Making Intangibles Tangible: Identifying Manifestations of Cultural Ecosystem Services in a Cultural Landscape

The assessment of cultural ecosystem services (CES) has proved challenging due to their intangible, non-material and invisible characteristics. A number of methods for evaluating CES have been developed, which depend mostly on subjective perceptions and behavior. An objective direction for considering CES is proposed based on the assumption that making use of CES leaves visible manifestations in the physical landscape and human society. The approach developed in this paper attempts to follow this direction by identifying a large amount of manifestations that reflect a wider range of CES types. This approach is applied to a case study of the Weser River in Germany, showing that the local people along the river have benefited from multiple CES of the Weser and created various manifestations of those CES. In the future researches, the identification and documentation of manifestations can be used to map the delivery of CES, to develop indicator systems for CES, to assess heritage value and identity, to indicate spatially explicit preferences on ecosystem characteristics and visual aesthetic qualities, to estimate the economic value of educational and inspirational service, to investigate sense of place, as well as to make better informed landscape management and nature protection.

STUDY OF TECHNICAL CELLULOSE AS A MATRIX-SORBENT TO DEVELOP EXPRESS ANALYTIC SYSTEM FOR WATER SAFETY CONTROL

The study presented by the authors is devoted to the study of the properties and the possibility of using technical cellulose from non-wood plant raw materials as a solid-phase matrix to obtain solid-phase reactive indicator systems by the following methods: synthesis method on the base of a hetarylformazane immobilized on a cellulose matrix and development of analytical systems based on preconcentration of the determined metal ion by a matrix with subsequent its «revealing» by the formazan («revealing» method). The article focuses on determination of optimal combinations of chromogenic organic reagents (hetarylformazanes) and cellulose-based matrices for developing solid-phase reaction-based indicator systems. Adsorption features of formazan reagents onto cellulose matrices was studied. It has been established the relation between the reagent molecule structure, composition of cellulose matrix and analytical properties of the test-systems synthesized to determine metal ions. Different approaches were developed and applied to reveal the visually observable and easily measured effect due to cellulose properties as well as properties of hetarylformazanes fixed on the surface of the matrix. This fact allows to control sensitivity and selectivity of solid-phase reactive indicator systems for water quality assessment.

Which Methods Are Useful to Justify Public Policies? An Analysis of Cost–Benefit Analysis, Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis, and Non-Aggregate Indicator Systems

Science-based methods for assessing the practical rationality of a proposed public policy typically represent assumed future outcomes of policies and values attributed to these outcomes in an idealized, that is, intentionally distorted way and abstracted from aspects that are deemed irrelevant. Different types of methods do so in different ways. As a consequence, they instantiate the properties that result from abstraction and idealization such as conceptual simplicity versus complexity, or comprehensiveness versus selectivity of the values under consideration to different degrees. I hold that none of these methods is best in general. Instead, I opt for the valuation method that is useful for the policy issue in question both in terms of its relevance and in terms of its practicability. Relevance requires that the method can represent and account for what is at stake in the policy issue. Practicability refers to aspects such as easy versus difficult handling of the method. To argue for the claim, I evaluate three types of valuation methods: (1) cost–benefit analysis that rests on unidimensional measurement and ranking, (2) multi-criteria decision analysis that applies multi-dimensional measurement but unidimensional ranking, and (3) non-aggregate indicator systems that operate with multi-dimensional measurement and sometimes also multi-dimensional ranking. Second-order justification indicating whether and how the valuation method chosen is capable of accounting for the substantive value considerations that constitute the real-world policy issue in question renders the conditions on which the results of a proposed policy evaluation rest transparent.

Sustainable Development Model of EU Cities Compliant with UN Settings

Nowadays, the globally accepted UN concept of sustainable development (SD) is gradu®ally transferred to the city level, including small and medium-sized cities. The implementation of SD settings requires regular measurement of developmental progress to monitor the level achieved in statics and dynamics, and to make strategic decisions for the next period. The existing urban SD indicator systems and indices are not well-suited for the monitoring of specific cities. Benchmarking algorithms and mathematical modelling procedures were applied to create a methodology and mathematical model for measuring the achieved urban SD level and to ensure the most objective selection and proportions of key performance indicators (KPIs) to be included in the model. The model (1) complies with the UN concept, (2) is usable for any EU city, (3) reflects the level of quality of life achieved, and (4) includes a limited number of KPIs related to municipal functionality. Mathematical computation of the (1) causality between the KPIs, (2) selection and proportions of KPIs, and (3) the general level of urban SD, as well as the reasonable combination of universality, accuracy, stability, and simplicity are strong advantages of the model. Using the published mathematical expressions of the model, calculation of the SD level does not require specific skills; the performed stability test also confirms that annual calibration of the model is not necessary. The index will help municipalities in planning and managing SD, and in the rational use of their usually limited resources. As a pilot project, SD level values are calculated for several cities.

