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Under this heading are published regularly abstracts of all Reports and Memoranda of the Aeronautical Research Council, Reports and Technical Notes of the United States National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics and publications of other similar Research Bodies as issued

Biodiversity loss now ranks as one of the most significant global drivers of environmental change. In an increasingly urbanized world, there is enormous potential to address this problem through conservation, restoration, and creation of new urban ecosystems. This chapter explores how nature-based solutions (NBS) can contribute to addressing the urgent problem of biodiversity loss in a way that goes beyond just greening gray environments. It then explores the alignment (and misalignment) between the ways in which NBS is framed as a nature conservation tool globally and the ways in which biodiversity is considered in urban approaches to NBS. Finally, the chapter explores the ways in which NBS might become an essential part of the solution to biodiversity and ecosystem decline. It discusses how NBS can be effectively leveraged to address the biodiversity crisis in urban areas, through conservation, restoration, and efforts to create thriving places for both people and nature. Although the concept of NBS in urban areas is fairly divorced from its nature conservation origins, reconnecting with those ecological roots is important for creating biodiverse, resilient cities. In so doing, NBS could offer a unified concept for environmental management in urban areas that integrates the ecological benefits of nature conservation with an innovative focus on confronting major societal challenges. Though this is a demanding task, it could provide a fit-for-purpose approach for conserving biodiversity and supporting functional ecosystems in the Anthropocene.

Over the past 20 years, entrepreneurial ecosystems (EEs) have emerged as a significant research field, inspiring several scholars to provide valuable contributions. The chapter aims to map the current state of literature by highlighting the most prominent research strands and the main theoretical lenses employed in the research field. By carrying out a systematic literature review and bibliometric analysis, the study examines articles published over a period of 27 years. The time frame from 1996 to 2023 offers an extensive outlook of the field’s evolution and current trends, resulting in the identification of five research strands and different future research avenues. From the analysis of prior research works, this study provides an in-depth examination of the complex nature of EEs. The results hold theoretical and practical implications. From the scholars’ point of view, they offer future research directions to move the current level of knowledge forward. From the entrepreneurs’ perspective, they provide valuable insights to address ongoing challenges and catch new opportunities within the dynamic panorama of EEs. Therefore, the insights are poised to drive future research, inform policymakers, and enhance business strategies aimed at fostering resilient EEs. In other words, the purpose is to provide readers with a well-rounded understanding over the state of the literature on EEs and the research strands that deserve further exploration.

Under this heading are published regularly abstracts of all Reports and Memoranda of the Aeronautical Research Council, Reports and Technical Notes of the United States National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics and publications of other similar Research Bodies as issued

This chapter aims to conceptualize the general framework of policies to support entrepreneurship and competitiveness by indicating a move from a dispersive comprehension of competitiveness towards an integrated macro-meso-micro perspective, by taking as a case study the European South. First, it presents theoretical contributions to entrepreneurship enhancement policies, which mostly suggest that intervention can be effective in a fragmentary and relatively incoherent way. Then, it counter-proposes the ‘competitiveness web’ approach, which gives an integrated policy framework for the competitive strengthening and evolution of a socioeconomic system. In the framework of competitiveness web, we analyze and propose a meso-micro level policy via the Institutes of Local Development and Innovation (ILDI), which is a policy for empowering the local and regional business ecosystems through the enhancement of business innovation. Finally, by using the competitiveness web filter, we propose the structuration of a mechanism that could identify the level at which the socioeconomic entities in different spatial levels can articulate their policies for entrepreneurship enhancement in the macro-meso-micro integrated approach.

‘Collaboration’ and ‘team’ are terms commonly used in literature related to the provision of health care, including rehabilitation. However, the complexity of the phenomena represented by these terms is often overlooked. ‘Collaboration’ is rarely defined, and ‘teams’ are often presented as easily identifiable and stable entities. Simplistic use of these terms often results in different aspects of interprofessional practice being researched and discussed without reference to the ‘messiness’ (the ambiguities and complexities) surrounding professional practice. As a consequence, health professionals may have difficulties in understanding the relevance of such research to their particular situations. This paper explores the complexities of the phenomenon of collaboration and the concept of team, with the aim of highlighting the benefits of researchers embracing rather than simplifying these phenomena. The paper reports on emerging models in action, which is one part of a wider research project exploring collaboration within rehabilitation teams. The research approach was informed by hermeneutic phenomenology. Insights gained through this project led to the development of two models: the first conceptualising collaboration in relation to domains of process, product and players; the other model proposing the notion of collaborative arenas. The model of collaborative arenas recognises the blurred boundaries and interrelated team memberships that occur in rehabilitation teams. Both models informed ongoing data collection and analysis for this research project and have potential to inform conceptualisation of teams and collaboration for other researchers.

The chapter systematises the leading conceptual frameworks for assessing the overall performance of entrepreneurial ecosystems (EEs). To provide a detailed examination, a descriptive analysis of the Italian landscape has been developed. This context has been chosen to address some contradictions. Despite its long history of industrial districts, it is consistently below the European average in the Global Entrepreneurship Index (GEI). Through a comprehensive exploration, the chapter identifies the key factors that might contribute to fostering its outcomes. The economic environment, entrepreneurial cultural attitude, institutional frameworks, and resource availability, such as finance and human capital, have been explored to measure the performance of the Italian EE. This in-depth country-level analysis offers invaluable insights for practitioners, scholars, and policymakers engaged in understanding the dynamics of EEs. The findings not only shed light on the salient traits of the Italian context but also contribute to the broader academic debate on the various factors that influence entrepreneurial activity, productive entrepreneurship, and the creation of aggregate value. Upon completing the chapter, readers will be able to increase their understanding on how to measure complex systems. This knowledge enables more informed decisions and supports the creation of conducive environments. Indeed, actors living in EEs can acquire the needed tools to appraise and enhance these ecosystems effectively.

In this chapter, the author has described the nexus between climate change and the evolution of refugee problems. The concept of climate refugee and the controversy between refugee and climate refugee were extensively elaborated. The estimates of climate refugees under various dimensions in different parts of the world were exemplified with statistical figures. The solutions of the refugee problems, funding, directions of estimates and social responsibilities towards refugees are described in the activities of international institutions like UNHCR, CCDO, UNFCCC, IPCC, the Red Cross and many others. The chapter also highlights some important policy issues such as charters, funds, response strategy to disaster and disaster recovery plans, support capacity building and climate change adaptation and so on and also cited policies taken by the G20 summit to care for refugees. Besides, the recommendations of COP23 were also included. In conclusion, ‘no climate change, no climate refugees’ slogan is incorporated with suggestions of taking care of sizable percentage shares of refugees by the rich nations.

Stainless steel pickling is a major generator of NOx emissions and is also a major producer of nitrate effluents. Hydrogen peroxide technologies have been developed and proven to suppress NOx emissions and also to replace nitric acid in the pickling process and hence remove the problem of nitrate effluent discharge. Presents case histories to illustrate the effectiveness of hydrogen peroxide both for NOx suppression and for nitric acid‐free pickling when pickling stainless steels.