Making and Unmaking the Cold War in Museums

To introduce “Cold War Museology” and a volume of new essays in this chapter, we develop what we propose to be core themes of the subject. Our aim is to establish the Cold War as a key topic in museum studies, both in its own right, but also in terms of how it speaks to more general themes of contemporary museology. In doing so, we seek to learn from Cold War critical heritage research, bringing some of its analytical rigour to bear on museum work. Focusing primarily on curatorial practices and display analysis, we highlight three key themes for further discussion: the way in which objects reflect broader networks; the relationship between spaces, places and things (and specifically the ways in which objects create meanings when they are removed from their original locations); and the values that attach to collections. We also highlight absences in our discussions, including the question of how to address the global nature of the Cold War in the context of debates about decolonising collections as well as questions of gender and race when they appear to be absent from collections relating to the Cold War. This volume calls for a museology that reflects the ways in which the Cold War was both made and unmade, the spaces and places where this happens and what this means for museum collections, interpretation and engagement

Interactions between nutritional programming, genotype, and gut microbiota in Atlantic salmon: Long-term effects on gut microbiota, fish growth and feed efficiency

Nutritional programming (NP) is a tool for developing adaptive changes that can be expressed in adulthood by exposing individuals to a stimulus early in life. This study investigated the interactions between nutritional programming (NP), genotype and gut microbiota in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) across the life cycle, to potentially improve feed efficiency and fish health. Approximately 5100 eggs from six families characterised by high (HP) or low pigment retention (LP) were incubated and divided into four groups (HPM, HPV, LPM, LPV) that received a stimulus diet based on marine (M) (61 % fishmeal and 8 % fish oil) or vegetable (V) (5 % fishmeal, plant proteins and rapeseed oil) ingredients. This stimulus phase lasted three weeks, followed by a 49-week freshwater intermediate phase with fish fed a commercial feed subsequent to seawater transfer. In seawater, the fish were initially fed a commercial feed for 13 weeks and then switched to a plant-based “challenge” diet with approximately 3 % EPA + DHA until the end of the experiment, at 101 weeks, at which point fish were 4 kg. During the study, survival rates, SGR, and FCR were monitored. Samples for microbiota analysis were collected at T0 (after the stimulus), T1 (before the challenge), T2 (challenge, after the feed change), and T3 (end of the feeding trial). Gut and feed microbiota were analysed by bacterial DNA extraction, Illumina NGS library preparation and raw sequencing data analysis using QIIME 2 and PICRUSt software. Gut microbiota composition changed with fish age, independent of NP and pigmentation genotype, emphasising the importance of developmental stage. Early diet influenced beta diversity and increased the number of specific bacteria, but these changes decreased with time. NP influenced the gut microbiota during the stimulus phase but not during the challenge phase, showing that the current diet has a greater influence than the earlier diet. Some microbial genera were associated with different genotypes and diets, suggesting interactions between genotype and stimulus diet. Differences in the metabolic potential of the gut microbiota due to the stimulus diet were observed but were not associated with differences in growth and feed utilisation. The study concludes that early nutritional programming with a plant-based diet has a transient effect on growth and gut microbiota, with long-term growth performance being more strongly influenced by pigmentation genotype. Further studies on the interactions between genotype, diet and microbiota are required

The Pain of Thinking at Light Speed: Posthuman Play as Response to “I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream"

Searching for solutions to the coming extinction brought on by the anthropocene, some turn their attention to increasingly powerful computation. Billionaires, transhumanists but also James Lovelock write of technological salvation as a solution to climate destruction. In contrast to this, apocalyptic science fiction warns against placing too much faith in supercomputers. Harlan Ellison’s short story “I have no Mouth and I Must Scream” serves as a starting point for discussing digital technologies in and after the Anthropocene. I suggest – with reference to both Ellison’s short story and the videogame inspired by it – that supercomputation is unlikely to be a viable solution to humanity’s extinction. Thinking as a supercomputer, looking for answers at light speed, the solution would emerge, as in Ellison’s work, that humanity is already doomed. Instead, embracing a rejection of standard of duration and experience, I champion an emphasis on the possibility, necessity, and unique power of play and making ‘odd kin’ in the face of a computationally unavoidable Armageddon

"Addressing the Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) burden and protecting the young through comprehensive Alcohol Policies: Lessons from recent studies in Africa".

The age-standardized alcohol-attributable burden of disease and injury is highest in the WHO African Region, at 70.6 deaths and 3 044 DALYs per 100 000 people, placing an enormous strain on already challenged health systems. Drinkers in Africa consume 21% more alcohol per day than the global average. Small disposable plastic sachets- pouches which contain single use quantities of alcohol which often contain 40% spirits- have led to significant abuse amongst the most vulnerable and poorest communities in Malawi and Uganda. Concerns about harmful consumption and the public health and societal impact led to national bans on sachets of alcohol in Malawi (2016) and Uganda (2019), but those may not have had the impact anticipated. We will conduct interviews with key policy stakeholders and with district and local stakeholders in enforcement and trade in Malawi and Uganda to understand the adoption and formulation of the bans, what mechanisms for implementation were proposed and put in place, how the bans were enforced in practice, and any unintended consequences that have resulted. We will conduct focus group discussions with community members, health staff from local health centres and with traditional/ church leaders and school headteachers to explore the perceived impact of the ban and any unintended consequences from a local community perspective. Our multidisciplinary international team will conduct a robust analysis based the Health Policy Analysis framework to highlight contextual factors important for the transferability of findings to other Sub-Saharan countries in order to inform alcohol policy development and implementation across the region. We will publish results in peer reviewed journals and share them at stakeholder events in each country to discuss how the results may be used to further regulation of the supply of alcohol and reduction of related harms. Our researchers in LMICs will benefit from a strong capacity-building and research skills programme

