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The food system is facing unprecedented pressure from environmental change exacerbated by the expansion of agri-food corporations that are consolidating their power in the global food chain. Although Africa missed the Green Revolution and the wave of supermarket expansion that hit the West and then spread to Asia and Latin America, this is unlikely to continue. With a large proportion of sub-Saharan African countries' GDP still heavily reliant on agriculture, global trends in agri-food business are having an increasing impact on African countries. South Africa, a leader in agribusiness on the continent, has a well-established agri-food sector that is facing increasing pressure from various social and environmental sources. This paper uses interview data with corporate executives from South African food businesses to explore how they are adapting to the dual pressures of environmental change and globalisation. It shows that companies now have to adapt to macro-trends both within and outside the formal food sector and how this in turn has repercussions for building sustainable farming systems—both small and large-scale. It concludes with the recognition that building a sustainable food system is a complex process involving a diversity of actors, however changes are already being seen. Businesses have strategically recognised the need to align the economic bottom line with social and environmental factors, but real sustainability will only happen when all stakeholders are included in food governance.

IN THIS ARTICLE, THE AUTHOR, THE BRAZILIAN FINANCE MINISTER IN THE LATE 1980S, USES HIS INSIGHTS AND EXPERIENCE TO EXAMINE CRITICALLY THE IDENTITY CRISIS OF THE WORLD BANK. TRAPPED BY THE NEO-LIBERAL TURN IN THE 1980S, AND UNABLE TO RETURN TO THE KEYNESIAN LENDING PRINCIPLES OF EARLIER DECADES, THE BANK IS CLAIMED TO BE FACING AN UNSETTLED FUTURE IN TERMS OF ITS OPERATIONAL PHILOSOPHY.

The aim of this paper is to provide a deeper understanding about the effective benefits of public investment projects carried out in Portugal, since their entry into the European Union, in 1986, so far and, additionally, to know the main causes for cost Project deviations. Since the entry of Portugal in European Union, the country image has changed, where public investment in infrastructure played a critical role. However one question remains unanswered which are frequently asked by Portuguese people, namely: • What are the Benefits of the Portuguese Public Investment Projects? In addition to the above question, the present study will try as well to answer the following question: • What were the main causes for the project deviations? This research allowed conclude that, although cost/investment deviations have been observed in the majority of projects, and reported through public audits, the benefits deviation analysis between the estimated values to society and what their realization was, are in the most cases, unknown. Portuguese national authorities are concerned to measure the deviation of costs/investment, but nobody has analyzed so far the benefits deviation for society and community. ; info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

An analysis of the World Bank's (WB) identity crisis shows how it is trapped in a power system as: economic & political environment changes; economic theories & ideologies rise & fall; & the internal dynamics of the WB, its capital structure & organization change over time. The WB's original objectives of industrialization & development economics faced an intellectual crisis with the emergence of neoliberalism. The debt crisis forced the WB to give up its former development strategy due to theoretical, ideological, & political reasons, as well as the poor performance of many projected loans. To resolve its identity crisis, the WB will need a better assessment of the neoliberal approach, & a realization of the limits of unilateral conditionality & its own financial means. 2 Tables, 1 Figure, 105 References. L. Nguyen

Brazil, during the past thirty years, has undergone extensive social and economic change, amounting to a Brazilian "Industrial Revolution". It is always somewhat arbitrary to assign dates to broad historical events, but, if establishment of a starting point for the Industrial Revolution would aid in its understanding, the best date is probably 1930. In the economic field, it is true, World War One represented a first step; in the cultural field, the Week of Modern Art (1922 in Sao Paulo) was the first significant manifestation of a really Brazilian culture. But in both cultural and economic fields, and especially in the political field, the Revolution of 1930 (when Getúlio Vargas came to power), and the world depression beginning in 1929, are the most important events. The phase that many sociologists, economists, and historians call either the National Revolution or the Industrial Revolution, the stage that W. W. Rostow prefers to call the take-off period, began at that time in Brazil.

