An expert model approach to assess the potential of non-wood forest products for forest owners

Mestrado em Engenharia Florestal e dos Recursos Naturais - Instituto Superior de Agronomia - ULThe interest in sustainable development and environmental management from non-wood forest products (NWFPs) has been growing during the past decade. These products are important in the bio-economy especially in regions where wood is not the most profitable product. As NWFPs cover a wide range of species they provide an array of alternatives to use more green products and are a relevant component of sustainable forest management. We present an approach to characterize the potential of most promising NWFPs in the Alentejo region. We used the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), one of many multi-criteria decision making methods, and a Delphi approach to support judgments collected from stakeholders and domain experts. In order to facilitate and manage the pairwise comparisons in the application of the AHP we selected seven regional NWFPs: boletus (Boletus edulis), cork (Quercus suber), pine nuts (Pinus pinea), pine resin (Pinus spp), yellow lavender (Lavandula viridis), honey from bees (Apis mellifera), and rabbit as game meat (Oryctolagus cuniculus). AHP incorporated the judgments (weights) from experts along a hierarchical decomposition of the problem into a set of criteria and sub-criteria, and generated a regionally explicit ranking of alternatives (NWFPs) by deriving priorities. The three NWFPs with the highest potential were cork, pine nuts and yellow lavender. In a second level of importance were boletus, pine resin, honey and rabbit. These results further reinforce that cork is the product with the greatest potential in Alentejo region. However, yellow lavender has a significant potential and could be an interesting opportunity for forest owners that aim diversifying the basket of products supplied. The sensitivity analysis indicated that the model is robust because the ranking of NWFPs did not change much with the weights of criteria. This model also provides forest owners with information to develop management strategies or to engage in related NWFPs businesse

Addressing forest and natural resources management planning with multicriteria approaches and group decision-making techniques

Doutoramento em Engenharia Florestal e dos Recursos Naturais / Instituto Superior de Agronomia. Universidade de LisboaSustainable forest management planning is challenged by the expectation for natural resources to provide a broad range of ecosystem services (ES). This can become more complex in joint management areas because the decision can involve several to many actors with different interests and objectives. The goal of this research is to facilitate forest management planning that best reflects the diversity of actors’ interests and that is better suited to face the challenges of the 21st century by (1) identifying the relevant actors and factors that impact forest management decisions (actor analysis); (2) assessing actors’ preferences for forest management models (FMMs) and ES (two-stage questionnaires); (3) developing a combined multicriteria decision analysis and group decision-making approach to quantify the criteria weights and rank seven FMMs (cognitive map, multicriteria questionnaire, and Delphi survey); (4) applying a Group Multicriteria Spatial Decision Support System approach to negotiate consensual solutions for seven ES, according to the objectives of four interest groups, and spatially prioritize the allocation of ES to forest management units. We report results from an application in Vale do Sousa, in northwestern Portugal. There was a consensus among the actors for a forest resilient to wildfires and a multifunctional forest that offers a diversity of ES but can be profitable. In two-stage questionnaires, actors ranked the FMM of pure eucalypt higher. However, in the multicriteria questionnaire, the FMM with the highest performance was the pedunculate oak and eucalypt was the least preferable. We found significant differences in priority scores between civil society and the other three groups, highlighting civil society and market agents as the most discordant groups. These findings contribute to a better understanding of forest management decisions. They can support joint management areas managers and other decision-makers in enhancing landscape-level, collaborative, and sustainable forest management planning, thus facilitating its implementation.N/

Appraisal framework for actor interest and power analysis in forest management - insights from northern Portugal

