Suchergebnisse

AbstractThe relations between the Portuguese Estado da India and other Indian powers were based on several forms of interaction from embassies to commercial exchanges. One important channel of communication was the exchange of gifts. The Estado often used gifts to consolidate its ties with local powers, to ward off the hostility of potential enemies, and to maintain allies or find new ones. This article analyses how the gifts offered and received by the Portuguese served the interests of the Portuguese Crown in India, and lead to the adoption of local ritual practices by the Estado da Índia.

This open access book reconstructs and examines a crucial episode of Anglo-Iberian diplomatic rivalry: the clash between the Portuguese-sponsored Jesuit missionaries and the English East India Company (EIC) at the Mughal court between 1580 and 1615. This 35-year period includes the launch of the first Jesuit mission to Akbar's court in 1580 and the preparation of the royal embassy led by Sir Thomas Roe to negotiate the concession of trading privileges to the EIC, and encompasses not only the extension of the conflict between the Iberian crowns and England into Asia, but also the consolidation of the Mughal Empire. The book examines the proselytizing and diplomatic activities of the Jesuit missionaries, the evolution of English diplomatic strategies concerning the Mughal Empire, and how the Mughal authorities instigated and exploited Anglo-Iberian rivalry in the pursuit of specific commercial, geopolitical, and ideological agendas.

International Journal of Engineering and Industrial Management, nº 1, p. 195-208 ; Portugal has had a strong public works policy for centuries. In recent years, the largest environmental conflicts were focused precisely on public works. Two case studies are hereby examined. The third crossing of the Tagus at Lisbon should support the high-speed rail link between Lisbon and Madrid, plus suburban and heavy cargo trains; recently, the Government decided to add a road. But Lisbonalready suffers from too much traffic and air pollution; and the cost is too high,because project-finance is not viable; instead, more and better public transportationis needed. A policy for large dams aims to create 12 new dams, supposedly to reduce GHG emissions and improve the balance of the electric network; unfortunately, those dams will hinder regional development in poor regions, destroy the last major wild rivers in Portugal and a number of social infrastructures; they would generate 2 TWh/year of electricity, about 1% of energy demand in Portugal, at a cost of 3 000 M€; in contrast, the same investment in energy-efficiency projects would save at least 8 TWh/year. In both cases, the decision process was aprioristic and disregarding of public opinion. In short, public works in Portugal remain as unsustainable as ever, environmentally, socially and economically.

Environmental Training in Engineering Education (ENTREE 2001) - integrated green policies: progress for progress, p. 329-339 (Florence, 14-17 November 2001; proceedings published as book) ; This paper describes the experience of a joint university-industry effort, under the course "Project on Environmental Management and Auditing", in the Environmental Engineering program at the New University of Lisbon. In this course, students are divided in audit teams and perform environmental audits in operating companies or institutions. The course has shown remarkable success, in all respects. The total number of case studies so far is 50. They have covered many fields of activity, including among others: chemicals, cement, electricity, gas, metalwork, pulp and paper, auto components and assembly, construction works, waste treatment, shopping centres, fuel and chemical storage, public and cargo transportation, an airport, military bases, insurance business, tourism, a natural preserve, zoos and aquariums, and the UNL Campus itself at Caparica. Relations with the audited companies or institutions have been quite positive, by means of carefully drafted protocols that ensure a mutually acceptable methodology and scope of the audit, along with undisclosure clauses. We have found this a very positive experience for all concerned: the students, the companies or institutions and the University.

World Transport Policy & Practice, Vol.6, nº2, (2000) ; The Vasco da Gama bridge over the Tagus Estuary was one of the most polemic projects ever built in Portugal and indeed in the European Union. Benefiting from significant funding from the Cohesion Fund, the project failed to uphold its main declared objectives (decongesting the old bridge and providing a northsouth link around Lisbon), and its location was the worst of three alternatives regarding land management, nature conservation, transportation system and cost. It was nevertheless forwarded by the will of the very powerful Portuguese Ministry of Public Works (against opinions of almost everybody else), aided by the unwillingness of the European Commission to withdraw financing. However, the public outrage raised around the project both in Portugal and in Europe, not only for the sloppy decision but also for illegal impacts during construction, led to several stringent control and compensatory measures, unprecedented in Portugal and rare in Europe.

