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Energy Communities (ECs) have been introduced as a solution to address energy system development from a multidisciplinary perspective, with energy-related, environmental, and social targets as main pillars. While some countries still struggle with implementing basic rules for ECs, others, such as Austria, already go one step further and address the topic of allowing to participate in multiple ECs at the same time. The scientific literature to date lacks of studies that investigate whether it is profitable for a new participant to join multiple ECs instead of joining only one, and, which effect this would have on the existing ECs. Thus, this paper introduces a mathematical framework to optimally allocate a new participant within an existing set of ECs. The proposed economic-based decision making problem is formulated as a Mixed Integer Linear Programming (MILP) problem. While the model determines the economically optimal solution for a new participant, it is ensured that the initial situation of the existing ECs does not worsen. Results are provided for a set of ECs with different availability of resources and located in different settlement patterns, applying current Austrian legislation. Result shows that having multiple possibilities to share energy surplus and to satisfy energy demand can result in additional revenues of 6%, making multiple participation a valuable option to be considered by policy makers. • Mathematical framework for the allocation of a new participant in multiple ECs. • Ensuring to not worsen past ECs' energy exchanges with the supplier. • Introduction of participation shares for energy purchased and sold from/to each EC. • Economic benefits for a new participant considered as both a consumer and a prosumer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Participation rates have declined sharply across developed democracies. But the precise impact of this decline on party systems has proven difficult to study due to endogeneity concerns. This paper seeks to address this issue by leveraging a natural experiment in Austrian parliamentary elections. By examining instances in which compulsory voting was gradually repealed in a federal setting, I isolate the causal relationship between turnout decline and subsequent shifts in party vote share. The findings suggest that turnout decline is not associated with a significant redistribution of votes between parties. The clearest visible effect is a consolidation of the party system, with a mild shift in votes from minor to mainstream parties. Evaluating the findings, the paper argues that characteristics of proportional representation systems insulate parties against the consequences of declining electoral participation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Informatics or computer science (the terms informatics and computer science are used as synonyms in this paper) in Austrian secondary schools is often considered “difficult” and “not interesting” because of mainly mathematical and economical contents. But informatics is much more; it is used in almost every part of the working life and can also cooperate with every subject at school. It offers a wide range of possibilities for COOL (COoperative Open Learning), an Austrian teaching model based on the Dalton Plan that provides also cooperation between different subject matters. Besides the COOL concept this paper describes some ideas for cooperation between informatics and foreign languages at secondary schools and at University level besides just ICT (Information and Communication Technology) or computer-assisted language learning. The presented tasks are part of the project “COOL Informatics” (according to COoperative Open Learning) that aims at developing COOL teaching material based on neurodidactical (Neurodidactics is a relatively young research field that combines the findings of brain research, pedagogy, cognitive psychology and other related fields.) principles for informatics and cross-curricular cooperation from primary school up to University. On the basis of the developed material the following main research questions of the project shall be examined in the course of the next school year: (1) Can COoperative Open Learning methods help to enhance learning? (2) Can learning be enhanced by considering neurodidactical principles in the design of teaching material and in the classroom? As the first test phase of the developed material is still in progress the evaluation is not available at the moment. But the first informal feedback of a vocational school and a programming course at the University shows that it is worth fostering COoperative Open Learning and cross-curricular cooperation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper investigates the impact of exposure to actor-related news bias on party choice in the 2008 Austrian elections. More specifically, this work introduces relative and relational measures of party and candidate biases in electoral reporting and outlines their effects on vote choice. The applied integrative understanding of party and candidate bias in the news, combining visibility and valence, results in a single measure classifying parties and party leaders in media-outlet-specific bias spectra. To measure bias exposure effects on party choice, the candidate and party bias levels in each newspaper are weighted with the individual exposure to these papers. This study rests on the analytical linkage between a media content analysis of Austrian daily newspapers and a representative post-election survey. Firstly, this investigation shows that the Austrian newspaper coverage is characterized by clear, not uniform but rather outlet-specific, biases toward parties and their leaders. Above all, the tabloid press primarily focuses on a strong polarization and duelization regarding the parties and the leaders contesting for chancellorship. Secondly, in a case study investigating the effects of news bias exposure on party choice regarding the governing parties, we find a positive relation between high exposure to advantageous party and candidate biases in newspapers and the probability to vote for the respective party. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Grub/Kranawetberg, a multilayered Gravettian site in Lower Austria, is one of many Gravettian open-air sites of Central Europe. These sites are well-known since a long time for their settlement structures, but also rich lithic inventories as well as organic tools, personal adornments, and art objects (e.g., Pavlov, Dolní Vestonice). While old excavation and recording techniques do not allow a detailed intrasite spatial analysis of these sites, the ongoing fieldwork at Grub/Kranawetberg provides us with abundant and detailed information about spatial organization of a Gravettian open-air site in Central Europe. The site is excavated since 1993 and yielded four archaeological horizons with abundant finds (including numerous personal adornments) and some evident structures. The main focus of this paper is on the GIS-based methodology of intrasite spatial analysis, especially emphasizing the possibilities of recognizing formation processes, size-sorting and locating a possible dwelling. Application of various methods, among them piece-plotting, mapping of find quantities, application of kernel density estimates and ring and sector analysis, in the 1995 and 1996 excavation area showed latent structures which are interpreted as evidence for a dwelling in this area of the site. In the last part of the paper the evidence of Grub/Kranawetberg is discussed and compared with other European Gravettian sites. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper aims to provide a new and practical approach called ‘Legislation-Check’ to identifying shortcomings in national legislation in terms of how well it implements sustainable development, and ways of improving the legislation. National legislation was chosen as it represents a sort of ‘skeleton of society’ and defines the status quo, as well as setting the main environmental, societal and economic directions of the population covered. The approach presented is based on a new concept called ‘3-D Sustainability’, which focuses on the precautionary principle. 3-D Sustainability provides criteria in a flexible hierarchy for solving conflicts of interest between economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainability. In this paper, these criteria and dimensions are applied to various sectors of Austrian national environmental legislation to identify the shortcomings of the legislation and ways of addressing these shortcomings. This paper shows, by way of quantitative data, a significant increase in the use of sustainability related terms in generally applicable legal instruments (both federal and provincial) in Austria since 2003. In qualitative terms the results of the paper further indicate, using national environmental legislation, several hierarchical disorders between different legal acts and opportunities for improving them. Furthermore, inadequacies in the way that the legislation handles sustainable development and a total lack of overall objectives and targets in terms of sustainability are highlighted, which can jeopardise sustainable development. The concept of ‘3-D Sustainability’ has not previously focused on national legislation, despite the practical importance of the legal implementation and enforcement on this geographic level. Hence, this paper contributes, through scientifically-based decision support, to practical pathways for the innovation of institutional, procedural and substantive arrangements in existing legislation. The approach presented in this paper is not restricted to environmental issues, but is applicable to all thematic areas. It is also not geographically limited, but could be implemented in any country and also beyond national borders. Furthermore, the approach can be easily replicated and provides systematically gained results for global governance change towards sustainable development. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper studies the realizability and compatibility of the three CEP2020 targets, focusing on electricity prices. We study the impact of renewables and other fundamental determinants on wholesale and household retail electricity prices in ten EU countries from 2008 to 2016. Increases in production from renewables decrease wholesale electricity prices in all countries. As decreases in prices should promote consumption, an apparent contradiction emerges between the target of an increase in renewables and the target of a reduction in consumption. However, the impact of renewables on the non-energy part of household wholesale electricity prices is positive in six countries. Therefore, decreases in wholesale prices, that may compromise the CEP2020 target of decrease in consumption, do not necessarily translate into lower household retail prices. Monte Carlo simulations suggest that the probability of achieving CEP's target of reductions in GHG emissions for 2020 is lower than 1% in Austria, Portugal, and Spain. In horizon 2030, Austria, France, Germany, Portugal, and Spain have probabilities lower than 1% of achieving the GHG emissions target. Finland and France present success probabilities lower than 1% on the national targets of renewable sources for 2020 and 2030 as do Austria and Spain with reductions in electricity consumption. • Renewables decrease wholesale electricity prices in ten EU countries in 2008-16. • Renewables increase the non-energy component of household prices in six countries. • Austria, Portugal, and Spain have less than 1% chance of reaching GHG target by 2020. • France and Finland have less than 1% chance of reaching renewables target by 2020. • Austria and Spain have less than 1% chance of reaching consumption target by 2020. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Spatial and temporal aspects of road safety data uncertainty are pointed out. • Challenges related to linking different data sources are highlighted. • Methodological considerations are exemplary illustrated with data from Austria. • Careful data preparation is a prerequisite for profound accident analysis. The analysis of potential influencing factors that affect the likelihood of road accident occurrence has been of major interest for safety researchers throughout the recent decades. Even though steady methodological progresses were made over the years, several impediments pertaining to the statistical analysis of crash data remain. While issues related to methodological approaches have been subject to constructive discussion, uncertainties inherent to the most fundamental part of any analysis have been widely neglected: data. This paper scrutinizes data from various sources that are commonly used in road safety studies with respect to their actual suitability for applications in this area. Issues related to spatial and temporal aspects of data uncertainty are pointed out and their implications for road safety analysis are discussed in detail. These general methodological considerations are exemplary illustrated with data from Austria, providing suggestions and methods how to overcome these obstacles. Considering these aspects is of major importance for expediting further advances in road safety data analysis and thus for increasing road safety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• UAS representatives in Austria expect past and present trends to continue in the future. • Expectations and Preferences of Delphi respondents as regards the future of the Austrian UAS sector do not differ much. • European UAS sectors show many common features, differences can be explained by path dependencies. • A convergence of UAS and University profiles can be observed in Austria. • The apparent gain for UAS as regards reputation and status may lead to a loss of distinctive features in the long run. As in most European countries, the higher education sector of Austria is characterized by a binary system consisting of Universities and Universities of Applied Sciences. However, the dynamic changes experienced in both sectors create the necessity to re-evaluate their individual profiles and the binary divide between them. Against this background a series of interlinked foresight studies on the perspectives and challenges of the Austrian Universities of Applied Sciences have been realized between 2010 and 2016, including a literature based trend analysis, a delphi study and explorative scenarios. This paper presents and discusses the main results of these studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We apply a new approach to examine where BEV users charge their vehicles. • Results support the importance of charging when the user is at home (88% of charges). • Results relativize the importance of charging when the user is at work (only 8.8%). • 1.7% and 1.5% of the charges occur at public normal or fast charging stations, resp. • Some public charging stations will not be profitable by only selling the energy. The availability of charging infrastructure forms the basis for the enforced market penetration of electric cars. This paper aims to examine the distribution of the allocation of future charges to the various types of charging stations in order to provide a starting point for the evaluation of the need for charging infrastructure, i.e. its number, design and cost-effectiveness. For the case study of Austria, a new approach to derive the allocation of charging processes is applied by using demographic variables and decision rules. As a result, it is found that 88% of the charges are conducted when the user is at home, which is in line with literature. Significantly, fewer charges, approx. 8.8%, are carried out at the workplace. It is a relevant finding of this work relativizing the importance of workplace charging. Only 1.7% are conducted at 'public charging infrastructure' (e.g. public car parks, supermarkets, etc.; note that also charging at assigned and freely selectable parking lots when the owner is at home is considered home charging) and 1.5% are conducted at 'fast charging infrastructure' (i.e. motorways). It is observed that 'public charging infrastructure' is only used for a small proportion of the charges. In conclusion, it can be deduced that some 'public' or fast charging stations are unable to recover their costs through charging processes but are subject to other business models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Industries and regional economies evolve as a result of the interplay between local and non-local factors. Increasing globalization of both production- and innovation activities implies a shift in the relevant scales of interaction from the local towards the global level. This paper is concerned with the implications of such scale shifts for the role of the region and for cluster-related regional policies. It examines what is left of the role of regional settings in fostering economic development when extra-regional drivers of change increase in importance. We investigate this crucial question with two in-depth case studies of the medical technologies sector, in which such scale shifts have been particularly pronounced. Our findings from empirical material collected in Scania/Sweden and Vienna/Austria illustrate the ways in which changes in national and supra-national regulatory frameworks have had a profound impact on the innovation activities of individual firms and the way to develop and launch new products, and subsequently on the regions in which they cluster. Such scale-shifts have, on the one hand, limited the potential for regional policy to shape the cluster's path through support for supply-side factors. Yet some critical assets remain local but are increasingly difficult to access. By addressing such barriers to access, regional policy can still strongly affect the opportunities for innovation. Furthermore, in an increasingly open industry system, we see an expanded role for regional policy in supporting firms to access critical assets and sources of innovation found external to the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The safety report of the TRIGA Mark II reactor in Vienna includes three accident scenarios and their deterministic dose consequences to the environment. The destruction of the cladding of the most activated fuel element, the destruction of all fuel elements and a plane crash were considered scenarios in that report. The calculations were made in 1978 with the software program named STRISK. In this paper, the program package PC Cosyma was applied on the TRIGA Mark II reactor in Vienna and the deterministic consequences of the scenarios to the environment were updated. The fission product inventories of all fuel elements were calculated with ORIGEN2. To get meteorological data of the atmospheric condition around the release area, a weather station was installed. The release parameters were taken from the safety report or were replaced by worst case parameters. This paper focuses on two accident scenarios: the destruction of the cladding of the fuel element with the highest activity content and the case of a large plane crash. The current accident scenarios show good agreement with the calculations from 1978, hence no technical modifications in the safety report of the TRIGA reactor Vienna were necessary. Even in the very worst case scenario – complete destruction of all fuel elements in a large plane crash – the expected doses in the Atominstitut''s neighborhood remain moderate. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Understanding the complexity of landscapes is an essential prerequisite to propose strategies for landscape development in the mid future, to predict long-term effects of landscape change, and assess future demands on landscape resources. In order to be able to direct today''s landscapes to a possible future state (German: Leitbild), landscape planning must include socio-cultural, economic and political considerations in addition to ecological aspects of the landscape. In response to this challenge, this paper unifies the Leitbild concept with a spatial explicit planning procedure and introduces a case study application for describing and classifying landscape visions based on a transdisciplinary, holistic concept. The general assessment system of planning a vision is adapted to the natural, cultural, political and economic conditions of the given case study area in the Federal States Upper Austria and Salzburg (Austria). The assessment system includes exercises that identify the assets of the planning procedure and encourage stakeholders, scientist and local people to collaborate in planning and implementation processes. This paper provides an overview of planning procedures from the Leitbild perspective, outlines problems encountered in the case study, and compares them to the findings of other scholars. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The degradation of organic compounds found in municipal solid waste (MSW) under the anaerobic landfill conditions produces gas and liquid emissions that can protract well into the landfill after-care period. The European Landfill Directives regulate the amount and nature of the organic compounds disposed into landfills. In South Africa and other developing countries, MSW is still landfilled without any kind of pre-treatment. This paper presents a pilot project of mechanical biological waste treatment (MBWT) in South Africa implemented at municipal level in the city of Durban using passively aerated open windrows. Based on case studies from Austria, England and South Africa, a waste minimisation model which can facilitate full-scale implementation of MBWT in developing countries is presented. MSW was treated in open windrows for 8weeks. Composting temperature reached a maximum of 65°C in less than 10days. The results of eluate tests on waste samples from the windrows at the end of composting show a reduction of BOD5 and BOD5/COD ratios equal to 35.7% and 16.7%, respectively. The percent waste composition of the treated MSW was 28.3% putrescibles, 17.4% garden refuse, 13.3% plastic, 12.4% fabrics, 12% paper and other elements. The waste composition shows that more than 40% of un-treated organic material and also more than 40% non-biodegradable and recyclable materials are still landfilled without any form of biological treatment or resource recovery. A simple wet and dry waste collection model can promote recycling, treatment of biological waste before landfilling, resource recovery, labour intensive jobs and hence sustainable landfilling in the South African scenario as well as in similar developing countries. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Historians have used university statutes and acts to reconstruct the official astrology curriculum for students in both the arts and medical faculties, including the books studied, their order, and their relation to other texts. Statutes and acts, however, cannot offer insight into what actually happened during lectures and in the classroom: in other words, how and why astrology was taught and learned in the medieval university. This paper assumes that the astrology curriculum is better understood as the set of practices that constituted it and gave it meaning for both masters and students. It begins to reconstruct what occurred in the classroom by drawing on published and unpublished lecture notes. These offer insight into how masters presented the material as they did, and why. The paper argues three points: first, the teaching of astrology centered on demonstrations involving astrological instruments: specifically, various kinds of paper astrolabes. Second, the astrological instruction focused on conveying the pragmatics of astrology rather than esoteric, theoretical issues. Finally, astrology as it was taught in the arts curriculum was explicitly intended to provide a foundation for students who would advance to study medicine at the university. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper is devoted to foreign direct investments (FDIs), which have been allocated on a very low regional level. This makes it possible to first position Vienna within a global city system according to international capital flows and to analyze changes in this position. In addition to being a case study, this paper shall attempt to make a contribution to the conceptualisation of global cities as focal points of FDI-capital flows and the formation of a global city network by firm hierarchies. The dataset is used to analyze Vienna’s FDI-relations to other cities and makes it possible to examine spatial hierarchies based on uneven capital flows. As the data extend over a period of 17 years (from 1989 to 2005), the question can be posed whether geostrategic changes like the fall of the Iron Curtain and Austria becoming a member of the EU have led to new patterns of capital flows. It could be established that there is an ongoing degree of hierarchization within Vienna’s global city network and that the above mentioned changes in the “long decade of the 1990s” established Vienna as a gateway-bridge between the East and the West. On a global scale, however, Vienna’s city status was not raised in the process. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Diverse and unique landscapes not only are one of the key assets of Austrian tourism industry, but are also highly valued for local identity, quality of life and their ecological functions. Society tries to prevent unintended landscape change and thereby purposefully intervenes in landscape development by countless environmental regulations, contracts with landholders, agri-environmental schemes, landscape and nature reserves, food-related activities such as ‘eat the view’ and labels of origin. In the face of increasing state control and the growing influence of (inter-) nationally acting civil society groups, the paper poses the question whether the local population still has a saying in the governance of their landscape. Is it the local people, their costumes and institutions that shape the diversity and uniqueness of landscapes (i.e., the ‘root meaning of landscape’ [Olwig, K.R., 2002. Landscape, Nature, and the Body Politic. From Britain''s Renaissance to America''s New World. The University of Wisconsin Press, Madison.]) or is local peculiarity lost to national or international landscape control? The paper analyses the changing structures of use and control rights to Austrian landscapes and resulting shifts between locally driven and centrally controlled landscape change. The paper is a meta-analysis of ten empirically founded interdisciplinary research projects on cultural landscapes in Austria. The results are compared with international literature that indicates a loss of control of the local rural population over their natural resources. In the Austrian case however, the local population (re-) negotiates and (re-) interprets complex and conflicting international and state regulations according to their respective needs before concretizing them in actual land use practises. Some participation projects and self-governed local civic society movements integrate non-landholders. In few of homogenisation forces such as CAP and international regulations, diverse and unique landscapes call for the involvement of the local preferences, traditions, knowledge and skills—of both local non-landholders and landholders. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Municipal solid waste (MSW) landfills pose a long-lasting risk for humans and the environment. While landfill emissions under regular operating conditions are well investigated, landfill behaviour and associated emissions in case of flooding are widely unknown, although damages have been documented. This paper aims at developing a methodology for determining the proportion of MSW landfills endangered by flooding, and at evaluating the impact flooded landfills might have on the environment during a flood event. The risk of flooding of MSW landfills is assessed by using information about flood risk zones. Out of 1064 landfills investigated in Austria, 312 sites or about 30% are located in or next to areas flooded on average once in 200 years. Around 5% of these landfills are equipped with flood protection facilities. Material inventories of 147 landfill sites endangered by flooding are established, and potential emissions during a flood event are estimated by assuming the worst case of complete landfill leaching and erosion. The environmental relevance of emissions during flooding is discussed on the basis of a case study in the western part of Austria. Although environmental hazards need to be assessed on a site- and event-specific basis, the results indicate that flooded MSW landfills represent in general small environmental risks for the period of flooding. The longer term consequences of flooding are discussed in a next paper. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• Optimal capacity management (OCM) to facilitate the energy accounting and local energy market (LEM). • OCM and its relation to an LEM based on blockchain technology. • Voltage management using OCM to preemptively ensure good power quality. • Validation of the methodology using test and real feeder located in Austria with real measurements. This paper presents a methodology to optimally share the available grid capacity among customer assets connected within a low voltage distribution grid. Distributed energy resources (DERs) and a new generation of loads such as heat pumps, thermal, hydrogen, electric storages, and vehicles are increasingly being connected to distribution grids. These DERs and loads are intermittent and it is essential to optimally control them for the safe operation of the grid. Additionally, there is increased interest in the local generation, production, trading, and consumption of energy. New regulations to establish local energy communities (LEC) have come to fruition among member nations across Europe. This is to provide a control, market, and legal framework for managing such distributed generators and flexibilities in low and medium-voltage distribution grids and conclusively empower end-users to democratize the energy system. Within a LEC, a local energy market (LEM) is to be implemented. A significant constraint of a LEM or energy accounting system is the grid settlement process. The grid should remain in a steady state when the bids in the market are executed. The methodology discussed in this paper will preemptively stabilize the grid and generate limiting profiles at various locations for individual flexibilities that are part of the local energy market. This is achieved by using an Optimal Capacity Management system which generates limiting profiles at the points of common couplings of various controllable devices in the grid. The controllable devices are required to maintain their active power injection and consumption within the generated limiting profiles to ensure optimum grid level. This will ensure that grid limits are maintained, which are simulated on a test feeder and also applied to a real network model from the Heimschuh pilot site in Styria, Austria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gerontological literature has widely explored barriers to technology use in later