Covers environment, transportation, urban and regional planning, economic and social issues with a focus on Finland and Portugal.

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Twitter Weekly Updates 2009-10-20



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Tuesday, May 26, 2009

A record number of new student housing in Helsinki, Finland

A significant change in the structure of the city of Helsinki (Finland) is currently in progress.According to the Master Plan 2002 Helsinki will be developed as an European capital city.Helsinki is an important part of a growing metropolitan area. The urban structure is moderately becoming more integrated and dense, but without damaging the basic city characteristics or compromising its spaciousness and natural features.
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Länsisatama - West Harbour: downtown by the sea, Landscape architecture competition - Press photos--City of Helsinki/City Planning Dep.

The Länsisatama (West Harbour) redevelopment project of the Helsinki City Planning Department is comprised of more than 200 ha of land on the southwest waterfront of the Finnish city. Like other planning projects in the area, this one has generated a lot of public interest. Indeed, the construction of a big new urban district from scratch is rare and raises the question: what is the city of the future? [1]

The areas covered by Länsisatama project include:
  • the residential and office area of Ruoholahti (built in the 1990s)
  • Jätkäsaari (used previously for cargo and passenger traffic)
  • Munkkisaari (used as a dockyard, part of which will be freed for other uses in 2012)
In 2007, a local plan for a comprehensive solution to the Jätkäsaari area was in preparation. This year, during the next spring, the first detailed plan with the largest permitted building volume in Jätkäsaari will be handled in the Helsinki City Council. Jätkäsaari will house 15,000 residents and provide 6,000 jobs. The area was freed for construction when the cargo port was transferred to the new harbour in Vuosaari, at the end of 2008.

Planning image of Vuosaari harbour--City of Helsinki/City Planning Dep.

Within the next two decades, the Länsisatama area will have been transformed into a waterfront city quarter with an estimated population of 22,000, which will enhance the appeal of central Helsinki and its services as a whole. [2]


Jätkäsaari (2007 data)

Size: 100 ha
Parks: 19.8 ha (13 m2 per capita)
Residents: 14,500
Jobs: 6,000
Housing: 600,000 m2 gross floor area
Jobs and services: 364,000 m2 gross floor area
Parking spaces: 1 space per 150 m2 gross floor area
City investment: EUR 217 million
Construction start: 2008
Completion date: 2023


The Jätkäsaari planning goals


Länsisatama - West Harbour: downtown by the sea, Landscape architecture competition - Press photos--City of Helsinki/City Planning Dep.
  • Produce whole new attractive and ecologically sustainable city district, not just a sleepy suburb
  • Meet the everyday needs of residents and workers
  • Social well-being
- Differing socio-economic groups live close to one another all over the city (town planning aims to encourage this assimilation).

- Construction of the new district is expected to help meet the need for all types of housing, thus easing the housing situation throughout Helsinki:

About one third of all the housing will be social housing i.e. moderately priced rental flats owned by the City and other non-profit landlords;

Another third will be price-regulated free-market housing and right-of-occupancy housing;

The remaining third will be privately funded housing.
  • To take advantage of special features of the area (district is almost entirely surrounded by the sea and shipping)
- The passenger harbour on the east side of the area will remain in its present position, catering for some 3 million passengers per year travelling from Helsinki to Tallinn and St Petersburg and vice versa.

- The buildings have been designed so that the streets do not turn into wind tunnels.

- No residential buildings will be placed in the immediate vicinity of the passenger harbour, because of the noise, bustle and pollution caused by shipping.

- A beach will be created on a sheltered cove in the area.
  • Mobility management - New Mobility Culture: non-dependence of private cars in daily traffic
- Available good alternative modes of transport : trams, service bus lines, car share vehicles, taxis, bikes.

- Cycle paths to serve those living and working in every part of the district.

- High quality pedestrian environment.

- Up to three tram lines.

- Helsinki Metro already runs close to the northern edge of the area.

- Very few streets allowing vehicular access.

- Every residential street will be a cul-de-sac.

- Minimizing motorized traffic will also apply to waste management (garbage removal underground): sorted household waste will go straight into a pneumatic conveyance system leading to a central underground collection point.

- Car-free lifestyle: return to the traditional practice of having ground-floor shops in a continuous line along the streets.

- Municipal services be located within walking distance of users' homes.

