ABSTRACT
Traditional villages are a valuable cultural asset that occupy an important position in Chinese traditional culture. This study focuses on 206 traditional villages in Hebei Province and aims to explore their spatial distribution characteristics and influencing factors using ArcGIS spatial analysis. The analysis shows that traditional villages in Hebei Province were distributed in clusters during different historical periods, and eventually formed three core clusters in Shijiazhuang, Zhangjiakou and Xingtai-Handan after different historical periods. Moreover, the overall distribution of traditional villages in Hebei Province is very uneven, with clear regional differences, and most of them are concentrated in the eastern foothills of the Taihang Mountains. To identify the factors influencing traditional villages, natural environmental factors, socio-economic factors, and historical and cultural factors are considered. The study finds that socio-economic and natural environmental factors alternate in the spatial distribution of traditional villages in Hebei Province. The influence of the interaction of these factors increases significantly, and socio-economic factors have a stronger influence on the spatial distribution. Specifically, the spatial distribution of traditional villages in Hebei Province is influenced by natural environmental factors, while socio-economic factors act as drivers of spatial distribution. Historical and cultural factors act as catalysts of spatial distribution, and policy directions are external forces of spatial distribution. Overall, this study provides valuable insights into the spatial distribution characteristics and influencing factors of traditional villages in Hebei Province, which can be used to develop effective strategies for rural revitalisation in China.
ABSTRACT
Thailand and Vietnam have done relatively well in terms of containing the COVID-19 pandemic. While hundreds of thousands of cases and thousands of deaths have been registered in Indonesia and the Philippines, Vietnam's number of cases was only 2550 (and only 35 deaths) and Thailand 26, 679 (85 deaths) by 15 March 2021. Nevertheless, it is also important to investigate to what extent weaker sections of society have been affected by the pandemic. As is widely known, the pandemic and lockdowns have led to dramatic socioeconomic upheavals. In this chapter attention is paid to relatively under-researched groups: farmers, fishers and their households. How have they fared amidst economic disruptions? Whereas the media has focused on the impact of lockdowns on urban areas, this chapter highlights livelihood challenges as experienced in rural areas based on 240 semi-structured interviews with farmers and fishers in southern Thailand and northern Vietnam conducted between July 2020 and February 2021. Results show that domestic trade in farm products and both domestic and international trade in seafood were battered by demand slumps, lockdowns and the collapse of the Thai tourism industry. Factors that co-determine the intensity of impacts are socioeconomic status, the crops farmers grow, the size of fishing vessels and numbers of boat crews, jobs and opportunities of relatives and age. This chapter contributes to debates on the nature of poverty reduction given concerns that the pandemic is currently undoing years of progress in middle-income countries and offers options for further empirical and policy-oriented research. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022.
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A great deal of work argues that the entry of women into public spaces can promote political and institutional change. The COVID-19 provides an opportunity to investigate whether and under what conditions women's political representation in rural local governments deliver effective local governance? Drawing from two rounds of data collected in 174 local governments and 1051 households in three Indian states, the paper shows that women Pradhans in the Gram Panchayats had no differential impact on the governance response to COVID-19 compared to the unreserved ones. Analyzing the heterogeneity in these responses suggests that institutional factors like the proportion of women in village council and local entrepreneurship diversity can enhance women Pradhan's capacity to respond to the pandemic. We explore two channels that enable women Pradhan to govern effectively during the pandemic: improving women's participation in the labor force and reducing household's vulnerability to poverty in the pre-COVID period.
