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The beautiful focus of this film is a quilt made in c.1890 in Swaledale and its journey through the generations of a family and on to the Quilters’ Guild collection in the early twenty-first century. It conveys how textiles hold powerful emotions for their makers and the relatives who have inherited them, and communicates the pleasures of hand quilting in the past and today. It also shows how inherited objects offer insights into our history, reflecting on the way inherited quilts provide insights into changing regional patterns of women’s work and lives. With Deborah McGuire and Joanne Begiato.

Big data analytics can be used by smart cities to improve their citizens’ liveability, health, and wellbeing. Social surveys and also social media can be employed to engage with their communities, and these can require sophisticated analysis techniques. This research was focused on carrying out a sentiment analysis from social surveys. Data analysis techniques using RStudio and Python were applied to several open-source datasets, which included the 2018 Social Indicators Survey dataset published by the City of Melbourne (CoM) and the Casey Next short survey 2016 dataset published by the City of Casey (CoC). The qualitative nature of the CoC dataset responses could produce rich insights using sentiment analysis, unlike the quantitative CoM dataset. RStudio analysis created word cloud visualizations and bar charts for sentiment values. These were then used to inform social media analysis via the Twitter application programming interface. The R codes were all integrated within a Shiny application to create a set of user-friendly interactive web apps that generate sentiment analysis both from the historic survey data and more immediately from the Twitter feeds. The web apps were embedded within a website that provides a customisable solution to estimate sentiment for key issues. Global sentiment was also compared between the social media approach and the 2016 survey dataset analysis and showed some correlation, although there are caveats on the use of social media for sentiment analysis. Further refinement of the methodology is required to improve the social media app and to calibrate it against analysis of recent survey data.

AbstractClimate change, migration, and conflict have been featured prominently in academic and policy literature. While Africa remains the major reference point, studies on key conflict hotspots fail to adequately examine empirical demonstrations of how climate change forces migration, and consequently major conflicts. Drawing on semi‐structured interviews, focus group discussions, and employing the scarcity theory in a study of Agogo (Ghana), we illustrate how regional and local climate/environmental variability and scarcity trigger and sustain migration and farmer–herder conflicts. The findings offer insights into how other non‐climatic and ecological conditions reinforce the so‐called climate‐induced conflicts, exposing the limitations of the scarcity‐theory. Importantly, this study has provided an illustrative argument centered around the contextual dynamics of the nexus between climate change and farmer–herder conflict in Agogo to contribute to national, regional, and continental discussion on this critical topic.

With the rapid development of the economy and society in recent years, the ecological environment has deteriorated significantly. The governments at all levels, departments, and relevant scholars have begun to pay attention to urban ecological construction and research on urban disaster prevention and mitigation. The concept of resilience has gained widespread attention in this context. However, at present, urban ecological resilience research is still in its infancy, and there are many qualitative but few quantitative studies in terms of assessment methods. This study explores the complex dynamic evolution mechanism of urban ecosystem resilience based on the three resilience characteristics and selects Nanchang, an important ecological barrier in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River and a model area for integrated management of the Great Lakes basin, as an assessment target. This study establishes a quantitative measurement and evaluation framework for urban ecological resilience in three dimensions (resistance, adaptation, and vitality) and conducts a comprehensive evaluation of urban ecosystem resilience. The results show that the trend of land-use change from 1990 to 2020 is mainly characterized by the continuous decrease in arable land and ecological land (forestland, grassland, and water) and the continuous increase in construction land, among which the land-use dynamic attitude of construction land is the largest, reaching 5.33% from 1990 to 2005. During the study period, the overall ecosystem resilience of Nanchang showed a gradual decline and was always at a moderate-to-low level, with a long-term distribution pattern of “low in the middle and high in the surrounding areas” and clear spatial heterogeneity. This study helps clarify the security status of the regional ecosystem and provides a reference for exploring the complex dynamic evolution mechanism of ecological resilience.

The family plays a central role in shaping health behaviors of its members through social control and support mechanisms. We investigate whether and to what extent close kin (i.e., partner and children) have mattered for older people in taking on precautionary behaviors (e.g., physical distancing) and vaccination during the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe. Drawing on data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), we combine its Corona Surveys (June-August 2020 and June-August 2021) with pre-COVID information (October 2019-March2020). We find that having close kin (especially a partner) is associated with a higher probability of both adopting precautionary behaviors and accepting a COVID-19 vaccine. Results are robust to controlling for other potential drivers of precautionary behaviors and vaccine acceptance, as well as to accounting for co-residence with kin. Our findings suggest that policy makers and practitioners may differently address kinless individuals when promoting public policy measures.

[Review] Lynn Turner, Undine Sellbach and Ron Broglio, editors. The Edinburgh Companion to Animal Studies. Edinburgh University Press, 2018, 2019. 559 pp.

