A Resource Centric Approach For Advancing Collaboration Through Hydrologic Data And Model Sharing

HydroShare is an online, collaborative system being developed for open sharing of hydrologic data and models. The goal of HydroShare is to enable scientists to easily discover and access hydrologic data and models, retrieve them to their desktop or perform analyses in a distributed computing environment that may include grid, cloud or high performance computing model instances as necessary. Scientists may also publish outcomes (data, results or models) into HydroShare, using the system as a collaboration platform for sharing data, models and analyses. HydroShare is expanding the data sharing capability of the CUAHSI Hydrologic Information System by broadening the classes of data accommodated, creating new capability to share models and model components, and taking advantage of emerging social media functionality to enhance information about and collaboration around hydrologic data and models. One of the fundamental concepts in HydroShare is that of a Resource. All content is represented using a Resource Data Model that separates system and science metadata and has elements common to all resources as well as elements specific to the types of resources HydroShare will support. These will include different data types used in the hydrology community and models and workflows that require metadata on execution functionality. The HydroShare web interface and social media functions are being developed using the Drupal content management system. A geospatial visualization and analysis component enables searching, visualizing, and analyzing geographic datasets. The integrated Rule-Oriented Data System (iRODS) is being used to manage federated data content and perform rule-based background actions on data and model resources, including parsing to generate metadata catalog information and the execution of models and workflows. This presentation will introduce the HydroShare functionality developed to date, describe key elements of the Resource Data Model and outline the roadmap for future development.

O gerenciamento dos resíduos dos serviços de saúde de uma amostra de hospitais nacionais

O presente trabalho constitui o Relatório Final de um projeto de pesquisa financiado pelo Núcleo de Pesquisas e Publicações da FGV-EAESP. Analisam-se nele os Planos de Gestão de Resíduos de Serviços de Saúde PGRSS de uma amostra de 70 hospitais nacionais, elaborados em 2003, como resultado de um curso de educação a distância, ministrado por um consórcio formado entre a Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina e a Fundação Getulio Vargas. O curso foi sugerido pela UNESCO e financiado por bancos internacionais, com intermediação do REFORSUS. Para cada Plano, foram tabulados, em planilha EXCEL, 164 itens, sendo 12 informações gerais sobre o hospital, 141 relativas à infra-estrutura e aos procedimentos atualmente usados e 11 referentes ao plano futuro de gestão de resíduos. Diagnosticou-se a situação desses hospitais no tocante ao manejo dos resíduos, classificados como infectantes, químicos, radioativos, comuns e perfurocortantes, desde a coleta, o armazenamento e o tratamento interno até a remoção, o tratamento externo e a disposição final. A água, desde a fonte de suprimento até seu consumo, os efluentes líquidos e as emissões gasosas também foram objeto de investigação. Foram avaliados ainda, sob os aspectos técnico e econômico, os planos elaborados pelos hospitais para a gestão futura dos seus resíduos. Os resultados da pesquisa indicam que os hospitais estudados se encontram em sua maioria numa fase incipiente em matéria de gestão dos seus resíduos, carecendo de infra-estrutura, recursos financeiros e humanos e gerenciamento, existindo considerável distância entre a gestão atual dos resíduos e as exigências legais que os hospitais devem cumprir nas áreas sanitária e ambiental.

Sistema de informações para gestão ambiental

This Research Report presents the Environmental Management Information System, which has been planned for CEAMA - Center for Management and Environment. The System consists in the framework of data bases in the environment field, and the logic for information treatment. It has been developed to support current and future requirements of Center for Management and Environment in Escola de Administração de Empresas de São Paulo, Fundação Getulio Vargas (EAESP/FGV). The System was developed for Windows/Access environment and consists of a Main Data Base and a Thematic Data Base. The Main Data Base can store libraries, NGOs, Environmental Impact Reports, technical reports, companies and many other items. The Thematic one can contain several subjects related with environment, specifying the place or access form in which the data can be obtained. The Report also describes several environmental information systems, as a result of a survey that has been done as a part of the research project.

Competitividade de indústrias e a certificação ambiental

A conformidade com padrões de certificação ambiental, especialmente da série ISO 14000 (em formulação), deverá trazer impactos de diversos tipos sobre a competitividade das empresas industriais. Este projeto visa analisar tais impactos através de indicadores de desempenho, como custo de produção, penetração de mercado, alteração de processos e de produtos, entre outros. O projeto objetiva também analisar os ganhos de competitividade que podem ser obtidos por empresas industriais que se anteciparem às normas, adotando um sistema próprio de gestão ambiental.

