GDRC goes social!

You can now follow GDRC on Facebook and Twitter to keep yourself updated on what GDRC is doing, or questions that are driving its programmes, or activities that it is carrying out.

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Global-Development-Research-Center-GDRC/66976630019

Twitter: https://twitter.com/gdrcdotorg

Externalities of Heritage conservation

GDRC is now working on an initiative to assist the city government of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to develop an urban heritage conservation strategy.

For a city in a developing country, heritage conservation is a public strategy that has considerable and serendipitous externalities. Besides the intangible benefits of preserving culture, there is the income generation and job creation potential from tourism sector, better urban governance (including public participation and partnership), improved urban finances, et al.

The Urban Heritage and Conservation programme of GDRC has been working and researching on these and related issues. More info will be uploaded to the website as the project progresses ...

Adaptation and Mitigation of Climate Change in Indonesia

GDRC is collaborating with "CC-base" - an initiative to create a baseline for adaptation and mitigation of climate change in Indonesia.

The initiative aims to create a comprehensive information baseline on existing condition and trends (covering social, economic and environmental aspects) in Indonesia based on GIS and spatial/remote sensing data, especially on land use and land cover changes to ensure adaptation and mitigation activities of climate change are implemented in scientifically sound basis.

Such verified data will form the base for modeling and decision support systems at all levels of governance – national, provincial and local, as well as facilitate stakeholder dialogue to push for adaptation and mitigation action.

More info:
http://ccbase.wordpress.com/

Beyond just 3Rs

While '3Rs' stand for reduce, reuse and recycle of resources and wastes, the concept itself goes beyond just better waste management and calls for the building of an economy based on the life-cycle approach, covering both sustainable production and sustainable consumption.

The 3R approach, focusing on reduce, reuse, and recycle, essentially aims to set up a sound material cycle society within the concept of a life-cycle economy, where consumption of natural resources is minimized and the environmental load is reduced, as much as possible.

An important serendipitus tag that cuts across many themes covered by GDRC's programmes, it lays the responsibility of achieving sustainable development squarely on individual decision-making that takes place daily at the micro level!

See GDRC's infopac on 3R issues:
http://www.gdrc.org/uem/waste/3r-index.html