Publications
The energy metabolism of post-industrial economies. A framework to account for externalization across scales Journal Article
Ripa, M.; Felice, L. J. Di; Giampietro, M.
In: Energy, 214 , pp. 118943, 2021, ISSN: 03605442.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Energy sector, Externalization, Multi-scale analysis, MuSIASEM, Societal metabolism
@article{Ripa2021,
title = {The energy metabolism of post-industrial economies. A framework to account for externalization across scales},
author = {M. Ripa and L. J. Di Felice and M. Giampietro},
url = {https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0360544220320508},
doi = {10.1016/j.energy.2020.118943},
issn = {03605442},
year = {2021},
date = {2021-01-01},
journal = {Energy},
volume = {214},
pages = {118943},
abstract = {Post-industrial societies heavily rely on the consumption of embodied energy for their activities \textendash i.e., energy invested elsewhere to produce what is imported and consumed (or re-exported). The openness of the energy sector poses modelling challenges, calling for multi-scale, integrated analytical frames. We propose a methodology grounded in societal metabolism aimed at analysing the behaviour of a system (where the system may be a region, a country, a continent, etc.). We make the distinction between three types of scales necessary to contextualize the behaviour of the energy sector within a globalized economy: the macroscope, the mesoscope and the microscope. The methodology is applied to analyze the energy sector of EU19 countries, considering internal and external labour, primary energy sources, energy carriers and GHG emissions. The results show that imported primary energy sources and energy carriers within the EU19 are associated with externalized pressures and impacts. For example, accounting for the externalized carbon emissions of the energy sector raises total GHG emissions of the sector by 60% on EU average. This has implications for the assessment of the effectiveness of global sustainability policies. By not accounting for externalized effects, energy models can miss relevant information about the interactions among systems.},
keywords = {Energy sector, Externalization, Multi-scale analysis, MuSIASEM, Societal metabolism},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Post-industrial societies heavily rely on the consumption of embodied energy for their activities – i.e., energy invested elsewhere to produce what is imported and consumed (or re-exported). The openness of the energy sector poses modelling challenges, calling for multi-scale, integrated analytical frames. We propose a methodology grounded in societal metabolism aimed at analysing the behaviour of a system (where the system may be a region, a country, a continent, etc.). We make the distinction between three types of scales necessary to contextualize the behaviour of the energy sector within a globalized economy: the macroscope, the mesoscope and the microscope. The methodology is applied to analyze the energy sector of EU19 countries, considering internal and external labour, primary energy sources, energy carriers and GHG emissions. The results show that imported primary energy sources and energy carriers within the EU19 are associated with externalized pressures and impacts. For example, accounting for the externalized carbon emissions of the energy sector raises total GHG emissions of the sector by 60% on EU average. This has implications for the assessment of the effectiveness of global sustainability policies. By not accounting for externalized effects, energy models can miss relevant information about the interactions among systems.
