The utility of ICTs for providing market information to rural smallholder farmers is growing rapidly, and access to reliable information and sources is considered crucial for beneficial market interaction. This study explored critical factors contributing to usage of electronic sources for market information search among rural smallholder livestock farmers. Using data collected from 129 respondents through a non-random sampling technique; descriptive and regression analysis was applied to identify key factors responsible for their awareness and use of ICT-based market information sources. Level of education was found to be a driver of awareness of ICT-based sources, and use of these sources was influenced by farmer-specific characteristics such as household size, education, income, membership of cooperatives and herd-size. The key ICT tools used was radio and mobile phones, widely available in the study area. Identified constraints to use of these ICTs include cost and patchy network signals in some areas. Policy interventions to reduce cost of mobile phone services and expansion of base stations; including practical recommendations for improved programming in radio and television offerings, are considered indispensable for greater uptake of e-information sources among smallholder livestock farmers.

Climate change is a buzzword in the world. Scientist has approved it as global warming with its projection of undesired and unpredicted frequent extreme events and their vulnerabilities not only at present but also at future. There is an assumption of occurrence of adaptive capacity and behavior of farmers in agriculture production activity at some extent to neutralize climate change vulnerabilities of flood and landslides on paddy production. This paper empirically examines the effects of climate change in paddy production and farmer’s adaptive behaviors to neutralize such climatic shocks and events in paddy production by employing CD production function based econometric model. The study employed primary data collected through 642 household surveys. The study finds that climatic shocks and events have huge loss (60%) in paddy production and revenue income in such plot where farmers have not indigenous knowledge and practices. But both small and larger farmers who have adaptive capacity and behavior with their indigenous knowledge have less loss in paddy production and revenue income, although they have heterogeneity in their socio-economic characteristics (income, asset holding, literacy, experience, land holding and age). The farmers who have used adaptive behavior have indigenous knowledge and experiences including bamboo wall construction to control flood and landslides and seed change to resist climatic shocks and events. In hilly region, the farmers have not sufficient alternative measures, except both adaptive measures because of their poverty, illiteracy and remote locations. The study finds their higher effective level to minimize vulnerabilities to paddy production and revenue per farm plot, although these adaptive behaviors are cost effective and local entity. Comparatively, bamboo wall construction is more effective measure in the paddy production than others are (seed switch) to minimize the flooding materials from the flood and the landslides. Thus, low cost indigenous adaption behavior of farmers is effective measure to climate change and climate change induced disasters and events vulnerability in paddy production.

Pesticide exposure is a growing concern for public health. Although Brazil is the world's largest consumer of pesticides, few studies addressed the health effects among farmers. This study aimed to evaluate whether pesticide exposure is associated with respiratory outcomes among rural workers and relatives in Brazil during the crop and off-seasons. 82 family farmers were interviewed about occupational history and respiratory symptoms, and cholinesterase tests were conducted in the crop-season. Spirometry was performed during the crop and off-season. Respiratory outcomes were compared between seasons and multiple regressions were conducted to search for associations with exposure indicators. Participants were occupationally and environmentally exposed to multiple pesticides from an early age. During the crop and off-season, respectively, they presented a prevalence of 40% and 30.7% for cough, 30.7% and 24% for nasal allergies, and 24% and 17.3% for chest tightness. Significant relations between spirometry impairments and exposure indicators were found both during the crop and off-season. These findings provide complementary evidence about the association of pesticide exposure with adverse respiratory effects among family farmers in Brazil. This situation requires special attention as it may increase the risk of pulmonary dysfunctions, and the morbidity and mortality burden associated with these diseases.

Population based studies have associated poor living conditions with the persistent disparity in the health of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians. This project assesses the applicability of the Health Community Assessment Tool and its role in improving the environment of a small community in the Midwest of WA. The action research cycles started with the initial reflection on the suitability of the HCAT version 2 for the local community context and whether it was fit-for-purpose. The researcher provided ‘critical companionship’, while the participants of the study were invited to be co-researchers (the Assessors) who critically examined the HCAT and assess the community. The relevant domains to the serviced town (an outer regional community) were pest control and animal management; healthy housing; food supply; community vibrancy, pride and safety; reducing environmental tobacco smoke; and promoting physical activity. The Assessors found the HCAT descriptors mostly aligned with their community context but found some of the items difficult to apply. Based on participant’s suggestions, some of the original scoring scales were reformatted. School attendance and illicit drug use were identified as a key outcome indicator for youth but were missing from the HCAT. The HCAT domains applied helped streamlining core business of agencies in the local community. The face validity of HCAT items were confirmed in this research with minor adjustments to reflect local context. Youth engagement to education is of high community concern and the development of an item would create similar interagency collaborative dialogues.

Background: As part of the Heart Healthy Lenoir Project, we developed a practice level intervention to improve blood pressure control. The goal of this study was: i) determine if single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that associate with blood pressure variation, identified in large case-control studies, are applicable to blood pressure control in subjects from a rural population; ii) measure the association of these SNPs with subjects’ responsiveness to the hypertension intervention; and iii) identify other SNPs that may help understand patient-specific responses to an intervention. Methods and Results: We used a combination of candidate SNPs and genome-wide analyses to test associations with either baseline systolic blood pressure (SBP) or change in systolic blood pressure one year after the intervention in two genetically defined ancestral groups: African Americans (AA) or Caucasian Americans (CAU). Of the 48 candidate SNPs, 13 SNPs associated with baseline SBP in our study; however, one candidate SNP, rs592582, also associated with a change in SBP after one year. Using our study data, we identified 4 and 15 additional loci that associated with a change in SBP in the AA and CAU groups, respectively. Our analysis of gene-age interactions identified genotypes associated with SBP improvement within different age groups of our populations. Moreover, our integrative analysis identified AQP4-AS1 and PADI2 as genes whose expression levels may contribute to the pleiotropy of complex traits involved in cardiovascular health and blood pressure regulation in response to an intervention targeting hypertension. Conclusions: Identification of SNPs associated with the success of a hypertension treatment intervention suggests that genetic factors in combination with age may contribute to an individual’s success in lowering SBP. If these findings prove to be applicable to other populations, the use of this genetic variation in making patient-specific interventions may help providers with making decisions to improve patient outcomes. Further investigation is required to determine the role of this genetic variance with respect to the management of hypertension such that more precise treatment recommendations may be made in the future as part of personalized medicine.

Education plays a key role in human societies and the development of nations. Providing social justice in a country creates educational justice, and educational justice grants equal opportunities for growth and prosperity to the members of the society. In reality, there are differences between urban and rural educational facilities, as well as between girls and boys. Deprived and rural areas are full of losses, from economic problems to intellectual and cultural blockages. Failure to enhance these areas leads to further decline in these environments, and one of its consequences in education is the dropout of students. Girls are especially exposed to this problem due to gender discrimination, traditional and religious views, and living conditions. The purpose of this research was to obtain in-depth information about the experiences and reactions of girls in deprived areas and to identify its factors. This case study was conducted in the Khuzestan province of Iran using the grounded theory, and the results of the interviews were categorized after coding and its paradigm model was presented. In the end, solutions were presented to reduce the dropout rate of girls in deprived areas and prevent this problem.

To promote of the rural revitalization strategy in China, this study attempts to summarize the gains and losses by the review of the design practice of rural buildings of the People's Commune in the late 1950s. Firstly, from the macro perspective, this paper gleans the relevant commune housing design cases in the Architectural Journal from 1958 to 1960 and summarizes the overall common design policies. Secondly, from the micro perspective, the paper analyzes the process of the investigation and creation through a concrete case. The paper concludes that the actual production and living needs of farmers must be taken into consideration in the process of the implementation of rural modernization, instead of simply putting the focus on standardized construction. Finally, the article points out the two characteristics of "rural modernity" reflected in the process of promoting rural modernization during the early stage of modern China: 1) collective wisdom and efforts; 2) combining local and foreign cultures. This article aims to provide a historical reference for current architects to carry out effective design practices in combination with rural development.

The transition to renewable energy sources is critical for sustainable development, particularly in rural regions with limited access to electricity. Solar-powered microgrids offer a promising solution for rural electrification by providing reliable, clean energy that can enhance economic opportunities and improve quality of life. This paper presents a techno-economic analysis of solar-powered microgrids for rural areas, evaluating their feasibility, costs, and benefits. The analysis encompasses technological aspects, such as solar panel efficiency, battery storage, and grid management, alongside economic factors including initial investment, maintenance costs, and potential returns. Additionally, the study assesses the social impact of solar-powered microgrids, exploring their effects on local communities, including improvements in education, health, and economic activities. The findings indicate that solar microgrids can be a viable and impactful solution for rural electrification, with significant long-term benefits for both economic development and social well-being.

In central area of Liaoning province, the thermal performance of rural building envelopes are mostly non-standardized in Northern China, resulting in a significant heat loss. In this study, The objective was to propose some low-cost and energy-efficient solutions. Through a field of inves-tigations, heating energy consumption was saved by 20% and increased construction costs was less than 8000 RMB, which was acceptable for rural residents. In order to achieve this target, NSGA-II algorithm was integrated with Rhino+Grasshopper and EnergyPlus simulation kernel to establish a thermal performance optimization model for heat transfer of the rural building envelopes. Among the above Pareto optimal solutions, the recommended thickness of insulation layer for the room floors, ceilings, and external walls were 70mm, 50mm, and 40mm respectively. Furthermore, try to reduce the window to wall ratio as much as possible. Finally, based on the lower total cost, three technical solutions that rural residents could select according to their specific needs have been put forward.

Construction using earth materials demonstrates ecological sustainability using locally sourced natural materials and environmentally friendly demolition methods. In this study, the environmental impact of adding cement to soil materials for rammed-earth farmhouse construction in rural China was investigated and comparatively simulated using the One Click LCA database, focusing on the conflict between sustainability objectives and the practical aspects of cement addition. By analyzing how the addition of cement aligns with local construction practices and by addressing the debate surrounding the inclusion of cement in rammed earth construction, our objective is to provide insights into achieving a balance between the environmental impact and the pragmatic considerations of using cement in earthen building practices. Three local structure scenarios are evaluated via simulations: a cement-stabilized rammed earth wall, a fired brick wall, and a localized reinforced concrete frame structure. The quantitative environmental impacts are assessed, and the qualitative differences in adaptation, economic sustainability, and other factors are examined in the context of present-day development in rural China. The results show that the use of cement-stabilized rammed earth wall-supported structures is associated with higher embodied carbon emissions compared to structures supported by reinforced concrete frames and enclosed by brick walls; however, these emissions are lower than those for brick wall-supported structures, while effectively meeting the structural requirements. In addition, the use of cement-stabilized earth for perimeter walls simplifies material management and disposal throughout the building's life cycle, and the cost-effectiveness of cement has been found to be substantially greater than that of reinforced concrete frames and brick structures, improving economic viability and social acceptability, especially among low-income communities in rural areas.

Sexually transmitted infections in South Africa are increasing at alarming rates. The study setting is no.5, with the highest STIs, pregnancy, and HIV statistics in Limpopo province among 13 to 19-year-old teenagers. This study explored preventative measures against STIs practiced by teenagers in rural areas of Limpopo Province, South Africa. The study was conducted at a selected rural-based clinic using an exploratory, descriptive qualitative research approach. Unstructured, in-depth face-to-face interviews were used to collect data from sixteen conveniently sampled teenagers aged 13 -19 who came to Manavhela Clinic for Youth Friendly Services in Au-gust/September 2022. Open-coding analysis was used to identify themes and sub-themes. Measures to ensure trustworthiness were ensured. Ethical clearance (FSH/21/PH/22/2211) was obtained, and ethics principles were observed throughout the study. Two themes emerged from data analysis: STI preventive measures practiced by teenagers and factors influencing the choice of STI preventive measures practices by teenagers. Only a few participants aged 13 and 14 years practiced abstinence and condom use. Most participants were sexually active and used mythical mixtures made from boiling aloe or morula tree, which they drank before and after sex, applying plain yogurt on the vagina once a week, OR vaginal steaming. Participants cited patriarchy, lack of sex education in rural schools, long distances to clinics, and desire to taste sex as reasons for adopting the practiced preventive measures. Risky sexual behaviour among 13 to 19-year-old teenagers is still rife in rural areas. Rural clinics in Limpopo Province should intensify STI school health education and Youth Friendly Services programs to raise awareness and improve accessibility to condoms

Mountains can be described as socio-ecological systems (SESs), a complex set of relations that involve natural aspects and human communities. Mountains provide indispensable ecosystem services, but they are affected by climate change. For this, stakeholders’ initiatives to face global warming, particularly farmers, are essential and participatory strategy are largely considered as a best solution to involve them in adopting resilience actions. Despite that, farmers are considered passive actors and their epistemology weak. Investigating mountain actors' vulnerability to climate change in the North of Molise (an Italian region), called «Alto Molise», we suggest considering farmers agency as a result of interconnections among heterogeneous elements present in the SES and their “lay” knowledge and epistemology equally relevant that experts one. Farmers’ perception of climate change impact is appropriate, although they lack a clear understanding of it. Their resilience actions or suggestions are coherent with their resources endowment (financial and knowledge) and their position in the economic system but not necessarily effective. The work contributes to the debate on climate resilience in mountain areas stressing the significance of local actors' agency, the presence of different epistemologies (lay and expert one) and the need to actively involve them in designed effective and suitable initiatives to face climate change.

