Humans find security in what they know, what they are familiar with and what they believe they master. Human security (http://www.un.org/humansecurity/sites/www.un.org.humansecurity/files/human_security_in_theory_and_practice_english.pdf) depends on building and establishing life-styles that are based on packages of knowledge, i.e. science and technology, that are in best cases founded on hypothesis and models that are still to be tested, examined and validated. Seeking security is a natural instinct for survival as living in an ocean of unknowns is associated with fear that can gradually grow and grow and piles up to end with panik and collapse. Feeling secure, which may or even can be run-away from reality, i.e. an illusion associated with moving with a “mainstream” even when we don’t know where it will end up. From history we know that a mainstream can not be always right, it is just a mainstream that can mean escape from fear and from the unknowns that can be knowns or unknowns. For decades we were moving and still moving with a global mainstream “fossil-fuel” driven by blind economy and some  packages of science and technology that we are mastering for the sake of short-term survival though not sustainable on the long-term but even destructive. 

Now everything is turned upside down, and our secured mainstream collapsed, with failing life-quality everywhere. The quality of life for all of us is degrading and dragging us in a spiral of unending anhilation. The quality of life is fading away and not any longer a priority but an option and even it is only for few of us for the sake of economical survival. An economical survival “capitalism” and not even for everyone and what was for everyone “socialism” didn’t last and failed to deliver the most essential for survival “equality in quality”. 

Our new reality, i.e. post fossil-fuel era is calling for tectonic shifts to”post-capitalist” (http://gu.com/p/4ay9c?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other) and “post-socialism” (https://www.dukeupress.edu/postsocialism-and-cultural-politics).

Nevertheless, not all the science and technology that were supposed to provide sustainable security as measured in terms of life-quality was wrong as fortunately few of us believed in exploring what most of us didn’t believe in or felt uncomfortable and an inconvenient truth. Few of us went against the mainstream to search about the unknowns that are shaking the stability of life on earth and to question the knowns that are driving the mainstream. 

The world population is moving away from a known insecurity “global warming” to an new unknown insecurity “post fossil-fuel era”. An insecure future as we don’t know much about it yet, only few of us may know. With this said, the majority of us are not even prepared to change their life-styles as they not yet have access to the necessary education, resources and infra-structure to do so. Above all the only thing we know at the moment is that we will be facing an enormous challenge to limit the average global surface temperature increase to 2°C (3.6°F). Indeed, we are stepping away from an existing insecurity resulting from being dependent on unclean energy resources to a future insecurity of implementing technology that is not accessible and affordable for everyone especially in a world with population structure that will look very much different by the end of this century (http://wapo.st/148nw27).

In science there is far big gaps between theory, reality and technological applications. The same holds as well for existing enormous gaps between what the UN is wishing to implement in terms of the so-called Sustainable Developments Goals “SDG” and the reality we lived in and we still have to live with. The environmental and ecological situation, in particular water quality around the world, as it exists today did not develop over night and will not disappear over-night. Such reality is the core of lost generation in the past and for decades to come in the future (see earlier posts in http://sustain-earth.com). The real challenges for having sustainable management policies around the world need practical solutions with strong underlying educational and public awareness infra-structures. 

There are huge needs in all education and public awareness systems around the world for basic information and practice on hygiene and sanitation issues (http://www.infonet-biovision.org/content/introduction-hygiene-and-sanitation) with systems for strict guidelines for solid implementation in all small communities and villages in rural areas in the developing countries, e.g. Guidelines for Assessing the Risk to Groundwater from On–Site Sanitation “ARGOSS” (http://www.indiawaterportal.org/articles/guidelines-assessing-risk-groundwater-site-sanitation-argoss).

Indeed, achieving sustainable quality in surface water and groundwater systems and thereby improving ecological and human life qualities in many developing countries, in particular Africa, depend on succsseful sanitation policies as sanitation is an accelerating global threat for water quality, hygiene and health as well as life quality in general.

