Environmental decision-making : exploring complexity and context [book]

Authors: Ronnie Harding, Carolyn M. Hendriks & Mehreen Faruqi

"Contemporary environmental decisions are made within the context of sustainability aimed at meeting integrated ecological, economic and social goals. ... This book explores these processes and context and the influences which affect them. For example: How do different value systems influence what environmental issues come onto the public agenda, and their management? What institutions and actors are involved in the processes and how? What tools are available and what are their limitations? How should we deal with uncertainty and risk? How do we incorporate relevant but very different forms of knowledge, and how do we manage the information 'explosion'?" - cover.

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New urbanism : best practices guide [book]

Authors: Robert Steuteville & Philip Langdon

"Helps architects, planners, urban designers, landscape architects, builders, developers, public officials, students, and citizens understand one of the most vital planning movements of our time - a movement that is reshaping cities, suburbs, small towns, and neighborhoods." Chapters include: Architectural styles and building types; Land development; Health and aging; Shaping the region; Revitalizing cities and towns; Urban retail; The Human-scale workplace; Planning and transit; Civic buildings and spaces; Affordable placemaking; and Building community.

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Corporate responses to climate change : achieving emissions reductions through regulation, self-regulation and economic incentives [book]

Author: Rory Sullivan

"Analyses current business practice and performance on climate change, in the light of the dramatic changes in the regulatory and policy environment over the last five years. More specifically, it examines how climate change-related policy development and implementation have influenced corporate performance, with the objective of using this information to consider how the next stage of climate change policy - regulation, incentives, voluntary initiatives - may be designed and implemented in a manner that delivers the real and substantial reductions in greenhouse gas emissions that will be required." - cover.

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The climate caper : facts and fallacies of global warming [book]

Authors: Garth W. Paltridge ; with a foreword by Christopher Monckton

"Professor Paltridge shows that the case for action against climate change is not nearly so certain as is presented to politicians and the public. He leads us through the massive uncertainties which are inherently part of the 'climate modelling process'; he examines the even greater uncertainties associated with economic forecasts of climatic doom; and he discusses in detail the conscious and sub-conscious forces operating to ensure that scepticism within the scientific community is kept from the public eye." - cover.

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Capturing power (journal article)
by Matthew Ogg
from Brisbane Business News, Vol 2 No 9, October 2009
"CARS and electricity - two inventions that propelled the world into the modern age, but with finite resources and growing concerns over climate change, they are also destroying the planet. As part of this month's eco feature, Brisbane Business News profiles two companies driving the current change to help reduce pollution from fuel and energy."

Theory and Practice in Metropolitan Strategy: Situating Recent Australian Planning (journal article)
by Raymond Bunker and Glen Searle
from Urban Policy and Research, Volume 27, Issue 2, June 2009 , pp. 101 - 116
"Over the last several years, metropolitan strategies have been produced for the five mainland state capital cities of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth. The distinctive characteristics of Australian urban planning mean that they can be shown to reflect an Australian paradigm of planning. However, this paradigm is rewritten in different ways in each strategy reflecting the particular institutional circumstances and political culture of each state. In doing so there is some strong reaffirmation of this paradigm, but also indications of a more relational and transactive manner of planning adding further process to product. Here there is some resonance with recent developments in planning theory and to some extent in practice, largely in Europe. "

Deindustrialisation, Gentrification and the Re-invention of the Inner City: London and Melbourne, c.1960-2008 (journal article)
by Seamus O'Hanlon and Chris Hamnett
from Urban Policy and Research, Volume 27, Issue 3 September 2009 , pp. 211 - 216
"This special issue examines some of the major changes that have taken place over the last
40 years in the economy, social structure, housing markets and physical character of the
inner areas of London and Melbourne. Although the two cities are very different in terms
of their size and global economic position—London having a population of 7.5 million at
the 2001 Census compared to 3.7 million in metropolitan Melbourne in 2006, and London
with New York, emerging as one of the two major world financial centres in the 1980s and
beyond—they have historically shared many economic, social and cultural ties, largely as
a reflection of their common British and Victorian heritage."
See the whole issue of this journal here

Rethinking e-government services : user-centred approaches [online]

Author: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)

"Gives a broad description of the shift in governments' focus on e-government development - from a government-centric to a user-centric approach. It gives a comprehensive overview of challenges to user take-up of e-government services in OECD countries and of the different types of approaches to improving it." - abstract.

Urban planning tools for climate change mitigation [book]

Author: Patrick M. Condon & others / Lincoln Institute of Land Policy

"Reviews the relationship between urban planning and GHG [greenhouse gas] emissions as a key component of climate change, provides characteristics of GHG decision support tools, and evaluates the strengths and limitations of a cross section of existing tools using those characteristics." - page ii.

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Energy technology transitions for industry strategies for the next industrial revolution [online]

Authors: International Energy Agency (IEA) / Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)

"Industry accounts for one-third of global energy use and almost 40% of worldwide CO2 emissions. Achieving substantial emissions reduction in the future will require urgent action from industry. ... [this publication contains] detailed sectoral and regional analyses ... It contains new indicators and methodologies as well as scenario results for the following sectors: iron and steel, cement, chemicals, pulp and paper and aluminium sectors. The report discusses the prospects for new low-carbon technologies and outlines potential technology transition paths for the most important industrial sectors." - abstract.