life, often drawing upon binary conceptualizations of "using" and "not using" a certain technological device. However, such concepts have been increasingly up for debate. Using a praxeological approach, this study aims to explore technology use and non-use in later life not as dichotomous counterparts, but as routine experiences that take place in the everyday lives of older adults, asking: Which technology practices that go beyond using and not using a certain device can be found in the everyday lives of older non-users? How are these practices related to experiences of age and aging? The paper draws upon data from 15 semi-structured interviews with older adults (65+) in Austria, who self-identify as 'non-users' of digital technologies. Data was analyzed using thematic coding (Flick, 2016) and revealed that while interviewees saw themselves as "non-users" of digital technologies, they all regularly engaged with digital technologies in their daily lives. These manifold everyday engagements with digital technologies can be summarized as four bundles of technology practices: (1) avoidance practices, (2) usage practices, (3) appropriation practices, and (4) subjectivation practices. Non-users regularly engaged in and transitioned between these practice bundles. Not using digital technologies therefore emerged as an ambivalent, everyday experience, rather than an actual practice pattern that can be measured using binary categories of 'use' and 'non-use'. By understanding the use and non-use of digital technologies in later life not as binary counterparts, but as an active process of doing , this paper highlights how the use and non-use of digital technologies is not a rational decision, but rather an ensemble of avoidance, usage, and appropriation practices that older adults experience and negotiate in their everyday lives. This paper therefore suggests moving away from technology use and non-use as central concepts for studying technology in later life, and instead questioning which practices are valued as a 'right' or 'real' way of using digital technologies, and which are devalued as 'wrong' usage. • This paper explores technology practices of older non-users of digital technologies drawing upon a qualitative study. • Interview partners regularly engaged with digital technologies through practices of shared, proxy or devalued usage. • We suggest moving away from studying technology use and non-use as binary counterparts. • Instead, we propose focusing on the valuation of diverse technology practices in later life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The present paper argues that the growth of organic farming correlates with the past support policy decisions. Not the recent direct organic farming payments are of importance, but rather the extent to which the past policies focused on rural development. Building on the OECD positive policy principles, the paper assesses the support policies of Austria, Finland and the EU. The policy appraisal was based on 16 distinct assessment criteria, with 1960–1994 as the timeframe. In addition to the largest organic farming sector, Austrian support policy demonstrated the highest rural development orientation. The CAP framework enabled but did not enforce rural development, whereas the rationalisation tendencies were strongest in Finland. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This issue contains papers selected from the contributions presented at the 1st International Cartographic Association (ICA) Workshop on Geospatial Analysis and Modeling held in Vienna on the 8th of July, 2006 (http://www.hig.se/~bjg/ica/workshop/). The theme papers demonstrate partially recent developments in geospatial analysis and modeling for uncovering knowledge for various applications. This research has seen intensive growth over the past decade due to application needs and the increasing availability of geospatial information collected from various sources. The challenge for the research is to go beyond the conventional cartographic and geographic (mainly statistics-based) methods, and to develop more advanced and robust models for analyzing and mining geospatial information. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: New regulations on bioenergy lead to increasing demand for forest fuel. This paper describes a new approach to configure a wood biomass supply network for a certain region, a federal state of Austria. The network consists of several forest areas and a number of energy plants with a total demand of 1.2 million loose cubic meter (lcbm) wood biomass and 502,000lcbm forest fuels. Starting with the regionally available forest fuel and the potential number of heating and energy plants we evaluate the different supply lines for the woody biomass from forest to plants by calculating the system cost for a number of alternative configurations. Especially, we compare central chipping against a local approach. The main contribution of this paper is to provide an evaluation method of forest fuel supply network design for a whole region. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The status of nature in food systems is the subject of this paper, which looks into the ecological embeddedness of the Austrian food system both on the national level and in a regional case study. By a first attempt to measure and map ecological embeddedness, the author intends to contribute to the operationalisation of the embeddedness concept, which is characterised as ambivalent, fuzzy and dynamic (see e.g., [Goodman, D., 2003. The quality ‘turn’ and alternative food practices: reflections and agenda. Editorial. Journal of Rural Studies 19 (1), 1–7; Markusen, A., 1999. Fuzzy concepts, scanty evidence, policy distance: the case for rigour and policy relevance in critical regional studies. Regional Studies 33, 869–884; Hess, M., 2004. ‘Spatial’ relationships? Towards a reconceptualization of embeddedness. Progress in Human Geography 28 (2), 165–186]). The paper starts with a critical outline of the academic discourse on embeddedness in food chain studies. In the second section, general developments in the Austrian food system and their ecological implications are illustrated for the national level. Thereafter in a case study, the author tries to map and measure the ecological embeddedness of two conventional bread chains. The focus on conventional food chains provides a contrast with the growing body of embeddedness studies concentrating on alternative food chains. The author concludes that for both conventional as well as alternative food chains, the mode of ecological embeddedness or the degree of a food chain’s commitment to particular landscapes could become important factors for the maintenance, enhancement and capture of ecological value. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

How the future landscape will look depends particularly on the outcome of the socio-economically motivated decisions of farmers, food processors, retailers and consumers, all members of the food supply chain. However, a long-term perspective on the food supply chain and its landscape effects is confronted with a great deal of uncertainty and data constraints. These difficulties can be partly avoided by using the personal judgements of agents whose decisions control the structure of present and future food supply chains. A well-established agent-based method for dealing with and describing variation in the future is the method of scenario planning. The aim of this paper is to present the application of the scenario approach to the Austrian food supply chain in 2020 and its landscape impacts. A critical discussion of the scenarios should reflect their explanatory power regarding future development options for landscapes. The first section of the paper outlines the interactions between society, the food supply chain and the landscape in a conceptual model. It describes the applied scenario technique and the research setting involving agents from agriculture, the food industry, retailing, gastronomy, and consumer organisations. Four scenarios for the food chain in 2020 are presented (Liberal Market Scenario, Protective Policy Scenario, Fast World Scenario, Slow World Scenario) and their respective consequences and strategies are discussed. The scenario technique used is found to be a useful means of gathering and structuring disperse expert knowledge. The paper concludes that—despite some methodological limitations—scenarios can deal with uncertainty concerning the socio-economic driving forces of landscape change and therefore can be used as a preliminary step in formulating robust strategies for landscape management. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

A cadastre is a system of major importance for economy and planning. A cadastre provides data on land. It is the basis for legal aspects like ownership as well as fiscal aspects like taxation of land. The cadastre also provides data for planning assignments (for example, boundaries of constructions, land use, and soil). Storage and update of these data require a complex system that had been developed in Austria during more than 100 years.Understanding, using, and improving a cadastre requires knowledge on the cadastral processes. The problems a cadastre must solve are important to understand the needs for a cadastre. It is also important to understand the processes of a cadastre to see how a cadastre works. These processes define the way a cadastre handles data and what prerequisites the data must fulfil to be accepted by the cadastre. Improving a system requires analysis of the processes. The user wants to work with a cadastre. He needs processes that meet his demands. Improving the efficiency of the processes, therefore, improves the efficiency of the cadastre directly because then the user will be satisfied (his work will be done better or faster).The paper discusses the tasks of a cadastre. The starting point is the needs of users (owners, government and many others). The needs define the tasks and the data needed to fulfil the tasks. The next step is the definition of the processes to fulfil the tasks. The paper then formalizes these processes. Finally, implementations for two different cadastral systems prove the general validity of the processes. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

