This document examines ethical and human rights-based approaches to climate change and climate-related vulnerability. It was published by the World Commission on the Ethics of Scientific Knowledge and Technology (COMEST), an independent expert advisory committee tasked with guiding the UN Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (UNESCO) in its implementation of ethical frameworks in science, technology and development.

In particular, the report focuses on ethical issues brought about by climate change, and discusses both general and specific principles that could be adopted to respond to these issues.

These include protecting human rights; providing equitable access to medical, scientific and technological developments, including the rapid sharing of knowledge about such developments and the sharing of benefits, with particular attention to the needs of developing countries; holding polluters accountable for the cost of their pollution; and ensuring that development is sustainable.

This collection of papers was presented at a conference on linkages between climate change, water, conflict and migration, held in September 2011 at The Hague, in the Netherlands, where the discussion focused on: capacity building and resilience in climate hotspots; conflict prevention; and a legal framework to protect environmental migrants.

The publication includes a conference summary and a background document providing an overview of how climate change, water stress and environmental problems are increasingly seen as major threats to human security. Also included are papers that explore connections between these issues from the perspective of vulnerability; put forward a research and capacity-building agenda for climate-induced migrations; and review current literature, evidence and implications for policymaking on the environment, climate change and human displacement.

This document describes the work of India's National Innovation Foundation (NIF) in supporting grassroots innovation through activities such as documentation, business development and protecting intellectual property rights, and lays out proposals for strengthening links with African nations. Suggestions for Indo-African cooperation to spread innovative technology and ideas include cross-cultural exchanges and replicating the Honey Bee Network. The remaining part of the document contains an extensive catalogue of technological, agricultural and knowledge-based innovations supported and developed by NIF. They include a solar mosquito-destroying device, a portable and smokeless stove, a tractor attachment that collects groundnuts, and a hand-operated water pump.

This report outlines the role that science, technology and innovation can play in implementing the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). It draws from lessons learned over the past five decades, and describes actions needed to help achieve the MDGs through technological innovation, including building scientific infrastructure, investing in education and promoting business activities in science and technology.

The report acknowledges three main actors in technological innovation: governments, academic institutions and private enterprise. It argues that they must work together to improve the policy environment, technological infrastructure and capacity-building in developing nations. It suggests that global partnerships, advising policymakers and good governance should be encouraged, and points out that the diversity of political environments and resources means that countries should not have a one-size-fits-all approach to policy development.

This report — summarising a UNESCO innovation for development workshop — examines the role of innovation in development, and the contribution of knowledge, research and development to innovation. It focuses on knowledge in science, engineering and technology.

The report outlines analytical and theoretical frameworks as well as current innovation efforts and innovation policy. Major issues discussed at the workshop are highlighted in an action agenda, which suggests the need for more research and statistical indicators, dissemination of projects, human and institutional capacity building, better policy design and the need to increase awareness of innovation.

A separate report, which is included in the document, consolidates several themes that emerged from the talks, including the need to improve policy coherence, the difficulties of comparing innovation across countries or different points in time, the importance of capacity building, and the role of technology transfer in generating new knowledge. It also identifies challenges facing policymakers, the research community and international donors in achieving these goals. The report includes keynote speeches and links to Powerpoint presentations given at the conference.

This editorial provides an overview of a special issue of the International Journal of Technological Learning, Innovation and Development (IJTLID), which contains papers first presented in a symposium organised in South Africa in 2010. It covers themes such as capacity building, inclusion, inequality, case studies and measurement within the field of innovation studies.

The author discusses major challenges facing the field, and their relevance to broader development agendas and policy. The article highlights the increasing acknowledgement of the important contribution that innovation can make in efforts to balance economic growth with better quality of life in developing countries. It outlines a research and advocacy agenda to strengthen the role and impact of innovation for development, and describes how the articles published as part of the issue tackle the issues included in this agenda. Through case-studies, the article also points to empirical evidence of innovation practices and outcomes in different sectors.

