Rural Mountain Areas Research Articles

Achieving water security in rural Indian Himalayas: A participatory account of challenges and potential solutions.

The complex and diverse factors that influence water security in the Indian Himalayan Region were examined using problem and solution tree (PAST) mapping together with a field study. Five PASTs, each constructed by a different group of stakeholders, namely the state government, the local government, researchers, development agencies, and the local community, were analysed to obtain a holistic and multi-sectoral understanding of water security in the region, and the analysis was supplemented with field data. The systematic study helped in (1) identifying many factors - climatic, geographical, cultural, and socio-economic - that influence water security, (2) assessing their impacts on mountain livelihoods, and (3) documenting thirty-two potential interventions in the form of adaptations (e.g. springshed management programme) and coping strategies (e.g. buying water from informal water markets) to strengthen water security. These strategies followed three main themes namely conserving water resources, improving rural livelihood and sustainable infrastructure development and risk management. The study also helped in building a shared sense of understanding, purpose, and action between the diverse groups of stakeholders. The study suggests that ensuring water security in rural mountain areas requires holistic and multi-sectoral policies, which should be developed by including all actors in the network of stakeholders; that local conditions be given utmost importance in the policy planning cycle (e.g. focus on springs in mountains); and that cultural landscape and local identities be closely examined to reduce the inequalities in access to resources.

Nuevas formas de alojamiento turístico en áreas de montaña vinculadas al turismo de nieve: el caso de la vivienda de alquiler turístico en el Pirineo occidental catalán

La presente contribución pretende examinar el contexto que ha favorecido el desarrollo de las viviendas de alquiler turístico en áreas de montaña del Pirineo occidental catalán vinculadas al sector de la nieve, así como dimensionar su volumen y explorar algunas de las problemáticas asociadas. El estudio de caso pone de manifiesto que la proliferación de este tipo de alojamiento turístico supera el ámbito de las ciudades y los destinos vacacionales de costa, infiltrándose en territorios muy vulnerables, como los rurales de montaña. El desarrollo y crecimiento de estas nuevas formas de alojamiento turístico –como exponente máximo de los modelos híbridos del llamado turismo colaborativo– no han hecho, al menos hasta el momento, más que reforzar y agravar los efectos negativos asociados a los procesos de naturbanización iniciados antaño.

Significance of Community Involvement Experiences of Elderly Men Living Alone in Mountainous Rural Areas in Japan

Significance of Community Involvement Experiences of Elderly Men Living Alone in Mountainous Rural Areas in Japan

Пріоритетні напрями і завдання у сфері управління відходами гірських сільських територій

Пріоритетні напрями і завдання у сфері управління відходами гірських сільських територій

Perceptions of mountainous people on climate change, livelihood practices and climatic shocks: A case study of Swat District, Pakistan

This study examines the association among perception regarding climate change and climatic shocks with a set of socio-demographic variables like age, education, occupation, annual income, socio-economic status and land. Random sampling method was followed to conduct household survey, a total of 279 households were interviewed from rural mountainous areas of Swat District (Pakistan). For this purpose, structured and semi-structured questionnaire was designed to gather the household information. Perception analysis revealed, large number of participants (75%) are of the opinion that present climate has substantially changed in their area compared to previous years. Findings of bivariate model showed significant impact of age, education, income, occupation, land ownership and socio-economic status on local community's perception regarding climate change in addition to climatic shocks. Furthermore, land ownership, socio-economic status and crop sowing appeared as significant predictors of rainfall decrease perception. Similarly, these variables along with water source efficiency in the area were also found significant with perception on temperature rise. Our findings clearly discern a falling trend in earnings in recent years for Swat District which local people connects with influences of changing climate. Hence we suggest local government to intervene and enhance Swat community's livelihood capacity to adjust from climate shocks.

