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The world is making the Mekong its dump - 360
Danny Marks
Published on February 28, 2022
Mounting marine pollution is choking the world’s oceans and rivers, especially in Southeast Asia — and it’ll only get worse unless something changes.
Countries along the Mekong River have become the world’s dumping ground for waste. Rubbish is finding its way into the water — killing marine animals and clogging up animals with plastic that are later eaten by humans. And it only got worse during the pandemic.
COVID-19 has caused plastic waste to surge in Southeast Asia, particularly with the widespread disposal of single-use face masks, takeaway food containers, and packaging from online shopping.
In April 2020, Bangkok’s daily average of 2,115 tonnes of single-use plastics waste per day . Lockdowns halted in Southeast Asian countries such as the Philippines and Vietnam.
Even before pandemic-driven waste, only nine percent of all plastic packaging was recycled and about 12 percent is incinerated. The accumulates in landfills, dumps and the natural environment.
A lot of this waste, particularly plastic, finds its way into our oceans. As much as 13 million tonnes of plastic enters our oceans annually, according to a .
Marine plastic pollution is a major transboundary problem, costing an . Some 267 species of marine animals — such as turtles, whales, fish and seabirds — have been adversely impacted by plastic debris through entanglement or ingestion, although this number will invariably increase as smaller species are studied.
Humans are also swallowing plastic when eating these animals, which . This debris is creating huge ocean patches and plastics are also washing onto shores. of the waste is land-based and will have made its way to the ocean through rivers and other waterways.
By 2050, plastic will outweigh fish in the oceans if current trends persist . Three of the – China, Thailand, and Vietnam — have a presence in Mekong, and many Southeast Asian countries have become dumping grounds of the world’s plastic waste.
As highlighted by the in 2019, waste across Southeast Asia is causing contaminated water, failed crops, and respiratory illnesses. Fish are ingesting plastic. Dead whales are turning up in Thailand and Indonesia with many kilograms of plastics in their stomachs.
The region’s transboundary governance of marine plastic pollution is not working. There is no plastics treaty with at an international level. The fossil fuel and plastic industries have successfully pushed back against policies that would curb plastic consumption, such as . Instead, these well-funded industries have aimed at convincing consumers to take responsibility for their own waste.
Collective action from governing bodies in Southeast Asia remains limited. In January 2019, ASEAN countries and plastic pollution in the region with the Bangkok Declaration. Yet ASEAN itself acknowledges the challenges of addressing marine plastic pollution are tremendous and difficult to achieve, especially as its own s of individual countries and a non-confrontational approach to addressing transboundary environmental issues.
Asia takes on , often from wealthy countries without the processing capacity to do so domestically. For instance, the United Kingdom exports about . Since July 2017, when China began to ban imports of plastic waste, Southeast Asia has become a dumping ground for wealthier countries’ waste.
After China’s ban, the amount of plastic waste imported to countries like the Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia .
As foreign waste built up and resentment grew among local populations, Southeast Asian governments started refusing to serve as the world’s dumpsite. Malaysia and the Philippines have that had improper labelling to Spain and South Korea, respectively, and Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam have also restricted plastic waste imports, with a complete ban planned in the coming years.
However, changes that are required to drastically improve these countries’ plastic management have yet to occur. Single-use plastic consumption is still high in these countries. Comprehensive bans or taxes, such as on single-use bags, are few to non-existent. Voluntary measures have often been promoted, but are still showing .
These countries’ waste management is also . Recycling rates throughout the world, but especially in Southeast Asia, remain low. In many places, there is no separation of household waste. Littering remains pervasive. At the household and community scales, inadequate infrastructure contributes significantly to the plastic pollution problem. Rubbish bins are often too small, uncovered and infrequently collected.
Many Southeast Asian dumpsites are unprepared to deal with the burgeoning volumes of plastic waste. Of Thailand’s 27.8 million tonnes of plastic waste in 2018, , including via open dumping. Much of this plastic ends up in waterways, then flowing into oceans.
