O presente trabalho tem por principal objetivo analisar se a responsabilidade administrativa pela queima irregular de palha de cana-de-açúcar tem caráter objetivo (como a responsabilidade civil por dano ambiental), subjetivo (como a responsabilidade por crime ambiental) ou é uma categoria sui generis. Paralelamente também visa aferir quais seriam os pressupostos para a caracterização da responsabilidade por se beneficiar de queima irregular e quais seriam as penalidades aplicáveis às infrações de provocar queima irregular e se beneficiar de queima irregular. Para isso, o trabalho percorre quatro grandes etapas. Na primeira, busca-se desvendar a natureza jurídica da responsabilidade administrativa ambiental, com base no exame da Constituição de 1988 e da legislação federal. Na segunda, passa-se a estudar como está estruturada, na legislação do Estado de São Paulo, a responsabilidade administrativa por provocar queima irregular de palha de cana-de-açúcar e por se beneficiar desta infração. Na terceira, faz-se uma exposição de julgamentos de casos reais envolvendo suposto episódio queima irregular. Nessa fase, primeiramente, são abordadas decisões proferidas pela Companhia Ambiental do Estado de São Paulo CETESB e pela Polícia Militar Ambiental em processos administrativos instaurados em virtude da lavratura de autos de infração por provocar queima irregular de palha de cana-de-açúcar, por se beneficiar de queima irregular ou por provocar queima de vegetação nativa (em circunstâncias relacionadas a suposta operação de queima controlada de cana). Após, são descritos acórdãos da 1ª e da 2ª Câmara Reservada ao Meio Ambiente do Tribunal de Justiça do Estado de São Paulo (TJSP) que versam sobre responsabilidade administrativa por queima irregular de palha e por se beneficiar desta. Finalmente, na última parte, a autora faz algumas observações e considerações críticas sobre o conjunto de decisões exposto. / The present work has as its main objective to answer whether the administrative liability for the irregular firing of sugarcane straw and by benefiting from this infraction has objective (as the civil liability by environmental damage), subjective (as the liability by environmental crime) character, or it is a sui generis category. At the same time, it has the objectives to verify how can be characterized the administrative liability by benefiting from irregular firing of sugarcane straw and to search what are the penalties for this infraction. In this regard, the work covers four major stages. In the first, the aim is to unravel the legal nature of the environmental administrative liability, based on the examination of the 1988 Brazilian Constitution and the federal legislation. In the second, we shift to study how it is structured, under the legislation of the State of Sao Paulo, the administrative liability for the irregular firing of sugarcane straw and by benefiting from this infraction. In the third, it is an exhibition of trials of actual cases involving alleged irregular firing episode. In this stage, first of all, are dealt with the decisions issued by the Environmental Company of the State of Sao Paulo (CETESB, in its Brazilian abbreviation) and by the Environmental Military Police in the administrative procedures initiated due to the transcription of the infringement acts by cause irregular sugarcane straw firing, by benefiting from irregular firing or by cause native vegetation firing, in circumstances related to the alleged operation of controlled sugarcane firing. After, are described the judgments of the 1st and 2nd Reserved House for the Environment of the Court of Justice of the State of Sao Paulo (TJSP, in its Brazilian abbreviation) that deal with the administrative liability for infractions of cause of irregular sugarcane straw firing and benefiting from this. Finally, in the last section, the author writes some notes and critical considerations on the set of exposed decisions.

