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An Analysis of the Barriers to and Drivers of Green Public Procurement in Achieving a More Sustainable Construction Industry
No full textThe public sector in Ireland possesses enormous purchasing power which has the strength to affect production and consumption trends in all market sectors. Environmental purchasing tools such as Green Public Procurement (GPP) are seen by many as the solution to greener purchasing decisions in order to obtain and maintain not only a more sustainable construction sector but also a more sustainable economy. The purpose of this research is to determine and examine the key barriers to and drivers of implementing GPP in public procurement departments in order to reduce the effect construction works have on the environment. There was limited literature on the uptake of GPP in Ireland so the focus was on the uptake of GPP among EU member states. After analysing all aspects of GPP in the literature review, questionnaires were distributed to all key stakeholders of GPP to establish its uptake in Ireland while also indentifying its barriers and drivers. Finally, two interviews were carried out with industry professionals to add more depth to the questionnaire’s findings. In compiling the results and findings from these interviews and questionnaires it was apparent that the uptake of GPP as an environmental tool among public procurement departments is extremely slow and non-existent in most cases. The findings highlight the key barriers such as the perception that greener products and services are more expensive, lack of resources, lack of training and lack of support from higher authorities. However there does seem to be a drive from higher authorities towards implementing GPP in the form of regulations and legislation
Mainstreaming climate change adaptation into planning and development: A case study in Northern Ireland
No full textThis study outlines the adaptation planning journey undertaken by Derry City and Strabane District Council (DCSDC) in Northern Ireland and reflects how the prevailing policy context and level of organisational adaptive capacity create the conditions for mainstreaming climate adaptation into planning and development. This chapter explores the potential of local government in Northern Ireland to integrate local authority policy drivers such as disaster risk reduction (DRR), emergency planning, risk and assurance, and community resilience. The ability to communicate risks and solutions was identified as an important consideration when undertaking adaptation planning, particularly when discussing the adaptation planning process and securing input or support from colleagues. Moreover, a significant amount of engagement was required with local government agencies to increase understanding of the relevance of climate change and DRR. Embedding DRR and climate change adaptation (CCA) within local authority policy and planning can enable a greater understanding of specific risks to local governments and act as a catalyst for further action
Introduction: Can the Sendai Framework, the Paris Agreement, and Agenda 2030 provide a path towards societal resilience?
No full textThe Global Risk Report 2021 highlights the portfolio of risks that may reshape the world in the coming years (WEF, The Global Risks Report 2021 (16th ed.). ISBN: 978-2-940631-24-7. http://wef.ch/risks2021, 2021). Although the global portfolio of risks is dominated by the existential crisis of climate change, the Covid-19 pandemic presents an immediate experience of how risk can upend and disrupt our societies and economies. It has highlighted existing global inequalities and demonstrated the scope and scale of cascading socio-ecological impacts. The impacts of climate change on global communities will likely dwarf the disruption brought on by the pandemic, with impacts being more diffuse and pervasive over a longer time frame. The chapter sets out the nature of the climate change problem and the potential value in integrating the agendas of Climate Change Adaptation, Disaster Risk Reduction and the Sustainable Development Goals to increase societal resilience. It then describes the scope of the book under its three sections: Best practice approaches; Irish case studies; International case studies. Lessons learned are then presented from the studies set out within the volume, followed by challenges and potential solutions to realising the ambition of resilience. Finally, a set of overarching conclusions are drawn
Balanced lipase interactions for degradation-controlled paclitaxel release from lipid cubic phase formulations
No full textLipid cubic phase (LCP) formulations enhance the intestinal solubility and bioavailability of hydrophobic drugs by reducing precipitation and facilitating their mass transport to the intestinal surface for absorption. LCPs with an ester linkage connecting the acyl chain to the glycerol backbone (monoacylglycerols), are susceptible to chemical digestion by several lipolytic enzymes including lipases, accelerating the release of hydrophobic agents from the lipid bilayers of the matrix. Unlike regular enzymes that transform soluble substrates, lipolytic enzymes act at the interface of water and insoluble lipid. Therefore,
compounds that bind to this interface can enhance or inhibit the activity of enzymes to varying extent. Here, we explore how the lipolysis rate can be tuned by the interfacial interaction of porcine pancreatic lipase with monoolein LCPs containing a known lipase inhibitor, tetrahydrolipstatin. Release of the Biopharmaceutical Classification System (BCS) class IV drug, paclitaxel, from the inhibitor-modified LCP was examined in the presence of lipase and its effectors colipase and calcium. By combining experimental dynamic digestion studies, thermodynamic measurements and molecular dynamics simulations of the competitive inhibition of lipase by tetrahydrolipstatin, we reveal the role and mode of action of lipase effectors in creating a precisely-balanced degradation-controlled LCP release system for the poorly soluble paclitaxel dru
Why does making connections through resilience indicators matter?
