Sustainable Development Goal 11 (SDG 11) focuses on making cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable. Although the goal primarily addresses urban development, its principles also extend to rural areas, but the extent to which South Africa’s legal and policy frameworks empower traditional authorities to contribute to the development of their communities, particularly towards achieving SDG11, remains insufficiently explored. This study investigates how South Africa’s national legislative frameworks on traditional leadership have been applied to support the advancement of SDG 11. It examines the legal provisions within the 1996 Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, and relevant legislation to determine whether these frameworks provide a strong legal basis for promoting SDG 11 through the empowerment of traditional leadership. This study employs a desktop research methodology involving a comprehensive review of relevant laws, policies, and case law. Secondary data were gathered from case studies, journal articles, books, case laws, and credible internet sources. The findings suggest that the traditional authority system is deeply embedded within the South African Constitution, as well as legislative and policy frameworks, and has been effectively leveraged to advance SDG 11. Key insights emphasise the constitutional and legal recognition of traditional authorities and highlight the enforcement of traditional leadership roles and functions through various legal cases, and SDG 11-aligned programmes in South Africa. The areas where the role and functions of traditional leadership intersect with SDG 11 and rural development include security and safety, community participation, land management and sustainable settlements, cultural heritage and community identity, disaster management, and environmental stewardship. The empowerment of traditional leadership in South Africa has significant implications for achieving SDG 11 and rural development. These implications include enhanced local governance and service delivery, increased accountability and transparency, balanced rural-urban linkages, promotion of environmental stewardship, and the fostering of inclusive development. It also strengthens rural resilience, preserves cultural heritage, promotes sustainable resource management, and improves community engagement. However, challenges related to power dynamics, equity, and the need for policy integration and cohesion must be addressed to ensure that traditional leadership empowerment contributes effectively to sustainable development in South Africa.
Cities. Urban geography, Urban groups. The city. Urban sociology
The aim of the research is to identify the values of the level of muscular strength of the thighs, as well as to identify the significance of the differences between the pre-tests and the post-tests for the first-class football referees in the Iraqi Premier League. The researchers used the one-group experimental approach for its suitability to the nature of the study problem, and the research sample was from first-class referees in the Iraqi Premier League for the sports season (2022/2023), and their number was (15) referees. They took the comprehensive enumeration method, and special tests were conducted on them in the stadium and the private hall at the Ministry of Youth and Sports Center. After analyzing and discussing the results, the two researchers concluded that there are significant differences between the pre and posttests and in favor of the post tests of the research group because of the preventive exercises in the (isometric) manner and aids to develop the strength and balance of the thigh muscles prepared for this purpose. In this regard, the researchers recommend conducting extensive studies for this group and paying attention to the preventive aspect of referees in order to avoid their exposure to injuries in the thigh muscles, which are among the most common injuries in this group.
Abstract Rapid development in industrialization and urbanization causes serious environmental issues, of which acid rain is one of the quintessential hazards, negatively affecting soil ecology. Liming has been investigated for a long time as the most effective amendment to alter the adverse effects of soil acidity resulting from acid rain. Herein, this study tested the biochar produced from invasive plants as an alternative amendment and hypothesized that biochar can maintain better availability of macronutrients under acid rain than liming by improving soil chemical and biological properties. Therefore, a pot experiment was conducted to compare the effects of lime and biochar at two rates (1% and 3%) on soil available nitrogen (N), phosphorous (P) and potassium (K) under simulated acid rain of two pH levels (4.5: pH4.5 and 2.5: pH2.5) as compared with tap water (pH7.1) as a control treatment. Biochar was produced using different invasive plants, including Blackjack (Biden Pilosa), Wedelia (Wedelia trilobata) and Bitter Vine (Mikania micrantha Kunth). Liming decreased the availability of soil N, P, and K by 36.3% as compared with the control due to the great increment in soil pH and exchangeable calcium (Ca2+) by 59% and 16-fold, respectively. Moreover, liming reduced the alpha diversity of soil bacteria and fungi by 27% and 11%, respectively. In contrast, biochar at different types and rates resulted in a fourfold increment in the available N, P, and K as an average under acid rain (pH4.5 and pH2.5) owing to maintaining a neutral pH (6.5–7), which is the most favorable level for soil microbial and enzymatic activites, and the bioavailability of soil nutrients. Furthermore, biochar caused balanced increments in Ca2+ by threefold, cation exchange capacity by 45%, urease activity by 16%, and fungal diversity by 10%, while having a slight reduction in bacterial diversity by 2.5%. Based on the path, correlation, and principal component analyses, the exchangeable aluminum was a moderator for the reductions in macronutrients’ availability under acid rain, which decreased by 40% and 35% under liming and biochar, respectively. This study strongly recommended the use of biochar from invasive plants instead of lime for sustainable improvements in soil properties under acid rain. Graphical Abstract
Albertina Paula Monteiro, Francisco Barbosa, Amélia Silva
et al.
