Networking in regions:potential analysis of the integration of North Rhine-Westphalian cities outside the Rhine-Ruhr-region into the project FLOW.NRW

Abstract. Tourists nowadays search for authentic and interesting experiences and acitivities in a destination. The project FLOW.NRW wants to present the federal state North Rhine-Westphalia as an attractive urban destination and as a living space with a high quality of life in international competition. It aims to attract people to discover the numerous facets of the various cities with its cultural, creative and digital potential. In contrast to the previous project #urbanana, the project approach in FLOW.NRW is now extended to the regional centres outside the Rhine-Ruhr region. The objective of this study therefore is to investigate the potential of the regional centers included, how an integration into the project can be successful and what potential for the future of the project can result from this. The data is collected via a short preliminary study with the three project partners Köln Tourismus, Düsseldorf Tourismus and Ruhr Tourismus as well with qualitative guideline-interviews with seven experts from the regional centers. After the evaluation with the method GABEK it turns out that the regional centers offer a lot of potential which can be communicated into the project. Especially within the threads Culture and Design exist many linkages, whereby the digital scene is still developable. The study has practical implications since it highlights the potentials of the cities and helps the project management to develop the project further, get better connections to the cities and thus to create a working network which strengthens the whole federal state NRW as a travel destination

Future orientation and planning in forestry: a comparison of forest managers' planning horizons in Germany and the Netherlands

Long range (or strategic) planning is an important tool for forest management to deal with the complex and unpredictable future. However, it is the ability to make meaningful predictions about the rapidly changing future that is questioned. What appears to be particularly neglected is the question of the length of time horizons and the limits (if any) to these horizons, despite being considered one of the most critical factors in strategic planning. As the future creation of values lies within individual responsibility, this research empirically explored the limits (if any) of individual foresters¿ time horizons. To draw comparisons between countries with different traditions in forest management planning, data were collected through telephone surveys of forest managers in the state/national forest services of the Netherlands and Germany. In order to minimize other cultural differences, the research in Germany concentrated on the federal state of Nordrhein-Westfalen, which has considerable similarities with the Netherlands, e.g. in topography, forest types and forest functions. The results show that, in practice, 15 years appears to be the most distant horizon that foresters can identify with. This is in sharp contrast to the time horizons spanning decades and even generations that are always said to exist in forestry. The ¿doctrine of the long run¿¿the faith in the capacity of foresters to overcome the barriers of the uncertain future and look ahead and plan for long-range goals¿which in many countries still underlies traditional forest management, can therefore be rejected

Sustainable Development and Resource Productivity

The fourth Factor X publication from the German Environment Agency (Umweltbundesamt, UBA), Sustainable Development and Resource Productivity: The Nexus Approaches explores the interdependencies of sustainable development paths and associated resource requirements, describing and analysing the necessities for a more resource efficient world. The use of and competition for increasingly scarce resources are growing worldwide with current production and consumption patterns of industrialised economies soon to reach the point where the ecosphere will be overtaxed far beyond its limits. Against this background, this volume examines the important initiatives to monitor resource use at the international, EU and national level. The current trends and challenges related to sustainable resource use are discussed, including international challenges for a resource efficient world, megatrends, justice and equitable access to resources. In the second part of the book, contributions examine implementation strategies. They assess the concept known as circular economy and discuss the theory of growth and the role of the financial and education systems. The final section places special emphasis on practical examples. Overall, the book presents concrete ways and examples of achieving more sustainability in practice. Discussing solutions for a more sustainable use of natural resources, this book is essential reading for scholars and students of natural resources and sustainable development and decision-makers and experts from the fields of policy development, industry and civil society

Paying for Green?: Payment for Ecosystem Services in Practice - Successful Examples of PES from Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Diverse studies have shown that despite various efforts the state of our natural resources as well as the development of biodiversity and climate change are still a cause for concern. This is the case at the global level as well as at the level of individual countries and regions. In the industrialized countries in particular, they have been trying to solve environmental problems by regulatory means for many decades. And still the problems are increasing. It is not surprising, therefore, that different and complementary means of exerting influence have repeatedly been sought. Against this background, the attention given to economic instruments to resolve environmental problems has increased worldwide in recent years. In the wake of large international studies such as the "Millennium Ecosystem Assessment" of the UN and the international as well as national TEEB studies on the economic value of ecosystem services and biodiversity, there is growing interest in particular in Payments for Ecosystem Services, PES for short. How can this interest be explained, and what is the distinguishing feature of PES? The increased attention given to PES is closely related to the establishment of the ecosystem services approach, whereby a social and economic value is attached to nature. This is the basis of PES reasoning: When such a value is ascribed to an ecosystem service, then this value can be realized specifically at the moment when that service is scarce. Someone should be ready to pay money for a scarce ecosystem service. Hence the users of ecosystem services are the starting point of the discourse: Who uses clean drinking water? Who enjoys a scenice landscape? Who benefits when our rivers and lakes are less nutrient-rich? If we carry this further we can conclude that when the benefits decline ("we have an environmental problem!") those users would in their own self-interest pay to have the benefits restored or continued

