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Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Human footprint'
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Barrett, John Richard. "Sustainability and the ecological footprint : comparing human demand with nature's supply." Thesis, Liverpool John Moores University, 2000. http://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/5529/.
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There is a growing concern that current levels of economic activity have outgrown the physical limits of the planet. In the face of global constraints, humanity continues to deplete nature, through resource harvesting and waste generation, faster than nature can regenerate itself. The UN World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) introduced the idea of sustainable development in 1987, with the release of Our Common Future. Sustainable development has since become a powerful and controversial theme, creating seemingly impossible goals for policy makers. Sustainable indicators can be a key mechanism for encouraging progress in the right direction by providing a measuring tool that gives a clearer understanding as to whether sustainability is being achieved. The ecological footprint has emerged as an innovative technique to measure the ecological dimension of sustainability. The research tests the ecological footprint as a tool for guiding humanity towards sustainability. The research establishes whether or not the ecological footprint provides an effective accounting framework for the biophysical services that a given society requires from nature. With Guernsey as the case study, the research investigates whether or not the ecological footprint is a comprehensive tool for local policy decision-making. Considering the methodology of the ecological footprint, its use for time series analysis and the development of scenarios does this. The ecological footprint is also tested for its ability to act as a tool to communicate the ideas of sustainability. In conclusion, while containing some limitations, the ecological footprint is a tool that can facilitate the comparison of policy choices society inevitably must face. At the local level, the ecological footprint is a valuable part of the sustainable indicator tool kit. The use of the ecological footprint as a communication tool for sustainable development is invaluable. It is an indicator that can be understood by the general public and one that links individual lifestyle choices to global environmental problems. The ecological footprint is only an empirical tool and in itself cannot change anything. It is a first step in a process of change and the political will and desire to change must be the driving force. Its great advantage over other sustainability indicators is that it is holistic and makes connections between different activities and impacts. However, the ecological footprint is based on assumptions as the ratios/equations calculated by others. In conclusion, the ecological footprint demonstrates that intelligent rationalisation of means and prudent moderation of ends is the only solution. By providing common ground, the ecological footprint builds bridges between different worldviews and amplifies the resonance between all disciplines working on sustainability.
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Flores, Panizo Maria Luisa. "Ecological footprint analysis for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region /." Hong Kong : University of Hong Kong, 2000. http://sunzi.lib.hku.hk/hkuto/record.jsp?B25438876.
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Pouder, Jessica Anne. "Using Human Footprint Models and Land-Cover Variability to Predict Ecological Processes." W&M ScholarWorks, 2014. https://scholarworks.wm.edu/etd/1539626953.
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Brownlie, Will. "Assessing the role of domestic phosphorus emissions in the human phosphorus footprint." Thesis, Heriot-Watt University, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10399/2782.
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Societal phosphorus (P) use is unsustainable; P is vital for food security and its increase in the ecosphere is the single greatest cause of water quality degradation on the planet. The following thesis focuses on the role domestic P emissions play in the human P cycle with an aim to support management in reducing the individual P footprint. Measurement of the P composition of private sewage system (PSS) effluent was used to assess domestic P emissions from properties located within the Loch Leven catchment, in East Scotland, UK. This thesis shows PSS treatment type (i.e. level of additional treatment further to a single settling tank) does not reduce effluent P concentration, challenging the efficacy of policies aiming to reduce P pollution from PSS by technological solutions. Using a questionnaire, assessment of domestic and PSS maintenance behaviours of 156 PSS users indicated reductions in P emissions may be achieved through behavioural change. To understand the impact of behaviour on the human P footprint, a novel method using 31P nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy was successfully developed to identify P compounds related to human behaviour (e.g. washing machine use) in PSS effluent. An assessment of the impact of behaviours on the human P footprint of ten individual households was conducted. Thesis findings conclude PSS desludging reduces concentrations of orthophosphate in PSS effluent; 85% of the variation in total soluble P in PSS effluent can be explained by ‘desludging frequency’ and ‘washing machine use’. Furthermore, PSS users feel responsible for correctly maintaining their PSS, but are potentially not maintaining them effectively or have poorly installed or inadequate systems, and do not know how to reduce domestic P emissions. A need for better public education on PSS maintenance and how to reduce domestic P emissions is required. This work highlights a critical need to integrate social sciences with natural sciences to tackle unsustainable P use.
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Flores, Panizo Maria Luisa. "Ecological footprint analysis for the Hong Kong Special AdministrativeRegion." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 2000. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B3125455X.
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Tack, Jason Duane. "SAGE-GROUSE AND THE HUMAN FOOTPRINT: IMPLICATIONS FOR CONSERVATION OF SMALL AND DECLINING POPULATIONS." The University of Montana, 2010. http://etd.lib.umt.edu/theses/available/etd-01072010-162544/.
