scholarly journals A UN SDGs-Based Sustainability Evaluation Framework for Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS): A Case Study on the Kuaijishan Ancient Chinese Torreya Community

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (17) ◽  
pp. 9957
Author(s):  
Wen Zhao ◽  
Siming Wang ◽  
Yongxun Zhang ◽  
Ming Xu ◽  
Hongkai Qie ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Sustainability Assessment ◽  
Evaluation Framework ◽  
Evaluation Index System ◽  
Sustainability Evaluation ◽  
Analytic Hierarchy ◽  
Food And Agriculture ◽  
Food And Agriculture Organization ◽  
Ecological Protection

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) launched the conservation initiative of the Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) in 2002, providing a new solution to current global problems such as widening gap between rich and poor, environmental pollution, biodiversity destruction and degradation of agro-ecological functions. However, since the implementation of GIAHS, few studies have evaluated the role of GIAHS in regional sustainable development. To fill this research gap, this paper attempts to build an evaluation index system that integrates economic, social and environmental sustainability by matching the 169 subgoals and 232 indices of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with five FAO-GIAHS selection criteria and selecting the indices. The index weights are determined through Delphi method (expert scoring) and Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). Then the GIAHS site of the Kuaijishan Ancient Chinese Torreya Community in Shaoxing City, Zhejiang Province is taken as an example for evaluation to enhance the empirical study. The results show that the comprehensive score for this heritage site is 77.90 points, of which economic, social and environmental sustainability scores 88.27, 86.12 and 69.71 points respectively, showing a descending trend. Thus, ecological protection of the Kuaijishan Ancient Chinese Torreya Community should be strengthened and be given prominence in the future. As for the contribution to further research, this SDGs-based GIAHS sustainability evaluation framework can serve as an important guide for assessing the approaches and effects of GIAHS in promoting the achievement of the SDGs. It can also be used for future international GIAHS sustainability assessment and comparison and provide a basis for adjusting the development model of GIAHS sites.

scholarly journals The Geographical Indication Pathway to Sustainability: A Framework to Assess and Monitor the Contributions of Geographical Indications to Sustainability through a Participatory Process

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (14) ◽  
pp. 7535
Author(s):  
Emilie Vandecandelaere ◽  
Luis Fernando Samper ◽  
Andrés Rey ◽  
Ana Daza ◽  
Pablo Mejía ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Sustainability Assessment ◽  
Sustainability Indicators ◽  
Original Research ◽  
Geographical Indications ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Food And Agriculture ◽  
Food And Agriculture Organization ◽  
Sustainability Strategy

Geographical Indications (GIs) are widely considered as tools to contribute to sustainability (The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations—FAO, 2009; 2017), if established and well managed. While the literature may not always agree on the positive effects of GIs in all sustainability dimensions (e.g., economic, social, and environmental), there is evidence that engaging GI producers in a sustainability strategy can maximize their contribution to different components of sustainable development. FAO and oriGIn developed the sustainability strategy for GI (SSGI) to support GI producers and their associations so that they could engage in a place-based and participative approach in order to generate concrete progress and results. This paper presents original research for building both a framework and database for the selection and use of relevant sustainability indicators for GIs. A number of SSGI principles have guided the work throughout an iterative process for reviewing, selecting, and improving relevant indicators, while the Sustainability Assessment of Food and Agriculture (SAFA) has provided the structure to align with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and other widely used and recognized sustainability frameworks. As a result of this work, a database of 372 robust sustainability indicators that are relevant to GIs have been characterized to facilitate their use by practitioners. The discussion highlights the importance of the place-based approach, and the participative, inclusive process that represents the key to empowerment and the ability to develop alliances. It also focuses on action, and the need to strengthen both internal and external communication.

scholarly journals Evaluation of Renewable Energy System For Sustainable Development

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 44
Author(s):  
Shoeib Faraji Abdolmaleki ◽  
Pastora M. Bello Bugallo
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Renewable Energy ◽  
Literature Review ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Sustainability Assessment ◽  
Political Stability ◽  
Legal Regulation ◽  
Government Support ◽  
Maintenance Cost ◽  
Sustainability Evaluation

