A análise de redes sociais no mundo lusófono: contributos para o conhecimento de uma comunidade científica em desenvolvimento

Neste artigo visamos caraterizar um conjunto de investigadores da área das ciências sociais que se distinguem pela utilização da análise de redes sociais (ars) como perspetiva teórico-metodológica e que circunscrevemos à partilha da língua portuguesa. A partir da caraterização sociográfica e da medição do sistema de interdependências entre estes investigadores (colaboração, aconselhamento e coautoria) pretendemos contribuir para a compreensão do desenvolvimento da ars no mundo lusófono, esboçando hipóteses explicativas dos fatores inibidores e estimulantes do seu desenvolvimento neste contexto linguístico

Leadership and diffusion of information for policy implementation: a new methodological approach

This research is part of a larger project (PRAXIS/P/SOC/11214/1998) which was financially supported by Fundação para a Ciência e TecnologiaThe aim of this research is to explore more effective strategies to build leadership groups for the implementation of policies whose success depends on the massive mobilisation of targets. The underlying motivation for this work stems from the observation of a weak participation by traders in modernising a city's centre commerce in spite of high financial incentives. The analysis of the leadership - the board in charge of the trade association- whose main task was to lead this initiative, showed a poor performance in diffusing information. Using combinatorial optimisation techniques, two new leadership groups are built. The three leadership groups' performance in the diffusion of information is evaluated and compared. This reveals that, with the tools of social network analysis and combinatorial optimisation, the choice of leaders for policy processes can be improved

Information transmission of a policy program: models for the optimal detection of key players

The underlying motivation for this work stems from the observation that there was weak participation in a policy program to modernize the commerce of a city center. This was due in part to a poor performance from the trade association board in the transmission of information. Using the tools of social network analysis and combinatorial optimization, we search for new sets of key players that are better positioned to disseminate information in the collective. We detect 2 new sets of key players and compare them with the trade association board. The comparison shows that social network analysis and combinatorial optimization can be useful tools in making policy implementation processes more effective.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

La réorganisation du commerce d'un centre ville: l'échec d'une action collective

Cet article analyse la réorganisation d'un marché où les règles de l'offre sont en train de subir des changements en vertu d'une forte pression de l'environnement. Les petits patrons situés en centre-ville font face à d'énormes difficultés et, doivent, dans ce contexte, redéfinir leurs stratégies. Cette recherche a porté sur deux initiatives: le programme gouvernemental qui octroie des incitations financières pour rénover les magasins et l'ouverture du commerce le samedi après-midi. La participation des commerçants s'est avérée assez faible. Nous avons essayé de comprendre cette incapacité de coordination en procédant à une analyse structurelle élargie. Nos résultats montrent que la minorité des commerçants qui souhaitent s'engager dans l'action collective est formée des plus encastrés dans le collectif, ce qui vient conforter l'argumentation de la sociologie économique qui soutient que les relations sociales entre les acteurs économiques influencent les résultats de l'action économique.Reorganization du march

Determinação dos impactes ambientais e análise do ciclo de vida da produção de biodiesel

O consumo de energia tem vindo a crescer de uma forma contínua e directamente proporcional ao aumento da população e da industrialização. A maior parte da energia consumida no Mundo é, ainda, proveniente dos combustíveis fósseis. Contudo, a diminuição da reserva e a poluição atmosférica produzida pela sua utilização, estimulam e aumentam a necessidade de fontes alternativas de energia. O biodiesel tem atraído considerável atenção como combustível renovável, biodegradável e não tóxico, e pode contribuir para a resolução do problema energético, reduzindo significativamente a emissão dos gases causadores do aquecimento global. A primeira etapa deste trabalho consistiu na simulação de diferentes alternativas de processos de produção de biodiesel. O método usado para a produção do biodiesel foi a transesterificação entre os óleos vegetais e um álcool, na presença de um catalisador. Entre as matérias-primas figuram os óleos de palma e os óleos alimentares usados que foram objecto de estudo nesta dissertação. Na segunda etapa realizou-se uma análise do ciclo de vida para todas as alternativas em estudo seguida de uma análise económica para as alternativas que apresentassem menores impactos e que fossem mais promissoras do ponto de vista económico. Por fim, procedeu-se à comparação das diferentes alternativas sob o ponto de vista da análise do ciclo de vida e sob o ponto de vista da análise económica. Comprovou-se a viabilidade de todos os processos e o biodiesel obtido apresentou boas especificações. Do ponto de vista da análise do ciclo de vida a melhor alternativa foi o processo de catálise alcalina com pré-tratamento ácido para óleos alimentares usados. O processo que usa como matérias-primas os óleos virgens, o metanol e o hidróxido de sódio apresenta, no entanto, menores custos de investimento. Contudo, o processo de catálise alcalina com pré-tratamento ácido cuja matéria-prima principal são os óleos usados é muito mais rentável e apresenta menores impactes ambientais.The consumption of energy is increasing in a continuous way directly related with the increase of population and industrialization. Most of the energy in the world is obtained from fossil fuels. However, the decreasing of the the quantity of fossil fuels and the pollution due to its use stimulates and increases the need for alternative energy sources. Biodiesel is biodegradable, no toxic and can contribute to solving the energetic problems, reducing significantly the emission of gases responsible for global warming. The first step of this project was to simulate different alternative processes to produce biodiesel. The method used to produce biodiesel was transesterification between vegetable oils and an alcohol in the presence of a catalyst. Waste cooking and vegetable oils were used in this project to produce biodiesel. The second step was to perform a life cycle analysis of all the alternatives studied followed by an economic analysis of the alternatives that presented less environmental impacts and were more promising from an economic point of view. Finally a comparison between different alternatives based in life cycle analysis and economic analysis was made. Viability of all process was proved and biodiesel obtained presented good specifications. The best alternative from life cycle analysis point of view was the process of alkaline catalysis with acid pretreatment for waste cooking oils. The process that uses virgin oils, methanol and sodium hydroxide presents lower costs of investment when compared with the process of alkaline catalysis with acid pretreatment, but this last one is much more profitable and presented less environmental impacts

