Special Issue "Frontiers of Sustainable Environmental Management: From the View of Human Ecology"

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Sustainability and Applications".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 January 2022.

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Luc Hens
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Flemish Institute for Technological Research (VITO), BE-2400 Mol, Belgium
Interests: interdisciplinary instruments for environmental management; sustainable development; environmental health
Special Issues and Collections in MDPI journals
Dr. An Thinh Nguyen
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Faculty of Development Economics, VUN University of Economics and Business, 1000 Hanoi, Vietnam
Interests: geography; human ecology; environmental management
Special Issues and Collections in MDPI journals
Dr. Pham Thi Thu Ha
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
University of Science, Vietnam National University, 1000 Hanoi, Vietnam
Interests: human ecology; environmental management; sustainability assessment; climate change; eco-tourism
Dr. Jingzheng Ren
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Industrial and Systems, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong
Interests: engineering operations research for energy, environment, and sustainability
Special Issues and Collections in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

During the past half-century, environmental management expanded into a specific research field supported by its own instruments, i.e., books, journals, conferences, and practices. At their origin, instruments for environmental management were strong in their analytical and descriptive aspects, but less so in their integrating components, providing added value by the analytical approach. Considering the interdisciplinary character of this research area, this lack of focus on integrating components led to some of the weaknesses of the field today.

During the same period, the thematic aspects of the area grew. Impactful was the contribution of the concepts, models, and instruments to the wide scope of sustainable development, its themes, its target groups, and its areas of application.

The wider its scope, the more evident the limitations of environmental management became. The area still lacks sufficient replies to the uncertainties linked with its instruments and looks for good practice examples in new domains of application, e.g., sustainable tourism, marginal ecosystems, and green economy. Human ecology, targeting interdisciplinarity and integration, might be the most suitable approach for addressing the current weaknesses in environmental management.

The journal Sustainability offers an opportunity to deal with these contemporary issues at the edge of our research field. For this Special Issue, we welcome the submission of papers on methods, theory, and applications of environmental management at the frontiers of our research field. We anticipate that the works collected will point to innovation and new avenues for the years to come.

Dr. Luc Hens
Dr. An Thinh Nguyen
Dr. Pham Thi Thu Ha
Dr. Jingzheng Ren
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All papers will be peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • environmental management
  • theory
  • methods
  • case studies
  • innovation
  • human ecology

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

Article
Improving Irrigation Water Use Efficiency of Robusta Coffee (Coffea canephora) Production in Lam Dong Province, Vietnam
Sustainability 2021, 13(12), 6603; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13126603 - 09 Jun 2021
Viewed by 722
Abstract
Recent prolonged dry periods and lack of irrigation water have severely affected the productivity of coffee farms in the Central Highlands of Vietnam. This paper analyzes the efficiency of irrigation water use for Robusta coffee (Coffea canephora) in the Lam Dong [...] Read more.
Recent prolonged dry periods and lack of irrigation water have severely affected the productivity of coffee farms in the Central Highlands of Vietnam. This paper analyzes the efficiency of irrigation water use for Robusta coffee (Coffea canephora) in the Lam Dong province. A Cobb–Douglas production function was used to determine coffee productivity’s response to the application of irrigation water and other production factors using data collected from 194 farmers, while the technical efficiency (TE) and irrigation water use efficiency (IWUE) were analyzed using a data envelopment analysis (DEA) model. The correlation of different factors to IWUE was determined using the Tobit model. The production function analysis using Cobb–Douglas shows that the volume of irrigation water, amount of working capital, labor, and farm size significantly influence coffee productivity. Indigenous farmers are more efficient in utilizing irrigation water than migrant farmers. The Tobit result indicates that farmers’ experience, education level, the distance of farm to water sources, security of access to water sources, extension contact, and credit access significantly affect IWUE. The study findings further suggest that mitigating water shortages in coffee farms require subregional and national policy support such as better access to credit and extension services, training, land management, and household-level efforts to improve farming practices through the application of appropriate technologies and traditional knowledge. Full article
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Article
The Linkage Mechanism between Environment-Related Rules and Environment-Related Efficiency of Industries in China: An Analysis Based on the Adaptive Semi-Parametric Panel Model
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Sustainability 2021, 13(11), 6203; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13116203 - 31 May 2021
Viewed by 540
Abstract
This study employed the adaptive semi-parameter model to determine the effects of environment-related rules (environment-related rules refer to laws and regulations in relation to environmental protection) on environment-related efficiency (environment-related efficiency refers to the environmental efficiency of a wide range of industries). In [...] Read more.
This study employed the adaptive semi-parameter model to determine the effects of environment-related rules (environment-related rules refer to laws and regulations in relation to environmental protection) on environment-related efficiency (environment-related efficiency refers to the environmental efficiency of a wide range of industries). In addition, the threshold regression model was employed to determine the industry threshold effect of environment-related rules on environment-related efficiency. The following conclusions were primarily drawn: (1) A U-shaped curve relationship was identified between the effect of environment-related rules and the environment-related efficiency of the broader national industry; (2) A threshold effect is exerted on environment-related efficiency, and under the effect exerted by environment-related rule below the lower limit of the optimal interval, environment-related rule policies cannot play a corresponding role, while the effect of environment-related rules is high. When the upper limit of the optimal interval is set, environment-related rules will exert extensively strong effects, which leads to the unsustainable development of the industry and distorts the industry’s development. The government is required to roll out different environment-related rule policies in accordance with the industry differences and the development stages of respective industries, fully exploit such environment-related rule policies for industries and technologies, optimize the environment-related rules system, and harmoniously advance industries, the economy, and the environment. Given the empirical results, it is critical to enhance the effect exerted by environment-related rules in the mining and manufacturing industries, elevate their technical level, and develop a positive relationship between the effect exerted by environment-related rules and environment-related efficiency enhancements. While China’s current environment-related rule policy imposes no discrimination between pollution-intensive industries and cleaner production industries, these industries should be treated differently in the days ahead. Full article
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Article
Impacts of Simulated Acid Rain on the Growth and the Yield of Soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) in the Mountains of Northern Vietnam
Sustainability 2021, 13(9), 4980; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13094980 - 29 Apr 2021
Viewed by 541
Abstract
In the mountains of Northern Vietnam, frequent and intense acid rain affects the crops. This paper assesses the impacts of simulated acid rain (SAR) on the growth and the yield of soybeans (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) in Hoa Binh province. A field [...] Read more.
In the mountains of Northern Vietnam, frequent and intense acid rain affects the crops. This paper assesses the impacts of simulated acid rain (SAR) on the growth and the yield of soybeans (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) in Hoa Binh province. A field study in the summer–autumn seasons in 2017 (from May to August) in an area of 189 square meters was arranged according to a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three repetitions including six treatments and a control. The experimental area was protected from ambient rain. Soybean plants were exposed three times a week to SAR at pH 3.0, 3.5, 4.0, 4.5, 5.0, 5.5, and 6.0 (control). The results show that the growth parameters such as germination rate, stem length, and the number of main branches of the plants dramatically decreased in a dose–effect experiment. Gradual declines in the chlorophyll content (indirectly determined by SPAD) and the leaf area index (LAI) were observed as the acidity increased. The actual yield and yield components also tended to decrease when the pH of the rainwater fell, especially in the experimental plots treated at pH 3.0. The growth and yield of soybean were adversely affected when the plants were exposed to simulated acid rain, especially from a pH value of 3.5 and lower. This is the first study to evaluate the effects of acid rain on the growth and the yield of soybean grown in the mountains of Northern Vietnam. Full article
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