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Veröffentlichung Communication in a Human biomonitoring study:Focus group work public engagement and lessons learnt in 17 European countries(2015)A communication strategy was developed by The Consortium to Perform Human Biomonitoring on a European Scale (COPHES), as part of its objectives to develop a framework and protocols to enable the collection of comparable human biomonitoring data throughout Europe. The framework and protocols were tested in the pilot study DEMOCOPHES (Demonstration of a study to Coordinate and Perform Human biomonitoring on a European Scale). The aims of the communication strategy were to raise awareness of human biomonitoring, encourage participation in the study and to communicate the study results and their public health significance. It identified the audiences and key messages, documented the procedure for dissemination of results and was updated as the project progressed. A communication plan listed the tools and materials such as press releases, flyers, recruitment letters and information leaflets required for each audience with a time frame for releasing them. Public insight research was used to evaluate the recruitment material, and the feedback was used to improve the documents. Dissemination of results was coordinated in a step by step approach by the participating countries within DEMOCOPHES, taking into account specific national messages according to the needs of each country. Participants received individual results, unless they refused to be informed, along with guidance on what the results meant. The aggregate results and policy recommendations were then communicated to the general public and stakeholders, followed by dissemination at European level. Several lessons were learnt that may assist other future human biomonitoring studies. Recruitment took longer than anticipated and so social scientists, to help with community engagement, should be part of the research team from the start. As a European study, involving multiple countries, additional considerations were needed for the numerous organisations, different languages, cultures, policies and priorities. Therefore, communication documents should be seen as templates with essential information clearly indicated and the option for each country to tailor the material to reflect these differences. Future studies should consider setting up multidisciplinary networks of medical professionals and communication experts, and holding training workshops to discuss the interpretation of results and risk communication. Publicity and wide dissemination of the results helped to raise awareness of human biomonitoring to the general public, policy makers and other key stakeholders. Effective and timely communication, at all stages of a study, is essential if the potential of human biomonitoring research to improve public health is to be realised.& 2014PublishedbyElsevierInc.Veröffentlichung Transport and removal of viruses in saturated sand columns under oxic and anoxic conditions(2014)To protect groundwater as a drinking water resource from microbiological contamination, protection zones are installed. While travelling through these zones, concentrations of potential pathogens should decline to levels that pose no risks to human health. Removal of viruses during subsurface passage is influenced by physicochemical conditions, such as oxygen concentration, which also affects virus survival. The aim of our study was to evaluate the effect of redox conditions on the removal of viruses during sand filtration. Experiments in glass columns filled with medium-grained sand were conducted to investigate virus removal in the presence and absence of dissolved oxygen. Bacteriophages MS2 and PhiX174, as surrogates for human enteric viruses were spiked in pulsed or in continuous mode and pumped through the columns at a filter velocity of about 1 m/d. Virus breakthrough curves were analyzed by calculating total viral elimination and fitted using one-dimensional transport models (CXTFIT and HYDRUS-1D). While short-term experiments with pulsed virus application showed only small differences with regard to virus removal under oxic and anoxic conditions, a long-term experiment with continuous dosing revealed a clearly lower elimination of viruses under anoxic conditions. These findings suggest that less inactivation and less adsorption of viruses in anoxic environments affect their removal. Therefore, in risk assessment studies aimed to secure drinking water resources from viral contamination and optimization of protection zones, the oxic and anoxic conditions in the subsurface should also be considered.
