Urban Sanitation Research Initiative 2017-2020: Driving Sector Change in Urban Sanitation

The Urban Sanitation Research Initiative aims to make a substantive contribution to achieving universal urban sanitation coverage in low-income contexts. This will be achieved through a) direct research-into policy impacts in focus countries, b) contribution to research capacity development in focus countries, and c) contribution to global understanding of how to achieve universal urban sanitation.The research will contribute to the evidence base available to in-country actors including national and city governments, and to major international donors and financing institutions. Research will reflect WSUP's core philosophy that at-scale improvement in urban WASH essentially requires two things: market thinking, including the development of dynamic small businesses in the WASH service delivery sector, and institutional change, including substantially increased government investment in WASH services for low-income communities

A Taxonomy of Data Grids for Distributed Data Sharing, Management and Processing

Data Grids have been adopted as the platform for scientific communities that need to share, access, transport, process and manage large data collections distributed worldwide. They combine high-end computing technologies with high-performance networking and wide-area storage management techniques. In this paper, we discuss the key concepts behind Data Grids and compare them with other data sharing and distribution paradigms such as content delivery networks, peer-to-peer networks and distributed databases. We then provide comprehensive taxonomies that cover various aspects of architecture, data transportation, data replication and resource allocation and scheduling. Finally, we map the proposed taxonomy to various Data Grid systems not only to validate the taxonomy but also to identify areas for future exploration. Through this taxonomy, we aim to categorise existing systems to better understand their goals and their methodology. This would help evaluate their applicability for solving similar problems. This taxonomy also provides a "gap analysis" of this area through which researchers can potentially identify new issues for investigation. Finally, we hope that the proposed taxonomy and mapping also helps to provide an easy way for new practitioners to understand this complex area of research.Comment: 46 pages, 16 figures, Technical Repor

Morphological budgeting in the Motueka River: an analysis of technique

Morphological budgeting is a key method for monitoring and studying sediment transfers within gravelly rivers. We assess the utility of traditional cross‐section approaches to budgeting using Digital Elevation Model (DEM) analysis. DEMs give a more accurate volume calculation within the constraint of sampling frequency compared with cross sections, since a greater area of river bed is sampled. DEM volume calculation within the 1.7 km ‘Three Beaches’ reach in the upper Motueka revealed a net loss of 3219 m3 in this reach between 2008‐2009. Comparisons of this value with cross section‐based volume calculations at a range of section spacing using (i) Mean Bed Level (MBL) analysis and (ii) DEMs generated from cross section data, suggest accuracy of the budget is maximised at a critical cross section spacing not exceeding 90 m. Careful positioning of cross sections could lengthen this distance further and is essential to accurately represent river channel morphology. MBL analysis using cross‐sections in the reach monumented by Tasman District Council (TDC) for river monitoring underestimates the magnitude of net sediment transfers by c. 30%

Returns to Skills and the Speed of Reforms: Evidence from Central and Eastern Europe, China, and Russia

We explore the pace of increase in returns to schooling during the transition from planning to market over time across a number of Central and Eastern European countries, Russia, and China. We use metadata from 33 studies of 10 transition economies covering a period from 1975 through 2002. Our empirical model is an attempt to account for cross-section and over-time variation in rates of return as a function of the timing, speed, and volatility of reform processes as well as estimation methods used and sample characteristics. Our principal aim is to investigate the relative strength of two hypotheses: (1) the speed of economic transformation from planning to market represent the relaxation of legal, regulatory, and institutional constraints on wage-setting behavior, leading directly to adjustment returns to schooling to market rates; 2) the rapid increase in returns to schooling during the early reform period reflects the ability of highly-educated individuals to respond to changing opportunities in a disequilibrium situation. We find that both the speed of reforms and the degree of economic disequilibrium as reflected in macroeconomic volatility help to explain cross-country differences in the time paths of the returns to schooling. We report the systematic effects of sample characteristics, estimation methods, and model specifications on estimated returns to schooling.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/40089/3/wp703.pd

