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Older adults often experience loneliness as a vicious circle, in which loneliness builds more loneliness. Breaking this cycle is key to minimize the experience of loneliness. MOAI LABS is a European project that adopts a codesign process to develop digital solutions to address loneliness in older adults. This study aims to adopt a solution-based approach to capture solutions that community-dwelling older Portuguese adults who feel loneliness already experience in their lives.

Six individuals (aged 64–86 years) answered two solution-based questions: miracle and exceptions. Findings were obtained from one group discussion session that was audio-recorded, transcribed and submitted to qualitative analysis.

Main findings suggest that participants feel comfort in imagining their desired scenarios that involve being with their loved ones, better health conditions, adequate housing settings and contact with nature.

The findings highlight that leaving loneliness alone seems to be a path that may be facilitated by digital solutions that display solution-based questions, such as online platforms for social connection, virtual care and monitoring, design of smart home devices and the creation of immersive virtual reality experiences to explore nature, complemented by psychosocial support.

The purpose of this study was to verify the effect of sustainable consumption on the intention and effective purchase of products by young undergraduates, using the framework with the dimensions: consciousness for sustainable consumption, moral orientation and environmental concern. The authors also examined the mediation effect of intention and searched for heterogeneities on the purchase of sustainable products when discriminating by product type.

Sustainable consumption assumes ethics and environmental concern prioritization in the role of individuals to preserve natural resources threatened by global warming. Considering this, the authors developed cross-sectional research based on a sample of 265 Brazilian higher education students, which was analyzed with the use of partial least squares path modeling.

The results showed a positive relationship between sustainable consumption and buying intention, with mediation effects on the effective purchase of sustainable products. It was evidenced that consciousness for sustainable consumption, moral orientation and environmental concern do not lead directly to the purchase of sustainable products; they are based on the mediation exerted by the intention that purchase materializes in Brazilian, young university students. By analyzing heterogeneities, the authors found that environmental concern may translate into actual purchase when product-oriented.

This study uses the VBN theory to understand the behavioral intentions for the effective purchase of sustainable products, extending the range of sustainable consumption associating factors not analyzed in the higher education context, including nontraditional categories of sustainable products, such as textiles, furniture and wood articles. Moreover, this paper examines the mediation role of intention for effective purchase of sustainable products, identifying product categories that may translate environmental concerns to actual purchases, highlighting the importance of Brazil as an emerging economy that is a leading producer and exporter of organic foods with a growing market for sustainable products.

This study aims to analyze the practices and relationships of companies established in Science and Technology Parks (STPs) as drivers of the quadruple and quintuple helix (QQH) and the determinants for aligning with the future vision of STPs.

The authors conducted a survey of companies associated with consolidated STPs and used the Structural Equation Model technique to predict such relationships.

The results showed a positive relationship between the QQH and the Future Vision of STPs, in addition to the relevance of collectives as representatives of the quadruple helix (QH).

Collectives are a recent phenomenon and require longitudinal studies on their performance in innovation environments.

Companies that are part of collectives are the actors of the QH.

The role of collectives in aligning with the future vision of STPs should be considered. Collectives reflect people’s vision and can help STPs from being a closed environment and expand their performance, with a key role in connecting innovation environments. The authors found that collectives are promising in practices related to sustainability, thus contributing to STPs with their ability to mobilize the ecosystem.

The research emphasizes the role of companies as agents of QQH in innovation environments, strengthening the increasing and distinct role of collectives in their relationships with STPs.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the characteristics of creative economies in favelas and their potential in terms of social development from a comparison between the theory on creative economy and the characteristics of the initiatives mapped in the Mangueira favelas.

The research was based on qualitative methodology and literature review. The creative economy initiatives were mapped in the territory of Mangueira and semi-structured interviews and questionnaire of closed questions were applied with the representatives of these. The data collected were treated with the content analysis method.

The research mapped 17 initiatives associated with creative economy sectors in the Mangueira favelas in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The initiatives develop cultural and artistic activities that make the young people of the community aware of the history of their families, which promotes the strengthening of social ties and individual empowerment, contributing to local entrepreneurship.

The theory used in Brazil for the elaboration of public policies to promote the creative economy points to the presence of cultural and symbolic aspects in economic activities as resources for the generation of income. However, it is important to understand how this applies in different contexts, which may have or lack certain characteristics of human and physical capital pointed as essential by theory to creative economy promotion.

