Sustainability
○ MDPI AG
All preprints, ranked by how well they match Sustainability's content profile, based on 10 papers previously published here. The average preprint has a 0.02% match score for this journal, so anything above that is already an above-average fit. Older preprints may already have been published elsewhere.
Fang, L.; Li, C.; Jin, C.
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New urbanization is a major national strategy that China has proposed and implemented. Whether new urbanization (NEU) can promote quantity increase and quality improvement of green innovation (GI) is a common concern of the government and scholars. This paper empirically analyzes quantity increase and quality improvement effects of new urbanization on urban GI by adopting the panel data of each city from 2011 to 2022. The study finds that new urbanization not only has a positive contribution to the quantity increase of GI in cities but also plays a positive role in the quality improvement of GI. Digital inclusive finance will further amplify the dividends of new urbanization and exert the GI effect. The interaction of digital inclusive finance and government support, informatization, regional economic development, and energy consumption also amplify the dividends of NEU and exert strong "quantity increase" and "quality improvement" effects on GI. The stronger the governments green support, the more conducive it is to new urbanization to further exert quantity increase and quality improvement effects on GI. The conclusions of this paper have important policy implications for further promoting the construction of new urbanization and GI.
Chen, Y.; Lai, Q.; Ji, X.
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Green development is important to realize the coordinated development of local ecological environment, economy and society, but also an important way to promote the harmony between human and land. This study utilizes projection pursuit model (PPM) measure, as well as the system gray prediction model GM (1, N), and other measurement methods, build an evaluation system from three dimensions of green fortune, green growth and green benefits to analyze the temporal evolution, development trend and its influencing factors of Baoshans ecological engineering of project acres, the results show: (1)The overall level of the green development system in Baoshan, Yunnan Province, is relatively good and shows an increasing trend year by year, with an average growth rate of 18.3%, and there is a synergistic coupling effect among the three subsystems. (2) Regional green development has achieved remarkable progress, but problems and pressure among the three subsystems are still grim. The sub-system of green growth and green benefits declined from 2010 to 2016, with an annual decline rate of 12%, and then picked up slightly in the next three years, reflecting the pressure of resources and ecological environment in this region and the difficulty of the sub-system of green wealth growth. (3) The prediction analysis shows that the green development index in Baoshan, Yunnan Province will keep a steady rise in the next two years, and the predicted value will be 4.51 in 2020, with an average growth rate of 15.1%, and the regional green development system is in good condition. (4) Green development is mainly affected by environmental pollution, industrial structure, urbanization, population, market and other factors from the three subsystems of local ecology, ecology, economy and social benefits. This paper puts forward suggestions in terms of popularizing the concept of green development, improving the level of ecological economic development and promoting the regional environment bearing capacity, green development model of ecological engineering area is also built. It aims to have some practical reference value for prompting regional ecological civilization construction and green development. And provide regional support for the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework and the Achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Ligozat, A.-L.; Brun, C.; Demirdjian, B.; Gouget, G.; Jarde, E.; Mialon, A.; Mouronval, A.-S.; Pagani, L.; Vieu, L.
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The carbon footprint and low-carbon strategies of higher education and research organizations have been the subject of scientific articles and reports. However, these provide few details on the reduction targets themselves, leaving the question of how should higher education and research organizations define and construct their climate targets and trajectories unanswered. The present paper fills this gap. We first review and analyze the documents describing the climate strategies of 53 higher education and research organizations coming from 11 countries, based on their detailed GreenHouse Gas emissions (GHGs) reporting. The selected reports include at least one target re-duction for at least one target year. Then, on the basis of this analysis we propose guidelines to encourage and help higher education and research organizations set rele-vant climate targets.
Gomes, L. F.; Pereira, H. R.; Gomes, A. C. A. M.
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Given the need to understand the current approaches to Environmental Education (EE) in the world, we answer the following questions: (i) Have the studies directed to EE received attention from the scientific community? (ii) what are the trends in EE publications? In the past years, there has been an increase in the number of publications on EE. Brazil stood out in the number of publications, reflecting the concern of Brazilian researchers to promote sustainability and biodiversity maintenance. As for the approaches, the studies are broad, ranging from the influence of policies on environmental protection to the importance of reflection at a global level, proposing international agreements. However, regarding the EE application, given the multiple existing currents, it is worth emphasizing the importance of the teaching-learning process to take place critically so that there is no favoring of the contents promoted and supported by a hegemonic class.
