Local Sustainable Development Strategies Research Articles

The Puna Pastoralist System: A Coproduced Landscape in the Central Andes

In mountain socioecological systems, the interaction between nature and people is at the core of planning local long-term sustainable development strategies. Pastoralism is the main traditional socioeconomic livelihood in dryland mountains. It is strongly associated with long-established land use practices that provide essential material and relational contributions, both of which shape human populations and nature. The aim of this work is to characterize the traditional pastoralist system of the Puna (northwest Argentina) in a framework that highlights its diverse values and valuations within nature–people coproductions. We use the conceptual framework of the Intergovernmental Science–Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services as a tool to analyze and understand these socioecological systems. We also identify 3 coproduction types at different steps of the benefit flow from ecosystems to quality of life. Pastoral livelihood persists in the Argentine Puna, cocreating a landscape with natural and anthropic (water sources, grasslands, wildlife, livestock, and techniques) elements interacting through complex mechanisms involving environmental conditions and cultural and economic practices. Some drivers that threaten the system's sustainability are overexploitation and land use change. These are visible as poaching or conversion of pasturelands into mining areas. Finally, we identify a number of knowledge gaps. These include lack of information on some regulatory contributions of nature to people, biodiversity status, and trends and statistical information on Indigenous Peoples and local communities; the flow of relationships; and coproductions related to the local expression of the quality of life. We also highlight the need for spatially explicit information and comprehensive knowledge of drivers and socioecological dynamics of the landscape.

A comparison between local sustainable development strategies based on the geoheritage of two post-mining areas of Central Mexico

To reach the ambitious goals and targets of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development it is compulsory to pay special attention to those strategies that arise from local communities. In this contribution we present a comparative study on local initiatives pursuing development through the sustainable use of the geoheritage, of two territories of central Mexico: (a) Tlalpujahua-El Oro former mining district (Michoacán and State of Mexico), and (b) Comarca Minera UNESCO Global Geopark (Hidalgo state). Both study cases are representative of the mountainous, cultural landscapes of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt, and both are also former mining districts with an outstanding geodiversity and a valuable mining heritage. From a comparative analysis, we identified strengths and opportunities of the two study cases —both undergoing a post-mining transition— in the implementation and consolidation of geotourism as a development alternative. It has been shown that the official recognition as a Global Geopark of the Comarca Minera by the UNESCO (in 2017) triggered geotourism, even reorienting the tourist vocation of some communities, engaged authorities, and attracted high-impact scientific and educational projects. However, the key for the success of any geotourism projects are the commitment and enthusiasm of local communities, as well as strong support from local authorities.

Long-Term Policy Recommendations for Improving the Efficiency of Heating and Cooling

Abstract Targets set by the European Green Deal to increase efficiency, reach towards sustainable development and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions have placed additional focus on necessary improvements in heating and cooling sector. This article aims to determine whether the objectives set at the EU and on the member state level for achieving climate and environmental goals are being implemented at the regional and local levels. The case of Latvia is considered. A keyword extraction text analysis method is used to identify whether improving the efficiency of heating and cooling is included in regional and local sustainable development strategies. Results are evaluated by using multi-criteria analysis methods TOPSIS and AHP, to determine how much attention in the strategies is paid to direct heating and cooling supply aspects and overall efficiency aspects. Results obtained while assessing the sustainable development strategies of cities and municipalities are compared with the climate index of their heating supply. Considerable differences can be seen in the inclusion of heating and cooling efficiency improvement plans in the strategies at regional and local levels.

THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS AT THE LOCAL LEVEL. THE CASE OF THE DISTRICTS OF KUYAVIAN-POMERANIAN PROVINCE

The aim of the paper is to provide the objective assessment of progress in the implementation of the goals of the local sustainable development strategy by the districts of Kuyavian-Pomeranian Province. In order to achieve our aim, we have devised, using methods of taxonomic analysis, the synthetic indicator (taking a lot of different measures of sustainable development into account), which shows the degree of the accomplishment of goals adopted in the sustainable development goals. In the collective of units under study, there is a significant differentiation of the level of indicators analyzed within the framework of the sustainable development strategy. It must be emphasized that there are as many as 12 districts in the lower quartile of the distribution of the synthetic measure, i.e., its level was below 0.25. 11 self-government units were in the second quartile of the distribution, i.e., in range between 0.25 and 0.5 of the synthetic indicator. Relatively big taxonomic distances between synthetic measures for individual districts, with quite a large set of features, show significant differentiation among these parts of Kuyavian-Pomeranian Province in terms of local sustainable development. Despite the fact that the examined objects belong to the same administrative unit, which would appear to be relatively coherent, they do not develop at the same pace. Moreover, given a broad set of indicators, they differ significantly when it comes to the rate of their sustainable development. The findings of this paper highlight the use of multidimensional taxonomic analysis for measuring the progress of local units in the degree of the accomplishment of the sustainable development goals. First of all, it helps to show differences in the implementation of the development strategies across districts. What is more, it shows these differences on the basis of the complete set of diverse features rather than single parameters (e.g., pace of growth). Thus, the multidimensional approach is a lot more precise when it comes to showing differences among the examined objects.

Including Citizen Participation Formats for Drafting and Implementing Local Sustainable Development Strategies

Since the publication of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, governance for sustainable development has grown and several national, regional and local sustainable development strategies have been adopted. A sustainable development strategy can serve as a political control instrument and management tool. For the development and implementation of such a strategy at the local level, municipalities might use citizen participation approaches. There exist manifold ways of consulting civil society, representing different levels of decision-making power. The analysis of this article is divided into two parts. First, we report on a case study of the pilot project “Global Sustainable Municipalities” located in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany and assess the current status of the use of citizen participation formats for adopting a local sustainable development strategy. Second, we developed a model of citizen participation approaches during different phases of adopting a sustainable development strategy. The purpose of this model is to assess the potential decision-making power of citizens during the phases and to help municipalities to get an orientation on participation possibilities. The results show that most municipalities count on participation mainly in the implementation phase of the strategy, less during developing it. Our model, however, demonstrates participation possibilities for each of the phases.

Integrating GIS spatial dimension into BREEAM communities sustainability assessment to support urban planning policies, Lisbon case study

Local governments face increasing pressure to define land-use policies to enhance local sustainable development. This requires the development of urban planning tools that can help them in selecting measures and priority intervention areas within their cities.The tools currently available only address this problem partially. Geographical Information Systems (GIS) have been widely used in urban planning for handling spatial data but have limited capacities for representing choice and priority among the conflicting objectives for sustainable urban planning. Meanwhile, urban sustainability assessment systems, such as BREEAM-Communities (BREEAM-CM), can help to choose the most sustainable measures under such conflicting objectives, although they are typically non-spatial by assuming a spatial homogeneity within the study area, therefore, they cannot be used to identify priority intervention locations.This paper proposes bridging the gap between urban sustainability assessment and spatial analysis by combining GIS and BREEAM-CM. Instead of the traditional use of BREEAM-CM to assess a single neighbourhood, we applied this system to all Lisbon city subsections with the support from GIS. It resulted in the identification of priority intervention areas for sustainable development within the city including: attracting new businesses to the north area; implementing energy efficiency strategies and new green areas in the old town and central avenues; and improving public transport links in the north and western areas. These findings show that the proposed model can be a valuable tool for evaluating and defining local sustainable development strategies.

Local sustainable development: a knowledge base for adaptation planning

ABSTRACTTowards the end of the century, Serbia will face a dramatic increase in annual temperature between 2°C and 6°C and decrease in annual accumulated precipitation up to 12%. Recent 2014 floods in Serbia, with more than 30 victims, and more than 30,000 displaced people, with overall damage close to €1.5 billion, reflected those trends and the likely risks that region will face due the changing climate. Those risks may influence the development process at the local level. This paper assesses the existing priority measures in local sustainable development strategies and re-interprets their characteristics using a methodological framework for the definition of adaptation measures. It offers a new understanding of the ongoing local sustainable development approach in the potentially most vulnerable municipalities in Serbia. The study focused on following properties of developmental measures: cost-effectiveness, structural characteristics, target realm, spatial determination, time frame, climate responsiveness, and sector and budget allocation of development measures at the local level. The results of the analysis suggest that the initiation of adaptation planning should consider the improvement of the methodological framework – the introduction of inter-sectoral and cross-sectoral planning practice, cost–benefit analysis, the involvement of individual actors in planning and dynamic planning approaches.

DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES OF TERRITORIES IN THE CONTEXT OF SELF-GOVERNMENT AND DECENTRALIZATION

The issues of development and implementation of regional and local sustainable development strategies in Belarus and Ukraine, their role in self-management and decentralization are analyzed. The author's algorithm for the formation of strategies for sustainable development of the territory (SSDT), a model for managing this process and implementing strategies, as well as recommendations for the use of relevant indicators are given.

A two-stage fuzzy chance-constrained water management model.

In this study, an inexact two-stage fuzzy gradient chance-constrained programming (ITSFGP) method is developed and applied to the water resources management in the Heshui River Basin, Jiangxi Province, China. The optimization model is established by incorporating interval programming, two-stage stochastic programming, and fuzzy gradient chance-constrained programming within an optimization framework. The hybrid model can address uncertainties represented as fuzzy sets, probability distributions, and interval numbers. It can effectively tackle the interactions between pre-regulated economic targets and the associated environmental penalties attributed to water allocation schemes and reflect the tradeoffs between economic revenues and system-failure risk. Furthermore, uncertainties associated with the decision makers' preferences are considered in decision-making processes. The obtained results can provide decision support for the local sustainable economic development and water resources allocation strategies under multiple uncertainties.

Addressing the Security Concerns of Locals and Visitors for the Sustainable Development of Tourist Destinations

Tourism has long been recognized as a crime generator. This poses a dilemma in the sustainable development context: is continued tourist expansion sustainable if it generates increased law and order problems? Using the example of Brașov, Romania, this article considers the ways in which criminal justice agencies and the tourism sector have operated in partnership to ensure the security of both local residents and visitors. We argue that the success of the initiative depends on multi-agency working at the local level, but that the involvement of local residents is also crucial. This commitment may be tested as the nature of tourism changes. The research consists of an analysis of primary and secondary data. The results revealed that among the main security issues mentioned by tourists are not only robberies and other social and situational features that contributed to tourists feeling anxious or unsafe, but also the need to have access to good health services and easy access to money changing facilities, information centers, etc. Some improvements are suggested for the local Sustainable Development Strategy of Brașov.

Dzierżoniów Town in the eyes of its residents – a study report

Abstract Dzierżoniów’s residents definitely represent one of its most valuable resources. Its development and improvement of the generally approached life quality depends on their involvement in solving social and economic problems, their entrepreneurship and creativity. It should also be emphasized that the vast majority of surveyed residents are in favour of their city development. This phenomenon is based on the principle of mutual dependencies, i.e. the better the city functioning, the better living the conditions provided for its residents. On the other hand, the more active and involved the residents are the more effective is their support for the city development (e.g. by their involvement in NGOs’ activities). The presented article was prepared based on the survey studies ordered by Dzierżoniów’s Town Office and conducted in the period July–August 2013 which covered, among others, the city residents (422 respondents). The research was carried out within the framework of one of the stages in developing Dzierżoniów’s Local Sustainable Development Strategy for the period 2014-2020. The purpose of the study is to discuss and assess the selected functional areas of Dzierżoniów Town (geographic environment, economy, technical infrastructure, social infrastructure, city management) based on its residents’ opinions.

