Violences sur la scène contemporaine : nécessité ou gratuité?

Sur la scène contemporaine, la monstration de la violence rencontre la perplexité grandissante d’un public qui n’accepte pas facilement les pratiques théâtrales dont il pense qu’elles l’agressent inutilement et auxquelles il ne trouve, par conséquent, pas de justification. Toutefois, les avis sont divisés et ceux qui croient que le théâtre peut avoir une action sociale concrète ne s’insurgent pas contre la violence qui leur est faite. Au contraire, ils en défendent l’intérêt artistique, la justesse, voire l’absolue nécessité. Ainsi reconsidérée, la violence détient, selon eux, une force mobilisatrice qui n’est peut-être pas à bouder. Générant une tension dans le public, elle est susceptible d’éveiller l’indignation et de susciter la réflexion. La violence a-t-elle ou non la capacité de responsabiliser le public, de muer le spectateur en acteur? Ou bien le public n’est-il pas plutôt forcé à un certain voyeurisme? Son goût du sensationnalisme n’est-il pas ici davantage flatté que critiqué? La création artistique actuelle est traversée par des courants d’une grande radicalité, et c’est au sujet de quelques-uns de ses avatars les plus représentatifs (notamment Jan Fabre et Rodrigo García) que nous proposons de nous interroger.The display of violence on contemporary stages meets a growing perplexity from a public that does not easily accept theatrical practices which he thinks uselessly aggress him and for which he does not find any justification. Opinions are divided however and those who believe theatre can have a concrete social impact don't rebel against such violence directed towards them but rather defend its artistic interest, its accuracy or even its absolute necessity. Thus reconsidered, violence holds—according to them—a mobilising force which is perhaps not to be shun. Generating a tension amongst audiences it is susceptible to awake indignation and to arouse reflection. Does violence have the capability or not to raise awareness, to turn spectators into actors? Or is the public on the contrary forced into a king of voyeurism? Is his taste for sensationalism more flattered than criticised? Contemporary artistic creation is crossed by radical trends and it is around some of their best known avatars—Jan Fabre and Rodrigo García amongst others—that we will discuss these questions

A pan-European epidemiological study reveals honey bee colony survival depends on beekeeper education and disease control

Reports of honey bee population decline has spurred many national efforts to understand the extent of the problem and to identify causative or associated factors. However, our collective understanding of the factors has been hampered by a lack of joined up trans-national effort. Moreover, the impacts of beekeeper knowledge and beekeeping management practices have often been overlooked, despite honey bees being a managed pollinator. Here, we established a standardised active monitoring network for 5 798 apiaries over two consecutive years to quantify honey bee colony mortality across 17 European countries. Our data demonstrate that overwinter losses ranged between 2% and 32%, and that high summer losses were likely to follow high winter losses. Multivariate Poisson regression models revealed that hobbyist beekeepers with small apiaries and little experience in beekeeping had double the winter mortality rate when compared to professional beekeepers. Furthermore, honey bees kept by professional beekeepers never showed signs of disease, unlike apiaries from hobbyist beekeepers that had symptoms of bacterial infection and heavy Varroa infestation. Our data highlight beekeeper background and apicultural practices as major drivers of honey bee colony losses. The benefits of conducting trans-national monitoring schemes and improving beekeeper training are discussed

Politico-administrative scenario evaluation through quantitative network analysis: Using Measure 121 (modernization of agricultural holdings) of Axis 1 as an illustration

In Greece, there is a fostered policy for the modernization of agricultural holdings. This aims in order at improving productivity and environmental performance within a highly competitive international environment. The main research questions are to find what structural changes are desirable or possible to appear in the politico-administrative hierarchy from the 3rd to the 4th Programming Period. Issues of power centralization, information management, dogmatism and conflict are examined. The main method applied for this purpose is the Quantitative Network Analysis. Primary data were collected with standardized questionnaires. State officials have been interviewed. Three scenarios are extracted: a) the real situation of the 3rd PP, b) the desirable situation of the 4th PP, and the probable situation of the 4th PP. Informal hierarchies are measured and visualized. The operationalization of the power dimensions and the other types of links is of crucial importance for the validity and reliability of the results. The results can be useful for policy consulting, if one compares the “probable” and “desirable” scenarios of the 4th PP with the past situation of 3rd PP and particular suggestions can be made. Greece is characterized by a top-down approach of rural development. The process of design and delivery is strongly centralized, and this leads to inflexibility. The bureaucratic procedures and the requirement of too many and possibly unnecessary documents are usual obstacles. The participants present ambitious desires but they also are realists rather than over-optimists concerning the simplicity of the procedures. They believe that the experience of the past can become a lesson for a realistic and not over-optimistic improvement

Rural development policy delivery and governance in Greece

The main purpose of this research is focused on understanding the politico-administrative system and structure of rural policy implementation in the third programming period (2000-2006). Case studies have been conducted for selected measures of the Greek Rural Development Programme (RDP) and LEADER+ initiative. In-depth interviews were conducted with officials involved in the rural development policy implementation. Inflexibility due to centralization, lack of personnel motivation and inadequacy of the personnel involved in policy implementation are the main weaknesses. Work seasonal overload is also a weakness, which can be caused by peak periods or by too many and in part possibly unnecessary documents, official permissions and other legal or administrative obligations. The administrative personnel should be better motivated by financial bonus and properly trained. A central integrated database, accessible to all administrative levels and units, should also be designed. Such changes could lead to a smoother decentralisation process because in some cases centralisation is considered to cause communication obstacles, work overload and delays

Risk indicators affecting honeybee colony survival in Europe : one year of surveillance

The first pan-European harmonized active epidemiological surveillance program on honeybee colony mortality (EPILOBEE) was set up across 17 European Member States to estimate honeybee colony mortality over winter and during the beekeeping season. In nine Member States, overwinter losses were higher and statistically different from the empirical level of 10 % under which the level of overwinter mortality was considered as acceptable with usual beekeeping conditions. In four other countries, these losses were lower. Using multivariable Poisson regression models, it was showed that the size of the operation and apiary and the clinically detected varroosis, American foulbrood (AFB), and nosemosis before winter significantly affected 2012-2013 overwinter losses. Clinically detected diseases, the size of the operation and apiary, and the non-participation to a common veterinary treatment significantly affected 2013 summer losses. EPILOBEE was a prerequisite to implement future projects studying risk factors affecting colony health such as multiple and co-exposure to pesticides