“No Friends but the Mountains” Understanding Population Mobility and Land Dynamics in Iraqi Kurdistan

The link between population mobility and environmental change is fundamental for our understanding of how future global environmental changes will affect our societies, and also how the increased mobility will change our role in the Earth system. Climate change has been predicted as a major cause of human migration, both voluntary and forced, through for example increased storm and drought frequency, sea level rise, and reduced fresh water availability. On the other hand, contemporary migration patterns are part of processes that change the face of the Earth. Social, political, and natural processes have shaped the development of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KR-I) since the 1980’s. This dissertation explores the environmental aspects of such changes by focusing on how population mobility relates to land systems in the Duhok governorate, KR-I. This dissertation takes an interdisciplinary approach by combining household survey data with information extracted from satellite images. This enables analysis of patterns at both provincial and household levels. The findings of this work reveal that migration patterns are mainly explained by economic drivers. The environment as a driver of migration is not emphasized in the interview responses, and only a small share of households are economically dependent on agriculture. The 2007-2009 drought was severe in terms of precipitation decrease, vegetation anomalies, and from a socio-economic perspective. The analyses, however, show no evidence of increased migration during the drought period. Migration for other reasons, such as the Anfal genocide in the late 1980’s, and the subsequent reconstruction program was found to influence land use activity. In times of migration and displacement the cropland area was reduced, while it increased during resettlement initiatives. The final part of this dissertation consists of a methodological discussion of how scale affects analyses of the environment-migration nexus. A review of the current literature reveals that common scale-problems in this field include the mismatch between different data types, generalizations, and neglect of spatial variability

With great power comes great responsibility: crowdsourcing raises methodological and ethical questions for academia

Crowdsourcing offers researchers ready access to large numbers of participants, while enabling the processing of huge, unique datasets. However, the power of crowdsourcing raises several issues, including whether or not what initially emerged as a business practice can be transformed into a sound research method. Isabell Stamm and Lina Eklund argue that the complexities of managing large numbers of people mean crowdsourcing reduces participants to one faceless crowd. Applied to research, this is inherently problematic as it contradicts the basic idea that we control who participates in our studies. This not only challenges scientific rules of representativeness but also leaves methodological designs vulnerable to researchers’ implicit assumptions about the crowd

Cropland changes in times of conflict, reconstruction, and economic development in Iraqi Kurdistan

The destruction of land and forced migration during the Anfal attacks against the Kurds in Iraq in the late 1980s has been reported to have severe consequences for agricultural development. A reconstruction program to aid people in returning to their lands was launched in 1991. To assess the agricultural situation in the Duhok governorate during the pre-Anfal (A), post-Anfal (B), reconstruction (C), and present (D) periods, we mapped winter crops by focusing on inter-annual variability in vegetation greenness, using satellite images. The results indicate a decrease in cultivated area between period A and B, and a small increase between period B and C. This supports reports of a decline in cultivated area related to the Anfal campaign, and indicates increased activity during the reconstruction program. Period D showed a potential recovery with a cropland area similar to period A

We Dare You: A Lifecycle Study of a Substitutional Reality Installation in a Museum Space

In this article, we present a lifecycle study of We Dare You, a Substitutional Reality (SR) installation that combines visual and tactile stimuli. The installation is set up in a center for architecture, and invites visitors to explore its facade while playing with vertigo, in a visual Virtual Reality (VR) environment that replicates the surrounding physical space of the installation. Drawing on an ethnographic approach, including observations and interviews, we researched the exhibit from its opening, through the initial months plagued by technical problems, its subsequent success as a social and playful installation, on to its closure, due to COVID-19, and its subsequent reopening. Our findings explore the challenges caused by both the hybrid nature of the installation, as well as the visitor' playful use of the installation which made the experience social and performative - but also caused some problems. We also discuss the problems We Dare You faced in light of hygiene demands due to COVID-19. The analysis contrasts the design processes and expectations of stakeholders with the audience's playful appropriation, which led the stakeholders to see the installation as both a success and a failure. Evaluating the design and redesign through use on behalf of visitors, we argue that an approach that further opens up the post-production experience to a process of continuous redesign based on the user input - what has been termed "design-after-design" - could facilitate the design of similar experiences in the museum and heritage sector, supporting a participatory agenda in the design process, and helping to resolve the tension between stakeholders' expectations and visitors' playful appropriations.Comment: Accepted to be published in the Journal on Computing and Cultural Heritage (JOCCH

