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In this article, we explore the intersection between data protection law and consumer protection law in their application to data-driven business models that monetise attention and personal data. We approach European Union law from a constitutional perspective, as in addition to economic harms some aspects of predatory business models also pose a risk for human dignity, human well-being, social welfare and democracy. From a three-tiered model of information asymmetry, it is argued that there is a need to rethink consumer protection in order to restore some sense of equity in commercial interactions online. In that vein Social welfare computing can play an important role in combating superficiality and strengthening social cohesion.

National parks have implemented restrictive measures on human activities to protect the ecological environment, which has changed the livelihood dependence and strategies of farmers and herders. Exploring the impact of livelihood strategies on the human well-being of farmers and herdsmen within the national park construction area can help to better develop livelihood intervention measures to achieve sustainable livelihoods for farmers and herders. A total of 329 farmers and herders in Qilian Mountain National Park in China were investigated, and one-way ANOVA and ordinary least squares were employed to analyze the impact of farmers’ and herders’ livelihood strategies on human well-being in different periods of national park construction. Our results show that the livelihood strategies of farmers and herders play an important role in their well-being. Farmers and herders adopted diversified livelihood strategies after the National Park System Pilot officially launched (after 2015). The well-being advantage of adopting a diversified livelihood strategy became evident over time. Specifically, farmers and herders adopting the settlement diversification livelihood strategy were able to better adapt to the development concept of the national park after the national park pilot was officially established (after 2017). However, nomadic, settled agricultural, and pastoral households were always at a disadvantage in terms of well-being. In addition, distance, nationality, gender, and education level were important factors affecting the well-being of farmers and herders. The results of this study are helpful for improving our understanding of the influence of livelihood strategies on the well-being of farmers and herders and the related challenges they face in the construction of national parks.

In this study, we evaluated alternative methods for comparing the provision of ecosystem services among urban areas, stressing how the choice of comparison method affects the ability to compare the ecosystem service outcomes, in order to improve the management actions in urban green areas, reduce environmental inequality, and ensure satisfactory levels of human well-being. For the analysis, ten spatial indicators were quantified to assess the provision of urban ecosystem services in Barcelona, Spain, and Santiago, Chile. Two comparison methods were applied in both cities to evaluate the differences in their provision scores. The analysis was performed using the Ecosystem Management Decision Support (EMDS) system, a spatially enabled decision support framework for environmental management. The results depicted changes in the values of the provision of ecosystem services depending on the methodological approach applied. When the data were analysed separately for each city, both cities registered a wide range of provision values across the city districts, varying from very low to very high values. However, when the analysis was based on the data for both cities, the provision scores in Santiago decreased, while they increased in Barcelona, showing relativeness and a discrepancy in their provisions, hindering an appropriate planning definition. Our results emphasise the importance of the choice of comparison approach in the analyses of urban ecosystem services and the need for further studies on these comparison methods.

While biodiversity is critical for financial activity, it is under attack worldwide, and its capacity to keep providing the commodities and services necessary for socioeconomic development is eroding. Globally, the ramifications of this have been summarized in a landmark study — the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA). It emphasizes that people have altered the natural environment in unprecedented ways over the last several decades to fulfill expanding needs for food, fresh water, fiber, and energy, and that this requirement will only expand as the world’s population expands and spending habits shift (UNEP FI Biodiversity & Ecosystem Services Work Stream (BESW), 2008). Keywords: ecosystem services, biodiversity, global sustainability, environmental policy, climate change, ecosystem processes, human well-being, legal risks, pressures, diversification. Title: Biodiversity and Ecosystem Service Sustainability Author: Nikolaos N. Toumasis International Journal of Novel Research in Civil Structural and Earth Sciences ISSN 2394-7357 Vol. 10, Issue 1, January 2023 - April 2023 Page No: 1-7 Novelty Journals Website: www.noveltyjournals.com Published Date: 10-March-2023 DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7715232 Paper Download Link (Source) https://www.noveltyjournals.com/upload/paper/Biodiversity%20and%20Ecosystem%20Service%20Sustainability-10032023-2.pdf, International Journal of Novel Research in Civil Structural and Earth Sciences, ISSN 2394-7357, Novelty Journals, Website: www.noveltyjournals.com

Human well-being is one of the main goals of sustainable development (SDG 3 and SDG 11). Urban green zones are always presented in all global well-being rankings of the cities. The development of new forms of urban green zones is stimulated by such challenges as urban health and the deficit of urban territory. Sensory gardens are one of the innovative forms of urban green zones. They implement intensive and concentrative interaction of citizens with nature, positively influencing objective and subjective human well-being. In the first part of the research, we analyzed the history of the evolution of the concept of a sensory garden from its mono-sensory to multi-sensory form using the bibliographic analysis. The results of the analyses of scientific publications were confirmed by the results of a survey presented in the second part of the research. The survey was conducted in Moscow, Saint-Petersburg, and Yekaterinburg, where 215 citizens spoke about the sensory garden. The research results confirm that the sensory gardens are a prospective form of urban green zones for citizens, and they are interested in the development of its multisensory concept. According to survey results, the zones of smells and colors in the sensory garden were the most attractive for the respondents. The respondents agreed that the main function of sensory gardens is anti-stress therapy for adults.

Ecosystem services (ESs) are a multiple whole composed of multiple services and their multiple relations, which can be expressed as tensors (multiple functions of multiple vectors). This study attempts to introduce the concept and method of tensors into ES research to solve problems caused by the multiplicity of ESs, such as multiple descriptions and perceptions of ESs, repeated calculation of ES values, and cascading relationships with the social economy. Taking the Manas River Basin composite ecosystem as an example, we constructed five different types of ES tensors based on different understandings and applications: (1) As multiple vectors, three eigenvectors were extracted from the ES state tensor (ESST), including farmland service (FS), vegetation service (VS) and water service (WS). According to the ES response tensor (ESRT), an increase in FS may lead to a decline in overall services. (2) As multiple functions, the ES value (ESV) of the basin was measured by the ESV metric tensor (ESVMT), with a gross value of 14.8 billion USD and a net value of 10.17 billion USD. From different stakeholders perceptions constructed by the ecosystem services to human well-beings (ES-HW) tensor, the human well-being values (HWV) were ranked as citizens > farmers ≈ herdsmen > public. (3) The HWV output efficiency of different LULC per unit of water use was calculated by a fourth-order mixed tensor constructed by water–LULC–ES–HW multiple cascading relations. Among them, the HWV efficiency of water areas and wetlands was the highest, but the area was the smallest. Cultivated land and unused land had the lowest HWV efficiency and largest area. In general, the ES tensor is the extension and integration of the ES scalars/indicators to the ES vectors/bundles, which can provide tools for the integral expression, objective measurement and multiple perceptions of ESs.

China’s economy has been experiencing a new development mode that emphasizes an environmentally friendly green economy and high living standards. The concept of human well-being has become increasingly prominent in recent years to replace GDP per capita as an important indicator for evaluating happiness. In the context of the green economy, it is of great significance to incorporate environmental indicators for evaluating human well-being. To this end, this paper constructs a new human well-being evaluation indicator system including environmental sustainability, and then evaluates the well-being levels of 30 provinces in China from 2011 to 2020 using a comprehensive evaluation method. Then, various statistical methods and visualization methods are used to deeply analyze the spatiotemporal changes in the well-being scores of Chinese provinces during the sample period. Finally, the spatial convergence model was used to verify if cross-province well-being scores would converge to a common steady state. The findings are as follows. (1) The scores of the environmental sustainability subsystem greatly vary from province to province. This is because the local governments have attached great importance to the construction of green ecological civilization in recent years, thus increasing the investment in protecting the ecological environment. (2) From temporal dimensions, overall human well-being scores of 30 provinces slightly increased year after year. In geography, eastern provinces have the highest human well-being scores, followed by northeast, northwest, and southwest provinces. (3) In terms of the scores of the four subsystems, we find that nearly all provinces have their advantages and disadvantages. (4) From the results of the spatial convergence models, both absolute and conditional β convergence have been verified, indicating that the human well-being of all provinces will converge to the common steady state in the future.

