Putting food in the driver’s seat: Aligning food-systems policy to advance sustainability, health, and security

Food is a basic need, but seldom a basic policy area. Food systems are widely governed by disconnected policies distributed across a range of sectors including agriculture, education, health, environment, economy, and security. Failure to align food system strategies often results in these disparate policies operating at cross-purposes. Conventional food production and consumption practices contribute to biodiversity decline and climate change, cause diet-related health problems, are associated with worker exploitation, and create national security risks. Drawing on agroecology for cohesive national food strategies can provide benefits across all these sectors: supporting public health, environmental sustainability, economic stability, social cohesion, and national security and sovereignty

Working towards co-production in rehabilitation and recovery services

PurposeThis paper outlines the work of a service provider, service user and carer group created to develop a strategy for service user and carer co-production.ApproachA reflective narrative account is given of the process through which the group formed and began to develop a working model aimed at shaping a cultural shift towards more co-produced services. The paper has been co-produced and includes the collaborative voices of service users, carers, multi-disciplinary staff, third sector representatives, managers and colleagues from associated services.FindingsThe model developed outlines 3 stages for services to work through in order to achieve meaningful and sustainable co-produced services. The importance of developing associated policies related to such areas as recruitment, payment, support and training is also outlined. Challenges to co-production are noted along with suggested approaches to overcoming these.Implications and ValueThe ethos of co-production is relatively new in the UK and so knowledge of the process and model may help guide others undertaking similar work

Cynnydd dysgu yn y dyniaethau: canfod tensiynau wrth gyfleu cynnydd yn y dyniaethau yng Nghymru

Mae’r papur hwn yn edrych ar y tensiynau sy’n codi wrth gyfleu cynnydd mewn dysgu yn nisgyblaethau’r Dyniaethau. Ar sail ein hadolygiad o ymchwil yn nisgyblaethau’r Dyniaethau, cwricwla rhyngwladol ar gynnydd yn y meysydd hyn a myfyrdodau o weithgarwch proffesiynol ym ‘Maes Dysgu a Phrofiad’ y Dyniaethau, sydd newydd gael ei ddiffinio yn y Cwricwlwm i Gymru newydd, mae’r papur hwn yn disgrifio sut mae cynnydd dysgu yn y Dyniaethau wedi’i gysyniadoli yn y cwricwlwm newydd ac wedyn yn amlinellu ac yn adolygu’n feirniadol bedair her a gododd wrth ganfod a disgrifio’r cynnydd dysgu yng nghwricwlwm newydd y Dyniaethau. Mae’r tensiynau’n cynnwys y berthynas rhwng disgyblaethau; y cydbwysedd rhwng gwybodaeth, sgiliau a gwerthoedd; y gwahaniaethau rhwng modelau cynnydd sylfaenol yn y Dyniaethau; a chydbwyso cymhlethdod y dysgu ag ystyriaethau ymarferol ar gyfer cwricwlwm cenedlaethol. Drwy ddefnyddio’r Model Newid Integredd, mae’r papur hwn yn cyfrannu drwy gynnig mewnwelediadau newydd i agweddau eang ar gynnydd dysgu yn y Dyniaethau a thrwy dynnu sylw at y buddion a heriau dichonol o wneud penderfyniadau penodol mewn perthynas â phob un o’r tensiynau hyn. Trafodir goblygiadau sy’n codi mewn perthynas â chynllunio’r cwricwlwm ac ymchwil yn y dyfodol, yn cynnwys y rôl sylfaenol sydd gan ddysgu proffesiynol wrth ddatblygu a gweithredu’r cwricwlwm

Canonising the Shakespeare apocrypha: Shakespeare, Middleton and co-existent canons

The Shakespeare Apocrypha has persisted as a category for plays of dubious authorship since 1908. Despite recent calls for this group to be dissolved, it persists as the “other” of the Shakespeare canon. The definition of the plays as a collectively excluded canon leads to their relative obscurity in print and on stage. Yet recent calls for the adoption of different kinds of dramatic canon present a means of reintegrating canon and apocrypha. The new Middleton Collected Works offers a model for “co-existent canons” which share plays and disperse the authority of fixed authorial canons, allowing the plays of the Shakespeare Apocrypha to be read and seen in new, productive contexts

Turning heads:The impact of political reform on the professional role, identity and recruitment of head teachers in Wales

This article considers the professional work, identity and recruitment of head teachers (HTs) in Wales. Drawing on the sociology of professions, the article illustrates how intensive educational policy reform post‐2011 has restricted HTs’ professional agency and re‐orientated the head teacher role towards organisational professionalism. Drawing on semi‐structured interviews (n=30) with both head and deputy head teachers, the article argues that issues with the recruitment and retention of HTs in Wales can, in part, be explained by the promotion of managerial and technicist approaches to professional practice. This role reconfiguration is the result of myriad and, at times, overlapping accountability mechanisms. The article illustrates how these changes to HT professional roles and identity are more intense within a small education system where HTs had, traditionally, enjoyed an elite professional status. To ameliorate these issues, the article proposes policy initiatives which the Welsh Government could introduce to foster the agency of HTs within a revised professional framework for educational leadership in Wales

Putting food in the driver’s seat: aligning food-systems policy to advance sustainability, health, and security

Food is a basic need, but seldom a basic policy area. Food systems are widely governed by disconnected policies distributed across a range of sectors including agriculture, education, health, environment, economy, and security. Failure to align food system strategies often results in these disparate policies operating at cross-purposes. Conventional food production and consumption practices contribute to biodiversity decline and climate change, cause diet-related health problems, are associated with worker exploitation, and create national security risks. Drawing on agroecology for cohesive national food strategies can provide benefits across all these sectors: supporting public health, environmental sustainability, economic stability, social cohesion, and national security and sovereignty

The Journey Experience of Visually Impaired People on Public Transport in London

The use of public transport is critical for Visually Impaired People (VIP) to be independent and have access to out-of-home activities. Despite government policies promoting accessible transport for everyone, the needs of VIP are not well addressed, and journeys can be very difficult to negotiate. Journey requirements can often differ from those of other categories of people on the disability spectrum. Therefore, the aim of this research is to evaluate the journey experience of VIP using public transport. Semi-structured interviews conducted in London are used. The results show that limited access to information, inconsistencies in infrastructure and poor availability of staff assistance are the major concerns. Concessionary travel, on the other hand, encourages VIP to make more trips and hence has a positive effect on well-being. The findings suggest that more specific policies should be introduced to cater to the special needs of particular disabilities rather than generalising the types of aids available. It is also concluded that the journey experience of VIP is closely related to an individual’s independence and hence inclusion in society

A First Look at the Prevalence and Persistence of Middleboxes in the Wild

peer reviewedRecent years have seen an uprise in the development of middleboxes functionalities (CGNATs, proxies, accelerators, etc), participating so in the ossification of the Internet. In parallel, various solutions have been developed to detect or circumvent unwanted middleboxes interferences such as UDP-based middlebox-proof transports (Google's QUIC, PLUS), middlebox-proof extensions to TCP (HICCUPS, TCPcrypt), and middlebox traversal mechanisms (STUN, ICE, PLUS). All those solutions make the assumption of ubiquitous middleboxes. However, a view of their actual deployment in the wild, in IPv4 wired networks, is missing. In particular, knowing how autonomous systems (ASes) deploy middleboxes in terms of prevalence and persistence would provide additional relevant information to Internet topology models. In this paper, we aim at filling this gap. Based on a large-scale measurement campaign, we highlight different characteristics of middlebox deployment within ASes to elicit middleboxes profiles