Escaping the Summer Heat – Revival Potential and Challenge of Near-Metropolitan Tourism Areas

To be economically successful in the future, alpine tourism in Austria must develop appropriate strategies to adapt to changing climate conditions. The revitalisation of the historic “Sommerfrische” represents one potential strategy for low-lying mountain destination close to urban agglomeration to benefit by the increase in urban heat days. Whether this potential exists on the demand side and how it can be tapped by the respective destinations on the supply side will be investigated throughout this project. For this purpose, a large scale survey will be conducted in Vienna. This paper focuses on the development process, which is informed by a range of quantitative and qualitative methods at the pre-survey stage. First results indicate that the potential exists, yet mainly for shorter, spontaneous trips, not necessarily labelled as “Sommerfrische”

Solutions to problems of nonexistence of parameter estimates and sparse data bias in Poisson regression

Poisson regression can be challenging with sparse data, in particular with certain data constellations where maximum likelihood estimates of regression coefficients do not exist. This paper provides a comprehensive evaluation of methods that give finite regression coefficients when maximum likelihood estimates do not exist, including Firth's general approach to bias reduction, exact conditional Poisson regression, and a Bayesian estimator using weakly informative priors that can be obtained via data augmentation. Furthermore, we include in our evaluation a new proposal for a modification of Firth's approach, improving its performance for predictions without compromising its attractive bias-correcting properties for regression coefficients. We illustrate the issue of the nonexistence of maximum likelihood estimates with a dataset arising from the recent outbreak of COVID-19 and an example from implant dentistry. All methods are evaluated in a comprehensive simulation study under a variety of realistic scenarios, evaluating their performance for prediction and estimation. To conclude, while exact conditional Poisson regression may be confined to small data sets only, both the modification of Firth's approach and the Bayesian estimator are universally applicable solutions with attractive properties for prediction and estimation. While the Bayesian method needs specification of prior variances for the regression coefficients, the modified Firth approach does not require any user input.Peer reviewe

A Machine Learning Approach to Adapt Local Land Use Planning to Climate Change

The impacts on living conditions and natural habitats deriving from planning decisions require complex analysis of cross-acting factors, which in turn require interdisciplinary data. At the municipal level, both data collection and the knowledge needed to interpret it are often lacking. Additionally, climate change and species extinction demand rapid and effective policies in order to preserve soil resources for future generations. Ex-ante evaluation of planning measures is insufficient owing to a lack of data and linear models capable of simulating the impacts of complex systemic relationships. Integrating machine learning (ML) into systemic planning increases awareness of impacts by providing decision-makers with predictive analysis and risk mitigation tools. ML can predict future scenarios beyond rigid linear models, identifying patterns, trends, and correlations within complex systems and depicting hidden relationships. This article focuses on a case study of single-family houses in Upper Austria, chosen for its transferability to other regions. It critically reflects on an ML approach, linking data on past and current planning regulations and decisions to the physical environment. We create an inventory of categories of areas with different features to inform nature-based solutions and backcasting planning decisions and build a training dataset for ML models. Our model predicts the effects of planning decisions on soil sealing. We discuss how ML can support local planning by providing area assessments in soil sealing within the case study. The article presents a working approach to planning and demonstrates that more data is needed to achieve well-founded planning statements

Simplification of environmental and other impact assessments - results from an international online survey

Results from an international online survey on simplification efforts in environmental assessment (EA) and other types of impact assessments (IAs) are presented. The survey, which was conducted between July and October 2022, captured responses from 45 participants who reported on developments in a total of 26 EA/IA systems. Whilst in about three quarters of these systems simplification efforts are either currently underway or planned, in particular with regards to reducing costs and time necessary for EA/IA, opposite developments were also reported on in two-thirds of the systems, including an extension of existing requirements, such as the consideration of further aspects in EA/IA and the coverage of additional actions subject to assessment. The findings are a reflection of the increasing complexities of the contexts within which EAs/IAs are applied and highlight the need for further empirical research on simplification efforts

A handbook for prison staff with focus on the prevention of ill-treatment in prison.

In Europe, the old adage that individuals are sent to prison as punishment rather than for punishment has now been supplemented by a further maxim: that prisoners retain all civil rights other than those that are incompatible with the very fact of loss of liberty. Prisoners retain their human rights, and the scope of these rights is increasing. For example, a plethora of decisions and judgments of the European Court of Human Rights has helped spell out the content of rights relating to communication with the outside world and exercise of the franchise. In Europe at least, prisons are changing in how the legal system engages with the treatment of prisoners. This text examines one particular aspect of this protection: the prohibition of ill-treatment in prison. It focuses upon what this prohibition entails, and the emergence of positive obligations and new expectations in respect of the responsibilities of prison services towards those entrusted to its care. It also examines the development of new obligations in respect of combating the impunity of those who use ill-treatment in places of detention. It seeks to provide a basic awareness of European standards, both in terms of legal obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and in respect of standard-setting by allied bodies (in particular, by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT), but also by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe). It also highlights examples of good practice in domestic systems that may be worthy of emulation elsewhere. Working in prisons is not without significant challenge. The intention is that this text will help those concerned with this area of public provision achieve a more humane and open service. In this regard, it seeks to help realisation of Rule 81(4) of the Committee of Ministers Recommendation Rec. R(2006)2 on the European Prison Rules. This provides that “The training of all staff shall include instruction in the international and regional human rights instruments and standards, especially by ECHR and the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT Convention), as well as in the application of the European Prison Rules.” This text is designed for practitioners. It provides a guide to these legal instruments and standards in an accessible way. It follows upon a multilateral meeting held in Strasbourg in spring 2015 which helped bring together management and leadership from prison services from across Europe to address issues of common concern. It was clear from the discussions during the two days of the meeting that not only do many countries face the same set of problems, but also that “good practice” does exist across Europe, and that discussion not only of these challenges but also of possible solutions can be of real assistance. Following the meeting, representatives were asked to highlight further instances of “good practice” in their countries that could be of use elsewhere across Europe. Many good ideas were highlighted. In the space available, only a handful of these could be included