Journal articles on the topic 'Ecosystem Assessment and Management of Urban and Industrial Environments'

The authors’ point of view on formation and development of applied ecology at RSHU is given. The article contains a brief overview of research results over the past 20 years in the field of applied ecology. The main directions of research of the Department of Applied and Systems Ecology are presented: consideration of features of environmental information during the processing of observation data, development of theory and methods of assessment of pollution in rivers and reservoirs, ecological and hydrometeorological problems of large cities and industrial areas, quality management of the urban environment, mathematical modeling of water body ecosystems, monitoring and assessment of the ecological status of marine ecosystems. The issues of international cooperation of the Department with foreign and Russian organizations are highlighted. One of the challenges that require making immediate decision in environment quality assessment is criterion selection for estimation the ecological condition, status or ambient quality standard. To solve this problem, it is proposed to use the method of integral assessment of the sustainability and health of marine and freshwater ecosystems, which can characterize the ecological status of the aquatic ecosystems as a whole. On the basis of synthesis of existing approaches to assessing the sustainability and ecosystem health, the choice of models and methods for their quantitative integral assessment is justified. An integral indicator of the sustainability of marine and freshwater ecosystems, as well as a training model-classification have been developed to calculate integral indices, which allow to classify various aquatic areas according to the classes of sustainability and ecosystem health. In addition, recommendations have been proposed to improve standard methods of water quality assessment based on hydrochemical data and to reduce environmental risk for sustainable development of urban areas.

The large concentration of the world’s population in cities, along with rapid urbanization, have brought numerous environmental and socioeconomic challenges to sustainable urban systems (SUS). However, current SUS studies focus heavily on ecological aspects, rely on SUS indicators that are not supported by available data, lack comprehensive analytical frameworks, and neglect SUS regional differences. This paper develops a novel approach to assessing urban sustainability from regional perspectives using commonly enumerated socioeconomic statistics. It integrates land use and land cover change data and ecosystem service values, applies data mining analytics to derive SUS indicators, and evaluates SUS states as trade-offs among relevant SUS indicators. This synthetic approach is called the integrated socioeconomic and land-use data mining–based multi-objective assessment (ISL-DM-MOA). The paper presents a case study of urban sustainability development in cities and counties in Inner Mongolia, China, which face many environmental and sustainable development problems. The case study identifies two SUS types: (1) several large cities that boast well-developed economies, diversified industrial sectors, vital transportation locations, good living conditions, and cleaner environments; and (2) a few small counties that have a small population, small urban construction areas, extensive natural grasslands, and primary grazing economies. The ISL-DM-MOA framework innovatively synthesizes currently available socioeconomic statistics and environmental data as a unified dataset to assess urban sustainability as a total socio-environmental system. ISL-DM-MOA deviates from the current indicator approach and advocates the notion of a data-mining-driven approach to derive urban sustainability dimensions. Furthermore, ISL-DM-MOA diverges from the concept of a composite score for determining urban sustainability. Instead, it promotes the concept of Pareto Front as a choice set of sustainability candidates, because sustainability varies among nations, regions, and locations and differs between political, economic, environmental, and cultural systems.

Due to potential pressure from industrial and municipal activities, urban water bodies are at risk of not achieving the environmental objectives of the Water Framework Directive (WFD) by 2027. This study comprised the quality assessment of water body “Kłodnica do Promnej (bez)” under a strong anthropogenic influence. The main potential sources of pollution in the catchment were identified and the related characteristic contaminants were analysed. The obtained values of pollutants were compared with the limit values for surface waters from Regulation (Journal of Laws 2021, item 1475). The results confirmed that the analysed water body located in highly urbanized area is characterized by poor water quality and chemical status below the good status. The main threat to the aquatic environment is high salinity associated with the presence of mine water discharges. Moreover, the priority substances, such as Cd, Ni and Pb, exceeded the environmental quality standards values (EQS) in most of the designated measurement points. Due to the fact that water ecosystems do not constitute stand-alone structures, but are included in a wider socio-ecological system, the implementation of an integrated approach to characterizing the existing status of the water bodies and estimating the risk posed to the aquatic ecosystem is a crucial element of the catchment management process in the context of the provisions of the WFD.

The problems of the formation of hazardous natural and man-made processes in industrial cities, contributing to the emergence of environmental risks, are presented. To date, an extensive literary material has been accumulated on this problem, concerning the causes of its occurrence, analysis of the patterns of development, and the possibilities of managing risks, including the environmental ones. It has been established that the list of reasons for the formation of risks in cities lacks one of the most important factors that we have discovered – the structure of urban landscapes, which are quite large objects of urban development. To identify the role of these objects in the formation of environmental risks, the cities of Orsha and Pinsk were selected. These cities were laid down almost simultaneously at the beginning of the 11th century, but they have a different history of development. Maps of urban landscapes of cities were compiled, geochemical studies of their soil cover were carried out, geochemical and thermal anomalies of the surface were revealed, the volumes of ecosystem services (carbon absorption) by green spaces were calculated. It was found that urban landscapes perform various functions in the system of environmental risks: some of them contribute to the development of hazardous processes, others – to mitigate them. So, soil pollution with heavy metals (with an excess of the content of Pb, Cr and Cu over the MPC by 1.2–5.6 times in Pinsk), the strongest heating of the surface (8–16 °C higher than the air temperature in Pinsk and Orsha) and low carbon deposition (100–500 t per year) are typical for urban landscapes of the historical center, urban landscapes with a predominance of industrial buildings, urban landscapes for complex residential multi-storey, public and industrial buildings. Urban landscapes, in the structure of which there are elements of landscape and recreational areas of public use (parks, forest parks, squares), as well as agricultural lands and water bodies, are characterised by a low content of heavy metals in soils (below the MPC in Pinsk, below the background in Orsha), low surface temperature (2–3 °C higher than the air temperature), high volume of carbon deposition (2.6–2.8 thsd t per year). An assessment of the probability of risks associated with the described processes was carried out, which helped to find out that they correspond to the categories of «acceptable» and «neglected», options for risk management were proposed.

Izmir Bay is one of the great natural areas of the Mediterranean and compares well with similar coastal areas in the world. Izmir which is the main urban area around the Bay is an important industrial, commercial and cultural focal point. It has the second biggest harbour and is the third largest city in the country. The Izmir metropolitan area has experienced rapid population increase which placed an intense pressure on the environment of the bay, housing, infrastructure and social services. The main sources of pollution in the bay are domestic and industrial effluents which account for 50% of the observed organic pollution. Rivers discharging to the Izmir Bay carry mostly industrial discharges. The main forms of pollution in the Izmir Bay are organic pollution, nutrients, pathogenic organisms and toxic material carried by rivers. Scientific evidence suggests if no pollution control measures are taken immediately pollution in the Bay will soon reach a critical level leading to the collapse in the ecosystem. With this understanding Izmir Sewerage and Stream Control Project which foresees the reestablishment of the Bay's water quality was started in 1983. The preliminary assessment of the costs and benefits of the project suggests that the benefits of the proposed pollution control system could significantly outweigh the costs of the control measures by a factor of about eight.

Urban sustainability is the comprehensive manifestation of development structures and economic aggregates. The current sustainable evaluation of cities from a single aspect cannot comprehensively reflect urban sustainable development. Based on emergy, this study constructs an assessment method of urban sustainability from development structures and economic aggregates. Jiaxing is the case study explored as the sustainable development model of cities in the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) of China. High sustainability of economic aggregates is found in Jiaxing, which is driven by the growth of green GDP. However, the urban development of Jiaxing primarily depends on the input of ecosystem resources, which hinders the sustainability of development structures within Jiaxing. These findings indicate that economic aggregates drive the development of Jiaxing and that the development structures within Jiaxing are unsustainable, resulting from the low sustainability of the natural subsystem and the economic subsystem. As such, it is proposed that industrial structures, development models, and management policies be adopted within cities in the YRD of China in order to promote sustainable development of cities in the YRD of China. This study, therefore, seeks to provide methodological guidance for urban sustainable evaluation.

Industrial activities have resulted in severe environmental contamination that may expose rural and urban populations to unacceptable health risks. For example, chlor-alkali plants (CAPs) have historically contributed mercury (Hg) contamination in different environmental compartments. One such site (a burden from the Soviet Union) is located in an industrial complex in Pavlodar, Kazakhstan. Earlier studies showed the CAP operating in the second half of the twentieth century caused elevated Hg levels in soil, water, air, and biota. However, follow-up studies with thorough risk characterization are missing. The present study aims to provide a detailed risk characterization based on the data from a recent site assessment around the former CAP. The ⅀HI (hazard index) ranged from 9.30 × 10−4 to 0.125 (deterministic method) and from 5.19 × 10−4 to 2.54 × 10−2 (probabilistic method). The results indicate acceptable excess human health risks from exposure to Hg contamination in the region, i.e., exposure to other Hg sources not considered. Air inhalation and soil ingestion pathways contributed to the highest ⅀HI values (up to 99.9% and 92.0%, respectively). The residential exposure scenario (among four) presented the greatest human health risks, with ⅀HI values ranging from 1.23 × 10−2 to 0.125. Although the local urban and rural population is exposed to acceptable risks coming from exposure to Hg-contaminated environmental media, an assessment of contamination directly on the former CAP site on the industrial complex could not be performed due to access prohibition. Furthermore, the risks from ingesting contaminated fish were not covered as methyl-Hg was not targeted. An additional assessment may be needed for the scenarios of exposure of workers on the industrial complex and of the local population consuming fish from contaminated Lake Balkyldak. Studies on the fate and transport of Hg in the contaminated ecosystem are also recommended considering Hg methylation and subsequent bioaccumulation in the food chain.

Soil sealing is a worldwide phenomenon of covering of natural or seminatural soil with impervious surfaces, such as built-up or paved surfaces. It is widely recognized as a major environmental issue which drives landscape fragmentation and ecosystem services degradation and loss. Italy is one of European countries with the highest extent of soil sealing. The most affected area is northern Italy, especially the Po Valley with more than 12% of sealed surfaces. According to official data, Veneto Region and the city of Padua are seriously affected by this phenomenon. The Biotope Area Factor is a consolidated ecological urban index for mapping soil sealing, adopted in different European cities to support urban planning; it expresses the ratio of the ecologically effective surface area in relation to the total land area according to land cover classes. The general aim of this study is to map and to assess soil sealing in the whole municipal territory of Padua using the Biotope Area Factor (BAF) index. We tested and adopted a digital land cover map together with aerial images to perform a BAF analysis on the whole municipal territory of Padua. By using sample areas previously analyzed, we validated our source data by a double spatial validation process; therefore, soil sealing analysis was scaled-up to the municipality territory. Results show that in the city of Padua, the average BAF index value is 0.6; totally permeable surfaces (BAF = 1) cover 59.5%, whereas totally “sealed” surfaces (BAF = 0) are 40.3% of the municipal territory (93 km2). Most of the sealed soil is located in the east sector and in the historical core of the city, with BAF values ranging from 0 to 0.2. A particularly critical area is identified within the new industrial area of the city, which is strongly affected by soil sealing. BAF maps are useful tools to identify critical areas by geovisualizing surface permeability at a very detailed scale and by enabling further analyses for hydrogeological risk assessment and urban climate regulation. Moreover, the use of BAF maps at urban scale today represent an important tool for urban management, especially for policy makers who are planning mitigation and compensation measures to control soil sealing.

Urbanization effects on vegetation and the alteration in land use is likely to be the major driver of fragmentation and the loss of ecosystem services (ESS) and biodiversity. Understanding varying levels of biodiversity within cities is pivotal to protect ESS. However, due to the high complexity of urban systems, ecological connectivity assessment in urban planning remains challenging. This article evaluates policy documents and tools for ESS assessment in Stockholm, Sweden. Stockholm is an interesting city for studying ESS planning and management since Sweden has a long tradition of formal policy for biodiversity management. An overview is presented of tools and approaches to measure ESS at different scale levels used in the urban planning process in Stockholm. Their application illustrates the complementary nature of these tools, but also the need to integrate them in a platform based on a GIS (Geographic Information System) model. Ultimately, the development of such an integrated tool should inform and support planning practice in guiding urban systems towards greater sustainability.

Some of the world's most valuable aquatic ecosystems such as deltas, lagoons and estuaries are located in the coastal zone. However, the coastal zone and its aquatic ecosystems are in many places under environmental stress from human activities. About 50% of the human population lives within 200 km of the coastline, and the population density is increasing every day. In addition, the majority of urban centres are located in the coastal zone. It is commonly known that there are important linkages between the activities in the upstream river basins and the environment conditions in the downstream coastal zones. Changes in river flows, e.g. caused by irrigation, hydropower and water supply, have changed salinity in estuaries and lagoons. Land use changes, such as intensified agricultural activities and urban and industrial development, cause increasing loads of nutrients and a variety of chemicals resulting in considerable adverse impacts in the coastal zones. It is recognised that the solution to such problems calls for an integrated approach. Therefore, the terms Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) and Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) are increasingly in focus on the international agenda. Unfortunately, the concepts of IWRM and ICZM are mostly being developed independently from each other by separate management bodies using their own individual approaches and tools. The present paper describes how modelling tools can be used to link IWRM and ICZM. It draws a line from the traditional sectoral use of models for the Istanbul Master Planning and assessment of the water quality and ecological impact in the Bosphorus Strait and the Black Sea 10 years ago, to the most recent use of models in a Water Framework Directive (WFD) context for one of the selected Pilot River Basins in Denmark used for testing of the WFD Guidance Documents.

Rapid urbanization rates impact significantly on the nature of Land Cover patterns of the environment, which has been evident in the depletion of vegetal reserves and in general modifying the human climatic systems (Henderson, et al., 2017; Kumar, Masago, Mishra, & Fukushi, 2018; Luo and Lau, 2017). This study explores remote sensing classification technique and other auxiliary data to determine LULCC for a period of 50 years (1967-2016). The LULCC types identified were quantitatively evaluated using the change detection approach from results of maximum likelihood classification algorithm in GIS. Accuracy assessment results were evaluated and found to be between 56 to 98 percent of the LULC classification. The change detection analysis revealed change in the LULC types in Minna from 1976 to 2016. Built-up area increases from 74.82ha in 1976 to 116.58ha in 2016. Farmlands increased from 2.23 ha to 46.45ha and bared surface increases from 120.00ha to 161.31ha between 1976 to 2016 resulting to decline in vegetation, water body, and wetlands. The Decade of rapid urbanization was found to coincide with the period of increased Public Private Partnership Agreement (PPPA). Increase in farmlands was due to the adoption of urban agriculture which has influence on food security and the environmental sustainability. The observed increase in built up areas, farmlands and bare surfaces has substantially led to reduction in vegetation and water bodies. The oscillatory nature of water bodies LULCC which was not particularly consistent with the rates of urbanization also suggests that beyond the urbanization process, other factors may influence the LULCC of water bodies in urban settlements. Keywords: Minna, Niger State, Remote Sensing, Land Surface Characteristics References Akinrinmade, A., Ibrahim, K., & Abdurrahman, A. (2012). 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Road dust (RD) is one of the most important sources of particles in the atmosphere, especially in industrial areas and cities. In this special issue, we collected 16 original articles that describe field, experimental, and modeling studies related to RD and its various size fractions as a key issue in understanding the relationships between several urban and industrial environments and in the identification of pollution sources. Articles in the special issue focus primarily on the following main topics: (1) study of the chemical composition and speciation of RD and its source attribution; (2) assessment of RD and aerosol pollution levels (including express technique), environmental hazards and public health risks; (3) distribution of stable and radioactive isotopes in RD; (4) determination of factors affecting the level of dust accumulation on roads and the intensity of its pollution; and (5) study of the effect of RD on the atmosphere and other environments. Based on the results presented in this special issue, but not limited to, some of the current challenges in studying RD are formulated, including the need for further geographically wider and analytically deeper work on various aspects of the formation, transport pathways, and accumulation of RD in urban, industrial and other areas.

