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Soziale Ungleichheit in Deutschland: Einkommens- und Vermögensverteilung
Full text linkDie Reihe „Basiswissen zur Nachhaltigkeit“ versucht zu verschiedenen Themen der Nachhaltigkeit, z.B. Klimawandel, Abfallwirtschaft, soziale Gerechtigkeit, grundlegende Fakten zusammenzustellen. Zielsetzung ist es ein Grundwissen bereitzustellen, das zum einen als Ausgangspunkt für vertiefende Analysen dient und zudem eine faktenbasierte Grundlage für die eigene Meinungsbildung sein kann.
Der vorliegende Aufsatz behandelt das Thema „Soziale Ungleichheit in Deutschland“.
Zunächst werden die Methoden der Erhebung und Analyse ökonomischer sozialer Ungleichheiten dargestellt. Es folgt eine empirische Analyse, in der die nationalen Aspekte der Armutsgefährdung, der Mittelschicht und des Einkommensreichtums behandelt werden. Den Abschluss bildet eine Darstellung der Vermögensverteilung in Deutschland. Der internationale Aspekt der Vermögensverteilung wird im letzten Abschnitt kurz angesprochen; eine ausführliche Analyse der weltweiten Vermögensverteilung ist dem nachfolgenden Band vorbehalten
Annual Report 2023 of the Cologne Research Centre for Reinsurance
Full text linkThe reinsurance sector continues to face significant challenges. In 2023, in addition to the ongoing war in Ukraine and the damage caused by natural disasters, the sector was also influenced by the energy crisis and inflation.
The Cologne Research Centre for Reinsurance analyses the latest developments in the reinsurance market and, where appropriate, monitors these through research pro-jects. In the process, the Research Centre for Reinsurance links its research activities with practices in the reinsurance sector. Hereby, and facilitated through organisation of the annual Cologne Reinsurance Symposium and the Annual Meeting of the Spon-soring Group Reinsurance, a bi-directional transfer of knowledge between theory and practice is pursued.
The content of these two scientific events, as well as the completed research projects, are incorporated into teaching at the Institute of Insurance Studies, rounding out prac-tice-oriented training in the field of reinsurance.
There are eight researchers and three professors currently on the staff of the Cologne Research Centre for Reinsurance. All material and personnel costs are fully financed by third-party funds provided by the Sponsoring Group Reinsurance [Förderkreis Rück-versicherung]. This funding helped facilitate the doctorate of Mr Frank Cremer, among other things. In addition, Prof. Dr. Jan-Phillip Schmidt is supervising the doctoral stud-ies of Mr Phillip Sampson.
The financial support to the non-profit organisation ‘Hilfe für Guinea e.V.’, which was approved at the 14th Annual Meeting of the Sponsoring Group Reinsurance in 2021, was continued in 2023. With its annual donation to this project, the Cologne Research Centre for Reinsurance meets the criterion of ‘social commitment’ as required for an official research focus. The donation benefits the La Lumière Scolaire project. This project finances the construction and operation of schools for the children of disabled and homeless people in Guinea.
The Cologne Research Centre for Reinsurance is accredited as an official research focus of the Cologne University of Applied Sciences
Assessing and enhancing the cooling potential of urban green infrastructure in Cologne, Germany
Full text linkWith the increasing threats of climate change and the associated rise in climate extremes and natural hazards, there has been a growing focus on studies addressing mitigation and adaptation strategies for these hazards, one of which is urban heat islands (UHI). The strategies for mitigating UHI are well-established, with urban green infrastructure being one of the most effective approaches. Previous research has shown that green infrastructure can significantly reduce urban temperatures, although its effectiveness varies depending on specific properties. The cooling effectiveness of these infrastructures differs based on various factors.This paper investigates the cooling potential of various types of green infrastructure, including trees, green roofs, and vertical greenery, in a 16-ha area in Cologne's Volksgarten quarter, based on their biophysical properties. The primary objective was to develop a criteria set for green infrastructure characteristics that enhance cooling potential and climate resilience and to apply this set in assessing the area’s cooling potential. A mixed-methods approach was employed, incorporating literature analysis to define the criteria sets, alongside spatial analysis, in-situ observations, and transpiration modelling to evaluate the study area’s actual cooling potential. The results indicated that, particularly for trees, shading properties based on ecological characteristics such as LAI, height, and crown width play a significant role. For green roofs and vertical greenery, system type characteristics and orientation are potentially more influential. The analysis also included the number of existing infrastructures and based on evaluations of these groups and their locations within the study area, it was possible to identify so-called “cool” and “hot spots” in the study area. The study concludes that while current green infrastructure implementations in the study area have medium cooling potential, there are also clear opportunities for improvement. From these findings, a targeted set of recommendations was drafted to not only enhance cooling potential and climate resistance but also to incorporate additional co-benefits, where specifically for trees, it was possible to make such recommendations even on the species level. This study offers a novel approach to evaluating mitigation strategies, contributing to a deeper understanding of the role of green infrastructure in urban climate resilience, and providing an approach to optimising its benefits with potential implications for urban planners
