Modelling and assessing public health policies to counteract Italian measles outbreaks

This study aims to understand, through explanatory research, the key factors that led to the 2017 measles outbreak in Italy, the causes of the low level of immunisation and the causes of possible cyclical phenomena of measles epidemics. This topic's comprehension has required a holistic approach, merging epidemiological aspects, socioeconomic aspects (including the evolution of mistrust in vaccinations, infodemy and fake news) and health law constraints. A specific SIR System Dynamics (SD) model was built to reproduce the relevant cause-and-effect relationships between social interactions, the public institutions behaviour and the measles outbreaks. SD results permit the assessment of the h…

Tourism Governance at Stake: supporting decision makers in a small town through an Interactive Learning Environment

Modelling strategies for the reduction of fat dormice in northern Italian hazel groves

The production of hazelnuts represents an important resource for several Italian rural areas. Sicily and Piedmont, two of the most important producers of hazelnuts, are affected by the presence of the dormouse (Glis glis), that has considerably severely harmed the production of hazelnuts. This study aims to analyse the issue in the Province of Cuneo in Piedmont and to evaluate the sustainability of the policies implemented by using the system dynamics (SD) methodology. An SD predator-prey microworld was built to reproduce the main relevant cause and effect relationships between the development of the dormouse population and local hazelnut production. The results of the SD microworld simulat…

Lack of Good Governance or hazard of consumers e-Health? Evidence through a dynamic outcome based-performance in the Italian healthcare sector about the spread of Measles.

This research aims to analyse the management of the health policies to contain the measles outbreaks in Italy. In particular, this study wants to find out what are the key factors that led to the measles outbreak of 2017 and its previous cyclical trend, analysing the impact of ehealth strategy in the management of the epidemics. Understanding the complexity of this issue will help to evaluate the actual policies of the Italian Ministry of Healthcare and to steer the policy-makers to frame sustainable policies to manage the risk of a measles outbreak. The thesis is structured in four chapters. The first chapter, through a literature review, discusses the evolution of the management of epidem…

Designing Dynamic Sustainable Business Models to Assess the Feasibility of an Industrial Symbiosis: The Case of the Retro-Port Area of Trieste

This study evaluates the managerial sustainability of implementing a decision support system for industrial symbiosis through a recent business modeling methodology. The decision support system is intended to facilitate the identification of implementable industrial symbiosis good practices in a pilot project located in the industrial retro-port area of Trieste. To evaluate the feasibility of this project, a qualitative “Dynamic business model canvas for sustainability” was designed and supported by a system dynamics approach using causal loop diagrams. The study analyzed various governance scenarios for managing the decision support system (public, private, or public–private partnership) a…

The production management of hazelnuts in province of Cuneo, under a system dynamics approach. How the dormice affect its performance.

The production of hazelnuts represents an important resource in several Italian rural areas. Sicily and Piedmont, ones of the most important producers of hazelnuts, are affected by the presence of a rodent (Glis Glis), that has reduced considerably the production of hazelnuts. This project aims to show the complexity of the issue by using a System Dynamics (SD) approach to help the decision-makers to implement an optimal policy to improve the performance of production management of hazelnuts, taking as example the case of Province of Cuneo. By using the case of Province of Cuneo where Policy-makers have applied some policies to reduce the impact of the presence of the rodent, a SD microworl…