Application of TOPSIS method in evaluation and prioritization of social stability in rural areas (Case Study: Zidasht Basin)

India is a country which is in forefront of being called a developed nation. To be a developed nation, India has to first look at its rural development, because 70 percent of the population live in rural areas, which means more than 700 million people are spread across 6,27,000 villages. Rural development is more than ever before linked to entrepreneurship. Establishments and agencies promoting rural development now look at entrepreneurship as a strategic development medium that could speed up the rural development process. Development institutions believe that rural entrepreneurship offers a huge potential for employment. In this paper a case study of a young entrepreneur who has taken up horticulture (vegetable plants nursery) as his full time profession, with a mission to help the neighbouring farmers is studied, the purpose of this paper is to understand the government role (policies and schemes), the difficulties faced by the entrepreneur during the startup time and knowledge transfer from the horticulture department, nursery management. The methodology followed is in-depth interaction with the entrepreneur. The outcome of paper will be to understand how rural entrepreneurship is helping improve the quality of life for families, communities and individuals leading to sustainable economy and environment.

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Policy Strategies to Revive Rural Land in Peri-Metropolitan Towns: Resource Identification, Capitalization, and Financialization

Land ◽

10.3390/land10020132 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (2) ◽

pp. 132

Author(s):

Wei Li ◽

Zhanwei Zhang ◽

Yang Zhou

Keyword(s):

Rural Areas ◽

Master Planning ◽

Leading Role ◽

Multifunctional Land Use ◽

Key Stakeholders ◽

Resource Identification ◽

The Government ◽

Interpretative Approach ◽

The Town

Previous planning for rural revival in towns has emphasized construction and government-led policies. However, we argue that the dilemmas of peri-metropolitan rural areas, such as Desakota in China, are far more complex faced with rural super village and hollowed village transformations. Rural revival planning needs to coordinate with the development of urbanized and rural areas towards multifunctional goals and plans as a whole. Therefore, we selected the town master plan of Lijia, a typical peri-metropolitan village in China, as a case study. Through a historical–interpretative approach involving analysis of planning policies, questionnaires, and in-depth interviews with the key stakeholders involved, we structured the process and mechanism of rural revival in Lijia into three phases: resource identification, capitalization, and financialization. In different phases, different stakeholders adopt different roles. The government takes a leading role in resource identification and capitalization, while firms take a leading role in the process of financialization. “Market-dominant and government-guided” planning stimulates villagers to participate in rural revival. We highlight the importance of multifunctional land-use in terms of rural revival in the master planning of peri-metropolitan villages and provide a practical reference for uniting multiple stakeholders, including governments, firms, and villagers.

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Exploring Factors Influencing Scenarios Evolution of Waste NIMBY Crisis: Analysis of Typical Cases in China

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph18042006 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (4) ◽

pp. 2006

Author(s):

Ling He ◽

Qing Yang ◽

Xingxing Liu ◽

Lingmei Fu ◽

Jinmei Wang

Keyword(s):

Network Theory ◽

Development Process ◽

Dynamic Bayesian Network ◽

Impact Factors ◽

Social Stability ◽

Ground Theory ◽

Evolution Path ◽

Dynamic Scenario ◽

The Impact

As the impact factors of the waste Not-In-My-Back Yard (NIMBY) crisis are complex, and the scenario evolution path of it is diverse. Once the crisis is not handled properly, it will bring adverse effects on the construction of waste NIMBY facilities, economic development and social stability. Consequently, based on ground theory, this paper takes the waste NIMBY crisis in China from 2006 to 2019 as typical cases, through coding analysis, scenario evolution factors of waste NIMBY crisis are established. Furtherly, three key scenarios were obtained, namely, external situation (E), situation state (S), emergency management (M), what is more, scenario evolution law of waste NIMBY crisis is revealed. Then, the dynamic Bayesian network theory is used to construct the dynamic scenario evolution network of waste NIMBY crisis. Finally, based on the above models, Xiantao waste NIMBY crisis is taken as a case study, and the dynamic process of scenario evolution network is visually displayed by using Netica. The simulation results show that the scenario evolution network of Xiantao waste NIMBY crisis is basically consistent with the actual incident development process, which confirms the effectiveness and feasibility of the model.