Water management explained simply means “water care” where water is being cleaned after using it and before injected it again to the environment. Water in nature is meant to be clean and fresh, and that is the way water ends it global natural cycle in the form of rain. 

Successful water management policies are not only essential for life on earth but it is imperative and should be composed of many dynamic key issues involving the effective removal of waste and pollution from joining the water cycle in all its stages. Waste and pollution management, public awareness, education, protection of water bodies and associated monitoring programs are typically carried out through major, strict and comprehensive national strategies, directives and regulations. These have to be in place all the time, anytime and everywhere, it is not a matter of being done now and then as the costs involved in rehabilitation are very huge and time consuming with complicated procedures and actions.

A typical case to illustrate is The Citarum River, indonesia, which is known as the dirtiest river in the world. The Roadmap for the rehabilitation of the river system is an extensive plan with many components and phases that is to be completed by 2023 at a total cost of $3.5 billion. This will be a huge undertaking by people and government of Indonesia for empowering communities to better plan and manage their water resources for a more sustainable future.

The importance of waste management and fresh water resources: Looking at Indonesia’s Citarum River

The energy trends in Africa as compared to other parts of the world show that the majority of the Africa population, 625 millions, have to wait 25 years to get electricity. Half of all electricity in sub-Saharan Africa is generated in South Africa where the generation mix is dominated by coal.

The current energy mix in sub-Saharan Africa is dominated by bioenergy, mainly fuelwood and charcoal accounting for 60%. with renewables are expanding rapidly, but only from a small base. Energy demand in this part of the world is still accounting for 4% of global demand though having 13% of global population.

This means that the UN SDG “Sustainable Development Goals” are not likely to very much delayed in Africa at least until 2040 and assuming that there are major efforts for timely implementation of whatever is needed.

http://fuelfix.com/blog/2014/11/12/energy-trends-in-africa/

WWW is without hesitation a historical invention that changed and still changing the fate of all humans anywhere, at anytime and in every nanosecond on planet Earth. Information Communication Technology “ICT” is moving faster and faster to involve more and more active coupling of humans and machines.

With the birth of World Wide Web “WWW” in May 1993 new generations from 1990 and beyond are now shaping out planet and our lives. The Internet seems like it has always been around and with us …. isn’t it? In this short two decades, or so, is has affected us and changed our lives far more than anything else in the whole intergrated human history with no similar parallels. The question is what this ICT-revolution will take us to and what would the world be like in say 2020 and beyond (https://ispanico82.wordpress.com/2013/05/22/happy-birthdat-www/)

The fast global progress in ICT within the vast landscape of WWW has benefited enormously from all previous stages of developments. Future possibilities are very huge with increasing degree of digital and wireless communication, combined sences, embodied interactions and with computer technology that took us from central computer and many users in early 1940s to smart cities in 2020. We are heading more and more towards smarter solutions, e.g. smart homes, smart factories, smart space, smart classrooms, smart shops, and much much more. ICT for the rich, the poor, the young, the old, and furthermore between communications between humans over the whole globe, humans and machines, and machines and machines: http://www.ourcommonfuture.de/fileadmin/user_upload/dateien/Reden/wahlster_opening.pdf

WWI and WWII transformed Europe and the U.S. to high-tech societies and since that time the world accelerated steadily and gradually in a global track of developments. The emergence of modern societies became more and more dependent on knowledge and technology with clear divergence into two tracks with growing gaps between them. These tracks generated what is currently known as the developed and developing countries with enormous and huge imparities on all levels and scales. 

It is a misconception that poverty is the lack of economy to feed population, it is rather a symptom of poor societies and the real proble is under-nutrition in knowledge which is the only instrument for development, technology and sustainable developments. 

