La Importancia de los Recursos Hídricos en los Usos del Suelo en la Península Ibérica

La Importancia de los Recursos Hídricos en los Usos del Suelo en la Península Ibéric

A proposal of resilience indicators for Monfragüe National Park

Natural spaces represent environmental systems with a double function, both social and ecological, where environmental sustainability conditions can be assessed. One of the most important features of the socio-ecological systems is called resilience, which is related to the magnitude of the forces or pressures that a system can absorb remaining in a stable state and thus being able to self-organize and improve their ability to learn and adapt. The main objective of this study is to design and propose a resilience indicator system for Monfragüe National Park, in response to the need for a set of enough data to monitoring the short, medium and long term persistence of protected area against changes or environmental impacts, social and economic environment of the Park. We expect that, by laying down the objectives, it will be possible for the relevant authorities to adopt strategies of sustainable management. The resilience indicators systems proposed in this study for Monfragüe National Park, could be recommended for subsequent application of resilience indicators in other National Parks.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Analysis of the Settlement Systems of the Population Located in the International Basin of the River Guadiana

The knowledge of effective and the characteristics of the population has been one of the objectives pursued by states since ancient times to today, due to military and economic interests. In this sense, this study is inserted in the studies that analyse the changes that have taken place in the settlement system of the population and its effect on the spatial organization of the urban network. The objective of this research is to study the distribution of the population of the municipalities located in the international basin of the River Guadiana.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

GOBERNANZA DE LOS RECURSOS HIDRICOS TRANSFRONTERIZOS: UNA PROPUESTA

There are numerous precedents for the application of strategic planning and integrated planning systems to different areas of natural resource management. The clearest and most obvious antecedent is the European Territorial Strategy, consisting of an ambitious project and effort to homogenize terminology and a technical convention on territorial and urban planning, in which all the countries of the European Union have been involved. The model of the European Territorial Strategy is undoubtedly a very valid model, both as a methodology of work and as a system of consultation between the research class and the political class of the countries involved. With regard to the strategic planning of water resources and water management, evidently existing experiences are scarce. It must be borne in mind that to date the management of water resources and watersheds has had a very sectoral nature and has been very restricted to the scope of action of the respective government institutions responsible for the management, that is, the Hydrographic Confederations in the Spanish case and the National Water Institute (NWI) in the Portuguese case. For this reason, this study analyzes the European Territorial Strategy as a starting point to establish cross-border cooperation between Spanish and Portuguese in the management of water resources, establishing after this analysis the methodological proposals to be followed to address and specify such transnational border cooperation, in favor of the management of the water resources of the Iberian Peninsula.  Existen numerosos precedentes de aplicación de la planificación estratégica y de los sistemas de planificación integrada a distintos ámbitos de la gestión de los recursos naturales. El antecedente más claro y evidente es la Estrategia Territorial Europea, consistente en un ambicioso proyecto y esfuerzo de homogeneización terminológica y de convención técnica en materia de ordenación territorial y urbana en el que se han involucrado todos los países de la Unión Europea. El modelo de la Estrategia Territorial Europea es sin duda un modelo muy válido, tanto como metodología de trabajo como de sistema de concertación de la clase investigadora y la clase política de los países implicados.  En lo que toca específicamente a la planificación estratégica de los recursos hídricos y de la gestión del agua, evidentemente las experiencias existentes son escasas. Debe tenerse presente que hasta la fecha la gestión de los recursos hídricos y de las cuencas hidrográficas ha tenido un carácter muy sectorial y ha estado muy restringida al ámbito de actuación de las respectivas instituciones gubernamentales responsables de la gestión, esto es, las Confederaciones Hidrográficas en el caso español y el Instituto Nacional del Agua (INAG) en el caso portugués. Por ello, el presente estudio realiza un análisis de la Estrategia Territorial Europea como punto de partida para establecer la cooperación transfronteriza Hispano-Lusa en la gestión de los recursos hídricos, estableciendo tras dicho análisis las propuestas metodológicas a seguir para abordar y concretar dicha cooperación fronteriza transnacional, en pro de la gestión de los recursos hídricos de la Península Ibérica

Reflexiones sobre la sostenibilidad del medio urbano

Sin resume

Smart Specialisation Strategies and Regional Convergence: Spanish Extremadura after a Period of Divergence

