Climate change response in Europe: What's the reality? Analysis of adaptation and mitigation plans from 200 urban areas in 11 countries

Urban areas are pivotal to global adaptation and mitigation efforts. But how do cities actually perform in terms of climate change response? This study sheds light on the state of urban climate change adaptation and mitigation planning across Europe. Europe is an excellent test case given its advanced environmental policies and high urbanization. We performed a detailed analysis of 200 large and medium-sized cities across 11 European countries and analysed the cities' climate change adaptation and mitigation plans. We investigate the regional distribution of plans, adaptation and mitigation foci and the extent to which planned greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions contribute to national and international climate objectives. To our knowledge, it is the first study of its kind as it does not rely on self-assessment (questionnaires or social surveys). Our results show that 35 % of European cities studied have no dedicated mitigation plan and 72 % have no adaptation plan. No city has an adaptation plan without a mitigation plan. One quarter of the cities have both an adaptation and a mitigation plan and set quantitative GHG reduction targets, but those vary extensively in scope and ambition. Furthermore, we show that if the planned actions within cities are nationally representative the 11 countries investigated would achieve a 37 % reduction in GHG emissions by 2050, translating into a 27 % reduction in GHG emissions for the EU as a whole. However, the actions would often be insufficient to reach national targets and fall short of the 80 % reduction in GHG emissions recommended to avoid global mean temperature rising by 2 °C above pre-industrial levels. © 2013 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht.

ARTICLE: Anarchy and International Law: The Approaches of Hedley Bull and Noam Chomsky

Are anarchy and the law antithetical? Not so, as for more than 350 years international law has governed a legal order based on anarchy; wherein no central authority exists and law functions not on the basis of coercion but on cooperation whereby States must agree to each specific laws before it is bound by its obligations. This article contemplates two manners in which an anarchist might consider international law interesting: first, as a legal system which governs an anarchical society as described by Hedley Bull in line with the English School of International Relations; and second, as a manifestation of a State system which, though illegitimate can be utilized, as Noam Chomsky does, for tactical reasons to demonstrate its inconsistencies and thus weakening the system with the ultimate aim being its implosion

Poverty, ethnicity and international migrants to Northern Ireland: New opportunities or new vulnerabilities?

This briefing provides a brief overview of recent patterns and processes of migration to Northern Ireland and to identify the major challenges arising for society. It is based on primary research conducted by the author during 2013 that consisted mainly of focus groups and interviews with individual migrants. This briefing paper proceeds as follows: it identifies the key features of recent migration to Northern Ireland before presenting evidence from the research to show the experiences of migrants in the labour market. The key policy questions to be considered will be the role of the state and civil society for building positive inter-group relations and the opportunities that exist for migrants to achieve economic and social mobility.

Fit for Purpose?:Challenges for Irish Public Administration and Priorities for Public Service Reform

The depth of the current economic and fiscal crisis has raised concerns about the Irish political and administrative system, and prompted calls for fundamental reform of our structures of public governance. Both the state and its financial system are reliant on international support. This crisis requires a coherent response from our public administration. There is recognition that this change cannot simply be a repeat or extension of the public service reform programmes of the past. It will need to be more radical than this. Over the coming years, the numbers employed in the public service will continue to fall and expenditure will need to be restrained, targeted and prioritised. The Public Service Agreement 2010-2014 (the Croke Park Agreement) sets out a framework for change. But there is a need to look beyond the agreement to consider more fundamentally the future role of public administration in the context of the new economic and social dispensation in Ireland. Our public services need to adapt to this new environment if they are to continue to be fit for purpose.

In this paper we set out the main challenges facing public administration and where we see reform as vital. We note what changes have taken place to date, including experience with previous reform efforts, and outline what should happen next. Where appropriate, we draw on national and international practice to provide exemplars of change.

Review of Legislation and Policy Guidance relating to Adult Social Care in Northern Ireland

Introduction and Background

This research was undertaken by an international team of academics from Queen’s University, Belfast, Leeds University and Penn State University (USA) who have examined models of adult social care provision across thirteen jurisdictions. The aim of this research is to present the Commissioner for Older People in Northern Ireland (COPNI) with possible options for legal reform to adult social care provision for older people in Northern Ireland.

Project Objectives

The agreed objectives of this research were to provide:
• Identification of gaps and issues surrounding the current legislative framework including policy provision for adult social care in Northern Ireland.
• Comparison of Northern Ireland with best practice in other jurisdictions to include (but not be limited to): England and Wales, Republic of Ireland, Scotland and at least two other international examples; Recommendations, based on the above, as to whether there is a need for legislative reform – provision of suggestions other than legislative change (if applicable).
• Recommendations or options based on the above, on how to best change the current framework in Northern Ireland to provide better support outcomes for older people.
• Stakeholder engagement via roundtable event to discuss outcomes/ recommendations.

