Sustainable Development and Tourism: the Case of Lanzarote Island in the Light of the 2030 Agenda

Sustainability is an issue whose importance has steadily increased in the last decades, becoming more and more a priority than just a set of good practices. This is proved by the charts and treaties ratified since the end of the 80s, starting with the UN's Brundtland Report and its first definition of sustainable development with the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development issued in 2015. A set of 17 goals that all adhering countries should pursue to assure a sustainable future for future generations. In the meanwhile, in 1995, the "Charter for sustainable tourism" was published in Lanzarote, one of the eight Canary Islands, declaring that tourism undoubtedly plays a crucial role in contributing to sustainability since it can promote destinations and offer services that pay attention to the local environment, economy, culture and society, in other words, to "heritage". It did not happen by chance that Lanzarote was chosen as the cradle of sustainable tourism: although its fame spread much later than other archipelago islands, its development was carefully planned, carried out and managed to prevent any damage to local culture and landscape. In this paper, we explore the case study of Lanzarote, to explain in details the threats that this destination managed to face (e.g. overtourism, environmental and cultural loss), along with those factors that have been crucial for the island's sustainable development: a wide range of natural and cultural features (warm climate, sea, volcanic landscape, vernacular architecture, agriculture, gastronomy and history), the involvement of local society in tourism activities, the adoption of legislative measures for the protection of natural and cultural heritage, the improvement of infrastructures and technology and the collaboration between public and private stakeholder. However, thanks to the prominent figure of the local artist C\ue9sar Manrique, all those factors were strategically linked, conceiving the idea of a network of tourist sites: the Centers of Art, Culture and Tourism (also known as CACT). This network contributed to the creation of a well-known brand whose strategy is to offer a set of "alternative tourist products", in addition to the classical model of sun, sea, sand, that is sustainable for both the environment and the local society and does not exclude existing traditional activities like farming, fishing and crafts. We compare all the characteristics introduced in this paper with the 12 sustainable tourism aims established by the World Tourism Organization and the 17 goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development to check Lanzarote's sustainability degree objectively

Facing the Gender Gap in Aging: Italian Women\u2019s Pension in the European Context

The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the phenomenon of increasing gender inequalities that happen at old age regarding women\u2019s pension. Moving from recent life-course theories and studies, this study analyzes the reasons behind gender-biased pension levels and how their cumulative effects result in (continuous) significant gender gaps. The article presents a European overview of pension gender gap, focusing on family and work-life issues in Italy. This is one of the first critical reviews of the small but growing literature and national data concerning the effect of gender inequalities related to pension gaps in Italy. In the past, research on the balance of welfare provision between State, family, and market has ignored gender, while more recent studies have barely explored how gender roles, changing over time, interact with the shifts in pension policies. Considering the effects of work-life balance policies since the 2000 Lisbon agenda process and its development, the study especially focuses on the Italian case within the European context. The article examines how the choices in work-life balance policies vary between different national contexts and welfare regimes, by highlighting the Italian case. In this country, welfare and social policy regimes remain very unbalanced, showing a lack of awareness of family and women\u2019s needs, as in many Southern countries, and Italy is not able to give appropriate answers to these problems and to the question of the growing gender gap. This article finally shows the poignancy of structural and cultural reasons for gender differentiated pension levels in Italy, within the European context, according to patterns of employment, marital, and maternal status between earlier and later generations of women

Sustainable hospitality and tourism at different ages: Women\u2019s and men\u2019s attitudes in Italy

