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Ecological Footprint - Science topic

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Understanding how zoning policies and urban development regulations can be optimized to promote vertical development and enhance land use efficiency is crucial for addressing the challenges of urban sprawl and environmental degradation. By focusing on high-density, mixed-use zoning, cities can maximize the use of limited land resources, reduce the ecological footprint of urban areas, and create more sustainable and livable communities. This question aims to explore effective regulatory frameworks and planning strategies that can support sustainable urban growth, ultimately contributing to better land conservation and improved urban resilience.
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To optimize zoning policies and urban development regulations for promoting vertical development and better land use efficiency, cities can focus on a few key strategies. First, they can encourage high-density, mixed-use zoning, which allows for residential, commercial, and recreational spaces in the same area, making better use of limited land. Secondly, by relaxing height restrictions on buildings, cities can promote vertical growth instead of horizontal sprawl. Lastly, offering incentives for green building practices and efficient land use can help create more sustainable and livable urban areas. These approaches can reduce urban sprawl, lower environmental impact, and enhance overall urban resilience.
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How can multistory buildings be designed and implemented to maximize sustainability and minimize their ecological footprint compared to low-rise developments?
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Thank you very much for your response.
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Do you know what your nation's Ecological Footprint is?
According to the following link, Canada is an ecological creditor nation because it has an ecological rating of 7.01 and its capacity is 14.92, which means that it has a +7.91 positive score. In contrast, America is an ecological debtor nation because it has an ecological rating of 8 and its capacity is 3.87, which means that it has a -4.13 negative score. Since I am just now learning about the terminology of "Ecological Footprint," I am posting this ResearchGate question so that experts can provide their knowledge for those of us who need information because we do not yet understand ways in which we can begin to help make this a better world in which to live for ourselves and for future generations.
My source link:
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My Ecological Footprint is 4.1 ton. CO2
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Population dynamics is usually linked to system stability. For example, over population is linked to system unsustainability, and possible system collapse through overshooting behavior like ecological overshoot. Population dynamics is rarely linked to market pricing structures as markets are usually presented as supply and demand interactions consistent with their price structures. But market price structures can be seen as linked to the nature of the population they serve. Hence, population dynamics appears to be the connection between market price structure and system stability.
And this raises the question, Is population dynamics the link between market pricing and system stability? I think yes, what do you think?
Please, feel free to share your comments, Yes and why you think is Yes or No, and why you think is No.
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Dariusz, the way you try to share your material is not helpful for sharing ideas ...you say Yes, In will leave it there.
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Esteemed Researchers,
The above subject matter refers.
Please can anyone guide me on which of these two indicators to use in measuring environmental degradation. Is it the production OR consumption of Ecological Footprint?
I welcome all constructive inputs.
Thanks as always,
Ngozi
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It is generally best to avoid a single indicator, instead considering a variety. For ecological footprint:
Beyond merely ecological footprint:
1. Circular economy (Stahel and Reday-Mulvey, 1977/1981)
2. Deglobalization (Bello 2008)
3. Degrowth (Lefèvre 2004)
4. Doughnut economics (Raworth 2017)
5. Essential exponential (Bartlett 2004)
6. Overshoot / Homo colossus (Catton, Jr. 1982)
7. Steady state economy (Daly 1977)
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What technologies do we have or can we hope for that will both maintain or improve our material quality of life without increasing our ecological footprint? I think this is a very difficult question to answer in the affirmative, because the human ecological footprint increases with our quality of life, as measured by the Human Development Index (HDI), and improvements in the HDI are correlated with increases in per capita energy consumption.
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Dear Robert A Austin,
It certainly won't be easy. In some issues, there may be a return to simpler solutions in order to reduce costs, reduce the consumption of raw materials and fossil fuels. The key issue is the possible scale of growth of the pro-environmental, general social awareness of the society.
Regards,
Dariusz Prokopowicz
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Individual footprint calculation would help us to understand the impact of any lifestyle change more clearly.
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Hi Mohammad,
I don't think there are any underlying equations that could do that in a simple way. Basically, you would need to map all activities and related flows of energy and material for the individual or population that you want to study. This could for example be averages for how much people in a certain country or region travel by different means of transport, how much they consume of different foods, heat their houses, etc. You can of course also do that for one individual. Once you have mapped all the flows, you can investigate the ecological footprint that each flow causes. There are some existing databases for that, but you need to be careful with selecting data that fits your context and scope.
Hope this is helpful.
Take care.
Jesko
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Ecopedagogy is not just the knowledge, it is also a value and behavior - you live it. Habits formed at earlier stage of our lives. So, it is imperative that we introduce ecology as early in someone's life as possible. How early can you do this? Further more, if you introduced 'food garden' it has multiple benefits: it integrates knowledge from many domains, it let's you experience nature as a system as well as helping realize many pedagogical objectives such as promoting attention, creativity, patience and perhaps even multilateral thinking. It also fosters global citizenship. Knowledge in growing things is also a 'preparedness' to catastrophes to minimize their impact. In that sense, its an existential skill for survival. Agricultural literacy is shrinking every day. You can do this much better when they are small as they are also in close proximity to the soil. If they are exposed to diverse crops involved in growing, they are most likely to have diverse diet than those who are not - studies and experience backs up. Then what's the early ecopedagogy is like? Most importantly are there any negative side affects of it, if at all?
