Improving the sustainability of cocoa smallholders farming in Aceh, Indonesia

Cocoa is the main plantation commodity in Aceh as Aceh government reinforces Aceh as the national cocoa resource. Various efforts have been performed through many development and training programs for sustainable cocoa production. This study was aimed to identify the sustainability of cocoa smallholder farming based on the ecological, economical, and social aspects. This study was conducted in Aceh Tenggara and Pidie Jaya District. The study method used descriptive-quantitative method by calculating the score range of sustainability level. The result showed that cocoa smallholders challenged sustainability problems based on ecological, economical, and social aspects. The sustainability of cocoa smallholder farming in Aceh Tenggara District achieves a better performance based on the economical, ecological, and social sustainability aspects than in Pidie Jaya District.

Provision of land resources for the sustainable sengon raw material industry in Bedadung Jember Watershed

Sengon (Paraserianthes falcataria) is a mainstay commodity as an industrial raw material, so it has high economic value. The domino effect that appears is the increase in the area of ​​​​sengon land and causes changes in land use. Land conversion will be vulnerable to erosion and increase the level of erosion hazards. Inappropriate land changes will also threaten the sustainability of the agroindustry, therefore it is necessary to evaluate the suitability of the sengon plant land. This study aims to identify the suitability of sengon land in the Bedadung watershed for sustainable agro-industry development. The analyzed parameters are 14 and the method used is matching and overlay. The results of land suitability analysis on dominant sengon plants were categorized as S3 "marginally appropriate" (48.07%). The limiting factor for sengon plants is rainfall as a source of water and soil solum. Efforts to increase the rainfall factor are to build reservoirs or dams, but these improvements require a lot of money and time. Meanwhile, efforts to improve soil solum are difficult because it takes a long time. Thus, the sengon commodity in Jember Regency will experience sustainability problems if the limiting factor is not found a solution.

Universal basic income as a regulator of increasing the standard and quality of life of citizens and society sustainability: problems and possible ways of their solution. discussion at the Russian-German international conference. Moscow. May 20, 2021

This paper examines international discourse borders regarding theoretical and practical problems of Universal basic income concept through the prism of the scientific discussion which took place in May 2021 at the International Scientific Russian-German Conference «Universal basic income as a regulatory measure for improvement of citizens’ standard and quality of life improvement and social sustainability: problems and possible solutions». The authors presented the digests of the speakers' speeches, which formed the scientific basis of the article devoted to the conceptualization of the phenomenon of universal basic income (UBI), scientific, political, and state aspects of the discourse on the implementation of UBI, the problems of introduction of UBI in transitional forms, the practice of the experimental introduction of UBI, modeling the consequences of the introduction of UBI, the impact of UBI on various aspects of life, etc. The materials of the above-mentioned Conference depict the main problematic edges of UBI concept exploration as well as implementation issues and allow to determine directions of further appliances. The most important ones are – search for country-specific transitional forms of UBI and instruments for its experimental approbation in order to improve quality of life and social sustainability of the society. The discussion at the Conference about the UBI concept is commented in the paper in the context of factual actions of Russian and German officials, ideas and suggestions of the international scientific community, and the need for a transition towards greater and complex UBI piloting, considering aspects examined in detail at the International BIEN Congress (August 2021), Glasgow, Scotland

Greening the Artificial Intelligence for a Sustainable Planet: An Editorial Commentary

Artificial intelligence (AI) is one of the most popular and promising technologies of our time. While there is a clearer understanding on the role of AI in boosting the efficiencies at private companies, government agencies and urban management, there is ambiguity on the specific contributions of AI to environmental sustainability. In this editorial commentary: (a) the important role that AI could play in addressing global environmental sustainability challenges is discussed; (b) the need for a consolidated AI approach to support the efforts in addressing global environmental sustainability problems—e.g., meeting the global sustainable development goals, developing smart and sustainable cities and regions, and tackling the climate and biodiversity crises—is identified; (c) the emerging Green AI concept that offers a consolidated AI perspective that is an essential step towards global environmental sustainability is introduced; (d) the adoption of the Green AI approach by industry, government, and not-for-profit organizations for addressing environmental sustainability challenges of the planet and for improving the quality of lives of our societies in cities is advocated. The editorial commentary also introduces the contributions to the Special Issue on reviews and perspectives on smart and sustainable metropolitan and regional cities.

A collective alternative to the Inward Turn in environmental sustainability research

It has become quite common in environmental sustainability research to promote the influencing of so-called inner dimensions of individuals as means to address pressing environmental problems such as climate change, what we refer to as the Inward Turn. We argue that the conceptual foundations of the Inward Turn, an extreme form of methodological individualism, limit it significantly as a strategy for addressing climate change and other socially relevant environmental problems. After briefly reviewing major shortcomings with the way the Inward Turn conceptualizes the relationship between individuals and social change, including its neglect of causal structures and propensity to abstract its analysis away from problems that are specific to place and time, we sketch the basic tenets of an alternative methodological approach capable of overcoming these limitations. Our approach, however, does not go to the other extreme and neglect the role of individuals; rather, our recognition of the structural drivers of particular environmental problems points to the necessity of specific collective actions by individuals, for example, in the practice of social movements. This recognition demands a rethinking of the role of individual factors, like emotion and empathy, in addressing environmental sustainability problems, namely as they relate to collective action/social movement emergence, development, and outcomes.

