Suchergebnisse

Part I. Agriculture, Biomass, Foods and Beverages -- 1. Key factors of Digital agriculture on competitiveness, sustainability, and safety areas -- 2. Precision Agriculture technologies in the Italian agricultural context. A study on the rate of knowledge and diffusion among Italian farmers -- 3. The Role of Technological Innovations for Agrifood Resilience: A Systematic Literature Review -- 4. The agri-food products life cycle: the technological dimension role in an open innovation perspective -- 5. Innovation in the food sector: development prospects for synthetic meat production -- 6. Valorization strategies of technological and therapeutic properties of orange by-products -- 7. Circular economy in the agri-food industry. How social media create engagement -- 8. Circular urban food policies: the "Food in the circular city" model promoted by the city of Prato -- 9. S-LCA applied in a research project and social conditionality of the new Common Agriculture Policy 2023-2027 -- 10. The S-LCA applied in a research project: "smallholders including farmers" impact subcategory -- 11. The potential of soil carbon sequestration: International and national soil carbon projects -- 12. Eco-innovation and digitalization of agri-food companies towards the circular economy: A pilot project for the evaluation of the impacts and circularity indicators for the agri-food chain -- 13. Application of the DNSH principle to the restoration and enhancement of a historical garden: the project "Well-being and spirituality: Orto-giardino Laudato Sì" -- 14. The adoption of information systems for the analysis of the life cycle of hazelnuts -- 15. Sweet chestnut fractions from sustainable circular process for the control of phytopathogenic oomycetes -- 16. A circular bioeconomy chain: indicators applied to the sustainable production of microalgae for industrial purposes -- 17. The ILCIDAF project for the development of an Italian Database of Life Cycle Inventory of agri-food products: the wheat milling phase -- 18. Life Cycle Inventory data for the Italian olive oil supply chain: how to ensure representativeness -- 19. Carbon Footprint of seasonal meals: the case of school canteens -- 20. Water Footprint of agri-food products from MENA countries vs. EU -- 21. The air indicator of VIVA certification for the sustainability of Italian wine: analysis and perspectives -- 22. Environmental accounting for the circularization of the packaged water sector in Italy -- 23. Recent evolutions in food consumption patterns during the Covid-19 emergency. The emerging market of Food Delivery and its implications on food quality -- 24. Foods Supplements: quality assessment of formulations by expert panel -- 25. Wine quality improvement based on the perception of Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) and Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) - evidence from Bulgaria -- 26. Multi-elemental characterisation and multivariate analysis of Venetian Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) wines -- 27. Study of the volatile component and the flavonoid content of edible flowers -- 28. The cultivation of Iris pallida as an opportunity for the enhancement of Tuscan agro-biodiversity and a resource for the local economy -- 29. Honey Production in Italy: Quality, Sustainability, and Innovation Strategies of Companies in the Abruzzo Region -- 30. Determination of bioactive compounds in Italian honeydew honeys -- 31. Comparison of the carotenoid content in durum wheat pasta and wholewheat pasta by multivariate analysis -- 32. The likely effect of the rise in global temperature on cheese safety -- 33. Tomato supply chain and production quality control for international markets -- 34. Sustainability of rural supply chains in Nepal: selection, characterization and labelling of spices for the local market -- 35. Carob leaves extracts as new ingredients in the food field: extraction, characterization and antioxidant features -- 36. Carob Pods as Source of Bioactive Molecules in the Preparation of Functional Jelly -- 37. Crocus sativus L. flowers valorisation as sources of bioactive compounds -- Part II. Consumers' awareness, and behaviors -- 38. An empirical study to understand if sustainable consumers have sustainable behaviours -- 39. Greenwashing and consumer awareness on environmental issues: a pilot analysis -- 40. What factors influence post-Covid-19 consumer purchase habits? An empirical survey in the Italian agri-food sector -- 41. Towards a sustainable diet: the profile of vegan and vegetarian Italian consumers -- 42. Not in My Backyard or Please in My Backyard? A PRISMA-based literature review -- 43. From knowledge to consumption: how consumers perceive of the food quality -- 44. Exploring consumer and company perceptions of the use of digital technologies for traceability -- 45. Functional properties and preferences of consumption of honeys from different origin -- 46. Food safety and insect food: a preliminary consumers' indication -- Part III. Digitalization -- 47. Digital Innovation Ecosystems: a Systematic Literature Review and a New Definition -- 48. Smart City and Internet of Things -- 49. Digital transformation in companies and human resource management -- 50. "Everything-as-a-service": l'evoluzione del mercato privato dei beni in piattaforma pubblica di servizi -- 51. Supply chain 4.0: lean six sigma, industry 4.0 technologies and circular supply chain applied to an italian hospital case study -- 52. Bibliometric Analysis and Topic Modeling of the literature on Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare -- 53. Digital innovation in the healthcare system: integration between blockchain and artificial intelligence -- 54. The role of multi-stakeholder platforms in the path towards Circular Economy (CE) transition in Europe -- 55. Green Smart Manufacturing: potentials and limits towards Industry 5.0 -- 56. The use of unmanned aerial systems in environmental monitoring -- Part IV. Circular economy and sustainability issues in several sectors -- 57. Natural gas supply in Italy: analysis and perspectives -- 58. The agro-photovoltaic sector as a possible implementation tool in Sicilian energy transition -- 59. Redevelopment of industrial brownfields through green hydrogen: evolution and criticalities -- 60. Life Cycle Assessment and Life Cycle Costing of a unitized regenerative fuel cell stack: a preliminary study -- 61. A Hypothesis of a Lean Warehouse Design for an Italian Textile-Apparel Company -- 62. Textile industry between past and future in the 'Museo Merceologico' (MuMe) -- 63. Production and consumption trends in the European textile sector and main sustainability challenges -- 64. The future of the Italian tanning industry considering the recent geopolitical crisis -- 65. Risk assessment and life cycle approach to optimize the sustainability performance of leather products.

Зазначено, що створення конкурентоспроможного агропродовольчого виробництва неможливо без посилення ролі держави та підтримки аграрного сектора економіки України. Визначено, що необхідність забезпечення продовольчої безпеки, низька конкурентоспроможність і продуктивність галузі, низький рівень оплати праці працівників села тощо є основними причинами держрегулювання сільського господарства. Описано, що нині є виправданим посилення регулюючого впливу з боку держави на розвиток сільської економіки, якнайшвидше впровадження відповідної програми державного регулювання і підтримки цієї важливої галузі. Зауважено, що існує необхідність істотної зміни стратегії і тактики реформ загалом, аграрної реформи зокрема, що пов'язано з посиленням державного регулювання продовольчого ринку, переорієнтацією капіталу з торгових і фінансових галузей на вкладення у виробничу сферу в АПК і залучення іноземних інвестицій. Підсумовано, що у сучасних умовах чітко простежується прагнення законодавця посилити економічні та соціальні функції державного регулювання продовольчого ринку як керованого і регульованого механізму вільного руху сільськогосподарської продукції і товарів, функціонування якого забезпечується єдиними нормами і правилами, які регулюють підприємницьку діяльність суб'єктів продовольчого ринку. ; Problem setting. Problems of state regulation of the agrarian sector in Ukraine are important in connection with the transition to the market. As you know, agriculture is a special industry whose incomes, based on its no monopoly nature, are always lagging behind other industries. In almost all countries, agriculture is one of the most state-supported industries.State regulation is a system of standard measures of legislative, executive and supervisory nature, carried out by authorized state bodies in order to stabilize and adapt the existing socio-economic system to changing conditions.According to experts, stabilization of agriculture in itself cannot occur by itself. Agriculture is able to revive only with active state support. The most widely practiced in the world measures of state support for the ago-industrial complex, grouped according to the target.Recent research and publications analysis. Тhe problem of research on state support for agricultural production involves many scientists, in particular: V. Andrich, V. Boyce, P. Godowsky, B. Krasnik, Y. Luzon, V. Messel-Visalia, O. Mogilny, A. Stelmashchuk, P. Sabluk, G. Cherkovsky and others, who in their works substantiated the need for state support to the agrarian sector, and also proposed ways to improve the system of budget financing of agriculture.Highlighting previously unsettled parts of the general problem. Despite an active study of this problem, it is expedient to justify the need for state support to agriculture, as well as proposals for improving its budget financing system. Theoretical and methodical aspects of the problem of forming the mechanism of state support of the agrarian sphere remain inadequately investigated and require further in-depth study.Paper main body. An important task of state regulation should be to assist agricultural producers in adapting to market conditions, which should be pursued in two main directions:1) assistance in restructuring the production and assisting commodity producers in entering the market; developing a system of social insurance in the countryside and forming innovative business directions;2) improvement of the skills of employees, creation of advisory services.In the first direction, the state, based on the analysis of the market situation, has either to promote, or, conversely, to hold the formation of individual industries. In addition, it is possible to re-profile the enterprises that produce unpredictable (non-profitable) goods in a competitive manner, while compensations may be paid through reduced production volumes. In subsidized regions where surplus production is produced by objective factors, it is necessary to provide subsidies to commodity producers that compensate for the decrease in profits.It is necessary to stimulate the formation of folk crafts, subsidiary farms, the development of tourism, to contribute to the study of unique resources that are in this area. The state is called on to promote the development of market infrastructure necessary for the existence of a market structure, to support the formation of independent intermediary structures, the organization of wholesale trade, in particular the wholesale food markets, the creation of guarantee service systems that operate on market principles, and improve the information infrastructure of the market.Creating an information system is in fact considered a privilege of the state. It is necessary to improve the state financial and analytical service in the agroindustrial complex, which would allow the economic actors of the industry to function most effectively, orienting themselves in the market situation, and as a result – reasonably and thoughtfully act in modern conditions.Regarding the regulation of foreign economic policy it is necessary to increase the number and variety of tariffs, while taking into account the seasonality of production in improving import duties; it is necessary to use special and mixed duties, as well as to raise the level of tariff policy by types of agricultural products and foodstuffs; to establish the import of a sufficient quantity of products that meets the needs of the population; develop a concept and model of a long-term food program; it is necessary to develop state and local programs that will expand the export of agricultural products and agriculture as an important source of investments, which include the system of state support, that is, the system of export credits and subsidies.Conclusions of the research and prospects for further studies. Almost all publications devoted to the problems of agrarian and industrial complex, shows a lot of facts that indicate the regression observed in the industry, the lack of financial resources to solve the problems faced by the ago-industry complex, the almost universal ubiquity of agricultural production, etc.Almost all economists are talking about the earliest need for stabilization of the food situation, and start solving this issue is necessary with the lifting of the ago-industrial complex.However, most of the farms and the state practically do not have the means to solve this problem. Thus, state regulation of the economy in the agricultural sector is understood as a system for collecting economic information and a mechanism for making economic decisions on the basis of its analysis, which includes a mechanism for resolving acute contradictions, the use of public procurement (government procurement), the impact of emissions and various methods lending, planning (certain types of economic activity) and conducting foreign economic policy, social support.

