1,720,965 research outputs found
Participatory mapping of degradation and restoration processes in the Sundarbans mangrove ecosystem
No full texthttp://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100004049 Catholic Academic Exchange Servic
Understanding institutional changes for reducing vulnerability to landslides in Chittagong City, Bangladesh
No full textIneffective hill management policy at the national level and weak enforcement by thelocal authorities has created space for developing many informal settlements alonglandslide prone hillslopes in Chittagong city, Bangladesh. These settlements areconsidered illegal by the formal authorities, the settlers perceive their presence inthose areas as legal occupants, which have caused land tenure conflicts with formalauthorities over the last decades. The continual land tenure conflict has weakenedinstitutional arrangement for reducing vulnerability to landslides in the informalsettlements. The thesis paper is prepared based on the findings of a case study on thelandslides which occurred in 2007 in Chittagong city. The fieldwork of the study wascarried out using qualitative tools such as individual interviewing of organisationalrespondents and a focus group interview in Matijarna informal settlement to examinewhat institutional changes have occurred for reducing social vulnerability of informalsettlers to landslides in Chittagong city. The study finds that the institutional changeshave occurred as short-term mitigation policies like establishing structural measuresalong hillslopes for adjustment and relocation of the most vulnerable informal settlers.Anchoring on institutional change theory, the study suggests that new policies mayreduce social vulnerability of informal settlers to landslides through addressing thefollowing issues. First, previous institutional arrangements and how those shapedpresent vulnerability of informal settlers to landslides must be understood. Second,land tenure security of the informal settlers must be well incorporated in currentmitigation policies. Third, organisational coordination should be strengthened fromnational to local level, as well as, between government agencies and otherorganisations like NGOs and civil society to facilitate policy implementation process
Socioekonomiska indikatorer för hållbart skogsbruk - och användning i svenska miljömålssystemet
Full text linkSveriges miljömålssystem innehåller miljökvalitetsmål som beskriver det önskvärda tillståndet för miljön. Det innehåller också ett löfte till kommande generationer om ren luft, en hälsosam livsmiljö och rika möjligheter att njuta av naturen. I studien analyserade vi utvalda socioekonomiska indikatorer anpassade från Montrealprocessen (Montréal Process for the Conservation and Sustainable Management of Temperate and Boreal Forests) och undersökte hur indikatorer för skogssektorn kan användas i miljömålssystemet. Syftet var att öka medvetenheten om viktiga socioekonomiska dimensioner inom miljömålen, och att undersöka kopplingarna mellan miljömålen och den skogliga bioekonomin. Fokus ligger på skogssektorn på grund av dess betydelse för uppföljningen av miljömålen samt dess viktiga sociala och ekonomiska roll i det svenska samhället.Montrealprocessen valdes som ett vägledande ramverk för studien eftersom det är utvecklat för bedömning av hållbart bevarande och hållbar förvaltning av skog på nationell nivå, samt för att det införlivar viktiga ekonomiska, miljömässiga och sociala dimensioner. Analysen bygger på en blandning av litteraturstudier, genomgång av nationella och internationella databaser samt samråd med experter som har hjälpt till att identifiera och tolka de utvalda indikatorerna. Vi identifierade skogliga socioekonomiska indikatorer relevanta för miljökvalitetsmål kopplade till skogsfastigheter och ägande, ekonomiskt värde och konsumtion av trä och träprodukter, sysselsättning, bioenergi, tillgång till grönstruktur, tillgång till skog per invånare samt kulturella värden.De nationella indikatorer som analyserades för perioden 2000–2020 pekar på framsteg för såväl skyddad skog som virkesproduktion, samt att skogssektorn har bidragit med betydande ekonomiska värden genom förädling av trä och träprodukter. Skog är en viktig råvara för förnybar energi och tillhandahåller också mark för andra förnybara energikällor såsom vindkraft. Indikatorer som pekar på motgångar är att antalet skogsägare minskar, arbetsstyrkan krymper och skogsarealen per invånare minskar. Förklaringar är generationsskiften, högre effektivitet i industrin och fortsatt befolkningstillväxt. Indikatorer knutna till produktiv skogsmark, skogsenergi, skyddad skog per invånare och kulturell betydelse kan direkt stödja miljökvalitetsmålen Levande skogar, Begränsad klimatpåverkan samt Ett rikt växt- och djurliv. Genom export och utnyttjande av utländsk arbetskraft bidrar den svenska skogssektorn till konsumtion av trävaror utomlands och ekonomiskt välbefinnande i mindre utvecklade länder genom löner till anställda inom de gröna sektorerna.Informationen är begränsad för indikatorer knutna till renskötsel och kulturella värden. Tillgängliga data tyder på att skadorna på kulturlämningar i skogen minskar. Vi rekommenderar en löpande uppföljning av kultur- och bevarandevärden i de svenska skogarna för att ytterligare förbättra möjligheterna att följa upp de sociala och ekologiska hållbarhetskriterierna i miljömålssystemet
