Myths and Mysteries of Athlete Development: Parents’ Perspectives

Sport Wales are shifting their focus from winning medals to the development of athletes, and with it recognise that parents are key stakeholders who may influence the effectiveness of this new initiative. Previous research has discovered that parents can influence athlete development both positively and negatively, but parents’ perceptions of athlete development and how such perceptions are developed is unknown. Therefore, the purpose of the current study was to examine parents’ perceptions of athlete development, and how they developed such perceptions, to understand how parents may aid or impede Sport Wales’ new initiative.Specifically, this study sought to understand areas of parent’s perceptions of athlete development that may require particular attention or focus when moving forwards in implementing the new initiative designed by Sport Wales. This study was conducted using a Mixed Methods approach. A survey was conducted with 116 participants (M age = 46.6yrs,SD = 7.3yrs). Six categories of factors were included in the survey (the athlete’s skills and characteristics, parental involvement, coaching, training, socio-environmental factors, and demographics). Data collected through the survey was analysed using IBM SPSS (version 24.0). Thereafter, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 participants (M age =48.7yrs, SD = 4.9yrs). Interviews were audio recorded and transcribed verbatim. Subsequently, transcripts were analysed using data analysis procedures detailed by Miles, Huberman, and Saldaña (2020). The data collected across the interviews were analysed within the pre-determined categories that provided the structure of the survey. Results revealed significant differences in the perceptions of importance between the categories in relation to their influence on athlete development. The athlete’s skills and characteristics, parental involvement, and the coaching the athlete receives were viewed as having a statistically stronger (perceived)influence on athlete development. Conversely, training, socio-environmental factors, and demographics were perceived by parents as being significantly less influential on athlete development. Such was further supported by the qualitive results

Phenology atlas use cases: a new map of plant phenology across North America and beyond

The goal of the phenology atlas workshop is to explore the development of a platform that would provide capabilities for analysing and visualising phenology data from multiple sources. The atlas would incorporate species-based, location-based and phenophase-based views. Here we provide an overview of potential phenology atlas use cases and present a conceptual framework that could be developed to construct generalizable models of plant phenology. Different species respond to different environmental cues; however, by co-opting statistical tools from the species distribution modelling (SDM) literature, it may be possible to construct flexible models that can be applied across species to capture timing of green up or first flower across North America (and beyond). This approach would allow us to generate a probability map of observing a particular species' phenological event in a particular location given climate and date. As illustration, we present a simple model where phenology observations are a binary variable, and day of year and monthly climate data are predictors of observing the event. With such models, it could then be possible to tap into projected climate scenarios from General Circulation Models (GCMs), to construct future phenology scenarios. Linked with locality data, it might also be possible to make projections of when and which species will be flowering where (given a date in the future). This information might be interesting to researchers exploring novel species interactions and potential for phenological mismatches under future climate change

Navigating <i>relative invariance</i>:Perspectives on corporate heritage identity and organizational heritage identity in an evolving nonprofit institution

The notion of relative invariance is highlighted as a foundational principle in how corporate heritage identity traits can remain the same, yet change in meaning over time. Yet, little is published regarding how this notion manifests, or how corporate heritage stewards manage it in identity challenging situations. Utilizing a case study of one of the UK’s oldest cancer charities, we highlight how two groups of protagonists – heritage defenders and service innovators – shape the meaning of corporate heritage identity over time. We explore four core tensions that expose the multifaceted and complex nature of relative invariance and identify specific integration and compartmentalization strategies utilized to restore balance, allowing for the continued meaningfulness of corporate heritage identity. Overall, our study advances the notion of relative invariance, providing a more complete understanding of stewards’ affinity toward corporate heritage and extending the field of corporate heritage identity into the nonprofit sector

Making an impact: The influence of policies to reduce emissions from aviation on the business travel patterns of individual corporations

The contribution of aviation to global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions is projected to triple by 2050. As nations strive to meet CO2 reduction targets, policy interventions to manage the growth of emissions arising from air travel are likely. Here, we investigate the potential influence of aviation emissions reduction policies on the business travel patterns of individual corporations. Using travel data from six UK-based companies, we find that increased ticket prices can deliver substantial emissions cuts, particularly on premium class flights, and may provide strong financial incentives to seek modal and/or technological alternatives to flying. We also find that corporations from different business sectors vary in their responsiveness to arange of policy options. Finally, we examine questionnaire data to determine whether companies more broadly are going beyond compliance to mitigate their environmental impact by managing travel-related emissions voluntarily. Although many corporations are measuring and reporting emissions, only a limited number are willing to implement in-house reduction policies prior to regulation

Has climate change taken prominence over biodiversity conservation?

