Achieving forms of sustainable and competitive tourism in coastal areas: the case of Baixo Vouga

Tourism has become the world’s largest industry, and has overcome economic sectors such as oil production and car manufacturing. It is foreseen that tourism will continue to expand in the future and will spread all around the world. In Europe, the tourism sector is made of 440 million international arrivals that are responsible for accounting about 10% of European GDP and generating 20 million jobs. Coastal destinations are major tourist destinations. This is due to their physical attractiveness, beautiful landscapes, and fine open space for leisure activities. Nevertheless, sun-sea-sand tourism depends very much on the environment. In this way, coastal destination ought to be properly planned so they do not exceed the limits of acceptable change (LAC) of the ecosystems, and keep their attractiveness. Being an economic activity, it is essential that coastal tourism is competitive, and show capacity to attracting new and enlarged markets. Coastal destinations should diversify its products and services, smooth seasonality and become more competitive. Diversification should create more growth and employment, and also reduce environmental, economic and social impact caused by the concentration of tourism activity in a few months of the year and the use of only the beach resource. This paper aims at analyzing the application of the competitiveness concept to tourism in coastal areas (Ria de Aveiro region, Central Portugal), and draws attention to the principle of environmental, economical and social sustainability.

Impactos sociais da atividade turística: um estudo de caso em Tibau do Sul/RN

This study has been presented for the Master in business of the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, the objectives are evaluate the social impacts of the tourism in the community of Tibau do Sul in the state of Rio Grande do Norte. The research is a study of case and the analysis is qualitative and quantitative. The tourism is considerate for many people as an important source of richness, job and an important economic activity. However, for being an activity that involves as main element people, It can cause impacts, could these are beneficial or malign. To evaluate the community's perception about these impacts, it was applied a questionnaire returned to the perceptions of them about the next social indicators: health, job, security, education and life quality. Considering the advent of the tourist activity in a period fifteen year. Through the research could conclude that, of general form the population realizes the changes occurred in the municipal district of positive way. Except for some indicators that receive negative evaluation

O city marketing em Natal/RN e a construção da imagem da cidade

The growing importance of tourism in overall economic activity worldwide has favored the intensification of competition among cities that seek to create environments attractive to tourists and potential investors. It has been common practice to import characteristics of the business environment in the public management of cities. The city marketing is a key tool used by public leaders to promote a linkage between the tourism image and urban image and involves, in addition to promoting the image of the city, the planning of interventions in urban space, trying to formulate a positive image of the city able to facilitate the deployment of capital. This research seeks to understand the nature of city marketing as part of contemporary urban management and analyzes how is its application in decisions concerning the promotion of tourism in Natal/RN. The approach of this research is qualitative, exploratory and descriptive, in which respondents were the main leaders of two of the official tourism site, the Empresa Potiguar de Promoção Turística and the Secretaria Municipal de Turismo e Desenvolvimento Econômico. It was found that there is a strong articulation of public power with private enterprise in the design and conduct of the actions of urban marketing, that from the survey data show that the behavior of target markets provide guidelines for taking strategic decisions relating to tourism. Sun and sea are some key elements explored to form the image of Natal and to authorize the sale of the city as a tropical paradise. However, there is an increase in the diversification of tourism products, seeking to increase flow to the segments of ecotourism, adventure, business and culture. It s also growing the use of local culture as a tourism product, however, the cultural representation focuses on superficial values and does not bring to light the social and historical richness that the city has. Public authorities use the city marketing strategies as a means able to maximize the attractiveness of Natal urban space to investors, business groups and tourists. It can be observed that urban managers seek solutions that can continuously increase the tours, which often manifests in interventions that focus the tourist areas of the city, in oposition of those who do not contribute to a positive reading of the city, which ultimately generate the worsening of spacial and social inequalities

The Meanings of New Money: Social Constructions of Value in the Rise of Digital Currencies

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Washington, 2016-07

Metodología para la mitigación de los errores en los procesos de construcción de proyectos de edificaciones