The root of poverty is the absence of knowledge and all of us know the value of education especially higher education, e.g. undergraduate university education, where specific and practical merits of relevance to the market and life quality are given. Research which typically starts on graduate and post-graduate levels, is a universal instrument for extending higher education in whatever is needed for turning the unknowns to knowns and thereby extending and inlarging the market and improving life quality and life standards on all levels and scales. History shows that modern welfare societies with diversified markets, high living-quality and living-standards, enjoy high quality of education, innovation and technology where people can define, formulate and practice their knowledge to serve and get served with high-quality and high-standard in focus. 

The core problems in the world is the ever accelerating competition between the developed countries to further secure and improve their economies which continuously generate larger and larger gaps between the developed and developing countries. The huge rates of poverty in the developing countries is further enhanced by enormous outflow of people from the developing countries to fill technology and market gaps in the developed countries, either permanently or occasionally/temporary. Furthermore, the interactions and dynamics between higher education systems in the developed and developing countries do not involve synergies to promote coupling of science and technology to society, market and population needs in the developing countries. Such interactions and dynamics are merely designed for the conditional promotion of science and technology in the developed countries. Careful examination of promotion systems in higher education sectors around the world, for example, shows that education and research in science and technology in the developing countries do not generate the necessary labor to solve local and regional needs. On the contrary higher-education- promotion systems in the developing countries are counterproductive on many levels with severe negative and destructive impacts for the national and regional socio-economic developments.

Much of the focus in the developing countries is on low-quality children education which indeed is not enough to eradice poverty even with best economic aid-resources from UN, international foreign aid-organizations and foundations, e.g. Bill Gates. These organizations follow the same inherited pattern and policies “business as usual” that are conducted again and again by the failing higher education systems around the world. 

If change is going to happen in eradicating poverty we need first to modernize our education systems. We can not afford having the majority of the world population being blind-consumers of world natural resources. Let us start-with providing future generation better chances and possibilities for a future which will never look the same as today (http://www.savethechildren.org.uk/about-us/what-we-do/education; http://saveourschoolsnz.com/tag/child-poverty/).

Policy-makers in Europe and the U.S. have addressed major concerns about the failure of integration of immigrants brought into their labor-markets after the rapid industrial and technology transfer post WWII, e.g. for more information visit the following websites (http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/home-affairs/e-library/documents/policies/legal-migration/general/docs/final_report_on_using_eu_indicators_of_immigrant_integration_june_2013_en.pdf) and (http://m.immigrationpolicy.org/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.immigrationpolicy.org%2Fissues%2Fcitizenship&utm_referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.se%2F#2887).

With these experiences in mind and the fact that Europe and the U.S. passed through a wide-scale of urbanization and modernization especially after WWII, we can already expect similar negative consequences and impacts in the developing countries because of the ongoing fast urbanization, in particular Africa. With the exception that the negative consequences and impacts in Europe and the U.S. were/are relatively very much smaller than the observed trends and the expected future changes in the developing countries. Currently, there is already gradual and intensive internal migration due to the enormous urbanization process that is taking place in many developing countries around the world. This process is certainly resulting from the severe failure of integration of rural and urban regions and the core reason for the expansion of poor communities around major/mega cities. This indeed, has two major future impacts: (1) gradual degradation of the basic public and private infra-structures of newly urbanized regions; and (2) shortage of the relatively experienced local and native labor in rural regions on many levels in general and collapse of the agriculture, in particular, with associated negative impacts on food and agro-industries.

This is a very ignored issue in Africa though many severe impacts are already observed in big and mega cities in Africa, e.g. Cairo, Lagos, Nairobi, Bamako……

IMMIgration is an integral part of human experience and always existed throughout human history. In a dynamic world of continuous changes and unlimited needs for successful globalization IMMIgration would always exist. However, the motivations, dynamics and mechanisms are never the same. In this context, there are many critical questions that need to be answered not only at individual levels but also on the larger socio-economic landscape.