Future tourism experiences will be more oriented towards eco-friendly destinations and dictated by responsible lifestyles, as shown by the Travel Trends Report and UNWTO report. Many studies confirm that the number of travellers looking for accommodation that ensures greater respect for the environment is constantly growing. The implications in terms of sustainable tourism are remarkable since they suppose a growing awareness of the impact of individual choices on global effects. The preferences for sustainable tourism are only partially explained by pro-environmental attitudes and values. To more fully explain sustainable tourism choices a reference is needed for additional motivational factors (Maeran 2009). Some studies show that women harbour higher environmental attitudes than men, in general and in relation to hospitality in particular. Other studies are more cautious. Gender, though, is a significant variable in this field, even if there are few studies on this aspect. This research focuses on Italy and investigates the gender orientation regarding sustainability and its influence on choices for eco-friendly hospitality, attitudes towards the environment (Bjerke and Kaltenborn 1999), the social dominance orientation (Sidanius and Pratto, 1999) and the propensity to act responsibly (Berkowitz and Daniels 1964). The results show that males are less apathetic towards the environment than females and that in Italy the link between being a citizen and environmental awareness has yet to be built

Famiglie e relazioni di cura tra generazioni in Italia: cambiamenti, opportunità e sfide dopo la pandemia

La pratica di cura è un’esperienza di vita associata all’invecchiamento e ai ruoli di genitori e figli adulti. Come evidenziato da recenti studi realizzati a livello europeo, uno dei gruppi di popolazione più colpiti dalla pandemia da Covid-19 è quello delle persone con esigenze di assistenza, soprattutto in età avanzata e dei loro caregiver informali. Il presente lavoro analizzando i dati SHARE relativi al contesto italiano, esplora gli effetti della pandemia sulle pratiche di cura e sulle relazioni intergenerazionali. L’obiettivo è capire come sia cambiata, al di là della narrazione mediatica, l’esperienza di cura all’interno delle famiglie. I risultati emersi confermano la complessità e l’entità dell’onere affrontato dai caregiver familiari e dai beneficiari dell’assistenza in relazione alle conseguenze indesiderate delle misure di controllo epidemiologico relative alla Covid-19. Tuttavia, si rilevano anche aspetti potenzialmente utili e poco indagati riguardanti le strategie di assistenza intergenerazionale quali, ad esempio, il ruolo svolto dalla tecnologia a supporto dei caregiver informali.Caregiving is a life experience associated with ageing and the roles of parents and adult children. As highlighted by recent studies carried out at European level, one of the population groups most affected by the Covid-19 pandemic was that of people with long-term care needs, especial- ly in old age, and their informal caregivers. The present work, analysing the SHARE open-access data concerning the Italian context, detects the pan- demic’s effects on care practices and intergenerational relations. The aim is to understand how the caring experience within families changed beyond the media narrative. Findings confirm the complexity and magnitude of the burden faced by family caregivers and care beneficiaries in relation to the undesirable consequences of Covid-19 epidemiological control measures. However, they also reveal potentially useful and under-explored aspects concerning intergenerational care strategies, such as the role played by new technologies in supporting informal caregivers. Parole chiave: famiglia; generazioni; cura; post-pandemia; Italia. Keywords: family; generations; care; post-pandemic; Italy

Gender Equality in Europe and the Effect of Work-Family Balance Policies on Gender-Role Attitudes

This study starts from the assumption that the context of opportunities for work-family balance affects individual attitudes toward gender roles, a main indicator of support for gender equality. Compared with extant research, the present study adopts a more articulated definition of \u201copportunity structure\u201d that includes national income level and social norms on gender attitudes, measures of gender-mainstreaming policies implemented at the company level (flextime), and different work-family balance policies in support of the dual-earner/dual-caregiver family model (e.g., parental-leave schemes and childcare provisions). The effects of these factors are estimated by performing a cross-sectional multilevel analysis for the year 2014. Gender-role attitudes and micro-level controls are taken from the Eurobarometer for all 28 European Union (EU) members, while macro-indicators stem from Eurostat, European Quality of Work Survey, and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Our results show that both institutional and workplace arrangements supporting the dual-earner/dual-caregiver family model are associated with more egalitarian gender-role attitudes This is particularly true concerning availability of formal childcare for 0- to 3-year-olds among institutional factors, as well as work-schedule flexibility among workplace factors, probably as they enable a combination of care and paid work for both men and women

