Tag Archives: series

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.

fotografia 1fotografia 2

fotografia 3

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 – Food Safety

Today is World Population Day. This post is part of the World Population Day series

FAO, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, and the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the corporate charity of the world’s biggest news and information providers Thomson Reuters, have joined efforts to provide global information on issues related with food production, food security, food waste, agriculture, land use, and malnutrition. To improve awareness on hunger is also one of the main purposes. The initiative aims to launch an online food security information service later in the year. You can find more details here.

food

food 2

Food -related issues, such as food production, food security, food waste, agriculture, land use, malnutrition, hunger will be the focus of this initiative. Image credits: http://instagram.com/scienceisherenow.

Because information is the basis for good decision making, the partnership now established commits to provide “accurate, updated and helpful information about hunger, nutrition and food production challenges”. The Thomson Reuters Foundation website will be the repository of such information and also the place to look for underreported stories that will be available for the general public. For how journalism can impact on people’s live, watch the interview with the Thomson Reuters Foundation Editor-in-Chief, Belinda Goldsmith, on Youtube.

Popular hashtags: #wpd2014, #WorldPopDay, #worldpopulationday, #food, #foodsafety

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.

 

11jul2014

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