bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Creative Tourism Development Models towards Sustainable and Regenerative Tourism
Authors: Duxbury Nancy , Bakas Fiona Eva , Vinagre de Castro Tiago , Silva Sílvia
Published: December 2020

Creative tourism is a relatively new field of research with most attention directed to creative tourism activities in large cities. Little research has been conducted on creative tourism development strategies in extra-metropolitan contexts. The CREATOUR project aimed to improve understanding of the processes (under different conditions and situations) through which creative tourism activities can be developed, implemented, and made sustainable. This article reports on a national analysis of approaches developed by the project’s participating organizations to offer creative tourism initiatives. At an organizational level, we found five main models: Stand-alone offers, repeated; series of creative activities and other initiatives under a common theme; localized networks for creative tourism; small-scale festivals that include creative tourism activities; and creative accommodations. At a broader community level, creative tourism initiatives can inspire new ideas and avenues of activity and contribute to cultural vitality and potential regeneration dynamics through reinforcing distinctive elements of local identity, instigating flows and connections between the locale and the external, and serving as platforms for local collaboration, exchange, and development. In the time of COVID-19, enhancing connections with other organizations locally and regionally can contribute to wider initiatives and the development of community-based regeneration strategies.
Toward an Understanding of Family Business Sustainability: A Network-Based Systematic Review
Authors: Ahn He Soung , Jeong EuiBeom , Cho Hyejin
Published: December 2020

Family business governance is an important issue for the sustainable development of economies worldwide due to its economic contribution. This review aims to offer a systematic overview of how prior studies explore the issue of family involvement within the broader corporate governance literature. By adopting a network-based perspective to visualize the research stream, this study provides meaningful insight into the key topics investigated, the patterns in the connections between critical papers, and the key players building the literature. Specifically, this paper makes three major contributions. First, our systematic review based on network analysis of keywords, citations, and authors enhances the understanding of how research on family involvement in the corporate governance literature is interconnected. Second, a large and extensive pool of corporate governance research on family involvement (947 papers) is employed to encompass research on family involvement from various academic disciplines under the umbrella of corporate governance. Third, by providing answers to questions such as “which journals should I read?”, “which keywords should I look for?”, “who are the leading scholars?”, “which journals are scholars publishing in?” and “what are emerging research trends?”, this study offers valuable implications for future research and meaningful guidelines for future studies in the field.
Modelling Attitude towards Consumption of Vegan Products
Authors: Miguel Isabel , Coelho Arnaldo , Bairrada Cristela Maia
Published: December 2020

This study proposes to understand the impact of personal (health awareness and social influence) and moral (environmental concerns and animal welfare) antecedents on attitudes towards veganism and their effects on engagement with vegan products, along with their impact on purchase intention and word of mouth. Idealism is presented as a moderator of these proposed relationships. The study uses a structured questionnaire to gather data from two cross-sectional samples of 224 Portuguese and 356 Brazilian vegans collected from Facebook groups of vegans. Structural equation modelling is used to test the seven proposed hypotheses and the moderation effects. This research compares the influence of personal and moral determinants on veganism using idealism as a specific context to investigate their relationships, comparing Brazilian and Portuguese respondents and the effects of national cultures. Results show that attitudes towards veganism do not depend on personal causes, but rather on moral concerns. Motivations to reduce animal consumption, protect nature, and respect animal life seem to be guided by ethical principles.
Green and Sustainable Public Procurement—An Instrument for Nudging Consumer Behavior. A Case Study on Romanian Green Public Agriculture across Different Sectors of Activity
Authors: Bucea-Manea-Țoniș Rocsana , Dourado Martins Oliva Maria , Ilic Dragan , Belous Mădălina , Bucea-Manea-Țoniș Radu , Braicu Cezar , Simion Violeta-Elena
Published: December 2020

Green Public Procurement (GPP) became an efficient instrument to achieve the objectives of environmental policy expressed by the European Commission in its Communications. At the same time, it must be addressed by the public authorities as a complex process, in which all purchased goods and services must integrate perfectly into an entire puzzle-like system of legislation, the construction field, innovation, healthcare, food, and education. Scientific references published in the Web of Science (WoS) mainly between 2017 and 2020 were investigated, and they analyze the implications of green public procurement in various fields, as presented by scientific communities. This article brings as a novelty in this context the identification of some barriers in the adoption of these processes, so that they can be overcome. Based on good practices and international standards and trends, the article shows how aspects related to the implementation of green procurement in society can be taken into account. In the second stage, we added a case study on Romanian green agriculture and discussions regarding inter-correlation between different fields and GPP.
Slope Orientation and Vegetation Effects on Soil Thermo-Hydraulic Behavior. An Experimental Study
Authors: Oorthuis Raül , Vaunat Jean , Hürlimann Marcel , Lloret Antonio , Moya José , Puig-Polo Càrol , Fraccica Alessandro
Published: December 2020

