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Calls
Australian Journal of Environmental Education – Call for Papers
The 6th World Environmental Education Congress is being held in Brisbane in July 2011. In celebration of the event, the Australian Journal of Environmental Education (AJEE) invites submissions for a Special Issue (SI) dedicated to the ‘Australian-ness of Environmental Education’. As a collection of research papers, the aim of this SI is to highlight what makes environmental education, its natures or ecologies and/or its research distinctively Australian. What compelling stories does research need to tell Australia’s international visitors in 2011 about some of the unique attributes, qualities, characteristics, problems and issues in environmental education as it develops within the Australia culture/nature and place/time contexts. International authors are also encouraged to submit a manuscript that, as above, speaks to the ‘…ness of environmental education’ about the context they are authoring from and how in Australia, and elsewhere, we might learn some lessons. Summaries (750 words) are invited of proposed manuscripts for consideration for inclusion in this Special Issue. The deadline for summary submissions is 1st March, 2010. Full papers (5000 words) accepted for submission will be expected by 10th August, 2010 for blind peer review. Summaries must be concise, identify a key scholarly purpose or research problem and demonstrate deep insights and/or evidence about the key aims of the SI. Summaries must briefly describe how such insights or evidence draw upon the research and scholarly literature and will be used to critically develop examples, themes, trends, issues and tensions relevant to the purposes of the manuscript. Please send summaries and inquiries to Amy Cutter-Mackenzie.
5th Annual Green Economics Institute Conference – Call for Papers
This year’s Annual Green Economics Institute Conference will take place at Mansfield College, Oxford, in July 2010. The conference will consider the seismic changes in world governance and power that are happening around eco-technology, geo-engineering, and lifestyle changes needed for a low carbon economy, as well as the considerable changes happening in the discipline of economics itself. The conference will cover progress in green economics, reforming economics, economics up to 2050. It will also explore green economics solutions to: geo-engineering, eco-technologies, green transport, green construction, green investment, pensions crisis, changes in demography, environmental refugees, water and HEP crisis, energy crisis, economic crisis, equal opportunities, gender equity, and women's unequal pay, and how green economics can help ending poverty. The conference organizers are currently calling for speakers and papers of relevance to these themes. More…
Earth System Science 2010: Global change, climate and people – Call for Papers
This transdisciplinary event, to be held in Edinburgh from 12th to 13th May 2010, is the First Open Science Conference of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme’s project 'Analysis, Integration and Modelling of the Earth System' (AIMES), which is run in cooperation with QUEST, the UK Natural Environment Research Council's directed programme for Earth system science. This three-day conference will showcase recent advances in the understanding of Earth system dynamics and highlight new directions for the analysis of the interactions between humans and our environment. Participants are welcome from the growing international community engaged in all aspects of global change research. A key aim of the conference is to help in the building of much-needed bridges between the natural sciences, social sciences and humanities, and between policy, assessment and research. The programme of talks, posters, workshops and training sessions will address three themes: Earth system modelling - from observations and process understanding to prediction and risk assessment; dynamics of biogeochemical cycles and climate - transitions, instabilities and feedbacks; and people and resources - perspectives on the relationships among environment, ecosystems and human needs. The deadline for submission of abstracts for presentations and posters is 19th March 2010. More…
Greening Real Estate Markets – Call for Presentations
The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and its Real Estate Market Advisory Group, together with the German Federal Environment Agency, are organizing a workshop on greening real estate markets to be held in Dessau, Germany from 26th to 27th April 2010. Speakers and participants in the event will review existing obstacles and ascertain economic and social benefits associated with a green real estate sector as follows: the impact of a more intensive use of green technologies on the durability of homes and the lower operations and maintenance costs for families; the role of local authorities in the design of public private partnerships; existing tax-incentives available to facilitate green retrofits and new construction and the trade-offs involved for targeted regulatory schemes; the potential for updating certification and existing accounting practices of firms to better quantify the effect of green investments; the introduction of green building valuation methods in the analysis of risk for investments with real estate collateral; the impact of increased use of green technologies on higher productivity and better health of populations through improved living spaces; the impact of green updates for countries facing restrictions in access to vital resources (such as water). Presentations at the workshop should focus on either of the challenges (and its related policy recommendations) referred to above. Those interested in presenting at this event should send a 500-word description of the presentation to the Secretariat no later than 15th February 2010. More…
Regional and local governance of the low-carbon economy – Call for Papers.
