Abstract: Public participation is a common element in state-of-the-art urban development projects. Tailoring the public participation process to the local context is a popular strategy for ensuring sufficient turnout and meaningful engagement, but this strategy faces several challenges. Through a review of case studies of public participation in urban development projects, we identify ten typical misalignments between the public participation process and the local context, including the lack of policy maker support, adverse personal circumstances of participants, low collaborative capacity, and mistrust, among others. When a public participation process is not aligned to the local context, the process may generate outcomes that compromise public interests, inequitably distribute benefits among stakeholders, or favor powerful private interests. This study offers caution and guidance to planning practitioners and researchers on how to contextualize public participation in urban development projects through the categorization of common misalignments that ought to be avoided.

Abstract: The recent refugee crisis in Europe has become a prominent human security issues that continues to receive international attention. The main debate has been on the accommodation of refugees in European countries and the issues that arise from the sudden influx of people into those countries. Camps were established with limited time and information to prepare, leading to issues within these temporary living arrangements. Conditions are worse for women refugees, who suffer similarly to the men but have higher rates of insecurity. This paper attempts to argue for greater protection for women refugees. To do so, it will describe women refugees’ conditions and needs and relate them to an enforced moral responsibility. It argues for more attention to be given to women refugees with specific conditions, those who have been marginalized in most refugee policies. The main argument is that better protection for and empowerment of women refugees is urgently needed due to their own conditions and needs alongside the moral obligations to take care of children and the elderly. To do so, policies have to consult the specific needs of women. An important step towards this effort is to develop further and more detailed classification of women and their specific needs: women refugees’ needs are not merely determined by their own conditions but also the conditions of those they are responsible for.

Abstract: Three winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) composite cross populations (CCPs) that had been maintained in repeated parallel populations under organic and conventional conditions from the F5 to the F10 were compared in a two-year replicated field trial under organic conditions. The populations were compared to each other, to a mixture of the parental varieties used to establish the CCPs, and to three winter wheat varieties currently popular in organic farming. Foot and foliar diseases, straw length, ear length, yield parameters, and baking quality parameters were assessed. The overall performance of the CCPs differed clearly from each other due to differences in their parental genetics and not because of their conventional or organic history. The CCPs with high yielding background (YCCPs) also yielded higher than the CCPs with a high baking quality background (QCCPs; in the absence of extreme winter stress). The QCCPs performed equally well in comparison to the reference varieties, which were also of high baking quality. Compared to the parental mixture the CCPs proved to be highly resilient, recovering much better from winter kill in winter 2011/12. Nevertheless, they were out yielded by the references in that year. No such differences were seen in 2013, indicating that the CCPs are comparable with modern cultivars in yielding ability under organic conditions. We conclude that—especially when focusing on traits that are not directly influenced by natural selection (e.g. quality traits)—the choice of parents to establish a CCP is crucial. In the case of the QCCPs the establishment of a reliable high-quality population worked very well and quality traits were successfully maintained over time. However, in the YCCPs lack of winter hardiness in the YCCP parents also became clearly visible under relevant winter conditions.

Abstract: This article reflects on traditional and contemporary gardening movements in Germany. The focus is on forms of gardening, that take place in spaces subject to land lease agreements and similar forms of tenancy or of illegal land take or squatting. The author examines various definitions taking into account the variety of practices, the development of urban gardening over time, and the respective backgrounds or values that users relate to such gardening activities. The examination of definitions led to the drawing up of a timeline of traditional and contemporary gardening movements in Germany and to the tentative approaching of this issue from a semantic perspective. The latter is due to the usage of many different terms mostly as yet undefined in a legal sense. Translation into English or, most likely, to any other language, further blurs the common understanding of the terms used. The author concludes with some considerations on these gardening movements in relation to urban sustainable developments. A presentation at the 5_th Rencontres Internationals de Reims on Sustainability Studies, dedicated to Urban Agriculture – Fostering the Urban-Rural Continuum, which took place in October 2015 in Reims/France was the starting point of this article. The basis of this article is a literature review, nourished to a certain extent by observations randomly made over many years and complemented through talks with competent young colleagues. Special thanks go to Martin Sondermann, Leibniz University Hannover, who shared his research experience in various discussions with the author, as well as to Friederike Stelter, internship student at the author’s place of work, who gave highly appreciated support to the preparation of the presentation.

