Your Search Results

      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        April 2022

        In defence of councillors

        by Colin Copus

        In defence of councillors is an unashamed defence of local representative democracy and of those elected to serve as councillors from the often ill-informed, ill-judged and inaccurate criticism made by the media, government and public, of councillors' personal, political and professional roles. By using qualitative research from a number of related projects, the book examines the roles, functions and responsibilities of councillors and the expectations placed upon them by citizens, communities and government. It also examines the impact council membership has on other facets of the councillor's life. The book examines how councillors develop strategies to overcome the constraints and restrictions on their office so as to be able to govern their communities, balance their political and public life and democratise and hold to account a vast array of unelected bodies that spend public money and develop public policy without the electoral mandate and legitimacy held by our councillors.

      • Trusted Partner
        Business, Economics & Law
        October 2016

        The law of international organisations

        by Nigel White

      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        July 2013

        EU foreign and security policy in Bosnia

        The politics of coherence and effectiveness

        by Ana Juncos, Emil Kirchner, Thomas Christiansen

        This book represents the first ever comprehensive study of the EU's foreign and security policy in Bosnia. Drawing on a wealth of fresh empirical material, it demonstrates that institutions are a key variable in explaining levels of common foreign security policy (CFSP) coherence and effectiveness over time. In doing so, it also sheds new light on the role that intergovernmental, bureaucratic and local political contestation have played in the formulation and implementation of a European foreign policy. The study concludes that the EU's involvement in Bosnia has not only had a significant impact on this Balkan country in its path from stabilisation to integration, but has also transformed the EU, its foreign and security policy and shaped the development of the EU's international identity along the way. The book will be of great interest to researchers and students of EU politics, International Relations and Bosnian politics. ;

      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        April 2010

        World Bank Group interactions with environmentalists

        Changing international organisation identities

        by Susan Park, Mikael Anderssen, Duncan Liefferink

        This book shows how environmentalists have shaped the world's largest multilateral development lender, investment financier and political risk insurer to take up sustainable development. The book challenges an emerging consensus over international organisational change to argue that international organisations (IOs) are influenced by their social structure and may change their practices to reflect previously antithetical norms such as sustainable development. This important text locates sources of organisational change with environmentalists, thus demonstrating the ways in which non-state actors can effect change within large intergovernmental organisations through socialisation. It combines a theoretically sophisticated account of international organisation change with detailed empirical evidence of change in one issue area across three institutions. The book will be of interest to academics, postgraduate and upper undergraduate students in international relations, international political economy, environmental politics, development and globalisation studies and geography as well as policy makers, international bureaucrats and development practitioners. ;

      • Trusted Partner
        Business, Economics & Law
        February 2018

        Sustainable Bamboo Development

        by Zhu Zhaohua, Jin Wei

        This book presents over 40 cases of bamboo development across 22 major bamboo-industry countries and explores the knowledge gained from their successes and failures. It synthesises experiences and exchanges with country experts from international training courses and consultations, study tours, and seminars. Each case includes observations and summaries of discussions related to the development of bamboo-based industries in a healthy, sustainable way, and the facilitation of strategic and balanced development of bamboo in different global regions. Industrial and artisanal bamboo growing and processing is expanding worldwide and this book brings together key experiences to help inform future developments. This book provides an analysis of bamboo plant features, including strong renewability, fast-growing, and high biomass production. It also reviews important ecological functions of bamboos, such as water and soil conservation, carbon sink and storage, and adaptation to climate change, as well as addressing the diversified culture of bamboo and key issues affecting the sector. Sustainable Bamboo Development: - Is authored by an internationally recognised leading expert in the growth and use of bamboo - Takes a holistic view, covering technical, socio-economic, policy, cultural and business development - Provides practical knowledge to guide the development of bamboo sectors - Gives a clear idea and rich examples of what has been attempted in many countries - Acts as a roadmap for using bamboo as a poverty reduction and environmental security tool Highly illustrated and in full colour throughout, this book is an essential resource for all those interested in bamboo, from private sector investors to governmental and development agencies, academic researchers and students.

