Assessment of the growth in social groups for sustainable agriculture and land management

Non-technical summary Until the past half-century, all agriculture and land management was framed by local institutions strong in social capital. But neoliberal forms of development came to undermine existing structures, thus reducing sustainability and equity. The past 20 years, though, have seen the deliberate establishment of more than 8 million new social groups across the world. This restructuring and growth of rural social capital within specific territories is leading to increased productivity of agricultural and land management systems, with particular benefits for those previously excluded. Further growth would occur with more national and regional policy support. Technical summary For agriculture and land management to improve natural capital over whole landscapes, social cooperation has long been required. The political economy of the later twentieth and early twenty-first centuries prioritized unfettered individual action over the collective, and many rural institutions were harmed or destroyed. Since then, a wide range of social movements, networks and federations have emerged to support transitions towards sustainability and equity. Here, we focus on social capital manifested as intentionally formed collaborative groups within specific geographic territories. These groups focus on: (1) integrated pest management; (2) forests; (3) land; (4) water; (5) pastures; (6) support services; (7) innovation platforms; and (8) small-scale systems. We show across 122 initiatives in 55 countries that the number of groups has grown from 0.50 million (in 2000) to 8.54 million (in 2020). The area of land transformed by the 170–255 million group members is 300 Mha, mostly in less-developed countries (98% groups; 94% area). Farmers and land managers working with scientists and extensionists in these groups have improved both environmental outcomes and agricultural productivity. In some cases, changes to national or regional policy supported this growth in groups. Together with other movements, these social groups could now support further transitions towards policies and behaviours for global sustainability. Social media summary Millions of geographically based new social groups are leading to more sustainable agriculture and forestry worldwide. © The Author(s), 2020

COVID-19 lockdown : a global study investigating athletes’ sport classification and sex on training practices

PURPOSE : To investigate differences in athletes’ knowledge, beliefs, and training practices during COVID-19 lockdowns with reference to sport classification and sex. This work extends an initial descriptive evaluation focusing on athlete classification. METHODS : Athletes (12,526; 66% male; 142 countries) completed an online survey (May–July 2020) assessing knowledge, beliefs, and practices toward training. Sports were classified as team sports (45%), endurance (20%), power/technical (10%), combat (9%), aquatic (6%), recreational (4%), racquet (3%), precision (2%), parasports (1%), and others (1%). Further analysis by sex was performed. RESULTS : During lockdown, athletes practiced body-weight-based exercises routinely (67% females and 64% males), ranging from 50% (precision) to 78% (parasports). More sport-specific technical skills were performed in combat, parasports, and precision (∼50%) than other sports (∼35%). Most athletes (range: 50% [parasports] to 75% [endurance]) performed cardiorespiratory training (trivial sex differences). Compared to prelockdown, perceived training intensity was reduced by 29% to 41%, depending on sport (largest decline: ∼38% in team sports, unaffected by sex). Some athletes (range: 7%–49%) maintained their training intensity for strength, endurance, speed, plyometric, change-of-direction, and technical training. Athletes who previously trained ≥5 sessions per week reduced their volume (range: 18%–28%) during lockdown. The proportion of athletes (81%) training ≥60 min/session reduced by 31% to 43% during lockdown. Males and females had comparable moderate levels of training knowledge (56% vs 58%) and beliefs/attitudes (54% vs 56%). CONCLUSIONS : Changes in athletes’ training practices were sport-specific, with few or no sex differences. Team-based sports were generally more susceptible to changes than individual sports. Policy makers should provide athletes with specific training arrangements and educational resources to facilitate remote and/or home-based training during lockdown-type events.https://journals.humankinetics.com/view/journals/ijspp/ijspp-overview.xmlhj2023Sports Medicin

Murder and Mutilation in Early-Stuart England: A Case Study in Crime Reporting

Although historians have long recognized that crime pamphlet authors were not very faithful reporters, it has been difficult for them to establish precisely how much fiction this literature contained because of the limited availability of other sources with which to compare them. Using a case study approach, this essay examines two murder pamphlets, both written in 1606, that describe the murder of a young boy, Anthony James, the mutilation of his sister, Elizabeth, and the conviction and execution of their alleged assailants, Agnes and George Dell. The presence of two pamphlets describing the same series of crimes was unusual, and, through a process of detailed comparison and critical interpretation, provides us with an opportunity to reflect further on the accuracy and purpose of crime reporting in early modern England. The two versions contain a great deal of contradictory information, were seemingly written for very different audiences, served a variety of functions for contemporary readers, and raise the question of whether the authors believed that justice was done in this case.Les historiens savent depuis longtemps que les auteurs de récits de crime ne rapportaient pas fidèlement les faits, mais il demeure difficile pour eux d’estimer précisément la part de fiction dans ces écrits en raison du manque de sources susceptibles d’en fournir une base comparative. Par une étude de cas, cet article se propose d’examiner deux brochures datées de 1606 relatant le meurtre d’un jeune garçon, Anthony James, la mutilation de sa soeur Elizabeth, de même que la conviction et l’exécution de leurs supposés assaillants, Agnes et George Dell. La coexistence de deux brochures décrivant la même série de crimes est inhabituelle; l’analyse comparative minutieuse et l’interprétation critique de ces récits permettront de poursuivre la réflexion sur les notions d’exactitude et de pertinence dans la couverture des procès criminels en Angleterre à l’époque moderne. Les deux versions contenaient de nombreux détails contradictoires; elles ciblaient de toute évidence des publics fort différents, remplissant une panoplie de fonctions pour les lecteurs contemporains, et, ultimement, soulèvent la question de savoir si les auteurs ont cru, en ce cas, que justice fut faite

Strategic Culture:Framework for Analysis

https://thekeep.eiu.edu/den_1916_dec/1001/thumbnail.jp