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The Netherlands, France
Who takes care of healthcare? When being sick is not a right for everyone
Who takes care of healthcare? When being sick is not a right for everyone
Maxime Lebigot is a nurse. Back in 2016, he and his wife Elodie had their first child . They were very happy, but when they moved to Laval, a town of some 50,000 inhabitants in north-western France, they soon realised that no doctor was available to take charge of him .
Sustainable is beautiful
Sustainable is beautiful
In architecture, there are two kinds of sustainability: one simpler, smaller, and ethical in its relationship with the environment and with people; and another which is “fashionable”, used as a label in a speculative way, without an understanding of what it really means.
Circular is better: recyclable buildings to save the planet
Circular is better: recyclable buildings to save the planet
Maguy Soldevila is a former art teacher. Some years ago, she quit the frenzy and the pollution of the French city of Lyon to move into a typical house of the 1960s, in the small village of Sail-sous-Couzan.
Surfing on bio-based boards
Surfing on bio-based boards
Surfing has a dirty secret: surfboard production techniques are often at odds with the sport’s eco-conscious image. Most modern surfboards are a sandwich-like construction: a polyurethane foam core – known as a blank – coated in a fibre-reinforced composite.
3D printed bioplastic: the future of construction?
3D printed bioplastic: the future of construction?
Additive manufacturing, or 3D printing, is a major part of the fourth industrial revolution and it will transform the construction sector, according to Zoubeir Lafhaj , an expert in the future of construction, from the graduate engineering school École Centrale de Lille, in France.
Green crowdfunding: disruption or opportunity?
Green crowdfunding: disruption or opportunity?
Crowdfunding is considered by some experts to have the same effect on banks as Uber has on taxis. Green energy crowdfunding is no exception: the process is 100% digital and lets everybody become an investor or request funding for a sustainable project, without going throughthe banks.
Overcoming borders to crowdfund green energy
Overcoming borders to crowdfund green energy
Solar parks proliferate in Europe and boost development of renewables, but the issue of land use is often raised. A new trend is to produce energy and cultivate crops at the same time , in other words use agrivoltaic systems.
Organic waste and insects: animal feed of the future?
Organic waste and insects: animal feed of the future?
More than the 70 percent of the protein sources required by animals bred in the European Union are imported from non-EU countries . Soybean dominates the protein supply for animal feed .
Green energy and politics: crowdfunding to the rescue?
Green energy and politics: crowdfunding to the rescue?
The  Paris climate change pact , which  entered into force  last year, was announced with a huge fanfare. The deal aims to limit the rise in average global temperatures to “well below” two degrees Celsius, compared to pre-industrial levels.
Small wind turbines: the art of disguise
Small wind turbines: the art of disguise
The use of small wind turbines (SWTs) is growing in appeal thanks to a changing trend in the energy sector, from a centralised system to a distributed one.
Biotechnology: navigating a minefield
Biotechnology: navigating a minefield
In our fast-moving world, biotech is at the forefront of developments – but, by its very nature, it can provoke ethical and moral concerns .
Do microbes control our mood?
Do microbes control our mood?
If aliens were to examine a human, they would think we were just slavish organisms designed to feed microbes and carry them around. Our bodies contain ten times more bacteria than cells , and there are an estimated 3.
Energy crowdfunding: the new way to boost renewables
Energy crowdfunding: the new way to boost renewables
It's a brand new sector: the first steps date back to 2012. Today energy crowdfunding is a way of financing solar panel or wind turbine projects.
Greater granularity on anthropogenic emission
Greater granularity on anthropogenic emission
Anthropogenic emissions have, until now, been collected, but not harmonised . These consist, for example, of data of nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions, smog, methane, CO 2 and even pollen and dust produced, among others by heavy industry and power plants.
The fight against hepatitis C in Egypt
The fight against hepatitis C in Egypt
There is a hepatitis C epidemic in Egypt. Ironically, this is in large part due to a public health campaign in the 1960s and 1970s, during which injection needles were being re-used.
Could gamification enhance biodiversity decision making tools?
Could gamification enhance biodiversity decision making tools?
Making decision that may affect the environment is not that simple. For example, if a EU policy maker believes that biofuels can reduce CO 2 emissions.
Sorting plastic waste: a magnetic game
Sorting plastic waste: a magnetic game
More than one third of the total plastic production in Europe—about 14 million tonnes per year—are polyolefins, also known as polyalkenes.
Can plastic be made from algae?
Can plastic be made from algae?
Algae are an interesting natural resource because they proliferate quickly. They are not impinging on food production. And they need nothing but sunlight and a bit of waste water to grow on.