On 21 February 2008 Secretary of State for Transport Ruth Kelly invited the Renewable Fuels Agency to undertake a Review of the Indirect Effects of Biofuels. This was done in the light of new evidence suggesting that an increasing demand for biofuels might indirectly cause carbon emissions because of land use change, and concerns that demand for biofuels may be driving food insecurity by causing food commodity price increases. The Government has made clear that it would like the RFA to report back as soon as possible in order to be able to have the best opportunity of influencing EU negotiations on future biofuel targets.

Partnerships, Governance and Sustainable Development — Reflections on Theory and Practice (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2007)

edited by Pieter Glasbergen, Frank Biermann, Arthur P.J. Mol

With contributions of: James E. Austin, Jennifer Brinkerhoff, Derick W. Brinkerhoff, Neill Gunningham, Barbara Gray, James Meadowcroft, Philipp Pattberg, Steve Waddell, Bas Arts, Sander Chan, Aysem Mert, Ingrid Visseren-Hamakers

This volume discusses the emerging partnership paradigm in governance for sustainable development. Current debates on (global) environmental governance focus on the role and inclusion of private actors in policies for sustainable development and partnerships are one mode and conceptualization for such non-governmental involvements in initially state-dominated practices. Scientific research on partnerships within the context of governance theory is fairly new, and there is a clear need to systemize our knowledge base to further define the international research agenda on this topic.

Sometimes you read a book that makes you enthousiastic and makes you want to share it with others. If YOU have any such books that you would like to share, then please write a short book review of it and send this to e-news@sense.nl. This way you may also get feedback and exchange on your reading!

A book that has inspired me recently is called: Wikinomics - How mass collaboration changes everything. Follow the "read more" link below for my ultra short book review of it .. a new -omics on the block?

Ir. René Rozendal has made his SENSE A2 project effective by organizing a mini-symposium in the field of his research: microbial fuel cell (MFC) technology. One of the key players in this research field, Prof. Bruce Logan from the Pennsylvania State University (USA), was coming to Europe and had asked René Rozendal whether is was possible to visit Wetsus in Leeuwarden, i.e. the institute René Rozendal works for.

Again we may congratulate SENSE scientists with an article in Science! The tile: Biodiversity Effects on Soil Processes Explained by Interspecific Functional Dissimilarity, the authors: D. A. Heemsbergen, M. P. Berg, M. Loreau, J.R. van Hal, J. H. Faber, H. A. Verhoef The loss of biodiversity can have significant impacts on ecosystem functioning, but the mechanisms involved lack empirical confirmation. Using soil microcosms, we show experimentally that functional dissimilarity among detritivorous species, not species number, drives community compositional effects on leaf litter mass loss and soil respiration, two key soil ecosystem processes. These experiments confirm theoretical predictions that biodiversity effects on ecosystem functioning can be predicted by the degree of functional differences among species. pdf file

Environmental Sciences - Journal of Integrative Environmental Research Environmental Sciences The Journal of Integrative Environmental Research (ES) is an international journal providing an interdisciplinary forum for the publication of research into contemporary environmental issues. Full information is available at: http://www.szp.swets.nl/szp/journals/en.htm

Analysis and Fate of Surfactants in the Aquatic Environment

Thomas Knepper, Damia Barcel, Pim de Voogt (eds.) Elsevier, Amsterdam: 2003 Full information available at: http://www.elsevier.com/inca/publications/store/6/7/2/7/8/1/index.htt

The Environmental Economics and Natural Resources Group (WIMEK) is proud to announce the publication of the book:

Issues in International Climate Policy: Theory and Policy

edited by Ekko C. van Ierland, Joyeeta Gupta and Marcel T.J. Kok.

Issues in International Climate Policy is a comprehensive book which makes the complicated themes and issues accessible to a wider audience. It will be invaluable reading for all scientists and policymakers with a serious interest in climate change and the negotiation process.

New book on the history of environmental science:

"Hoe milieukunde geschiedenis werd - demarcatie van een maatschappelijk relevante wetenschap 1970-2000"

(HOW DUTCH ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE BECAME HISTORY Demarcation of a socially relevant science 1970 – 2000)

by Bertien Broekhans (e-mail bertienbroekhans@zonnet.nl)

De academische zitting vindt plaats op 18 juni en begint om 13.30 uur in de Aula Major van de Katholieke Universiteit Nijmegen, Comeniuslaan 2, Nijmegen. Te zijnertijd zal de handelseditie van mijn proefschrift verkrijgbaar zijn via de boekhandel (ISBN 90 5710 155 6). English summary available in "Read more" below.

Pesticides

Problems, Improvements, Alternatives

This book is rooted deeply in the history of SENSE, because it is the final result of a grant awarded by the Vrije Universiteit to stimulate collaborative links in (then) new and promising Research Schools. As such the book is proof of a promise come true, because SENSE indeed developed into a leading Research School in environmental science. Several leading SENSE researchers, along with foreign experts, have contributed to this book. The book also testifies that multidisciplinary analysis can indeed be fruitful and enlightening. The persistent problem of pesticides in agriculture can only be solved by analysing not only agricultural production as such, but also innovations in agrochemical industry and socio-economic institutions (regulation and consumers). See book description, the preface, and the first chapter

Toward Solving the UV Puzzle,
by Jelte Rozema, Bas van Geel, Lars Olof Bjorn, Judit Lean, Sasha Madronich.
Science 296,1621-1622.(31 mei 2002).

Downloads are now available of publications by SENSE researchers in new special issue of Ecological Economics Volume 41, Issue 3, Pages 367-567 (June 2002): "The dynamics and value of ecosystem services: integrating economic and ecological perspectives".