Η θεματολογία του βιβλίου καλύπτει ζητήματα και μοντέλα εκπαίδευσης που μπορούν να εφαρμοστούν σε όλες τις εκπαιδευτικές βαθμίδες, με στόχο την ενίσχυση της μάθησης, την αειφορία και εντέλει την ανθρώπινη ευημερία. Η εφαρμογή αυτών των εκπαιδευτικών μοντέλων στην τυπική, μη τυπική και την άτυπη μάθηση μπορεί να συνεισφέρει στην αναδιοργάνωση της κοινωνίας γύρω από ένα νέο σύνολο αρχών και αξιών που ενδυναμώνουν τα άτομα και τις κοινότητες και ισορροπούν τις ανταγωνιστικές απαιτήσεις της κοινωνίας. Στα κεφάλαια του βιβλίου διερευνάται ο τρόπος με τον οποίο τα άτομα, τα σχολεία και οι κοινότητες μπορούν να γίνουν τα δομικά στοιχεία αυτής της αναδιοργάνωσης. Επιπλέον, παρουσιάζονται προσεγγίσεις σχετικά με το πώς θα μπορούσε να τροποποιηθεί η εκπαίδευση, ώστε με κατάλληλες παρεμβάσεις και συστηματική προσπάθεια να βελτιστοποιηθούν τα μαθησιακά αποτελέσματα σε επίπεδο γνώσεων, δεξιοτήτων και στάσεων. Σε κάθε κεφάλαιο, προσεγγίζεται ένα διαφορετικό ζήτημα που σχετίζεται με το μέλλον της εκπαίδευσης. Με τον τρόπο αυτό, προσφέρεται στον αναγνώστη η ευκαιρία να διερευνήσει λόγους για τους οποίους η παρεχόμενη εκπαίδευση, στη μορφή που έχει σήμερα, αποδεικνύεται ανεπαρκής για τον πολίτη του μέλλοντος και να συζητήσει για την επίτευξη της αειφορίας και της ανθρώπινης ευημερίας. Υπό το πρίσμα αυτό, το βιβλίο επιχειρεί να αναδείξει την ανάγκη μετασχηματισμού του εκπαιδευτικού πλαισίου, ώστε να μπορεί να προετοιμάζει τους μαθητές και τις μαθήτριες να γίνουν δρώντα υποκείμενα στην κοινωνία του μέλλοντος, καλλιεργώντας δεξιότητες και μεταγνωστικές ικανότητες με διττό σκοπό: α) να ανταπεξέλθουν στις απαιτήσεις της σύγχρονης παγκοσμιοποιημένης, ανταγωνιστικής κοινωνίας και β) να θέτουν τις βάσεις για την αειφορία, τη βιωσιμότητα του πλανήτη και την ανθρώπινη ευημερία. Το βιβλίο αναδεικνύει ότι υπάρχει «χώρος» για έναν εξελικτικό μετασχηματισμό της ανθρωπότητας προς την αειφορία και την ανθρώπινη ευημερία, γεγονός που επιφέρει συνέπειες και στη ίδια τη φύση/τη μορφή της εκπαίδευσης.

Architect Jørn Utzon is known for his devotion to human well-being and his ability to integrate architectural and structural ideas. Yet, discussions in scholarly circles often emphasise his tectonic genius related to sublime formgiving and structuralmaterial experiments. Less attention is given to how his sense of empathy and concern for the well-being of users infuencedhis design process. To address this absence, we explored how training students in a user empathic design process can be integrated in an architectural and engineering design approach.First, we outline a theoretical framework grounded in the 1) scholarship on tectonic thinking by Jonathan Hale and Marco Frascari and 2) cognitive-neuroscientifc understanding of how human beings interact with their surroundings in an embodied and emotional manner. Architectural experience is thus co-produced in an on-going meeting between structures, spaces,and human bodies. Secondly, we present a case study of an experiment with storyboarding as a technique to visualize the intangible aspects of designing for well-being and emotional experience. Placing the ‘body’ and ‘experience’ at the center of the design process calls for greater sensitivity to diversities within user groups. We argue for an adjusted tectonic design toolbox focused around translating experiences, emotions, and behaviors as a means of joining user-oriented, architectural, and engineering principles in the early design phases. This paper intends to spark a debate about ‘tectonics of well-being’ and to discuss whether storyboarding as a narrative design tool can help join structural-material genius with socio-cultural realms of human experience in tectonic design. Architect Jørn Utzon is known for his devotion to human well-being and his ability to integrate architectural and structural ideas. Yet, discussions in scholarly circles often emphasise his tectonic genius related to sublime formgiving and structural-material experiments. Less attention is given to how his sense of empathy and concern for the well-being of users influenced his design process. To address this absence, we explored how training students in a user empathic design process can be integrated in an architectural and engineering design approach.First, we outline a theoretical framework grounded in the 1) scholarship on tectonic thinking by Jonathan Hale and Marco Frascari and 2) cognitive-neuroscientific understanding of how human beings interact with their surroundings in an embodied and emotional manner. Architectural experience is thus co-produced in an on-going meeting between structures, spaces, and human bodies. Secondly, we present a case study of an experiment with storyboarding as a technique to visualize the intangible aspects of designing for well-being and emotional experience. Placing the ‘body’ and ‘experience’ at the center of the design process calls for greater sensitivity to diversities within user groups. We argue for an adjusted tectonic design toolbox focused around translating experiences, emotions, and behaviors as a means of joining user-oriented, architectural, and engineering principles in the early design phases. This paper intends to spark a debate about ‘tectonics of well-being’ and to discuss whether storyboarding as a narrative design tool can help join structural-material genius with socio-cultural realms of human experience in tectonic design.

Context: The most common biomaterial used for dental implants is titanium. However, the release of metal ions and the risk of allergic reactions to metals that may occur in some patients cannot be avoided. Hydroxyapatite-polymethylmethacrylate (HA-PMMA) composite biomaterials are proposed to have potential as dental implant biomaterials due to their mechanical, chemical, and biological properties. HA-PMMA may induce osseointegration, biocompatible, less allergic reactions, and no metal ions released. In addition, HA-PMMA can be obtained from Indonesia’s abundant natural resources. Aims: To explore HA-PMMA composites through molecular docking as a biomaterial candidate for dental implants in silico. Methods: Structure data format (sdf), molecular weight, and identity number (CID) of HA-PMMA ligand samples were obtained from PubChem database and minimized through OpenBabel. 3D structure, selection method, resolution, atom count, weight, sequence length, and ID protein BMP2, BMP4, BMP7, alkaline phosphatase (AP), osteonectin, osteopontin, and osteocalcin on RCSB-PDB native ligand and water sterilization on PyMol were carried out with the aim of to maximize the formation of binding affinity during molecular docking simulations. Results: HA-PMMA composites can enhance the activity of proteins associated with osseointegration such as BMP-2/4/7, AP, osteocalcin, osteonectin, and osteopontin in silico. HA-PMMA composites have the strongest binding to osteonectin and are predicted to enhance the AP activity in silico. Conclusions: HA-PMMA composites are potential candidates for dental implant biomaterials with the osteointegration ability through binding with BMP-2/4/7, AP, osteocalcin, osteonectin, and osteopontin in silico.

Nuclear science and technology (NST) offers a multitude of applications and tools and has a high level of regulation. However, its contribution to the achievement of global development goals is still incipient. Although its application is directly related to many fields, especially sustainability, the current literature does not relate it to socio-environmental issues, hindering the adoption of public policies based on isotopic and nuclear solutions. In large and megacities, the promotion of human well-being and the conservation of ecosystems are urgent global challenges, especially as a function of the growing expansion of land use modification, water scarcity, and climate change. The relationship between society and NST is addressed in this study, which aims to show how and in what ways the emerging and innovative nuclear and isotopic solutions contribute to the urban dimension of the United Nations 2030 Agenda, expressed by SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities), and its connection to land, water, and climate change in cities. This gap in knowledge compromises the targeting of resources to improve NST as a development strategy. Demystifying NST and increasing collaboration between ecosystem services and other issues related to sustainability in cities are key to implementing global development policies, especially at the local governance level.

