Expert Assessment of Prioritized Determinants For a Smarter Grid Through The Lens of Residential Demand Response: The Case Study of Ontario, Canada

In recent years, smart grids have attracted considerable attention. However, despite the promising potential of the technologies encompassed within such systems, their adoption has been slow, geographically varied, and in the context of residential demand response, often subject to public scrutiny. The heterogeneous evolution of the smart grid is not only the product of technological limitations but is additionally sensitive to socio-political considerations prevalent at the national or provincial level. Through expert interviews that were conducted in Ontario, Canada, this study provides insights into which smart grid factors are considered as most important for its development, and also what are the drivers, inhibitors, benefits, and drawbacks that a smart grid provides and / or entails, placing particular emphasis on residential demand response programs. The constructs scrutinized were adapted from previous studies, and the information collected was analyzed following the procedure of the Grounded Delphi Method. The findings indicate that a consensus was reached, in that smart grids pave the way for increased demand flexibility and loss reductions, though these are contingent on measures being implemented regarding the creation of investment opportunities, engagement of consumers, and ensuring the security of private data. Relevant policy implications and research recommendations are also explored.

Soybean Competitiveness Compared to Other Secondary Crops and Its Prospect to Achieve Self-Sufficiency in Indonesia

Demand for soybean in Indonesia keeps increasing along with population growth. So far, most of the domestic demand is fulfilled through soybean import. This study aims to analyze the prospect of soybean self-sufficiency in the perspective of its competitiveness against other secondary crops in Indonesia. The analysis method applied in this study is comparison of financial farm income between soybean farming against other secondary crops, namely corn, groundnut and mungbean. The results of analysis showed that soybean was not competitive compared to other secondary crops. This was indicated by relatively low farm income of soybean farming compared to those of corn, groundnut, and mungbean. Rational farmers would be expected to choose the more profitable crops rather than growing soybean. Therefore, without significant breakthroughs, the area planted with soybean and its production will keep decreasing. In other words, it is almost impossible to achieve self-sufficency in soybean.

Fruit and Vegetable Seed Production and Marketing: Existing Practice and Perception of Vegetbale Seed Farmers and Sellers in Bangladesh

Bangladesh has the largest river delta in the world and is known as the basin of South Asia. Accordingly, Bangladesh is naturally fertile, which is the main factor that provides the country with a huge opportunity to produce fruit and vegetable seeds. However, the lack of quality seed production, insufficient seed supply, and lack of seed preservation systems make the seed sector unstable. This research attempts to determine the cause of these problems and identify ways to mitigate them and make a sustainable marketing system. A descriptive research method was applied, based on a survey conducted in Bangladesh in three major seed producing divisions, namely: Dhaka, Chittagong, and Mymensingh. The data were gathered from 40 farmers and 40 retailers & wholesalers who were chosen at random, and the data was analysed in Microsoft Excel. The objective of the study is to analyze marketing practices of vegetable and fruit seeds, the problems of vegetable and fruit seed distribution, and to propose a method for the sustainable distribution of vegetable and fruit seeds. The results showed a lack of genuine and timely market information, poor institutions and arrangements, and poor marketing infrastructure. These findings are indicative of poor marketing efficiency and thereby suboptimal operation of the seed marketing system. Hence, the results found in this study should help to institute appropriate measures for production, market infrastructure, arrangements, and institutions to improve the inefficient functioning of the seed marketing system.

Visualized Quantitative Research or Marine Pollution in the South China Sea

The rapid social-economic development of the countries bordering the South China Sea has resulted in increased marine pollution of the region, yet little study has been carried out on marine pollution in the region. This article is one of the first few attempts among existing literature to understand marine pollution in the South China Sea as a large marine ecosystem and its implications for sustainability. We have conducted systematic literature reviews for marine pollution in the South China Sea and three other regional seas/large marine ecosystems, namely, the Gulf of California, the Mediterranean Sea, and the North Sea with the assistance of CiteSpace. By comparison of studies in the three regional seas, the research of marine pollution in the South China Sea only touches on the impact of microplastics, and existing literature in the area is less efficient in the study of impacts of modern pollution on marine organisms and the uncertain bioaccumulation effect on humanity. Therefore, it is recommended that researchers in the region cooperate to conduct a holistic study of ocean pollution, and study of biological impacts of pollution on marine organisms should be strengthened.

Human Security in The Age of Electoral Democracy: Politico-Business Alliances in The Malang Regency, Indonesia

This study discusses the politico-business configuration of electoral democracy and its impact on human security in Malang. Indonesia's reforms in the post-Soeharto era marked by implementing new institutions of democracy through direct local elections (Pilkada), where people acquire their rights to directly determine their executive leader at both national and regional levels. Democracy institution is believed would naturally lead to greater human security. However, evidence -from the cases experienced in Malang- reveals a different result. The introduction of democratic institutions harmed human security because predatory alliances hijacked it. Liberal space as well as the opening up of elite competitions, provided by democracy, interfered with local politics. Both local politics and economic spheres were dominated by political and business elite coalitions. Also, the sustainability of good governance and democratic institutions tends to be dictated by the interests of these predatory elite alliances. Although there have been abundant studies on Indonesia’s democratization and decentralization, the problem of human security in the democratization process has rarely been conducted. This study, therefore, aims to reveal the practice of politico- business alliances in Malang that take over public resources and local budgets for their interests through the democratic institution. The significance of this study is an empirical contribution to develop an understanding of the process of how democratic institutions are hijacked by a few people (local elites) by seizing regional resources and sacrificing human security. Keywords: electoral democracy, human security, politico-business alliance, Malang Regency