Robust information for effective municipal solid waste policies: Identifying behaviour of waste generation across spatial levels of organization Journal Article
Torrente-Velásquez, Jorge M.; Chifari, Rosaria; Ripa, Maddalena; Giampietro, Mario
In: Waste Management, 103 , pp. 208–217, 2020, ISSN: 0956053X.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Influencing factors, Multi-scale analysis, Municipal solid waste generation, Panama district, Waste policies developing countries
@article{Torrente-Velasquez2020b,
title = {Robust information for effective municipal solid waste policies: Identifying behaviour of waste generation across spatial levels of organization},
author = {Jorge M. Torrente-Vel\'{a}squez and Rosaria Chifari and Maddalena Ripa and Mario Giampietro},
url = {https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0956053X1930786X},
doi = {10.1016/j.wasman.2019.12.032},
issn = {0956053X},
year = {2020},
date = {2020-02-01},
journal = {Waste Management},
volume = {103},
pages = {208--217},
abstract = {textcopyright 2019 Elsevier Ltd Existing studies have studied influencing factors of MSW generation behaviour at different spatial levels of organization, but always one at a time and not simultaneously. Income is a strong influencing factor, affecting MSW generation from the individual to the country level, capable of hiding the effects of the others. This study shows that when MSW generation behaviour is holistically analysed across multiple levels of organization (individuals, households, and communities) hierarchically organized as functional units of MSW generation within a specific study area, it is possible to identify influencing factors in addition to income (education, demographic, health, ethnic, economic activity and financial types) as explanatory variables. Increasing the number of influencing factors of MSW generation makes it possible to create a robust knowledge base for MSW management policies in fast-growing urban areas of developing countries, improving the information used to select proper policies and plans within their MSW management systems and avoiding overlapping policies causing legal gaps. Betania, an urban area of the Panama City district, has been chosen as a case study area. The results show that the household income explains 86% of its member\'{s} MSW generation and the community indigenous population explains 21% of household\'{s} MSW generation. It is concluded that MSW generation is not linear across levels, it has as many degrees of freedom as influencing factors shaping the levels of organization where functional units generating waste exist. Influencing factors appearing at each spatial level affects MSW generation in an interdependent manner in variable degrees of magnitude.},
keywords = {Influencing factors, Multi-scale analysis, Municipal solid waste generation, Panama district, Waste policies developing countries},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
textcopyright 2019 Elsevier Ltd Existing studies have studied influencing factors of MSW generation behaviour at different spatial levels of organization, but always one at a time and not simultaneously. Income is a strong influencing factor, affecting MSW generation from the individual to the country level, capable of hiding the effects of the others. This study shows that when MSW generation behaviour is holistically analysed across multiple levels of organization (individuals, households, and communities) hierarchically organized as functional units of MSW generation within a specific study area, it is possible to identify influencing factors in addition to income (education, demographic, health, ethnic, economic activity and financial types) as explanatory variables. Increasing the number of influencing factors of MSW generation makes it possible to create a robust knowledge base for MSW management policies in fast-growing urban areas of developing countries, improving the information used to select proper policies and plans within their MSW management systems and avoiding overlapping policies causing legal gaps. Betania, an urban area of the Panama City district, has been chosen as a case study area. The results show that the household income explains 86% of its memberś MSW generation and the community indigenous population explains 21% of householdś MSW generation. It is concluded that MSW generation is not linear across levels, it has as many degrees of freedom as influencing factors shaping the levels of organization where functional units generating waste exist. Influencing factors appearing at each spatial level affects MSW generation in an interdependent manner in variable degrees of magnitude.
Conceptualising slum in an urban African context Journal Article
Smit, Suzanne; Musango, Josephine Kaviti; Kovacic, Zora; Brent, Alan C.
In: Cities, 62 , pp. 107–119, 2017, ISSN: 02642751.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Informal settlement, Multi-scale analysis, South Africa, Urban Africa, Urban metabolism, Urban slums
@article{Smit2017,
title = {Conceptualising slum in an urban African context},
author = {Suzanne Smit and Josephine Kaviti Musango and Zora Kovacic and Alan C. Brent},
url = {https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0264275116302311},
doi = {10.1016/j.cities.2016.12.018},
issn = {02642751},
year = {2017},
date = {2017-02-01},
journal = {Cities},
volume = {62},
pages = {107--119},
publisher = {Pergamon},
