Equality, diversity and inclusion in work Essay

Importance of supporting the rights of children and young people to participation and equality of access Every pupil has a right to a curriculum that is broad, balanced and supported by high quality teaching. It is important to raise individual and group achievements, participation and the development of a good sense of identity. Schools have a duty that all pupils have access to curriculum regardless of race, backgrounds, culture, gender or additional needs. Importance and benefits of valuing and promoting cultural diversity in work with children and young people see more:explain how to promote anti-discriminatory practice in work with children and young people It is important to understand the diversity of culture as it helps pupils make more sense of learning by making connections through their own lives. Essentially it is important for the teaching staff to build a relationship and provide necessary support of each individual pupil. By demonstrating that we value culture and support pupils to learn and understand cultures different to their own prevent stereotyping and reduce prejudice and discrimination. Ways in which children and young people can experience prejudice and discrimination Children often experience prejudice and discrimination by staff known as institutional discrimination where policies allow this or individually by other pupils or groups, often through lack of knowledge or assumptions being made about a certain group they belong to. There are two ways in which this can occur either directly (children not allowed access to learning through gender, race, disability etc) or indirectly (excluded due to circumstance e.g. cooking certain foods as they are not allowed to be touched or eaten for religious reasons) Impact of prejudice and discrimination on children and young people The impact of prejudice and discrimination has a tremendous and often negative effect on children. Discrimination can have an affect on them both academically and their health and well being. Children often have feelings of anger or a loss in self esteem and motivation. Children can very often feel disempowered confused or even suffer with depression. Assess how own attitudes, values and behaviour could impact on work with children and young people By assessing your own attitudes taking the time to develop our own understanding of cultures, special needs etc and by learning not to make assumptions of pupils staff can provide effective, appropriate and personal support to any individual child or young person. Importance of promoting anti-discrimination practice in work with children and young people It is not sufficient just to have policies for anti-discrimination. Staff must demonstrate and monitor positive practice. By following and promoting these policies help a child to learn and assess themselves so they to can promote anti discrimination both within the classroom and in society and feel confident to challenge discrimination. Ways staff can promote anti-discrimination: Be a role model Appreciate and promote diversity of children and young people Listen and involve children in activities and hear their concerns Recognise children as centre of learning and treat as individuals Have realistic but high expectations of each child Support positive ethos of school Encourage and build child’s confidence to challenge prejudice or unwanted behaviour Recognise when discrimination is happening Challenging discrimination Challenging discrimination can sometimes be a challenge in itself especially if it is institutional, therefore it must be dealt with accordingly. You must have good knowledge of policies and procedures in the situation you are dealing with Is it intentional? (Direct) unintentional? (Indirect) or just a lack of knowledge? Explain what has happened or said that is discriminatory Tell the person how the other may feel or the effects it may have Suggest improvements to practice  Monitor and report to local education authority What is inclusion and inclusive practice? Inclusion and inclusive practice is the process of identifying, understanding and breaking down barriers so regardless of a child’s situation they can access and participate in all parts of the curriculum. It is about providing all children the same opportunities by adapting the environment, equipment and curriculum if and where necessary. Features of an inclusive setting for children and young adults For a school to be and inclusive setting it must use a whole school approach. An inclusive school will have the following settings Recognise possible  barriers and understand group or an individuals difficulties in accessing the curriculum Removal of barriers and adapt environment, personalised support, resources or equipment provided Educate along side peers by providing additional support in the classroom instead of segregation Listen and value child’s opinions and views Clear policies and procedures that are reviewed regularly Staff regularly trained in inclusion, diversity and equality methods School works in partnership with staff, governors, parents and their children School works with other services local health boards, speech and language therapists etc How inclusion works in own sector of the children’s workforce Whichever organisation a person is involved with in the children’s workforce the child should be centre of all practice. The early years foundation stage (EYFS) and the national curriculum both give clear guidance on inclusive approaches to learning and assessment. By following these guidelines and adopting systems of personalised learning all children have the same opportunity to high quality teaching, learning experience and access to the curriculum, the chance to progress in curriculum and narrow the gaps of educational achievement. In conjunction to these, schools have a duty and role for promoting well being through inclusive curriculum known as the 2004 every child matters outcomes. Schools may need to work with other services so children can reach full potential and schools must demonstrate they work towards the five outcomes. Be healthy

Traveling

Travelling Every day hundreds of people travel from one place to another. They travel to work, to school, or on business. Many people travel for pleasure and traveling has recently become one of the most popular hobbies. Traveling is also an interesting way of spending holidays. In every season of the year the airports, railway stations, seaports, and bus stops are full of people traveling for long or short distances. PLANE When people travel a long distance they usually travel by air.Travelling by air is exciting, fast, comfortable, relatively safe but rather expensive. In the 20th century it became one of the most important means of transport. It takes nearly 6 hours by plane to get from the western to the eastern coast of the U. S. A. There are several American Airlines, all of them private. They include the most popular and biggest airline companies such as the Pan American, Delta†¦ When people choose to travel by plane they usually go or phone to the airlines or travel agen cy to get information about flights.At the airport the passengers traveling with international or intercontinental airlines have to show their flight tickets and passports. An official weight their luggage can take only 20 kg. The passengers must also go through the customs. Then the passengers can go to the waiting room. In the plane the stewardess shows them their seats. Before the aircraft moves, the notices flash up „Fasten Your Safety Belts† and „No Smoking†. During the flight the stewardess offers the passengers some meals, drinks, cigarettes and sweets.The passengers can also read magazines. TRAIN Traveling by train is the most common form of travelling. In our country trains are used daily by many people to and from work or school. They are cheap, less polluting, safe but not very clean and comfortable. Fast trains are more comfortable for longer distances. They do not stop at every station. There are also a sleeping car and the dinning car in fast tr ains. Coaches are buses for long distance travelling. They are fast, comfortable and the prices of tickets are quit reasonable.During holidays the travel agencies offer many coach trips to the mountains or seaside resorts. CAR Many people sat, that car is the most comfortable mean of travelling and seeing places. Others think it is just a necessity because it is quicker than public transport. But for many people motoring is a pleasure. They enjoy driving a car at a high speed and do not think of the dangers of fast driving. The cars are comfortable and quick, but they are not safe and are rather expensive.In spite of that the number of cars on our roads and highways grows higher and higher every year. The growing number of cars is a danger not only for people but also for environment of the country. BIKE Many young people of all countries of the world like travelling by bike. Some go to school by bike; others prefer cycling as a sport or a hobby. In recent years many young people go for holiday trips by bike which is healthy and exciting. This type of travelling depend much on weather and therefore summer is the best season for cycling tours.

Market Model Patterns of Change Instructions Essay

Market Model Patterns of Change Instructions - Essay Example Market Model Patterns of Change Instructions The production of petroleum by the industry especially, in USA has introduced a large distributor to the total petroleum in the global economy. Meanwhile, it is a non-renewable energy substance that can be extracted from the world after a certain period and converted into usable fuel. Therefore, the price of the petroleum is obtained by the demand –supply mechanism around the world economy, and slight shortage of petroleum can affect its demand and supply of other possible industries in the market. According to Galbraith (2001), when the monopoly power is practiced by an industry at a moment in time, and the degree of monopoly fluctuates, the industry specific product price will also change. In case, the pattern of change through time can be the indicator of comparison and disparity in economic performance in the petroleum industry. The petroleum was an example of monopolies to be affected in anti-trust action by the US government, and resulted into development of smaller comp anies. The industry expanded by increasing sales and undertaking major acquisitions, and after buying competitive industries in the market, the industries shut down those believed to be inefficient and kept the most powerful. The industry has involved in the discriminatory practices in order to have monopoly power over pipe lines. It also applied unfair practices of cutting local prices at the point where the competitors were severely affected. Technological changes bring the pattern changes in the firm because it is much simple to outsource both service and manufacturing to distributors in other countries. The increased competition promotes the pressure of industry to attain lower units’ costs as a means of maintaining market share. Finally, the nature of the industry trade patterns has undergone importance changes in order to have permission to issue licenses and permits in distributive trade market. Short-Run and Long-Run Behaviors of Monopoly An industry with monopoly mar ket model is considered to have price setting power, and it will strive to earn high levels of profit (Galbraith, 2001). However, the industry is limited by the position of its demand curve that means monopoly cannot set price that clients cannot afford. Petroleum Industry is the sole supplier in an industry, and it takes market demand curve as its own demand curve. Therefore, it faces a downward sloping average revenues (AR) curve with a marginal revenue (MR) curve twice the gradient of AR (McEachern, 2011). In the monopoly, there is optimum firm determined by long run profit maximization in relation to the market. According to McEachern (2011) the short run average total cost curve is tangent to the horizontal, and long run average cost curve is always at its minimum point. In the short run, if the demand for the petroleum products is high, the industry will increase the price and the quantity of the products. The industry can achieve this by increasing output by employing more la bor and raw materials, but cannot change the fixed plant. According to McEachern (2011) the long run industry curve is horizontal because when demand increases, raising prices and profits for monopoly industry. As a result, there is an increase in supply prices, pushing prices back down to original in the level in the long run, so that the profits are zero. Therefore, the shifting demand and supply curves trace out a horizontal long run industry supply curve. Areas for the Industry That Could Lead To Transaction Costs There are various transaction costs that the petroleum

Reading blog Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Reading blog - Assignment Example An aspect of the book that needs further clarification has to do with the state of human freedom before civilization. This is because the author creates the impression that civilization came with several laws which came to suppress the human instincts for pleasure. With this said, one is forced to ask if there was a state of lawlessness and anarchy before the very first forms of civilizations were realized. This connects with other texts that seek to justify the position that civilization cannot be dated and that it has been with men since the beginning. To a very large extent, culture context influences the text and the validity of its arguments. For example, even though it is accepted that we are now in a civilized, there continues to be places of the world where cultural and religious principles are made to reign above other forms of laws that are universally accepted to be appropriate. A typical example of this is the practice of stoning of women caught in adultery in some religious settings. Until now, I still hold the opinion that it is culture rather than civilization that makes the individual

Critical Response paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Critical Response paper - Essay Example No male dictator in history has ever had that much control. Women have been suppressed, but still contributed to the history of the whole human race. The history of women is very important, because this history has not only shaped women of today, but also the men. Women today have been shaped by the history of their culture. For example, Canadian women have contributed to the Canadian culture. Strong-Boag, Gleason, and Perry state, â€Å"A vision of history devoid women is at least half wrong† (1). What Canadian leader can claim that they were not influenced by at least one woman, whether it be mother, wife, lover, or friend? Women have influenced history, forging their own history, even if it has not been formally acknowledged. Not only have women shaped all history, but their own history. Some aspects of this history are not pleasant or widely focused on. An example would be when discussing the suffrage movement in the United States, women of the upper class did not want equality for all women, especially their servants. This has continued to this day. You do not see Hilliary Clinton going to Arkansas speaking with uneducated poor women with twelve children, declaring that they are equal to her. Canadian women are not above this bias. For example â€Å"Jeans/Johns—Talon, Simcoe, Macdonald, Lesage, Diefenbaker, and Chretien, and the Roberts—Baldwin, Borden, and Stanfield, Bourassa—who monopolized the textbooks† (Strong-Boag, Gleason, and Perry, 3-4). These women felt that the aboriginal women were not their equals. This is an accurate portrait of womens history. Women can change the future of history. When feminism or womens rights group start advocating equal opportunities for all women such as â€Å"women of color, working class-women, poor women, disabled women, Jewish women, lesbians, old women†, then the future will be shaped by both men and women (Bennett, 13). Of course, both

Organisational Transformation in Practice Assignment

Organisational Transformation in Practice - Assignment Example The task requirement was to attempt the project in the light of the lectures and seminars attended on the subject matter within a period of 2 months. The project was to be done in groups that were made by random selection of people; meaning they were made by the instructor and not according to our will in order to ensure an even distribution so that all individuals of the same calibre do not form a single group. In my case, a group of six members were formed; two of which were friends already, while the rest of us barely knew each other. Moreover, the team leader assigned was a female. The main challenge was to cope and keep pace with the team members and complete the assigned task within time. Performing projects within the given time constraint had never been an issue for me, but what really served as a challenge for me while working on this particular project was the aspect of working with a team that were I was not entirely familiar with. And this aspect of learning how to deal w ith people I don’t know, which is especially crucial when it comes to team tasks, is precisely the most valuable thing that I take away from this experience. Self-Awareness Despite being a fairly social person, it has always been hard for me to adjust to new people. I always need some time to get comfortable while interacting with people I don’t know. So, during the first few weeks I felt very uncomfortable working with new team. Although, I have a friendly personality, but still I needed some time and space to get along with the new members. The group kicked off the work with small tasks such as role plays and brainstorming exercises; which encouraged us to speak up and to share our view points. These exercise helped us understand and get to know each other. But still the major task was yet to be done. Later, in third week we were directed to start thinking about a Multinational Company that we, as a group would choose for the project. This proved to be quite a diffic ult stage for all the team members as this is where conflicts started to arise because everyone had his separate opinions. I noticed that some of my team members were reluctant to share their viewpoint, while some members kept on bombarding their ideas. The most enthusiastic of the lot in giving their inputs were the two members that were friends already and who were of the view that the group should consider Red Cross for the study at hand. At that stage, I personally felt that those two friends were quite strong in our group due to their affiliation as the rest of us had still not opened up to each other and were therefore, a little hesitant at these initial stages of work. So, my leader asked every member to give their best shot regarding the company, which they thought was the best. Although, I did not like the company that was chosen for our study, but still I had to accept it as I was working in a team, the aspect of which can be related to the term referred to as â€Å"Chang e Management Iceberg† by Wilfred Kruger (Kruger, n.d.). Moreover, the most difficult tasks for me were: group working, and practical implication of applying knowledge and theories to the assigned task. I was able to deal with these two aspects only through talking myself into believing that it’s never too late to learn new skills be it human or technical, and by taking every aspect of that whole project

Case study(memo detailing) Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

(memo detailing) - Case Study Example It already has an approval from the legislature but the company is torn on what creative strategy to use to implement the solution. Putting up a nuclear reactor is controversial since it will require increasing the present charges which the customers are already complaining and that there are sectors which are against nuclear plants. As it is however, energy cost will remain high and will continue to increase since power has to be imported from California and other states. Building a reactor will bring down the cost and will make Arizona self-sufficient in energy making supply more stable thus contributing to a lowered cost. Before this proposal becomes a reality, there must be a market acceptance first about the building of a nuclear reactor. This is necessary because the present market base will be paying part of the cost of the reactor since they will be the one who will benefit from it. In addition, it will also be necessary to communicate that the nuclear reactor is safe to allay fears about its presence. In order mitigate market resistance on the proposal of building a nuclear reactor and to facilitate market acceptance of the necessary cost associated in building it, the company must launch an information campaign about the benefits of putting up the reactor. The message must address the consumer base concerns which are cost and safety. To help consumers accept the necessary price hike and to understand why it is necessary, the computation of the energy cost that will be saved once the nuclear reactor is operational must be communicated. This will enable consumers to understand that they will save money on the long run once the reactor is built and that the price increase is temporary and necessary. The safety features of the reactor must also be included in the campaign to avoid protests in the construction of the nuclear reactor. The information campaign must use multimedia to reach the various sectors of society in Phoenix, Arizona.

