Ben Orlove, Ellen Wiegandt and Brian H. Luckman (eds), Darkening Peaks. Glacier Retreat, Science, and Society

An interestring scientific symposium took place in Wengen (CH) in October 2004. Many specialists of various disciplines and from various regions of the world gathered for one of the very few international meetings willing to adopt an general analysis of glaciers, with both natural and social scopes. This book is released 4 years later with many presentations given there. The book contains very different contributions. One can find factual information on glaciers at the world scale; since the ..

Rugged Nation. Mountains and the making of Modern Italy

This is a book about mountains and Italianess. This association may sound strange to foreign ears for, as Armiero says in the introduction, mountains “seem to lack the typical ingredients of Italianess” (p. 1) for people who are not so familiar with Italian history and culture. Yet, in less than 200 pages, Armiero proves the centrality of the Alps and the Apennines in the narratives of the nation and its territory from the very beginning of the process of unification, and also in the concepti..

Foreword

The political culture of Switzerland has two particularly original features that sometimes combine in a surprising way. Firstly, Swiss citizens are allowed to vote on legal and constitutional modifications provided that there are a sufficient number of them to request such a vote. Proposed changes must also meet with certain formal requirements and, most importantly, comply with international law. Secondly, for more then a century, national imagination has attributed special importance to mou..

Rugged Nation. Mountains and the making of Modern Italy

This is a book about mountains and Italianess. This association may sound strange to foreign ears for, as Armiero says in the introduction, mountains “seem to lack the typical ingredients of Italianess” (p. 1) for people who are not so familiar with Italian history and culture. Yet, in less than 200 pages, Armiero proves the centrality of the Alps and the Apennines in the narratives of the nation and its territory from the very beginning of the process of unification, and also in the concepti..

On the Interactions between Virulent Bacteriophages and Bacteria in the gut

We recently described the targeting of O104:H4 Escherichia coli in mouse gut by several virulent bacteriophages, highlighting several issues relating to virus-host interactions, which we discuss further in this addendum to the original publication

Le contexte et la raison : agir contre la violence à l’école par « l’évidence » ?

Le présent article examine l’importance qu’ont prise dans la littérature scientifique les méta-analyses sur la prévention de la violence à l’école. Le nombre, la qualité et l’importance de celles-ci ont produit un savoir à la fois critique (ce qui ne marche pas) et opérant (ce qui marche) qui est présenté dans le présent article. Toutefois, quel que soit ce savoir, il n’est pas aisément ni directement transposable dans l’action publique et cela montre quelques limites inhérentes au développement de politiques basées sur les preuves scientifiques, politiques qui contiennent sans doute une part d’illusion rationnelle. Cela ne remet pas forcément en cause cette approche, mais lui assigne une place plus modeste et réaliste.This paper examines the importance of meta-analyses in scientific research to prevent school violence. These meta-analyses have contributed to produce critical knowledge (what does not work) and to identify interventions that are effective. However, whatever the acquired and advanced knowledge in the field, it is not as easily transferable and adaptable to public policies and this highlights a few limits of evidence-based policy and practices which is part of the illusion we have sometimes about the power of rationalism. This does not question this approach at all but gives it a more realistic and modest place.Este artículo examina la importancia de los meta-análisis en la literatura científica sobre prevención de la violencia en medio escolar. Su número, calidad e importancia han generado un saber a la vez crítico (lo que no funciona) y práctico (lo que funciona) que aquí se presenta. Sin embargo, sea el que sea este saber, no es tan fácil ni tan directamente aplicable en la acción pública, lo que pone en evidencia algunos límites inherentes a las políticas basadas en la evidencia científica, que conllevan sin duda una parte de ilusión racional. Esto no necesariamente pone en entredicho esta orientación, pero le asigna un lugar más modesto y realista

Clima escolar i prevenció de la violència

L'article que es presenta fa una anàlisi en oposició a la representació de la violència que es produeix als centres docents com a factor extern i mostra que les recerques suggereixen clarament l'existència de causes lligades al mateix context de l'escola. S'hi fa una temptativa de mostrar que les accions d'intervenció i prevenció només poden ser eficaces si es modifica en profunditat el «clima escolar», tant pel que fa a les relacions entre alumnat i adults, com a les relacions entre els membres de l'equip docent. Examinar els factors escolars de la violència al centre educatiu no és fer un judici d'aquest ni dels professionals que hi treballen, sinó que és mesurar les possibilitats d'actuar, d'intentar identificar els aspectes en els quals es pot donar suport per reforçar la resistència de l'equip i els aspectes que es poden corregir per disminuir el risc de violència.El artículo que se presenta hace un análisis en oposición a la representación de la violencia escolar como factor externo y muestra que las investigaciones sugieren claramente la existencia de causas relacionadas con el mismo contexto de la escuela. Se hace una tentativa de mostrar que las acciones de intervención y prevención sólo pueden ser eficaces si se modifica en profundidad el «clima escolar», tanto respecto a las relaciones entre alumnado y adultos, como a las relaciones entre los miembros del equipo docente. Examinar los factores escolares de la violencia no es hacer un juicio del centro educativo ni de los profesionales que trabajan en él, sino mesurar las posibilidades de actuar, intentar identificar los aspectos en los cuales se puede apoyar por reforzar la resistencia del equipo y los aspectos que se pueden corregir para disminuir el riesgo de violencia.The article we are presenting opposes the representation of violence at schools as an external factor and shows how research clearly suggests the existence of causes associated to the school context itself. It also attempts to demonstrate how actions for intervention and prevention can only be effective if the «school climate» is extensively modified, both in terms of relationships between pupils and adults and relations between members of the teaching staff. Examining the school-related factors behind violence in schools does not imply making judgements about schools or the professionals that work in them; it implies measuring whether it is possible to act; it implies attempting to identify, on the one hand, the aspects in which support can be given to reinforce the staff 's resistance and, on the other, what can be corrected in order to reduce the risk of violence

Linking mountain identities throughout the world: the experience of Swiss communities

This article analyses transnational partnerships set up between Swiss mountain municipalities and other mountain communities throughout the world. It seeks to evaluate the role of this kind of horizontal cooperation in a world which is increasingly dominated by global flux and complex interactions between multilevel stakeholders. A review of these partnerships shows the quantitative importance of partnerships built upon the celebration of attributes and values associated with mountains. Beyond the very great diversity in the types of partnership and their objectives, the partnerships are surprisingly capable of combining cultural, political and economic objectives, and of bringing together local objectives, national imagination, federal policies and intergovernmental priorities

Le mont Royal. Forme naturelle, paysages et territorialités urbaines.

La question du lieu en géographie est redevenue d'actualité depuis quelque temps. Cela tient notamment au fait qu'elle permet d'approfondir la réflexion sur la relation qui existe entre les caractères génériques et les caractères spécifiques de chacun des lieux. Cet article propose une voie d'interprétation de cette relation en analysant, à partir de l'exemple du mont Royal, l'articulation entre la forme géographique et ses significations symboliques et mythiques.Using the example of the mount Royal, in Montreal, this paper analyses the way the significances of the "Mountain" are combined in different ways through history. It shows that this kind of association may integrate generic and specific meanings, symbolic models and mythic values