En nuestro país una de las actividades de mayor actividad económica, generadora de empleo directo e indirecto y de alta dinámica e inversión en la industria de la construcción, se hace necesario la implementación de un control durante cada una de las etapas del proyecto, donde las personas que integran el equipo de trabajo (Administración-Construcción-Interventoría) tengan definidos sus alcances y responsabilidades durante la ejecución de los proyectos y en sus diferentes etapas. Es un estudio para 20 edificaciones en diferentes sectores del Valle de Aburrá, con el fin de implementar una metodología que ayude a minimizar los errores en cualquier etapa del proyecto, en otras palabras se basa en detectar de manera inmediata o a corto plazo cualquier error o anomalía que se presente y como consecuencia pueda generar resultados nefastos en pérdidas humanas y económicas. Finalmente se concluye que la aplicación e implementación de esta metodología deja abierta las puertas para continuar con estos estudios y lograr en un futuro la optimización para minimizar y mitigar al máximo los diferentes errores constructivos.

O terciário (re) desenhando a periferia: a região administrativa norte de Natal/RN, na última década do século XX, servicializada na Av. Dr. João Medeiros Filho

The tertiary sector has been (re)defining and (re)qualifying, in an impacting way, the urban spaces in the cities, introducing new elements for the discussion of the relationship center/periphery. In Natal, as an inducing economic activity of its development, it conforms to the new needs of the capital, expanding, being materialized through several processes and spatial forms. We aim at analyzing one of those processes, which has taken its Northern Administrative Area to (re)define the design of its urban space, through the actions developed by the agents involved with the spatialization of the tertiary activities, at the same time as it redimensions its role as a periphery of Natal, contributing to the study of the recent and growing transformations of the Brazilian capitals. The studied district corresponds to 39.4% of the municipal area and, until recently, was composed by precarious reproduction spaces, unprovided of relevant economical activities. After the boom of the development of extensive housing complexes by SFH/BNH, the area, gradually stopped being a dependent area, and it imposed itself as an economically participant region, with the increase of the trade and services sectors, as well as a favorable place for the appearance of new activities. Its reflexes are noticeable in the achieved spatial configuration. As the main road to induct changes, Dr. João Medeiros Filho Avenue presents these new tendencies in the production of the intraurban space, concentrating the largest goods and services equipments of the area, through investments of the private and public sectors, which guarantee the capital allocation for the construction of a new centrality

A national coastal erosion risk assessment for Scotland

The geography of Scotland, with a highly undulating hinterland, long and indented coastline, together with a large number of islands, means that much social and economic activity is largely located at the coast. The importance of the coast is further highlighted by the large number of ecosystem services derived from the coast. The threat posed by climate change, particularly current and future sea level rise, is of considerable concern and the associated coastal erosion and coastal flooding has the potential to have a substantial effect on the socioeconomic activity of the whole country. Currently, the knowledge base of coastal erosion is poor, which serves to hinder the current and future management of the coast. This research reported here aimed to establish four key aspects of coastal erosion within Scotland: the physical susceptibility of the coast to erosion; the assets exposed to coastal erosion; the vulnerability of communities to coastal erosion; and the coastal erosion risk to those communities. Coastal erosion susceptibility was modelled here within a GIS, using data for ground elevation, rockhead elevation, wave exposure and proximity to the open coast. Combining these data produced the Underlying Physical Susceptibility Model (UPSM), in the form of a 50 m2 raster of national coverage. The Coastal Erosion Susceptibility Model (CESM) was produced with the addition of sediment supply and coastal defence data, which then moderates the outputs of the UPSM. Asset data for dwellings, key assets, transport infrastructure, historic assets, and natural assets were used along with the UPSM and CESM to assess their degree of exposure to coastal erosion. A Coastal Erosion Vulnerability Model (CEVM) was produced using Experian Mosaic Scotland (a geodemographic classification which identifies 44 different social groups within Scotland) to classify populations based upon 11 vulnerability variables. Dwellings were assigned a CESM and CEVM score in order to establish their coastal erosion risk. This research demonstrated that the issue of coastal erosion will impact on a relatively low number of properties compared to those impacted by flooding (both coastal and fluvial) as many dwellings are already protected by coastal defences. There is therefore, a considerable future liability, and great pressure for coastal defences to be maintained and upgraded in their current form. The use of the CEVM is a novel inclusion within a coastal erosion assessment for Scotland. Use of the CEVM established that coastal erosion risk is not distributed equally amongst the Scottish coastal population and highlighted that risk can be reduced by either reducing exposure or reducing vulnerability. Thus far in Scotland, reducing exposure has been the primary management approach, which has a number of implications with regards social justice. This research identified the existing data gaps that should be addressed by future research in order to further improve coastal management in Scotland. Future research should focus on assessing historical coastal change rates on a national scale, improve modelling of national scale wave exposure, enhance the information held about current coastal defences and, determine the direct and indirect economic cost associated with the loss of different asset types. It is also necessary to clarify the social justice implications of using adaptation approaches to manage coastal erosion as well as establishing a method to communicate the susceptibility, exposure, vulnerability and risk aspects whilst minimising the potential negative impacts (e.g. property blight) of releasing such information.