Forest management is currently challenged by the need to address an increasing demand for a wide range of ecosystem services. Addressing this challenge requires landscape-level supply approaches that may bring together multiple interests and goals of forest actors. Characterizing these interests and the corresponding forest management context is thus a prerequisite for an effective landscape-level approach. In this manuscript we develop actor analysis to characterize a forest management context. We implement and test the analysis in Vale do Sousa, in North-Western Portugal. The analysis encompassed the identification of key actors and 40 interviews. Results show that the analysis provides a thorough diagnosis of the current forest management context in Vale do Sousa. The findings give a snapshot of the actors and factors – interests, influential actors, conflicts, problems and power resources – that frame forest decisions. Specifically, results show the keen interest of all groups on wood provisioning and on regulating wildfires. However, actors have also revealed a strong interest in water quality, soil erosion prevention, biodiversity, landscape aesthetics and environmental education. Thus, there is a significant interest in the diversification of the provision of ecosystem services. Almost half of the actors have identified the multifunctional forest as being the ideal forest management framework for Vale do Sousa. Findings thus evince the potential of a participatory approach to negotiate a consensual landscape-level solution that may integrate the different actors' interests and provide a wide range of ecosystem services. This may be facilitated by another finding from actor analysis. A regional Forest Owners Association was recognized as the most influential actor and may support the development and negotiation of multiple objective landscapelevel forest ecosystem management plans. In summary, these results may contribute to a better understanding of the forest management context in Vale do Sousa and to supporting the effectiveness of forest management planning. They may contribute further to anticipate problems and conflicts and to develop with actors from Vale do Sousa participatory processes to address theminfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Activation pattern of rectus femoris during gait in subjects with stroke - an exploratory study of the loading phase

Sem resumo disponível.publishe

A Participatory and Spatial Multicriteria Decision Approach to Prioritize the Allocation of Ecosystem Services to Management Units

Forest management planning can be challenging when allocating multiple ecosystem services (ESs) to management units (MUs), given the potentially conflicting management priorities of actors. We developed a methodology to spatially allocate ESs to MUs, according to the objectives of four interest groups—civil society, forest owners, market agents, and public administration. We applied a Group Multicriteria Spatial Decision Support System approach, combining (a) Multicriteria Decision Analysis to weight the decision models; (b) a focus group and a multicriteria Pareto frontier method to negotiate a consensual solution for seven ESs; and (c) the Ecosystem Management Decision Support (EMDS) system to prioritize the allocation of ESs to MUs. We report findings from an application to a joint collaborative management area (ZIF of Vale do Sousa) in northwestern Portugal. The forest owners selected wood production as the first ES allocation priority, with lower priorities for other ESs. In opposition, the civil society assigned the highest allocation priorities to biodiversity, cork, and carbon stock, with the lowest priority being assigned to wood production. The civil society had the highest mean rank of allocation priority scores. We found significant differences in priority scores between the civil society and the other three groups, highlighting the civil society and market agents as the most discordant groups. We spatially evaluated potential for conflicts among group ESs allocation priorities. The findings suggest that this approach can be helpful to decision makers, increasing the effectiveness of forest management plan implementationinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A astronomia em Coimbra: um roteiro de turismo científico

O relatório de estágio que aqui se apresenta mostra o turismo como uma indústria em constante expansão no contexto actual de crise internacional, sendo esta usada como um filtro para o desenvolvimento de muitas economias locais. Neste contexto, o Turismo Científico e particularmente a área ligada à Astronomia apresenta-se como uma ferramenta favorável e estratégica para ser implementada em determinados destinos turísticos. O objectivo deste estudo é investigar o potencial deste modelo inovador no destino turístico de Coimbra e encontrar possíveis soluções para colmatar as fragilidades existentes deste produto. Este paradigma que pretende a consolidação do interesse pela Astronomia e atenuação da sua carência informativa, ganha corpo na criação de um Roteiro turístico da cidade. Neste projecto, as principais atracções de interesse turístico e científico são explicadas e promovidas, de modo a permitir uma maior diversidade e desenvolvimento da oferta turística na cidade. O resultado final do estudo abre uma nova porta para o Turismo de Coimbra e para o seu potencial como destino científico

