Business & management:
• New laws in the European Union (EU) require that a chemical is safe before it goes out in the commercial market. This will have a huge impact on manufacturers exporting to the EU, especially in countries like the US, where the law requires the opposite - regulators must prove that a chemical is harmful before it can be restricted or removed from the market.
• On behalf of the World Editors Forum, 5 prominent newspaper designers have selected (globally) the top print newspapers and the top newspaper website designs.
Education
• Rising petrol costs are resulting in a sharp rise in the number of people looking into online or distance education, according to US website Degree.com.
• In another application for distance learning, a US school district has received federal funding to develop a distance learning programme for use if an emergency such as a flu pandemic forced schools to close.
Environment & sustainability:
• A recent Urban Land Institute conference in the US has highlighted the need for developers to switch to more compact walkable development.
• A new report: “Sustainable performance delivered” suggests that regulatory and consumer pressures haven’t resulted in more than superficial sustainability measures in many corporations. However, international investors are a driving force in moving corporations towards embracing sustainability.
• Organisations from around the world have been selected for the first Sustainable Cities Awards, at the Financial Times / ULI Sustainable Cities Conference in London. The awards recognise new ideas and best practice in the concept of sustainability in real estate.
Health & wellbeing:
• The Bioethics Council releases its report today on pre-birth testing. The report “Who gets born? A report on the cultural, ethical and spiritual issues raised by pre-birth testing” comes from the Council, but takes into account the feedback provided by over 700 members of the public and their opinions about the issues around such tests.
Law & Government:
• The Centre for Cities has released a report “Smarter, Stronger Cities: UK Urban Policy Innovations and Lessons for the US”. In the past, UK cities looked to the US for ideas on urban planning, but now, the US has more to learn from UK cities.
• Stirling has received £1.25m in funding from the Big Lottery Fund and the Scottish Government, so that it can become the UK’s first carbon neutral city.
• The Office of the Auditor-General has released 2 reports today: “Public sector purchases, grants, and gifts: managing funding arrangements with external parties” and “Procurement guidance for public entities” (an update of the 2001 good practice guide). In addition, there is an example that looks at funding NGOs, but may provide useful lessons to other public bodies: “Managing funding to non-government organisations – from principles to practice.”
• The Dept of Labour are asking for public submissions on a plan of action to prevent and combat people trafficking. So far NZ Police have found no evidence of people trafficking in NZ, but the Dept of Labour wants to see this position maintained in the future.
• NZ is bidding for election to the UN Human Rights Council for the 2009-2012 term, supported by Australia and Canada.
• Submission forms for those wanting to provide feedback on the proposal for compulsory third party insurance can be found on the Ministry of Transport’s homepage.
• 2 refrigeration engineers have been fined for releasing an ozone depleting substance last year, while they were repairing a drink chiller.
• The Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights is a new legal instrument adopted by the UN, which will enable people to submit complaints on violations of their economic, social and cultural rights to an international human rights body.
People, culture & diversity:
• In an article in the Journal of Physics A, researchers have found that the way people behave on the Internet, doesn’t follow the normal bell curve of statistics. Variations in behaviour from one user to another are extreme, so that modelling Web server traffic may not be simple.
• Diversity is not something that l'Académie Française wants for the French language. The French parliament has just amended the constitution to recognise its 75 regional minority languages, but France has still not ratified the European charter for minority languages, and l'Académie Française believes that minority languages are “an attack on French national identity”.
Science, technology & transport:
• “Scientists for Global Responsibility” maintains a section on their website about the influence of the military on science & technology research. Their latest report is about the influence of the military on research at UK universities.
• Honda has begun the first commercial production of a zero-emission, hydrogen fuel-cell powered vehicle.
• “Six degrees : our future on a hotter planet” by Mark Lynas has won the UK Royal Society’s prize for popular science writing. The book explains how Earth will change for every degree rise in temperature - from droughts to mass extinctions.
• The first of the reports from the Commerce Commission, that wasn’t good news for Telecom or Vodafone is available: “Broadband performance quality reports”, covering the March 2008 quarter.
Thursday, 19 June 2008
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