The value of cultural assets. Maintenance Costs and economic sustainability at heritage

Under the 12th International Conference on Building Materials and Components is inserted this communication related to the field of management of those assets that constitute the Spanish Cultural Heritage and maintenance. This work is related to the field of management of those assets that constitute the Spanish Cultural Heritage which share an artistic or historical background. The conservation and maintenance become a social demand necessary for the preservation of public values, requiring the investment of necessary resources. The legal protection involves a number of obligations and rights to ensure the conservation and heritage protection. The duty of maintenance and upkeep exceeds the useful life the property that must endure more for their cultural value for its usability. The establishment of the necessary conditions to prevent deterioration and precise in order to fulfill its social function, seeking to prolong the life of the asset, preserving their physical integrity and its ability to convey the values protected. This obligation implies a substantial financial effort to the holder of the property, either public or private entity, addressing a problem of economic sustainability. Economic exploitation, with the aim of contributing to their well-maintained, is sometimes the best way to get resources. The work will include different lines of research with the following objectives. - Establishment of processes for assessing total costs over the building life cycle (LCC), during the planning stages or maintenance budgets to determine the most advantageous operating system. - Relationship between the value of property and maintenance costs, and establishing a sensitivity analysis.

Moving toward a higher value-added economy : what is the national need for economic growth and work improvements? /

Bibliography: leaves [19-20].

A fittség (m)értéke. A fizikai inaktivitás nemzetgazdasági terhei Magyarországon (The value (degree) of fitness. The national economic costs of physical inactivity in Hungary)

Az elmúlt években Magyarországon is fokozatosan nőtt az érdeklődés az életminőség vizsgálata iránt. A 2004-2006 közötti időszakra készült első Nemzeti Fejlesztési Terv fő célkitűzése a lakosság életminőségének javítása volt, de célját nem érte el, mivel a WHO 2010 májusában közzétett statisztikája szerint a magyarországi életminőség-mutatók az európai rangsor végén találhatók. Elszomorító az Eurobarométer 2010. évi reprezentatív kutatásának eredménye: a népesség 77 százalékának életmódja mozgásszegény, fizikailag inaktív. Kutatásunk során azt a ténylegesen hiánypótló célt kívántuk elérni, hogy meghatározzuk és számszerűsítsük a mozgásszegény életmódból adódó nemzetgazdasági terheket, valamint megbecsüljük a fizikai inaktivitás csökkentésével elérhető megtakarítások számszerűsíthető mértékét. Az Országos Egészségbiztosítási Pénztár (OEP) és egy saját országos kérdőíves kutatás (n = 1158) adataira támaszkodtunk. A fizikai inaktivitás betegségeire vonatkozó megtakarítási lehetőségeket tételesen határoztuk meg, majd megállapítottuk az inaktivitásból származó gazdasági terheket, aminek alapján a döntéshozók elkészíthetik a fizikai inaktivitás csökkentésre alkalmas akcióterveiket. Ezzel nemcsak a lakosság "közérzete" javulhat számottevően, de komolyabb költségeket is meg lehet takarítani közép- és hosszú távon. / === / Interest in examining the quality of life has increased steadily in Hungary in recent years. Improving it was the main objective of the first National Development Plan, for the 2004-6 period, but it failed to do so, for Hungary's indices for quality of life were at the bottom of the European list according to figures published by the WHO in May 2010. The results of the representative research Furobarometer 2010 are saddening: 77 per cent of the population pursue a low-exercise, physically inactive lifestyle. The authors' researches sought to fill a gap by measuring and quantifying the national economic costs of a low-exercise lifestyle and to estimate quantitatively the savings to be made by reducing such physical inactivity. The paper relics on the data of the National Health Insurance Fund and on an authors' questionnaire (n = 1158). The potential savings on illness relating to physical activity are listed one by one. to arrive at the economic costs of such inactivity, based on which it is possible for decision-makers to prepare adequate action plans for reducing physical inactivity. This will improve the "morale" of the public and bring appreciable savings in the medium and long term.

