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The main purpose of this paper is to present the work recently carried out by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in collaboration with Associazione per la documentazione le biblioteche e gli archivi (DBA) in Italy to make web CDS/ISIS‐based applications compliant with the OAI‐PMH. CDS/ISIS is an Integrated Storage and Information Retrieval System of Unesco, which is widely used especially in Latin America and Africa. There are hundreds of CDS/ISIS‐based application systems managing bibliographical reference, ensuring high quality content through the use of built‐in authority files, data entry guidelines and validations. It also allows for metadata export in many different formats.

The methodology adopted included study, analysis and evaluation of three existing solutions for exposing metadata from the CDS/ISIS database repositories to the OAI framework.

The implementation did not include the development of automatic procedures for incremental harvesting from CDS/ISIS databases nor the normalization of the harvested data. However, a lot of experience in implementation of OAI was gained which will be useful for future development of non‐CDS/ISIS systems.

The research and development work demonstrates the importance and implications of this work for the whole CDS/ISIS community and specifically for the participating centres from the AGRIS network.

It proposes an open source, easily parametrizable plug‐in tool, which can be adapted to expose metadata from a general structure CDS/ISIS database using the OAI‐PMH protocol. This work assures that semantically rich metadata for agricultural science and research publications based on the “AGRIS Application Profile” can be handled by the OAI protocol. This in turn allows for further creation of additional services based on the exchange of knowledge on agricultural science and technology publications world‐wide.

Circular economy (CE) disclosure is becoming urgent for firms, but an accepted and recognized approach to address it is still missing, especially at small and medium enterprises (SMEs) level. This study aims to contribute to this issue by exploring the potential of the adoption of Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Standards as a standardized approach for CE disclosure. The paper proposes a framework that identifies the existence of specific relationships between the topics included in GRI 300 Standards and CE strategies, which can be considered as managerial guidelines for CE strategy disclosure by companies.

The paper uses an explorative research methodology based on the content analysis of secondary data taken from the sustainability reports of the SMEs listed in STAR segment of Borsa Italiana.

The analysis shows that GRI Standards are currently adopted to disclose the CE strategies by Italian SMEs across different economic sectors including construction, food, automotive, retail, personal and household goods, industrial goods and services, electronics, media and technology. In particular, GRI 301 is used for the disclosure about Recycling, Reuse, Reverse logistics, Industrial Symbiosis, Eco-Design, Product as a Service and Refurbishing/Reconditioning/Remanufacturing. GRI 302 is suited to disclose CE strategies about Eco-Design, Renewable Energy and Industrial Symbiosis. GRI 303 can be useful to disclose about Reuse and Industrial Symbiosis. GRI 305 is appropriate for Eco-Design, Renewable Energy, Product as a Service, Industrial Symbiosis and Recycling. Finally, GRI 306 is useful to communicate the CE strategies of Recycling, Reuse, Reverse Logistics, Eco-Design, Industrial Symbiosis, Maintenance/Repair, Refurbishing/Reconditioning/Remanufacturing.

The paper includes implications concerning how to report the implementation of a wide range of CE practices, mainly using GRI 301, 302, 303, 305 and 306. These implications are mainly addressed to SMEs in different economic sectors.

The use of the proposed framework, by improving the transparency and communication of the CE strategies used by companies, may contribute to accelerate the consumer awareness on CE practices fostering the CE transition, especially of SMEs, with a positive effect on society and environment.

This study extends the literature on CE by developing one among the few standardized approaches using the GRI Standards for the disclosure of CE strategies, a topic mainly investigated in the literature with reference to large companies in a few industries. The framework is also useful to explore the implementation of CE strategies across SMEs in different industrial sectors.

Total quality management is a valuable approach to continuously improve the quality of organizations; however, scholars debate its applicability to services, which require specific best practices that are different from those related to manufacturing. Moreover, digitization is pervading all kinds of services, but little has been written about total quality service practices in digital-based companies. For this purpose, the authors provide a holistic model of total quality service that reflects the peculiarities of such companies, guided by the question: how do total quality service practices change in digital-based service organizations?