Groundwater use for domestic and agricultural purposes is every day in rural communities. However, groundwater quality in those communities is still being determined due to the lack of water quality monitoring programs. The purpose of this study was to evaluate groundwater quality in rural communities using physiochemical parameters. Eight communities using communal boreholes were selected. Water samples were analysed for temperature, pH, electrical conductivity, total dissolved solids (TDS), ammonia, nitrate, and nitrite as Nitrogen. The pH means ranged from 6.6 to 8.1, whereas high TDS levels of 1390 mg/L and 1470 mg/L were observed in two boreholes. Three boreholes had higher electrical conductivity. Two boreholes had elevated nitrate levels of 15 and 21.5 mg/L. The high nitrate level correlates with the pH, EC, and TDS values. Our results suggest that high nitrate levels measured in communities’ boreholes pose ill health to the community, especially children, infants, and elders. Prenatal exposure to high nitrate has been found to have acute health effects in infants. Therefore, there is a need for further longitudinal studies on health risks among vulnerable groups in these communities.

The Covid-19 pandemic has rapidly evolved in December 2019 and to prevent its spread, effective vaccines has been produced and made available to the population. Despite their availability so far in Cameroon, the vaccination coverage remains low. This study aimed at describing the epidemiology of the acceptance of vaccines against Covid-19 in some urban and rural areas of Cameroon. A cross-sectional, descriptive and analytical survey was conducted from March 2021 to August 2021 targeting unvaccinated individuals from urban and rural area. After getting appropriate administrative authorizations and an ethical clearance from the Institutional Review Board (or Ethics Committee) of Douala University (N° 3070CEI-Udo/05/2022/M), a cluster sampling at many degrees was performed and a language adapted questionnaire was filled by each consenting participant. Data were analyzed using Epi info version 7.2.2.6 software and for P-values ˂ 0.05, the difference was considered as statistically significant. Out of 1053 individuals, 58.02% (611/1053) participants were residing in urban and 41.98% (442/1053) in rural areas. Good knowledge relative to Covid-19 was significantly higher in urban areas as compared to rural areas (97.55%vs.85.07, P<0.000). The proportion of respondents who intended to accept the anti Covid-19 vaccine was significantly higher in urban areas than rural areas (42.55%vs.33.26, p=0.0047). Conversely, the proportion of anti Covid-19 reluctant respondents thinking that the vaccine can induce a disease was significantly higher in rural areas than urban areas (54 (35.07 vs 8.84, P<0.0001). The significant determinants of anti-COVID-19 acceptance were the level of education (p=0.0001) and profession in the rural areas (p=<0.0001), and only the profession (p=0.0046) in the urban areas. This study globally shows that anti-COVID-19 vaccination remains a major challenge in urban as well as rural area in Cameroon. We should keep sensitizing and educate population about vaccine importance in preventing the COVID-19 spread.

The COVID-19 pandemic introduced risks and challenges to global food and nutrition security. In this paper, we examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the nutritional intake of China's rural residents using panel data and a fixed effect model. The data were collected in 2019 and 2020 and covered nine provinces and 2,631 households in rural China. The results reveal that an increase of 100 confirmed cases in a county resulted in a 1.48% (p<0.01), 1.46% (p<0.01), 1.77% (p<0.01), and 1.23% (p<0.01) decrease in per capita intake of dietary energy, carbohydrates, fats, and proteins, respectively. Moreover, the COVID-19 pandemic only had a significant and negative effect on dietary energy intake in the low-income group at the 5% level of significance. Our study indicates that the potential insufficient nutrition situation, nutritional imbalance, and dietary imbalance of low-income rural residents should be addressed appropriately.

Objective: To explore the effect of rural-urban residence on self-reported health status with UK cancer survivors. Design: A cross-sectional postal questionnaire that collected data on demographics, post-code and self-reported health status. Methods: Independent Samples t test was used to detect differences in health status between rural and urban respondents. Pearson’s χ2 was used to control for confounding variables and multivariate analysis was conducted using Stepwise linear regression. Setting: East Midlands of England. Participants: Adult cancer survivors who had undergone primary treatment in the last five years. Participants were excluded if they had recurrence or metastatic spread, started active oncology treatment in the last twelve months and were in receipt of palliative or end of life care. Main Outcome: Residence was measured using the UK ONS RUC2011 Rural-Urban Classifications and Health Status via the UK ONS self-reported health status measure. Results: 227 respondents returned a questionnaire. Forty-five per cent (N=103) were resident in a rural area and fifty-three per cent (N=120) in an urban area. Rural (4.11±0.85) respondents had significantly (p<0.001) higher self-reported health status compared to urban (3.65±0.93) respondents (MD 0.47; 95% CI 0.23, 0.70). Conclusion: Rural respondents had significantly higher self-reported health status compared to their urban counterparts. It is hoped that the results will stimulate further work in this area and that researchers will be encouraged to collect data on rural-urban residency where appropriate.

Protected areas have been used worldwide to conserve natural resources. Nevertheless, economic activities to provide income for communities living inside and surrounding conservation areas remain an issue. This study aimed to assess the sustainability of a Deuterodon iguape hatchery, placed inside an Atlantic Rainforest Park, to leverage this small native fish's grow-out farming, affording income and food security for local families. We have used a set of indicators of economic, social, and environmental sustainability. The initial investment is about US$ 40,000, which returned in ~2 years. The internal rate of return is close to 50%, including the externality costs, which is attractive for public and private investments. The hatchery generated few direct jobs, but the workforce can be recruited in the community, and hatchery can enable the establishment of several small grow-out farms, leveraging the development of indirect jobs and self-employments. The system had a low environmental impact, showing minor release of pollutants, low risk for biodiversity, and absorption of 18 g of CO2 equivalent per thousand post-larvae produced, contributing to the struggle against climate change. Therefore, D. iguape hatchery demonstrates the potential of combining biodiversity conservation and income generation, meeting the Sustainable Development Goals of Agenda 2030.

Economic sustainability of rural areas is a concern given the increasing trend towards urbanization globally and in India. Self-reliant strategies, including increased savings and investment are more valuable in this regard than external interventions. This paper uses the results of a survey to examine the factors affecting saving in a rural part of Odisha populated primarily by tribals. Our tentative findings are that savings propensity is determined partly by the extent to which individuals feel connected to the broader economy, and partly by cultural factors. One implication of these findings is that connecting rural areas to other, possibly urban, locations could elicit greater saving and this could lead to greater development, employment possibilities, economic betterment and all the consequent social welfare implications. This paper relates savings propensity to new sociological population characteristics, such as perceived connectivity and food consumption patterns, and hence provides hitherto unexplored clues for policy initiatives to increase savings.

While disrespectful treatment of pregnant women attending health care facilities occurs globally, it is more prevalent in low resource countries. In Kenya, a large body of research studies or has studied disrespectful maternity care (DMC) from the perspective of the service users. This paper examines the perspective of health care workers (HWCs) on factors that influence DMC experienced by pregnant women at health care facilities in rural Kisii and Kilifi counties in Kenya. We conducted 24 in-depth interviews with health care workers (HCWs) in these two sites. Data were analyzed deductively and inductively using NVIVO 12. Findings from HCWs reflective narratives identify four areas connected to the delivery of disrespectful care including poor infrastructure, understaffing, service users’ socio–cultural beliefs, and health care workers’ attitudes toward marginalized women. Investments are needed to address health systems influences on DMC including poor health infrastructure and understaffing. Additionally, it is important to reduce cultural barriers through training on HCWs interpersonal communication skills. Further, strategies are needed to affect positive behavior changes among HCWs directed at addressing stigma and discrimination of pregnant women due to socio-economic standing. To develop evidence-informed strategies to address DMC, a holistic understanding of the factors associated with pregnant women’s poor experiences of facility based maternity care is needed. This may best be achieved through an intersectional approach to address DMC by identifying systemic, cultural, and socio-economic inequities as well as the structural and policy features that contribute and determine peoples’ behaviors and choices.

According to the growing concern of various focus groups, in regard to the mitigation of the negative impacts generated because of the tourism, has born the interest of proposing sustainable tourism projects derivatives of the feeling within the communities (1) Background: the aim is to propose a differentiated diagnosis of the Subsystems (biophysical and anthropic) and their relationship with traditional-rational knowledge; (2) Methods: from the Theory of Complex Systems was propose the Harmonic Tourism Methodology, that try to correlation the subsystem and knowledge in the community of San Juan Tlahuica Atzingo, State of Mexico (4) Conclusions: Among the most outstanding results that are on the one hand, we must work through tourism projects to the rescue and preservation of natural and cultural resources, reassessing them through the strengthening of social cohesion. On the other hand, the application of this case allowed us to visualize that it is necessary to consolidate the elements and steps of the methodology in order to apply it to different communities that are beginning their journey in the field of the tourism and that can improve and potentiate their resources, seeking harmony between them.

In Brazil, during the four last administrations of Worker’s Party (PT) 2003-2015, the support to the agrarian reform seems to have stagnated, even with the influence of landless workers' movements. Thus in 2016, the impeachment President Dilma Roussef have marked a brutal stop in the agrarian reform process. How to explain that which seems at first to be a contradiction and has become a decadence of an important federal public policy?. Furthermore, how can we evaluate the debates within Brazilian society and the federal government on this theme? The article analyzes the tensions, debates, advances and impasses of the past fifteen years of agrarian reform policy in Brazil looking at the interaction between social movements and public policies. The method associates bibliography, official statistic synthesis and research results in Northeast, Amazônia and Cerrado regions among several projects. The first part results put on evidence the crescent reduction of agrarian reform settlements and beneficiary families since 2006. The second part presents the main reasons offering an analysis of government and society debates in Brazil about land reform. The analysis conclude to the less of power and representation in the society of the pro agrarian reform large and popular coalition.

The European Commission has been striving to achieve sustainable development in its rural areas for more than 25 years through funds aimed at modernizing the agricultural and forestry sectors, protecting the environment and improving the quality of life. But is sustainable rural development really being accomplished? This study sets out to answer this question in the case of Extremadura, a Spanish territory with Low Demographic Density and a Gross Domestic Product still below 75 % of the European average. Both qualitative and quantitative methodology have been employed, using a Principal Component Analysis the result of which has provided us with a model which shows how various behaviors coexist in the region in view of the distribution of current funding from the EAFRD. The most dynamic areas have received the largest amounts of funding and these are linked to the agricultural sector and to the protection of the environment, leaving aside the more depressed areas and the implementation of the LEADER Approach as well. Therefore, we have come to the conclusion that the current rural development in Extremadura is not sustainable enough.

Eco-innovation denotes developing green practices using environmentally friendly innovative approaches or technologies. Although, eco-innovation has been broadly applied in different in-dustries, such as low-carbon production and manufacturing, how to implement such innovation in education for sustainable development (ESD) has rarely been studied. Therefore, this research considered a reflective and cooperative learning approach to science, technology, engineering, arts, and math (STEAM) education. A case study examined Wanluan Township of Pingtung County in southern Taiwan. Four departments’ students and teachers at Meiho University were involved in situated learning. Students of hospitality management played farm owners who en-gaged in organic agriculture to produce food and beverages. These agricultural products were farm-to-table, cooked and served for customers in a natural dining setting through the students’ teamwork. Students of tourism, sports & leisure management, and food science & nutrition played tourists in a self-guided travel context, who engaged in acts such as visiting buildings to understand heritage while observing that the houses were still in use a dwelling. This encouraged reflection on the importance of cultural preservation. According to the results from the role-play farm owners and tourists, eco-innovation can represent a sustainable marketing strategy for im-proving the local-community economy and can be implemented in a practical situation in STEAM. The goal of ESD for 2030 — societal transformation — is to foster students’ responsible behavior and attitudes in a personally authentic manner, thereby fostering sustainability learning and understanding.

Introduction: Rural areas face additional challenges in preventing, preparing for, responding to, and recovering from disasters. This study aimed to understand how rural General Practitioners PHCPs perceive their roles, involvement, and capacity in disaster health management. Methods: For this qualitative descriptive research, semi-structured interviews were carried out with convenience and purposive samples of rural PHCPs before and during the COVID pandemic. Open, axial, and selective coding were employed to analyse the data inductively. Results: five interviews were conducted pre-COVID and ten interviews during the second and third waves of COVID. Identified themes were similar between the two periods. Rural PHCPs were underutilised due to a lack of awareness of their capacity and a lack of infrastructure and support for greater involvement. Conclusion: Rural PHCPs can be better integrated and supported in readiness for a whole of system response to future disasters.

An agrotechnological district (ATD) integrates sustainable agricultural practices and technologies, aiming to transform rural communities by stimulating socioeconomic development and addressing the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Ingaí, a dairy-producing municipality in Minas Gerais, Brazil, stands to benefit from the implementation of an ATD. This study aimed to identify the opportunities and challenges for the implementation of an ATD in the municipality, considering its socioeconomic characteristics, level of producers' technological adoption, connectivity infrastructure, support networks, rural and market management. Through an exploratory case study, using semi-structured group interviews with agricultural stakeholders, key challenges emerged: limited connectivity infrastructure; ineffective property management; rural family succession problems; barriers in accessing credit; resistance to the adoption of technologies; and dependence on the local government. Opportunities included strengthening of support networks among the agents of rural productive activity; promoting technology adoption by producers; and creating training and rural extension programs. The adoption of these initiatives can stimulate the Ingaí´s economic and social development, generate multiplier effects in its region of influence, and serve as a model for other initiatives in the state of Minas Gerais, the main dairy hub in the country, and one of the primary drivers of Brazilian agribusiness.

A theoretical framework for agricultural landscape pattern transitions in rural areas is proposed to fill the gap of current research with an empirical study in the Alabata farm settlement in Ogun State, Southwest Nigeria. Adopting the use of ArcGIS 10.8 and Surfer 27.3 to calculate the surface area and volume of the ground surface degraded and exposed to harsh weather conditions due to both natural and man-made anthropogenic activities causing runoffs and continuous soil erosion, which has affected agricultural production and sent some of the farmers packing and abandoning their farmlands. The farm settlement within the total sampled frame area of 1.50 km² covers a total distance of 5.11 km. The sample frame was divided into 36 frames with similar ecological terrain and soil types, which fell into either identified soil types 1 and 2. The study completed a questionnaire onsite using three major criteria. Only 23 farmers responded positively to the few questions with farmers either living on the farm or working as hired laborers on-site at the visit. The transition characteristics of agricultural landscape patterns as represented in abandoned land, and orchards are analyzed from a local perspective.

