Sustainable Local Economy Research Articles

Determination of Sustainable Factory Locations for the Lemon Agroindustry using AHP, Mapping and Water Management

This research was conducted in Suntenjaya Village, Lembang, and West Bandung Regency, focusing on lemon agro-industrial development. Research was conducted using the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) approach, area mapping, and water management to determine a sustainable factory location. The main objective is the selection of factory sites by integrating lemon production, considering sustainable agriculture aspects, product aspects, and water conservation programs. The results of this study provide a strong foundation for sustainable agro-industrial development that will support sustainable agriculture, local economy, and environmental protection. The research also combined qualitative and quantitative elements with a mixed approach that included Focus Group Discussion (FGD) and AHP, and the results showed that integrated drainage management was the top priority, followed by sanitation, clean water, reforestation, and sustainable agriculture. Mapping of areas based on geographical characteristics, such as rainfall, slope, and soil type, provided a map of water infiltration rates, which became a key guide in planning water conservation programs. The ultimate location for the lemon agroindustry is half of Desa Suntenjaya, mostly from the center to the northern area, which needs to consider proximity to markets in Bandung Regency and City, easy access to sources of raw materials for lemons, water availability, adequate transportation infrastructure, access to energy sources, suitable climate for lemon growth, and the availability of adequate labor in the region.

The politics of transforming social relations of work: making sense of a coworking hub in an outer-urban region

ABSTRACT This paper investigates the efforts of a group of residents of an outer-metropolitan council area to develop a grassroots coworking hub that would improve the working lives of members and support a more inclusive, connected and sustainable local economy. It considers the collective sense-making required to stabilise new sets of social relations, at work, in an era of ‘reforming capitalism’. Using a CCO and governmentality approach, we focus on the rhetorics in play and foreground the interests, agency and decisions of these residents. Bringing the politics of transforming social relations of work to the fore contributes to understanding changes in how work is organised and governed, and understanding the constitutive role of organisational communication. The paper argues a rhetoric of community is problematic for bringing into being a coworking organisation aiming for significant change to work and the economies in which it is embedded.

Entrepreneurial Potential in Realizing the Local Economy In the Tourist Village

Entrepreneurship in the context of a tourist village involves various types of businesses related to the development of local tourism and the utilization of natural and cultural resources owned by the local community. The scope of entrepreneurship in a tourist village can include tourism-related businesses, agriculture-related businesses, handicraft-related businesses, culinary businesses, and transportation-related businesses. The purpose of this article is to find out the forms, challenges, opportunities, entrepreneurial potential, contributions and benefits for tourism villages. The method used in this article is to use a qualitative approach by conducting interviews, observation, documentation and literature study as well as content analysis. The results show that to develop a sustainable local economy, local communities need to consider the potential of natural and cultural resources and develop responsible and sustainable tourism management strategies to reduce negative impacts on the environment and society. However, there are several challenges that entrepreneurship in a tourist village may face, including limited market access, limited capital and resources, lack of business skills and knowledge, intense competition, and negative environmental and social impacts. To overcome these challenges, entrepreneurs in a tourist village need to develop business skills, expand their networks, and implement responsible and sustainable tourism management strategies with the support of the government and non-governmental organizations. By overcoming these challenges, entrepreneurship in a tourist village can play a crucial role in the development of sustainable local economies and strengthen the tourism industry in the area.

Using Metabolomics to Understand Selective Breeding of Goats that Enables Tolerance of Plant Secondary Compounds

