Changes In Management Policies Research Articles

Levamisole-Induced Leukoencephalopathy in Russia: Analysis of 30 Cases.

The study aims to raise medical specialists' awareness regarding the severity of possible complications of levamisole administration, and demonstrate the role of accurate medical history collection in a differential diagnosis. Levamisole, an anthelmintic drug with immunomodulatory effects, has long been used worldwide till the early 2000s, when its association with demyelinating leukoencephalopathy was established. However, in the developing countries, it is still widely used for the prevention and treatment of helminthic invasion in humans. The actual prevalence of levamisole-induced multiple inflammatory leukoencephalopathy (LEV-induced MIL) in Russia remains unknown, and therefore, the study of its frequency and characteristics is indisputably important. The objective of this study is to determine the clinical features and MRI findings of levamisole- induced MIL in the Russian population, and to analyse the frequency of diagnostic errors at the initial assessment. A single-center retrospective analysis of total 30 patients who were diagnosed with LEV- induced MIL and attended the Research Center of Neurology was conducted. Inclusion criteria were 1) clinically: acute or subacute polysymptomatic onset of neurological disturbances, 2) MRI: multifocal demyelinating lesion with no evidence of dissemination in time, 3) anamnestic data: levamisole exposure from 2 to 8 weeks before symptoms onset as well as monophasic disease course (absence of relapses according to follow up assessments up to 3 years). Clinically, presentation with constitutional symptoms including headache, fever, fatigue and myalgia, focal motor disturbances and dysarthria prevailed in our cohort. On the brain MRI, multiple foci of demyelination with simultaneous gadolinium enhancement were observed. The link between neurological symptoms and levamisole intake has often been detected only during follow- up assessments. Patients were most often misdiagnosed with acute disseminated encephalomyelitis, stroke and multiple sclerosis. In most cases, LEV-induced MIL was successfully treated with intravenous corticosteroids and/or plasma exchange (PLEX), however, residual neurologic symptoms were preserved in some patients. Additionally, two detailed clinical cases of patients being initially misdiagnosed are presented in the article. The differential diagnosis remains difficult for suspected cases of LEV-induced MIL that could lead to delayed therapy initiation, and consequently incomplete recovery. Growing evidence suggests that a single administration of levamisole even in low doses might potentially lead to severe neurological deficit or death. Therefore, changes in medication management policies are required in order to prevent the uncontrolled use of levamisole.

Policy interventions for disaster-related internal displacement in Australia

It is projected that internal displacement of populations in the aftermath of natural hazards will occur more frequently due to climate change [1]. However, to date, 35 nations have implemented policy or legal protections at a national level to plan for displacement or to protect the rights of internally displaced people (IDPs) [2]. While no cohesive national strategy for internal displacement has been developed in Australia, a thematic analysis of climate change, disasters, and emergency management policies was conducted to determine if Australian policy acknowledges the issue of internal displacement or plans for its effects. The study found that Australian policy fails to recognise the needs of IDPs and the threat of displacement risk. The failure of national governments to implement policy and legislation on internal displacement has the potential to undermine the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and stifle the progression of international initiatives such as the Sendai Framework and the Paris Climate Agreement. Furthermore, the lack of recognition for the issue at the governmental level contributes to disaster displacement risk creation, placing vulnerable populations at risk of displacement and associated stressors. As displacement governance is an integral part of addressing the human impacts of climate change and natural hazards [3], this research suggests how displacement risk could be reduced in Australia through national-level policy interventions.

