Aggregates and Construction Markets in Europe: Towards a Sectoral Action Plan on Sustainable Resource Management

Increased use of forest resources to meet increasing world demand for wood and other forest products threatens forest sustainability and highlights the importance of conservation and sustainable management of these resources. Maintaining well-adapted and productive forests, and conserving natural forest genetic resources are important for sustainable forest management. Over exploitation of species can lead to excessive forest fragmentation and reduction of population sizes to a point that threatens population viability and species existence. In many cases, restoration of genetic resources of threatened species is needed. Molecular genetic markers, combined with population genetic principles and concepts, can greatly facilitate programs in conservation, restoration and sustainable management of forest genetic resources. We have used various biochemical and molecular genetic markers, such as allozymes, microsatellite DNA, random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) and sequence-tagged site markers, to examine effects of alternative silvicultural harvesting and regeneration systems, and forest fragmentation and small population size on genetic diversity, fine-scale population genetic structure, mating system and other population genetic parameters in white spruce (Picea glauca), eastern white pine (Pinus strobus), and red spruce (Picea rubens). The objectives of our studies are to provide genetic benchmarks and indicators for developing guidelines for genetically sustainable forest management practices and scientifically sound strategies for conservation and restoration of forest genetic resources. The results of these studies are discussed, particularly in the context of sustainable management, conservation and restoration of forest genetic resources.

The sustainable management of natural resources by the EU is in our own interest and also contributes to global sustainable development. What we import can have serious consequences in exporting countries. Such external effects of EU natural resources use have been discussed at length by the EU institutions, but a clear and coherent policy framework has not emerged. Instead, an ad hoc approach has been followed. Over time, the EU has thus developed separate policy regimes with distinct features for numerous individual natural resources. Two such regimes, regarding forestry and fisheries, are examined in this contribution. The manner in which they aim at ensuring that only legally harvested natural resources are put on the EU market or imported has turned out to be quite different. While the specific characteristics of the natural resources in question do not seem to play a decisive role here, it does seem that other factors do. A prominent factor seems to be the fear of violating rules of international trade law. Another factor could be that the EU has an exclusive competence to adopt fisheries measures, but not when it comes to forestry products. In order to enhance the effectiveness of the individual regimes, it is concluded that it is worth striving for enhanced coherence of the EU's policy regarding sustainable management of natural resource. INTRODUCTION The European Union (EU) is highly dependent on the import of resources from third (non-EU) countries. This brings economic advantages for those countries, but some of the EU imports have environmental and social disadvantages for the producing countries that stand in the way of their sustainable development. They can have negative economic consequences where natural resources (like timber, minerals and fish) are illegally harvested and payment of taxes is avoided. These negative consequences for third countries of EU production and consumption processes can also affect the Union itself, notably through rising greenhouse gas emissions due to illegal logging or burning of forests to clear land for oil palm plantations. They can also contribute to destabilisation and increased migration to Europe. Only by paying attention to the external consequences of EU use of natural resources, for instance in terms of environmental effects, rights of indigenous persons and their livelihoods and food security, can the EU ensure that it does not add to the problems of developing countries and instead contribute to building more sustainable and resilient societies.

The management of natural resources has become a crucial agenda item at the community level of every country, due to the importance of a community’s direct involvement in the stewardship of these resources. The sustainable management of natural resources is not easy without the involvement of the community. To know the attitudes of residents in the communities in close proximity to Central Karakoram National Park (CKNP) towards natural resource sustainable management policy, a study of CKNP in northern Pakistan was conducted. This is the first community study for this park. It is difficult to overstate the economic and geographic importance of this national resource to the Pakistani people at local and national levels, as well as at the international level. This is the world’s highest public park; as a natural resource it is not only important to the local community, it also has great relevance internationally. The study attempted to gauge the attitudes of the local community towards the sustainable management practices of CKNP. The results of this study showed generally positive attitudes towards the park. The majority of respondents revealed that the park’s primary appeal is its geographic location. Households were afraid that pollution in the park will gradually destroy the park’s natural resources. For sustainable management of the CKNP, community members expressed willingness to contribute to the betterment of park through volunteerism. Community members praised the government’s supportive actions, including budgetary support and public-awareness campaigns. As such, the positive attitude of the community towards the CKNP also revealed new insights for the community-centered sustainable management of natural resources in developing countries. This study also provides a research gap for future work relating to the sustainable management of community-based natural resources to consider more factors beside the factors used in this study.