The objective of this study was to determine aspects of liver function in goats with a divergent propensity to consume juniper ( Juniperus spp.), a terpene -containing woody plant. Goats represent a significant contribution to sustainable food production and local economies worldwide. Climate change in arid and semiarid regions has led to a transition of grasslands to woodlands. Goats ( Capra hircus) are adapted to utilize woody plants as a food source; however, herbivory can be limited by plant secondary compounds (e.g., monoterpenes). Estimated breeding values (EBV) have been determined for domestic goats based on their propensity to consume above (H: EBV = 13.1 ± 0.2) or below (L: EBV = −14.8 ± 0.5) the herd average for proportion of juniper in the diet of free-ranging animals. To investigate the physiological and metabolic mechanisms enabling increased intake and tolerance of juniper, H and L adult male Spanish goats within young (2-yr-old) and old (3-5-yr-old) groups that spent their life grazing pastures containing juniper were randomly selected from our research herd. Twenty goats (n = 5 of each age and juniper consumption combination) were weighed and harvested. Serum samples and multiple organs (i.e., liver, kidney, heart, spleen, adrenal, testis) were collected, weighed, and preserved for analyses. With an initial focus on the liver, samples (200 mg) were submitted to Metabolon, Inc. (Morrisville, NC) to identify metabolites by ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography/tandem high resolution/accurate mass spectrometry chromatography methods. Data were analyzed using the PROC MIXED procedure of Statistical Analysis System (SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC). Goat body weight (BW), relative organ weight (g/kg BW), and serum constituents were analyzed using a model that included age (O, Y), treatment (H, L), and the age x treatment interaction. Animals were the experimental unit and error degrees of freedom = 16. Statistical significance was determined at P ≤ 0.05. Multiple differences in metabolites of the lipid and protein pathways were identified. For example, the relative intensity of 19 monoacylglycerol metabolites was greater (P < 0.05) in H than L goats. This report, however, focuses on the gamma-glutamyl amino acid (GGAA) pathway due to its role in diagnosis of liver dysfunction. Relative liver weight (g/kg BW) was numerically greater (P = 0.15) in H (15.80 ± 0.75) than L (14.58 ± 0.39) goats. Serum gamma glutamyl transferase (U/L) was within the clinically normal range but was greater (P < 0.0001) in H (59.2 ± 2.1) versus L (44.3 ± 2.2), and in Y (55.3 ± 2.9) versus O (48.2 ± 3.2) goats. Of the 18 GGAAs identified from the GGAA super- and sub-pathways, the relative intensities of 11 metabolites were greater (P < 0.05) in liver from H than L; 8 were greater in HY versus LY, and only 2 were greater in OH versus OL goats. The increased expression of serum and liver components of the GGAA pathway for the goats with a positive estimated breeding value for juniper consumption may be indicative of metabolic mechanisms and biomarkers associated with increased tolerance of plant secondary compounds. Texas A&M AgriLife Research. This is the full abstract presented at the American Physiology Summit 2024 meeting and is only available in HTML format. There are no additional versions or additional content available for this abstract. Physiology was not involved in the peer review process.

Empowering Small-Medium Enterprises for Developing Local Business: Case Study in Sub-district of Karanggede, Regency of Boyolali

The study aims to explain the empowerment of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) as an effort to increase the sustainable local economy. In developing countries, SMEs play an essential role as the backbone of regional income, which significantly contributes to the national economy. Unfortunately, the SME sector faces various problems stemming from external and internal factors. The SME empowerment program is an effective alternative solution in developing the capacity of SMEs to maintain business continuity and develop innovative products. This research uses a qualitative approach with a case study method. Participant observation, in-depth interviews, and literature review were used to explore data in detail and depth. A purposive sampling technique was used to determine relevant and appropriate informants with the research topic. The study results show that 1) innovation is essential in maintaining SME business continuity. 2) The SME empowerment program aims to build the capacity of SMEs to increase their innovation. In this case, human resources and organizational capacity are carried out by derivative educational activities and workshops, training, and the use of ICT to develop organizational governance. Some of the proposed policy recommendations, the desire for the SME empowerment program needs to be on the agenda of the regional government's annual activities, the application of SME product protection policies must be carried out, and the use of SME products in various public and government events needs to be carried out.

Building an empirically grounded conceptual frame for business networking as a mechanism for pro-environmental business growth

Whilst there is a growing body of evidence relating to the environmental capabilities, eco innovation, sustainable supply chains and green skills of individual SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises), much less attention has been paid to networked approaches to pro-environmental and sustainable SME support. The empirical studies that do exist mostly take a firm-centric approach. This study takes a network centric view to describe hitherto under-explored features of network functionality based on case analysis of a single business support network in the East Midlands of the UK. The resulting conceptual framework offers an analytical tool that can be used to study network functionality in the service of pro-environmental SME development more widely. Empirical data for this case analysis of a regional ‘low carbon’ business network is drawn from interviews with 25 stakeholders, analysis of programme level data and documentation, ‘insider’ observation of network activity and evidence from both independent and internal evaluations. The study charts key aspects of network provision and its impact upon SMEs and wider stakeholders. The paper then presents a conceptual model of pro-environmental business networking that identifies key internal features of network activity as well as various external drivers of multi-stakeholder engagement in the shift to a more sustainable local economy.

