The CDR Nexus: Convergence of Climate Change Adaptation, Disaster Risk Reduction, and Land Restoration in Kajiado, Kitui, and Makueni Counties, Kenya

Experts have been calling for the integration of climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction into local administrative units for decades. With the emergence of an international land restoration agenda, a growing interest exists to understand how landscape restoration can increase local resilience while catalyzing the integration of climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction. This project explores the interconnections and potential for achieving greater synergies among these three agendas, which we refer to as the CDR nexus. Kenya has committed to restore 5.1 million hectares of land under the AFR100 initiative (see box on page 2). One challenge for achieving this is that the country has a devolved system of government in which many CDR functions are implemented by 47 different subnational county administrations. Although general agreement exists that actions to achieve the goals of these policy areas should converge, some institutional barriers need to be overcome. For example, climate change adaptation, disaster risk reduction, and land restoration initiatives are often situated in different ministries and departments. In addition, county administrative borders do not follow landscape or hydrologic boundaries that are ideal for land restoration planning. Sustainable financing is another concern. Although there is a growing call to “unlock” private investments for land restoration, merging a profit orientation with the social nature of development is not always easy. Therefore, developing institutional frameworks to guide these new activities toward county land restoration objectives is critical

Elementary Special Education Teachers’ Attitudes Regarding Inclusion

This study looked at the attitudes of elementary special education teachers in a school district in the Southeastern United States that has been regularly including students with disabilities in general education classrooms for the past ten years. Teacher attitude has been shown to be an important indicator of the success of inclusion. However, students with disabilities as a group continue to not meet expectations on state standardized testing. Clearly, even though schools are practicing inclusion, they may not be experiencing success. The success of inclusion has been linked to the support of the special education teachers (Cook et al., 1999). Therefore, it is important to determine special education teachers’ attitudes toward inclusion in order to determine where change is needed

High School Special Education Teacher retention: Does the type of certification make a difference?

Special education teacher retention is a nation-wide issue that continues. Almost half of special education teachers leave the profession during their first five years of teaching. Though some studies have researched this issue, few studies have compared teacher preparation: specifically, traditional versus alternative certification programs. This study focused on the perceptions of traditionally and alternatively certified high school special education teachers regarding their intent on leaving or staying in the profession. Data is provided that substantiates retention is still a problem for both traditionally and alternatively certified high school special education teachers. Suggestions to increase special education teacher retention are provided

Mangroves, mudbanks and seawalls: whose environmental knowledge counts when adapting to sea level rise in Suriname?

Coastal communities in Suriname are highly vulnerable to sea level rise and will need to adapt. Global assessments of climate risk and vulnerability, such as IPCC reports, play an important role in the development of local adaptation policies. The aim of this article is to explore global and national discourses on climate change vulnerability and their local expressions in national policies. These discourses are juxtaposed with local understandings of vulnerability and adaptation possibilities. These different epistemologies are examined to understand how different knowledge claims and existing power structures lead to contested adaptation solutions. In Suriname, conflict arises in understandings of the coastal geomorphology and ecology of mangroves, and what role they play in adaptation to sea level rise. Conflicting environmental knowledges of mangrove ecology, species diversity, and their potential role in coastal erosion have led to conflict between the state and some local communities, resulting in potential maladaptations. New approaches for a 'situated environmental science' are explored to find more socially inclusive adaptation solutions. Key words: Adaptation, sea level rise, mangrove, seawall, knowledge, Surinam

Pre-service Teachers’ Perceptions towards Multicultural Education and Teaching of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Learners

In this study the authors investigated 80 pre-service teachers about their perception towards multicultural education and teaching of culturally and linguistically underrepresented diverse students. Participants completed a modified version of the Diversity Orientations Survey. First, results show that the majority of pre-service teachers largely agreed for the need for the inclusion of multicultural education to teacher education program with regards to teaching linguistically culturally diverse students. Second, participants indicate lack of awareness with regards to understanding of multicultural education in terms of cultural awareness in the teaching of special needs students. This paper conceptualizes pre-service teacher’s perceptions towards multicultural education in general and discusses the teaching of culturally, linguistically and underrepresented diverse learners in K-12 schools. The authors propose reforms in the curriculum of teacher education preparation programs in colleges of education of inclusion of comprehensive multicultural education course at each level of education

The effects of valsartan on cardiac function and pro-oxidative parameters in the streptozotocin-induced diabetic rat heart

© 2020, University of Kragujevac, Faculty of Science. All rights reserved. Diabetes mellitus is a major risk factor for cardiovascular diseases, while cardiovascular diseases are a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. The renin–angiotensin– aldosterone system controls renal, cardiovascular, adrenal function and regulates fluid and electrolyte balance as well as blood pressure. Because of his role, inhibition of renin-angiotensin-aldosteron system is another therapy approach that reduces the risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease. In this study, our goal was to evaluate effect of valsartan,as inhibitor of angiotensin II receptor type 1, on cardiac tissue and function, with focus on cardiodynamic and oxidative stress. The present study was carried out on 20 adult male Wistar albino rats (8 week old and with body masses of 180-200 g). Rats were divided randomly into 2 groups (10 animals per group). Healthy animals treated with 1 μM of valsartan and streptozotocin-induced diabetic animals perfused with 1 μM of valsartan 4 weeks after the induction of diabetes. Our results demonstrated that acute application of valsartan has different effect on cardiodynamics in rat heart of diabetic and healthy animals but did not improve cardiac function in hy-perglycemia-induced changes. A challenge for further investi-gations are studies with chronic or acute administration, alone or in combination with other angiotensin-converting-enzyme inhibitor in various models of diabetes

Barriers to Participating in a Payment for Ecosystem Services Project in Githambara Micro Catchment, Upper-Tana, Kenya

International Non-Governmental Organizations have popularized payment for ecosystem services (PES) because of their potential to simultaneously achieve rural development and ecological conservation goals (GEF Secretariat 2014). Despite their rapid diffusion, there is insufficient assessment of their potential implications for social and economic stratification (Redford and Adams 2009). Indeed, there is growing evidence that PES may reproduce or even exacerbate existing inequalities in social development and resource access (Kosoyand Corbera2010, Porras 2010). However, the gender dimensions of PES impacts has been the focus of little scholarship, despite concerns about women’s exclusion from participating (e.g., Kariukiand Birner2016) or their inclusion in ways that reduce their decision-making power within the household (e.g., Schwartz 2017). This research uses a feminist political ecology lens to add to this small but growing body of work through an examination of how the PES program implementation influences gendered equity in access and outcomes of the associated sustainable land management (SLM) practices

What women and men want: Considering gender for successful, sustainable land management programs

This case study explores the different barriers that men and women face when implementing sustainable land management (SLM) under the Nairobi Water Fund (NWF) in Kenya. The NWF is a public-private partnership, designed by The Nature Conservancy (TNC) as a payment for ecosystem services (PES) scheme, under which farmers in the Upper Tana River basin receive in-kind payments for implementing sustainable land management practices. They include constructing water pans (see Figure 1) to reduce water extractions from the river in the dry season, building terraces to promote water infiltration and reduce soil erosion, or planting grass strips to reduce erosion when livestock are being fed. SLM also includes the promotion of agroforestry and a suite of riparian zone management practices