A participação da sociedade civil no processo de elaboração das leis federais brasileiras

The public consultation is a methodology for the interaction between the bodies responsible for drafting the law and the parties likely to be affected or to be interested in normative acts in question. This work seeks to encourage the use of public consultation in the process of elaboration of the Brazilian law. Therefore, some aspect of the knowledge area called Science of Legislation, with attention to the concept of “quality of the law” and to of the public consultation tool are addressed. We present the advantages of preparing public consultation mainly in the case of proposals that impose costs or benefits relevant to the economic agents involved in or promoting major change in the distribution of resources in society. Finally, it discusses the Brazilian legislative procedure and what the Brazilian law requires from legislative projects forwarded to the National Congress, as well as build a synthesis of the tools and the exiting possibilities of participation in the Brazilian context of elaboration of norms.

Da responsabilidade civil por abandono afetivo

This study, in the Family Law area, aims to examine the civil liability for emotional distance from a multidisciplinary perspective. The work and reflection made thereunder tend to corroborate the cognizance that self-representation, sociability and the ability of future adults to define their life’s projects, depend, to a large extent, on the emotional stability and maturity that has been assured to them, as children, by the material and emotional care that has been provided to them by both parents. It is therefore crucial to tend to the feelings of loss and to the potential lack of self-esteem that the affective rupture with either parents may cause. Thus, we promote an analysis of the sustainability, under Portuguese law, of the imposition of compensatory measures, independent from other injunctions foreseen in civil and guardianship law, upon the dissolution of family ties in result of a guilty injury of parental obligations, which have caused serious and evident injuries to the children.

Área 'non aedificandi' em domínio privado. História breve do interstício entre prédios em Portugal

Partindo dos dispositivos jurídicos em vigor (Código Civil e Regulamento Geral das Edificações Urbanas) e recuando até às antigas influências jurídicas (romanas e islâmicas), neste artigo procura-se perceber como os interstícios entre prédios em Portugal foram estabelecidos ao longo do tempo pela ordem jurídica. São contextualizadas e analisadas as antigas normas da almotaçaria e as normas contemporâneas, procurando perceber inovações e persistências. Por fim, realça-se a importância deste conhecimento para o estudo da forma urbana portuguesa.

Construction sector: Need for strategic reorientation

The construction sector in Portugal declined sharply over the past 10 years. The current crisis can wiped out the entire industry. Can the industry survive? What lessons can we learn? What can be done to revive the sector? These are questions this study intends to answer. By analyzing the best practices of the industry and of the largest construction companies in Portugal, as well as the difficulties and constrains that they all faced, I found that retrenchment (operational costs and selling assets) are the main measures companies resort to, and that strategic reorientation is essential to turnaround. I found that internationalization is a key driver on strategic reorientation and diversification and concentration are complementary strategies that can enforce and strengthen the main one.

Flood resilient housing recovery models: a theoretical case study in Maldives

Natural disasters are events that cause general and widespread destruction of the built environment and are becoming increasingly recurrent. They are a product of vulnerability and community exposure to natural hazards, generating a multitude of social, economic and cultural issues of which the loss of housing and the subsequent need for shelter is one of its major consequences. Nowadays, numerous factors contribute to increased vulnerability and exposure to natural disasters such as climate change with its impacts felt across the globe and which is currently seen as a worldwide threat to the built environment. The abandonment of disaster-affected areas can also push populations to regions where natural hazards are felt more severely. Although several actors in the post-disaster scenario provide for shelter needs and recovery programs, housing is often inadequate and unable to resist the effects of future natural hazards. Resilient housing is commonly not addressed due to the urgency in sheltering affected populations. However, by neglecting risks of exposure in construction, houses become vulnerable and are likely to be damaged or destroyed in future natural hazard events. That being said it becomes fundamental to include resilience criteria, when it comes to housing, which in turn will allow new houses to better withstand the passage of time and natural disasters, in the safest way possible. This master thesis is intended to provide guiding principles to take towards housing recovery after natural disasters, particularly in the form of flood resilient construction, considering floods are responsible for the largest number of natural disasters. To this purpose, the main structures that house affected populations were identified and analyzed in depth. After assessing the risks and damages that flood events can cause in housing, a methodology was proposed for flood resilient housing models, in which there were identified key criteria that housing should meet. The same methodology is based in the US Federal Emergency Management Agency requirements and recommendations in accordance to specific flood zones. Finally, a case study in Maldives – one of the most vulnerable countries to sea level rise resulting from climate change – has been analyzed in light of housing recovery in a post-disaster induced scenario. This analysis was carried out by using the proposed methodology with the intent of assessing the resilience of the newly built housing to floods in the aftermath of the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami.

