Celebrate World Wetlands day with these free resources

World wetlands day is celebrated on 2nd february. This year it is focussing on wetlands for a sustainable urban future. The day was chosen to mark the date of the adoption of the Convention on Wetlands on 2 February 1971, in the Iranian city of Ramsar. The official website has some infographics and handouts on the importance of wetlands.
The Ramsar website has the text of the convention and details of its signatories.
It also has technical reports, briefings and manuals

Global Lakes and Wetlands Database (GLWD)
WWF and the Center for Environmental Systems Research, University of Kassel, Germany has maps of lakes and wetlands on a global scale.

Wetlands International is a global non profit organisation. Its website has news reports and case studies relating to wetlands worldwide.

For the UK - The Joint Nature Conservation Committee monitors wetlands and compliance with Ramsar.Its website has details on UK

BTO conducts wetland birth surveys annually.

Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT) has images and information on key areas.

Holocaust Memorial day 2018: power of words

27th January marks the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest Nazi death camp. It is the date of the Holocaust memorial day which is time to remember those who died in the Second World War Holocaust and subsequent genocides.
The Holocaust Memorial trust has details of this year's theme the power of Words.


Here are some personal oral history accounts from the Holocaust.
The United States Memorial Museum has an enormous online collection of oral history testimonies from survivors.
The British Library Sound Archive provides free access to over 1800 recorded testimonies from Jewish  survivors living in Britain.


Witnessing Genocide (The Polish Research Institute, Lund, Sweden)
The website contains unique source material documenting the experiences of approximately 20,000 survivors from Ravensbrück and other Nazi concentration camps who were evacuated to Sweden, including testimonies, drawings, photos, transport lists, layouts of camps, and teaching materials.


70 Voices: Victims, Perpetrators, Bystanders (Holocaust Educational Trust)
This 2015  commemorative project explores the history of the Holocaust through 70 sources created by different witnesses, including victims, survivors and perpetrators. The sources include diaries, letters, testimonies and poems.


Personal diaries
See examples of children's diaries from the United States Memorial Museum
Yad Hashem World Holocaust Memorial center has extracts from letters, writings and diaries.


Weiner Library for the study of the Holocaust and Genocide also has a large online collection of materials.

World Economic Forum - get up to speed with what is going on- with our handy research links.

The World Economic Forum is meeting in Davos this week. The official website has the agendas and live feeds. It also has a pre Davos selection of background reading.

There are a collection of useful papers and articles from contributors

The World Economic Forum has also recently published the Inclusive Development Index 2018.this assesses the performance of 103 countries according to 11 dimensions in addition to GDP

They have also issued a 2018 Global Risks report assessing different types of risk to worldwide development.


News Analysis

Independent.
BBC
Time Magazine
New York Times
Washington Post
Financial Times
KPMG has twitter data from participants
 Deloitte coverage
Politicos news
UN sustainable development coverage.


Academic analysis

The Conversation blog.

CSIS International security geopolitics analysis

DEVEX has news and analysis from a development perspective

Oxfam analysis

 

 

 

EU strategy on Plastic - find out more

This week the EU has launched the first European Staregy on plastics - to reduce the impact on the environment. read the full text on its website.
where you can also find fact sheets about the new policy
For statistics on amounts recycled in EU nations see Eurostat data
this page also goes into detail about sources, targets and percentages achieved in recent years.

the UK government has also launched a new plastic waste policy
Wrap has data and reports on waste and recycling in the UK plastics market


For information on the reasons why the directives are needed.
See the UNEP campaigns against plastic waste in the oceans.
The UNEP knowledge repository also has recent reports on the environmental and economic case for reducing plastic waste
Friends of the Earth has campaign materials and resources for consumers.

For an industry perspective see Plastics Europe. which details their response.

Iran protests - try these resources. to locate the latest academic research

There have been recent concerns about the level of protest in Iran.

UN watch raises concerns about the international action.

Iran Pulse- Al-Monitor has up to date coverage and discussion form experts in the Middle-East

International Crisis watch has regular reports and bulletins.

