The Links Between Growth And Energy Consumption Environmental Sciences Essay

Melting glaciers, lifting sea degrees, an addition in mean planetary temperature, and unnatural precipitation forms have started to do planetary warming an evident world throughout the past decennary. Meanwhile, increasing gross domestic merchandise ( GDP ) remains the cardinal mark of the universe ‘s economic development scheme. In many states, GDP growing is tied closely to increasing energy strength. Unless economic growing is decoupled from increased energy ingestion, the horn of plenty of nursery gases in the ambiance and the subsequent consequence of planetary heating will halter political and societal facets of the universe ‘s activities today. Harmonizing to the Alliance to Save Energy, â€Å" energy efficiency is the quickest, cheapest, cleanest manner to widen our universe ‘s energy supplies. † Because enormous energy losingss occur in the out-of-date substructure, energy efficient solutions that can assist uncouple economic growing from wasteful en ergy usage must be applied. Tamil Nadu is a fast developing province that supports a population of over 6 million people. With the addition in population comes an addition in demand for basic comfortss that include H2O, shelter and lifestyle demands. The growing in population should be supported with a attendant rise in the Gross Domestic Product of the province for the province to be self sufficient in footings of its resources. However, unlike the population, resources do non increase exponentially and therefore, the displacement in the demographic profile of the province will further increase the demand for non-renewable supplies. This calls for the efficient usage of available resources so that a dearth free hereafter can be attained in footings of energy and H2O demands. The province ‘s Annual Plan shows that every twelvemonth, around 1,94,351 hundred thousand rupees is being spent for bring forthing and keeping power supplies. The ratio of this demand to the other disbursals of the province is listed in the tabular array below. Efficient usage of available energy will assist cut down this outgo and this money can be channeled to other constructive strategies such as instruction or the wellness sectors that warrant more budget allotments. Harmonizing to the International Energy Agency ( IEA ) , energy strength in high because of two grounds â€Å" higher losingss in the supply concatenation and inefficient usage. † ( IEA 2003 ) . Implementing energy efficiency steps in substructure is a guaranteed method for bring forthing energy and fiscal nest eggs from edifices, warming, H2O supply, sewerage, and street lighting substructure. Energy efficiency in H2O supply systems is particularly good: nest eggs are accrued in H2O every bit good as energy, cut downing costs while bettering service. Efficiency in the proviso of energy and H2O is one of the few cost-efficient options available for run intoing turning demands for critical services such as electricity, H2O and effluent intervention. Energy efficiency retrofits contribute to improved wellbeing of the population, client service and payment aggregation. If increasing energy efficiency is seen as a end on a nation-wide graduated table, it can besides lend to a state ‘s energy security, be it energy exporting or energy importation. Presently, substructure is outdated. In visible radiation of the uproar over planetary clime alteration and the lifting tendency in green investing, pulling attending to energy efficiency is a timely and valuable chance. There are legion illustrations of successful energy efficiency undertakings to back up the averment that efficiency betterments yield cost-efficient benefits. Such illustrations were highlighted in the Commonwealth of Independent States † held in Moscow, Russia 13-14 November 2006. This demonstrates that due to miss of professional edifice direction, economic inducements for rational energy ingestion and metering, much energy and fiscal resources that can otherwise be usedare being wasted ( Sivaev 2006 ) . Power Grid of the province: LENGTH OF EHT/HT LINES, DISTRIBUTION TRANSFORMERS AND EHT/HT SUB STATIONS 2008-09 Tamil Nadu has a power grid that has a entire affiliated burden of 41,713 million units of electricity which is distributed throughout the province for domestic, commercial, industrial, public utilities, agribusiness, grip and railroads. The per centum of energy ingestion for each of these intents in enlisted in the tabular array below. Consumption OF ELECTRICITY 2008-09 A really little proportion of the generated power is sold to other provinces. Among the sum split up explained above, the highest per centum of power ingestion is by the domestic sector after the industrial ingestion. The power grid of the province caters to 1,36,64,219 families with a power burden of 15,599 million units as per the main applied scientists be aftering study, TNEB, Chennai for the twelvemonth 2009. The sum of electricity for the other sectors is besides detailed in the undermentioned tabular array. Consumers AND CONNECTED LOAD The hereafter of lodging and shelter are houses that are designed to increase the energy efficiency and environmental public presentation. The long-run aim is to transform the lodging market to one in which a bulk of residential new building in the province is â€Å" net zero-energy † i.e. highly efficient edifices whose low energy demands can be met by on-site renewable energy coevals. It is critical to back up the passage to a residential new building energy codification that favours energy preservation criterions to guarantee a better tomorrow ( Building Science Consortium, 2009 ) . Power Dearth in Tamil Nadu: To understand the nature of the power famine in tamilnadu, it is critical to understand the beginning of the power that is generated. In tamilnadu the net energy generated comes from the thermic workss, hydro-electric workss, Wind/Solar energy generated within the province. However this histories for merely around half the demand of the province, and therefore the remainder is purchased from the cardinal sectors, CPP and private sectors. The split up of the generated power is shown in the undermentioned figure. There are a figure of market barriers to efficiency investings in new building, viz. : conflicting design standards, deficiency of information sing the benefits of efficiency and environmental public presentation on the portion of consumers, builders, loaners, valuators, Realtors and others, limited proficient accomplishments on the portion of some of the builders and their subcontractors to turn to cardinal elements of efficiency ; and inability of consumers, loaners, valuators and others to distinguish between efficient and standard places. Low-carbon energy in edifices Low-carbon energy issues in the built environment have been a cardinal focal country for REEEP since the G8 Gleneagles Plan of Action in 2005, which called for REEEP to make more work in the countries of energy efficiency in edifices. Since so, REEEP has been back uping both energy efficiency and the integrating of renewable energy in edifices, holding supported six undertakings and committed about a‚ ¬0.6 million in this infinite. The REEEP-supported undertakings in low- C energy have covered four states: China, Fiji, South Africa, and India. Some of the cardinal enterprises supported by REEEP include the followers: Financing the publicity of energy efficiency in China by Energy Research Institute of the National Development and Reform Commission ; Promotion of energy efficiency in the cordial reception sector in Fiji by the Greenlight Technology Group ; Policies and ordinances for constructing energy efficiency in Bangalore, India, by the Energy and Resources Institute ( ERI ) . Cardinal lessons from REEEP ‘s experience in low-carbon energy in edifices include the followers: Solar level home base aggregators are a mature, appropriate, financially feasible, and ready engineering for a large-scale rollout in developing states ( Winkler, 2007 ) . Appliance criterions and labels are a really effectual policy and regulative instrument. Their function will increase as people in developing states progressively get energy-consuming equipment such as iceboxs, air conditioners, rinsing machines, etc. There is besides a demand to spread out the range of criterions and labels to include thermic energy contraptions such as gas room warmers and gas cookery ranges. The direct and indirect subsidies on electricity and warming fuels are a major barrier to accomplishing low-carbon energy passage in edifices in developing states ( Srivastava and Rehman, 2006 ) . Reform of administered monetary values and rationalization of subsidies in electricity and fuels are a pre-requisite to accomplishing important additions in energy efficiency and renewable energy in the built environment ( Johannson and Goldemberg, 2002 ) . Cardinal lessons from REEEP ‘s experiences in low-carbon energy policy include the followers: The figure of people populating in urban Centres in developing states is increasing, and more urban Centres are being developed. Cities and towns provide a good chance to passage to a low-carbon energy system through a focussed, area-based attack. Low-carbon energy planning demands to be integrated into urban planning and should cover subjects such as transit, edifice, and H2O supply every bit good as electricity and heat. Policy instruments such as feed-in-tariffs have helped in increasing the portion of renewable energy in electricity systems. However, feed-in-tariffs should be carefully designed to guarantee economic efficiency and long-run nutriment of the renewable energy market. Feed-in-tariffs are non relevant to off-grid energy systems, thermic energy, or energy efficiency market development. Mechanisms such as command systems and certificate systems ( renewable energy certifications, white/EE certifications, etc. ) provide an alternate market-based mechanism, but new institutional models should still be established before they can be implemented. Buildings energy public presentation criterions and codifications are cardinal policy instruments for low-carbon energy passage in edifices. Corporate policy and corporate societal duty have non played a important function in low-carbon energy grade development in developing states. As traditional and new concerns grow in developing states, the function of corporate policy will increase, comparative to authorities policies. Several describing enterprises, such as the Carbon Disclose Project ( CDP ) supported this determination. Single household and joint-family places can both profit if the place is designed to be energy efficient. An of import restriction is constructing â€Å" Low-cost Housing † regardless of their location. Larger places as in places designed for joint households are likely to inherently utilize more energy, and advancing energy efficient lodging allows entire place energy usage to turn with size ( Building Science Consortium, 2009 ) . A concerted selling offer for take parting builders will drive homebuyer demand for measure uping places. An aggressive consumer focused selling run will be indispensable to keep builder engagement ( and hence market portion ) . Areas for research in residential new building may include the public presentation metering of plan places and optimized new place designs for important decrease or riddance of chilling energy requirements.it is besides critical to see chances to beg originative proposals for pilot-scale publicities associated with the development of energy efficient places. Energy ingestion metres and monitoring will be built into these places to enable future trailing of existent public presentation. To run into the challenges of a slow residential new building lodging market, increased energy criterions, reward high public presentation places, passage to a market-based, place energy rater web, the undermentioned plan schemes and tactics are being proposed: Carbon footmark labelling for high public presentation places, making consumer consciousness and demand, distinguishing builders in the turning â€Å" green edifice † consciousness of consumers. It is critical to pull media attending to relevant undertakings and associated nest eggs realized by occupants, particularly for place undertakings, which incorporate both energy efficiency and renewable energy engineerings ( hypertext transfer protocol: //www.buildingscience.com ) . Further, it is of import to construct relationships with residential builders through educational seminars and preparation to increase higher public presentation edifice patterns and to assist construct a Green Workforce. Energy-efficient places help lower energy costs, addition affordability, addition lastingness, and better wellness and safety. High public presentation places cut down impact on the environment. It is a call for every place to be a portion of the solution for sustainable life to assist battle planetary heating. Feature narratives concentrating on energy and fiscal nest eggs, new engineerings ( solar ) , and environmentally sound edifice patterns herald a new epoch of efficient places. Homes that feature new energy-saving engineerings, renewable energy, and really high public presentation places, in footings of their energy evaluation and decreased environmental impact give us a promise for a better life in the hereafter ( Home Energy Magazine ( for residential consu mers ) , 2008 ) . Increased consciousness of green and sustainable life patterns, and impact of C footmark decrease, greater consciousness of residential indoor air quality, wellness and safety issues for better life, publicity of energy rescuer programs to cut down energy use 20 % back uping the increased development of a green work force by advancing green occupation preparation are critical stairss towards accomplishing an ecofriendly building civilization. The current economic uncertainness may stamp down Numberss of energy efficient places, peculiarly if occupants are non good educated on the benefits of such places. As such, the consciousness of energy efficient places among Realtors and residential place buyers/builders remains comparatively low ( Home Energy Magazine ( for residential consumers ) , 2008 ) . Energy Efficient Strategies in edifices: Energy efficiency steps require capacity-building attempts to authorise establishments and persons to implement energy-saving plans and do energy-saving determinations. Examples of capacity edifice include set uping energy audit processs and hearer preparation plans, developing systems to track energy ingestion forms and set up benchmarks, set uping energy direction systems, making enfranchisement systems for energy practicians, developing energy direction guidelines, and easing engineering transportation. Passive Solar Passive solar systems integrate solar air heating engineerings into a edifice ‘s design. Buildings are designed with stuffs that absorb or reflect solar energy to keep comfy indoor air temperatures and supply natural daytime. Floors and walls can be designed to absorb and retain heat during warm yearss and let go of it during cool eventides. Sunspaces operate like nurseries and gaining control solar heat that can be circulated throughout a edifice. Trombe walls are thick walls that are painted black and made of a stuff that absorbs heat, which is stored during the twenty-four hours and released at dark. Passive solar designs can besides chill edifices, utilizing blowholes, towers, window overhangs, and other attacks to maintain edifices cool in warm climes ( Doug Rye, 2010 ) . Air Waterproofing Air sealing the place â€Å" envelope † and sealing air distribution canals are two of import steps for energy efficiency and indoor air quality. The greatest air escape waies are at the margin of the floor line and in air distribution ducts/returns. Air escape besides occurs at incursions for plumbing, illuming, wiring and around chimney pursuits. Conditioned air leaking from canals can do the full house to pull outside air. This replacing air must be conditioned on a go oning footing, increasing energy usage. Merchandises for sealing air escape in place building include froth sealer for wiring holes in the top home bases of walls ; caulk for clefts and crannies ; weather-stripping for doors and Attic hatches ; and backer rod or rope caulk for make fulling window/door shim infinites. Insulation Some insularity merchandises perform dual responsibility by air sealing and insulating in topographic points where they are applied. As the thickness of an insulating stuff additions, so does effectiveness or R-value. However, if air flows through the insularity, or finds a tract around the insularity, the insulating consequence is greatly reduced. That ‘s why air sealing the edifice envelope before insulating is of import. Types of Insulation Cellulose: R-value is about 3.4 to 3.8 per inch. Cellulose, which is made from recycled newspaper, is blown moistness into unfastened wall pits and sometimes blown dry in the Attic. Boric acid, an additive in cellulose insularity, increases fire opposition, repels insects, and helps forestall mold growing. Cellulose should be blown at a denseness of around 3 to 3.2 lbs per three-dimensional pes to assist forestall subsiding and for enhanced air sealing. Mention to the coverage chart on each bag and cognize how many bags are installed. Fiberglass: R-value for batts is about 3.1 to 4.3 per inch. Compaction of batts will do a decrease in R-value. Fiberglass insularity provides small decrease in air escape, but when combined with extended air sealing patterns can be really effectual. Some new methods of put ining fibreglass include a more heavy high R-value application utilizing an adhesive binding agent and a nonwoven cloth for keeping. Spray-in-place froth: R-Value scopes around 3 to 4 for unfastened cell froth and about 6 to 7 per inch for closed cell froth. Foams have high value for insulating and have excellent air sealing belongingss. However, spray-in-place froth has a higher initial cost. Flammability and burning features of froth merchandises vary harmonizing to the chemical preparation, burning temperature, and available air. WINDOWS, DOORS AND SKYLIGHTS For energy efficiency and comfort, choose ENERGY STAR Windowss, doors, and fanlights labeled for your clime zone. To measure up for the excess benefits of Comfort Advantage Plus, select a window with a Solar Heat Gain Coefficient ( SHGC ) of.35 or lower. This ensures extra protection from solar heat come ining the place ( hypertext transfer protocol: //www.efficientwindows.org/index.cfm ) . Light ENERGY STAR qualified illuming provides warm bright visible radiation but uses 75 per centum less energy and produces 75 per centum less heat ( Journal of Light Construction ( for builders or contractors ) , 2008 ) . Both bulbs and illuming fixtures exposing the ENERGY STAR label can be used ( hypertext transfer protocol: //www.energystar.gov ) . Lighting histories for about 20 % of the entire electricity demand in the state, and is a major constituent of the peak burden. The bulk of illuming demands in the state are met by incandescent bulbs, peculiarly in the family sector, which are highly energy inefficient as over 90 % of the electricity is converted into heat, and merely upto 10 % is used for illuming. CFLs provide an energy-efficient option to the incandescent lamp by utilizing one-fifth as much electricity as an incandescent lamp to supply the same degree of light. CFLs have about wholly penetrated the commercial market, and the gross revenues of CFLs in India have grown from about 20 million in 2003 to around 200 million in 2008. Statisticss by illuming association indicates that the incursion of Compact Fluorescent Lamps ( CFLs ) in family sector is merely approximately 5 % – 10 % ; the comparatively low incursion rate is mostly due to the high monetary value of the CFLs, which costs 8-10 times every bit much as incandescent bulbs. It is estimated that about 400 million light points in India today are lighted by incandescent bulbs ; their replacing by CFLs would take to a decrease of over 10,000 MW in electricity demand. This would non merely cut down emanations by manner of efficient terminal usage of electricity, but would besides ensue in the decrease of extremum burden in the state which presently faces a deficit of upto 15 % . The Conference of Chief Ministers on Power Sector chaired by the Hon'ble Prime Minister on 28th May, 2007, recognized the important potency of salvaging electricity through its efficient usage