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In recent years, sustainability concerns have gained increasing attention among countries and stakeholders worldwide. Towards the transition to sustainable rural development, the rural web framework (RWF) has become a consistent tool. Indicators from the RWF have been used to explore sustainable rural development for decision-making tasks, which improves the social, economic, and environmental performance of rural regions. However, the application of the RWF in studies is on the decline. Furthermore, there is a lack of literature reviews on the importance of the RWF and its relationship with different facets of sustainable development. We conducted a systematic literature review (SLR) (a) to explore how studies have used the RWF in the context of sustainable development and (b) to identify areas for further research. This study found that the RWF has mostly been used in developed countries, with fewer applications in developing countries. We suggest that there should be increased application of the RWF, particularly in developing countries, to broaden the rural web–sustainable development discourse and its relevance. This paper presents several areas where the indicators of the RWF can be applied to illustrate their relevance for policy decisions towards the achievement of the sustainable development goals (SDGs).

This study examined the effects that sustainable fashion education had on college students��� attitudes, subjective norms, knowledge, and intention to make sustainable apparel choices. In addition, relationships were analyzed and interpreted between intention and attitudes, subjective norms, and knowledge. The need for this research stems from changes in the fashion industry that required the adoption of new business models. The circular economy model embraces a culture that makes, consumes, enriches, or returns the product to supply chains. For the circular model to be successful, all stakeholders must understand the role one plays in creating a sustainable industry. The consumer is an essential player in the circular model. Overconsumption and underutilization of clothing by the consumer are currently not sustainable. This quantitative study was guided by Ajzen���s theory of planned behavior that predicts individual intention to engage in a behavior in which the person can exert self-control. This study followed a quasi-experimental design with paired t test and correlational analysis, collecting from a sample of 97 college students. Pretest and posttest survey data was gathered from college students before and after they completed a series of online learning modules about fast fashion and sustainable fashion. This study provided evidence that educational intervention influences a significant change in subjective norms, attitudes, knowledge, and intention. Research findings show that subjective norms and attitudes had significant relationships with intention to make sustainable apparel choices. The findings from this research support a need for education about the impacts apparel and clothing choices have on our environment. Results also provide evidence that education makes a positive impact. Conclusions from the research provide implications for FCS professionals exploring topics and approaches for educating others about sustainable apparel production, consumption and care, and a return to production.

Activities involving land use, land-use change,forestry, and agriculture (LUCF) can help reducegreenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations in the atmosphereby increasing biotic carbon storage, by decreasing GHGemissions, and by producing biomass as a substitutefor fossil fuels. Potential activities includereducing rates of deforestation, increasing landdevoted to forest plantations, regenerating secondaryforest, agroforestry, improving the management offorests and agricultural areas; and producing energycrops.Policymakers debating the inclusion of a variety ofLUCF activities in the Clean Development Mechanism(CDM) of the Kyoto Protocol need to consider themagnitude of the carbon contribution these activitiescould make. Existing estimates of the cumulative GHGoffset potential of LUCF activities often take aglobal or regional approach. In contrast, land-usedecisions are usually made at the local level anddepend on many factors including productive capacityof the land, financial considerations of thelandowner, and environmental concerns. Estimates ofGHG offset potential made at a local, or at mostcountry, level that incorporate these factors may belower, as well as more useful for policy analyses,than global or large regional estimates. Whilecountry-level estimates exist for forestry activities,similar estimates utilizing local information need tobe generated for agricultural activities and biofuels,as well as for the cumulative potential of all LUCFactivities in a particular location.

Conventional wisdom suggests that energy efficiency (EE) policies are beneficial because they induce investments that pay for themselves and lead to emissions reductions. However, this belief is primarily based on projections from engineering models. This paper reports on the results of an experimental evaluation of the nation’s largest residential EE program conducted on a sample of more than 30,000 households. The findings suggest that the upfront investment costs are about twice the actual energy savings. Further, the model-projected savings are roughly 2.5 times the actual savings. While this might be attributed to the “rebound” effect – when demand for energy end uses increases as a result of greater efficiency – the paper fails to find evidence of significantly higher indoor temperatures at weatherized homes. Even when accounting for the broader societal benefits of energy efficiency investments, the costs still substantially outweigh the benefits; the average rate of return is approximately -9.5% annually.