This paper investigates rural mobility in the Global South using a participatory GIS approach to address the lack of mobility data. Limited rural mobility due to poor infrastructure and financial constraints hinders social and economic activities, impeding development. The study aims to explore the socio-economic impacts of limited mobility, identify software needs for data-scarce environments, and map daily mobility patterns. Fieldwork was conducted in Kenya (2022) and Nepal (2023), collecting geographic data related to mobility. The methodology included community engagement and digital mapping using the QField app for precise data collection. The study highlights the use of participatory GIS to fill data gaps, enabling more accurate mobility assessments. In Kenya, the research significantly increased the number of mapped roads and paths, providing a more realistic view of local mobility. Community engagement revealed gender-specific mobility patterns, with women facing particular challenges in daily activities. The study emphasizes the need for adaptable data models to reflect community-specific mobility needs and the integration of qualitative insights to propose effective mobility solutions. This research contributes to understanding rural mobility in the Global South and demonstrates the effectiveness of participatory GIS in overcoming data scarcity and enhancing mobility analysis.

In Burkina Faso, there is lack of awareness of antibiotics use at community level. In this study, we generate information on the commonly used antibiotics along with the reasons for which they have been used, in rural Burkina Faso. The ‘drug bag’ method, was employed to collect information from 423 households, in the health district of Nanoro. Descriptive analyses were performed using R software version 4.2.1. The number of self-reported antibiotic use on a regular basis was estimated at 3401 of which amoxicillin was reported 367 times (10.8 %), oxytetracycline was reported 288 times (8.5 %), ampicillin, 245 times (7.2 %), metronidazole, 239 times (7 %), and norfloxacin 223 times (6.6 %). Among the health complaints for which amoxicillin was used, wounds accounted for 28.5% (88/309) and gastrointestinal disorders 17.1% (53/309). For oxytetracycline, gastrointestinal disorders accounted for 57.1% (121/212) and wounds 22.64% (48/212). The study highlights the use of antibiotics for a range of health problems within the community, as well as antibiotics that appeared to of importance in people’s life. Further research is essential to elucidating the rationalities and logic reasoning underlying such use of antibiotics.

This paper is focused on typical rural settlements in the Stara Planina Mountain area in Serbia. They are distinguished by their authenticity, identity and character, and they have still not been destroyed by inappropriate development as is the case in some other mountain areas in Serbia, where the effects of urbanization, globalization and homogenization are obvious. Consequently, there is a need to prevent these effects in mountain areas where there is a threat of disbalance between development and the inherited natural and cultural values. The paper starts from several important concepts that relate contemporary approaches to cultural heritage preservation, place morphology and planning future development. The concept definitions from recent documents from related fields are used. These concepts are then applied to the area of Stara Planina Mountain and its rural settlements. The necessity for an integrative approach to planning this area with significant natural and anthropogenic potential is pointed out, including its integration into international programs of sustainable development.

Rational delineation of urban–rural boundaries is a foundational prerequisite for holistic urban and rural development planning and rational resource allocation. However, the results of division of urban–rural boundaries extracted using a single data source are non-comprehensive. To address this problem, the present study proposes a method for using multiple sources such as population data, nighttime light data, land use, and points of interest (POI) data to extract urban–rural boundaries. Considering Guizhou Province for a case study, we here present a two-step method for identifying urban–rural boundaries. First, the random forest model was combined with the dasymetric mapping method to obtain the population spatialization data with a 30-m resolution in the studied province. Second, using the breaking point method, we extracted the urban–rural boundary for Guizhou Province in 2020 based on the spatialized population. This method fully integrated the benefits of various data and judiciously extracted the boundaries of the main urban areas and small- and medium-sized towns of each city in the study province at the same spatial scale. The stratified random sampling method revealed that the average overall accuracy was 88.05%. The method proposed has certain universality and application value and allows identifying the urban–rural boundaries more accurately and practically.

Since China’s economic reform launched in the late 1970s, rural industrial parks (RIPs) have played a crucial role in the rise of the manufacturing industry in the Pearl River Delta (PRD), transforming the former agricultural land into a location of world-famous factories. However, as China has put forward higher requirements for economic development and stricter control measures for environmental pollution, RIPs with low-end industries and low efficiency present an urgent need for renovation and upgrade. By analyzing the spatial and socioeconomic cross-sectional dataset of rural industrial parks in Nanhai District of Foshan City, this paper attempts to classify the existing industrial parks into groups and propose corresponding redevelopment strategies. The results of the spatial analysis show that the spatial distribution of rural industrial parks is closely related to their location and transportation conditions. Failure of the market has resulted in large tracts of advantageous land being taken up by inefficient industrial parks. Cluster analysis and overlay analysis are used evaluate the difficulty of redevelopment and divide the industrial parks into three clusters: retained RIPs, medium-term-removed RIPs, and near-term-removed RIPs. It is shown that some of the industrial parks are still in good form while the majority need substantial reconstruction. Taking economic and institutional factors into consideration, the authors put forward that different strategies should be adopted for the future renovation of medium-term-removed and near-term-removed RIPs.

China is a traditional agricultural country, and the integration of rural industries has become an essential policy direction for the current strategy of agricultural modernization in China. In recent years, the agricultural industrial chains across various regions of China have consistently expanded and extended. The multifunctionality of agriculture is continuously unearthed, and the principal entities managing agriculture have become increasingly diversified and have grown significantly. New industries and forms in agriculture emerge incessantly. Accurately and profoundly understanding the inherent features of the integration of industries in rural China, establishing a scientific and rational measurement index system in line with the current status and development goals of rural China, and employing appropriate measurement methods to assess its development level and process, is instrumental in comprehending the level of integrated development in various regions. This aids in identifying challenges in the developmental process and proposing targeted developmental strategies. Hence, this paper, rooted in the integration of rural industries, cross-industry, industry extension, industry agglomeration, and industry penetration, sets up an measurement index system. Using provincial panel data from 2011 to 2020, the paper measures the level of integrated development in rural industries across China and its 31 provinces. Based on the measurement results, further techniques such as kernel density estimation and Gini coefficient decomposition have been used to analyze the spatial distribution characteristics and dynamic trends of the integrated development of rural industries in China. Research indicates that during the sample period, the overall level of integrated development in rural industries in various provinces in China has shown an upward trend. Development among the eastern, central, and western regions is highly uneven, but this disparity has been gradually narrowing in recent years. Furthermore, the levels of integrated development in different provinces exhibit significant spatial agglomeration effects. The development level of neighboring regions significantly impacts the province's development status. In the process of integrated development of rural industries in China, there's a trend where "it's easier to downgrade than to upgrade," with very few regions achieving leapfrog development.

With the intensification of population aging in rural areas, it becomes increasingly important to analyze the post-retirement migration intention of rural residents and the variables influencing these intentions. In this study, we focus on rural residents aged 45 to 60 and investigate the main variables that influence the post-retirement migration intention of rural residents, using survey data collected from 164 households in three different rural areas and the logistic regression model. From the result of this study, we found that gender, part-time employment, savings level, children's residence and occupation stability, and interest in urban living positively affect migration intention. In contrast, the number of rural companions, relationships with others in rural areas, and evaluation of rural living have a negative effect. In addition, we employ age and the proportion of mobile income as control variables to examine the variables that influence the post-retirement migration intention in different age groups and mobile income groups. The analysis reveals that, the variables influencing post-retirement migration intention varied across age groups and mobile income groups, and this variation can be attributed to the differences between groups' characteristics.

The COVID-19 pandemic is one of the past century's deadliest and most widespread viral outbreaks, with higher mortality rates in men than women. Disruptions in funeral rituals and customs, no social recognition of the loss, and limited social support intricate the grieving process and are linked with disenfranchised (not openly acknowledged, socially recognized, or publicly mourned) grief. Depression is also highly comorbid with complicated grief. Losing a spouse can be devastating, but more severe for women with limited or no resources, vulnerable to the patriarchal society. In the current COVID-19 era, increased uncertainty and disenfranchised grief can worsen the clinical scenario and intervention, as highlighted by the present case report of disenfranchised grief with depressive symptoms in a 30 years old woman from rural India who, after a year of her marriage, lost her husband due to COVID-19. This case study emphasizes the impact of multiple axes of disadvantages due to sociodemographic and cultural determinants that can complicate the grieving process in the current context. The bioecological model of grief recovery considered the individual features and the societal/environmental factors to postulate the appropriate intervention. Finding meaning and purpose in life, and restoration-oriented coping were successful for clinical management.

The study investigated determinants of open defecation among rural women in Ghana. The study extracted data from the female’s file of the 2003, 2008 and 2014 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey (GDHS). A total of 4,284 pooled sample size of rural women aged 15-49 with complete information about the variables analyzed in the study. The outcome variable was “open defecation” (i.e., defecating in an open space rather than a toilet facility) whilst fourteen (14) key explanatory variables were used. Two regression models were built, and output reported in odds ratio. Descriptively, 42 in every 100 women aged 15-49 practised open defecation (n=1811, 95’CI=49-52). Open defecation significantly correlated with educational attainment, wealth status, religion, access to mass media, partner's education, and zone of residence. The likelihood to practice open defecation reduced among those with formal education [aOR=0.69, CI=0.56-0.85], those whose partners had formal education [aOR=0.64, CI=0.52-0.80], women in the rich wealth quintile [aOR=0.12, CI=0.07-0.20], the traditionalist [aOR=0.33, CI=0.19-0.57], and those who had access to mass media [aOR=0.70, CI=0.57-0.85]. Residents in the Savannah zone were over 21-fold higher to defecate openly [aOR=21.06, CI=15.97-27.77]. The prevalence of open defecation is disproportionately pro-poor indicating that impoverished rural women are more likely to perform it.

Towns emerged as dynamic economic and political centers during the Middle Ages, giving rise to the emergence of new social classes. As a result of these functions, a new relationship began to be forged with the rural world, which supplied towns with foodstuffs that satisfied new social demands. Archaeobotanical analysis (carpology) allows us to understand the flow of cash crops by tracing seeds and fruits produced in the countryside that were consumed in and redistributed from the towns. The study of waterlogged contexts from medieval archaeological sites in the Kingdom of Galicia (Santiago de Compostela, Padrón, and Pontevedra) has provided a set of species that played a crucial role in the economy of the urban dwellers and that possibly were related to differential access or food preferences. Evidence for fruits (grapes, chestnuts, figs, apples, and cherries, among others), garden crops (melon), and cereals (foxtail millet, rye, naked wheat, and oat) has been documented. Broomcorn millet is particularly abundant, demonstrating that it was important for subsistence. Some of the species found (medlar and turnip/grelo) are novel in the archaeobotanical literature of the medieval period in the Iberian Peninsula.

Optimal use of Hierarchical Bayesian Model (HBM) assembled aerosol optical depth (AOD)-PM2.5 fused surfaces in epidemiologic studies requires homogeneous temporal and spatial fused surfaces. No analytical method is available to evaluate spatial heterogeneity. The temporal case-crossover design was modified to assess the spatial association between four experimental AOD-PM2.5 fused surfaces and four respiratory-cardiovascular hospital events in 12 km2 grids. The maximum number of adjacent lag grids with significant odds ratios (ORs) identified homogeneous spatial areas (HOSAs). The largest HOSA included 5 grids (lag grids 04; 720 km2) and the smallest HOSA contained 2 grids (lag grids 01; 288 km2). Emergency department asthma and inpatient asthma, myocardial infarction, and heart failure ORs were significantly higher in rural grids without air monitors than in urban grids with air monitors at lag grids 0, 1, and 01. Rural grids had higher AOD-PM2.5 concentration levels, population density, and poverty percent than urban grids. Warm season ORs were significantly higher than cold season ORs for all health outcomes at lag grids 0, 1, 01, and 04. The possibility of elevated fine and ultrafine PM and other demographic and environmental risk factors synergistically contributing to elevated respiratory-cardiovascular chronic diseases in persons residing in rural areas was discussed

Enhance®Fitness (EF) is an evidence-based exercise program recommended for management of osteoarthritis (OA). However, access to EF is limited in rural areas. Accordingly, we evaluated the feasibility and acceptability of remotely delivered EF in rural, community-dwelling older adults with symptomatic knee OA. A single arm pilot trial of remotely delivered EF classes was conducted. Videoconferencing was used to livestream the instructor-led, 1-hour EF classes 3 days/week for 12 weeks. Outcomes were assessed at baseline and immediately post-intervention. A total of 15 participants were enrolled with a median age of 70 years (interquartile range [IQR]: 67-75) and 14 (93%) were women. Median EF class attendance rate was 91% (IQR: 85-94%). Knee pain, as measured by the Knee injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS), improved significantly from baseline to 12-week endpoint (mean difference=-11.4 [95% CI:-20.9, -2.0); P=0.02). In addition, participants’ self-reported knee function improved significantly (mean difference in KOOS Function score=-11.8 [95% CI:-18.4, -5.2]; P&lt;0.01) as well as their physical capacity (mean difference in Timed Up and Go test time=1.8 seconds [95% CI: 0.2, 3.4]; P=0.03). All participants (100%) were very satisfied with remotely delivered EF classes and there were no serious adverse events. Findings from this pilot trial indicate that remotely delivered EF is feasible and acceptable in rural older adults with knee OA.

