Thesis Chapters by Ricardo da Silva Vieira
The Role of Qualitative Data and Systems Thinking in Addressing Service Decline in Market Towns, 2014
Retail services are a main contributor to municipal budget and are an activity that affects perce... more Retail services are a main contributor to municipal budget and are an activity that affects perceived quality-of-life, especially for those with mobility difficulties (e.g. the elderly, low income citizens). However, there is evidence of a decline in some of the services market towns provide to their citizens. In market towns, this decline has been reported all over the western world, from North America to Australia.
The aim of this research was to understand retail decline and enlighten on some ways of addressing this decline, using a case study, Thornbury, a small town in the Southwest of England. Data collected came from two participatory approaches: photo-surveys and multicriteria mapping. The interpretation of data came from using participants as analysts, but also, using systems thinking (systems diagramming and social trap theory) for theory building. This research moves away from mainstream economic and town planning perspectives by making use of different methods and concepts used in anthropology and visual sociology (photo-surveys), decision-making and ecological economics (multicriteria mapping and social trap theory). In sum, this research has experimented with different methods, out of their context, to analyse retail decline in a small town.
This research developed a conceptual model for retail decline and identified the existence of conflicting goals and interests and their implications for retail decline, as well as causes for these. Most of the potential causes have had little attention in the literature. This research also identified that some of the measures commonly used for dealing with retail decline may be contributing to the causes of retail decline itself. Additionally, this research reviewed some of the measures that can be used to deal with retail decline, implications for policy-making and reflected on the use of the data collection and analysis methods in the context of small to medium towns.
Books by Ricardo da Silva Vieira
Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure. Encyclopedia of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, 2019
The objective of this paper is to discuss several methods of EMERGY allocation in joint productio... more The objective of this paper is to discuss several methods of EMERGY allocation in joint production and to present an approach for dealing with wastes (a form of joint production) within the framework of EMERGY analysis. Biophysical or economic criteria are often considered in the allocation of joint-products. Several biophysical and economic weights for this are discussed, including the conventional EMERGY approach, EMERGY fractions, energy/exergy weights and economic value, and their effects on final result. This analysis was illustrated by a case study of the Portuguese eucalyptus pulp industry. To calculate the EMERGY of wastes, the energy needed by nature to absorb them should be used. In this case, the analysis is made downstream, instead of upstream, i.e., wastes' EMERGY should be allocated to the products of the activity that produces them. This approach sheds a favorable light on industries that recycle (i.e., using wastes as their resources), because they are using zero EMERGY resources.
Papers by Ricardo da Silva Vieira
Frontiers in sustainability, Aug 21, 2023
AbstractBackground, aim, and scope Pulp and paper production isone of the most important Portugue... more AbstractBackground, aim, and scope Pulp and paper production isone of the most important Portuguese economic activities.Mostly based on eucalyptus (Eucalyptus globulus), nearly70% of the pulp produced is exported, mainly to theEuropean Union. The aim of this paper is to compare theenvironmental impacts of the production of Portugueseprinting and writing paper based on eucalyptus with thosefrom the production of paper from industrial hemp(Cannabis sativa).Materials and methods We have used a life cycle assess-ment approach to compare both types of paper. Thefunctional unit used was a ton of white printing and writingpaper. Data was mostly derived from the Portugueseliterature for eucalyptus and from scientific literature forhemp. The impact categories/indicators taken into accountwere global warming, photochemical oxidant formation(summer smog), acidification, eutrophication, and directland use.Results and discussion Industrial hemp presents higherenvironmental impacts than eucalyptu...
Water, 2018
Over the past decades, water quality models have become unique tools in the management of aquatic... more Over the past decades, water quality models have become unique tools in the management of aquatic resources. A consequence of their widespread application is the significant number of models now available. Available methodologies to compare models provide limited support for their choice in the first place, especially to end-users or modelers with limited experience. Here we propose a method to assist in the selection of a particular model from a set of apparently similar models. The method is termed ScoRE, as it grades models according to three main aspects: Scope (aim, simulated processes, constituents, etc.), Record (reference to the model in publications, its range of applications, etc.), and the Experience of using the model from the user perspective (support material, graphical user interface, etc.). End-users define the criteria to be evaluated and their relative importance, as well as the conditions for model exclusion. The evaluation of models is still performed by the mode...
