Up Norway, Scandinavia’s sustainable luxury travel curator, shares with Green Prophet, its top recommendations for romantic train journeys. The unforgettable escapes were designed for honeymooners, couples in love, solo travelers indulging in self-romance, or families embracing quality time together to experience the true magic of travel by rail.

Everyone is advertising rail travel these days as a slow mode to see where one travels, offering affordable journeys and local insights. Some trains like Saudi Arabia’s new slow train are also offering luxury options.

Blending intimacy, adventure, and the unhurried rhythm of slow travel, each recommended train route can be seamlessly integrated into any Up Norway itinerary or crafted into its own fully customized adventure, making them the perfect Valentine’s Day gift for a year-round romantic getaway.

Up Norway’s recommended train routes where the journey itself becomes as memorable as the destination include:

Head North:

Travelers can begin their journey in Oslo aboard the Dovre Railway, which winds through the scenic Norwegian countryside with views of rolling hills and forests. In 90 minutes, the train arrives in Brumunddal, near Hoel Manor, a lakeside estate on the Nes Peninsula where couples rediscover romance through farm-to-table dining, lakeside wellness experiences that include saunas, cold plunging and hot tubs, and scenic bike rides to Helgøya Island—a heart-shaped gem celebrated for its panoramic views and tranquil setting.

Continuing along the Dovre Railway for another 25 minutes brings couples to Lillehammer, a historic Olympic town known for its alpine landscapes. From the train windows, passengers can glimpse snow-covered peaks and frozen lakes, adding to the anticipation of their arrival. Here, the brand-new Nermo Hotel, launched late last summer and still relatively undiscovered, offers stabbur suites—converted Norwegian storage houses offering panoramic views, crackling fireplaces, and access to winter sports like skiing and bobsledding.

Further along the Dovre Railway is Otta, a gateway to UNESCO-protected farm culture, and Hindsæter Lodge, which invites guests to unwind with gourmet dining and spa indulgence amidst dramatic mountain trails.

Central Norway:

For a dramatic fjord experience, couples can transfer to the Rauma Railway at Dombås, a mountain town in central Norway, to embark on a one-hour, 40-minute journey through one of Norway’s most iconic rail routes. The train passes deep gorges, cascading waterfalls, and towering peaks before reaching Åndalsnes, where a short transfer leads to Storfjord Hotel. This Relais & Châteaux retreat offers outdoor hot tubs and private fjord cruises to immerse couples in the region’s breathtaking beauty.

Arctic Norway by train:

The Ofotbanen Railway offers a 43-minute journey from Narvik to Riksgränsen, Sweden, crossing the Arctic with snow-covered plains and towering peaks. Here, Niehku Mountain Villa offers activities like snowmobiling and snowshoeing by day, followed by magical moments beneath the northern lights on winter nights.

Southern Norway:

The Sørlandsbanen Railway provides a four-hour, 20-minute route from Oslo to Kristiansand—recently featured on this year’s New York Times list of 52 best places to visit— passing through coastal forests and charming towns before arriving at Boen Manor. This riverside estate combines gourmet dining with access to the historic Setesdal Line, where guests can embark on nostalgic steam train rides through Norway’s idyllic countryside. Guests can also visit Kunstsilo, Norway’s celebrated contemporary art destination, for an inspiring blend of heritage and modern creativity.

Western Norway:

Lastly, the Bergen Railway crosses Europe’s highest mountain plateaus on a three-hour, 45-minute route from Oslo to Ustaoset. Here, the exclusive Hallinghi Lodge near Geilo—where only one group or couple can stay at a time—offers a remote, off-the-beaten-path experience with secluded dining, scenic hikes, and sauna rituals, all set against awe-inspiring highland vistas.

Want to start booking your train? Try Rail Ninja for scheduling and prices in Europe.

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During the hours of COVID boredom (and isolation fantasies) we stumbled across the Forest to Table eco retreat in Sweden, called Stedsans. We feel in love with their floating sauna, but also their lopsided off-grid cabins. And obviously we fantasized about being their eating foraged everything, running around with fragments of moss between our toes.