Infection with the hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a public health problem in many parts of the world, due to its frequency, complications and socio-economic consequences. This study aimed to assess the seroprevalence of hepatitis B virus infection in rural areas and in urban areas. This cross-sectional study assessed the prevalence of HBV infection from 2015-2018 at CHR-Sokodé and USP of Ogaro. Biological data of 3000 participants (500 per year in each zone) enrolled and results of HBsAg were assessed during the study period. Female are represented 60% with average age comprised between [20, 29] years old. The high rate of participants enrolled (45.10%) are come for the monitoring of pregnancy. The prevalence of VHB during the study are 20.33% (610/3000), high prevalence (6.27%) and the means of VHB prevalence are shown in the age range between [30; 39] with 12.17% (365/3000) of female and 8.17% (235/3000) of male are positive after diagnostic detection of HBsAg (antigen of Hepatitis B virus). The prevalence of HBV in rural zone (Ogaro) are 5.23% and 15.07% in urban zone (Sokodé) and the high prevalence (17.50%) are shown in urban zone. The high prevalence of young suggests that some effort will be due to sensibilized young for HBV sexual transmission and the way of prevention. In addition, some research would be done in research of alternative therapy against this infection.

After conducting a detailed survey among the villagers of Pallissery and Karukutty, it was observed that in most of the villages the native people have to travel long distances for their basic health needs. Also most of the villagers lack knowledge regarding live health updates. At times, these problems have even resulted in death of many people including pregnant women and children. The objective of our research is to propose an integrated and easy to use Medical Kiosk that can be installed at various locations in rural areas. The Kiosk will provide an integrated environment for all medical related activities and would perform numerous functions like sending notifications regarding medical camps, mobile medical help, important dates for vaccinations, child care, insurance policies and provide other live medical updates to the villagers. It would also support the basic facilities for measurement of body parameters like height, weight, BMI, blood pressure, and heartbeat and also facilitate live consultation facilities with specialized doctors through video and voice chats.

The study investigates the influence of road intersections on pedestrian accessibility in urban-rural fringe areas. An evaluation method to support planners and decision makers in the classification of crossing areas according to their effect on walking and in the prioritization of improvement interventions is proposed. In these peripheral parts of towns, pedestrians are almost ignored and people depend on car use for any necessity. Initiatives to improve livability can include the design of walkable friendly environments aiming at offering potential users good levels of security, comfort and convenience when walking to destinations. These spatial requirements have to be provided along road segments and even more on crossing areas which represent sensitive points of the entire connection system with a hindering influence on people’s propensity to walk. Starting with spatial basic interventions aiming at enhancing the continuity, safety and quality of pedestrian paths it is possible to reduce the physical and perceptual distance which separates fringe contexts from the rest of the city leading to a progressive integration of urban functions.

The present study aims at investigating the potential impact of agricultural policies on GHG emissions from agriculture across the European Union. The study begins with a brief analysis of the context of implementation of the 2014-2022 Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), within which many interventions were designed to improve sustainability and increase competitiveness. It follows a description of the structural changes the European agriculture is witnessing, that are both influenced and contribute influencing policies. The method of Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) is used to investigate possible causalities and to cluster observations based on similar combinations of conditions (i.e., drivers) and outcomes (i.e., positive or negative variations in GHG emissions from agriculture between the end and the begin of the CAP programming period). The results reveal that the increase in GHG emissions from agriculture over the study period is mainly attributable to the low share of agricultural land under management contracts targeting climate change mitigation and carbon sequestration through the CAP. CAP payments coupled with the production is found to contribute to further increasing GHG emission from agriculture in some eastern and northern EU countries. Livestock concentration, income support payments and the high price of agricultural land drive the increase in GHG emissions for other central and eastern EU countries. The paper concludes addressing existing shortcomings due to conflicting interventions in the current CAP Strategic Plans.

Heating stage accounts for the largest proportion of building carbon emissions. In order to figure out heating situations of rural residential building in Gansu Province, Gannan region was selected to carry out on-site survey on heating condition including heating mode, energy used for heating, heating fees, residents’ satisfaction on heating and thermal environment of typical building. The results showed that local rural residents burnt scattered coal for heating with primitive heating stove with high heating cost and low efficiency, causing low air temperature and high heating fees. Besides carbon emissions caused by heating reached 5743.28 kgCO2em-2, Several strategies for improving the heating effect and reducing carbon were proposed taking economic benefits into consideration limited by rural economic development. A parameter of reduced carbon emissions per investment input was proposed to evaluate the carbon reduction strategies. Results showed that Biomass was the most economical way to reduce the carbon emissions, followed by thermal insulation design, natural gas furnace and air source heat pumps for heating, and it was not reasonable to blindly increase building insulation to reduce building carbon emissions. The optimum energy efficiency was 55% in Gannan. The results provided reference for building low-carbon design in rural areas, helped achieving low carbon goal with low investment.

Access to reliable water supply is critical for sustainable development and public health, yet many peri-urban and rural communities in the developing world face challenges such as poor maintenance, faulty infrastructure, and inadequate governance of water services, hindering the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). In Emina-Boadi, a small town in Kumasi, Ghana, residents increasingly rely on boreholes due to substandard service from the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL). This shift highlights concerns about water reliability, quality, and affordability, impacting public health and hindering progress toward SDG 6. This case study assesses water service levels using key performance indicators (KPIs) such as quantity, quality, affordability, accessibility, and reliability, focusing on sources like boreholes, hand pumps, piped water, hand-dug wells, rainwater, and surface waters. The study aims to delineate the roles of different water providers, understand community dynamics, and evaluate contributions to rural development and SDG 6 through stakeholder interviews and questionnaires. Leveraging the WASHCost framework, which aims to improve planning methods and provision of water and sanitation services by addressing the lack of cost information in rural and peri-urban areas, and the Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) framework, which monitors progress toward global targets related to water, sanitation, and hygiene, the study categorizes indicators and draws connections among them. Findings reveal a significant preference for borehole services, with 87% usage and an 83% reliability rate compared to 13% for GWCL. Daily water consumption averages 60.75 liters per person, with on-premises access improving water collection efficiency to 7 minutes. Dissatisfaction with GWCL services highlights the need for improved delivery aligned with community needs and SDG targets. Adopting sustainable management practices, enhancing infrastructure, and improving governance are crucial for ensuring safe and affordable water access for all residents of Emina-Boadi and similar communities.

Introduction: Rural Americans face significant health disparities due to limited access to healthcare services. Telehealth has emerged as a promising solution to mitigate these disparities by facilitating remote access to medical care. This paper comprehensively reviews the advantages, challenges, and implementation strategies of telehealth in rural areas.Method: A narrative review methodology was employed to synthesize existing literature and case studies on telehealth in rural settings. Databases such as PubMed, Google Scholar, and JSTOR were searched for relevant studies published in the last three decades. Keywords such as "telehealth," "rural health," and "healthcare disparities" guided the search process. The review focused on studies assessing the impact of telehealth on healthcare access, cost-effectiveness, and quality of care in rural areas.Results: The review findings indicate that telehealth significantly enhances healthcare access by reducing travel distances, increasing availability of specialist consultations, and promoting patient engagement. It improves chronic disease management and patient satisfaction by enabling convenient access to healthcare services at home. Despite initial setup costs and challenges such as broadband access and regulatory issues, telehealth demonstrates long-term cost savings through reduced travel expenses and improved healthcare efficiency. Quality of care is enhanced through improved communication between healthcare providers and patients, leading to better treatment adherence and health outcomes.Conclusion: Telehealth represents a transformative approach to address healthcare disparities in rural areas. It offers a cost-effective solution to improve access to healthcare services, enhance patient outcomes, and reduce healthcare costs in the long run. However, successful implementation requires addressing infrastructure challenges, refining reimbursement policies, and ensuring regulatory support. Future efforts should focus on expanding broadband infrastructure, refining policy frameworks, and conducting further research to optimize telehealth's impact on rural healthcare delivery.

Under the extreme shortage of water resources in the Yellow River Basin, it is of great signifi-cance to analyze the spatial distribution relationship between rural settlement and water re-sources for the coordinated development of human and water resources in the Yellow River Ba-sin. However, the water allocation scheme depended on statistical data in the previous work, not on rural settlements in space. Furthermore, previous researches seldom focus on the evaluation of surface water resources accessibility according to the spatial distribution characteristics of ru-ral settlements and water resources, especially, in the Yellow River Basin and using rural set-tlement as unit. Therefore, a quantitative evaluation model of surface water resources accessibil-ity is constructed by using the GIS network analysis method, taking rural settlement as the re-search unit, based on three dimensions of topography, distance, and surface water resources, at the Yellow River basin scale. The results show that: (1) The surface runoff of rural settlement in the Yellow River basin is mostly less than 0.05 km/m2, reaching 99.83%. In other words, the Yel-low River Basin is extremely short of water resources. The surface water resources accessibility is affected by distance, topography, and surface water resources. The evaluation results show that the range of surface water resources accessibility is 0.13~0.88, with an average value of 0.47 and a standard deviation of 0.05. The High surface water resources accessibility value in the Yel-low River Basin is in the east and west, and the low value is mainly distributed in the middle. (2) The range from low to high of surface water resources accessibility in 12 catchments is Sanmen-xia station, Lanzhou station, Shizuishan station, Longmen station, Tongguan station, Toudaoguai station, Xiaolangdi station, Huayuankou station, Lijin station, Gaocun station, Ai Shan station and Tangnaihai station. (3) The value of surface water resources accessibility at the city scale is higher in the east of 10 cities and in the west of 1 city. However, it is lower in the west of 9 cities. And the values of the other cities are at a medium level. The correlation coefficient with primary industry GDP and surface water resources accessibility is 0.271 (N=56, Sig=0.043, in 0.05 level, the correlation is significant), which verifies the rationality of surface water resources accessibility model to some extent.

Rapid population growth causes smallholders to practice unsustainable forms of land intensification to meet increasing food demand. Food insecurity is exacerbated by unreliable rainfall. We revisit family planning, smallholder irrigation, and agricultural cooperatives as potential sustainable solutions. We use descriptive statistics based on primary data from Kakamega Central and Navakholo in Kenya. Results from respondents indicate 83% had no family planning information, while 82% had no access to irrigation. The major reasons are poverty, illiteracy, misconceptions, gender inequality, constraints in accessing credit, lack of investment in water resources, and family planning. Lack of access to agricultural extension services limits the adoption of sustainable farming practices. Cooperatives’ principles and values make them suitable pathways to reach the poorest and facilitate members’ access to productive resources. Cooperatives can be used to train members in sustainable agricultural practices and educate members on family planning issues. Cooperatives have contributed to better yields, incomes, nutritional status, and reduced poverty. However are constrained by a lack of capital, credit, infrastructure, markets, training and technology, delayed payment, and low prices. Governments and development agencies should support the establishment and development of cooperatives with capacity building, market infrastructure, finance, and education in cooperative principles and values.

The research presented in this paper examines a new proposed approach for identifying safety improvement sites on rural highways. Unlike conventional approaches, the proposed approach does not require crash history, but rather utilizes classified variables for traffic volume, geometric features, and roadside characteristics that do not require access to exact data or extensive technical expertise. The research validates the performance of the proposed approach using field data from a large sample of rural two-lane highway segments in the state of Oregon including traffic, roadway, and crash data. Using observed crash history as a reference, the performance of the proposed ap-proach was compared to two of the well-established methods in practice, namely: the Empirical Bayes (EB) and the Potential for Safety Improvement (PSI) methods. The study results suggest that, using crash density for highway segments, the performance of the proposed method was lower than that of the EB and PSI methods. This is despite the high R-square value of the predictive model used in the proposed method. However, when using crash frequencies for highway segments, the per-formance of the proposed method was found comparable to the well-established EB and PSI methods.

Although tourism seasonality significantly influences the livelihood activities of rural tourism households, limited research has explored how they adapt their livelihood strategies to achieve optimal outcomes. Employing an exploratory sequential mixed-methods design that combines thematic analysis and fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA), we investigated the relationship between the livelihood strategies and outcomes of rural tourism households under the influence of tourism seasonality at the Guilin Karst World Heritage Site. The results indicate that livelihood strategies adopted by rural tourism households include "Tourism Persistence,” "Seasonal Employment,” and “Seasonal Farming” during the off-season, and “Extending Working Hours,” “Increasing Staffing Input,” and “Increasing Capital Input” during the peak season. Furthermore, these strategies form flexible combinations to realize livelihood outcomes, with “Extending Working Hours” being a necessary condition. The findings also revealed that the four configurations of seasonal livelihood strategies in the two patterns significantly contributed to high livelihood outcomes. One is named “Peak-Season Driven Pattern,” where “Extending Working Hours” and “Increasing Staffing Input” are the core conditions; the other is named “Peak-Off Blend-Driven Pattern,” where “Extending Working Hours,” “Increasing Capital Input,” and the absence of “Tourism Persistence” are the core conditions. These findings provide theoretical and practical insights for sustainable livelihood research.

As in many parts of the world, rural-urban, forest-urban interface areas surrounding urban regions expose the natural areas they interact with to a threat of fire risk that can reach various sizes. This risk has been assessed for various regions of the world using many different methods and numerical models so far. Among these, it is seen that machine learning models have successful applications in risk assessment and risk prediction studies. For the fire risk prediction of Istanbul's yet unurbanized regions, but where the city is anticipated to potentially shift, data was collected using the opportunities provided by Geographic Information Systems and Remote Sensing technologies based on fires that occurred between 2000-2021, and the region was examined. Machine learning methods' Random Forest (RF), Extreme Gradient Boosting (XGB), and Light Gradient Boosting (LGB) models were applied for the classification of factors effective in fire. The best result was given by the RF model with 0.93 accuracy, 0.062 F1 score, and 0.753 Area Under Curve (AUC) value. In the classification of factors in the RF model, the grouping between fire-initiating factors and factors effective in spreading is evident, while this distinction is partially noticeable in the other two models.