The results of this research go beyond the theory of creative economy and highlight characteristics of project management and impacts on social development that demonstrate how the dynamics of the creative economy in the Mangueira favelas also represent a case of social innovation using social technology tools.

O estudo tem como objetivo discutir as características na economia criativa em favelas e seu potencial em termos de desenvolvimento social a partir da comparação entre a teoria sobre economia criativa e as características das iniciativas mapeadas na favela da Mangueira.

A pesquisa utilizou ferramentas de metodologia qualitativa e esteve baseado em revisão de literatura. Foram mapeadas as iniciativas de economia criativa no território da Mangueira e realizadas entrevistas semi-estruturadas e um questionário com perguntas fechadas com os responsáveis. Os dados coletados foram tratados com o método de análise de conteúdo.

A pesquisa mapeou 17 iniciativas associadas aos setores da economia criativa na favela da Mangueira, no Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. As iniciativas desenvolvem atividades culturais e artísticas que conscientizam os jovens da comunidade sobre a história de suas famílias, o que promove o fortalecimento de laços sociais e a capacitação individual, contribuindo para o empreendedorismo local.

A teoria utilizada no Brasil para a elaboração de políticas públicas de promoção da economia criativa aponta para a presença de aspectos culturais e simbólicos nas atividades econômicas como recursos para a geração de renda. No entanto, é importante entender como isso se aplica em contextos diferentes, que podem ter ou não algumas características do capital humano e físico apontadas como essenciais pela teoria para a promoção da economia criativa.

Os resultados desta pesquisa vão além da teoria da economia criativa e destacam características de gestão de projetos e impactos no desenvolvimento social que demonstram como a dinâmica da economia criativa nas favelas da Mangueira também representa um caso de inovação social utilizando ferramentas de tecnologia social.

This study aimed to the attributes, consequences and personal values that motivate the behavior of consumers of fruits and vegetables (FV) at local markets and how these elements are associated with food safety.

This is a qualitative research that used the laddering in-depth interview technique for data collection. Fifty interviews were conducted with consumers from Minas Gerais, Brazil. From the codification of the interview content, a hierarchical value map was constructed, showing the relationships between the attributes, consequences and values involved in the consumers’ purchasing decision.

Consumers value characteristics related to the origin of the product and the way it is produced and marketed. They seek particular benefits – such as satisfaction with the purchase, care for their health/well-being and safety when consuming food – and social benefits, such as the possibility of contributing to the local economy. Issues related to hygiene, organization, exposure and handling of products were some of the concerns reported by respondents with regard to food safety.

It is worth highlighting the application of the laddering technique itself. Analyzing the predictive validity of the method, there is a propensity for biases linked to possible interference by the researcher, especially in the coding stage of the elements.

This study can be used by producers, marketing professionals and public policymakers to promote FV sold at local markets and to encourage the improvement of food safety practices.

The research points to five consumer segments according to the different motivations that guide their purchase behavior for local FV. In addition, a focus is given to food safety, revealing its importance in the investigated context.

Inspired by the debates on participatory methods and drawing from research on “digital childhoods” in Portugal, this chapter aims to address the methodological innovations and challenges in collecting visual and digital data with children at their homes. As one of the stages of a research project on internet use, children were asked to take photos of their favorite objects at home and to collect screenshots of their most used webpages, followed by a conversation with the researcher. The use of photography allowed children greater expression and autonomy and gave researchers access to the children’s own perspectives on their home environment. It also provided unique information about the arrangement of digital objects at home and their different appropriations by girls and boys. Screenshots showed creative uses of the internet by children and gender differences. Ethical concerns were raised, due to the specific nature of working with children and with visual material (anonymization and dissemination). Entering the domestic setting provided a privileged access to children’s private sphere and to the in situ observation of their use of technology. However, the home is not a neutral place for a researcher and crossing the border into the private domain involves risks. These findings, illustrated by empirical examples from the research field, stress the importance of reflecting on and discussing the potentials, limitations, and ethical considerations of different methodologies, as well as their suitability to specific research objects, subjects, and contexts.

The purpose is to analyse the nutritional adequacy and carbon footprint of intermediated meals provided to preschool children and primary-level students in a Portuguese municipality.