The authors conduct an illustrative case study on Healthware Group, a global integrated digital health organization, to evaluate theoretical assumptions about total quality service practices in the digital environment.

The findings allow to validate the model provided. In addition, the study enables them to observe the changes the authors are witnessing in service provision in the digital era and the consequent transformation of best practices. To be accurate, the authors cannot refer to a full transformation in digital-based companies but rather to the enrichment and extension of TQS practices. The best illustration of these conclusions has been summarized in a set of propositions corresponding to seven of the key levers of a TQS model.

The paper represents the first attempt to discuss the relationship between total quality service and digitalization, offering a set of propositions for academics and insights for practitioners. The model can be used as a tool to visualize the different levers that successful implementation of TQS in digital-based services companies can rely on.

Looks at the first 100 years of Italian cinema examining its role in Italy’s recent history. Provides a bibliography of major film directors, Italian cinema sources, reference works, histories, themes, theory and criticism and articles in journals.

This work aims to assess the potential of a Bio-District as a model for applying the circular economy concerning the waste scope. It aims to understand the capability of organic farms to manage waste with a circular perspective, starting with the use of indicators that directly or indirectly impact the waste scope.

This study is based on previous work that identified and systematised the circular indicators of the agri-food sector within a dashboard. With this research as a basis, the indicators within the waste scope in the dashboard were extracted. Cross-linked indicators with an indirect connection to the waste scope were also systematised and tested in a case study. Primary and secondary data were used for the study. The primary data came from a semi-structured interview, and the secondary data were from official databases.

The work highlights two important results. The first allows the definition of a subclassification of indicators by product and organisation, extracting those with a cross-linked characteristic concerning the waste scope. Secondly, the indicators' application shows the farm's circular and waste valorisation potential within the Bio-District. The study also made it possible to test a new indicator, the “Potential Energy Biomass Recovery”, to measure the farm's potential to produce energy from waste.

This research proposes a new circular economy approach to evaluate waste management in the agri-food sector.

This study aims to analyze the opportunities and potential of industrial tourism for the agri-food industry in the current post-pandemic scenario. Industrial tourism can favor appropriate behaviors by companies and tourists to address emerging challenges in the post-pandemic era, such as responsible production and consumption and the containment of waste production.

The adopted research method is a case study with exploratory purposes, applied to an industrial tourism experiment called “Make it in Puglia” (Apulia Region, Italy). The case study was based on participant observation and semi-structured interviews.

This study analyzes how industrial tourism in active agri-businesses allows local areas to be enhanced while simultaneously improving and strengthening sustainable strategies and choices for organizations and customers, especially in the changing context of the post-pandemic era.

The country specificity of this project and the limited duration of the investigation in the post-pandemic period were the main limitations of this study.

Industrial tourism in the agri-food business can contribute to a sustainable strategy for destination management based on new elements of attractiveness. Moreover, industrial tourism represents an opportunity for agri-food businesses, through the promotion of “business tours,” to respond to requests for more sustainable practices, especially considering that food waste and resource use efficiency have become a topic of growing concern.

This paper is one of the first studies that considers industrial tourism as a strategy for achieving sustainable development goals (SDGs) in the agribusiness sector, as it analyzes industrial tourism as an instrument in the construction of a cohesive ecosystem where tourism, agri-food business and local communities together pursue preservation and safeguarding of the environment, heritage and territory.

The aim of this paper is to understand if service innovation (Helkkula et al., 2018), based on artificial intelligence (AI) systems, may guarantee healthcare service ecosystem (H-SES) well-being (Frow et al., 2019; Beirão et al., 2017), taking into account that many doubts relieved in terms of transparency may compromise the patients' perceived quality of health services provided through AI systems.

