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The purpose of this paper is to investigate the supply chains for organic milk, apples and pasta in eight European countries and how added value is distributed among market players.

Using secondary data and expert interviews, a market overview for the three products is provided as the basis of a more detailed analysis of the added value in 12 organic supply chain examples. For this, interviews with market players and an “added value calculator” tool are employed.

The farm gate and retail price of organic products is higher than conventional. Supermarkets are the main outlet for organic milk and apples in the countries studied, whereas the situation for organic pasta is varied, suggesting that the use of different sale channels is influenced by the food product. The farmers’ share of added value ranges between 3 and 65 per cent of the added value created in the organic supply chains analysed. Organic offers opportunities to increase the farmers’ share of added value both in supermarkets and alternative sale channels, by developing collaboration, physical infrastructures for organic and integrating operations upstream of the chain.

While more research is needed into a larger number of chains, this paper indicates that there are dynamics and features at supply chain level, such as the distribution of added value and the target markets used, that cannot be interpreted according to the binary division between “mainstream” and “alternative” organic suggested by the conventionalisation hypothesis.

The distribution of added value for existing supply chains in eight European countries is calculated by using an effective added value calculator tool.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the expected economic and social effects of the “Local Energy Plan” – a programme of the local administration that aims to transform the Romanian town Avrig until 2020 into an energy independent town relying exclusively on renewable energy resources.

The study uses a mixed-method approach to investigate the effects of a small town's transition to renewable energy. This approach consists of a series of in-depth interviews with the local authorities, investors, other representatives of the business sector and citizens of Avrig and economic modelling to determine the direct effects generated by the implementation of different renewable energy projects.

The results of this study show that transitioning to renewable energy could have a significant positive impact on the town's economy, however, improvements of the Local Energy Plan are needed especially regarding the planned capacities and the involvement of the local community.

While investigating, through in-depth interviews, the overall perceptions and attitudes of the different stakeholders regarding the transition of the town to renewable energy a communication gap has been observed. The study may represent a turning point for the local administrations strategy towards its energy goals.

Combining economic modelling and quantitative research methods this paper provides a holistic image of the socioeconomic impacts of the Local Energy Plan in the small town Avrig. The results and suggestions could contribute to the successful transition to renewable energy of Avrig.

The purpose of this paper is to introduce a game-like decision tool – “Greatest Good Donations Calculator (GGDC)”, which has been collaboratively developed by scholars from the University of Rhode Island and the USAID Center for International Disaster Information.

The study is grounded in two streams of research – human learning through games and systems dynamics literature. The problem of “unsolicited in-kind donations” is discussed followed by the development of the GGDC.

The GGDC is a game-like decision tool that informs users on some of the complexities associated with humanitarian supply chains, and the ineffective nature of unsolicited in-kind donations compared to monetary contributions when sent in response to international disasters.

The GGDC could be made more interactive and playable that could improve user engagement. The GGDC’s value to the humanitarian community and public could also be measured in other ways, such as surveys and A/B split tests after a major donation campaign.

Games, simulations and game-like tools could successfully be used to educate donors about smart compassion.

Humanitarian researchers and scholars should consider more games to motivate/drive social change in the humanitarian world.

This is the first paper to introduce the GGDC to the humanitarian logistics community with detailed content about positioning the study in the academic literature, and stages of development. Scholars, searching to adopt games or developing new games for the humanitarian world may find the information valuable. The GGDC is a unique example of federal government – academia collaboration in raising public awareness of the unsolicited good donations problem.

This study aims to conduct a critical analysis of online carbon calculators, assesing their accuracy and ability to provide holistic carbon impact appraisals of different elements of holiday travel. It seeks to identify the major data sources for estimates and establish the interrelatedness between them. The determinant factors for the variance in the magnitude of the carbon footprint appraisals between calculators are critically reviewed.

The paper reviews the key online carbon calculators to better understand how estimates of carbon footprint are made, what background information is available to tool users and which factors affect the accuracy and comprehensiveness of appraisals.

The study concludes that the applicability of existing carbon calculators to carbon impact assessment in tourism is limited. Moreover, poor accesibility of the background data, inconsistencies in the multiplying factors used and inhomogeneity in the appraisal methods employed question the accuracy, credibility and transparency of carbon calculators. Suggestions are made on how to improve the overall quality and reliability of carbon calculators in order to enhance their consistency, transparency and applicability in the tourism domain.

