Cities around the world are facing severe environmental challenges; many have high levels of air and soil pollution, overcrowding, poor sanitation and growing waste disposal problems. This book takes a positive attitude; cities can be made to work sustainably, and many are already doing so. Their high population density works in the environment's favour if they achieve efficient use of resources such as energy and water supplies, and improve transport and infrastructure. The best cities today are clean, resource efficient, green and pleasant, and act as cultural and entertainment centres as well as being efficient generators of economic activity.Making Cities Work looks at the vital role which local authorities can and are playing in safeguarding and developing our towns and cities. Their role is crucial, and the aim of this book is to make governments, international bodies, local authority associations and interested readers aware of how potential environmental and social problems can be overcome, and what can be achieved particularly through cooperation between local governments around the world. The second part of the book comprises 18 case studies from around the world which demonstrates how cities can learn from each other's best practice in urban sustainable development. Written by urban development experts, based on material supplied by the world's leading city associations and commissioned and commissioned by UNCHS for the Habitat II Conference, this is a crucial contribution to the urban debate. Clearly written, accessible and illustrated throughout with photographs, figures and graphs, it is ideal for students, fascinating reading for the general public, and essential for those involved in local authorities, planning and development.

An essential guide for writers on how to record and use rich detail to enliven their work. The goal of the writer is to live with the keenness of the foreigner. To experience, wide-eyed, the sensations aroused and the events offered up by peculiar surrounds and then to evoke them so brightly on the page that the reader, too, experiences the foreigner's frisson. A time-honored way this is accomplished is through the keeping of a field notebook-through the faithful recording of the this-and-that of life; the atmospheres and incidents; the bells, the beer, the bread. Based on what accomplished nonfiction writer Sara Mansfield Taber learned in her many years of field notebook keeping, Chance Particulars is a unique and handy primer for writers who want to use their experiences to tell a lively, satisfying story. Often, writers try to turn their notes into a memoir, essay, travel piece, or story, only to find that they haven't recorded enough of the concrete, sensory details necessary to create evocative description. To help writers overcome this problem, Taber has composed a true "field notebook for field notebook keepers." Enhanced by beautiful illustrations, this charming and comprehensive guide is a practical manual for anyone who wishes to learn or hone the crafts of writing, ethnography, or journalism. Writers of all levels, genres, and ages, as well as teachers of writing, will appreciate this useful tool for learning how to record the details that build vibrant prose. With this book in hand, you will be able to recreate times and places, conjure up intricate character portraits, and paint pictures of particular landscapes, cultures, and locales.

Presents a global view of today's most pressing issues through an analysis of the twelve major regions of the world. Economic and political restructuring, agriculture, industry, catastrophe, human conflict are just some of the issues covered

This edited collection approaches the most pressing discourses of the Anthropocene and posthumanist culture through the surreal, yet instructive lens of Jeff VanderMeer's fiction. In contrast to universalist and essentializing ways of responding to new material realities, VanderMeer's work invites us to re-imagine human subjectivity and other collectivities in the light of historically unique entanglements we face today: the ecological, technological, aesthetic, epistemological, and political challenges of life in the Anthropocene era. Situating these messy, multi-scalar, material complexities of life in close relation to their ecological, material, and colonialist histories, his fiction renders them at once troublingly familiar and strangely generative of other potentialities and insight. The collection measures VanderMeer's work as a new kind of speculative surrealism, his texts capturing the strangeness of navigating a world in which "nature" has become radically uncanny due to global climate change and powerful bio-technologies. The first collection to survey academic engagements with VanderMeer, this book brings together scholars in the fields of environmental literature, science fiction, genre studies, American literary history, philosophy of technology, and digital cultures to reflect on the environmentally, culturally, aesthetically, and politically central questions his fiction poses to predominant understandings of the Anthropocene.

Hundreds of thousands of miles of paths reach into, and connect, communities across England and Wales. More than just a practical way for us to walk, ride and cycle around, they are an inheritance from the past, revealing how our ancestors interacted with and shaped their landscapes. But thousands of miles are still missing from our maps.

