Sustainable Rural Development

This paper explores arts festivals in terms of their relationship to local economic development within the rural island region of Orkney in Scotland. Fourteen qualitative, semi-structured interviews were conducted with arts festival organisers, tourism representatives and local volunteers during the summer festival season. The findings offer new insights into the factors affecting how arts festivals impact the local economy; the areas of the local economy that are affected by arts festivals; and the implications of funding from awarding bodies on the endogenous development of arts festivals. For instance, it is concluded that supporting the cultural values of locals is vital to the economic success of rural arts festivals through a strategic design in the combined integration of minimised paid staff and maximised volunteers. Furthermore, it is revealed how in certain cases the initial retention of funding may benefit start-up arts festivals in terms of strategic development of their...

To consider small islands as places for sustainable tourism or sustainable anything, for that matter, must surely be cause for critical deliberation. Small islands as sanctuaries, or rare citadels for ecological safekeeping and tight-knit communities, runs counter to islands as sites for extraction and development, yet increasingly the latter prevails. However, the former are the precise reasons that small islands are aligned with the global travel supply chain. Consuming small islands abides with the tropical idyll narrative and, within such invocations, the exposure of small islands to externalities renders its utility to purposes that run counter to benign and constructive outcomes. Herein is the dilemma for small islands and their entanglements with tourism expansion.
See full report here: http://projects.upei.ca/unescochair/files/2020/07/Annual-Report-on-Global-Islands-2019.pdf

Mining plays a key role in Zimbabwe’s economy, contributing 5% and 23% to the country’s gross domestic (GDP) and total exports, respectively. It also generates foreign currency and supplies raw materials to some industries. As a ‘robber’ industry, it extracts minerals from the earth without replacing them. It also creates deep shafts and ugly pits which damage the landscape. In addition it causes environmental pollution and is a threat to the tranquillity of the natural environment. Based on information that was collected in August 2017, this paper discusses various aspects of the mining industry. These include Zimbabwe’s mining legislation, environmental impacts of the mining industry at global level, in the SADC region and in Zimbabwe. Problems which confront the industry as well as their possible solutions in Zimbabwe are also examined. From a sustainable development (SD) point of view, mining poses a serious danger which should be addressed at both local and national levels. Since the early years of independence (1980-1984), several Zimbabwean mines have closed down either due to mineral depletion or dis-investment. Some of them have turned into ghost towns which have led to the decay of infrastructure. Little or nothing has been done to avert this crisis. Those mines which are still operational cause immense pollution to the natural environment thereby threatening SD at the national level. However, solutions to avert this crisis are hard to come by. Currently, there is a need to promote environmental education (EE) and education for sustainable development (ESD) at the national level. In this context, efforts should be directed at the establishment of EE centres throughout Zimbabwe as is the case in South Africa.

The book points out that rural regions need proper attention at the global level concerning solid waste management sector where bad practices and public health threats could be avoided through traditional and integrated waste management
routes. Solid waste management in rural areas is a key issue in developing and transitioning countries due to the lack of proper waste management facilities and services. The book further examines, on the one hand, the main challenges in the development of reliable waste management practices across rural regions and, on the other hand, the concrete solutions and the new opportunities across the world in dealing with municipal and agricultural wastes. The book provides useful information for academics, various professionals, the members of civil society, and national and local authorities.