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I really like a song by a Cuban singer-songwriter Lidis Lamorú, entitled "Nature", I think it's a good way to bring children closer to agricultural work, motivating them through music, about the importance of this work.
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This is the main inquiry question for my PhD studies. I'm asking it with the geographic particularity because of the need for ecoliteracy to be sensitive to bioregions and cultural differences. Your ideas are welcome!
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Teeka Bhattarai Children do learn from doing. Children love to do real and meaningful things. Children like to do things that might make a difference. John Dewey and Evelyn Dewey mentions Marietta Johnson in their book "Schools of To-morrow". This is a very old book (1915) with great ideas that seem new even today. You will find it free online. Also the book they recommend, "Thirty years with an idea" written by Mariette Johnson, have ideas that would suit your thinking.
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Can we conceive of technology that will maintain or improve the average quality of life, as measured by the Human Development Index (HDI), of all people around the globe while simultaneously breaking the link between HDI and our ecological footprint.
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How do you assess the quality of life?They are actually intrinsic nature of human being, like love, honesty, truthful nature etc...am I right? Man need to cross the fourth dimension, fourth state of co consciousness
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I need to get a satellite image from a site in the northern part of Iran for remote sensing research usage. I wonder where I can find such data?
A friend suggested these websites, but they didn't cover 1-meter hyperspectral imagery from the expected region: "Open Aerial Map, Google Earth Pro, Airbus."
The final goal is to collect data for ecological services calculation (O2 release Co2, No2, So2 absorbance) of vegetation of the specified region. If you know a better way to doing so, also very helpful.
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Matthew Mabey Thank so much, Matthew. It's very help full. I appreciate it a lot.
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Updated on 06.04.2020
Dear fellow colleagues and researchers!
My assumption:
All actions for circularity and sustainability require a holistic, systemic Life-Cycle-Assessment Standard, or all of our efforts might be wrong.
Decisions for circularity and sustainability require facts. Currently, a lot of circular activities do and will not work, because the data basis is not sufficient:
1. Current LCAs are not holistic: they deal primarily with GWP and the energy aspect ignoring certain environmental Impacts, such as nation-specific littering potentials, or biodiversity-loss
2. LCAs are not systemic: they ignore the high complexity of the Circular economy with hundreds of actors along every value-chain, the do not incorporate varying degrees of compliance on the side of industry and society
3. LCA data is outdated: mostly, the secondary (energy) data is 10-20 years old, and does not reflect up-to-date processes
4. LCAs only have the ISO 14040 standard, which is not holistic-systemic
5. Future policies and instruments, such as the PEF/OEF require up-to-date LCAs
Research and discussions with several LCA experts yielded no reqults for a holistic LCA standard available, and most of the auditors and consultants agreed that current LCAs are not reflecting the real world impacts. Also scientists already state the necessity for a holistic LCA standard, for example from BOKU Vienna, University of Technology Gothenburg, and the University of New South Wales. There is some research available not only in the sphere of LCAs but also Environmental Footprints in general, but it needs to be embedded into a standard, I think:
New Methods for Plastics-LCAs:
Quantification of Littering:
Littering Potential Indicator:
Loss of Biodiversity Indicator:
Sidenote: This discussion is focussed on the environmental aspects (LCA), but it might be interesting to develop a standard for more holistic approaches such as LCSA as well.
Consequential proposal:
We need to develop the HS-LCA Standard in a EU-wide joint-venture project between academia, industry, and society, similar to the PEF, but with the focus on materials. The first material in focus shall be plastics, to enable design for circularity, decide which cascades and recovery methods are best, discover which materials can substitute fossile plastics, and which of these strategies should be supported on a policy level. Real-world data enables the right decisions for a circular, sustainable society. If the data is insufficient, we cannot make the right decisions for society.
"What is the impact of a fossile-fuel-based plastic bottle with a lot of them ending up in the sea at the end-of-life?"
With the HS-LCA, we shall be able to compare this bottle drifting in the sea causing harm to the sealife and the ocean itself, to a biowaste-based and biodegradable bottle suitable for reuse or recycling in every EU-member-state with even the lowest recovery technology standard.
"What is the impact of a consumer electronic product depending on various design concepts with different materials, modules, and a range of usage scenarios?"
With the HS-LCA, we could give companies the chance to compare various design options based on a holistic life cycle assessment, possibly helping them to widen their point-of-view on true sustainability.
What is your Knowledge on that? Is a "HS-LCA" already available or in development? Are you working on it? What do I miss? Looking forward to hearing from you!
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Dear all,
sounds very interesting. Just one recommendation: i would also recommend to include social effects (S-LCA) in a holistic (social+environmental+economic) and systemic (complete value-chain and stakeholders) LCA. We have published some papers on S-LCA and at the moment i'am working on a framework for holistic LCSA (social+environmental+economic). This framework will be based on the SDGs and the concept of Societal Relations to Nature (SRN) which was developed by Christoph Görg from the BOKU. Maybe there is some potential in the future to develop things together.
All the best
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Basically one of my students is working on institutional ecological footprints. we have collected all the required data and now working on the calculations.
