scholarly journals A method for estimating watershed restoration feasibility under different treatment levels

2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (5) ◽  
pp. 1232-1240 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jian Zhang ◽  
Yi-Cheng Fu ◽  
Wan-Li Shi ◽  
Wen-Xian Guo
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Human Impacts ◽  
Taxonomic Composition ◽  
Migration Ability ◽  
Watershed Development ◽  
Time Migration ◽  
Legal Frameworks ◽  
Habitat Properties ◽  
Environmental Sustainability Index

The restoration of watershed health can be influenced by ecological, technical and socio-economic factors. The paper presents a conceptual framework and typology to assess watershed ecological restoration based on the properties and processes of sustainable watershed development. According to multiple life stages, habitat properties and existing legal frameworks and applicable valuation approaches, the bio-indicator that integrates natural, political and socio-economic dimensions is proposed. With existing assessment results and official web-pages as references, evaluation systems concerning human impacts on aquatic systems are set forth. Suitable aquatic bio-indicators can standardize the monitoring methodology with respect to water quality, organic pollutants and pesticides, generation time, migration ability, saprobic status, taxonomic composition and diversity. A large number of fish-based indexes have been developed to monitor and manage river ecosystems. Biophysical and statistical models are being used to identify influential stream variables that correlate with macroinvertebrate indices. A probabilistic fuzzy hybrid model to assess river water quality is proposed. The method and process of ecological risk assessment are provided based on adaptive management principles. The environmental sustainability index (ESI) is used to estimate the degree of environmental restoration sustainability with the emergy triangle as a reference.

Sustainability in Asian Countries: Perspectives from Economics

2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-102
Author(s):  
Youngho Chang ◽  
Jiesheng Tan ◽  
Letian Chen
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Technological Progress ◽  
Natural Capital ◽  
Asian Countries ◽  
Weak Sustainability ◽  
Hartwick Rule ◽  
The Status ◽  
Environmental Sustainability Index ◽  
Selection Of

Studies on sustainable development rely on diverse and seemingly conflicting concepts that yield contrasting results. The root of these conflicting concepts is the lack of agreement on the path toward achieving sustainable development (SD), namely, weak (or economic) versus strong (or ecological) sustainability. This article revisits the Solow-Hartwick model (Solow 1974, 1986; Hartwick 1977, 1978a, 1978b), which suggests that an economy can achieve intergenerational equity by mandating the Hartwick rule of investing the amount of rents from natural capital into renewable capital. It constructs a modified Solow-Hartwick model in which the assumptions of constant population and no technological progress are relaxed and from which it derives a more general form of the Hartwick rule. The modified Solow-Hartwick investment rule presents how weak sustainability can be attained and explains how the residual Hotelling rents (or proceeds from natural resources) could be utilized in order to achieve strong sustainability. In this article, we apply the modified Solow-Hartwick investment rule to a selection of developing and developed Asian economies to assess their sustainability. We then compare our results with two existing measures of sustainability, the genuine savings (GS) model and the Environmental Sustainability Index (ESI), both of which frequently present contradicting evaluations on the status of sustainability.

Innovations and eco-sustainability: exploring the role of organizational environment

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Richa Chaudhary ◽  
Chandan Kumar
Keyword(s):  
Diffusion Of Innovation ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Hierarchical Regression ◽  
Organizational Environment ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Analysis Technique ◽  
Innovation Characteristics ◽  
Environmental Sustainability Index ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose This paper aims to analyze the contribution of the diffusion of innovation framework to eco-sustainability. It examines the interplay of organizational environment, innovation and innovation adopters’ characteristics on the diffusion of environmental sustainability. Design/methodology/approach The data for empirical validation were obtained through an offline survey from the hospitals. The proposed conceptual framework was tested using the hierarchical regression analysis technique. Findings The results show that diffusion of innovation characteristics and organizational environment significantly influence the environmental sustainability index. The adopters’ characteristics do not have any direct effect on the environmental sustainability but this effect becomes significant in the presence of a favorable organizational environment. Practical implications Focusing on innovations that offer an advantage over the existing processes, are compatible with the existing system, are uncomplicated and simple to implement and can be experimented before full implementation may greatly accelerate the adoption of eco-innovations in hospitals. Fostering an organizational environment where employees are encouraged and rewarded for contributing to sustainable innovations can play a substantial role in the implementation of environmental sustainability innovations. Originality/value This study is an original contribution as it advances the limited understanding of the predictors and moderators of environmental sustainability in hospitals.

The Efficient and Viable Country-Oriented Attainment of Absolute Environmental Sustainability

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 60-104
Author(s):  
Tatiana Tambouratzis ◽  
Nikos Hatziefthimiou
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Evolution Strategy ◽  
Sustainability Index ◽  
Environmental Sustainability Index ◽  
Country Specific

A country-oriented methodology for attaining absolute environmental sustainability (ES) is proposed and demonstrated on the environmental sustainability index (ESI) 2002. The optimal means of deriving the ES levels/scores of the participating countries from the various ESI 2002 constructs is established and, subsequently, encoded in a real-valued evolution strategy (EvS) for the viable and flexible country-specific ES improvement towards maximal ES. The EvS employs: (a) constraints concerning the number and combinations of constructs that can be concurrently improved; (b) limited and progressively decreasing construct improvements expressing the escalating difficulty of improving any construct as the construct and/or overall ES approach(es) maximum. Demonstrations on countries with diverse characteristics and comparisons with alternative optimization methodologies highlight the versatility and applicability of the proposed procedure to any country with data that is compatible to that of the participating countries.

scholarly journals An Integrated Approach for Evaluating Water Quality between 2007–2015 in Santa Cruz Island in the Galapagos Archipelago

Water ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 937 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristina Mateus ◽  
Christian A. Guerrero ◽  
Galo Quezada ◽  
Daniel Lara ◽  
Valeria Ochoa-Herrera
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Population Change ◽  
Human Impacts ◽  
Saline Water ◽  
Monitoring Program ◽  
Integrated Approach ◽  
Santa Cruz Island ◽  
Santa Cruz ◽  
Background Levels ◽  
The Impact

Water quality in Galápagos has been deteriorating by increased human impacts over the past few decades. Water quality is a key environmental component and issue in need to be evaluated in the Pelican Bay Watershed, the biggest urban and economic development of Santa Cruz Island, for better management and regulation of water resources. This study assesses coastal and ground water bodies of Pelican Bay by employing a 9-year dataset obtained during a local water quality monitoring program conducted by the Galápagos National Park. Physical-chemical and microbial parameters were evaluated with respect to national and international water quality standards. A statistical integrated approach was performed to calculate environmental background levels of water quality parameters and to explore their seasonal and spatial variation. In addition, a sensitivity analysis was conducted to evaluate the impact of changes in tourism and residents in San Cruz Island in the degradation of water sources. Results highlighted are: (a) water is not suitable for drinking and domestic use at some inland sites; (b) saline water is used for irrigation in the highlands; (c) the presence of parameters of concern at coastal sites represent a risk for human and ecosystem health; (d) background levels may serve for defining site-specific limits to control water quality, and; (e) the influence of population change on water quality conditions varied at each site with a higher effect at coastal sites relatively to inland sites. This study provided valuable information of the water quality status in Santa Cruz Island and can serve as a baseline for effective water management and control of pollution.

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