Academic literature on the topic 'Small region sustainability'

This study1 presents a methodology for assessing the strategic sustainability of enterprises in Russian regions at the micro level as a part of assessing the strategic sustainability of the complex of enterprises in a region. The authors suggest directions for fostering the economy of the depressed regions ofRussiaby improving the management of strategic sustainability of the complex of large, medium, and small enterprises in a region. The recommendations developed for federal and regional authorities on how to improve the management of the complex of enterprises in the regions are based on the hypothesis proved in the study about the dependence of economic development indicators of a region on the strategic sustainability of the complex of enterprises operating in its territory.Aim. The study aims to suggest directions for improving the management of the strategic sustainability of large, medium, and small enterprises in the depressed regions of Russia based on the formation of regional profit centers.Tasks. The authors identify the peculiarities in the development of large enterprises in the depressed regions of Russia by calculating an integrated index of economic and financial sustainability of enterprises; conduct a comparative analysis of the activities of large enterprises in depressed and developed regions to prove the hypothesis about the dependence of the economic and financial sustainability of large enterprises on the region’s level of socio-economic development; develop recommendations for federal and regional authorities on how to improve the management of the complex of large, medium, and small enterprises, including a proposal on the formation of regional profit centers.Methods. The theoretical and methodological basis of this study includes theories and concepts on the role of enterprises and entrepreneurship in the economic development of a region. The study uses general scientific methods: analysis and synthesis, comparative and statistical analysis, systematization, calculation of an integrated index, financial ratio analysis.Results. The economic and financial indicators of large businesses in depressed regions are comparable to those of large businesses in developed regions (including the development indicators of the largest enterprises included in the Expert 600 rating), with some indicators showing values that are even higher than in developed regions. This confirms the hypothesis that the level of socio-economic development of a region does not have a dominant effect on the sustainability of development of large enterprises. The level of development of regional economies depends on the regional business structure. The revealed patterns make it possible to propose directions for improving the management of strategic sustainability of enterprises in depressed regions to federal and regional authorities.Conclusions. The improvement of development management in depressed regions should be aimed at developing government support tools that facilitate the development of the complex of enterprises in the regions. It is necessary to integrate the sustainability management of the complex of enterprises in a region into the strategic management system at the federal and regional levels. Along with the implementation of national projects aimed at developing small businesses, increasing labor productivity, supporting innovation and development institutions, in depressed regions it is also necessary to implement projects aimed at developing large businesses and integrating them with medium and small enterprises based on cooperation roadmaps. A new approach to the development of depressed regions based on the formation of regional profit centers would facilitate the formation of the sustainability of the complex of enterprises in depressed regions, allowing rational use of national project funds. This study is a continuation of the article “Approaches to assessing the strategic sustainability of large, medium, and small businesses in the depressed regions of Russia” published in Ekonomika i upravlenie No. 10, 2019.

The presented study examines the results of the assessment of the strategic sustainability of the complex of large, medium, and small enterprises in Russian regions. The specific features and parameters of the complex of enterprises in the depressed regions of the Russian Federation are identified. The hypothesis about the dependence of the economic indicators of regional development on the strategic sustainability of enterprises operating in the region is confirmed. Directions for applying the results of this study to boost the economies of the depressed Russian regions by improving the management of the complex of enterprises are proposed. Aim. The study aims to analyze the methodological approaches to assessment proposed by the authors as well as the strategic sustainability of large, medium, and small enterprises in the depressed regions of Russia.Tasks. The authors develop a methodology for analyzing the strategic sustainability of the complex of large, medium, and small enterprises in Russian regions as a crucial factor of regional economic growth; identify specific features in the development of this complex in the depressed regions of Russia by calculating an integrated index for performance assessment – index of strategic sustainability of the complex of enterprises in the region; determine the sustainability parameters of the complex of enterprises in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation based on the developed system of indicators. According to the results of the study, the authors characterize directions for improving the management of the complex of large, medium, and small enterprises.Methods. The theoretical and methodological basis of the study comprises theories and concepts of the role of enterprises and entrepreneurship in regional economic development, allowing the authors to propose definitions for the concepts of ‘strategic sustainability of the complex of enterprises in the region’ and ‘regional profit center’. This study also uses general scientific methods: analysis and synthesis, comparative and statistical analysis, systematization, calculation of an integrated index, cluster analysis, and correlation analysis. The calculations are based on the data of the Russian Federal State Statistics Service, Russian Federal Tax Service, and SPARK database by Interfax.Results. The study shows that the complex of enterprises in depressive regions is not strategically stable. In comparison with regions where the socio-economic development rate is higher, the depressed regions of the Russian Federation have a significantly lower proportion of large business enterprises, lower labor productivity and innovative activity of enterprises, less favorable demography of enterprises, much lower share and growth rate of corporate income taxes in the total tax revenues of the region, and other indicators pertaining to the analysis of activity of enterprises. This confirms the hypothesis of the dependence of regional economic development on the business structure of the region and makes it possible to propose ways of improving the management of strategic sustainability of enterprises in depressed regions for federal and regional authorities.Conclusions. The complex of large, medium, and small enterprises in depressed regions is characterized by low and extremely low sustainability parameters, which affects the economic and social development of the regions. Many key indicators of the development of depressed regions over the past 30 years have values below 50 % of the average level in Russia. Improvement of the management of development of depressed regions should focus on enhancing government support tools that facilitate the development of the complex of enterprises in the regions. The management of sustainability of the complex of enterprises in a region should be integrated into the strategic management system at the federal and regional level.

Forty-one percent of small American retail companies fail to succeed beyond 5 years. The purpose of this multiple case study is to explore strategies small retail business owners need for sustainability beyond 5 years. This study's data were collected through face-to-face interviews with 4 small successful retail business owners located in the United States southeastern region. Based on the conceptual framework of Schumpeter’s innovation theory, the paper provides 3 strategies that may prevent failure and lead to small business sustainability: passion and determination, market development and customer satisfaction, and business model innovation.

The article deals with the analysis of the factors influencing the sustainable development of small business. At the same time, the indicators of sustainability of small businesses in Andijan region are analyzed and the opportunities for their effective use are highlighted.

The diversity of trees is an important factor in ensuring the sustainability of urban forests, but it has hardly been studied in small towns in Ukraine. This study examines the diversity of urban tree species in two small towns in the capital region of Ukraine. The results show that the richest species composition of Vyshgorod city in the adjoining the houses territories and in mini-parks. A total of 100 species and forms of trees and shrubs have been found in the city. 27 species of trees and shrubs are represented In Ukrainka city. Spiraea vanhouttei, Syringa vulgaris and the genus Spiraea are critical for Vyshhorod city. Acer saccharinum, Pinus sylvestris, Populus piramidalis, Betula pendula and Spiraea vanhouttei are critical for Ukrainka city. In contrast to Vyshhorod, where the distribution of trees by diameter is close to optimal, Ukrainka lacks young trees and exceeds the share of ''ripening'', which violates the guarantees of sustainable development of urban plantations. The methodology used in this study may allow practitioners to better assess the sustainability of urban tree plantations.

This article is based on Financial Sustainability of Small Farmers Cooperative (SFC) in Mid-Western of Nepal. It attempts to provide the practices and their impacts of financial sustainability of SFC. As the cooperative movement originated from the philosophy of cooperation and later developed as a powerful tool to support to improve socio-economic position of resource poor, vulnerable, members of the lower caste people, women, labors and peasants, the SFC functions with the guiding philosophy of group principle, self-help development and institutionalization of networks at the grassroots level to reduce the scarcity. This study applied a descriptive and analytical research design using both primary (observation; questionnaires, focused group discussion) and secondary (Department of Cooperative (DoC), Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), and National Cooperative Federation of Nepal (NCF/N and annual report of sampled cooperatives) sources of data. After the analysis and interpretation of data, a number of contributions were found such as saving collection, credit investment, socio-economic development etc. The SFCs were found to be guided by self-governing norms and shares were issued to the members who are empowered with one member one vote for the general assembly purpose. The institutions function for socio-economic development with the strong policy of being apolitical and unbiased with no discrimination of any kind on religion and gender basis. The socio-economic position of cooperative members has changed through income generating programs. This study is concentrated on perception study of the financial sustainability of Small Farmer Cooperative (SFC) for the economic as well as financial development.