According to IISD (International Institute for Sustainable Development) “sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs’’. However, many organizations focus on short-term profits while the contribution of human resource management towards sustainable development is pushed to the margins. Intensive labour practices, poor working conditions and poor work systems in Kenya are some of the issues that have been found not to contribute towards sustainability in organizations and in keeping with the 8th sustainable development goal of Promoting “sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all”. Lack of focus on sustainable human resource management practices will make it difficult for Kenya to achieve Vision 2030 as well as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG-goals). Sustainable Human Resource management focuses on managing the people resources in an organization so as to achieve long-term sustainable goals that not only benefit the organization but also the society and the environment at large. This Paper is a literature review and analysis on sustainable Human Resource Management and its benefits to the employees, their families and society at large by exploring sustainable HR practices, sustainable work systems and sustainable resource management that also provide for the sustainable performance of organizations in keeping with the need for corporate sustainability. The paper also explores reporting on sustainable HRM practices as part of corporate sustainability reporting in Nairobi Securities Exchange-listed firms

Bioeconomy has become one of the major directions in the development of the European Union (EU). This is a response to global challenges including sustainable management of natural resources, sustainable production, public health improvement, mitigation of adverse effects of climate change, and integrated social and economic development. This article aimed to describe how bioeconomy develops and how significant it is to the European Union and evaluate the potential of bioeconomy in Poland in comparison to other EU member states. The potential of bioeconomy was analysed according to the level and structure of employment, gross value added generated by this sector of the economy, as well as according to labour productivity. The analysis was based on an official classification of economic activity in Europe (NACE). The timeline of the study was 2008 and 2017, which allowed evaluating changes that occurred over a decade. The analysis involved data deriving from the European Commission’s statistical database. The studies imply that in 2017 Poland ranked first in the EU in terms of the number of bioeconomy workers, whereas differences in the structure of employment could be observed between Poland and the whole EU. They mostly referred to a higher share of employment in Polish agriculture, with a lower percentage of employment in the food, beverage and tobacco sector. In addition, Poland had a 5% share in generating the Gross Value Added (GVA) of the EU bioeconomy, which put it fifth among all the member states. The GVA of bioeconomy in Poland had a structure similar to that presented by the whole EU with Food, beverage and tobacco and Agriculture being the most significant sectors and Bio-based electricity and Liquid biofuels being relatively insignificant. In addition, in all the sectors labour productivity was lower than on average in the EU.

Sustainable resource management involve managing resources in a way that their sources are not depleted; so that the future generations can also benefit from it. Africa is endowed with diverse and abundant natural resources and stands at a critical juncture where responsible and sustainable management of these resources is paramount for the continent’s development. The Kenyan governments (national-level and county-level) recognize the need for sustainable resource management for the good of the citizens. In devolved government units in Kenya, sustainable resource management is critical. This study sought to assess the dynamics of accountability on sustainable resource management in county government of Kericho, Kenya. The study was guided by Resource-based view theory, administrative theory, transformational leadership theory and the theory of Planned Behaviour. This study adopted a pragmatism approach that took a practical and flexible approach, focusing on the usefulness and applicability of research findings, rather than an all-or-nothing, mutually exclusive philosophical position. A descriptive research design with a mixed method of quantitative and qualitative data collections was adopted. The target population of the study comprised a total of 213 senior, middle and lower level management staff of the county government of Kericho. The Stratified random sampling was used to develop a sample from different management groups. A sample of 139 management staff was selected using Slovin’s formula. Reliability of the study was ensured by conducting a pilot study in the neighbouring County Government of Nakuru while context, content and criterion validity were ascertained by the researcher in the field of study. Quantitative data was analysed using descriptive statistics which described the nature of ethical leadership and sustainable resource management. Inferential statistics (Pearson’s correlation and regression analysis) were used to determine the nature of influence between the variables. This was done with the help of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25. Qualitative data was analysed by themes and content analysis. The study findings revealed that accountability had a statistically significant influence on sustainable resource management. The study concluded that there exists a strong and significant relationship between accountability (r=0.940 and p=0.000) and sustainable resource management in Kericho County, Kenya. The study recommends that accountability in record management, auditing and procurement processes should be promoted as a way of promoting sustainable resource management in county governance.

