Suchergebnisse

A sailor crossing the Atlantic in a small yacht would want to minimize excess baggage. But it would be unthinkable not to carry more fresh water than seemed necessary, to survive unexpected calms or storms. Yet the imperative of profit, especially over the last century, has driven modernity towards 'lean, mean' strategies in every area of life; squeezing waste out of commercial, technological and environmental systems may make money in the short term, but is our highly geared, highly strung way of life sustainable? Andrew Price, sailor, explorer and environmental scientist at the Uni

The ever increasing number of natural hazards is affecting health and stretching healthcare facilities to their limits. Many healthcare facilities could not perform as were expected due to physical damage and inappropriate social performance. This themed issue aims to support decision makers, engineers and planners (in less exposed countries and countries with financial, awareness and expertise constraints but are at high risk) to identify the vulnerability of their existing facilities and ensure that new facilities are resilient enough to cope with the multiple adversities they face. The key

The effective management of risk is critical to the success of any construction project and the importance of risk management has grown as projects have become more complex and competition has increased. Contractors have traditionally used financial mark-ups to cover the risk associated with construction projects but as competition increases and margins have become tighter they can no longer rely on this strategy and must improve their ability to manage risk. This paper presents the results of a survey conducted to evaluate the impact of global risk factors on cost performance of construction projects in Mozambique. The survey reported upon forms part of a larger study that aims to develop a fuzzy logic decision framework for contractors to better manage global risk factors affecting the cost performance of construction projects. Major global risk factors affecting cost performance were identified through an extensive literature review followed by a workshop and a questionnaire survey of construction contractors in Mozambique. The findings of the questionnaire form the basis for the repertory grid interviews aimed at eliciting relevant knowledge so as to develop a knowledge-based decision support system. There are several approaches to categorising risks permeating construction projects. This paper groups risks into three main categories, namely organisation-specific, global and Acts of God. It focuses on global risk factors because they are ill-defined, less understood by contractors and difficult to model, assess and manage although they have huge impact on cost performance. Generally, contractors, especially in developing countries, have insufficient experience and knowledge to manage them effectively. The surveyed contractors identified the following global risk factors as having significant impact: project size, project location, project complexity, estimator bias, market conditions, level of competition, fraudulent practices, construction, economic and political risk factors. The findings stress the need to depart from traditional approaches and to explore new directions in order to equip contractors with effective risk management tools.

part Part 1: Dealing with People -- chapter 1 Dealing with People -- chapter 2 Dealing with Individuals -- chapter 3 Leading Change -- chapter 4 Tools for Change -- part Part 2: Management Disciplines -- chapter 5 So Many Meetings! -- chapter 6 Making confi dent presentations -- chapter 7 Effective Management Reports -- chapter 8 Over to You.

It is estimated that over half a million people visited one network of 'warm rooms' during the winter of 2022 in the UK, a figure that may rise to 2.5 million people if other networks are considered. As well as offering a means to try to limit exposure to cold temperatures and reduce household energy costs, these winter warm hubs also address wider concerns such as social isolation, loneliness and mental well-being as the cost-of-living bites. This graphic demonstrates how geospatial approaches can be used to explore access via public transport and walking to a network of warm spaces in the capital city of Cardiff, Wales. By accounting for site opening times in relation to existing bus timetables for those for whom walking may not be an option, we illustrate how such information can be included in three commonly applied access measures (floating catchment area, cumulative opportunity and shortest distance) to highlight potential spatio-temporal gaps in provision across the city.

AbstractSector sustainability strategies can provide frameworks to help business sectors identify and manage economic, environmental and social risks in an integrated way, and unlock opportunities to improve competitiveness and enhance reputation. They can also help trade associations to become more effective champions for their members; however, little research has been undertaken on their development. Current best practice guidance simply provides frameworks for managing the strategy development process. To add to this guidance, the context, purpose, process and content of three strategies from the UK construction products industry have been investigated. Strategy context and content were found to be unique; it is therefore not considered feasible to develop a generic sector sustainability strategy. However, six lessons have been identified with respect to strategy purpose and process, which may improve the chances of success of a sector sustainability strategy. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.

The Nigerian healthcare system is divided into the primary, secondary and tertiary levels of care, which are under the three tiers of government (local, state and federal) with some overlapping of responsibilities. The Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH) develops policies and physical structures, and supervises the operations of the healthcare system. The Primary Health Care (PHC) level has been identified as the appropriate setting to tackle 90 - 95% of major causes of morbidity and mortality because of its proximity to over 80% of the populace. At the PHC level, the services provided include integrated preventive, promotive and community development activities. However, the implementation of PHC in Nigeria has lacked impact and sustainability, thus leading to the research discussed in this paper which is aimed at proposing an innovative procurement system for sustaining PHC facilities in Nigeria. The proposed system is focused at developing and encouraging a new market for investment in primary care and community-based facilities and services. It is a form of Public­-Private Partnership (PPP) that enjoys national support but with local control. One of the central objectives is the idea of bringing together all the various local stakeholders, interests and users that comprise the local health economy. The arrangement is expected to offer considerable social and economic benefits while satisfying the fundamental philosophy of PHC.