Gara Villalba
Biographic Data
| ID | 8320834 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Gara Villalba |
| GIVEN NAMES | Gara |
| FAMILY NAME | Villalba |
| SIGNATURE | VILLALBA G |
| AFFILIATIONS | Universitat Autonòma de Barcelona |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-6392-0902 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 16 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 0 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 16 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2004 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 0 |
Bridging local and global vulnerabilities for an integrated assessment of nature-based solutions
Nature-based solutions (NBSs) can address socio-ecological challenges in urban environments, such as climate change adaptation and biodiversity conservation, but their local and global impacts are often not fully assessed. We develop a stepwise multi-criteria analysis to determine cross-scale NBSs impacts based on their capacity to alter social-ecological vulnerabilities and apply the framework to optimize green roof implementation in Oslo. NBSs …
Assessing Nature-based solutions in the face of urban vulnerabilities: A multi-criteria decision approach
Nature-based solutions (NBS) are increasingly employed to address urban challenges. Typically, NBS planning emphasizes environmental impacts and ecosystem services, often overlooking their role in addressing vulnerabilities. Our objective is to develop a framework assessing the extent to which NBS alter urban vulnerabilities. For this, we relate ecosystem service and urban metabolism analyses to spatially explicit vulnerabilities. The framework r…
The potential of local food, energy, and water production systems on urban rooftops considering consumption patterns and urban morphology
The external resource dependency of urban areas results in the externalization of environmental and socioeconomic impacts. Implementing food, energy and water production systems on urban rooftops (roof mosaics) can potentially help cities become more self-sufficient but depends on the city's urban morphology. We studied the supply potential and impacts of four roof mosaic scenarios for different urban forms in Cerdanyola, a 58 thousand-inhabitant…
Urban agriculture — A necessary pathway towards urban resilience and global sustainability
The Covid-19 pandemic newly brings food resilience in cities to our attention and the need to question the desired degree of food self-sufficiency through urban agriculture. While these questions are by no means new and periodically entering the global research focus and policy discussions during periods of crises — the last time during the global financial crisis and resulting food price increases in 2008 — urban and peri-urban agriculture conti…
More than the sum of the parts: System analysis of the usability of roofs in housing estates
Housing estates, that is, mass social housing on middle- and high-rise apartment blocks, in urban areas are found all over the world with very similar constructive patterns and a multiplicity of environmental and socio-economic problems. In this regard, such areas are optimal for the implementation of a roof mosaic which involves applying a combination of urban farming, solar energy, and harvesting rainwater systems (decentralized systems) on uno…
Assessing the sustainability of contrasting land use scenarios through the Socioecological Integrated Analysis (SIA) of the metropolitan green infrastructure in Barcelona
Towards Productive Cities: Environmental Assessment of the Food‐Energy‐Water Nexus of the Urban Roof Mosaic
Cities are rapidly growing and need to look for ways to optimize resource consumption. Metropolises are especially vulnerable in three main systems, often referred to as the FEW (i.e., food, energy, and water) nexus. In this context, urban rooftops are underutilized areas that might be used for the production of these resources. We developed the Roof Mosaic approach, which combines life cycle assessment with two rooftop guidelines, to analyze the…
Using Web‐Based Technology to Bring Hands‐On Urban Material Flow Analysis to the Classroom
The main objective of this article is to introduce an open‐source, online software tool called OMAT as a teaching tool for performing economy wide‐material flow analysis (EW‐MFA) at urban or regional level in industrial ecology curricula. To that intent, we present a classroom and project activity that was developed for a masters‐level industrial ecology course offered by the Autonomous University of Barcelona. Insights are provided with regards …
Increasing Precision in Greenhouse Gas Accounting Using Real‐Time Emission Factors: A Case Study of Electricity in Spain
For many companies, the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with their purchased and consumed electricity form one of the largest contributions to the GHG emissions that result from their activities. Currently, hourly variations in electricity grid emissions are not considered by standard GHG accounting protocols, which apply a national grid emission factor (EF), potentially resulting in erred estimates for the GHG emissions. In this study,…
Global Substance Flow Analysis of Gallium, Germanium, and Indium: Quantification of Extraction, Uses, and Dissipative Losses within their Anthropogenic Cycles