Mapping rainfall interception for assessing ecological restoration sustainability in China

Ecological restoration (ER) programs play an important role in local and global climate change and carbon management policy interventions. Water resource is a key criterion for assessing the sustainability of ERs. Herein, we explored the spatiotemporal patterns of rainfall interception (RI, an important component of ecosystem water budgets), and its drivers after ER implementation in China. Further, we assessed whether ERs are sustainable by analyzing the trends of RI and water supply. As expected, we found that ERs caused an increase in RI in China from 2001 to 2018 (0.64 mm yr−1, p < 0.01). Changes in the normalized difference vegetation index and leaf area index contributed to a higher change in RI compared with other drivers. The decrease in RI was mainly recorded in the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau in Southwest, northern North, and southern Central and Southern China. Conversely, an increasing trend of RI was recorded in the Loess Plateau in Northwest, Northeast, and East China. Moreover, ERs are not always unsustainable in China, especially in Northeast, East, Central and Southern, and high-latitude regions of northern North China. Even in the Loess Plateau, which was criticized by previous studies, the unsustainability occurred only in the semi-humid region. Future ERs should be prioritized in southern parts of Eastern, Central, and Southern China, and must be appropriately considered in the Northeast and high-latitude regions in North China. It should be alert to the pressures of ERs on water supply, and its demand remains vigilant in the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau and semihumid areas of the Loess Plateau. This study provides new ideas for accurately evaluating the impact of ERs on water security and the sustainability of ERs.

Resource use efficiency level of public organizations. The case of Spanish health systems

Objectives: This paper seeks to detect, in the Spanish health system, which health services are efficient, and which are not, as well as propose corrective measures that allow inefficient health services to achieve efficiency. Methods: This paper applies the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) methodology, which allows obtaining natural and managerial efficiencies, as well as deviations from inefficient units in relation to efficient ones and proposing corrective measures that imply only budgetary (natural) modifications or changes in the policies of resource management (management). Results: Through the efficiencies, or the lack of them, the health services of the 17 Spanish autonomous communities are classified into four groups: With high, medium-high, medium-low or low natural or managerial efficiency. Conclusions: The lack of natural efficiency can be corrected with a greater budgetary endowment and the lack of managerial efficiency with a budget cut and changes in resource management policies. This tendency contrary to the adjustments is precisely what gives this work of interest and novelty with respect to others that apply the DEA in different sectors such as those that study the impact on the environment of resource consumption. Another important aspect of this study is the possibility of applying it to other countries with similar political structures.

Collaborative research to respond to the HIV epidemic: a case of Uganda (Makerere University)-Case Western Reserve University Research Collaboration 1988-2021

Collaborative research between institutions may not yield results to transform communities. Many research collaborations come to the end of their life time without achieving their originally set goals and with a dearth of community transformation to show for it. To delineate and highlight the achievements of the Uganda (Makerere University)-Case Western Reserve University Research Collaboration. We retrospectively compiled and reviewed the data on research, training and policy impact achievements of the Uganda (Makerere University)-Case Western Reserve University Research Collaboration over a period of 30 years of its existence. Over the last 35 years, the Uganda (Makerere University)-Case Western Reserve University Research Collaboration trained a total of 104 Ugandans with Masters, PhDs and other varied graduate training programs. More than 70 large tuberculosis/TB+HIV studies were conducted with more than 360 manuscripts published including landmark local and global TB/HIV policy impact publications. The Uganda (Makerere University)-Case Western Reserve University Research Collaboration has in the past 35 years built the capacity of Ugandan and international students through conducting landmark research, training and mentoring and contributed to TB HIV management policy changes in Uganda.

Relationship between Change Management and Sugarcane Productivity in Sugar Factory Cane Catchments Areas in Kenya

The study sought to determine the relationship between change management and sugarcane productivity in 13 sugar factory cane catchment areas in Kenya. The philosophical foundation of this study was positivism. Cross-sectional survey design was adopted. A sample of 478 respondents were used where 400 were farmers and 78 were the factory leaders. A simple regression model was used to test the statistical significance. The findings show that when change management is held constant, sugarcane productivity will remain at 0.714. A unit increase in change management will increase sugarcane productivity in sugar factory cane catchments areas in Kenya by the rate of 0.751. The null hypothesis of the study was change management has no significant relationship with sugarcane productivity in sugar factory cane catchments areas in Kenya. Since, the p value was less than the critical value 0.05, the study rejected the null hypotheses and thus change management has a significant relationship with sugarcane productivity in sugar factory cane catchments areas in Kenya. The study concludes that, to achieve varied goals, managers need more than fragmentary ad-hoc change programmes dealing only with present sugarcane productivity challenges. They need change management methods to prepare for upcoming organizational competitive difficulties. The study provides significant information for managers of the sugar companies on the need to implement appropriate change management policies and practice in organizations. The study confirms that change management has a significant effect on productivity of the sugar factory cane catchment areas. Keywords: Change Management, Productivity, Sugarcane Factories

