From the LOGIS news alert subscriptions (ending 22/05):

Business & management:
• The UN has released a global report that predicts that world economic growth will fall steeply to 1.8 per cent this year and 2.1 per cent next year, down from 3.8 per cent in 2007.
• Researchers at the University of Bristol Centre for Market and Public Organisation have just published the results of a study on 4000 workers in the public sector, showing that almost half of them do regular unpaid overtime. They calculate that this saves UK public sector employers the costs of employing 60,000 more staff.

Education
• The Education Review Office has released a report “Partners In Learning: Schools’ Engagement with Parents, Whānau and Communities”, which indicates that parents are even more willing now to be involved with their child’s school than in the past.
• Massey University researchers in partnership with Wanganui District Library are to carry out a 4-year research project on identifying barriers to adult literacy and preferred learning options. It is hoped that new employment opportunities will be created due to higher literacy standards.

Environment & sustainability:
• The Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme, Achim Steiner, will be speaking at the University of Auckland on World Environment Day (4 June), describing options for a low-carbon global economy.
• An exhibition in Manchester that celebrates urban gardening shows that guerrilla gardening is active in the UK, but also shows the importance of the good old British allotment.
• A design competition in New York has produced a concept for an apartment building that is as green as it could get – it would have a working farm on the roof.

Health & wellbeing:
• The UN has created the High-Level Task Force on the Global Food Security Crisis to work on a comprehensive plan to tackle problems caused by the worldwide rise in food prices. The FAO believes that an important part of the problem is the lack of biodiversity in the crop and animal species grown for food supply.
• Non-communicable diseases are now the biggest killers globally, with the world’s leading infectious diseases becoming less important causes of death over the next 20 years. The trend was reported in the WHO report “World Health Statistics 2008”. The WHO also says that the global food crisis, climate change and pandemic influenza are the main threats to human health.

Law & Government:
• The IMF report referred to this week on the status of NZ’s economy is available here.
• The UK Government is expected to introduce a bill to Parliament this year called the “Community Empowerment, Housing and Economic Regeneration Bill”. The new bill is intended to strengthen the rights of local people in having a say over their own area, including the right to force a debate on specific local issues onto the local council agenda.
• The UK Home Office has announced a decision to extend the British Crime Survey to include 11-16 year olds. A survey has shown that 1 in 5 London teenagers have had a cell phone or MP3 player stolen, and many of them routinely carry at least £100 worth of electronics with them.
• A survey of UK crime in 2003/4 has shown that crimes by girls aged between 10 and 17 had risen 25%, with the most common crimes being theft, violent attacks, criminal damage and public order offences.
• A UK study of the fear of crime shows that it is an important indicator of a society’s wellbeing and that where people were concerned about social change and declining morality, they were more likely to also fear crime, regardless of the local crime rate.
• Greater Manchester’s approach to local governance has not been to take the Lord Mayor approach of London, but to negotiate a multi-area agreement (MAA) between the individual councils and government.

People, culture & diversity:
• Statistics NZ's longitudinal immigration survey has produced results recently showing that lifestyle is the main reason for immigrants to choose in deciding to come to NZ.

Science, technology & transport:
• Broadband users in Australasia are spending more time watching video via the Internet, than by watching TV or going to the movies.
• Locals and environmental groups in east London are strongly opposed to plans for a £500m six-lane road bridge across the Thames. A new study of 6 options for crossing the river shows that there’s one option that could be the most sustainable, the cheapest, it would encourage cycling & walking and would be faster to build -- a cable-car across the Thames.
• A US woman faces charges over her masquerade as a boy on a Facebook profile. She used her online profile to bully a girl, who committed suicide when “he” ended their virtual relationship. However, the prosecution under computer laws may raise questions for other users of alternative identities or profiles on the Internet.
• The OECD has sounded a warning about the rate at which nations are moving to the new Internet addressing system.
• A US “drive-by-wire” automated car is getting a lot of interest because it is suggested that it could drastically cut traffic jams by increasing the flow of traffic up to 3 times.