Search Results (1,476)

This study proposes a novel curriculum framework for Smart Breeding 4.0 to address the interdisciplinary talent gap in sustainable agriculture. Responding to the limitations of traditional agricultural education, the curriculum was developed through an analysis of emerging technological trends and industry needs. It is structured around four integrated modules: (1) Foundational Theory, tracing the evolution to data-driven breeding; (2) Technology Integration, combining AI and blockchain for precision breeding; (3) Practical Innovation, using real-world platforms for simulation projects; (4) Ethics and Policy, cultivating responsibility through case studies. Teaching emphasizes project-based learning with open-source tools, while assessment combines exams, data analysis, and innovation proposals. Explicitly aligned with key UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), this conceptual framework provides a foundational model for agricultural universities worldwide. The primary contribution of this paper lies in its systematic design; future research will focus on empirical validation through pilot implementation. Full article

Deep retrofits are one of the few pathways to decarbonize the existing building stock while simultaneously improving climate resilience. These retrofits improve insulation, airtightness, and mechanical equipment efficiency. NRCan’s Prefabricated Exterior Energy Retrofit (PEER) project developed prefabricated building envelope retrofit solutions to enable net-zero performance. The PEER process was demonstrated on two different pilot projects completed between 2017 and 2023. In 2024, in partnership with industry partners, NRCan developed new low-carbon retrofit panel designs and completed a pilot project to evaluate their performance and better understand resiliency and occupant comfort post-retrofit. The Low-Carbon Climate-Resilient (LCCR) Living Lab pilot retrofit was completed in 2024 in Ottawa, Canada, using low-carbon PEER panels. This paper outlines the design and construction for the pilot, including panel designs, the retrofitting process, and post-retrofit building and envelope commissioning. The retrofitting process included the design and installation of new prefabricated exterior retrofitted panels for the walls and the roof. These panels were insulated with cellulose, wood fibre, hemp, and chopped straw. During construction, blower door testing and infrared imaging were conducted to identify air leakage paths and thermal bridges in the enclosure. The retrofit envelope thermal resistance is RSI 7.0 walls, RSI 10.5 roof, and an RSI 3.5 floor with 0.80 W/m²·K U-factor high-gain windows. The measured normalized leakage area @10Pa was 0.074 cm²/m². The net carbon stored during retrofitting was over 1480 kg CO₂. Monitoring equipment was placed within the LCCR to enable the validation of hygrothermal models for heat, air, and moisture transport, and energy, comfort, and climate resilience models. Full article

The NewEcoSmart project addresses the need to foster inclusive green and digital transitions in rural habitat sectors by systematically assessing local socio-technical readiness and tailoring capacity-building interventions. We adapted the validated SCIROCCO Exchange Maturity Self-Assessment Tool—selecting eight dimensions relevant to environmental, technological and social innovation—and conducted a two-phase evaluation across three pilot sites in Italy, Portugal and Spain. Phase 1 mapped stakeholder evidence against predefined criteria; Phase 2 engaged local actors (45+ adults, SMEs and micro-firms) in a self-assessment to determine digital, green and entrepreneurial skill gaps. For each domain of the SCIROCCO Tool, local actors can assign a minimum of 0 to a maximum of 5. The final score of the SCIROCCO tool can be a minimum of 0 to a maximum of 40. Quantitative maturity scores revealed heterogeneous profiles (Pacentro and Majella Madre = 5; Yecla = 10; Adelo Area = 23), underscoring diverse ecosystem strengths and limitations. A qualitative analysis, framed by Smart Healthy Age-Friendly Environments (SHAFE) domains, identified emergent training needs that are clustered at three levels: MACRO (community-wide awareness and engagement), MESO (decision-maker capacity for strategic planning and governance) and MICRO (industry-specific practical skills). The adapted SCIROCCO tool effectively proposes the assessment of socio-technical maturity in rural contexts and guides the design of a modular, multi-layered training framework. These findings support the need for scalable deployment of interventions that are targeted to the maturity of the local ecosystems to accelerate innovations through equitable green and digital transformations in complex socio-cultural settings. Full article

This study investigates the utilisation of AI tools, including Grammarly Free, QuillBot Free, Canva Free Individual, and others, to enhance learning outcomes for 180 s-year telecommunications engineering students at Universidad Politécnica de Madrid. This research incorporates teaching methods like problem-based learning, experiential learning, task-based learning, and content–language integrated learning, with English as the medium of instruction. These tools were strategically used to enhance language skills, foster computational thinking, and promote critical problem-solving. A control group comprising 120 students who did not receive AI support was included in the study for comparative analysis. The control group’s role was essential in evaluating the impact of AI tools on learning outcomes by providing a baseline for comparison. The results indicated that the pilot group, utilising AI tools, demonstrated superior performance compared to the control group in listening comprehension (98.79% vs. 90.22%) and conceptual understanding (95.82% vs. 84.23%). These findings underscore the significance of these skills in enhancing communication and problem-solving abilities within the field of engineering. The assessment of the pilot course’s forum revealed a progression from initially error-prone and brief responses to refined, evidence-based reflections in participants. This evolution in responses significantly contributed to the high success rate of 87% in conducting complex contextual analyses by pilot course participants. Subsequent to these results, a project for educational innovation aims to implement the AI-PBL-CLIL model at Universidad Politécnica de Madrid from 2025 to 2026. Future research should look into adaptive AI systems for personalised learning and study the long-term effects of AI integration in higher education. Furthermore, collaborating with industry partners can significantly enhance the practical application of AI-based methods in engineering education. These strategies facilitate benchmarking against international standards, provide structured support for skill development, and ensure the sustained retention of professional competencies, ultimately elevating the international recognition of Spain’s engineering education. Full article

Background: Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) affects up to 40% of patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD), yet conventional rehabilitation often lacks engagement. The OPERA project developed a novel Bio-cooperative Robotic Platform (PRoBio), integrating a service robot and a virtual reality-based rehabilitation for personalized cognitive training. This work presents two preliminary user-centred studies aimed to assess PRoBio usability and acceptability. Methods: to gather qualitative feedback on robotic and virtual reality technologies, through ad hoc questionnaires, developed according to participatory design principles and user-centered evaluation literature, Study 1 (Focus group) involved 23 participants: 10 PD patients (F = 6; mean age = 68.9 ± 8.2 years), 5 caregivers (F = 3; mean age = 49.0 ± 15.5), 8 healthcare professionals (F = 6; mean age = 40.0 ± 12.0). Study 2 (Living Lab) tested the final version of PRoBio platform with 6 healthy volunteers (F = 3; mean age = 50.3 ± 11.0) and 8 rehabilitation professionals (F = 3; mean age = 32.8 ± 9.9), assessing usability and acceptability through validated questionnaires. Results: The focus group revealed common priorities across the three groups, including ease of use, emotional engagement, and personalization of exercises. Living Lab unveiled PRoBio as user-friendly, with high usability, hedonic quality, technology acceptance and low workload. No significant differences were found between groups, except for minor concerns on system responsiveness. Discussion: These preliminary findings support the feasibility, usability, and emotional appeal of PRoBio as a cognitive rehabilitation tool. The positive convergence among the groups suggests its potential for clinical integration. Conclusions: These preliminary results support the feasibility and user-centred design of the PRoBio platform for cognitive rehabilitation in PD. The upcoming usability evaluation in a pilot study with patients will provide critical insights into its suitability for clinical implementation and guide further development. Full article