Stedsans is an off-the-grid forest resort in Southern Sweden (2 hours from Gothenburg/Malmö and less than 3 hours from Copenhagen) with a regenerative farm, a restaurant that goes deep into the flavors of seasonal ingredients, 16 simple wooden cabins, campsite, and a floating sauna on the lake.

The vision was started by a Swedish chef who moved her passion to the forest where people could book a cabin and a lovely communal meal created by findings from the forest and hyper local suppliers nearby. But every vision and creation, when done well, has a lifespan.

They are selling: “After 8 years in the forest it is time for us to hand over our beautiful project to someone else. Our decision to let go of this very special place has not been easy. We have poured our hearts into creating a little slice of paradise on Earth, and we hope and expect to find new owners who will take well care of it and all of the potential it offers.”

Stedsans is now a popular restaurant and forest resort with it’s own permaculture farm, but it may very well become something else, they suggest. “Maybe a retreat center, a conference space for a forward-thinking business – or a private home, maybe even a little village, with amazing development potential. Whatever dream you carry in your heart, we will be happy to show you around and give our feed-back to ensure we find a really good match for this place and business.”

Link to Stedsans for more, below.

::Stedsans

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The Berrechid plain has historically been known as Morocco’s granary for its vast production of cereals and fodder and more recently, it has been an important legume production hub. But farming in Morocco has become difficult over the last decade with climate change.

Over the past two decades, the plain has seen a disorderly intensification of irrigation. Between 2007 and 2017, carrot production, for instance, increased by about 500 percent. Despite the immediate economic gains, this process has been one of the causes of the over-exploitation of the Berrechid aquifer, whose more than 95 percent of pumped water goes to agriculture. The UN and partnering bodies determined in a recent study that by stopping illegal irrigation from farmers, they can slow the destruction of a life-giving aquifer. The answer: water meters.

Today, the Berrechid aquifer is one of the most depleted in Morocco. More water has been taken from the aquifer than its natural capacity to recharge. The reserve has recorded an annual deficit of 32 million cubic metres (the equivalent of 12 800 Olympic-size swimming pools) due to overuse and increasingly erratic rainfall patterns. The aquifer also suffers from increasing levels of pollution from agricultural activities. Drip irrigation, a modern method of farming developed by Israel, has increased in Morocco, making farming less of a back breaking job.

Drip irrigation, a marvel of agricultural technology, has its roots in the arid landscapes of Israel and the ancient ingenuity of desert farming. Simcha Blass, an Israeli engineer, drew inspiration from the ancient qanat system, a remarkable underground aqueduct system used by ancient civilizations, and introduced the concept of drip irrigation in the 1960s, with the pioneering support of companies like Netafim.

Rural communities and farmers in Berrechid rely on this essential aquifer to live and to grow the crops on which their household incomes and food security rely.

Though the country had established legal and institutional systems to regulate groundwater use, for several years, most wells in the area were neither declared nor monitored. Water charges were unpaid and illegal drilling accelerated the aquifer’s depletion.

“Life becomes more difficult with water shortages,” says Said Fikri, a farmer in Berrechid. “We need sustainable agriculture that does not deplete water, so our children can continue our work.”

Mounting pressure

The case in Berrechid sheds light on some of the major concerns about water management in Morocco at large. The country faces “structural water stress” due to population growth combined with climate change and growing urban and industrial demand for water.

Like in Morocco, water is incredibly precious in all of the Near East and North Africa. Freshwater availability in the region is around one-tenth of the global average, having decreased by 78 percent between 1962 and 2018, compared with a global reduction of 59 percent over the same period.

While a few decades ago, wells would pump water from 50 metres beneath the surface, now it is nearly three times deeper, compounding the difficulties in accessing water resources.

A watershed deal in a watershed plain

In 2011, the Hydraulic Basin Agency of Bouregreg and Chaouia (ABH-BC) – a governmental division overseeing the use of water in the Bouregreg and Chaouia areas, which includes the Berrechid aquifer – began negotiating a water governance arrangement to stem the groundwater deficit in Berrechid and ensure the sustainable management of these resources.

