Pour une formation des élus municipaux en matière d’environnement : observations et repères

Cet article présente les résultats d’une caractérisation des pratiques de formation relative à l’environnement auprès d’élus municipaux, à la lumière de fondements théoriques de l’éducation relative à l’environnement et de la formation professionnelle des adultes. L’analyse a porté sur un ensemble d’activités de formation qu’il a été possible d’observer au Québec. Elle a aussi été alimentée par ma propre pratique réflexive tout au long de mon expérience de 20 ans d’accompagnement professionnel en matière d’environnement en contexte municipal. L’exercice de caractérisation s’attarde plus spécifiquement aux contenus de la formation, aux buts poursuivis et aux approches adoptées. Ces aspects sont interprétés au regard de deux perspectives de formation distinctes : une perspective socioécologique, largement dominante, et une perspective psychosociale en émergence. Nous verrons qu’au-delà des limites actuelles, la convergence de ces deux perspectives peut offrir un riche terreau pour concevoir une offre de formation adéquate, bien adaptée aux élus municipaux. Nous proposons des repères à cet effet.This article presents the results of a characterization of environmental training practices carried out for elected municipal officials, in the light of the theoretical foundations of environmental education and continuing education for adults. The analysis focused on training activities observed in Quebec’s (Canada) municipal context. It was also mediated by my own reflective practice as an environmental professional working in a municipal context over a span of 20 years. The characterization focused more specifically on the contents of the training, the goals pursued, and the approaches adopted. These aspects are interpreted in the light of two distinct training perspectives : a socio-ecological perspective, largely dominant, and an emerging psychosocial perspective. We will see that beyond the current limits, the convergence of these two perspectives can provide a rich breeding ground for the design of training programs suited for elected municipal officials. We offer benchmarks for this purpose

Contextes et stratégies privilégiés par des élu.e.s de municipalités québécoises pour leur formation continue en matière d’environnement

Compte tenu du rôle incontournable que jouent les municipalités dans la nécessaire transition écologique, la formation relative à l’environnement des élu.e.s des municipalités québécoises se doit d’être adaptée au contexte local et politique. Dans la foulée d’une recherche qualitative basée sur des observations non participantes et des entretiens semi-dirigés auprès d’élu·e·s, et dans le cadre de laquelle un regard critique a été porté sur l’offre de formation actuelle en ce domaine, il nous a été possible de dégager les préférences des élu.e.s en matière de contextes et de stratégies de formation. Ces préférences, examinées à la lumière de fondements et de pratiques documentés en éducation relative à l’environnement, permettent d’identifier les principales caractéristiques d’un processus de formation continue adéquat pour ces apprenant.e.s adultes aux fonctions politiques particulières en matière d’environnement.Given the essential role that municipalities play towards ecological transition, environmental training for elected officials of Quebec municipalities must be adapted to the local and political context. In the wake of qualitative research based on non-participant observations and semi-structured interviews with local elected officials, and within an environmental education framework, a critical analysis was conducted regarding current training activities offered to elected officials in terms of learning, contexts and strategies. These preferences examined in the light of documented principals and practices in environmental education, make it possible to identify the main characteristics of a continuing education process for adult learners with political functions in regard to the environment

Les réserves de biosphère du Canada : apprentissage social et bonnes pratiques

De l’échelle locale à l’échelle mondiale, les demandes sur les écosystèmes ne cessent de s’accroître alors que la capacité de ces derniers à fournir des biens et services de qualité diminue. Ces transformations, exacerbées par la situation économique mondiale et l’accroissement des inégalités sociales, soulèvent inexorablement le défi d’améliorer les savoir-faire et les savoir-être à l’égard de l’environnement et des systèmes de gouvernance, à tous les niveaux de compétences. L’atteinte d’un ..

