Language Revitalization: The case of Judeo-Spanish varieties in Macedonia

Judeo-Spanish is a secondary dialect of the Spanish language having evolved from the ancient standard Spanish in the course of its expansion southwards. Although the language enjoys a heritage and presence in the Balkans of over five centuries, it is now facing language death – its acuteness depending on the region. In Macedonia,1 the two varieties of Bitola and Skopje last documented by Kolonomos (1962) need to be labelled “moribund” or “nearly extinct”. This paper aims to point out some of the aspects relevant to the author’s doctoral research study, in which a documentation of the current language status of Judeo-Spanish in Macedonia is envisaged. The deliberations look at the reasons for language endangerment and at the same time evaluate possibilities and opportunities for language revitalization – what priorities are to be set, what role do linguists and especially the community play, what is the approach, what are skills, methods, and steps to be taken into consideration to ensure not only a documentation of the language, but also and foremost its conservation and revitalization.National Foreign Language Resource Cente

The Influence of the EU Environmental Management and Auditing Scheme on Environmental Innovations and Competitiveness in Germany: An Analysis on the Basis of Case Studies and a Large-Scale Survey

This paper investigates the effects of the EU Environmental Management and Auditing Scheme (EMAS) on environmental innovations and competitiveness in German facilities. It comprises twelve in-depth case studies and telephone interviews with 1277 EMAS-validated facilities. The surveys show a positive influence of EMAS on environmental organisational, process and product innovations. Moreover, the environmental report supports the diffusion of environmental innovations. The econometric analysis with binary probit models shows a significant positive impact of the maturity of environmental management systems on environmental innovations. Another determinant of environmental innovations is the strong participation of specific departments in further development of EMAS, especially of the R&D department. An effect of strategic importance of EMAS on market success could not be confirmed. Facilities with high learning processes by environmental management systems however have a significantly better performance concerning turnover and exports. --Environmental management systems,environmental innovation,technological progress,cleaner production

Auf die frühen Phasen kommt es an!

Die Produktgestaltung ist ein bedeutendes umweltpolitisches Instrument in Unternehmen. Durch sie werden die mit den Produkten verbundenen Ressour­cenbeanspruchungen und Umweltbelastungen festgelegt. Das Ziel ökologischer Produktgestaltung ist es, negative Umwelteinwirkungen, die ein Produkt ent­lang der Produktlinie verursacht, bereits in der Produktentwicklung zu vermei­den oder zu verringern. Wie das Unternehmensbeispiel AEG zeigt, lassen sich hier noch viele Potenziale erschließen

Dem Markt kräftig eingeheizt

Drei Prozent der Wärme in Deutschland wird aus Biomasse erzeugt. Dies ist das Zehnfache ihres Anteils an der Stromerzeugung. Dabei standen Holzheizungen und Kamine lange in dem Ruf, ineffizient und mit Gesundheits- und Geruchsbeeinträchtigungen verbunden zu sein. In den letzten Jahren wurden jedoch bei Holzpelletheizungen große Entwicklungsfortschritte gemacht

The Influence of the EU Environmental Management and Auditing Scheme on Environmental Innovations and Competitiveness in Germany : An Analysis on the Basis of Case Studies and a Large-Scale Survey

This paper investigates the effects of the EU Environmental Management and Auditing Scheme(EMAS) on environmental innovations and competitiveness in German facilities. It comprises twelve in-depth case studies and telephone interviews with 1277 EMAS-validated facilities. The surveys show a positive influence of EMAS on environmental organisational, process and product innovations. Moreover, the environmental report supports the diffusion of environmental innovations. The econometric analysis with binary probit models shows a significant positive impact of the maturity of environmental management systems on environmental innovations. Another determinant of environmental innovations is the strong participation of specific departments in further development of EMAS, especially of the R&D department. An effect of strategic importance of EMAS on market success could not be confirmed. Facilities with high learning processes by environmental management systems however have a significantly better performance concerning turnover and exports

Die Chance für nachhaltige (Unternehmens-)Entwicklung?

Die Einbindung von NutzerInnen in die Produktentwicklung kann dazu beitragen, dass sowohl auf Nutzer- als auch auf Unternehmensseite Lernprozesse in Richtung Nachhaltigkeit stattfinden. So lautet zumindest das Credo partizipativer Produktentwicklung. Ob die Integration des Alltagswissens der NutzerInnen über den Gebrauch eines Produkts in die Produktenwicklung ein klimafreundliches Produkt entstehen lässt, wird momentan untersucht

Nachhaltigkeitsberichte: Wer schreibt sie und warum?

Einführung in das Schwerpunktthem