The stability and erosion of natural and man-made slopes is influenced by soil-vegetation-atmosphere interactions and the thermo-hydro-mechanical slope conditions. Understanding such interactions at the source of slope mass-wasting is important to develop land-use planning strategy and to promote environmentally adapted mitigation strategies, such as the use of vegetation to stabilize slopes and control erosion. Monitoring is essential for calibrating and validating models and for better comprehending the physical mechanisms of soil-vegetation-atmosphere interactions. We approached this complex problem by means of an experimental work in a full-scale monitored embankment, which is divided into four instrumented partitions. These partitions are North or South-faced and present a bare and vegetation cover at each orientation. Our main findings show that vegetation enhances rainfall infiltration and decreases runoff, which reduces slope stability and surficial erosion, while plant transpiration induces higher suctions and hence slope stability. Concerning thermal aspects, vegetation reduces the incidence of net solar radiation and consequently heat flux. Thus, daily temperature fluctuations and evaporation decreases. However, the effect of vegetation in the development of dryer soil conditions is more significant than the orientation effect, presenting higher drying rates and states at the North-vegetated slope compared to the South-bare slope.
Feasibility Study on the Development of a Deployable Tactical EMP Tent for a Sustainable Military Facility
Authors: Kim Kukjoo , Min Kyung-Ryeung , Park Young-Jun
Published: December 2020

The Korean peninsula is under increasing threat of electromagnetic pulses (EMPs) from neighboring countries; EMP protection facilities are an essential means of ensuring the operational readiness of the military. However, existing EMP protection facilities are manufactured as fixed-weight structures, which limit the mobility of military operations and lead to the misconception of EMP protection as something only required for higher command. The current military and official EMP protection standards require only a uniform shielding effectiveness of 80 dB. Therefore, this study aims to differentiate the existing uniform level of shielding effectiveness of 80 dB into 80 dB, 60 dB, 40 dB, etc. Further, it seeks to derive the factors to be considered when applying various methods, such as shielding rooms, shielding racks, site redundancy, spare equipment, and portable lightweight protective tents, for recovery of failure, instead of the existing protection facilities that rely on shielded rooms by the Delphi analysis. Then, the applicability of lightweight EMP protection is determined after selecting lightweight materials to build a facility. The electromagnetic shielding performance of 21 types of materials was measured in the 30 MHz–1.5 GHz frequency band using ASTM-D-4935-10. The results showed the possibility of developing a lightweight EMP shielding facility, which would save approximately 316,386 tons of concrete, reducing the CO2 emissions by approximately 9,972,489 tons. Assuming that the Korean carbon transaction price is USD 50/ton CO2, the savings are equivalent to USD 49,862,435.
Moving Beyond the One-Size-Fits-All Model in Describing the Climate Conserving Behaviors of Malaysian Secondary Students
Authors: Mohamed Ali Khan Nur Sabrina , Karpudewan Mageswary , Annamalai Nagaletchimee
Published: December 2020

The acceleration of average temperature of lands and oceans, rising sea level, frequent extreme weather events and ocean acidification denote that climate change is a contemporary pressing dilemma facing the world. Everyday human activities such as open burning, deforestation, burning of fossil fuels and agricultural activities significantly contribute to Earth warming. Preventing the aforementioned activities reduce the greenhouse gas emission to the atmosphere and subsequently slows the changes in climate. Thus, climate change education is integral to educate people on the destructive consequences of their actions to the climate. Past studies revealed that well-established theories and models guided the designing of education to deliver behavioral change in many countries and reportedly improved participants’ knowledge, attitude and motivation. However, these theories and models exist as an after effect of the education and the long-term impact of the initiative frequently not found and less information available on the sustainability of such education. Additionally, effective climate change education is typically context-based and designed based on factors related to local students’ behavior. Hence, this study examined how knowledge and psychological factors such as belief and motivation explain the formation of climate conserving behavior among secondary school students. A total of 221 questionnaires was distributed to 14 years old Malaysian secondary school students to measure knowledge, motivation and belief. The data obtained were later analyzed using the partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) approach. The findings revealed that knowledge (β = 0.259, p < 0.05), belief (β = 0.295, p < 0.05) and motivation (β = 0.546, p < 0.05) positively affects the behavior. These findings reflected that knowledge, belief and motivation collectively explain a total of 65.5% of variances in the formation of climate conserving behavior among Malaysian secondary school students.
The Role of Urban Manufacturing for a Circular Economy in Cities
Authors: Tsui Tanya , Peck David , Geldermans Bob , van Timmeren Arjan
Published: December 2020

