Sustainability and Food: a Text Analysis of the Scientific Literature

The paper analyses the evolution of the research debate related to sustainability and to the relation between food and sustainability. A number of text analysis techniques were combined for the investigation of scientific papers. The results stress how discourse analysis of sustainability in the pre-Rio period is mostly associated with agriculture and with a vision where the ecological and environmental aspects are dominant. In the post-Rio phase, the discussion about sustainability, though still strongly linked to environmental issues, enters a holistic dimension that includes social elements. The themes of energy and the sustainability of urban areas become central, and the scientific debate stresses the importance of indicators within an assessment approach linked to the relevance of planning and intervention aspects. The focus on the role of food within the debate on sustainability highlights a food security oriented approach in the pre-Rio phase, with a particular attention towards agriculture and third world Countries. In the post-Rio period, the focus of the analysis moves towards developed Countries. Even though food security remains a strongly significant element of the debate, the attention shifts towards consumers and food choices

Sustainability and Well-Being: The Perception of Younger Generations and Their Expectations

The paper aims at analyzing the level of knowledge and the perception of the concepts of sustainability and well-being of high school students in Tuscany. It is an explorative study carried out during specific events held in high schools with the support of the teachers; during the events, students were asked to fill a questionnaire designed to elicit their relation with these topics as well as the level of involvement of their families. The results provide an interesting starting point for a debate about what the expectations of younger generations are and what we can do to match them. The debate moves from the assessment of the importance of sustainability and well-being indicators and the relevance of perceived threats. Moreover, the results put the role of institutions (and in particular that of public schools) under scrutiny to develop the level of awareness and to promote knowledge transfer

Measuring impact of academic research in computer and information science on society

Academic research in computer & information science (CIS) has contributed immensely to all aspects of society. As academic research today is substantially supported by various government sources, recent political changes have created ambivalence amongst academics about the future of research funding. With uncertainty looming, it is important to develop a framework to extract and measure the information relating to impact of CIS research on society to justify public funding, and demonstrate the actual contribution and impact of CIS research outside academia. A new method combining discourse analysis and text mining of a collection of over 1000 pages of impact case study documents written in free-text format for the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2014 was developed in order to identify the most commonly used categories or headings for reporting impact of CIS research by UK Universities (UKU). According to the research reported in REF2014, UKU acquired 83 patents in various areas of CIS, created 64 spin-offs, generated £857.5 million in different financial forms, created substantial employment, reached over 6 billion users worldwide and has helped save over £1 billion Pounds due to improved processes etc. to various sectors internationally, between 2008 and 2013

The Rockefeller Brothers Fund's Democratic Practice Global Governance Portfolio: Impact Assessment, 20102015

This report evaluates the progress of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund (RBF) Democratic Practice–Global Governance (DP-GG) portfolio in the context of the program-specific goal, strategies, and the RBF mission. The overarching goal of the DP-GG program is to "strengthen the vitality of democracy in global governance." It is pursued through support for three strategies (transparency and accountability, access and participation, and innovation), and focused on three substantive areas (trade, climate, and development finance). Over the six-year period 2010 through 2015, the RBF invested $17.3 million in grants and appropriations in the Global Governance portfolio. This includes182 grants to 79 organizations, as well as support for 18 meetings at The Pocantico Center and 13 nongrant appropriations for consultancies and outside meetings. The average annual budget of the DP-GG portfolio is$2.95 million, a modest figure given the complexity and scale of issues these grants endeavor to tackle

Validity of Machine Learning in Assessing Large Texts Through Sustainability Indicators

As machine learning becomes more widely used in policy and environmental impact settings, concerns about accuracy and fairness arise. These concerns have piqued the interest of researchers, who have advanced new approaches and theoretical insights to enhance data gathering, treatment and models’ training. Nonetheless, few works have looked at the trade-offs between appropriateness and accuracy in indicator evaluation to comprehend how these constraints and approaches may better redound into policymaking and have a more significant impact across culture and sustainability matters for urban governance. This empirical study fulfils this void by researching indicators’ accuracy and utilizing algorithmic models to test the benefits of large text-based analysis. Here we describe applied work in which we find affinity and occurrence in indicators trade-offs that result be significant in practice to evaluate large texts. In the study, objectivity and fairness are kept substantially without sacrificing accuracy, explicitly focusing on improving the processing of indicators to be truthfully assessed. This observation is robust when cross-referring indicators and unique words. The empirical results advance a novel form of large text analysis through machine intelligence and refute a widely held belief that artificial intelligence text processing necessitates either accepting a significant reduction in accuracy or fairness.Funding for open access charge: CRUE-Universitat Jaume

Is existing legislation fit-for-purpose to achieve Good Environmental Status in European seas?

Recent additions to marine environmental legislation are usually designed to fill gaps in protection and management, build on existing practices or correct deficiencies in previous instruments. Article 13 of the European Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) requires Member States to develop a Programme of Measures (PoM) by 2015, to meet the objective of Good Environmental Status (GES) for their waters by 2020. This review explores key maritime-related policies with the aim to identify the opportunities and threats that they pose for the achievement of GES. It specifically examines how Member States have relied on and will integrate existing legislation and policies to implement their PoM and the potential opportunities and difficulties associated with this. Using case studies of three Member States, other external impediments to achieving GES are discussed including uses and users of the marine environment who are not governed by the MSFD, and gives recommendations for overcoming barriers

Transportation Life Cycle Assessment Synthesis: Life Cycle Assessment Learning Module Series

The Life Cycle Assessment Learning Module Series is a set of narrated, self-advancing slideshows on various topics related to environmental life cycle assessment (LCA). This research project produced the first 27 of such modules, which are freely available for download on the CESTiCC website http://cem.uaf.edu/cesticc/publications/lca.aspx. Each module is roughly 15- 20 minutes in length and is intended for various uses such as course components, as the main lecture material in a dedicated LCA course, or for independent learning in support of research projects. The series is organized into four overall topical areas, each of which contain a group of overview modules and a group of detailed modules. The A and α groups cover the international standards that define LCA. The B and β groups focus on environmental impact categories. The G and γ groups identify software tools for LCA and provide some tutorials for their use. The T and τ groups introduce topics of interest in the field of transportation LCA. This includes overviews of how LCA is frequently applied in that sector, literature reviews, specific considerations, and software tutorials. Future modules in this category will feature methodological developments and case studies specific to the transportation sector