by Demand Side Management intercessions which would supply immediate consequences for salvaging electricity. The intercessions resolved by the Conference include bulk procurance and distribution of CFLs ( to cut down costs ) , acceptance of Energy Conservation Building Code ( ECBC ) , advancing and mandating the usage of energy efficient pumps and other energy efficient and contraptions. The â€Å" Bachat Lamp Yojana † aims at the big scale replacing of incandescent bulbs in families by CFLs. It seeks to supply CFLs to households at the monetary value similar to that of incandescent bulbs and programs to use the Clean Development Mechanism ( CDM ) ofthe Kyoto Protocol to retrieve the cost derived function between the market monetary value of the CFLs and the monetary value at which they are sold to families. The Bachat Lamp Yojana is designed as a public-private partnership between the Government of India, private sector CFL providers and State degree Electricity Distribution Companies ( DISCOMs ) . Under the strategy merely 60 Watt and 100 Watt incandescent Lamps will be replaced with 11- 15 Watt and 20 – 25 Watt CFLs severally. BEE will supervise the electricity nest eggs in each undertaking country in conformity with the monitoring methodological analysis prescribed by the Executive Board of the CDM. For this intent, BEE has developed smart metres based on GSM engineering that are fitted between the socket and the CFL in sample families in each undertaking country. The GSM based metre collects the information on hours of usage and energy consumed by the sample CFL and sends this information by SMS to the cardinal waiter. An independent bureau has already been selected for this occupation and metres have been installed in Vizag, Andhra Pradesh and Yamunagar, Haryana. Trial of these metres have been carried out in NABL accredited labs. It is expected that around 50 hundred thousand CFLs will be replaced in each DISCOM country. In order to cut down the dealing costs associated with the blessing of CDM undertakings, BEE has developed a Programme of Activities ( PoA ) which would function as an umbrella CDM undertaking, and would be registered with the CDM Executive Board. The single undertakings, designed to be in conformity with the umbrella undertaking, would be added to the umbrella undertaking as and when they are prepared. The development of the PoA is a voluntary action on the portion of BEE, and it would non seek any commercial or CDM grosss from the PoA. On the other manus, BEE will, on behalf of the Government of India take the duty of monitoring of all undertaking countries after the DISCOMs and the CFL providers have entered into a three-party understanding ( TP A ) with BEE. Solar Power Solar power is energy from the Sun. Solar engineerings convert visible radiation and heat from the Sun into utile energy. Photovoltaic ( PV ) systems convert sunlight into electricity. Thermal systems cod and shop solar heat for air and H2O warming applications. Concentrating solar power systems concentrate solar energy to drive large-scale electric power workss. Solar power systems produce small or no emanations and have a minimum impact on the environment. Photovoltaics PV power systems convert light from the Sun into electricity. PV cells are devices made of semiconducting stuffs similar to those used in computing machine french friess. When these devices are connected to an electrical circuit and exposed to visible radiation, they release negatrons that flow through the circuit, making an electric current. PV panels, are devices that contain a variable figure of PV cells and change over sunshine into direct current ( DC ) electricity. PV panels are typically incorporated into systems that combine batteries and electronic control equipment to supply full- clip DC and/or jumping current ( AC ) power. Typical applications include illuming, electronics, telecommunications, and small-scale H2O pumping.THE RATIONALE FOR PVSolar energy is the most abundant energy resource on Earth. The solar energy that hits the Earth ‘s surface in one hr is about the same as the sum consumed by all human activities in a twelvemonth. Direct transition of sunshine i nto electricity in PV cells is one of the three chief solar active engineerings, the two others being concentrating solar power ( CSP ) and solar thermic aggregators for warming and chilling ( SHC ) . Today, PV provides 0.1 % of entire planetary electricity coevals. However, PV is spread outing really quickly due to dramatic cost decreases. PV is a commercially available and dependable engineering with a important potency for long-run growing in about all universe parts ( Bank Sarasin, 2008 ) .Technology public presentation and costPV systems straight convert solar energy into electricity. The basic edifice block of a PV system is the PV cell, which is a semiconducting material device that converts solar energy into direct-current ( DC ) electricity. PV cells are interconnected to organize a PV faculty, typically up to 50-200 Watts ( W ) . The PV faculties combined with a set of extra application-dependent system constituents ( e.g. inverters, batteries, electrical constituents, and mounting systems ) , organize a PV system. PV systems are extremely modular, i.e. faculties can be linked together to supply power runing from a few Watts to 10s of megawatts ( MW ) . Commercial PV faculties may be divided into two wide classs: wafer based c-Si and thin movies. There are a scope of emerging engineerings, including concentrating photovoltaics ( CPV ) and organic solar cells, every bit good as fresh constructs with important possible for public presentation addition and cost decrease ( Fthenakis V. et al. , 2008 ) . The big assortment of PV applications allows for a scope of different engineerings to be present in the market, from low-cost, lower efficiency engineerings to high-efficiency engineerings at higher cost. Conversion efficiency, defined as the ratio between the produced electrical power and the sum of incident solar energy per second, is one of the chief public presentation indexs of PV cells and faculties. PV systems can be connected to the public-service corporation grid or operated in stand-alone applications. They can besides be used in building-integrated systems ( BIPV ) 2. The investing costs of PV systems are still comparatively high, although they are diminishing quickly as a consequence of engineering betterments and economic systems of volume and graduated table. High investing costs, or entire system costs, represent the most of import barrier to PV deployment today ( Jager-Waldau, A. , 2008 ) . Associated levelised electricity coevals costs from PV systems depend to a great extent on two factors: the sum of annually sunlight irradiation ( and associated capacity factor ) , and the interest/ price reduction rate. PV systems do non hold traveling parts, so operating and care ( O & A ; M ) costs are comparatively little, estimated at around 1 % of capital investing per twelvemonth. The corresponding coevals costs for residential PV systems ranged from USD 360-720 /MWh, depending on the relevant incident solar energy. While these residential costs are really high, it should be noted that residential PV systems provide electricity at the distribution grid degree. Therefore they compete with electricity grid retail monetary values, which, in a figure of OECD states, can besides be really high ( Moehlecke, A. and Zanesco, I. , 2007 ) . Solar Water Heating Systems Solar H2O heating systems, such as the 1s pictured in China ‘s Yunnan Province, consist of a solar aggregator and a storage armored combat vehicle. The aggregator is typically a rectangular box with a transparent screen, through which pipes run, transporting H2O that is heated by the Sun. The pipes are attached to an absorber home base, which is painted black to absorb the heat. As the Sun ‘s heat warms the aggregator, the H2O is heated and passed to the storage armored combat vehicle, which shops the hot H2O heated for domestic usage. As explained by the National Renewable Energy Laboratories, â€Å" Solar H2O heating systems can be either active or inactive. Active systems rely on pumps to travel the liquid between the aggregator and the storage armored combat vehicle, while inactive systems rely on gravitation and the inclination for H2O to of course go around as it is heated ( hypertext transfer protocol: //www.geoexchange.org ) .System design and sizeSizing of resid ential solar H2O heating systems is by and large easy: the regulation of pollex is 20-gallons per individual for the first two people and 15-gallons for each extra individual in the house.The RETScreen International Clean Energy Project Analysis Software15 is an advanced and alone energy consciousness, determination support and capacity edifice tool. It consists of standardised and incorporate undertaking analysis package that can be used worldwide to measure the energy production, life-cycle costs and nursery gas emanation decreases for assorted types of proposed energy efficient and renewable energy engineerings compared to conventional energy systems ( hypertext transfer protocol: //www.homeenergysaver.lbl.gov/ ) .Market tendenciesThe planetary PV market has experienced vivacious growing for more than a decennary with an mean one-year growing rate of 40 % . The cumulative installed PV power capacity has grown from 0.1GW in 1992 to 14 GW in 2008 ( Navigant, 2009 ) . Market end-use sectors There are four end-use sectors with distinguishable markets for PV: Utility graduated table systems ( get downing at 1 MW, mounted on edifices or straight on the land ) Off-grid applications ( changing sizes ) Residential systems ( typically up to 20 kilowatts systems on single places ) Commercial systems ( typically up to 1 MW systems for commercial office edifices, schools, infirmaries, and retail ) The bulk of grid-connected systems are installed as BIPV systems. However, ground-mounted large- graduated table installings with a coevals capacity in the 10s of megawatts have gained a considerable market portion in recent old ages. As a consequence, off-grid PV systems now constitute less than 10 % of the entire PV market ; nevertheless, such applications still remain of import in distant countries and in developing states that lack electricity substructure. India India has a big and diversified PV industry dwelling of 10s to the full vertically incorporate makers doing solar cells, solar panels and complete PV systems, and around 50 assembly programs of assorted sorts. Together, these companies supply about 200 MW per twelvemonth of 30 different types of PV systems in three classs – rural, distant country and industrial. However, despite this strong industrial base, PV constitutes a little portion of India ‘s installed power coevals capacity, with 2.7 MW grid- connected systems and 1.9 MW stand-alone systems in 2008 ( Banerjee, 2008 ) . There have been a figure of high-ranking authorities enterprises that have provided new impulse for PV deployment in India, including: The 2008 Action Plan on Climate Change included a â€Å" National Solar Mission † In 2008, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy ( MNRE ) established Generation Based Incentives ( GBI ) programme. The Eleventh Five-Year Plan ( 2007-12 ) proposed solar RD & A ; D support of INR 4 billion ( 86.4M USD ) .CO2 emanations decreaseThe deployment of PV will lend significantly to the reduced C strength of electricity coevals. Taking into history the different mean CO2 emanations of electricity production mixes in different universe parts, and utilizing the BLUE Map scenario mean long-run emanation decrease coefficients for the power sector, the 4 500 TWh generated by PV in 2050 is expected to salvage 2.3 Gt of CO2 emanations on an one-year footing worldwide, about twice that predicted in the BLUE Map scenario. This corresponds to about 5 % of the sum avoided CO2 emanations ( 48 Gt ) from all engineering countries projected in the ETP 2008 BLUE Map Scenario with regard to the Baseline Scenario. Over the period 2008-2050, the estimated cumulative nest eggs are around 100 Gt of CO2 ( Zweibel, K. , Mason, J. and Fthenakis, V. , 2008 ) . Strategic ends and mileposts Achieving the deployment way outlined in this roadmap will necessitate a important investing by authorities and industry in effectual engineering development and policy execution. This subdivision identifies short- , mid- and long-run engineering ends and mileposts and related key R & A ; D issues.Technology tendenciesAn overview of the different PV engineerings and constructs under development are summarized below. Crystalline Si Today, the huge bulk of PV faculties ( 85 % to 90 % of the planetary one-year market ) are based on wafer-based c-Si. Crystalline Si PV faculties are expected to stay a dominant PV engineering until at least 2020. This is due to their proven and dependable engineering, long life-times, and abundant primary resources. The chief challenge for c-Si faculties is to better the efficiency and effectivity of resource ingestion through stuffs decrease, improved cell constructs and mechanization of fabrication. Thin movies Thin movies are made by lodging highly thin beds of light-sensitive stuffs in the micrometre ( I?m ) scope on a low-priced backup such as glass, unstained steel or plastic. The chief advantages of thin movies are their comparatively low ingestion of natural stuffs, high mechanization and production efficiency, easiness of edifice integrating and improved visual aspect, good public presentation at high ambient temperature, and decreased sensitiveness to overheating. The current drawbacks are lower efficiency and the industry ‘s limited experience with lifetime public presentations. II-VI semiconducting material thin movies CdTe cells are a type of II-VI semiconducting material thin movie and have a comparatively simple production procedure, leting for lower production costs. CdTe engineering has achieved the highest production degree of all the thin movie engineerings. It besides has an energy payback clip of eight months, the shortest clip among all bing PV engineerings. For CIGS cells, the fiction procedure is more demanding and consequences in higher costs and efficiencies compared to CdTe cells. Today, CdTe has achieved a dominant place amongst thin movie in footings of market portion and has a market-leading cost-per W. Emerging engineerings Emerging PV engineerings comprise advanced inorganic thin movie engineerings ( e.g. Si, CIS ) every bit good as organic solar cells. Organic solar cells are potentially low cost engineerings that are about to do their market entryway for niche applications. Another emerging PV engineering is based on the construct of thermo-photovoltaics whereby a high efficiency PV cell is combined with a thermic radiation beginning. Novel PV constructs Novel PV concepts purpose at accomplishing ultra-high- efficiency solar cells by developing active beds which best lucifer the solar spectrum or which modify the entrance solar spectrum. Both attacks build on advancement in nanotechnology and nano-materials. Concentrator engineerings ( CPV ) All PV engineerings described so far are alleged flat-plate engineerings which use the of course available sunshine. As an option, direct solar radiation can be concentrated by optical agencies and used in concentrator solar cell engineerings. Water: India faces a despairing state of affairs of H2O deficit. Its fragile and finite H2O resources are consuming while the demands for H2O from assorted sectors of the economic system are quickly lifting. In recent old ages, the industrial and domestic sectors have realized this disparity in the supply and demand. The per capita handiness of H2O in India has been reduced from 5277 three-dimensional meters in 1995 to 1970 three-dimensional metres now. This is projected to cut down farther to about 1000-1700 three-dimensional metres by 2025, doing India a H2O stressed state. At the same clip, demand for H2O continues to turn and will turn 40 % from 750 bcm to 1050 bcm by 2025. Tamil Nadu receives most of its rainfall during the two monsoon seasons, viz. the South West Monsoon and the North East Monsoon seasons. The North East Monsoon brings an norm of 431.1 to 552.7 millimeter of rainfall while the south west monsoon brings an norm of 287.6 to 335.5 millimeter rainfall harmonizing to the meteoric Department records of 2008-2009. The distribution of rainfall in winter and summer is good below the 150mm grade and hence the province faces H2O deficits during most of the twelvemonth. However, if the H2O from the monsoon is expeditiously harvested, it can be channeled for usage during the rainless summers and winters so that H2O ingestion can be managed expeditiously. The tabular array below gives a image of the distribution of rainfall among the cardinal territories of the province. Rainfall is non unvarying within the province as it varies with the geographical location of the territories within the province. The hilly Nilgiris territory receives the most rainfall of over 1800 millimeter. the coastal territories stand following with rainfall ranging over 1400 millimeter in Cuddalore, Nagapattinam and Thiruvarur, and over 1200mm in Kancheepuram, Kanyakumari and Thanjavur, over 1000 millimeter in Chennai, Salem, Villupuram, Thiruvallur and Ramanathapuram. The other territories received rainfall less than or above 800 millimeters harmonizing to the existent rainfall recorded in the aforementioned territories during the twelvemonth 2008-2009 by the Meteorological Survey Department, Chennai.DISTRIBUTION OF DISTRICTS BY RANGE OF RAINFALL 2008-09Safe imbibing H2O is linked closely to the wellbeing of human life. In India, the primary beginnings of imbi bing H2O, that include surface H2O and groundwater, are contaminated by different physical drosss, agricultural and industrial wastes and belowground chemicals and minerals. The undermentioned graph gives the position of H2O supply in the territories of tamilnadu. Although most of the countries are covered with consistent warer supply, there are ruddy aeras in every territory that indicate substructure spreads or shortages in supply. As a province, Tamil Nadu is in famine of H2O and hence stringent steps are required to conserve and efficient ; y use bing resources. Archaeological grounds attests to the gaining control of rainwater as far back as 4,000 old ages ago, and the construct of rainwater harvest home in China may day of the month back 6,000 old ages. Ruins of cisterns built every bit early as 2000 B.C. for hive awaying overflow from hillsides for agricultural and domestic intents are still standing in Israel ( Gould and Nissen-Petersen, 1999 ) . Advantages and benefits of rainwater reaping are legion ( Krishna, 2003 ) . The H2O is free ; the lone cost is for aggregation and usage. The terminal usage of harvested H2O is located near to the beginning, extinguishing the demand for complex and dearly-won distribution systems. Rainwater provides a H2O beginning when groundwater is unacceptable or unavailable, or it can augment limited groundwater supplies. Rainwater is sodium-free, of import for individuals on low-sodium diets. Rainwater is superior for landscape irrigation. Rainwater reaping reduces flow to ramp H2O drains and besides reduces non-point beginning pollution. Rainwater reaping helps public-service corporations cut down the summer demand extremum and hold enlargement of bing H2O intervention workss. Rainwater reaping reduces consumers ‘ public-service corporation measures. In a residential or small-scale application, rainwater harvest home can be every bit simple as imparting rain running off an unguttered roof to a planted landscape country via contoured landscape. To forestall eroding on aslant surfaces, a bermed concave keeping country down incline can hive away H2O for direct usage by turfgrass or workss ( Waterfall, 1998 ) . More complex systems include troughs, pipes, storage armored combat vehicles or cisterns, filtrating, pump ( s ) , and H2O intervention for drinkable usage. Overall supply and demand scenario over 2006 Wind power potency in India Break-out of Installed Base of Electricity Generation from Wind Energy, By State, in 2006 Beginning: TERI Energy Data and Year Book 2006 Bagasse-based Co-generation Potential in Indai by State Beginning: Alliance of Indian Industry, † Baground Paper † 1st India Clean Tech Forum, August 3,2007 National Biomass power Estimation for Tamil Nadu Beginning: Government of India ministry of new and renewable energy hypertext transfer protocol: //mnes.nic.in

