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New indicators of vulnerability and adaptive capacity
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1 New indicators of vulnerability and adaptive capacity W Neil Adger, Nick Brooks, Graham Bentham, Maureen Agnew and Siri Eriksen January 2004 Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research Technical Report 7
2 NEW INDICATORS OF VULNERABILITY AND ADAPTIVE CAPACITY TYNDALL PROJECT IT1.: JULY 2001 TO JUNE 2003 W. N. ADGER 1,5, N. BROOKS 1,5, M. KELLY 2, G. BENTHAM 3, M. AGNEW 3 AND S. ERIKSEN 4 FINAL PROJECT REPORT January Centre for Social and Economic Research in the Global Environment School of Environmental Sciences University of East Anglia Norwich NR4 7TJ 2 Climatic Research Unit School of Environmental Sciences University of East Anglia Norwich NR4 7TJ 3 School of Environmental Sciences University of East Anglia Norwich NR4 7TJ 4 Centre for International Climate and Environment Research - Oslo (CICERO) Pb. 29 Blindern 0318 Oslo Norway 5 Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research School of Environmental Sciences University of East Anglia Norwich NR4 7TJ
3 OVERVIEW OF PROJECT WORK AND OUTCOMES NON TECHNICAL SUMMARY There is an increasing need to develop indicators of vulnerability and of adaptive capacity both to determine the robustness of response strategies over time and to understand better the underlying processes. The climate change policy process has increasingly focussed on the potential for adaptation. National level indicators of vulnerability or adaptive capacity directed towards the allocation of resources to support financial mechanisms of the UNFCCC, for example, will only find acceptance if based on agreed criteria that are transparent and robust. In this project we find that it is possible to compare the vulnerability of people and places across time and space at different scales. It is less meaningful to aggregate vulnerability across scales since the processes that cause vulnerability are different at each scale. We have explored issues of aggregation and construction of indices, weighting of indicators, and the efficacy of these to explain observed vulnerability to weather-related natural disasters. We are now in a better position to identify robust and transparent indicator sets. We find that national level adaptive capacity is dependent on social infrastructure and the accountability of institutions more than on the level of economic activity. OBJECTIVES The goals of the project have been: to operationalise a database on quantitative socio-economic indicators of vulnerability to climate change, classified by particular categories of climate impact; to address two processes which shape vulnerability that we consider to have been inadequately studied in previous work: health status and social capital; to address the relationship between the indicators and theoretical models of adaptation relevant for incorporation into global integrated assessment models; and, to seek co-funding for expansion of the health and other components of the work. WORK UNDERTAKEN AND RESULTS The first element of this project was the development of a conceptual framework within which indicators representing vulnerability and adaptive capacity could be developed. The conceptual framework was developed through a combination of literature review, attendance at meetings of practitioners in the field of vulnerability, adaptation and natural hazards, and discussions with key individuals. There are different views and definitions of vulnerability. This issue was addressed by combining the approaches of the climate change and natural hazards research communities, and developing a framework which related risk, vulnerability and adaptive capacity to one another, and which also addressed the issue of timescale. The conceptual framework relates the concepts of vulnerability, risk and adaptive capacity to one another and reduces confusion between competing conceptions of the same issues in the domains of climate change and natural hazards and disaster 1
4 management. The conceptual framework also provides a context within which indicators may be developed, and should enable researchers to be clear as to what they are developing indicators for. The second element of the project involved the development of simple indicators of risk, measured in terms of the outcome of climate related disasters. This was achieved using data from the Emergency Events Database (EM-DAT). Countries were ranked by mortality outcome and combined mortality, morbidity and displacement outcome to climate-related events on a decadal basis. The work on outcome-based indicators of risk demonstrates that disaster data may be used to help our understanding of risk and vulnerability, although improvements in such data are desirable. Outcome data may be used as a useful tool in assessing the validity of proxies for risk and vulnerability. The third element of the project was the development of predictive indicators of vulnerability (as opposed to diagnostic indicators of risk as described above), using publicly available data relating to social, economic, political and environmental factors. Once such indicators have been developed they may be used to identify areas for intervention in order to reduce the likelihood and severity of negative outcomes from future climate hazards associated with climate variability and change. Candidate proxy variables likely to represent elements of vulnerability were identified based on literature review and expert judgement, evaluated through correlation studies and other statistical techniques, and validated by an expert focus group. The project results suggest that health, education, and particularly governance indicators, provide a reasonable assessment of vulnerability to climate hazards, at least in terms of mortality related to discrete extreme events. A number of health, education and governance proxies exhibit a strong relationship with mortality outcomes from climate related disasters when tested using data from the 1980s and 1990s. This result resonates with emerging insights, reviewed through the project, on the role of social capital and collective action as central to adaptation. These proxies can be used to construct indicators of vulnerability using a variety of approaches. Construction of composite indicators by averaging should be treated with caution; a better approach is to examine whether countries fall into categories of low, intermediate or high vulnerability for a variety of proxies in turn, and to assign scores for these categories which may then be summed to produce a vulnerability index. Disaggregated indices for different elements of vulnerability are more useful than a single index as they provide information on the structure of vulnerability. A simple modelling framework within which vulnerability indicators could be embedded has been proposed. RELEVANCE TO TYNDALL CENTRE RESEARCH STRATEGY & OBJECTIVES This project is directly relevant to one of the seven key questions of the Tyndall Centre Adaptation Theme What influences the ability of institutions to adapt to climate change? The project has provided insights into the resources and processes that influence the ability of countries to adapt. The proposed modelling framework can be taken up by Theme 1 and in new research. 2
5 POTENTIAL FOR FURTHER WORK Future work can build upon analyses presented here by examining case studies in order to determine to what extent the results obtained here may be generalised. While indicators will play an increasingly important policy role, they capture only synoptic aspects of vulnerability at the scale at which they are applied. It is, therefore, important to develop our understanding of vulnerability by examining how it arises in a variety of contexts, paying attention to the relative importance of various social, economic, political, geographic and environmental factors in different countries, and also to the hazardspecific nature of vulnerability. The proposed modelling framework warrants exploration through a trial implementation. Three ongoing PhD studentships are exploring areas of this agenda, while the specific modelling areas are under development and may form the basis of a project proposal. 3