Sustainable resource management involve managing resources in a way that their sources are not depleted; so that the future generations can also benefit from it. Africa is endowed with diverse and abundant natural resources and stands at a critical juncture where responsible and sustainable management of these resources is paramount for the continent's development. The Kenyan governments (national-level and county-level) recognize the need for sustainable resource management for the good of the citizens. In devolved government units in Kenya, sustainable resource management is a critical. This study sought to assess the dynamics of public participation on sustainable resource management in county government of Kericho, Kenya. The study was guided by Resource-based view theory, administrative theory, transformational leadership theory and the theory of Planned Behaviour. This study adopted a pragmatism approach that took a practical and flexible approach, focusing on the usefulness and applicability of research findings, rather than an all-or-nothing, mutually exclusive philosophical position. A descriptive research design with a mixed method of quantitative and qualitative data collections was adopted. The target population of the study comprised a total of 213 senior, middle and lower level management staff of the county government of Kericho. The Stratified random sampling was used to develop a sample from different management groups. A sample of 139 management staff was selected using Slovin’s formula. Reliability of the study was ensured by conducting a pilot study in the neighbouring County Government of Nakuru while context, content and criterion validity were ascertained by the researcher in the field of study. Quantitative data was analysed using descriptive statistics which described the nature of ethical leadership and sustainable resource management. Inferential statistics (Pearson’s correlation and regression analysis) were used to determine the nature of influence between the variables. This was done with the help of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25. Qualitative data was analysed by themes and content analysis. The study findings revealed that, public participation had a statistically significant influence on sustainable resource management. The study concluded that there exists a strong and significant relationship between public participation (r=0.832 and p=0.000) and sustainable resource management in Kericho County, Kenya. The study recommends that in order to enhance public participation members of the public should be empowered by giving the information and documents containing information on development activities and legislations that require their input in advance so that they know and understand what they are coming to do in public forums.

The chapter consists of three parts: Family Firms, Sustainable Human Resource Management, and Pathways to Family Firms. First, we discuss the importance of family firms and the theoretical perspective of family science theories. Secondly, the author explores the emerging concept of sustainable human resource management (SHRM) and introduces pathways to sustainable futures. What is sustainability, and how was it integrated into HRM? It draws on the wider literature on Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM), Sustainable Resource Management (SRM), and organizational theory to offer insights into the relationship between sustainability and HRM. The key issue addressed is the balancing act between short-term economic efficiency and long-term sustainability in managing human resources. Last but not least, we discuss the pathways to family firms and how family firm sustainable practices contribute to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2030.

The EU Response to COVID-19: From Reactive Policies to Strategic Decision-Making.

Recent progress on innovative urban infrastructures system towards sustainable resource management

The transformation of sustainable management and governance for a natural resource can be organized as social learning involving all types of social workers like experts, political leaders, scientist, and local actors and their corresponding scientific and nonscientific knowledge require all new spaces of communicative share sustainable natural resource make novel demand on governance arrangement governance make some principle for diverse contexts and they are availability for sustainable natural resource. The principle can be directly used to design government institutions that are legitimate and transparent, inclusive and fair. The main areas highlight a natural resource that ensures sustainable development. Perspective on the rules and perspectives of our society to promote sustainable development and Environmental Protection. The environmental impact of the assessment system planes with human activities and preventing damage to the environment. This paper analysis of analyzes the sustainable management and governance of natural resources. It provides raw materials and space for social production but serves the needs of human life. It recognizes in that people and their livelihoods rely on the health production of our landscape and play critical roles in maintaining their wealth and productivity. For improving natural resources, securing rights, and sharing power and responsibility for understanding, accessing, and improving natural resource governments including all sharing power and responsibilities. To understand accessing improving natural resources government the realize that values and conserve nature. The extent to which the sustainable management of natural resources is being achieved Looking at human management and environment, land use, population, and waste management resource efficiency.

The transformation of sustainable management and governance for a natural resource can be organized as social learning involving all types of social workers like experts, political leaders, scientist, and local actors and their corresponding scientific and nonscientific knowledge require all new spaces of communicative share sustainable natural resource make novel demand on governance arrangement governance make some principle for diverse contexts and they are availability for sustainable natural resource. The principle can be directly used to design government institutions that are legitimate and transparent, inclusive and fair. The main areas highlight a natural resource that ensures sustainable development. Perspective on the rules and perspectives of our society to promote sustainable development and Environmental Protection. The environmental impact of the assessment system planes with human activities and preventing damage to the environment. This paper analysis of analyzes the sustainable management and governance of natural resources. It provides raw materials and space for social production but serves the needs of human life. It recognizes in that people and their livelihoods rely on the health production of our landscape and play critical roles in maintaining their wealth and productivity. For improving natural resources, securing rights, and sharing power and responsibility for understanding, accessing, and improving natural resource governments including all sharing power and responsibilities. To understand accessing improving natural resources government the realize that values and conserve nature. The extent to which the sustainable management of natural resources is being achieved Looking at human management and environment, land use, population, and waste management resource efficiency.

