Search

With the increase in population and commercial development, urban development has led to a decrease in natural vegetation and an increase in solid surfaces, which negatively affect the environment. Maintaining green spaces in cities is emerging as a critical intervention for improving living conditions. This research, conducted in Thessaloniki, revealed that citizens face problems in using green space, which needs to be addressed. Through questionnaires distributed online, we examined citizens' concerns about urban green space, including the peri-urban forest of Thessaloniki and its cities. The need for regeneration and new green networks is highlighted, as well as the importance of citizen participation in the management of these spaces at the local level. The analysis of the data results in proposals for action, including the regeneration of green spaces, their interconnection with cycle paths and pedestrian walkways, and the creation of a network of applications to inform citizens. These proposals are important for improving the environment and enhancing sustainability in urban development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Relying on pesticides to safeguard crops has led to pest resistance and detrimental environmental and health consequences. Many integrated pest management programs focus on producers' decision-making processes when selecting and implementing pest management interventions. Alternative approaches such as integrated pest management and biological control have been implemented to address these challenges, with Greece as the research area. A quantitative study was oriented to consumers and producers to investigate their views on the effectiveness of pesticides, aiming to assess whether these perspectives influence their attitudes toward adopting pest management practices. Primary data were gathered through structured questionnaires to consumers and producer associations (focusing on tomatoes, olives, and citrus fruits) and analyzed through multivariate methods. The findings unveiled varying preferences and concerns regarding plant protection tools, with considerations such as product effectiveness, method awareness, and sustainability. Specifically, the study revealed aspects like the popularity and demand for specific plant protection tools, the knowledge of these experts about products and pest control methods, and their stance on sustainable agriculture and environmental aspects of pest control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Greening in agro—food sector has become within the last decade a high priority issue given the 17 Sustainable targets set by OECD. More specifically, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030, intend to promote using environmental resources in close correlation with measures to reduce non-environmental human pressure on the planet as well as in agro-food sector. The present work studies the greening of agro-food sector as synopsized in emissions per capita by agro-food sector for the EU and its relation to economic growth per capita with the assistance of a BVAR framework. Our findings do not validate success in greening of agro—food sector since the emissions reduction is not accompanied by economic growth a result that rejects the hypothesis of eco efficiency. Future research could involve the construction of an index that should incorporate more variables that will reflect more accurately the greening efforts in agro—food sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The agri-food sector has been stressed as an essential determinant for an economy, as its impacts contribute directly and indirectly to its growth in various ways; with its products, with its trade, both in outputs and inputs, and when the sector grows. The current work aims to capture the relationships and impacts of the agri-food sector in a regional economy through linkage analysis. Building upon the relationship marketing theory, this is achieved by utilizing an I/O model constructed through modifying the Generation of Regional Input-Output Tables (GRIT) regionalization technique and using the Flegg Location Quotient (FLQ). The relationships of the economic sectors resulting from the purchases and sales between them provide helpful information for the region's economy. The results demonstrate that the agri-food-related sectors are closely linked in the regional economy, as the primary activities supply processing with raw inputs. Moreover, agri-food-related sectors have strong interconnections with the rest of the local economy and can induce economy-wide impacts. Accordingly, the interdependence between different economic sectors determines the agri-food sector's economic impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within the regime established by the Directive on Sustainable Use of Pesticides (SUDP); the present work explores the relationship between pesticides' agricultural use per hectare of cropland and the GDP per capita of the rural population for twenty-five EU countries to unveil the efficiency of the current EU strategy. With the econometric tool of panel nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag (NARDL) cointegration technique; we try to capture potential asymmetries in the agricultural use of pesticides concerning positive and negative variations in agricultural income. The findings validate the existence of a long-run relationship that supports an Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC); i.e., an inverted U-shaped relationship between the variables; since increasing agricultural income is related to reductions in the use of pesticides after the turning point. Even though this result is not validated in the short run; our findings confirm the existence of a steady-state situation with asymmetric responses to pesticides. In terms of policy implications; more measures need to be taken; along with the education of farmers; aiming to enhance their consciousness towards environmental issues and; in consequence; for them to prefer environmentally friendly plant protection methods over chemical ones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deforestation, a major cause of climate change, in Eastern European countries has been an activity coupled with agricultural expansion mainly within the time period of political transition. The present study examines the environmental impact of deforestation and its association with agricultural income as synopsized in environmental Kuznets curve. More specifically, carbon emissions generated by deforestation per hectare (COD)–agricultural income relationship as reflected by the net value added (NVA) per capita of the rural population are studied with the assistance of three panel data models, namely the fully modified ordinary least squares (FMOLS), dynamic ordinary least squares (DOLS) and Poold Mean Group autoregressive distributed lag (PMG-ARDL) cointegration technique. The research findings do not validate the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) in its traditional form, but they verify the inverse N-shaped trajectory (FMOLS, DOLS), or N-shaped trajectory (PMG–ARDL methodology). The results provide policy makers with motivation to focus on agro-economic expansion based on productivity or use of marginal lands and not on land-use change based on deforestation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agroforestry systems are traditional land-use practices in Greece occupying three million hectares. Despite the positive agro-environmental and cultural benefits, within the last decade, they are not considered economically profitable. The present study surveys the farmers' attitudes towards agroforestry practices, and more specifically, the cultivation of chestnut (Castanea sativa Mill.). With the assistance of different econometric models, we attempted to unveil the profile of chestnut growers, their opinion on the environmental impact of the crop adoption, the determinants of the criteria they considered for its selection, as well as the cultivation practices they apply in a purely agricultural region of northern Greece. Insight into these issues may well provide policy makers with tools to promote the adoption of chestnut and other forest species in agriculture, with the aim of ensuring protection of the ecosystem, as well as improvements in agricultural income and therefore incorporating the concept of sustainability in agricultural development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]