In November 2021, this process, facilitated by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), resulted in the signing of two contracts between ABH-BC and two associations of water users, as a first step towards a broader contract that will go beyond agriculture and engage all concerned actors in the Berrechid watershed.

The contracts grant authorization and regulate the annual use of groundwater per hectare. Farmers are required to install water metres, pay fees and communicate the volumes consumed on a quarterly basis.

Funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, FAO’s Water efficiency, productivity and sustainability in the NENA regions project supported the Moroccan government by providing scientific evidence on water availability and productivity and facilitating dialogue. FAO helped bring the different parties together to sensitize them about the gravity of the aquifer depletion, stress the importance of having a long-term agreement and facilitate their engagement.

The success of the agreement between the government and two private associations, represents a milestone for Morocco and the region at large.

“The governance process that took place over the past decade was a remarkable example of participatory process that culminated in a responsible way of looking at the aquifer, one that is conscious of future generations and reflects how different public and private actors can collaborate when they have the right motivation and conditions for it,” highlights Abdelhak Laiti, Assistant FAO Representative in Morocco.

Common ground

Throughout the years, the decreasing availability of the resource and increasing tensions and competition over groundwater have gradually given way to a spirit of cooperation between farmers and State regulators. The collection and dissemination of data on groundwater overexploitation has demonstrated that there is no time for disagreement.

This process also helped build understanding and trust between the government and the farmers. While previously farmers resisted signing an aquifer contract, today they are the ones who champion it.

To complement the governance process, FAO ran farmer field schools to support farmers in undertaking more sustainable management of natural resources.

“The project provided us with valuable information on irrigation issues and agricultural practices, allowing us to reduce quantities of water used, and therefore reduce production costs and improve our income,” says the owner of a carrot field in Jakma commune, Berrechid.

“Thanks to this, we have saved 50 percent of water compared to gravity irrigation,” exclaims Said.

Strengthening sustainable and inclusive water governance is a living process. Continued dialogue and transparency, as well as investment in accurate data, will be key to preventing any future conflicts that could arise due to lack of information or inequalities in access to water resources.

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Thank God for Sweden and Swedish forests. They can be as gnarly as Canada’s in the early summer. You need constant protection and refuge from the bugs. But if you have an adequate supply of netting and a comfortable cabin, building a small dream nest in the forest is a doable thing. Or if you live in a desert area or on a river, you can also do these just fine.

Another name for tiny home?

Now that we are isolating from each other it might be time to think about gearing down a bit and building a new future reality.

Cabin Porn’s founder Zach Klein built a small community for his high-tech and media friends in Upstate New York that they call Beaver Brook. Check them out. They are idealistic in their cooking, building, and DIY approach. They had the call of the wild.

If you are renting in a big city or stuck with a mortgage, I am sure you have heard the call of the wild. Now might be the time to start building a nook in the woods, and I have the perfect plan for you. I was searching for a perfect and low cost A frame cabin blueprint for years. Then I saw the lifestyle and cabins of the folks at Stedsans in the Woods in Sweden. They run a forest to table restaurant and getaway deep in the woods.

I love the off centered, non conforming, off centered placement of the panels and the frame of their cabin. This gives it a “super human” in the woods feeling, that I can only compare to a revered Japanese ceramic tea cup used in a tea ceremony. It just gives you that feeling of perfect harmony in all its off centeredness.

I have a property in Canada, some 200 acres of thick and intelligent forest and although there is an old farmhouse on it, I have been dreaming about building a smaller cabin, like the one I found at Mette’s Swedish forest retreat.

Stedsans In The Woods is built by couple Mette Helbæk and Flemming Hansen, who sold their Copenhagen home and rooftop restaurant, Stedsans ØsterGRO (Stedsans in the Woods), and moved their family just across the water to an 18-acre plot of forest beside Lake Halla in West Sweden.

The focus of Stedsans ØsterGRO is to make guest experience hyperlocal fresh ingredients and simplified forest cooking. Visitors there find an idyllic, food-centred experience. Kickstarter helped make it happen. 

