Thursday, 27 November 2008

Area Profiles

Floor Targets Interactive is a web site that allows users to find and analyse data which is used to measure the performance of different places with respect to key government targets called Floor Targets. This site is intended to service both users in government and academia, and the wider public audience.

Allows comparison of places

EG Compare Newham BC with Wiltshire CC - Crime statistics

Area Profiles

Wednesday, 26 November 2008

NIMS

Newham street

NIMS allows you to access a wide range of facts and figures about Newham. Click on NIMS Online (left) to view, download and map statistics and indicators useful for research, intelligence, and general interest.

NIMS now holds approximately 260 data-sets, equating to over 5,000 individual pieces of information.

Statistics are updated regularly as new figures become available.

NIMS

South West RDA: - Home

South West of England Regional Development Agency

We lead the development of a sustainable economy in the South West, investing to unlock the region's business potential.
In the current challenging economic circumstances, we are working hard with our regional partners to develop or expand a number of initiatives to help businesses and the wider economy respond to these testing times and then chart a course for recovery.

South West RDA: - Home

Placecheck

Picture of run down houses

Placecheck is a method of assessing the qualities of a place, showing what improvements are needed, and focusing people on working together to achieve them. If necessary, a Placecheck can start small: with half a dozen people round a kitchen table, or a small group meeting on a street corner. A Placecheck can cover a street (or part of one), a neighbourhood, a town centre, or a whole district or city. The setting might be urban, suburban or a village. The initiative can come from anyone, in any organisation or sector.

Placecheck

WORLD population clock

http://www.poodwaddle.com/worldclock.swf

Monday, 24 November 2008

Harbourside Bristol: New homes in Bristol from Crest Nicholson PLC

Harbourside - Bristol - UK

This stunning new address is perfectly placed to start a new pulse at the centre of Bristol's great cultural, commercial and social attractions.

Harbourside Bristol: New homes in Bristol from Crest Nicholson PLC

About Temple Quay

About Temple Quay

Cabot Circus

Home - Cabot Circus

WHO/Europe - Healthy Cities

The WHO Healthy Cities programme engages local governments in health development through a process of political commitment, institutional change, capacity building, partnership-based planning and innovative projects. It promotes comprehensive and systematic policy and planning with a special emphasis on health inequalities and urban poverty, the needs of vulnerable groups, participatory governance and the social, economic and environmental determinants of health. It also strives to include health considerations in economic, regeneration and urban development efforts.
Over 1200 cities and towns from over 30 countries in the WHO European Region are healthy cities. These are linked through national, regional, metropolitan and thematic Healthy Cities networks, as well as the WHO Healthy Cities network for more advanced cities.
The WHO Healthy Cities programme is now in its fourth phase (2003–2008). Cities currently involved in the Phase IV Network are working on three core themes: healthy ageing, healthy urban planning and health impact assessment. In addition, all participating cities focus on the topic of physical activity/active living.
Healthy Cities is a global movement. Healthy Cities networks are established in all six WHO regions.

WHO/Europe - Healthy Cities and u... - Home

Making Local Food Work - Home

Making Local Food Work

Welcome to the home of Making Local Food Work, an initiative managed by the Plunkett Foundation and funded by the Big Lottery Fund to explore community enterprise approaches to connecting land and people through food.Whether you are a producer looking for local outlets for your food, a representative of a community group looking to get involved or somebody looking for places to buy local food near you, you will find the information you’re looking for here.

Making Local Food Work - Home

Bristol City Council: Regeneration

Bristol City Council

Regeneration

Bristol City Council is working to improve the city's built environment, reduce social exclusion in our most disadvantaged neighbourhoods, strengthen the city's economy and improve access to employment and training, particularly for people living in deprived neighbourhoods.

Improving Bristol's built environment

A variety of major regeneration schemes are taking place across the city and are listed below. For further information about these developments visit our 'Transforming Bristol's built environment' pages or click on the page links in the table below:

Bristol City Council: Regeneration

Bristol URBAN Programme - Introduction

The Bristol URBAN Programme is a community-led initiative to encourage and support local residents to regenerate the area where they live.

The URBAN area covers a population of over 17,000 residents in the wards of Ashley, parts of Easton and Lawrence Hill as shown on the area map. It includes St Pauls, St Werburghs, St Agnes, Barton Hill, Redcliffe, Old Market and parts of Easton.

The Programme's focus has been to improve the training and employment prospects of the local community, by increasing empowerment, participation and wealth and enhance the impact of existing regeneration programmes.

Bristol URBAN Programme - Introduction

London Profiler

London Profiler

Welcome to the NEW London Profiler website!
Here you can visualise your neighbourhood's profile using different area classifications through the Google Map interface.

