The Experts below are selected from a list of 261 Experts worldwide ranked by ideXlab platform
Jacob H P Van Der Vaart - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Towards a new rural landscape: consequences of non-agricultural re-use of redundant Farm Buildings in Friesland
Landscape and Urban Planning, 2020Co-Authors: Jacob H P Van Der VaartAbstract:Abstract The man-made rural landscape is to a very high degree basically a landscape of Farms and Farming. Farm Buildings play an important role in the image of the rural landscape. Over the last 40–50 years, the number of Farmers and Farms has decreased all over Europe. At present more than half of all the Farm Buildings in The Netherlands have no longer a function for agriculture. These Buildings are used now for either residential purposes or a combination of residence and some kind of non-agricultural economic activity. A change of function usually leads to a change of the interior and exterior of the building. Data and insights from an extensive study of that phenomenon in the province of Friesland in the north of The Netherlands show what happen to the Farm Buildings after conversion. How do public authorities in The Netherlands look at this phenomenon that changes rural areas? However, the most important actor in this process of change is the owner/resident of such a place. What are their motives for keeping up or dramatically changing the traditional Farm Buildings? After the functional change, many of these Buildings are more or less fossilised in their original form, some are turned into villas which hardly remind us of their agricultural past. Is the re-use a form of urbanisation or is it part of a process of rural revitalisation? Does the reshaping of these structures lead to a loss of the rural heritage? This article looks into the architectural, economical, social and landscape effects of changes due to re-use. The general outcomes of that are used to discuss the future of rural areas. Author Keywords: Farm Buildings; Urbanisation; Rural landscap
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towards a new rural landscape consequences of non agricultural re use of redundant Farm Buildings in friesland
Landscape and Urban Planning, 2005Co-Authors: Jacob H P Van Der VaartAbstract:Abstract The man-made rural landscape is to a very high degree basically a landscape of Farms and Farming. Farm Buildings play an important role in the image of the rural landscape. Over the last 40–50 years, the number of Farmers and Farms has decreased all over Europe. At present more than half of all the Farm Buildings in The Netherlands have no longer a function for agriculture. These Buildings are used now for either residential purposes or a combination of residence and some kind of non-agricultural economic activity. A change of function usually leads to a change of the interior and exterior of the building. Data and insights from an extensive study of that phenomenon in the province of Friesland in the north of The Netherlands show what happen to the Farm Buildings after conversion. How do public authorities in The Netherlands look at this phenomenon that changes rural areas? However, the most important actor in this process of change is the owner/resident of such a place. What are their motives for keeping up or dramatically changing the traditional Farm Buildings? After the functional change, many of these Buildings are more or less fossilised in their original form, some are turned into villas which hardly remind us of their agricultural past. Is the re-use a form of urbanisation or is it part of a process of rural revitalisation? Does the reshaping of these structures lead to a loss of the rural heritage? This article looks into the architectural, economical, social and landscape effects of changes due to re-use. The general outcomes of that are used to discuss the future of rural areas. Author Keywords: Farm Buildings; Urbanisation; Rural landscape
Pietro Picuno - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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vernacular Farm Buildings and rural landscape a geospatial approach for their integrated management
Sustainability, 2019Co-Authors: Giuseppe Cillis, Dina Statuto, Pietro PicunoAbstract:Over the centuries, Farm Buildings, which accompany the development of agriculture, have played an important role in defining spatial and environmental planning. In some European countries in particular, these rural structures have been built based on traditional agricultural needs and typical land characteristics. Considering the land abandonment that has occurred over the last five decades, with Farmers moving to more comfortable residences in neighboring urban settlements, historical Farm Buildings have often been abandoned, thus causing a leakage of the historical-cultural heritage of the rural landscape. Nowadays, open data and geographic technologies together with advanced technological tools allow us to gather multidisciplinary information about the specific characteristics of each Farm building, thus improving our knowledge. This information can greatly support the protection of those Buildings and landscapes that have high cultural and naturalistic value. In this paper, the potential of Geographic Information Systems to catalogue the Farm Buildings of the Basilicata region (Southern Italy) is explored. The analysis of these Buildings, traditionally known as masserie, integrates some typical aspects of landscape studies, paving the way for sustainable management of the important cultural heritage represented by vernacular Farm Buildings and the rural landscape.