The development of algal bioplastics offers a promising pathway toward sustainable materials that can mitigate reliance on fossil fuel-derived plastics. This article reviews recent advances in algal cultivation, strain optimization, biopolymer extraction, and processing technologies, alongside techno-economic and life cycle assessments. Special emphasis is placed on integrated biorefinery models, innovative processing techniques, and the role of government–industry–academia partnerships in accelerating commercialization. The analysis incorporates both demonstrated algal systems and theoretical applications derived from established microbial processes, reflecting the emerging nature of this field. The environmental advantages, market readiness, and scalability challenges of algal bioplastics are critically evaluated, with reference to peer-reviewed studies and industrial pilot projects. The analysis underscores that while technical feasibility has been demonstrated, economic viability and large-scale adoption depend on optimizing yield, reducing production costs, and fostering collaborative frameworks. Future research priorities include enhancing strain performance via AI-enabled screening, expanding product valorization streams, and aligning regulatory standards to support global market integration. Full article

Mountain regions are increasingly affected by the interplay of climate change, infrastructure stress, and evolving socio-ecological systems, intensifying pressure on both water and energy systems. This systematic review investigates how recent scientific literature addresses the management and integration of water and energy systems in mountainous contexts. Following PRISMA guidelines, 88 peer-reviewed studies from 2022 to 2025 were selected through structured database queries and thematic screening. Two key imbalances emerge. First, a geographical imbalance is evident: while the majority of studies come from Asia, Europe shows a strong record of applied efforts, the Americas are moderately represented, and research from Africa remains scarce. Second, a thematic imbalance: water management research is conceptually and methodologically mature, while energy-focused studies remain limited in number and scope. Efforts toward integrated water–energy management are emerging but are mostly confined to pilot projects or modelling exercises, often lacking systemic framing and institutional support. From these findings, three priority directions are identified: advancing adaptive co-design approaches that link water supply, energy storage, ecological flows, and human demand; harmonizing methods, metrics and cross-regional benchmarks to enhance comparability and transferability; strengthening social and institutional pathways to foster resilient, adaptive water–energy systems in mountain environments. Full article

Inland Waterway Transport (IWT) is widely recognised as an energy-efficient freight mode, yet its decarbonisation is increasingly constrained not by propulsion technology, but by the absence of infrastructure capable of delivering clean energy where and when it is needed. This paper presents a structured review of over a decade of academic, policy and technical literature, identifying systemic gaps in current decarbonisation strategies. The analysis shows that most pilot projects are vessel-specific, and poorly scalable, with infrastructure planning rarely based on vessel-level energy demand data, leaving energy provision as an afterthought. Current approaches overemphasise technology readiness while neglecting the complexity of aligning supply chains, operational diversity, and infrastructure deployment. This review reframes IWT decarbonisation as a problem of provision, not propulsion. It calls for demand-led, demand driven, fuel agnostic infrastructure models and proposes a roadmap that integrates technical, operational, and policy considerations. Without rethinking energy access as a core design challenge—on par with vessel systems and regulatory standards—the sector risks investing in stranded assets and missing climate and modal shift targets. Aligning vessel operations with dynamic, scalable energy delivery systems is essential to achieve a commercially viable, fully decarbonised IWT sector. Full article

The Blue Schools initiative integrates the ocean into classroom learning through project-based approaches, cultivating environmental awareness and a deeper sense of responsibility toward marine ecosystems and human–ocean interactions. Although the European Blue School initiative has grown steadily since its launch in 2020, its uneven uptake raises important questions about the territorial factors that influence certification. This study examines the spatial determinants of Blue School certification in Mallorca, Spain, where a bottom-up pilot initiative successfully certified 100 schools. Using Maximum Entropy (MaxEnt) modeling, we estimated the spatial probability of certification based on 16 geospatial variables, including proximity to Blue Economy actors, hydrological networks, transport accessibility, and socio-economic indicators. The model achieved strong predictive performance (AUC = 0.84) and revealed that features such as freshwater ecosystems, traditional economic structures, and sustainable public transport play a greater role in school engagement than coastal proximity alone. The resulting suitability map identifies over 30 high-potential, non-certified schools, offering actionable insights for targeted outreach and educational policy. This research highlights the potential of presence-only modeling to guide the strategic expansion of Blue Schools networks. Full article

