Smart and Sustainable Bioeconomy Platform: A New Approach towards Sustainability

The smart and sustainable bioeconomy represents a comprehensive perspective, in which economic, social, environmental, and technological dimensions are considered simultaneously in the planning, monitoring, evaluating, and redefining of processes and operations. In this context of profound transformation driven by rapid urbanization and digitalization, participatory and interactive strategies and practices have become fundamental to support policymakers, entrepreneurs, and citizens in the transition towards a smart and sustainable bioeconomy. This approach is applied by numerous countries around the world in order to redefine their strategy of sustainable and technology-assisted development. Specifically, real-time monitoring stations, sensors, Internet of Things (IoT), smart grids, GPS tracking systems, and Blockchain aim to develop and strengthen the quality and efficiency of the circularity of economic, social, and environmental resources. In this sense, this study proposes a systematic review of the literature of smart and sustainable bioeconomy strategies and practices implemented worldwide in order to develop a platform capable of integrating holistically the following phases: (1) planning and stakeholder management; (2) identification of social, economic, environmental, and technological dimensions; and (3) goals. The results of this analysis emphasise an innovative and under-treated perspective, further stimulating knowledge in the theoretical and managerial debate on the smart and sustainable aspects of the bioeconomy, which mainly concern the following: (a) the proactive involvement of stakeholders in planning; (b) the improvement of efficiency and quality of economic, social, environmental, and technological flows; and (c) the reinforcement of the integration between smartness and sustainability.

Tourists’ Behavioral Characteristics Regarding Island-Based Tourism Destinations through the Perspective of Spatial Constraints: A Case Study of Yangma Island in China

The factors affecting tourist behavior are complex and diverse, but research on its effect from a purely spatial perspective is still limited. The aim of this paper is to explore the dichotomous interaction between tourists and islands: the behavioral patterns of tourists in island destinations and the mechanisms by which island spaces constrain tourist behavior. This study uses fine-grained global positioning system (GPS) tracking data actively authorized and released by tourists. We empirically studied tourist behavior from a spatial constraint perspective and discovered the following: island space has a strong influence and constraining effect on tourist behavior; different spatial attributes have different constraining effects on tourist behavior; and people with different identities interact with different attributes of space to produce different spatial properties, resulting in a ‘harmony-contradiction’ model of spatial interaction. These findings are of great value in expanding the perspective of spatial constraints and exploring the interactions between people and land. They are also of great practical significance in promoting spatial planning synergy, facilitating the construction of high-quality island-based tourism destinations, and building a harmonious relationship between people and land.

How do tourists consume a rural wine destination in central Portugal?

Space-time tourist behaviour is influenced by numerous factors related both to tourists and the destination. Yet, however complex it may be, understanding and to some extent managing the way tourists move in space and time is crucial to ensuring the quality of their experience, as well as the effective and sustainable management of destinations and attractions. In the rural wine tourism context, studies on space-time behaviour are rare. The present study uses empirical data collected from tourists staying in hotels of the Bairrada Wine Route territory (N = 116), combining a GPS tracking study with a questionnaire survey. Using a time-geographical analytical approach, the GPS tracking data were mapped for a more detailed analysis of the tourists’ movements in the Bairrada terroir. The findings highlight specificities of tourist consumption in the context of rural wine regions and provide valuable insights for destination planning, service design and marketing of the Bairrada Wine Route.

A new multipath channel estimation and mitigation using annihilation filter combined tracking loop implementation in software GPS receivers