From local sustainable development towards climate change adaptation: a case study of Serbia

The recent 2014 floods in Serbia highlighted the potential extent of climate-related risks in the region, resulting in more than 30 deaths and more than 30,000 displaced people, with the overall cost of the damage close to €1.5 billion. By the end of this century, Serbia will experience an increase in temperature of up to 4°C and a decrease in summer precipitation of up to 50%. Adaptation to those changes calls for the redefinition of a strategic approach and the integration of climate change challenges into the processes of local sustainable development planning. The objective of this study was to assess current local sustainable development strategies (LSDSs) and highlight some of the threats and opportunities which may help or hinder the adaptation process, the evaluation of development priorities, coordination mechanisms at the local level and risk management practice. Based on climate trends and vulnerability level, 20 of the potentially most vulnerable municipalities in Serbia were selected. The analysis shows that although local sustainable development planning still lacks cross-sectorial planning practice and risk management plans and measures, and does not yet recognize vulnerable sectors as climate sensitive, it can still serve as a platform for adaptation planning. Based on the assessed LSDS framework, the most suitable approach to the development of an adaption strategy is the vulnerability-based approach. At the same time, the potential for initiating adaptation planning is recognized in the utilization of already established networks with external and international donors and planning experts, joined county or regional adaptation planning, and cross-border collaboration.

Green Agenda: A Socio-Cultural Response to Sick Building Syndrom (SBS) and Building Related Illness (BRI) in African Domestic Architecture

Green agenda is a participatory method for developing and implementing local sustainable development strategies and plans with active involvement of different sectors in the local community where the process is conducted. But Sick Building Syndrome (SBS) and Building Related Illness (BRI) are building concerns in African cities, because building designs, materials and styles are alien the culture and climate. The focus of the paper therefore was to deploy sustainability parameters (Green Agenda) to address SBS and BRI in African Domestic Architecture. Taking into consideration the three main aspects of green agenda which includes; identifying local values, process participation and genuinely owned result. The methodology employed was quantitative and qualitative. The findings revealed that the research had addressed the issues of imported design, sick building syndrome and building related illness using sustainability considerations. The study result has shown that the three aspects of local green agenda has socio-cultural nuance in Domestic Architecture that includes the values, beliefs, available materials in the studied community. This pre-supposes that building design necessarily need to have organic content (i.e. it has to be culture specific, socially responsive and environmentally friendly). Organic designs however have proved to be sustainable and also one of the way out of SBS and BRI. Keywords: Green Agenda, Agenda 21, Habitat Agenda, Socio-Cultural, Domestic Architecture, SBS and BRI

Capacity of Local Development Planning in Slovenia: Strengths and Weaknesses of Local Sustainable Development Strategies

Despite being coined by international forums and promoted chiefly by international/supranational organisations and clubs, sustainable development is a concept that in essence rests on and is largely determined by the local level. The local level’s primacy in terms of introducing the principles of sustainability is openly stipulated by Agenda 21, thus providing the impetus for local sustainable development strategies – Local Agenda 21. These community-specific, long-term visions of sustainable co-existence serve as an important strategic tool for overcoming challenges communities may face while maintaining the general idea of the future. As prime standardised artifacts, local sustainable development strategies represent an excellent insight into the capacity of an individual community to achieve a sustainable future and deal with potential challenges. In this paper, we analysed four such visions of a sustainable future for two city and two minor Slovenian municipalities in order to examine their capacity to develop into sustainable communities. By employing George and Kirkpatrick’s (2006) framework for assessing sustainable development strategies, we identified useful and problematic aspects of the documents prepared by the city and town municipalities. The analysis showed that the transition period in Slovenia has left a significant impact on development planning and its consequences have yet to be fully resolved.

Introduction to the Special Issue Land Recycling: An Opportunity for Local Sustainable Development Strategies

Introduction to the Special Issue Land Recycling: An Opportunity for Local Sustainable Development Strategies

Editorial: An introduction to the reuse of contaminated sites for local sustainable development strategies

Editorial: An introduction to the reuse of contaminated sites for local sustainable development strategies

Local sustainable development planning in Serbia: Achievements so far and future challenges

Serbian towns and municipalities adopted Local Sustainable Development Strategy Paper in May 2005 as a strategic framework for local authorities to establish local sustainable development processes. So far more than 30 (from 167) municipalities in Serbia adopted Local Sustainable Development Strategies and initiated the implementation of Local Agenda 21. This paper discusses the case study of Serbia as an example how countries in transition should implement local policies of sustainable development and what obstacles such countries can face on the road toward the sustainability.