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Chapter 10. Landscape and Urban Design for Sustainability ; Walking is a popular transport means for seniors doing daily errands, and pedestrian pavements play a key role in influencing the quality of older people's walking. Walking experience of older pedestrians and their perspectives to the outdoor environment are crucial in planning and designing pavements. However, their walking experience and perspective on the pavement are less involved in the process of urban development. A participatory toolkit is created providing a chance for older people to share their walking experience and to indicate their opinions of the pavement in a group study conducted by researchers who develop the pedestrian environment. The tool allows users to identify hazardous factors of the pavement, seek the impact of pavement hazards, and improve the pavement using recommendations. Based on the outputs of the toolkit, the researchers can have a better understanding of the relationship between pavements and elderly people and create an age-friendly pedestrian environment. ; Erasmus+ Program of the European Union

Managing privacy and understanding handling of personal data has turned into a fundamental right, at least within the European Union, with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) being enforced since May 25th 2018. This has led to tools and services that promise compliance to GDPR in terms of consent management and keeping track of personal data being processed. The information recorded within such tools, as well as that for compliance itself, needs to be interoperable to provide sufficient transparency in its usage. Additionally, interoperability is also necessary towards addressing the right to data portability under GDPR as well as creation of user-configurable and manageable privacy policies. We argue that such interoperability can be enabled through agreement over vocabularies using linked data principles. The W3C Data Privacy Vocabulary and Controls Community Group (DPVCG) was set up to jointly develop such vocabularies towards interoperability in the context of data privacy. This paper presents the resulting Data Privacy Vocabulary (DPV), along with a discussion on its potential uses, and an invitation for feedback and participation.

Managing privacy and understanding handling of personal data has turned into a fundamental right, at least within the European Union, with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) being enforced since May 25th 2018. This has led to tools and services that promise compliance to GDPR in terms of consent management and keeping track of personal data being processed. The information recorded within such tools, as well as that for compliance itself, needs to be interoperable to provide sufficient transparency in its usage. Additionally, interoperability is also necessary towards addressing the right to data portability under GDPR as well as creation of user-configurable and manageable privacy policies. We argue that such interoperability can be enabled through agreement over vocabularies using linked data principles. The W3C Data Privacy Vocabulary and Controls Community Group (DPVCG) was set up to jointly develop such vocabularies towards interoperability in the context of data privacy. This paper presents the resulting Data Privacy Vocabulary (DPV), along with a discussion on its potential uses, and an invitation for feedback and participation.

Effectively addressing the impact of aviation on climate change may prove a major challenge for policymakers. Τhe European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) is one of the main instruments used to reach the statutory reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. This paper examines policy issues regarding the implementation of the EU ETS in aviation. A two-round Delphi study was undertaken based on a sample of 31 experts from Airlines and the International Air Transport Association; Air Navigation Service Providers; Civil Aviation Authorities; Government Institutions; and informed individuals (consultants and academics). The different allocation methods of allowances; the linking of EU ETS to similar schemes in other counties/continents; and the interconnection of the scheme with related environmental policies in Europe are found to significantly affect the efficiency of the EU ETS. Simpler monitoring, reporting and verification processes; streamlining and increased transparency of the auctions and penalties revenue policy; and achievement of balance in the allowance market are recommended to rectify caveats of the EU ETS from a policy perspective.

This article belongs to the Special Issue Synthetic Biology: From Living Computers to Terraformation. ; We present a scheme for implementing a version of task switching in engineered bacteria, based on the manipulation of plasmid copy numbers. Our method allows for the embedding of multiple computations in a cellular population, whilst minimising resource usage inefficiency. We describe the results of computational simulations of our model, and discuss the potential for future work in this area. ; The work of A.G.-M. is supported by the SynBio3D (UK-EPSRC-EP/R019002/1) project of the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and the BioRoboost (EU-H2020-BIOTEC-820699) Contract of the European Union. The work of AR-P is supported by the Spanish TIN2016-81079-R, (MINECO AEI/FEDER, EU) and Madrid Gov. project B2017/BMD-3691, InGEMICS-CM (FSE/FEDER, EU). Work in FdlC laboratory was financed by grant BFU2017-86378-P from the Ministry of Science and Technology (Spain). ; Peer reviewed

