Opportunities for China’s Agricultural Heritage Systems under the “Digital Nomadism” Trend—A Stakeholder-Weighted Approach

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

I am submitting my review of the manuscript "Opportunities for China's Agricultural Heritage Systems under the "Digital Nomadism" trend-a Stakeholder-Weighted Approach". The article discusses digital nomadism and its potential for sustainable agriculture.

I hope that my comments will help authors to improve their papers for publication.

The authors need to be careful when stating that digital nomads can support the sustainable development of agriculture through "tourism growth, digital agriculture and spatial practices for local". Although this may be or seem true for some regions and cultures. It may be hasty to generalize.

Although the study focuses on China, it is necessary to recognize that some regions of the world are devoting substantial efforts to implementing digital technologies and human development to transform the way agriculture is done. In this case, nomads with limited knowledge of certain technologies would not add much value.

The same is true for specific agricultural crops. To specify: imagine coffee production, mainly focused on the production of specialty coffees. The processes of planting, growing, harvesting, separating, grinding and even selling are very specific. If we look at Colombian production, for example, the processes are mostly manual and require in-depth knowledge on the part of the farmers. The inclusion of digital technologies in these processes needs to happen delicately and slowly. I wonder if a digital nomad would have the time, technological know-how and cultural knowledge to bring considerable advantages to sustainable development. The same is true of China's agricultural crops.

I'm not pointing out these issues to deny your arguments. I believe that digital nomadism can generate considerable gains for various sectors, including agriculture. However, I reiterate the need to specify the limitations due to different cultures, technologies and time-spaces.

The topic needs to be discussed in relation to different countries and regions of the world. Are there differences between the different regions of China? Why? Can results from China be validated for other countries? What cultural/technological/agricultural differences enhance or limit the potential of digital nomadism in agriculture?

I also missed a more in-depth link between the subject and the current digital transformation (precision agriculture, agriculture 4.0, digital agriculture...). Does digital nomadism enhance or hinder digital transformation? Can digital nomadism support the digital transformation? Of course, given the potential of the digital transformation to boost sustainable development.

 

Also, the methodology doesn't seem to triangulate. Using interviews and data from

China-NIAHS sites and DNFs doesn't seem enough to prove what the authors are saying.

The Discussions section needs to be deepened. The topics and subtopics are poorly discussed.

 

Finally, I think it would be interesting for the authors to add a conclusions section with subtopics that discuss the limitations of the study and an agenda for future research.

Author Response

Dear Reviewer:

Thank you very much for your careful reading and the constructive comments concerning our manuscript entitled “Opportunities for China’s Agricultural Heritage Systems under the “Digital Nomadism” trend—a Stakeholder-Weighted Approach” (ID: sustainability- 2864845).

Your comments are very valuable and very helpful for improving our work, as well as the important guiding significance to our research. We have studied comments carefully and made revision with all the comments addressed in detail. 

Please see point-by-point response to all the comments in the attachment.

We sincerely hope that these revisions will effectively address all the comments, ensuring that they are appropriately incorporated. We deeply appreciate your valuable time and consideration in reviewing our revised manuscript, and we look forward to your further feedback.

 

Yours sincerely,

The authors

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The manuscript presents a novel study on the intersection of agricultural heritage systems and the emerging trend of digital nomadism, emphasising the potential for sustainable development. The subject is significant due to its capacity to synchronize economic growth, cultural conservation, and sustainable tourism within the distinctive setting of China's Agricultural Heritage Systems. The stakeholder-weighted method enhances the research by offering detailed insights that can influence policy decisions and support the comprehensive development of these significant cultural sites. However, it still has some issues that need to be addressed:

 

- Abstract - The examination of DNF ratings for 189 China-NIAHS sites and their distribution across the country are discussed in the abstract, with a focus on the significance of environmental and cultural factors. It would be advantageous, therefore, to provide particular conclusions or understandings from the investigation. What, for example, were the sites with the highest and lowest scores, and what criteria affected each one's score? According to the abstract, the study offers useful insights on environmental management, policymaking, and sustainable development. Including a sentence or two that briefly summarises these implications or how the findings might be practically used would improve the abstract.

- A smoother transition is needed from the topic of digital nomads to agricultural heritages. Enhancing coherence can be achieved by offering a statement that clearly links the two themes and explains the study's rationale for investigating this connection.

The study gaps concerning the sustainability impact of digital nomads on agricultural heritages are clearly identified. It would be beneficial to emphasise the importance of this gap and explain how filling it adds to the current knowledge base.

-The introduction would be improved by including a concise overview of current literature on digital nomadism and sustainability in agricultural heritages to give background to the study. This may involve a synopsis of significant discoveries from prior studies.

 

- The topic focuses on the geographical distribution of China-NIAHS sites that may have tourism potential or problems. Adding more particular instances or details concerning the Northwest, Northeast, and Central China regions could enrich this section. Furthermore, proposing particular policies or solutions for these areas could offer practical insights.

Adding particular instances or scenarios to the discussion on trade-offs would deepen the understanding of the issues encountered by China-NIAHS sites in balancing various metrics. This could enhance the analysis's tangibility for readers.

A quick summary of the main findings and their implications for the sustainable development of China-NIAHS sites would enhance the discussion. This can assist readers in integrating the information provided during the discussion.

