Suchergebnisse

A produção de café orgânico destaca-se como uma importante forma de diferenciação do produto no mercado, pois esse sistema produtivo busca harmonizar o uso dos recursos naturais, como também a consciência em oferecer ao mercado consumidor um produto livre de contaminações por resíduos químicos, provenientes principalmente, do uso de agroquímicos e fertilizantes industriais. A teoria da ecologia populacional é uma abordagem relacionada ao estudo das organizações e que postula que as organizações atuam como sendo seres biológicos, pelo qual, o ambiente institucional promove a seleção das organizações. Esse estudo buscou identificar como a produção de café orgânico no Brasil pode ser analisada através da ótica da teoria da ecologia populacional. Os resultados demonstraram que existem produtores que conseguem sucesso financeiros com a produção de café orgânico e outros que sairão da atividade, com resultados financeiros ruins. Os bons resultados de alguns produtores são provenientes da utilização de diferenciação do produto, seja pela qualidade do produto ou pela característica de produção orgânica, que aufere melhores preços de venda do produto final.

Abstract. Sea level rise, changes in storms and wave climate as a consequence of global climate change are expected to increase the size and magnitude of flooded and eroding coastal areas, thus having profound impacts on coastal communities and ecosystems. River deltas, beaches, estuaries and lagoons are considered particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change, which should be studied at the regional/local scale. This paper presents a regional vulnerability assessment (RVA) methodology developed to analyse site-specific spatial information on coastal vulnerability to the envisaged effects of global climate change, and assist coastal communities in operational coastal management and conservation. The main aim of the RVA is to identify key vulnerable receptors (i.e. natural and human ecosystems) in the considered region and localize vulnerable hot spot areas, which could be considered as homogeneous geographic sites for the definition of adaptation strategies. The application of the RVA methodology is based on a heterogeneous subset of bio-geophysical and socio-economic vulnerability indicators (e.g. coastal topography, geomorphology, presence and distribution of vegetation cover, location of artificial protection), which are a measure of the potential harm from a range of climate-related impacts (e.g. sea level rise inundation, storm surge flooding, coastal erosion). Based on a system of numerical weights and scores, the RVA provides relative vulnerability maps that allow to prioritize more vulnerable areas and targets of different climate-related impacts in the examined region and to support the identification of suitable areas for human settlements, infrastructures and economic activities, providing a basis for coastal zoning and land use planning. The implementation, performance and results of the methodology for the coastal area of the North Adriatic Sea (Italy) are fully described in the paper.

: The concept of circular economy (CE) has recently gained momentum in the political, scientific, and economic debate, especially in China and Europe. As a result, organizations and scholars have started to establish different sets of principles for its adoption. For this reason, it is important to identify and assess the differences and similarities among existing sets of CE principles, and how organizations and individuals understand and translate them into practice. In this paper, we firstly present a brief review and analysis of the coherence among six existing sets of principles. Our analysis finds that, despite the mixed degree of coherence, all sets describe the necessity to implement CE principles at all levels of a company. We then present the results of an in-depth qualitative survey that investigates how 19 key informants representing small, medium, and multinational companies based in China understand and carry out the CE principles laid out by the BSI standard BS 8001:2017 ; how these principles can transform the culture and processes of these companies ; and what are the opportunities and threats that such transformation can bring. Results describe a good awareness and knowledge of the CE principles and an optimistic outlook concerning their adoption. At the same time, numerous barriers and threats that the implementation of these principles might entail are presented. Overall, respondents confirm the complexity of implementing the principles of the CE in an integrated and consistent way in the management and strategies of Chinese companies and highlight the challenges that might arise during their implementation.

After an introduction about contaminated sites in Europe and the United States, as well as risk-based environmental management concepts and principles, this book provides an analysis of the main steps and tools for the development of decision support systems.

