Our well-being on planet Earth depends on three main essential drivers, i.e. Water, Energy and Natural Resources (fossil minerals and renewables including biosphere and its eco-systems) ‘WENR’. To achieve sustainability and resilience in our societies and to promote prosperity requires using and sharing our common 'WENR' capital with consideration to the complex and multi-layered NEXUS, i.e. the interactions and processes within and between these three drivers 'WENR’. Currently, Earth is facing existential threats caused by us collectively. Scaling-Up and Scaling-Out 'Science, Technology and Innovation' of the WENR-systems and coupling them to the 'Socio-Economic-Environment' pillars of our societies as defined by the UN-SDGs are one of the very few means to mitigate existing and future threats and bring full vitality in the functioning and metabolism of all life forms and processes on Earth. Sustain-earth.com is an open access online platform that allows active contributions and feeback.
Category: Sanitation & Hygiene
Sanitation and hygiene are very much related to poverty, illiteracy, use and abuse of natural resources in particular water resources. Poor sanitation and hygiene have major negative impacts on public health with serious feedback effects on productivity in all sectors and levels in the society. To enhance the socio-economic developments and achieve acceptable and sustainable levels, e.g. in Africa and Asia, organized, coordinated and regular efforts are needed to improve the situation in these regions. It is not a matter of individual responsibility only since children, students and labor are continuously interacting with each other in various daily life activities where common facilities and resources are usually shared. Access to organized forms information packages, coaching, training and demonstrations for raising public awareness among communities, stakeholder’s activities, organizations and institutes are IMPERATIVE.
You may have felt poor up-dating of the Blog “farideldaoushy.wordpress.com” and major interruptions in the activities. The wide-range of interests within the Blog “farideldaoushy.wordpress.com” made it necessary to up-date the layout and construction of the Blog. Also, to have own domain with representative name that reflects the content and extent. The new “Sustain-Earth.com” will also allow us to fulfill our wish to improve the communication with the visitors and readers and to provide new services. It will, also, provide platform for professionals and expertise within society sectors to share knowledge and contribute in topic discussions.
This Blog “farideldaoushy.wordpress.com” will get a new address “sustain-earth.com”.
The change to the new address will take place within one week.
We have a new layout and construction of the Blog to make it easier to follow the Posts and the content much easier as well as to contribute in discussions as well.
The new construction will involve a number of new interactive functions where guest Bloggers, expertise and professional will contribute as well as interacts with the media to discuss and answer their questions. The Categories of the Blog are kept wide enough to deliver solutions and approaches in all society sectors.
Even if we can ignore the reality, we can never ignore its consequences. Economic models and scientific discoveries have promoted an ever accelerating consumption of the earth’s natural resources with little consideration to population growth and the associated damage of all forms of life on the Earth. Depletion of important resources, the increasing waste and pollution combined with an accelerating population have caused poverty, disease, malnutrion and above all the definite fact of an approaching total annihilation of life on the whole planet. Survival of humans and newcomers has continuously forced impoverised people to destroy their environment. It is the very nature of humans, no one can go hungry without commiting a “crime” to fill the stomach!
But what is Sustainability and can we really achieve it, when we are regularly presented with a range of the so-called “sustainable” products and “green or organic” cleaning supplies to carbon offsets. With micro-economic markets keep supplying us with so much labeled as sustainable, the term has grown to become essentially a “bubble of sustainability”, at best indicating a practice or product slightly less damaging than the conventional alternative.
Sustainability can not be achieved by un-sustainable policies that are left over to the market without having appropriate instruments on all levels and sectors to strictly define, measure and control how sustainable is sustainable. How else can we can we achieve a goal that is not well-defined and regulated!
Economic growth is a powerful instrument for empowering people and reducing poverty in the developing world. It is essential for creating jobs and market opportunities for people to support their families and build more sustainable futures. However, many developing countries face particular challenges and threats to achieve and maintain sustainable economic growth because of weak institutions, high unemployment, poor infrastructure for key public and private services (education, health, security, transport, water and energy), also a severe lack of access to financial services and unsuitable laws and regulations.
GRID, a Centre collaborating with UNEP, is engaged in promoting high-level environmental policies. The following has initiated important information for building the necessary infra-structure for policy-making to improve the socio-economic developments in Rwanda. During the preparation of the first Rwanda State of Environment and Outlook in 2009, it became evident that there is a lack of reliable core datasets and indicators on the environment. As such there is need for improved collaboration between institutions dealing with environmental information management. All institutions working in the natural resources sector will benefit from the creation of an infrastructure for sharing environmental data. An environmental information network that improves data access at all levels of society will in turn support the country’s sustainable development objectives.
The importance of rural communities and their engagement in promoting sustainable socio-economic developments is gaining an increasing attention. Improving the quality of life in rural regions and integrating them in the ongoing urbanization is imperative for achieving sustainability goals on the global scale. Initiatives similar to “World Bank Helps Communities Adapt to Climate Change Risks” (see the given link) can be taken in other region that suffer high risks for severe impacts from climate and environmental changes.
Achieving sustainable socio-economic developments world-over depends on our understanding of the “Water-Energy nexus”, I call it WE-nexus. This is by no means the most important nexus for promoting golbal sustainability with considerable saving of WE-resources in terms of quality and quatity. How to use this nexus to get the magic-mix for best “quality and quantity” savings has no universal solution, it is dependent on how such resources can be managed through different levels of cooperation and shared responsibilty, e.g. on local, national, regional and global levels. Also, through adapting appropriate practices with consideration the geo-climatic conditions.
The occurrence of allergic disease is skyrocketing, and can be quire high in western societies. Allergies are specific and reproducible undesired and unpleasant immune responses that are triggered by naturally occurring substances such as foods, pollens or other influences in our surroundings. Overwhelming evidence from various studies suggests that the “hygiene hypothesis” explains most of the allergy epidemic.
WISA was officially formed in 1987, not as a body that had been spontaneously created at that time but as one that had evolved over more than half a century incurring several name changes en route.
The mission of WISA is to provide a forum for the exchange of information and views to improve water resource management in Southern Africa. Its objectives include inter alia ‘the promotion of and application of scientific and engineering knowledge and management skills in the planning, design, construction, maintenance, investigation, research and education in connection with the natural and controlled water cycle, including but not be limited to the application of scientific engineering and management skills to all or any of hydrology water resources, river management and flood alleviation, recreation, water supply and distribution, sewerage, sewage and industrial waste treatment, disposal and water pollution control.’
Visit the homepage of WISA and learn more about its activities.