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A Capabilities-Led Approach to Assessing Technological Solutions for a Rural Community

Energies ◽

10.3390/en14051398 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 14 (5) ◽

pp. 1398

Author(s):

Xinfang Wang ◽

Rosie Day ◽

Dan Murrant ◽

Antonio Diego Marín ◽

David Castrejón Botello ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Rural Community ◽

Rural Areas ◽

Assessment Method ◽

Unintended Consequences ◽

Energy Services ◽

Grid Systems ◽

Technological Interventions ◽

Solution Design ◽

Improve Access

To improve access to affordable, reliable and sustainable energy in rural areas of the global south, off-grid systems using renewable generation and energy storage are often proposed. However, solution design is often technology-driven, with insufficient consideration of social and cultural contexts. This leads to a risk of unintended consequences and inappropriate systems that do not meet local needs. To address this problem, this paper describes the application of a capabilities-led approach to understanding a community’s multi-dimensional energy poverty and assessing their needs as they see them, in order to better design suitable technological interventions. Data were collected in Tlamacazapa, Mexico, through site visits and focus groups with men and women. These revealed the ways in which constrained energy services undermined essential capabilities, including relating to health, safety, relationships and earning a living, and highlighted the specific ways in which improved energy services, such as lighting, cooking and mechanical power could improve capabilities in the specific context of Tlamacazapa. Based on these findings, we propose some potential technological interventions to address these needs. The case study offers an illustration of an assessment method that could be deployed in a variety of contexts to inform the design of appropriate technological interventions.

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Rwanda’s Land Policy Reform: Self-Employment Perspectives from a Case Study of Kimonyi Sector

Land ◽

10.3390/land10020117 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (2) ◽

pp. 117

Author(s):

Mireille Mizero ◽

Aristide Maniriho ◽

Bosco Bashangwa Mpozi ◽

Antoine Karangwa ◽

Philippe Burny ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Rural Areas ◽

Policy Reform ◽

Binary Logistic Regression ◽

Literacy Skills ◽

Land Policy ◽

Binary Logistic Regression Analysis ◽

Self Employment ◽

Expropriation Risk ◽

Main Activity

Rwanda’s Land Policy Reform promotes agri-business and encourages self-employment. This paper aims to analyze the situation from a self-employment perspective when dealing with expropriation risk in rural areas. In this study, we conducted a structured survey addressed to 63 domestic units, complemented by focus groups of 47 participants from Kimonyi Sector. The binary logistic regression analysis revealed that having job alternatives, men heading domestic units, literacy skills in English, and owning land lease certificates (p < 0.05) are positively and significantly related to awareness of land expropriation risk. The decision of the head of the domestic unit to practice the main activity under self-employment status is positively influenced by owning a land lease certificate, number of plots, and French skills, while skills in English and a domestic unit’s size have a positive and significant influence on involvement in a second activity as self-employed. Information on expropriation risk has no significant effect on self-employment. The domestic unit survey revealed that 34.9% of the heads of domestic units only have one job, 47.6% have at least two jobs in their everyday life, 12.7% have a minimum of three jobs, and 4.8% are inactive. The focus group synthesis exposed the limits to self-employment ability and facilities.

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Sustainable Mobility and the Institutional Lock-In: The Example of Rural France

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13042189 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (4) ◽

pp. 2189

Author(s):

Aurore Flipo ◽

Madeleine Sallustio ◽

Nathalie Ortar ◽

Nicolas Senil

Keyword(s):

Rural Areas ◽

Sustainable Mobility ◽

Local Mobility ◽

European Public ◽

Determining Factors ◽

Anthropological Fieldwork ◽

Lock In ◽

Rural France ◽

Ecological Transition

Sustainable mobility issues in rural areas, compared with urban mobility issues, have so far been poorly covered in the French and European public debate. However, local mobility issues are determining factors in territorial inequalities, regional development and ecological transition. This paper is based on preliminary findings of qualitative socio-anthropological fieldwork carried out in two rural departments of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region: Drôme and Ardèche. Our objective is to highlight how the question of sustainable local mobility is linked to governance issues and multiple overlapping institutions. We argue that analyzing stakeholders’ strategies and territorial governance is key to understanding the contemporary dynamics surrounding a transition towards a more sustainable mobility in rural areas. In order to do so, we show how the debates surrounding the adoption of a law allowing for the transfer of responsibility to local authorities for the organization of mobility services reveals the complexity of local mobility governance in rural areas and provides material for the analysis of the logics of stakeholder engagement, cooperation and conflict within the field of sustainable mobility. Through the case study of the organization of a local public transport service in a rural area, we shed light on the action of multiple stakeholders and their potentially antagonistic objectives.

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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 ◽

10.3390/designs5020031 ◽

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.

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

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13084359 ◽

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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