An approach to organize loss data related to geo-hydrological hazards

The assessment of impacts of alien species is one of the most critical steps for the prioritisation of policy and management actions and this requires assessment schemes that can compare impacts across different taxa, ecosystems and socio-economic contexts. The Environmental and Socio-Economic Impact Classification of Alien Species (EICAT and SEICAT) are two methodologies that facilitate such comparisons. They classify alien taxa along a 5-level, semi-quantitative scale based on the magnitude of their impacts on the environment and human well-being, respectively. In this study, we applied both protocols to seven invasive marine fishes that that are already considered “high-risk” and have been singled out for monitoring in relation to fisheries in the Mediterranean (Plotosus lineatus, Pterois miles/volitans, Fistularia commersonii, Lagocephalus sceleratus, Siganus rivulatus/Siganus luridus and Saurida lessepsianus). Here, we focus in particular on their socio-economic impacts. By systematically reviewing the published literature and scoring the demonstrated impacts we show that the taxa with the highest environmental impacts (Major) are P. miles/volitans and the two siganids. In contrast, L. sceleratus had the highest socio-economic impact (Moderate) and highest number of impact records. The high and uniform densities of P. lineatus caused widespread, albeit less severe, impacts in the invaded areas. Human activities that are primarily affected by the selected taxa are commercial and recreational fishing and other recreational uses of the sea through impacts on, mainly, material assets and human health. We found significant data gaps regarding the species’ environmental impacts, especially relating to predation, and make specific recommendations for future research. The links between environmental and socio-economic impacts, especially their cultural dimensions, are poorly documented and require novel approaches. Surveys specifically adapted to capture the distinction between socio-economic impact classes would strengthen our confidence in the assessments and better inform prioritisation and decision-making.

The expected rise in electromobility and the increasing use of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) is generating new challenges and opportunities, particularly in the End-of-Life (EoL) management of batteries. One of these challenges are the socio-economic impacts associated with the EoL process steps on which this paper focuses on. With the method of Multi-Regional Input-Output (MRIO) analysis, a selected recycling process route in Europe is assessed regarding socio-economic impacts, first at current demand (baseline scenario) and followed by an upscaled demand. The results provide insight into differences in some socio-economic impact categories, such as employment, vulnerable employment, and worker remuneration. The scale-up scenarios show, among other things, an increase in the workforce and remuneration (positive impact). However, with an increase in vulnerable employment, negative socio-economic impacts are also evident in Europe-centered recycling processes. The results furthermore show that changing recycling processes can lead to sustainability trade-offs. Due to the limited number of indicators in the selected method, it is not possible to provide an overall picture of social impacts. However, this research shows a clear change in the individual impacts, which underlines the need for proactive measures to overcome infrastructure problems, expand recycling capacities, and improve employment conditions in all sectors.

Since 1998, a large amount of new evidence has become available from specialist community-based studies, national surveys and censuses. Various analytical techniques have been developed that allow us to use these data in new ways. In addition to demographers and epidemiologists, social scientists and economists are now starting to look at empirical evidence on the effects of HIV, at the family, community and national level. Although modelling was the primary basis for an assessment of the size and future of the epidemic in the past, increasingly use is made of real data to inform policy and to evaluate national responses to the epidemic. In this context it is timely and appropriate to re-visit this problem area, to summarize our wider knowledge of the demographic and social impacts of the epidemic, and to broaden the range of effects that we scrutinize critically to include macro and microeconomic impacts. These impacts of AIDS are having an increased impact on policy making: the health services are stretched; the education system is losing teachers; and numbers of orphans are growing. Policy needs to be advised by good data and rigorous analysis. A scientific meeting on the Demographic and Socioeconomic Impact of AIDS was held in Durban, South

