scholarly journals Social Innovation as a Prospect for the Forest Bioeconomy: Selected Examples from Europe

Forests ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 878 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ludvig ◽  
Zivojinovic ◽  
Hujala
Keyword(s):  
Rural Areas ◽  
Social Innovation ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Green Economy ◽  
Forest Sector ◽  
Forest Owners ◽  
Eu Policy ◽  
Urban Economic Development ◽  
Policy Goals ◽  
Rural And Urban

Very recently, social innovation has become a subject of investigation in forest research. Earlier on, social innovation turned into a term used in EU policy strategies for addressing social issues and the self-empowerment of local people, as well as for tackling economic, social, or environmental challenges. The question of how the forest bioeconomy might profit from social innovation remains. The article examined the forest bioeconomy from the perspective of social innovation features: How is social innovation reflected in the forest bioeconomy? The forest sector is identified as one principal supplier sectors in the updated European Bioeconomy Strategy. In the strategies’ general objectives of job creation and employment through the green economy, we detected some links to social innovation. In contrast, the EU Social Innovation Initiative includes social aspects via addressing collective action, integration of vulnerable social groups, and rural and urban economic development, without mentioning explicitly the forest sector. In order to make use of both EU policy documents, it is necessary to enquire on the overlaps. This research focused on the communalities in their policy goals as a reference framework for systematically identifying specific forest bioeconomy activities fitting into both realms. With example of these activities, we showed how the forest bioeconomy plays a unique role in addressing hitherto unmet needs with the development of new types of services. There is rich potential in the forest bioeconomy for private forest owners and producers with activities that range from social biomass plants to collectively organized charcoal (biochar) production in remote rural areas. Most of these are service innovations, while some combine services with product innovations. Our findings challenge positions that regard economic and social issues as strictly separated. As a result, they are identified as two combined complementary sources of income for Europe’s forest owners.

scholarly journals Governance of Social Innovation in Forestry

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 1065 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alice Ludvig ◽  
Todora Rogelja ◽  
Marelli Asamer-Handler ◽  
Gerhard Weiss ◽  
Maria Wilding ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Rural Areas ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Comparative Research ◽  
Social Innovation ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Forest Sector ◽  
Research Topics ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Social Innovations ◽  
Insight Into

Over the last decade, the term social innovation has received increased attention as a potential solution to address complex global social problems and to add collective values to society. The forest sector has great potential for fostering employment, community development and reducing increased emigration from rural to urban areas. This potential is not always realised, especially in economically weak and remote rural areas. Hence, this paper tackles the question of how social innovations in forestry are able to succeed under adverse circumstances and contribute to respond to some of the before mentioned challenges? To answer this question, we first identified four very different cases across Europe that are compatible with the criteria of social innovation. Proceeding from this starting point, comparative research was undertaken with the aim to identify the cases´ specific features and key criteria for success. In the cases considered, it is evident that the sheer determination and voluntary investment of time and effort by key individuals, who were convinced of the value of the idea for the community, provided indispensable impetus to all four social innovations. In drawing its conclusions, this paper highlights the principal areas that need consideration and that hence have implications when developing supportive policies. Furthermore, we provide some insight into future research topics that would allow us to better understand the positive impacts of social innovation in the forest-based sector.

scholarly journals Forest policy goals in Poland in light of the current forestry aims in Europe Part 3. European priorities for the forest policy in Polish programmes and strategies

2018 ◽  
Vol 79 (3) ◽  
pp. 211-227
Author(s):  
Adam Kaliszewski
Keyword(s):  
Rural Development ◽  
Forest Policy ◽  
Development Strategies ◽  
Green Economy ◽  
National Forest ◽  
Forest Sector ◽  
Policy Goals ◽  
Political Sector ◽  
European Forest ◽  
National Forest Policy

