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UN General Secretary

The questioning of candidates for the position of UN general secretary in 2026-7 has revealed  a fundamental difference in the understanding of the role to be played by any General Secretary. Do you want a SG to be more of a General or more like a Secretary? In other words, do you abide by the idea to have a person in leadership position to rely and lead in a strictly hierarchical manner or do you choose a person that understands leadership as a service to the constituent bodies or membership organizations. There seems to be a predilection for the former rather than the latter leadership profile. However, 21st century has a chance to break with the erroneous paths, choices and missed opportunities. … “when will we ever learn”.

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Gone birding

Birding is fascinating science and hobby. The recent advances in bird song recognition allow to compare the sometimes complex melodies across species. The support by many citizen scientists who collect data on sound, images and environment, made it possible to identify 8 major types of sound snippets. These constitute the basis from which to study or imitate the major bird songs, if you like. The scientific paper by Bacquele et al. (2026) shows that in dense forests the songs are more complex, whereas in open space simple tunes allow to travel far across space. Mating potentials seem to play an interesting role as well. But birding does not stop there. The Brancusi exhibits in the „Neue Nationalgalerie“ in Berlin deal also with the fascination about birds by the artist (image below). We also find depictions of the „bird-man“ in mythology more than 3000 years before our time and ever since. Flying probably brings together our science and dreams about birds and mankind. Science fiction is full of examples of that kind.

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Fuel fertilizer food

The state of world affairs can be summarized in relation to these 3 factors. Fuel, fertilizer and food are the subjects of the hotly debated or even contested resources. From a United Nations perspective the progress in human and economic development hinges on these 3 key issues. The logical order of the Fuel, fertilizer food triad starts with the costs of fuels or energy more generally and leads to the production and distribution of fertilizer across energythe world. This chain of supply determines the quantity of food available to feed the world. Russia‘s war on Ukraine territory has made this logical sequence obvious again. Millions of people were suffering due to the fuel, fertilizer and food shortages due to excessive price hikes. If we add speculatove rent seeking to this we have a scenario where the global South is suffering due to political contests and wars in the North including the Middle East. The current governance structure of the United Nations is largely unable to address this triad adequately. Fair processes of decision-making, control and implementation are crucial in this respect to ensure that all regions independent of economic spending power at sufficiently represented at the international negotiations about fundamental resources. Minimum levels of provision are necessary, even if not sufficient, conditions for our humanitarian responsibilities.  

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Agentic attacker

Since 2026-7 we have to face a proven and realistic scenario of a cyber threat called the “agentic attacker”. Based on OpenAI’s LLM the sandboxed cyber attack managed to escape its fences and ran a real cyber attack on a competitor’s AI model with some success. Apparently the defense had to also use AI to protect and speed up something like password renewals and other credentials on 17.000 parallel occurrences simultaneously. The huggingface.co platform became vulnerable and the amount of data compromised could have been quite significant. This included, potentially, data inputs for AI-models and perhaps even other AI-agents as well that might be turned into additional attackers. It might take us humans a while to come to grips with new danger. The agile agentic attacker (AAA-rating) will cause us some sleepless nights.

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Inclusive design

In aging societies inclusive design is not an option but a must have. This is neither a short term fix nor a renovation without costs. Adapting a home to a wheelchair use is an expert job as you have to think about issues you have not experienced yourself before in most cases. Door thresholds and openings, better have sliding doors as much as possible, have to be considered early. Bathroom adaptation in size and height, toilet space and lighting switches all should be planned ahead. There exists a DIN Norm 18040 which specifies measures precisely. In the age of AI-vibe coding some home appliances could be programmed to follow a person’s voice commands as well. For the time being in 2026-7 this is a nice to have option. but early installations of “intelligent digital devices” beyond a washing machine or microwave can get you quite far in the near future. Inclusive design could open doors and switch on lights simply by talking to your smartphone.

