Search Results (858)

Non-urbanized areas (NUAs), including residual urban green areas, urban parks, agricultural, natural and semi-natural areas, are a fundamental part of the green infrastructure. They are essential in sustaining life and future development, providing a series of ecosystem services (ESs) vital to human society. However, the rapid expansion of urban areas has led to a significant reduction in green spaces. Land-take, reducing available land resources, impacts ecosystem functionality, making it crucial to preserve high-quality territories and the relative ESs provided. In this context, the aim of this study was to evaluate the reduction in ESs due to the land-take having occurred in the last 20 years in the Province of Monza–Brianza, the Italian province with the highest land-take. To achieve this goal, authors used the official data of land use/cover of the Lombardy Region, with three time thresholds (T0: 1999–2003, T1: 2012–2013, T2: 2021) and applied a methodology for ESs assessment originally developed for the municipal level, adapting it to the provincial scale. The study analyzes trends in land-take and land-use changes and assesses how these changes have led to variations in ES provision. The approach involves calculating multiple indices reflecting different ESs provided by NUAs: provisioning ESs coming from agriculture, regulating ESs provided by natural resources, cultural ESs provided by landscape. Findings reveal that urban expansion has decreased provisioning ESs coming from agriculture, while ESs provided by landscape and natural resources have remained stable or improved, respectively. The natural quality index has improved due to conservation policies, despite the high land-take recorded. Anyway, although regional policies have mitigated some negative effects, the overall reduction in green spaces remains a critical issue. Full article

Background: Balancing nutrition security with environmental sustainability is a key priority in global food policy, with Sustainable Healthy Diets (SHDs) serving as a critical framework aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Traditional Japanese cuisine reflects SHD principles through its emphasis on plant-based, seasonal, and minimally processed dishes. However, modern, globalized dietary patterns increasingly feature ultra-processed foods, raising concerns about health risks such as high sodium intake. Methods: This study adopts a novel dish-level content analysis of 120 contemporary recipes from NHK Today’s Cooking between 2023 and 2025, a TV program by Japan’s national public broadcaster that is widely regarded as reflecting the practices of Japanese home cooking, to examine how SHDs pillars—nutritional diversity (e.g., varied protein sources), environmental sustainability (e.g., low-carbon ingredients), and cultural continuity (e.g., traditional techniques)—are embedded in Japanese home cooking. Unlike macro-level consumption or nutrition data, this dish-level approach reveals how individual dishes embody sustainability through ingredient selection, preparation methods, and cultural logic. Results: Quantitatively, pork (33.3%) and seafood (19.2%) together dominated main protein sources, with minimal beef (2.5%) and a notable presence of soy-based foods (12.5%), supporting lower reliance on environmentally intensive red meat; mean salt content per person in main dishes was 2.16 ± 1.09 g (28.9% for men, 33.3% for women of Japan’s daily salt targets), while recipe patterns emphasizing fermentation and seasonal alignment highlight possible pathways through which Japanese dietary practices can be considered ecologically efficient. Simultaneously, the analysis identifies emerging challenges, encompassing environmental issues such as overfishing and public health concerns like excessive sodium consumption. Conclusions: By centering dishes as culturally meaningful units, and using media recipes as reproducible, representative datasets for monitoring dietary change, this approach offers a reproducible framework for assessing dietary sustainability in evolving global food systems. Full article

This article examines the historical evolution, contemporary dynamics, and future trajectory of China’s legal and judicial framework for pangolin protection. By reviewing over seventy years of regulatory changes, case law, and policy implementation, it outlines three distinct phases: the early emphasis on pangolins as medicinal and export resources (1949–1989); the phase of conflicted protection and utilization under regulatory expansion (1989–2020); and the post-2020 shift toward judicial activism and ecological civil litigation. We then highlight the long-standing contradiction between legislative protection and continued medicinal use, particularly the centuries-old use of pangolins and their derivatives in traditional Chinese medicine, a practice still acknowledged within certain state policies and regulatory frameworks, showing how these inconsistencies enabled persistent illegal exploitation despite regulatory controls. Through systematic analysis of public court records and case databases, the policy historical records reveal a marked increase in environmental public interest litigation since 2020. These lawsuits, often attached to criminal prosecutions, signal a transition from merely punitive approaches to restorative ones—anchored in ecological valuation of species and their services. Case studies illustrate how courts now impose not only wildlife resource loss fees, but also punitive damages and compensation for ecological service function loss. The article will elaborate in detail on the distinctions and interrelations among these types of compensation. The landmark Case No.17 also demonstrates this paradigm shift, wherein courts recognized pangolins’ role in balancing forest ecosystems. However, significant challenges persist. Valuation methodologies lack uniform standards; while the ecological value of pangolins has been recognized, their inherent value as individuals has not been emphasized within the legal system; judicial discretion varies across jurisdictions; and public interest organizations remain underutilized in litigation. Moreover, while the crackdown on organized crime succeeded in curbing mass trafficking, smaller-scale violations tied to cultural consumption for medicine use persist. The article concludes that judicial innovations, such as ecological judicial restoration bases and integration into China’s draft Ecological Environment Code, offer promising pathways forward. To enhance efficacy, it calls for standardization in ecological valuation, strengthened civil society participation, and nuanced differentiation in penal strategies between minor and serious offenses. This study ultimately positions judicial reform as the cornerstone of China’s evolving pangolin conservation strategy. Full article