Sustainable Tourism and Facilities Preferences: The Sustainable Tourist Stay Scale ({STSS}) Validation

This study aims to start the development of the Sustainable Tourist Stay Scale (STSS), a self-report instrument designed to measure tourists' preferences regarding the degree to which they accept accommodation and programs in tourism facilities with sustainable characteristics. The research involved a total sample of 621 participants aged 18 to 74 (m = 41.75%; f = 58.25%). According to the literature and the available data, we considered the possibility that young people (millennials) and adults within the same sample may show peculiarities concerning the sustainability issues. We carried out three subsequent analyses: (1) an explorative factor analysis; (2) a confirmatory factor analysis via structural equation modelling; (3) the test of the structural invariance between young people and adults. The results supported a three-factor scale solution and they are discussed with reference to their potential practical applications to better understanding the preference for a sustainable stay

How to Improve the Quality of Life of Patients with Prostate Cancer Treated with Hormone Therapy?

Prostate cancer (PC) is a hormone-sensitive tumor. Androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) is the cornerstone of systemic therapy for patients with intermediate or high-risk localized, recurrent, and metastatic prostate cancer. Although generally well tolerated, ADT can lead to short- and long-term adverse events that can worsen the quality of life of patients with PC. In the last decade, the introduction of novel generation androgen receptor pathway inhibitors (ARPI) has resulted in an improvement in the prognosis of patients with metastatic PC when used in combination with ADT. The use of ARPI in increasingly early stages of the disease determines a longer exposure of patients to these treatments. Although ARPIs are normally well-tolerated drugs, they generally cause an increase in toxicity compared to ADT alone, being able to worsen some adverse events already induced by ADT or leading to the development of specific side effects. Although there are no specific treatments for all the adverse events induced by hormonal therapies, it is essential to know the possible toxicities induced by the different treatments and to start procedures to prevent and/or recognize and consequently treat them early in order to not compromise the quality of life of the patients with PC. The aim of this review is to describe the adverse events induced by hormonal therapies. We will first describe the side effects induced by both ADT and ARPI and then the specific adverse events of the different ARPIs. Furthermore, we will try to highlight the possible therapeutic options to prevent or mitigate the toxicity induced by hormone therapies in order to improve the quality of life of the patients with PC

Automatic planning of the lower extremities for total marrow irradiation using volumetric modulated arc therapy

Purpose Total marrow (and lymphoid) irradiation (TMI-TMLI) is limited by the couch travel range of modern linacs, which forces the treatment delivery to be split into two plans with opposite orientations: a head-first supine upper-body plan, and a feet-first supine lower extremities plan. A specific field junction is thus needed to obtain adequate target coverage in the overlap region of the two plans. In this study, an automatic procedure was developed for field junction creation and lower extremities plan optimization. Methods Ten patients treated with TMI-TMLI at our institution were selected retrospectively. The planning of the lower extremities was performed automatically. Target volume parameters (CTV_J-V-98% > 98%) at the junction region and several dose statistics (D-98%, D-mean, and D-2%) were compared between automatic and manual plans. The modulation complexity score (MCS) was used to assess plan complexity. Results The automatic procedure required 60-90 min, depending on the case. All automatic plans achieved clinically acceptable dosimetric results (CTV_J-V-98% > 98%), with significant differences found at the junction region, where D-mean and D-2% increased on average by 2.4% (p < 0.03) and 3.0% (p < 0.02), respectively. Similar plan complexity was observed (median MCS = 0.12). Since March 2022, the automatic procedure has been introduced in our clinic, reducing the TMI-TMLI simulation-to-delivery schedule by 2 days. Conclusion The developed procedure allowed treatment planning of TMI-TMLI to be streamlined, increasing efficiency and standardization, preventing human errors, while maintaining the dosimetric plan quality and complexity of manual plans. Automated strategies can simplify the future adoption and clinical implementation of TMI-TMLI treatments in new centers