The ecosystem approach—as endorsed by the Convention on Biological Diversity (CDB) in 2000—is a strategy for holistic, sustainable, and equitable natural resource management, to be implemented via the 12 Malawi Principles. These principles describe the need to manage nature in terms of dynamic ecosystems, while fully engaging with local peoples. It is an ambitious concept. Today, the term is common throughout the research and policy literature on environmental management. However, multiple meanings have been attached to the term, resulting in confusion. We reviewed references to the ecosystem approach from 1957 to 2012 and identified 3 primary uses: as an alternative to ecosystem management or ecosystem-based management; in reference to an integrated and equitable approach to resource management as per the CBD; and as a term signifying a focus on understanding and valuing ecosystem services. Although uses of this term and its variants may overlap in meaning, typically, they do not entirely reflect the ethos of the ecosystem approach as defined by the CBD. For example, there is presently an increasing emphasis on ecosystem services, but focusing on these alone does not promote decentralization of management or use of all forms of knowledge, both of which are integral to the CBD’s concept. We highlight that the Malawi Principles are at risk of being forgotten. To better understand these principles, more effort to implement them is required. Such efforts should be evaluated, ideally with comparative approaches, before allowing the CBD’s concept of holistic and socially engaged management to be abandoned or superseded. It is possible that attempts to implement all 12 principles together will face many challenges, but they may also offer a unique way to promote holistic and equitable governance of natural resources. Therefore, we believe that the CBD’s concept of the ecosystem approach demands more attention.La Necesidad de Desenredar Conceptos Clave del Argot Ambiente-EstrategiaResumenLa estrategia ambiental – como es promocionada por la Convención Biológica sobre Diversidad en 2000 – es una estrategia para un manejo holístico, sustentable y equitativo de recursos naturales, que habrá de implementarse por vía de los 12 Principios de Malawi. Estos principios describen la necesidad de manejar la naturaleza en términos de ecosistemas dinámicos, mientras se compromete totalmente con las personas locales. Es un concepto ambicioso. Hoy en día, el término es común en la investigación y la literatura de políticas sobre el manejo ambiente. Sin embargo, se han relacionado múltiples significados con el término, lo que resulta en confusión. Revisamos referencias a la estrategia ambiental de 1957 a 2012 e identificamos tres usos principales: como una alternativa para manejo ambiental o basado en ecosistemas; en referencia a una estrategia integrada y equitativa para el manejo de recursos según la CBD; y como un término que indica un enfoque en el entendimiento y la valuación de los servicios ambientales. Aunque los usos de este término y sus variantes pueden traslaparse en su significado, típicamente no reflejan en su totalidad los valores de la estrategia ambiental como fue definida por la CBD. Por ejemplo, actualmente hay un énfasis creciente en los servicios ambientales, pero enfocarse solamente en estos no promueve la descentralización del manejo o el uso de todas las formas de conocimiento, siendo ambas integrales para el concepto de la CBD. Resaltamos que los Principios de Malawi están en riesgo de ser olvidados. Para entender mejor estos principios, se requiere de más esfuerzo para implementarlos. Dichos esfuerzos deben ser evaluados, idóneamente con estrategias comparativas, antes de permitir que el concepto de la CBD de manejo holístico y comprometido socialmente sea abandonado o reemplazado. Es posible que los intentos por implementar los 12 principios juntos enfrentarán muchos obstáculos, pero también pueden ofrecer una forma única de promover el gobierno holístico y equitativo de los recursos naturales. Así, creemos que el concepto de estrategia ambiental de la CBD exige mayor atención.

The new Common Agricultural Policy of the European Union (EU) (2023-2027) envisages a stronger Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation System (AKIS) that will unite all relevant ac-tors in a co-creation process to ensure knowledge flows within and across Member States. A sig-nificant and increasing body of literature focuses on the strategy and processes of strengthening AKIS. However, there is a relative gap in research related to the role of AKIS in achieving sus-tainability in the farming sector. The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the advancements so far of AKIS across the EU when it comes to facilitating the sustainable management of natural resources (SMNR). The paper builds upon a comprehensive review of rel-evant literature during the last 15 years covering all 28 EU countries (including the United King-dom until 2019). We conclude that AKIS architecture in most EU countries lacks a comprehensive structure promoting SMNR. Based on the results we identify countries with relatively high inten-sity of research and development projects linking AKIS to SMNR and where SMNR is better in-tegrated to AKIS. Our results can be of interest to the design of stronger AKIS during the new programming period.

Policy instruments for soil protection among the EU member states: A comparative analysis