"We are putting up a whole new city district, not just a suburb. Our starting points are that life there must be ecologically sound and pleasant, and it must meet the everyday needs of residents and those who work there. Social well-being, mobility management and the special features of the area are also important factors,"

"We are realistic enough to know that many Jätkäsaari residents will want their own wheels, but our idea is that local services and routes will be planned so that a car will not be needed for local access. Multi-storey car parks are planned for residents to keep parked cars from clogging up the streets", said, in 2007, the Project Leader Matti Kaijansinkko, the architect in charge of planning Jätkäsaari. [2]


Architecture

Länsisatama - West Harbour: downtown by the sea, Landscape architecture competition - Press photos--City of Helsinki/City Planning Dep.

Another feature that Kaijansinkko was proud of is the green belt winding through the area, reminiscent of Manhattan's Central Park. The green belt is expected to achieve great popularity and importance for the life of the whole district.

"The park has been designed to accommodate as many popular Finnish outdoor pursuits as possible: it will be possible to ski and skate there, to cycle, to play games and to enjoy a picnic. There will also be a sledging hill for children." [1]

Urban Development

InfoCentre Korona, the main building of Viikki green university campus district--City of Helsinki/City Planning Dep.

Urban housing challenges in Finland are relatively new. However, rapid development in recent years have spurred the movement of people into growth centres and increased the demand for housing.

Outside growth centres, part of the housing stock is vacant as the population is declining. A current issue is how to maintain a unified community structure, especially in cities such as Helsinki where high house prices make it difficult to attract people working in the service sectors.
Therefore, in the next decades urban investments are needed in the following areas:
  • Regenerating urban harbour areas in Helsinki
  • Transport infrastructure in the metropolitan region
  • Housing development
  • Housing repairs

A record number of new student housing in Helsinki metropolitan area


Eco-Viikki is a housing area but also a noteworthy and internationally renowned experimental project--City of Helsinki/City Planning Dep.

Second YLE, the official site of Finland's national broadcasting company, in three years the Metropolitan area will rise to a record number of new student housing.

HOAS (Foundation for Student Housing in the Helsinki Region), responsible for the construction, plans to build a total of almost 900 new homes. In total, HOAS rents out 8,200 apartments to 17,000 tenants. The average annual construction volume will almost double. The normal annual rate has been 150-200 new homes. New estate will rise, mainly in Helsinki and Espoo.

HOAS was established by 16 student unions and student bodies in 1969 to help relieve the shortage of student housing within the Helsinki metropolitan area. HOAS student accommodation can be applied for by anyone undertaking full-time studies in a secondary level educational institution or university, and part of HOAS’s accommodation is reserved for international exchange students and researchers.

According to Heikki Valkjärvi, CEO of HOAS, the current economic climate is favourable to these plans: “Construction costs have come down, so we are trying to launch as many projects as possible”, Valkjärvi recently said to YLE.

The next few years, the major projects will rise in Viikki, Jätkäsaari, Kalasatama and Matinkylä Matinkylä district of Espoo. In addition, HOAS will also accelerate housing renovations.The Viikki project will launch a construction boom, which is larger than any other HOAS project has been for many years. ”Because of the new Aalto University, the focus on construction is likely to be in the west in the future”, Valkjärvi told to HS.

Kalasatama will be planned for 18 000 residents and 10 000 jobs--City of Helsinki/City Planning Dep.

The chronic shortage of student housing continues in Helsinki, and the queues for housing at the HOAS have been increasing year after year. With the gradual increase in rents, most students are unable to compete in the unregulated rentals market in the Greater Helsinki. In comparison, the Foundation charges EUR 220 for a small 18 m2 room with the basic amenities in a former old people’s home in Helsinki’s Ruskeasuo district, while a bedsitter on the open market would easily cost EUR 600 to 700.

The number of applicants doubled over three years - in August 2005, it was 3,300, while in the autumn of 2008, the figure was 6,200, setting a record in the 30-year history of HOAS.


References:
[1] Salla Korpela, Jätkäsaari – city life for the new millennium?, virtual.finland.fi, Ulkoasiainministeriö, September 2007

[2] City of Helsinki/City Planning Department, Länsisatama - West Harbour: downtown by the sea, www.hel.fi , 15.08.2008


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City of the future is for people, not cars 11.10.2007

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Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Twitter Weekly Updates 2009-05-20

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Monday, May 18, 2009

"Festival Solar" at the Museum of Electricity, in Lisbon


Last weekend, at the Museum of Electricity, in Lisbon, took place the public exhibition "Festival Solar". It was possible to better understand the different forms of energy production, like concentrating solar power (CSP) and photovoltaic (PV) systems.