La pêche au calmar à Nhatrang

Squid fishing is a very important economic activity in many far eastern countries. One of the reasons seems to be an easy process for conservation (dried squid) and high demand from the Chinese market.

Working for Families Phase 1 Evaluation 2004-2006 Executive Summary.

This report presents an evaluation of Phase 1 of the Working for Families Fund (WFF) covering 2004-06. WFF was established to invest in new initiatives to improve the employability of parents who have difficulties in participating in the labour market, specifically in employment, education or training. The Fund supported these parents through helping them find sustainable childcare solutions and through providing or accessing other relevant employability-related services. In rural areas, barriers created by poor transport, limited services and the lack of a critical mass of clients were also particularly important. WFF contributes to the Scottish Executive’s Closing the Opportunity Gap approach to tackling poverty and disadvantage, by improving rates of employment and economic activity, and to its commitment to eradicating child poverty within a generation.

Ciclo de los negocios en Colombia: el papel de la política de estabilización

Este documento mide la sincronización entre las políticas de estabilización y el ciclo de los negocios en Colombia en el periodo comprendido entre marzo de 1990 y junio de 2013. Para la construcción de los ciclos se utiliza la metodología clásica y se construye un ciclo de referencia a partir de ciclos individuales de tres índices de actividad económica real. Con el fin de medir la sincronización entre el ciclo de nego­cios y los ciclos de las políticas fiscal y monetaria se utiliza el estadístico de Harding y Pagan (2006). Se concluye que durante el periodo de estudio las políticas de estabilización tienden a ser procíclicas (por el lado fiscal) y acíclicas (por el lado monetario). En la literatura se conoce a este fenómeno como when it rains, it pours y es común que se presente en economías emergentes como la colombiana

Pre-colonial institutions and long-run development in Latin America

The present doctoral thesis studies the association between pre-colonial institutions and long-run development in Latin America. The thesis is organised as follows: Chapter 1 places the motivation of the thesis by underlying relevant contributions in the literature on long-run development. I then set out the main objective of the thesis, followed by a brief outline of it. In Chapter 2, I study the effects of pre-colonial institutions on present-day socioeconomic outcomes for Latin America. The main thesis of this chapter is that more advanced pre-colonial institutions relate to better socioeconomic outcomes today - principally, but not only, through their effects on the Amerindian population. I test such hypothesis with a dataset of 324 sub-national administrative units covering all mainland Latin American countries. The extensive range of controls covers factors such as climate, location, natural resources, colonial activities and pre-colonial characteristics - plus country fixed effects. Results strongly support the main thesis. In Chapter 3, I further analyse the association between pre-colonial institutions and present-day economic development in Latin America by using the historical ethnic homelands as my main unit of analysis. The main hypothesis is that ethnic homelands inhabited by more advanced ethnic groups -as measured by their levels of institutional complexity- relate to better economic development today. To track these long-run effects, I construct a new dataset by digitising historiographical maps allowing me to pinpoint the geospatial location of ethnic homelands as of the XVI century. As a result, 375 ethnic homelands are created. I then capture the levels of economic development at the ethnic homeland level by making use of alternative economic measures --satellite light density data. After controlling for country-specific characteristics and applying a large battery of geographical, locational, and historical factors, I found that the effects of pre-colonial institutions relate to a higher light density --as a proxy for economic activity- in ethnic homelands where more advanced ethnic groups lived. In Chapter 4, I explore a mechanism linking the persistence of pre-colonial institutions in Latin America over the long-run: Colonial and post-colonial strategies along with the ethnic political capacity worked in tandem allowing larger Amerindian groups to "support" the new political systems in ways that would benefit their respective ethnic groups as well as the population at large. This mechanism may have allowed the effects of pre-colonial institutions to influence socioeconomic development outcomes up to today. To shed lights on this mechanism, I combine the index of pre-colonial institutions prepared for the second chapter of the present thesis with individual-level survey data on people's attitudes. By controlling for key observable and unobservable country-specific characteristics, the main empirical results show that areas with a history of more advanced pre-colonial institutions increase the probability of individuals supporting present-day political institutions. Finally, in Chapter 5, I summarise the main findings of the thesis, and emphasise the key weaknesses of the study as well as potential avenues for future research.