abstract = {Increasing urbanisation and the proliferation of slums require a holistic understanding of the urban metabolism of cities. However, existing urban metabolic analyses exclude a detailed understanding of how urban slums function and contribute to biophysical, including energy, flows. This paper aims at filling this gap by critically investigating the notion of the urban slum in general, the extent to which it differs in the African context, specifically in South Africa, and broadening the understanding of urban slum based on the concept of urban metabolism, using the multi-scale integrated analysis of societal and ecosystem metabolism (MuSIASEM) approach, which was applied to the Enkanini informal settlement in Stellenbosch, South Africa. The analysis shows that South Africa has a more nuanced typology of the notion of urban slums categorised as: (i) townships; (ii) housing-turned-slum; (iii) squatter camps; (iv) site and service settlements; (v) transit camps; and (vi) hybrid multi-structured settlements. Beyond these definitions, the case study illustrates that urban slums, however defined, are complex systems with their own internal flows and processes that are connected in a myriad of ways to the larger urban system. The investigation into the use of Time, Money and Energy in the Enkanini case further revealed the productive (hypercyclic) and consumptive (dissipative) nature of the components of the urban informal settlement. This type of analysis reveals new insights into the linkages between urban informal settlements and the city.},
keywords = {Informal settlement, Multi-scale analysis, South Africa, Urban Africa, Urban metabolism, Urban slums},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Increasing urbanisation and the proliferation of slums require a holistic understanding of the urban metabolism of cities. However, existing urban metabolic analyses exclude a detailed understanding of how urban slums function and contribute to biophysical, including energy, flows. This paper aims at filling this gap by critically investigating the notion of the urban slum in general, the extent to which it differs in the African context, specifically in South Africa, and broadening the understanding of urban slum based on the concept of urban metabolism, using the multi-scale integrated analysis of societal and ecosystem metabolism (MuSIASEM) approach, which was applied to the Enkanini informal settlement in Stellenbosch, South Africa. The analysis shows that South Africa has a more nuanced typology of the notion of urban slums categorised as: (i) townships; (ii) housing-turned-slum; (iii) squatter camps; (iv) site and service settlements; (v) transit camps; and (vi) hybrid multi-structured settlements. Beyond these definitions, the case study illustrates that urban slums, however defined, are complex systems with their own internal flows and processes that are connected in a myriad of ways to the larger urban system. The investigation into the use of Time, Money and Energy in the Enkanini case further revealed the productive (hypercyclic) and consumptive (dissipative) nature of the components of the urban informal settlement. This type of analysis reveals new insights into the linkages between urban informal settlements and the city.
Fernández, Raúl Velasco
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 2017, ISBN: 9788449075520.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Biopysical economics, Multi-scale analysis, Societal metabolism
@phdthesis{VelascoFernandez2017,
title = {The pattern of socio-ecological systems. A focus on energy, human activity, value added and material products},
author = {Ra\'{u}l Velasco Fern\'{a}ndez},
url = {https://ddd.uab.cat/record/187290 http://hdl.handle.net/10803/457589},
isbn = {9788449075520},
year = {2017},
date = {2017-01-01},
pages = {276},
school = {Universitat Aut\`{o}noma de Barcelona},
abstract = {This thesis is about the development of analytical tools within an innovative theoretical framework, with the goal of generating more useful quantitative data in relation to the analysis of sustainability. In particular, the methodological approach explored here wants to integrate quantitative information referring to different dimensions of analysis (economic, demographic, social, biophysical and environmental), different scales (macro-regional, regional and national) and different levels of analysis (whole economy, economic sectors and subsectors). As discussed in detail in Chapter 3, it is becoming more and more evident that biophysical analysis has to become more holistic. It has to be capable of contextualizing and giving meaning to the individual quantitative assessments it produces. Aggregate indicators referring to the whole economy or to specific technical coefficients describing individual processes are not coherent with each other and when used in isolation do not provide reliable information about the performance of the economy. The innovative theoretical framework I used for my exploration is the Multi-Scale Integrated Analysis of Societal and Ecosystem Metabolism (MuSIASEM), which allows developing a quantitative relational analysis capable of dealing with multiple scales and dimensions, as required for dealing with sustainability issues. The goal of the method (and of my explorations) has been the identification of the relevant factors that have to be considered in order to study the performance of the metabolic pattern of modern societies. My research started \textendash Chapter 2 - with a basic application of MuSIASEM's methods to compare the changes in the performance of the economies of China and India in the period between 1971 and 2010. Adopting the established accounting procedure, this analysis was based on data referring to energy (measured in gross energy requirement), value added and human activity at three levels of analysis: (i) average society; (ii) paid work vs. households, and (iii) the set of economic sectors made up of agriculture, industry and services. This analysis identified relevant factors affecting