Heaven + earth : global warming : the missing science [book]

Author: Ian Plimer

"The Earth is an evolving dynamic system. Current changes in climate, sea level and ice are within variability. Atmospheric CO2 is the lowest for 500 million years. Climate has always been driven by the Sun, the Earth's orbit and plate tectonics and the oceans, atmosphere and life respond. Humans have made their mark on the planet, thrived in warm times and struggled in cool times.The hypothesis that humans can actually change climate is unsupported by evidence from geology, archaeology, history and astronomy. The hypothesis is rejected. A new ignorance fills the yawning spiritual gap in Western society. Climate change politics is religious fundamentalism masquerading as science. Its triumph is computer models unrelated to observations in nature. There has been no critical due diligence of the science of climate change, dogma dominates, sceptics are pilloried and 17th Century thinking promotes prophets of doom, guilt and penance. When plate tectonics ceases and the world runs out of new rocks, there will be a tipping point and irreversible climate change. Don't wait up.." - from publisher.

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Carbon markets : an international business guide [book]

Authors: Arnaud Brohé, Nick Eyre and Nicholas Howarth

"A comprehensive and accessible guide to understanding the opportunities offered by regulated and voluntary carbon markets for tackling climate change. Coverage includes: An overview of the problem of climate change, with a concise review of the most recent scientific evidence in different fields; A highly accessible introduction to the economic theory and different constitutive elements of a carbon allowances market; Explanation of the Kyoto Protocol and its flexibility mechanisms; Explanation of how the EU Emissions Trading Scheme works in practice; Ongoing developments in regulated carbon markets in the US; Up-to-the-minute coverage of regulated carbon markets in Australia; Developments in New Zealand and Japan [and] Carbon offsetting and voluntary carbon markets." - cover.

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Postindustrial East Asian cities : innovation for growth [book]

Authors: Shahid Yusuf & Kaoru Nabeshima

"Throughout East Asia, the growth process and its sources are changing in a number of important respects, especially for middle- and high-income economies. Growth is increasingly coming from the strength of innovative activities in these economies rather than from factor accumulation as in the past. Such innovative activities - especially in producer services and the creative industries - are concentrated in high-tech clusters in globally linked cities. Drawing on a wide range of literature and on interviews of firms, this book explores these issues with a focus on six East Asian cities, Bangkok, Beijing, Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore, and Tokyo. It suggests how policies and institutions can induce and furnish an urban environment that supports innovative activities." - cover.

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Renewables Information, 2009 [online]

Authors: International Energy Agency (IEA) & Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)

Renewables Information is the International Energy Agency's comprehensive annual review of historical and current market trends for renewable energy in OECD countries. This volume brings together essential statistics on renewable and waste energy sources.

Innovation policies for the 21st century : report of a symposium [book]

Editors: Charles W. Wessner, Committee on Comparative Innovation Policy & others.

"How can we better capitalize on national investments in research? More specifically, how can we deliver the fruits of research through products and processes that both enhance welfare and generate wealth? And how do we generate the types of output from our universities and research centers that will help our regional economies grow and meet the challenges of the future? Beyond merely focusing on increasing inputs (such as more funds for basic research) on one hand or setting output targets and mandating results on the other, the innovation ecosystem approach examines the complex processes through which innovations emerge through a variety of collaborative activities to become commercially valuable products." - page 5.
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Consumers think Green is not so cool
Source: IPPR
"Given the runaway popularity of the 10:10 campaign, which the Guardian is backing, it would be churlish to offer it anything but praise. By providing a meaningful, tangible and immediate focus for action, it has been a clear success in attracting the support of thousands of individuals, companies and other organisations that are concerned about climate change.
But just how widespread will its appeal be? In light of new research from the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) published in its Consumer Power report, the 10:10 campaign may actually be failing to resonate with a large swath of mainstream consumers."

Squeezing more oil from the ground (journal article)
by Leonardo Maugeri
from Scientific American, October 2009, pp. 36-43
"Amid warnings of a possible"peak oil", advanced technologies offer ways to extract every last possible drop. Key concepts of tha article are: forecasts that global oil production will soon start to deciline and that most oil will be gone in a few decades may be overly pessimistic; thanks to advanced technologies wells will be able to extract half of the oil known to be underground, up from the current 35%; increased productivity could make oil last at least another century."
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E-government cluster boots up with $250k funding (journal article)
by Georgina Swan
from CIO Government, 10 September 2009
"A technology cluster aimed at supporting and strengthening government ICT industries in Australia will inject $150,000 into the industry in 2010, with a commitment for a further $100,000 per annum through to 2011-12.
The e-government cluster is a partnership between National ICT Australia (NICTA), the ACT government, several major international companies, ACT companies and other research organisations including the ANU.
It aims to develop technology that will enable governments to deliver better services, reduce costs and open up new opportunities for businesses. "

Water Utilities Cite Aging Equipment, Regulations, and Funding As Top Challenges. (journal article)
by Jay Landers
from Civil Engineering, September 2009
"The article presents a survey developed by the University of Cincinnati relative to the most formidable challenges facing U.S. drinking water and waste water utilities for the next 50 years. The survey includes 42 questions distributed to the members of the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies, National Association of Clean Water Agencies, and the National Association of Water Companies. It shows that the challenges include aging infrastructure and funding shortfalls."

The Oxford handbook of innovation [book]

Edited by Jan Fagerberg, David C. Mowery, Richard R. Nelson

"Looks at the creation of innovations, with particular focus on firms and networks .... Provides an account of the wider systematic setting influencing innovation and the role of institutions and organizations ... Explores some of the diversity in the working of innovation over time and across different sectors of the economy ... Focuses on the consequences of innovation with respect to economic growth, international competitiveness and employment." - cover.

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