Föräldrars upplevelser av stöd från sjuksköterskan inom barnhälsovården

De flesta föräldrar i Sverige går till barnhälsovården med sitt barn från att det är nyfött. Det gör att sjuksköterskan i barnhälsovården har stor möjlighet att stötta föräldrar i deras tilltro till sin förmåga som förälder vilket kan hjälpa föräldern att skapa goda förutsättningar för sina barn. Syftet var att beskriva föräldrars upplevelse av stöd från sjuksköterskan i barnhälsovården. Studien är en kvalitativ intervjustudie där 12 föräldrar intervjuades. Intervjuerna transkriberades och analyserades med innehållsanalys. Två huvudkategorier och sju underkategorier framkom. Kategorin Att känna förtroende för sjuksköterskan belyser föräldrarnas behov av att känna tillit till sjuksköterskan och hur sjuksköterskans kunskap och bemötande kunde påverka detta. I kategorin Att få stöd i föräldrarollen beskrivs behovet av stöd och vägledning från sjuksköterskan och andra sociala kontakter. Föräldrar behöver flera typer av stöd i föräldrarollen. För att bistå föräldern på bästa sätt behöver sjuksköterskan vara medveten om vilket stöd som föräldrar behöver

Emergency Medical Response in Mass Casualty Tunnel Incidents—with Emphasis on Prehospital Care

Responding to mass casualty incidents in a tunnel environment is problematic not least from a prehospital emergency medical services (EMS) perspective. The aim of this review was to 1) categorize preconditions for emergency response in tunnel environments based on Haddon’s matrix and 2) identify specific EMS knowledge of providing prehospital care. Twenty eight articles, reports and book chapters were selected for further analysis. Firstly, sorting the data from each included article was done according to Haddon’s matrix. The result covers human factors, technical factors, physical environmental factors and socioeconomic environmental factors all related to preconditions for emergency response. To describe the EMS’s knowledge the data was also sorted according to command and safety, communication, assessment, and triage treatment and transport, also known as CSCATT. Few studies, especially of high quality, actually provide detailed information regarding emergency response to tunnel incidents and those that do, often have a main focus on management by the rescue service. While many incidents studied were caused by fires in tunnels, thus requiring rescue service in action, the subsequent EMS response issues that have taken place appear to have been given limited attention. To optimize the survival rates and health of the injured, as well as to provide a safe and effective work environment for the emergency services, there is a need to explore the event phase

Using Crop Phenology to Assess Changes in Cultivated Land after the Anfal Genocide in Iraqi Kurdistan

Ponencias, comunicaciones y pósters presentados en el 17th AGILE Conference on Geographic Information Science "Connecting a Digital Europe through Location and Place", celebrado en la Universitat Jaume I del 3 al 6 de junio de 2014.The Anfal genocide campaign, carried out by the Iraqi government against the Kurdish population in 1988, has been reported to have severe consequences for agriculture and food security by causing large scale land abandonment. This study uses Landsat satellite data to detect agricultural changes that can be attributed to the Anfal genocide. Cultivated land were distinguished from other land cover types by focusing on crop phenology. Initial results show a strong decrease in cultivated land in the years after the genocide, especially in the areas that were targeted by the genocide campaign

Data and methods in the environment-migration nexus: a scale perspective

The relationship between environment and migration has gained increased attention since the 1990s when the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change projected climate change to become a major driver of ­human migration. Evaluations of this relationship include both quantitative and qualitative assessments. This review article introduces the concept of scale to environment-migration research as an important methodological issue for the reliability of conclusions drawn. The review of case studies shows that scale issues are highly present in environment-migration research but rarely discussed. Several case studies base their results on data at very coarse resolutions that have undergone strong modifications and generalizations. We argue that scale-related shortcomings must be considered in all stages of environment-migration research

Respons i fokus. Lärares normer och attityder till andraspråksdrag i studenttexter