Huynh, T.; Nguyen, K.; Nguyen, L. T.
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In the context of Vietnams higher education strongly transforming towards digitalization and sustainability, this study aims to analyze the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on students awareness and intention to act for the environment. Based on the Extended Planned Behavior (TPB) model, the research model integrates two input factors: environmental awareness (EA) and the level of interaction with AI in environmental learning (AEEL), affecting three mediating factors: attitude (AT), subjective norm (SN) and perceived behavioral control (PBC), thereby predicting students green action intention (GAI). Data collected from 521 students at private university in Vietnam were processed using EFA, CFA and SEM. The results showed that both EA and AEEL had positive effects on AT, SN and PBC (p < 0.001). Among them, AEEL had the strongest influence on SN ({beta} = 0.281) and PBC ({beta} = 0.252). PBC had the strongest influence on GAI ({beta} = 0.312), followed by AT ({beta} = 0.274) and SN ({beta} = 0.267). Bootstrapping mediation analysis confirmed that the mediating variables (AT, SN, PBC) played an important role in linking EA and AEEL with GAI. In addition, cluster analysis showed that female students and senior students had significantly higher levels of AI engagement and action intention. These results suggest that AI not only serves as a learning support tool but also as a catalyst for sustainable behavior in higher education.
Angulo-Sherman, A. A.; Mascorro-Guzman, J. A.; Vasquez-Olmos, J. d. R.; Zuniga-Sanchez, O.; Monteros-Curiel, E.; Durand-Moreno, L. C.; Flores-Payan, V.
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The term biomass may be used in different contexts, one of which is related to energy production from biomass sources, especially wastes. Mexico is considered a country with a high potential to exploit renewable energy sources, particularly biomass. Still, according to studies about energy consumption in Mexican homes, biomass is one of the least used, compared to conventional sources or even other renewable sources. It is not understood how aware the countrys population is of the potential of biomass, or if they recognize it as a renewable energy source. This study presents a pilot survey performed on a small adult population that has or is receiving professional education and designed to identify how biomass is perceived among other renewable energy sources and whether the population considers it relevant to inform themselves about this topic. The results obtained indicate that people recognize mostly wind (99%) and solar (88%) power, but when it comes to biomass only 36% of the population knows energy may be obtained from it. When it comes to its use only 5.8% of the population indicates using it. Besides understanding the populations perception these results may help to develop more educational policies about renewable energies by universities.
Dai, X.; Wang, H.; Wang, X.; Zhou, J.; Ma, C.; Tan, B.
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Determining critical ecological protected areas at the city (county) spatial scale is crucial for coordinating regional ecological environment management, control, and governance. It is a recognized consensus in academia that human activities significantly impact natural ecosystems. Many scholars ignore this point in the research process and only use several factors to characterize human influence. Therefore, this study takes Aksu City and Wensu County, important cities and towns in southern Xinjiang, as examples, focusing on the impact of human activities on the distribution of critical ecological protection areas. First, we simulated the range, intensity, and local natural conditions of human activities in the study area using geospatial data. We created corresponding resistance surfaces (human activity resistance surface and natural landscape resistance surface). We then assign different weights to the two resistance surfaces based on several possible scenarios, resulting in different synthetic resistance surfaces. Finally, we used the Linkage Mapper plugin to identify critical ecological reserves and compared several results. The results show that: Human activities have greatly interfered with the migration and dispersal of species, affecting the distribution of critical ecological reserves. The specific performance is that in the urban center area with high intensity of human activities, the number and location of the surrounding ecological corridors change significantly with the increase in the proportion of human activity resistance and the total area remains unchanged; As part of the ecological corridors, the ecological pinch points changes with the location of the corridor, and the whole area remains unchanged; The threshold range of the restoration value of ecological barrier points is reduced. The maximum value generated by the restoration of ecological barrier points is reduced, which shows that the restoration value of ecological barrier points decreases with increased human activities.