Breaking Through Essay

â€Å"Success is not final, failure is not fatal; it’s the courage to continue that counts†(Winston Churchill). Life is dependent on our dreams. If you ever fail along the way to your success, you’ll be tempted to get yourselves right back and continue your journey. Although, if ever found yourself to be successful, would you stop there? Or would you have the courage to continue and set higher goals for yourself? In the book â€Å"Breaking Through† in which Francisco Jimenez is the main character and author, he faces many obstacles. Although, Francisco has encountered multiple obstacles, he has many characteristics, which are being responsible, ambitious and respectful. Francisco has faced many dilemmas in his life, yet they’ve made Francisco a better person at the end of the day. Francisco has countless of characteristics. Although the ones in which stood out the most would be being responsible, ambitious and respectful. Francisco has a large number of characteristics, which make him such an admirable character in the book â€Å"Breaking Through†. The first characteristic that plays a big role in Francisco’s character would be being responsible. Francisco’s dreams are to go to college and have a better future for himself and his family. Although his home situation and him being emigrate from Mexico, struggling with English cause him to face many obstacles before he reaches his goal. Due to his home situation, Francisco learns to be very responsible. One perfect example would be when Roberto and Francisco come back to Bonnetti ranch with out their parents. Roberto and Francisco had to go to school and work and lastly save money to send to their parents back at Mexico. Francisco says, â€Å"The sounds of Papa’s coughing, the rattle of his aspirin bottle, and the rolling of Mama’s twelve-inch lead pipe as she pressed dough to make tortillas were absent.† Francisco says (19) The second characteristic Francisco has would be is being very ambitious with helping his family and his personal goals like attending college. Francisco has always loved learning but English has not always been easy for him to learn. Although Francisco has other responsibilities apart from school he works in the  fields and with Mike Nevel. One example that shows how ambitious Francisco is when he runs for student body president. Regardless of Francisco’s other obligations he was determined to make time for school priorities. â€Å"If I run and win, I’d have to study more in the evenings after work, sleep less, and skip some scho ol dances.† â€Å"Francisco says (140) Lastly, the third characteristic that stood out to me as well is Francisco is very loyal. Francisco and papa have different opinions about the future. Although papa would prefer for Francisco to not leave for college, Francisco always has Papa’s wishes in his heart. Every decision he makes or takes into consideration, Francisco always thinks about how will it affect his family finically or emotionally. One example to this characteristic would be when Francisco is at his second semester of his senior year. When his fellow classmates are sharing their options on what university they might attend. Although not for Francisco, he is positive about Papa not letting him continue his education beyond high school. â€Å"Some were going to the University of California at Santa Barbra or UCLA. Others got into Fresno state but were waiting to hear from Berkeley. I did not share their enthusiasm. I had to stay at home and continue helping my family.† Francisco says (163) In conclusion, although Francisco has many characteristics that are shown in â€Å"Breaking Through† the ones that stood out the most me were being responsible, ambitious, and loyal. Characteristics are what make us a good or bad person at the end of the day. Also, it’s meant for us to show other people are potential in life or other wise.

Modern architecture and traditional architecture

Modern architecture and traditional architecture Nowadays, as we known the architectural community has had a strong and continuing interest in traditional and modern architecture. Architecture, this word possesses an immense creativity in itself. Usually, when we hear this word, picture of creative design of physical structures flashes in our mind. Integral to the identity of any country is its architectural heritage, combining modern and traditional architectural designs or product of the blend between splendid modern and traditional architecture.Based on what have found, architecture has been Rosen down into many categories to fit the lifestyle of people in a particular place at a particular time. There are basically two types of architect which are modern architecture and traditional architecture. According to architect Eric Spry, the word â€Å"modern† provokes such strong reactions in the world of residential architecture. Some people might imagine wonderful homes of stee l and glass with open, flowing floor plans; others might imagine sterile homes that feel like museums, complete with men in red suits watching carefully that nothing is touched.Strong pinions abound about modern architecture, as they do regarding the wide variety of other architectural styles. Five hundred years ago, Native Americans was built with adobe and Europeans built with stone. Homes had thick walls, small and deep- set windows, and small interior rooms. Technologies such as steel later allowed large expanses of space and large expanses of glass. In our lifestyles today are considerably different than the lifestyles of 50 years ago, let alone the lifestyles from 100 or 200 years ago. Architecture must represent the way we live today, not the way we lived hundreds of years ago.Remember parlors? Not many would. These were sitting rooms common a hundred years ago where guests were greeted. Our lifestyle changed, and parlors were weeded out. (Discover Modern Architecture's Appea l . Eric Spry). What is a modern architecture mean? Modern architecture is known as the movement of architecture that began in the 20th century, it is also architecture that is characterized by the simplification of forms and subtraction of ornaments, modern architecture can be some of the most futuristic, colorful, innovative designs ever. Traditional vs. Modern Architecture' (Ranches . 011). Modern architecture these days there are so many materials that architects can use to create different effects on buildings. In history, Modern architecture developed during the early 20th century but gained popularity only after the Second World War. For decades, modernism became the dominant structure for institutions and corporate buildings even up to the recent period. Architectures of this type exhibit functionalism and rationalism in its structure. (What is the difference between post-modern and modern architecture?. 000). Characteristics of modern architecture include he functional requ irements of the structure, lesser ornaments used and eliminations of dispensable details, and the application of the concept of â€Å"form follows function†. ‘Comparative investigation of traditional and modern architecture' (A. S. Delia, M. A. Ensnare, T. Zachary Beverages . 2011). Generally, modern design is simple, sober and features minimal accessories. The modern design is characterized with angular frames, low profiles, geometric and abstract patterns in textiles, upholstery as well as in artwork.Natural materials like linen, leather and teak wood are mostly used. The lines are unembellished as well as straight. In modern design, the furniture is often raised from the floor with the help of legs in order to create an airy and open atmosphere. Colors used in modern design are neutral shades that are highlighted with splashes of color. Walls are generally cream and white in color. Floors are mostly made of cement or bare wood. In addition, sculptures and paintings a re used as an integral part of modern design.If you are in the process of designing or renovating your home, you may be wondering whether to include modern design in the design layout. Well, the terms – modern is closely related and people tend to use the terms interchangeably. However, in the world of design and d ©core, both the terms represent distinct and different styles. To be modern a building should be light and airy, it must push technology to its limits even effecting new invention in the process; to be architecture it must provide utility, stability, commodity and delight and all of this done in sympathy with Nature.Being novel is not to be confused with being modern. ‘Sustainable systems in Iranian traditional architecture' Avid Iraqi , Sabina Kabuki Madman . 011). As result, architecture has been going backward since the mid-20th Century because the technology available at the time still has not been fully utilized, for example, space frames, and especial ly the engineering concepts of Businessmen Fuller, such as geodesic domes large enough to cover entire cities and his lightweight temerity towers; such technology is essential to conserve scare resources in order to assure economic growth, as well as to provide for increases in population. Modern & Traditional Houses' can Weiss. 2009). Basically ,a modern home should represent how we live today. It should reflect current construction methods and materials. It should have integrity by avoiding trends. Modern architecture offers an opportunity for an original beauty, not by imitating another style from another time or place, but by considering the present and, with imagination, creating a fresh aesthetic. Secondary, we might ask what is traditional architecture?Traditional architecture is that way of building which makes serious use of the familiar symbolic forms of a particular culture of a particular people in a particular place. It is different from modern buildings because of thei r method of construction, to because of their age or their listed status. Traditional buildings have an appeal due their special character, history and location. Furthermore, when looking for a property to buy it's easy to fall in love with an old building. ‘Architecture – modernism vs. traditionalism' (Lance Baker . 2011).Traditional architecture is the term used to categorize methods of construction which use local anesthetically available resources and traditions to address local needs. Some believed that, by using local practices, such as using local materials in construction, building costs will decrease, hence being economically more advantages. By the professor Lucien Steel, traditional architecture requires a high ethical commitment to the people, their places, their beliefs and their particular traditions. This commitment is not a slavish one, nor is it a servile opportunism.Ethical attitudes are not reducible to the uncritical acceptance of dominant sets of va lues and moral conventions. They require the distinction between civic and private virtues on one hand and willful customs and obsolete practices of false morality and corrupted policies on the other. So if modernity in some way would contribute to discern the most appropriate and the cost efficient, the most human and the most ecological aspects of the contemporary potential, every traditional architect and city-builder couldn't be but a committed modern.Traditional architecture and city-building are based on a positive philosophy of life, on faith in humanity, on respect of environment and historical cultures as a common heritage of mankind, and on an inviolable legacy of genius and know-how from proceeding generations of craftsmen and committed citizen. Traditional architecture and city-building imply a sense of modesty and humility of he individual creator within the sacred creation of the universe, as well as the powerful intuition that concepts of beauty, harmony, Justice, tru th, rightness are embedded in permanence and universality.Tradition forwards a selected knowledge, a tested experience as well as an heritage of models, types, techniques and formal vocabularies. It is a dynamic process, an on-going effort and development, not a static heritage of dogmas and immutable recipes. Tradition shoulders the responsibility of carrying on an inherited culture beyond the contingencies and improvisations of the moment. In order to remain vital, alive and relevant it needs to be earned, consolidated and enriched by each single generation in the perspective of universal ideals of civilization.It implies a constant effort of appropriation of knowledge, experience and cultural values, a permanent effort of intellectual, artistic and material reconstruction. (Tradition and Modernity in Contemporary Practice. Lucien Steel). Traditional architecture are mainly classified as historical buildings that have a lot of character and culture incorporated into them and artis ts were commissioned to put some color into the building giving each one an individual stamp.Now a day's traditional architecture is the widespread form of building since many years, constructed through traditional way of building methods by local builders without using the services of a professional architect. Due to western influence, architects are not using traditional architecture techniques now that are based on climatic conditions. Building materials has different categories from mud- plastered to reed-thatched to timber-framed in accordance with the availability of local material. Some houses are built to withstand earthquakes, while others can be built quickly if washed away by heavy monsoon rains.In some areas where there are limitations of building material, natural materials such as mud, grass, bamboo, thatch or sticks are used, instead of transporting materials from far place which is a blot on sustainability practices, for semi-permanent structures which require regula r maintenance and replacement. The advantages of such traditional architecture are the construction materials are cheap and easily available and relatively little labor is required. As the needs and resources of the people change, traditional architecture evolve to include more durable materials such as tones, clay tiles, metals etc.Though they are more expensive to build, they are very durable structures. In Asia climate has a major influence on traditional architecture. High thermal mass or significant amounts of insulation characterize buildings in cold climates. Lighter materials are used to build buildings in warm climates and designed for sufficient cross-ventilation through openings in the fabric of the building. In areas which have high levels of rainfall, flat roofs are avoided, even in areas with flat roofs, water harvesting techniques are being used. (Traditional Architecture In Asia . 2010)The overall effect of traditional houses is like walking through a well-curates ar t exhibit, where people can admire the buildings. The density of different buildings and stores satisfies the pedestrian's need for visual interest. It is a key part of what we call â€Å"walkabout'. This is what made historic downtowns beautiful in a way that no government or philanthropist could recreate today, and why historic preservationists nurse a broken heart with every lost structure. Traditional and modern architecture have mostly been seen as antitheses, impossible to reconcile, especially in Africa.They appear to belong to efferent ages, utilize different materials and methods, and encourage or support different lifestyles. This essay aims at seeking points where a merging of principles may be attempted between the two positions. Compare from both of them, modern building has very good facilities including toilets, kitchen etc. And more over the design is very different. They are designed according to the requirements and also the life would be much easier there in the modern building. (Traditional vs. Modern Architecture 2011). But on other hand, traditional house have great design too.It is graceful and warm and inviting. It is also beautiful. Of course traditional house can't guarantee that the roof isn't going to leak, the windows are properly sealed and the kitchen appliance is in the working order. Traditional house cannot guarantee for it. ‘Modern apartment building or traditional house ? (Teenage. 2011) The fact that modern buildings are prevalent proves modern style has its own advantages. In my country, population explosion has been a headache and the following problem is where to settle those extra citizens.Since the land is limited, one good solution is replacing those old buildings which occupy large space with tall and thin modern buildings. Also, modern buildings usually have the same and simple structure so that they can be finished in a relatively short time, compared to the traditional ones. As a result, modern buildings au gment the efficiency and make it possible to meet the increasing large demand of house nowadays. Furthermore, as modern buildings are always applied with advanced technology and theories, people can gain more security when living in such environment.But, there are many people still strongly recommend the traditional style. Specifically, unlike the modern style which can be seen everywhere, traditional buildings representing unique cantonal culture only exist in certain countries. In this way, those building can be built for special use like tourist attractions. This would bring a great profit and earn the country a good fame. In addition, buildings with traditional sense are a good way to memorize the past history and display the ancient scenes. As a result of this, some new buildings are necessary to be built in traditional style but not all the buildings.Modern buildings still play the key role in today's society and will gradually expand its affect zone. ‘Some people think all the new buildings should be built in traditional style? (Elise. 010). However, modern buildings often use steel infrastructure, where the interior columns carry most of the loading. Since this type of construction is lighter per floor, they can be built higher, cheaper, and quicker. What are the differences between ancient and modern buildings? Monsoon. 2008). For the opposite, most ancient buildings had load bearing walls, which limited their height, and accounted for the thicker walls.This also resulted in a lot less available window space. In fact in today society, one of the most significant problems accompanying with the population exploration is house problem, so more and more KY-scrapers instead of traditional buildings are built. As far as this phenomenon is concerned, some people think that we should construct much more buildings in traditional styles. Admittedly, there are some reasons for those people who stand for constructing building in traditional way. First of al l, the traditional buildings may possess more aesthetic values and historical meanings.Compared with the modern ones, the traditional buildings contain paintings or characters relating to the past certain age or dynasties; which endow more value to the buildings. Secondly, he traditional buildings often provide more spaces to house owners or renters; thereby making the living condition much easier and more comfortable. (Modern and traditional architecture 2010). However, maybe we do not think that we should build our building mainly in traditional way. Firstly, it is decided by the present social phenomenon that the number of population living in the planet nowadays has never appeared even before.Correspondingly, we have to build most our living houses in a way that never come before. Besides that, constructing our building in a modern way is also an integral part of sustaining ecosystem. Let us try to imagine that if we all build our house in traditional way, take china for example , which traditional buildings are usually one or two layers, and can it accommodate the present 1. 3 billion population . The might be a possible we could build a few numbers of buildings in traditional style which in order to hand down the traditional culture.But based on the social condition, most of our buildings should still construct in modern way. But , can modern and traditional architecture coexist? In today's world anything is possible for example Instead of painting beautiful designs on the wall, en can Just use wall paper instead which can be replaced or removed at any time. The thin line between modern architecture and traditional architecture is that Modern architecture explores mainly with the interior features whereas traditional architecture is mainly worked on the exterior features.Therefore modern architecture and traditional are definitely able to coexist. ‘To what extent do you agree or disagree? -modern & traditional building(Cathy. 2009). There is also a vast difference between modernity as an attitude and modernism as an architectural style. Modernity as an attitude, according to me, can co-exist with tradition. Modernity deals with transformation and change in the present and tries to incorporate it in buildings. Thus, it keeps changing with time. The standard steel frame and glass construction which was ‘modern' during the early 20th century is no longer modern today.

