Dissertations / Theses: 'Economy for Sustainability' – Grafiati (2024)

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xvi, 298 p. : col. map. A print copy of this thesis is available through the UO Libraries. Search the library catalog for the location and call number.
Cities in the United States are increasingly challenged with sharpening inequalities, social exclusion and the effects of a swelling environmental footprint. In response, city officials, political interest groups and residents have seized the framework of urban sustainability to address these mounting social and environmental problems. However, the push for environmental and social sustainability often directly contradicts the push by influential urban business coalitions for cities to be more economically competitive with other locales. I explore the compatibility of urban sustainability and economic development through a case study of Eugene, Oregon's Sustainable Business Initiative, led by Mayor Kitty Piercy. In this Initiative, the interaction between the urban sustainability and economic development discourses calls into question current entrepreneurial strategies and opens the door to exploring the implications of integrating sustainability and social justice concepts with urban economic development policy. Labor-community-environmental coalitions, with a broad vision for sustainability and regional equity, present an alternative to traditional business coalitions' influence on economic development policy and provide a strategy for economic development based in wealth redistribution and environmental health.
Committee in charge: Gregory McLauchlan, Chairperson, Sociology;Yvonne Braun, Member, Sociology;Linda Fuller, Member, Womens and Gender Studies;Michael Bussel, Outside Member, History

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The purpose of this draft is to provide innovative opportunities to increase companies’ sustainability. Many global issues today influence value chain efficiency, turning corporate sustainability into an imperative. Space economy can be the strategy to sustain and monitor many global risks currently affecting the business landscape, thereby contributing to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. Rapid changes make the act of monitoring a fundamental challenge to succeed in the current dynamic, hasty world. This report focuses on the consequent role of space technologies, on their business applications and on the increases to all societal and economic benefits they can bring. It presents concrete examples of cutting-edge companies leveraging satellites and Earth Observation to heighten their sustainability degree.The paper introduces a new feasible, commercial service that utilises satellites technologies and contributes to Agenda2030. This is CosmoSpy: a start-up to monitor suppliers around the world. Its Business Model Canvas is ready for implementation, even if the required technology is under development. The company monitors the CO2 emissions of other enterprises, carrying significant implications for the environment, society, and the economy. It thus contributes to a new, more interconnected, future-oriented world, where sustainability is of the essence.Putting together space economy and sustainability can therefore be the perfect equation, as outlined in the text.

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Background:The Circular Economy model came as an alternative to the linear “use and dispose” production system. It argues to promote an economic order that can address the waste of aftermarket goods and a more efficient use of resources and raw materials. It further promises economic gains from a more efficient resource management and extended use of products lifecycle, in conjunction with new employment opportunities that arise as a result of new business models and industrial processes. Whilst the Circular Economy is surely a departure from traditional economic systems, there has been not enough debate on the full impacts as well as possible unintended consequences of its implementation. Purpose:The purpose is to examine the Circular Economy adoption approach in the Jönköping county in Sweden and how this approach contributes to sustainabilityimprovement. Purpose:The purpose is to examine the Circular Economy adoption approach in the Jönköping county in Sweden and how this approach contributes to sustainability improvement. Method:This is an exploratory research which is based on a qualitative design with an inductive approach and interpretive paradigm. The research follows a case study of a pilot project to help SMEs in Jönköping county - Sweden, to implement Circular Economy. The primary data is collected through semi-structured interviews with the project coordinators. Conclusion:The Circular Economy Project in Jönköping takes into consideration all three resource loops on their implementation of CE based on Bocken et al (2016) resource loops. Embedding all three loops in the implementation of CE is a comprehensive and advanced form of circularity. Combined with the project high-level of sustainability awareness and their effort to integrate the social aspect into their Circular Economy, this research has placed the sustainability profile of the Project at the third level of the corporate sustainability stages presented by Landrum (2018), which is systemic sustainability.

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Dubai’s rapid double-digit economic growth was severely challenged by the global financial crisis of 2007, which raised many concerns questioning the sustainability of the Dubai model of economic development and the viability of the emirate’s economic managerial practices. Although the economic landscape of Dubai has experienced a significant transformation over the last two decades, from a basic traditional economy of US $17.9 billion in 2001 to a diversified non-oil dependent economy of US $ 86.7 billion in 2012, there are few convincing empirical academic studies to assess and explain the Dubai model of economic development. This doctoral research provides a crucial assessment of the Dubai model in light of its political and socio-cultural contexts. For this purpose, a multidisciplinary theoretical framework that stems from the literature of economic geography, cultural economy and managerialism, has been designed in order to critically interpret the mechanism of the emirate’s economic practices in today’s global capitalism. This involves a methodological approach based on the study of narratives and performance to explain Dubai’s narratives and macro-economic performance. The multidisciplinary theoretical framework adopted is useful in analysing the Dubai model as an alternative to the discipline of mainstream economics, which ignores cultural and social dimensions and conditions that not only influence but also shape a given economic landscape. The research was undertaken by analysing a wide range of data, including intensive macro-economic statistics, financial and economic reports, international and local press, as well as conducting empirical in-depth elite interviews with fifty-six key stakeholders in the economy of Dubai: senior government officials, representatives of financial institutions, senior managers in the private non-financial sector, and academics. The research findings reveal that although the political and socio-cultural contexts naturally support Dubai's economic model, institutional and managerial problems were also exposed following the global financial crisis and the property shock of 2007. Dubai represents a financialized economy in which the government has adopted a hybrid model of government-driven developments and corporate managerial features within an environment that encourages commercial liberalism and market capitalism. However, despite this financialized economy, tensions remain in Dubai's pursuit of these goals. Finally, the research stresses the need for appropriate government mechanisms to foster oversight over economic performance and long-term sustainable economic development.

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Economic growth is often linked to service economy. Sustainable economic growth is based upon economic, environmental and social sustainability. Some argue that economic and environmental sustainability has its foundation on social sustainability. By analysing the effects of service economy on society, one can identify potential threats to social sustainability. Theoretical analysis is supported by historical events from around the world focusing on highlighting threats that service economy countries are exposed to.Findings were that while on short term post-industrial economies boost development and sustainability, on long term countries are facing challenges in terms of ageing population, sustainable communities and access to social equity. Furthermore, depending on local policies, in some cases a trade-off is needed among factors in order to reach the highest level of social sustainability.

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The concept of Sustainability relates to the continuity of environmental, social, and economic aspects of humanity, and to the protection of the biodiversity and ecology of the natural environment. It was born out of a growing realisation that the scope of humanity's adverse impact onto our planet was greater than its regenerative capacity, and that current levels of development could not be sustained without significantly affecting the development of future generations. In urban areas, the environmental, economic and social dimensions meet most strongly. As cities are the driver of a nation's economy, economic considerations have in the past been given priority over environmental and social aspects. Cities are therefore the focus point of any sustainability strategy. With the adoption of Agenda 21, national and local governments committed themselves to develop a framework which includes the strategic implementation of economic, social and environmental measures in order to achieve full economic potential, social justice, equality of opportunity and environmental protection. Fifteen years after the adoption of the Agenda 21 programme, the results are not consistent. Whilst some environmental aspects have been addressed, the social and economic aspects of the programme have been largely ignored. The private sector has so far portrayed an unwillingness to develop towards the goals set out in local regeneration strategies. The aim of the research is to create an understanding of the economic forces against which regeneration strategies have to be created. It also aims at creating an understanding of the priorities of sustainable development in a political context, as this can be far removed from the utopian view of sustainability. Furthermore, the research provides a discussion of the legislative context in which the conflict between the private and public sector interest unfolds, and provides examples of local strategies and recent developments.

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Conspicuous consumption is a form of economic behaviour in which social pressure influences consumption decisions. Considering the current understanding of the detrimental ecological impact of excessive consumption practices, this paper overviews the potential to lessen wasteful consumption trends by utilising conspicuous consumption. This paper overviews research into this phenomenon, commencing with Thorstein Veblen’s work at the end of the nineteenth century. Combining this with research from sociologist Pierre Bourdieu, this paper suggests potential indicators of sustainable consumption tendencies, including personality traits and group dynamics. The empirical aspect of this study successfully replicates the findings of a recent investigation into conspicuous consumption; that is, that consumption increases when conducted in public and income is linked to status. This study has been updated to include various aspects of sustainability behaviour and knowledge and has found trends associated with students of sustainability in Uppsala, Sweden. Furthermore, this paper suggests that the encouragement of conspicuous forms of sustainability could inspire sustainable consumption trends, or potentially lead to a reduction of overall consumption. Finally, this paper makes recommendations for policy makers in order to encourage social sustainability practices, building upon nascent movements such as 'Flygskam' ('Flight Shame') and successful anti-smoking strategies.

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This thesis explores the evolution of the Coldstream Research Campus, a high-tech research park operated by the University of Kentucky. Conceived of in the late 1980s and built in 1992, Coldstream was expected to become the „economic engine‟ of central Kentucky through the commercialization of applied scientific and technological research coming out of the university. Twenty years later, with Coldstream having failed to live up to expectations, the university initiated the process of updating the Coldstream Master Plan to incorporate a decided emphasis on the concept of sustainability. Through a mix of archival research and semi-structured interviews, this thesis argues that the newfound emphasis on sustainability is important insofar as it opens up the possibility for perpetuating the existence of the Coldstream Research Campus as a real estate development, even in spite of its failures in other arenas.