Abstract The aim of the paper is to review and evaluate Polish programmes and strategies centred on and related to forest, as well as national and transregional development strategies and priorities formulated at the european level. this work covers the ‘National Forest Policy’ and 28 other strategies, policies and programmes representing various forest-related policy areas, including environmental protection, agriculture and rural development, climate and energy as well as development strategies from 1997 to 2017. The study shows that many of the priorities of the European forest policy have not been reflected in the ‘National Forest Policy’. These include, among others, adapting forests to climate change and enhancing their mitigation potential, enhancing the economic contribution of forestry to rural development, enhancing the role of the SFM in a green economy, securing the participation of all stakeholders in forest-related decision-making processes, improving communication in forestry and developing cross-sectoral cooperation. However, many of these forest-related issues have already been included in numerous strategic documents of other policy areas. As a result, many European forest policy priorities are scattered across Polish policy documents of different forest-related sectors and it raises justified concerns that inconsistencies and contradictions exist between them. Another matter of significant concern is that the issue of forests and forestry is barely mentioned in any of the examined development strategies. This may also indicate that the forest sector is getting more and more marginalized in the socioeconomic and political sector, as forest policy goals are defined and achieved within other policy areas and are practically absent in national and transregional development strategies.

BENEFITS OF REMANUFACTURING THE ECONOMY AS A TRANSITION INTO A GREEN ECONOMY

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ifije Ohiomah ◽  
Clinton Aigbavboa ◽  
Jan-Harm Pretorius
Keyword(s):  
Rural Areas ◽  
Green Economy ◽  
Export Trade ◽  
Urban Migration ◽  
Item Score ◽  
Capital Equipment ◽  
Industrial Base ◽  
Rural And Urban ◽  
The Social ◽  
Conservation Of Natural Resources

Remanufacturing is the restoration of end of life products to almost new. It is a form of sustainability. The research set out to identify the benefits of remanufacturing to the Nigerian economy which could aid with the transition to green economy. A questionnaire survey was used to establish the benefits of remanufacturing to the Nigerian economy. Data analysis involving mean item score revealed development of an Industrial base, industrialisation to rural areas, boosting of export trade, conservation of natural resources are seen as important benefits of remanufacturing to the Nigerian economy. Factor analysis made known four clusters titled in the order of importance as benefits of remanufacturing environmentally, benefits of remanufacturing to trade, benefits of remanufacturing socially, benefits of remanufacturing to entrepreneurs as this clusters signify the benefits of remanufacturing to the Nigerian economy. Further discussed is the implication of the findings, firstly is the development of an industrial base, which will benefit Nigeria, as Nigeria is an under-industrialised nation. Furthermore, the entrenchment of the development of an industrial base would lead to a boosting of export trade in the form of exporting capital equipment to other countries as well as an inflow of foreign exchange. Lastly revealed is the industrialisation to the rural areas, which will stop the social scourge of rural and urban migration.

scholarly journals Challenges to sustainable rural development in Russia: social issues and regional divergences

2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-51
Author(s):  
Olga Lisova ◽  
Vasily Erokhin ◽  
Anna Ivolga
Keyword(s):  
Rural Development ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Social Indicators ◽  
Rural Settlements ◽  
Sustainable Rural Development ◽  
Rural And Urban Areas ◽  
Rural And Urban ◽  
State And Local

Paper aims at investigation of contemporary approaches to sustainable rural development in Russia. It includes the overview of current experiences in rural development, analysis of major economic and social indicators of rural areas in comparison with urban ones. Analysis included the set of indicators such as number of rural people, number of rural settlements, rates of births and mortalities, natural and migration increases and declines of population, rates of employment and unemployment, average monthly nominal per capita wages, and level of the subsistence minimum. Indicators have been measured separately for rural and urban areas; regions have been grouped in relation to the particular indicator. The research is concluded by discovery of growth points for rural development and a set of recommendations on perspective measures of state and local policies in rural areas, directed on increase of living standards of rural population and retention of labour resources in their traditional rural areas of inhabitation. JEL: Q18, P25

Non-ordained

2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 137-156 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeanine Kraybill
Keyword(s):  
Social Policy ◽  
Women Religious ◽  
Catholic Church ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Female Leadership ◽  
Religious Leaders ◽  
Religious Congregations ◽  
Effect Change ◽  
Policy Goals ◽  
Institutional Church

