2012 | Action Number: IC1004

Cooperative Radio Communications for Green Smart Environments

• Author(s): COST Office
• Download (PDF, 183 kB)

Smart Environments (SEs), like energy efficient buildings, vehicular or urban environments, are populated by many devices connected by wireless networks.
The radio channel is central to SEs, as it impacts the design of transmission techniques and communication protocols. Radio communications in SEs need to be green and based on cooperative paradigms in order to mitigate the effect of interference and improve efficiency – hence the definition of Green Smart Environments (GSEs).

This COST factsheet highlights how COST Action IC1004 deals with the issues at hand.

2012 | Action Number: FP0601

Forest management for water production and storage

• Author(s): COST Office
• Download (PDF, 219 kB)

Forests are an essential element of the European cultural, geographical and environmental landscapes. They cover approximately one third of Europe's land area, and their role in water provision is even more pivotal, as forested landscapes are the preferred sources for generation, storage and export of drinking water to supply the human population.

Research on forest-water interactions touches upon the water resource aspect and potential hazards to the human population. Along river systems and in larger floodplains, peak flow rates may cause devastating floods. The frequency and intensity of such floods may increase due to climate change and a concurrent amplification of extreme weather situations...

This COST factsheet highlights how COST Action FP0601 deals with the issues at hand.

2012 | Action Number: FP0701

Post-Fire Management and Restoration of Southern European Forests

• Author(s): F. Moreira, M. Arianoutsou, P. Corona and J. De las Heras (Eds)
• Publisher(s): Springer
• http://www.springer.com/life+sciences/forestry/book/978-94-007-2207-1
• ISBN/ISSN: 978-94-007-2207-1

In spite of all the efforts made in fire prevention and suppression, every year about 45 000 forest fires occur in Europe, burning ca. 0.5 million hectares of forests and other rural lands. The management of these burned forests has been given much less attention than fire prevention or fire suppression issues, but the post-fire management of burned areas raises strong concerns (economic and social impacts, soil erosion and water quality, biodiversity loss, forest restoration). Although there are a few publications which address post-fire management, the focus of these has been either on general approaches to restoration or specific topics such as preventing post-fire soil erosion. This book is about the post-fire management of fire-prone forest types in southern Europe. It provides the first comprehensive overview of the topic, ranging from stand-level to landscape-level management, and from emergency actions to long-term restoration approaches.
The book is divided into 2 major sections. The first includes five chapters where transversal topics such as recent changes in fire regimes in Southern Europe, the economic, legal and social aspects of post-fire management, fire hazard and flammability of different forest types, and post-fire management approaches, are addressed. The second section is divided in seven chapters, with a similar structure, each one dealing with the forest types more affected by wildfires in Europe (and other fire prone habitats such as shrublands),.
The book is targeted to an audience of professionals (forest managers, landscape planners, and forest agency staff), graduate students and researchers. It is the first publication to access in comprehensive way post-fire management issues in European forests, for which only fragmented knowledge through specialized or grey literature was available so far.

2012 | Action Number: 2101

Biometrics and ID Management - COST 2101 European Workshop, BioID 2011 Brandenburg (Havel), Gemany, March 2011 Proceedings

• Author(s): C. Vielhauer, J. Dittmann, A. Drygajlo, N.C. Juul and M. Fairhurst (Eds.)
• Publisher(s): Springer
• http://www.springerlink.com/content/978-3-642-19529-7#section=865908&page=1
• ISBN/ISSN: 978-3-642-19529-7

This volume of Springer Lecture Notes in Computer Sciences (LNCS) constitutes the final publication of the EU COST 2101 Action “Biometrics for Identity Documents and Smart Cards,” which has been successfully running during the years 2006-2010. One of the many valuable outputs of this initiative is the realization of a new scientific workshop series, dedicated to the project’s goals: the “European Workshop on Biometrics and Identity Management (BioID).” This series started in 2008 with the first workshop at Roskilde University, Denmark (BioID 2008) and continued with a second event, hosted by the Biometrics Recognition Group (ATVS) of the Escuela Polit´ecnica Superior, Universidad Aut´onoma de Madrid, Spain in 2009 (BioID MultiComm 2009). From the very beginning, the research papers of BioID workshops have been published as Springer LNCS volumes; vol. 5372 (2008) and vol. 5707 (2009).