More than half of Indonesia’s landfills are , waste is piled improperly – increasing the risk of floods, fires, and trash avalanches. This has in the Philippines, Indonesia, and India. Some waste is also illegally incinerated, releasing toxic gases that harm human health.
Thailand is a prominent example of a country where the increased waste imports have had significant impacts upon segments of the population, particularly low-income groups.
Overall, Thailand produced two million tonnes of plastic waste in 2018, but only , mostly plastic bottles. The country, like others along the Mekong, has also to keep pace with surging waste imports that China had previously absorbed.
Many of these recycling firms which processed the waste were . This plastic waste processing has contributed to worsening wastewater in the past few years, affecting the livelihoods of aquaculture farmers in the southern peri-urban area of Bangkok, such as Bang Khun Thian and parts of Samut Prakarn. Disease outbreaks caused by wastewater intrusions have added another element of precarity to their livelihoods. And it is not only in Bangkok and Samut Prakarn where smallholder farmers are suffering from wastewater intrusion, but in other areas of the country as well.
If Southeast Asian countries no longer accept waste from high-income countries, where will the waste go? Only is recycled. Western countries have few easy solutions to deal with plastic waste, as it is often too costly for them to recycle it themselves. Unlike China, they cannot readily convert waste into new products. Given this lower demand plus the deleterious effects of waste recycling, it would be sensible for Southeast Asian countries to follow China’s lead and adopt an all-waste import ban, too.
Manufacturers could help by making products that can be better recycled. But some materials, such as plastic wrap film and composite materials, cannot be reprocessed easily. Reducing consumption of single-use plastic in Western countries would also assist the process.
Grassroots environmental collectives can also help to mitigate the transboundary spread of plastic litter. The Zero Waste Program, launched by Thailand’s Chulalongkorn University in 2016, taught students about reducing plastic consumption during their orientation week. Less than a year after the program’s launch, plastic bags consumed on campus had .
Political will is generated by these sorts of success stories, which can be replicated across borders. Political will also helps mobilise community-based activities.
At the regional level, bodies such as ASEAN have an instrumental role to play in supporting civil society, plastic producers, retail businesses and governments across the region. With its non-interventionist political culture, ASEAN’s emphasis on protecting regional common goods through sustainable development strategies is not only palatable but appealing to member countries as it emphasises collective economic, health and social rewards while avoiding apportioning blame to individual governments.
In March 2019, ASEAN’s environment ministers took a positive first step to laying the groundwork for such transboundary cooperation by the Bangkok Declaration. Considerable work remains to , but a region-wide consensus about the shared threat posed by marine plastic pollution is a good starting point.
Danny Marks is an assistant professor of environmental politics and policy in the School of Law and Government of Dublin City University. He has spent a number of years conducting research and working in Southeast Asia, particularly in the field of environmental governance. His research interests are political ecology, environmental justice, climate governance, and disaster risk reduction.
Danny declared no conflicts of interest in relation to this article.
This article has been republished for World Rivers Day. It was first published on February 21, 2022.
Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.
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news-360info
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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463
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Published on February 28, 2022
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2,212 |
There are no ‘natural disasters’ - 360
Ilan Kelman
Published on October 31, 2022
A weather-related disaster doesn’t need to be. By addressing the vulnerability of a society, the worst of it can be avoided.
A tropical cyclone has formed in the Bay of Bengal over the weekend and is due to hit the Indian state of Odisha. If the past is any guide, Cyclone Sitrang may bring flooding, destroyed crops, collapsed buildings and loss of life.
For a disaster to happen, hazard and vulnerability must come together. Human-caused climate change is affecting hazards now, such as decreasing the frequency of tropical cyclones while increasing their intensity. A tropical cyclone, though, does not need to harm health if people and infrastructure are ready for it and can cope with it.
The vulnerability – or how society deals or cannot deal with hazards – is what creates the disaster. Vulnerability is a societal process setting up people and places to be harmed by potential hazards. Examples are poorly constructed buildings, breaking planning regulations, not having insurance, not receiving or understanding warning messages due to language differences, being unable to evacuate due to illness or mobility difficulties, fearing assault in an emergency shelter, and many others.
