Search results for " Sustainable"

Food community networks as leverage for social embeddedness

2013

Social embeddedness, defined as the interaction of economic activities and social behavior, is used in this study as a conceptual tool to describe the growing phenomenon of food community networks (FCNs). The aim in this paper was to map the system of relations which the FCNs develop both inside and outside the network and, from the number of relations, it was inferred the influence of each FCN upon the formation of new socially embedded economic realities. A particular form of FCN was taken under consideration: solidarity purchase groups (SPGs). Performed with the aid of social network analysis on a sample of SPGs in Sicily (a region in southern Italy), the study allowed us to identify a r…

Environmental comparison between a hot extrusion process and conventional machining processes through a Life Cycle Assessment approach

2014

Nowadays manufacturing technologies have to be evaluated not only for the technical features they can provide to products, but also considering the environmental perspective as well. As long as the technological feasibility of a given process is guaranteed, processes minimizing resources and energy consumption have to be selected for manufacturing. With respect to this topic, the research studies in the domain of metal processing technologies predominantly focus on conventional material removal processes as milling and turning. Despite some exceptions, many other non-machining technologies, such as metal forming processes, are still not well documented in terms of their energy and resource …

Liquid structure of a water-based, hydrophobic and natural deep eutectic solvent: The case of thymol-water. A Molecular Dynamics study

2022

The structural organization of the first example of a water-based, type V, hydrophobic, natural deep eutectic solvent (DES) is investigated in this work, exploiting the synergy of X-ray scattering and compu- tational techniques. The stoichiometric mixture of thymol:water (4.8:1) has been recently reported to behave as a DES, with a melting point at 6 C, well below the one foreseen for the ideal liquid mixture. Our study provides an atomistic insight into the structural correlations in this system, highlighting the major role played by hydrogen bonding (HB) correlations in affecting morphology as well as the solid– liquid equilibrium. Thymol engages HB-mediated interactions with both thymol …

Il progetto ECONET-COHAST: Strategie per la conservazione degli habitat costieri di Torre Manfria (Sicilia merid.)

2007

The coexistence of several lithological substrata, together with particular geomorphologic and climatic features, are determining the exceptional floristic and faunistic interest of the coastal trait between Gela and Torre Manfria. In order to preserve and enhance coastal habitats, such area has been chosen as case-study in the Interreg project ECONET-COHAST, which involves six partners from four EU countries (Cyprus, Greece, Italy and Malta). In this paper, the main features of the area are described and the approach followed in order to implement conservation strategies accounting for the local development exigencies is illustrated. © Società Italiana di Scienza della Vegetazione.

Culture, Biodiversity and Endogenous Development: introducing the BioCultural Community Protocols

2012

Education for a sustainable future at the University: the challenge of teachers' training

2012

Este trabajo analiza la importancia de la incorporación de la sostenibilidad en el currículum de la educación superior como componente esencial de la formación de los futuros profesionales. Se ponen de manifiesto los primeros avances hacia una impregnación de esta dimensión en la actividad docente, la gestión y la investigación, se estudian algunas dificultades encontradas y se sugieren propuestas para hacerles frente. El estudio se centra, en particular, en la formación del profesorado de diferentes niveles, mediante su inmersión en la cultura de la sostenibilidad, con el fin de que puedan contribuir a la educación de una ciudadanía responsable y preparada para participar en la toma de dec…

La competencia Aprender a Aprender en el marco de las competencias transversales clave de los Objetivos del Desarollo Sostenible en las Universidades.

2019

[EN] The communication offers the possibilities of educational innovation that are raised from the research carried out to deepen the development of the competence learning to learn in university contexts. The results of the discussion groups are analyzed through the prism of the transversal key competences that are proposed to help achieve the Objectives of Sustainable Development through teaching. It ends with a few brief conclusions.

Institutions, firms and environment in a framework of innovation

2017

The aim of the paper is the analysis of innovation and institution as the key elements for reaching a higher social welfare and environmental quality. To determine a social optimum or a Pareto improvement, we consider the interaction between institution and firm in the short and in the medium/long run. Using a static comparative analysis, the interaction of these two agents, institution and market, is examined. Within the market an entrant and an incumbent firm are present, where the entrant firm represents the firm who radically innovates. Even if in the short run results show that the market alone is able to realize a Pareto improvement, however, whenever institution intervenes through an…

The energy and environmental impacts of Italian households consumptions: An input–output approach

2011

Abstract Promoting sustainable consumption and production patterns is a key challenge for the future, in order to use the Earth resources efficiently, to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions, and to decouple the economic growth from the environmental degradation. New or customized methods have to be applied to support decisions makers in the choice of environmental-friendly products, and to select policy priorities and sustainable strategies. A modified input–output model can aid to analyse the relationships among economic growth, energy consumptions and pollutants, in order to assess the energy and environmental impacts due to the actual production and consumption patterns. The following pa…

Sustainable Weed, Disease and Pest Management in Medicinal and Aromatic Plants

2015

As for all other crops, in MAPs as well, weeds, diseases and pests are important yield-reducing factors, which may severely curtain biomass production and, that is maybe more important, may affect several qualitative aspects of production. Research about this topic is generally lacking, for two main reasons: the first is that MAPs are generally grown on rather limited areas, and the incidence of specific pests and diseases rarely takes a relevance outside rather narrow boundaries. The second reason is that the economical importance of MAPs is much lower than that ascribed to the “major” crops, which the bigger efforts of research are addressed to. In the changing scenario of latter years, h…