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Economy and Sustainability of Natural Resources

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A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Economic and Business Aspects of Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2021) | Viewed by 19190

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Isabel María Román-Sánchez

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Guest Editor

Department of Economy and Company, Universidad de Almería, La Cañada, 04120 Almería, Spain
Interests: wastewater treatment; environmental taxes; development education; education

Dr. José A. Aznar-Sánchez

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Guest Editor

Department of Economy and Business, University of Almería, Almería, Spain
Interests: economic development; agriculture economics; environmental economics; natural resource economics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Juan Francisco Velasco-Muñoz

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Guest Editor

Department of Economy and Company, University of Almería, Spain
Interests: environmental economics; sustainability; circular economy; waste management; water management; agricultural management; regional development
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The planet faces a strong degradation of ecosystems due to factors such as global climate change, over-exploitation, and transformation of land use, among others. Society’s survival depends on the sustainability of natural resources that are the basis of ecosystemic service flows, which are currently sustaining human wellbeing. The field of economics studies the process of resource management, the production of goods and services, wealth creation and distribution, etc. Researchers in this discipline are therefore called upon to make contributions to the sustainability of natural resources. The topic of this Special Issue embraces all natural resources—water, earth, minerals, metals, etc.—as well as different types of ecosystems such as those present in agriculture, forests, or rivers.

This Special Issue of Sustainability is open to studies embracing a varied range of themes related to environmental economics, education for sustainability, and the construction of resilient societies. The main objective of this Special Issue is to include all questions related to the economy and the sustainability of natural resources. Therefore, works on education devoted to creating more responsible and conscious generations or those analyzing taxation, urban planification, and energetic transition are welcome. Publications addressing the achievement of sustainable development, legal measures to mitigate environmental impacts, sustainable management practices, circularity processes in value chains, or necessary methodology changes to face the challenge of natural resource sustainability from an economic point of view are also of interest.

Dr. Isabel María Román-Sánchez
Dr. José A. Aznar-Sánchez
Dr. Juan Francisco Velasco-Muñoz
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 submissions that pass pre-check are 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 2400 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

environment and citizenship
education in sustainability
environmental economics
waste management
circular economy
sustainable development
sustainable energy
environmental taxation

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

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12 pages, 269 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Social Assessment of the Value of Forests and Protected Areas on the Example of the Silesian Voivodeship

by Agnieszka Lorek and Paweł Lorek

Sustainability 2021, 13(6), 3088; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su13063088 - 11 Mar 2021

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1402

Abstract

This article investigates the social attitudes towards forests and protected areas among the inhabitants of the Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland. The survey was used as a research tool. The respondents were asked about following issues: Willingness to pay (WTP) to preserve forest functions in the case of logging reduction, willingness to pay (WTP) to preserve protected areas, and the possibility of running business activities in protected areas. The study involved 1204 respondents. The collected answers were used for statistical analysis. Descriptive statistics and correlation analysis were used at this stage. The obtained results allowed to assess a relatively low willingness to pay among the surveyed respondents (WTP > 0 in the case of 24.8% of respondents to preserve forest functions in managed forests and 21.1% to preserve protected areas). The diverse factors, such as age, as well as professional and economic status, could be considered as related to this phenomenon. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Economy and Sustainability of Natural Resources)

17 pages, 2466 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Socio-Environmental History of a Copper Mining Company: Rio-Tinto Company Limited (1874–1930)

by José Joaquín García-Gómez and Juan Diego Pérez-Cebada

Sustainability 2020, 12(11), 4521; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su12114521 - 02 Jun 2020

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 3623

Abstract

Mining activities cause serious pollution problems that affect health and the environment. This paper focuses on the environmental and biological effects that mining activity had on the population living and working in the Riotinto-Nerva area in the last third of the nineteenth century and the early twentieth century, when this area accounted for approximately 10% of world copper production. To do so, we explore the social, technological, and scientific responses to environmental pollution caused by mining extraction in this area during industrialisation. Second, we analyse welfare indicators, such as the heights of conscripts and mortality rates, so as to examine the social effects of the mining activity. Third, municipal health and education expenditures are examined to study the intervention made by the local authorities to address the welfare problems caused by the mining work and environment. Finally, we examine whether the health policy had positive effects on the health of the population after the negative external effects of copper mining in this area had been mitigated. The findings show that the negative impacts of copper exploitation on the environment and welfare could only be diminished using health policies to combat this kind of urban penalty. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Economy and Sustainability of Natural Resources)

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Review

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22 pages, 1142 KiB

Open AccessReview

An Analysis of the Worldwide Research on the Socio-Cultural Valuation of Forest Ecosystem Services

by Juan F. Velasco-Muñoz, José A. Aznar-Sánchez, Marina Schoenemann and Belén López-Felices