The disaster is not that Hurricane Ian swept over Cuba and Florida in September. The problem is that Cuba’s electricity grid failed in a storm less powerful than previous ones and that Florida has had rampant coastal development without accounting for flooding.
So, the phrase ‘natural disaster’ is a misnomer. Disasters come from vulnerability, not from hazards originating in nature.
By definition, human-caused climate change affects the weather, but by definition, weather does not cause disasters. Therefore, by definition, climate change does not cause disasters.
There are lethal exceptions, one impacting us terribly now: human-caused climate change is pushing heat-humidity into realms that are beyond human survival. In British Columbia in 2021 and England and Wales in 2022, deaths from heat waves were directly attributable to human-caused climate change.
Many workers cannot escape the devastating heat-humidity. Agricultural labour is especially affected, impacting the world’s food supplies. Wildfire smoke exacerbated by climate change is worsening respiratory ailments. And, in an example of vulnerability, many cannot afford artificial indoor cooling which, in any case, can lead to blackouts through overuse.
Other physical health impacts from climate change could emerge in the future. Coastal food systems could be undermined by acidifying oceans in coming years. Over centuries, sea-level rise could require megacities and low-lying island communities to relocate. Without advance planning and support, health impacts could be severe.
Meanwhile, science is only just beginning to understand the effects of climate change on mental health. So far, no unambiguous correlation of self-harm with human-caused climate change has been identified. Yet data quality is poor, since self-harm including suicide is stigmatised and not always recorded comprehensively. As well, prevention and treatment can avert self-harm, irrespective of environmental changes.
Heat-humidity nonetheless influences interactions between mental and physical health. Heat-humidity physically stresses our bodies which can compound into mental stress. Schizophrenia, depression, dementia, and others seem to be directly affected by heat-humidity. Some medications for mental health and wellbeing conditions impede the body’s ability to adjust to heat-humidity while the effectiveness of others changes with temperature.
Doom-laden narratives of climate change now have a demonstrable and detrimental effect on mental health and wellbeing. Eco-anxiety and climate grief through the ‘climate crisis’ story manufacture doomerism and reduce nuances, such as incorrectly attributing many disasters to climate change. Reporting and action should balance eco-grief and eco-inspiration.
Hope emerges from activities to avoid the worst of human-caused climate change, such as reducing excess consumption, while adjusting to observed and ongoing impacts.
Cyclone deaths have declined in Bangladesh while the most lethal US hurricane to make landfall so far was long ago, in 1900. Mental health conditions can be de-stigmatised to support affected people. All these required decades to achieve and evidence, so further actions must start now.
Health systems worldwide are currently not resourced or robust enough to meet current and future health needs. They are in crisis, burning out healthcare professionals and failing to serve people’s health needs, with austerity killing patients irrespective of climate change. We cannot develop and implement effective health policy and practice by suddenly blaming long-standing, deep-seated, fundamental problems on a single topic, such as human-caused climate change.
Yet heat-humidity is significantly adding to these problems now, detailed in Lancet Countdown’s forthcoming 2022 report, even as some trends documented in the report offer hopeful direction. Public and political engagement in health and climate change appears to be increasing, with climate action change increasingly focusing on health.
Most notably, the COVID-19 response shows that countries are willing to invest public money for tackling an immediate health danger. This dedication must be transferred to climate change, especially for strengthening health systems. Prioritising our health contributes to redressing all global difficulties, including climate change.
Ilan Kelman (ORCID) is Professor of Disasters and Health at University College London, England, and a Professor II at the University of Agder, Kristiansand, Norway. His overall research interest is linking disasters and health, including the integration of climate change into disaster research and health research. Ilan has co-authored Lancet Countdown since its first report in 2015.
Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.
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news-360info
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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463
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Published on October 31, 2022
|
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2,213 |
There's no safe level of air pollution - 360
Guy B. Marks
Published on August 15, 2022
Emissions that meet air-quality standards still cause illness and early death. Planning decisions need to help drive down exposure.