Anthropogenic pressures threaten the provision of marine and coastal ecosystem services (MCES) that are essential for human well-being. Ecosystem-based marine spatial management that is informed by mapping and assessing MCES and pressures is needed. Using an expert-based matrix approach based on literature findings, this study maps and assesses the potential capacity of MCES provision in Sines. The results show that provisioning services are potentially provided at high levels, whereas regulatory and cultural services are only provided by certain habitats. The potential pressures were identified, which relate mainly to the maritime-industrial complex in Sines. An expert survey was conducted to obtain more precise data, the results of which cannot yet be presented.

The local community of the Suleiman and Hindukush mountain systems in Pakistan has largely depended on the natural resources of the environment since ancient times. The ecosystem of these regions is under huge pressure due to a lack of awareness and the uncontrolled interference of communal, commercial, security, political, and ecological conditions. The present study was designed to illuminate the link between mountain society and the consumption of the benefits from Monotheca phytocoenoses using the ecosystem services concept from the sphere of the socio-ecological system to cultural relations. The use of this approach is very important due to the visible role and dominant status of Monotheca vegetation within the ecological system of the region. M. buxifolia is strongly connected with both local and cultural traditions and is counted as a key species, particularly for high-mountain inhabitants. We report that Monotheca phytocoenoses provide several services including shelter, food, fodder, medicines, and wood, etc., to the indigenous community and is highly valued in the local culture because of the poor economic condition of the society. The concept of this cultural keystone species is crucial for understanding ecosystem services and must be considered for the protection and conservation of these habitats. The results of field and social studies have shown that the stable maintenance of Monotheca phytocoenosis forests ensures the existence of key species as the most important providers of ecosystem services, e.g., provisioning, regulation, maintenance and cultural services, indicating the close relations between society and the protection of mountain areas. According to the results obtained, the mountains community of the studied area believes that tree species like M. buxifolia, F. palmata, O. ferruginea, P. granatum, A. modesta, J. regia, etc., are the key components contributing to the function of both the mountain ecosystem and communities’ well-being. This approach will be extremely useful for ensuring an inclusive management of the socio-ecological system of the Hindukush and Suleiman Mountain ranges of Pakistan.

Human well-being in many countries lags behind the gross domestic product (GDP) due to the rapid changes in the socio-economic environment that have occurred for decades. However, the mechanisms behind this complex phenomenon are still unclear. This study revealed the changes in human well-being in China from 1995 to 2017 by revising the genuine progress indicator (GPI) at the national level and further quantified the contribution of interfering factors that have driven the increase in the GPI. The results indicated that: (1) The per capita GPI of China showed an increasing trend with an annual growth rate of 12.43%. The changes in the GPI followed the same pattern as economic development, rather than presenting the phenomenon of economic growth combined with a decline in welfare that has been recorded in some countries and regions. (2) The increase in human well-being was mainly driven by economic growth, but it was most sensitive to social factors. (3) Increasing income inequality and the cost of lost leisure time contributed obvious negative impacts (24.69% and 23.35%, respectively) to the per capita GPI. However, the increase in personal consumption expenditures, the value of domestic labor, ecosystem service value, and net capital growth accelerated the rise in the GPI, with positive contribution rates of 30.69%, 23%, 20.54%, and 20.02%, respectively. (4) The continuous increase in economic investment and the strengthening of social management due to policy adjustments completely counteracted the negative impacts on human well-being, thus leading to a great increase in the per capita GPI. Such insights could provide theoretical support for decision making and policy implementation to improve global human well-being.

Vulnerable sectors of the population living in poverty in developing countries are highly dependent on renewable natural resources for their livelihoods and daily lives. Sustainable resource management, improving the well-being of vulnerable people, and building resilience to shocks are global challenges. This study analyzed the outcomes of various autonomous innovations by the people themselves and the enablers of these innovations in the communities of developing countries. This analysis of 20 autonomous innovations from six countries revealed that these innovations produced outcomes that simultaneously improved multiple indicators of human well-being, including “basic materials for a good life”, “safety”, “health”, and “good social relations”. The process of promoting public values, such as education, health improvement, and landscape conservation as a by-product of collective actions was an important enabler of these innovations, as well as the innovator’s proactive attitude toward continuous improvement. Public values and supporting ecosystem services were emphasized from the early stages of collective actions, to realize synergies toward integrated natural resource management. It is also important to achieve conditions in which collective actions could be practiced autonomously and adaptively. These results revealed the great potential of autonomous innovations emerging among socially vulnerable groups and the important mechanisms for promoting autonomous innovations for the transformation of social-ecological systems toward sustainable futures.

An analysis of the 27 European Union (EU) member states over the years 2000–2018 examines the relationship between residential energy use per capita and human well-being, measured by the Human Development Index (HDI). The EU’s ‘Fit for 55’ policy package to reduce greenhouse gas emissions may derail post-communist member states’ convergence (PCMS) to the same level of well-being of households in old member states (OMS). The aim of this article is to assess both the direct and indirect relationship between residential energy use per capita and human well-being. The findings indicate a direct connection in addition to the indirect effect between them. Therefore, reducing or leveling off residential energy consumption in PCMS will prevent human development convergence within the EU. The findings indicate the lack of convergence, because of the ‘Fit for 55’ policy package assumption of a decline of residential energy consumption in all member states could stagnate or lower HDI in PCMS and prevent policy implementation.

Human has been evolving in a natural environment over a long time; thus, he is habitual to adapt it. Green spaces are obligatory landscapes in an urban structure that provide a natural environment and accelerate other life events. In contrast, unplanned urbanization, and conversion from green to grey structures have damaged natural environmental resources. Studies through different angles have highlighted the importance of urban green spaces for human well-being but now need to identify their role according to the potential. The demands of urban green spaces may differ with the change of population size, types of grey structure, urban expansion, the altitude of the place, and geographical location. Therefore, this systematic review aims to analyse the significance of urban green spaces for human well-being. The study opted for a systematic process during the selection and organization of studies for this review. After analysing, 46 studies were finalized with the consensus of three review authors. Accordingly, literature was analysed under the central theme of “Urban Green Spaces for Human Well-being.” Human Well-being was assessed under six sub-themes; physical, psychological, mental, social, subjective, and environmental well-being. The review concluded that urban green spaces are the primary pillar for a sustainable urban place and human well-being due to highly positive and positive correlations. Moreover, the study did not find any demarcation line between green spaces and grey structures according to any specific need. Therefore, the study suggested that the role of urban green spaces for human well-being should be analysed according to their potential and required optimal ratio under different communities’ urban specific environments and social behaviour.

Waterfront accessibility is one of the major planning aspects of cities. However, tackling this issue from the Human Well-Being (HWB) perspective is relatively new. Alexandria is one of the leading Mediterranean cities that was planned, shaped, and configured as based on its direct linkage to the waterfront. Nowadays, city extensions make many of its newly developed zones detached from the waterfront. This paper investigates the correlations between waterfront accessibility and HWB in Alexandria. It uses an analytical approach -based on statistical investigations- to compare HWB in two zones based on their proximity to the waterfront. The results show that detailed configuration of street pattern and travel duration are the most influencing attributes on waterfront accessibility. Consequently, these attributes have a higher impact on residents’ satisfaction or negative affect, and therefore their HWB than other attributes. The paper concludes with guidelines to policymakers, urban planners, and researchers’ contributions to waterfront accessibility.

