Pilot project

This paper outlines the national approach to stormwater management in Malaysia, and evolving implementation practices by State and Local government authorities. The process of departing from the traditional, monodisciplinary approach is currently going on in Malaysia. Goals of stormwater management have already shifted from the traditional storm drainage and "end of pipe" approaches towards sustainable ecological solutions more in peace with nature. The new approach is based on a deeper understanding of the cyclicity of material and energy flows in nature. The research focused on new concepts for the urban stormwater runoff and the water quality management based on integrated stormwater solutions. The USM Engineering campus is a pilot project for urban stormwater management strategy as an example of an ecologically sustainable development based approach to urban stormwater management. The concept is based on integrating stormwater best management practices into urban plann...

Greenways are promoted for land conservation in both rural and urban areas, but less attention has been paid to the potential of greenways to serve urban biodiversity conservation goals. This paper presents results of a biodiversity planning study of a highly urbanized environment in Washington, DC (USA) that demonstrate the critical role of ecological greenways and parks in urban species conservation. The Cameron Run study raises fundamental questions about the way biodiversity is defined in urban areas, the scale of analysis required in heterogeneous urban environments, the role of sociocultural factors in urban biodiversity conservation, and the importance of regional greenway connections across the urban gradient.The Cameron Run study is a pilot project for an urban biodiversity information node (UrBIN) in the National Biological Information Infrastructure (NBII) program of the US Geological Survey (USGS). This paper draws connections between the rapidly expanding literature on biodiversity conservation and the smaller, but growing, body of research concerning the ecology of greenways and urban areas, and it does so through the lens of landscape planning. Findings on the Cameron Run watershed are reported, and biodiversity conservation in the watershed is discussed in the context of greenway efforts at local and metropolitan scales.

During recent years, many distance teaching as well as residential institutions have started to experiment with mobile learning through pilot projects as part of their e-learning and technology enhanced learning environments. Mobile learning should not be regarded as a medium for distance learning. However, because of the similar affordances of distance learning technologies and online and mobile learning, the established field of distance education can provide valuable insight into strategies, approaches and practical experiences with regard to the conception and organization of this new medium for learning. Distance teaching institutions have a long history and much experience with media-based instruction. This affords them an advantage in the development and application of new information and communication technologies (ICTs) for teaching and learning. Student support systems have existed in traditional distance education for decades. ICTs – especially mobile devices – open up ne...

An undesirable effect (UE) of a cosmetic product is a harmful reaction attributable to its normal or reasonably foreseeable use. However, the knowledge of UEs, at the population level, is limited by the absence of formal and reliable cosmetovigilance systems, which nevertheless are characterized by underreporting. To test the feasibility of the collection of UEs in our territory we have carried out a pilot project aimed to assess either the notification procedures or the validation/evaluation of the collected forms in our territory. As reporting categories, we have chosen dermatologists and community pharmacists who were asked to notify UEs to cosmetics through a reporting form we have set up. During the period July 2006-December 2007, we have registered 76 reporting forms. Dermatologists who have sent 47 reporting forms represented the main reporting category, followed by community pharmacists (15 reports), other health professionals (9 reports) and consumers (5 reports). Several drawbacks, mainly represented by the incompleteness and inaccuracy of the filled in forms, affected the validation process. Thus, on receipt, we could validate only 34 forms and only after a careful check with each single reporter, we could include in the study other 36 forms. The validation of the collected reports has stressed the importance of a well-structured reporting form, an easy access to notification procedures as well as education and training programme. The evaluation of the validated forms has revealed the need of a controlled term vocabulary for the classification of the observed events and diagnosis, especially with regard to cutaneous reactions that represented almost the totality of the reported events (95.7%). Among the events (n = 45) reported by dermatologists, 22 were diagnosed as allergic contact dermatitis (ACD) and 18 as irritant contact dermatitis (ICD). Facial care products (19.7%), followed by body care products (16.9%), perfumes (12.7%) and eye care products (11.3%) were the cosmetics mainly suspected to be responsible for the observed events. Correspondingly, face (n = 37), including periorbital and perioral area, forehead, ocular mucous membrane and lips, followed by entire body (n = 9) were the body sites reported as more involved. In conclusions, our experience allowed us to identify the main pitfalls of the system we have experienced. These are setting/formulation of the reporting form, notification step, description of the event and diagnosis. A careful settlement of these aspects could substantially contribute to the establishment of an efficient reporting system, although the bias due to underreporting is difficult to eliminate.