Corporate Income Taxes - Tax-Planning Client Letter on Irrevocable Research Paper

Corporate Income Taxes - Tax-Planning Client Letter on Irrevocable Trusts, Gift Tax, and Estate Tax - Research Paper Example n this case, he will have estate and tax considerations as the part of the asset under irrevocable trust will not be reflected in his tax obligations. By removing a part of the estate from all incidents of ownership, my client will effectively remove them from his taxable estate, Hosseini (2013). Furthermore, the client will be relieved from tax obligations emanating from that part of asset under irrevocable trust. Though tax law differs among jurisdiction, the granter will not be exempted from the aforementioned tax relief if he remains the trustee of the trust. The fact surrounding this case is that the irrevocable trust has both drawbacks and benefits in equal measures. On the part of the disadvantages, the trust cannot be revoked, as the name suggest. In addition, it cannot be amended to accommodate other inclusions or exclusions. On the other hand, the granter is exempted from various tax burdens including estate and income taxes. These facts are significant for my client so as to make a sound decision. The issue in this legal matter is that the granter is interested in establishing an irrevocable trust in favor of his two grandchildren. In this case, his interest is two have the beneficially receive the income from the estate to be distributed to the two children until they are 20 years of age. In this case, they are interested in knowing the benefits and drawbacks of taking this particular choice or rather to learn of other available channels that can be used to address their interests. Rules and regulations governing estate tax in America are enshrined in the estate and gift act of 2001 together with a multiple amendment to the same. The Act provides that estates are subjected to taxation that is gazetted in the government press in a given period of time. In this case, the tax is payable by the person to which the estate in registered or the trustee, Frischmann (2008). This implies that my client, as the registered owner, is supposed to remit both the

The companys clothing and shoe designs typically feature Essay Example for Free

The companys clothing and shoe designs typically feature Essay Adidas was founded in 1948 by Adolf Dassler, following the split of Gebrà ¼der Dassler Schuhfabrik between him and his older brother Rudolf. Rudolf later established Puma, which was the early rival of Adidas. Registered in 1949, Adidas is currently based in Herzogenaurach, Germany. Puma is also based in Herzogenaurach. The companys clothing and shoe designs typically feature three parallel bars, and the same motif is incorporated into Adidass current official logo.The company revenue for 2012 was listed at â‚ ¬14.48 billion. History Gebrà ¼der Dassler Schuhfabrik Christoph Von Wilhelm Dassler was a worker in a shoe factory, while his wife Pauline ran a small laundry in the Bavarian town of Herzogenaurach, 20 km (12. 4 mi) from the city of Nuremberg. After leaving school, their son, Rudolf Rudi Dassler, joined his father at the shoe factory. When he returned from fighting in World War I, Rudolf received a management position at a porcelain factory, and later in a leather wholesale business in Nuremberg. Adolf Adi Dassler started to produce his own sports shoes in his mothers wash kitchen in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria after his return from World War I. In July 1924, his brother Rudolf returned to Herzogenaurach to join his younger brothers business, which became Gebrà ¼der Dassler Schuhfabrik (Dassler Brothers Shoe Factory) and prospered. The pair started the venture in their mothers laundry,[6]:5 but, at the time, electricity supplies in the town were unreliable, and the brothers sometimes had to use pedal power from a stationary bicycle to run their equipment. By the 1936 Summer Olympics, Adi Dassler drove from Bavaria on one of the worlds first motorways to the Olympic village with a suitcase full of spikes and persuaded U.S. sprinter Jesse Owens to use them, the first sponsorship for an African American. Following Owenss haul of four gold medals, his success cemented the good reputation of Dassler shoes among the worlds most famous sportsmen. Letters from around the world landed on the brothers desks, and the trainers of other national teams were all interested in their shoes. Business boomed and the Dasslers were selling 200,000 pairs of shoes each year before World War II. World War II and company split Both brothers joined the Nazi Party, but Rudolf was slightly closer to the party than Adolf. During the war, a growing rift between the pair reached a breaking point after an Allied bomb attack in 1943, when Adi and his wife climbed into a bomb shelter that Rudolf and his family were already in: The dirty bastards are back again, Adi said, referring to the Allied war planes, but Rudolf was convinced his brother meant him and his family.[9] After Rudolf was later picked up by American soldiers and accused of being a member of the Waffen SS, he was convinced that his brother had turned him in. The Dassler factory, used for production of anti-tank weapons during the war, was nearly destroyed by US forces in April 1945, but was spared when Adi Dasslers wife, Kà ¤the, convinced the GIs that the company and its employees were only interested in manufacturing sports shoes. American occupying forces subsequently became major buyers of the Dassler brothers shoes. The brothers split up in 1947, with Rudi forming a new firm that he called Ruda – from Rudolf Dassler, later rebranded Puma, and Adi forming a company formally registered as Adidas AG from Adi Dassler on 18 August 1949. Although it is popularly claimed that the name is an acronym for All Day I Dream About Soccer, that phrase is a backronym; the name is actually a portmanteau formed from Adi (a nickname for Adolf) and Das (from Dassler). Early years and rivalry with Puma Puma and Adidas entered a fierce and bitter rivalry after the split. The town of Herzogenaurach was divided on the issue, leading to the nickname the town of bent necks—people looked down to see which shoes strangers wore. Even the towns two football clubs were divided: ASV Herzogenaurach club supported Adidas, while 1 FC Herzogenaurach endorsed Rudolfs footwear. When handymen were called to Rudolfs home, they would deliberately wear Adidas shoes. Rudolf would tell them to go to the basement and pick out a pair of free Pumas.The two brothers never reconciled, and although both are buried in the same cemetery, they are spaced apart as far as possible.[citation needed] In 1948, the first football match after World War II, several members of the West German national football team wore Puma boots, including the scorer of West Germanys first post-war goal, Herbert Burdenski. Four years later, at the 1952 Summer Olympics, 1500 metres runner Josy Barthel of Luxembourg won Pumas first Olympic gold in Helsinki, Finland. The original Adidas logo until 1997, it is now used on Adidas Originals At the 1960 Summer Olympics Puma paid German sprinter Armin Hary to wear Pumas in the 100 metre sprint final. Hary had worn Adidas before and asked Adolf for payment, but Adidas rejected this request. The German won gold in Pumas, but then laced up Adidas for the medals ceremony, to the shock of the two Dassler brothers. Hary hoped to cash in from both, but Adi was so enraged he banned the Olympic champion.

Disclosure of material facts by proposer of insurance Essay Example for Free

Disclosure of material facts by proposer of insurance Essay A fact is considered to be material as per the provisions of Section 18(2) of the Marine Insurance Act 1906 if it would influence the judgment of a prudent insurer in fixing the premium, or determining whether he will take the risk. This rule applies is also applicable to non-marine insurance and despite the proposals of the Law Commission not being addressed to marine insurance, undoubtedly the decisions of the courts on disclosure of hull risks will have repercussions for householders. The degrees of influence are given below. The three degrees of influence. (A) Information type A is so material that the insurer, if he had known about it would have refused to enter the contract or in the alternative the insurer would have made further investigations resulting in refusal to do so. (B) Information type B consists of facts, which if the insurer had been aware of, would have resulted in the insurer’s making the contract of insurance but on quite different terms especially in respect of premium or conduction of a further investigations leading to insurance on a different set of terms altogether. The proposer has to reveal the material facts known to him whilst proposing insurance. However, in Berger Ltd. v. Pollock , non-disclosure of certain information, was held to be immaterial because the judge was far from satisfied that, if the undisclosed matters had been fully reported and explained to these underwriters, they would in fact have declined to accept this declaration under open cover or have sought to vary its terms or to require an increased rate of premium. (C) Information type C is that information, whose knowledge would have made the insurer consider it relevant but would not have resulted in the insurer’s refusal of the contract or insistence on different terms. It is information, which though affecting his judgment would have, in conjunction with other facts, had they been present, would have resulted in a different contract, but, which of its own accord, would not have affected the particular contract or its terms. This is the present position in England and is the consequence of the judgments of the Court of Appeal in CTI v. Oceanus . It has been suggested that this case propels English law in the direction suggested by the Law Commission. However, the Court of Appeal’s objective was to respect the Courts view of precedent. The reality is that the Court has succeeded in distancing the law from precedent, principle and the interests of the assured. This decision has met with almost universal concern and disappointment. CTI v. Oceanus CTI entered into an insurance contract successively with A, B and Oceanus. A and B being dissatisfied with the claims experience wanted a change in the terms of cover which were not acceptable to CTI . Hence, CTI insured with Oceanus on the basis of an account of their past claims record which, was not complete or entirely fair and accordingly Oceanus endeavoured to avoid the policy for misrepresentation and non-disclosure. Lloyd J. held that, even in the event of disclosure of all the relevant information the insurer would have made this contract on the same terms and that such information, which could be classified as belonging to type C, not being material, the contract could not be avoided. On appeal the Court held that the undisclosed information was to be classified as type B and not type C and therefore the decision at first instance had to be reversed resulting in the avoidance of the insurance. Nevertheless, the Court also stated obiter but after hearing argument, that there is no requirement that the particular insurer should have been induced to take the risk or charge a lower premium than he would otherwise have done as a result of the non-disclosure. The consequence of all this is that information of type C in English law is material and its concealment enables the insurer to avoid the contract of insurance, without any reservations in respect of commercial insurance and most likely in other lines too. It was hinted by Kerr L. J. that this rule might differ in respect of consumer insurance but the Law Commission has refused to countenance a special rule for consumers. Practicality. First, despite the absence of an absolute standard, the test of materiality is that of the prudent insurer, which is an objective test controlled and applied by the court on the basis of expert evidence. This is similar to that of a reasonable man in tort. In the parlance of insurance practice this test of a prudent insurer is no more a genuine inquiry into a particular person’s mind than it is in relation to the other reasonable or prudent persons who populate the rules of law to legitimise the dominant role of the judge. Secondly, despite the objective nature of the materiality test, it is not understandable as to why it is easier and therefore more pragmatic and definite to state that a fact has some influence or is of the type C, rather than to state that it has a decisive influence or that it can be classified as type A or type B. Thirdly, if the proposer has to perforce disclose information of the type C, then there is the further objection that probable assureds will be better off by exercising caution and not taking any risks by indulging in a total disclosure. The decision in CTI v. Oceanus does not take into cognizance the basic nature of misrepresentation and non-disclosure as connoting something that vitiates consent, in this case the consent of the insurer. It becomes to accept that the consent of the insurer was vitiated and that consequently the contract should be avoided, if the insurer would have made the same contract on the same terms, despite the lack of misrepresentation or disclosure.

