scholarly journals Living Environmental Laboratory for Lighting: Reduction of Light Pollution at Hungarian Settlements

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 66-75 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dénes Száz ◽  
Zoltán Kolláth ◽  
Ferenc Szabó ◽  
Péter Csuti

The International Dark Sky Association has a flight of rules for public lighting in dark sky parks. In Hungary, many settlements still illuminate with compact fluorescent lights and sodium lamps, that do not fulfill these rules. In our research project, financed by a grant of the European Union, we established a system of Living Environmental Laboratory for Lighting at two settlements in dark sky parks in Hungary. As the first step, the public lighting system was reconstructed, so that it satisfied the rules of IDA. We designed new LED luminaires with optimal illumination and optical properties to provide the necessary luminous intensity and reduce light pollution at the same time. The new system has a two-step illumination profile: (i) Early night, after sunset, when the traffic is still high, warm white LEDs are applied to ensure sufficient lighting coming to the roads and pavements with a wide beam of light. (ii) Late night, when the traffic is low, the illumination switches to amber LEDs that have a narrower light beam to minimize light pollution and provide sufficient visibility. This approach can be an optimal illumination construction to reduce the light pollution of public lighting at night.

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 3985
Author(s):  
Adam Kozień

The concept of sustainable development is widely used, especially in social, environmental and economic aspects. The principle of sustainable development was derived from the concept of sustainable development, which appears in legal terms at the international, EU, national and local levels. Today, the value of cultural heritage that should be legally protected is indicated. A problematic issue may be the clash in this respect of the public interest related to the protection of heritage with the individual interest, expressed, e.g., in the ownership of cultural heritage designates. During the research, scientific methods that are used in legal sciences were used: theoretical–legal, formal–dogmatic, historical–legal methods, as well as the method of criticism of the literature, and legal inferences were also used. The analyses were carried out on the basis of the interdisciplinary literature on the subject, as well as international, EU and national legal acts—sources of the generally applicable law. Research has shown that the interdisciplinary principle of sustainable development, especially from the perspective of the social and auxiliary environmental aspect, may be the basis for weighing public and individual interests in the area of legal protection of cultural heritage in the European Union. It was also indicated that it is possible in the situation of treating the principle of sustainable development in terms of Dworkin’s “policies” and allows its application not only at the level of European Union law (primary and secondary), but also at the national legal orders of the European Union Member States.


Global Jurist ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rocco Alessio Albanese

Abstract This paper intends to discuss some major European legal issues by building on the critique of a certain narrow relevance of human basic needs, according to traditional Western legal conceptions of the subject as well as of the public-private divide. In particular it aims at verifying the potentiality of consumer law for rethinking the right to housing, within recent trends of European Private Law, by adopting a remedial approach. For this reason the paper analyzes three well-known cases decided by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) – namely Aziz, Sanchez Morcillo and Kušionová – as examples of this meaningful trend. Through the combination of the fairness test over contractual terms with the criteria of effectiveness and proportionality, a broader protection of right to housing is recognised even in horizontal private relationships. Art. 7 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights (CFREU) could represent the constitutional reference for this new perspective. The paper also intends to show how the relevance of the basic need for housing is traced to debtor's families. CJEU's interpretative itinerary seems to start from a fairness test about contractual terms, but eventually comes to give protection to subjective situations that are even out of the domain of the contract.


Author(s):  
Dimitris Zavras

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has resulted in significant uncertainty for the global population. However, since not all population groups experience the impacts of the pandemic in the same way, the objective of this study was to identify the individual characteristics associated with the feeling of uncertainty during the lockdown that commenced in March 2020 in Greece. The study used data from the “Public Opinion in the European Union (EU) in Time of Coronavirus Crisis” survey. The sample consisted of 1050 individuals aged between 16 and 54 years. According to the analysis, which was based on a logistic regression model, the emotional status of older individuals, those who experienced income and job losses since the beginning of the pandemic, and middle-class and high-class individuals, is more likely to be described as a feeling of uncertainty. In addition, the emotional status of individuals with less concern for their own health and that of family and friends is less likely to be described as a feeling of uncertainty. Although the results related to age, income, and job losses, as regards concern for health, agree with the international literature, the limited health literacy of lower-class individuals may explain the reduced likelihood of their experiencing feelings of uncertainty. The results confirm the international literature describing several aspects of uncertainty due to the COVID-19 crisis.