A sludge fraction is obtained from the industries which recycle cooking oil and this sludge contains a large amount of oil with an extremely high acidity (> 60%). In this work, we propose a scheme for methyl ester production from this residual oil consisting of the esterification of the free fatty acids followed by the transesterification of the remaining triglycerides. Esterifications were carried out with different methanol:oil molar ratios, and various catalysts in different weight ratios. The results revealed that homogeneous catalysts produced higher yields than heterogeneous ones in the esterification reaction. With the aim of improving the process, a previous triglyceride hydrolysis was assayed using lipases from Candida rugosa. Finally, the 3-stage process was performed under the most favorable conditions for each stage obtaining 84% wt. fatty acid methyl esters, which shows the potential of this residual oil as a source of biodiesel. ; This work was supported by the European Union Funds under grant LIFE 13-Bioseville ENV/1113. The authors are grateful to Grupo BIOSEL for supplying the residual oil.

Newex project The goal of the NEWEX project is the construction and testing of the new innovative extruder. By the application of a new concept of vital parts: innovative active grooved feed section (IAGFS), original rotational barrel segment (ORBS) and special screw (SS) a completely new breakthrough technology of extrusion and plasticizing system will be achieved. It will enable to manufacture the products of improved properties and to process the materials that couldn't have been processed so far, as well as food, cosmetic and pharmaceutical materials. In parallel to the main RTD activities the NEWEX project is aiming at industryacademia cooperation and transfer of knowledge between organizations from centraleastern and Western Europe. All the project's activities will be performed by thoroughly planned secondments and appropriate hosting institutions between industrial and academic partners. International consortium consists of:  Lublin University of Technology (Poland),  University of Minho (Portugal),  Technical University of Košice (Slovakia),  Zamak Mercator sp. z o.o. (Poland),  SEZ Krompachy a.s. (Slovakia),  DIRMETA UAB (Lithuania). ; European Union

Cassava, rice, and banana flours were used individually to replace wheat flour in cereal-legume-based composite flours. The proximate composition, mineral content, antinutritional effect, mineral molar ratios, and aflatoxin level were investigated. Replacing wheat flour with rice flour significantly (P < 0.05) improved protein, fat, potassium, and phosphorus content in samples. The molar ratios of phytate or oxalate to minerals (calcium and zinc) in all composite flours were lower than the reported critical values, except phytate to iron. However, all samples, except full replacement by rice flour, might not provide adequate zinc bioavailability when the effect of calcium and phytate on zinc absorption was collectively considered. Although all composite flours were contaminated with aflatoxins, only the control composed of wheat flour did not meet the EU regulatory threshold (4.0 µg/kg) for total aflatoxins. The findings showed that nutritional properties and aflatoxin content of composite flours can be improved by replacement with local crops. ; World Bank ; International Fund for Agricultural Development ; European Union ; Peer Review

International audience ; Greenhouse gas emission scenarios are key in analyses of human interference with the climate system. They are mainly produced by one category of computer models: Integrated Assessment Models (IAMs). We analyse how IAM research organised into a community around the production of socioeconomic scenarios during the preparation of the IPCC AR5 (2005-2014). We seek to describe the co-emergence of a research community, its instruments, and its domain of applicability. We highlight the role of the IPCC process in the making of the IAM community, showing how IAMs worked their way to an influent position. We then survey three elements of the repertoire that served to organise collective work on scenarios in interaction with the IPCC and the European Union, and which now frames the community and its epistemic practices. This repertoire needs to articulate epistemic practices with the pursuit of policy relevance, which shows how epistemic communities and patterns of co-production materialise in practical arrangements.

The Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland are set to join the European and Monetary Union (EMU) in the near future. This paper offers a framework for the quantitative evaluation of the economic costs of joining the EMU. Using an open economy dynamic general equilibrium model with sticky prices, we investigate the economic implications of the loss of monetary policy flexibility associated with EMU for each of these economies. The main benefit of this general equilibrium approach is that we can directly evaluate the effects of monetary policy in terms of welfare. Our findings suggest that the Czech Republic and Poland may experience sizable welfare costs as a result of joining the EMU. Results for Hungary are less striking as welfare costs in this country seem to be negligible in the benchmark economy. Nevertheless, costs of joining the EMU are higher if government shocks are important and when the trade share with the EMU is small. ; info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

The prevention of gender violence among young boys at the primary and secondary schools in Albania is considered important during the projects implementation of NGOs dealing with domestic violence. This paper consider the perspective according to which, sustainable programs for the `Non-violence` education of young boys in the schools, are achieved only if we exalt the historical memory of peaceful citizenship. This ongoing educational goal should include also campaigns for arising awareness, treatments of youths exposed to violence and abuse in the families and also it is needed to involve young people from communities where criminal activities, bullying and sexual harassment in schools are present. According to recent studies, these factors warn on future domestic violence risks. Albania lacks of programs that in European Union countries constitute the standardized and accredited informative activities for young people. Workshops that raise awareness on vulnerability must be placed together with preventive programs for peer education.Keywords: gender violence, domestic violence, bullying, sexual harassment, peer education programs.

After the oil crisis in the 70s energy regulation codes were implemented, but a great portion of existing dwellings have not been retrofitted to current requirements. To face this issue several actions were taken in the European Union (EU), among these, the implementation of Energy Performance Certificates (EPC), which include a Recommendation List of Measures (RLMs) to retrofit buildings. Some concerns exist about the lack of confidence on these recommendations. The main objective of this study is to analyze the usefulness of the EPC, answering if it is possible to deliver a realistic financial assessment about renovation strategies using these tools. The study is based on three indicators: Consumption, energy saving variations and profitability. The study is based on a renovation project case study, where simulations and Life Cycle Cost Assessment (LCCA) were performed, in order to identify the different results that EPC's and an energy efficiency assessment could lead to. The results show important differences in all the concepts evaluated ; This research received no external funding. ; publishedVersion

The article presents research on the international community's engagement in the countries of the Western Balkans in the past and their possible approach in the future. The focus of our research is on the functioning of mechanisms through which the international community performs certain tasks in the region. These interventions are primarily political, in the form of conferences, political programmes, consultations, pressures and continuous persuasion. Economic initiatives follow afterwards. By using different reform approaches, international institutions try to improve cooperation with the European Union (EU) and countries such as the USA, Russia, Turkey and China. Our research attempts to identify possible methods and new solutions for individual cases of conflict in Western Balkans countries, especially where the international community is actively involved. On this basis, we created a more holistic approach. The application of these measures could make the necessary reforms of the future easier. Our approach emphasises all the elements of security that are essential to the stability of the region and for the prevention of conflicts in the future.

This paper presents a comprehensive review of European Union (EU) legislation addressing the safety of chemical substances, and possibilities within each piece of legislation for applying grouping and read-across approaches for the assessment of nanomaterials (NMs). Hence, this review considers both the overarching regulation of chemical substances under REACH (Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 on registration, evaluation, authorization, and restriction of chemicals) and CLP (Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008 on classification, labeling and packaging of substances and mixtures) and the sector-specific pieces of legislation for cosmetic, plant protection and biocidal products, and legislation addressing food, novel food, and food contact materials. The relevant supporting documents (e.g. guidance documents) regarding each piece of legislation were identified and reviewed, considering the relevant technical and scientific literature. Prospective regulatory needs for implementing grouping in the assessment of NMs were identified, and the question whether each particular piece of legislation permits the use of grouping and read-across to address information gaps was answered.

Regional economic development and business incentive programs have a prominent role in the European Union (EU). For evaluating these programs, in recent years, a growing number of studies have exploited either spatial discontinuities, set by boundaries of the targeted areas, or ranking discontinuities, based on EU-fund eligibility indexes or firm-level application scores. In light of this literature, impact evaluations are being increasingly commissioned and designed under an a-priori assumptions that discontinuity designs have superior impact identification properties. This paper argues that in a number of frequently encountered, but often unrecognized, circumstances this assumption does not hold ground. When the running variable has a weak influence on the outcome of the analysis, discontinuity designs are at risk of either unnecessarily reduce external validity or, in the presence small sample sizes, failing to achieve the complete balancing of relevant controls. In this scenario, ensuring the common support for the crucial confounders and adopting statistical matching estimators, often constitute a more viable empirical option. ; FCT