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Bridges in Ukraine are one of the most important components of the infrastructure, requiring attention from government agencies and constant funding. The object of the study was the methodology for quantifying the condition of bridge components. The Artificial Neural Network-based (ANN) tool was developed to quantify the technical condition of bridge components. The literature analysis showed that in most cases the datasets were obtained during the inspection of bridges to solve the problems of assessing the current technical condition. The lack of such a database prompted the creation of a dataset on the basis of the Classification Tables of the Operating Conditions of the Bridge Components (CT). Based on CTs, five datasets were formed to assess the condition of the bridge components: bridge span, bridge deck, pier caps beam, piers and abutments, approaches. The next step of this study was creating, training, validating and testing ANN models. The network with ADAM loss function and softmax activation showed the best results. The optimal values of MAPE and R2 were achieved at the 100th epoch with 64 neurons in the hidden layer and were equal to 0.1% and 0.99998, respectively. The practical application of the ANN models was carried out on the most common type of bridge in Ukraine, namely, a road beam bridge of small length, made of precast concrete. The novelty of this study consists of the development of a tool based on the use of ANN model, and the proposal to modify the methodology for quantifying the condition of bridge components. This will allow minimizing the uncertainties associated with the subjective judgments of experts, as well as increasing the accuracy of the assessment.

Floods are among the most devastating disasters in terms of socio-economics and casualties. However, these natural disasters can be managed and their effects can be minimized by flood modeling performed before the occurrence of a flood. In this study, flood modeling was developed for the Göksu River Basin, Mersin, Türkiye. Flood hazard and risk maps were prepared by using GIS, HEC-RAS, and HEC-HMS. In hydraulic modeling, Manning’s n values were obtained from 2018 CORINE data, return period flow rates (Q25, Q50, Q100, Q500) were obtained from HEC-HMS, and the application was carried out on a 5 m resolution digital surface model. In the study area, the water depths could reach up to 10 m, and water speeds were approximately 0.7 m/s. Considering these values and the fact that the study area is an urban area, hazard maps were obtained according to the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) method. The results indicated that possible flood flow rates from Q25 to Q500, from 1191.7 m3/s to 1888.3 m3/s, were detected in the study area with HEC-HMS. Flooding also occurred under conditions of the Q25 flow rate (from 4288 km2 to 5767 km2), and the impacted areas were classified as extremely risky by the DEFRA method.

We use household survey data and results from a lab-in-the-field experiment to examine the impact of governance perceptions on the cooperativeness of water users in the maintenance of 19 small-scale irrigation schemes in northern Ghana. Cooperativeness is measured by two indicators, one indicator derived from the experiment and the other obtained from the survey. We distinguish the governance perceptions of users into six main components, and regress the two indicators on these six components. We consistently find for both indicators that cooperativeness is lower when users perceive that their water user association (WUA) is more successful in resolving conflicts. We also find that perceptions of accountability, transparency, and participation in governance jointly affect cooperativeness in a positive way, but collinearity problems refrain us from identifying which component(s) do(es) so. Type of leadership—whether or not the WUA leader was democratically elected—does not have a significant effect on cooperativeness, while having received irrigation-related training positively affects cooperativeness as measured by labor contributions to scheme maintenance. We argue that these novel insights can be of great importance for promoting sustainable management of small-scale irrigation schemes, but needs further research to examine its external validity.

This study uniquely employs a fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) technique to account for complex relationships in consumption. The fsQCA technique assumes that relationships are based on a set–subset relationship. This assumption is fundamental when decision-makers are affected by information asymmetry and are, thus, required to jointly evaluate the credibility and reliability of a range of external signals. This issue also affects consumers in markets for cultural goods, where the quality of products is not known with certainty in advance of the purchase decision. Our study uses fsQCA to establish the effect of different quality signals on consumption in the US market for video game software. Our results show that reviews from professional critics alongside brand extension and multi-platform release strategies act as signals of product quality and, therefore, lead to high sales performance.