Business Plan Proposal - Text Voting Services Business Essay

Business Plan Proposal - Text Voting Services Business - Essay Example In the provision of the services, the business intends to use delivery method and marketing so as to reach the population. It is a sole proprietor kind of business which will employ different individuals to accomplish the various roles. Since there is more need to improve on the delivery of information and quality by the lecturers, there is a need to use an efficient system capable of taking and integrating the data to provide timely overview of the level of effectiveness and satisfaction of the service delivered. The Services will be sold, delivered and repaired for organizations or individuals who wish to use them and are actually setting up the Services. Due to the high capital requirement due to the cost of acquiring and installing the software, more capital avenues will be explored to obtain the required capital and intense marketing to counter the already existing products and competitors in the market. Business Aims and Objectives The aim of the business is to become the overa ll market leader in the provision and maintenance of the electronic voting services system within its first year of operation (Oklahoma Small Business Development Center, The Business Plan, 2008). This will be achieved through the following objectives: To acquire a considerable market proportion from existing market competitors To develop a good customer relationship and establish a feedback mechanism to gather the views and improve on service delivery To provide quality Services and offer after sale services such as installation of the software and timely data analysis and delivery with clear interpretation. Market Information Target market The market for the product is defined by organizations and similar entities that need the services of such information management system and to establish their trends. The target market is therefore colleges, universities, the anticorruption groups, the statistical research companies seeking opinions from various quarters of the society and news rooms (Terjesen, & Frederick, 2006). This gives an existing market of considerable potential, and with organizations seeking to update their operations by seeking opinions of employees and customers, the market is bound to grow. Market size The market is one which is growing considering the ever increasing demand for institutions to keep in line with technology and remain relevant. The need for modern quality control mechanisms is on the rise daily and institutions can only provide quality if the obtain well analyzed feedback information. Competitors In the existing market, there are two main competitors who provide electronic voting services in TV and such related applications. A and B have been the only players in the market and have shared the market in the proportion of nearly half each. Company A provides the service through modern software and is therefore fast in delivering the feedback though there are cases of errors that arise due to the high speed and the ineffiency in t heir software. To this they give an error allowance of 5% on the range of results they provide. Based on this, most customers who prefer A’s services are more interested on speed while those interested in precision go for B’s services. The software provided by A is cheaper compared to that of B to large economies of scale enjoyed by A over B. The company orders

Computer Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Computer - Assignment Example (cover story). 2011). Previously, bill gates was on top of the list for richest people in world, he lost the spot because he generously donated $ 28 billion for Melinda Gates Foundation, the largest private endowment fund in the world (Gates gives away title of worlds richest man. 2011). Moreover, he and Melinda Gates Foundation also donated $5 million to OCLC for enhancing and improving a public information campaign that is designed to upsurge library support. The library will test material including advertising, direct marketing, and grassroots initiatives-will be made available next year to the library community at large (Oder, Albanese et al. 2009). Currently Bill gates have resigned from Microsoft but he is still the chairman of the board of directors. There is no doubt that bill gates has led Microsoft to be one of the most successful technology based organization in history, as Microsoft products interacts with each of us in any way or the other in this modern era. Likewise, B ill Gates is also considered to be ‘lucky’, as both Gates and Paul Allen established Microsoft in 1975 (Cusumano 2009). The main purpose was to develop a programming language for a desktop computer that was not yet available in the markets. Moreover, Gates was successful in achieving a contract from IBM in 1980 – 1981 to construct the code for Disk Operating System (DOS) (Cusumano 2009). However, bill gates violated the contracted because he was not an expert of making operating systems and IBM at that time was not expert either for making an efficient operating system including processor architecture and design. However, the processor architecture and design was managed by Intel. Moreover, Gates proficiency can be defined as a professional and cunning hacker with infinite or little management skills (Cusumano 2009). The success of Microsoft

Letter Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 18

Letter - Essay Example As for my country, I would like to come up with the best health care plan in the world where every citizen is entitled to free medical healthcare. With a healthy nation, the currency will increase in value thus, improving the economic level. For me to reach the presidency, people in my Arabian community would have had a greater share of me. This is only possible if I am their Governor. Following the discussions I had with a number of governors in Saudi Arabia, my people have been deprived their rights for a very long time. A time for change has come and with his guidance, I will sail through. During my years in college, I had started a community based group called â€Å"The Young Flames† which encourages young people to spearhead for real change and fight injustice. We have been able to reclaim over a hundred youths who had sunk into drug abuse and with this we thank ourselves. After college, I want to improve our group for it to become a national movement in future and am certain of this. My political science course has been the most enjoyable and with it, change is going to be

A discussion of how the authors biographical background leads to a Essay

A discussion of how the authors biographical background leads to a particular interpretation of a work - Essay Example The views and analyses made by the scholars while critically evaluating his works have also been included in the present study. The following hypothesis has been developed for the research: More thought-provoking and brilliant the author’s personality as well as observation of the environment, the more his piece of literature covers and reflects different aspects of the biographical background of its author. It is fact beyond doubt that there not only exists a strong and an intimate association between life and literature, but also life is the subject matter of all genres and forms of creative writing. It is therefore it has aptly been said that literature is the reflection of life and the norms, values, traditions, conventions and taboos prevailing in a society which can be found and preserved in gorgeous creative writing as the intellectual heritage of a particular culture and civilization. It is social and cultural features that provide the raw material to creativity on which the foundations of literature stand. Thus, realities of life give birth to the formation of literature. Looking into the history of the world at large, it becomes obvious that all human societies have worked for the preservation of their culture in the form of poetry, art, sculpture, drama, paintings and other forms of creativity. It is therefore ancient Greek philosophers and thinkers have discussed literature in their lectures and writings. Plato has also analyzed literature critically with special focus on poesy. He has declared poetry as mere imitation of life, and a true literary genre presents the actual picture of patterns of life without concealing the bitter facts it maintains. Aristotle, in his renowned Poetics, views men mere objects of imitation. â€Å"Since the objects of imitation are men in action, he argues, and these men must be either of a higher or a lower type, it follows that we must represent

Customer Relations Management in the British Petroleum Company Essay

Customer Relations Management in the British Petroleum Company - Essay Example This type of treatment makes me feel that the company is not apprehensive about their customers because the employees do not put in an extra effort in associating with them. The behavior of staff members towards their customers also makes me feel that the company neglects and demoralizes its customers from consuming and frequenting their stores. This negative image results from their staff members’ lack of concern for customers and unfriendliness. According to the treatment that the company staff gives their customers, I would suggest that the company does keep a centralized repository for their data. This is because their respective branches do not share information concerning their customers. This is evident from the fact that despite visiting a specific branch for a certain amount of time and purchasing large amounts of the product, I still receive no recognition from the other branches. Their customer management strategies do not also seem to emphasize on the importance of strengthening their customer relationships. This is clearly depicted from the indifferent behavior that their members of staff have on their customers including me every time they come to their business premises. The Bank of England, which was officially incorporated in the year 1694 as a joint stock company is another company that I frequently visit. The banking institution is responsible for offering cash along with credit facilities to a wide range of customers across the nation. The bank has opened branches in several areas of the country and their staff members regard their customers with high esteem. This is evidenced by the reception I receive any time I visit any of their branches across the country. Their reception is warm, friendly and caring with most of their staff seeming to know me despite them being strange to me. This tends to make me feel valued by the company and it has increased my confidence when dealing with them. The company seems to keep a distributed reposit ory for their data as evidenced by their staffs’ ability to know their customers and having their personal details. The bank’s values emphasize on putting their customers first along with making their main objectives customer oriented. The Bank of England involves itself in several activities to fully identify their customers in the broadest possible form. These include the activities of brainstorming, conducting market research, marketing, creating their customer profiles, and the provision of questionnaires. It also includes the activities of evaluating customer needs through carrying out of surveys, conducting interviews directly with them and offering promotions. Finally, the bank involves itself in the activities of strategizing and copying recruitment activities of their competitors in the industry. These activities greatly assist the bank in the identification of their different customers across the country. The bank involves itself in the activities of knowing their customers by interrogating various groups of experts and technicians concerning their most likely markets. They gather information concerning their customers’ financial abilities along with their sources of income. This greatly helps the bank to determine how they will manage and retain their customers whilst remaining profitable. Performing market research involves the evaluation of their customer’

Critically Evaluate Two or Three Approaches to Ideology and Their Essay

Critically Evaluate Two or Three Approaches to Ideology and Their Relevance to the Student of Media - Essay Example 234). One of the reasons for this malaise over the impact of the media is because it is a more formidable source of cultural acquisition and socialisation than books and other cultural institutions, especially for young people, because, as Gross has pointed out, even at the university level, young people are largely influenced by audio-visual media, their primary cultural reference (cited in Hall 1992, p. 88). Yet theorists and critics have argued that the media isn’t ideologically-neutral, rather, contrary to appearances, it is a purveyor of dominant ideology. According to Murfin & Ray (2003) ideology is â€Å"a set of beliefs underlying the customs, habits, and practices common to a given social group. To members of that group, the beliefs seem obviously true, natural, and even universally applicable† (p. 208), regardless of whether they are held or acquired consciously or unconsciously. The term first came into critical use in Marxist thought, when Karl Marx, along with Frederich Engels, offered his critique of capitalist societies in The German Ideology (1844) and other writings. For Marx, society is structured and divided along lines of economics and class along two major axes: those who control the means of production (the ruling class or elite) and those who do not (the masses or proletariat). The wealthy elite, in order to maintain their position of privilege and the economic machinery from which their position and power emanated, had to put structures in place that would reinforce their authority and undermine that of the w orking class (Rivkin & Ryan 1998, p. 253). Marx calls these structures or institutions the ‘superstructure’: law, politics, culture, religion, education, and they emerge from and in accordance with the economic base, with the aim of exploiting the working class (Murfin & Ray 2003, p. 244). Marx criticises capitalists societies which he sees as â€Å"riven from within by †¦ ‘class struggle’† (Rivkin & Ryan 1998, p.