ABSTRACT
Rural tourism has an increasing share of the country's tourism income and significantly contributes to the rural economy. Intensive research has been conducted on how Covid-19 affects the tourism industry and the challenges and opportunities the sector face. Although the rise of rural tourism is frequently highlighted post-Covid-19, research examining the satisfaction levels of visitors involved in rural tourism is almost nonexistent. The study's main aim is to determine customers' satisfaction levels from rural activities in and around the Iznik District of Bursa province and to recommend improvement. We obtained data from a structured survey conducted with 408 people who visited Iznik at least once. SPSS 23 program was also used to analyze the data obtained. Results show that visitors' satisfaction with nature and the environment is above average, and their satisfaction with the services provided is below average. The most critical dissatisfaction was the increasing environmental pollution, the loss of natural beauty, the local government's inability to do the necessary cleaning and maintenance work, and the lack of introductory information in places with historical and natural characteristics. Participants wanted to stay in caravans and tents rather than hotels and suggested expanding and improving those facilities. They suggested that local textures are preserved, and more local food and beverages are offered. The suggestion shows that visitors demand integrating more with nature, local life and historical texture.
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The question of rural development is of utmost for countries such as Romania. In the current climate of tension generated by the post-pandemic recovery and geopolitical turmoil, rural development has been more important than ever. We are living in a time of great structural duress and the solutions are becoming more political as the effects of the policy are political ones. There is a transformation of the policy into politics as the Common Agricultural Policy and the Rural Development policy by any other name would still be politics. In this context, the flexibilization provided by the National Strategic Plan is more than welcome. The purpose of the paper is to analyse how the policy elements from CAP are turning into politics and are influencing the Member States politics. As the CAP post- 2020 unfolded new tools such as the National Strategic Plan were added to the EC toolbox, but often their design was influenced by national specificities. The paper performs a desk review analysis of the existing sources and has a case study the way in which this process unfolded in Romania. What is of importance in all that time-consuming process is the fact that for the first time we witnessed a large-scale reflection process throughout the European Union member states. It was partially favoured by the COVID-19 pandemic which put everything on hold for a couple of months. That combined with the need to reform made everything more democratic and more advanced and reformist than the initial proposals.
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Digital transformation has unveiled new prospects for increased performance and productivity in the agricultural sector to meet rising food security needs. Continuous industrialization and unexpected disruptions (e.g., workforce mobility restrictions due to the COVID‐19 pandemic) call for the adoption of agricultural robots. However, automated solutions could be associated with societal challenges in rural areas;unemployment growth has been perceived as a major threat that jeopardizes societal welfare, potentially hindering the implementation of digital technologies. In this context, human–robot synergistic systems could act as a promising socially viable alternative. Through systems thinking, this research investigates the complex interconnections and key feedback mechanisms of automation diffusion (conventional and human–robot interactive) under the socio‐economic perceptions (drivers and barriers) of agribusinesses and rural communities. Overall, this study contributes towards eliciting the mental models that underpin the transition from agricultural robots to human–robot collaboration by transforming automation‐related societal risks into opportunities for sustainable rural development.
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The aim of this paper is to assess Czech food consumers' behavior when buying organic products during the COVID-19 pandemic, with an emphasis on the place of purchase of organic agriculture and food products—especially those purchases with the shortest logistics value chain, i.e., purchase at farmers' markets, or directly from the producer—and a comparison with the current most common places of purchase of organic products in the Czech Republic, supermarkets and hypermarkets. Categorical data analysis methods were used to create a profile of the consumer according to the most frequent purchase locations. To create mathematical–statistical models and interpretations, the methods of logistic regression, correspondence analysis and contingency table analysis were chosen. According to the results of the survey, respondents under 25 years of age are the least likely to make purchases at farmers' markets or directly from the producer. Consumers aged 26–35 and with a university degree are the most likely to buy organic agriculture and food products at this location, followed closely by older respondents in the categories 36–45 and 46+ and with a secondary education. It is important for manufacturers to have an overview of where, in what quantities, and for what reasons consumers buy their products, especially for reasons of production optimization and planning, ecological concerns, rural development, and the impact on local areas and the value chain.
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Food waste is a global concern today. Increasing the level of food security requires a better use of food systems, including reducing food waste and losses. Food crisis and the increase in the price of food, in the context of the climate changes, the Covid pandemic or the war in Ukraine, have sharpened the approach to food waste, including in Romania. National legislation on reducing food waste was adopted relatively late, and data on food waste in Romania are limited. According to international statistics, Romania wastes 2.5 million tons of food annually, with an average of about 70 kilograms/inhabitant, placing it in the middle of the European ranking of food waste. Research has shown that almost half of waste comes from households and a third from industrial food processing. The large commercial food chains in Romania already have programs to combat food waste. Educating the population, starting from primary education, adopting national strategies and applying good practices in reducing food waste from other European countries can represent potential solutions for Romania.