This project includes biophyiscal parameters and input files to run the baseline LULC in MESH and model outputs for the baseline LULC. It also includes LULC for each scenario that can be run with the same inputs and biophysical parameters

The understanding of the complexities of human well-being (HWB) within the ecosystem service (ES) context is fundamental to the development of management plans to sustain the flow of ecosystem services (ESs) for HWB. However, research on HWB in the context of ecosystem services is still underrepresented on Africa’s coast. Primary data were collected from 794 household heads in six communities within Ghana’s eastern coastal zone. A sequential logistics regression model was used to assess the effect of the interactions between ESs, socio-economic conditions, and contextual factors on HWB. Respondents’ well-being varied across the study communities, with high well-being reported by 63% of respondents from Anloga and low well-being by 77% in Kedzi. A strong association was found between HWB and relevant characteristics of respondents including marital status, years lived in a community, subjective social position (SSP), main livelihood source, income class, access to a reliable credit facility, and being a member of a local community group. Gender was not a significant predictor of HWB levels. For the effect of ESs on HWB, we found that respondents who had high contentment with provisioning and cultural ESs were more likely to have high well-being as opposed to respondents who had low contentment. Respondents who had low to moderate contentment with regulatory ESs were more likely to have high well-being, but the contextual factors condensed the significance of this relationship. Findings suggest the implementation of deliberate actions to maintain or restore vital ecosystem functions and services for sustainable well-being in coastal communities.

We present a solution for intelligent posture training based on accurate, real-time sitting posture monitoring using the LifeChair IoT cushion and supervised machine learning from pressure sensing and user body data. We demonstrate our system’s performance in sitting posture and seated stretch recognition tasks with over 98.82% accuracy in recognizing 15 different sitting postures and 97.94% in recognizing six seated stretches. We also show that user BMI divergence significantly affects posture recognition accuracy using machine learning. We validate our method’s performance in five different real-world workplace environments and discuss training strategies for the machine learning models. Finally, we propose the first smart posture data-driven stretch recommendation system in alignment with physiotherapy standards.

The detrimental effects of climate change require countries and regions to use green and low-carbon strategies as the basis for economic development. Agriculture and livestock industry have become among the main industries that emit greenhouse gases. Yongchang County is suitable for the development of large-scale livestock operations due to its unique geographical advantages. However, the potential effects of the carbon dioxide emissions and the environmental impact potential of various farming and animal husbandry farming models on human well-being need to be considered. The purpose of this paper is to use life cycle assessment (LCA) to comprehensively assess the carbon emissions and environmental impact of circular agriculture and livestock industry and to provide important decision support for the establishment of a low-carbon circular agriculture and animal husbandry model. It uses a 75 kg dairy sheep as a functional unit to combine a noncircular farming model (S1) and a circular farming model (S2). The degree of carbon emissions, environmental impact potential and human well-being environmental effects are compared. The results show that the carbon dioxide emission of S1 is 891.3 kg, while the emission of S2 is 647.3 kg, and the difference between the two is 244 kg. S2 has a lower global warming potential than the S1 model; hence, the S2 model, which uses biogas for power, has lower carbon emission than the S1 model. From the perspective of human well-being and environmental benefits, the S2 model of biogas power generation is a low carbon emission and high-benefit model. The biogas power generation model lays the foundation for the realization of the “peak carbon dioxide emissions” and “carbon neutralization” goal, strengthens ecological protection on the north side of the Qilian Mountains and improves human well-being in the region.

This paper provides a narrative systematic review (SR) of the impacts of sugarcane production on different ecosystems employing the ecosystem services framework. The literature assessed showed that sugarcane, like all agro-systems, depends on practices and techniques to transform negative impacts into positive externalities on ecosystems. However, the literature studied failed to include the inter-linkage in the effects of sugarcane production and therefore, evaluate the ecosystem services and account for existing trade-offs.

The European Union (EU) has recently adopted a regulation on invasive alien species that foresees the possibility of developing lists of species of National Concern. We developed a prioritisation process for alien mammals already established in Italy, but not yet included in the EU list (n = 6 species) and a systematic horizon-scanning procedure to obtain ranked lists for those species that are already introduced worldwide or traded in Italy (n = 213). Experts were asked to score these species, by evaluating their likelihood of establishment and spread and the magnitude of their potential impacts on biodiversity, economy, human-health and society. The manageability of each species was also evaluated, both for the proritisation and the horizon-scanning processes. We produced five lists that ranked species according to their potential spread and impacts and their manageability. These will allow policy-makers to select outputs according to a balance between risk assessment and risk management, establishing priorities for alien species management at the national level.

Human activities that alter land cover have destroyed natural ecosystems and caused conflict. In Indonesia, community-based forest management (CBFM) policies implemented by the government seek to empower communities, ameliorate forest conversion, and reduce environmental conflict. This article critically assesses contemporary CBFM policy in Indonesia by analyzing its history and outcomes through policy analysis. To systematically review previous literature on CBFM, this research uses the PRISMA method. It finds that communities are often able to manage forest areas sustainably through sociocultural systems that combine management customs and culture. Empowerment through CBFM policy therefore promises to promote community subsistence, equity, and security regarding forest management. However, granting total resource rights to communities can result in land conversion unless managerial safeguards are in place. Many studies find that the clarity of land boundaries, the consistency of regulation, and the partiality of land governance drive CBFM program success. To facilitate land governance for the successful implementation of Indonesian social forestry, communities need access rights, authority to manage forests, and sufficient knowledge transfer to participate in formal forest management. In contrast to previous iterations of CBFM in Indonesia, current social forestry policy acknowledges these governance needs and seeks to implement them.

Nature safeguards living organisms and the ecosystem functions and services delivered by them. Animal pollination is an important Ecosystem Service since it plays a key role for achieving the sustainable development goals by safeguarding worldwide food production. Thus, conservation of pollination services is a major priority for guaranteeing global food security in the long term. Here we evaluate the crop pollination services in Pará state (Eastern Amazon, Brazil) focusing on two questions: (1) What is the economic value of crop production and pollination service in Pará? (2) Which municipalities are most dependent on pollination services considering local economies? We found 36 crops produced in the state; 20 (55%) crops are dependent on animal pollinators. In 2016, crop production value (CPV) for Pará state was US$ 2.95 billion and total pollination service value (PSV) was US$ 983.2 million, corresponding to 33% of CPV in Pará. Highest PSV value crops were açaí palm (US$635.6 million), cocoa (US$187.6 million), soybean (US$98.4 million), and watermelon (US$26.1 million), accounting for 96% of Pará’s PSV. Two municipalities (Medicilândia and Igarapé Miri) presented more than 50% of their GDP based on pollination services. In general, we found low crop diversity in the municipalities of Pará, suggesting an economic rural vulnerability for the state, mainly supported by the high productions of soy and açaí. Pollinator conservation and ecological intensified farming practices are urgent for supporting sustainable development for the state. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1007/s13744-020-00791-w) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Multifunctional landscapes provide critical benefits and are essential for human well-being. The relationship between multifunctional landscapes and well-being has mostly been studied using ecosystem services as a linkage. However, there is a challenge of concretizing what human well-being exactly is and how it can be measured, particularly in relation to ecosystem services, landscape values and related discussions. In this paper, we measure self-reported well-being through applying an inductive free-listing approach to the exploration of the relationships between landscape multifunctionality and human well-being across 13 rural and peri-urban sites in Europe. We developed a face-to-face online survey (n = 2,301 respondents) integrating subjective perceptions of well-being (free-listing method) with mapping perceived ecosystem service benefits (Public Participation GIS, PPGIS approach). Applying content analysis and diverse statistical methods, we explore the links between well-being (i.e. perceived well-being items such as tranquillity, social relations and health) and social-ecological properties (i.e. respondents' sociocultural characteristics and perception of ecosystem service benefits). We identify 40 different well-being items highlighting prominently landscape values. The items form five distinct clusters: access to services; tranquillity and social capital; health and nature; cultural landscapes; and place attachment. Each cluster is related to specific study sites and explained by certain social-ecological properties. Results of our inductive approach further specify pre-defined conceptualizations on well-being and their connections to the natural environment. Results suggest that the well-being contributions of multifunctional landscapes are connected to therapeutic well-being effects, which are largely neglected in the ecosystem services literature. Our results further point to the context-specific character of linkages between landscapes and human well-being. The clusters highlight that landscape-supported well-being is related to multiple interlinked items that can inform collective visions of well-being in the future. For landscape planning and management, we highlight the need for place-specific analysis and consideration of perceptions of local people to identify the contributions to their well-being. Future research would benefit from considering the experiential qualities of value and well-being as they relate to direct experiences with the landscape and wider psychological needs, specifically over time. A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article.

