Search results for "jel:Q0"
showing 10 items of 34 documents
Valuing the unmarketable: an ecological approach to the externalities estimate in fishing activities
2013
In a rapidly changing world, sustainability, if it can be said to exist at all, is concept that has attained mythic status, often pursued and rarely reached. In order to improve our capability to cope with environmental problems, adopting an Ecosystem Approach has been suggested. One of the major challenges in the implementation of this new paradigm relates to control of externalities. The recognition and quantification of externalities is often cast as valuing the unmarketable, and there are several approaches that have been proposed. Here, we analyze the opportunity to “feed” the economic valuation with ecological concepts. From an ecological perspective, the energy required to sustain a …
Energy Management and Smart Grids
2013
The paper outlines energy management concepts and the smart grid evolution. The necessity of considering energy management as a crucial innovation in load supplying to permit a more powerful penetration of renewable energy usage at the building and city level and to perform energy savings and CO2 emissions reduction is pointed out. The driving factors to enhance the current power distribution are presented, and the benefits concerning smart grids are underlined. In the paper, a specific energy management analysis is reported by considering all the electric value chain, and the demand-side management and distributed on site control actions are described. To verify the benefit of energy manag…
INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK OF THE SEUROP CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM IN ROMANIA
2015
The aim of this paper is to present the institutional framework developed by Romania in the process to implement the European Union legislation in the field of animal classification. It describes the organizations involved in the system, outlining their responsibilities related to various aspects of the sector. The results of the research are useful for other European Union candidate countries in their integration effort.
Smart Cities and a Stochastic Frontier Analysis: A Comparison among European Cities
2013
The level of interest in smart cities is growing, and the recent literature on this topic (Holland, 2008; Caragliu et al., 2009, Nijkamp et al., 2011 and Lombardi et al., 2012) identifies a number of factors that characterise a city as smart, such as economic development, environment, human capital, culture and leisure, and e-governance. Thus, the smartness concept is strictly linked to urban efficiency in a multifaceted way. A seminal research for European policy conducted by Giffinger et al. (2007) defines a smart city on the basis of several intangible indicators, such as a smart economy, smart mobility, smart environment, smart people, smart living, and smart governance. These authors’ …
BENCHMARKING FOR A SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
2015
Benchmarking can represent a rich source of inspiration for creative managers and employees who want to eliminate the mistakes of the past and to find new ways that lead to performance. After a research made from secondary sources, we proposed a new type of benchmarking, designed especially for a sustainable development: the "green-benchmarking". For its applying, a new evaluation index system is required.
Sustainable Development and Technological Impact on CO 2 Reducing Conditions in Romania
2015
Climate change is a reality all over the world, and its complexity is increasing. Therefore, sustainability has become a national and international concern, ingrained in many organizational processes. The ability of organizations to respond to sustainability concerns is sometimes hindered by the complexity of integrating sustainability into business models and by the need to rethink their strategic directions. In Romania, sustainable development has become a priority for businesses, but even though companies are showing some concern, there are yet to demonstrate any full commitment (they are mainly concerned with areas such as society and the environment). This paper assesses Romania’s invo…
Towards a sustainable well-being
2013
Given the need of a new economic paradigm for the achievement of a world of sustainable wellbeing, this paper presents the main findings from the literature on sustainable well-being. We try to identify a few approaches of measurement, highlighting strengths and weaknesses. We analyzed Romania's position in the global context in terms of happiness index. Are sustainable well-being indicators a good guide for policy-making? Also, the paper discusses the role of education in ensuring the sustainable well-being.
THE ANALYSIS OF THE HEAVY METALS IN THE CORN AGRICULTURAL ECOSYSTEM IN THE AXENTE SEVER-COPSA MICA AREA (SIBIU COUNTY)
2013
The invertebrates constitute important indicators in the appreciation of the soil. A first step in this respect is constituted by the analysis of the heavy metals in the corn fields in the Axente Sever and Copsa Micaƒ Area. Methods of researching: collecting the samples in the soil by using the agricultural drill; the determination of the heavy metals by spectroscopy of atomic absorption, using the spectrometer of atomic absorption ContrAA 700. As a result of the researches the average concentration of lead and cadmium in the soil of the agricultural ecosystems from the studied area is still high.
Panorámica de la problemática medioambiental en el mundo y en España
2008
As energy resources become scarce and pollution increases, fundamental and often irreversible changes are affecting our global ecosystem, and these changes are already having an influence on countries’ potential for economic growth and development. In this article we examine the principal environmental problems worldwide and how such problems are affected by inequality between countries. In Spain’s case, the basic problems are greenhouse gas emissions, problems relating to water management and issues concerning territory and biodiversity. We also call for the application of economic funding mechanisms to implement environmental policies.
Medio ambiente y desarrollo: una revisión conceptual
2008
This paper provides a conceptual review of the term “sustainable development”, bearing in mind its current applicability to social matters and public decision-making. Taking the well-known definition of sustainable development coined by the Brundtland Commission over twenty years ago, we consider the consequences of adopting weak and strong sustainability criteria for continued development and the importance of conserving so-called critical natural capital. We also examine the relationship between sustainable development and equity. We then present a concept of development that integrates the three areas of economic, social and environmental sustainability. Finally, we discuss the main forc…