Exploring the deep history of these pathways, Jack Cornish uncovers how this millennia-old network was created and has evolved - from prehistoric trackways to the modern creation of towns - reflecting the contours of the past and the changing fortunes of society.

Geographic information system (GIS) computer technology is revolutionizing the way we interact with information. Data, text, drawings, maps, and images contain information that can be accessed and used intuitively through drawings containing graphical representations of the facilities to which they apply, e.g., emission stacks, sampling locations, and sites, to name only a few examples.
Environmental GIS technology is being applied with increasing frequency to manage industrial facilities. Environmental GIS describes the application of this information technology. It addresses environmental, safety, and health (ES&H) information management in an integrated manner. The book focuses on dealing with information from an organizational or corporate standpoint, meaning that the needs are not specialized to the ES&H area, but are an inherent part of managing the organization. Environmental, safety, and health information management needs are examined in the context of the overall corporate information flow. This book addresses

The critical situation in which our planet finds itself is no longer in doubt. Some things are already collapsing while others are beginning to do so, increasing the possibility of a global catastrophe that would mean the end of the world as we know it. As individuals, we are faced with a daily deluge of bad news about the worsening situation, preparing ourselves to live with years of deep uncertainty about the future of the planet and the species that inhabit it, including our own. How can we cope? How can we project ourselves beyond the present, think bigger and find ways not just to survive the collapse but to live it? In this book, the sequel to How Everything Can Collapse, the authors show that a change of course necessarily requires an inner journey and a radical rethinking of our vision of the world. Together these might enable us to remain standing during the coming storm, to develop a new awareness of ourselves and of the world and to imagine new ways of living in it. Perhaps then it will be possible to regenerate life from the ruins, creating new alliances in differing directions - with ourselves and our inner nature, between humans, with other living beings and with the earth on which we dwell.

Managing environmental contamination requires decision makers to weigh eXlstmg risks against the potential effects of implementing environmental policies - considering both the benefits and disruptions that may result from different actions. The NATO Advanced Research Workshop in Lisbon was an important step in the development and application of cost efficient methods of risk assessment especiaIly within the constraints of a budget. The goal of the workshop was to evaluate the potential for risk assessment to serve as a unified and unifying technique in addressing a wide range of environmental problems. Papers presented in this book discuss issues ranging from specific and local studies (specific site, ecosystem, pollutant) to global decision and management frameworks (watersheds, regions, integration of multiple poIlutants and stressors); they develop a range of approaches starting from specific methods to widely applied public policies (Figure 1). The papers show that the use of risk assessment can provide the scientific basis for environmentaIly sound and cost-efficient policies, strategies, and solutions to our environmental chaIlenges. The organization of the Proceedings reflects sessions and discussions during the workshop. The papers in the introductory Chapter summarize the positions of Drs. Glenn Suter (EPA) and Jim Wilson (Resources for the Future) regarding whether the use of often-expensive risk assessments in developing countries can be justified, given evolving regulatory institutions and limited resources.

Most photovoltaic (PV) installations utilise heavy conventional glass or polycarbonate panels, and even newly developed thin plastic or metal films for PV cell use may fracture during both construction and application. Textile fabrics, the most widespread flexible materials in everyday use, offer a solution to the need for lightweight, flexible solar PV generators. Solar Textiles: The Flexible Solution for Solar Power is about the incorporation and operation of solar cells on textile fabrics. The combination of textile manufacturing and solar PV cell technology opens up further avenues for both the textile and semiconductor industries. Thus, this book reflects the progressively increasing commercial interest in PV cell technology and the versatility that their integration in textiles provides. Discusses textiles as electrical substrates Explains the photovoltaic effect and associated parameters Offers special consideration of solar cells on textiles Compares fibres and fabrics and how to implement PV activity on a textile Describes manufacturing methods outside of semiconductor technology Includes applications open only to textiles This work is aimed at textile technologists, electronic engineers, solar technologists, civil engineers and designers in building fabrics and architecture.

Caught between underdevelopment, poverty and environmental degradation, and the need for exploiting their natural resources for development, Africa has, during the last two decades, been engaged in a serious effort to integrate environment and development. The nine case studies (Botswana, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Tanzania, Sudan, Uganda and Zambia) presented in this book explore the complexity involved in environmental planning and policy in one of the World's poorest regions. The authors articulate an informed debate, with new conclusions and alternative policy recommendations.

