Agro-environmental sustainability assessment using multicriteria decision analysis and system analysis

Transparency and reproducibility remain challenges for sustainability assessment, particularly in developing world contexts where formal scientific information is often limited. We posit that even in such contexts, sustainability assessment can be productive and informative if the underlying assumptions about sustainability are made transparent. Thus, the process of assessment can be as instructive as the results, if not more so. In this article, we describe and discuss how we combined multicriteria decision analysis and system analysis as a unified approach to sustainability assessment. This approach is transparent, practical, flexible, and reproducible; it also facilitates the development of recommendations for enhancing sustainability. We illustrate the approach with examples from a recent environmental sustainability assessment of irrigated commercial maize production in Sinaloa, Mexico.     

A review of the water resources management for the Brantas River basin: challenges in the transition to an integrated water resources management

Environment, Development and Sustainability - This paper reviews an integrated approach involving the representative stakeholders in the development and management of water available in the Brantas...     

Developing an integrated framework to assess agri-food systems and its application in the Ecuadorian Andes

Agri-food systems assessment can be performed following official and alternative framings, each linked to different objects of study, methods of analysis, and policy responses. Alternative frames conceptualize agri-food systems as the integration and interaction of humans and the agro-environment (i.e., as socio-ecological systems). This conceptualization allows studying the cross-level, cross-scale, and nonlinear interactions within and between the components of the system and help assess policy proposals, such as food sovereignty, in a more systemic way. To facilitate this, we link reflections and methodologies from complex system thinking and vulnerability studies applied to agri-food systems to propose an integrated framework of assessment, which links the agroecological context and the social function of agriculture, considering actor’s agency and institutional processes. This framework is suitable to analyze agri-food systems in fragile and marginal environments such as the Andean region. We apply the framework to assess vulnerability of local agri-food systems to global change in the southern Ecuadorian Andes, taking into account the role of peasant institutions (agroecological associations, comunas) and indigenous culture. The framework also allows understanding how agri-food policies change the configuration of agri-food systems and determines whether these changes are consistent with communities’ livelihoods reproduction.     

Water resources planning and management based on system dynamics: a case study of Yulin city

Water security is an integral aspect of the socio-economic development in China. Nevertheless, water resources are under persistent pressures because of the growing population, heavy irrigation, climate change effects and short-term policies. Traditional management approaches narrowly focus on increasing supply and reducing demand without considering the complex interactions and feedback loops that govern water resource behaviour. Whereas these approaches may provide quick fix solutions, they often lead to unanticipated, sometimes catastrophic, delayed outcomes. Therefore, water management needs to take a holistic approach that caters to the interdependent physical (e.g. water inflows, outflows) and behavioural (e.g. decision rules, perceptions) processes in the system. Unlike reductionist approaches, System Dynamics (SD) takes a system-level view for modelling and analysing the complex structure (cause–effect relationships, feedback loops, delays) that generates the systemic behaviour. Simulating the SD model allows assessing long-term system-wide impacts, exploring leverage points and communicating results to decision makers. In this paper, we follow an SD modelling approach to examine the future of water security in Yulin City. First, we present a conceptual model for integrating water supply and demand. Based on this, we build an SD model to simulate and analyse the dynamics of water resource over time. The model output is tested to ensure that it satisfactorily replicates the historical behaviour of the system. The model is used to quantitatively assess the effectiveness of various supply/demand management options. Three scenarios are designed and examined: business-as-usual, supply management, and demand management. Results show that current management regime cannot effectively meet the future water demand. Whereas supply acquisition provides short-term benefits, it cannot cope with the growing population. A combination of conservation measures and demand-management instruments is regarded the most effective strategy for balancing supply and demand.     