Agricultural Reservoir Operation Strategy Considering Climate and Policy Changes

Agricultural water is affected by climate change and water management. Agricultural reservoirs are increasing demand on the environmental water supply because the Korean government has recently implemented an integrated water resource management policy. However, agricultural reservoirs are still in operation solely to supply agricultural water. To examine sustainable agricultural water management under climate change, we analyzed the strategy of operating regulations to efficiently distribute agricultural water as environmental water. We simulated the agricultural reservoir operation, analyzing its water supply capacity by applying operation regulations. The simulation predicted that future water supply capacity would decrease if the existing operation were maintained, and agricultural reservoir operation will be necessary in the future. The proposed reservoir operating strategy decreased the maximum water shortage and number of water shortage days compared with the existing operation with the required water supply. Our results can contribute to agricultural reservoir operation strategies and sustainable water management in response to climate change and provide decision-making guidance on water distribution for environmental use in response to water management policy changes.

HBCUs' preparedness planning and responses to reopening campuses safely during the COVID-19 pandemic: Needs, assets, and insights for future emergencies and disasters.

Managing the health and safety risks surrounding COVID-19 in congregate settings, such as on college campuses, and minimizing viral transmission should be on the dashboard of Higher Education Leadership. Understanding that the risk will not be zero, like other academic institutions, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) have given great thought to making their campuses, which are considered high-risk settings, safe enough to warrant returning to campus. We queried HBCU leadership via an online survey sent to all 102 HBCUs about their safety plan for the fall 2020 resumption of on-campus activities. While data show that there are 102 HBCUs, we were informed that two HBCUs were permanently closed during our data gathering period. Thus, the sample size was 100. Specific areas queried included risks management plans, mitigation steps, policy changes, and human capacity resources. We also asked these leaders to identify vulnerabilities and other factors they considered in planning a safe reopening. Findings indicated that as these academic institutions grappled with balancing between risks and benefits of reopening, they also had to recognize the numerous scenarios and multifaceted approaches required. Recommendations are presented for supporting HBCUs in the future to surmount obstacles and implement culturally responsive solutions that best serve their campuses and surrounding communities in which these academic institutions are anchored.

Ecohydrologic modeling using nitrate, ammonium, phosphorus, and macroinvertebrates as aquatic ecosystem health indicators of Albaida Valley (Spain)

Study regionAlbaida Valley, Spain. Study focusRivers are experiencing a rapid biodiversity loss largely due to water quality degradation imposed by anthropogenic activities. To show the capability of modeling to inform water management at watershed scales, this research develops an eco-hydrological model of the Albaida Valley (Spain). SWAT (Soil and Water Assessment Tool) is used for modeling of discharge and nutrients after calibration with SWAT-CUP (SWAT Calibration and Uncertainty Program). Results from SWAT are coupled to regressions between nutrients concentrations and macroinvertebrate-based metrics obtained from field monitoring. The spatio-temporal assessment of ecological status of streams is then carried out using simulated chemical and biological quality indicators (nitrate, ammonium, phosphorus, and macroinvertebrates). New hydrological insights for the regionManagement measures (e.g., improving treatment of wastewater and/or adopting policies for reducing fertilizer use) are needed as the ecological status of Albaida Valley rivers is mostly classified as poor because of nutrients pollution. The reasonably low uncertainty in the model prediction (expressed by R-factor: discharge (0.2–0.61), nitrate (0.79–1.27) and total phosphorus (0.8–1.68)) demonstrates the potential of the presented model for future applications (i.e., for investigating possible responses of the Albaida Valley ecosystem to changes in climate, land-use, and local management policies). The modeling approach provided in this study could be generally used as a complementary technique to field monitoring in assessing and managing ecological conditions of rivers.