There is a widening gap between what we expect of public transport and what can be delivered, given the circumstances in which we seem to expect it to operate. Our expectations for travel are increasing, both in quantity and in the standards of speed, reliability and comfort. Out-of-town shopping, leisure parks and business parks all involve more travel than did their predecessors. Cars are becoming more like mobile sitting rooms with all the home comforts such as CD player and telephone. To give all this up for a bus or train is asking a lot. We all still recognize that there are many people for whom public transport is essential, particularly amongst the elderly, children and teenagers and others who have only limited access or no access to a car. Less obvious is the dependence of our cities for their existence on high capacity public transport. Yet there is still a prevalent view that local public transport, especially buses, are only for those who do not have a car, a welfare service for the needy. We still prefer to spend our money on cars rather than public transport, knowing that we can not all have unrestricted use of them. But we are slowly and patchily beginning to realiz

This textbook is a comprehensive introduction to applied spatial data analysis using R. Each chapter walks the reader through a different method, explaining how to interpret the results and what conclusions can be drawn. The author team showcases key topics, including unsupervised learning, causal inference, spatial weight matrices, spatial econometrics, heterogeneity and bootstrapping. It is accompanied by a suite of data and R code on Github to help readers practise techniques via replication and exercises. This text will be a valuable resource for advanced students of econometrics, spatial planning and regional science. It will also be suitable for researchers and data scientists working with spatial data.

This volume gathers the latest advances, innovations, and applications in the field of sustainable and smart agriculture, as presented by leading researchers at the XI Farm Machinery and Processes Management in Sustainable Agriculture (FMPMSA), held in Bari, Italy on June 13-15, 2022. The volume covers highly diverse topics, including: management of field and livestock production machinery; management of biomass and agroenergy production; plant protection, soil management and agrochemicals application; smart farming and sustainability; ergonomic, labour organization, pandemic impact; sustainable agriculture in the European Union and other countries. The papers, which are published after a rigorous international peer-review process, highlight numerous exciting ideas that will spur novel research directions and foster multidisciplinary collaboration among different specialists.

This book discusses the transformation of the banking industry, particularly after a number of recent shocks: 2008 financial crisis, 2012 Euro-sovereign crisis, the pandemic COVID-19 crisis, the technological revolution, and reputational problems in banking due to climate risk and ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) metrics. The book emphasizes two post-pandemic issues: the role of financial education and inclusive finance, and responsible banking and ESG priorities. Individual chapters analyse how the pandemic shed new light on social and governance responsibilities: Major issues include the importance and efficiency of financial education, and the impact of ESG programs on firms’ value, banks’ probability of default, bank business models and reputation risk. The book also addresses investors’ behaviour and the factors which may bias financial disclosure and reporting. By addressing whether the post-2008 crisis bank restructuring has effectively created a resilient and sustainable banking system – mostly from the European market’s perspective – the book will be of interest to researchers, academics, policy makers, and professionals of banking and financial institutions.

Worldwide, urbanization is steadily increasing, yet many modern cities are becoming less and less able to accommodate the growth in their population. Congestion, pollution, low-quality housing, social fragmentation, noise, crime and inadequate social services all contribute to a declining quality of urban life. Planners and policy makers are battling to alleviate the problems with a variety of urban renewal initiatives, and energy-environmental policies have become central to their quest for urban sustainability."Sustainable Cities in Europe" gives a comprehensive introduction to the available urban energy and environmental policies. Drawing on a detailed analysis of the CITIES programme of the Commission of the European Communities, the book includes detailed case studies of European cities which are devising and implementing alternative strategies for sustainable growth and development. The cities discussed include: Amsterdam, Besancon, Braganca, Cadiz, Dublin, Esch/Alzette, Gent, Mannheim, Newcastle, Odense, Thessaloniki and Turin.The policy discussions and case studies in this book will be invaluable for all those professionally or academically involved in the pressing issue of city planning development.