Based on the legitimacy and stakeholders’ theories, this research aims to analyze the environmental information disclosure of Portuguese companies. Specifically, this study aims to explore the environmental information disclosure level, whether the industry (environmentally sensitive) influences the level of ecological matters disclosure, and whether this impacts the companies' performance/profitability. Using the content analysis technique, we developed two indices to assess the level of environmental disclosures in companies' mandatory and voluntary reporting. In addition, for the relationship between variables analysis, we applied the Process Macro of SPSS software. Study results show that (1) there is a positive evolution in the level of environmental disclosure by Lisbon stock exchange listed companies between the years 2015 and 2017, (2) the industry has no significant relationship with profitability; (3) the environmental disclosure acts as a mediator variable in the relationship between industry and profitability. This research presents differences in the tendency of environmental matters disclosure when prepared under an accounting framework or voluntarily and assesses the mediating role of the environmental disclosure index in the relationship between industry and performance.
Shivani Narwal, Rajesh Dhankhar, Savita Kalshan
et al.
Presence of plastics in the surroundings is ubiquitous, as generation of plastics is booming globally and it gets accumulated in oceans leading to deleterious impacts on marine life, public health and the surrounding environment. Owing to its non-degradable nature, plastic particles remain in surroundings for extended periods which automatically facilitate its out spreading. Therefore, there is a need to shift to bio-based plastics, as bio-based green economy hinges on sustainable employment of bioresources for generating a broad spectrum of products, biofuels, chemicals and bioplastics. Typically bioplastics are synthesized from bio-based resources considered to contribute more to sustainable production of plastic as a part of the circular economy. Bioplastics are luring attention and growing as counterfeit material for petroleum-derived plastics owing to their biodegradability. Recently an engrossed interest has been burgeoning in producing drop-in polymers and new-fangled bioplastics by utilizing lignocellulosic feedstock. This paper reviews the enormous potential of lignocellulosic feedstock as a significant inedible substrate for bioplastic synthesis. Polyhydroxyalkanoates, polyurethanes, polylactic acid and starch-bioplastic are prevailing bio-based plastic comparably derived from lignocellulosic biomass. In forthcoming years bioplastic derived years’ bioplastic derived from lignocellulose will loom as valuable material in numerous fields for an extensive range of cutting-edge applications.
Reseña del libro de Virginia García Acosta y Raymundo Padilla Lozoya (coordinadores) (2019). Historia y memoria de los huracanes y otros episodios hidrometeorológicos extremos en México. Cinco siglos: del año 5 pedernal a Janet. México: CIESAS/Universidad de Colima/Universidad Veracruzana.
Alicia Sastra Millenium, I Wayan Suardana, I Made Kusuma Negara
The increase in international tourist every year on the island of Bali is used by tourism entrepreneurs to help the government increase regional and the state revenues. The need for transportation for travel activities provides an opportunity for Bananaz Bali to launch the first rental application in Bali. Based on Start-up, Bananaz Bali applies digital marketing and is also assisted by implementing brand awareness activities. This study requires 75 respondents with the criteria of over the age of 18 years old, and have already used Bananaz Bali services. All the data collected through questionnaires and then processed using data analysis techniques SEM Partial Least Square. The results of this study are: 1) There is a positive and significant relationship between digital marketing variable and brand awareness. 2) There is a negative and insignificant relationship between digital marketing variable on purchasing decisions. 3) Against a positive and significant relationship between brand awareness and purchasing decisions.
