Abstract: The Southwest Coastal people of Bangladesh have introduced Tidal River Management (TRM) as an environmentally acceptable water resource management practice based on their indigenous knowledge of water logging of low lying coastal land. TRM helps to address problems resulting from different anthropogenic and structural development activities, and it has been successful in helping coastal communities to adapt to climate change and rising sea level vulnerability by forming new land in Tidal Basins. Hence, it is essential to measure sustainability impacts of TRM from the environmental, socio-economic and institutional perspectives. Therefore, firstly, the study identifies sustainability indicators of TRM considering ecosystem services and secondly, develops an inclusive conceptual framework to understand the important impacts of each indicator at various spatial and temporal scales. The conceptual framework is followed by the construction of a Sustainability Index of Tidal River Management (SITRM). It has advantages over the Ramsar Convention framework (2007) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) framework (2012) to measure water sustainability as it includes a sustainable model to project future vulnerability of the community, river and Tidal Basin, emphasizing on climate change issues. It also involves trade-offs analysis, livelihood analysis and SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis for a complete impact assessment to enable decision-makers to focus on those services most likely to be of risks and weaknesses or opportunities and strengths for the sustainability of TRM. Moreover, the framework is a useful guide for policymakers in identifying the sustainability impacts of TRM so that they can choose best coping strategies for coastal people to effectively deal with adverse effects of water-logging and undesired climatic events as well as environmental and socio-economic changes in coastal areas.

Abstract: The development of sustainability criteria and indicators is necessary to assess the current management and to recognize appropriate management approaches towards sustainable forest management (SFM). The aim of this study is to assess the sustainability of current management in the Dopolan community forest and assess alternative management scenarios towards SFM. To this end, we applied multi criteria analysis which consists of three steps: a) developing a primary set of criteria and indicators (C&Is) on focus groups discussions, b) finalizing and weighing the set of C&Is, applying a pair wise comparison as well as ranking method, and c) assessing the current forest management regimes and alternative scenarios against a set of C&Is. As a result, 8 criteria and 40 indicators were selected. Our results indicated that to achieve SFM, the criteria including forest protection against natural and human factors, the establishment of appropriate legal and institutional requirements and socioeconomic functions of forests, are the most important criteria (weighted 14.60%, 14.28% and 13.96%, respectively). Assessing the current management regimes revealed that the criteria consisting of biodiversity conservation and local communities' awareness have the maximum distance to SFM (weighted 7.75% and 9.18%, respectively). Among the alternative forest management scenarios, the sixth scenario namely conservation and rehabilitation, local investment attraction in forest conservation and rehabilitation, enabling and capacity building of forest inhabitants were realized as the best scenarios (weighted 26.20%) to achieve SFM. A joint effort of the concerned government forestry officials and local people is needed to enhance the sustainability of all community based forestry models.

Abstract: Producing enough food to meet the needs of a growing population has always been the greatest concern of food policy-makers around the world. Given the increasing attention to organic farming (OF), we conducted this study to investigate the main opportunities and challenges of the food production system of small-scale farmers in developing countries with an emphasis on their livelihoods. The study showed that the most significant advantages of OF are environmental protection and a higher resilience to environmental changes, increasing farmers' income and reducing external input cost, enhancing social capacity and increasing employment opportunities. A s well as enhancing food security primarily by increasing the food purchasing power of local people. However, the main challenges of this food production system include lower yields in comparison to conventional systems, difficulties with soil nutrient management, certification and market barriers, and the educational and research needs of small-holders. The paper concludes that even though OF might present some significant challenges to small-scale farmers, it could/should still be considered as a part of the solution and means of improving their livelihoods.

Abstract: Carbon capture and utilization (CCU) technologies capture CO2 waste emissions and utilize them to generate new products (such as fuels, chemicals, and materials) with various environmental, economic, and social opportunities. As most of these CCU technologies are in the R&D stage, their technical and economic viability are examined with less attention to the social aspect which is an important pillar for a holistic sustainability assessment. The lack of systematic social impact research is mainly due to the difficulty of identifying and quantifying social aspects through the entire life cycle of products. We will fill this gap for CCU technologies and identify the main social indicators. A multi-criteria decision making tool: TOPSIS (technique for order of preference by similarity to ideal solution) was applied to empirically determine which indicators are more relevant for assessing the social impact of a company operating CCU activities within a European context. First, seeing that social impact categories are linked to key stakeholder groups, we considered workers, consumers, and local communities as relevant stakeholders. Second, the main social impact categories and their potential performance indicators associated to each group of stakeholders were listed using the United Nations Environment Program/Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (UNEP/SETAC) guidelines. In the third step, an online questionnaire was distributed to identify the main social categories and indicators for CCU, to which 33 European CCU experts responded. Finally, a modified TOPSIS was applied to rank the indicators based on their relevance. We found that the indicators related to “end of life responsibility” and “transparency” within a CCU company achieved the highest rank affecting the consumers group, whereas “fair salary” and “equal opportunities/discriminations” were determined as the most relevant impact categories for the workers. For the local community group, “secure living conditions” and “local employment” received the highest priority from the experts’ point of view. Furthermore, “health and safety” considerations were identified as one of the most important criteria affecting all three groups of stakeholders. The ranking list of the main social indicators identified in our study provides the basis for the next steps in the social sustainability assessment of CCU technologies; that is, data collection and impact assessment. Our outcomes can also be used to inform the producers regarding the most and least relevant social aspects of CCU so that the potential social impacts caused by their production activities can be improved or prevented.

Abstract: The aim of this study is determination of exergoenvironmental efficiency for using solar technologies in sunflower oil production in Iran. Accordingly, the applications of photovoltaic and photovoltaic/thermal systems were evaluated for both agricultural and industrial phases of sunflower oil production. Energy results reveal that 1 ton of sunflower oil consumes and produces about 180,354 and 39,400 MJ energy, respectively. About 86% of total energy consumption belongs to agricultural phase and electricity with 32%, has the highest share of total energy consumption. IMPACT 2002+ method and cumulative energy demand of life cycle assessment are applied to 3 defined scenarios including Present, photovoltaic and photovoltaic/thermal. Results indicate that total amounts of climate change in Present scenarios is 24537.53 kg CO2 eq.. The highest share of human health (90%), ecosystem quality (90%) and climate change (50%) in all scenarios belongs to direct emissions. Results also illustrates that total cumulative energy demand of Present, photovoltaic and photovoltaic/thermal scenarios are about 177,538, 99,054 and 132,158 MJ 1TSO(-1), respectively. Furthermore, the most contribution of non-renewable resources and fossil fuels belongs to electricity (37%), nitrogen (52%) and photovoltaic/thermal panels (39%) in Present, photovoltaic and photovoltaic/thermal scenarios, respectively. Finally the photovoltaic scenario is the best environmental-friendly scenario. (c) 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Abstract: This study was conducted to determine indices and components of economic sustainability assessment in the pastoral units of Sahand summer rangelands. The method was based on descriptive-analytical survey (experts and researchers) with questionnaires. Analysis of variance showed that the mean values of economic components are significantly different from each other and the efficiency component has the highest mean value (0.57). The analysis of rangeland pastoral unitswith the technique for order-preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) indicated that from an economic sustainability standpoint, Garehgol (Ci = 0.519) and Badir Khan (Ci = 0.129), pastoral units ranked first and last, respectively. This study provides a clear understanding of existing resources and opportunities for policy makers that is crucial to approach economic sustainable development. Accordingly, this study can help better define sustainable development goals and monitor the progress of achieving them. (C) 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.