scholarly journals About this title - Geological Hazards in the UK: Their Occurrence, Monitoring and Mitigation – Engineering Group Working Party Report

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. NP-NP
Author(s):  
D. P. Giles ◽  
J. S. Griffiths

The UK is perhaps unique globally in that it presents the full spectrum of geological time, stratigraphy and associated lithologies within its boundaries. With this wide range of geological assemblages comes a wide range of geological hazards, whether they be geophysical (earthquakes, effects of volcanic eruptions, tsunami, landslides), geotechnical (collapsible, compressible, liquefiable, shearing, swelling and shrinking soils), geochemical (dissolution, radon and methane gas hazards) or georesource related (coal, chalk and other mineral extraction). An awareness of these hazards and the risks that they pose is a key requirement of the engineering geologist.The Geological Society considered that a Working Party Report would help to put the study and assessment of geohazards into the wider social context, helping the engineering geologist to better communicate the issues concerning geohazards in the UK to the client and the public. This volume sets out to define and explain these geohazards, to detail their detection, monitoring and management and to provide a basis for further research and understanding.

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-41
Author(s):  
David Peter Giles

AbstractThe UK is perhaps unique globally in that it presents the full spectrum of geological time, stratigraphy and associated lithologies within its boundaries. With this wide range of geological assemblages comes a wide range of geological hazards, whether geophysical (earthquakes, effects of volcanic eruptions, tsunami, landslides), geotechnical (collapsible, compressible, liquefiable, shearing, swelling and shrinking soils), geochemical (dissolution, radon and methane gas hazards) or related to georesources (coal, chalk and other mineral extraction). An awareness of these hazards and the risks that they pose is a key requirement of the engineering geologist. This volume sets out to define and explain these geohazards, to detail their detection, monitoring and management, and to provide a basis for further research and understanding, all within a UK context.


2005 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 183-204 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gary Warnaby ◽  
David Bennison ◽  
Barry J. Davies

The role of town centre management (TCM) schemes in the UK has expanded to incorporate a more overt and explicit focus on marketing and promotion. This paper considers the marketing/promotional activities of TCM schemes in the UK. TCM schemes operate at the interface of the public and private sectors. The implications of this are discussed, including the need for a consensual approach by a wide range of urban stakeholders, and the actual activities undertaken, influenced by the funding imperative under which such schemes operate (which impacts on the feasibility of certain activities and the efforts made to evaluate them). Comparisons are drawn between specific place marketing practice by TCM schemes and wider place marketing strategies.


2019 ◽  
pp. 176-183
Author(s):  
Shaun Bevan ◽  
Will Jennings

The UK Policy Agendas Project has collected a wide range of data on the policy agenda of major institutional venues in British politics and on the public and media agendas. This rich data source allows systematic and consistent analysis across institutions, and across countries, extending back over a century in the case of some agendas. The data provide measures of the policy agenda of the executive (the Speech from the Throne) and the legislature (Acts of UK Parliament), along with aggregate survey data about the public agenda (public opinion about the most important problem), media (front-page stories of The Times), Prime Minister’s Questions, and bills and hearings of the Scottish Parliament. Through its extensive collection of data, the project has enabled novel insights into the policy agenda of UK government, how it responds to shocks and external pressures, and how patterns of policy change and stability compare to other countries.


2016 ◽  
Vol 50 (2) ◽  
pp. 168-185 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon Wakeling ◽  
Sophie Rutter ◽  
Briony Birdi ◽  
Stephen Pinfield

This paper presents the results of a mixed methods study of interlending and resource sharing in UK public libraries, based on the results of a survey distributed to both senior library managers and interlending staff, and in-depth follow-up interviews with 20 respondents. We present an analysis of perspectives towards rates of interlending, the rationales and strategies for providing the service, the perceived value for money offered by various interlending schemes, the impact of the current digital environment, and views on the future of interlending in the UK. Our findings suggest that while interlending services are undoubtedly threatened by the drastic cuts to public library funding, and that demand for the service is more generally in decline, resource sharing is viewed by some as a potential means of mitigating the effects of increasingly limited acquisitions budgets, and ensuring the public library system continues to provide access to a wide range of resources for its users.


