2012’s Most-Read unu.edu Articles

2012•12•28

William Auckerman

The year’s end is traditionally a time for looking back, taking stock — and publishing “top-ten” lists. In that spirit, we’d like to close out 2012 by highlighting the year’s 10 most-read articles.

In 2012, we published 79 articles on unu.edu. These, along with the 63 articles published in 2011, were viewed approximately 110,000 times during the past twelve months. Number 1 on the list below was viewed more than 4,600 times in 2012.

We’re especially happy to note that six of the ten articles on our 2012 most-read list were published back in 2011. That they have continued to prove of high interest to our audience is evidence of their enduring value and relevance.

If you missed (or would like to re-read) some of these popular articles, just click on the links below.

1. Entrepreneurs and Economic Development asks: “Are entrepreneurial societies also happier?” The answer, the author suggests, is that yes, an increase in entrepreneurship correlates with an increase in national-level happiness — but only up to a certain point. After that, increasing entrepreneurship is actually associated with a declining level of happiness. (2011/03/23)
2. Natural Disasters and Human Security focuses on how we can best understand, and respond to, the threats that natural disasters pose to human safety and well-being. The authors advocate a bottom-up, people-centered human security approach that emphasizes the needs, capacities and experiences of those individuals “on the ground”.  (2011/04/29)
3. Preventing and Controlling Infectious Diseases After Natural Disasters reviews risk factors and potential infectious diseases arising from major natural disasters, classifies possible diseases, and presents recommendations on prevention and control measures and improved primary healthcare delivery. (2012/03/13)
4. Assessing NATO’s Involvement in Libya, published shortly after the death of Muammar Qaddafi, considered the history of NATO’s then on-going operations in Libya in the context of the UN Charter. It further analyses the future policy-related implications for the UN, concerned regional organizations and the evolving structure of global collective security. (2011/10/27)
5. Japan’s Urban Agriculture: Cultivating Sustainability and Well-being explores the roles of urban agriculture (which accounts for almost one-third of Japan’s agricultural output), the challenges faced by urban farming, and opportunities for using urban agriculture to strengthen sustainable production–consumption networks and local welfare. (2011/09/20)
6. What Does “Good Governance” Mean?  discusses the commonly used but vaguely defined term “good governance”, and explains why the lack of conceptual clarity is problematic for the practical outcomes that development institutions are trying to achieve. (2012/02/09)
7. Redefining Poverty in China and India looks at how the definition of the poverty line in China and India has been changing, and ponders the key poverty-reduction challenges facing these two Asian giants. (2012/04/10)
8. Foreign Aid and Democracy in Africa focuses on a UNU-led project that explores the channels through which foreign aid has influenced democratic transitions and consolidation in Africa, as well as the domestic factors that can facilitate or undermine aid’s impact. (2011/11/03)
9. Why Traditional Knowledge Holds the Key to Climate Change considers how collaborative arrangements among scientists and indigenous knowledge holders can generate new knowledge about climate change that could not be created through the efforts of either group alone. (2011/12/13)
10. Are Transgenic Crops Safe? GM Agriculture in Africa examines some of the contentious issues surrounding the adoption of genetically modified crops. The author argues that transgenic crops could help to solve Africa’s chronic food, agriculture and human security challenges. (2012/01/19)

Thank you to everyone who has visited this website in 2012 and taken the time to read some of our articles — especially those of you who have commented, shared or provided other useful feedback.

If there are particular topics, or UNU research projects or academic activities, that you would like to read about in 2013, we’d like to hear from you. Leave a comment below, or click on the “CONTACT US” link at the bottom of the page.

We hope you’ll visit unu.edu often in 2013.