Online Only Poster Session
Women in Rural Spain: Social, Political, and Economic Integration
Poster Session Elena Bulmer
The seventeenth United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG), Partnerships for the Goals, aims to strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development. The successful implementation of this SDG will help the execution and achievement of the other sixteen. The main interest of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of multi-stakeholder partnerships (SDG 17) to effectively promote the role of women (SDG 5) in rural Spain. A multiple case study approach to data collection was undertaken using desk research and semi-structured interviews. The case study covered three small-medium sized towns in the province of Guadalajara, in the autonomous community of Castilla La Mancha located in central Spain. According to the National Institute of Statistics of Spain (INE), Guadalajara is one of the provinces, along with Soria and Burgos, that has the largest number of towns whose population is less than 1,000 inhabitants. Through this study, the main obstacles and problems experienced by women in rural areas were identified and how the latter prevented both the women themselves and their villages from progressing socio-economically, thereby leading towards a path of change and progress.
Sustainable Urban Food Production Program
Poster Session Lorna Bravo
Since September 2019, the six-week "Sustainable Urban Food System program" has been led by Dr. Jiangxiao Qiu from UF/IFAS Fort Lauderdale Research Center and UF/IFAS Extension agents Lorna Bravo in Broward and Jessica Ryals in Collier County. The team launched the first Sustainable Urban Food Production program in South Florida after hearing stakeholders' feedback to focus educational efforts on urban food production for small-beginning farmers within the context of Florida. This multi-disciplinary approach brings together UF statewide researchers and county extension faculty. The program audience is geared toward small farmers, urban farmers, community gardeners, homeowners, schoolteachers, entrepreneurs, urban planners, regulatory personnel, and marginalized communities starting or expanding food production in urban settings. We introduced a six-week short-course Urban Food Production module in Broward County. Participants learned sustainable urban agriculture practices, regulations, business, marketing plans, financial resources, urban food production systems, water conservation, and best management practices. Participants used various technologies, including rain barrels, drip irrigation, composting, and hydroponics. They expanded their knowledge by growing UF Lettuce lines in a Hydro Kit (Deep-water culture system model) designed for this purpose. Multi-year pre- and post-survey results showed subject-specific knowledge increases (>90%) and significant interest (85% –100%) in behavioral changes or behavioral intention changes. Participants reported increased knowledge and interest in developing business and marketing plans (91 – 96%) and implementing technologies into urban agricultural practices. Our survey also revealed knowledge gains and willingness to behavior changes (96 – 100%) related to adopting practices for food safety, cottage food operations, and post-food harvesting.
Gender and Climate Smart Agriculture: Solutions in a Rural Setting of Tajikistan
Poster Session Zora De Rham, Jacqueline Jamsheed
Climate change is negatively impacting all aspects of agricultural production, including the components of food security, such as food prices, rural agricultural production, and household incomes. Through literature review on Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA), this research attempts to fill the gap in this work pertaining to the role of women in local approaches to smallholder agriculture and the communal impacts of agricultural sustainability practices in Tajikistan. Utilizing community-based participatory research I study how rural women connect and encourage each other through family-systems and community networking in support of their smallholder agricultural initiatives. This study examines the challenges faced by these farmers in implementing climate-smart smallholder agriculture and, once implemented, how this agricultural practice is unfolding. The research also considers how factors such as demographic profile, financial position, and farming history impact the adoption of CSA amongst this group of smallholder farmers. This research supports work on addressing gender-specific differences and challenges in the adoption of CSA and lay the foundation for gender sensitive policies to support female owned farms within the backdrop of small farm vulnerabilities to the impacts of climate change.
Good Practices of Hungarian Social Enterprises in the Activity Field of Social Inclusion
Poster Session Noémi Krátki
Social enterprises implement good practices and organisational activities to improve the quality of life of disadvantaged groups in society. Social enterprises are those alternative organizations that do not operate as traditional for-profit companies. The aim of the research is to promote the social inclusion of disadvantaged people through various existing methods. These methods create opportunities for people with mental and physical disabilities to have an equal chance of achieving well-being. Improving the quality of life of disadvantaged groups increases the social value created, which translates into the achievement of well-being, which increases social sustainability. According to well-known professional definitions, social enterprises are created to provide an alternative solution to various social, environmental, and economic problems. Social enterprises are therefore meant to create social value. They provide some innovative services or products for their selected target group, thereby improving the living conditions of the customers and the beneficiaries. The research presents the good practices of Hungarian social enterprises in this field with empirical research focus. In qualitative research (with maximum variation sampling), the approaches of 3 organisations are compared in order to highlight their similarities and differences. The management of career opportunities and labour market integration of disadvantaged groups is a key method for organisations to embed this in an organisational framework. The research does not use an international benchmark for Central and Eastern Europe, but it provides a good basis for doing so, as the organisations studied have highly intensive international networks.
Contemporary Issues in Supply Chain Sustainability in a Developing Economy View Digital Media
Poster Session Ekpen Owie, Tuan Le
Integrating social and environmental concerns in supply chain operations continues to challenge businesses in developing economies. In some cases, developing economies bear the brunt of the activities of global supply chains and have varying contextual pressures that shape local responses. Thus, the purpose of this study is to examine current issues in sustainable supply chain management in a developing economy, Nigeria, in dealing with emissions, conservation of resources, and labor practices in the manufacturing sector. From a practical standpoint, a conceptual framework developed because of the study could help supply chain managers better balance social and environmental imperatives with profitability concerns. This framework could foster a theoretical stakeholder approach to the subject matter in the supply chain discipline. Qualitative methods will be used for this study: data will be collected from over 25 key supply chain practitioners using open-ended interviews, coded, analyzed, and themes generated. Respondent validation, peer debriefing, and thick descriptions will be used to assure trustworthiness. The study is limited to the consumer goods sector, with generalization caveats. Findings could extend the development of supply chain sustainability theories as part of this burgeoning field in response to the growing concerns regarding negative externalities.
