Thinking about Water Differently


Book Description

The water–food–energy nexus is emerging as a critical issue in Asia and the Pacific. It is clear that solutions must be found to assure water security, thereby eliminating the immediate---and increasing---risk to food security, energy security, and economic growth and stability: water must be recognized as an economic as well as a social good. Governments need to be encouraged to think differently about water, take the longer-term view, and be mindful of the strategic and economic value of this limited resource. This publication is the result of a scoping study initiated by the Asian Development Bank to better understand the issues associated with the water–food–energy nexus in Asia and the Pacific. It provides high-level guidance on the choices available to address the region's water security issues.




Water and the Future of Humanity


Book Description

This unique, engaging, and highly authoritative volume enlightens readers on changes needed in the way society accesses, provides, and uses water. It further shines a light on changes needed in the way we use food, energy, and other goods and services in relation to water, and offers projections and recommendations, up to 2050, that apply to water access challenges facing the poor and the common misuse of water in industry, agriculture, and municipalities. Written by an unparalleled slate of experts convened by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, the book takes on one of the most critical issues on the planet today. In a frank yet optimistic assessment of major developmental challenges, but also opportunities, facing future generations, the author elucidates linkages between water and a range of other drivers from various disciplinary and stakeholder perspectives. Ultimately portraying the belief that Humanity can harness its visionary abilities, technologies, and economic resources for increased wellbeing and sound stewardship of resources, the book presents an optimistic statement stressing actions scientists, policy makers, and consumers can and must take to meet the water management challenges of a warming planet anticipating nine billion inhabitants by 2050. Gulbenkian Think Tank on Water and the Future of Humanity: Benedito Braga, Pres. World Water Council & Prof. of Civil Engineering, Univ. of São Paulo, Brazil; Colin Chatres, Director General of the International Water Management Institute, Sri Lanka; William J. Cosgrove, Pres. of Ecoconsult Inc. & Senior Adviser for the UN World Water Development Report, Canada; Luis Veiga da Cunha, Prof. Environmental Science and Engineering, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Portugal; Peter Gleick, Pres. of the Pacific Institute, USA; Pavel Kabat, Director, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, Austria; and Prof. & Chair, Earth Systems Science, Wageningen University, The Netherlands; Mohamed Ait Kadi, President of the General Council of Agricultural Development, Morocco; Daniel P. Loucks, Prof. of Civil Engineering, Cornell Univ. USA; Jan Lundqvist, Senior Scientific Advisor, Stockholm International Water Institute, Sweden; Sunita Narain, Director, Center for Science & Environment, New Delhi, India; Jun Xia, Pres., International Water Resources Association, Chair Prof. & Dean, The Research Institute for Water Security (RIWS), Wuhan University, China.




This Is Water


Book Description

Only once did David Foster Wallace give a public talk on his views on life, during a commencement address given in 2005 at Kenyon College. The speech is reprinted for the first time in book form in THIS IS WATER. How does one keep from going through their comfortable, prosperous adult life unconsciously' How do we get ourselves out of the foreground of our thoughts and achieve compassion' The speech captures Wallace's electric intellect as well as his grace in attention to others. After his death, it became a treasured piece of writing reprinted in The Wall Street Journal and the London Times, commented on endlessly in blogs, and emailed from friend to friend. Writing with his one-of-a-kind blend of causal humor, exacting intellect, and practical philosophy, David Foster Wallace probes the challenges of daily living and offers advice that renews us with every reading.




The power of thinking differently


Book Description

The Ultimate Road Map of the Creative Process for Problem Solving, Art, Business, Invention, and Living a more Authentic Life Discover the roots of innovation and creative genius in this whimsical, comedic exploration of the psychology of creativity. Understand creative minds and learn how to cultivate your own in this creative thinking manual written by former electrical engineer turned college creativity and philosophy professor, Javy W. Galindo. Through this humorously entertaining read you will be rewiring your brain for creativity: developing creative thinking skills to help you find creative ideas and creative solutions to difficult problems. What's in the Power of Thinking Differently? Professor Galindo takes us along on an adventurous tour of the creative process. Using simple language, the book looks at creative thinking through the rational lens of psychology, neuroscience, and popular creativity literature. At the same time, it exercises the imagination using allegory, myth, jokes, and puzzles. The book reveals the roots our thinking habits and illuminates an imaginative six-stage roadmap to discovering unique ideas and implementing creative change. We come to see that creativity isn't just for creative types. It turns out that we all have the inherent capacity to think creatively and attain flashes of creative insight. What else will you learn? - The universal stages of the creative process. - How your brain is built to be creative. - The secrets to going beyond common sense to attain uncommon ideas. - Why relaxation and a sense of play are crucial to being creative. - How to overcome creative blocks and habitual thinking patterns. - Ways of becoming more insight prone. - The keys to cultivating creativity in groups. - How to conquer common creativity pitfalls. - And how thinking differently can be a soul enriching, meaning deepening activity. Praise for The Power of Thinking Differently "This easy-to-read work presents instructions, anecdotes, and the findings from many fields to bypass the self-limiting notion that creativity only falls to geniuses and artists. Learn how to think not only more effectively, but altogether differently in service to your own spark of creativity." - Psychology professor and author Craig Chalquist, PhD "Javy Galindo shows us how to... touch that place of wonder and curiosity so prevalent in childhood. He helps us find ways to interrupt the behavior patterns that have crept upon us as we have become properly socialized...This book gives us up to date tools and understanding..." - Clinical psychologist and author Sylvia Lafair PhD "Galindo lays out some positive motivation for embracing creative thought that aren't threats to our bio-demands and that actually reassure the logic process that `different' can enhance our health and safety...Instead of spelling out a hackneyed formula that's just like other's you've seen, Javy Galindo takes readers on a journey through foreign and exotic terrain..." - Book Review by Deborah Adams from Curled up With a Good Book "Galindo clearly explains the roots of creativity in the brain and how to overcome one's own blockages and obstacles in order to...reach a higher state of personal satisfaction. While this book should appeal to those in business, government and science, it can equally benefit all persons who go about their lives looking to make their personal islands a bit more interesting and productive." - Book Review by Susan Reimers from BestSellersWorld.com "(The book) is designed to help readers get a new perspective on just about anything...Readers should be warned to be ready for change." - Book Review by Darragh Doiron, The Port Arthur News