Abstract. Over the last few decades, Europe has suffered from a number of severe flood events and, as a result, there has been a growing interest in probing alternative approaches to managing flood risk via prevention measures. A literature review reveals that, although in the last decades risk evaluation has been recognized as key element of risk management, and risk assessment methodologies (including risk analysis and evaluation) have been improved by including social, economic, cultural, historical and political conditions, the theoretical schemes are not yet applied in practice. One main reason for this shortcoming is that risk perception literature is mainly of universal and theoretical nature and cannot provide the necessary details to implement a comprehensive risk evaluation. This paper therefore aims to explore a procedure that allows the inclusion of stakeholders' perceptions of prevention measures in risk assessment. It proposes to adopt methods of risk communication (both one-way and two-way communication) in risk assessment with the final aim of making flood risk management more effective. The proposed procedure not only focuses on the effect of discursive risk communication on risk perception, and on achieving a shared assessment of the prevention alternatives, but also considers the effects of the communication process on perceived uncertainties, accepted risk levels, and trust in the managing institutions. The effectiveness of this combined procedure has been studied and illustrated using the example of the participatory flood prevention assessment process on the Sihl River in Zurich, Switzerland. The main findings of the case study suggest that the proposed procedure performed well, but that it needs some adaptations for it to be applicable in different contexts and to allow a (semi-) quantitative estimation of risk perception to be used as an indicator of adaptive capacity.

AbstractThe development of highly innovative techniques and technologies to enhance performance and technical sustainability of materials used in the field of cultural heritage conservation is providing conservators with innovative nanocomposites materials, including protective coatings, by merging the performances of engineered nanoparticles (NPs) with conventional chemicals. However, the human health and environmental risks that may potentially arise from these new materials are still largely unknown, requiring an adequate assessment and management along their entire life cycle. Concerns could emerge due to the leaching of the material containing NPs or of the NPs alone, especially during their use (exposure of the treated object to, e.g., heavy or acid rain) and disposal (when the wasted product is processed in, e.g., waste water treatment plants). To date, no standard leaching test methods have been specifically developed for nano-enabled products, with the consequent lack of data on the NPs potential exposure also in the field of cultural heritage. Therefore, an extensive review over the last 10 years by querying to the Scopus database "nanoparticles", "leaching" and "coatings" has been herein reported to clearly highlight (i) the standard test methods used or adapted to estimate the NPs leaching from nano-based coatings; (ii) the available studies in which the NPs leaching from nano-based coatings was estimated without following any specific standard test method; (iii) the works focusing on other nanocomposite materials performances than leaching, in which standard test methods were applied, potentially useful to indirectly estimate NPs leaching. All the information gathered by this bibliographic search have been used to identify the most promising leaching tests for NPs estimation to be applied in the field of cultural heritage, especially for both large, e.g., building façades, and small, e.g., bronze works of art, surface areas from which the leaching of nano-based materials could be significant in terms of human health and ecological risks, based also on the (eco)toxicity of the leachate. The derived information can thus ultimately support effective risk management of innovative nano-enabled products, including the implementation of Safe by Design approaches.

The study focused on selected trace elements (As, Cd, Cr, Hg, Ni, Pb) monitored in surface waters of the Venice Lagoon catchment basin (North East Italy) over the period 2000-2015. The monitoring was undertaken to verify the achievement of the quality objectives set by the European and national legislations. The available results have been analyzed to evaluate the chemical status of water bodies. The limit of quantification (LOQ) of the applied analytic techniques appears critical for the adequate water monitoring; for some parameters, the percentage of not visible values due to non-satisfactory LOQ was higher in the beginning of the period; the subsequent improvement of LOQ allowed assessing the respect of environmental quality standards (EQSs). The study analyzes time trends in single stations and the differences between detected concentrations in the considered stations. Moreover, maximum concentrations and water flows have been considered to understand the potential correlation. Cumulated frequency curves for the most critical parameters have been built to identify situation of potential overtaking of the EQSs in force. The most polluted sampling stations of the drainage basin for the six trace elements were found in Cuori and Fiumazzo rivers. Although LOQs changed over time, the recorded trends show a quality improvement and a good compliance with respect to EQSs set by European legislation, while considering EQSs set by local special legislation, the objectives are not yet satisfied. Arsenic is ubiquitous; thus, it can be supposed to be originated as a background environmental concentration, while nickel appears of industrial origin according to its point and local presence.