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Indicators System of Intermunicipal Sustainability: A case study in rural areas, Beira Baixa, Portugal

dc.contributor.authorManso, Sandra
dc.contributor.authorCaeiro, Sandra
dc.contributor.authorPardo, Carlos
dc.contributor.authorNunes, Sara
dc.date.accessioned2021-01-04T09:14:57Z
dc.date.available2021-01-04T09:14:57Z
dc.date.issued2020
dc.description.abstractIt is essential and urgent to seek social cohesion and quality of life of citizens, namely quality public spaces, energy efficiency, employment, economy, integration and social inclusion, among others, through policies (global or local), while respecting the specificity of each region. Indeed, in order to change the municipalities’ planning policy, it is essential to incorporate sustainability criteria and their measurement. In particular, indicators are a useful tool for communication and to support decision. The intermunicipal communities, as a cluster of neighbour municipalities, have an essential role in the promotion of territorial policies as a key factor for European territorial cohesion. The case study presented is about the Beira Baixa region in the interior of Portugal. Its population represents 0.8% of the resident population of Portugal. This region holds the country’s 3rd and 4th largest municipalities in terms of area (Castelo Branco and Idanha-a-Nova), but with the lowest populational densities (18 inhabitant/km2). The main objective of this study is to present the results of the themes and calculate an index to determinate the key areas of a questionnaire survey applied to a representative sample of the resident population of Beira Baixa, Portugal, over 18 years of age. The survey aims the support of the development of a participative Indicators System (IS) for Intermunicipal Sustainability assessment. The objectives of the questionnaire were to inquire the population’s perceptions and awareness about sustainability concepts, main sustainability themes and self-assessment of the local sustainability. The data that resulted was analysed using adequate multivariate statistical techniques, in particular to merge the more relevant sustainability domains and respective themes. The results show a statistically significant association between “Have you heard of the term “Sustainable Development (SD)”?” and “municipality”. Specifically, we can see that in the rural municipalities the percentage of the population that has never heard of SD is higher. Besides, there is an imbalance between the four dimensions associated with the concept of SD (environment, economy, social and governance/institutional), in the community as well as in each municipality. In the question that relates to the Themes of the IS the environmental and social ones were identified as the most relevant. The exploratory factorial analysis on the presented subjects revealed six “components”: the first one is strongly related with the “Environmental”, the second with the “Economical”, the third with the “Social”, the fourth with the “Rural”, the fifth with the “Immaterial” and lastly the “External Aspects”. The research revealed also the low involvement of the population in public decisions and in questions related to the environment. It is essential to involve the population in order to put pressure on the government and local authorities to diminish social inequalities and assume their responsibilities for commitments to society, namely regarding local sustainability.pt_PT
dc.description.versioninfo:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersionpt_PT
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10400.11/7391
dc.language.isoengpt_PT
dc.peerreviewedyespt_PT
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/pt_PT
dc.subjectSustainability Indicator Systemspt_PT
dc.subjectPublic Participationpt_PT
dc.subjectRural Municipalitiespt_PT
dc.subjectBeira Baixapt_PT
dc.titleIndicators System of Intermunicipal Sustainability: A case study in rural areas, Beira Baixa, Portugalpt_PT
dc.typejournal article
dspace.entity.typePublication
oaire.citation.conferencePlaceBudapest, Hungarypt_PT
oaire.citation.titleThe 26th International Sustainable Development Research Society Conferencept_PT
person.familyNameManso
person.familyNameNunes
person.givenNameSandra
person.givenNameSara
person.identifier.ciencia-idD811-550C-6788
person.identifier.ciencia-id131C-F496-B174
person.identifier.orcid0000-0002-4745-884X
person.identifier.orcid0000-0003-2944-306X
person.identifier.scopus-author-id54416082400
rcaap.rightsrestrictedAccesspt_PT
rcaap.typearticlept_PT
relation.isAuthorOfPublication29d5edf2-62f4-438e-b0ec-742b1a724bff
relation.isAuthorOfPublicationb58bc557-35e1-4f5a-9753-78478a18790a
relation.isAuthorOfPublication.latestForDiscoveryb58bc557-35e1-4f5a-9753-78478a18790a

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