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Dr. Anna Irene De Luca
Department of Agricultural Sciences (AGRARIA), Mediterranean University of Reggio Calabria, 89122 Reggio Calabria, Italy

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0 circular economy
0 Rural tourism
0 sustainable food production
0 Multicriteria decision analysis
0 Life cycle methodologies

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Life cycle methodologies
circular economy
Rural tourism
Multicriteria decision analysis

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Journal article
Published: 10 May 2021 in Foods
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Anaerobic codigestion of olive mill wastewater for renewable energy production constitutes a promising process to overcome management and environmental issues due to their conventional disposal. The present study aims at assessing biogas and biomethane production from olive mill wastewater by performing biochemical methane potential tests. Hence, mixtures containing 0% (blank), 20% and 30% olive mill wastewater, in volume, were experimented on under mesophilic conditions. In addition, life cycle assessment and life cycle costing were performed for sustainability analysis. Particularly, life cycle assessment allowed assessing the potential environmental impact resulting from the tested process, while life cycle costing in conjunction with specific economic indicators allowed performing the economic feasibility analysis. The research highlighted reliable outcomes: higher amounts of biogas (80.22 ± 24.49 NL.kgSV −1) and methane (47.68 ± 17.55 NL.kgSV −1) were obtained when implementing a higher amount of olive mill wastewater (30%) (v/v) in the batch reactors. According to life cycle assessment, the biogas ecoprofile was better when using 20% (v/v) olive mill wastewater. Similarly, the economic results demonstrated the profitability of the process, with better performances when using 20% (v/v) olive mill wastewater. These findings confirm the advantages from using farm and food industry by-products for the production of renewable energy as well as organic fertilizers, which could be used in situ to enhance farm sustainability.

ACS Style

Souraya Benalia; Giacomo Falcone; Teodora Stillitano; Anna De Luca; Alfio Strano; Giovanni Gulisano; Giuseppe Zimbalatti; Bruno Bernardi. Increasing the Content of Olive Mill Wastewater in Biogas Reactors for a Sustainable Recovery: Methane Productivity and Life Cycle Analyses of the Process. Foods 2021, 10, 1029 .

AMA Style

Souraya Benalia, Giacomo Falcone, Teodora Stillitano, Anna De Luca, Alfio Strano, Giovanni Gulisano, Giuseppe Zimbalatti, Bruno Bernardi. Increasing the Content of Olive Mill Wastewater in Biogas Reactors for a Sustainable Recovery: Methane Productivity and Life Cycle Analyses of the Process. Foods. 2021; 10 (5):1029.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Souraya Benalia; Giacomo Falcone; Teodora Stillitano; Anna De Luca; Alfio Strano; Giovanni Gulisano; Giuseppe Zimbalatti; Bruno Bernardi. 2021. "Increasing the Content of Olive Mill Wastewater in Biogas Reactors for a Sustainable Recovery: Methane Productivity and Life Cycle Analyses of the Process." Foods 10, no. 5: 1029.

Review
Published: 25 February 2021 in Sustainability
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This study aims at providing a systematic and critical review on the state of the art of life cycle applications from the circular economy point of view. In particular, the main objective is to understand how researchers adopt life cycle approaches for the measurement of the empirical circular pathways of agri-food systems along with the overall lifespan. To perform the literature review, the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) protocol was considered to conduct a review by qualitative synthesis. Specifically, an evaluation matrix has been set up to gather and synthesize research evidence, by classifying papers according to several integrated criteria. The literature search was carried out employing scientific databases. The findings highlight that 52 case studies out of 84 (62% of the total) use stand-alone life cycle assessment (LCA) to evaluate the benefits/impacts of circular economy (CE) strategies. In contrast, only eight studies (9.5%) deal with the life cycle costing (LCC) approach combined with other analyses while no paper deals with the social life cycle assessment (S-LCA) methodology. Global warming potential, eutrophication (for marine, freshwater, and terrestrial ecosystems), human toxicity, and ecotoxicity results are the most common LCA indicators applied. Only a few articles deal with the CE assessment through specific indicators. We argue that experts in life cycle methodologies must strive to adopt some key elements to ensure that the results obtained fit perfectly with the measurements of circularity and that these can even be largely based on a common basis.

ACS Style

Teodora Stillitano; Emanuele Spada; Nathalie Iofrida; Giacomo Falcone; Anna De Luca. Sustainable Agri-Food Processes and Circular Economy Pathways in a Life Cycle Perspective: State of the Art of Applicative Research. Sustainability 2021, 13, 2472 .

AMA Style

Teodora Stillitano, Emanuele Spada, Nathalie Iofrida, Giacomo Falcone, Anna De Luca. Sustainable Agri-Food Processes and Circular Economy Pathways in a Life Cycle Perspective: State of the Art of Applicative Research. Sustainability. 2021; 13 (5):2472.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Teodora Stillitano; Emanuele Spada; Nathalie Iofrida; Giacomo Falcone; Anna De Luca. 2021. "Sustainable Agri-Food Processes and Circular Economy Pathways in a Life Cycle Perspective: State of the Art of Applicative Research." Sustainability 13, no. 5: 2472.