The phenomenon of well-being, which has been an important part of sustainable development plans in recent years, has been on the agenda of both individuals and societies, especially with the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. The relationship between globalization and well-being has started to gain more importance in this process. On the other hand, despite the positive effects that globalization brings, it has encountered a very reactive attitude in Muslim societies due to the effect of cultural change in its essence. In this context, the effect of globalization on the level of human well-being in Turkey, as an example of a Muslim country, will be emphasized. The study covered the years 1990-to 2018 and the time series technique, one of the econometric methods, is applied. Although globalization contains the possibility of cultural and value homogenization, as a result of the empirical analysis, it is found that there is a long-term relationship between globalization and human well-being. In addition, in the long-term analysis, it is concluded that globalization has a positive and statistically significant effect on human well-being. The study is important in the context of researching the relationship between globalization and well-being in the Turkish sample for the first time in the literature, Son yıllarda sürdürülebilir kalkınma planlarının önemli bir parçası olan iyi olma olgusu özellikle koronavirüs salgınıyla birlikte hem bireylerin hem de toplumların daha fazla gündemine yer etmiştir. Küreselleşme ve iyi olma arasındaki ilişki ise söz konusu süreçte daha fazla önem kazanmaya başlamıştır. Küreselleşme ise beraberinde getirdiği pozitif etkilere rağmen özündeki kültürel değişim etkisinden dolayı Müslüman toplumlarda yer yer reaktif bir tutumla karşılanmaktadır. Bu kapsamda bir Müslüman ülke örneği olarak Türkiye örnekleminde küreselleşmenin insani iyi olma düzeyine etkisi üzerinde durulacaktır. Çalışma 1990-2018 yıllarını kapsamakta olup bu çalışmada ekonometrik yöntemlerden zaman serisi tekniği uygulanmıştır. Her ne kadar küreselleşme kültürel ve değersel anlamda homojenleştirme ihtimalini barındırsa da yapılan ampirik inceleme neticesinde küreselleşme ve insani iyi olma hali arasında uzun dönemli bir ilişki olduğu tespit edilmiştir. Ayrıca uzun dönem analizinde küreselleşmenin insani iyi olma hali üzerinde pozitif ve istatistiki olarak anlamlı bir etkisinin olduğu sonucuna ulaşılmıştır. Çalışma, literatürde özellikle Türkiye örnekleminde ilk kez küreselleşme ve iyi olma arasındaki ilişkiyi araştırması bağlamında önem taşımaktadır.

The European Union is significantly investing in the Green Deal that introduces measures to guide Member States to face sustainability and health challenges, especially employing Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) in urban contexts. National governments need to develop appropriate strategies to coordinate local projects, face multiple challenges, and maximize NBS effectiveness. This paper aims to introduce a replicable methodology to integrate NBS into a multi-scale planning process to maximize their cost–benefits. Using Italy as a case study, we mapped three environmental challenges nationwide related to climate change and air pollution, identifying spatial groups of their co-occurrences. These groups serve as functional areas where 24 NBS were ranked for their ecosystem services supply and land cover. The results show eight different spatial groups, with 6% of the national territory showing no challenge, with 42% showing multiple challenges combined simultaneously. Seven NBS were high-performing in all groups: five implementable in permeable land covers (urban forests, infiltration basins, green corridors, large parks, heritage gardens), and two in impervious ones (intensive, semi-intensive green roofs). This work provides a strategic vision at the national scale to quantify and orient budget allocation, while on a municipal scale, the NBS ranking acts as a guideline for specific planning activities based on local issues.

Ecosystem services, including availability of greenspace, clean air, and clean water, can have benefits to human well-being, but their relative importance compared to economic or social services is often overlooked. In Puerto Rico, for example, improving community well-being, including economic and cultural opportunities, human health, and safety, are often overarching goals of environmental management decisions, but the degree to which improvements in ecological condition and provision of ecosystem services could impact local communities is complicated by wide variation in social and economic conditions. This study quantifies and maps neighborhood-scale indicators of human well-being and ecosystem services for Puerto Rico to better understand the degree to which ecosystem services provisioning, alongside co-occurring social and economic services, explains variability in a number of indicators of human well-being. In Puerto Rico, variability in indicators of human well-being were predominately explained by economic services related to accumulating income and personal savings, and social services, including availability of family services, healthcare services, and access to communication technology. Despite the large explanatory power of economic and social services, however, the analysis detected that substantial portions of well-being, in particular education and human health, could be explained by variability in ecosystem services over space and time, especially availability of greenspace. Linking ecosystem services to multivariate elements of human well-being can serve to complement more traditional community planning or environmental management efforts by helping identify potential unintended consequences or overlooked benefits of decisions.

There is a gap in understanding the relationships between the transformation of agricultural landscapes, ecosystem services and human well-being in the peri-urban fringe of major cities worldwide. In this paper, we use semi-structured interviews, perception surveys, social surveys and field mapping to examine linkages between agricultural and landscape transition, ecosystem services and human well-being in five sample villages in Xi’an metropolitan zone, China. The results indicate that: (1) Agricultural change has increased landscape fragmentation, with a shift from grain to more profitable horticulture and nursery production. The farming system is more diversified and exhibits a multifunctional character. (2) This transformation has had a significant impact on the character of the agroecosystem. (3) The agricultural transformation towards greater multifunctionality has increased the supply of ecosystem services, including tourism-related activities, potentially improving human well-being. (4) Different combinations of activities in the sample villages were evaluated with respect to a well-being index, indicating the importance of combining horticulture and tourism. (5) Linkages identified between agricultural transformation, ecosystem services and human well-being may have significant implications for potential approaches within future studies.

Directly comparable data on the environmental and socio-economic impacts of alien species informs the effective prioritisation of their management. We used two frameworks, the Environmental Impact Classification for Alien Taxa (EICAT) and Socio-Economic Impact Classification for Alien Taxa (SEICAT), to create a unified dataset on the severity and type of impacts caused by alien leporids (rabbits and hares). Literature was reviewed to collate impact data, which was categorised following EICAT and SEICAT guidelines. We aimed to use these data to identify: (1) alien leporid species with severe impacts, (2) their impact mechanisms, (3) the native species and local communities vulnerable to impacts and (4) knowledge gaps. Native species from a range of taxonomic groups were affected by environmental impacts which tended to be more damaging than socio-economic impacts. Indirect environmental impacts were particularly damaging and underreported. No impact data were found for several alien leporid species. BiodivScen ERA-Net COFUND BMBF Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100005156 Freie Universität Berlin (1008)

Sustainability is an imperative of the 21st century in order to preserve the environment for the next generations, but sustainable development also requires the introduction and use of new technologies, and the related abilities for their use. The United Nations have adopted the Human Development Index HDI in order to assess human well-being. This index includes a component related to knowledge, the Education Index, which is expressed in terms of the mean schooling years. However, this information does not contain a measure of the student’s ability to solve complex problems or ability to reason, which are fundamental skills for sustainable development. In this study, an improved version of the Education Index was developed by considering the data available from the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). This new index takes into account both the social impact of schooling years and the outcomes of the education systems for each country (PISA scores). As a consequence of this new Education Index, a new Human Development Index, HDI*, is proposed. Two case studies were performed, comparing the European and non-European countries, focusing on government education spending. Moreover, the trends of an energy and an environmental indicator are analyzed in relation to the HDI*.

