In marginalized ecosystem-dependent rural communities, access to ecosystem services plays a crucial role in achieving sustainable livelihoods. This study was conducted to find out the influence of various livelihood capital components on the access mechanism for forest-based Provisioning Services (PS) in some selected villages of the Gosaba Block on the fringes of the Sundarban. The contribution of the livelihood capitals to gain access to Provisioning Services (PS) was identified using factor analysis on 160 households, selected through cluster random sampling. The sustainability levels of livelihood capitals were analyzed using the Prescott-Allen method (2001). The natural, financial, social, and physical capitals were significantly below average, while the human capital was close to average. Enhancement of human, physical, financial, and social capital, ease in issuing Biometric Fisherman cards for entering forests, flexibility in borrowing loans, and ecotourism by involving local villagers must be encouraged to enhance forest-based provisioning services in the near future.

Entomopathogens are microorganisms that pathogenic to insect pest. Several species of naturally occurring viz; fungi, bacteria, viruses and nematodes, infect a variety of insect pests and play an important role in agricultural crops controlling insect pest management.  This kind of biopesticide has many advantages and alternative to chemical insecticides, highly specific, safe, and environmentally sustainable. Pest problems are an almost inevitable part of agriculture. They occur largely because agricultural systems are simplified and modifications of natural ecosystems. Viruses, bacteria are host specific and fungi generally have broader host range and can infect both underground and aboveground pests, soil-dwelling nature nematodes are more suitable for managing soil pests. Growing crops in monoculture provides concentrated food resource that allows pest populations to achieve higher densities in natural environments. Some of the most important problems occur when pests develop resistance to chemical pesticides. These cause highly significant damage to crops, there are also threats from emerging new strains of pests. Crops cultivation can make the physico-chemical environment more favourable for pest activity. Agricultural pests are reducing the yield and quality of produce by feeding on crops, transmitting diseases. Agricultural production significantly loss crop yields, suggest that improvements in pest management are significant forward for improving yields. Crop growers are under immense pressure to reduce the use of chemical pesticides without sacrificing yields, but at the same time manage of pests is becoming difficult due to pesticide resistance and the decreasing availability of products. Alternative methods are needed urgently. These need to be used as part of Integrated Pest Management safety and environmental impact.  

Localization is globally accepted as the strategy towards attaining the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In this article, we put forth the South Indian state of Kerala as a true executor of the localization of SDGs owing to her foundational framework of decentralized governance. We attempt to understand how the course of decentralization acts as a development trajectory and how it has paved the way for the effective assimilation of localization principles post-2015 by reviewing the state documents based on the framework propounded by the United Nations. We theorize that the well-established decentralization mechanism, with delegated institutions and functions thereof, encompasses overlapping mandates with the SDGs. Further, through the tools of development plan formulation, good governance, and community participation at decentralized levels, Kerala could easily adapt to localization, concocting output through innovative measures of convergence, monitoring, and incentivization carried out through the pre-existing platforms and processes. The article proves that constant and concerted efforts undertaken by Kerala through her meticulous and action-oriented decentralized system aided the localization of SDGs and provides an answer to the remarkable feat that the state has achieved through the consecutive four times achievements in the state scores of SDG India Index.

This study aims to explore the feasibility of using virtual reality technology to educate students with learning difficulties in the Asir region. To achieve the study aims, the researcher employed a descriptive design and deployed a quantitative technique, depending on the questionnaire as the main instrument for data collection. The research was carried out on a cohort of 240 educators hailing from the Asir region who were enlisted through a process of random sampling. The results of this study show that factors like infrastructure, human resources, administrative regulation, and student population have an impact on the use of virtual reality technology. The results suggest that there are no statistically significant differences in the development of using virtual reality technology among teachers of students with learning disabilities in the Asir region when taking into account factors such as experience and level of qualification.

The present paper discusses the case of the Madrid Nuevo Norte Project (MNNP) in order to examine the relation of this mega-project with the city’s sustainable development. For this reason, the study used a qualitative approach using semi-structural interviews with experts (Madrid’s town hall, Madrid State, and the program management office and other external) that relayed strongly with MNNP. The expert panel requirements are split in six expertise areas: sustainability, urban development, urban planning, government or public affairs, project management or Madrid Nuevo Norte (MNN) key stakeholders. The study highlighted the vital importance of MNNP as a flagship sustainable project for the rest of Europe, that meets sustainability criteria for contributing substantially in the improvement of the quality of life of final users and for the community in general. For instance, it contributes to the regeneration of the city’s degraded area, to the interconnection of an isolated part of the city and public transportation connection, improving the external image of Madrid. Despite of it, there are some challenges that should be carefully managed such as applying sustainable solutions from other cities not properly tailored to Madrid, housing pricing accessibility increase due to the lack of terrain in Madrid and the politization of the project as discussion topic between local parties. In this context, local authorities should give particular emphasis in complying with the principles of sustainability for improving the overall performance of MNNP, ensuring social justice and prosperity for the people of Madrid.