This year’s RGS-IBG Annual International Conference will take place in London from 1st to 3rd September 2010. Abstracts are invited for a session that will focus on the regional and local governance of the low carbon economy, which is being sponsored by the Planning and Environment Research Group (PERG). The transition to a low-carbon economy has become the political mantra of the 21st century. This session aims to explore how regional and local governance of the low-carbon economy is emerging in a variety of contexts around the world. National decarbonisation strategies have largely been presented in aspatial language, with limited reference to the governance structures and processes required at various scales of analysis and in different contexts. The session invites both conceptual and empirical contributions that explore a number of key questions: How are scaling and/or networking strategies affecting decarbonisation policy and planning processes? How are place-based processes potentially territorialising the implementation and take up of low-carbon initiatives? How does the interface between policy and planning influence the potential uptake of renewable and clean energy projects? What actors and organisations hold positions of authority within the low-carbon economy discursive space? Who are the potential winners and losers? To what extent are these spaces of governance accountable and transparent? How might the trickle down of the low carbon agenda influence the politics of protest at the regional and local levels? How do bottom-up initiatives from the local and regional scales impact upon the low carbon agenda at the national and international scales? Abstracts should be submitted to James Van Alstine and Andrew Gouldson by Friday 12th February 2010.
Planning and Environment Research Group Workshop ‘Sustainable Futures: Climate Change and the Geography of Transition’ – Call for Papers
The collision of environmental and economic crises has generated unprecedented interest in transitions to more sustainable modes of existence. A plethora of exciting responses are emerging in response to climate change. From Transition Towns and climate change communities to the Green New Deal and adaptive planning, it is clear that planning and the environment have a central role to play in addressing the signature issue of our time. Similarly, though, it is apparent that this plurality of transitions has a distinctive geography that will, by necessity, be uneven and situated in specific times and places. This workshop, to be held at the University of Birmingham from 6th to 7th May 2010, will bring together those with research interests in the planning and environment field to consider geographies of transition, and will include paper discussions and an urban transition field visit and will be preceded by the New Researchers Workshop. Themes for the workshop might include: climate change negotiations/the geo-politics of climate change and planning; spaces of the Neo- Keynesian state and the Green New Deal; uneven geographies of transition; the politics of ‘resilience’ and adaptive governance; everyday utopias; activism in a post-political context; grassroots movements like Transition Towns and climate change communities; behaviour change and political mobilisation; political strategies to influence legislation; and the intersection of grass-roots and government. Abstracts (250 words) should be submitted by 19th February to either of the organisers - James Evans or Phil Jones. Acceptance will be confirmed by the end of February with papers of approx. 5000 words requested two weeks before the workshop. Please contact the organisers for further information.
Sustainable consumption, consumer responses and new markets for eco-products – Call for Papers.Papers are invited of relevance to the theme ‘ Sustainable consumption, consumer responses and new markets for eco-products’ for the 16th Annual International Sustainable Development Research Conference, which will take place from 30th May to 1st June, 2010 in Hong Kong. Decoupling natural resource use from economic growth is widely regarded as a key milestone towards achieving sustainable development. Consumption and production contribute significantly to global warming, pollution, material use, waste, hazardous waste arising and natural resource depletion. The stark and often irreversible effects are felt globally and thus promoting sustainable patterns of consumption and production are fundamental to safeguard the earth’s capacity to support life, respect the limits of the planet’s natural resources and ensure a high level of environmental protection. Such changes to traditional and long-standing behaviour is extremely challenging at both the level of regulation and implementation. This conference track will discuss all aspects of sustainable consumption including: theoretical and philosophical discourse on consumer behaviour (in diverse societies, religions and cultures), legal and regulatory measures and voluntary initiatives; experience and case studies related to consumption, changing consumption patterns and developing new markets for eco-products. Abstracts (up to 300 words) should be submitted by 31st January 2010. More…
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Research
Sustainable Eastside Project
Located in the rapidly changing socio-economic and urban environment of Britain’s second largest city, Birmingham Eastside is the largest current city-centre redevelopment scheme in the UK, and it presents complex challenges to a range of stakeholders in both the public and private sectors. The Sustainable Eastside project, funded by the EPSRC, was active in the early planning and conceptual stages of the regeneration project from May 2003 through June 2008. The aim of the Eastside Sustainability Project was to explore how sustainability is addressed in practice in the regeneration decision-making process and to assess the sustainability performance of completed development schemes against stated sustainability aspirations. The timing of the research, at the very beginning of the regeneration project, allowed findings to influence positively decision-making and test claims of sustainability concept integration in a real-life urban regeneration programme. A key finding of the research is that the mechanism for achieving sustainable development lies in the variety of decision-making processes that together make up an urban redevelopment programme. Within such decision-making processes must be found the key enablers that will allow ‘three-pillars’ sustainability to become the central vision for the built environment. Currently, a lack of policy coherence in the full range of sustainability innovations is threatening to limit the overall success of the Eastside regeneration programme, particularly in relation to economic regeneration, the efficacy of biodiversity mitigation measures, and the inclusiveness of Birmingham’s culturally diverse communities in decision-making. For more information visit the website or contact Co-investigator Carina Weingaertner.