Preprint
Published: 01 February 2021
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This study aims at providing a systematic and critical review on the state-of-the-art of life cycle applications from the circular economy point of view. In particular, the main objective is to un-derstand how researchers adapt life cycle approaches for the measurement of the empirical cir-cular pathways of agri-food systems along the overall lifespan. To perform the literature review, PRISMA protocol was considered to conduct a review by qualitative synthesis. Specifically, an evaluation matrix has been set up to gather and synthesize research evidence, by classifying pa-pers according to several integrated criteria. The literature search was carried out employing scientific databases. Findings evidence that the most common circularity topics are about closed-loop production systems, i.e. nutrient recovery for agricultural purposes, production of renewable energy, valorization of residues and wastes as fertilizers, food waste, and agro-wastes recycling for agriculture. To evaluate the benefits/impacts of CE strategies, Life Cycle Assess-ment (LCA) proved to be the most common methodology applied by authors, as it can help to meet the main CE requirements slowing and closing resource loops.

ACS Style

Teodora Stillitano; Emanuele Spada; Nathalie Iofrida; Giacomo Falcone; Anna Irene De Luca. Sustainable Agri-Food Processes and Circular Pathways in a Life Cycle Perspectives: Where Is Applicative Research Going? 2021, 1 .

AMA Style

Teodora Stillitano, Emanuele Spada, Nathalie Iofrida, Giacomo Falcone, Anna Irene De Luca. Sustainable Agri-Food Processes and Circular Pathways in a Life Cycle Perspectives: Where Is Applicative Research Going? . 2021; ():1.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Teodora Stillitano; Emanuele Spada; Nathalie Iofrida; Giacomo Falcone; Anna Irene De Luca. 2021. "Sustainable Agri-Food Processes and Circular Pathways in a Life Cycle Perspectives: Where Is Applicative Research Going?" , no. : 1.

Journal article
Published: 25 September 2020 in Science of The Total Environment
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In the olive production sector, which is increasingly expanding beyond the borders of the Mediterranean basin, harvesting is the most demanding phase, from both an economic and organisational point of view. Traditional olive orchards are still predominant, with centuries-old and large plants, and are characterised by the gradual ripening of drupes and irregular planting patterns. Even though the structural conversion of these olive orchards into more modern cultivations may be difficult owing to their historical, monumental, and landscaping importance, as well as the existing legal restrictions, supporting a “modernisation” process aimed at mechanising the main farming operations remains a priority. Technological innovation is, therefore, a primary objective for Mediterranean olive growing, as well as for the enhancement of its strengths. The present study aimed at assessing different olive harvesting sites, considering the technical, economic, and environmental aspects, to develop a better version of the “olive harvesting database”. The applied methodology, also called the “modular approach”, represents a useful tool to apply in unitary process assessment to obtain a comprehensive database of diverse agricultural operations. Eight olive harvesting systems were compared: six highly mechanised scenarios, one based on mechanical-aided harvesting, and the final one based on fully manual harvesting. The mechanised systems obtained a better performance in terms of working capacity, as only 3.5 h ha−1 were needed to harvest 12 t using a self-propelled trunk shaker. In addition, the economic results revealed that mechanical harvesting, diversely from manual or aided harvesting, is the only way to decrease production costs. From an environmental point of view, manual and mechanical-aided harvesting showed the best performance in terms of impact per hour. However, using the mass-based unit (1 kg of harvested olives), the results were the opposite and this could be very relevant for the ecoprofile of olive oil.

ACS Style

Bruno Bernardi; Giacomo Falcone; Teodora Stillitano; Souraya Benalia; Jacopo Bacenetti; Anna Irene De Luca. Harvesting system sustainability in Mediterranean olive cultivation: Other principal cultivar. Science of The Total Environment 2020, 766, 142508 .

AMA Style

Bruno Bernardi, Giacomo Falcone, Teodora Stillitano, Souraya Benalia, Jacopo Bacenetti, Anna Irene De Luca. Harvesting system sustainability in Mediterranean olive cultivation: Other principal cultivar. Science of The Total Environment. 2020; 766 ():142508.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Bruno Bernardi; Giacomo Falcone; Teodora Stillitano; Souraya Benalia; Jacopo Bacenetti; Anna Irene De Luca. 2020. "Harvesting system sustainability in Mediterranean olive cultivation: Other principal cultivar." Science of The Total Environment 766, no. : 142508.