In recent years, implementing a circular economy in cities (or “circular cities”) has been proposed by policy makers as a potential solution for achieving sustainability. One strategy for circular cities is to reintroduce manufacturing into urban areas (or “urban manufacturing”), allowing resource flows to be localized at the city scale. However, the extent to which urban manufacturing contributes to circular cities is unclear in existing literature. The purpose of this paper is therefore twofold: to understand whether urban manufacturing could contribute to the circular economy, and to understand the drivers and barriers to circular urban manufacturing. By reviewing existing literature and interviewing experts, we identified the caveats for the contribution of urban manufacturing to circular cities, as well as the spatial, social, and material-related drivers and barriers for circular urban manufacturing.
The Language of Sustainable Tourism as a Proxy Indicator of Quality
Authors: Brauer Rene , Dymitrow Mirek
Published: December 2020

Sustainable tourism (ST) has recently become the mainstream of the tourism industry and, accordingly, has influenced contemporary tourism research. However, ST is not just theories about indications and contraindications of global travel, but also a specific language that needs mastering to take sustainability work forward. In other words, what research receives recognition depends on the proficiency in how the articulation in research proposals and within assessment under the heading of “research impact”. The aim of this paper is to investigate how tourism research gains recognition within research evaluation, by investigating the national research appraisal in the United Kingdom (Research Excellence Framework). By using content analysis, we disentangle the rhetorical choices and narrative constructions within researchers’ impact claims. Our findings suggest that researchers adopt a rhetorical style that implies causality and promotes good outcomes facilitating ST. However, the structure of the assessment format enforces an articulation of sustainable research impact without stating the methodological limitations of that such claim. Therefore, the rhetorical choices of ST researchers merely represent a proxy indicator of the claimed impact. We conclude that the lack of rigor in accounting for the impact of ST research may inadvertently restrict attaining ST.
Global Climate Change and Indigenous Peoples in Taiwan: A Critical Bibliometric Analysis and Review
Authors: Bayrak Mucahid Mustafa , Hsu Yi-Ya , Hung Li-San , Tsai Huei-Min , vayayana tibusungu ‘e
Published: December 2020

In recent years, the subject of Indigenous peoples and global climate change adaptation has become a rapidly growing area of international study. Despite this trend, Taiwan, home to many Indigenous communities, has received relatively little attention. To date, no comprehensive review of the literature on Taiwan’s Indigenous peoples and global climate change has been conducted. Therefore, this article presents a bibliometric analysis and literature review of both domestic and international studies on Taiwan’s Indigenous peoples in relation to resilience, climate change, and climate shocks in the 10-year period after Typhoon Morakot (2009). We identified 111 domestic and international peer-reviewed articles and analyzed their presentation of the current state of knowledge, geographical and temporal characteristics, and Indigenous representation. Most studies were discovered to focus on post-disaster recovery, particularly within the context of Typhoon Morakot, as well as Indigenous cultures, ecological wisdom, and community development. This study also discovered relatively few studies investigating how traditional ecological knowledge systems can be integrated into climate change adaptation. Most studies also adopted a somewhat narrow focus on Indigenous resilience. Large-scale quantitative and longitudinal studies are found to be in their infancy. We observed a geographical skewness among the studies in favor of southern Taiwan and relatively limited engagement with contemporary studies on Indigenous peoples and climate change. We furthermore determined a large overlap between the destruction path of Morakot and study sites in the articles. Indigenous scholars have managed to find a voice among domestic and international outlets, and an increasing number of scholars have argued for more culturally sensitive approaches to post-disaster recovery and disaster management in Taiwan.
Perceived Environmental Responsibilities and Green Buying Behavior: The Mediating Effect of Attitude
Authors: Zheng Guang-Wen , Siddik Abu Bakkar , Masukujjaman Mohammad , Alam Syed Shah , Akter Alvina
Published: December 2020

The unsustainable operations of producers account for significant carbon emission and subsequent adverse impacts on nature. This study aims to identify the factors that influence consumers’ green buying behavior. The research focuses on the exploratory testing of theories using standardized questionnaires and interviews. Using a convenience selection approach, questionnaire surveys were used to gather primary data from a sample size of 305. The sample demographic reflects people who often make purchases; data were also obtained from shopping centers and elsewhere. The hypothesis testing of variables measured via five-point Likert scale questions was performed using structural equation modeling. We applied closed-ended questions relating to green buying behavior for the convenience of respondents. The empirical result established the effects of attitude, perceived severity of environmental problems, environmental concern, and subjective norms on Bangladeshi consumers’ green buying behavior. Additionally, it was discovered that attitude mediates the association between the perceived environmental responsibility and green buying behavior. Therefore, the government should play a constructive role in educating the public and promoting green business initiatives through improved coordination and legislative intervention.
Hybrid Conceptual Model for Assessing Quality, Production and Satisfaction (SQual4Agri), in Agricultural Production Units, in Cape Verde
Authors: Simões Elsa , Saraiva Margarida , Basch Gottlieb , Pires António Ramos , Rosa Álvaro , Chaleta Elisa
Published: December 2020

