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Challenge and Research Trends of Network Analysis

A special issue of Energies (ISSN 1996-1073). This special issue belongs to the section "G1: Smart Cities and Urban Management".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 November 2021) | Viewed by 5231
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Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
School of Management, University of Bologna, 40126 Bologna, Italy
Interests: project management; network analysis in organizations; performance analysis

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Network analysis has reached, in various fields of knowledge, the level of consolidated category of research and application tools, opening the way to new perspectives strictly linked to the evolution of ICT and of the structures of human activities.

Today’s challenges have a different kind of motivation. The most relevant is to integrate this approach using a variety of techniques with the aim of representing the relationships between dynamic entities of different natures. Another reason for in-depth analysis concerns the structures that emerge from the repetition of relationships and their connections with heterogeneous concepts such as time, surfaces, behaviors, energy saving, ecology, and so on.

Last but not least, the reason for the interest is given by scholars and professionals who apply this approach to planning and designing networks—a use that includes topological design, the synthesis of networks, and the construction of networks with the aim of producing networks that, in various fields, ensure user satisfaction.

The purpose of this Special Issue is to collect the most advanced contributions on this topic, producing the state of the art on research and experimental results of network analysis useful to researchers and professionals working in this field.

Prof. Dr. Massimo Bianchi
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • Network analysis 
  • Network design 
  • Network Planning 
  • Multipurpose networks

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

33 pages, 4686 KiB  
Article
Global Warming: Is It (Im)Possible to Stop It? The Systems Thinking Approach
by Piero Mella
Energies 2022, 15(3), 705; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/en15030705 - 19 Jan 2022
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 4887
Abstract
For some time, there has been a slow but gradual rise in the average temperature of the entire globe, a “global warming”, in fact, the result of human and natural processes that have been producing this phenomenon for decades. Since they are not [...] Read more.
For some time, there has been a slow but gradual rise in the average temperature of the entire globe, a “global warming”, in fact, the result of human and natural processes that have been producing this phenomenon for decades. Since they are not directly perceived by individuals, these processes and their effects have been ignored for a long time, or at least not considered to be immediately harmful and dangerous. Global warming does not depend so much on solar radiation as it does on the greenhouse effect deriving from the continuous emission, by human activities and natural events, of greenhouse gases that accumulate in the atmosphere and form a barrier to the dispersion of heat produced by solar radiation. A good number of models exists to explain how global warming is produced, which are technical in nature and consider the production of greenhouse gases as the most important cause; however, they do not always analyze and justify the reasons for such emissions. Following the logic, language and methods of Senge’s systems thinking, the paper aims to present a general model, the GEAM—qualitative in nature, but rational and coherent—for highlighting the interacting factors that give rise to and maintain global warming. This model constitutes a reference framework to identify possible “strategic areas” within which to identify man-made “artificial” and “natural” factors that can control the phenomenon and to order the countless ideas and interventions that different nations carry out individually to control global warming. The model presented is qualitative in nature and does not allow immediate calculations or forecasts to be performed. However, it could guide in-depth scientific research in generating accurate forecasts and simulation using the tools of systems dynamics. In conclusion, understanding how global warming is created and if and how it could be controlled is the aim of this work. Finally, I want to note that the purpose of this work is not to analyze the technical aspects of the phenomenon of global warming, or to deepen the measures and actions to contrast it, but to provide a “general model of description and understanding” of the phenomenon using logic and language of the Systems Thinking Approach (according to Peter’s Senge and Piero Mella), with the aim of highlighting three fundamental strategic areas for countering the phenomenon and four uncontrollable phenomena, triggered by global warming itself, which can make strategic control difficult. Furthermore, I highlight the role played by the world population, understood both quantitatively as a number and qualitatively as a level of economic development, in the production of global warming. Lastly, I observe how the different strategic actions that nations can, indeed must, implement to stem global warming are systematically interconnected and interacting; however, these interactions can produce unknown effects and consequences that must be carefully researched and evaluated—encouraged, if positive, reduced or eliminated if negative. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Challenge and Research Trends of Network Analysis)
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