The agricultural links, the underlying wealth to the new major tourist projects in the Portuguese rural space: the case of Alentejo

The current emergence of new tourist options in the national rural space is characterized by the connection with the farming and food production resources of the big farms where these options can be found. This new model differs from the traditional rural tourism in small units scattered throughout the territory, which was disseminated in the framework of the rural development policies of Portugal engendered by the European programs LEADER and PRODER. Based on the example of Alentejo, this paper deals with the relationship between recent changes occurred in the rural environment and the sustainability of these new tourist units within this setting. The L’and Vineyards of Montemor‐o‐Novo, the Herdade da Malhadinha Nova and the Grous, in Albernoa (Beja), or still the tourist Project of S. Lourenço do Barrocal in Reguengos de Monsaraz are examples of this new model of high standing (5 stars) projects. These projects designed around a concept of tourist township elect gastronomy, wine and olive oil production and, in general, biological production as key elements to the tourism product aiming to offer the clientele a rural experience in a ‘comfortable contemporary setting ‘. The link between clients and the rural world is provided by the loyalty to ‘new’ producers’ clubs (of wine, olive oil….) and by the existence of new specific professional trainings. The successful rural culture comes to the cities. Are the rural populations benefitting from this interest and do they like it

Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research

Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time,1,2 and attempts to address it require a clear un derstanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space.3,4 While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes,5–7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8–11 In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world’s most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity,12 but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepre sented in biodiversity databases.13–15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 may elim inate pieces of the Amazon’s biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological com munities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge,18,19 it is thus crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple or ganism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian Amazonia, while identifying the region’s vulnerability to environmental change. 15%–18% of the most ne glected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by 2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status, much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lostinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Instituições de solidariedade social: participação cívica e desenvolvimento local

O objecto central deste estudo é o contributo das instituições particulares de solidariedade social (IPSS) para o desenvolvimento local, por via do reforço da coesão social e territorial. Os objectivos gerais da investigação incidem na problematização das IPSS no quadro do desenvolvimento da economia social ou terceiro sector, em especial no âmbito dos serviços sociais de proximidade. Os objectivos específicos incluem o conhecimento dos processos de emergência e reemergência das IPSS, as suas relações com o estado, com o mercado e com a sociedade civil, a caracterização e a tipificação das IPSS e a análise dos processos de participação cívica através destas instituições. No sentido de concretizar a pesquisa, escolheu-se o Alentejo como caso de estudo tendo sido tratados os resultados de um inquérito a todas as IPSS que prestam serviços de proximidade na área da acção social. Esta Região revela-se particularmente interessante para este tipo de estudo pelos défices significativos que apresenta ao nível da coesão social e territorial. Os dados recolhidos na análise empírica permitem aprofundar o quadro conceptual apresentado nos capítulos iniciais e conduzem a um conjunto de respostas, no qual se deve destacar as que se ligam directamente à questão da coesão social e territorial: a) a relação de proximidade, geográfica, temporal e afectiva, revela-se crucial para a concretização da coesão social entendida como a promoção da igualdade de oportunidades e de acesso a serviços essenciais; b) a tradição de trabalho em parceria e em rede surge como um factor decisivo, efectivo ou potencial, para a coesão territorial, ligando, de forma concreta, os vários níveis de intervenção (do local ao supranacional) e flexibilizando os modos de acção. Um outro contributo relevante das IPSS diz respeito ao reforço da cidadania e manifesta-se em modos muito diferenciados de participação, adaptados à realidade específica em que se enquadram. / The main aim of this study is to stress the contribution of nonprofit organisations (volunteer organisations that in the Portuguesa terminology assume the designation of Private Institutions for Social Solidarity - IPSS) towards local development through the strengthening of social and territorial cohesion. The general objectives of the research focus on the analysis of the IPSS in the context of social economics development or third sector, mainly within the proximity services issues. The specific objectives include the knowledge of raise and re-raise processes of these organisations: their relations with the State; their relations with the market and civil society; their characterisation and ciassification; and the analysis of civic participation processes through these kinds of institutions. The Alentejo region has been chosen as case study because of the significantly deficits in terms of social and territorial cohesion that affects it. A detailed questionnaire was conducted in order to cover the universe of IPSS operating in this region that provide proximity services of social nature. The questionnaires provided new data for conducting a deepest framework and conceptual analysis that we present in the 2 first chapters. The questionnaires results also led to the establishment of a set of answers, being the most important those related with the social and territorial issues: a) Proximity relations (geographic, temporal and affective), are crucial for the improvement of social cohesion (being the main subjects of this concept the promotion of equal opportunities and the access to essential services); b) The experience of networking and partnership is a positive factor for territorial cohesion; besides connecting the various levels of intervention, from the local level to the supra-national level, it also contributes for more flexibility in action processes. IPSS also have another relevant contribution in the field of an increased citizenship, which visible manifestations are the different, but locally and specifically adapted forms of citizen's participation in social development

A geógrafa Isabel André, notas de testemunho de um percurso inovador, brilhante e livre

A geógrafa Isabel André, notas de testemunho de um percurso inovador, brilhante e livr

Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research

Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time,1,2 and attempts to address it require a clear understanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space.3,4 While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes,5,6,7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8,9,10,11 In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world's most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity,12 but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepresented in biodiversity databases.13,14,15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 may eliminate pieces of the Amazon's biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological communities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge,18,19 it is thus crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple organism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian Amazonia, while identifying the region's vulnerability to environmental change. 15%–18% of the most neglected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by 2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status, much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lost

Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research

Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time,1,2 and attempts to address it require a clear understanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space.3,4 While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes,5,6,7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8,9,10,11 In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world's most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity,12 but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepresented in biodiversity databases.13,14,15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 may eliminate pieces of the Amazon's biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological communities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge,18,19 it is thus crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple organism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian Amazonia, while identifying the region's vulnerability to environmental change. 15%–18% of the most neglected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by 2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status, much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lost