In Cape Verde, small family farming production suffers continuously from limited essential resources such as water and soil for a steady development. This situation is further aggravated by the lack of financial resources. We have developed a hybrid and multidimensional conceptual model for improvement of those small farming units by bringing together concepts of quality management, farmers’ satisfaction evaluation and production capabilities. The model we have built was the result of an inquiry based on Focus Group study with 15 farmers and it was carried out in 2019. We name the model as SQual4Agri and this is a step toward improvement in small family based agricultural organization, namely in productivity, responsibility sharing, communication and quality management.
The Impact of Pandemic Crisis on the Restaurant Business
Authors: Madeira Arlindo , Palrão Teresa , Mendes Alexandra Sofia
Published: December 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic is responsible for a health crisis and, at the same time, for a sharp drop in activities of economic sustainability, particularly in tourism management, and has consequences in most countries that are still difficult to measure. The objective of this research is to identify restaurant entrepreneurs’ perceptions about the future, government measures, strategies they will apply, and lessons learned for the future after the mandatory lockdown of restaurants and hospitality establishments related to pandemics. The framework was developed through content analysis with line-by-line coding applied to questionnaires collected online from Portuguese restaurant entrepreneurs. The results reveal the existence of common concerns to all entrepreneurs in the restaurant business for the post-pandemic period, about the measures that the governments should implement, and about the strategies and lessons learned for the future. Resilience in face of the future, fear of a lack of appropriate government measures, strategies designed for markets with greater immediate availability, and the creation of working capital are visible concerns in the restaurant business.
Natural Protected Areas as Providers of Ecological Connectivity in the Landscape: The Case of the Iberian Lynx
Authors: Barbero-Bermejo Iván , Crespo-Luengo Gabriela , Hernández-Lambraño Ricardo Enrique , Rodríguez de la Cruz David , Sánchez-Agudo José Ángel
Published: December 2020

The design of conservation plans for the improvement of habitats of threatened species constitutes one of the most plausible possibilities of intervention in the structure and composition of the landscape of a large territory. In this work we focus on the Iberian lynx in order to establish potential ecological corridors using ecoinformatic tools from the GIS environment to improve connectivity between the existing natural spaces within the scope of its historical distribution. We processed 669 records of the presence of the lynx and six predictor variables linked to the habitat of the species. With this, corridors have been generated between natural areas. The determination of possible bottlenecks or dangerous areas (e.g., hitches on highways) allows for focusing efforts on their conservation. This type of approach seeks to improve efficiency in the design of measures aimed at expanding the territory’s capacity to host its populations, improving both its viability and that of all the other species that are linked to it. The proposals for action on the specific areas defined by the models elaborated in this work would imply interventions on the land uses and existing vegetation types in order to improve connectivity throughout the territory and increase the resilience of its ecosystems.
Tourist Tax to Improve Sustainability and the Experience in Mass Tourism Destinations: The Case of Andalusia (Spain)
Authors: Durán-Román José Luis , Cárdenas-García Pablo Juan , Pulido-Fernández Juan Ignacio
Published: December 2020

The maturity of the tourism destinations, along with the sector’s growing competitiveness and evolving tourist habits, demands the implementation of a series of strategies to increase the sustainability of these destinations while improving the tourism experience. Therefore, the imposition of taxes and/or fees on distinct tourism activities has become a viable option for the financing of these policies. The objective of this study is to determine the amounts of taxes and/or public fees that tourists appear to be more willing to pay in order to improve the sustainability and experience of the mature tourism destination. It also attempts to identify the factors that determine tourists’ willingness to pay. The study was carried out in Andalusia, a prominently touristic region of southern Spain, which received 32.4 million tourists in 2019. To do so, a survey was conducted on 1068 tourists at the main tourism arrival points of this region. First, the results identify the dimensions of taxes and/or public fees that tourists are more willing to pay, linked to environmental factors and tourism services. Second, the following factors were found to influence the tourists’ willingness to pay these taxes: the purpose of the trip, income, budget and place of origin.
Performance Analysis of Topologies for Autonomous Hybrid Microgrids in Remote Non-Interconnected Communities in the Amazon Region
Authors: Martinez-Bolaños Julio , Silva Vinícius , Zucchi Mariana , Heideier Raphael , Relva Stefania , Saidel Marco , Fadigas Eliane
Published: December 2020

