Technical Sustainability Research Articles

Dairy systems in mountainous areas: Farm animal biodiversity, milk production and destination, and land use

This paper aims to classify the dairy systems of an Alpine area (Trento Province, Italy) and compare them in terms of productivity, milk destination, maintenance of livestock biodiversity, land management, and landscape conservation. A sample of 610 dairy farms was surveyed, and data on their structural and management features were collected. Four different farming systems were identified through a non-hierarchical cluster approach: “Original Traditional” (lactating cows that are moved to highland pastures during summer), “Traditional without summer pastures”, “Traditional with silages”, and “Modern”. “Modern” farms accounted for about one fifth of the total and were characterized by the presence of recent buildings with free animals and milking parlors, large herd sizes and high levels of milk production. The feeding strategy on modern farms consisted of total mixed rations based on silage, and Holstein Friesian was the main breed, whereas local and dual-purpose breeds were rare. “Original Traditional” farms were characterized by the presence of old buildings containing tied animals. These farms were small to medium and consisted of Brown Swiss and local breeds such as Rendena and Alpine Grey, which used mainly local forages and summer Alpine pastures. The GIS analyses of the utilized agricultural areas of each farm also showed that only traditional, low-input systems are able to maintain the steepest meadows and highland pastures. These systems guarantee a high sustainability in terms of livestock biodiversity, environmental impact (stocking and manure densities), and landscape protection (contrasting re-afforestation and managing Alpine pasture). The main concerns for economic and technical sustainability of traditional dairy farms are low productivity, land fragmentation and agricultural mechanization. The data analyzed also showed the strong link between these systems and the production of high value, Protected Designation of Origin cheeses is fundamental for reducing their economic handicap when compared with intensive farming systems.

Environmentally conscious design – educating future architects

Purpose – This paper aims to examine how US architectural programs are addressing environmental imperatives through curricular‐based initiatives. It offers a brief overview of how environmentally conscious design education has evolved and compares curricular approaches to social, aesthetic, and technical sustainability education from six architecture programs considered to be national leaders in sustainability education.Design/methodology/approach – Views from leading architectural programs on sustainable education were compiled and assessed leading to a curricular study of course and degree offerings.Findings – It was found that four consistent approaches to undergraduate sustainable design education are being promoted: core value: all course content addresses sustainable design; systems‐focused: support courses fulfill needs for sustainable education; choice: sustainable education is through student selection of courses offerings; and specialization: sustainable education is a specialty endeavor mainly ...

Selección de forjados unidireccionales con criterios técnicos, económicos y sostenibles

This paper presents a method for finding the optimal floor slabs according to the requirements of the Spanish Building Code (CTE), the Spanish Structural Concrete Code (EHE-08) and good building practices. This method is applied to the case of one-way floor slabs with on-site cast ribs according with the characteristics and performance parameters usually offered by firms in the industry. The initial data and the variables involved in the process cover the technical viability, sustainability and monetary cost of slabs by incorporating specific ratios to assess the suitability of each solution. The method set out here may prove helpful to construction specialists who need to select optimal-cost floor slabs with the lowest environmental impacts.

Briefing: Waste management sustainability in low-income countries

The drivers and motivation to improve solid waste management systems in low-income countries are diverse. These may be environmental, social, political or related to income generation, depending on the stakeholders, their stakes and their relationships. To sustain solid waste systems, these different motivations need to be understood and incorporated into the planning for new systems. Often the proposed solution to an increasing waste problem is large-scale technology and its financial and technical sustainability will depend on the cost and the capacity to operate and maintain in the given context. Nevertheless waste collection and recycling provide a livelihood for millions of people in low-income countries. Therefore, they need to be considered as an integral part of the existing systems. Future planning activities must therefore include economic and social sustainability, in addition to the user’s acceptance and need to build carefully on existing strengths and knowledge of the informal systems.

THE ROLE OF MEDITERRANEAN FRUIT TREE ORCHARDS AND VINEYARDS IN MAINTAINING THE TRADITIONAL AGRICULTURAL LANDSCAPE

ISHS XXVIII International Horticultural Congress on Science and Horticulture for People (IHC2010): International Symposium on the Challenge for a Sustainable Production, Protection and Consumption of Mediterranean Fruits and Nuts THE ROLE OF MEDITERRANEAN FRUIT TREE ORCHARDS AND VINEYARDS IN MAINTAINING THE TRADITIONAL AGRICULTURAL LANDSCAPE

Sustainable supply chain design: an application example in local business retail

The paper demonstrates the need to consider different sustainability aspects in supply chain redesign and optimization problems. To this end a simulation model of local pharmaceutical business retail is presented as application example. Three different sustainability aspects are considered (technical sustainability, economic sustainability and environmental sustainability) when investigating two different problems: the addition of new pharmacies to the supply chain and optimization of the supply chain routes. The main goals are to understand how new potential customers can be added to the supply chain while reducing the negative impact on the customers’ satisfaction level (technical sustainability), how to optimize the routes followed by each transportation vector (technical, economic and environmental sustainability) and how to compare different solutions in terms of truck fleets in order to reduce CO2 emissions (environmental and economic sustainability).