A High Quality Workforce: NHS Next Stage Review outlines the Department of Health future intention that all educational supervisors in secondary care undergo 'mandatory training and performance review'. This pilot study reports on the development and introduction of a system of portfolio-based accreditation and review in 16 London trusts. A number of considerations, constraints and challenges are identified which need to be addressed which have implications for the introduction of such a system across the UK.

We present an approach to automating some of the quality assurance review of software requirements documents, and promoting best practices for requirements documentation. The system we describe -the Requirements Analysis Tool (RAT)has been deployed and is currently being used in pilot projects with large and complex requirements documents. Preliminary results indicate a reduction in time needed to review documents and reduction in requirements defects as well as a change in the way users think about writing requirements. Our approach allows users to write requirements in natural language instead of an artificial formalism. RAT enforces requirements documentation best practices such as using standardized syntaxes and internallyconsistent use of terminology. It supports the use of userextensible glossaries to define terms. The formalism driving RAT is a state-machine, which is used to classify requirements into types based on keywords and then verify that the requirements follow one of the best practice syntaxes supported by the tool. It generates helpful warning messages explaining where requirements are not following best practices and suggests ways to rectify.

The storage of large volumes of industrial CO 2 emissions in deep geological formations is one of the most promising climate mitigation options. The long-term retention time and environmental safety of the CO 2 storage are defined by the interaction of the injected CO 2 with the reservoir fluids and rocks. Finding a storage solution that is long lasting, thermodynamically stable and environmentally benign would be ideal. Storage of CO 2 as solid magnesium or calcium carbonates in basaltic rocks may provide such a long-term and thermodynamically stable solution. Basaltic rocks, which primarily consist of magnesium and calcium silicate minerals, provide alkaline earth metals necessary to form solid carbonates. In nature, the carbonization of basaltic rocks occurs in several well-documented settings, such as in the deep ocean crust, through hydrothermal alteration and through surface weathering. The goal of the CarbFix pilot project is to optimize industrial methods for permanent storage of CO 2 in basaltic rocks. The objective is to study the in-situ mineralization of CO 2 and its long term fate. The project involves the capture and separation of flue gases at the Hellisheidi Geothermal Power Plant, the transportation and injection of the CO 2 gas fully dissolved in water at elevated pressures at a depth between 400 and 800 m, as well as the monitoring and verification of the storage. A comprehensive reservoir characterization study is on-going prior to the CO 2 injection, including soil CO 2 flux measurements, geophysical survey and tracer injection tests. Results from the tracer tests show significant tracer dispersion within the target formation, suggesting large surface area for chemical reactions. The large available reservoir volume and surface area in combination with relatively rapid CO 2 -water-rock reactions in basaltic rocks may allow safe and permanent geologic storage of CO 2 on a large scale.

Projects in the forestry sector, and land-use change and forestry projects more generally, have the potential to help mitigate global warming by acting as sinks for greenhouse gasses, particularly CO2. However, concerns have been expressed that participation in carbon-sink projects may be constrained by high costs. This problem may be particularly severe for projects involving smallholders in developing countries. Of particular concern are the transaction costs incurred in developing projects, measuring, certifying and selling the carbon-sequestration services generated by such projects. This paper addresses these issues by reviewing the implications of transaction and abatement costs in carbon-sequestration

Reminiscence may help in resolving conflicts from the past and making up the balance of one's life. Life-review may be further enhanced by the creative expression of memories in stories, poems or drawings. In this way people are encouraged to create and discover metaphors, images and stories that symbolically represent the subjective and inner meaning of their lives. In this article, a new intervention, which combines reminiscence and creative expression aimed at early treatment of depression, is described. A pilot project showed that the intervention Searching for the meaning in life may generate small-sized effects in reducing depression. Additionally, it appears to generate effects of medium size in enhancing mastery. Several possible ways to improve the effectiveness of the intervention are described.