Community engagement for science and sustainability (SuScit)
It is often disadvantaged members of our society living in poorer neighbourhoods who are exposed to the greatest environmental risks, have the worst access to environmental goods and services and who experience the poorest health and quality of life. Yet these communities are also the least likely to be engaged in dialogues about how science and technology can help to address these problems. The Citizens Science for Sustainability (SuScit) Project, part of the EPSRC-funded Sustainable Urban Environments (SUE) Programme, was the first of its kind to attempt to provide local communities with a voice in the future of urban sustainability research and in so doing, identify a distinctive community-led agenda for future research. Centred around the Mildmay area of Islington, North London, the SuScit Project comprised an innovative programme of action research and networking activities designed to promote engagement and dialogue between the EPSRC research community, professional stakeholders and most importantly local citizens: particularly socially and economically excluded citizens, such as older people, single parents, young people, and those from black, Asian and ethnic minority communities. The process sought to explore whether it was possible to identify a distinctive community-led agenda for urban sustainability research and if so, what such an agenda might look like, by using an innovative ‘bottom-up’ public engagement and foresight process. SuScit used the information gathered to set out a ten-point agenda for urban sustainability research. A DVD including a short 10 minute documentary about the project has been produced. To obtain a copy, contact project PI, Professor Malcolm Eames. Copies of the SuScit project reports and additional information about the project are also available to download.
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Events
Conference – ‘Green Economics Institute Conference in Italy’
22nd – 24th April, 2010: Venice International University.
This year the Green Economics Institute is offering its first event in Italy, which will explore practical evidence and case studies of Venice and other locations affected by costs and economics of climate change. There will also be cultural exploration, site-seeing and field trips to discover up-close how climate change is affecting both Venetian ecology as well as economy. Their new partner is located on the Venice Lagoon, and field trips will be run to explore the fast changing economy and ecology of the entire lagoon as well as cultural excursions to see world famous heritage museums and sites. More…
Event – ‘Youth, health and happiness: Engaging and working with young people to boost health and well-being’
18th February 2010: London’s Living Room, City Hall, London.
This informal event will share stories, advice and learning from projects working to boost youth engagement and well-being across London. It aims to provide a valuable opportunity to get top tips, tools and techniques for working with young people from young people. Workshop themes include: 'challenging perceptions', 'how do we get young people through the door?' and 'how can we create youth-centred projects?'. Aims of the day include: learning how we can increase linkages between research, policy and practice to improve life chances for young people; getting up to date on current work with young people, health and well-being and why it matters; and discovering the latest top tips, tools and techniques on how to engage and work with young people by young people, including updates from Well London's youth.com and GLA's You're Welcome pilot programme. Please contact Jude Luckett for more information.
Seminar – ‘Delivering the Welsh Planning Agenda’
24th February 2010: The Parc Hotel, Cardiff.
