Society as an information and communication technology

“We explore the hypothesis that the social system (society) is not composed of human beings, but by their interactions and communications (Luhmann, 1984). Social order can then be considered as the complex dynamics of the expectations exchanges among us.” (SISN syntegration outcome resolve - Light Blue group, 2001) Notes on rapportage: This report attempts to capture the ideas presented and discussed during the Light Blue group’s Spring Seminar presented by Dr. Loet Leydesdorff (15Feb2002). They are not intended as a chronological summary of the presentation, but rather aim to (re)present key themes identified by the rapporteur and felt to be of transferable general interest to the whole Systems and Information Society Network. This reporting process may in fact be seen as another example of the communication process as suggested by Luhmann; consisting of information, utterance and understanding. My notes here reflect my utterance of a personal understanding of the meanings intended within our February seminar. I hope that Loet and the other attendees will find some resonance with their own interpretations , and that where this is not the case the difference itself may create some useful further discussion

Challenging inequality? Vertical interventions to horizontal problems? A study of a healthy living centre within Lincolnshire Probation

Health Inequalities are not a 'new' issue, rather successive governments and policies have sought to understand and redress the structural and lifestyle causes of health outcomes.  Health inequalities nevertheless remain a 'wicked' problem with ill-defined areas of resolution.  One governmental solution has been the setting up of Healthy Living Centres amongst vulnerable groups who access health services least, the most unique being a Healthy Living Centre set up within Lincolnshire Probation in 2003.  As this paper explores the Community Operational Research Unit (CORU) was given a unique opportunity to examine from 2003-2008 the issues that this Healthy Living Centre (HLC) represents through a sustained engaged research project.  In particular to examine the impact and dynamics of state intervention and public programmes for specific community groups and how organisational objectives for 'improvement' vie with 'community' engagement and individual belief systems and actions.  That moreover engaging and evaluating 'messy' interventions and hard to reach groups is in itself a 'messy' process.  This paper explores the nature of community OR practice in unravelling the multiple levels that impact on interventions and how it seeks to help policy makers and practitioners with their 'wicked' problems and potential solutions of how to act

Housing prototypes for the wellbeing of elderly in Lincolnshire

This project is a scoping study supported by the Research Investment Fund 2013, University of Lincoln. This research aims to develop a holistic approach to decision making that facilitates ‘wellbeing’ of the elderly in future housing prototypes in Lincolnshire. Central to this understanding is how several systems work together, such as changing care models and ways of delivery, demands by changing demographics of family types, emphasis on preventive medicine and delay of morbidity and life expectancy, and wellbeing variables of the elderly related to activities, functional ability, personal beliefs and attitudes, home and personal finances (Jackson 2011, Gallaway 2005), and social networks that build social capital (Paranagamage 2010). It is accepted that to enable this, local services such as housing, health, social care, leisure, transport and education etc would need to be integrated to work as a whole system facilitating independent living balanced by needs for interdependence with family, community and neighbourhood. Strategies to promote independent living need to be underpinned by requirements for maximising resources and empowering older people to remain physically as well as economically active; and providing housing in a way that promotes social inclusion and wellbeing (Byrd 2009). The decision support tool would model the interaction of the range of systems that impinge on one another to recommend pathways for the conceptualization of elderly housing. This would enable all stakeholders concerned with the provision of housing for older adults in the public and private sector, to holistically envision elderly housing both now and in the future. The research will proceed to bridge the gap in its translation to a conceptual prototype of housing. The research will also validate and refine the tool and prototype by working with local housing associations and Age UK involved in the delivery of elderly housing in Lincolnshire. The objectives are 1) to create a decision support tool 2) to develop a conceptual model for housing prototypes 3) work with local housing associations and Age UK to pilot the transition of the conceptual model to design 4) develop feedback mechanisms to validate and monitor work stage

Implications of COVID 19 in the Lincolnshire Community. (Notes from the Social Issues In South Lincolnshire network) Zoom Conference, 25th Nov 2020 - Synopsis of emerging themes

This zoom conference was organised by the ‘Social Issues in South Lincolnshire’ Network with the support of Lincolnshire CVS to bring key parties together to discuss the implications of COVID 19 in (South) Lincolnshire communities - to identify the difficulties facing these communities as a result of COVID and the issues we need to consider further as we come out of the crisis-response phase. These notes are intended to capture some of the emerging themes discussed. They are not intended as complete ‘minutes’ of the meeting, but rather a summary of some of the key threads of the discussion – that we can build on in our future dialogue. Those attending are encouraged to please add to (or amend) this summary if you feel any element could be further developed