This study provides a global substance flow analysis for gallium (Ga), germanium (Ge), and indium (In) for 2011, quantifying the amount of metal lost during extraction, beneficiation/smelting/refining, manufacturing of intermediate products, and the amount embodied in end‐use products. Thus far, studies illustrating their cradle to end‐use life cycle on a global scale are either missing or outdated, and thus opportunities to increase their supply…
Energy Intensity of the Catalan Construction Sector: An Application of Material and Exergy Flow Analysis
We used a thermodynamic framework to characterize the resource consumption of the construction sector in 2001 in Catalonia, the northeast region of Spain. The analysis was done with a cradle‐to‐product life cycle approach using material flow analysis (MFA) and exergy accounting methodologies to quantify the total material and energy inputs in the sector. The aim was to identify the limitations of resource metabolism in the sector and to pinpoint …
Methodology for inventorying greenhouse gas emissions from global cities
Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Global Cities
The world's population is now over 50% urban, and cities make an important contribution to national greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Many cities are developing strategies to reduce their emissions. Here we ask how and why emissions differ between cities. Our study often global cities shows how a balance of geophysical factors (climate, access to resources, and gateway status) and technical factors (power generation, urban design, and waste process…
Global Phosphorus Flows in the Industrial Economy From a Production Perspective
Human activity has quadrupled the mobilization of phosphorus (P), a nonrenewable resource that is not fully recycled biologically or industrially. P is accumulated in both water and solid waste due to fertilizer application and industrial, agricultural, and animal P consumption. This paper characterizes the industrial flows, which, although smaller than the agricultural and animal flows, are an important phosphorus source contributing to the poll…
Global Phosphorus Flows and Environmental Impacts from a Consumption Perspective
Human activities have significantly intensified natural phosphorus cycles, which has resulted in some serious environmental problems that modern societies face today. This article attempts to quantify the global phosphorus flows associated with present day mining, farming, animal feeding, and household consumption. Various physical characteristics of the related phosphorus fluxes as well as their environmental impacts in different economies, incl…
Using the recyclability index of materials as a tool for design for disassembly
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Using the recyclability index of materials as a tool for design for disassembly
Global Phosphorus Flows in the Industrial Economy From a Production Perspective
Human activity has quadrupled the mobilization of phosphorus (P), a nonrenewable resource that is not fully recycled biologically or industrially. P is accumulated in both water and solid waste due to fertilizer application and industrial, agricultural, and animal P consumption. This paper characterizes the industrial flows, which, although smaller than the agricultural and animal flows, are an important phosphorus source contributing to the poll…
Global Phosphorus Flows and Environmental Impacts from a Consumption Perspective
Human activities have significantly intensified natural phosphorus cycles, which has resulted in some serious environmental problems that modern societies face today. This article attempts to quantify the global phosphorus flows associated with present day mining, farming, animal feeding, and household consumption. Various physical characteristics of the related phosphorus fluxes as well as their environmental impacts in different economies, incl…
Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Global Cities
The world's population is now over 50% urban, and cities make an important contribution to national greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Many cities are developing strategies to reduce their emissions. Here we ask how and why emissions differ between cities. Our study often global cities shows how a balance of geophysical factors (climate, access to resources, and gateway status) and technical factors (power generation, urban design, and waste process…
Methodology for inventorying greenhouse gas emissions from global cities
Energy Intensity of the Catalan Construction Sector: An Application of Material and Exergy Flow Analysis
We used a thermodynamic framework to characterize the resource consumption of the construction sector in 2001 in Catalonia, the northeast region of Spain. The analysis was done with a cradle‐to‐product life cycle approach using material flow analysis (MFA) and exergy accounting methodologies to quantify the total material and energy inputs in the sector. The aim was to identify the limitations of resource metabolism in the sector and to pinpoint …
Increasing Precision in Greenhouse Gas Accounting Using Real‐Time Emission Factors: A Case Study of Electricity in Spain