An observational cross-sectional study was conducted with a convenience sampling consisting of school snacks from a Portuguese municipality. The nutritional assessment used food labels and a Portuguese food composition table. The literature review for carbon footprint assessment was conducted by searching for the products under analysis or similar ones.

The results showed that 80% of snacks have a higher energy value than recommended. The majority of options are below recommendations for protein and fat and above recommendations for carbohydrates. The intermediated meals with more dairy products in composition have the highest carbon footprint. The carbon footprint included the packaging of the products, and it wasn't possible to determine the influence of non-food products.

This study has limitations in the fact that we do not know the carbon footprint of Portuguese products and we had to compare them with others, from different countries, with possibly different types of production.

Intermediate meals are inadequate, and the carbon footprint is higher when the intermediated meals include products of animal origin – the reason why the composition of intermediated meals should be redesigned considering the achievement of these targets.

The promotion of intermediated meals that promote the Mediterranean eating pattern contributes to health and well-being and is a vehicle for nutrition education and healthy food consumption in schools.

Many studies have been conducted to analyse the carbon footprint and environmental impact of school meals, but commonly lunch is the meal evaluated and the assessment of intermediated meals' impact is an open field.

Systemic innovations emerge and create value in an inter-organisational context. However, innovation studies rarely investigate the role of value creation and value capture among multiple organisations in successful innovation implementation. This paper aims to understand the role of value creation and value capture in the implementation of systemic innovations in construction which is by nature, an inter-organisational context.

The empirical research focused on the barriers, enablers and opportunities for value creation and value capture of the Finnish construction project parties when trying to implement mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP) prefabrication, which is a systemic innovation. Data were collected through interviews, observations and action workshops.

The empirical study identified interaction patterns on how social, political, technical and economic barriers lead to uneven value capturing, lack of value-based procurement and unclear value creation between MEP design and installation. They hinder the implementation of MEP prefabrication. The results point to enablers leading to fairly shared value to all parties, procurement of value and collaborative value creation, thus increasing the usage of MEP prefabrication, a systemic innovation.

The study adds new knowledge by demonstrating that the identification of barriers and their interaction with enablers and opportunities for value creation and capture lay a baseline for suggestions on how to implement a systemic innovation. This study stresses the importance of enabling value creation and capture for all construction project parties when implementing a systemic innovation.

Pension funds are demanding increasingly more information about the levels of corporate social responsibility achieved by companies through the use of corporate social responsibility reports to select which firms’ stocks to invest in. This could improve or reduce the financial performance achieved by pension plans. Therefore, this chapter examines the financial performance obtained by equity pension plans, distinguishing between solidarity pension plans, ethical pension plans and conventional pension plans.

We use a sample of 153 individual system pension plans (129 conventional pension plans, 6 solidarity pension plans and 18 ethical pension plans). Using these sample data, we implement the robust random effects panel data methodology.

The results show that ethical pension plans perform similarly to traditional pension plans, while solidarity pension plans significantly outperform conventional pension plans.

We do not know what weights managers give to environmental, social and corporate governance criteria, which may influence the financial performance of pension plans.

The results of this study could be relevant for pension plan managers that may be considering the integration of ethical screening in their management strategies in order to offer differentiated products and for investors who would like to invest in ethical pension plans without compromising their financial performance.

Previous studies have analysed the financial performance obtained by traditional and ethical funds, but in this chapter we compare the financial performance of traditional, solidarity and ethical pension plans.

The study aims to evaluate the long- vs short-run relationships between crops' production (output) and crops' significant inputs such as land use, agricultural water use (AWU) and gross irrigated area in India during the period 1981–2018.

The study applied the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) bounds testing approach to estimate the co-integration among the variables. The study uses the error correction model (ECM), which integrates the short-run dynamics with the long-run equilibrium.

The ARDL bounds test of co-integration confirms the strong evidence of the long-run relationship among the variables. Empirical results show the positive and significant relationship of crops' production with land use and gross irrigated area. The statistically significant error correction term (ECT) validates the speed of adjustment of the empirical models in the long-run.

The study suggests that the decision-makers must understand potential trade-offs between human needs and environmental impacts to ensure food for the growing population in India.

For a clear insight into the impact of climate change on crops' production, the current study incorporates the climate variables such as annual rainfall, maximum temperature and minimum temperature. Further, the study considered agro-chemicals, i.e. fertilizers and pesticides, concerning their negative impacts on increased agricultural production and the environment.