Towards a framework for cross-scale and multi-level analysis of coastal and marine social-ecological systems dynamics

As the Anthropocene proceeds, regional and local sustainability problems are ever more likely to originate at multiple levels of the earth system. The rate of global environmental change is now vastly outpacing our policy response, and social-ecological systems analysis needs to support global environmental governance. To respond to this challenge, this paper initiates the development of a coastal social-ecological typology and applies it in an exemplary fashion to nine coastal and marine case studies. We use an explicit distinction between the definitions of scale and level and a problem or issue-specific approach to the delineation of social-ecological units. A current major challenge to social-ecological systems analysis is the identification of the cross-level and cross-scale interactions and links which play key roles in shaping coastal and marine social-ecological dynamics and outcomes. We show that the regional level is the best point of departure to generate sustainability-oriented cross-scale and multi-level analyses and offers the outline of a typology in which different disciplinary and other forms of knowledge can be integrated as both part of regionally grounded analysis and action which engages with global sustainability challenges.     

Sensitivity analysis assessment of remotely based vegetation indices to improve water resources management

Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) is estimated from Landsat 8 sensor acquired in June 2013 to drive four different water-related indices calculated as NDVI derivatives. Different vegetation indices (VIs) have been extracted exclusively in estimation of different VIs: Leaf Area Index, Water Supply Vegetation Index, Crop Water Shortage Index, and Drought Severity Index in addition to estimation of daily evapotranspiration (ET). Sensitivity analysis assesses the contributions of the inputs to the total uncertainty in the analysis outcomes. Vegetation indices are complex and intercepted, therefore the interceptions of the five different vegetation indices are considered in the current study. A comparative analysis of Gaussian process emulators for performing global sensitivity analysis was used to conduct a variance-based sensitivity analysis to identify which uncertain inputs are driving the output uncertainty. The results showed that the interconnections between different VIs vary, but the extent of the features sensitivity is uncertain. Findings from the current work conducted are anticipated to contribute decisively toward an inclusive VIs assessment of its overall verification. Daily ET is the less sensitive and more certain index followed by Drought Vegetation Index.     

Using critical systems thinking to foster an integrated approach to sustainability: a proposal for development practitioners

Throughout the development sector, there is increasing recognition of links between the environment and aspects of development such as poverty alleviation, health, income generation, and agriculture. While furnished with a diverse range of perspectives and approaches, development practice is in need of ways to better conceptualize the interactions between the social, environmental, and economic dimensions of sustainability so that opportunities for simultaneous improvement in human and ecological well-being can be identified more readily. Critical systems thinking is proposed as a way for development practitioners to conceptualize and act toward the integration of these economic, social, and environmental dimensions and, in so doing, support communities to nurture both human and ecosystem well-being. Four desirable attributes of a critical systems thinking approach to development are identified based on development literature, critical systems literature, and the author’s research into sustainability in semi-rural communities in Vietnam. The four attributes are ‘a systems thinking approach;’ ‘an ethical base to action and choices;’ ‘critical reflection permeates processes;’ and ‘appreciation of diverse views and application of diverse approaches.’ These attributes are described and then offered as the basis for further discussion of the ways in which simultaneous improvement of human well-being and ecosystem health can become an integral part of development practice.     

Evaluation of sustainability using an integrated approach at process and product level: a case study

The present world is facing problems like rapid depletion of natural resources and undesired environmental changes on a global scale. Manufacturing organisations are realising the importance of mitigating the present crisis and are adopting sustainable manufacturing principles. Since it is important to achieve sustainable manufacturing, sustainability assessment models were developed. Sustainability assessment models have their own drawbacks and may not provide clear scope for complete sustainable development. A system approach has been developed to overcome this shortcoming by integrating various sustainability assessment models that are already in practice. This article reports the advantages of collecting the advantages of individual sustainability assessment models and how the implementation of the integrated approach has helped to identify the current sustainability level and the scope for future developments in an automotive industry.     