Avaliação das condições de ventilação de lares de idosos

Publicações Funchal, 16-19 Dezembro 2014 Cerqueira, F., Azevedo, S., Aelenei, D., Viegas, J., (2014). “Assessment of Ventilation in Elderly Care Centres”, 40th IAHS World Congress in Housing – Sustainable Housing Construction. Porto, 26 – 28 de Março 2015 Aelenei, D., Nogueira, S., Viegas, J., Mendes, A., Cano, M., Cerqueira, F. (2015), “Caracterização experimental das taxas de renovação horária em residências para pessoas idosas”, 5ª Conferência sobre Patologia e Reabilitação de Edifícios – PATORREB 2015

Sustainable urban planning: parameters to the operational process

In modern society, energy consumption and respect for the environment have become essential aspects of urban planning. The rising demand for alternative sources of energy, coupled with the decline in the construction sector and material usage, gives the idea that the thinking on modern cities, where attention is given to reduced energy consumption, savings, waste recycling and respect for the surrounding environment, is being put into practice. If we examine development of the city over recent centuries, by means of the theories of the most famous and influential urban planners, it is possible to identify the major problems caused by this type of planning. For this reason, in recent urban planning the use of systems of indicators that evaluate and certify land environmentally and energetically guides the master plan toward a more efficient city model. In addition the indicators are targeted on key factors determined by the commissioner or the opportunities the territory itself provides. Due the complexity of the environmental mechanics, the process of design and urban planning has become a challenging issue. The introduction of the indicators system has made it possible to register the life of the process, with a spiral route that allows the design itself to be refined. The aim of this study, built around the creation of a system of urban sustainability indicators that will evaluate highly eco-friendly cities, is to develop a certification system for cities or portions of them. The system will be upgradeable and objective, will employ real data and will be concerned with energy production and consumption.

Teste de um modelo preditor da integridade

Dissertação de Mestrado apresentada ao ISPA - Instituto Universitário

Mota-Engil Construction

Equity research report

Cultura de segurança em proteção civil

This work aims to stress the concept of a security culture in the sense that each one of us is an emergency responder, the first one to respond, and the more prepared we are, with better training and awareness, the better we will perform, this applies even to the relationship between us and the Emergency Responders. All this will lead to a better probability of surviving an accident. If there is an accident, anywhere at any time, each one of us is alone. And the bigger the accident is the longer we stay alone. There is no firefighter, no policeman, no doctor, so it is very important to be competent, in other words, knowing how to react, wanting to react and being able to react. This is a basic requirement to understand the phenomenon, to know the consequences arising from the way we act and that we have to perform according to the situation: before, during and after it occurred. In brief, let’s not make resilience be just a word, let’s make it a concept that belongs to the higher definition of the Security Culture.