Journal article
Published: 10 March 2020 in Energies
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Farming systems need to be planned to provide suitable levels of economic profitability and, at the same time, ensure an effective energy use, in order to perform environmentally friendly production strategies. The herein present work aims to assess the efficiency of energy use and economic impacts of the main farming methods (conventional, organic and integrated) of Clementine’s crops in Calabria (South Italy), through a combined use of Life Cycle Energy Assessment (LCEA) approach and economic analysis. For this purpose, data were collected from clementine producers by using face-to-face interviews. The results revealed that average energy consumption in the organic farming systems was 72,739 MJ, lower than conventional and integrated systems equal to 95,848 MJ and 94,060 MJ, respectively. This is mainly due to the ban of chemicals. Economic analysis showed that organic farms were more profitable compared with the other farming methods, because of the greater selling price and the EU economic support, reaching an average net profit of 4255 € ha−1 against 3134 € ha−1 of integrated farms and 2788 € ha−1 of conventional ones. The economic efficiency of energy from clementine production was 0.058 € MJ−1 in the organic farming, higher compared to the other two farming systems equal to 0.033 € MJ−1 on average.

ACS Style

Giacomo Falcone; Teodora Stillitano; Anna Irene De Luca; Giuseppe Di Vita; Nathalie Iofrida; Alfio Strano; Giovanni Gulisano; Biagio Pecorino; Mario D’Amico. Energetic and Economic Analyses for Agricultural Management Models: The Calabria PGI Clementine Case Study. Energies 2020, 13, 1289 .

AMA Style

Giacomo Falcone, Teodora Stillitano, Anna Irene De Luca, Giuseppe Di Vita, Nathalie Iofrida, Alfio Strano, Giovanni Gulisano, Biagio Pecorino, Mario D’Amico. Energetic and Economic Analyses for Agricultural Management Models: The Calabria PGI Clementine Case Study. Energies. 2020; 13 (5):1289.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Giacomo Falcone; Teodora Stillitano; Anna Irene De Luca; Giuseppe Di Vita; Nathalie Iofrida; Alfio Strano; Giovanni Gulisano; Biagio Pecorino; Mario D’Amico. 2020. "Energetic and Economic Analyses for Agricultural Management Models: The Calabria PGI Clementine Case Study." Energies 13, no. 5: 1289.

Journal article
Published: 13 June 2019 in Foods
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Advances in the adoption of technological innovations represent a great driver to improve the competitiveness of the Italian extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) industry. This work assesses the efficiency of an innovative extraction plant (with low oxidative impact, heating of paste before malaxation and a special decanter that avoids the final vertical centrifugation) in terms of oil yield and quality, and economic and environmental impacts. Economic and environmental impacts were evaluated by using both life cycle costing and life cycle assessment methodologies. A sensitivity analysis was also performed to highlight the uncertain factors that may strongly affect the results. Findings showed that olive milling with the innovative plant resulted in olive oil with a significant increase in quality, although the extraction yield was significantly higher when using conventional technology. In terms of environmental results, an average growth of 4.5% of the impacts in all categories was reached. The economic results revealed the highest extraction cost for the innovative scenario as well as the lower profitability, although a positive return in investment feasibility can be achieved due to an increase in the olive oil selling price. These findings could be useful to highlight the main hotspots in EVOO production and to suggest improvements for more sustainable management.

ACS Style

Teodora Stillitano; Giacomo Falcone; Anna Irene De Luca; Antonio Piga; Paola Conte; Alfio Strano; Giovanni Gulisano. A Life Cycle Perspective to Assess the Environmental and Economic Impacts of Innovative Technologies in Extra Virgin Olive Oil Extraction. Foods 2019, 8, 209 .

AMA Style

Teodora Stillitano, Giacomo Falcone, Anna Irene De Luca, Antonio Piga, Paola Conte, Alfio Strano, Giovanni Gulisano. A Life Cycle Perspective to Assess the Environmental and Economic Impacts of Innovative Technologies in Extra Virgin Olive Oil Extraction. Foods. 2019; 8 (6):209.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Teodora Stillitano; Giacomo Falcone; Anna Irene De Luca; Antonio Piga; Paola Conte; Alfio Strano; Giovanni Gulisano. 2019. "A Life Cycle Perspective to Assess the Environmental and Economic Impacts of Innovative Technologies in Extra Virgin Olive Oil Extraction." Foods 8, no. 6: 209.

