Abstract
I. Themes for future issues
II. The IPCC’s Fifth Assessment
III. Environment and Urbanization blog and website
IV. Discounted prices and electronic access for Environment and Urbanization
V. Medio Ambiente y Urbanización
VI. Environment and Urbanization’s impact factor
VII. Call for proposals for residencies and conferences at the Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Centre, Italy. Residency application deadlines: 1 December 2011 and 1 May 2012
I. Themes for Future Issues
assessing and mapping risk and vulnerability in particular cities and settlements (including informal settlements);
adapting urban centres to climate change, especially the role of community-based adaptation and the role of local governments;
city-based greenhouse gas emissions inventories and what these imply for action;
what the co-benefits between adaptation and development and adaptation and mitigation are;
addressing water stress and scarcity in urban development;
community- and city-based strategies to reduce risk from heat waves; and
lessons for climate change adaptation from disaster risk reduction.
This theme was recommended by advisory board members from Asia. This region now has more than half the world’s urban population, and the projected growth in Asia’s urban population between 2010 and 2030 is 841 million, which represents around three-fifths of the projected growth in the world’s urban population and total population. Perhaps too little attention has been given to the city and municipal governments in Asia that are seeking to reduce poverty and inequality and to work in ways that are more participatory and transparent – including working with the inhabitants of informal settlements. Environment and Urbanization has published many papers on this topic from Latin America but relatively little from Asia.
Here, there is particular interest in the impact of urban change on gender relations, and perhaps the impacts of gender on urban change. Possible themes include: changing urban labour markets; changing gender relations in rural areas and the consequences for urban migration; the formation of women-headed households in urban areas; the impacts of increased women’s representation and labour market feminization on the organizations formed by the urban poor; gendered responses to the current economic crisis; and the impacts of climate change on gender relations, roles and responsibilities.
II. The Ipcc’s Fifth Assessment
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is the leading international body for the assessment of climate change. It reviews and assesses the most recent scientific, technical and socioeconomic information produced worldwide that is relevant to the understanding of climate change and it seeks to provide a clear scientific view on the current state of knowledge in climate change and its potential environmental and socioeconomic impacts. It is “intergovernmental” because it is open to all member countries of the United Nations, and currently 194 countries are members. Governments participate in the review process and the plenary sessions, where main decisions about the IPCC work programme are taken and reports are accepted, adopted and approved; for more details, see http://www.ipcc.ch/.
The IPCC’s Fifth Assessment Report is underway. What will be of interest to readers of Environment and Urbanization is the more detailed coverage of urban issues in this assessment. For instance, in Working Group II, which is on Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability, there are three chapters on human settlements, industry and infrastructure (Urban Areas; Rural Areas; Key Economic Sectors and Services), three chapters on human health, well-being and security (Human Health; Human Security; Livelihoods and Poverty) and four chapters on adaptation (Adaptation Needs and Options; Adaptation Planning and Implementation; Adaptation Opportunities, Constraints and Limits; the Economics of Adaptation). For more details, see http://www.ipcc-wg2.gov/AR5/ar5-outline.html.
The IPCC’s Assessment Reports and a range of other reports can be downloaded at no charge; see the publications and data section at http://www.ipcc.ch/.
III. Environment and Urbanization Blog and Website
An Environment and Urbanization blog is being developed and should be online when this October 2011 issue is published; see http://www.environmentandurbanization.org/eandu_details.html. The blog will serve two purposes. First, to provide the journal’s Editorial and Advisory Board members and authors with the opportunity to write short pieces or comments; and second, to keep Environment and Urbanization readers up to date with new material – for instance, details of new publications as these are available (thus not having to wait until these are published in the Book Notes section every six months).
There are some features on the http://eau.sagepub.com/ website that may be of interest to readers:
Online First – where some papers are available electronically before they are printed;
Key Readings – recommendations on key articles;
index of the themes for each issue of the journal since 1989 – clicking on a theme takes you to the contents list of that theme; and
more comprehensive lists of “most read” papers (in the month just passed, based on the number of downloads) and “most cited”.
