The selection of indicators for the Observatory of Sustainability of the Algarve Region for Tourism (OBSERVE), poses challenges, namely which indicators are relevant to stakeholders and how to assure that information is available. To support the selection of the environmental, sociocultural, economic and institutional indicators, an engagement process was designed and applied, which included meetings with stakeholders, a workshop and an online survey. The results showed that both workshop and online surveys reflected, in general, similar opinions, thus allowing the selecting of the sustainable development indicators for the Algarve region. Additionally, the results showed that nearly 75% of the indicators can be obtained from national statistics and, therefore, can be used on the OBSERVE project, assuring a quick flow of information. As limitations, it is important to mention that the other 25% will need further development, in order to provide data for indicators, like carbon management and client satisfaction. With this approach, the observatory will survey and evaluate the sustainable development of the region (status and trends), based on indicators that answer to the strategic needs of system's main users, with social and economic implications, i.e., public institutions, economic agents, tourists, local communities and residents.Sustainability 2019, 11, 444 2 of 24 of the overnights of 34%, corresponding to the most important touristic region in Portugal. In a 10-year strategy [4], sustainability is one of the 10 challenges proposed by the Portuguese tourism policy (2017).Monitoring is essential for considering and identifying the trends, dynamics that support policies, strategies and stakeholders decisions using different type of information, from adequate statistics [5] to other database sources, such as TripAdvisor [6].Observatories have an important role in monitoring and supporting decisions at public and private level, showing the status and trends of the sustainability development reality. The OBSERVE project-Observatory of Sustainability of the Algarve Region for Tourism [7], under development by the University of Algarve, intends to be an instrument for monitoring and evaluating the sustainability levels of the region. Its main goal is to provide environmental, economic, sociocultural and institutional indicators to support the decision-making process, for a sustainable growth of the Algarve region. This two-year project seeks the widest possible participation from central and local administration, universities and research centres, as well as, enterprises, associations, tourists and citizens, aiming to be an added value for the stakeholders.The Observatory should reflect the region's performance, responding to the strategic needs and expectations of the different stakeholders, as well as assuring that information is uploaded automatically from reliable and updated sources, in order to ensure the continuity of the OBSERVE platform in the future [8].The selection of the indicators is considered a fun...

In this work, three universally used redox probes in amperometric biosensing devices, [Fe(CN)6]3−/[Fe(CN)6]4−, Ru[(NH3)6]3+, and ferrocenedimethanol (FDM), were selected to evaluate the stability of electrochemical signals provide by the reporting systems. Studies were carried out at disposable gold screen‐printed electrode (AuSPE) biosensing platforms, commonly used for screening chemical and biological relevant biomolecules. Firstly, electrochemical combined‐surface plasmon resonance (eSPR) studies were performed to evaluated adsorption reversibility and/or formation of redox probe complexes at the bare gold surface when routinely used electrochemical techniques, namely cyclic voltammetry (CV) and square‐wave voltammetry (SWV), are recorded. Then, the results obtained were compared with those obtained at the AuSPE under the same electrochemical conditions. Based on our findings, best experimental conditions, including the type of electrochemical technique used, are speculated for each reporting system in order to improve the analytical signal stability. Finally, a methodology based on SWV technique was applied to modified electrodes to provide a simple and easy tool to ensure diffusion controlled permeability of probes thorough the films to electrode surface.

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This study analyses the most appropriate methodology to make similarity classifications among the cities of the Algarve (Portugal) according to 105 sustainability indicators monitored with the Observatory of Sustainability of the Algarve Region for Tourism (OBSERVE). The methodology used to establish the similarities was the cluster analysis with 4 different approaches which reduced the dimensions of the data set: total approach, pillar approach, subject area approach, and indicator approach. By combining the approaches, a total of 620 different cluster analyses were performed. The results reflected that the data analysis approaches with less dimensions were those that performed the best groups among cities. In this sense, the approaches with a high number of indicators (e.g., the total or the pillar approach) were characterised by misclassifying cities in more than 30% of the indicators. Thus, the most acceptable cluster analysis approach was that with a low number of indicators. Through this approach, it was possible to make correct groups of the sustainability level of the cities of the Algarve. These results provided an appropriate methodology for the decision-making regarding the sustainability of a region and could be extrapolated to other regions to assess sustainability or environmental indicators.