This work presents a detailed comparative analysis of dispersed versus centralized Alternating Current (AC)-coupling topologies and AC-coupling versus Direct Current (DC)-coupling topologies in autonomous Photovoltaic (PV)-diesel-battery microgrids for remote/isolated communities in the Brazilian Amazon region. The comparison concerned the power losses occurring in power conversion devices and in a low-voltage distribution network by using the balance-of-system (BOS) efficiency as a performance index. The analyses were performed by an analytical approach and by detailed computer simulations in MATLAB/Simulink software. Based on the matching factor (MF), the gain obtained in BOS efficiency is 1.5% for low values of the MF, and for high values of the MF, the centralized topology has the same BOS efficiency as the dispersed topology. In conclusion, this factor proved to be useful as a design parameter for selecting the optimal topology of a PV-diesel-battery microgrid.
Testing Common Knowledge: Are Northern Europeans and Millennials More Concerned about the Environment?
Authors: Gómez-Román Cristina , Lima Maria Luisa , Seoane Gloria , Alzate Mónica , Dono Marcos , Sabucedo José-Manuel
Published: December 2020

This study explores whether there are differences in several environmental dimensions, when the European Region and Generation cohort are considered. In doing so, this study compares millennials in North and South Europe with members of Generation X in three environmental dimensions: attitudes, personal norms, and behavior. Using data from the European Social Survey (n = 6.216), the researchers tested the hypothesis that Northern Europeans and millennials have more pro-environmental standing than southerners and Generation Xers. The findings challenge the common belief that millennials are more committed to being environmentally conscious, showing that many millennials do not feel responsible for their climate footprint, nor do they behave in a way that shows more concern than previous generations to improve their environmental performance. Furthermore, contrary to expectations, Northern European participants are not the most committed, in all environmental dimensions, compared to Southern Europeans.
Communicating Sustainability to Ethnocentric Consumers in China: Focusing on Social Distance from Foreign Corporations
Authors: Park Gain , Park Hyun Soon
Published: December 2020

This study examines the relationship between social distance perception and company/sustainability campaign evaluations. The study also investigates the moderating role of consumer ethnocentrism in the relationship between the variables. This study further compares the effects of construal message framing (high-level vs. low-level construal) on social distance perception. The SPSS PROCESS macro analysis revealed that social distance perception from a corporation negatively affects company evaluations. Moreover, the results demonstrated that consumer ethnocentrism significantly moderates the relationship between social distance perception and company/sustainability campaign evaluations. Finally, the results indicate that construal message framing significantly affects the level of social distance perception from the host of a sustainability campaign. This paper provides practical suggestions for corporates’ sustainability communications and adds to the literature on the reverse effect of construal level theory and social distance reduction.
Sustainability of Agricultural Crop Policies in Rwanda: An Integrated Cost–Benefit Analysis
Authors: Miklyaev Mikhail , Jenkins Glenn , Shobowale David
Published: December 2020

Rwanda has aimed to achieve food self-sufficiency but faces binding land and budgetary constraints. A set of government policies have been in force for 20 years that have controlled the major cropping decisions of farmers. A cost–benefit analysis methodology is employed to evaluate the financial and resource flow statements of the key stakeholders. The object of the analysis is to determine the sustainability of the prevailing agricultural policies from the perspectives of the farmers, the economy, and the government budget. A total of seven crops were evaluated. In all provinces, one or more of the crops were either not sustainable from the financial perspective of the farmers or are economically inefficient in the use of Rwanda’s scarce resources. The annual fiscal cost to the government of supporting the sector is substantial but overall viewed to be sustainable. A major refocusing is needed of agricultural policies, away from a monocropping strategy to one that allows the farmers to adapt to local circumstances. A more market-oriented approach is needed if the government wishes to achieve its economic development goal of having a sustainable agricultural sector that supports the policy goal of achieving food self-sufficiency.
Knowledge Translation and Its Interrelation with Usability and Accessibility. Biocultural Diversity Translated by Means of Technology and Language—The Case of Citizen Science Contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals
Authors: Heinisch Barbara
Published: December 2020

Translation plays an important role in all areas of human activity. Despite its primary role of overcoming language barriers, it is used as an analogy for activities that require transfer, mediation, or negotiation of meaning. Knowledge translation is a concept that links knowledge to action, which is also at the heart of citizen science. Several studies have highlighted the ways in which citizen science can contribute to the definition, monitoring and implementation of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Although these studies emphasized the importance of data contributions for SDG reporting and monitoring purposes, this paper applies the concept of knowledge translation to citizen science for achieving the SDGs based on the conceptual framework provided by translation studies. Knowledge translation, citizen science, and the SDGs have their focus on actions and negotiations in common. Citizen science can, thus, be regarded as a mediator between science and the SDGs or a mediator between the public and policymakers. Exemplified by biocultural diversity, this paper analyzes the application of knowledge translation to the SDGs in and through citizen science. Citizen science guided by the SDGs requires different forms of knowledge ((and) translation) that are usable, accessible, and meaningful.
(In)Equitable Accessibility to Sustainable Transport from Universities in the Guadalajara Metropolitan Area, Mexico
Authors: de Alba-Martínez Hugo , Grindlay Alejandro L. , Ochoa-Covarrubias Gabriela
Published: December 2020