      • Trusted Partner
        Business, Economics & Law
        December 2018

        World Heritage Sites

        Tourism, Local Communities and Conservation Activities

        by Takamitsu Jimura

        Heritage is a growing area of both tourism and study, with World Heritage Site designations increasing year-on-year. This book reviews the important interrelations between the industry, local communities and conservation work, bringing together the various opportunities and challenges for different destinations. World Heritage status is a strong marketing brand, and proper heritage management and effective conservation are vital, but this tourism must also be developed and managed appropriately if it is to benefit a site. As many sites are located in residential areas, their interaction with the local community must also be carefully considered. This book: - Reviews new areas of development such as Historic Urban Landscapes, Intangible Cultural Heritage, Memory of the World and Global Geoparks. - Includes global case studies to relate theory to practice. - Covers a worldwide industry of over 1,000 cultural and natural heritage sites. An important read for academics, researchers and students of heritage studies, cultural studies and tourism, this book is also a useful resource for professionals working in conservation, cultural and natural heritage management.

      • Trusted Partner
        Medicine
        May 2018

        Veterinary Clinical Skills Manual

        by Nichola Coombes, Ayona Silva-Fletcher

        Down-to-earth and intensely practical, this book and video package provides step-by-step guidance on the essential clinical skills required by veterinary students before they face clinical situations encountered in the real world of the busy veterinary professional. - Contains step by step illustrations and photographs, complemented by videos of clinical procedures which can be viewed on your desktop, smartphone or tablet. - Covers the essential key skills that veterinary students need to know. - Details a whole range of techniques, from surgical, anaesthesia and laboratory through to everyday essential and diagnostic skills, in both farm and companion animals. - Describes in-depth the use of simulators in learning key skills. - Provides advice on preparing for OSCEs and practical exams. This book is the go-to manual for an essential grounding in key veterinary clinical skills for all students and educators of veterinary medicine and animal husbandry.

      • Trusted Partner
        Business, Economics & Law
        December 2017

        Transforming Travel

        Realising the potential of sustainable tourism

        by Jeremy Smith

        Transforming Travel combines stories from leading companies, interviews with pioneers and thinkers, along with thorough analysis of the industry's potential to make lasting, positive change. - A unique collection of case studies and stories of the most successful, inspirational, impactful and innovative travel businesses in the world. - A vital presentation of the latest research and statistics on the positive impacts and potential of transformative, sustainable tourism, - A positive and realistic vision of the scope of tourism to promote sustainable development at a time when travel and interaction with foreign cultures is facing numerous existential challenges. Written in a highly engaging style Transforming Travel presents an urgent argument for transforming tourism so it might reach its potential to promote tolerance, restore communities and regenerate habitats, while providing a vital guide for anyone looking to develop the successful sustainable tourism enterprises and destinations needed to do so.

      • Agriculture & farming
        July 2019

        Climate Change and Agriculture

        Causes,Impacts and Interventation

        by GSLHV Prasada Rao, VUM Rao & DVS Rao

        Natural change in climate is slow and takes millions of years; and it is known to have made our planet hospitable to live. The climate change is not limited to one country or a continent. It is occurring across the globe as evident from droughts in Texas and flooding along the Missouri River in the United States and along the Red River in Canada. Climate change drives many stressors and interacts with many non-climatic stressors which make it difficult to forecast outcomes in any general way other than existing threats to agriculture. Agroforestry increases a high level of diversity within agricultural lands which supports numerous ecological and production services that bring resilience to the impact of climate change mitigation and adaptation. Climate change risk management is difficult in annual cropping systems due to increasing uncertainty of inter-annual variability in rainfall and temperature. Mixing of woody trees with crops, forage and livestock operations provides greater resilience to the inter-annual variability through crop diversification and increased resource use efficiency. Deep rooted trees allow better access to nutrients and water during droughts and when appropriately integrated into annual cropping systems and extract from different resource pools that would otherwise be lost from systems. Agroforestry increases soil porosity, reduces runoff and increases soil cover, which improve water infiltration and reduces moisture stress in low rainfall years. During periods of excessive soil moisture, tree based systems keep soils aerated by pumping out excess water and offer an economic return. The book contains 36 chapters mainly on agroforestry practices found in India and its role in climate change mitigation and adaptation.

      • Agriculture & farming
        May 2016

        Climate Change and Plantations in The Humid Tropics

        by GSHLV Prasada Rao & C.S.Gopakumar

        Weather and climate play an important role in plantation crops production. While climate determines the adaptability of a particular crop in a region, weather determines the yield attributes of the crop. The global warming and climate change impacts on plantation crops are evident in the form of extreme weather events like floods, droughts, cold and heat waves and strong cyclonic winds, the frequency of which is likely to be more and more in the ensuing decades as noticed year after year around the globe in 1998, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2014 and 2015. It is now a topic of concern and the plantations economy is in a threat in the ensuing decades due to climate variability. Decline in monsoon rainfall with number of rainy days, increasing ambient air temperatures (both day maximum and night minimum), decline in groundwater table, decline in wetland area and surface water resources, increasing number of forest fires and decline in forest area, increasing events of landslides during both the monsoon seasons, indiscriminate sand mining from river beds and unscientific land filling are the important climate change related issues in the Humid Tropics.