Beyond the food one of the big attractions at Stedsans is the floating sauna. That’s what first found me on Instagram. I was looking for simple A frame cabins for building a writing retreat and everything they did at Stedsans in the Woods caught my attention and made me say, wow: I want to be there. For isolation, and maybe even forever? 

In Swedish Stedsans means “a sense of location” and at their retreat guests eat in tents and sleep in simple A frame cabins and tents under the stars. 

Among the activities you can do there is foraging expeditions. Find mushrooms like gigantic ceps (get our forest mushroom vegan cookie recipe here) and taste the food from their small permaculture farm, which includes a healthy insect hotel and a range of medicinal plants.

Chefs prepare you food from what you see, with meat roasting on the fire, or herbs ground in a mortar and pestle.

We all need a lot more going back to the roots right now. Don’t you feel it too?

::Stedsans in the Woods

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Despite the fact that the EU is willing to fund renewable energy in its climate laggard states, using cap & trade revenues from the sale of emission allowances, Malta still gets only 1% of its electricity from renewable energy. This is by far the worst performance in the EU. Only Cyprus has done as little.

The EU as a whole averages 20% renewable energy now, led by nations like Germany, Spain and Denmark, as a result of the tough climate legislation that EU members have agreed to, that led to the development of a whole new clean energy industry.

As an EU member Malta is required to produce at least 10% of its energy from renewables by 2020. But it has moved just in time to meet the target.

The Swedish company Hexicon has filed a project description statement (PDS) with Maltese authorities for an intriguing offshore wind farm with 36 turbines set on a hexagon-shaped 460-metre-wide platform. If its application succeeds, along with the funding for it through the EU cap & trade scheme (via Ner300), the plant could start operations in June 2014.

Because its land mass is so small, the tiny island nation – far out in the Mediterranean Sea below Italy – had long planned for a floating offshore wind project to meet the requirement.

Wind farms on floating platforms is the most viable option for Malta as it can exploit wind force from whichever direction the wind is blowing at the time.

If approved the project would represent full circle in the government’s policy with regard to wind energy. Its original plan in 2006 was to meet its Kyoto targets using floating offshore wind projects, because the island of Malta is sited in such deep water that it would not be economical and feasible to construct fixed offshore wind farms.

But the technology for floating wind farms like this one was still at an experimental stage back then, and in 2008, the new government in Malta relented and revised its policy allowing for a near shore windfarm at Sikka l-Bajda and two smaller land based farms in Hal Far and Bahrija.

A lot has happened in offshore wind energy development since 2006. The EU now leads the world with 141 GW (1 GW is 1,000 MW) of offshore wind in the pipeline. And floating offshore wind projects are now state of the art.

The technology for large-scale, floating platforms for wind and wave power was analyzed and reviewed by the Swedish Energy Agency, the Malta Resources Authority and the Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environment of the Republic of Cyprus, and if approved, the EU will support Hexicon in its Ner300 investment program for renewable energy.

A location on the northeast of Malta 11 nautical miles from shore, where water depths vary between 100 and 150 metres, has already been identified for floating the wind power station. A cable would link the wind-farm to an offshore substation. The platform is anchored by cable, but is able to turn 360 degrees within 30 minutes.

The 54MW capacity floating wind farm will produce about 9% of the energy currently generated by the two existing power stations, about twice that projected from the proposed Sikka l-Bajda windfarm, which would have been on poles sunk in the sea bed in shallower waters.

Hexicon says in the PDS that its floating wind farm, supplying 9% of Malta’s electricity will enable Malta to meet its EU commitment to generate 10% of its energy from renewable sources by 2020 (assuming that this is in addition to the small land-based wind farm producing the other 1%.)

It also proposes what the Maltese paper puts incredulously in quotes as  “a claim” of “the production of energy at a more competitive rate than oil based power generating facilities”.

It may seem implausible that a novel technology, invented within the last five years, could produce cheaper energy than one for which the infrastructure is already in place, but island nations can spend a lot of money importing the heavy oil to run power plants.

Related stories:

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The three winners from the Middle East/MENA region are Tunisia, Bahrain and Qatar in new survey on tourism trends.