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Implementing conservation in the face of unprecedented landscape change requires an understanding of processes and scales that limit wildlife populations. We assessed landscape-level processes influencing sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus), to a migratory population in the Milk River Basin (MRB), northeast Montana, USA, and south-central Saskatchewan, Canada. A regional analysis of leks (e.g., communal breeding sites) documented that populations impacted by the increasing extent of agricultural tillage, roads, and energy development out to spatial scales larger than previously known. Using bird abundance as a novel way to evaluate human impacts revealed relationships that would have been missed had we not incorporated lek size into analyses. For example, large leks are 4.5 times less likely to occur than small leks when agricultural tillage fragments 21% of land within 1.0km of breeding sites. Sage-grouse in the MRB met or exceeded demographic rates of stable or increasing populations, and thus, are not likely the cause for annual declines. Spring and summer survival of radio-marked females was higher in 2008 (0.91), than in 2007 (0.55), the year we documented an outbreak of West Nile virus. Nest sites in the MRB had lower shrub cover (15%) than range-wide estimates (15-56%), and overall shrub cover instead of sagebrush cover, was a better predictor of nest-site selection. Plains silver sagebrush (Artemesia cana cana) made up half of total shrub cover (7.1%) at nest sites, suggesting that other shrubs compensate for lower sagebrush densities in the MRB. We discovered the longest migratory event observed for sage-grouse, with females travelling 40km to120km from breeding to wintering areas in Wyoming big sagebrush (A. tridentata wyomingensis) habitats in Montana. Habitat may be sufficient to maintain a small population in the MRB, but its ability to persist through time and to buffer against stochasticity is depressed now that this once-large population has become small and isolated. For example, impacts of disease are compounded when acting on fewer individuals and working synergistically with fluctuations in growth rates. Consequently, conservation of sage-grouse in the MRB will depend on maintaining the current habitat base, and on restoring sagebrush-dominated grasslands currently occupied by agricultural tillage.
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Wada, Yoshihiko. "The myth of sustainable development, the ecological footprint of Japanese consumption." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 1999. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk1/tape7/PQDD_0015/NQ46441.pdf.
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Rojas, Cesar Alberto, and Cesar Alberto Rojas. "Sustainable Climate Response Connectors at The University of Arizona to Improve User Performance and Reduce Carbon Footprint." Thesis, The University of Arizona, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/625286.
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The University of Arizona Main Campus is located in the city of Tucson, Arizona. A place that confronts high air temperatures and extreme solar radiation almost all year around. Currently, more than 38,000 students are enrolled as full-time facing the extreme climate conditions of heat. Thousands of students walk from one place to another experiencing uncomfortable walks causing them heat stress.
Campus infrastructure is not capable to interact with the weather conditions of Tucson. The lack of shaded paths, materials with high emissivity of heat, nonnative vegetation, among other factors, make the walks unpleasant. This challenge affects people's health and consecutively the performance of cooling systems once the people enter to buildings overheated.
Outdoor human thermal comfort in arid and desert areas is a relevant topic that carries implications and benefits on people and buildings performance. The amount and intensity of activities within individuals affects the level of comfort.
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Sköld, Bore. "Estimating Carbon Footprint : A quantitative analysis of greenhouse gas emission related to human behavior and diet in Västerbotten." Thesis, Umeå universitet, Epidemiologi och global hälsa, 2015. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-111972.
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Background and objective: Researchers have been looking for a way to predict future emission rates, and come up with explanations on how to tackle the issue of global warming through changes in individual behavior for decades. The focus of these studies have, on the other hand, focused more on nutritional bases rather than cultural. This study’s objective is to provide a method, as a useful tool in further analysis on GHG-emission based on cultural behavioral factors such as socio-economic status as well as age, sex, etc. with diet as emission prediction factor. This could be a stepping stone toward future research on Co2e related to e.g. physiological factors such as BMI, blood pressure and diseases. Method: With the use of data obtained from the FFQ questionnaire within the VIP-program, combined with estimates of greenhouse gas-emission (Co2e) attributed to specific diets obtained from Röös, estimations of individual Co2e emission-levels were calculated using the software “R”. The dataset contained 159 687 observations and 152 different variables. The data was obtained from the Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine at Umeå University. Portions sizes were mainly collected from the Swedish Food Composition Database. Box-plots and regression analysis were made to illustrate the main findings. Result: The result was a new dataset that could be applied to any population to estimate Co2e-emission on individual level based on an FFQ, given that the FFQ have the same structure as the one in the VIP. The variables that contributed to the highest amount of Co2e were animal products i.e. butter, milk and meat. Chicken, pork and fish were not nearly as Co2e heavy as the meat products containing beef such as “steak”, “minced meat” and “hamburgers”. The regression analysis showed that higher age had a positive effect on reducing emission, as well as being a woman. Education showed an increase in Co2e for higher education. There were some small differences among municipalities. Marital status gave a slight decrease in the regression, meaning married couples emits more than singles. Exercise showed an increase in Co2e for active individuals in the regression analysis. However, the most noticeable result were sex, yielding a relatively big decrease in Co2e-emission for women compared to men. Conclusion: People at younger ages, within the observed age groups 40-60, seemed to reduce their carbon footprint more in relation to the higher age groups over the last 20 years. Overall, the general diet-based carbon footprint in Västerbotten seems to have increased slightly during the last 17 years. A remarkable dip were noticed in 2003, however this might not have been due to any behavioral changes, since the trend broke in 2006 and instantly receded back to the normal levels. This study confirms the fact that meat and dairy products are responsible for a significant amount of the diet-based emission. This topic needs to be studied more, and with this method of applying GHG-emission measures to individual diet-based data, a gate has been opened for a new field of research.
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Girardin, Fabien. "Aspects of implicit and explicit human interactions with ubiquitous geographic information." Doctoral thesis, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10803/7561.