You can also keep up to date with the latest worldwide trends in the monthly International Crisis Group- Crisis Watch bulletin and they have recently launched the

Iran-US. Trigger List a new interactive map which monitors areas of flashpoints potential conflict worldwide how they are linked to the fate of the 2015 nuclear deal

Articles from the Economist on Iranian politics

comment from other think tanks includes

Chatham house which has a comment issued on Jan 5th 2018 as well as other reports.

Carnegie Endowment

Washington Institute Near East

NDI Iran Bulletin

Hoover Institute 

RUSI

Brookings- Iran

Rand

Iran Watch is a comprehensive website that monitors Iran’s capability for building unconventional weapons and long-range missiles. Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control

Coffee cups and recycling - do they damage the environment? some good research sites

Recently the Environmental select committee  proposed a levy of 25p due to the environmental impact of disposable coffee cups used by major chains.

responsibilities
UK government outlines a number of manufacturer responsibilities for packaging.

UK waste statistics have general data on packaging collected.
The Times alleged fewer than 1 in 400 cups were actually recycled in 2016

in September 2017 the paper industry issued a briefing paper on the problems involved in cup recycling
WRAP  has conducted research on general food and packaging waste from grocery retail chains.
another issue is the reluctance of consumers to use recycling bins as discussed in CIWM Journal

Paper Cup Recycling and Recovery Group is body. made of organisationd from the paper supply chain in the UK  It issued a statement in response to the report you can also see its FAQs on the amount of waste
it also has progress reports and case studies of specific coffee store chains.

Wrap. Resource Efficient Innovations Database (REID) lists and describes new technology aiming to reduce waste

Alliance for Beverage Containes and the Environment is an interational trade body which has news about technology and initiatives to recycle in Europe

NHS Winter crisis 2017- get some facts from our recommended links

This week many commentators referred to a national crisis in the NHS
Dr Richard Fawcett and A&E Consultant from Stoke caused a storm on twitter with his posting on 'third world conditions'

Certainly many NHS Trusts cancelled non urgent procedures
see the
Operational update from the NHS National Emergency Pressures Panel for the official policy
the website also has the policy documents on NHS winter plans
in November the Kings Fund said the NHS was on a knife edge.
The president of the Society for Acute Medicine said the situation was 'as bad as I have ever known'
The BMA annual message said 2018 should be a turning point in the NHS as resources were 'woefully underfunded'
The Royal College of Emergency Medicine spoke of the intense pressures in A&E

How well is the NHS doing?
Check local performance in your area against national targets using the BBC performance tracker.
Look at the regular updates on performance from the Kings Fund in their quarterly monitoring report which covers financial and operational pressures.
Nuffield Trust Quality Watch website 
NHS England Winter daily situation reports.

Are rail fares fair? Try our recommended academic links.

This week the BBC reported that the rise in rail fares had priced commuters out of the market.
The RMT union declared  that  British travellers spend five times more of their income than those in other European nations.  This is based on TUC research
Other unions criticising the rise include ASLEF which accused the companies of 'laughing all the way to the bank'
In Left Foot forward Manuel Cortes ,  General Secretary of the Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association called for the renationalisation of the network

 A Sky news poll found the public backed renationalisation of  the railways- get the facts on those surveyed from their website
Campaign for Better Transport  is backing a Fair Fares campaign
their website also has other research on railway policy

For facts on rises.
UK government website has details of policy
this includes a recent review on clarity of ticket pricing.
Office of Rail and Road has statistics on rail performance and funding of infrastructure.  Plus data on complaints and lateness
It also has  information on prices and regulation. 
A useful research report from the House of Commons Library (Feb 2017) summarises clearly responsibility for regulation, the issues at stake and criticisms.

the annual rail fares index has statistical data on ticket price rises.

Transport Focus - the consultative voice of passengers has sample ticket prices  with recent increases
It also has research on passenger perspectives on the running of the railways and future priorities.