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Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) are a central instrument in international development cooperation and of key importance in guiding donors' policies towards southern recipients. However, many aspects of the PRSP have been criticised by a variety of development stakeholders. A checklist of 85 questions has been developed to analyse the inclusion of aspects of sustainable development in PRSPs and to point to sustainability challenges and opportunities. It thus facilitates targeted advice and quality improvements. The checklist was applied to a selection of 12 PRSPs of developing countries. The results reveal an insufficient integration of the ecosystem services concept, of biodiversity and of climate issues. Property rights, gender issues, water and energy are as a rule well elaborated. PRSPs show significant variation in the integration of environmental sustainability issues. Sustainability assessments can contribute to significant improvements between first and second generation PRSPs provided the assessments are supported by a strong institutional framework and a dedicated political commitment towards sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At present, the circular economy is emerging as a strategy for sustainable development. What is important in promoting the circular economy is to assess its current level and take measures for assessment. This paper discusses some methodological issues in comparing and assessing the efforts for the circular economy at the international level. To this end, the authors explain the theoretical premise related to the assessment of efforts for the circular economy, establish an indicator system for assessing the efforts for the circular economy, and suggest a method for comprehensively assessing the efforts for the circular economy by country. The conclusions are that (a) the comparative evaluation of activities related to the circular economy by country requires a unified standard or category that can cover these activities, including all factors that meet sustainable development; the outcome, process, and guarantee of the circular economy, and this can be the circular economy effort and (b) the circular economy effort of a given country must synthetically be assessed by using the indicators capable of showing all aspects. These conclusions may contribute to establishing a new theoretical foundation that can include various aspects of the circular economy activities and to setting a practical and methodological foundation for evaluating each country's various activities related to the circular economy at the international level and can serve as a policy basis for identifying the weak and strong aspects of circular economy activities at the domestic or international level and establishing technological and economic measures to strengthen the weak aspects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: China now faces an increasingly aging society which may exert economic pressure in the long run. This study illustrates the spatial pattern and evolution of population aging and economic development in China. The coupling coordination degree of population aging and economic development at the national and provincial levels are calculated and demonstrated, and the spatial patterns and characteristics are investigated. Methods: This paper presents a coupling analysis of the elderly population rate (EPR) and per capita Gross Regional Product (GRPpc) in China by using the coupling and coordination model. Further, the spatial pattern and evolution of population aging and economic development are investigated based on the standard deviational ellipse. The collected data is at the level of provincial administrative units in mainland China covering the period 2002 to 2020. Results: The results reveal the spatial difference in the coupling and coordination degree between EPR and GRPpc across provinces. The eastern coastal areas are higher than the central and western regions of China. The orientation and directions of EPR are more than GRPpc, indicating that the polarization in population aging is more severe than economic development. Significant positive correlations between coupling coordination degree and sustainable competitiveness are detected. Conclusions: Policymakers should fully consider regional differences and sustainable development in policy formulation of China. The western and northeastern provinces should be given priority in the regional sustainable development plan. At the same time, the coordination between population aging and economic development also requires to be examined especially. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While promoting the economic growth, energy has also brought pollution problems to the world environment, which has gradually become a bottleneck impeding sustainable economic development. In view of the rapid evolution of urbanization and industrialization, economic growth is increasingly dependent on the energy consumption, the development of the two is difficult to coordinate, and the internal contradictions are becoming increasingly serious, which hinders the sustainable development of economic growth. This study establishes the relationship between energy consumption and economic growth according to the energy Kuznets curve and studies the future trend of China's sustainable development through the comparative analysis of the energy Kuznets curve of the United States and Germany. The results show that, at the turning point of energy consumption, China's energy economic rate is higher than that of Germany and the United States. In addition, in terms of urbanization rate and industrial structure, although China's tertiary industry has made a breakthrough, it is still lower than that of the United States and Germany, but the level of urbanization rate has made significant progress. In short, China has obvious advantages in future economic development and has a late developing advantage compared