Structure of Report

The findings from this research are based on an international review of adult social care in the local, national and international contexts. The report will, therefore, firstly present the key recommendations for Northern Ireland which have emerged from a systematic examination and review of adult social care in diverse jurisdictions. Each jurisdiction is then examined in the context of legislative and policy provision and examples of best practice are provided. The final section of the report then compares Northern Ireland to best practice from each of these aforementioned jurisdictions and the discussion entails the background to the report’s final Recommendations. The recommendations in this report are thus directly linked in with the evidence we have gathered across different countries with contrasting systems of welfare.

Terrorism Laws and Legal Accountability

This chapter explores the extent to which courts can contribute to the countering of terrorism. It suggests that the contribution will depend on the type of actor the courts are attempting to hold to account as well as on the powers that are conferred on courts by national and international legal regimes. It concludes that courts are most legitimate and effective in relation to terrorist suspects and law enforcers, but less so in relation to counter-terrorism operatives and law-makers.

Gendered Violence and International Human Rights: Thinking Non-Discrimination Beyond the Sex Binary

The concept of non-discrimination has been central in the feminist challenge to gendered violence within international human rights law. This article critically explores non-discrimination and the challenge it seeks to pose to gendered violence through the work of Judith Butler. Drawing upon Butler’s critique of heteronormative sex/gender, the article utilises an understanding of gendered violence as effected by the restrictive scripts of sex/gender within heteronormativity to illustrate how the development of non-discrimination within international human rights law renders it ineffective to challenge gendered violence due to its own commitments to binarised and asymmetrical sex/gender. However, the article also seeks to encourage a reworking of non-discrimination beyond the heteronormative sex binary through employing Butler’s concept of cultural translation. Analysis via the lens of cultural translation reveals the fluidity of non-discrimination as a universal concept and offers new possibilities for feminist engagement with universal human rights.

The impact of organisational factors and government policy on psychiatric nurses family focused practice with parents who have mental illness, their dependent children and families in Ireland

Government policy and organizational factors influence family focused practice in adult mental health services. However, how these aspects shape psychiatric nurses’ practice with parents who have mental illness, their dependent children and families is less well understood. Drawing on the findings of a qualitative study, this article explores the way in which Irish policy and organizational factors might influence psychiatric nurses’ family focused practice, and whether (and how) family focused practice might be further promoted. A purposive sample of 14 psychiatric nurses from eight mental health services completed semi-structured interviews in 2013. The analysis was inductive and presented as thematic networks. Both groups described how policies and organizational culture enabled and/or hindered family focused practice, with differences between community and acute participants seen. The need to develop national and international policies along with practices to embed information and support regarding parenting into ongoing care is implicated in this study.

Pet population management and public health:A web service based tool for the improvement of dog traceability

The risks associated with zoonotic infections transmitted by companion animals are a serious public health concern: the control of zoonoses incidence in domestic dogs, both owned and stray, is hence important to protect human health. Integrated dog population management (DPM) programs, based on the availability of information systems providing reliable data on the structure and composition of the existing dog population in a given area, are fundamental for making realistic plans for any disease surveillance and action system. Traceability systems, based on the compulsory electronic identification of dogs and their registration in a computerised database, are one of the most effective ways to ensure the usefulness of DPM programs. Even if this approach provides many advantages, several areas of improvement have emerged in countries where it has been applied. In Italy, every region hosts its own dog register but these are not compatible with one another. This paper shows the advantages of a web-based-application to improve data management of dog regional registers. The approach used for building this system was inspired by farm animal traceability schemes and it relies on a network of services that allows multi-channel access by different devices and data exchange via the web with other existing applications, without changing the pre-existing platforms. Today the system manages a database for over 300,000 dogs registered in three different Italian regions. By integrating multiple Web Services, this approach could be the solution to gather data at national and international levels at reasonable cost and creating a traceability system on a large scale and across borders that can be used for disease surveillance and development of population management plans. © 2012 Elsevier B.V.

Students´ Engagement In Schools: Differentiation and Promotion

The objective of this work is to present elements of the project Student engagement in Schools (SES). The team consists of 10 researchers from six Universities. Student engagement in schools is a multidimensional construct that unites affective, behavioural, and cognitive dimensions of student adaptation in the school and has influence on students‘outcomes. The team of researchers conceptualized two major studies, a differential study to analyze the relations between SES and contextual factors, personal factors, student’s outcomes, and a quasi-experimental study to analyze the effects on SES of a specific intervention programmes. In study 1, the sample size is around 600 students (150 6th graders, 150 7th graders, 150 9th graders, and 150 10th graders). We shall focus on years of school transition, with rural and urban populations, on different regions of the country, and on students with different family background. We shall conduct questionnaires with national and international scales. The study 2 will involve students in 7th and 9th grade, from four classes, two of the experimental group and two of the control group. Patterns of verbal communications between a teacher and students can influence the classroom environment and SES. This model of communication would result in more effective student management and more time on-task for learning.