Characterization of earth-based mortars for rammed earth repair

All over the world, many earth buildings are deteriorating due to lack of maintenance and repair. Repairs on rammed earth walls are mainly done with mortars, by rendering application; however, often the repair is inadequate, resorting to the use of incompatible materials, including cement-based mortars. It has been observed that such interventions, in walls that until that day only had presented natural ageing issues, created new problems, much more dangerous for the building than the previous ones, causing serious deficiencies in this type of construction. One of the problems is that the detachment of the new cement-based mortar rendering only occurs after some time but, until that occurrence, degradations develop in the wall itself. When the render detaches, instead of needing only a new render, the surface has to be repaired in depth, with a repair mortar. Consequently, it has been stablished that the renders, and particularly repair mortars, should have physical, mechanical and chemical properties similar to those of the rammed earth walls. This article intends to contribute to a better knowledge of earth-based mortars used to repair the surface of rammed earth walls. The studied mortars are based on four types of earth: three of them were collected from non-deteriorated parts of walls of unstabilized rammed earth buildings located in Alentejo region, south of Portugal; the fourth is a commercial earth, consisting mainly of clay. Other components were also used, particularly: sand to control shrinkage; binders stabilizers such as dry hydrated air-lime, natural hydraulic lime, Portland cement and natural cement; as well as natural vegetal fibers (hemp fibers). The experimental analysis of the mortars in the fresh state consisted in determining the consistency by flow table and the bulk density. In the hardened state, the tests made it possible to evaluate the following properties: linear and volumetric shrinkage; capillary water absorption; drying capacity; dynamic modulus of elasticity; flexural and compressive strength.

Visual politics of the estado novo realized on the Alameda Dom Afonso Henriques in Lisbon – the construction of ideal citizenship?

The stylistic categorization of the Estado Novo has been intensely discussed by Portuguese art historians. The square Alameda Dom Afonso Henriques in Lisbon (Alameda) can be seen as paradigmatic for the architecture of power of the Estado Novo. The Alameda forms a gardened valley between two hills. There you find two prominent and highly propagandist buildings: The Instituto Superior Técnico (IST) and the Fonte Luminosa are dedicated to modern sciences and respectively to the harmonious contribution of nature to the city. The iconography of the Alameda as well as its incorporation into the propagandist use of urban planning in the 1930s and 1940s exemplify the visual politics during Salazarism. Urban planning programs intended to create cities that would preserve the character of a traditional catholic society and at the same time answer to the need to modernize the country and evoke the image of a progressive state. Thus, public buildings and urban squares such as the Alameda contributed to design a corporate image and to the ‘spirit’ of the regime.

O princípio da confidencialidade na mediação em matéria civil e comercial

The purpose of the following study is to analyze the relevance of the principle of confidentiality concerning mediation on civil and commercial matters developed in Portugal. We will, essentially, try to determine just how pivotal is this principle and how it affects the effectiveness of that method of alternative dispute resolution. We believe it is fundamental to understand the true extent of this principle and its goals, emphasizing the protection given to those who decide to resort to mediation and its impact on this process. For this dissertation, we have based our analysis on the interpretation of the set rules assembled by Law nr 29/2013, April 19th, while combining it with data gathered from other laws and regulations that had also addressed mediation. Furthermore, given the fact that this subject has been regulated by Directive 2008/52/EC, we deem pertinent to include references to other European mediation regulations, namely from Germany, Spain and France. With this study, we have established that, even though the Portuguese mediation law is based on a European Directive, we have determined a more restrictive regulation for the principle of confidentiality. We have concluded that the rules regarding this principle try to preserve, above all, the trust and honesty established during the course of the mediation, while restricting the possibility of using the information disclosed during these sessions on other cases. Additionally, we believe confidentiality is such a distinctive and relevant feature that its legal framework leads us to deem it as a true obstacle to the parties’ private autonomy and their power to determine how the mediation should be carried out.

Observations on dynamics of foraging hole construction of two leaf-feeding, soil-inhabiting Syntermes species (insecta: Isoptera) in an Amazonian Rainforest, Brazil

The intensity of construction of foraging access holes by two leaf-litter feeding, soil- inhabiting termite species, Syntermes molestus and Syntermes spinosus, in a Central Amazonian rain forest, was observed on consecutive nights for two weeks. Between 11 and 48 nest entrances per m2 were counted. Interaction between the two species was intense; some entrance holes were overtaken by the larger species during the observations; however, both species coexist in the area. A calculated minimum of 35 entrances/m2 is built every year by both species, emphasizing the importance of soil-burrowing termites for soil structure, aeration and water regime.