2,065 research outputs found

    System upgrade: realising the vision for UK education

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    A report summarising the findings of the TEL programme in the wider context of technology-enhanced learning and offering recommendations for future strategy in the area was launched on 13th June at the House of Lords to a group of policymakers, technologists and practitioners chaired by Lord Knight. The report – a major outcome of the programme – is written by TEL director Professor Richard Noss and a team of experts in various fields of technology-enhanced learning. The report features the programme’s 12 recommendations for using technology-enhanced learning to upgrade UK education

    Culture and disaster risk management - stakeholder attitudes during Stakeholder Assembly in Rome, Italy

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    This report provides a summary of the topics discussed and the results of the CARISMAND Second Stakeholder Assembly conducted in Rome, Italy on 27-28 February 2017. In order to promote cross-sectional knowledge transfer, as in the CARISMAND First Stakeholder Assembly held in Romania in the previous year, the audience consisted of a wide range of practitioners that are typically involved in disaster management, e.g., civil protection, the emergency services, paramedics, nurses, environmental protection, Red Cross, fire-fighters, military, the police, and other non-governmental organisations. Further, these practitioners were from several regions in Italy, e.g., Rome and Lazio, Toscana, Emilia-Romagna, and Valle D’Aosta. The participants, who varied between 40 and 60, were recruited via invitations sent to various Italian organisations and institutions (at the national, regional and local levels), and via direct contacts of the Protezione Civile Comune di Firenze who are one of the Italian partners in the CARISMAND Consortium. The event consisted of a mix of presentations, working groups, and panel discussions for these participating practitioners, in order to combine dissemination with information gathering (for the detailed schedule/programme please see Appendix 1). After an initial general assembly where the CARISMAND project and its main goals were presented, the participants of the Stakeholder Assembly were split into small groups in separate breakout rooms, where over the course of the two days they discussed the following topics: 1) Working Group 1. “Culture & Risk”: Practical Experience of Cultural Aspects Disaster Communication between Practitioners and Citizens; 2) Working Group 2. “Media Culture & Disasters”: The Use of Social Media and Mobile Phone Applications in Disasters; 3) Working Groups 3. “Social Cohesion & Social Corrosion”: Cultures, Communities, and Trust. After each working group session, panel discussions allowed the participants to present the results of their working group to the rest of the audience. After each panel discussion, keynote speakers gave presentations related to the respective working group’s topic. This time schedule was designed to ensure that participants are provided with detailed information about recent developments in disaster management, e.g. related to the use of mobile phone apps and social media, but without influencing their attitudes and perceptions expressed in the working groups. The main focus of the working groups was the relationships between culture and risk/disaster communication, the role of social media and smartphone apps, and trust between citizens and disaster managers and/or authorities. These topics, and the questions discussed within each working group, were chosen: following the findings of the CARISMAND First Stakeholder Assembly held in Bucharest, in particular regarding the disconnection between citizens’ risk perception and cultural factors in disasters; 1) the results of the CARISMAND First and Second Citizen Summits held in Bucharest and Malta respectively, specifically taking up the participants’ suggestions regarding vulnerable groups and groups that are seen to be potentially helpful in disaster situations; 2) the results of Work Package 3 ‘Cultural Factors and Technologies’, in particular regarding the increasing interest in mobile phone apps compared to social media usage; 3) the literature review provided in Work Package 4 ‘Risk Perception and Risk Cultures’, particularly regarding the ambivalent of role of trust in disaster preparedness, response and recovery; 4) the preliminary findings of Work Package 7 ‘Citizens Empowerment’, in respect to community cohesion and specific opportunities for citizen empowerment; and 5) topics highlighted in Work Package 8 ‘Risk Communication and the Role of the Media in Risk Communication’ regarding disaster communication practices (particularly in connection with social media/apps usage as identified in Work Package 3 ‘Cultural Factors and Technologies’). These topics were also chosen in order to provide a sound basis for the next round of CARISMAND events (Third and Fourth CARISMAND Citizen Summits held, later, in Rome and Frankfurt in June 2017), i.e. exploring issues of risk perception and culture in the context of disasters at the very point, where practitioners and citizens interact. The location of the Second Stakeholder Assembly was selected to make use of the extensive local professional network of the Protezione Civile, but also due to Italy being a location where various “types” of hazards are prevalent, and disasters were occurred in the very recent past. All documents related to the Working Groups, i.e. discussion guidelines and consent forms, were translated into Italian. Accordingly, all presentations as well as the group discussions were held in Italian, aiming to avoid any language/education-related access restrictions, and allowing participating practitioners to respond intuitively and discuss freely in their native language. For this purpose, researchers from the Laboratory of Sciences Citizenship in Rome, one of the CARISMAND Consortium members, were used as Working Group moderators, alongside simultaneous interpreters and professional local moderators contracted via a local market research agency (RFR International), who also provided the transcripts and translations into English for all Working Group discussions. It is important to note that the discussions within these working groups reflect the participants’ perceptions and may or may not reflect the realities of how communication actually occurs in disaster situations.The project was co-funded by the European Commission within the Horizon2020 Programme (2014-2020).peer-reviewe

    Little Village Feb. 4-17, 2015

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    https://ir.uiowa.edu/littlevillage/1169/thumbnail.jp

    An interdisciplinary study of the hazards associated with an AD1754 style eruption of Taal Volcano, Philippines

