An empirical analysis of environmental strategy, eco-controls, environmental and economic performance

 This study provides empirical evidence on the role of eco-controls, in terms of both the style of use and bureaucratic stance towards eco-controls, as a critical mediating variable between an organisation’s level of proactive environmental strategy and its environmental and economic performance outcomes.

Bio-diverse-city: Elastic Urbanism

Bio-diverse-city was a group exhibition curated by Barry Fitzpatrick, showcasing different approaches to designing for resilient and sustainable futures. Elastic urbanism was exhibited within the framework of artworks exploring the different solutions to designing for the future. A design proposition for new models of sustainable and ecological urban growth structured around natural water and infrastructure. The project integrates four different modelling techniques and is developing an alternative system for predicting the impact of urban growth in the future. The design proposition and exhibition is part of an ongoing research project.

Aspectos inhibidores de la proactividad medioambiental en las empresas industriales: un análisis empírico

[ES] Este trabajo analiza las dificultades que encuentran las empresas a la hora de adoptar una actitud avanzada o proactiva ante los problemas de degradación medioambiental. Los resultados obtenidos a partir de una muestra de 240 empresas industriales indican que las principales barreras inhibidoras de la proactividad medioambiental son de naturaleza tanto externa como interna. No obstante, la influencia de uno y otro tipo de barreras en la estrategia medioambiental es distinta. En concreto, las barreras internas suponen un obstáculo que es necesario superar para poder progresar hacia comportamientos estratégicos medioambientales más proactivos. Sin embargo, las barreras externas, si bien son reconocidas por los directivos como dificultades para la adopción de estrategias medioambientales proactivas, realmente no llegan a impedir el progreso en este sentido.

Key business factors for eco-innovation: an overview of recent firm-level empirical studies

[EN] The increasing interest in eco-innovation or environmental innovation as a strategy not only to address the serious global environmental problems but also as a source of competitive advantages for companies and for the emergence of new business areas, leads us to try to identify the different factors that act as determinants of its development and adoption at the micro level.

Cheshire Meres 1994 November surveys

This is the Cheshire Meres 1994 November surveys report produced by the National Rivers Authority in 1995. The report focuses on some of Cheshire meres, which were showing evidence of increasing eutrophication, commonly due to anthropogenic inputs. Concern for the deterioration of the water quality of still waters has been translated by incorporating these priorities into the NRA North West Regional Environmental Strategy for Stillwaters. The meres were also being investigated as possible polluted waters under the EC Nitrate Directive. The ultimate aim is to formulate lakes management options in order to help preserve North West still waters and minimise future restoration programmes. For such pro-active work to be carried out, sufficient background data must be available. It should then be possible to fully assess the current status of these lakes, identify seasonal trends and detect significant point/diffuse pollution inputs. These surveys were the first of a series, and it was intended to repeat similar surveys in Summer and Autumn 1995, and include a further 20 meres.

Análisis y diseño para la construcción de un plan estratégico de manejo eficiente de energía en la Universidad del Rosario

De acuerdo con el Programa de la Naciones Unidas para el Medio Ambiente (PNUMA), la producción más limpia «es una estrategia ambiental preventiva integrada que se aplica a los procesos, productos y servicios a fin de aumentar la eficiencia y reducir los riesgos para los seres humanos y el ambiente.» (Programa de las Naciones Unidas para el Medio Ambiente (PNUMA), 2006) Esta estrategia es aplicable para cualquier proceso, producto o servicio y contiene diversas acciones que incluyen sencillos pasos que van desde pequeños cambios en los procedimientos operacionales de fácil e inmediata ejecución, hasta cambios mayores que impliquen la sustitución de materias primas, insumos o líneas de producción a unas más eficientes. De acuerdo con la investigación realizada, se formuló un plan estratégico de PML para la Universidad del Rosario que permita la conservación de las materias primas, como el agua y el manejo energético eficiente, la reducción de las materias primas toxicas, en cuanto a toxicidad y cantidad, y la reducción de emisiones y residuos que van al agua y a la atmósfera impactando el entorno a causa de los procesos que se desarrollan en la Universidad para la prestación de sus servicios. En este orden de ideas, la Producción más Limpia implementada en la Universidad requiere que se modifiquen ciertas actitudes, el desarrollo de una gestión ambiental responsable, la creación de políticas convenientes y la evaluación de nuevas opciones tecnologías que impacten de manera positiva su implementación a través de las siguientes técnicas: • Mejoras en el proceso • Buenas prácticas operativas • Mantenimiento de equipos • Reutilización y reciclaje • Cambios en la materia prima • Cambios en la tecnología De esta manera los resultados presentarán un modelo transformador para la Institución, que permita su perdurabilidad, convirtiéndola en una Universidad pionera capaz de disminuir su impacto de operaciones en la sociedad.