The implementation of planning reforms, the acceptance of climate change as a core driver of government policy and new planning procedures and practice have radically changed the operational and policy context of the Welsh planning system. This seminar aims to bring together research and practice interests to identify the main tasks that lie ahead for Welsh policy, identify priority topics for research attention, and consider how to disseminate research findings to inform Welsh planning practice most effectively. The seminar will hear from research experiences which have a relevance to Wales, either by using case studies or evidence from Wales or research which could be applied to Wales. The day will also include a discussion session to consider the capacity to deliver the research agenda to support Welsh planning policy, any gaps in existing evidence, and future opportunities. More…
Interdisciplinary Seminar Series – ‘Sustainable Schools’
January – September 2010: Multiple locations in the UK.
Designing low carbon and sustainable schools presents a significant interdisciplinary problem for architects and designers. This seminar series will look beyond concern only with technological solutions to low carbon school design and consider what can be learnt from the field of educational history and philosophy in reducing energy consumption and encouraging pro-environmental behaviours. These seminars are part funded by UK Energy Research Council’s (UKERC) ‘The Meeting Place’ and supported by the University of Nottingham, Schools of Education and Built Environment; the Institute for the Work and History of Therapeutic Environments and the British Council for School Environments. The UKERC Meeting Place is a gateway for the sustainable energy research community, and supports the UK Energy Research Centre in bringing together people with expertise and knowledge from different backgrounds, disciplines and perspectives. The series of seminars will be of interest to architects, teachers, educationalists and the UK energy research community. Three more seminars are planned: ‘Is wellbeing key to Sustainable Schools and therapeutic environments, or vice versa? Exploring the more radical histories of design for health and well-being’ (25th February, Cheltenham); ‘Education for sustainability, new educational philosophies and designing sustainable schools – what can we learn?’ (May 2010, Oxford); and, ‘Exploring the limits of school transformation – can schools foster notions of consuming less, aspiring differently and changing the social norms which present a barrier to lifestyle change? (September 2010, Oxford). More…
CPPS Seminar – ‘How best can we meet the increasing challenges of flooding resilience?’
9th March 2010: The Royal Commonwealth Society, London.
This CPPS seminar will bring together key figures from across sectors in the important debate on how to ensure that all responsible agencies are properly empowered and resourced to take effective action to address the growing dangers posed by river and groundwater flooding nationally and locally. Key questions that will be considered include: How will we cope with the rapidly increasing number of properties that will be at risk by 2035? How is the Flooding and Water Management Bill going to meet the challenges? What are Government's agenda and expectations? How is local government going to meet the challenges posed by increased flooding and the Bill? What has to be done to meet local government's needs? How is the water industry going to meet the challenges of future flooding predications and the Bill? How will lead local authorities in areas of heavy flooding meet the logistic and resource challenges? How do communities and households cope with the physical, financial, psychological and bureaucratic challenges? What are the public health dangers and challenges posed by flooding and how can they be met? How should the emergency services best approach the challenges? How should we deal with health and safety of emergency workers? How best should we control new development in flood areas? Should we control paving of green space? Can we effectively achieve sustainable drainage systems? How best can we use and invest in green infrastructure to alleviate flood risks? How do we need to improve legislation? What difference might a change in Government make? More…
UKERC Summer School – ‘Understanding energy and low-carbon living and resilient systems’
20th – 25th June 2010: University of Warwick, East Midlands.
The UK Energy Research Centre (UKERC) is holding its sixth annual Energy Summer School from 20th to 25th June 2010 at the University of Warwick in the English Midlands. There will be 100 places available for UK and international students. The School has been specifically designed to give first and second year PhD students an understanding of energy systems as a whole and of pathways to low-carbon and resilient energy systems. Applications are welcome from those engaged in energy-related research including technical, physical, social, economic, environmental and business aspects of energy and energy systems. During the week-long course, which runs in parallel to UKERC’s Annual Assembly, students will: Examine the challenge of the transition to a low-carbon, resilient and affordable energy system; understand the global commercial, political, innovation and technological challenges in the transition to a low-carbon system; be involved in high level debate on energy research priorities in a number of key research areas, from demand reduction to future sources of energy; be presented with a number of contrasting international perspectives on energy; have the opportunity to network with key academic, and energy research contacts; research, develop, negotiate and agree a collective vision for a low-carbon energy system and present the work to the UK Energy Research Centre; and, develop and practice professional skills in communication and engagement. The deadline for student nominations is 5pm on Wednesday 7th April 2010. More…
Book Launch – ‘Making the case for social sciences’
This event will launch the book 'Making the Case for the Social Sciences' by the Academy of Social Sciences, sponsored by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). The Academy of Social Sciences and the ESRC are fully aware of the real difference social science makes to human wellbeing. They believe that social science research has to be at the heart of public policy. With good information derived from evidence based research, it is possible to bring about improvements to our society that will make an impact. ‘Making the Case for the Social Sciences’ is the first in a series of publications to provide examples of 'social science in action' in the UK. There is no charge to attend the event which will be attended by an invited audience of academics, social scientists, policy-makers and opinion leaders. Everyone attending the launch will be given a copy of the book. Please e-mail AcSS@vistaevents.co.uk if you want to attend. More…
Seminar – ‘Equity in community forestry: How do the poor benefit?’