      • Humanities & Social Sciences
        December 2017

        A United Nations Renaissance

        What the UN is, and what it could be

        by John Trent/Laura Schnurr

        This short introduction to the United Nations analyzes the organization as it is today, and how it can be transformed to respond to its critics. Combining essential information about its history and workings with practical proposals of how it can be strengthened, Trent and Schnurr examine what needs to be done, and also how we can actually move toward the required reforms. This book is written for a new generation of change-makers — a generation seeking better institutions that reflect the realities of the 21st century and that can act collectively in the interest of all.

      • Global warming
        November 2019

        Climate Change

        The Religion of the XXI Century

        by Sergio Pinna

        Global warming and its consequences on environment and human life are, without a doubt, among the most discussed topics today. However, always more frequently they are faced with an approach characterized by ideological conflict rather than by an ordinary scientific confrontation between different positions. This book first explains how those theories – maintained by the Intergovernmental Planel on Climate Change – considering anthropic emissions of carbon dioxide the essential cause of the Earth’s temperature increase were developed; then it analyses several issues concerning catastrophic events, about which highly questionable and sometimes completely false official truths became established.

      • Geography
        December 2007

        National Land Parcel Data

        A Vision for the Future

        by Committee on Land Parcel Databases: A National Vision, Mapping Science Committee, National Research Council

        Land parcel data (also known as cadastral data) provide geographically referenced information about the rights, interests, and ownership of land and are an important part of the financial, legal, and real estate systems of society. The data are used by governments to make decisions about land development, business activities, regulatory compliance, emergency response, and law enforcement. In 1980, a National Research Council book called for nationally integrated land parcel data, but despite major progress in the development of land parcel databases in many local jurisdictions, little progress has been made toward a national system. National Land Parcel Data looks at the current status of land parcel data in the United States. The book concludes that nationally integrated land parcel data is necessary, feasible, and affordable. It provides recommendations for establishing a practical framework for sustained intergovernmental coordination and funding required to overcome the remaining challenges and move forward.

      • Biology, life sciences
        February 2006

        Biological Science and Biotechnology in Russia

        Controlling Diseases and Enhancing Security

        by Committee on Future Contributions of the Biosciences to Public Health, Agriculture, Basic Research, Counter-terrorism, and Non-Proliferation Activities in Russia, Office for Central Europe and Eurasia, National Research Council

        In July 2005, the National Academies released the report Biological Science and Biotechnology in Russia: Controlling Diseases and Enhancing Security. The report offered a number of recommendations that could help restore Russia’s ability to join with the United States and the broader international community in leading an expanded global effort to control infectious diseases. A proposed bilateral intergovernmental commission could play a pivotal role toward that end as cooperation moves from assistance to partnership. The report proposed the establishment of two model State Sanitary Epidemiological Surveillance Centers in Russia, more focused support of competitively selected Russian research groups as centers of excellence, the promotion of investments in biotechnology niches that are well suited for Russian companies, and expanded opportunities for young scientists to achieve scientific leadership positions in Russia. Also, the report highlighted the importance of U.S. programs that support the integration of former Soviet defense scientists with civilian researchers who had not been involved in military-related activities.

      • Defence strategy, planning & research
        May 2011

        National Security Implications of Climate Change for U.S. Naval Forces

        by Committee on National Security Implications of Climate Change for U.S. Naval Forces; National Research Council

        In response to the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO), the National Research Council appointed a committee operating under the auspices of the Naval Studies Board to study the national security implications of climate change for U.S. naval forces. In conducting this study, the committee found that even the most moderate current trends in climate, if continued, will present new national security challenges for the U.S. Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard. While the timing, degree, and consequences of future climate change impacts remain uncertain, many changes are already underway in regions around the world, such as in the Arctic, and call for action by U.S. naval leadership in response. The terms of reference (TOR) directed that the study be based on Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) scenarios and other peer-reviewed assessment. Therefore, the committee did not address the science of climate change or challenge the scenarios on which the committee's findings and recommendations are based. National Security Implications of Climate Change for U.S. Naval Forces addresses both the near- and long-term implications for U.S. naval forces in each of the four areas of the TOR, and provides corresponding findings and recommendations. This report and its conclusions are organized around six discussion areas--all presented within the context of a changing climate.