Khan, R.
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Agriculture is the dominant economic activity of the economies. The developing and developed countries are responsible for the most greenhouse gasses emitted in the developing areas. Are there heterogeneous determinants of environmental degradation and CO2 emitters in developing and developed countries? and estimating the significance of agricultural production, renewable energy consumption, the industrial revolution, and economic growth. In this study, 22 countries environmental degradation analyze by two (per-capita and liquid) sources of CO2 emissions and using panel data from 1991 through 2016. This study adopts a panel regression (non-additive effects) and quantile regression techniques to explore the connection between agriculture and economic factors. And the extent of the CO2 emitter gap between developing and developed countries. The outcome of agriculture has a positive and significant influence on CO2 emission from liquid with a 36.75% increase in environmental degradation and a negative impact on CO2 emission in the total emissions by 19.12%. The agriculture-related activities negatively influence the environment, such as deforestation for feed cropping, burning of biomass, and deep soil cropping in the developing countries. Furthermore, the quantiles decomposition procedure in agriculture production is signifying heterogeneity of the determinants of environmental degradation, low and high CO2 emitters.
Li, Q.; Meng, X.; Chen, X.; Liu, Y.
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Carbon neutrality needs to be implemented spatially in order to be realized concretely. The distribution of carbon sources and sinks across the national territory is closely related to many factors, such as natural geographical resources, levels of economic and social development, and cultural and historical heritage. It is difficult for many regions to achieve carbon neutrality through their own efforts alone. This article believes that only by achieving local optimal carbon neutrality through a reasonable spatial organization can emissions be ultimately reduced to zero on a national scale. Under the connection of rivers, the basin forms an ecosystem and an economic system with independent characteristics. Carbon sources and sinks within the basin exist within the ecological and economic space of the basin, forming a unique carbon neutrality spatial pattern. This study starts with the spatial distribution status, features and relationships of carbon neutrality elements in the cities of the Yangtze River Basin, and divides the cities into eight types based on their development level, emission level and forest resources, such as high-emission and low-carbon sink developed cities and low-emission and high-carbon sink underdeveloped cities. Different types of cities are proposed with carbon neutrality paths and spatial organization schemes, and it is suggested that the spatial organization demonstration of carbon neutrality in the cities of the Yangtze River Basin can provide a reference for carbon neutrality on a national scale.
Yang, W.; Lian, D.; Yang, S.; Ran, W. R.; Zhang, M.
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Global warming caused by greenhouse gas emissions has become a major challenge facing people all over the world. The study of regional human activities and their impacts on carbon emissions is of great significance to achieve the ambitious goal of carbon neutrality and sustainable economic development. Guizhou Province is a typical karst area in China, and its energy consumption is mainly based on fossil fuels.Therefore, it is necessary to predict and analyze its carbon emissions. In this paper, BP neural network and extreme learning machine (ELM) model, which have the advantage of nonlinear processing, will be used to predict the carbon emissions of Guizhou Province from 2020 to 2040. Based on the energy consumption data of Guizhou Province, the carbon emissions of Guizhou Province are calculated by using the conversion method and the inventory compilation method. The data show that the carbon emissions of Guizhou Province show an "S" growth trend; In this paper, 12 influencing factors of carbon emissions are selected, and five influencing factors with larger correlation are screened out by using grey correlation analysis method, and the prediction model of carbon emissions in Guizhou Province is established and simulated, and the prediction performance of BP neural network, ELM and WOA-ELM are compared respectively. Compared with ELM model and BP neural network model, the prediction accuracy of WOA-ELM model is higher; Finally, three development scenarios of carbon emissions are set by scenario analysis, which are baseline scenario, high-speed scenario and low-carbon scenario. On this basis, the size and time of peak carbon emissions in Liaoning Province from 2020 to 2040 are predicted based on WOA-ELM model. The results show that the peak value of carbon dioxide in the low carbon scenario is up to 0.98 million tons 31294 in 2033, the peak value of carbon emissions in the high speed scenario is up to 0.37 million tons 30251 in 2036, and the peak value of carbon emissions in the baseline scenario is up to 0.61 million tons 26243 in 2038. Based on the peak time and prediction results of carbon emissions under the three scenarios, the main factors contributing to the reduction of carbon emissions in Guizhou Province are analyzed, and important data basis is provided for energy conservation and emission reduction in Guizhou Province.
