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- an SWM THiNKTANK article This year (2012) its 20 years since the Rio Earth Summit. Accordingly, its time to critically reflect on what has been achieved, what is pending, what are the success stories. Overall it can certainly be acknowledged that the awareness of the post-modern society regarding e.g. limited natural (but also social) resources, climate change, the inter-dependencies between economy, environment and human society has increased significantly. In terms of scientific progress a number of fundamental developments have been realised (e.g. the development of appropriate life cycle assessment approaches/impact assessment methods, etc.). Various economic developments, for example streamlined supply-chains (or supply webs), diversification and outsourcing, life cycle thinking, etc. have been implemented and/or refined. Technical improvements, e.g. profitable recovery of precious and/or rare materials, intelligent power supply systems, smart household appliances have assist...

-- an SWM THiNKTANK article In the wake of sustainability efforts of a number of other stakeholders, also the building and construction industry considers and (eventually) adopts sustainability measures. 'Green Building' is just one buzzword. But is "green" equal to "green"? A number of investigations suggest that the current state may merely be considered as a first step [ 1 ]. Building materials is one aspect. Energy- and water aspects are the "new" issues that require consideration [ 2 ]. Looking at the "blue issue" a number of water aspects are considered important to be addressed e.g. rain water harvesting [ 3 ] (follow -- an SWM THiNKTANK live debate about rain water harvesting ), fresh water supply [ 4 ], and water efficiency in general [ 5 ]. Pioneers in architecture even go one step further and consider the development of indeed intelligent buildings, almost smart buildings [ 6 ], [ 7 ]. Further readings: [ 1 ], [ 2 ], [ 3 ...

-- an SWM THiNKTANK article By today the project SWM THiNKTANK is two years old and it’s a pleasure to start the third year of SWM THiNKTANK with the announcement of the opening of the first two regional representations: SWM Africa   http://swm-africa.blogspot.com/ | LinkedIN: http://www.linkedin.com/groups?about=&gid=4252120 SWM Europe   http://swm-europe.blogspot.com/ | LinkedIN: http://www.linkedin.com/groups?about=&gid=4252098 Two busy years ago everything started with a simple, tiny kitchen-table idea and a quick check if a “SWM-Group” was already established on LinkedIN or not. Today SWM THiNKTANK attracts the interest of almost 2’000 stakeholders world-wide and experiences an averaged annual growth-rate of unbelievable more than 175%. In order to provide for a further successful and robust development of SWM THiNKTANK the implementation of a definite management structure (learn more on: http://swm-group.blogspot.com/p/about.html ) has been laun...

-- an SWM THiNKTANK article Download: server 1 | server 2 Summary In continuation of some recent debates [ 1 ] and documentations about recent water management practices in China below a quick survey is compiled. The aim is to provide an objective insight into the complexity of managing natural resources in large countries by addressing the current situation taking technical, economic, environmental and social aspects into account. Survey Roughly, China can be characterised by a rather water-poor northern part and by a more water-rich southern part (mountainous region). Typically, the northern part is subject to water shortages (mostly in spring-time) every 9th out of 10 years. Countrywide, every second year is reported to be characterised by water shortages. In 2010, however, the southern part of China was subject to a more severe drought (which typically happens only once every 100 years). Read more ... [ 2 ] Further Readings: [ 1 ],...