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The paper has the aim of reflect on the current situation of the Lake Chad Basin, characterized by the increasing Humanitarian Situation , determined not more only from the water crisis, but from the progressive presence of terrorist militias of the fundamentalist group Boko Haram. Indeed, today, environmental and social degradation of forests, increasingly advanced, the increasing salinization of soils, the proliferation of aquatic vegetation, the high concentration of population around the lake and wetlands exacerbate exploitation of resources and stir up the anarchist social conflicts. Scholars therefore speak of climate refugees, who face not only climate change, but also international terrorism . In the realization of the paper we will use the Human Development Index ( HDI ), the Human Poverty Index ( HPI ) and the Global Hunger Index referring to countries bordering Lake Chad, in order to better understand the phenomena under investigation

Environmental studies are nowadays coming more and more to the fore and emerging as a highly complex interdisciplinary science. In this paper, however, I shall confine myself to that part of the environment which is created by human activities, dealing particularly with the urban environment. The disciplines which are concerned with this field include architecture, town planning, the sociology of housing and of cities, communal hygiene, various aspects of engineering, and some more modern fields such as ekistics or the science of human settlements (Doxiadis, 1970).

International audience; Terraced landscapes are increasingly considered as valuable cultural, social, and environmental systems. However, we could attribute the loss of most of these landscapes and their tangible and intangible heritages to the abandonment or degradation of these areas that could be valorised and protected. The main goals of this study are providing a methodology and tools to analyse traditional terraced landscapes integrating spatial analysis with socio-economic analysis and suggesting operational or political proposals to reduce the abandonment of agricultural terraces. The selected study area is the olive-growing area in the municipality of Trevi (Umbria Region, Italy). This study’s innovative contribution is its methodology composed of two main steps: construction of an integrated and open database followed by launch of a participatory planning process. The results show that the main weakness of the conservation of the olive-growing landscape is the profitability level of olive oil production and sale. Some measures need to be implemented to address these issues, and a joint public and private effort is required. On the one hand, public institutions should provide direct funding and incentives, and on the other, consumers should be willing to pay more for extra-virgin olive oil with landscaped value. Moreover, nomination for inscription into UNESCO’s World Heritage List as a cultural landscape, advocated by local institutions, could generate useful synergies to implement efficient collective marketing policies, which are particularly demanded by olive growers.

An increasing number of scientists as well as the public discuss the spread of invasive alien species that replace local species. One of such species is Sosnowsky’s hogweed that creates problems to land owners and managers as well as local residents in Rezekne municipality.The aim of the paper is to assess expert opinions on the application of control methods for Sosnowsky’s hogweed in Rezekne municipality. To achieve the aim, the following specific research tasks were set: 1) to describe the situation with the spread of Sosnowsky’s hogweed in Rezekne municipality; 2) to identify the most effective methods of control for Sosnowsky's hogweed and their application in Rezekne municipality by employing the expert method.Research methods used: monographic, descriptive, analysis, synthesis, data grouping and a sociological method – an expert survey/interview. Kendall’s W was employed to analyse the extent of agreement among the experts.The research results showed that in general the experts were quite unanimous (W=0.59) and regarded the combined method, chemical control (application of herbicides) and soil tillage as the most effective methods to control Sosnowsky's hogweed. Also, the experts supposed that land owners and managers in Rezekne municipality did not choose the most effective and efficient control methods for Sosnowsky's hogweed.The paper has been elaborated with the financial support of Rezekne Academy of Technologies provided through a research grant.

International audience; Coastal area is always a zone with complex problems. Due to the attraction they exert, are facing many social problems. Therefore, a coastal city is usually a city with problems. Its extension, caused by the influx of people from different backgrounds, creates an increased demand for services. One of the problems frequently encountered, especially in Senegal, is access to water. The problem of access to water is poorly treated, without being correlated with the urban evolution, i.e. with increasing population and demand growth. The water resource is facing numerous complications such as the lack of integrated management, integration issues at the governance level, where the local factor is often forgotten. The town of Mbour, object of our study, does not come out of that lot, being an attractive coastal city, from an African country. This indicates the need for an integrated management oriented from local to a global basis and not vice versa. The study presented in this paper indicates that a large proportion of the population has not access to a verified drinking water system and uses water from wells or standpipes. Half of the surveyed population (50%) has no access to a water supply system. The water poverty map of the town overlaps with that of the general poverty excepting few neighborhoods. This means that even areas that are not affected by poverty have a very low or poor access to water, which so far remains the perverse effect of the reform of the Senegalese water sector in 1995.