Capacidades dinámicas; la fuente de sostenibilidad ante el cambio

Las capacidades dinámicas constituyen un aporte importante a la estrategia empresarial. De acuerdo con esta premisa se desarrolla el siguiente documento, al reconocer que la generación de competencias se consolida como la base teórica para el logro de sostenibilidad ante eventos de cambio que puedan afectar la estabilidad y la toma de decisiones de las organizaciones. Dada la falta de aplicación empírica del concepto se ha elaborado este paper, en el que se demuestran e identifican las herramientas que la aplicación empiríca puede dar a las organizaciones y los instrumentos que proveen para la generación de valor. A través del caso de estudio ASOS.COM se ejemplifica la necesidad de detección y aprovechamiento de oportunidades y amenazas, así como la reconfiguración, renovación y generación de competencias de segundo orden para enfrentar el cambio. De esta manera por medio de las habilidades creadas al interior de las empresas con enfoque en el aprendizaje e innovación se logra la comprensión del negocio y el afianzamiento de mejores escenarios futuros.

Lo ambiental y lo social de la aspersión en Colombia. ¿Política ambiental o estrategia antinarcóticos?

En este artículo se revisan y analizan algunos aspectos del Programa de Erradicación de Cultivos Ilícitos con Glifosato (PECIG) y su Plan de Manejo Ambiental, con el ánimo de demostrar que no consideran de manera adecuada los componentes ambiental y social. Desde la perspectiva de las políticas públicas se demuestra que se ajustan más a una estrategia militar-antinarcóticos que social y medioambiental, contrario al querer transmitido en la definición del instrumento, que habla de la compensación, prevención y mitigación de impactos, la protección de los recursos naturales, del medio ambiente y de la salud de la ciudadanía ubicada en las zonas de influencia directa. Para ello, se hace un recuento de cómo está definido el Programa y los organismos que lo componen; después se explica el Plan de Manejo Ambiental y el análisis de su implementación, posteriormente se muestran los resultados obtenidos de esta verificación para, finalmente, formular las respectivas conclusiones.-----This paper reviews and analyzes issues of the Illicit Crop Eradication Program with Glyphosate (ICEPG) and its Environmental Management Plan, with the aim to demonstrate that the environmental and social components have not been properly considered. From the public policy viewpoint, they are shown to fit more into a military antinarcotics strategy rather than a social and environmental strategy, as opposed to the aims contained in the instrument definition, which talks about impact compensation, prevention, and mitigation; and protection of natural resources, environment, and population’s health within the direct influence areas. For this purpose, an initial review of the Program definition and component organizations is provided; the Environmental Management Plan is explained, its implementation is analyzed; the results from this verification are shown; and, finally, the respective conclusions are formulated.

Vigilancia tecnológica de los tres principales productos agrícolas base de alimentación y cultivados en Brasil y Argentina

La seguridad agroalimentaria debe ser prioridad para los gobiernos de Brasil y Argentina, debido a que deben garantizar la producción y el abastecimiento de los alimentos básicos para las futuras generaciones, entendido como alimentos básicos aquellos que más se consumen, ya sea en su forma original o por medio de sus subproductos, estos productos son el trigo, el maíz y el arroz. El garantizar la producción y el abastecimiento de estos productos en el corto y largo plazo, implica entender cuáles de los procesos productivos aplicados en la realización de los productos base de alimentación no son compatibles con el medio ambiente, generando impactos negativos sobre este. Estos impactos ambientales generados a partir de la agricultura, son identificados como el uso excesivo de recursos naturales entre ellos el agua, así como su contaminación por agentes toxico como los agroquímicos y fertilizantes. Asimismo, el uso de estos agentes tóxicos, genera la infertilidad de los suelos afectando directamente la producción en el largo plazo. Entender los impactos ambientales, implica desarrollar estrategias transversales que le permitan a los garantizar un desarrollo sostenible a lo largo de todo el ciclo del producto; estas estrategias deben estar acompañadas por un rendimiento y eficiencia de los cultivos, de nada sirve implementar estrategias compatibles con el medio ambiente si no se cumple con el principal objetivo de la producción de estos producto, que es garantizar el abastecimiento y alimentación para las generaciones presentes y futuras.

Participação pública em programas ambientais :um estudo em área suscetível à desertificação no Estado do Rio Grande do Norte

The natural resources degradation and its consequences to the society life have provided several discussions about the evaluation methods and environmental management, and the available means to minimize the effects of man s actions over the environment. Amongst these actions is the encouragement to the community participation in the process of carrying out the environmental programs, considering government and enterprises representatives or residents of certain places as social actors. Within these context, this paper had as a goal the investigation of the public participation in the environmental programs in areas that are susceptible to desertification, specificly in Parelhas/RN. The choice for this town was due to its insertion in an area considered as a desetification nucleous, which is, a region that suffers land degradation as a consequence of climate variations or human activities. Therefore, the research in question, of a descriptive and exploratory type, had as an instrument a structured questionnaire, applied to a sample of 223 people out of an 11,068 over 20 years of age residents population. The data have been tabled from Statistics for Windows Program and later interpreted based on the theoretical reference over the subject. As a result, corroborating to the literature of the area, it was found that the community participation in any type of action or debate about environmental questions is associated to the perception and knowledge about the problems. Although the people who were interviewed believe in the responsibility of the ceramic industry in causing environmental problems, they also believe that the benefits brought by the sector overcome such problems