Fornendo energia e nutrienti, la produzione di cibo è essenziale per la vita. Tuttavia, essa rappresenta anche una criticità ambientale. La popolazione mondiale in rapida crescita, infatti, ha bisogno di un quantitativo di cibo sempre maggiore, una delle principali cause di degrado ambientale a livello globale. Il sistema agricolo è fondato su una rete di relazioni complesse che collegano la produzione agricola, funzioni e condizioni ambientali. Una produzione agricola meno impattante è, quindi, fondamentale per non compromettere la possibilità per la future generazioni di avere accesso a un quantitativo adeguato di risorse. La metodologia LCA (life cycle assessment) ha un ruolo centrale nella valutazione di sostenibilità. Analizzando l’intero ciclo di vita di un prodotto o servizio, infatti, permette di tenere in considerazione eventuali trasferimenti di impatti tra comparti ambientali o fai della filiera. Il principale obiettivo della presente tesi è contribuire al dibattito in corso riguardo all’armonizzazione degli approcci nell’applicazione della metodologia LCA a prodotti agro-alimentari per favorirne l’affidabilità e l’efficacia. / Providing energy and nutrients, food production is essential for life. However it represents also an important environmental concern. Indeed, the rapidly growing world population is requiring an increased food production which is one of the greatest causes of environmental degradation throughout the world. The agricultural system is based on complex relations that link agricultural productivity, environmental functions and environmental conditions. Therefore, moving towards less polluting production systems is of the utmost importance to satisfy the current demand for food without compromising the possibility for future generations to have access to a proper amount of food of adequate quality. Life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology is at the core of sustainability assessment. Indeed, considering the entire life cycle of a product or service, it allows to account for potential shifts of environmental impacts between environmental compartments or stages of the food supply chain. The overall aim of the present thesis is to contribute to the ongoing debate on the harmonisation of the approaches to carry out a LCA referred to agro-food products in order to foster its reliability and effectiveness.

Lo sviluppo sostenibile è oggi uno dei temi più attuali e, allo stesso tempo, una sfida per le aziende. La società, a livello mondiale, deve affrontare, ora più che mai, problemi sia di rilevanza sociale, come una popolazione in costante aumento, sia di tipo ambientale, come il cambiamento climatico. La costante perdita dell’ozonosfera, la distruzione della biodiversità, la sovrappopolazione, l’overtourism, sono solo alcune delle problematiche che sottolineano l’urgente bisogno di individui che siano capaci di far fronte a tali questioni grazie ad un comportamento imprenditoriale sostenibile. Seppur le serie conseguenze del degrado ambientale siano note da tempo, la situazione attuale ci richiede ora di riconoscere e, soprattutto, di ammettere, che le risorse, specialmente quelle naturali, non sono infinite. Il comportamento imprenditoriale con un orientamento spiccatamente green, costituisce una parziale soluzione all’esaurirsi di tali risorse. A tale scopo, la tesi si propone di indagare i drivers dell’imprenditoria sostenibile, al fine di risolvere il degrado ambientale e raggiungere uno sviluppo sostenibile. Attraverso un’analisi della environmental passion, dell’environmental bricolage e dell’authenticity, la tesi pone le fondamenta per lo sviluppo di futuri studi capaci di far riflettere su tali tematiche. / Sustainable development is perhaps the most prominent topic of our time and challenge for businesses. Today, we are facing both social issues, such as an ever-increasing population, and environmental issues, like climate change. We are thus suffering from ozone depletion, destruction of biodiversity, loss of living species, overpopulation, overtourism, and the need of individuals who are able to deal with these challenges through their entrepreneurial behaviour is more than urgent. The serious consequences of environmental degradation have been pointed out for decades, and the current situation requires us to recognize that resources, especially our natural ones, are finite. The thesis focuses on the drivers of sustainable entrepreneurial behaviours aimed at resolving environmental degradation and achieving sustainable development. Through an exploration of environmental passion, environmental bricolage and authenticity, the thesis sets a foundation for developing future thought-provoking studies.

