Cultural probes and the value of uncertainty

When reason is away, smiles will play. --- Paul Eluard and Benjamin Pére

ELSI guidelines for networked collaboration and information exchange in PPDR and risk governance

Networked collaboration and information exchange technologies have transformative potential for PPDR and risk governance. However, it is difficult to shape these transformations in a way that supports real world practices of collaboration and sense-making, and it is even more difficult to do so in ways that are ethically, legally and socially sensitive and proactive. This paper presents efforts to construct Ethical, Legal and Social Issues or ‘ELSI’ Guidelines for Networked Collaboration and Information Exchange in PPDR. The Guidelines would facilitate Risk Governance and serve as a living community resource to support the design and use of IT for PPDR and Risk Governanc

The role of pride in women with anorexia nervosa : a grounded theory study

Objective: Theory and clinical literature suggest that pride may play an important role in the maintenance of restrictive eating disorders. A grounded theory study explored experiences of, and reflections on, pride among women with a current or past diagnosis of anorexia nervosa. Design: This is a qualitative study using grounded theory. Method: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 21 women recruited from an eating disorders unit in England, and from a UK self-help organization. Grounded theory from a constructivist lens was used. Analysis involved coding, constant comparison and memo-writing. Results: Pride evolves over the course of anorexia. Two overarching conceptual categories were identified: ‘Pride becoming intertwined with anorexia’ and ‘Pride during the journey towards recovery’. These categories encompassed different forms of pride: ‘alluring pride’, ‘toxic pride’, ‘pathological pride’, ‘anorexia pride’, ‘shameful pride’, ‘recovery pride’ and ‘resilient pride’. Initially, pride contributed to self-enhancement and buffered negative emotions. As the condition progressed, pride became a challenge to health and interfered with motivation to change. During recovery, perceptions of pride altered as a healthy approach to living ensued. Conclusions: The evolving nature of pride plays a central role in development, maintenance, and treatment of anorexia. Understanding of pride and its role in psychotherapeutic work with this client group may increase motivation to change and promote recovery. Future work should investigate if tackling pride in eating disorders increases treatment efficacy and reduces the risk of relapsing

Networked Urbanism and Disaster

In a world of networked urbanism, where people affected by disaster connect intensively with each other, the media and emergency agencies, why do warnings go amiss? Why does knowledge of risk not translate into preparedness? Why are the mobilities of information so poorly understood? In this chapter, we build on a synthesis of insights from disaster management, policy, mobilities and design research, and science and technology studies (STS) to study how these disaster-related networked mobilities create complex landscapes of communication, interdependence and responsibility that are difficult to translate into preparedness. Our analysis informs, and is informed by, research collaborations with emergency responders, engineers and technology designers with the aim of understanding and developing social and digital technologies for collaboration. By bringing attention to new networked partnerships, we aim to provide a set of critical tools with which to consider practices of risk governance as an example of networked urbanism

Associations of Blood Pressure and Cholesterol Levels During Young Adulthood With Later Cardiovascular Events.

BackgroundBlood pressure (BP) and cholesterol are major modifiable risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD), but effects of exposures during young adulthood on later life CVD risk have not been well quantified.ObjectiveThe authors sought to evaluate the independent associations between young adult exposures to risk factors and later life CVD risk, accounting for later life exposures.MethodsThe authors pooled data from 6 U.S. cohorts with observations spanning the life course from young adulthood to later life, and imputed risk factor trajectories for low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and high-density lipoprotein cholesterols, systolic and diastolic BP starting from age 18 years for every participant. Time-weighted average exposures to each risk factor during young (age 18 to 39 years) and later adulthood (age ≥40 years) were calculated and linked to subsequent risks of coronary heart disease (CHD), heart failure (HF), or stroke.ResultsA total of 36,030 participants were included. During a median follow-up of 17 years, there were 4,570 CHD, 5,119 HF, and 2,862 stroke events. When young and later adult risk factors were considered jointly in the model, young adult LDL ≥100 mg/dl (compared with <100 mg/dl) was associated with a 64% increased risk for CHD, independent of later adult exposures. Similarly, young adult SBP ≥130 mm Hg (compared with <120 mm Hg) was associated with a 37% increased risk for HF, and young adult DBP ≥80 mm Hg (compared with <80 mm Hg) was associated with a 21% increased risk.ConclusionsCumulative young adult exposures to elevated systolic BP, diastolic BP and LDL were associated with increased CVD risks in later life, independent of later adult exposures

Preferable, contextual and sustainable… climate futures for Ecological Citizen(s)

The responsibility for sustainable futures extends beyond individual disciplines, necessitating the adoption of diverse approaches across various fields. Water pollution is at epidemic levels, valuable materials go to landfill, ocean detritus grows, many people are disconnected from green space, and biodiversity is plummeting. We need new modes of climate futures, championing citizen agency. Societies require cross-collaborative, inclusive approaches to navigate climate future challenges. We seek to foresee ‘climate futures’ that signpost challenges, unpicking(appropriate) opportunities, benefits, and pitfalls. Through an Ecological Citizenship lens, the authors traverse situations, through preferable futures. It is an entry point for transition design, creating climate tangibility surrounding our everyday lives. The article unpicks and communicates ‘preferable futures’, conceptualising how Ecological Citizenship could be deployed. We report on workshops which yielded insights from different organisational perspectives. Insights were illustrated for public audiences. Narratives navigate ecologically engaged forms of citizenship

People, place and purpose: Place-based approaches to ecological citizenship

Humanity faces serious challenges in the coming decades: climate change, biodiversity loss, growing inequality, and more. These systemic global crises cannot be tackled in isolation because they are all interconnected. But our systems are not fit enough to deliver a good balance of environmental and social goals. We have a collection of rules and norms that reward some behaviours and punish others. In their current form, our systems seem to incentivise overconsumption, degrade communal bonds, and destroy natural wealth. But this is not inevitable or unavoidable; it is simply how our socio-economic structures have evolved to operate. The researchers in this project believe that place-based approaches and community engaged arts practices around the theme of sustainability, can enable a growing network of ecological citizens. In this paper we will explore how through creative arts practices, sharing ideas, thoughts, and questions and learning from best practices at a local, national, and international level from a variety of partners can create sustenance for a community-based network. Ways of building a network of new and existing place-based arts research and knowledge exchange which has the potential to include children and young people in the decision-making process, will be considered. We will consider how examples with embedded creative practice, such as community growers/larders/kitchens, forest schools etc., support partnership working within place-based projects. We will also discuss a people-centred approach to helping stakeholders, children, and young people, to make transitional choices, mitigate against negative consequences and empower local agency, in different localities. We will aim to show how diverse groups of people can begin to make impactful change through for example, community-focused approaches and community-led practices, activism and collective learning, advocacy, and design thinking in projects. We are defining ecological citizenship as accessible activities and skills which establish sustainable practice(s) and/or address ecological inequalities. This is also encompassed in our approach to the project, to our contextual surroundings, materials we use (and more) as an act of citizenship towards each other and the ecosystem