Designing for Inclusivity: Platforms of Protest and Participation

This is the final version. Available on open access from Cogitatio Press via the DOI in this recordThis article offers critical insights into new digital forms of citizen-led journalism. Many communities across western society are frequently excluded from participating in newsgathering and information dissemination that is directly relevant to them due to financial, educational and geographic constraints. News production is a risky business that requires professional levels of skill and considerable finances to sustain. Hence, ‘hyper-localised news’ are often absent from local and national debates. Local news reportage is habitually relegated to social media, which represents a privileged space where the diffusion of disinformation presents a threat to democratic processes. Deploying a place-based, person-centred approach towards investigating news production within communities in Cornwall, UK, this article reflects on a participatory action research project called the Citizen Journalism News Network (CJNN). The CJNN is an overt attempt to design disruptive systems for agenda setting through mass participation and engagement with social issues. The project was delivered within four communities via a twelve-week-long journalism course, and a bespoke online app. CJNN is a platform for citizen journalists to work collaboratively on investigating stories and raising awareness of social issues that directly affect the communities reporting on them.European Social Fund (ESF

‘We’re on the edge’: Cultures of care and Universal Credit

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Routledge via the DOI in this recordAusterity and welfare reforms – such as Universal Credit (UC) – are changing the ways in which care is delivered in the UK, increasing the precarity of individuals and the organisations who care for them. New cultures of care are emerging as a result. We show how an emplaced affect of ‘edgy-ness’ shaped a culture of care within third-sector organisations and housing associations working in Cornwall, UK. Drawing on a collaborative project consisting of four housing associations and four VCSOs, we explore ‘edgy-ness’ as one specific affect of precarity through an analysis of practitioners’ narratives of the project and its success.European Social Fund (ESF

Chain gang conservation: young people and environmental volunteering

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from University of Hertfordshire Press via the ISBN in this recordThis chapter examines how young people come to be enrolled and engaged in programmes of unpaid environmental conservation in rural areas. Set within a theoretical debate regarding the nature of unpaid work and its relationship to voluntary and coercive forms of environmental action, the chapter considers the principal pathways through which people between the ages of 14-25 come to be involved in efforts to protect and enhance rural landscapes and locales. Drawing on a combination of extended survey and in-depth qualitative research in the west and south of rural England, the chapter considers the systems of governance that surround the organisation of these unpaid activities and considers how these activities are rationalised and designed as practical and embodied experiences of citizenship. The chapter argues that enhancing participation rests less on fostering more young participants into the conservation sector than structuring these activities in more productive ways. As a result the chapter argues for the need to include young people in designing programmes of environmental work that take into consideration the reciprocity between the natural and the social relations of environmental conservation.Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC

Digital possibilities and social mission in the voluntary sector: the case of a community transport organisation in the UK

This is the author accepted manuscriptDigital technology is seen as a panacea to meeting the financial and operational challenges faced by voluntary and community sector organisations (VCSOs), through delivering efficiencies and cost-saving, alongside improving quality of service. However, according to recent assessments in the UK, the rate of digital adoption is slow compared with other sectors. This article identifies how a VCSO in a period of austerity prioritises its social mission over functionality and efficiency gains from digital technology. Employing the heuristic of phronesis, we argue that VCSOs seeking to implement digital innovations need to strike a balance between instrumental rationality (that is, what is possible to achieve with technology) and value rationality (that is, what is desirable to pursue by VCSOs). Our key argument is that theories of value rationality provide a new explanation for the slow adoption of digital technology among VCSOs.Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC

Guided Conversations: Findings and Social Impact

This is the final version.European Regional Development Fund (ERDF

The Role of Rural Heterogeneity in Knowledge Mobilisation and Sociotechnical Transitions: Reflections from a Study on Electric Vehicles as an Alternative Technology for Cornwall, UK

This is the final version. Available from Sciendo via the DOI in this record. Mobilising knowledges across a geography creates opportunities for transitions to smart systems. Publics in a geography are consequently able to form their perspectives around a system and align potential benefits with their needs. Intelligent transport systems are an example of smart living and EVs are cited as an alternative technology that are key to their application. This conceptual paper uses EVs as an example to demonstrate how knowledge mobilisation relating to such technologies can better cater to a geography’s needs. Unfortunately, current EV studies focus on a rural-urban binary. Thus, this conceptual contribution reflects on a study in Cornwall, UK, to reveal the heterogeneous influences on rural EV-related perspectives. This heterogeneity manifests both in particular locations and across cases. Overall a suite of transferrable participatory methods to improve rural knowledge mobilisation is outlined