Evaluation of Planned Sustainable Urban Development Projects in Al-Baha Region Using Analytical Hierarchy Process

This paper presents and illustrates planned urban projects in the Al-Baha region with the potential to contribute to developing a sustainable local environment and economy in alignment with Saudi Arabia’s 2030 national vision and future needs. Al-Baha is characterized by a wealth of renewable energy, a cooler environment relative to many other Saudi regions, as well as multiple heritage villages and wildlife habitats set amid mountainous topography. The approach used here is the analytical hierarchy process (AHP), which employs an expert consultation analysis to identify the best future projects for the Al-Baha region. About 52 experts were invited, each selected according to specific criteria to include decision-makers, developers, and academics in the fields of the built environment, engineering, and investment. The findings of the study are evaluated and culminate in suggestions for future projects in the tourism; renewable energy; agriculture and farming; health and education; and wildlife and forest protection sectors. It has been found that the most important future projects are those related to the tourism and agricultural and farming sectors. The other projects proposed are unique to the Al-Baha region due to its location and traditions. The study concludes with key recommendations for developers and decision-makers.

Marine and coastal places: Wellbeing in a blue economy

Community members have interests in the development of marine industries such as characterise the blue economy agenda. One of these interests is levels of personal and community wellbeing. Governments, local authorities and marine industries are frequently confronted with conflicting values and interests when making decisions about marine industry development. Yet it is not clear how decisions can be made in ways that also focus on community members’ wellbeing. Assessing wellbeing is substantively different from other aspects of development assessment as it comprises (i) subjective and (ii) relational aspects as well as (iii) material aspects. We applied this three-fold wellbeing lens to investigate the connections people make between marine places and their personal wellbeing and how people perceive changes to marine places (industry development) affects this connection. We discuss three key findings: (i) people’s subjective and relational experiences of personal wellbeing in relation to marine places were more important than experiences of material aspects; (ii) the specific quality of the marine environments and the values associated with the physical environment strongly influenced people’s subjective and relational wellbeing experiences; and (iii) the development of marine industries may negatively influence people’s experience of wellbeing in marine places if not done in ways that are sympathetic to their connections with these marine places. We discuss these findings with respect to the marine industry development and suggest that conceptualising and assessing wellbeing using only material concepts and measures in expanding marine industries will risk missing critical information in the development of sustainable local blue economies.

Stimulating and developing sustainable urban local economies: The role of urban agriculture

ABSTRACT Whereas urban agriculture is a potential tool for urban local economic development (LED), there appears to be little empirical evidence that has examined how urban agriculture affects the urban local economy from a LED perspective. This research aims to examine the role of urban agriculture in the urban local economy in a developing country, Ghana. Data for the research was obtained through focus group discussions and key informant interviews with urban agriculturalists and urban local authorities in two assemblies respectively in the Greater Accra region of Ghana. The findings showed that if properly supported, urban agriculture can improve the local economy because of its multiple benefits of employment, income, and improved livelihood and food security. This study contributed to expanding the international scholarship on LED from the perspective of using urban agriculture as an LED strategy by examining the case in Ghana.

Peranan Koperasi dalam Rangka Mensejahterahkan Anggota pada Koperasi UMMAT Mandiri Peureulak

This research explores the role of the UMMAT Mandiri Peureulak Cooperative in the welfare of its members through qualitative and quantitative approaches. By focusing on member characteristics, cooperative programs, and the resulting positive impacts, this research shows that cooperatives have succeeded in creating inclusivity in the local community. The diverse characteristics of members, including age groups, economic backgrounds, and gender, reflect the cooperative's success in embracing all levels of society. Programs such as the provision of goods and services, economic empowerment and social activities have been proven to provide real benefits in improving members' economic and social conditions. Increasing income, developing skills, and improving social welfare are significant positive impacts. In conclusion, the UMMAT Mandiri Peureulak Cooperative plays a key role in forming an inclusive and sustainable local economy.

Minding the gap: Attempts at community archaeology and local counter-narratives at an archaeological site in Turkey

Community archaeologies should emerge from an awareness of the ways in which archaeological praxis is embedded with multiple pasts, subjectivities, materialities, and national and transnational histories. This longitudinal archaeological ethnography explores the lived experiences, perceptions of the past, and relationship to archaeology and archaeologists amongst villagers residing near the Kerkenes site in Turkey after attempts by the project to develop heritage awareness, a sustainable local economy, and collaborative management of the site within the community. However well-intentioned, considerable challenges to closing the gap in understanding between archaeologists and locals can arise when the efforts of archaeologists become entangled in larger socio-political frameworks beyond their control. Villagers have experienced being dehumanized as Muslim migrant workers in Europe and were Islamic-based nationalist supporters of the conservative Erdoğan regime. The archaeologists’ heritage-making practices inadvertently triggered symbolic associations of the project with the colonial endeavor. Locals produced counter-narratives about the site as a decolonizing response.