Repeated food crises have resulted in increased recognition of the boundary-spanning nature of governing food systems and in consequent calls for more holistic food governance. An increasing number of governments have followed up on this recognition by initiating or discussing the development of better integrated food policy. However, in spite of the emergence of integrated food policy as a policy paradigm worth pursuing, considerable challenges remain regarding its concrete realization. Drawing upon recent insights from the public policy literature, this policy letter sets out five particularly demanding areas of concern: (i) constructing a resonating policy frame, (ii) formulating policy goals, (iii) involving relevant sectors and levels, (iv) the question of what constitutes optimal policy integration, and (v) designing a consistent mix of policy instruments. Formulating answers to these challenges will enable policymakers and stakeholders to envision the next steps in concretizing integrated food policy.

Wildfires are a frequent phenomenon in Portugal, affecting over 300.000 ha in dry years like 2003 and 2005. Directly and/or indirectly, wildfires can strongly enhance the hydrological response and associated sediment losses and, thereby, negatively affect land-use sustainability as well as ecosystem functioning of downstream aquatic habitats. Therefore, the EROSFIRE projects aim at developing a GIS-tool for predicting soil erosion hazard following wildfire and post-fire land management practices. Assessment and modeling of runoff and soil erosion rates critically depends on accurate estimates of the contributing areas. In the case of catchments as well as unbounded erosion plots (arguably, the only practical solution for slope-scale measurements), delineation of contributing area requires a Digital Terrain Model (DTM) with an adequate resolution and accuracy. The DTM that was available for the Colmeal study area (Goís municipality, central Portugal) was that of the 1:25.000 topographic map produced by the Military Geographic Institute. Since this study area involves a rather small experimental catchment of roughly 10 ha and relatively short study slopes of less than 100 m long, two different data acquisition techniques were used to produce high-resolution and high-accuracy DTM. One is aerial photogrammetry, whilst the other is terrestrial laser scanning. To produce a DTM by photogrammetric means, a dedicated digital aerial photography mission was carried out. The images had a pixel size of 10 cm. Manual measurements permitted to measure breaklines and were complemented by automatic measurements. In this way, a DTM in a TIN format was produced. This was further converted to grid format using the ArcGIS software system. Signalized control points allowed obtaining the DTM in the same global reference system as that employed for terrestrial laser scanning. The terrestrial laser scanning was done using a Riegl LMS Z360I, stationed in 8 points within the area to provide a complete coverage. The resulting dense cloud ...

È importante che la ricerca accademica esca maggiormente allo scoperto e comunichi sempre più con l'esterno. Maggiori azioni di divulgazione/disseminazione sono sempre più sollecitate dagli indirizzi dell'Unione europea e dalle politiche di governance universitaria. E ciò anche in termini di cosiddetta "terza missione", che si affianca agli scopi tradizionali dell'insegnamento e della ricerca. Lo strumento del laboratorio prove, non così diffuso nel settore dell'architettura, può diventare un tool di grande efficacia in questo senso, se inteso come un "open-lab" e dunque un "laboratorio da vivere". Ancor di più se rivolto a indagini per la valorizzazione del costruito storico, patrimonio della comunità dei cittadini. In questa direzione si è mosso il progetto europeo HeLLo (Horizon 2020, programma Marie Skłodowska-Curie IF) "aprendo le porte", secondo diverse modalità, all'istituzione pubblica e privata, al professionista, all'azienda, come pure alla collettività in genere. Un laboratorio in situ, a contatto con la "materia storica" e non in un ambiente lontano e "asettico", analizza i comportamenti reali di tecnologie isolanti per l'efficientamento dell'involucro. ; It is important that academic research comes out into the open and communicates more and more with the outside world. Greater dissemination actions are increasingly urged by the European Union guidelines and university governance policies. This also in terms of the so-called "third mission", which joins the traditional purposes of teaching and research. The instrument of the testing laboratory, not so common in the architectural sector, can become a highly effective tool in this sense, if understood as an "open-lab" and therefore a "laboratory to be lived in". Even more if addressed to investigations for the enhancement of the historic assets, heritage of the community of citizens. The European HeLLo project (Horizon 2020, Marie Skłodowska-Curie IF programme) has moved into this direction, "opening the doors", in different ways, to public and private institutions, to the professional, to companies, as well as to the community in general. An in situ laboratory, in contact with "historic matter" and not in a distant and "aseptic" environment, analyses the real behaviour of insulating technologies for the efficiency of the building envelope.

