Industrial metabolism and territorial development of the Maurienne Valley (France)

The globalisation of exchanges has resulted in excessive growth of material and immaterial flows. The disconnection among the supply, production, decision-making and consumption sites generates new spatial interdependencies. It determines local socio-economic dynamics and affects ecosystems. In this context, the question arises if territorial capability—“localized collective capacity to serve territorial development”—influences, from local level, these globalised flows systems. By combining territorial economic principles and territorial ecology approaches, we study the industrial metabolism of the Maurienne valley in France. The Maurienne case shows how territorial characteristics contribute to the economic resilience in rural areas. The calculation of wealth flows provides information on the local economic base, the weight of industry and its social impact. The analysis of physical flows reveals the materiality of this industry and the dependence on external resources and international companies. It highlights the various pressures and risks on the environment. To deal with these constraints, companies rely on relational and geographic proximities with local subcontractors. These relationships determine both the proper functioning of the local industrial system and the territorial capability to maintain and transform industrial activities. Most rural European territories experience the same industrial issues and environmental challenges. Therefore, this study offers new research perspectives to better understand and promote ecological transition in old and often rural industrial areas.

Promise, premise, and reality: the case of voluntary environmental non-migration despite climate risks in coastal Bangladesh

Despite confronting severe climatic risks, many people prefer to remain in climate hazard-prone areas rather than migrate. Environmental non-migration behavior, however, has gained relatively little research attention in the field of migration processes. This study aims to unveil the determinants motivating voluntary environmental non-migration decisions in coastal Bangladesh, an area highly exposed to flooding and other climate-related hazards (e.g., soil salinization). Applying a systematic random sampling, we selected 556 household respondents for a questionnaire survey from 14 villages of two coastal districts: Khulna and Satkhira. Applying a mixed method (i.e., both quantitative and qualitative) approach, major empirical results of this study suggest that even though all respondents lived in a similar situation in terms of climatic hazard and exposure, 88% of the respondents reported themselves as voluntary non-migrants. Furthermore, these non-migrants enjoyed higher socioeconomic and sociopsychological advantages and availed more local support from different government and non-government organizations than involuntary non-migrants. Again, mutual assistance, connection with social groups, natural resource access, sense of secured livelihood, stable societal atmosphere, and participation in decision-making in society appeared to build their higher degree of social capital $$({\chi }^{2}\left(4\right)=57.80;p<0.000)$$ ( χ 2 4 = 57.80 ; p < 0.000 ) compared to involuntary non-migrants. All these features lead to a favorable environment that ultimately drove the respondents to become voluntary non-migrants.