This study reviews sustainable development (SD) elements through a holistic literature review to consider the relationship between SD indicators in the renewable energy (RE) sector, to identify critical drivers and methodologies needed to solve sustainability problems in RE. Through a systematic review, some compatible articles are selected from the electronic libraries. Driven information is employed to make a database that gives themes, dimensions, and indicators. Afterward, the sustainability evaluation of RE systems is investigated as an objective. Scopes and themes regarding SD and RE are investigated. As a result, SD indicators, RE systems, energy and sustainability, environmental sustainability assessment, energy security, electricity/power production, and energy geopolitics are the most existing scopes. Eleven sustainability frameworks, which scholars have used to consider RE sustainability, are identified appropriately. As a result, key dimensions are environmental, economic, social, technical, and institutional drivers. Therefore, indicators and criteria are reviewed for the top five drivers. Some of the most important of these indicators are: social (acceptability, job creation, social benefit, impact on health), economic (investment cost, operation, maintenance cost, and energy cost), environmental (CO2 emission, land use, impact on ecosystem, NOx and SOx emissions, GHG emission reduction, particle emission, noise), technical (efficiency, reliability, resource availability, maturity, safety, primary energy ratio, feasibility), and institutional (legal regulation of activity, government support, political stability, absence of violence/terrorism). Also, methodologies are examined to solve the challenge of sustainability evaluation. Literature review, MCDM techniques, LCA, PCA, and statistical methods are among the most widely used. Therefore, fully understanding the evaluation elements of SD in RE systems and having a database can speed up such studies.

Grassland resource evaluation based on improved bp network model and analytic hierarchy process

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Zhou Jiang ◽  
Zhenwu Wei
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Analytic Hierarchy Process ◽  
Carrying Capacity ◽  
Index System ◽  
Evaluation Index System ◽  
Analytic Hierarchy ◽  
Bp Network ◽  
Resource Evaluation ◽  
Environmental Carrying Capacity ◽  
Hierarchy Process

Grassland resources are an important part of land resources. Moreover, it has the functions of regulating the climate, windproof and sand fixation, conserving water sources, maintaining water and soil, raising livestock, providing food, purifying the air, and beautifying the environment in terrestrial ecosystems. Grassland resource evaluation is of great significance to the sustainable development of grassland resources. Therefore, this paper improves the BP neural network, uses the comprehensive index method to calculate the weights in the analytic hierarchy process, and constructs a water resources carrying capacity research and analysis system based on the entropy weight extension decision theory. Meanwhile, this paper analyzes different levels of resource and environmental carrying capacity to achieve the purpose of comprehensive evaluation of resource and environmental carrying capacity. In addition, based on the theory of sustainable development, under the guidance of the principle of index system construction, this paper studies the actual situation of grassland resources and the availability and operability of data, and combines with the opinions given by experts to form an evaluation index system of grassland resources and environmental carrying capacity. Finally, through the actual case study analysis, it is concluded that the model constructed in this paper has a certain effect.

scholarly journals Research on Supplier Selection of Prefabricated Building Elements from the Perspective of Sustainable Development

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 6080
Author(s):  
Yinghui Song ◽  
Junwu Wang ◽  
Feng Guo ◽  
Jiequn Lu ◽  
Sen Liu
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Analytic Hierarchy Process ◽  
Supplier Selection ◽  
Equation Model ◽  
Evaluation Index System ◽  
Evaluation Index ◽  
Analytic Hierarchy ◽  
Building Element ◽  
Hierarchy Process ◽  
Prefabricated Building