Quelle: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/Veröffentlichung A consensus based vulnerability assessment to climate change in Germany(2015) Greiving, Stefan; Zebisch, Marc; Schauser, Inke; Schneiderbauer, StefanPurpose This paper aims to propose a collaborative approach toward an integrated vulnerability assessment to climate change in Germany that attempts to bridge the gap between scientific output and policy demand. Design/methodology/approach Conceptually, the approach follows the definition of vulnerability as used by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, but it has modified this basic concept. It clearly distinguishes between three time slices (presence, near and remote future) not only regarding the change in the climatic conditions but also socio-economic development trends. Findings The paper concentrates on the selected methodological framework, the collaborative research design and those preliminary results of the nationwide vulnerability assessment that are transferable to other settings. Practical implications A Vulnerability Network (̮Netzwerk VulnerabilitaetŁ) emerged from an applied research project commissioned under the Adaptation Action Plan of the German Strategy for Adaptation to Climate Change by the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety and the Federal Environment Agency. The assessment serves as evidence basis for the implementation of the German Adaptation Strategy. Thus, all relevant federal authorities and agencies are represented in the Vulnerability Network. Originality/value The approach is the first really integrative vulnerability assessment for the whole Germany, as it considers not only 16 sectors but also interconnections between these sectors and cumulative effects for three different time slices. Moreover, the normative component of the assessment was clearly separated from the analytic one. The Vulnerability Network as a whole has been responsible for all normative decisions to be taken during the assessment procedure thus ensuring a wide understanding and acceptance of commonly achieved results. Quelle: http://www.emeraldinsight.comVeröffentlichung Need for action: How to achieve a greenhouse gas neutral German transport sector(2019) Dziekan, Katrin; Lambrecht, Martin; Zimmermann, AnnegretVeröffentlichung Impacts of climate change on tourism areas in Germany: an overview of adaptation measures recommended and thier communication(2022) Wachotsch, UlrikeEnvironment Agency is continuously monitoring and evaluating these changes on behalf of the Federal Government in order to advise it on the necessary measures. Climate change will also affect the tourism industry and travel regions in Germany. Hence, temporary or permanent restrictions on business activities may occur, endangering jobs and incomes. The changes are much more visible on the level of the travel regions than on the national level. In a research project, measures for Germany that can be taken on the regional level to counter the consequences were identified through communication with stakeholders in the tourism industry and tourism destinations. Additionally, data on climate change are made available via a climate information system. This serves to raise awareness of climate change among stakeholders. © The AuthorsVeröffentlichung No climate-resilient society without a resilient transport system(2021) Glock, Jan Peter; Hartl, Richard; Krieg, MichaelTransport systems are a barrier to climate-resilient societies. Their crucial societal function to provide access is outweighed by the effects transportation has on society through its nexus with public health and the climate system. These range from greenhouse gas emissions via air andnoise pollution to accidents and reinforcing harmful sedentary lifestyles. Removing the barrier needs a transformative understanding of resilience as opposed to resilience as withstanding and adapting to pressures. This chapter entangles the relationships between transportation, public health, climate, and society in a nexus framework and explains why transport systems as barrier to climate-resilient societies will prevail as long as conventional approaches to change cause further lock-in and rebound effects. It provides an understanding of resilience allowing for transformational change. In addition, two approaches that contribute to transformative resilience are presented. Firstly, people-centered mobility puts humans and their needs before infrastructure and means of transport. This is a prerequisite for deconstructing transport systems as a barrier to climate resilience. Secondly, the pricing of externalities has the potential to completely change transport systems as we know them today, by closing the gap between prices paid for transport by individual users and actual costs incurred on a societal level. Transforming the transport sector needs to be a key element of any strategy to strive toward societal resilience. Without it, negative effects of transport systems can neither be avoided nor reduced in the required order of magnitude. A climate-resilient society cannot be reached without changes in transportation. © The Author(s)Veröffentlichung Benefits from critical review and communication(2023) Garvens, Hans-JürgenThe critical peer review (CPR) of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) studies is a task of value. The majority of benefits lie in the projects and are not realized from the outside. The effect to the outside concerns communication. A peer review can be conducted on various levels. As a measure of quality assurance and to assist the interpretation of results, it is already meaningful to ask some colleagues for their opinion. For credibility and reliability, external reviews are most suitable. The best option is to include interested parties, which will also support communication. Communication of LCA results need to be suitable for the respective target audience. Often results are over-interpreted or simplified too much. The publication of an assertion "A is better than B" is meaningless without some background information and some limitations of that statement. The background information and limitations are meaningless, if the target audience cannot understand them. © 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AGVeröffentlichung Optimized and validated settling velocity measurement for small microplastic particles (10-400 My m)(2023) Dittmar, Stefan; Jekel, Martin; Ruhl, Aki SebastianThe settling velocity of nonbuoyant microplastics is one of the key parameters to describe their vertical transport in water, yet it has rarely been studied for small microplastics (<500 My m) thus far. Respective measurements are challenging as they are prone to disruptive factors such as thermal convection. With decreasing size, it also becomes more difficult to handle target particles separately. Instead, it is favorable to work with suspensions-especially when characterizing particle populations based on sufficient individual measurements. This study establishes and validates a suitable measuring setup, which mainly consists of a precisely tempered settling column that is monitored via optical imaging with subsequent particle tracking. Comprehensive validation experiments with different spherical particles covering the desired size (10-388 My m) and density range (1.05-2.46 g/cm3) verify exceptionally high measurement accuracy and precision. Different investigation schemes were proposed and successfully tested for polydisperse and monodisperse particle samples, respectively. At elevated particle doses, measured settling velocities increased due to swarm effects and interactions between particles. A novel empirical model was fitted to represent those effects. The model can aid in limiting the particle dosage and thus prevent overestimations of single particle velocities. © 2023 The Authors