Rivers and reservoirs in urban areas have been associated with environmental quality problems because of the discharge of domestic waste into water bodies. However, the key effects and the extent to which environmental factors can influence the integrated structure and function of urban river ecosystems remain largely unknown. Here, a relationship model involving the species composition of the community and the various environmental factors related to the water and sediment was developed in the dry season (N) and the flood season (F) in both the urban Jiaomen River (JR) and the Baihuitian Reservoir (BR) of Guangzhou City. Canonical correspondence analysis was used to determine the spatiotemporal drivers of the phytoplankton, zooplankton and macrobenthic communities in the river and reservoir systems. The combination of the thermodynamic-oriented ecological indicators and the biodiversity measures reflected the integrated structure and function of the ecosystems. Overall, the plankton community composition was found to be largely determined by the nutrient concentrations and oxygen index, and the development of the macrobenthic communities was mainly restricted by organic matter and heavy metals. Based on the results of the integrated assessment, the structure and function of the JR ecosystem were superior to that of the BR, and the F period displayed healthier results than the N period. Moreover, the structural and functional statuses of the high eco-exergy grade communities (macrobenthic communities) in the ecosystem influenced the regional changes observed in the results of the integrated assessment. The significant seasonal variations in the plankton community affected the seasonal variations in the integrated assessment. The results of this study provide a scientific basis for the management and restoration of regional freshwater environments and ecosystems.

The urban environment is stressful and trees experience multiple stresses, including drought, flooding, and extreme heat, all of which are likely to increase under future climate warming and increasing urbanisation. In the selection of tree species to maximise ecosystem services, tolerance to site characteristics such as flooding and severe drought is of critical importance. This study evaluated the suitability of a rare species, Alnus subcordata C.A. Mey (Caucasian alder) from the Hyrcanian forests of southern Azerbaijan,for its functionality as an urban tree. A total of 48 pot-grown, two-year-old saplings of A. subcordata were tested in a greenhouse experiment using a complete randomised block design. Each block contained four replicates of three treatments (waterlogging, drought, control), with 16 plants per treatment. Height differences between treatments were measured, and water status was estimated by determination of midday leaf water potential (ΨL) and stomatal conductance (gs). To estimate drought tolerance reaction in the treatments, leaf water potential at turgor loss (ΨP0) was used together with broken-stick modelling of water status over time. There was a significant difference in tree height between the different treatments. In the drought treatment, A. subcordata plants showed no height increase, while plants in both the waterlogged and control treatments increased in height during the nine-week experiment. Over 63 days of flooding, plant water status was slightly more negative in the waterlogging treatment, but did not deviate essentially from the control. In the drought treatment, plant water status rapidly deviated from the control. There was a significant differencein ΨP0 between treatments, with drought-treated plants showing the lowest value (−2.31 MPa).This study demonstrated that A. subcordata has limited tolerance to drought and seems to rely more on waterloss-avoiding strategies. However, the species may be usable at periodically waterlogged sites, due to its high tolerance to flooding. It could therefore be recommended for wet urban environments and stormwater management facilities, for which reliable guidance on suitable trees is currently lacking.

Soil pollution is a major challenge for ensuring a healthy environment and for human health. One of the critical points in soil pollution policy is the education and public awareness of the problem caused by soil pollution. Education influences decision-making on soil and water care. It is crucial to spread knowledge to undergraduate and graduate students about the determinantal effects of soil pollution on ecosystems and humans, considering today’s students are tomorrow’s guardians of soil and human health. A course on soil pollution aims to provide students with a foundation of the knowledge and skills required to work in this field. Knowledge of soil and contaminant properties, soil-pollutant interaction processes, transport of pollutants by soil and water, human health and ecological risk assessment, and measures for preventing soil pollution are fundamental for the sustainable management of soil and food safety. Students should be aware of the need to avoid the three types of soil pollution (chemical, radioactive, and biological) in industrial, agricultural, forest, and urban soils. This article provides a broad view of the knowledge taught in subjects related to soil pollution and introduces learning activities for undergraduate students.

(1) Background: Small- and medium-sized rivers in urban areas are unique environments that serve as blue-green corridors for urban residents. The relationship between land-use types and water quality in these rivers provides important information for effectively addressing urban river restoration and pollution management. However, not much attention has been paid on these small- and medium-sized rivers, especially in large urban agglomerations with dense river networks. (2) Methods: This study undertook a field investigation on 130 sampling small- and medium-sized rivers during the late summer and applied data-driven water quality index and landscape analysis techniques to evaluate the direct impacts of riparian land-use types on the summertime water quality in Shanghai’s small- and medium-sized rivers. Riparian land-use types were derived from OpenStreetMap (OSM) datasets, including industrial, commercial, residential, and green spaces. (3) Results: Residential and green space are located closer to these sampled rivers than industrial and commercial land types, suggesting a tentative link between anthropogenic activities and water quality. Further analysis concluded that urban resident settlements, characterized by specific land-use types, DMSP-OLS nighttime lights, OSM road density, and OSM river density, strongly affected the water quality at the sub-catchment scale. We further determined the critical radii for impacts of land use types on urban rivers. Industrial types may influence water quality within a maximum radius of 5 km, followed by green space (4 km), residential areas (3 km), and commercial developments (2 km). These mathematically and statistically computed radii provide updated visions for river health assessment. For a specific land-use type, the assessed water quality index will be biased by using an assessment area with a radius higher or lower than the above-estimated radii. The study also quantified the spatial extent and transmission efficiency of non-point source pollution in a super built-up area of central Shanghai. We observed that contaminants transported by river pathways can reach a larger area than those transported by roads. (4) Conclusions: The high-quality environments in small- and medium-sized rivers are tightly linked to riparian landscape patterns. It is therefore urgent to control domestic pollutions as part of the restoration of megacity’s urban rivers and grapple with the complex challenges of risks to water supply. This study elaborates the importance of integrating land-use planning and water-quality management to maintain the functions and services of small- and medium-sized urban rivers.

The new and more conscious sensibility towards the environmental sphere supports the idea of “green city”, promotes initiatives of structural integration of the green with the built environment and involves a considerable number of disciplines in a cultural and social debate. The literature reports different experiences of collaborative governance, between administrations and citizens, which tend to enhance the interaction between the different social actors involved in the investments of Green Infrastructures, to share objectives and management methods and to assess the extent of ecosystem services. The objective of this article is to propose a methodological approach to assessing green investments in the urban area, which is able to internalize the social perception of citizens regarding this important component for the urban landscape, with a view to guiding the city’s government towards a new urban eco-social-green planning and evaluation model. It presents a concise framework of the scientific debate on climate change and on the effects of urban planning issues; some relevant experiences of Green Infrastructures; and the proposed methodology, applied to the reality of the “urban green system” of Catania, based on an integrated approach between participatory planning and the method NAIADE (Novel Approach to Imprecise Assessment and Decision Environments).

In assessing the ecological conditions and classification of urban soils, data about soil biota should be taken into account. The environment of urban territories is characterized by significant changes compared to their surrounding environments. It is established that the algal flora of urban soils lose their zonal features and features associated with the edification influence of higher plants. Specific biotopes with a definite species structure are formed in urboecosystems. Fifty 50 algae species have been recorded in the soils of the Henichesk urboecosystems (Kherson region, Ukraine): Cyanoprocaryota – 21, Chlorophyta – 13, Charophyta – 2, Eustigmatophyta – 1, Xanthophyta – 11, Bacillariophyta – 2. Among dominant and subdominant species were Cyanoprocaryota and Chlorophyta. The other phyla were represented by Klebsormidium dissectum, K. flaccidum, Hantzschia amphioxys, Eustigmatos magnus, Botrydiopsis eriensis. Compared with the surrounding environment, the urbanized flora of Henichesk has a low species richness, and is characterized by prevalence of Cyanoprocaryota and Chlorophyta species. The coefficient that takes into account the percentage of preservation of species richness in a particular urban area compared to the background indicators of species richness can be used to evaluate the urban transformation of soil biota. The degree of degradatory changes in the composition of living organisms and the direction of these changes depends on the specificity and intensity of exploitation of the territory of the urban ecosystem. The most diverse composition of algae species within the the city of Henichesk was noted in the recreational, residential, and transport zones, in comparison with the industrial zone and the zone of special use. Different functional areas of the city are distinguished not only by the algae species richness, but also by the composition of dominants. Among the dominants and subdominants of the recreational and transport zones were species of different phyla. The dominants and subdominants of the residential and industrial zones were Cyanoprocaryota species, in the zone of special use – representatives of Chlorophyta. The distribution of species richness of algae along the soil profile in the city acquires an atypical character. The species richness increases not in the most superficial layers of soil, but in the lower, aphotic parts of the soil profile. The soil biota, on the one hand, depends on the ecological conditions of soil, and on the other as a result of its life activity, changes the ecological functions of the soil, strengthening or weakening them. The reduction in the species richness of the soil algae of the urboecosystem Henichesk shows the limitations of ecological functions of urban soils. It is established that changes in the composition of algae in soils of urban ecosystems are one of the indicators of the presence and severity of transformation processes. These processes occur with the soil biota and soil as a whole under the conditions of urban ecosystems and can be used as indicators in the environmental assessment of urban soils, in the development and subsequent examination of ways to reduce negative expression of urbanization.

Climate change induced sea-level rise (SLR) is on its increase globally. Regionally the lowlands of China, Vietnam, Bangladesh, and islands of the Malaysian, Indonesian and Philippine archipelagos are among the world’s most threatened regions. Sea-level rise has major impacts on the ecosystems and society. It threatens coastal populations, economic activities, and fragile ecosystems as mangroves, coastal salt-marches and wetlands. This paper provides a summary of the current state of knowledge of sea level-rise and its effects on both human and natural ecosystems. The focus is on coastal urban areas and low lying deltas in South-East Asia and Vietnam, as one of the most threatened areas in the world. About 3 mm per year reflects the growing consensus on the average SLR worldwide. The trend speeds up during recent decades. The figures are subject to local, temporal and methodological variation. In Vietnam the average values of 3.3 mm per year during the 1993-2014 period are above the worldwide average. Although a basic conceptual understanding exists that the increasing global frequency of the strongest tropical cyclones is related with the increasing temperature and SLR, this relationship is insufficiently understood. Moreover the precise, complex environmental, economic, social, and health impacts are currently unclear. SLR, storms and changing precipitation patterns increase flood risks, in particular in urban areas. Part of the current scientific debate is on how urban agglomeration can be made more resilient to flood risks. Where originally mainly technical interventions dominated this discussion, it becomes increasingly clear that proactive special planning, flood defense, flood risk mitigation, flood preparation, and flood recovery are important, but costly instruments. 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Soil bacterial communities play a key role in nutrient cycling and ecosystem functioning. This study aims to reveal how green space type impacts soil quality and the bacterial community, which finally contributes to suggesting strategies for managing sustainable environments in urban areas. For this purpose, urban green space soils in this study are divided into four different types; park green space (PARK), street green space (STREET), attached green space (ATTACH) and residential green space (RESID). Results showed that significant differences were observed for soil physicochemical properties. Soil organic matter, total nitrogen, soil moisture content and available nitrogen in the ATTACH and PARK soils were significantly higher than in the STREET and RESID soils. Across the four green space types, the structure of bacterial communities was dominated by Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria and Chloroflexi at the phylum level. The diversity and richness of bacteria were significantly higher in the PARK and ATTACH soils than in the RESID and STREET soils. Results of principal component analysis (PCoA) showed that soil bacterial communities could be clustered into four different groups according to different green space types. In addition, analysis of similarities (ANOSIM) also implied that soil samples differed significantly from others. Redundancy analysis (RDA) and Spearman correlation analysis both showed that the contents of soil organic matter, total nitrogen, soil moisture and pH had great influence on the structures of bacterial communities. In summary, these results suggest that soil physicochemical properties and bacterial communities can be strongly affected by green space types, and thus, objective assessment of a particular measure can be provided to land managers and policy makers for informed decision-making in urban development and sustainability.

: This study evaluated water quality variations in an artificial deep pool (ADP), which is an underground artificial structure built in a shallow pond as a fish shelter. The water temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen (DO), and electrical conductivity (EC) were measured on an hourly basis in the open space and inside the ADP, and a phenomenological study was performed, dividing seasons into normal and rainy seasons and environments into stagnant and circulating conditions. The results showed that the water quality parameters inside the ADP exhibit lower fluctuations and diurnal variations compared with the open space. On average, the water temperature inside the ADP is lower than outside it by 1.7–3.7 °C in stagnant conditions, and by 0.6–0.7 °C in circulating conditions during early summer. Thermal stratification occurs inside the ADP but is temporarily disturbed due to the mixing from the forced circulation and the rainwater input through rainfall events. The ADP provided a constant and optimal water temperature for living and spawning for bitterling (i.e., 15.0–21.0 °C), which dominated in experimental pond during spring to summer. Most importantly, the ADP was able to significantly reduce the thermal stress of the fish in the study site, and as a result, the bitterling, a cool water fish species, could successfully become dominant. Finally, the deployment of the ADP appears to provide a practical alternative for effective fishery resources management to improve species diversity and fish communities in an artificial freshwater ecosystem (garden pond, park pond, other artificial wetlands, etc.).

Urban areas are experiencing major changes and facing significant sustainability challenges. Many cities are undergoing a transition towards a post-industrial phase and need to consider the regeneration of brownfield sites. Nature-Based Solutions (NBSs) are increasingly considered as tools for supporting this transition and promoting sustainable development by delivering multiple ecosystem services (ESs). Although the potential of NBSs as a cost-effective enabler of urban sustainability has been recognized, their implementation faces numerous barriers. The effective assessment of benefits delivered by urban NBSs is considered by existing literature as one of them. In order to contribute to filling this knowledge gap, we analyzed two alternative NBS-based intervention scenarios—i.e., (1) an urban forest and (2) meadows with sparse trees—for the redevelopment of an urban brownfield area within the municipality of Brescia (Northern Italy). Nine ESs were assessed both in biophysical and economic terms via a combination of modeling (InVEST, i-Tree and ESTIMAP) and traditional estimation methods. The results show that both scenarios improve ES stock and flow compared to the baseline, ensuring annual flows ranging between 140,000 and 360,000 EUR/year. Scenario 1 shows higher values when single ESs are considered, while scenario 2 shows higher total values, as it also accounts for the phytoremediation capacity that is not considered under the first scenario. All in all, regulating ESs represent the bulk of estimated ESs, thus highlighting the potential of proposed NBSs for improving urban resilience. The ES assessment and valuation exercise presented within this paper is an example of how research and practice can be integrated to inform urban management activities, and provide inputs for future decision making and planning regarding urban developments.