6 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1. Background 1.2. Objectives 1.3. Methodology 1.4. Dissemination of project results 2. PREVIOUS WORK ON VULNERABILITY INDICATORS 2.1. Introduction 2.2. A morphology of vulnerability indicator results 2.3. Indicator selection 2.4. Challenges in designing vulnerability indicator studies 2.5. Implications for best practice in indicator studies 3. DEVELOPMENT OF A CONEPTUAL FRAMEWORK 3.1. The need for a conceptual framework 3.2. Definitions of vulnerability 3.3. Vulnerability and risk 3.4. Adaptive capacity and the adaptation process 3.5. Adaptive capacity and the current and future vulnerability 3.6. Generic and specific vulnerability and adaptive capacity 3.7. Implications for national-level indicators 3.8. Indicators of climate hazard 3.9. Outcome-based indicators of climate risk 3.. Predictive indicators of vulnerability and adaptive capacity 4. CONSTRUCTION OF OUTCOME-BASED INDICATORS OF RISK 4.1. The EM-DAT dataset 4.2. pre-processing of the EM-DAT data 4.3. Coverage and reliability of EM-DAT, and trends in the dataset 4.4. Construction of risk proxies from EM-DAT 4.5. Results 4.6. Summary of EM-DAT based risk indicators 5. DEVELOPMENT OF PREDICTIVE INDICATORS OF VULNERABILITY 5.1. Review of previous work on predictive indicators 5.2. Components of vulnerability and adaptive capacity
7 5.3. Definition of indicators and choice of proxies 5.4. Validating the vulnerability proxy data 5.5. Constructing indicators 5.6. Vulnerability scores 6. MODELLING THE PROCESS OF ADAPTATION 7. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUTURE WORK REFERENCES
8 TECHNICAL REPORT 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1. Background As interest in climate change and its impacts has developed, the emphasis has shifted from an impacts-led approach to a vulnerability-led approach. The impacts led approach tends to concentrate on the evolution of physical hazards associated with climate variability, as a consequence of climate change. Typically this approach will examine future human exposure to climate hazards based on climate modelling studies and projections of population. The vulnerability-led approach examines the underlying socio-economic and institutional factors, and, to a lesser extent, political and cultural factors, that determine how people respond to and cope with climate hazards. Studies of vulnerability may be carried out without a detailed knowledge of how climate will vary over time - we may assess the vulnerability of region, system or population group to a range of existing or hypothetical hazards based on an analysis of the factors that determine how it is likely to be affected should it be faced with the hazards in question. The vulnerability approach is therefore a useful tool with which to assess people s needs in terms of adaptation or improvements in their ability to cope with existing threats. Vulnerability assessments do not require detailed climate information generated by models (which is not available for many parts of the world), and they do not require us to wait until the science of climate prediction is more developed. Adaptation policies may therefore be developed despite the uncertainties inherent in the science of climate change - while a detailed knowledge of likely or potential future climate would be desirable, lack of it need not be an impediment to increasing the general resilience of societies to the types of threat that they may be expected to face in the future. The IPCC Third Assessment Report (TAR) (IPCC, 2001) combines these two approaches, and this results in some confusion with two incompatible definitions of vulnerability being presented. The IPCC definitions and how to reconcile them by defining two different kinds of vulnerability are discussed below. The IPCC TAR also introduces the concept of adaptive capacity into the mainstream of climate change research, and defines adaptive capacity as one of the determinants of vulnerability. However, vulnerability and adaptive capacity are described in rather general terms, and the way in which the relationship between them is mediated by the type of threats faced by systems is not explored. In order to assess vulnerability and adaptive capacity in a quantitative manner we must develop indicators to represent these variables. However, for this to be possible we must first develop a coherent conceptual framework of vulnerability and adaptive capacity, before we can even begin to identify the factors that constitute vulnerability and adaptive 6
9 capacity. Once we have developed such a framework and identified the elements of vulnerability and adaptive capacity we must choose appropriate proxies from which to construct our indicators. Aside from the definitional and relational issues, we must also consider scales of analysis. We can assess vulnerability and capacity to adapt at a range of scales, from the household, through the local, regional and national, to the global. If we are concerned with a specific system or geographic area, we will perform our analysis at the scale at which that system is defined, or the scale that characterises the area in question. We might use quantitative indicators appropriate to the particular context, or we might undertake a more qualitative analysis of the factors that cause vulnerability and determine capacity to adapt. Such an approach will be appropriate for self-assessment exercises undertaken by businesses, regional or local governments, public utilities, and governments concerned with identifying vulnerable systems, regions and groups at the sub-national level. An alternative approach is to construct comparative indicators that enable us to compare the vulnerability and adaptive capacity of different systems, groups or regions. We may adopt such a strategy to compare the vulnerability and adaptive capacity of different countries, through the use of national-level indicators. It is sometimes argued that the national level is not an appropriate scale for vulnerability analysis as vulnerability is highly context specific, and is spatially differentiated to a large extent within countries. However, vulnerability and adaptive capacity at the local level are influenced by processes operating at the national scale. For example, national economic policy can have a strong influence on the economic well-being of vulnerable groups, by determining the cost of basic needs such as food, education and healthcare, as well as the market price of commodities that form the basis of the livelihoods of vulnerable groups. Investment in crucial areas such as education, healthcare and physical infrastructure will also influence vulnerability by determining opportunities for vulnerability reduction and adaptation. The regulatory and taxation environment, set in most cases at the national level, will affect the possibilities for adaptation, and other processes driven by national policy will also play a major role. Agricultural policies will have a significant effect on the livelihoods and vulnerability of rural populations, and policies that encourage internal conflict or confrontations with neighbouring states will act to increase vulnerability to a range of hazards by causing instability, insecurity and the collapse of vital infrastructure. We therefore develop indicators of the factors operating at the national level that act to ameliorate or exacerbate the vulnerability of a wide range of actors at the sub-national level. Similarly, national-level indicators of adaptive capacity will represent the factors and processes that act to facilitate or act as barriers to further adaptation. From the point of view of vulnerability reduction, the national level is an appropriate scale of analysis as it enables policy makers to identify interventions by government that will ameliorate vulnerability throughout society. Nonetheless, the potential for conflict must not be overlooked, as actions to reduce the vulnerability of one group may have negative implications for other groups - adaptation is likely to create winners and losers and this 7