Multi-causal and integrated assessment of sustainability: the case of agriculturization in the Argentine Pampas

Assessing the sustainability of complex development processes requires multi-causal and integrated analyses. We develop a system-based methodology, rooted in interdisciplinary discussion and consensus building between 15 experts, to construct a multi-causal diagram which examines the sustainability of the Argentine Pampas′ process of agriculturization. The resulting diagram includes 25 factors and provides a big-picture of the multiple dimensions and interrelations affecting sustainability. According to this examination, the increasing concentration of production and the incorporation of technological innovations, triggered by economic and institutional factors, are the cause of environmental distresses and social changes, whose consequences for sustainability are still highly disputed. Nevertheless, the symptoms of both environmental and social unsustainability are more evident in the case of the extra-Pampean regions than in the Pampas. This suggests that the Pampean agriculture model should not be transferred to these regions without substantial modifications. The experts did not reach consensus on whether the agriculturization process is overall sustainable or unsustainable. Lack of consensus revolved mainly around opposing perspectives regarding the significance of the threats to environmental sustainability. The magnitude of socio-distributive unbalance and loss of rural jobs were also contentious. Yet, the paper shows how the exercise of building a joint causal diagram was undoubtedly helpful for linking piece-meal disciplinary facts, brought in from all fronts, into a comprehensive and coherent picture. Readers should send their comments on this paper to: BhaskarNath@aol.com within 3 months of publication of this issue.     

Risk to water security for small islands: an assessment framework and application

The freshwater resources of small islands are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and human stressors due to their limited extent and adaptive capacity. A water security approach is useful for effective management of the water resources; however, understanding risk to water security is critical in order to effectively plan and adapt to future changes. Currently available assessment tools generally do not incorporate risk and are not suitable for application on small islands, where the hydrogeological setting has unique vulnerabilities. The aim of this work is to provide a framework to characterize risk to water security for small islands. The risk assessment was developed using Andros Island, the Bahamas, as a case study area. Numerical modelling characterizes the response of the water system to potential future stressors related to climate change and human development, the results of which are integrated into the assessment framework. Based on risk assessment principles, indicators are determined for susceptibility, hazard threat, vulnerability and loss, in order to define the risk to water security. The resulting indicators are presented in geospatial maps that rank areas of risk to water security. These maps were provided to local water managers and policy-makers in the Bahamas as a tool to identify high-risk areas for near-term action and to inform long-term planning. The maps have also been used as a platform to engage local residents and raise awareness about the impact climate change and land-use activities may have on water security.     

Sustainable design of the household water treatment systems using a novel integrated fuzzy QFD and LINMAP approach: a case study of Iran

Environment, Development and Sustainability - There is a high possibility that pursuit of water policies goals which could have impacts on water security. Decision makers are interested in...     

A system dynamics perspective on a viable systems approach definition for sustainable value

Aim of this work is to shed light on sustainable value and develop a model, based on vSa and translated at applicative level through the system dynamics methodology for measuring sustainable value. By adopting vSa perspective, value, characterized by strongly subjective contents, will be considered as a vector quantity, as the result of the subjective weighting of the different dimensions that may change according to the considered organization. Starting from the analysis of system dynamics and vSa, we will implement the theoretical framework into a model developed with system dynamics, hence through a methodology capable of addressing systemic problems which is also an expressive approach to solve issues arising in complex systems (characterized by interdependence, mutual interaction, information feedback, circular causality). In order to translate theory into “action and application” we will develop a model through which it will be possible to exploit the advantages of vSa implemented into an SD model, which ultimately can also be instantiated to specific cases and then simulated for further quantitative insights. Currently, there is no theoretical/practical approach to sustainable value measurement for business organizations that simultaneously considers the dimensions of the triple bottom line together with the subjective perspective of decision-makers. From these considerations, we derived the idea to integrate vSa and system dynamics with the aim of analyzing the issue of sustainable value, whose triple dimension is usually (erroneously) seen under a perspective that does not consider the interactions among those three dimensions. The integration of the subjective perspective within a model for calculating sustainable value can be seen as considering vSa as the theoretical framework, and system dynamics as the methodology that allows translating such an approach into a model that can later be simulated. It is also worth mentioning that through the application of the vSa theory to the case of sustainable value, by means of a transcoding approach like the system dynamics one, we are somehow trying to “redefine”, or better “enhance”, the vSa theory itself, by “operationalizing” it.     

