D. Damigos

Assessing the benefits of reclaiming urban quarries: a CVM analysis

Abstract Rehabilitation of abandoned quarry sites could alleviate the effects of environmental dereliction and could meet the social demand for improvement of the quality of life in urban centers. Nevertheless, reclamation benefits are often overlooked in assessment procedures, since they are hard to estimate, at least in monetary terms. This paper examines the economic value of rehabilitation works, using an environmental economics framework. The survey is based on the Contingent Valuation Method (CVM), using as a case study an abandoned quarry site in the center of Athens, Greece. According to the estimates, recreation of the mined area produces an important economic value, which is associated with residents’ preferences. The results provide quantitative information that may be used in a beneficial way to justify environmental policy and to provide additional Government funding towards environmental treatment of derelict land.

Fostering entrepreneurship education in engineering curricula in Greece. Experience and challenges for a Technical University

While entrepreneurship has emerged as an important mechanism for the generation of social returns in terms of economic growth and job creation, entrepreneurship education is still something new in Europe and the debate about the need and the way of introduction of specific entrepreneurship courses in higher education is on going. This paper deals with the introduction of entrepreneurship education in engineering curricula. More specific it presents the experience of the National Technical University in Greece, as a case in point for discussing the need of an interdisciplinary approach in designing engineering curricula. The main argument is that the introduction of entrepreneurship education in University curricula should not result as an application of policy initiatives only related to economic imperatives. It should be part of a more general discussion related to educational priorities and of a strategic design of University curricula in order to provide engineers with entrepreneurial and management skills that will enhance their profile in accordance with the new requirements of the knowledge-based economy.

Externalities, NIMBY syndrome and marble quarrying activity

Marble quarries like any other mining project are faced with NIMBY (‘not-in-my-backyard’) reactions, since some negative externalities are inevitable. The paper presents a contingent valuation survey aimed at investigating a local communitys willingness to accept (WTA) compensation for allowing the establishment and operation of a marble quarry in its surroundings and exploring the determinants influencing NIMBY reactions against marble quarrying activity. The valuation scenario used involves an annual monetary payment to a community fund in order to be more realistic and to lessen the so-called ‘bribe effect’, which is common in compensation schemes.

How much are people willing to pay for efficient waste management schemes? A benefit transfer application.

To socially justify the need for better municipal solid waste management services, especially in the light of the limited availability of public funds, it is important to quantify the monetary value of the potential social and environmental benefits offered by them. This article aims at estimating society’s willingness to pay improved municipal solid waste management and establishing suitable reference values using the ‘benefit transfer’ method. To this direction, relevant studies from the global scientific and grey literature in the field of municipal solid waste management valuation are analysed and two different transfer approaches are implemented. According to the analysis, the mean annual willingness to pay per household is 88.4 USD2014 (5%-trimmed mean: 78.7 USD2014; 95% confidence interval lower bound: 64.8 USD2014 and upper bound: 112.0 USD2014). The analysis yields estimates with a high standard deviation and notably broad confidence intervals, owing to design issues of the primary studies, the different socioeconomic profiles of the populations surveyed and the existing level of municipal solid waste management services. Thus, a meta-regression model is estimated to explore the sources of heterogeneity and facilitate more accurate transfer values. Nevertheless, the limited number of observations and some methodological issues in the design and conduct of the original surveys set certain challenges and increase the level of uncertainty of the transfer values.

Economic aspects of modern environmental policy issues: a step forward

This paper deals with the “era of economics” in European environmental policy. Towards this direction, certain legislative requirements and strategies that promote economic issues within the EU are provided, through some illustrative examples. From the analysis, it becomes evident that there is a growing attempt in the EU to more systematically incorporate economic information in private and especially public decision-making. However, original valuation studies are both costly and time-consuming. Thus, in some cases, especially when there is limited experience, the Benefit Transfer technique may be adopted. Bearing in mind these remarks, this paper introduces an interactive benefit transfer tool, which is currently being developed. This tool, called GEVAD, will facilitate the valuation of environmental impacts in monetary terms, supporting decision-making processes in various levels within Europe.