Abstract Marine fisheries activities on the southern coast of Special Region of Yogyakarta province, especially in the Depok Beach area, has gradually developed. Small-scale fishermen as a group of people classified as poor rely on livelihood assets accessible by them. Sustainable Livelihood Approach (SLA) is used to enhance understanding of the livelihoods of the poor. This research aims to analyze the livelihood level of small-scale fishermen at Depok Beach in 2020. The methods used in this research are quantitative descriptive analysis to determine the level of sustainability and spatial analysis by dividing the study area into three radii, i.e. 0-500 meters, 500-1000 meters, 1000-1500 meters, and beyond 1500 meters from the coast. Fishers living in 0-500 meters, 500-1000 meters, 1000-1500 meters, and beyond 1500 meters from the coastline, in general, had a high level of assets, meaning that the natural resources (fish stocks) are not depleting, financial condition is sufficient, the infrastructure available is adequate, majority of fishers attended formal education and are members of fishing societies or another social group. Overall, based on the calculation of the average score, livelihood of fishermen in Depok Beach are considered sustainable.

Emergence of microfinance facilities has raised self-employment opportunities for the disadvantaged group. There are many small and micro entrepreneurs who have started their business with funding support from microfinance agencies. Though this increased funding resource has increased the number of businesses that are started by entrepreneurs in rural areas, another important fact is that all these new businesses are not necessarily successful. In Malwa region of Madhya Pradesh (MP), only 20 per cent of businesses funded by microfinance agencies are profitable. There are multiple reasons behind this lack of success of microenterprises. There are paucity of information in selection of right opportunity, absence of technical assistance, lack of business knowledge and marketing and finance skills, which are few of them. This is an alarming sign for funding agencies as higher failure rate of microenterprises bound to jeopardize, the sustainability of the microfinance in long term and retard the development of region. This research conducted on microenterprises of Malwa region of MP tries to identify the specific training needs of microfinance clients. Further, this research tries to evaluate empirically what are the potential and sustainable microbusiness opportunities, which can be started and run by people of disadvantage groups. Empirical findings through a survey designed on a sample of 54 microenterprises of eight villages of Malwa region show that any microbusiness having higher ratio of working capital to fixed capital investment are successful in Malwa region. Also, it is found that the most important training need of these enterprises is in the field of ‘managing finance’ for small business.

The article analyzes approaches to the interpretation of the definition of an entrepreneurial environment. A grouping of factors influencing the business environment at the regional level is made. It has been established that in the Amur Region there are significant incentives for the development of the shadow economy, which, in turn, has a negative impact on the sustainability of small business development in the official sector of the regional economy.

Small region sustainability is an extremely important part of the journey to sustainability of the global population, as the most difference can be made at this spatial level through decision making and community choice. However, small regions have not been the focus of sustainability literature. Therefore, this thesis develops theory to explain what small region sustainability involves and tested the applicability of current sustainability assessment methods to find an effective tool for the journey to sustainability that can be used for social learning, decision making, policy development, research and monitoring of sustainability in small regions. It was found through the development of a model of sustainable carrying capacity and the major pressures of human activities on the environment, that sustainability for small regions means living equitably with the impacts of human activities in the region within the limits of its ecosystems. This thesis also found that none of the current sustainability methods tested were effective or useful as a tool for small regions. Therefore, a new sustainability assessment method was developed, the Sustainable Carrying Capacity Assessment (SCCA), which assesses the equitability and size of the major pressures that the human activities are causing and determines if this pressure exceeds the sustainable carrying capacity of the region, and thus, the sustainability of the population. Thus, for small regions to become sustainable, they must live equitably within the sustainable carrying capacity of the region's ecosystems, and a tool that can help them achieve this is the SCCA. By raising social awareness, guiding policy development and decision making this method can help guide small regions, and other spatial levels on their journey to sustainability. Therefore, it is recommended that Local Government Areas, Regional Organisation of Councils, schools, local community groups and anyone who wants to learn more about sustainability use this method. This thesis, therefore, makes a significant contribution to the field of sustainability.

Small region sustainability is an extremely important part of the journey to sustainability of the global population, as the most difference can be made at this spatial level through decision making and community choice. However, small regions have not been the focus of sustainability literature. Therefore, this thesis develops theory to explain what small region sustainability involves and tested the applicability of current sustainability assessment methods to find an effective tool for the journey to sustainability that can be used for social learning, decision making, policy development, research and monitoring of sustainability in small regions. It was found through the development of a model of sustainable carrying capacity and the major pressures of human activities on the environment, that sustainability for small regions means living equitably with the impacts of human activities in the region within the limits of its ecosystems. This thesis also found that none of the current sustainability methods tested were effective or useful as a tool for small regions. Therefore, a new sustainability assessment method was developed, the Sustainable Carrying Capacity Assessment (SCCA), which assesses the equitability and size of the major pressures that the human activities are causing and determines if this pressure exceeds the sustainable carrying capacity of the region, and thus, the sustainability of the population. Thus, for small regions to become sustainable, they must live equitably within the sustainable carrying capacity of the region's ecosystems, and a tool that can help them achieve this is the SCCA. By raising social awareness, guiding policy development and decision making this method can help guide small regions, and other spatial levels on their journey to sustainability. Therefore, it is recommended that Local Government Areas, Regional Organisation of Councils, schools, local community groups and anyone who wants to learn more about sustainability use this method. This thesis, therefore, makes a significant contribution to the field of sustainability.
Thesis (PhD Doctorate)
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Australian School of Environmental Studies
Full Text

Agricultural policies worldwide are giving an increased focus to the goal of sustainable agriculture, but there are still uncertainties around how this is performed and achieved. As small-scale farmers are a fundamental part of agricultural production worldwide, earlier scholars request deeper understanding of how these farmers perceive sustainable agriculture and how they perceive the pathway towards sustainability. In Tanzania, many small-scale farmers choose to participate in initiatives and organizations under the Organic Farming Movement. By focusing on small-scale farmers that have joined an organic initiative in the Manyara region in Tanzania, this study aims to interpret how these farmers perceive that joining the Organic initiative of a local seed trading system could contribute to sustainable agriculture for them. The study's theoretical approach was a framework where agricultural sustainability consists of an ecological, economic, and social dimension and that normative assumptions of sustainability can be divided into either an Environmentalist or Ecologist approach. Through an open-ended question survey, ten local farmers' perceptions of agricultural sustainability were collected. The result indicates that the farmers perceive that the local seed trading system to some extent will contribute to parts of all three dimensions of agricultural sustainability, and that normative assumptions in both Environmentalism and Ecologism can be identified within the farmer's answers.

Environmental sustainability is an extension of the concept of sustainability that focuses on the importance of understanding the interconnectivity between natural and socio-economic systems without compromising resource capacity. In this study, it is incorporated into a framework that applies to the sustainable development of small counties in the South Texas region of the Eagle Ford Shale.

The research involved a qualitative approach through the distribution of a questionnaire to a surveyed sample of Texas residents from Gonzales and Karnes counties. The purpose of the questionnaire was to obtain the expressed perspectives of residents regarding the impacts of shale development on their quality of life. These locations of interest were selected because of the different levels of shale development they experienced. Aspects of quality of life were analyzed as indicators of the survey responses to open and closed-ended questions. Participants described and scaled variables regarding impacts, benefits, and notable changes they experienced from the development of shale resources in their counties. Content analysis was used to obtain results relevant to developing the conceptual model for environmental sustainability proposed in this study. Findings showed that the sample of participating residents highly identified with socio-economic interests compared to environmental interests, considering that when the study was conducted shale oil and gas production was in decline as a result of fallen global energy prices.

In this study the terms sustainability and sustainable development were used interchangeably, while development was addressed in a broad sense, referring to the overall improvement of quality of life.

Background: Sustainability is a growing trend which companies should acknowledge and incorporate. The role HR can be a direct contributor in the integration of sustainability. SMEs’ characteristics can facilitate the implementation of sustainability, which can be a source of competitive advantage.   Purpose: To examine the integration of sustainability through HR practices in SMEs, in the Jönköping region.   Method: An exploratory and an abductive approach were used to fulfill the purpose of the thesis. The explanation building strategy was used to analyze the data. Theories from the literature were compared with the empirical findings to identify patterns, based on the categories within the HR practices. The empirical data followed a qualitative method and was based on a multiple-case study, consisting of ten interviews with SMEs.   Main findings: SMEs in the Jönköping region had a high level of understanding in terms of sustainability. The HR practices were utilized for a better integration of sustainability. Incorporating sustainability in the firm’s values was the most effective way. This was achieved through integrating sustainability in the different HR practices; by communicating its value to employees, emphasizing it during the recruitment to assure value alignment, as well as explaining it during training activities.   Managerial implications: The findings showed that managers could benefit from considering the suggested HR practices for the integration of sustainability. As a result, other regions in Sweden can take advantage and learn from the case of the Jönköping region.

