Large-scale developments undergo a process known as Environmental ImpactAssessment (EIA) in order to assess the environmental effects that the constructionmight incur, carried out by the municipal office. Only projects of a large area coverage such as highways and railroads are covered by this procedure. However, the effects of urban sprawl tend to be of significantly greater size than individual large-scale projects. This is handled via the principal of zoning, planning the area usage of city developments. To lend a greater understanding and awareness of the environmental effects of urban sprawl, and how to minimise these, the application of EIAs to the zoning work may prove viable. This investigation is conducted via a qualitative research methodology employing literary review, surveys and interviews to garner data on current opinion and knowledge to provide possibility for development. The data collected points to a disparate view of the application of EIAs in municipal work, based on reliance on external consultants and varying degrees of locally founded methods of application, as well as a lack of proper follow up to performed EIAs. In order to combat these issues and grant an increased efficacy of EIA appliance within environmental issues, and namely urban development, a potential for legal reclassification is advised, to require some form of relevant follow up, describe a more foundational groundwork in legal documentation. The potential for EIAs to counter the effects of urban sprawl are inherently boosted by these actions, but an attempt to directly apply this would be an increase in intensity for EIA appliance during regional zoning, to prevent overreliance on detailed zoning plans on each other.

Fuel wood cutting, collection and distribution in recent years have been one of the booming industries in Nigeria. Plagued with the problem of energy for domestic use, more than two third of Nigerians residing in the rural areas wholly depend on fuel wood energy for their household activities; cooking, heating and generation of warmth. A consumption put at  43 million metric tons, (43 x 109 kg) per annum giving a per capita consumption of about 511.2 kg / person per anum for rural dwellers and 360 kg / person for urban settlers. An enormous use of fuel wood at this large scale poses a grave and devastating environmental side effect, notably being deforestation and desertification now eating deep into the heart of Nigerian Forest cover at a very alarming rate. (Bugaje 2004). Akinbami et al 2001’s assessment has identified feed stock substitute for an economically feasible biogas programme, a substitute for wood fuel, and Nigeria produces 227,500 tons (2.275 x 108 kg ) of fresh animal wastes daily. According to the study, 1 kilogram (kg) of fresh animal waste produces about 0.03 m3 gas, hence, Nigeria can produce about 6.8 million m3 of biogas everyday, enough to meet the cooking need of an average family size, an annual equivalent put at 4.81 million barrels crude oil, or 6.9 x 106 tons of fuel wood (Adeoti et al, 2001). This work is aimed at Evaluating Using Quantitative and Comparative Data analysis, a Batch System, Small Scale family size bio digester; The possible volume of gas that could be produced as against the same quantity of wood consumed, the estimated amount of fuel wood in kg that could be avoided, and the forested land that could be conserved by the substitution.   From the result obtained, the conservable fuel wood for a family size of say 7 could range from 11.524 kg/day when substituted with the equivalent quantity of gas (2.3048 m3), while CO2 avoidable from tree felling in the chosen region could range close to 1,540,000kg (1,540 metric tons per annum). / <p>2008-10-09</p>

In this study, a small-scale point absorber wave energy converter has been designed contemplating a full-scaled point absorber in the Mediterranean Sea state. The scaling factor for the small-scaled version has been determined by the damping coefficient calculation of the power take-off in 1:10, 1:15, and 1:20 scaling factors. Here a rotational power take-off has been designed instead of the linear one. The rotational power take-off will follow a similar principle as the Eddy current brake. The effect of change in the radius of the translator and magnetic flux in the damping coefficient had been calculated as well. The calculation for the damping coefficient has been conducted in COMSOL Multiphysics. The design for the point absorber was assembled in SolidWorks. In this article, specific attention is given to a variety of aspects affecting the damping coefficient and the way it can aid to determining the scaling factor parameters for a small-scale wave energy converter.

Small-scale fracture behavior of four model alloy systems were investigated in the order of increasing microstructural complexity, namely: (i) a Ni-based Bulk Metallic Glass (Ni-BMG) with an isotropic amorphous microstructure; (ii) a single-phase high entropy alloy, HfTaTiVZr, with body centered cubic (BCC) microstructure; (iii) a dual-phase high entropy alloy, AlCoCrFeNi2.1, with eutectic FCC (L12) -BCC (B2) microstructure; and (iv) a Medium-Mn steel with hierarchical microstructure. The micro-mechanical response of these model alloys was investigated using nano-indentation, micro-pillar compression, and micro-cantilever bending. The relaxed Ni-BMG showed 6% higher hardness, 22% higher yield strength, and 26% higher bending strength compared to its as-cast counterpart. Both the as-cast and corresponding relaxed BMGs showed stable notch opening and blunting during micro-cantilever bending tests rather than unstable crack propagation. However, pronounced notch weakening was observed for both the structural states, with the bending strength lower by ~ 25% for the notched samples compared to the un-notched samples. Deformation behavior of HfTaTiVZr was evaluated by micropillar compression and micro-cantilever bending as a function of two different grain orientations, namely [101] and [111]. The [111] oriented micropillars demonstrated higher strength and strain hardening rate compared to [101] oriented micropillars. The [111] oriented micropillars showed transformation induced plasticity (TRIP) in contrast to dislocation-based planar-slip for the [101] oriented micropillars, explaining the difference in strain hardenability for the two orientations. These differences in deformation behavior for the two orientations were explained using Schmid factor calculations, transmission electron microscopy, and in-situ deformation videos. For the dual-phase AlCoCrFeNi2.1 high entropy alloy, the L12 phase exhibited superior bending strength, strain hardening, and plastic deformation, while the B2 phase showed limited damage tolerance during bending. The microstructure and deformation mechanisms were characterized for a few different medium-Mn steels with varying carbon (0.05-0.15 at%) and manganese (5-10 at%) content. The alloy with 10 at% Mn and 0.15 at% C (1015 alloy) showed hierarchical microstructure of retained austenite and ferrite with lamellae 200 nm to 300 nm wide. Micro-pillar compression at different strain levels for this alloy revealed that deformation in austenite is primarily accommodated through transformation to martensite, thereby increasing the strain hardening rate.