The Catholic Church, constructed on an all-male clerical model, is a hierarchical and gendered institution, creating barriers to female leadership. In interviewing members of the clergy and women religious of the faith, this article examines how female non-ordained and male clerical religious leaders engage and influence social policy. It specifically addresses how women religious maneuver around the institutional constraints of the Church, in order to take action on social issues and effect change. In adding to the scholarship on this topic, I argue that part of the strategy of women religious in navigating barriers of the institutional Church is not only knowing when to act outside of the formal hierarchy, but realizing when it is in the benefit of their social policy objectives to collaborate with it. This maneuvering may not always safeguard women religious from institutional scrutiny, as seen by the 2012 Doctrinal Assessment of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, but instead captures the tension between female religious and the clergy. It also highlights how situations of institutional scrutiny can have positive implications for female religious leaders, their policy goals and congregations. Finally, this examination shows how even when women are appointed to leadership posts within the institutional Church, they can face limitations of acceptance and other constraints that are different from their female religious counterparts working within their own respective religious congregations or outside organizations.

Senkenanrechnung gemäss Kyoto-Protokoll: Perspektiven für die Waldwirtschaft | Taking carbon sinks into account according to the Kyoto Protocol: a prospect for the forest sector

2008 ◽  
Vol 159 (9) ◽  
pp. 296-302
Author(s):  
Richard Volz
Keyword(s):  
Kyoto Protocol ◽  
Emissions Trading ◽  
Wood Products ◽  
Forest Sector ◽  
Carbon Sinks ◽  
Forest Owners ◽  
Trading Market ◽  
Reduce Emissions ◽  
Emission Reduction Target ◽  
Actual Target

The Kyoto Protocol makes provisions for carbon sinks from forest management to be taken into account as a contribution towards fulfilling a country's emission reduction target. Additional emission allowances are allocated for these forest carbon sinks. If Switzerland uses this extra contingent of allowances to the full it would then only have to reduce emissions by 4.5% instead of the actual target of 8%. Emission allowances from carbon sinks can be traded on the emissions trading market and be claimed by forest owners. An assessment of the income that could be anticipated was carried out in four forestry companies: with the CO2 price set at 10 CHF per ton it was seen that a potential revenue of between 6 and 71 CHF per hectare and year could be realised. However, the legal basis for allocating emission allowances from carbon sinks to forest owners has yet to be created. In view of the fact that the two chambers of Parliament refused the introduction of the Forests Act Revision Bill, it is not clear if and in what form this will be done. For the period after 2012, the rules will be renegotiated at the international level and it is expected that the carbon stored in harvested wood products will be taken into account. Accordingly, wood removed from the forest would no longer be automatically counted as a CO2 source in the emission balance.

TURNING FARMERS INTO SOCIAL FARMER ENTREPRENEURS FOR DISADVANTAGED PEOPLE

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Remus Runcan
Keyword(s):  
Rural Communities ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Physical Work ◽  
Healthy Environment ◽  
Rural And Urban Areas ◽  
Rural Development Programme ◽  
Rural And Urban

According to Romania’s National Rural Development Programme, the socio-economic situation of the rural environment has a large number of weaknesses – among which low access to financial resources for small entrepreneurs and new business initiatives in rural areas and poorly developed entrepreneurial culture, characterized by a lack of basic managerial knowledge – but also a large number of opportunities – among which access of the rural population to lifelong learning and entrepreneurial skills development programmes and entrepreneurs’ access to financial instruments. The population in rural areas depends mainly on agricultural activities which give them subsistence living conditions. The gap between rural and urban areas is due to low income levels and employment rates, hence the need to obtain additional income for the population employed in subsistence and semi-subsistence farming, especially in the context of the depopulation trend. At the same time, the need to stimulate entrepreneurship in rural areas is high and is at a resonance with the need to increase the potential of rural communities from the perspective of landscape, culture, traditional activities and local resources. A solution could be to turn vegetal and / or animal farms into social farms – farms on which people with disabilities (but also adolescents and young people with anxiety, depression, self-harm, suicide, and alexithymia issues) might find a “foster” family, bed and meals in a natural, healthy environment, and share the farm’s activities with the farmer and the farmer’s family: “committing to a regular day / days and times for a mutually agreed period involves complying with any required health and safety practices (including use of protective clothing and equipment), engaging socially with the farm family members and other people working on and around the farm, and taking on tasks which would include working on the land, taking care of animals, or helping out with maintenance and other physical work”

