Social capital networks for achieving sustainable development

There have been few empirical studies investigating whether and how social capital (SC) relates to better achievement of sustainability goals and, if so, how. This research investigates the roles three types of SC, namely, bonding, bridging, and bracing SC, play in achieving sustainable development (SD), using a case study of the Japanese region to explore the process of SC accumulation leading to collective action. The research question as to whether SC accumulation makes a difference in the progress towards sustainability is addressed qualitatively and quantitatively using a case study, and network and regression analysis; in particular the impact and functions of bracing SC are closely investigated. The study concludes that SC accumulation can indeed make a difference in achieving sustainability and that bracing SC plays an essential role in expediting the processes of goal sharing and resource flow by connecting various networks across sectors and scales, thereby making collective action possible. These findings suggest that creating an environment in which the generation of all three types of SC is encouraged may help local governments to achieve their desired policy goals for SD.     

Community energy plans in Canadian cities: success and barriers in implementation

Climate change and sustainable development concerns have motivated some municipalities in Canada to develop community energy plans, which focus on energy needs at the local level for the development of efficient, economical and environmental energy systems. Five Canadian cities that were early adopters of community energy planning principles were studied to assess whether implementation has occurred and what barriers have been experienced. The cities achieved success in the implementation of energy management in municipal operations despite barriers in jurisdiction, perception of cost, communication and capacity, but energy management in the community had not been fully implemented and long-term changes were not prevalent. While reductions were made in the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions produced by municipal operations, the community's overall GHG emissions were not significantly reduced. Long-term impacts on a city's function and growth will be key if community energy planning is to significantly impact community-wide GHG emissions and energy use.     

The Green Village project: a rural community's journey towards sustainability

In the South West of the UK, a growing number of rural and urban communities are exploring various pathways to a more sustainable living. The village of Belstone is among these pioneers of change through its Green Village project. It is a relatively affluent community and it has been a major challenge to engage people that are reticent to change their lifestyle and suspicious of the motives of the initiators. Based on a process of action research, this paper explores the attitudes and perceptions towards sustainability and how they influenced the people's engagement. We demonstrate that the partnership was effective in enabling the villagers engaged in the project to take control over the process. Behaviour changes were reported by the villagers actively engaged with the initiative. The Green Village did not “snowball” to the entire community; however, many of those who chose not to engage associated the word “Green” with traits that they did not identify with.     

Integrating waste,manufacturing and industrial symbiosis: an analysis of recycling,remanufacturing and waste treatment firms in Texas

The continually increasing volume of the waste stream has led to numerous calls for strategies to close the loop on material use through industrial symbiosis strategies which direct used material and products (wastes) back to production processes. By use of a survey of recycling, remanufacturing and waste treatment firms in Texas, this paper asks if these firms can operate as a bridge between production and consumption/waste to efficiently increase the flow of used materials and products back to production processes at the local level. The results suggest that while most materials and used products are collected locally, only some can be re(consumed) locally. Moreover, the firms face negative perceptions about their activities from industry and the public at large that likely slow both the rate of entry of new firms into these markets and the expansion possibilities of existing firms. In addition, the types of conventions that characterize the interactions of more successful firms are not well developed in this sector(s). It is unlikely that recycling, remanufacturing and waste treatment firms can become central players in the production, consumption and waste cycle loop until society develops production design, marketing and consumption philosophies that include recycling and remanufacturing at a fundamental level.     

经济增长、市场化改革与土地违法

在当前中国经济快速增长和市场化改革逐步推进的过程中,始终面临着较为严重的土地违法问题;土地违法行为的主体不仅包括企事业单位和令人,更涉及各级地方政府以及农村集体组织.为深入了解经济增长与市场化改革对不同主体土地违法行为的影响,本文进行了初步的理论探讨,并运用全国层面的统计数据开展了相应的实证分析.结果表明,随着经济增长速度的加快,政府和企业的土地违法面积均显著增加;而土地市场化水平的提高则能有效减少土地违法的案件数.进一步地,经济增长和市场化改革对各级政府以及企事业单位、个人和农村集体组织土地违法行为的影响也存在一定的差异.本文的研究也指出,为有效控制土地违法行为的扩大,中国政府仍需采取转变经济增长方式、稳步推进市场化改革、引导企事业单位有序用地和不断完善土地督察制度等措施.     

环境因素对供应链中生产者食品安全行为的影响机制仿真分析

通过食品安全环境因素的改善和规范,来提高食品安全效果是具有现实意义的。本文归纳了影响食品安全的环境因素,特别是影响生产者食品安全行为的环境因素;环境因素对供应链食品安全的影响主要体现在生产者食品安全行为的选择上,为此,设计了环境因素对供应链生产者食品安全行为影响机制;为了分析环境因素对供应链中生产者食品安全的影响,从生产者食品安全行为的影响机制中选取了消费者食品安全意愿、生产者市场占有率、罚款金额等环境因素,以生鲜蔬果供应链中覆盖流通领域的那个部分提出了生产者食品安全行为选择策略的仿真模型,使用Netlogo软件进行了多主体仿真。通过仿真发现,食品监管的手法还宜细化,提升技术因素可以有效改善中国的食品安全水平。     

Ecosystems emerging. 5: Constraints

Ecosystem constraints are both ontic and epistemic. They limit activity, and as problems to be solved they drive organization, which is our hypothesis:

The driver of organization is constraint.