By 2050, the global population is predicted to reach nine billion, with almost three quarters living in cities. The road to 2050 will be marked by changes in land use, climate, and the management of water and food across the world. These global changes (GCs) will likely affect the emissions, transport, and fate of chemicals, and thus the exposure of the natural environment to chemicals. ECORISK2050 is a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Innovative Training Network that brings together an interdisciplinary consortium of academic, industry and governmental partners to deliver a new generation of scientists, with the skills required to study and manage the effects of GCs on chemical risks to the aquatic environment. The research and training goals are to: (1) assess how inputs and behaviour of chemicals from agriculture and urban environments are affected by different environmental conditions, and how different GC scenarios will drive changes in chemical risks to human and ecosystem health; (2) identify short-to-medium term adaptation and mitigation strategies, to abate unacceptable increases to risks, and (3) develop tools for use by industry and policymakers for the assessment and management of the impacts of GC-related drivers on chemical risks. This project will deliver the next generation of scientists, consultants, and industry and governmental decision-makers who have the knowledge and skillsets required to address the changing pressures associated with chemicals emitted by agricultural and urban activities, on aquatic systems on the path to 2050 and beyond.

By 2050, the global population is predicted to reach nine billion, with almost three quarters living in cities. The road to 2050 will be marked by changes in land use, climate, and the management of water and food across the world. These global changes (GCs) will likely affect the emissions, transport, and fate of chemicals, and thus the exposure of the natural environment to chemicals. ECORISK2050 is a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Innovative Training Network that brings together an interdisciplinary consortium of academic, industry and governmental partners to deliver a new generation of scientists, with the skills required to study and manage the effects of GCs on chemical risks to the aquatic environment. The research and training goals are to: (1) assess how inputs and behaviour of chemicals from agriculture and urban environments are affected by different environmental conditions, and how different GC scenarios will drive changes in chemical risks to human and ecosystem health; (2) identify short-to-medium term adaptation and mitigation strategies, to abate unacceptable increases to risks, and (3) develop tools for use by industry and policymakers for the assessment and management of the impacts of GC-related drivers on chemical risks. This project will deliver the next generation of scientists, consultants, and industry and governmental decision-makers who have the knowledge and skillsets required to address the changing pressures associated with chemicals emitted by agricultural and urban activities, on aquatic systems on the path to 2050 and beyond.

Legitimate labour migration has, no doubt, got much attention in various economies and labour force irrespective of gender tempt for diverse employment. Industrial employment and job concentration in industrial cluster always provoke work driven migration. People relocate their whereabouts based on their secure livelihoods. And, economic centralization and targeted migration thus associate each other with no exception in Bangladesh. In the 5-decade long industrial history, many changes, reforms and challenges were noticed throughout our industrial ecosystem and labour dynamics. Labour force is a critical strength for efficient and low-cost productivity. In this regard, our mixed labour force, skilled, semi and unskilled workforce, has shaped our local industry and positioned as the most competitive regionally and contributed to gain productivity momentum and foreign trade growth. RMG industry, the forefront export-oriented sector of economy, has emerged as the largest employer of local migrated workforce of all contemporary industries in Bangladesh encouraging labour migration in urban area. This industry shares relatively large in GDP and export earning. With unprecedented contribution by RMG to economy, this study attempted to know whether any relationship of migration trend and gender status since this industry is a female dominant industry. The assessment of correlation is justifiably demanded due to women employment intensity since inception. But, this quantitative research-cause and effect study resulted that gender and migration condition and flow have no positive relationship and integration upon applying non-parametric test Chi-square test of significance. Around 252 independent samples from RMG factories in Dhaka and nearby districts where industrial hubs are located. It has obtained the null and rejected alternative hypothesis. These findings may help for national perspective planning and development planning. The drawn outcomes may also enable us national resource planning, mapping and human development index. As well, we can measure labour productivity in RMG industry and plan for future facility as well urban living and economic development.

Abstract. Accurate and timely maps of urban underlying land properties at the national scale are of significance in improving habitat environment and achieving sustainable development goals. Urban impervious surface (UIS) and urban green space (UGS) are two core components for characterizing urban underlying environments. However, the UIS and UGS are often mosaicked in the urban landscape with complex structures and composites. The “hard classification” or binary single type cannot be used effectively to delineate spatially explicit urban land surface property. Although six mainstream datasets on global or national urban land use and land cover products with a 30 m spatial resolution have been developed, they only provide the binary pattern or dynamic of a single urban land type, which cannot effectively delineate the quantitative components or structure of intra-urban land cover. Here we propose a new mapping strategy to acquire the multitemporal and fractional information of the essential urban land cover types at a national scale through synergizing the advantage of both big data processing and human interpretation with the aid of geoknowledge. Firstly, the vector polygons of urban boundaries in 2000, 2005, 2010, 2015 and 2018 were extracted from China's Land Use/cover Dataset (CLUD) derived from Landsat images. Secondly, the national settlement and vegetation percentages were retrieved using a sub-pixel decomposition method through a random forest algorithm using the Google Earth Engine (GEE) platform. Finally, the products of China's UIS and UGS fractions (CLUD-Urban) at a 30 m resolution were developed in 2000, 2005, 2010, 2015 and 2018. We also compared our products with six existing mainstream datasets in terms of quality and accuracy. The assessment results showed that the CLUD-Urban product has higher accuracies in urban-boundary and urban-expansion detection than other products and in addition that the accurate UIS and UGS fractions were developed in each period. The overall accuracy of urban boundaries in 2000–2018 are over 92.65 %; and the correlation coefficient (R) and root mean square errors (RMSEs) of UIS and UGS fractions are 0.91 and 0.10 (UIS) and 0.89 and 0.11 (UGS), respectively. Our result indicates that 71 % of pixels of urban land were mosaicked by the UIS and UGS within cities in 2018; a single UIS classification may highly increase the mapping uncertainty. The high spatial heterogeneity of urban underlying covers was exhibited with average fractions of 68.21 % for UIS and 22.30 % for UGS in 2018 at a national scale. The UIS and UGS increased unprecedentedly with annual rates of 1605.56 and 627.78 km2 yr−1 in 2000–2018, driven by fast urbanization. The CLUD-Urban mapping can fill the knowledge gap in understanding impacts of the UIS and UGS patterns on ecosystem services and habitat environments and is valuable for detecting the hotspots of waterlogging and improving urban greening for planning and management practices. The datasets can be downloaded from https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4034161 (Kuang et al., 2020a).

Antibiotics in water have attracted increasing attention due to their potential threat to aquatic ecosystems and public health. Most previous studies have focused on heavily polluted environments, while ignoring urbanized rivers with high population density. Taking Suzhou Creek in Shanghai as an example, this study attempted to explore the antibiotic pollution characteristics of typical urbanized rivers. Further, it screened out priority antibiotics so as to provide reference for the regular monitoring of antibiotics in urban surface water in the study’s later stage. Four classes of 27 antibiotics in surface water samples and sediment samples were detected and analyzed by SPE-UPLC-MS/MS under both wet season and dry season. Results demonstrate that the total amount of antibiotics detected reached 1936.9 ng/L and 337.3 ng/g in water samples and sediment samples, respectively. Through Pearson correlation analysis, it can be shown that there is a very significant correlation between a variety of antibiotics in water and sediment. The results of ecological risk assessment based on risk quotient (RQ) show that certain antibiotics presented high and medium risk to the surrounding ecosystem. Finally, the priority antibiotics selected by optimized priority screening method were EM, SPD, CLR and RTM. Therefore, we have proven that the antibiotics being discharged in urbanized rivers show different types of antibiotics, while presenting a toxicological risk to certain species.

<p class="emsd"><span lang="EN-GB">Many developed and developing countries have enacted environmental laws and regulations to control water quality and the environment. However, human activities, such as agriculture, urban and industrial development, mining, and recreation, significantly alter the quality of natural environments and their potential use. The compliance of firms with environmental laws is of great concern to scientists, governments, and regulatory agencies. The presence of hazardous chemicals in water resources even in small amounts may cause massive environmental damage. Thus, governments pass environmental laws and regulations to monitor human activity and enforce compliance with environmental standards. This study investigates the potential to improve firms’ compliance with environmental standards by implementing an environmental management plan (EMP) within a public firm and a private firm in South Africa. EMP implementation is required to mitigate and manage environmental risk. This study asks the following research question: To what extent does EMP implementation enhance a firm’s compliance to environmental laws and regulations? Further, to what extent are the specific characteristics of a firm associated with various EMP categories? The study used methods of inspection, observation, impact assessment, implementation, and monitoring to answer the research question. In both firms under study, the results showed no compliance with environmental law during initial site inspection and impact assessment. However, the implementation of EMPs in both firms improved compliance with environmental laws to nearly one hundred percent. As a result, EMPs were successfully implemented and monitored, improving the firms’ compliance with environmental laws and reducing negative environmental impacts to an insignificant level.</span></p>

The effectiveness of forests therapeutic impact is based on its species’ and age structure, silvicultural features, biological productivity, regenerative ability, forest management intensity and its methods. The processes of natural regeneration of a forest stand and its growth are the main factors of the forest’s ecosystem proper functioning and a disruption in these processes can lead to a transformation of the whole biocenosis, a change of a typological community. Technogenic pollution is a huge stress factor for trees, and its impact is especially evident in regions with a high concentration of industrial facilities, namely, in Moscow city. One of the most serious consequences of technogenic pollution is the deterioration of long-established forests, which subsequently may reduce its ability to adapt to ever-changing environmental conditions and its protective functions. The article discusses issues regarding the natural regeneration of forests on urbanized territories of Moscow on the example of the Forest experimental station of the Russian State Agrarian University - Moscow Timiryazev Agricultural Academy. The natural regeneration of tree species is one of the most relevant issues of forest and park management. The aim of this project is to estimate natural regeneration in mixed forest stands of urbanized areas, to provide recommendations on the organization of forest regeneration measures in urban environments. The article provides methods and results of field research and recommendations on reforestation measures under these conditions. The research of the cenobiotic connections and the undergrowth of different species with key elements of grass cover in its habitat, will allow a more positive dynamics in the use of natural resources, which will contribute to preservation and restoration of forests.

This paper is reporting on an investigation done to assess land cover dynamics in KRB(Kagera River Basin) (KRB) over a period of 21 years i.e.1990-2011 using Remote Sensing, Hydrology and GIS techniques as a basis for initiating policy interventions for sustainability of Lake Victoria water regime.The extent of land cover changes in the KRB have not been quantified with the view of assessing the extent of exploitation of the natural resources.The assessment is important firstly for identification of causative factors and secondly as a mechanism for formulating necessary policies and remedial measures to that effect.Specifically, Landsat 5, Landsat 7 and ETM+ (2000) satellite images were used.Eight Land Cover classes were identified namely, Forests, Woodland, Bushland, Cultivated Land, Swamps, Grassland, Bareland and Urban areas.Hydrographical data were used to assess changes in quantity of water flowing from the KRB into Lake Victoria and relating it with land cover changes in KRB at in the period of study. Spatial data processing, analysis and interpretation were carried out in ERDAS Imagine and ArcGIS software environments; while water quantity data and other non spatial data were processed and analyzed in Microsoft Excel application 2007. The study revealed a significant decline of vegetation cover and water quantity discharged from Kagera River to Lake Victoria over the study period. This contravenes the global efforts of ecological sustainability, which urge avoidance of depletion of natural resources for maintenance for ecological balance. These results are in early warning to the Management of Lake Victoria for its potential failure towards achieving the Millennium Development Goal on responsible consumption and protection of natural resources in proximity with Lake Victoria. The Management of Lake Victoria in collaboration with other relevant authorities should thus, take remedial measures to control further depletion of vegetation cover in KRB for sustainability of Lake Victoria and its ecosystem.

This work aimed to study hazardous air pollutants in Jeddah city, between 2010 - 2018. The study of the spatial distribution of (NOX, SO2, PM10) was done by the application of the geostatistical method IDW. Daily observation Data were collected from three field observation stations (Bani Malik, Stadium, Industrial activity), and treated in ArcGIS environment. According to the obtained results, in the year 2010, NOX varies between (25 – 62.99 ppb), with very important concentrations in the south of the study area, surrounding the industrial activities. While in the year 2018, the highest concentrations were between (25 – 30.99 ppb) in the north of the study area. the spatial distribution of SO2 was very important in the south of the study area, compared to the highest concentrations in the north in 2018. The spatial distribution of PM10 was between (153 – 173 µg/m3) in the south of the study area, in 2018 we noticed a decrease of the PM10 concentration, in the industrial area with values between (67 – 77 µg/m3). Even though a lot of work must be done to improve air quality in the city of Jeddah to meet international air quality standards in modern cities. REFERENCES: Al-Ahmadi, K., See, L., Heppenstall, A., & Hogg, J. (2009). Calibration of a fuzzy cellularautomata model of urban dynamics in Sfig Saudi Arabia. Ecological Complexity, 6 (2),80–101.Al-Hathloul, S., & Mughal, M. (2004). Urban growth management—the Saudi experience.Habitat International, 28 (4), 609–623.Aljoufie, M., Zuidgeest, M.H.P., Brussel, M.J.G., & van Maarseveen, M.F.A.M. (2011).Urban growth and transport understanding the spatial-temporal relationship. In: Pratelli,A., Brebbia, CA. (Eds.), Urban transport XVII: urban transport and the environment inthe 21st Century. 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The article is devoted to investigating a number of issues within the forest landscape of the Fako-Meme, south west region of Cameroon. An assessment of the history of economic development and use of forest in the studied territory was carried out. It was observed that the rate at which these forests are been hewn down for various purposes under the pretext of development leaves much to be desired. The deforestation of the forest with the attendant problems of resource degradation, environmental mutation is a cause for alarm. In order to understand the mutations taking place in the forest landscape, the history of forest use in 4 different periods: 1) the pre-colonial era (before the arrival of European explorers), (2) German colonial rule (1884-1916), (3) British colonial rule (1916-1961) and (4) Independence and post Independence Cameroon (1961-present day). It was observed that during the pre-colonial era the forest landscapes were very stable. Forest degradation in the territory started with the introduction of extensive mechanized agriculture introduced by the colonial masters through the opening of large agro-industrial plantations of rubber, palms and bananas. This forest ecological region suffers from a number of challenges. These problems were investigated in detail with proposals made for the sustainable management of forest resources in this forest ecosystem situated in the heart of the humid tropical region of the South West of Cameroon. These forests provide for a wide range of human needs ; medicine, timber , fuel wood, non- timber forest products (NTFPs), food crop production and cash crop cultivation. The pattern of land-use change in the Fako-Meme region was studied in three distinctive periods (1978, 2000 and 2015). The results revealed that anthropogenic activities have been systematically raping the forest landscapes so that the environments are only a skeleton or shadow of their former selves. This is an ecological region in which forest gives way to farmlands and plantations. In this respect, we see that what was a forest landscape in the past is now consisting of a succession of cocoa farms, palm, rubber as well as other economic cash crop plantations, with cocoa being the most important cash crop in the region. Evidence from our analysis reveals that this region has lost 42% of its forest cover within the period 1978-2015. This dynamic can be considered catastrophic. If this trend continues uninterruptedly in the region, then in 60-70 years, the Fako-Meme and the slopes of Mount Cameroon will remain without forest. It is easy to imagine the consequences of this. The study calls for urgent adaptive environmental strategies for the sustainable management of forest and its resources in the region.