Prefabricated building is an efficient building mode. Compared with the traditional building mode, the prefabricated building has advantages of less pollution, high construction efficiency, being more labor-saving, and economy, which is in line with China’s sustainable development strategy. This paper proposes a supplier selection evaluation model based on the mechanism equation model (SEM) and intuitionistic fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (IFAHP). Based on a detailed literature review, 300 structured questionnaires were distributed to the relevant enterprises, and an evaluation index system of prefabricated building element suppliers was built. With the fitting and modification process using a structural equation model, and assist of a path factor, an evaluation index system for evaluating the prefabricated building element suppliers was finally obtained. Finally, the intuitionistic fuzzy analytic hierarchy process was used to establish a selection model of prefabricated element suppliers, and the prefabricated element suppliers of Shuangyashan prefabricated construction projects were analyzed as a case study. The results show that the following factors have the most significant impact on supplier selection (from high to low): quality, economy, long-term cooperation, after-sales, and transportation. This study had a comprehensive consideration of the influencing factors existing in the whole selection process and should provide a valuable reference for the sustainable development of prefabricated construction engineering.

scholarly journals Indonesian smallholder beef producers’ perception of sustainability and their treactions to the results of an assessment using the sustainability assessment of food and agriculture system (SAFA) – a case study based on focus group discussions

2020 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 58-68
Author(s):  
S. Gayatri ◽  
M. Vaarst
Keyword(s):  
Focus Group ◽  
Beef Cattle ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Sustainability Assessment ◽  
Group Discussion ◽  
Agricultural Practices ◽  
Group Discussions ◽  
Four Dimensions ◽  
Food And Agriculture ◽  
Food And Agriculture Organization

Beef cattle farmers were interviewed about what “sustainability” means to them with regard to their daily practices, both in their daily working life and after being confronted with the results of an assessment conducted on their farms prior to a focus group discussion (FGD) utilizing the Sustainability Assessment of Food and Agriculture (SAFA) system developed by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations. The study presented in this article was based on two FGDs, using the results of the SAFA online assessment as a tool to initiate and facilitate the discussions. The two group discussions were recorded using a digital voice recorder, transcribed in full and then coded using the software program Transana. The discussions were organized into themes, which allowed a basis for the further analysis. The themes allowed us to build a picture of the participants’ views and thoughts on sustainability with regard to their farming management practices in the light of the SAFA framework, and their own thoughts and perception of the government’s action to promote sustainability, as well as to consider its implications for the futures of their own farms. The interviewed beef cattle farmers thought of sustainability on a day-to-day context rather than as a multi-dimensional concept. In their views, sustainability was very much about being able to continue farming, for the farm to survive and about being able to hand it over to the next generation. However, when presented with the four dimensions of the SAFA framework, they acknowledged the wider perspectives and different aspects of sustainability and reflected about how their own agricultural practices related to these wider aspects too. 

scholarly journals Assessing Sustainability of Organic Livestock Farming in Sicily: A Case Study Using the FAO SAFA Framework

Agriculture ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 274
Author(s):  
Mariarita Cammarata ◽  
Giuseppe Timpanaro ◽  
Alessandro Scuderi
Keyword(s):  
Technical Assistance ◽  
Sustainability Assessment ◽  
Good Governance ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Economic Resilience ◽  
Livestock Farming ◽  
Four Dimensions ◽  
Food And Agriculture ◽  
Food And Agriculture Organization

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and pollutants, soil erosion and groundwater pollution are some of the negative aspects blamed on livestock farming, so their level of sustainability needs to be assessed, taking into account the territory in which they operate. The research focuses on the assessment of sustainability performance in the four dimensions of good governance: environmental integrity, economic resilience and social well-being, considered by the ‘‘Sustainability Assessment of Food and Agriculture Systems’’ (SAFA) tool developed by Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The objective of applying this methodology is to highlight the sustainability dimensions in which the ten analyzed farms are weakest and the ones in which they show the most strength, in order to provide farmers a tool to understand the criticalities on which to intervene. The farms considered follow the principles of agroecology and organic farming, which are decisive in the pursuit of sustainable development. The overall results show a satisfactory level of sustainability with high prospects for improvement, in line with the EU commitments undertaken in the Green Deal and the Millennium Development Goals. Livestock farms must, therefore, be encouraged and accompanied with targeted technical assistance strategies and appropriate agroecological protocols.

scholarly journals Open in Order to Achieve Food and Nutritional Security

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sridhar Gutam
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Sustainable Development Goals ◽  
Agricultural Research ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
Nutritional Security ◽  
Food And Agriculture ◽  
2030 Agenda ◽  
Food And Agriculture Organization ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Food And Nutritional Security

