Sustaineo 2030: Learning sustainable development from the future

Posted on: 11 April 2014
By: mackene
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Sustaineo 2030 is not a parallel universe in which technology and social systems have been invented entirely anew. On the contrary; the text is based on real experiences that have been examined as part of the global study “Winning Strategies for a Sustainable Future” carried out by the Bertelsmann Stiftung and the International Institute for Sustainable Development. The project sought out successful sustainable development strategies and analysed the reasons for their success.

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Identifying best practice for regulation in conducting the valuation process

Posted on: 10 April 2014
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The executive summary identifies best practice in the valuation process, under the 2012 Red Book, to mitigate valuation risk for regulation purposes.   Register on the RICS website to view the report.

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Getting real about politics: from thinking politically to working differently

Posted on: 10 April 2014
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One of the most important lessons to emerge in international development thinking and practice over the past two decades is that institutions matter for development, and that behind institutions lie politics. Despite vast amounts of support from the international assistance community, increased resourcing and improved policies and/or formal systems, many states and governments across the developing world have remained unable to provide adequately for the well-being of their populations at large. This has helped crystallise the fact that the challenge of development lies not so much in what needs to be done (be this building schools or providing vaccinations) and identifying the right ‘technical fix’, but rather, more fundamentally, in how it is done (processes that facilitate or obstruct change). Getting to the ‘how’ requires a solid understanding of the institutional dynamics at work, both formal and informal, and the kinds of incentives they generate.

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The cost of poor housing in London

Posted on: 10 April 2014
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This report summarises the results of a research project commissioned by BRE Trust to apply a methodology developed to calculate the cost of poor housing in England to the housing of London. Overall, the research found that there is proportionately slightly less poor housing in London than in the rest of England. This is predominantly due to the fact that the capital has a higher proportion of homes that are purpose-built flats which tend to be newer, more energy efficient and in better repair than other types of home across the country. However, housing conditions vary considerably both between and within boroughs, and there are parts of the city where conditions are significantly worse than the national and London average. Report available for £30.

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The age of sustainable development

Posted on: 10 April 2014
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Jeffrey Sachs discussed the need to address the intertwined challenges of economic development, social inclusion and environmental sustainability holistically as part of The International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) and the Austrian Academy of Sciences joint public lecture series, held in Vienna on 12 March 2014.

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Embodied Carbon Database

Posted on: 10 April 2014
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The UK’s first publicly available embodied carbon database for buildings has been launched. The database, which has been set up by resource efficiency experts WRAP (Waste & Resources Action Programme) in collaboration with the UK Green Building Council, will for the first time provide a free and publicly available resource for building professionals to be able to benchmark their designs to a far greater extent and to more detailed comparative data than was previously available to any single company or individual.

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Renewable Heat Incentive

Posted on: 10 April 2014
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The Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI), the Government’s scheme to promote the use of renewable heat in homes, was launched on 9 April 2014. The aim is to encourage households to install heating systems such as biomass boilers, air and ground source heat pumps, and solar thermal panels, by giving them quarterly payments (over seven years) for the amount of renewable heat their system produces. The scheme is open to home owners, social and private landlords, and people who build their own homes, and available to households both on and off the gas grid.

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Royal Docks revival: Replacing London City Airport

Posted on: 10 April 2014
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The New Economics Foundation has published a report on how we might prepare our cities for a more equal, prosperous and sustainable future. Taking London City Airport as an example of urban planning gone wrong, the authors argue that the airport can and should be closed and replaced with something much more valuable.

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20 mistakes events make on social media and how to fix them

Posted on: 10 April 2014
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This blog offers some advice gathered from experience with social media in the past 7 years.

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The European construction sector: a global partner

Posted on: 10 April 2014
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This briefing looks at the importance of the construction sector in Europe.

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