The case for localised energy management to support resilient cities

Localised energy generation, ownership and management provide a mechanism to address issues of affordability, energy security, infrastructure resilience and the need to reduce greenhouse gases emissions. There is potential for the growth of community energy schemes in the UK. However, small to medium-sized schemes find it hard to compete with large energy providers. Energy Service Companies (ESCOs) are created to manage the local production and distribution of energy. In Nottingham, the Meadows Ozone Energy Services (MOZES) is a community owned organisation that aims to reduce their carbon footprint, support experimentation and learning in relation to sustainable energy, support energy self sufficiency, help to provide access to affordable energy, and contribute to socio-economic development. In this paper, the authors described some of the benefits that an ESCO can bring to a community drawing on examples from MOZES. The benefits and challenges associated with the implementation of community energy schemes were examined and the results of a questionnaire administered to residents of the Meadows community are presented for the first time. Conclusions are drawn and recommendations are made on how the model developed by MOZES in Nottingham can benefit other communities and contribute to resilient cities for the wider development of distributed energy storage in the UK

The case for localised energy management to support resilient cities

Localised energy generation, ownership and management provide a mechanism to address issues of affordability, energy security, infrastructure resilience and the need to reduce greenhouse gases emissions. There is potential for the growth of community energy schemes in the UK. However, small to medium-sized schemes find it hard to compete with large energy providers. Energy Service Companies (ESCOs) are created to manage the local production and distribution of energy. In Nottingham, the Meadows Ozone Energy Services (MOZES) is a community owned organisation that aims to reduce their carbon footprint, support experimentation and learning in relation to sustainable energy, support energy self sufficiency, help to provide access to affordable energy, and contribute to socio-economic development. In this paper, the authors described some of the benefits that an ESCO can bring to a community drawing on examples from MOZES. The benefits and challenges associated with the implementation of community energy schemes were examined and the results of a questionnaire administered to residents of the Meadows community are presented for the first time. Conclusions are drawn and recommendations are made on how the model developed by MOZES in Nottingham can benefit other communities and contribute to resilient cities for the wider development of distributed energy storage in the UK

School Feeding Programs in Middle Childhood and Adolescence

Almost every country in the world has a national school feeding program to provide daily snacks or meals to school-attending children and adolescents. The interven- tions reach an estimated 368 million children and ado- lescents globally. The total investment in the intervention is projected to be as much as US$75 billion annually (WFP 2013), largely from government budgets. School feeding may contribute to multiple objectives, including social safety nets, education, nutrition, health, and local agriculture. Its contribution to education objectives is well recognized and documented, while its role as a social safety net was underscored following the food and fuel crises of 2007 and 2008 (Bundy and others 2009). In terms of health and nutrition, school feeding contributes to the continuum of development by build- ing on investments made earlier in the life course, including maternal and infant health interventions and early child development interventions (see chapter 7 in this volume, Alderman and others 2017). School feeding may also help leverage global efforts to enhance the inclusiveness of education for out-of-school children, adolescent girls, and disabled persons, as called for in the Sustainable Development Goals (see chapter 17 in this volume, Graham and others 2017). Although the Disease Control Priorities series focuses on low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), evidence from high-income countries (HICs) is included because of the near universality of school feeding and the insights that inclusion can provide as economies develop. For example, the design of school feeding in countries under- going the nutrition transition 1 may provide some lessons on how to shift from providing access to sufficient calo- ries to promoting healthful diets and dietary behaviors for children and adolescents (WFP 2013). Agricultural development has increasingly gained attention. It is clear that to enable the transition to sus- tainable, scalable government-run programs, the inclu- sion of the agricultural sector is essential (Bundy and others 2009; Drake and others 2016). Accounting for the full benefits of school feeding through cost- effectiveness and benefit-cost analysis is challenging, similar to other complex interventions, but undertaking this accounting is critical for assessing the tradeoffs with competing investments. This chapter reviews the evidence about how school feeding meets these objectives and provides some indi- cation of costs in relation to benefits. The costs of the intervention are well established; estimates that encompass all the benefits of school feeding are more challenging. The benefits must be quantified and translated to the same unit to allow for aggregation. Moreover, how school feeding interventions are designed and implemented varies significantly across countries. Given that delivery of school feeding often involves multiple sectors, common policy frameworks and cross-sectoral coordination are required to achieve maximum benefit (Bundy and others 2009). Several other chapters in the volume highlight school feeding. These include chapter 11 (Lassi, Moin, and Bhutta 2017), chapter 20 (Bundy and others 2017), chapter 22 (Plaut and others 2017), and chapter 25 (Fernandes and Aurino 2017)