 

There are two subsections labeled 4.2.1.  This might be a typographical error.

Author Response

Dear Reviewer:

Thank you very much for your careful reading and the constructive comments concerning our manuscript entitled “Opportunities for China’s Agricultural Heritage Systems under the “Digital Nomadism” trend—a Stakeholder-Weighted Approach” (ID: sustainability- 2864845).

Your comments are very valuable and very helpful for improving our work, as well as the important guiding significance to our research. We have studied comments carefully and made revision with all the comments addressed in detail. 

Please see point-by-point response to all the comments in the attachment.

We sincerely hope that these revisions will effectively address all the comments, ensuring that they are appropriately incorporated. We deeply appreciate your valuable time and consideration in reviewing our revised manuscript, and we look forward to your further feedback.

 

Yours sincerely,

The authors

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 3 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

This is an outstanding research project appropriately funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China. Their support is well worth the cost because this is a truly great research study, with great analysis, well illustrated, and of both national and international importance. it is a building foundation of new research that many others will emulate. the movement of people to rural heritage areas is key throughout the world which has experienced generations of people moving away from heritage communities to urban environments. Now people are moving to rural heritage communiites supporting their growth and contributing to their sustainability. High quality research will practical heritage development issues. It is done at a scale where the findings can be used as a part of both regional and national policies.

I would publish it as is! I would be good to have more information on why one scale is the measure for so many issues such as cultural value. Certainly there are differences, but perhaps this kind of research must make simple complex issues. This reviewer is a cultural anthropologist who is aware of the value of cultural diversity in attracting and holding heritage tourism. might be useful to address the issue of expanding some measures to include kinds of heritage communities. The list of 10 heritage areas is impressive.

Author Response

Dear Reviewer:

Thank you very much for your careful reading and the constructive comments concerning our manuscript entitled “Opportunities for China’s Agricultural Heritage Systems under the “Digital Nomadism” trend—a Stakeholder-Weighted Approach” (ID: sustainability- 2864845).

Your comments are very valuable and very helpful for improving our work, as well as the important guiding significance to our research. We have studied comments carefully and made revision with all the comments addressed in detail. 

Please see point-by-point response to all the comments in the attachment.

We sincerely hope that these revisions will effectively address all the comments, ensuring that they are appropriately incorporated. We deeply appreciate your valuable time and consideration in reviewing our revised manuscript, and we look forward to your further feedback.

 

Yours sincerely,

The authors

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 4 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Dear authors, Thanks for this paper. This study aims to explore to what extent agricultural heritages satisfy the needs of digital nomads in China. To do so, it firstly introduces the Digital Nomad-Friendly (DNF) score chosen and weighted by stakeholders based on in-depth interviews; secondly, evaluates the DNF of China-NIAHS sites, and identifies a list of DNF agricultural heritage sites in China; and lastly analyzes the distribution of these sites on a national scale in China to provide recommendations for planning and policy-making. It differs from other research by covering a large-scale, quantitative, and GIS-based analysis. The literature review is clear however, the contribution of this work's arguments theory is weak. Even though the theoretical discussion and contribution are weak, aim of the work is clearly shown and the applied method covers the analysis claimed in the argument.

Author Response

Dear Reviewer:

 

Thank you very much for your careful reading and the constructive comments concerning our manuscript entitled “Opportunities for China’s Agricultural Heritage Systems under the “Digital Nomadism” trend—a Stakeholder-Weighted Approach” (ID: sustainability- 2864845).

 

Your comments are very valuable and very helpful for improving our work, as well as the important guiding significance to our research. We have studied comments carefully and made revision with all the comments addressed in detail. 

 

Please see point-by-point response to all the comments in the attachment.

 

We sincerely hope that these revisions will effectively address all the comments, ensuring that they are appropriately incorporated. We deeply appreciate your valuable time and consideration in reviewing our revised manuscript, and we look forward to your further feedback.

 

 

 

 

Yours sincerely,

 

The authors

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Thank you for the opportunity to read the new version of this interesting study.

The authors have carefully improved the article for each comment in the previous review. 

I only suggest a final review of spelling and grammar. 

Also, please do a final review of the academic literature to see if there are recent studies that support your findings. 

Author Response

Dear reviewer,

Thank you very much for taking the time to carefully review the revised version of our manuscript. Your comments are very valuable and very constructive for improving our work.

We have conducted a thorough final review of the manuscript and addressed remaining issues with spelling and grammar.

More importantly, we added some recent literature in blue supporting our research.

Once again, thank you for your valuable feedback and suggestions. We deeply appreciate your time and consideration in reviewing our revised manuscript.

Yours sincerely,
The authors

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The authors corrected the manuscript based on the reviewer's comments. I propose publishing the manuscript Opportunities for China’s Agricultural Heritage Systems under the “Digital Nomadism” trend - a Stakeholder-Weighted Approach in the journal Sustainability.

 

Author Response

Dear reviewer, 

Thank you for your positive feedback on the revisions made in response to your comments. We deeply appreciate your valuable time and consideration in reviewing our revised manuscript. Your comments are very valuable and very constructive for improving our work.

We would be honored to have our work considered for publication in Sustainability and are grateful for your recommendation.

Warm regards,
The authors

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf