Tag Archives: population

Marine Litter – video contest

posted on July 17, 2014

The MARLISCO project and its aim – to stop marine litter together –  was the reason for my last post, which you can read here. One important aspect of the project was the short video competition: youngsters were asked to catch marine litter on film.

In total, more than 2000 students contributed to 379 videos. By participations in the video contest, students became part of the discussion concerning the future of marine ecosystems; at school, they explored various aspects of the problem, including the responsibility of the society towards stoping marine litter and the series of actions that can be taken to minimize the consequences of human action.

Each country selected their best video and the 14 national winners were announced recently. The video above is a compilation of the winning videos (you can also find it here). Some countries have also made their list of videos available on Youtube, such as the UK, with the finalist project entries here.

World Population Day – Solar Decathlon

This post is part of the World Population Day series. You can find the other stories here and here.

Urban Population boom is a challenge all over the world. The United Nations Population Division estimates that two-thirds of the population will be living in cities by the year 2050. In particular, rapid urbanization will take place in Africa and Asia, which can be regarded as an opportunity for improving life conditions in many countries.

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Urban population is increasing fast. Massive changes are on the way regarding the way people live and cities evolve. New sustainable developments are required in the near future. Credits: http://instagram.com/scienceisherenow

To deal with the demand for new and sustainable developments, a very interesting building competition took place in the US some yers ago and has now a new edition, this time on the outskirts of Paris: The Solar Decathlon. Universities from all over the world have built full-scale solar-powered houses to be presented to juries and the public. The 2014 Solar Decathlon competition is taking place in Verasilles, France, with a focus on six different issues concerning sustainability: density, mobility, sobriety, innovation, affordability and local context. The competition section open to the public started on the 28th of June and will end on the 14th of July (tomorrow); meanwhile, winning teams have been announced for each of the ten awards, which include for example “Urban Design, Transportation and Affordability”, “Energy Efficiency” or “Comfort Conditions”, amongst others. For the final decisions, the juries had to bear in mind that renewable energy supplies are required, but more importantly that the demand for energy should be controlled and limited. Also, the rules of the contest point to the need for affordability, which should “remain the key issue for applicable sustainable urban solutions”. Check the video below with a report from this year’s Solar Decathlon Competition:


 

 

 

World Population Day Series

On the 11th of July we will celebrate The World Population Day. I am starting here a series of posts on population growth and associated aspects. Expect more on the days to come. Meanwhile, check here for information concerning this important day.

The World Population Day is an annual event. “Whether we can live together equitably on a healthy planet will depend on the choices and decisions we make now” can be read in the UN website Greening the Blue.

 

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World Population Day: 11th of July of 2014. Around the world as the World population increases. Building homes and feeding the ever growing population will remain a challenge. In addition, resources are not unlimited. #worldpopday