Profit and purpose: the case for sustainable luxury fashion

The development of the fashion industry into a large-scale multinational operation and the resulting potential for damage to planet and people has attracted the attention of environmental and social activists since at least the 1960s, but consumers on the whole remain broadly ignorant of how their personal fashion purchases and widespread industry practices contribute to negative environmental and social impact (Connell and Kozar, 2014). The luxury sector, in particular, has much to lose in terms of reputation by revelations of exploitation and irresponsible environmental actions along the supply chain, given that much of its premium-pricing is based on notions of authenticity and quality production (Kapferer and Bastien, 2012). Previously, a focus on eco or sustainable fashion was seen as marginal or niche, but more recently consumers demonstrate a desire for greener products creating potential for businesses to work for profit and purpose (Ottman, 2011). This change has resulted in a new hybrid business model- the social enterprise- which adds value by meeting market needs and wants through responsible business and employment practices (Radclyffe-Thomas and Roncha, 2016). Tengri, a London-based luxury knitwear label is one such social enterprise business and this paper explores social enterprise in the luxury sector through a case study of Tengri’s business model that combines social and environmental awareness with luxury product development to create a virtuous cycle of ethical fashion production and consumption. Founder Nancy Johnston was inspired by her experiences travelling with Mongolia’s yak herders where she was confronted with the harshness of the nomadic way of life and threats to its continuing existence from land degradation and exploitative business practices. She was driven to action when she juxtaposed these conditions with the promoted glamour of the luxury fashion industry, which relies on supplies of ingredients from just such workers in supply chains that stretch across the globe. Informed by primary research with Tengri and industry experts supplemented with analysis of Tengri’s business, product development and marketing materials, this paper investigates how Tengri works to balance environmental and social engagement with launching a start-up luxury business aimed at engaging the new global sustainable luxury consumers, a group described by Caroline Holme Director of Globescan as the ‘Aspirational’ consumer – a segment that combines a desire to be ethical with a love of style, design and shopping, particularly prevalent in emerging markets. Keywords: sustainability, luxury, fashion, social-enterprise, innovatio

A cognitive architecture for learning in reactive environments

Previous research in machine learning has viewed the process of empirical discovery as search through a space of 'theoretical' terms. In this paper, we propose a problem space for empirical discovery, specifying six complementary operators for defining new terms that ease the statement of empirical laws. The six types of terms include: numeric attributes (such as PV/T); intrinsic properties (such as mass); composite objects (such as pairs of colliding balls); classes of objects (such as acids and alkalis); composite relations (such as chemical reactions); and classes of relations (such as combustion/oxidation). We review existing machine discovery systems in light of this framework, examining which parts of the problem space were, covered by these systems. Finally, we outline an integrated discovery system (IDS) we are constructing that includes all six of the operators and which should be able to discover a broad range of empirical laws

A framework for empirical discovery

Previous research in machine learning has viewed the process of empirical discovery as search through a space of 'theoretical' terms. In this paper, we propose a problem space for empirical discovery, specifying six complementary operators for defining new terms that ease the statement of empirical laws. The six types of terms include: numeric attributes (such as PV/T); intrinsic properties (such as mass); composite objects (such as pairs of colliding balls); classes of objects (such as acids and alkalis); composite relations (such as chemical reactions); and classes of relations (such as combustion/oxidation). We review existing machine discovery systems in light of this framework, examining which parts of the problem space were, covered by these systems. Finally, we outline an integrated discovery system (IDS) we are constructing that includes all six of the operators and which should be able to discover a broad range of empirical laws

Automatic detection of potentially illegal online sales of elephant ivory via data mining

In this work, we developed an automated system to detect potentially illegal elephant ivory items for sale on eBay. Two law enforcement experts, with specific knowledge of elephant ivory identification, manually classified items on sale in the Antiques section of eBay UK over an 8 week period. This set the “Gold Standard” that we aim to emulate using data-mining. We achieved close to 93% accuracy with less data than the experts, as we relied entirely on metadata, but did not employ item descriptions or associated images, thus proving the potential and generality of our approach. The reported accuracy may be improved with the addition of text mining techniques for the analysis of the item description, and by applying image classification for the detection of Schreger lines, indicative of elephant ivory. However, any solution relying on images or text description could not be employed on other wildlife illegal markets where pictures can be missing or misleading and text absent (e.g., Instagram). In our setting, we gave human experts all available information while only using minimal information for our analysis. Despite this, we succeeded at achieving a very high accuracy. This work is an important first step in speeding up the laborious, tedious and expensive task of expert discovery of illegal trade over the internet. It will also allow for faster reporting to law enforcement and better accountability. We hope this will also contribute to reducing poaching, by making this illegal trade harder and riskier for those involved

WATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT: POLICY ECONOMICS FOR AN ERA OF TRANSITIONS

Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

A biophysical approach to large-scale protein-DNA binding data

About this book * Cutting-edge genome analysis methods from leading bioinformaticians An accurate description of current scientific developments in the field of bioinformatics and computational implementation is presented by research of the BioSapiens Network of Excellence. Bioinformatics is essential for annotating the structure and function of genes, proteins and the analysis of complete genomes and to molecular biology and biochemistry. Included is an overview of bioinformatics, the full spectrum of genome annotation approaches including; genome analysis and gene prediction, gene regulation analysis and expression, genome variation and QTL analysis, large scale protein annotation of function and structure, annotation and prediction of protein interactions, and the organization and annotation of molecular networks and biochemical pathways. Also covered is a technical framework to organize and represent genome data using the DAS technology and work in the annotation of two large genomic sets: HIV/HCV viral genomes and splicing alternatives potentially encoded in 1% of the human genome

The \u27Ascent of Man\u27: Legal Systems and the Discovery of an Environmental Ethic

A decade ago, firefighters in a warehouse on the Rhine in Switzerland washed chemicals, solvents, and mercury into the river, destroying all life in the river for miles, killing millions of fish, and endangering the water supplies of cities in Germany and the Netherlands. This tragedy galvanized the river valley states into action. They vowed to clean up the river, not just from that incident but from the effects of having used the river as a sewer for two centuries. But how clean is clean? The goal for this calculated plan, which will take decades to achieve, is symbolized by the salmon. When salmon spawn again in the Rhine, then it will have been restored. Will these nations succeed? If the twenty five year history of our Clean Water Act offers a precedent, “restoring and maintaining” the waters of the United States for fish and swimming, the prognosis may be good