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The paper elaborates on the relationship between land cover changes and transformation drivers, by analysing the dynamics that took place between 1990 and 2010 in Mt. Matese area (Italy). Mt. Matese is an interesting case study which was included as a pilot area in the Italian Strategy for Inner Areas. Drivers related to land cover changes include population characteristics, the agricultural and production system, tourist offer, location and settlements dynamics. Land cover changes and the dynamics of studied drivers are analysed in-depth, through a descriptive and multivariate analysis. Results highlight the difficult situation of the study area for many drivers. However, the slow changes in land cover and the potentialities offered by the natural environment, as well as by the agriculture and tourism sectors, outline some development prospects. The paper outlines the current scenario in the area and provides useful references for future policies aimed at setting up this area as National Park and at implementing the Strategy for Inner Areas.

This work assessed the environmental impact of cereal straw end-practices at farm gate and highlighted the best on-farm scenario. A sample of cereal farms located in Apulia Region, in Southern Italy, was investigated through a survey questionnaire. Straw incorporation in the soil, straw burning and baling, were the three practices considered. In the light of the ever-growing demand of straw for energy feedstock production, we discussed two scenarios, namely the status quo and the demand pulled scenarios, each one with a different mix of the three straw end-practices. Following farmer's intentions, in the demand pulled scenario a high percentage of straw was baled while reducing straw incorporation; straw burning practice was not eliminated because it allows farmers to prepare the soil for cultivation. Sensitivity analysis tested different wheat and straw allocation methods (economic vs mass and cereal unit allocation). The environmental impact of alternative straw end-practices and scenarios was assessed by means of an attributional Life Cycle Assessment. Straw incorporation resulted the best environmental practice. Scenarios had quite similar impacts for 8 out of 11 impact categories, but the demand pulled scenario was less impacting than the status quo on global warming, human toxicity, and photochemical oxidation impact categories. These results allow us to conclude that the perspective of selling the straw on the local market for energy production is a better solution compared to the current situation.

The study investigates the efficiency of a sample of Italian aquaculture firms according to their legal status, size, and location. An efficiency analysis was conducted for a sample of 160 units using an output-oriented Data Envelopment Analysis. The average value of the efficiency scores reveals that it should be possible to significantly increase firm performance. The most inefficient farms are cooperatives, southern farms, and the smallest farms. The weight of efficient units is as follows: 34% of the cooperatives and 26% of the limited liability companies; 26% of units located in Northern-Central regions and 34% of those placed in Southern areas; 47% of the big and 23% of the small firms. Among subgroups of units, the only significant difference in the average efficiency score is related to the firm size. The sensitivity of the results to methodological choices reveals that the variable return to scale hypothesis fits the data better than the constant returns to scale and that bootstrapping while changing the value of the scores does not change findings in terms of size, location, and legal status. Actions which remove obstacles and increase firm size are the most obvious ways to improve the efficiency and competitiveness of the sector.

Background The agricultural sector both needs to reduce its impacts and adapt its food production system to cope with environmental constraints and climate changes. This special issue includes three selected papers presented at the 53rd annual Conference of the Italian Society of Agricultural Economics discussing the future of agriculture. The fil rouge linking the three papers is the issue of sustainability that nowadays influences the functioning of the food supply chain and the behavior of all actors involved in it, from producers to consumers. Findings The selected papers investigate the theme of sustainability by exploring strategies for the adoption of sustainable innovation in the food supply chain, developing a model that assesses the effect of climate changes on farm production, as well as evaluating consumer attitudes to wine attributes, including those related to “carbon footprint” and “winescape esthetic.” Conclusions The reading of these papers provides a multifaceted light on different dimensions linking future perspectives of sustainable agriculture between globalization and local market. Papers discuss issues, propose approaches, and show empirical findings that can be useful to fuel the debate about future agricultural policies and stimulate the development of research agendas.

Purpose: Educational farms (EFs) serve a number of social and economic functions and are part of the debate about new learning environments, multifunctional agriculture and firm diversifica...

This paper aims to assess and compare the sustainability of rapeseed and sunflower crop cultivation for energy purposes in Italy, by considering environmental and economic performances at the farm level. The analysis focused on twelve representative farming units that were extracted from a sample of 396 farms by applying a cluster analysis. Using an Attributional Life Cycle Assessment method, the values of midpoint environmental impact categories and the carbon footprint of the twelve farms were assessed. The economic performance of rapeseed and sunflower per 1 Mg of biomass cultivation was measured in terms of the value added. In order to combine an environmental and economic assessment, the eco-efficiency ratio was applied to measure the value added per Mg of greenhouse gasses emitted into the atmosphere. Three rapeseed farms had the lowest GHG emissions of the whole sample. Practices of intensive farming with high fertilization and mechanization (fertilizer and machinery production and usage) are known to have a negative environmental impact. When the level of productivity is low, the impact is still higher. Regarding the eco-efficiency ratio, of the twelve representative farming units, results showed again that the three rapeseed farms had the highest eco-efficiency ratio. Summarizing both perspectives, findings from the eco-efficiency analysis gave a premium to rapeseed over sunflower crop in terms of the economic value added per kg of GHGs emitted into the atmosphere. The study findings presented a complex picture of the crops and of agricultural practices of each farm that underlines the variability and sensitivity of results in specific case studies. Indeed, the complexity of the matter, including the implications of bioenergy crops for energy and food safety beyond the environmental and economic assessment of the cultivation phase, cannot be ignored. Further studies are needed to apply a multiple perspective to the joint analysis of the sustainability of agricultural processes related to first generation bioenergy crops.

Human - nature relationship concept has recently been reconsidered, emphasizing the benefits humans beings receive from ecosystems. This study moves from the awareness of the importance for organizations that manage protected areas to design strategies and actions aimed at improving the relatedness between the natural world and people, and between individuals. Starting from this premise, the study proposes a voluntary framework of relational accessibility, with the aim of improving the visitor-organization relationship and the human-nature relatedness, and thus creating value for the organizations themselves. After defining the relationship concept, the approach and the content of the framework are set, based on multidisciplinary fields and approaches. The framework follows a cyclical approach and consists of a set of general and specific requirements and guidelines. To support the definition of the framework, relational accessibility is investigated within a specific protected area, through a focus group and a direct survey with children. The framework is then defined in more general terms, so that it can suitable for application to other environmental and organizational contexts. The relational accessibility framework is discussed with the managing board of the study site and compared with other sustainability tools. The implementation of the relational framework within the management system of protected areas could increase the social and economic value of these areas, while at the same time pursuing environmental goals.

The livestock production sector represents more than 40 % of the economic value of EU primary productions. This sector consists of a huge diversity of processes and techniques depending on the animal species and the final products. Because of these differences, livestock productions are associated with several adverse effects on the environment, especially in the breeding phases and feeding composition and management; moreover, in terms of raising awareness of the environmental implications of livestock productions, LCA applications are of increasing importance for systematic assessment of the environmental burdens connected with this sector. After an overview of the structural and economic characteristics of the most significant livestock supply chain and its main environmental problems, we provide a description of the international state of the art of LCA implementations for livestock. Methodological problems connected with the application of LCA are investigated, starting with the critical analysis of international papers and the few Italian papers in the scientific literature. Finally, the best practices regarding LCA methodology implementation are proposed, in order to improve results and manage the methodological problems identified.