This report reviews the achievements made by the 'Promotion of Grassroots Innovation in Asia-Pacific Countries' project, which aims to build capacity for member countries to source, document and disseminate grassroots innovation and traditional knowledge as a means of economic and social development.

The first section documents the theory and practice of grassroots innovation using case-studies of existing organisations, such as the Honey Bee Network. It illustrates the diversity of approaches used to engage with this type of innovation, as well as the ethical aspects of informed consent before obtaining knowledge from local populations. The second part describes advances made during national and regional workshops on the subjects of capacity-building, promoting grassroots innovation and creating partnerships.

This report provides an overview of the National Adaptive Capacity (NAC) framework to help governments incorporate institutional capacity development into planning for climate change adaptation.

The report introduces the framework, which is a tool that can be used to systematically assess institutional strengths and weaknesses relevant to adaptation, support planning through the identification of specific gaps in capacity that can be filled through investment and action.

It helps to evaluate national institutions' performance of five key functions, including: assessment, prioritisation, coordination, information management, and climate risk management. These functions are considered indicators of a country's adaptive capacity.

The report also describes three pilot assessments conducted using NAC in Bolivia, Ireland, and Nepal, noting that the countries used the framework in different ways, suggesting that the tool can be adapted to different process of planning and evaluation.

The report aims to inform developers of clean development mechanism (CDM) projects and policymakers about lessons learned by the BioCarbon Fund, a public-private initiative supporting more than 20 afforestation and reforestation projects in 16 countries since 2004.

It outlines the opportunities that CDM projects present for the forestry sector, as well as the challenges that project developers face in complying with regulatory requirements. The report concludes with recommendations on how current regulations could be improved so that they match the realities on the ground, as well as other aspects of managing CDM projects — such as new ways of accessing finance and strengthening capacity at the local level.

The purpose of this toolkit is to offer guidance to groups or development practitioners who collaborate closely with communities, on researching and implementing climate adaptation coalitions. It says that using the Adaptation Coalition Framework can build capacity for the informed participation of local communities in decision-making. This is critical because climate change impacts are likely to be variable, longer-term and difficult to predict, yet have unique local effects because of the socioeconomic and environmental conditions of every community.

The toolkit outlines a series of steps towards building coalitions, starting with exchange of knowledge and moving on to information gathering, feedback and planning, and finally coalition strengthening. It provides information on how to train local community adaptation teams to continue the work over the long-term, and how to report back findings to a community. The report identifies the resources and time commitments needed, and elements likely to make coalitions successful, such as having a collective goal.

This report identifies good practices and potential concrete steps forward to help scientists and administrators involved in collaborative research programmes between developing and developed countries. It describes issues that must be considered when designing, implementing and managing such projects. The report distils information and analyses that emerged from the Global Science Forum project, which addresses issues such as achieving a balance between research goals and strategic development priorities, developing national capacity in science and technology, and using appropriate indicators to evaluate the outcomes of collaborative programmes. The report concludes by emphasising that international collaboration is essential to deal with global issues such as climate change because developing countries are often those most severely affected by global threats.

This safety guide, published by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), is designed to help countries prepare plans to improve their capacity to respond to nuclear or radiological emergencies whether as a result of an accident or malicious use of nuclear material. The guide can also be used to meet IAEA's safety requirements.

It outlines generic and operational criteria, according to specific radiation doses, to help policymakers decide between different courses of action to protect the public, emergency workers and the environment. It includes guidelines for assessing food and water contamination, and subsequent remediation measures, as well as on how to set safety perimeters around an incident depending on initial observations at the scene. The guide also outlines lessons learned from past experiences.

This training manual aims to help science educators, career advisers and school staff to encourage more girls to pursue science and technology (S&T) careers in Africa. Specific objectives include promoting a positive image of women in science, making educators aware of gender stereotypes related to science careers, improving girls' access to science education and ensuring that teachers have the tools they need.

