Eco‐Holonic 4.0 Circular Business Model to Conceptualize Sustainable Value Chain Towards Digital Transition

The purpose of this paper is to conceptualize a circular business model based on an Eco-Holonic Architecture, through the integration of circular economy and holonic principles. A conceptual model is developed to manage the complexity of integrating circular economy principles, digital transformation, and tools and frameworks for sustainability into business models. The proposed architecture is multilevel and multiscale in order to achieve the instantiation of the sustainable value chain in any territory. The architecture promotes the incorporation of circular economy and holonic principles into new circular business models. This integrated perspective of business model can support the design and upgrade of the manufacturing companies in their respective industrial sectors. The conceptual model proposed is based on activity theory that considers the interactions between technical and social systems and allows the mitigation of the metabolic rift that exists between natural and social metabolism. This study contributes to the existing literature on circular economy, circular business models and activity theory by considering holonic paradigm concerns, which have not been explored yet. This research also offers a unique holonic architecture of circular business model by considering different levels, relationships, dynamism and contextualization (territory) aspects

Hybrid Modeling of Offshore Platforms’ Stress-Deformed and Limit States Taking into Account Probabilistic Parameters

Offshore platforms should be referred to critically and strategically important objects of a technosphere due to technological and operational challenges, on the one hand, and the danger potential level, on the other hand. Environmental, social and economic losses occurred over several decades of accidents and disasters in unique Great Britain, Norwegian. The Russian and the USA platforms were evaluated in death of dozens of operators, destruction of platforms, environment contamination and hence in multi-bullion losses. All of these indicate insufficiency of currently taken engineering solutions, providing structure strength, operational life and safety. The scientific, design, expert and supervising organizations in Russia and in the world are developing and improving mathematical and physical methods, implementing the probabilistic formulations for accidents and disasters, risk assessment and risks reduction on offshore platforms. The solutions of the following problems are included: extension of the comprehensive computational and experimental strength, operational life and survivability analysis to the cases of nonroutine events, accidental and catastrophic conditions; numerical justification of modelling of critical elements, zones and points with the maximum tension, deformations and damages occurring under impacts of external extreme seismic, ice, wind, low temperature; implementation of comprehensive diagnostic methods for damage states evaluation within nonlinear and probabilistic fracture mechanics; and use of new structural design and technological systems for reduction of negative extreme impacts as well as emergency protection systems. The solution of the specified problems is illustrated by case studies of the Russian specialists for each life cycle stage of the platforms offshore Caspian and Kara Seas and Sea of Okhotsk

Standardization Framework for Sustainability from Circular Economy 4.0

The circular economy (CE) is widely known as a way to implement and achieve sustainability, mainly due to its contribution towards the separation of biological and technical nutrients under cyclic industrial metabolism. The incorporation of the principles of the CE in the links of the value chain of the various sectors of the economy strives to ensure circularity, safety, and efficiency. The framework proposed is aligned with the goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development regarding the orientation towards the mitigation and regeneration of the metabolic rift by considering a double perspective. Firstly, it strives to conceptualize the CE as a paradigm of sustainability. Its principles are established, and its techniques and tools are organized into two frameworks oriented towards causes (cradle to cradle) and effects (life cycle assessment), and these are structured under the three pillars of sustainability, for their projection within the proposed framework. Secondly, a framework is established to facilitate the implementation of the CE with the use of standards, which constitute the requirements, tools, and indicators to control each life cycle phase, and of key enabling technologies (KETs) that add circular value 4.0 to the socio-ecological transition

