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The socio-cultural value of urban parks has rarely been studied, and this could be why they are undervalued and not given significant attention in city planning. This study presents the socio-cultural valuation (SCV) of the ecosystem services (ES) and disservices (EDS) of the Jose Rizal Plaza in Calamba City, The Philippines. Stakeholders were interviewed to assemble a list of the park’s ES and EDS. An online survey was then conducted to examine how stakeholders assign values to the park ES and EDS. Finally, the configuration of conditions leading to the assigned values was analysed. The results suggest that respondents value the park’s ES more than they worry about its EDS. They value cultural ES the highest, while they are most concerned with psychological EDS. The Fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) revealed that visiting the park is necessary for a high valuation to ES. For EDS, these are: not knowing the previous land use in the area and visiting the park. Overall, the paper concludes that SCV is an effective way to assess the value of urban parks, and fsQCA could aid in determining the combination of conditions leading to these values.

This study assessed and compared septage management systems in Baliwag, Calamba, Muntinlupa, Pasig, and San Fernando, the Philippines, using fecal waste flow diagrams and service delivery scorecards. According to the fecal waste flow diagrams, San Fernando is the most successful in preventing its environment&rsquo, s pollution. It is followed by Baliwag, Muntinlupa, and Pasig. In Calamba, all of the fecal waste is disposed of to the environment. According to the scorecards, Pasig has the most efficient septage management service, followed by San Fernando, Baliwag, Muntinlupa, and Calamba. Among the five areas, San Fernando can be considered to have the most efficient septage management system as it had the best fecal waste flow diagram and second highest ratings in the service delivery scorecard. It might have been an advantage that the city itself is managing the whole system&mdash, from implementing rules for septic tank plans, to the collection, treatment, and disposal of septage.

This report describes the household survey of practices and perceptions about waste management in the Philippines. The survey employs a participatory approach involving community members. It was found that a household holds, on the average, 2.69 kg of various wastes at any day. The prominent wastes include plastics, recyclables, and food residues. Despite well-established legal and administrative structures, most people do not know the location of facilities, and the majority do not understand the collection schedule. Respondents support the idea of better waste management and state voluntary contributions well above the environmental fee proposed by the local government.

Study region This study explores the connectivity of upland farmers and downstream fishers through interlinkages of water, energy and food within the Dampalit sub-watershed of Laguna Lake, Philippines. Study focus The aim of the study is to yield policy relevant results to improve the status of the water resources and food products and to reduce possible user conflicts. Surveying 176 households mainly in the mid- and downstream areas elements and interlinkages of the local Water-Energy-Food Nexus (WEF-Nexus) were identified by the five capitals of the sustainable livelihood approach through a socio-ecological network analysis. New hydrological insights for the region Besides the innovative methodology, this research adds to the underserved local perspective in the WEF-Nexus research. The survey shows different livelihood profiles for the two groups and a lack of direct social links between them in the WEF-Nexus context. Also indirect links through consumption of the other group’s food products could not be identified. However, a large fraction of the population share the use of char coal for cooking, the Makiling groundwater for drinking and various household purposes and the Central Market in Los Banos for their food supply.