Water storage has not kept pace with stock numbers : South Stirling survey finding

RESULTS of a survey on water storage capacity in the South Stirlings area indicate that farm water storage has not kept pace with increased clearing and stock numbers. This has resulted in many farmers requesting advice on water conservation projects following two consecutive years of low rainfall runoff

Water supplies : dams and roaded catchments

Western Australia\u27s Upper and Lower Great Southern statistical areas include most of the broad-scale agricultural land south of a line from Perth to Hyden. Much of the area is well-developed and carries 13.4 million sheep, 203 00 cattle and 95 000 pigs, almost half the State\u27s livestock. There are few natural rivers and lakes to water livestock in summer and much of the bore water is salty. On-farm waterr conservation, therefore, consits mainly of excavated earth tanks (dams) which are filled by surface runoff or shallow seepage. In the drier areas and in the sandplain roaded catchments have neen built to ensure reliable filling of dams. To supply the larger towns in the area, the Water Authority of Western Australia has developed the Great Southern Towns Water Supply Scheme in which water is pumped inland from Wellington Dam near Collie

The soil organic carbon: Clay ratio in North Devon, UK: Implications for marketing soil carbon as an asset class

Building up stocks of agricultural soil organic carbon (SOC) can improve soil conditions as well as contribute to climate change mitigation. As a metric, the ratio of SOC to clay offers a better predictor of soil condition than SOC alone, potentially providing a benchmark for ecosystem service payments. We determined SOC:clay ratios for 50 fields in the North Devon UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve using 30 cm soil cores (divided into 0-10 cm and 10-30 cm depth samples), with soil bulk density, soil moisture and land-use history recorded for each field. All the arable soils exceeded the minimum desirable SOC:clay ratio threshold, and the ley grassland soils generally exceeded it but were inconsistent at 10-30 cm. Land use was the primary factor driving SOC:clay ratios at 0-10 cm, with permanent pasture fields having the highest ratios followed by ley grass and then arable fields. Approximately half of the fields sampled had potential for building up SOC stock at 10-30 cm. However, at this depth, the effect of land use is significantly reduced. Within-field variability in SOC and clay was low (coefficient of variation was similar to 10%) at both 0-10 cm and 10-30 cm, suggesting that SOC:clay ratios precisely characterized the fields. Due to the high SOC:clay ratios found, we conclude that there is limited opportunity to market additional carbon sequestration as an asset class in the North Devon Biosphere or similar areas. Instead, preserving existing SOC stocks would be a more suitable ecosystem service payment basis

Beings in their own right? Exploring Children and young people's sibling and twin relationships in the Minority World

This paper examines the contributions that the sociological study of sibship and twinship in the Minority World can make to childhood studies. It argues that, in providing one forum within which to explore children and young people's social relationships, we can add to our understanding of children and young people's interdependence and develop a more nuanced understanding of agency. As emergent subjects, children, young people and adults are in a process of ‘becoming’. However, this does not mean that they can ‘become’ anything they choose to. The notion of negotiated interdependence (Punch 2002) is useful in helping us to grasp the contingent nature of children and young people's agency

Conceptualisations of children’s wellbeing at school: the contribution of recognition theory

A large study in Australian schools aimed to elucidate understandings of ‘wellbeing’ and of factors in school life that contribute to it. Students and teachers understood wellbeing primarily, and holistically, in terms of interpersonal relationships, in contrast to policy documents which mainly focused on ‘problem areas’ such as mental health. The study also drew on recognition theory as developed by the social philosopher Axel Honneth. Results indicate that recognition theory may be useful in understanding wellbeing in schools, and that empirical research in schools may give rise to further questions regarding theory