Sustainable redevelopment following disasters has been a main policy objective of post-disaster recovery efforts over the past few decades. Yet, nine years after the 1999 Marmara earthquake in Turkey, the redevelopment of risky housing areas is still a point of debate on the urban planning and disaster mitigation agenda. However, planning studies on mildly and moderately damaged areas located in the centre of Istanbul are ongoing. This article presents the evidence of a pilot project undertaken by Zeytinburnu Municipality, Istanbul, four years after the Marmara earthquake. 2 The aim is to generate a debate on the preconditions required for a sustainable urban regeneration approach in the post-disaster recovery phase. The results of the pilot project underline the importance of capacity building in sustaining social capital, strengthening the legal framework, restructuring planning regulations, and managing the housing redevelopment process by taking advantage of a window of opportunity afforded by the disaster recovery period.

A Cadastre is normally the basis or core of a land administration system and is defined as a parcel based and up-to-date information system containing a record of interests in land (e.g. rights, restrictions and responsibilities). It usually includes a geometric description of land parcels linked to other records describing the nature of the interest, and ownership or control of those interest, and often the value of the parcel and its improvements (FIG, 1995). But in the marine environment, the terminology of cadastre is still unclear because there are some problems like discontinuity between land and marine cadastre, standard, technical and legal institutional aspects. A structured administration of land and marine interface area, or coastal zone, is rarely founded. United Nations Conventions on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) as an international regulation, then national and states legislations regulate marine related activities. The objective of the paper is to understand and identify rights, restrictions and responsibilities in the marine environment. It also identifies the problems and needs from various users from marine stakeholders and to discuss the concept of marine cadastre. A particular focus of the research is a review of the administrational interests at the land marine interface. A pilot project will be researched and analysed by integrating its dataset to allow its stakeholders to access the dynamic information. Spatial Data Infrastructures (SDI) in the marine environment will be examined by evaluating the current initiatives and policies

The article details the development and uses of the water poverty index (WPI). The index was developed as a holistic tool to measure water stress at the household and community levels, designed to aid national decision makers, at community and central government level, as ...

This paper presents the findings from a qualitative pilot project that implemented an internet social networking intervention and evaluated the effect it had on older people's experience of temporal loneliness. The project was implemented over a three-month period and utilised an in-home, one-on-one education strategy. Six older people aged 69 to 85 years were recruited from a community aged care

In Brazil, problems regarding protection from hazardous substances in small-sized enterprises are similar to those observed in many other countries. Looking for a simple tool to assess and control such exposures, FUNDACENTRO has started in 2005 a pilot-project to implement the International Chemical Control Toolkit. During the series of visits to foundries, it was observed that although many changes have occurred in foundry technology, occupational exposures to silica dust and metal fumes continue to occur, due to a lack of perception of occupational exposure in the work environment. After introducing the Chemical Toolkit concept to the foundry work group, it was possible to show that the activities undertaken to improve the management of chemicals, according to its concept, will support companies in fulfilling government legislations related to chemical management, occupational health and safety, and environmental impact. In the following meetings, the foundry work group and FUNDACENTRO research team will identify "inadequate work situations". Based on the Chemical Toolkit, improvement measures will be proposed. Afterwards, a survey will verify the efficency of those measures in the control of hazards and consequently on the management of chemicals. This step is now in course.

to design a community healthcare information network for all 450,000 citizen in the State of Geneva, Switzerland, connecting public and private healthcare professionals. Requirements include the decentralized storage of information at the source of its production, the creation of a virtual patient record at the time of the consultation, the control by the patient of the access rights to the information, and the interoperability with other similar networks at the national and european level. a participative approach and real-world pilot projects are used to design, test and validate key components of the network, including its technical architecture and the strategy for the management of access rights by the patients. a distributed architecture using peer-to-peer communication of information mediators can implement the various requirements while limiting to an absolute minimum the amount of centralized information. Access control can be managed by the patient with the help of a medic...

