The COVID-19 pandemic has driven the rapid evolution and digitization of different tourism sectors through Industry 4.0. However, Community-based Rural Tourism (CRT) has not experienced the same technological advancement. Thus, considering tourism as a powerful socioeconomic driver, this research is based on the relevance of the CRT for the development of rural areas through job creation, preservation of historical-cultural and architectural heritage, and appreciation of the local market. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to present a concept development model of an intelligent digital platform (IDP), where tourism products and services are visualized, articulated, and integrated with the different actors of the CRT, offering a personalized tourist experience. The concept was developed based on Business Process Management and Business Model Canvas (BMC). Thus, through meetings and interviews, it was possible to extract essential information to obtain the necessary know-how for the development of the concept. It was concluded that the COVID-19 pandemic has established a new business scenario, intensifying and accelerating the use of digital tools and ICTs in several sectors, including tourism. However, the use of ICTs in CRT is still incipient. As Peru is a country where rural tourism has a strong tradition, but there are no specific platforms for CRT, which makes the broad dissemination of rural experiences difficult, a BMC template has been developed to integrate the expected objectives, and the application of the proposed framework serves as a guide for other platforms with different niches markets in the tourism sector.
Urban drainage systems play an important role in the complex ecosystem of cities and are often subject to challenges that hinder their functioning. Although identifying these challenges is essential for developing policies and actions to improve drainage systems, there is a lack of studies addressing these challenges. This work has two objectives to contribute to filling this gap: (1) to research the main challenges that make it difficult to improve urban drainage systems; and (2) to prioritize them. We conducted extensive and detailed bibliographic research in which 15 challenges were identified, and a survey with 30 Brazilian professionals with experience in the concerned field. The results showed that 15 challenges identified in the literature were considered important by the survey respondents. It also showed that the most important challenges concern the inadequate functioning of drainage infrastructure, dynamics of city expansion, system maintenance, vulnerability of urban areas, public policies, and investments.
1 April 2011 in International Journal of Applied Metaheuristic Computing
Though its origins can be traced back to 1977, the development and application of the metaheuristic Scatter Search (SS) has stayed dormant for 20 years. However, in the last 10 years, research interest has positioned SS as one of the recognizable methodologies within the umbrella of evolutionary search. This paper presents an application of SS to the problem of routing vehicles that are required both to deliver and pickup goods (VRPSDP). This specialized version of the vehicle routing problem is particularly relevant to organizations that are concerned with sustainable and environmentally-friendly business practices. In this work, the efficiency of SS is evaluated when applied to this problem. Computational results of the application to instances in the literature are presented.
Containers are fundamental elements for the development of international trade; however, it is estimated that there are more than 17 million retired containers stacked in ports around the world. Considering the high costs involved in the process of storing, transporting, or destroying these materials, in addition to their non-degradable nature, it is urgent to develop strategies for the sustainable use of these decommissioned containers. In this context, repurposing these containers into permanent structures is becoming a predominant trend. One solution is converting steel shipping structures into habitable spaces. However, due to the urgency with which Container Houses (CHs) are demanded in case of disasters, they are usually planned to be built as quickly as possible, serving as many people as possible, and do not consider the basic principles of energy efficiency. The performance of the CHs is, then, impaired, including risks of overheating, corrosion, and rust, among others, during service, making them an even more stressful experience for their users who are already in a vulnerable situation. Therefore, the objective of this study is to compare the performance of two thermal insulators applied to a temporary shelter container designed to promptly serve vulnerable populations. The model was developed in Building Information Modeling (BIM) software and simulated in Building Energy Simulation (BES) software, aiming to obtain subsidies for its technical and economic viability analysis. The results indicated that thermal insulators are able to generate significant savings in energy consumption, with mineral wool presenting better long-term performance.
Neste artigo apresentamos heurísticas usando o conceito da meta-heurística Busca Dispersa (BD), desenvolvidas para a solução do Problema de Roteamento de Veículos (PRV) Clássico, detalhando cada uma de suas etapas básicas quando aplicadas ao problema em questão. A Busca Dispersa é um método evolutivo que combina soluções com a finalidade de criar novas soluções de melhor qualidade; ainda que apresente similaridades com os algoritmos genéticos difere dos mesmos em princípios fundamentais. Um aspecto importante da BD é formar soluções com alta qualidade para dirigir a busca a regiões promissoras. Experimentos computacionais foram realizados em quatro conjuntos de dados disponíveis na literatura. Os resultados mostram que a BD é robusta e competitiva em termos de qualidade das soluções obtidas e tempo computacional para o PRV Clássico, para os conjuntos de dados testados.