Background: Existing literature suggests research about sustainability and Small- and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) to be limited. SMEs tend to have less resources than large companies and as a result of this sustainability integration may be challenging. Despite these resource restrictions, some SMEs still succeed in integrating sustainability. Some literature suggests that organisational culture could influence the integration of sustainability. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to investigate how organisational culture attributes influence the integration of sustainability in Swedish SMEs. Method: To fulfil the purpose of this thesis, a multiple case study consisting of six SMEs in the Jönköping region is performed. Qualitative semi-structured interviews are conducted with the manager and/or head of sustainability. Furthermore, structured interviews are conducted with managers and employees, in an attempt to gain insights into the values and cultural attributes of the organisational culture of the SME.   Main Findings: The results reveal that an organisational culture which emphasises internal relationships, stability and goal-setting and planning seem to facilitate the integration of sustainability. SMEs with the attribute of valuing internal relationships are aided in the integration of sustainability through the existence of tightly knit groups that work together toward the long-term goal of integrating sustainability. The positive influence of stability stems from the fact that the attribute provides structure, economic stability, and a stable employee base. A high focus on goal-setting and planning may enable the integration of sustainability through providing clear missions and objectives which the company strives toward.  Managerial Implications: This study urges three implications for managers of SMEs; 1. It provide managers with some understanding of how their organisational culture may affect sustainability integration. 2. It provide insight into the challenges companies may face as the result of lacking certain cultural attributes. 3.  It provide indications of which attributes that could be beneficial to develop or incorporate into the organisational culture in order to aid the integration of sustainability.

Development thinking in the 21st century has embraced the challenge to inform development practice towards managing the relationship between the macro and micro level of development, 
with an emphasis on people-centred development (PCD) and a participatory development approach (PDA). People-centred development advocates a process focused on people, which 
enables beneficiaries of communitydevelopment initiatives to empower themselves through participation. People-centred development has been universally accepted in the development 
community as the only viable option, with the potential to reverse decades of top-down approaches to development through the engagement of community stakeholders in a meaningful participation process. The social development scene in South Africa is characterised by a strong presence of the civil society in general and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in 
particular, which are major role players in socio-economic development at the grassroots. Most of these organisations are committed to participatory development methodologies in order to 
meet the needs of povertystricken communities in South Africa. This thesis critically assessed participatory development in the Small Business Development Departments&rsquo
(SBDD) 
programmes/projects at the Elgin Learning Foundation, in the Overberg district of the Western Cape. A qualitative research methodology was applied throughout the study. This research 
approach was chosen 
because the purpose of this project was to understand and describe community participation at the SBDD from an insider&rsquo
s perspective, and not to predict social action 
or make generalisations about it. Accordingly, observation, in-depth interviews, documentary analysis, and focus-group discussions were utilised for data collection. The study also used 
secondary sources of information, namely policy briefs, project proposals, annual evaluation reports, and minutes of meetings. The findings indicate that the community-development activities 
of the SBDD are very visible in the Overberg region, and that the organisation maintains good relationships with community stakeholders. In addition, the department contributes significantly towards entrepreneurship and skills development in the 
community, through its training and mentorship programmes. However, results also suggest that community-development at the SBDD is not always people-centred because training 
programmes are largely externally designed, monitored and evaluated, without taking into consideration the felt needs of the people. Participation that is perceived as a means to an end, rather than an end in itself can be described as tokenistic. In this light, the study recommends that the SBDD develops context-specific strategies to implement participatory methodologies at all stages 
of project-cycle management, in order to provide an enabling environment for the genuine participation of people at the grassroots. This approach can empower community members and build 
local institutional capacities to ensure project/programme sustainability in the long term.

FundaÃÃo Cearense de Apoio ao Desenvolvimento Cientifico e TecnolÃgico
As aÃÃes pÃblicas devem atuar no processo de desenvolvimento social e econÃmico de forma a fazer desse um processo mais simÃtrico. PorÃm, em regiÃes pobres, polÃticas mal elaboradas tendem a aprofundar o modelo de exclusÃo social. Nesse contexto, o presente estudo tem como objetivo analisar os impactos gerados pelas tecnologias sociais de gestÃo hÃdrica sobre a sustentabilidade do pequeno agricultor no semiÃrido cearense. Essas tecnologias sociais de gestÃo hÃdrica tÃm por finalidade oferecer alternativas para captaÃÃo, armazenamento e aproveitamento da Ãgua da chuva tanto para o consumo humano como tambÃm para a utilizaÃÃo na atividade agrÃcola atravÃs da construÃÃo de cisternas, permitindo assim melhorar a convivÃncia com os efeitos das secas. Para atingir objetivo do estudo, foi realizado um levantamento de dados primÃrios, com a aplicaÃÃo de 150 questionÃrios entre beneficiÃrios e nÃo beneficiÃrios do programa, nos municÃpios de CariÃs e Saboeiro. A anÃlise do impacto das tecnologias sociais se deu por meio da construÃÃo de Ãndices com dados nÃo pareados e a aplicaÃÃo do modelo Propensity Score Matching, que tem como objetivo o pareamento dos dados. O estudo apontou, tanto na forma pareada como nÃo pareada, que as tecnologias sociais de gestÃo hÃdrica estÃo gerando um impacto positivo na sustentabilidade de seus beneficiÃrios no semiÃrido cearense, de uma forma geral, eles tÃo tendo a possibilidade de gerar renda agrÃcola mesmo no perÃodo da estiagem voltando essa produÃÃo para o sentido orgÃnico e diminuindo a agressÃo ao meio ambiente.

