Systemic Governance of Mountains, Rivers, Forests, Farmlands, Lakes and Grasslands: Theoretical Framework and Approaches

The life community of mountains, rivers, forests, farmlands, lakes and grasslands (MRFFLG) and its systemic governance are key components to build ecological civilization in China. It comprises diverse connotations in value, scientific and economic dimensions. Epistemologically, it comes from the Chinese traditional philosophy of harmonious coexistence of heaven, earth and man, and conforms to the Western ecological ethics, complex system science and environmental value theory. Methodologically, as a complex socio-ecological system in which man and nature interact and coexist, the life community of the MRFFLG should be governed coordinately from both narrow and broad views. At the policy level, from the perspectives of narrow synergy among ecological subsystems and broad synergy among the complex socio-ecological system, this paper evaluates the performance indicators of 16 pilot projects of the MRFFLG, and points out that the design of most pilot projects well reflects the narrow synergy of multiple ecological elements, but is short of attention to the broad synergy of green development and ecological civilization. There are two practical ways to promote the systemic governance of the MRFFLG. First, it needs to focus on the coordinated governance of watershed and ecological environment restoration against the background of global climate and environmental change. The goal is to restore and improve the service functions of ecological subsystems and enhance their climate adaptability. Second, in the context of new urbanization and green development transition, it requires a collaborative planning focusing on natural capital and green infrastructure investment, which is aimed at cultivating ecological dividends and realizing ecological economy.

Chemical Problems and Environmental Education

Ecological problems are considered one of the most important problems of the globalized world in the article. It’s noticed that the negative attitude of the population to the environment causes to creating available problems. Therefore, it must be paid special attention to the ecological education among children and students at school and preschool educational institution. Everybody must get knowledge on ecology must form ecological worldview at the separate stages of education ecological discipline must be actualized. Forming responsibility feeling to the nature on pupils is given priority. Teachers form such an opinion on pupils that knowing Chemistry it`s possible to organize the product that doesn’t damage the environment in a word a wasteless technology. The regular attitude to the environment is formed as a result of ecological knowledge. Because of this it must be ecological knowledge, ecological culture and ecological ethics. It’s important to bring up people who have ecological worldview for eliminating ecological problems. Different methods must be applied for complete explaining of the ecological problems to pupils. Pupils must be informed about the sources which pollute the environment, the pollutant which spreads on the biosphere from the sources, their effect on human body, flora and fauna and the ecological problems of the region. First it must pay more attention to practical experiences together with provided child’s psychological features for forming ecological worldview on pupils. The world’s scientists’ thinking about eliminating ways of the deplanement that climate changes create are given priority. Here the main purpose is to minimize the damages of Climate changes to the environment and anthropogenic effect. Many matters are implemented in the direction of saving global climate all over the world. The reasons of terrible and tragic diseases that are cured for a long time (COVID, Aids, bird flu, swine influenza, hepatitis and etc.), genetic diseases that are observed among children (thalassemic, hemophilia, immune deficiency), dead and early birth of children that worry humanity and the world scientists are considered as the main problem.

Exploratory Study of the Development of REDD Incentives in Bolivia

<p>International climate change mitigation efforts have been establishing strategies and programs to achieve Reduction of Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) in developing countries like Bolivia. This research aims to assess these developments and examine the major challenges in the conceptualisation, planning and implementation of these strategies in Bolivia. A review of international negotiations and of current literature on various surrounding issues supplied this research with the needed secondary data. Primary data on Bolivian perspectives and visions on the arising challenges of REDD developments were gathered in January and February 2008. The semi-structured interviews aimed to cover a cross societal range of participants from govt to local forest-inhabitant level. Partially, due to climatic instability, the field-research was hampered by a national flood disaster that challenged the gathering of local forest-inhabitant's visions and perspectives. Through this methodology this research defined key issues in the development of international REDD funding governance and in the challenges of national and local policy and project implementation measures. These are evaluated in consideration of global and local equity and climate-justice issues, offer earthcentric considerations in the evolution of REDD and therefore attempt to contribute to the underlying discourse on ecological ethics in climate change mitigation and adaptation.</p>

Exploratory Study of the Development of REDD Incentives in Bolivia

<p>International climate change mitigation efforts have been establishing strategies and programs to achieve Reduction of Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) in developing countries like Bolivia. This research aims to assess these developments and examine the major challenges in the conceptualisation, planning and implementation of these strategies in Bolivia. A review of international negotiations and of current literature on various surrounding issues supplied this research with the needed secondary data. Primary data on Bolivian perspectives and visions on the arising challenges of REDD developments were gathered in January and February 2008. The semi-structured interviews aimed to cover a cross societal range of participants from govt to local forest-inhabitant level. Partially, due to climatic instability, the field-research was hampered by a national flood disaster that challenged the gathering of local forest-inhabitant's visions and perspectives. Through this methodology this research defined key issues in the development of international REDD funding governance and in the challenges of national and local policy and project implementation measures. These are evaluated in consideration of global and local equity and climate-justice issues, offer earthcentric considerations in the evolution of REDD and therefore attempt to contribute to the underlying discourse on ecological ethics in climate change mitigation and adaptation.</p>