Journal article
Published: 10 March 2019 in Journal of Environmental Management
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The paper describes the results of a specific LCA based analysis of the production of olive oil in the region of Calabria, in southern Italy. The goal of the study is to assess the energy and environmental impacts of different scenarios involving conventional and organic cultivations, plains and hills cultivations and involving different operating techniques. The study also aims at assessing the share of each life cycle step on the total of energy and environmental impacts. The functional unit chosen for the comparative analysis is a glass bottle of 0.75 L of extra virgin olive oil. A “from cradle to gate” perspective was chosen. The analysis was developed according to the LCA standards of the ISO 14040 series. The analysis is based on a field analysis developed in the last years in the province of Reggio Calabria between more than 50 enterprises and stakeholders of the field, representative of the whole Calabria region and of most southern Italy. The data used for the development of mass and energy balances are related to the years 2013–2015. The results clarify that for all indicators that the first part of the life cycle – from the production, including the growth of the olive plant to the full production stage – is the most relevant, variable between 80.6% share in the case of the particulate matter indicator to the 99.64% in the case of land use (Hill – Biological agriculture scenario). Relevant differences can be also traced for each specific indicator among all scenarios; high impacts are traced for the agricultural stages among all scenarios (70% −90% in all indicators) with high impacts caused by fertilizers. Among the transformation stages the bottle production is one of the most relevant sources of life cycle energy uses and environmental impacts (80–90%).

ACS Style

Francesco Guarino; Giacomo Falcone; Teodora Stillitano; Anna Irene De Luca; Giovanni Gulisano; Marina Mistretta; Alfio Strano. Life cycle assessment of olive oil: A case study in southern Italy. Journal of Environmental Management 2019, 238, 396 -407.

AMA Style

Francesco Guarino, Giacomo Falcone, Teodora Stillitano, Anna Irene De Luca, Giovanni Gulisano, Marina Mistretta, Alfio Strano. Life cycle assessment of olive oil: A case study in southern Italy. Journal of Environmental Management. 2019; 238 ():396-407.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Francesco Guarino; Giacomo Falcone; Teodora Stillitano; Anna Irene De Luca; Giovanni Gulisano; Marina Mistretta; Alfio Strano. 2019. "Life cycle assessment of olive oil: A case study in southern Italy." Journal of Environmental Management 238, no. : 396-407.

Journal article
Published: 01 December 2018 in Bulletin of Geography. Socio-economic Series
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Cooperation activities between Local Action Groups (LAGs) have been introduced into EU LEADER (Liaison Entre Actions de Développement de l’Économie Rurale) initiative to provide rural areas the opportunity to exchange experiences and best practices, as well as to realize common activities by pooling human and financial resources. The main purposes are to overcome isolation and add value to local development strategies. The benefits of cooperation are widely recognized but, undeniably, it can be also a difficult and time-consuming process. For this reason, evaluation is a necessary tool to measure the success of cooperation and to help actors address their strategies for the future. In this paper, an evaluation methodology is proposed and applied to an EU LEADER+ case study, the ‘Integrated Project for Rural Tourism: Environment and Qualified Hospitality’, a transnational cooperation experience led by LAG Aspromar, based in the province of Reggio Calabria, Southern Italy. Quantitative and qualitative data have been collected through the integration of three typical methods of social research: two techniques based on surveys, namely interviews with privileged actors, and a semi-structured questionnaire, and a technique based on non-survey data and the study of documents. Results can be useful to highlight pros and cons of the management of a cooperation project and to stimulate projects’ leaders on activating improvement processes.

ACS Style

Anna Irene De Luca; Nathalie Iofrida; Giovanni Gulisano; Alfio Strano. Toward an evaluation model for transnational cooperation activities in rural areas: a case study within an EU LEADER project. Bulletin of Geography. Socio-economic Series 2018, 42, 19 -45.

AMA Style

Anna Irene De Luca, Nathalie Iofrida, Giovanni Gulisano, Alfio Strano. Toward an evaluation model for transnational cooperation activities in rural areas: a case study within an EU LEADER project. Bulletin of Geography. Socio-economic Series. 2018; 42 (42):19-45.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Anna Irene De Luca; Nathalie Iofrida; Giovanni Gulisano; Alfio Strano. 2018. "Toward an evaluation model for transnational cooperation activities in rural areas: a case study within an EU LEADER project." Bulletin of Geography. Socio-economic Series 42, no. 42: 19-45.

Journal article
Published: 01 June 2018 in Science of The Total Environment
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The mechanization of farming operation plays an important role in improving the profitability of the agricultural sector by increasing work productivity and reducing production costs. However, the new challenges of agriculture also include the environmental issues. The choice between different alternatives to perform a determined agricultural practice should be based on reliable information, considering technical, economic and environmental aspects. Olive growing represents the most important agricultural production in the Mediterranean Basin and its mechanization, particularly harvesting, could have major impacts on the sustainability of this production. This study aims at assessing various olive-harvesting scenarios, while considering technical, economic and environmental aspects in order to build a beta version of the “olive-harvesting database”. The proposed methodology called “modular approach” could represent a useful tool to apply in unitary process assessment in order to obtain a comprehensive database of the diverse agricultural operations. The methodology was based on Life Cycle Assessment and production cost analysis. Technical performance evaluation showed that the recorded work capacities varied between 5 tons of harvested olives per day when employing mechanical harvest aids and 18 tons per day when employing trunk shakers. The economic evaluation highlighted that the harvesting costs are variable as a function of the given cost type (costs per hour, costs per kg of harvested olives and costs per hectare). The LCA revealed that mechanically aided techniques were the most sustainable ones when the functional unit is considered as one harvesting hour, although this FU is not the most suitable unit for choosing the best environmental solution. The surface and production mass units are more appropriate FUs in comparative studies, although they are strictly linked to the “work capacity”. A significant variation in the environmental performances depended on the FUs and on the average yields when the FU represented one kg of harvested olives.

ACS Style

Bruno Bernardi; Giacomo Falcone; Teodora Stillitano; Souraya Benalia; Alfio Strano; Jacopo Bacenetti; Anna Irene De Luca. Harvesting system sustainability in Mediterranean olive cultivation. Science of The Total Environment 2018, 625, 1446 -1458.

AMA Style

Bruno Bernardi, Giacomo Falcone, Teodora Stillitano, Souraya Benalia, Alfio Strano, Jacopo Bacenetti, Anna Irene De Luca. Harvesting system sustainability in Mediterranean olive cultivation. Science of The Total Environment. 2018; 625 ():1446-1458.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Bruno Bernardi; Giacomo Falcone; Teodora Stillitano; Souraya Benalia; Alfio Strano; Jacopo Bacenetti; Anna Irene De Luca. 2018. "Harvesting system sustainability in Mediterranean olive cultivation." Science of The Total Environment 625, no. : 1446-1458.

Societal lca
Published: 30 May 2018 in The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment
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Social life cycle assessment (SLCA) was the last tool to be developed within the framework of life cycle thinking, and since the beginning, there has been a struggle to reach a consensus on a standardized methodology. In fact, many different methodological proposals have been published, diverging on many points. The main difference lies in the epistemological position underlying these proposals. The aim of this study is to propose an impact pathway for assessing the social consequences of a product’s life cycle—the psychosocial risk factor (PRF) impact pathway. The epistemological posture of this methodology is post-positivist, because it is based on an objective assessment of the possible consequences of the functioning of the life cycle, and therefore, it is in line with environmental LCA. Possible impacts on workers’ health were measured in terms of risks, i.e., using the odds ratio, a statistical measure of the intensity of the association between two variables. Odds ratios explaining the relationships between working conditions and health troubles were retrieved from previously published empirical studies. These statistical relationships were used to build an impact pathway that links the product’s life cycle to possible social impacts in a quantifiable and probabilistic way. The PRF impact pathway was applied to citriculture in the Calabria region of South Italy. The results showed that the life cycle, from cradle to farm gate, of industrial oranges exposed workers to a risk for about 43,088 h against 54,110 h for the clementine life cycle. In general, musculoskeletal disorders are the highest concern for both products, followed by osteoarthritis, disability, and cardiovascular diseases. For all impact categories, the industrial oranges’ life cycle showed the best performance, mainly due to the shorter duration of a single operation. The results are generalizable to other evaluation contexts. The PRF impact pathway was applied to the stakeholders group “workers,” but can be extended to other typologies of actor, such as consumers and local residents. Further, it allowed for an objective assessment of the impacts principally linked to the functioning of the citruses’ life cycles, by quantifying and qualifying the hours of work, and can be extended to other fields of application.

ACS Style

Nathalie Iofrida; Anna Irene De Luca; Frederica Silveri; Giacomo Falcone; Teodora Stillitano; Giovanni Gulisano; Alfio Strano. Psychosocial risk factors’ impact pathway for social life cycle assessment: an application to citrus life cycles in South Italy. The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment 2018, 24, 767 -780.

AMA Style

Nathalie Iofrida, Anna Irene De Luca, Frederica Silveri, Giacomo Falcone, Teodora Stillitano, Giovanni Gulisano, Alfio Strano. Psychosocial risk factors’ impact pathway for social life cycle assessment: an application to citrus life cycles in South Italy. The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment. 2018; 24 (4):767-780.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Nathalie Iofrida; Anna Irene De Luca; Frederica Silveri; Giacomo Falcone; Teodora Stillitano; Giovanni Gulisano; Alfio Strano. 2018. "Psychosocial risk factors’ impact pathway for social life cycle assessment: an application to citrus life cycles in South Italy." The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment 24, no. 4: 767-780.

Journal article
Published: 01 May 2018 in Agricultural Systems
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Olive growing is one of the most significant sources of income for agricultural areas in the Mediterranean basin, and a characteristic element from environmental and landscape perspectives. Italy is the second largest producer of olive oil; this cultivation represents the nation's most important supply chain, especially in the southern Italian Calabrian region, contributing to both local and rural economies. However, in a Calabrian context, olive production underperforms due to structural and managerial weaknesses, and farming techniques' potential impacts are not properly addressed due to farmers' poor knowledge of agricultural sustainability techniques. Therefore, Calabrian olive growing requires innovation, especially to respond to new sustainability requirements, currently claimed by public policies (eco-conditionality), and consumers and citizens increasingly concerned with environmental quality, human health and social liveability. This paper analyses the aspects that require innovation towards sustainability aims by exploring the perceptions of various actors, including local and supply chain stakeholders, and highlighting and suggesting new pathways to be introduced in Calabrian olive growing. The application of a mixed qualitative/quantitative statistical method, or the ‘Q-methodology’, small and medium-sized farms, academic experts, technicians and consumers have been interviewed to investigate their perceptions and interpretations of sustainability issues. Further, their opinions on possible weaknesses and areas of improvement are examined, highlighting either a consensus or diversity regarding their points of view. The results indicated that all actors perceived a need to orient Calabrian olive growing towards more sustainable management practices by better exploiting its potential and focusing on product quality. Sustainable innovation, in this sense, would increase production efficiency and economic performance, thus satisfying the need for employment and fairer remunerations.

ACS Style

Nathalie Iofrida; Anna Irene De Luca; Giovanni Gulisano; Alfio Strano. An application of Q-methodology to Mediterranean olive production – stakeholders' understanding of sustainability issues. Agricultural Systems 2018, 162, 46 -55.

AMA Style

Nathalie Iofrida, Anna Irene De Luca, Giovanni Gulisano, Alfio Strano. An application of Q-methodology to Mediterranean olive production – stakeholders' understanding of sustainability issues. Agricultural Systems. 2018; 162 ():46-55.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Nathalie Iofrida; Anna Irene De Luca; Giovanni Gulisano; Alfio Strano. 2018. "An application of Q-methodology to Mediterranean olive production – stakeholders' understanding of sustainability issues." Agricultural Systems 162, no. : 46-55.

Journal article
Published: 01 April 2018 in Acta Horticulturae
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ACS Style

T. Stillitano; Giacomo Falcone; A.I. De Luca; E. Spada; G. Gulisano; A. Strano. Long-term feasibility of Mediterranean olive production systems. Acta Horticulturae 2018, 203 -208.

AMA Style

T. Stillitano, Giacomo Falcone, A.I. De Luca, E. Spada, G. Gulisano, A. Strano. Long-term feasibility of Mediterranean olive production systems. Acta Horticulturae. 2018; (1199):203-208.

Chicago/Turabian Style

T. Stillitano; Giacomo Falcone; A.I. De Luca; E. Spada; G. Gulisano; A. Strano. 2018. "Long-term feasibility of Mediterranean olive production systems." Acta Horticulturae , no. 1199: 203-208.

Journal article
Published: 01 April 2018 in Acta Horticulturae
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ACS Style

A.I. De Luca; N. Iofrida; Giacomo Falcone; T. Stillitano; G. Gulisano. Olive growing scenarios of soil management: integrating environmental, economic and social indicators from a life-cycle perspective. Acta Horticulturae 2018, 209 -214.

AMA Style

A.I. De Luca, N. Iofrida, Giacomo Falcone, T. Stillitano, G. Gulisano. Olive growing scenarios of soil management: integrating environmental, economic and social indicators from a life-cycle perspective. Acta Horticulturae. 2018; (1199):209-214.

Chicago/Turabian Style

A.I. De Luca; N. Iofrida; Giacomo Falcone; T. Stillitano; G. Gulisano. 2018. "Olive growing scenarios of soil management: integrating environmental, economic and social indicators from a life-cycle perspective." Acta Horticulturae , no. 1199: 209-214.

Journal article
Published: 01 January 2018 in Journal of Cleaner Production
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ACS Style

Anna Irene De Luca; Giacomo Falcone; Teodora Stillitano; Nathalie Iofrida; Alfio Strano; Giovanni Gulisano. Evaluation of sustainable innovations in olive growing systems: A Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment case study in southern Italy. Journal of Cleaner Production 2018, 171, 1187 -1202.

AMA Style

Anna Irene De Luca, Giacomo Falcone, Teodora Stillitano, Nathalie Iofrida, Alfio Strano, Giovanni Gulisano. Evaluation of sustainable innovations in olive growing systems: A Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment case study in southern Italy. Journal of Cleaner Production. 2018; 171 ():1187-1202.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Anna Irene De Luca; Giacomo Falcone; Teodora Stillitano; Nathalie Iofrida; Alfio Strano; Giovanni Gulisano. 2018. "Evaluation of sustainable innovations in olive growing systems: A Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment case study in southern Italy." Journal of Cleaner Production 171, no. : 1187-1202.

Commentary and discussion article
Published: 10 October 2017 in The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment
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ACS Style

Nathalie Iofrida; Alfio Strano; Giovanni Gulisano; Anna Irene De Luca. Why social life cycle assessment is struggling in development? The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment 2017, 23, 201 -203.

