'Bushcraft' and 'Indigenous Knowledge': transformations of a concept in the modern world

The relationship between 'bushcraft' and 'indigenous knowledge' is investigated through a historical review, an examination of ethnographic literature, fieldwork amongst bushcraft practitioners, and through original case studies. Fieldwork was carried out in Sweden, the USA, and the UK. Case studies of the Saami 'kuksa', the 'figure 4' deadfall trap, and making fire by friction are used to explore a number of themes in the contemporary bushcraft world: the role of skilled-practice, ethical values, notions of an individually experienced connection with nature, practice as a personal transformative experience, and as an intersubjective relationship between practitioner and craft engagement with the material affordances in the landscape. It is argued that motivations for practice foreground a relationship with an environmental experience that counters 'alienation' through the development of techniques required to spend un-insulated time in nature which counter modern Western technocratic lifestyles. Bushcraft destabilises apparently similar categories of activity, particularly tourism, outdoor adventure recreation and education, historical re-enactment and survivalism

Why does research in finance have so little impact?

The quantity of finance research has grown enormously over the past two decades, yet questions remain over its breadth and ability to benefit the economy and society beyond academia. Using multisource data, we argue that individual and institutional incentives have fostered insularity and a consequent homogeneity in the discipline. We examine the characteristics of research that is published and cited in the leading field journals in finance, arguing that the work has become abstract and unrelated to real world issues. The work published in the ‘top’ journals makes increasing use of US data, even where the researchers are drawn from different countries. Using information from impact assessment, publication patterns, and grant capture, we illustrate that this narrow agenda lacks relevance to the financial services sector, the economy or wider society compared to other areas of business and management research. In particular, we highlight the relative absence of research on ethics in academic finance and discuss the likely consequences for the discipline including its relevance to society

A new hotspot for Temminck’s Red Colobus (Piliocolobus badius temminckii) in The Gambia: the feasibility of a community approach to conservation

The geographic range and abundance of Temminck’s red colobus, Piliocolobus badius temminckii, in The Gambia is not well documented. In March 2019, line transect surveys were conducted at a number of data deficient forests in The Gambia to establish species presence or absence, contribute to a greater understanding of the species at a national scale and identify prior- ity sites for conservation. One area around Sambel Kunda in the Central River Region was found to be exceptionally productive with an observed Temminck’s red colobus population of 587 individuals, a maximum group size of 60, and connectivity to robust populations along a riparian corridor to the east. Surveys were supported by the collation of community perceptions using prin- ciples of Rapid Assessment Program (RAP) methodology to evaluate the feasibility of an integrated community development and primate conservation project. The results of interviews and meetings in the Sambel Kunda area revealed an absence of hunting and increasing population trends for all primate species, including red colobus. Excepting the Central River Region, Temminck’s red colobus populations were otherwise in decline or locally extinct, predominantly as a result of indiscriminate hunting to protect agricultural crops. Meetings with the Village Development Committees confirmed that the greatest proximal threat to red colobus in the study area was the rapid escalation in forest clearance to produce charcoal for local markets and timber for export to offset climate-change-induced declines in agricultural revenues. Local Gambians are aware that they urgently need to adopt sustainable forestry practices to mitigate climate change impacts and protect timber and non-timber resources but are currently unsure how they would develop and implement such a model. Given the uncertainty and complex nature of the range-wide threats facing the red colobus populations, we suggest prioritizing the Sambel Kunda area as a site of international importance for the protection and recovery of this Critically Endangered species. A community approach to the conservation of red colobus in the Sambel Kunda area should be implemented without delay through site designation, capacity building for biodiversity monitoring, sustainable for- estry practices, community engagement and education and by growing awareness of Temminck’s red colobus as a flagship species

Bushcraft Education as Radical Pedagogy

Bushcraft emerged from indigenous knowledge with a skill-base used for military, commercial and recreational purposes. We identify it as embodied contextual learning, for and with the environment, arising from a deep inter-subjective relationship with the natural world. This focus suggests a ‘conscientization’ developing a critical awareness, transformative of society’s relationship with ecosystems and providing autonomous, individual learning. Bushcraft education has gained in popularity in recent years and we seek to problematise and define its educational identity as it appears rarely in mainstream or outdoor education. Accordingly, we suggest that bushcraft education shares some of the aims of radical education, signalled by the transformative purpose in which radical pedagogies are positioned, normally situated outside mainstream formal education. We conclude that bushcraft education may have global significance as radical pedagogy, progressing deeper understandings of the relationship between self and nature, and in transdisciplinary thinking supporting our response to current environmental crises