London Profiler

Where a baby girl is a mother's awful shame

Munni (left of picture) and Rekha in Bawana on the outskirts of Delhi

Over the past 20 years in India, 10 million female babies have been aborted. The pressure to have sons is terrifying - mothers who bear daughters are beaten or cast aside by husbands and in-laws desperate to escape the financial burden of a girl's dowry. Now mothers are being urged to 'save the girl child' as the country tries to end decades of tragic abuse

Where a baby girl is a mother's awful shame World news The Observer

Saturday, 22 November 2008

Store is the Core | Helping Village Shops Thrive

Store is the Core

STORE IS THE CORE is an advisory and grant programme designed to help sustain existing village shops and to encourage the development of community owned shops in the South West of England

Home Store is the Core Helping Village Shops Thrive

Rural Shops Alliance

The RSA is an alliance of key suppliers, authorities
and other organisations, working for and on behalf of independent
village shops across the country

home

Rich countries launch great land grab to safeguard food supply

Rich governments and corporations are triggering alarm for the poor as they buy up the rights to millions of hectares of agricultural land in developing countries in an effort to secure their own long-term food supplies.

The head of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation, Jacques Diouf, has warned that the controversial rise in land deals could create a form of "neo-colonialism", with poor states producing food for the rich at the expense of their own hungry people

Rich countries launch great land grab to safeguard food supply Environment The Guardian

Wednesday, 19 November 2008

UK net immigration up to 237,000

Shoppers in London

Net immigration to the UK increased to 237,000 in 2007, according to the Office for National Statistics.

That is 46,000 more than in 2006 - as a result of emigration falling faster than immigration.

BBC NEWS Politics UK net immigration up to 237,000

Deforestation in Mato Grosso, Brazil

1992 Deforestation in Mato Grosso, Brazil

2006

Deforestation in Mato Grosso, Brazil

Deforestation in Mato Grosso, Brazil : Image of the Day

Community First

Community First Logo

Community First is a charity that works at the forefront of community development to help improve the quality of life and economic well being of people and local communities throughout Wiltshire and Swindon.
We work in close partnership with local grass roots communities, voluntary organisations, statutory agencies and funders to help develop and deliver wide ranging community programmes that bring social, economic and environmental benefits to local people in Wiltshire and Swindon.

Village Shops

Tuesday, 18 November 2008

actnow broadband Cornwall

actnow broadband Cornwall - Broadband Cornwall

Led by Cornwall Enterprise, actnow is a not-for-profit partnership project dedicated to accelerating economic growth and social inclusion in Cornwall through the use of the Internet and ICT.

Home - actnow broadband Cornwall - ensuring that wherever businesses are in Cornwall, they have access to broadband

Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE)

Logo : Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Iomairt na Gàidhealtachd ś nan Eilean

HIE is the Scottish Government's economic development agency for the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. We work with private businesses and enterprising public and third sector organisations to build sustainable economic growth across a diverse and beautiful region, from Shetland to Argyll and from the Outer Hebrides to Moray. We are committed to developing the Highlands and Islands as a competitive region which is home to strong communities, successful, high growth businesses and excellent quality of life.

Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE)

UNDP | H2O Knowledge Fair

H2OLogo

About the fair
Sound water governance is one of the key challenges facing our world in the 21st century. UNDP has organized this virtual exhibition to enable experts and practitioners to share best practices and solutions.

NDP H2O Knowledge Fair

WaterAid UK site

WaterAid

WaterAid UK site

Regeneration and Renewal

This page describes regeneration and renewal activities by the various agencies in West Cornwall

Regeneration and Renewal

Saturday, 15 November 2008

Loading up Amazon.com this Christmas

Amazon's conveyor belt at its Swansea warehouse

Ten years ago, Amazon started selling books. Today, in the UK alone, it is receiving nearly 1m orders a day, having transformed itself into a giant online shopping mall. It is now challenging all the major high street chains for the title of Britain's biggest retailer, shipping millions of items at rock-bottom prices.

Earlier this year it opened one of Europe's largest warehouses in Swansea, 60% bigger than its existing monster-sized distribution centre in Milton Keynes. But already the firm is seeking a site for another huge warehouse as it anticipates sales growth of at least 15%. Other retailers are mired in gloom as consumer spending is hit by the credit crunch. But not Amazon - it is already tooling up for its next big move, with the launch early next year of a low-cost, music download service that could rival Apple iTunes

Loading up Amazon.com this Christmas Money The Guardian

The climate system

image

INTERACTIVE animation of CLIMATE

Good Global Circulation Model

The climate system

Atlas of hidden water

The atlas showing the aquifers of the world may help to provide a legal framework for nations to manage water resources (Image: UNESCO)

What the UNESCO map reveals is just how many aquifers cross international borders. So far, the organisation has identified 273 trans-boundary aquifers: 68 in the Americas, 38 in Africa, 155 in Eastern and Western Europe and 12 in Asia.

Each trans-boundary aquifer holds the potential for international conflict - if two countries share an aquifer, pumping in one country will affect its neighbour's water supply.

