The MIT Smart Cities research team’s car.
Architects and engineers rethink auto technology
‘Easy to drive, stackable vehicle for people to share’
Image: Franco Vairani/MIT Department of Architecture

It is not every day that a concept car re-writes the rules of more than 100 years of motoring. In development for four years by a team of architects and engineers led by William Mitchell, former head of the school of architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), as part of his Smart Cities research group, a new MIT car is borne of a complete rethink of people’s relationship with their cars in the ever-expanding cities of the future. (more…)

Amid global struggles to reduce poverty, protect the environment, and increase overall human welfare in developing countries, the concept of good governance has played a central role in the development dialogue. Theories on how to promote and maintain governance systems that are democratic, transparent and accountable are at the core of this conversation and have shifted substantially over recent decades. An event hosted yesterday by the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and the Brookings Institution gathered a diverse panel of development experts and practitioners to discuss the evolution of thinking and practice in the governance realm.

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Delivering real results on greenhouse gas reductions
	CALGARY - The Honourable Gary Lunn, Minister of Natural Resources, along with partners from Innoventures Canada (I-CAN), today announced funding for a project related to the initial development of the I-CAN Centre for the Conversion of Carbon Dioxide (CO2), at the Economic Club in Calgary.

Under the leadership of the Alberta Research Council, the Saskatchewan Research Council, Manitoba’s Industrial Technology Centre and a Quebec industrial research centre (Centre de recherche industrielle du Québec), the I-CAN Centre for the Conversion of Carbon Dioxide (CO2) will help develop microalgae systems that could capture up to 100 million tonnes of CO2 from industrial sources, (more…)

Increasing your use of public transit will help reduce traffic congestion and air pollution in our cities. Effective July 1, 2006, the Government of Canada is encouraging Canadians to use public transit with a tax credit on the cost of monthly or longer duration transit passes.

What is the tax credit for public transit passes?
On July 1, 2006, the Government of Canada began its program to offer individual Canadians a non-refundable tax credit to help cover the cost of monthly or longer duration public transit passes. Because it is a non-refundable tax credit, anyone who applies does not receive the money in the form of a refund. Instead, the amount claimed is multiplied by the lowest personal income tax rate for the year (15.25% in 2006) and then is deducted from the amount of tax owed for that year. Visit the Canada Revenue Agency website for additional information about how to qualify and claim the credit. (more…)

European Union environment ministers have agreed in principle to cut greenhouse emissions by 20% from 1990 levels by 2020.

The ministers, meeting in Brussels, also agreed to seek a 30% cut worldwide if matched by other developed nations.

The proposals, outlined by the European Commission in January, are seen as a key measure to curb climate change. The EU must still decide how to make cuts, allowing for a possible compromise with member states opposed to mandatory targets.

Hungary and Poland, who joined the EU in 2004, opposed making the cuts mandatory, diplomats said. Finland also reportedly voiced opposition to the commission’s targets. But German Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel said his country was prepared to go further and cut emissions by 40%. (more…)

A short video in support of Greenpeace’s Green My Apple Campaign. It intends to highlight the materiality of digital culture. Made by a friend of mine Chris Hamelin. We all have to do our part to encourage waste reduction, reuse and at the very least, proper disposal.

This is an issue of rising concern and is particularly close to my heart as I am a “techie” myself and although I love technology and all it’s interesting applications the waste is enormous. My personal experience with this was when I wanted to buy new ink for my printer and found that the price to replace my new cartridge(I would have refilled if it wasn’t equipped with a chip to disallow just that) was comparable to that of a brand new printer which is encouraging waste. (more…)