Drivers for Public–Private Partnerships in Sustainable Natural Resource Management—Lessons from the Swedish Mountain Region

Sweden’s mountain areas are sensitive ecosystems that are used by a wide range of stakeholders, and this raises multiple sustainability concerns. Collaborative governance solutions are becoming increasingly common in such situations to promote more sustainable practices. While the Swedish mountain area is indeed a hot spot for different forms of public–private partnerships (PPPs) related to natural resources management, as yet, little is known about the shaping of participation, leadership, and implementation of these processes. What are the drivers for implementing collaborative environmental partnerships, do the drivers differ, and if so, how? What role does the specific context play in the design of these PPPs? Are the PPPs useful, and if so, for what? To analyze those issues, we conducted 38 semi-structured interviews with project leaders from a sample randomly selected from a database of 245 public–private collaborative projects in the Swedish mountains. Our results indicate that consequential incentives in the form of funding and previous successful collaborations seem to be the major drivers for such partnerships. A critical discussion of the possibilities and limitations of public–private forms of governance in rural mountain areas adds to the ongoing debate on the performance of environmental PPPs in a regional context.

Spatial Disparity in Food Environment and Household Economic Resources Related to Food Insecurity in Rural Korean Households with Older Adults.

Different contextual factors of a household and a community, such as access to resources and transportation, may influence the level of food insecurity. The objective of this study was to identify how food environmental factors and economic resources were related to food insecurity in Korean older adults residing in different contexts of rural areas. Face-to-face interviews with 248 older adults residing in land (n = 149) and mountain (n = 99) rural areas were performed. In both areas, risk of food insecurity was increased for households with limited community food accessibility measured by having difficulties in food purchasing due to food stores far from home. There were discrepancies in factors related to increased risks of food insecurity between households in land and mountain areas. The experience of reducing food expenditure resulting from burden of heating costs during the winter in households in a mountain area whereas the percent proportion of housing fee and household cook’s physical disability in households residing in the land area were found to be factors associated with increased risks of food insecurity. For households residing in mountain areas, the risk of food insecurity was decreased when economic resources measured by average monthly income for the last one year was increased and there was farming or home gardening activity. Such spatial disparity might affect household food insecurity in rural areas. In addition, food environmental factors and economic resources may affect household food insecurity differently according to the diverse contexts of rural areas. Better understanding of spatial challenges in food insecurity faced by seniors in a large rural area would help prepare programs or policy change to strengthen and improve their food environments.

Desarrollo turístico y pobreza. El caso del Cuzco, Perú

Este artículo explora la relación entre el turismo y el alivio de la pobreza en regiones pobres en el contexto del desarrollo humano sostenible. El análisis se aplica al caso de Cuzco, el principal destino turístico en el sur andino peruano y una de las regiones más pobres del Perú, particularmente en las áreas montañosas y rurales.A partir de datos estadísticos disponibles de las fuentes oficiales y estudios inéditos del Observatorio Turístico del Perú, se analiza el entorno socioeconómico regional, el desarrollo de la actividad turística y su impacto en la región. Finalmente, los resultados de la encuesta estadística demuestran que las prácticas turísticas reproducen o profundizan desigualdades socioeconómicas entre la población regional.

Applying a random parameters Negative Binomial Lindley model to examine multi-vehicle crashes along rural mountainous highways in Malaysia

Road safety in rural mountainous areas is a major concern as mountainous highways represent a complex road traffic environment due to complex topology and extreme weather conditions and are associated with more severe crashes compared to crashes along roads in flatter areas. The use of crash modelling to identify crash contributing factors along rural mountainous highways suffers from limitations in data availability, particularly in developing countries like Malaysia, and related challenges due to the presence of excess zero observations. To address these challenges, the objective of this study was to develop a safety performance function for multi-vehicle crashes along rural mountainous highways in Malaysia. To overcome the data limitations, an in-depth field survey, in addition to utilization of secondary data sources, was carried out to collect relevant information including roadway geometric factors, traffic characteristics, real-time weather conditions, cross-sectional elements, roadside features, and spatial characteristics. To address heterogeneity resulting from excess zeros, three specialized modelling techniques for excess zeros including Random Parameters Negative Binomial (RPNB), Random Parameters Negative Binomial – Lindley (RPNB-L) and Random Parameters Negative Binomial – Generalized Exponential (RPNB-GE) were employed. Results showed that the RPNB-L model outperformed the other two models in terms of prediction ability and model fit. It was found that heavy rainfall at the time of crash and the presence of minor junctions along mountainous highways increase the likelihood of multi-vehicle crashes, while the presence of horizontal curves along a steep gradient, the presence of a passing lane and presence of road delineation decrease the likelihood of multi-vehicle crashes. Findings of this study have significant implications for road safety along rural mountainous highways, particularly in the context of developing countries.