The Development of Bali's Cocoa Industry through the Hexagon Model for Local Economic Development (LED): Sorga Chocolate Factory

Local Economic Development (LED) is the foundation for maintaining the national economic cycle and supporting local financial independence. In addition to its tourism sector, Bali has potential in the cocoa industry. In 2009, Bali had 12,850 hectares of cocoa land. Balinese cocoa is also famous for its taste and fermentation quality. Unfortunately, the cocoa industry still has several challenges, such as cocoa farmers being comfortable with the value chain formed by the world's largest cocoa companies, Indonesian cocoa's renowned mixed and low-quality cocoa; access to buyers; different prices between farmers, wholesaler, and lead firms; productivity consistency and quality in the upstream sector; and climate change. This research will examine the cocoa industry in Bali using the Hexagon Model for LED and also analyze the upstream-downstream process of the Balinese cocoa industry. The objective of this article is to examine how the Hexagon model for LED in the Balinese cocoa industry can further activate local economic activities and form a resilient and sustainable local economy. The local government has established regulations for the protection of cocoa farmers in collaboration with Kalimajari and Udayana University, however, optimization in implementing the regulations still need to be done, especially in the government sector

Local economic development strategies to increase economic growth in agrotourism areas

This study aims to find a local economic development strategy based on agroindustry to increase Java’s agrotourism sustainable and robust local economy. The research methods used are descriptive quantitative and qualitative. Research respondents are the community, academic practitioners and government officials. The data used covers both external and internal factors that affect the local economy in an agrotourism area and which are then analyzed using SWOT. The results show that the main strength of agrotourism in the IFE matrix is its highly strategic geographical location. The weakness is the lack of planning and business development activity which could have potential economic value. In the EFE matrix, opportunities are the prospects for agrotourism development while the main threat is the community's low interest in business development. In the IE matrix, agrotourism development is found in cell V. This can be handled by maintaining strategies such as market penetration, and market and product development. The study concludes that the local economic development of the community in the agrotourism area can be implemented if the community, practitioners and government are integrated to support the strategy.

The case against alternative currencies

Local Currencies, Local Exchange Trading Systems, and Time Banks are all part of a new social movement that aims to restrict money's purchasing power within a certain geographic area, or within a certain community. According to their proponents, these restrictions may contribute to building sustainable local economies, supporting local businesses and creating “warmer” social relations. This article inquires whether the overall enthusiasm that surrounds alternative currencies is justified. It argues that the potential benefits of these currencies are not sufficient to justify the restrictions they impose on money's purchasing power. Turning these currencies into effective channels of change, by increasing their scope and their strength, could severely hinder the pursuit of social justice, in a way that is probably not even necessary for achieving their objectives. The paper concludes that large-scale limitations of money's purchasing power are, therefore, undesirable.

Promoting Sustainability through Regional Food and Wine Pairing

Sustainable development has been growingly recognized as important in the scope of tourism and hospitality industry practices. Gastronomic tourism associated with regional food-and wine pairing helps the emerging of higher quality services and contributes to the sustainability of tourist destinations. This study presents a pairing model based on three Real-Time Delphi (RTD) questionnaires to allow experts to select and pair regional wines with regional foods. In the first questionnaire, the experts were asked to choose, by category, the most representative regional dishes from the Algarve region (Portugal). In the second questionnaire, for each dish, experts voted on the best regional wines for the dish. In the third questionnaire, experts made quantitative and qualitative analyses for each of the three most voted wines for each dish. The resulting pairing model of regional food and wines will be communicated to tourism professionals and the general public. By promoting the consumption of these pairings, we promote an efficient, socially fair, and ecologically sustainable local economy. At the same time, we stimulate the circular economy in tourism.

FOODSHARING AS A TOOL FOR CRISIS MANAGEMENT AND ACHIEVEMENT OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS

The global economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has forced us to look at development issues in a new way. As a result, many decision-makers have realized the importance of rebuilding economies with a sustainable development approach that involves investing not in fossil fuels but in renewable energies, reforestation, sustainable food systems, and cyclical, local and low-carbon economies. In this connection, the article considers food sharing as one of the possible mechanisms contributing to the achievement of sustainable development goals and at the same time being an anti-crisis management tool. At the same time, this article gives directly the goals in the field of sustainable development, the state of affairs in the field of achieving the set goals in modern realities, the measures taken at the international level and in Russia, the essence of food sharing is also revealed, examples of foreign practices are given, problems that impede development are identified of food sharing in Russia, possible options for their solutions are proposed and promising results after its implementation are reflected, as well as a table with the effect of food sharing on specific goals of sustainable development has been compiled by the generalization method. This article can be useful to people interested in the rational use of food, businesses in order to restructure business processes to meet the requirements of the modern economy and government officials for timely and effective adoption of measures in the field of sustainable development.

