Suchergebnisse

Malnutrition among children of school-going age is a challenge of serious concern in developing countries especially Sub-Saharan Africa. Many programs focus on mothers and under-5-year-old children, leaving the school going age unattended. It has been shown that school meals can reduce school absenteeism, improve concentration in class and reduce early dropouts. In Tanzania, successful home-grown school feeding programs are localized in few areas but have not been scaled-out. The objective of this study was to analyze the policy and organizational environment which enables or promotes home-grown school feeding approaches. The study consisted of a systematic review, key informant interviews and focus group discussions in Arumeru and Babati Districts, Tanzania. In total, 21 key informant interviews with 27 participants and 27 focus group discussions with 217 participants were conducted. The results show that Tanzania lacks a clear policy on school feeding; there are no guidelines for school meal quality, participation in school feeding programs is not mandatory, leading to many students being left out and going hungry. Students in private schools tend to be better off than those in public schools in terms of provision and quality of school meals. We recommend that policies and practices are developed based on positive experiences of home-grown school feeding programs implemented in Tanzania by the World Food Programme and Project Concern International and emphasize that these policies need to be developed in a multi-sectoral manner. A conceptual framework for improving home-grown school feeding in public schools in Tanzania highlights four critical components: leadership and public awareness; operational modalities; contributions from parents; and meal diversity and nutrition. The home-grown school feeding model provides mechanisms to improve diversity of meals and their nutritional value, increase participation of communities and inclusion of students. Parents will still be responsible for the largest part of food supplies, but the model also requires participation of multiple stakeholders, and provision of natural resources such as land and water by the local government for production of nutritious food for young students. Minimum levels of social protection are recommended to ensure that no student is denied school meals.

The continued growth in demand for a relatively small number of agricultural and forest commodities in global trade has placed increasing pressures on forests across landscapes in the tropics and sub-tropics. These pressures are amplified by growing domestic demand in producing countries. Such trends have led to multiple environmental challenges linked to loss of forests and biodiversity and rising carbon emissions. They also create social challenges including threats to local food security, tenure rights and the livelihoods of indigenous peoples and local communities. Expansion of trade in forest-risk commodities over the past three decades has resulted in increased pressure from civil society organizations, consumers, international banks and shareholders of consumer goods companies to develop and implement a diverse array of instruments and tools to promote sustainable or deforestation-free sourcing, and as a way to reduce exposure to reputational, financial and regulatory risks. Multi-stakeholder platforms and commodity roundtables also emerged, in response to criticisms of government failures. The multiplication of sustainability initiatives has been driven by the growing complexity and diversity of conditions under which agri-food and timber supply chains operate. Private sector actors have increasingly defined and monitored their own sustainability performance by using certification standards or by developing their own procedures and criteria. More recently, a discernible shift toward landscape or jurisdictional approaches is seen as a way to meet sustainability goals. The growing complexity of policy regimes, inevitably, results in ambiguities and can lead to tradeoffs between gains and losses. This review presents a synthesis of the multiple public, private and hybrid governance initiatives that aim to promote sustainable supplies of key forest-risk commodities. It aims to make it easier to understand a vast and rapidly expanding literature. By drawing on the published literature and scientific discussions, including the recent FTA 2020 Science Conference, the review highlights some of the outstanding challenges that urgently need to be addressed in order to achieve the targeted impacts.

International audience ; By taking the subprime crisis as its historical fact of analysis and game theory as its theoretical explanatory basis, this paper aims to explain and demonstrate why Sino-African relations may well withstand in the ongoing "conservative-progressive power games" in Africa under COVID-19 wind, even though they are being further jostled by the "conservative's offensive". To support my central point, I start from the assumption that, as was just the case with the subprime crisis, the socioeconomic and financial dimension will once again become a compass [but also a barometer] in the decisions and actions of all the states at stake-the "conservatives", the "progressives", as well as the different African countries. Thus, the improvement of the socioeconomic and financial situation on its own territory will become the major challenge of almost all these states at stake. And China, which is less affected by the socioeconomic and financial crisis caused by COVID-19 than the "conservatives", will be well able to bear the costs of its increasing engagement on the African continent. Although a relative decline or quasi-stagnation of its engagement on the continent can be noted-but rather less than in the case of the "conservatives", due of course to the comparative shocks of this crisis caused by COVID-19 on their economic activities. In this same logic, another explanatory point is that, if Sino-African relations fall, a big hole will be left in African economies-because of China's pronounced economic integration in Africa. A hole that the "conservatives"-hit hard by this crisis due to COVID-19, will not be able to fill during this critical moment, in the sense of satisfying the demands of Africa-which is also hit hard by the same crisis. Finally, the game theory as an explanatory theoretical basis, via the five (5) points game, imagined in terms of gain on the African continent, according to the costs of "conservative-progressive engagements"-which are conditioned here by the socioeconomic and ...

International audience ; Faced with one of the irritations of daily lifelosing a piece of paper on which important information was written downthe author Clarice Lispector responds with an unusual question: "If I were myself, and I had an important piece of paper to keep, where would I put it?" (Lispector, 1984, p.228). If I were myself, how would I behave? What traits of my personality would remain, and by whom could they be recognised? The question of how a 'sense of self' is determined, of the experience of recognising oneself as an autonomous being, distinct from all others, becomes clouded under Lispector's pen: "I think that if I were really myself, my friends would no longer say 'hello' to me, since even my physiognomy would no longer be the same" (Lispector, 1984, p.228). This fragment of a chronicle reveals a theme which appears often in the work of the Brazilian writer, that of the audible and simultaneous presence of several voices inside what would be her own 'self'. Clarice Lispector writes from the perspective of a polyphonic experience of self. This is a polyphony that is never experienced as either a neurotic complaint, nor as psychotic dissociation, but rather as an event that enables her to construct of a singular relationship to language. Like Freud's memory on the Acropolis, which renders him conscious of the experience of two voices that 'express themselves' within his selfone which voices surprise at the very existence of the Acropolis, "just as we learnt at school", and the other that observes that same surprise (Freud, 1936b, p. 241)-Lispector's voices arouse her curiosity rather than anxiety. Knowledge of what it means to 'be oneself' appears in her work not as a precondition for existingor for speaking about her existencebut as a way of thinking that allows her to build a sense of self that is recognisable in its multiplicity. What would my life be, if I were myself? How would it be perceived by those around me? These two questions bring to mind the words of an analysand I have been ...

INTRODUCTION: Aotearoa/New Zealand (NZ) is officially recognised as a bicultural country composed of Māori and non-Māori. Recent estimations have projected a threefold increase in dementia prevalence in NZ by 2050, with the greatest increase in non-NZ-Europeans. The NZ government will need to develop policies and plan services to meet the demands of the rapid rise in dementia cases. However, to date, there are no national data on dementia prevalence and overseas data are used to estimate the NZ dementia statistics. The overall aim of the Living with Dementia in Aotearoa study was to prepare the groundwork for a large full-scale NZ dementia prevalence study. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: The study has two phases. In phase I, we will adapt and translate the 10/66 dementia assessment protocol to be administered in Māori, Samoan, Tongan and Fijian-Indian elders. The diagnostic accuracy of the adapted 10/66 protocol will be tested in older people from these ethnic backgrounds who were assessed for dementia at a local memory service. In phase II, we will address the feasibility issues of conducting a population-based prevalence study by applying the adapted 10/66 protocol in South Auckland and will include NZ-European, Māori, Samoan, Tongan, Chinese and Fijian-Indian participants. The feasibility issues to be explored are as follows: (1) how do we sample to ensure we get accurate community representation? (2) how do we prepare a workforce to conduct the fieldwork and develop quality control? (3) how do we raise awareness of the study in the community to maximise recruitment? (4) how do we conduct door knocking to maximise recruitment? (5) how do we retain those we have recruited to remain in the study? (6) what is the acceptability of study recruitment and the 10/66 assessment process in different ethnic groups? ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: The validity and feasibility studies were approved by the New Zealand Northern A Health and Disability Ethics Committee (numbers 17NTA234 and 18NTA176, respectively). The findings will be disseminated through peer-reviewed academic journals, national and international conferences, and public events. Data will be available on reasonable request from the corresponding author.

External Scientific Report. ; The 2nd ENETWILD Annual General Meeting took place on 5-6th October 2021, bringing together experts, stakeholders and ENETWILD collaborators in online workshop discussions. First, workshop discussions contributed to the analysis and proposal of approaches for a harmonized European-wide wildlife monitoring framework able of sustaining coordinated decision-making. Secondly, participants identified the key challenges that managers face in making decisions for wildlife in Europe and data needs for policies. Finally, we illustrated these challenges with the case of wild boar as a model species widely distributed across Europe. Inputs from the participants were collated into a plan of proposed steps and objectives for the mid-term (5-year time frame) to achieve progress on harmonised, coordinated, and integrated wildlife monitoring at the European level, which requires the contribution of experts from the early stages. Specific proposed actions include the creation of a trans-disciplinary authority at the European level, effective points of reference for data collection and sharing at different administrative levels and countries, a standing committee to coordinate and exchange experience and capacities on data collection between countries, and expert groups for problem solving, with proper EU financial support, establishing regular policy meetings. . To provide useful results, wildlife monitoring must ensure proper design and data analysis for subsequent science-based management and best allocation of management resources. The 'Observatory' approach (a representative network of intensively monitored sites) can provide long-term systematic and representative insights, normally more feasible for comparative studies, providing less biases and support for decision-making. For international decision-making by wildlife managers and politicians based on scientific knowledge and interdisciplinary research, experts should define the foundations of a common European wildlife decision-making framework (inter-institutional and inter-sectorial). The development of a European legislation on wildlife management may represent an opportunity for addressing the abovementioned steps, identifying data priorities matching the needs of the various European Directorates, Agencies, and monitoring frameworks. ; EFSA-Q-2020-00669. ; Peer reviewed

20 pages, 8 figures, 4 tables.-- This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ; Salinity drops in estuaries after heavy rains are expected to increase in frequency and intensity over the next decades, with physiological and ecological consequences for the inhabitant organisms. It was investigated whether low salinity stress increases predation risk on three relevant commercial bivalves in Europe. In laboratory, juveniles of Venerupis corrugata, Cerastoderma edule, and the introduced Ruditapes philippinarum were subjected to low salinities (5, 10 and control 35) during two consecutive days and, afterwards, exposed to one of two common predators in the shellfish beds: the shore crab Carcinus maenas and the gastropod Bolinus brandaris, a non-indigenous species present in some Galician shellfish beds. Two types of choice experiment were done: one offering each predator one prey species previously exposed to one of the three salinities, and the other offering each predator the three prey species at the same time, previously exposed to one of the three salinities. Consumption of both predators and predatory behaviour of C. maenas (handling time, rejections, consumption rate) were measured. Predation rates and foraging behaviour differed, with B. brandaris being more generalist than C. maenas. Still, both predators consumed significantly more stressed (salinity 5 and 10) than non-stressed prey. The overall consumption of the native species C. edule and V. corrugata was greater than that of R. philippinarum, likely due to their vulnerability to low salinity and physical traits (e.g., thinner shell, valve gape). Increasing precipitations can alter salinity gradients in shellfish beds, and thus affect the population dynamics of harvested bivalves via predator–prey interactions ; This research was supported by grants CTM2014-51935-R from the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad to the project MARISCO, a pre-doctoral grant for RD (BES-2015-074211), and the Autonomous government Xunta de Galicia-FEDER (project GRC2013-004) and grants NNX11AP77G and 80NSSC20K0074 from the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and OCE1129401 from the US National Science Foundation to DSW and SAW ; Peer reviewed

The catalytic performance of metal nanoparticles (NPs), including activity, selectivity, and durability, depends on their shape and structure at the molecular level. Consequently, metal NPs of different size and shape, e.g., nanobelts, nanocubes, nanoflakes, and nanowires, demonstrate different reactivity and provide different reaction rates depending on the facet exposed. In this context, the present review aims to summarize the shape-structure–activity relation of metallic nanocatalysts. Moreover, keeping in mind that the application of noble metal catalysts is expensive, we would like to draw the reader's attention to bimetallic nanocatalysts supported on graphitic carbon nitride. One of the advantages of these systems is the possibility to minimize the use of noble metals by introducing another metal either to the parent NPs and/or modifying the support materials. The development and optimization of bimetallic nanocatalysts might provide the new class of materials with superior, tunable performance, thermal stability and reduced costs compared to presently available commercial catalysts. Therefore, further application of these bimetallic composites for sustainable development in energy, green chemicals/fuels and environmental protection will be discussed. ; The present research was financially supported by: (i) the Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange (NAWA) trough Bekker grants PPN/BEK/2019/1/00348 "C1–C4 alkanes to oxygenated fuel electrochemical transformation" and (ii) PPN/BEK/2019/1/00345 "Nanostructured carbon-based materials doped with metal nanoparticles as catalytic electrode materials for CO2 electroreduction with the use of surface-plasmon enhancement" and (iii) the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie co-financed by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education (H2020-MSCA-COFUND-2018 grant agreement No. 847413). The research activity of D. M. was supported by funds from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No. 711859 and by financial resources for science in the years 2017–2021 awarded by the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education for the implementation of an international co-financed project.

Solar energy-driven processes for biomass valorization are priority for the growing industrialized society. To address this challenge, efficient visible light-active photocatalyst for the selective oxidation of biomass-derived platform chemical is highly desirable. Herein, selective oxidation of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) to 2,5-diformylfuran (DFF) was achieved by visible light-driven photocatalysis over titania. Pristine titania is photocatalytically inactive under visible light, so an unconventional approach was employed for the visible light (λ=515 nm) sensitization of titania via a formation of a visible light-absorbing complex of HMF (substrate) on the titania surface. Surface-complexation of HMF on titania mediated ligand-to-metal charge transfer (LMCT) under visible light, which efficiently catalyzed the oxidation of HMF to DFF. A high DFF selectivity of 87 % was achieved with 59 % HMF conversion after 4 h of illumination. The apparent quantum yield obtained for DFF production was calculated to be 6.3 %. It was proposed that the dissociative interaction of hydroxyl groups of HMF and the titania surface is responsible for the surface-complex formation. When the hydroxyl groups of titania were modified via surface-fluorination or calcination the oxidation of HMF was inhibited under visible light, signifying that hydroxyl groups are decisive for photocatalytic activity. ; This publication is part of a project that has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No. 711859 and from the financial resources for science in the years 2017–2021 awarded for the implementation of an international co-financed project. Roger Gläser and Michael Goepel gratefully acknowledges support from the Leipzig Graduate School of Natural Sciences: Building with Molecules and Nano-objects as well as from the Research Academy Leipzig. Adam Kubas acknowledges support from the National Science Centre, Poland, grant number 2018/30/E/ST4/00004. Access to high performance computing resources was provided by the Interdisciplinary Centre for Mathematical and Computational Modelling in Warsaw, Poland, under grant GB79-5.

The article deals with the "Farm to Fork" Strategy, which is the European Union document significant for the future of the Common Agricultural Policy and the effects of its implementation for the beef sector in Poland, as well as an important element of agri-food exports. The analysis uses a "desk research" study to consider the EU legal acts and strategic documents (including CAP Strategic Plan), as well as documents of Eurostat, international organizations (FAO, OECD), and industry organizations. The analysis was performed using an expert method. The study was limited to four groups of issues: greenhouse gas emissions, eco-schemes, antibiotics, and animal welfare. It was concluded that the actions specified in the strategy aimed at considering external costs of food production (particularly health and environmental) would inevitably result in an increase in its prices, because, according to the analyses, the costs even exceed the market value of food. So far, they have been covered by taxpayers, consumers, and other entities. In this situation, according to the Commission, it seems justified to gradually abandon the cheap food policy, which is justified in poorer countries. ; Artykuł dotyczy dokumentu Unii Europejskiej strategia "Od pola do stołu", znaczącego dla przyszłości wspólnej polityki rolnej i skutków jego wprowadzenia dla sektora wołowiny w Polsce, ważnego elementu eksportu rolno- -żywnościowego. W analizie wykorzystano badanie typu "desk research" dla rozpatrzenia aktów prawnych Unii Europejskiej i dokumentów strategicznych (w tym Planu Strategicznego dla WPR), a także Eurostatu, organizacji międzynarodowych (FAO, OECD) i organizacji branżowych. Analizę wykonano metodą ekspercką. Ograniczała się ona do czterech grup zagadnień: emisji gazów cieplarnianych, ekoschematów, antybiotyków i dobrostanu zwierząt. W konkluzji stwierdzono, że działania zakładane w strategii prowadzące do uwzględnienia kosztów zewnętrznych wytwarzania żywności (zwłaszcza zdrowotne i ekologiczne) nieuchronnie prowadziłyby do podwyższenia jej cen, ponieważ według analiz koszty te przewyższają nawet wartość rynkową żywności. Dotychczas są one pokrywane przez podatników, konsumentów, inne podmioty. W tej sytuacji wydaje się zdaniem Komisji zasadne, aby stopniowo odchodzić od polityki taniej żywności, która ma uzasadnienie w krajach biedniejszych.

European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No. 711859 and by financial resources for science in the years 2017–2021 awarded by the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education for the implementation of an international co-financed project. ; Nitrophenols (NPs) are hazardous pollutants found in various environmental matrices, including ambient fine particulate matter (PM2.5), agricultural residues, rainwater, wildfires, and industrial wastes. This study showed for the first time the effect of three pure nitrophenols and their mixture on human lung cells to provide basic understanding of the NP influence on cell elements and processes. We identified NPs in ambient PM2.5 and secondary organic aerosol (SOA) particles generated from the photooxidation of monocyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the U.S. EPA smog chamber. We assessed the toxicity of identified NPs and their equimolar mixture in normal bronchial epithelial (BEAS-2B) and alveolar epithelial cancer (A549) lung cell lines. The inhibitory concentration-50 (IC50) values were highest and lowest in BEAS-2B cells treated with 2-nitrophenol (2NP) and 4-nitrophenol (4NP), respectively, at 24 h of exposure. The lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) assay showed that 4NP, the most abundant NP we identified in PM2.5, was the most cytotoxic NP examined in both cell lines. The annexin-V/fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) analysis showed that the populations of late apoptotic/necrotic BEAS-2B and A549 cells exposed to 3NP, 4NP, and NP equimolar mixture increased between 24 and 48 h. Cellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) buildup led to cellular death post exposure to 3NP, 4NP and the NP mixtures, while 2NP induced the lowest ROS buildup. An increased mitochondrial ROS signal following NP exposure occurred only in BEAS-2B cells. The tetramethylrhodamine, methyl ester, perchlorate (TMRM) assay showed that exposed cells exhibited collapse of the mitochondrial membrane potential. TMRM signals decreased significantly only in BEAS-2B cells, and most strongly with 4NP exposures. Our results suggest that acute atmospheric exposures to NPs may be toxic at high concentrations, but not at ambient PM2.5 concentrations. Further chronic studies with NP and NP-containing PM2.5 are warranted to assess their contribution to lung pathologies.

The polar regions provide valuable insights into the functioning of the Earth's regulating systems. Conducting field research in such harsh and remote environments requires strong international cooperation, extended planning horizons, sizable budgets and long-term investment. Consequently, polar research is particularly vulnerable to societal and economic pressures during periods of austerity. The global financial crisis of 2008, and the ensuing decade of economic slowdown, have already adversely affected polar research, and the current COVID-19 pandemic has added further pressure. In this article we present the outcomes of a community survey that aimed to assess the main barriers and success factors identified by academic researchers at all career stages in response to these global crises. The survey results indicate that the primary barriers faced by polar early and mid-career researchers (EMCRs) act at institutional level, while mitigating factors are developed at individual and group levels. Later career scientists report pressure toward taking early retirement as a means of institutions saving money, reducing both academic leadership and the often unrecognized but vital mentor roles that many play. Gender and social inequalities are also perceived as important barriers. Reorganization of institutional operations and more effective strategies for long-term capacity building and retaining of talent, along with reduction in non-research duties shouldered by EMCRs, would make important contributions toward ensuring continued vitality and innovation in the polar research community. ; BF received funding from the post-doctoral fellowships programme Beatriu de Pinós funded by the Secretary of Universities and Research (Government of Catalonia) and by the Horizon 2020 Programme of Research and Innovation of the European Union under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No. 801370 (Incorporation grant 2019 BP 00183) and the Juan de la Cierva Programme funded by the Ministry of Science and Innovation (Incorporation grant IJCI-2017-31478). PC and HJG were supported by NERC core funding to the BAS "Biodiversity, Evolution and Adaptation" Team. ; Peer reviewed

This study aims to understand men and masculinities in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo where violence, armed conflicts, and the inability of the state to meet the basic needs of its population have justified the presence of heavy humanitarian aid interventions and probably shaped men's behaviors. Through this study, I seek to place men first in their local socio-cultural context in order to analyze their behavior and the roles men are called to play within their community. I put my particular attention on the global health agenda and guidelines interrogating how they materialize at the local level, taking the example of the push to increase so-called men's involvement in prenatal care service. The following questions helped me to explore issues regarding masculinities in Goma and Kanyarutshinya. Who do we call a man? How does one become or un-become a man in the context of Goma and Kanyarutshinya, two specific locations where I conducted my research. Using ethnographic participant observation, I also collected my data using in-depth interviews, key informant interviews, focus group discussion, life histories, and archival data. My analysis of the data collected has shown that war and armed conflict have deteriorated the status of men in the region and consequently, they felt deprived of their masculinity. Men living in a rural setting were attached to the local traditional values defining masculinity and these motivated their behaviors. In urban areas, on the contrary, men were more exposed to intercultural practices and had easy access to media and modern communication channels and were less concerned with local values of masculinities. Everywhere, the precariousness of masculinity was observed; men, despite their efforts to avoid losing their masculinity used the so-called well-known concept of 'debrouillez-vous', failed despite everything. Finally, I found that the call for 'men's involvement' regarding pregnancy and childbirth in Goma and Kanyarutshinya using the international guidelines was almost irrelevant because men were already involved using the local standards. However, the biomedical prenatal care for men in Goma called CPN Papa failed to meet men's expectations and rejected them, thereby undermining the program's goals.

Τις τελευταίες δεκαετίες, μετά την εμφάνιση των βιοκαυσίμων τη δεκαετία του 1970 σε εμπορική κλίμακα, αρκετές πολιτικές, σε εθνικό ή διεθνές επίπεδο, προώθησαν αυτά τα εναλλακτικά καύσιμα, αναφέροντας κυρίως τις εξής αιτιολογίες: τη δυνατότητά τους να καταπολεμήσουν την ενεργειακή «ανασφάλεια», να συνεισφέρουν ως μία λύση στην κλιματική αλλαγή μέσω της μείωσης του διοξειδίου του άνθρακα στην ατμόσφαιρα - σε σύγκριση με τα συμβατικά καύσιμα - και να προωθήσουν τη γεωργία και την αγροτική ανάπτυξη. Όμως, σύντομα κατέστη σαφές ότι τα βιοκαύσιμα δεν είναι τόσο βιώσιμα όσο αρχικά υποστηριζόταν. Δεδομένου, λοιπόν, ότι η ανάπτυξη των βιοκαυσίμων προωθείται κυρίως μέσω εθνικών νομοθεσιών και συναφών πολιτικών, το παρόν άρθρο προσπαθεί να απαντήσει στο ερώτημα εάν οι τρέχουσες πολιτικές για τα βιοκαύσιμα είναι αποτελεσματικές στο να διασφαλίζουν εξίσου τη βιώσιμη ανάπτυξη. Σε δεύτερο επίπεδο θα ακολουθήσει μία απόπειρα προσέγγισης των κενών στις νομοθεσίες καθώς και των πιθανών αντικρουόμενων συμφερόντων, έτσι ώστε τελικά να προταθούν κάποιες απαραίτητες τροποποιήσεις. Τέλος, μέρος της συζήτησης θα αποτελέσουν και σχετικές ηθικές διαστάσεις, οι οποίες θα μπορούσαν να συμβάλλουν στην αναθεώρηση και δημιουργία πιο αποτελεσματικών πολιτικών για τα βιοκαύσιμα. ; Over the last few decades, after the emergence of biofuels at commercial scale in the 1970s, several policies, at domestic or international level, have promoted these alternative fuels, citing mainly three supporting reasons: their potential to fight energy insecurity, ability to alleviate climate change through decreasing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere -compared to conventional fuels- and capacity to promote agriculture and rural development. But, ever since the beginning of their expansion, it became clear that biofuels are not as sustainable as originally thought. And since policies and national legislative frameworks are the main instruments guiding biofuels' development, this article aims to focus on answering the question whether current biofuel policies are efficient in ensuring sustainability, while promoting biofuels. If this is found not to be the case, then an attempt will be made in order to examine the relative existing gaps, to discuss the potential conflicting interests and ultimately to proceed with recommending adequate alterations in legislations. Ethical dimensions will also be discussed, which could provide some insightful considerations for upcoming biofuel legislations.

Anat Gesser-Edelsburg School of Public Health and the Health and Risk Communication Research Center, University of Haifa, Haifa, 3498838, IsraelCorrespondence: Anat Gesser-EdelsburgSchool of Public Health and the Health and Risk Communication Research Center, University of Haifa, 199 Aba Khoushy Ave., Mount Carmel, Haifa, 3498838, IsraelTel +972 544 243530Fax +973 3 6322143Email ageser@univ.haifa.ac.ilAbstract: Social media have changed the way citizens participate in and express opinions about government policy. Social media serve organizations in achieving four main goals: interacting with citizens; fostering citizen participation; furthering open government; and analyzing/monitoring public opinion and activities. We contend that despite the importance of social media, international and local health organizations have been slow to adopt to them, primarily due to the discrepancy between intraorganizational discourse modes and the type of discourse suitable for dialogue with the public. In this perspective paper, we recommend strategies for such public dialogue based on understanding the challenges faced by organizations on the road to becoming more "social" in their social media presence and in their health and risk communication. Subsequently, we propose an integrative approach that combines three complementary paths: (1) putting the "social" back into health organizations' culture by inserting more "social" content into the internal organizational discourse through consultation with experts from different fields, including those who diverge from the scientific consensus. (2) Using strategies to enable health organizations to respond to the public on social networks, based on health communications research and studies on emerging infectious disease (EID) communication. (3) Engaging the public on social media based on the participatory approach, which considers the public as a partner that understands science and can work with the organizations to develop an open and innovative pandemic realm by using crowdsourcing to solve complex global health problems. For each path, we define the current challenges, among which are (1) overcoming organizational groupthink and hidden profiles, (2) treating all unofficial information as misleading, and (3) insufficient public engagement in solving complex global problems. We then offer recommendations for dealing with each challenge.Keywords: health and risk communication, social media, emerging infectious disease communication, misinformation, infodemic, COVID-19