The overuse of natural resources through excessive consumptions has led to environmental problems. As a result, there have been calls for a more sustainable, circular and digital future. Research on ...the topics of eco-innovations and the circular economy have made significant headways toward identifying sustainable solutions, however, the influence of demographic changes and digitization remain underexplored. Therefore, the current study investigates how demographic changes and digitization effect business practices related to eco-innovations and the circular economy. Semi-structured interviews are conducted with ten companies in Slovenia that actively adopt and develop eco-innovations, and moreover employ the principles of a circular economy. These semi-structured interviews specifically explore the impact of digitalization and demographic changes on eco-innovation and how these impacts enable the development of the circular economy. Results suggest that companies are adjusting their products and services to meet changing demands from demographic trends. Relatedly, digitization has allowed them to create new products and optimize existing ones in more sustainable ways, i.e., having less harmful effects on the environment. Specifically, digitization gave them better control over the eco-innovation process, increasing transparency, control, and manageability of the technological process in a way that reduced energy consumption and lessoned the environmental impact. These results are integrated with the existing literature to identify new insights related to the adoption and implementation of eco-innovations in the circular economy.
•We aim to explore the role of demographic changes and digitalization in companies.•We focus on companies with eco-innovations (EI) and/or circular economy (CE).•We interviewed ten companies from Slovenia with EI and CE practices.•Our study offers important insights how companies address digitalization.•Our study offers important insights how companies address demographic changes.
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•Demographic trends resulted relevant for all the ecosystem services (ES) evaluated.•Contrasting ES supply due to land-use and population between natural highlands vs. agricultural ...lowlands.•Depopulation and rewilding increased regulating ES such as water regulation and soil retention in highlands.•Despite depopulation, agricultural intensification boosted food production in fertile accessible lowlands.•The response of provisioning and regulating ES to depopulation should be considered in rural land management.
Despite the exponential increase in human population at global scale, some rural areas have experienced a progressive abandonment over the last decades. Under particular socioecological and policy contexts, changes in demography may promote land-use changes and, consequently, alter ecosystem services (ES) supply. However, most studies on this topic have targeted urban population increase, whereas depopulation has been rarely addressed. Here, we examined how shifts in demographic variables (human population, population density, and number of villages) affect provisioning (water supply, food and biomass production) and regulating (soil retention, water and nutrient regulation) ES in Mediterranean rural areas with contrasting environmental, socioeconomic and land-use contexts. When depopulation results in underuse of socio-ecological systems, we expected a decrease of provisioning and an increase of regulating ES, whereas we expected the opposite pattern when it results in land-use intensification. To test this hypothesis, we compared demographic data and ES estimated with Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) linked to land-use changes between the 1950s and 2000s in three rural areas of Aragón (NE Spain). Generalized Additive Mixed Models and Linear Mixed-Effect Models were used to analyze demographic trends, ES changes and the relationship between them.
We found severe depopulation (−42% inhabitants) and associated land-use changes in the three areas, which was particularly evident in isolated mountainous zones (−63% inhabitants). Depopulation trends significantly affected land use and, consequently, all of the ES evaluated. In mountainous depopulated areas, land abandonment and rewilding resulted in the increase in water regulation (>1000%) and soil retention (>400%). In contrast, agriculture was intensified in more fertile and easy-to-access lowland areas, boosting the food production service (>600%). Accordingly, the interactions among depopulation, crop production and regulating ES should be considered in the management schemes and policies targeting rural areas for a balanced and sustainable supply of ES in the long term.
The scope of the training enterprise is vast, the field is dynamic, and multi-level issues confront training researchers. After identifying three “mega trends” – globalization, technology, and ...demographic changes - this paper reviews training trends at the macro level, the micro level, and emerging policy issues and links each one to the mega trends. The macro-level trends - increasing demands for personal and professional development by job seekers and employees, the effects of digital technology on work, structural changes in labor markets, increasing training opportunities for non-standard workers, and training as an important aspect of an employer's brand - reflect broad trends in the economy. Micro-level trends - better understanding of requirements for effective learning; use of short, digital lessons; and options for optimizing learning and preventing skill and knowledge decay - each focus on improving the quality of training. Policy issues - training needs in small and medium-sized enterprises, the need for “middle skills”, and vocational education - raise vexing issues for all stakeholders. Together, macro, micro, and policy issues reflect ongoing challenges for researchers, practitioners, and policy makers everywhere.
•Three mega trends are identified: globalization, technology, changes in demographics.•Macro-level, micro-level, and policy-level trends in training are identified.•Their impact on organizations, individuals, labor markets, and training is described.•Implications for researchers, practitioners, and policy makers are presented.