Зазначено, що створення конкурентоспроможного агропродовольчого виробництва неможливо без посилення ролі держави та підтримки аграрного сектора економіки України. Визначено, що необхідність забезпечення продовольчої безпеки, низька конкурентоспроможність і продуктивність галузі, низький рівень оплати праці працівників села тощо є основними причинами держрегулювання сільського господарства. Описано, що нині є виправданим посилення регулюючого впливу з боку держави на розвиток сільської економіки, якнайшвидше впровадження відповідної програми державного регулювання і підтримки цієї важливої галузі. Зауважено, що існує необхідність істотної зміни стратегії і тактики реформ загалом, аграрної реформи зокрема, що пов'язано з посиленням державного регулювання продовольчого ринку, переорієнтацією капіталу з торгових і фінансових галузей на вкладення у виробничу сферу в АПК і залучення іноземних інвестицій. Підсумовано, що у сучасних умовах чітко простежується прагнення законодавця посилити економічні та соціальні функції державного регулювання продовольчого ринку як керованого і регульованого механізму вільного руху сільськогосподарської продукції і товарів, функціонування якого забезпечується єдиними нормами і правилами, які регулюють підприємницьку діяльність суб'єктів продовольчого ринку. ; Problem setting. Problems of state regulation of the agrarian sector in Ukraine are important in connection with the transition to the market. As you know, agriculture is a special industry whose incomes, based on its no monopoly nature, are always lagging behind other industries. In almost all countries, agriculture is one of the most state-supported industries.State regulation is a system of standard measures of legislative, executive and supervisory nature, carried out by authorized state bodies in order to stabilize and adapt the existing socio-economic system to changing conditions.According to experts, stabilization of agriculture in itself cannot occur by itself. Agriculture is able to revive only with active state support. The most widely practiced in the world measures of state support for the ago-industrial complex, grouped according to the target.Recent research and publications analysis. Тhe problem of research on state support for agricultural production involves many scientists, in particular: V. Andrich, V. Boyce, P. Godowsky, B. Krasnik, Y. Luzon, V. Messel-Visalia, O. Mogilny, A. Stelmashchuk, P. Sabluk, G. Cherkovsky and others, who in their works substantiated the need for state support to the agrarian sector, and also proposed ways to improve the system of budget financing of agriculture.Highlighting previously unsettled parts of the general problem. Despite an active study of this problem, it is expedient to justify the need for state support to agriculture, as well as proposals for improving its budget financing system. Theoretical and methodical aspects of the problem of forming the mechanism of state support of the agrarian sphere remain inadequately investigated and require further in-depth study.Paper main body. An important task of state regulation should be to assist agricultural producers in adapting to market conditions, which should be pursued in two main directions:1) assistance in restructuring the production and assisting commodity producers in entering the market; developing a system of social insurance in the countryside and forming innovative business directions;2) improvement of the skills of employees, creation of advisory services.In the first direction, the state, based on the analysis of the market situation, has either to promote, or, conversely, to hold the formation of individual industries. In addition, it is possible to re-profile the enterprises that produce unpredictable (non-profitable) goods in a competitive manner, while compensations may be paid through reduced production volumes. In subsidized regions where surplus production is produced by objective factors, it is necessary to provide subsidies to commodity producers that compensate for the decrease in profits.It is necessary to stimulate the formation of folk crafts, subsidiary farms, the development of tourism, to contribute to the study of unique resources that are in this area. The state is called on to promote the development of market infrastructure necessary for the existence of a market structure, to support the formation of independent intermediary structures, the organization of wholesale trade, in particular the wholesale food markets, the creation of guarantee service systems that operate on market principles, and improve the information infrastructure of the market.Creating an information system is in fact considered a privilege of the state. It is necessary to improve the state financial and analytical service in the agroindustrial complex, which would allow the economic actors of the industry to function most effectively, orienting themselves in the market situation, and as a result – reasonably and thoughtfully act in modern conditions.Regarding the regulation of foreign economic policy it is necessary to increase the number and variety of tariffs, while taking into account the seasonality of production in improving import duties; it is necessary to use special and mixed duties, as well as to raise the level of tariff policy by types of agricultural products and foodstuffs; to establish the import of a sufficient quantity of products that meets the needs of the population; develop a concept and model of a long-term food program; it is necessary to develop state and local programs that will expand the export of agricultural products and agriculture as an important source of investments, which include the system of state support, that is, the system of export credits and subsidies.Conclusions of the research and prospects for further studies. Almost all publications devoted to the problems of agrarian and industrial complex, shows a lot of facts that indicate the regression observed in the industry, the lack of financial resources to solve the problems faced by the ago-industry complex, the almost universal ubiquity of agricultural production, etc.Almost all economists are talking about the earliest need for stabilization of the food situation, and start solving this issue is necessary with the lifting of the ago-industrial complex.However, most of the farms and the state practically do not have the means to solve this problem. Thus, state regulation of the economy in the agricultural sector is understood as a system for collecting economic information and a mechanism for making economic decisions on the basis of its analysis, which includes a mechanism for resolving acute contradictions, the use of public procurement (government procurement), the impact of emissions and various methods lending, planning (certain types of economic activity) and conducting foreign economic policy, social support.

This book presents a series of essays, drawing on the twm concepts of ecosystem management and landscape approaches, to elucidate and reflect on the present situation and future evolution of Mediterranean islands. This publication brings together contributions from Mediterranean individuals, non-Mediterranean individuals, islanders and non-islanders there is, after all, no geographical limit on who and what we can learn from. The essays presented here each contribute a specific perspective on the future evolution of Mediterranean islands. This book presents a series of essays, drawing on the twin concepts of ecosystem management and landscape approaches, to elucidate and reflect on the present situation and future evolution of Mediterranean islands. This publication brings together contributions from Mediterranean individuals, non-Mediterranean individuals, islanders and non-islanders; there is, after all, no geographical limit on who and what we can learn from. The essays presented here each contribute a specific perspective on the future evolution of Mediterranean islands. Following this introductory chapter, the first section of the book focuses on the contributions that can be made by the discipline of landscape ecology. loannis Vogiatzakis and Geoffrey Griffiths first explain the concepts and relevance of landscape ecology, also presenting and discussing a range of applied tools that can facilitate landscape planning in Mediterranean islands. Louis F. Cassar then reviews the 'offshoot' discipline of restoration ecology, making a strong case for offsetting the environmental damage inflicted on natural ecosystems over millennia of human occupation, with constructive efforts to effectively restore and/or rehabilitate ecosystems. The two following chapters bring the socio-economic dimension into the discussion. Godfrey Baldacchino first presents two contrasting paradigms for the development of island territories, reviewing the dual influences of ecological and economic factors, and exploring ways in which the two can be brought together in successful development strategies. Gordon Cordina and Nadia Farrugia then address the demographic dimension of development, presenting a model to explain the economic costs of high population densities on islands. The third block of chapters expands on the relevance of social and cultural dynamics to the management of Mediterranean Islands. Isil Cakcï, Nur Belkayali and Ilkden Tazebay explain the evolution of the concept of a 'cultural landscape', focusing on the challenges of managing change in landscapes with strong heritage values. The chapter concludes with a case study on the Turkish island of Gökçeada (lmbros), which is experiencing major challenges in balancing the conservation of a cultural landscape on the one hand, and the management of inevitable change, on the other. Elisabeth Conrad then discusses the role of social capital in managing the landscape resources of Mediterranean islands, reviewing the potential for this intangible social fabric to facilitate or impede the sustainable evolution of island territories. The fourth section includes four chapters, each of which addresses a different aspect relevant to policy development and implementation in Mediterranean islands. Salvino Busuttil presents an essay outlining the political influences on the management of coastal landscapes, the latter so relevant to Mediterranean island territories. The essay derives from the author's professional experience in various policy-related institutions for environmental management within the Mediterranean region. Maggie Roe then reflects on issues of landscape sustainability, focusing on the neglected aspect of intelligence. She discusses ways in which landscape research, knowledge and understanding can feed directly into frameworks for 'sustainable' landscape planning. In the subsequent chapter, Adrian Phillips takes from his substantial experience with international landscape policy, reviewing the gradual emergence of international and national landscape 'tools', to draw out lessons for application in Mediterranean islands. In the final chapter of this section, Riccardo Priore and Damiano Galla present a comprehensive discussion of the European Landscape Convention, the first international instrument to focus exclusively on landscape. The authors explain the innovative character of this convention, and discuss its potential implementation in Mediterranean islands. The publication concludes with a series of case studies, highlighting specific constraints, experiences and opportunities in different Mediterranean islands. Theano Terkenli explores the landscapes of tourism in Mediterranean islands - perhaps no other industry has played such a fundamental role in shaping the evolution of Mediterranean landscapes in recent years. The author reviews the theoretical relationship between landscape and tourism across Mediterranean islands, before focusing on the specific case of the Greek Cycladic islands. In the following chapter, Alex Camilleri, Isabella Colombini and Lorenzo Chelazzi present an in-depth review of the context and challenges being faced on a number of minor Mediterranean islands, namely those of the Tuscan archipelago (Elba, Giglio, Capraia, Montecristo, Pianosa, Gorgona and Giannutri), and Comino, the latter forming part of the Maltese archipelago. The comparison between these various islands enables an appreciation of both commonalities across these islands, as well as considerations that are specific to the context of each in dividual island. JeremyBoissevain then adopts an anthropological lens to review the cautionary tale of landscape change in Malta, exploring underlying causes of landscape destruction and limited civil engagement. In the subsequent chapter, Jala Makhzoumi outlines the richness of Mediterranean islands' rural landscapes, focusing on olive landscapes in Cyprus. Her research demonstrates the economic and ecological robustness of various olive cultivation practices, and whilst warning of several threats to such sustainable regimes, she outlines strategies for reconfiguring our approach to rural heritage, in order to integrate such assets into sustainable development strategies. Finally, Stephen Morse concludes the section with an evaluation of sustainable development indicators, and the contribution that these can make towards enhancing the management of Mediterranean island territories. He illustrates his arguments with reference to the two island states of Malta and Cyprus. To conclude, in the final chapter of this publication, we review key insights emerging from the various chapters, and summarize considerations for ecosystem management and sustainable development in Mediterranean Islands. We truly hope that this publication makes some contribution towards safeguarding the "magic' of Mediterranean islands, whilst embracing their dynamic characteristics. ; Published under the patronage of UNESCO and with the support of the Maltese National Commission for UNESCO ; peer-reviewed