Geopolitics and International Affairs

Geopolitics and International Affairs Geopolitics and International Affairs â€Å"What are the key factors in contemporary redistributions of Geopolitical Power?† The Encyclopaedia Britannica describes Geopolitics as â€Å"analysis of the geographic influences on power relationships in international relations† (2010); therefore Geopolitical Power is the power certain nations have over other nations, based upon Geographic influences and advantages. Across the world the geographies of power shift from nation to nation over time (such as the shift in power from Britain to the USA after WWII) and the hegemonic structure has a huge effect on world dynamics such economy, politics, society and culture. The nation with the most power tends to have the greatest influence over these and other factors. Currently, and in recent years there has been a notable rise in power from nations in the geographic east (most notably China) simultaneous to the apparent decline in power by the worlds current top geopolitical power (the USA). This is raising serious questions as to the future of the current hegemonic structure. There are a number of key factors which are driving this shift in power and here I aim to address and analyse these so that I may answer the question â€Å"What are the key factors in contemporary redistributions of Geopolitical Power?† The USA is currently the worlds dominant geopolitical power and has been since World War II. According to Fareed Zakaria (2008) â€Å"the United States [unrivalled economic status] has lasted more than 120 years† and that â€Å"The US economy has been the worlds largest since the middle of the 1880s†. As of 2008, The CIA World Fact book ranks the USA as having the highest GDP/PPP of any individual nation (The EU is ranked higher than the USA but is technically a united group of countries) which stands at $14,440,000,000,000; around double that of the next country on the list, China (CIA, 2008). In 2004 James F. Hoge, author of ‘A Global Power Shift in the Making (2004) explained that â€Å"Chinas economy is growing at more than nine percent annually† and that â€Å"Chinas economy is expected to be double the size of Germanys by 2010 and to overtake Japans, currently the worlds second largest, by 2020†. To put Chinas rapid growth into perspective in 2 010, its GDP has already overtaken that of Germanys, with economic spectators forecasting Chinas economy to outstrip Japans this year- 10 years prior to Hoges 2004 prediction. However, the economy of a nation may be an important indicator of world power, but is by no means the sole factor in determining hegemonic status; the USA is still dominant for other reasons. Military strength is- and always has been- one of the key ways of determining the power of a nation. The ‘Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) cited the USA as having a military expenditure in 2008 which amounted to $607,263,000,000, accounting for 41.5% of the worlds total military spending (SIPRI, 2009). Military strength provides a nation with the means of physically exercising its geopolitical power over other nations, and the USA currently dominates land, sea and air with its military presence. China may be a growing militant power and have a larger army in terms of personnel, however its military expenditure is a fraction of the USAs; and one must also take into account the sheer size of the population in China which explains the high numbers of active servicemen in the country. Both countries currently have a nuclear capability, which during the Cold War was â€Å"widely seen as a necessary qualification for a seat at the top table†. This is no longer the case and now the possession or development of nuclear weapons is deemed unacceptable behaviour (Hurrell, 2006). This is an example of how the factors of determining Geopolitical power change over time. The demographics of a nation are also of vital importance to its development and changes in population structure can have dramatic effects within both developing and developed nations. As of the 13th Jan 2010, the population of the USA is around 308,478,201, (United States official population clock, 2010) whilst the population of China is around 1,335,035,010 (Chinese official population clock, 2010) over 1 billion more than the USA. This is a vital factor in explaining why China has been experiencing such rapid growth in the past decade. Firstly, a large population means more people spending money, which raises the countrys GDP- China is currently the worlds second largest consumer behind the USA (Zakaria, 2008 [2]). In the current economic climate with recession still looming over many nations, it is important for the general population to keep spending in order to stimulate the economy; in China, this is no issue due to the huge numbers of people. This is why China, and Asia in general, has not been so greatly affected by the ‘global recession as the USA and Europe. A population of this size also provides China with a huge number of people of working age to power the worlds largest manufacturing industry, as well as other important areas of industry from banking (to lead China through this economic shift) to farming (to feed the vast numbers of people living in the country). China is so competitive on the international scene due to its vast labour force. However, it is the structure of a population which is really vital in determining the future power of a nation. An ageing population can put a strain on the relatively smaller working age population due to the cost of providing health care, pensions, housing, etc. A youthful population puts strain on education and health services, food supplies; and can result in too a lack of jobs in the future. Both have their issues, but both also have benefits. Japan for example has the worlds largest ageing population with 12.1% aged 65 and over in 2000, with a predicted rise to 26.2% by 2020 (Anderson, Hussey. 2000). Japan is now experiencing deep demographic issues with the working age population being too small to support the large elderly population, and the birth rate continually falling; having implications to the development of the country which has experienced declining power over the past 2 decades. There is a well known phrase that ‘children are the future and this wisdom is heeded particularly well in the USA. Whilst China may have a huge workforce, they are relatively uneducated. The USA prides itself upon the fact that its education system is so highly regarded, having a high output of skilled workers graduating from its prestigious universities every year. According to Zakaria (2008 [2]) â€Å"America trains more high-quality 4 year engineering graduates per capita than any other country† with â€Å"Eight of the top 10 universities in the worldin the United States†. This is why when visiting many US (and European) higher education facilities it is easy to notice the high proportion of Asian (particularly Chinese) students, as these institutions offer a far higher standard of education than would be available in Asia. These Asian students typically stay in America after they have completed their education due to more job prospects with a better rate of pa y than available back home, so are a vital resource to the country. Americas acquisition and prolonged control of power can largely be thanked to the younger generations who have been educated by US education facilities and gone on to create a huge pool of skilled and talented workers. These workers drive the economic industries of the US, whilst their high expenditure on commodities and consumer goods helps fuel growth of its GDP. Many people believe that China is the sole competitor to the USA for hegemonic status, believing that eventually China will overtake America as the sole dominant world power in terms of economy, military, culture, etc. However, others such as Fareed Zakaria (2008 [2]) believe that â€Å"the rise of rest† is far more likely; meaning that power will become dispersed amongst a number of powerful nations under America so that global decisions will no longer be made from one side of the globe. The countries believed to be the main competitors to this state of uni-multipolarity are those referred to as BRIC countries: Brazil, Russia, India and China. Uni-multipolarity will be the resulting situation whereby the US is still the superpower, but with these BRIC countries having much more participation in world affairs than they have done in the current uni-polar (US dominant) geopolitical structure. This shift in power may come as a shock to America and there is likely to be resistance of some sort from the west, although it is very unlikely that the US will lose its dominance so it should look to facilitate the transition of geopolitical power to make this inevitability happen as smoothly as possible. BIBLIOGRAPHY Anderson, GF; Hussey, P (2000) Population aging: a comparison among industrialized countries. Health Affairs. [Online] Vol 19. No. 3. Sections 191 203. Available from: http://healthaff.highwire.org/cgi/reprint/19/3/191.pdf (Last accessed 13th Jan 2010) CIA (2010). The World Fact Book: Country Comparison GDP. Available from: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2001rank.html?countryName=United%20StatescountryCode=usregionCode=narank=2#us (Last accessed 11th Jan 2010) CPIRC (2010). Chinese official population clock. http://www.cpirc.org.cn/index.asp (Last accessed 13th Jan 2010) Encyclopaedia Britannica Online (2010). Geopolitics [Online] Available from: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/229932/geopolitics (Last accessed 11th Jan 2010) Hoge, J (2004). A Global Power Shift in the Making. Foreign Affairs. [Online] Vol. 83, No. 4. Pg 2-7. Available from: http://asr2.myweb.uga.edu/Fall%202004/Readings/Global%20power%20shift%20in%20the%20making.pdf (Last accessed 13th Jan 2010) Hurrell, A (2006). Hegemony, Liberalism and Global Order: What space for would-be great powers? International Affairs. [Online] Vol 82, No. 1. Pg 1-19. Available from: http://www.giga-hamburg.de/dl/download.php?d=/english/content/rpn/pdf/international_affairs_2006.pdf (Last accessed 13th Jan 2010) SIPRI (2009).The SIPRI Military Expenditure Database: USA. Available from: http://milexdata.sipri.org/result.php4 (Last accessed 11th Jan 2010) U.S Census Bureau (2010). United States official population clock. http://www.census.gov/population/www/popclockus.html (Last accessed 13th Jan 2010) Zakaria, F (2008). The Future of American Power: How America can survive the rise of the rest. Foreign Affairs. Available from: http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/63394/fareed-zakaria/the-future-of-american-power (Last accessed 11th Jan 2010) Zakaria, F (2008) [2]. The Post American World. [Online] Available from: http://www.cnl.com/documents/Post-American%20World.pdf (last accessed 13th Jan 2010)

Examining the Impact of Texting on Romantic Relationships Essay

The purpose of this paper will be to explore the effect of communication technology on interpersonal relationships, with regard to the attachment styles of individuals in the relationships. The central thesis is that, based on the anxious and avoidant attachment styles of individuals in the relationship, the influence of text message â€Å"read receipts† will have a negative impact on couples’ overall relationship quality relative to the control. First, I will discuss the relevant literature on attachment styles, providing distinctions between anxious, and avoidant attachment styles. I will then examine research that: establishes the criterion used to measure relationship quality, explains the influence of various attachment styles on relationship quality, and describes the influence of communication technology (specifically texting) on romantic relationships, with regard to individuals’ attachment styles. Then I will discuss the novelty of my hypotheses, providi ng a description of the conceptual methodology required to test these theories. Finally, I will conclude this paper by discussing the implications of my proposal for future research and understanding human behavior. The initial attachment theory, fostered by the collaboration of John Bowlby (1969) and Mary Ainsworth et al. (1978) research, focused on infant’s connection to their mother’s presence, absence and return, and established the three attachment styles: secure, anxious, and avoidant attachment (Bretherton, 1992; Li & Chan, 2012). Future research would continue to build on their theory, applying the attachment styles to adult relationships. In particular, Bartholomew’s (1990) research categorized attachment into four styles based on a two-dimensional model of positi... ...), 150-162. doi: 10.1111/j.1741-3729.2010.00639.x Li, T., & Chan, D. K. (2012). How Anxious and Avoidant Attachment Affect Romantic Relationship Quality Differently: A Meta-Analytic Review. European Journal of Social Psychology, 42, 406-419. doi: 10.1002/ejsp.1842 Lou, S. (2014). Effects of Texting on Satisfaction in Romantic Relationships: The Role of Attachment [Abstract]. Computers in Human Behavior, 33, 145-152. doi: 10.1016/j.chb.2014.01.014 Mario, M., & Phillip, S. (2002). Attachment Theory and Affect Regulation: The Dynamics, Development, and Cognitive Consequences of Attachment-Related Strategies. Motivation and Emotion, 27(2), 77-102. Retrieved May 05, 2014, from

The United States Must Abandon Nuclear Power Essay -- Argumentative Pe

The United States Must Abandon Nuclear Power The United States must re-examine many policies previously accepted as reasonable, especially its own national energy policy. As the largest overall and per capita energy consumer in the world, the U.S. needs to decide upon a reasonable source of energy for the foreseeable future, especially since its energy needs will increase dramatically during that time. With political instability likely to remain the norm in the Middle East, oil continues to be an energy source of questionable reliability; in addition, current estimates of worldwide reserves suggest we may in fact run out of oil entirely in the next fifty years. Natural gas reserves are in fairly short supply too, and costs limit its uses as well. Another major alternative, coal, has become the nation’s leading energy source (providing more than 55% of the country’s electricity), and projected supplies could last for hundreds of years (Sweet 49). However, the tremendous output by coal-fired plants of CO2—the major â€Å"greenhouse† gas—along with other atmospheric pollutants makes it equally as undesirable as oil. The final major source of energy on which the U.S. currently depends is nuclear power, and many (including the author of a Time magazine article in the April 29, 1991 issue) see it as a viable alternative, provided solutions are found to a few â€Å"minor† difficulties. Once the facts are known, though, it becomes clear that nuclear power (both fission and fusion) is not the answer to our current U. S. energy dilemma, primarily because it presents great risks and creates tremendous pollution hazards, and, further, because it also will continue to support the status quo of huge multi-national corporations dominating e... ...Dangers of Nuclear Power. London: New English Library, 1986. Croall, Stephen. Nuclear Power for Beginners. New York: Pantheon Books, 1983. Curtis, Richard, and Elizabeth Hogan with Shel Horowitz. Nuclear Lessons: An Examination of Nuclear Power’s Safety, Economic and Political Record. Harrisburg: Stackpole Books, 1980. Faulkner, Peter, ed. The Silent Bomb. New York: Random House, 1977. Greenwald, John. â€Å"Time to Choose,† Time 29 April 1991: 54-62. Shrader-Frechette, K. S. Nuclear Power and Public Policy: The Social and Ethical Problems of Fission Technology. Boston: D. Reidel Publishing Company, 1980. Stoler, Peter. Decline and Fail: The Ailing Nuclear Power Industry. New York: Dodd, Mead and Company,1985. Sweet, William. The Nuclear Age: Atomic Energy, Proliferation and the Arms Race. Washington, D.C.: Congressional Quarterly, Inc., 1988.

Business Statistics Assignment

Interpret the measures of central tendency and variation within the context of this problem. Why should the company producing the tea bags be concerned about the central tendency and variation? Because getting an exact amount of tea in a bag is problematic because of variation in the density of the tea bag, and the extremely fast filling operation of the machine. D) Are the data skewed? If so, how? Left skewed. Because the mean is less than the median. What are the differences among the various measures of variation, such as the range, intrauterine range, variance, standard deviation, and coefficient of variation, and what are the advantages and disadvantages of each? (a) Range: Range of a data set is deference between the largest and the smallest data value. It is the simplest measure of variability. It is very sensitive to the smallest and the largest data value. (b) Intrauterine Range: intrauterine range of a data set is the difference between the third quartile and the first quar tile.It is range for the middle 50% of data. It overcomes the sensitivity to extreme data value. (c) Variance: The variance measures the variability the utilizes all the data. It also measures the average of the squared difference between each data value and the mean. (d) Standard Deviation: Is a standard of a data set is the positive square root of the variance. It is measured in the same units as the data making it more easily interpreted than the variance. (e) Coefficient of variance: the coefficient of variance indicates how range large the standard deviation is related to them.The advantages and disadvantages: (a) Range: Advantages: 1) Easy to understand; 2) Simple to calculate; 3) It is a good measure for comparison as it span the whole distributions. Disadvantages: 1) it uses only two of the observations and so can be distorted by extreme values; 2) Does not indicates any concentrations of the observations; Cannot be use in calculating of the observation. (b) Intrauterine ran ge: Advantages: 1) The calculations are simple and quite to do; 20 it can be illustrated graphically; 3) It covers the central 50% of the observations and so is not distorted by extreme values.Disadvantages: 1) Disregards all values except 1st and 3rd quartiles. Advantages: 1) Considers all data; 2) Not a terminal statistic Disadvantages: 1) Not appropriate for nominal or ordinal data; 2) Sensitive to extreme outliers. (d) Standard Deviation: (e) Coefficient of Variance: Advantages: The coefficient of variation is useful because the standard deviation of data must always be understood in the context of the mean of the data. In contrast, the actual value of the C.V. is independent of the unit in which the measurement has en taken, so it is a dimensionless number.For comparison between data sets with different units or widely different means, one should use the coefficient of variation instead of the standard deviation. Disadvantages: 1) When the mean value is close to zero, the coeff icient of variation will approach infinity and is therefore sensitive to small changes in the mean. This is often the case if the values do not originate from a ratio scale; 2) Unlike the standard deviation, it cannot be used directly to construct confidence intervals for the mean.