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Luca Bonacina thank you for the help
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Many studies have claimed that ecological footprint is not a true reflection of ecosystem. Possibly, its merely seen as a measure of productivity.
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@Vaibhav, so when are we getting the right model? I mean when we the right model that captures ecological footprints coming or we are going to continue re-packaging Kuznet curve and pretend we are working on ecological footprints.
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Hi WEF-Nexus group,
Most of the WEF-Nexus studies, talks about water footprints. Of course they talk about ecological and carbon footprints also. But in most of the ecological footprints studies, water footprints will be a part.
But my question is:
- If we assess the water footprint of food, the resultant water footprints, what we get from assessment, Can it be the nexus between water and food ?
- And , if we talk about nexus between food and water, should we include energy (energy footprint consumed to prepare the food) also, then only it called as FOOD and WATER Nexus ?
- What is the difference between Water footprints and Water Nexus ?
Please help me to clear these doubts
Thanks in advance
Regards
Dagani.
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In my opinion Water Footprint is an indicator that shows how much is (high or low) the footprint of a food chain. Thanks to Water footprint we can compare different diets or different way of production or different foodcrops. There is a quite large literature about how to calculate WF and the different water type grey...blue and green.
Moreover the detailed description of water footprint (component by component) could be useful to understand a part of the WEF nexus
WEF nexus is more a "new paradigma" that invite us to take into account how much is important the connection between water energy and food and that we have to manage them together so we have to avoid to analyze water and food link or energy and water link but we have to assume a larger perspective and focus our attention on all three issues together taking into account that any (eg) irrigation projetcs for food production must take into account the energy issues in terms of optimization, savings and renewable use. So whenever we are doing projects, Investments and/or planning new water reservoir and so on we have to try to optimize the use of energy for water pumping and distribution, we have to improve irrigation systems to save water.
In my opinion wef is not an indicator but is a "vision" a point of view that must move us to better understand interconnection beetween different issues and try to find the best balance to ensue a long term sustainability of our project or investment.
I hope my point of view could be useful for you!
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In my research into Sustainability Engineering, Time Use shows itself to be a very important variable. Together with ecological impacts (Ecological Footprint or Planetary Boundaries), Time Use to meet needs is a required unit of measurement. I am using both Max Neef's theory of Fundamental Human Needs, and Doyal & Gough's theory of Human Need.
In my current paper, I am wanting to make a number of statements, and I would like to know of existing publications that have made similar conclusions:
• People are, at all times, acting to meet their perceived needs
• People are generally not able to distinguish between their actual needs and their perceived needs
• People will always act to minimize the time used to meet their perceived needs, so that the time available to meet their wants are maximized
• People will generally act to maximize the portion of their perceived needs that are met
Are there sources you would recommend?
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Thank you William Hansen; Very nice - I've seen that decision making approach before, but didn't know its name. Thank you.
I think you are seeing this in a different light than I am, which is precisely why I asked this question. If people aren't actively pursuing wants and needs, what else are they doing? Passively meeting wants and needs? Or is there a third category between want and need?
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I would like to compile a list of researchers (economists, conservation scientists, sociologists) who work on questions related to responsible/ethical/green supply chain management, or who work on the ground with producers/suppliers. Many thanks if you do have any suggestions,
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Great question. Excellent responses.
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Hi everyone,
I am trying to assess the environmental footprint of an industrial-scale plant for high-lipid microalgae cultivation. Currently, I am focussing on waste water from the cultivation plant. I wonder if water left after the algae harvest can be led back into the sea without further treatment. Some thoughts/open questions:
- N and P concentration should be low at the end of the lipid-production phase (starving conditions), so eutrophication risk should be low. But: Is N and P concentration low enough? How much is acceptable?
- Could high NaCl concentrations in the cultivation medium be potentially harmful to sea life?
- Could algae left in the waste water pose a risk, e.g. could they set foot in the sea and cause an artificial algal bloom?
I'm thankful about your thoughts/experiences and even more thankful for studies / laws / regulations on the topic.
Best regards.
Benjamin Portner
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Dear Benjamin
I think Yes.
Industrial and large-scale production of biofuels from algae may cause water pollution.
Biofuels can be produced from micro-algae grown in ponds or tubes on land. This requires considerable fertilizer inputs that may pollute the environment if not treated properly. To ensure sustainable production of biodiesel from micro-algae, it is important to develop cultivation systems with low nutrient losses to the environment.
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It will be nice to have suggestions and contribution of calculating carbon footprint, ecological footprint and bio capacity. Scientific methods including software that can be used will be appreciated.
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There is much information available in the www about measuring these. There are even online tools that can be adapted to one own's purpose.
Here a link to a fairly recent publication, but as I wrote: there is plenty of information in the www.
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Moreover, expecting the answer, could it be a good indicator of sustainability? If yes, please explain it too.
Like to thank you for your precious time!
Regards,
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Ecological foot print is an analysis that gauges our impact on the planet's biological systems, the ecological footprint measures human consumption of natural resources in comparison to Earth's ecological capacity to regenerate them. Individually, each of us has "a footprint," and, collectively, they aggregate across geographical zones and other means of classification. Calculation of the footprint takes into account just about everything we do; from the food we eat, to the house we live in, to the car we drive and the other consumption habits we practice each day. It's a very complex calculation that answers a straightforward question: how much of the Earth's resources do our lifestyles require?
