Research Questions • What are the characteristics of vulnerable populations in The Hague? • What are their needs in order to adapt to heatwaves, and how do they cope? • What are existing sustainable solutions for protecting vulnerable populations? • How can the municipality of The Hague increase urban resilience with regards to heat?
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With the Industrial Revolution and, more profoundly, the globalisation process of the last decades, both tourism and environmental issues have become increasingly global in occurrence. Globalisation processes amplify or replace many regional or national forces of change. Human activities have become the main cause of global environmental change (GEC), hence our era has been designated the ‘Anthropocene’. The Earth System could be approaching a planetary threshold resulting in a rapid warming pathway. In view of tourism's global importance, worldwide growth, and its tendency to create interdependencies between countries, it is appropriate to devote a chapter to the global environmental impacts of tourism. As participation in tourism increases in and between countries all over the globe, many of its environmental impacts are becoming scaled up to a global level. Minimising these guarantees a more stable system, which is also essential for tourism.
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We summarize what we assess as the past year's most important findings within climate change research: limits to adaptation, vulnerability hotspots, new threats coming from the climate–health nexus, climate (im)mobility and security, sustainable practices for land use and finance, losses and damages, inclusive societal climate decisions and ways to overcome structural barriers to accelerate mitigation and limit global warming to below 2°C.
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Global climate change is resulting in a wide range of biotic responses, including changes in diel activity and seasonal phenology patterns, range shifts polewards in each hemisphere and/or to higher elevations, and altered intensity and frequency of interactions between species in ecosystems.Oak (Thaumetopoea processionea) and pine (T. pityocampa) processionary moths (hereafter OPM and PPM, respectively) are thermophilic species that are native to central and southern Europe. The larvae of both species are gregarious and produce large silken ‘nests’ that they use to congregate when not feeding. During outbreaks, processionary caterpillars are capable of stripping foliage from theirfood plants (oak and pine trees), generating considerable economic damage. Moreover, the third to last instar caterpillars of both species produce copious hairs as a means of defence against naturalenemies, including both vertebrate and invertebrate predators, and parasitoids. These hairs contain the toxin thaumetopoein that causes strong allergic reactions when it comes into contact with humanskin or other membranes. In response to a warming climate, PPM is expanding its range northwards, while OPM outbreaks are increasing in frequency and intensity, particularly in northern Germany,the Netherlands, and southern U.K., where it was either absent or rare previously. Here, we discuss how warming and escape from co-evolved natural enemies has benefitted both species, and suggest possible strategies for biological control.
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The sensitivity of tropical forest carbon to climate is a key uncertainty in predicting global climate change. Although short-term drying and warming are known to affect forests, it is unknown if such effects translate into long-term responses. Here, we analyze 590 permanent plots measured across the tropics to derive the equilibrium climate controls on forest carbon. Maximum temperature is the most important predictor of aboveground biomass (−9.1 megagrams of carbon per hectare per degree Celsius), primarily by reducing woody productivity, and has a greater impact per °C in the hottest forests (>32.2°C). Our results nevertheless reveal greater thermal resilience than observations of short-term variation imply. To realize the long-term climate adaptation potential of tropical forests requires both protecting them and stabilizing Earth’s climate.
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In this opinion piece, we establish some key priorities for evidence-based governance to address the increasing threat of heatwave events in Europe, particularly for human health. According to the European Environment Agency (EEA) [1], Europe is warming faster than the global average. The year 2020 was the warmest year in Europe since the instrumental records began, with the range of anomaly between 2.53˚C and 2.71˚C above the pre-industrial levels. Particularly high warming has been observed over eastern Europe, Scandinavia and the eastern part of the Iberian Peninsula. Climate change-related heatwaves are becoming a significant threat to human health and necessitate early action [2]. While financial resources and technological capacities are crucial to aid (local) governments in adapting to and proactively mitigating the threats posed by heatwaves, they are not enough [3]. Akin to flood responses, European countries must prepare for large-scale evacuations of vulnerable citizens (especially older adults living alone) from their homes. Here, we outline three priorities for Europe in the governance domain. These priorities encompass developing and rolling-out heat-health action plans, a stronger role for European Union institutions in regional heatwave governance, and creating a sense of urgency by developing innovative ways of communicating research findings to relevant policy makers and citizens.
