Reforming the Spanish contributory pension system

The debate on the reform of the pension system in Spain is not very lively, in contrast with the international experience. The Spanish economic boom since the mis nineties, the slowdown in the number of pensioners due to the retirement of the cohorts born during the Civil War, and the outstanding immigration flows have contributed to a transitory strengh of Social Security accounts. The paper aims at extending and fostering this public debate. We present an evaluation of the contriburoty pension system in Spain until 2059, based on recent demographic projections. We propose a set of simple indicators to evaluate periodically the situation and perspectives of the Social Security system. And we elaborate on the main reforms that may balance the Social Security Accounts, already implemented in Europe.España, Seguridad Social, prestaciones contributivas, sostenibilidad financiera, reformas

Las reformas necesarias en el sistema de pensiones contributivas en España

The debate on the reform of the pension system in Spain is not very lively, in contrast with the international experience. The Spanish economic boom since the mis nineties, the slowdown in the number of pensioners due to the retirement of the cohorts born during the Civil War, and the outstanding immigration flows have contributed to a transitory strengh of Social Security accounts. The paper aims at extending and fostering this public debate. We present an evaluation of the contriburoty pension system in Spain until 2059, based on recent demographic projections. We propose a set of simple indicators to evaluate periodically the situation and perspectives of the Social Security system. And we elaborate on the main reforms that may balance the Social Security Accounts, already implemented in Europe

The superior effect of nature based solutions in land management for enhancing ecosystem services

The rehabilitation and restoration of land is a key strategy to recover services -goods and resources- ecosystems offer to the humankind. This paper reviews key examples to understand the superior effect of nature based solutions to enhance the sustainability of catchment systems by promoting desirable soil and landscape functions. The use of concepts such as connectivity and the theory of system thinking framework allowed to review coastal and river management as a guide to evaluate other strategies to achieve sustainability. In landmanagement NBSs are not mainstream management. Through a set of case studies: organic farming in Spain; rewilding in Slovenia; land restoration in Iceland, sediment trapping in Ethiopia and wetland construction in Sweden, we showthe potential of Nature based solutions (NBSs) as a cost-effective long term solution for hydrological risks and land degradation. NBSs can be divided into two main groups of strategies: soil solutions and landscape solutions. Soil solutions aimto enhance the soil health and soil functions throughwhich local eco-systemserviceswill bemaintained or restored. Landscape solutions mainly focus on the concept of connectivity. Making the landscape less connected, facilitating less rainfall to be transformed into runoff and therefore reducing flood risk, increasing soilmoisture and reducing droughts and soil erosionwe can achieve the sustainability. The enhanced eco-system services directly feed into the realization of the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations

Development and analysis of the Soil Water Infiltration Global database

In this paper, we present and analyze a novel global database of soil infiltration measurements, the Soil Water Infiltration Global (SWIG) database. In total, 5023 infiltration curves were collected across all continents in the SWIG database. These data were either provided and quality checked by the scientists who performed the experiments or they were digitized from published articles. Data from 54 different countries were included in the database with major contributions from Iran, China, and the USA. In addition to its extensive geographical coverage, the collected infiltration curves cover research from 1976 to late 2017. Basic information on measurement location and method, soil properties, and land use was gathered along with the infiltration data, making the database valuable for the development of pedotransfer functions (PTFs) for estimating soil hydraulic properties, for the evaluation of infiltration measurement methods, and for developing and validating infiltration models. Soil textural information (clay, silt, and sand content) is available for 3842 out of 5023 infiltration measurements ( ∼ 76%) covering nearly all soil USDA textural classes except for the sandy clay and silt classes. Information on land use is available for 76% of the experimental sites with agricultural land use as the dominant type ( ∼ 40%). We are convinced that the SWIG database will allow for a better parameterization of the infiltration process in land surface models and for testing infiltration models. All collected data and related soil characteristics are provided online in *.xlsx and *.csv formats for reference, and we add a disclaimer that the database is for public domain use only and can be copied freely by referencing it. Supplementary data are available at https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.885492 (Rahmati et al., 2018). Data quality assessment is strongly advised prior to any use of this database. Finally, we would like to encourage scientists to extend and update the SWIG database by uploading new data to it

La ampliación europea al Este, mucho más que economía

En este artículo se realiza un análisis descriptivo de la estructura social y económica de los diez países de Europa del Este y se evalúan los retos a los que se enfrentará, en los próximos años, la UE ampliada.