Port authorities increasingly need to communicate with a variety of external stakeholders in order to maintain and strengthen the societal acceptance of seaport activities. The availability of socio-economic impact studies on port authority and regional development agency websites has often made this information accessible to the public at large. However, the differences in methodologies adopted, in terms of selecting, defining and measuring various types of socio-economic impacts, sometimes lead to misconceptions as well as misleading comparisons across ports within and between regions. In this paper, we suggest guidelines for the design and application of a potential best practice from an interregional perspective (UK, France and Belgium), based on research in the framework of a European Commission co-funded project, ‘IMPACTE’. The paper also aims to develop guidelines for comparing the socio-economic impacts of ports across regional and national borders and discusses the development of a European port economic impact measurement toolkit. We analyse a sample of 33 recent socio-economic impact assessment reports in terms of methodologies adopted and types of impacts measured. The review shows a great diversity among these studies, leading to important differences between the impacts of port activity communicated to stakeholders.

The study aims to determine the socio-economic impact of the decline in firm performances of hotels in Sri Lanka. Evidence from previous research found that 91% of the hotels listed in the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) were in the distress zone and this study aims to fill the prevailing knowledge gap by determining the socio-economic impact of this decline. The study will be conducted using a sample of 33 hotels listed under the consumer services sector of the CSE, by considering the firm performance as the independent variable while the dependent variable is the socio-economic impact. The firm size was considered as the moderating variable. Indicators such as Return on Equity (ROE), Return on Assets (ROA) and occupancy rate derived from annual reports and other publications was used to measure firm performance while several indicators derived from statistical reports published by the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) and Central Bank will be used to measure socio-economic impact. The research will be conducted during a period of 10 years from 2009 to 2019. Findings from the research will contribute to the existing literature on the assessment of socio-economic impacts and are beneficial to a variety of stakeholders such as hotel managers, government, tourist development authorities and upcoming researchers.

Abstract. The metropolitan area and the city of Genoa has become a national and international case study for geohydrological risk, mainly due to the frequency of floods. In 2014, there were landslides again, as well as flash floods that have particularly caused casualties and economic damage. The weather features of the Gulf of Genoa and the geomorphological–environmental setting of the Ligurian coastal land are the predisposing factors that determine heavy rains and their resulting effects on the ground. This study analysed the characteristics of the main meteorological disasters that have hit Genoa since the start of the 20th century; changes in the rainfall regime are evaluated and the main stages of urbanization of the area are detailed, with the resulting changes to the drainage network, in order to identify the main causes of this high geohydrological risk. To this end, scientists have used climate data recorded at the station of Genoa University, in operation since 1833, and at Ponte Carrega station, located in the middle reach of the Bisagno stream, a well-known watercourse because of its frequent floods. Urban sprawl was evaluated through a multi-temporal mapping comparison, using maps available from the beginning of the 19th century up to the current regional technical maps. The average air temperature in Genoa shows a statistically significant increase, while the number of rainy days displays an equally clear decrease over time. The total annual rain value does not seem to indicate rather noticeable changes. The intensity of rain in Genoa expressed as rainfall rate, i.e.~the ratio of annual rainfall and number of rainy days, shows statistically significant growth. The geohydrological vulnerability in Genoa has increased over time due to urban development which has established modifications in land use, from agricultural to urban, especially in the valley floor. Waterways have been confined and reduced to artificial channels, often covered in their final stretch; in some cases they have even been totally removed. These actions should be at least partially reversed in order to reduce the presently high hydrological risk.

