TY - JOUR A1 - Aschenbrand, Erik A1 - Michler, Thomas T1 - Why Do UNESCO Biosphere Reserves Get Less Recognition than National Parks? A Landscape Research Perspective on Protected Area Narratives in Germany JF - Sustainability N2 - This paper explores how landscape research can contribute to our understanding of why integrated protected area concepts like biosphere reserves get less recognition than national parks. In this regard, we analysed policy documents and online communication of biosphere reserves and national parks, conducted qualitative interviews with conservation professionals and volunteers as well as participant observation in order to identify and compare narratives that guide the communication and perception of both protected area categories. The results show how national parks offer a clear interpretation of space by building on landscape stereotypes and creating landscape legibility and experience-ability through touristification. National Parks also experience conflicts about proper management and combine a variety of goals, often including regional development. Nevertheless, their narrative is unambiguous and powerful. Biosphere reserves, on the other hand, have an image problem that is essentially due to the difficulty of communicating their objectives. They confront the difficult task of creating a vision that combines development and conservation while integrating contrarious landscape stereotypes. We argue for a fundamental engagement with protected area narratives, as this improves understanding of protected areas’ transformative potential. KW - protected areas KW - biosphere reserves KW - national parks KW - narrative KW - landscape Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:eb1-opus-2166 SN - 2071-1050 PB - MDPI ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Werg, Jana Lorena A1 - Grothmann, Torsten A1 - Spies, Michael A1 - Mieg, Harald A. T1 - Factors for Self-Protective Behavior against Extreme Weather Events in the Philippines JF - Sustainabilty N2 - We report the results on factors for self-protective behavior against weather extremes such as extreme heat events, drought, and heavy precipitation. Our research draws on the Model of Private Proactive Adaptation to Climate Change (MPPACC). We developed a survey instrument incorporating the main aspects of the MPPACC and other factors from related research work that are assumed to explain why some people show self-protective behavior while others do not. The interview survey was conducted with a non-random sample of 210 respondents from three Philippine cities, namely Baguio, Dagupan, and Tuguegarao. The results reveal the importance of adaptation appraisal, including the perceived feasibility of self-protective measures, the perceived adaptation knowledge, and, with limitations, the perception of actions taken by neighbors or friends. We also show that perceptions of past weather trends are closely linked to risk perception but are only partly corroborated by weather station data. Implications for fostering self-protective behavior are making use of time windows right after an extreme weather event and focusing on enhancing adaptation appraisal. KW - natural hazards KW - climate change KW - perception KW - self-protective measures KW - adaptation Y1 - 2020 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:eb1-opus-2306 SN - 2071-1050 IS - 12(15) PB - MDPI ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Mehta, Kedar A1 - Ehrenwirth, Mathias A1 - Missall, Siegmund A1 - Degembaeva, Nadira A1 - Akmatov, Kuban A1 - Zörner, Wilfried T1 - Energy Profiling of a High-Altitude Kyrgyz Community: Challenges and Motivations to Preserve Floodplain Ecosystems Based on Household Survey JF - Sustainabilty N2 - The floodplain areas along the Naryn River in Kyrgyzstan are essential as they hold the riparian (local) ecosystems because they provide firewood, pastureland, and areas for recreation and protection against erosion. Due to limited access to adequate, reliable, and sustainable energy services, the rural population usually derived their energy needs from multiple natural energy resources (i.e., firewood, charcoal, agricultural residues, animal dung, and wood branches). This is considered a common and predominant practice in rural Kyrgyzstan. This situation leads to a negative impact on local ecosystem services. In addition to that, the reliance on solid fuels contributes to indoor and outdoor air pollution, which is partially threatening the local ecosystem services. By contrast, the employment of renewable-based energy supply systems would substantially reduce the burden on the environment, which is mainly untapped. To integrate renewable energies, it is important to understand the energy behavior of floodplain communities. In that response, the presented article is the first attempt to capture the energy identity of the floodplain community of Kyrgyzstan based on a quantitative energy-based (on-site) household survey. Furthermore, the present research article synthesizes the driving factors that have a (direct or indirect) impact on the