This study estimates demographic resilience in local socioeconomic systems of Southern Europe using long-term population dynamics. We assume attractive places with a continuously expanding (resident) population as ‘demographically resilient’, and locations experiencing a persistent decline of population as more fragile to external shocks. Based on these premises, a comprehensive assessment of demographic resilience in more than 1000 municipalities along the urban–rural gradient in Greece, a Mediterranean country with marked regional disparities, was carried out between 1961 and 2011. Municipalities were considered representative of homogeneous local communities, especially in rural areas. The results of non-parametric correlations suggest how basic geographical gradients (coastal–inland and urban–rural) have significantly influenced the demographic resilience of Greek municipalities. These findings outline two contrasting spatial patterns that reflect (i) continuous expansion of peri-urban local communities and (ii) a particularly intense rural shrinkage, linking depopulation to land abandonment and scarce accessibility of inland districts. While long-term population growth in Greece has progressively re-shaped the intrinsic divide in urban and rural areas, the traditional gap in central and peripheral districts is still reflected in the spatial polarization between the ‘demographically resilient’, socially dynamic coastal locations and the ‘demographically fragile’ inland, economically marginal places. These results indicate the persistence of a center–periphery model characterizing long-term settlement expansion in Greece, with spatial patterns delineating ‘resilient’ and ‘fragile’ districts based essentially on infrastructures, accessibility, and amenities.

Agricultural land drainage is an instrument for growing production and a tool for the conservation of land resources. The performance of land drainage systems is thus critical for achieving sustainable agricultural production Recently, many types of software have been developed in this field for modeling and simulating the performance of these systems. SISDRENA is a simulation model of the performance of underground drainage systems. The main objectives of this paper are to simulate different combination of depths and spaces between drains and to analyze their impact on potential sugarcane productivity in the western plains of Venezuela using a land drainage system model. Therefore, three climatic scenarios were defined by annual precipitation: dry years (25% below average), normal (mean) and humid (75% above average). The scenarios were implemented in three different soil types: sandy loam, loam and silt loam, with a hydraulic conductivity of 0.19, 0.26 and 0.04 m day⁻¹, respectively. The simulation of the yield related to soil deficit (YRD) and water stress (YRW) indicated that the highest yields were reached for the larger spacing between drains and the high conductivity hydraulic of soils. In relation to the average relative productivity (YT), it was shown that in soils with a greater water retention capacity there is an inversely proportional relationship between the spacing between drains and the productivity. We concluded that in order to reach the maximum sugarcane yield, the effect of hydraulic conductivity is more important than the changes in the precipitation pattern.

Urbanization is a continuous and dynamic process which has a direct impact on ecosystems and their services provided to human society. Restriction of green areas greatly accentuates urban ecological risks, having an immediate negative impact on their viability and sustainability, on life quality and population health. Increasing population density in urban areas leads to an increasing need for space. Parallel to the tentacular development of urban agglomerations, structure, architecture and design have changed, at the expense of green spaces. The development of urban areas in several European Countries (e.g., Romania, Portugal, Sweden, amid substantial demographic growth, it was made at the expense of green areas. Historical milestones of urban and peri-urban development are also key milestones in green space strategies, both in terms of development and conversion into different land-uses. This article investigates the evolution of green infrastructure in three distinct countries in Europe. In western Romania (Timisoara urban area and its neighboring peri-urban zones) we investigate the strong correlation with the evolution of urban development and the strategies developed for improving the life quality. In central Portugal, we analyze the dynamics of green infrastructures in a peri-urban catchment close to Coimbra city Centre, driven by long term urbanization. In Sweden (Malmö city), we study the history of blue-green infrastructures such as sustainable urban drainage over the past two decades and application of this in the physical planning. We will emphasize the main key milestones in green space strategies, similitudes and differences between three urban areas located in three different bio-geographical areas.

Droughts are one of the costlier natural hazards on a year-to-year basis considering their impacts which are generally significant and widespread. Monitoring these events is a vital process in the efforts of predicting, analyzing and recovering after. A clear understanding of droughts and their behavior will improve the resilience of the affected regions and their capacity to recover after such events. It is important to note that the impacts of droughts can be as varied as the causes of droughts. Drought represents the effects of water demands unmet by the available resources. Regional characteristics of a drought, such as covered area, total water deficit, or return time, are very important in determining the phenomenon’s severity.  Worldwide, over 100 drought indices were developed, each of them with specific features and approaching different aspects of drought. In this article, several drought indices (SPI (Standardized Precipitation Index), RAI (Rainfall Anomaly Index), RDI (Reconnaissance Drought Index) and SPEI (standard index of rainfall drought)) will be used for a critical analysis of drought in the last 50 years (1968 - 2018) in western Romania (Timisoara area). These indices will be calculated using several programs (DRINC, RDIT, CLIC-MD) recently introduced in Romanian research institutions for drought estimation and monitoring. We compared the results for SPI indicating the correlations among drought indices calculated with these programs and emphasized the pros and cons for each of these tools. We also present the effects of drought in relation with land management from western Romania as well as the main key recommendations from the national strategy on mitigation of drought effects.