AUPHEP was started in 1999 as a 5 years program to investigate the situation of the atmospheric aerosol with respect to effects on human health. At four different sites in Austria (3 urban and one rural site) an extended monitoring program was conducted for PM1, PM2.5 and PM10 as well as particle number concentration for 12 months each. Beside continuous measurements using TEOM and beta attenuation high-volume sampling of PM2.5 and PM10 provided samples for chemical analyses of various ions, heavy metals and organic compounds. Furthermore, carbonaceous material (TC, EC, OC) year round and PAHs on selected days were analyzed. From collocated public monitoring stations also pollutant gases (SO2, NO, NO2, O3, CO) and meteorological components are available. In winter and summer campaigns aerosol size spectra including chemical components were measured for at least one week each. All data are collected in a project data base (CD-ROM).While extensive data analysis will be presented in following papers, some general results are presented within this paper: annual averages for PM1 are between 10 and 20 μg m−3, for PM2.5 between 15 and 26 mg m−3 and for PM10 between 20 and 38 μg m−3. Number concentrations are between 10,000 and 30,000 cm−3. Urban concentrations are usually higher in winter, rural concentrations in summer. PM2.5 is in average around 70% of PM10, for PM1 this fraction is about 57%.Several studies on health effects are included in this project: a cross-sectional study on preschool and school children regarding lung function measurements and questionnaires about respiratory impairment in the surrounding area of the monitoring sites as well as time series studies on mortality and respiratory morbidity on the general population. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In the search for geographical and historical distinctiveness, the issue of culinary heritage has taken an important role in agri-food studies for safeguarding local culinary knowledge and traditions of food cultivation and production practices. However, it remains unclear how salient culinary heritage emphasizes the intertwining of tangible and intangible elements, and how sociocultural values and notions of terroir, tradition, and identity enable or constrain community-driven heritagization processes. In this paper, we aim to shed light on the sociomaterial assemblage of culinary heritagization by focusing on the case of a distilled turnip schnapps from the Alpine community of Wildschönau in Austria. We demonstrate how the Krautinger schnapps transitions from a subsistence to a commercial product, and how increasing marketization and demand challenges the relationship between commercialization and preservation of cultural heritage. By combining relational perspectives, sociomaterial approaches, and assemblage thinking, we discuss the constituent intertwining of human and nonhuman entities in the process of culinary heritagization. We apply the sociology of translation as a conceptual framework and identify four decisive moments that highlight the progression and continuity of the Krautinger's sociomaterial assemblage. Our study reveals issues and challenges that may arise for the local community in these moments of heritagization, including the chance of internal reconsolidation by recognizing nonhuman agency and bridging potential risks. • Culinary heritagization of an Alpine schnapps to an exclusive safeguarding entity. • Rethinking the sociomateriality of a culinary heritage assemblage. • Shifting actions and roles of human and nonhuman agency. • Processes of singularization and sharing to culinary heritagization. • Safeguarding genetic resources of farm-seeds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In waste management, the assessment of CO 2 emissions offers the possibility to evaluate and compare the environmental impact of different waste treatment processes. Here, we compare the performance of waste incineration with alternative thermal treatment scenarios and recycling scenarios to the primary production of materials to analyze the respective CO 2 emissions. The aim is to determine whether thermal and material recycling of waste results in (net) CO 2 surpluses or reductions, thus, showing whether it makes sense for climate ambitions to recover waste, thermally or materially. A case study of an internationally active waste management company in Austria is analyzed, conducting a life cycle assessment of its thermal and material waste recycling. On thermal waste treatment the core of the analysis is the comparison with primary energy sources. Using waste as an energy source, especially in cement plants and the paper industry, has proven to be an effective technology for reducing CO 2 emissions. We also find current practices in material recycling to be of lower CO 2 emissions than alternative primary material supply. Scaling results to the national level we find that for the case of Austria current waste management practices have the potential to save an equivalent of 2.6% of Austria's total CO 2 emissions (all sectors) for thermal fractions and an equivalent of 1% for material recycling. [Display omitted] • CO 2 emission impact of thermal waste treatment replacing fossils in basic industry. • CO 2 emission impact of material waste recovery relative to primary production. • Quantification for full scale Central European waste management company. • Life Cycle Assessment to compare waste treatment methods. • Thermal and material recovery can reduce CO 2 emissions significantly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vienna's biomass demand is large and nearly all biomass consumed in the city is produced in the regional and global hinterland. This raises the question, how the socioecological conditions at specific places somewhere in the world are impacted by urban consumption and how negative impacts can be addressed and mitigated by urban actors. Here we focus on the city's biodiversity footprint and argue that the spatial mismatch between the social-ecological impacts of biomass production and consumption and its impact on biodiversity on the one hand, and the governance instruments available at a city level mentioned by the interviewed experts on the other hand, must be considered when looking for bottom-up governance strategies of urban actors. We combine food regime theory, the analysis of biomass flows and a multiscalar governance approach to analyze "biomass from somewhere" in three important sectors of biomass use in Vienna – food, energy and construction timber. We find that consumption in Vienna requires 3.1 Mio. t of primary biomass per year (2010–2013), of which 59 % are for food, 28 % for material (only 1.3 % for construction) and 13 % for energy; roughly half of this biomass was sourced from Austria, the rest from other countries, mainly in Europe. While governance instruments at the city level are quite effective with respect to urban ecosystems and conservation within the city, they are insufficient to tackle biodiversity loss in the global hinterland. Important leverage points at the city scale are public procurement and the promotion of consumption patterns with lower land and primary biomass demand. An important prerequisite is unambiguous information and labelling concerning the biodiversity impacts of biomass products which is complicated by the fact that indirect land use effects need to be considered. Currently, none of the governance measures investigated includes extensive biodiversity criteria. We conclude that to effectively address the spatial mismatch, a different mode of production – regulated at higher scales and including mandatory measures – and a different mode of consumption as well as a reduction of consumption and production is required. • The paper scrutinizes governance options for mitigating pressure on biodiversity. • It presents a conceptual approach to analyze "biomass from somewhere". • Almost 50 % of the biomass consumed in Vienna originates from foreign countries. • Urban room for maneuver is limited regarding the biomass regime. • Unambiguous information concerning the biodiversity impacts of products is required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper empirically analyzes the socioeconomic energy metabolism of Austria in the period 1830–1995. During this period Austria underwent a transition from being a largely agricultural society to being an industrial society. We describe the changes associated with this transition in terms of the ‘physical economy,’ or more precisely, in terms of changes in the throughput of energy, assessed in physical units (J per year). In accordance with currently used methods of material flow accounting (MFA), we define the indicators ‘direct input’ and ‘domestic consumption’ with respect to socioeconomic energy flows. Using these indicators, we analyze the transition from 1830, at which time biomass provided more than 99% of Austria''s domestic energy consumption (DEC), to 1995, when biomass accounted for 30% and fossil energy for 60% of DEC. Total DEC in Austria increased by a factor of 6 in this period. The paper discusses the relevance of these changes for processes of interaction between society and its natural environment, focusing on the interrelations between energy metabolism and changes in land use. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The delineation of radon prone areas is one of the central requirements of the European Council Directive 2013/59/EURATOM. It is quite a complex task which usually requires the collection of radon data through an appropriate survey as a first step. This paper presents the design and methodology of the recent Austrian radon survey (ÖNRAP 2, 2013–2019) and its implementation. It details the results of the nationwide survey as well as correlations and dependencies with geology and building characteristics. The paper also discusses the representativeness of the survey as well as advantages and disadvantages of the selected approach. For the purpose of establishing a new delineation of radon prone areas in Austria we distributed approximately 75,000 passive long-term radon detectors. They were offered to selected members of the voluntary fire brigades and this resulted in about 50,000 radon measurements. Thus, a return rate of about 67% was achieved. The distribution of the radon results closely follows a log-normal distribution with a median of 99 Bq/m³, a geometric mean of 109 Bq/m³, and a geometric standard deviation factor of 2.29. 11% of the households show a mean radon concentration above the national reference level of 300 Bq/m³. Important data on building characteristics and the location of the measured rooms were collected by means of a specific questionnaire and a measurement protocol that were handed out together with the radon detectors. We were able to identify significant correlations between the indoor radon concentration and geology, the year of construction, and the coupling of the room to the ground (basement yes/no, floor level). Being a geographically-based and not a population-weighted survey, the comparison of building characteristics with the Austrian census data confirms that rural areas are over-represented in this survey. As a summary, the selected approach of conducting passive long-term radon measurements in selected dwellings of members of the voluntary fire brigades proved to be an efficient method to collect reliable data as a basis for the delineation of radon prone areas. The next step was to eliminate factors that influence the measured radon concentration through appropriate modelling. Based on the results predicted by the model radon areas are then be classified. This will be presented in a subsequent publication. • Extensive nationwide indoor radon survey with 50,000 radon measurements. • Collection of data on factors influencing the indoor radon level through a comprehensive questionnaire. • Establishment of a sound database as input for a model to delineate radon prone areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