The paper contributes to a better understanding of assessment approaches available in the tourism domain to produce reliable estimates of the carbon impacts from holiday travel.

This project requires students to analyze and make a client recommendation for the most tax-effective saving option, comparing a traditional individual retirement account (IRA) versus Roth IRA. Students analyze the two alternatives and track growth as well as projected tax liability over the life of the client to determine the strategy that generates the best outcome for the client. The project emphasizes principles of tax planning to illustrate that the solution with the smallest tax liability in the short term is not necessarily the most beneficial option over the long term, as well as how this often is in conflict with a client’s expectations and tax preparer tactics utilized to attract new clients. Students will demonstrate critical thinking skills through the analysis of two options for a client, and the communication of the findings with a recommendation through a client letter.

The way market research is conducted has changed dramatically over the past 30 years, as a result of both the development of the prevailing view of best practice and the state of technology available to researchers. While it is clear that the World Wide Web (WWW) will increasingly be used as a medium for conducting market research, the full implications of this new channel are not yet fully understood. This paper examines the potential for an Internet‐based financial services firm (Xenon Laboratories) to analyse conduct market research using the WWW. The case demonstrates that, by employing a novel approach to market research, Xenon Laboratories is in a unique position to understand the charging structures in its market, the market for international payments using credit or charge cards. In doing so, the paper highlights the opportunity to unobtrusively gather market information from an international group of customers by providing Internet‐based value‐added services.

The purpose of this paper is to develop a capacitor fully integrated into a wearable textile fabric for the application on smart clothing.

A small capacitor with stainless steel yarns as the electrodes and poly-(3,4–ethylenedioxythiophene): polystryrene sulphonate (PEDOT:PSS) as the dielectric material has been made, integrated into a textile fabric. The electric performance of the capacitor was analyzed and compared with other kinds of electric capacitors.

The fabricated small, PEDOT:PSS capacitor could finally power a calculator for 37 s with the energy stored in it.

This finding is of an important significance for a further development on the capacitor with a better performance.

The purpose of this study is first to describe and discuss an innovative strategy, pursued by a music festival, to reduce the environmental impact by allowing only vegetarian food in the festival area. A second aim is to discuss the effects of the vegetarian strategy for the festival in terms of branding and communication impacts. A third aim is to assess the effect on the ecological footprint of the festival from the vegetarian food strategy.

Festival visitors’ food consumption was surveyed in 2010 (719 responses) and again in 2012 when only vegetarian food was served on festival premises (663 responses). The EPA event calculator, developed in Australia, was used to calculate the ecological footprint of the festival. The implementation and the impacts were studied from the festival organisers’ perspective through two (one hour long) interviews with one of the festival managers.

For the festival brand, the vegetarian strategy proved to be extremely successful in terms of media attention and an enhanced “green” image of the festival. An analysis of the environmental impact of the vegetarian strategy indicates a remarkable drop of 40 per cent in the size of the ecological footprint.

Based on the results of this study, a vegetarian strategy can be recommended as an innovation for festivals that have core values and a brand image grounded both in sustainability and the reduction of environmental impacts and that are truly concerned about the environment.

Festival Footprint Analysis.

This paper aims to investigate the role of a particular energy calculator in enhancing the energy efficiency of existing homes by asking how this calculator was developed and how it is domesticated by craftspeople working as energy consultants.

The study is based on qualitative interviews with users and producers of the energy calculator (n = 22), as well as participation in energy consultation training.

The paper finds that, in the energy calculator, there is a striking lack of connection between the domestication and script because of lack of energy consultants’ involvement in the design and implementation process.

The enrolment of energy consultants as energy calculator users earlier in and throughout the design process could be valuable in making the transition to an energy-efficient and environmentally friendly building sector.

The paper argues for recognition of the role of energy consultants, especially craftspeople, as participants in the design process for tools of governance. This is a call to acknowledge the value of particular skills and experiences possessed by craftspeople doing home consultation.

By understanding the intricate developer–user synchronicity in tools developed for upgrading the building sector, energy mitigation can be made more effective.

The author argues that we must stop and take a look at what our insistence on human labour as the basis of our society is doing to us, and begin to search for possible alternatives. We need the vision and the courage to aim for the highest level of technology attainable for the widest possible use in both industry and services. We need financial arrangements that will encourage people to invent themselves out of work. Our goal, the article argues, must be the reduction of human labour to the greatest extent possible, to free people for more enjoyable, creative, human activities.