L’éducation relative à l’environnement dans la Réserve de biosphère du mont Saint-Hilaire : observations et tensions

Le Programme sur l’Homme et la Biosphère (Programme MAB) de l’UNESCO vise à établir une base scientifique pour améliorer les relations entre l’humanité et la nature à l’échelle mondiale. Après presque 50 ans d’existence, l’expression la plus tangible du Programme MAB est un réseau de réserves de biosphère dont l’un des principaux objectifs est l’éducation. Puisque l’éducation relative à l’environnement a pour visée l’harmonisation du réseau de relations personne-société-environnement, nous avons effectué une analyse critique des actions suggérées à cet effet par le Programme MAB. Cet exercice a été réalisé dans le cadre du 3e examen périodique de la Réserve de biosphère du mont Saint-Hilaire (RBMSH), prévu par le cadre statutaire des réserves de biosphère dans une perspective d’amélioration des pratiques éducatives. Au bilan, nous formulons cinq observations relatives aux visées de l’ERE, au cadre non formel, à l’axiologie des pratiques, à la pertinence d’élaborer un modèle-cadre et à celle d’adopter des approches d’évaluation formative des pratiques pour favoriser la prise en compte de la diversité des relations entre les humains et la biosphère au sein de la RBMSH et dans le Réseau mondial des réserves de biosphère.UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Program aims to establish a scientific basis for improving human-nature relations on a global scale. After almost 50 years of existence, the most tangible expression of MAB is a network of biosphere reserves, one of whose main objectives is education. Since environmental education (EE) sets out to harmonize the relations between person-society-environment, we have carried out a critical analysis of the actions suggested for this purpose by the MAB. This exercise was carried out as part of the 3rd periodic review of the Mont Saint-Hilaire Biosphere Reserve (RBMSH), in compliance with the Statutory Framework of Biosphere Reserves and with the intention of providing insights into EE practices. In summary, we present five observations concerning the aims of EE, the non-formal framework in which EE is conducted, the axiology of practices, the relevance of developing an EE framework model, and the adoption of formative evaluation approaches during periodic reviews to take into account the diversity of human-biosphere relations within the RBMSH and the World Network of Biosphere Reserves

Beneficial effects of reconstituted high-density lipoprotein (rHDL) on circulating CD34+ cells in patients after an acute coronary syndrome

Background: High-density lipoproteins (HDL) favorably affect endothelial progenitor cells (EPC). Circulating progenitor cell level and function are impaired in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS). This study investigates the short-term effects of reconstituted HDL (rHDL) on circulating progenitor cells in patients with ACS. Methods and Findings: The study population consisted of 33 patients with recent ACS: 20 patients from the ERASE trial (randomized to receive 4 weekly intravenous infusions of CSL-111 40 mg/kg or placebo) and 13 additional patients recruited as controls using the same enrolment criteria. Blood was collected from 16 rHDL (CSL-111)-treated patients and 17 controls at baseline and at 6–7 weeks (i.e. 2–3 weeks after the fourth infusion of CSL-111 in ERASE). CD34+ and CD34+/kinase insert domain receptor (KDR+) progenitor cell counts were analyzed by flow cytometry. We found preserved CD34+ cell counts in CSL-111-treated subjects at follow-up (change of 1.6%), while the number of CD34+ cells was reduced (-32.9%) in controls (p = 0.017 between groups). The level of circulating SDF-1 (stromal cell-derived factor-1), a chemokine involved in progenitor cell recruitment, increased significantly (change of 21.5%) in controls, while it remained unchanged in CSL-111-treated patients (p = 0.031 between groups). In vitro exposure to CSL-111 of early EPC isolated from healthy volunteers significantly increased CD34+ cells, reduced early EPC apoptosis and enhanced their migration capacity towards SDF-1. Conclusions: The relative increase in circulating CD34+ cells and the low SDF-1 levels observed following rHDL infusions in ACS patients point towards a role of rHDL in cardiovascular repair mechanisms