“Macbeth”: An Exploration of the dramatic nature of Act 2 Essay

Act 2 on its own has a lot of activity going on and a lot of information that you have to churn though to finally get not only the inner meanings of what Shakespeare has written but also the story. There are various little sub headings in which we can split up Act 2. These could be language, timing, irony, tension and dramatic value. I will be looking at dramatic value and the tension which is made due to the actions or expressions which occur in the act. Firstly an overview of what happens. Well Macbeth after being hyped up by Lady Macbeth to kill the King has crazy/guilt full illusions about doing so before the deed is done but eventually kills King Duncan. Duncan’s body is found and his two sons flee Scotland as there â€Å"are daggers in men’s smiles† that in its self is a great source of dramatic tension as we see the heirs to the thrown leave Scotland in fear of their lives and making Macbeths a lot easier. Macbeth gets crowned as King of Scotland, various people are suspicious about Duncan’s death and Macduff doesn’t attend his coronation. The first piece of true tension is apparent at the very beginning of Act 2. We are reminded of the prophecy from the 3 witches from the presence of Banquo’s son Fleance because the witches said â€Å"Thou shalt get kings, though thou shall be none† which means you shall father a king but not be one yourself. This would also mean that Macbeth’s quest of becoming and staying king would mean more deaths and his biggest potential threat seems to be Fleance. So we are reminded of the prophecy and a few lines down we see Banquo ask for his sword although he is in the castle of a close friend which shows the tension and fear. Early in to Macbeth and Banquo’s conversation Banquo mentions the 3 witches and Macbeth replies â€Å"I think not of them† which is an obvious lie to us because ewe now that he is going to murder Duncan on the bases of what the witches have said. We now see the first of many guilt inspired hallucinations in the form of the dagger â€Å"A dagger of the mind, a false creation, Proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain?† this snippet suggests that Macbeth is tired, his brain overheated or again tired and it is because of that, that he can see this dagger. In this speech we also see many unreal and â€Å"unnatural† objects and thoughts. This gives a great sense of tension and shows how this illusion makes Macbeth think of all these unnatural objects mainly to show that what is about to do is unnatural, this is because it was strongly believed that a Monarch was chosen specifically by God so if he did kill Duncan he would be defying God which isn’t such a good thing to do. The bell and knocking on the door seem to prolong the inevitable (Duncan’s murder) and also builds tension in doing so because the audience are on the edge of their seats with fascination of Macbeths soliloquy and want to see what happens next. Now the murder of Duncan itself isn’t actually onstage this technique seems to be borrowed from ancient Greek tragedy’s, this of course drives the audience wild because they can’t actually see the event taking place only the events before hand and after. This definitely increases tension and now the audience have only the power of suggestion to interpretate what has happened which of course is a lot more powerful than actually physically seeing what has happened and each human mind must go wild with thought and ideas about what has happened and it will be as gruesome as it needs to be. We now make a reference to Act 1, as Macbeth are trying to rid their hands of Duncan’s blood we look back at the battle scene in Act 1 were again Macbeth is covered in blood from the long and gruesome battle. But Lady Macbeth reasons with the guilt trodden Macbeth and tells him that â€Å"a little water will clear us of this deed†, but as we see later on guilt gets the better of Lady Macbeth as she goes mad because of the guilt full illusion of blood on her hands that can’t be washed off haunt her until she finally dies. This is rather ironic considering in Act 2 Scene 2 she states â€Å"These deeds must not be thought After these ways; so, it will make us mad† which is what happens to her later on. After the deed Lady Macbeth no longer seems to be in the lime light as often and now stricken with confidence Macbeth takes centre stage. After this murderous passage we get a light comical interlude thanks to the castles porter who unlike most people is common and speaks differently compared to the nobles, it is also visible in the text because he is speaking in pros and his language suggests that he is of lesser importance than other characters of noble birth. The porter’s joke that the door of Inverness is like hell’s gate is ironic, given the cruel and bloody events that have just taken place within the castle. When he cries, â€Å"Who’s there, i’ th’ name of Beelzebub?† we see that unnatural and evil beings and instead receiving a happy or normal welcome when they step into Macbeth’s castle, people are warned that they are putting themselves in danger in this case in the hands of the Devil. Lennox later states to Macbeth at lines 49-56 of the tremendously distressful weather that night, hear we see that Macbeth has unbalanced the pure fabric of being. By defying Gods wish he has in effect left an unnatural tear in time itself, this of course angers God and he brings down over Macbeth’s castle an unnatural storm which lasted â€Å"the livelong night†. You would expect a long reply from Macbeth but because of what he has just done he tries to tone down the thought of evil and he bluntly states â€Å"Twas a rough night.† This response seems rather odd and it seems so. Soon after Duncan’s lifeless body is discovered and is if Macbeth had planned in his head the next few days he springs in to make me king mode by taking control over the situation and the nobles. This is both prompting their decision to make him king and it will also make him look less likely a candidate to kill Duncan. As Macbeth and the nobles prance around feeling sad (obviously not Macbeth he has to lie which builds up tension and fear of getting caught is being portrayed in this fashion by him trying to avoid people believing that he is not sad, and if not why well†¦ †¦..MURDERER) they stumble upon the chamberlains which thank to Lady Macbeth are covered in blood and have daggers also covered in blood in their hands. Macbeth quickly sees an easy way out of being eventually found out, he does this by shifting the blame on the innocent and unaware chamberlains. His fellow nobles don’t seem as sure as Macbeth well of course because he’s lying they didn’t kill Duncan he did, but even so as they question his suspicions Macbeth kills again and leaves the chamberlains bloodier than before and with out life. We can see how much Macbeth’s confidence has grown and how his willingness to do anything to become king has also grown and he now doesn’t seem to mind killing anyone to do so. Of course this shocks the nobles quite a bit and many get a bit edgy. Especially Macduff who later asks Macbeth why he killed the chamberlains, only to get a response from Macbeth that he was driven by passionate anger bought about from Duncan’s death. More tension surfaces in scene 4 when The Thane of Ross speaks to the old man. They speak of the unnatural behaviour referring to both the harsh weather and the odd behaviour of the animals. This of course surrounds the coronation of Macbeth suggesting again that it was not to be and that fate and God aren’t on Macbeth’s side. In the act there are many images of unnatural behaviour these are used to make you see good from evil which in itself is a conflict which brings great tension between what is supposed to be and what is not. We then see Macduff desert Macbeths castle to return to Fife instead of being at his coronation which shows obvious rivalry and conflict of interests. It is also interesting that Macduff is responsible for Macbeth’s death and not Malcolm who is the rightful heir, Malcolm should really avenge his father but he lacks courage and that killer edge that Macduff has. Also just like Duncan’s murder Macbeth’s coronation is off stage we learn of Macbeth’s new position from Macduff, Ross and the old man, so again Shakespeare denies us of seeing the inevitable for dramatic purposes.

Explain How Communication Affects Relationships Essay

Communication affects relationships at work in a big way. Communicating in a positive manner will give me a very different response to communicating in a negative manner, it is also important that I alter the way i communicate dependant on who I am speaking to as everybody will respond differently to different styles and variations of communication. One of the parts of my job is to communicate with my colleagues. I must insure that as the environment I work in can and often is stressful, that I speak in a calm manner and that I am clear and concise. By doing this I lessen the chance of information that I passed on being misheard or misunderstood and by being calm I have a reassuring effect on my colleagues. When speaking to families of patient I must insure that I an understanding and come across friendly and professional as a good relationship with a patient’s family can have positive effects on the patients because it is important that families understand the patients treatment plan and how they can have positive influence on the patient. I must communicate with the patients in the most effective way possible. As a health Care worker I need to be able to build trust and a good relationship with those I look after. It is important that I use variation of communication skills to relay what I am trying to get across, this will help the patient understand what is be communicated and in turn will help the patient communicate there needs.

Describe How to Minimize the Risk of Infection to Self and Others Essay

Working Together sets out how organisations and individuals should work together to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and young people in accordance with the Children Act 1989 and the Children Act 2004. Part 1 of the document is issued as statutory guidance. Practitioners and agencies will have different responsibilities under different areas of the guidance and should consult the preface for a fuller explanation of their statutory duties. CHANGE TO STATUTORY GUIDANCE: On 10 June, Tim Loughton MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Children and Families announced a change to the statutory guidance set out in Chapter 8 of this document relating to Serious Case Reviews (SCRs). Local Safeguarding Boards should publish overview reports of all new SCRs initiated on or after 10 June 2010, together with the executive summary; neither document should contain identifying details. A letter to local authorities and their Board partners on Local Safeguarding Children Boards has been issued and provides guidance under section 16(2) of the Children Act 2004. This letter should be read in conjunction with Chapter 8. Working Together is addressed to practitioners and front line managers who have particular responsibilities for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and to senior and operational managers. Part 2 of the document is issued as non-statutory practice guidance. Includes: * Introduction: working together to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and families * Roles and responsibilities * Local Safeguarding Children Boards * Training, development and supervision for inter-agency working * Managing individual cases where there are concerns about a child’s safety and welfare * Supplementary guidance on safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children * Child death review processes * Serious case reviews * Lessons from research

Body Shop Proposal

A. This is because they choose to focus on targeting working adults which is leaned towards a mature image and does not appeals to teens. B. They will lose the potential to increase their sales volume if this continues. II. There are three main possible themes that we would like to propose. A. Firstly, â€Å"Fire† will be emphasising on the strong yet feminine aspects of the product. B. Secondly, â€Å"Earth† will bring attention on the environmentally-friendly nature of the products C. And lastly, the â€Å"Air† theme showcases the comfort level of the products. D. This is a proposal for an advertisement spread in Seventeen selling The Body Shop Bath Body products. ?There is a choice of three themes for the campaign, â€Å"Fire†, â€Å"Earth†, and â€Å"Water†. The recommended products for the 4-ad campaign are to be bath shower gel, body lotion, body butter, and body scrub. P2: Potential (3 paras) I. The Body Shop is currently lacking of advertisement directed to teenagers. A. For a cosmetics retail company, The Body Shop noticeably lacks of photographs of models with beautiful hair and perfect skin, which would attract attention of teenagers. B. Currently, The Body Shop is targeting working adults and the advertisement that they made is leaned more towards a mature image. This image does not appeal to teenagers. II. The Body Shop does not appeal to teenagers and in doing so, it loses a huge number of potential customers. A. Teenagers are not attracted to The Body Shop because of a lack of celebrity representation. B. With the lack of advertisement, targeted audience will not be encourage to trial purchase, brand switch and develop brand loyalty towards The Body Shop. III. Sales would be greatly boosted if The Body Shop were able to appeal to teenagers. A. The Body Shop will be able to maximise it’s profits because Singaporeans teenagers aged 15-19 are very willing to spend money on body products. B. Products such as body products could easily allow the consumer to develop brand loyalty towards the brand because they would have develop a habit for using our brand’s product. This results in repeated purchases and promotes sales in long term. P3: Possibilities (3 paras) I. The first theme, â€Å"Fire† theme will emphasize the strong yet feminine aspects of the product. A. â€Å"Fire† will pitch the products in a sexy yet elegant way, appealing to girls who want to be seen as confident and independent women. B. For example, in the Body butter advertisement, we can feature a model clad in only lingerie and high heels and applying body butter on her body. This would suggest that one would feel confident with their body after using our products. The main colour of this advertisement will be red, black and white to give off a Parisian feel, which represents elegance, yet at the same time emphasizes on the fiery and bold aspects of the theme. II. The second theme, â€Å"Earth† will focus attention on the environmentally friendly nature of the products. A. Products would come across as environmental and relaxing under the â€Å"Earth† theme and would appeal to both males and females because it makes them feel comfortable. B. The advertisement for bath shower gel portray a model unwinding in a bathtub full of soapy water, implying that she had just used the product and suggest that one would feel relaxed after using the product. The background of this advertisement could be a natural setting filled with trees and plants to emphasize on the nature aspects of the theme. III. The third theme, the â€Å"Air† theme, will showcase the comfort level of the products. A. Under the â€Å"Air† theme, products would be pitch as simple yet lasting comfort, appealing to both genders because of the theme’s purity and freshness. B. One example of a body lotion advertisement under the â€Å"Air† theme is to do a compare and contrast of a model who applied the body lotion in the morning and the same model looking energetic and fresh at night to represent the lasting effects and the comfort level can be seen through the model’s cheerful appearance. The advertisement would be in pastel colours to emphasize on the theme’s purity. P4: Proposal (3 paras) I. We have decided to go with the â€Å"Earth† theme because it highlights the key feature of our product and will be effective in attracting our target audience’s interest. A. The Body Shop unique selling point is being environmentally friendly and it is also what the audience associate The Body Shop with. By going along with this theme, audience are able to identify The Body Shop because our concept will be consistent. B. B. Our target audience have a very hectic lifestyle and by portraying a product, which comes across as relaxing to them is a very feasible idea because it is what the target audience need and that is also what they are looking for. This will thus increase sales of the products. II. We have rejected the â€Å"Fire† theme because it doesn’t specifically appeals to our target audiences. A. The â€Å"Fire† theme might seem over-mature to our target audiences and they would not want to be associated with such image. B. The â€Å"Fire† theme might also be inappropriate and clashes with The Body Shop image because The Body Shop has always emphasize that beauty can be achieve even without baring a lot of skin. II. We have also rejected the â€Å"Air† theme because it’s concept is very common in Body products. A. The concept of comfort in a body product is not unique and thus, would not be effective in attracting the targeted audience as it doesn’t stand out. B. Audiences are easily able to find cheaper alternatives with the same benefits. *Total number of paras: 11 (do not create any more paragraphs†¦ it’s 11, no more, no fewer) Body Shop Proposal A. This is because they choose to focus on targeting working adults which is leaned towards a mature image and does not appeals to teens. B. They will lose the potential to increase their sales volume if this continues. II. There are three main possible themes that we would like to propose. A. Firstly, â€Å"Fire† will be emphasising on the strong yet feminine aspects of the product. B. Secondly, â€Å"Earth† will bring attention on the environmentally-friendly nature of the products C. And lastly, the â€Å"Air† theme showcases the comfort level of the products. D. This is a proposal for an advertisement spread in Seventeen selling The Body Shop Bath Body products. ?There is a choice of three themes for the campaign, â€Å"Fire†, â€Å"Earth†, and â€Å"Water†. The recommended products for the 4-ad campaign are to be bath shower gel, body lotion, body butter, and body scrub. P2: Potential (3 paras) I. The Body Shop is currently lacking of advertisement directed to teenagers. A. For a cosmetics retail company, The Body Shop noticeably lacks of photographs of models with beautiful hair and perfect skin, which would attract attention of teenagers. B. Currently, The Body Shop is targeting working adults and the advertisement that they made is leaned more towards a mature image. This image does not appeal to teenagers. II. The Body Shop does not appeal to teenagers and in doing so, it loses a huge number of potential customers. A. Teenagers are not attracted to The Body Shop because of a lack of celebrity representation. B. With the lack of advertisement, targeted audience will not be encourage to trial purchase, brand switch and develop brand loyalty towards The Body Shop. III. Sales would be greatly boosted if The Body Shop were able to appeal to teenagers. A. The Body Shop will be able to maximise it’s profits because Singaporeans teenagers aged 15-19 are very willing to spend money on body products. B. Products such as body products could easily allow the consumer to develop brand loyalty towards the brand because they would have develop a habit for using our brand’s product. This results in repeated purchases and promotes sales in long term. P3: Possibilities (3 paras) I. The first theme, â€Å"Fire† theme will emphasize the strong yet feminine aspects of the product. A. â€Å"Fire† will pitch the products in a sexy yet elegant way, appealing to girls who want to be seen as confident and independent women. B. For example, in the Body butter advertisement, we can feature a model clad in only lingerie and high heels and applying body butter on her body. This would suggest that one would feel confident with their body after using our products. The main colour of this advertisement will be red, black and white to give off a Parisian feel, which represents elegance, yet at the same time emphasizes on the fiery and bold aspects of the theme. II. The second theme, â€Å"Earth† will focus attention on the environmentally friendly nature of the products. A. Products would come across as environmental and relaxing under the â€Å"Earth† theme and would appeal to both males and females because it makes them feel comfortable. B. The advertisement for bath shower gel portray a model unwinding in a bathtub full of soapy water, implying that she had just used the product and suggest that one would feel relaxed after using the product. The background of this advertisement could be a natural setting filled with trees and plants to emphasize on the nature aspects of the theme. III. The third theme, the â€Å"Air† theme, will showcase the comfort level of the products. A. Under the â€Å"Air† theme, products would be pitch as simple yet lasting comfort, appealing to both genders because of the theme’s purity and freshness. B. One example of a body lotion advertisement under the â€Å"Air† theme is to do a compare and contrast of a model who applied the body lotion in the morning and the same model looking energetic and fresh at night to represent the lasting effects and the comfort level can be seen through the model’s cheerful appearance. The advertisement would be in pastel colours to emphasize on the theme’s purity. P4: Proposal (3 paras) I. We have decided to go with the â€Å"Earth† theme because it highlights the key feature of our product and will be effective in attracting our target audience’s interest. A. The Body Shop unique selling point is being environmentally friendly and it is also what the audience associate The Body Shop with. By going along with this theme, audience are able to identify The Body Shop because our concept will be consistent. B. B. Our target audience have a very hectic lifestyle and by portraying a product, which comes across as relaxing to them is a very feasible idea because it is what the target audience need and that is also what they are looking for. This will thus increase sales of the products. II. We have rejected the â€Å"Fire† theme because it doesn’t specifically appeals to our target audiences. A. The â€Å"Fire† theme might seem over-mature to our target audiences and they would not want to be associated with such image. B. The â€Å"Fire† theme might also be inappropriate and clashes with The Body Shop image because The Body Shop has always emphasize that beauty can be achieve even without baring a lot of skin. II. We have also rejected the â€Å"Air† theme because it’s concept is very common in Body products. A. The concept of comfort in a body product is not unique and thus, would not be effective in attracting the targeted audience as it doesn’t stand out. B. Audiences are easily able to find cheaper alternatives with the same benefits. *Total number of paras: 11 (do not create any more paragraphs†¦ it’s 11, no more, no fewer)