Rural tourism plays an increasing role in maintaining sustainable rural development. In-11 tegrating culture into rural tourism is multifaceted. Local communities have often been regarded as 12 homogeneous, and different voices within them are selectively presented or re-interpreted by pow-13 ers. A better understanding of how and why cultures are integrated into rural tourism is urgently 14 needed. This paper aims to investigate (1) the aims and motives of tourism managers to integrate 15 cultural concepts into rural tourism; (2) who has participated in the cultural integration process; and 16 (3) how cultures have been integrated into rural tourism. Based on a scoping literature review, we 17 found that cultures could add more attractions, such as historical heritage, artwork, cultural land-18 scape, customs, food, and language, to the natural landscape and bring more tourists to rural areas. 19 However, integrating cultures into rural tourism is not always successful. Conflicts of interest 20 among different stakeholders are also often found. Some of the worst cases of cultural integration 21 have even destroyed the original natural landscape and local cultures. While cultural integration is 22 complicated, injustice and perverse effects do not have to be a consequence of integrating cultures 23 into rural tourism. Multi-way communication among tourism providers, managers, and consumers 24 can mitigate disruptive outcomes and unlock positive social outcomes.

An important step towards COVID-19 pandemic control is adequate knowledge and adherence to mitigation measures, including vaccination. We assessed the level of COVID-19 knowledge, attitudes, and practices among residents from an urban informal settlement in the City of Nairobi (Kibera), and a rural community in western Kenya (Asembo). A cross-sectional survey was implemented from April to May 2021 among randomly selected adult residents from a population-based infectious diseases surveillance (PBIDS) cohort in Nairobi and Siaya Counties. Factors associated with the level of COVID-19 KAP, were assessed using multivariable regression methods. COVID-19 vaccine acceptance was 83.6% for the participants from Asembo and 59.8% in Kibera. The reasons cited for vaccine hesitancy in Kibera were safety concerns (34.0%), insufficient information available to decide (18.0%), and a lack of belief in the vaccine (21.0%), while the reasons in Asembo were safety concerns (55.0%), insufficient information to decide (26.0%) and lack of belief in the vaccine (11%). Our study findings suggest the need for continued public education to enhance COVID-19 knowledge, attitudes, and practices to ensure adherence to mitigation measures. Urban informal settlements require targeted messaging to improve vaccine awareness, acceptability, and uptake.

Using the 2011-2020 digital inclusive finance data released by Peking University and the index system constructed by the Blue Book of China Rural Revitalization and Development Index (2018), this paper analyzes the dynamic evolution of the digital inclusive finance and the rural revitaliza-tion from time and space dimensions with the help of kernel density estimation, Markov chain and Moran index. Using The Gini coefficient decomposition method to analyze the source of differ-ences in digital inclusive finance, and then using the spatial autoregressive (SAR) model and ge-ographically weighted regression (GWR) model to study the boosting effect of digital inclusive finance on rural revitalization from the perspective of spatial aggregation and spatial differentia-tion, respectively. The results show that: (1) The growth rate of China's digital inclusive finance slows down year by year, and the inter-provincial differences increase year by year and show gradient characteristics, indicating that there may be a trend of multipolar differentiation. The overall level of Rural Revitalization shows an increasing trend, and the gap between provinces is still apparent. (2) The evolution of digital inclusive finance and rural revitalization is a slow ad-justment process, and there has been no cross-level jump in the past ten years. In digital inclusive finance, the liquidity from the highest and lowest levels to the medium level is high. However, the liquidity in the states of rural revitalization development level is not high. (3) Rural revitalization has a positive spatial spillover effect. The level of rural revitalization in the western area is signif-icantly lower than in the eastern area. At the same time, there is no significant difference between the east and central areas. The depth of the use of digital inclusive finance has a significant positive impact on the revitalization and development of rural areas, indicating that the further promotion of digital inclusive finance business in rural areas can substantially boost the revitalization of rural areas. (4) The boosting effect of digital inclusive finance on rural revitalization shows prominent spatial differentiation characteristics. The depth of use and the degree of digitization generally show a positive impact. The central and eastern coastal cities have the highest impact, decreasing toward the southwest and northeast. The areas with the lowest usage depth impact are clustered in the northeast, and the areas with the lowest digitization impact are clustered in the southwest.

Rural electrification rate (RER) in Africa is still low to date. Several countries in Sub-Saharan Africa have tried to address this problem using conventional single-phase two-wire or three-phase three-wire systems, however at large costs due to the nature of dispersed rural load centers, low load demand, and low population density. Another solution of off-grid generation creates associated health problems. Therefore, this paper undertakes a review of a single wire earth return (SWER) network as a RER improvement solution. The paper undertakes intensive literature review to elucidate challenges and solutions to the implementation of SWER technology. Advantages of SWER technology discussed make it the choice for RER improvement in Sub-Saharan African countries. After that, a case study is selected in rural Tanzania, and a preliminary SWER network design is undertaken.

China is out of extreme poverty in 2020 on schedule and one decade in advance to fulfill the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and became the first developing country to alleviate poverty in half century. Therefore, a large numbers of effective approaches are emerging, and the intellectual’s technology-led poverty reduction, which locally known as the “Straw Hat University”initiated by “Farmer's professor”mode, is the most tried and tested approach motivated by the intellectual’s “Serve the people” tradition and supported by the all nation. This research conduct case analysis with three most remarkable organic intellectuals as Agronomist Yuan longping, Mycologist Lin Zhanxi and Plant pathologist Zhu Youyong with their bridging gaps in food security, regional imbalance and ethnic disparity respectively to sort out the sustainable modules and universal experiences. The conclusion indicates that“Farmer's Professor” Initiated “Straw Hat University” is an effective approach to solve human beings’ development problems and benefit the livelihoods, especially in the under development regions; and the authentic down to earth experiments into productivity as well as the Intellectual property transformation is the perfect path to deploy offline and online resources building the effective production and supply chain to integrate industries by intellectual’s critical innovation.

Introduction: Oral health knowledge, beliefs and attitudes of parents have a direct influence on their child’s oral health maintenance, dietary habits and encourage healthy behaviors. The aim of this study was to assess the knowledge, and attitude of parents with regards to the oral health practice of their children and its associated factors. Methods: A self -administered structured questionnaire was administered to parents or guardians of learners aged 5 to 12 years at a low socio-economic rural primary school in the uGu district, KwaZulu Natal, South Africa to collect demographic variables, knowledge of dental health, use of toothbrush, use of toothpaste, dietary practices and dental visits; practice with respect to dental care and attitudes towards oral health. The questionnaire was translated from English to IsiZulu was used. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regressions were used to assess the association between parent’s sociodemographic factors with their oral health knowledge and practice scores. Results: One hundred and forty four completed survey instruments were received with an eighty percent (118) representation of mothers. Ninety five percent of the parents (136) had a positive attitude towards oral health with 86% (124) of the children brushed their tongue and 89% (128) of the children brushed their teeth happily. The mean knowledge score was 70% with a median of 72%. Children were significantly more likely to brush their tongues (AOR: 3.20 95% CI: 1.06-9.66) and were more likely to be happier when brushing their teeth (AOR: 4.65 95% CI: 1.41-15.38) when the caregivers were their mothers, and when parents had an above average knowledge score (AOR: 1.86 95% CI: 0.72-4.85) and had positive attitudes (AOR: 3.20 95%CI: 0.46-22.00). Conclusion: To reduce the gaps in knowledge, oral health promotion should be integrated into all point of care contact with parents at health facilities, increased community awareness and advertising campaigns as well as a more focused school health oral program that addresses primary prevention, screening and appropriate referrals to health facilities

This paper discusses a significant public-private partnership (PPP) formed by the government and Taiwanese Farmer Associations. Particularly, it will investigate a pattern of the PPP that has successfully promoted rural development and agricultural modernization in Taiwan since 1950s. Taiwanese Farmer Associations (hereafter TFAs), similar to agricultural cooperatives in South Korea and Japan, have played a policy agent in fostering rural development in this island state since 1950s. TFA’s performance inherently came from Japanese Cooperatives before World War II. The Performances of those farmer organizations are combinations of economic, social, and educational synergies. The rural development experiences in Taiwan demonstrate that success of rural modernization is carried out by a special public-private partnership (PPP). First, this paper discusses formation and development of farmer cooperative organizations in East Asian societies and compare the similarities and differences of practice of those organizations and their relations to the governments among Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan. Secondly, this paper examines collaborative mold and process in which both the government and Taiwan Farmer Associations have been extensively involved. A specific cooperative apparatus between the government and TFA functioning and operating as a perfect PPP has been formed under administrative guidance of the state. Thirdly, this paper looks at input and various supports in financial and policy perspective by the public sector. Fourthly, the paper discusses legal framework, administrative apparatus, and governance pattern for TFA. Fifthly, the paper discuses that a specific PPP successfully involving in rural modernization in Taiwan is significantly derived from the state’ guidance that properly regulates a collaboration between the government and TFA. So-call East Asian model of PPP in agricultural modernization and rural community development may become a valuable experience for most of developing countries.

This article investigates if public investments in rural basic infrastructure represent the best strategy for boosting the local economy of rural communities from Romania. The article focuses on one specific program implemented under the Cohesion policy in the framework of the National Plan for Rural Development called Measure 322. Geographically, the research included a sample of rural communes from the North-Western Region of Romania. Moreover, the study also looks at other determinants of local economic development (LED) than infrastructure investments, with a focus on certain feature characterizing Romanian rural communities such as population size, isolation from urban centers, connection with European and national roads networks, educational stock, etc. The research included three steps, namely the construction of the LED Index, a cvasi-experimental research, and a regression model. Our main findings seem to suggest that while investments in infrastructure help the development gap between beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries remains relatively the same. In terms of determinants of LED, percentage of population with a university degree and connection to a European road are the most significant in the Romanian rural context.

An imperative challenge emerges from the demand to construct a scientific method to recent agricultural and rural policies throughout the world. The objective of the present study is to conduct an ex-post quantitative evaluation of the Comprehensive Rural Village Development Project, a representative rural development project operated by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, a central government agency in South Korea. The primary purpose of the project is to ensure sustainable rural society. This study found a moderate but significant positive impact of the policy in enhancing the standard of living in rural areas. The present study concludes with suggesting some policy implications and future directions of policy evaluation studies.

Extant research pays little attention to migrant workers’ skill accumulation/upgrading from the perspective of the labor supply. This paper takes China as an example to explore the factors influencing skill accumulation of rural-urban migrant workers (RUMWs), with a purpose to discover how to sustain or reshape regional competitive advantage through improving RUMWs’ skill accumulation. Structured questionnaire surveys were adopted for data collection in Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province and Taizhou City, Zhejiang Province located in the Yangtze River Delta in the east of China. 900 questionnaires were issued and 491 effective questionnaires were recovered totally. This paper takes a perspective of global production networks, and gets a broad viewpoint containing intra-firm coordination, inter-firm partnership and extra-firm bargaining with non-firm actors, beyond what the extant literature on laborers’ human capital focuses on. The finding indicates that firms’ skill-oriented preference, which concerns about employees’ skills and innovation ability and stimulates them to learn initiatively, have a significant influence on RUMWs’ skill accumulation. In terms of collective efficiency based on co-competitive relationship between local firms, the more intensive interactions are, the more opportunities of skill accumulation RUMWs get. The accessibility of local institutions and favorable policies benefit RUMWs’ skill accumulation. Besides, the place itself, as a synthesized space of labor-management relations inside a firm and inter-organization relations, exerts an influence on and cause the regional differences in RUMWs’ skill accumulation.

Common prosperity is the core goal of rural revitalization, and sustainable growth of farmers' income is an inevitable requirement. This study uses CLDS2016-2020 village and family level questionnaire data to reveal how the degree of village organization affects the sustainable growth of farmers' income, thus providing reference and decision-making for the local government to promote the increase of farmers' income and narrow the gap from the village level. The results show that the degree of village organization can significantly affect farmers' income, and the analysis results of the degree of formal organization are consistent with them. Specifically, for every 1% increase in the degree of village organization, the per capita household income will increase by 32.4%, among which the wage income will increase by 22.6%, the operational income will increase by 5%, the property income will increase by 0.8%, and the transfer income will increase by 4.2%. The estimation results through instrumental variables are consistent, and the results are robust. At the same time, improving the degree of village organization can also significantly increase the proportion of farmers' non-agricultural income and narrow the income gap among farmers. On the impact of heterogeneity, it is found that the geographical distance between villages and county and township governments, as well as the political identity and education level of farmers will affect the role of the degree of organization. The results of mechanism analysis show that improving the degree of village organization is mainly through promoting the circulation of agricultural land, socialized service of agricultural machinery and industrial and commercial capital to the countryside to increase farmers' income. The research revealed that the modernization of rural governance should be accelerated, and the degree of village organization should be improved, especially the degree of formal organization, so as to build a benign trust and cooperation relationship between the two village committees and the villagers, and implement policies and measures to improve the income of farmers according to local conditions. At the same time, strengthen the publicity and education in party member to improve the proportion of rural party member and the education level of farmers.

A comprehensive evaluation system of rural building energy consumption from the innovative composite perspective was established, which was suitable for southwest of China. The index system was established by Brainstorming method and Delphi method, the weights of the comprehensive evaluation model were calculated by Network Process (ANP) method, the scoring criteria of all evaluation indexes were leveld based on fuzzy evaluation theory. The system model was verified by case analysis, at the countryside around Chengdu Second Circle. With the highest weight, lowest comprehensive score, and broadest range of comprehensive scores taken into consideration, three key factors affecting the target layer, namely "Percentage of Clean Energy Use", "Thermal Performance of Exterior Walls", and "Implementation Rate of Energy saving Measures". The distribution of comprehensive indicators and evaluation factors has certain spatial distribution characteristics, and the overall spatial distribution shows a characteristic of "high in the southeast and low in the northwest". Finally, Based on key factors and regional distribution characteristics, energy-saving measures have been proposed from three aspects: increasing sunrooms, adding wall insulation layers, and standardizing air conditioning temperature settings.

