OECD Tourism Trends and Policies 2012

Posted on: 17 July 2012
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The report provides comparative knowledge, both policy and data, through thematic chapters and country-specific policy and statistical profiles. The report highlights key tourism policy developments, focuses on issues that rank high on the policy agenda in the field of tourism and provides a broad overview and interpretation of tourism trends in the OECD area and beyond. Click on the “Look inside” button to view contents.

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High Level Output Specification

Posted on: 17 July 2012
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The Department for Transport has published information for the Office of Rail Regulation and for the rail industry about what the Secretary of State wants to be achieved by railway activities over 2014 – 2019.

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Lifetime Homes Standards

Posted on: 17 July 2012
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The Lifetime Homes standard is a set of 16 design criteria that provide a model for building accessible and adaptable homes.The Department for Communities and Local Government has published the following reports which were commissioned by the previous government and are not necessarily a reflection of the current government’s policies and priorities. The reports and findings are of general policy interest, but do not relate to forthcoming policy announcements.

Modelling the current and potential accessibility of the housing stock

This report by Building Research Establishment considers the accessibility of the existing housing stock in England with particular reference to its utility for older and disabled people.

Assessing the cost of Lifetime Homes Standards

This report by the Building Cost Information Service (BCIS) looks at establishing the cost impact of introducing the Lifetime Homes Standards in private sector housing, identifying best practice and the potential cost savings that can be delivered through efficiency of design.

Health benefits of Lifetime Home Standards

This report by the Building Research Establishment sets out findings from work to determine the relative benefits of building to the Lifetime Home Standard.

 Lifetime Homes: Technical forum

This report by Habinteg Housing Association captures discussions and recommendations which emerged from a Technical Working Group established to test proposals for improving guidance in the Lifetime Home Standard.

Analysis of distribution of housing typologies in Public and Private Sector and typical compatibility with the Lifetime Home Standard

This research conducted by Levitt Bernstein considers the impact of and current compliance with the 16 point standard of Lifetime Homes Lifetime Neighbourhoods – a National strategy for Housing in an Ageing Society.

Impact on site density of Lifetime Homes

This research work conducted by Levitt Bernstein is an extension to an earlier piece of work and represents an initial exploration of the impact that the application of Lifetime Homes Standards is likely to have on the site density of private sector housing. It concentrates on low to medium density suburban developments, typically 30-60 dwellings per hectare (dph).

Design of Lifetime Homes

This research conducted by Hunt Thomson Architects seeks to evaluate the impact on designing private sectors homes to meet the Lifetime Home Standard, and in particular to understand the likely impact of seeking to minimise both increase in cost and any necessary increase in the overall size of properties by adopting the standard. The project utilised analysis of a range of typical speculative housing development plans and compares these designs with entirely new housing layouts which incorporate the 16 elements of the Lifetime Home Standard.

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Addressing challenges in the UK housing market

Posted on: 17 July 2012
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Countrywide, the UK’s largest property services Group has launched a report which urges the Government to consider six solutions to help boost the ailing housing market.

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Designing a successful Transport NAMA. Bonn, 16 May 2012

Posted on: 17 July 2012
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This event focused on the design of successful Transport Nationally Appropriate Mitigation actions (NAMAs). Several new tools were presented and presentations included ‘work in progress’ from the Environment Directorate of the OECD which is looking particularly at a green investment policy framework for transport infrastructure with a focus on low carbon and resilience. Presentations and publications are available online.

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The case for city disclosure

Posted on: 17 July 2012
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A new report from the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) has called for more climate change disclosure from businesses and city authorities in recognition of the vital role that the world’s urban areas play in both climate mitigation and adaptation.

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Seven climate change lessons from the cities of Europe

Posted on: 17 July 2012
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The Carbon Disclosure project (CDP) has released a new report that offers lessons for urban planners and policy makers from seven European cities that are leading on climate change adaptation.  As well as target setting, the report identifies and examines six other key areas where European cities are demonstrating best practice to manage climate change.

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Partnership for Resilience and Environmental Preparedness (PREP): Value chain climate resilience

Posted on: 17 July 2012
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This guide has been developed by companies and organizations engaged in the Partnership for Resilience and Environmental Preparedness (PREP), a pilot partnership formed to address the risks and opportunities that climate change impacts pose to businesses and the communities on which they depend. One of the primary goals of PREP is to engage and inform good practice in companies as it relates to building climate resilience in partnership with communities. The guide introduces the Business ADAPT tool,  the result of collaborative efforts of leading companies from the food and beverage, insurance, investment, technology and energy industries.

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The Rio+20 Conference: Objectives, processes and outcomes

Posted on: 17 July 2012
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Being published soon after the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) that took place on 20-22 June 2012, this ESDN Quarterly Report provides a comprehensive overview of the road to the Rio+20 and what the outcomes the conference produced.

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Rio+20 and its implications for Sustainable Development Policy at the EU and national level. Copenhagen, 28-29 June 2012

Posted on: 17 July 2012
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The European Sustainable Development Network (ESDN) Conference 2012, organised by the ESDN in cooperation with the Danish EU Presidency, took place shortly after the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20), enabling the ESDN Conference to reflect on the results of Rio+20 and to discuss their implications for sustainable development policy and governance for the different political levels and the different actors. Documentation of the conference, including videos, slides of all presentations, the conference discussion paper, the conference program, the participant list and a photo documentation can be found online. The conference report will follow later.

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