Category Archives: Global Challenges
Disruption! Rethink the system
Susan McLaren, Senior Lecturer in Design & Technology, Moray House School of Education, University of Edinburgh and Fleur Ruckley, Project Director, Scotland’s 2020 Climate Group Disruption! Rethink the system A circular economy is one where “the goods of today become the resources of … Continue reading
Morocco’s path to solar energy
Morocco ratified the Climate Convention in 1996 and was the first African country to host a Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). In 2015, Morocco presented its INDC (Intended Nationally Determined Contribution … Continue reading
Two sides of the climate change coin: climate science and policy institutions
Overview Since the first establishment of the scientific evidence for climate change, there has been a political focus on reducing GHG emissions to mitigate the problem. Increasingly however the realisation has come that the world is already committed to some … Continue reading
Two sides of the climate change coin: climate science and policy after COP21
Overview Since the first establishment of the scientific evidence for climate change, little progress has been made in reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to mitigate the problem. The pathways along which governments pass in gathering scientific evidence and negotiating climate … Continue reading
Edinburgh Sustainability Jam 2015
Can you solve a global issue in 48 hours? That was the challenge for 45 participants in the Edinburgh Sustainability Jam this year. In the face of dwindling natural resources, increased socioeconomic pressures and environmental degradation come motivated individuals ready … Continue reading
COP21: What is it all about?
Starting in Paris on 30 November 2015, COP21 is tasked to set the world on a path to address the greatest challenge to ever face humankind, by adopting a new climate agreement. The Paris agreement is expected to bring states … Continue reading
Keeping the buzz on – interdisciplinary reflection on the protection of bees The controversial path: the prohibition of neonicotinoids
In 1994, French beekeepers started to blow the whistle on the abnormal behaviour and disappearance of their bee colonies foraging on sunflowers and maize. Quickly, beekeepers considered “Gaucho”, a new neonicotinoid authorised the same year for the treatment of sunflower … Continue reading
Keeping the Buzz on – Interdisciplinary Reflections on the Protection of Bees
We care about bees. Bees are unusual insects in that we humans find them so appealing. The publicity about the decline of bee populations has led to people donning bee costumes and lobbying parliaments about pesticides, the planting of … Continue reading
Urbanization of the Oceans – Blue Growth?
Dr Meriwether Wilson Over 100 years ago, a fierce philosophical debate circled the salons, cafes, balls and bars of intellectuals and pioneers alike – often known as the ‘American wilderness’ debate. The legendary icons of this debate included: John Muir … Continue reading
Controversies surrounding mega Marine Protected Area
Dr Laura Jeffery Until the end of the 20th century, most Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) were relatively small-scale conservation zones in coastal waters. The past decade has seen a proliferation in the designation of ever larger MPAs. Mega MPAs measuring … Continue reading