Project Risk Management Plan Essay Example for Free

Project Risk Management Plan Essay First of all we identify our project risks, which are let us know what to expect in the future and how to act during the problem. 1) Risks identification We highlighted couple categories of risks, which are most important to be ready against them. Procedural and technical failures – from failures of internal systems and control errors, organization, fraud, technical failures. Such as non- responding servers, any mistakes in the internal systems, broken servers, late updates, missing information, etc. Human – from individuals or organizations, illness, death. For example if the main IT person do not work cause the illness, we have to be ready to have any other backup to take action if needed. Operational – loss of control of organizational operations. Reputational – damage to reputation in the market. Such as customers dissatisfaction of the slow app working. 2) Qualitative risk analysis – prioritizing risks for further analysis or action by assessing and combining their probability of occurrence and impact. Our project idea related with the internet, servers and so on, so our main priority looking into probability of risks are to ensure a well-functioning app without any errors and failures. As a result we have priority of our risks. 1) Procedural and technical failures 2) Human 3) Operational 4) Reputational 3) Quantitative risk analysis – numerically analyzing the effect of identified risks on overall project objectives. 1) Procedural and technical failures – could bring dissatisfaction of customers. 2) Human – slower working of the app, errors and  failures of the app cause the misunderstanding information of the servers. 3) Operational loss of control of the organization. 4) Reputational- dissatisfaction of the customers, stakeholders, suppliers, employees. 4) Risk response planning – developing options and actions to enhance opportunities and to reduce threats to project objectives To ensure well-functioning app we have to be ready for any risk and have a plan how to react. To reduce any threats we have to have professional IT specialists, have a great training system, that every employee would know basics how to react in any situation. The training system could lead to faster activities. Every department should be related with each other to get and know the newest information. Also we have to have backup specialists, which would help, if the other employee can’t work cause the illness. Also we can react using different strategies (depending on the risk situation) such as avoid-eliminate the threat entirely, transfer- shift the problem to the third party, mitigate – reduce the probability of occurrence or impact of a risk (adopt less complex processes, conduct more tests), or accept the risk before knowing all the details about that problem. 5) Risk control – implementing risk response plans, tracking identified risks, identifying new risks. Some employees have to be responsible for tracking identified risks, also identify new risks and be ready to act. Checking for newest information, threats and opportunities it is one of the way, how to control risks.

Gentrification of Urban Areas

Gentrification of Urban Areas Urban renewal is often lauded as a blessing by politicians and land developers; it is seen as a method of bringing economic and cultural growth to an otherwise stagnant community. It is a set of changes made in the hopes that new residents come in, more businesses open, and more capital flows into the area. However, redevelopment often results in the deconstruction and replacement of a pre-existing community, displacing the former residents and increasing their hardships rather than providing revitalization. Gentrification, the process in which more affluent residents move into a poorer area and change its social and economic dynamics, is a term that comes up in virtually every debate regarding urban redevelopment. In this paper, I will argue that the use of urban gentrification for utilitarian purposes is unfair and deceptive, and the Kantian idea that positive intent matters more than consequence provides an insidious leniency. I will show the detriment gentrification causes to loc al businesses and residents through examples from areas that have undergone the process, and compare the arguments for and against the practice; the effects of rising property values, the changes in a communitys businesses, and the changes in a communitys social makeup will be the main areas of focus. After the research is presented, I will explore the philosophical viewpoints of Kant and Mill, and contrast idealism with the reality that urban communities must face in dealing with gentrification. When affluent newcomers set up homes in a poor community, they often rebuild or otherwise modify the properties they buy; by doing this, shift the property values up accordingly. The property taxes and rent increase to match this up scaling of homes and apartments. These higher income families can afford these increased fees, and the extra tax capital flowing into the area generally pleases the local government. But for long-time residents, this shift in property values can be an unwelcome burden. According to an assessment conducted by Daniel Sullivan, longtime residents of a gentrified community tend to be poorer than newer residents. Consequentially, long-time residents often become displaced by the newer, richer residents. Koreatown, Los Angeles is a prime example of this consequence. In the study The Contested Nexus of Koreatown, Kyeyoung Park and Jessica detailed the changes the urban enclave experienced as restructured itself after the Los Angeles Riots. During the LA Riots, K oreatowns properties suffered damages that residents were