Challenges最新文献

{"title":"Access to Human Health Benefits of Forests in Rural Low and Middle-Income Countries: A Literature Review and Conceptual Framework","authors":"Ranaivo A. Rasolofoson","doi":"10.3390/challe15010012","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/challe15010012","url":null,"abstract":"Forests are increasingly recognized for their beneficial roles in human health. However, there is a debate on how forest health benefits can be accessed equitably, particularly by vulnerable forest-dependent rural communities in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Access to forest health benefits is determined by a range of interconnected means, including property rights, as well as natural, physical, human, social, and financial capital. This paper presents a literature review of the roles of means of access in shaping human health effects of forests. Evidence suggests that variations in these means of access are associated with varying ability to access forest health benefits. However, existing evidence is thin, mixed, and weak. A conceptual model is then developed to provide a framework for understanding how means of access moderate the effects of forests on health in rural LMICs to guide the generation of strong evidence. The multiple interconnected factors moderating the health effects of forests at the core of the conceptual framework promote the multisectoral and transdisciplinary approaches needed to enhance equitable access to forest health benefits.","PeriodicalId":503175,"journal":{"name":"Challenges","volume":"26 24","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-02-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140409098","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Cultivating Resilience in Chaos: Localisation as a Mechanism for Sustainability and Inner Development in Syria’s Humanitarian Crisis","authors":"Jo Rose, Eslam Elbaaly","doi":"10.3390/challe15010011","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/challe15010011","url":null,"abstract":"This article explores localisation in humanitarian settings as an example of sustainability and inner development. Through a case study from Syria, we discuss how localisation and remote management can lead to the mutual flourishing of individuals, communities and planetary health in the most challenging settings. Through localisation, we can rethink and reframe humanitarianism and integrate sustainability and personal development. Learning from these collaborations that highlight the importance of trust and interpersonal relations, the humanitarian and global health communities can reflect on how local individuals and communities can be further supported in their personal development and the sustainability of interventions that promote planetary health.","PeriodicalId":503175,"journal":{"name":"Challenges","volume":"8 11","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-02-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140435697","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Cultivating Pearls of Wisdom: Creating Protected Niche Spaces for Inner Transformations amidst the Metacrisis","authors":"Kira Jade Cooper, Don G. McIntyre, Dan McCarthy","doi":"10.3390/challe15010010","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/challe15010010","url":null,"abstract":"The impetus for this paper emerges from the growing interest in leveraging inner transformations to support a global shift in ways of seeing and being. We caution that without sufficient individual and systemic maturity, inner transformations will be unable to hold the whole story and that attempts to drive paradigmatic shifts in ill-prepared systems will lead to insidious harms. As such, interventions for inner change will not have sufficient protected niche space to move beyond the boundaries of best practices towards wise practices. Drawing on Indigenous trans-systemics, we offer the metaphor of pearls as an invitation to recontextualize how inner transformations are conceived and approached in the metacrisis. To further develop this notion, we share a story of Wendigo and Moloch as a precautionary tale for the blind pursuit of inner and outer development. Weaving together metaphor, story, and scientific inquiry, we bring together Anishinaabe and Western knowledge systems for the purposes of healing and transformation. We hope that this paper will create space for wise practices—gifts from Creator to help sustain both Self and the World—to emerge, establish, and flourish. We invite readers on an exploration into the whole system of systems that are endemic to Anishinaabe cosmology, and a journey of reimagining new stories for collective flourishing amidst the metacrisis.","PeriodicalId":503175,"journal":{"name":"Challenges","volume":"17 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-02-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140441878","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Untangling the Processes of Bitcoin: An Organizational Learning Perspective","authors":"Rupert L. Matthews","doi":"10.3390/challe15010009","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/challe15010009","url":null,"abstract":"Bitcoin is a complex phenomenon, whether in terms of the macro factors affecting its price or its role in the global energy infrastructure. However, extant literature pays too little attention to exploring the internal mechanisms of the protocol to be able to link them to how they affect the visible characteristics of Bitcoin. This paper uses secondary data from highly reputable Bitcoin-focused sources to systematically map the processes that enable Bitcoin to function as a peer-to-peer cash system. Novelty is achieved by applying the established and versatile “4I” organisational learning framework to provide a new lens through which to understand how the processes within Bitcoin enable and facilitate different types of changes to the protocol. Further insights are provided to organisational learning from Bitcoin, in relation to managing mission-critical changes to organisational systems. In addition, it presents an option for dealing with irreconcilable internal differences to “hard-fork” part of the organisation. While the scope of this paper is limited to secondary data, opportunities for further research, including primary data collection, are outlined to explore how Bitcoin knowledge disseminates within communities or companies.","PeriodicalId":503175,"journal":{"name":"Challenges","volume":"25 8","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-02-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140443086","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Re-Imagining