The recently released 2011 “Travel and Tourism Competitiveness”report by the World Economic Forum, in co-operation with Booz & Company, reveals some interesting dynamics in the global tourism industry, including a shift to the East, with Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and Asia rising in rank, while sustainability continues to establish itself as a  key tourism trend. Political reality may be overshadowing any wide discourse on tourism in the Middle East. But the potential role of this industry is more relevant than ever for a region struggling with issues of heritage, identity, and community development. Here’s a brief overview of the report:

Western Europe still leads, but new travel choices emerging

The international ranking is based on detailed analysis of key attributes such as health and safety, infrastructure, price levels, the cultural offer, environmental protection and legislative regulation. A total of 139 countries are studied, including 16 from the Middle East.

As the industry witnesses a gradual recovery, established Western European countries, including Germany, Switzerland, France, continue to occupy the top positions. However, according to the report, overall, the dynamic in the tourism sector is moving away from established regions such as Europe and North America, and towards the East. In the Asia-Pacific Region, international tourist arrivals from 2000 to 2010 increased nearly twice as fast (85 percent) as the global average (39%).

Within Europe, not surprisingly, Greece and Portugal are the biggest losers, reflecting to a large extent the impact of the economic and debt crisis, which hit both destinations particularly hard. One the other hand, Montenegro’s “while beauty” has earned it recognition as a real winner in this year’s survey. The Balkan state has identified environmental protection as a key constitutional objective and is actively supporting sustainable eco-development projects to meet growing global interest for new exotic destinations.

The rise of the GCC destinations in the Middle East

Only three MENA countries are included in the top 50 rankings of leading tourism destinations  and surprisingly none from the historically and culturally rich Levant region: Bahrain (2011 ranking: 40), Qatar (2011 ranking: 42), and Tunisia (2011 ranking: 47).

Although the survey was conducted before the regional unrest, already the North African destinations such as Tunisia and Egypt were falling back in the rankings, as Arab countries in the Gulf continue to invest heavily in the tourism sector.

A closer look at the survey shows in Bahrain policy rules and regulations are less supportive of the sector’s development (ranked 58th), while environmental sustainability remains a particular area of concern (123rd).

Qatar is ranked 3rd in the region and 42nd overall. It is also seen as in need of improving its policy environment and focusing on environmental sustainability (67th).

Although the Gulf countries’ heavy investment in good transport and tourism infrastructure is paying off, environmental protection sustainability still lag behind.

Significance of rankings with environment in mind

Global rankings are sometimes seen as PR tools,  oversimplified and at times politicized, but they still provide indicators on key trends and “smart growth” opportunities.

One clear winning trend is long-term and continuous investments in sustainable tourism concepts and environmental protection initiatives. Sweden, Switzerland, and Denmark—three countries holding the top three spots in the environmental sustainability pillar- are characterized by strong environmental legislation and a focus on developing the tourism sector in a sustainable way.

Also in the top 10 among countries are Austria, Finland, Germany, and Norway, all with significant policies on protecting the environment.

The potential of the Middle East

Compared to the these countries, the Middle East continues to be an economically strong growth market and is not lacking in cultural and landscape-related resources to position it in a more favorable position in these rankings. The region is also not lacking in strong affinity to tourism, particularly in places like Lebanon and Jordan.

In addition, like Turkey, these countries have the potential (provided security and safety issues are settled) to provide low-cost alternatives to traditional destinations within the reach of Western Europe.

Although eco tourism projects have started appearing in some parts of the region, including Jordan, Morocco, Egypt and Lebanon, mass tourism dominated by luxury hotels operated by mostly non-indigenous population is still the predominant model.

Compared to other emerging destinations in Africa and South America, eco tourism concept is still niche and often driven by “green washing” marketing practices. With no official certification bodies, absence of local government policies in favor of eco-tourism and a more general lack of a full understanding of concepts behind eco tourism, the potential of this sector remains largely untapped.

