Gathering “wild” food in the city: rethinking the role of foraging in urban ecosystem planning and management

Recent “green” planning initiatives envision food production, including urban agriculture and livestock production, as desirable elements of sustainable cities. We use an integrated urban political ecology and human–plant geographies framework to explore how foraging for “wild” foods in cities, a subversive practice that challenges prevailing views about the roles of humans in urban green spaces, has potential to also support sustainability goals. Drawing on research from Baltimore, New York City, Philadelphia, and Seattle, we show that foraging is a vibrant and ongoing practice among diverse urban residents in the USA. At the same time, as reflected in regulations, planning practices, and attitudes of conservation practitioners, it is conceptualised as out of place in urban landscapes and an activity to be discouraged. We discuss how paying attention to urban foraging spaces and practices can strengthen green space planning and summarise opportunities for and challenges associated with including foragers and their concerns.     

A paradigm of an integrated transboundary environmental education,training, and technology transfer project

The Rodopi mountain range is located between Greece and Bulgaria and constitutes a natural and political boundary whose crest delimits the frontier between the two countries. However, these two neighboring countries have significant differences: Greece is one of the oldest members of the European Union (EU) while Bulgaria has just recently entered the European family. As a result, the existing financial and political differences between the two nations are also reflected in issues concerning the environmental know-how, education, and training, since Greece seems to have a small lead in these fields. On the other hand, given that Bulgaria possesses exceptional scientific personnel, it has made significant progress in all aspects of environmental policy during the last decade by absorbing up-to-date knowledge and putting it into practice; thus, catching up with the other EU countries in environmental issues is just a matter of time. Taking these factors into account, the Department of Forestry and Natural Environment Management of the Technological Educational Institute of Kavala (Greece) and the Department of Geography-Ecology and Natural History (Bulgaria) prepared a joint proposal which was approved and financed by the European Union Initiative ΙNTERREG IIIΑ/PHARE CBC GREECE-BULGARIA. The proposal concerns the Rodopi mountains and focuses on integrated environmental education, technology exchange, and transfer between the two institutions. The Rodopi complex constitutes a very important ecosystem of particular ecological and biological interest for both countries. This paper reveals the cooperation possibilities on environmental education and know-how exchange with regard to the shared natural resources of these contiguous countries.     

Photovoltaic-thermal (PV/t) panel to minimize electrical and air conditioning energy consumption of a typical office in Beirut

A combined photovoltaic–thermal (PV/t) panel is proposed to produce simultaneously electricity and heat from one integrated unit. The unit utilizes effectively the solar energy through achieving higher PV electrical efficiency and using the thermal energy for heating applications. To predict the performance of the PV/t at a given environmental conditions, a transient mathematical model was developed. The model was integrated in a heating application for a typical office space in the city of Beirut to provide the office needs for electricity, heating during winter season, and dehumidification and evaporative cooling during the summer season. To minimize the yearly office energy (electrical and heat) needs, the PV/t panel cooling air flow rate and the dehumidification regeneration temperature were determined for opimal unit operation. Thermal energy savings of up to 85% in winter and 71% in summer were achived compared to conventional systems at a payback period of 8 years for the panels.     

A conceptual approach to model sand–gravel extraction from rivers based on a game theory perspective

Sand–gravel mining is a significant parameter of economic development and social welfare function in modern societies. As demand for aggregate increases in construction industry, conflicts for the availability of the resource and environmental impacts become more intense. The present paper describes the contested status quo in riverbed sand–gravel mining activities with an example from Greece, as a case study. The scope is to propose a methodology about good governance of the mining sector that promotes a sustainable sharing of aggregate resource by securing environment and safekeeping revenues in the mining trade market.     

Applying the Kuhn–Tucker model to estimate the value of recreational ecosystem services in Sicily

This paper applies the Kuhn–Tucker model to estimate recreation demand of parks in Sicily. We estimate a fixed coefficient specification and a random coefficient specification to take into account heterogeneity across visitors. Estimates suggest a diversity of preferences across the population and that parks with higher level of quality attributes are more likely to be visited. We also simulate two sets of hypothetical policy scenarios to evaluate and compare the recreational value of each park and the welfare impacts of changes in a quality attribute.     

基于网络的交通安全宣传教育研究

为了建立我国交通安全宣传教育网络平台,通过网络平台进行多形式的交通安全宣传教育。采用网站检索的方法,梳理了国内、外主要城市交通安全宣传教育网站,并从专业性、系统性、针对性、形式多样性等角度进行研究。研究发现国外交通安全网站具有分类细致、系统性强、参与互动性强等特点。因此建议我国应加快明确重点教育人群,建立系统性的、专业的、多形式的交通安全宣教内容,引入社会团体等加入宣传教育的队伍,提高全面积极参与、提高关注度。     

中国与南非金属非金属矿山安全标准化标准比对分析及启示

近年来,我国矿难不断,人民生命财产受到了巨大的损失,而造成这些矿难的一个主要原因是矿山安全标准化工作存在疏漏。安全标准化的建设是夯实企业安全基础、强化企业安全管理、提升企业本质安全水平的强有力措施。通过分析我国与南非金属非金属矿山安全标准化标准的现状,从金属非金属矿山安全标准化的创建到围绕矿山安全标准化展开的14个核心要素,进行了全面的比对,并在比对的基础上,对其中存在较大差异的指标进行分析。总结了我国与南非矿山安全标准化之间的异同,指出了我国金属非金属矿山安全标准化标准存在的缺点和不足。基于具体技术指标比对分析以及对安全标准化缺点和不足的分析,对我国非煤矿山安全标准化发展提出参考意,借以希望为我国非煤矿山安全标准化标准的修订工作提供了一定的参考和帮助。     

On-road and simulated driving: concurrent and discriminant validation

Introduction

A converging pair of studies investigated the validity of a simulator for measuring driving performance/skill.

Study 1

A concurrent validity study compared novice driver performance during an on-road driving test with their performance on a comparable simulated driving test.

Results

Results showed a reasonable degree of concordance in terms of the distribution of driving errors on-road and errors on the simulator. Moreover, there was a significant relationship between the two when driver performance was rank ordered according to errors, further establishing the relative validity of the simulator. However, specific driving errors on the two tasks were not closely related suggesting that absolute validity could not be established and that overall performance is needed to establish the level of skill.

Study 2

A discriminant validity study compared driving performance on the simulator across three groups of drivers who differ in their level of experience - a group of true beginners who had no driving experience, a group of novice drivers who had completed driver education and had a learner's permit, and a group of fully licensed, experienced drivers.

Results

The findings showed significant differences among the groups in the expected direction -- the various measures of driving errors showed that beginners performed worse than novice drivers and that experienced drivers had the fewest errors. Collectively, the results of the concurrent and discriminant validity studies support the use of the simulator as a valid measure of driving performance for research purposes.

Impact on industry

These findings support the use of a driving simulator as a valid measure of driving performance for research purposes. Future research should continue to examine validity between on-road driving performance and performance on a driving simulator and the use of simulated driving tests in the evaluation of driver education/training programs.     

高校要加强大学生礼仪教育

本文列举了大学生在学校多种场合和情景中礼仪素养缺失的种种表现,并多方面分析问题产生的原因,最后简要提出了高校要加强大学生礼仪教育的对策。     

加强云南环境保护宣传教育力度--积极开创"绿色社区"

从云南环境宣传教育现状出发,分析了目前在云南创建“绿色社区”的现实意义、必要性,并提出了创建的评选标准细则和评选的基本办法,为今后云南创建“绿色社区”提供参考性意见。