Understanding the perception, use, and prioritization of ecosystem services (ES) is important for shaping local environmental policies. This study assessed for the Cordillera Region, Philippines, Indigenous peoples (IPs) perception on the significance of ES for their well-being, influence of socio-economic factors attributing to these perceptions, and ranked the most valued ES. Face-to-face interviews were conducted using a semi-structured questionnaires with 922 households in 48 villages of the Region. We found that most frequently identified and valued ES are provisioning (food, income, and medicinal resources) followed by cultural and regulating ES. The study showed signficant influence (p-value 0.001) of ethnicity, occupation, gender, and age to affect local perceptions of ES provided by the landscapes. A remarkable differences appeared in prioritizing ES, e.g. younger local respondents value ES more than older ones; women have appreciated most ES; and ethnic groupings tend to have a different value of ES that are significantly connected with the landscape characteristics. Traditional rice farming systems was ranked as source providing the most valued ES followed by conventional farming systems and off-farming activities like collection of non-timber forest products. Furthermore, IPs involvement to local surveys are useful in ecosystem conservation strategies because the way society modifies an ecosystem is a function associated to perceptions, interest, and values. A relevant information to decision-makers that must be integrated into local development planning to maintain the flow of ES that support the livelihood in a community.

There is an emerging consensus that the health of the planet depends on the coexistence between rapidly growing cities and the natural world. One strategy for guiding cities towards sustainability is to facilitate a planning process based on positive visions for urban systems among actors and stakeholders. This paper presents the Urban Nature Futures Framework (UNFF), a framework for scenario building for cities that is based on three Nature Futures perspectives: Nature for Nature, Nature for Society, and Nature as Culture. Our framework engages stakeholders with envisioning the three Nature Futures perspectives through four components using participatory methods and quantitative models: identification of the socio-ecological feedbacks in cities, assessment of indirect impacts of cities on biodiversity, development of multi-scale indicators, and development of scenarios. Stakeholders in cities may use this framework to explore different options for integrating nature in its various manifestations within urban areas and to assess how different community preferences result in various cityscapes and distribution of associated benefits from nature among urban dwellers across multiple scales. Published version This work is a joint effort from researchers who participated in the sUrBio2050 working group (https://www.idiv.de/en/surbio2050.html) held in October 2019, in Leipzig, kindly supported by the sDiv, the Synthesis Centre (https://www.idiv.de/en/index.html) of the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, funded by the German Research Foundation (FZT 118, 02548816).

Most of traditional knowledge about plants and their uses is fast disappearing because of socio-economic and land use changes. This trend is also occurring in bio-cultural refugia, such as mountain areas. New data on Traditional Ethnobotanical Knowledge (TEK) of Italian alpine regions were collected relating to three valleys (Cogne, Valsavarenche, Rhêmes) of the Gran Paradiso National Park. Extensive dialogues and semi-structured interviews with 68 native informants (30 men, 38 women; mean age 70) were carried out between 2017 and 2019. A total of 3918 reports were collected, concerning 217 taxa (including 10 mushrooms, 1 lichen) mainly used for medicinal (42%) and food (33%) purposes. Minor uses were related to liquor making (7%), domestic (7%), veterinary (5%), forage (4%), cosmetic (1%) and other (2%). Medicinal plants were used to treat 14 ailment categories, of which the most important were respiratory (22%), digestive (19%), skin (13%), musculoskeletal (10%) and genitourinary (10%) diseases. Data were also evaluated by quantitative ethnobotanical indexes. The results show a rich and alive traditional knowledge concerning plants uses in the Gran Paradiso National Park. Plants resources may provide new opportunities from the scientific point of view, for the valorization of local products for health community and for sustainable land management.

The electric power industry is one of the major industries in terms of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, and it is necessary to explore low-carbon green power generation models. In recent years, more research has focused on the difference in carbon emissions in fossil energy versus renewable energy but ignored the impact of energy on human well-being. The life cycle assessment (LCA) method is a better method for assessing the impact of the low-carbon model on human well-being. In this paper, the carbon footprints of coal power plants and photovoltaic power (PV) plants generating 1 Kilowatt hour (kWh) of electricity are compared to analyze the degree of carbon emissions at different stages of the two models, and the environmental impact potential of the two models is analyzed using the LCA method. The differences between the two models in terms of human well-being were analyzed through questionnaires and quantified using the hierarchical analysis method. The impact of the different models on human well-being was compared using LCA method. The results of the study were as follows: the total CO2 emissions from coal-fired power generation at the 1 kWh standard were 973.38 g, while the total CO2 emissions from PV power generation were 91.95 g, and the carbon emission intensity of coal-fired power plants was higher than that of PV power plants. The global warming potential and eutrophication potential of coal-fired power plants were higher than those of PV power plants, and the rest of the indicators were lower than those of PV power plants. The composite human well-being index of PV power plants was 0.613 higher than that of coal-fired power plants at 0.561. The per capita income–global warming potential of PV power plants was higher than that of coal-fired power plants, indicating that PV power plants were a low carbon-emission and high well-being model. In conclusion, the PV power plant model is a low-carbon and high human well-being industrial model that is worthy of application in the Qilian Mountains region. The low-carbon industrial model proposed in this study can have a positive effect on regional ecological environmental protection and human well-being enhancement.

Short-term exposure to a forest environment is beneficial to human physiological and psychological health. However, there is little known about the relationship between the restorative perception of environment and physiological and psychological restoration achieved by experiencing the forest environment. This study evaluated the relationship between the restorative perception of different types of forests and human physiological and psychological effects. A sample of 30 young adult students from Beijing Forestry University was exposed to coniferous, deciduous, and mixed forests as well as an urban site. Restorative perception of the environment was measured using the PRS questionnaire. Restorative effects were measured using physiological indicators (blood pressure and heart rate) and three psychological questionnaires (Restorative Outcome Scale; Subjective Vitality Scale; Warwick–Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale). The results demonstrated the following: (1) There were significant differences in the perceived restorative power of the three types of forests, with the highest level in the mixed forest, followed by the coniferous forest and the deciduous forest. (2) All types of forests were beneficial to physiological and psychological restoration. The mixed forest had the greatest effect in lowering blood pressure and heart rate as well as increasing vitality, while the coniferous forest had the strongest increases in psychological restoration and positive mental health. (3) The level of perceived restorative power of environment was positively related to the physiological and psychological restoration. These findings provide practical evidence for forest therapy that can maximize the restorative potential of forests.

Contemporary conservation must tackle ���problems��� related to biodiversity loss, climate change, and increasing calls to reconcile conservation with human well-being. Governance is an important determinant for ���success��� in this endeavour. However, ineffective conservation governance (i.e., the inability to deliver positive biological and social outcomes), and frequent social injustices, necessitate more holistic, and inclusive alternatives to conservation. Community-based conservation ��� which seeks to recognize and include the participation, knowledge and priorities of Indigenous Peoples and local communities in conservation governance ��� has been shown to be a viable and useful approach to deliver both biological and human well-being outcomes that conventional ���people-free��� conservation often cannot. Furthermore, the community-based conservation approach directly aligns with the recent Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework, which explicitly calls for ���the full and effective participation of Indigenous peoples and local communities��� in its implementation if it is to achieve its objective to sustainably meet the needs of people and reduce biodiversity loss. Here we present a protocol for a systematic map that will collate, summarize, synthesize, and map the evidence that exists on the effectiveness of conservation governance interventions on selected focal species and multidimensional domains of human well-being in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. To collect published academic and grey literature, four bibliographic databases, one online search engine, five open evidence resources, and 13 organizational websites will be searched using standardized search terms. The bibliographies of any relevant review article identified during screening stages will also be hand-searched for any additional relevant articles to ensure capturing further relevant literature. Articles will be screened for eligibility at title and abstract and at full-text stages with support of machine learning technologies when applicable. This systematic map will describe the quantity and key characteristics of the available evidence and identify evidence clusters and evidence gaps to inform further research and syntheses by identifying more specific questions suitable for a subsequent systematic review., The systematic map will be primarily supported by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. Additional support is provided by the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada and Carleton University. Project Contact: jessjtaylor16@gmail.com For more information on the Canadian Centre for Evidence-Based Conservation visit: www.canadiancebc.com

Nepal was hit by a 7.8 magnitude earthquake on 25 April 2015, followed by numerous aftershocks, including a 6.8 magnitude earthquake on 26 April and a 7.2 magnitude earthquake on 12 May. Using two household surveys of a panel of 377 households conducted in February 2016 and March 2020 in one of the hardest-hit mountain villages, we found that most of the households recovered well, having better housing, increased income, improved awareness about disaster risk, and better infrastructure facilities than before the earthquake. Notably, the poverty headcount index reduced by 16% from 2016 to 2020, and more than 90% of the households reconstructed into earthquake-resistant houses with financial and technical support, mainly, from the government. The village has increased the quality and length of rural roads; there is also wider coverage of clean water supply and better functioning school buildings and hospitals. Similarly, the subjective well-being of the people, gauged using the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire (OHQ), has also increased. These aspects combined indicate improved community resilience and the sustainable development of the village. However, the progress differs significantly across gender, caste/ethnic as well as income groups, which calls for inclusive reconstruction and recovery policies as well as disaster risk reduction (DRR) frameworks at a local level to contribute to community resilience and sustainable mountain development.