Meanwhile, biodiversity loss, ecosystem degradation, and a lack of understanding the value of our natural resources continues on a wide scale resulting in limited unspoiled sites. Some governments are doing more than others in terms of environmental protection and sustainability, creating new protectorates to safeguard their natural heritage. Egypt reportedly has 27 protectorates covering 15% of the country, with each preserving indigenous populations and wildlife, including mangrove trees, wetlands and whale sharks. But for many countries in MENA, it may be too late as the fragile desert and marine life continue to be exploited.

Beyond the environmental and tourism benefits of green tourism,  the WEF report stresses the “huge indirect opportunities…uncovered in the general push for sustainable low carbon cities, green building design, and green transport. Further opportunities will be found specifically in the energy efficiency retrofitting of accommodation establishments and other hospitality infrastructure, the scaling up of renewable energy sources, and improved waste management.”

Green tourism can therefore have a multiplier effect and be an important trigger for green growth across the economy, raising income and employment.

But perhaps most important of all, far from being a passing fad, smart tourism that is green, ethical, and socially inclusive touches on issues of national identity and authenticity – issues that can no longer be ignored in the Middle East.

Read more on eco tourism in Middle East:
Eco tourism in the Middle East: Lebanon
Eco tourism in the Middle East: Egypt
Eco tourism in the Middle East: Syria
Climbing God’s Mountain for Eco tourism in Egypt

:: image via flicker

The post Tourists Not Terrorists: The Middle East Can Capitalize on World Eco-Travel Trends appeared first on Green Prophet.

Urine has been getting a lot of attention recently. Though most city dwellers are opposed to a quick public wee,  urine is so powerful it can be used to energize fuel cells and as fertilizer.

Small scale farmers or gardeners who want to eschew expensive fertilizers have a more natural option. And thanks to a Swedish company called Guldkannan (Gold Can), a neat technology that makes their own urine easy to capture.

World War I chamber pots in Britain had the Kaiser’s face on the inside, according to Wikipedia, giving users extra satisfaction. Modern users of a sturdy green potty will give the satisfaction of creating a DIY fertilizer.

Even the Washington Post acknowledges that urine is safe, and that its high content provides crops the nutrients it needs (and some!) Plus, saving urine rather than flushing it down the toilet could have the benefit of saving water.

In the Middle East, where water is one of the most precious commodities, this could be a real boon.

Users in our region may not be able to purchase the chamber pots unless they have Swedish cousins, but the idea can’t be terribly difficult to replicate.

It is important that the watering can is sturdy enough to carry even the heavy users (Guldkannan’s piss pot can accommodate up to 150 kilograms and holds 10 liters!)

And it should be well sealed so that neither the nitrogen nor the odors infiltrate the home.

Also, if innovative farmers find their own way to capture and use their urine, they should dilute it with water first.  More power to the pee!

Website: www.guldkannan.se
Contact: info@guldkannan.se

:: Springwise

More on the green power of pee:
How green is a quick wee in public?
Is the UAE ready to drink recycled cow urine?
Your pee could power Ecobot III

The post Sturdy Chamber Pot Doubles As Watering Can appeared first on Green Prophet.

Sweden, a country with a lot of fresh water resources, is now interested in promoting joint water R & D projects with Israel. This interested was expressed recently by Sweden’s new ambassador to Israel, Elinor Hammarskjold, who expressed these remarks in a speech at a ceremony at the Jerusalem College of Technology, and reported in the Jerusalem Post.

The ambassador, whose late grandfather was the well loved UN Secretary General Dag Hammarskjold, told the ceremony audience that although Sweden has abundant fresh water, her government is nevertheless interested in finding ways to increase the amount and quality of fresh water in countries where water resources are much scarcer than in her own country.

Helina Hammarskjold

Ambassador Hammarskjold said that although water from streams in the mountains of Sweden is still clean enough to drink without purification, water in neighboring countries are not as fortunate, and that countries in the Mediterranean and Middle East have severe water problems that seem to be getting worse.

She continued by saying that Israel is a world leader in R & D projects dealing water conservation, and added that :

“Israel is slightly ahead of Sweden in the rate of resources invested in research and development. Maybe some of you young people will be involved in development. I hope to do more to contribute to joint scientific cooperation between our countries.”