Studies in the area of Entrepreneurship have been carried out since the time of the neoclassical economists and have spread throughout the world. Today, entrepreneurship represents, in some countries, half of the entire economy in terms of job creation, exportation and the increase in the GDP.The process of entrepreneurship, or the rise of new entrepreneurs and new businesses, presents a challenge for intervention agencies, whether governmental or commercial or other sectors involved in development.The object of this study is to identify and analyze the entrepreneurial characteristics of businesses in the city of Lagarto-SE, with the aim of proposing ways to enhance their development.Specifically the study intends to identify a) the profile of the entrepreneurs of Lagarto city; b) the existing entrepreneurial characteristics of businesses in the region; c) existing positive and negative factors in the conduct of business, according to entrepreneurs; and d) the existence of incentive policies developed by state and municipal agencies for the creation and development of small and medium companies in Lagarto. Additionally, we propose to present suggestions for the further development of entrepreneurial characteristics in small and medium companies of Lagarto. This research is considered descriptive-exploratory. Data collection was carried out through a survey of entrepreneurs in Lagarto, using open- and closed-ended questions intended to identify entrepreneurial characteristics, based on particular behaviors, and the factors necessary for the further development of these characteristics.It will be apparent from the research that the entrepreneurs of the city, despite not being consciously aware of the importance of having clearly defined and written objectives, have a vision of the future in which they are always among the best; that they take calculated risks; and that they seek to be more clever than their competitors. However, they also prefer to face situations realistically, and tend not to seek new possibilities when they encounter problems.The research demonstrates also that the business owners of Lagarto do possess the characteristics of entrepreneurs. The necessity still exists, however, of developing these characteristics so that they can improve their businesses, and this can best be done by helping these entrepreneurs attain new ideas and skills.We believe that the programs developed by SEBRAE, SENAI/IEL, CIEE and the SEIC in partnership with the CEFET/SE (Decentralized Unit in Lagarto) will be able to contribute a lot through activities that support the economic growth of the city, so that the entrepreneurs of the region will be able to live in a sustainable way and that governmental incentive policies can reach all who might benefit from them.
Estudos sobre o empreendedorismo começaram a ser discutido abertamente a partir dos economistas neoclássicos e foram sendo disseminados pelo mundo. Hoje, a pratica do empreendedorismo representa, em alguns paises, a metade de toda a economia considerando a geração de empregos, exportações e aumento no PIB. Processo de entrepreneurship, enquanto fenômeno de surgimento de novos empreendedores e novos negócios é um desafio para os organismos de intervenção, tanto governamentais como empresarias ou de demais setores ligados à ações de desenvolvimento. O objetivo deste estudo é Identificar e analisar as características empreendedoras dos empresários do município de Lagarto com vistas a propor ações para o desenvolvimento de tais características. Especificamente pretendeu: identificar o perfil dos empresários do município de Lagarto SE; identificar as características de empreendedores existentes nos empresários da região; identificar fatores positivos e negativos existentes na condução dos negócios, segundo os empresários; verificar a existência de políticas de incentivos desenvolvidas pelos órgãos públicos na esfera estadual e municipal para a criação e desenvolvimento econômico das pequenas e médias empresas em Lagarto; apresentar ações para o desenvolvimento das características do empreendedor nos empresários das pequenas e médias empresas da cidade de Lagarto. Trata-se de uma pesquisa descritivo-exploratoria, cujo método de coleta de dados foi o levantamento através de entrevistas com questionário com perguntas abertas e fechadas onde se pretendia medir as características empreendedoras dos empresários do município através de alguns comportamentos e os fatores necessários para o desenvolvimento dessas características empreendedoras nesses empresários. Pôde-se constatar que os empresários do município apesar de não terem a consciência da importância de se trabalhar com metas e objetivos claramente definidos e por escrito, possuem uma visão de futuro de estar sempre entre os melhores, assumem riscos calculados, procuram ser mais ágeis que seus concorrentes, porém preferem enxergar as situações de forma realista, não procurando por novas possibilidades quando se deparam com problemas. Constatou-se com a realização da pesquisa que os empresários do município de Lagarto possuem características de empreendedores. Existe ainda a necessidade de que estas características sejam trabalhadas para que possam ajudar de forma efetiva estes empresários a desenvolver seus negócios, características que poderiam vir a ser desenvolvida com a obtenção de novos conhecimentos por parte dos mesmos. Acredita-se que os programas desenvolvidos pelo SEBRAE, SENAI/IEL, CIEE e a SEIC em parceria com o CEFET/SE (Unidade Descentralizada em Lagarto) muito poderão contribuir com atividades que dêem suporte para alavancar a situação econômica do município, pois os empresários da região poderá sobreviver de maneira sustentável quanto a estas políticas de iniciativas governamentais possam atingir a todos que delas se beneficiem.

Greece posed the greatest challenge among the program countries, while Cyprus, linked to Greece through the banking system and debt restructuring, was the smallest of the country programs. The second Greek program was accompanied by substantial debt relief, but the process of granting it exposed sharp disagreements within the regime complex for crisis finance. The IMF and some euro-area member states advocated private-sector involvement, but split on the sustainability of the remaining official claims on Greece, with the Fund using its debt sustainability analysis as leverage. The case of Cyprus demonstrates that the IMF can be influential even if it contributes a relatively small share of the financing, when it is backed by key creditor states. In both cases, despite substantive conflict, key European creditors adhered faithfully to including the IMF and mediated among the institutions when they became deadlocked.

This paper empirically examines South Africa’s fiscal sustainability through a Markov-switching model which utilizes quarterly datasets for the period from 1960 to 2019. The results show that public debt responds positively, demonstrating a sustainable fiscal policy. Furthermore, considering the regime-specific feedback coefficients of the fiscal policy rule and the durations of fiscal regimes, the study finds that South Africa’s fiscal policy satisfies the No-Ponzi game condition. Therefore, from a policy perspective, the South African government should take measures such as pension reforms, reducing operational expenses, reducing subsidies, and funding micro and small enterprises to gain the double dividend on the expenditure side along with revenue-enhancing measures on consumption taxes to achieve stable public finances and lower debt levels.

This book shares the complete story of the difficult birth of the Adirondack Park Agency (APA). The Adirondack region of New York's rural North Country forms the nation's largest state park, with a territory as large as Vermont. Planning experts view the APA as a triumph of sustainability that balances human activity with the preservation of wild ecosystems. The truth isn't as pretty. The story of the APA, told here for the first time, is a complex, troubled tale of political dueling and communities pushed to the brink of violence. The North Country's environmental movement started among a small group of hunters and hikers, rose on a huge wave of public concern about pollution that crested in the early 1970s, and overcame multiple obstacles to “save” the Adirondacks. The book shows how the movement's leaders persuaded a powerful governor to recruit planners, naturalists, and advisors and assign a task that had never been attempted before. The team and the politicians who supported them worked around the clock to draft two visionary land-use plans and turn them into law. But they also made mistakes, and their strict regulations were met with determined opposition from local landowners who insisted that private property is private. The book is based on in-depth interviews with five dozen insiders who are central to the story. Their observations contain many surprising and shocking revelations. This is a rich narrative about state power and how it was imposed on rural residents. It shows how the Adirondacks were “saved,” and also why that campaign sparked a passionate rebellion.

The end of the First World War saw a shift in the political expectations of the national elites in East Central Europe from autonomy to national sovereignty. The acceptance of democratic values and promise of social improvement informed the debate over the meaning of national self-determination and forms of its implementation. In this context, the reality of an ethnically mixed population presented a challenge. While cultural autonomy continued to occupy an important place in the political thought of especially Jewish and German communities, generally the vision of a unitary nation became dominant, with minorities’ territorial demands perceived as a threat. Discourses of regionalism, democratic decentralization, and intrastate federalism kept challenging this model. Federalist projects and visions of regional cooperation addressed the issue of the sustainability of order based on small nation-states. It was in this context Nationalism Studies emerged as an academic subdiscipline, studying nationalism from legal, sociological, and political perspectives.

The search for answers to the issue of global sustainability has become increasingly urgent. In the context of higher education, many universities and academics are seeking new insights that can shift our dependence on ways of living that rely on the exploitation of so many and the degradation of so much of our planet. This is the vision that drives SANORD and many of the researchers and institutions within its network. Although much of the research is on a relatively small scale, the vision is steadily gaining momentum, forging dynamic collaborations and pathways to new knowledge. The contributors to this book cover a variety of subject areas and offer fresh insights about chronically under-researched parts of the world. Others document and critically reflect on innovative approaches to cross-continental teaching and research collaborations. This book will be of interest to anyone involved in the transformation of higher education or the practicalities of cross-continental and cross-disciplinary academic collaboration. The Southern African-Nordic Centre (SANORD) is a network of higher education institutions from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Botswana, Namibia, Malawi, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Universities in the southern African and Nordic regions that are not yet members are encouraged to join.

Blueprints for Tropical Dairy Farming provides insight into the logistics, infrastructure and management required for the development of small and large dairy farms in tropical developing countries. Farmers will learn how to improve the welfare, milk quality and productivity of their dairy herds. This book complements author John Moran’s five previous books on the principles of tropical dairy farming. The manual covers a wide range of topics related to ensuring the sustainability of dairy production systems in tropical developing countries, such as South and East Asia, Africa and Central America. It also provides guidelines for the best management practices of large-scale, more intensive dairy systems. While smallholder farms are the major suppliers of milk in the tropics, many larger farms are becoming established throughout the tropics to satisfy the increasing demands for fresh milk. Blueprints for Tropical Dairy Farming will be a valuable resource for farmers and stockpeople who want to improve the productive performance of their dairy herds, farm advisers who can assist farmers to achieve this aim, educators who develop training programs for farmers or who train dairy advisers in the basics of dairy production technology, and other stakeholders in tropical dairy production, such as local agribusiness, policy makers and research scientists. National and international agencies will learn new insights into the required long-term logistics for regional dairy development, while potential investors will acquire knowledge into intensive tropical dairy farming.