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El uso creciente de dispositivos móviles, infraestructuras inalámbricas e Internet está cambiando nuestra vida diaria, no solo la manera en que nos comunicamos o compartimos información, sino también cómo nos relacionamos con el entorno. A través de nuestras interacciones con estas tecnologías, accedemos y generamos una membrana de información que se cierne sobre los espacios donde vivimos y que visitamos. Sin embargo, esta capa de información solo modela de manera imperfecta la realidad debido a una digitalización tosca y a limitaciones tecnológicas, que hacen peligrar la interacción humana. Por otro lado, la presencia de esta información geográfica ubicua generada por los usuarios abre nuevas perspectivas para la comprensión de las actividades humanas en el espacio y el tiempo. Esta tesis acepta el reto de investigar estos aspectos de las interacciones humanas con la información geográfica ubicua. Con un enfoque cualitativo y cuantitativo, discernimos las implicaciones de la integración de información geográfica ubicua y las resultantes estrategias de los usuarios para hacer frente a la incertidumbre espacial. Entonces, explotamos esta contribución para analizar enfoques novedosos con el objetivo de inferir actividades espacio-temporales de individuos y grupos respetando su privacidad. Demostramos la aplicabilidad de nuestras soluciones en los ámbitos de la investigación de mercados y el urbanismo.The increasing use of mobile devices, wireless infrastructures, and the Internet is changing our daily lives, not only in the way we communicate with each other or share information but also how we relate to the environment. Through our interactions with these technologies we access and generate an informational membrane, hovering over the spaces we live in and visit. However, this information layer only imperfectly models the reality due to coarse digitization and technological limitations, challenging the human interaction. On the other hand, the presence of this user-generated ubiquitous geographic information opens novel perspectives in understanding human activities over space and time. This thesis takes on the challenge of exploring these aspects of human interactions with ubiquitous geographic information. Through qualitative lenses, we discern the implications of the integration of ubiquitous geographic information and the resulting users strategies to cope with spatial uncertainty. Then, we exploit this contribution to explore novel approaches to infer individuals and groups time-space activities with respect to their privacy. We demonstrate the applicability of our solutions in the domains of market research and urbanism.
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Peron, Darci. "Das glebas aos continentes: um diálogo sobre indicadores socioambientais." Universidade Federal de São Carlos, 2010. https://repositorio.ufscar.br/handle/ufscar/1679.
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Previous issue date: 2010-04-22This study has been carried out in a rural settlement of the Agrarian Reform National Institute Wesly Manoel dos Santos, also known as Gleba Mercedes V, located in the municipal district of Sinop, Mato Grosso. It involves elements for the analysis of Human Welfare of people settled there, through three socio-environmental indicators: the Ecological Footprint, the Human Development Index and the Happiness Index. Based on the case study methodology, this research triangulates quantitative and qualitative data and it uses the following methods: 1- the Ecological Footprint Method through the variables: water consumption, power, fuel and wastes generation; 2- the Happy Planet Index Method, which relates Happiness to the Ecological Footprint, in which the program: Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) has been used, in order to systematize the gathered data; and 3- Method adopted by PNUD to check the Human Development Index, through the variables of longevity, education and health. Through these collected data and the figures found for the three magnitudes: Ecological Footprint, Happiness Index and Human Development Index, we have examined the impacts brought about by the activities put into practice by the inhabitants of that community in the natural environment, life pattern of the inhabitants and their happiness, trying to assess the human welfare condition of the community dwellers, aiming to evaluate the sustainability degree of the referred settlement. Using a previously structured questionnaire we could assess the satisfaction level towards life, which is 5.62 (in a 0 to 10 scale). Based on the Happy Planet Index Method, through the relationship between the local Ecological Footprint and the satisfaction level, we have calculated the Happiness Index of 0.68 (in a 0 to 10 scale). Both the quantitative and the qualitative data have been gathered between January to December, 2008. After the analysis of the results of the Ecological Footprint: 0.433 gha/per capita and the Biocapacity: 6.34 gha/per capita, the settlement can be considered ecologically sustainable and we can say it presents a confirmed ecological superavit.
Este estudo foi realizado num assentamento do Instituto Nacional de Reforma Agrária Wesly Manoel dos Santos, conhecida como Gleba Mercedes V, localizado no município de Sinop, Mato Grosso, envolvendo elementos para análise do Bem-estar Humano dos assentados através de três indicadores socioambientais: Pegada Ecológica (PE), Índice de Desenvolvimento Humano (IDH) e Índice de Felicidade (IF). Com base na metodologia de estudo de caso esta pesquisa triangula dados quantitativos e qualitativos, e vale-se dos métodos: 1) Ecological Footprint Method através das variáveis: consumo de água, energia, combustíveis e geração de resíduos; 2) Método do Índice de Planeta Feliz que relaciona a Felicidade com a Pegada Ecológica, onde usamos o programa Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) para sistematização dos dados coletados; e 3) Método adotado pelo PNUD para se chegar ao IDH através das variáveis de longevidade, educação e saúde. Através dos dados coletados e dos valores encontrados para as três grandezas, PE, IF e IDH, examinamos os impactos causados pelas atividades exercidas pelos habitantes da comunidade no ambiente natural, o padrão de vida de seus habitantes a Felicidade dos mesmos de forma a avaliar a condição de bem-estar humano dos moradores da comunidade . Foram levantados dados históricos, socioeconômicos e ambientais da comunidade, com o objetivo de avaliar o grau de sustentabilidade do assentamento. Através de questionário previamente estruturado foi avaliado o nível de satisfação com a vida que é de 5,62 (numa escala de 0 a 10). Com base no método do Índice de Planeta Feliz, através da relação entre a Pegada Ecológica local e do Nível de Satisfação, foi calculado o IF para os moradores da comunidade que apresenta valores de 64,8 (numa escala de 0 a 100). O IDH do assentamento é de 0,68 (numa escala de 0 a 10). Os dados quantitativos e qualitativos foram coletados entre os meses de janeiro a dezembro de 2008. Através da análise dos resultados da Pegada Ecológica que é de 0,433 gha/per capita e da Biocapacidade, que é de 6,34 gha/ per capita, pode ser considerado que o assentamento apresenta superávit ecológico confirmando que é sustentável ecologicamente.
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Kleinrichert, Denise. "Responsibility and practice in notions of corporate social responsibility." [Tampa, Fla] : University of South Florida, 2007. http://purl.fcla.edu/usf/dc/et/SFE0001893.