The manual is divided into six main units, each targeting a different audience. For each unit, the manual describes the purpose, target groups, learning outcomes and course content, together with suggested workshop activities for each topic. The workshops enable educators to explore gender issues around science and technology in depth. This manual is available in English, French and Portuguese.

This training manual focuses on helping scientists, policymakers, government bodies and human resource departments improve their leadership capabilities in science, technology and gender (STG) issues. By building the capacity of government organisations to implement policies on gender equality, it aims to empower women, especially those who are marginalised.

The manual contains four modules that describe gender equality studies and training, address why and how this should be introduced, and outline key issues set to become more relevant in the future, such as globalisation and intellectual property. Each module includes a summary of key aims, activities and case studies from Asia-Pacific countries. The manual offers tips and guidelines in conducting training sessions, and encourages the modification of workshops to suit users' needs.

This technical guide describes the Strategic Analysis and Knowledge Support System (SAKSS), a mechanism developed to address gaps in the capacity of many African countries to translate scientific evidence into agricultural and development policies. The SAKSS concept brings together "strategic analysis", an integrated framework used to identify strategies for attaining development goals, and "knowledge support systems", a network that supplies the evidence needed to formulate and implement these strategies.

The guide is aimed at policy analysts and researchers helping to set up SAKSSs in Sub-Saharan African countries, as well as governments and development partners looking for this type of knowledge support system. The first part gives an overview of SAKSS, including its objectives and underlying principles. The second part gives practical guidance on setting up a country SAKSS, followed by examples of existing applications and a list of resources.

This handbook offers developing countries guidance on how to conduct technology needs assessments systematically to address climate change.

It was prepared by the UN Development Programme (UNDP), in collaboration with the Expert Group on Technology Transfer of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Secretariat and the Climate Technology Initiative.

This updated version of the 2004 handbook provides a more detailed framework for the development and implementation of needs assessments designed to help countries make informed choices on the technologies they can adopt to mitigate and adapt to the impacts of climate change. In particular, it advises on how to identify, assess and prioritise technologies. It also examines ways to support capacity building and help establish environments to enable technology transfer.

This report from PLoS Medicine argues that nanotechnology has a role in the development of low-income countries. The authors survey 85 experts worldwide and rank the top ten nanotech applications most likely to benefit developing nations. They outline how these applications can help meet the Millennium Development Goals. The paper calls for an initiative to identify "grand challenges" in nanotechnology for global health, which since the publication of this paper are now underway.

This follow-up paper, from the Journal of Nanotechnology Online, provides an in-depth look at the way poor countries engage with nanotechnology. It analyses why some developing nations are ahead of others in nanotechnology progress, and the challenges some less-developed countries face in shoring up nanotechnology capacity. It also investigates nanotechnology patent activity and assesses country participation in nanotechnology policy dialogues – for instance, China is a frontrunner in filing nanotech patents yet it is absent from policy discussions.

This essay by Chunli Bai, executive vice president of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), explains the reasons behind the rapid progress of nanotechnology in China. A key factor, says Bai, has been "extraordinary" government support for the field since the early 1980s, which led to the creation of research institutes and significant grant money. But, cautions Bai, public communication on nanotechnology research, and ongoing monitoring and assessment of nanotechnology risks is needed.

This report, published by the Meridian Institute describes the growing interest of developing countries including Brazil, China, India and South Africa, in nanotechnology. The ways nanotechnology applications could solve health, sanitation, and pollution problems and provide faster, cheaper information and communication technology are outlined. The challenges of using and developing nanotechnology for and in developing nations including the roles and responsibilities of different stakeholders are also discussed.

The Meridian Institute says nanotechnology can play a role in achieving the UN Millennium Development Goals. As a result, rich nations should dedicate a reasonable portion of their overseas development assistance to nanotechnology.