hard-pressed to recoup from; many displaced residents abandoned the enclave altogether. Outside investment and urban revitalization seemed the only means to provide the relief Koreatown so desperately needed, but the researchers found its redevelopment paradoxical; while property values increased and the town experienced a remarkable recovery, established residents found themselves out on the streets because they were unable to afford the new rents and fees. These residents were mostly local workers making minimum wage salaries, who suddenly found their apartment complexes being bought out by development companies; the buildings would be renovated and refurbished, and the rents would be double the original cost. Gentrification had compounded the displacement of the original community instead of helping them get back on their feet. From the point of view of the established community, it is difficult to say that urban renewal p rovided any social good for them; they had been swapped out in favor of newer residents. As new higher-income residents come in, the types of businesses in the area change as well. These residents have more disposable income and the sorts of goods and services they desire differ from the other residents. The concentration of professional services and retail stores increase, while smaller, local businesses go into decline (Park and Kim, 2008). To meet with the demands of a changing community, some services become overabundant to the point of instability; local business owners find themselves lacking the resources to stay competitive and go out of business, resulting in further displacement of the established community versus the incoming community. In their study, Park and Kim stated there was over-saturation of pool halls, internet cafes, karaoke bars, night clubs, room salons, and liquor stores in Koreatown; while this gives the consumer more choice, the competition makes for a very hostile and unforgiving business environment. The new stores and services can oftentimes be inaccessible to the established residents, in terms of affordability and focus; it is a form of market positivism that takes only the concerns of the affluent into account. When Koreatown was redeveloped, the new services were centered towards attracting people to the nightlife with bars, clubs, and high-class restaurants; while these businesses were popular out-of-towners and the affluent, the majority of the local community had no use for such extravagant locales. Babylon Court, an upscale shopping center located in Hollywood, is also an example of dissonance between business and the community. The shopping center is a popular location for the upper class with its expensive retail stores and famous theaters, but it stand in stark contrast to the surrounding community of the homeless and relatively poor who cannot afford the offering of Babylon Court (Curtio, Davenport, and Jackiewicz, 2007). Once again, the machinations of the gentrification process have not helped the communi ty, but hampered it; outside investment and new businesses that were suppose to breathe life into a struggling community have instead alienated and beleaguered the long-time residents. When renewal is enacted for the good of a community, the existing community is seldom the beneficiary; instead, the community is steadily changed and replaced so that revitalization is a result of a new populace. Increased diversification and social mixture does not occur, but replacement and segregation are often the result when dealing with gentrification. In Gentrification and Social Mixing, Loretta Lees stated that middle newcomers into urban communities self-segregated themselves even though they polled in favor of diversity in a neighborhood. This process of gentrification is regularly aided by social policies created by the state. One example of that occurrence is Cabrini Green in Chicago. In 1994, it qualified the worst case of public housing in the US, and was subsequently given $50 million to redevelop; the demolition and vouchering out that followed displaced a significant portion of low-income tenants and recreated the community as a middle class neighborhood (Lees, 2008) . The UK developed similar policies; the London Borough of Brent New Deal for Communities project funded the demolition of tower blocks and created over 1500 privately owned units, but at the loss of 800 publicly owned units (Atkinson, 2008), displacing low-income residents. The pre-existing community is pushed out by the changes in the local economy, and an ever so subtle social cleansing takes place, while policy makers flaunt their love of social utility and the public good and claim they are alleviating the poverty of urban areas. A utilitarian action should result the greatest happiness for the greatest amount of people. J.S. Mill demanded empiricism in deducing what benefited the whole, but gentrification puts the happiness and experiences of distinctly different groups at odds. Does gentrification serve the happiness of the old residents or the new residents? Empirical examination of data tells me the old residents are simple refuse in gentrification and newer residents are primary concern. Is the greater happiness a matter of population quantity or is it a matter of population quality? Another empirical examination reveals gentrification is process that favors people of higher income, a matter of quality rather than quantity. My examination reveals gentrification results in the greatest happiness for the few, rather than the many. So I pose the following question: how does one justify gentrification as serving the greater good? Social policies advocating gentrification claim they have improved and revitali zed urban communities, when all they have done is displace the established