A GIS Suitability Analysis of The Potential for Rooftop Agriculture in New York City

Urban agriculture and the capacity to grow food in urban landscapes has become a significant aspect of sustainable development especially in New York City. Urban agriculture is part of the larger idea of green infrastructure, which has environmental benefits ranging from reducing storm-water runoff, mitigating the urban heat island effect, reducing the need for energy intensive cooling systems in the summer months and increasing biodiversity. Urban agricultural projects have gained traction in progressive cities across North America like San Francisco, CA, Portland, OR and Vancouver, BC, Canada. New York City presents many challenges to urban agriculture, primarily the lack of open space for commercial urban farms due to the dense built landscape. In response to this issue, New York City has looked to rooftops for urban agriculture solutions. A handful of rooftop farms already exist in the city, most notable Brooklyn Grange and Gotham Greens, which are two of the most successful urban farms in the world. This study looks at the potential for rooftop urban agriculture in New York City through a GIS analysis. The model utilizes publicly available datasets to identify the buildings with the greatest potential for rooftop farms, greenhouses, or intensive green roofs. The model subsequently also identifies roofs with the structural potential for extensive non-agricultural green roofs. The model focuses on the North Brooklyn Industrial Business Zone on the south side of Newtown Creek and has identified over 50 acres of suitable roof space for agricultural projects. The results of this model will hopefully spur investment and increase awareness about the potential for urban agriculture and green roofing infrastructure among the public, policy makers, advocacy groups, and investors

Curriculum reform in UK economics: A critique

This paper offers a multi-dimensional critique of recent reforms to UK Economics curricular frameworks. The paper assesses the reforms in terms of their extent and the positions taken within them on their approach to economics, treatment of politics, and, crucially, educational philosophy. Despite claims of innovation and new epistemological caution in the wake of the global financial crisis, the reforms are found to be minor and superficial. The CORE programme and the revised Subject Benchmark Statement document for Economics still ignore educational philosophy; yet they are implicitly educationally instrumental and remain limitedly pluralist. Our conclusions are buttressed by contrasts made between UK reforms and the curriculum architecture found in the Brazilian system

Whither political economy? Evaluating the CORE project as a response to calls for change in economics teaching

This article offers a critique of a major recent initiative in economics teaching: the CORE project. CORE emerged in the wake of the global financial crisis, which was also something of a crisis for economics. The article deploys four evaluative criteria to pose four questions of CORE that address the demands of the student movement. CORE claims to be innovative and responsive to criticism. However, the article concludes that its reforms are relatively minor and superficial. CORE, like curricula that preceded the global financial crisis, still exhibits limited pluralism, ignores power and politics, and ignores key educational goals. Despite its opportunity to do so, CORE has not opened up space within economics for the teaching of political economy

Northern Bobwhite Nest Site Selection in Field Borders

Field borders are used to supplement early successional habitat critical for northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) nesting that is lost to modern intensive agricultural practices. The suitability of field border habitat for nesting may be affected by microhabitat characteristics at the site and patch scale and placement relative to various land-cover types at the landscape scale. We sought to determine whether bobwhite select nest locations at site, patch, and landscape scales. We collected microhabitat data (stem density, percent cover, and ground composition) and distance to land-cover type data (woody edge, crop, ditch, and road) from 26 bobwhite nests and 26 control sites in field borders in North Carolina, USA, during 2010 and 2011. We modeled nest site selection by comparing nests with random locations using conditional logistic regression at the site scale and logistic regression at the combined patch–landscape scale. We performed model selection using the small sample Akaike’s Information Criterion (AICc). The top site-scale model showed that bobwhite selected for the presence of woody cover and avoided open soil at the nest. There was no clear top model at the combined patch–landscape level. In an agriculture-dominated landscape, managers should focus on microhabitat characteristics of field borders to improve suitability for bobwhite nesting

Northern Bobwhite Nest Site Selection in Field Borders

Field borders are used to supplement early successional habitat critical for northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) nesting that is lost to modern intensive agricultural practices. The suitability of field border habitat for nesting may be affected by microhabitat characteristics at the site and patch scale and placement relative to various land-cover types at the landscape scale. We sought to determine whether bobwhite select nest locations at site, patch, and landscape scales. We collected microhabitat data (stem density, percent cover, and ground composition) and distance to land-cover type data (woody edge, crop, ditch, and road) from 26 bobwhite nests and 26 control sites in field borders in North Carolina, USA, during 2010 and 2011. We modeled nest site selection by comparing nests with random locations using conditional logistic regression at the site scale and logistic regression at the combined patch–landscape scale. We performed model selection using the small sample Akaike’s Information Criterion (AICc). The top site-scale model showed that bobwhite selected for the presence of woody cover and avoided open soil at the nest. There was no clear top model at the combined patch–landscape level. In an agriculture-dominated landscape, managers should focus on microhabitat characteristics of field borders to improve suitability for bobwhite nesting

Strengthening Medical Care for Young People in the Netherlands:A Reflection

To improve medical care for young people in the Netherlands, various professional groups representing physicians who provide medical care to children have developed a vision called ‘strengthening medical care for young people’. The purpose of this viewpoint is to reflect on the implementation of proposals to augment cooperation and coordination between the professional groups involved. Our reflection demonstrates that additional action regarding cooperation and coordination is still necessary to strengthen this care for young people. First, regarding the practical implementation of collaboration, the guidelines are unclear, and many are out-of-date. Second, adequate structured interdisciplinary training and intervision are lacking for physicians frequently collaborating in the care of young people. Third, interdisciplinary access to patient files is too complex and time-consuming. We recommend structured monitoring of the implementation of all improvement proposals, regarding both processes and outcomes. In addition, we recommend collaboration with physicians treating mentally disabled individuals to improve medical care for this group