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The aim of this project is to analyze how the Collaborative Economy (CE) might influence sustainability of tourism in Barcelona. Since The Olympic Games in 1992, Barcelona has become a leader in many aspects, but especially in the tourism sector. Nowadays the city is a highly popular tourist destination and the tourism industry has made a significant contribution to the economics of Barcelona with the creation of income, taxes, hard currency and jobs (Sirakaya, Jamal, & Choi, 2001). Despite the high success achieved by “model Barcelona” it is important to take into account some challenges faced by the city in terms of tourism, creating a need for alternative and more environmentally and host-friendly practices in development, planning, and policies (Saarinen, J. 2006). One example of this is CE, which, since 2011, has started to have an impact on the Catalan capital, and all indicators show that the peer to peer (P2P) sites are one of the technology trends that are already radically transforming tourism (Sunyer, 2014). Collaborative consumption was named one of TIME Magazine's 10 ideas that will change the world. All we do, create and produce has an impact on the environment (tourism generates an impact as well as the CE) and measuring the impact of our actions helps us to know where to improve and develop better strategies. The questions now are: what is the real impact that these new systems have on the city? Do they contribute to the path of sustainable tourism? To answer these questions and form a point of departure for this study, I interviewed different stakeholders: twelve experts from CE and tourism in Barcelona and 49 students from UAB University under the Tourism Grade. Interviews made to experts were based on face to face meetings carried out in two parts; firstly semi-structured questions and secondly a survey based on an evaluation of a previously selected tourism system indicator. The survey consisted of the evaluation of the European Tourism Indicators System – ETIS for Sustainable Destinations, where the interviewees had to evaluate the influence of CE through the validation of the 27 core indicators (deciding whether the indicator would increase, decrease or remain equal with the influence of the CE). The interviews conducted with the forty-nine students were made online and based on the survey evaluation of ETIS (like with the experts). The results show that CE could generate a better distribution of income around the city and could support the process of descentralization of tourism activity in the city center. Furthermore, it could strengthen social relations between locals and visitors, and thereby improve the negative perception that mass tourism generates in some specific points like Ciutat Vella. According to the stakeholders interviewed, the influence of CE in Barcelona could ensure a higher rate of satisfaction among tourists and increase the number ofstrategic plans of the city in terms of sustainability. On the other hand, it is noteworthy to consider the negative effects that CE could generate; the more distribution the city has, the more social friction is generated and so more specific managing plans are needed. Furthermore, interviewees considered that the occupancy rate in commercial accommodation and direct tourism employment would decrease, which means less income from the “traditional” tourist enterprises. The results also illustrate a lack of understanding of the CE and sustainable tourism concepts. Although experts were familiar to both concepts, researchers and tourism managers had a better understanding of sustainability in tourism while promoters of the CE were the stakeholders with more knowledge about the Collaborative movement. There is still a need of more comprehension of both terms. There are three elements to consider for discussions which concern respondents with such a variety of opinions depending on their background; 1) the understanding of the two concepts (CE and sustainable tourism) of the case from the all stakeholders involved. If there is a lack of comprehension of both it is just impossible to apply them; 2) the regulation process of the CE which nowadays has split the opinion of the population and 3) the carrying capacity that the city can support. They are the key elements to discuss in the collaborative economy wave. Nonetheless, one must consider what CE means, what its main principles are and why it exists and connect all these with the necessities related with tourism, which presents a considerable challenge in certain parts of the world. Only when an appropriate comprehension of the “core” and “essence” of both concepts is achieved will we be able to connect them, understand their strengths and weaknesses and aim for genuine sustainable development.

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The classic model of production, which we define as linear, whose concept is that of "take - produce - dispose" is clearly not sustainable in the long run; the events that we witness every day, tell us that we are unconsciously exploiting the planet, with the risk of reaching a point of no return, with environmental, economic and social disasters. Industries, which play a primary role in the environmental and economic destiny, have the possibility to reverse the route taken so far.The most significant model that has been developed in support of sustainability in recent decades is that of a circular economy, which contrasts with the linear model mentioned above. As the name implies, the production cycle of products follows a circular path; waste is reduced to a minimum, in the sense that nothing is actually waste, as it can be the starting point for the life of a new product, bringing environmental benefits, with the reduction of pollution, as well as economic ones. The first chapter of this thesis will address the theme of industrial districts, which will serve as a basis for understanding the industrial district chosen for the study; the second chapter will analyse the theme of the circular economy and everything that gravitates around it, including its nexus with sustainability and the policies undertaken in its support. The third chapter will be dedicated to the case study of the Chiampo Valley leather district, a clear example of how, thanks to the collaboration of various players in the district, sustainability measures and circular economy have been strongly implemented.

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Carsharing has been discussed as one of the most prominent examples of the sharing economy. The worldwide growth of services whereby consumers share access to cars rather than owning a car themselves could be a sustainable solution to environmental problems. However, first research indicates that consumers' environmental concerns play a minor role for using a carsharing compared to financial considerations. Moreover, prior research on B2C carsharing services may not be applicable to P2P services. The current research addresses this gap by investigating the role of sustainability in B2C and P2P carsharing from consumers' perspective. By applying quantitative as well as qualitative methods three studies show that consumers' image of carsharing is "greener" than owning a car and that environmental concerns play a role when consumers decide to use P2P service over B2C services. However, interviews with carsharing users indicate that the sustainable impact of carsharing is rather perceived as a positive side effect than a main argument for carsharing. This should be considered by policy makers and marketers when promoting carsharing because of sustainable benefits.

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This thesis is about Circular Economy and sustainability through a retailer’s perspective. There has also been a focus on researching and trying to find out if the size of the retailer matters in a sustainability perspective and to achieve a Circular Economy. The research that has been made is done with a deductive approach and a qualitative method. Interviews have been held over a timeframe of a week in May 2020. Because of the pandemic, Covid-19, all of the interviews were held over telephone or email to ensure safety for all respondents, including the safety for the authors. The theory chapter has been conducted through peer-reviewed articles and literature. This chapter has then been divided into smaller parts chapters, as Circular Economy, Sustainability and Supply chain, and Triple bottom line. After the theory chapter the method in how the research have been done and why specific methods have been preferred over others. Following chapter is the empirical findings bundled together with analysis, each interview comes first separately and divided in the same way as the theory and are then compared in an analysis. The conclusion is that retailers need to continue working to become more sustainable. A way for retailers to present their work towards Circular Economy and sustainability is to be transparent and will reach consumers’ which can lead to higher reliability. There is a difference between larger and smaller retailers, it is in how the larger retailers have worked more towards incorporate Circular Economy model and sustainability in comparison to the smaller retailers.

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The past several years have seen increased awareness of environmental degradation, climate change, and energy concernsâ and with good reason; addressing the problem of sustainability is vital if American culture is to both persist and thrive. Because this issue affects all aspects of our lives, it can easily seem overwhelming, encouraging the belief that solutions to these problems lie beyond the scope of individual action. This study seeks to identify legitimate personal responses one can make to issues of sustainability. I approach this subject with an eye toward answering a simple series of questions: Where are we?; How did we get here?; Where are we going?; Is that where we want to go? I briefly investigate the history of the idea of progress, focusing especially on our cultureâ s fascination with and embrace of technological progress. Following this investigation, I examine two works that offer critiques of progress: Thoreauâ s classic text, Walden, and Wendell Berryâ s, The Unsettling of America. These texts are chosen for a few reasons. First, a clear tradition of critical inquiry can be traced from Thoreau to Berry. Second, the historical distance between these authors makes a comparison of their work particularly illuminating. Though they are citizens of the same country, speak the same language, and ask similar questions, each author writes in response to different worldsâ Thoreauâ s just beginning to embrace industrial capitalism and technological progress, and Berryâ s very much the product of that embrace. Most importantly, however, both authors focus on individual action and responsibility.
Master of Arts

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Collaboration is a pervasive element in an organization's departments, varioussuppliers, and business associates in an advanced manufacturing industry. CloudManufacturing (CMfg) is a new service-oriented business paradigm capable ofgenerating this sought-after collaboration. Companies are expected to accomplish costreductions, maintain quality, satisfy the market, and reduce environmental impactswhile growing in sophistication and integration. Implementing the idea of sharingresources and capabilities will ultimately result in cost reduction, boost productivity,and more efficient consumption of natural resources globally. Sustainability,consumption of energy, and waste minimization would thus find an adequaterepresentation within CMfg due to its collaborative aspect. Even though it has beenmore than a decade since the inception of cloud manufacturing, a broad consensus aboutthe concept, essential characteristics, architecture is still lacking. This thesis addressesthe presented definitions, features, and architectures associated with CMfg found in theliterature; by conducting a systematic literature review. Thus, 105 papers have beenselected to enable the identification of the core components of the CMfg idea, as wellas illustrate how CMfg contributes to a more sustainable manufacturing future while itsrelationship with other relevant manufacturing paradigms, including Industry 4.0, smartmanufacturing, social manufacturing, E-manufacturing, and Industrial Internet, isinvestigated. Summaries of various definitions of the CMfg concept as well as differentlayers of its architecture have been presented. This paper investigates the potentialcontributions of CMfg to sustainability by analyzing solutions that lead to theimprovement of collaboration, better automation, and utilizing the 6Rs concept, as wellas considering the role of waste valorization and circular economy in today'smanufacturing strategies.

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China is today the global leader and innovator of sharing economy, and the Chinese government has included it in their Five Year (2016-2020) development plan. China has during the last 30 years been the most rapid economically developing country in the world, but it has also brought along some negative consequences. It has become evident that the quick development of China has taken place at the expense of the environment. It is also described that the country has an economic development model heavily based on investment, export and high consumption which is arguably not sustainable. The sharing economy presents great potential to change how consumers use resources andgoods, and also presents an opportunity to solve sustainability challenges such as decreasingenvironmental, economic and social conditions. There are today little research on this subject, especially empirical, and more research is preferred. The purpose of this study is to investigate and explore how the sustainability work and marketing of three selected sharing economy companies in Shanghai correspond to customers’ motives for using sharing economy services. To collect data, three interviews were conducted with three different companies that utilize the sharing economy model in Shanghai, China. These companies are major players in the industries of ride-sharing, bike-sharing and house-sharing. Additionally, an online consumer survey regarding customers’ primary motives for using sharing economy services were conducted in order to fulfill our purpose and answer our research questions. Results from this study conclude that the primary motives for consumers to use sharingeconomy is convenience (bike-sharing and ride-sharing) and to experience something unique (house-sharing). Other important motives are time-saving, accessibility and low cost aspects. The companies, on the other hand, tend to emphasize low cost, environmental and socialaspects. That is, consumer views are often in line with the three companies' marketing andsustainability views. However, there are several cases in this study where it differ.