Acknowledgement of gender disparity in academia has been made in recent years, as have efforts to reduce this inequality. These efforts will be undermined if insufficient numbers of women qualify and are competitive for academic careers. The gender ratio at each graduate degree level has been examined in some studies, with findings suggesting that women’s representation has increased, and in some recent cases, achieved equality. These findings are promising as they could indicate that more women will soon qualify for early-career academic positions. Most of these studies, however, examine a specific—or narrow subset—of academic disciplines. Therefore, it remains unclear if these findings generalize across disciplines. Gambling researchers, and the graduate students they supervise, are a uniquely heterogeneous group representing multiple academic disciplines including health sciences, math, law, psychology, and sociology, among many more. Thus, gambling student researchers are a group who can be examined for gender equality at postgraduate levels, while reducing the impact of discipline specificity evident in previous investigations. The current study examined graduate-level scholarships from one Canadian funding agency (Alberta Gambling Research Institute), awarded from 2009 through 2019, for gender parity independent of academic discipline.
University football has tradition in the Romanian political context. The first teams that made history in amateur and later professional football were founded in the early twentieth century by students who returned to the country after completing their studies abroad. Through this study, based on the experience in already traditional championships such as the British one, we propose a strategy
for implementing such a dual system based on professional development and sports in the Romanian academic environment. The existence of 93 public and private universities (in 2020)2 with own specific infrastructure, 22 university centers and about 0.4 million students provide a "fertile ground" for such approach, for competitions with male and female teams. Through specific methods in the field of territorial planning and geography this study presents: the competitive design, the implementation strategy, human resources, infrastructure, spatial models with systemic functionality, etc. Sport in general and football in particular have proven to be the most effective ambassadors of a community, nation or institution etc.
This article offers reflexive insights on a methodological approach experimented with collectives engaged in operations of ecological stewardship of their urban living environments. In addition to revealing a new theoretical agency of communities of human and non-human actors, the investment of certain processes of investigation influences the construction of the research object itself. This method reflects the principles of abduction for which research is always constructed in a situation of interaction between the investigator, the respondents and the object of the investigation. As the boundary between investigator and respondents becomes blurred, the adoption of a reflexive look at these corporal commitments reveals openings and troubles. Ultimately, the experimentation of a multi-species ethnographic relationship leads us to refine the starting hypothesis.
Research Framework: Many argue that the development of new information and communication technologies (ICT) would have given rise to a new way of retaining the emotional bond among transnational families. It would thus abolish the distance by establishing a virtual co-presence.Objectives: The objective is to understand, through the study of the use of ICT, how transnational families manage to keep strong their familyhood. It also intends to discuss the limits of these practices on their ability to continue to "make family transnationally."Methodology: The analysis is based on data collected through in-depth interviews with Montreal-based migrants and their family members in Brazil.Results: ICT has become a familiar tool in transnational family exchanges. They provide access both to ordinary and to special moments of family life. They give rise to new practices of family interactions. Nevertheless, they also imply constraints in the exchanges, as they appear to be an unsatisfactory solution to solve the problem of physical distance and separation.Conclusions: The use of ICT has become an incorporated habit in transnational family life, for its informative power on the daily life of members of the transnational family. Virtual co-presence, however, is limited as far as the expression of emotions and family solidarity are concerned. Contribution: The results presented allowed to identify the contributions, the ambivalences and the limits of the use of ICT to make family transnationally. They also revealed the formation of family micro-rituals, which act as mechanisms of regulation and expression of familyhood.
Ethnology. Social and cultural anthropology, The family. Marriage. Woman
Anarbaev Anvar, Tursunov Obid, Kodirov Dilshod
et al.
This paper presents the results of calculations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in agricultural sectors of the Republic of Uzbekistan within the framework of the project: “Sustainable Agriculture Development and Climate Change Mitigation”. The initial data were the characteristics of the implemented installations based on renewable energy sources for the period of 2014-2018. Most of these installations were biogas settings based on the principle of anaerobic fermentation, as well as solar water heating and photovoltaic stations. The calculations were performed according to the “AMS-III.D” and “AMS-I.J” methods by the “Global Environmental Fund” experts. The developed computer programs were applied to calculate the arrival of radiation and the duration of sunshine during the year on the territory of Uzbekistan. According to the calculations, the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions was 1338840.5 tons of CO2 for the indicated period during the operation of installations based on renewable energy sources. Within the framework of this project, the total potential of generating electric energy from biogas settings and solar photovoltaic stations at the amount of 10,424 MWh was estimated.
