Book: Ecology and the Architectural Imagination (11 April 2014)

Ecology and the Architectural Imagination

By Brook Muller

Routledge – 2014 – 178 pages

Description:

By including ecological concerns in the design process from the outset, architecture can enhance life. Author Brook Muller understands how a designer’s predispositions and poetic judgement in dealing with complex and dynamic ecological systems impact the "greenness" of built outcomes. Ecology and the Architectural Imagination offers a series of speculations on architectural possibility when ecology is embedded from conceptual phases onward, how notions of function and structure of ecosystems can inspire ideas of architectural space making and order, and how the architect’s role and contribution can shift through this engagement. As an ecological architect working in increasingly dense urban environments, you can create diverse spaces of inhabitation and connect project scale living systems with those at the neighborhood and region scales. Equipped with ecological literacy, critical thinking and collaboration skills, you are empowered to play important roles in the remaking of our cities.

Content:

Preface Introduction Part 1: Ecological Architectures Within a Broader Context 1. Intensification 2. Commons 3. Ecosystem Models Part 2: Conceptual (Eco)Architectural Constructs 4. Metaphor and Respatialization 5. Bodies 6. Furnishings 7. Landscapes and Machines Part 3: EcoArchitectural Strategies and Orders 8. Networks 9. Assembling Context 10. Continuity of Singularities 11. Watermark Epilogue: Narrating Architectural Futures Bibliography Index

see more: http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415622752/

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Book: From Rio+20 to a New Development Agenda Building a Bridge to a Sustainable Future (22 Jan 2014)

From Rio+20 to a New Development Agenda

Building a Bridge to a Sustainable Future

By Felix Dodds, Jorge Laguna-Celis, Liz Thompson

Routledge – 2014 – 264 pages

Description:

Twenty years after the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, "The Earth Summit", the Rio+20 conference in 2012 brought life back to sustainable development by putting it at the centre of a new global development partnership, one in which sustainable development is the basis for eradicating poverty, upholding human development and transforming economies.

Written by practitioners and participants involved in the multilateral process of negotiations, this book presents a unique insider analysis of not only what happened and why, but also where the outcomes might impact in the future, particularly in the UN development agenda beyond 2015.

The book throws light on the changing nature of multilateralism and questions frequent assumptions on how policy is defined within the UN. It shows that Rio+20 was more than an international meeting; it represented a culminating point of decades of successes and failures and a watershed moment for seminal concepts, ideas and partnerships including the Green Economy, zero tolerance on land degradation, the introduction of Sustainable Development Goals, the creation of national measurements of consumption, production and well-being that are intended to go beyond GDP, the introduction of national green accounting and the commitment of billions of dollars for sustainable development partnerships, including Sustainable Energy for All.

The authors conclude by mapping out a new agenda for development in 2015, when the current Millennium Development Goals framework is due to expire. An agenda that will restore faith in the UN and inspire a global response to the demographic, economic and environmental challenges that will define our future in the decades to come.

Content:

Introduction

1. The Re-birth of Sustainable Development

President Lula da Silva’s & Brazil’s case for a Rio+20

The 2008 crisis as a catalyst for breaking the silos between development and sustainable development

The old order changes and the emergence of new players in the developing world

The science underpinning an integrated approach towards development

2. Chronicling the Key shapers of Rio+20

How was Rio+20 constructed

The formal preparations process and the lessons to be drawn

The political role of the UN Secretary-General

Innovative partnerships supporting Rio+20

The informal process in New York and its importance for consensus building

International meetings that gave Rio+20 a global impact

Stakeholders preparations and their growing influence in the policy definition process

The transition from the informal and the global to the textual of The Future We Want

Enabling UN leaders behind Rio+20

The Rio+20 Secretariat

3. How did it All Come to Happen?

The decisions that were required to start building a new development framework

Key divergences as the meeting started

The Group of developing countries too diverse to negotiate as a single block?

The European Union and Rio+20

The United States of America and Rio+20

A final push to conclude the process

No perfect outcome: the gaps in The Future We Want

4. Multiplying Commitments

Introduction

The stakeholder dialogue days

Voluntary commitments

National sustainable development councils and economic and social committees

Subnational and local government

Future Earth

Education and training

World Congress on Justice, Governance and Law for Environmental Sustainability

Initiatives on transparency and access to information

Sustainable Energy 4 All (SE4All) and commitments and achievements at Rio+20

Financial commitments

5. From Rio+20 to 2015 and the New Development Agenda

Was Rio+20 a failure or a success?