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Lootvoet, Amélie. "Le rôle du comportement dans la vulnérabilité aux pressions anthropiques et à l'extinction chez les Primates." Thesis, Paris, AgroParisTech, 2014. http://www.theses.fr/2014AGPT0080.
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Depuis quelques dizaines d’années, un intérêt croissant s’est développé pour la protection des espèces et la compréhension des mécanismes qui les conduisent à l’extinction. Actuellement, les causes d’extinction sont pour la grande majorité d’origine anthropique, mais un certain nombre de facteurs intrinsèques, propres à chaque espèce, peuvent interagir avec ces pressions anthropiques, pour aboutir au risque d’extinction. De nombreuses études ont mis en évidence l’impact des traits d’histoires de vie et des caractéristiques écologiques dans la vulnérabilité des espèces à l’extinction, mais très peu se sont penchées sur le rôle du comportement. Or, de par leur nature, tout un ensemble de comportements pourraient constituer des facteurs de vulnérabilité intrinsèques chez les espèces, que ce soit au niveau du risque d’extinction, ou au niveau des principales pressions anthropiques qui existent actuellement. Le but de cette thèse est de déterminer l’impact des caractéristiques du système social et de l’intensité de la sélection sexuelle dans la vulnérabilité des espèces de Primates i) aux principales pressions anthropiques (i.e. chasse, exploitation forestière et agriculture), à un niveau local, en portant une attention spécial au rôle d’infanticide dans la vulnérabilité à la chasse et ii) au risque d’extinction tel que décrit par l’UICN, au niveau global. Ce dernier point nous a amenés à analyser plus spécifiquement l’impact de l’hétérogénéité de l’empreinte humaine dans le risque d’extinction. Toutes nos études reposent sur une approche d’analyses comparatives. Nos différents travaux ont permis de mettre en évidence des effets du comportement à aux différentes échelles spatiales et pour les deux niveaux de vulnérabilité, mais avec des différences dans la nature des variables comportementales impliquées. Nous avons identifié des effets de la taille moyenne des groupes et du système socio-reproducteur dans la vulnérabilité à l’exploitation forestière, mais pas pour les autres menaces testées. De plus, ces effets ont été retrouvés au niveau du risque d’extinction, mais dans des sens différents. Ainsi, les mécanismes impliqués dans la vulnérabilité des espèces diffèrent selon le type de vulnérabilité étudié, faisant intervenir différents effets AlleeImproving species protection and better understanding the mechanisms leading to population decline and ultime extinction has become a major research area over the last decades. Nowadays, the causes of extinction are mostly anthropogenic, but some intrinsic factors, specific to each species, can interact with these anthropogenic pressures to determine the extinction risk. Many studies have highlighted the impact of life history traits and ecological characteristics on species vulnerability to extinction, but very few have investigated the role of behaviour. Because of the mechanisms they imply, several behaviours could constitute intrinsic factors of vulnerability among species, at the level of extinction risk, or concerning the main anthropogenic pressures threatening species. The aim of this thesis is to determine the impact of the social system and sexual selection on primate vulnerability i) to the main anthropogenic threats (i.e. hunting, logging and agriculture) and, particularly, the role of infanticide on their vulnerability to hunting, and ii) to the extinction risk as described by the IUCN conservation status. This point has lead us to examine also the impact of human footprint heterogeneity on extinction risk. All our studies are based on a comparative analysis approach. Our different works highlighted several impacts of behavioural variables at the two spatial scales and for the two levels of vulnerability, but with differences in the nature of the behavioural variables. We identified significant effects of the average group size and the socio-reproductive system in species vulnerability to logging, but not in species vulnerability to the other threats. Moreover, these effects have also been found at the level of the extinction risk, but in different ways. Thus, the mechanisms implicated in the vulnerability are different according to the type of vulnerability, and rely on several Allee effects
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Cerovic, Lazar. "Identifying Resilience Against Social Engineering Attacks." Thesis, KTH, Skolan för elektroteknik och datavetenskap (EECS), 2020. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-280131.
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Social engineering (SE) attacks are one of the most common cyber attacks and frauds, which causes a large economical destruction to individuals, companies and governments alike. The attacks are hard to protect from, since SE-attacks is based on exploiting human weaknesses. The goal of this study is to identify indicators of resilience against SE-attacks from individual computer space data, such as network settings, social media profiles, web browsing behaviour and more. This study is based on qualitative methods to collect information, analyse and evaluate data. Resilience is evaluated with models such as theory of planned behaviour and the big five personality traits, as well as personal and demographic information. Indicators of resilience were found in network settings such as service set identifiers (SSID) and routers, web history, social media use and more. The framework developed in this study could be expanded with more aspect of individual data and different evaluation criteria. Further studies can be done about this subject with tools such as artificial intelligence and machine learning.Sociala manipulationer är bland de vanligaste cyber attackerna och bedrägerierna som orsakar enorma ekonomiska skador varje år för individer, företag och myndigheter. Dessa attacker är svåra att skydda ifrån då sociala manipulationer utnyttjar mänskliga svagheter som ett medel till att stjäla pengar eller information. Målet med studien är att identifiera indikatorer av motstånd mot sociala manipulationsattacker, vilket ska göras med hjälp av individuell data, som kan bestå av nätverksinställningar, sociala medieprofiler, webbaktivitet bland annat. Denna studie är baserat på kvalitativa metoder för att samla, analysera och utvärdera data. Motstånd mot social manipulation utvärderas med hjälp av relevanta teorier och modeller som har med beteende och personligheter att göra, sedan används även personlig och demografisk information i utvärderingen. De indikatorer som identifierades var bland annat inställningar i routrar, webbhistorik och social medianvändning. Det teoretiska ramverket som utvecklades för att utvärdera motstånd mot sociala manipulationsattacker kan utökas med fler aspekter av individuell data. Viktiga samhällshändelser och sammanhang kan vara en intressant faktor som är relaterat till ämnet. Framtida studier skulle kunna kombinera detta ramverk med tekniker som maskinlärning och artificiell intelligens.