Shortly after WW-II immigration was very popular, and people and countries around the world benefited from the unlimited needs and diverse market possibilities that existed at that time. However, the current global situation what regards IMMIgration and INTEgtation is very much different than what it used to be after WW-II. Why the INTEgration of IMMIgarnts did not take a sustainable path, as it was wished, is among most important global political and socio-economic issues (http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/home-affairs/e-library/documents/policies/legal-migration/general/docs/final_report_on_using_eu_indicators_of_immigrant_integration_june_2013_en.pdf).

Full integration of immigrants in the U.S. is still an issue and most immigrants want to be Americans and fully participate in social and civic life. We can expect naturalization and integration programs to be an important part of comprehensive immigration reform. Immigrant integration has benefits for everyone because it enables immigrants to realize their full potential, contribute more in economy and develop deeper community ties. While the United States encourages legal permanent residents to become citizens, there is no national strategy for facilitating integration with sufficient infrastructures to smooth transition from immigrant to citizen. Failure to address this problem in the context of comprehensive immigration reform could lead to endless delays for the millions who currently seek services from USCIS and the millions more who will become part of the applicant pool following legalization.

Another important issue is the internal migration in many countries due the enormous urbanization process that is currently taking place around the world. This process is certainly resulting from the severe failure of integration of rural and urban regions and the core reason for the expansion of poor communities around major/mega cities. This indeed, has two major impacts: (1) gradual degradation of the basic public and private infra-structures of urbanized regions; and (2) shortage of labor in rural regions on many levels in general and collapse of the agriculture, in particular, with associated negative impacts on food and agro-industries.

http://m.immigrationpolicy.org/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.immigrationpolicy.org%2Fissues%2Fcitizenship&utm_referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.se%2F#2887

IWA Water and Industry conference will take place at Västerås, Sweden, June 7-10, 2015. The registration opens at 8.00 on June 8 in the Mälardalen University main entrance. The conference will focus on latest developments in energy-efficient & sustainable wastewater, gas and solid waste treatment in 21st century industry. Environmentalists and chemical engineers, microbiologists, chemists and policy makers will present the most recent technological and scientific breakthroughs in the areas of management, characterization, minimization, abatement of industrial waste & wastewater. For further information visit: http://www.idt.mdh.se/IWA2015/index.php?choice=main

Sustain-Earth.Com will expand on issues of relevance for the accelerating importance ofICT “Information Communication Technology and Green Materials. Sustainability in global urbanization requires using wide-range of “Sensors for Automation and Control” both within city-systems, e.g. Individual buildings and city-services, and between internal and external city-systems, i.e. on regional, national and global levels.

Here is an example of early implementation of the building automation systems (BAS) into the development of the construction documents results in a highly functional “systems” approach. BAS requirements are continually changing as building owners expect more from their systems in the areas of energy management, safety, security, interoperability, lighting, and maintenance. BAS specialists ensure that each building automation delivers optimum performance and operation at a competitive price.

More examples and solutions will be given in the future where local and regional weather and climate as well as environment and social-economic conditions will require an increasing complexity of sensor systems and ICT-solutions especially what regards coupling rural and urbane regions.

(http://www.aeieng.com/services/instrumentation_and_controls/building_automation.php)

With the increasing role of ICT and modern building techniques, e.g. 3D-printing comes increasing needs for sustainable building materials and a great number of sensors for automation and control. Here is one example: (http://www.kmccontrols.com/products/Understanding_Building_Automation_and_Control_Systems.aspx)

In all human civilizations building and constructions were central components in human life with continuous struggle for sustainable comfort living in harmony with nature. As the concept of sustainability did not exist in the same way as we know it today, ancient solutions were based on practical use of naturally available materials in combination with the sun as source of heat and thermal energy. Climate/weather conditions played major rules in building and construction and people adapted living to their environment.