Les deltas connaissent de profonds changements démographiques, économiques et d'utilisation des terres, ainsi que des changements de bassin versant et climatiques induits par l'homme. Le Bangladesh illustre ces difficultés par de multiples risques climatiques, notamment l'affaissement/l'élévation du niveau de la mer, l'élévation de la température et la modification des régimes de précipitations, ainsi que la modification de la gestion des bassins versants du Gange et du Brahmapoutre. La croissance de la population et de l'économie entraîne de nombreux changements locaux, tandis que la densité de la population rurale et la pauvreté restent importantes. Identifier les réponses politiques et de planification appropriées est extrêmement difficile dans ces circonstances. Ce document adopte un processus participatif d'élaboration de scénarios intégrant à la fois des éléments socio-économiques et biophysiques à travers de multiples échelles et secteurs dans le cadre d'une évaluation intégrée des services écosystémiques et des moyens de subsistance dans les zones côtières du Bangladesh. Plutôt que de simplement réduire les perspectives mondiales, l'analyse a été menée par un groupe de parties prenantes important et diversifié qui a rencontré les chercheurs pendant quatre ans au fur et à mesure que l'évaluation était conçue, mise en œuvre et appliquée. Il y avait quatre étapes principales : (A) établir un méta-cadre pour l'analyse ; (B) développer des scénarios qualitatifs des tendances clés ; (C) traduire ces scénarios sous forme quantitative pour l'analyse du modèle d'évaluation intégrée ; et (D) un examen des résultats du modèle, qui soulève de nouvelles idées et questions des parties prenantes (par exemple, l'adaptation préférée et les réponses politiques). L'étape D peut être répétée, ce qui conduit à un cycle de boucle d'apprentissage itératif, et le processus peut potentiellement être en cours. Le processus solide et structuré d'engagement des parties prenantes a donné une forte appropriation locale des scénarios et du processus plus large. Ce processus peut être généralisé pour une application généralisée à travers les systèmes socio-écologiques en suivant la même approche en quatre étapes. Cela exige un engagement soutenu avec les parties prenantes et doit donc être lié à un processus de recherche à long terme. Cependant, cela facilite une base plus crédible pour la planification, en particulier lorsqu'il existe de multiples facteurs d'interaction. Los deltas están experimentando profundos cambios demográficos, económicos y de uso de la tierra, así como cambios climáticos y de captación inducidos por el hombre. Bangladesh ejemplifica estas dificultades a través de múltiples riesgos climáticos, incluidos el hundimiento/aumento del nivel del mar, el aumento de la temperatura y los cambios en los patrones de precipitación, así como el cambio en la gestión de las cuencas del Ganges y Brahmaputra. Hay una población y una economía en crecimiento que impulsan muchos más cambios locales, mientras que la densa población rural y la pobreza siguen siendo significativas. Identificar las respuestas adecuadas de política y planificación es extremadamente difícil en estas circunstancias. Este documento adopta un proceso participativo de desarrollo de escenarios que incorpora elementos socioeconómicos y biofísicos en múltiples escalas y sectores como parte de una evaluación integrada de los servicios ecosistémicos y los medios de vida en la costa de Bangladesh. En lugar de simplemente reducir las perspectivas globales, el análisis fue impulsado por un grupo de partes interesadas grande y diverso que se reunió con los investigadores durante cuatro años a medida que se diseñaba, implementaba y aplicaba la evaluación. Hubo cuatro etapas principales: (A) establecer un meta-marco para el análisis; (B) desarrollar escenarios cualitativos de tendencias clave; (C) traducir estos escenarios en forma cuantitativa para el análisis del modelo de evaluación integrado; y (D) una revisión de los resultados del modelo, lo que plantea nuevos conocimientos de las partes interesadas (por ejemplo, respuestas de adaptación y políticas preferidas) y preguntas. El paso D se puede repetir, lo que lleva a un ciclo de ciclo de aprendizaje iterativo, y el proceso puede ser potencialmente continuo. El proceso sólido y estructurado de participación de las partes interesadas dio una fuerte apropiación local de los escenarios y el proceso más amplio. Este proceso puede generalizarse para una aplicación generalizada en todos los sistemas socioecológicos siguiendo el mismo enfoque de cuatro etapas. Exige un compromiso sostenido con las partes interesadas y, por lo tanto, debe vincularse a un proceso de investigación a largo plazo. Sin embargo, facilita una base más creíble para