A new inspiring narrative: development for all within the limits of our planet

Institutions for a new development agenda

How can universal sustainable development goals build a single yet differentiated development agenda?

Resource mobilization and financing for sustainable development

A reformed Economic and Social Council and the High Level Political Forum

The UN Environment Assembly and a new governance model for environmental sustainability

The role of stakeholders in global policy making

Ahead of January 2016

Appendix I: Stakeholder Forum

Appendix II: Earth Negotiations Bulletin

for more information: http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415716543/

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New Books: Water Tech A Guide to Investment, Innovation and Business Opportunities in the Water Sector By William Sarni, Tamin Pechet (30 Sep 2013)

Water Tech

A Guide to Investment, Innovation and Business Opportunities in the Water Sector

By William Sarni, Tamin Pechet

Routledge – 2013 – 224 pages

Descriptions:

This book unveils how the world in the twenty-first century will need to manage our most fundamental resource need, water. It outlines how stakeholders can improve water use in their homes, their businesses, and the world.

In particular, it focuses on the role of stakeholders in crafting a twenty-first century paradigm for water. Investors not only drive innovation through direct investment in new technologies but also by highlighting risk and driving reporting and disclosure within the business community.

Water Tech highlights the business drivers to address water related issues. These include business disruption, regulatory risk and reputational risk along with opportunities in the commercialization of innovative technologies such as desalination and water reuse and treatment. The authors argue that through increased attention on water scarcity through activities such as reporting and disclosure we are now accelerating innovation in the water industry. They show how we are just now capturing the true cost and value of water and this is creating opportunities for investors in the water sector. The text takes the reader through key aspects of emerging innovative technologies along with case studies and key issues on the path to commercialization. A roadmap of the opportunities in the water sector is presented based on interviews with leading authorities in the water field including innovators, investors, legal, regulatory experts and businesses.

Contents:

Foreword

Marcus Norton

Foreword

Tom Kostigen

Preface

Part 1: Innovation

Introduction

1. The Value of Water

2. Global Trends as Drivers for Innovation

Part 2: What is Water Tech?

Introduction

3. Do Water and Innovation "Mix?"

4. Water Supply

5. Water Demand

6. The Water, Energy, and Food Nexus

Part 3: Building the 21st Century Water Industry – Ideas, Money and Commercialization

Introduction

7. The Ideas

8. The Money

9. Commercialization

10. What does Success Look Like?

11. The Global World Water Forum 2024

For more information: http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9781849714730/

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Good Derivatives: A Story of Financial and Environmental Innovation, 9 October 2012, Hong Kong

Good Derivatives: A Story of Financial and Environmental Innovation Richard L Sandor

DATE: 9 Oct 2012  FILED UNDER: Economy, Environment, Events, Events, Highlights, Issues, Latest Events, News 

Through the eyes of an inventor of new markets, Good Derivatives: A Story of Financial and Environmental Innovation tells the story of how financial innovation – a concept that is misunderstood and under attack – has been a positive force in the last four decades. If properly designed and regulated, these “good derivatives” can open vast possibilities to address a variety of global problems. Filled with provocative ideas, fascinating stories, and valuable lessons, it will provide both an insightful interpretation of the last forty years in capital and environmental markets and a vision of world finance for the next forty years. Richard Sandor, widely regarded as the “father of financial futures” and named by TIME magazine as the “father of carbon trading”, will share his insights about market-based trading systems being a far more effective means of reducing pollutants than “command-and-control”.

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Richard L. Sandor is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Environmental Financial Products LLC, which specializes in inventing, designing, and developing new financial markets with a special emphasis on investment advisory services. EFP was established in 1998 and was the predecessor company and incubator to the Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX), the European Climate Exchange (ECX) and the Chicago Climate Futures Exchange (CCFE). Dr. Sandor was honored by the City of Chicago for his contribution to the creation of financial futures and his universal recognition as the “father of financial futures.” In October 2007, he was honored as one of TIME Magazine’s “Heroes of the Environment” for his work as the “Father of Carbon Trading.” Dr. Sandor is a Distinguished Professor of Environmental Finance at Guanghua School of Management at Peking University and a Lecturer in Law at the University of Chicago Law School. | Download flyer | Dr Sandor in Climate Dialogue 2010 | More about Dr Sandor and his work |

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Event details & Registration:
Date: 9 October 2012, Tuesday
Time: 3.30 pm – 5.00pm
Venue: PwC Executive Conference Centre, 21/F, Edinburgh Tower, The Landmark, Central, Hong Kong
Admission: No charge, but registration is needed. Please fill in the form below for registration:

http://www.civic-exchange.org/wp/121009richardsandor/

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