2015 ◽  
Vol 109 (1) ◽  
pp. 161-167
Author(s):  
Anne-Marie Carstens

In Technische Universität Darmstadt v. Eugen Ulmer KG, the Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ or Court) addressed several important copyright issues stemming from a practice that continues to confound many legal practitioners and adjudicators: the mass digitization of library collections. The judgment adds to an emerging body of jurisprudence decided in the context of a trend toward greater digitization that could ultimately facilitate the development of a global, digital library. To date, the jurisprudence has largely been formed by cases challenging mass digitization that are percolating through the United States courts and have attracted international attention and criticism. The ECJ decision thus provides an important point of reference for evaluating how different jurisdictions balance the rights of authors against the public interest, as served by relevant fair use exceptions consistent with their international obligations under traditional copyright treaties, the 1996 WIPO Copyright Treaty, and the 1994 Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) applicable to all WTO member states.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (14) ◽  
pp. 7886
Author(s):  
Pavel Kotlán ◽  
Alena Kozlová ◽  
Zuzana Machová

Establishing criminal liability for environmental offences remains daunting, particularly with regard to the ‘no plaintiff—no judge’ element as a result of which the public seems to be ultimately deprived of the possibility to participate in criminal environmental proceedings. While there is arguably a lack of specific instruments at the European Union (EU) level which would prescribe such legal obligation on the part of the State, there has been a shift in understanding the role of the public and its participation in criminal liability cases, namely under the auspices of the so-called effective investigation and the concept of rights of victims in general. Using the example of the Czech Republic as a point of reference, this article aims to assess the relevant legal developments at both EU and Czech levels to illustrate why the non-governmental organizations (NGOs), essentially acting as public agents, should be granted an active role in environmental criminal proceedings. After examining the applicable legal framework and case law development, the article concludes that effective investigation indeed stands as a valid legal basis for human rights protection which incorporates an entitlement to public participation. Despite that, this pro-active shift is far from being applied in practice, implying that the legislation remains silent where it should be the loudest, and causing unsustainable behaviour of companies.


Author(s):  
Marta Pietras-Eichberger

The study analyzed selected issues related to the scope of human rights and freedoms during the COVID-19 pandemic in Poland and Russia. The author wanted to compare the regulations issued by a Member State of the European Union and a country outside the European Union, often using undemocratic methods of exercising power. The work focuses on research problems related to the principles of protection, the confrontation of individual interests with the public interest, and the impact of the regimes introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic on human rights law in both countries. The thesis of the study is that in the event of a threat to public health, analogous restrictions on human rights are introduced both in an undemocratic country and in a country belonging to international structures identifying with democratic values. The state of the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed, and in some area even contributed to the creation of mechanisms reserved for crisis situations, posing a direct and real threat to public safety and health.


2019 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. 62-67
Author(s):  
Dijana Alic

On 6 april 1992, the european union (eu) recognised bosnia and hercegovina as a new independent state, no longer a part of the socialist federal republic of Yugoslavia. The event marked the start of the siege of sarajevo, which lasted nearly four years, until late february 1996. It became the longest siege in the history of modern warfare, outlasting the leningrad enclosure by a year. During its 1425 days, more than 11,500 people were killed. The attacks left a trail of destruction across the city, which began to transform it in ways not experienced before. This paper explores how the physical transformation of sarajevo affected the ways in which meaning and significance were assigned to its built fabric. I argue that the changes imposed by war and the daily destruction of the city challenged long-established relationships between the built fabric and those who inhabited the city, introducing new modes of thinking and interpreting the city. Loosely placing the discussion within the framework of ‘Thirdspace', established by urban theorist and cultural geographer edward soja, i discuss the relationship that emerged between the historicality, sociality and spatiality of war-torn sarajevo. Whether responding to the impacts of physical destruction or dramatic social change, the nexus of time, space and being shows that the concept of spatiality is essential to comprehending the world and to adjusting to and resisting the impact of extraordinary circumstances. Recognising the continuation of daily life as essential to survival sheds light on processes of renewal and change in a war-affected landscape. These shattered urban spaces also show the ways in which people make a sense of place in relation to specific socio-historical environments and political contexts.


