Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe (Germany)

The escalating threat of climate-driven wildfires, land abandonment, wildland–urban interface expansion, and inadequate forest management poses an existential challenge to Mediterranean oak ecosystems, for which traditional fire suppression has proven insufficient. This paper presents a combination of integrated fire management (IFM) and closer-to-nature forest management (CTNFM) in a representative mixed Pyrenean oak (Quercus pyrenaica) forest at Quinta da França (QF), in Portugal. It is structured around three main objectives designed to evaluate this pioneer integrated approach: (1) to describe the integration of IFM and CTNFM within an agro-silvo-pastoral landscape; (2) to qualitatively assess its ecological, operational, and socio-economic outcomes; and (3) to quantitatively evaluate the effectiveness of two key nature-based solutions (NbSs), that is, prescribed burning and planned grazing, in reducing wildfire risk and enhancing forest resilience and biodiversity. By strategically combining proactive fuel reduction with biodiversity-oriented silviculture, the QF case provides a replicable model for managing analogous Mediterranean forested areas facing similar risks. This integrated approach supports forest multifunctionality, advancing both prevention and adaptation goals, and directly contributes to the ambitious targets set by the European Union’s New Forest and Biodiversity Strategies for 2030, marking a significant step towards a more sustainable and fire-resilient future for such Mediterranean landscapes.

Stay-at-home orders were introduced in many countries during the COVID-19 pandemic, limiting the time people spent outside their home and the attendance of gatherings. In this study, we argue from a theoretical model that in many cases the effect of such stay-at-home orders on incidence growth should be quadratic, and that this statement should also hold beyond COVID-19. That is, a reduction of the out-of-home duration to, say, 70% of its original value should reduce incidence growth and thus the effective R-value to 70%·70%=49%\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$70\\% \\cdot 70\\% = 49\\%$$\\end{document} of its original value. We then show that this hypothesis can be substantiated from data acquired during the COVID-19 pandemic by using a multiple regression model to fit a combination of the quadratic out-of-home duration and temperature to the COVID-19 growth multiplier. We finally demonstrate that many other models, when brought to the same scale, give similar reductions of the effective R-value, but that none of these models extend plausibly to an out-of-home duration of zero.

Wahrnehmungsvignetten entspringen einer phänomenologischen Methode der pädagogischen Praxis und Forschung. Sie schließt Wahrnehmungen, Beschreibungen und Reflexionsphasen für eine professionelle inklusive Haltungsentwicklung und Diagnostik ein. Die prozessuale Arbeit mit Wahrnehmungsvignetten fordert auf, idealtypische Muster, Kategorisierungen aller Art, Urteilsbildungen zu Prognosen zurückzustellen und genauer auf die individuelle und besondere Lage eines Menschen zu blicken. Der Band ist als Studien- und Arbeitsbuch konzipiert und umfasst theoretische Grundlagen, praktische Anwendungen der Methode und themenspezifische Übungen zum Wahrnehmen, Schreiben und Reflektieren.

<p>Central Asia is facing important challenges to coping with the adverse effects of climate change. Within the Glacier Lake Outburst Floods in Central Asia (GLOFCA) Project, funded by the Adaptation Fund (AF), UNESCO and the university of Zurich, in strong collaboration with numerous local partners, aim at reducing vulnerabilities of populations in the Central Asia region from glacier lake outburst floods. The project is divided into five components: i) strengthening capacity to monitor and assess glacier lake outburst flood (GLOF) hazard, ii) strengthening national and regional policies and approaches to address the needs of vulnerable communities, iii) designing and launching tailored early warning systems (EWS) and risk reduction measures, iv) implementing targeted demonstration projects and defining best practices, and, finally, v) facilitating knowledge exchange, stakeholder engagement, and communication. The fifth component cuts across all others, and across the full 5 year project duration, recognising capacity building as being essential to the harmonious and sustainable outcome of the project.</p><p>The core of the Knowledge and Capacity Building Concept (component five) seeks to be a well-rounded education and training programme tailored for communities, stakeholders, scientists, and universities. The essential aim of this effort is to set the basis for institutionalising the project activities, learnings and successes of the project, and ultimately enabling autonomous sustainability and scaling-up of the project by local authorities and communities. At the onset of the project, a needs assessment was undertaken via a questionnaire shared with key stakeholders. Based on results of this survey, local expectations and requirements were clearly identified. State-of-the-art methodologies will be trained, offering an insight into both licensed and open-source software to assist risk assessment and modelling. Ideally, novel methodologies will be developed and established as regional best practices. The sustainability of the capacity building outcomes is key and this is why an important focus will be dedicated to the coordination between the different stakeholders and a teach-the-teachers module. All capacity building material and project-specific output will be exchanged via a web-based knowledge platform, with information regularly communicated through classical and social media. All the activities will be organised in a blended format, using tools such as webinars, distance-learning modules, as well as in-presence classes, workshops and summer schools. Through targeted and timely interventions, the GLOFCA project will help strengthen key institutions, build community resilience, and establish the next generation of hazard and risk management specialists, with the skills needed to support sustainable disaster risk reduction in Central Asia.</p>