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EU Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development Phil Hogan believes rural areas hold many of the solutions for 21st Century challenges, and EU programmes are making this a reality Rural areas cover some 80% of the EU’s territory and are home to about half of our 500 million citizens. The...

Since the beginning of the industrial revolution, environmental contaminants have been transported from temperate latitudes to the Arctic via the atmosphere, ocean currents and river systems Research and monitoring in the Arctic have revealed how pesticides, industrial chemicals, metals, and also radionuclides, have found their way into animals and human...

David Smith, Export Manager and FIRESA Council Secretary at the Fire Industry Association explains the Fire Safety Order and asks if you know who is legally responsible for fire protection in your premises? The Regulatory Reform Order, usually referred to as simply the Fire Safety Order , was enacted in...

The Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development of the Republic of Latvia details the importance of small and medium-sized urban areas in the context of the EU Urban Agenda Approximately 70% of Europeans live in cities and towns. They play a significant role in territorial development of the EU, and...

European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, Vytenis Andriukaitis spoke at eHealth week in Riga about how digital applications are integral to tackling today’s health challenges in Europe When I started as a practising medical doctor, we kept handwritten health records and had face to face consultations. There was no...

Dr Rhys Bevan Jones, Clinical Research Fellow at the Institute of Psychological Medicine & Clinical Neurosciences, MRC Centre for Neuropsychiatric Genetics & Genomics at Cardiff University details how depression can affect adolescents… Depression is common in young people, with around 1 in 20 of those in adolescence affected. This leads...

Water is essential to life and there is no substitute to it. It is one of the most important natural resources on Earth contributing in many aspects of our lives, namely economy, ecosystems, and personal welfare. In our modern societies, water is essential to many industries and to agriculture....

Pavel Misiga, Head of the Water Unit at the European Commission’s Environment DG, outlines how the EU Water Framework Directive can help to ensure clean water in sufficient quantities for people and nature The main aim of EU water policy is to ensure that throughout Europe a sufficient quantity of good...

In view of the significant transformation towards a knowledge-based economy which is taking place, as investment and people are now more mobile than ever before, so does the consideration of the quality of a place also become much more important. The most important component of this transformation is a much...

Saviour Alfino Smart Cities Standards Strategy Project Manager at BSI discusses how standards are shaping the future city landscape There are many reasons to support the case of the smart city, be that creating a ‘greener’ environment, with improved use of shared resources and greater efficiency. Or simply accommodating the...

Dr Paul Sant, Associate Dean at The University of Bedfordshire details how Milton Keynes is striving to become one of the UK leaders in smart cities According to a recent report by Centre for Cities, Milton Keynes is the UK’s number one city for jobs growth. Not only that, but it...

Günther H. Oettinger, European Commissioner for Digital Economy & Society details the importance of a digital economy and sustainable online services There are few business sectors emerging as fast as the digital economy. Just a year ago almost no one has ever heard of the taxi company Uber or the...

Alastair Creelman, an e-learning Specialist from Linnaeus University, Sweden discusses the benefits of universities embracing new changes in learning The worldwide demand for higher education is exploding and projections show an increase from 100 million today to 250 million by 2025. The traditional university system simply cannot cope with this...

Matthew Finn, Managing Director at AUGMETIQ discusses the importance of building Europe’s capability to fight terrorism and serious transnational organised crime  For the better part of a decade, the European Union (EU) has been struggling to create a new legal basis to protect its 500 million citizens while respecting their...

A part of Bristol’s status as 2015 European Green Capital involves becoming the UK’s most energy efficient major city. Here, the Council outline their Warm Up Bristol initiative targeting poorly insulated and energy inefficient homes Bristol has some of the oldest housing stock in Europe and each year in the...

Water is one of the most important natural resources on Earth. It is not only fundamental to life but also essential to the wealth of countries contributing to all aspects of personal welfare and economic life. However, global drivers such as climate change, population growth and improving living standards...

When removing CO2 is no longer a problem and becomes an opportunity According to the recent Fifth Assessment Synthesis Report presented in Copenhagen by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPPCC) to face the irreversible effects of climate change greenhouse gas emissions need to fall as much as 70% around...

Building capacity in aquaculture research and development Established in 1998, the UNU-FTP addresses major challenges to the sustainable development of fisheries and aquaculture in developing countries through institutional and individual capacity building. The UNUFTP runs a six-month post-graduate training in Iceland for practising professionals and delivers short courses in developing...

The Institute of Earth‘s Sciences and Nordic Volcanic Institute, University of Iceland The ultimate energy source of the Earth‘s interior or heat comes from the early days of the planetary formation and decaying of radioactive matter. If today’s society could be able to harvest this energy in an economic way,...

Volcanoes and geothermal and mineral resources – Exploring subsurface geology Most of the economic and energy resources are found in the subsurface. Exploration in the search of water reservoirs, hydrocarbons, mineral deposits, and geothermal underground resources is therefore of greatest societal relevance. The knowledge of the existing resources in the subsurface...