From the LOGIS news alert subscriptions (ending 27/03):

Education
• A Cambridge University Study says that bad behaviour by school children is being fuelled by "overindulgent" parents who don't know how to say no to their children.

Environment & sustainability:
• Glaciers around the world are melting at an average rate that has doubled, with the most dramatic shrinking in Norway. The loss of melt water from glaciers could result in food shortages in Asian countries such as India and China, due to the loss of water for irrigation.
• A group of researchers, policymakers and environmental campaigners have identified 25 potential future threats to the environment in the UK, which they say researchers should focus on.
• The Urban Land Institute released a report at the end of last year that can be downloaded from the Smart Growth America site: “Growing cooler: the evidence on urban development and climate change.”

Health & wellbeing:
• Public toilets in the UK have been getting a lot of attention in the last few years. A new guide on public toilets has been released to help local authorities make improvements, with examples from councils taking a new approach (including Westminster’s “SatLav”).
• A recent issue of Surveyor magazine highlights 2 health reports from the UK that provide useful information to urban designers and planners about how to encourage people to be more active: “Building Health: Creating and enhancing places for healthy, active lives: What needs to be done?”, and “Physical activity and environment”. From Sport England also comes a report on generic best practice design advice and requirements for building types and sporting activities called: “Active design”.
• Over 100 million Europeans don’t have access to safe drinking water. 16% of the East European population don’t have access to drinking water in their homes.
• The Problem Gambling Foundation is concerned that NZ Lotteries is likely to move into online gambling within a month.
• New research on alcohol misuse in the UK shows that many people in the UK don’t believe that they can lead their lives enjoyably without alcohol. If the definition of a problem drinker is taken as someone who drinks to alter their mood on a regular basis, the research suggests that most people can be classified as problem drinkers.

Law & Government:
• The government is asking for comment on a new plan intended to increase the number of women breastfeeding their babies and to create supportive environments.
• Homeowners in the UK will be able to install solar panels, heat pumps and microgeneration technologies without needing to get planning permission, so long as there is clearly no impact on others.
• Public space in a city helps to define its character, but even great cities like London can have difficulty defending public space from construction and infrastructure projects.

People, culture & diversity:
• While the growth rate of cities in Asia Pacific region has been the fastest in the world over the last 15 years, the rapid growth has also meant an increase in poverty and environmental impacts.
• Parents’ fears about commercialism and the social and environmental future for their children are more serious than children’s own fears.
• The Community of West and Islam Dialogue (called C-100) has just officially launched the first Islam and the West: Annual Report on the State of Dialogue. The report is the first systematic overview of how Muslim and Western societies perceive and relate to each other at the political, social, economic and cultural levels.

Science, technology & transport:
• The Transportation Research Board of the US National Academies, has just released a special report on the consequences of climate change for U.S. transportation infrastructure and operations: “The Potential Impacts of Climate Change on U.S. Transportation”.
• “Virtual protests” are being used to by thousands of people to demonstrate against countries accused of censoring the internet.