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Medical tourism describes a new pattern of movement of people for medical care, particularly from wealthier to poorer countries. Using the example of Thailand, where annually a million non-Thai patients seek medical treatment, this article provides a critical analysis of the political economic contexts for this medical migration. Drawing on urban geography and heterodox economics, the article considers medical tourism as an interaction of bodily, national, and global scales shaped by processes of globalization. This approach provides a thick context for the transnational care of bodies while proposing that the bodily scale also has a role in reformulating the scale of the nation.

Component: 1.3.1 Conceptual methodology Sub-component: 1.3.1.5 Most appropriate geographical scale for MSP at national scale The scale issue is particularly of concern for the MSP directive implementation process and its transboundary issues: What is the most appropriate scale for their MSP plans? Do they have to define different plans based on different geographical scales? If so, what would be their articulation? If not, for instance, is it enough to carry out the plan at national or marine basin scale with some focus areas? Moreover, what would be the plan boundaries once the scale is defined? If this step is not well conducted in a MSP process, it could lead to the failure of the plan, as a consequence of a mismatch between ecological scale and social/management scale (Cumming et al., 2006) and respective boundaries. For instance, the management boundaries often match administrative boundaries (for political purposes), which do not generally correspond to the boundaries of a single ecosystem. Indeed, an administrative region often encompasses multiple ecosystems, of different sizes and sometimes only some parts of an ecosystem. Besides, analysing phenomena whether environmental or socio-economic only within the administrative boundaries could lead to misunderstanding of these phenomena in as much as the latter could be broader. The literature review conducted during the SIMWESTMED project highlighted some general principles to bear in mind to ensure that the most appropriate geographical scale is used to maximise the efficiency of a plan. ; This report/document was produced as part of the SIMWESTMED Project (Grant Agreement N0. EASME/EMFF/2015/1.2.1.3/02/SI2.742101). PROJECT: Supporting Implementation of Maritime Spatial Planning in the Western Mediterranean region (SIMWESTMED) Competition for maritime space – for renewable energy equipment, aquaculture and other uses – has highlighted the need to manage our waters more coherently. Maritime spatial planning (MSP) works across borders and sectors to ensure ...

Natural sources of lighting are a major environmental cue that help structure ecological systems, yet these are undermined by artificial lighting which disrupts key processes such as migration, pollination and reproduction. Despite knowledge of diverse impacts and a huge shift towards LED street lighting, conservation practitioners are struggling to respond. We present key findings from a research collaboration between the University of Bern and the Swiss Federal office for the Environment, which aimed to identify practical ways to reduce the ecological impacts of artificial lighting. This project involved a review of the data available on Swiss lighting, a review of the known impacts of artificial lighting on national priority species, and spatial modelling to identify particularly light-sensitive locations. Undertaking such an analysis at a national level had the advantage of bringing the data and research gaps into sharp perspective. We found that in practice, the data used by local governments to manage lighting is typically a database of lamp locations, which also includes entries for lamp type, wattage and height. No national lamp inventory exists, and records for all private sources of lighting (associated with hospitals, commercial and industrial areas) are missing. Other sources of information such as VIIRS satellite data are occasionally used, but only as a broad emission indicator. Some attempts have been made at aerial night photography, but images remain uncalibrated and therefore useful primarily as indicators of bright lighting locations. Nothing is known about the impacts of artificial lighting on the majority of species identified as priorities for nature conservation in Switzerland. Bats are the most well studied group, followed by birds. What was striking was the focus of studies on species reactions to individual point sources of light. In many cases, no information was provided on lamp type, height, luminous flux, wattage, or proximity to the ecological receptor. This is a serious deficiency, as practitioners will inevitably struggle to apply these research results, to identify which locations should be prioritised for mitigation. When considering the responses of these species to natural lighting cues, a range of papers were identified which highlighted the use of the setting sun to calibrate internal compasses or to trigger feeding, and the response to lunar lighting cycles. As a practical response to these deficiencies in lamp data and applicable research, we developed three spatial indicators covering the national extent which reflected three mechanisms by which species might be exposed to lighting. The first identifies priority habitats immediately adjacent to bright emissions, the second uses visibility analysis to identify light polluted viewsheds and the third identifies habitats where natural lunar cycles in sky brightness are undermined. ; peerReviewed