Centerofthequadrangleduewestof UphamHall ontheMiamiUniversityCampus Essay

Centerofthequadrangleduewestof UphamHall ontheMiamiUniversityCampus - Essay Example The sun rises in the morning and spreads its rays on all objects across the globe; the sculpture is no exception. The sky was clear blue and humidity was at its lowest. The temperature was just beginning to rise and clouds that had heavily hanged over my head ran away to create a path for the sun. With the help of the sunlight, every single image seems clear and the vicinity of the sculpture is quite detailed. One advantage with the day-light is that every facet of the sculpture can be vividly observed. The bracketing and columns stand very firm to support the compact oval roof-like capital (Cothren, 451). The central-plan building is crystal-clear and I could easily see and appreciate the outstanding work of the burin used by this legendary sculptor. In the chilly evening, the sculpture seemed to have had absorbed some rays from the sun. And now the time came to spit the rays, like a fire dragon. I could not stop dreaming as watched the sculpture reflect a few rays of the sunset. I stood from a close range and watched the beautiful colonnade majestically rise from the very bold and energetic dado (Brookes, 37). A first, I imagined a dwarf on a stand-still; any coward man would run away as he comes to face with the statue. However, the dimness of the evening denied me the sight of the beautiful cameo and chamfer of the capital. In as much as the sculpture was quite prominent in the evening, a few details of it could not be observed. The sculpture is located a stone-throw away from the main administration block of the institution. It borders the pavement that connects a number of buildings within the institution. Many trees have gathered around the earthwork to behold its unending beauty. Being by a path, it was easy to locate. From far, however, one could not easily spot it since it is surrounded by a building and some trees. The management of the institution may have strategically placed it here so as to

Justification of CSR to Key Stakeholders Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Justification of CSR to Key Stakeholders - Essay Example This paper illustrates that in his statement, Friedman asserts that the business of the company is the business of the enterprise. In saying this, he attempted to show that corporate social responsibility is not desirable at all. Moreover, he argued that the only CSR of a company is to maximize profit and any use of its resources for the benefit of the other stakeholders is a waste of resources by the management. However, there are several ways in which corporate social responsibility can be justified to the key stakeholders of the company as outlined below. One of the ways in which CSR can be justified to stakeholders is on the benefits that accrue to the consumer before they are eventually transferred to the company. CSR enables the company to provide quality products to customers. The products are also measured in their right quantities, appropriately packed and are fairly priced. In doing this, companies observe corporate social responsibility to their consumers. On the other han d, benefits are accrued to the firm in the form of customer loyalty and increased demand for the products produced by the company. CSR to the customers translates into increased sales in the long run. Secondly, CSR to the suppliers also benefits the company. Companies regularly deal with many suppliers hence the need to observe CSR with these suppliers. One way of doing this entails offering fair chances in tender allocation, prompt payment and also avoiding default in payments. The emergent benefits can be used to justify the need for CSR in any business. One of the advantages of this is that a firm can receive goods on credit from the supplier due to the good relationship attributed to CSR. Also, the providers tend to offer quality supplies to their best customers and hence the business would immensely benefit. Notwithstanding, the market is likely to receive services from providers at a subsidized rate when it observes corporate social responsibility towards them. In this light, there is a need for any business to be socially responsible to its suppliers.

Business Proposal for a new international SME Assignment

Business Proposal for a new international SME - Assignment Example The competitive advantages and disadvantages of the proposed business are also highlighted. In the subsequent section, operation of the proposed business is provided along with recommendations. Table of Contents Executive Summary 2 Introduction 4 Analysis of the International Business Opportunity 9 Operation of the Proposed Business 15 Conclusion 18 Recommendations 19 References 23 Bibliography 28 Introduction Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have started to play significant role in global trade. Statistics gathered by Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and other sources have indicated that SMEs have at present account for substantial part of exports from industrialized nations throughout the world (Knight, 2001). According to the statistics of OECD (1997), SMEs account for around 25% - 35% of the global manufactured exports and around 4% - 6% of the exports of OECD countries. These statistics have indeed established facts and support the internationaliza tion activities of SMEs. In recent times, ever increasing contribution of technological advancements and continuous easing out of regulatory advances have led to easier flow of transport, goods/services, information as well as finance in and around national borders. These factors have made SMEs a major contributor towards growth in the global economy (Fletcher, 2004). Recent growth of globalization has resulted in subsequent increase in the internationalization of SMEs. Along with globalization, advancement in transportation and increase in computerization have contributed towards the SMEs looking beyond their own country for business growth and opportunity (Suh & Et. Al., 2008). International Entrepreneurship In the growth and development of business, an SME and their management need to interrelate their expansion venture keeping in view the crucial aspects related to international entrepreneurship. International entrepreneurship assumes that becoming entrepreneurial and acting ent repreneurially is a dual process. This process generally gets integrated in practice. SMEs before looking towards international expansion generally looks towards building market, financial as well as entrepreneurial resources in their own country of origin. Later, they look to build on their existing capabilities by venturing towards global domain (Fletcher, 2004). The study intends to prepare a business proposal for an international SME i.e. Practicus. The SME is situated in the UK. It is primarily a recruitment company which provides value to their esteemed clients by offering their services in various fields related to human resource such as interim management, outcome risk &reward, project & programme management, capability & skills transfer, outcome healthcheck, project media & communications. The organization renders their services related to international change delivery business along with a distinctive approach in order to assist clients with various value added support. Th e organization’s major aim is to deliver as well as embed sustainable change (Practicus, 2011). Practicus, around six years ago, was only seen as an idea. However, through sustained effort it has at present grown to possess four offices in the UK and has opened new offices in Australia and the Netherlands. The firm in the year 2010 was listed at the 13th position by Sunday Times in terms of

BPA fetal exposures affect male and female development and quality of Research Paper

BPA fetal exposures affect male and female development and quality of life as adults - Research Paper Example In essence, early exposure to BPA, as well as other chemicals, especially in the foetal stage signifies an increase in the risk of disease later in life. This paper will examine the impact of BPA in adults following foetal exposure. Health Concerns Some of the risks involved with foetal exposure to BPA include increased risk for prostate cancer in adult men and breast cancer in both women (Okada et al 32). In addition, foetal exposure to BPA results in adverse metabolic changes, early onset of puberty and decreased fertility. Furthermore, immunological changes are also a major consequence of foetal exposure to BPA (Rubin 30). Whenever foetal exposure to BPA occurs, the chemical infiltrates the body in an active fashion. BPA binds to the body’s oestrogen receptors replicating the functions of oestrogen. Furthermore, in both male and female adults, BPA causes adverse reproductive effects, particularly in populations exposed to BPA due to their occupations. During the initial 11 weeks of gestation, which is a time when most pregnant women are unaware of their pregnancy, the internal communication systems, and organs of the foetus develop quite rapidly, thus are extremely sensitive to external pressures. Organs such as the brain and mammary glands develop during gestation, thus experience a prolonged period of vulnerability to the effects of BPA, especially since foetal development of such organs is susceptible to oestrogen fluctuations. Additionally, in certain instances, BPA has been shown to cause obesity. When BPA binds to oestrogen receptors in the human body, it causes alternative estrogenic effects, which start outside the nucleus. The alternate path caused by BPA ultimately alters lipid and glucose metabolism, resulting in weight gain (Rubin 31). This is primarily since the alternative oestrogen receptors trigger pathways that result from exposure to BPA to rework the functions of vital components that play a significant role in metabolism, for insta nce, adiposities and pancreatic B cells. In a recent study, it was confirmed that foetal exposure to BPA has the capacity to potentiate the systems inherent in the central dopaminergy. This is bound to result in marked super sensitivity to the drugs linked to abuse-induced reward implications. In essence, by affecting mesolimbic dopamine activity, BPA causes adverse effects such as attention deficits, hypersensitivity and an increased sensitivity to drugs linked to abuse. Furthermore, BPA is also known to bind to receptors of the thyroid hormone, and possibly cause certain side effects on its functions. For instance, BPA impacts triiodothyronine in adults following exposure to the chemical during the prenatal development phase (Rubin 33). Researchers now consider that there are actually two ways through which BPA interrupts the regular endocrine function (Okada et al 32). The compound can perform as a weak estrogen, which binds to the estrogen receptor. It also can, on the other han d, impede the impact of stronger natural estrogens, restraining estrogen function. They are usually considered performing in the cell nucleus via the estrogen receptors, which control gene expression. Many other ways of BPA action are considered to be related to its biological

Intermediate Accounting 2 answeres Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Intermediate Accounting 2 answeres - Essay Example (Maxwel, 2010) The lease receivable will be revealed as an asset on the balance sheet, and the interest revenue is recognized over the term of the lease, as paid. Normally, the company will record its sale on its books, removing the asset from its books and replacing it with a receivable from the lease. During the lease term, the lessor receives interest income. The cash inflow equals the lease payments and the cash outflow is equal to the book value of the asset. (Paul, 2007) Legally, the lease expenses are usually treated as operating expense and the operating lease is not revealed as part of the capital of the firm. When a lease is classified as a sales type lease, the present value of the lease expenses is treated as debt, and interest is imputed on this amount and shown as part of the income statement. Changing from operating leases to sales type leases increases the debt shown on the balance sheet significantly. (Paul, 2007).It is therefore wise for the company to use operating lease since there would be no increase in debt. The operating lease payments in future years, which are revealed in the footnotes to the financial statements for US firms, should be discounted back at a rate that should reflect their status as unsecured and fairly risky debt. As an approximation, using the firm’s current pre-tax cost of debt as the discount rate yields a good estimate of the value of operating leases. Note that capital leases are accounted for similarly in financial statements, but the significant difference is that the present value of capital lease payments is computed using the cost of debt at the time of the capital lease commitment, and is not adjusted as market rates change. Using straight line method Depreciation = (Cost - Residual value) / Useful life/salvage value. Suppose the cost of airplane is p, then the salvage value of x and y under 15 and 25 years

Funding application for homeless people Coursework

Funding application for homeless people - Coursework Example Not having a permanent roof over their heads, which is a fundamental right of all citizens, goes hand in hand with other problems associated with lack of proper food and clothing. This then causes detrimental effects on their health. And, they are further disadvantaged by not having access to any guidance or information to improve their condition. Compared to other youth who live in families in houses, they are at a disadvantage by not being able to educate themselves for immediate as well as long term benefits and future prospects. It is a deep rut of despair and a vicious cycle of no hope to be in such circumstances. One only needs to look at those who do have homes to live in to see how much of a disadvantage these homeless youth have, not being able to leave normal lives like the rest of us. The health problems that inevitably afflict homeless people cannot be understated. "Homeless people are more likely to suffer injuries and medical problems from their lifestyle on the street, which includes poor nutrition, substance abuse, exposure to the severe elements of weather, and a higher exposure to violence." (http://www.ipedia.net/information/homeless) The youth and children are particularly vulnerable groups of people in this regard. Our projects aims to cater to these disadvantaged people by providing them with what they desperately need; to feed and clothe them; to protect them from the weather, getting involved in wrong types of activities; to protect them from being taken advantage of by criminals, gangs, drug traffickers, organ snatchers, pedophiles, prostitutes etc. Instead we will provide them with decent sheltering facilities, and provision of food to stave off hunger. And, we will help resolve their personal problems through the provision of counseling and information services, then relocate them to a safe permanent abode

Developing Potentially Highly Profitable New Systems Technologies Essay

Developing Potentially Highly Profitable New Systems Technologies - Essay Example The new technology is emerged in business for improvement for buyer’s access to the important and critical information. The advantages and disadvantages of the competitors that already have adopted the new technologies are observed and important factors are taken from it. The success rate for adding new technologies into business is critically viewed from other companies. The success factors are in both forms like tangible and intangible benefits, so measuring intangible benefits are harder and some time results are long term like improvement in operational efficiency, the improvement of decision making of customer. (Turban and Volonino). Electronic Business (E-business) Electronic business (E-business) is a business done through the online network and internet. It provides channels among customers, supply chain partners, employees and other concerned persons. The firm needs to develop the e-business as a new technology. The performance measures like incentives and different o perating models are applied for promoting the business. (Turban, Volonino and Wood, 157) The basic demand of e-business is to maintain the website regularly. The business-to-business (B2B) sites may have many weak points that must resolve for getting improved performance of the e-business. By following such important factors and by focusing the performance measures make a positive impact of the e-business and also the firm gets benefited through it. The emergence of information technology improved the productivity of the products in firm. The demands of consumers are fulfilled according and through ease, so it is also important to make the e-business fully secure and reliable (Turban and Volonino). The intangible benefits for a multinational firm are the soft profits it takes from website. The accuracy and quick response not only for Web servers but also the software of e-commerce and databases need to respond quickly. The less web issues promote the business to success and results in customer satisfaction, which is great intangible profit for the multinational firm. It also provides tangible results for the multinational firm, when customers are more satisfied with e-business and easily and quickly perform the business tasks. (Turban and Volonino163) Fig.1 E-commerce Model (Source: Turban, Volonino and Wood, 166) The e-business promotes the business to success, and both tangible and intangible profits are shown in the firm. By following the models like B2C and G2C and many other strategies, a business can grow and enhance the productivity. These models are known as business markets that provide success to the business (Turban, Volonino and Wood, 156). The B2C market covers the national and international market, the buyers and sellers are organizations. So it is also called e-tailing (electronic retailing). Another market named C2B that is consumer based market and covers the consumer that purchases the products from firm. G2C is the market work among Governme nt-to-citizens this market provides services from Government agencies to the local citizens. And the business-to-Government market sells different types of products and also provides services to the government agencies (Hubbard). Funding of a Project and convincing the senior management Most of the companies shape product process development through the information technology. Increased productivity and quality improvement have been seen with the adaption of the new technology. Many of the manufacturing companies find it a methodology for the faster product development cycles, high level quality products and shorter production schedules. Justification of advantages of new technology before senior management is about economic issues and related advantages. The view is to cut the cross

The Health and Safety at work Act 1974 Essay Example for Free

The Health and Safety at work Act 1974 Essay All workers have a right to work in places where risks to their health and safety are properly controlled. Health and safety is about stopping you getting hurt at work or ill through work. Your employer is responsible for health and safety, but you must help. What employers must do for you. Decide what could harm you in your job and the precautions to stop it. This is part of risk assessment in any way you can understand, explain how risks will be controlled and tell you who is responsible Consult and work with you and you health and safety representative in protecting everyone from harm and in the workplace Give you the health and safety training you need to do your job free charge. Free of charge, provide you with any equipment and protective clothing you need, and ensure it is properly looked after Provide toilets, washing facilities and drinking water Provide adequate first-aid facilities.