For many companies, the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with their purchased and consumed electricity form one of the largest contributions to the GHG emissions that result from their activities. Currently, hourly variations in electricity grid emissions are not considered by standard GHG accounting protocols, which apply a national grid emission factor (EF), potentially resulting in erred estimates for the GHG emissions. In this study,…
Global Substance Flow Analysis of Gallium, Germanium, and Indium: Quantification of Extraction, Uses, and Dissipative Losses within their Anthropogenic Cycles
This study provides a global substance flow analysis for gallium (Ga), germanium (Ge), and indium (In) for 2011, quantifying the amount of metal lost during extraction, beneficiation/smelting/refining, manufacturing of intermediate products, and the amount embodied in end‐use products. Thus far, studies illustrating their cradle to end‐use life cycle on a global scale are either missing or outdated, and thus opportunities to increase their supply…
Using Web‐Based Technology to Bring Hands‐On Urban Material Flow Analysis to the Classroom
The main objective of this article is to introduce an open‐source, online software tool called OMAT as a teaching tool for performing economy wide‐material flow analysis (EW‐MFA) at urban or regional level in industrial ecology curricula. To that intent, we present a classroom and project activity that was developed for a masters‐level industrial ecology course offered by the Autonomous University of Barcelona. Insights are provided with regards …
Towards Productive Cities: Environmental Assessment of the Food‐Energy‐Water Nexus of the Urban Roof Mosaic
Cities are rapidly growing and need to look for ways to optimize resource consumption. Metropolises are especially vulnerable in three main systems, often referred to as the FEW (i.e., food, energy, and water) nexus. In this context, urban rooftops are underutilized areas that might be used for the production of these resources. We developed the Roof Mosaic approach, which combines life cycle assessment with two rooftop guidelines, to analyze the…
Assessing the sustainability of contrasting land use scenarios through the Socioecological Integrated Analysis (SIA) of the metropolitan green infrastructure in Barcelona
Urban agriculture — A necessary pathway towards urban resilience and global sustainability
The Covid-19 pandemic newly brings food resilience in cities to our attention and the need to question the desired degree of food self-sufficiency through urban agriculture. While these questions are by no means new and periodically entering the global research focus and policy discussions during periods of crises — the last time during the global financial crisis and resulting food price increases in 2008 — urban and peri-urban agriculture conti…
More than the sum of the parts: System analysis of the usability of roofs in housing estates
Housing estates, that is, mass social housing on middle- and high-rise apartment blocks, in urban areas are found all over the world with very similar constructive patterns and a multiplicity of environmental and socio-economic problems. In this regard, such areas are optimal for the implementation of a roof mosaic which involves applying a combination of urban farming, solar energy, and harvesting rainwater systems (decentralized systems) on uno…
The potential of local food, energy, and water production systems on urban rooftops considering consumption patterns and urban morphology
The external resource dependency of urban areas results in the externalization of environmental and socioeconomic impacts. Implementing food, energy and water production systems on urban rooftops (roof mosaics) can potentially help cities become more self-sufficient but depends on the city's urban morphology. We studied the supply potential and impacts of four roof mosaic scenarios for different urban forms in Cerdanyola, a 58 thousand-inhabitant…
Assessing Nature-based solutions in the face of urban vulnerabilities: A multi-criteria decision approach
Nature-based solutions (NBS) are increasingly employed to address urban challenges. Typically, NBS planning emphasizes environmental impacts and ecosystem services, often overlooking their role in addressing vulnerabilities. Our objective is to develop a framework assessing the extent to which NBS alter urban vulnerabilities. For this, we relate ecosystem service and urban metabolism analyses to spatially explicit vulnerabilities. The framework r…
Bridging local and global vulnerabilities for an integrated assessment of nature-based solutions
Nature-based solutions (NBSs) can address socio-ecological challenges in urban environments, such as climate change adaptation and biodiversity conservation, but their local and global impacts are often not fully assessed. We develop a stepwise multi-criteria analysis to determine cross-scale NBSs impacts based on their capacity to alter social-ecological vulnerabilities and apply the framework to optimize green roof implementation in Oslo. NBSs …
Environmental Science (13 works) · Business (10 works) · Economics (10 works) · Engineering (10 works) · Environmental planning (7 works) · Ecology (6 works) · Environmental Impact and Sustainability (6 works) · Geography (6 works) · Natural resource economics (6 works) · Agriculture (5 works)