the metabolic patterns of these two big countries: their demographic structure, the level of capitalization of their different sectors or the different effects that this capitalization generated on the material standard of living in the household sector. Afterwards, I developed a new protocol of analysis able to keep the accounting of energy forms of different qualities separate. This was required by the unsatisfactory situation with existing biophysical indicators of performance (Chapter 3). The accounting of “energy” was no longer done in Joules of gross energy requirement, but using different categories of “Joules” referring to different energy carriers (electricity, fuels and process heat). In order to apply the new protocol across different scales, it was applied to a large case study, by considering the metabolic pattern of European countries (EU27 + Norway). Moreover, this analysis was carried out across many levels, arriving to distinguish up to 13 subsectors inside the Manufacturing and Construction sector (Chapter 4). Finally, the last exploration of the potentialities of the approach was related to an attempt to include material flow accounting, starting with the analysis of the products produced and the level of imports and exports of a subsector of the industrial sector (Chapter 5). The analysis shows that the approach can be effectively used to: (i) identify relevant categories of production processes taking place at lower levels than subsectors, and (ii) characterize the level of openness of the subsectors (the degree of externalization to other socio-ecological systems). This last analysis was carried out for EU22 countries.},
keywords = {Biopysical economics, Multi-scale analysis, Societal metabolism},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {phdthesis}
}
This thesis is about the development of analytical tools within an innovative theoretical framework, with the goal of generating more useful quantitative data in relation to the analysis of sustainability. In particular, the methodological approach explored here wants to integrate quantitative information referring to different dimensions of analysis (economic, demographic, social, biophysical and environmental), different scales (macro-regional, regional and national) and different levels of analysis (whole economy, economic sectors and subsectors). As discussed in detail in Chapter 3, it is becoming more and more evident that biophysical analysis has to become more holistic. It has to be capable of contextualizing and giving meaning to the individual quantitative assessments it produces. Aggregate indicators referring to the whole economy or to specific technical coefficients describing individual processes are not coherent with each other and when used in isolation do not provide reliable information about the performance of the economy. The innovative theoretical framework I used for my exploration is the Multi-Scale Integrated Analysis of Societal and Ecosystem Metabolism (MuSIASEM), which allows developing a quantitative relational analysis capable of dealing with multiple scales and dimensions, as required for dealing with sustainability issues. The goal of the method (and of my explorations) has been the identification of the relevant factors that have to be considered in order to study the performance of the metabolic pattern of modern societies. My research started – Chapter 2 - with a basic application of MuSIASEM's methods to compare the changes in the performance of the economies of China and India in the period between 1971 and 2010. Adopting the established accounting procedure, this analysis was based on data referring to energy (measured in gross energy requirement), value added and human activity at three levels of analysis: (i) average society; (ii) paid work vs. households, and (iii) the set of economic sectors made up of agriculture, industry and services. This analysis identified relevant factors affecting the metabolic patterns of these two big countries: their demographic structure, the level of capitalization of their different sectors or the different effects that this capitalization generated on the material standard of living in the household sector. Afterwards, I developed a new protocol of analysis able to keep the accounting of energy forms of different qualities separate. This was required by the unsatisfactory situation with existing biophysical indicators of performance (Chapter 3). The accounting of “energy” was no longer done in Joules of gross energy requirement, but using different categories of “Joules” referring to different energy carriers (electricity, fuels and process heat). In order to apply the new protocol across different scales, it was applied to a large case study, by considering the metabolic pattern of European countries (EU27 + Norway). Moreover, this analysis was carried out across many levels, arriving to distinguish up to 13 subsectors inside the Manufacturing and Construction sector (Chapter 4). Finally, the last exploration of the potentialities of the approach was related to an attempt to include material flow accounting, starting with the analysis of the products produced and the level of imports and exports of a subsector of the industrial sector (Chapter 5). The analysis shows that the approach can be effectively used to: (i) identify relevant categories of production processes taking place at lower levels than subsectors, and (ii) characterize the level of openness of the subsectors (the degree of externalization to other socio-ecological systems). This last analysis was carried out for EU22 countries.
Analogy between Sudoku and the multi-scale integrated analysis of societal metabolism Journal Article
Giampietro, Mario; Bukkens, Sandra G. F.