Boonchutima, S.; Lhendup, T.; Mazahir, I.
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BackgroundUnderstanding youth perceptions and communication preferences regarding environmental education is crucial for developing effective interventions, particularly in understudied cultural contexts. Most environmental behavior research focuses on Western or large developing countries, leaving significant gaps in understanding small developing nations with unique cultural frameworks. ObjectiveThis study explored youth perceptions, communication preferences, and content effectiveness for waste management education within Bhutans Buddhist collectivist culture, addressing identified research gaps in small developing countries. MethodsA convergent mixed-methods design combined quantitative surveys (n=185) with qualitative interviews (n=10) at Yangchenphug Higher Secondary School in Thimphu, Bhutan. The theoretical framework integrated Theory of Planned Behavior, Social Learning Theory, Diffusion of Innovations Theory, and Community-Based Social Marketing principles. ResultsStudents demonstrated exceptionally high environmental awareness (99.5%) and positive attitudes toward waste separation (mean scores 4.4-4.8 on 5-point scales). Social media emerged as the overwhelmingly preferred communication channel (78.4%), with videos being the most engaging content format (81.6%). Key barriers included time constraints (61.6%), infrastructure limitations (51.9%), and motivational challenges (46.5%). Notably, social influence showed only moderate impact (mean=3.7), lower than typically found in collectivist cultures. Qualitative analysis revealed five themes: shared responsibility burdens, engagement sustainability challenges, system effectiveness limitations, civic values education needs, and institutional support requirements. ConclusionsBhutanese youth show strong environmental awareness coupled with distinct motivational patterns where environmental behavior appears more individually driven than typically found in collectivist cultures, suggesting Buddhist values of personal responsibility create unique frameworks. Digital communication channels, particularly video content through social media, offer promising avenues for environmental education. A multifaceted approach combining improved infrastructure, educational reinforcement, and culturally-appropriate communication strategies is essential for promoting sustainable waste management practices among youth in similar contexts.
McManus, C.; Neto, B. A. D.; Neves, A. A. B.; Schleicher, R. T.; Figueiredo, C. P.
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A scientific diaspora refers to a community of scientists who have emigrated from their home country to work in another nation. This study investigates this phenome in depth the Brazilian context, examining who comprises this diaspora (doctorates, postdocs, lecturers), where they have migrated, and their areas of study. We conducted this examination based on publications by Brazilian doctors who graduated between 2005 and 2021, as well as post-doctorates and students with full doctorate scholarships abroad. These students were identified on the CAPES open data website. The publications of these authors were captured in Scopus and Web of Science. Then those with addresses abroad were analysed in Vosviewer(R) and using logistic regression (stayed abroad or not), area of knowledge and a decision tree to see the effect of the Brazilian university region, type of institution and scholarship on the decision to migrate. The level of diaspora is approximately 1.7% among all doctorates trained in Brazil, reaching 6.6% in postdoctoral scholars with experience abroad. This suggests that PhDs with advanced training and experience have a higher propensity to emigrate from Brazil. These PhDs predominantly choose to migrate to North America and Western Europe, with a strong preference for careers in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields. Brazilian PhDs with international experience tend to have a more diverse migration pattern, while those who complete their PhD in Brazil show a distinct preference for migrating to Portugal, indicating differing global mobility based on scientific experience. A decision tree analysis reveals that life or exact sciences PhDs, those who graduated after 2012, and obtained their postgraduate degrees from institutions in the southeast or south of Brazil are more likely to migrate. While the reasons behind these migration patterns are not evaluated in this study, better job prospects, higher salaries, or more substantial research funding could be influential factors in the decision to migrate.
Fan, L.; Su, L.; Chen, W.; Zhou, Y.; Li, J.