The role of English in international business: the case of China

Esta tese propõe-se examinar o papel e estatuto do Inglês nos negócios internacionais na China, tomando como enquadramento a transformação deste país desde 1978 até ao presente. No quadro actual da globalização e internacionalização sociais e económicas, apresenta-se uma perspectiva das tendências demográficas e padrões económicos bem como a situação social e cultural actual da China. A relação entre a língua inglesa e práticas e valores associados e a cultura dos negócios na China também foi investigada através de um trabalho de campo realizado em empresas nacionais e internacionais, localizadas em diferentes regiões da China, em 2007 e 2008. Através dos resultados deste estudo, reconhecemos a máxima importância atribuída tanto à língua inglesa como à comunicação intercultural pela população inquirida, sublinhando a necessidade de desenvolver as competências interculturais e linguísticas orientadas para a gestão eficiente dos negócios. Com base nos nossos resultados, pode ser extraída a conclusão de que o Inglês funciona como uma ferramenta principal e um abrir de caminhos para encurtar a lacuna linguística e cultural entre as diferentes comunidades empresariais. Ajuda a China a adaptar-se e interagir com outras culturas e chegar harmoniosamente ao principio “win-win”, ou seja, alcançar o sucesso esperado nos negócios internacionais de hoje. Por outro lado, torna-se claro que os papéis, a natureza e o estatuto do Inglês/”Englishes” evoluem a par de processos de mudança social, cultural e económica. Prevê-se que esta evolução continuará, ficando a paisagem linguística mais complexa. Espera-se que este trabalho contribua para a melhor compreensão das relações entre a China e o resto do mundo.

Microbiological quality of bivalves: relevance to food safety

Os moluscos bivalves constituem um recurso haliêutico de elevada importância na economia (inter)nacional pelas suas características organolépticas, valor nutritivo e relevância na gastronomia tradicional. Não obstante, representam um produto alimentar de elevado risco para a saúde pública. A contaminação microbiológica (autóctone e antropogénica), sendo crónica nos bancos de bivalves das zonas estuarino-lagunares, constitui uma das principais preocupações associadas à segurança alimentar. Aquando da filtração inerente aos processos de respiração e alimentação, os bivalves bioacumulam passivamente microrganismos incluindo os patogénicos. A sua colocação no mercado impõe pois, prévia salubrização para níveis microbiológicos compatíveis com a legislação em vigor, salvaguardando a saúde pública. Apesar da monitorização das áreas de apanha e produção, das medidas de prevenção e da depuração, a ocorrência de surtos associados ao consumo de bivalves tem aumentado. Tal deve-se à insuficiente monitorização da contaminação microbiológica dos bivalves, contribuindo para uma gestão ineficaz do produto e consequente sub-valorização. O presente trabalho pretendeu caracterizar o estado de desenvolvimento do sector de exploração de bivalves em Portugal do ponto de vista da segurança alimentar, e analisar os aspectos cruciais da monitorização e da depuração do produto apresentando alternativas abrangentes e aplicáveis ao sector. Assim, desenvolveu-se uma metodologia de base molecular passível de adaptação à monitorização dos bivalves das zonas conquícolas, como alternativa ao método de referência vigente do Número Mais Provável que é baseado apenas na quantificação de Escherichia coli. O mexilhão (Mytilus edulis) da Ria de Aveiro, bivalve de interesse comercial a nível (inter)nacional serviu de modelo para a comparação de protocolos de extração de DNA. Esta metodologia foi desenvolvida de modo a que os métodos de extração de DNA sejam passíveis de aplicação a outras matrizes biológicas ou ambientais. Para além da detecção e quantificação directa de bactérias patogénicas, esta metodologia poderá ser aplicada à monitorização da transferência vertical microbiana nos bancos de bivalves bem como à caracterização da dinâmica espacio-temporal das populações microbianas no ambiente e à monitorização dos processos de depuração. Foi ainda abordado o potencial da aplicação de bacteriófagos ou de enzimas líticas para a optimização dos processos de purificação. O trabalho realizado e as perspectivas futuras propostas pretendem contribuir para a dinamização e requalificação do sector de exploração de bivalves através da melhoria do nível de segurança alimentar dos moluscos bivalves comercializados para alimentação humana, valorizando este recurso.