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.
Thursday, 27 March 2008
Thursday, 13 March 2008
From the LOGIS news alert subscriptions (ending 13/03):
Business & management:
• Over half of professionals working in Australasia are looking for another job either actively or passively – although only 17% of those surveyed were NZers.
Environment & sustainability:
• The FAO is calling on countries to begin providing data for the 2010 Global Forest Resources Assessment, the data from which will help in measuring the impact of deforestation on climate change.
• The UN Environmental Programme has launched the Green Passport, intended to make travellers aware of some of the things they can do to make tourism a sustainable activity.
• The World Meteorological Organisation says that governments, businesses and the public need more sophisticated information on weather from their national meteorological agencies, so that they can cope with climate variability and change.
• In China, so-called green energy companies manufacturing solar power cells are polluting the local environment, because they haven’t implemented the expensive waste management systems needed for photovoltaic production, and are even dumping waste near residential areas.
• Milwaukee was host earlier this month to the first Urban Agriculture Conference to have an international audience. The conference attracted academic researchers, city planners, health officials and urban farmers. The US government takes the idea of urban agriculture seriously (e.g. with the 1996 Community Food Security Act), as concerns about food security grow.
• Those parts of the world where drought is common may need to think again about electric vehicles, which need 17 times more water per mile than a petrol-powered vehicle.
Health & wellbeing:
• The Chip Group began as an ad hoc way of swapping notes on the industry. It’s now evolved to become an industry group aiming to raise the nutritional standards of takeaway chips, with the Best Chip Shop Competition, and the launch of the world’s first chip standards: “New Zealand Standards for Deep Fried Chips in Independent Fast Food Outlets”.
• Associated Press has been investigating drinking water supplies in the US, and has discovered that traces of pharmaceuticals can be found in the water supply to 41 million Americans. The concentrations found are minimal, but there are concerns about long-term exposure to unregulated and unintended combinations of drugs.
Law & Government:
• The government’s Urban Design Protocol now has 150 signatories, with Hutt City Council joining the initiative.
• The government has made a formal submission to the UK government over proposed changes to short-term (including ancestry) visas for NZers travelling to the UK. The proposed changes would mean a maximum stay of 3 months, rather than the 6-12 months available with current visas.
• Calendars printed last year are confusing some people about the last day for daylight saving this year. Beginning on the last Sunday of September, and ending on the first Sunday of April, means that daylight saving for this year ends on 6th April.
• The government’s main web portal has been upgraded and was launched today, with much work being done to improve the search function.
People, culture & diversity:
• In a paper by Phoenix Research commissioned by Persil, “Children being children: a New Zealand mother's perspective” results show that 92% of NZ mothers believe that children are growing up too quickly compared to 76% globally. However, the report shows that more Kiwi kids spend more time outside playing than children from other countries.
• And in London, a new policy has been introduced that requires all new housing development applications to include play and recreation facilities.
• Forced marriages are widespread and occurring over a range of ethnic minorities in the UK, with 3000 women a year coerced into marriage, according to a recent report. Although the government has a forced marriage unit, it’s only handling 300 cases a year.
• Minorities and indigenous peoples are in more danger from climate change, and are often last on any lists for aid, according to "State of the World's Minorities 2008" report from Minority Rights Group International (MRG).
Science, technology & transport:
• A “geothermal renaissance” is taking place around NZ, with at least 6 new geothermal power stations planned, including one in Northland.
• A British company has developed a security camera that can see through clothing from up to 25m away.
• In the future, you may be able to power your lights by plugging into the paint on your building. Scientists in the UK are working on a way to paint solar cells onto the steel sheets used to clad large buildings.
• Digital information is starting to outstrip the ability to store it, as there is now more digital information being created, captured or replicated than there is available storage in the form of tapes, CDs DVDs and memory.
• Over half of professionals working in Australasia are looking for another job either actively or passively – although only 17% of those surveyed were NZers.
Environment & sustainability:
• The FAO is calling on countries to begin providing data for the 2010 Global Forest Resources Assessment, the data from which will help in measuring the impact of deforestation on climate change.
• The UN Environmental Programme has launched the Green Passport, intended to make travellers aware of some of the things they can do to make tourism a sustainable activity.
• The World Meteorological Organisation says that governments, businesses and the public need more sophisticated information on weather from their national meteorological agencies, so that they can cope with climate variability and change.
• In China, so-called green energy companies manufacturing solar power cells are polluting the local environment, because they haven’t implemented the expensive waste management systems needed for photovoltaic production, and are even dumping waste near residential areas.