La presenza di pesticidi nelle acque di falda è emersa come un importante problema ambientale negli ultimi decenni. In base a “Rapporto nazionale pesticidi nelle acque - Dati 2015-2016” (ISPRA, 2018), in Italia, gli erbicidi triazinici e i loro metaboliti sono tra le sostanze identificate con più frequenza nelle acque, sebbene l’atrazina sia stata bandita nel 1992 e l’utilizzo di terbutilazina sia sottoposto a severe restrizioni. Lo scopo di questo progetto è valutare e quantificare la presenza di atrazina, terbutilazina e dei loro metaboliti nelle acque di falda in aree maidicole italiane. I risultati dimostrano come le molecole oggetto di studio siano state frequentemente individuate nei campioni di acqua di falda, anche se a concentrazioni inferiori al limite stabilito dalla Commissione Europea. Considerando che l’utilizzo di questi erbicidi è proibito o fortemente regolamentato, è interessante valutare il loro comportamento in una scala temporale pluriennale al fine di mettere in evidenza la contaminazione delle acque di falda dovute all’uso diffuso e alla persistenza ambientale di tali molecole. / The presence of pesticides in groundwater has emerged as an important environmental issue in the last decades. According to “Rapporto nazionale pesticidi nelle acque - Dati 2015-2016” (ISPRA, 2018), in Italy triazine herbicides and their metabolites are among the substances most frequently detected in water. While terbuthylazine is still used under restriction, atrazine was banned in 1992. The aim of research project is to investigate the presence of atrazine, terbuthylazine and their metabolites in groundwater in Italian maize-growing areas in order to supply data and information on the groundwater quality. The results show that atrazine, terbuthylazine and their metabolites were often detected in groundwater, even if their concentrations were below the limit established by European Commission. Considering these molecules are banned or heavily regulated, it is interesting to evaluate their behavior on a multiannual time scale in order to highlight the groundwater contamination due to the widespread use and to the environmental persistence of these substances.

In the perspective of the "Net Zero Energy Buildings" as specified in the EPBP 2010/31/EU, herein a modular unglazed solar thermal facade component for facilitating the installation of active solar thermal facades has been conceived and designed to answer three considerations: (1) easily installable elements, offering high modularity to be sized for the specific needs of the buildings considered, (2) low-price unglazed technology, given by the industrial process already developed for the fridge evaporators, and (3) versatile modules to be used for both new buildings and for existing buildings for energy retrofitting. The existing buildings stock offers a high-potential opportunity to improve the energy efficiency when using such a system. Indeed, the building envelope elements have a significant impact on energy consumptions and performances of the building, and this is a key aspect to consider during renovation. Considering buildings integrating solar thermal (BIST) by the means of facade retrofitting of solar thermal collectors (STC) opens up new challenges for engineers. Facade usage, compared to the traditional roof installations, offers two interesting potentialities: (1) increased available surfaces, and (2) minimization of the unwanted overheating problem, that appears in summer, thanks to the vertical tilt (as the energy production is almost constant over the year). This allows sizing the STC according to the actual heat needs and avoids as much as possible energy fluxes mismatch. The design methodology of such a modular component is the main contribution of the PhD work. The challenges are tackled via a parametric approach. Dynamic simulation tools support the design choices for the energy systems of BIST and to optimize the interactions between the envelope and the STC with the criteria of reducing the overall energy consumption. This methodology is described and applied to the design of a modular prototype of an innovative facade component integrating unglazed STC. We first analyze a variety of typologies of buildings as potential commercial targets of the facade component of unglazed STC integrated facade element. Both residential and non residential buildings are considered. The purpose of this analysis is to match the heat loads for properly sizing the facade elements for each typology. Benchmark models of buildings from the Department of Energy are used such as multifamily houses, hospitals, big and small hotels, schools, offices. These are simulated through EnergyPlus in three European locations (Stockholm, Zurich and Rome) in order to define the yearly heat loads for domestic hot water (DHW) and space heating (SH) needs. Finally, the prototype is conceived and designed as a low-cost product to implement into facades with the criteria of optimizing the energy production. The unglazed STC is combined with a simple configuration of combisystem in order to define some rule of thumbs through Trnsys. By the fact that the energy is produced at lower temperatures, if compared with glazed flat plate collectors, this technology is potential applicable to those buildings having the proper heat loads and the suitable system layout.