The application of system dynamics in different practices of a waste management system

The continuous increase in waste generation warrants global management of waste to reduce the adverse economic, social, and environmental impact of waste while achieving goals for sustainability. The complexity of waste management systems due to different waste management practices renders such systems difficult to analyze. System dynamics (SD) approach aids in conceptualizing and analyzing the structure, interactions, and mode of behavior of the complex systems. The impact of the underlying components can therefore be assessed in an integrated way while the impact of possible policies on the system can be studied to implement appropriate decisions. This review summarizes various applications of SD pertinent to the waste management practices in different countries. Practices may include waste generation, reduction, reuse/recovery, recycling, and disposal. Each study supports regional-demanding targets in environmental, social, and economic scopes such as expanding landfill life span, implementing proper disposal fee, global warming mitigation, energy generation/saving, etc. The interacting variables in the WMS are specifically determined based on the defined problem, ultimate goal, and the type of waste. Generally, population and gross domestic product can increase the waste generation. An increase in waste reduction, source separation, and recycling rate could decrease the environmental impact, but it is not necessarily profitable from an economic perspective. Incentives to separate waste and knowledge about waste management are variables that always have a positive impact on the entire system.

     

Assessing groundwater quality and its sustainability in Joypurhat district of Bangladesh using GIS and multivariate statistical approaches

Sustainable groundwater quality is a key global concern and has become a major issue of disquiets in most parts of the world including Bangladesh. Hence, the assessment of groundwater quality is an important study to ensure its sustainability for various uses. In this study, a combination of multivariate statistics, geographical information system (GIS) and geochemical approaches was employed to evaluate the groundwater quality and its sustainability in Joypurhat district of Bangladesh. The results showed that the groundwater samples are mainly Ca–Mg–HCO₃ type. Principal component analysis (PCA) results revealed that geogenic sources (rock weathering and cation exchange) followed by anthropogenic activities (domestic sewage and agro-chemicals) were the major factors governing the groundwater quality of the study area. Furthermore, the results of PCA are validated using the cluster analysis and correlation matrix analysis. Based on the groundwater quality index (GWQI), it is found that all the groundwater samples belong to excellent to good water quality domains for human consumption, although iron, fluoride and iodide contaminated to the groundwater, which do not pose any significant health hazard according to World Health Organization’s and Bangladesh’s guideline values. The results of irrigation water quality index including sodium adsorption ratio (SAR), permeability index and sodium percentage (Na %) suggested that most of the groundwater samples are good quality water for agricultural uses. The spatial distribution of the measured values of GWQI, SAR, Fe (iron), EC (electrical conductivity) and TH (total hardness) were spatially mapped using the GIS tool in the study area.     

Typifying cities to streamline the selection of relevant environmental sustainability indicators for urban water supply and sewage handling systems: a recommendation

Measuring performance and setting targets and benchmarks for the future entail the adoption of metrics or indicators. Sustainability is a multi-pronged objective encompassing social, economic, health, cultural, governance and environmental aspects. Indicators can be grouped under these categories. The selection of environmental sustainability indicators for a water and wastewater utility in a city needs to be based on concerns specific to the utility in question. The authors, in this paper, have recommended the classification of cities into city types based on specific attributes and identification of relevant environmental sustainability indicators, from a pool of 13 indicators, for these different city types. Having selected the relevant indicators, utilities can use them as tools to improve their environmental performance. The purpose is to not facilitate inter-utility comparisons within or across city types. Every utility would compare its environmental performance at a given point in time with what it was in the past. Towards the end, the paper also applies the methodology to nine cities across four continents—Europe (Oslo, Trondheim and Turin), Asia (the National Capital Territory of Delhi, Beijing, Tel Aviv and Male), North America (Sacramento) and South America (São Paulo). In all, 13 environmental sustainability indicators have been identified. Two cities—Oslo and Trondheim (both from Norway) belong to the same city type, while the other seven are different from each other in this regard. The number of relevant indicators ranged from 4 for Trondheim to 11 for Tel Aviv. The methodology is not restricted to urban water supply and sewage handling systems. It can be extended to other infrastructure systems as well—waste management, transportation, etc.     

