Development of organic sector. Status quo report Finland CoreOrganic Project HealthyGrowth: From niche to volume with integrity and trust. WP 2

Abstract. The present review on the development of the organic sector and on the status of the organic research in Finland has been compiled within the frame of the HealthyGrowth project. The numeric data are based on official statistics. The role of the government and the national goals and strategies were captured by analyzing about 20 relevant national policy documents. Regarding research, the focus was on the completed and on-going projects that deal with either policy, markets and consumers, with specific food items and/or their quality. The information was compiled from the research registers of the Finnish universities and MTT Agrifood Research Finland. The major part of the research deals with primary production. Out of the altogether 140 research projects, only 31 deal with the topics that are relevant in this review. Organic farming has long, but thin roots in Finland. The official status was established in 1995 with Finland’s entry to EU. Today one of the goals of the Finish food policy is to expand the use of organic food, and the public sector is obligated to act as a path-breaker. The area of organic cultivation is now about 9% from the total field area. Until past few years organic, sector has remained rather marginal (1%) within the Finnish food markets. Recently there has been a rapid increase. Organic products comprise now about 5% from the food sales, and the expansion is expected to continue. Important milestones within the organic sector are foundation of the Organic Research Institute in 2013 and launching of the government promotion program for organic sector in the same year. In this program the goals for organic sector are explicitly specified and not treated parallel together with local food

Engaging Literacy Activities A Case Study

The Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) in Washington State has adopted Common Core Standards. The reading curriculum given to teachers most often reflects the appropriate grade level materials, but does not necessarily meet common core standards, engage students in learning, or prepare students to pass the end of year exams. In this study, engaging classroom literacy activities will be developed and aligned with learning targets associated with common core standards for sixth grade students. A variety of materials will be used for activities to include: novel sets, picture books, social studies curriculum, and additional teacher resources. It is instrumental in the sixth grade that students start to have the desire to read more independently and develop a sense of who they are as readers. Implementing engaging activities using a variety of resources which link students to the world of literacy may increase their desire to become more effective readers. The problem is most literacy curriculum does not increase the desire for young adolescents to want to read more outside of the classroom

Human experience in the natural and built environment : implications for research policy and practice

22nd IAPS conference. Edited book of abstracts. 427 pp. University of Strathclyde, Sheffield and West of Scotland Publication. ISBN: 978-0-94-764988-3

2016 Annual Report of the Graduate School of Engineering and Management, Air Force Institute of Technology

The Graduate School\u27s Annual Report highlights research focus areas, new academic programs, faculty accomplishments and news, and provides top-level sponsor-funded research data and information

Assessing the benefits of empowering rural women through local economic development initiatives in Port St. Johns Municipality.

Masters Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban.South Africa is viewed as one of the developing countries in Africa. Regardless of the advancements recorded, the local impact of the broad development is as yet needing. This may be because of the inheritances of the apartheid regime. Amid the apartheid period, development was isolated. The White people profited more from development at the disservice of the Black populace in South Africa. Gender inequality was at its most noteworthy pervasiveness. Women occupied the least societal position when contrasted with men. In any case, post 1994 the democratic government executed expanded desires for the citizens as it guaranteed the public of the delivery of services for the improvement of their lives. Hence, while attempting to decrease racial and exceptional incongruities through advancing the improvement of the already hindered territories, there was a presentation of Local Economic Development (LED). LED has been seen as an initiative that is able to address local socio-economic challenges and to promote local growth and development. Critically in this way, developmental institutions were commanded in addition to other things to develop the strengthening of empowerment of women on the agenda of all their developmental projects and introduce innovative ways to promote gender equality. Women empowerment implies giving women the opportunity or capacity to experience life the way they want. It enables them to identify their skills, knowledge and capacities to settle on their own choices. It is a dynamic and development process for women which incorporates awareness, achievement and completion of skills. This is to state that women empowerment on LED will improve the status of women through literacy, education, training and creating awareness. In this manner, women empowerment on LED will ensure that women are equipped to make choices that will improve their standard of living. However, the issue of development in South Africa is that, it is just specific to urban regions. Put in another path, in spite of incredible strands appreciated in growing South Africa, imbalance and underdevelopment is as yet overflowing. Rural women are as yet looked with challenges that may hinder their development. A number of rural women lack awareness and knowledge, are exposed to inequality, are unemployed and exposed to poverty. The point of this investigation was to basically break down the benefits of empowering rural women through developing LED activities. The objectives of the study were to: (a) assess the benefits of empowering women through LED initiatives in the rural settings of Port St Johns municipality; (b) assess the major LED projects run by the municipality that are beneficial to women; (c) assess the capacity at which the municipality is able to empower women through training and development for effective participation in local economic development initiatives in Port St Johns municipality; and (e) evaluate the challenges associated with the implementation of local economic development initiatives in Port St Johns municipality. The study is qualitative in nature, thus the researcher employed qualitative techniques to gather data. The researcher employed a thematic analysis as a mechanism to analyse data collected from the participants.The researcher also utilized the purposive sampling method and aimed at interviewing twenty participants consisting of one municipal manager, one LED manager, one Ward Councillor, one traditional leader, four small businesses owned by rural women and twelve rural women of Port St Johns municipality in Swazini Administrative Area. However, due to certain circumstances the researcher managed to interview sixteen participants, consisting of one municipal manager, one LED manager, one ward committee, one traditional leader, two small businesses owned by rural women and ten rural women of Port St Johns municipality in Swazini Administrative Area. The researcher assembled that within Swazini administrative area women continue to be exposed to poverty, a number of women are unemployed, no real economic activities exists within the area, LED initiatives are promptly accessible, women lack financial support to run existing projects, lack of information, lack of responsiveness to LED initiatives, lack of proper infrastructure, lack of intergovernmental support, no training and development initiatives exist within the area and women have moved from rural areas to find greener pasture. The researcher suggests that , the Port St Johns municipality must introduce training and development workshops, form partnerships with other stakeholders, introduce mentors for existing projects, initiate projects that target women that will alleviate poverty and unemployment, disseminate information on LED, the municipality must converse with the traditional leader and Ward Councillor and find common grounds on how to boost the economy of the area and the municipality must seek intergovernmental intervention and encourage the participation of women in LED initiatives