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Winther, Anne M. "Survive or thrive : creating options for sustainable communities in rural Scotland." Thesis, University of Stirling, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/1893/21186.
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Environmental and socio-economic crises are creating compelling needs for radical social change. This project investigated the options and barriers for three Scottish rural communities (Fintry, Killin and Kinlochleven) to become sustainable and thrive in a future resource-constrained world. A unique, holistic and mixed methods approach was used to assess baseline sustainability, envision and model futures and develop possible options for sustainability. Central to this investigation was the development of a strong and holistic model of a sustainable community: the sustainable community design (SCD). This framework shaped the assessment of each community’s baseline sustainability. Sustainability was measured for the ten aspects of the SCD using a scorecard approach with a basket of indicators populated by primary data (collected in a household survey) and secondary data (national statistics). Sustainable consumption was analysed using the Resources and Energy Analysis Programme (REAP) to generate each community’s ecological footprint (EF) and results were compared to current estimates of per capita world biocapacity to gauge sustainability. Even the most sustainable community was only sustainable in three out of ten of the SCD’s aspects and this community had the highest EF. Although the most deprived community had the lowest EF, it was unsustainable in all ten SCD aspects. The results reflected the heterogeneity of rural communities and complexity of sustainability measurement. The SCD scorecard approach for sustainability measurement was shown to be sensitive and robust and can be applied to rural communities across Scotland. Future visions were created in focus groups, in which participants were asked to envision what their community would need to thrive in 2030 under the scenario of peak oil and a low carbon economy. Vision ideas and examples of best practice and technological innovation were used to create narrative scenarios for modelling transport, food and energy futures. The scenarios’ EFs were calculated in REAP for three discrete levels of change: a marginal change, a step change and radical transformation. The results suggested that radical transformation is required for communities to become sustainable. Key features are likely to be re-localised and highly co-operative societies, which utilise technological innovations (such as electric cars powered by renewable energy) and share resources to maximise opportunities for living in rural areas. A community’s transformation is likely to be bespoke and require local control, requiring changes to governance and supportive policy. Key barriers identified were availability of affordable technological innovations, energy injustice, power to achieve self-determination, community governance, property rights and sustainability literacy. A process model, incorporating the SCD scorecard approach, was proposed for furthering sustainable community development and research. In taking an interdisciplinary and mixed methods approach, this study has pioneered a novel approach to the holistic enquiry of the options for creating sustainable rural communities.
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SENNA, MARY L. G. S. de. "A aplicabilidade do índice de qualidade de vida, da pegada ecológica do turismo e dos indicadores de sustentabilidade da Organização das Nações Unidas para destinos turísticos de pequeno porte: um estudo de caso no Jalapão/TO." reponame:Repositório Institucional do IPEN, 2016. http://repositorio.ipen.br:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/26816.
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Neste trabalho buscou-se conhecer as perspectivas de sustentabilidade socioambiental no contexto do desenvolvimento do turismo na cidade de Mateiros/Tocantins. Para tanto, foi avaliada a aplicabilidade em destino de pequeno porte dos indicadores de sustentabilidade: Índice de Qualidade de Vida (IQV), Indicadores de Sustentabilidade da Organização das Nações Unidas (ONU) e Pegada Ecológica do Turismo. Percebeu-se que houve um incremento no IQV da cidade de Mateiros de 32,82% após o estabelecimento do turismo, com destaque para as famílias que atuam na produção das peças de artesanato de capim dourado. A mudança, de 0,162 para 0,215, indica que apesar de ter havido uma elevação na qualidade de vida das famílias entrevistadas, o IQV permaneceu baixo, isto é, com valores entre zero e 0,499. Tal fato demonstra que a qualidade de vida das famílias não é satisfatória. Quanto à ferramenta da ONU, percebeu-se que não há sistematização de dados suficientes para que esta ferramenta possa ser utilizada pelos órgãos governamentais na captação de recursos e utilização destes para criar novas políticas públicas para a região. Tal fato demonstra uma ineficácia em destinos de pequeno porte que se assemelhem à cidade de Mateiros na forma em que foi utilizado nesse trabalho. Quanto à Pegada Ecológica do Turismo, de acordo com a metodologia proposta, são necessários 2.194,2263 hectares de terras para absorver o CO2 demandado pela atividade turística na região. A categoria com maior impacto foi terras de energia fóssil na subcategoria transporte terrestre. Conclui-se, então, que os indicadores de sustentabilidade Pegada Ecológica do Turismo e Índice de Qualidade de Vida mostraram-se ferramentas eficazes para se avaliar as perspectivas de sustentabilidade de destinos de pequeno porte.
Tese (Doutorado em Tecnologia Nuclear)
IPEN/T
Instituto de Pesquisas Energeticas e Nucleares - IPEN-CNEN/SP
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Moriniere, Lezlie C. "A Well-Founded Fear? Tracing the Footprints of Environmentally Influenced Human Mobility." Diss., The University of Arizona, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/145714.
