scholarly journals Comparing Impact Evaluation Evidence of EU and Local Development Policies with New Urban Agenda Themes: The Agri Valley Case in Basilicata (Italy)

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (16) ◽  
pp. 9376
Author(s):  
Piergiuseppe Pontrandolfi ◽  
Priscilla Sofia Dastoli
Keyword(s):  
Impact Evaluation ◽  
Local Development ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
National Level ◽  
Open Data ◽  
Use Of Resources ◽  
Italian Regions ◽  
The Impact ◽  
New Urban Agenda

The European Union’s Cohesion Policy is the most important structural policy in terms of financial commitment, geographical size and time frame, aimed at redistributing wealth between regions and countries, to stimulate growth in areas whose development is lagging behind. The reach of the investments prompted the EU Commission to promote an impact evaluation of the European Structural Funds (SF); however, the impact evaluation of EU programs is almost neglected in the Italian regions. This paper is based on the results developed within the RI.P.R.O.VA.RE project and is aimed at defining an impact evaluation of EU SF and other regional funds, based on evidence derived from the analysis of a specific case study in the Agri Valley area (Basilicata, Italy). To develop the impact evaluation process, the euro amounts of all the individual policies organized according to the themes of the New Urban Agenda (NUA), the impact indicators and the trend for the municipalities are considered together, in order to obtain an overall trend for the entire case study area. An important result is achieved above all in the methodological approach to impact evaluation: the municipal territorial scale is taken into account; the maps illustrate the use of resources; regardless of the type of funding source since there is a comparison between the priority axes of the funds with the NUA issues; and indicators are developed with open data available at a national level. This experiment makes it possible to detect that, even in the face of significant investments, some substantial aspects that are part of the policy objectives remain unchanged or even worsen.

Modernisation of Higher Education – Willful Action or Wishful Thinking? The Case of Bulgaria

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 3-17
Author(s):  
Elena Blagoeva
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Economic Crisis ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
National Level ◽  
Sustainable Growth ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Case Study Methodology ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Eu

The impact of the last global economic crisis (2008) on the European economy put a strain on higher education (HE), yet it also pushed the sector towards intensive reforms and improvements. This paper focuses on the “Strategy for the Development of Higher Education in the Republic of Bulgaria 2014-2020”. With a case study methodology, we explore the strategic endeavours of the Bulgarian government to comply with the European directions and to secure sustainable growth for the HE sector. Our research question is ‘How capable is the Bulgarian HE Strategy to overcome the economic and systemic restraints of Bulgarian higher education?’. Because the development of strategies for HE within the EU is highly contextual, a single qualitative case study was chosen as the research approach. HE institutions are not ivory towers, but subjects to a variety of external and internal forces. Within the EU, this is obviated by the fact that Universities obtain their funds from institutions such as governments, students and their families, donors, as well as EU-level programmes. Therefore, to explore how these pressures interact to affect strategic action on national level, the case method is well suited as it enabled us to study the phenomena thoroughly and deeply. The paper suggests the actions proposed within the Strategy have the potential to overcome the delay, the regional isolation and the negative impact of the economic crisis on the country. Nevertheless, the key elements on which the success or failure of this Strategy hinges are the control mechanisms and the approach to implementation. Shortcomings in these two aspects of strategic actions in HE seem to mark the difference between gaining long-term benefits and merely saving face in front of international institutions.

Transit networks, social contacts and open data meet public transportation plans for post-COVID-19: A Canadian case study

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oliver Benning ◽  
Jonathan Calles ◽  
Burak Kantarci ◽  
Shahzad Khan
Keyword(s):  
Public Transportation ◽  
Population Distribution ◽  
Open Data ◽  
Practical Method ◽  
Municipal Services ◽  
Transit Network ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
Pandemic Response ◽  
The Impact

This article presents a practical method for the assessment of the risk profiles of communities by tracking / acquiring, fusing and analyzing data from public transportation, district population distribution, passenger interactions and cross-locality travel data. The proposed framework fuses these data sources into a realistic simulation of a transit network for a given time span. By shedding credible insights into the impact of public transit on pandemic spread, the research findings will help to set the groundwork for tools that could provide pandemic response teams and municipalities with a robust framework for the evaluations of city districts most at risk, and how to adjust municipal services accordingly.

The Risk of Water Erosion on the Foothills of the Middle High Atlas (Morocco): Tagueleft Basin Case Study : خطر التعرية المائية على السفوح بالأطلس الكبير الأوسط (المغرب): دراسة حالة حوض تاكلفت

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rizki Mohamed
Keyword(s):  
Land Degradation ◽  
Local Development ◽  
Remote Sensing Data ◽  
Potential Method ◽  
Water Erosion ◽  
High Atlas ◽  
Negative Impacts ◽  
The Impact