Abstract: The multipath effect causes severe degradation in the positioning of commercial GPS receivers. Due to multipath error, the positioning accuracy could reach a few 10 meters. If the cumulative Multipath delay is less than 0.1-0.35 chips, then it is difficult to mitigate in GPS receivers. This causes severe degradation in GPS signals and can cause a measurement bias. To alleviate this problem, the estimation of multipath parameters using annihilating filter and its mitigation in the GPS tracking loop is proposed in this work. The estimation of randomly generated multipath signals can be performed in the receiver with a lower sampling rate when compared to the larger bandwidth of the GPS baseband signal. Here, the frequency components of the Multipath signal in superimposed complex exponentials have been transformed from the time delay and the amplitude of the path observables. The Rayleigh fading model in the urban scenario has been simulated in which the amplitude and the phase of the number of paths (i.e., the frequency component of superimposed complex exponentials) are set and this fading signal is convolved with GPS signal that forms the multipath faded signal. In the GPS receiver post-processing stage, with the help of the annihilation filter, the multipath components are estimated, then an inverse/adaptive filter and compensation technique are further applied to mitigate the multipath component. The mean square error with the different number of paths with noisy environments is analyzed utilizing the cadzaw denoising algorithm. The simulation results of the proposed technique employed in the tracking module of the software GPS receiver under severe multipath conditions indicate a substantial enhancement in the performance of the GPS receiver with minimal code and carrier phase error when compared to the least squares and adaptive blind equalization channel techniques. Moreover, the positioning accuracy is also calculated with the inclusion of multipath components in two satellites out of six satellites used in the simulation, the results showed that the annihilation filter improved the mean position accuracy up to 9.3023 meters.

Spatial and temporal differences in migration strategies among endangered European Greater Spotted Eagles Clanga clanga

Summary Understanding connectivity between migratory bird breeding and wintering grounds is essential for range-wide planning of conservation activities. We used GPS tracking to explore the migration of 28 ‘Endangered’ Greater Spotted Eagles, Clanga clanga from three remaining European breeding populations towards their wintering range, and to identify population and sex-specific patterns in selection of wintering sites. The tracked eagles wintered in three continents, 46% in Africa (mostly Eastern Sahel), 43% across southern Europe (mostly Greece) and 11% in Asia (the Middle East). Migratory connectivity was weak (rM = 0.16), and the population spread across the wintering range was large (1,917 km). The three studied populations differed in their migration strategy, with northerly, Estonian breeders all wintering in Southern Europe, and Polish and Belarusian breeders divided between Southern Europe and Africa. Migration strategy was different between Belarusian males and females, with males more likely to winter in Africa than Europe, and on average, migrating 2,500 km further south than females. Migration to Africa took longer, but was partly compensated by higher migration speeds. Greater Spotted Eagles wintered in wetland sites throughout their wintering range, with 15 of 29 birds wintering in internationally or nationally protected sites (including 12 Ramsar sites). Nearly a third of European winterers stayed in the same Greek national park, perhaps indicating a limitation of suitable sites in Europe due to wetland loss or degradation. This highlights the importance of protected wetlands to this species, but also shows their vulnerability to future wetland degradation. Only two of 14 wintering sites in Africa were under protection, showing a potential mismatch between protection of females and males in their wintering grounds.

Combining Knowledge Systems Helps Understand the Spatial Dynamics of Data-Limited Small-Scale Fisheries Systems in Brazil: A Methods Analysis

Mangrove habitats provide nursery, shelter, and feeding sites for many economically relevant fish, and invertebrates, such as crabs. Given the highly artisanal character and the patchy spatial distribution of small-scale fishing in mangroves, there is often little data available to inform management, potentially threatening the sustainability of this livelihood-supporting activity. This study assesses the combination of different data collection methods and of including published data in the analysis of the spatial dynamics. We examine crab fisheries in two sustainable-use protected areas as a case study to understand use patterns as indicated by a specific combination of mapping methods. Mangrove crab fishing grounds were mapped by overlaying crab gatherers’ tracked routes with maps produced during participatory-mapping-centered interviews. Information from the literature was used to spatialize crab carapace width and relate it to distance traveled by fishers. Results show that crabs tended to be larger if caught farther from the villages where fishers live. In terms of collection methods, even though GPS tracking is relatively time- and resource-consuming, incorporating some GPS tracking into participatory mapping helps overcome a downside of this type of mapping (e.g., lack of geographical precision) and identifies information that can be accessed through participatory techniques. This highlights the importance of linking different approaches in order to understand small-scale fisheries spatial dynamics.