Tuesday 26th January 2010: School of Geography and the Environment, Oxford.
Community forestry is promoted both as a means of achieving more sustainable forest management and, increasingly, as a means of tackling poverty. Presenting the results of a comparative study in Tanzania, Kenya and Nepal and further drawing on a range of experiences from both North (US and UK) and South (Asia), Kate Schreckenberg will discuss whether and how the poor and marginalised benefit from community forestry. Important distinctions need to be made between direct benefits of a financial kind and those of a more social and political nature which are often difficult to value. Furthermore, the comparison suggests that community forestry’s benefits to the poor as a group may outweigh those reaching individual households. To register for this seminar, please visit the website…
Conference – ‘Delivering the Active Travel Strategy: From policy to practice’
23rd February 2010: BSG House, London.
With the new Active Travel Strategy on the horizon, Living Streets have joined with partners to present a one-day conference with practical workshops to disseminate information about the tools and measures needed to encourage active travel, including techniques and evidence-based tips on how to develop and sustain active travel. The conference aims to: provide information about the latest policy developments, resources and innovative ideas for implementing active travel initiatives and how they tie in with the Active Travel Strategy; examine new funding opportunities and learn how others have obtained funding for active travel initiatives; learn about new initiatives, services and tools to help implement active travel; and, highlight UK best practice, case studies and awareness events such as National Walk to Work Week 2010 and Walk to School Month and activities around STEP UP. More…
Conference – ‘The Future of Food’
3rd – 4th February 2010: The Custard Factory, Birmingham.
The Soil Association is organising its Annual Conference, ‘The Future of Food’, which seeks to explore the triple challenges of climate change, resource depletion and food security, and the need to develop new models for food and farming systems for the 21st Century. It has been argued that the current globalised, and deeply unsustainable industrial approach, requires a national action programme on the scale of a war effort. Despite the urgency of the need for a radical overhaul of our food and farming systems many key players in the agricultural industry believe that the solution will be based on existing production systems’ high inputs, GM and global trade. This conference will debate whether a modified ‘business as usual’ strategy will suffice or whether preparing for the future will require the most far reaching changes to our food systems for more than half a century. Workshops will consider issues associated with: soil carbon, catered food, a foot on the farming ladder, textiles, new routes to market, resilience on the farm, baby food, the international challenge, the role of livestock, organic elitism, schools – food and the future, and faith in food. More…
SURF Annual Conference – ‘Sustaining and reinventing community regeneration’
24th – 25th March 2010: Edinburgh.
The theme of the 2010 SURF Annual Conference is ‘sustaining and reinventing community regeneration’ in a time of anticipated record reductions in public spending, sharply rising levels of unemployment and resultant poverty. It is argued that the focus of all regeneration efforts should be on practical and pro-active responses to the very real threat of substantial degeneration across the board. This Scottish regeneration two-day event will look at the challenges ahead; but its concentrated, constructive focus will be on linking people, projects and practice across the SURF network to examine the real opportunities for supporting sustainable community regeneration in this time of change. In co-operation with the Public Policy Institute of the University of Edinburgh, the first day of the conference will help link Scotland’s considerable regeneration oriented academic resources with the real challenges at hand for practitioners and policy-makers. The second day of the conference will focus on ‘policy into practice’. Key speakers, debates, presentations and panel sessions will link the policy process to the real practice of delivering positive change in Scotland’s most disadvantaged communities. In doing so, it will showcase the assets and resources that are at hand to support and sustain regeneration despite the increasingly difficult economic climate and related challenges. More…
Inaugural Lecture – ‘Desperately seeking a new transformative discourse. What sort of innovation policy is needed to meet the challenge of climate change?’
