1,811 research outputs found

    Perceptions, Actors, Innovations

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    With Agenda 2030, the UN adopted wide-ranging Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that integrate development and environmental agendas. This book has a unique focus on the political tensions between environmental and socio-economic objectives and advocates for a cooperative shift towards environmentally sound sustainability

    The Fallacy of Systemic Racism in the American Criminal Justice System

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    Critics of the criminal justice system have repeatedly charged it with systemic racism. It is a tenet of the “war” on the “War on Drugs,” it is a justification used by the so-called “progressive prosecutors” to reject the “Broken Windows” theory of law enforcement, and it is an article of faith of the “Defund the Police!” movement. Even President Joe Biden and his chief lieutenants leveled the same allegation early in this administration. Although the President has eschewed the belief that Americans are a racist people, others have not, proclaiming that virtually anyone who is white is a racist. Yet, few people have defined what they mean by that term. This Article examines what it could mean and tests the truth of the systemic racism claim under each possible definition. None stands up to scrutiny. One argument is that the American citizens who run our many institutions are motivated by racial animus. But the evidence is that racial animus is no longer tolerated in society, and what is more, the criminal justice system strives to identify it when it does occur and to remedy it. Another argument says that the overtly racist beliefs and practices of the past have created lingering racist effects, but this argument cherry-picks historical facts (when it does not ignore them altogether) and fails to grapple with the country’s historic and ongoing efforts to eliminate racial discrimination. It also assumes a causal relationship between past discrimination and present disparities that is unsupported and often contradicted by the evidence. Yet another argument relies psychological research to claim that white Americans are animated by a subconscious racial animus. That research, however, has been debunked. Still another argument says that the criminal justice system is systemically racist because it has disparate effects across racial groups, but this argument looks only at the offenders’ side of the criminal justice system and fails to consider the effect of the criminal justice system on victims. Proponents of the systemic racism theory often proffer “solutions” to it. This Article examines those too and finds that many would, in fact, harm the very people they aim to help. In the context of the “War on Drugs,” where so much of the rhetoric is focused, the authors examine these arguments and solutions. The bottom line is this: the claim of systemic racism in the criminal justice system is unjustified

    Development of core competencies for field veterinary epidemiology training programs

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    A workforce with the adequate field epidemiology knowledge, skills and abilities is the foundation of a strong and effective animal health system. Field epidemiology training is conducted in several countries to meet the increased global demand for such a workforce. However, core competencies for field veterinary epidemiology have not been identified and agreed upon globally, leading to the development of different training curricula. Having a set of agreed core competencies can harmonize field veterinary epidemiology training. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) initiated a collective, iterative, and participative process to achieve this and organized two expert consultative workshops in 2018 to develop core competencies for field veterinary epidemiology at the frontline and intermediate levels. Based on these expert discussions, 13 competencies were identified for the frontline and intermediate levels. These competencies were organized into three domains: epidemiological surveillance and studies; field investigation, preparedness and response; and One Health, communication, ethics and professionalism. These competencies can be used to facilitate the development of field epidemiology training curricula for veterinarians, adapted to country training needs, or customized for training other close disciplines. The competencies can also be useful for mentors and employers to monitor and evaluate the progress of their mentees, or to guide the selection process during the recruitment of new staff

    Food Insecurity: Is Leagility a Potential Remedy?

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    In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, and Ukraine–Russian conflict, both significant geo-political and socio-economic shocks to the global food system and food insecurity has risen across the world. One potential remedy to reduce the level of food insecurity is to move from a lean just-in-time food system to one where there is more resilience through greater agility both in routine supply operations and also in the event of an emergency situation. The aim of this critical perspectives paper was to firstly reflect on the concepts of lean, agility, and ‘leagility’. Then, this study considered the ability of individual organisations and the whole food system to be resilient, adaptive, enable the elimination of waste, reduce inefficiency, and assure the consistent delivery to market requirements in terms of both volume, safety, and quality. Promoting the concept of leagility together with advocating resilient, sustainable practices that embed buffer and adaptive capacity, this paper positions that increasing digitalisation and improving business continuity planning can ensure effective operationalisation of supply chains under both normal and crisis situations, ultimately reducing the risk of food insecurity at personal, household, and community levels