Component: 1.3.1 Develop and propose a conceptual methodology for transboundary MSP in the Northern Atlantic, with operational details on selected aspects Sub-component: 1.3.1.5 Most appropriate geographical scale for MSP at national scale A specific task on the definition of the most appropriate scale for MSP plan at national scale in order to support Member States to approach at best the scale and boundaries of these plans was conducted. The scale issue is particularly of concern for the MSP directive implementation process and its transboundary issues: what is the most appropriate scale for their MSP plans? Do they have to define different plans based on different geographical scales? If so, what would be their articulation? If not, for instance, is it enough to carry out the plan at national or marine basin scale with some focus areas? Moreover, what would be the plan boundaries once the scale is defined? The report consists in the proposition of overall criteria and guiding principles, based on a literature review and the construction of an analysis framework. The latter, at an early stage of development, was designed to help decision makers and planners having a better insight in how they situate themselves in relation to the highlighted criteria and guiding principles. ; This report was produced as part of SIMNORAT Project (Grant Agreement N0. EASME/EMFF/2015/1.2.1.3/03/SI2.742089). Competition for maritime space – for renewable energy equipment, aquaculture and other uses – has highlighted the need to manage our waters more coherently. Maritime spatial planning (MSP) works across borders and sectors to ensure human activities at sea take place in an efficient, safe and sustainable way. That is why the European Parliament and the Council have adopted a legislation to create a common framework for maritime spatial planning in Europe. The Directive 2014/89/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 July 2014 (said Maritime Spatial Planning Directive) establishes a framework in order to reduce ...

Contested Waters provides an in-depth analysis of trans-boundary water conflict involving the Indus Basin in Pakistan. The book focuses on both national scale and local scale case studies to illustrate how these water conflicts are both discursively and materially driven by human institutions and politics. Through case studies of controversy over large dams, local flooding and irrigation methods, Daanish Mustafa highlights the various deeply political and institutional factors driving water conflict - specifically the disparity between national scale strategies of water politics and local scale water politics - and calls for engagement with water conflict in political terms.

Abstract
There is a major difference in population-weighted lightning fatality rates between the lower fatality rates in developed countries and the higher fatality rates in developing countries. The large decrease in annual rates of population-weighted lightning fatalities in the United States is described over the last century. A similar large reduction in lightning fatality rates has occurred during recent years in Australia, Canada, Japan, and western Europe, where there has also been a change from a mainly rural agricultural society to a primarily urban society. An important accompanying aspect of the lower casualty rates has been the widespread availability of lightning-safe large buildings and fully enclosed metal-topped vehicles, as well as much greater awareness of the lightning threat, better medical treatment, and availability of real-time lightning information. However, lightning exposure for many people in lesser-developed countries is similar to that of a century ago in developed countries. The number of people living in these areas may be increasing in number, so the number of people killed by lightning may be increasing globally due to these socioeconomic factors. It can be difficult to locate national lightning fatality data because of their mainly obscure publication sources. The present paper synthesizes lightning fatality data from 23 published national-scale studies during periods ending in 1979 and later, and maps these fatality rates per million by continent.

Risk communication is first and foremost a local responsibility
and, in The Netherlands, the Ministry of Home Affairs therefore
stimulated local government to start their campaigns. Of the
municipalities, 95 per cent participated in Risk Communication. A
national campaign to strengthen and support these local campaigns
started in March 1993. A clear strategy that covers all possible risks,
including nuclear and industrial disasters, and co‐operation between
governments at all levels is a necessity for effective national
coverage.

Abstract. Flood hazard mapping is currently in a transitional phase involving the use of data and methods that were traditionally in the domain of local studies in a regional or nationwide context. Challenges include the representation of local information such as hydrological particularities and small hydraulic structures, as well as computational and labour costs. This paper proposes a methodology of flood hazard mapping that merges the best of the two worlds (local and regional studies) based on experiences in Austria. The analysis steps include (a) quality control and correction of river network and catchment boundary data; (b) estimation of flood discharge peaks and volumes on the entire river network; (c) creation of a digital elevation model (DEM) that is consistent with all relevant flood information, including riverbed geometry; and (d) simulation of inundation patterns and velocities associated with a consistent flood return period across the entire river network. In each step, automatic methods are combined with manual interventions in order to maximise the efficiency and at the same time ensure estimation accuracy similar to that of local studies. The accuracy of the estimates is evaluated in each step. The study uses flood discharge records from 781 stations to estimate flood hazard patterns of a given return period at a resolution of 2 m over a total stream length of 38 000 km. It is argued that a combined local–regional methodology will advance flood mapping, making it even more useful in nationwide or global contexts.

Political considerations on variations in US passenger rail service.