Management Information Systems 2000, p. 103-111 ; Portugal has an EEZ of 1.6 million square kilometres. The importance of the EEZ is primarily related to economic activities such as fisheries and tourism, and eventually offshore mining; but also to broader issues such as environment, internal security and geo-strategy. Maritime surveillance is a keystone for the control of the EEZ. The authors discuss strengths and flaws of the Portuguese maritime surveillance scheme, plus opportunities for better management of the EEZ. Maritime surveillance has not been a priority in Portugal, hence available means are insufficient; the responsibilities of a maritime authority are distributed among several institutions, relatively low on State hierarchy and with inadequate co-ordination. Although the essential functions of a maritime authority are performed, efficiency is poor and existing means are not used to full capacity. EEZ management exists only as desegregated policies. The authors adopt the twin concepts of the integrated management for the EEZ; and the Command, Control, Communications and Intelligence (C3I) for the maritime surveillance. A model is proposed to integrate such concepts into the new VTMIS (Vessel Traffic Management Information Services) about to be implemented in Portugal. This should improve the VTMIS and the efficiency of other means of maritime surveillance and management. The new system should have a strong geographical information component and the capability to integrate on-line information from many sources (such as land-based radar, port information, satellite imagery, military and police routine surveillance, international databases and mathematical modelling, among others). Such information would then be used for a number of tasks, including environmental protection and natural resources management in the EEZ. The paper discusses the desirable specifications for such a system and its link with existing and future institutional arrangements in Portugal.

Editorial

Critical Issues in Environmental Taxation: International and Comparative Perspectives: Volume VI, 699-715 ; Land use management is one of the least studied, more diffi cult, but possibly one of the most important fi elds for the application of economic instruments in environmental policy. Present biodiversity loss is a consequence of the decisions of many individual users of environmental products and service fl ows. This is a result of the 'unpriced scarcity' and 'lack of property rights' nature of the environment. The social value of various biodiversity goods and service fl ows is not or is insuffi - ciently refl ected in market prices. As a result, an undesirable level of provision of these goods and services will result in their destruction or degradation

Business Strategy and the Environment nº 15, p. 71–86 ; At an international level, the implementation of environmental management practices in military facilities is now a growing reality, particularly with the implementation of environmental management programmes and/or systems. The main goal of this research was to assess the Portuguese military sector's environmental performance through an index – the MEPE index – in a simplified and useful manner. A second goal was to measure the units' self-assessment against the environmental profile of the military sector as evaluated through the index, to determine how far they match. The index was deeloped on the basis of the data obtained in a national questionnaire, which was carried out to evaluate environmental practices adopted by military units. Results show that the Portuguese military's overall environmental performance is poor, reflecting that this is quite a new issue in military organizations. Among the military branches the Air Force reveals the best environmental results.

What did it mean to be a stranger in sixteenth and seventeenth-century England? How were other nations, cultures, and religions perceived? What happened when individuals moved between languages, countries, religions, and spaces? Following the model of Raymond Williams's classic Keywords: A Vocabulary of Culture and Society (1976), Keywords of Identity, Race, and Human Mobility analyses a selection of terms that were central to the conceptualisation of identity, race, migration, and transculturality in the early modern period. In many cases, the concepts, preconceptions, and debates that they embody – or sometimes subsume – came to play formative roles in the articulation of identity, rights, and power in subsequent periods. Together, the essays in this volume provide an invaluable resource for anyone interested in the development of issues of identity, belonging, and human mobility.

Proceedings of the First International Conference on Coastal Conservation and Management in the Atlantic and Mediterranean, p. 193-200 ; Of the numerous problems affecting environmental management, inadequate base legislation is but one. However, it is a key factor that should deserve greater attention both from scientists and policy-makers, since it may severely impair effective management efforts, especially in such dynamic environments as coastal areas. The case of the Tróia peninsula (SW Portugal) is presented to illustrate how (inadequate) legislation effectively impairs management. The need for a new praxis in policy-making is discussed.