In: Ecological Informatics, 26 (P1), pp. 18–28, 2015, ISSN: 15749541.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Integrated assessment, Multi-scale analysis, MuSIASEM, Mutual information, Societal metabolism, Sudoku
@article{Giampietro2015a,
title = {Analogy between Sudoku and the multi-scale integrated analysis of societal metabolism},
author = {Mario Giampietro and Sandra G. F. Bukkens},
url = {https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1574954114001034},
doi = {10.1016/j.ecoinf.2014.07.007},
issn = {15749541},
year = {2015},
date = {2015-03-01},
journal = {Ecological Informatics},
volume = {26},
number = {P1},
pages = {18--28},
abstract = {This paper illustrates the analogy between Sudoku and the multi-scale integrated analysis of societal and ecosystem metabolism (MuSIASEM). MuSIASEM is a transdisciplinary approach aimed at checking the viability, desirability and feasibility of actual and projected metabolic patterns of society. Building on Georgescu-Roegen's flow-fund model, it defines what the system is in terms of fund elements (human activity, managed land, power capacity), and what it does in terms of flow elements (energy, food, water, monetary flows). The accounting method of MuSIASEM generates a multi-scale, multi-dimensional representation of flow and fund elements that shares essential features with Sudoku, including mutual information and impredicativity between bottom-up and top-down causality. Data organization employed in MuSIASEM reveals the internal and external constraints that operate on the societal metabolic pattern and that determine its viability and feasibility domain. The dynamic equilibrium between the hypercyclic and dissipative macro-compartments of society expresses itself as a regional constraint on the viability of the metabolic pattern. The MuSIASEM approach is illustrated with case studies including the energy metabolism of Spain and the metabolic pattern of Mauritius.},
keywords = {Integrated assessment, Multi-scale analysis, MuSIASEM, Mutual information, Societal metabolism, Sudoku},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
This paper illustrates the analogy between Sudoku and the multi-scale integrated analysis of societal and ecosystem metabolism (MuSIASEM). MuSIASEM is a transdisciplinary approach aimed at checking the viability, desirability and feasibility of actual and projected metabolic patterns of society. Building on Georgescu-Roegen's flow-fund model, it defines what the system is in terms of fund elements (human activity, managed land, power capacity), and what it does in terms of flow elements (energy, food, water, monetary flows). The accounting method of MuSIASEM generates a multi-scale, multi-dimensional representation of flow and fund elements that shares essential features with Sudoku, including mutual information and impredicativity between bottom-up and top-down causality. Data organization employed in MuSIASEM reveals the internal and external constraints that operate on the societal metabolic pattern and that determine its viability and feasibility domain. The dynamic equilibrium between the hypercyclic and dissipative macro-compartments of society expresses itself as a regional constraint on the viability of the metabolic pattern. The MuSIASEM approach is illustrated with case studies including the energy metabolism of Spain and the metabolic pattern of Mauritius.