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    Taal Volcano, 60 km south of Metro Manila in Batangas Province, is one of the most active volcanoes in the Philippines. With 33 known eruptions, Taal has caused tremendous impacts on lives, property, economy and environment. The exposure of people and assets around Taal has increased greatly in recent years with around two million people living within a 35 km radius all at risk to volcanic hazards. The risk from Taal poses multiple challenges for local volcano disaster risk reduction (DRR) efforts. This interdisciplinary study combines a synthesis and critical review of historical eruptions of Taal; physical studies (geologic mapping, stratigraphic analyses and grain size measurements of the AD1754 tephra deposit); reconstruction of tephra dispersal for the AD1754 Plinian event using TEPHRA2 inversion modelling; and consideration of the social aspects of volcanic hazard and risk (e.g. socio-economic, political and DRR contexts for Batangas Province, and a pilot study assessing the knowledge, education, awareness and preparedness of Barangay Captains who are responsible for local level volcano disaster preparedness and response). Key outputs of the research include: 1) the first single, comprehensive chronology of identified historical eruptions of Taal; 2) discovery, mapping and sampling of 41 suspected AD1754 tephra outcrops; 3) first detailed field-based verification of two of the four identified phases of this event; 4) determination of likely eruption source parameters for the AD1754 event and new tephra dispersal isopachs through inversion modelling; and 5) preliminary insights into the knowledge, awareness and preparedness of the Barangay Captains, which show that while they do take volcanic risk seriously, they are ill-prepared to effectively support their communities in the case of a major volcanic crisis at Taal. The results and recommendations are aimed at strengthening volcano disaster risk management plans for Batangas Province

    Coexisting with volcanoes : the relationships between La Soufrière and the society of St. Vincent, Lesser Antilles

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    Human population growth has resulted in increased numbers of people living in areas prone to disasters. Exploring the historical and social context of how volcanoes and their eruptions influence society in different socioeconomic and cultural ways over time helps us to understand the present-day challenges faced by those living in an active volcanic environment. La Soufrière volcano, on the island of St. Vincent, has erupted frequently in the recorded history of the Lesser Antilles. The three eruptions investigated (1812, 1902- 1903 and 1979) occur at three distinct stages of societal development: during the slavery era, post-emancipation and on the eve of independence. These distinct stages enable the investigation of how eruptions of La Soufrière highlighted social issues relevant to each time period. A mixed methodologies approach was used to explore how the society of St. Vincent has come to coexist with the low-frequency, high impact events of La Soufrière through time. The impact of the eruptions was mainly dependent on magnitude and longevity. This study shows the differences between VEI 4 and VEI 3 eruptions on the island and the control of topography on PDCs and lahars. It presents the most detailed chronology of the 1812 event to date and reveals previously overlooked aspects of 1902 eruptive activity of inland- direct base surges and a volcanogenic landslide. The mismatch effect is explored in how people experienced and recollected the 1979 eruption. This study finds that the volcanic hazard impacts occurred in the same places for the three eruptions but, damage to the agricultural sector was not homogenous. The differences lay within the socioeconomic structure of the agricultural systems between each eruption and consequent recovery options available. Furthermore, the volcanic hazard impacts, St. Vincent’s smallness, social capital and opportunities influenced whether people returned to their homes, stayed in evacuated locations or migrated off island. The island also shares typical coping adaptive strategies of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) such as migration/resettlement within and off the island and, temporary and permanent abandonment, which evolved from the loss of indigenous knowledge. This study demonstrates the importance of combining physical and social science to understand the complex interactions between volcanoes and people that lead to coexistence

    ChemMatters: Special Issue on NASA's EOS Aura Mission (Oct. 2003)

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    This is the third in a series of four ChemMatters issues devoted to NASA’s Earth Observing System (EOS) Aura mission and it focuses on the chemistry of the mission. ChemMatters is designed and published for teachers to use as a supplement to their first year high school chemistry course, and as a resource for other high school science teachers. Article titles are: Whose Air Is It Anyway (global circulation of the atmosphere), Alien Atmospheres (atmospheres of other planets), Clouds (how clouds form, and cloud research), Life in a Greenhouse (how the greenhouse effect works and how people study it), Chemistry in the Sunlight (about formation of the ozone we breathe), Beefing Up Atmospheric Models (how modeling helps us understand the atmosphere), and Nobel Prize Winner: Sherwood Rowland (interview). The issue also includes a challenge asking students to determine which activities on a list would be possible on a planet with no atmosphere; and an activity, Cloud in a Bottle. A 62-page teacher's guide accompanies the issue and provides additional information on articles, follow-up hands-on activities, classroom demonstrations, and additional resources. Educational levels: High school

    Ancient hyper present

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    My practice, especially this virtual garden, is a collage made of media, images, and virtual space across different eras and time signatures. Graphic design can exist in a gallery, on the screen, inside headsets or in the streets. Like a lucid dream, it can be disorienting as it opens up to a more-than physical ground of experience; within the virtual, within shared memory. This reflective practice arises as a form of “anachronism.” Before I could arrive at my transdisciplinary practice that considers experiences of exile and diaspora, I had to grapple with a singular question: what does it mean to visualize and materialize nostalgia for a distant world? In my effort to answer, I learned to identify as both an architect of memory and an archivist of place, and allow my work to exist in a multiverse of fields, rather than in one space. To communicate the literal and transpersonal, Ancient Hyper Present gathers an array of forms: editorial, kinetic, typographic, spatial, and experiential. I call forth a practice of reflection, to go through the process of seeing the unseeable or the unacknowledged
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