A comprehensive evaluation system of rural building energy consumption from a innovative composite perspective is established, which is suitable for southwest China. the brainstorming method and Delphi method were used to establish the indicator system, the ANP method was applied to calculate the weights of the comprehensive evaluation model, the scoring criteria of all evaluation indexes are constructed based on fuzzy evaluation theory, the applicability of the model is verified by an example of the countryside around Chengdu. The results showed that the score of some factors is low, whole or part area, just like the percentage of clean energy use(C24), the thermal performance of external walls(E21), the implementation of energy-saving measures(S22), were key factors affecting the target level, which has greater potential for improvement. The distribution of comprehensive indicators and evaluation factors have certain spatial distribution characteristics, the overall spatial distribution shows the characterwastic of "high in the southeast and low in the northwest". The key factors and spatial distribution characteristics found can be used as an important basis for the improvement of green energy-saving promotion measures, energy-saving retrofit programmes were proposed in terms of additional solar room, energy-saving of external walls and air-conditioning temperature setting guidance.

Improving the quality and access to healthcare services in rural areas is fundamental to develop sustainable healthcare systems. This research aims to explore the motivations of healthcare professionals to work and settle in rural island areas of Greece with limited access to secondary and tertiary care. The study suggests practical ways to encourage self-motivation and attract more health workers in rural areas. An exploratory qualitative research approach was employed, involving semi-structured interviews with 16 healthcare professionals working in primary care units that lack direct hospital or hospital-health center access. The research was conducted specifically in the rural islands of Cyclades. Thematic analysis was conducted to identify common themes and unique insights from the participants. The analysis revealed three thematic categories. Τhe «attraction» thematic was influenced by personal factors, random selection, origin, accommodation factors, professional factors and obligatoriness. The «recruitment» thematic was associated with understaffing, special care issues, unstable working environment, educational and organizational aspects, and insular lifestyle. The thematic of «retention» highlighted personal issues, accommodation difficulties, economic and work-related issues, and unique challenges posed by an insular lifestyle. This research provides valuable insights into the motivations that drive healthcare professionals to settle, work, and remain in remote island units, as well as the challenges they encounter in making this decision. The study proposes strategies to motivate and attract more healthcare professionals to rural areas. These findings should be considered when formulating or reviewing primary healthcare empowerment policies to ensure equitable healthcare access for all individuals.

The prevalence of Noncommunicable Diseases (NCDs) in South Africa is increasing annually, with the burden projected to escalate by 2030. Devastatingly, factors such as lifestyle changes, urbani- sation, and an aging population significantly contribute to a rising burden of Cardiovascular disease (CVDs), diabetes, and cancer which directly impact the mortality and morbidity rates seen in South Africa. Recognising this, the South African government has seen the need for emphasis on developing policies and interventions tar- geting physical inactivity to prevent and manage NCD, particularly cost-free and easy to administer training protocols. However, phys- ical inactivity remains a significant issue, leading to various health concerns in rural communities, including injuries and Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD). Despite effort to promote physical ac- tivity, the prevalence of NCDs continues to rise, necessitating target- ed interventions to ensure equitable healthcare among South African citizens. On the Contrast, preservation and promotion of traditional games is vital as they offer indigenous populations accessible and culturally relevant means to maintain health and wellness. In this regard, it is important to recognize the importance of preserving and promoting traditional games as they potentially serve as a method for indigenous people to maintain their health and wellness in a way that is accessible and culturally relevant to them. These games have gained popularity in South Africa, with initiatives underway to show- case them globally fostering cultural exchange. Further, revitalizing and conserving these games can cultivate a culture of health and wellbeing in South Africa.

In recent years, there has been a surge of proposals for innovative approaches to public planning. It has become apparent that the traditional emphasis on "economic development" as the predominant objective of public policy is no longer adequate to promote a thriving society. Common Agricultural Policy in Europe faces challenges to adopt and implement the dynamic of culture. However, culture as a pillar of sustainable development is not a new topic. This concept has been incorporated into economic studies with increasing tension. The present study aims to measure scientific interest through published scientific studies and papers related to the contribution of culture in the context of European development programs and strategies. A total of (n=902) published documents during the period 1990-2023 from the Scopus database were explored to identify (n=27) appropriate publications for research analysis based on the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) approach and flow diagram. Bibliometric analyses using Vos Viewer (Center for Science and Technology Studies, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands) and constructed term co-occurrence network plots based on bibliometric evidence were performed. The results show that there was no scientific interest. The systematic review and bibliometric analysis of the present paper could provide a valuable and seminal reference for the researchers of rural development and the relevant policymakers.

Wellness tourism is a growing segment that destinations can rely on to increase tourism flows and revive underdeveloped rural areas. This study elicits tourists' preferences for wellness tourism products and the redevelopment of a wellness destination in a depopulated rural area. The re-search included 595 participants in Central Greece using on-site, face-to-face surveys. The survey data was analyzed using a two-step process. First, conjoint analysis was applied to determine the combination of wellness tourism product attributes that maximize visitors’ utility. In the second step, we elicited visitors' willingness to pay (WTP) for improvements in tourism product attributes using the contingent valuation method. Findings indicate that the combination of attributes that maximizes the preference structure of respondents includes time of visit from September to Oc-tober, duration of visit from 1 to 7 days, wellness tourism as the primary purpose of the visit, and wellness activities that contain both physical activities and training as well as spiritual and emo-tional enhancement. Using binary logistic regression, the analysis indicates that respondents are willing to pay 47.33€ per visit on average further to develop wellness tourism products in the study area. Empirical results confirmed that sustainability issues, quality, and entrepreneurship factors positively impact visitors' WTP for revitalizing wellness products. In contrast, a longer duration of stay in the area and respondents' age negatively impact their WTP. These findings suggest that structuring a customer-driven tourism product will enhance the rural destination's efforts to attract high-yield visitors and advance the rural economy. Furthermore, practical im-plications reveal that Destination Management Organizations will benefit from research results to foster targeted management plans.

A The guinea pig value chain in Jauja, Peru, has been developed through the application of productive projects, institutional strengthening and implementation of the principles of responsible investment in agriculture and food systems (CFS-RAI). The actors in this chain have been showing economic improvements, representativeness and participation, characteristics that make them the key human capital for development. To improve the performance of the actors in the sustainable rural development of the territory of Jauja, Peru, the research carried out an evaluation of the competencies and capacities for project management in 46 actors linked to the business programme on the CFS-RAI Principles, representing 1,094 people in the guinea pig value chain in Jauja, using the Working With People (WWP) model and empirical instruments based on the Octagon method, International Project Management Association (IPMA) competencies, performance evaluation carried out by experts, attitudinal evaluation and the Business Model Canvas. The results have helped to structure the actors of the value chain, who show an intermediate mastery of project management competencies (2.73/5), institutional capacities in development (2.89/7) and a growing organizational management performance (26.2/100). In addition, trust and proactivity have been generated among the actors in the chain, with an interest in continuing with the implementation of the CFS-RAI Principles in order to achieve sustainability in their productive projects with commercial innovation. The results have allowed us to generate the design of an innovative programme for the development of competencies, which balances the three dimensions of IPMA competencies (perspective, person and practice) in connection with the CFS-RAI Principles. Both processes complement the strengthening of human capital in agrifood value chains through sustainable project management and contributing to sustainable development in the region.

This paper explores the challenges of providing services of general interest in rural areas of Germany and proposes co-created mobility software solutions to address the specific needs of these regions. The research is part of the Smarte.Land.Regionen project, which aims to improve digital public services at the district level. Focusing on rural mobility, the paper introduces the concept of ride-sharing benches as a potential solution. Through workshops, surveys and market research, the study identifies barriers to the adoption of ride-sharing benches and investigates factors contributing to their success. The proposed software solution emphasizes user-centered development, geographic location of benches and prioritized matching of passengers. Findings highlight safety concerns, lack of reliability, and the importance of getting people who are theoretically interested in solutions to actively participate in them. The paper emphasizes the importance of collaborative development with county stakeholders. Future research should focus on sustaining and scaling digital solutions, measuring their impact on rural mobility, and ensuring their transferability to other regions. The ultimate goal is to contribute to inclusive and sustainable rural development by improving access to digital public services and promoting the adoption of tailored mobility solutions.

Predominantly rural areas make up half of Europe and account for about 20 per cent of the population. Yet most of them are among the least privileged regions in the European Union, with a GDP per capita significantly below the European average and with an average population age higher than in urban areas, although this gap will only slowly begin to narrow in the next decade. Together with a lack of connectivity, inadequate infrastructure, lack of diversified job opportunities and limited access to services, this makes rural areas a less attractive place to live and work. At the same time, however, rural areas actively participate in the EU's green and digital transition. Achieving the EU's digital goals for 2030 can offer more opportunities for the sustainable development of rural areas in areas other than agriculture, livestock and forestry, opening up new perspectives for the growth of manufacturing and, even more, service industries, and contributing to a better geographical distribution of services and industries. In this context, the objective of this work is the construction of a synthetic index of the welfare of European nations, through the Wroclaw taxonomic method and through the use of logit models, for the identification of best practices of local realities and the interpretation in a more im-mediated way of the fair and sustainable welfare of each European nation at a rural level

Providing patient-centered care to manage chronic pain and opioid use disorder (OUD) is associated with improved health outcomes. However, adopting a holistic approach to providing care is often challenging in rural communities. This study aims to identify and contrast challenges to providing patient-centered care from the perspective of patients and providers. A participatory design approach was adopted to elicit the perceptions of providers and patients with lived experiences of chronic pain and OUD in Jefferson County, Wisconsin. Two focus groups were conducted with each stakeholder group to identify problems that participants face with respect to chronic pain management and OUD and possible solutions. Four interviews were conducted with providers experienced in chronic pain management. Analysis of focus group sessions and interviews show consensus among patients and providers that lack of behavioral health and recovery resources create barriers to effectively manage OUD and chronic pain. However, there was discordance among the two groups about other barriers such as patient and provider attitudes, tapering approach, and access to medications for OUD. This tension among patients and providers can influence patients’ retention in therapy. More efforts are needed to mitigate stigma among providers in rural communities and support psychosocial needs of patients.

While several studies have examined the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on smallholder rural farmers and possible efforts to scale up their livelihood and food security, the role of consumers’ buying orientation in addressing farmers’ vulnerability in the post-pandemic era has not been explored. The paper, therefore, aims to propose and conceptualize humane buying orientation, and further explore its role in attenuating smallholder rural farmers’ vulnerability in the new normal. The qualitative design approach has been employed in two different studies. Collected data were analyzed using the SPSS 23.0 and following the interpretative phenomenological analysis. Findings validate humane buying as an altruistic orientation that will contribute to lessening the vulnerability of smallholder rural farmers in the post-pandemic era. It also shows that an enlarged-stakeholders’ (government, international agencies, corporate bodies, institutions, privileged individuals/consumers, religious organizations, etc.) effort that is rooted in morality and empathy, is required to successfully tackle the vulnerability of smallholder rural farmers, especially in developing countries such as Nigeria. The study is the first to propose, conceptualize and validate humane buying as a post-Covid-19 orientation that is capable of attenuating the vulnerability of smallholder rural farmers which has been worsened by the pandemic. The paper contributes to the understanding of emerging strategic actions required for the attainment of the United Nation’s sustainable development goals - ending poverty and hunger by 2030, and how consumers can play a key role.

This paper empirically analyzes the relationship between digital inclusive finance and rural income, and demonstrates that digital inclusive finance plays a significant role in promoting rural income, based on the 2012-2018 panel data of 17 cities in Henan Province of China. Further dimensional research unveils that all of its breadth of coverage, depth of use and degree of digitization present significant positive correlation with rural income, and a robustness test was conducted through the sub-sample method. In addition, according to regression analysis on the influencing factors of digital inclusive finance through the Tobit model, the level of economic development, the Internet popularity rate and the urbanization rate have a positive effect on the development of digital inclusive finance in Henan, while the income gap between urban and rural areas and the degree of opening up have a negative effect. Finally, predicated on the analysis of the restrictive factors of Henan’s digital inclusive finance in increasing rural income, the paper puts forward specific policy proposals based on the native state quo.

Followed by the aspect of respect for rights 20, the social and environmental issue has a score of 19.9, the dialogue issue is 19. In short, the proximity plan indicates that the policies used regarding the issue of generating employment and economic growth (Empresa Mantaro Perú SAC), continue to be the strategic variables in the first instance, but they are far from the social actors (rural communities of Aco, Vico, Cruz Pampa and others) and environmental (Junín environmental dialogue table) and Ombudsman's Office (rights) that are currently closer together. The actor from the Archbishop of Huancayo referred to communication is one of the driving variables of power. The proximity plan shows us that the policies used regarding the issue of generating employment and economic growth (Empresa Mantaro Perú SAC), continue to be the strategic variables in the first instance, but that they are far from the social actors (Rural Communities of Aco , Vico, Cruz Pampa and others) and environmental (Junín Environmental Dialogue Table) and Ombudsman's Office (rights) that are currently closer together. The actor from the Archbishop of Huancayo referred to communication is one of the driving variables of power. The proximity plan shows us that the policies used regarding the issue of generating employment and economic growth (Empresa Mantaro Perú SAC), continue to be the strategic variables in the first instance, but that they are far from the social actors (Rural Communities of Aco , Vico, Cruz Pampa and others) and environmental (Junín Environmental Dialogue Table) and Ombudsman's Office (rights) that are currently closer together. The actor from the Archbishop of Huancayo referred to communication is one of the driving variables of power. but they are far from the social actors (rural communities of Aco, Vico, Cruz Pampa and others) and environmental (Junín Environmental Dialogue Table) and the Ombudsman's Office (rights) that are closer together today. The actor from the Archbishopric of Huancayo referred to communication, is within the driving variables of power. but they are far from the social actors (rural communities of Aco, Vico, Cruz Pampa and others) and environmental (Junín Environmental Dialogue Table) and the Ombudsman's Office (rights) that are currently closer together. The actor of the Archbishopric of Huancayo referred to communication, is within the driving variables of power.