• Milwaukee was host earlier this month to the first Urban Agriculture Conference to have an international audience. The conference attracted academic researchers, city planners, health officials and urban farmers. The US government takes the idea of urban agriculture seriously (e.g. with the 1996 Community Food Security Act), as concerns about food security grow.
• Those parts of the world where drought is common may need to think again about electric vehicles, which need 17 times more water per mile than a petrol-powered vehicle.
Health & wellbeing:
• The Chip Group began as an ad hoc way of swapping notes on the industry. It’s now evolved to become an industry group aiming to raise the nutritional standards of takeaway chips, with the Best Chip Shop Competition, and the launch of the world’s first chip standards: “New Zealand Standards for Deep Fried Chips in Independent Fast Food Outlets”.
• Associated Press has been investigating drinking water supplies in the US, and has discovered that traces of pharmaceuticals can be found in the water supply to 41 million Americans. The concentrations found are minimal, but there are concerns about long-term exposure to unregulated and unintended combinations of drugs.
Law & Government:
• The government’s Urban Design Protocol now has 150 signatories, with Hutt City Council joining the initiative.
• The government has made a formal submission to the UK government over proposed changes to short-term (including ancestry) visas for NZers travelling to the UK. The proposed changes would mean a maximum stay of 3 months, rather than the 6-12 months available with current visas.
• Calendars printed last year are confusing some people about the last day for daylight saving this year. Beginning on the last Sunday of September, and ending on the first Sunday of April, means that daylight saving for this year ends on 6th April.
• The government’s main web portal has been upgraded and was launched today, with much work being done to improve the search function.
People, culture & diversity:
• In a paper by Phoenix Research commissioned by Persil, “Children being children: a New Zealand mother's perspective” results show that 92% of NZ mothers believe that children are growing up too quickly compared to 76% globally. However, the report shows that more Kiwi kids spend more time outside playing than children from other countries.
• And in London, a new policy has been introduced that requires all new housing development applications to include play and recreation facilities.
• Forced marriages are widespread and occurring over a range of ethnic minorities in the UK, with 3000 women a year coerced into marriage, according to a recent report. Although the government has a forced marriage unit, it’s only handling 300 cases a year.
• Minorities and indigenous peoples are in more danger from climate change, and are often last on any lists for aid, according to "State of the World's Minorities 2008" report from Minority Rights Group International (MRG).
Science, technology & transport:
• A “geothermal renaissance” is taking place around NZ, with at least 6 new geothermal power stations planned, including one in Northland.
• A British company has developed a security camera that can see through clothing from up to 25m away.
• In the future, you may be able to power your lights by plugging into the paint on your building. Scientists in the UK are working on a way to paint solar cells onto the steel sheets used to clad large buildings.
• Digital information is starting to outstrip the ability to store it, as there is now more digital information being created, captured or replicated than there is available storage in the form of tapes, CDs DVDs and memory.
Thursday, 6 March 2008
From the LOGIS news alert subscriptions (ending 06/03):
Business & management:
• Corporate “greenwash” concerns some leaders of industry and researchers, because it threatens the efforts of those companies that are taking steps to reduce emissions, mitigate climate change and minimize environmental destruction.
• The Centre for Housing Research has 2 new publications available, looking at the falling rate of home ownership in NZ. One trend noted, is the increasing tendency to buy homes further away from work, increasing the need for a long commute.
• We tend to think NZ is doing pretty well on a global scale in the travel and tourism industry, but the World Economic Forum’s “Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report 2008” only ranks NZ as 19th overall. Australia ranks 4th, the UK 6th and the US 7th.
• Specialist recruiting company Hays says that just over half the jobseekers in a recent Australasian survey, say that the number of women in their senior management team does not reflect the number in their business overall.
• The whistle-blowing website Wikileaks is fighting to regain its online status in the US.
• Women professionals in Britain are often forced into taking jobs well below their skill levels after they have had a baby, according to a recent survey on the impact of motherhood on careers.
• The UK Speaker of the House of Commons has been accused of using his (work) air miles for his family. The Institute of Business Ethics there, suggests that in company codes of ethics or conduct an employer should have specific rules for use of company "perks" in order to avoid confusion.
Education
• Surveys shows 1 in 5 children at primary school show severe antisocial behaviour, and 1 in 7 primary teachers report being physically assaulted by students.
• Computer gaming has become a way to learn skills about business, production and management, and to have fun in a very competitive environment, while getting the advice of real economists from around the world. Eve Online is a science fiction trading game that lets you build a corporation in a vast online universe of more than 5,000 solar systems distributed over 66 regions.