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New social demands, opportunities in the green economy, opportunities opened up by digital technology, and the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic and the spread of remote work have again drawn attention to rural areas. In 2020, the European Commission conducted a public consultation on the long-term vision for rural areas. Support for rural areas is already provided under several EU policies, which contributes to their balanced, fair, green and innovative development. To support the implementation of the action plan, the common agricultural policy (CAP) and the cohesion policy will be of particular importance, which will be accompanied by a whole range of policies from other areas. The aim of this paper is an analysis of the EU legal framework of rural development policy, together with an analysis of the further development of the LEADER approach. Finally, a special focus is placed on the analysis of documents (long-term vision for the EU's rural areas) that deal with the future of rural development in the EU.
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The contribution of this paper is a discussion on the role of cultural life and the potential of cultural tourism in the small town of Choceň in Eastern Bohemia, which is not one of the first-class tourism localities in the Czech Republic. Despite this fact, there is a richness of natural and cultural attractiveness and the organization of varied cultural events. The goal of this research was to determine the assumptions of tourist attractiveness from the point of view of local actors, based on the hypothesis that the attractiveness of the city is closely linked to the attractiveness of tourism. Local actors are the ones who can recognize the genius loci of the place, which should have been considered in development planning. The literature review is mainly devoted to the role of culture, cultural tourism, and rural tourism. This research works with primary and secondary data, with the secondary data being based on location, selection, and implementation assumptions for tourism. The primary data were obtained using a quantitative questionnaire survey method for two target groups—local visitors and local entrepreneurs. This research shows that local actors are aware of their destination's potential and support tourism development. However, cultural events are more likely intended to meet residents' needs, not visitors. It is clear that small industrial towns are rather marginally devoted to the development of tourism. Yet, all local actors need to cooperate for further rural (and tourism) development.
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This chapter explores the role of Creative Tourism in territorial development, highlighting the differences between urban and rural territories. The dynamics of creative development and tourism must be assumed as an advantage for rural territories in times of exhaustion of the growth model of large cities, climate change and COVID-19 disease. This is a new scenario that these territories must profit from, as they continue to face challenges to capture investment, tourists and to offer sustainable models. Urban studies of creative industries and initiatives have been taking place in big cities for several decades now, marginalising small cities and, more specifically, rural areas. Some examples at an international level are highlighted in this chapter, with Southern Europe specifically in focus. Therefore, Creative Tourism appears as a key development option for distinct reasons and aims. First, it answers to the need for tourism to reinvent itself as well as to the need for destinations to do something different in a saturated market. It can also meet the desire of tourists for more fulfilling and meaningful experiences. However, which role can each type of territory play in the present, and how can these territories reach development through Creative Tourism? © 2022 Paula Remoaldo and Daniela Angelina Jelincic. All rights reserved.
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PurposeThis study aims to advance current knowledge on resilient and sustainable short food supply chains, by identifying sustainability practices and resilience capabilities and how these interact.Design/methodology/approachEmpirical data were collected from three cases via 16 semi-structured interviews. This methodological choice answers a call to develop more case studies to better understand perspectives on sustainable and resilient supply chains. Thematic analysis was used for data analysis.FindingsSustainability practices may positively enhance the resilience of short food supply chains, and vice versa. Specifically, social sustainability practices are perceived as enablers of resilience capabilities, and production practices can have a positive or negative impact on resilience capabilities.Originality/valueThis research addresses an important gap in the current short food supply chains literature, by looking at sustainability and resilience in an integrated way for the first time. The proposed working hypotheses and conceptual framework illustrate the complex relationship between social, economic and environmental sustainability and five resilience capabilities within short food supply chains.