Community Participation in Sustainable Valorisation of Cultural Heritage: The Case of the Municipality of Vrsar

Sustainable tourism, as tourism that respects both residents and visitors, cultural heritage and the environment, can offer appropriate models for sustainable cultural heritage management and local economy development. Community participation is one of the fundamental principles of sustainable tourism. It was introduced in tourism studies more than three decades ago and elaborated through different methodological approaches and research. The purpose of this paper is to elaborate the local community perspectives regarding sustainable valorisation of cultural and archaeological heritage. The research was realised within the framework of ArchaeoCulTour, a recent scientific project whose main goal is to analyse the development potential of archaeological heritage through sustainable tourism in Istria County, Croatia. The research has considered the Municipality of Vrsar in Western Istria, a typical Mediterranean tourist destination, characterised by mass tourism and high seasonality, as a case study. The research has shown that the residents in the Municipality of Vrsar partially support the current tourism development model, faced with different sustainability challenges and many infrastructural problems. Residents are interested in being better informed and more involved in the tourism planning process and the participatory heritage management models. They agree that the main sustainability issues could be improved through sustainable valorisation of local cultural and natural resources by creating innovative tourism experiences, and they are interested to participate in this co-creating process. Keywords: tourism destinations, cultural heritage, sustainable cultural tourism, community participation

Growing a sustainable local grain economy in Arizona: A multidimensional analytical case study of an alternative food network

Local grain economies are being developed in North America and Europe as alternatives to the global grain economy and its negative externalities. Little is known, however, about their size, structure, and sustainability, in particular as they evolve. This study offers such insights from a case study of the local grain economy in Arizona. The study uses an analytical framework that combines quantitative and qualitative data and a number of analytical methods to construct a multidimensional profile of the local grain economy. The findings indicate steady growth of the local grain economy in Arizona—in production quantities, range of businesses, diversity of products, and local economy benefits over a number of developmental stages. The findings also suggest that challenges of consolidation, transparency, and other growth issues might undermine its sustainability. The insights can inform the further development of the local grain economy in Arizona and other regions. The study also provides a framework that, through comparative research, allows for creating generalized knowledge about local grain economies and alternative food networks.

Engineered wood products as substitutes in the Canadian building construction industry

Engineered and reconstituted wood products play an important role in building construction, and have positive environmental impacts. However, the wood products compete with other construction material (concrete and steel) in terms of prices in the Canadian building construction industry, and the price competition has not been explored in past literature. In order to promote the use of wood and wood-based products, there is a need to understand how prices influence the choice of construction material. We estimated the own and cross-price elasticities of demand of construction material in Canada using standard log-linear regression models with consumption and price data from 1990 to 2017. Our study shows that engineered and reconstituted wood products are substitutes for cement and steel, and hence there is a need to focus on the development of these value-added forest products, to create sustainable local economies that are economically viable, environmentally sound and socially responsible.

Putting Faith in Vinyl, Real Ale, and Live Music: a Case Study Of the Limits of Tourism Policy and a Critical Analysis Of New Leisure Spaces in a Northern English Town

Skipton, on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales National Park, is an old mill town that has seen tourists flocking to it since the arrival of the railway in the 19th century. Like many other old mill towns in northern England, Skipton has lost those mills-as-factories and the workers in them—and has struggled to retain a sustainable local economy. At the same time, Skipton has become increasingly gentrified, and has become a focus for day visitors and tourists attracted by the beautiful countryside seen when Le Tour de France came through Yorkshire in 2014. In this article, we explore the area of Skipton, dubbed the Canal Quarter. We focus on the leisure spaces that have opened there as attempts to construct alternative, authentic experiences around the consumption of real ale, the performance of live music, and the curation of second-hand vinyl records. We have previously explored how these might be shown to be a space for Habermasian rationality. In this sequel, we use critical theory to show how the alternative, authentic space of vinyl, real ale, and live music has already been compromised by two conflicting hegemonic powers: the cooption of leisure into the economics of tourism and tourism policy, and the meaninglessness of cool capitalism and Bauman's consumer society.