• A survey in the UK has found that bullying in UK schools is the worst in Europe , but the survey also found that more students in the UK are happier in school most of the time, than students in the rest of Europe.
Environment & sustainability:
• In southwest England, Totnes is the first of many “Transition Towns” in the UK, working to reduce the impact of peak oil and improve the sustainability of their region. Their TT model has 10 working groups, who cover transport, energy, food, arts, education, local government, business, economics and livelihood, and Heart and Soul (an area that they feel is often neglected). • Celsias have published the 2008 Unenvironment Awards, and Portfolio magazine from Conde Nast has published “The Toxic Ten” of the worst corporate polluters.
• The renewable energy industry is rapidly expanding and has doubled electric generating capacity since 2004, according to the Renewable Energy Network for the 21st Century (REN21). Details are available in their free report Renewables 2007 Global Status Report.
• Plug-in hybrid-electric cars (eg the Chevrolet Volt) in the United States may lower emissions in some parts of the country, but could increase them in others, because 49% of US electricity comes from coal-burning power plants.
• A survey conducted for the global strategy company SustainAbility shows that 75% of the 2100 people surveyed internationally view current efforts on sustainability by governments, businesses, and multilateral organizations as being “very or mostly inadequate.”
• A day before Leap Day, Victoria University announced that it had hatched tiny (no larger than your littlest fingernail) Maud Island frogs for the first time on the mainland – very timely in the International Year of the Frog.
• A University of Otago study shows that lobbying, poorly informed and vacillating politicians and a bureaucracy that lacked technical expertise are all reasons why it took 20 years for petrol in NZ to become unleaded.
Health & wellbeing:
• The Dept of Labour has released the report “Health and safety makes good business sense”, saying that amongst the obvious benefits, safe workplaces enhance corporate reputations and improve staff recruitment and retention.
• Bugs are good – and scientists researching the microbes that live in our digestive systems are discovering that microbes can influence more than just digestion. They may also affect your immunity, modulate your weight or keep you from losing bone density.
• Cutting the amount of television your kids watch really will mean they’ll be healthier and less fat.
Law & Government:
• A recent posting on the Urban Land blog argues the question as to whether a high population density results in a higher crime rate, especially in areas with high-rise buildings.
• Government in the UK is encouraging businesses to get involved with their local communities, offering advice and expertise to help communities to convert disused buildings into vibrant community centers.
• Also in the UK, the government is promoting the concept of lifetime design for housing with a national strategy: “Lifetime homes, lifetime neighbourhoods: a national strategy for housing in an ageing society.” Inclusive design, universal design or accessible design are alternative names overseas for this approach, but these are often associated solely with disability – lifetime design in the UK & in NZ is being seen as design including every person in the house, to cater for all ages and abilities.
• The UN survey 'Criminal Victimisation in International Perspective: Key Findings from the 2004-2005 ICVS and EU ICS” shows that NZ has the best victim support after a crime, globally. However, NZ is ranked highly in terms of the prevalence rate of “conventional crime” (theft from or of vehicles, burglary, and contact crime i.e. robbery, assault, threats or sexual offences).
• The Human Rights Commission has just launched the Race Relations Report 2007, and says that local body representation is not as diverse as the communities served.
• The UK Improvement and Development Agency (I&DeA) has put together a series of pages on city regions covering policy (local and international), key contacts and links to online resources and publications.
• Local authority winners in the UK Beacon Awards have just been announced. The awards celebrate innovation, excellence and quality local services, with the winners sharing £3m of government funding to expand their work in sharing best practice and to motivate further innovation across public services.
• The personalised public services pilot in the UK is to be spread further, with a 'personalisation toolkit' to be produced to help councils pool information on what works so others can redesign social care services.
People, culture & diversity:
• The newly established permanent Catholic-Muslim Forum will meet every 2 years, with the first to be held in Rome in November and future meetings alternating between the Vatican and a Muslim country.
• The Organisation of American States, a pan-regional body, held an emergency meeting in Washington to seek a diplomatic solution to the threat of war, as Venezuela and Ecuador sent troops to the Colombian border. Colombia is a key ally of the US in Latin America.
• Are children growing up too fast? Life for children and teenagers in previous decades meant that adults have actually been debating the question for longer than we realise.
Science, technology & transport:
• Professor John Adams of University College London believes that traffic lights should be banned (and stop signs, zebra crossings, kerbstones and railings), because he believes that they kill people. Many European cities now make use of a “shared space” approach to traffic management.