Strengths and weaknesses of common sustainability indices for multidimensional systems

Sustainability is rapidly moving from an abstract concept to a measurable state of dynamic human-ecological systems. The large number of economic, social, and environmental indicators currently available provides an unwieldy view of system sustainability. To aid policy decisions, these indicators are therefore either presented in the context of a conceptual framework, or quantitatively aggregated into indices. Due to the quantitative nature of sustainability indices, their results may be given more weight by scientists and policy-makers. However, policy decisions can be ineffective or even counterproductive if they do not consider factors which influence index behavior: the scale of the available data and choice of system boundaries; the inclusion, transformation, and weighting of indicator data; and the aggregation method used. As previous reviews have demonstrated, sustainability indices do not rank countries consistently, even when using some of the same indicator data. Several improvements would increase the utility of sustainability indices for policy decisions, particularly the identification of biases introduced by the index methodology and data inclusion. The discrepancy of current sustainability indices due to theoretical or methodological differences supports the use of several complementary indices.     

Environmental, cultural, economic and socio-community sustainability: a framework for sustainable tourism in resort destinations

This paper utilizes an inclusive community based sustainability framework with a focus on a resort destination in providing a potential model for more inclusive long-range destination planning and implementation. Four diverse, but interrelated areas of sustainable tourism were specified in this framework for a more comprehensive process including ecological, cultural, economic and socio-community sustainability. In addition a strategic community driven structure, which provides direction, information and practices, serves the purpose of integrating and implementing the framework. The unique tourism destination, Noosa in Australia is used as an example of embracing sustainable tourism as a community and as part of a larger focus on the four key components of sustainability. By viewing sustainable community attributes as assets, all of which are important to manage, enhance and/or conserve, it is expected that the resort community will continue to attract visitors to feel connected and committed to experiencing its lifestyle, sense-of-community and natural features while also contributing to community sustainable stewardship and a strong tourism economy. Readers should send their comments on this paper to: BhaskarNath@aol.com within 3 months of publication of this issue. Dr. Richins is Chair of the Graduate Program within the School of Travel Industry Management at University of Hawaii. He holds a Ph.D. from James Cook University in Australia and a B.S. and M.S. from University of Oregon. Previously he held leadership positions for over 15 years in Australian and New Zealand including Waikato University, University of Newcastle and University of the Sunshine Coast. He was also Chair of the Resort Management program at Sierra Nevada College in Nevada.     

An integrated and quantitative vulnerability assessment for proactive hazard response and sustainability: a case study on the Chan May-Lang Co Gulf area,Central Vietnam

A natural factors-based approach was developed to examine proactive responses to hazards and improving sustainability on the Chan May-Lang Co Gulf area, Central Vietnam. The approach was based on a weight-of-evidence method within an integrated and quantitative vulnerability assessment in which the spatial relationship between a set of evidential factors (lithology, distance to the coastline, altitude, slope, aspect, drainage, wind speed during storms, and land use and cover) and a set of hazard locations was combined with the prior probability (total vulnerability) to obtain the posterior probability of hazard occurrence. The result showed that 44.3 % of the study area had high to very high total vulnerability, due to the high density of vulnerable objects and frequency of severe damage from typhoons, floods, landslides, and erosion. The result also demonstrated that the contribution of natural factors was directly proportional to total vulnerability in approximately 75 % of the study area, indicating a high dependence of vulnerability on natural factors. In the remaining areas, low contributions were found in the high and very high vulnerability areas dominated by high anthropogenic activities. In contrast, natural factors were important contributors to total vulnerability in areas characterized by dense vegetation, consolidated rocks, and altitude greater than 300 m, reflecting high natural resilience. The present study demonstrated that a proactive approach may provide appropriate measures to mitigate hazards and to increase the sustainability of the study area.     

Developing a sustainable operational management system using hybrid Shapley value and Multimoora method: case study petrochemical supply chain

Environment, Development and Sustainability - In this research, a new method to determine the supply chain performance based on its sustainable strategies is proposed. This method consists of a...