An Unternehmenswerten und politischem Rahmen ansetzen

Die Sustainable Balanced Scorecard verspricht mehr Nachhaltigkeit in der Un­ternehmensführung. Für ihre maximale Wirkung muss die gesamte Strategie eines Unternehmens mit Hilfe der Scorecard optimiert werden. Ein ebenso wichtiger Erfolgsfaktor sind besonders für kleine und mittlere Unternehmen langfristig stabile Rahmenbedingungen

Energiesparberatung im Kiez: Evaluation des Projektes clevererKIEZ e.V.

In Deutschland haben einige Millionen Haushalte Schwierigkeiten, ihre Energierechnung zu bezahlen. Ein Lösungsansatz liegt in der Energieberatung. Das Projekt clevererKIEZ basierte auf einem integrativen Konzept, welches arbeitsmarkt- sowie sozial- und umweltpolitische Ziele miteinander verknüpft. Im Rahmen einer intensiven Schulungsmaßnahme qualifizierten sich Langzeitarbeitslose zu Energieberatern. Zwischen 2010 und 2013 nahmen über 1000 Haushalte am Projekt teil. Der Bericht stellt das Projekt vor und erläutert die Ergebnisse der summativen Evaluation. Im Mittelpunkt stehen die Schwerpunktbereiche: 1. Nutzeranalyse der am Projekt teilnehmenden Haushalte, 2. Analyse des Energieverbrauches sowie der Einsparerfolge, 3. Feedback der eingesetzten Energiesparberater und 4. Auswertung der Öffentlichkeitsarbeit.In Germany, millions of households have problems to pay the energy bill. Providing energy saving advice is one approach to solve the problem. The project was based on an integrative concept linking objectives of labor market policy with social and environmental targets. During intensive training courses, long-term unemployed were qualified as energy consultants. Between 2010 and 2013, more than one thousand households participated in the project. The report presents the project and explains the findings of the summative evaluation. The core elements are: 1. user analysis of households participating in the project, 2. analysis of energy consumption and annual cost reductions, 3. feedback from energy consultants, and 4. evaluation of public relations

Understanding adaptive capacity of smallholder African indigenous vegetable farmers to climate change in Kenya

Understanding the adaptive capacity (AC) of farmers is crucial to planning effective adaptation. Action to promote farmers’ AC is required because climate change (CC) is resulting in unpredictable alterations in weather patterns. Based on the sustainable livelihoods framework (SLF), this study explored how access to natural, physical, financial, social and human capitals enhances the AC. Quantitative data from 269 African indigenous vegetable (AIV) farmers in three selected agro-climatic zones in Kenya were analysed. Four indicators in each capital were selected based on previous studies and judgments collected from an expert online ranking survey (n = 35). The Kruskal-Wallis H test and an independent sample t-test were used to test the independence of AC scores and access to the different resources. The findings showed that the majority of farmers (53%) had a moderate AC, while fewer (32%) and (15%) had low or high AC levels respectively. Disparities in adaptive capacity scores were recorded between respondents in terms of their age, marital status and location. Farmers had high access to social capital but low access to financial, natural and human capitals. Female farmers showed lower capacities in the areas of financial, human and natural resources, while their male counterparts had low access to some human and social capitals. Resilient interventions that target individuals with low adaptive capacities are required. © 2020 The Author

Wegweiser Nachhaltigkeit

Zwar ist der Begriff Nachhaltigkeit in aller Munde, doch vermag kaum jemand damit in der Praxis wirklich etwas anzufangen. Die Auseinandersetzung darüber, welche Verantwortung Unternehmen als Teil des gesellschaftlichen Systems dabei zukommen soll, steht noch ganz am Anfang. Aktuelle Ergebnisse einer Studie zeigen zumindest eine Wegrichtung auf

The impact of social status inconsistency on cardiovascular risk factors, myocardial infarction and stroke in the EPIC-Heidelberg cohort