    Investigating Middle Stone Age foraging behaviour in the Karoo, South Africa

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    The Middle Stone Age (MSA) in Africa ~500- 50 kyr is recognised as a key time-period associated with important developments in hominin evolution, including the appearance of earliest genetic markers for Homo sapiens. Despite advances, our knowledge of the behaviour of hominins during this period is limited, especially for the early MSA (EMSA) pre-160ka. This study presents new data on animal bones recovered at the Bundu Farm site, in the upper Karoo region of the Northern Cape, South Africa, dated to circa ~300ka and found in association with EMSA type lithic facies, burning and hearth-like features. Previous analysis of the Bundu fauna compared the site to a G/wi hunter-gatherer 'biltong' processing locale, implying primary access to animal carcasses and socially complex hunting behaviour, circa 400-300 ka. An interpretation at odds with other interpretations of the EMSA data that suggest limited hunting and social complexity, and which would therefore have significant implications for MSA archaeology. To test the biltong hypothesis my study presents new data on the fracture characteristics of non-fresh animal bone broken by hammerstone and new environmental data for the site from an analysis of ostrich eggshell isotopes. Experimental and environmental data are used to provide a new interpretation of the Bundu fauna and my conclusion is that the data while not supporting the biltong model, does indicate evidence of delayed communal food consumption, use of fire and the transformation of foodstuffs into meals presaging and echoing social and ecological adaptations seen in the later MSA and LSA. The data also highlights a greater role for carnivores in the accumulation of the faunal assemblage and expedient hominin foraging similar to the preceding ESA and brings attention to the ecological relationships between hominins and carnivores in a Pleistocene Karoo environment that was markedly different from that of today. The study therefore rejects the biltong hypothesis for Bundu Farm as both inconsistent with likely EMSA social structures and ecology and instead proposes the site as evidence for novel behaviour indicative of a transition from ESA to MSA lifeways. The Bundu Farm site reflecting a rare archaeological occurrence where the shift in the behavioural trajectory that led to our species is observed

    The European Experience: A Multi-Perspective History of Modern Europe, 1500–2000

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    The European Experience brings together the expertise of nearly a hundred historians from eight European universities to internationalise and diversify the study of modern European history, exploring a grand sweep of time from 1500 to 2000. Offering a valuable corrective to the Anglocentric narratives of previous English-language textbooks, scholars from all over Europe have pooled their knowledge on comparative themes such as identities, cultural encounters, power and citizenship, and economic development to reflect the complexity and heterogeneous nature of the European experience. Rather than another grand narrative, the international author teams offer a multifaceted and rich perspective on the history of the continent of the past 500 years. Each major theme is dissected through three chronological sub-chapters, revealing how major social, political and historical trends manifested themselves in different European settings during the early modern (1500–1800), modern (1800–1900) and contemporary period (1900–2000). This resource is of utmost relevance to today’s history students in the light of ongoing internationalisation strategies for higher education curricula, as it delivers one of the first multi-perspective and truly ‘European’ analyses of the continent’s past. Beyond the provision of historical content, this textbook equips students with the intellectual tools to interrogate prevailing accounts of European history, and enables them to seek out additional perspectives in a bid to further enrich the discipline

    (b2023 to 2014) The UNBELIEVABLE similarities between the ideas of some people (2006-2016) and my ideas (2002-2008) in physics (quantum mechanics, cosmology), cognitive neuroscience, philosophy of mind, and philosophy (this manuscript would require a REVOLUTION in international academy environment!)

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    (b2023 to 2014) The UNBELIEVABLE similarities between the ideas of some people (2006-2016) and my ideas (2002-2008) in physics (quantum mechanics, cosmology), cognitive neuroscience, philosophy of mind, and philosophy (this manuscript would require a REVOLUTION in international academy environment!