10 will have to be addressed through stakeholder engagement, conflict resolution and compensation schemes. A number of existing studies of have employed national-level indicators in order to study phenomena such as environmental, vulnerability, human development and sustainability. These have involved the use of proxy data to represent factors such as environmental stress, poverty, inequality, health status and various aspects of governance. A host of other national-level data are available from which various indicators relating to governance, the state of the environment, and socio-economic and developmental conditions may be constructed. Other indicator projects, the choice of proxies for vulnerability and adaptive capacity indicators, and the construction of these indicators, are described in detail in section 2.4. below Objectives The goals of the project have been: to operationalise a database on quantitative socio-economic indicators of vulnerability to climate change, classified by particularly categories of climate impact; to address processes which shape vulnerability that we consider to have been inadequately studied in previous work: health status and social capital; to address the relationship between the indicators and theoretical models of adaptation relevant for incorporation into global integrated assessment models; and, to seek co-funding for expansion of the health and other components Methodology The main effort of the project, the development and evaluation of a vulnerability indicators database, has consisted of three principal elements. The first element was the development of a conceptual framework within which indicators representing vulnerability and adaptive capacity could be developed. The conceptual framework was developed through a combination of literature review, attendance at meetings of practitioners in the field of vulnerability, adaptation and natural hazards, and discussions with key individuals. A key objective of the development of the conceptual framework was the reconciliation of different views and definitions of vulnerability. This problem was addressed by combining the approaches of the climate change and natural hazards research communities, and developing a framework which related risk, vulnerability and adaptive capacity to one another, and which also addressed the problem of timescale. The second element of the project involved the development of simple indicators of risk, measured in terms of the outcome of climate related disasters. This was achieved using 8
11 data from the Emergency Events Database (EM-DAT), obtained from the Centre for Research into the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED). Data relating to disasters with a climatic component were extracted from EM-DAT, and countries were ranked by mortality outcome and combined mortality, morbidity and displacement outcome on a decadal basis. A major aim of this part of the project was to assess the usefulness of EM- DAT in examining outcome risk from climate hazards. Relationships between recorded disaster outcome and data coverage were therefore investigated. The third and most important element of the project was the development of predictive indicators of vulnerability (as opposed to diagnostic indicators of risk as described above), using publicly available data relating to social, economic, political and environmental factors. Once such indicators have been developed they may be used to identify areas for intervention in order to reduce the likelihood and severity of negative outcomes from future climate hazards associated with climate variability and change. Candidate proxy variables likely to represent elements of vulnerability were identified based on literature review and expert judgement, evaluated through correlation studies and other statistical techniques and validated by an elite focus group. In complementary work, an assessment of previous work on vulnerability indictors has been prepared, a discussion paper on the role of social capital is in press and case study material has been collated for use in the health component of the study. A collaborative proposal for further work on health aspects has been developed (see next section for further details). Finally, a simple modelling framework within which vulnerability indicators could be embedded has been proposed Dissemination of project results Throughout the project the principal researchers have engaged with a variety of groups working in the field of vulnerability, adaptation and indicators. Neil Adger and Nick Brooks were lead authors for a technical paper (Adger, Khan and Brooks, 2003) in the Adaptation Policy Framework (APF) of the United Nations Development Programme, and Nick Brooks participated in APF scoping and drafting meetings in London, Accra and Havana throughout The paper dealt with the assessment and enhancement of adaptive capacity, and the APF will be used as guidance by policy makers concerned with adaptation to climate variability and change at the national level. Vulnerability to climate-related disasters is discussed in a book chapter, and outcomebased indicators of risk constructed from disaster data are discussed in a Tyndall Centre Working Paper for submission to a journal. A Working Paper on a conceptual framework of risk, vulnerability and adaptive capacity has been produced, and this will also be submitted to an international journal. A paper on the way in which hazard mediates the adaptation process, and on implications for measuring adaptive capacity, is in preparation. An assessment of previous work on vulnerability indicators has been 9
12 submitted as a working paper. A number of other short communications, including a memorandum to the Parliamentary Committee on Sustainable Development, were also produced during the course of the project. A full list of publications, meetings and other outreach activities is presented below. Refereed articles Adger, W. N. and Brooks, N. (2003) Does global environmental change cause vulnerability to disaster? In Pelling, M. (ed.) Natural Disasters and Development in a Globalising World. Routledge: London, pp Brooks, N. and Adger, W. N. (in revision) Country level risk measures of climate-related natural disasters and implications for adaptation to climate change. Climate Research. Adger, W. N. (2004 in press) Social capital, collective action and adaptation to climate change. Economic Geography. Dessai, S., Adger, W. N., Hulme, M., Köhler, J. Turnpenny, J. and Warren R. (in revision) Defining and experiencing dangerous climate change. Climatic Change. Adger, W.N. (2004 in press) Vulnerability. In Forsyth, T. (ed.) Encyclopedia of International Development. Routledge: London. Adger, W.N. (2003 in press) Social aspects of adaptive capacity. In Smith, J., Klein, R. and Huq, S. (eds.) Developing Countries and Sustainable Adaptation to Climate Change. Imperial College Press: London. Sidle, R. C., Taylor, D., Lu, X. X., de Lange, W. P., Adger, W. N., Newnham, R. M., Lowe, D. J. and Dodson, J. R. (2003 in press) Interactions of natural hazards and society: evidence in historical and recent records. Quaternary International. Other material and papers in preparation Brooks, N. and Adger, W. N Country level risk measures of climate-related natural disasters and implications for adaptation to climate change, Tyndall Centre Working Paper No. 26. Adger, W. N. (2001) Social Capital and Climate Change. Tyndall Working Paper 8, Tyndall Centre, University of East Anglia, Norwich pp. 19. Brooks, N Vulnerability, risk and adaptation: A conceptual framework, Tyndall Centre working paper (currently under internal review).
13 Adger, W. N., Khan, S. R. and Brooks, N Measuring and enhancing adaptive capacity, Technical Paper for Adaptation Policy Framework, UNDP, available at: Adger, W. N. (2003) Building resilience to promote sustainability. IHDP Update 2/ Brooks, N. and Adger, W. N. (2002) Justice and science for sustainable development. Science in Parliament 59(3), (reprinted in Environmental Scientist, 2002 (6), 6-7). Adger, W. N. and Brown, K. (2002) Examination of witnesses: N. Adger and K. Brown. In House of Commons, International Development Committee, Global Climate Change and Sustainable Development. HC Paper 519-II. Session The Stationery Office: London, pp Adger, W. N., Brooks, N. Brown, K. Conway, D., Haxeltine, A. and Hulme, M. (2002) Memorandum of Evidence on Climate Change and Sustainable Development by the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research. In House of Commons, International Development Committee, Global Climate Change and Sustainable Development. HC Paper 519-II. Session The Stationery Office: London, pp Berkhout, F., Jordan, A. Adger, W. N. and Moss, R. (2002) Developing socio-economic scenarios for vulnerability and adaptation assessments. Report for the 6 th IPCC Task Group on Scenarios for Climate Impact Assessment 5-7 th June, Helsinki, pp 5. Eriksen, S. E. and Kelly, P. M. (2002) Vulnerability indicators and assessments deitnfiying good practice. Submitted. Conference papers and meetings First Sustainability Days, Postsdam Institute for Climate Impacts Research, workshops attended: Methods and Models of Vulnerability Research, Analysis and Assesment and Enhancing the Capacity of Developing Countries to Adapt to Climate Change, 28 September 1 October 2001 (Presentations by Neil Adger and Nick Brooks). UNDP APF scoping meeting, London February 2002 (presentation by Nick Brooks). UNDP Lead author meeting to elaborate an Adaptation Policy Framework, Accra, Ghana, May 2002 (presentation by Nick Brooks). WHO & London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine workshop: Floods: Climate change and adaptation strategies for human health, London, 30 June - 2 July 2002 (paper presented by Nick Brooks).