European science policy (so-called Horizon 2020) is guided by Grand Societal Challenges (GSCs) with the explicit aim of shaping the future. In this paper we propose an innovative approach to the analysis and critique of Europe's GSCs. The aim is to explore how speculative and creative fiction offer ways of embodying, telling, imagining, and symbolising 'futures', that can provide alternative frames and understandings to enrich the grand challenges of the 21st century, and the related rationale and agendas for ERA and H2020. We identify six ways in which filmic and literary representations can be considered creative foresight methods (i.e. through: creative input, detail, warning, reflection, critique, involvement) and can provide alternative perspectives on these central challenges, and warning signals for the science policy they inform. The inquiry involved the selection of 64 novels and movies engaging with notions of the future, produced over the last 150 years. Content analysis based on a standardised matrix of major themes and sub-domains, allows to build a hierarchy of themes and to identify major patterns of long-lasting concerns about humanity's future. The study highlights how fiction sees oppression, inequality and a range of ethical issues linked to human and nature's dignity as central to, and inseparable from innovation, technology and science. It concludes identifying warning signals in four major domains, arguing that these signals are compelling, and ought to be heard, not least because elements of such future have already escaped the imaginary world to make part of today's experience. It identifies areas poorly defined or absent from Europe's science agenda, and argues for the need to increase research into human, social, political and cultural processes involved in techno-science endeavours. ; info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersion

Abstract. Distinction between drought and aridity is crucial to understand water scarcity processes. Drought indices are used for drought identification and drought severity characterisation. The Standardised Precipitation Index (SPI) and the Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI) are the most known drought indices. In this study, they are compared with the modified PDSI for Mediterranean conditions (MedPDSI) and the Standardised Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI). MedPDSI results from the soil water balance of an olive crop, thus real evapotranspiration is considered, while SPEI uses potential (climatic) evapotranspiration. Similarly to the SPI, SPEI can be computed at various time scales. Aiming at understanding possible impacts of climate change, prior to compare the drought indices, a trend analysis relative to precipitation and temperature in 27 weather stations of Portugal was performed for the period 1941 to 2006. A trend for temperature increase was observed for some weather stations and trends for decreasing precipitation in March and increasing in October were also observed for some locations. Comparisons of the SPI and SPEI at 9- and 12-month time scales, the PDSI and MedPDSI were performed for the same stations and period. SPI and SPEI produce similar results for the same time scales concerning drought occurrence and severity. PDSI and MedPDSI correlate well between them and the same happened for SPI and SPEI. PDSI and MedPDSI identify more severe droughts than SPI or SPEI and identify drought occurrence earlier than these indices. This behaviour is likely to be related with the fact that a water balance is performed with PDSI and MedPDSI, which better approaches the supply-demand balance.

Wildfires are a common phenomenon in Portugal, affecting on average 100.000 ha of rural areas per year and up to 400.000 ha in dramatic years like 2003 and 2005. Wildfires can strongly enhance the hydrological response and associated sediment losses in recently burnt forest catchments and, thereby, negatively affect land-use sustain- ability of the affected terrains as well as ecosystem functioning of downstream aquatic habitats. Therefore, the EROSFIRE-I and –II projects aim at developing a GIS-tool for predicting soil erosion hazard following wildfire and, ultimately, for assessing the implications of alternative post-fire land management practices. Assessment of runoff and soil erosion rates critically depends on accurate estimates of the corresponding runoff areas. In the case of catchments as well as unbounded erosion plots (arguably, the only practical solution for slope-scale measurements), delineation of runoff area requires a Digital Terrain Model (DTM) with an adequate resolution and accuracy. The DTM that was available for the Colmeal study area, localized in the mountain range of Lousã, in the central part of Portugal, of EROSFIRE-II project is that of the 1:25.000 topographic map produced by the Military Geographic Institute. Since the Colmeal area involves a rather small experimental catchment of roughly 10 ha and relatively short study slopes of less than 100 m long, two different data acquisition techniques were used to produce high-resolution and high-accuracy DTM. One of the data acquisition techniques is aerial photogrammetry whilst the other is terrestrial laser scanning. In order to produce a DTM by photogrammetric means, a dedicated digital aerial photography mission was carried out. The images have a pixel size of 10 cm. Manual measurements permitted to measure breaklines and were complemented by automatic measurements. In this way, a DTM in a TIN format was produced. This was further converted to grid format using the ArcGIS software system. Signalized control points allowed obtaining the ...