Shashi Kant

Purpose: This article aims to explore the impact of climate disasters on small-scale farmers’ willingness to cooperate and explore the mediating effect of social capital.Design/methodology/approach: The study investigates farmers’ willingness to cooperate through a framed field approach and surveys the information of individuals and villages, including climate disasters and social capital, using a structured questionnaire from rural communities in Jiangxi and Sichuan, China.Findings: The results show that climate disasters and social capital are significant and positive determinants of farmers’ willingness to cooperate. In specific types of climate disasters, drought is positively associated with farmers’ cooperation willingness. Moreover, the mediation effect of drought on farmers’ willingness to cooperate through social capital has been demonstrated to be significant although negative, whereas the mediation effect of flood on farmers’ willingness to cooperate through social capital is significant and positive.Originality/value: First, given the limited studies focusing on the impact of climate disasters on small-scale farmers’ willingness to cooperate, the authors complement the existing literature through a framed field experiment approach by designing a scenario that every farmer may encounter in their production activities. Second, the study figures out the roles of drought and flood as different kinds of climate disasters in farmers’ decision-making of cooperation and sheds light on the positive impact of climate disasters on small-scale farmers. Finally, this paper provides empirical evidence of social capital as a potential channel through which climate disasters could possibly affect farmers’ willingness to cooperate.

A detailed exploration of the development of Colombia's market for manufactured products of the wood industry since its early days, with an analytical focus on the period 1970-2021, is presented. The examination of early days draws upon historical information, wood industry-specific statistics derived from Colombia’s Annual Manufacturing Survey and industrial census, and data from the National Accounts of Colombia (NAC), which offers insightful understanding of the market dynamics up to the end of the 1960s. For 1970 to 2021 comprehensive consolidated data derived from the Supply and Use Tables of the NAC and other sources provides the base for an in-depth examining of the market aspects such as quantities of supply (national production), demand, and the components of demand – including domestic consumption, exports, and imports. The exploration reveals a significant shift in the manufactured products of the wood industry market’s dynamics, transitioning from a primarily domestic consuming and export-driven one to a market increasingly reliant on imports to satisfy domestic consumption. Critical factors contributing to this shift are identified, highlighting Colombian forest resource depletion and inadequate nation’s wood industry development. The paper synthesizes historical data to articulate the interplay between economic policies and market outcomes, culminating in a discernible need for strategic industry modernization. Furthermore, it offers comprehensive and detailed information, facilitating a thorough understanding of all market aspects without necessitating consultation of additional sources.

The study aims to understand the variations in the domain‐specific pro‐sustainable‐forest‐management behavior (PSFMBs) and their explanatory factors across ecological, economic, recreational, and Aboriginal domains and between Aboriginal and non‐Aboriginal groups. A hybrid model of PSFMB, which integrates environmental psychology and resource economics perspectives, is conceptualized and estimated using multi‐group path analysis and data from three Aboriginal and three non‐Aboriginal communities in Ontario, Canada. Results show that both groups make substantial pro‐SFM contributions, but the contributions and their influencing factors differ across domains and groups. For Aboriginals, environmental worldviews and assigned forest values are the only influencing factors, while for non‐Aboriginals, income and forest environmental conditions play dominant roles. The findings confirm the fundamental differences in the roles of beliefs, values, and situational factors in influencing the PSFMB of Aboriginal and non‐Aboriginal groups, highlight the need for theoretical lenses that account for cultural differences, and contribute to the development of inclusive policies that respect the unique values of different social groups.

Since the beginning of the 21^st century, Canada has made substantial progress towards a bio-based economy. There is growing recognition that the vast potential of Canada’s forest resources, in combination with a well-developed forest industry, helps meet national and international goals around sustainable development, especially around mitigating climate change. This recognition has underpinned the development of a national bioeconomy strategy and a forest bioeconomy framework. There has been less recognition of the tremendous opportunities non-timber forest products (NTFPs) offer to rural communities, especially Aboriginal peoples. Using current literature and drawing statistics from government sources, this chapter provides an overview of the state of Canada’s NTFP sector. The important contributions of NTFPs to regional economies are illustrated through an analysis of maple syrup production in eastern Canada and wild mushroom gathering in British Columbia. A case study is provided to highlight the crucial role of NTFPs in supporting livelihoods for the First Nations. The findings suggest that NTFPs are an indispensable component of Canada’s bioeconomy. The significant contributions of NTFPs to local livelihoods call for a better understanding of how the national bioeconomy strategy can be improved to enable a more prominent role of the NTFP sector in Canada’s bioeconomy.