A MODEL PROPOSAL FOR CONSERVATION OF ABANDONED RURAL SETTLEMENTS IN TURKEY: CASE STUDY OF ODEMIS-LUBBEY VILLAGE
Following the industrial revolution, abandonment and decrease of the population in rural areas are common problems that could be seen all over the world, as a result of various factors. However, many of these abandoned rural settlements have invaluable vernacular assets that bear the traces of past rural life and comprise the spirit of these cultural landscape areas. The de-populization process leads to neglection, gradually deterioration and finally destruction of traditional environment that has been built with the experiences of centuries. Traditional rural settlements whose vulnerabilities increase day by day, reflect the life, architectural approach, building technology, construction techniques, craftsmanship and landscape features of their period and requires a holistic view for its protection. The loss of human life, which is the main element with nature that comprises the rural settlements, not only causes the loss of cultural heritage but also affects natural life, agricultural landscape and bio-diversity negatively. After abandonment rural landscape started to desertificate in short term and become vulnerable against the natural disasters.
Transfering life, culture and architectural fabric of rural settlements to the future generations is critical for the history of humanity. Although there are several recommendations regarding the management and protection of the rural areas in Turkey and in the World, there is a lack of specialized method for the conservation of cultural and natural heritage of abandoned rural settlements with many location-specific issues. Starting from this findings “Rural Architecture, Policies Developed for Rural Areas In Turkey and Europe, Evolution in the Conservation Theory of Rural Heritage”, “Abandonment Reasons and Process in Rural Settlemens, Impacts of Abandonment” and “Re-Evaluation Possibilities of Rural Settlements” chapters were discussed in detail and a conservation model, which can be used on a global scale, developed for the conservation of abandoned rural settlements. It is believed the conservation model can be used in future scientific studies about the conservation of rural settlements and can be developed by the inter-disciplinary contributions.
While first practices about the conservation of rural architecture, which was emerged as moving rural buildings from authenthic locations to an open-air museum, can been understandable by its time, nowadays it can’t be considered as a conservation approach except extraordinary situations.
It can be observed that, traditional rural life has been gradually weakened in settlements, where intense tourism activities carried out and problems like de-populization or abandonment can’t be seen. Not only in some cases that rural settlements have been re-functioned as a museum but also in some touristic uses, a sustainable life can’t always be ensured, therefore several challenges can be encountered in conservation of cultural properties. Tourism, which is used as a toolin developing the life standards and preventing the population loss in rural areas, sometimes creates an intense demand to a specific region and causes withdrawal of local communities from traditional rural life.
In some cases, rural settlements, which have been evacuated because of conflicts, wars, security problems, etc., have been resettled with their former residents after changes in conditions. Altough resettlements start the life in rural environments again, in some cases conservation of cultural heritage isn’t on the agenda and after the resettlement, residents prefer to build new buildings with new materials instead of repairing their traditional buildings. Another option for resettlement of the abandoned rural settlements can be seen in some examples. In this cases new rural residents coming by counter migration from urban centres to countryside start to live in an abandoned rural settlement. However restart of life in an abandoned village by this type of migration can be considered positive, there are some negative impacts like big interventions in restoration of cultural heritage, completely abandonment of traditional rural life, social disharmony between new and old residents, and etc. It can be said all three of museological, tourism and resettlement approaches for re-evaluation of abandoned rural settlements can be implement together or independently. On the other hand it shouldn’t be overlooked that all this approaches are a tool for conservation and vitality of rural settlements. Fragility of the traditional fabric because of long term neglection after abandonment, cultural landscape values, bio-diversity and intangible values should be taken into consideration in the implementation of this re- use alternatives.
As a result of all the researches, analysis and evaluations, the conservation model has been based on five main parts as “Definition of cultural and natural values and importance of the settlement”, “Determination of the re-evaluation alternatives”, “Determination of conservation policies”, “Implementation” and “Monitoring, evaluation and update”.
As a result of implemented policies and radical changes in social life, nowadays large number of rural settlements in Turkey are in the process of abandonment. Certainly, the biggest problem encountered in conservation of rural heritage is the loss of daily life in rural settlements. Although rural heritage in depopulated settlements have melted against the natural conditions by time, some settlements succeed to preserve their authenticity and integrity to a certain extent. On the other hand in some villages, which are more crowded and close to the city centers, authenticity and integrity values of traditional architectural heritage has been destroyed by human beings as a result of new construction pressures. This situation accompanies a big dilemma about conservation of traditional architectural heritage. Conceptual background about conservation of rural heritage has been developed relatively late in Turkey compared to Europe. Therefore Turkey faces different problems in rural areas then other European countries. It can be said that, successful implementations about conservation of rural heritage and preventing depopulation in rural areas in other countries, can be a model for Turkey. However, these successful policies and implementations should be evaluated in line with Turkey’s specific conditions. Based on this analysis, recommendations and evaluations specified to abandoned rural settlements in Turkey have been carried out in the conclusion part of thesis.

Among the basic necessities of life is shelter, after food, housing has always been rightly assumed to be the next essential human need. As a result of this, the construction of buildings in which people live and work has been a major concern since the early times when human being first made huts of stick, mud or rock. It later developed into the use of bricks, stones, timber, organic and inorganic wastes. This paper focused on the need to develop and design an appropriate building suited to their purpose, taking into cognizance the various environmental elements acting on the structures. The research method adopted for this paper was based on an in depth literature review. This paperreiterated the need for architects/designers to design in relation to climate, in order to achieve pleasant, comfortable and conducive structures that ensure physiological and psychological comfort of the occupants. As a result of which, there will be a reduction in substantial amount expended by people to achieve thermal comfort within and around the building, through the use of mechanically controlled measures. This study concluded by giving appropriate design guidelines and recommends that designers/architects should be equipped with the climatic data required for appropriate architectural designs which will help in the evolvement of designs that best suite the various climatic zones of the country identified.

Crop residues are common in rural Ghana due to the predominant role agriculture plays in livelihood activities in these communities. In this paper we investigate the prospects of exploiting agricultural crop residues for rural development in Ghana through bioenergy schemes. A theoretical energy potential of 623.84 PJ per year, which is equivalent to 19,781 MW was estimated using crop production data from the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations and residue-to-product ratios. Ghana has a total installed generation capacity of 4577 MW which is four times less the energy potential of crop residues in the country. Cocoa pod husks were identified as important biomass resources for energy generation as they are currently wasted. To further assess the energy potential of cocoa pod husks, different cocoa pod husks samples were collected across the six cocoa growing regions in Ghana and thermo-chemically characterised using proximate and ultimate analysis. The low levels of nitrogen and sulphur observed, together with the high heating value, suggest that cocoa pod husks and for that matter crop residues are eco-friendly feedstock that can be used to power rural communities in Ghana.