Os transportes, o ambiente urbano e a energia. Uma aplicação à cidade de Lisboa

Tese de Mestrado em Política, Economia e Planeamento da Energia.() crescimento da necessidade de transporte contribui de forma significativa para os problemas da qualidade do ambiente nas áreas urbanas, induzida pelo aumento dos poluentes do ar e do ruído, e pelo aumento do congestionamento. O crescimento da procura de transportes é normalmente acompanhado por um aumento da procura de energia, apesar das inovações técnológicas que conduzem a uma diminuição dos consumos específicos. As emissões de poluentes do ar nas áreas urbanas estão directamente relacionadas com o consumo de energia pelos modos de transporte que utilizam combustíveis fósseis, caso dos transportes rodoviários. Apesar de, actualmente, existirem disponíveis tecnologias de redução das emissões, nomeadamente do NOx e partículas, a forma mais efectiva de reduzir as emissões, e portanto assegurar a qualidade do ambiente urbano, passa pelo desenvolvimento de sistemas de transportes mais eficientes do ponto de vista ambiental e energético. Com o objectivo de avaliar e analisar as relações entre os transportes e o ambiente num contexto de ambiente urbano, desenvolveu-se uma metodologia, baseada no balanço dos consumos de energia final e das emissões do sistema de transportes. Parte-se de uma abordagem ao nível da procura dos transportes, por se considerar que, tanto o consumo da energia final como o total das emissões, devem ser referenciados ao utilizador do sistema de transportes, o que corresponde à necessidade simultânea do utilizador em níveis de qualidade de ambiente urbano aceitáveis e mobilidade. A metodologia desenvolvida foi aplicada para um conjunto de macrozonas da cidade de Lisboa, com características urbanas diferentes, considerando o ano de referência de 1991 e o ano 2000, tendo em atenção o que está previsto ser implementado ao nível do sistema de transportes na Área Metropolitana de Lisboa.The increasing of transport needs is one of the most responsible for the urban environmental quality, due to the increase of air poluttants, noise and traffic.Usually, the transport demand increases as the energy consumption, although the technological innovations that improve average energy consumption. Air pollution in urban areas are related directly to energy consumption, mainly the modes using fossil fuels. Currently, there are environmental technologies to reduce air pollutants from vehicles, namely NOx and particulates, but the most effective measure to preserve air quality is the implementation of energy and environmental efficient systems of urban transports. To evaluate and analyse the relations between transport and environment within an urban area, a methodology was developed based on balances of final energy consumptions and air emissions. An approach from the transport demand was adopted, because energy consumption as well as air emissions must be referred to the transport systems user, which corresponds to the need of the citizen in mobility and urban environmental quality. A case of application was implemented for a set of urban zones of Lisbon, with different characteristics, for the reference year of 1991, and for 2000, considering the perspectives of the transport systems evolution for the Lisbon Metropolitanean Arca.N/

A produção escrita dos alunos da 12ª classe: coerência textual

Mestrado em Línguas, Literaturas e Culturas - Estudos PortuguesesO presente trabalho sobre a coerência textual na produção escrita - caso dos alunos da 12ª classe da ESG 25 de Setembro, cidade de Quelimane surge das constatações que fizemos ao longo da nossa formação e que nos levaram a inferir que muitos alunos têm dificuldades de produzir texto. Deste modo, decidimos levar a cabo uma pesquisa com o objetivo de compreender como é efetuada a coerência textual nas produções escritas destes alunos assim como, identificar as causas que estão na origem dos problemas de coerência textual com vista a melhorar a qualidade de escrita dos mesmos visto que se encontram num nível de escolaridade avançado. Assim, por meio da entrevista, do questionário bem como dos textos produzidos pelos alunos, da consulta bibliográfica constatámos que estes têm dificuldades de produzir textos aplicando os mecanismos de coesão e em particular de coerencia textual. Apuramos também que há ocorrência de expressões que enunciam situações anormais para o leitor e existe a irrelevância de alguns elementos cognitivos. Com isso, em resposta a questão de investigação inicilamente avançada: Quais são as estratégias utilizadas pelos professores para a melhoria da escrita dos alunos quanto à coerência textual, notámos uma certa falta de entrega por parte dos professores que se limitam a afirmar que os problemas que os alunos enfrentam vem das classes anteriores, mas que têm orientado a realização de atividades em grupos, onde os alunos produzem textos e posteriormente trocam tais textos pelos grupos para a sua devida correção, controlam os cadernos dos alunos e orientam resumos. Contudo, tais atividades não são realizadas com frequência e sim de vez em quando. Falta também, segundo os professores entrevistados, dedicação dos próprios alunos que encaram a atividade sem motivação. É de frisar que a escrita tem relevância especial durante os anos de escolaridade em razão da importância particular atribuida à aprendizagem dessa competência. Portanto, é impossivel realizarmos boas produções ecritas ou orais se não nos forem dadas ferramentas propícias para o desenvolvimento das mesmas. Em suma, com os resultados obtidos, sugerimos que o aluno seja elemento ativo na sua formação, conhecendo as suas carências assim como as suas potencialidades linguísticas de forma a melhorar a sua competência na àrea da escrita. Por sua vez, os professores também devem ser mais exigentes com as produções escritas dos seus alunos e não só como devem estimular o desejo de aprender dos mesmos encontrando para isso as melhores estratégias didático-metodológicas.The present work on textual coherence in written production - For students of 12 grade of ESG 25 de Setembro in Quelimane city arises from findings that we did throughout our training and that led us to infer that many students have difficulties to produce text. Thus, we decided to carry out a survey in order to understand how textual coherence is produced in written production of these students, as well as to identify the causes underlying the problems of textual coherence in order to improve writing quality of the same since they are in an advanced level of education. Being so; through the interview, the questionnaire and the texts produced by the students, the bibliographic researched, we found that they have difficulties in producing texts applying cohesion mechanisms and especially in textual coherence. In addition, we found that there is occurrence of abnormal situations phrases for the reader and there is the irrelevance of some cognitive elements. Thus, in response to the question initially advanced in the research: What are the strategies used by teachers to improve students' writing as textual coherence? We noticed a certain lack of sense of responsibility by teachers who were limited to assert that the problems students face come from previous grades; moreover, they have been guiding the conduct of activities in groups, where students produce texts and later exchange texts by such groups for duly correction. They also verify the students' notebooks and guide summaries. However, such activities are not carried out frequently. According to the teachers interviewed, there is a lack of dedication of the students themselves who partake in the activities without motivation. It is to emphasize that writing is especially relevant during the years of schooling because of the particular importance attributed to its aptitudes and competences. Therefore, it is impossible to accomplish good written or utterance production if significant tools for its development are not given. In conclusion, the results obtained suggest that the student is an active element in their training, knowing their needs as well as their linguistic capabilities in order to improve their competence in writing. In turn, teachers should also be more demanding with the written productions of their students; moreover, they have to stimulate the desire to learn by finding the best didactic-methodological strategies