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Waste reduction

The challenge has been to reduce waste and emissions for decades without really reaching more advanced targets. In Berlin the local waste collection and treatment has presented new ideas how to proceed in future. Digital technology allows to identify the kind of waste (containing metals) and can separate waste accordingly. The digital waste container is, however, still a bit expensive and would have to undergo additional AI training in my opinion. The nice waste container transformed into a backyard bench might encourage people to think about an alternative use of the space reserved for waste containers and waste reduction, recycling and reuse in general. Taking a break is no wasted time.

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Sedentary society

The football or soccer world cup, like other sports, used to be an event which mobilized people to become active as well. Many people, particularly the young, joined football teams and clubs or practiced in backyards. The sedentary society has managed to transform this in the 2020s into a seated activity (football soccer seated 2026). In order to capture attention and time spent in a shopping center, itself a good predictor of money spent, the FIFA world cup serves as a means to promote football at any costs. Sit and kick, that is the new lifestyle. You even have your hands free to do something else. Eat and drink, probably. Great, that the football-mania is over in 2026 for a while. Time to get real exercise.

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Dancing alone

In 2026 it is possible to step into the old telephone box, but to use it as discotheque with music. You can choose your favorite song and dance to it inside the box and photos are taken from yourself to take home. Whereas sociologists have long argued that individualism can go to far in modern societies, the solo disco-box is a telling example of how monetizing of music, dancing and enjoying music can reach levels where people no longer realize how far we have gone beyond „bowling alone“. We do social activities alone and then share the images of the pseudo social activity. Room for social or socializing activities does not come for free, but creating meeting spaces even in crowded cities is worthwhile. Dancing in public rather than a box might be enjoyable for others too.

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Water pleasures

Maybe some of us associate water pleasures with the splendid fountains in the castle of Versailles (France). Our daily concerns, however, are much more about making cities more resilient and able to cope with water scarcity. According to a study by Krueger et al. (2025) the user perspective and behavioral challenges that go along with saving water by end users has been neglected for years. Water management in cities is part of the infrastructure package that has to be managed efficiently. Aging water distribution infrastructure is just as much a problem on the supply side of water as consumption has its (increasing) price on the users side. Rainwater capture, re-use and recycling are promising alternatives to simply providing more water. Pollution is, of course, another hazard that needs our attention. In the meantime we may think of water pleasures for all including the animal world.

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Brussels relaxes

Especially during the weekends and the summer activities some roads can be blocked for other uses. The obese societies of the 21 century need to make room for more exercise wherever possible. Brussels has done so for more than 5 years already. The “Bois de la Cambre” offers an amazing space to all those seeking respite from the busy and warm urban surroundings (Image below). Children and families exercise all sorts of activities and sports. The closed roads are perfect for cycling and jogging as well as the learning of both. Levels of air pollution drop and the running sport is no health hazard as in inner cities. Each and everybody advances at her/his own rhythm (Video Weekend jogging in Bois de la Cambre on Road 2026) or just watches others passing by. Ways to relax in cities are manifold, in a matter of choice and commitment. Commit to relax and detox, at least on weekends. This can be quite a behavioral change with serious health benefits.

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Berlin moves it

Yes, we like to move it. Investment in infrastructure follows a long-term economic rationale. In urban areas space is a scarce and, therefore, an expensive resource. In order to use the current space for mobility more efficiently, the use of a longer tram or train is an effective way to increase capacities. Rather than to increase the frequency, which is no longer possible without safety risks, a longer vehicle allows to bring more, and more diverse, passengers on board (kinderwagen and wheelchairs included).
It is a long-term objective to make urban areas liveable for all ages. Tramways which allow a low or, better, no barrier to entry is a necessary condition in this respect. The new “Urbanliner” in Berlin (image below) offers such essentials of access and urban mobility. A single tram is 50m long with 88 seats and 215 standing persons in larger corridors. 300 tram passengers can be compared to about 12 average length cars with at best 15-20 passengers.
A consensus of “how best to move it” in cities pays off in the long-term. Planning has to start about a decade before delivery and needs to survive political cycles going back and forth.

