Climate protection in tourism and leisure activities : insights from a tourists’ perspective

Weitere Informationen unter: https://www.zhaw.ch/de/lsfm/institute-zentren/iunr/tourismus-und-nachhaltige-entwicklung/ https://www.zhaw.ch/de/lsfm/institute-zentren/iunr/nachhaltigkeits-transformation/geography-of-food

The Geography of Food Cooperatives in the United States

For our society to become sustainably viable in the future, the ways in which we obtain our food and the methods used to create that food will be very important. One of the most environmentally friendly methods of food obtainment is membership in a food cooperative. This research delves into the basics of food cooperatives, highlights similar studies of other sustainability indicators, and examines the geographic distribution of food co-ops across the United States.Faculty Sponsor: Dr. George Pomero

Nachhaltigkeit zu Mehrwert machen : die Herausforderung von indischen Kaffeebauern

Die Swissnex-Reise einer Delegation von ZHAW-Dozierenden im August 2012 nach Südindien hat gefruchtet. Entstanden ist eine Projektzusammenarbeit mit dem Institut für Chemie, der IUNR Forschungsgruppe «Geography of Food» sowie der Universität of «Agricultural Sciences Bangalore» in Indien. Ziel dieser interdisziplinären Zusammenarbeit ist es, die Nachhaltigkeit des Kaffeeanbaus und das Wohlbefinden der Kleinbauern in einem Dorf im Südindischen Bundesstaat Karnataka zu fördern

Agricultural Turns, Geographical Turns: Retrospect and Prospect.

It is accepted that British rural geography has actively engaged with the ‘cultural turn’, leading to a resurgence of research within the sub-discipline. However, a reading of recent reviews suggests that the cultural turn has largely, if not completely, bypassed those geographers interested in the agricultural sector. Farming centred engagements with notions of culture have been relatively limited compared with those concerned with the non-agricultural aspects of rural space. Indeed, agricultural geography represents something of an awkward case in the context of the disciplinary turn to culture, a situation that demands further exposition. In seeking explanation, it becomes evident that research on the farm sector is more culturally informed than initially appears. This paper argues that there have been both interesting and important engagements between agricultural geography and cultural perspectives over the past decade. The paper elaborates four specific areas of research which provide evidence for concern about the ‘culture’ within agriculture. The future contribution that culturally informed perspectives in geographical research can bring to agricultural issues is outlined by way of conclusion

High-Tech Urban Agriculture in Amsterdam : An Actor Network Analysis

The agriculture and horticulture sector in the Netherlands is one of the most productive in the world. Although the sector is one of the most advanced and intense agricultural production systems worldwide, it faces challenges, such as climate change and environmental and social unsustainability of industrial production. To overcome these challenges, alternative food production initiatives have emerged, especially in large cities such as Amsterdam. Some initiatives involve producing food in the urban environment, supported by new technologies and practices, so-called high-tech urban agriculture (HTUA). These initiatives make cultivation of plants inside and on top of buildings possible and increase green spaces in urban areas. The emerging agricultural technologies are creating new business environments that are shape d by technology developers (e.g., suppliers of horticultural light emitting diodes (LED) and control environment systems) and developers of alternative food production practices (e.g., HTUA start-ups). However, research shows that the uptake of these technological innovations in urban planning processes is problematic. Therefore, this research analyzes the barriers that local government planners and HTUA developers are facing in the embedding of HTUA in urban planning processes, using the city of Amsterdam as a case study. This study draws on actor-network theory (ANT) to analyze the interactions between planners, technologies, technology developers and developers of alternative food production practices. Several concepts of ANT are integrated into a multi-level perspective on sustainability transitions (MLP) to create a new theoretical framework that can explain how interactions between technologies and planning actors transform the incumbent social\u2013technical regime. The configuration of interactions between social and material entities in technology development and adoption processes in Amsterdam is analyzed through the lens of this theoretical framework. The data in this study were gathered by tracing actors and their connections by using ethnographic research methods. In the course of the integration of new technologies into urban planning practices, gaps between technologies, technology developers, and planning actors have been identified. The results of this study show a lacking connection between planning actors and technology developers, although planning actors do interact with developers of alternative food production practices. These interactions are influenced by agency of artefacts such as visualizations of the future projects. The paper concludes that for the utilization of emerging technologies for sustainability transition of cities, the existing gap between technology developers and planning actors needs to be bridged through the integration of technology development visions in urban agendas and planning processe

A geografia da alimentação no contexto da pandemia: repensando os sistemas alimentares para o sustento dos corpos e do planeta

 RESUMOA crise proveniente da pandemia do novo coronavírus vem tornando ainda mais urgente a necessidade de repensarmos práticas individuais e sociais e as formas como elas afetam o planeta. Uma dessas práticas diz respeito à nossa alimentação, cada vez mais dependente de um sistema alimentar industrial que aprofunda problemas socioeconômicos, ambientais e sanitários – como as pandemias. Aliando a análise de aspectos estruturais às dimensões culturais e interseccionais que influenciam os hábitos alimentares contemporâneos, visamos com este artigo refletir sobre os impactos das nossas escolhas alimentares sobre o meio ambiente e os diferentes grupos populacionais, buscando uma geografia da alimentação que proponha/construa caminhos alternativos para a redução desses impactos e para a transformação dos atuais sistemas alimentares.Palavras-chave: Geografia da alimentação. Pandemia. Sistema alimentar. Meio ambiente. Grupos populacionais. The geography of food in the context of the pandemic: rethinking food systems to sustain bodies and the planetABSTRACTThe crisis due to the pandemic of the new coronavirus is making the need to rethink individual and social practices and the ways they affect the planet even more urgent. One of these practices concerns our food, which is increasingly dependent on an industrial food system that deepens socioeconomic, environmental and health problems – such as pandemics. Combining the analysis of structural aspects with the cultural and intersectional dimensions that influence contemporary eating habits, with this article we aim to reflect on the impacts of our food choices on the environment and different population groups, seeking a geography of food that proposes / builds alternative paths to reduce these impacts and transform current food systems.Keywords: Geography of food. Pandemic. Food system. Environment. Population groups. 