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The U.N. projects the world population to reach nearly 10 billion people by 2050, which will cause demand for manufactured goods to reach unforeseen levels. In order for us to produce the goods to support an equitable future, the methods in which we manufacture those goods must radically change. The emerging Circular Economy (CE) concept for production systems has promised to drastically increase economic/business value by significantly reducing the world’s resource consumption and negative environmental impacts. However, CE is inherently limited because of its emphasis on recycling and reuse of materials. CE does not address the holistic changes needed across all of the fundamental elements of manufacturing: products, processes, and systems. Therefore, a paradigm shift is required for moving from sustainment to sustainability to “produce more with less” through smart, innovative and transformative convergent manufacturing approaches rooted in redesigning next generation manufacturing infrastructure. This PhD research proposes the Helical Economy (HE) concept as a novel extension to CE. The proposed HE concepts shift the CE’s status quo paradigm away from post-use recovery for recycling and reuse and towards redesigning manufacturing infrastructure at product, process, and system levels, while leveraging IoT-enabled data infrastructures and an upskilled workforce.This research starts with the conceptual overview and a framework for implementing HE in the discrete product manufacturing domain by establishing the future state vision of the Helical Economy Manufacturing Method (HEMM). The work then analyzes two components of the framework in detail: designing next-generation products and next-generation IoT-enabled data infrastructures. The major research problems that need to be solved in these subcomponents are identified in order to make near-term progress towards the HEMM. The work then proceeds with the development and discussion of initial methods for addressing these challenges. Each method is demonstrated using an illustrative industry example. Collectively, this initial work establishes the foundational body of knowledge for the HE and the HEMM, provides implementation methods at the product and IoT-enabled data infrastructure levels, and it shows a great potential for HE’s ability to create and maximize sustainable value, optimize resource consumption, and ensure continued technological progress with significant economic growth and innovation. This research work then presents an outlook on the future work needed, as well as calls for industry to support the continued refinement and development of the HEMM through relevant prototype development and subsequent applications.

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Within the context of multiple crises and change, a range of practices discussed under the umbrella term of collaborative (or sharing) economy have been gaining considerable attention. Supporters build an idealistic vision of collaborative societies. Critics have been stripping the concept of its visionary potential, questioning its revolutionary nature. In the study, these debates are brought down to the local level in search for common perceptions among the co-creators of the concept in Vienna, Austria. Towards this aim a Q study is conducted, i.e. a mixed method enabling analyses of subjective perceptions on socially contested topics. Four framings are identified: Visionary Supporters, Market Optimists, Visionary Critics, and Skeptics, each bringing their values, visions, and practical goals characteristic of different understanding of the collaborative economy. The study questions the need for building a globally-applicable definition of the concept, calls for more context-sensitivity, exploratory studies, and city-level multi-stakeholder dialogues.

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People all over the world have always been sharing things and experiences but due to rapid technological development, new digital platforms emerged which led to a new way of sharing and the phenomenon sharing economy started to be a common concept. The purpose of this study is to explore how Turistrådet Västsveriges newly launched platform Meet the locals could contribute to increased social and economic sustainability. Using existing theories such as sense of place, types of tourists and the host-tourist relationship this was done through multiple interviews together with locals in the project Meet the locals - a platform where you are given opportunities to ‘explore the Swedish lifestyle from a local perspective’. The data collected from the interviews were transcribed and analyzed using the thematic analysis which aimed to find connections with the chosen themes based on the theories. These themes were; place attachment, the meeting between host and tourist and sustainability. The results in this study establish that sustainability is important for the locals interviewed. However, it is unclear how Meet the locals really are contributing to social and economic sustainability since sustainability is still a complex subject and the project itself is still growing.

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CoordenaÃÃo de AperfeÃoamento de Pessoal de NÃvel Superior
The global production originated from extractive fisheries is stagnant since 2000s. With the increasing global demand for fish products, aquaculture has become one of the main alternatives for the protein supply for human consumption. On the other hand, the intensification of aquaculture production results in an increase of negative impacts on the environment, making necessary the development of new farming technologies that will minimize environmental impacts. The biofloc technology system is proving to be an alternative to traditional cultures, and the great advantage of this system is the reduction of water use, besides the increase in productivity. The objective of this study was to evaluate the growth performance, indexes of water quality, the sustainability indexes of cultures and the economic parameters of Nile tilapia culture at different densities in the bacterial biofloc system. Among the water quality parameters evaluated, ammonia and nitrite showed values above the optimal range used in different densities (200, 400, 600 and 800 fishes m-3), while the values of Total Suspended Solids (TSS) reached the ideal range just after 30 days of culture, an insufficient time to an ideal biological production of flakes and, consequently, the reduction of the nitrogen compounds. Regarding the zootechnical parameters, all showed statistical difference in the four densities experienced, with the density of 600 fishes m-3, presenting the best results in terms of productivity and biomass gain. About the sustainability of cultivation, both the IS and the IQA found were classified as low in all densities, indicating poor water quality of the cultivation. In the economic analysis, there was economic loss at all densities, with the density of 600 peixes.m-3 achieving better results. However, the gross revenue generated was only R$ 124.2 Â 4.2, with a partial operational cost of R$ 166.8 Â 8.7, making necessary the previous establishment of the microbial community in this type of culture system, so that all water quality parameters remain according to ideal standards.
A produÃÃo pesqueira mundial oriunda da pesca extrativista està com sua produÃÃo estagnada desde os anos 2000. O aumento da demanda mundial do consumo de pescado tornou a aquicultura uma das principais alternativas de proteÃna para o consumo humano. Por outro lado, a intensificaÃÃo da produÃÃo aquÃcola resulta em um aumento de impactos negativos sobre o meio ambiente, logo se faz necessÃrio desenvolver novas tecnologias de cultivo a fim de minimizar os impactos ambientais. O sistema de bioflocos bacterianos vem se mostrando como uma alternativa aos cultivos tradicionais e a grande vantagem desse sistema à a reduÃÃo do uso de Ãgua, alÃm do aumento na produtividade. O objetivo do trabalho foi avaliar o desempenho zootÃcnico, os Ãndices de qualidade de Ãgua, os Ãndices de sustentabilidade, bem como os parÃmetros econÃmicos de cultivos de tilÃpia do Nilo em diferentes densidades em um sistema de bioflocos bacterianos. Dentre os parÃmetros de qualidade de Ãgua avaliados, a amÃnia e o nitrito apresentaram valores acima da faixa ideal nas diferentes densidades utilizadas (200, 400, 600 e 800 peixes m-3), enquanto os valores de sÃlidos suspensos totais (SST) atingiram a faixa ideal apenas apÃs 30 dias de cultivo, tempo insuficiente para a produÃÃo ideal de flocos biolÃgicos e, consequentemente, a reduÃÃo dos compostos nitrogenados. Em relaÃÃo aos parÃmetros zootÃcnicos, todos apresentaram diferenÃa estatÃstica nas quatro densidades experimentadas, sendo a densidade de 600 peixes m-3 a que apresentou melhores resultados quanto à produtividade e ganhos de biomassa. Quanto à sustentabilidade do cultivo, tanto o IS quanto o IQA encontrados foram classificados como baixos em todas as densidades, indicando uma qualidade de Ãgua ruim para os cultivos. Na anÃlise econÃmica, houve prejuÃzo em todas as densidades, sendo a densidade de 600 peixes m-3 a que alcanÃou melhores resultados. No entanto, a receita bruta gerada foi de apenas R$ 124,2  4,2, com um custo operacional parcial de R$ 166,8  8,7, tornando necessÃrio o prÃvio estabelecimento da comunidade microbiana neste tipo de sistema de cultivo, para que todos os parÃmetros de qualidade de Ãgua permaneÃam dentro dos padrÃes ideais.

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Mestrado em Ciências Empresariais
Esta dissertação de mestrado visa contribuir com novos conhecimentos académicos no campo da Economia Circular (EC), através da exploração do conceito de EC, procurando compreender a possível contribuição da EC na criação de um sistema mais sustentável dentro de uma organização: a IKEA. Será a Economia Circular será a solução para uma gestão eficiente e sustentável de uma organização? Qual a sua importância para o desenvolvimento das indústrias e a sustentabilidade ambiental? Foram estas as questões de investigação que o estudo de caso da IKEA veio demonstrar que a sustentabilidade e a economia circular não são destinadas apenas a pequenas e médias empresas. A IKEA demonstra que qualquer empresa é capaz de criar produtos com processos de produção circulares, que representam um impacto reduzido no ambiente e expressa, de forma prática, algumas estratégias que pretendem inspirar outras organizações a realizar a transição para processos de produção e gestão mais sustentáveis, neste caso, mais circulares. Não é possível afirmar que a IKEA possua uma gestão totalmente circular, mas está comprometida em atingir esse objetivo.
This thesis aims to contribute with new academic knowledge within the field of Circular Economy (CE). It is done so by exploring the concept of CE and seeks to understand the possible contribution of CE in the creation of a more sustainable system inside an organization: IKEA. Will the Circular Economy be the solution to an efficient and sustainable management of an organization? How important is it to industry development and environmental sustainability? It was these questions of investigation that the IKEA case study demonstrated that sustainability and the circular economy are not just for small and medium-sized enterprises.IKEA demonstrates that any company is able to create products using circular production processes that have a reduced impact on the environment and portrays practical expression of some strategies that are intended to inspire other organizations to make the transition to more sustainable production and management processes, in this case, more circular. It's not possible to say that IKEA has a totally circular management, but it's committed to achieving this objective.
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

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In this study, the sustainability of the Emfuleni economy is measured in terms of its ability to reduce the levels of unemployment and poverty over a period of time. An input-output model was used to determine the impact of several proposed projects on the level of household income and employment in Emfuleni. An economic impact assessment model was developed and used to measure the impact of a change in household income on the level of poverty. A sectoral analysis of the economy and a household analysis were used to portray the state of affairs and trends in unemployment and poverty. Taking into account both the positive impact of proposed projects and some negative impacts (e.g. the collapse of the Krion Financial scheme), projections were made for Emfuleni in terms of GGP growth, population growth, unemployment and poverty until 2015. Assuming that the two proposed projects in Emfuleni, namely, the Vaal Inland Waterfront Project and a 5% expansion of the Manufacturing sector should materialise, the analysis shows that the unemployment rate will be 53.1% in 2015 and the percentage of households below their respective poverty lines 46.6%. Without the projects the unemployment rate will increase from 51.3% in 2000 to 60.6% in 2015 and the percentage of households below their respective poverty lines will increase from 46.1% in 2000 to 60.6% by 2015. The impact of the projects will be that the unemployment and poverty rates are kept at about the same levels as in 2000. However, the analysis shows that the number of unemployed persons is expected to increase from 155,988 in 2000 to 243,660 in 2015 and the number of poor households is expected to increase from 84,549 in 2000 to 114,227 in 2015. More interventions are therefore required to put the Emfuleni economy on the road towards sustainability. An Inward Industrialisation Process (IIP) aimed at employment creation and poverty alleviation is proposed for intervention. A preliminary analysis indicates that an IIP, focussed on the townships of Emfuleni, may reduce the unemployment and poverty levels substantially and thus increase the sustainability of the economy over a period of time.
Thesis (DCom (Economics))--University of Pretoria, 2005.
Economics
unrestricted

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Thailand’s economy has gone through a quick development during the past two decades As a result of the economic crisis in 1997, His Majesty the King Bhumibol Adulyadej introduced the philosophy of sufficiency economy (SE). SE is built upon a model which can be used every day, notonly during crises, to strengthen the economy within the country and the society. Due to the worldwide attention on the philosophy it is interesting to research how applicable SE is in Sweden or generally worldwide.The aim of the field study and the thesis is to obtain a contemporary interpretation of the applicability of sufficiency economy.The approach of the field study consisted of four main steps; feasibility study, research tool, the field study procedure and evaluation. The study includes a literature study with a combination of interviews with key persons, a multinational company situated in Bangkok and Thai students. The intention of the selection was to obtain a conceptual interpretation of SE in relation to the interviewed people. The answers of the different groups were first put in their own context, and then a comparison was made in order to make the analysis.Several different opinions were uncovered regarding the interpretation of SE. It is necessary to interpret it at an individual level.The rational decision making and following the middle way is important to achieve a balanced life. However it is a knowledge gap within theThai society where it is important to have a stable government and the right spokesman of SE.

