The issue of sustainability has become increasingly important at a global level, prompting governments, international organizations, and private and public organizations to seek ways to contribute to sustainable development. However, the lack of accountability and transparency in organizations has made it difficult to identify, measure, and disclose their sustainable practices and impacts. Additionally, there is a lack of consensus on the determinants and impacts of the extent and quality of non-financial information reporting. Enhancing Sustainability Through Non-Financial Reporting is a book edited by Albertina Monteiro, Ana Pinto Borges, and Elvira Vieira that offers a comprehensive analysis of the relationship between sustainability/ Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) practices and reporting, and the accounting, finance, and management fields. The book provides a high-quality vehicle for the dissemination of new knowledge and tendencies, using both qualitative and quantitative methods. It welcomes and encourages articles from both academics and practitioners, with empirical and theoretical articles accepted to reach various audiences and a diversity of topics. The book aims to better understand the contributions of organizations to sustainable development, the level, determinates, and impacts of non-financial information reporting, the impact of sustainability reporting standards on the extent and quality of non-financial reporting, and the role and challenges of accounting, finance, management, and auditing. It is an essential resource for academics and practitioners in accounting, finance, and management, as well as other interested groups and individuals seeking to enhance sustainability through non-financial reporting.

Luxury is no longer a privilege of the high-net-worth individuals. It is now accessible to all. This has become possible because the essence of luxury has changed: from something based upon materialism and conspicuous and hedonic consumption to one that embraces enrichment and experiences for the consumers. This evolution creates challenges for luxury brands and for the managers of luxury brands. Building Consumer-Brand Relationship in Luxury Brand Management is a collection of innovative research that focuses on the conception and marketing of luxury as an experience and explores more integrative and comprehensive approaches to modeling and understanding the consumer-brand relationship with luxury brands and their sustainability in a global and multicultural world. Highlighting a broad range of topics including digital marketing, consumer demand, and social responsibility, this book is ideally designed for marketers, brand managers, consumer analysts, advertisers, entrepreneurs, executives, researchers, academicians, and students.

The current pandemic intensifies underlying structural bottlenecks and systemic inefficiencies. At the same time, it provokes the hasty adoption of innovations made possible by the already accelerating technological developments before being accompanied by necessary institutional and systemic adjustments. This leads to multidimensional crises as well as new socioeconomic challenges and prospects globally. The book enables readers to anticipate separate, yet interrelated functional spheres of global socioeconomic reality, understand their structure, and recognize potential vulnerabilities and opportunities in light of the current pandemic and the induced transformations. It tackles global aspects of the crisis by means of standard and innovative economic policies at the national and international level, faces challenges by businesses and revealing models of effective transformations and strategies in the present circumstances, and discusses individual and collective societal problems in light of sustaining our constantly upgrading humanitarian values in the 21st century. It is ideal for academicians, master's or Ph.D. degree students, university teachers, and scientists working in the field of management, business, economics, computer science, and engineering.

Irrespective of the legal sphere and type of care (primary, secondary, and continuing), providers must ensure that users receive quality healthcare through the efficient use of resources, responsiveness, affordability, and the equal treatment of patients. Management and marketing have been playing an important role in this sector with the importance of branding growing in the healthcare market. The chance for brand in healthcare is determined by the challenges to increase and improve consumer choice. That's something to which providers and health systems, in general, have not been familiarized. New Techniques for Brand Management in the Healthcare Sector is a critical research publication that explores the diffusion of new marketing knowledge, tendencies, and qualitative and quantitative methods for brand management in the private, public, and social health sectors and examines the movement from healthcare as a priceless commodity to one that can be, and is, commodified. Highlighting topics such as e-health, medical tourism, and brand management, this publication is essential for hospital directors, marketers, advertisers, promotion coordinators, brand managers, product specialists, academicians, healthcare professionals, brand strategists, policymakers, researchers, and students.

Forecasts point out an exponential growth in the global population, which raises concerns over the ability of the current agri-food production systems to meet food demand in the long term. Such a prospect has led international organizations and the scientific community to raise awareness about, and call for, the need to identify additional sources of food to feed the world. From this perspective, insects qualify as a suitable and more environmentally friendly alternative to meat and other foods that are sourced from animal proteins. However, uptake of the production and commercialization of insects as food has been facing regulatory hurdles, consumer skepticism and rejection in many markets. This is particularly true in the context of western societies in which insects do not always constitute part of the local traditional diets.Production and Commercialization of Insects as Food and Feed: identification of the Main Constraints in the European Union analyses and discusses the regulatory state-of-the-art for the production and commercialization of insects as food and feed in the European Union. The EU has been taking concrete legislative steps with a view to opening up its market for insect foods, although some key regulatory constraints still exist today which ultimately prevent the industry sector from growing, consolidating and thriving. The main regulatory constraints in the EU for insects as food include the fragmentation of the EU market as a result of the adoption of different policy solutions by EU Member States for novel foods and the lengthy and complex authorization procedures. Also, ad hoc safety and quality requirements tailored to the needs and specificities of the insect food sector are currently missing. This work constitutes the first comprehensive overview of the evolution and current state-of-the-art of the regulatory framework for insect foods in the EU, based on a multidisciplinary approach that combines science, policy and law. It proposes a legislative roadmap which the EU should follow in order to make its regulatory framework fit for insect foods in the long term by providing a detailed comparison between the current EU legal framework and other regulatory systems of western countries with a view to singling out the markets which are better equipped to address the production and the commercialization of insect foods. The text provides an updated overview of the overall market and of European consumers' perspectives on the use of insect foods. With the proper legislative steps and consolidation, the EU can be a global leader for insects as food and feed both as a market and as a standard-setting body.