<p>Man-made terraces are widely diffused in hilly-mountainous areas, representing an ancient anthropogenic landscape modification for agricultural purposes. Then, terraces have been involved in several changes through times: socio-economic evolution caused a progressive general abandonment of terraced areas causing land use change and even their obliteration or collapse. In some cases, terraces deeply shaped the landscape and then their maintenance is considered crucial for cultural, aesthetic and even touristic value.</p><p>Terraces belong to the soil and water conservation measures as they allow to reduce erosion, improve slope stabilization and retain water runoff; as such they fit perfectly into the Natured-Base Solution definition. The artificial immobilization of debris and stone in terraces may turn in a possible source of geo-hydrological hazard in case of heavy rains, as happened in the Riviera Ligure in the last 20 years; a sequence of events was associated to landslides and flash flood, causing damages and casualties. Then, the proper terraces maintenance and monitoring is crucial for the maintenance of the geomorphological and geotechnical slope stability.</p><p>We focused on terraces identification and on the evaluation of debris/stones volume trapped after centuries of human activity in the pilot area of the Portofino Park, which represents a unique natural and cultural landscape that is severely endangered by geo-hydrological hazards. The further step has been the spatial relationships assessment with the exposed elements like buildings, infrastructures and culverted stream, that is the basis of risk assessment and land use planning activities.</p><p>The research has been carried out within the framework of the Horizon 2020 RECONECT - Regenerating ECOsystems with Nature-Based Solutions for hydro-meteorological risk rEduCTion; the Italian RECONECT demonstrator is set in the Portofino Park.</p><p>Using a detailed Lidar survey, the edges of dry-stone walls were firstly identified, allowing a detailed mapping. Focusing to terrace bases allowed to recognize a possible natural surface through their interpolation along the slope: the difference between the terraced slope profile and the interpolated one allowed a preliminary volume assessment.</p><p>Dry-stone wall basis has been detected applying a local upslope curvature routine that is the weighted mean of local curvatures of the directly neighboring upslope contributing cells, controlled with 5 cm orthophoto. In very steep areas terraces stored volume mediumly accounts about 0.35 m<sup>3</sup>/m<sup>2</sup>, which agrees with the back analysis estimation of volumes collapsed after recent geo-hydrological events in the Ligurian Riviera.</p><p>Stored volume is an essential parameter for prioritizing terraces restoration interventions for risk reduction through NBS techniques. Finally, the survey and analysis outcome may be useful to investigate the recent numerous geo-hydrological events that have been triggered in terraced areas in large sectors of the Mediterranean.</p>

<p>In the second half of the 20<sup>th</sup> century, hydrological regimes in central Western Europe were largely characterised by large-scale winter floods. This type of event was predominantly triggered by westerly atmospheric fluxes, bringing moist and mild air masses from the Atlantic Ocean to the European continent. Since the late 1990’s, major flooding events seem to have shifted in time and magnitude. Flash flood events, while being a well-known phenomenon in Mediterranean catchments, are increasingly also reported at higher latitudes. Unlike the large-scale winter flood events, flash floods are of very narrow spatial extension and triggered by rather short, but highly intense rainfall events.</p><p>Here, we focus on the specific case of rivers in Luxembourg that have experienced several flash flood events in recent years, while only small to moderate winter flood events have been reported since the late 1990’s. National hydro-meteorological monitoring and flood forecasting systems have been designed for large-scale floods and are not suited for simulating local flash flood events. Therefore, there is a need to increase our understanding of the hydro-meteorological processes underlying flash flood occurrences in our area of interest.</p><p>While increasing air temperature is known to allow a higher air moisture content that can lead to more intense rainfall events and possible flooding, we moreover hypothesize that the recent increase in flash flood occurrences in Luxembourg is reinforced by a change in atmospheric circulation patterns. To test this hypothesis, we analyse the prevailing atmospheric patterns on rainy days during summer and winter months over the period 1954 - 2019, with a particular focus on rainfall events that lead to moderate and extreme floods. In a next step, we intend to extend our findings for Luxembourg in a larger European context. This analysis should allow to better assess the current situation of hydrological extreme events in central Western Europe in order to take precaution measures and prepare for a diversifying hazard.</p>