Mior Field Studies via SIDA

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The sharing economy is a new promising trend with many positive outcomes on society andthe environment, as it provides potential for sustainable solutions due to the reduction of resourceconsumption and less waste. However, research and practice show that sharing comes with itsown share of problems. People often act selfishly, and in worst-case scenarios try to take advantageof others without contributing to the shared good. To achieve the higher goal of sustainability,it is important that conflicts in the sharing economy are prevented, and a setting is achieved thatallows people to easily behave in a cooperative and sustainable way. The present research examineswhich conflicts emerge in sharing communities (study 1) and community gardens in particular(study 2), and whether regulation can prevent conflicts in large groups. Two exploratory studies wereconducted. First, a qualitative study with consumers and non-consumers of the sharing economyrevealed that regulatory systems are perceived as important for preventing the exploitation of othercommunity members, but also that cooperation should not be enforced with strict controls andpunishment. Rather, problems should be discussed in a democratic group setting, rules and goalsshould be set up together, and trust should be built. Second, a questionnaire study with communitygardeners in Austria confirmed these results, and showed that trust is related to less conflict incommunity gardens, while harsh forms of regulation are related to a potential for greater conflict.Additionally, the results indicate that soft forms of regulation are related to fewer relationship and taskconflicts, better conflict resolutions, a high sense of community, and greater trust in the community.We then discuss how these findings can be used to regulate sharing economy activities and givelimitations and directions for future studies.

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The commercial field of sustainability communications encompasses ground previously demarcated between the fields of Corporate Social Responsibility on the one hand, and marketing, advertising and public relations on the other. This thesis examines the formation and development of this novel field of cultural production and its significance for sustainable consumption and corporate sustainability. The research is orientated by practice theory and draws on participant observation within a sustainability communications agency, interviews and documentary analysis. The heuristic value of practice theory for the study of sustainable consumption is now well established in the context of end-use consumption but is unexplored in the context of commercial sustainability communications. Equally, sustainability communications has been neglected by the field of cultural economy. The key concern is with cultural intermediaries and their capacity or otherwise to instantiate their own mores, understandings and practices in the social world. I address this in terms of sustainability and draw on the idea of performativity to approach commercial sustainability communications as a performative complex of practices. Furthermore, the research aims to problematise the place of 'the consumer' in discourses of sustainable consumption. I produce a genealogy of sustainability communications and an account of the development and contemporary constitution of the associated agency market. I suggest that a defining role that the market plays is the management of the 'strategic ambiguity' of sustainability. Drawing on fieldwork and interviews I identify elements that integrate practices into the complex of sustainability communications and examine its normative orientations. Cultural intermediation is shown to take place through, firstly, the diffusion of practices and practice elements. Secondly, it occurs through attempts to instantiate 'the sustainable consumer'. Models of the consumer at work in sustainability communications are analysed and different modes of instantiation of 'the sustainable consumer' identified. Thirdly, it takes place through articulating sustainability with brands. I explore three arenas in which sustainability communications articulates brand and sustainability: what I identify as the discourse of corporate-sponsored sustainable consumption; the cultural politics of work; and lastly, the public sphere.

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An increasing number of countries develop bio-economy strategies to promote a stronger reliance on the efficient use of renewable biological resources in order to meet multiple sustainability challenges. At the global scale, however, bio-economies are diverse, with sectors such as agriculture, forestry, energy, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, as well as science and education. In this study, we developed a typology of bio-economies based on country-specific characteristics, and describe five different bio-economy types with varying degrees of importance in the primary and the high-tech sector. We also matched the bio-economy types against the foci of their bio-economy strategies and evaluated their sustainability performance. Overall, high-tech bio-economies seem to be more diversified in terms of their policy strategies while the policies of those relying on the primary sector are focused on bioenergy and high-tech industries. In terms of sustainability performance, indicators suggest that diversified high-tech economies have experienced a slight sustainability improvement, especially in terms of resource consumption. Footprints remain, however, at the highest levels compared to all other bio-economy types with large amounts of resources and raw materials being imported from other countries. These results highlight the necessity of developed high-tech bio-economies to further decrease their environmental footprint domestically and internationally, and the importance of biotechnology innovation transfer after critical and comprehensive sustainability assessments.

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The impact of public private partnership (PPP) on Dallas, Texas economic development activities is debated through many forms of academic studies. The purpose of this study was to bridge the research gap in PPP impact on sustainable economic development from the perspectives of PPP practitioners. The central research question focused on the PPP executives' perspective on the evaluation of PPP programs within a 5-year period (2005 - 2010) in Dallas, Texas. The theoretical framework of this study was based on the policy feedback theory. A qualitative case study design was the case study approach and purposeful sampling interviews were the data collection tool; 7 participants agreed to participate in the study and provided data and information through participating in the interview. The participants were representative of the total population with 2 participants from the public sector, 2 participants from the for-profit private sector, 2 participants from nonprofit community development organizations, and 1 member from city council. A comparison to secondary data was performed to ensure reliability and protect against bias. Research findings provided indicators to PPP's successful design, lessons learned, and PPP executives' and policy makers' evaluation standards as well as suggestions for improvement. The social impact of this study on governance and a clearer understanding of PPP provides insights on the best use of public resources attempting to increase government performance efficiency.

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This research takes an interdisciplinary approach and includes aspects of applied geography, applied management, political economy, development studies, sociology and anthropology, in line with the tradition of progressive tourism studies. It seeks to resolve academic concern about the limited insight within existing bodies of knowledge into how sustainability and sustainable tourism development are conceptualised at a grassroots level by inhabitants and other stakeholders of tourism destinations (Redclift, 1987; Liu, 2003; Swarbrooke, 1999; Mowforth and Munt, 1998; Maida, 2007) and furthermore how these conceptualisations are shaped through expressions of political economy in a post-crisis context. The research aimed to evaluate how political economy and interpretations of sustainability affected post-disaster tourism redevelopment using the case study of Phi Phi Island in Thailand, which was devastated by the tsunami of December 2004. An interpretive philosophy informed the research design, in which primary data was gathered using an inductive mixed methodology. Methods included online research, comprising the design and operation of a tailored website to overcome geographical and access limitations; and offline methods such as visual techniques to monitor change and confirm opinions offered by participants of the research; in-depth face-to-face interviews with hand-picked stakeholders of Phi Phi's development; open-ended questionnaires with tourists; and extended answer Thai script questionnaires in order to overcome language barriers and present the 'Thai voice'. The primary data was gathered from April 2006-December 2011 including a period working at [information removed for anonymity purposes] University in phu*ket (June-December 2006). Twenty-five themes emerged from the data, the most significant being the social impacts of tourism, environmental impacts of tourism, power relationships and future desires. It was found that the factor with the greatest influence over Phi Phi's development is the desire to develop the economy through tourism, and the philosophy underpinning the development is largely economic. The tsunami did not cause any significant reassessment of the tourism development trajectory, but served to uncover a range of conflicts and unlawful activity, resulting from powerful stakeholders pursuing their own interests and desired outcomes, in order to suit their own needs rather than those of the community as a whole. In terms of how sustainability is conceptualised by different stakeholder groups, it was found that the meanings attributed to sustainability in this context differ greatly to meanings elaborated within western ideological debates. Stakeholders' conceptualisations of sustainability were mapped against key debates within literature. How meanings differed between stakeholder groups was also examined and a definition for sustainable tourism development on Phi Phi was compiled encompassing a broad range of interests. The thesis provides a rare opportunity to see which political, economic and cultural factors shape the planning of tourism development and whether actual practice mirrors the principles of sustainability. For islanders, present needs are yet to be met and education was recommended to increase islanders' understanding of impacts and sustainability, as well as their skills and knowledge base to enable them to compete intellectually with the ruling elite and reduce dependence upon landowners and the mainland. Numerous authors have highlighted a relative lack of academic attention directly addressing the influence of political economy on achieving sustainability in post-disaster reconstruction (Klein, 2008; Hystad and Keller, 2008; Olsen, 2000; Bommer, 1985; Beirman, 2003; Faulkner, 2001; Glaesser, 2003; Ritchie, 2004). This work therefore extends existing academic debates and studies in a number of areas. In existing academic debates concerning the political economy of post-disaster reconstruction there is a trend towards 'disaster capitalism' (Klein, 2005: 3) or 'smash and grab capitalism' (Harvey, 2007: 32) and 'attempts to accumulate by dispossession' (Saltman, 2007a: 57). However, this did not occur on Phi Phi. Despite claims of a 'clean slate' being offered by the tsunami in developmental terms (Pleumarom, 2004; UNDP, 2005; Dodds, 2011; Ko, 2005; Nwankwo and Richardson, 1994; Argenti, 1976; Rice, 2005; Altman, 2005; Brix, 2007; Ghobarah et al., 2006; Dodds et al., 2010), this research provides evidence and explanation of why this did not and would never exist on Phi Phi, a finding that may be applied to other destinations in a post-disaster context. In response to Blaikie et al.'s (2004) concerns that vulnerability is often reconstructed following a disaster and may create the conditions for a future disaster, this work has extended discussions of disaster vulnerability through an adapted application of Turner et al.'s (2003) Vulnerability Framework. This meets Calgaro and Lloyd's (2008) recommendation that further longitudinal research is required in other tsunami-affected locations. This research refines their work to identify a detailed framework of vulnerability factors intertwined with factors of political economy, presenting a post-disaster situation that remains highly vulnerable and non-conducive to sustainability. This is in response to Hystad and Keller's (2008) recognition that there is a lack of long-term studies, which not only show how disaster has shifted the nature of the destination and tourism product, but also identify successful strategic processes and actions in disaster response. The strategic response has been analysed through an adapted Strategic Disaster Management Framework (Ritchie, 2004) to identify the shortcomings of the disaster response to comprehend how such a disaster has influenced tourism development and planning on the island, showing that this was a mirror opposite to how a disaster should be handled according to the literature (Ritchie, 2004; Adger et al., 2005; Miller et al., 2006; Olsen, 2000; Coppola, 2007; Faulkner, 2001; Baldini et al., 2012). The researcher draws on the notion of 'strategic drift' (Johnson, 1998: 179) and 'boiled frog syndrome' (Richardson, Nwankwo and Richardson, 1994: 10) to explain how host attitudes to tourism may increase vulnerability. Both these contributions can assist in identifying destination vulnerability and limitations in disaster response and recovery. Unlike the work of Dodds (2010) and Dodds et al. (2011), the aim was not to assess the practice and attainment of sustainability on Phi Phi; rather, it was to elaborate interpretations and conceptualisations of sustainability. An examination of development philosophy established how specific factors of political economy and relationships of a hegemonic nature influence the development trajectory of both Phi Phi and Thailand. Despite governmental rhetoric influenced by a strong 'sufficiency economy' hegemony led by King Bhumibol Adulyadej, the observations of dependency theorists provide a better fit for the experiences on Phi Phi and present significant challenges for the pursuit of sustainability. The thesis posits that an effective response to the disaster and pursuit of sustainability are undermined by the political economy of the destination.

