Showing papers in "Geografisk Tidsskrift-danish Journal of Geography in 2016"

Destination cities of European exchange students

Abstract: The Erasmus programme is generally considered the flagship of intra-European exchange programmes in higher education, with more than three million participants since 1987. Whereas a number of studies investigated the determinants of student mobility decisions, no knowledge exists on the main destination cities of European exchange students. Our research note aims at filling this gap in the academic literature. Making use of a unique data-set from the European Commission containing micro-level data on the full population of Erasmus students for study purposes in 2012–2013 (n = 211,267), we provide a descriptive overview of the spatial distribution of Erasmus students at the city level. The results reveal that European exchange students are mainly attracted by capitals and second-tier metropolitan cities. Furthermore, the analysis reveals significant variation regarding the main region of origin of mobile students within most destination countries.

Vulnerability of Kuwait coast to sea level rise

Abstract: Assessing coastal vulnerability to sea level rise (SLR) at local and regional scales is a fundamental step for designing successful long-term coastal management plans. This study was thus designed to assess Kuwait coastal vulnerability to SLR at four scenarios (.5, 1, 1.5 and 2 m). Potential inundated areas and the number of people at risk were estimated based on these SLR scenarios. A coastal vulnerability index (CVI) map of Kuwait was then computed based on the lowest scenario using eight parameters: elevation, coastal slope, geomorphology, distance to 20-m isobath, population, land use, cultural heritage and transportation. The geographic distribution of inundated areas at an SLR of .5 m revealed that the northern islands of Kuwait and coastal areas along Kuwait Bay would be highly impacted, whereas the coastal area near Shuaibah Port was the most influenced among the southern coasts. Most of the coastal area exhibited a moderate vulnerability to SLR, especially the northern islands. This study...

Very high CO2 exchange fluxes at the peak of the rainy season in a West African grazed semi-arid savanna ecosystem

Abstract: Africa is a sink of carbon, but there are large gaps in our knowledge regarding the CO2 exchange fluxes for many African ecosystems. Here, we analyse multi-annual eddy covariance data of CO2 exchange fluxes for a grazed Sahelian semi-arid savanna ecosystem in Senegal, West Africa. The aim of the study is to investigate the high CO2 exchange fluxes measured at the peak of the rainy season at the Dahra field site: gross primary productivity and ecosystem respiration peaked at values up to −48 μmol CO2 m−2 s−1 and 20 μmol CO2 m−2 s−1, respectively. Possible explanations for such high fluxes include a combination of moderately dense herbaceous C4 ground vegetation, high soil nutrient availability and a grazing pressure increasing the fluxes. Even though the peak net CO2 uptake was high, the annual budget of −229 ± 7 ± 49 g C m−2 y−1 (±random errors ± systematic errors) is comparable to that of other semi-arid savanna sites due the short length of the rainy season. An inter-comparison between the open-...

A story of “communities”: boundaries, geographical composition and social coherence in a forest conservation project, Northern Cambodia

Abstract: Explicit notions of “communities”, as key actors in conservation and development projects across the Global South, are common. Narratives about “indigenous people” or “forest-dependent communities” in forest conservation programmes prevail, portraying a picture of “communities” as homogeneous and harmonious entities. In this study, we unfold “communities” as a construct with an empirical example of a community-based forest protection project, Northern Cambodia. Based on qualitative interviews, field observations and document analysis, we examine the “community” construct in terms of establishment of boundaries, geographical composition and social coherence. We not only find that the establishment of forest “community” boundaries are dominated by powerful external actors rather than the “community members” themselves, but that the spatial composition of “communities” is complex, and affects the ability of local people to benefit from the project. We also find that the studied “communities” show low...

Green areas and water management in residential developments in the European Western Mediterranean. A case study of Alicante, Spain

Abstract: The intense urbanization of the Mediterranean coast as a result of the development of residential-tourist activities since the 1960s, especially from the mid-1990s to 2008, has generated new urban environments associated with extensive urban typologies. These include gardens linked to houses with outdoor spaces that are shared between all of the residents of the residential developments. The aim of this study is to determine the main characteristics of these new urban green spaces and their effect on domestic water consumption in Alicante (Spain). To do this, we analysed the characteristics that define these types of gardens (surface area, density, plant species and irrigation system) and determined their water needs using the Water Use Classifications of Landscape Species method. The main conclusions are that the increase in paved areas is one of the strategies to reduce water consumption in spaces where turf grass is the most common plant species. This is due to increased water prices and lack o...