A. I. Gozhenko, L. A. Kovalevska, O. V. Telyatnikov
Recent studies have shown significantly increasing importance of new risk factors such as high levels of homocysteine and C-reactive protein, the presence of thrombophilia markers in the development of stroke. However, information of their relationship in acute defferent types of stroke and acute cardio-vasculares complications caused by stroke, is limited. The study showed that the impact of biomarkers on the stroke severity is age-dependent and hyperhomocysteinemia is play great importance role.
The toxic effect of herbicides on non- target microorganisms may influence degradation of organic matter resulting
in changes to nutrient cycling. In the present study, different strains of bacteria incubated in media containing
different concentrations of glyphosate and paraquat were assessed over a period of two incubation terms. The
deleterious impact of the herbicide was observed as glyphosate and paraquate treatments led to a reduction in the
bacterial population. Analysis of the colony- forming unit (CFUs) showed a declining in microbial growth from 0
to 24 hours of incubation in all concentrations of glyphosate followed by a steady declining rate of the bacterial
population after 48 h. The greatest bacterial population developed in media containing concentrations of
glyphosate and paraquat was observed with strains S13.3, while strains S55 and S35 showed the lowest biomass
production in response to all concentrations of glyphosate and paraquat. Based on the results obtained, strain S13.3
was determined to be resistant to the herbicides examined and may be useful for bioremediation of these
compounds in soil.
The release of such contaminants as metals into aquatic environment and its accumulation in sediment is a great concern due to the potential effect to the whole ecosystem. Water biocoenosis can change completely with the introduction metals into the water course. The aim of the study was to compare the water quality of three small streams contaminated with arsenic on the basis of multimetric diatom index IO and microbiotest designed to evaluate sediment toxicity (The Ostracodtoxkit F). The quality of three small streams located within Złoty Stok community in Lower Silesia (SW, Poland) has never been assessed with the biological methods before. What is more, the impact of arsenic on water biocoenosis has been rarely studied worldwide. Such studies have not been conducted before in Poland. The findings showed that each of used method classifies similarly three studied streams. The obtained results confirmed that the biological methods are the most reliable in the assessment of water quality.
A retrospective attention is known that it can enhance an accuracy of only one item within visual working memory, however, it is not clear whether this attention can enhance that of multiple items or not. The previous study showed a null effect of retrospective attention to multiple items (i.e., a limitation of retrospective attention). It assumed that the null effect caused an extra effort to maintain multiple split foci or the retrospective attention cannot enhance multiple items. Present study investigated whether the effort to separate the retrospective attention to multiple items decline the effect of the retrospective attention with a probed-recall paradigm which is assumed more sensitive than that of previous study. Experiment 1 showed that there was a large effect size of single cueing, but there was no difference between a control condition and a double-cue condition where participants needed to distribute attention. However, it detected a weak effect size of attention between the both conditions. It suggested that distributing attention generated the extra effort and load. Then in order to lighten this load, we eliminated ISI between memorized items and attentional cues to use the iconic memory in Experiment 2. As compared with the accuracies in Experiment 1, those in Experiment 2 improved except that in double-cue condition. It was not enhanced by reduction of ISI as well as by the distribution of the attention. This suggested that the attentional effect in double-cue condition decreased due to the load to separate the attention. Thus, to distribute retrospective attention imposes the load and effort. Moreover, it limits the retrospective attention.
O recente processo de reestruturação das metrópoles tem evidenciado uma intensificação da dinâmica do setor terciário, a qual é acompanhada de uma desconcentração das atividades industriais dentro dos centros urbanos. Porto Alegre, sendo uma das bases produtivas do Estado, apresenta alterações profundas neste aspecto, resultando em questões que refletem novas necessidades com relação às políticas públicas e ao planejamento urbano perante as particularidades da região. O presente artigo intenta realizar uma análise de dados procurando esclarecer alguns aspectos sobre a evolução do setor de serviços da metrópole de Porto Alegre, comparando o seu desenvolvimento perante à sua Região Metropolitana (RMPA) e ao Estado do Rio Grande do Sul, para o período 2000-2010. Com isto procura-se estabelecer uma base para o estudo das atividades econômicas e funções presentes na capital gaúcha e suas implicações a estruturação do meio urbano.