Transboundary cooperation and mechanisms for Maritime Spatial Planning implementation SIMNORAT project

Maritime Spatial Planning (MSP) is gaining importance as a new process for the governance of seas and oceans, as maritime nations exercise greater management over their territorial waters and, in many cases, over exclusive economic zones that span a larger area. The purpose of this planning is to reverse the environmental degradation of the seas and facilitate the sustainable use of marine resources, both for mature uses such as fishing and navigation, and for emergent uses, including renewable energies and mariculture. In Europe, the Directive 2014/89/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 July 2014 establishing a framework for maritime spatial planning oblige coastal Member States to develop maritime spatial plans at the latest by 31st March 2021. To help in that process, countries have at their disposal a set of existing instruments, including research projects, supporting guidelines, recommendations and sets of tools and data, as the SIMNORAT project, co-funded by the EC – DG Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (DG MARE). This paper presents best practices developed in this project on technical, scientific, and social aspects of MSP to overcome barriers of MSPD implementation testing effective cooperation on transboundary areas and providing a set of cross-cutting MSP related recommendations to foster collaborative efforts and to improve the overall transboundary dimension of the MSP Directive.En prensa1,86

Hard measures for soft stuff: citizenship indicators and educational policy under the Lisbon Strategy

How far is the European Union a vehicle for inclusion and empowerment of a new range of policy actors in education? This article explores the role of actors in policy formation through a case study. It examines European Union attempts since 2000 to develop indicators of ‘active citizenship’ and ‘education and training for active citizenship’. It is based on two main sources: policy documents on the development of indicators and benchmarks; and a case study of an exercise (2005-07) to develop such indicators, initiated by the European Commission’s Directorate General for Education and Culture. It shows that policy actors have attempted to take advantage of the Open Method of Coordination, often seen as a neo-liberal control mechanism, to ensure that citizenship remains on the policy agenda

Impact of biodiesel fuel on cold starting of automotive direct injection diesel engines

The use of biodiesel fuels in diesel engines is gaining attention as a promising solution to control CO2 emissions. Great research efforts have been carried out to identify the impact of biodiesel physical and chemical properties on engine systems and processes. Most of these investigations were performed in warm conditions, but the suitability of biodiesel for starting the engine at under-zero ambient temperatures has not widely evaluated. The surface tension and the viscosity of biodiesel fuels are higher compared to those of standard diesel and, in cold conditions, these differences become critical since the injection fuel rate is largely affected and consequently the combustion process can be deteriorated. In order to improve its flow characteristics at cold temperatures and make them more suitable for low temperatures operation, additives are used in biodiesel fuels. In this paper the suitability of different biodiesel fuels, with and without additives, for cold starting of DI (direct injection) diesel engines has been evaluated. The results have shown that the engine start-ability with pure biodiesel fuels can be largely deteriorated. However, using diesel/biodiesel blends the start-ability of the engine can be recovered with the additional benefit of reducing the opacity peak of the exhaust gasesBroatch Jacobi, JA.; Tormos Martínez, BV.; Olmeda González, PC.; Novella Rosa, R. (2014). Impact of biodiesel fuel on cold starting of automotive direct injection diesel engines. Energy. 73:653-660. doi:10.1016/j.energy.2014.06.062S6536607