Gestão de recursos hídricos no estado do Amazonas: uma análise comparativa

Este estudo analisa os instrumentos legais e o sistema de gestão dos recursos hídricos no Estado do Amazonas e sua relação com a Lei n° 9.443, de 8 de janeiro de 1997, destacando as diferentes variáveis existentes na grande bacia hidrográfica do Amazonas que são determinantes na elaboração do marco legal no estado do Amazonas. Considerou-se, também, que a especificidade de isolamento e distanciamento existente em comparação com outros estados não pode servir de parâmetro para utilização de modelos já elaborados. O trabalho apresenta a política nacional de recursos hídricos, descreve o estágio atual da gestão de recursos hídricos nos estados do Rio de Janeiro e do Amazonas. Em seguida, analisa criticamente a lei estadual que estabeleceu a política estadual de recursos hídricos do Amazonas, e avalia comparativamente as entidades e instrumentos dos dois estados. Os métodos empregados incluem uma pesquisa bibliográfica e documental de forma a descrever e fornecer o material de aprofundamento do estudo da gestão de recursos hídricos do estado do Amazonas. A pesquisa de campo foi realizada para aprofundamento da análise crítica. Como resultados, destacam-se a necessidade da alteração da legislação atual e reestruturação administrativa dos órgãos ambientais.

Possibilidades e limites de implantação de modelos de gestão estrategica na Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso

Este trabalho visa identificar os limites e as possibilidades para aplicação de modelos de gestão estratégica na Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso. Através de estudo exploratório, procuro identificar a reação da instituição e dos seus servidores frente às mudanças ambientais. Utilizo-me da teoria de gestão estratégica para monitorar o ambiente organizacional a partir da identificação de pontos fracos e fortes, ameaças e oportunidades. Os dados são obtidos através de entrevista com seus dirigentes - Reitor, Pró-Reitores e Diretores de Institutos e Faculdades - e analisados qualitativamente. Delineia-se que a missão atual da UFMT é restrita, devendo ser reformulada no sentido de adaptar-se às mudanças. Verifica-se que não há esforço significativo tanto por parte da instituição como também da de seus servidores no sentido de impulsionar as transformações e de perceber o ambiente geral. Quando da sugestão de uma nova técnica para gerenciar a universidade, muitas dúvidas surgem quanto ao resultado prático de sua aplicação, uma vez que ainda há uma forte ligação com antigos paradigmas de administração. Ao analisar os dados obtidos, concluo que os fatores que podem limitar a implantação de modelos de gestão estratégica devem ser diagnosticados e avaliados com mais profundidade. Deve ser buscado o conhecimento das suas várias facetas e compreensão das suas especificidades em estudos futuros. Porém, esses limites não devem ser considerados impeditivos, mas sim estimuladores das mudanças, uma vez que os objetivos sociais que justificam a existência da UFMT são maiores que as relações de poder e a cultura de resistência à mudança existente no seu interior. O ambiente instável e turbulento favorece à mudança na forma convencional de administrar a Universidade; torna-se necessário uma decisão da instância superior para iniciar o processo. A gestão estratégica, como um sistema planejado de gestão, tem capacidade de dar respostas flexíveis e de aprendizado, assim como possibilita definir o crescimento da instituição.

Aquaculture Research and Development as an Entry-Point and Contributor to Natural Resources and Coastal Management

Recent, fervent international dialogue concerning the existence and magnitude of impacts associated with aquaculture has had both positive and negative outcomes. Aquaculture stakeholders have become sensitized to requirements for improved environmental management of aquaculture. on the other hand, in some cases aquaculture development has been negatively affected by some of the unwarranted and unproved allegations to the detriment of the stakeholders most in need of aquaculture development (i.e., resource users, particularly the poor, who are dependent on natural resources). These resource users are targeted by, and directly influence biodiversity and conservation agendas; hence the need to understand how to gain their active participation. This discussion focuses on examples of how aquaculture research and development can be a useful tool or strategy for resource management initiatives and provide tangible positive including increased stakeholder participation and cooperation, offering alternatives to resource extraction and use in otherwise difficult or intransigent resource management conflicts.