Land use optimization for sustainable development of mountain regions of western Serbia

This study analyses the possibilities for optimal land use structure in mountainous areas of rural Serbia, which is faced with problems such as unfavorable terrain characteristics and inadequate land use patterns causing economic underdevelopment and increasing population migration. In the case of a small privately owned farm in Western Serbia, optimal land use pattern is determined using the linear programming model. The objective function-cost-effectiveness or soil erosion reduction, as well as constraints, are formulated using the benefit-cost ratio (BCR) for a 15-year production period and soil losses data calculated using the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE). The best results are achieved using the scenario with the aim to minimize soil erosion, considering the BCR in the constraints. This scenario is proposed since it was registered that the benefit for landowners would increase by five times, while the losses of land would decline about 80%. The sensitivity analysis of investments is performed to check whether the price variation affects the cost-effectiveness of proposed land use. Results show that market changes (nine cases are considered) do not lead to significant changes in land use allocation. Proposed land use pattern improves the environmental condition, strengthens the rural economy and thus offers the greatest potential for sustainable development of mountainous rural areas.

The Alpine Metropolitan-Mountain Faced with Global Challenges. Reflections on the Case of Turin

The interchange between the mountain areas and the urbanized piedmont within the metropolitan region of Turin is taken as a paradigmatic example of similar situations widely present in the Alps. The analysis helps to identify some general characters of the Alpine spaces included in metropolitan territorial systems. The increasing mutual dependences between them stimulates a reflexion on the integration of rural mountain areas in metropolitan regions, starting from new mutual dependences. This integration can lead to a construction of a bi-polar urban region in which the metro-mountain sub-system become an agent of differentiation in a multi-level relational space. This process depends largely on the perception of the inner mountain as a set of economic, cultural, aesthetic and existential values, complementary and partially alternative to the urban. Thanks to them the Alpine mountain could become a laboratory of settlement and business experiences trying to combine the advantages of the urban life with the radical diversity of local environment. The hypothesis that a new cultural centrality could reduce the functional dependence of inner mountain is discussed in the face of responses to the impact of global changes concerning environment, technology and neo-liberal financial economy. The conclusion is that only an organized reaction to these treats can entail a virtuous circle of growth of new residents, employment and services, implementing the idea of a new Alpine urbanity.

Abstract P-155: COMPREHENSIVE TREATMENT OF CHILDREN WITH ACUTE WASP STING COMPLICATED BY MULTIPLE ORGAN FAILURE.

Aims & Objectives: We report the clinical features and comprehensive treatment of 5 children with severe wasp sting combined with multiple organ failure Methods A retrospective analysis of 5 severe wasp sting children from PICU of Kunming children’s hospital between January 2015 and April 2017 were done include the patient’s general information clinical features diagnosis and treatment process and outcome. Results 3 of these 5 patients between 2–8 years old are male and 2 are female. They were stung by wild wasps and from rural mountain areas. The shortest time to our hospital after sting was 36 h, and the longest was 46 h. All of them had respiratory failure and renal failure; 3 of them had rhabdomyolysis syndrome and liver failure, 2 of them with pulmonary hemorrhage, 2 cases with brain disorders; All patients accepted mechanical ventilation (pressure control ventilation, with expiration tidal volume 6–8 ml/Kg). Blood perfusion and plasma exchange were administrated after admission, Continuous veno-venous hemodiafiltration (CVVHDF) were done between the treatment of plasma exchange and blood perfusion, the shortest CVVHDF time was 11 hours, the longest was up to 131 hours for organ function recovery. Wound clean anti-inflammation glutathione and correction of electrolyte disorder were done at the same time. The five children were discharged from our hospital with no complications. Conclusions Children with severe wasp stings need blood perfusion as soon as possible, those who has respiratory failure need respiratory support in time, early plasma exchange and hemodialysis filtration are effective rescue methods for those who have liver and kidney injury rhabdomyolysis syndrome.

