NEWS

Inhalt: Regionale Aktivitäten: Fachsymposium: Strandmanagement; Die Bedeutung regionaler Netzwerke; Hanse Sail Business Forum; RADOST-Workshop Netzwerkbildung; In den Strand investieren – das Beispiel Kühlungsborn; Konferenz zu Extremwetterereignissen; Internationale Aktivitäten: UN-Klimakonferenz in Cancún; Neues Projekt: Regionale Verfügbarkeit von Klimadaten; Summer School in Warnemünde; Publikatione

RADOST Akteursanalyse - Teil 2 : Auswertung der Befragung von Akteuren aus Politik, Verwaltung und Zivilgesellschaft

Das RADOST-Projekt zielt darauf ab, zur Entwicklung von Anpassungsstrategien an den Klimawandel an der deutschen Osteeküste beizutragen. Das Forschungsprojekt soll dabei auch Dialogprozesse vor Ort anstoßen, um die Erarbeitung von Anpassungsstrategien voranzutreiben und zu koordinieren. Dafür wurde analysiert, welche Akteure vor Ort relevant sind (und bspw. Gestaltungskompetenzen haben) oder als relevant empfunden werden (also Einfluss auf Wahrnehmung und Einstellung haben), welche Akteure welche Kompetenzen haben und welche Haltungen die Akteure zum Klimawandel haben

NEWS [English Version]

Content: Regional Activities: Symposium: Beach management; The significance of regional networks; Hanse Sail Business Forum; RADOST-Workshop on Network Building; Investing in beaches – Adaptation activities in Kühlungsborn; Conference on extreme weather events; International Activities: UN Climate Change Conference in Cancún; New project: Regional availability of climate data; Summer School in Warnemünde; Publication

Farmers’ acceptance of further strengthening of private certification systems

In their continuous quest for ecologic improvements, private voluntary certification initiatives might undermine the willingness to continue of the participating farmers. In this research, the ecologic contribution and the farmers’ acceptance of changing the pesticide policy of a private certification initiative is presented. To measure the perceived farmers’ disutility, the choice preference technique is used. We can conclude that there is room for ecologic improvements but that farmers are in general change averse, primarily because of the fear that price compensation will remain largely absent.choice preference, pesticides, certification, Crop Production/Industries, Demand and Price Analysis,

Developing Ecologic Spin-Offs: Strategic Option for Achieving Performance in Energy Industries

The paper aims to emphasize the usefulness of applying an emergent concept in the economic literature (the ecologic spin-off) as main instrument for restructuring the national energy industry, under the circumstances of the increasing pressures provided both by the national and international environment, focused either upon the greenhouse gas emissions reduction or upon the active promotion of energy efficiency principles. The article highlights the fact that the mere existence of an energy market, assumed to operate similar to capital markets, where are supposed to be traded green certificates, may prove inefficient unless rigorous mechanisms for guiding the transition from the classic organization structure of the energy industry towards a new, modern and competitive organization model are being developed. In this context, the ecologic spinoffs may prove to be a main strategic option for ensuring the development of a competitive and efficient energy industry, very similar to the energy industries operating within most of the European Union member countries.spin-off, ecologic spin-off, energy sector, strategy, performance, efficiency, competitiveness.

Methodological Frontiers in Environmental Epidemiology

Environmental epidemiology comprises the epidemiologic study of those environmental factors that are outside the immediate control of the individual. Exposures of interest to environmental epidemiologists include air pollution, water pollution, occupational exposure to physical and chemical agents, as well as psychosocial elements of environmental concern. The main methodologic problem in environmental epidemiology is exposure assessment, a problem that extends through all of epidemiologic research but looms as a towering obstacle in environmental epidemiology. One of the most promising developments in improving exposure assessment in environmental epidemiology is to find exposure biomarkers, which could serve as built-in dosimeters that reflect the biologic footprint left behind by environmental exposures. Beyond exposure assessment, epidemiologists studying environmental exposures face the difficulty of studying small effects that may be distorted by confounding that eludes easy control. This challenge may prompt reliance on new study designs, such as two-stage designs in which exposure and disease information are collected in the first stage, and covariate information is collected on a subset of subjects in state two. While the analytic methods already available for environmental epidemiology are powerful, analytic methods for ecologic studies need further development. This workshop outlines the range of methodologic issues that environmental epidemiologists must address so that their work meets the goals set by scientists and society at large