Beginning in 1992, the Slow The Spread (STS) pilot project was initiated to target gypsy moth (Lymantria dispar L.) spread rate reduction by controlling populations in the transition zone. The project uses intensive monitoring techniques, with pheromone-baited sticky moth traps, to detect low-level populations and target them for eradication. The primary objective of the pilot project was to evaluate the feasibility of using integrated pest management techniques to slow the spread of gypsy moths over a large geographical area. In this study, the cost of STS pilot project activities in 1993Ð1995 was investigated. A cost accounting system was developed and used as a framework to collect the cost data and to investigate cost patterns and characteristics. Total expenditures of STS activities for 1993Ð1995 were $7,685.2 million. Per unit cost was $49.67 per trap with the direct cost component being $35.03 per trap. Trapper labor and vehicle expense accounted for Ϸ90% of this direct cost. Per unit cost for treatment activities was found to average $27.86 per treated acre. In general, the STS pilot project is labor intensive, speciÞcally the trapping component. From 1993Ð1995, 59% of total project expenditures were spent on trapping activities, 28% on pesticide treatments, and 13% on data management. A trapper productivity rate regression model is described.

Marine extractive reserves (MER) are being established in coastal areas of Brazil to protect 'traditional' coastal populations and the marine resources upon which their livelihoods depend. This paper examines the challenges Brazil's first open-water MER is facing in trying to achieve these goals. Results from a pilot project in Arraial do Cabo, Rio de Janeiro suggest that significant social barriers to collective action exist and that local resource governing institutions are not robust. Consequently, fishers are not becoming decisive players in the decision-making process. The implications of these conclusions for future maritime conservation policy in Brazil are explored. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

IGN Spain, as the body responsible for the coordination of the Spanish SDI, opened in 2004 the IDEE geoportal, a standard application enabling to access nine different types of OGC services. IGN France opened the viewer part of the geoportail. fr in June 2006. At the ...

The authors would like to acknowledge the cooperation and support of the teachers and pupils whose work is the subject of this report, and the staff at Becta who collated and supplied data, and encouraged us in the writing process. About Becta Becta (British Educational Communications and Technology Agency) is the Government's lead agency for ICT in education. Becta supports the UK Government and national organisations in the use and development of ICT in education to raise standards, widen access, improve skills and encourage effective management. About the British Film Institute (bfi) The bfi gives everyone the opportunity to increase their understanding and appreciation of film and television from around the world.

Description/Abstract The PG&E WaveConnect project was intended to demonstrate the technical and economic viability of wave power in the open ocean adjacent to PG&E's service territory. WaveConnect was conceived as a multi-stage development process ...

In earlier work we proposed a framework to integrate heterogeneous geospatial utility data in the UK. This paper provides an update on the techniques used to resolve semantic and schematic heterogeneities in the UK utility domain. Approaches for data delivery are discussed, including descriptions of three pilot projects and domain specific visualization issues are considered. A number of practical considerations are discussed that will impact on how any implementation architecture is derived from the integration framework. Considerations of stability, security, currency, operational impact and response time can reveal a number of conflicting constraints. The impacts of these constraints are discussed in respect of either a virtual or materialised delivery system.

Background: Despite indoor home environments being where people spend most time, involving residents in testing those environments has been very limited, especially in marginalized communities. We piloted participatory testing and reporting that combined relatively simple tests with actionable reporting to empower residents in Main South/Piedmont neighborhoods of Worcester, Massachusetts. We answered: 1) How do we design and implement the approach for neighborhood and household environments using participatory methods? 2) What do pilot tests reveal? 3) How does our experience inform testing practice? Methods: The approach was designed and implemented with community partners using community-based participatory research. Residents and researchers tested fourteen homes for: lead in dust indoors, soil outdoors, paint indoors and drinking water; radon in basement air; PM2.5 in indoor air; mold spores in indoor/outdoor air; and drinking water quality. Monitoring of neighborhood particulates by residents and researchers used real-time data to stimulate dialogue. Results: Given the newness of our partnership and unforeseen conflicts, we achieved moderate-high success overall based on process and outcome criteria: methods, test results, reporting, lessons learned. The conflict burden we experienced may be attributable less to generic university-community differences in interests/culture, and more to territoriality and interpersonal issues. Lead-in-paint touch-swab results were poor proxies for lead-in-dust. Of eight units tested in summer, three had very high lead-in-dust (>1000 μg/ft 2 ), six exceeded at least one USEPA standard for lead-in-dust and/or soil. Tap water tests showed no significant exposures. Monitoring of neighborhood particulates raised awareness of environmental health risks, especially asthma. Conclusions: Timely reporting back home-toxics' results to residents is ethical but it must be empowering. Future work should fund the active participation of a few motivated residents as representatives of the target population. Although difficult and demanding in time and effort, the approach can educate residents and inform exposure assessment. It should be considered as a core ingredient of comprehensive household toxics' testing, and has potential to improve participant retention and the overall positive impact of long-term environmental health research efforts.