Problem statement: Rural population in Iran live in an unstable environment and geographically, villages are extremely diverse and more than 65% of them have population less than 250 persons, which do not provide sufficient population threshold for most of services and sustainable economic and job creation activities. Only 7.5% of rural areas have population more than 1000 persons. Therefore, the main purpose of this study is to find out major challenges of Iranian rural communities for achieving sustainable development. Approach: To fulfill this objective, 60 rural development experts who are engaged in government organizations relevant to rural development, were randomly selected. Questionnaire was used to collect data and its reliability was confirmed by Cronbach's alpha of 0.83. To arrive to consensus of expert's opinion, factor analysis was used to achieve data reduction and extract factors. Results: In total, 5 factors, including "economic", "management and planning", "environmental", "social" and "physical challenges" were identified. These factors explained 65.52% of challenges to achieving sustainable development in rural areas in Iran. Conclusion: Diversification of rural economy, supporting job creation activities, promoting sustainable rural tourism, business and industrial activities, establishing a stable urban-rural network are among important agenda which can create an appropriate condition for sustainable development in Iranian rural communities.

Goat farming is an important production sector not only for Greece, but also for other Mediterranean countries, as it contributes to the family economy in rural areas. Despite the importance of goat farming, this sector has experienced economic difficulties due to poor management and increased production costs. The aim of our research is to determine goat farm profitability by surveying goat farmers for revenues, variable costs, and fixed costs of their farms. With the use of Principal Component Analysis, all economic factors contributing to overall production costs are examined, as well as their specific impacts on cost formulation. According to our results, goat farms in Greece are not profitable and they cannot survive without government subsidies. Farm economics and agricultural policies could be leveraged to improve community and environmental outcomes in order for farms to be economically and financially sustainable.

The cost of energy in the Western Upper Peninsula (WUP), a rural and northern part of the state of Michigan, is among the highest in the United States. This situation has resulted in hardship for WUP residents due to exorbitant electricity bills. While interest in renewable electricity (RE) has increased in the region, the unanswered questions are what factors would make WUP residents more or less supportive of a transition to 100% RE, and how does the support for a 100% RE transition differ between counties in the WUP? This research analyzed factors that would make residents more or less supportive of a 100% RE transition in the WUP. This research investigated public perceptions through a quantitative residents’ survey (N= 347). Using logistic regression, the results show that residents’ likelihood to participate in a municipality-led initiative that will reduce their consumption by 5% is statistically significant to their probability of support for wind energy development at p< 0.05. Furthermore, the likelihood of 100% RE transition support is very high across WUP counties, with a similar trend for project preferences. The results in this research can provide a roadmap for future community-engaged planning on 100% RE in various counties in the region.

Reliable and safe access to drinking water is important to ensure the financial and social sustainable development of human communities. This task requires a multi criteria decision analysis (MCDA) method to select alternatives for brand new water supply infrastructure. These alternatives represent sizable economic assets and are established for a long lifespan. To support decision-making inside the context of building new water supplier infrastructure, this have a look at advanced an MCDA method that a hierarchy of non-economic blessings and the expected expenses into a worldwide index. Water utilities especially in the developing nations keep on working with impressive wasteful aspects as far as water and income misfortunes. With expanding water request and shortage, utilities require successful techniques for ideal utilization of accessible water assets. Various water misfortune decrease alternatives exist. The outcomes show that the most favored choices are those that improve water flexibly unwavering quality, general well being and water preservation measures. This investigation exhibits how choice hypothesis combined with operational research procedures could be applied practically speaking to explain complex water the executives and arranging issues.

The goal of this study is to perform a comparative analysis of agroecological and conventional small coffee farms. We investigated 15 coffee farms in the East region of Minas Gerais, a Brazilian rural region, based on coffee production using a multicriteria analysis with economic, social and environmental factors. The results suggest that agroecological farms perform better than conventional farms in terms of sustainability, reduce labor intensity and improve income stability and the environmental impact, such as agro-biodiversity and forest cover. In particular, the results reveal that agroecological farms, though they have lower levels of coffee productivity than conventional farms, perform better in terms of income stabilization. This result depends on product diversification (such as agri-food products, vegetables or fruits) for local markets, which reduces farmer risks associated with coffee price volatility, improving both the local economy and local food security. Moreover, a...

Recent studies point to the promise of rain forest extraction for more sustainable rural development in Amazonia but often overlook important differences within traditional communities in terms of relative economic reliance upon speci®c forest resources. This paper reports on a study of charcoal production among forest peasants in an Amazonian river community, near Iquitos, Peru. In-depth household interviews (n36) provided information on household economic activity, demographic composition, and access to land, labor and capital as well as on the nature, role and economic importance of charcoal in the household economy. Our results indicate that peasant charcoal production Ð often cast as a rapacious, wasteful use of the forest Ð can provide signi®cant cash income for forest peoples and high returns per hectare, particularly when integrated into swidden-fallow agroforestry systems, without causing notable forest destruction. Low returns to labor, however, limit prospects for peasants to prosper by charcoal production. Variations in household output of charcoal are explained by differential access to intra-and extra-household labor. Among those households most reliant upon charcoal, two subgroups are found Ð`charcoal-dependent' households and`charcoal-specialized' households Ð both of which rely on charcoal production, but for different reasons and with distinct outcomes. These two subgroups are divided by differences in nonmarket mediated access to local land and labor. Clearly, to be successful, initiatives aimed at promoting rain forest conservation and management among`resource-reliant' households must be informed by careful attention to the underlying conditions that give rise to differential rain forest reliance.