Nationalism: Past as Prologue began as a single volume being compiled by Ad Akande, a scholar from South Africa, who proposed it to me as co-author about two years ago. The original idea was to examine how the damaging roots of nationalism have been corroding political systems around the world, and creating dangerous obstacles for necessary international cooperation. Since I (Bruce E. Johansen) has written profusely about climate change (global warming, a.k.a. infrared forcing), I suggested a concerted effort in that direction. This is a worldwide existential threat that affects every living thing on Earth. It often compounds upon itself, so delays in reducing emissions of fossil fuels are shortening the amount of time remaining to eliminate the use of fossil fuels to preserve a livable planet. Nationalism often impedes solutions to this problem (among many others), as nations place their singular needs above the common good. Our initial proposal got around, and abstracts on many subjects arrived. Within a few weeks, we had enough good material for a 100,000-word book. The book then fattened to two moderate volumes and then to four two very hefty tomes. We tried several different titles as good submissions swelled. We also discovered that our best contributors were experts in their fields, which ranged the world. We settled on three stand-alone books:” 1/ nationalism and racial justice. Our first volume grew as the growth of Black Lives Matter following the brutal killing of George Floyd ignited protests over police brutality and other issues during 2020, following the police assassination of Floyd in Minneapolis. It is estimated that more people took part in protests of police brutality during the summer of 2020 than any other series of marches in United States history. This includes upheavals during the 1960s over racial issues and against the war in Southeast Asia (notably Vietnam). We choose a volume on racism because it is one of nationalism’s main motive forces. This volume provides a worldwide array of work on nationalism’s growth in various countries, usually by authors residing in them, or in the United States with ethnic ties to the nation being examined, often recent immigrants to the United States from them. Our roster of contributors comprises a small United Nations of insightful, well-written research and commentary from Indonesia, New Zealand, Australia, China, India, South Africa, France, Portugal, Estonia, Hungary, Russia, Poland, Kazakhstan, Georgia, and the United States. Volume 2 (this one) describes and analyzes nationalism, by country, around the world, except for the United States; and 3/material directly related to President Donald Trump, and the United States. The first volume is under consideration at the Texas A & M University Press. The other two are under contract to Nova Science Publishers (which includes social sciences). These three volumes may be used individually or as a set. Environmental material is taken up in appropriate places in each of the three books. * * * * * What became the United States of America has been strongly nationalist since the English of present-day Massachusetts and Jamestown first hit North America’s eastern shores. The country propelled itself across North America with the self-serving ideology of “manifest destiny” for four centuries before Donald Trump came along. Anyone who believes that a Trumpian affection for deportation of “illegals” is a new thing ought to take a look at immigration and deportation statistics in Adam Goodman’s The Deportation Machine: America’s Long History of Deporting Immigrants (Princeton University Press, 2020). Between 1920 and 2018, the United States deported 56.3 million people, compared with 51.7 million who were granted legal immigration status during the same dates. Nearly nine of ten deportees were Mexican (Nolan, 2020, 83). This kind of nationalism, has become an assassin of democracy as well as an impediment to solving global problems. Paul Krugman wrote in the New York Times (2019:A-25): that “In their 2018 book, How Democracies Die, the political scientists Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt documented how this process has played out in many countries, from Vladimir Putin’s Russia, to Recep Erdogan’s Turkey, to Viktor Orban’s Hungary. Add to these India’s Narendra Modi, China’s Xi Jinping, and the United States’ Donald Trump, among others. Bit by bit, the guardrails of democracy have been torn down, as institutions meant to serve the public became tools of ruling parties and self-serving ideologies, weaponized to punish and intimidate opposition parties’ opponents. On paper, these countries are still democracies; in practice, they have become one-party regimes….And it’s happening here [the United States] as we speak. If you are not worried about the future of American democracy, you aren’t paying attention” (Krugmam, 2019, A-25). We are reminded continuously that the late Carl Sagan, one of our most insightful scientific public intellectuals, had an interesting theory about highly developed civilizations. Given the number of stars and planets that must exist in the vast reaches of the universe, he said, there must be other highly developed and organized forms of life. Distance may keep us from making physical contact, but Sagan said that another reason we may never be on speaking terms with another intelligent race is (judging from our own example) could be their penchant for destroying themselves in relatively short order after reaching technological complexity. This book’s chapters, introduction, and conclusion examine the worldwide rise of partisan nationalism and the damage it has wrought on the worldwide pursuit of solutions for issues requiring worldwide scope, such scientific co-operation public health and others, mixing analysis of both. We use both historical description and analysis. This analysis concludes with a description of why we must avoid the isolating nature of nationalism that isolates people and encourages separation if we are to deal with issues of world-wide concern, and to maintain a sustainable, survivable Earth, placing the dominant political movement of our time against the Earth’s existential crises. Our contributors, all experts in their fields, each have assumed responsibility for a country, or two if they are related. This work entwines themes of worldwide concern with the political growth of nationalism because leaders with such a worldview are disinclined to co-operate internationally at a time when nations must find ways to solve common problems, such as the climate crisis. Inability to cooperate at this stage may doom everyone, eventually, to an overheated, stormy future plagued by droughts and deluges portending shortages of food and other essential commodities, meanwhile destroying large coastal urban areas because of rising sea levels. Future historians may look back at our time and wonder why as well as how our world succumbed to isolating nationalism at a time when time was so short for cooperative intervention which is crucial for survival of a sustainable earth. Pride in language and culture is salubrious to individuals’ sense of history and identity. Excess nationalism that prevents international co-operation on harmful worldwide maladies is quite another. As Pope Francis has pointed out: For all of our connectivity due to expansion of social media, ability to communicate can breed contempt as well as mutual trust. “For all our hyper-connectivity,” said Francis, “We witnessed a fragmentation that made it more difficult to resolve problems that affect us all” (Horowitz, 2020, A-12). The pope’s encyclical, titled “Brothers All,” also said: “The forces of myopic, extremist, resentful, and aggressive nationalism are on the rise.” The pope’s document also advocates support for migrants, as well as resistance to nationalist and tribal populism. Francis broadened his critique to the role of market capitalism, as well as nationalism has failed the peoples of the world when they need co-operation and solidarity in the face of the world-wide corona virus pandemic. Humankind needs to unite into “a new sense of the human family [Fratelli Tutti, “Brothers All”], that rejects war at all costs” (Pope, 2020, 6-A). Our journey takes us first to Russia, with the able eye and honed expertise of Richard D. Anderson, Jr. who teaches as UCLA and publishes on the subject of his chapter: “Putin, Russian identity, and Russia’s conduct at home and abroad.” Readers should find Dr. Anderson’s analysis fascinating because Vladimir Putin, the singular leader of Russian foreign and domestic policy these days (and perhaps for the rest of his life, given how malleable Russia’s Constitution has become) may be a short man physically, but has high ambitions. One of these involves restoring the old Russian (and Soviet) empire, which would involve re-subjugating a number of nations that broke off as the old order dissolved about 30 years ago. President (shall we say czar?) Putin also has international ambitions, notably by destabilizing the United States, where election meddling has become a specialty. The sight of Putin and U.S. president Donald Trump, two very rich men (Putin $70-$200 billion; Trump $2.5 billion), nuzzling in friendship would probably set Thomas Jefferson and Vladimir Lenin spinning in their graves. The road of history can take some unanticipated twists and turns. Consider Poland, from which we have an expert native analysis in chapter 2, Bartosz Hlebowicz, who is a Polish anthropologist and journalist. His piece is titled “Lawless and Unjust: How to Quickly Make Your Own Country a Puppet State Run by a Group of Hoodlums – the Hopeless Case of Poland (2015–2020).” When I visited Poland to teach and lecture twice between 2006 and 2008, most people seemed to be walking on air induced by freedom to conduct their own affairs to an unusual degree for a state usually squeezed between nationalists in Germany and Russia. What did the Poles then do in a couple of decades? Read Hlebowicz’ chapter and decide. It certainly isn’t soft-bellied liberalism. In Chapter 3, with Bruce E. Johansen, we visit China’s western provinces, the lands of Tibet as well as the Uighurs and other Muslims in the Xinjiang region, who would most assuredly resent being characterized as being possessed by the Chinese of the Han to the east. As a student of Native American history, I had never before thought of the Tibetans and Uighurs as Native peoples struggling against the Independence-minded peoples of a land that is called an adjunct of China on most of our maps. The random act of sitting next to a young woman on an Air India flight out of Hyderabad, bound for New Delhi taught me