Various forms of social media (SM) appear to be very popular among young people because they provide information and entertainment, including a wide range of web technologies such as blogs, wikis, online social networks, and virtual networks. SM plays a huge role in the lives of children and teenagers, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the computer becomes not only a means of entertainment or leisure, but also a necessary and everyday means of education and communication with other people. Thus, COVID-19 has brought a radical change, not only in the daily schedule and leisure time of pupils and students, but also in the perception of the procedures used by this specific group in the online space. Through our own research, using structured interviews and a questionnaire, we examine the use of SM as a tool to promote sustainable well-being in a group of high school students from various schools in central Slovak Republic (formerly Czechoslovakia). The research confirms that during the pandemic, the use of SM by the young respondents contributes significantly to well-being. This is the case when SM is used by high school students as a tool in promoting: (1) personal interests; (2) motivation; (3) communication and interpersonal connectivity; (4) preferred forms of online education; and (5) online games. The article presents a set of recommendations regarding the use of SM as a tool for sustaining the well-being of young people during the pandemic.

Modern society is fascinated by Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), physical laziness, isolation from nature, and a preference for staying indoors. Despite the general acceptance and understanding of the health benefits of recreation in the open air, a change is being seen in the recreational patterns of urban dwellers, as they spend less time outdoors. In order to counteract such behaviours, we can try to apply ICTs to enhance time spent outdoors. The performed study aimed to find uses of ICT solutions in designing public spaces in order to enhance and promote a healthy lifestyle. The selected examples show possible applications of ICT in promoting active recreation, e.g. mobile applications for sport activities, urban games in line with the idea of the Playable City, and urban furniture and outdoor hotspots enabling access to the Internet. The research findings proved that digitisation is not only a threat to a healthy lifestyle, but that it can also create opportunities to improve the quality of life.

Understanding the complex relationship between ecosystem services and human well-being during the rapid development of urban agglomerations can promote the sustainable development of urban agglomerations. In this paper, the InVEST model and ArcGIS10.2 were used to analyze the spatial and temporal evolution characteristics of ecosystem services and human well-being in the Guanzhong Plain urban agglomeration. On this basis, the coupling coordination index is used to reveal the spatiotemporal coupling relationship between them. (1) From 2010 to 2018, the water conservation services, soil conservation services, and carbon sequestration services of the Guanzhong Plain urban agglomeration showed a fluctuating downward trend. The spatial differences of ecosystem services were significant. (2) From 2010 to 2018, human well-being in the Guanzhong Plain urban agglomeration showed a fluctuating downward trend, with a decrease of 17%, and regional differences tended to narrow. (3) The coupling coordination degree between ecosystem services and human well-being has slightly decreased while maintaining the basic coordination state. The results show that there was a significant relationship between the decline of ecosystem services and the rapid development of the Guanzhong Plain urban agglomeration, and policies should be classified according to the coupling coordination types of human well-being and ecosystem services to promote the sustainable development of urban agglomerations.

To address the complex and difficult challenges that are occurring in complex social-ecological systems, a transformation toward sustainable futures is required. Understanding the characteristics and functions of leverage points (LPs), which bring about significant changes in complex systems, will greatly contribute to the various practices toward achieving sustainable futures. We conducted a detailed analysis of 15 cases of autonomous innovations emerging among vulnerable sectors in six countries to contribute to understanding the mechanisms of transformation of social-ecological systems by identifying the characteristics and functions of LPs. We found that three types of LPs with different characteristics play their roles in a multi-layered and interrelated manner in the emergence processes of autonomous innovations. These LPs contributed to the improvement of various aspects of well-being and facilitated the transformation of the social-ecological systems by enhancing the five previously proposed enabler categories. The multi-layered and interrelated functioning of LPs promotes the enhancement of various aspects of human well-being and strengthens the enabler categories. These were found to be important mechanisms for the transformation of social-ecological systems. Based on these results, we derive nine guiding principles for the conditions and mechanisms of transformation. These results indicate that a deeper study of autonomous innovation through an LP lens could make a significant contribution to solving or mitigating the wicked problems faced by humanity.

There is an astonishing diversity of ways in which people benefit from coral reefs. They provide recreation, resource extraction, inspirational, and educational opportunities, among many others as well as being valued just for their existence. As the condition of coral reef ecosystems decline, so do their ability to provide these benefits. Prudent management of coral reefs and the benefits they provide are important as some predict most coral reefs globally will be lost by the mid‐21st century. Meanwhile, coral reef managers have limited tools and relevant data to design and implement effective environmental management practices that will enable coral reefs to provide benefits demanded by society. We demonstrate an approach to identify and measure environmental components of coral reefs that directly benefit human well‐being. The approach views ecosystems through the lens of a specific set of beneficiaries and the biophysical features directly relevant to each. We call these biophysical features Final Ecosystem Goods and Services (FEGS). In our demonstration, we (1) identify a range of beneficiaries of coral reefs; (2) identify metrics of FEGS for those beneficiaries; and (3) describe how data quantifying those biophysical metrics might be used to facilitate greater economic and social understanding.