INCOME AS A SOURCE OF HUMAN CAPITAL DEVELOPMENT IN RURAL AREAS

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (10) ◽  
pp. 58-63
Author(s):  
O. N. KUSAKINA ◽  
◽  
S. V. SOKOLOV ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Human Capital ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Economic Conditions ◽  
Place Of Residence ◽  
Human Capital Development ◽  
Urban Households ◽  
Average Structure ◽  
Rural And Urban ◽  
Consumer Expenditures ◽  
Capital Development

The article is devoted to research of dynamics of disposable resources of rural and urban households; components of disposable resources of households depending on the place of residence (per household member on average); structure of consumer expenditures of rural households based on official statistics for 2018–2020. The presented findings may serve as a basis for justifying the trends in social and economic conditions necessary for the growth of human capital in rural areas.

scholarly journals A Unique Transdisciplinary Engineering-Based Integrated Approach for the Design of Temporary Refugee Housing Using Kano, HOQ/QFD, TRIZ, AD, ISM and DSM Tools

Designs ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 31
Author(s):  
Daniel Moran ◽  
Atila Ertas ◽  
Utku Gulbulak
Keyword(s):  
Rural Areas ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Integrated Approach ◽  
Interpretive Structural Modeling ◽  
Design Problems ◽  
Design Structure ◽  
Function Design ◽  
Complex Engineering ◽  
Design Conflicts

The continued displacement of refugees from their homes and homelands (now greater than 50 million people worldwide) places increased focus and attention on evolving the designs of temporary housing that is available to be provided to the refugee population, especially in rural areas where housing does not already exist and must be constructed in very little time. Complex engineering problems involving social issues, such as this case study, benefit from the use of Integrated Transdisciplinary (TD) Tools (ITDT) to effectively and efficiently address the design questions related to them. The integrated use of TD Tools such as Kano Analysis, KJ Diagrams, Critical to Quality (CTQ), House of Quality (HOQ)/Quality Function Design (QFD), Theory of Inventive Problem Solving (TRIZ), Axiomatic Design (AD), Interpretive Structural Modeling (ISM), and Design Structure Matrix (DSM) through an end-to-end unique design process leads to innovation and elimination of design conflicts for especially complicated design problems. The objective of this study is to examine the design of temporary refugee housing using integrated TD tools mentioned above. This research concludes that the use of the ITDT approach provides an innovative, decoupled design.

scholarly journals What Are the Impacts of Social Innovation? A Synthetic Review and Case Study of Community Forestry in the Scottish Highlands

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 4359
Author(s):  
Carla Barlagne ◽  
Mariana Melnykovych ◽  
David Miller ◽  
Richard J. Hewitt ◽  
Laura Secco ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Rural Communities ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Community Forestry ◽  
Social Innovation ◽  
Local Development ◽  
Evidence Base ◽  
Social Dimension ◽  
Vulnerable Groups ◽  
Study Approach

In a context of political and economic austerity, social innovation has been presented as a solution to many social challenges, old and new. It aims to support the introduction of new ideas in response to the current urgent needs and challenges of vulnerable groups and seems to offer promising solutions to the challenges faced by rural areas. Yet the evidence base of the impacts on the sustainable development of rural communities remains scarce. In this paper, we explore social innovation in the context of community forestry and provide a brief synthetic review of key themes linking the two concepts. We examine a case of social innovation in the context of community forestry and analyse its type, extent, and scale of impact in a marginalized rural area of Scotland. Using an in-depth case study approach, we apply a mixed research methodology using quantitative indicators of impact as well as qualitative data. Our results show that social innovation reinforces the social dimension of community forestry. Impacts are highlighted across domains (environmental, social, economic, and institutional/governance) but are mainly limited to local territory. We discuss the significance of those results in the context of community forestry as well as for local development. We formulate policy recommendations to foster and sustain social innovation in rural areas.

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