Coping with heatwaves: How a key species of seaweed responds to heat stress along its latitudinal gradient

Marine heatwaves (MHWs) frequency and intensity are increasing around the globe, affecting marine ecosystems’ structure and functioning. Understanding how key marine species respond to these short-term extreme events is urgent for predicting damage to coastal ecosystems. Hypnea pseudomusciformis presents distribution in different floristic provinces on the Brazilian coast: tropical, transition and warm-temperate. Here, we evaluate the effects of simulated heatwaves on H. pseudomusciformis populations by measuring the changes in algal growth, pigment content, and photosynthesis. Based on data for the last four decades, we characterized the MHW patterns for each of the three collection sites. Perturbation levels were identified as average intensity heatwave (Δ +2 °C), maximum intensity heatwave (Δ +4 °C) and extreme intensity heatwave (Δ +6 °C), with an average duration of seven days. Based on growth rate data, corroborated with measurements of photosynthesis fluorescence and pigment contents. H. pseudomusciformis populations exhibit distinct tolerance and physiological responses to MHWs. The tropical and transition specimens were affected by Δ + 4 °C and Δ + 6 °C MHW scenarios, while the warm-temperate specimens was the only one to recover in all the MHW scenarios tested. These data are worrisome under a global warming scenario and an increase in MHWs, indicating that tropical and transition specimens of H. pseudomusciformis may be at risk of local extinction. This knowledge will be fundamental in driving any future management intervention or policy change for the conservation of marine ecosystems.

Outsourcing vs Offshoring or the Need for Both in the Present Context

Nowadays, outsourcing and offshoring are taking huge responsibility for the enhancement of an organisation's performance. It helped to decrease the organisational operation cost for maintenance of the business profitability. Implementation of the change management policies helps to make changes to the organisation's performance. Focusing on the organisation's key areas helps to eradicate the organisation's challenging situations. This project has mentioned the impact of offshoring and outsourcing on an organisation's decision-making process. A primary quantitative data collection process has been used for the collection of authentic information. The recommended strategy will help to eradicate the risk factors of outsourcing and offshoring strategies for the enhancement of business stability.

Adaptation Strategies to a Changing Resource Base: Case of the Gillnet Nile Perch Fishery on Lake Victoria in Uganda

Sustainable management of fisheries has proven to be a daunting exercise for Lake Victoria. Exploitation patterns in the fishery are driven by fishers who adopt different strategies as a response to changing economic, management, socio-economic, and resource conditions. Fisheries managers, however, seldom consider these changes in management policies. The aim of the study, therefore, was to evaluate the adaptation strategies of the Nile perch gillnet fishers on Lake Victoria in Uganda using 8-year catch and effort data collected in the period from 2005 to 2015. Trends of the selected effort and catch variables in the study period identified two adaptive fishing strategies by gillnet fishers on the lake. The first group, the paddled fishermen whose gillnet use varied in the first half of the study, diverted to harvesting juvenile Nile perch by using smaller, mesh sizes, monofilament nets and gillnets of less depth in the second half of the study. Motorized fishers, on the other hand, maintained their mesh size, using multifilament gillnets, however, they increased the depth of their nets in the second half of the study period to maintain their targeted fish size. Fishers on Lake Victoria adapted strategies to cope with their constraints and opportunities based on the Nile perch population structure and their economic needs. It is important for fishery managers to consider that the fishers are an integral part of the fisheries ecosystems, and considering their behavior in management decisions will aid in devising adaptive policies for sustainable resource use and sustainable livelihood development of the fishers’ communities.

