Arts | Design | Font of the month

It's Font of the Month time again. But what is it this time? Think London... and visit our design pages to find out one of the UK's iconic fonts.

www.larpnet.com/design/fontofthemonth

Aberafan | Duffryn Yard

This minisite looks at the history, development and decline of Duffryn Yard, originally part of the Port Talbot Railway and a busy engine shed and freight yard serving Port Talbot docks and the valleys around Port Talbot in the early 20th Century. www.larpnet.com/duffryn

Aberafan | Things to do in and around Aberafan

Amazing how the environment recovers in a partly-post-industrial landscape. Our new and improved Aberafan site went live today, including a list of splendid things to do in the area around Aberafan and Port Talbot itself, the surrounding countryside, and around the bay to Swansea and the Mumbles. The smell of sulphur lingers around the steel works, but the air in the valleys is mainly fresh these days, and there is plenty to do outdoors.

www.larpnet.com/aberafan

Economics | Environment | Growth and the Environment: Opportunities and a Warning

In this speech Richard Price identifies opportinities for environmental economics to help raise economic and environmental performance, squaring aspirations for prosperity and growth with the importance of environmental assets; and warns against sloppy thinking on the challenges of growth.

www.larpnet.com/economics/environment

Economics | Environment | Economic Growth and the Environment

This paper, by Tim Everett, Mallika Ishwaran, Gian Paolo Ansaloni and Alex Rubin, explores the complex relationship between the natural environment and economic growth, including the importance of the environment in supporting and enabling economic activity and the different drivers that affect environmental quality as the economy grows. It makes the case for sustainable economic growth, managing the use and provision of natural assets in a way that ensures their availability for future generations. Finally, it identifies the range of policy responses the government can use to enable this shift to a sustainable economy, and the potential opportunities and economic impacts in the near- and long-term.

See: www.larpnet.com/economics/environment

Economics | Environment | Adapting to climate change

This paper, by Federica Cimato and Michael Mullan, is the first in Defra's new Evidence and Analysis Series. It explains how a number of barriers to adaptation (market failures, behavioural barriers, adaptive capacity, natural capacity) may affect adaptation decisions, and provides a framework for considering the Government’s role and identifies implications for policy design. It also identifies the priority areas for future research on the economics of adaptation.

See: www.larpnet.com/economics/environment

Arts | Design | Font of the month

This month sees the return of our exciting Font of the Month. But what will it be?
www.larpnet.com/design/fontofthemonth

London | Highbury and Islington

News on the station forecourt work at Highbury and Islington, the planned removal of the 'temporary' Post Office building, and the less welcome eviction of some of the station's other traders.

www.larpnet.com/highburyandislington

Economics | Public sector reform | Flexible staff resourcing in central government

The Multi-tasking Methodology
Civil Service World, 10 September 2009

Defra has taken a leap into the unknown and abandoned the directorate structure that characterises Whitehall. The impetus for this rethink, says performance programme director Richard Price (also Defra’s chief economist), was the struggle to deliver the “rising expectations of ministers, the public and customers” in the face of a “steadily reducing headcount” - Gershon’s efficiency review recommended the loss of 2,400 staff). Ruth Keeling finds out about flexible staff resourcing – and its potential to cull consultants and short-term contracts.

See: www.larpnet.com/economics/publicsectorreform
and: http://www.civilservicenetwork.com/hubs/hr/hr-features-article/newsarticle/the-multi-tasking-methodology/

Economics | Environment | Economics of sustainable development report published

The GES Review of the Economics of Sustainable Development was published this week. See our environment page in economics for details. The report takes a skeptical view of the current debate on sustainability, and finds a more fruitful approach in identifying the information decision-makers need on the social and environmental impacts of potential policies and investment projects.

See: www.larpnet.com/economics/environment