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Made from 100% natural Icelandic geothermal silica Millions of people have bathed in the mineral rich geothermal waters of Iceland for the beneficial effects of the water’s silica on the health and beauty of skin. Now an Icelandic start-up company aims to bottle it for consumption as a supplement for an...

Forests play a pivotal role in the environment, here AG assesses how Switzerland’s forests are maintained. Forests not only act as places of tranquillity and recreation, but also play a major role in providing essential services and resources for people, plants and animals. Across the globe, forests contribute substantially to...

Maria Vassilakou, Deputy Mayor of Vienna, gives an overview of the Vienna Urban Development Plan STEP 2025. Vienna is immediately associated with culture, heritage and high quality of life, but this first impression is incomplete. The Vienna metropolitan region has seen an era of dynamic development since the political changes of...

Rajesh Aggarwal, Acting Director in the Division of Business and Institutional Support at the International Trade Centre (ITC) provides insight into the role of SMEs in integrating successful international markets. SMEs play an important role in every economy, more so in developing and the least developed countries, in terms of...

Marketing research on CCS by mineral carbonization, CFB waste gasification and SCWG of black liquor and biomass. The research unit of Energy Engineering and Environmental Protection at Aalto University, School of Engineering operates very actively on many different research fields in Finland and also internationally. The group is led by...

With the ever growing pressures that are being put on the marine environment, Janez Potočnik Commissioner for Environment at the European Commission discusses the proposed solutions. Europe’s growth potential – and countless European livelihoods – are heavily dependent on the proper functioning of marine ecosystems. We have every interest in using...

Regenerative medicine and cell therapy can revolutionise healthcare. Kath Mackay and Michael Sullivan, Lead Technologists in Regenerative Medicine at the Technology Strategy Board outline the importance of the field. Innovation is essential in developing the next generation of medical treatments. As the global population grows and ages, healthcare providers will need...

Welcome to the 2nd edition of AG. In this spring publication, we give thought to a number of topics that remain at the forefront of the government agenda. Throughout Europe there is consistent agreement from country to country about the importance of sustainability in our cities. Ensuring that each nation...

Aileen Murphie, Director at the National Audit Office examines the government’s latest local economic growth initiatives and how they are performing. The government’s plan for local economic growth was set out in the 2010 White Paper Local growth: realising every place’s potential. Its core objective was “to achieve strong, sustainable...

The hub for biobanking in Europe. Biobank Graz at Medical University of Graz, Austria, belongs to the largest repositories of human samples in Europe. It contains nearly six million samples from normal and pathological tissues, including formalinfixed, paraffin-embedded tissues (FFPE), fresh frozen tissue samples and frozen body fluids such as...

Paul Cribbens, Standards Manager at NHBC outlines the development of new standards and guidance for MVHR systems following research that suggests installations and design are under-performing. The move towards higher levels of energy efficiency in new homes and improved airtightness has led to around a quarter of new homes built being...

Welcome to Adjacent Local Government where we will be examining and highlighting a host of topics of concern to our varied readership. From sustainable cities and affordable homes, through to local government pensions, we hope to inspire and create debate. The edition begins with a Foreword from the Shadow Secretary...

The Pensions Regulator gives thought on the pension reforms and how they will impact public services pension schemes. The Pensions Regulator was given an expanded role in the Public Service Pensions Act 2013 in respect of the governance and administration of public service schemes. From April 2015, the regulator will set...

Driving significant economic growth Cities and the wider economies they influence are engines of growth critical to economic performance and national recovery in the current climate. The large conurbations naturally make the headlines as the ‘core’ cities receiving support towards economic development, but there are smaller cities which are comparatively...

Commissioner for Health, Tonio Borg supports Europe’s concerns about cancer and the huge challenges it presents. Cancer continues to present a huge challenge for patients and their families, for health policy and for health services across the European Union and indeed beyond. This is a challenge that can only grow bigger...

Dace Melbarde, Minister for Culture in Latvia gives thought to cultural policies in the country and why the concept of national culture is important. First of all, I have to explain that I believe in the concept of national culture and nation-state in the 21st Century. Among the theorists and...

Austin Brady, Head of Conservation at the Woodland Trust discusses the impacts of disease and pests on our woodlands, and how we can mitigate the risks. It’s now just over 1 year on from the day that the devastating disease ash dieback was confirmed within the ‘wider environment’ in the...

Efforts to make it easier for people to travel more sustainably are working, according to a new report. The door to door action plan published by the Department for Transport shows that efforts to make it easier for people to choose greener ways of travelling to and from public transport hubs...

Fresh action announced to protect forests and reduce green house emissions at COP19. Key international partners came together in Warsaw to announce fresh action via pledging $280 million to sustain the world’s forests. Via the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+) international partners aim to reduce Green House Gas...

Biobank networks set to multiply the access to the key resources for biomedical sciences. The systematic examination of human samples in combination with their medical data over the last centuries has established the basis for the growing progress in medical sciences. This has led to the dramatic increase in knowledge...