ABSTRACT
The tourism sector has played an important role in the development of the world economy, mobility and globalization. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the sector needed to implement urgent measures and adaptations. This article aimed to identify which are the environmentally sustainable practices developed by a tourist enterprise of a rural property located in the municipality of Garibaldi-RS. In methodological terms, a single-type case study strategy was used with an exploratory and descriptive approach, operationalized with qualitative and quantitative research techniques. As data collection instruments, online interviews were used with the owner of the enterprise, respecting the recommendations of social isolation. The answers were recorded, tabulated and analyzed using the content analysis technique. Numerical data were tabulated using Excel software. The family responsible for the production unit, Familia Boroto, is fully dedicated to the organic production. The owner expressed concern about environmental sustainability and in this sense reported that the enterprise develops environmentally sustainable practices and, among them, they use solid waste management and recycling and he added that the health crisis brought a drop in revenue and little demand for organic products. In response, the producer made changes in management practices, such as process readaptation, innovation and entry into new markets. Thus, it was concluded that, even in the pandemic period, the venture had positive points and environmentally sustainable practices emerge as an opportunity to value products and services.
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The climate crisis and global pandemic have accelerated the urgency of providing safe drinking water services around the world. Global progress to safe drinking water is off-track with uncertain and limited data on the extent and performance of rural water service providers to inform policy and investment decisions. This report documents a global diagnostic survey to evaluate the status and prospects of rural water service providers from 68 countries. The service providers describe providing drinking water services to a population of around 15 million people through over 3 million waterpoints. The data provides information on the scale and sustainability of rural water services to examine: . The extent and type of professional water service provision in rural areas globally;. Self-reported metrics of operational and financial performance;and, . The size and scope of current rural service providers that could transition to resultsbased funding. Five major findings emerge. First, most service providers aim to repair broken infrastructure in three days or less. Second, almost all service providers reported at least one type of water safety activity. Third, most service providers collect payments for water services. Fourth, about one third of service providers reported major negative shocks to their operations from the COVID-19 pandemic. Fifth, non-governmental service providers in low income countries less often report receiving subsidies for operations, and more often report paying part of user fees to government, including through taxes. Most rural water service providers are working towards provision of affordable, safe and reliable drinking water services. Key barriers to progress include sustainable funding and delivery of services at scale. We propose four conditions to promote scale and sustainability based on policy alignment, public finance, professional service delivery, and verifiable data. To illustrate these conditions, we consider the differing context and service delivery approaches in the Central African Republic and Bangladesh. We conclude by identifying a group of 77 service providers delivering water services for about 5 million people in 28 countries. These 77 service providers report operational metrics consistent with a results-based contracting approach. Technical assistance might support many more to progress. We argue that government support and investment is needed to rapidly progress to the scale of 100 million people to provide evidence of pathways to universal drinking water services for billions more.
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To date, irregularity and lack of power supply remain a global problem in the rural areas of underdeveloped and developing countries. This paper proposes a new concept for rural electrification by using palm oil mills to co-produce biodiesel from sludge palm oil. We performed a case study based on a medium-sized palm oil mill in Central Kalimantan. Approximately 2.5 tonnes of biodiesel could be produced daily using an enzymatic batch process and potentially support around 1,375 households of 4 people each in the surrounding areas. Subsequently, we performed a techno-economic assessment to study the commercial feasibility of the concept for rural electrification using the enzymatic biodiesel as opposed to commercial diesel. A 10% price deduction was applied to incentivize the local community to use the co-produced biodiesel. From our analysis, the rural electrification concept was found to be commercially viable with a return on investment of 29% and a breakeven period of less than 4 years of operation. Barring the short-term impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and the price fluctuations of diesel and crude palm oil, the long-term commercial prospect of this rural electrification concept is attractive as it financially benefits both the rural community and the mill operators.