RDAP12 summit: Challenges and opportunities for data management

AbstractEditor's SummaryLibrarians, data managers and educators convened at ASIS&T's third annual Research Data Access and Preservation Summit in March 2012 to discuss the complex issues involved in managing research data. Major topics included the sociocultural landscape of data management, education and training for data managers, and data citation practices. Among the many questions without answers were the issues of revenue sources and whether science data curation services are better handled by institutions or scientific communities. Financial and technical sustainability are critical, together with human sustainability, including data managers' training and education. While the relative importance of data management theory and technical skills was a matter of debate, all supported the need for continuing education in data curation. There was agreement that current data citation practices are inconsistent and that citation metadata standards and unique and persistent identifiers for datasets are necessary.

Investigating the technical sustainability of farming systems with correlational biplots

Nowadays sustainability has become one of the major topics of interest in farming systems research. Farming systems sustainability is analyzed in this work by introducing the concept of technical sustainability, defined here as the ability of a biological production system to make an efficient use of the available resources on field level with the main goal to maximize its economic output given a set of uncontrolled biophysical constraints. This concept is developed and applied to the agricultural production area of the Mantaro Valley (Peru). Through fortnightly visits, data on biophysical characteristics of the crops on selected production fields were collected without taking part in the decision process of the growers to manage their crops. Afterward, by applying a multivariate exploratory data method, principal component analysis, it was possible to establish technical efficiency gradients for the tested data. The capabilities of such type of analysis are explored by studying two types of standardization of the collected data. The biplot graphical output that can be built upon the results of the analysis represents an extra powerful feature to interpret the outcome of the analysis.

Social marketing in healthcare

Social marketing is an important tool in the delivery of healthcare services. For any healthcare programme or project to be successful, community/consumer participation is required. The four principles of social marketing can guide policymakers and healthcare providers to successfully plan and implement health programmes. To review the existing literature in order to project the benefits of social marketing in healthcare. A search of periodical literature by the author involving social marketing and marketing concepts in health was carried out. Items were identified initially through health-oriented indexing services such as Medline, Health STAR and Cinahl, using the identifiers "social marketing" and "marketing in health". An extensive search was also carried out on educational database ERIC. A literature review of various studies on social marketing indicated that the selection of the right product (according to the community need) at the right place, with the right strategy for promotion and at the right price yields good results. However, along with technical sustainability (product, price, promotion and place), financial sustainability, institutional sustainability and market sustainability are conducive factors for the success of social marketing. The purpose of this literature review was to ascertain the likely effectiveness of social marketing principles and approaches and behaviour change communication towards health promotion. It is important for all healthcare workers to understand and respond to the public's desires and needs and routinely use consumer research to determine how best to help the public to solve problems and realise aspirations. Social marketing can optimise public health by facilitating relationship-building with consumers and making their lives healthier.

Technical Sustainability of Biodiesel and Its Blends with Diesel in C.I. Engines: A Review

Technical Sustainability of Biodiesel and Its Blends with Diesel in C.I. Engines: A Review

SANIMAS Approach and ISSDP's City-wide Sanitation Strategy (CSS)

Even tough decentralized wastewater treatment solutions have been initiated earlier by NGOs and individuals it was just around the year 2002 that it became a national program. It started with 7 pilot cities in Indonesia and is now (2010) expanded to more than 100 cities (kota) and regencies (kabupaten) in 22 provinces. This program is known as SANIMAS (Sanitasi oleh Masyarakat, or Sanitation by Communities). It can be considered as a response to the national policy for encouraging community involvement during planning and development of infrastructure facilities, including sanitation. As demand for urban sanitation services development is increasing, the SANIMAS approach is considered as an option for a quick response to the need of providing sanitation services for low income communities in peri urban areas with population densities between 25 and 100 people/ha. In residential areas with higher population densities the SANIMAS approach would be a feasible first step towards the gradual implementation of community based simplified or condominium sewer networks. In rural and peri-urban areas (with population densities below 25 people/ha) more individual solutions would be applied. For the identification and subsequent implementation of these basic facilities the community lead total sanitation (CLTS) approach is often used. The Indonesian Sanitation Sector Development Program (ISSDP) implemented in the period 2006 – 2010 established a framework for planning of sustainable poor-inclusive urban sanitation services in Indonesia through effective and coordinated policy-making, institutional reform, strategic planning and awareness building. The Citywide Sanitation Strategy (CSS) as prepared by the 12 cities involved in ISSDP takes into account lessons learned from the SANIMAS pilot cities and the results of the scaling-up of the SANIMAS program in recent years. In the context of PPSP (Percepatan Pembangunan Sanitasi Pemukiman – Acceleration of Sanitation Development for Human Settlements) in the period 2010 – 2014, the ISSDP approach for policy making, institutional reform, strategic planning and awareness building will be scaled-up at national level and implemented in 330 cities and regencies throughout Indonesia. This paper provides a brief introduction to urban sanitation development trends in Indonesia, a concise description of SANIMAS and the CSS-planning approach and it outlines experiences gained so far with the incorporation of the SANIMAS concept and its guiding principles into Citywide Sanitation Strategies. Main approaches taken from SANIMAS and incorporated into strategic sanitation planning at city level include; i) selection of systems and technical options, ii) addressing health and environmental impacts, community participation, social and institutional issues. These aspects are found to be crucial to ensure social, financial and technical sustainability of the systems.

