Embedding sustainability through systems thinking in practice: some experiences from the Open University

One initiative that has emerged during the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) through the work of the Open University Systems group has been its postgraduate programme in Systems Thinking and Practice (STiP). Built on some forty years’ experience of systems teaching and research at the Open University (OU), this open learning, distance taught programme is designed to develop students’ abilities to tackle complex messy situations, to provide skills to think more holistically and to work more collaboratively to avoid systemic failures. This paper critically reviews the trajectory of this programme –its past, present and future. It discusses the STiP programme’s many boundaries with other programmes and across sectors. Challenges of epistemology, ethics and purpose are explored, in relation to education for sustainability. The programme’s many and varied teaching and learning processes are explicated. The pedagogy of the STiP programme is grounded in a diverse range of students’ experiences and needs that by no means all focus explicitly, or primarily, on sustainability or sustainable development. Many OU students study part-time alongside their other commitments, both work and community-based. STiP students are all interested in systems and learning. But what STiP is a part of for them varies considerably. Students come mainly from the UK and rest of Europe. Many of their interactions are online through several different fora. A diverse, active and critical OU STiP alumni community has developed, initiated by the early graduates of the programme. Academics responsible for the programme also participate in this community’s deliberations, at the invitation of student alumni. In this paper, the authors build on their various experiences of the STiP programme and re-explore its contexts and boundaries from an ESD point of view. They use some of the systems heuristics that they teach, to critically reflect on both what is being achieved through this programme in relation to education for sustainability and what they and some of their past students and associate lecturers think ought to be occurring in this respect as they go forward

Contrasting statistical indicators of Māori language revitalization: Conversational ability, speaking proficiency, and first language

Is it possible to track the revitalization of the Māori language statistically? Different large-scale statistical collections (censuses and surveys) in New Zealand effectively have different definitions of speaker because they ask different questions. This paper compares trends in numbers of Māori speakers as estimated from responses to questions about conversational ability, first language, and level of speaking proficiency, with particular reference to the 2013 Census and Te Kupenga (Māori social survey) 2013. One might expect estimates based on these responses to align closely, but they do not. This paper explores the relationships between the different estimates for different birth cohorts. Data on first language from at least four surveys provide strong evidence of a resurgence in intergenerational language transmission, which is not clearly apparent from the other indicators. Patterns of response to conversational ability and speaking proficiency questions are found to vary according to first language and birth cohort. It is argued that the apparent inconsistencies between the indicators reflect the real complexity of revitalization processes, as well as varying interpretations of the language questions, and that the New Zealand census language question on conversational ability is of questionable value as an indicator for tracking Māori language revitalization.National Foreign Language Resource Cente

Farmers doing it for themselves: how farmer-inventors are frustrated by their interactions with the Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation System

Notwithstanding recent policy commitments to formally involve farmers in innovation through initiatives such as the European Innovation Partnership (EIP-AGRI), the traditional perspective of the policy and academic literature in Europe has been that agricultural innovations are provided by others for farmers to adopt. In this context there has been relatively little research on the approaches of farmers who independently invent useful products and processes for themselves. This paper presents an analysis of Irish farmers’ inventing processes as a form of user innovation, using data generated from in-depth interviews with farmer-inventors and semi-structured interviews with key informants from agricultural organisations. The farmer-inventors mostly use tacit knowledge and practical skills to create their inventions with the objective of increasing efficiency as a means to improving family farm viability. Farmer-inventors with entrepreneurial intentions were less inclined to share their ideas freely and described financial and temporal constraints in commercialising their inventions. The Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation System (AKIS) concept was used to frame an analysis of farmer-inventors’ interactions with innovation support organisations from the perspective of the farmers themselves. This allowed appraisal of the Irish AKIS’ support of farmer-led innovation relating to the positioning, visibility, and representation of farmers’ knowledge, inventions, and networks. This study contributes new knowledge about user innovation in European agriculture as EIP-AGRI co-production structures become established. It is proposed that farmers are a hitherto underappreciated source of independent knowledge and inventions in agricultural development and are poorly supported by AKIS institutions

