Search results for "resource"

Soil Quality Characterization of Mediterranean Areas under Desertification Risk for the Implementation of Management Schemes Aimed at Land Degradatio…

2020

Soil is a key component of ecosystems as it provides fundamental ecosystem functions and services, first of all supporting primary productivity, by physical, chemical and biological interaction with plants. However, soil loss and degradation are at present two of the most critical environmental issues. This phenomenon is particularly critical in Mediterranean areas, where inappropriate land management, in combination with the increasingly harshening of climatic conditions due to Climate Change, is leading to significant land degradation and desertification and is expected to worsen in the future, leading to economic and social crisis. In such areas, it is of fundamental importance to apply …

Soil Mapping and Processes Models for Sustainable Land Management Applied to Modern Challenges

2017

Abstract In the context of growing population and global change, increasing demands for food production are an enormous challenge that we face in the modern world. At the same time the need to prevent land degradation, restore lands that are already degraded, and maintain soil quality and health is critical to a sustainable use of land resources. Accurate maps and adequate models are indispensable tools to assist managers, scientists, and decision makers in addressing these challenges. In this chapter, we outline the main impacts of climate change on soils, key adaptation, and mitigation strategies and provide an overview of key issues in sustainable agricultural production as well as land …

An Italian input–output model for the assessment of energy and environmental benefits arising from retrofit actions of buildings

2013

Abstract The paper presents an energy and environmental extended input–output model combined with the life cycle assessment, applied to assess the energy and environmental benefits arising from the Italian policy of tax deduction for energy retrofit actions of buildings. The study allowed to assess the advantages due to the above policy, taking into account both direct and indirect energy saving and avoided CO 2 emissions obtained with the retrofit actions and indirect energy consumption and related CO 2 emissions due to the realization of the above actions. Moreover, the authors defined an original model to assess the indirect rebound effect caused by the energy saving actions. The obtaine…

Higher Education in a Sustainable Society: Addressing Knowledge Disparities and Enabling Debate

2015

Sustainability is a comprehensive concept. It addresses the complex relation between and effect of social and economic development. It is a concept that challenges us to see things in relation to each other and in a larger perspective. The sustainability challenge however, comes at a time when sciences and research has expanded but at the same time is more fragmented than ever. In this chapter we introduce Mutual Competence Building a concept for guiding the sustainability engagement of Higher Education.

Transitioning towards a Sustainable Wellbeing Economy—Implications for Rural–Urban Relations

2021

This article focuses on the question of how a shift from a narrow economic perspective to a wider sustainable wellbeing focus in regional development strategies and actions might change rural–urban relations. A brief review of relevant research and discourses about economic development models provides the foundation for the analysis. The review leads to the development of an analytical framework that puts the notion of sustainable wellbeing at its center. The criteria included in the analytical framework are then used to assess the current situation, challenges and perceived ways forward based on data and analyses from 11 European regions. The focus of the analysis is on different exp…

Understanding how Human Resource Knowledge Accumulation, Depletion Processes impact on a Service Firm Performance

2016

This paper outlines how soft stock variables, such as human resource knowledge and more broadly Intellectual Capital (IC), accumulation and depletion processes are dynamically interrelated with firm performance. To this goal, the author suggests a framework making explicit the relationships between policy levers, strategic resources, drivers, end-results and performance indicators. The author argues that to explain a firm superior performance, it is not sufficient to look at the endowment of strategic resources in a given moment of time; it is instead required to investigate over time company strategic resources accumulation and depletion processes and how such assets are interconnected wit…

Exploring intellectual capital in a call centre through a 'system dynamics' resource based view

2008

This paper examines alternative Intellectual Capital (IC) investment policies in a dynamically com­ plex system in order to explain differences in firm performance. The analysis is supported through the use of a System Dynamics (SD) simulation model. This paper is based on the hypothesis that in order to explain superior performance, it is not sufficient to look at the endowment of strategic resources; it also requires an analysis of the dynamics of resource accumulation and depletion processes, which stem from management policies. To assess the impact of ICon company performance, a conceptual framework and an SD simulation model are developed. Finally, the results from alternative scenario…

Simulation and Test of UAV Tasks With Resource-Constrained Hardware in the Loop

2021

Simulations are indispensable to reduce costs and risks when developing and testing algorithms for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) especially for applications in high risk scenarios like search and rescue (SAR) operations and post-disaster damage assessment. Many UAV applications require real-time tasks for which the timeliness of computations is fundamental. However, standard simulation tools are not guaranteed to run in sync with real-time events, leading to unreliable assessments of the ability of the target hardware to perform specific tasks. In this work we present a simulation and test system able to run UAV tasks on resource-constrained target hardware possibly adopted in these applic…

Marine Litter Monitoring for Coastal Management Indicator System Development: Citizen Science and Collaboration Communication Approach

2017

Un sistema de indicadores para el seguimiento y evaluación de la gestión sostenible del patrimonio cultural

2013

This paper describes the general procedure followed to build a system of indicators for monitoring and evaluating the Strategy for Culture and Development of Spanish Cooperation. Taking the Sustainable Management of Cultural Heritage as a reference, in this study an approach is made to questions relative to: 1) the process of evaluating a list of indicators by a panel of experts using the Delphi technique, 2) the definition and calculation of a relative operational index, 3) the process of indicator selection, and lastly, 4) how the selected indicators were assigned to form part of the basic or strategic dimension on which the system is structured. En este trabajo se describe el procedimie…