‘Where’ is the evidence? A starting point for the development of place‐based research reviews and their implications for wellbeing‐related policymaking

This is the final version. Available on open access from Wiley via the DOI in this recordData availability statement: This paper concerns the development of a review methodology and did not involve any primary or secondary data collection.This paper aims to stimulate debate around the development of a place-based research review methodology. We present place-based reviews as a potential source of support for wellbeing-related local policymaking. Our introductory discussions highlight an ever-growing need for insights about specific localities and a lack in resources—including time—for local policymakers to engage with research. Additionally, increasing demands for local insights have been driven by devolution shifts, which redistribute policymaking responsibilities to local authorities. Hence, we explore the challenges and opportunities that arise when places are considered in reviewing research relevant to wellbeing. We build a case study around two related places of different scale: Truro, a small cathedral city in the United Kingdom's Southwest; and Cornwall, the regional county that contains Truro. We use these places as search terms in combination with terms concerning health and social care (HSC) services. HSC services are included as a component of our case study, as the topic is a consistent concern for wellbeing-related policies. In our findings, we report a lack of papers on our smaller scale of place (Truro). One might expect this outcome. Nonetheless, we reflect on current research practices and processes that might have further limited our ability to generate insights about Truro. Encouragingly, our findings on Cornwall demonstrate the potential of place-based reviews in supporting local policymaking more broadly. We make initial judgements around knowledge gaps—including the exclusion of perspectives from certain groups and identities—and topological insights, that is, those that are relevant to Cornwall as a whole. Our discussions also consider how place-based reviews can be enhanced via the retrieval and inclusion of non-academic studies. Finally, key questions to induce debate on this subject are posed in the conclusion.European Unio

Effect of crop rotations on potentially mineralizable-N and amino compounds in a Black Chernozem at Indian Head

Non-Peer ReviewedThe effect (i) of fertilization on fallow-wheat (F-W), F-W-W, and continuous wheat; (ii) of baling straw on F-W-W (fertilized); (iii) of including sweetclover as green manure (GM) in F-W-W (unfertilized); and (iv) of including bromegrass-alfalfa cut for hay (H) in a 6-yr mixed rotation (F-W-W-H-H-H), on soil organic matter nitrogen (N) characteristics was determined in the top 15 cm of a thin Black Chernozem at Indian Head Saskatchewan after 30 years of treatments. Treatment effects were apparent from analysis of Kjeldahl N, amino N released during hydrolysis with 6M HCl, and with potentially mineralizable N (N0) and its rate constant (k). However, the "potential rate of mineralization" (N0 × k) proved to be the most powerful tool in segregating treatment effects. The relative molar distribution (RMD) of amino acids showed significant increases in aspartic acid and decreases in arginine and leucine, but these differences were mainly related to the influence of the 6-yr and fertilized continuous wheat being different from the shorter or unfertilized systems. It was concluded that fertilizers are as effective as legume green manure or grass-alfalfa in increasing soil organic matter and improving its quality (N supplying power) in this medium fertility soil where moisture is rarely limiting to crop production. Secondly, it was suggested that the parameter N0 × k could be a powerful tool for scientists to use in assessing soil quality. Finally, we estimated that the F-W and F-W-W rotations, especially when not fertilized or when straw was baled, had continued to cause losses in total N; that fertilized F-W-W and unfertilized continuous wheat was maintaining the organic N, while the legume-containing and fertilized continuous wheat systems had increased the organic matter compared to the level at the start of the experiment (i.e., following many years of conventionally tilled F-W and F-W-W

A systems thinking approach to exploring the influence of the media on how publics engage with and develop dialogues relating to electric vehicles

This is the final version. Available on open access from Frontiers Media via the DOI in this recordElectric vehicles (EVs) are the most popular alternative to petrol and diesel vehicles and are becoming a central part of climate change mitigation strategies. This paper draws attention to how publics engage with communication strategies relating to EVs. By focusing on the interlinked relationships between an individual’s location, socio-demographic characteristics and their experiences with media sources, the paper demonstrates how EV-related knowledges are publicly engaged with and perceived by individuals. By using systems thinking as a critical analytical lens, we examine how these individuals use knowledges and/or refer to hegemonic framings of alternative technologies to discuss EVs. These constructs focus predominantly on consumerist framings of EVs and how they compare to petrol and diesel vehicles as a commodity. In this context, the paper provides an understanding of how to improve public engagement with EV-related communications by using a systems thinking approach. In doing so, the paper further offers a critical perspective on the relevance of EVs to publics beyond being a consumer product. These considerations can provide researchers with valuable insights into effective and more engaging communication strategies for particular contexts.European Social Fun