Environmental Dynamics in Animal Waste Reclamation in the Scaling up of Livestock in Thailand

Thailand has seen a scaling up of pig production in numbers and structure. Nonetheless, in-house separation and agricultural reclamation of pig solid waste are common practice. Waste reclamation is not taking place under small-scale farming and its environmental dynamics cannot be simply understood as a direct projection to larger scales. Scaling up has transformed the environmental significance of waste reclamation, including waste transfer from livestock to agriculture farmers. Waste transfer benefits pig farmers by trade and removal of waste by agriculture and aquaculture farmers and is key to the environmental dynamics of pig production. However, waste reclamation is not clearly defined as a management option in environmental frameworks. Waste management is mainly addressed as in-farm wastewater with limited attention to agro-environmental values of present practices. To recognise present practices in agro-environmental policies this thesis suggests a descriptive strategy focused on the transfer of waste. Such strategy would avoid command-and-control norms, avoid conflicting with an environmental culture centered in biogas technology and support knowledge transfer in agriculture. A focus on waste transfer from animal farms to agriculture [and aquaculture] plots is interpreted as off-site waste management. Off-site waste management calls for the inclusion of geographical variables beyond animal farms. This leads to an extended area of environmental influence (EAEI). Resulting environmental dynamics allows an interpretation of environment beyond resource in classical agricultural geography to a connotation where environment is also significant to agriculture and livestock because of the impacts from production. The recognition of reclamation practices and, consequently, of the integral environmental dynamics, and hence the connotation of environment, would contribute to connect livestock with agriculture through environmental geography. Intensive livestock is then defined as distribution and not location. Formalisation of reclamation practices entails the acknowledgment of agro-ecological cycles in livestock

FOOD AID AND COMMERCIAL INTERNATIONAL FOOD TRADE

1. This paper was commissioned by the Trade and Markets Division of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to address the relationship between food aid and commercial international food trade as background to an anticipated OECD study on the export competition aspects of food aid. The terms of reference for this study call for "a critical review of the existing literature on the potential use of food aid as an export support policy or, alternatively, the potential that food aid bears implications similar to those of export supporting policies." 2. This paper can be summarized as follows. Food aid has multiple objectives, modalities and effects and there has been significant movement over time in each of these areas. Concerns about the use of food aid as an export support policy are founded in both the history of bilateral food aid, in the political economy of food aid support in major donor countries, and in some current uses. The effects of food aid on commercial international food trade turn on several key factors, chief among which is its targeting, of which timing of deliveries is an important subfactor. Due to inevitably imperfect targeting at both macro and micro levels, food aid clearly displaces commercial sales of food contemporaneously in recipient economies. The evidence is unclear as to the distribution of these short-term losses across domestic and foreign suppliers in recipient countries, but the evidence somewhat favors the conclusion that most of the displacement comes out of commercial imports. Whether this displacement adversely effects international food markets depends on the manner in which the food aid is obtained, how well integrated the recipient economy market is with the global market, and recipient demand for variety. The longer-term effects of food aid turn on the dynamic income effects of food aid receipt and the extent to which these stimulate future food demand. The crucial questions then are how the short-term losses due to contemporaneous displacement of commercial imports, the global market effects of alternative food aid procurement modalities, and the long-term gains from any derivative income stimulus balance out over time and how these costs and benefits are distributed among donors and third party exporters. Research on these topics has been surprisingly scarce and, largely as a consequence, premature conclusions are too often drawn on the basis of quite limited evidence on the contemporaneous displacement effects of food aid on recipient country markets. Finally, because food aid's effects on trade stem directly from the efficacy of targeting, policymakers exploring the effects of food aid on commercial international food trade must consider explicitly the trade-off between higher expected displacement of commercial trade and higher expected targeting errors of exclusion of intended beneficiaries through restrictive distribution rules.International Relations/Trade, O1, Q17, F1, Q18,

No. 11: The State of Food Insecurity in Cape Town

Cape Town is one of the wealthiest cities in the Southern African region. Yet, the vast majority of households in poor areas of the city experience food insecurity. This paper uses AFSUN data to examine the characteristics and drivers of food insecurity in Cape Town. While food insecurity correlates closely with income poverty and household structure, broader factors also impact upon urban food security, most notably urban design and market structure. Efforts to address urban food insecurity should therefore not simply target the household. Instead, a food systems approach is necessary, which considers supply chains, procurement, nutrition support programmes, public health, environmental sustainability, water and waste, the support of local enterprise and so on. Furthermore, this approach must consider the geography of the urban food system, in particular planning and zoning regulations regarding the location of both formal and informal food retail within low-income areas of the city