Over the past two decades, pregnancy and birth trends have undergone significant shifts across Australia, the United States of America (USA), and the United Kingdom (UK), reflecting changes in societal norms, healthcare advancements, and demographic patterns. Variations in maternal age, birth interventions, and fertility rates highlight the evolving nature of reproductive behaviors and healthcare systems in these nations. The analysis reveals consistent increases in maternal age and gestational diabetes, alongside rising caesarean section rates—particularly in private healthcare settings. While perinatal mortality has declined overall, maternal mortality has increased in the USA and remains disproportionately high among Indigenous women and those in ethnic minorities in all three countries. These findings highlight the influence of structural inequities, healthcare access, and policy differences in maternal health. The review underscores the urgent need for equity-focused, culturally safe, and system-level interventions, as well as improved data collection and international collaboration to reduce preventable maternal and neonatal harms. By comparing these three regions, this review aims to provide insights into the shared challenges and unique approaches shaping childbirth practices in high-income countries in the 21st century. Full article

Human–wildlife conflict (HWC) is intensifying in Japan, driven by complex socio-ecological changes. While the Social–Ecological Systems (SES) framework offers a valuable analytical tool, standard applications often fail to capture the crucial cultural specificities, demographic pressures, and institutional dynamics that define the Japanese context. This paper addresses these limitations by conducting a scoping review of academic and policy literature in order to synthesize the evidence needed to develop a culturally and institutionally attuned adaptation of the SES framework. The review’s findings confirm that profound demographic change (kaso and kōreika), unique institutional arrangements (the Ryōyūkai crisis), deep-seated cultural values, and asymmetric power relations are core systemic drivers of HWC, not external factors. Building on this evidence, we propose a theoretically grounded adapted framework that internalizes these factors as endogenous variables. The resulting framework serves as a more robust diagnostic tool for understanding and navigating HWC in Japan. It facilitates the identification of context-specific leverage points and offers a transferable methodological model for adapting SES analysis to other culturally distinct and rapidly changing societies. Full article

China’s rapid urbanization has presented challenges for sustainably revitalizing the historic and cultural heritage within its urban villages. Often, these efforts overlook the crucial roles of community ties and cultural values. This study focuses on 15 representative urban villages in Guangzhou (2019–2024). It tests the core idea that the physical layout of these spaces reflects underlying community structures and cultural values shaped by specific policies. Integrating this understanding into landscape planning can significantly improve revitalization outcomes. We used a mixed-methods approach: (1) Extended fieldwork to understand community networks and cultural practices; (2) Spatial analysis to measure how building density relates to land uses; (3) Sentiment analysis to reveal how people perceive cultural symbols; (4) A coordination model to link population influx with landscape suitability. Key findings reveal different patterns: Villages with strong clan networks maintained high cultural integrity and public acceptance through bodies like ancestral hall councils. Economically driven villages showed a split—open for business but culturally closed, with very low tenant participation. Successful revitalization requires balancing three elements: protecting physical landmarks in their original locations; modernizing cultural events; and reconstructing community narratives. Practically, we propose a planning framework with four approaches tailored to different village types. For instance, decaying villages should prioritize repairing key landmarks that hold community memory. Theoretically, we build a model linking social and spatial change, extending the cultural value concepts of Amos Rapoport to the context of fast-growing cities. This provides a new methodological perspective for managing urban–rural heritage in East Asia. Full article

This study focuses on cultural and urban development policies under China’s 14th Five-Year Plan, exploring the content and semantic structure of discussions on the “East Asian Cultural Capital” project on the Weibo platform. It analyzes how national cultural development policies are reflected in the discourse system related to the “East Asian Cultural Capital” on social media and emphasizes the guiding role of policies in the dissemination of online culture. When China announced the 14th Five-Year Plan in 2021, the strategic direction and policy framework for cultural development over the five-year period from 2021 to 2025 were clearly outlined. This study employs text mining and semantic network analysis methods to analyze user-generated content on Weibo from 2023 to 2024, aiming to understand public perception and discourse trends. Word frequency and TF-IDF analyses identify key terms and issues, while centrality and CONCOR clustering analyses reveal the semantic structure and discourse communities. MR-QAP regression is employed to compare network changes across the two years. Findings highlight that urban cultural development, heritage preservation, and regional exchange are central themes, with digital media, cultural branding, trilateral cooperation, and cultural–economic integration emerging as key factors in regional collaboration. Full article