Urban studies and the challenge of embedding sustainability: A review of international master programmes

The United Nations declaration of the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (UN DESD, 2004–2014) advocates the need for universities to embed sustainability in all learning areas. This inquiry examines how selected post-graduate top-level programmes in urban studies are adapting their curricula to promote sustainable urban development. We start by reviewing an extensive literature to identify the principles and practices characterising the UN DESD, and to identify the topics and themes considered essential for teaching aimed at the promotion of sustainable urban development. Based on the extensive literature review we define an analytical framework in five parts, related to various aspects of curricular content and teaching and learning approaches: programme orientation, skills, ethics and critical reasoning, interdisciplinarity and content related to sustainable urban development issues. We then conduct an empirical study of 25 among the best post-graduate level (MA and MSc) programmes in urban studies from Europe, China, the USA and the Global South, to see how they are adapting their curricula to the requirements of sustainable urban development captured in the analytical framework. While acknowledging the significant context specificities that must be respected, and the multiple challenges that must be reconciled when defining urban studies curricula - we find both strengths and weaknesses in these top programmes, including important differences among the programmes from the four regions. Our data suggests that important steps are being taken towards ‘whole-system’ transformation envisaged by the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development, but also that transformative factors depending on cultural and institutional values and practices remain relatively weak

Introdução ao número especial Congresso-luso Afro- Brasileiro, Grupo de trabalho Análise de Redes Sociais

Este número especial em Português da Revista REDES resulta das comunicações apresentadas no “Grupo de Trabalho: Análise de Redes Sociais”, do XI Congresso Luso Afro-Brasileiro de Sociologia que teve lugar em Salvador na Bahia em Agosto de 2011 Este grupo de trabalho teve diferentes objetivos em sua origem. Um deles foi impulsionar o uso da ARS na comunidade lusófona, onde é ainda insuficientemente conhecida, uma comunidade que se encontra muito dispersa e que em grande parte se desconhece entre si, dificultando a aprendizagem e a difusão do conhecimento (ver Varanda et al. neste número)

Structuring wicked problems in transdisciplinary research using the Social-Ecological Systems framework: an application to the montado system, Alentejo, Portugal

The aspiration to establish an effective dialogue between science and society has inspired some ground breaking examples of transdisciplinarity (TD). The core idea of TD is that different academic disciplines work jointly with practitioners to solve common problems. The first step of TD implies a contextualization that requires holistic and systemic thinking. To achieve this contextualization, we applied the Social–Ecological Systems (SES) framework with the aim of developing TD to deal with the recorded decline in area and tree density of the montado land-use system located in the Alentejo region, Portugal. The study was based both on a literature review and on the analysis of qualitative and quantitative data collected in a number of research projects on the montado. The results show that the lack of consensus regarding the system boundaries, the diverse range of mental models, and the disconnection between policymaking and system singularities are some of the conditions that can hinder TD efforts. The framework allowed the identification of knowledge gaps that limit the understanding of the problem complexity to be dealt with by a TD research process. There is a need to gain a better understanding of the governance system, and to characterize the different types of agro-silvo-pastoral combinations that can be designated as montado. With this detailed understanding, a tailored TD process can be designed. This work argues for the active use of the SES framework in TD in environmental management. Future research could focus on the framework’s utility in developing tools to assess and monitor transdisciplinary research