The Tagueleft basin is geographically located in the northern edges of the Middle High Atlas, which is a geomorphological fragile area. The impact of human activity has accelerated water erosion in this mountains area. This is reflected in dynamic and unstable foothills, a decrease in forests density and degradation in the production of the land. On the other hand, land degradation due to human overexploitation of natural resources has increased land degradation in the area. The interest in the risk of erosion on the foothills in the area under study comes in the context of our contribution to clarify the role of geomatical and geomorphological approaches in explaining and identifying the mechanisms responsible for current foothills dynamism through water erosion and its negative impacts on the environment and local development. The aim of the study was to use the EPM (Erosion Potential Méthod) which is formulated by Slobodan Gavrilovic for erosion in mountainous areas and to test the reliability of its results based on fieldwork and remote sensing data. The results of the erosion assessment and its quantification by applying the coefficient (W) for the theoretical model in the area under study have shown that erosion is very important and it touches on wide areas as it appears through the domain classification of the distribution erosion in Tagueleft basin.

scholarly journals Marketing of non-wood forest products: Case study of the enterprise for forest mushroom processing

2009 ◽  
pp. 111-128 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ljiljana Keca ◽  
Nenad Rankovic ◽  
Tomislav Radosavljevic
Keyword(s):  
Social Services ◽  
Climate Changes ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Forest Products ◽  
Wood Products ◽  
Wood Material ◽  
Marketing Analysis ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Trees And Shrubs

Under the impact of climate changes it is increasingly obvious that forestry should rely more strongly on the multi?functional character of the managed resources. In addition to wood, there is a series of non?wood products and services offered by forests. Non?wood forest products and services consist of various fruits of forest trees and shrubs, mushrooms, various objects made of non?wood material, and especially forest social services, such as recreation, tourism, hunting, photo?safari, etc. This paper presents a marketing analysis on the example of the enterprise dealing with the purchase, processing and sale of wild mushrooms and products made of mushrooms. The study applies a modern methodological approach implemented in similar researches.

scholarly journals An Integrated GIS Methodology to Assess the Impact of Engineering Maintenance Activities: A Case Study of Dredging Projects

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 186
Author(s):  
Pedro Magaña ◽  
Miguel Á. Reyes-Merlo ◽  
Ángela Tintoré ◽  
Carmen Zarzuelo ◽  
Miguel Ortega-Sánchez
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Data ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Decision Making Process ◽  
Regional Government ◽  
Fully Integrated ◽  
Maintenance Activities ◽  
Social Environmental ◽  
Design Databases ◽  
The Impact

Engineering infrastructures require regular maintenance and/or repair activities that have important social, environmental, and economic impacts. Despite their growing importance, few studies have focused on fully integrated analyses. This work presents a general methodological approach to design databases of engineering maintenance activities for their assessment. This methodology was applied to the case of dredging projects in the ports managed by the Andalusian Regional Government (Spain). The resulting database contains 87 fields of information obtained from the analysis of 70 activities performed between 1993 and 2015. This database is free, public, and available to the scientific community, and it was implemented in PostgreSQL using the PostGIS extension for spatial data; therefore, it can be integrated in a GIS. The assessment of deviations from the initial projects and the comparison between locations enhanced our methodology, which represents a valuable tool not only for scientists and managers to improve the decision-making process when planning future strategies, but also to evaluate the environmental impacts.

scholarly journals Storyways: Visualising Saintly Impact in a North Atlantic Maritime Landscape

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 235-262 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Jane Gibbon ◽  
James Moore
Keyword(s):  
North Atlantic ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Landscape Features ◽  
International Recognition ◽  
Source Study ◽  
The Impact ◽  
First Time

AbstractThis paper presents a new methodological approach and theorising framework which visualises intangible landscapes. The Cult of Saint Magnus of Orkney (martyred c.AD1117 and canonised c.1135) is presented as a case study to demonstrate how spatial and temporal veneration can be explored in the landscape. The transferability of this methodology extends to any multi-source study where memories link to landscape features (past or present). St Magnus dedications, altars and church furnishings in Scandinavia and Britain demonstrate his international recognition, but aside from three Magnus dedicated churches, little is known of his veneration within Orkney. By using GIS to map archaeological, onomastic, folkloric, historic and hagiographic evidence of veneration we have visualised the impact of the Cult of Magnus since martyrdom to recent times for the first time. Furthermore, by visually differentiating between sources, we’ve distinguished the variability and variety of evidence, thus identifying concentrated pockets of veneration through time. Additionally, by linking evidence locations, we have identified ‘remembered’ routeways – storyways. In doing so, we have mapped the impact of Magnus as a saint, his value to particular communities and his continuing influence.

scholarly journals The Effects of Gentrification on the Elderly: A Case Study in the City of Cáceres

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (9) ◽  
pp. 154
Author(s):  
Lidia Domínguez-Parraga
Keyword(s):  
Social Space ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Large Cities ◽  
Social And Emotional ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The City

This study aims to analyze the consequences of the gentrification process as a result of tourism on the elderly inhabitants. Firstly, the concept of gentrification is reviewed, a process that is no longer exclusive to large cities but has spread to smaller and lesser-known municipalities. A clear example of this type of new tourist destination is the city of Cáceres, a World Heritage medium-sized city where tourism is the basis of its economy. The research considers gentrification in medium-sized cities and its effect on active aging. Based on a qualitative methodological approach, a total of 32 in-depth interviews were conducted and analyzed to compare two neighborhoods—one gentrified and one not. The results show a remarkable disparity in the residents’ perceptions of their environment and their city. The findings suggest adverse effects on the quality of aging due to the gentrification process, such as family dependency, social-space disconnection, and a generally pessimistic image of the neighborhood. Consequently, the impact of tourism negatively affects the gentrified neighborhood inhabitants’ psychological, social, and emotional well-being.