Author(s):  
Nicola Bateman ◽  
Peter Hines ◽  
Peter Davidson

Purpose – The lean enterprise model has been adopted in a wide range of industries beyond its origins in the motor industry. To achieve this there has been a considerable extension of the lean concept outside high-volume repetitive manufacture. The purpose of this paper is to present an in-depth study of the application of lean within the British Royal Air Force. It offers a number of new insights which have implications for the future development and adoption of lean in service contexts, and the public sector in particular. Design/methodology/approach – To illustrate the issues of application of lean outside automotive, this paper considers the adoption of the lean concept by the Tornado joint integrated project team within the UK Ministry of Defence. A review of methods of application of lean used within Tornado are studied. The paper considers how the fundamental principles of lean apply in this environment and how, considering these principles, methods of implementation should be modified. Findings – This paper finds that the five lean fundamental principles apply in Tornado but they need to considered specifically within the public service context particularly the pull principle. Hence the authors offer three propositions relating to the use of the lean principles of value, waste, flow and pull in the public sector, and one for perfection only relating to military organisations. Originality/value – This paper makes an important contribution by demonstrating that lean can be successfully applied, in a public service context, with only modest modifications to its core principles, principally about how customer demand (pull) is managed. The implication of this finding demonstrates that to be adopted successfully, lean must be adapted to its context and the lean principles need to be reviewed too.


F1000Research ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 1261 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Redfern ◽  
Sam Illingworth ◽  
Joanna Verran

The overall aim of public academic science communication is to engage a non-scientist with a particular field of science and/or research topic, often driven by the expertise of the academic. An e-survey was designed to provide insight into respondent’s current and future engagement with science communication activities. Respondents provided a wide range of ideas and concerns as to the ‘common practice’ of academic science communication, and whilst they support some of these popular approaches (such as open-door events and science festivals), there are alternatives that may enable wider engagement. Suggestions of internet-based approaches and digital media were strongly encouraged, and although respondents found merits in methods such as science festivals, limitations such as geography, time and topic of interest were a barrier to engagement for some. Academics and scientists need to think carefully about how they plan their science communication activities and carry out evaluations, including considering the point of view of the public, as although defaulting to hands-on open door events at their university may seem like the expected standard, it may not be the best way to reach the intended audience.


2012 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paolo Muntoni

The United Kingdom has always been receptive to the Danish composer Carl Nielsen. For a long time Great Britain was the only country outside Scandinavia to show interest in his works, which met both the favour of the public and the appreciation of critics. No other country has produced such a comprehensive list of articles, studies and reviews about Nielsen’s music. An overview of the commentaries on Nielsen’s most performed works, namely the Fourth and Fifth Symphony, published on two major British newspapers – The Times and The Guardian – documents how the opinion on his music constantly changed. Critiques range from an initial enthusiastic acclaim to a half-hearted appreciation, and later to revaluation and revival. An analysis of a selected work, the Sixth Symphony, sheds light on the breadth and variety of what can be now considered a well-established research tradition. Robert Simpson pioneered such research in the 1950’s, but it was during the last decade of the 20 th century that the most interesting developments unfolded. Despite the wide range of interpretations, it is possible to track within British research on Carl Nielsen some underlying features that, in interplay with other factors, can help to explain the composer’s popularity in the UK.