Concepts for Environmental Sustainability

Concepts for Environmental Sustainability A Perspective on environmental sustainability? Environmental Sustainability The Commissioner acts as an independent voice that advocates, audits and reports on environmental sustainability. The purpose of this paper is to explore the meaning of environmental sustainability. The community needs a definition of environmental sustainability that is easily understood, is logical, and is helpful in facilitating understanding, communication and effective action by all key players (government, community, business, innovators, academia, communicators, etc.). The paper also explores the meaning of related terms and definitions eg. sustainability and related words in common usage ecologically sustainable development (as defined by the Commissioners enabling legislation) sustainable development (the Brundtland definition) triple bottom line. A preferred definition of environmental sustainability Environmental sustainability is the ability to maintain things or qualities that are valued in the physical environment This is the simplest and most fundamental way to express the concept.But people using the term environmental sustainability can specify or elaborate the term further to add extra meaning or to apply the concept to more specialised contexts. What is the physical environment? This is the physical surrounds to something.For example, the land, waters and atmosphere, physical resources and thebuildings and roadsand other physical elements go to make up the urban environment.Rural environments are made up of the farms and living areas of people andthe land and waters and atmosphere and biological elements (species utilised by agriculture, pest species, and native species, and ecological communities both human induced and natural).Natural environments are those where the influence of wild species (indigenous and naturalised) is dominant or very strong.Physical resources, of all sorts, including mineral resources, can be considered to be part of the environment. Physical environments can be considered on all scales from the micro to the local, global and even larger scales. There is no sharp distinction between the environmental and other domains (eg. social and economic) in fact the content of each domain overlaps other domains massively. The key to understan ding doesnt lie in trying to set non-overlappingboundaries between the domains but lies in being clear about the focus of different domains. (Link to) Commissioner for Environmental Sustainability Act 00 The physical environment includes the natural and biological environments. What makes an issue a sustainability issue? A sustainability issue arises whenever a valued system, object, process or attribute is under threat.The existence of the valued system, object, process or attribute could be threatened or its quality could be threatened with serious decline. In other words there is a sustainability issue whenever there is something that is valued that faces the risk of not being maintained. Whenever there is a strong sense of urgency, there is always a sustainability issue involved.This urgency couldrelate to something thatalready existsortoan understood potential.For example biodiversity might be threatened with extinction or the chance to realise the potential of a human being might be threatened, for example, if they remain in poverty or their lives are threatened by violence or disease.(The latter would usually be thought of as being social sustainability issues.) What exactly are we trying to maintain in the physical environment and who decides? There is no automatic, fixed agenda built into the term environmental sustainability. We have to look to the context to see what might be sustained.And many people and organisations already have well developedideas about what aspects of the total environment should be sustained when environmental sustainability is pursued. In a place like Victoria, with our culture, political processes and physical environment, there is strong public pressure to maintain (sustain) things like: ecosystem services (eg. nutrient cycling, the water cycle, natural water purification, climate moderation, soil protection high quality urban environments areas of natural beauty other species and ecological communities the user value flowing from physical resources (eg. minerals, energy, renewableresources, water) What motivates us to want to sustain something in the physical environment? We might want to sustain something in the physical environment because it is useful to us: e.g. the quality of local urban environments. Or we might want to do it because we care about the wellbeing of other people or other species for their sake, not ours. That is we can be motivated by utilitarian concerns and/or altruism. Sometimes we maintain something in the environmental domain in order to make it possible to achieve another goal in another domain.For example, we might sustain marine habitats in order to support the livelihood of coastal townships.Or we might sustain renewable resources so that we can support economic development or genuine progress Genuine progress is development that creates new benefits without undermining or destroying old benefits that are still valued in the community.In recent years a lot of work has been done on ‘genuine progress indicators as alternatives to GDP measures .) How long should we try to sustain something? This question can only be answered after deciding specifically what needs to be sustained and why. For example, ecosystems services for clean air would need to be sustained as long as there are living things (including people) that need to breatheclean air.For all practical purposes that means forever . Living species seem to last on average a few million years before becoming extinct though some may evolve into new species.So if we maintained a natural extinction rate for species it is so low that for practical purposes we would need to manage in the here and now as if we wanted all species to survive, effectively forever. Sustaining the recycling of certain materials may only need to continue for as long as those material types are needed technologically, and depending on the pace of technical change this could be for centuries or for decades.It is risky to assume that resources are only needed for a short time however as society might find new uses for materials as technology, lifestyles and environmental awareness develop. When it comes to trying to sustain habitat on a site-s pecific basis, very specific localised habitat or ecological community patches might need to persist for anywhere between thousands of years and just a few years depending on the ecological system involved provided all of the dependent species can access these habitat or ecological community typessomewhere consistently and at adequate scale within their local ranges forever. Is there any connection betweenenvironmental sustainability and social or economic sustainability? Since humans depend in countless ways on the physical environment (both natural and human constructed) sustaining desired environmental conditions directly contributes to the sustaining of people and human societies, that is, to social sustainability.The viability of theeconomy clearly depends on environmental resources and service flows so economicsustainability depends on environmental sustainability. More generally it can be seen that sustainability in one domain can be necessary for sustainability in another.Sustainability requirements can be mapped to show complex dependencies across domains.We classify sustainability issues into separate domains, not because the sustainabilityissues are unrelated, but for reasons of convenience and tradition, for example, to allow specialisations to develop in RD and administration, to break up complex whole into mentally manageable chunks, to reflect historical connections, etc. Can the idea of environmental sustainability drive commitments to specific action? While the idea ofenvironmental sustainability is very broad in its possible scope, concerns for environmental sustainability can be translated in specific practical goals and these can and should drive action programs.See the section How to use the definition of environmental sustainability to facilitate effective action. on page . Is restoration part of an environmental sustainability program? In a world where life-support systems and other conditions required for sustainability have been run down,environmental sustainability can only be achieved through a combination of both preventive and restorative actions.So restoration is a key part of what needs to be done to achieve sustainability.In most instances it is better to avoid destroying environmental values in the first place rather than relying on restoration as the primary strategy.However, where damage has been done that could prevent valued elements of the physical environment being sustained, restoration should not be overlooked. If we pursue an environmental sustainability program how much should we try tosustain? The physical environment is powerfully affected by and is made up of evolving systems ecological systems, societies and economies.These evolving systems will create changes in some aspects of the physical environment and will prevent or resist changes in other aspects.So anenvironmental sustainability program could never aim to sustain or maintain absolutely every component and attribute of the entire physical environment.Anyenvironmental sustainability program must start out by being clear about what it is hoped will be maintained in the physical environment and what can be allowed to change or what will be made to change.Precisely what people set out to sustain within the physical environment will depend on their value judgements, needs, skills and technology and available resources to support the action program and the current state and the dynamics of the physical environment.We cannot assume that we automatically know what should be sustained (and what should not) in the physic al environment just because there is an environmental sustainability program operating.We need to work the answer out explicitly. The origin of the core word sustain and its main derivatives The word sustain has been in the language for thousands of years.It comes from the Latin sustenare meaning to hold up ie. to support.From there it evolved long ago to mean to keep something going or extend its duration, with an overtone of providing the support or necessities that made the extended duration possible eg. a sustaining meal.These days, for commonest non-specialised use of the word the closest synonym is maintain. Sustain and its derivatives (eg. sustainability, sustainable, sustaining) were first used in a micro or personal context.However several hundreds of years ago the Swiss and Germans invented a form of forestry designed to keep the forest going as productive systems over the very long term and this was called, in the English speaking world, sustainable forestry.The idea was then extended to sustainable fisheries. From there it was not such a big step for the term to be applied, during the 0s and 0s, in the macro context of environmental issues where there was a need to sustain the whole environment and human society.This usage was established by the time of the UN Conference on the Human Environment held in Stockholm. The drifts in meaning Having reached a macro level of application sustainability was most often talked about in terms of sustainable development.The 0 World Conservation Strategy produced by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN or World Conservation Union) put forward the concept of sustainable development meaning development that would allow ecosystem services and biodiversity to be sustained.The Brundtland Report shifted the meaning of sustainable development to mean â€Å"development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generationsto meet their own needs†. Then the UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio set in train processes such as Agenda and Local Agenda that resulted in many people coming to the view that sustainability equals the integration or balancing of environmental, social and economic issues or simultaneous progress in the environmental, social and economic domains, often in t he context of strong programs of consultation and participation. Many people however felt uneasy with the notion of development as it is often associated with the destruction of environmental and social attributes that they value, so they felt better talking about sustainability rather than sustainable development. So, over time sustainability and sustainable development came to be treated by many people as synonyms.This trend was reinforced because some people found the term sustainable development to be a bit of a mouthful and they used sustainability as a convenient (if inaccurate) shorthand. As the scale of the taskof achieving a sustainable environment and society has become apparent many people have tried to insulate themselves from the enormity of the challenge by retreating into small incremental changes.So some people have started to say that sustainability is a process of change and not an end state, and that its the journey that counts, not the destination. As the terms sustainability and sustainable development have been used more and more in government and corporate circles, because of increasing discussion of environment and development, the business world has started using the terms more and more for its own purposes.Curiouslyin this context sustainable has quickly reverted to its earlier simple meaning of able to be maintained.So sustainable profits, or sustainable competitive advantage mean profits or competitive advantage that can be maintained for the longer term.The straightforward use of sustain and its derivatives within the domain of business is understandable because businesses face competition and hence the risk of decline and extinction every day of the week.This experience of threat leads business people to reproduce meanings of the terms that are the same as those in long-term common usage or those in the area of biological conservation. The benefits of definitional clarity and a strong relationship to core meanings The important benefit of definitional clarity is that it makes it easier to avoid logical problems and makes effective action more likely. A search on the web reveals hundreds of definitions of sustainability and sustainable development Although this diversity is a little overwhelmingit is not really. surprising given that there are many diverse people involved in the sustainability debate and there are legitimate complexities involved.However, a careful review of these definitions reveals that they fall into four basic categories only one of which (type ) is a normal dictionary-style definition.The other types are referred to in this paper as contextual definitions because they create a greater understanding of the context of a term rather than defining its essence.The four types of definitions are: Type : definitions based on the essence: x is/means y eg. sustainability is/means the ability to sustain something; sustainable development is development that can be maintained; sustaining development is development that sustains something Type : contextual definitions based onstrategies for achieving the thing being defined: the achievement of x requires y eg. the achievement of sustainability requires, for example, the integration of environmental, social and economic issues Type : contextual definitions based on the outcomes of the thing being defined: x results in y; eg. sustainable development results inthe meeting of needs of the present generation without compromising the needs of future generations Type : contextual definitions based on what amovement with that label tries to achieve or is interested in: x is what the X movement strives for eg. sustainability is what the Sustainability movement strives for ie. Sustainability encompasses the protection of the environment and people, peace, and end to poverty, the meeting of human needs, enhancement of human wellbeing, promotion of happiness, etc., etc., etc. Furthermore any of these types of definitions can be framed in a more general or a narrower context eg. applied to whole systems eg. society and the environment or just to specific contexts eg. the environment of a particular species, or to specific human communities or a particular economy. The last three types of definition can be useful as they are carefully expressed so it is  clear what sort of context they are creating.But if they are written using words that See Susan Murcotts list of definitions of sustainable development in the Reference section. Where sustaining is used as an adjective (not as a verb). suggest that they are type , or dictionary-style, definitions then these types of definitions usually cause significant confusion. For example, the type definition the achievement of sustainability requires, for example, the integration of environmental, social and economic issues is usually presented as if it were a type definition ie. sustainability is the integration of environmental, social and economic issues.This produces the absurd implication that if we simply consider environmental, social and economic issues together that this somehow generates a sustainability outcome.Often the opposite is true because the issues are traded off against each other and one or more of the objectives are not adequately fulfilled leading to a decline (unsustainability) in the domains traded off. So in this case, a lack of clarity in the expression of the definition leads to a substitution of means for ends and the outcome is unsustainability. The much-used Brundtland definition of sustainable development is a type definition, that is, it describes what theoutcome will be of pursuing sustainable development.The wording that is universally used is â€Å"sustainable developmentis development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs†.But this is in fact a not-careful-enough paraphrasing of the original in the Brundtland report which read: â€Å"Humanity has the ability to make development sustainable to ensure that it meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.† (definition quoted from p. of the Brun dtland Report).The Brundtland statement should have been paraphrased along the followinglines: â€Å"sustainable development can under the right circumstances result in the needs of the present being met without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs†. This formulation then focuses peoples attention on what is to be sustained, what needs are to be met in different generations and what strategies are to be applied to get the desired outcomes. Not only is definitional clarity important but so is maintaining a strong relationship between the core meaning of words and their various derived forms.For example, the terms sustainability and sustainable development are now used interchangeably by many people.For some, the motivation fordoing this is to find a shorter term to substitute for sustainable development.Others prefer to use the term sustainability as a synonym for sustainable development because they dont like talking about development since in their experience it has negative connotations either for themselves or for others.  But the end result is that two terms that originally had distinctly different meanings which served practical communication purposes are now blurred into each other thus losing the distinction of meaning. Or sustainable development. Sustainability is about continuity and development is about change. There are manythings about life that we want to sustain (maintain) and many that we want to change.So it makes sense to create the notion of sustainable development that combinesdesired change and desired continuity -for example we might change exploitation,unhappiness, poverty, destructiveness, etc.and sustain the rest of nature, trust, tolerance, honesty, happiness, health, etc.Treated in this waysustainable development doesnt have to be an oxymoron (a combination of conflicting terms). While theory says that sustainable development does not have to be an oxymoron, it can sometimes take quite a bit of negotiation before a whole society can be comfortable with a shared definition of what should be maintained and what should be changed. Developing a preferred definition of environmental sustainability The meanings of words gain their legitimacy from shared use, so in the final analysis there are no independently correct meanings, just meanings that are well understood by many people But words also help to shape our understandings and then our. actions, so the key question is not what is the correct definition? but what do we want environmental sustainability to mean, what would be most desirable? How we choose to answer this questiondepends critically on our preference for treating environmental sustainability as either a practical goal or a utopian concept. The historian Arnold Joseph Toynbee wrote in A study of history () that: The twentieth century will be chiefly remembered by future generations not as an era of political conflicts or technical inventions, but as an age in which human society dared to think of the welfare of the whole human race as a practical objective. Sometimes the meaning of words can evolve into almost their opposite.For example terrific used to mean to c ause extreme terror now it most often means extraordinarily good.The linking meaning was probably exciting eg. the roller coaster ride was terrific†. The quote by English historian Arnold J. Toynbee was used in Lester B. Pearsons Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech in . (Pearson won for introducing the concept of peacekeeping through the United Nations.)From: http://nobelprize.org/peace/laureates//pearson-lecture.html This could be extended so that we think of our present era as being distinguished as the age in which human society dared to think of the welfare of both the whole human race and the whole planet as a practical objective. If this is so then we can perhaps put aside the idea of seeingenvironmental sustainability as a utopian concept and, instead, opt for seeing it as a practical objective, that is, something to be both aspired to and achieved. But we should be doubly practical. We want to be able to use a definition of environmental sustainability that: makes it easier for us to get things done (the first practicality) and we want the definition to help us focus our minds on getting the most important or relevant things done (the second practicality). To help in getting things done a definition of environmental sustainability will need to: facilitate communication between all the people who need to be involved in the issue make it easier to identify actions that need to be taken in order to achieve environmental sustainability Before exploring how thechoice of definition ofenvironmental sustainabilitycan help us be doubly practical we need to identify some definitional choices that we can apply our choice-criteria to. Some of the basic types of definitions of environmental and sustainability that are used currently are: environmental. referring to just the biological environment referring to all possible environments(contexts) eg. social, economic, physical,intellectual referring to the physical environment including thebiological, the geomorphological environment and theconstructed and cultural physical environments sustainability.. meaning the integration or balancing of social, environmental and economic issues,or programs or actions based on stakeholder or community consultation meaning sustainable development or making people better off in an ethically sound way meaning the ability to sustain something. How should we select among these options if we want to facilitate communication? There is really no sectorof the economy or group of people in the community that should be uninvolved in efforts to achieveenvironmental sustainability.Soifitis possible to use simple definitions that are in common usage throughout the whole community there is a good chance that most people will be able to understand each0 other.Also definitions that are widely spread in the community are likely to be more stable because drifts in meaning that emerge in small groups are not likely to be taken up by the whole population. The compound-concept ofenvironmental sustainability is not widely used in the community, nor is the word sustainability.But the core concept to sustain is widely used, and the term environmentor environmental is widely used.In common usage to sustain means tokeep something going or maintain something.Environment means, incommon usage, either the context or surroundings of something, or itmeans, more specifically, the physical environment.Clearly the Parliament of Victoria, when it passed the Commissioner for Environmental Sustainability Act 00, was using the word environment in the sense of the physical environment rather than more universal meaning of the context for anything. How can our choice of definition make it easier to identify actions to take to achieve environmental sustainability? Having an action focus, especially where the aim is actually to achieve desired outcomes, means that it is not helpful touse definitions that are fuzzy or based on logical confusion.So treating sustainability and sustainable development as synonyms (ie. as having the same meaning) is not likely to be a good idea.Adding the word sustainable to development must change the type of development we are talking about otherwise why would we bother talking about sustainable development if we could more conveniently just use the word development?So if we say that sustainability has the same meaning as sustainable development what we saying in logical terms is: Concept A= Concept A + Concept B In other words it doesnt make any logical sense at all! This sort of definitional fuzziness and confusion can only persist where people are not trying to be clear about what they are talking about.And indeed some people argue that sustainability is anunattainable goal so they are not greatly fussed about the details of the definition that they use. (That is, they treat environmental sustainability as a Utopian concept rather than a practical goal.) However, if we want to use a definition ofenvironmental sustainability that makes action easier then we should avoid confusions like defining sustainability as sustainable development. How can our choice of definition help us focus our minds on gettingthe most important or relevant things done? We can only answer this by going back to what motivated societys interest in environmental sustainability in the first place.The historical record makes it clear that people became concerned aboutenvironmental sustainability when they discovered tha t aspects of the environment that they loved or depended on for survival or quality of life were threatened with extinction or serious degradation.There was an urgent concern about loss that made people think about sustainability.Were they originally thinking about integrating environmental, social and economic issues?Not at all.They were worrying about maintaining or keeping going something that they valued.How then did the ‘integration or ‘balance definition emerge?After some years of trying to achieve environmental sustainability people realised that unless they also dealt with the interacting social and economic issues they would simply not succeed in achieving their environmental goals.But did this practical/pragmatic (and perhaps ethical) realisation, change peoples environmental goals? Not really. So why did some people then change the definition of environmental sustainability to mean the integration of environmental, socialand economic issues? It was most likely because their practical focus of attention had shifted to the integration issue and they inadvertently made a classic mistake of confusing means with ends (ie. methods with goals) There is another issue that bears on thequestion of getting the most important or relevant things done.Andthat is, in what way does environmental qualify the notion of sustainability when they are compounded?Doesenvironmental sustainabilityimply the sustainability of thewhole physical environment?Or just parts of it?From a practical point of view the physical environment is so inclusive that no real-lifeenvironmental sustainabilityprogram would everset out to sustain and maintain every aspect.If we tried to do that we would, for example, freeze in place or maintain the distribution and abundance of pest plants and animals, the reduced distribution and abundance of native species, coal-fired power stations and an excessive allocation of land and resourcesto road-based transport, dangerous and resource inef ficient buildings, over-built flood plains, etc. Societys are always selective about what they want to sustain even if the agenda for action is still a huge one (eg. maintaining life support systems, maintaining quality of life, keeping native species going, maintaining the resource-base for the economy, etc.). Finally, if we are concerned to get the most important or relevant things done, what definitions should we rule out? Definitions of sustainability such as the integration or balancing of social, environmental and economic issues, or programs or actions based on stakeholder or community consultation no longer seem appropriate and definingenvironmental sustainability as applying to absolutely everything in the physical environment no longer seems useful. Pulling all these issues together, it is now possible to propose a preferred definition for environmental sustainability as follows: environmental sustainability is the ability to maintain things or qualities that arevalued in the physical environment . This happens because people have a way of expressing themselves that goes like this: environmental sustainability is all about .(insert the practical action or implication of their choice).Then people forget that this is not a definitional statement and they go on to treat it as one. A compatible suite of sustainability terms This suite of words has been developed to distinguish: between what is doing the sustaining and what it is being sustained ie. between means and ends the scope of what is being sustained Word (form) Meaning Suggested usage Incompatible usage sustain (verb) means to maintain something through time; to keep it going; to extend its duration eg. communities are working to sustain ecosystem services, or quality of life or other species sustainability (noun) means the ability or capability to sustain (maintain) something eg. will this community ach ieve sustainability for the things that it wants to persist through time (adjective) means related to or having to do with sustainability eg. a sustainability action plan is an action plan about sustainability not an action plan that can be kept in operation over an extended period sustainable (adjective) means able to be sustained, durable or able to be maintained (note: in this meaning the noun that the word is attached to is the thing that is sustained) eg. a sustainable policy is a policy that is kept in force over an extended period not a policy about sustainability sustaining (adjective) means having the propensity or tend Concepts for Environmental Sustainability Concepts for Environmental Sustainability A Perspective on environmental sustainability? Environmental Sustainability The Commissioner acts as an independent voice that advocates, audits and reports on environmental sustainability. The purpose of this paper is to explore the meaning of environmental sustainability. The community needs a definition of environmental sustainability that is easily understood, is logical, and is helpful in facilitating understanding, communication and effective action by all key players (government, community, business, innovators, academia, communicators, etc.). The paper also explores the meaning of related terms and definitions eg. sustainability and related words in common usage ecologically sustainable development (as defined by the Commissioners enabling legislation) sustainable development (the Brundtland definition) triple bottom line. A preferred definition of environmental sustainability Environmental sustainability is the ability to maintain things or qualities that are valued in the physical environment This is the simplest and most fundamental way to express the concept.But people using the term environmental sustainability can specify or elaborate the term further to add extra meaning or to apply the concept to more specialised contexts. What is the physical environment? This is the physical surrounds to something.For example, the land, waters and atmosphere, physical resources and thebuildings and roadsand other physical elements go to make up the urban environment.Rural environments are made up of the farms and living areas of people andthe land and waters and atmosphere and biological elements (species utilised by agriculture, pest species, and native species, and ecological communities both human induced and natural).Natural environments are those where the influence of wild species (indigenous and naturalised) is dominant or very strong.Physical resources, of all sorts, including mineral resources, can be considered to be part of the environment. Physical environments can be considered on all scales from the micro to the local, global and even larger scales. There is no sharp distinction between the environmental and other domains (eg. social and economic) in fact the content of each domain overlaps other domains massively. The key to understan ding doesnt lie in trying to set non-overlappingboundaries between the domains but lies in being clear about the focus of different domains. (Link to) Commissioner for Environmental Sustainability Act 00 The physical environment includes the natural and biological environments. What makes an issue a sustainability issue? A sustainability issue arises whenever a valued system, object, process or attribute is under threat.The existence of the valued system, object, process or attribute could be threatened or its quality could be threatened with serious decline. In other words there is a sustainability issue whenever there is something that is valued that faces the risk of not being maintained. Whenever there is a strong sense of urgency, there is always a sustainability issue involved.This urgency couldrelate to something thatalready existsortoan understood potential.For example biodiversity might be threatened with extinction or the chance to realise the potential of a human being might be threatened, for example, if they remain in poverty or their lives are threatened by violence or disease.(The latter would usually be thought of as being social sustainability issues.) What exactly are we trying to maintain in the physical environment and who decides? There is no automatic, fixed agenda built into the term environmental sustainability. We have to look to the context to see what might be sustained.And many people and organisations already have well developedideas about what aspects of the total environment should be sustained when environmental sustainability is pursued. In a place like Victoria, with our culture, political processes and physical environment, there is strong public pressure to maintain (sustain) things like: ecosystem services (eg. nutrient cycling, the water cycle, natural water purification, climate moderation, soil protection high quality urban environments areas of natural beauty other species and ecological communities the user value flowing from physical resources (eg. minerals, energy, renewableresources, water) What motivates us to want to sustain something in the physical environment? We might want to sustain something in the physical environment because it is useful to us: e.g. the quality of local urban environments. Or we might want to do it because we care about the wellbeing of other people or other species for their sake, not ours. That is we can be motivated by utilitarian concerns and/or altruism. Sometimes we maintain something in the environmental domain in order to make it possible to achieve another goal in another domain.For example, we might sustain marine habitats in order to support the livelihood of coastal townships.Or we might sustain renewable resources so that we can support economic development or genuine progress Genuine progress is development that creates new benefits without undermining or destroying old benefits that are still valued in the community.In recent years a lot of work has been done on ‘genuine progress indicators as alternatives to GDP measures .) How long should we try to sustain something? This question can only be answered after deciding specifically what needs to be sustained and why. For example, ecosystems services for clean air would need to be sustained as long as there are living things (including people) that need to breatheclean air.For all practical purposes that means forever . Living species seem to last on average a few million years before becoming extinct though some may evolve into new species.So if we maintained a natural extinction rate for species it is so low that for practical purposes we would need to manage in the here and now as if we wanted all species to survive, effectively forever. Sustaining the recycling of certain materials may only need to continue for as long as those material types are needed technologically, and depending on the pace of technical change this could be for centuries or for decades.It is risky to assume that resources are only needed for a short time however as society might find new uses for materials as technology, lifestyles and environmental awareness develop. When it comes to trying to sustain habitat on a site-s pecific basis, very specific localised habitat or ecological community patches might need to persist for anywhere between thousands of years and just a few years depending on the ecological system involved provided all of the dependent species can access these habitat or ecological community typessomewhere consistently and at adequate scale within their local ranges forever. Is there any connection betweenenvironmental sustainability and social or economic sustainability? Since humans depend in countless ways on the physical environment (both natural and human constructed) sustaining desired environmental conditions directly contributes to the sustaining of people and human societies, that is, to social sustainability.The viability of theeconomy clearly depends on environmental resources and service flows so economicsustainability depends on environmental sustainability. More generally it can be seen that sustainability in one domain can be necessary for sustainability in another.Sustainability requirements can be mapped to show complex dependencies across domains.We classify sustainability issues into separate domains, not because the sustainabilityissues are unrelated, but for reasons of convenience and tradition, for example, to allow specialisations to develop in RD and administration, to break up complex whole into mentally manageable chunks, to reflect historical connections, etc. Can the idea of environmental sustainability drive commitments to specific action? While the idea ofenvironmental sustainability is very broad in its possible scope, concerns for environmental sustainability can be translated in specific practical goals and these can and should drive action programs.See the section How to use the definition of environmental sustainability to facilitate effective action. on page . Is restoration part of an environmental sustainability program? In a world where life-support systems and other conditions required for sustainability have been run down,environmental sustainability can only be achieved through a combination of both preventive and restorative actions.So restoration is a key part of what needs to be done to achieve sustainability.In most instances it is better to avoid destroying environmental values in the first place rather than relying on restoration as the primary strategy.However, where damage has been done that could prevent valued elements of the physical environment being sustained, restoration should not be overlooked. If we pursue an environmental sustainability program how much should we try tosustain? The physical environment is powerfully affected by and is made up of evolving systems ecological systems, societies and economies.These evolving systems will create changes in some aspects of the physical environment and will prevent or resist changes in other aspects.So anenvironmental sustainability program could never aim to sustain or maintain absolutely every component and attribute of the entire physical environment.Anyenvironmental sustainability program must start out by being clear about what it is hoped will be maintained in the physical environment and what can be allowed to change or what will be made to change.Precisely what people set out to sustain within the physical environment will depend on their value judgements, needs, skills and technology and available resources to support the action program and the current state and the dynamics of the physical environment.We cannot assume that we automatically know what should be sustained (and what should not) in the physic al environment just because there is an environmental sustainability program operating.We need to work the answer out explicitly. The origin of the core word sustain and its main derivatives The word sustain has been in the language for thousands of years.It comes from the Latin sustenare meaning to hold up ie. to support.From there it evolved long ago to mean to keep something going or extend its