The impacts of home-based telecommuting on travel behavior and personal vehicle emissions for participants in the State of California Telecommuting Pilot Project are analyzed using the most advanced emissions modeling tools currently available. A comparison of participants' telecommuting day travel behavior with their before-telecommuting behavior shows a 27% reduction in the number of personal vehicle trips, a 77% decrease in vehicle-miles traveled (VMT), and 39% (and 4%) decreases in the number of cold (and hot) engine starts. These decreases in travel translate into emissions reductions of: 48% for total organic gases (TOG), 64% for carbon monoxide (CO), 69% for nitrogen oxide (NOx), and 78% for particulate matter (PM). Although the authors developed the methodology to investigate the emissions impacts of telecommuting, the analysis technique can be applied to any demand management or other transportation strategy where all of the necessary model inputs are available. An analysis of the number of personal vehicle trips and VMT partitioned into commute-related and non-commute-related purposes revealed that non-commute personal vehicle trips increased by 0.5 trips per person-day on average, whereas the non-commute VMT decreased by 5.3 miles. This important finding supports (for one indicator, the number of trips) the hypothesis that non-commute travel generation is a potential negative impact of telecommuting. This finding demonstrates the need to monitor these changes as telecommuting moves into the mainstream. In this study, however, the small increase in non-commute trips has a negligible impact compared to the overall travel and emissions savings.

Parque Porcino de Ventanilla has an extension of 840 ha with 2200 farmers dedicated to pig production. There is a lack of services in the area (i.e., water supply, electricity, or waste collection). Anaerobic treatment of pig manure would replace current dumping and incineration, reducing environmental pollution and hazards to public health, as well as providing an organic fertilizer and biogas. The objective of the present work was to study the viability of ambient temperature anaerobic digestion of pig manure diluted in urine, by means of on-site pilot scale reactors. The final goal was to establish design parameters for anaerobic digesters to be implemented; since it was part of a project to improve life conditions for the farmers through the incorporation of better management techniques. Experiments were carried out in a low-cost pilot plant, which consists of three anaerobic digesters (225 L total volume), without heating or agitation, placed in a greenhouse. The start-up of the digestion process was performed with a mixture of temperature adapted pig manure-sludge and fresh rumen, and showed a good performance regardless of the dilution of pig manure with water or urine, which is a key parameter due to the scarcity of water in the area under study.

Using the value chain model which provides a process view, this longitudinal case study and simulation modeling analysis of a Canadian third-party logistics (TPL) supply chain provides some empirical support for the enabling role of RFID technology in effecting warehouse process innovation and optimization for the focal TPL firm. However, the findings of our study also reveal the RFID technology implementation costs as the key inhibitor of RFID widespread adoption and usage among suppliers. This, in turn, precluded the focal TPL firm from implementing the best optimum RFID solution to create better business value from the RFID project.

Existing empirical research indicates that strong organizational barriers and inertia need to be overcome to ensure a smooth transition of a firm's approach to technological innovation from Closed to Open Innovation. The objective of the paper is to study how firms can identify, plan, and manage a pilot project so as to unfreeze the status quo and prepare the ground for a successful shift toward Open Innovation. Integrating existing literature in the field of innovation management, organizational change and project management, the paper develops a conceptual framework which identifies three steps a pilot project goes through (i.e. conception, realization and transfer of project's results) and the aspects that should be looked at along these stages so as to mobilize the organization and revolutionize its strategic approach to innovation management. These issues are investigated using a multiple case study involving 4 firms that can be considered as "early adopters" of Open Innovation in Italy. The paper provides several insights to R&D managers and Chief Technology Officers that will hopefully help them foresee and properly administer the organizational implications of adopting Open approaches to innovation management.