energy and local ecosystem services. In addition, the present article proposes a brief pathway for the sustainable energy transition. The article records the recommendation to integrate renewable energies to preserve the local ecosystems of Kyrgyzstan. KW - Central Asia KW - ecosystem services KW - energy pattern KW - energy profiling KW - floodplain community KW - high-altitude KW - household survey KW - Kyrgyzstan KW - renewable energies KW - Sustainability Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:eb1-opus-2468 SN - 2071-1050 VL - 13 IS - 23 PB - MDPI ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Jha, Srijna A1 - Kächele, Harald A1 - Lana, Marcos A1 - Amjath-Babu, T.S A1 - Sieber, Stefan T1 - Exploring Farmers’ Perceptions of Agricultural Technologies: A Case Study from Tanzania JF - Sustainability N2 - The low agricultural productivity of key crops and food insecurity continue to be key issues in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and Tanzania. The growing population, depleting resources, and changing climate further amplify these issues. Globally, many agricultural technologies (AgTs) are available as pathways for improved agricultural productivity and food security, however, they have had relatively little success in SSA and Tanzania. This is because the uptake of AgTs is a complex process, which is highly localized, involving multiple actors, stages, and spatial and time dimensions. Smallholder farmers often experience issues of sustainability, constraints for adoption, and scaling-up throughout the uptake process of AgTs, all of which vary by region. This indicates a need for a systematic and simultaneous understanding of sustainability, constraints for adoption, and scaling-up of AgTs to better guide agricultural strategy and policy interventions in SSA and Tanzania. Moreover, in order to understand the local settings better, a consideration of the perceptions of the farmers themselves, who are the primary actors in the uptake process of AgTs, is key. Acknowledging this, the study takes on a case study approach, using the scaling-up assessment (ScalA) method and three focus group discussions with a total of 44 smallholder farmers to systematically and simultaneously assess the sustainability, constraints for adoption, and scaling-up of three AgTs (use of fertilizers, improved seeds, and small-scale irrigation) in Tanzania. The study finds that the farmers perceive all three AgTs to be sustainable for the study region. Adoption rates are perceived to be medium for use of fertilizers, high for improved seeds, and low for small-scale irrigation. The most significant constraints for adoption experienced by the farmers are lack of technical physical inputs, marketing facilities, and know-how. Scaling-up is perceived to be well fulfilled for use of fertilizers and improved seeds, but only partially fulfilled for small-scale irrigation, which is the most limited of the three AgTs. The most significant constraints for scaling-up experienced by farmers are a lack of confidence in the added value of the AgTs beyond project activities, marketing facilities, and technical physical inputs. The overall success potential is high for the use of fertilizers and improved seeds, and the average for small-scale irrigation. The farmers’ perceptions partially indicate why the bundle of AgTs is lacking in the study region and provide a basis for discussing targeted agricultural and policy interventions in Tanzania. KW - sustainability KW - adoption KW - scaling-up KW - agricultural technologies KW - farmer perceptions KW - agricultural productivity KW - food security KW - Tanzania Y1 - 2020 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:eb1-opus-3340 SN - 2071-1050 VL - 13 IS - 3 PB - MDPI ER - TY - RPRT A1 - Dichte, Angela A1 - Buczkowska, Katarzyna Ewa A1 - Grubliauskas, Raimondas A1 - Mateichyk, Vasyl A1 - Mosciszewski, Jakub A1 - Růžek, Vojtěch A1 - Šerevičienė, Vaida A1 - Śmieszek, Mirosław T1 - Sustainability Management at EU Partner Universities: The current state of strategy developments and implementations at the EU partner universities in the TransLearnN project N2 - This report presents an overview of the current state of sustainability strategy development at four European universities participating in the TransLearnN project: Eberswalde University for Sustainable Development (HNEE, Germany), Rzeszów University of Technology (RUT, Poland), Technical University of Liberec (TUL, Czech Republic), and Vilnius Gediminas Technical University (VILNIUS TECH, Lithuania). The analysis draws on institutional self-assessments, strategic documents, internal surveys, and supplementary materials such as presentations and posters. The report serves as a comparative reference for Ukrainian partner universities, who are developing their own sustainability governance frameworks in the context of post-war recovery and transformation. KW - TransLearnN KW - Sustainability Management KW - Higher Education Institution KW - Ukraine Y1 - 2025 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:eb1-opus-10281 ER -