Forum 2: “Implications of COVID 19 (The 3rd Lockdown)”: Zoom Conference, 16th Feb 2021 - Emerging themes. (Notes from the online meeting of Social Issues In South Lincolnshire)

This zoom conference was organised by the ‘Social Issues in South Lincolnshire’ Network with the support of Lincolnshire CVS and the University of Lincoln to bring key parties together to discuss the implications of COVID 19 in South Lincolnshire communities - to identify the difficulties facing these communities as a result of the pandemic and the issues we need to consider further as we come out of the crisis-response phase. These notes are intended to capture some of the emerging themes discussed. They are not intended as complete ‘minutes’ of the meeting, but rather a summary of some of the key threads of the discussion – that we can build on in our future dialogue and reporting. The notes below are taken from the Forum zoom meeting (16th Feb 2021) with some phrases used here are given as direct quotes to capture the tone and details (though speakers have not been individually identified for simplicity of reading). The themes may have been ‘led’ by particular speakers in the zoom event, but where other speakers also discussed points related to that theme they have been combined. In this way this synopsis represents a more collective thematic treatment rather than individual contributions. Those attending are encouraged to please add to (or amend) this summary if you feel any element could be further developed

A Regional Multicultural Approach to Sustaining Wild Rice

Outreach programming can often involve issues that have complex multicultural and regional dimensions. Those dimensions, while challenging, can represent important opportunities. This article describes the methods and outcomes associated with integrating multicultural and regional perspectives into efforts to sustain wild rice in the Upper Great Lakes Region. The outcomes highlight the importance of utilizing multicultural approaches, addressing issues at appropriate scales, and enabling diverse partnerships. This project underscores the importance of integrating multicultural and regional perspectives into appropriate outreach programming

Responses to COVID-19 in fenland communities: Reflections from the Social Issues in South Lincolnshire Network

Welcome to this report by the Social Issues in South Lincolnshire network about the impact of COVID-19 within our fenland communities

Supporting self-organised community research through informal learning

The processes by which community-members help to shape local agendas can vary from highly-formalised procedures to very informal learning and sharing activities that engage multiple stakeholders in conversations to construct a better understanding of issues and concerns of community members. Community partners sometimes want to work with universities to build university-community research partnerships to support these activities. This paper looks at two such cases and the framework of ideas that we have used to steer and theorise our participatory research approach. This approach uses informal learning combined with a belief in the value and potential of self-organising processes in community research. The result is a contribution to Community OR that develops long-term engagements rather than brief interventions and produces on-going constructed conversations with community members to help articulate and share knowledge about social experiences and expectations. The paper emphasises the need for Community OR researchers to focus not only on the technologies they are producing but also on the processes they create to support the development of the communities they are working with. We present a framework that uses a combination of self-organisation and informal learning theories to support the analysis and development of this process approach

Feeding the think-tank: scoping exercise

Results from the scoping exercise. Lincolnshire Leadership and Management Centre, University of Lincoln, 24th July 201

Tumor site immune markers associated with risk for subsequent basal cell carcinomas.

BackgroundBasal cell carcinoma (BCC) tumors are the most common skin cancer and are highly immunogenic.ObjectiveThe goal of this study was to assess how immune-cell related gene expression in an initial BCC tumor biopsy was related to the appearance of subsequent BCC tumors.Materials and methodsLevels of mRNA for CD3ε (a T-cell receptor marker), CD25 (the alpha chain of the interleukin (IL)-2 receptor expressed on activated T-cells and B-cells), CD68 (a marker for monocytes/macrophages), the cell surface glycoprotein intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1), the cytokine interferon-γ (IFN-γ) and the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 were measured in BCC tumor biopsies from 138 patients using real-time PCR.ResultsThe median follow-up was 26.6 months, and 61% of subjects were free of new BCCs two years post-initial biopsy. Patients with low CD3ε CD25, CD68, and ICAM-1 mRNA levels had significantly shorter times before new tumors were detected (p = 0.03, p = 0.02, p = 0.003, and p = 0.08, respectively). Furthermore, older age diminished the association of mRNA levels with the appearance of subsequent tumors.ConclusionsOur results show that levels of CD3ε, CD25, CD68, and ICAM-1 mRNA in BCC biopsies may predict risk for new BCC tumors