Schools in the UK looking for solutions to concerns about indiscipline have been enthused by the basic premise of restorative practice; the need to restore good relationships when there has been conflict or harm; and develop a school ethos, policies and procedures that reduce the possibilities of such conflict and harm arising.

This paper describes approaches to cultural heritage conservation and protection that emphasize local community participation and give greater attention to "Indigenous Knowledge" (IK). The paper explores ways that indigenous people can preserve their cultural heritage, including their IK, so that it remains a vibrant and self-identified part of community life. IK is a holistic concept, structured and transmitted through indigenous

Business process integration and monitoring provides an invaluable means for an enterprise to adapt to changing conditions. However, developing such applications using traditional methods is challenging because of the intrinsic complexity of integrating large-scale business processes and existing applications. Model Driven Developmente (MDDe) is an approach to developing applications-from domainspecific models to platform-sensitive models-that bridges the gap between business processes and information technology. We describe the MDD framework and methodology used to create the IBM Business Performance Management (BPM) solution. We describe how we apply model-driven techniques to BPM and present a scenario from a pilot project in which these techniques were applied. Technical details on models and transformation are presented. Our framework uses and extends the IBM business observation metamodel and introduces a data warehouse metamodel and other platform-specific and transformational models. We discuss our lessons learned and present the general guidelines for using MDD to develop enterprise-scale applications.

Pilot projects are popular in companies for experimenting with industry 4.0 concepts. However, few studies have addressed the specificities of piloting transformation, whose requirements are quite different than those for implementing a project with clear goals. Pilot projects can be used for the purpose of exploring, demonstrating, optimizing and disseminating solutions. In this paper we identify the role of pilot projects in digital transformation and define a successful pilot project so that it transcends to a full project. We provide accessible guidelines for the deployment of pilot projects in industry 4.0, drawing from a structured literature review and from lessons learned in an action research project implementing mixed reality in household ceramics production. A sound approach to pilot projects is important to reduce unknowns and risks in ensuing full projects and to contributing to organizational knowledge, offering an opportunity to rethink business strategies and train employees in digital transformation.

This paper presents a comprehensive spatial model for exploring the interaction between road transportation and environment. The potential negative impacts of transportation on environment can be listed as degradation of air quality, greenhouse gas emissions, increased threat of global climate change, degradation of water resources, noise and habitat loss and fragmentation. Within this interaction, of particular importance is the relationship between urban structure and transport emissions, since it is the urban structure that fundamentally determines transportation demand. Due to the spatial nature of the interaction, Spatial Information Sciences (SIS) has many advantages compared with other systems. The developed model integrates data and methods on spatial bases, detects changes, encompasses monitoring and analyzes the interaction. In order to verify the developed concepts, a pilot project was conducted at the southeast part of Istanbul Metropolitan Area, where the development of motorway and its effects to land use categories between 1987 and 2001 period was analyzed. Within the study area, the road transportation network had been doubled, whereas the construction sites were tripled within the years of 1987-2001. A significant decrease was observed at barren and agricultural land classes. Using the suggested model an integrated framework for exploring the interaction was constituted and the results were discussed.

Since the late 1980s the Vietnamese labour market has become increasingly diversified and dynamic, calling for more socially and economically relevant careers. As a result, coordinated efforts to assure the quality of Vietnamese higher education and introduce an accreditation system have recently been initiated. This chapter illustrates the development of accreditation and quality assurance processes in Vietnam, focusing on the contributions of ProfQim, a pilot project funded by the Dutch government. ProfQim supported the General Directory for Educational Testing and Accreditation in the Ministry of Education and Training to establish quality assurance centres and to execute pilot accreditations in select number of Vietnamese universities. The chapter reviews the phases of the 4-year ProfQim project and describes its relationship with the First Higher Education Project, funded by The World Bank, and already running at the time ProfQim was commenced. The chapter points to the strengths, weaknesses and lessons learnt by the convergence of these two projects.