Alternative Futures through Empowerment","authors":"Claudia Milena Adler","doi":"10.3390/challe15010008","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/challe15010008","url":null,"abstract":"The physical conquest of European powers on the rest of the world for the imposition of an accumulation of wealth monopoly and the destruction of native societies remains the foundation of the current global economy. Despite concepts of human flourishing, a term connected to empowerment that acts as an architectural structure within the development and sustainability discourse, the destruction of our planet and collective human wellbeing is not at the forefront of international political agendas. Scholars argue that the development agenda is maldevelopment due to the unrequested interventions delivered to communities, mainly in the Global South. Thus, despite the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the implementation of inner dimensions that facilitate empowerment and are an integral part of development is missing from these sophisticated global frameworks. This research article repositions empowerment and compassion at the centre of the sustainable development discourse by drawing on the Inner Development Framework, particularly goal one—Being—‘Relationship to Self’ and goal three—Relating—‘Caring for others and the World’ and the Capabilities Theory as a guiding theoretical underpinning. On this basis, this article presents a qualitative interpretative study that examines the lived experience of women and their journeys to empowerment. The key findings indicate an intricate relationship between wellbeing and empowerment and the realisation of inner development as a tool to re-imagine alternative futures. In addition, industries are profiteering from a sustainability and development agenda that is failing to address the disablement of communities by a paternalistic approach to empowerment.","PeriodicalId":503175,"journal":{"name":"Challenges","volume":"114 ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-02-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140448509","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Theory of Constraints and Bitcoin: Introducing a New Fulcrum","authors":"Rupert L. Matthews","doi":"10.3390/challe15010007","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/challe15010007","url":null,"abstract":"Much of the attention on bitcoin relates to its ability to store value over time or whether you will one day by able to buy a cup of coffee with it. Much less attention is given to bitcoin’s potential role as a unit of account. This opinion piece proposes that bitcoin has potential to provide a consistent unit of account for organisations to adopt, but also to assist them in making and measuring meaningful business developments. The paper draws from the business improvement philosophy of Theory of Constraints to propose that unit of account, particularly within high inflation environments, is critical to consider. An illustrative case of a well-known publicly traded company, Microstrategy, provides an example and logic for a company choosing to integrate bitcoin into a business. The paper also gives attention to how the adoption of bitcoin can promote the development of renewable energy infrastructure and provide staff with opportunities for personal development to support their well-being. Opportunities for further research are identified to explore the integration of bitcoin within a business as well as with Theory of Constraints.","PeriodicalId":503175,"journal":{"name":"Challenges","volume":"183 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-01-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140481163","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Addressing Planetary Health through the Blockchain—Hype or Hope? A Scoping Review","authors":"Rita Issa, Chloe Wood, Srivatsan Rajagopalan, Roman Chestnov, Heather Chesters, Geordan Shannon","doi":"10.3390/challe15010003","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/challe15010003","url":null,"abstract":"Planetary health is an emergent transdisciplinary field, focused on understanding and addressing the interactions of climate change and human health, which offers interventional challenges given its complexity. While various articles have assessed the use of blockchain (web3) technologies in health, little consideration has been given to the potential use of web3 for addressing planetary health. A scoping review to explore the intersection of web3 and planetary health was conducted. Seven databases (Ovid Medline, Global Health, Web of Science, Scopus, Geobase, ACM Digital Library, and IEEE Xplore) were searched for peer-reviewed literature using key terms relating to planetary health and blockchain. Findings were reported narratively. A total of 3245 articles were identified and screened, with 23 articles included in the final review. The health focus of the articles included pandemics and disease outbreaks, the health of vulnerable groups, population health, health financing, research and medicines use, environmental health, and the negative impacts of blockchain mining on human health. All articles included the use of blockchain technology, with others additionally incorporating smart contracts, the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence and machine learning. The application of web3 to planetary health can be broadly categorised across data, financing, identity, medicines and devices, and research. Shared values that emerged include equity, decentralisation, transparency and trust, and managing complexity. Web3 has the potential to facilitate approaches towards planetary health, with the use of tools and applications that are underpinned by shared values. Further research, particularly primary research into blockchain for public goods and planetary health, will allow this hypothesis to be better tested.","PeriodicalId":503175,"journal":{"name":"Challenges","volume":" 1134","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-12-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139136290","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Climate Change Perceptions and Associated Characteristics in Canadian Prairie Agricultural Producers","authors":"Sheena A. Stewart, K. Arbuthnott, David J. Sauchyn","doi":"10.3390/challe14040054","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/challe14040054","url":null,"abstract":"Climate change (CC) poses a threat to agricultural sustainability, which is important in the Canadian Prairies, as agriculture is a major