La Güelga cave is located at the bottom of a mountain valley in the Eastern part of Asturias (Northern Spain), 186 m above sea level and 15 km far away from the coast. It currently comprises a group of caves that were occupied during the Middle and Upper Paleolithic periods (MP and UP respectively). In recent years, we have studied the levels of La Güelga cave –D Zone-proposing a sequence for the MP/UP transition: Mousterian-Aurignacian-Châtelperronian, which we review in this paper after a detailed analysis of the chronostratigraphy. We also provide new radiocarbon dates for the Mousterian, Aurignacian and Châtelperronian levels. Finally, the geoarchaeology, taphonomy, archaeological data, and chronology suggest that the interstratification -initially identified on the basis of stratigraphic observations during excavation-cannot be maintained. In any case, the stratigraphy of the internal D Zone of La Güelga cave is one of the most interesting from the Cantabrian region for analyzing the last phases of the Mousterian and the rise of the Aurignacian in the North of the Peninsula. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Emergency medical services have been established in many countries all over the world. Good first care improves the outcome of patients in terms of hospital stay duration, chances of full recovery and of treatment costs. In this paper, we present an integrated approach combining spatial information and integer optimization for emergency medical service location planning. The research is motivated by a recent call for bids to restructure the location of emergency medical services in the Austrian federal state of Lower Austria by the local state government.Methods: Our framework allows for constraints on the places where an emergency care physician is stationed, accounting for the fact that - for economical reasons - it might not be feasible to arbitrarily place emergency care physicians. We use maximum coverage linear programs to get accurate solutions for the problem instances (depending on the maximum allowed number of emergency care physicians and the constraints of their placement). We optimize for the maximum number of covered residents given certain parameters. The travelling distances are calculated by means of a digital road graph. Moreover we analyze the coverage of the day population as there are significant shifts in the number of persons present at daytime. For every problem instance we have calculated the ten best solutions and examined the variance among them. For the demand point aggregation we have used a cell grid.Results: Using our method we can show that with less emergency care physicians more residents can be covered. This is highly applicable to low populated areas where the coverage becomes better. There is little variance from the best to the second best solution: There are only small changes (usually only one cell is shifted) between the best and the second best solution. The coverage of the day population - except for a few problem instances - is always better than the coverage of the residents (reflecting the fact that many residents commute to more densely populated areas).Conclusions: In our study, we show that our solutions provide better coverage of residents with fewer emergency care physicians than the current status quo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ’circular economy’ paradigm is taking hold in the mobile phone sector as a solution to increasing resource use. This paper explores three dimensions of the consumption of mobile phones: timing of replacement, repair, and reuse. Combining quantitative evidence from a large-scale questionnaire survey (n = 988) with 25 qualitative household interviews, we identify the consumers’ motivations underpinning their considerations regarding replacement timing, replace versus repair, and new versus second-hand phones. The findings from this study suggest that mobile phone replacements are not only based on a desire for the new, but primarily on the perceived obsoleteness of the current phone. We identify three forms of perceived obsolescence, being either related to a phone’s 1) basic functionality, 2) up-to-dateness, or 3) ability to keep up with social practices. Furthermore, it is shown that the perceived speed of obsolescence is key to considerations of phone repair and reuse. Overall, the results call into question the prevalent picture of novelty-oriented mobile phone consumers, exposing the paradoxical nature of consumer strategies to resist the fast pace of obsolescence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper employs the institutional logics perspective to understand how space policies and regulations influences entrepreneurship and innovation. We conducted interviews with entrepreneurs, ESA policy makers and governmental representatives in Austria and identified six prevailing institutional practices: geographical return, the SME-initiatives, the national support pattern, the size pattern, the consortium pattern and the experience pattern. Together, these patterns make up the semi-governmental logic of the space sector. We find that space actors adhere to these patterns to earn legitimacy, which is a condition for support and access to resources. This study adds to our understanding in the consequences of policies and contributes to the design of new space policies and programmes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• This paper illustrates a new system to exploit drainage water heat from tunnels. • The heat exchange rate between the prototype and the drainage water is quantified. • The conducted tests over the prototype verified the effective exploitable heat. • The approach was implemented during the construction of the Brenner Base Tunnel. • A generalization of the design method to other underground situations is proposed. Deep tunnels in permeable fractured rock-masses and under high piezometric levels can drain notable volumes of warm water, which are collected under gravity in specific conduits towards the portals, where heat can be exploited. The utilization of this energy source is generally narrowed by the limited presence of end-users near the portals, while other promising heating and cooling needs can be found directly along the tunnel length. The work presents the design, construction and installation of a geothermal system prototype exploiting the drainage water heat directly inside the tunnel. The prototype was named Smart Flowing due to the peculiarity of its heat exchange process. The system was realized and installed inside the exploratory tunnel of the Brenner Base Tunnel, near the border between Italy and Austria. The Smart Flowing modules were built outside and later moved inside the tunnel, where they were placed and assembled concurrently to the advancement of the Tunnel Boring Machine. A design procedure was proposed and validated against a testing and monitoring campaign. The data from the experimental activity confirmed that the drainage water flow guarantees long-term stabilization of circulating water temperature and fast heat recovery afterwards, thus securing the considerable power and performance values of a water-water heat pump connected to the system. A sensitivity analysis allowed the reproduction of different working scenarios, in order to generalize the application of Smart Flowing beyond the specific installation context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Presents an innovative online tool that places citizens in a task solver role. • Investigates the combinations of passenger transport policies preferred by citizens. • Identifies determinants of citizens' different preferences of policy bundling. • Results indicate high support of push policies when mixed with pull policies - Discusses policy relevance of theoretical and methodological contributions. We analyse the preferences of citizens with respect to climate policies in the transport sector. More specifically, we examine the citizens' preference for mixing different policies, the preferences for and determinants of different types of policy bundles, as well as the CO 2 reduction achieved with these bundles. To this end, we developed an innovative evaluation tool, in which respondents could mix 11 different policies at various intensity levels according to their preferences with the (non-binding) goal to reduce CO 2 emissions of passenger transport in Austria from currently 13.19 to 4.22 mill. tons/year. Respondents interactively received detailed information on ecological, financial and social effects of their policy selection, and could adjust their choice accordingly. We find that respondents display a widespread aversion against highly restrictive policies, but a preference for broad and well-balanced bundles between pull and push and also between different push policies. With these broad bundles, almost 60% of respondents met the ambitious climate goal. We speculate that this surprisingly high level of ambition may be driven by putting citizens into the