duration, with an overtone of providing the support or necessities that made the extended duration possible eg. a sustaining meal.These days, for commonest non-specialised use of the word the closest synonym is maintain. Sustain and its derivatives (eg. sustainability, sustainable, sustaining) were first used in a micro or personal context.However several hundreds of years ago the Swiss and Germans invented a form of forestry designed to keep the forest going as productive systems over the very long term and this was called, in the English speaking world, sustainable forestry.The idea was then extended to sustainable fisheries. From there it was not such a big step for the term to be applied, during the 0s and 0s, in the macro context of environmental issues where there was a need to sustain the whole environment and human society.This usage was established by the time of the UN Conference on the Human Environment held in Stockholm. The drifts in meaning Having reached a macro level of application sustainability was most often talked about in terms of sustainable development.The 0 World Conservation Strategy produced by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN or World Conservation Union) put forward the concept of sustainable development meaning development that would allow ecosystem services and biodiversity to be sustained.The Brundtland Report shifted the meaning of sustainable development to mean â€Å"development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generationsto meet their own needs†. Then the UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio set in train processes such as Agenda and Local Agenda that resulted in many people coming to the view that sustainability equals the integration or balancing of environmental, social and economic issues or simultaneous progress in the environmental, social and economic domains, often in t he context of strong programs of consultation and participation. Many people however felt uneasy with the notion of development as it is often associated with the destruction of environmental and social attributes that they value, so they felt better talking about sustainability rather than sustainable development. So, over time sustainability and sustainable development came to be treated by many people as synonyms.This trend was reinforced because some people found the term sustainable development to be a bit of a mouthful and they used sustainability as a convenient (if inaccurate) shorthand. As the scale of the taskof achieving a sustainable environment and society has become apparent many people have tried to insulate themselves from the enormity of the challenge by retreating into small incremental changes.So some people have started to say that sustainability is a process of change and not an end state, and that its the journey that counts, not the destination. As the terms sustainability and sustainable development have been used more and more in government and corporate circles, because of increasing discussion of environment and development, the business world has started using the terms more and more for its own purposes.Curiouslyin this context sustainable has quickly reverted to its earlier simple meaning of able to be maintained.So sustainable profits, or sustainable competitive advantage mean profits or competitive advantage that can be maintained for the longer term.The straightforward use of sustain and its derivatives within the domain of business is understandable because businesses face competition and hence the risk of decline and extinction every day of the week.This experience of threat leads business people to reproduce meanings of the terms that are the same as those in long-term common usage or those in the area of biological conservation. The benefits of definitional clarity and a strong relationship to core meanings The important benefit of definitional clarity is that it makes it easier to avoid logical problems and makes effective action more likely. A search on the web reveals hundreds of definitions of sustainability and sustainable development Although this diversity is a little overwhelmingit is not really. surprising given that there are many diverse people involved in the sustainability debate and there are legitimate complexities involved.However, a careful review of these definitions reveals that they fall into four basic categories only one of which (type ) is a normal dictionary-style definition.The other types are referred to in this paper as contextual definitions because they create a greater understanding of the context of a term rather than defining its essence.The four types of definitions are: Type : definitions based on the essence: x is/means y eg. sustainability is/means the ability to sustain something; sustainable development is development that can be maintained; sustaining development is development that sustains something Type : contextual definitions based onstrategies for achieving the thing being defined: the achievement of x requires y eg. the achievement of sustainability requires, for example, the integration of environmental, social and economic issues Type : contextual definitions based on the outcomes of the thing being defined: x results in y; eg. sustainable development results inthe meeting of needs of the present generation without compromising the needs of future generations Type : contextual definitions based on what amovement with that label tries to achieve or is interested in: x is what the X movement strives for eg. sustainability is what the Sustainability movement strives for ie. Sustainability encompasses the protection of the environment and people, peace, and end to poverty, the meeting of human needs, enhancement of human wellbeing, promotion of happiness, etc., etc., etc. Furthermore any of these types of definitions can be framed in a more general or a narrower context eg. applied to whole systems eg. society and the environment or just to specific contexts eg. the environment of a particular species, or to specific human communities or a particular economy. The last three types of definition can be useful as they are carefully expressed so it is  clear what sort of context they are creating.But if they are written using words that See Susan Murcotts list of definitions of sustainable development in the Reference section. Where sustaining is used as an adjective (not as a verb). suggest that they are type , or dictionary-style, definitions then these types of definitions usually cause significant confusion. For example, the type definition the achievement of sustainability requires, for example, the integration of environmental, social and economic issues is usually presented as if it were a type definition ie. sustainability is the integration of environmental, social and economic issues.This produces the absurd implication that if we simply consider environmental, social and economic issues together that this somehow generates a sustainability outcome.Often the opposite is true because the issues are traded off against each other and one or more of the objectives are not adequately fulfilled leading to a decline (unsustainability) in the domains traded off. So in this case, a lack of clarity in the expression of the definition leads to a substitution of means for ends and the outcome is unsustainability. The much-used Brundtland definition of sustainable development is a type definition, that is, it describes what theoutcome will be of pursuing sustainable development.The wording that is universally used is â€Å"sustainable developmentis development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs†.But this is in fact a not-careful-enough paraphrasing of the original in the Brundtland report which read: â€Å"Humanity has the ability to make development sustainable to ensure that it meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.† (definition quoted from p. of the Brun dtland Report).The Brundtland statement should have been paraphrased along the followinglines: â€Å"sustainable development can under the right circumstances result in the needs of the present being met without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs†. This formulation then focuses peoples attention on what is to be sustained, what needs are to be met in different generations and what strategies are to be applied to get the desired outcomes. Not only is definitional clarity important but so is maintaining a strong relationship between the core meaning of words and their various derived forms.For example, the terms sustainability and sustainable development are now used interchangeably by many people.For some, the motivation fordoing this is to find a shorter term to substitute for sustainable development.Others prefer to use the term sustainability as a synonym for sustainable development because they dont like talking about development since in their experience it has negative connotations either for themselves or for others.  But the end result is that two terms that originally had distinctly different meanings which served practical communication purposes are now blurred into each other thus losing the distinction of meaning. Or sustainable development. Sustainability is about continuity and development is about change. There are manythings about life that we want to sustain (maintain) and many that we want to change.So it makes sense to create the notion of sustainable development that combinesdesired change and desired continuity -for example we might change exploitation,unhappiness, poverty, destructiveness, etc.and sustain the rest of nature, trust, tolerance, honesty, happiness, health, etc.Treated in this waysustainable development doesnt have to be an oxymoron (a combination of conflicting terms). While theory says that sustainable development does not have to be an oxymoron, it can sometimes take quite a bit of negotiation before a whole society can be comfortable with a shared definition of what should be maintained and what should be changed. Developing a preferred definition of environmental sustainability The meanings of words gain their legitimacy from shared use, so in the final analysis there are no independently correct meanings, just meanings that are well understood by many people But words also help to shape our understandings and then our. actions, so the key question is not what is the correct definition? but what do we want environmental sustainability to mean, what would be most desirable? How we choose to answer this questiondepends critically on our preference for treating environmental sustainability as either a practical goal or a utopian concept. The historian Arnold Joseph Toynbee wrote in A study of history () that: The twentieth century will be chiefly remembered by future generations not as an era of political conflicts or technical inventions, but as an age in which human society dared to think of the welfare of the whole human race as a practical objective. Sometimes the meaning of words can evolve into almost their opposite.For example terrific used to mean to c ause extreme terror now it most often means extraordinarily good.The linking meaning was probably exciting eg. the roller coaster ride was terrific†. The quote by English historian Arnold J. Toynbee was used in Lester B. Pearsons Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech in . (Pearson won for introducing the concept of peacekeeping through the United Nations.)From: http://nobelprize.org/peace/laureates//pearson-lecture.html This could be extended so that we think of our present era as being distinguished as the age in which human society dared to think of the welfare of both the whole human race and the whole planet as a practical objective. If this is so then we can perhaps put aside the idea of seeingenvironmental sustainability as a utopian concept and, instead, opt for seeing it as a practical objective, that is, something to be both aspired to and achieved. But we should be doubly practical. We want to be able to use a definition of environmental sustainability that: makes it easier for us to get things done (the first practicality) and we want the definition to help us focus our minds on getting the most important or relevant things done (the second practicality). To help in getting things done a definition of environmental sustainability will need to: facilitate communication between all the people who need to be involved in the issue make it easier to identify actions that need to be taken in order to achieve environmental sustainability Before exploring how thechoice of definition ofenvironmental sustainabilitycan help us be doubly practical we need to identify some definitional choices that we can apply our choice-criteria to. Some of the basic types of definitions of environmental and sustainability that are used currently are: environmental. referring to just the biological environment referring to all possible environments(contexts) eg. social, economic, physical,intellectual referring to the physical environment including thebiological, the geomorphological environment and theconstructed and cultural physical environments sustainability.. meaning the integration or balancing of social, environmental and economic issues,or programs or actions based on stakeholder or community consultation meaning sustainable development or making people better off in an ethically sound way meaning the ability to sustain something. How should we select among these options if we want to facilitate communication? There is really no sectorof the economy or group of people in the community that should be uninvolved in efforts to achieveenvironmental sustainability.Soifitis possible to use simple definitions that are in common usage throughout the whole community there is a good chance that most people will be able to understand each0 other.Also definitions that are widely spread in the community are likely to be more stable because drifts in meaning that emerge in small groups are not likely to be taken up by the whole population. The compound-concept ofenvironmental sustainability is not widely used in the community, nor is the word sustainability.But the core concept to sustain is widely used, and the term environmentor environmental is widely used.In common usage to sustain means tokeep something going or maintain something.Environment means, incommon usage, either the context or surroundings of something, or itmeans, more specifically, the physical environment.Clearly the Parliament of Victoria, when it passed the Commissioner for Environmental Sustainability Act 00, was using the word environment in the sense of the physical environment rather than more universal meaning of the context for anything. How can our choice of definition make it easier to identify actions to take to achieve environmental sustainability? Having an action focus, especially where the aim is actually to achieve desired outcomes, means that it is not helpful touse definitions that are fuzzy or based on logical confusion.So treating sustainability and sustainable development as synonyms (ie. as having the same meaning) is not likely to be a good idea.Adding the word sustainable to development must change the type of development we are talking about otherwise why would we bother talking about sustainable development if we could more conveniently just use the word development?So if we say that sustainability has the same meaning as sustainable development what we saying in logical terms is: Concept A= Concept A + Concept B In other words it doesnt make any logical sense at all! This sort of definitional fuzziness and confusion can only persist where people are not trying to be clear about what they are talking about.And indeed some people argue that sustainability is anunattainable goal so they are not greatly fussed about the details of the definition that they use. (That is, they treat environmental sustainability as a Utopian concept rather than a practical goal.) However, if we want to use a definition ofenvironmental sustainability that makes action easier then we should avoid confusions like defining sustainability as sustainable development. How can our choice of definition help us focus our minds on gettingthe most important or relevant things done? We can only answer this by going back to what motivated societys interest in environmental sustainability in the first place.The historical record makes it clear that people became concerned aboutenvironmental sustainability when they discovered tha t aspects of the environment that they loved or depended on for survival or quality of life were threatened with extinction or serious degradation.There was an urgent concern about loss that made people think about sustainability.Were they originally thinking about integrating environmental, social and economic issues?Not at all.They were worrying about maintaining or keeping going something that they valued.How then did the ‘integration or ‘balance definition emerge?After some years of trying to achieve environmental sustainability people realised that unless they also dealt with the interacting social and economic issues they would simply not succeed in achieving their environmental goals.But did this practical/pragmatic (and perhaps ethical) realisation, change peoples environmental goals? Not really. So why did some people then change the definition of environmental sustainability to mean the integration of environmental, socialand economic issues? It was most likely because their practical focus of attention had shifted to the integration issue and they inadvertently made a classic mistake of confusing means with ends (ie. methods with goals) There is another issue that bears on thequestion of getting the most important or relevant things done.Andthat is, in what way does environmental qualify the notion of sustainability when they are compounded?Doesenvironmental sustainabilityimply the sustainability of thewhole physical environment?Or just parts of it?From a practical point of view the physical environment is so inclusive that no real-lifeenvironmental sustainabilityprogram would everset out to sustain and maintain every aspect.If we tried to do that we would, for example, freeze in place or maintain the distribution and abundance of pest plants and animals, the reduced distribution and abundance of native species, coal-fired power stations and an excessive allocation of land and resourcesto road-based transport, dangerous and resource inef ficient buildings, over-built flood plains, etc. Societys are always selective about what they want to sustain even if the agenda for action is still a huge one (eg. maintaining life support systems, maintaining quality of life, keeping native species going, maintaining the resource-base for the economy, etc.). Finally, if we are concerned to get the most important or relevant things done, what definitions should we rule out? Definitions of sustainability such as the integration or balancing of social, environmental and economic issues, or programs or actions based on stakeholder or community consultation no longer seem appropriate and definingenvironmental sustainability as applying to absolutely everything in the physical environment no longer seems useful. Pulling all these issues together, it is now possible to propose a preferred definition for environmental sustainability as follows: environmental sustainability is the ability to maintain things or qualities that arevalued in the physical environment . This happens because people have a way of expressing themselves that goes like this: environmental sustainability is all about .(insert the practical action or implication of their choice).Then people forget that this is not a definitional statement and they go on to treat it as one. A compatible suite of sustainability terms This suite of words has been developed to distinguish: between what is doing the sustaining and what it is being sustained ie. between means and ends the scope of what is being sustained Word (form) Meaning Suggested usage Incompatible usage sustain (verb) means to maintain something through time; to keep it going; to extend its duration eg. communities are working to sustain ecosystem services, or quality of life or other species sustainability (noun) means the ability or capability to sustain (maintain) something eg. will this community ach ieve sustainability for the things that it wants to persist through time (adjective) means related to or having to do with sustainability eg. a sustainability action plan is an action plan about sustainability not an action plan that can be kept in operation over an extended period sustainable (adjective) means able to be sustained, durable or able to be maintained (note: in this meaning the noun that the word is attached to is the thing that is sustained) eg. a sustainable policy is a policy that is kept in force over an extended period not a policy about sustainability sustaining (adjective) means having the propensity or tend