14 UNDP APF lead authors meeting, Havana, Cuba, September 2002 (presentation by Nick Brooks) Meeting of Working Group III of the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction/UNDP, Geneva, - March 2003 (presentation by Nick Brooks). Second Vulnerability Assessment workshop, Cranfield Disaster Management Centre, Coventry Univerisity, 7-8 May 2003 (presentation by Nick Brooks). Adger, W. N., (2002) Institutions for Adaptation to Climate Change: a Cross Country Analysis. Paper presented at Environment and Development International Society for Ecological Economics, Biennial Congress, 6-9 th March 2002, Sousse, Tunisia. Adger, W. N., (2002) Social Resilience and Sustainability. Presented at Sustainability Science: Knowledge, Technology and Institutions for Sustainability Transitions in Asia. 4-6 th February 2002, Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand. Tompkins, E. L. and Adger, W. N. (2003) Re-thinking response capacity to enhance climate change policy development. Paper presented at Mitigation and Adaptation in Climate Change Conference, Centre for Advanced Cultural Studies, Essen, Germany, May 15-16, 2003 Adger, W. N. (2003) Equity and vulnerability in Food Systems. Paper presented at Vulnerability in Global Environmental Change and Food Systems, National Academy of Science, Washington DC, th January. Tompkins, E. L. and Adger, W. N. (2002) Building Resilience to Climate Change through Adaptive Management of Natural Resources. UNDP Expert Group Meeting Integrating Disaster Reduction and Adaptation to Climate Change, June 17-19, Havana, Cuba. Other outreach activities Member of Scientific Steering Committee for NERC COAPEC (Coupled Ocean- Atmosphere Processes and European Climate) programme. Membership of Tyndall MRC-NERC Climate Change and Health Co-op. Research proposal on vulnerability to dust events and temperature extremes in North Africa in preparation with UEA Schools of Medicine and Development Studies (outcome of MRC-NERC co-op meetings). BBC Radio 4, Connect, Nick Brooks interviewed on subject of atmospheric dust, hazards and climate change BBC Radio 4, Home Planet, Nick brooks interviewed on subject of vulnerability to extreme weather events. 12
15 Nick Brooks acted as consultant for and participated in a documentary about climate change and human occupation of the Sahara (produced by Fulcrum TV for Discovery US, Discovery Europe and UK Channel 5). The work from this project has been utilised and has contributed to subsequent Tyndall projects and forms the basis of the work of three Tyndall affiliated PhDs: Linda Sygna is working on the importance of social capital in maintaining resilience in the post-socialist transition of Cuba and in resource management in Norway. This work is in collaboration with CICERO, University of Oslo and Linda is being co-supervised by Dr. Karen O Brien from CICERO with Neil Adger at UEA. Marisa Goulden (ESRC/NERC Interdisciplinary Studentship) is working with Neil Adger and Declan Conway (DEV, UEA) on social capital in resource management strategies to cope with present day resource changes in wetland areas in Uganda. Here periodic environmental processes associated for example with ENSO events cause step changes in lake levels and hence in water availability over time. Social capital insights show how resilient the institutions and the resource base is when lakes exhibit flips in their equilibrium states (e.g. see Carpenter et al., 2000) Katharine Vincent (ESRC 1+3 Studentship) is beginning a PhD in 2003 on the importance of social capital in dryland resource livelihoods, focussed on southern African cases and examining the synergies between state facilitation of civil society in policy vacuums, such as those that are hypothesised to have occurred in post-1994 South Africa (see Evans, 1996). For her MRes thesis Katharine is developing vulnerability indicators for Africa. 2. PREVIOUS WORK ON VULNERABILITY INDICATORS 2.1. Introduction There is a long history of vulnerability studies concerned with identifying those population groups most likely to experience the adverse effects of drought and other natural hazards or stresses induced by conflict or other social, economic or political forces in order to target effectively preventative measures and disaster relief (Mbithi and Wisner 1973, Kamau et al. 1989, Reardon and Matlon 1989, Cutter 1996, FIVIMS 2000, FEWSNET 2000). The focus of this body of work has, for the most part, been the developing countries and, given the nature of the impact, the spatial scale of these studies tends to be local to regional. The recognition of climate change as a global environmental threat has resulted in many assessments of the potential effects of climate change in different parts of the world (Jallow et al. 1996, Parry et al. 1999, Wilkie et al. 1999, Parry 2000, Sousounis and Bisanz 2000, Schiller et al 2001, often using vulnerability as a framing device (cf. the copious references to vulnerability in the chapter titles in the latest IPCC Working Group II assessment, McCarthy et al. 2001). For the most part, the results 13
16 of these studies have been used to define the magnitude of the threat posed by the climate problem as a means of determining the need for political action to limit that threat. This assessment has been, unavoidably, of a rather general nature given the many uncertainties involved in forecasting future trends and the spatial scale has ranged from local to global. With the development of formal funding mechanisms, such as the Adaptation Fund (Huq 2002), specifically targeted at facilitating adaptive responses to the climate problem, which is synonymous with reducing vulnerability (Kelly and Adger 2000; Kelly 2001), the need for more formal assessment of differential levels of vulnerability has become pressing. The demand for a more formal approach to vulnerability assessment brings with it a number of considerations that represent a challenge to existing practice. First, there is pressure to go beyond local investigations of climate vulnerability to analysis at an aggregate level. The need to derive a global, or at least regional, overview of vulnerability and its development over time in order to understand the global problem of climate change has already created a demand for vulnerability assessment at the national level and above. Such exercises aim to accumulate and generalise our knowledge of how vulnerability is distributed and how it is developing throughout the world. The national level is often the favoured unit of analysis because it is hoped that certain indicators can be found that are comparable across nations and which are widely available. The nation-state level is also still the main political unit through which emission targets and adaptation policies are formulated and resources, such as development assistance, are assigned (Fermann 1997, Cooper 2000, Klepper and Springer 2003). It is the sovereign level at which international negotiations take place, and at which the ultimate responsibility for shaping the framework for policy formulation, instruments and institutional structures for executing measures lies. Second, there is the desire for quantitative measures or indicators of vulnerability that can be used, for example, to allocate priorities for support between nations. For the most part, previous studies have abstained from developing measures of vulnerability itself, but have adopted indicators that capture the physical and/or social determinants or drivers of vulnerability (Kelly and Adger 2000). Certain characteristics of vulnerability render meeting these requirements problematic, as discussed in detail in Section 2.5. First, vulnerability is geographically and socially differentiated. Any assessment at the national level must take account of regional patterns of vulnerability within the country and the distribution of vulnerability within the national community. It is also a function of processes operating in a range of scales, from the local, through the national to the global (Cash and Moser 2000), and any national measure must capture the influence of processes operating on all these scales. There is an inevitable tension as vulnerability is best defined at a point, at a particular location in space or within the community, and any aggregation to the national level can result in a loss of information. Second, it is increasingly recognised that vulnerability is a dynamic characteristic (Campbell 1999, Leichenko and O Brien 2002), a function of the constant evolution of a complex of interactive processes (Smith and O Keefe 1996, Kasperson 14