Sustainability 2022, 14(4), 2089; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su14042089 - 12 Feb 2022

Cited by 15 | Viewed by 3158

Abstract

The socio-cultural valuation of forest ecosystem services is a useful tool to generate knowledge and help balance the different interests of stakeholders with respect to the management of these services. The aim of this study is to analyse the evolution of global research on the economic valuation of forest ecosystem services through a review of the existing literature on this topic. The results show that socio-cultural valuation has gained importance in recent years. There is a wide disparity between the countries conducting the research and those being studied. Inconsistency has been observed in the definition and classification of services provided by forests, as well as a lack of unanimity on the reference framework to be applied. The main methodological approaches in the socio-cultural valuation of forest services are participatory mapping, social media analysis, the Q method and free listing. For the collection of primary information, the dominant methodologies are focus groups, semi-structured interviews and online surveys. Finally, this study demonstrates that socio-cultural valuation has great potential to improve the legitimacy of forest ecosystem management decisions and to promote consensus building. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Economy and Sustainability of Natural Resources)

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21 pages, 920 KiB

Open AccessReview

Three Decades of Behavioural Economics in Agriculture. An Overview of Global Research

by Ernesto Mesa-Vázquez, Juan F. Velasco-Muñoz, José A. Aznar-Sánchez and Belén López-Felices

Sustainability 2021, 13(18), 10244; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su131810244 - 14 Sep 2021

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2836

Abstract

Over the last three decades, behavioural economics has been gaining ground in the research on a wide range of agriculture-related themes. This is due to the diversity of the agents involved in the production systems and the agro-food value chains in which opposing interests must be reconciled. The main objective of this study is to examine the dynamics of the research on the application of behavioural economics in agriculture across the world. To do this, a bibliometric analysis has been carried out through a literature review of the period between 1991 and 2020. The results of the study show that the use of behavioural economics has increased in the research on agriculture, particularly over the last five years. The application of behavioural economics in agriculture has focused on analysing consumers, producers, management, marketing, development, environmental issues, climate change, food and health. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Economy and Sustainability of Natural Resources)

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20 pages, 1551 KiB

Open AccessReview

Overview of Research on Sustainable Agriculture in Developing Countries. The Case of Mexico

by Claudia A. Ochoa-Noriega, Juan F. Velasco-Muñoz, José A. Aznar-Sánchez and Ernesto Mesa-Vázquez

Sustainability 2021, 13(15), 8563; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su13158563 - 31 Jul 2021

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3429

Abstract

One of the principal challenges faced by Mexican agriculture is the development of management models that are able to increase production while respecting the environment and generating wealth for society as a whole. In recent years, the number of studies analysing the sustainability of Mexican agriculture has grown significantly. The purpose of this study is to analyse the evolution of the research on the sustainability of agriculture in Mexico. For this purpose, a review and bibliometric analysis of a sample of 867 articles was carried out. The results reveal that the research has focused on the development of sustainable agricultural models in vulnerable rural areas, the sustainable exploitation of agroforestry systems, the development of energy crops for different uses, water resource management and land uses and their changes, conservation farming and climate change. Although research focused on sustainability is still in its early stages, it has become a priority field. A need to promote research from the economic and social disciplines may be observed, together with holistic projects that include the three pillars of sustainability (social, economic and environmental). This study could be useful to researchers in this field as it identifies the recent trends and principal agents that drive knowledge. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Economy and Sustainability of Natural Resources)

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18 pages, 2050 KiB

Open AccessReview

Contribution of Irrigation Ponds to the Sustainability of Agriculture. A Review of Worldwide Research

by Belén López-Felices, José A. Aznar-Sánchez, Juan F. Velasco-Muñoz and María Piquer-Rodríguez

Sustainability 2020, 12(13), 5425; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su12135425 - 05 Jul 2020

Cited by 17 | Viewed by 3862

Abstract

The use of irrigation ponds has proved to be an efficient alternative for increasing the availability and quality of water resources for irrigation and contributing to the sustainability of agriculture. This article analyses the dynamics of worldwide research on this topic over the last two decades. To do this, a review including a qualitative systematic analysis and a quantitative bibliometric analysis was carried out on a sample of 951 articles. The results reveal that this line of research is becoming more relevant within agricultural research, particularly in recent years. The research in this topic has focused on the sustainable development of vulnerable regions, the contribution to the agronomic improvement of crops and farms, environmental impact assessment, the joint management of water resources, the restoration of groundwater bodies, and the use of rainfall. Gaps have been found in the literature with respect to the capacity of irrigation ponds to cover the irrigation needs in different agricultural contexts, the perceptions and attitudes of farmers towards the use of irrigation ponds, and the economic–financial feasibility of these systems. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Economy and Sustainability of Natural Resources)

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