Socio-economic indicators for the assessment of sustainability in the Swedish forest sector, and linkages with the national environmental quality objectives
Full text linkSweden’s Environmental Quality Objectives (EQOs) have been adopted to help describe the environment the country wishes to achieve, and are a promise to future generations of clean air, a healthy living environment, and rich opportunities to enjoy nature. Here, we assessed selected socio-economic indicators adapted from the Montréal Process for the Conservation and Sustainable Management of Temperate and Boreal Forests (MP) to examine trends in the Swedish forest sector of direct relevance to the EQOs. We did this with the aim of raising awareness about important socio-economic dimensions related to the EQOs, and to explore the linkages between the EQOs and the forest bioeconomy. We focused on the forest sector because of its central importance to meeting the EQOs, and fundamental social and economic roles it plays in Swedish society.The MP was chosen as our guiding framework because it was developed to assess national-level sustainable forest conservation and management, thus, incorporating critical economic, environmental and social dimensions. We applied a mixed methods approach based on a literature review, analyses of national and multilateral databases, and consultation with experts to identify and interpret selected indicators. We identified forest sector socio-economic indicators relevant to the EQOs related to forest property and ownership, economic value and consumption of wood and wood products, employment, wood energy, access to greenery, per capita forest availability, and cultural values.Interpretation of national-level indicators estimated for the 2000-2020 period point to overall progress toward maintaining forest conservation and production areas and a sector that has added substantial economic value through the processing of wood and wood products. Forests are an importance source of renewable energy and increasingly support the location of non-wood energy sources through the placement of wind power mills across forested lands. Downward trends were observed in fewer forest owners, a shrinking workforce, and per capita forest area which might be explained by processes of bequeathing, higher industry efficiencies and continued population growth. Selected indicators related to production forests, wood energy, per capita protected forests and cultural importance suggest these can directly support relevant EQOs including living forests, limited climate impact, rich plant and animal life. Through exports and hiring foreign workers, the Swedish forest sector has kept a direct linkage with the consumption of wood products abroad and in supporting economic wellbeing in lesser-developed nations through wages from forestry and non-wood seasonal employment, respectively.There is limited current information on cultural aspects such as heritage values and reindeer herding. Available data suggest a declining trend in damages to cultural remains within forest felling areas. We recommend regular and periodic assessment of the cultural and conservation values for Swedish forests to strengthen the ability to assess social and ecological sustainability relevant to the EQOs
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Use and perceived importance of forest ecosystem services in rural livelihoods of Chittagong Hill Tracts, Bangladesh
No full textThis study examines the relative benefits (provisioning) and importance (regulating and cultural) of forest ecosystem services to households in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) region of Bangladesh. Our results from 300 household interviews in three rural locations stratified by wealth shows that wealth levels of the respondents play a key role in explaining variations in the perceptions and use of forest ecosystem services. Considering the direct benefits, the importance of provisioning ecosystem services (i.e. fuel wood, food, timber, bamboo, thatch grass and fodder) varies according to their relative use (i.e. subsistence and cash income) among households of different wealth groups. No significant difference was found in perceptions of indirect benefits of forest ecosystem services of water purification, regulating air quality, crop pollination, soil fertility, aesthetic and spiritual services. But the higher wealth groups perceived soil protection, soil fertility, pest and disease control as important for crop production as they have large landholdings for agricultural uses and tree cover. This study suggests local wealth conditions of the rural households characterise the demand of the use and perceived importance of forest ecosystem services. Differences in levels of wealth and ecosystem service provision imply careful consideration of social and economic factors in decision-making and making appropriate interventions for forest and tree management. The ecosystem services approach appears to be useful in capturing the broader diversity of benefits of forests and trees (i.e. material and non-material) as well as in supporting their integrated management at the landscape scale
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Full text linkWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
- …