Understanding Curriculum Making by teachers: implications for policy as text and as practice

Recent debates in curriculum studies have focused on the role of teachers as active curriculum makers. In this chapter, we argue for a more systemic approach to curriculum making as social practice. Our particular focus is on micro and nano curriculum making by teachers, that is curriculum making in schools and classrooms respectively, as curricular programmes are developed and enacted into practice. In making sense of these complex practices, we draw upon a theoretical typology for understanding and analysing curriculum making across different sites within education systems, and an ecological understanding of teacher agency. We apply these theoretical insights to the analysis of various influences on micro/nano curriculum, emerging from a range of recent empirical studies in five European education systems. In undertaking this analysis, we challenge prevalent notions of curriculum making as a linear process of delivery or implementation, instead seeking to understand it as interpretation and enactment across sites by multiple social actors, and tracing the multiple and dynamic connection

Towards an understanding of care poverty

This chapter draws together the key lessons on care poverty from the theoretical, methodological and empirical contributions in the volume. It concludes that the theoretical idea of care poverty – distinct from unmet need – is a useful development in trying to make sense of the work of care, both from a structural and socioeconomic perspective, and from an individual relational and socio-emotional perspective. Care poverty is both a political and theoretical lens that can add nuance and a deeper understanding to the complexities of care in welfare states. The chapters of the book advance the measurement and understanding of care poverty forward, and the empirical findings show how the problem manifests itself in different population groups and in different cultural and societal contexts. In terms of policy lessons, the book shows that access to and navigation of complex care and support systems needs to be made easier. Existing support also needs to be better matched to existing needs, particularly where these needs are variable and change over time

The many faces of Wilton Park

This chapter explores the idea for and role of Wilton Park in the fabric of British foreign policy from its origins in the context of British post-war planning to the present day. It traces Wilton Park’s story from its early days as a prisoner of war (PoW) camp to an institution for the democratisation of post-National Socialist Germany to a networking and conference site for Western countries during the Cold War, and from there to an international policy forum part funded by the British government as an executive agency of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO). In so doing, this chapter focuses on the ways in which Wilton Park managed to adapt to a changing domestic and international environment by redefining its purpose, while retaining some of the original ideas and methods that drove its foundation

Mobilising Care for Cultural Heritage in Russia’s War Against Ukraine.

This report provides an overview of key transnational networks, trends and challenges in the provision of care for cultural heritage in Ukraine between the 2022 Russian full-scale invasion and February 2025. Approaches to heritage protection in war have developed considerably over the last 20 years, as have the range of actors involved, extending beyond state administration and public bodies to diverse INGOs and NGOs. However, the complex networks and political economies involved in this crowded landscape are not well understood. It is increasingly recognised that cultural emergency responses intersect with humanitarian ones, but how this happens in practice is rarely explored. Without this understanding, calls for greater coordination and coherence, as well integration of heritage interventions with humanitarian ones, will be difficult to implement. Our research therefore aims to advance knowledge of how care for cultural heritage in war is mobilised through aid and capacity-building, alongside legal and regulatory frameworks, including civilian support and emergency responses. Based on extensive qualitative social research across Europe, the report identifies the actors, resources and reasoning involved, as well as the financial, political and practical contexts of their operation. We unpick the networks, supply chains and organisational alliances entailed, both inside Ukraine and among Ukraine’s allies, showing what actions are taken, by whom, and with what consequences. We also identify factors that facilitate or hinder how care is delivered in practice, particularly constraints that local professionals might face in their effort to shape the agenda of international support. Our results provide new knowledge about cooperation and collaboration in various phases of the war, and show how cultural heritage emergency response, humanitarian aid, and support for social cohesion and resilience, intersect in practice. Analysing care for cultural heritage in this broader, cross-cutting framework transforms understanding of both the social role of cultural heritage in wartime, and the true extent of the networks and resources involved. The Ukrainian example also powerfully illustrates the relevance of ongoing heritage and memory work in the pre-recovery phase with important wider implications for policy and practice. The overarching objective is to produce more effective and better coordinated support for projects and activities involved in caring for Ukraine’s heritage, and the professionals, activists and lay communities involved in them

Different coasts for different folks: Place-based community values and experience mediate social acceptability of low-trophic aquaculture

The expansion of low-trophic aquaculture (shellfish and sea plants) is limited in many regions by a fragmented regulatory process that is difficult for smallholder farmers to navigate. Small-scale Aquaculture Development Areas (ADAs) can remove some of this regulatory burden by establishing pre-approved zones for aquaculture development; however, an understanding of local support for low-trophic aquaculture is needed to understand the potential of ADAs. A survey was used to solicit information about community support for shellfish and sea plant aquaculture in Pictou County, a coastal area of Nova Scotia, Canada. Participants had a positive impression of low-trophic aquaculture, but residents in one coastal area reported greater perceived negative impacts on the recreational use and enjoyment of coastal areas and views, while residents in another coastal area reported a higher level of support for shellfish aquaculture. In general, participants also valued community involvement in aquaculture management, local ownership of farms, and community benefits from the presence of farms. Results suggest that top-down communication is unlikely to play a significant role in acceptability. Instead, experience of low trophic aquaculture and place-based values are important for understanding social acceptability. Community involvement in the development of ADAs and the distribution of benefits from farming could support trust in ADAs and social licence for low-trophic aquaculture