Lessons from the Mauritius Case study in the Global Context

This Working Paper constitutes the epilogue of the book manuscript, "Understanding Population-Development-Environment Interactions: A Case Study on Mauritius". It is an attempt to summarize the findings from the Mauritius case study and put them into the context of the global population-environment debate. The Mauritius case study was carried out by IIASA in scientific collaboration with the University of Mauritius and funded by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). The paper presents findings from the multidisciplinary historical description of population, economy and environment in Mauritius and from the interdisciplinary computer model simulating future population-development-environment interactions. The material is structured around five broad questions that figure prominently in the population-environment debate and to which the Mauritius case study can make a contribution

Mauritius Case Study: Alternative Histories Since 1962

This Working Paper constitutes Chapter 17 of the book manuscript, "Understanding Population-Development-Environment Interactions: A Case Study on Mauritius". The Mauritius case study was carried out by IIASA in scientific collaboration with the University of Mauritius and funded by the United Nations Population Fund (WNFPA). The paper presents and discusses findings from the interdisciplinary computer model simulating alternative population-development-environment interactions for the historical period 1962 to 1987, a period of rapid change in Mauritius. In a first step, population, economic, and environmental developments during the last 30 years are reconstructed by the PDE-Mauritius model on the basis of observed trends. This reconstructed history, which also evaluates the accuracy of the model itself, is used as a reference to which alternative histories are compared. In subsequent sections, five alternative population histories and nine alternative holistic histories are considered. The role of socio-demographic development, and of the fertility decline in particular, is compared to the importance of the economic boom for the rapid development of Mauritius. Also, the influence of specific economic strategies, like agricultural exports (mainly sugar), industrial exports (mainly textiles), or tourism, and in particular their impact on the environment, are investigated

Scenarios for Mauritius, 1990-2050

This Working Paper constitutes Chapter 16 of the book manuscript, "Understanding Population-Development-Environment Interactions: A Case Study on Mauritius". The Mauritius case study was carried out by IIASA in scientific collaboration with the University of Mauritius and funded by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). The paper presents and discusses findings from the interdisciplinary computer model simulating alternative future population-development-environment interactions for the period 1990 to 2050. It serves to answer some of the main questions raised by the project, such as "what is the effect of population growth and education on development and the environment of Mauritius". In a first section, some general elements which should be kept in mind when doing scenario experiments are discussed, relating to hard-wired and soft links in the PDE-Mauritius model. Next, alternative "unadjusted" future scenarios are constructed and compared in order to identify the partial impact of various population, economic, and environmental assumptions. A subsequent section demonstrates how those unadjusted scenarios are transformed into consistent multi-component scenarios, labeled as "adjusted scenarios". Those scenarios present consistent development alternatives and hence offer answers to the relevant questions under various development paths

From No-Man's Land to a Congested Paradise: An Environmental History of Mauritius

This Working Paper constitutes Chapter 5 of the book manuscript, "Understanding Population-Development-Environment Interactions: A Case Study on Mauritius". The Mauritius case study was carried out by IIASA in scientific collaboration with the University of Mauritius and funded by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). This paper identifies long-term social, economic, and political processes that shaped natural resources and various ecological systems of Mauritius. The environmental history of the island demonstrates how various human activities transferred the landscape, fauna, and flora over the centuries. The balance of direct, local causes behind these interventions as opposed to remote and often indirect driving forces kept changing over time, but the analysis shows overall dominance of the second group. Even in the position of full political sovereignty, remote economic, political, and increasingly, environmental processes and forces tend to shape local structures. This is the main reason behind my confidence that the island's environmental history has useful lessons for the future in Mauritius and perhaps many other small islands. The analysis shows that during the 400 years history of Mauritius, various forms of natural resource exploitation and environmental transformation were to a large extent results of fluctuating opportunities in international trade, changes in economic policies of the colonial power and other important trading partners, various forms of technological change, institutional transformation, and political changes. The dynamic combination of these factors conditioned the aspirations and behaviors of various economic and social actors in Mauritius over the centuries which, in turn, profoundly transformed all components of the natural environment in Mauritius. It is possible to tell the environmental history of Mauritius and the story of the Dodo without considering the external factors, but it is impossible to understand them. It is hoped that this paper provides some of the missing explanations

Modeling the Population of Mauritius

Within IIASA's project on "Population and Sustainable Development: A Case Study of Mauritius" an interactive software tool describing the dynamics of population-development-environment interactions was developed. In contrast to similar existing models, population is not only an input variable but it is a driving force of the system. The population module provides the structure of the population by age, sex, level of education and labor force participation. For the future, different levels of fertility, mortality, migration, progression in education and labor force entrance and exit can easily be specified by the user. Changes in those variables in the past have been remarkable. Dependency ratios, calculated in several levels of refinement, show an amazing decline over the period 1962-1990. With different demographic developments, the past three decades would not have brought a significant decline in dependency ratios and may thus possibly have hindered or at least delayed economic development. In the coming decades the population of Mauritius will grow by some 30-40 per cent and it will age considerably. Changes in the socio-demographic composition of the population caused by recent and expected changes in the education and labor force distribution, however, indicate that further economic development is strongly favored during the next two decades