Gestão dos resíduos sólidos das contruções prediais na cidade do Natal-RN

The present work has the objective of presenting an investigation about the quantification, classification and destination of the waste of construction and demolition (RCD) in the city of Natal - RN, focusing the aspects of the environmental impacts and the strategic importance of the environmental administration in the earnings of productivity of the companies. Of the environmental point of view the research intends to identify and to quantify the monthly and annual production of RCD in the city, as well as to know the places of deposition of those residues. To reach the objectives of the study, an exploratory and descriptive research was accomplished, using a questionnaire with closed subjects and an open one, applied in 25 entrepreneurs of the branch of the building site, being 21 builders and 4 entrepreneurs of collection companies and removal dumps. As form of analysis of the data, the descriptive analysis was used and of crossing. The production engineering considers important the insert of best production practices and administration of the product in the companies, with views to the increase of your competitiveness, productivity earnings and improvement of the environmental aspects with views to the consumer's satisfaction, in that case the buyer of immobile. The principal results of the investigation demonstrate that there was not great variability of answers with relationship to the interviewees opinion in what he refers to the environmental practices. In your majority the building site interviewees entrepreneurs evidenced the absence of the public power, particularly the city hall of Natal, in the control, fiscalization and creation of mechanisms for a correct destination of RCD, as well as for your reuse and recycle. On the other hand also it was evident that the recycle or the reuse of RCD on the part of the companies is a rare practice and a lot of times inexistent, although the entrepreneurs' of the building site section great majority recognizes that would have won of productivity with the correct and intensive use of such measures

Estratégia ambiental e agências de viagens e turismo :um estudo sobre a importância de práticas ambientais na escolha de um pacote turístico

The objective of the work was to investigate, from the vision of travel agents, the importance of environmental practices as a decision factor in the purchase of a tourist package. For in such a way, it was established as target population, the travel agencies and tourism linked to he Brazilian Association of Travel agencies ABAV, hearing the Brazilian travel agents that exerted the function in Natal, city in 2005. The election of the sample was accomplished using the simple random sampling technique. The amount of agents effectively searched was of 150 agents being distributed 150 questionnaires, with closed and opened questions, applied during the month of November in 2005. Results showed great variability of interviewed answers in that if it relates for sale of package tourist where the customer demonstrates enviromental concern with the environmental quality. Through multiple regression analyses, it was environmental concern with the environmental quality of the place and the perception of the practical importance of the existence environmental practices in the place as important factor in the decision of tourist package purchase

Estratégia de marketing ambiental no varejo de alimentos: um estudo sobre as variáveis utilizadas pelo consumidor na decisão de compra de produtos orgânicos

Demand for organic foods within in Brazil are growing, characterizing itself for if constituting in a new strategical segment of commercialization. In this context, the objective of this research was to investigate the variables used by consumers in the purchase decision of organic products, aiming to characterize the level of competitiveness of these products, assisting in the creation of environmental strategies for the development of the activity and contributing in the increment of the knowledge about the subject, that can assist it in the increase of the commercialization and the consumption of these foods. From data collected in the city of Natal/RN, it was used a survey research, of exploratory and descriptive character. The sample was obtained using 401 questionnaires, in which was realized: the Test of Comparison of Averages, Descriptive analysis, analysis of Cluster and Qui-square. The results found in this study indicate that the main reasons for the organic food purchase are the absence of chemical pesticides in the product, followed by the care with own health and of the household. The main characteristics in the consumers of supermarkets, that are associates with purchase frequency of organic foods are the environmental behavior and lifestyle. Among the profile characteristics, gender, age and number of children are associates with the purchase frequency of these foods and the income and level education not showed association

Gestão ambiental: uma súplica do planeta, um desafio para políticas públicas, incubadoras e pequenas empresas

O texto traz uma reflexão sobre o papel das incubadoras de empresas no apoio a práticas ambientais por micro e pequenas empresas. Reconhecendo as debilidades estruturais das empresas de pequeno porte e as dificuldades para a realização de investimentos ambientais, defende o uso de incubadoras como instrumento de política pública para estimular investimentos ambientais. Identifica um número restrito de incubadoras de tecnologias ambientais, em plano internacional. Relata os resultados de uma pesquisa que avaliou a aplicabilidade de um indicador para apurar o desempenho ambiental de incubadoras. Destacaram-se dois resultados: a) a baixa importância atribuída, pelas incubadoras (e pelas empresas abrigadas) ao desempenho ambiental; e b) a ausência de estímulos, pelas incubadoras, aos investimentos ambientais. Desse último resultado deriva importante conclusão: a de que, uma vez apurados os padrões insatisfatórios de desempenho ambiental, de incubadoras e empresas assistidas, ficariam criadas as condições para a formulação e a implementação de medidas indutoras de novas posturas.