Describe the challenges faced by designers and constructors in producing a "sustainable" built environment
Describe the challenges faced by designers and constructors in producing a "sustainable" built environment Designers and constructors are faced with many challenges when producing a sustainable built environment. These include challenges set by the UK Government, eco-friendly organisations, and the general public. These challenges are connected with the waste energy produced by the building after construction, the waste products of the construction process, the surrounding environment of the building and its geographical position. One of the most important concerns to a "sustainable" built environment is energy conservation. Energy usage can be lowered by using passive heating, natural lighting and high insulation. This would mean that the building would use less electricity/gas on heating and lighting as the high insulation would keep the building warmer and artificial lighting would only be needed in the evening. The amount of energy used should also be monitored; this would allow a more effective use of energy. Also, renewable energy should be used where possible. For example the use of micro wind turbines is encouraged, as is the use of sunlight for photovoltaic generation. Water too can be recycled and conserved. Rainwater can be collected and used along with recycled waste water and be used for flushing and other non-sanitary utilities, this is known as increasing
Discuss whether good governance depoliticises development, and if it does, discuss the negative or positive implications of such.
Discuss whether good governance depoliticises development, and if it does, discuss the negative or positive implications of such. Introduction A plethora of developmental theorists and realists have always sought to define, propose and adopt a proper and perfect development route at both national and continental scales. At large, development has always been understood as much more of a socio-political phenomenon vis-à-vis economic progression. However, the upsurge of planned economies meant a shift from the view that was expansively held. With the emergence of concepts such as good governance, democracy and such, development has come to be understood along the lines of economies, as thus extracting the political aspect from development. Societal relations and relations between State and civil society has evolved to assume a shape determined by political and economical development. The evolution is always typified by the emergence of mode of practice and norms such as democracy, good governance, rule of law, and some other aspects that are axiomatically viewed as concomitant to development. Hypothetically, good governance involves a variety of characteristics. These include issues such as participation, consensus orientation, accountability, transparency, responsiveness, effectiveness and efficiency, equity and inclusivity and the rule of law. It assures that corruption is
World City Aspirations & Urban Spatial Politics: The Case of Dubai
World City Aspirations & Urban Spatial Politics: The Case of Dubai 'The landscape changes at a staggering pace as towers, apartment blocks and streets appear and disappear in the twinkling of an eye, while the most widespread imaginary of the city is not a postcard but a set of computer-graphic rendered and photo-shopped images of what Dubai will be, rather than what it is.'1 As a former resident of the United Arab Emirates, what intrigues me most about Dubai is how the cityscape is in a perpetual state of transformation, culminating with the recent unveiling of the Burj Khalifa. While academics have explored the emirate's claims to global city status, fewer questions are asked about the social implications of such modernisation for Dubai's transnational workforce. This is especially worrying given talk of the 'Dubai model' being exported as a blueprint for other cities both endogenous and exogenous to the region including Doha, Addis Adabba and Shanghai (Stoll, 2010). In this essay, I will investigate how Dubai's global city aspirations, evident in the construction of such mega-projects as the Jumeirah Palm Islands, have resulted in the transnational character of its working class whilst also institutionalizing their marginalization in the very urban fabric which they help to build. Since the sociology of urban development and the political economy of globalization are
Individual Development and Change
Select a developmental or psychological theory/perspective that helps your understanding of people and their circumstances and informs your understanding of social work practice in a multi-cultural society. Summarise the main features of the theory and outline its strengths and weaknesses. Discuss with examples the ways the theory has applications for social work practice. For this assignment I am going to write about Attachment Theory, touching upon age, gender, ethnicity, different factors, culture, religion and multi - cultural society. Theories relating to Erikson, Piaget, Rogers and Ainsworth and developmental and or psychological theory. Adult attachment theory helps Social Workers understand how people feel and act within close relationships, particularly in stressful situations. Attachment is different in adulthood and in childhood because they are bi - directional, meaning that either party will give and receive support. "Attachment theory has its origins in Great Britain, in the period during and shortly after the Second World War. It was developed by John Bowbly. At the heart of attachment theory is the assumption that attachment is a basic human need and that from very early on babies actively participate in the formation of attachment relationships. Attachment relationships can be secure or insecure and a laboratory paradigm, called the Strange Situation,
What Factors Distinguish criminological positivism from classicism.
Title: What Factors Distinguish criminological positivism from classicism The issue raised by this question can be understood as factors which distinguish and contrast these two criminological theories; positivism and classicism are two distinguish theories they are referred to as schools of thought, the classical school and the other one being the positive school. These specific theories look into areas such as; human nature, the justice system, treatment, sentencing and punishment. They go into great depths to justify their arguments and explain why social disorder occurs. This assignment will begin firstly by explaining what the theories are and how they came into existence and most importantly what factors distinguish one from another. I will explaining what the positive theory is and then list all the major point of the school, also explaining what classical theory is and list all major points of the school. After it has been explained what the two theories are I will be comparing them to find elements that distinguish them and finally conclude with an overall summary within the conclusion. Within the criminology frame work, positive theory can be defined as: A crucial element of the predestined actor model that proposes that human behaviour is determined by factors, these factors can be stated as either an internal issue, such as, in the case of biological and
Evaluate the importance of changes in personal identity to social change.