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De versnippering van de internationale samenleving vermindert de kans op een overkoepelend model van global governance. Meer waarschijnlijk is het ontstaan van bepaalde processen van bestuur die zich ontwikkelen als reactie op specifieke mondiale vraagstukken. Dit artikel beschrijft het proces van implementatie van de US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) als een voorbeeld van een dergelijk bijzonder proces. Het FCPA 'model' wordt gekenmerkt door samenwerking en onderhandeling tussen de publieke en private sector. In dit model is het samenwerken voor het bieden van maatschappelijke veiligheid gebaseerd op wederzijds belang. De mogelijkheid van onderhandelde regelingen heeft een positief effect op het management van corruptie door bedrijven, dat zich verspreidt over de hele invloedsfeer van de onderneming. Tegelijkertijd biedt het de overheid toegang tot de informatie die nodig is om corruptie op te sporen, te onderzoeken en te vervolgen. Het in kaart brengen van dergelijke processen biedt nuttige inzichten over nieuwe benaderingen die nodig kunnen zijn om goed bestuur voor een veilige wereld te bereiken. ABSTRACT The fragmentation of international society reduces the likelihood of a single overarching model of global governance. More likely, is the emergence of particular processes of governance that develop in response to specific global issues. The paper describes the process of implementing the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) as an example of one such particular process. The FCPA 'model' is characterized by co-operation and negotiation between the public and private sector. In this model, partnering for the provision of security is based on mutual self- interest. The possibility of negotiated settlements has a positive effect on the management of corruption by corporations with a ripple effect throughout the corporations' sphere of influence. At the same time, it provides governments with access to the information necessary to detect, investigate and prosecute corruption. Mapping such processes provides useful insights about new approaches that may be needed to attain good governance for a safe world.
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This final response to the two climate change denial papers by Shani and Arad further highlights the inaccuracies, misinformation and errors in their commentaries. The obfuscation of scientific research and the consensus on anthropogenic climate change may have significant long-term negative consequences for better understanding the implications of climate change and climate policy for tourism and create confusion and delay in developing and implementing tourism sector responses.
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Shani and Arad (2014) claimed that tourism scholars tend to endorse the most pessimistic assessments regarding climate change, and that anthropogenic climate change was a "fashionable" and "highly controversial scientific topic". This brief rejoinder provides the balance that is missing from such climate change denial and skepticism studies on climate change and tourism. Recent research provides substantial evidence that reports on anthropogenic climate change are accurate, and that human-induced greenhouse gas emissions, including from the tourism industry, play a significant role in climate change. Some positive net effects may be experienced by some destinations in the short-term, but in the long-term all elements of the tourism system will be impacted. The expansion of tourism emissions at a rate greater than efficiency gains means that it is increasingly urgent that the tourism sector acknowledge, accept and respond to climate change. Debate on tourism-related adaptation and mitigation measures is to be encouraged and welcomed. Climate change denial is not.
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Internationalization and global citizenship are increasingly becoming the emerging focus of higher education worldwide as universities seek to incorporate global learning in their policies, curricula and strategies. Global engagement, international collaborations, strategic alliances and operations are all on the increase with the aim of delivering future-proof graduates with a global mindset and inter-cultural competences. Additionally, it can be noted that hybridity in education is acutely present through the digitalisation of delivery modes as well as the introduction of new mobility formats, such as faculty-led study abroad programmes and transnational education at branch campuses. So not only do we see more activity, but also more delivery modes of international education. While both digital delivery and new mobility structures transcend traditional boundaries of space and locality, it is precisely this point that can pose serious challenges to the success of international education. Both involve a “relocation” of education; however, when the physical locality, where the students and lecturers are rooted in certain value and beliefs systems, is not considered, the risk is that the educational experience remains one-sided despite the multidimensional context of which it should be a part. Locality is the key to successful and meaningful internationalisation. After presenting the case that locality is of paramount importance, this chapter will outline the conceptual model of intercultureality, which allows education programs to foster and nurture intercultural competence development of students in their own unique landscape from the ground up. Using the metaphor of a landscape, intercultureality provides tools to create an intercultural reality by utilising the unique hybrid of the physical locality, the disciplinary context, the dynamics of the (virtual) classroom as well as the infrastructures in place. The underlying idea is that programmes and institutions can grow any kind of landscape that works for their context, building on the soil of their own previously defined intercultural competence goals. This soil will be enriched by means of five features: the formal curriculum, the pedagogy, the student experience, the informal curriculum, and the organisational and strategic frameworks. The model is further elaborated upon and illustrated with examples of practices of The Hague University of Applied Sciences (THUAS), where the authors work.
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