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The wine industry generates large volumes of wastewater originating from various processes and operations carried out during wine production. Winery wastewater (WWW) is characterized by highly variable flows and loadings. Indeed, more than half of the annual wastewater flow and load is produced during the vintage season, when grape is harvested and grape juice is handled and managed. Spain is one of the world's largest wine-producing countries. Nevertheless, in most of the Spanish wineries wastewater is still not properly treated or managed. In this context, constructed wetlands (CWs) constitute a suitable alternative to conventional systems (e.g. activated sludge systems, membrane bioreactors) for WWW treatment due to their low cost, low energy requirement, easy operation and maintenance and their integration into the landscape. From a technical point of view, full-scale applications of CWs have demonstrated to reduce more than 90% of the organic pollutants and solids from WWW producing suitable water for multiple reuse purposes such as irrigation. Moreover, primary treatments of CWs can produce sludge which can be stabilised in sludge treatment wetlands (STWs) producing biofertilizers and soil conditioners. The production of reclaimed water and biofertilizers from WWW can promote the circular economy in the wine sector increasing their sustainability. Although CWs application in the wine sector has been widely proved from a technical point of view, there are still no studies which assess and quantify their environmental benefits in the context of circular economy.This PhD Thesis aims to assess and quantify the environmental benefits of CWs for WWW treatment compared with existing and conventional solutions. To address this objective, a life cycle assessment (LCA), greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions measurements and a carbon footprint (CFP) evaluation were carried out comparing CW systems with conventional technologies and other existing alternatives (i.e. activated sludge system and third-party management). This research has been carried out in the frame of the WETWINE project (http://wetwine.eu/) which aimed to promote environmentally friendly and innovative solutions to treat effluents produced by wine industries in the South-West of Europe. Thus, this research was based on the study of different full-scale systems implemented in wineries located in Galicia (Spain), Portugal and Southern France. In particular, a CW system has been designed and implemented in a winery located in Galicia, in which experimental activities have been carried out. The results of the LCA showed that the environmental impacts of CWs were between 1.5 and 180 times lower than the third-party management alternative and between 1 and 10 times lower than the activated sludge system. GHG emissions (carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrous oxide (N2O) and methane (CH4)) were monitored in a CW and an activated sludge systems using an on-site Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) gas analyser. Results highlighted that surface emission rates from the CW system were lower than those released by the activated sludge system. Furthermore, seasonally, daily and instantaneous variability in emissions as well as spatial variability were recorded and reported. The CFP of the CW system was up to 42 times lower in comparison with the third-party management and up to 4 times lower than the activated sludge system. Finally, an economic assessment was conducted. CWs can reduce winery costs associated with WWW treatment up to 50% for the construction and up to 98% for the operation and maintenance. Finally, this PhD Thesis assessed and quantified, for the first time, the environmental benefits of CWs for WWW treatment. CWs were proven to be a sustainable solution for WWW and sludge treatment, since they are an environmentally friendly and cost-effective alternative which can promote the circular economy in wineries enabling sludge and water treatment and reuse on-site.
La indústria del vi genera grans volums d’aigües residuals procedents de diversos processos i operacions realitzats durant la producció del vi. Les aigües residuals de celler (ARC) es caracteritzen per tenir uns cabals i càrregues molt variables. De fet, més de la meitat del cabal i càrrega produïts durant l’any es concentren durant l’època de verema, quan es recull el raïm i es produeix el suc de raïm. Espanya és considerada un dels països amb major producció de vi. No obstant això, a la majoria dels cellers Espanyols les aigües residuals encara no són tractades o gestionades adequadament. En aquest context, els aiguamolls construïts (AC) són una alternativa als sistemes convencionals (p. ex. Sistema de fangs activats, bioreactors de membrana) per al tractament de les ARC ja que tenen un baix cost, baix requeriment d’energia, fàcil operació i manteniment i una bona integració al paisatge. Des d’un punt de vista tècnic, s’ha demostrat que les aplicacions d’AC a escala real redueixen més d’un 90% dels contaminats orgànics i dels sòlids de les ARC produint aigua apta per múltiples usos de reutilització com el reg. A més, el tractament primari dels AC pot produir fangs que poden ser estabilitzats a aiguamolls de tractament de fangs per a produir biofertilitzants i adobs orgànics. La producció d’aigua regenerada i biofertilitzants a partir de les ARC pot promoure l’economia circular al sector vitivinícola augmentant la seva sostenibilitat. Tot i que l’aplicació dels AC al sector vitivinícola ha estat àmpliament provada des d’un punt de vista tècnic, encara no existeixen estudis que avaluïn i quantifiquin els seus beneficis ambientals en el context de l’economia circular. Aquesta tesi doctoral té com a objectiu avaluar i quantificar els beneficis ambientals dels AC per al tractament de les ARC en comparació amb les solucions existents i convencionals. Per abordar aquest objectiu, s’ha dut a terme una avaluació del cicle de vida (ACV), mesures de gasos d’efecte hivernacle (GEH) i una avaluació de la petjada de carboni comparant els sistemes d’AC amb tecnologies convencionals i altres alternatives existents (és a dir, el sistema de fangs activats i la gestió per tercers). Aquesta investigació s’ha realitzat en el marc del projecte WETWINE (http://wetwine.eu/) que va tenir com a objectiu promoure solucions innovadores i respectuoses amb el medi ambient per al tractament d’efluents produïts per la industria vitivinícola al sud-oest d’Europa. Per això, aquesta investigació s’ha basat en diferents sistemes a escala real implementats a bodegues ubicades a Galícia (Espanya), Portugal i sud de França. En particular, s’ha dissenyat i implementat un sistema d’AC a un celler situat a Galícia, on s’ha dut a terme activitats experimentals. Els resultats de l'ACV van mostrar que els impactes ambientals dels AC eren entre 1,5 i 180 vegades inferior que la gestió per tercers i entre 1 i 10 vegades inferior que el sistema de fangs activats. Les emissions de GEH (és a dir, diòxid de carboni (CO2), òxid nitrós (N2O) i metà (CH4)) es van monitoritzar en un sistema de fangs activats i AC utilitzant un analitzador de gasos d'espectroscòpia infraroja per transformada de Fourier (FTIR) in situ. Els resultats van destacar que les taxes d'emissió superficial del sistema d'AC van ser més baixes que les generades pel sistema de fangs activats. A més, es va registrar i documentar variabilitat estacional, diària i instantània a les emissions, així com variabilitat espacial. La petjada de carboni del sistema d'AC era fins a 42 vegades inferior en comparació amb la gestió per tercers i fins a 4 vegades inferior al sistema de fangs activats. Finalment, aquesta tesi ha avaluat i quantificat, per primera vegada, els beneficis ambientals dels AC per al tractament d’ARC. S’ha demostrat que són una solució sostenible per al tractament d’aigües residuals i fangs a les bodegues ja que són una alternativa respectuosa amb el medi ambient i rentable econòmicament que pot promoure l’economia circular permetent el tractament i reutilització de fangs i aigües in situ. Els resultats de la investigació d’aquesta tesi poden ajudar a impulsar la implementació dels AC al sector vitivinícola, així com a difondre els seus beneficis ambientals per guanyar més acceptació social.
Eneginyeria ambiental

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Global warming, increasing greenhouse gases emissions, global pollution, exhaustion of natural resources... Those are all consequences of human activities on the environment. Today's world is facing major environmental challenges and sustainability has become a burning topic during the last decades. In our consumption-focused society, the concept of the sharing economy has emerged as an alternative to existing consumption patterns. Advocating the "use rather than own" principle, this concept has a true potential in terms of changing the way we consume and produce to lead to more sustainable behaviors. Current literature has investigated the motivations influencing the decision to participate in the sharing economy. Three main motivations have been highlighted: economic, social and environmental. Indeed, the sharing economy offers the possibility to save or make money, strengthen social ties and reduce one's ecological impact. Even though the environmental aspect plays a part in the decision-making process, it is unclear whether it is a determining factor or only a secondary concern. Thus, our study aims at developing an in-depth understanding of the motivations that drive people's participation in the sharing economy and the role of environmental sustainability. To fulfill that purpose, we have formulated the following research question: How important is environmental sustainability among the motivations to participate in the peer-to-peer sharing economy? To answer our research question, we conducted a qualitative study. We interviewed six French users of the collaborative carpooling platform Blablacar. Questions about the sharing economy in general and use of this specific platform were asked. These interviews allowed us to understand users' perceptions and attitudes towards the sharing economy and to make the connection with the environmental motivation. Our findings reveal that the environmental motivation exists and is part of the decision- making process. We could note a behavior change as the willingness to use collaborative platforms in the future is increasing. At the same time, a growing environmental consciousness has been expressed. However, the economic motivation still strongly prevails over the environmental and social motivations to engage in sharing activities. This observation leads us to conclude about the uncertain future of the sharing economy as a more sustainable consumption pattern.

