The state of sustainable agriculture and agroecology research and impacts: A survey of U.S. scientists

A growing body of research suggests that although sustainable agriculture, particularly agroecology, can address challenges such as those related to climate change, ecosystem services, food insecurity, and farmer livelihoods, the transition to such systems remains limited. To gain insight into the state of U.S. sustainable agriculture and agroecology, we developed a 28-question mixed-method survey that was administered to scientists in these fields. Respondents (N=168) represented diverse locations, institutions, and career stages. They offered varied definitions of sustainable agriculture, with 40% considering economic and social well-being to be core components. Respondents identified the amount and duration of public research funding as important obstacles to conducting research on sus- tainable agriculture (85% and 61%, respectively). Further, most expressed challenges in communi- cating findings beyond academia, including to the media and policymakers, potentially limiting the impacts of such research. However, respondents expressed satisfaction in several areas, including relationships with community members (81%) and local producers (81%), and interest from students (80%) and research communities (73%), suggesting positive momentum in this field. Earlier versus later career scientists rated research on “human dimensions” as more important, expressed greater concerns over career stability, and were less satisfied with opportunities for policy engagement. Results imply that greater public investments, particularly fostering human dimensions, could support a transition to agroecology and its associated benefits

Engaging schools in the science of low-energy buildings

This article explores the relationship between the previous UK government’s initiative to rebuild and renew secondary schools, and the requirement for improved education for sustainable development in the UK. The documented research utilized a number of mechanisms to engage with pupils in Leicester city schools to increase their awareness, knowledge and understanding of the science and engineering associated with the design and operation of low-energy school buildings. Workshops, discussions with energy and sustainable development experts and inspirational visits to existing low-energy buildings were employed to develop an appreciation for the importance of energy efficiency and best design practice. The results demonstrate an increase in pupils’ knowledge and understanding of low-energy school design and additionally a rise in those pupils who are interested in science and would consider it as a career op

The role of skills from worklessness to sustainable employment with progression

This study is shaped by the recognition that while there has been a great deal of policy development around the transition from unemployment and inactivity to employment over the last decade, policy has not been sufficiently informed about how best to nurture sustainable employment for those at risk of labour market exclusion. The review focused on evidence from 2005: it provides a review of data, UK and international literature and, incorporates findings from four international case studies ( Australia, Germany, Denmark and the United States. The report provides an overview of the economic context for low pay and low skilled work and highlights the need for a continuing commitment to promoting opportunities in the labour market as a means of progression and alleviating poverty and encouraging social mobility. The report argues that there is an inextricable link between skills and ‘better jobs’. The authors conclude that a long-term view is required to decide how best to support someone at the point of worklessness: to address employability barriers in the short-term; and prepare the individual to retain, and progress in, employment. The concept of career is explored as a framework for progression: a combination of career guidance, a career / personal development plan and career management skills are identified as tools to raise aspiration and enable individual’s to take action once they are in work to support their own progression. Thinking about the workplace, the report reviews the evidence on the role of job design, line management and progression pathways in facilitating workplace learning as a route to progression

Sustainable Work Over the Life Course: Concept Paper

Ageing of the population is likely to threaten the ability of states to finance welfare states and social protection systems in the future. A viable solution is to increase employment rates and to lengthen working life. To achieve this dual goal requires devising new solutions for working conditions and career paths that help workers to retain their physical and mental health, motivation and productivity over an extended working life. In other words, work must be made sustainable over the life course. Identifying and analysing the factors and actions underpinning sustainable work throughout working life is a research priority for Eurofound in the 2013–2016 programming period. This paper sets out to clarify and illuminate Eurofound’s framework for understanding the rather expansive concept of sustainable work. It can be used as reference point for a range of Eurofound research projects that exami ne different aspects of sustainable work

Engineering - what's that?