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Humans have fled environmental degradation for many millennia. Due partially to climate change, environments across the world have often degraded to the point that they can no longer securely sustain livelihoods. Entire communities and households have been displaced by extreme, rapid or creeping disasters; during their flight, they have left footprints across the globe that merit tracing. Sometimes this mobility is forced and at other times it is purely voluntary; for both, the mobility has roots in a changing environment. The footprint of environmentally influenced mobility (EIM) was traced through a series of three independent but related studies. The first study gained foundational perspective through an exploration of connections between climate drivers and natural and human impacts of climate change. This inquiry sought to answer the question, "How important is human mobility in the greater scheme of changing environments and changing climate?" Human mobility was one among 15 different climate drivers and impacts studied; the connections between all of them were examined to enable a quantitative comparison of system susceptibility, driving force, tight coupling and complexity. While degradation was the most complex of all natural elements, mobility surfaced as the human system element exerting the greatest forcing on other elements within the coupled system. The next study focused only on human mobility to explore how scholarly literature portrayed the two possible directions of the link between mobility and degrading environments--with a particular focus on urbanization as one manifestation of the phenomenon. Type A links, in which human mobility triggers environmental degradation, are portrayed in the literature as often as Type B links, in which degrading environments trigger human mobility. Surprisingly, science has not lent support to urbanization being a result of environmental change; plausible reasons for this are discussed. The final study canvassed expert opinion to examine why no scientific, humanitarian or governmental entity has succeeded in providing systematic support (e.g.., policy and interventions) to populations enduring environmentally influenced mobility. Four very different discourses emerged: Determined Humanists, Benevolent Pragmatists, Cynical Protectionists and Critical Realists. The complexity these discourses manifest help explain the inaction--a stalemate between actors--while confirming the inappropriateness of one-sided terminology and linear quantifications of environmentally influenced mobility. The results of these three studies demonstrate that human mobility has unequivocally destructive force that can trigger non-linear effects, potentially casting the coupled system into an unprecedented state; that the visible lack of scholarly exploration of environmentally influenced urbanization (EIU) can be partially explained by high system complexity and disciplinary research; and most important, that despite diametrically opposed viewpoints, experts unanimously agree that human mobility has strong connections to environmental change. Together, the results merge to confirm a "well-founded fear" on the part of those who dwell in degrading environments, and to highlight a pressing need to offer solutions both to those who remain in such environments as well as a name and protected status to those who flee them.
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Odabachian, Araxi Urrutia. "Bioinformatic analysis of characteristics and structure of the human genome : tracking the footprints of natural selection mediated by gene expression." Thesis, University of Bath, 2003. https://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.437443.
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Bibri, Mohamed. "Sustaining ICT for Sustainability : Towards Mainstreaming De–carbonization–oriented Design & Enabling the Energy–Efficient, Low Carbon Economy." Thesis, Blekinge Tekniska Högskola, Sektionen för datavetenskap och kommunikation, 2009. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:bth-5936.
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The study set out to understand and demonstrate the role the ICT sector could play as a critical enabler in the transition and progress towards an energy– efficient, low carbon economy. More specifically, the study of sustaining ICT for sustainability has twofold intent: (2) to investigate the direct footprint of ICT sector and explore how it can be tackled through adopting sustainable design–based solutions; and (2) to highlight the enabling potential of ICT sector to mitigate climate change and massively improve energy efficiency across the economy, identifying and quantifying the global ICT impacts and opportunities in the context of energy and carbon emissions savings. To achieve the aim of this study, a pertinent and extensive literature review covering theoretical, empirical, and critical scholarship was performed to investigate the phenomenon. The study draws on a variety of sources to survey the unsustainability of ICT sector pertaining to energy–intensive consumption and explore potential solutions through espousing environmental design practice, and also to examine the role of ICT in delivering energy–efficient solutions through its products and services. Validity was ensured through using quality academic and industry literature as well as relevant studies carried out by a range of eminent researchers, experts, and stakeholders (i.e. NGOs, research centers). Findings highlight the unsustainability of ICT sector regarding energy– intensive consumption and concomitant GHG emissions associated with its products and services. Of the whole lifecycle, the use phase of ICT is the most critical. Data centers and telecom networks devour energy. Planned obsolescence entrenched in software design shorten upgrade cycle, which makes software utilities a planet killer as to energy consumption. Alternative sustainable design–based solutions entail using renewable energy and most efficient energy required over ICT’s life cycle – de–carbonization strategy. Also, digitization is an effective strategy for ICT sector to slash energy use per unit. To reduce the footprint of data centers and telecom networks, design solutions vary from hardware and software to technological improvements. Designing out built–in obsolescence in software technology is a key factor in the energy equation. As for the enabling role of ICT, the findings are highly illuminating. The ICT sector must step up its efforts in reducing its direct footprint in order to claim a leadership role in an energy–efficient, low carbon economy. Although the ICT sector’s own emissions will increase because of global growing demand for its products and services, the real gains will come from its enabling potential to yield substantial energy efficiency improvements and emissions reductions across the economy. The sheer scale of the climate change challenge presents smart development mitigation opportunities for ICT sector to deliver environmentally sustainable solutions. The largest identified opportunities are: dematerialization; intelligent transport and logistics; intelligent buildings; smart power supply; and efficient industrial processes and systems. This study provides a novel approach into sustainable design in ICT, underlining unsustainable design practices in ICT sector. Review of the literature makes an advance on extant reviews by highlighting the synergic relationship between ICT design, sustainability, and the economy.+46 704 35 21 35
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Brandišauskas, Donatas. "Leaving footprints in the Taiga enacted and emplaced power and luck among the Orochen-Evenki of the Zabaikal Region in East Siberia /." Thesis, Available from the University of Aberdeen Library and Historic Collections Digital Resources, 2009. http://digitool.abdn.ac.uk:80/webclient/DeliveryManager?application=DIGITOOL-3&owner=resourcediscovery&custom_att_2=simple_viewer&pid=33537.