Wild pedagogies: its potential for changing perceptions and experiences of nature

Chris Loynes presents at this event Nature Connection 2019, the 5th Nature Connection conference, entitled 'Beyond contact with nature to connection'. The conference aims to share the latest research evidence on the links between nature connectedness, wellbeing and pro-nature behaviours. Chris talks about wild pedagogy in relation to a 'Wild Ennerdale workshop'

Rewilding: continuing the debate

University of Cumbria experts Dr Andrew Weatherall, Dr Lisa Fenton and Dr Ian Convery contributed a write up of their panel discussion on rewilding from the recent Timber Fest (three days of music, art and performance held in the heart of the National Forest to celebrate 'the transformative impact of forests'). The article featured online in the August 2019 edition of The Ecologist

Specificity of Clinical Breast Examination in Community Practice

BACKGROUND: Millions of women receive clinical breast examination (CBE) each year, as either a breast cancer screening test or a diagnostic test for breast symptoms. While screening CBE had moderately high specificity (∼94%) in clinical trials, community clinicians may be comparatively inexperienced and may conduct relatively brief examinations, resulting in even higher specificity but lower sensitivity. OBJECTIVE: To estimate the specificity of screening and diagnostic CBE in clinical practice and identify patient factors associated with specificity. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. SUBJECTS: Breast-cancer-free female health plan enrollees in 5 states (WA, OR, CA, MA, and MN) who received CBE (N = 1,484). MEASUREMENTS: Medical charts were abstracted to ascertain breast cancer risk factors, examination purpose (screening vs diagnostic), and results (true-negative vs false-positive). Women were considered “average-risk” if they had neither a family history of breast cancer nor a prior breast biopsy and “increased-risk” otherwise. RESULTS: Among average- and increased-risk women, respectively, the specificity (true-negative proportion) of screening CBE was 99.4% [95% confidence interval (CI): 98.8–99.7%] and 97.1% (95% CI: 95.7–98.0%), and the specificity of diagnostic CBE was 68.7% (95% CI: 59.7–76.5%) and 57.1% (95% CI: 51.1–63.0%). The odds of a true-negative screening CBE (specificity) were significantly lower among women at increased risk of breast cancer (adjusted odds ratio 0.21; 95% CI: 0.10–0.46). CONCLUSIONS: Screening CBE likely has higher specificity among community clinicians compared to examiners in clinical trials of breast cancer screening, even among women at increased breast cancer risk. Highly specific examinations, however, may have relatively low sensitivity for breast cancer. Diagnostic CBE, meanwhile, is relatively nonspecific

Poly(Limonene Thioether) Scaffold for Tissue Engineering

A photocurable thiol-ene network polymer, poly(limonene thioether) (PLT32o), is synthesized, characterized, fabricated into tissue engineering scaffolds, and demonstrated in vitro and in vivo. Micromolded PLT32o grids exhibit compliant, elastomeric mechanical behavior similar to grids made of poly(glycerol sebacate) (PGS), an established biomaterial. Multilayered PL32o scaffolds with regular, geometrically defined pore architectures support heart cell seeding and culture in a manner similar to multilayered PGS scaffolds. Subcutaneous implantation of multilayered PLT32o scaffolds with cultured heart cells provides long-term 3D structural support and retains the exogenous cells, whereas PGS scaffolds lose both their structural integrity and the exogenous cells over 31 d in vivo. PLT32o membrane implants retain their dry mass, whereas PGS implants lose 70 percent of their dry mass by day 31. Macrophages are initially recruited to PLT32o and PGS membrane implants but are no longer present by day 31. Facile synthesis and processing in combination with the capability to support heart cells in vitro and in vivo suggest that PLT32o can offer advantages for tissue engineering applications where prolonged in vivo maintenance of 3D structural integrity and elastomeric mechanical behavior are required.United States. National Institutes of Health (R01-HL107503