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The perception of costs and benefits allows residents to carry out an assessment that determines their attitude towards tourism. This study seeks to determine the effect of the perceived benefits and costs (economic, sociocultural and environmental) on the support to the arrival of more tourists, both directly and mediated by overall attitude towards tourism, in the case of Punta del Este. Punta del Este forms part of the Department of Maldonado and is the main sun and beach tourism destination in the Oriental Republic of Uruguay. The questionnaire contained items with five-point Likert scales and sociodemographic questions. The data used (obtained between March and August 2016) are made up of a sample of 420 residents from Maldonado and Punta del Este. The analysis of the data has been carried out through partial least squares (PLS) regression, specifically SmartPLS. Among the results, it should be noted that benefits and costs perceived have no direct effect on the support to the arrival of more tourists; only economic benefits (positive) and sociocultural costs (negative) have a significant effect on the overall attitude towards tourism; the support to the arrival of more tourists depends exclusively on the overall attitude.

Novel approaches to tourism have been encouraged as a development strategy for the developing world, from governments and international organizations in the fulfillment of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals. The UNWTO has been playing an important role in this regard with the launch of programs like UNWTO.Volunteers. The literature reveals, however, that the majority of development programs still follow neoliberal approaches, despite a growing interest in applying knowledge and learning postrationalist approaches. Through a case study undertaken in 2008 focusing on UNWTO.Volunteers and its application in Chiapas, this chapter discusses how knowledge and learning approaches are being applied by UNWTO, arguing that it makes an attempt to follow some of the premises claimed by postrationalist theories.

This chapter addresses the economic assessment of health benefits of active transport and presents most recent valuation studies with an overview of progresses made towards the inclusion of health benefits in the cost-benefit analysis (CBA) of active transport.

It is built upon the contracted study for the World Health Organization (WHO) on the economic appraisal of health benefits of walking and cycling investments at the city of Viana do Castelo, the former pilot study in Portugal for evaluating the health benefits of non-motorized transport using the WHO Health Economic Assessment Tool (HEAT). The relative risk values adopted in the HEAT for walking refer to adult population of the age group 20–74 years and the assessment focus in on average physical activity/regular behaviour of groups of pedestrians and all-cause mortality health impacts. During the case study, it was developed and implemented a mobility survey which aimed to collect behavioural data before and after a street intervention in the historic centre.

Most recent appraisal guidance of walking and cycling and health impact modelling studies reviewed confirm that further research is expected before a more comprehensive appraisal procedure can be adopted in Europe, able to integrate physical activity effects along with other health risks such as those related to road traffic injuries and exposure to air pollution.

The health benefits assessment of walking investments helped local decision-makers to progress towards sustainable mobility options in the city. Making the population aware of the potential health benefits of regular walking can encourage more people to uptake active transport as part of their daily activities.

This study provides a useful review of the health benefits of active transport with a comprehensive analysis of valuation studies, presenting value-added information. It then reports a former assessment of the health effects of active transport in the Portuguese context (case study) using the state-of-the-art economic analysis tool (HEAT) of the World Health Organization which is believed to contribute to a paradigm shift in the transport policy and appraisal practice given the need of shaping future cities (and their citizens) for health through more investments in active transport.

This chapter investigates the need to focus on the gap between the pure quantification of the body, expressed by robotic implants, and recent research aiming to recover qualitative aspects of touch, such as sensation. The solution proposed is to analyse new implant technologies with a stereoscopic vision that is able to consider sensation both as intensity of neural signals and as something that we feel. The central question is: what is the value of introducing qualitative analysis into typically quantified robotics research, governed by data?

Swedish society has systematically worked to improve children's health and well-being since the early twentieth century and is considered a leading figure globally in battling violence against children. Awareness of violence against children and its detrimental effects on development and health is generally high in Sweden. Violence is also broadly recognised as a violation of human rights. A ban on corporal punishment was enacted in 1948 in social childcare institutions, in 1958 in schools, and in 1979 at home. The more recent landmark was the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, established as law on 1 January 2020. In line with convention's Article 12, stating that a child has the right to express their views in all matters affecting them, more attention to child participation has been paid since 2020. This chapter provides several recent examples of strategic measures that have been used to enhance child participation in governmental assignments and enquiries and state-funded research. We discuss the examples considering the United Nations convention and child participation methods and pinpoint opportunities and obstacles to further develop and consolidate child participation as a norm in publicly funded societal activities.

This study aims to investigate how residents in Cagliari (a port of call in the island of Sardinia, Italy) perceive the economic, environmental and socio-cultural impacts (both positive and negative) of cruise tourism and to what extent they would like to support the idea of further cruise tourism development within the destination, also making a comparison with other types of tourism. Findings show that residents have overall a positive attitude towards cruise tourism development, and also very little concern when negative impacts are considered. However, cruise tourism is not the most preferred when compared with other types of tourism. Further, they highlight that significant differences based on socio-economic and demographic characteristics exist in residents’ perceptions and attitudes towards cruise tourism development and in their preferences for different types of tourism development. Implications for policymakers are discussed and suggestions for further research are given.