Navigating the Future V: Marine Science for a Sustainable Future

Navigating the Future is a publication series produced by the European Marine Board providing future perspectives on marine science and technology in Europe. Navigating the Future V (NFV) highlights new knowledge obtained since Navigating the Future IV1 (2013). It is set within the framework of the 2015 Paris Agreement2 and builds on the scientific basis and recommendations of the IPCC reports3. NFV gives recommendations on the science required during the next decade to deliver the ocean we need to support a sustainable future. This will be important for the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development4 (2021 – 2030), the implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals5 and the European Commission’s next framework programme, Horizon Europe6 (2021 - 2027). There is a growing need to strengthen the links between marine science, society and policy since we cannot properly manage what we do not know. In recent years, the ocean and seas have received new prominence in international agendas. To secure a safe planet a priority is the management of the ocean as a “common good for humanity”, which requires smarter observations to assess of the state of the ocean and predictions about how it may change in the future. The ocean is a three-dimensional space that needs to be managed over time (thus four-dimensional), and there is a need for management and conservation practices that integrate the structure and function of marine ecosystems into these four dimensions (Chapter 2). This includes understanding the dynamic spatial and temporal interplay between ocean physics, chemistry and biology. Multiple stressors including climate change, pollution and over-fishing affect the ocean and we need to better understand and predict their interactions and identify tipping points to decide on management priorities (Chapter 3). This should integrate our understanding of land-ocean-atmosphere processes and approaches to reducing impacts. An improved science base is also needed to help predict and minimize the impact of extreme events such as storm surges, heat waves, dynamic sea-floor processes and tsunamis (Chapter 4). New technologies, data handling and modelling approaches will help us to observe, understand and manage our use of the fourdimensional ocean and the effect of multiple stressors (Chapter 5). Addressing these issues requires a strategic, collective and holistic approach and we need to build a community of sustainability scientists that are able to provide evidence-based support to policy makers within the context of major societal challenges (Chapter 6). We outline new frontiers, knowledge gaps and recommendations needed to manage the ocean as a common good and to develop solutions for a sustainable future (Chapter 7). The governance of sustainability should be at the core of the marine research agenda through co-production and collaboration with stakeholders to identify priorities. There is need for a fully integrated scientific assessment of resilience strategies, associated trade-offs and underlying ethical concepts for the ocean, which should be incorporated into decision support frameworks that involve stakeholders from the outset. To allow the collection, processing and access to all data, a key priority is the development of a business model that ensures the long-term economic sustainability of ocean observations

The perceived effects of urban renewal initiatives, such as NDPG-funded capital projects, as reported by Mdantsane's businesses on their operations.

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Engineering and the Build Environment, University of the Witwatersrand, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Science in Development Planning, 2017As a result of apartheid planning, South Africa is left with a legacy of exclusionary planning, with many of its township areas still lacking necessary infrastructure, which has led to these areas lagging in development. Townships are one of the areas where this has been most evident and the post-apartheid government has the task of ensuring that their development is prioritised through public funding and public-private partnerships. The national government of South Africa has initiated a strategy to fund public infrastructure upgrades by funding local municipalities through the Neighbourhood Development Partnership Grant. The Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality as a recipient of this grant, has initiated projects in the Mdantsane Township to initiate infrastructure-led development and subsequently improve the lives of the township’s inhabitants. Considering that the Mdantsane Central Business District (CBD) has been in existence for many decades, this study seeks to learn what impact the Urban Renewal Programme (URP) has had on the business sector and Local Economic Development (LED). The aim of the NDPG is to counter the effects of exclusionary planning and alleviate poverty by making the area more conducive for businesses operators and attractive to private investors. The aim of this research report is to gain insight into the perceptions of business owners and operators of the upgraded township CBD. The challenges of BCMM officials are also detailed in the research in order to gain insight into the issues hindering the state from offering efficient service delivery and development. The qualitative research method is applied and interviews are utilised as a research tools. Municipal officials also give their input into the challenges faced by their respective offices when planning and implementing URP projects. Insight is gained into the complex relations that affect the planning and implementation of successful infrastructure led economic development. BCMM officials involved in Urban Renewal need to prioritise service delivery, providing support to SMEs, crime prevention, improving design of planned projects in addition to infrastructure provision.XL201