Pursuing the SDG11 Targets: The Role of the Sustainability Protocols

This paper is built on the following research questions: (i) What are the direct/indirect relationships between Sustainable Development Goal 11 (SDG11) and sustainability protocols? (ii) Could the sustainability protocols constitute a solution towards the achievement of SDG11? We underline that, on the one hand, the SDGs are guidelines to support the development of sustainable policies and thus address all elements that may affect them, and on the other hand, sustainability protocols are assessment tools to promote sustainability-conscious design while remaining focused on the built environment. In the Italian regulatory context, the paper highlights how this difference in terms of focus and scale means that they only overlap and mutually reinforce each other with regard to certain aspects, more related to energy and air pollution issues and less to the social aspects of sustainability. Even if there is not always a direct relationship between the evaluation criteria of the protocols and the indicators of SDG11, it is possible to conclude that the sustainability protocols can facilitate the achievement of the SDG11 targets, acting as a key for the implementation of sustainable cities and helping in structuring the process leading to sustainability in a broader framework

An integrated participative spatial decision support system for smart energy urban scenarios: A financial and economic approach

The decision-making about heating supply system options in an urban perspective is extremely challenging. Nowadays, this type of evaluation is not only a technical and economic issue, but also a political and environmental choice. Aware of this widening of the problem, recent approaches propose to combine financial evaluations (DCF, CBA, ROI, energy budget costs –VEDI SITO ENTRANZE VEDI CORGNATI VEDI INGARAMO)…with Multicriteria Decision Analyses (MCDA), able to consider quantitative and qualitative aspects. However, there is another specific feature of the problem that is rarely considered: the territorial dimension. In fact, it is possible to notice that few Spatial Decision Support System (SDSS) have been currently developed in this realm. The paper aims to present a new method finalised to support urban energy decisions in real-time processes, developed in the context of a European project (DIMMER). The method is composed by three parts: i) a new Web-based Spatial Decision Support System (SDSS), called “Dashboard”; ii) an Energy-Attribute Analysis (EEA) develop ad hoc to be integrated in the Dashboard; iii) a MCDA. Differently from other SDSS, one of the main strengths of the Dashboard is the ability of acquiring, storing and managing geo-referenced as well as non geo-referenced data performing real-time analyses of spatial problems taking into account a wide range of information. In this sense, the Dashboard can formally visualize and assess a potentially infinite number of attributes and information being able to read and process enormous web-databases. This character makes the Dashboard a very effective tool that can be used in real-time during focus groups or workshops to understand how the criterion trade-offs evolve when one or several decision parameters change. The paper describes the main procedure of the new method and the Dashboard’s test according to a district in Turin (Italy)

The "perfect" storm: Current evidence on pediatric inflammatory multisystem disease during SARS-CoV-2 pandemic

Current data suggest that during the global pandemic of COVID 19 children are less affected than adults and most of them are asymptomatic or with mild symptoms. However, recently, cases of pediatric patients who have developed severe inflammatory syndrome temporally related to SARS-CoV-2 have been reported both in USA and Europe. These reports, although sharing features with other pediatric syndromes such as Kawasaki disease (KD), Kawasaki disease shock syndrome (KDSS), macrophage activated syndrome (MAS) and shock toxic syndrome (TSS), seem to outline a novel entity syndrome, characterized by cytokine storm with elevated inflammatory markers and typical clinical finding. Clinical characteristics are greater median age than KD, higher frequency of cardiac involvement and gastrointestinal symptoms, lower frequency of coronary anomalies. We report a summary of the current evidence about clinical features, pathogenesis, therapy strategies and outcome of this novel syndrome

Questioning Low-Carbon Transition Governance: A Comparative Analysis of European Case Studies