Literacy and numeracy assessments of adult English language learners

This report is an attempt to answer questions about the extent to which the Assessment Tool can reasonably and legitimately be used to assess the literacy and numeracy of English language learners, on the basis of a descriptive study of skills (as measured by the Assessment Tool) of English language learners in comparison with learners with English as first language. Executive Summary Key Findings Assessments of learners using the Literacy and Numeracy for Adults Assessment Tool were compared according to the learners’ First language (English or other) Participation in the study of English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) Enrolment in different types of tertiary education programme. Assessment results for reading, writing and vocabulary consistently showed expected relationships with English language proficiency:  the percentage of learners with low skills was greatest among ESOL learners, least among native English speakers, and at an intermediate level among learners with first language other than English who were not in ESOL study. The percentage of native English speakers with low skills in reading, writing and vocabulary varied considerably between types of programme.  The percentage of English language learners with low skills in reading, writing and vocabulary followed the same pattern of variation as native English speakers between types of programme. These findings provide a strong indication that the Literacy and Numeracy for Adults Assessment Tool produces appropriate assessments of the literacy skills of those English language learners who were assessed. However, numeracy results were variable.  For some types of programme there was no difference between English language learners and native English speakers, while in others there were large differences.  The pattern of variation in numeracy skills between types of programme for English language learners was somewhat different from the pattern of variation for native English speakers. This means that it is unclear whether numeracy assessments can be used reliably with English language learners, and further investigation is needed to determine this. On the other hand, English language learners and native English speakers showed similar rates of statistically significant gain in scores for the full range of skills, i.e. reading, writing, vocabulary and general numeracy. English language learners (especially those in ESOL study) took longer in general to complete online versions of assessments than native English speakers, sometimes considerably longer.  In so far as time taken is an indicator of effort expended in undertaking assessments, then English language learners could be said to experience greater difficulty than native English speakers. A key limitation of the study is that large numbers of English language learners were not assessed, and it is not clear that these findings would apply to those learners who were not assessed

Too many cooks?: changing wages and job ladders in the food industry

Consolidation and outsourcing in the food industry have created higher-paying food prep jobs, but also have erected barriers for lower-skilled workers trying to move up the ladder.Food industry and trade

Reaping the rewards of learning within agricultural knowledge systems: An account of a PhD learning system

Despite the existence and application of mandatory agri-environmental policy for many decades, significant environmental sustainability problems remain attributable to the agricultural sector. Participatory types of extension practices are believed to have a potential to enable extension organisations to enhance the supports provided to farmers to help meet the requirements and objectives of these policies. To test this proposition, the PhD researcher used a learning systems approach for exploring the interplay between farmer subjectivities, the European Union’s policy of cross compliance and the extension practices of Teagasc, the Irish Agriculture and Food Development Authority. Three learning sub-systems were employed in the investigation. The first used the principles of Participatory Action Research for revealing stakeholders’ perceptions of Teagasc’s cross compliance extension service. This process resulted in the attainment of rich insights about extension practices, however it also revealed that a significant number of farmers were experiencing socio-cultural difficulties with the application and enforcement of cross compliance. To better understand the implications of these subjectivities, a second sub-system was created to learn about farmers’ experiences of the policy. This process surfaced diverse insights about farmers’ personal experiences of cross compliance. A final sub-system employed systems thinking and practice for appraising the utility of the learning arising from the previous sub-systems for improving interactions between farmers, extension organisations and cross compliance. The combined findings of the thesis indicate that there is considerable potential for extension organisations to use participatory practices for developing rich understandings of farmers’ preferences for mandatory agri-environmental policy and its related extension practices. However, a limitation in realising participant preferences is that extension organisations appear to have little influence over the application and enforcement of mandatory agri-environmental policy. Overcoming this participatory barrier will require sustained collective learning targeted at understanding how stakeholders can work together to develop agri-environmental policies that are socially, financially and environmentally sustainable. This paper explores how this ‘sustained collective learning’ may be realised taking a specific account of the learnings developed within and following the completion of the PhD Learning System. The insights elucidated will be of interest to scholars and extension practitioners involved in similar learning endeavours

Pricing decisions and the role of cost accounting systems and cost information in tourism organisations

The accounting literature reports that the ability to set prices efficiently for products and services is supported by an effective costing system. Prior research indicates the dominance of pricing methods using fixed and variable cost information and discusses the benefits of applying sophisticated costing methods to aid in pricing decisions. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of cost information and costing systems in the pricing decisions of tourism organisations. Data was collected via an online survey instrument from a range of Queensland tourism organisations. Full cost information was found to have relatively greater importance. Customer oriented and short-term survival objectives were found to be the more important pricing objectives. Several correlations were found between sophistication of the cost accounting system and choice of pricing method and objectives. This paper contributes to the literature by providing an analysis of the role of cost information and cost accounting systems in pricing decisions within tourism organisations

New states above charm threshold

We revise and extend expectations for the properties of charmonium states that lie above charm threshold, in light of new experimental information. We refine the Cornell coupled-channel model for the coupling of c-cbar levels to two-meson states, defining resonance masses and widths by pole positions in the complex energy plane, and suggest new targets for experiment.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figures, uses RevTeX. Added references. Corrects transcription error for 3D1 states in Table II

What is the most beneficial diet for patients with diverticulosis?

A diet high in fiber (particularly fruit and vegetable fiber) and low in fat and red meat may help to decrease the risk of symptomatic diverticular disease (strength of recommendation [SOR]: C, case-control studies and a large prospective cohort study). For people with diverticular disease, a diet high in fiber might decrease the risk of complications (SOR: C, case series). No studies have evaluated the effect of nut and seed avoidance

Techniques and applications for predictive metallurgy and ore

peer reviewe