The Egyptian Pyramids, temples and living rooms were built more than 4500 years ago with zero energy consumption, zero carbon dioxide emissions and no toxic waste. How the Pyramids and those buildings were built is still matter of speculation and debate. According to historical data ancient Egyptians built the Giza Pyramids; Khufu, Khafre and Menkaure in a span of 85 years in the 26th century BC. How such sustainable technology was mastered is still a mystery what regards saving energy, water and environment.
Most of current problems today are related to implementation and use of technologies whether or not suitable for the environments. Because of this, the conform of modern technology comes with very high price in terms of economy, environment and above all an enormous loss of cultural and locally based building codes that developed throughout several generations. Only, in few cases where enough resources and investments exist there are successful examples, however it remains to see how such solution can be expanded on larger scales. The “world’s first carbon neutral zero-waste city” is slowly becoming a reality of epic proportions. The prototypical sustainable city, Masdar, is currently under construction twenty miles outside of Abu Dhabi. When finished, the city will be powered entirely by renewable energy, making it one of the world’s most sustainable urban developments. The city has its own sustainability-driven research center, which is devoted to the development of alternative energy (http://youtu.be/FyghLnbp20U).

Among most recent advances in building material is a new type of cement that is based on Pozzolan, which can be found in nature from volcanic deposits. Also, industrial waste from iron and power plans can be recycled and used in producing green cement. Green cements, as compared to OPC “ordinary Portland cement”, are very energy and water saving, environmentally much more friendly with no waste remains and no emissions of GHG. Also, have enormous advantages especially what regards production cost, mechanical properties, duration and maintainance. Modern technology can produce sustainable building materials, green cement, for erection of complicated structures that have excellent durability but in much much faster time as compared to ancient civilizations. Currently, the best possible sustainable building materials can bring about energy saving of more that 90% with very near zero carbon dioxide emission and zero waste remains.

To understand the importance of Pozzolan in modern technologies for production of green cement one has to back 2000 years ago. The Romans at that time started making concrete but it wasn’t quite like today’s concrete. They had a different formula that resulted in not as strong as our modern concrete. Yet structures like the Pantheon and the Colosseum have survived for centuries, often with little to no maintenance. Geologists, archaeologists and engineers have arrived a key component in the Roman’s concrete: volcanic ash. Usually,  three parts volcanic ash were mixed to one part lime, according to Vitruvius, first-century B.C. architect and engineer. Modern research shows that the very secret of durability of the buildings of the Roman Empire was due to the chemical composition of concretes made with Pozzolan, i.e. the ash’s unique mix of minerals appears to have helped concrete to withstand chemical decay and damage. For information (http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-secrets-of-ancient-romes-buildings-234992/).

In all human civilizations building and constructions were central components in human life with continuous struggle for sustainable comfort living in harmony with nature. We give here only some few examples. As the concept of sustainability did not exist in the same way as we know it today, ancient solutions were based on practical use of naturally available materials in combination with the sun as source of heat, the wind as source of mechanical and thermal energy. Climate/weather conditions played major rules in building and construction and people adapted their living to the environment.

The Egyptian Pyramids, temples and living rooms were built more than 4500 years ago with zero energy consumption, zero carbon dioxide emissions and no toxic waste. How the Pyramids and those buildings were built is still matter of speculation and debate. According to historical data ancient Egyptians built the Giza Pyramids; Khufu, Khafre and Menkaure in a span of 85 years in the 26th century BC. How such sustainable technology was mastered is still a mystery what regards saving energy, water and environment.

Traditionally other cultures have always adapted sustainable and eco-friendly methods, e.g. Indian architecture, designing and planning, in constructions. Living in harmony with nature has been an integral part of Indian culture, e.g. what regards waste disposal, light and temperature control, use of local materials, kitchen gardens and low carbon print.