role of a task solver (achieve the climate goal) instead of a mere choice maker of policies. Our analysis suggests that car affinity (strongly confounded with urban/non-urban residence), self-concern, political trust, the importance of solidarity and fairness, and (most of all) the climate concern determine the participants' selection (or rejection) of effective policy bundles. The paper provides relevant insights for policymakers, both regarding participatory decision-making tools and acceptable policy bundles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a new pollen record from Lake Mondsee in the north-eastern European Alps and discusses changes in vegetation composition between 9000 and 7000 a BP in response to the 8.2 ka BP cooling event, which is clearly reflected in a stable oxygen isotope record from the same lake. Pollen and microcharcoal analyses performed at bi-decadal resolution provide detailed insights into the vegetation history and fire regime in the study area. The late Greenlandian and early Northgrippian between ca. 9000 and 8000 a BP were mainly characterised by the gradual expansion of spruce, accompanied by the retreat of hazel. Results of the pollen-based biome reconstruction show that the Greenlandian – Northgrippian boundary at ca. 8280 a BP was marked by a shift in the affinity scores of regional forest biomes, reflecting a decreasing role of temperate broadleaved trees and shrubs and a strengthening of boreal conifers in the study area. During the early Northgrippian between ca. 8000 and 7000 a BP, fir and beech spread around Lake Mondsee, which is in line with other pollen records from the northern Alpine Foreland, indicating cooler and moister conditions. This long-term trend is likely a response to decreasing summer insolation (i.e. decreasing summer temperatures) and the weakening of the Siberian High, which promoted westerly-driven moisture transport from the Atlantic region. Visual inspection of the Lake Mondsee pollen data does not reveal a clear signal of the 8.2 ka BP event. However, biomization results show a distinct minimum in the temperate deciduous biome scores and summed scores of plant functional types representing warm-loving tree and shrub taxa at ca. 8165–8135 a BP. • Bi-decadal resolution pollen record from Lake Mondsee in the NE European Alps. • Changes in vegetation 9000–7000 a BP in response to the 8.2 ka BP cooling event. • Decreasing temperate trees/shrubs at the Greenlandian – Northgrippian boundary. • Distinct minimum in the temperate deciduous biome scores at ca. 8165–8135 a BP. • Kretzschmaria deusta record shows response to the 8.2 ka BP climate oscillation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Presentation of state of the art in BIM ground modelling. • Contextualization of ground modelling for BIM applications in tunneling. • New BIM ground modelling framework with multiple sub-discipline models. • Real world case study of a BIM ground model of the Austrian "Tunnel Angath". The trend for digitalization in geotechnics and tunnelling of the past decade has been spearheaded by developments in building information modelling (BIM) within these disciplines. While many advances have been achieved, BIM ground modelling remains a challenge since the inherent heterogeneity and uncertainty of the underground are difficult to describe and to model. This paper presents a new concept and framework for ground modelling in BIM. A split of the BIM ground model into several "sub models" is proposed: the "factual data model", a "geotechnical model" and the "geotechnical synthesis model". The proposed BIM ground modelling concepts are based on – and in line with current international developments (e.g., DAUB / German ITA branch, or IFC Tunnel) and should serve as an example of how to approach BIM ground modelling for future projects. After presenting this theoretical context, the case study of the Austrian Tunnel Angath is given where state of the art BIM ground modelling was done in the planning phase of the project. Although the modelling for this project is seen as a success, it has highlighted several deficits that hamper the industry wide adoption of BIM in ground modelling: e.g., permanent data storage, editable model transfer and easy visualization of BIM ground models. It is nevertheless concluded that BIM ground modelling is beneficial for the tunnelling industry as it contributes towards more standardized and comprehensible working processes and an enhanced base for decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microgrids can integrate variable renewable energy sources into the energy system by controlling flexible assets locally. However, as the energy system is dynamic, an effective microgrid controller must be able to receive feedback from the system in real-time, plan ahead and take into account the active electricity tariff, to maximize the benefits to the operator. These requirements motivate the use of optimization-based control methods, such as Model Predictive Control to optimally dispatch flexible assets in microgrids. However, the major bottleneck to achieve maximum benefits with these methods is their predictive accuracy. This paper addresses this bottleneck by developing a novel multi-step forecasting method for a Model Predictive Control framework. The presented methods are applied to a real test-bed of a renewable energy community in Austria, where its operational costs and CO 2 emissions are benchmarked with those of a rule-based control strategy for Flat, Time-of-Use, Demand Charge and variable energy price tariffs. In addition, the impact of forecast errors and electric battery capacity on energy community operational savings are examined. The key results indicate that the proposed controller can outperform a rule-based dispatch strategy by 24.7% in operational costs and by 8.4% in CO 2 emissions through optimal operation of flexibilities if it has perfect foresight. However, if the controller is deployed in a realistic environment, where forecasts for electrical load and PV generation are required, the same savings are reduced to 3.3% for cost and 7.3% for CO 2 , respectively. In such environments, the proposed controller performs best in highly dynamic tariffs such as Time-of-Use and Real-time pricing rates, achieving real cost savings of up to 6.3%. These results show that the profitability of optimization-based control of microgrids is threatened by forecast errors. This motivates future research on control strategies that compensate for forecast errors in real-world operation and more accurate forecasting methods. [Display omitted] • Advanced microgrid controller framework based on Model Predictive Control. • Novel method for multi-step-ahead time series forecasting. • A real Austrian test-bed with multiple operational optimization scenarios. • Comprehensive economic analysis considering forecast errors and multiple battery sizes. • Reduction of operational costs by 6% and carbon emissions by 7% [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digitisation and rapidly emerging new technologies are transforming many aspects of life such as education, work, and leisure. These changes lead to a growing demand for new skills related to ICT use, computer literacy, internet use, or technical digital skills. However, the extensive literature on digital inequality provides evidence for significant differences in computer skills along the usual dimensions of social inequality. Due to the omnipresence of digital technologies in everyday life, it is all the more important to know the extent of digital inequality to be able to take appropriate measures to ensure that social participation does not degenerate into a question of social stratification in the Digital Age. In this paper, we provide empirical evidence for socio-economic digital inequality in Austria using survey data from the "Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies" (PIAAC) conducted in 2011/2012. 1 1 The data set that supports the findings of this study is available as a scientific use file (SUF) for scientific research made available by Statistics Austria free of charge after conclusion of a data use agreement. We show, for Austria, that higher socio-economic background is positively related to digital problem-solving while being female is negatively correlated. However, when controlling for ICT engagement in everyday life, the positive effect of the socio-economic background only remains significant for groups of people with a very high socio-economic background while the effect of gender becomes statistically insignificant. Furthermore, based on Eurostat data we cannot identify a uniform trend towards a decline of digital inequality since 2012. Our results indicate that disadvantaged population groups in Austria should be encouraged and enabled to integrate ICT usage in their everyday life to reduce digital inequality. • This paper provides empirical evidence for socio-economic digital inequality in Austria. • We use internationally comparable survey data assessing digital problem solving in technology-rich environments. • Higher socio-economic background is positively related to digital problem solving, being female is negatively correlated. • These inequalities are related to differences in ICT engagement in daily life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Resilience in the light of an energy crisis is the capacity to successfully deal with energy related disruptions while continuing to deliver affordable energy services to society. A resilient energy system can rapidly recover from a shock as it is able to reinvent itself. But what happens if an energy crisis hits us? Which functions and structures will be affected? Shall we protect something in particular? Do we need to consider further aspects concerning the energy system? And how can we address and operationalise these complex considerations? These are the questions to be answered within this paper. By identifying types of energy crises, protective commodities, and framework conditions, a proposal is introduced to systematically deal with this topic. A new approach for assessing the community resilience in case of a fossil energy crisis is originated and presented: the regional energy resilience assessment (RERA). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses parties' policy supply in electoral campaigns. In so doing, it proposes to look at issue clarity which is defined as the share of objectively testable pledges within an election manifesto. The main argument states that parties not only decide their positions and issue saliencies, but also the level of specificity with which they present their policies. The data come from Austria (1990–2008) and, thus, provide a good example for a Western European multi-party system with proportional representation. The analyses show that extreme parties present manifestos with higher issue clarity compared to moderate parties. Furthermore, this result is strengthened by a party's role in government. Issue ownership, however, seems to have no effect on issue clarity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scaling up local organic food systems may be one way to render the overall food system more environmentally friendly and socially just. This paper focuses on an Austrian organic box scheme, specifically on how its relationship with local farmers is experienced in a process of growth. For data collection, we carried out semi-structured interviews with 19 supplying farmers and conducted a focus group discussion with 11 members of the management staff of the box scheme company. We explore the question: how did the growth of the box scheme influence relationships between supplying farmers and the box scheme in this local organic food system – from the farmers' perspective as well as from the perspective of the box scheme company itself? A major challenge for the box scheme was reconciling its values (e.g. supporting many local organic farms) with practical issues such as logistics and coordination. The box scheme managed its growth by strengthening cooperation with two larger vegetable farms/wholesalers. But its support for diverse local organic farms suffered in this process, and the box scheme was still searching for solutions to efficiently interact with such a high number of suppliers. Having a high number of local producers was central to the box scheme's identity; therefore, internal governance structures needed refinement and reflection. The tension between specific qualities such as procurement from a multitude of local farmers on the one hand, and practical economical and logistical considerations on the other lies at the heart of the experience of scaling up local organic food systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By converting anaerobic landfills into a biologically stabilized state through accelerating aerobic organic matter degradation, the effort and duration necessary for post-closure procedures can be shortened. In Austria, the first full-scale application of in-situ landfill aeration by means of low pressure air injection with simultaneous off-gas collection and treatment was implemented on an old MSW-landfill and operated between 2007 and 2013. Besides complementary laboratory investigations, which included waste sampling from the landfill site prior to aeration start, a comprehensive field monitoring program was conducted to assess the influence of the aeration measure on the emission behavior of the landfilled waste during the aeration period as well as after aeration completion. Although the initial waste material was described as rather stable, the lab-scale aeration tests indicated a significant improvement of the leachate quality and even the biological solid waste stability. However, the aeration success was less pronounced for the application at the landfill site, mainly due to technical limitations in the full-scale operation. In this paper main performance data of the field investigation are compared to four other scientifically documented case studies along with stability indicators for solid waste and leachate characteristics in order to evaluate the success of aeration as well as the progress of a landfill towards completion and end of post-closure care. A number of quantitative benchmarks and relevant context information for the performance assessment of the five hitherto conducted international aeration projects are proposed aiming to support the systematization and harmonization of available results from diverse field studies and full-scale applications in future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The promotion of environmentally friendly and green purchase behaviour is one of the ways to minimise the environmental impact. Thus, the objective of this paper was to analyse how green purchase behaviour is related to environmentally friendly behaviour. Moreover, considering the goal-framing theory that a separate item of environmentally friendly behaviour is influenced by different goals, in this analysis was revealed how green purchase and environmentally friendly behaviour are related with the importance of product price and environmentally friendly social norms in two countries: Lithuania and Austria. Therefore referring to the 2012 Eurobarometer's survey and applying the approach of structural equation modelling, the results showed that green purchase behaviour was significantly related with environmentally friendly behaviour, however the determinants were different. The environmentally friendly social norms and gender had significant impact on both green purchase and environmentally friendly behaviour. Meanwhile, the importance of product prices negatively influenced only purchase behaviour. These findings reveal that policy makers should use different tools promoting the environmentally friendly and green purchase behaviour. Furthermore, analysing the differences of green purchase and their determinants between Lithuania and Austria, the suggestions were provided for Lithuania seeking the promotion of green purchase and environmentally friendly behaviour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to analyze the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from floricultural production in Austria based on a small-scale case study in which emissions were calculated using highly detailed accounts of a specific nursery for the years 2009–2013. The nursery produces a large assortment of cut flowers and pot plants. In terms of methods, the study is based on a life cycle assessment approach, presenting global warming as impact indicator. To reach a meaningful comparison of cut flowers and pot plants, the functional unit “days of flowering” is developed, referring to the function of ornamental plants. This new functional unit enables to a comparison of different kind of products based on their longevity. Including this factor allows a more nuanced comparison of flowers in terms of their GHG emissions. For example, if the widespread functional unit “piece of product” is applied, cyclamen appear to be associated with high emissions, whereas their emissions are slightly below average when the functional unit “days of flowering” is used. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we analyse optimal sizing of grid connected rooftop photovoltaic systems from a household’s perspective. We estimate the profit maximizing size for more than 800 households in Austria for various electricity tariffs and subsidy schemes considering economies of scale related to the investment costs of photovoltaic systems in the size range of 1–20 kW of installed capacity. Size dependent investment costs are estimated from data on photovoltaic systems installed in Austria from 2008 to 2013. We then take a social cost perspective and relate the results to the total investment costs to install a certain amount of capacity in residential areas. We find that in the presence of economies of scale substantial cost inefficiencies can occur resulting from incentives to install relatively small systems. Depending on the compensation scheme the simulated optimal system size can be as low as 2 kW resulting in high costs per capacity. Subsidy design and tariff regulations can be adopted to incentivize larger photovoltaic systems in the residential sector which would reduce the costs of achieving a certain level of distributed PV generation. It is estimated that for a minimum system size of 5 kW total investment costs for subsidised residential photovoltaic systems in Austria from 2008 to 2013 could have been 2.2% lower for the same amount of installed capacity. We further argue that the strict focus on onsite use of electricity from photovoltaic systems in the residential area is not necessarily desirable from a social cost perspective because it can lead to small and therefore more expensive photovoltaic systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Analyzed VFRS and LLS data set includes records of 519 negative Cloud-to-Ground (CG) flashes including 1683 negative CG strokes from the Austrian alpine region. • Results regarding strokes per flash, strokes per ground strike point (GSP) and distances between GSPs are given. • Results for the mean multiplicity of the analyzed ground truth data (3.3) revealed a lower value compared to multiplicities from other countries available in the literature. • Distances between the first ground strike point (GSP) of a flash to the other GSPs of the same flash showed a median of 1.4 km, an arithmetic mean of 1.6 km and a geometric mean of 1.2 km. • Maximum determined distance between the first stroke of a flash and a GSP in the same flash was 6.9 km. This paper presents an analysis of flashes and their Ground Strike Points (GSPs) by using Video and Field Recording System (VFRS) data and Lightning Location System (LLS) data from Austria. Analyses of the multiplicity of flashes and strokes per GSP have been performed. A comparison between strokes per flashes and strokes per GSPs has been conducted. By using the calculated strike point locations from the LLS, distances between different GSPs have been calculated. The used VFRS and LLS data set includes records from 2015, 2017, 2018 and 2021 recorded in the Austrian Alpine region. Atmospheric discharges have been recorded at 22 different measurement locations in Austria. For the present work a data set of 519 flashes including 1683 strokes were analyzed. Results for the mean multiplicity (3.3) revealed a lower value compared to multiplicities from other countries, but similar to the ones determined by former studies from Austria. Calculations of distances between the first GSP of a flash to the other GSPs of the same flash showed a median of 1.4 km, an arithmetic mean of 1.6 km and a geometric mean of 1.2 km. The maximum determined distance between two GSPs was 6.9 km for the analyzed data set. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]