REGIONAL TOURISM BRAND – NEED OR NECESSITY IN THE ASPECT OF SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF POLISH MOUNTAIN RURAL AREAS

The paper discusses the issue of the regional tourism brand, which is a significant differentiator of the area in the market and gives the opportunity to include tourism in the model of socio-economic development of the region. The analysis of regional branded tourist products includes mountain rural areas of Poland. These areas are an example of a region with unfavourable farming conditions, which makes the competitive position of these areas in a much worse position than other rural areas in the country. Due to the difficulties in the sphere of social and economic life occurring in mountain rural areas, they require other alternative development incentives. Tourism can be one of these, but to make the development through tourism effective, attention must be focused on building a strong regional brand, which is the competitive strength of the area. Mountain rural areas have their own specific potential, which allows them to build regional branded tourist products easily distinctive from lowland rural areas. The aim of the paper is to indicate the importance of the region's tourism brand on the example of mountain rural areas of Poland, including its constituent elements. The paper uses a descriptive and qualitative analysis method that allowed to identify problems of mountain rural areas development and the role of tourism and in particular the tourism brand in the development of such areas. The analysis includes literature in the field of economic sciences, including economies of regions, economies of tourism, and territorial marketing. The paper covers the issues of development of mountain rural areas with an indication of their main socio-economic development problems. Then, against the background of the concept of the region in economic terms, mountain rural areas have been presented as a tourist region where tourism can be an important factor of development. The text also covers selected issues related to the creation of a regional tourism brand, and characterizes the regional tourism brand of mountain rural areas, together with their constituent elements.

A digitally facilitated citizen-science driven approach accelerates participant recruitment and increases study population diversity.

Our aim was to assess whether a novel approach of digitally facilitated, citizen-science research, as followed by the Swiss Multiple Sclerosis Registry (Swiss MS Registry), leads to accelerated participant recruitment and more diverse study populations compared with traditional research studies where participants are mostly recruited in study centres without the use of digital technology. The Swiss MS Registry is a prospective, longitudinal, observational study covering all Switzerland. Participants actively contribute to the Swiss MS Registry, from defining research questions to providing data (online or on a paper form) and co-authoring papers. We compared the recruitment dynamics over the first 18 months with the a priori defined recruitment goals and assessed whether a priori defined groups were enrolled who are likely to be missed by traditional research studies. The goal to recruit 400 participants in the first year was reached after only 20 days, and by the end of 18 months 1700 participants had enrolled in the Swiss MS Registry, vastly exceeding expectations. Of the a priori defined groups with potential underrepresentation in other studies, 645 participants (46.5%) received care at a private neurology practice, 167 participants (12%) did not report any use of healthcare services in the past 12 months, 32 (2.3%) participants lived in rural mountainous areas, and 20 (2.0% of the 1041 for whom this information was available) lived in a long-term care facility. Having both online and paper options increased diversity of the study population in terms of geographic origin and type and severity of disease, as well as use of health care services. In particular, paper enrolees tended to be older, more frequently affected by progressive MS types and more likely to have accessed healthcare services in the past 12 months. Academic and industry-driven medical research faces substantial challenges in terms of patient involvement, recruitment, relevance and generalisability. Digital studies and stakeholder engagement may have enormous potential for medical research. But many digital studies are based on limited participant information and/or informed consent and unclear data ownership, and are subject to selection bias, confounding and information bias. The Swiss MS Registry serves as an example of a digitally enhanced, citizen-science study that leverages the advantages of both traditional medical research, with its established research methods, and novel societal and technological developments, while mitigating their ethical and legal disadvantages and risks.