Program Ibu Inspirasi adalah program pengentasan kemiskinan yang digagas Kopernik di wilayah Nusa Tenggara Timur. Kemiskinan yang ada di Nusa Tenggara Timur disebabkan oleh keterbatasan informasi mengenai hak-hak perempuan serta kesenjangan informasi mengenai teknologi tepat guna. Maka dari itu, Kopernik berusaha mengentaskan kemiskinan melalui kerjasama dengan beberapa pihak. Dalam Program Ibu Inspirasi, Kopernik bekerjasama dengan organisasi lokal serta pemerintah untuk mensosialisasikan program serta teknologi-teknologi yang dibawa Kopernik. Program ini berupaya mengentaskan kemiskinan melalui pembangunan diri perempuan hingga akhirnya dapat berkontribusi lebih dalam rumah tangganya. Program Ibu Inspirasi juga bertujuan untuk meningkatkan partisipasi perempuan di ranah masyarakat. Pemberdayaan yang dilakukan oleh Kopernik melalui Program Ibu Inspirasi merupakan pemberdayaan yang terbilang unik, karena tidak hanya bertujuan untuk mengajarkan keterampilan hingga para ibu bisa membantu keluarganya secara finansial, tetapi juga turut mempromosikan energi bersih yang baik untuk lingkungan. Pemberdayaan perempuan merupakan usaha pengentasan kemiskinan melalui pembangunan kapasitas perempuan. Salah satu cara membangun kapasitas tersebut adalah dengan meningkatkan kesadaran mereka mengenai banyak hal yang selama ini tertutup oleh pemakluman budaya-budaya yang berkembang di masyarakat. Pemahaman yang tertanam sejak dulu seringkali membuat pemberdayaan perempuan disalahartikan oleh orang awam. Memberdayakan para ibu dengan nilai-nilai patriarki yang begitu melekat di wilayah terpencil sambil mengenalkan teknologi tepat guna yang berbasis energi bersih. The Inspiration Program is a poverty alleviation program initiated by Kopernik in the East Nusa Tenggara region. Poverty in East Nusa Tenggara is caused by limited information about women's rights and information gaps regarding appropriate technology. Therefore, Kopernik seeks to alleviate poverty through collaboration with several parties. In the Inspiration Program, Kopernik collaborates with local organizations and the government to socialize programs and technologies brought by Kopernik. This program seeks to alleviate poverty through the development of women themselves to finally be able to contribute more in their households. The Inspiration Program also aims to increase women's participation in the community. Empowerment carried out by Kopernik through the Inspiration Program is an unique empowerment, because it does not only aim at teaching skills so that mothers can help their families financially, but also help promote clean energy that is good for the environment. Women's empowerment is an effort to alleviate poverty through building women's capacity. One way to build this capacity is to increase their awareness of many things that have been covered up by the understanding of cultures that develop in the community. Understanding that has been embedded since a long time ago often makes women's empowerment misinterpreted by ordinary people. Empowering mothers with patriarchal values that are so inherent in remote areas while introducing appropriate energy-based clean technology. ; Program Ibu Inspirasi adalah program pengentasan kemiskinan yang digagas Kopernik di wilayah Nusa Tenggara Timur. Kemiskinan yang ada di Nusa Tenggara Timur disebabkan oleh keterbatasan informasi mengenai hak-hak perempuan serta kesenjangan informasi mengenai teknologi tepat guna. Maka dari itu, Kopernik berusaha mengentaskan kemiskinan melalui kerjasama dengan beberapa pihak. Dalam Program Ibu Inspirasi, Kopernik bekerjasama dengan organisasi lokal serta pemerintah untuk mensosialisasikan program serta teknologi-teknologi yang dibawa Kopernik. Program ini berupaya mengentaskan kemiskinan melalui pembangunan diri perempuan hingga akhirnya dapat berkontribusi lebih dalam rumah tangganya. Program Ibu Inspirasi juga bertujuan untuk meningkatkan partisipasi perempuan di ranah masyarakat. Pemberdayaan yang dilakukan oleh Kopernik melalui Program Ibu Inspirasi merupakan pemberdayaan yang terbilang unik, karena tidak hanya bertujuan untuk mengajarkan keterampilan hingga para ibu bisa membantu keluarganya secara finansial, tetapi juga turut mempromosikan energi bersih yang baik untuk lingkungan. Pemberdayaan perempuan merupakan usaha pengentasan kemiskinan melalui pembangunan kapasitas perempuan. Salah satu cara membangun kapasitas tersebut adalah dengan meningkatkan kesadaran mereka mengenai banyak hal yang selama ini tertutup oleh pemakluman budaya-budaya yang berkembang di masyarakat. Pemahaman yang tertanam sejak dulu seringkali membuat pemberdayaan perempuan disalahartikan oleh orang awam. Memberdayakan para ibu dengan nilai-nilai patriarki yang begitu melekat di wilayah terpencil sambil mengenalkan teknologi tepat guna yang berbasis energi bersih.

Mit dieser Arbeit soll speziell die Frage geklärt werden, welche Markteintrittsbarrieren in der Volksrepublik China für ausländische Unternehmen existieren, d.h. welche Faktoren den Zufluß von Direktinvestitionen dorthin negativ beeinflussen und einem unternehmerischen Engagement in Form von Joint Ventures oder Tochterfirmen dort im Wege stehen könnten. Dazu wird im ersten Kapitel ein allgemeiner Überblick über die Volksrepublik China gegeben, der zum Verständnis vieler Eigenarten notwendig ist. Dieser ist etwas ausführlicher gestaltet, so daß ein detaillierter Einblick in die Entwicklung des chinesischen Wirtschaftssystems erfolgen kann, welche die Grundlage für viele heutige Zustände bildet. Den Schwerpunkt der Arbeit bilden die Kapitel zwei und drei, die die größten Investitionsbarrieren behandeln. Darin werden zunächst die allgemeinen Barrieren eines Markteintritts in China untersucht, d.h. Barrieren kultureller Art sowie durch reale und monetäre Ordnungspolitik. Dann folgen im dritten Kapitel zuerst die möglichen Formen von Direktinvestitionen, und dann die investitionsspezifischen Barrieren, die u.a. rechtlicher, abgabentechnischer, monetärer und praktischer Art sind. Das Kapitel vier befaßt sich mit Besonderheiten des chinesischen Marktes, die ausländischen Unternehmen Schwierigkeiten bereiten können: Marktpotential, Produktanpassungen, Distribution und Werbemaßnahmen. Im fünften Kapitel wird ein Überblick über die Entwicklung der Direktinvestitionen in China gegeben, d.h. bestimmte Phasen, Umfang, Herkunftsländer, bestehende Investitionsschutzabkommen sowie Trends, unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der deutschen Investitionen. Fördermaßnahmen für Direktinvestitionen werden im sechsten Kapitel kurz erläutert. Dazu zählen in besonderem Maße die chinesischen Sonderwirtschaftszonen, andererseits auch die Angebote diverser deutscher, chinesischer und internationaler Organisationen. Anschließend folgt eine kurze Zusammenfassung der wichtigsten Ergebnisse im Sinne eines Management Summary. Die Motivation für die Erarbeitung dieses Themas entstand durch ein Auslandssemester an der Ocean University Qingdao, welches mir neben den Wirtschaftsvorlesungen auch die Gelegenheit zum Kennenlernen von 'Land und Leuten' bot. Im Rahmen dieses Aufenthaltes wurden auch Besuche bei mehreren chinesischen und ausländischen Unternehmen vor Ort ermöglicht, welche zumeist eine Gesprächsrunde mit den Geschäftsführern beinhalteten, so daß viele Einblicke in die Praxis und die Probleme der Unternehmen in China gewonnen werden konnten. Diese und persönliche Erfahrungen aus dem Alltag des Aufenthalts sind mit in die vorliegende Arbeit eingeflossen. Inhaltsverzeichnis:Inhaltsverzeichnis: AbbildungsverzeichnisVI AbkürzungsverzeichnisVII Vorwort1 1.Wirtschaftsstandort China: Rahmenbedingungen für den Markteintritt3 1.1Bevölkerung3 1.1.1Bevölkerungszahl3 1.1.2Bevölkerungsgruppen3 1.1.3Einkommen4 1.1.4Bildung4 1.2Geographie und Klima5 1.3Entwicklung des politischen Systems6 1.3.1Staatsorgane, Verfassung6 1.3.2Kommunistische Partei Chinas (KPCh)7 1.3.3People's Liberation Army (PLA)8 1.3.4Menschenrechte9 1.4Entwicklung des Wirtschaftssystems9 1.4.11949 - 1957: Aufbauphase9 1.4.21958 - 1962: Maos 'Großer Sprung nach Vorne'10 1.4.31962 - 1965: Erholung vom 'Großen Sprung nach Vorne'10 1.4.41966 - 1971: Kulturrevolution unter Mao11 1.4.51972 - 1978: Wiederaufbau11 1.4.61978 - 1997: Reformen unter Deng Xiaoping12 1.4.71997 bis heute: Weiterführung der Reformen14 1.4.8Entwicklung des Außenwirtschaftssystems14 1.4.8.1Vor 197914 1.4.8.21979 - 198415 1.4.8.3Ab 198415 1.5Infrastruktur16 1.6Sektorale und regionale Wirtschaftsstruktur18 1.6.1Sektorale Wirtschaftsstruktur18 1.6.2Regionale Wirtschaftsstruktur19 1.7Außenwirtschaftsbeziehungen19 2.Allgemeine Markteintrittsbarrieren21 2.1Kulturelle Barrieren21 2.1.1Kultur, Mentalität21 2.1.2Sprach- und Kommunikationsbarrieren23 2.1.3Beziehungen/guanxi25 2.2Barrieren durch reale Ordnungspolitik27 2.2.1Wirtschaftssystem27 2.2.1.1Rolle des Staates27 2.2.1.2Eigentumsformen der Unternehmen28 2.2.1.3Wettbewerb28 2.2.1.4Verhältnis zu internationalen Organisationen29 2.2.2Rechtlicher Rahmen für die Wirtschaft30 2.2.2.1Rechts- und Vertragsverständnis30 2.2.2.2Vertragsrecht32 2.2.2.3Rechtsschutz geistigen Eigentums32 2.2.2.4Rechtsdurchsetzung33 2.3Barrieren durch monetäre Ordnungspolitik34 2.3.1Fiskalpolitik34 2.3.2Bankensystem35 2.3.2.1Zentralbank35 2.3.2.2Staatliche Geschäftsbanken36 2.3.2.3Politisch-strategische Banken36 2.3.2.4Universalbanken37 2.3.2.5Ausländische Banken37 2.3.2.6Nichtbanken-Finanzinstitutionen38 2.3.2.6.1International Trust and Investment Corporations (ITIC)38 2.3.2.6.2Leasingunternehmen39 2.3.2.6.3Aktienmärkte39 2.3.3Ungelöste Probleme im Finanzwesen40 2.3.4Devisenmarkt42 2.3.5Abwertung des RMB43 3.Markteintrittsbarrieren gegenüber Direktinvestitionen45 3.1Begriff und Arten der Direktinvestitionen45 3.1.1Equity Joint Venture (EJV)45 3.1.2Cooperative/ Contractual Joint Venture (CJV)45 3.1.3Wholly Foreign Owned Enterprise (WFOE)46 3.1.4Änderung der Unternehmensform47 3.2Rechtliche Barrieren47 3.2.1Gründung einer Gesellschaft47 3.2.2Einschränkung der Sektoren49 3.2.2.1Encouraged Projects49 3.2.2.2Limited Projects Type A/B49 3.2.2.3Prohibited Projects50 3.2.2.4Permitted Projects50 3.2.3Rechtsunsicherheiten50 3.2.4Gesetzesauslegung durch lokale Behörden51 3.2.5Geistiges Eigentum an Technologietransfer52 3.2.6Einschränkung der Eigentumsrechte des Investors54 3.2.6.1Immobilienerwerb durch Ausländer54 3.2.6.2Enteignung54 3.3Abgabentechnische Barrieren55 3.3.1Steuern55 3.3.1.1Besteuerung von Unternehmen56 3.3.1.2Einkommensteuer für Einzelpersonen57 3.3.1.3Probleme im Steuerwesen57 3.3.2Zölle58 3.4Monetäre und finanzielle Barrieren60 3.4.1Finanzierung60 3.4.1.1Eigenkapitalfinanzierung60 3.4.1.2Fremdkapitalfinanzierung61 3.4.2Devisenbilanzausgleich63 3.4.3Gewinn- und Kapitaltransfer65 3.5Praktische Barrieren66 3.5.1Partnerfindung66 3.5.1.1Kontaktanbahnung66 3.5.1.2Evaluierung67 3.5.1.3Ziele68 3.5.1.4Verhandlungen68 3.5.2Mitarbeiterfindung69 3.5.2.1Personalrekrutierung69 3.5.2.2Arbeitsrechtliche Bestimmungen70 3.5.2.3Probleme aus der Praxis72 3.5.2.4Expatriates73 3.5.3Rohstoffversorgung74 3.6Differenzierung der Barrieren76 3.6.1Differenzierung nach Branchen76 3.6.1.1Produzierende Industrie76 3.6.1.2Dienstleistungsbereich76 3.6.2Differenzierung nach Regionen und Sonderwirtschaftszonen78 4.Besonderheiten des chinesischen Marktes79 4.1Marktpotential79 4.1.1Marktforschung80 4.1.2Kaufkraft80 4.2Anpassungserfordernisse für Produkte83 4.3Vertrieb und Distribution85 4.4Werbung87 5.Entwicklung der Direktinvestitionen in China90 5.1Entwicklungsphasen90 5.1.1Anfangsphase 1979-198690 5.1.2Gemäßigte Entwicklung 1986-199191 5.1.3Schnelle Entwicklung 1992-199792 5.1.4Rückläufiger Trend 1997-199993 5.2Herkunftsländer94 5.3Sektorale Verteilung96 5.4Bevorzugte Investitionsformen97 5.5Investitionsschutzabkommen98 6.Maßnahmen zur Förderung von Direktinvestitionen100 6.1Chinesische Fördermaßnahmen100 6.1.1Sonderwirtschaftszonen (SWZ)100 6.1.2Steuerliche Maßnahmen102 6.1.3Chinesische Organisationen102 6.1.3.1International Trust and Investment Corporations (ITIC)102 6.1.3.2China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) und China Chamber of International Commerce (CCOIC)102 6.1.3.3Chinesische Botschaft in Bonn103 6.2Deutsche Fördermaßnahmen103 6.2.1.Bund103 6.2.1.1Kapitalanlagegarantien des Bundes103 6.2.1.2Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft (DEG)103 6.2.1.3Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW)103 6.2.1.4Deutsche Industriebank (IKB)104 6.2.1.5Deutsche Botschaften in China104 6.2.1.6Deutsch-chinesische Mittelstandskonferenz104 6.2.2Länder104 6.2.2.1Auslandsmessebeteiligungen104 6.2.2.2Außenwirtschaftsberatungsprogramm105 6.2.2.3Regierungskooperationen zwischen Bundesländern und Provinzen105 6.2.3Sonstige Organisationen105 6.2.3.1Deutsche Industrie- und Handelszentren (DIHZ)105 6.2.3.2Delegiertenbüros der deutschen Wirtschaft und Außenhandelskammern105 6.2.3.3Bundesstelle für Außenhandelsinformationen (BfAI)106 6.2.3.4Industrie- und Handelskammern (IHK)106 6.2.3.5Bundesverband mittelständische Wirtschaft (BVMW)106 6.2.3.6Senior Experten Service (SES)106 6.2.3.7Banken106 6.3Internationale Fördermaßnahmen107 6.3.1Europäische Union (EU)107 6.3.2Weltbank und Internationaler Währungsfonds (IMF)107 6.3.3Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA)107 7.Fazit108 Anhang Catalogue for the Guidance of Foreign Investment Industries Karte der Sonderwirtschaftszonen Literaturverzeichnis