The equitable accessibility to higher education favours social fairness in economic opportunities. This paper provides an empirical approach to the assessment of the (in)equity of accessibility from universities to sustainable transport modes: Light Rail Transit, Bus Rapid Transit, buses, and bicycle infrastructure in the Guadalajara Metropolitan Area (Mexico). In particular, the study designed and calculated an Access to Sustainable Transport from University Index by combining governmental and crowdsourced Open Access Data. It used spatial analysis techniques within a Geographic Information Systems environment, and multivariate statistical methods such as Principal Component Analysis and Cluster Analysis. The findings highlight the weakness in the accessibility to sustainable transport modes from the universities in the Metropolitan Area. Furthermore, this study revealed an unfavourable bias in the location of sustainable transport stations/stops in the vicinity of public universities. The results provide a methodology and empirical evidence for transport policy makers to reduce inequalities and therefore transport-related social exclusion in this under-represented, but socially relevant, student community.
Students’ Perception towards E-Learning during COVID-19 Pandemic in India: An Empirical Study
Authors: Khan Mohammed Arshad , Vivek Vivek , Nabi Mohammed Kamalun , Khojah Maysoon , Tahir Muhammad
Published: December 2020

The educational system across the world has immensely been affected due to outbreak of COVID-19; it forced the shut down of educational institutions, which adversely affected student fraternity across the globe. Due to its contagious nature, COVID-19 demanded containment and enforced isolation that tremendously affected personal interaction of teachers and students. In the absence of traditional classroom teaching and one-to-one interaction, computer-based learning has emerged as closest substitute for off-line teaching. Against such a backdrop, it is pertinent to examine the students’ perception and readiness about online-learning system adopted at the university level during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. For the present study, the quantitative approach has been adopted and responses from 184 university students of National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, India namely Delhi University, Jamia Millia Islamia (Central University) and Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University are collected through online questionnaire. This research study was conducted during June–August 2020. The findings of the study reveal students’ positive perception towards e-learning and thus acceptance of this new learning system. It has also empirically demonstrated the significance of e-learning in the time of COVID-19 crisis. In fact, e-learning has emerged as a new way of enhancing the learning process where social media may further improve the learning output. The findings of the study will facilitate educational institutions and policy makers to take this online-learning process to the next level in a better way.
Forest Resources Management and Sustainability: The Specific Case of European Union Countries
Authors: Martinho Vítor João Pereira Domingues , Ferreira António José Dinis
Published: December 2020

Forest land provides several environmental services and goods with significant implications for different socioeconomic and environmental dimensions. Forestry and its management are determinant activities for sustainable development, specifically in the current context of urgent mitigation of climate change. In this perspective, one objective of this research was to survey the main insights from the literature about the forest and management dimensions put together, highlighting the contributions of these activities to mitigate climate change. Another objective was to explore indicators related to forest management (land, employment, output, and net emissions) in order to obtain a forest sustainability index through factor analysis. As main insights from this study, we can quote that the literature survey pinpoints the most relevant factors framing forest management: soil characteristics, ecology, ecosystems, biodiversity, deforestation, climate change, socioeconomic frameworks, local knowledge, public policies, institutional context, and new technologies. Forest indicators reveal a strong relationship between forest land, employment and output, and a weaker relation with net emissions. We concluded that there is a need for stakeholders to explore and improve the interlinkage with climate change impact, specifically with regard to improving the relationships of forestry greenhouse gas emissions impacts with forest size and output.
Community Perceptions of Mangrove Ecosystem Services and Their Determinants in the Rufiji Delta, Tanzania
Authors: Nyangoko Baraka P. , Berg Håkan , Mangora Mwita M. , Gullström Martin , Shalli Mwanahija S.
Published: December 2020

Understanding how local communities perceive and depend on mangrove ecosystem services (MES) is important for translating and incorporating their benefits, priorities, and preferences into conservation and decision-making processes. We used focus group discussions, key informant interviews, household questionnaires, and direct observations to explore how local communities in the Rufiji Delta perceive a multitude of MES and factors influencing their perceptions. Sixteen MES were identified by the respondents. Provisioning services were the most highly identified services, accounting for 67% of the overall responses, followed by regulating (53%), cultural (45%), and supporting (45%) services. Poles for building, firewood for cooking, coastal protection, and habitats for fisheries were perceived as the most important MES to sustain local livelihoods, although the perceptions differed between sites. Distance from household homes to mangroves and residence time were significant predictors of the local communities’ awareness of all identified MES. Gender of household heads and performance of local management committees also determined the local communities’ awareness of provisioning, regulating, and cultural services. We conclude that perceptions of MES are context-specific and influenced by multiple factors. We believe a deeper understanding of local stakeholders’ preferences for MES can help strengthen the link between local communities and conservation actors and can provide a basis for sustainable management of mangrove forests.
Conditions under Which Trickle-Down Effects Occur: A Realist Synthesis Approach
Authors: Potwarka Luke R. , Wicker Pamela
Published: December 2020