Sustainable Food Production and Rural Development: Understanding the Opportunities and Limitations of Advocacy- Oriented Research in a True Cost Accounting Assessment in Bolivia
Full text linkThis thesis aims to contribute to the development of true cost accounting as a comprehensive approach to assessing the externalities of production systems. The research focuses on understanding the opportunities and limitations of its application, while providing science-based evidence to support advocacy for policies that promote more sustainable food systems. This is achieved through a methodological triangulation approach and a case study in Bolivia which is conducted to compare the impacts of large- and small-scale food systems. The thesis begins with a literature review and is complemented by a series of interviews with Bolivian researchers and international experts, as well as a systematic review of scientific articles and reports on TCA. The results show that while there are opportunities to overcome the limitations faced by the Bolivian researchers, there is a lack of knowledge on limitations experienced by other researchers and the solutions they found to address them. This information would be helpful for researchers and other stakeholders interested in TCA research. More research is needed to improve the tools and methods withing the TCA approach and its consideration in political decision making and development issues
Spontaneous Volunteers and the Flood Disaster 2021 in Germany: Development of Social Innovations in Flood Risk Management
Full text linkIn the response of the flood disaster in Germany 2021 a vast number of spontaneous volunteers (SVs) participated. They organized coordinating services, developed emergent forms of SVs and thus hold the potential to improve existing flood managing capacities. This raises the need for in‐depth knowledge about SVs and organization, the use of information and communication technologies (ICT), social and individual aspects. This article analyzed results of an online survey ( n = 2636) with the aim to discuss challenges and potentials to develop SVs as social innovations in flood risk management. As a result, SVs are strong value‐based motivated, can be psychologically stressed and travel long distances, especially when they got aware of helping possibilities via social media. Disaster relief organizations rarely cooperate with or integrate SVs, but when they collaborate, SVs' satisfaction with authorities increases significantly. Based on the results, this article derives preplanning of useful concepts consider safety aspects, ICT utilization, foster mutual respect between SVs and authorities and supporting sense of community as key results for development of social innovations. Especially in light of pandemics, social crisis like refugee movements, and climate change‐related disasters, the requirement rises for engaging SVs
Potential Improvements in Crop Production in Egypt and Implications for Future Water and Land Demand
Full text linkSimilar to numerous water- and data-scarce regions, Egypt confronts a critical challenge in sustaining food production for its rapidly growing population. Consequently, the country’s water and land resources are under considerable stress and require careful management. About half of Egypt’s both annually harvested areas and renewable freshwater are allocated for cultivating rice, maize, wheat, and berseem clover. However, the extent to which crop production might be improved and how this would impact future water and land requirements remains poorly understood. We analyzed potential improvements in the production of these crops and quantified their future water and land requirements under different scenarios. Potential improvements were detected through percentile analysis in three remote sensing-derived performance indicators for each crop in the Nile Delta’s Zankalon region: (i) crop yield, (ii) crop water productivity, and (iii) transpiration fraction (transpiration to actual evapotranspiration, T/AET). We applied detected improvementsto construct plausible scenarios for Egypt’s water and land requirements to sustain domestic crop production until 2050. Our findings indicate limited potential to improve T/AET (< 4%). However, improvements of up to 27% for crop yields and up to 14% for water productivity are possible. To meet the production targets by 2050, national production must increase by 128, 78, 69, and 71% above the 2016–2020’s average for rice, maize, wheat, and berseem, respectively. Depending on the improvement levels in the developed scenarios, a total harvested land area between 5.3 and 6.4 million ha will be required by 2050, with 18% allocated to rice, 28% to maize, 36% to wheat, and 18% to berseem. Associated freshwater requirements will amount to 59–68 billion cubic meters, divided into 23% for rice, 34% for maize, 28% for wheat, and 15% for berseem. Interventions increasing yields and water productivity will benefit more the summer (rice and maize) than the winter crops (wheat and berseem). We discuss likely interventions for meeting these requirements and for sustaining the supply of these crops in Egypt
A Numerical Investigation of Activation Energy Impact on MHD Water-Based Fe3O4 and CoFe2O4 Flow between the Rotating Cone and Expanding Disc