• Research in the UK shows that while 39% of the population aren’t online, 75% of disadvantaged people are “digitally excluded”. A project that provides training and recycled computers to families is showing that even after the course is over, Internet use in this group increases.
• NZ researchers have found that in spite of concerns that production of ethanol from NZ’s softwood forests would be too difficult technically & too expensive, generating biofuel in this way is an option.
• A vault built into a frozen mountain in a remote part of Norway is to house the Global Seed Vault, which will house duplicates of unique varieties of the world’s most important crops.
• A US Dept of Transportation interim report confirms the climate benefits gained by a community that uses bicycle and pedestrian travel.
• 500 million people are estimated to log onto the internet from a cyber café every day, and a European company, Jooce, is offering a free web-based desktop that could prove valuable for those who can't afford their own PC. A review has called it “close to being all a Web OS needs to be”.
• Proposals to introduce a compulsory motorway toll system in the UK, enforced by satellite tracking, have caused protest, but now discussions are around the idea of adding an extra lane to some motorways for drivers willing to pay a premium to use them, or for those willing to share a car.
• The Ask website (formerly Ask Jeeves) will no longer operate as a general search engine, but will become a female-focused online query specialist providing answers to domestic questions about health, children's homework, recipes and hobbies.
• Encrypted information on laptops may be vulnerable to hackers. US researchers have shown that while the PC is in “sleep” or “hibernation” mode, it is possible for a hacker to retrieve the encryption key from a laptop.
• Corporate “greenwash” concerns some leaders of industry and researchers, because it threatens the efforts of those companies that are taking steps to reduce emissions, mitigate climate change and minimize environmental destruction.
• The Centre for Housing Research has 2 new publications available, looking at the falling rate of home ownership in NZ. One trend noted, is the increasing tendency to buy homes further away from work, increasing the need for a long commute.
• We tend to think NZ is doing pretty well on a global scale in the travel and tourism industry, but the World Economic Forum’s “Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report 2008” only ranks NZ as 19th overall. Australia ranks 4th, the UK 6th and the US 7th.
• Specialist recruiting company Hays says that just over half the jobseekers in a recent Australasian survey, say that the number of women in their senior management team does not reflect the number in their business overall.
• The whistle-blowing website Wikileaks is fighting to regain its online status in the US.
• Women professionals in Britain are often forced into taking jobs well below their skill levels after they have had a baby, according to a recent survey on the impact of motherhood on careers.
• The UK Speaker of the House of Commons has been accused of using his (work) air miles for his family. The Institute of Business Ethics there, suggests that in company codes of ethics or conduct an employer should have specific rules for use of company "perks" in order to avoid confusion.
Education
• Surveys shows 1 in 5 children at primary school show severe antisocial behaviour, and 1 in 7 primary teachers report being physically assaulted by students.
• Computer gaming has become a way to learn skills about business, production and management, and to have fun in a very competitive environment, while getting the advice of real economists from around the world. Eve Online is a science fiction trading game that lets you build a corporation in a vast online universe of more than 5,000 solar systems distributed over 66 regions.
• A survey in the UK has found that bullying in UK schools is the worst in Europe , but the survey also found that more students in the UK are happier in school most of the time, than students in the rest of Europe.
Environment & sustainability:
• In southwest England, Totnes is the first of many “Transition Towns” in the UK, working to reduce the impact of peak oil and improve the sustainability of their region. Their TT model has 10 working groups, who cover transport, energy, food, arts, education, local government, business, economics and livelihood, and Heart and Soul (an area that they feel is often neglected). • Celsias have published the 2008 Unenvironment Awards, and Portfolio magazine from Conde Nast has published “The Toxic Ten” of the worst corporate polluters.
• The renewable energy industry is rapidly expanding and has doubled electric generating capacity since 2004, according to the Renewable Energy Network for the 21st Century (REN21). Details are available in their free report Renewables 2007 Global Status Report.
• Plug-in hybrid-electric cars (eg the Chevrolet Volt) in the United States may lower emissions in some parts of the country, but could increase them in others, because 49% of US electricity comes from coal-burning power plants.
• A survey conducted for the global strategy company SustainAbility shows that 75% of the 2100 people surveyed internationally view current efforts on sustainability by governments, businesses, and multilateral organizations as being “very or mostly inadequate.”
• A day before Leap Day, Victoria University announced that it had hatched tiny (no larger than your littlest fingernail) Maud Island frogs for the first time on the mainland – very timely in the International Year of the Frog.