17 2001). Little is known, at present, about how this dynamism operates and plays out but this characteristic of vulnerability suggests that any measure or indicator should be capable of identifying both the steady-state situation and any trend in that situation. Finally, vulnerability is a result of complex and poorly understood interactions involving both physical processes and the human dimension. The social parameters of vulnerability, in particular, are not well defined (Kasperson et al. 2001; Schneider and Sarukhan 2001). Justifiable political sensitivities mean that the selection of appropriate indicators to represent this key aspect of the human condition requires extreme care A morphology of vulnerability indicator studies The purpose of any study defines to a great extent the methods employed and the type of findings that are needed. We consider here three contrasting kinds of study whose purpose can be defined in terms of: 1) comparison between communities, nations or region; 2) general assessment of future threat; and 3) enhancing the understanding of the factors that determine vulnerability in order to identify measures to reduce vulnerability. There is, of course, considerable overlap between these categories in practice but each highlights particular characteristics of vulnerability or issues in vulnerability assessment. In order to measure vulnerability comparatively with the goal of allocating resources effectively, the selection of indicators must be driven by trying to capture a snapshot of present-day exposure and capacity as precisely as possible. The focus here must be on the present-day if resources are to be committed in the here and now. Studies directed towards the allocation of resources at the national level, for example, to support financial mechanisms such as the Adaptation Fund intended to fund adaptation projects from the proceeds of the Clean Development Mechanism, highlight the need to agree indicators of present-day vulnerability. If the funding agency is to make the, essentially political, judgement of which countries or regions are more vulnerable than others Huq (2002), then that judgement would be most likely to find acceptance if based on agreed criteria that are as transparent, robust and as close to objectivity as can be achieved. Vulnerability assessments at a sub-national level, such as those employed by Famine Early Warning Systems, have been tools to target intervention and aid at the most vulnerable areas and people as a famine develops. As a consequence, such studies have developed locallyspecific indicators of adversity (rather than vulnerability per se) measuring emerging impacts, including food stocks, livestock and food prices and vegetation index aimed at directing public funds to regions most in need (Lonergan et al. 1999, FEWSNET 2000, Ramachandran and Eastman 2000, Zambia National Vulnerability Assessment Committee 2003). In selecting indicators of vulnerability in the contaxt of global warming, a future threat, the approach of using indicators based on observed impacts or adversity, is not, at this time, a viable option and analogues have to be used. When assessing the magnitude of the threat of global warming, capturing local variability and pockets of vulnerability (closely related to the concept of criticality advanced by Kasperson et al. 1996, or so-called hotspots in relation to threats to biodiversity by Myers et al. 2000) becomes important. The effects of climate-induced pressures are unevenly distributed in time and space. Consequences vary between communities or social 15
18 systems, between social groups in a community, between households and between people within a household (Downing 1992, Davies 1993, Guyer 1997, Adams et al. 1998, Morrow 1999). Scale issues become of vital importance when attempting to generalise, or select indicators, on scales greater than the characteristic scale of vulnerability hotspots (Turner 1991, Polsky and Easterling 2001, Stephen and Downing 2001, O Brien et al 2003?). Any assessment of the overall threat posed by the climate problem must rest on identification of these hotspots and then on some form of accumulation or aggregation as necessary to whatever spatial scale is of ultimate concern. Studies vary in whether they deal with present-day or future patterns of vulnerability (Jallow et al 1996, Parry and Carter 1998, Kandilikar and Risbey 2000; Smith et al. 2000, Parry et al 2001). Clearly, estimates of future vulnerability, which must be the prime concern of this type of study, are contingent on uncertain projections of environmental change and socio-economic trends (Mitchell and Hulme 1999), though few studies have fully incorporated future socio-economic change (with some exceptions, such as Jordan et al. 2000) with most imposing the future environmental stress on present-day society. Enhancing the understanding of vulnerability and the closely-related goal of identifying ways of reducing vulnerability clearly entail a focus on the causes of, or the processes shaping, vulnerability. To take one example of a process-based approach, the command over resources by individuals, households, social groups and communities is closely related to vulnerability. Command over resources affects both strategies to prepare for climatic events or change, such as investment in resistant agriculture, the ability to draw on alternative sources of food and income when the main source fails, and the ability to rebuild structural damage after a natural disaster (Gore 1993, Guyer 1997, Adger 2000). The concept of entitlement has been central in describing how people's command over resources is related to the ability to secure food or income. In particular, it is emphasised that while environmental factors may lead to a drop in food production, other social factors, such as market failure, determine whether or not a household can achieve food security (Sen 1981; Drèze and Sen 1989; Adger 1996). Food production decline can be an important cause of entitlement failure for small scale food producers who derive their entitlements from producing food; however, exchange entitlements decline, when prices of food soar and prices of assets plummet, is also important as demonstrated by, for example, Devereux and Næraa (1996) in their study of the 1992/1993 drought in Zambia. The way in which command over resources is secured and the existence of opportunities when faced with a climatic event are determined in part by factors and processes that operate on scales higher than the household or community level. Jodha (1995) argues that fragile zones are characterised by environmental, economic and political threats that limit their opportunities. Famines or human adversity occurs in a broad political, economic and ecological context. Vestal (1991) argues that multiple natural and man-made phenomena, rather than one single cause, combine to produce famine. The underlying causes of individual entitlement or livelihood failure are the political and economic structures of resource ownership and control. Downing et al. (1995) suggest that human ecology, expanded entitlements and political economy and the place and time-specific configuration of these three key analytic variables define the dimensions of vulnerability. 16
19 From this brief survey of three different forms of vulnerability study, we can identify a number of characteristics of vulnerability and issues in vulnerability assessment that must be explicitly dealt with in selecting indicators. First, it is necessary to decide whether present-day or future vulnerability is the focus. Second, there is the need for precision, robustness, transparency objectivity and, if the indicators are to be accepted as a basis for decision making, recognition as valid by stakeholders. Third, scale issues are a critical concern. The fundamental scale of vulnerability, primarily because of differentiation within the community, is local, though processes operating at broader spatial scales do contribute significantly to patterns of vulnerability at the local level. The need to aggregate up to, say, the national scale requires careful handling as it can lead to the loss of information about vulnerability hotspots and may even distort overall conclusions as detail is lost in the process of averaging or accumulation. Finally, we would argue that the selection of robust indicators, whether the purpose of the study, should be based on understanding of the multiple processes that shape vulnerability. While most studies do, in justifying the choice of particular indicators, put forward process-oriented arguments, understanding of the factors that shape vulnerability is limited and such arguments are too often based on theory or supposition alone Indicator selection Procedures for indicator selection follow two general approaches, one based on a theoretical understanding of relationships and one based on statistical relationships. Conceptual understanding does, however, play a role in both. The first approach represents a deductive research approach and the second an inductive research approach. The deductive approach to selecting indicators involves proposing relationships derived from theory or conceptual framework and selecting indicators on the basis of these relationships. The first step in a deductive or theory-based approach is understanding the phenomenon that is being studied and the main processes involved. The second step involves identifying the main processes to be included in the study and how they are related. The third step involves selecting the best possible indicators for these factors and processes and assigning values and weights. During this procedure, conceptualization, or identifying key concepts and the relationships between them takes place, and the research questions and hypotheses are stated. Concepts need to be operationalised in order to test variables empirically. Operationalising involves the specifying of how theoretical concepts will be measured, in other words indicators that will be used to measure the concept to produce data on it (Blalock 1984, p ). In deductive research, a hypothesis is tested by operationalising the concepts in the hypothesis and collecting the appropriate data to explore the relationship between the measures of these concepts. A strong conceptual framework can form the basis for identifying vulnerability indicators. Downing et al (1995), for example, conceptualise vulnerability as depending on human ecology, expanded entitlements and political economy. This drives their selection of indicators measured, namely, food availability in kcal/ day per capita, GNP per capita, and under 5 mortality per 00. The significance of the findings from this study can be assessed on 17