Bringing power and progress to Africa in a financially and environmentally sustainable manner

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: The future of electricity supply and delivery on the continent of Africa represents one of the thorniest challenges facing professionals in the global energy, economics, finance, environmental, and philanthropic communities. Roughly 600 million people in Africa lack any access to electricity. If this deficiency is not solved, extreme poverty for many Africans is virtually assured for the foreseeable future, as it is widely recognized that economic advancement cannot be achieved in the 21st Century without good electricity supply. Yet, if Africa were to electrify in the same manner pursued in developed economies around the world during the 20th Century, the planet’s global carbon budget would be vastly exceeded, greatly exacerbating the worldwide damages from climate change. Moreover, due to low purchasing power in most African economies and fiscal insolvency of most African utilities, it is unclear exactly how the necessary infrastructure investments can be deployed to bring ample quantities of power – especially zero-carbon power – to all Africans, both those who currently are unconnected to any grid as well as those who are now served by expensive, high-emitting, limited and unreliable electricity supply. With the current population of 1.3 billion people expected to double by 2050, the above-noted challenges associated with the African electricity sector may well get substantially worse than they already are – unless new approaches to infrastructure planning, development, finance and operation can be mobilized and propagated across the continent. This paper presents a summary of the present state and possible futures for the African electricity sector. A synthesis of an ever-growing body of research on electricity in Africa, this paper aims to provide the reader a thorough and balanced context as well as general conclusions and recommendations to better inform and guide decision-making and action. [TRUNCATED]This paper was developed as part of a broader initiative undertaken by the Institute for Sustainable Energy (ISE) at Boston University to explore the future of the global electricity industry. This ISE initiative – a collaboration with the Global Energy Interconnection and Development Cooperation Organization (GEIDCO) of China and the Center for Global Energy Policy within the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University – was generously enabled by a grant from Bloomberg Philanthropies. The authors gratefully acknowledge the support and contributions of the above funders and partners in this research

Policy Areas Impinging on Elderly Transportation Mobility: An Explanation with Ontario, Canada as Example

As countries face the challenges posed by rising numbers of older persons, the need to reassess their respective policies to address transport needs in aging societies is increasingly recognized in relation to health and sustainability goals. This paper proposes the examination of six interrelated policy areas affecting elderly mobility in a country or administrative region. A general survey of policy developments in each of these areas could improve current strategies and existing processes in the planning and implementation of mobility services that will be responsive to both elderly and the general population now and in the future. These include: 1) general transport policy framework; 2) travel mode preference; 3) alternative transport infrastructure stock and investments; 4) housing-land-use-transportation linkage; 5) research and technology applications that improve travel mode and environment; and 6) institutional and legal reforms. These policy areas are discussed and given concrete elucidation in the case of Ontario, Canada. Reflections and recommendations for further research and policy action deemed critical in the case region are highlighted.transportation, aging, regional policy, Canada

Advanced Mechanisms for the Promotion of Renewable Energy: Models for the Future Evolution of the German Renewable Energy Act

The German Renewable Energy Act (EEG) has been very successful in promoting the deployment of wind power plants and other renewable energy power generating technologies in Germany. The increasing share of EEG-power in the generation portfolio, increasing amounts of fluctuating power generation, and the growing European integration of power markets governed by competition calls for a re-design of the EEG. This article identifies increasingly important problems and describes three different options to amend the EEG without jeopardising the fast deployment of renewable energy technologies. In the "Retailer Model", it becomes the responsibility of the end-use retailers to adapt the EEG power to the actual demand of their respective customers. The "Market Mediator Model" is the primary choice when new market players are regarded as crucial for the better integration of renew-able energy and enhanced competition. The "Optional Bonus Model" relies more on functioning markets.Regulation, Renewable Energy, Promotion, Policy Design, Feed-In Tariff, Minimum Price Standards