Browsing by Author "Ferreira, J."
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- Calibração biostratigráfica das unidades sísmicas da Bacia offshore do Algarve: contribuição do core SWIM04-39Publication . Roque, Ana Cristina; Terrinha, Pedro; Cachão, Mário; Ferreira, J.; Legoinha, Paulo Alexandre; Zitellini, NevioEfectuou-se a calibração estratigráfica das unidades sísmicas mais recentes identificadas na Bacia offshore do Algarve recorrendo à análise biostratigráfica (Nanofósseis calcários e Foraminíferos) do core de pistão SWIM04-39. Obteve-se uma idade de cerca de 4.0 Ma (Pliocénico Inferior, Zancliano) para as associações fitoplanctónica e faunística presente nas amostras do referido core. Estes dados permitiram datar o início da intensa subsidência sofrida por esta Bacia como sendo Pliocénico Inferior.
- Oceans of energy? The non-linear trajectory of the emerging wave energy technologyPublication . Fontes, Margarida; Sousa, Cristina; Ferreira, J.This paper addresses the construction and structuring of a technological niche – i.e. a protected space where promising but still underperforming technologies are stabilized and articulated with societal needs – and discusses the processes that influence niche development and may enable niche breakout. In theoretical terms the paper is grounded on the multi-level approach to sustainability transitions, and particularly on the niche literature. But it also attempts to address the limitations of this literature in what concerns the spatial dimension of niche development. It is argued that technological niches can transcend the narrow territorial boundaries to which they are often confined, and encompass communities and actions that span several spatial levels, without losing some territorial embeddedness. It is further proposed that these features shape the niche trajectory and, therefore, need to be explicitly considered by the niche theoretical framework. To address this problem the paper builds on and extends the socio-cognitive perspective to technology development, introducing a further dimension – space – which broadens the concept of technological niche and permits to better capture the complexity of niche behaviour. This extended framework is applied to the case of an emerging renewable energy technology – wave energy - which exhibits a particularly slow and non-linear development trajectory. The empirical analysis starts by examining how an “overall niche space” in wave energy was spatially constructed over time. Then it investigates in greater detail the niche development processes that took place in Portugal, a country that was among the pioneers in the field, and whose actors have been, from very early stages, engaged in the activities conducted at various spatial levels. Through this combined analysis, the paper seeks to understand whether and how niche development is shaped by processes taking place at different spatial levels. More specifically it investigates the interplay between territorial and relational elements in niche development, and how these different dynamics influence the performance of the niche processes and impact on the overall niche trajectory. The results confirm the niche multi-spatial dynamics, showing that it is shaped by the interplay between a niche relational space constructed by actors’ actions and interactions on/across levels, and the territorial effects introduced by these actors’ embeddedness in particular geographical and institutional settings. They contribute to a more precise understanding of the processes that can accelerate or slow down the trajectory of a technological niche. In addition, the results shed some light into the niche activities conducted in/originating from a specific territorial setting - Portugal - offering some insights into the behaviour of key actors and its implications for the positioning of the country in the emerging field, which can be relevant for the formulation of strategies and policies for this area.
- The multi-spatial dynamics of niche trajectory: the case of the wave energy technological nichePublication . Fontes, Margarida; Ferreira, J.; Sousa, CristinaThis paper investigates the role played by processes taking place at different spatial levels in the construction and development of technological niches. It is proposed that niches, as protective spaces where technologies are developed and articulated with societal needs, may transcend territorial boundaries, encompassing communities and actions that span several spatial levels, without losing some local embeddedness. The paper draws on the multi-level perspective and on recent additions to the strategic niche management framework, to support an exploratory case study of the highly internationalised wave energy niche. The objective is to investigate the implications, for the conduction of niche internal processes and for niche regime interactions, of the increased complexity introduced by this multi-spatial dynamics. The case study addresses the formation, development and (transitory?) decline of the wave niche in Portugal, that was among the pioneers in the field and whose core actors have consistently been engaged in activities conducted at transnational and supra-national levels. The analysis confirms that niche development is shaped as much by local/national processes as by processes taking place at a diversity of spatial levels, which are strongly intertwined. But it also shows that niche development at country level - and its contribution to the overall niche trajectory – depends on the quality of interactions and the way these contribute to strengthen local/national processes; as well as on the particular configurations of the energy regime and the on-going transitions processes. These results, although still exploratory, contribute to the debate on the role of space in sustainability transitions.
- The spatial dynamics of niche trajectory: the case of wave energyPublication . Fontes, Margarida; Sousa, Cristina; Ferreira, J.This paper proposes that niches, as protected spaces where technologies are developed and articulated with societal needs, transcend territorial boundaries, encompassing communities and actions that span several spatial levels. To support this assertion, the paper builds on the socio-cognitive perspective to niche development and extends it, introducing a new dimension – space – thus broadening and “spatializing” the concept of technological niche. This framework is applied to the case of wave energy. Empirical research combines a generic analysis of the construction of an “overall niche space” with a detailed analysis of the processes taking place in Portugal, which was one of the pioneers in the emerging field. The results confirm the niche multi-spatial dynamics, showing that it is shaped by the interplay between a niche relational space constructed by actors’ actions and interactions, and the territorial effects introduced by their embeddedness in particular geographical and institutional settings.