The municipal council, my neighbors and me: Social environmental influences in the city

Sustainable Human Development at the Municipal Level: A Data Envelopment Analysis Index

The development of indexes for human development and environmental sustainability issues are an emerging topic in the current literature. However, the literature has put less emphasis on municipal indexes, which is the focus of this research. In this paper, we considered municipal environmental management as the adoption of environmental activities and the development of infrastructural and technical capacities in municipalities. This article aims to create a sustainable human development index with municipal data from the state of São Paulo in Brazil. Using information from the Municipal Human Development Index (IDHm) and the GreenBlue Municipal Program (PMVA), we applied the data envelopment analysis (DEA) technique to connect human development and environmental sustainability in 645 Brazilian municipalities. Our findings show that regions with higher human development present better DEA scores on the Sustainable Human Development Index. In contrast, regions with a low or a middle level of human development do not present significant change considering both dimensions. Moreover, our findings reveal that PMVA certification has a different and statistically significant impact on the DEA score considering certified, qualified, or not qualified regions. We found similar results for urbanized and service-oriented municipalities. Our indicator is an essential and straightforward tool for regional policymakers, helping to allocate resources and to find human development and environmental sustainability benchmarks among developing regions.

Community perspectives and engagement in sustainable solid waste management (SWM) in Fiji: A socioecological thematic analysis

Improper waste disposal and low rates of household waste diversion through material and organic waste recycling are a global concern. Understanding community perspectives on solid waste management services, outreach activities, and regulatory measures, and the barriers to sustainable practices, is crucial for designing effective waste management programmes. Longitudinal content analysis of archival data, such as newspapers, is a cost-effective, yet underutilised, research method to identify the viewpoints of diverse civic groups and examine the developments and challenges associated with the waste management sector. This paper investigates divergent stakeholders' perspectives and priorities using the Socio-Ecological Model (SEM) to examine the micro-system (intrapersonal and interpersonal), meso- and exo-system (community and institutional), and macro-system (policy level) factors that influence sustainable SWM practices. Using specific keywords, the authors searched online archives of a national newspaper in Fiji with a weekday circulation of over 20,000. Data from 482 newspaper articles, dated 2009-2020, were reviewed and dual-coded by two researchers using QDA Miner Lite. Findings indicate that poor waste management behaviour is linked to all factors within the Socio-Ecological system. While micro-level factors such as negligence, personal responsibility, lack of civic pride, and lack of awareness are causes of anti-environmental behaviour, structural factors such as inadequate waste collection services and recycling infrastructure contribute to low recycling rates. Civic education has been highlighted as a solution to encouraging pro-environmental behaviour (PEB), but there is a need to identify the type of educational tools and the frequency and impact of education workshops. This paper further discusses about the implications of community-based strategies and regulatory measures.

Norm proximity and optimal social comparisons for energy conservation behavior

Bottom-up solutions targeting individual energy conservation behaviors can play an important role in mitigating climate change and other environmental problems. Information interventions using social comparisons have proven generally effective at improving conservation behaviors, yet are largely suboptimal and sometimes fail when not adequately designed for their specific context. Environmental managers and policy makers need guidance on behavioral intervention design to maximize effectiveness. This article reports the results of a randomized control trial field experiment that used social comparisons to influence individual electricity conservation behaviors in a unique experimental setting with homogeneous residential units and no economic incentive for subjects to conserve. Two treatment groups receiving information feedback with different social comparison reference points exhibited an average treatment effect of 6 % relative to a control group that did not receive feedback. Moreover, treated subjects whose baseline behavior was more proximate to their relevant comparison group norm exhibited stronger response to the treatment (greater than 10 %) than treated subjects whose baseline behavior was more distant from the relevant norm. These results demonstrate that individuals may be more responsive to social norms when provided with a relevant norm that is more proximate to their baseline behavior. Our findings have important practical implications for optimal design and implementation of behavioral interventions to improve environmental management and achieve energy policy goals.