BACKGROUND: Social inequalities in cardiovascular diseases are well documented. Yet, the relation of social status inconsistency (having different ranks in two or more status indicators like education, occupational position or income) and medical conditions of heart or vessels is not clear. Status inconsistency (SI) is assumed to be stressful, and the association of psychosocial distress and health is well known. Therefore, we aimed to analyze the relationship between cardiovascular diseases (CVD) and status inconsistency. Another target was to assess the influence of behaviour related risk factors on this association. METHODS: 8960 men and 6070 women, aged 45-65 years, from the EPIC-Heidelberg cohort (European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition) were included. Socio-economic status was assessed by education/vocational training and occupational position at recruitment. During a median follow-up of 8.7 years, information on CVD was collected. RESULTS: Compared to status consistent subjects, men who were in a higher occupational position than could be expected given their educational attainment had a nearly two-fold increased incidence of CVD (Odds Ratio (OR) = 1.8, 95% Confidence Interval (CI) = 1.5; 2.4, adjusted for age). Smoking behaviour and BMI differed significantly between those who had adequate occupational positions and those who did not. Yet, these lifestyle factors, as opposed to age, did not contribute to the observed differences in CVD. No association of cardiovascular diseases and status inconsistency was found for women or in cases where education exceeded occupational position. CONCLUSIONS: Status inconsistent men (occupational position > education) had a higher risk of cardiovascular diseases than status consistent men. However, harmful behaviour did not explain this relationship

The impact of education on risk factors and the occurrence of multimorbidity in the EPIC-Heidelberg cohort

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In aging populations, the prevalence of multimorbidity is high, and the role of socioeconomic status and its correlates is not well described. Thus, we investigated the association between educational attainment and multimorbidity in a prospective cohort study, taking also into account intermediate factors that could explain such associations.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We included 13,781 participants of the Heidelberg cohort of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC), who were 50–75 years at the end of follow-up. Information on diet and lifestyle was collected at recruitment (1994–1998). During a median follow-up of 8.7 years, information on chronic conditions and death were collected.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Overall, the prevalence of multimorbidity (>= 2 concurrent chronic diseases) was 67.3%. Compared to the highest educational category, the lowest was statistically significantly associated with increased odds of multimorbidity in men (OR = 1.43; 95% CI 1.28–1.61) and women (OR = 1.33; 95% CI 1.18–1.57). After adjustment, the positive associations were attenuated (men: OR = 1.28; 95% CI 1.12–1.46; women: OR = 1.16; 95% CI 0.99–1.36). Increasing BMI was more strongly than smoking status an intermediate factor in the association between education and multimorbidity.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>In this German population, the prevalence of multimorbidity is high and is significantly associated with educational level. Increasing BMI is the most important predictor of this association. However, even the fully adjusted model, i.e. considering also other known risk factors for chronic diseases, could not entirely explain socio-economic inequalities in multimorbidity. Educational level should be considered in the development and implementation of prevention strategies of multimorbidity.</p

Effects of phenotypes in heterocyclic aromatic amine (HCA) metabolism-related genes on the association of HCA intake with the risk of colorectal adenomas

Background: Heterocyclic aromatic amines (HCA), formed by high-temperature cooking of meat, are well-known risk factors for colorectal cancer (CRC). Enzymes metabolizing HCAs may influence the risk of CRC depending on the enzyme activity level. We aimed to assess effect modification by polymorphisms in the HCA-metabolizing genes on the association of HCA intake with colorectal adenoma (CRA) risk, which are precursors of CRC. Methods: A case-control study nested in the EPIC-Heidelberg cohort was conducted. Between 1994 and 2005, 413 adenoma cases were identified and 796 controls were matched to cases. Genotypes were determined and used to predict phenotypes (i.e., enzyme activities). Odds ratios (OR) and corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated by logistic regression analysis. Results: CRA risk was positively associated with PhIP, MeIQx, and DiMeIQx (p trend=0.006, 0.022, and 0.045, respectively) intake. SULT1A1 phenotypes modified the effect of MeIQx on CRA risk (p Interaction>0.01) such that the association of MeIQx intake with CRA was stronger for slow than for normal phenotypes. Other modifying effects by phenotypes did not reach statistical significance. Conclusions: HCA intake is positively associated with CRA risk, regardless of phenotypes involved in the metabolizing process. Due to the number of comparisons made in the analysis, the modifying effect of SULT1A1 on the association of HCA intake with CRA risk may be due to chanc