Forecasts point out an exponential growth in the global population, which raises concerns over the ability of the current agri-food production systems to meet food demand in the long term. Such a prospect has led international organizations and the scientific community to raise awareness about, and call for, the need to identify additional sources of food to feed the world. From this perspective, insects qualify as a suitable and more environmentally friendly alternative to meat and other foods that are sourced from animal proteins. However, uptake of the production and commercialization of insects as food has been facing regulatory hurdles, consumer skepticism and rejection in many markets. This is particularly true in the context of western societies in which insects do not always constitute part of the local traditional diets.Production and Commercialization of Insects as Food and Feed: identification of the Main Constraints in the European Union analyses and discusses the regulatory state-of-the-art for the production and commercialization of insects as food and feed in the European Union. The EU has been taking concrete legislative steps with a view to opening up its market for insect foods, although some key regulatory constraints still exist today which ultimately prevent the industry sector from growing, consolidating and thriving. The main regulatory constraints in the EU for insects as food include the fragmentation of the EU market as a result of the adoption of different policy solutions by EU Member States for novel foods and the lengthy and complex authorization procedures. Also, ad hoc safety and quality requirements tailored to the needs and specificities of the insect food sector are currently missing. This work constitutes the first comprehensive overview of the evolution and current state-of-the-art of the regulatory framework for insect foods in the EU, based on a multidisciplinary approach that combines science, policy and law. It proposes a legislative roadmap which the EU should follow in order to make its regulatory framework fit for insect foods in the long term by providing a detailed comparison between the current EU legal framework and other regulatory systems of western countries with a view to singling out the markets which are better equipped to address the production and the commercialization of insect foods. The text provides an updated overview of the overall market and of European consumers' perspectives on the use of insect foods. With the proper legislative steps and consolidation, the EU can be a global leader for insects as food and feed both as a market and as a standard-setting body.

Gastronomic tourism has made remarkable progress within the past decade in both academia and within its own sector. However, many industries have suffered from the COVID-19 pandemic, and food tourism businesses had to take unique precautions for the health and safety of global consumers. Despite the economic turbulence of the COVID-19 pandemic, there are many strategies available for the restaurant industry to thrive. Gastronomy, Hospitality, and the Future of the Restaurant Industry: Post-COVID-19 Perspectives presents the most recent research surrounding food and gastronomy in relation to hospitality and tourism, highlighting emerging themes and different methods of approach. Concretely, it constitutes a timely and relevant compendium of chapters that offers its readers relevant issues in gastronomy and management strategies in the hospitality industry. Covering topics such as food tourism, organic food production, and restaurant communication, this book is an essential resource for managers, business owners, entrepreneurs, consultants, marketing specialists, government officials, libraries, researchers, academicians, educators, and students.

Irrespective of the legal sphere and type of care (primary, secondary, and continuing), providers must ensure that users receive quality healthcare through the efficient use of resources, responsiveness, affordability, and the equal treatment of patients. Management and marketing have been playing an important role in this sector with the importance of branding growing in the healthcare market. The chance for brand in healthcare is determined by the challenges to increase and improve consumer choice. That's something to which providers and health systems, in general, have not been familiarized. New Techniques for Brand Management in the Healthcare Sector is a critical research publication that explores the diffusion of new marketing knowledge, tendencies, and qualitative and quantitative methods for brand management in the private, public, and social health sectors and examines the movement from healthcare as a priceless commodity to one that can be, and is, commodified. Highlighting topics such as e-health, medical tourism, and brand management, this publication is essential for hospital directors, marketers, advertisers, promotion coordinators, brand managers, product specialists, academicians, healthcare professionals, brand strategists, policymakers, researchers, and students.

Luxury is no longer a privilege of the high-net-worth individuals. It is now accessible to all. This has become possible because the essence of luxury has changed: from something based upon materialism and conspicuous and hedonic consumption to one that embraces enrichment and experiences for the consumers. This evolution creates challenges for luxury brands and for the managers of luxury brands. Building Consumer-Brand Relationship in Luxury Brand Management is a collection of innovative research that focuses on the conception and marketing of luxury as an experience and explores more integrative and comprehensive approaches to modeling and understanding the consumer-brand relationship with luxury brands and their sustainability in a global and multicultural world. Highlighting a broad range of topics including digital marketing, consumer demand, and social responsibility, this book is ideally designed for marketers, brand managers, consumer analysts, advertisers, entrepreneurs, executives, researchers, academicians, and students.

"Blue Universe (flowers of symbiosis)" is a book containing a love poem, divided into four parts in ascending progression: from the beholding and idealisation of the Beloved Woman (I); the approach (II); the discouragement (III); in the end, the full expression of love happens, with an invitation to the Beloved, unveiling the full thrill through the accomplishment of love (IV). This album was influenced by the "Song of Songs." Drawings by ANA PINTO, inspired in this light poetry, illustrate the idyllic setting and the tension created by this magic book.

"Universo azul (flores da simbiose)" e um livro que contem um poema de amor, dividido em quatro partes, em progressao ascendente: desde a contemplacao a distancia e idealizacao da Mulher Amada; passando pela aproximacao; pelo desalento; e, no final, pela expressao plena do sentimento amoroso, num convite dirigido a Amada, revelando a emocao do pleno jubilo pela concretizacao do amor. Este livro tem influencia do "Cantico dos Canticos." Os desenhos de ANA PINTO, inspirados por esta poesia luminosa, ilustram o ambiente idilico e a tensao amorosa criadas neste livro magico.