O papel do serviço social em contexto de casa de abrigo para mulheres e crianças vitimas de violência doméstica

A presente dissertação assume como tema de investigação o Papel do Serviço Social nas Casas de Abrigo para Vitimas de violência doméstica. O objetivo geral que orientou a pesquisa visava compreender o Papel do Serviço Social nas casas abrigo de vítimas de violência doméstica. Este estudo procurou, essencialmente, compreender as práticas do assistente social junto das vítimas de violência doméstica, nomeadamente mulheres e crianças, bem como, os constrangimentos sentidos pelos assistentes sociais na sua intervenção com vítimas de violência doméstica institucionalizadas em casas abrigo. Relativamente às opções metodológicas, a presente investigação adotou uma metodologia qualitativa, recorrendo a um estudo descritivo, orientado pela lógica indutiva como forma de explorar as práticas e os constrangimentos dos assistentes sociais, neste contexto de intervenção. Como instrumento de pesquisa e recolha de dados recorreu à entrevista semiestrutura. O tratamento das entrevistas realizou-se com recurso à técnica de análise de conteúdo. As entrevistas foram realizadas a 19 assistentes sociais integradas em equipas de intervenção em casa de abrigo. Sumariamente conclui-se que o papel do assistente social em contexto de casa de abrigo trata-se de um papel transversal em metodologias bem como, de um papel de intervenção personalizada, ainda que, com espaço para uma intervenção de grupo. Estando perante um profissional orientado para os Direitos Humanos e para a defesa e promoção dos mais vulneráveis. Por fim, concluiu-se que os constrangimentos apontados pelas(os) assistentes sociais ganham uma maior expressão quando ponderados com o tempo útil definido por lei para a autonomização das residentes em casa de abrigo.The aim of this study is to understand the role of Social Work in shelters housing victims of domestic violence. This study also sought to essentially, understand the practices of the social worker to victims of domestic violence, namely women and children, as well as the constraints felt by social workers in their intervention with victims of domestic violence institutionalized in shelters. For the data research we used the semi-structured interviews. We also used the content analysis for the interviews. With regard to methodological options, the present research adopted a qualitative methodology, using a descriptive study guided by the inductive logic as a way to explore the practices and constraints of social workers in this context of intervention. An interview guide was used as research and data collection instruments. The interviews were handled using the technique of content analysis. In conclusion that work the role of the social worker in the context of shelter is a transversal role in methodologies as well as a role of personalized intervention, although with room for a group intervention. Being before a professional oriented to the Human Rights and for the defense and promotion of the most vulnerable people. Finally, it was concluded that the constraints pointed out by the social workers gain a greater expression when weighted with the useful time defined by law for the autonomy of the residents in shelters