Italian wines and Asian markets: opportunities and threats under new policy scenarios and competitive dynamics

The world wine market is facing a particularly difficult situation. Both the EU and New World (NW) Countries are trying to manage this critical moment by filling reciprocal gaps in order to increase their competitiveness at a global level and to strengthen their position in key strategic markets. On the EU side, one of the fundamental aspects of this changing framework is the evolution of the Common Market Organisation (CMO) for the wine sector. The first pivotal change is the fact that a parcel of land cannot host more than one designation of origin (either Geographical Indication – GI – Denominazione di Origine Controllata – DOC – or Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita – DOCG), thus completely changing the approach to vintage choices, which characterised the Italian production in the last 50 years. A second important variation is the introduction of the possibility to show grape varieties and the vintage year on table wines (a strategy often used by NW producers). Conversely, on the NW side, the changes are mainly relative to the increase in the use of European grape varieties and the emphasis on the region-grape combination as an element of excellence.International Relations/Trade, Marketing,

Sustainability and Well-Being: The Perception of Younger Generations and Their Expectations

The paper aims at analyzing the level of knowledge and the perception of the concepts of sustainability and well-being of high school students in Tuscany. It is an explorative study carried out during specific events held in high schools with the support of the teachers; during the events, students were asked to fill a questionnaire designed to elicit their relation with these topics as well as the level of involvement of their families. The results provide an interesting starting point for a debate about what the expectations of younger generations are and what we can do to match them. The debate moves from the assessment of the importance of sustainability and well-being indicators and the relevance of perceived threats. Moreover, the results put the role of institutions (and in particular that of public schools) under scrutiny to develop the level of awareness and to promote knowledge transfer

Sustainability and Food: a Text Analysis of the Scientific Literature

The paper analyses the evolution of the research debate related to sustainability and to the relation between food and sustainability. A number of text analysis techniques were combined for the investigation of scientific papers. The results stress how discourse analysis of sustainability in the pre-Rio period is mostly associated with agriculture and with a vision where the ecological and environmental aspects are dominant. In the post-Rio phase, the discussion about sustainability, though still strongly linked to environmental issues, enters a holistic dimension that includes social elements. The themes of energy and the sustainability of urban areas become central, and the scientific debate stresses the importance of indicators within an assessment approach linked to the relevance of planning and intervention aspects. The focus on the role of food within the debate on sustainability highlights a food security oriented approach in the pre-Rio phase, with a particular attention towards agriculture and third world Countries. In the post-Rio period, the focus of the analysis moves towards developed Countries. Even though food security remains a strongly significant element of the debate, the attention shifts towards consumers and food choices

Borazino-doped polyphenylenes

The divergent synthesis of two series of borazino-doped polyphenylenes, in which one or more aryl units are replaced by borazine rings, is reported for the first time, taking advantage of the decarbonylative [4 + 2] Diels− Alder cycloaddition reaction between ethynyl and tetraphenylcyclopentadienone derivatives. Because of the possibility of functionalizing the borazine core with different groups on the aryl substituents at the N and B atoms of the borazino core, we have prepared borazino-doped polyphenylenes featuring different doping dosages and orientations. To achieve this, two molecular modules were prepared: a core and a branching unit. Depending on the chemical natures of the central aromatic module and the reactive group, each covalent combination of the modules yields one exclusive doping pattern. By means of this approach, three- and hexa-branched hybrid polyphenylenes featuring controlled orientations and dosages of the doping B3N3 rings have been prepared. Detailed photophysical investigations showed that as the doping dosage is increased, the strong luminescent signal is progressively reduced. This suggests that the presence of the B3N3 rings engages additional deactivation pathways, possibly involving excited states with an increasing charge-separated character that are restricted in the full-carbon analogues. Notably, a strong effect of the orientational doping on the fluorescence quantum yield was observed for those hybrid polyphenylene structures featuring low doping dosages. Finally, we showed that Cu-catalyzed 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition is also chemically compatible with the BN core, further endorsing the inorganic benzene as a versatile aromatic scaffold for engineering of molecular materials with tailored and exploitable optoelectronic properties

L’impiego degli automi cellulari per la costruzione di scenari di cambiamento dell’uso del suolo

The paper moves from the necessity of understanding the implications of landscape changes, as it is a very important issue for the sustainable planning of rural areas. The observation of the current decrease in rural landscape, which is mainly due to both abandonment and the uncontrolled and rapid spreading of certain urban areas, especially underlines the pressure on rural-urban fringes. The attention to these areas is increasing, as policy makers and institutions recognise their particular role in the balance of rural landscape and, as a consequence, the particular issues and requirements. The paper aims at the definition and testing of an integrated system for the analysis and the evaluation of the effects of agricultural and urban policies on land use change and landscape, in order to supply policy makers and public administrators with an important tool for the decision making process

L’impiego degli automi cellulari per la costruzione di scenari di cambiamento dell’uso del suolo

The paper moves from the necessity of understanding the implications of landscape changes, as it is a very important issue for the sustainable planning of rural areas. The observation of the current decrease in rural landscape, which is mainly due to both abandonment and the uncontrolled and rapid spreading of certain urban areas, especially underlines the pressure on rural-urban fringes. The attention to these areas is increasing, as policy makers and institutions recognise their particular role in the balance of rural landscape and, as a consequence, the particular issues and requirements. The paper aims at the definition and testing of an integrated system for the analysis and the evaluation of the effects of agricultural and urban policies on land use change and landscape, in order to supply policy makers and public administrators with an important tool for the decision making process

Quantification of the total economic value of forest systems: spatial analysis application to the region of Tuscany (Italy)

In forest sector several practical applications need  to consider the monetary value of social utility for each specific location and forest function. In this framework the aim of the paper is to implement a spatial analysis model able to link a set of methodologies for the quantification of the total economic value of the forests. The main characteristic of the proposed methodology is the achievement of a geographical dataset with high resolution that can be used for both ex-ante and ex-post Cost-Benefit Analysis and the improvement of spatially explicit forest planning and policy. The results of the application show that spatial analysis methodologies allow the aggregation of several variables and also facilitate the introduction of natural capital concepts into environmental decision-making processes. The analysis is implemented and verified in Tuscany region (central Italy)

Generation Y, wine and alcohol. A semantic differential approach to consumption analysis in Tuscany.

Abstract The aim of the study is the elicitation of the consumer's semantic perception of different alcoholic beverages in order to provide information for the definition of communication strategies for both the private sector (and specifically the wine industry) and the public decision maker. Such information can be seen as the basis of a wider social marketing construct aimed at the promotion of responsible drinking among young consumers. The semantic differential approach was used in this study. The data collection was based on a survey to 430 consumers between 18 and 35 years old in Tuscany, Italy. The database was organized in a three-way structure, indexing the data in a multiway matrix. The data were processed using a Multiple Factor Analysis (MFA). Moreover, homogeneous clusters of consumers were identified using a Hierarchical Clustering on Principal Components (HCPC) approach. The results of the study highlight that beer and spirits are mainly perceived as "Young", "Social", "Euphoric", "Happy", "Appealing" and "Trendy" beverages, while wine is associated mostly with terms such as "Pleasure", "Quality" and "Comfortable". Furthermore, the cluster analysis allowed for the identification of three groups of individuals with different approaches to alcohol drinking. The results of the study supply a useful information framework for the elaboration of specific communication strategies that, based on the drinking habits of young consumers and their perception of different beverages, can use a language that is very close to the consumer typologies. Such information can be helpful for both private and public communication strategies