Ulcoss. Steel
ULCOSS. 2008

Steel is one of the most important structural material in the world. It is used in virtually all sectors, from automotive, construction, mechanical engineering and shipbuilding to household appliances, computers and consumer electronics. Infrastructure projects such as road, bridge or rail construction would be impossible without steel. When an artefact does not include steel as a major component – such as smart phones, computers or aircraft, it is made of parts which were produced with machines made of steel. In other words, steel is essential for the high standard of living in the developed world and for the growth of emerging economies...

Future Trends Study
Fast Future. Accelerating Innovation. 2005

The study has identified seven critical global trends and drivers that will have significant potential impact on and implications for NRP policy:

• Complexity and interdependence of issues affecting natural resource protection and the nations, regional entities and global institutions trying to address them.
• Climate change and global warming leading to severe weather events, water scarcity and reductions in crop yields.
• Growth economies such as China and India and the resulting increase in wealth and consumption, bringing pressures on resources and critical ecosystems.
• Increasing life expectancy and urban density creating pressure on the housing stock and potentially generating increased demand for critical resources such as water and energy.
• Rising global energy demands driven by economic growth and complicated by concerns over peak oil and resource scarcity.
• Demand for and shortages of water driven by global population growth, water starved regions and concerns over infrastructure quality.
• Global politics and governance with increasingly global issues, global agencies, actors and political blocks emerging with potentially differing priorities and capabilities.

These issues are described and analysed in more detail in the remainder of this report and the supporting appendices.

The Risks and Opportunities from Globalisation
W.Stevens. New Zealand Treasury. 2007

Globalisation, being the trend towards increasing global economic integration, is one of the largest forces, if not the largest force, affecting world economies at present. The current period of global economic integration is unprecedented and the pace and extent of globalisation will continue to have major ramifications for the world, regional and New Zealand economy. It is highly unlikely that the process of increasing global economic integration will reverse.

New Landscapes, new challenges: the Changing Strategic Horizon
Paul Isbell and Rickard Sandell, Real Instituto Elcano. 2006

New landscapes and new challenges are beginning to emerge on the strategic horizon. Traditional risks continue to pose relatively familiar political, economic, diplomatic and military challenges –for Europe in general and for Spain in particular– in several parts of the world. However, the past few years have witnessed the emergence of new phenomena with a significant potential to pose strategic challenges in the international arena.

The limits of complexity & Change
Theodore Modis

Complexity and change have grown at accelerating rates throughout history, but they may soon reach a turning point. A scientist and strategic analyst offers a way to quantify complexity as it accumulates via world-changing events.

Transborder City-Regions and the Quest for Integrated Regional Planning:
A collaborative project of UC San Diego’s Superfund Basic Research Program

This paper examines barriers and bridges to integrated regional planning in transborder city-regions. City-regions are diverse, often conflicting, aggregations of contiguous cities, suburbs, and their environs. To improve quality of life and place in today’s fast-growing city-regions requires a regional approach. However, globalization, neoliberalism and low-density urban sprawl have combined in ways that make integrated regional planning difficult to achieve. Fragmented ecologies of knowing, disarticulated infrastructures and uneven development thwart integration. There is a pressing need to build capacity for social and institutional learning, regulatory innovation and eco-efficiency in systems of production, distribution, and consumption. Along these lines, collaborative efforts to build interactive regional information systems are promising.

Historic, current and future population of Europe
GeoHive. 2008

Historic population and projections for country, continent and global data.

Demography data
IIASA. 2002

Population bu age groups, 1050-2050. Tables and tematic maps are available.

China-Europe-USA
Heiling, Gerhard K. 2008

Human development and demography. Who will win the global race?

Europe-s Changing Demography: Constrains and bottlenecks, Joint Research Center

Current demographic projections show that the European Union (EU) might reach a stationary level of population in the next half century. However, enlargement to Agenda 2000 countries – Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary, Estonia, Slovenia, Cyprus - will increase the EU population by one sixth, and immigration along recent trends would postpone global demographic decline by two or more generations.

Personas Mayores - Cunado la pirámide se inverte
I+DT info

¿Cuándo se es viejo? Quizás cada vez más tarde... La terminología pule los matices y se distinguen a los mayores activos, los de edad avanzada, los ancianos, los muy ancianos... pero sean cuales fueren las palabras, Europa está envejeciendo y este fenómeno plantea grandes desafíos a las finanzas públicas (atención médica, pago de las pensiones), a la economía (disminución de las fuerzas de trabajo) y, en el plano humano, a la organización social y familiar indispensable en la última línea recta de la vida. Enfoque aportado por los investigadores de los proyectos Soccare y Care Work.

Future Trends in Tourism - Global Perspectives
J.Willms. Club of Amsterdam 2007

Turismo de masas y transporte, el gran reto del turismo del s.XXI
J.Hernández. Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria

El turismo masas es una de las grandes consecuciones del estado del bienestar, al tiempo que ha venido generando una actividad económica importante. En este contexto, el turismo internacional aumentó un 50 por ciento en los años noventa. Es cierto que la tecnología ha avanzado mucho para evitar los impactos que esta movilidad genera, si bien el aumento del turismo ha sido tan grande, que los avances tecnológicos no han podido mitigar tales impactos. Además, los desplazamientos turísticos tienden a ser más distantes y frecuentes. El transporte es uno de los sectores que más contribuye al cambio climático entre otros factores y, sin embargo, se estima que el crecimiento del turismo internacional en el periodo 1995 - 2020, será de un 175 por ciento, esto es, mil millones de turistas más. Por ello, es todo un reto para el turismo, compatibilizar el desarrollo de esta actividad con los graves impactos del transporte.

Life & Tourism in the year 2050
Abraham Pizam

Rocket & supersonic travel, moving sidewalks, mega cruise ships (10,000). Magnetic trains, battery engines, no driving zone inner-city, airports = entertainment destinations, single contractor for ticketing, luggage centers...

Prospectiva, estrategia y planificación.
Eneko Astigarraga, 2008.

Artículos sobre prospectiva, estrategia y planificación en tecnología.