The Ecological Footprint is a resource accounting tool used by governments, businesses, educational institutions and NGOs to answer to a specific resource question: How much of the biological capacity of the planet is required by a given human activity or population?
The Ecological Footprint measures the amount of biologically productive land and sea area an individual, a region, all of humanity, or a human activity that compete for biologically productive space. This includes producing renewable resources, accommodating urban infrastructure and roads, and breaking down or absorbing waste products, particularly carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel. The Footprint then can be compared to how much land and sea area is available.
Biologically productive land and sea includes cropland, forest and fishing grounds, and do not include deserts, glaciers and the open ocean.
Current Ecological Footprint Accounts use global hectares as a measurement unit, which makes data and results globally comparable. Calculation methods are standardized so results of various assessments can be compared.
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On the Global Footprint Network website I was able to download data only for 2014.
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In addition to what Ilan provided you may also find information from the link below;
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The main trend in the usage of algae oil is biodiesel, but it can be used as cooking oil as well. Would it be economical to substitute palm oil? Algae oil may have a lower ecological footprint.
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Hi Viktoria,
It is very nice to know that many researchers share interest in algae, which is believed as a future source of energy and nutrients (referred as 3rd generation).
As other researcher have pointed out that it is technically possible to substitute (and/or complement) palm oil with algal oil for various purposes. However, regarding its use for food and feed (e.g. cooking oil, protein source) needs a special requirements. Cautions should be given for following concerns:
1. Toxicity. Many kinds of microbes (what we call algae) produce oil. Yet, due to some of these microbes (e.g. cyanobacters) produce deadly toxics, as Dr. Carmen pointed out, these microbes should never be used in food and feed production chain.
2. Health. The health aspect could be related to the substrate in cultivation and culture methods. For example, algae cultured in domestic wastewater posseses a risk of foodborne and waterborne diseases. Therefore, algae cultivated in this environment should not be used for food and feed.
3. Ethics and Aestethics. This aspect is often omitted, yet has a strong value in real world. Some people may refuse the idea of consuming food which was produced from domestic wastes, eventhough they understand that it has a high nutritive value. They may consider that this food is "gross". Some animals may also find their feed from this process as less/not palatable, due to a specific scent or taste from waste remains (some animals have stronger smelling and tasting organs than humans).
4. Economics. Algae cultivation (up to now) has a higher total cost than palm oil cultivation. Therefore, it is currently not economic to replace palm oil with algal oil. This is partly due to ecological impacts of palm oil cultivation and benefits of algal cultivation have never taken into account seriously. Should there be any kind of ecological tax for palm plantation plus any incentive for algal cultivation, the situation may change.
This list is not exhaustive, and only serves as an example. Research in this particular topic is increasing, and we may find solutions for these problems soon, and on that day, algal oil for consumption may become real. Until then, let's stick to the use of algal oil (and other algal products) for non-food and non-feed purposes.
Kindest Regards
Alam
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I need to calculate my ecological footprint but so far i have only seen calculators that are too general or for certain first world countries.
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Recent EU projects have developed some interesting indicators (such as TESS) to calculate CO2 emission and ecological footprint. This question would like to compile other ones already tested and used.
Regarding the success or perceived failure is that for example, such as "colapse" of the initiative it self could be a natural process to prepare and seed the soil and then allow the development of different CBI, enterprises, implementation at the members working place, etc...
Do please let me know any scientific article, report and other documents I could dive in to better understand the state of the art. Very grateful for your help.
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Birhanu , a good point, you have tossed up. Measuring long term sustainability could be visible in the backdrop production of a cropping system over space and time , further evident through improvement in livelihood options. After all, this is what we have to resort to climate resilient agriculture. If production of a cropping sequence is dwindling over space and time , it's conveniently assumed agriculture is climate change vulnerable...And we are more concerned with crop response than how much carbon dioxide associated or other GHG emissions related issues are cropping up..how is agriculture affected , we are more concerned as an agriculturist..there could be many more issues ..no doubt..
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What are the interconnection/ relationship for these fields?
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Ecology is a very broad subject and deals with many areas. To answer in a broad way, any small development will be at the cost of destruction of our natural environment like soil, water, trees, etc. There are inter linked in their own way. If this is the case, think of activities related urbanization !!
The explanations given by Dr. Lynch, Dr. Christopher and Dr. Yeray are highly interesting and relevant. I too repeat the suggestion of Dr. Chistopher that as the urban ecological foot print is highly complicated, initially it is better to narrow down the aspects to 1 or 2 and start assessing the impacts of urbanization on the ecology and later you can go adding other factors. Good luck.
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This project is absolutely interesting to me, both as a researcher on innovation and public policy and as an oil industry professional. Your approach is going to be concentrated on the Norwegian site or you also want to evaluate the international linkages of the Norwegian oil and gas value chain?
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I made my Dr. rer.nat.  and I  developed a I/O table  for a province in Chile, with the purpose to determine the  real potential of the forest sector. It was facinating to see, after 45 yeras, how Chile greww in the  forest sector and most of the multipliers gave  certain. I thnck that is a forgor¡tten but quite useful methodology. We are  more and more working with a silo approach, and the I/O model  shows precisely the  importance of interactions of sectors. At that time  I could demonstrate that  forest and forestry  could serve as an intermediasry sector in economic development between the primary sector and  te secondary sectors. With lower  investments and higher multipliers is possible to increase growth ( sustainably) and without moving the  rural people to the cities.