Continuing the series, this present volume collects together the submitted research papers accepted for the Third European Workshop on Biometrics and Identity Management (BioID 2011), taking place during March 8–10, 2011 at Brandenburg University of Applied Sciences, Germany. The workshop Call for Papers was open to the entire research community and all submissions underwent a double-blind review process by the workshop Scientific Committee. Readers will see that the event attracted an interesting mix of papers, with the wideranging topic coverage which is to be expected from a field as diverse as that addressed by this workshop.

2012 | Action Number: IS0906

'Interrogating audiences: Theoretical horizons of participation' in CM Communication Management Quarterly

• Author(s): N. Carpentier et al.
• Publisher(s): CDC
• Download from external website
• ISBN/ISSN: 1452-7405

The Action “Transforming Audiences, Transforming Societies” (2010- 2014) is coordinating research efforts into the key transformations of European audiences within a changing media and communication environment, identifying their complex interrelationships with the social, cultural and political areas of European societies. A range of interconnected but distinct topics concerning audiences are being developed by four Working Groups: (1) New media genres, media literacy and trust in the media; (2) Audience interactivity and participation; (3) The role of media and ICT use for evolving social relationships; and (4) Audience transformations and social integration.
This peer-reviewed special issue tries to contribute to the development of participatory theory within the framework of communication and media studies.
As always, this requires careful manoeuvring to reconcile conceptual contingency with the necessary fixity that protects the concept of participation from signifying anything and everything. In order to deepen the theorisations of participation, two strategies will be used: In a first cluster of articles, the concept of participation will be confronted with another theoretical concept or tradition that will enrich the theoretical development of participation. In the second cluster of articles, the workings of the notion of participation will be analysed within a specific topical field, which will allow deepening participatory theory by confronting participation with the contextualised logics of that topical field.

2012

Responses to Environmental and Societal Challenges for our Unstable Earth (RESCUE)- Synthesis Report

• Author(s): Jill Jäger et al.
• Publisher(s): ESF-COST
• Download from external website
• ISBN/ISSN: 978-2-918428-56-5

RESCUE, an ESF-COST ‘Frontier of Science’ initiative and an ESF Forward Look, is highly integrative, and is supported by 8 Committees of ESF and COST, namely the ESF Standing Committees for Life, Earth and Environmental Sciences (LESC), for Social Sciences (SCSS), for Humanities (SCH) and for Physical and Engineering Sciences (PESC), and the COST Domain Committees for Earth System Science and Environmental Management (ESSEM), for Individuals, Societies, Cultures and Health (ISCH), for Forests, their Products and Services (FPS) and for Food and Agriculture (FA).
The RESCUE foresight initiative proposes an innovative vision about how to build the transitions towards sustainability through various innovative forms of learning and research. The RESCUE vision is built around the idea of an open knowledge system, where knowledge is generated from multiple sources (some of which are scientific) and shared at
every stage of its development; and where problems are defined and addressed by society as a whole, not just by scientists, or policy makers. This report synthesizes the contributions from approximately 100 experts in 30 countries. It is based on the input of 5 working groups that, from autumn 2009 to spring 2011, focused on: contributions from social sciences and humanities with regard to the challenges of the Anthropocene; collaboration
between the natural, social and human sciences in global change studies; requirements
for research methodologies and data in global change research; steps towards a ‘revolution’ in education and capacity building; and interface between science and policy, communication and outreach.

2011 | Action Number: 2102

Analysis of Verbal and Nonverbal Communication and Enactment - The Processing Issues

• Author(s): A. Esposito, A. Vinciarelli, K. Vicsi, C. Pelachaud and A. Nijholt (Eds.)
• Publisher(s): Springer
• http://www.springerlink.com/content/978-3-642-25774-2#section=994997&page=4&locus=36
• ISBN/ISSN: 978-3-642-25774-2

This volume brings together the advanced research results obtained by the European COST Action 2102 "Cross Modal Analysis of Verbal and Nonverbal Communication", primarily discussed at the PINK SSPnet-COST2102 International Conference on Analysis of Verbal and Nonverbal Communication and Enactment: The Processing Issues, held in Budapest, Hungary, in September 2010.
The main focus of the conference was on methods to combine and build up knowledge through verbal and nonverbal signals enacted in an environment and in a context. In previous meetings, COST 2102 focused on the importance of uncovering and exploiting the wealth of information conveyed by multimodal signals. The next steps have been to analyze actions performed in response to multimodal signals and to study how these actions are organized in a realistic and socially believable context. The focus was on processing issues, since the new approach is computationally complex and the amount of data to be treated may be considered algorithmically infeasible. Therefore, data processing for gainingenactive
knowledge must account for natural and intuitive approaches, based more on heuristics and experiences rather than on symbols, as well as on the discovery of new processing possibilities that account for new approaches for data analysis, coordination of the data flow through synchronization and temporal organization and optimization of the extracted features.