The rise and fall of the Roman Empire was a socio-political process with enormous ramifications for human history. The Middle Danube was a crucial frontier and a crossroads for population and ...cultural movement. Here, we present genome-wide data from 136 Balkan individuals dated to the 1st millennium CE. Despite extensive militarization and cultural influence, we find little ancestry contribution from peoples of Italic descent. However, we trace a large-scale influx of people of Anatolian ancestry during the Imperial period. Between ∼250 and 550 CE, we detect migrants with ancestry from Central/Northern Europe and the Steppe, confirming that “barbarian” migrations were propelled by ethnically diverse confederations. Following the end of Roman control, we detect the large-scale arrival of individuals who were genetically similar to modern Eastern European Slavic-speaking populations, who contributed 30%–60% of the ancestry of Balkan people, representing one of the largest permanent demographic changes anywhere in Europe during the Migration Period.
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•A frontier region of ancient Rome was as cosmopolitan as the imperial center•Genetic proof that migrants identified as Goths were ethnically diverse confederations•Slavic-speaking migrants account for 30%–60% of the ancestry of Balkan peoples today•A model for integrating archaeology with genetics
Genome-wide data from 146 ancient Balkan individuals dating to the 1st millennium CE, together with detailed archaeological information, reveals internal migratory patterns during the Roman Empire and documents the demographic impact of Early Medieval Slavic migrations that significantly contributed to the present-day Balkan gene pool.
Abstract
Iteroparity is a bet-hedging strategy where individuals spread the risk of reproductive failure over time. The occurrence of iteroparity (i.e. proportion of repeat spawners in annual ...returns) varies among Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) populations, yet information on its ecological importance is limited. We compiled multi-decadal time series on the spawning history composition of Atlantic salmon annual returns across ten populations of the northwest Atlantic and West Greenland mixed-stock fishery landings to: (i) describe spatio-temporal patterns of iteroparity at the continental scale; (ii) quantify the reproductive contributions of repeat spawners; and (iii) test the hypothesis that iteroparity acts as a population safeguard during periods of low recruitment through repeat spawners’ contributions. Despite high variability in the representation of repeat spawners among populations and years (range: 0–24.7%; average: 5.0%), we identified broad-scale spatio-temporal shifts in iteroparity, with increases in mid-latitudinal and northern populations (from 3.1% to 7.6%) and declines in southern areas (from 4.1% to 2.7%), between the 1971–1992 and 1993–2017 periods. Our findings highlight the potential for increased prevalence of iteroparity when threats are mitigated (e.g. fishing pressure), with measurable benefits to population processes manifested by the high reproductive contributions of repeat spawners, especially in years of low maiden spawner abundance.
Population in South Asia is increasing ever than a faster rate, subsequently; food security, climate change, and capital intensive agro farming techniques are the prevailing challenges in this ...region. This is a tri-country penal analysis, Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh, and the study covers the data throughout (1973–2020). This study has used modern farm input data besides demographic variables in the study. In this study, we use panel data set, ARDL (PMG) approach, autoregressive distributed lag model pooled mean group, which is an extensively dynamic modeling technique for heterogeneous data. The results of the study explore that transition in the demographic pattern in Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh is the real cause of low crop productivity and land intensification. Technology innovation is the only ray of hope to fulfill the food demand of the future ahead and climate agriculture practices can hamper the further deterioration of the small farmlands.
Demographic processes in well-developed countries constitute an urgent research problem especially in terms of developmental opportunities of local settlements. It is an important issue in tourist ...regions which allows to conduct appropriate population policy. If the impact of demographic factors on economic development turned out to be significant, it should become a subject of scientific and practical analyses. Pomerania Province is one of the most profitable tourist regions in Poland. The summer season and leisure tourism at the seaside are of the utmost importance. The analysis concerned the towns of Pomerania Province in terms of demographic changes and their impact on the economic development. The analysis was conducted in the years 1995-2020 and it covered the changes that had taken place before Poland joined the EU (2004) as well as the period of fully functioning market economy. Apart from the time period which gives a picture of trends and intensity of the changes, the towns were also distinguished in terms of size showing various trends in big cities and medium-size and small towns.
We livetrapped populations of Microtus montanus from 1982 to 2003 in semiarid perennial old-field grasslands of southern British Columbia. We evaluated two, nonmutually exclusive hypotheses (H) to ...explain their population dynamics: first (H1), that extended breeding during the summer or winter will drive the increase phase of population fluctuations; and second (H2), that density-dependent depression of juvenile survival will be reflected in poor early juvenile survival during high populations. Populations on 2–3 grids of 1 ha were livetrapped at 3- to 8-week intervals in summer and winter except in 5 years of very low populations. Densities ranged from 10/ha to 250/ha. Peak densities occurred in 6 years and an extended low phase occurred from 1999 to 2003. Fluctuations of 3–4 years appeared in our populations but were not always present. Breeding occurred both in summer and winter, and the best predictor of the population growth rate was the fraction of adult females lactating in summer or winter, thereby supporting H1. Juvenile production (number of juveniles/lactating female) varied greatly among years with the mean being over two times higher in low (2.41) than high (1.08) years, thereby supporting H2. There was no clear correlation between population changes and either seasonal temperatures or rainfall, or any combination of these two variables, and no obvious cause of the prolonged low from 1999 to 2003. Thus, both female reproduction and juvenile production drive montane vole dynamics demographically, similar to what is found in other vole species. However, the ultimate cause of these changes remains to be tackled experimentally.
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