Industrial Symbiosis - Additional Learnings from 40 years of Industrial Symbiosis Development

This study examines the concept of Industrial Symbiosis (IS). It aims to provide insights into the evolutionary processes and development of IS. Drawing on international case studies of IS programs and the work of scholars in the field, this study identifies and analyses major factors influencing the development of an IS. The study also examined a number of cognitive factors that influence successful IS development

Urban-Rural-Partnerships

This is a reprint of the Special Issue “Urban-Rural-Partnerships: Sustainable and Resilient” in Land, which, based on the URP2020 objectives, invited original contributions dealing with interactions in regional systems, particularly between urban and rural actors, institutions and projects to tackle great societal challenges. The 16 contributions published included conceptual and methodological papers, as well as case studies dedicated to striking examples and providing transferable knowledge and solutions. The guest editors hope that the contributions will stimulate learning processes on various levels, i.e. cross- and transdisciplinary as well as from the local level to entire regions to the broader European and international levels, in order to foster an understanding of integrated regional and urban–rural development

Critical Dictionary on Borders, Cross-Border Cooperation and European Integration

This Critical Dictionary on Borders, Cross-Border Cooperation and European Integration is the first encyclopaedia which combines two so far not well interconnected interdisciplinary research fields, i.e. Border Studies and European Studies. Organised in an alphabetical order, it contains 207 articles written by 115 authors from different countries and scientific disciplines which are accompanied by 58 maps. The articles deal with theory, terminology, concepts, actors, themes and spaces of neighbourhood relations at European borders and in borderlands of and around the European Union (EU). Taking into account a multi-scale perspective from the local to the global, the Critical Dictionary follows a combined historical-geographical approach and is co-directed by Birte Wassenberg and Bernard Reitel, with a large contribution of Jean Peyrony and Jean Rubio from the Mission opérationnelle transfrontalère (MOT), especially for the cartography. The Dictionary is also part of four Jean Monnet activities supported by the Erasmus+ programme of the European Union for the period 2016-2022: two Jean Monnet projects on EU border regions (University Strasbourg), one Jean Monnet network (Frontem) and the Franco-German Jean Monnet excellence Center in Strasbourg, as well as the Jean Monnet Chair of Bernard Reitel on borders and European integration. Rather than being designed as an objective compilation of facts and figures, it should serve as a critical tool for discussion between researchers, students and practitioners working in the field of borders, cross-border cooperation and European Integration

Scoping study to identify potential circular economy actions, priority sectors, material flows and value chains

The circular economy is rapidly rising up political and business agendas. In contrast to today’s largely linear, ‘take-make-use-dispose’ economy, a circular economy represents a development strategy that enables economic growth while aiming to optimise the chain of consumption of biological and technical materials. A deep transformation of production chains and consumption patterns is envisaged to keep materials circulating in the economy for longer, re-designing industrial systems and encouraging cascading use of materials and waste. Although there are some elements of circularity such as recycling and composting in the linear economy (see Figure E1) where progress needs to be maintained, a circular economy goes beyond the pursuit of waste prevention and waste reduction to inspire technological, organisational and social innovation across and within value chains (see Figure E2). There are already several policies in place and activities underway that support a circular economy; however there remain a range of untapped opportunities, costs to be avoided and obstacles to be addressed in order to accelerate the move towards a circular economy in the EU. Against this backdrop, the European Commission (DG Environment) launched a Scoping study to identify potential circular economy actions, priority sectors, material flows & value chains. The study was carried out by the Policy Studies Institute (PSI), Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP), BIO and Ecologic Institute between November 2013 and July 2014. The aim of the study was to provide an initial scoping assessment of potential priorities and policy options to support the transition to a circular economy in the EU. The study reviewed existing literature, identified potential priority areas for action where accelerating the circular economy would be beneficial and where EU policy has a particular role to play, and developed policy options for consideration across a range of areas