Flood risk policies in Italy: a longitudinal institutional analysis of continuity and change

ABSTRACT This paper analyses continuity and change in flood risk management policies in Italy between 1952 and 2020. By using the politicized institutional analysis and development (IAD) framework, we systematically analyse the interplay between discursive, institutional and contextual factors to explain policy continuity and change. Italian flood risk management has traditionally been state-centred and focused on flood protection infrastructure for hazard reduction. Although shock events and European Union directives have been triggers for change, the policy shift towards a risk-based approach has been hampered by strong centralism and a hostile attitude towards the differentiation of rules and practices.

Relationship between Change Management and Sugarcane Productivity in Sugar Factory Cane Catchments Areas in Kenya

The study sought to determine the relationship between change management and sugarcane productivity in sugar factory cane catchments areas in Kenya. The philosophical foundation of this study was positivism. Cross-sectional survey design was adopted. A sample of 478 respondents were used where 400 were farmers and 78 were the factory leaders. A simple regression model was used to test the statistical significance. The findings shows that when change management are held constant, sugarcane productivity will remain at 0.714. A unit increase in change management will increase sugarcane productivity in sugar factory cane catchments areas in Kenya by the rate of 0.751. The null hypothesis of the study was change management has no significant relationship with sugarcane productivity in sugar factory cane catchments areas in Kenya. Since, the p value was less than the critical value 0.05, the study rejected the null hypotheses and thus change management has a significant relationship with sugarcane productivity in sugar factory cane catchments areas in Kenya. The study concludes that, to achieve varied goals, managers need more than fragmentary ad-hoc change programmes dealing only with present sugarcane productivity challenges. They need change management methods to prepare for upcoming organizational competitive difficulties. The study provides significant information for managers of the sugar companies on the need to implement appropriate change management policies and practice in organizations. The study confirms that change management has a significant effect on productivity of the sugar companies of organizations Keywords: Change Management, Productivity, Sugarcane Factories

The competitive mechanism between post-abandonment Chinese fir plantations and rehabilitated natural secondary forest species under an in situ conservation policy

During the past 30 years, the global forest area has been subject to a continuous increase in planted forests and a decline in natural forests, raising significant concerns about biodiversity protection. Once these plantations are abandoned due to changes in conservation or forest management policies, can they recover to the same state as natural forests during secondary succession? The key ecological processes supporting the stable coexistence or competitive elimination mechanisms between post-abandonment plantations and natural secondary forest tree species are still poorly understood and may be the decisive ecological processes driving secondary forest restoration. A 12-ha long-term forest plot was established in an abandoned Chinese fir plantation that has been protected under an in situ protection policy for 40 years. In total, 66,317 individual trees were stem mapped and identified at the species level, and the spatial survival strategies and species coexistence mechanisms between Chinese fir and natural secondary forest tree species were investigated. The results showed that the spatial survival strategy of Chinese fir could effectively trade off a high conspecific density-dependent mortality rate of individuals during the early stage of secondary succession for the long-term survival of the whole population, which promoted its dominance during later stages of succession. By contrast, although the higher survival rate and larger intraspecific aggregation scale of natural secondary forest individuals favored their survival during initial colonization, this spatial survival strategy might occur at the cost of neglecting suitable habitats and the loss of competitive advantages at the later stage of succession. Regarding interspecific competition, the asymmetric competition process further ensured the advantages of Chinese fir in individual size growth and increased the competitive advantage of Chinese fir over natural secondary forest tree species by exclusion through interspecific competition during the later secondary succession stage. Our results suggest that implementing a forest recovery program or an in situ protection policy based on post-abandonment monoculture plantations may involve great uncertainty about whether the goal can be achieved. Specifically, although this strategy could quickly increase forest coverage and restore the forest landscape, it may also create difficulties in restoring the forest to its original state.

