Improving livelihoods through conservation and education: A case study of the Swastha butterfly garden
In many parts of the developing world, those with physical or mental handicaps are often considered to be a burden on society, with limited to no remunerative activities available in the workforce. Activities such as butterfly farming, which require precision and attention to detail, are potentially relevant for disadvantaged groups as a source of livelihoods. At the same time, such activities can be integrated with community-led conservation efforts as well. We provide a case study of the development of a butterfly garden at the Swastha Centre for Special Education and Rehabilitation in the Kodagu area of Coorg, a region in the state of Karnataka in India through which conservation-based activities are integrated with special education in a manner than builds skills, improves livelihoods, and serves as an important resource for environmental education. Our case demonstrates a scalable means by which butterflies can be used to educate, improve the environment, and offer livelihoods to the disadvantaged in a country where such opportunities are greatly needed.
Sustainability Coffee Certification in India: Perceptions and Practices
Abstract Certification programs has been employed in many agricultural products as a means to encourage and communicate compliance with standards associated with various attributes, such as organic, fair-trade, GMO free, and eco- friendly, among others. Such programs further seek to provide added value, through a price premium, to producers and supply chain actors associated with the label. In this paper, we review a number of global labeling and certification programs that could add value for coffee farms in India through the promotion of conservation and environmental protection. We provide results from a survey conducted on a sample of coffee farms in Coorg district, India to assess their awareness and perceptions related towards certified coffee and environmental conservation in general. Survey results illustrate strong positive associations with the environment by coffee planters, particularly among certified and organic producers. However, price premiums for certified and organic coffee are relatively small. While the potential of conservation-oriented certification for coffee in Coorg could be relatively limited outside of a few individual-level niches, branding Coorg more generally as a conservation-oriented region could hold promise, lever- aging and personalizing the uniqueness of the natural offerings from Coorg and tapping into burgeoning associations with place and region in India.
Promoting conservation in India by greening coffee: A value chain approach
The Indian coffee sector is at an important transition point, increasingly stuck in the middle between quality and value segments of the market. A potential niche for India is in the development of eco- friendly (green) coffees, leveraging the natural environment and biodiversity present in many regions. In this study, we conducted a value chain assessment of the coffee sector in Coorg, a major production area in India, to identify the potential entry points and constraints to a conservation-oriented strategy of upgrading. Our results highlight that coffee value chains in Coorg are fragmented and largely uncoordinated, with innovative upgrading efforts largely individually motivated. This suggests that integrating conservation principles in a broad-based branding strategy could be difficult at the level of the chain without institutional support or the entry of chain champions. On the other hand, integrating conservation as a diversification activity e.g. through the development of butterfly gardens for tourism, could provide a low-cost way of adding value for farmers while promoting good environmental stewardship.
How does the search for energy security affect EU policies in other issue-areas? GR:EEN Policy Brief 23
This policy brief addresses the question of how the EU’s search for energy security does – or does not – affect EU policies in other areas. Due to the fact that the EU has to import energy commodities to meet its energy needs, and that coping with the challenge of energy supply is defined as one of the three main goals of the EU’s energy policy, the focus of this brief will be on the issue areas that may affect the EU’s relations with the main suppliers of energy.
Innovation, networks and energy governance: The case of shale gas, GR:EEN Policy Brief 22
This Policy Brief explores the role of technological innovation in shaping energy governance and how energy governance is being shaped by actors operating in various types of policy networks in the EU. The main aim of this brief is to explore how new technology – in this case the technology making it possible to produce gas and oil from shale deposits – is about to change the situation in the regional and global energy markets and to analyse the impact of this new technology on energy governance in the EU and in member states.
Mapping EU countries’ relationships with energy suppliers, GR:EEN European Policy Brief 28
Polish and Norwegian Governance: Closing the Gaps
The report is co-authored/co-edited by a group of Polish project team members: Krzysztof Kasianiuk, Kinga Dudzińska, Grzegorz Gałczyński,Tomasz Paszewski, Dominik Smyrgała
Linking National and European Governance: Lessons for Poland and Norway, PISM Strategic File nr.17(53)
(Co-authored/co-edited with Polish members of the project team Lidia Puka, Roderick Parkes,Agata Gostyńska, Pernille Rieker, Marta Stormowska)Influencing the EU’s governance poses both a challenge and an opportunity to mid-size countries like Poland and Norway. As an analytical approach, “experimentalist governance”—with its focus on the utility of learning in a multilevel system—should offer both countries clues about influencing the European regime. Yet, the relevance of the theory to policy areas of most interest to both countries— security, energy and migration—remains unclear. As part of the GoodGov project, this paper assesses the applicability of experimentalist learning to these three fields and highlights the need for both countries to strengthen horizontal cooperation with state and non-state actors if they are to exploit it.