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Fujii, Ricardo Junqueira. "Sustentabilidade energética: uma análise do equilíbrio econômico, humano e natural." Universidade de São Paulo, 2015. http://www.teses.usp.br/teses/disponiveis/3/3143/tde-18122015-113716/.
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O desenvolvimento sustentável e a própria sobrevivência da humanidade dependem da compatibilização da demanda por recursos energéticos com as limitações ambientais e necessidades humanas. Dessa maneira, torna-se fundamental compreender e mensurar a sustentabilidade energética. Para tanto, esse trabalho vale-se de princípios da economia ecológica e do planejamento integrado de recursos para identificar e analisar os fatores que afetam a sustentabilidade energética de um dado sistema. A partir desses fatores são definidos indicadores de sustentabilidade, os quais compõem uma metodologia concebida para avaliar o grau de sustentabilidade da produção de energia. Tal metodologia é testada em um estudo de caso da matriz elétrica paulista, a qual mostrou um nível próximo da sustentabilidade, mas com a necessidade de aprimoramentos. Por fim, são feitas reflexões sobre a robustez, a flexibilidade e as limitações da metodologia proposta, assim como recomendações para ajustes da composição da matriz estudada com o propósito de torná-la mais sustentável.Sustainable development and the very survival of humanity depends on the compatibility of the demand for energy resources with environmental constraints and human needs. Thus, it is essential to understand and define metrics for energy sustainability. For that reason, this work draws on principles of ecological economics and integrated resource planning to identify and analyze the factors affecting energy sustainability of a given system. From these factors are defined sustainability indicators, which are the foundations for a methodology designed to assess the degree of sustainability of energy production. The methodology is tested on a case study of the electricity matrix of the State of Sao Paulo, which is close to a sustainable level even though requiring improvements in some aspects. Finally, reflections on the sturdiness, flexibility and limitations of the proposed methodology, as well as recommendations for adjustments in the composition of the case study matrix in order to make it more sustainable are made.
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Sun, Lin. "Enabling pervasive applications by understanding individual and community behaviors." Phd thesis, Institut National des Télécommunications, 2012. http://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00814604.
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The digital footprints collected from the prevailing sensing systems provide novel ways to perceive an individual's behaviors. Furthermore, large collections of digital footprints from communities bring novel understandings of human behaviors from the community perspective (community behaviors), such as investigating their characteristics and learning the hidden human intelligence. The perception of human behaviors from the sensing digital footprints enables novel applications for the sensing systems. Bases on the digital footprints collected with accelerometer-embedded mobile phones and GPS equipped taxis, in this dissertation we present our work in recognizing individual behaviors, capturing community behaviors and demonstrating the novel services enabled. With the GPS footprints of a taxi, we summarize the individual anomalous passenger delivery behaviors and improve the recognition efficiency of the existing method iBOAT by introducing an inverted index mechanism. Besides, based on the observations in real life, we propose a method to detect the work-shifting events of an individual taxi. With real-life large-scale GPS traces of thousands of taxis, we investigate the anomalous passenger delivery behaviors and work shifting behaviors from the community perspective and exploit taxi serving strategies. We find that most anomaly behaviors are intentional detours and high detour inclination won't make taxis the top players. And the spatial-temporal distribution of work shifting events in the taxi community reveals their influences. While exploiting taxi serving strategies, we propose a novel method to find the initial intentions in passenger finding. Furthermore, we present a smart taxi system as an example to demonstrate the novel applications that are enabled by the perceived individual and community behaviors
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Prohaska, Sonja J., Claudia Fried, Chris T. Amemiya, Frank H. Ruddle, Günter P. Wagner, and Peter F. Stadler. "The Shark HoxN Cluster is Homologous to the Human HoxD Cluster." 2004. https://ul.qucosa.de/id/qucosa%3A31998.
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The statistical analysis of phylogenetic footprints in the two known horn shark Hox clusters and the four mammalian clusters shows that the shark HoxN cluster is HoxD-like. This finding implies that the most recent common ancestor of jawed vertebrates had at least four Hox clusters, including those which are orthologous to the four mammalian Hox clusters.
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Toews, Mary. "Managing human footprint with respect to its effects on large mammals: implications of spatial scale, divergent responses and ecological thresholds." Thesis, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/1828/7586.
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The environmental problems facing the world today are largely attributable to anthropogenic activities and landscape change. Addressing these challenges in an evidence-based way requires an understanding of precisely how species and ecosystems are responding to human impacts. Discerning linkages between stressors and their ecological repercussions, and using this to inform conservation, can be challenging due to the complexity and uncertainty of ecological research. I focused on the responses of five wide-ranging large mammal species – gray wolf (Canis lupus), Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis), coyote (Canis latrans), white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) and moose (Alces alces) – to human footprint (measure of human infrastructure and landscape change), using 12 years (2001-2013) of snowtrack surveys conducted across the boreal forest of Alberta. I explored three key challenges to discerning the linkages between ecological dynamics and management actions. First, I asked whether the direction and magnitude of species responses vary depending on the spatial extent and grain of the study. Second, I asked whether these species respond more strongly to individual footprint features or to the cumulative effects of footprint (measured as total footprint), and whether responses to footprint are consistent across species. Third, I evaluated the utility of thresholds for large mammal management and asked whether there is evidence for consistent threshold responses to total footprint across scales. In addressing the first two questions, I evaluated a set of generalized linear mixed effects models (GLMM) relating the relative abundance of each species to individual and cumulative effects of human footprint, using an information-theoretic approach. I compared the direction of species responses across our regional study area (approximately 400,000 km2) to those reported in previous smaller-extent studies (median 1,525 km2), and compared responses across three spatial grains (250m, 1500m, and 5000m transect buffers). In addressing the third question, I conducted a review on the utility of ecological thresholds, described as abrupt changes in the response to a continuous driver, for large mammal management. I further tested for thresholds in species responses to total footprint by comparing linear models (logistic regression) to piecewise regression models. I compared threshold values between two grains (approximately 33km2 - 1500m transect buffer, and 5500km2 - grouping transects into clusters), and across four regions (boreal forest extent, three landscape planning units). I found that the direction of species responses varied with spatial extent, but not grain, and that species responded strongly to a broad suite of footprint features, indicating the need to manage for cumulative effects. Despite the appeal of ecological thresholds, using these as targets is challenging and the success of doing so has rarely been evaluated. I found threshold models to be better supported than linear ones across species, but due to variability and uncertainty in threshold values, the results are more suited as guidelines or hypotheses to be further tested, as opposed to specific management targets. Translating research on complex ecological systems into management actions is a continuing challenge, yet, ongoing biodiversity monitoring and adaptive management may refine our existing tools, and ultimately lead to better environmental stewardship.Graduate
2017-09-05
0329
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Meyer, Verena 1965. "The ecological footprint as an environmental education tool for knowledge, attitude and behaviour changes towards sustainable living: a case study." Diss., 2004. http://hdl.handle.net/10500/2248.
