The rational calculus of farmers assumed in many agricultural economic models is unrealistic and non-predictive of their actual decision making. Understanding structural change in agriculture can thus be improved via a realistic modeling of the decision making by agricultural entrepreneurs. Specifically, slow disinvestment (i.e., postponing farm exit), persistence of market structures (i.e., failure to reallocate land plots towards higher efficiency), and more generally characterizing the decision making of farmers are crucial for a better understanding of structural change and policy advice. We apply economic experiments to better understand such disinvestment choices, land markets with economies of scale and private opportunity costs, different auction and bargaining forms to improve allocation efficiency of land markets, and to generally characterize the decision making of farmers.
Im April 2012 führte PUMA das Rücknahmesystem Bring Me Back ein. Seither können Kunden in PUMA Stores weltweit gebrauchte Produkte zurückgeben, die dann durch die Firma I:CO der Weiterverwendung und Verwertung zugeführt werden. Auch die Produkte der neuen recyclefähigen und biologisch abbaubaren PUMA-InCycle-Kollektion, die seit März 2013 auf dem Markt sind, werden so erfasst. Hierzu gehört etwa das recycelbare PUMA Track Jacket, das zu 98 Prozent aus Polyester aus gebrauchten PET-Flaschen besteht. Der PUMA-Rucksack aus Polypropylen wird nach Gebrauch an den ursprünglichen Hersteller zurückgegeben, der das Material wieder zu neuen Rucksäcken verarbeitet. Durch solche Neuentwicklungen will PUMA seine Planungs- und Entscheidungsbasis verbessern. Deshalb hat sie bifa mit der Analyse abfallwirtschaftlicher Optionen für gebrauchte PUMA Produkte beauftragt. bifa untersuchte hierzu Referenzprodukte und Optionen für die Erfassung und Sortierung von Produkten und Materialien. 35 Pfade mit unterschiedlichen Verwertungs- und Beseitigungsansätzen wurden entwickelt und bewertet. Die Realisierungschancen der Pfade wurden dann dem zu erwartenden Nutzen insbes. für die Umwelt gegenübergestellt. Dabei wurde zwischen gut entwickelten und wenig entwickelten Abfallwirtschaften (Waste-Picking-Szenario W-P-Szenario) unterschieden. Es zeigte sich, dass Pfade, die im Szenario Abfallwirtschaft ökologisch nachteilig sind, im W-P-Szenario durchaus vorteilhaft sein können. Im W-P-Szenario sind zudem Pfade realisierbar, die in entwickelten Abfallwirtschaften keine Chance hätten. Die moderne Abfallverbrennung ist für W-P-Szenarien ökologisch vorteilhaft, aber dennoch eine schwierige Option. In entwickelten Abfallwirtschaften sollten Sammlung und Wiedereinsatz gebrauchter Schuhe und Textilien weiterentwickelt werden. Die folgenden generellen Empfehlungen wurden gegeben: - Der Einsatz von Recyclingmaterialien in PUMA-Produkten ist aus ökologischer Sicht zu empfehlen. Diese Erkenntnis wird auch durch die Ergebnisse der ersten ökologischen Gewinn-und-Verlust-Rechnung von PUMA belegt. Über die Hälfte aller Umweltauswirkungen entlang der gesamten Produktions- und Lieferkette des Unternehmens werden bei der Herstellung von Rohmaterialien verursacht - Das Produktdesign sollte auch für bestehende Verwertungspfade optimiert werden, da realistischerweise nur ein Teil der Produkte über das Sammelsystem erfasst werden kann - Die ökologischen Vorteile von Produkten, die aus nur einem Material bestehen, kommen nur dann zum Tragen, wenn das Produkt nach Gebrauch aussortiert und das Material tatsächlich recycelt wird - Biol. abbaubare Produkte können auch Nachteile haben, zum Beispiel die schnellere Entwicklung von klimaschädlichem Methan bei ungeordneter Deponierung - Eine Verlängerung der Produktlebensdauer über den gesamten Lebenszyklus einschl. der Verwendung als Gebrauchtprodukt ist der effektivste Weg, Umweltlasten zu reduzieren. Meth. Ökobilanzierung und Systemanalyse (Text gekürzt)
The natural capital of forests consists to a great extend of the forests environmental functions for human well-being, which not only include goods and services (source and sink functions) but also include life-support functions that reflect ecosystem performance (ecosystem functioning). Shifting the management approach from a traditional one to one that is more aware of the ecosystem complexity, the idea of 'ecosystem functioning is appearing to tackle gradual declines of ecosystem functions. Within CBDs framework, the Ecosystem Approach has been introduced on account of the necessity for open decision making with strong links between all stakeholders and the latest scientific knowledge due to uncertainty and unpredictability in nature. The Ecosystem Approach is still in need of further elaboration, even though as a concept Ecosystem Approach has been widely accepted. To aim forest enhancement, this approach has been regarded as the most feasible concept for the study area, the Bengawan Solo River Basin - Java, Indonesia. Therefore the principles and operational guidelines will be used to analyse and evaluate the current forest management in those areas of the Bengawan Solo River Basin, in which ecosystem function is the basis for forest development area. This research focuses on ecological functions of forests at various levels of ecosystem management planning, from the forestry sectors point of view.
