EXPERIMENTAL VALIDATION OF RESILIENCE MODELS FOR ISLANDED MICROGRIDS FOR MILITARY OPERATIONS

Modern warfighters rely heavily on fast, accurate information to conduct all forms of military operations. It is critical that deployed Command and Control centers have reliable power for conduct of military operations and serve as a central node for information relay. For military deployments outside areas with prepared infrastructure for utility power, or in locations with no reliable utility power, stable power supply from microgrids for operations will be required. Such operations range from peacekeeping to humanitarian aid and disaster relief operations. Although such microgrids are generally reliable at providing stable power, their resilience to disruption is poor. Common interruptions include natural disasters like earthquakes, and man-made causes like cyber or physical attacks. Previous research into microgrid resilience evaluation efforts center on theoretical modeling of total electrical microgrid loading, critical electrical load prioritization, assumed capacity of renewable energy sources and their associated energy storage systems, and assumed availability of emergency generators. Experimental data from a scaled microgrid system was collected and assessed against the results from two simulation models by Peterson and Anderson. The results validate the simulation models and highlight some areas for model improvement.Military Expert 5, Republic of Singapore Air ForceApproved for public release. Distribution is unlimited

Key Lessons from the Field of Cultural Innovation

The primary purpose of this knowledge synthesis is to provide the Rockefeller Foundation staff with a broader context for considering the findings of an independent evaluation of the Foundation's Cultural Innovation Fund (CIF). The synthesis has been designed to help key audiences understand the state of play, common concepts, challenges, questions, and key lessons from arts organizations who are already engaging innovative strategies and practices

Rockefeller Foundation 2010 Annual Report

Contains president's letter; 2010 program highlights, including support for Africa's green revolution, sustainable and equitable transportation policy, and healthy communities; grants list; financial report; and lists of trustees and staff

Diagnosis and the management constituency of small-scale fisheries

Diagnosis and adaptive management can help improve the ability of small-scale fisheries (SSF) in the developing world to better cope with and adapt to both external drivers and internal sources of uncertainty. This paper presents a framework for diagnosis and adaptive management and discusses ways of implementing the first two phases of learning: diagnosis and mobilising an appropriate management constituency. The discussion addresses key issues and suggests suitable approaches and tools as well as numerous sources of further information. Diagnosis of a SSF defines the system to be managed, outlines the scope of the management problem in terms of threats and opportunities, and aims to construct realistic and desired future projections for the fishery. These steps can clarify objectives and lead to development of indicators necessary for adaptive management. Before management, however, it is important to mobilize a management constituency to enact change. Ways of identifying stakeholders and understanding both enabling and obstructive interactions and management structures are outlined. These preliminary learning phases for adaptive SSF management are expected to work best if legitimised by collaborative discussion among fishery stakeholders drawing on multiple knowledge systems and participatory approaches to assessment. (PDF contains 33 pages

Approaches and frameworks for management and research in small-scale fisheries in the developing world

Commonly adopted approaches to managing small-scale fisheries (SSFs) in developing countries do not ensure sustainability. Progress is impeded by a gap between innovative SSF research and slower-moving SSF management. The paper aims to bridge the gap by showing that the three primary bases of SSF management--ecosystem, stakeholders’ rights and resilience--are mutually consistent and complementary. It nominates the ecosystem approach as an appropriate starting point because it is established in national and international law and policy. Within this approach, the emerging resilience perspective and associated concepts of adaptive management and institutional learning can move management beyond traditional control and resource-use optimization, which largely ignore the different expectations of stakeholders; the complexity of ecosystem dynamics; and how ecological, social, political and economic subsystems are linked. Integrating a rights-based perspective helps balance the ecological bias of ecosystem-based and resilience approaches. The paper introduces three management implementation frameworks that can lend structure and order to research and management regardless of the management approach chosen. Finally, it outlines possible research approaches to overcome the heretofore limited capacity of fishery research to integrate across ecological, social and economic dimensions and so better serve the management objective of avoiding fishery failure by nurturing and preserving the ecological, social and institutional attributes that enable it to renew and reorganize itself. (PDF contains 29 pages