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The rapid increase in car ownership has caused rigorous issues for people living in the major cities in China, which is observe from traffic pressure, the inconvenience of city travelling, and air pollution. While the fast development of digital service platforms based on the Internet provides an alternative approach to touch the problems, leading a researchable phenomenon, online car-sharing service in China. This paper strives to explore the impact of car sharing on millennial sustainability attitudes by using the daily service on apps to ‘drive less, share more’. The paper is conducted using mixed research methods in Suzhou, China. Principally, the researchers interviewed ten car- sharing consumers during shared ride. To ensure the creditability and reliability, the paper collected 326 online survey responses from local car-sharing platforms as comparable data. The results show that most millennials agree car-sharing service makes their traffic modes more convenient, and taking shared ride more compared to self-driving has a significant influence on social and environmental issues in cities. Also, some respondents present willingness or already take actions on giving up car ownerships. However, the result also emphasises the fundamental reasons for millennials to participate in car-sharing service, which is personalised service and reasonable price. The paper closes with three outcomes, sharing economy as ‘Development’, digital service as ‘Innovation’, and sustainability as ‘The future’. They not only enrich the current literature research between Millennials and sharing economy, but also promote further strategies for car-sharing companies with empirical data.

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Molti problemi ambientali che caratterizzano la società odierna rappresentano una forte minaccia per il futuro del pianeta e per il sostentamento di una popolazione mondiale sempre più in crescita. A causa di questi urgenti problemi è emersa la necessità di adottare comportamenti più sostenibili. Anche le industrie hanno dovuto riorganizzarsi per operare in modo più responsabile e coerente con i principi dello Sviluppo Sostenibile, orientato a soddisfare i bisogni delle generazioni presenti e future. Il presente elaborato ha lo scopo di presentare l’economia circolare e la sua potenzialità per le imprese. Partendo dal più ampio concetto di sostenibilità si arriverà, a definire i principi cardine dell’economia circolare caratterizzata da pratiche e modelli di business orientati a massimizzare l’efficienza delle risorse e ridurre rifiuti ed emissioni inquinanti, garantendo il superamento degli attuali modelli lineari di produzione e consumo. L’obiettivo di questa tesi è quello di esplorare il concetto di Economia Circolare, dalle sue origini alle attuali applicazioni, i modelli di business individuati in materia di circular economy e le criticità del modello circolare. Nell’ultima parte l’elaborato si concentrerà sullo stato attuale dell’adozione dei modelli circolari, grazie alla raccolta dati e alla presentazione di un caso studio nella regione Veneto riusciremo a comprendere meglio l’applicazione pratica di questa nuova forma di economia sostenibile.

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As the philosophy of doing business shift from sell what you can produce to produce what you can sell so do the customers’ specification continuously become a vital tool during product development process, hence increasing the volatility of the business environment. The objective of this thesis is to thoroughly review literature to be supported by cases why most companies fail in sustaining improvement programs then map out a pathway that will leads to successful implementation.

A series of reasons were found which impedes the successful implementation of improvement programs which includes; management is unable to define the problem to be solve and the method of measurement, implementers choose wrong parameters for improvement, implementers sub-optimize or may not involve everyone that will be affected by the program, top management gives little or no attention to improvement programs and at times they may even loose focus, so many concurrent improvement programs are executed which will result to resource overloading, teams members most often lack data integrity, and teams members are often scared to try new ideas hence prohibiting the chances of innovation. To minimize this cankerworm, a number of steps has been mentioned. The steps were divided into two phases, the selection phase and the implementation. The selection process includes; defining the program, focus program on improving shareholders’ value and choose program base on a holistic perspective. The implementation phase includes; commitment of top management, prioritize projects, use critical chain project management to plan and execute project, lay emphasis on quality data, minimize the number of concurrent projects, encourage risk taking, and spend time and resources on value adding activities.

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Thesis advisor: Brian Gareau
Thesis advisor: Nicole Barnes
From its first use by the Olmecs in the ancient Americas to its proliferate presence in modern foods, drinks, and snacks, chocolate has always been a popular commodity. Its historical development from bean to drink to bar is both complex and fascinating, and yet this favorite sweet of both children and adults alike carries a darker side that colors its popularity. As the past few decades have shown, sustainable and ethical trade has become an increasingly viable approach by chocolate and cacao companies in response to the popular outcry against the injustices that riddle the cacao economy. OBJECTIVES. In this paper, I use the Worlds of Food framework of Kevin Morgan, Terry Marsden, and Jonathan Murdoch to examine the rise and development of a “moral economy” in chocolate from its beginnings as individual moral outcries to the organized efforts that contribute to the sustainable world cocoa economy today. METHODS. Following this historical analysis, I present the myriad problems, challenges, and obstacles currently faced by the world of chocolate by presenting and critiquing various case studies of sustainability models promoted by players in the cocoa economy. RESULTS. I find the existence of a cycle of compromise between a sustainable agenda and a profiteering, business-as-usual agenda in the world of chocolate. In conclusion, I suggest practices that might further enable the successful mainstreaming of ethical chocolate for a truly sustainable world cocoa economy
Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2013
Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences
Discipline: College Honors Program
Discipline: International Studies

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More resources are being defined as critical, which can be attributed to the linear economy of ‘take, make and dispose’. An alternative is to implement the circular economy (CE) which could reduce several negative effects, among other things resource depletion. The aim of this thesis is to identify what current sustainability indicators are lacking to assess a resource with the CE concept. This is done by developing CE core indicators, which then are compared with sustainability indicators. The life cycle of rare earth elements (REE) is used as a case study to validate the CE core indicators. To achieve this literature studies and comparative analysis will be performed. Existing definitions and indicators of CE were studied to compile a complete set of core indicators. These compiled CE core indicators were then compared with adapted United Nation (UN) sustainability indicators. The UN indicators were chosen after analysing several different sustainability indicator system and their compatibility with the resource perspective. The main differences between the UN indicators and CE core indicators is that the UN indicators does not include economic aspects such as market diversity and social aspects such as consumption behaviour. However, the UN indicator system includes transportation and governance that could be beneficial to include into the CE concept. The economic viability to perform the CE analysis and non-existing CE indicators for companies and countries were identified as two barriers that could hinder development and efficient use of a CE indicator system. A way to increase the economic viability is to use already generated data for the CE indicator analysis, though the economical aspect has to be studied further. The non-existing CE indicators for companies and countries are counted as a barrier due to the risk of sub-optimisation of one resource. Additionally, the CE indicator results could be misinterpreted to blame a few for the problems of the resource instead of using the results to improve all parts of the life cycle. Further research is also needed to investigate how, or even if, social aspects such as culture and society could be indicated within a CE indicator system. In conclusion, the UN indicator system could be a good baseline to develop a CE indicator system for a resource though further research is needed.

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Abstract Tourism has developed into an important field of economy in the northern sparsely populated areas of Finland. State bodies of different spatial scales continuously put efforts to foster tourism growth and tourism is viewed as a prosperous economic path for the future. The prevailing tourism development is resort-oriented, which has transformed rural geographies in the North. Critical tourism geography research highlights that such market-driven tourism development has negative social and environmental consequences. Thus, tourism change needs to be examined from a broader perspective than economic benefits alone. It is required that tourism economy serves people and not vice versa. To increase sustainability in destination localities, collective economic agency in destinations is encouraged in tourism research and development. To date, tourism research has tended to draw on multiple, often contradicting, theoretical perspectives in an attempt to clarify how collective agency in tourism destinations should be best organized in order to foster social justice and ecological sustainability. The aim of this thesis is to understand how sustainability can be facilitated through local economic relations in resort-oriented destination development contexts. Sustainability discussions in tourism research are advanced by drawing on economic geography and its critical takes. The thesis consists of three studies that each examine sustainability in tourism destinations from a different viewpoint. The thesis first examines how (un)sustainability currently manifests in local economic relations and then discusses what changes are required to move towards more sustainable tourism futures. Ethnographically oriented case studies and a contemporary variant of the grounded theory method enables approaching tourism economies from the perspective of everyday tourism realities. The empirical part of the research is conducted in the Ruka and Ylläs destinations in the Finnish North. Insights were gathered by semi-structured in-depth interviews with local tourism actors in 2012 and 2015. The study introduces a poststructural political economy approach to sustainability transformations in tourism destinations. The less growth-focused economic thinking that exists in destinations is brought to light. Tourism actors’ motives and aims can differ drastically from the rationales of growth-focused tourism destination development that dominate in networked tourism governance. Many of the tourism actors desire conservation of natural and cultural environment in destinations. This creates conflict between the coexisting tourism paths. In the thesis, it is argued that economic difference in tourism should not be conceptualized merely as a source of diversification of tourism supply and thus as beneficial for destination growth; it should be recognized as political agency in tourism economy. Tourism networking is already now often value-driven, and this needs to be encouraged. That is, transformative agency for tourism change can be gained and new tourism paths created also through incremental changes ‘from below’, not only via policy actions. To contribute to the critical (economic) geography research on social and economic change, this thesis highlights that it is central to understand not only what new economic futures look like but also how to work towards them in everyday politics. Although the alternative and critical voices are valuable as they accurately state a socially just view of how things ought to be, these voices may not be the best way to bring about a change. This is because power hierarchies are not easily recognized in everyday tourism work. Each actor interprets the social from their subjective point of view. Even actors with the most power can have personal experiences of powerlessness. Thus, to foster change, it is necessary to facilitate the transformation of the existing conflictual inter-group relations. Dialogical everyday politics could work as a means to foster understanding of different groups’ tourism realities and their mutual influence. Conflict could be regarded not solely as an innate feature of capitalist economic relations but also as moments where mutual understanding can be facilitated. This is a way to establish local economic relations that enable community building. Destination sustainability touches not only firm-level practices but the mode of economic organization in tourism destinations. The thesis highlights that to advance social justice and environmental sustainability in destinations, destination development and planning should account for the possibility for a less growth-focused destination development path. As alternative tourism paths do not, as a rule, depend on new, large-scale tourism construction, they would likewise not foster growth in international tourist numbers and air travel. This unconventional view on economic path creation is to be encouraged as it is better in line with climate change mitigation needs and critical sustainability theorizing
Original papers The original publications are not included in the electronic version of the dissertation. Kulusjärvi, O. (2016). Resort-oriented tourism development and local tourism networks – a case study from Northern Finland. Fennia 194: 1, 3–17. https://fennia.journal.fi/article/view/41450 http://jultika.oulu.fi/Record/nbnfi-fe2019103136035 Kulusjärvi, O. (2017). Sustainable Destination Development in Northern Peripheries: A Focus on Alternative Tourism Paths. Journal of Rural and Community Development 12:2/3, 41–58. https://journals.brandonu.ca/jrcd/article/view/1466 http://jultika.oulu.fi/Record/nbnfi-fe2018051524148 Kulusjärvi, O. (accepted). Towards just production of tourism space via dialogical everyday politics in destination communities. Environment and Planning C: Politics and Space

