Search results

This book takes a systematic and holistic approach to examining all 41 peacemaking initiatives used to settle the Cyprus question from 1955 onward under the auspices of the United Nations and/or other actors in the international system, including the United States, Canada, the UK, Greece and Turkey. The analysis of peacemaking strategies, dynamics and obstacles fleshes out numerous relationships between: (i)peacemaking processes, dynamics and outcomes, from signaling to negotiations and to post-accord completion and implementation; (ii)concessions, constraints and leverage during peacemaking negotiations and third party mediation; and (iii)obstacles to finding an endgame solution and satisfying conditions for lasting peace expectations that all parties can agree on and implement successfully.After documenting 62 interviews with top political leaders in Cyprus (including top tier elected elites and third party mediators) and about 70 more interviews with key informants (including academics, researchers, members of negotiating teams, technical committees and working groups), this book concludes with a plethora of descriptive, as well as prescriptive, propositions on how peacemaking processes could lead to more sustainable and implementable peacemaking initiatives in Cyprus and in similar protracted and seemingly intractable cases

The proportion of people who were fully vaccinated against Covid-19 by February 2022 varied among the countries of the European Union. It is shown here that this proportion is inversely related to the rate of acceptance of the theory of evolution in these countries.

This paper seeks to offer a more nuanced understanding of national policy-making in education by problematizing a specific topos of the field of global education policy. It specifically argues that in an attempt to identify new forms of power in education and their effects, 'the topos of governing by comparison and numbers' overlooks the co-existence of permeological and immunological responses to international comparative numbered data in localities as well as the unintended effects of this uneasy co-existence on national policy and reform. To illustrate this argument, the paper explores the controversial timetables reform initiative in the Republic of Cyprus during the period 2014–15. (DIPF/Orig.)

Residential and commercial buildings are accountable for approximately 40% of the energy use in the European Union (EU), and two-thirds of this energy is used for space heating. Nevertheless, the demand for cooling is expected to rise, due to global warming, increased comfort requirements (e.g. all cars have air-conditioning nowadays), increased internal loads, better insulated and airtight buildings keeping the internal loads inside, resulting in temperature increase. The EU has recently set updated targets for energy use reduction by the year 2030, while it recognises the importance of the construction sector in achieving these targets and especially the importance of addressing the issues related to the existing building stock, as this was underlined in the amended version of the Directive on Energy Performance of Buildings. The aim of the present dissertation is to examine the potential of incorporating active ceiling panels containing Phase Change Material (PCM) in office buildings, using both numerical and experimental means. The main objectives of the projects were to examine experimentally the possibility of combining PVT panels to produce cold water through the process of nocturnal radiative cooling with PCM ceiling panels for space cooling and to create and validate a model of the aforementioned system in TRNSYS to conduct parametric studies and optimise it without being affected by the contingency of the outdoor weather conditions. The most important findings of the research conducted for this dissertation are summarised below. People who had higher metabolic rate than sedentary activity due to walking to work, were accessible to lower temperature than what suggested by the European Standard EN 15251 at the beginning of the occupancy period. That would enable higher utilisation of nighttime ventilation for cooling office buildings passively. Fanger's thermal comfort model is applicable also in cases with non-steady conditions, although it was developed using data from experiments conducted under steady-state conditions. Active ceiling panels containing PCM are an efficient method for providing an acceptable thermal environment. Furthermore, nocturnal radiative cooling process can reduce the energy use of the refrigerant equipment substantially and combined with the electricity produced by the PVT during daytime, it can result in a surplus of electricity, if the weather conditions are in favour. Nocturnal radiative cooling was beneficial in all locations simulated, although the performance varied significantly among the different locations. The higher the latitude, the higher the effectiveness of the nocturnal radiative cooling, due to the lower negative impact from convection. On the other hand, the lower the latitude, the better the thermal environment provided by the active ceiling panels containing PCM, due to the more vertical position of the sun. A correct design of passive PCM panels can result in substantial energy savings, but a wrong design can result in increasing the energy use of the building to maintain the desired thermal environment. A thorough investigation about the appropriate materials and panel parameters (PCM surface area, panel thicknessn etc.) should precede the panel construction. Although PCM tiles add additional thermal mass and contribute in reducing the energy use of the HVAC equipment, they cannot stand alone as a cooling system and should only be considered as a secondary system supplementing the main system, either all-air or radiant system. In case of active PCM panels, to ensure the full discharge of the PCM, the pipes should be embedded in the PCM layer to take advantage of the better contact between PCM and the cooling medium. For passive PCM panels the ideal thickness was 20 mm, while for active PCM panels 30 mm. That would result in significantly higher thermal mass in the case of incorporating active PCM panels compared to passive panels. Active ceiling panels containing PCM and PVT panels are two technologies that can greatly contribute in achieving the targets for reduction of the energy use in the construction sector and realise a decarbonised building stock, and at the same provide the desired thermal environment. PCM tiles require further investigation before they can be considered a potential option for providing an acceptable thermal environment.

The 2006 Stocktaking Report of UNESCO on school history in Southeast Europe stresses that "History teaching plays an important role in the development of identity. In Southeast Europe, as elsewhere, history education has commonly been used as a tool for promoting nationalistic ideologies. However, it has also gained recognition as having a key role in the process of reconciliation, democratization and long-term stability" (p. 7). The current paper argues that this statement captures a certain truth about the relationship between history teaching and the making of identity: the shift from 'traditional history' and the making of homo nationalis to 'new history' and the making of homo interculturalis. But it does not capture other important truths about the historical and political embeddedness of this relationship and its shifting contexts. It specifically obscures changes in international relations that made this shift possible, by creating new spaces, technologies and networks of knowledge building. Perhaps more importantly, this statement suppresses contestation and a rivalry in imagining the form of this relationship. That is, as the new globalising imaginary of 'new history' and homo interculturalis interacts and endeavours to recast the entrenched institutions, policies and sites of the globalised imaginary of 'traditional history' and homo nationalis, it is met with opposition, triggering hegemonic struggles often with unpredictable ends.