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During bushfire crisis, Australia’s koala ‘beds are burning’…
Michelle R. Matisons Waste Management & EnvironmentalAs the world watches Australia burn, recall the indignant 1987 song "Beds are Burning" by Sydney band Midnight Oil. The lyrics prove prescient: "Four wheels scare the cockatoos/From Kintore, east to Yuendemu/The Western Desert lives and breathes/In forty-five degrees." The country's devastating wildfires make four scary wheels the least of the cockatoos' problems, and recent numbers indicate Australia's planetarily unique biodiversity and surrounding interdependent human communities are changed forever.
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How Tokyo’s Narita Airport is battling the growth of Haneda
Matt Falcus Transportation Technology & AutomotiveNarita International Airport in Tokyo has seen a shift of traffic in recent years to Haneda Airport, which is closer to the city and regarded as more convenient. In order to recapture some of the market, Narita has unveiled a number of incentives and growth plans to attract airlines and passengers back to its runways. Opened in 1978, New Tokyo International Airport (as Narita was then known) was a controversial solution to overcrowding at Haneda. It quickly became the main gateway for international flights into Japan's capital.
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Rethinking the ‘placemaking’ agenda
Lucy Wallwork Construction & Building MaterialsIf modern politics has shown us anything, it is that even in the era of the supposed "global citizen," issues of place and identity remain connected in powerful ways. The recent election campaign in my home country of the U.K. was testament to this, as in similar ways is the recent political history of the U.S. "Placemaking" is all the rage in urbanist circles today. But it seems to me that the concept of "place" needs rescuing from its current status as either meaningless buzzword or tool of a divisive nationalism to be a much more progressive guiding principle for what comes next in our neighborhoods.
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Diminishing bug populations may cause ecological ‘collapse’
Dave G. Houser Waste Management & EnvironmentalWe have a major bug problem — and ironically it is the bugs, not we humans, that are threatened. The first global scientific review of insect populations published last February in the U.K. reveals that insect population declines around the world threaten to cause a "catastrophic collapse of nature's ecosystems." A follow-up report last November in the journal Biological Conservation concluded, "Insects around the world are rapidly declining. Their absence would have devastating consequences for life on the planet."
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Big agribusiness firms move toward biologicals, away from chemical-based…
Scott E. Rupp Waste Management & EnvironmentalIs agribusiness going green? Increasingly, the sector appears trained on becoming more natural and sustainable compared to chemical alternatives. The change is driven by consumers demanding non-genetically modified foods and concerns over Big Ag’s role in pollution and chemical waste. These changes are being made possible by innovations and developments with beneficial microorganisms in the soil, including seed coatings of naturally occurring bacteria and fungi that can do the same work as traditional chemicals.
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3 winning strategies to hire for diversity of thought in your organization
Simma Lieberman Business Management, Services & Risk ManagementClients often tell me that they think hiring for diversity of thought is more important than demographic indicators. The problem is that some people use the term "diversity of thought" as a way of not seeking out more people of color and women from different backgrounds. I agree that diversity of thought is essential and, yes, everyone is different. However, if everyone looks the same you won’t get the diversity of experiences and perspectives that result in the kind of diversity of thought that gives rise to breakthrough products and services.
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Builders, buyers optimistic about housing market
Michael J. Berens Construction & Building MaterialsRenewed activity in home sales along with low interest rates and a more positive forecast for the economy in the year ahead have boosted builder and buyer confidence in the housing market. While price increases and a shortage of inventory have hamstrung purchases of existing homes, sales of new homes have been increasing. That trend is likely to continue into 2020 as builders continue to respond to pressures to build more affordable homes.
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A new, blue year
Tory Barringer Interior Design, Furnishings & FixturesIt's official: 2020 will be the year of blue — and no, that's not a political forecast. For more than 20 years, the Pantone Color Institute (PCI) has been the trendsetter for the hues to watch for in the coming year. Its selection for 2020 is Classic Blue (PANTONE 19-4052), which PCI Executive Director Leatrice Eiseman described in a release as a "boundless blue evocative of the vast and infinite evening sky." Pantone isn't the only one calling for a blue year.
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Bills requiring baby changing tables in men’s restrooms become more…
Scott E. Rupp Facilities & GroundsPieces of legislation mandating that men's public restrooms include a baby changing station continue to gain support. If all goes according to plan in Wisconsin, the state could soon join others in doing so, reports Milwaukee's WTMJ-TV. Two state representatives and a state senator — all men — have introduced the bill requiring the changing tables in any newly built or substantially renovated public building. Massachusetts is looking at a bill, too. Similar bills have passed in Arizona, Utah, California, Illinois, and New Mexico.
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Good reasons to visit the Badlands
Dave G. Houser Recreation & LeisureProtected as a national park since 1978, the Badlands are definitely a good choice for visitors. The scenery is mind-boggling, wildlife abounds and there’s plenty of hiking and camping opportunities throughout the 244,000-acre preserve. Native Lakota people named this 400-square-mile maze of buttes, canyons, pinnacles and spires in South Dakota "Mako Sica" or "Bad Land." Too dry and inhospitable for settlement or development, the Badlands eventually gained the favor of conservationists who recognized the striking landscapes and paleontological riches.
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