This article discusses gender relations and the sexual division of labor in the countryside, in dialogue with the social action "Marcha das Margaridas". Having as research subjects countryside women from the north of Minas Gerais State, participants of the "Marcha", by means of participant observation, interviews and informal conversations, sought to unveil the sexism present in labor relations in the countryside and the changes that occurred in the social practice and the worldview of these women. The findings reveal that, despite the situations of inequalities and invisibility of women in the countryside labor -with the persistence of "multiple tasks", participation and engagement in feminist and countryside social actions such as The "Marcha das Margaridas", have contributed to the breakdown of paradigms rooted in society. There are changes in the way of thinking and seeing the world, as well as in social practice, which brings substantial achievements to the countryside women.

This article aims to contribute to the construction of a methodology that is capable of identifying the resource mobilization capacity of some traditional communities in South Center of Paraná, Brazil, to see to what extent strategies for the construction of their socio-environmental autonomies occur, based on the interconnections between edge
systems and hegemonics.
To do this, it starts from the experiences of existing collaboration networks between academic actors, community and public agents, through the dialogue of knowledge. As a theoretical foundation for the process, the question is asked whether the ecology of the practices and knowledge of these collective actors are sufficiently dense and
whether they are capable of promoting, as ecological subjects, alternatives to development, through the constitution of new systems of practices and through the production of other subjectivities.

Este artigo pretende contribuir para a construção de uma metodologia capaz de identificar a capacidade de mobilização de recursos de algumas comunidades tradicionais do centro-sul do Paraná, Brasil, a fim de verificar como operam suas estratégias na construção de autonomias socioambientais, desde espaços de interconexão entre os sistemas de borda e o sistema hegemônico.
Para tanto, parte-se de experiências de constituição de redes de colaboração entre atores acadêmicos, agentes comunitários e públicos por meio do diálogo de saberes. Na fundamentação teórica desse processo, busca-se discutir se a ecologia das práticas e de saberes desses atores coletivos são suficientemente consistentes e se são capazes de promover, como sujeitos ecológicos, alternativas ao desenvolvimento, por meio da constituição de novos sistemas de práticas e pela produção de outras subjetividades.

The nature of different socioeconomic activities going on the frontiers of Nigeria and the Republic of Niger prompted collaborations between the two countries towards achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Healthcare and other Health related issues were considered to be paramount to the Humanity. In view of this the SDGs include among its tenants the SDG-3 which is set to ensure Healthy lives and promote wellbeing for all at all ages. The aim of this study is to investigate the nature of trans-boundary collaborations between Nigeria and the Republic of Niger with regards to achievement of Sustainable Development Goal-3. The study found and concluded that there is no significant difference between Nigeria and the Republic of Niger in terms of their efforts to achieve SDG-3.

The book presents a short manual for the management of cultural values. Its purpose is to help the people who want to contribute to the development of rural areas by utilizing its cultural values. This step by step manual will lead the reader through the key phases from the first idea to the final realization, which could be a new product or service, an experience, or a story based on the cultural values with development potential.

https://www.futuribles.com/fr/groupes/forum-prospectif-de-lafrique-de-louest/document/le-developpement-des-espaces-ruraux-en-afrique-de-/

Présentée comme essentiellement rurale, l’Afrique de l’Ouest s’urbanise rapidement à la fois en raison de la croissance de la population urbaine, de la prolifération de nouvelles petites agglomérations qui franchissent chaque année le seuil de l’urbain et par le développement des métropoles, et un peu de l’exode rural. Les équilibres entre pôles urbains et campagnes s’en trouvent nécessairement modifiés. En 2020, le développement des territoires ouest-africains ne permet plus de considérer l’espace rural comme un espace abandonné par l’État, enclavé, éloigné des services de base et rythmé par la pratique de l’agriculture pluviale. C’est en réalité un assemblage de campagnes dynamiques et en recomposition permanente qui ne connaissent pas une évolution homogène et qui jouent un rôle prépondérant dans l’urbanisation. Si le sentiment d’abandon et d’isolement de certaines populations demeure, le monde rural se décline aujourd’hui différemment avec une grande diversité d’activités économiques. De façon générale, la mobilité des ruraux, leurs comportements sociaux, économiques et démographiques évoluent. L’enjeu de ces transformations est de taille au regard du contexte démographique sous-régional, puisque l’espace rural ouest-africain devrait abriter en 2030 plus de personnes qu’il n’en accueille aujourd’hui.
Après avoir caractérisé la diversité des espaces ruraux en 2020 ainsi que leurs rapports aux pôles urbains, cette analyse développe, sous un jour résolument prospectif, les facteurs déterminants de leurs évolutions qui sont leur démographie, leur gouvernance, leurs activités économiques et le contexte mondial. Elle présente les "tendances lourdes" d’évolution dont la probabilité est importante à horizon 2040, les "émergences" ou phénomènes nouvellement observés mais dont la propagation est susceptible de modifier les situations observées dans les champs d’études considérés tout comme les "incertitudes majeures" que soulèvent les évolutions des espaces ruraux. Non exhaustive, cette première recension permet d’esquisser en conclusion des hypothèses d’évolution de ces espaces ruraux à horizon 2040.

With so many social and environmental crises of global import intersecting in the practice of farming, changes to the way we produce food have the potential to change the lives of billions of people across the world. With most food produced on small farms by family farmers, this has to be a primary arena to focus on in tackling the major issues that humanity currently faces.
This paper makes the argument for focusing resources on building resilience in communities of small family farmers, and that such resilience can only come from systems that are rooted in local realities, both social and ecological. In presenting the potential of permaculture as a universally accessible approach to designing agroecological farms, we lay out the potential for farming modalities that avoid reliance on expensive external inputs, incorporate diverse planting strategies, meet the full nutritional needs of the local community, and help to regenerate local resources including soil, water and biodiversity.
This paper explores the claims and some preliminary impacts from the outcome of implementing permaculture1 practices in Kenya and Uganda, and references work that has been done in Malawi. We explore the possibility of using permaculture as the basis of a radically alternative development theory and praxis. Emerging literature on permaculture has indicated that it can be a successful curriculum in addressing the health needs of orphans and vulnerable children (Conrad 2010), where Conrad‘s research supported permaculture claims that such agricultural practices lead to measurable improvements in health. Research by McCleary among First Nations in the Pacific Northwest observed the use of permaculture to address nutrition/food needs and provide an alternative to models of development rooted in dominant (capitalist) economic theories (2016). We also explore the implications of the larger systems in which curricula and food systems are embedded through the critical theory lens of eco-pedagogy, thus maintaining awareness of both individuals, communities, and the impact of systemic (often oppressive) political/economic systems in which they are embedded.

In this paper we will first unpack what is meant by permaculture and explore the curricular context of such a framework within the prism of the conceptualized ―wicked problem‖. From there we will explore the critical theories of ecopedagogies and the scope they bring to analyze both problems and solutions, and finally we will move on to findings from the field and our conclusions.

Local Products from Malopolska is a local food system through which producers from 10 territories in Malopolska connect with consumers. The focus is on increasing access to locally-produced food by helping agricultural smallholders and small producers to work together to gain market access through farmers' markets, on-farm sales, restaurants, internet sales and other distribution channels. The motivation is to increase smallholder incomes and so revitalise rural economies in ways that combat poverty and social exclusion, while contributing to the protection of natural and cultural heritage values and food security. Initiated in 2011 by the Polish Environmental Partnership Foundation-an NGO supporting grassroots environmental action-Local Products from Malopolska is co-created by a group of approx. 100 farmers/producers and approx. 15 local NGO, business and public sector partners, including the regional government authorities. The ambition is to organise sales of an ever wider range of locally-produced food products directly to consumers, engaging more and more farmers, smallholders and producers through a process of building trust and reputation as a means for creating and maintaining short value chains. The method or approach involves an ongoing process of identifying local and regional-scale stakeholders (especially producers) aimed at turning them into partners who share in the risks, costs and benefits of building 'Local Products from Malopolska' as a trademark encompassing local brands, with its own farmer support, quality control, marketing and promotion, sales and distribution and governance. Those participating in 'Local

Forest cover in hilly regions is essential to maintain environmental, economic and ecological balances. The production, conservation and sustainability of forest resources are constantly threatened by inappropriate anthropogenic intervention and exploitation. This study was conducted in 2019 to discover the sustainable management of forest resources and rural livelihoods in the Darjeeling Hills. The study results also indicate that little attention has been paid to the cultural, traditional and environmental value of forest resources in Darjeeling Hills. Even awareness programs on the use and conservation of forest resources by various government and non-governmental organizations are limited in the study area. Current forest management strategies suggest that forest resources are common resources, resulting in the lack of active participation of rural households in forest conservation practices.

Land fragmentation is a major issue in many rural areas around the world, preventing rational agricultural production and sustainable rural development. Traditionally, land consolidation has been the primary land management approach for solving this problem. Land reallocation is recognised as the most important, complex and time consuming process of land consolidation. It is split into two components: land redistribution and land partitioning. In this paper, we outline a land redistribution model called LandSpaCES (Land Spatial Consolidation Expert System) which is the central module of LACONISS, a LAnd CONsolidation Integrated Support System for planning and decision making. LandSpaCES integrates GIS with an expert system (ES) and is able to generate alternative land redistributions under different scenarios. Two key system concepts are utilised: 'No-Inference Engine Theory (NIET)', which differentiates LandSpacES from conventional ES development; and a parcel priority index (PPI), which constitutes the basic measure that defines the redistribution of land in terms of location. The module has been applied to a case study area in Cyprus and the results compare very favourably against an independent solution derived previously by human experts.

Large-scale development of solar-generated electricity is hindered in some regions of the U.S. by land use competition and localized social resistance. One approach to alleviate these coupled challenges is agrivoltaics: the strategic co-location of solar photovoltaics and agriculture. To explore the opportunities and barriers for agrivoltaics, in-depth interviews with solar industry professionals were conducted and findings suggest that the potential for an agrivoltaic project to retain agricultural interests and consequently increase local support for development is the most significant opportunity of dual use solar. Capable of increasing community acceptance, participants expect agrivoltaics to play an important role in future solar endeavors, especially in places where development may be perceived as a threat to agricultural interests. The results further reveal the interconnections among the various dimensions of social acceptance and suggest that the growth of agrivoltaics is c...

O tema deste trabalho é o movimento de luta pela terra por pequenos lavradores do Sertão Carioca durante os anos de 1945 a 1964. Observaremos, entre outras coisas, como esses agentes fizeram com que suas reivindicações, denúncias e iniciativas de protesto chegassem à imprensa e ao campo político carioca daquela época. Foto de Capa: Trabalhadores do Sertão Carioca. Fundo: Última Hora. Arquivo Público do estado de São Paulo.

This paper examines regional development initiated by endogenous self-governing associations in depopulated rural areas of Korea.
It focuses on how the associations function and contribute to regional development. The village of Shin Heung 2 Ri was selected as a case study. This village has a self-governing association named Ri-Assembly.
  As well as being the endogenous self-governing association for shin Heung 2Ri, Ri-Assembly is also an adminitrative assistant agency. Even though being part of a lager administrative authority, Ri-Assembly has its own election system for leaders, decision making unit, management method and operational budget. It also has its own decision criteria in adoption
and implementation of regional developments.
Through three major regional development projects, Ri-Assembly has changed its roles and functions. The first was implemented during Sae Maul Movement in the 1970s. Around the same time, the Youth Union
of the village started to fuction as a sub-organization of Ri-Assembly and has become an educational institute for junior memebers of the assembly. The second project was a gol-course construction project in the 1990s; Re-Assembly represented the village community and negotiated with the prospective devoloper. Ri-Assembly successfully incorporated the community's demands into the negotiations. The third project in ongoing; Ri-Assembly is conducting the "Camellia Village Project". A special team was formed to plan various regional development projects. The special team participates in the decision making process of Ri-Assembly as a sub-organization.This sturcture has enable the local community to actively participated in community development projects. As a result, Ri-Assembly has become the main body through which community businesses can initiate various regional development projects to maintain and improve locals' lives.

The outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) first occurred in late December 2019 at the Hunan Seafood Market in Wuhan, China, and was declared an international public health emergency in a matter of weeks by the World Health Organization. The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) affects every area of human life, including the environment. Measures taken to control the spread of the virus and the slowdown in economic activities have significant positive effects on the environment. Through this study, the authors intend to track the impact caused by the COVID-19 pandemic on the environment by analyzing the available scientific literature. The study indicates that the pandemic situation significantly improves air quality in various cities around the world, reduces greenhouse gas emissions, reduces water pollution and noise, and reduces pressure on tourist destinations, which can help restore ecological systems. It is noted that there are some negative consequences of the pandemic, such as the increase in medical waste through the use and disposal of disinfectants, masks and gloves but also the burden of untreated waste that endangers the environment continuously. It seems that shortly after the pandemic the economic activities will return and the situation could change. Therefore, this study highlights the potential positive impacts of the pandemic on the environment in the long-term. It is expected that the correct implementation of the proposed strategies can be useful for the global sustainability of the environment.

This research aims to perform strategic planning of tourism development in Kandovan village using SOAR model. This model is a combination of SWOT strategy and Appreciative Inquiry (AI) introduced by Jacqueline M. Stavros. AI, instead of focusing on problems such as weaknesses and threats, identifies strengths and creates promising opportunities. Methods: In this study, library and semi-structured interview methods have been used. The present study is a qualitative research in terms of nature and method of data collection. The statistical population of this research includes villagers of Kandovan, government officials, and NGO's related to Kandovan village, in Osku County, near Tabriz metropolis, and tourists visiting the Kandovan village in the summer of 2016. In this research, the qualitative content analysis technique was used in the framework of inductive approach in accordance with the SOAR strategic planning model. Then, four SOAR strategic model indicators, i.e. strengths, opportunities, aspirations and results were extracted. Results: The results of the research indicate that for implementation of UNESCO's architectural standards to world village registration, it is necessary to construct a new Kandovan next to the old village. In addition, holding festivals, exhibitions and weekly markets for the development of regional tourism is recommended. Establishment of tourism amenities such as construction of parking lots, recreational complex, designing websites and construction of a hotel are some other recommendations. Holding training courses related to tourism in the village, is a major step towards development of tourism considering the potential among the youth of the village. Conclusion: Villagers require to learn a series of educational courses. The youth of the village continue to do their business in the village and commute between the village and the city they live during the tourist season. Considering the young generation's loyalty to their hometown and their desire to work in their village, many of them are ready to participate in the development of tourism of village and, as a result, holding educational courses from the Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization of the region such as foreign language courses, tourism guides, hospitality culture, marketing and advertising are welcomed by young people.