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Purpose: This study examines a phygital approach to rural cultural heritage tourism, adopted by a rural community in Sapphaya, Chai Nat Province, Thailand, in response to the Covid-19 crisis. Specifically, it investigates a community's initiatives to amalgamate its physical and digital marketing communications in order to engage with consumers as a strategy for destination recovery and resilience. Design/methodology/approach: This is a qualitative exploratory study involving three stages of action, applying two research approaches: (1) participatory action research (PAR) with Sapphaya's tourism stakeholders, and (2) social media research utilising netnographic analysis of Sapphaya's tourism social enterprise social media pages. Findings: The findings indicate that a phygital rural cultural heritage strategy can facilitate the interconnectivity between a destination's physical and digital dimensions of its cultural heritage tourism product, thereby enhancing its intrinsic value, meaning and experiential perceptions. Specifically, it recommends that a successful community-based phygitalisation strategy requires grassroot engagement across all stages of planning, development, implementation and management of the rural cultural heritage tourism product. Practical Implications: The paper focusses on the cultural heritage tourism strategy adopted by a rural community across the physical-digital-phygital spectrum to augment its sustainable tourism development during a time of crisis. A framework for phygital rural cultural heritage as a strategy for destination resilience and recovery is also proposed. Originality/value: This study adopts a local engagement approach to develop a cooperative community heritage management strategy, based upon local rural capacity building towards digitalisation and empowering innovative partnerships amongst its stakeholders.
ABSTRACT
The potential of agrotourism for livelihoods diversification in remote (peripheral) and extremely remote (ultraperipheral) traditional, agrarian communities is indeed a testament of its uniqueness to enhance rural entrepreneurship development, employment creation and poverty alleviation. In an arid environment such as Botswana's where traditional agricultural concerns are generally impeded by inclement weather conditions exacerbated by climate variability and change scenarios, identifying opportunities in challenges associated with livelihood activities might provide a better pathway for improving rural socio-economic wellbeing and development. Semi-structured interviews and a literature review were used to document the current status and evolution of agrotourism in rural Botswana;and identify the associated constraints and opportunities, which the subsector might offer emerging entrepreneurs. Major findings reveal that agrotourism activities are relatively new and still fledgling in the Okavango Delta, Botswana. While 4.8 percent of the initiatives investigated accounts for agrotourism initiatives that are fully and currently operational in the area, another 4.8 percent constitutes the business initiatives, which are still not fully operational. Findings also revealed that most agrotourism businesses in the Okavango Delta were challenged by inadequate capital outlays constituting an impediment to running a successful business. While bureaucratic bottlenecks associated with registering agrotourism projects is a challenge for some entrepreneurs, a few others are bedeviled by lack of market for their products. The relatively fledgling status of agrotourism in the area might offer a good business opportunity for potential entrepreneurs and the government to fully exploit the socio-economic benefits of the subsector and push a more sustainable environmental conservation agenda, respectively. • Agrotourism as an alternative to mainstream ecotourism and a veritable pathway for socio-economic and rural development has not taken strong foothold in the Okavango Delta, Botswana. • The sector offers the potential for livelihoods diversification in peripheral and ultraperipheral, agrarian communities situated within wildlife areas. • COVID-19 pandemic, which has significantly affected ecotourism in Botswana, provides the impetus to drive the development of agrotourism for rural employment creation. • The ability of enterprising wildlife farmers to individually oversee their stocks within a manageable geographical scale could minimize poaching and enhance a better management of wildlife resources, and substantial economic returns on investment. • Agrotourism could propel national socio-economic development and push a more sustainable environmental conservation agenda in a fragile, arid environment. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Journal of Arid Environments is the property of Academic Press Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)
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The article discusses the possibilities of increasing the effectiveness of advertising means in modern electronic trade. The demand for modern advertising means has increased in Georgia, and the increase in the effectiveness of their use will help the development of electronic commerce in Georgia. The purpose of the study is to determine the prospects for the development of e-commerce in Georgia in the post-covid period, to study the possibilities of modern advertising means in this field, and to determine the ways of their implementation. Methods of collecting, grouping, and analyzing materials about electronic commerce were used in the development of the paper. The method of data collection is mainly used in the electronic trade system of Georgia, on the basis of which the possibilities of using modern advertising means in this field were identified and recommendations for their implementation were developed. In order to increase the competitiveness of the food and nutrition products produced in Georgia, it is necessary to improve the connections between the separate links of their production, to synchronize the production processes. In order to increase the level of food self-sufficiency of Georgia, it is necessary to protect the production of import-substituting, domestic, agrarian products with non-tariff barriers, and to properly manage their production and logistics. Significant and rapid changes in the global supply chain of food and nutrition products provoked by the Covid-19 pandemic have become an opportunity to increase the level of food self-sufficiency of Georgia, which needs to be properly used.
