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Air pollution impacts all living species and can have a detrimental impact. Dr Valentin Foltescu EEA Project manager – Air quality reporting and assessment at the European Environment Agency (EEA) explains more… Europe is still far from achieving levels of air quality that do not pose unacceptable risks to humans...

The deaths of a number of firefighters since 2004 could have been prevented if risk assessments and good practice had been followed, according to a new report A new report investigating the death of 14 firefighters over the last ten years has concluded that “good practice” had sometimes been ignored...

For the first time, the number of European women who have died as a result of lung cancer is expected to be higher than the rates for breast cancer According to the research, which appeared in the journal Annals Of Oncology, the UK and Poland have the highest lung cancer...

Learning and development plays a vital role in enhancing employees and organisational performance, as detailed by Ruth Stuart, Research Adviser at CIPD. Learning does not stop when you leave the classroom. It’s a life-long continual process of insight, reflection and growth. Increasingly organisations are tapping into this potential for development...

Researchers have discovered that a number of cancers are due to "bad luck", rather than risk factors such as smoking. A new study published in the journal Science has revealed that two-thirds of cancers analysed were caused by chance mutation. The research team from the US revealed why some tissues were...

Climate change is one of humankind’s greatest challenges in the coming decades and beyond. Sigurður Ingi Jóhannsson, Minister for the Environment and Natural Resources in Iceland highlights how the country is working towards combating it. We are already seeing many changes in the natural environment caused by global warming. The...

Sebastian Probst, and Georgina Gethin at the European Wound Management Association outline the challenges of treating wounds in a home care environment. The European Wound Management Association (EWMA) aims to promote best practice in wound management and to advocate for the rights of people with wounds, to receive the best...

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 (CO2) need to fall by as much as 70% around the world by 2050 and to zero by 2100. Implementing...

The Nanobiotechnology for Diagnostics (Nb4D) Group belongs to the Institute of Advanced Chemistry of Catalonia (IQAC), one of the institutes of the State Agency CSIC (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas), and to the Biomedical Research Centre Network of Bioengineering, Biomaterials and Nanomedicine (CIBERBBN). The group is led by Prof. M.-Pilar...

A possible profitable solution - Geothermal systems in Iceland Iceland is a volcanic island straddling the Mid-Atlantic-Ridge, a mid-ocean ridge where two major tectonic plates pull apart from each other. It is also sitting directly over a mantle plume – a localised upwelling of hot magma from the mantle. This unique...

The importance of planning for asbestos in construction work cannot be underestimated. Tracey Boyle – Chartered Occupational Hygienist and current Honorary Secretary of BOHS outlines many of the pitfalls in failing to plan for asbestos removal. Often, when acting as an expert witness in civil litigation in relation to asbestos...

David Fatscher Head of Market Development for Sustainability at BSI explains how a new standard for measuring greenhouse gas emissions at the city level, is helping London manage its carbon footprint. With an estimated 50% of the planet’s population becoming urban citizens by 2030, making cities more sustainable has become...

If a EU pesticide ban comes into force, the value of British food production could fall by £1.6bn and cost 44,000 jobs in the agriculture supply chain, according to a new report... A report by farm business consultants Andersons has revealed that the value of British food could be affected...

Dr Jan-Gunnar Winther, Director of the Norwegian Polar Institute gives an overview of the environmental challenges facing the Polar Regions. Scientific information from the Polar Regions boosts our knowledge of the environmental issues facing the world and is vital in order to grasp the challenges facing us, be it climate...

For those involved at a strategic level in economic development, place making as a tool is not new but its time is certainly now in view of the significant transformation towards a knowledge based economy which is taking place. The most important component of this transformation is a much...

In an interview with Editor Laura Evans, Health Minister Dr Daniel Poulter and Chairman &  CIO of Cloudbuy Ronald Duncan discuss the Care Act and the impact it will have on local authorities. Following healthcare reforms last year, the role local authorities’ play in public health has significantly grown. Social...

Alastair Creelman, Vice-President at EFQUEL sheds light on why e-learning is no longer an alternative form of education. The concept of e-learning is in danger of soon becoming redundant. In today’s digital society, where the European Commission forecasts that 90% of all jobs by 2020 will demand digital literacy, any...

Forests and some of the services they provide have been prominently on the international agenda, gaining considerable public attention: conservation, biodiversity, carbon storage, recreation or wilderness are the most notable issues thereof. Although those services only came on the public agenda from the 1960s, they have dominated the set...

The need for the world’s food products from animal origin, like meat, milk or eggs, will continue to grow in the coming decades. The main reasons are population growth and an increase in the numbers of people who can afford valuable food, like the fast growing middle-classes in China...

Dr Jan-Gunnar Winther, Director of the Norwegian Polar Institute gives an overview of the environmental challenges facing the Polar Regions. Scientific information from the Polar Regions boosts our knowledge of the environmental issues facing the world and is vital in order to grasp the challenges facing us, be it climate...