Sorry that my work is old and was written in German, thus  has two limitations  to be disseminated now, the languaje and that there is no  digital version.
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I am about to choose my dissertation title and I'm looking for a title between these three areas: Project management - Sustainability - Carbon Tax/emission
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Sustainable Environment Management
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Answer may be from the Hydrological point of view
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Thank you all
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I am research associate at Universidad Andina Simon Bolivar and work with Carlos Larrea , former coordinator of the Yasuni Initiative, on supply side climate policy in biodiversity hotspots. 
Based in Argentina (Ministry of Agroindustry, Dept. of Bioenergy) 
MSc in Energy and Resources, UCBErkeley
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Thank you!
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The definition of the footprint is clear, but I like to know how easy or difficult it is to really come up with a reliable number for a town. So I am looking for existing experience.
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Michael,
Thank you kindly for the indication. I shall study the paper.
Manfred
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Dear Harry,
or here...
As for the issue of systematic review: This here is currently a scoping as first step in a potential systematic knowledge synthesis process - one option for this would be a systematic review, but this of course depends on the suitable number of papers out there and the concrete question we will address (EKLIPSE has a set of 21 potential synthesis methods).
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Am currently working on my thesis  concept note  on "The Implications Of Euclidean  zoning (mono zoning) On Sustainable Conservation Of Public Urban Green Spaces In Nairobi City." 
I would appreciate any leads on literature concerning the following sub headings:
1. Defining the concept of Zoning
2. Historical underpinnings of zoning (based on epochs)
3. Evolution of Euclidean or single use zoning
4. Motives and Consequences of Euclidean  zoning (focus on land use planning and green space conservation).
5. Case Studies:  Application of Euclidean zoning in land use regulation within environmentally sensitive areas e.g. green spaces        
Thanks in advance!
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Thanks
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My project is about the public participation and environmental education in water area,so I would like to get some information about this case.
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Hi Lin,
On the link below, you can find some pedagogical cases that are developed for environmental education purposes. You might find something related to water.
Good luck
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The study aims to identify the main obstacles that prevent people from acting more environmental-friendly and therefore reducing their individual footprint.
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Dear Franziska
Calculating individual ecological footprints, in my view, is very difficult, because of the cultural and contextual differences to which people are submitted to, or living through. I am not sure whther such type of caluclation would clarify your query: identify obstacles that prevent people to act ecofriendly. Sudies of sustainability in education, mainly in higher education, have highlighted that there is a huge gap between knowldedge about sustainability and action towards a sustainable society. People know and are aware of their own harmful behaviour as consumer that impact the environment, but it seems it does not change the way they act. There are Social Theories as Planned Behaviour Theory, for instance, that seem able to help to investigate this subject in details. I am sorry, but I do not believe that calculation, as first approach, will help to understand obstacles for people do not act in ecofriendly way. I think it is more valuable to try to investigate the reflective gap between knowing and acting when it relates to sustainable action. Please, see Azjen work (Attempt Theory, Azjen, you can find several papers in acaademic data bases, and in Google Scholar). Kind regards.
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Currently doing a HE study in the area of environmental management. My research interest is in the adoption and implementation of EMS in Africa. I am therefore interested in finding out if there are studies on adoption and or implementation of  environmental management systems in any where in the world.
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Dear Eric,
the approach to an EMS is regulated in the ISO framework 14000, especially in the ISO 14001 (which I attached). The base is the PDCA-cycle, and this is not a model but an organisational framework. EMSs can generally be implemented on each scale, from a company until a university, but generally to an institution. In Europe there are a lot of implemented EMS, especially in companies. Which kind of implementation study you are interested in ? Usually the EMS is implemented a) to find resource efficiency potentials and b) to ensure a longterm sustainable operation under an environmentally friendly policy. And usually it consists of an EMS manual for the respective institution plus the implementation protocols.
Best regards, Petra
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I know it is conceptually linked to ecological footprint. Does anyone know where/when/by whom the term was first uttered? Citations are more helpful than vague references please.
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Carbon footprint evolved as a part of the 'ecological footprint' concept which was devised by William Rees and Mathis Wackernagel. In this paper from jan 1996
William Rees described how carbon-assimilation is part of the ecological footprint but here he used the term 'energy footprint' and not carbon footprint.
I'm not sure who first used the term, but I do know that it wasn't until 2006 that it became more widespread. One of the earliest references to carbon footprint I am aware of is this patent filed in oct 2005 https://www.google.com/patents/US20060089851 but I don't think that's the first usage of the term. According to Google Trends the term was already used occasionally when Google started collecting query data in 2004: https://www.google.com/trends/explore#q=%22carbon%20footprint%22
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Sustainability related "Footprint" calculation methodologies have been used for human. But has it ever been used for animals? If that, then how? Can someone provide me some link related to this work?
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Douglas Nuttall Sir, thank you for your insight. I happen to think in the same way, footprint for all organisms separately, to understand their resource consumption trends.
Regards.
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Energy efficiency is just one of the many criteria that could be used, as 'footprints' are being adapted to measure the impacts of buildings in terms of carbon emissions, water and energy consumption.
