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Park homes
Posted on: 20 June 2012
By: mackene
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Legislation ‘more suited to the 1960s’ is failing to protect park home residents from exploitation by unscrupulous owners, according to the House of Commons Communities and Local Government Select Committee. About 160,000 people live in 84,000 park homes which accounts for around 0.38% of the total housing in England. There are around 1,950 park home sites across England, which are concentrated in rural and seaside locations. The vast majority of park home sites are privately owned with a small number owned by local authorities. Park homes have proved attractive to retired people wishing to release capital from the sale of a house and find a pleasant and peaceful location with a sense of community to live in permanently. As a consequence park residents tend to be older than the population as a whole: in 1992 about 55% of park homes were occupied by people aged 60 or over. A decade later this proportion had risen to over 68%. The Select Committee has published the findings of an inquiry which aimed to the key issues that residents face, to assess the scale of the problems and to examine what legislative solutions might be appropriate.
Transforming innovation for sustainability
Posted on: 20 June 2012
By: mackene
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This commentary article draws on recent research by the STEPS Centre (Social, Technological and Environmental Pathways to Sustainability), the Stockholm Resilience Centre and the Tellus Institute to argue that Sustainable Development Goals that keep human societies within a ‘safe operating space’ are indeed now urgently needed. However delivering on these requires a radically new approach to innovation, that gives far greater recognition and power to grassroots actors and processes, involving them within an inclusive, multi-scale innovation politics.
Breaking the tape
Posted on: 20 June 2012
By: mackene
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The Commission for a Sustainable London 2012 has published its final review before the Games. The Annual Review 2011 assures progress on sustainability across the London 2012 Programme with a focus on how the Games experience will be distinctly sustainable for different client groups. The Commission’s review has examined a range of factors including waste, energy, food and transport. The analysis shows that the London 2012 Games have made significant achievements in these areas and many others, paving the way for long-term legacy benefits, which could help businesses, event organisers and local communities.
Seamless transport policy: Institutional and regulatory aspects of inter-modal coordination
Posted on: 20 June 2012
By: mackene
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This document was produced as a Background Paper for the 2012 Summit of the International Transport Forum, on Seamless Transport: Making Connections, held from 2-4, May 2012 in Leipzig, Germany. This paper briefly discusses inter-modal coordination of transport services from a perspective of what could be called “diversity-based mobility policy”. It examines the framework conditions for inter-modal competition and coordination under an approach to transport policy making that reflects the broad variety of mobility needs and aspirations in market economies and reflects the social opportunity costs of alternative ways of addressing the demand for mobility. The paper discusses integrated land-use planning and transport policy making, the importance of institutional frameworks for integrated transport planning and the fiscal framework for inter-modal competition, including in relation to external costs. Competition for resources between freight and passenger services is considered as well as truly inter-modal issues. A further Background Paper, Integration for seamless transport, was issued at the same event. This paper builds on and updates earlier work by the author that attempted to analyse the reasons for the relative failure of integrated transport polices with particular reference to experience in the UK. Presentations from the ITF 2012 Summit can be viewed here.
Lessons for sustainable development from the real world
Posted on: 20 June 2012
By: mackene
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Sustainable Development Research Network has compiled a library of real world examples of innovative sustainable development-related initiatives. Each case study seeks to convey the aims, background and nature of the initiative, the activities under way and, where available, the key challenges and critical success factors identified by those engaged in the initiative. The library is intended to be an ongoing exercise, where case studies are added each month. The database will play host to a diverse range of case studies including those related to government priorities in the areas of the green economy, community renewable energy, sustainable local transport, local food production, environmental restoration and volunteering, waste prevention, wellbeing and equality, environmental education initiatives, and responsible business practice and social enterprise. Case studies for inclusion on the database are welcomed.
Summit for Sustainability in Africa. Gabarone, Botswana, 24-25 May 2012
Posted on: 20 June 2012
By: mackene
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The aim of this event was to demonstrate how African nations and their investment partners understand, manage and value natural capital. The Summit saw the endorsement of the Gaborone Declaration by ten African countries and numerous public and private sector partners from within and outside Africa. The Declaration presents a set of concrete principles and development goals that soundly move the value of natural capital from the periphery to the center of development planning. This document and videos of speeches are available online.
Grassroots innovations
Posted on: 20 June 2012
By: mackene
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Grassroots innovations are community-led solutions for sustainability. They can offer promising new ideas and practices, but often struggle to scale up and spread beyond small niches. This website presents the latest news and updates from a series of research projects on grassroots innovations, including sustainable energy and complementary currencies, based at the University of East Anglia and University of Sussex. Our research aims to better understand how these innovations develop and grow, and how they can be harnessed to meet sustainability policy objectives.
Urban air quality
Posted on: 20 June 2012
By: mackene
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This paper from the Woodlands Trust argues that careful planning of green infrastructure can ensure that trees and other vegetation are well suited to maximise the opportunities for improving air quality.
Rio+20: UN Conference on Sustainable Development 2012
Posted on: 20 June 2012
By: mackene
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The STEPS Centre and Institute of Development Studies Climate Change Team members are working on several initiatives for the Rio+20 process and beyond. Updates of their activities will be posted on the web and on the STEPS Centre website and STEPS blog.
20th International Annual Conference of Climate Alliance. St.Gallen, Switzerland, 23-26 May 2012
Posted on: 20 June 2012
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This event considered measures and projects for climate protection at the local level. Presentations are available online.
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