Can Gio mangrove forest (CGM) is located downstream of Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), situated between an estuarine system of Dong Nai - Sai Gon river and a part of Vam Co river. The CGM is the largest restored mangrove forest in Vietnam and the UNESCO’s Mangrove Biosphere Reserve. The CGM has been gradually facing to numeric challenges of global climate change, environmental degradation and socio-economic development for the last decades. To evaluate sediment quality in the CGM, we collected 13 cores to analyze for sediment grain size, organic matter content, and trace element concentration of Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, Zn. Results showed that trace element concentrations ranged from uncontaminated (Cd, Cu, and Zn) to very minor contaminated (Cr, Ni, and Pb). The concentrations were gradually influenced by suspended particle size and the mangrove plants.ReferencesAnh M.T., Chi D.H., Vinh N.N., Loan T.T., Triet L.M., Slootenb K.B.-V., Tarradellas J., 2003. 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This paper is meant to study the apocalyptic scenario of the at the perspectives of the Great Acceleration. the apocalyptic scenario is not a pure imagination of the literature works. Instead, scientific evidences are in favour of dramatic change in the climatic conditions related to the climax of Man actions. the modelling of the future climate leads to horrible situations including intolerable temperatures, dryness, tornadoes, and noticeable sear level rise evading coastal regions. Going far from these scientific claims, Homo Sapiens Sapiens extended his imagination through the Climate-Fiction (cli-fi) to propose a dramatic end. Climate Fiction is developed into a recording machine containing every kind of fictions that depict environmental condition events and has consequently lost its true significance. Introduction The Great Acceleration may be considered as the Late Anthropocene in which Man actions reached their climax to lead to dramatic climatic changes paving the way for a possible apocalyptic scenario threatening the existence of the humanity. So, the apocalyptic scenario is not a pure imagination of the literature works. Instead, many scientific arguments especially related to climate change are in favour of the apocalypse1. As a matter of fact, the modelling of the future climate leads to horrible situations including intolerable temperatures (In 06/07/2021, Kuwait recorded the highest temperature of 53.2 °C), dryness, tornadoes, and noticeable sear level rise evading coastal regions. These conditions taking place during the Great Acceleration would have direct repercussions on the human species. Considering that the apocalyptic extinction had really caused the disappearance of many stronger species including dinosaurs, Homo Sapiens Sapiens extended his imagination though the Climate-Fiction (cli-fi) to propose a dramatic end due to severe climate conditions intolerable by the humankind. The mass extinction of animal species has occurred several times over the geological ages. Researchers have a poor understanding of the causes and processes of these major crises1. Nonetheless, whatever the cause of extinction, the apocalyptic scenario has always been present in the geological history. For example, dinosaurs extinction either by asteroids impact or climate changes could by no means denies the apocalyptic aspect2.At the same time as them, many animal and plant species became extinct, from marine or flying reptiles to marine plankton. This biological crisis of sixty-five million years ago is not the only one that the biosphere has suffered. It was preceded and followed by other crises which caused the extinction or the rarefaction of animal species. So, it is undeniable that many animal groups have disappeared. It is even on the changes of fauna that the geologists of the last century have based themselves to establish the scale of geological times, scale which is still used. But it is no less certain that the extinction processes, extremely complex, are far from being understood. We must first agree on the meaning of the word "extinction", namely on the apocalyptic aspect of the concept. It is quite understood that, without disappearances, the evolution of species could not have followed its course. Being aware that the apocalyptic extinction had massacred stronger species that had dominated the planet, Homo Sapiens Sapiens has been aware that the possibility of apocalyptic end at the perspective of the Anthropocene (i.e., Great Acceleration) could not be excluded. This conviction is motivated by the progressive defaunation in some regions3and the appearance of alien species in others related to change of mineralogy and geochemistry4 leading to a climate change during the Anthropocene. These scientific claims fed the vast imagination about climate change to set the so-called cli-fi. The concept of the Anthropocene is the new geological era which begins when the Man actions have reached a sufficient power to modify the geological processes and climatic cycles of the planet5. The Anthropocene by no means excludes the possibility of an apocalyptic horizon, namely in the perspectives of the Great Acceleration. On the contrary, two scenarios do indeed seem to dispute the future of the Anthropocene, with a dramatic cross-charge. The stories of the end of the world are as old as it is, as the world is the origin of these stories. However, these stories of the apocalypse have evolved over time and, since the beginning of the 19th century, they have been nourished particularly by science and its advances. These fictions have sometimes tried to pass themselves off as science. This is the current vogue, called collapsology6. This end is more than likely cli-fi driven7and it may cause the extinction of the many species including the Homo Sapiens Sapiens. In this vein, Anthropocene defaunation has become an ultimate reality8. More than one in eight birds, more than one in five mammals, more than one in four coniferous species, one in three amphibians are threatened. The hypothesis of a hierarchy within the living is induced by the error of believing that evolution goes from the simplest to the most sophisticated, from the inevitably stupid inferior to the superior endowed with an intelligence giving prerogative to all powers. Evolution goes in all directions and pursues no goal except the extension of life on Earth. Evolution certainly does not lead from bacteria to humans, preferably male and white. Our species is only a carrier of the DNA that precedes us and that will survive us. Until we show a deep respect for the biosphere particularly, and our planet in general, we will not become much, we will remain a predator among other predators, the fiercest of predators, the almighty craftsman of the Anthropocene. To be in the depths of our humanity, somehow giving back to the biosphere what we have taken from it seems obvious. To stop the sixth extinction of species, we must condemn our anthropocentrism and the anthropization of the territories that goes with it. The other forms of life also need to keep their ecological niches. According to the first, humanity seems at first to withdraw from the limits of the planet and ultimately succumb to them, with a loss of dramatic meaning. According to the second, from collapse to collapse, it is perhaps another humanity, having overcome its demons, that could come. Climate fiction is a literary sub-genre dealing with the theme of climate change, including global warming. The term appears to have been first used in 2008 by blogger and writer Dan Bloom. In October 2013, Angela Evancie, in a review of the novel Odds against Tomorrow, by Nathaniel Rich, wonders if climate change has created a new literary genre. Scientific basis of the apocalyptic scenario in the perspective of the Anthropocene Global warming All temperature indices are in favour of a global warming (Fig.1). According to the different scenarios of the IPCC9, the temperatures of the globe could increase by 2 °C to 5 °C by 2100. But some scientists warn about a possible runaway of the warming which can reach more than 3 °C. Thus, the average temperature on the surface of the globe has already increased by more than 1.1 °C since the pre-industrial era. The rise in average temperatures at the surface of the globe is the first expected and observed consequence of massive greenhouse gas emissions. However, meteorological surveys record positive temperature anomalies which are confirmed from year to year compared to the temperatures recorded since the middle of the 19th century. Climatologists point out that the past 30 years have seen the highest temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere for over 1,400 years. Several climatic centres around the world record, synthesize and follow the evolution of temperatures on Earth. Since the beginning of the 20th century (1906-2005), the average temperature at the surface of the globe has increased by 0.74 °C, but this progression has not been continuous since 1976, the increase has clearly accelerated, reaching 0.19 °C per decade according to model predictions. Despite the decline in solar activity, the period 1997-2006 is marked by an average positive anomaly of 0.53 °C in the northern hemisphere and 0.27 °C in the southern hemisphere, still compared to the normal calculated for 1961-1990. The ten hottest years on record are all after 1997. Worse, 14 of the 15 hottest years are in the 21st century, which has barely started. Thus, 2016 is the hottest year, followed closely by 2015, 2014 and 2010. The temperature of tropical waters increased by 1.2 °C during the 20th century (compared to 0.5 °C on average for the oceans), causing coral reefs to bleach in 1997. In 1998, the period of Fort El Niño, the prolonged warming of the water has destroyed half of the coral reefs of the Indian Ocean. In addition, the temperature in the tropics of the five ocean basins, where cyclones form, increased by 0.5 °C from 1970 to 2004, and powerful cyclones appeared in the North Atlantic in 2005, while they were more numerous in other parts of the world. Recently, mountains of studies focused on the possible scenario of climate change and the potential worldwide repercussions including hell temperatures and apocalyptic extreme events10 , 11, 12. Melting of continental glaciers As a direct result of the global warming, melting of continental glaciers has been recently noticed13. There are approximately 198,000 mountain glaciers in the world; they cover an area of approximately 726,000 km2. If they all melted, the sea level would rise by about 40 cm. Since the late 1960s, global snow cover has declined by around 10 to 15%. Winter cold spells in much of the northern half of the northern hemisphere are two weeks shorter than 100 years ago. Glaciers of mountains have been declining all over the world by an average of 50 m per decade for 150 years. However, they are also subject to strong multi-temporal variations which make forecasts on this point difficult according to some specialists. In the Alps, glaciers have been losing 1 meter per year for 30 years. Polar glaciers like those of Spitsbergen (about a hundred km from the North Pole) have been retreating since 1880, releasing large quantities of water. The Arctic has lost about 10% of its permanent ice cover every ten years since 1980. In this region, average temperatures have increased at twice the rate of elsewhere in the world in recent decades. The melting of the Arctic Sea ice has resulted in a loss of 15% of its surface area and 40% of its thickness since 1979. The record for melting arctic sea ice was set in 2017. All models predict the disappearance of the Arctic Sea ice in summer within a few decades, which will not be without consequences for the climate in Europe. The summer melting of arctic sea ice accelerated far beyond climate model predictions. Added to its direct repercussions of coastal regions flooding, melting of continental ice leads to radical climatic modifications in favour of the apocalyptic scenario. Fig.1 Evolution of temperature anomaly from 1880 to 2020: the apocalyptic scenario Sea level rise As a direct result of the melting of continental glaciers, sea level rise has been worldwide recorded14 ,15. The average level of the oceans has risen by 22 cm since 1880 and 2 cm since the year 2000 because of the melting of the glaciers but also with the thermal expansion of the water. In the 20th century, the sea level rose by around 2 mm per year. From 1990 to 2017, it reached the relatively constant rate of just over 3mm per year. Several sources contributed to sea level increase including thermal expansion of water (42%), melting of continental glaciers (21%), melting Greenland glaciers (15%) and melting Antarctic glaciers (8%). Since 2003, there has always been a rapid rise (around 3.3 mm / year) in sea level, but the contribution of thermal expansion has decreased (0.4 mm / year) while the melting of the polar caps and continental glaciers accelerates. Since most of the world’s population is living on coastal regions, sea level rise represents a real threat for the humanity, not excluding the apocalyptic scenario. Multiplication of extreme phenomena and climatic anomalies On a human scale, an average of 200 million people is affected by natural disasters each year and approximately 70,000 perish from them. Indeed, as evidenced by the annual reviews of disasters and climatic anomalies, we are witnessing significant warning signs. It is worth noting that these observations are dependent on meteorological survey systems that exist only in a limited number of countries with statistics that rarely go back beyond a century or a century and a half. In addition, scientists are struggling to represent the climatic variations of the last two thousand years which could serve as a reference in the projections. Therefore, the exceptional nature of this information must be qualified a little. Indeed, it is still difficult to know the return periods of climatic disasters in each region. But over the last century, the climate system has gone wild. Indeed, everything suggests that the climate is racing. Indeed, extreme events and disasters have become more frequent. For instance, less than 50 significant events were recorded per year over the period 1970-1985, while there have been around 120 events recorded since 1995. Drought has long been one of the most worrying environmental issues. But while African countries have been the main affected so far, the whole world is now facing increasingly frequent and prolonged droughts. Chile, India, Australia, United States, France and even Russia are all regions of the world suffering from the acceleration of the global drought. Droughts are slowly evolving natural hazards that can last from a few months to several decades and affect larger or smaller areas, whether they are small watersheds or areas of hundreds of thousands of square kilometres. In addition to their direct effects on water resources, agriculture and ecosystems, droughts can cause fires or heat waves. They also promote the proliferation of invasive species, creating environments with multiple risks, worsening the consequences on ecosystems and societies, and increasing their vulnerability. Although these are natural phenomena, there is a growing understanding of how humans have amplified the severity and impacts of droughts, both on the environment and on people. We influence meteorological droughts through our action on climate change, and we influence hydrological droughts through our management of water circulation and water processes at the local scale, for example by diverting rivers or modifying land use. During the Anthropocene (the present period when humans exert a dominant influence on climate and environment), droughts are closely linked to human activities, cultures, and responses. From this scientific overview, it may be concluded apocalyptic scenario is not only a literature genre inspired from the pure imagination. Instead, many scientific arguments are in favour of this dramatic destiny of Homo Sapiens Sapiens. Fig.2. Sea level rise from 1880 to 2020: a possible apocalyptic scenario (www.globalchange.gov, 2021) Apocalyptic genre in recent writing As the original landmark of apocalyptic writing, we must place the destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem in 587 BC and the Exile in Babylon. Occasion of a religious and cultural crossing with imprescriptible effects, the Exile brought about a true rebirth, characterized by the maintenance of the essential ethical, even cultural, of a national religion, that of Moses, kept as pure as possible on a foreign land and by the reinterpretation of this fundamental heritage by the archaic return of what was very old, both national traditions and neighbouring cultures. More precisely, it was the place and time for the rehabilitation of cultures and the melting pot for recasting ancient myths. This vast infatuation with Antiquity, remarkable even in the vocabulary used, was not limited to Israel: it even largely reflected a general trend. The long period that preceded throughout the 7th century BC and until 587, like that prior to the edict of Cyrus in 538 BC, was that of restorations and rebirths, of returns to distant sources and cultural crossings. In the biblical literature of this period, one is struck by the almost systematic link between, on the one hand, a very sustained mythical reinvestment even in form and, on the other, the frequent use of biblical archaisms. The example of Shadday, a word firmly rooted in the Semites of the Northwest and epithet of El in the oldest layers of the books of Genesis and Exodus, is most eloquent. This term reappears precisely at the time of the Exile as a designation of the divinity of the Patriarchs and of the God of Israel; Daily, ecological catastrophes now describe the normal state of societies exposed to "risks", in the sense that Ulrich Beck gives to this term: "the risk society is a society of catastrophe. The state of emergency threatens to become a normal state there1”. Now, the "threat" has become clearer, and catastrophic "exceptions" are proliferating as quickly as species are disappearing and climate change is accelerating. The relationship that we have with this worrying reality, to say the least, is twofold: on the one hand, we know very well what is happening to us; on the other hand, we fail to draw the appropriate theoretical and political consequences. This ecological duplicity is at the heart of what has come to be called the “Anthropocene”, a term coined at the dawn of the 21st century by Eugene Stoermer (an environmentalist) and Paul Crutzen (a specialist in the chemistry of the atmosphere) in order to describe an age when humanity would have become a "major geological force" capable of disrupting the climate and changing the terrestrial landscape from top to bottom. If the term “Anthropocene” takes note of human responsibility for climate change, this responsibility is immediately attributed to overpowering: strong as we are, we have “involuntarily” changed the climate for at least two hundred and fifty years. Therefore, let us deliberately change the face of the Earth, if necessary, install a solar shield in space. Recognition and denial fuel the signifying machine of the Anthropocene. And it is precisely what structures eco-apocalyptic cinema that this article aims to study. By "eco-apocalyptic cinema", we first mean a cinematographic sub-genre: eco-apocalyptic and post-eco-apocalyptic films base the possibility (or reality) of the end of the world on environmental grounds and not, for example, on damage caused by the possible collision of planet Earth with a comet. Post-apocalyptic science fiction (sometimes abbreviated as "post-apo" or "post-nuke") is a sub-genre of science fiction that depicts life after a disaster that destroyed civilization: nuclear war, collision with a meteorite, epidemic, economic or energy crisis, pandemic, alien invasion. Conclusion Climate and politics have been linked together since Aristotle. With Montesquieu, Ibn Khaldûn or Watsuji, a certain climatic determinism is attributed to the character of a nation. The break with modernity made the climate an object of scientific knowledge which, in the twentieth century, made it possible to document, despite the controversies, the climatic changes linked to industrialization. Both endanger the survival of human beings and ecosystems. Climate ethics are therefore looking for a new relationship with the biosphere or Gaia. For some, with the absence of political agreements, it is the beginning of inevitable catastrophes. For others, the Anthropocene, which henceforth merges human history with natural history, opens onto technical action. The debate between climate determinism and human freedom is revived. The reference to the biblical Apocalypse was present in the thinking of thinkers like Günther Anders, Karl Jaspers or Hans Jonas: the era of the atomic bomb would mark an entry into the time of the end, a time marked by the unprecedented human possibility of 'total war and annihilation of mankind. The Apocalypse will be very relevant in describing the chaos to come if our societies continue their mad race described as extra-activist, productivist and consumerist. In dialogue with different theologians and philosophers (such as Jacques Ellul), it is possible to unveil some spiritual, ethical, and political resources that the Apocalypse offers for thinking about History and human engagement in the Anthropocene. What can a theology of collapse mean at a time when negative signs and dead ends in the human situation multiply? What then is the place of man and of the cosmos in the Apocalypse according to Saint John? Could the end of history be a collapse? How can we live in the time we have left before the disaster? Answers to such questions remain unknown and no scientist can predict the trajectory of this Great Acceleration taking place at the Late Anthropocene. When science cannot give answers, Man tries to infer his destiny for the legend, religion and the fiction. Climate Fiction is developed into a recording machine containing every kind of fictions that depict environmental condition events and has consequently lost its true significance. Aware of the prospect of ecological collapse additionally as our apparent inability to avert it, we tend to face geology changes of forceful proportions that severely challenge our ability to imagine the implications. Climate fiction ought to be considered an important supplement to climate science, as a result, climate fiction makes visible and conceivable future modes of existence inside worlds not solely deemed seemingly by science, however that area unit scientifically anticipated. 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Agriculture production is directly dependent on climate change and weather. Possible changes in temperature, precipitation and CO2 concentration are expected to significantly impact crop growth and ultimately we lose our crop productivity and indirectly affect the sustainable food availability issue. The overall impact of climate change on worldwide food production is considered to be low to moderate with successful adaptation and adequate irrigation. Climate change has a serious impact on the availability of various resources on the earth especially water, which sustains life on this planet. The global food security situation and outlook remains delicately imbalanced amid surplus food production and the prevalence of hunger, due to the complex interplay of social, economic, and ecological factors that mediate food security outcomes at various human and institutional scales. Weather aberration poses complex challenges in terms of increased variability and risk for food producers and the energy and water sectors. Changes in the biosphere, biodiversity and natural resources are adversely affecting human health and quality of life. Throughout the 21st century, India is projected to experience warming above global level. India will also begin to experience more seasonal variation in temperature with more warming in the winters than summers. Longevity of heat waves across India has extended in recent years with warmer night temperatures and hotter days, and this trend is expected to continue. Strategic research priorities are outlined for a range of sectors that underpin global food security, including: agriculture, ecosystem services from agriculture, climate change, international trade, water management solutions, the water-energy-food security nexus, service delivery to smallholders and women farmers, and better governance models and regional priority setting. There is a need to look beyond agriculture and invest in affordable and suitable farm technologies if the problem of food insecurity is to be addressed in a sustainable manner. Introduction Globally, agriculture is one of the most vulnerable sectors to climate change. This vulnerability is relatively higher in India in view of the large population depending on agriculture and poor coping capabilities of small and marginal farmers. Impacts of climate change pose a serious threat to food security. “Food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life” (World Food Summit, 1996). This definition gives rise to four dimensions of food security: availability of food, accessibility (economically and physically), utilization (the way it is used and assimilated by the human body) and stability of these three dimensions. According to the United Nations, in 2015, there are still 836 million people in the world living in extreme poverty (less than USD1.25/day) (UN, 2015). And according to the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), at least 70 percent of the very poor live in rural areas, most of them depending partly (or completely) on agriculture for their livelihoods. It is estimated that 500 million smallholder farms in the developing world are supporting almost 2 billion people, and in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa these small farms produce about 80 percent of the food consumed. Climate change threatens to reverse the progress made so far in the fight against hunger and malnutrition. As highlighted by the assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate change (IPCC), climate change augments and intensifies risks to food security for the most vulnerable countries and populations. Few of the major risks induced by climate change, as identified by IPCC have direct consequences for food security (IPCC, 2007). These are mainly to loss of rural livelihoods and income, loss of marine and coastal ecosystems, livelihoods loss of terrestrial and inland water ecosystems and food insecurity (breakdown of food systems). Rural farmers, whose livelihood depends on the use of natural resources, are likely to bear the brunt of adverse impacts. Most of the crop simulation model runs and experiments under elevated temperature and carbon dioxide indicate that by 2030, a 3-7% decline in the yield of principal cereal crops like rice and wheat is likely in India by adoption of current production technologies. Global warming impacts growth, reproduction and yields of food and horticulture crops, increases crop water requirement, causes more soil erosion, increases thermal stress on animals leading to decreased milk yields and change the distribution and breeding season of fisheries. Fast changing climatic conditions, shrinking land, water and other natural resources with rapid growing population around the globe has put many challenges before us (Mukherjee, 2014). Food is going to be second most challenging issue for mankind in time to come. India will also begin to experience more seasonal variation in temperature with more warming in the winters than summers (Christensen et al., 2007). Climate change is posing a great threat to agriculture and food security in India and it's subcontinent. Water is the most critical agricultural input in India, as 55% of the total cultivated areas do not have irrigation facilities. Currently we are able to secure food supplies under these varying conditions. Under the threat of climate variability, our food grain production system becomes quite comfortable and easily accessible for local people. India's food grain production is estimated to rise 2 per cent in 2020-21 crop years to an all-time high of 303.34 million tonnes on better output of rice, wheat, pulse and coarse cereals amid good monsoon rains last year. In the 2019-20 crop year, the country's food grain output (comprising wheat, rice, pulses and coarse cereals) stood at a record 297.5 million tonnes (MT). Releasing the second advance estimates for 2020-21 crop year, the agriculture ministry said foodgrain production is projected at a record 303.34 MT. As per the data, rice production is pegged at record 120.32 MT as against 118.87 MT in the previous year. Wheat production is estimated to rise to a record 109.24 MT in 2020-21 from 107.86 MT in the previous year, while output of coarse cereals is likely to increase to 49.36 MT from 47.75 MT. Pulses output is seen at 24.42 MT, up from 23.03 MT in 2019-20 crop year. In the non-foodgrain category, the production of oilseeds is estimated at 37.31 MT in 2020-21 as against 33.22 MT in the previous year. Sugarcane production is pegged at 397.66 MT from 370.50 MT in the previous year, while cotton output is expected to be higher at 36.54 million bales (170 kg each) from 36.07. This production figure seem to be sufficient for current population, but we need to improve more and more with vertical farming and advance agronomic and crop improvement tools for future burgeoning population figure under the milieu of climate change issue. Our rural mass and tribal people have very limited resources and they sometime complete depend on forest microhabitat. To order to ensure food and nutritional security for growing population, a new strategy needs to be initiated for growing of crops in changing climatic condition. The country has a large pool of underutilized or underexploited fruit or cereals crops which have enormous potential for contributing to food security, nutrition, health, ecosystem sustainability under the changing climatic conditions, since they require little input, as they have inherent capabilities to withstand biotic and abiotic stress. Apart from the impacts on agronomic conditions of crop productions, climate change also affects the economy, food systems and wellbeing of the consumers (Abbade, 2017). Crop nutritional quality become very challenging, as we noticed that, zinc and iron deficiency is a serious global health problem in humans depending on cereal-diet and is largely prevalent in low-income countries like Sub-Saharan Africa, and South and South-east Asia. We report inefficiency of modern-bred cultivars of rice and wheat to sequester those essential nutrients in grains as the reason for such deficiency and prevalence (Debnath et al., 2021). Keeping in mind the crop yield and nutritional quality become very daunting task to our food security issue and this can overcome with the proper and time bound research in cognizance with the environment. Threat and challenges In recent years, climate change has become a debatable issue worldwide. South Asia will be one of the most adversely affected regions in terms of impacts of climate change on agricultural yield, economic activity and trading policies. Addressing climate change is central for global future food security and poverty alleviation. The approach would need to implement strategies linked with developmental plans to enhance its adaptive capacity in terms of climate resilience and mitigation. Over time, there has been a visible shift in the global climate change initiative towards adaptation. Adaptation can complement mitigation as a cost-effective strategy to reduce climate change risks. The impact of climate change is projected to have different effects across societies and countries. Mitigation and adaptation actions can, if appropriately designed, advance sustainable development and equity both within and across countries and between generations. One approach to balancing the attention on adaptation and mitigation strategies is to compare the costs and benefits of both the strategies. The most imminent change is the increase in the atmospheric temperatures due to increase levels of GHGs (Green House Gases) i.e. carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O) and chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) etc into the atmosphere. The global mean annual temperatures at the end of the 20th century were almost 0.7 degree centigrade above than those recorded at the end of the 19th century and likely to increase further by 1.8- 6.4ºC by 2100 AD. The quantity of rainfall and its distribution will be affected to a great extent resulting in more flooding. The changes in soil properties such as loss of organic matter, leaching of soil nutrients, salinization and erosion are a likely outcome of climate change in many cases. Water crisis can be a serious problem with the anticipated global warming and climate change. With increasing exploitation of natural resources and environmental pollution, the atmospheric temperature is expected to rise by 3-5 0C in next 75-100 years (www.ipcc.ch/sr15/chapter/chapter-1). If it happens most of the rivers originating from the Himalayas may dry up and cause severe shortage of water for irrigation, suppressing agriculture production by 40-50%. There has been considerable concern in recent years about climatic changes caused by human activities and their effects on agriculture. Surface climate is always changing, but at the beginning of industrial revolution these changes have been more noticeable due to interference of human beings activity. Studies of climate change impacts on agriculture initially focused on increasing temperature. Many researchers, including reported that changes in temperature, radiation and precipitation need to be studied in order to evaluate the impact of climate change. Temperature changes can affect crop productivity. Higher temperatures may increase plant carboxilation and stimulate higher photosynthesis, respiration, and transpiration rates. Meanwhile, flowering may also be partially triggered by higher temperatures, while low temperatures may reduce energy use and increased sugar storage. Changes in temperature can also affect air vapor pressure deficits, thus impacting the water use in agricultural landscapes. This coupling affects transpiration and can cause significant shifts in temperature and water loss (Mukherjee, 2017). In chickpea and other pulse crop this increase in temperature due to climate change affects to a greater extent flower numbers, pod production, pollen viability, and pistilfunction are reduced and flower and pod abortion increased under terminal heat stress which ultimately leads to hamper its productivity on large scale. There is probability of 10-40% loss in crop production in India with the expected temperature increase by 2080-2100. Rice yields in northern India during last three decades are showing a decreasing trend (Aggarwal et al., 2000). Further, the IPCC (2007) report also projected that cereal yields in seasonally dry and tropical regions like India are likely to decrease for even small local temperature increases. wheat production will be reduced by 4-5 million tonnes with the rise of every 10C temperature throughout the growing period that coincides in India with 2020-30. However, grain yield of rice declined by 10% for each 1ºC increase in growing season. A 1ºC increase in temperature may reduce rapeseed mustard yield by 3-7%. Thus a productivity of 2050-2562 kg/ha for rapeseed mustard would have to be achieved by 2030 under the changing scenario of climate, decreasing and degrading land and water resources, costly inputs, government priority of food crops and other policy imperatives from the present level of nearly 1200 kg/ha. Diseases and pest infestation In future, plant protection will assume even more significance given the daunting task before us to feed the growing population under the era of shifting climate pattern, as it directly influence pest life cycle in crop calendar (Mukherjee, 2019). Every year, about USD 8.5 billion worth of crops are lost in India because of disease and insects pests and another 2.5 billion worth of food grains in storages. In the scenario of climate change, experts believe that these losses could rise as high as four folds. Global warming and climate change would lead to emergence of more aggressive pests and diseases which can cause epidemics resulting in heavy losses (Mesterhazy et al., 2020). The range of many insects will change or expand and new combinations of diseases and pests may emerge. The well-known interaction between host × pathogen × environment for plant disease epidemic development and weather based disease management strategies have been routinely exploited by plant pathologists. However, the impact of inter annual climatic variation resulting in the abundance of pathogen populations and realistic assessment of climatic change impacts on host-pathogen interactions are still scarce and there are only handful of studies. Further emerging of new disease with climate alteration in grain crop such as wheat blast, become challenging for growers and hamper food chain availability (Mukherjee et al., 2019). Temperature increase associated with climatic changes could result in following changes in plant diseases: Extension of geographical range of pathogens Changes in population growth rates of pathogens Changes in relative abundance and effectiveness of bio control agents Changes in pathogen × host × environment interactions Loss of resistance in cultivars containing temperature-sensitive genes Emergence of new diseases/and pathogen forms Increased risk of invasion by migrant diseases Reduced efficacy of integrated disease management practices These changes will have major implications for food and nutritional security, particularly in the developing countries of the dry-tropics, where the need to increase and sustain food production is most urgent. The current knowledge on the main potential effects of climate change on plant patho systems has been recently summarized by Pautasso et al. (2012). Their overview suggests that maintaining plant health across diversified environments is a key requirement for climate change mitigation as well as the conservation of biodiversity and provisions of ecosystem services under global change. Changing in weed flora pattern under different cropping system become very challenging to the food growers, and threat to our food security issue. It has been estimated that the potential losses due to weeds in different field crops would be around 180 million tonnes valued Rs 1,05,000 crores annually. In addition to the direct effect on crop yield, weeds result in considerable reduction in the efficiency of inputs used and food quality. Increasing atmospheric CO2 and temperature have the potential to directly affect weed physiology and crop-weed interactions vis-à-vis their response to weed control methods. Many of the world’s major weeds are C4 plants and major crops are C3 plants (Mandal and Mukherjee, 2018). The differential effects of CO2 on C3 and C4 plants may have implications on crop-weed interactions. Weed species have a greater genetic diversity than most crops and therefore, under the changing scenario of resources (eg., light, moisture, nutrients, CO2), weeds will have the greater capacity for growth and reproductive response than most crops. Differential response to seed emergence with temperature could also influence species establishment and subsequent weed-crop competition. Increasing temperature might allow some sleeper weeds to become invasive (Mukherjeee, 2020; Science Daily, 2009). Studies suggest that proper weed management techniques if adopted can result in an additional production of 103 million tonnes of food grains, 15 million tonnes of pulses,10 million tonnes of oilseeds, and 52 million tonnes of commercial crops per annum, which in few cases are even equivalent to the existing annual production (Rao and Chauhan, 2015). There is tremendous scope to increase agricultural productivity by adopting improved weed management technologies that have been developed in the country. Conclusion The greatest challenge before us is to enhance the production of required amount of food items viz., cereals, pulses, oilseeds, vegetable, underutilized fruit etc to keep pace with population growth through employing suitable crop cultivars, biotechnological approaches, conserving natural resources and protecting crops from weeds, insects pests and diseases eco-friendly with climate change. Research is a continuous process that has to be pursued vigorously and incessantly in the critical areas viz., evolvement of new genotype, land development and reclamation, soil and moisture conservation, soil health care, seeds and planting material, enhancing fertilizer and water use efficiencies, conservation agriculture, eco-friendly plant protection measures etc. Due to complexity of crop environment interaction under different climate situation, a multidisciplinary approach to the problem is required in which plant breeders, agronomists, crop physiologists and agrometeorologists need to interact for finding long term solutions in sustaining crop production. References: Abbade, E. B. 2017. Availability, access and utilization: Identifying the main fragilities for promoting food security in developing countries. World Journal of Science, Technology and Sustainable Development, 14(4): 322–335. doi:10.1108/WJSTSD-05-2016-0033 Aggrawal, P.K., Bandyopadhyay, S. and Pathak, S. 2020. Analysis of yield trends of the Rice-Wheat system in north-western India. Outlook on Agriculture, 29(4):259-268. Christensen, J.H., Hewitson, B., Busuioc, A., Chen, A. and Gao, X, 2007. Regional Climate Projections. In: Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge, United Kingdom. Debnath, S., Mandal, B., Saha, S., Sarkar, D., Batabyal, K., Murmu, S., Patra, B.C., Mukherjee, and Biswas, T. 2021. Are the modern-bred rice and wheat cultivars in India inefficient in zinc and iron sequestration?. Environmental and Experimental Botany,189:1-7. (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envexpbot.2021.104535) 2007. Climate Change 2007- Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group II to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, M.L. Parry, O.F. Canziani, J.P. Palutikof, P.J. van der Linden and C.E. Hanson, Eds., Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 976pp. Mandal, B and Mukherjee, D. 2018. Influenced of different weed management Practices for Higher Productivity of Jute (Corchorus olitorius) in West Bengal. International Journal of Bioresource Science, 5 (1): 21-26. Mesterhazy, A., Olah, J. and Popp, J. 2020. Losses in the grain supply chain: causes and solutions. Sustainability, 12, 2342; doi:10.3390/su12062342. Mukherjee D. 2019. Effect of various crop establishment methods and weed management practices on growth and yield of rice. Journal of Cereal Research, 11(3): 300-303. http://doi.org/10.25174/2249-4065/2019/95811. Mukherjee, D. 2014. Climate change and its impact on Indian agriculture. In : Plant Disease Management and Microbes (eds. Nehra, S.). Aavishkar Publishers, Jaipur, India. Pp 193-206. Mukherjee, D. 2017. Rising weed problems and their effects on production potential of various crops under changing climate situation of hill. Indian Horticulture Journal, 7(1): 85-89. Mukherjee, D., Mahapatra, S., Singh, D.P., Kumar, S., Kashyap , P.L. and Singh, G.P. 2019. Threat assessment of wheat blast like disease in the West Bengal". 4th International Group Meeting on Wheat production enhancement through climate smart practices. at CSK HPKV, Palampur, HP, India, February, 14-16, 2019. Organized by CSK HPKV, Palampur and Society of Advancement of Wheat and Barley Research (SAWBAR). Journal of Cereal Research, 11 (1): 78. Mukherjee, D. 2020. Herbicide combinations effect on weeds and yield of wheat in North-Eastern plain. Indian Journal of Weed Science, 52 (2): 116–122. Pautasso, M. 2012. Observed impacts of climate change on terrestrial birds in Europe: an overview. Italian Journal of Zoology, 38:56-74. .Doi:10.1080/11250003.2011.627381 Rao, A.N. and Chauhan, B.S. 2015. Weeds and weed management in India -A Review. 25 Asian Pacific Weed Science Society Conference, at Hyderabad, India, Volume: 1 (A.N. Rao and N.T. Yaduraju (eds.). pp 87-118.