The purpose of this paper is to develop a comprehensive approach to evaluating digitalization of interaction of the state and citizens in the sphere of providing state services. The objectives of the study include the analysis of current Russian and foreign approaches to assessing the digitalization of interaction between the state and citizens; development and testing of a composite indicator methodology for conducting such an assessment in the provision of public services. Materials and methods. When preparing the paper, the authors studied Russian and foreign theoretical and practical approaches to evaluating digitalization of interaction between the state and citizens. The approbation of the digitalization index of interaction between the state and citizens proposed in the article was carried out on the basis of data from a selective federal statistical observation of the Federal State Statistics Service on the use of information technologies, information and communication networks by the population, as well as the data from the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation. To achieve the objective, theoretical methods (comparative analysis, synthesis, and generalization), modelling, and correlation analysis were used. Results. Based on the analysis of foreign and Russian approaches, their advantages and limitations, the article substantiates the methodology for calculating the digitalization index of interaction between the state and citizens, taking into account the immediate results (the availability of state and municipal services in the electronic form), intermediate results (the demand for the electronic form of service provision) and the final results of digital transformation in the provision of public services (satisfaction of citizens with the quality of services provided in the electronic form), as well as the risks of digital interaction (the level of digital trust of citizens in the interaction with the state). Approbation of the digitalization index of interaction between the state and citizens in the regional context was carried out. To assess the applicability of the proposed index, the correlation dependence of its values and the values of the index components on the level of education of the population, employment, income and urbanization, as well as differences in the availability of information and communication technologies infrastructure was investigated. At the same time, the level of digitalization correlation of interaction between the state and citizens with social factors is higher than with infrastructural ones. This means that to solve the problem of digital inequality in Russian regions, it is not enough to provide universal access to the Internet; factors of human capital development also play an important role in promoting digital channels of interaction. Conclusion. Assessing the digitalization of interaction between the state and citizens requires taking into account various indicators that reflect the immediate, intermediate and final results of such an interaction, as well as the risks associated with the transition to "digit". In terms of the provision of public services for such an assessment, it is advisable to use the digitalization index of interaction between the state and citizens. Further promising areas of research in the field of assessing the digitalization of interaction between the state and citizens are related to the study of the influence of citizens' trust in government bodies on the level of digitalization of interaction between the state and citizens, as well as taking into account the interaction of citizens and the state within the framework of other types of state functions (development and implementation of state policy, regulation, control and supervisory activities). The implementation of these directions will require the expansion of the currently available information base. ; Целью исследования является выработка комплексного подхода к оценке цифровизации взаимодействия государства и граждан в сфере оказания государственных услуг. В задачи исследования входит анализ действующих российских и зарубежных подходов к оценке цифровизации взаимодействия государства и граждан; разработка и апробация методологии комплексного показателя для проведения такой оценки в сфере оказания государственных услуг. Материалы и методы. При подготовке статьи авторами изучены российские и зарубежные теоретические и практические подходы к оценке цифровизации взаимодействия государства и граждан. Апробация предложенного в статье индекса цифровизации взаимодействия государства и граждан проведена на основе данных выборочного федерального статистического наблюдения Федеральной службы государственной статистики по вопросам использования населением информационных технологий и информационно-коммуникационных сетей, а также данных Министерства экономического развития Российской Федерации. Для достижения цели использованы теоретические методы (сравнительный анализ, синтез, обобщение), моделирование и корреляционный анализ. Результаты. Исходя из анализа зарубежных и российских подходов, их преимуществ и ограничений, в статье обоснована методология расчета индекса цифровизации взаимодействия государства и граждан, учитывающего непосредственные результаты (наличие государственных и муниципальных услуг в электронном виде), промежуточные результаты (востребованность электронной формы оказания услуг) и конечные результаты цифровой трансформации в сфере оказания государственных услуг (удовлетворенность граждан качеством оказываемых услуг в электронном виде), а также риски цифрового взаимодействия (уровень цифрового доверия граждан при взаимодействии с государством). Проведена апробация индекса цифровизации взаимодействия государства и граждан в региональном разрезе. Для оценки применимости предложенного индекса исследована корреляционная зависимость его значений и значений компонентов индекса от уровня образования населения, занятости, доходов и урбанизации, так и различиями в доступности инфраструктуры информационно-коммуникационных технологий. При этом уровень корреляции цифровизации взаимодействия государства и граждан с социальными факторами выше, чем с инфраструктурными. Это означает, что для решения проблемы цифрового неравенства российских регионов недостаточно обеспечить универсальный доступ к сети Интернет; важную роль в продвижении цифровых каналов взаимодействия играют и факторы развития человеческого капитала. Заключение. Оценка цифровизации взаимодействия государства и граждан требует учета различных показателей, отражающих непосредственные, промежуточные и конечные результаты такого взаимодействия, а также риски, связанные с переходом к «цифре». В части оказания государственных услуг для такой оценки целесообразно использовать индекс цифровизации взаимодействия государства и граждан. Дальнейшие перспективные направления исследований в сфере оценки цифровизации взаимодействия государства и граждан связаны с изучением влияния доверия граждан к органам государственного управления на уровень цифровизации взаимодействия государства и граждан, а также с учетом взаимодействия граждан и государства в рамках иных видов государственных функций (выработки и реализации государственной политики, регулирования, контрольно-надзорной деятельности). Реализация этих направлений потребует расширения имеющейся в настоящее время информационной базы.