This paper focuses on the present status and prospects of organic farming in India. India is endowed with various types of naturally available organic form of nutrients in different parts of the country and it will help for organic cultivation of crops substantially.

The Government of Bangladesh (GOB) has set a goal to produce 6000 MW of electricity solely from solar Photovoltaic (PV) to ensure energy usage and sustainable development for every region by the year 2041. To meet this target, we have proposed a recently innovated floating PV (FPV) fed 1.4 MW capacity mini-grid system for the remote western coastal region of the country. Considering various practical load profiles, the paper contains an elaborate simulation of electrical characteristics for the modeled supply system. The simulation results show an excellent agreement with different levels of desired voltage, current, and power. Then, in-depth techno-economic and environmental analyses are presented to address the feasibility and benefit of the mini-grid. The optimum Cost of Energy (COE) from the generation facility is evaluated as 18.29 US cents which is consistent with the current tariff. We have estimated that 2500 households and 120 Electric-Vehicle (EV) scooters can save an emission of 228 and 466.56 metric tons, respectively, of Carbon Dioxide (CO2) per year. Finally, an experimental PV generation-based case study is demonstrated to emphasize the techno-economic impacts of the proposed mini-grid. For the electrical characteristics and techno-economic simulation, we have adopted MATLAB/Simulink and HOMER Pro software, respectively.

RESUMO-A Paraíba que tem grande parte de seu território rural localizado em condições semiáridas, espaço marcado pela escassez de água, exclusão social e degradação ambiental, para amenizar tal realidade nos últimos anos vem mantendo uma intensa procura e adoção por novas práticas de convivência voltada para temas como a gestão das águas, produção agroecológica, valorização de recursos naturais, adaptação às mudanças climáticas, bem como a organização comunitária para incentivar novas práticas rurais como o turismo rural que vem sendo adotado não só como ferramenta de desenvolvimento territorial sustentável e valorização local, mas também como estratégia de promoção destas outras práticas de convivência acima citadas. Com o objetivo de estimular a reflexão sobre o tema, este artigo se propõe a apresentar algumas destas iniciativas de turismo rural vivenciadas nos municípios de Areia, Boqueirão e Cabaceiras na Paraíba com focos nos atores, no ambiente social e econômico e nas suas trajetórias voltadas para mudanças e inovações como a construção de redes de cooperação para o fortalecimento dos circuitos curtos de proximidade, empreendedorismo e vivências criativas, acreditando que estas experiências possam despertar o interesse comum e inspirar iniciativas semelhantes mesmo que em outros contextos que não o semiárido.

Most sustainability analyses of the future privilege the urban in future scenarios of climate change at the expense of providing scenarios about the future of the rural, in part because rural regions provide the urban with most of its resources. It is also expected that urban regions will potentially account for up to 70% of the global population by 2050 so most future scenarios of sustainability focus on such regions. Given this over privileging of the urban in sustainability studies, this chapter instead presents a condensed overview of three possible future scenarios of rural areas beginning in 2050 and beyond. Each scenario correlates with a different level of possible human-caused global warming and the correlated implications of possible sustainability in rural areas depending on how hot the earth will become by the end of the century. A variety of social, environmental, and economic metrics are briefly analyzed, with their implications for sustainable futures in rural areas analyzed and discussed.

as zonas rurales costarricenses y, en general, las latinoamericanas presentan grandes desafíos ligados a la supervivencia de las actividades productivas tradicionales y a la cultura de las mismas. Entre los principales retos que se pueden citar, se tiene la escasez de empleo y de oportunidades para iniciar emprendimientos, desigualdad de oportunidades laborales para las mujeres y jóvenes, migraciones, inapropiado manejo ambiental de los desechos, retrasos en la protección de fuentes de agua y, en mu
chos casos, ausencia o falta de voluntad política para la aplicación de medidas de ordenamiento territorial. Las soluciones que se plantean frecuentemente se centran en la generación de empleos en zonas rurales, dando énfasis a la inclusión de políticas de género, creación de microempresas, los encadenamientos productivos entre sectores económicos, la repartición equitativa de las ganancias y el incentivo del comercio local. En el presente documento, aunque breve, se pretende mostrar, mediante un análisis de caso, los beneficios que se pueden generar al aplicar técnicas de innovación y encadenamientos productivos intersectoriales en las microempresas rurales.

It is increasingly acknowledged that current plans to implement sustainability are not achieving the scale and speed of change required. National built environment strategies to address sustainability tend to focus on large-scale programmes in areas such as renewable energy and energy efficiency. While this approach can improve national environmental indicators such as carbon emissions profiles; it appears unlikely to achieve sustainability.

This paper looks at the changes that occurred in the rural area of the Sai Kung Peninsula in Hong Kong’s New Territories from the 16th century, and uses it as a case-study to show the complex range of forces that can act on a locale. Throughout its history, land use and economic activities on the Sai Kung Peninsula have been driven to a great extent by non-local factors, including distant warfare leading to mass immigration and political decisions leading to mass emigration. However, once Hong Kong became an important outpost of Britain’s colonial empire it became integrated into a global trade network and thus became sensitive to economic and technological changes taking place thousands of miles away. In the 20th century, the Sai Kung Peninsula developed in response to Hong Kong’s growth as an international trade hub, finding its agricultural output overwhelmed by cheap foreign products, and its industry challenged by foreign technological advances.