Environmental degradation and socio-economic issues are the most significant areas of great concern. In an industrial area, it has direct linkages and visible results on the social fabric. An in-depth understanding of the environment and its degradation reveals that the impact could be caused on air, water, land and any other contributory component of the earth system, either biotic or abiotic. Since the socio-economic impacts are from among the many, in this chapter of book, the author has tried to concentrate and describe the socio-economic aspects only that deals with the sustainability concerning the Indian mining industry. In recent decades, rapid industrialization, progressive development has left innumerable and alarming impacts on the ecology and environment and it is evident that to progress holistically, environment protection and societal development must go hand-in-hand. No strategy to tackle the environmental challenges is complete without the coverage of societal parameters; hence, this topic in the book has relevance and benefits. The socio-economic dimensions of the environment are immensely helpful in terms of raising the standard of living, employment generation and literacy enhancement which are, of course, very serious issues for society. As evident, different regions have different parameters for the community and region development, it is necessary that an in-depth and site-specific understanding shall be made. In this chapter, the author has defined the methodology of socio-economic impact assessment and evaluation, the framework for environmental sustainability to tackle the environmental degradation menace, industry–community relation, etc., emphasizing that mining enterprises are useful for the societal development of rural areas, where mines are generally located. To cater for the progress of society, we must address the social issues and challenges more diligently. By doing so, the major issues of industrial unrest can be addressed properly for the masses. It should also be realized that socio-economic environment impact evaluation and analysis, ignored mostly, shall be handled on priority.KeywordsEnvironmentSocio-economic impactSustainabilityMiningIndian mining industry

Large-scale bioenergy production from soybeans and switchgrass in Argentina: Part B. Environmental and socio-economic impacts on a regional level

Ghost workers on the payroll continue to undermine efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the Global South. Their presence weakens the quality of public service delivery and leads to significant socio-economic repercussions. In Tanzania, initiatives such as public service reforms, physical verification exercises for public servants, and the enhancement of human resource information systems have been introduced to address this challenge. However, the persistence of ghost workers continues to hinder service efficiency and broader developmental progress. Existing studies have not sufficiently explored the socio-economic consequences of this phenomenon. This paper therefore investigates the impact of ghost workers on public sector performance and development in Tanzania. The analysis draws on the Fraud Triangle Theory and Fraud Management Theory as conceptual frameworks. Secondary data were sourced from credible government documents and peer-reviewed journal articles, and analysed through content analysis by comparing data trends and thematic overlaps. Key findings include financial losses, increased unemployment, stalled promotions, demotivated personnel, higher anti-fraud costs, and poor service delivery. The study concludes that ghost workers compromise workforce effectiveness, undermine governance, and obstruct public sector development, thereby threatening the realisation of the SDGs. It calls for strong political will to institutionalise ethical recruitment and implement robust fraud control mechanisms, thus reducing payroll fraud and mitigating its socio-economic impact by 2030.

This study examines the implementation of the Rahn contract at Sharia Pawnshops in Madura, focusing on its alignment with the principles of Maqasid al-Shariah, the socio-cultural and religious dynamics influencing perceptions and implementation, as well as the resulting socio-economic impacts. The study is motivated by academic debates regarding the effectiveness of Islamic financial instruments in achieving societal welfare goals. Using a qualitative approach and a case study method, the research gathers data through in-depth interviews, participatory observation, and document analysis. The findings indicate that, in general, the Rahn contract at Sharia Pawnshops in Madura has fulfilled the objectives of Maqasid al-Shariah, particularly in terms of asset protection (hifz al-mal) and social welfare. However, its implementation still faces challenges, especially regarding transparency and financial literacy among the public. Furthermore, the socio-cultural and religious dynamics in Madura play a significant role in shaping public perceptions of Rahn, where local wisdom values and religious norms influence the use of Sharia pawnshop services. From a socio-economic impact perspective, the study finds that Sharia Pawnshops contribute to increased financial inclusion, better access to capital for small businesses, and a reduction in reliance on the conventional interest-based pawn system. However, there are some challenges, such as administrative fees that are still perceived as high by some members of the community and limited access in remote areas. These findings provide valuable insights for developing a more inclusive Rahn system that aligns with local community needs. Policy recommendations include enhancing Sharia financial education, optimizing Rahn-based financing schemes, and strengthening regulations to ensure transparency and sustainability for Sharia Pawnshops in Madura.