Social and spatial characteristics of a population often interact to influence health outcomes, suggesting a need to jointly analyze both to offer useful insights in community health. However, researchers have used either social or spatial analyses to examine community-based health issues and inform intervention programs. We propose a combined socio-spatial analytic approach to develop a social network with spatial weights and a spatial statistic with social weights, and apply them to an ongoing study of mental and physical well-being of rural Latino immigrants in North Florida, USA. We demonstrate how this approach can be used to calculate measures, such as social network centrality, support contact dyads, and spatial kernel density based on a health survey data. Findings reveal that the integrated approach accurately reflected interactions between social and spatial elements, and identified community members (who) and locations (where) that should be prioritized for community-based health interventions.

In the midst of the push for dual-carbon goals, urban centers are faced with the imperative of reducing emissions and conserving energy, while rural regions are harnessing their abundant new energy resources to promote balanced urban-rural development. Photovoltaic (PV) power generation, known for its cleanliness, safety, and emission-free nature, is playing a crucial role in the evolution of Henan Province's power supply industry. This paper delves into the current state of Henan's power supply infrastructure, the trajectory of its low-carbon development, and the policies shaping the PV sector. It also examines the establishment of an urban-rural mutual aid model through the lens of alternative energy technologies. By utilizing a combination of case studies and systematic theoretical research, this paper uncovers the untapped economic potential of new energy sources in rural areas and presents strategies for synergistic development in alignment with dual-carbon goals within the power supply industry. The research underscores the significance of an urban-rural mutual assistance model in achieving carbon neutrality, addressing urban-rural development gaps, fostering shared prosperity, and contributing Chinese insights to global climate governance frameworks.

To explore the coupling mechanism between urban-rural transformation (URT) and the ecological environment in counties forms the basis for achieving high-quality and sustainable county development. Despite the richness of research on the relationship between urban and rural development and the ecological environment, the county level remains the basic unit of rural revitalization in China, and further research on the coupling mechanism between URT and the ecological environment at this level is needed. Therefore, the study developed an evaluation system for URT, incorporated NDVI data indicators, and employed the coupling coordination degree (CCD) model along with GIS tools to investigate the spatio-temporal pattern of URT and NDVI evolution, and the CCD in each administrative village within Lingbao City. Additionally, a geoDetector model was employed to analyze the influencing factors affecting the CCD of URT and NDVI. Finally, the study explores the coupling mechanism and optimization path. The result shows that: (1) During the study period, the URT level in administrative villages within the study area markedly improved, while NDVI exhibited an increasing-then-decreasing trend; (2) The CCD between URT and NDVI in the northern and central regions of the study area is higher than that in the southern region, with an overall low level; (3) The spatial heterogeneity of CCD is significant, largely influenced by socio-economy, natural environment, policy funds, and geographical location, where the elements comprising CCD mutually influence each other; (4) Drawing upon the coupling and coordination dynamics between URT and the ecological environment within Lingbao City, this research categorizes it into seven types with distinct optimization paths. This study provides a valuable reference for guiding the high-quality and sustainable development strategies for mountainous and hilly counties within the Yellow River basin.

The economic development of the Yangtze River Delta region is in a stage of rapid growth. As a unique intersection of urban and rural functions, contradictions are prominent. The production, life, and ecological functions of suburban rural landscapes are forming a new trade-off and synergistic relationship. The planning policy of the Yangtze River Delta from 2021 to 2035 aims to achieve the coordinated development of ecology, economy, and people's lives in the suburban areas of the Yangtze River Delta. To evaluate the current status of the “production-living-ecological” functions of suburban rural areas in the Yangtze River Delta region and provide data support for future planning decisions in the Yangtze River Delta region, this study selected the suburban rural landscape of Jiashan as the research object and used temporal rank correlation analysis and spatial bivariate autocorrelation analysis to explore the evolution characteristics of the suburban rural landscape of Jiashan from 2000 to 2020. The results show that (1) the linear increase of the production function and life function of Jiashan rural areas has led to a decline in ecological functions, especially a decline in life functions. (2) There is a trade-off and synergistic relationship between the different functions of the suburban rural landscape of Jiashan, showing a temporal change pattern dominated by trade-offs. (3) The multifunctional trade-off and synergistic relationship of the suburban rural landscape in Jiashan County exhibited obvious spatial pattern variability, which was manifested as the evolution from street-centered areas to compatibility-trade-trade-off and from town-centered areas to compatibility-synergy-trade-off. The relevant policies for the construction of ecological green comprehensive demonstration areas affect the economic, social, and ecological development of the Yangtze River Delta region, resulting in substantial differences in the types and trends of the spatiotemporal evolution of the functional trade-off and synergistic relationship of suburban rural landscape. Targeted measures should be taken according to local conditions to guide the coordinated development of landscape functions.

Based on the composite perspective of environment-building-resource(EBR), influencing factors of the greenness of rural buildings were sorted out by brainstorming and expert consultation, an innovative comprehensive evaluation system was constructed and the weight ofthe impact factors were calculated by fuzzy analytic network process(FANP). The EBR greenness comprehensive scoring standards of each influence factor were established by means of questionnaire, field measurement and numerical simulation. As a typical representative of human populated areas in southwest China, 13 villages in the second circle of Chengdu were selected as case study areas by means of the regional average distribution theory and minimum sampling criteria. Innovative combination of obstacle degree model and spatial interpolation analysis, the key factors affecting the greening of rural buildings were diagnosed. The results showed that, indoor thermal environment(E21), indoor light environment(E22), popularity of biogas facilities (R12), green building material usage(R13) have a significant impact on the EBR greenness score. The EBR score of study area shows a spatial distribution pattern of high in the west and low in the east, with extremely uneven scores in various dimensions. According to the key factors obtained from the systematic evaluation, the refined exploration of promotion strategies and measures was carried out, the greenness improvement suggestion was put forward.

Rural electrification is a crucial step for the socio-economic development of isolated communities. Decentralized power generation, typically more favorable for renewable energies, requires an accurate analysis of the different electrification options, whose convenience depends on multiple factors. The application of Geographical Information System (GIS) to energy planning allows the assessment at a local level, considering spatial resources variability and demand distribution. This work introduces IntiGIS-local, a GIS-based model implemented in ArcGIS environment, designed to calculate the Levelized Energy Cost (LEC) for different electrification options. The model allows the comparison between three power generation alternatives: solar system, diesel generator set and solar-diesel hybrid system. Configurations are adjustable through input variables, with a special focus on the confrontation between individual systems and microgrids. The objective is to provide an adequate groundwork for developing a decision-making tool to assess diverse rural electrification options in future studies. The model IntiGIS-local is tested in the case study of Guasasa community (Cuba).

Swarm electrification-driven communities face significant challenges, including implementing advanced distributed control in areas with limited ICT access and establishing trust among villagers hesitant to grant access to their assets. This paper proposes a distributed DC microgrid architecture for P2P energy exchange in these communities, ensuring stability and effective exchange operation. By implementing a Blockchain marketplace specifically designed to suit the rural context, the proposed architecture ensures tracing of exchange transactions to fairly settle participants. Validation experiments demonstrate its efficacy in achieving peak shaving. It provides 11% of the requester's total demand from the community even while maintaining the constraint of reducing discharge-charge cycles to one per day, thereby preserving battery life. Additionally, the solution reduces prosumer production losses by 16% of the total PV production.

Hamstring injuries present a notable challenge to the performance and durability of soccer athletes, particularly those situated in rural areas where access to specialized training facilities may be scarce. This literature review delves into the amalgamation of resistance and flexibility training as a holistic strategy for averting hamstring injuries among rural-based soccer athletes. Utilizing existing scholarly works, this review underscores the significance of resistance training in enhancing hamstring strength, power, and stamina, while flexibility training augments muscle pliability and range of motion, thus diminishing the likelihood of injuries. Furthermore, it scrutinizes a range of resistance and flexibility routines customized to meet the specific requirements of soccer and the limitations of rural settings. Through the amalgamation of evidence-based methodologies, this review puts forth the mechanisms of injury and pragmatic suggestions for coaches, trainers, and athletes to implement efficient injury prevention protocols. Highlighting the collaborative advantages of resistance and flexibility training, this methodology strives to enhance performance and shield against hamstring injuries in rural-based soccer athletes.

Rural areas, as a system, face multiple challenges. Among these are population decline and attendant economic and social maladies namely demographic issues considering a scarce population. Pull factors for immigrants to go to other countries are known, nevertheless, to comprehend factors for remaining in rural areas after arriving could support a strategic local policy, and for an informed practice. The purpose of the study is to explore motivations shaping immigrants’ intentions to stay in the Alentejo, a depopulated region in Portugal, using a qualitative approach. Research questions are: What motivates immigrants to remain living in depopulated regions in Portugal? Furthermore, what contributions can practitioners and immigrants give for local policy and practice? Eight practitioners and fifteen non-European Union immigrants living in this region were interviewed between 2020 and 2021. Empirical data were analysed, supported by MaxQDA software. Results point out that the intention to remain in rural areas arise from a progressive construction, it is a process that immigrants experience to become motivated to stay long-term. Factors influencing the process include four components: 1. instrumental and material motivations; 2. emotional and social motivations; 3. motivations based on quality of life; and 4. motivations based on political dimensions. Components are conditioned by the availability of : stable and suitable jobs, access to decent and affordable housing, as well as quality of education and health services for their children; additionally to socio-emotional satisfaction, as family reunification, migrants network, integration and real intercultural living in the host community, close relationships to practitioners from social services; and quality of life, such as lower rents, peaceful and secure living conditions, granted a better future for their children as in any another place in Europe, associated finally to the simplified policy enabling one to become a legal citizen. Conclusions highlight implications for policy and practice, suggesting more investment for rural regions to reverse depopulation reality.

Energy poverty is a severe electrification challenge in Nigeria that has affected the country's economic development. The gap between electricity demand and supply continues to increase, and a large percentage of the populace affected are rural dwellers. With the prevailing electricity inaccessibility in rural, renewable energy sources (RES) present viable option for addressing rural electrification challenge. However, RES like solar have intermittency challenges since they are weather dependent. Thus, a hybrid microgrid system (HMS) comprising solar, hydropower and battery storage was sized as a feasible solution for electrifying rural areas in Nigeria. For the HMS sizing, a site was selected, whose residential load demand was estimated. The renewable energy generation potential for the selected resources at the site as well as grid reliability were assessed. Hybrid Optimisation Model for Multiple Energy Resources (HOMER) was used to size the HMS. An economic analysis was performed to determine the levelised cost of energy (LCOE) and net present cost (NPC). For the sized HMS, two scenarios were considered: off-grid and grid-connected HMS configurations. The results showed that the LCOE of the off-grid and grid-connected configurations are $0.101/kWh and $0.046/kWh, respectively. The NPC of the off-grid and grid-connected configurations are $227,307 and $145,282, respectively.

This paper systematically identifies the constructs and indicators to measure Sri Lankan rice farmers’ Sustainable Agriculture potential (SAP) in the regions of Mahaweli Block H in Anuradhapura district, a dominant rice cultivation district in the country. Insights from Rural Livelihood Assessment Framework helped identify the primary constructs of SAP: The constructs of farmers’ SAP are derived as Human, Social, Financial, Physical, and Natural capitals. The principles of Sustainable Agriculture discussed in modern literature and the various research studies carried out in this domain are insightful to derive an exhaustive list of indicators that might adequately explain the constructs of SAP. The researcher adopted a quantitative descriptive approach, developed a comprehensive set of indicators (130), pre-tested them, and conducted a pilot survey with 64 samples. The measurement model analysis techniques in PLS-SEM helped shorten the Questionnaire with the most productive questions (87). This short-listed Questionnaire was again surveyed in a larger sample space, 386, to attest to their validity further. The study found five constructs and 87 productive questions that can explain farmers’ SAP, and the researcher believes that these compositions of SAP and the indicators will be helpful for future researchers.

Social safety, security, and comfort of school-going children during the travel time to school becomes a subject of anxiety to the parents and is a crucial issue in recent times. In this regard, community-based transport can be a significant way to address social security issues in travel at a reasonable cost and reduce the burden on private mode. In Dhaka city, school van service already exists but due to some sort of problems the service has not been proved an efficient and formal mode of transport for solving mobility problems. This study seeks to identify the existing problems and prospects of the school van service and provide a unique, healthy, safe, and reliable transport mode for children. Applying different tools of the Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) method, the problems and solutions have been drawn from the community. The recommendations of this study will help the school van services (a community-managed para-transit system) to be more functional in playing a vital role in solving the problems of short-distance travel. This service has great potentialities to be adopted in other trips such as trips to and from offices which will lessen the road congestion at the peak periods.

Amongst the advantages of using Worldwide Interoperability Microwave Access (WiMAX) technology at the last-mile level as access technology include an extensive range of 50 km Line of Sight (LOS), 5 to 15 km Non-Line of Sight and few infrastructure installations compared to other wireless broadband access technologies. Despite positive investments in ICT fibre infrastructure by developing countries, including Botswana, servicing end-users is subjected to high prices and service disparities. The alternative, the Wi-Fi hotspot initiative by the Botswana government, falls short as a solution for last-mile connectivity and access. This study used OPNET simulation Modeller 14,5 to investigate whether Botswana’s national broadband project could adopt WiMAX IEEE 802.16e as an access technology. Therefore, using the simulation method, this paper evaluates the WiMAX IEEE 802.16e/m over three subscriber locations in Botswana. The results obtained indicate that the deployment of the WiMAX IEEE 802.16e standard can solve most of the deployment issues and access at the last-mile level. Although the findings suggest that WiMAX IEEE 802.16e is more suitable for high-density areas, it could also solve rural areas’ infrastructure development challenges and provide the required high-speed connectivity access. However, unlike the Wi-Fi initiative, which requires more infrastructure deployment and less on institutional and regulatory frameworks, the deployment of WiMAX IEEE802.16e requires institutional and regulatory standards.