A tutela constitucional da exploração de petróleo em águas internacionais em face do princípio do desenvolvimento sustentável: a possibilidade de responsabilização civil do dano futuro

The demands brought by a society doomed to the constant production of global risks, which whose effects are not immediately noticed effects are not perceived immediately, claim from the Law a new Theory about the Risk, that would offer a broad environmental protection, at the same time it would still be compatible with the idea of economic efficiency, required by the Modern Industry. The expansion of the methods and technologies regarding the exploitation and production of oil causes the constant expansion of the exploitable boundaries, especially in ultra-deep waters with the Pre-salt layer, in Brazil, or the still incipient research about the polymetallic nodules and other mineral sources in international waters, like the Atlântico Sudoeste, by the Programme on Ocean Science in Relation do Non Living Resources (OSNLR), a global study performed in partnership with the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, from UNESCO (IOC UNESCO) and also with the Division of Ocean Affairs and Law of the Sea (UNDOALOS). Thus, we aim to analyze the correlation, and possible collisions between the right to a balanced environment and the free exercise of economic activity and the occurrence of environmental damages from the perspective of the exploitation activities of oil and other natural resources in international waters, specifically in the Area, from the constitutional principle of sustainable development and its legitimacy by the environmental international protection. Therefore, this study also aims to evaluate the legal framework for exploration and production of oil in international waters, particularly in the Area, and appraise how the constitutional instruments and mechanisms for environmental protection can impact on the international environmental protection system in order to ensure the present and future generations an ecologically balanced environment, laid down in Article 225 of the Brazilian Constitution, even with so many risks posed by the activities of exploitation and production of oil in international waters. In the meantime, we intend to also intend to investigate the possibility of future liability for environmental damage in order to ensure that constitutional principle and, consequently, and try to define the concept of environmental damage and its implications on the constitutional principle of environmental protection. Given all that was in summary, this work aims to contribute to the evolution of the new Theory of Environmental Risk, turning the law into something more than a punitive or corrective element in this society, but into a legal risk management, that may be triggered even before the consolidation of the damage

Impacto urbano ocasionado por empreendimentos da construção civil no entorno da zona de proteção ambiental (zpa-6), Vila de Ponta Negra, Natal/RN

The process of urbanization in recent decades has generated considerable seriousness of problems relating to the use and occupation physical environment of cities. The concentration of population, economic activities and technological standards have reinforced an existing urban environment highly degraded as a consequence of the development style that leads to the predatory use of natural resources. In this context, cities as centers of production and consumption, have the most serious problems of environmental degradation. This study investigated the impacts of the municipal building projects to large-scale vertical in the town of Vila de Ponta Negra, Natal-RN, given the proximity to the Environmental Protection Area (ZPA-6) and considering its environmental importance , scenic, landscape and tourism for the city of Natal-RN. The fragility of the licensing process and the failure of the assumptions in the analysis, objective and subjective, for the granting of environmental permits for the building construction projects, specifically those set out in the surroundings of the Environmental Protection Area (ZPA-6) and fundamental importance of landscape and tourism for the city of Natal, has aroused the concern of local people in and of itself the Government, faced with the probable impacts that will affect greatly the Vila de Ponta Negra. The methodology used to achieve the intended objectives will be the literature review, questionnaire to the surrounding population and the Government, as well as findings on the spot, through the photographic record. The beneficiaries of the license, if the entrepreneurs, have been affected because of the granting of licensing act of investing large amount of capital in the works. Additionally, with distrust of the population, since they are to discredit the public system of environmental management have guessed by the probability of imbalance to the environment and structural damage to the Vila de Ponta Negra, where such failure to support energy, lack of regular supply of water , lack of sanitation and access roads sufficient for the flow of motor vehicles in these areas, among other factors. Thus, this work will contribute to the diagnosis and solutions to the problem in question, so that the Government will effectively fulfill its social management of ecologically balanced environment of continuing urban development in Natal, Brazil

Abordaje práctico sobre cómo mejorar el bienestar en los bovinos

Current challenges of humanity require a new paradigm for animal production, and invest time and attention to the development of new production techniques that take into account the principles of sustainability and animal welfare science. To do this, we must be committed to promoting animal welfare and health, ensure environmental sustainability, consumer satisfaction and profitability for producers. To change our relationship with animals there is no need for changes in market conditions or large investments, it is enough to know better the needs of the animals we raise, the management system adapted to its characteristics. Even in the most favorable management conditions, on farms that have technological resources and trained personnel, there is much to change, especially in the daily management of the animals. Some of the risks more evident in the traditional systems of beef production are: problems during parturition, morbidity and mortality of calves, lack of shade in the pastures, improper handling of animals, risk of injury, inadequate infrastructure, poor management practices during routine processing (marking, castration, vaccination, dehorning), poor welfare during loading, transport, unloading and slaughter. To remedy this, you can adopt good management practices, which have been shown to reduce risk and improve the welfare of cattle in different stages of the production chain. The objective of this review is to show some of the risks that reduce the welfare of cattle and examples of how the adoption of best management practices impact on improving the productivity of these production systems. Finally, some indicators for assessing welfare in production systems are shown.

