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In the modern energy system, upwards of 10% of the total primary energy supply is expended to find, develop, extract, transform, and transport energy carriers to end-users 1. Some particularly challenging resources, such as heavy oil, require an even larger fractional expenditure for their extraction and processing. This energy...

EU Commissioner for the Environment, Karmenu Vella highlights the need for climate action and environmental protection in the Arctic As preparations for the UN climate conference (COP 21) in Paris this December move into full swing, one region undeniably affected by the changing climate is high on the international agenda....

Henry Lawson, Market Research Consultant at BSRIA examines the possibilities of achieving common standards which are appropriate for the myriad of different “things” that will potentially be part of the Internet of Things I live about 50 miles to the west of London. When I take the train into central...

The Nordic Built “Active Roofs and Facades” project has received support from Nordic Innovation, EUDP(DK), Energimyndigheten( SE) and Rannis(IS) allowing strong development of leading Nordic competences in the area of building renovation. This is achieved by creating transnational Public Private Partnership models to support the development of nearly zero energy...

Corina Crețu, EU Commissioner for Regional Policy outlines how Europe should be exploiting urban areas to their full potential An important responsibility was bestowed upon me when I came into office as Commissioner for Regional Policy: to lead this policy into the next decade and to exploit its full potential in...

The Federal Ministry for Education and Women’s Affairs (BMBF) details how new digital technologies are transforming classrooms across Austria Information and communication technologies transform teaching and learning. New teaching and learning methods such as the flipped classroom or Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are opening up the classroom: learning takes...

In 2014, WHO stated: “trained and qualified biomedical engineering professionals are required to design, evaluate, regulate, maintain and manage medical devices, and train on their safe use in health systems around the world”1. In response, the European Economic and Social Committee stated: “Biomedical Engineering is not simply a subset of...

At the beginning of 2014 the UK Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) established thirteen Networks in Industrial Biotechnology and Bioenergy. 1 An aim of these networks is to reduce the barriers for initiating collaborations between the academic and business communities, especially in the arena of Industrial Biotechnology....

Nikolai Pushkarev, Policy Officer at the European Public Health Alliance (EPHA), outlines the importance of tackling obesity in children. We are drowning in declarations, strategies and action plans dedicated to tackling the problem of obesity.  But today, about 40 years after the start of obesity’s spectacular ascent, the World Health Organisation...

Dr Masoud Dara, Senior Advisor at the World Health Organization explains the challenges of tackling TB to Editor Laura Evans, and why antibiotic resistance is such a problem… According to the World Health Organization, infectious diseases are caused by ‘pathogenic microorganisms, such as bacteria, viruses, parasites and fungi. Such diseases...

Ellen Rowles from Action PR Ltd sheds light on why third party partnerships hold the key to success in improving leisure facilities for schools and colleges. In these times of economic uncertainty and budgetary constraints, many local authority schools and colleges are exploring alternative ways to improve their fitness offering...

New ways to deal with the complexity and dynamics of change in our cities On-going urbanisation makes cities focal points for economies and societies. As its share of resource consumption and emissions grows, economies become knowledge intensive. City life accelerates, its complexity grows exponentially along with various instabilities, challenges, uncertainties...

Alexandra Latham, Communications Officer at the European Geothermal Energy Council details how RHC technologies including Geothermal go hand in hand for a sustainable energy supply with stable prices The need to ensure stable and affordable energy prices for consumers thereby elevating fuel poverty and enabling growth, and the need for this...

David Mooney, Director of the Strategic Energy Analysis Center, at the US Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory, explains how understanding energy is important to the success of clean energy technologies Moving from today’s energy system to a clean energy system will require a profound transformation. While today’s energy...

Tom Sauer joined the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS) as a Research Associate at the National Soil Tilth Laboratory (NSTL) in Ames, Iowa in the fall of 1993. He had just obtained his PhD in environmental biophysics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison under the direction of...

Dr Thomas J. Sauer, Research Leader at the National Laboratory for Agriculture and the Environment, U.S. Department of Agriculture details the importance of agroforestry for the environment Agroforestry is a land-use practice that involves growing perennial woody vegetation (trees, shrubs, or hedges) integrated with forages, crops, fruits, berries and nuts, herbs,...

Arthropods are characterised by the presence of an exoskeleton and articulated legs. The phylum Arthropoda includes more than 80% of the known species with many of these being important agricultural pests. Arthropods, such as insects and mites, inflict billions of dollars in damage worldwide every year. Tons of pesticides...

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...

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...