• A University of Otago study shows that lobbying, poorly informed and vacillating politicians and a bureaucracy that lacked technical expertise are all reasons why it took 20 years for petrol in NZ to become unleaded.
Health & wellbeing:
• The Dept of Labour has released the report “Health and safety makes good business sense”, saying that amongst the obvious benefits, safe workplaces enhance corporate reputations and improve staff recruitment and retention.
• Bugs are good – and scientists researching the microbes that live in our digestive systems are discovering that microbes can influence more than just digestion. They may also affect your immunity, modulate your weight or keep you from losing bone density.
• Cutting the amount of television your kids watch really will mean they’ll be healthier and less fat.
Law & Government:
• A recent posting on the Urban Land blog argues the question as to whether a high population density results in a higher crime rate, especially in areas with high-rise buildings.
• Government in the UK is encouraging businesses to get involved with their local communities, offering advice and expertise to help communities to convert disused buildings into vibrant community centers.
• Also in the UK, the government is promoting the concept of lifetime design for housing with a national strategy: “Lifetime homes, lifetime neighbourhoods: a national strategy for housing in an ageing society.” Inclusive design, universal design or accessible design are alternative names overseas for this approach, but these are often associated solely with disability – lifetime design in the UK & in NZ is being seen as design including every person in the house, to cater for all ages and abilities.
• The UN survey 'Criminal Victimisation in International Perspective: Key Findings from the 2004-2005 ICVS and EU ICS” shows that NZ has the best victim support after a crime, globally. However, NZ is ranked highly in terms of the prevalence rate of “conventional crime” (theft from or of vehicles, burglary, and contact crime i.e. robbery, assault, threats or sexual offences).
• The Human Rights Commission has just launched the Race Relations Report 2007, and says that local body representation is not as diverse as the communities served.
• The UK Improvement and Development Agency (I&DeA) has put together a series of pages on city regions covering policy (local and international), key contacts and links to online resources and publications.
• Local authority winners in the UK Beacon Awards have just been announced. The awards celebrate innovation, excellence and quality local services, with the winners sharing £3m of government funding to expand their work in sharing best practice and to motivate further innovation across public services.
• The personalised public services pilot in the UK is to be spread further, with a 'personalisation toolkit' to be produced to help councils pool information on what works so others can redesign social care services.
People, culture & diversity:
• The newly established permanent Catholic-Muslim Forum will meet every 2 years, with the first to be held in Rome in November and future meetings alternating between the Vatican and a Muslim country.
• The Organisation of American States, a pan-regional body, held an emergency meeting in Washington to seek a diplomatic solution to the threat of war, as Venezuela and Ecuador sent troops to the Colombian border. Colombia is a key ally of the US in Latin America.
• Are children growing up too fast? Life for children and teenagers in previous decades meant that adults have actually been debating the question for longer than we realise.
Science, technology & transport:
• Professor John Adams of University College London believes that traffic lights should be banned (and stop signs, zebra crossings, kerbstones and railings), because he believes that they kill people. Many European cities now make use of a “shared space” approach to traffic management.
• Research in the UK shows that while 39% of the population aren’t online, 75% of disadvantaged people are “digitally excluded”. A project that provides training and recycled computers to families is showing that even after the course is over, Internet use in this group increases.
• NZ researchers have found that in spite of concerns that production of ethanol from NZ’s softwood forests would be too difficult technically & too expensive, generating biofuel in this way is an option.
• A vault built into a frozen mountain in a remote part of Norway is to house the Global Seed Vault, which will house duplicates of unique varieties of the world’s most important crops.
• A US Dept of Transportation interim report confirms the climate benefits gained by a community that uses bicycle and pedestrian travel.
• 500 million people are estimated to log onto the internet from a cyber café every day, and a European company, Jooce, is offering a free web-based desktop that could prove valuable for those who can't afford their own PC. A review has called it “close to being all a Web OS needs to be”.
• Proposals to introduce a compulsory motorway toll system in the UK, enforced by satellite tracking, have caused protest, but now discussions are around the idea of adding an extra lane to some motorways for drivers willing to pay a premium to use them, or for those willing to share a car.
• The Ask website (formerly Ask Jeeves) will no longer operate as a general search engine, but will become a female-focused online query specialist providing answers to domestic questions about health, children's homework, recipes and hobbies.
• Encrypted information on laptops may be vulnerable to hackers. US researchers have shown that while the PC is in “sleep” or “hibernation” mode, it is possible for a hacker to retrieve the encryption key from a laptop.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)