Multi-scale integrated analysis of rural Laos: Studying metabolic patterns of land uses across different levels and scales Journal Article
Serrano-Tovar, Tarik; Giampietro, Mario
In: Land Use Policy, 36 , pp. 155–170, 2014, ISSN: 02648377.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Integrated assessment, Land use analysis, Laos, Multi-scale analysis, MuSIASEM, Rural systems
@article{Serrano-Tovar2014,
title = {Multi-scale integrated analysis of rural Laos: Studying metabolic patterns of land uses across different levels and scales},
author = {Tarik Serrano-Tovar and Mario Giampietro},
url = {https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0264837713001506},
doi = {10.1016/j.landusepol.2013.08.003},
issn = {02648377},
year = {2014},
date = {2014-01-01},
journal = {Land Use Policy},
volume = {36},
pages = {155--170},
abstract = {This paper presents an application of the Multi-Scale Integrated Analysis of Societal and Ecosystem Metabolism (MuSIASEM) approach to the analysis of rural land uses. Using secondary data on farming systems in Laos, we illustrate how the concept of metabolic pattern can be used to establish links between the various indicators of performance of rural systems. To this purpose, we characterize the socioeconomic activities in rural Laos by a series of quantitative indicators defined across: (i) different hierarchical levels of organization described at different scales (i.e. households, rural villages, administrative regions and the whole country) and (ii) different dimensions of analysis, including economic, agronomic, social, biophysical, and ecological analysis. The MuSIASEM approach simultaneously employs two non-equivalent criteria for quantification. The observed rural system is described in terms of an integrated set of flow elements (money, food, energy, water, fertilizer and other materials), which are mapped against two distinct fund elements: (i) a multi-level matrix of human activity (flows being expressed in terms of intensity per hour) and (ii) a multi-level matrix of land uses (flows being expressed as density per hectare). Our case study shows that in this way it is possible to move across different hierarchical levels, scales and dimensions, to arrive at an integrated representation of the metabolic pattern of farming systems. textcopyright 2013 Elsevier Ltd.},
keywords = {Integrated assessment, Land use analysis, Laos, Multi-scale analysis, MuSIASEM, Rural systems},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
This paper presents an application of the Multi-Scale Integrated Analysis of Societal and Ecosystem Metabolism (MuSIASEM) approach to the analysis of rural land uses. Using secondary data on farming systems in Laos, we illustrate how the concept of metabolic pattern can be used to establish links between the various indicators of performance of rural systems. To this purpose, we characterize the socioeconomic activities in rural Laos by a series of quantitative indicators defined across: (i) different hierarchical levels of organization described at different scales (i.e. households, rural villages, administrative regions and the whole country) and (ii) different dimensions of analysis, including economic, agronomic, social, biophysical, and ecological analysis. The MuSIASEM approach simultaneously employs two non-equivalent criteria for quantification. The observed rural system is described in terms of an integrated set of flow elements (money, food, energy, water, fertilizer and other materials), which are mapped against two distinct fund elements: (i) a multi-level matrix of human activity (flows being expressed in terms of intensity per hour) and (ii) a multi-level matrix of land uses (flows being expressed as density per hectare). Our case study shows that in this way it is possible to move across different hierarchical levels, scales and dimensions, to arrive at an integrated representation of the metabolic pattern of farming systems. textcopyright 2013 Elsevier Ltd.
A multi-scale analysis of urban waste metabolism: density of waste disposed in Campania Journal Article
D'Alisa, Giacomo; Nola, Maria Federica Di; Giampietro, Mario
In: Journal of Cleaner Production, 35 , pp. 59–70, 2012, ISSN: 09596526.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Campania, Density of waste disposed, I-PAT, Multi-scale analysis, Urban waste metabolism, Waste indicators
@article{DAlisa2012,
title = {A multi-scale analysis of urban waste metabolism: density of waste disposed in Campania},
author = {Giacomo D'Alisa and Maria Federica Di Nola and Mario Giampietro},
url = {https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0959652612002405},
doi = {10.1016/j.jclepro.2012.05.017},
issn = {09596526},
year = {2012},
date = {2012-11-01},
journal = {Journal of Cleaner Production},
volume = {35},
pages = {59--70},