scholarly journals Temporal changes in greenspace in a highly urbanized region

2011 ◽  
Vol 7 (5) ◽  
pp. 763-766 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Dallimer ◽  
Zhiyao Tang ◽  
Peter R. Bibby ◽  
Paul Brindley ◽  
Kevin J. Gaston ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
National Level ◽  
Urban Land Use ◽  
Policy Reforms ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Dramatic Shift ◽  
Urbanized Region ◽  
The Impact

The majority of the world's population now lives in towns and cities, and urban areas are expanding faster than any other land-use type. In response to this phenomenon, two opposing arguments have emerged: whether cities should ‘sprawl’ into the wider countryside, or ‘densify’ through the development of existing urban greenspace. However, these greenspaces are increasingly recognized as being central to the amelioration of urban living conditions, supporting biodiversity conservation and ecosystem service provision. Taking the highly urbanized region of England as a case study, we use data from a variety of sources to investigate the impact of national-level planning policy on temporal patterns in the extent of greenspace in cities. Between 1991 and 2006, greenspace showed a net increase in all but one of 13 cities. However, the majority of this gain occurred prior to 2001, and greenspace has subsequently declined in nine cities. Such a dramatic shift in land use coincides with policy reforms in 2000, which favoured densification. Here, we illustrate the dynamic and policy-responsive nature of urban land use, thereby highlighting the need for a detailed investigation of the trade-offs associated with different mechanisms of urban densification to optimize and secure the diverse benefits associated with greenspaces.

A Delphi-based approach for detecting key e-learning trends in postgraduate education

2017 ◽  
Vol 59 (6) ◽  
pp. 590-604 ◽  
Author(s):  
Blanca Lopez-Catalan ◽  
Victor A. Bañuls
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Delphi Study ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
National Level ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Postgraduate Education ◽  
Content Type ◽  
E Learning ◽  
Education Administrators ◽  
The Impact

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present the results of national level Delphi study carried out in Spain aimed at providing inputs for higher education administrators and decision makers about key e-learning trends for supporting postgraduate courses. Design/methodology/approach The ranking of the e-learning trends is based on a three-dimensional analysis that combines the cost of implementation, the impact of each trend on learning outcomes and the diffusion forecast among postgraduate courses in the time horizon. The authors use the Delphi method for managing an expert panel. Findings Mobile learning, gamification, social media and open education are found as some of the key e-learning trends that might have greater educational impacts in postgraduate programs in the next years. These results are expected to help educational institutions to plan future positioning strategies depending on their starting positions, resources and intentions to innovate. Originality/value Educational managers and planners need to identify priority issues and principal trends in higher education in order to raise their innovative offer and to maintain competitiveness. The results might help them. Moreover the indicator and the methodological approach is a novelty in the field.

scholarly journals Influence of British Pottery on Pottery Practice in Nigeria

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (6) ◽  
pp. 19-24
Author(s):  
Edem Etim Peters ◽  
Ruth Mataba Gadzama
Keyword(s):  
Study Design ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Case Study Design ◽  
Secondary Sources ◽  
Art Works ◽  
The World ◽  
The Impact

The pottery narratives of Nigeria majorly linked with the activities of a great British potter Michael Cardew who Established pottery centres in Nigeria, and trained many Nigerians in Pottery. Cardew studied under Bernard Leach (1887 – 1979) who travels extensively and taught pottery around the world.Leach studied pottery under Master Kenzan VI in Japan and returned to England in 1920 to establish his own pottery at St. Ives with Shoji Hamada. The impact in pottery created by Cardew in Nigeria from 1950 is a direct British Pottery influence imparted to him by leach at St. Ives. A British potter and artist, Kenneth C. Murray studied pottery under Bernard Leach at St. Ives in 1929 and returned back to Uyo in Nigeria to produce and teach students pottery. Murray produced pottery wares from the Kiln he built at Uyo and took his students to exhibit the ware along with other art works at Zwember gallery (Britain) in 1937. Chief Adam Joshua Udo Ema also studied pottery in 1949 in Britain and later returned to work as a pottery officer at Okigwe Pottery centre as well as established three pottery centres in Nigeria Namely; Ikot Abasi Pottery centre at Etinan, Pottery centre at Mbiafun Ikono, and pottery centre at Ikot Ntot in Abak. Many other Nigerian studied pottery in Nigeria. Lady Kwalii pottery experience was influenced by Michael Cardew. Her pottery influence seen pottery products exhibited in various parts of the world depicted a coordination of Niger and British Pottery influences. A case study design is considered for methodological approach. Data were taken from primary and secondary sources and analyzed respectively. British influence on Nigeria is indeed outstanding.

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