U.S. forces launched a third strike against Iran-linked groups on Sunday, the latest in an increasingly destructive series of exchanges that have cast a new light on the continued U.S. troop presence in the Middle East. American aircraft struck a weapons storage facility and command-and-control center used by Iran-backed groups in Syria, according to officials. "Within the last two hours, the U.S. has taken precision defensive strikes against two sites in Syria," an official told ABC News. The two structures were located near the eastern Syrian cities of Mayadin and Abu Kamal, according to statements issued on Sunday by the Department of Defense and U.S. Central Command (CENTOM). "The President has no higher priority than the safety of U.S. personnel, and he directed today's action to make clear that the United States will defend itself, its personnel, and its interests," Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement. Up to seven "Iranian proxy fighters" were killed at one of the two locations struck by U.S. warplanes, according to Jennifer Griffin, chief national security correspondent for Fox News, citing a senior defense official. This is the third such strike since October 26, reflecting a continued effort by the U.S. to retaliate against Iran-linked groups that the White House says are responsible for a spate of ongoing rocket and drone attacks against U.S. military personnel in Iraq and Syria. The U.S. sent forces including two carrier strike groups headlined by the USS Gerald R. Ford Carrier and USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, squadrons consisting of F-15E Strike Eagle aircraft and A-10 close-air-support (CAS), and the USS Bataan Amphibious Ready Group to the region following the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel and subsequent outbreak of war in Gaza. High-ranking officers including a Marine three-star general were reportedly sent to help advise Israeli leadership as it proceeds with its campaign and another 2,000 U.S. personnel were ordered to prepare to deploy last month. Iranian leaders have unsurprisingly taken a strong policy stance in favor of Hamas, though the full extent of their foreknowledge of and support for the October 7 attack remains unclear. Reports citing U.S. intelligence findings suggest that senior Iranian officials were surprised by the attack, undermining or at least heavily complicating claims of direct Iranian involvement. Nevertheless, Tehran has been accused of mobilizing its robust network of regional proxies to launch scores of attacks against American personnel and infrastructure. U.S. assets have been attacked at least 52 times by Iran-linked groups since October 17, according to officials. A total of fifty-six service members have been injured according to numbers provided by the Pentagon, with over two dozen suffering traumatic brain injuries. Washington has responded to these attacks with a mix of warnings by top officials, which have gone wholly unheeded, and retaliatory strikes. The Sunday strikes came shortly on the heels of airstrikes conducted by two F-15 fighter jets against Iran-linked facilities in Syria earlier last week. These two latest rounds of U.S. strikes come just two weeks after a similar spate of operations targeting facilities in eastern Syria that officials say were "used by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and affiliated groups." The strikes on October 26, which the Pentagon said were not related to "the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas," were partly intended to deter Iran from coordinating further attacks on U.S. personnel. Yet attacks on American troops have not only continued but intensified in recent weeks, with Iran-backed militants reportedly assaulting U.S. bases with drones carrying even larger payloads.Growing risks to American service members and concerns that these continued exchanges could trigger a direct military confrontation between the U.S. and Iran have spurred new perspectives on the costs and benefits of the continued military presence in the Middle East. The 2,500 and 900 troops in Iraq and Syria, respectively, are ostensibly there to prevent the resurgence of the Islamic State, but the rationale behind this presence has come under scrutiny. "If a U.S. ground presence in Iraq and Syria were absolutely necessary to achieve a core U.S. security interest, then perhaps these risks would be tolerable. But this is hardly the case," Defense Priorities (DEFP) fellow Daniel DePetris wrote in a release on November 9. "ISIS lost its territorial caliphate more than four years ago and is now relegated to a low-grade, rural insurgency that local actors can contain. The U.S. military presence is not only unnecessary, but also a dangerous tripwire for a wider war." The continued deployments put service members at constant risk, especially in the context of heightened regional tensions stemming from the Israel-Hamas war, and serve neither clear nor achievable policy aims, argued Justin Logan, the Cato Institute's director of defense and foreign policy studies."Attacks on U.S. troops in Iraq and Syria will no doubt continue—the solution is to remove U.S. forces which remain as targets only because they're within range of these local militias," said a DEFP explainer published earlier this month, suggesting that U.S. troops in stationed within striking distance of local militants be redeployed to better-defended positions in the Middle-East. American troops have reportedly been attacked a staggering four times within less than a day of Sunday's airstrike, sending the clearest signal yet that retaliatory strikes have not had their intended deterring effect. As the Gaza crisis roils on, the dangers confronting U.S. troops — and, with them, calls to reconsider the tools and goals of American power projection in the Middle East—will likely intensify.

This article presents the virtualization project of the Motilla del Azuer archaeological site in Daimiel (Ciudad Real, Spain). This project is using new and unique tools for the research, documentation, interpretation and dissemination of this important prehistoric site. The incorporation of advanced technological tools in the field of archaeological and cultural heritage, such as digital documentation and virtual reality (VR), are creating new avenues for managing cultural legacies. Modern advances in 3D digitization and VR allow the application of these techniques on a wide range of cultural assets with different characteristics and chronologies, opening a broad spectrum of new possibilities in research, education, and public outreach. This is an expanding area of heritage management as it creates a positive impact on the economic, cultural and social activities of local communities and regions. Because of these positive impacts, more and more stakeholders such as institutions, administrations, and heritage organisations are taking an active interest in this sector of technological development. In the case of the Motilla del Azuer archaeological site, the digitization and virtualization work undertaken, along with other dissemination activities, have provided critical products for the presentation, interpretation, and promotion of this monument.La Motilla del Azuer is one of the most unique archaeological sites in Spain. Dating from the Bronze Age, it is a fortification with a central plan, formed by three lines of concentric walls distributed around a central tower (Fig. 2). Inside, the labyrinthine shape of the access systems is remarkable, made up of narrow corridors, stairs, ramps. This defensive enclosure allowed the protection and control of essential products for the people of the Bronze Age. Its true uniqueness is that it encloses monumental water well more than 15 m deep.La Motilla del Azuer is open to the public and receives thousands of visitors each year. But for conservation reasons, the number of people who can access the site is highly controlled. Likewise, due to its defensive nature and its age, it is a space through which it is difficult to circulate, which makes it impossible for people with reduced mobility to visit. For these and other reasons, the Daimiel City Council in collaboration with the US non-profit entity Global Digital Heritage and the Spanish company Myou Software, has developed a project to digitize the archaeological site and make it accessible through an installed VR system, located permanently in the Daimiel Museum, the interpretation centre for the site (Fig. 10). This facility is designed to be used both by people in wheelchairs or with reduced mobility, as well as all visitors to the museum, and provides a realistic virtual tour of the site. To achieve this level of realism, a detailed 3D digitization of the site using photogrammetry, laser scanning, and 3D spherical photography was undertaken, and a VR installation based on the use of an HTC Vive Pro device that has motion controllers for hands (HTC Vive controllers) and feet (HTC Vive Trackers) was developed. The primary software is called Myou Engine, an open-source 3D engine compatible with XR, developed by the Myou Software company. In order to increase the immersiveness as much as possible, the Myou Software company has also developed a control system called Natural Locomotion that works by moving the arms and legs (Fig. 11).The final result of the project has allowed the implementation of an innovative VR space that increases accessibility to the archaeological site, represents a new tourist attraction for the town, and promotes new ways of managing and enjoying archaeological heritage. ; Este artículo tiene como objetivo presentar el proyecto de virtualización del yacimiento arqueológico de la Motilla del Azuer, en la localidad de Daimiel (Ciudad Real, España). En líneas generales, esta actividad está posibilitando obtener unos beneficios interesantes en torno a la investigación, documentación, interpretación y divulgación de este enclave prehistórico. La incorporación de herramientas tecnológicas en el campo del patrimonio arqueológico y cultural, como la documentación digital y la realidad virtual (RV), están constituyendo un impulso relevante para favorecer la gestión de este legado. Los avances experimentados en áreas como la digitalización 3D y la RV permiten desarrollar estas técnicas sobre una amplia tipología de bienes culturales, de diferentes características y cronologías, abriendo un considerable abanico de posibilidades. En este sentido, las valoraciones que está ofreciendo la aplicación de estos instrumentos, en virtud de los resultados alcanzados en diversos lugares, están significando una experiencia positiva para cualquier territorio; útil para aproximarse a su pasado y atractivo desde el punto de vista económico, cultural y social. Es por ello que cada vez son más las instituciones y entidades interesadas en este sector. En el caso del yacimiento arqueológico de la Motilla del Azuer, las labores de digitalización y virtualización emprendidas, junto con otras actividades de difusión, han generado productos de gran utilidad para el conocimiento y promoción de este monumento. Como se expone en las siguientes páginas, la correcta combinación de la digitalización 3D y la RV está suponiendo una dinamización de sus contenidos, un estímulo para disfrutar plenamente de la riqueza de sus vestigios y una mayor accesibilidad hacia los mismos.Destacados:• Este artículo presenta un proyecto que está permitiendo avanzar en la interpretación y difusión del yacimiento arqueológico de la Motilla del Azuer.• Apuesta por la incorporación de las nuevas tecnologías en la gestión del patrimonio arqueológico y cultural• Desarrollo de una experiencia provechosa para favorecer la accesibilidad al patrimonio e impulsar la democratización cultural a través de su proyección.

Background: An estimated 36.7 million people in the world were living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in 2015, with approximately 70% of these located in the region of sub-Saharan Africa. In the Western Cape, AIDS is still the leading cause of premature mortality and adolescents commonly report behaviors that increase the risk of sexually transmitted infections, including HIV. In countries where the HIV prevalence has declined at the population level, sexual behavior change among adolescents has been cited as an important contributing factor. Rationale: As South African adolescents experience among the highest HIV prevalence in the world, the development of effective prevention interventions is a top public health and policy priority. Still, little is known of the implementation processes and the complex social contexts in which such interventions occur, and of their influence on observed outcomes. The PREPARE intervention is an example of a complex intervention tailored to address social influences to affect sexual and reproductive behavioral patterns in the target group. Although carefully planned according to recommendations from previous research, literature, theoretical framework and context, PREPARE did not lead to the expected behavioral outcomes. Objective: The purpose of the master thesis was to conduct a process evaluation of the PREPARE Cape Town intervention, and to understand participants' experiences and perceptions of the implementation of the intervention. This in order to; 1) assist in the interpretation of the behavioral outcomes, and 2) contribute to the broader evidence base regarding implementation of school-based STI- and HIV/AIDS-prevention programs. Method: The master thesis followed a phenomenological inductive approach and used qualitative methods to get an understanding of the PREPARE Cape Town implementation from the perspective of implementers. The main data material consisted of semi-structured interviews conducted with participating facilitators, nurses and principals. Systematic text condensation inspired by Giorgi, and modified by Malterud, was used to analyze the interviews. In addition, the process evaluation incorporated document analysis of PREPARE publications and documents, in addition to an interview conducted with one of the PREPARE Cape Town investigators. Results: The results revealed several structural and contextual factors expected to influence the delivery and hence the behavioral outcomes of PREPARE Cape Town. Among the most central barriers to implementation of PREPARE Cape Town were limitations in time, preconceptions and characteristics in implementers interfering with central intervention aims, lack of ability to reach the adolescents in most need of PREPARE and lack of ability to address social issues. The impediments to curriculum delivery according to plans included factors both in and outside the control of the PREPARE research team. Conclusion: The process evaluation revealed possible factors of influence to the PREPARE Cape Town behavioral outcomes that outcome evaluations are considered incapable to reveal. The findings hence confirm the importance of conducting process evaluations in order to complement outcome evaluations, and hence to inform the development of future interventions similar to PREPARE. ; Bakgrunn: I 2015 var det om lag 36,7 millioner mennesker som levde med humantimmunsviktvirus (HIV). Omtrent 70% av disse var lokalisert i Afrika, sør for Sahara. I Western-Cape er AIDS viktigste årsak til tidlig død. Likevel rapporterer ungdom stadig om adferd som øker risikoen for seksuelt overførbare sykdommer, inkludert HIV. I land hvor forekomsten av HIV har sunket på befolkningsnivå, er endringer i seksuell adferd identifisert som en viktig medvirkende faktor. Rasjonale: Ettersom forekomsten av HIV er svært høy blant Sørafrikanske ungdommer, er utviklingen av effektive forebyggende intervensjoner under høy satsning, både innenfolkehelse og politikk. Det eksisterer likevel lite kunnskap om prosessene og de komplekse sosiale sammenhengene som påvirker slike intervensjoner, og deres innflytelse på studiers resultater. PREPARE er et eksempel på en kompleks intervensjon skreddersydd for å påvirke seksuelle- og reproduktive adferdsmønstre hos ungdom. Til tross for at PREPARE var forankret i anbefalinger fra tidligere forskning, litteratur, anerkjent teoretisk rammeverk og kontekstuelle sammenhenger, førte ikke intervensjonen til forventet endring i deltakernes atferd. Oppgavens formål: Formålet med masteroppgaven var å gjennomføre en prosessevaluering av PREPARE Cape Town, og å forstå deltakernes erfaringer knyttet til intervensjonens gjennomføring. Dette for å; 1) bistå i tolkningen av effektevalueringen av PREPARE Cape Town og 2) bidra til en bredere forståelse av skolebaserte intervensjoner med hensikt i å forebygge seksuelle overførbare sykdommer, herunder HIV/AIDS. Metode: Masteroppgaven har en fenomenologisk tilnærming og benytter kvalitativ metode. Dette for å øke forståelsen av PREPARE Cape Town ut fra deltakernes perspektiver. Hoveddatamaterialet bestod av semi-strukturerte dybdeintervjuer med deltagende undervisningspersonell, sykepleiere og rektorer. Systematisk tekstkondensering ble benyttet i analysen. Denne metoden er inspirert av Giorgi og modifisert av Malterud. I tillegg til det overnevnte datamaterialet, ble det utført dokumentanalyse av PREPARE-publikasjoner og prosjektdokumenter, samt intervju med en av forskerne i PREPARE Cape Town. Resultater: Resultatene avdekket flere strukturelle og kontekstuelle faktorer forventet å påvirke atferdsmessige utfall i PREPARE Cape Town. De mest sentrale påvirkningsfaktorene for prosjekt-implementeringen var tidsbegrensninger, intervensjonsleverandørers fordommer og egenskaper, begrenset antall ansatte, organisatoriske faktorer som kommunikasjon og informasjon, samt manglende evne til å nå ungdommer med størst behov for intervensjoner som PREPARE. Implementeringen av PREPARE Cape Town ble altså påvirket av faktorer både i og utenfor PREPARE-forskernes kontroll. Konklusjon: Prosessevalueringen avdekket mulige faktorer forventet å påvirke PREPARE Cape Towns utfall. Flere av disse faktorene var ikke allerede avdekket i studiens effektevaluering. Det anses derfor at funnene bekrefter viktigheten av at det gjennomføres prosessevalueringer komplementære til utfallsevalueringer, da dette kan bidra til at viktig informasjon av betydning for utviklingen av fremtidige intervensjoner avdekkes. ; M-FOL