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Berlin Futures

The city of Berlin is projecting itself into the future. Two long-term goals, Olympic Games 2036 or an Expo organization 2035, are potentially looming and all actors have to project themselves as to what role they want to play in such processes. Trades and industries have an essential role to play to realize any vision of the future, at the same time, local trades and industries ask for amenable conditions to do business in the necessarily restricted city space.
There is competition between housing projects and business parks across each metropolitan area as any form of growth needs space to grow in. The “1. Berlin Future Day of business parks” highlighted this potential source of conflict and business leaders exchanged their experiences and strategies how to arrive at manageable comprises.
There are several Win-Win constellations in which for example an additional stop on a metropolitan “S-Bahn” line benefits the business area and all those (future) employees going to and back from work. Infrastructure like transport, mobility, energy, internet speed and security, all play key roles in such visions of future. If networks of organizations address policy makers with well-defined requirements, politicians can act as facilitators to ease sometimes lengthy bureaucratic impediments. The call for public infrastructure investments by private business initiatives is a reminder of the need for public-private partnerships to create promising Berlin Futures. (Image: 1. Future Day of Business areas in Berlin, Senator Franziska Giffey 2026-7-15)

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Learning locations

We tend to associate schools as the primary learning locations. However, there is a multitude of additional locations that offer excellent learning locations like museums, libraries, churches, enterprises or various associations. Some of these learning locations have better equipped learning facilities and environments than many schools. It is about time to reckon with this and advocate stronger links between the often disconnected worlds of learning. Teacher training focuses on schools, curricula and teaching methods, but the systematic combination of all these „external“ learning locations with the full-time schooling world could stimulate so much more learning. Maybe, even the social selectivity of education could be reduced through the motivation and different entry points into learning by a diversity of learning locations. Lifewide and lifelong learning are likely to be motivated at an early age. (Image: Stabi West-Berlin 2026-7)

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Learning and authenticity

For historical, philosophical, social and many other domains, learning in authentic locations moves learners particularly. This can consist in reinforcement learning of an otherwise abstract event or process. The neuroscience of learning has demonstrated that both parts the rational mind and the emotional relatedness contribute to learning success. Memorials are such places where persons get involved with all their brain and senses. Robert Sigel (2015 pp.50-53) described the wealth of pedagogic approaches that has entered memorials. They range from flyers, guided tours to geo-caching, digital apps and continuous involvement in social media related to on-site visits. Memorials are no social-pedagogic institutions either. They cannot guard or even correct more or less likely antisocial social behavior of visitors. Additionally, they have to strike a balance between 360 degrees, engaged learning and decent commemoration. Authentic objects and information, like biographical accounts, original voices, videos or handwriting reinforce the lasting memory in and of  a memorable location ( Koessler, 2025 p. 79). School curricula make far too little use of this well implemented combination of learning and authenticity so far. Great potentials are ahead of us building on the specificity of each memorial. (Image: topography of terror, webpage access on site 2026).

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Learning moral sentiments

In school curricula and evaluations of pupils learning progress there has been little attention to pupils’ learning moral sentiments. Religion and comparisons of religious practices have entered educational programs, but even the big PISA studies have largely refrained from evaluations of learning achievements in ethical matters or moral sentiments. Adam Smith as proponent of the Scottish enlightenment had written about “The theory of moral sentiments” before embedding his market economy into the enlightened society. In the 2020s we realize that we have neglected this part of learning for far too long. This is the point where memorials can play a primordial role as a central part of learning not only about history, but moral sentiments in the broadest sense. Memorials “Gedenkstätten” operate as quasi-schools” in this respect for young and experienced learners at the same time considered that more than 50% of learners in memorials pupils, students or from teaching professions. However, outcomes of  learning in memorials could also be assessed in order to check what kind of learning goals and moral sentiments can be addressed in such historically charged learning environments. Such learning locations of moral sentiments have to balance the intended learning with the necessary decency of the commemoration in such learning environments. (Image: Topography of terror Berlin exhibitions) 

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Water in Parks

In 2026-7 and a 3rd hear wave approaching, the real luxury consists in water in inner cities. As a source of refreshment and cooling when temperatures rise, water provides a natural source to cool down nearby people, buildings as well as any trees. The wisdom of a hundred years ago appears again as a major solution as global warming progresses. Evaporation of water is cooling. Some simple facts deserve to be repeated over and over again as urban planning seems to have forgotten such simple physics. We have think about a lot of green and blue spots again in our cities to achieve the much needed cooling effects. (Image: Viktoria-Luise Platz, Berlin 2026-7)