Evaluate the importance of changes in personal identity to social change. Your discussion should at some point make explicit reference to textual or visual evidence supporting your views and should analyse issues involved in your selection of evidence. Personal identity can be defined as a pattern of attributes that identify an individual to one and to others. Personal making it unique to the individual and apart from anyone else and identity is belonging to a group sharing the same characteristics. Social change is the transformation of cultural and social institutions over time. Social change can happen anywhere, and can vary from place to place it is usually compared to sometime before, even if it was not noticed at the time of the change it was noticed over a period of time. Social change is sometimes intentional, but often unplanned, it often generates controversy and some social changes matter more than others. I will in this essay weigh up evidence for and against the claims that changes in personal identity and social change are linked. Identity is a much more fluid entity now than it was in pervious years, men's and women's identities have changed from post modern times when the traditional image of gender roles were of women being the housewives maintaining sole responsibility for the home and the family and the man who was the worker and bread winner to a
Using at least one example from social life, explain what C. Wright Mills (1916-62) meant by the 'sociological imagination".
"Using at least one example from social life, explain what C. Wright Mills (1916-62) meant by the 'sociological imagination". According to C. Wright Mills, "the sociological imagination enables us to grasp history and biography and relations between the two within society". Here, Mills is referring to his belief that researchers can view human life as they are shaped by historically conditioned forces - It empowers us to make the connection between personal troubles of a person (these are such issues of personal and private matters) and public issues of the social structure (or 'social problems'). Mills decides that people find troubles "within the character of the individual and within the range of his immediate relations with others", this of course takes place within the individual's social environment. Public issues, however, exist on an impersonal level in the form of institutions and the processes of society. These social problems can only be addressed through collective action, rather than an individual pursuing change, however, troubles are only by and large resolved through political responses. For the individual, the pain and challenge of these troubles is experienced alone, however their origin has developed outside of their personal lives. An applied sociological imagination would be that if, for example a small number of women in a town developed eating
ecological footprint
"More so than any other issue facing us we must all start to reduce our ecological footprint" Yes, we must start to reduce our ecological footprint as developement of the world over the past 20 years has proven to be unsustainable. Meaning that we are actually living beyond our means e.g. A quarter of all fish stocks are overharvested, Humans now use between 40% and 50% of all available freshwater running off the land and deforestation increase risks of various deadly diseases such as malaria and cholera. Our way of life is placing an increasing burden on the planet and this can certainly not be sustained. To be sustainable, nature's resources must only be used at a rate which they can be replenished naturally. Scientific evidence shows now that humanity is living in n unsustainable way. Humans are consuming the Earth's limited natural resources more rapidly than they are being replaced by nature. Now a human effort to keep human use of natural resources within the sustainable development aspect of the Earth's finite resource limits is now an issue of huge importance to the present and future of humanity. "Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." As our world population increases rapidly our use of natural resources cannot go on forever and unless we start to
I would like to analyse a key social problem such as 'football hooliganism' from a sociological perspective and critically evaluate the proposition that a social problem such as this is created by society.
COMMUNITY AND THE POLICE Introduction I would like to analyse a key social problem such as 'football hooliganism' from a sociological perspective and critically evaluate the proposition that a social problem such as this is created by society. Football hooliganism is very difficult to define, mainly because the media have been extremely flexible and indeterminate in ascribing the 'hooligan' label to different incidents. Football hooliganism occurs at local, national and international levels and is by most to mean disorder involving football fans. Usually this involves criminal activity and in most, but certainly not all, cases occur either at or just before or after a football match. Much football crowd disorder is spontaneous, but a lot is prearranged by gangs (or 'firms') who attach themselves to football clubs and arrange to meet, and fight, firms from other clubs. The seventies and eighties saw some of the most violent and devastating scenes ever witnessed, and these incidents were covered in sickening detail by the media and whether a football fan or not, there can be few people who do not remember the disasters at Hillsborough and the Heysel stadiums where in total 137 lives were lost, 98 at Hillsborough and 39 at Heysel. Having discussed Hillsborough, John Williams of the Sir Norman Chester Centre for football Research (SNCCR) goes on to say, "This was not
The Call of Service
Malika Graham-Bailey Book Critique: Robert Coles' A Call to Service1 Robert Coles' designed his semi-autobiographical piece, The Call of Service, to reawaken idealism and an interest in doing good in the world. As public managers, I can't express how crucial it is that we remain steadfast and stolid in our spirit of service. However, Coles' book is open and clear about the various reasons why we all volunteer. His discussions problems in communicating with those we try to help are insightful. And, while I was not in complete agreement, he vigorously attacks the issue of real mentorship and who has the right to call themselves mentors. Service is without a doubt, our professional livelihood. Reading this book and discovering why volunteers choose the work they do can only help us to better serve our communities. This book does not tell us how to run an agency or how to do our work. Coles provides descriptions of concrete situations in many different kinds of volunteer activities, reporting carefully and avoiding a lot of unnecessary analysis. He writes about what gets said, how people look, and when volunteer gestures lead or don't lead to success. The first 3/4 of the book recount some of Coles' favorite storied from his life of service; a life spent living amongst, interviewing, studying and writing about community servants, volunteers, and service workers.