This initiative also included discussions on solar architecture (“Arquitectura e Sustentabilidade Energética”) and evolution from coal to sun (“Do Carvão ao Sol”).
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The "Festival Solar" is an action in Portugal of “European Solar Days” European project, which is coordinated by the European Solar Thermal Industry Federation (ESTIF) in in close cooperation with the European Photovoltaic Industry Association (EPIA) and and supported by 24 organisations at national and European level.




The second edition of European Solar Days, a Europe-wide campaign to promote the use of solar energy for production of electricity, heat and cold, is celebrated from 15 to 22 May with more than 500.000 citizens participating in 7.000 events in 15 European countries - Solar PV and Solar Thermal are replacing fossil fuels and nuclear energy in Europe.

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Monday, May 11, 2009

Twitter Weekly Updates 2009-05-11

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Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Photovoltaic Power Stations in Portugal [PHOTOSET]

Photos by Luis Alves

Photoset of Portugal´s largest photovoltaic power stations (until March), which are located in the Portuguese region of Alentejo.

Click the links below to read the five parts of the article “Alentejo: Solar Region”.


“Alentejo: Solar Region”

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Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Ideological Clash: the most frequent conflict in 2008

Two parties- organized groups, states or organizations - determined to achieve their goals; interests or positional differences over national values. These are the two necessary elements for a clash (or conflict), according to the definition in the last 17th annual report released by the HIIK (Heidelberg Institute for International Conflict Research), the Conflict Barometer 2008, which describes recent trends in conflict development, escalations and settlements.

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The study classifies “conflict “ second 5 levels of intensity:

1 - Latent conflict (Low intensity, Non-violent)
A positional difference over definable values of national meaning, considering demands articulated by one of the parties and perceived by the other.

2 - Manifest conflict (Low intensity, Non-violent)
Stage preliminary to violent force. (for example, verbal pressure, threatening explicitly with violence, imposition of economic sanctions).

3 - Crisis (Medium intensity , Violent)
Tense situation in which at least one of the conflict parties uses violent force in sporadic incidents.

4 - Severe crisis (High intensity, Violent)
Violent force repeatedly used in an organized way.

5 - War (High intensity - Violent)
Violent conflict in which violent force is used with a certain continuity in an organized and systematic way. The extent of destruction is massive and of long duration.

The causes of conflicts are also classified second the next 9 items:
(these sum of factors - that often operate in conjunction, undermining the stability of states and the foundations of human security - point to a conflict syndrome, a new kind of war)

System/ideology (107 cases) - Continuing the trend of previous years, the most frequent conflict item in 2008 was “system/ideology”, with 107 cases. According to the HIIK study, this item means that conflicts were conducted in order to change the political or economic system or concerned ideological differences.

National power (74 cases)

Resources (71 cases)

Territory (53 cases)

Secession (50 cases)

Regional predominance (47 cases)

Autonomy (45 cases)

International power (38 cases)

Decolonization (0cases)

Others (28cases)


Some global conclusions

  • Compared to 2007, second the Conflict Barometer 2008, the number of conflicts remained almost the same – 344 in 2007 and 345 in 2008. 39 conflicts were fought out with the use of massive violence, 95 conflicts were conducted with sporadic use of violence (crises), and 211 non-violent conflicts were counted ( 129 manifest and 82 latent conflicts ).
  • After a relatively peaceful 2007, the number of highly violent conflicts rose once more in 2008. 9 wars and 30 severe crises were counted (6 wars and 26 severe crises - a total of 32 highly violent conflicts, in 2007).
  • Regarding global conflicts (low, medium and high intensity) from 1945 to 2008, the number of conflicts observed per year has risen more or less continuously. Most of the conflicts are low-intensity conflicts. A continuous and regular increase, interrupted by deescalation phases is obserbable on high-intensity conflicts.
  • In 1992, after the collapse of the USSR, it was reached the all-time high(49) in high intensity conflicts. After a remarkable decrease to 30 in 2005, the number of highly violent conflicts rose again to 36 in 2006, decreased to 32 in 2007, and rose again to 39 in 2008 – the highest number since 2004.
  • In recent years, the number of crises had soared to previously unknown values, peaking 113 in 2005, and then remaining on a very high level.
  • More than 2/3 of the conflicts monitored in 2008 were internal conflicts (254 intrastate and 91 interstate cases). Only 8 out of 91 of the interstate conflicts were conducted with the use of violence. Intrastate conflicts represents the vast majority of violent and especially highly violent conflicts.

