Frederico Branco

Abstract
The relevance of the tourism industry to the overall sustainability of rural territories grows along with the demand for rural tourism destinations. Likewise, as the digital transition of rural tour operators takes place, their marketing initiatives also evolve towards a digital nature, which is why it is crucial to comprehend how the overall calibre of these activities might affect the perception of rural places, while also motivating tourists' travel intentions and, as a result, promoting the general sustainability of the destination. Thus, in this paper, we propose a novel conceptual model based on Delone and McLean's representative model of Information Systems Success Model, on Tan and Wu's arguments on tourism destinations' image relationship with tourists' visit intentions, and also on Verma's tourism destination brand equity concept. To validate the proposed model, an online focus group was developed involving several specialists whose opinions and perspectives corroborated the potential adequacy of the proposed artefact and, consequently, assumed its contribution and value. From this validation process, it was possible to highlight that digital marketing initiatives' overall quality influences both rural destinations' image and tourists' intention to visit these territories, that a positive image will trigger tourists' visit behaviour, and that these behaviours represent a valuable asset to rural destinations' global sustainability.

Abstract
Water scarcity is becoming an issue of more significant concern with a major impact on global sustainability. For it, new measures and approaches are urgently needed. Digital technologies and tools can play an essential role in improving the effectiveness and efficiency of current water management approaches. Therefore, a solution is proposed and validated, given the limited presence of models or technological architectures in the literature to support intelligent water management systems for domestic use. It is based on a layered architecture, fully designed to meet the needs of households and to do so through the adoption of technologies such as the Internet of Things and cloud computing. By developing a prototype and using it as a use case for testing purposes, we have concluded the positive impact of using such a solution. Considering this is a first contribution to overcome the problem, some issues will be addressed in a future work, namely, data and device security and energy and traffic optimisation issues, among several others.

Abstract
The daily stress we, as population, are subjected has negative impacts on physical and mental health, making people age faster. With the increase in life expectancy, the population started to search for ways to ensure they reach the older ages with a healthier and better lifestyle, resulting in an increase of interest and demand for thermalism and wellness tourism. Although thermalism is recognized to have several benefits with regard to the combat and prevention of certain pathologies, this has not yet been fully proven. So, in this paper, we presented a sensing system, capable of not only recording thermalist’s biometric data, but also getting the data ready and prepared to be processed by any analytic tool with the aim of showing the impact that this sector has on the health of its practitioners.

Abstract
As the demand for rural tourism destinations increases, the relevancy of the tourism sector to the overall destination sustainability becomes even more significant, and the existing tourism operators transition their marketing initiatives to a digital nature, it is critical to understand how the global quality of the implemented e-marketing initiatives are impacting rural destinations image and brand equity, how they trigger tourists’ intention to visit, and as a consequence foster overall destination sustainability. Hence, a novel conceptual model, drawn on Delone & McLean Information Systems Success model, Tan & Wu model on the relations between destination image and future visit behavior, and on the overall brand equity context presented by Verma, is proposed and the multiple implications on the presented artefact are discussed. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Abstract
Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) territories are highly relevant to achieving sustainable lifestyles with human subsistence in balance with the ecosystem. The Barroso agro-sylvo-pastoral system is a clear example of this alignment between existing society, nature and natural resources, the environment, landscapes, and contextual heritage. Moreover, the sustainable use of existing natural resources, excellent environmental conditions, and breath-taking untouched landscapes represent a truly relevant factor towards the development of a region economy that is still greatly influenced by an engraved cultural, patrimonial, and agricultural heritage. Given the GIAHS classification attributed to that territory, the need arises to guarantee the existing environmental conditions. This context will allow the maintenance of the GIAHS classification, ensuring the quality of life in the region and stimulating its socio-economic development and overall sustainability. The present article describes a proposal for a digital ecosystem model aimed at the Barroso GIAHS, composed of four main functional hubs that actively interact with each other: smart environment, smart government, smart economy, and smart people. Based on wireless sensor networks, IoT, artificial intelligence, data analytics, and other technological solutions, this solution will allow real-time control of the territory's environmental conditions and develop more efficient and well-supported management and governance.