An environmental impact assessment of urbanisation in the Erongo Region, Namibia

Bibliography: pages 97-102.The assessment conducted in this dissertation was shaped by the intended formulation of an Integrated Coastal Zone Management Plan (ICZMP), as proposed by the Danish Co-operation for Environment and Development. An ICZMP provides an integrated and holistic approach to planning, in which the various activities and resource demands that occur within the coastal belt and neighbouring regions are appropriately coordinated. The first phase of the formulation of this management plan entailed the compilation of a baseline report summarising the present state of the environment in the study area, with particular emphasis on the major issues which will require attention in an ICZMP. This study was undertaken by Masters students from the Department of Environmental and Geographical Science at the University of Cape Town. The study area is located within the coastal belt of Namibia's Erongo Region, and more specifically within the magisterial districts of Swakopmund and Walvis Bay (Map 3). This includes the National West Coast Tourist Recreation Area and a portion of the Namib Naukluft Park. The southern boundary extends to the Sandwich Harbour, while the northern boundary extends to the southern bank of the Ugab River. The eastern perimeter is that of the Swakopmund magisterial district, and includes the municipal areas of Walvis Bay, Henties Bay and Arandis, together with Rossing Mine and its immediate environment. The seaward boundary is defined by the three nautical mile limit from shore. The Baseline Report: Coastal Zone Management Plan for the Erongo Region, Namibia was submitted to DANCED in March 1996. The findings of the investigation, as recorded in the report, highlight a number of issues which require urgent attention in the ICZMP. One such issue concerns the rapid influx of migrants to the urban centres in the study area. Population is a determining factor which significantly influences the functioning of other key sectors within a given location. As such, an understanding of the ramifications of increased population numbers is imperative to the formulation of an ICZMP. The objective of this dissertation was, therefore, to identify the factors generating rapid migration to the study area, and to facilitate an assessment of the impacts of this phenomenon. Once identified and assessed, these impacts can be better managed within a holistic, integrated framework

Design and development of Taeneb City Guide - from paper maps and guidebooks to electronic guides

This paper reports the design, development and feedback from the initial trial of the Taeneb City Guide project developing tourist information software on Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) handheld computers. Based on the users' requirements for electronic tourists guides already published in the literature, the paper focuses on the three main technology features of the systems, which would give the advantage over the existing paper publication: query-able dynamic map interface, dynamic information content and community review systems and users' forum. The paper also reports the results of an initial trial of a City Guide for Glasgow conducted as part of the EMAC 03 conference

From national to international health policy making:Lessons learned from ASPHER’s covid-19 task force.

ASPHER, (Association of Public Health Schools in the WHO European Region), convened a COVID-19 Task Force (TF) in early 2020. TF has involved over 60 experts, 30 member schools, more than 20 countries across four continents, supported by young professionals (YPs). The COVID-19 TF became a unique expert forum for mutual support, sharing, reviewing, and presenting evidence on epidemiological, technical, societal, and political dimensions of the COVID-19 pandemic across Europe. Working with European and national health authorities and non-governmental organisations (NGOs), it prompted and supported the coordination of policy responses across WHO European Region. * Drawing on members’ collective knowledge and expertise, the TF produced a significant body of work on different public health aspects of the pandemic and gaps in responses. Since its inception, the TF has produced more than 30 peer-reviewed publications, regular position statements, reports on topics from personal to planetary protection including: face masks, testing, tracking, vaccination, health inequalities, safe schools, advocacy for wider social protection and global vaccine equity. * This workshop will reflect on how to set-up, build, scale-up, and sustain collaborations with wide geographic, cultural, linguistic, and political-administrative coverage to support the capacity and preparedness of public health institutions during future challenges in the context of strengthening global health response. * specific objectives * The panel will explore key lessons from ASPHER’s COVID-19 Task Force: fostering independence, interdisciplinarity, and trust; a flexible, bottom-up organisation; and involving young professionals. It will consider what should be replicated, scaled up, improved, and reshaped to improve preparedness and response to other public health challenges, including future pandemics. * Key questions* The panel will explore how to set up collaborations across cultural and political-administrative boundaries to strengthen the advisory capacity of public health institutions during future challenges with a strong focus on international collaboration and the need to move from national to international / global health perspectives. * The panel will reflect on three key lessons. First, effective cross-country comparative work was made possible by the group’s independence, interdisciplinarity, and high trust between members. These characteristics enabled unencumbered rapid sharing of ideas, utilisation of data, insights in local languages, and access to the front-line experience of members, those in health authorities or advising national or regional governments. Shifting perspective from national to international perspective will be emphasized, with vaccination policies, TRIPS waivers and addressing inequities as examples. * Lesson 2 is the importance of a flexible, bottom-up organisation, enabling members to pursue individual research, education, and advocacy agendas while acting in concert. The TF strengthened and deepened collaborations between ASPHER Schools of Public Health. * Lesson three combines policy advocacy, shaping public health education and providing training opportunities. YPs’ expertise has been critical, preparing weekly situation reports, horizon scanning exercises, surveys of ASPHER members, and contributing an early-career perspective to the groups’ outputs. These opportunities in knowledge transfer and leadership should be replicated as we tackle wider public health challenges including climate change, austerity and war

Invest in Primary Health Care and Public Health for the Pandemic and Beyond:An ASPHER Statement

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Bayesian optimisation approach to quantify the effect of input parameter uncertainty on predictions of numerical physics simulations

An understanding of how input parameter uncertainty in the numerical simulation of physical models leads to simulation output uncertainty is a challenging task. Common methods for quantifying output uncertainty, such as performing a grid or random search over the model input space, are computationally intractable for a large number of input parameters, represented by a high-dimensional input space. It is therefore generally unclear as to whether a numerical simulation can reproduce a particular outcome (e.g. a set of experimental results) with a plausible set of model input parameters. Here, we present a method for efficiently searching the input space using Bayesian Optimisation to minimise the difference between the simulation output and a set of experimental results. Our method allows explicit evaluation of the probability that the simulation can reproduce the measured experimental results in the region of input space defined by the uncertainty in each input parameter. We apply this method to the simulation of charge-carrier dynamics in the perovskite semiconductor methyl-ammonium lead iodide MAPbI$_3$ that has attracted attention as a light harvesting material in solar cells. From our analysis we conclude that the formation of large polarons, quasiparticles created by the coupling of excess electrons or holes with ionic vibrations, cannot explain the experimentally observed temperature dependence of electron mobility