Environmental assessment of certain plans and programmes as contribution to sustainable spatial development

Cities and urban regions especially in the West German agglomerations are characterised by an unbroken dynamic development, connected with changes in land use from undeveloped land into settlement areas and traffic zones up to the rural districts far from the cities. Environmental loads, e.g. negative environmental effects on air quality and noise, and adverse affects on valuable habitats are negative consequences of the growing of urban regions. On the other hand, cities and urban regions shall contribute to a sustainable spatial development as agreed to in the Agenda 21 and prescribed by the Regional Planning Law and the Federal Building Code. In order to turn the spatial development of cities and urban regions towards a sustainable spatial development, adequate planning and management instruments are required. The Directive of the European Union on the assessment of the effects of certain plans and programmes on the environment contains a framework, how the member states will have to take into consideration environmental aspects while drawing up or complementing certain plans and programmes. An environmental assessment shall be carried out for plans and programmes, which are likely to have significant environmental effects, e.g. for town and country planning and land use planning, and which set the framework for future development for projects submitted to an environmental impact assessment. The environmental assessment shall take into consideration reasonable alternatives including the zero-alternative. It shall contain a "screening" (necessity-check), a "scoping" (agreement on the scope of investigations), an "environmental report" and consultations of the public. The environmental report shall contain the analyse and evaluation of likely significant positive and negative effects on biodiversity, population and human health, fauna, flora, soil, water, air, climatic factors, material assets, cultural heritage including architectural and archaeological heritage. The Member States shall bring into force the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply the Directive up to 2004. The discussion on the implementation of the EU Directive is in full swing. In Germany, each drawing up of a new land use plan or regional plan will require an environmental assessment. In the case of changes or amendments of those plans, it will depend a.o. on the extent and amount of environmental effects of the plan, whether an environmental assessment has to be carried out or not. Whether and how an environmental assessment can be integrated into spatial planning, and whether the landscape plans already carry out environmental assessments or have to be developed further is under discussion controversially. Further questions are e.g. how the subjects of the assessment shall be defined in detail, how results of the environmental assessment can be monitored, how the environmental assessment can be integrated into the planning procedures without taking many financial and personal resources, and how and at which extent the public shall be consulted. The lecture will focus on how the Directive can be realised by spatial and landscape planning, especially which methodical questions spatial and landscape planning will have to solve in order to implement an environmental assessment for plans and programmes according to the EU Directive.

Improved recursive Green's function formalism for quasi one-dimensional systems with realistic defects

We derive an improved version of the recursive Green's function formalism (RGF), which is a standard tool in the quantum transport theory. We consider the case of disordered quasi one-dimensional materials where the disorder is applied in form of randomly distributed realistic defects, leading to partly periodic Hamiltonian matrices. The algorithm accelerates the common RGF in the recursive decimation scheme, using the iteration steps of the renormalization decimation algorithm. This leads to a smaller effective system, which is treated using the common forward iteration scheme. The computational complexity scales linearly with the number of defects, instead of linearly with the total system length for the conventional approach. We show that the scaling of the calculation time of the Green's function depends on the defect density of a random test system. Furthermore, we discuss the calculation time and the memory requirement of the whole transport formalism applied to defective carbon nanotubes

Charge transport through weakly open one dimensional quantum wires

We consider resonant transmission through a finite-length quantum wire connected to leads via finite transparency junctions. The coherent electron transport is strongly modified by the Coulomb interaction. The low-temperature current-voltage ($IV$) curves show step-like dependence on the bias voltage determined by the distance between the quantum levels inside the conductor, the pattern being dependent on the ratio between the charging energy and level spacing. If the system is tuned close to the resonance condition by the gate voltage, the low-voltage $IV$ curve is Ohmic. At large Coulomb energy and low temperatures, the conductance is temperature-independent for any relationship between temperature, level spacing, and coupling between the wire and the leads

A comparison of the integration of Risk management Principles in Product Development Approaches

The management and reduction of risk is a central part of product development processes. This paper analyses the extent to which four common product development approaches address risks (waterfall model, stage gate model, design for six sigma, and lean product development). They are analyzed along the four principles of risk-driven design: 1. Identifying and quantifying risks; 2. Making risk-based decisions; 3. Reducing risks; and 4. Creating resilient PD systems. The analysis shows that the existing PD processes only partially address the four principles of risk-driven design and that they have their specific strengths and weaknesses. The paper concludes with a discussion of preliminary empirical findings through interviews and case studies on how to better integrate risk management principles into product development.Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Lean Advancement InitiativeCenter for Clean Water and Clean Energy at MIT and KFUP