In seguito alla crisi dei prezzi dei prodotti alimentari tra il 2007 ed il 2008, é emersa sul panorama internazionale una nuova pratica, definita sinteticamente "land grabbing" (letteralmente accaparramento delle terre). Con tale espressione si indica, in prima approssimazione, l'acquisizione o l'affitto in larga scala di terre destinate ad uso agricolo, da parte di investitori stranieri pubblici e privati. Il fenomeno è concentrato prevalentemente nei Paesi in via di sviluppo e, in modo particolare, in Africa. I Pvs, spinti dalla necessità di liquidità ed infrastrutture, hanno posto in essere un politica favorevole agli Investimenti Diretti Esteri, consentendo l'acquisto o l'affitto di terra fertile, per corrispettivi o canoni piuttosto esigui e termini contrattuali particolarmente estesi (generalmente ricompresi in un range temporale tra i trenta e novantanove anni). La conclusione di tali contratti di investimento è formalmente indirizzata alla produzione di materie prime per il fabbisogno alimentare ed energetico dei Paesi d'origine. Prima facie, essi sembrerebbero un "normale" esercizio della sovranità permanente dello Stato di destinazione sulle proprie risorse naturali, che detiene il pieno diritto di regolarne lo sfruttamento. Nella fattispecie, emerge, infatti, in modo preponderante il ruolo degli Stati ospite. Le transazioni si svolgono in maniera formalmente legittima e vengono veicolate dallo Stato recipiente, le cui autorità nazionali o regionali concludono leciti accordi con gli investitori. Numerose perplessità sorgono, però, in merito alla compatibilità di tale pratica con il diritto internazionale vigente. Simili investimenti presentano, infatti, un alto potenziale di rischio a carico delle popolazioni del Paese ospite, in particolare sotto il profilo dell'accesso alla terra, e quindi dell'approvvigionamento alimentare. È possibile che sulle terre oggetto d'investimento insistano già coltivazioni o allevamenti di comunità rurali, che utilizzano la terra in virtù di consuetudini o diritti d'uso, cui solitamente é collegato un minor livello di tutela rispetto ai titoli formali di proprietà, peraltro piuttosto rari. In alcune regioni del mondo, i soggetti titolari risultano quindi particolarmente vulnerabili, considerata la difficoltà di azionare i loro incerti diritti sulla terra e di ottenere, di conseguenza, un'adeguata protezione giurisdizionale. Egualmente preoccupante, sotto il profilo ambientale, é la tendenza, nell'implementazione di questo tipo d'investimenti, a sfruttare la terra per la coltivazione di biocarburanti o la realizzazione di vasti appezzamenti di monoculture, che riducono, evidentemente, la possibilità di mantenere una diversificazione ambientale adeguata. Una volta accertata la rilevanza giuridica del fenomeno della corsa alle terre ed averne individuato una qualificazione autonoma, il lavoro si propone, quindi, di valutare la questione della legittimità dell'esercizio della sovranità permanente da parte del Paese di destinazione, quando l'alienazione di porzioni di territorio oggetto d'investimento si esplichi in modalità tali da generare le esternalizzazioni negative brevemente accennate: l'esercizio della sovranità da parte dello Stato non può, infatti, prescindere da precisi obblighi che su di esso gravano ai sensi del diritto internazionale, inerenti alla tutela dei diritti umani, da una parte, ed alla protezione dell'ambiente, dall'altra. ; After the outbreak of the food price crisis in 2007 – 2008 a new practice, known as land grabbing, has emerged on the international scene. The race to land is generally understood as the phenomenon of large-scale investments in land by foreign investors, which include both States and private companies, especially in developing countries. Driven by the necessity to attract foreign capital and finance infrastructure projects, developing countries have implemented favorable Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) policies, thus allowing the purchase or lease of fertile land lots, for rather meager rental prices and long terms (usually ranging from thirty to ninety-nine years) . Formally, these investments are directed towards the production of raw materials, necessary to address food and energy requirements, in particular for those countries which are net importers of agricultural products. The host State may well then decide to conclude lawful deals with the investors towards this aim. Prima facie, therefore, the conclusion of investment contracts in land apparently reflects the host country's exercise of permanent sovereignty over its natural resources, which has the full right to regulate the exploitation thereof. Nevertheless the analysis of the phenomenon of land grabbing raises some doubts in relation to the compatibility of this practice with current international law norms. Such investments potentially carry a number of high risks to the population of the host country, in particular in terms of access to land and food supply. It is likely, in fact, that on the land subject to a given investment, there may already exist crops or herds of rural communities, who use the land by virtue of custom or usage rights, usually granted a lower level of protection if compared to the formal titles of ownership, rare at best in most developing countries. In some regions of the world, the holders are therefore particularly vulnerable to displacement, given the difficulty to exercise their uncertain land rights and to obtain, as a result, adequate judicial protection. Equally worrying, environmentally, is the implementation of investment contracts aimed at exploiting land to farm biofuels or realize large plots of monoculture, thus reducing the possibility to keep adequate land biological diversity. After the analysis of the juridical significance of land grabbing and the identification of its autonomous legal characterization, the thesis examines the question of the legitimacy of the race to land with regards to the exercise of permanent sovereignty over natural resources by the host country, especially in those cases where the alienation of land generates considerably negative externalities on the local population: sovereignty cannot, in fact, be exercised without due regard to the specific obligations incumbent upon States under international law, related, in particular, to the protection of human rights and the environment.