Other interesting conclusions:
  • In this analysis, conflicts very often involve more than one item. Combinations of the 3 most frequent items were common - territory and resources, regional predominance and resources, or international power and system/ideology.
  • Conflicts over national power, regional predominance, secession or autonomy, resources, and system/ideology were violent in about 50% of the cases.
  • Conflicts over territory and international power were conducted without the use of violence in a large number of cases.
  • About 20% (20 cases) of the conflicts concerning system/ideology were even fought out with the use of massive violence, making this item the most important one in highly violent conflicts: 20, more than half of the 39 high-intensity conflicts, were fought out over questions of system or ideology, alone or in combination with other items. The second most important items in high-intensity conflicts were national power, resources, and secession with 10 cases each.
  • There are remarkable differences between the various world regions , indicating different regional patterns of conflicts. System/Ideology, the most frequent item in total, was the prevalent item in Asia and Oceania (38 cases, 1/3 of conflicts), in the Middle East and Maghreb (27 items, more than 50%), and in the Americas (24 cases, more than more than 50% of conflicts as well).
  • System/Ideology item was of minor importance in Europe (12 cases), and almost unknown in Africa (6 cases). The second most frequent item on a global scale, national power, was significant in Africa (25 cases, almost half of the conflicts) and in Asia/Oceania (24 cases), as well as in the Middle East and Maghreb (15 cases). However, it was comparatively rare in the Americas (6 cases) and Europe (5 cases).
  • The item ranking third in global terms, resources, was prevalent in Africa (29 cases), where many conflicts were fueled by natural resources exploited by rebel groups, and in the Americas (20 cases), but rare in Europe ( 6cases), Asia and Oceania (11 cases), and in the Middle East and Maghreb (5 cases).
  • Conflicts over regional predominance were fought out primarily in Africa (18 cases) and in Asia and Oceania (22 cases). This item was unknown in Europe (zero cases) and very rare in the Middle East and Maghreb (one case). In the Americas, it was not very frequent (6 cases), but it was accounted for both high-intensity conflicts in this region.
  • Conflicts over self-determination (over autonomy or secession), were prevalent in Europe (14 and 20, respectively) and common in Asia and Oceania (15 and 18), but not too frequent in Africa (both 9), and quite rare both in the Americas (3 and 1) and in the Middle East and Maghreb (4 and 2).
  • Although there is rarely only one cause of dispute, ideological change (System/Ideology) represents the most common cause of conflict. In fact, these conflicts were conducted in order to change the political or economic system or ideological differences, which signifies deep socio-economic inequalities behind them.

The Impact of Climate Change: 2 ways
(links between climate change and wars)

The “physical consequences of climate change” enumerated in the report A Climate of Conflict: The Links Between Climate Change, Peace and War, by International Alert (melting glaciers, sea-level rise, loss of island coastline, less usable land, droughts, floods, desertification, spread of disease and pestilence, changes to crop seasons and output), as well as the “unintended” consequences or the “knock-on socio-political consequences of climate change” (livelihood insecurity, food insecurity, increased social tension, less access to useable water, decreased trade, decline in human health, increased poverty, decreased physical security, increased migration) do not directly cause violent conflict. The outcome depends on social and political factors that impact on the potential for violent conflict - some variables increase and others decrease conflict probability. So , second the International Alert report, we have two possible ways: “Good governance and integrated planning for adaptation” or “Bad Governance and institutions/ patterns of violent conflict”.[2]

Both ways depend on some factors, which we don’t know exactly and how they influence the capacity to adapt to climate change. But the current understanding is that we are talking about 3 political and social characteristics [3]:

1 - the deeper the divisions between ethnic and religious groups or between classes are, the more likely it is that environmental scarcity causes violent conflict.

2 - states with weak political institutions are particularly vulnerable, since they find it difficult to manage the social tensions caused by climate change.

3 - democracies are better able to protect the environment and manage peacefully the consequences of environmental degradation.

According to the International Alert report, the first way results in “risk reduction and peacebuilding”, in a “sustainable and non-violent adaptation to consequences of climate change”, strengthening good governance, while the second one results in a violent conflict, exacerbating the physical impacts and knock-on consequences of climate change , weakening already bad governance and locking states into repeating cycles of conflict.

It is not surprise that the most frequent conflict item in 2008 was “system/ideology”. As we said before, it means that they were conducted in order to change political or economic systems or ideological differences. Social inequalities were always the ignition of transformation, in a world where the consequences of neo-liberal policies are leading to a growing social injustice and job insecurity.