Barnes% Noble Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Barnes% Noble - Essay Example Another factor affecting the component of publishing is the steady increase of the price of oil and natural gas. In printing, most of the raw materials used for printing like inks are derived from oil. Its mail order catalogue is also affected by the rising cost of postage. In printing, which composes the bulk of Barnes &Noble’s expenses, one of the problems aside from rising cost is the large amount of paper used and the toxic waste it produces such as solvents and inks. Likewise the industry sees the digital technology rather expensive and cuts their profit. As to availability of transportation and shipping airlines, I see no problem as to its availability since there are available companies like Fedex and other airline companies. The only problem seen here is the cost of freight, and insurance. As to employment, Barnes and Noble recognizes the efforts of employees by giving them a rewarding career experience. Competitive compensation, benefit package and promotion. It provides employees a financial security plan, sick leave and disability pay, life insurance, continuing education, transit benefits and discounts (Barnes & Noble, n. d.). They believe that it is rewarding to discover new writers. Average annual revenue of a printing press employee is $145,000.(First Research) while pay for writers is not disclosed. A supplier has bargaining power if he possess the capacity to dominate the contracting partner due o its influence, power, status or size, or through a combination of various tactics. Barnes & Noble who owns the largest chain of bookstores in US, has the power to command the price of books and to control

Medical Ethics Essay Example for Free

Medical Ethics Essay Medical interventions always possess two possible outcomes in every situation or case. The principle of double effect is the actual ethics that governs the conditions of alternatives. The main concept that it utilizes is the thought that persons are faced with decision that cannot be avoided and, in the circumstances, the decision will cause both desirable and undesirable effects. Considering the value ethics involved in every intervention implemented, the risk factors should always be considered. Essentially speaking, the principle of double effect involves the critical assessment of the situation considering the fact that the choices being made greatly impact a life of an individual. In an ethical controversy of maternal-fetal conditions wherein the mother is suffering from a case of complications that lead to the severe necessity of evacuating the conception product. The case possesses no other alternatives, and has greatly compromised both life conditions of the mother and the fetus. Moreover, if medical intervention is not implemented as soon as possible both lives shall be endangered severely. In some part of logical implication, some might categorize such action as direct attempt of killing; essentially since, either of the mother’s life or the fetal life needs to be sacrificed in order to save one. In such case of saving life through resuscitation, if the significant relatives or others imposed the negation of such life saving treatment for the patient provided with the considerations of higher good than evil, it is not considered anymore as actions of euthanasia nor direct killing. The medical provider is not anymore liable if incase the patient suffered from any untoward conditions that requires resuscitation, however in the end resulted to death, as it is already a directed will of the patient and the support groups. The principle of total effect protects no singular parts or single levels of life. In fact, it does even consider the whole or total person as a whole. The whole or total person is what is sacred and has rights. To promote parts or lower levels independently of the person’s totality would violate just the quality of life considerations. The medical provider should consider the treatment interventions not only for the benefit of a single part, but rather every aspect of the whole body, such as the effect of the therapy or medical intervention on other parts of the body. Psychotherapy involves the utmost obligation to facilitate the psychological health and well-being of the society. As far as medico-ethics is concerned, psychiatrists possess such responsibility of conjuring psychological health to the people. Such principle involves the concept of the divine as well as the societal requirement of psychological health linked together with the guidelines of psychotherapeutical interventions. Such principle considers man as a psychic unit and total aspect of a person as a whole. Considering the fact that man functions as a whole, psychiatric therapy should revolve in every aspect of a person not only on particularities of disease, disorder, or signs and symptoms but rather as a whole unified being. However, still in response to this perspective, the concept of the individual should still deal in the specifics and objective details of an individual. The guide protocols of this principle are the fact that man is a unified unit of the community that requires social interactions, and morality considerations over the psychological interventions. Rights to Health Care The general principle of health care greatly considers that every individual possesses the right to have unconditional, indiscriminate, and with no considerations on an individual’s society. The rights of health care, by law, divine protocols and natural necessities, should be ethically available for every individual. As for the ever conjuring issues in terms of impairment of the delivery of health care, it is both the responsibility of the patient and the health care provider to facilitate maximum health care potential. The health seeking behavior is expected for the patients requiring health care needs as their responsibility, while health care information dissemination, motivation and encouragement are the ethical duties of the health care providers. With the advent of managerial, profit-oriented and progressive modernization, the principle of the health care basic right is arguably being violated in some sense. As the fact states, at least 35 million Americans cannot afford proper health care delivery system for them due to either expensive medical insurance requirements or poverty. As for the both interacting requirement, most of the public, especially those living in or below poverty line, undeniably obtains their medical care from governmental provisions, which are not always sufficient to consider every individual’s health care needs. In fact, Medicaid insurance, which is a public insurance firm that caters mostly for the financially incapacitated individuals, is extensively and progressively increasing. However, the worst case of such Medicaid provision is that sickness status possesses a marginal requirement to consider a person a candidate for health care treatment. In such case, the health care status of these individuals worsens before they can even attain their due medical interventions. Another controversy is the rising patients of Medicare insurance, which is a public governmental firm that caters to elderly health care welfare. Due to the increasing number of those that cannot afford geriatric care necessities, the last option for these elders is to obtain the care that the government hospitals provide. However, there are cases wherein these elderly incapacitated individuals are being eagerly discharged by the hospital. Adding on to the situation is the increasing profit-oriented hospital firms, which perceives delivery of care as business-money-earning sources. Such condition is beginning to coincide and dominate the health care market, which if not regulated, may even caused further decline of health care obtainment by the public due to financial incongruencies. Considering that the incidence of poverty in the public is increasing, incapabilities of health care insurance to support the appropriate and adequate requirements of their beneficiaries, and the increasing incidence of profit oriented hospitals, greatly contributes to the health care scarcity and health care status of the society. Essentially speaking, such condition possesses the possibility of aggravating the morbidity and mortality ratings in the society. Such case is considered indeed as violations of the ethical principle of right of health care. On the contrary, such protocols are necessary in order to keep the hospital and medical insurance organizations surviving. Although, the evident consequence of such scenario is the increasing individuals suffering from health care impairments. As far as the ethical principle, rights of health care, is concerned, such occurring scenario violates the fundamental ethics of health care. Suffering Even with subjective evidences or manifestations, the concept of suffering seems central for the most fundamental concerns of bioethics. Suffering is in part constituted by the experience of a profound evil, as the Old Testament denotes, or threat to our sense of self and identity that we are unable to control. IT is the experience of the inexplicably arbitrary and typically destructive. Suffering is not of course an end of religious experience but a problem demanding interpretation. Religions traditions have historically tried to give meaning to suffering by placing the experience in a context of broader questions about ultimate purpose in life, and even human destiny beyond life. Suffering is knowledge of evil but is not evil in itself. Frequently its existence serves as a helpful spiritual or physical warning that something is amiss. Physical pain is often first sign of a serious illness; it informs us that something has gone wrong and that we need medical assistance. Of course, sometimes we become aware of evil but are unable to do anything about the situation. The evil is not in our knowledge of a certain state of affairs but in the state of affairs themselves. While we experience our knowledge of these evils as suffering, the knowledge itself remains a basic good. As salvation denotes liberation from evil, Christ liberates man from sin by means of His cross, that is, by means of suffering. The work of salvation is a labor of suffering. Every person is called to participate personally in that suffering through which our redemption has been accomplished and through which all suffering was redeemed. Suffering, symbolizes by the Cross, is the one universal door through which all must pass to enter the kingdom of God. While on the human level suffering is an â€Å"emptying,† on the divine level it is a glorifying or a â€Å"filling up† and an invitation to manifest the moral greatness of man. The glory of suffering cannot be seen in the martyrs, but also in those who, while not believing in Christ, suffer and give their lives for the truth. As for a Christian perspective, suffering is an opportunity for everyone to experience the power of God and share in the work of redemption. In the midst of each individual’s suffering, Christ is present to share that person’s suffering-just as He invites each of us to share His sufferings. This inter-participation of suffering unites our sufferings and Christ’s sufferings, as well as uniting us with Christ personally. In terms of the medical ethics application, suffering is for both patient and the health care provider to share; however, one must not join each one and extend the same negative feelings but rather, facilitate as the motivator and alleviator of sufferings. The greatest part of relieving the patient from the occurring suffering is on the part of the health care provider, as they are the ones who are responsible for the alleviation of such condition. The suffering of undergoing the case of alleviation and the suffering of alleviating the patient itself are the two considered faces of suffering, which has to be considered in every ethical case action. In is indeed necessary to think that the difficulties imposed by the situation is carried by both interacting parties and not one alone.

Economic freedom Essay Example for Free

Economic freedom Essay Does economic freedom help explain why the standard of living improves in some countries and declines in others? First of all we have to understand, what economic freedom is? Economic freedom according to William W. Beach and Tim Kane, PhD. â€Å" Economic freedom is that part of freedom that is concerned with the material autonomy of the individual in relation to the state and other organized groups. An individual is economically free who can fully control his or her labor and property. † (Taken from 2007 Index of economic freedom chapter no.3 by William W. Beach and Tim Kane, PhD). Or in simple words we can also say that everybody in his or her own country is said to be economically free, if their respective government protects their rights in every possible way and without any constraint. i.e. if an individual wants to learn anything, to do any kind of business or wants a job, then, he or she has a right to do that, while it is the responsibility of the government to make it convenient and possible for them. The first study of economic freedom was published in the year 1995, and it was improved over the years. There are about ten different types of economic freedoms, which are known as index of economic freedoms. The main purpose of defining these freedoms is to rank the countries in order to pave the way for foreign investment. Following is the list of ten economic freedoms: (taken from 2007 Index of economic freedom from chapter no.3 by William W Beach and Tim Kane, PhD). 1) Business freedom: To check the status of starting, operating and closing any business in how much time. 2) Trade freedom: To check the barriers and constraints in tariffs, import and export in the country. 3) Monetary freedom: To check the measure of price stability and how governments are controlling the prices, inflation etc. 4) Freedom from government: To check either state is providing public goods with minimum expenditure or not. 5) Fiscal freedom: To check the burden on the government with respect to revenue side. 6) Property rights: To check whether the public have keeping the private property rights, defined and secured by the laws, and are clearly defined by the government. 7) Investment freedom: To check whether the government deserves to have the foreign investment or not. 8) Financial freedom: To check the operation of financial institutions i.e. banking systems; are they out of government control or not. 9) Freedom from corruption: To check the status of corruption in the society, i.e. in the business system, judiciary, and administrative system in the country. 10) Labor freedom: To check the status of growth of labor and business either they are working without government interruption or not. (Taken from 2007 index of economic freedom from chapter no.3 by William W Beach and Tim Kane, PhD). Each one of the ten freedoms is measured on a 0-100 percent scale, 100 as the maximum freedom while 0 is the least or minimum freedom. The study of economic freedom was conducted on about 157 countries of the world. To show how it works, I choose two countries that are North Korea and South Korea. North Korea has a communist form of government and is ranked at no.157 in the index of 157 countries, its economy is 3% free. It has exports of $1.3 billion, it exports: minerals, metallurgical products, manufacturing (including armaments), textiles, fishery products etc. and imports of   $2.3 billion, it imports: petroleum, coking coal, machinery and equipment, textile grains etc. In communist form of government every asset in the country belongs to the state, therefore there is no business freedom i.e. 0 % (in 0-100 % scale) in N. Korea. Also government controls all the imports and exports so trade freedom i.e. 0 % is also nil. No data on income or corporate taxes is available so fiscal freedom i.e. 0 % is also zeroed. Also government owns all the property including businesses therefore freedom from government i.e. 0% is also nil. No publicly record of inflation data therefore monetary freedom i.e. 0% is also zero. Also no private financial sector, therefore financial freedom i.e. 0% is also nil. Wages and incentives are also controlled by government therefore labor freedom i.e. 0% is also nil, also corruption is heavily present in the country so corruption freedom i.e. 10% is also negligible, but there is some investment freedom i.e. 10%, after the opening of foreign investment zone in the far remote area of rajin sonberg where basic facilities are also not provided till date. The government does not cover property rights i.e. 10%, so they are also negligible.   (Taken from 2007 index of economic freedom from chapter no.5). While South Korea has democratic form of government and it is ranked at no.36 out of 157 in the index of economic freedom, and its economy is 68.6% free. S. Korea has export of $299.2 billion, it exports: semi conductors, wireless telecommunication, equipment, motor vehicles, computers, steel, ships and petrochemicals etc. It has imports of $269.8 billion, it imports: machinery, electronics, electronic equipment, oil, steel, transport, organic chemicals and plastics etc. As South Korea has democratic form of government, in that form, the government tries every possible effort to please its citizens, therefore starting, operating and closing the business in that country is relatively easy, there is a lot of business freedom i.e. 83.1% present in the country. S. Korea as compared to N. Korea has good trade freedom i.e. 64.2% present but there are some restrictions in its some activities like import, non-transparent regulations and standards etc. S. Korea has high income tax rate of about 38.5% and relatively low corporate tax of about 27.5%, so we can say that it has a good fiscal freedom i.e. 0-100 bracket it has about 81% free. After the foreign investment promotion act of Nov 1998 the government opens the doors to foreign investment in almost every sector except media, electric power and some agricultural sectors, and also residents and non residents can now holds foreign exchange accounts, so there is a lot of investment freedom i.e. about 70% free. The private property right i.e. 70% is secure by the government; corruption i.e. 50% is present at some extent in the country. The labor i.e. 57.7% market is working under restrictive employment regulations due to which employment and production growth rate is very low. Government interference in private sector is negligible, so freedom from government is 81.5%. The government regulates the prices in some sectors like agriculture, telecommunication and other utilities, which monetary freedom 79%, the government in retained some ownerships, second largest domestic bank is under them, which makes the financial freedom about 50% free. (Taken from 2007 index of economic freedom from chapter no.5).   In short economic freedom in South Korea is much superficial than North Korea, and it is mainly due to democratic and communism forms of governments, democratic people are enjoying the fruits of freedom while others do not.