Background/Objectives: Strengthening antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) programs is an invaluable intervention in the ongoing efforts to contain the threat of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), particularly in low-resource settings. This study evaluates the impact of the Telementoring, Education, and Advocacy Collaboration initiative for Health through Antimicrobial Stewardship (TEACH AMS), which uses the virtual Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes (ECHO) learning model to enhance AMS capacity in Kenya, Ghana, and Malawi. Methods: A mixed-methods approach was used, which included attendance data collection, facility-level assessments, post-session and follow-up surveys, as well as focus group discussions. Results: Between September 2023 and February 2025, 77 virtual learning sessions were conducted, engaging 2445 unique participants from hospital-based AMS committees and health professionals across the three countries. Participants reported significant knowledge gain, and data showed facility improvements in two core AMS areas, including the implementation of multidisciplinary ward-based interventions/communications and enhanced monitoring of antibiotic resistance patterns. Along those lines, participants reported that the program assisted them in improving prescribing and culture-based treatments, and also evidence-informed antibiotic selection. The evidence of implementing ward-based interventions was further stressed in focus group discussions, as well as other strengthened practices like point-prevalence surveys, and development or revision of stewardship policies. Substantial improvements in microbiology services were also shared by participants, particularly in Malawi. Other practices mentioned were strengthened multidisciplinary communication, infection prevention efforts, and education of patients and the community. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that a virtual case-based learning educational intervention, providing structured and tailored AMS capacity building, can drive behavior change and strengthen healthcare systems in low resource settings. Future efforts should aim to scale up the engagements and sustain improvements to further strengthen AMS capacity. Full article

Climate change poses an escalating threat to cultural heritage (CH), driven by intensifying climate-related hazards and systemic vulnerabilities. In response, risk assessment frameworks and methodologies (RAFMs) have emerged to evaluate and guide adaptation strategies for safeguarding heritage assets. This study conducts a state-of-the-art (SotA) review of 86 unique RAFMs using a Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA)-guided systematic approach to assess their scope, methodological rigor, alignment with global climate and disaster risk reduction (DRR) frameworks, and consistency in conceptual definitions of hazard, exposure, and vulnerability. Results reveal a growing integration of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)-based climate projections and alignment with international policy instruments such as the Sendai Framework and United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs). However, notable gaps persist, including definitional inconsistencies, particularly in the misapplication of vulnerability concepts; fragmented and case-specific methodologies that challenge comparability; and limited integration of intangible heritage. Best practices include participatory stakeholder engagement, scenario-based modeling, and incorporation of multi-scale risk typologies. This review advocates for more standardized, interdisciplinary, and policy-aligned frameworks that enable scalable, culturally sensitive, and action-oriented risk assessments, ultimately strengthening the resilience of cultural heritage in a changing climate. Full article

The article addresses the question of the relative importance of human population size and growth in relation to the environmental problems of planetary heating and biodiversity loss in the current, Anthropocene era. To what extent could policies to encourage lower fertility be justified, while observing that this subject is an inherently contested one. It is proposed that a helpful distinction can be made between specific threats to habitats and biodiversity, as opposed to those related to global energy use and warming. Pressures of over-population can be important in relation to the former. But with regard to the latter—rising per capita energy usage—reduced fertility has historically been positively, not negatively correlated. A case can be made that the high-fertility nations of sub-Saharan Africa could benefit from culturally respectful fertility reduction policies. However, where planetary heating is concerned, it is the hydrocarbon-based, per capita energy-consumption patterns of already low-fertility populations on the other five inhabited continents that is rather more critical. While it will be helpful to stabilise global human population, this cannot be viewed as a solution to the climate crisis problem of this century. That requires relentless focus on reducing hydrocarbon use and confronting the rising inequality since c.1980 that has been exacerbating competitive materialist consumerism. This involves the ideological negotiation of values to promote a culture change that understands and politically embraces a new economics of both human and planetary balance, equity, and distribution. Students of populations can contribute by re-assessing what can be the appropriate demographic units and measures for policies engaging with the challenges of the Anthropocene. Full article