2011 | Action Number: IE0601

The Safeguard of Cultural Heritage – A challenge From The Past for the Europe of Tomorrow

• Author(s): Marco Fioravanti and Saverio Mecca (Eds.)
• Publisher(s): Firenze University Press
• http://www.fupress.com/eng/scheda.asp?IDV=2173
• ISBN/ISSN: 978-88-6655-058-7

The workshop has been organised with the contribution of three different Institutions such as COST, University of Florence and Florens Foundation. Within the COST, the Action IE0601 - "Wood Science for Conservation of Wooden Cultural Heritage" - has performed an important role in carrying out the Workshop, both conceiving the idea and supporting its organisation. COST Strategic Workshops are instruments typically dedicated to launch new felds of research and or relevant topics. The present Workshop has been proposed in order to achieve the following aims:

• To stimulate the discussion process and awareness on the importance of the safeguard of Cultural Heritage, and for highlighting its Cultural, Social and Economical importance.
• To support the strengthening of an ERA in the field of Cultural Heritage, and to establish research topics to be suggested as possible programmatic lines of the 8th FP.
• To inform political stakeholders on the necessity to support research and European co-operations in the field of Cultural Heritage.

2011 | Action Number: A34

Gender and Well-Being. The Role of Institutions

• Author(s): E. Addis, P. de Villota, F. Degavre and J. Eriksen (Eds)
• Publisher(s): Ashgate
• ISBN/ISSN: 978-1-4094-0705-8

Provisioning for basic human needs is done in three main kind of institutions: the familial household; the commercial enterprise selling goods and services; the institutions of the Welfare State that provide education, medical care and other goods and personal services to all or to some specific groups of citizens in need. The purpose of this book is to study the interplay of these institutions and their impact on well-being, and to analyze key policies and measures that have been implemented in European countries.
Institutions determine labour demand (men and women are hired by the institutions of the Welfare State or by market providers of care), the possibilities of consumption (wages earned can be used to buy goods and services only if such goods and services are provided by the market) and allocate people's time, in particular women's time, between paid work and unpaid domestic production and provision of care, shaping both the gender relations and time use of people of both sexes. The proper balance of these institutions is a prerequisite of well-being both of the care givers and of the care receivers, and also for satisfactory gender relations.
The chapters in this book focus on the following sub-topics: gender and welfare regimes; gender, well-being and the provision of care in the family and the household; and gender and well-being in the labour market. They emphasise the interdependence of social and labour market policies in the context of fundamental changes in both working patterns (the increase in female labour-force participation rates) and social needs (including population ageing) and demonstrate that we need a more integrated approach to welfare policy which takes account not only of basic welfare entitlements, but also the need for supportive forms of service provision and employment regulation.

2011 | Action Number: 729

Nitrogen Deposition and Natura 2000: Science & Practice in determining environmental impacts.

• Author(s): W.K. Hicks, C.P. Whitfield, W.J. Bealey and M.A. Sutton (Eds)
• Download from external website
• ISBN/ISSN: 978-91-86125-23-3

This book reviews the evidence from across Europe that confirms nitrogen deposition as a major threat to European biodiversity, especially on the Natura 2000, including sensitive habitats and species listed under the Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC). It documents the information presented and discussed at an international workshop on ‘Natura 2000 and Nitrogen Deposition’, held in Brussels in May 2009, to review new evidence of nitrogen impacts, develop best practices when conducting assessments, and recommend options for consideration in future policy development.
The workshop was attended by 73 scientists, conservation practitioners and policy makers from 13 countries: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Netherlands and the UK. Delegates included representatives from the European Commission DG Environment, and Government departments from EU member states.