Issues of War Monuments in Estonia

Issues of War Monuments in Estonia Empty Spaces and the Value of Symbols: Estonias War of Monuments from Another Angle * This article is the first published output from British Academy small research grant ref. SG-39197, entitled Public Monuments, Commemoration and the Renegotiation of Collective Identities: Estonia, Sweden and the â€Å"Baltic World† Since the summer of 2004, the new EU member state of Estonia has been in the throes of what is described as a War of Monuments. The events in question began in the town of Lihula in western Estonia, where a veterans group erected a stone tablet commemorating those Estonians who in World War Two donned German uniform and fought on the eastern front against the USSR. Bearing the inscription To Estonian men who fought in 1940 1945 against Bolshevism and for the restoration of Estonian independence, the Lihula stone became the latest of several monuments commemorating a group that most Estonians today regard as freedom fighters. In this case, however, the soldier depicted bore SS insignia. Hardly surprisingly, this fact elicited widespread international condemnation, notably from Russia, the EU and Jewish organisations. The groups behind the monument insisted that the men in question had had no truck with Nazism, and had only enlisted as a last resort in order to obtain access to arms w ith which to repel the Soviet invader. The display of the SS insignia nevertheless disregarded the taboo that surrounds the display of Nazi symbols in todays Europe. Also, while the vast majority of Estonian SS legionnaires did indeed sign up only in 1944 as the Soviet army advanced into their homeland, at least some had previously belonged to auxiliary police battalions which have been implicated in Nazi atrocities.1 Concerned to limit potential damage to Estonias international reputation, the government of the day ordered the removal of the monument. The police operation to carry out this order on 2 September 2004 nevertheless provoked clashes with local residents, while the political fallout from the episode contributed to the fall of Prime Minister Juhan Parts several months later. Critics of the government action argued that if the Lihula monument was to be construed as a glorification of totalitarianism, then the same logic should be applied to Soviet monuments that had been left standing following the restoration of Estonian independence in 1991. Singled out in this regard was the Bronze Soldier on T[otilde]nismgi in central Tallinn—a post-war monument erected on the unmarked grave of Soviet troops who fell during the taking of the city in 1944. For the vast majority of Estonians, the arrival of the Soviet Army signalled the replacement of one brutal occupying regime by another, whic h quickly resumed the arrests, executions and large-scale deportations previously witnessed during the first year of Soviet rule in 1940 41. This remains the dominant perception amongst Estonians today. The leaders of post-Soviet Russia, by contrast, have adhered steadfastly to the Soviet-era view of these events as marking the liberation of Estonia from fascism. The defeat of the Nazis during 1941 45 remains central to Russias self-understanding in the post-Soviet era; its  current leaders emphatically deny that the events of 1940 and 1944 in the Baltic states constituted a Soviet occupation, and refuse to acknowledge the suffering which the inhabitants of these countries experienced at the hands of the Soviet regime. Commentators in Russia have emphasised that they will brook no alternative interpretations of the Soviet Unions role in the events of 1939 45, and have therefore characterised calls for the removal of the T[otilde]nismgi monument as a manifestation of support for fascism. For many of the ethnic Russians who today make up nearly half of Tallinns population, the Bronze Soldier has also remained a locus of identification, providing the site for continued unofficial commemorations on 9 May, which was celebrated as Victory Day during the Soviet period. Red paint was thrown over the monument just prior to 9 May 2005, when several other Soviet war memorials were also attacked across the country, and a German military cemetery desecrated in Narva. The following year, this date again elicited tensions: local Russian youth mounted round-the-clock surveillance at the Bronze Soldier, while an Estonian nationalist counter-demonstration led to scuffles on 9 May (Alas 2006a). The monument was subsequently cordoned off by police pending a decision on its future. This formed the object of vigorous political debate ahead of the March 2007 parliamentary elections. Matters relating to the establishment and upkeep of public monuments in post-Soviet Estonia have for the mo st part fallen to local municipalities. In late 2006, however, new legislation was adopted giving central government the power to override local decision making in this regard. This provision was motivated expressly by a desire to remove the monument and the soldiers remains from the centre of Tallinn to the more peripheral setting of the military cemetery on the citys outskirts (Alas 2006a, 2006b, 2006c; Ranname 2006). The subsequent removal of the monument in late April 2007 provided the occasion for large-scale rioting in central Tallinn. On 9 May 2007 hundreds of people visited the monument at its new location in order to lay flowers. Issues of past or memory politics2 have assumed a growing prominence in recent scholarly work on Estonia and the other Baltic states, with a number of authors also highlighting the apparently divergent views of the past held by Estonians and Estonian Russians, and the obstacles that this poses in terms of societal integration (Hackmann 2003; Budryte 2005; Onken 2003, 2007a, 2007b). Publicly sited monuments are evidently central to any discussion of such issues: as recent events in Estonia have shown, they frequently act as catalysts eliciting both official and unsanctioned expressions of collective identity (Burch 2002a, 2004).3 Thus far, however, surprisingly little attention has been devoted to monuments within the relevant academic literature on Estonia. This article is intended as a contribution in this regard, but it approaches the issue from a slightly different angle. The War of Monuments has focused political and media attention upon two different cases, one involving a settlement that is predominantly ethnica lly Estonian by population (Lihula) and the other a capital city (Tallinn) that is almost equally divided between Estonians and Russians. This article shifts the focus to the overwhelmingly Russian-speaking city of Narva, which today sits on Estonias border with the Russian Federation. In particular, our study examines the local politics surrounding the Swedish Lion monument (see Figure 1), which was erected in the city in November 2000 on the 300th anniversary of the Battle of Narva between Sweden and Russia. The Lion monument relates to a past that is far less immediate than the events of 1940 45, but which, as we demonstrate, is still highly salient to contemporary identity politics within Estonia. How, for instance, was the commemoration of a decisive Swedish victory over Russia framed and debated in a town where ethnic Russians and other Russian-speakers constitute 96% of the population? Equally significantly, todays Lion is depicted as the successor to a similar monument erected in 1936 during the period of Estonias inter-war independence. The reappearance of this symbol could therefore potentially be understood as part of a state-sponsored effort to banish the Soviet past and reconnect with a past Golden Age. Once again, one wonders how this was interpreted by a local population that was established in Narva as a direct consequence of the Soviet takeover and which, by dint of the legal continuity principle, mostly did not obtain the automatic right to Estonian citizenship after 199 1.4 Who then decided to erect the Lion monument, and why? What form did the commemoration of November 2000 take, and what are the main lines of public debate that have surrounded it? The current article will address these questions, and will also seek to link the Narva case to broader conceptual issues of identity politics and post-communist transition, particularly the current debate surrounding the possibilities for the development of a tamed liberal/multicultural nationalism in Central and Eastern Europe.5 Past politics and post-communism The dramatic events that have occurred in Europe over the past two decades have entailed a profound redefinition of collective identities at a variety of scales—national, supranational, regional and local. The end of the Cold War, the demise of the USSR, and the consequent processes of EU and NATO enlargement, all occurring within the overall context of economic globalisation and growing movement of population, have led communities and groups across the continent to revisit existing understandings of who We are and where We are going. Since historical memory is an essential component in the construction of collective identity, this process has necessarily involved renegotiation of the Past as well as debates concerning the Present and Future. Like all forms of identity politics, such memory work is contested, being embedded in complex †¦ power relations that determine what is remembered (or forgotten) by whom, and for what end (Gillis 1994, p. 3). In a similar vein, Graha m et al. (2000, pp. 17 18) remind us that heritage is time-specific and thus its meaning(s) can be altered as texts are re-read in changing times, circumstances and constructs of place and scale. Consequently, it is inevitable that such knowledges are also fields of contestation.6 Publicly sited monuments offer a particularly useful way into researching this phenomenon, since they provide us with a tangible manifestation of some memory work process. The memorial function of such objects can take the form of carefully choreographed gatherings at times of heightened political awareness, or precise moments of commemorative anniversaries. Wreaths might be laid; silence observed; political rallies enacted; pageants performed. Other actions might be characterised more by spontaneity: collective grief at a sudden, tragic event, or an iconoclastic attack on a memorial construed in negative terms. Individuals and groups will attach different, often mutually exclusive meanings to particular monuments. Moreover, such meanings are shifting and contingent: what constitutes an eloquent memorial at one particular moment in time (for instance during an annual commemoration) might become a mute, invisible monument for the rest of the year. In this regard, being ignored is as s ignificant as being noticed.7 Political changes in the present can radically alter the import of a memorial, without any physical change on its part. This reiterates that the context of the monument is intrinsic to meaning. Context, however, can also be physically rendered, as with the shifting of a memorial/monument from some focal point to somewhere more peripheral and less visible. Issues of collective identity have proved especially challenging in those states that have been created or recreated following the collapse of the USSR. These are for the most part configured as classic unitary nation states, and yet in nearly all cases, processes of state and nation building have been effectuated on the basis of societies that are deeply polyethnic or multinational in character (Brubaker 1996; Smith et al. 1998; Smith 1999). Moreover, nearly all of the states in question have painful pasts with which they need to come to terms (Budryte 2005, p. 1). In relation to this region, Paul Gready (2003, p. 6) reminds us that stripped of the fossilising force of Cold War politics, nationalism has become central to political transitions, both as a means and an end. Narratives of history that focus exclusively on the titular nationality and its subjugation and suffering at the hands of former colonial regimes invariably elicit opposition from minority groups, which can easily f rame their own exclusivist narratives of history along the same lines. Indeed, as the Estonian case exemplifies very well, conflicting narratives of the past can be seen as an integral part of the triadic nexus of nationalist politics—the relationship between nationalising states, national minorities and external national homelands—discerned by Rogers Brubaker in his 1996 work Nationalism Reframed (Pettai 2006). In using the past for present purposes, political and intellectual elites in the Baltic and other Central and Eastern European states have also had to take account of the requirements of integration with the European Union, which in the Estonian and Latvian cases especially, has entailed significant changes to the direction of nation-building (Smith 2002a, 2002b, 2003a, 2003b, 2005; Budryte 2005; Kelley 2004; Galbreath 2005). EU-supported state integration strategies launched at the start of the twenty-first century have set the goal of creating integrated multicultural democracies which will enable representatives of the large non-titular, non-citizen population to preserve certain aspects of their distinct culture and heritage as they undergo integration into the polity and the dominant societal culture (Lauristin Heidmets 2002). According to a number of authors writing on the politics of the past and of memory, these efforts to promote an integrated multicultural society necessar ily require all the parties involved to engage with a process of democratising history. Democratisation in this context would imply that history is no longer used extensively for political purposes, alternative readings are allowed to challenge dominant master narratives, a plurality of guardians of memory is tolerated, and that rather than merely stressing the suffering endured by ones own nation, historical narratives recognise that other groups suffered equally, and that the nation in question served as both a bystander and a perpetrator as regards the suffering of others (see Onken 2003, 2007a; Budryte 2005). A significant step in this direction came during 1998, when all three Baltic states established historical commissions.8 Composed of academic experts from home and abroad (in the Estonian case exclusively the latter), these bodies have been called upon to produce an independent assessment of events during the Nazi and Soviet occupations of 1940 91, and have already begun to publish their findings (Onken 2007b). However, developments such as the Estonian War on Monuments and the Baltic Russian dispute over the commemoration held in Moscow to mark the sixtieth anniversary of the end of World War Two (Onken 2007a) underline the extent to which the past is still underpinning conflictual political dynamics in the present. In this regard, Russias increasing reliance on the Soviet past for nation-building purposes and its indiscriminate blanket accusations of fascist tendencies in the Baltic states prompt Baltic politicians to insist that Soviet communism should join Nazism as one of the great evils against which contemporary European values should be defined. As is the case with other aspects of post-communist transition, however, a focus on the state level tells us only so much about the renegotiation of identity in post-socialist Central and Eastern Europe. In this highly complex multi-ethnic environment, the sub-state regional level cannot be disregarded (Batt 2002). A focus on the sub-state level appears especially apposite as far as the study of Estonias public monuments is concerned, for, until now at least, decisions in this area have rested with local rather than with national government. Furthermore, one can point to different political logics that obtain at national and local level. As a result of the citizenship law adopted in the aftermath of independence, ethnic Estonians have constituted a comfortable majority of the national electorate during 1992 2007. The local election law of 1993, however, stipulates that while citizens alone can run for office, all permanent residents have the right to vote, regardless of citizenship status. This has meant that the ethnic composition of the electorate has in some cases been wholly different at municipal level. In this regard, the outright repudiation of the Soviet past displayed by local elites in Lihula stands in marked contrast to trends observable in the capital Tallinn, where Russian-speakers make up almost half the population, and Russian and pro-Russian parties, such as the Centre Party (Keskerakond), have been able to obtain a significant foothold in local politics. This contrast became evident not least in 1995, when the fiftieth anniversary of the end of World War II brought calls for the removal of the Bronze Soldier. The city council, however, tried instead to imbue this monument with an alternative meaning: a Soviet-era plaque referring to the liberation of Tallinn by the Red Army in 1944 was replaced by one that reads simply to the fallen of World War Two. This step can be read as an effort to inculcate some kind of shared understanding of a highly contentious past within a deeply multi-ethnic setting. What trends, however, can one identify in the more homogeneously Russian pe riphery that is Narva? Estonias new best friend. The rediscovery of Estonias Swedish past The return of the Swedish Lion monument to Narva, as one local newspaper described it (Sommer-Kalda 2000), can be seen in many ways as the culmination of a process of Swedish re-engagement with the eastern Baltic Near Abroad that began in 1990 with the establishment of a Swedish consulate in Tallinn. With considerable financial resources now being made available to support processes of economic and political transition in Estonia, Swedish cultural attach Hans Lepp began to explore how past cultural links might be utilised in the service of what he has termed soft diplomacy.9 Historic ties with Scandinavia have assumed an important place within the discourse of the ruling ethnic Estonian political elite since the 1990s, where they have been used to support the notion of a Return to Europe—or, more broadly, a Return to the Western World following the end of Soviet occupation (Lauristin et al. 1997; Smith 2001, 2003a, 2003b). Within this framework, the period 1561 1710, when Sweden progressively extended its dominion over much of the territory of present-day Estonia and Latvia, is remembered as the Happy Swedish time, which is said to have brought about a considerable improvement in the lot of the Estonian peasantry, before serfdom was returned to its former rigour following entry to the Russian empire. Hans Lepp and his diplomatic colleagues were alive to the possibility of trading on this feeling of goodwill in order to make Sweden Estonias best friend in the Baltic region, with all that this implied in terms of political and economic influence.10 It quickly became apparent, however, that Swedish assistance was most needed in Narva and its surrounding region of Ida-Virumaa. Quite apart from the socio-economic and environmental challenges posed by this largely Russian-populated border region, rising nationalism in neighbouring Russia raised the prospect that the local inhabitants might look eastwards towards Moscow rather than westwards towards Tallinn, with drastic implications for regional stability and security.11 In this specific context history had particular potential as a resource, given the important place of the Battle of Narva of 1700 within the Swedish historical imagination. Although the opening salvo in a disastrous war that saw the Baltic provinces ceded to Russia,12 the first Battle of Narva was nevertheless a remarkable victory by the troops of King Charles XII (often referred to as the Lion of the North) against the numerically superior forces of Peter the Great. In this respect, Eldar Efendiev, who as Mayor of Narva planned the November 2000 commemoration of the battle, claimed in an interview with the authors that Swedes know three dates—the birthday of Gustav Vasa; the birthday of the present King; and the date of the Battle of Narva.13 The significance of the latter event had been seen already in the inter-war period with the installation of a Lion monument on the battlefield site in 1936.14 Already prior to his appointment as cultural attach in 1990, Hans Lepp—then Curator of the art collections at the Swedish Royal Palace in Stockholm—suggested to Efendiev (at that time Head of the Narva Museum) that the restoration of the Lion monument might help to foster closer ties between Narva and Sweden in the present. Lepp subsequently pursued the idea of restoring the Lion with Narva city council in his roles as Swedish cultural attach to Estonia and member of the Swedish Institute. Not surprisingly, however, planning the commemoration of a decisive Swedish victory over Russia was a potentially fraught endeavour in a town where Russian-speakers now made up 96% of the population. Narva: Eastern, Western or in-between? The more essentialising geopolitical discourses of the post-Cold War era would see Narva as sitting on the westward side of the border that divides Western Christianity from Eastern Orthodoxy. Those who discern a Huntingdonian civilisational fault line between Estonia and Russia could point by way of evidence to the