Policy makers often legitimize bids for major sport events and public funding of elite sports by trickle-down effects, suggesting that hosting events, sporting success, and athlete role models inspire the population to participate themselves in sport and physical activity. According to previous review articles, empirical evidence of trickle-down effects are mixed, with several studies citing marginal or no effect. The purpose of this study is to apply a realist synthesis approach to evaluate under which conditions trickle-down effects occur (i.e., what works for whom under which circumstances?). Using rapid evidence assessment methodology, 58 empirical articles were identified in the search process and critically analyzed through the lens of realist synthesis evaluation. The analysis identified six conditions under which trickle-down effects have occurred: Event leveraging initiatives, capacity of community sport to cater for new participants, live spectating experiences, consumption possibilities on television or other media, and communities housing event venues. The findings have implications for the sustainability of sport policy decisions and public finance, as the likelihood of trickle-down effects increases with integrated planning and sustainable spending related to the above six conditions.
Urban Planning Regulations for Tourism in the Context of Overtourism. Applications in Historic Centres
Authors: Calle-Vaquero Manuel de la , García-Hernández María , Mendoza de Miguel Sofía
Published: December 2020

The rapid growth in urban tourism has brought great pressure to the historic centres, intensifying the negative externalities that threaten their protection and proper functioning. The aim of this article is to analyse the use of urban planning regulations as an instrument for containing tourism activity in situations of overtourism. A two-stage methodological approach is employed: Firstly, a review of the local governments’ response to the effects of tourism growth and the possibilities of local control in 46 Spanish cities is presented; secondly, a comparative analysis of the stricter short-term rentals regulations adopted by those cities is carried out. The common basis of the adopted regulations is the control of tourist use of an entire dwelling. Of the cities analysed, Barcelona has the most restrictive regulation, while in all the other cities, regulation is less restrictive and depends on the type of accommodation in question and/or the conditions imposed on issuing new licences. The results demonstrate the difficulties entailed in the process of formulating and applying regulations and reveal imbalances between the economic and urban planning visions, and between the rapid change in tourism and the much slower response capacity of governments.
The Role of Renewable Energy in Regional Energy Transitions: An Aggregate Qualitative Analysis for the Partner Regions Bavaria, Georgia, Québec, São Paulo, Shandong, Upper Austria, and Western Cape
Authors: Goers Sebastian , Rumohr Fiona , Fendt Sebastian , Gosselin Louis , Jannuzzi Gilberto M. , Gomes Rodolfo D. M. , Sousa Stella M. S. , Wolvers Reshmi
Published: December 2020

The study aims to identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) of renewable energy deployment in regional energy transitions for the regions of Bavaria, Georgia, Québec, São Paulo, Shandong, Upper Austria, and Western Cape, which comprise a political and scientific network called the Regional Leaders’ Summit (RLS) and RLS-Sciences, respectively. The results classify current renewable energy usage for electricity, heat and fuel production, existing renewable energy potentials, sound legal frameworks to support renewable energy, ongoing research and development activities and expertise in renewable energy conversion and storage as strengths. That fossil fuels still hold a significant share in gross inland energy consumption, energy-intensive industrial structures continue to be supported by fossil fuels and grid access is limited for renewables are identified as weaknesses. The main opportunities are green economies, climate change mitigation and technological innovations. Associated threats are demographic developments, lack of social acceptance and renewable energy resource volatility. We conclude that these regions’ energy systems could potentially enable the realization of a strong integration of renewables and cover partially distributed, decentralized energy systems with embedded energy storage, and the application of smart technologies. Furthermore, we discover that the role of governments in guiding and managing regional energy transitions is highly important.
Preliminary Screening for Microplastic Concentrations in the Surface Water of the Ob and Tom Rivers in Siberia, Russia
Authors: Frank Yulia A. , Vorobiev Egor D. , Vorobiev Danil S. , Trifonov Andrey A. , Antsiferov Dmitry V. , Soliman Hunter Tina , Wilson Scott P. , Strezov Vladimir
Published: December 2020