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Realist Democracy

2000 years after the “invention” of and first attempts to develop a theory of democracy, we have come round to seriously think about “a realist theory of democracy” (Achen & Bartels, 2016). The ideals formulated in constitutions deviate sometimes substantially from the practice. Therefore, we have courts, (ideally) independent judiciaries, journalists and scientists. All these well-established safe-guards to ensure well-functioning democratic structures continue to be challenged. In each democratic country we can cite “derailing” of political leaders that try to bypass democratic institutions. The latest example in 2026 is the Mayor of Berlin Kai Wegner. He deceived, some claim he lied, repeatedly before his own party base refuted him as their representative when lies were uncovered. There have been several other politicians who have covered up his misinformation of the public about his handling of an urgency, which affected 100.000 people sitting without electricity during winter days. It took 6 months to uncover the truth about the handling of the crisis. However, eventually the truth and the lying to the media and the public became uncovered. The merit of this occurrence in Berlin is the hope that democratic ideals can be upheld even in rather hierarchic organizations and so-called head-fast leadership.

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Repetition and Variations

Learning and, surprisingly, innovation or creativity build upon repetition as a method. You may just recall the content or repeat an exercise and this is an obvious form of learning by simple repetition. A bit  more challenging is active recall, which would take into consideration to ask (yourself) questions about the subject at hand. The time component is another form for effective or “spaced” repetition as time intervals and timing over a learning period are powerful mechanisms of learning strategies as well. Even visualizations of content in form of a mind map is a creative form of repetition. The basic content remains the same. You may also just use repetition in a form that you (imagine) teaching the same content to another person, which is also known as the Feynman method. Learning can consist in variations of repetitions. This works in many disciplines and the repertoire of repetitions is a part of any pedagogical toolbox and exercises. (Image: Extract from Horst Bartnig, Composition in ten colours 000-999, 1981, Neue Nationalgalerie Berlin) 

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All the lonely people

This line of a song by “The Beatles” dates back to 1966. “Ah, look at all the lonely people” is a kind of puzzled outcry to reckon with the loneliness even in busy and charitable places. 60 years later in 2026 we have whole ministries in some countries to deal with loneliness. It is not a niche problem. Tackling the problem needs to go beyond raising awareness. Loneliness occurs at all stages of the life course: children, adolescents, young adult, migrants, employees, single parents, care giving people, even within couples, seniors and very old persons. It is not restricted to urban or rural areas, but changes from one to another phase in a person’s life course carry the risk to encounter loneliness. It may well be only a temporary phase before new relationships can be established or previous contacts revived. There is a role to reach out to people who might be lonely for all of us. Public policies should be scrutinised on all levels whether they manage to break barriers or raise new ones for persons to feel lonely. In Berlin, the local level in each district is taking measures to facilitate informal meeting points open to all ages and walks of life. The “Wüstenrot foundation” sponsors many initiatives where public policies are short of funds. Projects enhance networks of people and organisations eager to assist “all these lonely people”, wherever they all come from.  (Image: Conference on loneliness at Berlin city hall Schöneberg 2026)

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Soccer business

The FIFA has turned soccer into a juicy business activity. Of course, it has been like this for some decades now. After all professional athletes, coaches, managers and medical teams all around the games have their own high fees. With huge funds involved and millions of supporters the does not lack public support. The national leagues have been topped up with several international competitions which with less clear remuneration structures, but abundant national pride involved. The betting industry is worth billions in soccer alone. This invites all sorts of influences and corruption. As the football judiciary is not independent as a other judicial institutions, interference is apparently more easy with some return-favors between FIFA and host countries. More spectators and more TV-time supercharge profits. In countries that exit early, like Germany, the merchandising products will be forced to sell with substantial discounts. 