that the Tibetans had something to share with the Lakota, the Iroquois, and hundreds of other Native American states and nations in North America. Active resistance to Chinese rule lasted into the mid-nineteenth century, and continues today in a subversive manner, even in song, as I learned in 2018 when I acted as a foreign adjudicator on a Ph.D. dissertation by a Tibetan student at the University of Madras (in what is now in a city called Chennai), in southwestern India on resistance in song during Tibet’s recent history. Tibet is one of very few places on Earth where a young dissident can get shot to death for singing a song that troubles China’s Quest for Lebensraum. The situation in Xinjiang region, where close to a million Muslims have been interned in “reeducation” camps surrounded with brick walls and barbed wire. They sing, too. Come with us and hear the music. Back to Europe now, in Chapter 4, to Portugal and Spain, we find a break in the general pattern of nationalism. Portugal has been more progressive governmentally than most. Spain varies from a liberal majority to military coups, a pattern which has been exported to Latin America. A situation such as this can make use of the term “populism” problematic, because general usage in our time usually ties the word into a right-wing connotative straightjacket. “Populism” can be used to describe progressive (left-wing) insurgencies as well. José Pinto, who is native to Portugal and also researches and writes in Spanish as well as English, in “Populism in Portugal and Spain: a Real Neighbourhood?” provides insight into these historical paradoxes. Hungary shares some historical inclinations with Poland (above). Both emerged from Soviet dominance in an air of developing freedom and multicultural diversity after the Berlin Wall fell and the Soviet Union collapsed. Then, gradually at first, right wing-forces began to tighten up, stripping structures supporting popular freedom, from the courts, mass media, and other institutions. In Chapter 5, Bernard Tamas, in “From Youth Movement to Right-Liberal Wing Authoritarianism: The Rise of Fidesz and the Decline of Hungarian Democracy” puts the renewed growth of political and social repression into a context of worldwide nationalism. Tamas, an associate professor of political science at Valdosta State University, has been a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University and a Fulbright scholar at the Central European University in Budapest, Hungary. His books include From Dissident to Party Politics: The Struggle for Democracy in Post-Communist Hungary (2007). Bear in mind that not everyone shares Orbán’s vision of what will make this nation great, again. On graffiti-covered walls in Budapest, Runes (traditional Hungarian script) has been found that read “Orbán is a motherfucker” (Mikanowski, 2019, 58). Also in Europe, in Chapter 6, Professor Ronan Le Coadic, of the University of Rennes, Rennes, France, in “Is There a Revival of French Nationalism?” Stating this title in the form of a question is quite appropriate because France’s nationalistic shift has built and ebbed several times during the last few decades. For a time after 2000, it came close to assuming the role of a substantial minority, only to ebb after that. In 2017, the candidate of the National Front reached the second round of the French presidential election. This was the second time this nationalist party reached the second round of the presidential election in the history of the Fifth Republic. In 2002, however, Jean-Marie Le Pen had only obtained 17.79% of the votes, while fifteen years later his daughter, Marine Le Pen, almost doubled her father's record, reaching 33.90% of the votes cast. Moreover, in the 2019 European elections, re-named Rassemblement National obtained the largest number of votes of all French political formations and can therefore boast of being "the leading party in France.” The brutality of oppressive nationalism may be expressed in personal relationships, such as child abuse. While Indonesia and Aotearoa [the Maoris’ name for New Zealand] hold very different ranks in the United Nations Human Development Programme assessments, where Indonesia is classified as a medium development country and Aotearoa New Zealand as a very high development country. In Chapter 7, “Domestic Violence Against Women in Indonesia and Aotearoa New Zealand: Making Sense of Differences and Similarities” co-authors, in Chapter 8, Mandy Morgan and Dr. Elli N. Hayati, from New Zealand and Indonesia respectively, found that despite their socio-economic differences, one in three women in each country experience physical or sexual intimate partner violence over their lifetime. In this chapter ther authors aim to deepen understandings of domestic violence through discussion of the socio-economic and demographic characteristics of theit countries to address domestic violence alongside studies of women’s attitudes to gender norms and experiences of intimate partner violence. One of the most surprising and upsetting scholarly journeys that a North American student may take involves Adolf Hitler’s comments on oppression of American Indians and Blacks as he imagined the construction of the Nazi state, a genesis of nationalism that is all but unknown in the United States of America, traced in this volume (Chapter 8) by co-editor Johansen. Beginning in Mein Kampf, during the 1920s, Hitler explicitly used the westward expansion of the United States across North America as a model and justification for Nazi conquest and anticipated colonization by Germans of what the Nazis called the “wild East” – the Slavic nations of Poland, the Baltic states, Ukraine, and Russia, most of which were under control of the Soviet Union. The Volga River (in Russia) was styled by Hitler as the Germans’ Mississippi, and covered wagons were readied for the German “manifest destiny” of imprisoning, eradicating, and replacing peoples the Nazis deemed inferior, all with direct references to events in North America during the previous century. At the same time, with no sense of contradiction, the Nazis partook of a long-standing German romanticism of Native Americans. One of Goebbels’ less propitious schemes was to confer honorary Aryan status on Native American tribes, in the hope that they would rise up against their oppressors. U.S. racial attitudes were “evidence [to the Nazis] that America was evolving in the right direction, despite its specious rhetoric about equality.” Ming Xie, originally from Beijing, in the People’s Republic of China, in Chapter 9, “News Coverage and Public Perceptions of the Social Credit System in China,” writes that The State Council of China in 2014 announced “that a nationwide social credit system would be established” in China. “Under this system, individuals, private companies, social organizations, and governmental agencies are assigned a score which will be calculated based on their trustworthiness and daily actions such as transaction history, professional conduct, obedience to law, corruption, tax evasion, and academic plagiarism.” The “nationalism” in this case is that of the state over the individual. China has 1.4 billion people; this system takes their measure for the purpose of state control. Once fully operational, control will be more subtle. People who are subject to it, through modern technology (most often smart phones) will prompt many people to self-censor. Orwell, modernized, might write: “Your smart phone is watching you.” Ming Xie holds two Ph.Ds, one in Public Administration from University of Nebraska at Omaha and another in Cultural Anthropology from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing, where she also worked for more than 10 years at a national think tank in the same institution. While there she summarized news from non-Chinese sources for senior members of the Chinese Communist Party. Ming is presently an assistant professor at the Department of Political Science and Criminal Justice, West Texas A&M University. In Chapter 10, analyzing native peoples and nationhood, Barbara Alice Mann, Professor of Honours at the University of Toledo, in “Divide, et Impera: The Self-Genocide Game” details ways in which European-American invaders deprive the conquered of their sense of nationhood as part of a subjugation system that amounts to genocide, rubbing out their languages and cultures -- and ultimately forcing the native peoples to assimilate on their own, for survival in a culture that is foreign to them. Mann is one of Native American Studies’ most acute critics of conquests’ contradictions, and an author who retrieves Native history with a powerful sense of voice and purpose, having authored roughly a dozen books and numerous book chapters, among many other works, who has traveled around the world lecturing and publishing on many subjects. Nalanda Roy and S. Mae Pedron in Chapter 11, “Understanding the Face of Humanity: The Rohingya Genocide.” describe one of the largest forced migrations in the history of the human race, the removal of 700,000 to 800,000 Muslims from Buddhist Myanmar to Bangladesh, which itself is already one of the most crowded and impoverished nations on Earth. With about 150 million people packed into an area the size of Nebraska and Iowa (population less than a tenth that of Bangladesh, a country that is losing land steadily to rising sea levels and erosion of the Ganges river delta. The Rohingyas’ refugee camp has been squeezed onto a gigantic, eroding, muddy slope that contains nearly no vegetation. However, Bangladesh is majority Muslim, so while the Rohingya may starve, they won’t be shot to death by marauding armies. Both authors of this exquisite (and excruciating) account teach at Georgia Southern University in Savannah, Georgia, Roy as an associate professor of International Studies and Asian politics, and Pedron as a graduate student; Roy originally hails from very eastern India, close to both Myanmar and Bangladesh, so he has special insight into the context of one of the most brutal genocides of our time, or any other. This is our case describing the problems that nationalism has and will pose for the sustainability of the Earth as our little blue-and-green orb becomes more crowded over time. The old ways, in which national arguments often end in devastating wars, are obsolete, given that the Earth and all the people, plants, and other animals that it sustains are faced with the existential threat of a climate crisis that within two centuries, more or less, will flood large parts of coastal cities, and endanger many species of plants and animals. To survive, we must listen to the Earth, and observe her travails, because they are increasingly our own.