la planificación, especialmente cuando hay múltiples factores que interactúan. Deltas are experiencing profound demographic, economic and land use changes and human-induced catchment and climate change. Bangladesh exemplifies these difficulties through multiple climate risks including subsidence/sea-level rise, temperature rise, and changing precipitation patterns, as well as changing management of the Ganges and Brahmaputra catchments. There is a growing population and economy driving numerous more local changes, while dense rural population and poverty remain significant. Identifying appropriate policy and planning responses is extremely difficult in these circumstances. This paper adopts a participatory scenario development process incorporating both socio-economic and biophysical elements across multiple scales and sectors as part of an integrated assessment of ecosystem services and livelihoods in coastal Bangladesh. Rather than simply downscale global perspectives, the analysis was driven by a large and diverse stakeholder group who met with the researchers over four years as the assessment was designed, implemented and applied. There were four main stages: (A) establish meta-framework for the analysis; (B) develop qualitative scenarios of key trends; (C) translate these scenarios into quantitative form for the integrated assessment model analysis; and (D) a review of the model results, which raises new stakeholder insights (e.g., preferred adaptation and policy responses) and questions. Step D can be repeated leading to an iterative learning loop cycle, and the process can potentially be ongoing. The strong and structured process of stakeholder engagement gave strong local ownership of the scenarios and the wider process. This process can be generalised for widespread application across socio-ecological systems following the same four-stage approach. It demands sustained engagement with stakeholders and hence needs to be linked to a long-term research process. However, it facilitates a more credible foundation for planning especially where there are multiple interacting factors. تشهد الدلتا تغيرات ديموغرافية واقتصادية عميقة وتغيرات في استخدام الأراضي ومستجمعات المياه التي يسببها الإنسان وتغير المناخ. تجسد بنغلاديش هذه الصعوبات من خلال المخاطر المناخية المتعددة بما في ذلك الهبوط/ارتفاع مستوى سطح البحر، وارتفاع درجة الحرارة، وتغيير أنماط هطول الأمطار، وكذلك تغيير إدارة مستجمعات نهر الغانج وبراهامابوترا. هناك عدد متزايد من السكان والاقتصاد يقودان العديد من التغييرات المحلية، في حين أن الكثافة السكانية الريفية والفقر لا يزالان كبيرين. من الصعب للغاية تحديد استجابات السياسة والتخطيط المناسبة في هذه الظروف. تعتمد هذه الورقة عملية تطوير سيناريو تشاركي تتضمن عناصر اجتماعية واقتصادية وبيوفيزيائية عبر نطاقات وقطاعات متعددة كجزء من تقييم متكامل لخدمات النظام الإيكولوجي وسبل العيش في بنغلاديش الساحلية. بدلاً من مجرد تقليص المنظورات العالمية، كان التحليل مدفوعًا بمجموعة كبيرة ومتنوعة من أصحاب المصلحة الذين التقوا بالباحثين على مدى أربع سنوات حيث تم تصميم التقييم وتنفيذه وتطبيقه. كانت هناك أربع مراحل رئيسية: (أ) إنشاء إطار تلوي للتحليل ؛ (ب) وضع سيناريوهات نوعية للاتجاهات الرئيسية ؛ (ج) ترجمة هذه السيناريوهات إلى شكل كمي لتحليل نموذج التقييم المتكامل ؛ و (د) مراجعة نتائج النموذج، مما يثير رؤى جديدة لأصحاب المصلحة (على سبيل المثال، التكيف المفضل والاستجابات السياسية) والأسئلة. يمكن تكرار الخطوة د مما يؤدي إلى دورة حلقة تعلم تكرارية، ومن المحتمل أن تكون العملية مستمرة. أعطت العملية القوية والمنظمة لإشراك أصحاب المصلحة ملكية محلية قوية للسيناريوهات والعملية الأوسع. يمكن تعميم هذه العملية للتطبيق على نطاق واسع عبر الأنظمة الاجتماعية والبيئية باتباع نفس النهج المكون من أربع مراحل. وهو يتطلب مشاركة مستمرة مع أصحاب المصلحة، وبالتالي يحتاج إلى ربطه بعملية بحث طويلة الأجل. ومع ذلك، فإنه يسهل أساسًا أكثر مصداقية للتخطيط خاصة عندما تكون هناك عوامل تفاعل متعددة.

Detailed, well-dated palaeoclimate and archaeological records are critical for understanding the impact of environmental change on human evolution. Ga-Mohana Hill, in the southern Kalahari, South Africa, preserves a Pleistocene archaeological sequence. Relict tufas at the site are evidence of past flowing streams, waterfalls, and shallow pools. Here, we use laser ablation screening to target material suitable for uranium-thorium dating. We obtained 33 ages covering the last 110 thousand years (ka) and identify five tufa formation episodes at 114–100 ka, 73–48 ka, 44–32 ka, 15–6 ka, and ~3 ka. Three tufa episodes are coincident with the archaeological units at Ga-Mohana Hill dating to ~105 ka, ~31 ka, and ~15 ka. Based on our data and the coincidence of dated layers from other local records, we argue that in the southern Kalahari, from ~240 ka to ~71 ka wet phases and human occupation are coupled, but by ~20 ka during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), they are decoupled.