Author(s):  
Lucía CASADO CASADO

LABURPENA: Ekonomiako Lankidetza eta Garapenerako Erakundeak eta Europar Batasunak bultzatutako erregulazioa hobetzeko politika gero eta gehiago garatu da Espainian eta 2015ean bultzada esanguratsua jaso du, urriaren 1eko 39/2015 Legea, Herri Administrazioen Administrazio Prozedura Erkideari buruzkoa, onartuta. Lege horrek titulu berria dakar —VI.a— legegintza-ekinbidea eta erregelamenduak eta bestelako xedapenak emateko ahalmena arautzeko. Bertan, legegintza-ekinbidea eta lege mailako arauak egiteko ahala erabiltzeari, erregelamenduak egiteko ahala erabiltzeari, erregulazio onaren printzipioei, araudiaren ebaluazioari, arauen publizitateari, arauen plangintzari eta herritarrek lege mailako arauak eta erregelamenduak egiteko prozeduran parte hartzeari buruzko xedapen batzuk jasotzen dira. Lan horrek arlo horretan 39/2015 Legeak sartutako berritasunak aztertzen ditu, tokiko ikuspegitik, haren xedapenak administrazio publiko guztiei eta, beraz, toki-administrazioei ere, aplikatzen baitzaizkie. Helburu nagusia Legeak tokiko arauak egiteko ahalean daukan eragina aztertzea eta, ondorioz, arlo horretan tokiko eremuan sartzen diren berritasun nagusiak zehaztea da, haren aplikazioak ekar ditzakeen erronka, arazo eta zalantza batzuk ikusteko eta balizko irtenbideak emateko. RESUMEN: La política de mejora de la regulación, impulsada por la Organización para la Cooperación y el Desarrollo Económico y por la Unión Europea, se ha desarrollado en España de forma reciente y ha recibido un impulso significativo en 2015, con la aprobación de la Ley 39/2015, de 1 de octubre, del procedimiento administrativo común de las administraciones públicas. Esta Ley incluye un nuevo Título —el VI—, destinado a regular la iniciativa legislativa y la potestad para dictar reglamentos y otras disposiciones. En él se recogen algunas previsiones sobre el ejercicio de la iniciativa legislativa y la potestad para dictar normas con rango de ley, el ejercicio de la potestad reglamentaria, los principios de buena regulación, la evaluación normativa, la publicidad de las normas, la planificación normativa y la participación de los ciudadanos en el procedimiento de elaboración de normas con rango de ley y reglamentos. Este trabajo se centra en el análisis de las novedades incorporadas en esta materia por la citada Ley 39/2015 desde una perspectiva local, dada la aplicación de sus previsiones a todas las administraciones públicas y, por consiguiente, también a las administraciones locales. El objetivo primordial es analizar la incidencia de esta Ley sobre la potestad normativa local y, en consecuencia, determinar las principales novedades que se incorporan en esta materia en el ámbito local, con el fin de apuntar algunos retos, problemas e incertidumbres que su aplicación puede suscitar y aportar posibles soluciones. ABSTRACT: Policies to improve regulation promoted by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and the European Union have recently been applied in Spain and in 2015 received a significant boost with the passing of Law 39/2015, of 1 October, on common administrative procedure for the public administrations. This Law includes a new Section (VI) which regulates legislative initiative and the power to create regulations and other provisions. The law contains provisions regarding the execution of legislative initiative and the power to create regulations with the force of laws, the exercising of regulatory power, the principles of good regulation, regulatory evaluation, regulatory publicity, regulatory planning and the participation of citizens in the process of creating legislation with the force of laws and regulations. The present study analyses the changes made to local regulatory powers by the aforementioned Law 39/2015, given that its provisions are applicable to all public administrations and, therefore, also to the local administrations. The primary objective is to analyse the effect of this Law on local regulatory powers and, therefore, to determine the principle new changes that have been made to local regulatory powers, with the aim of identifying the challenges, problems and uncertainties that may arise through the application of the Law and to propose possible solutions.


Author(s):  
Jacinto J. Marabel

Durante muchos años, la Unión Europea exigió al Reino de España articular una serie de medidas tendentes a garantizar los procedimientos de recurso en materia de adjudicación de contratos públicos. La materia tiene una importancia crucial en las políticas europeas y su impacto económico llega a alcanzar la quinta parte del PIB del conjunto de los Estados miembros. Por esta razón, se hizo necesaria la creación de órganos independientes con competencia en la resolución de este tipo de conflictos que velaran por el principio de libre concurrencia. El Tribunal de Justicia de la Unión Europea considera que la naturaleza y funciones de tipo de órganos, que a partir del Tribunal Central de Recursos Contractuales se han extendido a gran parte de las Comunidades Autónomas, son asimilables a las de los órganos jurisdiccionales.For many years, the European Union demanded the Kingdom of Spain to articulate a series of measures to ensure the review procedures in the field of public procurement. The matter is of crucial importance in European policies and their economic impact can reach a fifth of the GDP of all the Member States. For this reason, the creation of independent bodies with competence in the resolution of such conflicts that shall ensure the principle of free competition was necessary. The Court of Justice of the European Union considered that the nature and functions of type of organs, which starting from the Public Procurement Review Central Administrative Court have been extended to much of the Autonomous Communities, are similar to the justice courts.


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