Full text linkHybrid nanofluids have caught the attention of scholars and investigators in the present technological period due to their improved thermophysical features and the desire to boost heat transfer rates compared to those of conventional fluids. The present paper is mainly concerned with heat transmission in cone-disk geometry in the presence of a magnetic field, activation energy, and non-uniform heat absorption/generation. In this work, the cone-disk (CD) apparatus is considered to have a rotating cone (RC) and a stretching disk, along with iron oxide and cobalt ferrite-based hybrid nanofluid. Appropriate similarity transformations are employed to change the physically modeled equations into ordinary differential equations (ODEs). Heat transfer rates at both surfaces are estimated by implementing a modified energy equation with non-uniform heat absorption/generation. The outcomes illustrated that the inclusion of such physical streamwise heat conduction variables in the energy equation has a significant impact on the well-known conclusions of heat transfer rates. To understand flow profile behavior, we have resorted to the RKF-45 method and the shooting method, which are illustrated using graphs. The findings provide conclusive evidence that wall stretching alters the flow, heat, and mass profile characteristics within the conical gap. The wall deformation caused by disk stretching was found to have a potential impact of modifying the centripetal/centrifugal flow characteristics of the disk, increasing the flow velocity and swirling angles. A rise in activation energy leads to an improved concentration field
Differentiating Between Crop and Soil Effects on Soil Moisture Dynamics
Full text linkThere is an urgent need to develop sustainable agricultural land use schemes. Intensive crop production has induced increased greenhouse gas emissions and enhanced nutrient and pesticide leaching to groundwater and streams. Climate change is also expected to increase drought risk as well as the frequency of extreme precipitation events in many regions. Consequently, sustainable management schemes require sound knowledge of site-specific soil water processes that explicitly take into account the interplay between soil heterogeneities and crops. In this study, we applied a principal component analysis to a set of 64 soil moisture time series from a diversified cropping field featuring seven distinct crops and two weeding management strategies. Results showed that about 97 % of the spatial and temporal variance of the data set was explained by the first five principal components. Meteorological drivers accounted for 72.3 % of the variance and 17.0 % was attributed to different seasonal behaviour of different crops. While the third (4.1 %) and fourth (2.2 %) principal components were interpreted as effects of soil texture and cropping schemes on soil moisture variance, respectively, the effect of soil depth was represented by the fifth component (1.7 %). However, neither topography nor weed control had a significant effect on soil moisture variance. Contrary to common expectations, soil and rooting pattern heterogeneity seemed not to play a major role. Findings of this study highly depend on local conditions. However, we consider the presented approach generally applicable to a large range of site conditions
Superblocks as urban transformation strategy: A study of modal shift and behaviour change in Sant Antoni, Barcelona
Full text linkThe city of Barcelona has developed the transversal project of Superblocks which combines traffic pacification with the installation of urban green and urban furniture in order to counteract rising problems of threatening air quality, noise levels, insufficient urban green and lacking public spaces. The implementation of the Superblock in Sant Antoni has revealed a reduction of motorized transport in the whole neighbourhood. This thesis aims at understanding sociological dimensions of behaviour changes and modal shifts, as well as contextualizing the transformation in the light of an ongoing paradigm shift in urban mobility. Quantitative data of traffic volumes shows the measured reduction of motorized transport in Sant Antoni. A quantitative questionnaire casts a light on modal shifts and attitudes of residents in the intervention zone. Further qualitative interviews create an in-depth understanding of individual residents and their modal changes, mobility behaviour and attitudes towards the changes. Finally, expert interviews in the field of transport planning and city administration substantiate the ongoing paradigm shift towards a more ecological, socially connected, and sustainable city.
Keywords: urban planning, urban mobility, sustainable mobility transition, evaporating transport, modal shift, behaviour change, social practic
How to Decarbonize Greece by Comparing Wind and PV Energy: A Land Eligibility Analysis
Full text linkTo achieve sustainable development, the energy transition from lignite burning to renewable energy resources for electric power generation is essential for Greece. Wind and solar energy have emerged as significant sources in this transition. Surprisingly, numerous studies have examined the potential for onshore wind based on land eligibility, while few studies on open-field photovoltaic (PV) installations have been conducted. Therefore, based on the Specific Framework for Spatial Planning and Sustainable Development for Renewable Energy Sources (SFSPSD-RES), along with insights from previous relevant studies, this work conducts a land eligibility analysis of onshore wind and open-field PV installations in Greece using the software Geospatial Land Availability for Energy Systems (GLAES 1.2.1) and ArcGIS 10.2. Additionally, through an in-depth exploration of wind and solar PV energy potential in decommissioned lignite mines integrated with wind power density (WPD) and global horizontal irradiation (GHI) maps, this study compares the suitability of wind versus solar as energy sources for the decarbonization of Greece. Overall, despite the greater spatial eligibility for onshore wind turbines compared to open-field PV power plants, the relatively lower wind energy potential and operational limitations of wind turbines lead to the study’s conclusion that solar energy (PV) is more suitable for the decarbonization of Greece