Technological Innovation and Mechanisation Improvement

Technological innovation is the driving force behind the development of the kiwi fruit industry. Zhouzhi County is intensifying training in orchard technologies and promoting automation across the entire production chain to advance agricultural mechanization, thereby increasing labor productivity and production efficiency. Leveraging e-commerce platforms serves as a critical means of expanding sales channels and enhancing brand recognition. Zhouzhi County should capitalize on local e-commerce conditions by collaborating with major e-commerce brands, encouraging innovative design, marketing, and brand packaging to increase brand value and add value. Additionally, hosting events like e-commerce arts festivals will fully showcase the unique strengths of Zhouzhi kiwi fruit, further boosting online sales.

Standardized Production and Brand Establishment

To enhance the economic benefits of the kiwi fruit industry, Zhouzhi County should promote the development of standardized and large-scale production. By establishing standardized production zones, concentrating efforts on project integration and technology dissemination, Zhouzhi can build production bases centered on standardized production, commercial processing, brand marketing, and industrialized operations. This will increase the yield, quality, and economic returns of kiwi fruit. Additionally, strengthening brand building is crucial; by implementing a strategy where leading enterprises drive industrial development and managing the entire industry chain—variety, quality, and brand—in a coordinated manner, market competitiveness can be significantly enhanced.

Active community conservation groups

Following the new management policy implemented by the government, many community associations and groups organised themselves and became active in raising awareness among their communities and in implementing conservation activities. These groups are active in citizen science, collecting data from several generations, in beach cleaning, seagrass replantation, plastic waste collection and upcycling.

Ecotourism development

Tourism development opportunities materialized, thanks to Mariam, the rescued baby dugong's video buzz. Native Trang province people, trained and employed in the tourism industry elsewhere in the country, came back to their hometown to open and run a homestay. They work with their relatives in the villages to provide services to their guests. These small family businesses have generated alternative incomes to local community members and helped to mitigate the conflicts related to the ban of destructive fishing gears and practices.

Mariam, an orphan baby dugong, was brought to the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources, where she was taken care of. At the time, the Department issued a new policy to conserve and protect dugongs. A video of Mariam was posted on social media and went viral. People found her so cute that they wanted to come and visit her, and more broadly see the Andaman coast. This coastal region in Thailand became an important tourist destination.

Updated management policy

The government decided to act in order to prevent further destruction of natural resources. A new management policy was created and implemented, that banned destructive fishing practices, such as trawling in seabed areas, harmful fishing gears along with the offshore and coastal areas. 

At the time, it negatively impacted local fishers, which generated social conflicts. The local Fishery Association and the government together tried to find solutions to mitigate the effects on certain groups of fishers’ livelihoods. At the same time they engaged in law enforcement activities together with the authorities.

Fishing boats resting at low tide
Updated management policy
Ecotourism development
Active community conservation groups
Fishing boats resting at low tide
Updated management policy
Ecotourism development
Active community conservation groups
City renewal strategy

Three-levels of a Co-living community

By implementing a three-level urban renewal strategy of shared neighborhood, shared courtyard, and shared building, the scattered and limited spaces in the Fayuan Temple area are organized.A top-down communal living system is established to solve the difficulties of residents' relocation, outdated infrastructure, and the protection and utilization of historical buildings. 

Shared Neighborhood

We analyzed the activity paths of different groups of people in the Fayuansi neighborhoods. The clear functional division of different areas leads to lack of intersection among various groups, which invisibly forms social barriers and is not conducive to long-term development of the city.

In the shared neighborhood, the entire block is taken as a shared space and considered as a whole, with a management center as the core to lead the co-living system. By dispersing the public functions throughout the block, the daily life of the local residents in the block has been transformed into a distinctive experiential tourism product. Overlapping activities are happening in composite physical spaces, which generates continuous energy for the neighborhood.

Shared Courtyard

The current living condition inside the courtyards is barely acceptable. Illegal construction such as kitchens and bathrooms has become a common phenomenon and the importance of public spaces are severely downgraded. There is hardly any public spaces left other than basic transportation space. 

Most of the young generations have moved out. Among the remaining residents , elderly and young children are the majority as well as some short-term tenants. The continuous reduction of vitality among the neiborhood has become an attention-grabbing problem.

While improving the overall courtyard environment, priority is given to ensuring the basic living needs of residents. This project adopts a four-step (evaluation, repair, demolition, and addition) measure of courtyard renovation. As the number of vacated households increases, existing illegal buildings will be demolished and public service facilities such as shared kitchens and shared laundry rooms will be added. These facilities will be integrated with internal courtyards and public green spaces to form a pubic core for the neighborhood.