In other words, how distant we are from considering all the aspects related to the consumption of resources in the 'sustainability' equation of our building stock? Could this be delivered through a unified indicator?
Are you aware of cases where these techniques have been applied in real urban and regional planning policies, plans, and programs?
Thank you for your suggestions.
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I am afraid that I may not be able to contribute completely in this matter but I feel like I could add a suggestion or another way of thinking on the topic.
Something else to consider would be the relation to decay. Materials off gas and fall apart or they combine with the conditions of the area to speed up the process or to create a poison. Sometimes the materials actually used in the architecture, although great for long lasting built environments, are actually toxic to the people living on the located site.
I also feel that the "footprint" could be measured by usage. Was every part of the space utilized to the fullest? If the building changed functions, how has it coped with the new usage despite the original purpose? Was the "footprint" economical in design? Would it be worth it in the long run to upkeep a building because it works so well or is it necessary to upkeep it to modify? (I hope this made sense).
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Depending on national institutional framework and planning tradition, can 'footprints' be better implemented:
- directly in the urban and regional planning schemes (policies, plans, programs), or
- in Sustainability Assessments used to measure the sustainability of the aforementioned planing schemes?
Could you provide some evidence referring to relevant case studies or publications?
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Please check out the GPC - Greenhouse Gas Protocol for community based GHG accounting and reporting.
For spatial information on water risk you may find the following site helpful:
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I need to estimate "tourism carrying capacity" for an Island surrounded by coral reef ecosystem, to plan a sustainable development.
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Dear Dip, one way of determining the tourism carrying capacity would be to assess soils bulk density, especially along the trails which exist on the island. This is important, because if the bulk density is high, for instance, over 1.5 g/cm3, it could cause soil erosion on the insland trails, since the water would have difficulty in infitrate into the soil.
Best wishes,
Maria do Carmo
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I wish to know other point of view regarding the PEF, Product Environmental Footprint, and its applicability in companies. Off course, when PEF will be more than a "pilot project" or when the study phase will be finished, this could be another tool that could be quite easily applied for companies too, but my doubt is: PEF will be simply another environmental accounting system to be added to those already present? (like green label, EMAS, EPD, organic certification, environmental management tools, and so on...finally all the ways to comunicate to the market the link between products and environment). If this it's true, PEF, from my point of view, is nothing new, maybe it is more robust, clear, correct, complete, ot whatever you want....but from the consumers point of view.... it is just another tools that must explained...by highlighting the differences between all the other. In my opinion, companies, and the market, need "lean" management tools in order to obtain 2 goals: internally improve the process by finding the hot spots to be improved and externally comunicate all the efforts spent for a better environmental performance. Off course, already exist some practical tool to reach these objectives (LCA, green label, and so on)....but, in my opinion, there's still confusion because there are too many tools around a single topic
I wonder: PEF, what do you think about it? It could reach the objectives above mentionedin practice? Personally....I wonder if another tool quite close to a label could be helpfull...
Thanks to everyone who'll spend time to answer.
Luca Chiusano
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Dear Luca,
my view is that PEF is a great tool that companies and organizations may use to gain awareness about the environmental impacts of products, but also services and policies.
Going back to the case of a "physical" products being assessed, examples of situation in which PEF plays a big role is within the decision making on green procurement (where your product components are being grown and what is their impacts, as per mentioned by Peter above).
On top of that, you can easily guess that PEF can be used as a decision support tool for eco-design applications, as it allows the comparison of different product configurations (e.g., in terms of raw material selection) and allows you to see the environmental impacts for each of them. 
However, the EU Guidance report for the implementation of the EU PEF (see link below) pointed out some drawbacks on PEF analyses at their current state.
In fact, there are some issues about the consistency of PEF studies applied to different products delivering the same function, as you have to make sure that the analyses have been done by considering the same assumptions, measurements and calculations procedure, in order for the results to be claimed comparable. 
Also the relevance of the life-cycle stages, processes and impacts being assessed might be questioned sometimes.
On trying to solve these issues, research & policy makers are right now aiming at defining Product Environmental Footprint Category Rules (PEFCR). 
Things I discussed here and much more can be found in the EU Guidance report I posted!
Very best regards
Ilaria 
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I´m calculating the ecological footprint of an oil well. This include drilling, transport, and all the waste generated in this operation. Can you give me a hint? I´m looking into the global footprint network for some answers.
regards
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Dear Marco, 
the European Comission conducted a study where different environmental impact methods were compared based on several criteria. You can check the report and see whether it fit to your requirements. 
rEGARDS, 
cRISTINA
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Land conflict effects land use (and deforestation in Brazil).  Can anyone give me good examples of places where contention between groups (e.g., mechanized interests and subsistence farmers) is leading to loss of native wildlands (forests, savannas, etc.).  I wish to generalize my research to a broader, possibly global, perspective.
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Land conflicts are taking place primarily because unequal distribution of it and secondly because of unscientific use of it. Thirdly in the name of development also land of the dependents being acquired by the state- corporate-builder nexus in many Asian countries including India.  
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Is anyone aware of survey data which looks to understand the link between attitudes on environmental issues and attitudes towards women? I am also curious about whether those who feel that caring for the environment is decidedly feminine are more/less inclined to support environmental initiatives. Any help would be appreciated!