To date, the largest Russian rivers discharging to the Arctic Ocean remain a “blank spot” on the world map of data on the distribution of microplastics in freshwater systems. This study characterizes the abundance and morphology of microplastics in surface water of the Ob River and its large tributary, the Tom River, in western Siberia. The average number of particles for the two rivers ranged from 44.2 to 51.2 items per m3 or from 79.4 to 87.5 μg per m3 in the Tom River and in the Ob River, respectively. Of the recovered microplastics, 93.5% were less than 1 mm in their largest dimension, the largest group (45.5% of total counts) consisted of particles with sizes range 0.30–1.00 mm. Generally, microfragments of irregular shape were the most abundant among the Ob and Tom samples (47.4%) and exceeded microfibers (22.1%), microfilms (20.8%), and microspheres (9.74%) by average counts. Results from this study provide a baseline for understanding the scale of the transport of microplastics by the Ob River system into the Arctic Ocean and add to currently available data on microplastics abundance and diversity in freshwater systems of differing global geographic locations.
Combined Gasification-Oxidation System for Waste Treatment with Supercritical Water: LCA and Performance Analysis
Authors: Iannotta Pasquale , Caputo Giuseppe , Scargiali Francesca , Longo Sonia , Cellura Maurizio , Brucato Alberto
Published: December 2020

In this study the environmental performance of a first-of-its-kind integrated process based on supercritical water gasification and oxidation (SCW-GcO), was evaluated using life cycle assessment (LCA). The process was applied to the treatment of carbon black and used oil as model wastes. Mass and energy balances were performed using Aspen Plus, and the environmental assessment was carried out through SimaPro. A “from cradle to grave” approach was chosen for the analysis, considering impact categories such as climate change, ozone depletion, human toxicity, particulate matter, land use, resource depletion, and other relevant indicators. The environmental profile of the SCW-GcO process was compared to other technologies for the treatment of dangerous wastes, solvent mixtures, and exhaust mineral oils by using the Ecoinvent database. It is shown that SCW-GcO allows for reduced impacts in different categories and the obtention of a favorable positive life cycle energy balance, achieving good environmental performance.
Drivers for Universities’ Contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals: An Analysis of Spanish Public Universities
Authors: Blasco Natividad , Brusca Isabel , Labrador Margarita
Published: December 2020

Universities have a critical role in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), both for implementing active policies and for encouraging other actors to participate. This requires having the skills and mind-sets to contribute to these challenges. The relevance and the commitment of universities to sustainability has led to the inclusion of SDGs in the strategies and agendas of these institutions. This requires the involvement of all the actors and some structural and cultural changes that put SDGs at the core of the governance and management of the university, embracing all the stakeholders. Various internal and external factors may influence the impact and success of the policies and activities aiming at achieving the SDGs, both from an overall perspective and for individual SDGs. This paper assesses the influence of some internal factors, such as the presence of universities on the internet, the level of internationalization or the availability of financial resources. Through both regression analyses and the Gephi method, our results confirm the importance of the presence on the internet, the internationalization of the university and the financial resources for research and infrastructure received from regional governments for Spanish public universities to make a greater contribution to SDGs.
Semi-Analytical Monte Carlo Method to Simulate the Signal of the VIP-2 Experiment
Authors: Milotti Edoardo , Bartalucci Sergio , Bertolucci Sergio , Bazzi Massimiliano , Bragadireanu Mario , Cargnelli Michael , Clozza Alberto , Curceanu Catalina , De Paolis Luca , Del Grande Raffaele , Guaraldo Carlo , Iliescu Mihail , Laubenstein Matthias , Marton Johann , Miliucci Marco , Napolitano Fabrizio , Piscicchia Kristian , Scordo Alessandro , Shi Hexi , Sirghi Diana Laura , Sirghi Florin , Sperandio Laura , Doce Oton Vázquez , Zmeskal Johann
Published: December 2020

The VIP-2 collaboration runs an apparatus in the Gran Sasso underground laboratories of the Italian Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN) designed to search for anomalous X-rays from electron-atom interactions due to violations of the fundamental antisymmetry of multi-electron wavefunctions. The experiment implements the scheme first proposed by Ramberg and Snow, where a current source injects electrons into a metal strip (the experiment’s target). In this paper we describe the structure of a Monte Carlo program to simulate a new upgrade of the experiment, where the anomalous X-ray emission is modulated by an arbitrary time-varying input current. A novel feature of the simulation algorithm is that the Monte Carlo program is based on a mixture of analytical and numerical methods. We report preliminary, exploratory results on the expected detection rate for different modulations of the injected current; these results are a starting point on the way to optimize the modulation scheme and indicate a large potential improvement of the detection sensitivity.
Fluctuating Asymmetry and Developmental Instability, a Guide to Best Practice
Authors: Graham John H.
Published: December 2020

Best practices in studies of developmental instability, as measured by fluctuating asymmetry, have developed over the past 60 years. Unfortunately, they are haphazardly applied in many of the papers submitted for review. Most often, research designs suffer from lack of randomization, inadequate replication, poor attention to size scaling, lack of attention to measurement error, and unrecognized mixtures of additive and multiplicative errors. Here, I summarize a set of best practices, especially in studies that examine the effects of environmental stress on fluctuating asymmetry.