In 1992, the international regime 'Agenda 21' was agreed upon. Accordingly, countries worldwide have been undergoing reforms in their water management into Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM). The implementation is promoted by international actors. The main institutional aspects of IWRM are the river basin approach, clear property rights allocation, and application of economical instruments. In former centrally planned economies, the process of IWRM implementation has been coincided with transformation for the market economy. The implementation of institutional aspects of IWRM in countries under transition is connected with high transaction costs. Against this background, the comparative empirical study was initialised in order to analyse institutional change of water management towards IWRM in Vietnam and in Poland. Two models of river basin organisations were examined. Consequently, pros and cons of decentralised polycentric and hierarchical unicentric river basin organisations have been evaluated. Formal institutions were studied with the use of an in-depth review of legislation in Vietnam and in Poland. The EU Water Frame Directive (EU WFD) and other international policies were also examined. For the empirical study in Vietnam and in Poland, actors were interviewed as experts. The results of the study on both countries were discussed separately, and conclusions were drawn in a comparative manner. Water management reforms towards IWRM in Vietnam and in Poland have been generating multi-level governance processes including international, national and sub-national levels. The implementation of IWRM in Vietnam is supported by international donor agencies. In Poland, the implementation of the EU WFD is coordinated by the European Commission in a hierarchical manner. In comparison to international joint-development projects in Vietnam, the European Commission enforces international IWRM policy more effectively. Since the resumption of ODA in early 1990s, water resources management has been institutionalised in Vietnam by international support. In 1998, a Water Law was established in Vietnam. The intended separation of water resources management from water service provisions caused fragmentation between the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, respectively. This 'silo-effect' has been intensified by the competition for international ODA. The power struggles affect even agencies within ministries. Polycentric river basin committees have been established as entities subordinated to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, as well as the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. However, because of weak property rights allocation and the absence of administrative powers, the river basin organisations work ineffectively. The river basin has not yet been established as a sub-national area of political action. Decisions sustained to be made at central level and are affected by the information problem due to largely centralised organisations of Vietnamese water management. The sub-national level is characterised by very low planning and management capacities. In Poland, unicentric river basin organisations were established in 1991. They are aligned with hydrological borders. Water resources planning and management are carried out according to river basins and water regions in order to implement the EU WFD. The river basin has been established as a new area of decision-making. Conflicts between local-governments have been resolved after the reforms. Nevertheless, spatial management planning, environmental protection planning, water service delivery, etc., are further carried out by local self-governments. To integrate water resources planning and management with these services, horizontal coordination is of critical importance. However, this is hampered by problems of 'spatial fit'. Moreover, a high degree of horizontal cross-border communication increases information problems in hierarchical organisations. Thus, features of polycentric governance models become increasingly important in order to fully implement the EU WFD in Poland. ; Das internationale Regime 'Agenda 21' wurde 1992 verabschiedet. Seither unterliegt die Wasserwirtschaft von Staaten weltweit Reformen in Richtung eines integrierten Wasserressourcen-Managements (IWRM). Die Umsetzung von IWRM wird von internationalen Akteuren vorangetrieben. Hauptaspekte des IWRM aus institutioneller Sicht sind der Flussgebietsansatz, klare Zuweisung von Eigentumsrechten sowie die Anwendung von marktwirtschaftlichen Instrumenten. In ehemaligen Planwirtschaften überschneiden sich die Prozesse der IWRM Umsetzung und der Transformation zur Marktwirtschaft. In solchen Ländern ist die Umsetzung institutioneller Aspekte eines IWRM mit hohen Transaktionskosten verbunden. Vor diesem Hintergrund wurde eine vergleichende Studie initialisiert, um den institutionellen Wandel in den Wasserwirtschaften von Vietnam und Polen zu untersuchen. Zwei Modelle von Flussgebietsorganisationen einer genauen Betrachtung unterzogen. Entsprechend wurden Vor- und Nachteile von dezentralisierten polyzentrischen und hierarchischen unizentralen Organisationsmodellen untersucht und bewertet. Formale Institutionen wurden an Hand tiefgründiger Studien von rechtlichen Texten in Vietnam und Polen untersucht. Darüber hinaus wurden die EU Wasserrahmenrichtlinie und weitere internationale Dokumente studiert. Im Rahmen empirischer Untersuchungen in Vietnam und Polen wurden Akteure in Experteninterviews befragt. Die Resultate wurden für jedes Land diskutiert, Schlussfolgerungen wurden aus dem Vergleich gezogen. Die Reformen der Wasserwirtschaft in Richtung eines IWRM haben in Vietnam und Polen Governance-Prozesse in Mehrebenensystemen ausgelöst, welche die internationale und nationale Ebene, sowie sub-nationale Ebenen umfassen. Internationale Geberorgane treiben die Umsetzung von IWRM in Vietnam voran. In Polen wird die Umsetzung der EU WRRL durch die Europäische Kommission hierarchisch koordiniert. Verglichen mit den gemeinschaftlichen Entwicklungshilfeprojekten in Vietnam, fördert die EU Kommission internationale Richtlinien zu IWRM auf deutlich effektivere Art. Seit der Wiederaufnahme der Entwicklungshilfe in der frühen 1990er Jahren wurde das Wasserressourcen-Management in Vietnam mit internationaler Unterstützung institutionalisiert. Zum ersten Mal in der Geschichte Vietnams wurde 1998 ein Wassergesetz erlassen. Die beabsichtigte Teilung des Wasserressourcen-Managements von der Wasserwirtschaft im engeren Sinne führte zu Fragmentierung zwischen dem Ministerium für Naturressourcen und Umwelt, sowie dem Ministerium für Landwirtschaft und Ländliche Entwicklung. Durch den Wettstreit um internationale Entwicklungshilfe wurde dieser 'Siloeffekt' intensiviert. Macht- und Verteilungskämpfe finden sogar zwischen Agenturen innerhalb von Ministerien statt. Polyzentrische Komitees zum Planungsmanagement auf Flussgebietsebene sind unterhalb des Ministeriums für Landwirtschaft und Ländliche Entwicklung, sowie unterhalb des Ministeriums für Naturressourcen und Umwelt installiert worden. Aufgrund unzureichender Allokation von Eigentumsrechten sowie dem vollständigen Fehlen von Verwaltungsbefugnissen arbeiten diese Komitees uneffektiv. Das Flussgebiet konnte bisher nicht als politischer Handlungsraum auf sub-nationaler Ebene etabliert werden. Entscheidungen werden weiterhin durch hochgradig zentralisierte Organisationen der vietnamesischen Wasserwirtschaft auf zentraler Ebene getroffen. Diese Entscheidungen sind durch das Informationsproblem beeinträchtigt. Die sub-nationale Ebene zeichnet sich durch sehr schwache Planungs- und Managementkapazitäten aus. In Polen wurden 1991 an hydrologischen Grenzen ausgerichtete unizentrische Flussgebietsorganisationen eingeführt. Zwecks Umsetzung der EU WRRL werden Wasserressourcenplanung und -management an Hand von Flusseinzugsgebieten und Wasserregionen durchgeführt. Das Flussgebiet konnte als ein neuer Handlungsraum zur Entscheidungsfindung etabliert werden. Konflikte zwischen lokalen Gebietskörperschaften konnten nach der Reform gelöst werden. Dennoch werden beispielsweise Raumplanung, Umweltschutzplanung oder die Wasserwirtschaft im engeren Sinne weiterhin durch lokale Gebietskörperschaften durchgeführt. Um Wasserressourcenplanung und -management mit der Arbeit jener Behörden zu integrieren ist horizontale Koordination von entscheidender Bedeutung. Allerdings ist diese durch Probleme räumlicher 'misfits' beeinträchtigt. Darüber hinaus verschärft ein hoher Grad an horizontaler Kommunikation, über die Grenzen von hierarchischen Organisationen hinweg, das Informationsproblem. Deshalb sind in Polen polyzentrische Governance-Modelle für eine erfolgreiche Umsetzung der EU WRRL zunehmend von Bedeutung.

World sometimes is really strange! And Italy it's a typical country of the world, full of contradictions, in many fields. You can think easily to some of them: Italy is one of the countries with a larger number of Unesco heritage sites but Italian people always prefers to go abroad to spend their holidays instead then discover their country. Another one? The national consciousness it's absolutely no part of Italian way of life, at least if you make a comparison with other countries, like USA, Switzerland, Germany, in which the flag honours, the spirit to be part of a global one country (with a precise identity) is an integrant part of each individual mind. In Italy people recognize them like Italian only when the national football team plays the World Championship!Would you like to have another example of Italian citizens contradictions? Very easy… Please, ask to an Italian guy "Do you vote for Berlusconi?" The common answer is "Absolutely not". And you can believe to students or young people that historically are more on left side in politics. You can believe to working people, to blue collars that generally forecast their rights more protected by a left government. You can believe to old people that remember with no happiness Fascism period.But all, really all people, white collar, managers, shopkeeper, trader, housewives, will tell you "I do not vote for Berlusca" [Berlusca is the nickname of Silvio Berlusconi, done simply imitating the dialect of Milan, region in which the new Italian Prime Minister is born].And yet? Berlusconi, the magnate of media, has won for the third times in 14 years the national elections! And this time has been a real triumph like percentage, moreover considering that the coalition of Silvio this time had lost the party of Casini, the real center, so Silvio has won only with his party and with Lega Nord (Northern League, a former sort of separatism movement transformed in federalism movement). Unbelievable… or not?We can analyze the vote and thinking about:1) Italy from 2001 to 2006 has had the second Berlusconi government and began a period of big economic crisis, especially due to Euro money introduction. On top on this it's however necessary a consideration: many European countries have introduced Euro, but not all suffered that internal prices increasing, especially because many of them put some ad hoc measures, not done in Italy. 2) Nevertheless the Italian people dissatisfaction, in 2006 Romano Prodi won the elections (with his center-left coalition) for really few few votes. And, truth to tell, no one has never discovered if Prodi really won. In fact there has been many claims about votes calculation never definitively resolved.3) The period 2006-2008 has been a real disaster for Italian economy and all social classes have been very frustrated, also for some government decisions absolutely not aligned with a center-left coalition (taxes increasing for all social classes…), only in part due to a real necessity to improve the Italian government economy and sometimes taken only for non sense.4) After Prodi government debacle, Prodi declared to exit from the political scene and, behind him, the left and center-left begun some insider fighting that caused the birth of a great center-left party (that of Veltroni) and three minor left party. Veltroni got the direct support only of Di Pietro movement (Di Pietro was the magistrate that killed the first Italian republic in '94 discovering a big business and politics corruption).5) On the center-right and right side, Berlusconi and Fini (right) joined in a new movement and Lega Nord associated with them. The extreme right instead practically disappeared and Casini decided to remain alone.And so? It was easy to think that Italian people, burned by the last 2 years government, would have given confidence to center-right coalition, captained by Berlusconi.But in which way to not think to scandals of some Berlusconi guys in the past, of some promises never maintained, to some clowning impression in international meetings? The point is that there wasn't neither isn't a real alternative to Berlusconi or Verltroni!So we (Italian citizen) can only hope that Berlusconi could apply his perspicacity and intuition (that provide him to be a real best in class in business) in choosing the right men (Ministers) to guarantee a solid future to Italy. The secret is no Berlusconi, but his men and the freedom that they will have to act for the wellness of the country.The possibilities to improve the actual state of the economy, decrease percentage of unemployment, let people more satisfied are big, but the problems are also many! First of all infrastructures (a disaster now: road, high speed train, link to Sicily…), the Alitalia (the national airline, to be sold urgently), the criminality and the illegal immigration, the public health, the school system, the taxes too high… A solution?Try to have like model the Spain (that in 15 years has really had tangible progress) associated with the Italian imagination, like i.e. to promote a real tax federal system (like promised by Lega Nord to people) and to help South of Italy not with money but with projects that permit a real development, but also (if no one reach the goal) to delete any incentive to southern Italy and especially to government people.That's to say to consider politic goals like common management tasks, and politician salary like managers salary, with a relevant percentage depending from reaching or not business objectives… A dream? May be… but Berlusconi is considered a manager and like a magician in many fields… Corresponsal en TorinoItalia

Much work has been done analyzing the determinants of health care expenditures. Much less effort has been devoted to analyzing the determinants of health itself. The focus of the analysis presented here is the production of health, with special attention paid to disaggregating health into pharmaceuticals and other health care. We also analyze the effects that wealth and certain lifestyle factors have on health. Researchers who have analyzed the determinants of health across geographic units have found certain striking and consistent results. First, basic public health services, in the form of potable water and sanitation services, provide the biggest payoffs in decreased mortality for all age groups. Second, the expansion of health care services does not improve mortality to anywhere near the extent that public health infrastructure development does, if at all. Some researchers have even found positive relationships between some health care inputs and mortality. The results on income and wealth have been more mixed. In studies which have analyzed developing countries, researchers have found that higher incomes are negatively related to mortality. Other researchers have found exactly the opposite result when they have limited their samples to rich countries and/or regions thereof. Many researchers have also found that lifestyle factors such as nutrition, and cigarette and alcohol consumption, are important determinants of health. Very few studies have estimated the effects of pharmaceutical consumption on mortality rates either directly or indirectly. The studies which have dealt with this directly in an international comparison context have had serious flaws. Some micro studies and many studies of restricted formularies in the United States Medicaid program have provided indirect evidence that pharmaceutical consumption has a positive impact on health. To investigate whether such an effect could be found in an analysis of international data, we analyze a sample consisting of 21 OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) countries as of the early 1990s. We convert pharmaceutical and total health care expenditures to U.S. dollars using purchasing power parity exchange rates for pharmaceuticals and health care, respectively. The purchasing power parities were provided by the OECD. Although other conversions are available for a limited number of countries, the measures of pharmaceutical and other health care consumption used here are the best available for a large number of OECD countries. We measure each country's health crudely, but objectively, using life expectancies at birth, at age 40, and at age 60, along with infant mortality. The analysis consists of various multivariate regressions in which we estimate production functions for health. A functional form is used that allows for diminishing returns in each of the inputs in the production functions. The explanatory variables in each regression include pharmaceutical consumption, other health care consumption, gross domestic product, alcohol consumption, cigarette consumption, and richness of diet. In our analysis, we find that pharmaceutical consumption has a positive and significant (both statistically and economically) effect on remaining life expectancy at age 40 and at age 60. It has a small, positive and statistically insignificant effect on life expectancy at birth. The elasticities of pharmaceutical consumption on life expectancy are roughly 0.017 at age 40 and 0.040 at age 60. The estimates are also quite robust to small changes. In a sample comprised of only the 16 European countries for which complete data were available, these elasticities were higher (0.023 for age forty and 0.050 for age sixty) and pharmaceutical consumption even had a small positive significant effect on life expectancy at birth. Pharmaceutical consumption appears to have no significant effect on infant mortality, although it appears that, controlling for lifestyle factors, increased pharmaceutical consumption may even be related to slightly increased infant mortality. Unfortunately, the infant mortality model is not robust to small changes, which does not inspire much confidence. We also find that gross domestic product has a positive and significant effect on life expectancies at the ages of 40 and 60, although this effect is not present in the European-only sample. The results from the infant mortality regressions are mixed. It also appears that non-pharmaceutical health care consumption has no measurable effect on life expectancy, either at birth, at age 40, or at age 60. However, in one specification, we find that it has a negative effect on infant mortality. Again, where infant mortality is concerned, the results are mixed and not robust. The lifestyle variable with the biggest effect on health is dietary richness, measured by the consumption of animal fat. Increased richness of diet improves mortality up to a point but the impact becomes negative as a diet becomes very rich. This result is consistent with the idea of the epidemiological transition: the idea that at low nutritional levels, enriching a diet allows one to better fight off infections, but that at high nutritional levels, enriching a diet leads to a greater incidence of degenerative diseases such as cancer and heart disease. This result is slightly surprising. One might have thought that the OECD countries were wealthy enough that nutrition, in this basic sense, would not be an issue. We believe that this study will add to the debate over how OECD governments should allocate resources both among different health care goods and services and between health care and other goods and services. It improves on much of the existing literature in that it uses better measures of pharmaceutical and other health care consumption and uses a functional form that allows for diminishing returns. The results have been surprising, but they have also been fairly robust in the life expectancy models. The final conclusion is that increased pharmaceutical consumption helps improve mortality outcomes, especially for those at middle age and beyond.