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Hi, 
This sounds a little bit out of my expertise area, but I can offer some help in literature and ecofeminist theory if you'd like it. While my research examines international environmental law, I take a distinctly qualitative/doctrinal approach!
In terms of the claim that liberals have a 'complex view of femininity', I would recommend reading some ecofeminist literature (if you haven't already)  concerning the notion of 'femininity,' protection' and the role of women in this approach. Some ecofeminists (it's a very broad church) criticise liberalism for adopting a project of assimilation wherein women (and other marginalised communities) are integrated into environmental projects which they contend continues to legitimise the exploitation and subordination of nonhuman nature and human/Others. I'd be very wary of referring to 'femininity' and feminine without specifying exactly what you mean by it, as these are hotly contested terms that many eco/feminists consider highly essentialising and not representative of the differences between women, dependent on class, culture, experience, and race. There is loads of work out there on this specific issue. I can point you to some if you would like.
Have you looked at any of Julie Nelson's literature on the precautionary principle and the notion of masculinity? It might help you in framing exactly what you mean by 'feminine' and non-feminine in this context. Also, Mary Mellor's work on materialist ecofeminism might be of interest.
Kind regards, and I look forward to seeing what you discover
Kate
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I got my PhD in energy engineering, but I did quite a bit of environmental studies research on the side. I think about things differently than most people, and question conventional wisdom. I have dozens of ideas for papers that I think could get significant attention on topics like ecological footprint, economics of CO2 reduction, water, transportation, urban planning, food, waste, animal welfare, and biodiversity. But I don’t have enough time to do them myself, so I am looking for an environmental studies collaborator. Does anyone know someone like this?
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Hello Dr David
It is very interesting to look on the topics. I am currently working on understanding forest biophysical parameters using synthetic aperture radar. I am interested in studying more about ecological footprint and economics of CO2 reduction. Hope we could speak more and work out further.
Mohamed Musthafa
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Carrying capacity
Ecological footprint
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In addition to the ecological footprint, what are other quantitative methods that can show levels of sustainability?
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Sustainability refers to five main capitals: natural capital, social capital, manufactured capital, financial capital, and human capital. Urban sustainability, but sustainability in general, should refer to those forms of capital. It hypothesizes that a balance among these five types of capital is necessary to satisfy human needs and generate individual and community well-being (Costanza et al., 1997).
Natural Capital is any stock or flow of energy and material that produces goods and services. It includes:
Resources - renewable and non-renewable materials
Sinks - that absorb, neutralise or recycle wastes
Processes - such as climate regulation. Natural capital is the basis not only of production but of life itself!
Human Capital consists of people's health, knowledge, skills and motivation. All these things are needed for productive work. Enhancing human capital through education and training is central to a flourishing economy.
Social Capital concerns the institutions that help us maintain and develop human capital in partnership with others; e.g. families, communities, businesses, trade unions, schools, and voluntary organisations.
Manufactured Capital comprises material goods or fixed assets which contribute to the production process rather than being the output itself – e.g. tools, machines and buildings.
Financial Capital plays an important role in our economy, enabling the other types of Capital to be owned and traded. But unlike the other types, it has no real value itself but is representative of natural, human, social or manufactured capital; e.g. shares, bonds or banknotes.
Any kind of capital has its own indicators and indices. The sustainability assessment should find out the best balance among the five capitals in a specific context.
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Ecological footprint is widespread recognized as an environmental indicator showing the impact of human consume on naural resources, so measuring the (in)sustainability of most human practices and habits. Nevertheless, it has been seldom considered as a tool able to support decision-making processes to forward social and productive development of small communities with the involvement of local governments and collection of hard data with proper methodologies designed for such purpose.
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Saif, it´s not only a "very green concept". You are right when you say that different cities have or may have very different ecological footprints depending on a myriad of differents factors. But here we are speaking of another application of the concept, because when we refer the calculation of the ecological footprint to a local situation by means of precise information collected with appropiate (and new) methodological approaches and, at the same time you calculate the local (real or potential) productive areas and you involve the local government and local organizations, you can use all this information to REALLY analyse, evaluate and applicate strategies to promote social and productive development in the whole community. We are just demonstrating that it´s possible to use the ecological footprint as a planning tool to develop a territory based on the local potential.
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An innovation is the implementation of a new or significant improvement product (good or services) or process a new marketing method, or a new marketing organizational method in business practice, workplace organization or external relation. As a minimum requirement the method must be new (or significantly improved). According to OECD (2005), innovation activities are all scientific, technological, organizational, financial, and commercial steps which actually, or are intended to, lead to the implementation of innovations
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Hello Zorpas, Please go through theses points
1. Practices for sustainable manufacturing have evolved
In recent years, the efforts of manufacturing industries to achieve sustainable production have shifted from end-of-pipe solutions to a focus on product lifecycles and integrated environmental strategies and management systems. Furthermore, efforts are increasingly made to create closed-loop, circular production systems and adopt new business models.
2. Eco-innovation seeks more radical improvements
Much attention has been paid to innovation as a way for industry and policy makers to work towards more radical and systemic improvements in environmental performance. The term eco-innovation calls attention to the positive contribution that industry can make to sustainable development and a competitive economy.
3. Eco-innovation has three dimensions: targets, mechanisms and impacts
Based on an extension of the definition of innovation in the OECD Oslo Manual and on the existing literature, eco-innovation can be understood and analysed according to its targets (the main focus), its mechanisms (methods for introducing changes in the target) and its impacts (the effects on environmental conditions).
4. Sustainable manufacturing calls for multi-level eco-innovations
Sustainable manufacturing involves changes that are facilitated by eco-innovation. Integrated initiatives such as closed-loop production can potentially yield higher environmental improvements but require appropriately combining a wide range of innovation targets and mechanisms.
5. Current eco-innovations focus mostly on technological development but are facilitated by
non-technological changes
While current eco-innovations in manufacturing tend to focus primarily on technological advances, organisational or institutional changes have often driven their development and complemented the necessary technological changes. Some advanced players started adopting new business models or alternative modes of provision.
6. Clear and consistent indicators are needed to accelerate corporate sustainability efforts
An appropriate combination of existing sets of indicators can help firms gain a more comprehensive picture of environmental effects across their value chain and product lifecycle. Companies along the supply chain, including small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), would make more use of clear and consistent sustainable manufacturing indicators.
7. Improved benchmarking and better indicators would help deepen understanding of eco-innovation
No existing measurement approach can capture the overall trends and characteristics of eco-innovation. Further progress in benchmarking and indicators might include the development of an “eco-innovation scoreboard” which combines different statistics or the design of a new dedicated survey. These could help improve understanding of the nature, drivers/barriers and impacts of eco-innovation and raise awareness among policy makers and industry.
8. Integration of innovation and environmental policies is crucial for promoting eco-innovation
OECD countries have addressed sustainable manufacturing and eco-innovation mainly through environmental policies. Innovation policy has so far not fully addressed environmental issues. Closer integration of innovation and environmental policies could benefit both policy areas and accelerate policy and corporate efforts towards sustainable development.
9. Creating successful eco-innovation policy mixes requires understanding the interaction
of supply and demand
The countries surveyed do not all have a specific eco-innovation strategy, although various policy initiatives and programmes promote eco-innovation. While these include supply-side and demand-side measures, a fuller understanding of the interaction of supply and demand for eco-innovation would help achieve more successful policy mixes.
Given the above findings, seek to:
o Provide guidance on indicators for sustainable manufacturing: The OECD could bring clarity and consistency to existing indicator sets by developing a common terminology and understanding of the indicators and their use.
o Identify promising policies for eco-innovation: Careful evaluation of the implementation of various policy measures for eco-innovation would be helpful for identifying “promising eco-innovation policies”.
o Build a common vision for eco-innovation: The OECD could help fill the gap in the understanding of eco-innovation by co-ordinating in-depth case studies. This could form the basis for developing a common future vision for environmentally friendly social systems and roadmaps to achieve this goal.
o Develop a common definition and a scoreboard: With the substantial insights obtained, the OECD could consider the development of a common definition of eco-innovation and an “eco-innovation scoreboard” for benchmarking eco-innovation activities and public policies by combining different statistics and data.
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Cities play an important role in social and economic activities. Cities generally perform poorly in terms of environmental performance (compared to social and economic activities). One of the main reasons behind this poor environmental performance appears to be due to population pressure and its impacts on the environment. Currently, about 50% population live in cities which is projected to rise in the coming years (by 2050 it could 6 out of 10 people will live in cities). Most of world megacities (> 10 million people) are in developing countries (e.g. Guangzhou, Shanghai, Jakarta, Seoul, Delhi, Mexico, Karachi, Manila, Sao Paulo, Mumbai, Beijing, Moscow, Dhaka, Cairo, Kolkata, Buenos Aires, Bangkok, Istanbul, Lagos, Tehran, Rio de Janeiro, Shenzhen and Tanjin) and few are in developed countries (Tokyo, New York, Los Angeles, Osaka, London, Rhine-Ruhr, Paris). The dense population in cities generate huge volume of solid and soluble wastes, the demand for electricity, water and traffic in cities will cause significant carbon footprints and water footprints. What measures would be needed so that cities remain a healthy place to live on in terms of managing carbon pollution and water pollution in the future?
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Dear Rogerio,
it is also my opinion, that the agriculture in industrial countries is not social and not sustainable , therefore I cited the tiny group of organic farmers who are often opposed and get difficulties.
The western lifestyle uses resources of more than one planet.
Moreover, cities perform badly in many repects.
Nearly half the world population are small farmers mainly in Asia and Africa. Education and health services for them are more difficult to establish, but not impossible and need not increase the low GHG emissions in these countries.
The Global Report (Agriculture at the Crossroads) critisizes inappropriate policy interventions, socioeconomic exclusion and the failure to address the real needs of poor people, recommending agro-ecological small-scalle farming, balancing beetwen economy and ecology - scaling up socially and environmentally sustainable practices.
Large cities are also more vulnerable, if the supply should be interrupted.
Their rapid growth is not well planned. Why not favor cities of more moderate extension ?
If cities are planned completely, they may perform perfectly for a while ecologically, but only for the period of time, where the planning conditions are not changed to much.
Thus, many aspects are important - also the balance between a sufficient size of the population and the impact on the environment.