Public Willingness to Pay for and Participate in Sanitation Infrastructure Improvement in Western China's Rural Areas

The suitability and feasibility of public-private partnership (PPP) patterns in a rural context have not been well-documented and understood. To address this research gap and practical plight, this study aims to analyze the rural resident's willingness to pay for and participate in the improvement of rural sanitation facilities, and further explore the drivers and barriers affecting their decisions. This study was performed in rural areas of three western provinces, including Shaanxi, Ningxia, and Inner Mongolia, of western China's rural areas by conducting a survey on 1,248 rural residents. In Inner Mongolia, the proportion of respondents who were willing to pay was highest, while the proportion of respondents who may provide labor was lowest among the three provinces. Respondents from Ningxia had the least willing to pay, and respondents from Shaanxi had the highest willingness to participate. Overall, respondents' rural (living) duration time, personal interest in local government notice, and the latest time when the sanitation facilities were improved could significantly affect their willingness. In Inner Mongolia, occupation and water availability could significantly influence respondents' willingness, and both gender and health conditions had significant impacts. In Ningxia, respondents' personal interest in local government notice had a notable impact on willingness, and low-income respondents showed a more notable willingness to pay and participate. In Shaanxi, occupation and water availability could significantly influence respondents' willingness. Respondents' personal interest in local government notice had a notable impact on their willingness. This study is of significant importance to understand rural resident's participation in sanitation infrastructure improvement to support relevant PPP projects, and is important to solve poverty-caused dilemmas.

Infrastructure Service Assessment Model Based on a Service Quality Gap Model—Focused on South Korea

To improve the quality of life (QOL) of the citizen, it is essential to not only to secure a quantitative stock, such as the number or extension of individual infrastructure, but to also understand the perspective of the public on service levels and the demand for infrastructure. In this study, an infrastructure service level assessment model that reflects the demands of citizens is proposed, and the importance and adequacy of infrastructure service indexes for setting priorities and goals for the investment of government funds in infrastructure are verified. The evaluation items used in this model included usability, accessibility, and recovery speed. The infrastructure service level for 12,500 Korean citizens was surveyed using the proposed assessment model, and the results reveal that the satisfaction of citizens with their residences had a significant effect on the QOL improvement, and that the level of infrastructure performance in a residential area significantly affected the satisfaction of citizens with their residences. In addition, the results revealed that the quantitative and qualitative aspects of infrastructure should be simultaneously considered. Lastly, the possible application of this model for the evaluation of the effectiveness of investment for infrastructure improvement is proposed.

Evaluation of the environmental perception of the users over solid residues on the beach of Tamandaré/Brazil

The irregular waste disposal is a reality that affects the Brazilian coast. The present study aimed to evaluate the environmental perception of beach users in relation to the production and disposal of solid waste at Tamandaré beach - Brazil. It was applied a questionnaire and carried out a quali-quantitative collection that has shown that the impacts mostly pointed out were the damage to the environment, and loss of tourist potential. The main source of dispersion of waste on the Tamandaré shore is associated with land-based activities, mainly those arising from tourism. The main causes were the failure in the municipal cleaning system, and beach users lack of awareness on disposing solid waste. It was suggest implementing environmental education programs, infrastructure improvement, and the elaboration of public policies pertinent to the management of solid waste, with the purposes of protection and conservation of natural resources.

STRATEGI PENINGKATAN EKSPOR UMKM INDONESIA SELAMA PANDEMI COVID-19

Exports play an important role in the economy of a country, including Indonesia. However, the value of Indonesia's exports, especially those from MSMEs, is still very low. This study aims to map a strategy to increase the export of Indonesian MSMEs and analyze these strategies based on behavioral theory in order to find out the right strategy to be implemented in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. This study uses a qualitative method that focuses on a bibliographic approach. The object of this research is 14 scientific articles that review the export of Indonesian MSMEs from 2009 to 2019. The results show that there are ten strategies that can be done to increase the export of Indonesian MSMEs, namely, training, increasing promotion, providing easy access to capital, implementing information technology and communication, infrastructure improvement, product standardization, product innovation enhancement, government policy support, MSME rating, and export procedure simplification. All of these strategies are related to the theory of behavior, namely the theory of planned behavior and the theory of attribution. The implementation of all these strategies can also be adapted to the conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Introducing a Model for Infrastructure Improvement to Develop Intelligent Schools

Intelligent schools have faced many challenges and little research has been conducted to review the challenges of developing these schools. There are models for solving the challenges and barriers to the implementation and development of such schools, but still the challenge of infrastructure is considered as the most fundamental challenge in the development of intelligent schools. In this paper, a model is proposed to solve the problem of infrastructure in the development of intelligent schools by identifying important features based on the existing features regarding the creation of intelligent schools. This model was evaluated by ten experts in the implementation of intelligent schools. The proposed model can be used to improve the problems of infrastructure in the process of creation and implementation of intelligent schools. Doi: 10.28991/HEF-2021-02-03-03 Full Text: PDF

Tunnelling the Peninsula of Trolls: A Case Study of Road Infrastructure Improvement and Demographic Dynamics in Northern Iceland

Geographical isolation is closely associated with rural population decline and policies for regional and rural development frequently emphasize better transportation infrastructure improvements. Although poor access to jobs and services may lead to negative rates of net migration and skewed age and gender distribution in rural and remote areas, research on the association of road infrastructure improvement with rural demographic dynamics remains sparse. The current study adds to the understanding of these issues by examining the effects of a large-scale road tunnel project in Northern Iceland. The results suggest that improved road infrastructure coincides with a break in long-term population decline through parity in net migration and positive changes in the composition of the population of sparsely populated areas.

Self-development of regions as a factor in Russia's political and economic infrastructure improvement

Subject. This article discusses the importance of self-development of regions for the country's economy. Objectives. The article aims to identify the reasons for the decline in interest in the idea of self-development of regions and search for approaches to its mainstreaming. Methods. For the study, I used statistical and analog procedure approaches. Results. The article names and describes the main factors hindering the self-development of the Russian Federation regions. Conclusions. It is necessary to change the strategy of the political and economic infrastructure arrangement of the country to promote a model implying that strong regions do construct the basis of a strong center and power of the country. The methodological approaches to encouraging the regions to switch over to the self-development mode should be adjusted.