A literature review on service innovation, detected in terms of value co-creation, and service ecosystem, investigated in terms of well-being, is drawn. To analyze the implications of service innovation on a H-SES well-being, through the technology acceptance degree and predisposition to use by actors, a case study based on TAM-model 3 determinants as categories is carried out.

AI-based service innovation archetypes in healthcare may be considered as antecedents of the service ecosystem well-being conditions as long as they enable actors to co-create value. To make it possible, a patient-driven service innovation is necessary in order to mitigate the risks of its inactivity due to fears in terms of transparency.

Service innovation and service ecosystem well-being may be studied in an integrated way, with a multidisciplinary approach, and are linked by value co-creation, because only thanks a patient-driven service innovation is possible to foster service ecosystem well-being in healthcare.

This paper deals with analyzing the relationships between the domains of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Missions envisaged by the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP). Specifically, the authors refer to Mission 2 (Green revolution and ecological transition) and to the statistical indicators related to the M2C1 component (Circular economy and sustainable agriculture).

The numerous data available were analyzed at a regional level using multivariate statistical methodologies (Totally Fuzzy and Relative method) capable of summarizing the various information to evaluate the current situation relating to the “circular economy and sustainable agriculture” component. The presence of multiple updated data allows for the development of a holistic approach to the evaluation of the local government policies in place and to be able to monitor the progress of the subsequent intervention policies of the Italian government.

No Findings.

NRRP represents an opportunity for development for the area, providing for reforms and substantial investments for the promotion of circular economy solutions, the improvement of the capacity for efficient and sustainable waste management, the strengthening of the infrastructures for treatment of waste and separate collection, the reduction of the North/South gap.

Operational energy use in buildings accounts for 28% of global energy demand. One method to reduce operational energy is upgrading old appliances to more efficient ones. In Australia, the most common residential heating type is reverse-cycle heating, followed by gas heating. This article aims to determine the energy balance resulting from a gas heating upgrade through a life cycle assessment (LCA).

Extensive primary data were collected for operational energy performance of 61 ducted gas heating upgrades. To address the scarcity of data on material composition, one ducted gas heater was deconstructed and assessed in terms of material composition (types and weights). The comparison between embodied energy and operational energy savings allows us to establish whether operational energy savings offset the embodied energy incurred with the upgrade. The end of life stage of the old appliance, as well as the production, construction and use stage of the new appliance were assessed.

The results show that the operational energy savings offset the following impact categories: global warming, ozone layer depletion, aquatic acidification, nonrenewable energy and carcinogens. Only the mineral extraction is not offset by the operational energy savings. The results clearly demonstrate that operational energy savings outweigh the embodied energy and therefore contribute positively to the environment.

This study is the first to focus on the LCA of building services through extensive primary data collection and a focus on a high number of appliances. This supports ongoing energy efficient upgrades in Australia and paves the way for further, similar studies to confirm or disprove these findings in other parts of the world.

This paper aims to investigate the role of Smart Technologies and Big Data as relevant dimensions in affecting the emerging social and economic dynamics of society with the aim to trace possible guidelines and pathways for decision makers and researchers interested in the governance of the Smart City’s ecosystem. The increasing attention to the domain of technologies and the amazing scenario that is emerging as a consequence of the influence of Smart Technology and Big Data in everyday life require reflection upon the ways in which the world is changing.

The paper adopts the interpretative lens provided by the systems thinking to investigate the challenging domain of the Smart City. A qualitative and interpretative approach is adopted to reflect upon the role of technologies in everyday life.

The Smart City ecosystem is defined as a multilevel construct useful for understanding how technical and technological dimensions of the Smart City can be managed not only as supportive instruments but also as key pillars to support, facilitate and ensure an effective cognitive alignment among all the involved actors.

This paper provides a tangible evidence of the systems thinking contribution in analysing, understanding and managing dimensions and paths of social dynamics. A contribution to previous studies is provided with reference to systems thinking, Big Data and Smart City.