Gal Oren and Nerya Stroh with teachers

Israel water conservation projects that are of particular interest are those involving detection of leakage in water piping systems; and she congratulated work being done two Jerusalem teenagers, Gal Oren and Nerya Stroh, who developed “a user-friendly computerized device that detects water leaks in apartments, buildings, factories and neighborhoods in real time and can even halt the water flow from such leaks.”

The project, which they worked on as school projects, was considered worthy enough to earn them the Stockholm Junior Water Prize which included a one week trip to Sweden to accept the prize and participate in water conservation seminars held there.

The water leakage detection device, which only costs around  NS 100 ( $27.80) has attracted the attention of  Jerusalem Deputy Mayor Naomi Tsur, who is in charge of the planning and environment portfolios. She wants to invite the two teenagers to a meeting of the municipality’s environment committee along with officials of Hagihon, the city’s water company, to see if their device can be used to reduce the estimated 13 percent water supply loss due to leaks.

Besides R&D projects to detect and repair leaky pipes in water systems, Israel is currently the world leader in reclaiming water from sewage systems, and reuse 70% of sewage water for use in agriculture and public parks and gardens.

Ambassador Hammarskjold emphasized the importance of the research being done by people like Oren and Stroh by saying: “according to the UN, more than 30% of the world’s water supplies is lost due to leaks and illegal tapping.” Maybe this new detection device, made by two bright young Israeli innovators, can help reduce some of this water loss in both Israel and abroad.

::Jerusalem Post

Read more one water reclamation and conservation projects in Israel:

Israel Reclaims Water Using Nuclear Technology

Curapipe Systems Hires “Pigs” to Repair Leaky Pipelines

IBM Transfer IT Know How to Water Conservation in Israel

The post Sweden Moots Joint Water Research Projects with Israel appeared first on Green Prophet.

Clean tech and green conferences aren’t just taking place in the US and Europe. From 12-15 October 2010, the First International Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) Exhibition 2010 will be held in Kish Island in the Persian Gulf. The Expo will focus on topics such as safety, rescue, firefighting, crisis management, and environmental issues in all disciplines, particularly oil and gas industries.

The expo invites all professional individuals and companies and also academic researchers from Iran and other countries of the region to join the event. The emphasis of the event will be on the health and safety problems of the Middle East and the Persian Gulf region but it is expected that some European companies will also join.

In parallel with the Expo, a conference will be held and workshops and technical papers will be presented. According to the website of the 1^st International HSE Expo the major subjects of the conference will be the following:

• Bringing new technology to the region from the rest of the world.
• Introducing new topics and approaches to the field of Health, Safety and the Environment.
• Considering emergency response with regard to fire fighting, rescue, safety and crisis management.
• Environmental health within the oil industry
• Exchanging views with experts within the field of safety standards.

The Expo will be presented by the Sweden-based company Europars HSEQ AB, which is a Member of the Commercial Development Organization of the EU; the Scandinavian Chamber of Commerce; the European Development and Export Centre and the Swedish International Fairs Organization.

The principal office of the company and its manager, Mr. Mansour Satarzadeh, are located in Stockholm, and the local office in located in Tehran, which does the ticket and attendance services.

More information about the Expo and the conference, as well as the organizer, can be obtained from the following links:

The First International Health, Safety and Environment Exhibition 2010

Europars HSEQ AB

More Environmental Conferences in the Middle East:
Register Early for the “Smart Grids” Middle East Conference
ecoQ Conference in Qatar (2011) for Clean Technologies and Sustainable Energy

The post Safety and Health Exhibition 2010 Kish Island, Iran appeared first on Green Prophet.

Along the banks of the beautiful Lake Siljan, in the idyllic town of Leksand, Sweden, over 1600 people from 120 countries came together for the 5th Global YES Summit in partnership with the Tallberg Foundation. The Summit brought together almost 150 projects and new ideas, developed by people who have a desire to tackle the challenges facing us today.

These projects and initiatives attempt to solve issues of social cohesion, climate change, environmental degradation, poverty, and youth unemployment. These ideas, which are focused mainly on the grassroots and community level, have the potential to start an innovation revolution in developing societies.