Transferring Inter-disciplinary Flood Reconstruction Responses from Japan to the Netherlands

Japan and the Netherlands have very different physical, historical and cultural contexts but they share a vulnerability to extreme flood related events and have, in both their (relatively) recent pasts, had to recover from such events: the floods of 1953 in the Netherlands or the tsunami that hit Japan’s east coast in 2011. This paper describes the process and results of two workshops investigating flood reconstruction responses undertaken by students representing five disciplines at TU Delft in the Netherlands. A particular workshop method was employed to promote an interdisciplinary design process and then design responses investigated for the Japanese case were transferred to a hypothetical disaster scenario for Vlissingen, in the south of the Netherlands. The conclusions reached focused as much on the efficacy of the workshop method as the particular design proposals for both cases, as well as on what was learnt via the comparison between Japanese and Dutch contexts and reconstruction philosophies. Keywords: interdisciplinary design; international comparison; tsunami; Vlissingen; Yuriage

Unpacking Indonesia's Cultural Diplomacy: Potentials and Challenges

Cultural diplomacy is an influential element of soft power. The concept covers a wide range of activities that aim to promote national interests through strengthening relationships and enhancing sociocultural cooperation among countries. Cultural diplomacy is built upon the culture, identity, and values of the country. As government apparatuses often activate cultural diplomacy, it is civil society that plays the most prominent role. This study takes Indonesia`s diplomacy as a case study to highlight the importance of cultural diplomacy as a soft power instrument. The study seeks to identify the challenges in the creation of a grand narrative of Indonesia’s cultural diplomacy. Finally, the study argues that in the age of globalization in which the world is moving toward a global culture, Indonesia`s cultural diplomacy concept that is rotating around its unique culture, identity and values needs to be reassessed to not only contain unique Indonesian cultural products, but also contain the spirit of the culture, values, and traditions of the Indonesian people who have sustained the unity of Indonesia. Keywords: Cultural Diplomacy; Soft Power; Indonesia *

Ten Years into Recovery after the Great East Japan Earthquake: Evaluation by Post-2015 Frameworks

Devastated by the Great East Japan Earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear meltdown on March 11, 2011, Japan’s Tohoku coast has been in the process of disaster recovery for almost a decade. Several international frameworks for disaster risk reduction and sustainable development have also been established during this time. Sharing a holistic approach to comprehensive development principles linking risk reduction, disaster recovery, and development, these three international frameworks are the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2020, 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development 2015-2030, and the New Urban Agenda. Although each has its own distinct focus, approach, and connection to disaster recovery, the three frameworks share explicit connections and relationships. This paper considers how the first decade of recovery after the GEJE can be evaluated based on the goals and targets from the frameworks in support of people-centered development. After outlining each framework, and exploring the mutual connections between them, aspects relevant to recovery from each are applied to consider issues and progress of housing recovery after the GEJE. Synthesizing multiple aims and goals from the three frameworks relevant to housing recovery creates a more comprehensive tool for evaluation that can identify which goals have been partially or completely achieved. Yet even with the convergence of their respective goals, achieving the overall shared aim of holistic, equitable, and people-centered recovery for all still requires more coordination and consideration of practical applications beyond frameworks. Keywords: housing recovery; Great East Japan Earthquake; Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction; SDGs; New Urban Agenda

Improving the Evacuation Plan of Coastal Communities using Tsunami Evacuation Simulations: Case Study from Tagajyo, Japan

An evacuation simulation is a helpful tool to evaluate the effectiveness of various countermeasures. To showcase its effectiveness and importance, the present study applied the authors’ agent-based tsunami evacuation simulation model to investigate the effectiveness of tsunami countermeasures (i.e., early evacuation, restricting car usage, and combination of these two measures) in an area that was affected by the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami (namely that of Tagajyo, Japan). As a result, it was found that restricting residents’ car usage would be a more effective countermeasure compared with simply encouraging people to immediately start evacuation after feeling the earthquake, which was found to be somewhat ineffective. However, if early evacuation were combined with restricted car use, the risk of residents being hit by a devastating tsunami would be significantly lower. The scenario results, therefore, highlighted the importance of tsunami evacuation simulations in formulating effective evacuation and reconstruction plans for coastal communities. Given the estimated return periods of a devastating tsunami, it is natural to assume that the tsunami-affected areas will gradually change; therefore, to ensure continued community resilience, it is imperative that simulation results be updated according to changes made in the urban landscape of the target city. Keywords: agent-based approach; tsunamis; evacuation; coastal resilience; reconstruction plan.

The Value of Visual Disaster Records from Digital Archives and Films in Post-3/11 Japan

This paper explores the value of visual records from natural disasters in assisting reconstruction, including photography, single-shot videos, and documentary movies. It considers three types of visual records related to the Great East Japan Earthquake: 1) raw data, 2) edited educational videos, and 3) commercial documentary films. It also considers the nature of disaster records and their repository medium, including digital data archives, public educational websites, and commercial networks. Furthermore, the authors consider the overlaps between these categories. Raw video records certainly meet the needs of either digital archives or documentary movies. However, commercial documentary movies form a category of their own, as copyright and scripts constrain their exploitation and manipulation. In conclusion, this paper identifies the merit of each type of visual record and argues that both are necessary for the social remembering of disasters and to help reconstruct communities affected by such events. Keywords: digital archives; films; disaster