low-income families to make it seem like they have reduced poverty in the area. This deception is something I take huge issue with; even Milton Friedman, a man who was likely supportive of urban renewal practices, spewed vitriol at using the excuse of social good to achieve a personal agenda. Gentrification in the name of social utility is a failure, but Immanuel Kant said noble intent matters more than consequence. However, noble intent is something subjective; what is noble to one person is not necessarily noble to another. The consequences of gentrification are dire and far-reaching and to excuse the process based on a subjective ideal is an indulgence too easily granted. In duty-based ethics, a person must consider his ideal as if it were a universal maxim; if it is contradictory, then it is a faulty ideal. Suppose everyone went around tossing people poorer than themselves out of house and home, destroying and rebuilding properties for their own use; this would result complete chaos, with people of all social standings in furious conflict with one another. Through policy making, proponents of gentrification have also reduced the idea of community to a region of a map rather than people; Kant would be taken aback by the lack of respect for the sovereignty of the indivi dual. Intent alone cannot save the policy of gentrification; it is something flawed by subjective agendas, and Kants objective ideals cannot be effectively applied to the realities of the situation. Gentrification carried out in the name of utilitarianism is a deception wrought upon troubled communities. It is too often that the promise of revitalization is made a cloak for a cleansing of a communitys social order. The residents suffer through a process of steadily increasing hardships and eventual replacement by the more privileged; its Invasion of the Body Snatchers, except with the bourgeoisie instead of aliens. With the increasing property values and magically disappearing poverty, statistics are made reinforce the idea that gentrification works wonders for communities. I cannot properly express my disdain for this sinister sort of planning; it is a type of dastardly deed fit for villains with long mustaches, twiddling fingers, and large hats. While I would vastly prefer investment and invigoration that allowed a community to become self-sufficient by its own efforts, I would simply settle for the sham of social good to be dropped from the pitch. If youre going to wipe out a nd rebuild a community, call it for what it is; theyre probably too poor and helpless to stop you. Works Cited Atkinson,Rowland. Commentary: Gentrification, Segregation and the Vocabulary of Affluent Residential Choice. Urban Studies V. 45 No. 12 (November 2008) P. 2626-36, 45.12 (2008): 2626-2636. Sullivan,Daniel Monroe. Reassessing Gentrification. Urban Affairs Review, 42.4 (2007): 583-592. Lees,Loretta. Gentrification and Social Mixing: Towards an Inclusive Urban Renaissance?. Urban Studies V. 45 No. 12 (November 2008) P. 2449-70, 45.12 (2008): 2449-2470. Curti,Giorgio Hadi, John Davenport, and Edward Jackiewicz. Concrete Babylon: Life Between the Stars. Yearbook of the Association of Pacific Coast Geographers, 69 (2007): 45-73. Park,Kyeyoung, and Jessica Kim. The Contested Nexus of Los Angeles Koreatown: Capital Restructuring, Gentrification, and Displacement. Amerasia Journal V. 34 No. 3 (2008) P. 126-50, 34.3 (2008): 126-150.

Everyone Has a Dream :: miscellaneous

Most people have some kind of hopes or dreams. Hopes are â€Å"desires accompanied by expectations of fulfillment, they are one that give promises to the future.† ( The Merriam Webster Dictionary, page 367). Dreams are â€Å"notable for their beauty, excellence, and/or enjoyable quality.† ( The Merriam Webster Dictionary, pages 234-235). However, these dreams are many times thwarted by many obstacles along the way, as happens to George and Lennie’s in John Steinback’s novel, Of Mice and Men. George promises Lennie’s aunt Clara, right before she dies, that he will take care of Lennie, and that they will always be together. During the 1930’s, people like Lennie, who has a mental handicap, and black’s, such as Crooks, the stable man, are discriminated. During this time, also known as the Great Depression, barn workers like George and Lennie would go around looking for work at a ranch. Very few Americans owned land, and only rarely did they have any freedom. George and Lennie want to buy a piece of land. To George this symbolizes his freedom, he will then be able to control his destiny, yet to Lennie, it means he will be able to tend the rabbits, and therefor pet them as much as he likes. Steinback expresses some of man’s hopes and dreams through the main characters actions. George and Lennie live in hope that their own, very particular dream, will one day come true. They hope they will work enough to earn the sufficient amount of money needed for their piece of land. The land is important to them because it symbolizes their liberty, their independence. From the moment they buy the land and on, they become independent human beings. They stop depending on whether they have a job, on whether they have enough food amongst other things. They dream of building a small house on this land, and on having a small farm with chickens and rabbits and cows. Lennie’s greatest dream is being able to tend the rabbits. Whenever Lennie does anything wrong, instead of thinking of the consequences that may follow, he only thinks of not being able to tend the rabbits when they acquire their new home. Lennie tries not upset George, because when he does, George threatens not to let him tend the rabbits. George, on the other hand, dreams on living a self sufficient life off the money and food they can make off the land and the animals.