СИСТЕМА СБОРА ЭКОЛОГИЧЕСКОЙ ИНФОРМАЦИИ О СОСТОЯНИИ ТЕРРИТОРИАЛЬНОЙ ТЕХНОСФЕРЫ

The ecological and economic condition of cities and agricultural lands is decisive for the further development of territories. Global environmental problems associated with the increase in economic damage from natural and man-made disasters, pollution of the air and water environment, and soil affect the interests of the Russian Federation and its citizens. The ecological situation in the Russian Federation is characterized by a high level of anthropogenic impact on the environment and humans, and this is due not only to the consequences of the past economic crisis in our country, but also to the economic conditions applied in industry and agriculture. For the effective functioning of the system of integrated monitoring of the state of the territorial technosphere, it is extremely important to scientifically-based formation of a network of monitoring stations, that is, locations and methods of sensor placement. The article contains a general scheme for collecting and transmitting information on the results of monitoring, in accordance with which groups of fixed and mobile sensors are selected and described. Sensors are used to automatically measure and record the volume and mass of emissions, discharges, and concentrations of pollutants in air, water, and soil. Timely determination of the fact that the maximum permissible values measured by the sensors are exceeded will be able to prevent the development of an emergency situation and preserve the life and health of the population, as well as reduce the economic costs of the subsequent reclamation of the affected areas.Purpose: development of a general scheme for the automatic collection and transmission of environmental information, as part of a comprehensive monitoring system of the territorial technosphere, in real timeMethod or methodology of the work: the article used mathematical methods, as well as analytical methods of analysis.Results: for the first time, a general scheme for collecting and transmitting information on the results of integrated monitoring of the territorial technosphere, using unmanned aerial vehicles, was developed and described for automatic measurement and recording of the state of the technosphere, which makes it possible to reduce the economic damage caused by the pollution of territories and the cost of their subsequent remediation.The scope of the results: the results obtained (monitoring scheme and principles of its construction) should be used to create a system for monitoring the environmental impact of man-made objects. Moreover, both the enterprises themselves (for the preparation of environmental reporting, environmental monitoring, etc.) and the regional environmental services of the Russian Federation may be interested in these results.Эколого-экономическое состояние городов и сельскохозяйственных угодий является определяющим для дальнейшего развития территорий. Глобальные экологические проблемы, связанные с возрастанием экономического ущерба от катастроф природного и техногенного характера, загрязнением воздушной и водной среды, почв, затрагивают интересы РФ и ее граждан. Экологическая ситуация в РФ характеризуется высоким уровнем техногенного воздействия на окружающую среду и человека, и связано это не только с последствиями прошедшего экономического кризиса в нашей стране, но и с условиями хозяйствования, применяемыми в промышленности и сельском хозяйстве. Для эффективного функционирования системы комплексного мониторинга состояния территориальной техносферы чрезвычайно важным является научно обоснованное формирование сети постов мониторинга, то есть мест и способов размещения датчиков. Статья содержит общую схема сбора и передачи информации о результатах мониторинга, в соответствии с которой, подобраны и описаны группы стационарных и мобильных датчиков. Датчики служат для автоматического измерения и учета объема и массы выбросов, сбросов, концентрации загрязняющих веществ в воздушной, водной средах и почве. Своевременное установление факта превышения предельно допустимых значений измеренных датчиками, сможет предотвратить развитие чрезвычайной ситуации и сохранить жизнь и здоровье населения, а также снизить экономические затраты на последующую рекультивацию пораженных территорий.Цель: разработка общей схемы автоматического сбора и передачи экологической информации, в составе системы комплексного мониторинга территориальной техносферы, в режиме реального времени.Метод или методология проведения работы: в статье использовались математические методы, а также аналитические методы анализа.Результаты: впервые разработана и описана общая схема сбора и передачи информации о результатах комплексного мониторинга территориальной техносферы, с применение беспилотных летательных аппаратов, для автоматического измерения и учета состояния техносферы, позволяющая снизить экономический ущерб от загрязнения территорий и затрат на их последующую рекультивацию.Область применения результатов: полученные результаты (схема мониторинга и принципы ее построения) целесообразно применять для создания системы контроля воздействия на окружающую среду техногенных объектов. Причем в этих результатах могут быть заинтересованы как сами предприятия (для составления экологической отчетности, проведения экологического контроля и пр.), так и региональные экологические службы Российской Федерации

Emergency management competence needs: Education and training for key emergency management personnel in a maritime Arctic environment MARPART2-(MAN), Project Report 2

This report focuses on competence demands among key management personnel responsible for maritime emergency response. The report has a special focus on competence challenges related to operations in an Arctic environment

A societal metabolism approach to effectively analyze the water-energy-food nexus in an agricultural transboundary river basin

Unidad de excelencia María de Maeztu CEX2019-000940-MWe implemented the semantically open conceptual framework 'Multi-Scale Integrated Analysis of Societal and Ecosystem Metabolism' (MuSIASEM) to deal with nexus challenges in agricultural production systems in transboundary river basins, using the Iranian Aras River Basin as a case study. The performance of the agricultural sector was characterized for relevant typologies of crop production using metabolic profiles, i.e., inputs and outputs per ton of crop produced, per hectare of land use, and per hour of labor. This analysis was contextualized across hierarchical levels of analysis, including the agronomic context at the regional level (rainfed versus irrigated cultivation), the socio-economic and political context at the national level (food sovereignty; urbanization), and the hydro-ecological context of the larger transboundary river basin (water constraints, GHG emissions). We found that the simultaneous use of two different interrelated logics of aggregation-the productivity of land and labor (relevant for the agronomic and socio-economic dimension) and the density of flows under different land uses (relevant for the hydrological and ecological dimension)-allowed for the identification of trade-offs in policy deliberations. In the case of Iran, it showed that striving for strategic autonomy will exacerbate the current water crisis; with the current cropping patterns, agronomic improvements will not suffice to avert a water crisis. It was concluded that the proposed approach fills an important gap in nexus research, but to effectively guide nexus governance in the region, a co-production of the analysis with social actors as well as more complete data sets at the river basin level would be essential