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Urban street greening has a positive impact on the health of citizens and the urban environment. This study takes the representative streets in the main urban area of Zhongshan City, Guangdong Province as an example to explore urban street greening perception from the perspective of combining Green visual index (GVI) and Normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI). This study uses a deep learning based image semantic segmentation method to analyze Baidu Street View to calculate the GVI of the street, and uses GF-1 satellite data to calculate NDVI to compare and analyze the characteristics and correlation of GVI and NDVI of urban streets. The results show that: 1. The GVI of streets in the central urban area of Zhongshan varies from 8.06% to 36.00%, with Xingzhong Road in Shiqi District Street having the highest GVI; 2. The mean value of NDVI of each street shows different changes with the increase of buffer scale, and the mean value of NDVI has a strong scale sensitivity; 3. The highest Pearson correlation coefficient between GVI and 25m DNVI mean value was 0.862; 4. The GVI prediction model based on NDVI is: y=0.8249x+0.0181, R2=0.7433. On this basis, the shortcomings of street landscape are analyzed and optimization suggestions are given, providing reference for urban street landscape evaluation, spatial optimization, and landscape improvement.
Babi Almenar, J.; Romelli, C.; Cegar, S.; Dhrami, K.; Drezgic, S.; Imami, F.; Hribar, M.; Jankovic Milic, V.; Jovanovic, S.; Krmelj, V.; Lipovina-Bozovic, M.; Stankovic, J.; Turk, Z.; Muratori, S.; Casagrandi, R.
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Urban ecological health is increasingly prioritized in Europe, as reflected in the EU Biodiversity Strategy 2030, the Nature Restoration Regulation, and the amendment to the Regulation on Environmental-Economic Accounts. Translating this ambition into greening actions that halt and reverse urban ecological degradation requires standardized, spatially explicit indicators. This study explores the utility of the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting-Ecosystem Accounting (SEEA-EA) framework for developing thematic urban ecosystem accounts as integrated metrics to inform urban greening in the Western Balkans. We constructed pilot accounts for the Western Balkans for 2018, with particular focus on Horizon-funded CROSS-REIS countries, where local accounts were also developed for representative municipalities (Kranj, Rijeka, Ni[s], Podgorica, Tirana). The accounts quantify ecosystem extent, four condition metrics (imperviousness, green space, tree cover, and PM concentration), and the service air filtration using PM deposition onto vegetation as a proxy. Results were benchmarked nationally against EU/EFTA/UK countries and locally against Italian municipalities of the National Biodiversity Future Centre project. The analysis reveals that urban ecosystems in the Western Balkans exist on a continuum with other European countries but exhibit a distinct, more homogeneous profile shaped by geography, climate, and policy legacies. The accounts identify ecological degradation hotspots (e.g., high soil sealing) and areas of high service-delivery capacity, supporting translation of spatial diagnosis into targeted greening priorities. Overall, the study shows that thematic urban ecosystem accounts offer a standardized, multi-scale evidence base to inform and monitor urban greening policies, supporting the Western Balkans environmental management needs on their path toward EU integration.
Lu, J.; Li, L.; Hernando, A.; Manzanera, J. A.
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Cities play a crucial role in addressing the biodiversity crisis. Despite advancements in urban ecology, effectively integrating biodiversity into urban planning remains limited. Built-environment professionals (BEPs), who are responsible for local actions, often face criticism for their unwillingness to prioritize biodiversity and are seldom studied from their perspectives, especially those from the Global South. Therefore, understanding the viewpoints of diverse BEPs from both the Global South and North on biodiversity-inclusive urban planning and design (BIPD) is crucial. This study employs Q-Methodology to analyze BEPs perspectives in Ethiopia, China, Spain, and the United States, revealing four viewpoints: Pluralist, Enthusiast, Pragmatist, and Contextualist. Challenges in realizing BIPD include widespread unawareness among BEPs of existing biodiversity data and methodologies, structural-physical barriers such as land use conflicts and competing resources, and misaligned values with stakeholders. Our research challenges the notion that BEPs resist incorporating biodiversity into their practices by broadly exploring their viewpoints. BEPs exhibit readiness to transcend legislative structural barriers and leverage professional norms to advocate for urban biodiversity, particularly when equipped with evidence-based tools. Pluralists and Enthusiasts demonstrate heightened interest in multidisciplinary collaboration and prescriptive, visual tools to communicate biodiversitys value to stakeholders. Critically, BEPs capacity to act hinges on the availability of contextually sensitive methods, necessitating empowerment through transdisciplinary collaborations to foster transformative changes in cities, especially in the Global South, where complex socioeconomic-ecological trade-offs demand co-produced solutions.