This study highlights how Chinese economic development detrimentally impacted water quality in recent decades and how this has been improved by enormous investment in environmental remediation funded by the Chinese government. To our knowledge, this study is the first to describe the variability of surface water quality in inland waters in China, the affecting drivers behind the changes, and how the government-financed conservation actions have impacted water quality. Water quality was found to be poorest in the North and the Northeast China Plain where there is greater coverage of developed land (cities + cropland), a higher gross domestic product (GDP), and higher population density. There are significant positive relationships between the concentration of the annual mean chemical oxygen demand (COD) and the percentage of developed land use (cities + cropland), GDP, and population density in the individual watersheds (p < 0.001). During the past decade, following Chinese government-financed investments in environmental restoration and reforestation, the water quality of Chinese inland waters has improved markedly, which is particularly evident from the significant and exponentially decreasing GDP-normalized COD and ammonium (NH4+-N) concentrations. It is evident that the increasing GDP in China over the past decade did not occur at the continued expense of its inland water ecosystems. This offers hope for the future, also for other industrializing countries, that with appropriate environmental investments a high GDP can be reached and maintained, while simultaneously preserving inland aquatic ecosystems, particularly through management of sewage discharge.

This paper investigates key innovative paradigms that seek enhanced consensus building on the sustainable mining agenda of the mineral resource development industry and realities on the ground. It reviews the 55 most relevant academic articles from 2000 to 2019, retrieved from the Web of Science, PubMed and International Conference on Sustainable Development Indicators in the Metals Industry databases. A systematic scoping review method was used to sieve the multitudes of entries obtained from the databases to generate appropriate publications that match the search terms used. Our survey finds a dearth of literature on the subject. Only one article directly confers the need for consensus building on sustainable mining. The existing literature does not suggest the modalities that would enhance indigenous groups’ understanding and appreciation of sustainable mining. This creates a gap between stakeholders with regard to what flags sustainable mining. This study also finds a lack of efforts to incorporate sustainable mining concepts into academic courses focusing on either mining or sustainable development. Thus, this paper suggests that the existing delusions on sustainable mining can be addressed if the science of assessing and communicating the principles of sustainable development in mining is suitably developed and applied in higher educational curricula, environmental literacy feats, community-initiated research and outreach activities. Incorporating indigenous knowledge can address the existing gaps between stakeholder groups and in science.

By using the 2017 National Household Travel Survey (NHTS) data, this study explores the status quo of ownership and usage of conventional vehicles (CVs) and alternative fuel vehicles (AFVs), i.e., Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEVs), Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs) and Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs), in the United States. The young ages of HEVs (6.0 years), PHEVs (3.2 years) and BEVs (3.1 years) demonstrate the significance of the 2017 NHTS data. The results show that after two decades of development, AFVs only occupy about 5% of annual vehicle sales, and their share does not show big increases in recent years. Meanwhile, although HEVs still dominate the AFV market, the share of PHEVs & BEVs has risen to nearly 50% in 2017. In terms of ownership, income still seems to be a major factor influencing AFV adoption, with the median annual household incomes of CVs, HEVs, PHEVs and BEVs being $75,000, $100,000, $150,000 and $200,000, respectively. Besides, AFV households are more likely to live in urban areas, especially large metropolitan areas. Additionally, for AFVs, the proportions of old drivers are much smaller than CVs, indicating this age group might still have concerns regarding adopting AFVs. In terms of travel patterns, the mean and 85th percentile daily trip distances of PHEVs and HEVs are significantly larger than CVs, followed by BEVs. BEVs might still be able to replace CVs for meeting most travel demands after a single charge, considering most observed daily trip distances are fewer than 93.5 km for CVs. However, the observed max daily trip distances of AFVs are still much smaller than CVs, implying increasing the endurance to meet extremely long-distance travel demands is pivotal for encouraging consumers to adopt AFVs instead of CVs in the future.

Abstract Wood use for residential space heating has become an important topic of study in the US Pacific northwest. This article presents wood use profiles, estimates on the amount of electricity (kWh) wood use displaces and reasons that house-holds use wood. The data indicate that many households can easily switch between wood and electricity for space heating. One conclusion is that utilities in this region should be cognizant of large possible swings in electricity demand resulting from changes in electricity prices and availability of wood. In general, wood use has the potential to complicate regional energy planning efforts to fashion cost-effective residential conservation programmes.