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This paper analyses the right-wing populist rule of Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Adalet ve Kalkinma Partisi (AKP) in Turkey, focusing on the crisis of capitalism, emerging discontent in the rural populations, and opportunities for and obstacles to a successful left-wing populist mobilisation. We put forward three arguments. First, through an examination of the historical evolution, class-based and social-demographic foundations of the ruling right-wing populist alliance between the AKP and the Milliyetci Hareket Partisi (MHP), we argue that the MHP is a more classical case of far-right populism, whereas the AKP is a "heterodox" case that borrows several elements from the left. These "heterodox" features of the AKP, together with the interlinked crisis of the 1990s, played a significant part in the support the AKP received from the subordinate majority. Second, we argue that the success of the AKP's hegemonic right-wing populism from 2002 to 2013 was linked to an unusually favourable macro-political-economic climate that helped the AKP counterbalance its neoliberal policies with pragmatic social assistance programmes. However, together with the disappearance of this macro-political-economic climate in the second decade of its rule (2013-present), the disastrous consequences of the AKP's neoliberal policies became more explicit, and the AKP's populism moved from a hegemonic to an authoritarian right-wing populist type. Third, we claim that today, due to the deepening of the current economic crisis (further exacerbated by the Covid19 pandemic), the AKP's cross-class alliance began to break down, and the rural movements in the Turkish countryside have been playing a major role in unmaking the AKP's hegemony. However, in the absence of a strong left-wing populist movement with a stronghold in the Turkish countryside, emergent possibilities for a radical progressive transformation are not utilised. Instead, the groundwork is being laid for another wave of right-wing populism.
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Se analiza la visión y propuestas de integrantes de unidades familiares de la España rural y la urbana sobre cómo educar y evaluar en la escuela durante el confinamiento provocado por la crisis sanitaria por la COVID-19. Se ha realizado un estudio descriptivo mediante la metodología de encuesta electrónica a una muestra no probabilística de 3.376 casos. Se han comparado y analizado los datos obtenidos de los grupos urbanos y rurales mediante estadísticos descriptivos, contraste de hipótesis y análisis de contenido cualitativo. Los resultados señalan que, aunque escasas, todavía persisten brechas digitales en el acceso a medios y recursos para poder continuar el proceso educativo en el hogar. Se observan diferencias estadísticamente significativas en el acceso a ordenadores, conexión a internet de calidad y materiales y recursos curriculares entre los grupos rurales y los urbanos, al igual que en la percepción sobre la capacidad formativa de las personas adultas del hogar para acompañar a los estudiantes en sus tareas. Sus valoraciones de forma libre en la última cuestión planteada se desarrollan en torno a las categorías de: 1. experiencias familiares;2. críticas a la gestión de la crisis;3. propuestas de mejora;4;propuestas para el próximo curso.Alternate :It analyzes the vision and proposals of members of family units in rural and urban Spain on how to educate and evaluate schools during the lockdown caused by the COVID-19 global health crisis. A descriptive study was carried out using the online survey methodology on a non-probabilistic sample of 3,376 cases. Data from urban and rural groups have been compared and analyzed through descriptive statistics, hypothesis contrasting, and qualitative content analysis. The results indicate that, although scarce, there are still digital gaps in access to means and resources to continue the educational process at home. There are statistically significant differences in access to computers, quality internet connection, curricular materials and resources between rural and urban groups, and the perception of the educational capability of adults in the household to accompany students in their tasks. Their evaluations in the last question posed are developed around the categories of (1) family experiences, (2) criticism of the management of the crisis, (3) proposals for improvement, (4) proposals for the next academic year.