with the United States and Germany. This paper makes an empirical analysis of the relationship between energy consumption and economic growth in OECD countries and finds out the turning point of energy consumption, so as to provide a theoretical basis for coordinating China's energy consumption and economic growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper clarifies the conditions and factors of the development of the institutional environment through modern interdisciplinary analysis. The authors revise the studies of the problem under consideration in the history of science and reveal the decisive role of religion in the development of national business cultures. The study highlights the fundamental postulates, i.e. the canons of theology, and argues for the need to consider them in the context of the analysis of national business cultures. The authors put forward and prove theoretical and methodological principles of the determinant influence of national business cultures and religion on the development of countries (the socio-economic phenomenon of the "economic miracle"). The content of the category "Polish economic miracle" is revealed through analysis of the influence of Catholicism, Orthodoxy and Protestantism on other "economic miracles" known from history. The authors conclude that Catholicism currently encourages entrepreneurial initiative of both individuals and organisations, which contributes to the sustainable economic development of countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the European Union's 2014-2020 cohesion policy's new aims is to promote integrated urban development strategies that enhance sustainable urban development. Following the emergence of the integrated urban development policy, city policies in EU show a trend in that direction but overall changes towards a sustainable integrated urban development are limited. One of the major problems for planners and implementing actors seems to be the management of complexity, which originates in three sources: the policy, the planning and implementation processes as well as the implementation place. The paper elaborates on the question: what is triple complexity and how can planning and implementing actors of the EU integrated sustainable urban development policy manage it? The paper suggests the use of a place-oriented theory and proposes a theory-guided ex-durante (ongoing) evaluation called Place Scan. I assume that the method can support planners and implementing actors to manage complexity and to improve quality of exdurante evaluations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper looks at adaptation to climate change from the point of view of (poor) households. Since the development literature has firmly established the role of weather risk as a source of income volatility for the poor, and climate change is expected to increase this risk, we review the range of risk-coping mechanisms available to poorer households, with a focus on possible barriers to adaptation. We ask both how government interventions affect the set of options available for adaptation and risk coping, and also what these adaptive responses imply for the prospects of sustainable development. Support for adaptation can involve efforts to make existing locations, livelihoods and forms of production more resilient to climate risk ( in-situ adaptation), or reductions in vulnerability through the geographical and sectoral mobility of the poor ( transformational adaptation). Our review shows how successful adaptation will need to strike a balance between the two forms of adaptation, avoiding locking-in unsustainable practices in locations that are already marginal from an economic perspective, and taking account of broader socio-economic trends already taking place in many developing countries (such as population growth and urbanisation). We also highlight important considerations for policy-makers, which to date have been relatively neglected in the literature, in particular related to the dynamic interaction between adaptation and sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper intends to analyse the correlation between the level of economic growth of a country and its rural development. The phrase sustainable development combines the economic growth and the preservation and improvement of environmental and human health, preservation of social justice and assurance of democratic environment in social life. Therefore, the sustainable economic growth provides for the meeting of current consumption requirements without compromising or prejudicing those of the future generations. By adding the requirements regarding environmental protection and preservation of natural resources to economic growth we may speak of a proper sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper combined sustainable development theory, economic theory and ecology theory with the index system establishment of sustainable development experimental area. Based on the four subsystems (economy, society, resource and environment) the evaluation of sustainable development experimental area was established. And evaluation indicators system selected 29 specific indicators to characterize the sustainable development of the experimental area capacity. Taking Shennongjia as an example, the sustainable development index data of Shennongjia in 2009-2013 were analyzed and calculated based on constructing the sustainable development system, and the comprehensive coordination indexes was used to characterize Shennongjia as the sustainable development The sustainable development index of Shennongjia in the recent five years was between 53.37 and 62.77. It was expected that the construction of the sustainable development experimental area should be guided by the scientific development concept Social development should enhance the concept of sustainable development from top to bottom, change the growth mode, get rational development, take effective protection of resources and the environment, start the development of circular