Atlas of hidden water may avert future conflict - environment - 24 October 2008 - New Scientist

GLOBALISATION is good

Sunday, 9 November 2008

Games Monitor | debunking Olympics myths

London 2012 on Flickr

Games Monitor is a network of people raising awareness about issues within the 2012 London Olympic development processes.

This site provides information from the press and local sources. Support us by contributing articles and comments, and join our discussion forum.

Games Monitor debunking Olympics myths

Friday, 7 November 2008

BBC NEWS | Science & Environment | Mud eruption 'caused by drilling'

Lusi

The eruption of the Lusi mud volcano in Indonesia was caused by drilling for oil and gas, a meeting of 74 leading geologists has concluded.

Lusi erupted in May 2006 and continues to spew out boiling mud, displacing around 30,000 people in East Java.

Drilling firm Lapindo Brantas denies a nearby well was the trigger, blaming an earthquake 280km (174 miles) away.

Around 10,000 families who have lost their homes are awaiting compensation, which could run as high as $70m (£43m).

BBC NEWS Science & Environment Mud eruption 'caused by drilling'

Zerofootprint: Footprint Calculator

Zerofootprint: Footprint Calculator

Thursday, 6 November 2008

The Great Southern California ShakeOut

The Great Southern California ShakeOut

The Great Southern California ShakeOut

At 10 a.m. on November 13, join millions of people throughout Southern California in the ShakeOut Drill, the largest earthquake preparedness activity in U.S. history! Please register today.

The Great Southern California ShakeOut

Wednesday, 5 November 2008

Prince of Wales hosts rural revival seminar at Highgrove – 28 March 2003

Shropshire Hills AONB.  © Natural England/David Woodfall

Three Rural Revival projects in Yorkshire, Cumbria and Cornwall, aimed at tackling the real but often hidden areas of disadvantage facing rural communities, are the focus of a Seminar hosted by The Prince of Wales at Highgrove House today: 28 March.

Prince of Wales hosts rural revival seminar at Highgrove – 28 March 2003

Tuesday, 4 November 2008

UK: without a bank account - The Poverty Site

The Poverty Site

This site monitors what is happening to poverty and social exclusion in the UK and complements our annual monitoring reports. The material is organised around 50 statistical indicators covering all aspects of the subject, from income and work to health and education.

The indicators and graphs can be viewed by age group or by subject using the menu on the left.

UK: without a bank account - The Poverty Site

Rural Communities Database

 Commission for Rural Communities

1. Click on the south west region

Search by region

2. Choose Wiltshire

3. Choose a project

Rural Communities Database

Sustainable Communities Wheel

 Sustainable Communities Wheel

egan wheel

Play Your Part : Section 1 : Sustainable Communities Wheel

The English Indices of Deprivation 2007

 The English Indices of Deprivation 2007

FREE download

The English Indices of Deprivation 2007 - Communities and neighbourhoods - Communities and Local Government

Monday, 3 November 2008

Inside a DR Congo refugee camp

The UN says it has credible reports that some camps sheltering 50,000 displaced people in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo have been destroyed.

Aid groups say they are struggling to reach an estimated 250,000 people in the region fleeing fierce fighting between government and rebel forces.

These images show displaced people in a camp in Kibati, in the east of the country.

BBC NEWS World Africa Inside a DR Congo refugee camp

Agroforestry

Agroforestry is the deliberate incorporation of trees and other woody species of plants into other types of agricultural activities. By definition the use of woody species must result in the enhancement of either the biological productivity or the economic return of the system, or both. There are many types of agroforestry, which are usually defined by what type of agricultural activity is involved, but this can be a very broad definition and includes what we normally think of as agriculture (agroforestry), but also other combinations such as livestock production (sylvo-pastoral agroforestry) and even aquaculture (sylvo-aqua agroforestry). Even more complicated versions are possible such as agricultural systems that incorporate livestock, trees and aquaculture (sylvo-pastoral-aqua agroforestry).

eif week 78

EarthPortal » Archive » EIF Week 78 - Agroforestry

Our plans: ParkCams - London 2012

Stadium close

These are the latest webcam images taken of the Olympic Park site by our six ParkCams. The ParkCams will be showing progress taking place on the Park and will record images throughout the day and night

Our plans: ParkCams - London 2012

Homeward Bound - East European Migrants

We've all heard of the Lithuanian cleaners, Polish builders and Portuguese fruit pickers who came over to fill vacancies when the economy was booming.

Now that it looks like we're heading into a recession, some of them are packing up and heading home.

BBC Radio Five Live - 5 live Breakfast

The Games thrilled. Now it's 'whatever'

Plans to scale back spending on the 2012 London Olympics is already losing the support of locals

Nick Mathiason: The Games thrilled. Now it's 'whatever' Comment is free The Observer