Natural and human-induced hazards and climatic risks threaten marine and coastal ecosystems worldwide, with severe consequences for these socio-ecological systems. Therefore, assessing climate vulnerability (exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity) and the cumulative environmental impacts of multiple hazards are essential in coastal planning and management. In this article, we review some approaches used in climate vulnerability assessment and marine and coastal cumulative environmental impacts to learn about state-of-the-art on the subject. Besides, we qualitatively evaluated the climatic vulnerability of five coastal regions of Venezuela using the IPCC concept of Reasons for Concern (RFCs) to determine their level of climatic exposure. We also assessed the cumulative environmental impact of multiple stressors on marine and terrestrial ecosystems using a well-known impact assessment method partially modified to explore the feasibility of this model in data-poor areas. However, we found no standardization of the methodologies used in evaluating Coastal Climate Vulnerability or Cumulative Environmental Impacts in coastal landscapes or frameworks that operationally link them with socio-ecological systems. Most studied coastal regions are at risk from at least three RFCs, loss of unique ecosystems (RFC1), risks associated with extreme events (RFC2) and risks associated with global aggregate impacts (RFC4). Furthermore, the assessment showed that areas with accumulated impact cover about 10 percent ranging from moderate to high in urban areas, growth zones, industrial oil settlements, port areas and aquaculture areas with fishing activity. Moreover, areas with moderate to low cumulative impact cover half of the study area, dominated by uninhabited regions and vegetation of the thorny scrub and coastal grassland types. Therefore, we consider it essential to implement regional climate risk management that incorporates these assessments into the ordinance in countries that are particularly vulnerable to climate change, such as Venezuela, which has an extensive line of low-lying coastlines (where 60% of the country's population lives) and coastal regions with harsh climates and poor economic conditions. Finally, we present the scope and limitations of implementing these evaluations and highlight the importance of incorporating them into regional strategies for adaptation to climate change.