The Marine Strategy Framework Directive is designed to deliver Good Environmental Status (GES) in EU marine waters by 2020. This Directive requires that Member States (MS) with marine territories put in place measures to achieve and maintain GES within a defined timeframe and according to eleven key descriptors of environmental status. However, there is a significant knowledge deficit which may hinder full implementation of the MSFD and the achievement of GES in EU waters.STAGES (Science and Technology Advancing Governance on Good Environmental Status) project is designed to directly address this knowledge deficit. The project has to overarching goals: i) to synthezise per major MSFD themes the information from research projects and ii) to develop a platform to ensure that the knowledge generated through European science and technology can be channeled to a broad range of relevant end users, to inform and facilitate implementation of the MSFD and the achievement of GES. To achieve this, STAGES will target a number of critical gaps in the knowledge transfer process. Firstly, STAGES will identify and synthesize relevant existing EU research results and make them available in a usable format for decision and policy making authorities. Through comprehensive scientific foresight targeted at MSFD knowledge gaps, STAGES will identify needs for futher research. STAGES will also develop innovative solutions to achieve an effective collaboration between the broad range of stakeholders necessary to support MSDF implementation, including policy and governance, science, industry and civil society. Moreover, the role and input of MSFD stakeholders will be central to the activities of the project and to the proposals for a science policy interface which will be delivered by the project. The partnership has been constructed to include a combination of EU/international organizations which can represent a broad constituency of MSFD stakeholders, and national organizations with responsibility to support research and provide advice on MSFD implementation at MS level.
Ecologic Institut unterstützt EUREAU in seinem Beitrag über finanziell nachhaltige Lösungen für die Wasserwirtschaft im Rahmen des 2012 World Water Forum (http://www.worldwaterforum6.org/) in Marseille. Ein zentraler Aspekt dieser Lösungen ist die Förderung des '3T'-Ansatzes, der von der Organisation für wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit und Entwicklung (OECD) entwickelt wurde. Die Studie entwickelt eine praktische methodische Anleitung (Handbuch) um eine konsistente, auf den Endnutzer zugeschnittene Vorgehensweise zu etablieren, die finanzielle Daten auf Basis der 3Ts Methodik der OECD strukturiert. Um konkrete Beispiele und Illustrationen zu schaffen, wendet die Studie die erarbeitete 3Ts Methodik innerhalb einer quantitativen Analyse von ausgewählten europäischen Wasserversorgungsbetrieben auf unterschiedlichen geografischen und administrativen Ebenen (Gemeinde / Region / Land) an. Das letztendliche Ziel des Handbuchs ist die Entwicklung und Förderung der 3Ts als Schlüssel zur Entscheidungshilfe in der Finanzplanung der Wasserdienstleistungen - ein Hilfsmittel, dass in verschiedenen Publikationen, vor allem in EUREAU Publikation, verwendet werden kann.
Das Projekt untersucht die Forschung zum globalen Klimawandel, sowohl vergleichend auf der Ebene von vier europäischen Staaten (Deutschland, Großbritannien, Schweden, Niederlande) als auch auf der EU-Ebene. An der Klimaforschung interessiert insbesondere (a) die Bewältigung der erheblichen wissenschaftlichen Unsicherheit der Problemlage sowie (b) die Frage der Integration diverser wissenschaftlicher Disziplinen und Forschungskulturen in einem 'post-normalen Forschungsfeld. Zweiter Schwerpunkt ist die Interaktion zwischen Wissenschaft und Politik, d. h. wie die Politik die Erkenntnisansprüche der Wissenschaft wahrnimmt, verarbeitet und in politische (In)aktivität umsetzt, andererseits aber auch wie die Forschung durch politische Kriterien in ihrer Entwicklung beeinflußt wird.