AbstractThis first chapter presents the nature of the regional research study on recognising green skills through non-formal learning across seven countries and one territory in Asia and the Pacific Region (APR), the methodology and approach to data collection, and the analytical framework. Furthermore, this chapter establishes the rationale for the book by detailing the argument that implementation of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including the key aspects of sustainable development and lifelong learning, is closely related to green skills development and recognition in enterprises. As such, the two starting points for this study are the invisibility of the decisive role of micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) (definition included in the glossary) in promoting green practices and green skills development, and the need for making visible the invisible outcomes of workers’ participation in learning activities through green skills recognition (definition included in the glossary). This chapter also introduces the analytical framework that is used in the study to develop a holistic understanding of the principles and approaches required for green skills recognition. To frame the analyses presented in Chap. 2 of the book and the model presented in Part III, macro, meso, and micro-levels are included in this framework: political decisions and policies that countries, and, in the context of this study, one territory, use to move towards green transition and greening of education and training; the role of standards, learning outcomes, and quality assurance mechanisms related to green skills and their inclusion in RVA; and actions at the level of enterprises.

AbstractThis chapter presents and analyses the results of a Hong Kong SAR, PRC, study. Sixteen micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) were interviewed in Hong Kong SAR, PRC: four in automotive, four in waste management and eight in the catering sectors. Data collection on PVC manufacturing was not feasible due to the inactivity of that industry in Hong Kong SAR, PRC. The automotive and waste management industries are regulated by the government, so all results were obtained from the formal sector. Regarding the catering industry, both formal and informal companies were interviewed and visited for observations. Results revealed that some green practices have been applied by MSME, and employers stated that the successful implementation of environmentally friendly operations greatly depends on the attitudes and behaviour of staff, in many cases even more than on particular skills. Across three sectors the majority of owner/managers had not heard about recognition, validation and accreditation (RVA) mechanism. They believed that adding RVA processes could be somewhat unhelpful, particularly for the automotive industry, as an apprenticeship scheme was in place and was used to certify obtained skills. MSME believe that the inclusion of green skills in RVA might negatively affect the hiring processes in the industry. The findings demonstrate that inclusion of green skills in RVA mechanism in Hong Kong SAR, PRC, requires a strong political push from the government. An awareness campaign for industries and the private sector is vital to clarify the benefits of RVA and greening. Key performance indicators, clearly defined targets and available support for MSME are essential. Education has a clear role to play in developing green mind-sets.

AbstractAccess to seeds of improved groundnut varieties is the most critical problem of farmers in Burkina Faso. Firstly, majority do not know the existence of improved varieties and secondly the price is not affordable to them. Based on the above, the INERA groundnut breeders’ team established four innovation platforms on groundnut in the Region of Centre-East, Region of Centre-North, Region of Centre-West and Region de la Boucle of Mouhoun. Through these platforms, Quality Declared Seeds (QDS) were produced for the first time in Burkina Faso in 2016 with support from the Tropical Legumes phase III (TL III) project. Since then, QDS and certified seeds are produced and sold to the local communities at affordable small packs in order to make improved seeds accessible to the poor farmers. So far about 10,000 persons have been reached with small packs. Farmers, agricultural extension and NGO staff have been trained in groundnut seed production, demonstrations, field days and Farmer Participatory Variety Selection (FPVS) to promote the improved varieties and the best agronomic practices. Farmers’ yields increased from 500–700 kg/ha to 1200–1500 kg/ha increasing women and youth incomes from 200 USD to 800 USD/year only for those who grow groundnut during the rainy season. Those who grow during rainy and off-seasons their incomes can reach 1200–1500 USD. Links with financial institutions have facilitated access to credit for these farmers. In the future, the Platform sustainability will be assured through members’ annual financial contributions and strong production contracts among traders, processors and farmers.

AbstractEcuador is at the forefront when it comes to legal innovations. In 2008, it was the first country in the region to recognize rights to nature, and in 2020, it became the fourth country worldwide to incorporate a discussion on the benefit of a BIC corporation status into its legal system.BIC corporations enable Ecuadorian companies to prioritize stakeholder governance, transparency, and sustainability in management as well as corporate behavior, driving change in markets. Since their recognition, for-profit corporations in Ecuador have had the option to transform their governance and prioritize the generation of positive material impacts by committing to solve one, or many, social and environmental problems through their business models.This article explains how this small country in Latin America managed to insert this innovation into its legal system and how the recognition of BIC corporations marks a major milestone in the process of changing systems in the region.

AbstractSpread over the ocean regions of the Caribbean, the Pacific and Atlantic, the Indian Ocean, the Mediterranean, and the South China Sea, the small island developing states (SIDS) are a distinct group of developing countries often known for their rich biological diversity, oceans, tourism, and fisheries. The pressures on these and other natural resources is most immediate in the islands where the high vulnerability to the impacts of climate change, limited land and water resources, often unsustainable natural resource use, and other particular economic vulnerabilities are disrupting livelihoods. The COVID-19 pandemic has further exacerbated the SIDS economies and livelihoods. Over the past 25 years the Global Environment Facility (GEF) has supported interventions in SIDS through $578 million in financing, in critical areas such as biodiversity protection, climate resilience, and energy access through renewable energy. But how effective and sustainable have these interventions been? What factors influencing the sustainability of GEF interventions can provide insights for future project design and implementation? This chapter draws on findings from a recent country cluster evaluation on SIDS conducted by the Independent Evaluation Office (IEO) of the GEF. It presents the main environmental challenges in SIDS, the evidence on the relevance and effectiveness of GEF interventions in addressing these challenges, and the main risks to sustainability of outcomes. Important contextual factors that affect sustainability in SIDS include good policies and legal and regulatory frameworks, national ownership of projects, environmental awareness, institutional capacity, and strategic institutional partnerships. Project-related factors including good project design and adaptive project management, scaling-up and replication based on lessons learned, and a good exit strategy are also important for sustainability.

A method for assessing sustainability of local regions and small municipalities is presented. Such a tool is needed as decisions made at the local level can have significant effects on the sustainability of a region when applied to multiple small municipalities. Quantitative and objective measures for evaluating regional sustainability should provide guidance and direction for improvement, and should help direct public policy. The ecological footprint method distills a complex system into a single parameter — the land area required to support the region under study. While this method provides a metric that is easily understood by both the public and policy makers, it is difficult to apply on the scale of many local municipalities. The method gives an overall indication of a region’s sustainability, but it can be difficult to determine specific actions that will lead to improvement, and hence has limited value as a guide to policy. The emergy accounting method is scalable and can indicate specific areas needing improvement. All energy flows are transformed into a common unit, the solar emjoule, allowing equitable assessment of sustainability within a system comprised of a broad spectrum of human, natural, and industrial resources and processes. Obtaining data for a study of any scale can be challenging; however, it is particularly so for small regions in which data may not be readily available. Adjustments in data collection methods appropriate to small regions and municipalities are evaluated. The adjusted method was applied to the analysis of a small rural municipality in western Pennsylvania. The study boundaries were defined by the borough limits — an area encompassing 2.7 square miles and 8300 residents. This study primarily treats data collection for an emergy accounting analysis of a small region. Full results of the analysis will be presented in a follow-up paper.

This research seeks to develop an urban sustainability framework specific to Caribbean Small Island Developing States (SIDS). This is relevant given the reality that Caribbean SIDS are becoming increasingly urbanised. The three most urbanised countries within the Caribbean region; namely, the Bahamas, Trinidad and Tobago and Suriname are more than 70 percent urbanised. If the built environment within urban areas is developed in an unsustainable manner this can result in a number of negative outcomes. For example, a major challenge faced in Caribbean SIDS is that of disaster risk and management due to the location of human settlements and critical infrastructure in low lying coastal lands. If more sustainable outcomes are to be attained in the face of increased urbanisation, there is a need for a change in the way spatial planning is practiced. Indicators can provide planners with an empirical basis for the examination and review of the relevant plans and policies which guide the way in which planning is practiced. There exist a number of urban indicator frameworks, which suggest useful indicators including the World Bank Urban Sustainability Framework (USF) and the Inter-American Development Bank Emerging and Sustainable Cities Initiative (ESCI). These two frameworks are critically examined and with the use of Trinidad as a case study island, the ways in which indicators can be useful in efforts toward increased urban sustainability within SIDS is discussed.

