Groundwater overexploitation poses a major challenge to sustainable agricultural water management, yet the behavioral mechanisms through which different groundwater policies affect farmers’ irrigation decisions remain poorly understood. The objective of this study is to estimate the causal effects of two groundwater governance interventions in northern China—a water rights reform based on water-use quotas and a ban on new agricultural tubewell construction—and to identify the behavioral channels through which they operate. Using a household panel dataset from pilot areas in Hebei Province and Inner Mongolia, we combine difference-in-differences, multinomial logit, and two-stage least squares (2SLS) estimators to identify policy effects on irrigation water use, water-saving technology adoption, groundwater infrastructure, and irrigation water prices. The results reveal distinct behavioral responses to the two policies. The water rights reform reduces irrigation water use by approximately 430–563 m3 per ha across specifications, with the effect statistically significant in the pooled and village fixed-effects specifications and marginally significant with household fixed effects, but does not significantly affect the adoption of water-saving irrigation technologies. In contrast, the tubewell ban does not significantly reduce water use directly but increases farmers’ relative propensity to adopt large-sprinkler, micro-spray, and drip irrigation. The fixed-effects and 2SLS estimates further show that the tubewell ban significantly increases irrigation water prices by approximately 0.42–0.62 CNY per m3. Neither policy significantly affects village tubewell stocks. Estimates for household tubewell ownership are likewise statistically insignificant, but the weak instruments in the ownership equation preclude a definitive conclusion. Overall, the evidence points primarily to adjustments along the price and technology margins rather than village infrastructure. These findings suggest that quantity-based water rights regulation and groundwater-access restrictions operate through different behavioral channels and should be regarded as complementary instruments for agricultural groundwater conservation.
This study examines the spatial and temporal patterns of metal theft in Mthatha, South Africa, through an analysis of police-reported incidents, using a quantitative research design. Official police records from Mthatha Central Police Station covering a one-year period were analyzed to identify the patterns, frequency, and spatial distribution of metal theft incidents. The dataset included variables such as type of metal stolen, location, and time of occurrence. Data were cleaned, standardized, and categorized before analysis to ensure reliability and comparability. Descriptive statistics, comparative analysis, and geospatial mapping using GIS including Kernel Density Estimation (KDE), Local Moran’s I, and Getis-Ord Gi* hotspot analysis, were applied to examine temporal and spatial trends. The findings indicate that copper pipes (39.4%) and electrical cables (32.7%) were the most frequently stolen materials. Temporal analysis indicated that 56.3% of incidents with valid time-of-day information occurred at night. Spatial analysis revealed an uneven geographical distribution, with concentrations of reported incidents within and around Mthatha’s urban center. The study concludes that metal theft exhibits distinct spatial, temporal, and target-specific patterns that can inform place-based crime prevention strategies. Strengthening infrastructure protection, targeted policing, inter-agency coordination, and scrap metal transaction traceability may contribute to reducing infrastructure-related theft and enhancing sustainable urban governance and resilience.
Rural water insecurity has a clear gender dimension, as women play central roles in supplying, using, and managing water daily. However, these responsibilities do not necessarily translate into an equivalent capacity to influence decisions about the resource. This study analyzed how the scientific literature has addressed women’s participation in rural water management and governance from a gender perspective, identifying responsibilities, knowledge, forms of participation, and conditions that favored or restricted women’s ability to influence decisions. The literature selection process followed the PRISMA 2020 statement. The Scopus search, conducted on 7 July 2026, identified 311 records. After applying the document-type (Article) and publication-year (1986–2025) restrictions, 216 records remained. We included studies that analytically linked gender or women, water-related dimensions, and a rural context; title-and-abstract screening excluded 76 records, leaving 140 studies for the review. We initially analyzed these 140 studies, then conducted an in-depth full-text review of 61 studies for thematic and interpretive synthesis. We also used the 216 records for complementary author-keyword co-occurrence analysis with VOSviewer. The results indicated a thematic broadening from water management and uses toward governance, access, sustainability, and water security. They also showed that responsibility, knowledge, participation, representation, voice, influence, agency, and authority were related but non-equivalent dimensions, whose articulation depended on sociocultural, resource-related, capacity-related, institutional, and territorial conditions. The review was limited by its exclusive reliance on Scopus and by the unequal depth of information available across the included studies. More equitable rural water governance therefore requires moving beyond formal presence or participation to examine the conditions under which women’s responsibilities, knowledge, and forms of organization can translate into effective influence over water-related decisions.
Children may introduce climate-change ideas into household conversations, but survey evidence collected from parents cannot establish changes in children’s competencies or family behaviour. This quantitative, cross-sectional study examined associations among parents’ evaluations of their children’s climate-related knowledge, systems reasoning and capacity for household climate action, alongside parents’ own climate-action intentions and engagement with climate education. Questionnaire responses were obtained from 110 parents in the context of a school-based climate education initiative in Israel. Seven composite scores were computed from item-level questionnaire data. Internal consistency was examined using Cronbach’s alpha, and bivariate correlations and a heteroscedasticity-robust multiple regression were estimated. Parents’ ratings of children’s conceptual knowledge and systems reasoning correlated positively with parent-attributed child climate-action efficacy (r = 0.471 and 0.587, respectively). In a simultaneous multiple regression including six variables, systems reasoning was positively associated with parent-attributed child climate-action efficacy (B = 0.474, 95% CI [0.221, 0.727], p < 0.001); the corresponding association for conceptual knowledge was not statistically distinguishable from zero after adjustment (B = 0.126, p = 0.441). The model accounted for 45.5% of the variance in the sample (R2 = 0.455). Further construct-validation work is needed, particularly for the learning-challenges composite, which demonstrated limited internal consistency and potential item heterogeneity. The results describe patterns in parents’ concurrent judgements rather than causal programme effects, children’s directly assessed competencies, or verified household behaviour. The study illustrates the value, and methodological limits, of using parental reports to investigate the perceived intergenerational reach of climate education.
Sustainable rice production in Indonesia requires digital skills, machinery, and institutional services. Serdang Bedagai, North Sumatra, provides a major rice-producing setting with land development programs and varied machinery service arrangements. A cross-sectional survey of 340 farmers in seven subdistricts was analyzed using ordinary partial least squares structural equation modeling with 5000 bootstrap resamples. Agricultural mechanization adoption (AMA) and self-reported sustainable rice farming practices (SRF) were composites. Digital literacy (DL) was associated with AMA (β = 0.374, p < 0.001); DL, institutional support (IS), and AMA were associated with SRF (β = 0.234, 0.243, and 0.149). The IS–AMA association was non-significant (β = 0.056, p = 0.386). Removing two digital SRF indicators retained the DL–SRF association (β = 0.240, 95% CI (0.107, 0.377)) and DL → AMA → SRF indirect association (β = 0.063, 95% CI (0.024, 0.113)). The indirect association was non-significant with routine stage count and trial or routine count AMA measures. An exploratory membership comparison for Usaha Pelayanan Jasa Alat dan Mesin Pertanian (UPJA) found a stronger IS–SRF association among members (difference = 0.408, permutation p = 0.006); AMA non-invariance limits interpretation. Digital literacy development, machinery services, and institutional coordination merit integrated attention. Longitudinal evidence and objective measurements are needed to establish sustainability gains.