Análise da silvicultura na bacia hidrográfica do rio Jaguarão (Brasil-Uruguai) : diagnóstico para a gestão geoambiental em bacia transfronteiriça

Dissertação (mestrado)—Universidade de Brasília, Instituto de Ciências Humanas, Departamento de Geografia, 2015.

"Last-Mile" preparation for a potential disaster - Interdisciplinary approach towards tsunami early warning and an evacuation information system for the coastal city of Padang, Indonesia

Extreme natural events, like e.g. tsunamis or earthquakes, regularly lead to catastrophes with dramatic consequences. In recent years natural disasters caused hundreds of thousands of deaths, destruction of infrastructure, disruption of economic activity and loss of billions of dollars worth of property and thus revealed considerable deficits hindering their effective management: Needs for stakeholders, decision-makers as well as for persons concerned include systematic risk identification and evaluation, a way to assess countermeasures, awareness raising and decision support systems to be employed before, during and after crisis situations. The overall goal of this study focuses on interdisciplinary integration of various scientific disciplines to contribute to a tsunami early warning information system. In comparison to most studies our focus is on high-end geometric and thematic analysis to meet the requirements of smallscale, heterogeneous and complex coastal urban systems. Data, methods and results from engineering, remote sensing and social sciences are interlinked and provide comprehensive information for disaster risk assessment, management and reduction. In detail, we combine inundation modeling, urban morphology analysis, population assessment, socioeconomic analysis of the population and evacuation modeling. The interdisciplinary results eventually lead to recommendations for mitigation strategies in the fields of spatial planning or coping capacity. © Author(s) 2009.

Prevalence and characterization of Salmonella spp. in three shellfish-harvesting areas in France

Shellfish farming is an important economic activity in the Brittany and Normandy regions. However, a part of the production sites corresponds to relatively sensitive areas where the presence of faecal microorganisms is a major concern for shellfish and constitutes a possible health risk. Indeed, shellfish bioaccumulates in their tissues pathogenic contaminants present in water and can cause food-borne diseases such as salmonellosis. During a two-year study, we evaluated the presence of faecal indicators, measured the prevalence of Salmonella spp., isolated and characterized Salmonella spp. from three French shellfish-harvesting areas (shellfish and sediment) and their watersheds (from river water samples).

Impactos sociais da atividade turística: um estudo de caso em Tibau do Sul/RN

This study has been presented for the Master in business of the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, the objectives are evaluate the social impacts of the tourism in the community of Tibau do Sul in the state of Rio Grande do Norte. The research is a study of case and the analysis is qualitative and quantitative. The tourism is considerate for many people as an important source of richness, job and an important economic activity. However, for being an activity that involves as main element people, It can cause impacts, could these are beneficial or malign. To evaluate the community's perception about these impacts, it was applied a questionnaire returned to the perceptions of them about the next social indicators: health, job, security, education and life quality. Considering the advent of the tourist activity in a period fifteen year. Through the research could conclude that, of general form the population realizes the changes occurred in the municipal district of positive way. Except for some indicators that receive negative evaluation