Lloyds TSB - Employment :: Business and Management Studies

Lloyds TSB - Employment The employees of a business are extremely important to their success. If a company's workforce is functioning efficiently then costs can be cut, customer complaints will be reduced or handled with better answers. If someone is enjoying his work, that they feel they are going somewhere within the company. Things such as incentives will improve the quality of the staffs' service. Quality is always needed, if a company gets well known for it's excellent quality then it is on the road to success. As long as the company is able to at least break even. Lloyds TSB is a bank where they are trying to revolutionise banking. In recent years ATM machines have been brought in to most major streets in England. People rarely need to go into the banks these days, so the need for employees in the banks has been reduced. However, Lloyds TSB still has a large amount of employees and stakeholders in Britain. Social Marketing It is now widely agreed that companies need to have a more active approach towards their relationships with the parts of the community they serve. This is known as corporate social responsibility and centres on trying to show a positive commitment to its stakeholders and society. Social marketing is a new version of the traditional marketing systems and concentrates on:  · producing the right products  · producing at the right time  · producing in the right place  · producing at the right price But to these it adds a social dimension. It means that corporate investment will not only promote business objectives - it will also support the community within which these objectives are aimed. The golden rules of social marketing: 1. Reflect the core values of your brands. So any causes the product is related to must be obvious to consumers and must have a visible truth factor attached. 2. Consumers must see a balance between commercial and social benefits. Customers accept the profit motive but also like to see a community benefit coming from an enterprise. 3. Keep to a single, frequently expressed, theme/image. By sticking to one socially responsible image the consumers will begin to relate the company with that issue. 4. Integrate the social theme into every part of the corporation. 5. Involve customers and employees. A successful social marketing strategy connects the employees with the customers by developing common themes. Frequent questioning of both parts of the target audience is essential. Success in handling the above will assist in the;

Origins of The Beauty Myth :: Naomi Wolf, The Beauty Myth

Naomi Wolf's "The Beauty Myth," discusses the impact of our male-dominated society upon women. Wolf argues that women's most significant problems associated with societal pressures are a "fairly recent invention," dating back to the 1970s (6). She explains that women have "breached the power structure" by acquiring rights equal to men in areas such as, education, professional careers, and voting. As a result, Wolf suggests that the "beauty myth" is the "last one remaining of the old feminine ideologies that still has the power to control those women" (3). Considering that the beauty myth is women's last battle, the struggle is increasingly more difficult. Wolf claims that women are currently experiencing "a violent backlash against feminism," noting the recent rise in eating disorders, cosmetic surgery, and objectification of women's bodies (3,2). While Wolf accurately defines the beauty myth, she incorrectly states that eating disorders, cosmetic surgery, and pornography are recent issues, resulting from an intentional "backlash" against women's rights. Wolf utilizes the term "the beauty myth" to demonstrate that the interpretation of beauty is a creation of society, intended to keep women trapped inside their bodies. Wolf claims that the beauty myth "is not about women at all." She explains, "it is about men's institutions and institutional power" (5). In addition, she claims that women have recently obtained numerous rights, which now threaten "to destabilize the institutions on which a male-dominated culture has depended." She continues to explain that "a collective panic reaction [†¦] has forced a demand for counter images" (8). Clearly, society as a whole does create pressure on women to act in a certain manner. However, Wolf's implication that it is an intentional, organized effort to keep women oppressed is one-sided and extreme. While Wolf fails to conclusively prove that the beauty myth is an organized group effort, she is certainly correct in her explanation of the symptoms associated with the beauty myth: There is a secret "underlife" poisoning our freedom; infused with notions of beauty, it is a dark vein of self-hatred, physical obsessions, terror of aging, and dread of lost control. (3) According to Laura Shapiro, a notable researcher on eating disorders, the medical condition of anorexia consists of several elements. By definition, anorexia nervosa is a condition characterized by intense fear of gaining weight or becoming obese, as well as a distorted body image, and a feeling of loss of control (Shapiro 69). Origins of The Beauty Myth :: Naomi Wolf, The Beauty Myth Naomi Wolf's "The