Birds and people in towns and cities : an exploration of human-bird relations in urban areas

Urban nature conservation and sustainability discourses regularly state a desire to bring more ‘nature’ and wildlife into towns and cities - for the perceived good of both people and wildlife. Yet many wildlife species that already live in urban areas are often seen as undesirable by people, and are caught up in the parallel discourses and practices of pest control. This partial disparity between the types of wildlife successfully inhabiting urban areas and the types that, put simplistically, different people want or don’t want in urban areas is further complicated by the heterogeneity of humans, nonhumans, ideas, practices and space-times that co-constitute the character of, and the uneven geographies of, different human-wildlife relations in urban areas. This heterogeneity, and these uneven relations, creates practical and ethical issues, not only for those directly involved in policy and management, but also for the constitution and potential implementation of a diverse body of social science theory that is concerned with developing an expanded political collective and fostering better relations between humans and nonhumans.In light of these issues, this thesis has examined and compared the specific constitution of particular, different, and uneven human-wildlife relations in urban areas in the cases of different bird species, with a particular focus on the built environment. It has subsequently considered the problems and opportunities that arise in seeking better relations. Using an approach derived from relational thinking, the contingent knowledges/ideas, practices, and human and nonhuman agencies involved in these relations have been assessed, revealing how diverse human-bird relations, and certain urban-space times, are produced. In spite of the problems that the heterogeneity and complexity of these relations presents for living with wildlife in urban areas, this thesis concludes that creatively experimenting with the form and practice of diverse urban landscapes offers opportunities for better relations

Birds and people in towns and cities : an exploration of human-bird relations in urban areas

Urban nature conservation and sustainability discourses regularly state a desire to bring more ‘nature’ and wildlife into towns and cities - for the perceived good of both people and wildlife. Yet many wildlife species that already live in urban areas are often seen as undesirable by people, and are caught up in the parallel discourses and practices of pest control. This partial disparity between the types of wildlife successfully inhabiting urban areas and the types that, put simplistically, different people want or don’t want in urban areas is further complicated by the heterogeneity of humans, nonhumans, ideas, practices and space-times that co-constitute the character of, and the uneven geographies of, different human-wildlife relations in urban areas. This heterogeneity, and these uneven relations, creates practical and ethical issues, not only for those directly involved in policy and management, but also for the constitution and potential implementation of a diverse body of social science theory that is concerned with developing an expanded political collective and fostering better relations between humans and nonhumans. In light of these issues, this thesis has examined and compared the specific constitution of particular, different, and uneven human-wildlife relations in urban areas in the cases of different bird species, with a particular focus on the built environment. It has subsequently considered the problems and opportunities that arise in seeking better relations. Using an approach derived from relational thinking, the contingent knowledges/ideas, practices, and human and nonhuman agencies involved in these relations have been assessed, revealing how diverse human-bird relations, and certain urban-space times, are produced. In spite of the problems that the heterogeneity and complexity of these relations presents for living with wildlife in urban areas, this thesis concludes that creatively experimenting with the form and practice of diverse urban landscapes offers opportunities for better relations

Viral Information. How States and Platforms Deal with Covid-19-Related Disinformation: an Exploratory Study of 20 Countries. Report on Belgium.

In January 2021, a great “deplatforming” took place: Numerous internet platforms suspended the accounts of Donald Trump and his supporters. Private power over public speech is often contested, but the conflicts are magnified when this power is asserted over parties, political candidates and office holders that function as focal points for public debates. While most platforms’ terms of use and enforcement systems are global, opinions relating to any preferential treatment of speech by well-known political figures and office holders vary across national political and legal contexts. This study examines the interplay between these national conceptions and global private ordering systems by synthesizing answers to nine questions submitted by more than 30 researchers from 15 countries within the GDHR Network. It provides a first overview of how societies and governments conceive of and react to private power over political actors

From the Ground Up: Designerly Knowledge in Human-Drone Interaction

There are flying robots out there — you may have seen and heard them, droning over your head. Drones have expanded our human capacities, lifting our sight to the skies, but not without generating intricate experiences. How are these machines being designed and researched? What design methods, approaches, and philosophies are relevant to the study of the development (or decline) of drones in society? In this thesis, I argue that we must re-frame how drones are studied, from the ground up, through a design stance. I invite you to take a journey with me, with changing lenses from the work of others to my own intimate relationship with this technology. My work relies on exploring the fringes of design research: understudied groups such as children, alternative design approaches such as soma design, and peripheral methods such as autoethnography.This thesis includes four articles discussing perspectives on designerly knowledge, composing a frame surrounding the notion that we may be missing out on some of the aspects of the wicked nature of human-drone interaction (HDI) design. The methods are poised on phenomenology and narratives, and supported by the assumption that any subject of study is a sociotechnical assemblage. Starting through a first-person perspective, I offer a contribution to the gap in research through a longitudinal autoethnographic study conducted with my children. The second paper comes in the form of a pictorial expressing a first-person experience during a design research workshop, and what that meant for my relationship with drones as a research material. The third paper leaps into a Research through Design project, challenging the solutionist drone and offering instead the first steps in a concept-driven design of the unlikely pairing of drones and breathing. The fourth paper returns to the pictorial form, suggesting a method for visual conversations between researchers through the tangible qualities of sketches and illustrations. Central to this thesis, is the argument for designerly approaches in HDI and championing the need for alternative forms of publication and research. To that end, I include two publications in the form of pictorials: a publication format relying on visual knowledge and with growing interest in the HCI community