Sub- Sahara Africa (SSA) has the lowest access to energy globally which is partly responsible for its dismal socio-economic indices. The continent, however, has the unique opportunity to fuel its sustainable development using clean and sustainable energy. Given the continent’s aspirations, as well as its position and peculiarities within the context of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) such as its hosting up to 90% of the world’s poorest countries, and generally lagging behind in development as most countries in Africa are not on track to meet the SDGs with the exception of the SDG on climate action, an assessment of the interactions and implications between the goal to provide access to clean, reliable, affordable, sustainable, and modern energy (SDG 7) and the other non-energy related SDGs is important for coherent cross-sectoral sustainable development planning and decision-making. This paper analyzes the interactions between SDG 7 and selected non-energy SDGs for three energy-mix scenarios—the current (2018), 2040 energy mix scenario proposed by International Energy Agency (IEA), and 2065 energy mix scenario proposed by Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission. The analyses are done for two countries - Nigeria and Ethiopia—that capture the wide variation in economic growth and energy sources across SSA. The analyses were carried out by adapting a seven-point scoring typology proposed by Nilsson et al (2016). The results indicate that in the case of Nigeria, the interactions between SDG 7 and many non-energy SDGs, such as SDGs 2, 6, and 13, become negative for the IEA 2040 scenario while they were positive for 2018 scenario. For the same two scenarios (IEA 2040 and the current), for Ethiopia, there are some negative influences on selected non-energy SDGs, but the direction of overall interactions does not change from positive to negative. In the case of JRC 2065 scenario, there are marginal negative influences on some non-energy SDGs, but neither in Nigeria nor in Ethiopia, there is no complete reverse change from positive to negative for any non-energy SDGs. Hence, JRC 2065 scenario is preferred. The study concludes with recommendations for policy interventions that would prevent the change of the interactions that move from positive in the 2018 scenario towards negative in the 2065 scenario (such as those that protect the rights of local communities to natural resources), as well as policies that may reduce the influence of negative interactions seen in both scenarios (such as reduction of air pollution).

Any relevant information from vast quantities of measurements made to determine anomalies in infrastructures poses the tough problem connected with infrastructure monitoring. This chapter provides a hybrid model-free technique that combines two model-free approaches—investigation on the identification of deterioration for ongoing infrastructure applications by Moving Principal Component Analysis (MPCA) and Robust Regression Analysis (RRA). The acquisition of knowledge on energy use with high resolution in commercial properties involves the usage of sub-metering at node level that is too onerous. Cost-efficient, non-intrusive energy measurement is therefore essential to ensure room levels and custom energy usage. This chapter provides a view for a non-intrusive alternative solution of load surveillance in commercial structures. The viability of non-intrusive surveillance of the low-speed utilizing wireless network brightness detectors was examined in the context of a holistic vision. The usefulness of dynamic and knowledge benchmarks is not completely appreciated due to the unique characteristics of each facility and the diverse properties of construction activities. This chapter provides a contextualization and comparison between energy usage and CO₂ emissions in buildings through the application of autonomous data-gathering technology, including sensors. The current work provided a two-stage strategy to pick window systems that may be utilized early in the design process to alleviate the contradiction between correctness and the length of simulated runtime. The model employs brightness for daytime calculations and estimates the measurements of daylight using optimization techniques.

Almost all of the present automated system perception algorithms use just point characteristics to reconstruct scene 3D architecture for the as-built civilian infrastructures documentation. The collection of data is done using a synchronized stereo pair of surveillance cameras. Point and line characteristics are then recognized in image sequences and compared. Ultimately, by determining the 3D coordinates of the matching features, the 3D structure of the visual is retrieved. A new approach for automated frame choosing is proposed and evaluated in this chapter. This approach initially removes fuzzy images based on experimental parameters and the major frames are picked by eligibility criteria established by the writer from the surviving pictures. BIM focuses on the present chapters as an enabler for a more practical way of contracting buildings. BIM is a library of life cycle knowledge about a building project according to its definitions. This BIM-enabled commission eased the certification procedure throughout each step of the risk management cycle by completing important commissioning activities with a project implementation integrated licensing scenario, promoting productivity with improved working groups, and streamlining the creation of commissioned documents. It also examines how architectural information technology behaves as meaningful carriers by offering a hermeneutic approach to analyzing building information technology. The user experience of a building graphical representation also offers a first sample implementation of the foundation. Concentrate also on the detection of physiological strain by wearable devices by construction professionals. A study has used biomass monitors off-the-shelf, which records cardiac rates and energies in near real-time. During the building of the wall, pharmacological tests were carried. The gathered statistics were quantitatively evaluated in comparison to test respondents’ qualitative input.

We examined the associations between social capital and rural households’ perceptions toward social, economic, and environmental benefits of forest carbon sequestration projects by employing the proportional odds model based on data collected from a rural household survey in Sichuan and Yunnan Provinces, China. Results revealed that: (i) households’ perceptions toward environmental benefits are more positive than their perceptions toward economic benefits and social benefits, and their perceptions toward economic benefits are more positive than their perceptions toward social benefits; (ii) households having a good relationship with village officials have higher odds of holding more positive perceptions toward social, economic, and environmental benefits of the projects; (iii) households which are members of local associations are more likely to have positive perceptions toward benefits of the projects; (iv) households whose members are more frequently involved in village-level public events are more likely to have more positive perceptions toward benefits of the projects; (v) households having more educated household heads have higher odds of holding better perceptions toward the benefits of FCS projects; and (vi) households of Yunnan Province are less likely to express positive perceptions toward benefits of the projects. Based on the research results, we concluded that social capital is significantly and positively associated with rural households’ perceptions toward benefits of forest carbon sequestration projects. Some policy implications are provided regarding how to make use of social capital elements to shape farmers’ perceptions toward benefits of the projects for the purpose of achieving a higher level of local acceptability for and sustainability of the projects.