There is a growing international interest in and concern about natural resource economics and the environment. The economic activities of humans, during the last 200 years in particular, have had a profound impact on the environment. Reckless depletion of the world's forest resources, fish stocks and fossil fuel deposits has raised many moral as well as political questions. Furthermore, environmental problems such as acid rain, the greenhouse effect of atmospheric pollution and destruction of the earth's ozone layer are causing wide concern internationally. This book looks in detail at the history of economic though on natural resources and the environment, the economics of fisheries, forestry, mining, petroleum, coal and natural gas deposits, there are also chapters devoted to environmental degradation and the economics of the world's natural wonders. A key element in the book's contents is the application of the author's own theory of modified discounting to specific examples of natural resource depletion. "Economics of natural resources" and the environment provides information, detailed analyses, projections and theories which are relevant to the work of environmental scientists, agricultural economists, fisheries scientists, marine biologists and managers in the forestry, fishing mining and petroleum industries.

Typically one third of the energy used in many buildings may be consumed by electric lighting. Good daylighting design can reduce electricity consumption for lighting and improve standards of visual comfort, health and amenity for the occupants.As the only comprehensive text on the subject written in the last decade, the book will be welcomed by all architects and building services engineers interested in good daylighting design. The book is based on the work of 25 experts from all parts of Europe who have collected, evaluated and developed the material under the auspices of the European Commission's Solar Energy and Energy Conservation R&D Programmes.

Islands are coming under increasing environmental and social pressure, especially under the impact of tourism. The small scale of islands which are almost enclosed systems provides researchers with ideal cases in which to observe processes and test theories.
"The Development Process in Small Island States" focuses on the political security, tourism, gender issues, ecosystems, landscapes and economies of island communities. The contributors examine islands at different stages of the development process. They provide broad overviews of development issues relevant to islands, and identify the common interests that link islands and those who research them together.
Other essays examine a range of themes all based on original research in the context of specific islands. With case studies drawn from the Caribbean, the Mediterranean and the Pacific, the book describes the position of islands as ecologically and economically vulnerable sites.

Risk-Based Environmental Decision: Methods and Culture presents the principles of human health risk analysis as they are applied in environmental decisions. It balances the discussion of scientific theory and methods, philosophical analysis, and applications in regulatory decisions. The material is directed towards risk analysts who must apply their skills in a policy setting, and towards policy analysts who must use risk estimates. The presentation is suited ideally as an introductory text on the methods of risk analysis and on the cultural issues that underlie these methodologies. An important feature of Risk-Based Environmental Decision: Methods and Culture is that it is designed around a series of detailed case studies of environmental risk analysis which walk the reader from the historical nature of the problem, to the formulation as a risk-based problem, to the conduct of risk analysis, and on to the application, debate, and defense of the risk analysis.

The relationships between humans and their natural surroundings is paradoxical. They impose knowledge and action on the world around them, yet at the same time subscribe to myths and beliefs which portray them and their natural suroundings as inseparable, with neither more powerful than the other. This paradox is explored in the essays in Bush Base: Forest Farm, which uses an anthropological perpective to direct new light on development and environmental studies. The contributors, all anthropologists who have had practical experience of development programmes, present case studies drawn form Africa and Asia, and reflect upon their theoretical implications. They reject the traditional sharp dichotomies of human settelemnt and external natural environment - farm of camp on the one hand, and forest or bush on the other - and suggest instead that the people, their indigenous knowledge and their forests or bush exist within each other. They argue that although the concept of sustainable development takes greater cognisance of the environment there is still a need to place at their centre and appreciation of people's cosmologies and cultural understandings.

HAPM Component Life Manual has broken new ground, it is the first document to provide extensive life-span assessments (suitable for insurance purposes) for a wide range of building components which are classified within the concept of quality specifications. A further benefit is that it does not seek to be prescriptive. It indicative 'benchmarks' against which new or differing specifications can be assessed, in that sense it is both robust and flexible.

The concept of the manual is simple yet profound. Seven component groups contain a range of component types and sub-types each of which has been given a life class designation. The life classes embrace good practice, a normal amount of maintenance and typical exposure conditions. If a new component does not match an existing HAPM class, then a new 'benchmark' can be defined and a life assigned.