To achieve the international emission reduction targets, current researches underline theneed to overcome the dominant techno-centric approaches to energy transition, in favor of analysesthat explore in more detail those practices and organizational assets that play a role in favoring atransition towards a low-carbon society. In this light, the article focuses on governance practicesand, in particular, on the different tools and actors involved across variable scales and temporalities.Drawing on the activities of the ERASMUS+Strategic Partnership for Higher Education LOTUS(Locally Organized Transition of Urban Sustainable Spaces), a selection of European case studiesis explored and compared in light of (i) the implemented actions in terms of energy productionand efficiency measures, (ii) the legal framework and the origin of the funding and (iii) the numberand type of involved actors and their partnerships. On this basis, the analysis outlines, from botha theoretical and a practical stand, a number of critical issues that characterize these episodes ofenergy transition governance. In particular, the authors reflect upon the interaction between energymeasures and urban contexts, the need for synergies among government level and the emergence ofnew forms of partnership among public, private and third parties’ actors

Towards Sustainable Urban district: a MACBETH approach

Lowering energy intensity and environmental impacts of buildings is becoming a priority in environmental policies in Europe, considering that cities produce about 80% of all GHG (Greenhouse gas) emissions and consume 75% of energy globally. The big challenge is to find a way to improve the energy performances of existing housing stock representing the majority of the urban fabrics in European cities. In order to tackle these issues, the paper illustrates a multicriteria assessment model in the frame of a European project named DIMMER (District Information Modelling and Management for Energy Reduction), which aims to promote energy efficient behaviours integrating BIM (Building Information Modelling) and district level 3D models with real-time data from sensors and user feedback. The assessment model is here applied in order to rank energy development scenarios of a district in Turin (Italy) taking into account both different power generation plants. The methodology here applied is a multi-criteria method named MACBETH (Measuring Attractiveness by a Categorical Based Evaluation Technique), an Additive Value Model method requiring a non-numerical approach to build a quantitative value model. The decision process is divided into four phases: 1) analysis of the decision problem and structuring the model using data obtained trough the DIMMER database; 2) validation and improvement of the model via a focus group with experts in the field; 3) weighting of the elements at stake; 4) analysis for the results. The point of view of the end users is adopted in order to implement the assessment and find the most probable development scenario

Dominance-based rough set approach and analytic network process for assessing urban transformation scenarios

For half a century, the significant development of intensive farming has led to a massive use of products such as pesticides. The excessive use of these substances has contaminated surface water and groundwater. Drinking water extraction points have also had to be abandoned. Some thirty years ago, in the southwest of France, a group of farmers decided to improve their farming methods, as well as developing new Best Environmental Practices, such as grass strips along streams and riparian forests. By combining the use of ELECTRE TRI-C multi-criteria model with a GIS, we were able to characterise the contribution of each farming area to the risk of surface water contamination with pesticides. We also assessed the effectiveness of different environmental practices. We found that the use of Best Environmental Practices led to a reduction in the risk of pesticides transfer. This methodology re-enforces decision support tools for water resource managers and agricultural and environmental stakeholders

Longitudinal evaluation of endothelial markers in children and adolescents with familial hypercholesterolemia

Background and aim: Children with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (heFH) are at risk of premature atherosclerosis. Aims of this study were: (a) to longitudinally evaluate the endothelial dysfunction, estimated through brachial flow mediated dilation (FMD), as first sign of subclinical atherogenesis in a group of children and adolescents affected by heFH in comparison to normo-lipidemic controls, and (b) to identify predictive factors influencing the endothelial function and its development in the same cohort of patients. Methods: This is a prospective, longitudinal and cross-sectional study. Physical examination, plasma lipid profile and brachial artery FMD were measured at baseline and after follow-up. Results: At baseline, FMD did not differ between heFH children (n.24, median age 9.71) and controls (n. 24, median age 10.29) (7.67 ± 9.26 vs. 11.18 ± 7.28 %, p 0.09). Nevertheless, during follow-up (median length of lipid-lowering diet 4.52 years), FMD got worse in 54% of heFH subjects and its worsening correlated to the increasing of lowdensity lipoprotein cholesterol (r -0.21, p < 0.05). Moreover, being male (β -0.46, p 0.03), undergoing puberty (β -0.61, p 0.03) and increasing of body mass index standard deviation score (β -0.39, p 0.03) were identified as main independent predictor factors of FMD drop. Conclusions: During the first decades of life, not only hypercholesterolemia, but also clusters of pro-atherogenic conditions and their persistence, could affect the endothelial function and its trend