Tuesday 9th February 2010: Fyvie Hall, University of Westminster, London.
Fred Steward, Professor of Innovation and Sustainability, Policy Studies Institute, University of Westminster, will be giving his inaugural lecture at 6pm on Tuesday 9th February 2010. Significant innovation is essential to achieving a successful transition to a low carbon society. Yet there are widely differing concepts of innovation, with a bewildering profusion of retrospective analogies of radical change. Some are technological calls for green versions of the ‘Manhattan Project’ or ‘Apollo Programme’. Others are social or moral appeals for a green ‘New Deal’. This diversity represents the complexity of the climate change challenge but it also reveals contrasting and often confused ideas of innovation itself. Professor Fred Steward argues that for innovation policy to make a real difference it needs a narrative which is more reflective on past experience. The lecture draws on new thinking about innovation in relation to delivery of transformative change and its relevance for a wide diversity of policy actors in the political debates of 2010. The lecture will be followed by debate and a reception. Please contact Hilary Salter to register or for more information.
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Online
Pelican Journal of Sustainable Development
January’s issue of the Pelican Journal of Sustainable development is a directory of selected online resources on sustainable development and related issues. The directory is minimally annotated and compiles links to research and data resources under several categories: population and human development; cultural, social and security issues; financial, economic and political issues; ecological resources and ecosystem services; renewable and non-renewable energy; pollution, climate change and environmental management; land, agriculture, food and water supplies; current state of the planet and human civilisation; and, transition from consumerism and sustainability. The issue also includes a supplement with further relevant sources. More…
Distribution of greenhouse gas emissions - a new Google Earth layer
Add-on layers are now available for Google Earth, which allow visualization of the annual distribution of global greenhouse gas emissions at local levels from 1970 to 2005 and by main emission sources in the year 2005. These have been developed using data from the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre and the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency’s Emission Database for Global Research (EDGAR). The EDGAR spatial emission datasets are used by scientists for global and regional atmospheric chemistry and climate modelling. Google Earth is making this information accessible to a wider audience, to create awareness of how emissions are distributed over the globe and the different evolution of emissions in the world over time. More…
Earthscan Earthcast – ‘Climate change and business success’
The second Earthcast of 2010 will take place on Tuesday 23rd February at 5pm (GMT), and will focus on the challenges and opportunities that climate change poses for businesses of all sizes. Speakers include the authors of ‘The Three Secrets of Green Business’ and ‘Doing Business in a New Climate’. Gareth Kane, an environmental consultant, has worked with hundreds of organisations to improve their environmental performance. He has appeared as a media pundit on sustainability issues on the BBC Six O'Clock News, Countryfile and The Politics Show. In 2008 The Journal newspaper named Gareth as a 'Rising Star, Future Leader' for his work on sustainability. Paul Lingl and Deborah Carlson both work for The David Suzuki Foundation, developing climate change solutions and greenhouse gas management strategies for businesses and other organizations. More…
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New Publications
WWF/FCRN Report – ‘How low can we go: An assessment of greenhouse gas emissions from the UK food system and the scope for reduction by 2050’
The food we eat accounts for 30% of the UK’s carbon footprint, according to a new report published by WWF-UK and the Food Climate Research Network (FCRN). Land use change, primarily deforestation, is a major source of climate changing emissions. Each year, globally, an area of forest equivalent to half of England is lost, largely as a result of the expansion of the food system as land is cleared to grow crops and rear animals. The research assessed various scenarios that explored what changes are needed to the country’s food system to help stop deforestation and reduce the scale of emissions from the food chain. Both technological and behavioural initiatives were tested, including the decarbonisation of the energy used in the food chain, improved efficiencies and changes in consumption of meat and dairy products. The report concludes that no one solution alone can reduce emissions to the extent needed to keep temperature rises below two degrees. WWF-UK and FCRN are urging Government and industry decision-makers to recognise that a sole focus on technology is not enough – food consumption patterns need to change too. More…
New Journal – ‘Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews (WIREs): Climate Change’