In 2015 the United Nations adopted the 2030 Agenda with 17 global sustainable development goals (SDGs) to shift the world onto a sustainable path. By referring to the SDGs as indivisible, the Agenda emphasises the interdependence of social and ecological concerns. But what does it mean that the goals are interdependent and how is indivisibility to be handled in research and implementation? In this dissertation, I investigate how models and participatory methods grounded in systems thinking can be used to facilitate the understanding and realisation of the 2030 Agenda. The dissertation explores and examines: (a) how system dynamics models can be used to represent integrated goals and their synergies at multiple levels, (b) how human well-being can be more inclusively integrated into systems models, and (c) how systems approaches can help to bridge local aspirations to global sustainability goals, incorporating multiple values and worldviews in the operationalisation of the Agenda.This thesis comprises four papers. Paper I explores the interdependence of different 2030 Agenda goals through the use of a national-level system dynamics model applied to Tanzania to analyse anticipated social and economic impacts of substantial investments in photovoltaic capacity. Model simulations indicate that, in addition to building more sustainable energy systems, the investments in photovoltaics positively affect life expectancy, years of schooling as well as access to electricity. Furthermore, progress in these dimensions leads to broader system-wide impacts. This indicates that identifying policy synergies across sectors before policies are implemented can provide important insights for achieving the 2030 Agenda. In Paper II, we present a method for identifying policy synergies and assessing them quantitatively. The developed synergy approach is then operationalised over three case studies representing Côte d’Ivoire, Malawi and Senegal. In order to further explore the synergies and interdependencies between different human wellbeing goals, Paper III studies data on the achievement of SDGs 1- 7 in seven world regions and the world as a whole. In an analysis of the correlations between these SDGs and GDP per person, we find uniform patterns for all regions above a certain income threshold. This indicates that there is an income level at which human needs and capabilities are achieved, consistent with the Easterlin’s paradox of life satisfaction. In order to address the importance of including diverse perspectives, Paper IV investigates how the pursuit of the 2030 Agenda can be grounded in local worldviews. The paper introduces a stakeholder-based approach grounded in systems thinking for visioning and exploring sustainable development pathways to meet the SDGs. The approach focuses on identifying divergences and convergences across scales and worldviews about how to implement the Agenda. The paper presents a case study, the 2018 African Dialogue on the World in 2050, which deliberated on how transforming the agricultural and food systems in African regions could lead to achieving the SDGs in an integrated manner, comparing local perspectives to global sustainability trajectories. (...); En 2015, les Nations Unies ont adopté l’Agenda 2030 avec 17 Objectifs de développement durable (ODD) pour amener le monde sur une trajectoire durable. En conférant aux ODD le caractère indivisible, l'Agenda met l'accent sur l'interdépendance des préoccupations sociales et écologiques. Mais que signifie cette interdépendance et comment gérer cette indivisibilité à la fois dans la recherche scientifique et dans l’implémentation des Objectifs ?Dans cette thèse, nous avons cherché à comprendre comment les modèles et les méthodes participatives se revendiquant de la pensée systémique pouvaient être utilisés pour faciliter la compréhension et la réalisation de l'Agenda 2030. La thèse entend répondre à trois interrogations : (a) comment la modélisation des systèmes dynamiques peut être utilisée pour représenter des Objectifs intégrés et leurs synergies à plusieurs niveaux ? ; (b) comment le bien-être humain peut être intégré de manière plus inclusif dans la modélisation systémique ?; et (c) comment les approches systémiques peuvent aider à combler l’écart entre les aspirations locales et les Objectifs mondiaux de durabilité ? Notamment via l’incorporation de valeurs et de visions du monde plurielles. Cette thèse comprend quatre articles. L’Article I explore l'interdépendance de différents Objectifs de l'Agenda 2030 à l’aide d'un modèle de dynamiques de système, developpé au niveau national et appliqué à la Tanzanie. Il s’agit d’anticiper l’impact sur la société et l’économie d'investissements considérables dans la production d’énergie photovoltaïque. Les simulations du modèle indiquent qu'en plus de construire des systèmes énergétiques plus durables, les investissements dans le photovoltaïque affectent positivement l'espérance de vie, la durée de scolarisation ainsi que l'accès à l'électricité. De plus, les progrès dans ces dimensions conduisent à des impacts plus vastes à l'échelle du système. Ces résultats suggèrent qu'identifier les synergies possibles entre des politiques dans différents secteurs, avant même la mise en œuvre de ces politiques, peut fournir des renseignements précieux afin d’atteindre les Objectifs de l’Agenda 2030. Dans l’Article II, nous présentons une méthode visant à identifier les synergies entre différentes politiques, puis à les évaluer quantitativement. Cette méthode est appliquée à trois études de cas : la Côte d’Ivoire, le Malawi et le Sénégal. Afin d'explorer plus avant les synergies et les interdépendances entre les différents Objectifs liés au bien-être humain, l’Article III étudie des données sur le degré d’avancement des ODD 1 à 7, dans sept régions du monde séparément, et dans le monde dans son ensemble. L’analyse des corrélations entre ces ODD et le PIB par habitant montre certaines constantes qui sont valables pour toutes les régions au-dessus d'un certain seuil de revenu. Cela suggère qu’il existe un niveau de revenu à partir duquel les besoins et les capabilités des humains sont satisfaits, conformément au paradoxe d’Easterlin. Afin de prendre en compte l'importance d'inclure diverses perspectives, l’Article IV examine comment la poursuite de l'Agenda 2030 peut être ancrée dans des visions du monde locales. L’article introduit une approche basée sur la participation des parties prenantes, qui permet de visualiser et d’explorer différentes trajectoires de développement durable dans le but d’atteindre les ODD. L’article présente une étude de cas, le Dialogue Africain sur le monde en 2050, qui en 2018 a suscité des délibérations sur les orientations futures des systèmes alimentaires dans différentes régions africaines et les a mises en relation avec les trajectoires mondiales en matière de durabilité. L’article conclut que les approches participatives qui intègrent la pensée systémique constituent un moyen prometteur de lier les aspirations locales aux Objectifs mondiaux de l'Agenda 2030.

Landscape pattern, ecosystem service value (ESV), and human well-being are closely related. Determining the link between the three is significant to the realization of regional sustainable development. However, the relationship is complex and vulnerable to multiple factors, many of which remain unknown. This study used remote sensing imagery of Xishuangbanna to map land-use in 1996, 2003, 2010, and 2016 and used landscape metrics to quantify landscape pattern changes. This research evaluated changes to ESV using the benefit transfer method and evaluated changes in human well-being using the evaluation index system and the entropy weight method. A coupling coordination model was used to analyze the coupling coordination state of the three, and the grey correlation method was used to determine key factors involved in the coupling mechanism. The results show that: (1) Forest, rubber, and tea are the main land-use types, with the area of forest decreasing, the area of rubber presenting an inverted V-shape change trend, the area of tea presenting an N-shape change trend, and the transformation of a large quantity of forest land into rubber and tea plantations. (2) The landscape pattern has become more fragmented, and connectivity and stability are in decline. (3) Climate regulation, water regulation, and erosion prevention are the main ecosystem services and, from 1996 to 2016, total ESV decreased by 3.53 billion yuan, mainly due to the decrease in forest ESV. Meanwhile, across the region, the area of high value decreased, and the area of median value increased, with a distribution trend of high value in the north and low value in the south. (4) The level of human well-being continues to rise. (5) The link between landscape pattern, ESV, and human well-being was relatively strong, and the coupling coordination degree first increased and then decreased, changing from grudging coordination to primary coordination and then dropping to a state of near maladjustment. Patch density and food production are the key coupling effect factors of landscape pattern and ESV on human well-being, respectively. The study results provide a reference for regional land-use policy and economic decision-making.

Ecosystem services and human well-being have received increasing scientific interest owing to their importance in influencing sustainability. Yet, quantitative and visual analyses of the scientific literature on ecosystem services and human well-being remain scarce. Here, we explored the scientific literature on ecosystem services and human well-being at a global scale to investigate the temporal development, scientific collaboration, research hotspots and emerging trends over the last 27 years (1992–2018) using CiteSpace. The number of publications has substantially increased since the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA). The majority of publications (79.86%) were occurred during the period of 2013–2018, with Ecosystem Services being the dominant journal and most research originating from the USA, England and Australia. And the Chinese Academy of Sciences was the most productive institution. The top-ranking category was environmental sciences. Much more work is needed to strengthen the cohesion among environmental, economic and social science in this field. Three key research themes prevailed: biodiversity, conservation, and management. The hotspots of early studies focused on the descriptive and quantitative analysis of ecosystem services, including “contingent value”, “model” and “dynamics”. The emerging active topics were“poverty alleviation”, “cultural ecosystem service”, “perception” and“green infrastructure”. Integrative research on socio-cultural and biophysical dimensions is expected to be used to increasingly support policymaking in the future. The assessment of subjective well-being, the relations between supply-demand and human well-being and sustainable management represent challenging areas for future research on ecosystem services and human well-being.

The concept of ecosystem services (ES), first introduced in 1970’s, gained mainstream attention in 2005, when the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment formally proposed a definition for it. In spite of this attention, many aspects about the ES concept have remained controversial to date, i.e., their classification, value, generation, link to human well-being, and supportive role as management tool. This review explores the knowledge status of ecosystem services, focusing on those services generated in coastal and marine environments (CMES). A knowledge gap and an underdevelopment of tools to assess CMES is evident in the literature, especially when compared to the progress done in the assessment of land ES. Possible explanations reside on the yet small proportion that the research done on CMES represents for the ecosystem service framework (ESF), in part due to the intrinsic challenges of researching the marine environment, also due to the limited availability of spatial data on marine ecosystems. Nevertheless, the ES concept is getting more attention toward policy-makers and stakeholders, leading to the implementation of an ecosystem services approach (ESA) to the management and protection of CMES. Six lessons are rescued from the literature to improve the ESA: (1) integration of the ESA in a science-policy process; (2) more simplicity for the CMES prediction models; (3) move toward empowering of stakeholders; (4) integration of the value pluralism of CMES with less focus on money; (5) the link of ES to Human Well-being must not been forgotten; and (6) communication of results and social literacy are key.