The transition to a circular economy requires effective food waste (FW) collection and recycling systems. This study aims to evaluate general public attitudes, behaviours, and systemic challenges related to FW sorting in Latvia, in light of the recent mandate for separate biowaste collection. The study covers two important sections—assessment of the amount of FW generated in primary production sectors, and a pilot case study of biodegradable waste sorting in selected households in Latvia. A mixed-methods approach was used, combining a nationwide survey of 458 entities involved in primary food production and 115 households, followed by 99 households with backyards voluntarily participating in a pilot case study to evaluate their BW management practices. The research findings reveal that there is a need to establish a precise/specific framework for the evaluation of FW for each sector; the development of appropriate coefficients would facilitate the process of estimating waste generated by primary production in the future. Research findings revealed that inhabitants are interested in home composting; however, the implementation of home composting requires active support from project implementers, including increasing environmental awareness and providing financial incentives. These results offer practical insights for municipalities and national stakeholders aiming to increase biowaste collection rates and support country-level broader sustainability goals. The research results have practical application with the possibility to replicate the best practices and recommendations to other countries or regions within the EU and beyond. Full article

This paper presents a BIM-oriented methodological framework for integrating air quality monitoring systems based on IoT sensors into building and infrastructure projects. A set of low-cost environmental sensors capable of measuring PM1, PM2.5, PM10, temperature, and humidity was deployed in a real residential setting to illustrate the proposed approach. To enable semantic integration within BIM workflows, a structured classification system, AllBIMclass, was developed. It provides dedicated hierarchical codes for environmental sensors, defined by monitored parameters, installation location (indoor, outdoor, or mixed), power supply, and data handling mode. The pilot experience demonstrated how sensors can be registered, classified, and linked to BIM models, supporting data visualisation and basic management tasks. AllBIMclass is available in Revit 2026 (version 26.6.4.409, build 20250227_1515, 64-bit) (TXT) and Archicad 28 (version 28.0.0, build 3001, x86–64-bit) (XML) formats and is fully compatible with IFC schemas. Although the framework has not yet been applied to large-scale projects, its components are technically operational and ready for implementation. This research contributes to bridging the gap between environmental monitoring and digital construction workflows, paving the way for integration into digital twins, smart buildings, and sustainable infrastructure systems. Full article

Wetlands play a vital role in conserving waterbirds, particularly along major European river systems such as the Danube River and its tributaries. To promote the importance of wetlands and address the lack of data on bird biodiversity in aquatic ecosystems, this study was conducted to assess the baseline status of a demonstration site within the European project DaWetRest. The research focused on a lesser-studied pilot area, the Danube North of Kopački rit, near the village of Draž, located in the tri-border region of Croatia, Hungary, and Serbia. Systematic ornithological monitoring was carried out monthly from January to December 2024 across three monitoring areas (total transect length: 4200 m). A total of 26 bird taxa were recorded, comprising 2148 individual observations. The most dominant species were the Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos), Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea), and Great Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo). Conversely, the species that were the least present were White Stork (Ciconia ciconia), Squacco Heron (Ardeola ralloides), Great Crested Grebe (Podiceps cristatus), Eurasian Teal (Anas crecca), and Black Stork (Ciconia nigra). This study also examines the seasonal dynamics of waterbirds, providing essential baseline data for evaluating the effectiveness of upcoming restoration measures planned for the area. Full article