Heavy metals are among the most persistent pollutants in the ecosystem due to their resistance at decomposition in natural condition. They have low solubility in water and tend to be adsorbed and accumulated on bottom sediments. Anthropogenic actions conduct to the discharge of heavy metals from various sources (industrial, urban, and/or agriculture) to rivers water that are ultimately immobilized in marine sediments under current action. In this work, an investigation of pollution and ecological risk in the Olt River waters is performed based on assessing the accumulation of heavy metals in sediments. Therefore, sediment samples were collected from 22 locations on the Olt River, in its middle and lower basin, and investigated by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry which allows us to measure very low elements concentration levels. Two main aspects were foreseen in this study: (i) determining the content and spatial distribution of heavy metals in the Olt River surface sediments, and (ii) assessing the pollution level based on various parameters, namely the contamination factor, the geo-accumulation, pollution load and Nemerow pollution indexes, the potential ecological risk, and risk assessment code. This methodology proves to be an appropriate tool to apply in decision-making on environmental risk management. Keywords: heavy metals, ecological risk, pollution, ecosystem, sediments

Climate change adaptation is essential to mitigate risks, such as extreme weather events triggered by global warming and amplified in dense urban environments. Ecosystem-based adaptation measures, such as urban greening, are promoted in cities because of their flexibility and their positive side effects, such as human health benefits, ecological effects, climate mitigation and a range of social benefits. While individual co-benefits of greening measures are well studied, often in public green spaces, few studies quantify co-benefits comprehensively, leaving social benefits particularly understudied. In this study, we perform biophysical and socio-cultural assessments of co-benefits provided by semi-public, residential greening in four courtyards with varying green structures. We quantify effects on thermal comfort, biodiversity, carbon storage and social interaction. We further assess the importance of these co-benefits to people in the neighbourhood. Subsequently, we weight the results from the biophysical assessments with the socio-cultural values to evaluate how even small differences in green structures result in differences in the provision of co-benefits. Results show that, despite relatively small differences in green structures, the residential courtyards with a higher green volume clearly generate more co-benefits than the residential yards with less green, particularly for thermal comfort. Despite differences in the valuation of co-benefits in the neighbourhood, socio-cultural weights did not change the outcome of the comparative assessment. Our results highlight that a deliberate management strategy, possibly on neighbourhood-scale, could enhance co-benefits and contribute to a more sustainable urban development.

Abstract Water security assessment is very important to social development. However, most studies only focus on the status quo of water security in a static state and ignore the flow characteristics of water resources into the water security assessment. This paper integrates multi-source data to construct a water supply and service supply-demand balance and spatial flow model in the Lianshui River Basin, simulates the spatial pattern of the service flow of the aquatic water ecosystem in the Lianshui River Basin from 1990 to 2018, and quantifies the service flow. Results show that (1) From 1990 to 2018, the water supply in the Lianshui River Basin first decreased, then increased, and finally decreased. Water yield was the highest in 2010 and lowest in 2000. (2) Water demand increased year by year, and the amount of area with a poor water resource security index increased, indicating that water security was deteriorating. (3) The four main beneficiary areas in the basin are the urban area of Lianyuan City, the county seat of Shuangfeng County, the Louxing District of Loudi City, and the urban area of Xiangxiang City and nearby towns. The service flow showed the same changing trend as the water yield. In 2018, the water resource gap in the beneficiary area was as high as 4.49 billion m3. Local governments should actively build a water-saving society, improve the efficiency of industrial and agricultural water-saving and residents' awareness of water-saving, and improve the water resources in the river basin. The research can provide a scientific basis for realizing the sustainable development of water resources in the Lianshui River Basin and improving the ecological compensation mechanism, and can also provide references for water resources management in other river basins.

Abstract: This research presents an analysis of the paradigm that involves the collaborative management in technological environments of architectural and urban planning companies, in the Brazilian scenario. It associates Administration, Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC), and Behavioural Analysis perspectives. It is based on a review about the influencing factors inserted in BIM domain as learning process boosters, associating concepts of collaborative networks, project management, dynamic capabilities and meta-contingencies to discuss a class of problems arising from the lack of knowledge absorption, which was systematized in the study of management bottlenecks. The methodological approach, based on Design Science Research, synthesizes procedures compatible with the general typology of an artefact –a support tool – associated to a functional analysis. The obtained results highlight seven variables that represent categories of analysis of the collaborative environment: activities, self-assessment, BIM, decision-making, information, resources, and values. The main contribution of this research was to develop a methodological way to complement a partial diagnosis of project process management. It is the first step to develop an analysis structure that represents the dynamics of a collaborative network and not just isolated variables.