Beauty Myth," discusses the impact of our male-dominated society upon women. Wolf argues that women's most significant problems associated with societal pressures are a "fairly recent invention," dating back to the 1970s (6). She explains that women have "breached the power structure" by acquiring rights equal to men in areas such as, education, professional careers, and voting. As a result, Wolf suggests that the "beauty myth" is the "last one remaining of the old feminine ideologies that still has the power to control those women" (3). Considering that the beauty myth is women's last battle, the struggle is increasingly more difficult. Wolf claims that women are currently experiencing "a violent backlash against feminism," noting the recent rise in eating disorders, cosmetic surgery, and objectification of women's bodies (3,2). While Wolf accurately defines the beauty myth, she incorrectly states that eating disorders, cosmetic surgery, and pornography are recent issues, resulting from an intentional "backlash" against women's rights. Wolf utilizes the term "the beauty myth" to demonstrate that the interpretation of beauty is a creation of society, intended to keep women trapped inside their bodies. Wolf claims that the beauty myth "is not about women at all." She explains, "it is about men's institutions and institutional power" (5). In addition, she claims that women have recently obtained numerous rights, which now threaten "to destabilize the institutions on which a male-dominated culture has depended." She continues to explain that "a collective panic reaction [†¦] has forced a demand for counter images" (8). Clearly, society as a whole does create pressure on women to act in a certain manner. However, Wolf's implication that it is an intentional, organized effort to keep women oppressed is one-sided and extreme. While Wolf fails to conclusively prove that the beauty myth is an organized group effort, she is certainly correct in her explanation of the symptoms associated with the beauty myth: There is a secret "underlife" poisoning our freedom; infused with notions of beauty, it is a dark vein of self-hatred, physical obsessions, terror of aging, and dread of lost control. (3) According to Laura Shapiro, a notable researcher on eating disorders, the medical condition of anorexia consists of several elements. By definition, anorexia nervosa is a condition characterized by intense fear of gaining weight or becoming obese, as well as a distorted body image, and a feeling of loss of control (Shapiro 69).

What are top ten environmental problem Essay

Listing the top 10 of a group is always appealing. Ten most-wanted fugitives by the FBI. Top ten songs, books, and best-dressed celebrities. And David Letterman, with his list of items such as Top Ten Reasons You Are Not Looking Forward to the NBA Playoffs. So why not list the top ten environmental problems facing America and the world? I asked two dozen ecology graduate students what their list would be. If anyone knows what the real threats are, these people will: their opinions are science-based, not emotional. Using the Letterman approach of reading the list from 10 to 1, I present the top ten environmental problems in order of increasing importance. The total number of major problems identified by the people I asked ended up to be more than 10. Not surprisingly, some of the perceived problems are similar and interconnect, so I consolidated the students’ lists to end up with the magic number 10. 10. Invasive plants and animals. The problems resulting from fire ants, Burmese pythons in the Everglades, and many more regional environmental problems have a human origin related to the introduction of exotic species. 9. Global climate change. Although â€Å"global warming† receives a lot of press, University of Georgia graduate student Brian Todd pointed out that â€Å"the global climate for the past 4 billion years has been one marked by change and relative instability. The problem we face today is the crippled ability of many ecosystems to appropriately respond to climate change as they have for the past 65 million years because we have already compromised the environment in other ways.† 8. Pollution of marine habitats. See more:  Masters of Satire: John Dryden and Jonathan Swift Essay The oceans are huge, but overharvesting and the degradation of marine environments are proceeding at a steady rate around the world, including a commercially extinct codfish industry and disappearing coral reefs along our own coasts. 7. Air pollution. Uncontrolled releases by industry and the excessive use of fossil fuels have led to acid rain, dissolution of the ozone layer, smog, and the general elimination of â€Å"clean air.† 6. Unsustainable agriculture. The human world is dependent on food production, yet agricultural siltation, pesticide runoffs, and loss of natural habitats are constant threats to a healthy environment. 5. Threat of disease. Bird flu, West Nile virus, and mad cow disease are examples of how we could be affected overnight by unseen enemies, all a consequence of human overcrowding, overconsumption, and invasive species. 4. Water quality and quantity. Sewage from cities, unregulated releases from industrial and agricultural sites, and dumping of wastes in the oceans collectively exacerbate the worldwide problem of water pollution. Overuse of groundwater in many coastal regions leading to saltwater intrusion is a looming specter. Water wars are now a reality in the western states and even in the wetter Southeast, as evidenced in the court cases involving Alabama, Georgia, and Florida. 3. Habitat loss, fragmentation, and degradation. The loss of natural habitats because of human development and deforestation is viewed by most as the major cause of the decline in biodiversity nationally and globally. Many species are on an inexorable path toward extinction because their native habitats are gone or despoiled. 2. Human overpopulation. Most of the students ranked unchecked human population growth, which leads to overconsumption and associated world poverty, as their top culprit of environmental problems. Virtually every problem from 3 through 10 can be traced back to our simply having too many people for the resources available. Until political and religious leaders have the courage to realistically address the issue of birth control on a global scale, most of our environmental problems will worsen before they get better. 1. Apathy. Dean Croshaw, a graduate student from the University of New Orleans, offered what I rank as the number one environmental problem. A clear indicator of our foremost problem is that world leaders seldom acknowledge, let alone propose solutions to, environmental problems. For those leaders around the world chosen by a democratic election process, that apathy is condoned and mimicked by the people who elect them. A major difference between David Letterman’s lists and mine is that none of mine are funny. 1. Water It’s hardly surprising that on the world’s driest inhabited continent, experts are concerned about how Australia looks after its water. â€Å"We need to get smarter about how we manage water — that means everything from replacing our ageing infrastructure to ensuring we capture rain water when it does fall,† urges Kim McKay, author of True Green Life. â€Å"Most rivers in southern Australia are suffering from decades of over-extraction for irrigation,† says Dr Linda Selvey, Greenpeace Australia Pacific CEO. â€Å"This is being exacerbated by drought, and the pressure will continue as climate change takes hold.† Selvey and former Australian of the Year, Tim Flannery, are some of the many voices calling for urgent action in the Murray-Darling Basin, while the Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) continues to remind the public of the far-reaching effects of unhealthy river systems in general. â€Å"Blue-green algal outbreaks kill fish and make water unsafe for drinking or swimming, while salty water isn’t useful for anything,† ACF spokesperson Josh Meadows said. 2. Climate change It may be a global issue, but when scientists across the world are asked what the effects of climate change will look like, they quickly point to Australia. â€Å"Of all the wealthy countries, we’re probably the most vulnerable,† says Professor Will Steffen, executive director of ANU’s Climate Change Institute. â€Å"We’re locked in to another 0.5 °C temperature rise due to past emissions, but what we do between now and 2050 is crucial for the magnitude and rate of climate change later this century and beyond,† he says. While government assessments predict over 250,000 Australian homes may be at risk from rising sea levels, Greenpeace’s Selvey notes climate change will affect us well beyond our front doors. â€Å"Climate change also concerns security, the economy and justice. As a doctor, I’ve also seen the way it affects people’s health,† she says. The response, urges Professor Kurt Lambeck, president of the Australian Academy of Science, must be urgent and adaptable: â€Å"Reducing greenhouse gas emissions must be high priority, even if the full consequences of this are not yet understood,† he says. 3. Energy â€Å"We should be replacing fossil fuels with renewable power,† says Selvey. â€Å"It’s critical that the Rudd government act to help us with the transition. It can be done; all that is required is political will,† she says. Fiona Wain, CEO of Environment Business Australia, sees an opportunity in the coming energy crisis. â€Å"We have capacity to be world leaders in solar, wind, marine and geothermal energies. We have these resources on tap, but we’ve become lazy thinkers. Why don’t we do minerals processing and manufacturing in Australia using these energy-efficient resources?† Like Flannery, who believes a lack of triple-bottom-line accounting in government and industry is costing the environment, Wain says those in manufacturing need to shift their thinking, and fast. â€Å"It’s time to be thinking very big picture, so we need boards of directors that can think further than their three-year term of office,† she says. 4. Coal Tim Flannery is not the only expert surveyed who expressed serious concern over Australia’s 20-odd conventional coal-fired power plants. â€Å"We’re the biggest coal exporter in the world,† says McKay. â€Å"We may think our global carbon contribution is small (almost two per cent of global emissions), but it’s much, much greater than that due to our bulk coal exports to countries like Japan, South Korea, the Netherlands and China.† â€Å"It’s unbelievable we haven’t developed alternative, renewable energy sources on a large scale. We’re dragging the chain presumably due to short-term, next election-cycle thinking,† she says. While brown coal is responsible for much of our carbon dioxide (CO2), Wain believes we should be further investigating sequestration of the climate-changing gas. â€Å"Regardless of what else we do we’re still going to need to draw down CO2 from the atmosphere to get it to 350 parts per million.† Wain points to a commercial trial aiming to turn CO2 captured from coal-fired plants into algal oil (to produce plastics or biodiesel); and another trialling brown coal deposits as the base for soil fertilisers as two potential solutions. â€Å"There are consortiums of developers just getting on with it,† she says. 5. Biodiversity With 1500 land-based species threatened, what Flannery terms â€Å"the extinction crisis† is agreed upon as a serious environmental challenge. â€Å"We have already seen a fairly disturbing loss of our biodiversity, but the problem tends to get overshadowed by climate change, land degradation and water issues,† says the ANU’s Will Steffen. â€Å"There’s a whole suite of services we enjoy thanks to a biodiverse-rich ecosystem, from provisioning services like food or water, through to nutrient flow and pollination,† reminds Steffan. He believes our highly urbanised society only compounds the problem. â€Å"We are quite disconnected from the services our ecosystem provides. Aside from products like food or timber, we don’t see a value or price for these services in an economically focussed system. But Australia has an extinction debt building up, and the trend is not improving,† he says. 6. Oceans Despite knowing the problems faced by one of our best-loved tourist attractions, we’re still not doing enough to protect the Great Barrier Reef. â€Å"Rising sea levels and the impact of fertiliser run-off are damaging the reef. It needs more attention, because once it’s gone, it’s gone for good,† reminds McKay. As the ACF calls for a national network of large marine sanctuaries, and an Australian Oceans Act to regulate sustainable harvesting and production of seafood, Greenpeace’s Selvey highlights the current situation. â€Å"Seventy-six per cent of the world’s fisheries are in dire straits, and overfishing by commercial and illegal fleets is threatening to fish some of our favourite seafoods to extinction. If we continue on this trajectory all fish stocks will collapse within 50 years. Scientists say eventually we will be left with only jellyfish and plankton,† she says. 7. Population With Australia’s population projected to reach 35 million by 2049, commentators continue to express concern about the pressure this growth will place on resources. â€Å"It means more consumption, and greater challenges for providing infrastructure to manage our country in a sustainable way,† says McKay. While the ACF is calling for long-term strategies to meet and increase humanitarian obligations while reducing overall migration to more sustainable levels, the debate over ideal population continues. Experts may not see eye to eye on a figure, but most agree decisions need to be made. â€Å"We need to determine what our carrying capacity is† says Lambeck, â€Å"and how can we achieve a sustainable population.† 8. Sustainable cities With Australians using more water and energy per person than almost any other country in the world, rethinking how we live in and develop our cities is vital, says the ACF’s Josh Meadows. â€Å"We should invest in energy-efficient houses and buildings, and then export our ideas and the smart technologies behind them.† Lambeck says smarter infrastructure would go along way to addressing the issue: â€Å"We need sustainable infrastructures for transport, power generation and distribution that minimise the impact on energy, water and biodiversity.† According to Wain, there is huge scope for greater efficiency in our built environment. â€Å"I’m an eternal optimist, but we need to think at scale — not house to house, but street to street and suburb to suburb. We need solutions that are scalable, so they become more investable and bankable.† 9. Transport The perennial debate about lack of investment in public transport continues to frustrate many experts. â€Å"People complain about the per capita cost of investment in public transport, but it’s far cheaper than the cost of putting cars on the road. We’re not very logical in the way we think about these things,† says Wain. While the ACF points out that removing the â€Å"nonsensical fringe benefit tax concession† for company car use would shift many away from relying on their cars, Wain is excited by the planned roll-out of a national electric car network, beginning in Canberra within the next two years. â€Å"Programs like this could conceivably take all tailpipes off the road in our cities,† she says. 10. Ourselves While the majority of surveyed experts highlighted the need for government action, and fast, it seems the buck doesn’t stop there. â€Å"We elect our leaders and we have the right to hold them to account,† reminds Selvey. â€Å"We can pick up the phone to call our MP, write a letter, or visit them in their constituency office. Companies are doing it to protect their interests, we need to do it to protect ours.† Lambeck says educating ourselves is key. â€Å"We need a population that understands the issues, and can make constructive contributions to the debate to force politicians to develop longer than three-year ‘solutions’,† he says. What stands in the way, McKay believes, is apathy. â€Å"It manifests in the politician who would prefer to do the minimum rather than risk not being re-elected; or in business leaders who adopt a ‘business as usual’ approach to ensure their annual bonus. â€Å"It’s also in you and I ignoring the issues and hoping they’ll go away. I’ve seen people come together and change things, and I really believe we can learn to live in a more harmonious and sustainable way.†

The Relevance of Religion to Society

Throughout history, the impact of the Darwinian Theory has reimbursed the existence of all religions in major societies and has inevitably enforced relevance into the modern world. Religion is a set of beliefs imposed by the elders of society to implement the moral values necessary to preserve the society, which exploits a belief in the supernatural to administer â€Å"the rules. † In the modern day world, societies with religion are more likely to survive than those without religion because of the community, compassion, lack of anarchy or murder, family structures, etc. hich are reinforced through the morality and beliefs religions entrust. In a primitive society, without modern day methods of transportation of communication, religions could not encounter each other’s beliefs as strongly as it occurs in present times. However, a means of religion was that it was necessary to build societies stable enough to bring about the technological advancements needed to bring the se religious beliefs into conflict. Conversely, in the modern world, the deep set of beliefs in supernatural powers has deceivingly led people to cause more harm than good. This is because people are willing to fight and die to force their beliefs upon others in a time when science and technology have reached levels high enough to refute or make obsolete the claims of supernatural powers on which those beliefs are based. In Christianity, The Bible is used to help us succumb to the knowledge and understanding of God, however, we also need to continuously apply some of the normative and hermeneutics of the Bible in order to shed a better light on the understanding and evaluation of our modern culture. The literal application of every biblical text without contextualization or understanding is a pitfall we all need to avoid. Although, partaking in these acts is what considers our life in day-to-day modern society to be enriched and fulfilled in the love and care of our lord. This inevitably establishes Christianity to be an importance in modern society as it helps to indoctrinate the good in all beings surrounding us and in ones self. Much like Christianity, Buddhism also establishes a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama who is commonly known as the Buddha, meaning â€Å"the awakened one†. He is recognized by Buddhists as an awakened or enlightened teacher who shared his insights to help emotional beings end their suffering through the elimination of ignorance by way of understanding and the seeing of dependent origination and the elimination of craving, and thus the attainment of the cessation of all suffering, known as the sublime state of nirvana. Buddhists globally preach and also worship this enlightened religion to enrich their lives and many lives around them thus having an important relevance of that to modern day society. An example of such for religions in modern day society can be expressed through the uniform and selfless characteristics of one man, Bill Gates. Gates is an American business magnate, investor, programmer, inventor and philanthropist. Gates is the former chief executive and current chairman of Microsoft, the world’s largest personal-computer software company. He is constantly recognized as one of the wealthiest men alive. However, his what seems to be eternal richness is not all he is acknowledged for. Bill’s work in starting his very own globalized charity in which he donates excess amounts of money to is one of the many other feats he is known for disregarding technology. He unselfishly gives others a chance through donation, which have nothing to reason with. This truly comes across as an act of kindness, and also that of Jesus himself. If these acts can honestly swoop under the radar without becoming notable in day-to-day society, then that is when religion becomes much less relevant. Although, throughout our modern day culture, random acts of kindness and gestures never seem to go unrewarded. This then leads me to believe that without religion, or some sort of rightful justice or notability system, the world today in which we live in would merely crash and burn. This can be reasoned by the terroristic acts that occur daily around the globe. If religion were not alive today, it wouldn’t give the victimized people or country of an attack hope in a better future for tomorrow. In short, religion in modern day society is more relevant now, than it ever has been.