economy to build a low consumption, less emissions and sustainable economic development system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainable development has become one of the burning issues on a global, local and individual levels as a result of climate changes, pollution, rapid development and changes in the global information, economic, industrial and business sectors and value systems. In this sense, education for sustainable development, as part of lifelong learning, has become one of the most important strategic and educational policy issues in Serbia. The aim of this paper is to highlight the potential of geography as a school subject, with special reference to the role of the subject matter of geoheritage and geodiversity in education for sustainable development. The aim of pointing the benefits of integrated and out-of-classroom approaches in teaching geography, which favour an active, experiential and exploratory approach to learning about geodiversity and geoheritage, is that students can acquire competencies in sustainable development. As outcomes of geography classes, competencies also represent a basis for raising awareness and increasing accountability and responsibility in individuals for preserving geoheritage and geodiversity as part of the Serbian national treasure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The "tragedy of the commons", as part of the mainstream economic theory, assumes that the selfish and rational human nature will lead to the depletion of essential resources (such as water, air, subsistence items, etc.) in the absence of well-defined property rights, formal, top-down management institutions, rules of access and exploitation. Nevertheless, evolutionary theory advances a new model of individual behaviour, based on altruism and cooperation that could lay the foundation of new types of institutions for managing the commons for the long-term benefit of the group or society. Reviewing the relevant literature that identifies instances of cooperation and successful management of the commons, the paper brings into light the essential conditions necessary for a responsible exploitation of a common resource. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The economic development of the last two hundred years has had no precedent in human history. Its dynamic was mainly a result of knowledge and technological progress, but was also associated with the adoption and acceptance of utilitarian values and thus the formulation of social aims in terms of profit for the producer and utility for the consumer. This attitude, perforce a short-term one, triggered an unusually fast increase in production, which allowed many societies to make a civilization leap, albeit at the price of an imbalance in global social and ecological conditions. An attempt to restore ecological and social balance involves a change of economic paradigm to one that takes into account social needs and the limitations of nature. The economics of sustainable development is a concept, where economic objectives and the time horizon have been reformulated to include not just the question of economic development, but also ecological and socio-cultural aspects, and development itself is considered from a long-term perspective. It is a relatively modern concept, that only started to be considered as an alternative to conventional economic attitudes in the second half of the 20th century. The roots of the concept of sustainable development are usually traced back to a German culture of a forest resource management. However, the idea of development taking into account the spheres of ecology, social relations and economics seems to have its beginnings already in sources from earlier Judaeo-Christian civilisation. The texts of The Old and New Testament and supplementary writings of Judaism and Christianity create a coherent image of social development, where the areas of ecology, social needs and economic activity take equally meaningful positions. Contrary to the opinion, popular in the 1960s based on the quote from Genesis (let them have dominion over all the earth), that Judaeo-Christian civilization is responsible for ecological catastrophe, both Judaism and Christianity sources contain a strong ecological message. Regarding social development, the problems of equitable social relations are a core issue in the Old and New Testament. The third area of in-depth analysis studies economic processes at micro- and macro-levels that are limited just by the rules of social fairness and the limitations of nature. The paper presents a selection of sources contained in Judaeo-Christian writings relating to issues of development in the areas of ecology, society and economics, which lay the foundations for the modern paradigm of sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The semi-annual European Environment Sustainable Conference in Aalborg, Denmark brought together from primarily Europe, but also other parts of the world. The Conference focused on sustainability but one panel focused on practical applications for public policy and private industry. The papers from this panel are presented in this special issue of the journal. They cover topics ranging from corporate sustainable programs to government plans including "feed in laws". Some papers are more academic oriented but clearly derived from practical political experiences such as those of the California energy crisis. These theories argue the need for "agile energy systems" whereby regions, cities and communities must have combinations of on-site or distributed energy generation like combined heat and power (CPH) along with central grid power generation. Finally, there is a clear message in all the papers that "market forces" alone do not develop, monitor or even provide "level playing fields" for communities. In short, there needs to be continuous "government" or public involvement in the sustainable communities. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Widespread agreement exists on the broad outlines of the concept of sustainable development for developing countries. This calls for a development model capable of meeting basic needs without depleting natural resources at a rate that robs future generations of their use. In this regard, citizen participation is also considered key to legitimise such policy choices. However, there is considerable disagreement over the substance and meaning of the major components of the concept and the relationship between them. This paper argues that positions in policy disputes over the sustainable development of the forest cluster in two distinct approaches: market-friendly initiatives and grassroots development. Since market economies prevail almost everywhere, the question that is posed concerns the conditions under which the grassroots development approach is included as a significant complement to market-friendly initiatives. This is a political question, requiring an examination of actors, interests and power resources. The paper thus applies a political economy framework to a paired comparison of Mexico, where grassroots development approaches (community forestry) had notable successes, and Chile, where market-friendly forest policy crowded out alternatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The regional level of governance in the Republic of Ireland is among the most weakly institutionalized in the EU when compared with other Member States. Nevertheless, under the sway of EU Regional Policy two new regional scales of governance were established in the 1990s. This paper examines the recent evolution of regional governance in Ireland with particular emphasis on the role being conferred upon Irish regional authorities to advance the implementation of sustainable development. It outlines and evaluates the impact of Structural and Cohesion Funds on sustainable development in Ireland. The paper argues that, despite mixed results, there is a simultaneous layering process occurring because of European transfers, programmes and initiatives whereby multiple 'regions' are coming into being linked to a concept of regional sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authorities in a number of advanced countries have produced intergenerational reports that seek to determine the fiscal sustainability of current policy parameters. The Australian government will publish its intergenerational Report in May 2002. This paper attempts to place these reports in analytical perspective. We examine the notion of intergenerational equity, the conceptual basis for generational accounting, Australian efforts at constructing generational accounts, and then review the intergenerational reports of several other countries. The paper concludes with a brief synoptic discussion of various policies that can help Australian governments achieve intergenerational balance in future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the association between inequality in energy intensity and social inequality in Indian cities, as these are the two predominant constituents of inequality in Indian socio-economic scenario. This study uses a bivariate cointegration based error correction model for assessing the causal association between the two inequality parameters, which are derived by using Theil's second measure. Given the sustainable development objective set by the government of India, interaction between these two parameters may prove out to be significant for achievement of this objective. It has been hypothesized that nature of this interaction varies largely based on the nature of the cities, i.e. semi-urban, urban, and metropolitan. The analysis has been done on the full and segregated dataset to visualize how the interaction changes with the nature of the cities. For analysis purpose, data for 139 Indian cities for the period of 2001-2013 have been selected. From the data of income, population, and energy consumption, two parameters of this study have been designed by using Theil's second measure. The analysis starts with checking the cross sectional dependence for both of the parameters. Subsequently, the stationarity of the data has been checked by using first generation unit root tests. Then, by employing the cointegration and error correction framework, the long run causal association has been assessed. For checking the short run causal association, Granger causality method has been applied. The data for this study have been collected form Ministry of Power, Govt. of India, Central Statistical Organization, India, and Census, India. Major findings of this study are, (a) for both the parameters and three segments, cross sections are independent, (b) the parameters are stationary at first difference, (c) there is long run cointegration relationship between them, and (d) the causal link between inequality in energy intensity and social inequality is unidirectional for the case of semi-urban cities, and it is bidirectional for the case of metropolitan and urban cities. For full dataset, causal link between inequality in energy intensity and social inequality is unidirectional. The Theil indices calculated for both the parameters show the trends of rising inequality for all the cities taken together. However, no significant trend was visualized for the individual strata of cities, for both of the parameters under consideration. This study summarizes that the economic growth achieved by India is not sustainable in nature. It can be achieved only by considering an inclusive growth framework, where social development will complement the growth objectives. Therefore, the fossil-fuel based economic growth agenda needs reconsideration, viewing the social dimensions of the cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vietnam's "Doi Moi", initiated in 1986, translated to high economic growth and rapid urbanization for the country, but also widened the gap between rural and urban areas. Vietnam's National Target Program on New Rural Development for 2010-2020 was aimed at developing the rural economy and improving the living