In the perspective of “nearly zero energy buildings” as foreseen in the EPBD 2010/31/EU, herein a prototype of a wooden prefabricated BiPV wall is conceived, designed, built and tested. The prototype key concepts, identified according to the recommendations of the IEA Task 41 research project, are: multi-functionality, prefabrication, sustainability and integration. The prototype design is the result of a theoretical study which takes into account both architectural integration aspects and energy performance issues. The latter in particular, is based on the evaluation and improvement of both PV and building-related aspects, through the investigation and implementation of low-cost passive strategies to improve the overall BiPV performance. A modular specimen of the prototype was built thanks to an industrial collaboration and tested through an experimental approach, based on the combination of several phases performed in two test facilities (i.e. INTENT lab and SoLaRE-PV lab) by means of original experimental set-up. The effectiveness of the proposed BiPV prototype configuration is proven by comparing the results of the experiments with monitored data of two BiPV systems (a roof and a façade system) located in South Tyrol (North of Italy). The experimental results are then generalized, providing significant data and experimental expressions for a deeper understanding of BiPV systems energy performance.

High costs for aeration, greenhouse-gas emissions and excess sludge disposal have entailed a paradigm shift in the wastewater treatment. Microalgal-bacterial-based wastewater treatments have gained increasing attention because of their potential in energy demand reduction and biomass resource recovery. In particular, photosynthetic oxygenation is combined with bacterial activity to treat wastewater avoiding external artificial aeration. To optimize the technology in order to become more competitive than activated sludge, an in-depth investigation about the treatment performance and the microbiology interactions under real operational condition is needed. This work focused on the study of wastewater-borne microalgal-bacterial consortia treating real municipal wastewater. The main objectives were to: (i) Understand the removal mechanisms and the influence of operational conditions to optimize the process; (ii) Analyze the microbial community. At first, a photo-sequencing batch reactor (PSBR), called Pilot, was started up and continuously monitored for two years to analyze the evolution of the treatment performance and of the biomass composition. At the same time, other two lab-scale PSBRs were installed to evaluate if microalgal inoculation is essential to start up a consortium. Samples of these consortia were collected over a period of one year and analyzed through microscopic observations, flow cytometry and metagenomics, to investigate the microbial structure and diversity.A second part of the research focused on the optimization of the Pilot to explore its limit in view of the scale-up of the system. In addition, respirometry was adapted to test microalgal-bacterial consortia to estimate the removal kinetic parameters for future modelling. To conclude, the research project addressed many aspects and lay the foundation to apply a methodological research approach to scale-up this promising technology.

Questo lavoro esamina la relazione tra politiche ambientali ed eco-innovazione, discutendo i contributi teorici sull'argomento e i risultati delle analisi di valutazione ex-post degli effetti di politiche ambientali in contesti diversi. Si applica l'analisi degli effetti indotti d'innovazione ambientale al caso dell'emission trading europeo, il sistema di scambio dei permessi d'emissione d'anidride carbonica introdotto in Europa (Eu ets) con la direttiva 2007/83 nel 2005. Si esamina la configurazione dell'euts, il suo scostamento da un sistema ideale di permessi in grado di fornire il massimo incentivo all'innovazione, la performance del primo biennio di applicazione, confrontando emissioni allocate e verificate. Si analizza la risposta dell'industria cartaria italiana all'emission trading, attraverso lo sviluppo di un caso di studio che utilizza i risultati di un questionario sottoposto agli impianti cartari nel maggio 2007 e una serie d'interviste a operatori del settore. / This works examines the effects of environmental policies on the eco-innovation process. The theories analyzing the relationship between environmental policy intervention, the choice of instruments, their role as innovation drivers are discussed and a great number of ex-post empirical analysis of the effects of policy intervention on the environmental innovation process are evaluated. The analysis of the effects of environmental policies and innovation is applied to the case of the European union emission trading scheme (EU ETS). EU ets was introduced by directive 2003/87/ec and is the cornerstone of the European climate policy. The design of EU ets and its application during the period 2005-2007 are examined. The response of the Italian paper industry to the introduction of EU ets and its innovation effects are examined through the development of a case study, based on the results of a questionnaire submitted to the Italian paper plants subjected to EU ets.