However, for the markets of “legitimate use of violence” and for the global “military-industrial complex”, the horror caused by them is a mere “collateral damage”, some unaccounted market externalities . They want the “final push”, “the last battle” to impose total submission.


References:

[1] Heidelberg Institute for International Conflict Research at the Department of Political Science, University of Heidelberg, Conflict Barometer 2008,Crises - Wars - Coups d’Etat / Negotiations - Mediations - Peace Settlements, 17th Annual Conflict Analysis

[2] Dan Smith, Janani Vivekananda, A Climate of Conflict: The Links Between Climate Change, Peace and War, International Alert, London UK, 2007-11

[3] Tapani Vaahtoranta, The wars of climate change, OSCE review 3/2007, The Finnish Institute of International Affairs


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Wednesday, February 4, 2009

New Wind Power Forecast Project in US


Project began in December and will extend up to September 2010

The US Department of Energy (DoE) invited the Portuguese INESC-Porto (Research Institute of Computer Systems) to develop a new and better platform for wind power forecasting. The project will enable to estimate with high accuracy and less uncertainty the production of wind energy for timelines up to 72 hours (short-term forecasts).

The work is for ANL (Argonne National Laboratory), from the network of Laboratories of the DoE. It began in December and it will extend up to September 2010, seeking to reduce the current forecasts margin of error of around 20 % to about 15 %, according to Vladimiro Miranda, Director of INESC and coordinator of this project. It is a tool that can "minimize the potential risks of the increasing US dependence on renewable energies: blackouts."

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"The work that we will develop will add new features to the models that we have today. What we pledge to do for ANL was a different and more intelligent model. Something different and better than the actual," told the director of INESC, adding that the current wind power forecasting tools already have an anticipation of three days. The challenge now is to reduce the margin of error and do an upgrade of these instruments. By the end of this year the INESC will develop a prototype and will go to comparative tests with real data.

With a climate that ranges between temperate and subtropical and given the local geography, the errors in predicting the wind, second Vladimiro Miranda, can have more serious consequences in the US than in any European country . Thus, the model designed by the Portuguese team of researchers will be used in the unstable US territory to prevent possible power cuts. "Prevention has to do with the need to forecast accurately," notes Miranda. The Project coordinator emphasizes that planning is more important in the US, where there is no hydroelectric alternative (as exists in the Iberian Peninsula, for example) and where, in an emergency due to a failure of a thermal power plant, wind power can be activated in some hours and a nuclear can take days.

"It is expected that the more accurate estimate of the amount of wind in a given location will have a considerable impact on the North American electricity industry, allowing lower price of wind energy in the US. The Horizon Wind Energy, owned by EDP Renováveis, the 4th largest wind energy producer in the world, whose presence in the US is increasingly strong, was invited by ANL (Argonne National Laboratory) to be an observer and a potential provider of real data, " said a press note from INESC.

Despite the low position in the international context with a percentage of production of only 1 %, the US have the faster pace in the development of wind power around the world. Portugal is one of the leaders in this area, occupying the 3rd place (behind Denmark and Spain) in the world ranking of wind energy with a production of about 10 %. According to Vladimiro Miranda, that means one in every ten hours of energy we spend comes from the wind, adding that INESC collaborates in a project to ensure the supply security in the Iberian Peninsula by 2025.

However, despite only reserving 1 % of the energy production for wind, the US already has more capacity than Portugal in terms of absolute values. Therefore, Portugal will export to the U.S. some of the knowledge acquired in this field. "In the field of wind energy Europe is about ten or twelve years ahead of the U.S.," notes the project coordinator of INESC.

Image: Aerial photo of the Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Laboratory, courtesy of Argonne National Laboratory, en.wikipedia.org

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Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Explore the ocean and travel through time in Google Earth 5.0


Now, Internet users can dive into the oceans, travel in time and see the planet Mars in high resolution, through the new features of Google Earth 5.0 (beta application), which were presented at the Lisbon headquarters of the company, during a press conference included in the series of worldwide presentations.

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According to Inês Gonçalves, marketing director of Google Portugal, Google Earth 5.0 will also allow the sharing of images, videos and pictures made by the users. The new Google tool will show the Earth's surface covered by ocean, 5 % of which is already explored, mapped and displayed in more detail.

It is important to observe that Portugal has the 3rd largest EEZ (Exclusive Economic Zone) of the European Union and the 11th in the world. The seazone over which the Portuguese state has special rights over the exploration and use of marine resources, has an area of 1,727,408 km2.