Children engage in paid and unpaid work that is damaging to them daily all around the world. They are categorized as child laborers, however when they are either too young to work or are engaged in dangerous activities that may jeopardize their physical, mental, social or educational development (Unicef 2021). The topic of Child labour relates to the broader area of peace and development due to child labour being a development issue. The theoretical frameworks selected for this thesis are Amartya Sen’s ‘capabilities’ theory. The aim with this field study is to recognize the strategies of NGO’s combat against child labour and their challenges as well as their improvements. To gain an understanding of child labour in relation to hazardous environments and their impacts on a local level in Mwanza, with the help of key informant interviews and stakeholders. Indirect data was chosen rather than direct data, because it would be unethical to interview children. The fact that children suffer makes child labor a touchy subject. It is impossible for me to discuss every aspect of child labor because the subject is so vast and sensitive. I therefore only have knowledge that is applicable to my research. I have come to the conclusion that the factor of child labour is mainly poverty. The strategies of the NGOs to prevent child labour differs from one another, but many of them use awareness as a strategy. Their challenges are lack of resources and the community’s perception.

Climate anomalies have been observed in the tropical Andes in Peru resulting in hydrological changes that consequently threaten livelihoods and daily survival of the lowland residents. In this study, adverse socioeconomic impacts on small-scale farmers in the Quillcay River basin due to variation in precipitation patterns and enhanced glacier retreat are examined through a case study approach. Theories of vulnerability and resilience were applied as the basis of the study as well as analytical tools to evaluate influence of climatic and hydrological impacts on socio-ecological systems in the study site. The data gathering and analysis were implemented through an integrated qualitative-quantitative approach in order to achieve holistic research insight and trustworthy results. Semi- structured interviews were conducted to capture smallholders’ perceptions whilst statistical data was collected for robust physical evidence. The results that were achieved from the analysis using conceptual framework of vulnerability as well as correlation and ordinary linear regression showed partly conflicting results. On one hand, findings and interpretation of the interviews suggested high connection between climate proxies and worsened socioeconomic situation of the small-scale farmers. On the other hand, in the quantitative analysis enhanced glacier retreat was found to have influenced unfavorable socioeconomic changes in the study site to some extent whereas precipitation did not show significant impact. Altogether, the results of the study suggest that vulnerability of livelihoods and well- being of the small-scale farmers is an outcome of a complex cluster of economic, political, social and ecological factors rather than climatic and hydrological changes exclusively.

Bangladesh, a country situated in the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna delta (GBM), is one of the most vulnerable countries to climatic stressors and changes. Low lying coastal region in the southern part of the country is highly vulnerable due to its exposure to frequent and intense cyclones, and other hydro-meteorological coastal hazards, such as projected sea-level rise, storm surges, monsoonal flooding and waterlogging, and saline water intrusion. In addition, there have been significant infrastructure development and land use change across Bangladesh’s coastal regions since the 1960s that contributed to increase environmental risk and vulnerability of coastal communities. This dissertation examines the risks and vulnerabilities faced by the coastal communities, particularly small-scale fisheries and aquaculture-based communities, in Bangladesh and how the households and the government respond to manage these risks and vulnerabilities. Three specific objectives of this dissertation are: a) to explore the risk and vulnerability that coastal households face in Bangladesh in conjunction with main climatic hazards and changes; b) to understand households' temporary internal migration decision-making in the context of climatic stressors and socio-ecological changes; and c) to explore the extent to which social protection programs in the coastal districts of Bangladesh are responsive to environmental and climatic changes facing coastal dwellers, with a focus on whether such programs help households build adaptive capacity. This research is primarily based on a fieldwork in three coastal districts of Bangladesh in 2017. During the fieldwork, the researcher conducted a household survey of 720 households, focus group discussions, and key informant interviews. The three research objectives lead to three research papers. The first paper of this dissertation constructs household-level vulnerability and risk indices by applying the risk framework offered in the fifth assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). With the help of these indices, this paper shows the levels of risk of hazards vary among geographical units, income levels and occupational groups. The indices also show that although vulnerability is well-correlated with poverty, risks of hazards are high for upper-income households as well. Applying the New Economics of Labour Migration (NELM) theory and the more recent environmental migration framework proposed by Black et al. (2011), the second paper shows that various types of environmental and climatic stressors impact households’ decisions on temporary migration differently, and alongside environmental and climatic factors, traditional socioeconomic drivers of migration also play significant roles in households’ temporary migration decisions. The third paper applies the adaptive social protection framework and finds poor targeting efficiency and the inability of the social protection system in scaling up when needed. However, the analysis does show poor households benefiting from social protection programs were less likely to use adverse coping strategies and were more likely to adopt productive livelihood strategies including production innovations and diversification. This dissertation contributes to the methods of measuring and understanding risk and vulnerability specific to stressors, locations, income levels and occupations. It also sheds light on the importance of temporary migration as a risk management strategy that received less attention in the literature than permanent migration. Finally, it identifies areas to improve existing social protection programs to make them responsive to emerging risks and vulnerabilities. While addressing three separate but related topics, the papers are consistent in their implication for adaptation planning for coastal communities.

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