This Is Water


Book Description

In this rare peak into the personal life of the author of numerous bestselling novels, gain an understanding of David Foster Wallace and how he became the man that he was. Only once did David Foster Wallace give a public talk on his views on life, during a commencement address given in 2005 at Kenyon College. The speech is reprinted for the first time in book form in This is Water. How does one keep from going through their comfortable, prosperous adult life unconsciously? How do we get ourselves out of the foreground of our thoughts and achieve compassion? The speech captures Wallace's electric intellect as well as his grace in attention to others. After his death, it became a treasured piece of writing reprinted in The Wall Street Journal and the London Times, commented on endlessly in blogs, and emailed from friend to friend. Writing with his one-of-a-kind blend of causal humor, exacting intellect, and practical philosophy, David Foster Wallace probes the challenges of daily living and offers advice that renews us with every reading.




Bodies of Water


Book Description

This book is available as open access through the Bloomsbury Open Access programme and is available on www.bloomsburycollections.com. Water is the element that, more than any other, ties human beings in to the world around them – from the oceans that surround us to the water that makes up most of our bodies. Exploring the cultural and philosophical implications of this fact, Bodies of Water develops an innovative new mode of posthuman feminist phenomenology that understands our bodies as being fundamentally part of the natural world and not separate from or privileged to it. Building on the works by Luce Irigaray, Maurice Merleau-Ponty and Gilles Deleuze, Astrida Neimanis's book is a landmark study that brings a new feminist perspective to bear on ideas of embodiment and ecological ethics in the posthuman critical moment.




Doing it Differently


Book Description

"This is a serious and impressive work. It will help those who are committed to changing the industry to create structures to do so, whether in one area or in totality. It offers a whole range of powerful tools, which will be particularly useful to those with the personal drive to apply them to rethinking construction. It is packed with examples that help to flesh out a rigorous analysis of how the industry can improve."David Fison, Kvaerner Construction




Water interactions: A systemic view


Book Description

During the last two decades, the interrelationship between water and energy has become recognized. Likewise, the couplings to food and agriculture are getting increasingly obvious and alarming. In the last year, a record number of extreme weather events have been reported from most parts of the world. This is a visible demonstration how consequences of climate change must be understood and alleviated. The impacts of economics, lifestyle, and alarming inequalities are becoming increasingly recognisable. If the wealthy part of the world is not willing not make radical changes it does not matter what the less wealthy half of the global population will do to meet the climate and resource crisis. The purpose of the book is to demonstrate and describe how climate change, water, energy, food, and lifestyle are closely depending on each other. It is not sufficient to handle one discipline isolated from the others. This is the traditional “component view”. The book defines and describes a systems view. The communications and relationships between the “components” have to be described and recognized. Consequently, the development of one discipline must be approached from a systems perspective. At the same time, the success of the systems perspective depends on the degree of knowledge of the individual parts or disciplines. The catchphrase of systems thinking has been caught in the phrase, “The whole is more than the sum of its parts”. The idea is not new: the origin of this phrase is to be found already in Aristotle’s Metaphysics more than 2300 years ago. The text may serve as an academic text (in engineering, economics, and environmental science) to introduce senior undergraduate and graduate students into systems thinking. Too often education encourages a “silo” thinking. Current global challenges can’t be solved in isolation; they depend on each other. For example, water professionals should have a basic understanding of energy issues. Energy professionals ought to understand the dependency on water. Economic students should learn more how economy depends on natural resources like energy and water. Economics must include the environmental impact and ecological ceiling of economic activities.




Water Consciousness


Book Description

"Water Consciousness: How We All Have to Change to Protect Our Most Critical Resource is a solution-focused guide to the global water crisis hitting home everywhere. In-depth essays from leading thinkers and stunning photographs illuminate what we can do as individuals and as nations to reverse this crisis. Authors cover a breadth of topics including conservation, privatization, technology, grassroots movements, and the need for new laws that treat water as a common trust, not a commodity. Water Consciousness will not only inspire you to change how you think about water but also to change how you live with and use water every day."--BOOK JACKET.