AMA Style

Nathalie Iofrida, Alfio Strano, Giovanni Gulisano, Anna Irene De Luca. Why social life cycle assessment is struggling in development? The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment. 2017; 23 (2):201-203.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Nathalie Iofrida; Alfio Strano; Giovanni Gulisano; Anna Irene De Luca. 2017. "Why social life cycle assessment is struggling in development?" The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment 23, no. 2: 201-203.

Review
Published: 01 October 2017 in Science of The Total Environment
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Life cycle (LC) methodologies have attracted a great interest in agricultural sustainability assessments, even if, at the same time, they have sometimes been criticized for making unrealistic assumptions and subjective choices. To cope with these weaknesses, Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) and/or participatory methods can be used to balance and integrate different sustainability dimensions. The purpose of this study is to highlight how life cycle approaches were combined with MCDA and participatory methods to address agricultural sustainability in the published scientific literature. A systematic and critical review was developed, highlighting the following features: which multi-criterial and/or participatory methods have been associated with LC tools; how they have been integrated or complemented (methodological relationships); the intensity of the involvement of stakeholders (degree of participation); and which synergies have been achieved by combining the methods. The main typology of integration was represented by multi-criterial frameworks integrating LC evaluations. LC tools can provide MCDA studies with local and global information on how to reduce negative impacts and avoid burden shifts, while MCDA methods can help LC practitioners deal with subjective assumptions in an objective way, to take into consideration actors' values and to overcome trade-offs among the different dimensions of sustainability. Considerations concerning the further development of Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA) have been identified as well.

ACS Style

Anna Irene De Luca; Nathalie Iofrida; Pekka Leskinen; Teodora Stillitano; Giacomo Falcone; Alfio Strano; Giovanni Gulisano. Life cycle tools combined with multi-criteria and participatory methods for agricultural sustainability: Insights from a systematic and critical review. Science of The Total Environment 2017, 595, 352 -370.

AMA Style

Anna Irene De Luca, Nathalie Iofrida, Pekka Leskinen, Teodora Stillitano, Giacomo Falcone, Alfio Strano, Giovanni Gulisano. Life cycle tools combined with multi-criteria and participatory methods for agricultural sustainability: Insights from a systematic and critical review. Science of The Total Environment. 2017; 595 ():352-370.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Anna Irene De Luca; Nathalie Iofrida; Pekka Leskinen; Teodora Stillitano; Giacomo Falcone; Alfio Strano; Giovanni Gulisano. 2017. "Life cycle tools combined with multi-criteria and participatory methods for agricultural sustainability: Insights from a systematic and critical review." Science of The Total Environment 595, no. : 352-370.

Social lca in progress
Published: 23 September 2016 in The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment
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The present paper aims to offer an explanation for the diversity of methodological approaches proposed up to the present for social life cycle assessment (sLCA), tracking down its roots in the cultural and scientific heritage of social sciences and especially management sciences. A second aim is to shift the current debate on methodologies to an epistemological level, presenting the first results of an ongoing critical review about which underlying paradigms have been applied in sLCA literature. This paper moves from the hypothesis that the diversity of positions in philosophy of science and the “multiparadigmatic” character of social sciences have had repercussions on sLCA literature since its beginnings, probably in an unconscious manner. Therefore, a discriminating reflection on the scientific and disciplinary inheritance that can represent the roots of sLCA has been conducted. The philosophy of science and the role of different research paradigms in social sciences have been deepened to provide an overview of the main elements of a paradigm (in terms of ontology, epistemology, and methodology). Finally, a brief but critical review of 133 selected scientific contributions on sLCA has been conducted to highlight which paradigms have been applied in sLCA studies. Recognizing that boundaries between paradigms are subtle and that researchers are rarely conscious of which paradigm underpins their works, a distinction between the interpretivist and post-positivist approaches used by the studies has been carried out on the basis of a text analysis conducted by identifying the main “literal” criteria. From an initial population of 209 studies, we excluded those concerning reviews of sLCA literature and those with selected criteria that were insufficient to catch the epistemological viewpoint of the authors. Among the remaining papers (133), 73 % has been ascribed to the group of interpretivism-oriented paradigms and only 24 % could be ascribed to the post-positivist one; the remaining 3 % is represented by studies with both characteristics. This data deserves some attention because, since the beginnings of sLCA methodologies, most sLCA publications explicitly suggest having the same underlying perspectives as environmental life cycle assessment (eLCA). In light of the reflections carried out, we argue that it is important, before going into methodological questioning issues, to be aware of which paradigm is underlying. Indeed, in this phase of sLCA development, scholars should go beyond the simple methodological debate and recognize the “multilayered” nature of social phenomena and the multiparadigmatic characteristics of social and management sciences.

ACS Style

Nathalie Iofrida; Anna Irene De Luca; Alfio Strano; Giovanni Gulisano. Can social research paradigms justify the diversity of approaches to social life cycle assessment? The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment 2016, 23, 464 -480.

