Bøker utgitt av Springer Nature Switzerland AG

The focus of this book is on the key water-related vulnerabilities to climate change in Africa, particularly in its most vulnerable areas, exploring potential management responses to such vulnerabilities. The African countries are particularly exposed and vulnerable to the negative impacts of climate change, with important impacts on water resources and hydrological systems, water availability, water resource management and sea level variations. Already, under various anthropogenic pressures, the status of water resources in Africa has been changing over the past decades, with decreasing water quality, falling groundwater levels, and variability in rainfall, both in terms of timing and intensity. Climate change will further accelerate the rate of change, affecting the ability of people and societies to respond in a timely manner. It is clear that there is no quick fix to the pressures imposed on water resources by climate change. Increasing the resilience of ecosystems and communities to extreme events such as flooding and drought, and integrating climate change risks and opportunities into development decision-making is indeed a key challenge, as much a technical climate-change one, as a political and developmental challenge. The book, in this regard, intends to contribute to the debate around climate change in relation to water resources management in Africa, and in particular inform policy decisions and actions that will improve governments¿ and communities¿ ability to manage the challenges of climate change and variability in relation to the aquatic ecosystems that they depend on. The knowledge collected in this book will benefit policy makers, researchers, as well as other stakeholders.

Before the concept of history began, humans undoubtedly acquired life benefits by discovering medicinal and aromatic plants (MAPs) that were food and medicine. Today, a variety of available herbs and spices are used and enjoyed throughout the world and continue to promote good health. The international market is also quite welcoming for MAPs and essential oils. The increasing environment and nature conscious buyers encourage producers to produce high quality essential oils. These consumer choices lead to growing preference for organic and herbal based products in the world market. As the benefits of medicinal and aromatic plants are recognized, these plants will have a special role for humans in the future. Until last century, the production of botanicals relies to a large degree on wild-collection. However, the increasing commercial collection, largely unmonitored trade, and habitat loss lead to an incomparably growing pressure on plant populations in the wild. Therefore, medicinal and aromatic plants are of high priority for conservation. Given the above, we bring forth a comprehensive volume, ¿Medicinal and Aromatic Plants: Healthcare and Industrial Applications¿, highlighting the various healthcare, industrial and pharmaceutical applications that are being used on these immensely important MAPs and its future prospects. This collection of chapters from the different areas dealing with MAPs caters to the need of all those who are working or have interest in the above topic.

Bioactive natural compounds have gained attention in recent years due to their potential health benefits, including reducing the risk of diabetes, cancer, and cardiovascular diseases. These benefits derive from bioactive compounds' anti-tumor, anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidative, anti-hypertensive and anti-hyperlipidemic activities, which serve in addition to their basic nutritional functions. Over the last decade, researchers have investigated the health impact of bioactive compounds in detail, and the development of food applications has attracted great interest. Consumer demand has surged for functional foods (nutraceuticals), superfoods, and tailor-made foods, generated by supplementing traditional food products with bioactive ingredients. Food Bioactives and Health offers comprehensive coverage of the properties and health effects of food bioactives in view of new trends in processing, food science and food technology. Starting with the metabolic characteristics of polyphenols, glucosinolates, and other food bioactives, the text then dives into their impact on human health and recent applications in the world of food technology. For food scientists, food technologists, and product developers looking to understand the role of food bioactives in health and develop applications in personalized nutrition, functional foods and nutraceuticals, Food Bioactives and Health serves as a one-stop reference.

This book offers a selection of research papers and case studies presented at the 3rd international conference ¿Smart and Sustainable Planning for Cities and Regions¿, held in December 2019 in Bolzano, Italy, and explores the concept of smart and sustainable planning, including top contributions from academics, policy makers, consultants and other professionals.Innovation processes such as co-design and co-creation help establish collaborations that engage with stakeholders in a trustworthy and transparent environment while answering the need for new value propositions.The importance of an integrated, holistic approach is widely recognized to break down silos in local government, in particular, when aimed at achieving a better integration of climate-energy planning. Despite the ongoing urbanization and polarization processes, new synergies between urban and rural areas emerge, linking development opportunities to intrinsic cultural, natural and man-made landscape values. The increasing availability of big, real-time urban data and advanced ICT facilitates frequent assessment and continuous monitoring of performances, while allowing fine-tuning as needed. This is valid not only for individual projects but also on a wider scale. In addition, and circling back to the first point, (big) urban data and ICT can be of enormous help in facilitating engagement and co-creation by raising awareness and by providing insight into the local consequences of specific plans. However, this potential is not yet fully exploited in standard processes and procedures, which can therefore lack the agility and flexibility to keep up with the pulse of the city and dynamics of society.The book provides a multi-disciplinary outlook based on experience to orient the reader in the giant galaxy of smart and sustainable planning, support the transposition of research into practice, scale up visionary approaches and design groundbreaking planning policies and tools.

This book brings together the latest literature and European experiences on preventing youth violent radicalisation and violent actions in intergroup relations. Youth violent radicalisation is a significant problem within the European context, and requires an exploration of how various social actors can play an active role in preventing radicalisation in minors and young adults. This complex issue needs to be explored through a multidisciplinary approach, and effective operational models are needed in order to tackle it. This book describes the theoretical framework for such an approach in all its facets. The book¿s originality lies in its psychosocial and participatory approach, aimed at improving results through professional training and community empowerment for building trusting relationships and educational activities. It also proposes ¿alternative narratives¿, which are a way of representing people and groups within a social context, thereby overcoming stereotyped visions and stigma. This book focuses on participation and communication among stakeholders, social inclusion, strengthening democratic values, and pursuing a proactive instead of a reactive approach to preventing radicalisation. Highly topical, the book will appeal to researchers and students of the social and behavioural sciences interested in youth radicalisation, including social work and social policy, as well as practitioners working within the juvenile justice system.