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Join us for a fascinating talk followed by Q&A with St Cross alumna Kristina Lunz (MSc Global Governance and Diplomacy, 2014) entitled 'The Future of Foreign Policy is Feminist - Insights from building a feminist start-up to change the status quo of foreign policy'. Kristina will discuss her work as a co-founder and co-CEO of the Centre for Feminist Foreign Policy - the world's first research and advocacy organisation promoting an intersectionally feminist and people-centered approach to foreign policy.

The article addresses current shipping problems. Though most problems can be attributed to the pandemic, other issues are noted that add to the frustration. Unions and US policy are the primary problems the author sees. Once the COVID hurdles are overcome, what's to say other problems still won't hinder the supply chain and what can we do about them. One place to start is the unions and their control over port operations and the other is trade policy--what will trade policy look like down the road.

A very interesting but lengthy read. The report describes a system for using foresight to develop EU R&I policy, which includes: - a set of future scenarios for different World Regions, - a mechanism for signposting relevant trends and - a process for assessing policy options combining standard policy assessment mechanisms with future scenarios. The regional scenarios include: ● China ● Japan, South Korea & Taiwan ● ASEAN ● India & its Neighbours ● Australia & New Zealand ● Russia & Central Asia ● The Middle East & North Africa ● Sub-Saharan Africa ● Central & South America ● United States, Canada & Mexico

"The wireless occupancy sensors market is expected to register a CAGR of 18.3% over the forecast period (2021 - 2026). Energy-saving has been crucial for growth in any economy, as a result, the government is also coming with several policies to save energy, which will drive the market in the forecast period."

This project has taken a broader approach to explore how different governments have developed their foresight ecosystems over time and to map the features that can support integration of long-term thinking into policymaking at the most strategic level. It aims to provide a guiding framework to build and sustain foresight in policy-making and to do so in a way that creates long-term impact from futures work. The School of International Futures exists to help policy-makers and business leaders improve the present and the future by using foresight and futures methods to make better strategic choices about the future, to improve the quality of their innovation and make their organisations more resilient by better understanding and managing risk.

DRIVER-SCARCITY The Industrial Revolutions improved living standards for people in most nations where technology proliferated.[1] Populations in modern societies are not overly concerned with accessing food or water on a daily basis. In particular, the availability of clean, freshwater is a reasonable expectation throughout the modern world. However, a growing lack of water ("water scarcity"), propelled by continued technological advancement and high demand, is creating a global crisis. This resource scarcity will change long-held expectations and demonstrate the capacity to disrupt the security and stability of entire regions. This Article examines the global state of freshwater scarcity[2] and the often-neglected linkages of water scarcity to economic, social, political, legal, and security consequences arising from disruptions, failures, or attacks on water access and distribution systems.[3] Our research concentrates on examples of the impacts of water scarcity from past and present utilizing selected examples from North America, the Middle East, South Asia, and Africa. We contend that poorly understood links between access to adequate water and national stability pose severe global security risks, especially if technological and policy correctives are not implemented to increase water resiliency and ensure availability and access.

NPR discussion on behavioral economist's, Sendhil Mullainathan, book - Scarcity: Why Having Too Little Means So Much, co-authored with Princeton psychologist Eldar Shafir. " Poverty, they find, is like a parasite, consuming mental energy that could be put to more beneficial use. "Put simply, being poor is like having just pulled an all-nighter," Mullainathan once told NPR. And that, he says, hurts their ability to escape poverty. As Washington debates sending checks to Americans and increasing the minimum wage, a new study offers evidence for how such policies could help eliminate poverty. Obviously, giving more money to people without much money helps them with money problems. But the study adds to a growing body of research that says that money really does help workers earn more money."

Countering a common point of view, Liberty Street Economics claims that on the policy front, physical distance from a bank seems not to be what keeps the unbanked away, and so motivating or compelling banks to open branches near the unbanked may not reduce their numbers. In fact, in the FDIC's 2015 survey, only 2 percent of unbanked respondents cited "inconvenient location" as the main reason why they did not have a bank account. Far more important reasons were "not enough money to keep in account," "don't trust banks," and "account fees too high." Those issues merit more attention than banking deserts.