No full textThe year 2015 saw the adoption of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and the Paris Agreement. These landmark UN agreements both characterise and present the opportunity for developing integrated responses and coherence to the challenges bridging development, humanitarian, climate and disaster risk reduction areas. This chapter will provide examples of experiences and best practices from the international arena that identify how approaches to SDGs, Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and Management (DRM), and Climate Change Adaptation (CCA) are juxtaposed, and the policy instruments currently in place that address SDG, DRR and CCA activities and actions. The text will consider opportunities for developing a concept of resilience that integrates SDG, DRR and CCA frameworks in response to global challenges, thereby constituting a development continuum instead of a series of independent and isolated phenomena. It will also identify and characterise opportunities for synergies across the different domains for community and sector vulnerability at local, national and international scales through integrated reporting across agreements
Discussion: The effect of surface roughness and shear rate during fall-cone calibration
No full textThe fall-cone test is one of the most popular methods used to characterise fine-grained soils. Traditionally, the fall-cone has been used to determine the liquid limit. However, the undrained shear strength of a given soil can be related to the penetration depth based on Hansbo\u27s cone factor K. Specifically for the 30° cone, a wide number of different K values are reported in the literature, ranging from 0·5 to 1·33. It has been consistently argued that the cone surface roughness is one of the main reasons for the divergence. In the first part of this paper, four different cone surfaces were tested under similar conditions with three different soils; the experimental evidence shows that the cone surface roughness does not have a major effect on the fall-cone penetration. Instead, different shear rates during calibration procedures are mainly responsible for diverging K values. In the second part of the paper, experimental evidence from this work and that of several other authors are used to define an empirical expression to determine K. A Bayesian technique was used to quantify the uncertainty of the empirical parameters estimated during the process. The fitted results are reported with the relevant statistical uncertainty. It is expected that the proposed equation would provide engineers with a tool to better define a K value
NGOs, media and translation
No full textNon-governmental organisations (NGOs) work in linguistically diverse contexts, particularly NGOs that have an international remit. This chapter explores the synergies between NGOs, their use of media, and the translation practices that they employ in their media work. Firstly, the chapter reviews literature from Journalism and Media Studies which has investigated NGOs’ activities as alternative global news providers. Secondly, the chapter explores how NGOs are engaging with new media tools, such as social media and other mobile applications, to increase two-way communication with their beneficiaries as part of their advocacy and humanitarian work. To do so, it draws on key literature from Development Studies and Disaster Management. Overall, the discussion shows that there has been little engagement with the role of languages and translation in the literature so far, and that this gap is only just starting to be addressed through the work of some translation studies scholars. The chapter argues that paying closer attention to NGOs’ use of translation in its media work is important to shed new light on NGOs’ functioning and ability to act as mediators between their beneficiaries and the wider public. NGOs claim to work according to values of equality and inclusion. However, some of the research conducted so far raises questions on whether NGOs are able to work according to these values if they fail to consider the importance and complexity of translation in their engagement with linguistically diverse audiences. The chapter concludes by exploring future scope for translation studies research that further engages with these questions
Coherence, alignment and integration: understanding the legal relationship between sustainable development, climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction
No full textInternational law can play an important role in promoting national, regional and international actions to tackle the human impacts of climate change and disasters. Of note, 2015 saw the adoption of three interconnected normative frameworks: the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030, the Paris Agreement under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). One may therefore be tempted to view this body of international norms, rules and standards as a comprehensive and unified system. Yet the increasing complexity and specialisation of different international legal regimes has led to concerns regarding a confusing fragmentation of international law. This chapter will therefore examine the relationship between the three topics of sustainable development, climate change adaptation (CCA) and disaster risk reduction (DRR) from a legal perspective. The chapter will commence with a discussion of the legal status of different international instruments, before providing a textual analysis of the language used by states, the UN, NGOs and other actors in the relevant documents. We then propose an ‘hourglass’ model of the legal relationships between these three different international frameworks based on: systemic coherence at the international level; vertical alignment between the international, regional and national levels; and horizontal integration of international norms at the domestic level. To support this proposal, examples will be provided from the Pacific Island Countries (PICs), drawing on research undertaken through the IRC-MSCA CAROLINE project ‘Leave No One Behind: Developing Climate-Smart/Disaster Risk Management Laws that Protect People in Vulnerable Situations for a Comprehensive Implementation of the UN Agenda 2030.