Applying the Strategy of Village Revitalization to Manage the Rural Hollowing in Daba Mountains Area of China

In the process of rapid urbanization and industrialization, the “hollowing out” of rural areas in China is getting hotter and hotter. And the situation is grim. The countryside in Daba Mountains Area of China has suffered serious decline. The problem of “hollowing out” has been prominent and is one of the main areas of governance. Therefore, based on the strategy of rural revitalization and based on the status quo of Daba Mountainous Rural Areas, this paper analyzes the causes of the increasing severity of rural” hollows out” and defines the logic and path of governance. Then, promoting the improvement of the hollowing out of rural areas in Daba Mountains Area of China is also the purpose of this paper.

How to Reproduce Farming: A Description of the Strategies for Survival of Plum Gardens in Mountainous Rural Areas of Neyshabur County

Purpose: we investigate the strategies for survival of small orchards in present paper through considering this question that why orchards have kept their productive function despite of renovation pressure and universal market and totally not to be economical. Design/methodology/approach: grounded theory method of qualitative research, especially in this article is based on a case study should be placed on the agenda; in total, 60 semi-structured interviews and in-depth (Purposive sampling: Stratified, questionnaire) those involved in this field was Finding: The results showed domestic garden maintenance in Neyshabur when a part of strategy Employment-oriented and income from non-agricultural business backing for investment and economic mobility has become a garden. Of course, it also organized social factors in the context of traditional interactive and strong local relationships and kinship rather broad and external basis for the stability of the production process in the region; That is to say, it is also the main cause of underdevelopment. Individual motivation and personal preferences (values and beliefs) also has a fundamental role in the continuing rebel activities. Practical implications: developers don't have more than two ways in order to participations programming in future in condition of peasant's economy conquest to rural society. The first one knows internal mechanisms and satisfaction of present production way which it guaranties the minimum of village persistence. The Second one is removing the existing obstacles in destructing the traditional interactions and extending social networks among orchardists and communicating with others in production field. Originality/value: relational and territorial approaches in the concept of embeddedness, the main axis domestic garden maintenance strategies in the study does not explain in purely economic and rational action.

Socio‐economic transitions and everyday life changes in the rural world: Pyrenean households and their contemporary economic history

AbstractThis article focuses on understanding rural life and how agrarian everyday life changes as a consequence of the radical socio‐economic transformations that, across the world, have accompanied rural communities in their transition from economies of subsistence to industrial production, and, in some areas, from there to providers of service to the tourism‐oriented leisure economy. In the last century in the Alt Urgell District (Spanish Pyrenees), many communities went from a production model based on subsistence farming and livestock breeding first to a specialization in milk production and later to tourism. The industrialization of milk production, the radical transformation of the scale of their operations, and the monetization of life transformed the identity and structure of these communities. The subsequent transformation of many of these farms to accommodate the leisure industry changed the shape of these households again. This paper reflects on how science, governance, commodification, and technology played a role on the transformation of the rural mountain areas, their people, and their everyday life.

Land and farming system dynamics and their drivers in the Mediterranean Basin

Given the heterogeneity and richness of Mediterranean farming systems, it is difficult to assess the nature and causes of observed dynamics based on single case studies. This research identifies case studies conducted on the north and south of the Mediterranean basin to provide a comprehensive overview of the current land and farming system dynamics and their main drivers. We analyze 80 papers published in international journals from 1985 to 2015. The studies vary in spatial scale, from 4 km2 in the case of peri-urban regions and small agricultural areas to more than 500,000 km2 in the case of national-based analyses. Most of the papers focus on mountainous rural areas, whereas only a few case studies are located in mixed regions or peri-urban inland regions. We analyze the farm trajectories behind the general dynamics to understand the ongoing processes at the agricultural level and their related drivers. Social and demographic drivers are indicated as particularly relevant for abandonment, which is frequently associated with intensification processes. Intensification dynamics are driven mainly by economic factors, which particularly affect annual crop production. Few papers analyze the dynamics of extensification and more research in this field is needed to understand this process and its eventual transition to the abandonment of agricultural areas. This analysis provides an opportunity for the exchange of ideas and information from a diverse range of disciplines and interest groups, which should be combined to formulate effective land use policies.