Island transport, car ownership and use: A focus on practices in Cuba, Malta, Mauritius and Singapore

Car ownership is growing in many countries and this growth results in further car use and increasing emissions – a trend diametrically opposed to a reduction of transport energy and longer term sustainability targets, and a problem that is particularly acute in island states across the world. The aim of this paper is to consider how various contextual factors influence the development of transport systems in four island states. Within this, the paper seeks to explore how transport systems have developed in Cuba, Mauritius, Malta and Singapore. The paper finds that a number of contextual factors have combined to result in four rather interesting transport outcomes

Unique Opportunities of Island States to Transition to a Low-Carbon Mobility System

Small islands developing states (SIDS) contribute minuscule proportions to global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and energy consumption, but are highly exposed to climate change impacts, in particular to extreme weather events and sea-level rise. However, there is little research on potential decarbonization trajectories unique to SIDS. Here, we argue that insular topology, scale, and economy are distinctive characteristics of SIDS that facilitate overcoming carbon lock-in. We investigate these dimensions for the three islands of Barbados, Fiji, and Mauritius. We find that insular topologies and small scale offer an opportunity for both public transit corridors and rapid electrification of car fleets. The tourism sector enables local decision-makers and investors to experiment with shared mobility and to induce spillover effects by educating tourists about new mobility options. Limited network effects, and the particular economy thus enables to overcome carbon lock-in. We call for targeted investments into SIDS to transition insular mobility systems towards zero carbon in 2040. The decarbonization of SIDS is not only needed as a mitigation effort, but also as a strong signal to the global community underlining that a zero-carbon future is possible.DFG, 414044773, Open Access Publizieren 2019 - 2020 / Technische Universität Berli

CRM Framework for Higher Education in Mauritius

This research paper provides a conceptual CRM framework that may be used by public universities in Mauritius for managing student relationships. Several important components have been identified for improving relationships with students based on a survey carried out with students and staff in the different public universities in Mauritius. The research findings show that people integrity and trust, communication and adaptation, facilitation and support, technological support and student engagement activities are the most important factors for improving relationship building. The rationale of the study is built upon the increasing number of student complaints and problems in the public universities. The research outcome will be highly beneficial for the different stakeholders in higher education

No. 27: Migration and Development in Contemporary Mauritius

Mauritius is a society descended of involuntary and voluntary migrants. After two-and-a-half centuries of settlement as a plantation colony and by the time of its independence from colonial rule in 1968 the island nation’s population had grown to seemingly insupportable levels. But having faced the afflictions of overpopulation, social division and economic despair (and sizeable emigration) at the dawn of its independence, it took just a decade and-a-half for despondency to fade and for Mauritius to begin resembling a tropical idyll of sorts. Though poverty persisted as the small island successfully transformed its economy from colonial plantation to mostly industrial (light manufacturing) and service (tourism and financial services) activity, rapid economic growth became a normal condition and living standards improved markedly under conditions of parliamentary democracy. If the threat of overpopulation had initially hung over the fledgling republic, the subsequent period of prodigious economic growth saw a vast expansion of formal employment and a decimation of unemployment. During this growth spurt the Mauritian economy resumed its reliance on contractual labour migrants from abroad. Contemporary Mauritius enjoys a reputation of developmental success and it is frequently held up as a model to be emulated by other aspiring developers. While the last quarter of a century of this success coincides with a phase of systematic and unabated contractual labour migration, the Mauritian government has more recently embarked on further migration schemes, on the one hand to attract highly qualified and ‘high net worth’ individuals to the country and on the other hand to encourage circulatory out-migration. Both the decades-old system of contractual labour migration and these more recent movements are closely aligned with the country’s development trajectory, providing a test of widely-held assumptions about the relationship between migration and development. Focusing mainly on international labour migration, and viewing it within the context of a global division of labour, this policy brief provides an account of migration and development in contemporary Mauritius. The first part deals with conceptions of the migration and development relationship, the second introduces current patterns of migration into and out of Mauritius, the third examines labour migration to Mauritius, and the final part offers some conceptual and policy-related generalisations arising from the study of the migration-development relationship in Mauritius. Concentrating on the period 2005 to 2010 and focusing especially on the migration of clothing and textile factory workers, the study relies primarily on official statistics and media reports for its empirical content and it draws also from published and organisational sources