Solutions proliferate further constraints in an unending spiral of problem (constraint) generation and solution. As constraints proliferate, behavior narrows, and species diversify to compensate (paradox of constraint). Resource enrichment reduces constraints, releases behavior, and reduction of challenges decreases diversity (paradox of enrichment)—high diversity is expressed in low-resource environments and low diversity in high-resource environments. A three-part model of constraints is formulated for non-living systems, and also for goal-directed, problem-solving biota. Mode 1: dynamical means behavior is co-determined by internal states and external inputs. Mode 2: cybernetic employs negative feedback to keep dynamics within goal-oriented operating limits. Mode 3: model-making entails ability to represent (model) physical reality and respond to both phenomenal (modeled) and physical inputs; this property distinguishes living from nonliving systems. Principal sections of the paper elaborate dynamical constraints (three classes), boundary constraints (expressed in edge effects and trophic dynamics), physical constraints (space, time, temperature), chemical constraints (environment fitness, ecological stoichiometry, chemical evolution, limiting factors), coding constraints (environmental vs. genetic coding), network and pathway constraints (connectivity), and natural selection constraints (fitting to the biosphere). Consideration of how the world would look without constraints suggests how fundamental these are in ecosystem emergence, and how the next property in this series, differentiation, would be unmotivated without them. We conclude that constraints as a category are under-studied in ecology, poorly understood in ecological phenomenology, and (our hypothesis) comprise a ubiquitous organizing force in nature.     

Establishing moral bearings: ethics and expatriate health care professionals in humanitarian work

Expatriate health care professionals frequently participate in international responses to natural disasters and humanitarian emergencies. This field of practice presents important clinical, logistical and ethical challenges for clinicians. This paper considers the ethics of health care practice in humanitarian contexts. It examines features that contribute to forming the moral landscape of humanitarian work, and discusses normative guidelines and approaches that are relevant for this work. These tools and frameworks provide important ethics resources for humanitarian settings. Finally, it elaborates a set of questions that can aid health care professionals as they analyse ethical issues that they experience in the field. The proposed process can assist clinicians as they seek to establish their moral bearings in situations of ethical complexity and uncertainty. Identifying and developing ethics resources and vocabulary for clinical practice in humanitarian work will help health care professionals provide ethically sound care to patients and communities.     

《大气污染防治行动计划》实施的环境健康效果评估

为了定量评估《大气十条》实施带来的环境健康效益,本文首先依据PM_(2.5)浓度和人口数据,分析2013～2017年全国人口加权浓度的变化,其次利用Ben MAP模型对全国338个地级及以上城市2013年PM_(2.5)基准情景和2017年PM_(2.5)控制情景进行分析,定量分析全国31个省(市)及338个地级及以上城市减少过早死亡人数.结果表明,由于PM_(2.5)浓度大幅下降,2013～2017年全国PM_(2.5)人口加权浓度呈逐年下降趋势;北京、天津、河北等京津冀及周边地区减少过早死亡人数最多. 2017年全国280个城市避免过早死亡人数有所增加,58个城市避免过早死亡人数有所下降.以WHO过渡期第1阶段目标值(PM_(2.5)年均浓度为35μg·m-3)作为控制情景,估算2013年全国过早死亡人数约为101 293人,2017年约为41 080人,《大气十条》的实施大约避免60 213人过早死亡.依据支付意愿法调查结果,估算增加的健康效益约为549. 7亿元.     

不同构型富氮生物炭对Pb (II)和Cr (VI)的作用机制

为了明确不同构型富氮生物炭对重金属的作用机理,本研究以玉米秸秆为生物质,通过尿素改性结合高温热解制备了3种不同氮构型的富氮生物炭（以吡咯氮为主的Pr-NBC、吡啶氮为主的Pd-NBC和石墨氮为主的Gp-NBC）,考察其对典型重金属的作用行为.吸附动力学和吸附等温线等实验结果显示：富氮生物炭对Pb （II）和Cr （VI）的吸附均以化学吸附为主,且存在明显的差异;对Pb （II）的吸附容量与溶液离子强度成正比,吸附可能以形成内层络合物为主,对Cr （VI）的作用则包含吸附和还原两个过程;对两种重金属的吸附容量受pH影响较大,静电吸引作用可能是主要驱动力.吸附前后的材料表征显示：富氮生物炭主要通过静电吸引作用、阳离子交换、沉淀作用和阳离子-π键作用吸附Pb （II）,通过静电吸引作用吸附Cr （VI）,同时能将Cr （VI）还原为Cr （III）.不同构型氮与重金属作用机理存在差异,其中,石墨氮主要通过与Pb （II）形成阳离子-π键作用促进吸附,吡咯氮和吡啶氮具有还原性,可将Cr （VI）转化为Cr （III）,实现减毒.因此,在考察自然环境中富氮生物炭对重金属的作用机制时,应当充分考虑氮构型的影响.