140 research outputs found
Complex networks in adaptation and mitigation to climate change
No full textThe human-nature interaction is threatened by a changing climate. Innovative solutions are needed to limit the global warming, while promoting a sustainable future. Policy and action require new approaches that represent the complexity of and the interactions between multiple domains. The thesis shows how complex networks can achieve this goal. The thesis is structured in four chapters and presents applications in three domains: adaptation, mitigation and innovation. The first chapter maps the global landscape of climate services and shows how collaboration between different institutions stimulates the creation of information-based and technology-fueled innovations. The second chapter studies hydropower project financing, investors’ behavior, and the optimal allocation of finance to support a just energy transition at global level. The third chapter assesses and measures the gap between research and action in Europe by combining network science and machine learning in an innovative and scalable framework. The fourth chapter explores how networks of words can inform about the optimal business models for climate services
The role of knowledge networks in facilitating the creation of climate information services
No full textnowledge networks are collections of individuals and teams who work together across organizational, spatial and disciplinary boundaries to invent and share a body of knowledge. Climate services are tools and application that support decision-making by transforming raw climate data into tailored information. They call for co-development practices in place and for successful collaboration between different stakeholders. Knowledge networks for climate services are intermediaries that facilitate the interaction between upstream (providers) and downstream (user) actors operating at various scales (local, national, regional and supranational). They assist the decision-making process of a wide set of users by creating windows of opportunity and by delivering usable climate information. The aim of this work is to frame and assess the efficiency of knowledge networks for climate services in promoting innovation and facilitate its diffusion. First, we characterize knowledge networks learning from insights of a multidisciplinary literature. Second, we analyse the purpose, the process and the audience of each knowledge network for climate services by screening their programmatic documents. We then assess the efficiency of knowledge networks by performing content analysis of interviews with knowledge network managers and by checking for the existence of inconsistencies or gaps with the initial objectives. We find knowledge networks for climate services pursue four objectives: coordination, innovation promotion, science-policy interface and support to members. We also find inadequate tools to monitor the members activities, but a strong positioning within the climate services domain. On the communication side, knowledge networks for climate services mostly interact with developers of climate services but they face challenges in sharing the members’ activities with users. Our work fills a significant knowledge gap and helps providing new tools of performance assessment in absence of a clearly defined methodology. The identification of bottlenecks and under-performing mechanisms in the climate information services sphere allows the elaboration of strategies to improve the status quo and facilitates the diffusion of these innovations
Inventive activity and knowledge flows in the Mediterranean area: A social network analysis based investigation approach
No full textThis paper investigates the collaboration of inventive activities at firm level in the Mediterranean area by investigating, through social network analysis, the collaboration between the two shores of Mediterranean area. Using patent data, our aim is to capture some relevant features of inventive activities in the Mediterranean region. Moreover, thanks to a social network analysis based approach, we investigate the collaboration at firm level in inventive activities. Results lead to important policy insights. In the recent years, many attempts to develop and implement innovation, science and technology policies have been made by the Mediterranean countries, especially on the African continent. Our results can help in highliting the efficacy of such policies. Particularly, our findings can promote policies for innovation and improve research collaboration among OECD inventors
Finding the right partners? Examining inequalities in the global investment landscape of hydropower
No full textClean and affordable energy is crucial to achieve a sustainable future. Despite being controversial, hydropower remains the predominant low-cost and reliable source of energy at global level, as it stabilizes the provision of electricity and it bears the power peaks without losing efficiency. However, hydropower requires huge upfront investments and patient functional capital. Under the Paris Agreement, countries committed to direct financial capital flows towards a low-emission pathway in order to enable the transition. Furthermore, private capital strongly engaged with a transition towards a climate-smart economy. The aim of this work is to study the investment system behind hydropower, investors’ behaviour and the optimal allocation of finance to favour the deployment of capital flows. We use Bloomberg Energy Finance database to track public–private investments over the past century (1903–2020). We use network models to represent the hydropower project financing landscape as a network of co-investments. We find that investors are highly localized, with continental players mostly interacting with counterparts in the same area of the world. Powerful exceptions are international organisations and multilateral banks which coinvest across the globe. They also tend to support low-income and fragile countries, meeting their mandate of sustainable development champions. Multilateral banks and international organisations are the most critical actors in enabling public–private co-investments; they activate partnerships with a wider diversity of investors within the network creating more opportunities for blended finance tools. Our results offer a novel perspective on finance for the energy transition: it challenges the idea that more capital invested is better and calls for a more efficient allocation of the available resources
Cultural heritage and disasters risk: A machine-human coupled analysis