Children's understandings of obesity, a thematic analysis

Childhood obesity is a major concern in today’s society. Research suggests the inclusion of the views and understandings of a target group facilitates strategies that have better efficacy. The objective of this study was to explore the concepts and themes that make up children’s understandings of the causes and consequences of obesity. Participants were selected from Reception (4-5 years old) and Year 6 (10-11 years old), and attended a school in an area of Sunderland, in North East England. Participants were separated according to age and gender, resulting in four focus groups, run across two sessions. A thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006) identified overarching themes evident across all groups, suggesting the key concepts that contribute to children’s understandings of obesity are ‘‘Knowledge through Education,’’ ‘‘Role Models,’’ ‘‘Fat is Bad,’’ and ‘‘Mixed Messages.’’ The implications of these findings and considerations of the methodology are discussed in full

Understanding children’s constructions of meanings about other children: implications for inclusiveeducation

This paper explores the factors that influence the way children construct meanings about other children, and especially those who seem to experience marginalisation, within school contexts. The research involved an ethnographic study in a primary school in Cyprus over a period of 5 months. Qualitative methods were used, particularly participant observations and interviews with children. Interpretation of the data suggests that children's perceptions about other children, and especially those who come to experience marginalisation, are influenced by the following factors: other children and the interactions between them; adults’ way of behaving in the school; the existing structures within the school; and the cultures of the school and the wider educational context. Even though the most powerful factor was viewed to be the adults’ influence, it was rather the interweaving between different factors that seemed to lead to the creation of particular meanings for other children. In the end, it is argued that children's voices should be seen as an essential element within the process of developing inclusive practices.<br/

Young people today: news media, policy and youth justice

The new sociology of childhood sees children as competent social agents with important contributions to make. And yet the phase of childhood is fraught with tensions and contradictions. Public policies are required, not only to protect children, but also to control them and regulate their behaviour. For children and young people in the UK, youth justice has become increasingly punitive. At the same time, social policies have focused more on children's inclusion and participation. In this interplay of conflict and contradictions, the role the media play is critical in contributing to the moral panic about childhood and youth. In this article, we consider media representations of “antisocial” children and young people and how this belies a moral response to the nature of contemporary childhood. We conclude by considering how a rights-based approach might help redress the moralised politics of childhood representations in the media

Trust, openness and continuity of care influence acceptance of antibiotics for children with respiratory tract infections: a four country qualitative study

Background. Clinician–parent interaction and health system influences on parental acceptance of prescribing decisions for children with respiratory tract infections (RTIs) may be important determinants of antibiotic use. Objective. To achieve a deeper understanding of parents’ acceptance, or otherwise, of clinicians’ antibiotic prescribing decisions for children with RTIs. Methods. Qualitative interviews with parents of child patients who had recently consulted in primary care with a RTI in four European countries, with a five-stage analytic framework approach (familiarization, developing a thematic framework from interview questions and emerging themes, indexing, charting and interpretation). Results. Fifty of 63 parents accepted clinicians’ management decisions, irrespective of antibiotic prescription. There were no notable differences between networks. Parents ascribed their acceptance to a trusting and open clinician–patient relationship, enhanced through continuity of care, in which parents felt able to express their views. There was a lack of congruence about antibiotics between parents and clinicians in 13 instances, mostly when parents disagreed about clinicians’ decision to prescribe (10 accounts) rather than objecting to withholding antibiotics (three accounts). All but one parent adhered to the prescribing decision, although some modified how the antibiotic was administered. Conclusions. Parents from contrasting countries indicated that continuity of care, open communication in consultations and clinician–patient trust was important in acceptance of management of RTI in their children and in motivating adherence. Interventions to promote appropriate antibiotic use in children should consider a focus on eliciting parents’ perspectives and promoting and building on continuity of care within a trusting clinician–patient relationship

Child-Led Research, Children’s Rights and Childhood Studies: a Defence

Recent articles by Kim and Hammersley have critiqued, respectively: the methodological and normative assumptions that underlie research ‘by’ children; claims made about the implications of children’s rights for the ethics of research with children; and more broadly, some of the central commitments of Childhood Studies. This paper offers a response to these critiques, seeking to distinguish between those that clearly should be accepted, those that appear to be based on a misreading of the claims being made by scholars and researchers, and those that represent serious challenges to defend, redefine or rethink our aims, claims or practices