Mimicking the microbial oxidation of elemental sulfur with a biphasic electrochemical cell
No full textThe lack of an artificial system that mimics elemental sulfur (S8) oxidation by microorganisms inhibits a deep mechanistic understanding of the sulfur cycle in the biosphere and the metabolism of sulfuroxidising microorganisms. In this article, we present a biphasic system that mimics biochemical sulfur oxidation under ambient conditions using a liquid|liquid (L|L) electrochemical cell and gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) as an interfacial catalyst. The interface between two solvents of very different polarity is an
ideal environment to oxidise S8, overcoming the incompatible solubilities of the hydrophobic reactants (O2 and S8) and hydrophilic products (H+, SO3 2–, SO4 2–, etc.). Furthermore, the interfacial AuNPs provide a catalytic surface onto which O2 and S8 can adsorb. Control over the driving force for the reaction is provided by polarising the L|L interface externally and tuning the Fermi level of the interfacial AuNPs by the adsorption of aqueous anions. Comparison of electrochemical measurements using a 4-electrode closed bipolar electrochemical cell and a L|L electrochemical cell confirmed that electron transfer reactions are possible between O2, gold and S8 in biphasic systems
Influence of adhesive spew geometry and load eccentricity angle on metal-composite bonded joints tested at quasi-static and dynamic loading rates
No full textThe full text of this article will not be available in ULIR until the embargo expires on the 16/10/2023Joining techniques for multi-material structures are critical for increased use of lightweight materials in the automotive industry. This paper investigates the combined effect of spew geometry and load eccentricity angle on the mechanical performance of bonded single-lap joints (SLJ), employing carbon-fibre thermoplastic composite and aluminium adherends. Spew geometries – half-rounded and flat, and eccentricity angles – 0.48°, 0.62°, 0.78°, and 0.91°, considered here, are relevant to typical joints in thin-walled automotive structures. Of the geometries investigated, in the first the excess adhesive was allowed to take its “natural” half-rounded shape, while the second involved a simple additional step, suitable for high-volume production. Moreover, considering the use of dissimilar adherends and crash-durable epoxy adhesives, and limited accessibility to both adherend free ends in practical joints, the flat-spew geometry was formed at the free end of the composite adherend, resulting in SLJs with asymmetrical spew geometries. The SLJs were tested at dynamic crash loading rates (0.5 m/s and 3 m/s) as well as in-service quasi-static loading rates. The load eccentricity was found to significantly affect the half-rounded spew joint performance, particularly at the dynamic loading rates. The asymmetric spew shape significantly minimised the detrimental eccentricity effects, at all loading rates. The SLJs with flat-spew shows 92%−120% higher energy absorption under dynamic loading, relative to half-rounded spew joints. The joint deformation mechanisms and post-failure surfaces are examined. Further, finite element analysis was performed to understand the influence of the investigated spew geometries on the adhesive stress distribution. The proposed flat spew geometry achieved the lowest peel stresses and the highest shear to peel stress ratio, in addition to having low sensitivity to changes in geometry