Profits and pragmatism: The commercial lives of market universities in Kenya and Uganda

The increased commercialization of higher education is a theme that has attracted considerable global attention. In response to changes in traditional sources of funding, many universities, public and private, have opted to source revenue from the marketplace. This article delves into the complexities of the entry into the marketplace by Kenyan and Ugandan universities. The local and international impetus for this movement in both countries and not in Tanzania are discussed, the perverseness and limits of commercialization delineated, and the positive and negative consequences of commercialization chronicled, all within the shifting global paradigm of higher education development. The Kenyan and Ugandan context cautions that ensuring a healthy mix between entry into the marketplace and the retention of the core mission of universities remains a critical challenge for governments and university administrators

Re-Imagining School Feeding : A High-Return Investment in Human Capital and Local Economies

Analysis shows that a quality education, combined with a guaranteed package of health and nutrition interventions at school, such as school feeding, can contribute to child and adolescent development and build human capital. School feeding programs can help get children into school and help them stay there, increasing enrollment and reducing absenteeism. Once children are in the classroom, these programs can contribute to their learning by avoiding hunger and enhancing cognitive abilities. The benefits are especially great for the poorest and most disadvantaged children. As highlighted in the World Bank’s 2018 World Development Report (World Bank 2018), countries need to prioritize learning, not just schooling. Children must be healthy, not hungry, if they are to match learning opportunities with the ability to learn. In the most vulnerable communities, nutrition-sensitive school meals can offer children a regular source of nutrients that are essential for their mental and physical development. And for the growing number of countries with a “double burden” of undernutrition and emerging obesity problems, well-designed school meals can help set children on the path toward more healthy diets. In Latin America, for example, where there is a growing burden of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), school feeding programs are a key intervention in reducing undernutrition and promoting healthy diet choices. Mexico’s experience reducing sugary beverages in school cafeterias, for example, was found to be beneficial in advancing a healthy lifestyle. A large trial of school-based interventions in China also found that nutritional or physical activity interventions alone are not as effective as a joint program that combines nutritional and educational interventions. In poor communities, economic benefits from school feeding programs are also evident—reducing poverty by boosting income for households and communities as a whole. For families, the value of meals in school is equivalent to about 10 percent of a household’s income. For families with several children, that can mean substantial savings. As a result, school feeding programs are often part of social safety nets in poor countries, and they can be a stable way to reliably target pro-poor investments into communities, as well as a system that can be scaled up rapidly to respond to crises. There are also direct economic benefits for smallholder farmers in the community. Buying local food creates stable markets, boosting local agriculture, impacting rural transformation, and strengthening local food systems. In Brazil, for example, 30 percent of all purchases for school feeding come from smallholder agriculture (Drake and others 2016). These farmers are oftentimes parents with schoolchildren, helping them break intergenerational cycles of hunger and poverty. Notably, benefits to households and communities offer important synergies. The economic growth in poor communities helps provide stability and better-quality education and health systems that promote human capital. At the same time, children and adolescents grow up to enjoy better employment and social opportunities as their communities grow

Mainstreaming climate education in Higher Education Institutions. COP26 Universities Network Working Paper.

No abstract available

Are laws the appropriate solution: The need to adopt non-policy measures in aid of the implementation of sex discrimination laws in Nigeria

Gender inequality is a social problem facing women all over the world and is a barrier to human development. The United Nations commits to achieving gender equality and empowering women and girls and have adopted the Sustainable Development Goals to achieve gender equality by 2030. Nigeria, a Member State of the United Nations has ratified international and regional instruments which advocate for the protection and promotion of the rights of women and girls. Though some progress has been made to reduce inequality, discrimination remains a problem to women and is exacerbated by factors such as culture, religion, social practices and discriminatory laws. This study seeks to add to the discourse on gender inequality in Nigeria and examine the effectiveness of available domestic and international provisions against sex discrimination when considered against ingrained cultural attitudes, beliefs and discriminatory laws. The study found that amongst other determinants, culture and religion were constant features in the different forms of discrimination Nigerian women face and they were the primary reasons the proposals to pass gender equality laws were opposed and failed. The study proposes the need to adopt non-policy measures such as education and awareness-raising as additional measures to eliminating discrimination and promoting equalit