presence of two great fortresses—one German, one Russian—on the respective banks of the Narova River that separates Narva from its neighbouring settlement of Ivangorod and which today marks the state border with the Russian Federation. Not unnaturally, however, the citys past is rather more complex. As noted on the current website of the city government, Narva has not merely served as a defensive outpost and site of struggle between competing regional powers, but has also constituted a locus for trade and interaction between West and East, not least during the period when the city belonged to the Hanseatic League.15 From its foundation in the twelfth century to 1558, Narva did indeed constitute the easternmost point of the province of Estland, which was ruled first by the Danes and later by the German Livonian Order. Neighbouring Ivangorod takes its name from Tsar Ivan III, who ordered the construction of a fortress on the western border of his realm following Muscovys annexation of Novgorod in the late fifteenth century. Muscovy subsequently conquered Narva during the mid-sixteenth century Livonian wars, controlling the city from 1558 to 1581. The city then came under Swedish rule for 120 years following the Livonian Wars, a period which is described on the webpage of todays city government as Narvas Golden Age.16 For nearly three and a half centuries, Narva and Ivangorod functioned in effect as a single composite settlement, first under Swedish rule and then later during the tsarist period, when Narva came under the joint jurisdiction of the Estland and Saint Petersburg Gubernii of the Russian Empire. The conjoined status of the two towns persisted after 1917, when the inhabitants of the Narva district voted in a July referendum to join the province of Estland created following the February Revolution.17 After a brief spell of Bolshevik control during late 1918 to early 1919, when Narva functioned as the seat of the abortive Estonian Workers Commune, both towns were incorporated into the Estonian Republic under the terms of the 1920 Treaty of Tartu. It was only after the Soviet occupation in 1945 that the border was redrawn so as to place Ivangorod in the territory of the Russian Republic of the USSR. Although this division was little more than an administrative formality within a Soviet cont ext, the frontier revision set the scene for the establishment of a fully functioning state border between the two towns after 1992. The Narva that emerged from the Soviet period is almost completely unrecognisable from the one that existed prior to World War Two. Previously characterised as the baroque jewel of Northern Europe, the city was quite literally reduced to rubble in 1944 during fierce fighting between German and Soviet forces in eastern Estonia. While at least some historic buildings—notably the castle and the town hall—were restored, the ruins were for the most part demolished and the city entirely remodelled on the Soviet plan. As was the case with Knigsberg (Kaliningrad), Narva was inhabited by both different inhabitants and a different ideology after 1945 (Sezneva 2002, p. 48). The previous residents, having been evacuated by the occupying Nazi regime, were not allowed to return by its Soviet successor, and were replaced by workers from neighbouring Russia, who oversaw a process of Soviet-style industrialisation in the region. Today, Estonians make up less than 5% of the towns inhabit ants. As part of Narvas transformation into a Soviet place, new monuments were erected to commemorate the fallen of the Great Patriotic War and of the brief period of rule by the Estonian Workers Commune.18 All remaining traces of the pre-war Estonian Republic were swept away following the Soviet re-conquest of 1944. The 1936 Swedish Lion monument, which had been erected at the approaches to the city during a visit by the Swedish Crown Prince, was destroyed by artillery fire and the bronze lion removed by German forces during their retreat. This monument did not reappear under Soviet rule. The authorities did, however, restore and maintain objects linked to the citys Russian past, such as the two tsarist-era monuments to Russian soldiers killed in the battles of 1700 and 1704. As the movement for Estonian independence gathered momentum between 1988 and 1991, Narva gained a reputation as a bastion of support for the maintenance of Soviet power. The city government that came to office in December 1989 set itself resolutely against political change, demanding autonomy for north-east Estonia within the context of a renewed Soviet federation and, in August 1991, voicing support for the abortive Moscow coup which precipitated the collapse of the USSR. The Council was promptly dissolved in the aftermath of Estonian independence; yet, remarkably, its former leaders were allowed to stand in new elections, and were returned to power in October 1991, albeit on a turnout of only 30%. As ethnic tensions mounted in Estonia between 1991 and 1993, and Narvas economy went into freefall, local leaders again set themselves in opposition to central government policies that were designed to engineer a decisive political and economic break with the Soviet past. The last stand o f the Soviet-era leadership came in the summer of 1993: with fresh local elections scheduled for the autumn, the city government organised an unofficial referendum on local autonomy, in which it gained a 97% majority in favour on an officially proclaimed 55% turnout of local voters. With the national government standing firm and refusing to acknowledge the legality of the vote, and no support forthcoming from neighbouring Russia, a growing section of the local political elite appeared to accept that intransigent opposition to the new state order was blocking any prospect of achieving much needed economic renewal. These circles now called upon the existing leadership to give up power peacefully, which it did in October 1993 (Smith 2002b). At the time, the referendum of July 1993 was widely regarded as secessionist in intent. Available evidence, however, would seem to suggest that redrawing physical borders was not on the agenda: the aim was rather to tip the overall political balance within Estonia in favour of the Russian-speaking part of the population and, in this way, to bring Estonia as a whole more firmly within the ambit of Russia and the CIS. In this way, the leadership hoped both to retain power and to restore the citys previous economic ties with the East as well as developing new links with the West (Smith 2002b).19 While Soviet constituted the principal identity marker for Estonias Russian-speaking population prior to 1991, this did not preclude the development of a simultaneous strong identification with the specific territory of the Estonian SSR (widely identified in other republics as the Soviet West or the Soviet Abroad), and with the local place of residence. Between 1989 and 1991, the movement to ass ert Estonian sovereignty gained support from a significant minority (perhaps as much as one third) of local Russian-speakers, who could subscribe to a vision of Estonia as an economic bridge between East and West. Such feelings were by no means absent in Narva, where the 1989 census revealed that seven out of 10 residents had actually been born in Estonia (Kirch et al. 1993, p. 177). Even so, the collapse of the USSR inevitably created something of an identity void as far as Estonias Russian-speakers were concerned. Despite perceptions of discrimination, recent survey work has confirmed a growing identification with the Estonian state (Kolst2002; Budryte 2005; Ehin 2007) as well as significant support for EU membership. Most Russians, however, have scarcely been able to identify themselves with any notion of Estonian national community, with local place of residence and ethnicity serving as the prime markers of identity (Ehin 2007). Despite having an obvious cultural affinity with Russia and with the transnational Russian community across the territory of the former Soviet Union, a population raised in the different socio-cultural setting of the Baltic has found it hard to conceive of actually living in Russia or to identify politically with the contemporary Russian state. It is with this complex identity that the post-1993 leadership in Narva has had to reckon. The Estonian law on local elections passed in May 1993 stipulated that non-citizens could vote but not stand for office. This excluded much of the local population from seeking election, including a substantial proportion of the Soviet-era leadership. Ahead of the October 1993 poll in Narva, however, the state was able to co-opt elements of the local political elite through a process of accelerated naturalisation on the grounds of special services rendered to the state. The elections of October 1993 saw a strong turnout by local voters, and brought to power a coalition of locally based parties and interest groups. The city governments elected during the period 1993 2005—a period when the national-level Centre Party attained the dominant position within local politics—were far more ready than their predecessors to embrace the new political economy of post-socialism, and thus better placed to cooperate both with central government and with Western partners within the wid er Baltic Sea area. In this regard, the commemoration of the Battle of Narva and the installation of the Swedish Lion can be understood as an attempt to create a narrative of the citys past capable of underpinning growing ties with Sweden in the present. These ties assumed a particular significance after 1995, when Swedish textile firm Boras Wfveri purchased a 75% stake in Narvas historic Kreenholm Mill, then the citys second-largest employer. According to Raivo Murd, the ethnic Estonian who served as Mayor of Narva from 1993 to 1996, the investment was proof that Narva was finally beginning to shed the Red image that had prevailed under the former political dispensation.20 In a clear sign of its determination to break with the Soviet past, the city government appointed in October 1993 removed Estonias last remaining statue of Lenin, which had remained standing in the central Peters Square in Narva during the first two years of Estonian independence. The subsequent period has seen the installation of new monuments commemorating—inter alia—the victims of Stalinist deportations during the 1940s and key moments in the transition to Estonian independence during 1917 20. The Old Narva Society founded by surviving pre-1944 residents of Narva also put up a number of commemorative plaques marking the sites of churches and other key buildings from the pre-war city. Yet the post-1993 political e Issues of War Monuments in Estonia Issues of War Monuments in Estonia Empty Spaces and the Value of Symbols: Estonias War of Monuments from Another Angle * This article is the first published output from British Academy small research grant ref. SG-39197, entitled Public Monuments, Commemoration and the Renegotiation of Collective Identities: Estonia, Sweden and the â€Å"Baltic World† Since the summer of 2004, the new EU member state of Estonia has been in the throes of what is described as a War of Monuments. The events in question began in the town of Lihula in western Estonia, where a veterans group erected a stone tablet commemorating those Estonians who in World War Two donned German uniform and fought on the eastern front against the USSR. Bearing the inscription To Estonian men who fought in 1940 1945 against Bolshevism and for the restoration of Estonian independence, the Lihula stone became the latest of several monuments commemorating a group that most Estonians today regard as freedom fighters. In this case, however, the soldier depicted bore SS insignia. Hardly surprisingly, this fact elicited widespread international condemnation, notably from Russia, the EU and Jewish organisations. The groups behind the monument insisted that the men in question had had no truck with Nazism, and had only enlisted as a last resort in order to obtain access to arms w ith which to repel the Soviet invader. The display of the SS insignia nevertheless disregarded the taboo that surrounds the display of Nazi symbols in todays Europe. Also, while the vast majority of Estonian SS legionnaires did indeed sign up only in 1944 as the Soviet army advanced into their homeland, at least some had previously belonged to auxiliary police battalions which have been implicated in Nazi atrocities.1 Concerned to limit potential damage to Estonias international reputation, the government of the day ordered the removal of the monument. The police operation to carry out this order on 2 September 2004 nevertheless provoked clashes with local residents, while the political fallout from the episode contributed to the fall of Prime Minister Juhan Parts several months later. Critics of the government action argued that if the Lihula monument was to be construed as a glorification of totalitarianism, then the same logic should be applied to Soviet monuments that had been left standing following the restoration of Estonian independence in 1991. Singled out in this regard was the Bronze Soldier on T[otilde]nismgi in central Tallinn—a post-war monument erected on the unmarked grave of Soviet troops who fell during the taking of the city in 1944. For the vast majority of Estonians, the arrival of the Soviet Army signalled the replacement of one brutal occupying regime by another, whic h quickly resumed the arrests, executions and large-scale deportations previously witnessed during the first year of Soviet rule in 1940 41. This remains the dominant perception amongst Estonians today. The leaders of post-Soviet Russia, by contrast, have adhered steadfastly to the Soviet-era view of these events as marking the liberation of Estonia from fascism. The defeat of the Nazis during 1941 45 remains central to Russias self-understanding in the post-Soviet era; its  current leaders emphatically deny that the events of 1940 and 1944 in the Baltic states constituted a Soviet occupation, and refuse to acknowledge the suffering which the inhabitants of these countries experienced at the hands of the Soviet regime. Commentators in Russia have emphasised that they will brook no alternative interpretations of the Soviet Unions role in the events of 1939 45, and have therefore characterised calls for the removal of the T[otilde]nismgi monument as a manifestation of support for fascism. For many of the ethnic Russians who today make up nearly half of Tallinns population, the Bronze Soldier has also remained a locus of identification, providing the site for continued unofficial commemorations on 9 May, which was celebrated as Victory Day during the Soviet period. Red paint was thrown over the monument just prior to 9 May 2005, when several other Soviet war memorials were also attacked across the country, and a German military cemetery desecrated in Narva. The following year, this date again elicited tensions: local Russian youth mounted round-the-clock surveillance at the Bronze Soldier, while an Estonian nationalist counter-demonstration led to scuffles on 9 May (Alas 2006a). The monument was subsequently cordoned off by police pending a decision on its future. This formed the object of vigorous political debate ahead of the March 2007 parliamentary elections. Matters relating to the establishment and upkeep of public monuments in post-Soviet Estonia have for the mo st part fallen to local municipalities. In late 2006, however, new legislation was adopted giving central government the power to override local decision making in this regard. This provision was motivated expressly by a desire to remove the monument and the soldiers remains from the centre of Tallinn to the more peripheral setting of the military cemetery on the citys outskirts (Alas 2006a, 2006b, 2006c; Ranname 2006). The subsequent removal of the monument in late April 2007 provided the occasion for large-scale rioting in central Tallinn. On 9 May 2007 hundreds of people visited the monument at its new location in order to lay flowers. Issues of past or memory politics2 have assumed a growing prominence in recent scholarly work on Estonia and the other Baltic states, with a number of authors also highlighting the apparently divergent views of the past held by Estonians and Estonian Russians, and the obstacles that this poses in terms of societal integration (Hackmann 2003; Budryte 2005; Onken 2003, 2007a, 2007b). Publicly sited monuments are evidently central to any discussion of such issues: as recent events in Estonia have shown, they frequently act as catalysts eliciting both official and unsanctioned expressions of collective identity (Burch 2002a, 2004).3 Thus far, however, surprisingly little attention has been devoted to monuments within the relevant academic literature on Estonia. This article is intended as a contribution in this regard, but it approaches the issue from a slightly different angle. The War of Monuments has focused political and media attention upon two different cases, one involving a settlement that is predominantly ethnica lly Estonian by population (Lihula) and the other a capital city (Tallinn) that is almost equally divided between Estonians and Russians. This article shifts the focus to the overwhelmingly Russian-speaking city of Narva, which today sits on Estonias border with the Russian Federation. In particular, our study examines the local politics surrounding the Swedish Lion monument (see Figure 1), which was erected in the city in November 2000 on the 300th anniversary of the Battle of Narva between Sweden and Russia. The Lion monument relates to a past that is far less immediate than the events of 1940 45, but which, as we demonstrate, is still highly salient to contemporary identity politics within Estonia. How, for instance, was the commemoration of a decisive Swedish victory over Russia framed and debated in a town where ethnic Russians and other Russian-speakers constitute 96% of the population? Equally significantly, todays Lion is depicted as the successor to a similar monument erected in 1936 during the period of Estonias inter-war independence. The reappearance of this symbol could therefore potentially be understood as part of a state-sponsored effort to banish the Soviet past and reconnect with a past Golden Age. Once again, one wonders how this was interpreted by a local population that was established in Narva as a direct consequence of the Soviet takeover and which, by dint of the legal continuity principle, mostly did not obtain the automatic right to Estonian citizenship after 199 1.4 Who then decided to erect the Lion monument, and why? What form did the commemoration of November 2000 take, and what are the main lines of public debate that have surrounded it? The current article will address these questions, and will also seek to link the Narva case to broader conceptual issues of identity politics and post-communist transition, particularly the current debate surrounding the possibilities for the development of a tamed liberal/multicultural nationalism in Central and Eastern Europe.5 Past politics and post-communism The dramatic events that have occurred in Europe over the past two decades have entailed a profound redefinition of collective identities at a variety of scales—national, supranational, regional and local. The end of the Cold War, the demise of the USSR, and the consequent processes of EU and NATO enlargement, all occurring within the overall context of economic globalisation and growing movement of population, have led communities and groups across the continent to revisit existing understandings of who We are and where We are going. Since historical memory is an essential component in the construction of collective identity, this process has necessarily involved renegotiation of the Past as well as debates concerning the Present and Future. Like all forms of identity politics, such memory work is contested, being embedded in complex †¦ power relations that determine what is remembered (or forgotten) by whom, and for what end (Gillis 1994, p. 3). In a similar vein, Graha m et al. (2000, pp. 17 18) remind us that heritage is time-specific and thus its meaning(s) can be altered as texts are re-read in changing times, circumstances and constructs of place and scale. Consequently, it is inevitable that such knowledges are also fields of contestation.6 Publicly sited monuments offer a particularly useful way into researching this phenomenon, since they provide us with a tangible manifestation of some memory work process. The memorial function of such objects can take the form of carefully choreographed gatherings at times of heightened political awareness, or precise moments of commemorative anniversaries. Wreaths might be laid; silence observed; political rallies enacted; pageants performed. Other actions might be characterised more by spontaneity: collective grief at a sudden, tragic event, or an iconoclastic attack on a memorial construed in negative terms. Individuals and groups will attach different, often mutually exclusive meanings to particular monuments. Moreover, such meanings are shifting and contingent: what constitutes an eloquent memorial at one particular moment in time (for instance during an annual commemoration) might become a mute, invisible monument for the rest of the