The concept of sustainable islands: cleaner production, industrial ecology and the network paradigm as preconditions for regional sustainable development

This paper introduces a bottom-up approach towards sustainability which is called the Island approach. The basic assumption of ‘Islands of Sustainability’ is that development towards sustainability can be introduced starting from small sustainable regions. An Island is an area where sustainability is reached locally. Key points to create a sustainable region are communication activities, such as exchange of matter, energy, information, culture, capital and persons within the regional network and with the environment. One of the main theses is that sustainability is linked to the complexity of the regional network. The intensity, the speed and the comprehensive of internal and external interactions, as well as the connectedness of the regional network, have to be changed in order to reach local sustainability.Relations between different approaches such as the Cleaner Production approach, the Industrial Ecology approach and the Island approach are investigated. It is assumed that a combination of these approaches will lead to sustainability, which might not be the case with one approach in isolation. All concepts are based on the new Network Paradigm, which is a reduction of the holistic world view. Cooperation on different hierarchical levels, from the interfirm level up to the interregional level, becomes an important part of behaviour. Networks, such as information networks or matter-flow networks, are introduced and become most important with regard to sustainability.     

Ionenhaushalt im Zellkern

The Science of Nature -     

Über röntgenographische Untersuchungen des Gel-Zustandes beim Abbindevorgang von Gips

The Science of Nature -     

Animal Meal: Production and Determination in Feedstuffs and the Origin of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy

This contribution examines what animal meal is, how it is produced in rendering plants, and means of investigating feedstuff constituents. In addition to animal meal, numerous other products of animal origin are also on the market (e.g., blood meal, bone meal, feather meal, gelatin). Constituents of animal origin can be detected in feedstuffs by microscopy, but determining the animal species from which the constituents are derived, as required by law in Germany, requires methods such as enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and polymerase chain reaction. We consider the problem of trace contamination being introduced accidentally during the production of ruminants feedstuffs containing constituents of animal origin. The future of animal meal is discussed together with alternatives for disposing of animal carcasses and slaughtery offal, i.e., composting and incineration.     

Stichprobenverfahren zur Klärung wissenschaftlich-technischer Kontroversen

Discussions on controversial questions such as atomic energy nowadays take Homeric dimensions with thousands of arguments in both directions. We propose to use statistical sampling in order to select, without bias, a small but sufficient number of the arguments which then can be treated in detail in order to test the credibility of the parties concerned. We show an example where a valid test has been possible without undue demands on the competence or objectivity of the evaluator.