Forest cover in hilly regions is essential to maintain environmental, economic and ecological balances. The production, conservation and sustainability of forest resources are constantly threatened by inappropriate anthropogenic intervention and exploitation. This study was conducted in 2019 to discover the sustainable management of forest resources and rural livelihoods in the Darjeeling Hills. The study results also indicate that little attention has been paid to the cultural, traditional and environmental value of forest resources in Darjeeling Hills. Even awareness programs on the use and conservation of forest resources by various government and non-governmental organizations are limited in the study area. Current forest management strategies suggest that forest resources are common resources, resulting in the lack of active participation of rural households in forest conservation practices.

Business practices are often highlighted by development studies for their contribution to the resilience of the rural population. However, business contributing to rural development has to fulfill distinct characteristics and roles compared with urban counterparts. Commercial organizations that are solely targeting economic growth and lacking social aspects of development might not contribute to the overall sustainability of the region. This paper draws on three notions discussed in the literature-social innovations, sustainable rural development, and bridging organizations-to illustrate the relationship between business activities and rural capital. Two textile craft initiatives from rural India, Kala Raksha and Khamir, were investigated in order to trace the developmental roles and characteristics of business in rural. The research identifies a set of rural social innovations and elaborates on their five bridging roles contributing to the development of the region. Findings indicate that social innovations playing bridging roles have the potentials to contribute to the sustainability of rural enterprises and the development of the region.

Rural areas play a relevant role in the EU: their specific ecosystems, landscapes and cultures are a highly valuable treasure, which could be lost if the trends of social, economic and demographic marginalization characterizing many of them are not properly faced.
The rural development policy for the period 2007-13 (Reg. 1698/2005) gave particular relevance to the "Leader approach" developed in the previous period 2000-2006, or to the "development and implementation of highly individual projects designed and executed by local partnerships to address specific local problems”. For the next programming period (2014-2020) decision makers should be provided with a framework of the actual situation resulting from such interventions, in order to overcome the problems that emerged in the previous phases and to propose innovative strategies and solutions.
After an introduction on the close relations between local identity and European rural development policies, the paper presents critically the contributions discussed at the Session 32 ("Rural development policy and local identities in the European Union ") of the Fourth EUGEO Congress (Rome, 12-14 September 2013), and collected in a special issue of the journal “Semestrale di Studi e Ricerche di Geografia”.

Greenery areas represent an organic component of the rural space. For urban needs we base on the survey of their condition. Within the revitalisation of public green spaces in central parts of these communities we work on their qualitative conversion to an attractive public space using principles of contemporary trends in rural space design. The main attributes of the proposals are: return to the traditions, application of domestic tree species and stands, use of natural materials as well as characteristic rural compositional principles. Our activities herewith provide for rural municipalities´ governments some concrete proposals to improve the quality of local peoples´ lives by tools of landscape architecture.

The concentration of people and resources in the metropolitan areas, in Italy as in Europe, provokes the weakness, the abandonment, and the decay of the rural territories. We are developing design theories and methodologies for intervention in these places introducing architectural
elements that generate a strong upgrading in terms of centrality, accessibility, appeal, comfort, cultural identity. A new architecture, specially oriented to public facilities and open spaces, can change the course of the natural decay, and offer, to investors, inhabitants, and stakeholders, a better perspective of more sustainable and human-friendly development.

Review of literature shows that intervention of information and communication technologies (ICT) in rural development initiatives are capable of development, but are not successful. Lack of community participation, absence of an integrated approach and non-inclusion of traditional knowledge systems (TKS) in the project designs are the major impediments. We therefore suggest a systems-based approach in the design of e-Governance projects, and brief some future directions. The proposed framework is based on participatory approach with inclusion of relevant TKS, has a bi-directional Citizen to Government (G2C2G) interface and a feedback mechanism. The prime goal is that rural e-Governance projects serve as means to attain good-governance for enhancing sustained rural development.

Many of the big global issues (environmental degradation, loss of biodiversity and climate change) are threatening the stability of our planet. They are caused by inappropriate approaches to food production and their interactions with hunger, malnutrition and extreme poverty, especially in the tropics and sub-tropics. These in turn enhance social deprivation and limit rural development, both of which are drivers of economic migration and civil conflict. All of these issues are exacerbated by population growth. This Perspective presents an approach developed in Africa that has illustrated that it is possible to diversify and rehabilitate degraded farmland with species producing highly nutritious and marketable traditional foods in ways that: (i) greatly improve food production by conventional staple food crops while rebuilding agroecological functions and (ii) create new local business opportunities to kick-start rural economies and enhance social well-being. Together these benefits promote livelihoods and social justice, the mitigation of/adaptation to climate change and the provision of wildlife habitat. This approach offers a highly adaptable model that enhances past investments in the Green Revolution in ways that address both the environmental and social constraints limiting both mainstream agriculture in Africa and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals globally.