Village has a vital role in the national development efforts. The concept of development considered village as an object instead of a subject of development. This study focused on determining the important points in enabling a village to be independent by shifting the paradigm of “building the village” into “the building village”. This study was an exploratory research of public policies with qualitative legal studies. This study was conducted in 3 villages in Bandung regency with different characteristics, namely Neglawangi with urban characteristics, Cibiru Wetan with sub-urban characteristics, and Rancamanyar with plural characteristics. The results of this study showed that the wise step in building an independent village is through “the building village” road maps. First, encourage the inception of critical and care community and community organizations who dynamically interact in the policy making processes of village development. Second, implement a participative, accountable, and transparent planning and budgeting system within the limits of their authorities. Third, empower inclusive village economic institutions. The three road maps can succeed if they are supported by good implementation of participative, systematic, effective and efficient planning and budgeting system, as well as good monitoring.

Radiological risk affect the quality of the environment in buildings since population and workers can be potentially exposed to high level of dose. Radon gas emanated from both subsoil and building materials represents the most important source of radiation exposure for people. This study investigates the sustainability concept of a small rural village of Ischia Island, named Ciglio, in relation to the radiological risk. Radon activity concentration was measured in typical green tuff dwellings and in water samples collected from a local spring using E-Perm devices. Moreover, for green-tuff as building material, the radon emanation coefficient was calculated by gamma spectroscopy. The results highlight the importance to perform environmental radon monitoring and to investigate the radon content of building materials, especially in geographical areas characterized by traditional use of typical stones for constructions. In conclusion, the sustainability development of rural buildings is possible if the radiological risk for inhabitants and workers was assessed.

This paper studies the impact of fiscal subsidies on the sustainability of China’s rural pension system. We first provides an overview of China’s rural pension system and explains the formulas used to calculate the pension payments. We then examines how fiscal subsidies, in forms of basic pension, incentive pension, and matching subsidy, affect participation rates and individual contributions. Our study shows that the rural residents’ participation rates can be improved significantly by increasing basic pension or by providing incentive pension, but not by matching subsidy. However, none of these fiscal subsidies has significant effects on the amount of individual contributions. Overall, our results imply that incentive pension is an effective mechanism in encouraging rural residents to participate in the pension programs, but current level of matching subsidies are not sufficient enough to improve participation or increase contributions. Our study suggests the needs to increase the fiscal subsides in China’s rural pension system, and can provide useful implications in designing the effective pension system for rural residents.

Education and awareness raising are the primary tools of global health policy to change public behaviour. Considering the limitations of awareness agenda and the lack of social research to inform alternative approaches, our objective was to generate new empirical evidence on the consequences of antibiotic-related awareness raising in a low-income country context. We implemented an educational activity in two Lao villages to share general antibiotic-related messages, but also to learn about people’s conceptions and health behaviours. Two rounds of census survey data enabled us to assess the activity’s outputs, its knowledge outcomes, and its immediate behavioural impacts in a difference-in-difference design. Our panel data covered 1,130 adults over two rounds, including 58 activity participants and 208 villagers exposed indirectly via conversations in the village. We found that activity-related communication circulated among more privileged groups, which limited its indirect effects. Among participants, the activity influenced the awareness and understanding of “drug resistance,” while effects on attitudes were minor. Evidence on behavioural impacts was sparse and mixed, but the range of possible consequences included a disproportionate uptake of antibiotics from formal healthcare providers. Our study casts doubt on the continued dominance of awareness raising as a behavioural tool to address antibiotic resistance.

This paper evaluates the effect of China’s New Rural Pension Scheme (NRPS) on the retirement sustainability in forms of both formal labor supply and informal labor supply, using data from China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS). We explore the regional differences of the NRPS effect on labor supply between the Western regions and the other regions of China. Our analysis shows that western rural China has a more severe problem of “ceaseless toil” compared to the rest of the country. We find that NRPS improves the “ceaseless toil” situation of the Chinese rural elderly, and the results show a very different pattern between western China and other parts of the country.

Biocultural heritage-based products, including regional specialty foods, are increasingly part of sustainable rural development strategies. While export-oriented biocultural products are often the most visible, we examine the role of campesino gastronomic heritage in the Central Valley of Tarija, Bolivia, as a case study of a local market-centered biocultural resource-based development strategy reflected in an alternative agri-food network. We develop a biocultural sustainability framework to examine this network from ecological, economic and sociocultural perspectives. Data are drawn from interviews (n=77), surveys (n=89) and participant observation, with primary and secondary producers of traditional and new products, as well as restaurant owners, market vendors and local consumers. We find that campesino biocultural heritage and the alternative agri-food network surrounding it represent an influential territorial project that underpins many household economies, particularly for women. We conclude that the relatively small investments by local governments to promote campesino gastronomic heritage are having positive ripple effects on small-scale producer livelihoods and on biocultural sustainability. We suggest that further support to increase market access and reduce other barriers to participation in alternative food networks will likely increase the options and benefits available to small-scale producers mobilising campesino gastronomic heritage within the local economy.

Quantifying the landscape pattern change can effectively demonstrate the ecological progresses and the consequences of urbanization. Based on remotely sensed land cover data in 1994, 2000, 2006 and a gradient analysis with landscape metrics at landscape- and class- level, we attempted to characterize the individual and entire landscape patterns of Shanghai metropolitan during the rapid urbanization. We highlighted that a roadscape transect approach that combined the buffer zone method and the transect-based approach was introduced to describe the urban-rural patterns of agricultural, residential, green, industrial, and public facilities land along the railway route. Our results of landscape metrics showed significant spatiotemporal patterns and gradient variations along the transect. The urban growth pattern in two time spans conform to the hypothesis for diffusion–coalescence processes, implying that the railway is adaptive as a gradient element to analyze the landscape patterns with urbanization. As the natural landscape was replaced by urban landscape gradually, the urban fringe expanded radically. The results also showed that the desakota region expanded its extent widely. Satellite towns witnessed the continual transformation from the predominantly rural landscape to peri-urban landscape. Furthermore, the gap between urban and rural areas remained large especially in public service. More reasonable urban plans and land use policies should push to make more of an effort to transition from the urban-rural separation to coordinated urban-rural development. This study is a meaningful trial in demonstrating a new form of urban–rural transects to study the landscape change of large cities from a strategic viewpoint. By combining gradient analysis with landscape metrics, we addressed the process of urbanization both spatially and temporally, and provided a more quantitative approach to urban studies.

The scale of China's floating population is very large, and it is a key group that needs attention in promoting the equalization of basic public services. This study explores the impact and mechanism of adjusting the urban household registration threshold on the acquisition of citizenship status by the "rural-urban" floating population, with the household registration threshold as the link. It was found that the threshold for household registration has an impact on the willingness of rural urban migrant population to settle down from two aspects. On the one hand, a high threshold for household registration implies the unaffordability of obtaining citizenship status for the "rural-urban" migrant population, which has a significant crowding out effect on their willingness to settle down. Moreover, the high skilled "rural-urban" migrant population without housing is more sensitive to the high threshold for household registration. On the other hand, from the perspective of urban scale, the increase in the threshold for household registration has had a crowding out effect on the floating population for Type I large cities, mega cities, and super large cities. The increase in the threshold for settling in mega cities has the strongest crowding out effect on the floating population, which means that as the urban population expands, the welfare benefits enjoyed by the floating population in these cities will decrease, leading them to be more inclined to leave these cities and seek development opportunities in other cities. This study effectively answers how the threshold for household registration affects the willingness of rural urban migrant population to settle, providing mathematical support for urban development.

Ecological city is currently a hot topic in urban planning research. How to balance urban development and ecological environment protection has become a focus and difficulty of research. Traditional urban planning is mainly based on experience, but its disadvantage is that it is easy to overlook key geographical factors such as terrain and vegetation, and cannot fully reflect the actual spatial characteristics of the city. Therefore, this article applied the combination of urban and rural planning and environmental remote sensing technology to urban planning and design, obtaining a massive amount of data. Through the actual analysis of Langfang, this paper monitored the vegetation, water, land and landscape data of Langfang through environmental remote sensing technology. By using these data to identify existing problems, this article proposed reasonable planning for the problems, in order to achieve the effective goal of ecological city planning and design. It provided a more accurate analysis of urban structure, including urban planning and urban ecological landscape planning. Among them, ecological landscape planning includes renovating ecological embankments, protecting ecological green belts around the city, and creating characteristic landscape areas, thereby providing more scientific basis for urban planning and design, making urban planning and design more reasonable and scientific. This paper investigated the planned Langfang City, and the average errors of vegetation, soil, water quality, and landscape data obtained from traditional field surveys were 0.35, 0.33, 0.34, and 0.31, respectively. The average errors of remote sensing technology in obtaining vegetation, soil, water quality, and landscape data were 0.16, 0.15, 0.17, and 0.15, respectively. The total suspended solids content of waterscape 1-10 before planning was 5.51mg/L and 7.41mg/L, respectively. After planning, the total suspended solids content of waterscape 1-10 was 3.60mg/L and 4.47mg/L, respectively. From this, it can be seen that the error in obtaining data after planning has decreased, and the total suspended solids content has also decreased.

The production of Moringa oleifera capsules has emerged as a promising agricultural activity in Mexico, driven by the plant’s well-documented health and nutritional benefits. In response, farmers have begun producing Moringa oleifera as a dietary supplement, using artisanal methods with minimal production controls. This study aimed to estimate the processing times of the Moringa oleifera production system using simulation modeling with Arena® software, and to evaluate the economic feasibility of capsule production. Methodologically, it was approached as a case study in the state of Veracruz, processing times were estimated through systematic sampling and modeled with Arena simulation software. Three simulation scenarios were considered to select a technically and economically viable alternative for agricultural producers: one with a 200-capsule encapsulator (1E200C), another with two 200-capsule encapsulators (2E200C) and a third with an 800-capsule encapsulator (1E800C). For the initial diagnosis a research stay was conducted for 180 days, and the production capacity was set at 24,000 capsules due to raw material limitations. Results indicated that the 1E800C scenario reduced processing time by 60% compared to the1E200C scenario, and by 35% compared to the 2E200C scenario. Additionally, the 1E800C model required only 2 days (16 hours) of work, while the 2E200C required 4 days (32 hours), and the 1E200C required 7 days (56 hours). In terms of production costs per unit of 90 capsules, the 1E200C was 3.93 USD the 2E200C 3.64 USD and the 1E800C 3.45 USD The study concluded that due to raw material limitations, the company can produce 12,800 units per year of 90 capsules. It is recommended to adopt the 1E800C encapsulator, which would lower overall production costs by 12.23%, representing 0.48 USD per unit produced, resulting in an additional profit of 6,150.50 USD Over a five-year evaluation period, the benefit-cost ratio was 5.03, the NPV was 922,370.11 and the IRR was 42.09%, indicating that this type of agribusiness in Mexico is both technically and economically feasible.

This paper maps the causes of the demographic, economic and social decline of a selected border micro-region during the last century. The decline occurred due to the location being remote, lacking natural resources and having an unsuitable industrial structure. Historical events associated with the post-war deportation of the German population and efforts to create a classless society also played a role in the decline. The results are an 87% population decrease, the demise of most companies, a very low level of human capital and unemployment reaching up to 5%. In order to comprehend the current state of the border micro-region and predict future development, it is necessary to understand the development that has occurred since approximately the middle of the nineteenth century. The European countryside is certainly not homogeneous, and different regions have shown unique mixes of positional, natural, economic and political factors. Some hope has been raised in relation to the transition to a post-productive economy, a transition that turns the remoteness of the region into an advantage. This is confirmed by the positive migration balances of the smallest municipalities in the last decade.

Jabulile Ndlovu1 and Kebogile Mokwena1, 2 1 Department of Public Health, Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University, Pretoria, South Africa 2 Research Chair in Substance abuse and population Mental Health, Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University, Pretoria, South Africa Corresponding author: jabulilendlovu5@gmail.com Abstract An estimated 6% of the world population has serious mental illness, with one in four families having a member with some form of psychiatric disorder, who are mostly cared for by their relatives within a family setting. Although caregiving in a home setting is reported to be associated with significant mental distress, the burden of such distress is rarely measured. The purpose of this study was to quantify the burden of care among family caregivers of relatives with serious mental disorders, as well as to explore possible association between the caregiver burden of care and a range of caregiver and Mental Health Care User (MHCU) variables in a rural district in Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa. The Zarit Burden Interview (ZBI) scale was used to collect data from 357 caregivers, and STATA 14 was used to analyze data. The ages of the sample ranged from 18 to 65, with a mean of 50.29, and the majority (86%) were female and unemployed (83%). The ZBI scores ranged from 8 to 85, with a mean of 41.59. The majority (91%) tested positive for caregiver burden of care, which ranged from mild to severe. Using the Pearson Chi-square test of association (p=0.05), variables that were significantly associated with the burden of care were clinically related (caregiver self-reported depression, MHCU diagnosis, recent relapse of the MHCU), socio-economic (caregiver family monthly income, MHCU disability grant status and MHCU employment status) and socio-demographic (MHCU gender and MHCU level of education). The prevalence of burden of care is high and severe, and scarcity of resources in families and communities contribute to the high burden of care in these rural communities.

Individuals from rural areas are increasingly using social media as a means of communication, receiving information, or actively complaining of inequalities and injustices. This study captured 57 days’ worth of Twitter data from June to August 2021 related to rural health using English language keywords. The study utilised social network analysis and natural language processing to analyse the data. It was found that Twitter served as a fruitful platform to raise awareness of problems faced by those living in rural areas. Overall, Twitter was utilised in rural areas to express complaints, to debate, and share information. Twitter could be leveraged as a powerful social listening tool for individuals and organisations who want to gain insight into popular narratives around rural health.