The symbolic, socio-economic and exchange value of Imperial German and National Socialist medals and badges, 1701 to the present

This thesis examines the manufacture, use, exchange (including gift exchange), collecting and commodification of German medals and badges from the early 18th century until the present-day, with particular attention being given to the symbols that were deployed by the National Socialist German Workers’ Party (NSDAP) between 1919 and 1945. It does so by focusing in particular on the construction of value through insignia, and how such badges and their symbolic and monetary value changed over time. In order to achieve this, the thesis adopts a chronological structure, which encompasses the creation of Prussia in 1701, the Napoleonic wars and the increased democratisation of military awards such as the Iron Cross during the Great War. The collapse of the Kaiserreich in 1918 was the major factor that led to the creation of the NSDAP under the eventual strangle-hold of Hitler, a fundamentally racist and anti-Semitic movement that continued the German tradition of awarding and wearing badges. The traditional symbols of Imperial Germany, such as the eagle, were then infused with the swastika, an emblem that was meant to signify anti-Semitism, thus creating a hybrid identity. This combination was then replicated en-masse, and eventually eclipsed all the symbols that had possessed symbolic significance in Germany’s past. After Hitler was appointed Chancellor in 1933, millions of medals and badges were produced in an effort to create a racially based “People’s Community”, but the steel and iron that were required for munitions eventually led to substitute materials being utilised and developed in order to manufacture millions of politically oriented badges. The Second World War unleashed Nazi terror across Europe, and the conscripts and volunteers who took part in this fight for living-space were rewarded with medals that were modelled on those that had been instituted during Imperial times. The colonial conquest and occupation of the East by the Wehrmacht, the Order Police and the Waffen-SS surpassed the brutality of former wars that finally culminated in the Holocaust, and some of these horrific crimes and the perpetrators of them were perversely rewarded with medals and badges. Despite Nazism being thoroughly discredited, many of the Allied soldiers who occupied Germany took part in the age-old practice of obtaining trophies of war, which reconfigured the meaning of Nazi badges as souvenirs, and began the process of their increased commodification on an emerging secondary collectors’ market. In order to analyse the dynamics of this market, a “basket” of badges is examined that enables a discussion of the role that aesthetics, scarcity and authenticity have in determining the price of the artefacts. In summary, this thesis demonstrates how the symbolic, socio-economic and exchange value of German military and political medals and badges has changed substantially over time, provides a stimulus for scholars to conduct research in this under-developed area, and encourages collectors to investigate the artefacts that they collect in a more historically contextualised manner.

Socio-economic characterisation of date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) growers and date value chains in Pakistan

Increasing food production to feed its rapidly growing population is a major policy goal of Pakistan. The production of traditional staples such as rice (Oryza sativa L.) and bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) has been intensified in many regions, but not in remote, drought-ridden areas. In these arid, marginal environments dates and their by-products are an option to complement staples given their high nutritive value and storability. To fill knowledge gaps about the role of date palm in the household (HH) income of rural communities and the structure of date value chains, this project studied date palm production across six districts in four provinces of Pakistan. During 2012–2013 a total of 170 HHs were interviewed with a structured questionnaire using a snowball sampling approach. The results showed that most of the HH were headed by males (99 %) who were married (74 %) and often illiterate (40 %). Agriculture was the main occupation of date palm growers (56 %), while a few coupled agricultural activities with business (17 %) or extra-farm employment opportunities (government 9 %; private sector 8 %). Date sales contributed >50 % to the total income of 39 % of HH and 90–100 % to 24 % of HH. Overall farmers grew a total of 39 date palm cultivars and cultivated an average of 409 ± 559 mature date palms. The majority of the respondents sold dates to commission agents (35 %), contractors (22 %) and wholesalers (21 %), while 28 % of HH cultivated date palms only for self-consumption. Date palm growers had only limited knowledge about high quality date cultivars, optimized farm management and about effective post-harvest conservation. Changes in extension and marketing efforts are needed to allow farmers to better exploit value chains in date thereby reaping higher benefits from improved market access to secure their often marginal income.