Phytoremediation of domestic wastewater using a hybrid constructed wetland in mountainous rural area

ABSTRACTThe purpose of this study is to evaluate the efficiency of hybrid constructed wetlands (HCWs) in a rural mountainous area. The experiment was set up in small rural community named Tidili within the region of Marrakech, Morocco. The wastewater treatment plant was composed of three vertical flow constructed wetlands (VFCWs) working in parallel, followed by two parallel horizontal-subsurface flow constructed wetlands (HFCWs), with hydraulic loading rates of 0.5 and 0.75 m3/m2.d, respectively. The two units were planted with Phragmites australis at a density of 4 plants/m2. Wastewater samples were collected at the inlet of the storage tank and at the outlet of the whole system (VFCWs, HFCWs) stages. The main removal percentages of total suspended solids (TSS), biochemical oxygen demand measured in a 5-day test (BOD5), chemical oxygen demand (COD), total nitrogen, and total phosphorus were respectively 95%, 93%, 91%, 67%, and 62%. The system showed a very high capacity to remove total coliforms, fecal coliforms, and fecal streptococci (4.46, 4.31, and 4.10 Log units, respectively). Artificial neural networks (ANNs) were used to model the quality parameters (TSS, BOD5, COD) and total coliforms and fecal streptococci. Based on the obtained results, the ANN model could be considered as an efficient tool to predict the studied phytoremediation performances using HCWs.

Exploring Advance Care Planning in Taiwanese Indigenous Cancer Survivors: Proposal for a Pilot Case-Control Study.

BackgroundResearch on Taiwanese indigenous cancer survivors’ end-of-life (EOL) planning is still in its infancy, despite recent government and societal efforts to promote quality EOL care. Previous national studies in Taiwan have characterized indigenous peoples as a socioeconomically disadvantaged minority group. Compared with their mainstream cohorts, these remote residents are vulnerable to multiple social welfare problems, receiving and accessing little in the way of health care in rural mountain areas. Although advance care planning (ACP) has been shown to help patients achieve better quality of dying, very little is known about indigenous intentions for such interventions. Relevant studies are scarce in Taiwan, and programs for cancer survivors have been based almost entirely on nonindigenous populations. Since there has been no research on Taiwanese indigenous people’s aims for ACP, there is a need to understand the impact of survivorship on ACP readiness among those who are currently living with, through, and beyond cancer.ObjectiveWe aim to identify differences in ACP intent and readiness among indigenous peoples with and without cancer diagnoses. We will identify the impact of factors such as tribal cultural beliefs and quality of life along with cancer exposure on the outcome of ACP readiness differences. In particular, we will examine the effects of ACP knowledge from previous ACP participation, EOL care experiences, and personal registry status of Do-Not-Resuscitate (DNR) in the national database. A secondary objective is to describe indigenous people’s intent to participate in public education related to EOL planning.MethodsA descriptive case-control study (N=200) is proposed where controls are matched to cases’ attributes of age, gender, and cancer diagnosis. This matching analysis allows assessment of cancer as an exposure while taking into account age and gender as confounding variables. We are currently in the process of training personnel and extracting clinical and administrative information from the health care system of collaborating facilities. This carefully designed study provides a unique opportunity because for the first time in Taiwan, cancer survivorship and ACP readiness for EOL planning will be examined among difficult-to-reach indigenous peoples.ResultsWe plan to complete this study in approximately 3 years.ConclusionsIn this study, we expect to survey palliative care usage in the remote indigenous group, understand factors that influence ACP readiness, and later foster culturally appropriate ACP public participation and policies in order to facilitate collaboration between cancer health care providers in various Taiwanese subcultures.