This paper will evaluate a specific site located in southwestern Virginia, providing design criteria that are important considerations at this site. The evaluation will predict the output from a 6 blade HAWT model at the height and location of the site. As a small scale wind turbine, the process of determination of relevant considerations to establish the turbine selection and output are weighted to establish the evaluation criteria. A review of the specific site conditions are presented in detail. This information includes: three-dimensional topographic review, wind and weather profile of the site and surrounding environmental conditions of the site. With this information the decision path for the specific siting is discussed. Characteristics of the site that will be considered to calculate output are: historical data of wind profile of the region, height of tower, affect of other objects and affect of wind turbulence. A discussion of current modeling options will be compared. The design and components of the small scale wind turbine chosen for this application will be compared to other wind turbines of similar size and cost. Considerations of the turbine that are considered are: size of wind turbine, cost of wind turbine, predictable output of the wind turbine based on design of the various wind turbines, requirements for the tower for each turbine and predicted maintenance for each turbine. Initial performance of the selected turbine will be available by presentation of information.

A new criterion has been developed to predict the onset of liquid (heavier fluid) entrainment from a stratified two-phase region through single and dual branches mounted on a vertical wall. This criterion was based on the local instability of the interface between two fluids due to the suction effect associated with the discharging of the lighter fluid. To validate the criterion, a three-dimensional model has been developed to predict the critical height at the onset of liquid entrainment. Comparisons between the theoretical critical heights with the available experimental data demonstrated a very good concurrence between the predicted and the measured values for both single and dual branches. This indicated that the onset of liquid entrainment mechanism occurs due to local flow instability of the interface analogous to Taylor instability.

The transformation of the transport system towards sustainability is a manifold challenge on many levels. While there are many debates and approaches for large cities on the one hand and rural regions on the other, substantial parts of traffic originate in suburban small and medium-sized towns in agglomeration areas, where viable and specific concepts for a more sustainable mobility system have been lacking up to now. With the project "Suburban New Mobility", mobility-relevant data and parameters from small and medium-sized cities in the Rhine-Main-Region were systematically collected and processed and their specifics in the relevant dimensions of transport supply, demand and organisation were elaborated. Thus, the project builds a data-based foundation for practical support as well as action concepts as a stepping stone to promote the transition towards sustainable mobility in small and medium-sized cities. This paper presents the project results and the derived requirements for action for transport policy, planning and consulting.

Global climate destabilization is exacerbating water problems in Vietnam, most acutely in the South and Central regions where most of the inhabited area lies in the low elevation coastal zone. Using a geographical information system (GIS) platform, a wind resources atlas developed by the Asia Sustainable and Alternative Energy Program and the projected rural population available from Columbia University’s Center for International Earth Science Information Network, this paper explores the potential for off-grid medium to small-scale reverse osmosis desalination powered by small wind turbines for the coastal fringe of Vietnam’s Mekong Delta. The analysis estimated that in the absence of all other water supply facilities, off-grid wind desalination could provide clean water to 5.4 million rural residents living in 18.9 thousand km2 of the Mekong Delta coastal provinces at the rate of 60 liters per capita per day. In addition to providing clean water, the use of wind powered desalination in the region would have educational benefits, combat poverty and unemployment, ease water-related conflicts, and has been shown to be improve environmental and agricultural sustainability. Thus this technology was found to represent a decentralized and community-based method to adapt to and mitigate climate change in the coastal fringe of the Mekong Delta.

The surface evaporation of the extended meniscus liquid film in the micro channel driven by the capillary force is of the key process in a lot of heat sink and thermal management equipments. The physio-mathematical model was established considering the variation of the apparent contact angle to describe the configuration of the total extended thin film region, including that of equilibrium, interline and intrinsic meniscus regions. In additions, the minimum energy principle was employed to determine the range of thin film interline region. The results indicate that the range of thin film interline region is quite small in the total extended film region, nevertheless the variation of its surface temperature is much obvious, implying that the resulted Maragoni effect can cause great “pump” force to drive the film flow, which may be the main contribution of the interline region to the total extended thin film evaporation. The variations of evaporating rate, and also the resulted mean velocity of liquid film in the thin film interline region under different wall temperature and apparent contact angle were revealed, which showed that there existed the local maximum value of evaporating rate in this region by the coupled influences of the decreased film thickness and variation of the interface temperature.

In an effort to make buildings healthier and more energy efficient, architects are increasingly incorporating natural ventilation into their design strategies in order to take advantage of free, available wind power. The extent to which natural ventilation can replace forced ventilation in a given building depends on the local climate and specific site utilization. The ASHRAE Standards 55 and 62.1 that cover natural ventilation establish minimal requirements for climate and building openings but also concede that the ultimate responsibility for proving the effectiveness of this technique lies with the design team and the specific requirements of local codes. But how does a design team prove that air is flowing according to plan without actually creating the structure and taking measurements? Only two possibilities exist — regard each room as a very large ratio conduit and apply conventional equations to those spaces, or do a 3-dimensional numerical analysis of the flow path. Numerical analysis, known as Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), is now being recognized as the only reliable way to predict natural airflow through a building and assure that adequate air quality and comfort is provided at all points of each room before construction begins. CFD computer programs allow designers to divide a volume into a large number of small regions and calculate the air and heat transfer between each region, minimizing the assumption-related errors that would otherwise occur. Minimizing computational error at the beginning of the design process reduces the risk of costly post-construction order changes that can occur as substandard air quality is discovered. CFD software can vary in its level of sophistication. While the most basic Navier-Stokes heat and mass transfer equations are essential and can be of great use, a proper natural ventilation analysis tool should include calculations for buoyancy, turbulent convection, and the ability to do open boundary modeling. Other features such as local solar loading and transient analysis are also desirable. A comprehensive CFD package can be particularly useful for modeling the complex airflow found in mixed-mode designs and identifying regions of stagnant air, high heat loss or gain, short-circuited airflow, and other conditions that inhibit good building performance and limit the potential for sustainability.

Straddling the Arctic Circle on the Chukchi Sea, the Northwest Alaska Native Association (NANA) region constitutes the boundaries of the Northwest Arctic Borough (NWAB), and has a population of about 7,600 people. The high cost of energy in the NANA region is one of the leading threats to the long term sustainability and well-being of the region. As a result of complex and lengthy logistics, the region has some of the highest energy prices in the nation. In addition to the cost of fossil fuels, NANA region residents are increasingly aware of the effects of greenhouse gases on climate change and the resulting coastal erosion along the Chukchi Sea. NANA Regional Corporation, along with other regional stakeholders, has developed a regional integrated energy plan. This approach includes community specific energy options analyses, benefit-cost analyses of competing alternatives, analysis of available literature and past experiences, surveying of professional opinion, and a regional energy summit that involved multiple stakeholders. Since the mid-1990s, the NANA region has been an Alaska leader in promoting and developing renewable energy resources with wind turbine installations in Kotzebue and Selawik. Promising wind energy potential is under investigation in several more communities, and other known energy resources being studied include geothermal, small-scale hydropower, and a substantial biomass potential in the upper Kobuk River area. Also under investigation are stranded natural gas sources and even solar PV installations for some communities. Energy security in the region will be achieved by a combination of infrastructure improvement and development of appropriate energy technologies, both traditional and renewable. It is the vision of NANA region stakeholders to be 75% reliant on regionally available energy resources for heating and electric generation purposes by the year 2030, and to decrease the need for transportation fuel imported into the region by 50% by the year 2030. As part of this vision, imported fossil fuels would remain as emergency/back-up fuel only. With proper planning, a synergy can be developed between different energy sources and uses, with the composition of the optimal ‘energy-mix’ custom-tailored for each community in the NANA region. The energy planning process will be conducted with the understanding that the optimum mix may change over time.

This policy brief examines how co-management arrangements within small-scale fisheries can play a key role in enhancing sectoral and regional resilience. Despite major challenges, “multi-stakeholder collaborations” - such as co-management - demonstrate the potential for innovative knowledge transfer and strategic adaptation processes within the fisheries sector. The focus here is on Co-management Northern Bohuslän (Samförvaltning Norra Bohuslän), which promotes sustainable local fisheries and blue growth on Sweden’s west coast. The case illustrates how, under appropriate conditions, participatory local efforts can significantlycontribute to sustainability and resilience. The policy brief presents findings on related challenges and opportunities, including recommendations on future directions for the co-management initiative itself, and more general suggestions for co-management as a means to promote sectoral and regional resilience in the Nordic region.