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Dissertação para a obtenção do Grau de Mestre em Engenharia e Gestão da Água
Cape Verde is one of the countries where the socio-economic development and growth are diminishing due to problems of water scarcity. The effects are more noticeable in the city of Praia, with a population of about 131.719 inhabitants2. This is due to the rapid urban development and the consequent special needs such as irrigation, industry and tourism. The region has suffered for several consecutive years the phenomenon of drought, which makes this occurrence an easily predictable one and turns the lack of water into a factor that constrains the development and well-being of the city. Consequently, it is imperative to recognize the value of water and to create a good strategy to ration its use, along with finding ways to mobilize new resources.The presented study was developed using a methodology based on the use of the treatment, purification and reuse of wastewater technology, as well as secure ways reusing it for compatible proposes. The work also includes a technical and economic analysis related to the development of the implementation project, in which were studied several alternatives that allow the reuse of treated water from the city of Praia to the current flow, as well as for future expansions. The presented results indicate that there must be followed an objective orientation in order to define the quality parameters and the complementary actions necessary to ensure a safe re-use of water from the direct point of view of human health to the green areas, such as agricultural areas or spaces for public use.Thus, it’s important to consider the preparation and development of awareness campaigns for the population of Cape Verde, involving local authorities and the social formation as a driving force to promote the efficient use of water, knowledge of the quality parameters and prevent waterborne diseases. To improve the monitoring of water quality in general is essential to plan and organize a study of international comparison of water quality laboratories in different regions, and promote the development of specialized seminars to improve technical capacity. To promote the treatment and reuse of treated water are virtual training platforms to develop and promote the exchange of experience in these fields. These initiatives will be strengthened through research and technical assistance to assess the potential and develop specific projects of self-wastewater treatment and reuse.

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In the fields of economics, business and management, how could Digital Transformation (DT) advance value creation and reliably encourage value capture, exchange and distribution? This thesis aim to fill that gap with a novel framework to support policy-makers, countries, cities and businesses address the potential value that can be generated and captured by digitalization combining DT and Internet of Value theoretical perspectives and practical applications of them over concrete issues such as sustainability in cities, as an example. For this, it is proposed to make new contributions related to DT and Internet of Value in two main aspects: to explore DT countries’ mindsets when it relates to their value progress through Digital Ecosystems and to advance with the potential digital value applications through Programmable Economy advantages when it focus on concrete aspect such as sustainability in cities. Both perspectives, although it will be applied on different dimensions and on different purposes, have in common that they are focus on digital and programable value based economy and management and want to explore the best way to maximize and capture the DT potential in terms of value for organizations and society. Thus, first, it will be analysed the importance of knowing clearly the digital ecosystem in which the agents are operating in order to reinforce the value creation by promoting the inclusivity and connectivity of the endpoints involved in it. Secondly, it will be analysed how the digital value can be captured, exchanged and redistributed in a complex issues such as sustainability by deploying concrete digital applications that include human reinforcement aspects to, finally, closing the circle combining both perspectives in a single framework. To achieve these objectives in this thesis, own models are proposed, inspired by other theoretical models already contrasted, and some proven methodologies are used related to Conditional Probability, Forgotten Effects and Fuzzy Sets.As a main conclusion, Digital Transformation has the potential to generate immense value for economy and society. Although currently the capture of the vast majority of it is not guaranteed and its distribution between agents is no clear, new formulas are being explored supported by the Internet of Value. This thesis defends that if agents want to advance value creation and encourage value capture, they should consider to make their own Digital and Programmable Value Based Economy and Management framework through:-Allowing all functional agents work in a Digital Ecosystem embracing new relationships and ways of collaborating pursuing the same purpose.-Deploying Programmable Economy applications advantages, mixing digital's and analogue's world that can be interlinked and programmed by the blockchain allowing monetization and exploring new human and machine alliances.- Adopting strong and inclusive agents’ commitment in order to exploit the advantages that this smart economy system has from a human centric vision, discovering new forms of value, considering that, although tech can be everywhere, value not.

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Achieving low unemployment in an environment of weak growth is a major policy challenge;a more egalitarian distribution of hours worked could be the key to solving it. Whether worksharingactually increases employment, however, has been debated controversially. In thisarticle we present stylized facts on the distribution of hours worked and discuss the role ofwork-sharing for a sustainable economy. Building on recent developments in labor markettheory we review the determinants of working long hours and its effect on well-being. Finally,we survey work-sharing reforms in the past. While there seems to be a consensus that worksharingin the Great Depression in the U.S. and in the Great Recession in Europe was successful in reducing employment losses, perceptions of the work-sharing reformsimplemented between the 1980s and early 2000s are more ambivalent. However, even the most critical evaluations of these reforms provide no credible evidence of negativeemployment effects; instead, the overall success of the policy seems to depend on the economic and institutional setting, as well as the specific details of its implementation. (authors' abstract)
Series: Ecological Economic Papers

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This study is part of a feasibility study conducted by the Sustainability and Resilience Company (su-re.co), and is identified within this report as the sustainability vetting. This study aims to evaluate the sustainability of the natural indigo-dyeing process at a small medium enterprise (SME) batik dying community, Ciwaringin Batik, located in Cirebon, West Java, Indonesia. Following this, sustainable development strategies (SDS) based on the Circular Economy (CE) RESOLVE Framework will be created for Ciwaringin Batik to further empower the community and provide sustainable business growth initiatives. An iterative qualitative and quantitative data methodology is used when collecting and analyzing production data from Ciwaringin Batik. Data is collected from 9 Ciwaringin Batik craftsmen, who use natural indigo dye during batik production, in Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) format, questionnaires, and through a site-visit to Ciwaringin Batik. Water and indigo consumption data was thoroughly analyzed as it is directly related to a feasibility study conducted by su-re.co and is relevant to their future involvement with Ciwaringin. Current sustainable and “unsustainable” production practices were identified, 10 SDS’s were created following the RESOLVE framework structure, 6 SDS’s were explained and then prioritized regarding implementation feasibility.

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This senior thesis in environmental analysis explores the promise of sustainability of the sharing economy, its shortcomings from this positive potential, and possible policy solutions to help it reach its fullest, positive potential. At its core, the sharing economy enables shared access to goods and services that would otherwise sit in idle or underutilized capacity – popular platforms such as Uber, Lyft, Airbnb, and craigslist all fall within the sharing economy. By enabling affordable and convenient access to goods that would otherwise sit idle, the sharing economy encourages maximal use of a good that already exists rather than seeking out the production of new goods to meet demand. Unfortunately, as it grows, the sharing economy moves away from this key environmental promise because of two central challenges: first, a shift away from maximal resource use, the central pillar of its promise of sustainability, and second, negative side effects that arise from a lack of regulation of the decentralized economy. Therefore, appropriate public policy is needed to both regulate the decentralized economy to minimize negative behaviors and to encourage the positive behaviors of the sharing economy.

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The literature focusing on the resource-curse commonly characterize oil-rich economies as weak and fragile. These literatures encourage diversification 'away' from oil in order to develop the economies, however, they often overlook the path for development. In contrast to this broad aim, this research bids to develop the economy 'based on' oil using Saudi Arabia as case study that can be valuable to similar resource-rich economies. The research seeks to understand how public policymaking can be used as a path to sustainable economy. It employs concepts of economic theory to design an optimal oil depletion policy framework that normatively geared towards achieving sustainable economic outcome. Sustainable economy is that simply beyond what often gauged by the GDP, an economy that is focused on long-term value creation that can shield the country against market upsets. The policy framework is grounded on economic sustainability, political economy, and the role of institutions and policymaking in managing resource-rich economies. As a result, the methodology under Normative Policy Analysis Framework was devised to outline the oil depletion policy model which will also be practically useful to propose, develop, and analyze other normative policies. The methodology also helped in identifying the specific parameters influencing the oil depletion policy in Saudi Arabia and conceivably in other oil-rich economies. As the sustainable economic welfare is, by definition, at the heart of policymaking, government intervention through effective policymaking and strong institutions plays an active role in managing market distortions, promote socioeconomic welfare, and achieve sustainability. Saudi Arabia should employ the optimal oil depletion policy to steer the economy through the sustainable path by leveraging on its national comparative advantage underpinned by resource endowment. The research also revealed that, Saudi Arabia should optimally balance between endogenous and exogenous variables in crafting its oil policy. This should lead the path to economic diversification and enable the country to wean itself from oil-dependence, disengage from in rent-seeking activities, and shift to long-term sustainable development objectives implied by development-led depletion model.