Agriculture is the principal component of the 2030 agenda for sustainable development and is directly or indirectly linked to all the 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs). The new estimate recently released by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in their report, ‘The State of Food and Agriculture 2017,’ puts the number of chronically undernourished people in the world at 815 million. So, let’s make all the agricultural research data and information to be open in order to achieve food and nutritional security and realize the ambitious vision outlined in the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.

scholarly journals Chemical–Physical, Sensory Analyses and Consumers’ Quality Perception of Local vs. Imported Loquat Fruits: A Sustainable Development Perspective

Agronomy ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 870 ◽  
Author(s):  
Riccardo Testa ◽  
Giuseppina Migliore ◽  
Giorgio Schifani ◽  
Ilenia Tinebra ◽  
Vittorio Farina
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Consumer Preference ◽  
Local Economy ◽  
Short Supply ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Food And Agriculture ◽  
Food And Agriculture Organization ◽  
Physico Chemical ◽  
Sensory Qualities

Local products and their distribution through short supply chains play a key role in the sustainable development of many rural areas, as affirmed by the 2030 Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Agenda. Moreover, in the last years, more and more consumers have shown a specific interest towards local production, pushed by the need for healthy eating, protecting the environment, and boosting the local economy. However, the cultivation of local fruit varieties or ecotypes has considerably decreased in the last decades because of their low production potential. As a result, many farmers have been forced to replace local orchards with few worldwide grown cultivars, causing a loss of genetic agrobiodiversity. For instance, in Italy, the loquat market is composed of imported cultivars and local grown autochthonous fruits (ecotype). Therefore, the aim of this study is to analyze the chemical–physical and sensory qualities, as well as the determinants of Italian consumer preference towards local ecotype of loquat fruit compared to imported varieties. Results show that local ecotypes result in excellent physico-chemical and sensory attributes, and that place of purchase and taste are the most important factors influencing consumers’ preference towards local loquats. Therefore, the cultivation of loquat ecotypes, together with effective marketing strategies, could increase the competitiveness of certain Italian rural areas, where this crop has always played a significant role in the economy.

Study on Evaluation Method for Sustainable Development of Reservoir Resettlement Based on Analytic Hierarchy Process

2014 ◽  
Vol 962-965 ◽  
pp. 2195-2200
Author(s):  
Hao Cao
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Analytic Hierarchy Process ◽  
Evaluation Method ◽  
Comprehensive Evaluation ◽  
Evaluation Index System ◽  
Analytic Hierarchy ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Development Evaluation ◽  
Hierarchy Process ◽  
Reservoir Resettlement

The sustainable development evaluation of reservoir resettlement has great significance to future planning and implementation of water conservancy and hydropower projects. Based on the analysis of the current condition of reservoir resettlement, this paper established a comprehensive evaluation index system for sustainable development of reservoir resettlement, with the consideration of economic, social, cultural and environmental factors. The Analytic Hierarchy Process method is proposed to determine the weight of each index. The case of the Three Gorges reservoir resettlement in Tianchang, Anhui is analyzed, and the feasibility of the proposed method is verified.

scholarly journals Good Practices and Results for the Implementation of a Framework of Sustainable Development in Higher Education

Proceedings ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 63 (1) ◽  
pp. 59
Author(s):  
Liviu Moldovan
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Sustainability Assessment ◽  
Education Institution ◽  
Environmental Responsibility ◽  
Financial Sustainability ◽  
Sustainability Evaluation ◽  
Continuous Training ◽  
Good Practices ◽  
Complex Evaluation

Sustainability assessment implies a complex evaluation due to its multidisciplinary aspects. The new eQvet-us framework for sustainability evaluation was developed based on the principle that training contributes to the development of human capital, enhances social cohesion and should also pursue financial sustainability and environmental responsibility. This paper presents the testing and implementation results of the framework for sustainable development in a higher education institution. It highlights good practices and results that can be used by other similar institutions, which carry out continuous training programs.

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