Setting up strategies for a sound management of plastic packaging waste (PPW) is becoming increasingly crucial at many levels of the value chain in Europe. After the very first implementation of an extended producer responsibility scheme in Germany in 1991, many EU Countries followed. This resulted in a complex network of schemes that differ from one member state to another. This paper brings together the three latest studies describing the current flows of PPW across the waste value chain from Austria (reference year 2013), Germany and the Netherlands (reference year 2017). With this aim, the models of the three single studies have been adapted to fit into a common model, allowing to perform a comparative analysis. Although with a relatively comparable product market, the three countries have different management systems (e.g., separate collection systems, target sorting products and treatment of residual waste), reflecting different national strategies to achieve the circular economy targets. Recycling rates (in terms of washed milled goods at the output of the recycling process) for the three countries resulted in 23%, 43% and 30% of the total mass of PPW generated in, respectively, Austria, Germany and the Netherlands. The fraction of mixed recycled plastics, relevant for Germany and the Netherlands only, was determined to be one of the major determinants of the differences in recycling rates. Furthermore, the discussion revolves around new political targets that have the potential to contribute to addressing the issue of tradeoff between quantity and quality of recycled plastics placed on the market, with measures such as design-for-recycling and eco-modulation of EPR fees playing a critical role, while also pointing out the aspects that inevitably hinder closed-loop recycling.

Increasing material use efficiency is important to mitigate future supply risks and minimize environmental impacts associated with the production of the materials. The policy mix presented in this paper aims to contribute to reducing the use of virgin metals in the EU by 80% by 2050 without significant shifting of burdens to other material resources, environmental impacts, or parts of the world. We used a heuristic framework and a systems perspective for designing the policy mix that combines primary instruments designed to increase material efficiency, recycling and substitution of materials (a materials tax, the extended producer responsibility, technical regulations, and environmental taxes) and supportive instruments aimed to reduce barriers to implementing the primary instruments and to contribute towards the policy objectives (e.g., research and development support, and advanced recycling centers). Furthermore, instruments were designed so as to increase political feasibility: e.g., taxes were gradually increased as part of a green fiscal reform, and border-tax adjustments were introduced to reduce impacts on competitiveness. However, even in such a policy mix design ongoing ex-ante assessments indicate that the policy mix will be politically difficult to implement—and also fall short of achieving the 80% reduction target. Nonetheless, we suggest combining primary and supportive instruments into coherent and dynamic policy mixes as a promising step towards system reconfigurations for sustainability.

The number and sizes of informal settlements are expected to increase drastically in the future, and dramatically so in Sub-Saharan Africa, where migration from rural to urban areas is increasing, and poverty and food insecurity threaten livelihoods. Data sources explaining livelihood factors in informal settlements are scarce, and often highly disputed. In this study, Kibera is investigated, one of the largest informal settlements in Africa. The main aim is to analyze differences in livelihood factors across the villages in Kibera, and to explain some of the existing discrepancies in food security levels among its population. In particular, livelihood factors such as tribe, welfare and trust can explain some of the variation in food security across 12 of the 13 villages located in Kibera. The analyses inform of significant differences across the villages when it comes to, among others, income, food insecurity, ownership of land in rural areas, tribal background and trust levels in strangers and community leads. To reach the millions of people living in informal settlements now, and increasingly so in the future, it is advised that research and implementation go hand in hand, with enhanced understanding of the complexities within rural–urban food systems to ensure solutions that are affordable and accessible to low-income groups. On this pathway to fight poverty and hunger in the future, today’s policies and programs must take such complexities into account to positively contribute to strengthening the resiliency and sustainability of rural–urban food systems by ensuring an increase in welfare levels with zero climate impact.

Questions have arisen about the sustainability of the industrialised food system. Alternatives like urban agriculture have emerged to reduce the negative social, environmental and health impacts of industrial agriculture. Such new food supply chains can change the way that people acquire and process food. This study looks at high-tech indoor gardening practices in nursing homes for elderly people, studying four nursing homes in the Dutch city of Velp. We used both qualitative and quantitative approaches to collect data, using site visits, a survey amongst employees, and semi-structured interviewees with residents and decision makers. Inspired by social practice theory, we aimed to understand the transformation of existing practices, investigating how the gardens affect cooking and eating practices, and how their constitutive elements of meaning, material and competences enable these transformations. Our work shows that the indoor gardens resulted in an integration of gardening and the resulting harvest into cooking practices, which in turn transformed residents’ eating practices. Appreciation of the taste of fresh vegetables and appearance of the meal decorated by fresh vegetables, as well as observing the growth of plants and their use, holds value for the elderly residents. Employees welcome the possibility to serve healthier meals. The integration of indoor gardens in existing cooking practices is more successful when employees have gardening and/or cooking competences, when they enjoy cooking and when they do not already cook with fresh ingredients. The gardens are more easily integrated when they are easily accessible. The materiality of the gardens does not require fully equipped kitchens.