The objective of this paper is to discuss several methods of EMERGY allocation in joint productio... more The objective of this paper is to discuss several methods of EMERGY allocation in joint production and to present an approach for dealing with wastes (a form of joint production) within the framework of EMERGY analysis. Biophysical or economic criteria are often considered in the allocation of joint-products. Several biophysical and economic weights for this are discussed, including the conventional EMERGY approach, EMERGY fractions, energy/exergy weights and economic value, and their effects on final result. This analysis was illustrated by a case study of the Portuguese eucalyptus pulp industry. To calculate the EMERGY of wastes, the energy needed by nature to absorb them should be used. In this case, the analysis is made downstream, instead of upstream, i.e., wastes’ EMERGY should be allocated to the products of the activity that produces them. This approach sheds a favorable light on industries that recycle (i.e., using wastes as their resources), because they are using zero EME...
Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure, 2021
The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, 2010
Journal of Energy Storage
Background, aim, and scope Pulp and paper production is one of the most important Portuguese econ... more Background, aim, and scope Pulp and paper production is one of the most important Portuguese economic activities. Mostly based on eucalyptus (Eucalyptus globulus), nearly 70% of the pulp produced is exported, mainly to the European Union. The aim of this paper is to compare the environmental impacts of the production of Portuguese printing and writing paper based on eucalyptus with those from the production of paper from industrial hemp (Cannabis sativa). Materials and methods We have used a life cycle assessment approach to compare both types of paper. The functional unit used was a ton of white printing and writing paper. Data was mostly derived from the Portuguese literature for eucalyptus and from scientific literature for hemp. The impact categories/indicators taken into account were global warming, photochemical oxidant formation (summer smog), acidification, eutrophication, and direct land use. Results and discussion Industrial hemp presents higher environmental impacts than eucalyptus paper in all environmental categories analyzed. The main differences are in the crop and the pulp production stages. This is because hemp makes use of higher number of mechanical operations and larger amounts of fertilizer in the former and larger amounts of chemical additives in the latter. Conclusions There is scope for improving industrial hemp paper production. We present some suggestions on how to reduce some of the environmental impacts identified for hemp, so that the pulp and paper industry can continue its progress towards a more environmentally friendly paper production. Recommendations and perspectives New studies could be based on the alternatives presented throughout the paper for improving hemp paper. Further studies should incorporate analyses on water consumption, soil erosion, soil nutrient depletion, and impacts on biodiversity.
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Thesis Chapters by Ricardo da Silva Vieira
The aim of this research was to understand retail decline and enlighten on some ways of addressing this decline, using a case study, Thornbury, a small town in the Southwest of England. Data collected came from two participatory approaches: photo-surveys and multicriteria mapping. The interpretation of data came from using participants as analysts, but also, using systems thinking (systems diagramming and social trap theory) for theory building. This research moves away from mainstream economic and town planning perspectives by making use of different methods and concepts used in anthropology and visual sociology (photo-surveys), decision-making and ecological economics (multicriteria mapping and social trap theory). In sum, this research has experimented with different methods, out of their context, to analyse retail decline in a small town.
This research developed a conceptual model for retail decline and identified the existence of conflicting goals and interests and their implications for retail decline, as well as causes for these. Most of the potential causes have had little attention in the literature. This research also identified that some of the measures commonly used for dealing with retail decline may be contributing to the causes of retail decline itself. Additionally, this research reviewed some of the measures that can be used to deal with retail decline, implications for policy-making and reflected on the use of the data collection and analysis methods in the context of small to medium towns.
Books by Ricardo da Silva Vieira
Papers by Ricardo da Silva Vieira
The aim of this research was to understand retail decline and enlighten on some ways of addressing this decline, using a case study, Thornbury, a small town in the Southwest of England. Data collected came from two participatory approaches: photo-surveys and multicriteria mapping. The interpretation of data came from using participants as analysts, but also, using systems thinking (systems diagramming and social trap theory) for theory building. This research moves away from mainstream economic and town planning perspectives by making use of different methods and concepts used in anthropology and visual sociology (photo-surveys), decision-making and ecological economics (multicriteria mapping and social trap theory). In sum, this research has experimented with different methods, out of their context, to analyse retail decline in a small town.
This research developed a conceptual model for retail decline and identified the existence of conflicting goals and interests and their implications for retail decline, as well as causes for these. Most of the potential causes have had little attention in the literature. This research also identified that some of the measures commonly used for dealing with retail decline may be contributing to the causes of retail decline itself. Additionally, this research reviewed some of the measures that can be used to deal with retail decline, implications for policy-making and reflected on the use of the data collection and analysis methods in the context of small to medium towns.