The growing prominence of climate change has led to concerns that other important environmental issues, such as biodiversity loss, are being overshadowed. We investigate this assertion by examining trends in biodiversity and climate change coverage within the scientific and newspaper press, as well as the relative distribution of funding through the World Bank and the National Science Foundation, since the late 1980s. Our indicators substantiate some of these fears. To prevent biodiversity from becoming a declining priority, conservationists need to analyze the discourse surrounding climate change and determine how it has become the predominant environmental topic. In addition, given the common drivers of biodiversity loss and climate change, we argue that win–win solutions must be sought wherever possible. Conservationists need to be proactive and take this opportunity to use the mounting interest in climate change as a flagship to leverage more support and action to prevent further biodiversity loss

Building research capacity in Education: evidence from recent initiatives in England, Scotland and Wales.

There is a pressing need to build research capacity in Education across the UK to combat the effects of the ageing research population and the increasing polarisation between research-intensive institutions and the remainder of the field. This paper draws data from three evaluations of recent initiatives across the UK to explore the necessary conditions for effectively building research capacity. Technicist and situated learning models are explored in relation to the immediate and longer term professional development of the research workforce, and we identify that central to the effectiveness of this professional learning is: (1) interpersonal support from more experienced colleagues; and (2) institutional support for research engagement, primarily in the provision of time and an infrastructure which can support research activity. We conclude that the development of, and engagement with, inter-institutional, inter-project communities is imperative to this process

The size, concentration, and growth of biodiversity-conservation nonprofits

Nonprofit organizations play a critical role in efforts to conserve biodiversity. Their success in this regard will be determined in part by how effectively individual nonprofits and the sector as a whole are structured. One of the most fundamental questions about an organization’s structure is how large it should be, with the logical counterpart being how concentrated the whole sector should be. We review empirical patterns in the size, concentration, and growth of over 1700 biodiversity-conservation nonprofits registered for tax purposes in the United States within the context of relevant economic theory. Conservation-nonprofit sizes vary by six to seven orders of magnitude and are positively skewed. Larger nonprofits access more revenue streams and hold more of their assets in land and buildings than smaller or midsized nonprofits do. The size of conservation nonprofits varies with the ecological focus of the organization, but the growth rates of nonprofits do not

A national scale inventory of resource provision for biodiversity within domestic gardens

The human population is increasingly disconnected from nature due to urbanisation. To counteract this phenomenon, the UK government has been actively promoting wildlife gardening. However, the extent to which such activities are conducted and the level of resource provision for biodiversity (e.g., food and nesting sites) within domestic gardens remains poorly documented. Here we generate estimates for a selection of key resources provided within gardens at a national scale, using 12 survey datasets gathered across the UK. We estimate that 22.7 million households (87% of homes) have access to a garden. Average garden SiZe is 190 m(2), extrapolating to a total area of 432,924 ha. Although substantial, this coverage is still an order of magnitude less than that of statutory protected areas. Approximately 12.6 million (48%) households provide supplementary food for birds, 7.4 million of which specifically use bird feeders. Similarly, there are a minimum of 4.7 million nest boxes within gardens. These figures equate to one bird feeder for every nine potentially feeder-using birds in the UK, and at least one nest box for every six breeding pairs of cavity nesting birds. Gardens also contain 2.5-3.5 million ponds and 28.7 million trees, which is just under a quarter of all trees occurring outside woodlands. Ongoing urbanisation, characterised by increased housing densities, is inevitable throughout the UK and elsewhere. The important contribution domestic gardens make to the green space infrastructure in residential areas must be acknowledged, as their reduction will impact biodiversity conservation, ecosystem services, and the well-being of the human population