With Google Earth 5.0, you will be able to “navigate” the surface and the bottom of the ocean (like visit the Mariana Trench) and you can follow the journey made by a monitored white shark as well.

Google Ocean also allows us to know water temperature and the best places for surfing, kitesurfing and diving along the Portuguese coast, and we can also learn about ocean observations, climate change and endangered species.

The Internet user can also track changes made by man over time, through the availability of historical imagery from around the globe (like the impact of suburban sprawl or global warming), or record and share a trip, adding a soundtrack or a narration to personalize the journey.

This version is available in 40 languages, including Portuguese. To access the Ocean in Google Earth simply download the latest version at Google Earth


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Monday, January 12, 2009

Sweden Ranks First in Sustainable Society Index 2008

The Sustainable Society Foundation has published its update of the 2006 Sustainable Society Index, which covers 151 countries. The new publication, the SSI-2008 , has been launched December 2008 and integrates for the first time sustainability and quality of life in an understandable way. The SSI is based on public data from scientific research institutes and international organizations.

The world average score is a mere 5.7 on a scale of 0 to 10. The Nordic Region is on the top for sustainable development: Sweden scored 7.02, followed by Switzerland, Norway, Finland, Austria and Iceland. Portugal (6.16) was 25th on the list of 151 countries.

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Top 15 - Sustainable Society Index 2008

1 SWEDEN
2 SWITZERLAND
3 NORWAY
4 FINLAND
5 AUSTRIA
6 ICELAND
7 VIETNAM
8 GEORGIA
9 NEW ZEALAND
10 LATVIA
11 COSTA RICA
12 LITHUANIA
13 NETHERLANDS
14 DENMARK
15 GUYANA
(...)
25 PORTUGAL

Sustainable development is a concept very much discussed and considered important for most of the people. However, it is very difficult to measure in our society. Many indexes have been developed, but until recently there was no index, which comprises all the aspects of a sustainable society, which is simple, clear and transparent and which is adequate for comparison between countries.

The SSI has been built on the solid definition of the Brundtland Commission, with the addition of the third important aspect of freedom:

A sustainable society is a society:
• that meets the needs of the present generation,
• that does not compromise the ability of future generations to meet their own needs,
• in which each individual has the opportunity to develop himself in freedom, within a well-balanced society and in harmony with its surroundings
(this third aspect is very important to get a clear view of the quality of life in a country, because "without quality of life sustainability makes no sense and quality of life without sustainability has no future").

The framework of the ISS consists of 5 categories (each one with several indicators- the lowest scores are for Consumption of Renewable Energy (3.2) and Waste Recycling (1.7). The highest score is for International Cooperation (9.2))::

I Personal Development
1. Healthy Life
2. Sufficient Food
3. Sufficient to Drink
4. Safe Sanitation
5. Education Opportunities
6. Gender Equality

II Healthy Environment
7. Air Quality
8. Surface Water Quality
9. Land Quality

III Well-balanced Society
10. Good Governance
11. Employment
12. Population Growth
13. Income Distribution
14. Public Debt

IV Sustainable Use of Resources
15. Waste Recycling
16. Use of Renewable Water Resources
17. Consumption of Renewable Energy

V Sustainable World
18. Forest Area
19. Preservation of Biodiversity
20. Emission of Greenhouse Gases
21. Ecological Footprint
22. International Cooperation

Second the report, in the past two years the world made a relatively little progress towards a sustainability society.

Positive aspects:

- The scores of all 6 indicators of the category Personal Development have modestly increased (the largest contribution to this progress comes from Employment and Public Debt, due to a worldwide economy growth during the analyzed period).

Negative aspects:

- Deterioration of decisive importance issues - regardless of all plans and targets, the increase in renewable energy production does not keep in step with the rapidly growing energy consumption and the emission of greenhouse gases has, also very contrary to all targets set, further increased.

Priorities:

On a global scale the direction of the declining indicators should be reversed urgently to avoid further deterioration - Emission of Greenhouse Gases, Consumption of Renewable Energy, Ecological Footprint and Income Distribution.

In many countries, the inequality in Income Distribution is still growing and may become a threat for a well-balanced society. Waste Recycling, the indicator with the lowest score needs special attention, but all indicators need attention at specific regional level.


The full publication, with the data of all 151 countries, can be downloaded for free from the website - www.sustainablesocietyindex.com


IMAGE: Scheme of sustainable development: at the confluence of three constituent parts, by Johann Dréo, en.wikipedia.org, Creative Commons "Attribution ShareAlike 2.0 France"

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