Today S Challenge Tomorrow S Change

At the dawn of the third millennium, we are confronted with a disturbing phenomenon: although global life expectancy still increases, this is not the case for healthy life expectancy! The explanation of this seemingly contradiction is mainly due to the rising prevalence of the new pandemia of chronic non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Even in low and middle income countries, the improvement in healthcare status and life expectancy is paralled by the increase of NCDs, as in all countries worldwide. Since the United Nations General Assembly held in New York in 2011, many publications have emphasized the close link between NCDs and nutrition. The NCDs epidemic forces us to reconsider the public health perspectives. Many governments, non-governmental organizations and other institutions are actively involved in educational nutrition programs and campaigns; however their efforts seldom obtain the results hoped for. It is extremely difficult to induce changes in lifestyle and behavior that have built up over a long period of time. However, it becomes urgent to adapt to our changing life-environment where traditional wisdom and intuitive choices are giving way to individual thinking and search for (often uncontrolled) information. This engenders a number of unprecedented challenges and it calls for a re-appraisal of the existing paradigms to achieve an adequate management of the upstream determinants of health instead of a (pre)dominant medical and hospital-centric approach. In the era of personalized healthcare, it is time to empower policy makers, professionals and citizens for achieving an evidence-based change in the health-disease interface and decision-making process for public health interventions. The scientific and professional society Health Technology Assessment International (HTAi) has recognized nutrition as a health technology (preventative) by creating a Interest Group (IG) dedicated to research on methodologies and assessments of nutrition-related public health, while taking into account contextual factors (ethical, legal, social, organizational, economic, …) in order to generate meaningful outcomes for establishing evidence-based health policies. This Research Topic aims to elaborate on some of the potential hurdles or guarantees which have to be overcome for the sake of sustainable healthcare provisions anywhere in the world, such as shortcomings in methodological approaches, regulatory frameworks, gaps between evidence, its hierarchy and final recommendations for public health management.

A groundbreaking exploration of the most promising new ideas for creating the sustainable cities of tomorrow The culmination of a four-year collaborative research project undertaken by leading UK universities, in partnership with city authorities, prominent architecture firms, and major international consultants, Retrofitting Cities for Tomorrow's World explores the theoretical and practical aspects of the transition towards sustainability in the built environment that will occur in the years ahead. The emphasis throughout is on emerging systems innovations and bold new ways of imagining and re-imagining urban retrofitting, set within the context of ‘futures-based’ thinking. The concept of urban retrofitting has gained prominence within both the research and policy arenas in recent years. While cities are often viewed as a source of environmental stress and resource depletion they are also hubs of learning and innovation offering enormous potential for scaling up technological responses. But city-level action will require a major shift in thinking and a scaling up of positive responses to climate change and the associated threats of environmental and social degradation. Clearly the time has come for a more coordinated, planned, and strategic approach that will allow cities to transition to a sustainable future. This book summarizes many of the best new ideas currently in play on how to achieve those goals. Reviews the most promising ideas for how to approach planning and coordinating a more sustainable urban future by 2050 through retrofitting existing structures Explores how cities need to govern for urban retrofit and how future urban transitions and pathways can be managed, modeled and navigated Offers inter-disciplinary insights from international contributors from both the academic and professional spheres Develops a rigorous conceptual framework for analyzing existing challenges and fostering innovative ways of addressing those challenges Retrofitting Cities for Tomorrow's World is must-reading for academic researchers, including postgraduates insustainability, urban planning, environmental studies, economics, among other fields. It is also an important source of fresh ideas and inspiration for town planners, developers, policy advisors, and consultants working within the field of sustainability, energy, and the urban environment.

This document reports the oral and written testimony submitted at a Congressional hearing on ways in which the government, business, and industry are working to improve the competitiveness of the U.S. work force through education and training initiatives. Witnesses included the following: U.S. Secretary of Labor Robert Reich; U.S. Department of Education Assistant Secretary David Longanecker; Thomas Bailey, Columbia University Institute on Education and the Economy; Howard Rosen, Competitiveness Policy Council; Howard Samuel, Council on Competitiveness; Stanley Litow, IBM Foundation; Roberts Jones, National Alliance of Business; Leo Reddy, National Coalition for Advanced Manufacturing; and Sanford Weill, Travelers Group, New York. Their testimony focused on the need for national policy initiatives to reform schools and job training to produce a competitive work force with the skills needed for the next century. They suggested earlier emphasis on acquiring skills needed on the job, more focus on career education at earlier grades, and the necessity for employer input into the school mission. Programs that are fulfilling these ideals were described and the necessity for more collaborative efforts was emphasized. (KC)

To meet ever-changing technological, global, and workforce demands, successful companies are turning to reskilling and upskilling. These strategies are cost-effective, less risky than traditional methods, and lead to better outcomes. In this issue of TD at Work, Ben Eubanks: · emphasizes the importance of reskilling and upskilling your workforce · provides case studies of employers who have tackled this challenge · demonstrates how to reskill and upskill your employees.