IV. Discounted Prices and Electronic Access for Environment and Urbanization
All papers published in Environment and Urbanization since its first issue in 1989 are available at http://eau.sagepub.com/, and all but the issues published during the last two years are open access – i.e. available free of charge. Printed subscriptions of the journal are also available at no charge to libraries or resource centres of universities or teaching or training institutions in low- and middle-income nations.
The publishers of Environment and Urbanization, Sage Publications, offers large discounts on subscription prices to charities and students and to all subscribers from low- and middle-income nations; see http://eau.sagepub.com/ and click on “subscribe”. With regard to getting access to the journal electronically, there are schemes for this covering most African nations; see Research4Life (http://www.research4life.org/). This includes Online Access to Research on the Environment (OARE), which has research journals on the environment including Environment and Urbanization (http://www.oaresciences.org/en/).
V. Medio Ambiente y Urbanización
The last 14 issues of this journal are accessible free of charge at http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/iieal/meda. An annual personal subscription to the print edition of the journal (two issues) costs US$ 28 for those outside Latin America; payment can be arranged by credit card through IIED (e-mail:
VI. Environment and Urbanization’s Impact Factor
The 2010 rankings of the most widely used journal ranking system, the impact factor (Thomson Reuters), put Environment and Urbanization second out of the 36 urban studies journals that qualify for inclusion and tenth out of 77 environmental studies journals. Its impact factor for 2010 was 2.224. In the SJR Scimajo Journal Rankings in 2010, Environment and Urbanization was the world’s top ranking urban studies journal.
VII. Call for Proposals for Residencies and Conferences at the Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Centre, Italy. Residency Application Deadlines: 1 December 2011 and 1 May 2012
Through conferences and residencies, the Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Centre supports innovations that change the way we address global problems, from urbanization and sustainability to food security, global health and many other fields. Here, people of diverse expertise and backgrounds come together in a thought-provoking, collegial environment that helps promote impact on a wide range of world issues.
The Residency Programme allows for work in a diverse and stimulating community of international fellow residents, who include scholars, scientists, journalists, writers, artists, non-governmental organization practitioners and policy makers. Residents work on projects in all fields of the arts, humanities, social sciences and natural sciences, and as urbanization is one of the Rockefeller Foundation’s issue areas, projects in that field are welcome. In addition to time for writing, creativity and reflection, building new connections and collegial interaction with other residents is an integral part of a residency in Bellagio; meals and informal presentations of residents’ work offer the opportunity for discussion and engagement with each other, allowing a combination of individual, focused work and connections with a diverse cohort.
Bellagio conferences establish new connections across disciplines and geographies; they encourage dynamic, small group interactions and promote innovative and creative thinking in a setting conducive to focused, goal-oriented work. Approximately one-third of the conferences that take place at the Bellagio Centre over the course of a year are organized directly by the Rockefeller Foundation. The other conferences are arranged by people and institutions that share in the Foundation’s vision to expand opportunities for poor or vulnerable people. For externally organized conferences, chosen through a competitive process, the Foundation provides the facilities, accommodation and some travel support at no cost to conference organizers or attendees. These selected conferences aim to contribute to our broader mission of promoting the well-being of humanity.
Residencies typically last four weeks and spouses/life partners may accompany residents. Team residencies for small groups of 2−4 are also available. Applications for scholarly and artistic residencies for the summer and autumn of 2012 have to be presented by 1 December 2011; applications for spring and summer of 2013 are due by 1 May 2012. Applications from practitioners and from conference organizers are accepted on a rolling basis.
To apply, and for more information, please visit: http://www.rockefellerfoundation.org/bellagio-center or download a brochure at http://www.rockefellerfoundation.org/news/publications/rockefeller-foundation-bellagio-center.