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valorisation of vernacular Farm Buildings for the sustainable development of rural tourism in mountain areas of the adriatic ionian macro region
Journal of Agricultural Engineering, 2017Co-Authors: Dina Statuto, Pietro PicunoAbstract:Rural Buildings play a central role on the environmental characteristics of the extra-urban land. They accompanied in the centuries the development of agricultural activities by humans, who was so able to breed cattle, to grow and yield crops, and to store, transform and process agricultural products in a functional and efficient way, working into intensive conditions, so being unaffected by the external climate. On the other hand, constructions built by the Farmer-man marked the territory, influencing and steering the spontaneous development of nature, while leading to production that enabled humanity to get food. Vernacular Farm Buildings, often used as seasonal settlements, are in some cases organised in areas of mountain pasture for summer cattle grazing. Even if in most case they were abandoned during recent years - since people living there moved to more comfortable residences within urban settlements - their contemporary potential for preserving traditional cattle-raising procedures and dairy products, rich cultural-historical heritage and perspectives of organised tourism activities, appears a very intriguing task to be approached. Rural tourism - including agro-, eco- and cultural tourism - offers indeed new opportunities for enjoying the extra-urban land in close contact with naturally untouched landscapes. It enables to appreciate some traditional aspects that the new industrialised modern society may have forgotten. The opportunities offered by rural tourism could help in the development of environmentally friendly tourism, which is growing three times faster than those choosing mainstream trips. With the aim to valorise the vernacular rural Buildings in some mountain areas of the Adriatic-Ionian macro-region, in the present paper a first approach was proposed, through the implementation of a geographical information system aimed to survey the current situation into two different mountain areas within this macro-region, located in Southern Italy and Montenegro. This first step could pave the way for future possible planning the restoration of these Buildings, within the general framework of a concerted approach aimed to their safeguard and the general sustainability of their landscape inclusion, fighting the progressive abandonment of rural land. The exploitation of their unexpressed potential in the sector of tourism usage, together with cultural and historical heritage, rich tradition and old infrastructure, would therefore reveal an interesting profitable way for their valorisation.
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Use of traditional material in Farm Buildings for a sustainable rural environment
International journal of sustainable built environment, 2016Co-Authors: Pietro PicunoAbstract:The recent increase in the sensitivity about the concept of sustainable development is stimulating the valorisation of the locally available material for agricultural construction, both for housing purpose and for some single components. This traditional building technique has indeed interesting consequences on the rural landscape perception – since the color is similar to the countryside surroundings – as well as on the agricultural environment – this material being, at the end of its useful life, recyclable in the same context. Traditional material could be employed in other agricultural components, e.g. for food aging, a technique used since Roman times, involving the use of earthenware amphorae, buried in the soil and used for storing wine and oil. In the present paper, the most diffused traditional building materials currently rediscovered are analyzed, focusing on their utilization opportunities. One of the most interesting traditional construction material is the sun-dried earth brick, made of raw clay soil (so-called, “adobe”), often improved by the addition of fibers to control cracking while drying in the sun. After a general overview about the diffusion of earthen construction within agriculture, the results of experimental tests on adobe bricks reinforced with a natural fiber – Spanish Broom (Spartium junceum L.) – are reported.
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vernacular Farm Buildings in landscape planning a typological analysis in a southern italian region
Journal of Agricultural Engineering, 2012Co-Authors: Pietro PicunoAbstract:Farm Buildings play a central role in the environmental characteristics of agricultural land. Over the centuries they have accompanied the development of the agricultural activities of man who has thereby been able to breed cattle, to grow and yield crops, and to store, transform and process agricultural products in a functional and efficient way. Farm Buildings have allowed man to work in intensive conditions unaffected by the external climate. On the other hand, constructions built by Farmers marked their territory, influencing and steering the spontaneous development of nature while leading to production that enabled man to get food. In the present paper, a typological analysis of Farm Buildings was conducted with reference to the Basilicata region, a southern Italian region rich in a history and culture connected with its traditional agricultural vocation, where rural houses still remain as witnesses to the social and cultural changes that have taken place over the years. Vernacular Farm Buildings, synthesizing in their architectural expression the culture, traditions and ways of life of generations of rural populations, were identified, analyzed and typologically classified all over the regional land. The results showed that many of the vernacular Farm Buildings visited are now abandoned; the technical survey often showed a situation of structural and functional degradation that makes their restoration difficult and expensive. Possible ways of reuse, making their recovery more economically profitable are, therefore, analyzed and discussed.
Richard J Delahay - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Behaviour of badgers (Meles meles) in Farm Buildings: Opportunities for the transmission of Mycobacterium bovis to cattle?
Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 2020Co-Authors: Bryony A Tolhurst, Neil J Walker, Richard J Delahay, Alastair I Ward, Timothy J. RoperAbstract:Eurasian badgers are implicated in the transmission of bovine tuberculosis (Mycobacterium bovis) to cattle. Here we investigate potential spatio-temporal foci of opportunities for contact between badgers and cattle in Farm Buildings. We discuss the relative occurrence of different badger behaviours and their potential for facilitating disease transmission, and examine correlates of building use by badgers including availability of specific Farm-based resources, badger demography, and environmental variables. In addition, we investigate seasonal variation in home range structure with respect to Farm building use. Badger activity and ranging behaviour were monitored intensively on six cattle Farms throughout the year between July 2003 and June 2005 using remote surveillance, radio-tracking and faecal analysis. Badgers foraged in Buildings, exhibited close, investigative ‘nose-to-nose’ contact with housed cattle and excreted/scent marked on and around feed. A negative correlation was observed between frequency of visits and 24 h rainfall and a positive correlation with minimum temperature. Badgers visited feed stores most intensively and selected cattle ‘cake’ over other available food types. A peak in visits was detected in spring and summer, and male badgers were more likely to visit Buildings than females. Management prescriptions for disease prevention centre on reducing opportunities for direct or indirect contact between badgers and housed cattle. It is thus recommended that effort to exclude badgers from Buildings should focus on feed stores and cattle housing during spring and summer in warm, dry weather
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effectiveness of biosecurity measures in preventing badger visits to Farm Buildings
PLOS ONE, 2011Co-Authors: Johanna Judge, Robbie A Mcdonald, Neil J Walker, Richard J DelahayAbstract:Background Bovine tuberculosis caused by Mycobacterium bovis is a serious and economically important disease of cattle. Badgers have been implicated in the transmission and maintenance of the disease in the UK since the 1970s. Recent studies have provided substantial evidence of widespread and frequent visits by badgers to Farm Buildings during which there is the potential for close direct contact with cattle and contamination of cattle feed. Methodology Here we evaluated the effectiveness of simple exclusion measures in improving Farm biosecurity and preventing badger visits to Farm Buildings. In the first phase of the study, 32 Farms were surveyed using motion-triggered infrared cameras on potential entrances to Farm Buildings to determine the background level of badger visits experienced by each Farm. In the second phase, they were divided into four treatment groups; “Control”, “Feed Storage”, “Cattle Housing” and “Both”, whereby no exclusion measures were installed, exclusion measures were installed on feed storage areas only, cattle housing only or both feed storage and cattle housing, respectively. Badger exclusion measures included sheet metal gates, adjustable metal panels for gates, sheet metal fencing, feed bins and electric fencing. Cameras were deployed for at least 365 nights in each phase on each Farm. Results Badger visits to Farm Buildings occurred on 19 of the 32 Farms in phase one. In phase two, the simple exclusion measures were 100% effective in preventing badger entry into Farm Buildings, as long as they were appropriately deployed. Furthermore, the installation of exclusion measures also reduced the level of badger visits to the rest of the Farmyard. The findings of the present study clearly demonstrate how relatively simple practical measures can substantially reduce the likelihood of badger visits to Buildings and reduce some of the potential for contact and disease transmission between badgers and cattle.
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a study of fox vulpes vulpes visits to Farm Buildings in southwest england and the implications for disease management
European Journal of Wildlife Research, 2011Co-Authors: Bryony A Tolhurst, Alastair I Ward, Richard J DelahayAbstract:Farm Buildings may offer foraging opportunities for wild mammals, which may result in economic losses and the potential for disease transmission to livestock. Effective management to reduce such risks requires knowledge of the behaviour of wildlife visiting Buildings. Remote surveillance was used to monitor red fox (Vulpes vulpes) activity in Buildings on cattle Farms in Southwest England over a period of 2 years. Frequent visits were observed throughout the year, during which foxes excreted and scent-marked on stored feed. This behaviour carries potential risks of pathogen transmission to cattle. Fox visits were positively correlated with maximum temperature in the preceding 24 h, and were most frequent to Buildings where cattle were absent. The frequency of fox visits varied widely amongst Farms, potentially reflecting variation in local Farm management practices. On some Farms, visits were frequent and involved behaviour with the potential to result in contamination of the environment with infectious pathogens. Risks of onward transmission to domestic animals could be managed by imposing tighter biosecurity measures.
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behaviour of badgers meles meles in Farm Buildings opportunities for the transmission of mycobacterium bovis to cattle
Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 2009Co-Authors: Bryony A Tolhurst, Neil J Walker, Richard J Delahay, Alastair I Ward, T J RoperAbstract:Abstract Eurasian badgers ( Meles meles ) are implicated in the transmission of bovine tuberculosis ( Mycobacterium bovis ) to cattle. Here we investigate potential spatio-temporal foci of opportunities for contact between badgers and cattle in Farm Buildings. We discuss the relative occurrence of different badger behaviours and their potential for facilitating disease transmission, and examine correlates of building use by badgers including availability of specific Farm-based resources, badger demography, and environmental variables. In addition, we investigate seasonal variation in home range structure with respect to Farm building use. Badger activity and ranging behaviour were monitored intensively on six cattle Farms throughout the year between July 2003 and June 2005 using remote surveillance, radio-tracking and faecal analysis. Badgers foraged in Buildings, exhibited close, investigative ‘nose-to-nose’ contact with housed cattle and excreted/scent marked on and around feed. A negative correlation was observed between frequency of visits and 24 h rainfall and a positive correlation with minimum temperature. Badgers visited feed stores most intensively and selected cattle ‘cake’ over other available food types. A peak in visits was detected in spring and summer, and male badgers were more likely to visit Buildings than females. Management prescriptions for disease prevention centre on reducing opportunities for direct or indirect contact between badgers and housed cattle. It is thus recommended that effort to exclude badgers from Buildings should focus on feed stores and cattle housing during spring and summer in warm, dry weather.