Engineering the Future (EtF) aims to develop a sustainable model of activities and interactions among researchers, policy makers and practitioners that develops pupils’ understanding of the nature of engineering, embeds experiences of engineering within the school classroom and curriculum and promotes engineering as a career.One barrier to young people entering engineering is inadequate awareness of the nature ofengineering and its diverse career paths. Many pupils in the participating schools had no awareness of engineering or very limited awareness. 65% had never considered engineering as a career choice.1st year electronic and electrial engineering students at the universities of Strathclyde and Glasgow identified family links as a key factor in encouraging them to study engineering. They also traced interest in engineering to particular school classroom experiences. Discussions with careers guidance staff revealed that careers guidance is almost entirely responsive to pupil requests: only occasionally will pupils who are good at science and mathematics be directed towards engineering.The current situation leaves almost all school pupils uninformed about the nature of engineering.The paper describes how the EtF project seeks to redress the situation by developing classroom engineering experiences, working to embed engineering formally in the curriculum and providing resources for active careers advice

Open Access: Towards Fairer Access to Research

Practical and sustainable ways of increasing access to scholarly materials will require a more thorough transformation of the entire academic landscape, which includes publication, assessment and promotion. This article.emphasises that ultimately, open access advocates are fighting for the right of scholars at all career stages to ensure their work has more prospects of getting read, cited and ‘reused’

From Shop floor to top floor. An exploratory study of sustainable progression in the retial sector: the case of Morrisons

There has been increasing political and media attention given to the issue of social mobility in recent times. The interest has been sparked by research which suggests that social mobility may have stalled or even declined in the UK during the post-war period. Various factors have been identified as inhibiting social mobility including early years experiences in the home and at school, education and health along with area based influences. Employment and labour market experiences are also key factors contributing to social mobility with the importance of ‘getting a job’ and ‘sustainable progression’ increasingly recognised as an important means of improving social mobility. There now appears consensus that occupational mobility and career development is a key factor in overcoming social mobility, and the extent to which organisations develop pathways and support careers is a critical element in pursuing social mobility. This exploratory study has been commissioned by Morrisons to investigate the factors which impact on progression in the workplace and the effect of these on the social mobility of research participants. The study adopts the framework of ‘career development’ as a construct to explore sustainable progression, drawing on the employment and labour market experiences of employees at Morrisons who, having started on the ‘shop floor’ have progressed to senior management levels in the company. The study is based on their ‘life stories’ to identify the key factors associated with a successful career at Morrisons

Equalities in Scotland’s Growth Economic Sectors: Final Report

Aims The purpose of the study was to examine equality issues in Scotland’s growth sectors since baseline research carried out in 2009, focusing on trends in the following protected characteristics: gender; age; disabilities; ethnic minorities; gender reassignment; marital and civil partnership status; maternity and pregnancy; religion and belief; and sexual orientation. Scotland’s growth sectors are identified as: creative industries; energy; financial and business services; food and drink; life sciences; tourism; universities; chemical sciences; construction; engineering; and ICT and digital technologies. Methods The methodology primarily consisted of analysis of a range of datasets, including the Annual Population Survey, (APS) to establish the representation of individuals with protected characteristic in each growth sector; the FAME database, to establish the representation of women, young people and older people among company directors; data from Skills Development Scotland and the Scottish Funding Council on the supply of labour into the growth sectors from the protected characteristics, in terms of Modern Apprenticeship starts, college enrolments and university entrants; and key research published since 2010 on the representation of protected characteristics in the growth sectors and, where available, the factors that are driving this. Information was also collated from a small number of organisations that work with individuals with protected characteristics in order to supplement the desk-based research where there was no or limited data or literature available. Findings The report suggests that no overarching trends can be identified. The representation of individuals with some protected characteristics in the workforce is increasing, but it is declining for others. It also indicates mixed findings on a sector-by-sector basis, with sectors often making progress on the representation of some equalities groups within their workforce whilst experiencing a decline in others. The recession is highlighted as a key factor as, due to the issues faced by many protected characteristics in relation to the labour market, groups such as young people, disabled people and ethnic minorities have experienced disproportionate decreases in employment and increases in unemployment. The creative industries was found to be the sector that is most open to individuals with protected characteristics, while, with the exception of older workers, all groups were found to be underrepresented in the energy sector. Recommendations The report notes that, as the representation of individuals from equalities groups varies across growth sectors, there is a need to customise responses by sector. It is also suggested that in order that individuals from protected characteristics are able to access the good quality employment opportunities that the growth sectors offer, efforts must be made to tackle underrepresentation where it exists and that a key element of this must be to ensure better representation of individuals with protected characteristics on Modern Apprenticeships, and on college or university courses, that lead to careers in these sectors. The report argues that increasing the representation of protected characteristics within the sector is not sufficient, however, and efforts must also be deployed to tackling pay gaps, occupational segregation and the lack of progression into management and leadership roles