Critical Infrastructures (CIs) are the backbone of modern societies, providing essential services whose disruption can have severe consequences. The interdependencies among the CIs, across sectors and national borders, add significant complexity to risk and resilience management. While various EU Directives and EU-funded projects have addressed CI risk management, most efforts have focused on individual infrastructures rather than systemic cross-sector and cross-border approaches. In the EU-funded project ATLANTIS, we address this gap by advancing CI risk and resilience assessment towards a fully integrated European protection framework. We emphasise a holistic, multi-level approach that transcends individual assets, enabling coordination across operators, sectors, and national borders. To this end, we introduce a comprehensive risk assessment methodology that explicitly accounts for interdependencies among CIs and evaluates potential impacts and probabilities of disruptive events. This methodology is underpinned by the tailored data management framework, structured across three integrated layers. To validate the approach, novel tools and methods were implemented and tested in three large-scale pilot exercises, conducted through a series of stakeholder workshops. Results indicated measurable improvements in CI preparedness and awareness, ranging from approximately 5% to 55%, depending on the threat scenario and stakeholder group. The findings demonstrate that our approach delivers added value by supporting enhanced decision-making and fostering consistent, cross-CI communication through a shared platform. This paper presents the key components, cross-CI and multi-threat risk assessment methodology, and testing outcomes of the ATLANTIS project, highlighting its contribution to advancing European CI resilience. Full article

Energy poverty presents a variety of complex challenges relating to equity, public health and territorial sustainability. Despite growing attention across European policy agendas, responses remain fragmented and often disconnected from local needs. This study proposes a strategic framework to promote social inclusion, territorial resilience, and multilevel governance in addressing energy poverty. The methodological approach is divided into three main phases. First, a literature review based on PRISMA guidelines was conducted, covering reports and pilot projects from 2010 to 2024. An inductive–deductive model was then used to analyse the literature, identifying five thematic areas and recurring gaps. The ultimate goal was to develop a framework that would tackle energy poverty. The results reveal persistent gaps: fragmented indicators, underdefined vulnerable groups, weak integration between energy and health policies, limited financial accessibility, and uncoordinated governance. In response, the paper introduces the Integrated Energy Resilience and Inclusion Network (IERIN), a governance-based framework structured around four conceptual pillars: equity, adaptability, participation, and proximity. The Nesima district of Catania is proposed as an exploratory context to test the framework and refine participatory tools. The study outlines practical strategies for achieving energy equity through co-design, cross-sectoral planning, and inclusive financing. The study outlines practical strategies for achieving energy equity through co-design, cross-sectoral planning, and inclusive financing. Full article

Background: In response to the high prevalence of burnout in nursing, a hospital research team developed, studied, and implemented RISE (Resilience, Insight, Self-Compassion, Empowerment), a novel psychoeducational group program designed to reduce distress and promote well-being among professional caregivers, specifically nurses and nurse leaders. Pilot studies and randomized controlled trials showed positive results, and thus, the program was operationalized. Methods: This quality improvement/quality assurance (QI/QA) project involved scaling the program and gathering data to evaluate implementation and impact on well-being indicators. The intervention involves structured weekly (8–9 weeks) 90-min group sessions integrating mindfulness, cognitive-behavioral techniques, and acceptance and commitment therapy. Eight licensed mental health providers were trained and delivered the program. Implementation outcomes included adoption/stakeholder engagement, fidelity, provider satisfaction, participant engagement, and sustainability. Participant outcomes were measured through validated scales and participant feedback forms. The implementation process was examined at the participant, provider, and organizational levels to identify barriers and enabling factors. Results: The program was implemented in seven acute care hospitals. From January 2023 to December 2024, 160 participants completed the program. Effective implementation strategies included intensive training and supervision of qualified providers, multi-departmental collaborations, and rigorous fidelity monitoring. Quality improvement processes addressed challenges such as early attrition and administrative burden. Evaluation data from pre- and post-intervention surveys demonstrated statistically significant improvements in psychological outcomes, with high satisfaction reported by both participants and providers. Conclusion: The findings support the effective implementation of the program as part of a broader organizational strategy to address nurse burnout and workforce mental health. Lessons, implications, and future directions for healthcare leaders are discussed. Full article