Shared House

The vacant houses in the Fayuan Temple district are all made up with "rooms" with various ownerships. Using "room" as a basic unit for renovation is an effective way to reduce the risk of conflicts regarding property ownerships, and also flexible units can better adapt to the living needs of different types of people. By analyzing the dimensions of the courtyards, a 10-12 square-meter room unit was determined as a standard renewal module. The combination of dual and multiple units enables the possibilities for various functions such as long-term apartment, youth hostel, and Café etc.

 

Public participation

During the 2019 Beijing International Design Week, we invited the local citizens from the nearby neighborhoods to participate in the workshop of "urban additions and subtractions" in order to collect public opinions and expectations for the renovation of Fayuan Temple district.

The followings are the conclusions that we drawn from the interviews and questionnaires collected from the workshop.

  • For the multiple choice question of “What do you want to add to the district?” , pocket parks were selected the most by 19.78% of the participants.
  • Many of the citizens complained that the space within Hutong (the Alley) was cramped and lack of greenery.
  • The inhabitants of Hutong complained that the public restrooms and markets were relatively far, it can hardly meet the daily needs.
  • Many of the inhabitants expected more communication and social space within the neighborhood.
  • A majority of the inhabitants deemed that the amusement facilities for children and fitness equipment for the public were not sufficient.

The visitors of Hutong claimed that the hotels and recreational facilities were not sufficient to support the basic tourism needs.

District Pasture Commission-platform for involving stakeholders to discuss pasture issues

In the framework of the project, in terms of achieving sustainable management of forest pastures, a District Pasture Commission (DPC) was established to discuss and make necessary decisions at the level of the administrative territory of Bazar-Korgon district. The Commission consists of directors of forestry services, heads of pasture committees, representatives of the district state administration, district department of agrarian development, and members of the district association of pasture committees.

The main task of the committee is to regulate the sustainable management of pasture resources at the level of one district. 

Meetings of the District Pasture Commission(DPC) are held as needed, but at least three times a year.

In the meetings of the District Pasture Commission at the district level, there are discussed urgent issues on pasture use, interaction between forest services, pasture committees and rural municipalities.

Decisions of the district pasture commission are recorded in the protocols and are required for all members of the commission.

Since the existence of the district pasture commission, many issues were discussed and decisions were made. The agenda of the DPC meeting mainly includes such pressing issues on pastures as:

The main issues of discussion at the DPC were the following:

  • Information on pasture capacity and grazing rates
  • Access to new pastures
  • Timing of moving cattle to SLF pastures
  • DPC's contribution to infrastructure development
  • Provision of information on pasture users by pasture committees
  • Allocation of pastures within forestry farms
  • Procedures for issuing pasture tickets
  • Collection and payment for pasture use
  • Control of animal diseases
  • Organization of resting places for livestock when moving to pastures
  • Review of the implementation of the tasks to identify problems

All decisions of the District Pasture Commission are accompanied by relevant orders from the District State Administration, which gives the activities legal status and efficiency in the implementation of the decisions. 

Formally, the legal status of commission decisions is that of a ‘recommendation’, but the District Administration can issue an order to implement the DPC decisions, and that order is legally binding. The DPC therefore plays a consultative role, involving diverse stakeholders to (a) facilitate the flow of information among stakeholders, (b) represent stakeholders’ interests in consultations on the allocation of grazing rights to different communities and on pasture management plans, (c) generate consensus on allocation of grazing rights and pasture management plans, (d) resolve disputes, and (e) enable stakeholders to have oversight of the management of SFF pasture resources by the FMUs and PCs.

The District pasture commission also has limitations. First and foremost, the commission cannot significantly reduce demand for pastures in the forest areas. This is because livestock numbers and increases in livestock overall are driven by economic factors that cannot be addressed by the DPC, and there is limited opportunity to increase the supply of pastures. 

At national level, there is agreement that the DPC should be effective in conflict management, demonstrate ability to make and implement decisions, and have added value in comparison to existing institutions or mechanisms. Based on the expectations of national partners for the DPC, as well as feedback from the local stakeholders, the commission has added value because:

(1) The DPC is able to convene multiple stakeholders to coordinate, negotiate, generate consensus and make decisions, whereas no other actor has the same convening power;

(2) The decisions of the DPC and orders of the district administration are mandatory for all actors to implement on district level;

(3) The DPC is able to make decisions on numerous aspects of the annual grazing cycle that require coordinated action among stakeholders.