standards of rural people, but after five years the urban-rural gap remains substantial. Two of the main reasons are the lack of investment capital and lack of effective ways to mobilize community involvement. In contrast, during the 1970s, rural areas in Korea experienced huge improvements under the "Saemaul Undong" movement. The program's success at promoting sustainable development in Korea's rural areas has inspired rural programs in other developing countries. In this paper, we compare and contrast the two movements to provide explanations for the different results between the two countries. Based on this analysis, and policy implications stemming from it, we recommend resource mobilization strategies to change villagers' attitude and increase their involvement in Vietnam's rural development movement, aligning with the inclusivity principle "people know, people discuss, people do and people check". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article devoted to analysis of sustainable development indicators (SDI) evolution and peculiarities of designing the set of SDI for Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia and other countries. The paper provides an overview of evolution and application experience of sustainability measuring practice. Researchers analyze the directions of measurement approach progress. Modern trends of indicators' using are explored. Ways of overcoming the lack of harmonization in variety of conceptual and organizational frameworks which are used by different countries are viewed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainable economic development in the EU Member States and regions is an objective which the Community bodies give particular attention. This paper aims at reviewing the defining elements of smart specialization, as a mechanism to encourage national governments to adopt measures to reduce the effects of the economic crisis and to implement community innovative tools for sustainable innovative development. The presentation of the distribution of clusters in Romania in relation to other EU Member States highlights the development stage of this kind of collaborative model. The exploitation of the innovative potential available to each region, as well as and the implementation of specific elements of smart specialization strategies can result in maximizing the impact of the regional policies, in accordance with other EU policies aimed at using the public funds efficiently and at stimulating the private investment in the directions established as a priority. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years terms such as 'community', 'local', 'economic development', and 'sustainability' have featured prominently in the discourse of preservation. Yet we have seen little evidence of the successful application of these concepts as most organizations have published broad, vague missives about economic potential and community benefit rather than providing meaningful measures of their results and avoiding discussion of their failures. What are the measures of successful preservation and economic development, and what are the 'returns' both tangible and intangible, of these types of projects? In this paper, I discuss the nature of the prevailing discourse and some potential metrics for measuring success, and then apply these metrics to projects of the Sustainable Preservation Initiative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The following paper presents the outcomes obtained from a pioneering line of research which relates two themes of huge relevance in postmodern architectural theory - heritage made up of pre-existing buildings and the integral reuse of these buildings as an act of sustainability. This line of research aims to virtuously integrate those architectural values which must remain in time while providing a new meaning to them. In this way, it contributes to sustainable development from a specialized area, which synthesizes architectural design, construction, economic and social issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: India is facing great challenges in its economic development due to the impact on climate change. Energy is the important driver of economy. At present Indian energy sector is dominated by fossil fuel. Due to international pressure for green house gas reduction in atmosphere there is a need of clean energy supply for energy security and sustainable development. The nuclear energy is a sustainable solution in this context to overcome the environmental problem due to fossil fuel electricity generation. This paper examines the implications of penetration of nuclear energy in Indian power sector. Four scenarios, including base case scenario, have been developed using MARKAL energy modeling software for Indian power sector. The least-cost solution of energy mix has been measured. The result shows that more than 50% of the electricity market will be captured by nuclear energy in the year 2045. This ambitious goal can be expected to be achieved due to Indo-US nuclear deal. The advanced nuclear energy with conservation potential scenario shows that huge amounts of CO2 can be reduced in the year 2045 with respect to the business as usual scenario. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, I formalize the idea of sustainable development in terms of intergenerational well-being. I then sketch an argument that has recently been put forward formally to demonstrate that intergenerational well-being increases over time if and only if a comprehensive measure of wealth per capita increases. The measure of wealth includes not only manufactured capital, knowledge and human capital (education and health), but also natural capital (e.g. ecosystems). I show that a country's comprehensive wealth per capita can decline even while gross domestic product (GDP) per capita increases and the UN Human Development Index records an improvement. I then use some rough and ready data from the world's poorest countries and regions to show that during the period 1970–2000 wealth per capita declined in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, even though the Human Development Index (HDI) showed an improvement everywhere and GDP per capita increased in all places (except in sub-Saharan Africa, where there was a slight decline). I conclude that, as none of the development indicators currently in use is able to reveal whether development has been, or is expected to be, sustainable, national statistical offices and international organizations should now routinely estimate the (comprehensive) wealth of nations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This section presents abstracts of papers on city planning published from 2007 to 2008, including "Streets, Sounds and Identity in Inter-war Harlem," by Clare Corbould, "(Re)making the Other, Heterosexualising Everyday Space," by Kath Browne, and "Rankings and Reactivity: How Public Measures Recreate Social Worlds," by Wendy Nelson Espeland and Michael Sauder.

In recent decades there has been growing concern about the combined undesired consequences of rapid economic growth, based on the free market movement, and developments in science and technology. This concern has placed the sustainable development concept on the world's agenda. The notion of sustainability, which originally referred mostly to the environmental consequences of human activities, along with their economic and social aspects, has been discussed not only at the national and the global levels but also in relation to particular sectors of the economy. One such sector is agriculture, which to be sustainable must be ecologically sound, economically viable, and socially responsible. Unless current trade and agricultural policies are geared to creating such a structure, sustainability will be no more than a myth in the industrialized and globalized world, while considerable numbers of people will be left struggling with hunger and poverty. Ethical, fair trade and ecologic agricultural practices, such as organic farming, have been suggested as alternatives to existing practices. However, with their current and potential size, these alternatives cannot compete with existing production and trade systems. But these alternatives nevertheless highlight the main problems of current day free trade and industrialized agriculture structures and their related solutions. This paper reviews the concepts of sustainable development and sustainable agriculture: it raises the question whether the world-wide free market economy is really free, and it considers the undesired consequences of this economy by focusing on the relationship between sustainable agriculture and agriculture-related trade policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the last decade, leaders of the Mekong Countries have found it mutually advantageous to open up the Mekong Sub-Region (MR) for development and trade, which promises some degree of political stability and regional security. Within the present political, cultural, and economic dynamics, the Mekong River Basin (MRB) — one of the major international river basins in MR — is a powerful catalyst for regional cooperation that facilitates sustainable development and regional stability; if that is, the effective management intervention is in place to make sure that the benefits and costs of river basin development are spread equitably and peacefully. Nonetheless, there are numerous stumbling blocks in achieving integrated and balanced MRB management, such as limited success in real basin wide planning, implementation and monitoring and a poor knowledge base for supporting informed decision making and, finally, political impediments. A workable and truly regional cooperative mechanism for integrated management of the MRB is yet to be developed, regardless of the existence of numerous regional institutions and organizations. The present paper proposes new schemes with (re)designing principles and performance determinants for a regional cooperative mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses some of the potentials, problems, policies and progress in modelling sustainable development. After briefly describing ten approaches to modelling sustainable development, some of the methodological problems still to be resolved are addressed. It is then suggested that policies to promote sustainable development should operate at six different spatial levels connecting global, multinational, national, regional, local and individual. Attempting to model sustainable development in such a hierarchical manner is exceedingly difficult. One way of modelling sustainable development is to develop the concept of a sustainable corridor, combining ecological, economic and equity considerations in a hierarchical fashion and through space-time. A preliminary dynamic, hierarchical model is described connecting global and national patterns of development. Using global and national data for Scotland, the calibrated model, running under the business-as-usual scenario, shows that current development paths are unsustainable. It is shown that, by implementing a judicious choice of policies, a sustainable corridor for a global and a national system can be achieved. The ways in which this preliminary model can be developed to connect all six hierarchical levels are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper deals with the opportunity of using the ecological footprint as a tool in elaborating and correcting sustainable development plans and strategies in Romania. The authors briefly present the concept and consider it as one of the most appropriate approach of the balance society - natural ressources supply. As the experience of other countries shows up, the use of the ecological footprint at sub-national level (region, department, big urban area) could be a viable way to avoid the over-exploitation of natural resources. A list of potential advantages coming from the implementation of this tool in Romania, at region or county scale is also presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]