Overstraining international climate finance: when conflicts of objectives threaten its success

Purpose Climate finance is regularly not only seen as a tool to efficiently combat global warming but also to solve development problems in the recipient countries and to support the attainment of sustainable development goals. Thereby, conflicts between distributive and allocative objectives arise, which threaten the overall performance of such transfer schemes. Given the severity of the climate change problem, this study aims to raise concerns about whether the world can afford climate transfer schemes that do not focus on prevention of (and adaptation to) climate change but might be considered as a vehicle of rent-seeking by many agents. Design/methodology/approach Future designs of international transfer schemes within the framework of the Paris Agreement are to be based on experience gained from existing mechanisms. Therefore, the authors examine different existing schemes using a graphical technique first proposed by David Pearce and describe the conflicts between allocative and distributional goals that arise. Findings In line with the famous Tinbergen rule, the authors argue that other sustainability problems and issues of global fairness should not be primarily addressed by climate finance but should be mainly tackled by other means. Research limitations/implications As there is still ongoing, intense discussion about how the international transfer schemes addressed in Article 6 of the Paris Agreement should be designed, the research will help to sort some of the key arguments. Practical implications There are prominent international documents (like the Paris Agreement and the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development) seeking to address different goals simultaneously. While synergies between policies is desirable, there are major challenges for policy coordination. Addressing several different goals using fewer policy instruments, for example, will not succeed as the Tinbergen Rule points out. Social implications The integration of co-benefits in the analysis allows for taking into account the social effects of climate policy. As the authors argue, climate finance approaches could become overstrained if policymakers would consider them as tools to also solve local sustainability problems. Originality/value In this paper, the authors will not only examine what can be learnt from the clean development mechanism (CDM) for future schemes under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement but also observe the experiences gained from a non-CDM scheme. So the authors pay attention to the Trust Fund of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) which was established with global benefit orientation, i.e. – unlike the CDM – it was not regarded as an additional goal to support local sustainable development. Yet, despite its disregard of local co-benefits, the authors think that it is of particular importance to include the GEF in the analysis, as some important lessons can be learnt from it.

Study About Minimum Quantity Lubrification in Bearing Holes Bored with Pcd Tools in Aluminum Alloy

Cutting Fluid in Abundancy – CFA is a standard cooling technique used in machining due to the good relationship between quality and productivity. However, due to sustainability problems, economic, social, and environmental, several research types have been carried out worldwide about replacing or eliminating these inputs in the cutting process. In this work, three full factorial Design of Experiment - DoE were used to verify the performance and feasibility of replacing the Cutting Fluid in Abundance - CFA by Minimum Quantity Lubrification – MQL during the bearing of holes bored with Polly Cristaline Diamond – PCD tools in aluminum alloy. The input variables were cutting speed (𝑣𝑐), feed per knife (𝑓𝑧) and depth of cut (𝑑𝑜𝑐). While output variables were diameter and circularity deviation. For each machining atmosphere, dry, CFA, and MQL, a full factorial DoE (2 3 ) was performed with test and replicate. A total of 48 runs were performed. The main conclusion is that MQL showed similar CFA results, as proven by the mean hypothesis test. Based on the results of this work, it can be affirmed that MQL could replace the CFA technique.

Institutionalizing Reflexivity for Sustainability: Two Cases in Health Care

Unsustainability in health care comprises diminishing returns and misalignment between the health care regime and the needs of the population. To deal with complex sustainability problems, niche solutions can be collaboratively designed and implemented through reflexive methods. For second-order sustainability, however, the institutionalization of the reflexive element itself is also needed. This paper aims to provide insight into the possibilities of embedding reflexivity into institutions to support second-order sustainability by reporting on two consecutive participatory research programs that sought to address unsustainability in terms of misalignment and diminishing returns. The first case study reflexively monitored the system’s innovation toward an integrated perinatal care system. Reflection within the project and implementation was supported successfully, but for stronger embedding and institutionalization, greater alignment of the reflexive practices with regime standards was needed. Building on these lessons, the second case study, which was part of the IMI-PARADIGM consortium, collaboratively built a structured tool to monitor and evaluate “the return on engagement” in medicine development. To institutionalize reflexivity, the creation of “reflexive standards” together with regime actors appears to be most promising. Broader and deeper institutionalization of reflexive standards can be attained by building enforcement structures for reflexive standards in the collaborative process as part of the reflexive methodologies for addressing complex sustainability problems.

Fashion Design Education and Sustainability: Towards an Equilibrium between Craftsmanship and Artistic and Business Skills?

Fashion designers can have a key role to play in making fashion more sustainable, as they are able to influence and contribute to all dimensions of fashion impact (economic, environmental, social, and cultural), both positive and negative. Fashion design education should be seen as a chance to make aspiring designers aware of the challenges and potential of design for sustainability and equip them with the knowledge and skills necessary to implement sustainable fashion approaches. Starting from this premise, the approach to various sustainability themes was examined in the particular national context of post-secondary schools offering fashion majors in Poland, one which so far has not been researched in any depth. The authors conducted interviews and analysed the publications, documents, web pages, and Facebook profiles of such schools. Their activities were examined and classified in respect of the main dimensions of comprehensive fashion education: art, craftsmanship, and business. The analysis provides a picture of the current situation and a review of the specific features of sustainable fashion education in both the global and Polish contexts. Contemporary fashion education requires multidimensional adjustments to curricula, reflecting the complex nature of sustainability problems. This is a global challenge, which in the Polish case is additionally exacerbated by insufficient and uncoordinated public support, problems related to the institutional context of private and public schools, and the low level of sustainability awareness among consumers.