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Cool shelters

In many big cities the metro lines and particularly some of the stations can provide cool shelters during hot days. Reducing the speed of traffic reduces the airflow and heat of acceleration and braking. More home office work if employees have adequate cooling at home reduces emissions additionally. The historic Kreuzberg-Metro-Station, nowadays called “Platz der Luftbrücke” is big enough to accommodate many people who are in need of shelter for whatever purpose. Underground you do not even hear much from the busy traffic above. More efforts to brighten up the station could create an urban space which invites to rest in hot days rather than rush around the city. Climate change will ask us to come up with many innovative and unorthodox solutions as part of public health initiatives.

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The next big challenge in medicine and public health seems to be the multiple long-term conditions. Many people do not suffer from just one medical condition, but several ones at the same time. Diabetes is one such condition which frequently comes along in combination with other conditions. The definition of Multiple long-term conditions comprises 2 and more conditions like cardiovascular, metabolic, respiratory or cancer, to name just a few of the more common ones. Our health and care systems are little prepared for adequate treatments as this involves a coordinated intervention and poly-pharmaceutical therapy. Changes in a single condition have repercussions in the condition and treatment. This makes adequate treatment a resourceful process with limited knowledge about the multiple interactions and intervening parameters. Add, for example, depression to any of the above mentioned conditions and the behavioral assumptions of correctly taking prescribed medication becomes a major issue for patients. The challenge for aging societies and societies with more people suffering from early onset of obesity and diabetes increases in the coming decades. There are several teams that address these challenges in research which gives hope to all those suffering already from Multiple long-term conditions.

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War came to us

Ukrainian people had to make the horrific experience that « the war came to us ». Even if the Ukrainians were much better prepared than in 2014 with the illegal annexation of Crimea, the horrors of war to not seem to come to an end soon even in 2026. Putin’s war leading Russia into a miserable war experience has made other European nations face the rationale that war might come to them as well. Alliances are formed and reformed to be better prepared for escalations and more realistic threats as well. Huge budgets are vastes again for military purposes in view of a possible need for defense. CO2 emissions skyrocket at the same time, all due to Putin’s illusion of a greater Russian empire. We keep reading and learning our lessons from the brave Ukrainian defense.

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Willingness to pay

The willingness to pay for a product by consumers can be easy to predict. During the June 2026 heat wave in Europe, earlier and more intense than ever before, many people went to retailers offering cooling systems or fans with a determination to buy. However, the retailers who had stocks available found themselves depleted rapidly. The physical urge to find a solution to cool down a hot apartments has pushed the willingness to pay to new heights for such systems. A kind of market failure occurred as too many (short-sighted) consumers wanted to buy a quick fix for a serious personal health-related issue. The widely observed shortage of supply of air-conditioners and fans raised considerable frustrations on all sides, missed turnover and substantial profits for the retailers and lack of physical cooling in a suddenly “overheated” market.
The increased willingness to pay might be redirected to other “greener” solutions to the heating problem, but they often entail behavioral changes. This bi-directional relationship between willingness to pay and (lack of) readiness for behavioral changes is a fundamental principle of behavioral economics and sociology.

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In Through Out

The easy logic “In Through Out” has multiple applications from nutrition, data processes and process engineering. An obvious experience for everyone is the cooling of an apartment during a meteorological heatwave. The energy loss known during winter times from a blow out of warm air through gaps in windows or doors reverses during summer to become a “blow in” of hot air from the surroundings of an apartment. The throughput, is the relevant measure to watch out for. This means the amount of air exchange during a minute of maximum or minimum airflow. It has a direct effect on temperatures and humidity levels. For cooling purposes, try to maximize the throughput at times when the temperature difference is the largest. Easy exercise, just a bit early in the morning. Mechanical, chemical or electrical devices may assist the amounts of throughput as well. Process engineering is for all of us and at all seasons.

