The fall and rise of the green economy

It is five years since the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) and its knock-on effects are still playing out in ways that are likely to have longer-term implications than those purely financial in nature; namely, its impact on the green agendas of governments and industries and the brake it has placed on an emerging green economy. The green economy has been identified as the next major long wave of structural economic and socio-technical change at a global level (see key reference list at end of article). It can be expected to exert a more significant triple bottom line impact than that of the information economy, the last major post-industrial societal transition whose emergence accelerated through the latter half of the 20th century and continues to exert transformational change today via its links with new media and communications, the knowledge economy and the creative economy. The drivers of a green economy are different but equally powerful and go to the heart of global sustainability in the 21st century: averting highly disruptive climate change, living within the finite resource limits of the planet, avoiding the environmental degradation currently associated with industrial and urban development, and supporting a projected nine billion population

An Experimental and Computational Study of Pulsating Flow within a Double Entry Turbine with Different Nozzle Settings

This thesis presents a detailed study of the performance of a nozzled, double entry turbine. This configuration is primarily found in the turbocharger application and encompasses two different entries, each feeding 180° of a single turbine wheel. The primary motives for this research are to enhance the knowledge and understanding of the behaviour of such a device under steady and pulsating flows including the effect of three different nozzle vane geometries. The work incorporates both experimental and computational analyses. Experimental results show that with unequal admission between the two volute entries the performance of the turbine is greatly affected compared to when both entries are flowing equally. A methodology was developed which successfully linked the unequal admission performance of the turbine to the full admission maps which are more readily available. Pulsating flow was found to affect the average performance of the turbine compared to the steady state characteristics. Examination of the instantaneous mass flow showed a large degree of mass storage in the turbine domain for all conditions of pulsating flow. A new parameter was developed based upon the conservation of mass in order to quantify unsteadiness taking into account both pulse amplitude and frequency. Steady and unsteady computational simulations were undertaken for one of the different nozzle configurations. Entropy generation rate was used to establish the distribution of loss within the turbine. In partial admission the loss distribution within the rotor wheel was found to be different to any case during full admission operation. Under pulsed flow conditions the computational analysis showed that the loss distribution changes throughout a pulse cycle showing that the flow regime will also undergo a large change. The loss distribution within the rotor wheel at one point within the pulse cycle was found to be very similar the equivalent steady state condition.Open Acces

Making 'better stem' happen: the role of the MaSciL project

‘Too often in secondary schools, science has seemed to students, parents and teachers to be quite separate from the rest of the curriculum and from the realities of everyday life; it has often seemed remote, clinical and inaccessible. The unique and distinctive features of science have, perhaps, been emphasised to such a degree that they have served to isolate the subject, making it difficult for all but a minority of students to gain much pleasure or satisfaction from its study’(Secondary Science Curriculum Review (SSCR), 1987, p.1). This paper describes aspects of Project ‘MaSciL’ (Mathematics and Science for Life), which is aimed at promoting the widespread use of inquiry-based science teaching in primary and secondary schools in Europe by connecting mathematics and science education to the world of work. MaSciL is one of several recent European Community (EC)-funded projects aimed at promoting a widespread use of inquiry-based science education (IBSE). Here, we explain the broader context in which the MaSciL project is located. Next, we examine the particular focus of the Project on the ‘world of work’ (WoW) and describe the development of a professional development toolkit for use with pre and in-service mathematics and science teachers. We describe how the toolkit can help to support professional learning communities (PLCs) of science teachers and, finally, we consider how the MaSciL project can serve to support developments in science teacher education in England

Making 'better stem' happen: the role of the MaSciL project

‘Too often in secondary schools, science has seemed to students, parents and teachers to be quite separate from the rest of the curriculum and from the realities of everyday life; it has often seemed remote, clinical and inaccessible. The unique and distinctive features of science have, perhaps, been emphasised to such a degree that they have served to isolate the subject, making it difficult for all but a minority of students to gain much pleasure or satisfaction from its study’(Secondary Science Curriculum Review (SSCR), 1987, p.1). This paper describes aspects of Project ‘MaSciL’ (Mathematics and Science for Life), which is aimed at promoting the widespread use of inquiry-based science teaching in primary and secondary schools in Europe by connecting mathematics and science education to the world of work. MaSciL is one of several recent European Community (EC)-funded projects aimed at promoting a widespread use of inquiry-based science education (IBSE). Here, we explain the broader context in which the MaSciL project is located. Next, we examine the particular focus of the Project on the ‘world of work’ (WoW) and describe the development of a professional development toolkit for use with pre and in-service mathematics and science teachers. We describe how the toolkit can help to support professional learning communities (PLCs) of science teachers and, finally, we consider how the MaSciL project can serve to support developments in science teacher education in England

Critical connections: The role of the built environment sector in delivering green cities and a green economy

The green agenda for cities and the economy in general is a major focus of global institutions and is increasingly a major national and urban priority. Core issues and best practice for built environment businesses were collated from published studies and used in a survey of Australian firms to see how committed they were to the green economy. The results show high awareness of the challenges and opportunities with 85% of firms having sustainability as an established agenda with senior management and over 20% of built environment firms deriving more than 50% of their sales from green products and services. This is much higher in design firms and is globally high. Whilst recognizing the scope for more engagement by industry in transitioning to a low carbon green economy, there is doubt within the built environment sector about how to create a business case for innovative green ventures and a lack of certainty or encouragement from government about how to proceed

Livelihood transitions in low- and middle-income countries: From animal agriculture to alternative proteins

* This report provides insights into whether and how it is possible for commercial livestock producers and other people involved in the animal agriculture sector to transition to other livelihoods and sources of income, if and when there is a dietary and market shift away from animal-sourced foods and towards alternative proteins. Brazil is used as a case study. * Key lessons learned: (1) Relatively few examples of farmers and ranchers having actually transitioned out of animal agriculture into alternative protein production. (2) No examples of transition programs supporting farmer transitions away from animal agriculture in low- and middle-income countries. (3) Potential challenges and barriers for farmers include economic viability, lack of knowledge, skepticism or judgment from other farmers. (4) But some farmers recognize that growing crops can be less labor intensive and an integrated crop-livestock farming system can be beneficial.* The conclusion is that characterizing the opportunities and risks for livestock farmers is necessarily speculative. It is difficult to state with any certainty how likely any one outcome is, or on what timescale or magnitude. Nonetheless, being proactive rather than reactive, thinking through, and systematically generating awareness of possible outcomes (both positive and negative) is a necessary if insufficient step towards being able to guide actions that could secure the best-possible futures for farmers.