Every crisis at the same time reveals, forewarns and implies changes with cyclical trends that can be analyzed from different disciplinary perspectives, building scenarios to anticipate the future, despite uncertainties and risks. And the current crisis certainly appears as one of the most problematic of the modern era: recently, Luigi Ferrara, Director of the School of Design at the George Brown College in Toronto and of the connected Institute without Boundaries, highlighted how the pandemic has simply accelerated undergoing dynamics, exacerbating other crises – climatic, environmental, social, economic – which had already been going on for a long time both locally and globally. In the most economically developed contexts, from North America to Europe, the Covid emergency has led, for example, to the closure of almost 30% of the retail trade, as well as to the disposal and sale of many churches. Places of care and assistance, such as hospitals and elderly houses, have become places of death and isolation for over a year, or have been closed. At the same time, the pandemic has imposed the revolution of the remote working and education, which was heralded – without much success – more than twenty years ago. In these even contradictory dynamics, Ferrara sees many possibilities: new roles for stronger and more capable public institutions as well as the opportunity to rethink and redesign the built environment and the landscape. Last but not least, against a future that could be configured as dystopian, a unique chance to enable forms of citizenship and communities capable of inhabiting more sustainable, intelligent and ethical cities and territories; and architects capable of designing them. This multifactorial and pervasive crisis seems therefore to impose a deep review of the current unequal development models, in the perspective of that “creative destruction” that Schumpeter placed at the basis of the dynamic entrepreneurial push: «To produce means to combine materials and forces within our reach. To produce other things, or the same things by a different method, means to combine these materials and forces differently» (Schumpeter, 1912). A concept well suiting to the design practice as a response to social needs and improving the living conditions. This is the perspective of Architectural Technology, in its various forms, which has always placed the experimental method at the center of its action. As Eduardo Vittoria already pointed out: «The specific contribution of the technological project to the development of an industrial culture is aimed at balancing the emotional-aesthetic data of the design with the technical-productive data of the industry. Design becomes a place of convergence of ideas and skills related to factuality, based on a multidisciplinary intelligence» (Vittoria, 1999). A lucid and appropriate critique of the many formalistic emphases that have invested contemporary architecture. In the most acute phases of the pandemic, the radical nature of this polycrisis has been repeatedly invoked as a lever for an equally radical modification of the development models, for the definitive defeat of conjunctural and emergency modes of action. With particular reference to the Italian context, however, it seems improper to talk about a “change of models” – whether economic, social, productive or programming, rather than technological innovation – since in the national reality the models and reference systems prove to not to be actually structured. The current socio-economic and productive framework, and the political and planning actions themselves, are rather a variegated and disordered set of consolidated practices, habits often distorted when not deleterious, that correspond to stratified regulatory apparatuses, which are inconsistent and often ineffective. It is even more difficult to talk about programmatic rationality models in the specific sector of construction and built environment transformation, where the enunciation of objectives and the prospection of planning actions rarely achieve adequate projects and certain implementation processes, verified for the consistency of the results obtained and monitored for the ability in maintaining the required performance over time. Rather than “changing the model”, in the Italian case, we should therefore talk about giving shape and implementation to an organic and rational system of multilevel and inter-sectorial governance models, which assumes the principles of subsidiarity, administrative decentralization, inter-institutional and public-private cooperation. But, even in the current situation, with the pandemic not yet over, we are already experiencing a sort of “return to order”: after having envisaged radical changes – new urban models environmentally and climatically more sustainable, residential systems and public spaces more responsive to the pressing needs of social demand, priority actions to redevelop the suburbs and to strength infrastructures and ecosystem services, new advanced forms of decision-making decentralization for the co-planning of urban and territorial transformations, and so on – everything seems to has been reset to zero. This is evident from the list of actions and projects proposed by the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP), where no clear national strategy for green transition emerges, even though it is repeatedly mentioned. As highlighted by the Coordination of Technical-Scientific Associations for the Environment and Landscape1, and as required by EU guidelines2, this transition requires a paradigm shift that assumes eco-sustainability as a transversal guideline for all actions. With the primary objective of protecting ecosystem balances, improving and enhancing the natural and landscape capital, as well as protecting citizen health and well-being from environmental risks and from those generated by improper anthropization phenomena. The contents of the Plan explicitly emphases the need to «repair the economic and social damage of the pandemic crisis» and to «contribute to addressing the structural weaknesses of the Italian economy», two certainly relevant objectives, the pursuit of which, however, could paradoxically contrast precisely with the transition to a more sustainable development. In the Plan, the green revolution and the ecological transition are resolved in a dedicated axis (waste management, hydrogen, energy efficiency of buildings, without however specific reform guidelines of the broader “energy” sector), while «only one of the projects of the Plan regards directly the theme Biodiversity / Ecosystem / Landscape, and in a completely marginal way» (CATAP, 2021). Actions are also limited for assessing the environmental sustainability of the interventions, except the provision of an ad hoc Commission for the streamlining of some procedural steps and a generic indication of compliance with the DNSH-Do not significant Harm criterion (do not cause any significant damage), without specific guidelines on the evaluation methods. Moreover, little or nothing in the Plan refers on actions and investments in urban renewal, abandoned heritage recovery3, of in protecting and enhancing areas characterized by environmental sensitivity/fragility; situations widely present on the national territory, which are instead the first resource for a structural environmental transition. Finally yet importantly, the well-known inability to manage expenditure and the public administration inefficiencies must be considered: a limit not only to the effective implementation of projects, but also to the control of the relationship between time, costs and quality (also environmental) of the interventions. In many places, the Plan has been talked about as an opportunity for a real “reconstruction”, similar to that of post-war Italy; forgetting that the socio-economic renaissance was driven by the INA-Casa Plan4, but also by a considerable robustness of the cultural approach in the research and experimentation of new housing models (Schiaffonati, 2014)5. A possible “model”, which – appropriately updated in socio-technical and environmental terms – could be a reference for an incisive governmental action aiming at answering to a question – the one of the housing – far from being resolved and still a priority, if not an emergency. The crisis also implies the deployment of new skills, with a review of outdated disciplinary approaches, abandoning all corporate resistances and subcultures that have long prevented the change. A particularly deep fracture in our country, which has implications in research, education and professions, dramatically evident in the disciplines of architectural and urban design. Coherently with the EU Strategic Agenda 2019-2024 and the European Pillar of Social Rights, the action plan presented by the Commission in March 2021, with the commitment of the Declaration of Porto on May 7, sets three main objectives for 2030: an employment rate higher than 78%, the participation of more than 60% of adults in training courses every year and at least 15 million fewer people at risk of social exclusion or poverty6. Education, training and retraining, lifelong learning and employment-oriented skills, placed at the center of EU policy action, now require large investments, to stimulate employment transitions towards the emerging sectors of green, circular and digital economies (environmental design and assessment, risk assessment & management, safety, durability and maintainability, design and management of the life cycle of plans, projects, building systems and components: contents that are completely marginal or absent in the current training offer of Architecture). Departments and PhDs in the Technological Area have actively worked with considerable effectiveness in this field. In these regards, we have to recall the role played by Romano Del Nord «protagonist for commitment and clarity in identifying fundamental strategic lines for the cultural and professional training of architects, in the face of unprecedented changes of the environmental and production context» (Schiaffonati, 2021). Today, on the other hand, the axis of permanent and technical training is almost forgotten by ministerial and university policies for the reorganization of teaching systems, with a lack of strategic visions for bridging the deficit of skills that characterizes the area of architecture on the facing environmental and socio-economic challenges. Also and precisely in the dual perspective of greater interaction with the research systems and with the world of companies and institutions, and of that trans- and multi-disciplinary dimension of knowledge, methods and techniques necessary for the ecological transition of settlement systems and construction sector. Due to the high awareness of the Technological Area about the multifactorial and multi-scale dimension of the crises that recurrently affect our territories, SITdA has been configured since its foundation as a place for scientific and cultural debate on the research and training themes. With a critical approach to the consoling academic attitude looking for a “specific disciplinary” external and extraneous to the social production of goods and services. Finalizing the action of our community to «activate relationships between universities, professions, institutions through the promotion of the technological culture of architecture [...], to offer scientific-cultural resources for the training and qualification of young researchers [...], in collaboration with the national education system in order to advance training in the areas of technology and innovation in architecture» (SITdA Statute, 2007). Goals and topics which seem to be current, which Techne intends to resume and develop in the next issues, and already widely present in this n. 22 dedicated to the Circular Economy. A theme that, as emerges from the contributions, permeates the entire field of action of the project: housing, services, public space, suburbs, infrastructures, production, buildings. All contexts in which technological innovation invests both processes and products: artificial intelligence, robotics and automation, internet of things, 3D printing, sensors, nano and biotechnology, biomaterials, biogenetics and neuroscience feed advanced experiments that cross-fertilize different contributions towards common objectives of circularity and sustainability. In this context, the issue of waste, the superfluous, abandonment and waste, emerge, raising the question of re-purpose: an action that crosses a large panel of cases, due to the presence of a vast heritage of resources – materials, artefacts, spaces and entire territories – to be recovered and re-functionalized, transforming, adapting, reusing, reconverting, reactivating the existing for new purposes and uses, or adapting it to new and changing needs. Therefore, by adopting strategies and techniques of reconversion and reuse, of re-manufacturing and recycling of construction and demolition waste, of design for disassembly that operate along even unprecedented supply chains and which are accompanied by actions to extend the useful life cycle of materials , components and building systems, as well as product service logic also extended to durable goods such as the housing. These are complex perspectives but considerably interesting, feasible through the activation of adequate and updated skills systems, for a necessary and possible future, precisely starting from the ability – as designers, researchers and teachers in the area of Architectural Technology – to read the space and conceive a project within a system of rationalities, albeit limited, but substantially founded, which qualify the interventions through approaches validated in research and experimental verification. Contrarily to any ineffective academicism, which corresponds in fact to a condition of subordination caused by the hegemonic dynamics at the base of the crisis itself, but also by a loss of authority that derives from the inadequate preparation of the architects. An expropriation that legitimizes the worst ignorance in the government of the territories, cities and artifacts. Education in Architecture, strictly connected to the research from which contents and methods derive, has its central pivot in the project didactic: activity by its nature of a practical and experimental type, applied to specific places and contexts, concrete and material, and characterized by considerable complexity, due to the multiplicity of factors involved. This is what differentiates the construction sector, delegated to territorial and urban transformations, from any other sector. A sector that borrows its knowledge from other production processes, importing technologies and materials. With a complex integration of which the project is charged, for the realization of the buildings, along a succession of phases for corresponding to multiple regulatory and procedural constraints. The knowledge and rationalization of these processes are the basis of the evolution of the design and construction production approaches, as well as merely intuitive logics. These aspects were the subject of in-depth study at the SITdA National Conference on “Producing Project” (Reggio Calabria, 2018), and relaunched in a new perspective by the International Conference “The project in the digital age. Technology, Nature, Culture” scheduled in Naples on the 1st-2nd of July 2021. A reflection that Techne intends to further develop through the sharing of knowledge and scientific debate, selecting topics of great importance, to give voice to a new phase and recalling the practice of design research, in connection with the production context, institutions and social demand. “Inside the Polycrisis. The possible necessary” is the theme of the call we launched for n. 23, to plan the future despite the uncertainties and risks, foreshadowing strategies that support a unavoidable change, also by operating within the dynamics that, for better or for worse, will be triggered by the significant resources committed to the implementation of the Recovery Plan. To envisage systematic actions based on the centrality of a rational programming, of environmentally appropriate design at the architectural, urban and territorial scales, and of a continuous monitoring of the implementation processes. With the commitment also to promote, after each release, a public moment of reflection and critical assessment on the research progresses. NOTES 1 “Osservazioni del Coordinamento delle Associazioni Tecnico-scientifiche per l’Ambiente e il Paesaggio al PNRR”, 2021. 2 EU Guidelines, SWD-2021-12 final, 21.1.2021. 3 For instance, we can consider the 7,000 km of dismissed railways, with related buildings and areas. 4 The two seven-year activities of the Plan (1949-1963) promoted by Amintore Fanfani, Minister of Labor and Social Security at the time, represented both an employment and a social maneuver, which left us the important legacy of neighborhoods that still today they have their own precise identity, testimony of the architectural culture of the Italian twentieth century. But also a «grandiose machine for the housing» (Samonà, 1949), based on a clear institutional and organizational reorganization, with the establishment of a single body (articulated in the plan implementation committee, led by Filiberto Guala, with regulatory functions of disbursement of funds, assignment of tasks and supervision, and in the INA-Casa Management directed by the architect Arnaldo Foschini, then dean of the Faculty of Architecture), which led to the construction of two million rooms for over 350,000 families. See Di Biagi F. (2013), Il Contributo italiano alla storia del Pensiero – Tecnica, Enciclopedia Treccani. 5 From Quaderni of the Centro Studi INA-Casa, to Gescal and in the Eighties to the activity of CER. Complex theme investigated by Fabrizio Schiaffonati in Il progetto della residenza sociale, edited by Raffaella Riva. 6 Ferruccio De Bortoli underlines in Corriere della Sera of 15 May 2021: «The revolution of lifelong learning (which) is no less important for Brussels than the digital or green one. By 2030, at least 60 per cent of the active population will have to participate in training courses every year. It will be said: but 2030 is far away. There’s time. No, because most people have escaped that to achieve this goal, by 2025 – that is, in less than four years – 120 million Europeans will ideally return to school. A kind of great educational vaccination campaign. Day after tomorrow».

AbstractThe increased use of heat pumps to utilise low-temperature heat will undoubtedly be a part of future emission reduction measures within the heating sector. Identifying these heat sources and assessing their heat potential is essential for their utilisation. Different methods for estimating the potential of excess and natural heat sources found in the urban environment are presented in this study. The research aims to present a replicable estimation methodology which can be applied to any urban area. The methods are developed around publicly available data sources, or otherwise easily obtainable data. The research aims at producing data accurate enough to support decision-making on the district heating company or city level on utilising these heat sources. A wide range of excess and natural heat sources found in urban environments were identified in a literature review. Methods for estimating the potential of the heat sources were developed based on findings of the literature review and the expected availability of data. The developed estimation methods were applied in a case study where the potential of heat sources identified within the Turku area in Southwest Finland was estimated. The results of the case study show the potential of the heat sources within the studied area. The difficulty of obtaining raw, high-quality data are also highlighted. This emphasises the need for advanced processing of available data and insight on the related sources, e.g. building management systems or industrial processes. The methods presented in this study give an overview on how heat potential could be estimated. It can be used as a base for developing more refined methods and for detailed techno-economic assessment for utilising available excess and natural heat sources. Graphical abstract

AbstractIn recent decades, World Heritage Sites (WHSs) have faced external severe threats in the context of global economisation and urbanisation. The buffer zone as a conservation layer and management tool for WHSs has attracted increasing scholarly attention and debate. However, there is limited understanding of buffer zones’ social and ecological role in the conservation of World Natural Heritage Sites (WNHSs) and a lack of summary of research progress on buffer zones. To fill this gap, this study systematically reviews the existing knowledge and research gaps on buffer zones in WNHSs worldwide. We used a systematic literature review framework of Search, Assessment, Synthesis and Analysis (SALSA) through the WoS and CNKI databases to obtain 188 articles that met the inclusion criteria.The aim was to analyze the temporal and regional distribution of publications, types of studies, main processes and landmark achievements, gaps, and implications for future research. Results indicated that: (1) there is an overall upward trend in the number of publications, reaching a maximum in 2020, with the most published in Asia and Europe. The research process presents two main categories of ecologically and socially oriented. (2) The main landmark achievements include theoretical research, technology and methods, model construction, benefit monitoring and evaluation, experimental demonstration, etc. Among them, theoretical research is the most numerous (58.51%). (3) On this basis, 8 key scientific issues are summarised. Reviewing the research progress and summarising the critical scientific issues will provide practical guidance for the effective implementation of the role of buffer zones in global WNH conservation, especially for karst WNHSs with fragile ecological environments. (4) The future of Karst WNH conservation should be based on the effect of human-land relationship in promoting heritage protection. Examining the institutional factors of ecological problems and the management of degraded ecosystems from a socio-economic perspective. The purpose is to seek a socio-ecological system that is composed of the social, economic, ecological and cultural dimensions of the buffer zone. Focus on the coupling between eco-industrial development and WNH conservation, and strengthen buffer zone communities’ adaptive and collaborative management. Explore techniques and methods of conservation adapted to the characteristics of the fragile ecosystem of karst itself, and conduct experimental demonstrations.