Environmentally conscious buildings have been around for much longer than the public debut of our modern environmental crisis. Since the early 19th century, residents of Yazd, Iran, have been using wind as an alternative energy source to cool their homes on warm summer days. A ‘windcatcher’ is an ancient Persian architectural element used in various central and southeastern towns and cities in Iran, where the majority of the ecological fabric are made up of deserts. In deserts, the temperature varies greatly between day and night, with windcatchers becoming essential for keeping homes at a consistently comfortable temperature. Also, for the region located in northeast Iran at the foot of Mount Sahand, the mound-like homes are carved from volcanic rock, meaning that most of the materials needed to construct them were already located on site. Technically, the dwellings aren’t true underground homes since a portion of them sits above ground, but since much of the living space is buried, inhabitants can expect cooler temperatures during the day without having to jack up the air conditioning (and saving a lot of energy). Similar volcanic structures with carved homes/villages exist also in Turkey.

In certain parts of the world, wood was always a popular building material, e.g. in Scadinavia. Yet the use of wood is seldom seen amongst the modern or classic constructions. Due to a series of destructive fires in the 15th century, the use of timber as an architectural material was banned for sometime. Danish non-profit organization Realdania Byg commissioned Vandkunsten architecture studio to design a holiday house that combines the most up-to-date construction techniques with local traditional materials. The architects designed and built a traditional house clad in seaweed—a material that was once used in hundreds of homes on then Danish island of Læsø, of which only 20 remain today.

Most of current problems today is that people implement and use technologies whether or not suitable for their environments. Because of this the conform of modern technology comes with very high price in terms of economy, environment and above the enormous loss of cultural and locally based building codes that developed throughout several generations. Only, in few cases where enough resources and investments exist there are successful examples, however it remains to see how such solutions can be expanded on larger scales. The “world’s first carbon neutral zero-waste city” is slowly becoming a reality of epic proportions. The prototypical sustainable city, Masdar, is currently under construction twenty miles outside of Abu Dhabi. When finished, the city will be powered entirely by renewable energy, making it one of the world’s most sustainable urban developments. The city has its own sustainability-driven research center, which is devoted to the development of alternative energy (http://youtu.be/FyghLnbp20U).

Among most recent advances in building material is a new type of cement that is based on Pozzolan, which can be found in nature from volcanic deposits. Also, industrial waste from iron and power plans can be recycled and used in producing green cement. Green cements, as compared to OPC “ordinary Portland cement”, are very energy and water saving, environmentally much more friendly with no waste remains and no emissions of GHG. Also, have enormous advantages especially what regards production cost, mechanical properties, duration and maintainance. Modern technology can produce sustainable building materials for erection of complicated structures that have excellent durability but in much much faster time as compared to ancient civilizations. Currently, the best possible sustainable building materials can bring about energy saving of more that 90% with very near zero carbon dioxide emission and zero waste remians.

Additional new comers in green cement era is effective production and construction through automation and 3D Printing technologies (http://inhabitat.com/3d-printed-quake-column-draws-on-ancient-incan-building-techniques-to-withstand-earthquakes/). Architecture is tapping into 3D printing technology in a major way through the production of building elements and structural components. Recent developments have also begun to work on creating seismically resistant structures. California-based architecture firm Emerging Objects has developed a design called the Quake Column, which draws on the ancient Incan building technique known as “ashlar” and merges it with modern technology.

GCC countries (Gulf Cooperation Council) are moving faster to SuperGreen solutions in building and construction projects.

Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) and the Emirates Green Building Council are strengthening cooperation for supporting a green economy in Dubai and the sustainable development of the Emirate. All future trends support the Green Economy for Sustainable Development initiative, launched by HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.

Follow the news:

http://www.albawaba.com/print/business/pr/dewa-and-emirates-green-building-council-discuss-promoting-green-economy-695944

With increasing worldwide population and predictions that 75% of the world population will be living in cities by the year 2050, building towards the sky can be unavoidable necessity. That would require more durable constructions and materials with appropriate building and architecture solutions. Future  Cities would require management policies with balanced policies consumption/waste versus protection/conservation of nature in accepted social context. Http://sustain-earth.com