2011 | Action Number: A34

Transforming Gendered Well-being in Europe - The impact of Social Movements

• Author(s): A. E. Woodward, J.-M. Bonvin & M. Renom (eds)
• Publisher(s): Ashgate
• http://www.ashgate.com/isbn/9781409402831
• ISBN/ISSN: 978-1-4094-0283-1

European social movements improve the well-being of men and women but need further analysis through a gender-sensitive lens. Taking an international and cross-disciplinary perspective, this book examines the impact of European social movements on gendered political and material well-being. Insights from history, politics, sociology and gender studies help identify how social movements have been instrumental in changing individual well-being through participation and empowerment. These movements have contributed to collective well-being thanks to victories in health, sexualities, political recognition and access to material goods.
The contributions pay particular attention to the role of women activists in social movements varying from unions and religious movements to the women's movement itself. The settings range from 19th century Catalonia to Switzerland and Poland, including studies on European transnational movements today and their impact on global gendered well-being. The authors consider how gender has been important in defining the goals, strategies and outcomes of social movements. Thanks to the international spread of contributions a comparative record can be examined. Together the authors provide unique and concrete illustrations of the role of collective action and the participatory process on transforming women and well-being in European societies. The book provides essential insights for students and scholars working on social and women's movements, European well-being and welfare, and transnational action.

2011 | Action Number: IC0601

The Sonification Handbook

• Author(s): T. Hermann, A. Hunt & J. G. Neuhoff (Eds)
• Publisher(s): Logos Verlag Berlin
• Download from external website
• ISBN/ISSN: 978-3-8325-2819-5

This book is a comprehensive introductory presentation of the key research areas in the interdisciplinary fields of sonification and auditory display. Chapters are written by leading experts, providing a wide-range coverage of the central issues, and can be read from start to finish, or dipped into as required (like a smorgasbord menu).
Sonification conveys information by using non-speech sounds. To listen to data as sound and noise can be a surprising new experience with diverse applications ranging from novel interfaces for visually impaired people to data analysis problems in many scientific fields.
This book gives a solid introduction to the field of auditory display, the techniques for sonification, suitable technologies for developing sonification algorithms, and the most promising application areas. The book is accompanied by the online repository of sound examples.

2011 | Action Number: IS0802

Managing Institutional Complexity – Regime Interplay and Global Environmental Change

• Author(s): S. Oberthür and O.Schram Stokke (Eds)
• Publisher(s): The MIT Press
• http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?ttype=2&tid=12696
• ISBN/ISSN: 978-0-262-51624-2

Institutional interaction and complexity are crucial to environmental governance and are quickly becoming dominant themes in the international relations and environmental politics literatures. This book examines international institutional interplay and its consequences, focusing on two important issues: how states and other actors can manage institutional interaction to improve synergy and avoid disruption; and what forces drive the emergence and evolution of institutional complexes, sets of institutions that cogovern particular issue areas.
The book, a product of the Institutional Dimensions of Global Environmental Change research project (IDGEC), offers both theoretical and empirical perspectives. Chapters range from analytical overviews to case studies of institutional interaction, interplay management, and regime complexes in areas including climate change, fisheries management, and conservation of biodiversity. Contributors discuss such issues as the complicated management of fragmented multilateral institutions addressing climate change; the possible "chilling effect" on environmental standards from existing commitments; governance niches in Arctic resource protection; the relationships among treaties on conservation and use of plant genetic resources; causal factors in cross-case variation of regime prevalence; and the difficult relationship between the World Trade Organization and multilateral environmental agreements. The book offers a broad overview of research on interplay management and institutional complexes that provides important insights across the field of global environmental governance.

2011 | Action Number: E55

Modelling the Performance of Timber Structures- Special Issue of Engineering Structures

• Author(s): J. Köhler and S. Svensson (Eds)
• Publisher(s): Elsevier
• http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/01410296/33/11
• ISBN/ISSN: 0141-0296

The main objective of this Action was to provide the basic framework and knowledge required for the efficient and sustainable use of timber as a structural and building material. This will be achieved by building on three main research activities: the identification and modelling of relevant load and environmental exposure scenarios, the improvement of knowledge concerning the behaviour of timber structural elements and the development of a generic framework for the assessment of the life-cycle vulnerability and robustness of timber structures. The Action serves as a development platform for the European timber engineering research community to improve the knowledge about the life-cycle performance of timber structures.

The Action ran over 4 years and produced a couple of insights and results that are summarised in the different contributions in the present special issue on timber structures.