      • Health systems & services
        August 2012

        Post-Incident Recovery Considerations of the Health Care Service Delivery Infrastructure

        Workshop Summary

        by Theresa Wizemann and Bruce M. Altevogt, Rapporteurs; Forum on Medical and Public Health Preparedness for Catastrophic Events; Board on Health Sciences Policy; Institute of Medicine

        Health systems and assets are a large part of the critical infrastructure of any community and are vital not only for the safety and well-being of its citizens, but also for the economic vitality, quality of life, and livelihood of the entire community. As part of its ongoing mission to foster dialogue among stakeholders and to confront the challenges inherent in ensuring the nation's health security, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) Forum on Medical and Public Health Preparedness for Catastrophic Events sponsored a town hall session at the 2012 Public Health Preparedness Summit. This event took place February 21-24 in Anaheim, California. In this session sponsored by the IOM, the focus of discussion was sustaining health care delivery beyond the initial response to a disaster and facilitating the full long-term recovery of the local health care delivery systems. Many elements required for recovery are also fundamental to the day-to-day operations of these systems. Investing in improved health care delivery systems, both financially and through collaborative capacity building, can enhance economic development and growth before a disaster, and also prove instrumental in sustaining services and recovering after a disaster. Post-Incident Recovery Considerations of the Health Care Service Delivery Infrastructure serves as a summary of the session and explains the value of regional capacity building; the importance of interagency, intergovernmental, and public-private collaboration; and the significant role that health care coalitions can play in ensuring resilient communities and national health security.

      • June 2014

        The Cartoon Introduction to Climate Change

        by Yoram Bauman

        Climate change is no laughing matter-but maybe it should be. The topic is so critical that everyone, from students to policy-makers to voters, needs a quick and easy guide to the basics. The Cartoon Introduction to Climate Change entertains as it educates, delivering a unique and enjoyable presentation of mind-blowing facts and critical concepts. "Stand-up economist" Yoram Bauman and award-winning illustrator Grady Klein have created the funniest overview of climate science, predictions, and policy that you’ll ever read. You’ll giggle, but you’ll also learn-about everything from Milankovitch cycles to carbon taxes.   If those subjects sound daunting, consider that Bauman and Klein have already written two enormously successful cartoon guides to economics, making this notoriously dismal science accessible to countless readers. Bauman has a PhD in economics and has taught at both the high school and college level, but he now makes a living performing at comedy clubs, universities, and conferences, sharing the stage with personalities as diverse as Robin Williams and Paul Krugman.   The authors know how to get a laugh-and they know their facts. This cartoon introduction is based on the latest report from the authoritative Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and integrates Bauman’s expertise on economics and policy.   If economics can be funny, then climate science can be a riot. Sociologists have argued that we don’t address global warming because it’s too big and frightening to get our heads around. The Cartoon Introduction to Climate Change takes the intimidation and gloom out of one of the most complex and hotly debated challenges of our time. References available at http://standupeconomist.com/cartoon-climate/

      • Geography & the Environment
        November 2021

        Shout out what is silenced

        A young eco-social activist gives voice to what the Climate Summits silence.

        by Alejandro Quecedo del Val, Marina Garcés

        "Alejandro Quecedo del Val points to the need for a reform of being and feeling that connects us again with nature." - foreword by Marina Garcés   Gritar lo que está callado (Shout out what is silenced) is written by a 19-year-old who has attended climate summits representing Spain.   It is not just another book about climate change, it is a book that reveals what is on the fringes of the climate summits, what prevents the fight against climate change from progressing. The invited and silenced young people are the example of the smoke screens that are created in the information of the disaster, for example with the Greta Thunberg phenomenon.   Under the slogan Uniting the world to tackle climate change, the next United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) — held in Glasgow (United Kingdom) from November 1 to 12, 2021— brought together representatives of around 200 governments with the aim of accelerating climate action to comply with the Paris Agreement.   In a recent article, Alejandro Quecedo pointed to the disappointment of a large part of the activist sector, after learning about the withdrawal of permits and funding for citizen and scientific initiatives, with the excuse of not "excessively politicizing the summit", a fact to which was added the leak to the media that certain lobbies had pressed to amend the latest report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), in order to deny the evidence of an increasingly imminent catastrophe and blind public opinion with half-truths, sweetened.   The author has been interviewed by the most important media in Spain, all interested in his position: to ask for a change of sensitivity in order to stop the eco-social crisis.

      Subscribe to our

      newsletter