Zhang, Z.; Yang, J.; Yang, X.; Xie, F.; Junjie Yang, Xin Yang,Fuming Xie,
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Xishuangbanna in the southwestern border of China is located in the upper reaches of the Mekong River between the Indo-China Peninsula and the East Asian continent. It is the largest tropical rain forest and monsoon forest in China. They have an irreplaceable ecological service function and are an important barrier to maintaining the ecological security of the Mekong River transboundary basin of the Lancang River. Based on three sets of remote sensing data (1996, 2003, 2010 and 2016), this study has made an exploration on spatio-temporal changes of Xishuangbanna, and also made an assessment on different ecosystem values of six types of ecosystem in Xishuangbanna based on related theories of ecological economics. Results showed that the values of Xishuangbanna ecosystem services in 1996, 2003, 2010, and 2016 were 70.4014billion yuan, 70.2115 billion yuan, 68.5129 billion yuan and 63.6098 billion yuan, respectively. The total value shows a continuous decreasing trend, reflecting the continuous decline in the ability of the Xishuangbanna ecosystem to provide services to humans. If divided by ecosystem types, forest and rubber were two types that have the greatest proportion of service values. In the perspective of service types, soil formation and protection account for the largest proportion, followed by gas regulation and biodiversity protection. Studying Xishuangbannas ecosystem service values is helpful to explore the sustainable development of resources and economy. HighlightThis paper used coefficient of sensitivity to determine the dependence of ESV on the change of ecosystem value coefficient over time. The total amount of ESV shows a continuous downward trend, indicating that the ecological environment of Xishuangbanna is still severe. The temporal-spatial change of ESV was analyzed for two decades.
Ferreira, M. C.; Massara, R. L.; Chaves, M. A.; Mota, B. E. F.; Rodrigues, F. H. G.
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Human activities generate negative environmental impacts that can compromise ecological processes and ecosystem services and thus, influence human health. We assessed how natural and altered areas affect human respiratory and mental health in one of the largest mining provinces in the world, the Quadrilatero Ferrifero (QF), in southeastern Brazil. We used a model selection approach to evaluate socioeconomic and environmental factors that would influence hospitalization rates for mental and behavioral disorders, as well as for respiratory diseases in 22 municipalities in QF. Municipalities with higher rates of urbanization had higher rates of hospitalizations for mental and behavioral disorders. Conversely, the adult population (15-59 years old) of both gender and the elderly female population (60 years old or more) presented lower rates of hospitalization for respiratory diseases in municipalities with a higher rate of urbanization, suggesting a greater ease of access to prophylactic measures of the population located in these municipalities compared to those with a lower rate of urbanization. Municipalities with larger urban forest areas had lower rates of hospitalization for respiratory diseases in the young (0-14 years) female population, while municipalities with larger mining areas had higher rates. The elderly male population (60 years or older) also had higher rates of hospitalization for respiratory diseases in municipalities with larger mining areas. Our findings show important ecosystem services provided by urban forests and highlight impacts on health, in different segments of the population, due to anthropogenic changes in the landscape. HighlightsO_LIWe present a multiscale method to determine factors that influence human health. C_LIO_LIDemographic groups are differently influenced by socio-environmental variables. C_LIO_LIUrbanization rate is associated with worse mental health of human population. C_LIO_LIForest in urban areas is associated with better respiratory health for children. C_LIO_LIMining is associated with worse respiratory health for children and elderly. C_LI Graphical Abstract O_FIG O_LINKSMALLFIG WIDTH=200 HEIGHT=116 SRC="FIGDIR/small/508330v1_ufig1.gif" ALT="Figure 1"> View larger version (58K): org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@6e330eorg.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@da0669org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@1daf8c2org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@1019e05_HPS_FORMAT_FIGEXP M_FIG C_FIG
Giuglaris, C.; de Seze, J.
