An approach for comparing agricultural development to societal visions

There is broad agreement that agriculture has to become more sustainable in order to provide enough affordable, healthy food at minimal environmental and social costs. But what is “more sustainable”? More often than not, different stakeholders have opposing opinions on what a more sustainable future should look like. This normative dimension is rarely explicitly addressed in sustainability assessments. In this study, we present an approach to assess the sustainability of agricultural development that explicitly accounts for the normative dimension by comparing observed development with various societal visions. We illustrate the approach by analyzing farm- and landscape-scale development as well as sustainability outcomes in a Swiss case study landscape. Observed changes were juxtaposed with desired changes by Avenir Suisse, a liberal think tank representing free-market interests; the Swiss Farmers Association, representing a conservative force; and Landwirtschaft mit Zukunft, an exponent of the Swiss agroecological movement. Overall, the observed developments aligned most closely with desired developments of the liberal think-tank (72%). Farmer interviews revealed that in the case study area farms increased in size (+ 57%) and became more specialized and more productive (+ 223%) over the past 20 years. In addition, interpretation of aerial photographs indicated that farming became more rationalized at the landscape level, with increasing field sizes (+ 34%) and removal of solitary field trees (− 18%). The case study example highlights the varying degrees to which current developments in agriculture align with societal visions. By using societal visions as benchmarks to track the progress of agricultural development, while explicitly addressing their narratives and respective systems of values and norms, this approach offers opportunities to inform also the wider public on the extent to which current developments are consistent with different visions. This could help identify mismatches between desired and actual development and pave the way for designing new policies.

Analisa Kinerja Keuangan Kppri Dengan Pendekatan Laporan Keuangan Pada Kppri

Economic development in today is very fast, this can be seen from the changes that are happening now, these changes are the impact of economic globalization which is none other than trade liberalization and free market economic investment, as a result of that free market is likely to occur competition free tight, so the strong party and high purchasing power will dominate the market and become a winner in the competition and vice versa, the weak party with low purchasing power will automatically be excluded from the scope of competition and will be a passive audience in trading. From the ratio analysis of financial statements. KPRI can be seen in comparing the number of assets with the ability to meet short-term obligations turned out to be less good because it is still far from industry standards, and in the ability to pay all financial obligations both short-term and long-term are also still liquid, but in obtaining income net every year, in 2016-2020 KPRI was considered able to obtain high profits. Because in each year the income earned is increasing. And in generating a net profit KPRI is considered sufficient because it is measured by its effectiveness in investing its capital throughout all assets. Based on the results of KPRI performance measurements using the concept of ratio analysis of financial statements that have been carried out, it results in a satisfactory total performance measurement. Strategic planning that has been made is carried out to the fullest so that the cooperative's performance is in accordance with the vision and mission of KPRI.

Critical Analysis of the Evolving Process of Neoliberal Global Capitalism

This chapter aims to make a critical analysis of the evolving process of neoliberal capitalism globalization. It begins with the assumption that the neoliberal capitalism system is undergoing a mutation in the globalization processes as a dynamic element in continuous economic and financial crisis representing the development of the logic of capital based on the neoliberal ideology that promotes the free market. The evolving process of globalization is the history of international free trade framed by the classical liberal and neoliberal economic theory. The discussion focuses on a critical analysis of the paradigm of deglobalization as an alternative to the global capitalist regime that proposes local and regional economic protectionism solutions as an alternative to keep growing the national economies but still neglecting social justice and inequality inclusiveness and socio-ecological development.

Smart Cities and Sustainability

The term smart city is often synonymous with a sustainable city. The word smart implies the use of digital technology that serves to make processes and services more efficient and to connect the different actors on the urban scene. However, this is no guarantee of sustainability. A city can become sustainable if it changes its metabolism and from linear to circular as in nature's ecosystems. For this to happen, it is necessary to overcome the paradigm of quantitative economic growth based on the infinite substitutability between natural and economic capital. If smart city governance stakeholders primarily pursue profit according to the logic of the free market, the city may be smarter and efficient in the use of energy and resources, but it is not sustainable, often not even inclusive. The challenge of sustainability implies a paradigm shift and the use of digital technologies at the service of the collective good. In this context, after a general analysis of the characteristics of smart cities, the chapter focuses on an Italian case study, Turin Smart City.