The projects were divided into five broad themes of water, energy, land, cities and people. Each project was not only environmentally sustainable in its own way, but extremely innovative in its approach. Several of these projects, such as the Peepoople bags, SolarCool, KickStart, Solvatten, and others, simply adapted existing knowledge into effective inventive solutions for the future. These exciting new innovations are mostly uncomplicated and easy to implement, with the power to change and transform the society they are introduced into.

I was invited to be on the panel of the Water Theme Introductory Session at the summit, where I was able to witness powerful new ideas that people have come up with first hand. On a broad level, the panel discussed the challenges facing the world today in the area of sanitation and water.

To counter these challenges, small scale initiatives were presented, and the discussion centred on bringing these initiatives and ideas into the larger social landscape.

Peepoople bags, a Swedish invention, are biodegradable toilet bags for sanitation and fertilizer. The bag not only presents an alternative to public defecation, but within 3-4 weeks the bag with its contents breaks down into natural fertilizer, creating a much needed local resource.

A response to flying toilets

Originally launched in Kenya to combat the growing problem of the ‘flying toilets’ [a facetious name for the use of plastic bags for defecation, which are then thrown into ditches, on the roadside, or simply as far away as possible], the bag could be extremely effective in societies that have water shortages, lack of toilet facilities, as well as lack of finances to afford fertilizers. In the long run, these bags also represent means to a cleaner, more hygienic local environment.

Another innovation presented at the session by a young woman from Kenya, was KickStart (pictured right) or manual water pumps for efficient irrigation. These are small, easy to carry water pumps, which can be placed around fields or near places of water supply to draw water from the ground to irrigate fields.

The size and nature of the pump makes it easy to use for women and young girls in the villages, reducing the burden placed on them and making efficient use of time.

I also had the opportunity to meet a representative of Solarcool; another excellent innovation that addresses another gap in society – energy supply.

The Solarcool is a medium-sized box, covered in inexpensive solar panels. These panels convert energy into a cooling mechanism, essentially creating a solar-powered refrigerator.

Solarcool not only opens up a whole new market for people without electricity, but will also prove extremely useful in other fields such as mobile hospitals, resulting in an improved system of health care in rural areas.

A similar initiative, Solvatten, uses the sun’s rays to purify water. A special 10 litre can has been designed, that upon exposure to the sun for 3-4 hours, purifies the water in the can, rendering it fit for consumption.

These ideas, if harnessed and allowed to grow, have the potential to create real change; where solutions for difficult issues can be found in these small innovations. Many of these inventions, such as the pumps, the bags, and the solar coolers, if mass produced, will be inexpensive and affordable for the poorest sections of society.

Not only are these projects environmentally sustainable, some of them also have the potential to create jobs in the future. The summit ended with two important plenary sessions – on bridging the divide between these projects and financial capital; and merging these approaches into the mainstream policy dialogue.

While plenary sessions are necessary, it is extremely important that these grassroots ideas and inventions do not get lost in the wider political debate. Sweden, known for its openness to innovation, in a number of different fields, was the perfect setting to present existing ideas and develop new ones.

The summit ensured that such an open space was replicated in those few days, and these important new ideas were brought to the forefront, as well as to the attention of decision makers.

About a year ago, Strategic Foresight Group’s President, Sundeep Waslekar, in his monthly column, addressed the question of what makes a nation great, citing innovation as an important factor.

It will indeed be a great nation that recognises important ideas such as the ones stated above, and ensures that these ideas are incorporated into its social fabric. Any country that snaps up these innovations and nurtures the potential of innovators, thereby facilitating a sustainable environment for the future, will indeed be a great nation. Any society that encourages its government to distinguish and boost the potential of a citizen who attempts to create a sustainable future will indeed be a great society.

The question that now remains is how we, as a global society, can ensure that these efforts become transformative forces for large scale change, and are not forgotten. It is necessary that these kinds of emerging ideas and initiatives are given the right kind of support, and that we make innovation matter.

Ambika Vishwanath is a research analyst with Strategic Foresight Group, a Mumbai based Think Tank. She specializes on issues in the Middle East.

Above image is of Peepoo Bag

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