20 the basis of the validity of theoretical approach and assumptions, the appropriateness of the selected indicators and the reliability of data. The statistical procedure to selecting indicators involves relating a large number of variables to vulnerability in order to identify the factors that are statistically significant. In a sense, an inductive approach involves a hoovering of potentially relevant indicators and selecting indicators on the basis of significant statistical relationships. The observed statistical relationships are then used to build a model. As such, the deductive and inductive procedures to identifying indicators have a parallel in the two types of climate modelling, that is dynamic modeling, based on our understanding of physical relationships, and statistical modeling, based on observed empirical relationships. The use of a conceptual framework and operationalisation is less rigorous in inductive research than in deductive methods, and the testing of hypotheses is less formal. Some concepts are often considered at the outset, however, in order to frame the collection of data. Inductive research often uses empirical generalisations, filled with empirical content and statements of empirical regularities. Theory consists of generalisations derived by induction from data: in other words, the finding of patterns in data that can be generalised. Ramachandran and Eastman (1997) applied 92 variables used with 539 potential values for each variable (seven years across 77 administrative sub-divisions) to explain the average number of people in need of food assistance in West Africa. Indicators regard Normalised Difference Vegetation Index, prices of livestock and food grains, agricultural production, demographic data and large-scale agricultural survey results. Through statistical methods, the different contributions of different variables to vulnerability were assessed. It is characteristic of many vulnerability indicator studies that they do not belong distinctly to either a deductive or an inductive approach. Many studies base their selection of a multitude of indicators on a basic theoretical understanding of vulnerability (such as that vulnerability is a result of high exposure to a hazard and low coping ability, Ramachandran and Eastman 1997, or of sectoral sensitivities and coping and adaptive capacity, Moss et al. 2000) and identify categories of indicators (such as settlement/infrastructure sensitivity, food security, economic capacity, human and environmental resources, national economic growth and human development, Moss et al 2000, Kanamaru 1998). Few studies thoroughly discuss how these categories are linked theoretically and conceptually to the basic understanding of vulnerability or explicitly utilize theory to inform further indicator selection within each category, as recommended by Lonergan et al. (1999). Studies that closely integrate theory, conceptualization and indicator selection are more commonly performed at the sub-national level, such as a case study of Georgetown County, South Carolina (Cutter et al. 2000) and a study of three global coastal cities (Schiller et al. 2001). Schiller et al., for example, conceptualizes the relationship between stresses and an exposed system, suggesting that endowments, direct coping abilities and indirect coping (social safety net/support, social contact) are important components of 18
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I've got a picture sized about 1 meter on 70 cm printed on wood.
I need to hang this picture but am not sure how...
It's a wood panel zig-zaged with the picture itself so I just need to drill the wood and the wall to hang this.
My questions are technical:
How many holes should I drill? 2 or 3?
What drill bit size should I use?
I'm assuming I'll drill into the wood first and then into the wall - not in one drill to both.
What length of screws do I need? the panel screwed to the wall is about 1 cm depth.
Would love to get your help!

subset: commoncrawl


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Recovery operation press conference
U.S. Pacific Fleet Public Affairs
Rear Adm. William Klemm, who leads the Ehime Maru recovery operation, will provide media an operational overview at 1 p.m. Aug. 2. Representatives from the Japan Maritime Self Defense Force and U.S. Navy technology experts will also be present.
technical experts from Japan
have been invited to participate.
The brief will be followed by a tour of
Rockwater 2
, the vessel that will lift Ehime Maru from its current, 2,000-foot depth, and transport it while suspended beneath the ship to an area about 1 mile south of Honolulu International Airport's Reef Runway. The tour will be led by Capt. Bert Marsh, director of ocean engineering and supervisor of salvage and diving at the Naval Sea Systems Command in Crystal City, Va.
Space in the briefing room and on the tour is limited, so interested media must contact the Pacific Fleet Public Affairs Office at (808) 471-3769 no later than 4 p.m., July 31.
Media will park at Honolulu Harbor Pier 1, accessible via Forrest Avenue off Ala Moana, and be bused to the briefing room about a half-mile away. Following the brief, media will be bused back to Pier 1 for the Rockwater 2 tour.
In addition, at 9 a.m. Aug. 3, there will be a visit to the media center that will be used once Ehime Maru has reached the shallow water site. This visit is not for reporting purposes, but is to allow media a chance to see the center location before the operation begins.
Here's a rundown of the schedule:
July 31 (Tuesday)
4 p.m. -- Deadline to register for brief and tour.
Aug. 1 (Wednesday)
About 8 a.m. -- Rockwater 2 arrives Honolulu Harbor.
Aug. 2 (Thursday)
12:30 p.m. -- Bus leaves Pier 1 for briefing room
1 p.m. -- Recovery Operation Brief begins
~ 2:30 p.m. -- Rockwater 2 tour begins
Aug. 3 (Friday)
9 a.m. -- Meet at Pearl Harbor
to board bus for media center site visit. (Not for reporting purposes.)
This is an official U.S. Navy web site.
Please read this
privacy and security notice
before entering this site.
Designed and maintained by the Pacific Fleet Public Affairs Office.
Send recommendations and comments to the
Fleet Webmaster
If commenting about a specific page, please include the page title in your correspondence.
Revised 7/26/01 at 1:46 p.m. (HST)


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Dodge expanded what was formerly the Challenger SRT8 into two new 2015 models; the SRT 392 and SRT Hellcat; each of which features a powerful V-8 engine, high-performance mechanical equipment, and sporty exterior and interior design features. The new Hellcat model tops the Challenger range with 707 horsepower.
Dodge's retro-inspired Challenger five-passenger muscle car sees its first significant revision for the 2015 model year. All new Challenger models receive new front-end styling, eight-speed automatic transmissions for improved efficiency, and more available interior and safety technology.
The SRT 392 trim level packs a 6.4-liter naturally aspirated HEMI V-8 engine with 485 horsepower and 475 foot-pounds of torque, giving it 110 more horsepower than the R/T model with its smaller V-8. Other performance enhancements include six-piston Brembo brakes with 15.4-inch slotted and ventilated rotors, an adjustable Bilstein suspension system and 20-by-9.5-inch forged aluminum wheels. The SRT 392 also sets itself apart a revamped interior with sportier seats and special badging, plus an 18-speaker, 900-watt Harman Kardon premium audio system.
The all-new Challenger SRT Hellcat makes the most power of any production car from an American automaker thanks to a supercharged 6.2-liter HEMI V-8 with 707 horsepower and 650 foot-pounds of torque. The Hellcat receives most of the same upgrades as the SRT 392 then adds on a cold-air intake system, a vented lightweight aluminum hood with an air extractor, an even sportier adjustable Bilstein suspension, and a stronger eight-speed TorqueFlight automatic transmission. Pricing for the SRT 392 starts at $45,995, while the SRT Hellcat comes priced from $59,995, as of April 2015.