No full textNatural hazards represent a major threat to cultural heritage. Literature has analyzed this nexus using different approaches depending on their focus. To provide a comprehensive understanding of the core pillars structuring the field, we use a machine-human methodology that combines bibliometric and machine-learning text analysis. We focus on a sample of 565 peer-reviewed documents published between 1988 and 2020. Results prove there is increasing interest in the topic, covering different types of hazards depending on the area of interest and its most frequently associated risks. To enhance the granularity of the analysis we apply machine learning to the pub- lications abstracts and we classify documents based on their core topics. We find that the field is highly diverse and includes conservation, restoration and management of historical sites and cultural heritage. Scholars use sophisticated tools and innovative methodologies to account for this heterogeneity. We highlight the need for stronger interdisciplinarity in the field and we call for further progresses in spatial-explicit analysis. Finally, we point towards more inclusion of humanities in the area to account for the cultural aspects of heritage protection
Beyond standard economic approaches: complex networks in climate finance
No full textThe financial system is a key tool to enable the shift towards a climate - smart economy: by reallocating capital to low- carbon assets, it internalizes the climate externality. However, the financia l sector operates as an ecosystem of evolving agents continuously shaping the outcomes they jointly generate. Hence, the consequences of global warming and the climate impacts are potentially amplified by the micro and meso dynamics of agents interacting with each other and with technologies and institutions in the space they operate. In this working paper, w e present a concise but exhaustive review about complex networks models and methods applied to climate finance. We show where networks can overcome the limitations of standard economic models in both macroprudential regulation and capital allocation. We present the main challenges ahead and we discuss the importance of a renewed research -policy dialogue to advance the discipline
Analisi preliminare degli effetti di superficie indotti dal sisma Umbro-Marchigiano del 26 settembre 1997
No full textMapping the landscape of climate services
No full textClimate services are technology-intensive, science-based and user-Tailored tools providing timely climate information to a wide set of users. They accelerate innovation, while contributing to societal adaptation. Research has explored the advancements of climate services in multiple fields, producing a wealth of interdisciplinary knowledge ranging from climatology to the social sciences. The aim of this paper is to map the global landscape of research on climate services and to identify patterns at individual, affiliation and country level and the structural properties of each community. We use a sample of 358 records published between 1974 and 2018 and quantitatively analyze them. We provide insights into the main characteristics of the community of climate services through Bibliometrics and complement these findings with Network Science. We have computed the centrality of each actor as derived from a Principal Component Analysis of 42 different measures. By exploring the structural properties of the networks of individuals, institutions and countries we derive implications on the most central agents. Furthermore, we detect brokers in the network, capable of facilitating the information flow and increasing the cohesion of the community. We finally analyze the abstracts of the sample via Content Analysis. We find a progressive shift towards climate adaptation and user-centric visions. Agriculture and Energy are the top mentioned sectors. Anglophone countries and institutions are quantitatively dominant, and they are also important in connecting different discipline of the network of scholars, by building on established partnerships. Finding that nodes facilitating the diffusion of information flows (the brokers) are not necessarily the most central, but have a high degree of interdisciplinarity facilitating interactions of different communities. Social media abstract. #WhoisWho in #climateservices? A comprehensive map of research in #Europe and beyond
Business models for climate services: An analysis
No full textClimate services support mitigation and adaptation to climate change and encourage a science-based and climate-informed policy development. A performing market is vital for supporting uptake of climate services. The diffusion of innovations depends on how business models – meant as firms’ strategic choices to create, capture and share value within a value network – are employed. Innovation in business model, rather than product innovation only, has been proved useful for overcoming bottlenecks associated with development and diffusion of technologies. But only few studies have analysed how business models are used within the context of climate services. We fill this gap by using a sample of 32 climate services provisions at different stage of development. We use an original and revised version the Business Model Canvas as a framework to facilitate the data collection and analysis processes. A quali-quantitative approach is employed to tackle the content of the administered semi-structured interviews and to map them into a connected set of nodes representing concepts as provided by the selected informants. By combining Content and Network Analysis we present how business model aspects interact both within and across components. We find that the Value Network in which climate services operate is crucial for success, while a subscription, online-based infrastructure is a widespread tool in reaching the target users. The creation of partnerships and consortia of organisations allows mutual learning opportunities to happen and boosts the innovation behind these products. We focus on the graph giant component to highlight the role of co-creation approach in generating direct and indirect incremental innovations while delivering seasonal forecasts and tailor-made services. Finally, we call for tighter link between business and climate-related aspects to enhance the importance of financial considerations around climate services provision
Prevalence and predictors of flare after immunosuppressant discontinuation in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus in remission
No full textPatients with SLE are often exposed to prolonged immunosuppression since few data on flare recurrence in remitted patients who discontinued immunosuppressants are available. We aimed to assess the rate and predictors of flare after immunosuppressant withdrawal in SLE patients in remission
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