Search results for "SUSTAINABILITY"
showing 10 items of 3374 documents
Stationary, Second Use Battery Energy Storage Systems and Their Applications: A Research Review
2021
The global demand for electricity is rising due to the increased electrification of multiple sectors of economic activity and an increased focus on sustainable consumption. Simultaneously, the share of cleaner electricity generated by transient, renewable sources such as wind and solar energy is increasing. This has made additional buffer capacities for electrical grids necessary. Battery energy storage systems have been investigated as storage solutions due to their responsiveness, efficiency, and scalability. Storage systems based on the second use of discarded electric vehicle batteries have been identified as cost-efficient and sustainable alternatives to first use battery storage syste…
Economic and Life Cycle Analysis of Passive and Active Monitoring of Ozone for Forest Protection
2021
At forest sites, phytotoxic tropospheric ozone (O3) can be monitored with continuously operating, active monitors (AM) or passive, cumulative samplers (PM). For the first time, we present evidence that the sustainability of active monitoring is better than that of passive sensors, as the environmental, economic, and social costs are usually lower in the former than in the latter. By using data collected in the field, environmental, social, and economic costs were analyzed. The study considered monitoring sites at three distances from a control station in Italy (30, 400, and 750 km), two forest types (deciduous and Mediterranean evergreen), and three time windows (5, 10, and 20 years of moni…
Safety Evaluation of Turbo-Roundabouts with and without Internal Traffic Separations Considering Autonomous Vehicles Operation
2021
The paper presents a microsimulation approach for assessing the safety performance of turbo-roundabouts where Cooperative Autonomous Vehicles “CAVs” have been introduced into the traffic mix alongside conventional vehicles “CVs”. Based on the analysis of vehicle trajectories from VISSIM and subsequent analysis of traffic conflicts through the Surrogate Safety Assessment Model (SSAM), the research aims to evaluate the safety benefits of turbo-roundabouts where the lanes are physically separated by raised curbs, compared to roundabouts without such curbs. The paper will then describe the methodological path followed to build VISSIM models of turbo-roundabouts with and without raised curbs in …
Throwaway knowledge, useful skills or a source for wellbeing? Outlining sustainability of workplace learning situations
2020
Rapid changes in working life have raised awareness of the need for lifelong learning among personnel, and there is increasing concern regarding the sustainability of such learning, especially in growth companies, where learning can be seen as a prerequisite for many work practices. Hence, the aim of this study is to understand the sustainability of learning situations from the perspectives of individual wellbeing, widespread use of previous knowledge and rapid application of new knowledge. We broaden the understanding of workplace learning from the perspective of sustainability by identifying different workplace learning situations and outlining the sustainability of these situations. Two …
Developing Students Well-Being and Engagement in Higher Education during COVID-19—A Case Study of Web-Based Learning in Finland
2023
COVID-19 rapidly and extensively changed the normal everyday practices of societies, and there is no going back to the past. Universities also had to adapt and re-establish their normal routines, from policies to practices. In this article, we explore university students’ experiences of web-based learning, their well-being, and engagement during the pandemic. As a theoretical framework, we use the concept of the university student engagement inventory (USEI), which includes behavioral, cognitive, and emotional dimensions. The data were collected during the COVID-19 pandemic from university students (N = 35) via an online survey and analyzed using a thematic content analysis. According to th…
Protective and Educational Effects of Physical Activity Practice on Mental Health in Young Age during COVID-19 Lockdown
2022
Background: The restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic have modified the lifestyle of young people, worsening their mental health. Although some countries were allowed to practice outdoor physical activity (PA) in cases of lockdown, the PA level in the general population decreased. The current study aims to assess the differences in fear of COVID-19, anxiety, neuroticism, and general self-efficacy between university students who practiced PA during the second wave of lockdown and those who did not practice any PA. Methods: The sample consisted of 276 university students (176 females, 63.8%; mean age: 22.13, SD: ±3.94) who answered an online questionnaire detecting life habits …
Towards the ‘rurban’ scenario: plural forms of planning in Europe for a new alliance between city and countryside - Verso lo scenario ‘rurban’: forme…
2015
Nell’ultimo decennio si è manifestata una crescente attenzione alle relazioni di interdipendenza tra di- mensione urbana e dimensione rurale dello sviluppo territoriale. È un interesse alimentato dalla diversa percezione con cui ormai viene colto il rapporto tra città e campagna, tra economie urbane ed economie rurali, considerate dal pensiero economico-politico classico come due mondi separati. Questo processo è particolarmente visibile nel con- testo europeo, dove per ragioni non solo insediative e funzionali, ma anche economiche, sociali e culturali l’avvento di modelli di sviluppo post-industriali ha portato a più complesse forme di ibridazione tra modelli di sviluppo urbani e rurali. L…
Assessing Urban Environmental Sustainability by Means of Indicators: The Case of the Heritage Buildings
2002
Man in developed countries is looking for new and more suitable paradigms of a correct evolution, founded on an improved level of quality of life, on a pollution-free environment and on the availability of rising amount of time to be spent in pleasure and cultural activities.
Rigenerazione urbana e transizione ecologica. Il ripristino del sistema fluviale dell'Østerå come servizio ecosistemico di Aalborg (DK)
2023
I principi della Carta di Aalborg (1994) hanno ispirato e guidato la rigenerazione della città danese, sede della Prima Conferenza Europea sulle Città Sostenibili, verso un modello di sviluppo urbano sostenibile. Le politiche urbane hanno affrontato i temi della transizione energetica, del recupero delle aree urbane dismesse e della conservazione della natura e della biodiversità in una prospettiva olistica. Per aumentare la resilienza della città nei confronti dei cambiamenti climatici e per migliorare l’equilibrio ecosistemico degli ambienti urbanizzati, Aalborg ha puntato sul rafforzamento delle infrastrutture verdi e blu, avviando progetti di riattivazione dei cicli naturali interrotti …
Una sostenibilidad social para la regeneración urbana de la ciudad inteligente
2013
Today the concept of “Smart City” is usual in the new urban and globalized vocabulary. Despite, the power of its modernity can conceal a insufficient reflection about the scope of its capacity to transform the urban and contemporary paradigm. This research offers a reflection regard what since the euro Mediterranean contest, the concept of “smart city”, can contribute to the international debate, and alerts about the importance to know the deliberation of the urban transformations through the history and also the contemporary age. Actualmente el concepto “Smart City” es habitual en el nuevo vocabulario urbano globalizado. Sin embargo, la potencia de su modernidad puede estar ocultando una r…