Second person reference in Indonesian Christian Prayer: a sociolinguistic analysis

One might expect that the divine person addressed in prayers by Indonesian Christians matches those in biblical prayers. However, this seems not always to be the case. Since referential differences in such texts are not always obvious, the aim of this paper is to define steps for identifying who exactly is being addressed. For that purpose, sample prayers in Indonesian are analysed. These samples consist of prayers from an Indonesian Bible translation, Christian prayers in Indonesian books, and spontaneous prayers by Indonesian Christians, which were recorded and transcribed. The following steps were defined: 1) the grammatical analysis of nouns and pronouns, 2) the listing of relevant instances of referents, 3) the assignment of these instances to certain referents and 4) the comparison of the identified referents with the context of the analysed prayers. The findings show that the person addressed in Indonesian Christian prayers cannot reliably be identified without looking at the context. As for the recorded spontaneous prayers, the socio-religious background and a close look at the actual perception of the person praying are crucial for a reliable identification of the referent. This was done by comparing the results with interview responses of these persons. By applying the four mentioned steps, different addressees can be identified in prayers. In the examples of this analysis, the most significant difference was found between the addressee of prayers in the Bible compared to the addressee in spontaneous prayers. While 9 out of 11 Christians spontaneously address Jesus in their prayers, all investigated biblical prayers do not address Jesus. The findings show that the four steps applied are beneficial to a high degree, but in some circumstances, ambiguity may remain

Discutindo a educação ambiental no cotidiano escolar: desenvolvimento de projetos na escola formação inicial e continuada de professores

A presente pesquisa buscou discutir como a Educação Ambiental (EA) vem sendo trabalhada, no Ensino Fundamental e como os docentes desta escola compreendem e vem inserindo a EA no cotidiano escolar., em uma escola estadual do município de Tangará da Serra/MT, Brasil. Para tanto, realizou-se entrevistas com os professores que fazem parte de um projeto interdisciplinar de EA na escola pesquisada. Verificou-se que o projeto da escola não vem conseguindo alcançar os objetivos propostos por: desconhecimento do mesmo, pelos professores; formação deficiente dos professores, não entendimento da EA como processo de ensino-aprendizagem, falta de recursos didáticos, planejamento inadequado das atividades. A partir dessa constatação, procurou-se debater a impossibilidade de tratar do tema fora do trabalho interdisciplinar, bem como, e principalmente, a importância de um estudo mais aprofundado de EA, vinculando teoria e prática, tanto na formação docente, como em projetos escolares, a fim de fugir do tradicional vínculo “EA e ecologia, lixo e horta”.Facultad de Humanidades y Ciencias de la Educació

Mountains and climate change: A global concern

Mountains are among the regions most affected by climate change. The implications of climate change will reach far beyond mountain areas, as the contributions in the present publication prepared for the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 20) in Lima 2014 show. Themes discussed are water, glaciers and permafrost, hazards, biodiversity, food security and economy. The case studies included show that concrete adaptive action has been taken in many mountain areas of the world. The publication concludes with a series of recommendations for sustainable mountain development in the face of climate change

State of the art in rockfall – forest interactions

To effectively prevent rockfall related disasters below forested slopes, silvicultural, eco-engineering, civil engineering or mixed techniques can be used. To do this in a cost-efficient manner it is necessary to know the following: 1) where rockfall events occur and which magnitudes are likely, 2) to what extent the forest reduces the run-out distances, the jump heights and the energies of rocks falling downslope, and 3) how the protective function of forests could be improved. This paper gives an overview of the current scientific knowledge and methods that are applied by practitioners who deal with rockfall and forests protecting against it. Efficient ways to derive information on the probable magnitude and frequency of future rockfall events from the source and deposit area are described. Subsequently, the scientific knowledge on the energy absorption capacity of single trees and the currently available knowledge on the protective function of forest stands against rockfall are presented. Then easy-to-use tools and simulation models for rockfall hazard assessment on forested slopes are described. Finally, this paper identifies the most important challenges to be tackled in the field of integrated rockfall-forest research

Assessing the protective effect of mountain forests against rockfall using a 3D simulation model

We used one of the few rockfall models explicitly taking trees into account and compared the results obtained with the 3D simulation model RockyFor with empirical data on tree impacts at three mountain forests in Switzerland. Even though we used model input data with different resolutions at the study sites, RockyFor accurately predicted the spatial distribution of trajectory frequencies at all sites. In contrast, RockyFor underestimated mean impact heights observed on trees at the two sites where high- and medium-resolution input data were available and overestimated them at the site where input data with the lowest resolution data were used. By comparing the results of the simulation scenarios “current forest cover” and “non-forested slope”, we assessed the protective effect of the current stands at all three sites. The number of rocks reaching the bottom parts of the study sites would, on average, almost triple if the “current forest cover” were absent. We conclude that RockyFor is able to predict the spatial distribution of rockfall trajectories on forested slopes accurately, based on input data with a resolution of at least 5 m × 5 m. With the increasing availability of high-resolution data, it provides a useful tool for assessing the protective effect of mountain forests against rockfall

The science-policy dialogue for climate change adaptation in mountain regions

Mountains are among the regions most affected by climate change and they provide some of the most visible evidence of this change such as melting glaciers. While climate change is a global process, adaptation must be based on local contexts, especially in mountain regions with their varied natural and socio-cultural setting and highly differentiated effects of climate change at short distance. The need for mountain-specific adaptation is also given against the background of the key ecosystem goods and services, which they provide to humankind such as freshwater, and which are likely to be affected by climate change. Adaptation has to take place under conditions of uncertainty, but there are options such as Payment for Environmental Services (PES) that allow action under these conditions. Moreover, acting under uncertainty is nothing new for mountain communities. Addressing the science-policy dialogue, we show how this dialogue has been institutionalised in both developed and developing countries, by presenting examples from Switzerland, Kyrgyzstan, and Uganda. We then argue that closing the data gap relating to mountain climates and existing adaptive action could strengthen the science-policy dialogue substantially. To conclude, we advocate the establishment of mountain climate change observatories and the inventorying of promising adaptive action; highlight the need for capacity development and exchange across governmental and non-governmental institutions including mountain communities; and propose a funding window for climate change adaption in mountains for countries in need

Klima und Landschaftsumgestaltung – Palynologische Hinweise zur Komplexität prähistorischer Mensch-Umwelt-Beziehungen

Pollen analytical studies of four radiocarbon dated sediment records from Switzerland suggest distinct phases of forest clearances and intensified land use from 1450–1250 BC, 650–450 BC, 50 BC–100 AD, and around 700 AD. These land use expansions coincided with periods of warm climate as recorded by Alpine dendroclimatic and Greenland oxygen isotope records. Our results suggest that harvest yields increased synchronously over wide areas of central and southern Europe during periods of warm and dry climate. Positive long-term trends in pollen values of Cerealia and Plantago lanceolata indicate that technical innovations during the Bronze and Iron Ages (e.g. metal ploughs, scythes, hay production, fertilizing methods) gradually increased agricultural productivity. However, our data imply that human societies were not able to compensate rapidly for harvest failures when the climate deteriorated. Agriculture in marginal areas was abandoned, and spontaneous reforestations took place on unoccupied land both north and south of the Alps