the computation of the total net present value as equity measures of the project itself. Specifically, the distribution of the HSR benefits among the different groups or zones in a given study area can be computed, and a comparison of the values for each zone of the study area and for each category makes it possible to assess the effects of equity between zones/categories.