Description
Environmental Sustainability and Global Change: Forests, Agriculture, and Soils vis à vis Human Disturbance offers an integrated approach to the socio-environmental dynamics of the ecological-economic nexus characteristic of Mediterranean landscapes. Evidencing the role of policies targeting sustainable development goals in Southern Europe, case studies from Italy, Spain, and Greece confirm the need of place-specific approaches to socio-ecological complexity and the partial effectiveness of generalized, top-down measures. Authored by leading scholars in Southern Europe – with eminent contributions from Eastern Europe – the book identifies the intrinsic peculiarity of the environmental-economic nexus characteristic of the Northern Mediterranean basin, along with important regional differences.Stimulating a spatial planning for rural areas, the book proposes a dynamic image of Mediterranean rural landscapes, providing novel interpretations, conceptual definitions, and operational tools designed to reduce ecological fragility and economic vulnerability.- Offers a holistic, multidisciplinary approach to ecological and economic issues, including studies spanning agronomy, demography, ecology, and economics- Contains unique case studies from comparative cases and quali-quantitative studies with extensive geographical coverage- Includes updated ecological issues of complex rural systems in the Mediterranean region and provides specialized strategies for sustainable development in these less studied areas
Table of Contents
1. Toward a balanced development of forest and agricultural land? A Mediterranean perspective2. A renewed 'Sustainability Thinking' is possible: Land Resources, Economic Development and Global Change in Southern Europe3. Sustainability Strategies for Bridging the Rural-Urban Divide: Implications across Economic, Social, and Environmental Front4. Economic and Environmental convergence and the quest for sustainable development5. Sustainability, Resilience, Land Degradation and Regional Disparities: (Re)framing four hegemonic concepts from a 'rural' perspective6. A brief Outlook at the long-term Evolution of Agriculture and the Environmental Consequences in Italy7. Rural development and Environmental Sustainability in advanced economies: The socio-ecological role of traditional crops8. Toward an unsustainable pasture? The Influence of topographical position on soil compaction at the farm scale9. Sustainable development and integrated soil management in Mediterranean vineyards10. Land Degradation and Sustainable Development: a Multi-step Statistical Framework to Complexity Analysis of Soil Quality11. Toward a Mediterranean model of rural settlement? Land degradation and the evolving demographic pressure in Italy, 1972-202112. Spending for the environment: a quantitative analysis of local treasure expenditure in Italy13. The economic costs of forest fires: a simplified accounting system for Mediterranean Europe14. Rural depopulation and land abandonment: the quest for a comprehensive framework and the experience of Itay15. Socio-economically and environmentally disadvantaged (rural) Regions in European Union: The case of Western Macedonia16. Mediterranean Environments and Local Communities: Monitoring Demands and Implications for Mitigation Policies