Global and local policy forces for landscape perennialization in central North American agriculture

Abstract: Farm production practices often focus on mitigating negative consequences of cropping – particularly annual crops like corn, cereals and oilseeds. Some of North America’s most-intensive farmlands are rapidly converting their remaining perennial cover to annual crops. While perennial cover like woodlands, grasslands and wetlands are valued for the many landscape services they provide, they are vulnerable to conversion to other cover types under drivers of landscape change. Conversions within farms constitute nuances rather than new land uses, yet landscape composition effects can be substantial when considering habitat, biodiversity, soil and water quality, carbon sequestration, and aesthetics. As the farm landscape becomes increasingly dominated by annual crop vegetation, the key drivers behind land cover types and management merit critical examination. This paper reviews recent studies on farmland composition and management in central Canada and the United States, identifying trajectories and mag...

A local landscape in transition between production and consumption goals: can new management arrangements preserve the local landscape character?

Abstract: Around towns in the Alentejo region, the landscape is dominated by a characteristic agricultural small-scale mosaic. These areas are central in the region landscape character – even if the large-scale latifundia landscape of the extensive silvo-pastoral systems is most commonly associated with the region. In the last two decades, these parcels became extremely attractive for new comers, who settle in the rural context as residents, week-end visitors, being often also lifestyle farmers. The paper presents a case study landscape, in Montemor-o-Novo, a small town 100 km from Lisbon, highly subject to the pressure for consumption uses, by urban users. The study shows that the new owners, even if they have settled in the area due to the tranquility and social bindings of the rural, end up doing farming, with new or reshaped production objectives, markets and models, but at the same time maintaining the traditional farm systems. Thus, the landscape character is maintained, so far. Nevertheless, the role...

Improved land tenure not the driver of economic development in a Vietnamese community

Abstract: During the restructuring of the Vietnamese economy in 1986, the Communist party of Vietnam (CPV) took the decision to leave central planning and build a market economy in Vietnam. In order to promote rural development and deal with deforestation, poverty and declining agricultural profitability, the government implemented the forestland allocation policies (FLA) and started a process of decentralization. This research note examines the impact of FLA policies on the agricultural practices of an upland community in central Vietnam and discusses the effects of increased tenure security. It is shown that the promotion of a sedentary production system has altered the sustainability of swidden agriculture leading to declining profitability and that a transition towards new crops and specialized crop cultivation has compensated for the loss. Furthermore, it is argued that the FLA policies have increased the villagers’ incentive to invest, their access to credit and the forest area of the village, but tha...

Development of local authorities in EU-member states between 1950–2011

Abstract: The aim of the submitted study was to illustrate the development of the number of local authorities in all current EU states in the long period between 1950 and 2011 comprehensively, and also by particular decades, thus demonstrating the originality and uniqueness of the topic analysed in this context. Thus, we obtain a more detailed picture of the development of the number of local authorities in EU countries, and we can monitor how local authorities within a specific country gradually developed. (The stabilisation of the number of local units and an increase or gradual or sudden drop in local units are shown, for example). A sudden drop in local units can be associated with significant administrative reforms and with the development of large units of the so-called municipalities. When it becomes necessary to merge local authorities, many countries look to other countries where extensive reforms took place in the past for inspiration. However, it must be borne in mind that in a general European c...

What shapes the anatomy of inventors? A life-history analysis of Swedish patent inventors

Abstract: Using life-history interviews on a sample of Swedish inventors, this article studies seminal sociocultural factors and milieus that are critical for the development of inventive capacities. This approach allows the inventors to reflect on and describe the milieus, actors and events in their lives which they themselves believe have formed their inventive capacities. The main findings of the article are that the sociocultural milieus of early childhood, especially the educational backgrounds or skills of parents and grandparents, play an important role in shaping the anatomy of inventors. Further, the social milieu of an inventor’s final education, whether elementary school or university, is a seminal factor in the development of inventive creativity, given the importance of dedicated teachers, co-students and supervisors. Finally, egalitarian organizational structures in the workplace and a solid knowledge infrastructure are also important and influential factors. The study shows that the essence o...

Returning home: migrant connections and visions for local development in rural Nepal

Abstract: Migration to domestic and international destinations has become an emblematic feature of Nepal’s societal changes. Part of this development is education migration from rural to urban areas within the borders of Nepal, an often overlooked but increasingly important aspect of contemporary migration flows. By focusing on these educational migrants, this paper explores how they connect to their rural homes. Guided by a critical reading of the migration-development scholarship, the paper examines how migrants and their relatives make sense of educational migrants’ remitting and returning practices, and by comparing three groups of educational migrants, the migrants’ reasons for staying connected and sending remittances are scrutinized. The paper finds that although educational migrants do not generate extensive economic remittances for local development in Nepal, they stay connected to their rural homes and partake in important social remittance practices that represent a vision for impacting local dev...

Unstacking high temporal resolution meteorological data for multidimensional analysis of climate variability in southern Burkina Faso

Abstract: Climate variability, expressed by random short time variation in rainfall and temperature, has severe effects on agriculture in the Sahel. This region depends on a short and uncertain rainy season with many uncertainties in short-term climate variations that affect farm decisions in regards to. sowing period, crop variety, water management, etc. The most conspicuous climate variability issue in West Africa is the high intra-seasonal and inter-annual variability associated with dry (or too wet) spells, and in most cases, season length modifications. We derived selected climate descriptors from 35-year daily climate data to assess inter-annual rainfall anomalies, seasonal variation and temperature trends in southern Burkina Faso. Results show the evolution in the number of rainy days and rainfall sum from the drier years in the late 1970s and early 1980s, which were followed by positive but variable rainfall in the 1990s and 2000s. We further observed widespread occurrence of unsuccessful season ons...

Graphic symbols and local identity: the case of use and perception of municipal emblems in the Liberec Region (Czechia)

Abstract: This paper analyses the role of graphic symbols in local representation and in the process of local identity formation. The extent of graphic symbols utilization by local development actors in the region, its importance for image formation of the locality (municipality) from the point of view of the local development actors and an assessment of the degree of identification with the municipal emblems among the local population are evaluated, based on the results of a corresponding survey targeted at municipal representatives. Municipal emblems tend to (and also should) have a local representative function. These should emphasize local specificity, uniqueness. Municipal emblems have a potential to play the role of connecting, mediating and activating factors also on a higher as well as a local level. Municipal emblems are still not used enough and in the right way by actors of municipality representations. These are often misunderstood and deemed unimportant for local development.

Wine trails as organizational pathway toward landscape coherence: the case of the Finger Lakes region, New York, USA

Abstract: This paper explores the role of so-called wine trails as planners and managers of viticultural landscapes, using the case of the Finger Lakes region in New York, USA. Using key informant interviews, it assesses the current capacity and the future potential of these non-governmental, fee-based ‘clubs’ to mediate between global markets and the local agricultural landscape in the absence of policy frameworks designed for this purpose. Though it finds little evidence of such mediation today, the paper argues that the structure and institutional position of wine trails, organizations whose members’ livelihoods depend substantially on long-term landscape coherence, position them to play a more assertive role in doing so in the future, particularly in places marked by lax planning regimes and scarce resources.

The dynamic monitoring of corn planting area distribution in response to climate change from 2001 to 2010: a case study of Northeast China

Abstract: Climate change has effects on crop distribution and production due to altering precipitation and temperature patterns. Northeast China is one of the most sensitive areas affected by climate change. In this study, MODIS09A1 data from MODerate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer incorporated with phenology data from 21 agro-meteorological stations were used to monitor the dynamic change of corn distribution in response to climate change in the Northeast China for the decade of 2001 and 2010. Corn area estimates and statistics had the same change trend from 2001 to 2010 showing an annual increase. Furthermore, in order to analyse the gravity centre variations of the corn distribution, regions were chosen with corn planting areas of more than 500 km2. Results showed that the main corn planting area had a trend to move towards high latitude and high longitude in response to climate change. It moved towards north about .58 degrees and east about .21 degrees between 2001 and 2010. The analysis of temperature an...

Pathways to sustainable landscape management: peer recognition as an indicator of effective ‘soft’ actions

Abstract: New Zealand is a food producer and exporter that combines neoliberal policy with performance-based environmental management, using ‘soft’ governance and actions where possible. Voluntary environmental farm awards are analysed to identify the landscape management activities recognised as best practice by peers at a farm level. Results highlight the importance of whole farm system management. However, the efficacy of reliance upon voluntary mechanisms is coming under increasingly critical scrutiny, as environmental conditions in intensive agricultural landscapes continue to decline. The research question this poses is whether whole farm plans can be practically and formally connected in three concurrent ways – to supply chain management, and to statutory planning frameworks and environmental regulations and to local landscape co-management – while still maintaining flexibility of action for the farmer.

Editorial: integrating local landscape management in a globalised world – practices and pathways

Abstract: Urbanisation, population growth, limited land and environmental concerns are putting the world’s farmers under growing pressure to increase productivity in sustainable ways (Lambin & Meyfroidt, 201...

Outdoor recreation monitoring in coastal and marine areas – an overview of Nordic experiences and knowledge

Abstract: This paper involves a collection and communication of important knowledge about and experiences with outdoor recreation monitoring in Nordic coastal and marine areas. This is a topic that so far has received little attention, especially among researchers and practitioners working with outdoor recreation monitoring in Nordic coastal and marine areas, who are in need of knowledge on the topic in order to advance monitoring activities and procedures. To remedy this situation, the purpose of this paper is to provide a knowledge base by listing and describing central literature contributions with important insight into outdoor recreation monitoring in Nordic coastal and marine areas. More specifically, this includes information about: (a) where important knowledge about outdoor recreation monitoring in Nordic coastal and marine areas can be found, (b) who the main contributors are and (c) what monitoring knowledge that has been reported so far. The paper also examines what tasks lie ahead for researche...