The Critical Importance of Enhancing Social Entrepreneurship Learning Pathways to Recover From the COVID-19 Economic Crisis

Social enterprises (SE) have long been recognised as a significant part of society and as a yardstick for the wider concern of community stakeholders to the general wellbeing and quality of life of the population. Furthermore, in countries that have embraced the free market with limited government, particularly in post-financial-crisis enforced austerity fiscal budgets, the role of the SE is extremely important in contributing to community wellbeing. Now the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 has dealt a crushing blow to many economic, social, and entrepreneurial activities with its associated lockdowns and government mandated restrictions on economic activities. It is imperative given the devastating economic impact of the epidemic and subsequent lockdowns that efforts to encourage SE and social entrepreneurship be redoubled and receive government assisted training for these efforts. Creating robust and effective learning pathways informed by the need to support a building back better ethos is key to the future of social innovation and social enterprise-based economic activities.

Computer-Aided Classification of New Psychoactive Substances

The appearance on the free market of synthetic cannabinoids raised the researchers’ interest in establishing their molecular similarity by QSAR analysis. A rigorous criterion for classifying drugs is their chemical structure. Therefore, this article presents the structural similarity of two groups of drugs: benzoylindoles and phenylacetylindoles. Statistical analysis and clustering of the molecules are performed based on their numerical characteristics extracted using Cheminformatics methods. Their similarities/dissimilarities are emphasized using the dendrograms and heat map. The highest discrepancies are found in the phenylacetylindoles group.

SOCIAL CLAUSES AS AN INSTRUMENT SUPPORTING THE SOCIAL ECONOMY SECTOR

Based on the research results, the article presents opinions of the representatives of social economy sector and local authorities on the current use of social clauses indicated in public procurement regulations, which are a tool oriented at increase of participation of the social economy sector in the public procurement market. The research confirms low usage of social clauses mechanism. The main constraints in use of these tools by local authorities include: lack of sufficient knowledge about social benefits arising from providing social services by social economy units and fear of using a legal measure that limits competition of entities operating on the free market. The respondents underline that information about the goals of social economy and the its potential are the basis for activities aimed at increasing interest in using the social clause mechanism.

Stosowanie przepisów o formie czynności prawnych, jako instrument kontroli obrotu prawnego w perspektywie orzecznictwa SN w latach 1964–1989

The regulation of civil law transactions during the Polish People’s Republic took place on many different levels. Among other things, the scope of state control over the performance of legal transactions also involved the obligation to document them. At the normative level, the code institution of the form of legal transactions reflected classical civilist concepts, typical for free-market relations. The aim of the study is to determine to what extent the principle of freedom of form expressed in the Civil Code was respected in practice, and to what extent the application of the rules on form made them another tool at the disposal of the totalitarian state to control transactions. Judicial jurisprudence seems to be the most appropriate area to analyze this problem. The article presents selected theses of the Supreme Court relating to the application of regulations on the form of legal transactions, formulated in the years 1964–1989, that is, from the enactment of the Civil Code to the beginning of the political and economic transformation towards democracy and free-market economy. The main considerations are preceded by a presentation of the code regulation of the form of legal actions with an indication of the basic functions, which — in the intention of the authors of the Civil Code — were ascribed to the form of legal actions. The part of the study devoted to the discussion of the jurisprudence explains, first of all, how the principle of the freedom of form was understood and how the provisions on the special form and the consequences of failing to observe it were applied. The conclusions that emerge from the analysis do not allow us to formulate a thesis about an ideological interpretation by the Supreme Court. In particular, it cannot be confirmed that the use of provisions on form testified to their instrumentalization. This leads us to reflect that the political conditions of the communist period did not preclude the Supreme Court from interpreting the law in a fully autonomous manner. For this reason, much of the case law from that period is still relevant.

The Monopoly of Capitalism in Achieving the Welfare of Indonesian Democracy

The welfare state was a great achievement of civilisation in the 20th century. In this century, the State equips civil rights and freedoms with social rights. That is why democracy and the welfare state must go hand in hand. The welfare state has freedom with millions of people from their various social origins to fight market difficulties and open opportunities in life. Among other things, economic power can identify global competition, free markets, and various kinds of public policies that are oppressive. Market liberalisation demands social and economic resilience of the people so that the tide of the free market does not displace it. The modern economy is not just a slogan, but needs to be actualised to empower the economic capabilities of the lower classes of society.