Assessing the availability of terrestrial biotic materials in product systems (BIRD)

Availability of abiotic resources has been a topic of concern in recent years, resulting in several approaches being published to determine their availability on country and product level. However, the availability of biotic materials has not been analyzed to this extent yet. Therefore, an approach to determine possible limitations to availability of terrestrial biotic materials over the entire supply chain is introduced. The approach considers 24 categories overall as well as associated category indicators for the five dimensions: physical, socio-economic, abiotic, social and environmental constraints. This ensures a comprehensive availability assessment of bio-based product systems. The approach is applied to a case study comparing biodiesel produced from rapeseed and soy beans. The study shows that the determination of indicator values is feasible for most categories and their interpretation leads to meaningful conclusions. Thus, the approach leads to a more comprehensive assessment of availability aspects and supports better informed decision making in industry and policy.DFG, 325093850, Open Access Publizieren 2017 - 2018 / Technische Universität Berli

Reading "all about" computerization: five common genres of social analysis

This paper examines unstated, but critical, social assumptions which underlie analyses of computerization. It focuses on the popular, professional and scholarly literature which claims to describe the actual nature of computerization, the character of computer use, and the social choices and changes that result from computerization. This literature can be usefully segmented five ideal type genres: utopian, anti-utopian, social realism, social theory, and analytical reduction. Each genre is characterized and illustrated. The strengths and weaknesses of each genre are described. In the 1990s, there will be a large market for social analyses of computerization. Utopian analyses are most likely to domínate the popular and professional discourse. The empirically oriented accounts of social realism, social theory and analytical reduction, are likely to be much less common and also less commonly seen and read by computer professionals and policymakers. These genres are relatively subtle, portray a more ambiguous world, and have less rhetorical power to capture the imagination of readers. Even though they are more scientific, these empirically anchored genres don't seem to appeal to many scientists and engineers. It is ironic that computing -- often portrayed as an instrument of knowledge -- is primarily the subject of discourses whose knowledge claims are most suspect. Conversely, the discourses whose claims as valid knowledge are strongest seems to have much less appeal in the mass media and technological communities

Disrupting technologies:can the planetary technosphere be steered politically toward a post-capitalist metabolism?

The dominant approach in (trans/sub)national governance of ecological crises, mostnotably climate change, is ecological modernisation. As a framing of collectiveaction, ecological modernisation assumes that the structure of economic growth canbe made sustainable by deploying market instruments to drive the sociotechnicaltransition away from the present fossil-fueled technological base. However, scientistsare warning that such a market-driven technology-frst approach, ensconced inthe UNFCCC since at least the Kyoto Protocol, might not be comprehensive andrapid enough to prevent global warming beyond 2°C above the pre-industrial levelsand thus a signifcant breakdown of ecosystems, rendering vulnerable indigenous,low-income, and working-class communities across the world.This thesis analyses how organisations that are operating in the “middle ground,”between the policymaking arena and their social constituencies, are seeking todisrupt the hegemony of technology-frst policies, while at the same time proposingalternative pathways to transition away from the extractivist and capitalist socialmetabolism to a plurality of environmentally livable and socially just futures for all.Taking an iterative theory-building approach, the thesis frst conceptualises thestrategic agency of these social actors: against the historical trajectory of industrialcapitalist social metabolism; within the power-diferentiated social structures of thecapitalist state; and through the framing and distributive struggles sited betweenthe climate action arena and the social feld. By drawing on a set of complementarytheories — ecological Marxism, environmental humanities, science and technology studies, the critical theory of technology, strategic-relational approach, andinstitutional logics theory — it proposes two analytical frameworks to indicatestrategic openings for “middle-ground” organisations to impact sociotechnical andsociometabolic transitions.In a second step, the thesis provides two case studies contrasting two organisations and two environmentalisms: a degrowth-oriented Institute for Political Ecology,hailing from the periphery of European capitalism; and a green new deal-orientedindustrial trade union Unite the Union, hailing from one of the centres of Europeancapitalism. Drawing on interviews, analysis of documents, and joint research withthe two organisations, it argues that they engage the governance terrain as epistemicactors and work with diferent social constituencies to instil distributive justice into climate action. These actors are disrupting the dominant market-driven technologyfrst approach and are thereby re-politicising and re-democratising the environmentalgovernance. In a fnal step, the thesis analyses and speculates on the prospects oftheir counter-proposals in the present political and environmental conjuncture.<br/