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A 4- Part Mentoring Workshop Series
We believe that leadership mentoring is an essential part of professional development. We know that your people are the most important asset in your business. Each individual has hidden talents and abilities that often go untapped and, therefore, unused. The Leadership Sphere of Excellence® workshop series introduces ways that your team members can work together and increase their productivity and become more effective team leaders.
Leadership Sphere of Excellence® topics:
Know Thyself and Others, Too
We begin the workshop series by completing a personality trait assessment to learn what strengths each employee possesses. The assessment identifies the ways in which people gather information, make decisions and derive energy from the work environment. By being aware of the individual's own personality traits, the employee is more capable of diagnosing the traits of others, and therefore, understanding how to work well with other different personalities. The employees learn what strengths they bring to an organization. Skill-knowledge and self-confidence are enhanced.
- Participants will develop a heightened self-awareness about how they prefer to deal with the world in which they live and develop an enhanced mutual respect and trust for diverse preferences.
- Participants will be assessed and will learn to Identify communication strategies that can be used to improve their personal effectiveness, working relationships and the workplace environment
Understanding Situational Leadership
We also focus on strengthening leadership skills. Leadership is not about the individual; it's about how well the leader inspires and leads others. It's about how well the leader creates a collaborative environment where everyone is heard and is aligned with the company's mission. By using the Situational Leadership Model, participants become familiar with 4 different leadership strategies that can be matched to the four capability levels of the employees.
- Participants will identify their leadership strengths and develop strategies to improve their weaknesses.
- Participants define and improve both their listening skills and motivation skills to better communicate directions, purpose, and acceptable performance standards.
Developing Teams that Work
Utilizing the Desert Survival Situation™ participants will engage in a simulation activity that demonstrates the importance of working together as a team to solve problems. The simulation is as follows: "It is approximately 10 o'clock in the morning on a mid-August day and you have just crash landed in the Sonoran Desert in the southwestern United States." Your task is to rank 15 items salvaged from the plane in the order of their importance to your team's survival.
- Participants will experience constructive, team-oriented problem solving.
- Participants will improve their efficiency and effectiveness in both individual and group decision-making
Performance Improvement
We provide leadership mentoring with you, so that you can develop a productive time management strategy. This strategy focuses on the important/urgent matrix, and helps participants determine their specific high and low payoff activities. Through practice they learn to establish realistic priorities which provide more efficient time management in both work responsibilities and personal commitments.
- Participants will learn easy prioritizing strategies to get work done.
- Participants will learn how to modify project plans when things go wrong.
Workshop specifics:
- Each workshop session is approximately 2 1/2 hours in duration.
- All materials are provided.
- The sessions can be presented onsite or virtually.
We believe your time is valuable. We promise not to waste your time!
Let Dr. Ann or Dr. Gene expand the leadership capacity in your business today!
Talk with us about how we can customize the perfect leadership training for your team! Our mission is to help you build your business with a team that can bring you to the next level!


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Please bear in mind that I am not a full grown chowhound which means I don't really remember everything I eat but I do have some observations and would love to see what the "grown-ups" think.
By mere coincidence, I went to 3 French restaurants in the last 3 months - Masa, Charles Nob Hill and Gary Danko.
The worst bread - Gary Danko - cold and chewy.
The best sommlier - Gary Danko - even though we didn't order a very expensive bottle of wine, he still spent a good amount of time with us. Masa's sommelier was MIA. I did have had great wine at all 3 places.
The best valet - Gary Danko - the cost of the valet was included in the bill and our car was waiting for us as we exit.
The best foie gras (my must eat dish) - From a taste standpoint, Masa for sure. GD's was paired with caramelized onion and was SO sweet that it really over powered the foie gras itself. I actually had to leave most of the onions because it was so sweet. The waiter suggested trying it with a dessert wine and even com. us on it which was nice but I am not sure I would pair it that way again. The best presentation was CNH. It was served 3 different ways - seared, mousse and pate sytle. The seared version was also very good, the pate was a little too salty and the mousse was very rich (read heavy) and I can't say I tasted the foie gras at all.
Tasting menu - I like the GD's choices.
The meat dish - I had duck at Masa, beef at CNH (too salty) and quail(a little oily) at GD. Masa again was the best.
Atmosphere - I still remember the times when Masa was "old school" where everyone whisper. I thought, at that time, it was too stuff. After suffering from the "4 bells" restaurants all over town - including Masa, I miss the old days. I think all 3 restaurants are par for the course.
I had the GD cheese course and it was fabulous. They didn't have Tazmanian blue so may be next time.
After all these years, I have to say, Masa still rocks. All of their dishes were wonderfully executed.
On a separate note, I had great meals at Bistro Ralph in Healdsburg and Terra Brazillus (?) in SF recently.


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Welcome to the website of the Austrian Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research!
Dear visitors!
This website is intended to provide you with a comprehensive overview of our activities and the wide range of information we offer.
Thank you for understanding that our web service in English covers only part of the content of the German version. We intend to add more information in English continually.
Our responsibilities in the area of education cover the entire school system, from primary school to the completion of secondary school education, as well as university colleges of teacher education. Adult education and lifelong learning also fall within our sphere of responsibility.
In addition our ministry offers an extensive range of services. Please feel free to make use of these services and do not hesitate to get in touch with us.
Geändert am: 06.04.2018


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20+WordPress Themes 带有125×125广告位
在最近的几个月里,我收集发布了一些主题,各种各样的WordPress theme,并提供来下载链接。下面是最近收集的一些带有125X125广告位的WordPress themes,非常适合博客赚钱。大家分享吧!:-)! In looking at the recent trends with newly released themes over this past month, it seems that bloggers have really responded and there is now a wide variety of WordPress themes available for download. I decided there are finally enough of them now that I can throw together a gallery of WordPress themes that allow for 125×125 banners. Enjoy!
2-Column Themes
Slick Blue Theme
PassionDuo Theme (3 Colors)
Green: Demo | Download, Red: Demo | Download, Blue: Demo | Download
WP Freemium Theme
Dark Zen Theme
Maggo Theme
Green Tech Theme
Blue Sensation Theme
3-Column Themes
iPhOne Theme
Padangan Theme
SimpleWP Theme
Black and White Theme
WP-Polaroid Theme
Firebug Theme
Simple Red Theme
Source | Download (Requires free registration) | Demo
True Blue Theme
Source | Download (Requires free registration) | Demo
Blue Block Theme
WP Premiere Theme
Magazine-Style Themes
Structure Theme
Forte Theme
Mag on Wood Theme
Studio WordPress Theme (Available in Blue, Green, & Red)
Know of a good quality one we missed?
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Our Garden is Growing!
Happy Earth Day!