Purpose-driven learning for library staff

This paper demonstrates the effectiveness of a combination of alignment with organisational directions, methodical organisation and more informal and creative efforts to generate purposeful learning in organisations, and provides examples of innovative practice. It describes how a large academic library provides its staff with extensive and purposeful learning opportunities aligned to the strategic directions of the university and its expectations of staff. The staff development planning process is outlined and the approach to creating a common vision of the importance of continuous learning and sharing learning is discussed. RMIT University Library's structured and methodical approach has been successful in creating a positive and energetic learning culture. The library uses a variety of continuing education approaches and, in particular, recognises the value of experience-based learning. Examples of innovative approaches include: an effective library Cross Unit Work Experience (CUE) programme; team building workshops; specific purpose groups; development of an Innovation Process Model and practical tools to improve creativity; and a Reference Competencies project. Even with a positive learning culture in place it remains challenging to maintain staff's currency, particularly in the area of technology

Quality Assurance Model in Enhancing the Professional Development Content

The purpose of this research is to identify aspects of the quality assurance model to develop high-quality professional development content. The research reviewed relevant literature to collect major processes and procedures quality assurers used and followed to enhance the quality of the training content. In addition, the research referred to a current model that has been used by researchers in a UAE governmental organization. The results introduce a comprehensive model that includes the overall quality assurance cycle, interaction with other content experts, the characteristics of high-quality content, procedures quality assurers and involved professionals should follow. The research recommended applying the proposed procedures and actions to place professionals in a well-structured quality assurance model that considers training needs, instructional designers and learners’ feedback, content experts and other involved professionals. This would ensure information and feedback is conveyed during content development and quality assurance process to address the requirements of the learners

Using Theory to Develop Healthy Choices in Motion, a Comprehensive, Experiential Physical Activity Curriculum.

Background: Research has shown that engaging in regular physical activity supports physiologic, metabolic, and immunologic processes, as well as quality of life. However, few youth in the United States meet the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recommendation of 60 min of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity every day. School-based programs can be an effective avenue for engaging youth in physical activity, particularly when the design of the health education is based on theory, research, and practice. The purpose of this study was to design, implement, and evaluate a theory-driven physical activity curriculum for the Shaping Healthy Choices Program (SHCP) using a systematic approach. Methods: The experiential, inquiry-based physical activity curriculum, Healthy Choices in Motion (HCIM), was developed with an optional technology enhancement using Backward Design. A questionnaire to assess the curriculum's effect on physical activity knowledge was developed and assessed for content validity, internal consistency (α = 0.84), and test-retest reliability (r = 0.73). The curriculum was piloted in two phases among upper elementary-aged youth: to ensure the learning goals were met (Pilot I) and to determine the curriculum's impact on physical activity knowledge, behavior, and self-efficacy (Pilot II). Pilot II was implemented among eight 4th and 5th-grade classrooms participating in the UC CalFresh Nutrition Education Program: (1) Comparison (no intervention) (n = 25); (2) SHCP only (n = 22); (3) SHCP + HCIM (n = 42); (4) SHCP + HCIM with technology enhancement (n = 47). Analyses included unadjusted ANOVA and Bonferroni for multiple comparisons and paired t-test (p < 0.05). Results: Through the use of a methodical design approach, a comprehensive physical activity curriculum, called HCIM, was developed. Youth participating in HCIM improved physical activity knowledge compared to youth receiving no intervention (+2.8 points, p = 0.009) and youth only in the SHCP (+3.0 points, p = 0.007). Youth participating in HCIM with technology enhancement demonstrated improvements compared to youth only in the SHCP (+2.3 points, p = 0.05). Conclusion: Improvements in physical activity knowledge in youth participating in HCIM may contribute to improvements in physical activity and should be further explored in conjunction with behavioral measurements

Microbial risk assessment in pharmaceutical cleanrooms

The microbial risk to aseptically manufactured products in pharmaceutical cleanrooms can be assessed by the use of fundamental equations that model the dispersion, transfer and deposition of microbial contamination, and the use of numerical values or risk descriptors. This can be done in two-stages, with the first stage used to assess the transfer of contamination from all of the sources within the cleanroom suite and the second stage used to assess both air and surface contact contamination within critical production areas. These two methods can be used to assess and reduce microbial risk at the preliminary design stage of the cleanroom and associated manufacturing process or, retrospectively, for an established manufacturing operation