Veterinary paraprofessionals and community animal health workers in Tanzania

To address the economic hardships of the 1980‟s, Tanzania under pressure from its development partners both bilateral and multilateral embarked on structural adjustment program. In the case of veterinary services delivery systems reforms were advocated founded on privatisation and liberalisation. The government abruptly withdrew from providing clinical services, retrenched a substantial number of paraprofessionals and their training sponsorship was withdrawn. The gap created has not been bridged by the private sector which to date is limited to a few major urbanised foci. Rural producers have been the mostly affected by these reforms. The response has been to try and create a new cadre in the delivery of veterinary services and a reduced emphasis on the role of paraprofessionals. The roles of this new cadre commonly referred to as the community based animal health workers (CAHWs) and paraprofessionals are reviewed. We conclude that before any new cadre is introduced in the delivery system, technical and socio-economic sustainability issues should be researched. Furthermore we advocate that the role of paraprofessionals in the private sector and rural areas should be re-examined. Keywords : CAHW, Tanzania, paraprofessionals, animal health services Tanzania Vet Journal Vol. 25 (2) 2008: pp. 121-131

Rotavirus vaccine introduction in the Americas: progress and lessons learned

In Latin America and the Caribbean, rotavirus causes approximately 15,000 deaths, 75,000 hospitalizations, 2 million clinic visits and 10 million cases of rotavirus diarrhea annually. Two safe vaccines are available that are effective in preventing severe illness. To date, seven countries in Latin America (Brazil, Ecuador, El Salvador, Panama, Mexico, Nicaragua and Venezuela) have introduced the vaccine. For successful rotavirus vaccine introduction, the lessons learned re-emphasize the critical need for countries to have precise plans that will ensure technical, programmatic and financial sustainability of vaccine introduction. Of these lessons learned, programmatic feasibility and financial sustainability were particularly challenging for countries that were the first to introduce a rotavirus vaccine.

Licensing for dam construction and operation ‐ Practical decision support developed and improved over 100 years

During the last 100 years some 2500 dams have been built in Norway either related to irrigation, domestic and industrial water supply, or hydropower development projects, the latter being the dominant. A legal and regulatory system has been developed and amended to serve the ever changing policies and needs of a country that during the last century has been transformed from one of the poorest in Europe into one of the richest in the world. The needs and interest of the affected local population and their rightful share of the benefits of the hydropower development project have been taken care of in various ways over the years, from providing new houses and electricity, to the construction of new roads and even direct payments. The dams normally constructed in relation to these projects are monumental structures built to last for a very long time, some would say forever. In order to avoid dambreaks and thereby assure public safety, a legal framework securing appropriate operational rules, compliance with technical requirements and periodic inspections of the dams is an absolute necessity. A transparent government licensing process, involving all public and other stakeholders, has all the time been considered of crucial importance in order to achieve general acceptance of a project. The process includes comprehensive impact studies on environmental and social issues, as well as appropriate technical and political issues related to the eventual implementation of the project. Granting of a license should be based on a clear and unambiguous conclusion that the total benefits of the project exceed the negative impacts. The license includes explicit conditions stating a set of operating rules and other precautions that assure technical safety and environmental sustainability. All conditions is subject to future revisions.