Under två decennier har högre utbildning haft breddad rekrytering som målsättning, vilket har fört med sig nya och mer heterogena studentgrupper. En av dessa är studenter med annat modersmål än svenska, och återkommande tenderar deras skrivförmåga att fokuseras i debatten. Att skrivande är sammankopplat med det sociala sammanhang där skrivandet sker har beskrivits väl inom fältet Academic Literacies. I den här artikeln presenteras en studie med fokus på lärares attityder och förhållningssätt till andraspråksstudenters skrivande. Syftet med studien är att belysa normer som präglar skrivandets sammanhang, för att på så vis få en bättre bild av de förutsättningar som präglar och omgärdar andraspråksstudenters skrivande i olika ämnen under deras utbildningsprogram. För att undersöka detta har lärares skriftliga respons som rör språket analyserats med avstamp i teorier om respons. De lärare som skrivit responsen har också intervjuats om sin respons med hjälp av stimulated recall-teknik. Resultaten visar att lärarnas respons präglas av deras egna erfarenheter, syn på skrivprocessen samt den egna rollen inom utbildningen. Sammantaget visar undersökningen att bristen på kollegial samsyn mellan ämnen inom programmet ger utrymme för parallella normer att existera, vilket resulterar i att studenterna möter ett brett spann av förväntningar på hur texter ska utformas.  ENGLISH ABSTRACT Response in focus. Teachers’ norms and attitudes towards second language structures in student texts For two decades, it has been a statutory provision in the Higher Education Act to strive for widening participation. This has led to new and more diverse student groups, one of which being students with a mother tongue other than Swedish. Recurrently, their writing ability tends to be focused in the debate. In the field of Academic Literacies, writing is considered to be a socioculturally rooted practice, in which teachers’ attitudes strongly impact the writing process. This article presents a study of teachers’ attitudes towards second language students’ writing, aiming to shed light on norms and conditions surrounding L2 students’ academic writing. Teachers’ written feedback concerning linguistic features has been analysed based on theories on feedback practices. The same teachers have also been interviewed regarding their feedback, using stimulated recall-technique. The results show that the teachers’ feedback reflect different perspectives on the writing process, as well as their own role in the education system. In sum, the study shows that the lack of collegial consensus allows for parallel norms to exist, which results in the students within the same educational program being exposed to a wide range of expectations regarding how texts ought to be written.

Reimagining the cycle: interaction in self-tracking period apps and menstrual empowerment

FemTech, technology often in the forms of apps developed to specifically target female health issues, have billions of users globally. Yet, despite the popularity of e.g., period trackers or pregnancy apps, we know little about the potential impact of these technologies, often developed outside controlled and regulated healthcare. How interactive technology is designed, and in our case the cycle represented through the design, has the potential to shape women's understanding of menstruation. In this study we analyse the interaction design of nine of the most downloaded menstruation apps, asking how commercial menstruation apps represent the cycle through their interaction design. While previous research has criticized these types of apps for lacking privacy and for enforcing normative ideals on women, they are often marketed in terms of female empowerment and users do indeed seem to find them very useful for period and fertility tracking. However, the term 'empowerment' is today used broadly and is known for having many potential meanings. Even within the field of Human Computer Interaction (HCI), 'empowerment' is used frequently but rarely explicitly defined. The question then becomes what empowerment could mean for menstruation tracking. In order to begin exploring the way menstruation and the period is represented in current apps and the way that future apps could design for empowerment, we engage in a comparative design investigation using what we call critical app-walkthrough methodology where an app's design is explored comprehensibly at one point in time and apps interacted with over a longer time period through researcher use-diares. Our results center around three ways in which these apps represent the cycle to users through design. We analyse; (1) interface metaphors used to represent the temporality of bleeding, (2) datafication of menstruation through input and output for intimate data tracking, and (3) the ways fertility predictions convey certainty over uncertainty. In a second step, we then explore what empowerment could mean for period trackers and how design could support empowering experiences. Finally, we present four design sensitivities meant to inspire designers to design for other types of period tracking experiences that might better empower bleeders. These are: support lived temporalities, embrace uncertainty, empower the self, and design less