AMA Style

Nathalie Iofrida, Anna Irene De Luca, Alfio Strano, Giovanni Gulisano. Can social research paradigms justify the diversity of approaches to social life cycle assessment? The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment. 2016; 23 (3):464-480.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Nathalie Iofrida; Anna Irene De Luca; Alfio Strano; Giovanni Gulisano. 2016. "Can social research paradigms justify the diversity of approaches to social life cycle assessment?" The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment 23, no. 3: 464-480.

Journal article
Published: 13 August 2016 in Sustainability
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The wine sector is going through a significant evolution dealing with the challenges of competition issues in international markets and with necessary commitments to sustainability improvement. In the wine supply chain, the agricultural phase represents a potential source of pollution and costs. From the farmers’ point of view, these contexts require them to be more attentive and find a compromise among environmental benefits, economic benefits, and costs linked to farming practices. This paper aims to make a sustainability assessment of different wine-growing scenarios located in Calabria (Southern Italy) that combines conflicting insights, i.e., environmental and economic ones, by applying Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Life Cycle Costing (LCC) to identify the main hotspots and select the alternative scenarios closest to the ideal solution through the VIKOR multicriteria method. In particular, the latter allowed us to obtain synthetic indices for a two-dimensional sustainability assessment. Conventional practices associated to the espalier training system represent the best compromise from both environmental and economic points of view, due to the higher yield per hectare. The choices regarding Functional Unit (FU) and indicators were shown to have a high influence on results.

ACS Style

Giacomo Falcone; Anna Irene De Luca; Teodora Stillitano; Alfio Strano; Giuseppa Romeo; Giovanni Gulisano. Assessment of Environmental and Economic Impacts of Vine-Growing Combining Life Cycle Assessment, Life Cycle Costing and Multicriterial Analysis. Sustainability 2016, 8, 793 .

AMA Style

Giacomo Falcone, Anna Irene De Luca, Teodora Stillitano, Alfio Strano, Giuseppa Romeo, Giovanni Gulisano. Assessment of Environmental and Economic Impacts of Vine-Growing Combining Life Cycle Assessment, Life Cycle Costing and Multicriterial Analysis. Sustainability. 2016; 8 (8):793.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Giacomo Falcone; Anna Irene De Luca; Teodora Stillitano; Alfio Strano; Giuseppa Romeo; Giovanni Gulisano. 2016. "Assessment of Environmental and Economic Impacts of Vine-Growing Combining Life Cycle Assessment, Life Cycle Costing and Multicriterial Analysis." Sustainability 8, no. 8: 793.

Journal article
Published: 01 June 2015 in RIVISTA DI STUDI SULLA SOSTENIBILITA'
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ACS Style

Anna Irene De Luca; Giacomo Falcone; Giovanni Gulisano; Nathalie Iofrida; Teodora Stillitano; Alfio Strano. Life Cycle Methodologies to Improve Agri-Food Systems Sustainability. RIVISTA DI STUDI SULLA SOSTENIBILITA' 2015, 135 -150.

AMA Style

Anna Irene De Luca, Giacomo Falcone, Giovanni Gulisano, Nathalie Iofrida, Teodora Stillitano, Alfio Strano. Life Cycle Methodologies to Improve Agri-Food Systems Sustainability. RIVISTA DI STUDI SULLA SOSTENIBILITA'. 2015; (1):135-150.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Anna Irene De Luca; Giacomo Falcone; Giovanni Gulisano; Nathalie Iofrida; Teodora Stillitano; Alfio Strano. 2015. "Life Cycle Methodologies to Improve Agri-Food Systems Sustainability." RIVISTA DI STUDI SULLA SOSTENIBILITA' , no. 1: 135-150.

Journal article
Published: 01 March 2015 in American Journal of Agricultural and Biological Sciences
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Profitability Analysis of Small-Scale Beekeeping Firms by Using Life Cycle Costing (LCC) Methodology

ACS Style

Alfio Strano; Teodora Stillitano; Anna Irene De Luca; Giacomo Falcone; Giovanni Gulisano. Profitability Analysis of Small-Scale Beekeeping Firms by Using Life Cycle Costing (LCC) Methodology. American Journal of Agricultural and Biological Sciences 2015, 10, 116 -127.

AMA Style

Alfio Strano, Teodora Stillitano, Anna Irene De Luca, Giacomo Falcone, Giovanni Gulisano. Profitability Analysis of Small-Scale Beekeeping Firms by Using Life Cycle Costing (LCC) Methodology. American Journal of Agricultural and Biological Sciences. 2015; 10 (3):116-127.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Alfio Strano; Teodora Stillitano; Anna Irene De Luca; Giacomo Falcone; Giovanni Gulisano. 2015. "Profitability Analysis of Small-Scale Beekeeping Firms by Using Life Cycle Costing (LCC) Methodology." American Journal of Agricultural and Biological Sciences 10, no. 3: 116-127.