Did you know our Rain Garden and playground were purposefully designed to allow children the chance to play in a natural environment? It is no surprise that our children are drawn to organic materials like stumps, logs, water and boulders. The garden is alive with sand and dirt, bugs and bark, mulberries and mulch. Last week we enhanced the garden with berry bushes, groundscaping and more. Within the next week, we will be sharing more plans to enhance the play space with more hands on materials to compliment the climbers, jungle gym, and monkey bars already installed.
Our garden is growing!
Why Teach Drama? The Laughter is the Best Part.
The squeals of laughter were the best part.
After a few weeks of diligent practice, our Elementary class performed the African trickster tale, Anansi and the Moss-covered Rock for our Toddler and Primary classes and parents. The story told the tale of how Mule Deer outwits Anansi the Spider through his wile and cunning. The hilarious performance elicited squeals and cheers from the audience.
Congratulations to our fine actors and director, Mrs. Hatziyannis and assistant, Mr Evans.
Our Elementary class drama program gives all students the opportunity to practice, perform, memorize and grow in confidence. Drama is an important element of our Elementary program. It enriches children's understanding of the world, ability to work as a team and communicate effectively.
According to child psychiatrist Dr. Adam Blatner, drama teaches a child metacognitive skills, i.e., the process of "thinking about thinking." When children assume the character of another person, they become aware of their internal thinking process. Children who are aware of their own thinking are better able to strategically analyze new information. In addition, our drama program supports vocabulary development, fluency and expression in all children.
Most of all, our program celebrates story telling, community and LAUGHTER.
Montessori Education: let's discuss…
I weighed in (or is it waded in?) with my two cents: For me, the key aspect of Montessori is the belief that children naturally want to be engaged with interesting topics, materials and challenges. They want to have choice and control in their lives. They want to use their hands and senses to explore the world around them. They want to create art and music and towers and castles. They want to be able to work alone at times and with a partner at times. All in all, we see that the needs and desires of children are a lot like yours and mine.
At our school, habits of character, a sense of self and joy in learning are even more important than the academic foundation that develops in each child. It is so important that we provide a warm, safe environment with caring teachers where children can feel secure and grow in confidence.
You can weigh in, too. The DC Urban Mom forum is here.
Montessori Art… Makes Us
Look around Evergreen. Art is everywhere. In our classrooms. In our halls and stairwells, too. And when you look around your life, you'll see art all around, too. From artwork in our homes to masterpieces in Washington Museums, we are immersed in art every day.
When a child creates a work of art, he establishes a connection as old as civilization itself. She refines her skills and develops mastery over materials. He develops control over clay, paint, scissors and glue.
Children are creators. Producing something is an expression of one's identity. The act of creating makes our children who they are. We make art and art makes us.
Art is also problem solving. When making a work of art, the child is in dialog with the medium. The child asks questions of the clay. The clay responds. Throughout the conversation, new ideas and new solutions emerge.
Art at Evergreen is joyful and serious too. It isn't child's play. When you watch our young artists in the process of creating, their intensity and focus attest to the importance of their undertaking. Their art deserves to be looked at carefully. Look deeply!
Montessori Music… Of Course!
There isn't a civilization in the world that doesn't have its own musical tradition. Why?
According to Oliver Sacks, physician, neurology professor at NYU and author of Musicophilia:
Music can move us to the heights or depths of emotion. It can persuade us to buy something, or remind us of our first date. It can lift us out of depression when nothing else can. It can get us dancing to its beat. But the power of music goes much, much further. Indeed, music occupies more areas of our brain than language does–humans are a musical species.
From birth, our brains our wired to make and appreciate music. It is natural that Evergreen and our music teacher, Ms. Caitlin Garry take music seriously. In addition to being a wonderful teacher, Ms. Garry is a performer—and she has music in her genes. In fact, her grandfather was a self-taught fife player in the US Marine's Fife and Drum Corps during World War II.
Outside of Evergreen, Ms. Garry performs with the 200-member National Philharmonic Chorale. This season, they will be performing Bach's Cantata No. 140, Wachet Auf ("Sleepers Awake"), The Melodies of Brahms, and Carl Orff's Carmina Burana. Ms. Garry is busy. She recently spent a weekend at the National Association for Music Education Conference. She also teaches private afternoon piano lessons and serves as Evergreen's librarian.
Ms. Garry takes a comprehensive view of music education at Evergreen. She says that every class she teaches has a singing component, and instrumentation component, music theory and movement. According to her, "all the Evergreen children can understand concepts like pitch, scale, rhythm and melody." She believes that learning is a process, and says, "it's important that I introduce my students to all aspects of music."
The result? Ms. Garry's students are ready to pick up any instrument and begin formal lessons. According to Evergreen mother, Rachel Dickon, Ms. Garry "motivated and prepared my 5 year old extremely well for private music lessons and earned the kudos of the instructor." Her daughter's piano teacher notes her enthusiasm and said she was already "ready to read music [and] able to count rhythms."
In addition to the neurologist Howard Sacks, many musicians and philosophers have weighed in on value of music education. This list includes the well-known saxophone player, Bill Clinton (who also happened to be President) who said, "Music is about communication, creativity, and cooperation, and by studying music in schools, students have the opportunity to build on these skills, enrich their lives, and experience the world from a new perspective."
Sounds just like Evergreen School, doesn't it?
The Puppet Giant
Here is a wonderful picture taken by Ms. Tobin after her classes field trip to the Puppet Co.'s production of Jack and the Beanstalk at Glen Echo Park. I love it!
Observations on the Playground
On to a more joyful topic: here is what I saw in our playground today:
- Singers nestled in the hollow log, chipping at bark.
- Soaring swingers, competing for height.
- A boy discussing the latest repairs to his hand-me-down violin.
- Treasure hunters burrowing with sticks into soft mud.
- A boisterous mob observing a bumble bee, then…
- A teacher's quick, sober lesson on bumble bee bites.
- Multiple, simultaneous games of fast-moving tag.
- Emerging pale yellow shoots of this year's beans.
- A small crowd of boys rocking on a make-shift log.
- I saw running, balancing, talking, and laughter. Pretend play and active imagination. I saw teamwork, negotiation, compromise, creativity, friendships and more.
Play on, Evergreen!


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The three dimensions is a barrier that has not yet been entirely overcome in video games and movies, it is why the 3D allows us to see effects and three-dimensional characters or at least as close to the three dimensions that currently exists.
Get ready to enjoy games in which enemies shots and leave the screen directly to attack you, you are facing a totally new and shocking experience that immerses you fully in games. Or not? What if it were the other way around? If you are drawn into a world of game where absolutely all want to kill you for being a threat to them.
In this world the people are warriors and prophecy says that a foreigner come to destroy their world through the door of fate. This will be your only chance to return to the real world and escape the game, but for this you must get stronger and get the necessary to defeat all warriors that appear in your way to stop you from returning weapons.
3D games cars, motorbikes, football, wars, shooting and many more that we will be bringing as we receive new titles. Do not miss this category to be the latest 3D games for your PC with online and free to spend long evenings of endless fun. The latest 3D games is Unity and already have available for you.