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Climate change is a scientifically proven phenomenon caused by anthropic activities, which requires urgent and significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. Despite the increasing vocalization of scientists advocating for political action, the issue of the environmental impact of academic research has been neglected for some time. Now, field-dependent initiatives have emerged, such as the non-profit organization My Green Lab, which delivers green certifications to biology and chemistry labs, and institute-dependent programs, such as the Max Planck Sustainability Network. In France, an independent collective was founded in 2019 to address the environmental footprint of academic research following the COP 15 Paris Agreement: Labos 1Point5. Building on their resources and methodology, we have quantified the overall carbon footprint of our biophysics laboratory, considering energy consumption, purchases and travel, for the year 2021. We investigate how this footprint would decrease by 2030 following systemic changes (change in the energy mix, improvements from suppliers), and we propose scenarios based on additional voluntary initiatives to reach a final reduction of -50% compared to the 2021 baseline, following IPCC targets. We have now formed a group of more than 20 colleagues to achieve this goal, emphasizing the importance of collective action. Finally, we provide advice based on our own experience to assist others in addressing the environmental impact of academic research in their respective laboratories.
Calbucheo, D.; Samaniego, H.
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Green Urban Areas (GUAs) in urban environments offer numerous benefits, including temperature regulation, air pollution reduction, climate event mitigation, and mental health improvement. Consequently, various organi zations worldwide emphasize the importance of equitable access to quality public green infrastructure to enhance urban quality of life. Despite these efforts, global trends indicate an unequal spatial distribution of greenness and GUAs, often favoring more affluent populations. In Chile, green infrastructure availability is similarly uneven, with greener GUAs typically found in higher socioeconomic neighborhoods. Our review of the evidence reveals that this inequity exists not only between cities with different investment capacities but also within the same administrations. However, most studies focus on the Metropolitan Region and primarily consider exposure and access to greenness. This study examines the greenness of GUAs in six Chilean conurbations, spanning a wide latitudinal gradient from Antofagasta to Puerto Montt, and compares it with socio-material segregation indicators. We calculated the mean NDVI of each green area using remote sensing data from Landsat 8. Socio-material characterization was conducted in two ways: stratifying the environment of each park using a socio-material index (ISMT) and analyzing the socioeconomic segregation of park visitors throughout the day using eXtended Call Detail Registries (XDR) from anonymized users of a major mobile telephone company (Movistar). Our findings indicate segregation in both dimensions, with greenness inequitably distributed among different ISMT categories. Additionally, the socio-material entropy of park visitors aligns with literature trends, showing higher segregation during times when people are at home and in more peripheral and socioeconomically vulnerable areas. We discuss the need for more granular and scaled analyses and highlight the studys relevance in addressing statistical issues such as the Modifiable Areal Unit Problem (MAUP).
Gao, P.; Qi, Y.; Guo, Q.
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Due to the backwardness of the management model and the rigidity of the system, the current service invention system restricts the transformation of scientific and technological achievements of colleges and universities to a certain extent. The mixed ownership system of university post achievements, which gives universities and inventors the freedom to dispose of the rights of scientific and technological achievements, and fundamentally stimulates the enthusiasm of all the achievement owners to transform their achievements, is an important exploration to promote the transformation of scientific and technological achievements. However, there are still many problems in the implementation of the mixed ownership of scientific and technological achievements in colleges and universities. Through the questionnaire survey and analysis, it is found that the four problems such as defects in the management system for the distribution of rights and interests of scientific and technological achievements, imperfect evaluation indicators of scientific and technological achievements, imbalance in the service system for the transformation of scientific and technological achievements, and lack of authoritative standards for the evaluation of the value of the transformation of scientific and technological achievements are the main problems hindering the development of mixed ownership of the current college post achievements. Based on the existing problems, it is proposed to continue to improve the management system, assessment system and service system of mixed ownership of scientific and technological achievements in colleges and universities. The research results can provide new evidence and policy enlightenment for the development of mixed ownership of scientific and technological achievements in colleges and universities in China.