    Habitat suitability, space use, and human-wildlife coexistence for wild river otters (Lontra canadensis)

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    Land use change and urban sprawl increase the likelihood of encounters between humans and wildlife. River otters (Lontra canadensis) are a species that coexists, but also conflicts, with humans over the use of space on Protection Island, British Columbia. River otters are sensitive to human-induced disturbances yet also inhabit environments with relatively high densities of humans and anthropogenic structures. I investigated the effect of human activity and disturbance on river otter use of space and behaviour to elucidate implications for habitat suitability and wildlife management in anthropogenic landscapes. I drew on 23 semi-structured core interviews and 18 surveys to discuss the human-otter dynamics on the island and perceptions of river otter behavior among residents. I then investigated the relative importance of anthropogenic (e.g., distance to buildings and roads, level of human use of docks), environmental (e.g., land cover type), biological (distance to dens), and topographic (elevation) variables for habitat suitability in wild river otters sharing their environment with humans. I used maximum entropy (MaxEnt) species distribution models to identify the most important factors for river otter habitat suitability and space use in anthropogenic landscapes. Two scenarios were modeled with MaxEnt using 660 and 207 occurrence points respectively. I found that the most suitable habitats for North American river otters in this study were areas of low elevation, with exposed land as the dominant land cover type, near water or wetlands, and that river otters and humans are able to coexist quite well, at least in some urban contexts. Finally, I performed Pearson’s Chi-squared tests on 594 observations from 178 behavioural samples to evaluate three hypotheses focusing on behavioural differences among river otters associated with the use of an anthropogenic habitat feature (i.e docks), and land. The results indicated that river otters used docks more than would be expected by chance and, disproportionately for individual and social activities and they used docks more than expected during the overnight period. Overall, this suggests docks may act as an anthropogenic habitat attractant for river otters. This study helps clarify relationships between river otter behaviour and space use in landscapes they share with humans and in environments where anthropogenic structures are present, which can inform the development of targeted conservation initiatives and enhance human-wildlife coexistence

    Animals in Dutch travel writing, 1800-present

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    Apart from humans, animals play a pivotal role in travel literature. However, the way they are represented in texts can vary from living companions to metaphorical entities. Existing studies mainly focus on the representation of conventional or unconventional roles that are assigned to animals from around the Napoleonic age until now, roles that have been subject to change and that tell us a lot about human reflections on encounters with non-human creatures and the position of man in this rapidly changing world. In this edited volume, scholars from the Netherlands and abroad analyse the roles that animals play in Dutch travel literature from 1800 to the present. In this way, we aim to provide new insights into the relationships between man and animals, in textual expressions and real life, and to add the ‘Dutch case’ to the flourishing international field of travel writing studies

    Rethinking the Country House Garden: creation and consumption, 1750-1850

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    This thesis re-evaluates the field of garden history and demonstrates that there is great potential to apply a different kind of analysis to gardens to produce new conclusions about historic landscapes. Existing literature on gardens traditionally focuses on masters of design and aesthetics and often concentrates on the most famous properties, landowners, and designers. Rarely have garden historians explored the practicalities of building and owning a country house garden, where the labour and materials were sourced from, or the experiences of those who worked there. Further, the experiences of garden visitors and the ways gardens were consumed by them are widely under-represented. Drawing on the historiographies of country houses and of consumption, this thesis reframes designed landscapes as sites of consumption and spaces of human experience. It changes the way we look at gardens by re-integrating them within social and economic networks from the local to the international and viewing them as spaces to be enjoyed and used by the people that entered them. The analysis of this thesis utilises two case study properties: Audley End, Essex and Belsay Hall, Northumberland between 1750 and 1850. It draws on a large and varied body of archival material, including account books and receipted bills, diaries, travel journals, and letters to create new conclusions about how gardens functioned day-to-day, across the seasons, and over many years. The project highlights the economic and material inputs to gardens, the contributions of working people from members of the garden and outdoor staff of country houses as well as their commercial counterparts in nursery and designing firms. Further, it illuminates how gardens functioned and were continuously maintained after the designs were implemented. Gardens were expensive to own and maintain but what were they then used for? This thesis examines the culture of garden visiting and the actvities available to different garden users. It also explores how being in a garden was an embodied experience and unique to each person and each experience. Gardens stimulated all the senses, and this perspective breathes new life and movement into historic gardens that are traditionally championed for their visual qualities. This project is a Collaborative Doctoral Award with English Heritage
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