Policy and Governance

Welcome to the “Journal of Policy &amp; Governance”! In my opinion, an editorial may reflect the general direction of the journal, values, strategy, priorities, goals and objectives, and so on. This is the first edition of the Journal of Policy &amp; Governance where I act as the Editor-in-Chief. The title of the journal includes two key concepts, the "Policy" and the "Governance", and they are crucial for the target audience of the journal. That is, the field of "Policy Science": policy cycle, problem identification for analysis, policy environment, resources, stakeholders’ analysis, communications (strategic, multilevel, etc.), policy tools and evaluation, etc. Also, these are values, objectives and methodology of the research and policy analysis, policy as the process and reasons for state intervention, evidence-based policy, quantitative and qualitative methods of data processing and the formation of evidence in the policy process and so on. The field of governance is also valuable for research: democratic, good, sensitive, multilevel, digital, and so on: Service State, public consultation, and interaction between government, business and civil society in the policy-making process. Common decisions, power and out of power policy makers, leadership, analysts and policy actors also require semantic and empirical content in the articles of the journal. Promising areas of research would be multilevel governance and balanced social development, cohesion policy, vertical-horizontal interaction and networks in the multilevel governance, digital multilevel governance, etc. An interesting example would be benchmarking of global and multilevel governance: supranational, national, regional and local levels in their interaction. Also, the "Spiral of Success" as a follow-alternative to linear model of policy making is worth mentioning. As an applied aspect it would be desirable to show different types of policy documents in the articles. Public administration, gender aspects, microeconomics for policy analysis, finance and budgeting, local self-government, administrative behavior, policy paradoxes, urban planning, etc. are important areas of research in the articles of this journal. Special emphasis should be placed on policy and governance monitoring and evaluation, performance audit, governance forecasting and diagnosis, and policy measurement indicators. Multidisciplinarity and interdisciplinarity are the basic and main components for promising cross-researches of "Policy" and "Governance" areas. Ethics and morality as well as effectiveness, efficiency, economy, balance and publicity of policy are necessary components of research in the published articles. These are promising and urgent directions for studying in the articles of our journal. I believe that strategic public management in the context of governance would be an innovative area for research in future articles. Moreover, such threads would be important, such as strategic public management, planning, forecasting, target programming and public policy, governance and operational management, research of information and technical support for policy-making, change management and public policy and governance. Of course, the above thoughts only clarify the formulated purpose of the journal. Innovation, interdisciplinary benchmarking and a cross-cultural approach to public policy and governance will contribute to the quality of the journal. I hope that this first edition of “Journal of Policy &amp; Governance" and subsequent editions will meet the high standards of quality articles and content of promising research. I would like to wish the authors bring a sustainable and evidence-based content to the future articles. The Editorial Board, following the principles of the academic integrity, will support and encourage authors for innovative and promising articles. I wish all the success and inspiration to the authors and journal staff.

Comparison of waste settlement characteristics for two landfills disposed in long sequential periods

Changes in waste management policy affect the settlement characteristics of waste landfills in which the waste disposal is operated for decades. In this study, the waste settlements were calculated by using the data measured in two multi-staged landfills for 27 years. The relationship between the changes in waste management policies and settlement characteristics is analyzed. Sequentially launched waste management policies reduced the organic matters in municipal solid waste (MSW) of the landfill. This change in turn influenced the engineering properties of landfill waste, e.g. water content, unit weight, and initial void ratio, etc. Due to the reduction of food waste in landfills, the water content decreased and the unit weight increased. The initial void ratio declined by the decrease of water content and the increase of unit weight. The annual primary and secondary compression indices, Cc and Cα, of each lift also increased/decreased due to the change in waste composition. The Cc of Phase #1 increased from an average of 0.34 to an average of 0.51 because the percentage of coal ash in MSW drastically decreased and the percentage of food, paper, and plastic, which are highly compressible, increased. On the other hand, the Cc of Phase #2 declined from an average of 0.15 to an average of 0.025 due to the decrease of the waste compressibility from the reduction of organic matters. The Cα of Phase #1 and #2 decreased by the reduction of organic matter and moisture which are needed for biodegradation of wastes in the landfill.