Installing and Implementing a Computer-based Patient Record System in Sub-Saharan Africa: The Mosoriot Medical Record System

The authors implemented an electronic medical record system in a rural Kenyan health center. Visit data are recorded on a paper encounter form, eliminating duplicate documentation in multiple clinic logbooks. Data are entered into an MS-Access database supported by redundant power systems. The system was initiated in February 2001, and 10,000 visit records were entered for 6,190 patients in six months. The authors present a summary of the clinics visited, diagnoses made, drugs prescribed, and tests performed. After system implementation, patient visits were 22% shorter. They spent 58% less time with providers (p<0.001) and 38% less time waiting (p=0.06). Clinic personnel spent 50% less time interacting with patients, two thirds less time interacting with each other, and more time in personal activities. This simple electronic medical record system has bridged the “digital divide.” Financial and technical sustainability by Kenyans will be key to its future use and development.

A comparison of the technical sustainability of in situ stabilisation/solidification with disposal to landfill

Sustainability is becoming a very important issue in contaminated land remediation and should form one of the factors used in future selection of treatment technologies. In situ stabilisation/solidification (S/S) is a remediation technique that is increasingly being applied to the treatment of contaminated sites because of numerous advantages over other remediation techniques. This paper assesses and compares aspects of the technical sustainability of in situ S/S with landfilling. Criteria previously established for the assessment of the technical sustainability of the remediation of contaminated land are employed. The comparison is presented in the form of a case study based on a real remediation project in the UK. The analysis indicated that landfilling had a larger impact than S/S in the majority of areas investigated, such as waste production (1000 kg waste/t soil remediated for landfilling compared to none for S/S), transportation (12.9 km/t for landfilling, 0.4 km/t for S/S) and use of raw materials (1005.5 kg/t for landfilling, 88.9 kg/t for S/S), although S/S had high greenhouse gas emissions (12.6 kg/t for landfilling, 40.9 kg/t for S/S). In addition, a multi-criteria/cost-effectiveness analysis gave cost effectiveness scores of −34.2 to S/S and −138.1 to landfill (where more positive is better).

Managing the 'fit' of information and communication technology in community health: a framework for decision making.

The 'fit' of information and communication technologies (ICT) in community health is important in meeting the needs of patients, carers, staff and organizations in the delivery of services. A good fit leads to greater efficiencies and effectiveness in ICT use. A multi-step research project was conducted to look not only at the role of ICT but at how to manage ICT and make a good ICT fit to enhance community health services. Telehealth was identified as the application of ICT to enhance population health, health promotion and health-service delivery. A participatory process was identified as critical to determining needs and potential uses as well as to the successful design and implementation of ICT in health. There was additional value in ensuring a diversity of desired outcomes which balance costs and benefits while fostering capacity and technical sustainability.

Small-scale irrigation initiatives in Nigeria: the problems of equity and sustainability

Because of the repeated under-performance of large-scale irrigation over the last 20–30 years it is now widely perceived as having failed to reduce food deficits or significantly increase agricultural productivity in Africa. Many aid donors and state agencies, particularly in Nigeria, have become increasingly involved in informal small-scale irrigation and there has thus been rapid technical change in the methods used to lift groundwater. Using data from recent research undertaken in northern Nigeria, the question is posed as to whether the assumptions about the sustainability of technically improved small-scale irrigation have any basis in fact. It is shown that technical sustainability problems have already arisen in northern Nigeria and that there could be serious ecological and pedological problems in the future. It is also argued that because of its inherent inequity, small-scale irrigation is not suitable for effecting broad-based agricultural and/or rural development. With new small-scale irrigation technology being introduced and promoted by forces acting upon, but outside, the traditional agricultural sector, it should not be presumed that the growth so induced will be either organic or sustainable in the longer term.

Problems of Participation and Issues of Sustainability in the Public Irrigation System in the Context of Management Transfer: Some Sociological Observations from Eastern Terai, Nepal

It has been ascertained that participatory processes did not involve learning component from both agency and water users’ association for institutional and technical sustainability. The overall process of participation was superficial. There was a need of participation that underscored the empowerment of WUA with accountability. As Vermillion (2005) shares that empowerment with partnership is an emergent institutional paradigm for the irrigation sector development that places water users in the role of irrigation system governance, and government in the roles of regulator and provider of support services. There is a need to re-train the irrigation staff on the emergent institutional paradigm to empower the water users. For the empowerment with accountability, water users are to be provided enough institutional strengthening. There is the need to promote user-agency relationship positively and develop faith and confidence of the users and agency in the regime of transparency. Social scientists point out potential benefits of building successful local organizations. These benefits, for the local people, are in aspects such as empowerment, confidence-building, forming social capital, and reduction of dependency. Given the fact that participation is a process, it cannot be achieved in a short span of time with little institutional inputs. Sustainability of the management transferred irrigation systems/sub-systems definitely hinges on the broad-based and inclusive participatory processes. Keywords: participation; sustainability; management transfer; social capital and empowerment DOI: 10.3126/dsaj.v4i0.4512 Dhaulagiri Journal of Sociology and Anthropology Vol.4 2010 pp.41-64