occupation and driver of the economy. Agriculture involves both the creation and mitigation of emissions related to CC. To implement adaptation and mitigation practices, producers should accept CC as fact. This study is based in Saskatchewan, Canada, where CC denial is prevalent in public comments. To assess the validity of this anecdotal impression, this study provided a snapshot of Saskatchewan agricultural producers’ perceptions and observations of CC and assessed whether views on CC are associated with characteristics of political orientation and affiliation, mental flexibility, systems thinking, time orientation, climate knowledge, climate observations, and demographic variables. A survey was developed with the following four sections: (1) individual characteristics; (2) observed changes in climate-related variables; (3) knowledge and perceptions about CC; and (4) demographic variables. The survey included multiple-choice questions and items scored on a Likert scale. The survey was completed by 330 Saskatchewan agricultural producers (i.e., farmers and ranchers). The results indicated more CC denial in Saskatchewan producers than in other Canadian samples. Individual and socioeconomic characteristics of lower levels of formal education, identifying as male, conservative political affiliation and ideation, low trust in science, and low mental flexibility were associated with less acceptance and concern of CC. It is therefore necessary to consider socioeconomic and individual characteristics of producers in measures aiming to increase the acceptance of the reality of CC. Future intervention research should target male producers with lower levels of formal education, low trust in science, low mental flexibility, and right-leaning political ideation for the improvement of CC perceptions and examine different teaching methods (e.g., lectures, workshops, webinars) and dissemination methods (e.g., online versus in-person sessions) to see how various techniques may influence learning, as well as the way the information is used by particular groups.","PeriodicalId":503175,"journal":{"name":"Challenges","volume":"34 10","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-12-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139173154","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Tools for Urban Climate Adaptation Plans: A Case Study on Bologna and Outcomes for Heat Wave Impact Reduction","authors":"L. Cremonini, T. Georgiadis, M. Nardino, Federica Rossi, Alessandro Rossi, Giovanna Pinca, Massimiliano Fazzini","doi":"10.3390/challe14040048","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/challe14040048","url":null,"abstract":"The purpose of this paper is to describe the process of building a coherent frame for the identification of local environmental urban vulnerabilities, coping with heat waves’ increasing threats, and adopting specific adaptation policies in the Emilia-Romagna region. A microclimate model (ENVI-met) was used to simulate temperature regimes in five areas of Bologna, providing ex ante maps enabling us to locate the most vulnerable areas. Adaptation measures were suggested with the support of WMO Guidance 1234 and included recommendations about the introduction of high-albedo building materials and nature-based solutions. The step-by-step methodology developed, coupling local vulnerabilities with adaptation recommendation, integrates a scientific methodology into a political decision. The results, allowing us to widely represent this city’s vulnerability, are considered outstanding with respect to supporting the city’s adaptation ambitions and are now part of the running Bologna General Urban Plan (PUG), which regulates building interventions, introducing the obligation for enterprises to respect or ameliorate the microclimate in all the areas in which they intervene. This tool can be replicated and adapted to any municipal area, as it integrates authoritative WMO solutions with accurate microclimate assessment, thus providing locally tailored adaptation interventions. This paper aims to support the vision, shared by both science and policy makers, of transforming cities into widely resilient systems.","PeriodicalId":503175,"journal":{"name":"Challenges","volume":"43 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-11-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139209464","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Bitcoin and Its Energy, Environmental, and Social Impacts: An Assessment of Key Research Needs in the Mining Sector","authors":"Murray A. Rudd, Lee Bratcher, Simon Collins, David Branscum, Matthew Carson, Shaun Connell, Elliot David, Magdalena Gronowska, Sebastien Hess, Austin Mitchell, Matt Prusak, Kyle Schneps, Maxim Serezhin, Scott A. Wolfe, Dennis Porter","doi":"10.3390/challe14040047","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/challe14040047","url":null,"abstract":"In this study, we used a combination of AI-assisted analysis of social media discourse and collaboration with industry experts to delve into the key research needs associated with the Bitcoin mining industry. We identified primary threats, opportunities, and research questions related to the Bitcoin mining industry and its wider impacts, focusing on its energy use and environmental footprint. Our findings spotlight the industry’s move towards increasingly greater energy efficiency and an emerging commitment to renewable energy, highlighting its potential to contribute to the coming energy transition. We underscore the transformative potential of emerging applications in the Bitcoin mining sector, especially regarding demand response, grid flexibility, and methane mitigation. We suggest that targeted research on Bitcoin can serve policymakers, private sector decision-makers, research funding agencies, environmental scientists, and the Bitcoin industry itself. We propose that filling key information gaps could help clarify the risks and benefits of Bitcoin mining by encouraging collaboration among researchers, policymakers, and industry stakeholders and conducting research that provides baseline peer-reviewed evidence surrounding Bitcoin’s production and impacts. A collaborative approach could help mitigate the risks and realize the benefits of Bitcoin mining, including potentially positive and substantive contributions in alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals.","PeriodicalId":503175,"journal":{"name":"Challenges","volume":"68 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-11-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139238439","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}