Abstract: This article explores the experiences of community-level actors in the pursuit of greater human security in their communities. Utilizing a conceptual framework based on the capability approach, human security, and securitization theory it considers local actor perceptions of security and the strategies used to achieve their goals. It presents and discusses strategies employed by two distinct actors—a local non-governmental organization and an independent group of community dwellers—in their attempts to achieve security functionings. The results of this qualitative study suggest that while community-level actors view themselves as being empowered as agents in achieving certain human security functionings, the ability of local actors to achieve higher-level functionings is dependent on their recognition as legitimate securitizing agents by more powerful actors and potential partner groups.

Abstract: The existing economics literature neglects the important role of capacity in the production of renewable energy. To fill this gap, we construct a model in which renewable energy production is tied to renewable energy capacity, which then becomes a form of capital. This capacity capital can be increased through investment, which we interpret as arising from the allocation of energy, and which therefore comes at the cost of reduced general production. Requiring societal well-being to never decline—the notion of sustainability favored by economists—we describe how society could optimally elect to split energy in this fashion, the use of non-renewable energy resources, the use of renewable energy resources, and the implied time path of societal well-being. Our model delivers an empirically satisfactory explanation for simultaneous use of non-renewable and renewable energy. We also discuss the optimality of ceasing use of non-renewable energy before the non-renewable resource stock is fully exhausted.

Abstract: The “transfer of technology”, typical of a top-down linear process of innovation cannot be used in the new contexts of sustainability, characterised by uncertainty and complexity. There is a need to redefine categories and concepts around which innovation and agricultural policies are built, as those currently in use provide only a partial representation of reality. Innovation paradigms underpinning technological development and public policies design will have a direct impact on decisions regarding which agricultural models will ultimately be supported. Looking at local learning capacity and systems of relations can help to understand the potential to develop innovation within a specific context. This work contributes to the definition of new actors who are developing innovation for sustainability in rural areas. The study focuses on the knowledge systems of farmers who are applying alternative breeding strategies: it uses a network approach to explore the knowledge system in which individual farmers are embedded in order to understand their specific relational features. Three main conclusions emerge from the study: for enhancing the agro-ecological innovation paradigm there is a need to define the ‘innovation broker’, to revise the evaluation system of public research and to integrate innovation and agricultural policies.

Abstract: Some of the active substances allowed in organic production are now approved as basic sub- stances under the EU plant protection products regulation. Previously, all organic farming permitted active substances were approved as conventional plant protection products. In accordance with the criteria of Article 23 of the EU regulation (EC) No 1107/2009, basic substances are granted without maximum residue limits and have a good prospect for being included in Annex II of organic farming Regulation (EC) 889/2008. In fact, most of them are already permitted in organic farming. At this stage, it seems desirable to organize applications in order to avoid duplications and to clarify strategy across Europe. This organization should be planned in order to identify corresponding knowledge and data from field experiments, and to further constitute the most crucial issues related to organic production. A work of this nature was initially supported by IFOAM-EU for lecithin, calcium hydroxide and Quassia extract. The Institut Technique de l’Agriculture Biologique (ITAB) was previously engaged in a large-scale approval plan motivated by the continuous demand for the regularization of compounds/substances already in use and has a mandate for testing and approving new compatible substances. Thus, the horsetail extract (Equisetum arvense) was the first approved basic substance and ITAB has obtained 11 of the 15 basic substances approved at the EU level.

Abstract: The civil war in Syria coupled with the attacks by ISIS, has resulted in one of the largest humanitarian crises since World War II. Although international efforts have resulted in regaining control of important cities, these military approaches have escalated and inflamed the violence of which innocent civilians bear the consequences. The continuing violence and resulting threats or insecurities negatively affect the lives, freedom, dignity and development of the people to name but a few. For that reason, the aim is to explore the applicability of a human security approach to the conflict in Syria that focuses on, among other aspects, minimising violence, mitigating the effects of the conflict, protecting people, restoring peace and eliminating the grounds that resulted in the development of these conditions in the first place.

Abstract: The study of the Disposal of Unused/Unwanted Medicines Project examines ways in which medicines are disposed of in Ghana and assesses how disposal methods can impact water resources. The study showed a number of challenges: gaps in the legislative framework for the disposal of medicines; environmentally-unfriendly methods of disposal of medicines; and large quantities of medicines potentially disposed of indiscriminately with major impact on the environment. It recommends a review of the legal framework to ensure the proper disposal of all unused medicines; policies to mop up excess medicines with members of the public; review of prescribing and dispensing practices to reduce excess medicines; and further research into the types of pharmaceuticals that are present and persist in the environment, their effects and how they affect quality of life.