How can we love what we don’t know?: Children and ecological care

This article addresses the intersection of child ethics and ecological ethics, arguing that ecological care should be viewed as a shared endeavour between children and adults, where each have something to offer to and learn from the other. It is incumbent on adults to foster an embodied, intimate relationship with nature as something that is key to children’s moral development, including their morality of ecological care. This perspective also provides a model of discipleship for adults, characterised as a Rahnerian environmentally-conscious second childhood: by recollecting, observing and mimicking children’s relationship with nature, adults can learn to become like them in their care for the earth.

Questioning the Assumptions, Sustainability and Ethics of Endless Economic Growth

This article questions the assumptions, sustainability and ethics of endless economic growth on the basis of environmental science, ecological economics and ecological ethics. It considers the impossibility and unsustainability of endless physical growth on a finite planet. It considers the indicators of environmental degradation (all increasing) and argues that society’s addiction to endless growth is irresponsible. It discusses the key problem of denial, and how this blocks us from finding workable solutions. It discusses how in theory GDP could continue to grow modestly in the future if we adopted a steady-state economy where growth was not caused by an expanding population or resource use. However, this model is currently unpopular, with many advocating the green and circular economies that are partial solutions, and which justify ongoing growth through a fantasy of absolute decoupling. I discuss the need for society to change its anthropocentric worldview to one of ecocentrism. I then question whether the UN Sustainable Development Goals are actually ecologically sustainable. I discuss how, when we ignore the problems of an endlessly growing economy, we create significant risk to society. Rather than a focus only on ‘sustainable economic growth’, I suggest it is time to focus centrally on an ecologically sustainable economy and future.

Ethical Consumption as the Basis for Counteracting Food Waste

The objective of the article is to present the concept of practical consumer ethics, which may constitute the axiological basis of sustainable consumption and such an attitude of the consumer that will prevent the negative impact of food consumption on the natural and social environment and will counteract the food waste. The authors consider ethical consumption against the background of the normative pattern of sustainable consumption, which is the practical operationalisation of the concept of sustainable development. This pattern implies, on the one hand, consumer ethics and, on the other hand, an environmentally and socially responsible lifestyle. Against this background, the authors postulate the concept of frugalism as a practical ethics of consumption, based on aretological assumptions and the values of Henryk Skolimowski's ecological ethics. Frugalism, in its normative assumptions, contributes to deconsumption by changing the system of values, attitudes and preferences of a consumer, who voluntarily decides to limit the amount of purchased products, preferring those that are recycled and more sustainable. The authors present comparative statements of the features of the consumerist and frugalistic attitudes.

Recognition and Responsibility

While the concept of responsibility is a cornerstone of Christian ethics, recognition theory still lacks a thorough theological–ethical analysis. This essay seeks to fill the gap and develop normative ethics of recognition and responsibility. The first part provides a systematic analysis of the conceptual elements of recognition, emphasizing the need to focus on misrecognition as a heuristic tool and ethical priority. While recognition coincides with responsivity and attentiveness in the encounter of self and other, responsibility adds to this the moral accountability for acts, practices, structures, and institutions, rendering recognition and responsibility interrelated but also distinct principles of morality. This normative analysis is then correlated to the hermeneutical, narrative ethics of Christian ethics. The founding narrative of biblical ethics, the Cain and Abel narrative in Gen 4, is interpreted as a dialectic of recognition and responsibility. Both exegesis and ethics profit from this interdisciplinary and correlative approach between philosophical and biblical ethics. Finally, the ethics of recognition and responsibility, which emerges from the Frankfurt School critical theory, is confronted with exemplary indigenous approaches focusing on mutual responsibility as the foundation of ecological ethics. Christian ethics of recognition and responsibility resonates with this approach, yet emphasizes the distinctiveness of human interactions and the demands of moral responsibility.

The concept of “DAO” in Nguyen Binh Khiem’s philosophy and its current value

The article presents Nguyen Binh Khiem’s viewpoint on the concept of Dao, which plays a central role in Chinese philosophy and Vietnamese philosophy. Accordingly, the authors point out the value of this concept to modern society - a society that tends to promote the role of tolerance, solidarity, and lifestyle of community friendliness, harmony with nature, environmental protection, and respect for ecological ethics. For that purpose, the article will focus on the following issues: firstly, a brief overview of Nguyen Binh Khiem’s life and career; secondly, generalizing the concept of Dao in Chinese philosophy; thirdly, the intension of Dao in Nguyen Binh Khiem’s philosophy; fourthly, the current value of the concept of Dao in Nguyen Binh Khiem’s philosophy