Augmented Reality—The Liminal Zone Within the larger context of the post-desktop technological philosophy and practice, an increasing number of efforts are directed towards finding solutions for integrating as close as possible virtual information into specific real environments; a short list of such endeavors include Wi-Fi connectivity, GPS-driven navigation, mobile phones, GIS (Geographic Information System), and various technological systems associated with what is loosely called locative, ubiquitous and pervasive computing. Augmented Reality (AR) is directly related to these technologies, although its visualization capabilities and the experience it provides assure it a particular place within this general trend. Indeed, AR stands out for its unique capacity (or ambition) to offer a seamless combination—or what I call here an effect of convergence—of the real scene perceived by the user with virtual information overlaid on that scene interactively and in real time. The augmented scene is perceived by the viewer through the use of different displays, the most common being the AR glasses (head-mounted display), video projections or monitors, and hand-held mobile devices such as smartphones or tablets, increasingly popular nowadays. One typical example of AR application is Layar, a browser that layers information of public interest—delivered through an open-source content management system—over the actual image of a real space, streamed live on the mobile phone display. An increasing number of artists employ this type of mobile AR apps to create artworks that consist in perceptually combining material reality and virtual data: as the user points the smartphone or tablet to a specific place, virtual 3D-modelled graphics or videos appear in real time, seamlessly inserted in the image of that location, according to the user’s position and orientation. In the engineering and IT design fields, one of the first researchers to articulate a coherent conceptualization of AR and to underlie its specific capabilities is Ronald Azuma. He writes that, unlike Virtual Reality (VR) which completely immerses the user inside a synthetic environment, AR supplements reality, therefore enhancing “a user’s perception of and interaction with the real world” (355-385). Another important contributor to the foundation of AR as a concept and as a research field is industrial engineer Paul Milgram. He proposes a comprehensive and frequently cited definition of “Mixed Reality” (MR) via a schema that includes the entire spectrum of situations that span the “continuum” between actual reality and virtual reality, with “augmented reality” and “augmented virtuality” between the two poles (283). Important to remark with regard to terminology (MR or AR) is that especially in the non-scientific literature, authors do not always explain a preference for either MR or AR. This suggests that the two terms are understood as synonymous, but it also provides evidence for my argument that, outside of the technical literature, AR is considered a concept rather than a technology. Here, I use the term AR instead of MR considering that the phrase AR (and the integrated idea of augmentation) is better suited to capturing the convergence effect. As I will demonstrate in the following lines, the process of augmentation (i.e. the convergence effect) is the result of an enhancement of the possibilities to perceive and understand the world—through adding data that augment the perception of reality—and not simply the product of a mix. Nevertheless, there is surely something “mixed” about this experience, at least for the fact that it combines reality and virtuality. The experiential result of combining reality and virtuality in the AR process is what media theorist Lev Manovich calls an “augmented space,” a perceptual liminal zone which he defines as “the physical space overlaid with dynamically changing information, multimedia in form and localized for each user” (219). The author derives the term “augmented space” from the term AR (already established in the scientific literature), but he sees AR, and implicitly augmented space, not as a strictly defined technology, but as a model of visuality concerned with the intertwining of the real and virtual: “it is crucial to see this as a conceptual rather than just a technological issue – and therefore as something that in part has already been an element of other architectural and artistic paradigms” (225-6). Surely, it is hard to believe that AR has appeared in a void or that its emergence is strictly related to certain advances in technological research. AR—as an artistic manifestation—is informed by other attempts (not necessarily digital) to merge real and fictional in a unitary perceptual entity, particularly by installation art and Virtual Reality (VR) environments. With installation art, AR shares the same spatial strategy and scenographic approach—they both construct “fictional” areas within material reality, that is, a sort of mise-en-scène that are aesthetically and socially produced and centered on the active viewer. From the media installationist practice of the previous decades, AR inherited the way of establishing a closer spatio-temporal interaction between the setting, the body and the electronic image (see for example Bruce Nauman’s Live-Taped Video Corridor [1970], Peter Campus’s Interface [1972], Dan Graham’s Present Continuous Pasts(s) [1974], Jeffrey Shaw’s Viewpoint [1975], or Jim Campbell’s Hallucination [1988]). On the other hand, VR plays an important role in the genealogy of AR for sharing the same preoccupation for illusionist imagery and—at least in some AR projects—for providing immersive interactions in “expanded image spaces experienced polysensorily and interactively” (Grau 9). VR artworks such as Paul Sermon, Telematic Dreaming (1992), Char Davies’ Osmose (1995), Michael Naimark’s Be Now Here (1995-97), Maurice Benayoun’s World Skin: A Photo Safari in the Land of War (1997), Luc Courchesne’s Where Are You? (2007-10), are significant examples for the way in which the viewer can be immersed in “expanded image-spaces.” Offering no view of the exterior world, the works try instead to reduce as much as possible the critical distance the viewer might have to the image he/she experiences. Indeed, AR emerged in great part from the artistic and scientific research efforts dedicated to VR, but also from the technological and artistic investigations of the possibilities of blending reality and virtuality, conducted in the previous decades. For example, in the 1960s, computer scientist Ivan Sutherland played a crucial role in the history of AR contributing to the development of display solutions and tracking systems that permit a better immersion within the digital image. Another important figure in the history of AR is computer artist Myron Krueger whose experiments with “responsive environments” are fundamental as they proposed a closer interaction between participant’s body and the digital object. More recently, architect and theorist Marcos Novak contributed to the development of the idea of AR by introducing the concept of “eversion”, “the counter-vector of the virtual leaking out into the actual”. Today, AR technological research and the applications made available by various developers and artists are focused more and more on mobility and ubiquitous access to information instead of immersivity and illusionist effects. A few examples of mobile AR include applications such as Layar, Wikitude—“world browsers” that overlay site-specific information in real-time on a real view (video stream) of a place, Streetmuseum (launched in 2010) and Historypin (launched in 2011)—applications that insert archive images into the street-view of a specific location where the old images were taken, or Google Glass (launched in 2012)—a device that provides the wearer access to Google’s key Cloud features, in situ and in real time. Recognizing the importance of various technological developments and of the artistic manifestations such as installation art and VR as predecessors of AR, we should emphasize that AR moves forward from these artistic and technological models. AR extends the installationist precedent by proposing a consistent and seamless integration of informational elements with the very physical space of the spectator, and at the same time rejects the idea of segregating the viewer into a complete artificial environment like in VR systems by opening the perceptual field to the surrounding environment. Instead of leaving the viewer in a sort of epistemological “lust” within the closed limits of the immersive virtual systems, AR sees virtuality rather as a “component of experiencing the real” (Farman 22). Thus, the questions that arise—and which this essay aims to answer—are: Do we have a specific spatial dimension in AR? If yes, can we distinguish it as a different—if not new—spatial and aesthetic paradigm? Is AR’s intricate topology able to be the place not only of convergence, but also of possible tensions between its real and virtual components, between the ideal of obtaining a perceptual continuity and the inherent (technical) limitations that undermine that ideal? Converging Spaces in the Artistic Mode: Between Continuum and Discontinuum As key examples of the way in which AR creates a specific spatial experience—in which convergence appears as a fluctuation between continuity and discontinuity—I mention three of the most accomplished works in the field that, significantly, expose also the essential role played by the interface in providing this experience: Living-Room 2 (2007) by Jan Torpus, Under Scan (2005-2008) by Rafael Lozano-Hemmer and Hans RichtAR (2013) by John Craig Freeman and Will Pappenheimer. The works illustrate the three main categories of interfaces used for AR experience: head-attached, spatial displays, and hand-held (Bimber 2005). These types of interface—together with all the array of adjacent devices, software and tracking systems—play a central role in determining the forms and outcomes of the user’s experience and consequently inform in a certain measure the aesthetic and socio-cultural interpretative discourse surrounding AR. Indeed, it is not the same to have an immersive but solitary experience, or a mobile and public experience of an AR artwork or application. The first example is Living-Room 2 an immersive AR installation realized by a collective coordinated by Jan Torpus in 2007 at the University of Applied Sciences and Arts FHNW, Basel, Switzerland. The work consists of a built “living-room” with pieces of furniture and domestic objects that are perceptually augmented by means of a “see-through” Head Mounted Display. The viewer perceives at the same time the real room and a series of virtual graphics superimposed on it such as illusionist natural vistas that “erase” the walls, or strange creatures that “invade” the living-room. The user can select different augmenting “scenarios” by interacting with both the physical interfaces (the real furniture and objects) and the graphical interfaces (provided as virtual images in the visual field of the viewer, and activated via a handheld device). For example, in one of the scenarios proposed, the user is prompted to design his/her own extended living room, by augmenting the content and the context of the given real space with different “spatial dramaturgies” or “AR décors.” Another scenario offers the possibility of creating an “Ecosystem”—a real-digital world perceived through the HMD in which strange creatures virtually occupy the living-room intertwining with the physical configuration of the set design and with the user’s viewing direction, body movement, and gestures. Particular attention is paid to the participant’s position in the room: a tracking device measures the coordinates of the participant’s location and direction of view and effectuates occlusions of real space and then congruent superimpositions of 3D images upon it. Figure 1: Jan Torpus, Living-Room 2 (Ecosystems), Augmented Reality installation (2007). Courtesy of the artist. Figure 2: Jan Torpus, Living-Room 2 (AR decors), Augmented Reality installation (2007). Courtesy of the artist.In this sense, the title of the work acquires a double meaning: “living” is both descriptive and metaphoric. As Torpus explains, Living-Room is an ambiguous phrase: it can be both a living-room and a room that actually lives, an observation that suggests the idea of a continuum and of immersion in an environment where there are no apparent ruptures between reality and virtuality. Of course, immersion is in these circumstances not about the creation of a purely artificial secluded space of experience like that of the VR environments, but rather about a dialogical exercise that unifies two different phenomenal levels, real and virtual, within a (dis)continuous environment (with the prefix “dis” as a necessary provision). Media theorist Ron Burnett’s observations about the instability of the dividing line between different levels of experience—more exactly, of the real-virtual continuum—in what he calls immersive “image-worlds” have a particular relevance in this context: Viewing or being immersed in images extend the control humans have over mediated spaces and is part of a perceptual and psychological continuum of struggle for meaning within image-worlds. Thinking in terms of continuums lessens the distinctions between subjects and objects and makes it possible to examine modes of influence among a variety of connected experiences. (113) It is precisely this preoccupation to lessen any (or most) distinctions between subjects and objects, and between real and virtual spaces, that lays at the core of every artistic experiment under the AR rubric. The fact that this distinction is never entirely erased—as Living-Room 2 proves—is part of the very condition of AR. The ambition to create a continuum is after all not about producing perfectly homogenous spaces, but, as Ron Burnett points out (113), “about modalities of interaction and dialogue” between real worlds and virtual images. Another way to frame the same problematic of creating a provisional spatial continuum between reality and virtuality, but this time in a non-immersive fashion (i.e. with projective interface means), occurs in Rafael Lozano-Hemmer’s Under Scan (2005-2008). The work, part of the larger series Relational Architecture, is an interactive video installation conceived for outdoor and indoor environments and presented in various public spaces. It is a complex system comprised of a powerful light source, video projectors, computers, and a tracking device. The powerful light casts shadows of passers-by within the dark environment of the work’s setting. A tracking device indicates where viewers are positioned and permits the system to project different video sequences onto their shadows. Shot in advance by local videographers and producers, the filmed sequences show full images of ordinary people moving freely, but also watching the camera. As they appear within pedestrians’ shadows, the figurants interact with the viewers, moving and establishing eye contact. Figure 3: Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, Under Scan (Relational Architecture 11), 2005. Shown here: Trafalgar Square, London, United Kingdom, 2008. Photo by: Antimodular Research. Courtesy of the artist. Figure 4: Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, Under Scan (Relational Architecture 11), 2005. Shown here: Trafalgar Square, London, United Kingdom, 2008. Photo by: Antimodular Research. Courtesy of the artist. One of the most interesting attributes of this work with respect to the question of AR’s (im)possible perceptual spatial continuity is its ability to create an experientially stimulating and conceptually sophisticated play between illusion and subversion of illusion. In Under Scan, the integration of video projections into the real environment via the active body of the viewer is aimed at tempering as much as possible any disparities or dialectical tensions—that is, any successive or alternative reading—between real and virtual. Although non-immersive, the work fuses the two levels by provoking an intimate but mute dialogue between the real, present body of the viewer and the virtual, absent body of the figurant via the ambiguous entity of the shadow. The latter is an illusion (it marks the presence of a body) that is transcended by another illusion (video projection). Moreover, being “under scan,” the viewer inhabits both the “here” of the immediate space and the “there” of virtual information: “the body” is equally a presence in flesh and bones and an occurrence in bits and bytes. But, however convincing this reality-virtuality pseudo-continuum would be, the spatial and temporal fragmentations inevitably persist: there is always a certain break at the phenomenological level between the experience of real space, the bodily absence/presence in the shadow, and the displacements and delays of the video image projection. Figure 5: John Craig Freeman and Will Pappenheimer, Hans RichtAR, augmented reality installation included in the exhibition “Hans Richter: Encounters”, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2013. Courtesy of the artists. Figure 6: John Craig Freeman and Will Pappenheimer, Hans RichtAR, augmented reality installation included in the exhibition “Hans Richter: Encounters”, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2013. Courtesy of the artists. The third example of an AR artwork that engages the problem of real-virtual spatial convergence as a play between perceptual continuity and discontinuity, this time with the use of hand-held mobile interface is Hans RichtAR by John Craig Freeman and Will Pappenheimer. The work is an AR installation included in the exhibition “Hans Richter: Encounters” at Los Angeles County Museum of Art, in 2013. The project recreates the spirit of the 1929 exhibition held in Stuttgart entitled Film und Foto (“FiFo”) for which avant-garde artist Hans Richter served as film curator. Featured in the augmented reality is a re-imaging of the FiFo Russian Room designed by El Lissitzky where a selection of Russian photographs, film stills and actual film footage was presented. The users access the work through tablets made available at the exhibition entrance. Pointing the tablet at the exhibition and moving around the room, the viewer discovers that a new, complex installation is superimposed on the screen over the existing installation and gallery space at LACMA. The work effectively recreates and interprets the original design of the Russian Room, with its scaffoldings and surfaces at various heights while virtually juxtaposing photography and moving images, to which the authors have added some creative elements of their own. Manipulating and converging real space and the virtual forms in an illusionist way, AR is able—as one of the artists maintains—to destabilize the way we construct representation. Indeed, the work makes a statement about visuality that complicates the relationship between the visible object and its representation and interpretation in the virtual realm. One that actually shows the fragility of establishing an illusionist continuum, of a perfect convergence between reality and represented virtuality, whatever the means employed. AR: A Different Spatial Practice Regardless the degree of “perfection” the convergence process would entail, what we can safely assume—following the examples above—is that the complex nature of AR operations permits a closer integration of virtual images within real space, one that, I argue, constitutes a new spatial paradigm. This is the perceptual outcome of the convergence effect, that is, the process and the product of consolidating different—and differently situated—elements in real and virtual worlds into a single space-image. Of course, illusion plays a crucial role as it makes permeable the perceptual limit between the represented objects and the material spaces we inhabit. Making the interface transparent—in both proper and figurative senses—and integrating it into the surrounding space, AR “erases” the medium with the effect of suspending—at least for a limited time—the perceptual (but not ontological!) differences between what is real and what is represented. These aspects are what distinguish AR from other technological and artistic endeavors that aim at creating more inclusive spaces of interaction. However, unlike the CAVE experience (a display solution frequently used in VR applications) that isolates the viewer within the image-space, in AR virtual information is coextensive with reality. As the example of the Living-Room 2 shows, regardless the degree of immersivity, in AR there is no such thing as dismissing the real in favor of an ideal view of a perfect and completely controllable artificial environment like in VR. The “redemptive” vision of a total virtual environment is replaced in AR with the open solution of sharing physical and digital realities in the same sensorial and spatial configuration. In AR the real is not denounced but reflected; it is not excluded, but integrated. Yet, AR distinguishes itself also from other projects that presuppose a real-world environment overlaid with data, such as urban surfaces covered with screens, Wi-Fi enabled areas, or video installations that are not site-specific and viewer inclusive. Although closely related to these types of projects, AR remains different, its spatiality is not simply a “space of interaction” that connects, but instead it integrates real and virtual elements. Unlike other non-AR media installations, AR does not only place the real and virtual spaces in an adjacent position (or replace one with another), but makes them perceptually convergent in an—ideally—seamless way (and here Hans RichtAR is a relevant example). Moreover, as Lev Manovich notes, “electronically augmented space is unique – since the information is personalized for every user, it can change dynamically over time, and it is delivered through an interactive multimedia interface” (225-6). Nevertheless, as our examples show, any AR experience is negotiated in the user-machine encounter with various degrees of success and sustainability. Indeed, the realization of the convergence effect is sometimes problematic since AR is never perfectly continuous, spatially or temporally. The convergence effect is the momentary appearance of continuity that will never take full effect for the viewer, given the internal (perhaps inherent?) tensions between the ideal of seamlessness and the mostly technical inconsistencies in the visual construction of the pieces (such as real-time inadequacy or real-virtual registration errors). We should note that many criticisms of the AR visualization systems (being them practical applications or artworks) are directed to this particular aspect related to the imperfect alignment between reality and digital information in the augmented space-image. However, not only AR applications can function when having an estimated (and acceptable) registration error, but, I would state, such visual imperfections testify a distinctive aesthetic aspect of AR. The alleged flaws can be assumed—especially in the artistic AR projects—as the “trace,” as the “tool’s stroke” that can reflect the unique play between illusion and its subversion, between transparency of the medium and its reflexive strategy. In fact this is what defines AR as a different perceptual paradigm: the creation of a convergent space—which will remain inevitably imperfect—between material reality and virtual information.References Azuma, Ronald T. “A Survey on Augmented Reality.” Presence: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments 6.4 (Aug. 1997): 355-385. < http://www.hitl.washington.edu/projects/knowledge_base/ARfinal.pdf >. Benayoun, Maurice. World Skin: A Photo Safari in the Land of War. 1997. Immersive installation: CAVE, Computer, video projectors, 1 to 5 real photo cameras, 2 to 6 magnetic or infrared trackers, shutter glasses, audio-system, Internet connection, color printer. Maurice Benayoun, Works. < http://www.benayoun.com/projet.php?id=16 >. Bimber, Oliver, and Ramesh Raskar. Spatial Augmented Reality. Merging Real and Virtual Worlds. Wellesley, Massachusetts: AK Peters, 2005. 71-92. Burnett, Ron. How Images Think. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 2004. Campbell, Jim. Hallucination. 1988-1990. 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Stereoscopic interactive panorama: 3-D glasses, two 35mm motion-picture cameras, rotating tripod, input pedestal, stereoscopic projection screen, four-channel audio, 16-foot (4.87 m) rotating floor. Originally produced at Interval Research Corporation with additional support from the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, Paris, France. < http://www.naimark.net/projects/benowhere.html >. Nauman, Bruce. Live-Taped Video Corridor. 1970. Wallboard, video camera, two video monitors, videotape player, and videotape, dimensions variable. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York. Novak, Marcos. Interview with Leo Gullbring, Calimero journalistic och fotografi, 2001. < http://www.calimero.se/novak2.htm >. Sermon, Paul. Telematic Dreaming. 1992. ISDN telematic installation, two video projectors, two video cameras, two beds set. The National Museum of Photography, Film & Television in Bradford England. Shaw, Jeffrey, and Theo Botschuijver. Viewpoint. 1975. Photo installation. Shown at 9th Biennale de Paris, Musée d'Art Moderne, Paris, France.