Toward the Renewal of the Sustainable Urban Indicators’ System after a Global Health Crisis. Practical Application in Granada, Spain

The aim of this study is to highlight the need for sustainable urban development by reviewing the different Indicator Systems (SI) and contrasting them with those factors that have had a correlation in the spread of the virus in order to detect its deficiencies. This research carries out an urban diagnosis and analyzes the influence of these factors in order to detect deficiencies and propose a new IS adapted to current needs. Lastly, the new SI is validated through its practical application in one of the Autonomous Communities most affected by the pandemic in Spain. It is concluded that most of the factors causing a worse incidence of the virus are hardly evaluated by the existing IS. The practical analysis shows that there are deficiencies in urban design, resulting in poor environmental quality and urban morphology.

Influencing Factors of University Core Competence: An Empirical Study Based on the Entropy Weight Gray Relation Model

To measure the gray relation between the core competence of research universities and its influencing factors, this paper took the same period statistical data of the five research universities directly subordinate to the Ministry of Education of China as the research samples, all these five schools were shortlisted in the “World Top 300” rankings of USNews, QS, THE, and ARWU from 2014 to 2018, and the indicator systems of the four authoritative lists were taken as the basis; 30 representative indicators affecting the core competence of research universities were selected, and the gray relation model was adopted for the research; moreover, this paper applied the information entropy method to calculate the weight of each indicator and estimate the comprehensive gray relation between the core competence of research universities and the entire factor system. This research gives the rankings of the influencing factors of the core competence of research universities, and there is a 0.8485 degree comprehensive gray relation between the influencing factors and the core competence of research universities, which has further clarified the future development direction of research universities.

Perspective Discrepancy between Designers and Constructors on the Sustainability of Steel Structures: Are They Synthesizable?

City growth and its resulted environmental issues are promoting a citywide application of sustainable steel structures. However, designers and constructors often hold conflicting perspectives on the sustainable construction of steel structures, which has been identified as a barrier to achieve sustainability in this area. Given that the existing sustainability indicator systems of steel structures are either design-oriented or construction-driven, this study aims to develop a new one by synthesizing both designers’ and contractors’ opinions in the development of such indicators. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to identify potential indicators. A questionnaire survey was then used to collect the viewpoints of designers and constructors on the identified indicators. Finally, a fuzzy set algorithm and hierarchical clustering were employed to detect the indicators’ relationships. The results present a three-dimensional indicator system composed of social-technical sustainability, greenness, and economic sustainability. Furthermore, it is found that designers and constructors have discrepant opinions on social-technical sustainability and greenness, while their views on economic sustainability are similar. The research findings provide managerial hints to the attainment of sustainable steel structures and enhance stakeholders’ understanding of design-and-construction integration in steel structure projects.

Management Accounting in European Affairs: A Memorandum Methodology for Formalize Audit Evidence

The research investigates the interplay of sustainable tourism, management accounting, monitoring, destination life cycles and stakeholder involvement. Management techniques are considered critical to the sustainable stewardship and competitiveness of tourism destinations in European business agricultural investments. The importance of tourism management and monitoring in destinations and organizations is particularly highlighted through an explanation of sustainable tourism indicator systems such as that created by the European Commission. Systems such as this will help position Europe as the leading sustainable tourism destination in the world both now and in the future. Consequently the sustainability of tourism is now much broader that just environmental considerations. It is commonly considered to be comprised of the three pillars: the environment, the economy and the community. Much of corporate finance takes a particular financial architecture as its reference: the equity company with listed shares and relatively easy access to financial markets. But there are other ways to organize and finance business activities. The forms of ownership, control and financing can vary widely worldwide. In this article we will describe some of these differences. Companies collect liquidity through financial markets, but also through public grants.