Involving Local Communities in Flood Risk Management – Urban and Rural Case Studies
This paper will discuss how changes in policy in the United Kingdom (UK) put an increasing emphasis on the involvement of local communities in the flood risk management process. Yet little is known about local communities and how they operate in our modern, mobile society. In fact many claim that local communities are being destroyed by increasing mobility and globalization. Is there a local community we can engage in the flood risk management process? If so, how can this be done? This research starts to address these questions by exploring both the social, collective responses to flooding and in turn the effect that flooding has on local social relations. This has been done through interviews with both residents and flood professionals in urban and rural locations in Yorkshire. While there were differences between the rural and urban areas, similar underlying processes were identified. There was not a single, straightforward ‘local community’ to be engaged. Rather there was a complex mix of overlapping networks and interests, where conflict as well as cooperation is possible. A number of key underlying factors were identified. To involve ‘local communities’ will require an evaluation of these in each location, whether urban or rural.
Globalization and belonging
Global Change and Local Belonging The Limits of Local Attachment Parenting, Education and Elective Belonging Suburbia and the Aura of Place The Ambivalence of Urban Identity 'Manchester, So Much to Answer For' Work Cultures and Social Ties Mediascapes in the Mediation of the Local and the Global Cosmopolitanism, Diaspora and Global Reflexivity
Ceramic microwave antennas for mobile applications
Due to their medium to high permittivity values, ceramic microwave materials are attractive as building blocks for miniaturised antenna solutions. Further advantages are low dielectric losses and an excellent temperature stability of standard ceramic materials. Yet, the permittivity of the ceramic material also has a strong influence on the radiation efficiency and bandwidth of the antenna. This implies that in the design process a suitable compromise has to be found between the degree of miniaturisation on the one hand and the antenna efficiency and bandwidth on the other. We describe two approaches towards efficient miniaturised ceramic microwave antennas: the dielectric resonator antenna (DRA) with partial metallisation and the shorting post patch antenna. We focus on design steps taken to ensure both a high degree of miniaturisation and high values of the radiation efficiency, the choice of the ceramic material and the experimental performance of the antennas.