La riflessione pedagogica sull’ambiente è un ambito di studi articolato, connotato da una molteplicità di visioni e di intrecci con altri settori della ricerca sui temi ambientali. La scelta di concentrare l’attenzione su talune elaborazioni teoriche sorte nei contesti statunitense, britannico e australiano è connessa alla volontà di ricercare alcune emblematiche radici del pensiero educativo sull’ambiente nelle culture occidentali, oggetto in particolar modo della prima parte del presente lavoro. Il percorso delineato, con un intento esplorativo, prosegue nella seconda parte con una panoramica su alcune attuali linee progettuali della riflessione pedagogica sui temi ambientali, nella consapevolezza delle intrinseche dimensioni interdisciplinare e internazionale della ricerca in quest’ambito. La responsabilità umana nei confronti delle risorse naturali pone la persona al centro della riflessione pedagogica sia come destinataria della formazione sia come agente del cambiamento e protagonista creativa dell’immaginazione di inediti scenari futuri. La capacità di trascendere l’immediatezza dei confini spazio-temporali e dei limiti dei modelli di sviluppo fin qui implementati richiede agli attori dell’educazione di progettare con speranza l’impegno per la salvaguardia ambientale e per la promozione della giustizia sociale. / The pedagogical reflection on environment is a complex field of study, connoted by many visions and interconnections with other branches of research on environmental issues. The choice to focus my attention on some theoretical positions arisen in American, British and Australian contexts is linked to the will to find emblematic roots of environmental education in western cultures (first part of the work). The second part of the dissertation is an overview of some recent research strands of the pedagogical reflection on environmental issues. Human responsibility towards natural resources puts human beings at the core of education and calls for active involvement in change and creativity to imagine new scenarios. The ability to transcend the immediacy of space and time boundaries and the limits of development models implemented so far requires that everyone involved in education should commit themselves to environmental protection and social justice with hope.

Scopo del progetto era valutare lo stato di salute e la qualità dei suoli agricoli lombardi e di alcune sue aree caratterizzate da specifiche criticità ambientali, attraverso un monitoraggio multidisciplinare. L’uso di indicatori biologici accoppiato alle classiche tecniche analitiche ha consentito di implementare le informazioni ottenute dal punto di vista chimico-fisico. Contrariamente al passato infatti, la componente vivente del suolo è diventata fondamentale alla comprensione delle sue condizioni, in quanto esso è stato riconosciuto come sistema strettamente connesso agli altri comparti ambientali, influenzato e caratterizzato da tutti gli organismi che lo compongono. Sulla base di ciò sono state indagate la struttura e le caratteristiche delle comunità microbiche, dei lombrichi e dei protozoi ciliati, le attività enzimatiche del suolo, e la genotossicità delle sostanze inquinanti utilizzando il trifoglio come pianta indicatrice. Abbiamo inoltre avuto modo di applicare alcune tecniche che esulano dal classico monitoraggio, ma che forniscono informazioni preziose circa il comportamento di una sostanza o di un elemento. Si tratta dell’applicazione della diluizione isotopica per determinare la presenza del cromo esavalente in suoli potenzialmente contaminati, e di biosaggi con batteri bioluminescenti per valutare la biodisponibilità di arsenico e mercurio in un Sito di Interesse Nazionale. / The aim of the project was to assess health status and quality of agricultural soils of the Lombardia region, and some areas with critical environmental situations, through a multidisciplinary monitoring. The use of biological indicators coupled to classic analytical techniques, has allowed the implementation of the information obtained from the chemical-physical point of view. Contrary to the past, the living component of the soil has become crucial to better understand its condition, as it has been recognized as a system closely related to other environmental media, influenced and characterized by all organisms that compose it. Basing on this it was investigated the structure and characteristics of microbial communities, earthworms and ciliated protozoa, the enzymatic activities of the soil, and the genotoxicity of pollutants using clover plants as indicator. We also had the opportunity to apply some of the techniques that are outside the classic monitoring, but that can provide valuable information about the behavior of a substance or an element. These techniques are: the application of isotope dilution to determine the presence of hexavalent chromium in potentially contaminated soils, and bioassays with bioluminescent bacteria to assess the bioavailability of arsenic and mercury in a Site of National Interest.