Smart specialization strategies are a new EU approach to cohesion policy, meant to deliver growth and development at EU national and regional level. Bearing in mind its focus on place-based development strategies, this paper intends to shed some light on its appropriateness to tackle uneven development and regional growth divergence. The paper showcases Spanish Extremadura growth trajectory. Extremadura is a poor region in the European context that between 2008 and 2014 diverged from the EU average, despite being eligible for EU funding as a convergence region by cohesion policy. In the 2014–2020 programming period, there was a positive dynamic at the beginning, but from 2017 onwards convergence stopped, which indicates that thematic and regional programmes have not delivered results or have not compensated for higher growth level of other Spanish regions. Moreover, research and innovation strategies for smart specialization (RIS3) seem to have limited impacts on place-based economic transformation in less developed regions. From this example, the suitability of the smart specialisation strategy as the core of cohesion policy in the programming period is discussed. It concludes that this strategy is interesting for intermediate development regions with some industrial base but does not seem appropriate as a convergence driver for poorer regions.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Methods of quantifying the visual filtering of vegetation to minimize the impact of buildings on the landscape

Vegetation is used by landscape planners and designers to reduce the visual impact of buildings. The choice of the species to be used depends on the characteristics of the crown canopy filtering. Nevertheless, the information on crown canopy filtering is scarce. This work examines the degree of filtering in canopy architecture of Quercus pyrenaica. The district of the Ambroz Valley, in Cáceres Province was chosen as the experimental area for the purposes of this research, and here Quercus pyrenaica were chosen as the most representative species. Two methods were selected for this study: hemispheric photography and vertical photography. All data was gathered during the summer as this is when the canopy of the species analyzed reaches its maximum leaf area index. The main aim of this research is to compare the hemispherical photographic method for calculating the amount of light that passes through the canopy, with that of vertical photography to obtain filtering percentages in plants.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Population Analysis of the Spanish-Portuguese Basin of the River Tajo

Over the last few decades, distribution and redistribution of the population within the territory has gained in importance as a subject of social interest, both regionally and nationally. This study is part of research which analyzes changes in how the population is settled and its effect on spatial organization of the urban network. The aim of this research is to analyze the changes in the population distribution of the municipalities located in the international basin of the River Tajo. This is an investigation of a quantitative nature, in its methodological approach, through the use of population census data covering the period 2001-2011. In the study of the municipalities in the international basin of the River Tajo, population size categories are applied. Likewise, the structure of the current population is examined and a predictive model of the population evolution will be performed to enable us to anticipate rationally future trends in the populations analyzed.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Governance: Territorial and Urban Planning. Case Study of Mérida (Spain)

The purpose of any territorial strategic planning process, in its urban or environmental component, is to influence the future dynamics of the city and its area of influence by making coordinated and consensual decisions, that will be carried out by political, economic and social agents. Strategic planning is the key to achieving a 21st century city, according to the Challenges of the New Urban Agenda (III Habitat Conference of the United Nations, Quito, 2016). These challenges are to plan a city with this multiple approach: Compact, Inclusive, Connected and Resilient. In this sense, this study makes a methodological proposal for the development of a Strategic Plan as an instrument capable of merging and articulating the physical planning of the land (urban, urbanizable, rustic and protected), with the socio-economic strategies of the city, so that the development was matched to the requirements and needs of each moment, given the flexibility of this tool to design new scenarios, such as the selected case of Mérida, autonomous capital of Extremadura (Spain).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Estimation of Optical Porosity or Canopy Structure of Two Species of Tree with Hemispherical and Vertical Images

Meaningful, reliable and fast estimates of woodland canopy are essential to the characterization of forest ecosystems. In this document, the accuracy of the technology of hemispherical digital photography and its comparison with a measuring proposal via vertically-arranged photography is evaluated for the estimation of canopy porosity in two deciduous tree species: oak and Sweet chestnut. Complementarily, estimative models are proposed of porosity capacity of the species under study, in function of allometric variables of statistical weight in tree growth: canopy diameter and DBH (diameter breast height). For the execution of this study an experimental area of rural character was chosen in the Ambroz Valley, in Cáceres Province (Spain), where Quercus pyrenaica and Castanea sativa were selected as the most representative species. The data was gathered in the season with greatest foliage development for both species: the summer. The average tree canopy porosity obtained via the two methods under evaluation is very similar when compared through regression analysis (R²=0,919 for Sweet chestnut; R²=0,952 for oak). Therefore both methods would be eligible for measuring OP of the species proposed for this study. The equivalence of measurements in vertical perspective as opposed to hemispherical makes viable the use of porosity percentages as indicators of what the average observer is able to visualize through the canopy. Starting from these preliminary conclusions, it would be feasible to develop a quantification tool for degrees of filtering with application to landscape planning and reduction of visual impact. Complementary research on other species could be recommendable in order to standardize and validate this proposal.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio