The SDGs: Changing How Development is Understood

Post 2015: How to Reconcile the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)?

For the last 20 years, the international development debate has been dominated by two trends that seem at first to be heading in a similar direction. However, under closer scrutiny they differ with respect to their focus and underlying philosophies. These are on the one hand the agenda of reducing poverty in developing countries in its various dimensions (lack of income, education, water, polit...

How is Precipitation Changing?

Observations show that changes are occurring in the amount, intensity, frequency and type of precipitation. These aspects of precipitation generally exhibit large natural variability, and El Niño and changes in atmospheric circulation patterns such as the North Atlantic Oscillation have a substantial influence. Pronounced longterm trends from 1900 to 2005 have been observed in precipitation amo...

How OpenStreetMap Is Changing the World

This talk reviews these and many more aspects of OpenStreetMap and gives an in depth feel of the past, present and future of the project. OpenStreetMap is a map of the world built by volunteers. Using a peer production model similar to wikipedia approximately 300,000 people collaboratively map features such as roads, parks and buildings and submit them to be shared. That map data is made availa...

How is the Mother Tongue Acquired

Assistive products and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have placed great emphasis on the need for much greater social inclusion, and on making deliberate efforts to reach marginalized groups. People with disabilities are often marginalized through their lack of access to a range of services and opportunities. Assistive products can help people overcome impairments and barriers enabling them to be active, par...