Tawana Pakistan Project, a multifaceted pilot project (Sept. 2002 to June 2005) was funded by the Government of Pakistan to address poor nutritional status and school enrollment of primary school age girls. The core strategy was to create safe environment empowering village women to take collective decisions. Through reflective learning process women learnt to plan balanced menus, purchase food, prepare and serve a noon meal at school from locally available foods at nominal costs (USD 0.12/child). Aga Khan University partnered the government for the design, management, monitoring and evaluation of the project, 11 NGO's facilitated implementation in 4035 rural government girls' schools. Training was provided to 663 field workers, 4383 community organizers, 4336 school teachers and around 95 thousand rural women. Height and weight were recorded at baseline and every 6 months thereafter. Wasting, underweight and stunting decreased by 45%, 22% and 6% respectively. Enrollment inc...

This paper explores definitions and understandings of restorative practices in education. It offers a critique of current theoretical models of restorative justice originally derived from the criminal justice system and now becoming popular in educational settings. It questions the appropriateness of these concepts as they are being introduced to schools in parts of the UK and refers to a recent Scottish Executive funded pilot initiative to implement restorative practices in schools. The paper then reflects on some findings from the evaluation of this pilot project, outlines a new notion of restorative approaches and suggests that this broader conceptualisation may offer an important way in which to promote social justice in education and to reassess the importance and inevitability of conflicting social interaction and structures inherent in schools as complex social institutions.

The WoodMark Quality System, a new quality assurance program for the Canadian value-added wood products sector, was launched in 1999. This represented the culmination of a five-year investigation of industry needs, standards development, and potential benefits, as they relate to implementing a third-party quality assurance system for the Canadian value-added industry. The WoodMark Quality System is an industry-specific system dedicated

While outsourcing IT infrastructure and various IT functions is common, outsourcing the digital archival of municipal documents has not been realized. The reasons for this include the complexity of operations, the lack of models complying with governmental regulation on archival as well as conflicting requirements on the security of sensitive information and public access. This paper presents a case where a municipality aims at outsourcing in a pilot project supported by researchers in project Kunda. Project Kunda applies a model utilizing a combination of contemporary standards, technologies and research results to achieve a replicable way to outsource the digital archival of municipal documents. The model, the requirements for it and the expected benefits are presented and discussed in this paper.

Water scarcity are serious problem in many areas of the world, such as the Middle East and North African countries (MENA), the Southern European Mediterranean Islands (SEMI) and isolated communi ties in desert or arid areas of Central Asian countries. One of the promising solutions for this problem is devel oping of autonomous system of drinking water supply or desalination systems working on RES, particularly solar energy. However, RES especially solar energy potential of the most arid areas is usually high. In addition, the cost of primary fuel is getting up while the need to maintain clean environment is becoming an important issue worldwide . There are a number of desalination methods proposed by scientists and available on the market. Among them, reverse osmosis (RO) is quite suitable for small to medium capacity systems and also has good perspectives for cost reduction and improvement in efficiency in the near future. And a number of research works on solar powered RO systems, from pilot project to industrial scale developed and proposed by researches which can be found from literature. This paper presents a review of the highlights that have been achieved during the last years in solar powered RO desalination. Also proposed the preliminary investigations on developed small scale PV powered RO desalination system, which supposed to be feasible system to use by small farmers in rural areas of Central Asia.

Entrepreneurship is at the heart of sustainable, organic growth for most developed, as well as transitioning and developing economies and incubators have often served as catalysts and even accelerators of entrepreneurial clusters formation and growth. Our premise is that this may be more so in less developed economies where incubators can help bridge knowledge, digital, socio-political and even cultural divides and help increase the availability, awareness, accessibility and affordability of financial, human, intellectual, and ...

The paper presents main results obtained through a course of design and numerical field modelling of electrical devices. Based on the performance of an interdisciplinary international team, the course covered project-based learning in the framework of the master's programme. The pilot project of the design and optimization of power transformers was conducted in Tallinn/Vändra at the end of November 2006. The purpose of the project was to find out the effectiveness of such student courses to develop comprehension of transformer operation principles and to identify realistic problems in transformer design and manufacturing.