Análise comparativa dos métodos de fatores ponderados na seleção de áreas para aterros sanitários

This study presents a comparative analysis of methodologies about weighted factors considered in the selection of areas for deployment of Sanitary Landfills, applying the methodologies of classification criteria with scoring bands Gomes, Coelho, Erba & Veronez (2000); Waquil et al, 2000. That means, we have the Scoring System used by Union of Municipalities of Bahia and the Quality Index Landfill Waste (IQR) which are applyed for this study in Massaranduba Sanitary Landfill located in the municipality of Ceará Mirim /RN, northeastern of Brazil. The study was conducted in order to classify the methodologies and to give support for future studies on environmental management segment, with main goal to propose suited methodologies which allow safety and rigor during the selection, deployment and management of sanitary landfill, in the Brazilian municipalities, in order to help them in the process to extinction of their dumps, in according of Brazilian Nacional Plan of Solid Waste. During this investigation we have studied the characteristics of the site as morphological, hydrogeological, environmental and socio-economic to permit the installation. We consider important to mention the need of deployment from Rio Grande do Norte State Secretary of Environment and Water (SEMARH), Institute of Sustainable Development and Environment of RN (IDEMA), as well, from Federal and Municipal Governments a public policies for the integrated management of urban solid waste that address environmental preservation and improvement of health conditions of the population of the Rio Grande do Norte

Analise SWOT do gerenciamento de resíduos do coco verde em duas agroindústrias do estado do Rio Grande do Norte

In the current conjuncture, the environmental factor has been changing the position of companies that are practicing or minimally adopting environmental management. Such tool has been used by companies to face the problems caused by solid waste, in particular green coconut waste, which is constantly among the material discarded by society (companies/ consumer). It is a typical tropical fruit whose fresh water is very benefic for human health, and its popularization has caused a progressive increase of its consumption. Following this stream of thought, this present work came up with an analysis of strengths, weaknesses, threats, and opportunities SWOT analysis on green coconut solid waste management at two agribusiness companies in the state of Rio Grande do Norte (RN), Brazil, aiming to know the challenges and the potentials of this kind of waste. According to the approach of the problem, this work fits a descriptive, exploratory, and qualitative research. The data collection was obtained by a questionnaire and a structured interview, in order to evaluate the strategic posture of agribusiness companies through SWOT analysis, which is an English acronym for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. The SWOT analysis is an effective tool to analyze the internal and external environment of an organization. This tool contributes to locate the company at the environment in question and when well applied it enables the detection of mistakes, the strengthening of correct procedures, the avoidance of threats, and the bet on opportunities. The studied agribusiness industries have very similar profiles, such as a long business life span, and a strategy that extends the useful life of the fruit, by using its waste for the manufacturing of new subproducts. In both, the daily quantity of waste resulted of this process reaches approximately 20 thousand units of the fruit in high season, being necessary a focus directed at use and/or treatment of these waste. Further to SWOT analysis, it was ascertained that the agribusiness company A works through a defensive marketing strategy and acts vulnerably, in other words, unable of acting before this market segment, for it has decided to stop using the waste due to a lack of equipment and technology. On the other hand, the agribusiness company B has incorporated an offensive marketing strategy because even not possessing equipments, technology, and appropriated internal installations, it still insists on use and benefits of green coconut waste in its agribusiness. Thus, it is considered that the potential of green coconut waste management for the production of several subproducts reduces the impacts produced by inappropriate placement and generates profits in a short, medium and long term. Such profits being tangible and intangible, as the interest for sustainability actions is not only a matter of obtaining return on capital, but it is an important question in order to move on into business, since it is not enough to have quality on products and process nowadays. It is necessary to establish socio-environmental practices aiming the image of the company as the prevailing role on consumers buying decision

Sistemas certificáveis de gestão ambiental e da qualidade: práticas para integração em empresas do setor moveleiro

O principal objetivo deste artigo é propor, a partir do referencial teórico e de um estudo de caso em uma empresa moveleira, práticas para integração de sistemas certificáveis de gestão ambiental e da qualidade. A coleta de dados do estudo de caso se deu por meio de entrevistas semiestruturadas com o responsável direto pelos dois sistemas e com alguns colaboradores-chave do nível operacional, além de análise documental e de visitas in loco. Ao final deste artigo, são propostas práticas para integração desses sistemas, relacionadas aos seguintes elementos: alta administração; apoio administrativo, financeiro e pessoal; serviço de consultoria; coordenação do programa de integração; interface entre os sistemas; capacitação técnico-gerencial; sistema de liderança, prospecção, avaliação e desenvolvimento de fornecedores; sistema de informação; indicadores; comunicação com o cliente, e integração contínua.