Linking complexity economics and systems thinking, with illustrative discussions of urban sustainability

The expanding research of complexity economics has been signalling its preference for a formal quantitative investigation of diverse interactions between heterogeneous agents at the lower, micro-level resulting in emergent, realistic socioeconomic dynamics at the higher, macro-level. However, there is scarcity in research that explicitly links complexity perspectives in economics with the systems thinking literature, despite these being highly compatible, with strong connections and common historical traces. We aim to address this gap by exploring commonalities and differences between the two bodies of knowledge, seen particularly through an economics lens. We argue for a hybrid approach, in that agent-based complexity perspectives in economics could more closely connect to two main systems thinking attributes: a macroscopic approach to analytically capturing the complex dynamics of systems, and an inter-subjective interpretivist dimension, when investigating complex social-economic order. Illustrative discussions of city sustainability are provided, with an emphasis on decarbonisation and residential energy demand aspects

Scenarios as the basis for assessment of mitigation and adaptation

The possibilities and need for adaptation and mitigation depends on uncertain future developments with respect to socio-economic factors and the climate system. Scenarios are used to explore the impacts of different strategies under uncertainty. In this chapter, some scenarios are presented that are used in the ADAM project for this purpose. One scenario explores developments with no mitigation, and thus with high temperature increase and high reliance on adaptation (leading to 4oC increase by 2100 compared to pre-industrial levels). A second scenario explores an ambitious mitigation strategy (leading to 2oC increase by 2100 compared to pre-industrial levels). In the latter scenario, stringent mitigation strategies effectively reduces the risks of climate change, but based on uncertainties in the climate system a temperature increase of 3oC or more cannot be excluded. The analysis shows that, in many cases, adaptation and mitigation are not trade-offs but supplements. For example, the number of people exposed to increased water resource stress due to climate change can be substantially reduced in the mitigation scenario, but even then adaptation will be required for the remaining large numbers of people exposed to increased stress. Another example is sea level rise, for which adaptation is more cost-effective than mitigation, but mitigation can help reduce damages and the cost of adaptation. For agriculture, finally, only the scenario based on a combination of adaptation and mitigation is able to avoid serious climate change impacts

Responding to Climate Change: The Economy and Economics - Part of the Problem and Solution

The Climate Change Starter’s Guide provides an introduction and overview for education planners and practitioners on the wide range of issues relating to climate change and climate change education, including causes, impacts, mitigation and adaptation strategies, as well as some broad political and economic principles. The aim of this guide is to serve as a starting point for mainstreaming climate change education into school curricula. It has been created to enable education planners and practitioners to understand the issues at hand, to review and analyse their relevance to particular national and local contexts, and to facilitate the development of education policies, curricula, programmes and lesson plans. The guide covers four major thematic areas: 1. the science of climate change, which explains the causes and observed changes; 2. the social and human aspects of climate change including gender, health, migration, poverty and ethics; 3. policy responses to climate change including measures for mitigation and adaptation; and 4. education approaches including education for sustainable development, disaster reduction and sustainable lifestyles. A selection of key resources in the form of publication titles or websites for further reading is provided after each of the thematic sections

Fiscal policy and ecological sustainability: a post-Keynesian perspective

Fiscal policy has a strong role to play in the transition to an ecologically sustainable economy. This paper critically discusses the way that green fiscal policy has been analysed in both conventional and post-Keynesian approaches. It then uses a recently developed post-Keynesian ecological macroeconomic model in order to provide a comparative evaluation of three different types of green fiscal policy: carbon taxes, green subsidies and green public investment. We show that (i) carbon taxes reduce global warming but increase financial risks due to their adverse effects on the profitability of firms and credit availability; (ii) green subsidies and green public investment improve ecological efficiency, but their positive environmental impact is partially offset by their macroeconomic rebound effects; and (iii) a green fiscal policy mix derives better outcomes than isolated policies. Directions for future heterodox macroeconomic research on the links between fiscal policy and ecological sustainability are suggested

Multi-criteria decision analysis in policy-making for climate mitigation and development

Greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation policy-making has largely been conducted in isolation of development considerations. An emerging literature, bolstered by the “nationally determined” nature of the Paris Agreement, explores the identification and assessment of the co-impacts of mitigation actions. There is now a recognized need to consider mitigation an integral part of a multi-objective development challenge. However, the literature on how to practically and effectively apply this in policy-making, particularly in developing economies, is limited. This paper explores the potential for using approaches that fall under the umbrella of multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) in guiding analyses and policy-making that relate to the climate mitigation–development interface. It categorizes three distinct types of decision problems in the broad area of climate and development policy-making, and presents lessons from three case studies, in India, Chile, and Peru and Colombia taken together, where aspects of MCDA approaches were explored. Based on these reviews, the paper concludes that MCDA approaches, despite certain limitations, can add substantive and procedural credibility to existing toolkits supporting climate and development decision-making. Key contributions of the approach are to structure the analyses, systematically include stakeholder deliberations, and provide tools to rigorously incorporate quantitative and qualitative co-impacts in multiple objective-based decisions

Translation and validation of the ageism scale for dental students in Romanian (ASDS-Rom)

Aims: The aim of this paper was to validate the Romanian version of an ageism scale for dental students. Materials and Methods: The initial 27-item ageism scale was translated into Romanian and administered to 210 dental students in Craiova. The data were analysed using principal components analysis (PCA) with an orthogonal, Varimax rotation. The answers were then compared across several demographic variables using a combination of independent samples t tests and one-way between-subjects analysis of variance (ANOVA). Results: Adequate factorability was confirmed with a Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) of 0.676 and a Bartlett's Test of Sphericity yielding P < 0.001. PCA revealed a 10-item scale distributed into three components that accounted for 58% of the overall variance. The first component contained 4 items related to the cost-benefit of providing care to older patients (α = 0.80). The second contained 3 items that revolved around the perceptions about older people and their value in the society (α = 0.59). The third contained 3 items related to gerodontology training (α = 0.46). Discriminant validity showed differences in the first component based on whether a student had an older family member. Conclusions: The 10-item, three components scale demonstrated acceptable validity and reliability. © 2020 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Lt