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The investigation used the Ecological Footprint as an educational tool to assist Environmental Management and Water Care learners at Technikon Northern Gauteng, Soshanguve learners in gaining insight in their consumption of natural renewable and non-renewable resources and generation of wastes. In addition, it also aimed to assist them in understanding the ecological impacts of their behavior on the available international and national productive land and thus on planet earth.
The results of the investigation indicated a significant decrease in the post-test questionnaire knowledge, attitude, and behaviour scores of the learner group. The implication however was clear; the Ecological Footprint did not directly have an effect on the attitude and behaviour of the learners but indirectly influenced the knowledge base of the learners, which then should have an impact on their attitude and behaviour over time.
The Ecological Footprint could thus be an educational tool that could be incorporated into the curricula of the two academic programs at TNG, viz Water Care and Environmental Management for increasing knowledge and improving the attitude and behaviour of learners towards a more sustainable lifestyle.Educational Studies
M.Ed.(Environmental Education)
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Taggart-Hodge, Tanya. "A century of landscape-level changes in the Bow watershed, Alberta, Canada, and implications for flood management." Thesis, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/1828/7655.
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This study used a comparison of one hundred and forty-eight historical (1888-1913) and current (2008-2014) oblique photographs from thirty-two stations to identify land cover changes that have occurred in portions of the Bow and Elbow valleys as well as surrounding Kananaskis Country region. Implications of these changes for flooding and flood management were explored. Forest cover was found to have drastically increased over the past century, particularly in the Bow valley, as did areas of direct human development. In the same time period, grasslands increased in the Elbow valley but decreased in the Bow, while regenerating areas decreased uniformly throughout both valleys. An analysis of pre (2008)-and-post (2014) flood conditions demonstrated no change in coniferous forest cover in both valleys over the 6-year period, but uncovered a decline of 20% in the Elbow and 3% in the Bow in the broadleaf/mixedwood category. The Elbow’s channel zone was larger in 2014 compared to 2008, whereas the extent of the Bow’s channel zone remained constant. However, both the Bow and Elbow’s bare exposed bars increased substantially, most likely as a result of the 2013 flood. The major source of water flows that contributed to the 2013 flood event originated in high elevation rock and scree areas, which, unlike floodplains, are elements of the watershed that cannot be manipulated over time. It is now recognized that forest cover should act as a buffer to floods. Nevertheless, the 2013 flood event occurred despite the massive buffering effect of a huge increase in older forest stands across the study area. The final discussion includes recommendations for improving flood management in the area.Graduate
0329, 0768, 0478
tanya.taggarthodge@gmail.com
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Farcas, Ruxandra Denisa [Verfasser]. "Comparative DNA sequence and methylation analyses of orthologous genes in humans and non-human primates : genetic and epigenetic footprints of evolution / Ruxandra Denisa Farcas." 2009. http://d-nb.info/995298653/34.
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Girvan, Anita. "Tracing Carbon Footprints: Sensing with Metaphor in the Cultural Politics of Climate Change." Thesis, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/1828/6118.
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The carbon footprint metaphor has achieved a ubiquitous presence in Anglo-North American public contexts since the turn of the millennium, yet this metaphor remains under-examined as a crucial mediator of political responses to climate change. While the assumption is that this metaphor orients people toward mitigation efforts that address this urgent crisis, close attention to its many figurations suggests a complex range of possible orientations. Using a discursive analysis of instances of this metaphor in popular and public texts, and mobilizing an interdisciplinary array of literatures including theories of metaphor, political theories of affect, and cultural politics of climate change, this dissertation asks: “what are the promises and risks of the carbon footprint metaphor?” Given the histories that have shaped the appearance of climate change as a public matter of concern to be governed, the carbon footprint metaphor in many instances risks marketized approaches, such as offsets which allow business-as-usual trajectories of worsening carbon emissions. Yet, certain other instances of this metaphor promise to disturb such approaches. The promising disturbances to marketized and instrumental approaches through this metaphor emerge as a result of larger-than-human actors who come to challenge given accounts of the footprint. In these instances, the carbon footprint metaphor suggests that dominant anthropocentric responses to climate change are inherently flawed because they miss out on wider political ecologies. Here, the metaphor itself as a suspension to the representational logic of (human) language offers a key political opening to actors not yet accounted for. For those seriously interested in tackling the climate change issue, critical attention to the risky and promising attachments of carbon footprint metaphors marks a key intervention.Graduate
agirvan@uvic.ca