WIREs Climate Change is a brand new inter-disciplinary review journal covering all aspects of climate change, including history, science, geography, sociology, economics, policy, ethics and psychology. On-line content will be free for all for the first year. In the second year institutions will be able to register for free access. Thereafter access will be by paid subscription only. The WIREs Climate Change website provides added value functionality to maximise the impact of content. Users are able to browse content by topic, article type or issue. Users will also be able to comment on the content on the site. Review articles are categorised as either: Overviews, Advanced Reviews, Focus Articles or Opinion Pieces. WIREs Climate Change is: an important new forum to promote cross-disciplinary discussion of a global phenomenon with long-term societal implications; published in association with the Royal Meteorological Society and the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG); an authoritative, encyclopaedic resource addressing key topics from diverse research perspectives; and, content is fully citable, qualifying for abstracting, indexing, and ISI ranking. More…
New Book – ‘Landscapes and Learning: Place studies for a global world’
‘Landscapes and Learning’ maps stories and passageways to open up new place-making possibilities. The book uses the lens of place to explore how we can respond differently to some of the major questions of our time. Postcolonial global concerns such as increased displacement and migration, the loss of indigenous knowledges, and the imperatives of environmental degradation and climate change, require critical educational responses. Place studies provide new languages and fresh metaphors to open up interdisciplinary conversations in the space between local and global, and indigenous and non-indigenous knowledges. Through its focus on the mutual constitution of bodies, identities, histories, spaces and places, place studies offers a conceptual tool for important cultural and environmental transformations. More…
EEA Publication – ‘10 messages for 2010’
To celebrate the launch of the International Year of Biodiversity on 11th January, the European Environment Agency (EEA) is commencing a series of concise, thematic assessments of biodiversity. The first of these '10 messages for 2010' presents the interaction between climate change and biodiversity. It is widely known that market prices need to reflect the full value of the benefits that we obtain from healthy ecosystems as well as the true costs of using them. This will require a better understanding of the role of biodiversity in sustaining ecosystems and the policies that are effective in conserving and protecting different habitats and species from local to global levels. Much has changed in our understanding of biodiversity since the Rio Earth Summit in 1992 and Europe’s commitment in 2001. The more we understand the complex interdependence of species and habitats and its importance, the greater is the urgency to act. The EEA's '10 messages for 2010' will highlight one theme per month until the tenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in October. The first message on climate change and biodiversity will be followed by others on themes such as protected areas and the marine environment. More…
Online Publication – ‘The Psychology of Climate Change Communication’
This guide, published by the Centre for Research on Environmental Decision (CRED) at Columbia University, details many of the biases and barriers to scientific communication and information processing relating to climate change. The ultimate solutions to climate change are workable, cost-effective technologies which permit society to improve living standards while limiting and adapting to changes in the climate. Yet scientific, engineering, and organizational solutions are not enough. Societies must be motivated and empowered to adopt the needed changes. For that, the public must be able to interpret and respond to often bewildering scientific, technological, and economic information. Social psychologists are aware, through their painstaking scientific research, of the difficulties that individuals and groups have in processing and responding effectively to the information surrounding long-term and complex societal challenges. This guide offers a tool - in combination with rigorous science, innovative engineering, and effective policy design - to help our societies take the pivotal actions needed to respond with urgency and accuracy to one of the greatest challenges ever faced by humanity: global-scale, human-induced environmental threats, of which the most complex and far reaching is climate change. More…
CRC Publications – ‘Understanding Economic Wellbeing’
The Commission for Rural Communities (CRC) has recently published two new publications, ‘Understanding economic wellbeing’ and ‘Economic wellbeing – guidance for local authorities’, which they hope will encourage local communities and local government to include economic wellbeing as an objective in their work. The publications are based on research carried out for CRC in 2009 by consultants Globe Regeneration and Rural Innovation, which is summarised in their report ‘Promoting sustainable economic well-being - spreading good practice’. CRC is encouraging decision-makers to explore and adopt a perspective on economic well-being for rural areas that is wider than traditional economic policies that focus on GDP-led economic growth. They believe that a wider measure or index of economic well-being should lead to improved economic and other policies. More…
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Jobs and Training
The SDRN Mailing is a moderated information resource and dissemination service for SDRN members. You can make use of this service by sending any information for inclusion in the mailing to Sarah Bell.
To join or leave this list, please email Sarah Bell or visit the JISCmail website.