Pharmacogenomics of the efficacy and safety of Colchicine in COLCOT

© 2021 The Authors. Circulation: Genomic and Precision Medicine is published on behalf of the American Heart Association, Inc., by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License, which permits use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided that the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes.Background: The randomized, placebo-controlled COLCOT (Colchicine Cardiovascular Outcomes Trial) has shown the benefits of colchicine 0.5 mg daily to lower the rate of ischemic cardiovascular events in patients with a recent myocardial infarction. Here, we conducted a post hoc pharmacogenomic study of COLCOT with the aim to identify genetic predictors of the efficacy and safety of treatment with colchicine. Methods: There were 1522 participants of European ancestry from the COLCOT trial available for the pharmacogenomic study of COLCOT trial. The pharmacogenomic study's primary cardiovascular end point was defined as for the main trial, as time to first occurrence of cardiovascular death, resuscitated cardiac arrest, myocardial infarction, stroke, or urgent hospitalization for angina requiring coronary revascularization. The safety end point was time to the first report of gastrointestinal events. Patients' DNA was genotyped using the Illumina Global Screening array followed by imputation. We performed a genome-wide association study in colchicine-treated patients. Results: None of the genetic variants passed the genome-wide association study significance threshold for the primary cardiovascular end point conducted in 702 patients in the colchicine arm who were compliant to medication. The genome-wide association study for gastrointestinal events was conducted in all 767 patients in the colchicine arm and found 2 significant association signals, one with lead variant rs6916345 (hazard ratio, 1.89 [95% CI, 1.52-2.35], P=7.41×10-9) in a locus which colocalizes with Crohn disease, and one with lead variant rs74795203 (hazard ratio, 2.51 [95% CI, 1.82-3.47]; P=2.70×10-8), an intronic variant in gene SEPHS1. The interaction terms between the genetic variants and treatment with colchicine versus placebo were significant. Conclusions: We found 2 genomic regions associated with gastrointestinal events in patients treated with colchicine. Those findings will benefit from replication to confirm that some patients may have genetic predispositions to lower tolerability of treatment with colchicine.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Pour une formation des élus municipaux en matière d’environnement : observations et repères

Cet article présente les résultats d’une caractérisation des pratiques de formation relative à l’environnement auprès d’élus municipaux, à la lumière de fondements théoriques de l’éducation relative à l’environnement et de la formation professionnelle des adultes. L’analyse a porté sur un ensemble d’activités de formation qu’il a été possible d’observer au Québec. Elle a aussi été alimentée par ma propre pratique réflexive tout au long de mon expérience de 20 ans d’accompagnement professionnel en matière d’environnement en contexte municipal. L’exercice de caractérisation s’attarde plus spécifiquement aux contenus de la formation, aux buts poursuivis et aux approches adoptées. Ces aspects sont interprétés au regard de deux perspectives de formation distinctes : une perspective socioécologique, largement dominante, et une perspective psychosociale en émergence. Nous verrons qu’au-delà des limites actuelles, la convergence de ces deux perspectives peut offrir un riche terreau pour concevoir une offre de formation adéquate, bien adaptée aux élus municipaux. Nous proposons des repères à cet effet.This article presents the results of a characterization of environmental training practices carried out for elected municipal officials, in the light of the theoretical foundations of environmental education and continuing education for adults. The analysis focused on training activities observed in Quebec’s (Canada) municipal context. It was also mediated by my own reflective practice as an environmental professional working in a municipal context over a span of 20 years. The characterization focused more specifically on the contents of the training, the goals pursued, and the approaches adopted. These aspects are interpreted in the light of two distinct training perspectives : a socio-ecological perspective, largely dominant, and an emerging psychosocial perspective. We will see that beyond the current limits, the convergence of these two perspectives can provide a rich breeding ground for the design of training programs suited for elected municipal officials. We offer benchmarks for this purpose

Pour des villes écoresponsables : contribution potentielle des élus municipaux et enjeux de formation associés.

The lack of political will is widely stated as a challenge for the socio-ecological transformation of cities. This article examines Quebec’s municipal elected officials as decision makers abled to transform cities into eco-responsible living environments and considers the knowledge and skill sets needed to induce such transformations. This article begins by identifying elected officials as actors within the Quebec political structures and draws attention to their ability to act on socio-ecological issues and highlights learning challenges they face as decision makers. The second part of this article presents the results of an analysis of the representations and practices of professionals involved in training of municipal elected officials to offer a critical appraisal of the socio-ecological issues and related skill sets they consider to be important. These results were drawn from a qualitative research approach based on non-participant observation and semi-structured interviews. Trainers of municipal officials interviewed present socio-ecological issues in a dualistic manner with a predominant focus on adaptation to climate change. They make little mention of the skills targeted by the training they offer. The training strategies mobilized can be associated to « knowledge transfer » and are influenced by a teaching paradigm. This critical exploration of the representations of trainers that work with local decision makers in Quebec shows the importance of pursuing research in environmental education with adults who are elected officials, as well as improving their professional training, particularly with respect to skills associated to eco-citizenship