Estimating health risk from dust dispersion during a potential collapse of a severely contaminated building

The paper presents a risk analysis that was conducted in order to estimate the adverse health effects anticipated from the potential collapse of a historically contaminated building. Towards this direction several dust dispersion scenarios were simulated, and the resulting concentrations of the contaminants of concern were compared to appropriate emergency exposure limits. The results indicate that irreversible or other serious health effects could occur, especially among the most vulnerable groups of the population. However, these worrying findings were helpful towards accelerating the approval process of the proposed remedial measures, which are expected to start shortly.

Valuing quarry sites through capitalisation of private parties royalties

Abstract In recent decades, the effectiveness of royalties as a mechanism capable of capturing true economic rents is one of the most debatable issues for the mining industry worldwide. So far, the main interest in the literature lies in royalties as a form of mining taxation. This paper, however, focuses on the use of private royalties for the valuation of an aggregate quarry site, in Greece, which is made up of the value of the royalty income stream to the landowner. Defining a fair royalty for the seller as well as the purchaser was a mostly challenging issue, and although referred to as a specific case study, the analysis provides a useful insight for mining practitioners involved in quarry valuation.

Estimating the economic benefits of redeveloping the former Athens International Airport

This paper illustrates the results of a survey carried out in order to evaluate two alternatives suggested for the redevelopment of the former Athens International Airport, a project known as “Hellenikon Metropolitan Park”. The first plan provides for a mixed-use park involving both green areas with cultural, sports and leisure facilities and commercial uses that will offer a financial return. The second plan proposes solely the development of a green park with light recreational facilities. In order to examine the situation from a social point of view, the effect of the proposed plans to the property prices in the surrounding area is examined by means of the Fuzzy Delphi Method. The results indicate that although both plans will positively affect the price of dwellings in a similar influence zone, the second plan will create a premium almost 60% higher, compared to the first one. Although a clear answer can only be obtained through further research, the findings could be used in order to justify the evaluation of the proposed land-use alternatives.

Developing fuzzy AHP system to evaluate rehabilitation alternatives of asbestos industrial complex

Abstract Owing to serious health and financial impacts, asbestos contaminated land must be treated in order to protect public health, welfare and the environment. The site characterisation and field investigations as well as other engineering data are typically required in order to assess the risks and to design the remedial actions. Nevertheless, data collection and analysis is a time consuming and usually expensive task. Furthermore, the role of stakeholders in recent years becomes critical in many cases and it should be taken into consideration when setting remedial action objectives. For the above reasons, considerable interest has been focused on the use of evaluation systems for the assessment of remediation alternatives, minimising data requirements, incorporating multiple criteria and competing objectives as well. The present study focuses on the development of a methodology for the preliminary selection of the most appropriate solution for remedying a former asbestos milling plant, based on the principles of fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (AHP). The outcomes indicate that the developed methodology results in a time saving and reasonable cost process that may contribute to a sound prioritisation of the alternatives.

Use of a Quantitative Risk-Based Approach for Deciding Upon Short-Term Remediation Methods of a Contaminated Site

Soil contamination is an important issue for European environmental policy, since it represents potential hazards for human health and the ecosystem. This paper presents a case study from Greece. A historic metallurgy complex will be re-used for establishing the Lavrion Technology and Cultural Park (LTCP). Intensive mining and metallurgical activities that took place in the broader area for the last 3000 years have caused soil pollution, particularly with metals and metalloids. Because remediation is presently prohibitively expensive, a risk assessment methodology based on U.S. EPA guidance [1–5] was used to quantify human health hazards, implement immediate cost-effective countermeasures to ensure protection of human health, and provide time and data needed for the final remediation scheme to commence. Results indicated an excessive risk with respect to arsenic, mainly through the ingestion route, meaning that covering the top soil with the appropriate materials (limed sand and gravel) will exclude the particular “pathway” and eliminate hazards for a considerable amount of time.