year. In this regard, being ignored is as s ignificant as being noticed.7 Political changes in the present can radically alter the import of a memorial, without any physical change on its part. This reiterates that the context of the monument is intrinsic to meaning. Context, however, can also be physically rendered, as with the shifting of a memorial/monument from some focal point to somewhere more peripheral and less visible. Issues of collective identity have proved especially challenging in those states that have been created or recreated following the collapse of the USSR. These are for the most part configured as classic unitary nation states, and yet in nearly all cases, processes of state and nation building have been effectuated on the basis of societies that are deeply polyethnic or multinational in character (Brubaker 1996; Smith et al. 1998; Smith 1999). Moreover, nearly all of the states in question have painful pasts with which they need to come to terms (Budryte 2005, p. 1). In relation to this region, Paul Gready (2003, p. 6) reminds us that stripped of the fossilising force of Cold War politics, nationalism has become central to political transitions, both as a means and an end. Narratives of history that focus exclusively on the titular nationality and its subjugation and suffering at the hands of former colonial regimes invariably elicit opposition from minority groups, which can easily f rame their own exclusivist narratives of history along the same lines. Indeed, as the Estonian case exemplifies very well, conflicting narratives of the past can be seen as an integral part of the triadic nexus of nationalist politics—the relationship between nationalising states, national minorities and external national homelands—discerned by Rogers Brubaker in his 1996 work Nationalism Reframed (Pettai 2006). In using the past for present purposes, political and intellectual elites in the Baltic and other Central and Eastern European states have also had to take account of the requirements of integration with the European Union, which in the Estonian and Latvian cases especially, has entailed significant changes to the direction of nation-building (Smith 2002a, 2002b, 2003a, 2003b, 2005; Budryte 2005; Kelley 2004; Galbreath 2005). EU-supported state integration strategies launched at the start of the twenty-first century have set the goal of creating integrated multicultural democracies which will enable representatives of the large non-titular, non-citizen population to preserve certain aspects of their distinct culture and heritage as they undergo integration into the polity and the dominant societal culture (Lauristin Heidmets 2002). According to a number of authors writing on the politics of the past and of memory, these efforts to promote an integrated multicultural society necessar ily require all the parties involved to engage with a process of democratising history. Democratisation in this context would imply that history is no longer used extensively for political purposes, alternative readings are allowed to challenge dominant master narratives, a plurality of guardians of memory is tolerated, and that rather than merely stressing the suffering endured by ones own nation, historical narratives recognise that other groups suffered equally, and that the nation in question served as both a bystander and a perpetrator as regards the suffering of others (see Onken 2003, 2007a; Budryte 2005). A significant step in this direction came during 1998, when all three Baltic states established historical commissions.8 Composed of academic experts from home and abroad (in the Estonian case exclusively the latter), these bodies have been called upon to produce an independent assessment of events during the Nazi and Soviet occupations of 1940 91, and have already begun to publish their findings (Onken 2007b). However, developments such as the Estonian War on Monuments and the Baltic Russian dispute over the commemoration held in Moscow to mark the sixtieth anniversary of the end of World War Two (Onken 2007a) underline the extent to which the past is still underpinning conflictual political dynamics in the present. In this regard, Russias increasing reliance on the Soviet past for nation-building purposes and its indiscriminate blanket accusations of fascist tendencies in the Baltic states prompt Baltic politicians to insist that Soviet communism should join Nazism as one of the great evils against which contemporary European values should be defined. As is the case with other aspects of post-communist transition, however, a focus on the state level tells us only so much about the renegotiation of identity in post-socialist Central and Eastern Europe. In this highly complex multi-ethnic environment, the sub-state regional level cannot be disregarded (Batt 2002). A focus on the sub-state level appears especially apposite as far as the study of Estonias public monuments is concerned, for, until now at least, decisions in this area have rested with local rather than with national government. Furthermore, one can point to different political logics that obtain at national and local level. As a result of the citizenship law adopted in the aftermath of independence, ethnic Estonians have constituted a comfortable majority of the national electorate during 1992 2007. The local election law of 1993, however, stipulates that while citizens alone can run for office, all permanent residents have the right to vote, regardless of citizenship status. This has meant that the ethnic composition of the electorate has in some cases been wholly different at municipal level. In this regard, the outright repudiation of the Soviet past displayed by local elites in Lihula stands in marked contrast to trends observable in the capital Tallinn, where Russian-speakers make up almost half the population, and Russian and pro-Russian parties, such as the Centre Party (Keskerakond), have been able to obtain a significant foothold in local politics. This contrast became evident not least in 1995, when the fiftieth anniversary of the end of World War II brought calls for the removal of the Bronze Soldier. The city council, however, tried instead to imbue this monument with an alternative meaning: a Soviet-era plaque referring to the liberation of Tallinn by the Red Army in 1944 was replaced by one that reads simply to the fallen of World War Two. This step can be read as an effort to inculcate some kind of shared understanding of a highly contentious past within a deeply multi-ethnic setting. What trends, however, can one identify in the more homogeneously Russian pe riphery that is Narva? Estonias new best friend. The rediscovery of Estonias Swedish past The return of the Swedish Lion monument to Narva, as one local newspaper described it (Sommer-Kalda 2000), can be seen in many ways as the culmination of a process of Swedish re-engagement with the eastern Baltic Near Abroad that began in 1990 with the establishment of a Swedish consulate in Tallinn. With considerable financial resources now being made available to support processes of economic and political transition in Estonia, Swedish cultural attach Hans Lepp began to explore how past cultural links might be utilised in the service of what he has termed soft diplomacy.9 Historic ties with Scandinavia have assumed an important place within the discourse of the ruling ethnic Estonian political elite since the 1990s, where they have been used to support the notion of a Return to Europe—or, more broadly, a Return to the Western World following the end of Soviet occupation (Lauristin et al. 1997; Smith 2001, 2003a, 2003b). Within this framework, the period 1561 1710, when Sweden progressively extended its dominion over much of the territory of present-day Estonia and Latvia, is remembered as the Happy Swedish time, which is said to have brought about a considerable improvement in the lot of the Estonian peasantry, before serfdom was returned to its former rigour following entry to the Russian empire. Hans Lepp and his diplomatic colleagues were alive to the possibility of trading on this feeling of goodwill in order to make Sweden Estonias best friend in the Baltic region, with all that this implied in terms of political and economic influence.10 It quickly became apparent, however, that Swedish assistance was most needed in Narva and its surrounding region of Ida-Virumaa. Quite apart from the socio-economic and environmental challenges posed by this largely Russian-populated border region, rising nationalism in neighbouring Russia raised the prospect that the local inhabitants might look eastwards towards Moscow rather than westwards towards Tallinn, with drastic implications for regional stability and security.11 In this specific context history had particular potential as a resource, given the important place of the Battle of Narva of 1700 within the Swedish historical imagination. Although the opening salvo in a disastrous war that saw the Baltic provinces ceded to Russia,12 the first Battle of Narva was nevertheless a remarkable victory by the troops of King Charles XII (often referred to as the Lion of the North) against the numerically superior forces of Peter the Great. In this respect, Eldar Efendiev, who as Mayor of Narva planned the November 2000 commemoration of the battle, claimed in an interview with the authors that Swedes know three dates—the birthday of Gustav Vasa; the birthday of the present King; and the date of the Battle of Narva.13 The significance of the latter event had been seen already in the inter-war period with the installation of a Lion monument on the battlefield site in 1936.14 Already prior to his appointment as cultural attach in 1990, Hans Lepp—then Curator of the art collections at the Swedish Royal Palace in Stockholm—suggested to Efendiev (at that time Head of the Narva Museum) that the restoration of the Lion monument might help to foster closer ties between Narva and Sweden in the present. Lepp subsequently pursued the idea of restoring the Lion with Narva city council in his roles as Swedish cultural attach to Estonia and member of the Swedish Institute. Not surprisingly, however, planning the commemoration of a decisive Swedish victory over Russia was a potentially fraught endeavour in a town where Russian-speakers now made up 96% of the population. Narva: Eastern, Western or in-between? The more essentialising geopolitical discourses of the post-Cold War era would see Narva as sitting on the westward side of the border that divides Western Christianity from Eastern Orthodoxy. Those who discern a Huntingdonian civilisational fault line between Estonia and Russia could point by way of evidence to the presence of two great fortresses—one German, one Russian—on the respective banks of the Narova River that separates Narva from its neighbouring settlement of Ivangorod and which today marks the state border with the Russian Federation. Not unnaturally, however, the citys past is rather more complex. As noted on the current website of the city government, Narva has not merely served as a defensive outpost and site of struggle between competing regional powers, but has also constituted a locus for trade and interaction between West and East, not least during the period when the city belonged to the Hanseatic League.15 From its foundation in the twelfth century to 1558, Narva did indeed constitute the easternmost point of the province of Estland, which was ruled first by the Danes and later by the German Livonian Order. Neighbouring Ivangorod takes its name from Tsar Ivan III, who ordered the construction of a fortress on the western border of his realm following Muscovys annexation of Novgorod in the late fifteenth century. Muscovy subsequently conquered Narva during the mid-sixteenth century Livonian wars, controlling the city from 1558 to 1581. The city then came under Swedish rule for 120 years following the Livonian Wars, a period which is described on the webpage of todays city government as Narvas Golden Age.16 For nearly three and a half centuries, Narva and Ivangorod functioned in effect as a single composite settlement, first under Swedish rule and then later during the tsarist period, when Narva came under the joint jurisdiction of the Estland and Saint Petersburg Gubernii of the Russian Empire. The conjoined status of the two towns persisted after 1917, when the inhabitants of the Narva district voted in a July referendum to join the province of Estland created following the February Revolution.17 After a brief spell of Bolshevik control during late 1918 to early 1919, when Narva functioned as the seat of the abortive Estonian Workers Commune, both towns were incorporated into the Estonian Republic under the terms of the 1920 Treaty of Tartu. It was only after the Soviet occupation in 1945 that the border was redrawn so as to place Ivangorod in the territory of the Russian Republic of the USSR. Although this division was little more than an administrative formality within a Soviet cont ext, the frontier revision set the scene for the establishment of a fully functioning state border between the two towns after 1992. The Narva that emerged from the Soviet period is almost completely unrecognisable from the one that existed prior to World War Two. Previously characterised as the baroque jewel of Northern Europe, the city was quite literally reduced to rubble in 1944 during fierce fighting between German and Soviet forces in eastern Estonia. While at least some historic buildings—notably the castle and the town hall—were restored, the ruins were for the most part demolished and the city entirely remodelled on the Soviet plan. As was the case with Knigsberg (Kaliningrad), Narva was inhabited by both different inhabitants and a different ideology after 1945 (Sezneva 2002, p. 48). The previous residents, having been evacuated by the occupying Nazi regime, were not allowed to return by its Soviet successor, and were replaced by workers from neighbouring Russia, who oversaw a process of Soviet-style industrialisation in the region. Today, Estonians make up less than 5% of the towns inhabit ants. As part of Narvas transformation into a Soviet place, new monuments were erected to commemorate the fallen of the Great Patriotic War and of the brief period of rule by the Estonian Workers Commune.18 All remaining traces of the pre-war Estonian Republic were swept away following the Soviet re-conquest of 1944. The 1936 Swedish Lion monument, which had been erected at the approaches to the city during a visit by the Swedish Crown Prince, was destroyed by artillery fire and the bronze lion removed by German forces during their retreat. This monument did not reappear under Soviet rule. The authorities did, however, restore and maintain objects linked to the citys Russian past, such as the two tsarist-era monuments to Russian soldiers killed in the battles of 1700 and 1704. As the movement for Estonian independence gathered momentum between 1988 and 1991, Narva gained a reputation as a bastion of support for the maintenance of Soviet power. The city government that came to office in December 1989 set itself resolutely against political change, demanding autonomy for north-east Estonia within the context of a renewed Soviet federation and, in August 1991, voicing support for the abortive Moscow coup which precipitated the collapse of the USSR. The Council was promptly dissolved in the aftermath of Estonian independence; yet, remarkably, its former leaders were allowed to stand in new elections, and were returned to power in October 1991, albeit on a turnout of only 30%. As ethnic tensions mounted in Estonia between 1991 and 1993, and Narvas economy went into freefall, local leaders again set themselves in opposition to central government policies that were designed to engineer a decisive political and economic break with the Soviet past. The last stand o f the Soviet-era leadership came in the summer of 1993: with fresh local elections scheduled for the autumn, the city government organised an unofficial referendum on local autonomy, in which it gained a 97% majority in favour on an officially proclaimed 55% turnout of local voters. With the national government standing firm and refusing to acknowledge the legality of the vote, and no support forthcoming from neighbouring Russia, a growing section of the local political elite appeared to accept that intransigent opposition to the new state order was blocking any prospect of achieving much needed economic renewal. These circles now called upon the existing leadership to give up power peacefully, which it did in October 1993 (Smith 2002b). At the time, the referendum of July 1993 was widely regarded as secessionist in intent. Available evidence, however, would seem to suggest that redrawing physical borders was not on the agenda: the aim was rather to tip the overall political balance within Estonia in favour of the Russian-speaking part of the population and, in this way, to bring Estonia as a whole more firmly within the ambit of Russia and the CIS. In this way, the leadership hoped both to retain power and to restore the citys previous economic ties with the East as well as developing new links with the West (Smith 2002b).19 While Soviet constituted the principal identity marker for Estonias Russian-speaking population prior to 1991, this did not preclude the development of a simultaneous strong identification with the specific territory of the Estonian SSR (widely identified in other republics as the Soviet West or the Soviet Abroad), and with the local place of residence. Between 1989 and 1991, the movement to ass ert Estonian sovereignty gained support from a significant minority (perhaps as much as one third) of local Russian-speakers, who could subscribe to a vision of Estonia as an economic bridge between East and West. Such feelings were by no means absent in Narva, where the 1989 census revealed that seven out of 10 residents had actually been born in Estonia (Kirch et al. 1993, p. 177). Even so, the collapse of the USSR inevitably created something of an identity void as far as Estonias Russian-speakers were concerned. Despite perceptions of discrimination, recent survey work has confirmed a growing identification with the Estonian state (Kolst2002; Budryte 2005; Ehin 2007) as well as significant support for EU membership. Most Russians, however, have scarcely been able to identify themselves with any notion of Estonian national community, with local place of residence and ethnicity serving as the prime markers of identity (Ehin 2007). Despite having an obvious cultural affinity with Russia and with the transnational Russian community across the territory of the former Soviet Union, a population raised in the different socio-cultural setting of the Baltic has found it hard to conceive of actually living in Russia or to identify politically with the contemporary Russian state. It is with this complex identity that the post-1993 leadership in Narva has had to reckon. The Estonian law on local elections passed in May 1993 stipulated that non-citizens could vote but not stand for office. This excluded much of the local population from seeking election, including a substantial proportion of the Soviet-era leadership. Ahead of the October 1993 poll in Narva, however, the state was able to co-opt elements of the local political elite through a process of accelerated naturalisation on the grounds of special services rendered to the state. The elections of October 1993 saw a strong turnout by local voters, and brought to power a coalition of locally based parties and interest groups. The city governments elected during the period 1993 2005—a period when the national-level Centre Party attained the dominant position within local politics—were far more ready than their predecessors to embrace the new political economy of post-socialism, and thus better placed to cooperate both with central government and with Western partners within the wid er Baltic Sea area. In this regard, the commemoration of the Battle of Narva and the installation of the Swedish Lion can be understood as an attempt to create a narrative of the citys past capable of underpinning growing ties with Sweden in the present. These ties assumed a particular significance after 1995, when Swedish textile firm Boras Wfveri purchased a 75% stake in Narvas historic Kreenholm Mill, then the citys second-largest employer. According to Raivo Murd, the ethnic Estonian who served as Mayor of Narva from 1993 to 1996, the investment was proof that Narva was finally beginning to shed the Red image that had prevailed under the former political dispensation.20 In a clear sign of its determination to break with the Soviet past, the city government appointed in October 1993 removed Estonias last remaining statue of Lenin, which had remained standing in the central Peters Square in Narva during the first two years of Estonian independence. The subsequent period has seen the installation of new monuments commemorating—inter alia—the victims of Stalinist deportations during the 1940s and key moments in the transition to Estonian independence during 1917 20. The Old Narva Society founded by surviving pre-1944 residents of Narva also put up a number of commemorative plaques marking the sites of churches and other key buildings from the pre-war city. Yet the post-1993 political e