This paper analyzes the historical genealogy of conspiracy theories about a global supergovernment by focusing on one period of American history in which it attained particular visibility. The formation of the United Nations in 1945 and the onset of the Cold War galvanized speculation on the political margins that a shadowy, malevolent international government was seeking world domination by targeting the United States and its political culture. At the same time, mainstream United States foreign policy was marked by a desire to both reshape international institutions to resist Soviet influence while also avoiding any domestic changes that might result from international engagement. This paper suggests that conspiracy theory functioned as a mechanism resolving the vicious circle occasioned by these competing foreign policy priorities. Through a narrative analysis of conspiratorial sentiments in North Dakota Representative Usher L. Burdick’s warnings about the United Nations as a threat to American liberty and sovereignty, this article highlights the continuities between mainstream American exceptionalism and conspiratorial ideas. Full article

In this paper, we argue that what is sometimes at fault for the poor attendance and lack of engagement in schools observed from historically marginalized families is a missed opportunity to increase understanding or cultural relevance on the part of schools. In this paper, we use the construct of “counter stories” which has the potential to change the script on the instrumentalist demands of quantity versus quality in parent engagement. By providing examples of what we consider “quality” engagement techniques via the staff’s interpretation of their roles within one demographically rich early learning center, the strategies used to engage parents are documented. Counter-stories of practice show family-centrism as interpreted by school leaders. By describing one community context and its practices of building relationships with newcomer families, relationally driven parent engagement techniques are revealed. The authors highlight how inquiry-based methods surpass the generic approaches described in policy. When parent engagement “arises” from within parents’ motivations and informs authentic knowing (by teachers and school leaders), community systems are elevated. Professionals’ decisions about children and community groups that are informed by families’ knowledge are consequently meaningful and authentic. Full article

Background and Objectives: Gender disparities in pain management persist, with women frequently receiving inadequate analgesia despite reporting similar or higher pain levels compared with men. This issue is particularly evident across various medical and gynecological procedures. Materials and Methods: This integrative literature review synthesizes recent empirical studies examining gender biases in pain perception and management, focusing specifically on procedural pain in women. It includes an analysis of clinical research, patient-reported outcomes, and healthcare provider behaviors. Results: The findings indicate that unconscious biases, a lack of gender-specific clinical protocols, and prevailing cultural stereotypes contribute to the undertreatment of pain in women during procedures such as intrauterine device insertion and diagnostic hysteroscopy. Additionally, communication gaps between patients and healthcare providers exacerbate these disparities. Conclusions: Addressing gender disparities in pain management necessitates systemic reforms, including the implementation of gender-sensitive clinical guidelines, enhanced provider education, and targeted policy changes. Personalized, gender-informed approaches are essential to improving equity and quality of care in pain treatment. Full article

Healthcare abuse is a critical human rights and public health issue, particularly impacting medical interns and trainees who are vulnerable to mistreatment during their formative professional years. This cross-sectional study, conducted from February to June 2024, evaluated the prevalence and psychological impact of harassment and discrimination among 463 healthcare interns in Saudi Arabia from various specialties, including medicine, nursing, pharmacy, and dentistry. Using a self-administered online questionnaire, we found that mistreatment was widely reported, with female interns experiencing significantly higher rates of sexual harassment and gender-based discrimination. Common perpetrators included residents, lecturers, professors, nurses, and patients, with incidents most frequently occurring in surgical and internal medicine departments. Despite high prevalence, only 9% of interns reported the abuse due to mistrust in reporting systems or failure to recognize the behavior as abuse. These experiences were associated with significant psychological distress, including frustration, reduced motivation to learn, and higher DASS scores, particularly among female interns. The study underscores the need for institutional reforms, including policy development, cultural change, and effective reporting systems to ensure a safe and supportive learning environment for future healthcare professionals. Addressing abuse in medical training is essential for individual well-being and the sustainability and integrity of healthcare systems. Full article

Historic cities across the globe have experienced profound changes in their spatial and functional characteristics over time, and the historic core of Patan, Nepal, is no exception. The area surrounding Patan Durbar Square was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979. Between 2003 and 2007, the Kathmandu Valley was placed on UNESCO’s List of World Heritage in Danger, largely due to various factors, including the rapid and unsympathetic transformation of its buffer zone. This study focuses on the Nagbahal neighborhood, a culturally significant locality within this buffer area, to explore a community-rooted and sustainable approach to conservation. Employing a mixed-methods research design, the study integrates qualitative and quantitative data gathered through interviews and surveys of native residents. It investigates the drivers and impacts of changes in the function, ownership, and physical form of traditional residential buildings, and assesses whether these changes align with principles of sustainable heritage conservation—social, cultural, economic, and environmental. While challenges persist, including the proliferation of reinforced concrete structures and limited enforcement of heritage policies, the findings reveal that Nagbahal remains resilient due to strong local traditions, active religious institutions, and cohesive social practices. The study offers transferable lessons for sustainable conservation in living heritage buffer zones globally. Full article