Adaptive Governance and Resilience Capacity of Farms: The Fit Between Farmers’ Decisions and Agricultural Policies

Greater resilience is needed for farms to deal with shocks and disturbances originating from economic, environmental, social and institutional challenges, with resilience achieved by adequate adaptive governance. This study focuses on the resilience capacity of farms in the context of multi-level adaptive governance. We define adaptive governance as adjustments in decision-making processes at farm level and policy level, through changes in management practices and policies in response to identified challenges and the delivery of desired functions (e.g. private and public goods) to be attained. The aim of the study is twofold. First, we investigate how adaptive governance processes at farm level and policy level influence the resilience capacity of farms in terms of robustness, adaptability and transformability. Second, we investigate the “fit” between the adaptive governance processes at farm level and policy level to enable resilience. We study primary egg and broiler production in Sweden taking into consideration economic, social and environmental challenges. We use semi-structured interviews with 17 farmers to explain the adaptive processes at farm level and an analysis of policy documents from the Common Agricultural Policy program 2014–2020, to explain the intervention actions taken by the Common Agricultural Policy. Results show that neither the farm level nor policy level adaptive processes on their own have the capacity to fully enable farms to be robust, adaptable and transformable. While farm level adaptive processes are mainly directed toward securing the robustness and adaptability of farms, policy level interventions are targeted at enabling adaptability. The farm- and the policy level adaptive processes do not “fit” for attaining robustness and transformability.

Reducing Food Waste in the Retail Supply Chains by Improving Efficiency of Logistics Operations

One of the basic problems of sustainability in modern society is the reduction of waste, particularly when it comes to food. Food waste has negative impacts on different dimensions of sustainability: social (hunger), economic (resource costs), and environmental (resource consumption and waste generation). This paper focuses on waste reduction through improving the inventory management system in the dairy distribution chain by the application of modern information and communication technologies (ICT). The approach is tested and verified in a case study by application of simulation modelling. Two inventory management models are created, and their impact on waste in the distribution part of the supply chain is examined. Model 1 represents the current dairy inventory management system in the supply of retail stores. Model 2 is based on a higher level of information connectivity between participants (RFID product labelling and the appropriate level of information technology), enabling automatic product ordering and changes in inventory management policy. The obtained results confirm that coordinated inventory management, supported by the application of modern ICT, can significantly contribute to the improvement of the sustainability of the food supply chain, and provide an exact quantification of the given contribution in the case of the dairy industry.

Wetland Utilization and Adaptation Practice of a Coastal Megacity: A Case Study of Chongming Island, Shanghai, China

Coastal urban areas are faced with risks induced by global warming and sea level rise, which puts pressure on regional sustainable development. In particular, land use adjustment is closely related to climate change for a coastal megacity. Coastal wetlands on the edge of the megacity represent a vulnerable ecosystem and a key area in terms of the resilient adaptation strategy. However, the interrelationship between the development of these wetlands and the megacity’s adaptation practice has not been sufficiently analyzed. From a historical perspective, based on document synthesis and field investigation, we attempt in this study to reveal long-term land use stages and driving factors in association with urban marginal wetlands, with a special reference to eastern Chongming Island, Shanghai. On such a basis, the future adaptation strategy of the megacity is evaluated. The analytical results show that this island has witnessed three periods of time for wetland utilization: traditional land use for salt production, fishery and agriculture before 1950, industrialization with rapid reclamation during 1950–2001, and the land use pattern orientated toward wetland ecosystem protection after 2002. The driving forces include sediment budget on the coast, wetland morphodynamic processes, sea level rise, population growth, and resource management policy changes. Transformation occurred between the wetland utilization stages in response to the changes of these forces. Furthermore, facing future climate change, there are different options of adaptation, e.g., retreatment and adherence. It may not be suitable for coastal cities with a large population to take the first option. It will be suitable for coastal communities to adhere to the location, if solutions to the problems of flooding risk, coastal erosion, and the maintenance of coastal facilities can be found. For eastern Chongming wetlands, as a key experimental area for ecosystem-oriented development in Shanghai, the transformation from the reclamation-oriented utilization toward the protection of wetland ecosystems represents the first step toward the latter option. We suggest that the next steps would be to maintain the ecological niche of the wetlands, to create new approaches to coastal engineering with contributions from the ecosystem, and to provide better ecosystem services.