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the behavioural responses of badgers meles meles to exclusion from Farm Buildings using an electric fence
Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 2008Co-Authors: Bryony A Tolhurst, Richard J Delahay, Alastair I Ward, Annmarie Macmaster, T J RoperAbstract:Behavioural investigations into the transmission of bovine tuberculosis (Mycobacterium bovis) between badgers and cattle suggest that badger activity in Farm Buildings may incur a significant risk of cross-infection. However, measures to exclude badgers from Buildings have not been systematically field-tested. In the present study, remote surveillance and radio-tracking were used to monitor the effect of electric fencing manipulations on the frequency of badger incursions into feed stores and cattle housing, and on badger ranging behaviour. Electric fencing was effective in preventing access to the Farm Buildings where it was installed and also significantly reduced incursions into unfenced Buildings. Badger home range and core activity areas tended to increase in size when the fencing was installed, although they did not extend beyond the boundaries of the relevant social group territories. We discuss the logistical constraints of using electric fencing in this context and conclude that it is a potentially useful method of reducing contact between badgers and cattle, within Farm Buildings and yards.
Pasquale Dal Sasso - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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using analytic network process and dominance based rough set approach for sustainable requalification of traditional Farm Buildings in southern italy
Land Use Policy, 2016Co-Authors: Giovanni Ottomano Palmisano, Rosa Viviana Loisi, Giuseppe Ruggiero, Lucia Rocchi, Antonio Boggia, Rocco Roma, Pasquale Dal SassoAbstract:Rural Sustainable Development (RSD) is promoted by the European Union (EU) Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) 2014–2020, and in particular by the national and regional Rural Development Programmes (RDPs), which are mainly supported by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD). At the sub-regional level, a part of the EAFRD is managed by Local Action Groups (LAGs), which decide how to use their own budget within their municipalities via a bottom-up approach, according to the most suitable projects available within the RDP. Requalification of traditional Farm Buildings is a possible RSD project for achieving various objectives, including creation of new jobs and economic activities, protection of the natural environment, promotion of rural tourism, preservation of rural culture and traditions, encouragement of a sense of community, improvement of the viability of rural villages, and also to contrast the abandonment of rural areas. Nevertheless, European projects and research show that the different types of requalification carried out are often not related to RSD objectives and that requalification does not usually combine the sustainability dimensions and spatial features of rural areas. Furthermore, the opinions of various stakeholders should be considered to support the generation of RSD policies and strategies. Thus, this research aims to provide a RSD decision making framework that makes it possible to tackle the above issues for identifying which type of requalification to assign to certain traditional Farm Buildings. Therefore, the results should facilitate the work of LAG policy makers in planning and managing the EAFRD 2014–2020. The framework combines the Multiple Criteria Decision Aiding (MCDA) methods “Analytic Network Process” (ANP) and “Dominance-based Rough Set Approach” (DRSA). This framework was applied to a LAG territory in Apulia Region (Southern Italy) that includes 176 traditional Farm Buildings. The ANP application identified the optimal quota for each type of requalification and showed that the highest quota is allocated to Facilities and Accommodations for Rural Tourism. The second preferred requalification is Centres for Environmental Education, Recreational and Social Facilities, while the third is Facilities for the Transformation and Sale of Agricultural Products. The DRSA was then applied in a Geographic Information System (GIS) in order to choose the most suitable traditional Farm Buildings for each type of requalification, helping the LAG policy makers to fill each quota.
Greg Schoenau - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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evaluation of a solar collector system with thermal storage for preheating ventilation air in Farm Buildings
Energy Conversion and Management, 1991Co-Authors: Shahab Sokhansanj, Greg SchoenauAbstract:Abstract This paper describes the investigation of a wall mounted solar collector and hydronic thermal storage system for preheating ventilation air for livestock Buildings in a cold climate. A simulation model is developed, based on the measured performance of a system installed on a swine gestation barn. The verified simulation model was used to evaluate solar collector-thermal storage options in an economic analysis. The most economical system was determined to be a collector system without any form of thermal storage.
