15 research outputs found
Applying and Extending the Sustainable Value Method related to Agriculture – an Overview
Sustainable Value is a method to measure the contribution of an economic entity, such as a farm or the entire agricultural sector, towards the sustainability (sustainable development) of a region, a country or on a global scale. A positive sustainable value is created once resources are used more efficiently than by a benchmark. It shows the excess return that is created or lost by the use of economic, environmental and social resources by an economic entity relative to a benchmark. The purpose of this paper is to give an overview on the characteristics and requirements of the SV and to provide information on (a) possible applications and (b) extensions of the SV method related to the agricultural sector. A particular emphasis is put on the choice of sustainability indicators (resource figures, welfare figure) to be included, the generic steps of SV calculation, the meaning of weighting and aggregation in the SV, the role of the Return-to-Cost Ratio in taking farm size into consideration, and the interpretation and communication of the results of an agriculture-related SV assessment. After sketching out possible extensions and variations of the SV method, the paper closes with a summary of those aspects to keep in mind when applying the SV to agriculture.sustainability contributions, value, measurement, Environmental Economics and Policy,
A local potential for the Weyl tensor in all dimensions
In all dimensions and arbitrary signature, we demonstrate the existence of a
new local potential -- a double (2,3)-form -- for the Weyl curvature tensor,
and more generally for all tensors with the symmetry properties of the Weyl
curvature tensor. The classical four-dimensional Lanczos potential for a Weyl
tensor -- a double (2,1)-form -- is proven to be a particular case of the new
potential: its double dual.Comment: 7 pages; Late
Applying and Extending the Sustainable Value Method related to Agriculture – an Overview
Sustainable Value is a method to measure the contribution of an economic entity, such as a farm or the entire agricultural sector, towards the sustainability (sustainable development) of a region, a country or on a global scale. A positive sustainable value is created once resources are used more efficiently than by a benchmark. It shows the excess return that is created or lost by the use of economic, environmental and social resources by an economic entity relative to a benchmark. The purpose of this paper is to give an overview on the characteristics and requirements of the SV and to provide information on (a) possible applications and (b) extensions of the SV method related to the agricultural sector. A particular emphasis is put on the choice of sustainability indicators (resource figures, welfare figure) to be included, the generic steps of SV calculation, the meaning of weighting and aggregation in the SV, the role of the Return-to-Cost Ratio in taking farm size into consideration, and the interpretation and communication of the results of an agriculture-related SV assessment. After sketching out possible extensions and variations of the SV method, the paper closes with a summary of those aspects to keep in mind when applying the SV to agriculture
The Shallow or the Deep Ecological Economics Movement?
Ecological economics and its policy recommendations have become overwhelmed by
economic valuation, shadow pricing, sustainability measures, and squeezing Nature into the
commodity boxes of goods, services and capital in order to make it part of mainstream
economic, financial and banking discourses. There are deeper concerns which touch upon
the understanding of humanity in its various social, psychological, political and ethical facets.
The relationship with Nature proposed by the ecological economics movement has the
potential to be far reaching. However, this is not the picture portrayed by surveying the
amassed body of articles from this journal or by many of those claiming affiliation. A
shallow movement, allied to a business as usual politics and economy, has become dominant
and imposes its preoccupation with mainstream economic concepts and values. If, instead,
ecological economists choose a path deep into the world of interdisciplinary endeavour they
will need to be prepared to transform themselves and society. The implications go far beyond
the pragmatic use of magic numbers to convince politicians and the public that ecology still
has something relevant to say in the 21st Century. (author's abstract)Series: SRE - Discussion Paper