The COVID-19 pandemic and killing of George Floyd along with other recent deaths of Black people at the hands of police have laid bare stark structural and systemic racial inequities and their impacts on the health and well-being of individuals and communities. While these events have brought health and health care disparities into sharp focus for the media and public, they are not new. These longstanding and persistent health disparities are symptoms of broader social and economic challenges that are rooted in structural and systemic barriers across sectors - including housing, education, employment, and the justice system - as well as underlying racism and discrimination. Amid this difficult time for our nation, the increased recognition and understanding of disparities could provide a catalyst for the challenging work required to address them.

Treasury's just-released Climate Action Plan establishes five priority actions to strengthen and build upon Treasury's climate resilience and adaptive capabilities: (1) rebuilding programs and capabilities that may have atrophied or stagnated in recent years; (2) addressing climate change impacts and vulnerabilities across the range of Departmental operations, including administrative, manufacturing, and law enforcement activities; (3) ensuring a climate-focused approach to managing Treasury's real property portfolio footprint; (4) enabling procurement management to fully consider climate change realities; and (5) providing, measuring, and accounting for a financial investment approach appropriate to the Department's climate objectives.

I mean, It's a fair question.

Article about the administration mobilizing some national guard troops to help with the supply chain issues. The idea is that truck drivers and others could be used to help free up some of the bottlenecks. The idea probably won't go far, but reflects the how important the current supply problems are to the current administratioin.

One-in-ten eligible voters in the 2020 electorate was part of a new generation of Americans - Generation Z. Members of Gen Z are more racially and ethnically diverse than any previous generation, and they are on track to be the most well-educated generation yet. But when it comes to their views on key social and policy issues, they look very much like Millennials.

A majority of Americans continue to say they see the effects of climate change in their own communities and believe that the federal government falls short in its efforts to reduce the impacts of climate change. At a time when partisanship colors most views of policy, broad majorities of the public - including more than half of Republicans and overwhelming shares of Democrats - say they would favor a range of initiatives to reduce the impacts of climate change

A summary of the 2020 election and what issues are important to the voters that participated. "Underlying the many policy disagreements between Biden and Trump voters is a more personal feeling of distrust and disillusionment that could make compromise all the more difficult."

CIPPEC is an Argentina-based independent nonprofit organization that works on better building public policies. The report presents four domestic politics scenarios: Many hands for little cake - Disperse power in exclusive societies. Cohesive and powerful - Integrated societies that have a voice in politics. Members only - An exclusive world with concentrated power. One for all - Concentration of power in inclusive societies and four Global Governance scenarios: Big foot in a local world Big Friendly Giant - big firms in a global scenario Small is beautiful The small under global rule

THis is an extensive look at seaports and anticipated changes in coming years leading up to 2050. One big factor it mentions is that existing ports will need more space due to increased volumes and climate change factors. More space has to be considered in planning. With more space for the ports to operate, more is likely displaced and that will have an effect on surrounding communities.

An article about emergining issues in ports. This doesn't touch on current problems related to back ups from COVID, but it identifies several other issues such as international considerations, environmental, port scalability, governance and volatility of demand. Interesting in that it touches on so many issues. While so many articles focus on climate change this touches on other areas such as port governance.

A national poll of America's 18-to-29 year olds released today by the Institute of Politics at Harvard Kennedy School shows that despite the state of our politics, hope for America among young people is rising dramatically, especially among people of color. As more young Americans are likely to be politically engaged than they were a decade ago, they overwhelmingly approve of the job President Biden is doing, favor progressive policies, and have faith in their fellow Americans.

"A landmark legal case is laying the groundwork for communities to sue parent companies for the damages of their subsidiaries... "The [supreme court] ruling, in my view, was a watershed moment in the accountability of multinational companies, and which would, in my view, most likely increase the ability of impoverished communities in Africa to hold powerful companies to account," said Charles Adeogun-Phillips, a former UNwar crimes prosecutor and international legal expert. "I also think that this will mark the beginning of a more regulated global environment in which subsidiary companies will be made responsible for human rights abuses, happening abroad.""