Author(s):  
Brendan Breen ◽  
Elizabeth Atherton ◽  
Steve Barlow

United Kingdom Nirex Limited (Nirex) is responsible for providing the UK with environmentally-sound and publicly-acceptable options for the long-term management of radioactive materials generated by the Nation’s commercial, medical, research and defence activities. An important part of Nirex’s responsibilities in developing these options is to build acceptance of its concepts through effective dialogue and engagement with a wide range of stakeholders. One of the options developed by Nirex for the long-term isolation of intermediate-level and some low-level from the accessible environment is to place these wastes in a deep underground repository, excavated in stable rock formations. The repository would remain accessible to allow future generations to have the choice of continuing to store the waste, or to dispose of the wastes by sealing and closing the repository. In conducting the scientific and technical research on this phased disposal concept, Nirex wanted its work programmes to take account of any public concerns with regard to radioactive waste and its management and proposed to develop its understanding of such concerns through public engagement. In October 2001, Nirex engaged an independent organisation to conduct a series of focus group discussions. Focus group meetings were arranged in 4 locations across the UK, selecting varying groups in terms of age, lifestage and socio-economic circumstances in order to engage a broad cross-section of the UK population. Each group attended two, 2-hour sessions on successive evenings. The first session was a general discussion of the issues of nuclear energy and radioactive waste. The second session focused on the more specific detail of the Nirex Phased Disposal Concept. Explanatory material was given to participants at each session. The work has provided some very useful information on issues, which the focus groups considered significant. The groups were able, in the short time available, to grasp many important issues and to provide their views across a range of technical areas. This work has helped Nirex to better understand ways of engaging the public in technical issues and to appreciate some of the key areas and concerns on the more technical areas associated with phased disposal. Several technical queries were identified, which the facilitators were unable to answer during the focus group discussions — Nirex has subsequently provided answers to these questions and made these available on the Nirex Bibliography. This paper describes the approach taken for the focus groups and outlines key findings from the work and some implications for Nirex in communicating technical issues to the public.


2004 ◽  
Vol os11 (2) ◽  
pp. 51-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ivor G Chestnutt

Background The evolution of the Internet has made available to the public vast reserves of information, and it represents a tremendous educational resource. However, it is obviously important that information directed at patients is readable and understandable. Objective This study aimed to evaluate the readability of patient-related Internet sites presenting information on dental caries, periodontal disease, oral cancer and mouth ulcers. Methodology Four separate Internet searches seeking patient information on these pathologies were conducted in May 2003. In total, 5127 sites were identified. Within each search, the first 25 sites identified as of relevance to patients seeking information were downloaded (100 in total), and the readability determined using the Flesch reading score and the Flesch-Kinkaid reading level. Results A wide range of reading ease scores was obtained, equating to reading ages from seven years to university entry level. The mean reading age of the sites evaluated was 10–11 years of age, higher than the estimated reading age of the UK population in general (nine years). Scores were broadly similar across different pathologies. Conclusions Practitioners and other members of the dental team involved in patient education should be aware that additional advice and support may be required to help patients interpret material downloaded from the Internet. Furthermore, those practices presenting educational material on their practice website should bear in mind the need to ensure that it is pitched at a level appropriate to the intended audience.


2020 ◽  
Vol 25 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. J. Pelkiewicz ◽  
S. W. Ahmed ◽  
P. Fulcher ◽  
K. L. Johnson ◽  
S. M. Reynolds ◽  
...  

Abstract For life insurers in the United Kingdom (UK), the risk margin is one of the most controversial aspects of the Solvency II regime which came into force in 2016. The risk margin is the difference between the technical provisions and the best estimate liabilities. The technical provisions are intended to be market-consistent, and so are defined as the amount required to be paid to transfer the business to another undertaking. In practice, the technical provisions cannot be directly calculated, and so the risk margin must be determined using a proxy method; the method chosen for Solvency II is known as the cost-of-capital method. Following the implementation of Solvency II, the risk margin came under considerable criticism for being too large and too sensitive to interest rate movements. These criticisms are particularly valid for annuity business in the UK – such business is of great significance to the system for retirement provision. A further criticism is that mitigation of the impact of the risk margin has led to an increase in reinsurance of longevity risks, particularly to overseas reinsurers. This criticism has led to political interest, and the risk margin was a major element of the Treasury Committee inquiry into EU Insurance Regulation. The working party was set up in response to this criticism. Our brief is to consider both the overall purpose of the risk margin for life insurers and solutions to the current problems, having regard to the possibility of post-Brexit flexibility. We have concluded that a risk margin in some form is necessary, although its size depends on the level of security desired, and so is primarily a political question. We have reviewed possible alternatives to the current risk margin, both within the existing cost-of-capital methodology and considering a wide range of alternatives. We believe that requirements for the risk margin will depend on future circumstances, in particular relating to Brexit, and we have identified a number of possible changes to methodology which should be considered, depending on circumstances.


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