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Cooling-Heating Renovation

The public and scientific debate about the added value of investments in renovation of buildings has been ignited by the recent heat wave in Europe. Some renovations that were primarily concerned to safe energy in winter through better isolation of walls, doors and windows found themselves less well prepared with isolation against heat and sunlight. Hence, it makes sense to consider both topics, cooling and heating of buildings, jointly.
Reversible heat pumps can do this trick, if isolation has been installed or applied during renovation already. Additionally, materials used for isolation of buildings should show 2 measures for isolation: thermal conductivity and thermal resistance (R-value). Comparing both gives a fair idea about isolation quality in periods of heating and cooling needs. Albedo values are interesting as well as heat input during a sunny day is welcome in winter, but not during summer heat waves. The commonly used Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) for a building needs to be checked whether it is sensitive to excessive heat as well. (Image: BNF in Paris 2026)

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Beware Albedo

At times of high radiation from the sun, we suffer from high “albedo” values surrounding us. Albedo is scaled between 0 (black) and 100 (white) and is a measure of the reflection of light. Dark surfaces have a low Albedo, which means they absorb a lot of light and store this energy in form of heating. On the contrary, white surfaces or reflector materials like mirrors absorb very little of light as they reflect the light and, therefore store very little of it as heat.
In housing or urban planning this is an important indicator to take into consideration when planning for summer heat reduction, for example. Inner cities with dense construction, lots of windows, which in most cases absorb rather than reflect sun light, Light absorption and storage during the day will contribute to heat urban environments and inner cities during summer nights. This might be comfortable during winter, but in hot summer days the high reflection value creates additional discomfort.
Greening of cities is a powerful answer as vegetation absorbs the sunlight, but does not store it in form of heat. The glaciers and huge snow fields have shielded us from the earth heating up too fast in the past. Unfortunately, the lack of knowledge about “albedo” has lead us to undervalue these shielding effects. Light absorption by the earth is an additional driver of climate change in form of global warming. (Image: Brussels, Forest, Park Duden Community Gardening 2026-5)

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Climateflation

Central banks have started to deal with the impact of climate change or inflation, short “climateflation”. New and additional inflationary pressures originate in climate change and global warming and they necessitate a closer scrutiny. Heat waves, like 2026-6 in Europe, or earlier ones have created an upward pressure on prices. Loss of agricultural production can be severe due to weather extremes which occur more often and with greater intensity. Such extended hot and dry climates reduce the production of crops and spikes in prices that only reluctantly return to average levels shall cause price inflation (climateflation). These are the short term impacts.
The medium run impacts alter price relations and valuations of in sectors like housing and infrastructure. Badly isolated stocks of housing, schools or hospitals depreciate valuations and the heavy investments needed for isolation of roofs, walls and widows as well as heat pumps to produce cooling shall be in very high demand, which makes price increases more likely across the construction sector. As we expect new devices to be “AI-intelligent”, “mem-flation” will be pushed up as well. These factors can give a push to some economies which are producers of the products in high demand and able to expand production rapidly as well. Just importing higher numbers of air-conditioning systems from other countries shall worsen trade balances.
The major challenge, however, remains our inaction to stop global warming to avoid additional economic and human losses related to climateflation.

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Gone Gliding

The seaside resorts offer additional experiences to people beyond swimming. Gliding on the water or in waves is an affordable exercise for everyone. It  just needs a small board and off you go. Falls are a usual part of the exercise. Beware of them if you have any prior conditions. For the 50+ generations some regular prior falling exercises are a must. Youth has the advantage of sufficient power per kg of body weight to afford repeated falls. Water and sand soften the falls. The gliding experience, however, is a great compensation for the risks taken. Not for everyone, but early experiences in or beyond schools give pupils a head start on how to balance out yourself in specific situations. Spectators and the experience to be under observation might influence your performance for the better or worse. Balance is a rather complex experience combining body and mind coordination for all ages. 

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Rare instruments

The museum of musical instruments in Brussels features many rare instruments. The collection of grand pianos is a bit hidden on the top floor of the splendid Old England building in the concert hall. The lack of explanations allows you to discover the collection yourself if you happen to be early for a concert for example. Varieties of special features for grand pianos, you might not even have dreamed about, are up there. It would just need a few demonstrations of the technical features to reach larger audiences for these marvelous pieces. The combination of grand piano and harpsichord features has not made it into many concert halls, but special appearances could find their audiences. Maintenance, however, is a costly issue, whiich might have to rely on devoted sponsors in the cultural treasures of rare instruments.