RESEARCH OBJECTIVES General: The research aims o identify and provide a better understanding of the socioeconomic factors (internal & external) influencing timber plantation establishment and development in Eastern Paraguay and the further contribution to income generation. It will analyze some of the forces driving plantation establishment and their impacts since the establishment of the Forest Law in 1972. Specific objectives: 1. To document and analyze the changes and general development of timber plantation establishment in Eastern Paraguay. 2. To apply a holistic framework on timber plantation development over an almost forty year period (1973 - 2012) and analyze its potential future development. 3. To study and analyze the socioeconomic factors influencing timber plantations establishment and determine how these factors interact among them. 4. To analyze the profit-making potential of timber plantations considering different landholdings sizes: large, medium and small scales. 5. To develop top guidelines to enhance timber plantation development in the country. RESEARCH QUESTIONS 1. What are the main socioeconomic factors that influence timber plantation establishment in Eastern Paraguay? - To what extent these socioeconomic factors interrelate each other to push timber plantation development? - What are the factors that influence directly in farmers decision making toward tree planting investment? - Will the reforested areas be maintained in the long term? - What enabling factors are required to sustain the efforts? 2. What is the potential contribution of timber plantations to farmers income generation? - Can timber plantations be considered as potential contributor to household income? 3. Among selected cases - What were the most promising approaches? - Which elements of these projects can be replicated (at low cost by local institutions and actors)? - Which ones are self-sustaining at the local level? PRELIMINARY RESULTS Forest resources are essential for Paraguayan rural economy for subsistence and household income. Nevertheless, their contribution is generally underestimated. Countrys high deforestation rates and insufficient efforts to promote sustainable forest management affected the supply of wood for small scale farms. The research examines socioeconomic factors linked to tree planting efforts by small holders in Eastern Paraguay, their contribution to household income and the role they play in reducing the pressure on natural forest. Different tree planting schemes were approached as case studies and participatory tools and semistructured interviews were applied. Results show that influential determinants for tree planting are involvement in social organizations and long term technical and managerial support. Managing planted trees at small scale farms requires little financial support and low labor than traditional farm cash crops and have remarkable potential to support income generation. usw.
Objective: Fragmentation of research efforts, lack of a shared scientific vision and insufficient availability of research tools, shared databases, etc., is a major limitation for the understanding of atmospheric composition change over Europe under a changing climate, and the consequent inadequate transfer of prospects to the decision makers for future policies. The ACCENT-Plus project builds on the successful efforts of the Network of Excellence ACCENT which, over the past six years, has brought together the atmospheric science community engaged in global change and air pollution studies. The integration efforts within the ACCENT Network have produced a stronger cohesion of the community, including research groups from the new EU Member States and have facilitated the engagement of a new generation of scientists who have started their career in the collaborative environment promoted by ACCENT. ACCENT-Plus aims at extending the breath of the previous ACCENT phase to reach out to the policy community, facilitating the transfer of research results into policy/decision making. A prerequisite to reach this goal is to continue fostering the coordination and integration of the European science community, associating with this new effort all partners and associates of the previous ACCENT phase. Joint research programming, contribution to the international research agenda, access to information, training/mobility activities and facilitation in the use of research infrastructures will be key elements of ACCENT-Plus to preserve and enhance the excellence of European research in an ERA context, to produce integrated assessment and synthesis of scientific results and to connect science and policy making by transferring to the decision makers the important links between air quality and climate change and the prospects and benefits of co-control policies.
African animal trypanosomosis (AAT) in cattle and the threat of widespread resistance to trypanocidal drugs, that has been the major input of disease control and prevention, are important production risks to resource-poor cattle farmers in smallholder crop livestock production systems in the cotton belt of West Africa. Recent studies in that region underline the urgency to improve the understanding of drug resistance development and to find ways of its sustainable containment and prevention. The overall goal of this research is to analyze options that can lead to the sustainability of livestock production in spite of AAT and drug resistance. In this context the decision making behaviour of farmers with regard to two factors, namely time preference and attitude towards risk plays an important role. These are two major variables affecting farmers input choice of disease control and prevention. Based on the simultaneous elicitation of these parameters by means of economic field experiments among a representative sample of farmers in Mali and Burkina Faso these information are applied to a bio-economic model suitable to compare disease control strategies.
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