Wind energy development is an increasingly popular form of renewable energy infrastructure in rural areas. Communities generally perceive socioeconomic benefits accrue and that community funding structures are preferable to corporate structures, yet lack supporting quantitative data to inform energy policy. This study uses the Everpower wind development, to be located in Midwestern Ohio, as a hypothetical modeling environment to identify and examine socioeconomic impact trends arising from corporate, community and diversified funding structures. Analysis of five National Renewable Energy Laboratory Jobs and Economic Development Impact models incorporating local economic data and review of relevant literature were conducted. The findings suggest that community and diversified funding structures exhibit 40-100% higher socioeconomic impact levels than corporate structures. Prioritization of funding sources and retention of federal tax incentives were identified as key elements. The incorporation of local shares was found to mitigate the negative effects of foreign private equity, local debt financing increased economic output and opportunities for private equity investment were identified. The results provide the groundwork for energy policies focused to maximize socioeconomic impacts while creating opportunities for inclusive economic participation and improved social acceptance levels fundamental to the deployment of renewable energy technology.

This study evaluates the comparative socio-economic impacts of wind and tidal energy in maritime regions, specifically examining their contribution to achieving SDG 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy) through job creation, economic benefits, and sustainable energy production. The research employs sustainable energy transition theories and socio-economic impact assessment models, incorporating frameworks for renewable energy development in coastal regions and SDG implementation strategies. A mixed-methods approach combines quantitative analysis of economic indicators (employment, revenue, tariffs) with qualitative assessment of stakeholder perspectives. Data collection included document analysis, stakeholder interviews, and comparative case studies of wind and tidal energy projects. Analysis reveals wind energy's superior immediate economic viability, generating 3.68 jobs/MW during construction with competitive tariffs (7-8 cents/kWh). Tidal energy demonstrates higher job intensity (9 jobs/MW) but faces higher operational costs. Both technologies show distinct environmental impacts and stakeholder acceptance patterns, contributing differently to SDG 7 targets through clean energy provision and economic development. The findings provide evidence-based guidance for policymakers implementing SDG 7 in maritime regions, offering insights into optimizing renewable energy development for both economic benefit and sustainable development goals. This research presents a novel comparative analysis integrating socio-economic impacts with SDG 7 objectives, providing practical insights for sustainable energy development in maritime regions.

A methodology for the self-assessment of the socio-economic impact of Software-as-a-Service and Internet of Services research projects is presented in the context of EU-funded research. The SEQUOIA methodology was developed by assessing thirty existing projects with their close collaboration. This process was documented to provide a basis for future research projects to apply the methodology on their own. The model and the empirical findings are discussed in detail, focussing on five projects that qualified as “best practices”. The main findings are that an “impact assessment culture” needs to be cultivated, encouraged, and strengthened by the European Commission and all the stakeholders. The five projects that scored highest were strong in three different ways: one group maximised internal return on investment (ROI), a second group maximised external ROI, and a third group was able to strike a balance between the two. To integrate better the assessment methodology within each project, its partners need to feel that they “own” it, and that it has been optimised for its specific institutional, organisational, and epistemological requirements. We therefore recommend the inclusion in project consortia of socio-economic experts who are able to translate the ICT research language into measurable (potential) socio-economic impacts. SEQUOIA’s assumption that in the development of an effective socio-economic impact assessment methodology it is important to integrate the social and economic dimensions of potential impact was verified and validated through an ex post rationalisation informed by economic anthropology, the usefulness of our quantitative model, and empirical evidence obtained through in-depth qualitativequantitative data gathering techniques.