Growing Your Own And Growing Social Cohesion? A Study of the Social and Civic Dividends of Urban Agriculture (UA) Initiatives: Dublin and Belfast

This study explores the social and civic dividends of allotment gardening in two diverse urban contexts: Dublin, Ireland and Belfast, Northern Ireland. Traditionally, allotments were associated with older men and lower socio-economic groups. A demonstrable rise in urban agriculture (UA) initiatives in recent years has seen a significant shift in the traditional demographics engaging in practice. Those investing are increasingly younger, from the middle classes, and include more and more women. Drawing on empirical investigations in both cities between 2011- 2013, this thesis argues that the revival of the urban allotment represents a form of resistance to the dis-embedding processes associated with post-modern lifestyles. Urban gardening represents an explicit attempt by urban dwellers to (re)connect with traditional forms of knowledge, the land, and practice. UA enables urban dwellers to (re)connect with others, (re)generate a sense of community, and to restore a sense of belonging in the city. The rise in demand for UA in Belfast also represents an explicit attempt by urban dwellers to engage in bridge-building across the community divide, ameliorate residual ethno-religious/national divisions in the city and transcend the politicization of everyday urban life. Indeed, in both cities, allotment gardening creates a form of social levelling that contributes to social integration and localised forms of social cohesion. The study develops an innovative typology of allotment gardeners, and introduces the concepts of agrarian habitus and aspirational habitus to explain the complex relationships between ecological goals and beliefs and actual cultivation practices. An extensive archive of photographs is drawn upon to illustrate the physical, social, ecological and aesthetic dimensions of allotment gardening. Finally, the study makes a number of recommendations for how policy makers might better integrate UA practices into everyday life in the city

A Labor of Love

Chuck and Jay Ames have transformed the campus where they first met on a blind date more than 50 years ago

A (mid)Life Worth Living

For Baby Boomers, middle age can become a crossroads, providing the chance to discover our true gifts

Women and maternity care providers experiences of planned home birth in Northern Ireland: A descriptive survey

Background: Where a woman gives birth impacts both her postnatal outcomes and experiences. However, for women who plan home birth in Northern Ireland, their experiences and that of their maternity care providers are rarely sought. Aim: This study examined women's and maternity care providers’ experiences and perceptions of home birth service provision in Northern Ireland. Methods: Online surveys were used to investigate the experiences of women (n = 62) who had experienced a home birth or had a view on planned home birth and maternity care providers (n = 77) who offered home birth services in Northern Ireland between November 2018 and November 2020. The surveys were analysed using descriptive statistics. Findings: The women were all multigravida, with 39 experiencing a planned home birth and three having an intrapartum transfer. Most of the women (61.3 %; n = 38/62) knew about home birth services through social media or friends and 91% (n = 57/62) discussed their plans for home birth with their maternity care providers antenatally. Maternity care providers were mostly supportive (64.9 %; n = 50/77) of women having a choice about place of birth. Midwives were mostly confident (52 %; n = 13/25) or very confident (28 %; n = 7) about caring for women having a planned home birth but did not always feel supported by colleagues. Discussion: Most women rated their care as excellent or very good. Midwives reported limited support from colleagues for home birth provision. Conclusion: There is a need to support women in their birthplace choice and empower maternity care providers to facilitate this through a fully resourced home birth service infrastructure and collegial support

Systematic review of women's experiences of planning home birth in consultation with maternity care providers in middle to high-income countries

Aim: To synthesise findings from published studies, which reported on women's experiences of planning a home birth in consultation with maternity care providers. Design: Systematic Review Data Sources: We searched seven bibliographic databases, (Ovid Medline, Embase, PsycInfo, CINAHL plus, Scopus, ProQuest and Cochrane (Central and Library), from January 2015 to 29th April 2022. Review Methods: Primary studies were included if they investigated women's experiences of planning a home birth with maternity care providers, in upper-middle and high-income countries and written in English language. Studies were analysed using thematic synthesis. GRADE-CERQual was used to assess the quality, coherence, adequacy and relevance of data. The protocol is registered on PROSPERO registration ID: CRD 42018095042 (updated 28th September 2020) and published. Results: 1274 articles were retrieved, and 410 duplicates removed. Following screening and quality appraisal, 20 eligible studies (19 qualitative and 1 survey) involving 2,145 women were included. Key Conclusions: Women's prior traumatic experience of hospital birth and a preference for physiological birth motivated their assertive decision to have a planned home birth despite criticisms and stigmatisation from their social circle and some maternity care providers. Midwives’ competence and support enhanced women's confidence and positive experiences of planning a home birth. Implications for practice: This review highlights the stigma that some women feel and the importance of support from health professionals, particularly midwives when planning a home birth. We recommend accessible evidence-based information for women and their families to support women's decision-making for planned home birth. The findings from this review can be used to inform woman-centred planned home birth services, particularly in the UK, (although evidence is drawn from papers in eight other countries, so findings are relevant elsewhere), which will impact positively on the experiences of women who are planning home birth

Audit Firm Rotation Concerns And Considerations

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) issued a concept release in 2011 which proposes a mandatory audit firm rotation. However, PCAOB indicates that there is a limited amount of empirical data and research evidence on the potential costs and benefits of such mandatory audit firm rotation. This study provides some empirical evidences related to PCAOBs concerns. Specifically, we find that the largest clients audited by Big 4 accounting firms have few material internal control weaknesses and accounting restatements. In addition, accounting restatements are often reported within four years after the beginning of accounting errors and are reported by the same auditor during the restatement period. These findings cast doubt on the benefit of mandatory audit firm rotation. We also find that the largest audit clients on average represent over 20% of the audit revenues of local offices of Big 4 accounting firms. Thus, mandatory audit firm rotations could significantly disrupt the normal operations of public accounting firms if audit clients are required to change auditors periodically