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Fin dai tempi antichi l’ambiente rappresenta uno degli aspetti principali della vita umana. A tale riguardo gli antichi Greci e Latini scrissero diversi testi sulla forte interrelazione tra la vita umana e l’ambiente, sottolineando l’importanza di usufruirne senza però distruggerne l’equilibrio naturale.Questi antichi concetti risultano oggigiorno estremamente attuali. Le attività dell’uomo hanno alterato il naturale equilibrio a volte danneggiando l’ambiente in modo irrimediabile.Di conseguenza molti studi a livello nazionale ed internazionale cominciarono a focalizzarsi sulla Green Economy e sullo Sviluppo sostenibile. Il report dell’IEA presentato a Marrakech nel 2016 dimostra come l’economia globale stia diventando sempre più “verde”. In quanto l’argomento abbraccia numerose discipline, è sembrato utile approcciare la tematica inizialmente in modo ampio per poi focalizzarsi sull’economia aziendale. In generale lo scopo del lavoro è studiare come le aziende sono influenzate e a loro volta influenzano la Green economy.Questi argomenti sono affrontati nella tesi come segue.Il primo capitolo tratta i primi studi sull’ambiente e poi le ricerche svolte in Italia ed all’estero. Vengono quindi esposte le relazioni tra il sistema economico, sociale ed ambientale. Uno “sviluppo non sostenibile” comporta problemi ambientali come l’inquinamento dell’aria, dell’acqua, il rumore, l’inquinamento elettromagnetico e i rifiuti. Per affrontare questi problemi sono stati firmati diversi accordi internazionali a cui le aziende devono uniformarsi per permettere uno sviluppo sostenibile.Il secondo capitolo dà una visione generale della Green economy, evidenziando gli aspetti e i momenti principali del suo sviluppo. La Green economy, definita dall’UNEP (2011) come un miglioramento del benessere umano e dell’equità sociale, in grado di garantire al tempo stesso una significativa riduzione dei rischi ambientali e della scarsità ecologica, condiziona ed è condizionata dalla Business administration. Infatti per affrontare le questioni ambientali le aziende possono implementale pratiche green o essere attive in un business green. Il modello di Green economy qui utilizzato infatti, sottolinea due aspetti principali: le pratiche green implementate dalle aziende e i business green nei quali le aziende possono operare.Il terzo capitolo si focalizza sui business green, e dopo un’analisi della letteratura esistente, propone una classificazione dei possibili green business derivante dall’adattamento dei settori considerati green (vd. UNED o OCSE) alla classica classificazione ripresa dagli studi dell’economia aziendale (come Masini e Richardson).I capitoli quattro e cinque analizzano statisticamente uno dei business green individuati: il business del riciclo. È stato selezionato un campione di 87 aziende italiane (il cui core business è il riciclo di rifiuti) ed utilizzando un modello di regressione lineare sono state studiate le variabili correlate con la performance. Lo scopo è quindi di analizzare empiricamente dal punto di vista della Business administration uno dei business che fa parte della Green economy collegando quindi le due discipline. Per fare ciò è stata analizzata la performance economica del business del riciclo. Infatti un business green efficiente dal punto di vista economico comporta un effetto positivo sull’ambiente. La gestione dei rifiuti, e in particolare l'attività di riciclaggio, è una concreta applicazione dello sviluppo sostenibile.In sintesi, questa tesi rileva aspetti sia torici che empirici. In primis riassume la letteratura della Green economy e la analizza sotto la lente della Economia aziendale; in secundis, propone una classificazione delle imprese green, riadattata dalla letteratura esistente dell’Economia aziendale e della Green economy; in terzis, studia l'andamento generale e la performance delle aziende di riciclo italiane.
Since the ancient time, the environment was one of the main part of human life. Latins and Greeks have written numerous lyrics and texts on the strong interconnection between human life and the environment, stressing the importance of using it without destroying the natural equilibrium.The ancient arguments are today extremely actual. Human activities, taking advantages of natural resources or due to accidents, have altered the natural equilibrium and have damaged the environment irremediably.As a consequence of that, the “Green economy” and the “Sustainable development” started to be the focus of many studies and both national and international directives. The IEA Report presented in Marrakesh, demonstrates that the global economy is becoming “greener”. Because the field is deeply interdisciplinary, it seems important to approach it initially from a multidisciplinary point of view, and then to analyze it under the lens of the Business administration discipline. In general, the aim of this work is to study how organizations are involved and affected by Green economy.The arguments here are elaborated in the thesis, which is structured as follows.Chapter one reports both the first studies on the environment and the more recent literature developed in Italy and abroad. Evidences of the link between the environmental, social and economic system, are suggested. The outputs of a “not sustainable development” are environmental issues, as air, water, noise, electromagnetic, land pollution and waste. To face these problems, international agreements have been signed and, to make the economic development sustainable, organizations must comply with the standards. The second chapter gives an overview of the Green economy, pinpointing the key aspects and the most relevant moments of its development. The Green economy, which results in improved human well-being and social equity, while significantly reducing environmental risks and ecological scarcities (UNEP, 2011), affects and is affected by Business administration. In fact, to face environmental issues, organizations can implement green practices or start a new activity choosing a green business. The Green economy model here used stresses two aspects: the green practices implemented by organizations and the green businesses in which organizations can operate.Chapter three focuses on the green businesses and, after the analysis of the existing literature, proposes a “green business classification” adapted from the main Business administration literature (as Masini or Richardson) and the international organizations (as UNEP or OCSE). Chapter four and five analyse statistically one of the green businesses: the recycling business. Therefore, I have selected a sample of 87 Italian organizations which core business is recycling, and using a model of multiple linear regression, I have studied the variables correlated with performance. The scope of the chapters is to analyze empirically a business that is part of the Green economy model to link Business administration field and Green economy. To do so, I have analyzed the economic performance of the recycling business. In fact, the economic efficiency of a green activity has positive effect on the environment itself. This concept links the economic and environmental performance that organizations active within a green business implement. In fact, waste management, and in particular recycling activity, is a concrete application of the sustainable development. In summary, this thesis is both theoretically and empirically relevant for several reasons. First sums up the Green economy literature and analyzes it under the lens of the Business administration; second, proposes a classification of the green businesses, readapted from the Green economy and Business administration literature and the legislation; third, it is studied the general trend and the performance of the Italian recycling organizations.

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Development and land use change diminish the quantity of natural habitat, impacting negatively on the number of animal and plant species – biodiversity. Concern about the consequences of these losses has led to calls for mechanisms which allow development to proceed only when no net loss of biodiversity can be assured, such as biodiversity offsets. Markets for biodiversity offsets are being tried as mechanisms for achieving this societal objective in the most efficient manner possible. Theoretically, this thesis develops a framework connecting the Polanyi-inspired notion of the economy as an instituted process, and concepts developed by Callon and colleagues in the Social Studies of Finance literature. This framework is used to analyse the emergence, development and expansion of markets for biodiversity offsets. Using qualitative methodologies, the research examines in detail three existent biodiversity offset markets: Species Banking (United States), Impact Mitigation Regulations (Germany) and Biodiversity Offsets (England). The emergence of markets for biodiversity offsets is shown to be the result of performativity of economics. Changing representations of biodiversity, anchored on economic sciences, lead to policies which create economic experiments, such as markets for biodiversity offsets. Because these markets are historical and geographically contingent, the economic experiments emerge in the context of preexisting regulations and traditions, resulting in variety of forms of organising biodiversityoffset markets. To bring biodiversity to the market involves measuring and quantifying externalities. This requires the creation and development of market agencements – assemblages of agents and market devices – to commodify biodiversity. These agencements constitute the technical infrastructures upon which the markets are built, but they too are contingent of pre-market practice. This creates tensions between the role of agents and the role of devices inside the market infrastructure. Biodiversity offsets are shown to not maintain their commodity status beyond certain geographical and geopolitical boundaries. The result is the creation of mutually exclusive market nodes, between which no trade takes place. Despite common origins and infrastructures, the local markets do not exchange between themselves. This thesis contributes a framework for the analysis of market emergence, in which two literatures are used to complement each other’s limitations. As a result, the thesis is able to conceptualise how a common generative mechanism results in variety of economic organisation. It also demonstrates that it is possible for markets to share a regulatory and technical infrastructure, but not exchange between themselves and expand.

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BEZERRA, João Henrique Cavalcante. Cultivo da Tilápia do Nilo (Oreochromis niloticus) em sistema de bioflocos bacterianos. 2014. 47 f. : Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal do Ceará, Centro de Ciências Agrárias, Departamento de Engenharia de Pesca, Fortaleza-CE, 2014
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The global production originated from extractive fisheries is stagnant since 2000s. With the increasing global demand for fish products, aquaculture has become one of the main alternatives for the protein supply for human consumption. On the other hand, the intensification of aquaculture production results in an increase of negative impacts on the environment, making necessary the development of new farming technologies that will minimize environmental impacts. The biofloc technology system is proving to be an alternative to traditional cultures, and the great advantage of this system is the reduction of water use, besides the increase in productivity. The objective of this study was to evaluate the growth performance, indexes of water quality, the sustainability indexes of cultures and the economic parameters of Nile tilapia culture at different densities in the bacterial biofloc system. Among the water quality parameters evaluated, ammonia and nitrite showed values above the optimal range used in different densities (200, 400, 600 and 800 fishes m-3), while the values of Total Suspended Solids (TSS) reached the ideal range just after 30 days of culture, an insufficient time to an ideal biological production of flakes and, consequently, the reduction of the nitrogen compounds. Regarding the zootechnical parameters, all showed statistical difference in the four densities experienced, with the density of 600 fishes m-3, presenting the best results in terms of productivity and biomass gain. About the sustainability of cultivation, both the IS and the IQA found were classified as low in all densities, indicating poor water quality of the cultivation. In the economic analysis, there was economic loss at all densities, with the density of 600 peixes.m-3 achieving better results. However, the gross revenue generated was only R$ 124.2 ± 4.2, with a partial operational cost of R$ 166.8 ± 8.7, making necessary the previous establishment of the microbial community in this type of culture system, so that all water quality parameters remain according to ideal standards.
A produção pesqueira mundial oriunda da pesca extrativista está com sua produção estagnada desde os anos 2000. O aumento da demanda mundial do consumo de pescado tornou a aquicultura uma das principais alternativas de proteína para o consumo humano. Por outro lado, a intensificação da produção aquícola resulta em um aumento de impactos negativos sobre o meio ambiente, logo se faz necessário desenvolver novas tecnologias de cultivo a fim de minimizar os impactos ambientais. O sistema de bioflocos bacterianos vem se mostrando como uma alternativa aos cultivos tradicionais e a grande vantagem desse sistema é a redução do uso de água, além do aumento na produtividade. O objetivo do trabalho foi avaliar o desempenho zootécnico, os índices de qualidade de água, os índices de sustentabilidade, bem como os parâmetros econômicos de cultivos de tilápia do Nilo em diferentes densidades em um sistema de bioflocos bacterianos. Dentre os parâmetros de qualidade de água avaliados, a amônia e o nitrito apresentaram valores acima da faixa ideal nas diferentes densidades utilizadas (200, 400, 600 e 800 peixes m-3), enquanto os valores de sólidos suspensos totais (SST) atingiram a faixa ideal apenas após 30 dias de cultivo, tempo insuficiente para a produção ideal de flocos biológicos e, consequentemente, a redução dos compostos nitrogenados. Em relação aos parâmetros zootécnicos, todos apresentaram diferença estatística nas quatro densidades experimentadas, sendo a densidade de 600 peixes m-3 a que apresentou melhores resultados quanto à produtividade e ganhos de biomassa. Quanto à sustentabilidade do cultivo, tanto o IS quanto o IQA encontrados foram classificados como baixos em todas as densidades, indicando uma qualidade de água ruim para os cultivos. Na análise econômica, houve prejuízo em todas as densidades, sendo a densidade de 600 peixes m-3 a que alcançou melhores resultados. No entanto, a receita bruta gerada foi de apenas R$ 124,2 ± 4,2, com um custo operacional parcial de R$ 166,8 ± 8,7, tornando necessário o prévio estabelecimento da comunidade microbiana neste tipo de sistema de cultivo, para que todos os parâmetros de qualidade de água permaneçam dentro dos padrões ideais.