The White House released its budget proposal for Fiscal Year 2025 on March 11th, and the news was depressingly familiar: $895 billion for the Pentagon and work on nuclear weapons at the Department of Energy. After adjusting for inflation, that's only slightly less than last year's proposal, but far higher than the levels reached during either the Korean or Vietnam wars or at the height of the Cold War. And that figure doesn't even include related spending on veterans, the Department of Homeland Security, or the additional tens of billions of dollars in "emergency" military spending likely to come later this year. One thing is all too obvious: a trillion-dollar budget for the Pentagon alone is right around the corner, at the expense of urgently needed action to address climate change, epidemics of disease, economic inequality, and other issues that threaten our lives and safety at least as much as, if not more than, traditional military challenges.Americans would be hard-pressed to find members of Congress carefully scrutinizing such vast sums of national security spending, asking tough questions, or reining in Pentagon excess — despite the fact that this country is no longer fighting any major ground wars. Just a handful of senators and members of the House do that work while many more search for ways to increase the department's already bloated budget and steer further contracts into their own states and districts.Congress isn't just shirking its oversight duties: these days, it can't even seem to pass a budget on time. Our elected representatives settled on a final national budget just last week, leaving Pentagon spending at the already generous 2023 level for nearly half of the 2024 fiscal year. Now, the department will be inundated with a flood of new money that it has to spend in about six months instead of a year. More waste, fraud, and financial abuse are inevitable as the Pentagon prepares to shovel money out the door as quickly as possible. This is no way to craft a budget or defend a country.And while congressional dysfunction is par for the course, in this instance it offers an opportunity to reevaluate what we're spending all this money for. The biggest driver of overspending is an unrealistic, self-indulgent, and — yes — militaristic national defense strategy. It's designed to maintain a capacity to go almost everywhere and do almost anything, from winning wars with rival superpowers to intervening in key regions across the planet to continuing the disastrous Global War on Terror, which was launched in the wake of the 9/11 attacks and never truly ended. As long as such a "cover the globe" strategy persists, the pressure to continue spending ever more on the Pentagon will prove irresistible, no matter how delusional the rationale for doing so may be.Defending "the Free World"?President Biden began his recent State of the Union address by comparing the present moment to the time when the United States was preparing to enter World War II. Like President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1941, Joe Biden told the American people that the country now faces an "unprecedented moment in the history of the Union," one in which freedom and democracy are "under attack" both at home and abroad. He disparaged Congress's failure to approve his emergency supplemental bill, claiming that, without additional aid for Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin will threaten not just that country but all of Europe and even the "free world." Comparing (as he did) the challenge posed by Russia now to the threat that Hitler's regime posed in World War II is a major exaggeration that's of no value in developing an effective response to Moscow's activities in Ukraine and beyond.Engaging in such fearmongering to get the public on board with an increasingly militarized foreign policy ignores reality in service of the status quo. In truth, Russia poses no direct security threat to the United States. And while Putin may have ambitions beyond Ukraine, Russia simply doesn't have the capability to threaten the "free world" with a military campaign. Neither does China, for that matter. But facing the facts about these powers would require a critical reassessment of the maximalist U.S. defense strategy that rules the roost. Currently, it reflects the profoundly misguided belief that, on matters of national security, U.S. military dominance takes precedence over the collective economic strength and prosperity of Americans.As a result, the administration places more emphasis on deterring potential (if unlikely) aggression from competitors than on improving relations with them. Of course, this approach depends almost entirely on increasing the production, distribution, and stockpiling of arms. The war in Ukraine and Israel's continuing assault on Gaza have unfortunately only solidified the administration's dedication to the concept of military-centric deterrence.Contractor Dysfunction: Earning More, Doing LessIronically, such a defense strategy depends on an industry that continually exploits the government for its own benefit and wastes staggering amounts of taxpayer dollars. The major corporations that act as military contractors pocket about half of all Pentagon outlays while ripping off the government in a multitude of ways. But what's even more striking is how little they accomplish with the hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars they receive year in, year out. According to the Government Accountability Office (GAO), from 2020 to 2022, the total number of major defense acquisition programs actually declined even as total costs and average delivery time for new weapons systems increased.Take the Navy's top acquisition program, for example. Earlier this month, the news broke that the Columbia-class ballistic missile submarine is already at least a year behind schedule. That sub is the sea-based part of the next-generation nuclear (air-sea-and-land) triad that the administration considers the "ultimate backstop" for global deterrence. As a key part of this country's never-ending arms buildup, the Columbia is supposedly the Navy's most important program, so you might wonder why the Pentagon hasn't implemented a single one of the GAO's six recommendations to help keep it on track.As the GAO report made clear, the Navy proposed delivering the first Columbia-class vessel in record time — a wildly unrealistic goal — despite it being the "largest and most complex submarine" in its history.Yet the war economy persists, even as the giant weapons corporations deliver less weaponry for more money in an ever more predictable fashion (and often way behind schedule as well). This happens in part because the Pentagon regularly advances weapons programs before design and testing are even completed, a phenomenon known as "concurrent development." Building systems before they're fully tested means, of course, rushing them into production at the taxpayer's expense before the bugs are out. Not surprisingly, operations and maintenance costs account for about 70% of the money spent on any U.S. weapons program.Lockheed Martin's F-35 is the classic example of this enormously expensive tendency. The Pentagon just greenlit the fighter jet for full-scale production this month, 23 years (yes, that's not a misprint!) after the program was launched. The fighter has suffered from persistent engine problems and deficient software. But the official go-ahead from the Pentagon means little, since Congress has long funded the F-35 as if it were already approved for full-scale production. At a projected cost of at least $1.7 trillion over its lifetime, America's most expensive weapons program ever should offer a lesson in the necessity of trying before buying.Unfortunately, this lesson is lost on those who need to learn it the most. Acquisition failures of the past never seem to financially impact the executives or shareholders of America's biggest military contractors. On the contrary, those corporate leaders depend on Pentagon bloat and overpriced, often unnecessary weaponry. In 2023, America's biggest military contractor, Lockheed Martin, paid its CEO John Taiclit $22.8 million. Annual compensation for the CEOs of RTX, Northrop Grumman, General Dynamics, and Boeing ranged from $14.5 and $22.5 million in the past two years. And shareholders of those weapons makers are similarly cashing in. The arms industry increased cash paid to its shareholders by 73% in the 2010s compared to the prior decade. And they did so at the expense of investing in their own businesses. Now they expect taxpayers to bail them out to ramp up weapons production for Ukraine and Israel.Reining in the Military-Industrial ComplexOne way to begin reining in runaway Pentagon spending is to eliminate the ability of Congress and the president to arbitrarily increase that department's budget. The best way to do so would be by doing away with the very concept of "emergency spending." Otherwise, thanks to such spending, that $895 billion Pentagon budget will undoubtedly prove to be anything but a ceiling on military spending next year. As an example, the $95 billion aid package for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan that passed the Senate in February is still hung up in the House, but some portion of it will eventually get through and add substantially to the Pentagon's already enormous budget.Meanwhile, the Pentagon has fallen back on the same kind of budgetary maneuvers it perfected at the peak of its disastrous Afghan and Iraq wars earlier in this century, adding billions to the war budget to fund items on the department's wish list that have little to do with "defense" in our present world. That includes emergency outlays destined to expand this country's "defense industrial base" and further supersize the military-industrial complex — an expensive loophole that Congress should simply shut down. That, however, will undoubtedly prove a tough political fight, given how many stakeholders — from Pentagon officials to those corporate executives to compromised members of Congress — benefit from such spending sprees.Ultimately, of course, the debate about Pentagon spending should be focused on far more than the staggering sums being spent. It should be about the impact of such spending on this planet. That includes the Biden administration's stubborn continuation of support for Israel's campaign of mass slaughter in Gaza, which has already killed more than 31,000 people while putting many more at risk of starvation. A recent Washington Post investigation found that the U.S. has made 100 arms sales to Israel since the start of the war last October, most of them set at value thresholds just low enough to bypass any requirement to report them to Congress.The relentless supply of military equipment to a government that the International Court of Justice has said is plausibly engaged in a genocidal campaign is a deep moral stain on the foreign-policy record of the Biden administration, as well as a blow to American credibility and influence globally. No amount of airdrops or humanitarian supplies through a makeshift port can remotely make up for the damage still being done by U.S.-supplied weapons in Gaza.The case of Gaza may be extreme in its brutality and the sheer speed of the slaughter, but it underscores the need to thoroughly rethink both the purpose of and funding for America's foreign and military policies. It's hard to imagine a more devastating example than Gaza of why the use of force so often makes matters far, far worse — particularly in conflicts rooted in longstanding political and social despair. A similar point could have been made with respect to the calamitous U.S. interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan that cost untold numbers of lives, while pouring yet more money into the coffers of America's major weapons makers. Both of those military campaigns, of course, failed disastrously in their stated objectives of promoting democracy, or at least stability, in troubled regions, even as they exacted huge costs in blood and treasure.Before our government moves full speed ahead expanding the weapons industry and further militarizing geopolitical challenges posed by China and Russia, we should reflect on America's disastrous performance in the costly, prolonged wars already waged in this century. After all, they did enormous damage, made the world a far more dangerous place, and only increased the significance of those weapons makers. Throwing another trillion dollars-plus at the Pentagon won't change that.This article was republished with permission from TomDispatch.