Suchergebnisse

In this paper, we examine poverty in three regions in the United States and Germany and discuss its causes and demographic consequences. The three regions are those with the highest rates of poverty in the two countries: the Mississippi Delta and Texas Borderland in the United States and the Northeastern Border Region in Germany. We show that standard models to explain poverty need to be placed in the historical legacies of the three regions in order to understand their current levels of poverty. While our results show many common factors for poverty in the three regions, they also point to important differences. Similarly, we identify differences among the regions in their demographic responses to poverty, in part reflecting their different historical legacies. Thus, one implication of the paper is the importance of place-based poverty-mitigation strategies for successful policy planning. ; In this paper, we examine poverty in three regions in the United States and Germany and discuss its causes and demographic consequences. The three regions are those with the highest rates of poverty in the two countries: the Mississippi Delta and Texas Borderland in the United States and the Northeastern Border Region in Germany. We show that standard models to explain poverty need to be placed in the historical legacies of the three regions in order to understand their current levels of poverty. While our results show many common factors for poverty in the three regions, they also point to important differences. Similarly, we identify differences among the regions in their demographic responses to poverty, in part reflecting their different historical legacies. Thus, one implication of the paper is the importance of place-based poverty-mitigation strategies for successful policy planning.

"In this paper, we examine poverty in three regions in the United States and Germany and discuss its causes and demographic consequences. The three regions are those with the highest rates of poverty in the two countries: the Mississippi Delta and Texas Borderland in the United States and the Northeastern Border Region in Germany. We show that standard models to explain poverty need to be placed in the historical legacies of the three regions in order to understand their current levels of poverty. While our results show many common factors for poverty in the three regions, they also point to important differences. Similarly, we identify differences among the regions in their demographic responses to poverty, in part reflecting their different historical legacies. Thus, one implication of the paper is the importance of place-based poverty-mitigation strategies for successful policy planning." (author's abstract)

AbstractIn the hope for more sustainable agriculture and a stronger connection to their food, an increasing number of consumers participate in alternative food networks (AFNs) characterised by short food supply chains. However, it cannot be assumed that AFNs inherently transform the prevailing system and its respective practices around food. Thus, we apply a social innovation perspective to enable a comprehensive analysis of changed values, social practices and relations in AFNs. This article presents whether drivers of transformation occur in three different AFN models (Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), food co‐operatives (food co‐ops) and self‐harvest gardens) and how participants describe and perceive them in each model. Therefore, we conducted interviews with AFN producers and consumers, before applying qualitative content analysis. Interviewees describe a broad variety of transformed values, practices and relations: Especially CSA and food co‐ops bear transformative potential as their members report a strong reconnection of producers and consumers expressed through social interaction and community‐building. Self‐harvest gardeners predominantly seek individual capacity building and to have access to their own garden. We conclude that AFN participation fosters incremental transformation towards more sustainable practices around food and a respective value system, which can be a part of a bigger movement aimed at food system transformation.

AbstractThis article examines how sustainable development is actually being applied to rural development, and the assumptions about different forms of knowledge and their integration used in this application. The results of the study are based on a comparative analysis of research reports from 12 European countries on 27 projects and programmes for nature protection and biodiversity maintenance. It is argued that the distribution of different forms of knowledge and their evaluation are related to the form and structure of local civil society. The results suggest that the kinds of knowledge that are most prevalent in nature protection and biodiversity management are mainly scientific knowledge and, to limited degree, managerial knowledge, with the latter gaining in importance. In contrast, local knowledge as a knowledge system rooted in local resource use practices has become a rare feature of the European countryside.

AbstractThis article reports the major findings from an interdisciplinary research project that synthesises key insights into farmers' willingness and ability to co‐operate with biodiversity policies. The results of the study are based on an assessment of about 160 publications and research reports from six EU member states and from international comparative research. We developed a conceptual framework to systematically review the existent literature relevant for our purposes. This framework provides a common structure for analysing farmers' perspectives regarding the introduction into farming practices of measures relevant to biodiversity. The analysis is coupled and contrasted with a survey of experts. The results presented above suggest that it is important to view support for practices oriented towards biodiversity protection not in a static sense – as a situation determined by one or several influencing factors – but rather as a process marked by interaction. Financial compensation and incentives function as a necessary, though clearly not sufficient condition in this process.

Based on the analysis of the special features of the agricultural sector in Poland in comparison to the other transitional countries, the transformation processes and their influences on the regional structure are to be examined. If the decisive factors (natural potential, company sizes, environment and historical conditions) are given consideration, then a belt of 100 km in width to the West of Warsaw will be the future core zone of Polish agriculture. The structurally weak regions in the Eastern and South-eastern Voivodes will be problematic for the Polish agricultural concept, as here, in view of the coincidence of various negative factors, agriculture tends to be purely a substinence economy. Also, resulting from the lack of further regional development possibilities, the problems of depopulation and impoverishment of expansive rural regions must be feared. On the other hand, there is the real chance of the recognised core zone of the agricultural production achieving considerable exports to Western countries after Poland has joined the EU.

The killing of day-old chicks is controversially discussed in poultry keeping, science, politics, and society. The present survey data contributes to understand consumers´ attitudes towards ethical issues in chicken production, especially the killing practice and dual purpose chickens as alternative to avoid such killing. Information on the various topics is provided: Consumer purchase pattern of eggs and chicken meat, perception of animal welfare and protection issues, knowledge and perception of killing day-old chicks, attitudes towards dual purpose chickens as an alternative to killing day-old chicks, and socio-demographic data. The data set contains standardized responds of 1000 telephone interviews. These interviews were conducted with German consumers in spring 2016. The survey data were in part analysed with cluster analysis to categorize consumers according to their purchasing criteria for dual chicken products, and assessing which socio-economic variables best described each of the consumer categories. The survey raw data, a file with the questionnaire and the codes, the analysed data, and additional files for understanding the cluster analysis are hosted in the public repository Open Research Data https://www.doi.org/10.4228/ZALF.DK.106.

The killing of day-old chicks is controversially discussed in poultry keeping, science, politics, and society. The present survey data contributes to understand consumers´ attitudes towards ethical issues in chicken production, especially the killing practice and dual purpose chickens as alternative to avoid such killing. Information on the various topics is provided: Consumer purchase pattern of eggs and chicken meat, perception of animal welfare and protection issues, knowledge and perception of killing day-old chicks, attitudes towards dual purpose chickens as an alternative to killing day-old chicks, and socio-demographic data. The data set contains standardized responds of 1000 telephone interviews. These interviews were conducted with German consumers in spring 2016. The survey data were in part analysed with cluster analysis to categorize consumers according to their purchasing criteria for dual chicken products, and assessing which socio-economic variables best described each of the consumer categories. The survey raw data, a file with the questionnaire and the codes, the analysed data, and additional files for understanding the cluster analysis are hosted in the public repository Open Research Data https://www.doi.org/10.4228/ZALF.DK.106.