abstract = {The waste crisis in Campania has inspired a vast amount of studies. Nevertheless, very little research has been done to explain the figures of waste generation and disposal in the region. The analyses carried out so far according to the indicators used by official statistics-i.e. Waste Generated, Waste Generated per capita and Separate Collection-fail to represent this hot spot case. This paper attempts to bridge this gap. Adopting the rationale of a new accounting system, the Multi-Scale Integrated Analysis of Societal and Ecosystem Metabolism (MuSIASEM), two waste indicators are proposed to complement the conventional ones: the Metabolic Rate of Waste and the Density of Waste. Then a multi-scale analysis of the Density of Waste Disposed (DWD) tests its suitability to characterise Campania's waste patterns. The data cover the period from 1999 to 2007. The results show that the DWD complements available indicators and further helps to explain the biophysical pressure and ecological unsustainability of the waste management in the region. The multi-scale analysis shows that regional data hide a relevant territorial diversity, emergent in the provincial analysis and even more so in the municipal one. These results have implications for governance and for the debate about mono-scale versus multi-scale solutions to waste management problems. Finally, the analysis allows some analytical generalisations on the suitability of the DWD to detect situations of potential waste crisis in other study-contexts. textcopyright 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.},
keywords = {Campania, Density of waste disposed, I-PAT, Multi-scale analysis, Urban waste metabolism, Waste indicators},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
The waste crisis in Campania has inspired a vast amount of studies. Nevertheless, very little research has been done to explain the figures of waste generation and disposal in the region. The analyses carried out so far according to the indicators used by official statistics-i.e. Waste Generated, Waste Generated per capita and Separate Collection-fail to represent this hot spot case. This paper attempts to bridge this gap. Adopting the rationale of a new accounting system, the Multi-Scale Integrated Analysis of Societal and Ecosystem Metabolism (MuSIASEM), two waste indicators are proposed to complement the conventional ones: the Metabolic Rate of Waste and the Density of Waste. Then a multi-scale analysis of the Density of Waste Disposed (DWD) tests its suitability to characterise Campania's waste patterns. The data cover the period from 1999 to 2007. The results show that the DWD complements available indicators and further helps to explain the biophysical pressure and ecological unsustainability of the waste management in the region. The multi-scale analysis shows that regional data hide a relevant territorial diversity, emergent in the provincial analysis and even more so in the municipal one. These results have implications for governance and for the debate about mono-scale versus multi-scale solutions to waste management problems. Finally, the analysis allows some analytical generalisations on the suitability of the DWD to detect situations of potential waste crisis in other study-contexts. textcopyright 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Siciliano, Giuseppina
Università Ca' Foscari Venezia, 2010.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Multi-criteria analysis, Multi-scale analysis, Rural-urban migration strategies
@phdthesis{Siciliano2010,
title = {Integrated approaches for evaluating development strategies in rural areas: case studies from Italy and China},
author = {Giuseppina Siciliano},
url = {http://hdl.handle.net/10579/933 http://dspace.unive.it/handle/10579/933},
year = {2010},
date = {2010-03-01},
school = {Universit\`{a} Ca' Foscari Venezia},
abstract = {The objective of this thesis is twofold: (1) to investigate the synergies arising from the implementation of multi-scale and multi-criteria approaches in the evaluation of rural development policies (RDP); (2) to explore the impacts and trade-offs of RDP in two selected case studies located in Italy and China. The thesis argues that multi-criteria and multi-scale approaches can be combined to provide a useful framework with which to structure an integrated analysis of RDP in order to assess their effectiveness in achieving sustainability goals across scales. The analysis is performed by selecting and evaluating multidimensional criteria, which represent the main goals of development policies in the areas of study. Moreover, multi-scale analysis is performed to define boundary conditions and trade-offs for future local development. The use of the two methodologies appears to be very significant to capture both the multidimensional and multi-scale aspects of the Rural Development Policies analysed and to generate several sets of “view-dependent” representations of rural systems that are useful for trade-off assessments.},
keywords = {Multi-criteria analysis, Multi-scale analysis, Rural-urban migration strategies},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {phdthesis}
}
The objective of this thesis is twofold: (1) to investigate the synergies arising from the implementation of multi-scale and multi-criteria approaches in the evaluation of rural development policies (RDP); (2) to explore the impacts and trade-offs of RDP in two selected case studies located in Italy and China. The thesis argues that multi-criteria and multi-scale approaches can be combined to provide a useful framework with which to structure an integrated analysis of RDP in order to assess their effectiveness in achieving sustainability goals across scales. The analysis is performed by selecting and evaluating multidimensional criteria, which represent the main goals of development policies in the areas of study. Moreover, multi-scale analysis is performed to define boundary conditions and trade-offs for future local development. The use of the two methodologies appears to be very significant to capture both the multidimensional and multi-scale aspects of the Rural Development Policies analysed and to generate several sets of “view-dependent” representations of rural systems that are useful for trade-off assessments.
AGAUR Grant ID 2017 SGR 230 / Copyright © 2023