It might seem reasonable to think air pollution is only a problem when the sky is thick with brown smog. But a new study is further proof the problem starts much earlier – and well below the minimum air-quality standards.
Worse, the research shows the negative effects increase most rapidly at lower levels of exposure. And they hit poorer people hardest.
The policy implications of these findings are critical: there is no safe amount of air pollution. Treating reference standards as a licence to pollute up to those concentrations and a free pass to allow continued emissions below those concentrations cannot be accepted based on the current evidence.
Air-pollution regulations, such as those in the United States, do not provide enough protection from worsening symptoms of asthma, according to a 2022 US study on the relationship between pollution levels and asthma-related hospitalisations for people on Medicaid. Described by the study’s researchers as “the most disadvantaged population in the United States”, Medicaid recipients include people on very low incomes, people with disabilities and people aged over 65.
The study investigated the exposure–response relationship between exposure to pollutants and people’s health response. It found increased concentrations of nitrogen dioxide and fine particulate matter were associated with an increased risk of hospitalisation for asthma over the following six days after exposure. Importantly, the study showed that the increased risk of hospitalisation for each unit increase in pollutant exposure was greatest for those people whose exposure levels were well below the existing US minimum air-quality standard. In general, the effect was the same regardless of differences in individual characteristics, except it was stronger in people who had only had a single admission to hospital than in those with multiple previous admissions.
Some characteristics of communities made them more susceptible to the negative effects of both pollutants: low population density, higher average body mass index, greater distance to the nearest hospital, and greater neighbourhood disadvantage.
The study has two important implications. First – and perhaps surprisingly – the slope of the exposure–response relationship is steeper at lower degrees of exposure. The response is strongest at lower levels of exposure. Second, in policy terms there are substantial benefits in reducing exposure to air pollution, and in preventing increases in exposure, even at concentrations well below reference standards or proposed thresholds.
The present study joins several others that did not find a concentration below which negative health effects from air pollution do not occur. Steeper slopes at lower concentrations of fine particulates have also been demonstrated for daily mortality and for cardiovascular hospitalisations. A link between the risk of death from all causes and long-term exposure to both fine particulates and nitrogen dioxide has been demonstrated in places such as Australia that have relatively low-range exposure – without evidence of a ‘safe’ lower threshold and with evidence of a steeper slope at lower concentrations. Both lifetime cumulative exposure and current exposure to nitrogen dioxide that are well below usual reference standards affect Australian primary-school children’s risk of having asthma.
The finding that those living in disadvantaged neighbourhoods were at greatest risk of experiencing more asthma hospitalisations when exposed to higher amounts of air pollution is important. It supports evidence of a similar interaction in relation to the negative impact of air pollution on risk of stroke and represents an effect that is over and above the association between disadvantage and the risk of higher air-pollutant exposures. Researchers are still working to pinpoint the mechanism that drives this association, but the link is clear.
Transport, industry and planning decisions need to consider the importance of minimising exposure to pollutants and the need to avoid any increases in these emissions, particularly where vulnerable populations may be exposed. Concern about vulnerable populations, particularly those who are disadvantaged, but also the very young and the very old and those with preexisting health conditions, has important implications for decisions on the location of sensitive facilities such as schools, aged-care facilities and hospitals.
This is an immense challenge. Human-made emissions of fine particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide exist in just about every part of the world, with transport, agriculture, energy, mining and construction sectors all playing a role. The good news is the actions to reduce carbon pollution (to combat global warming) and those required to ensure clean, safe air share benefits. As a global community, we need to do all we can to achieve these benefits.
Professor Guy Marks AO FAHMS is Scientia Professor in the Faculty of Medicine & Health at UNSW Sydney and a Research Leader at the Woolcock Institute of Medical Research. He is a respiratory and public health physician and an epidemiologist. He is Principal Investigator of the Centre for Air pollution, energy and health Research (CAR, an NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence). He is President of the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease.
This article is based on Professor Marks’ editorial “Misuse of Pollution Reference Standards: No Safe Level of Air Pollution” in volume 5, issue 9, of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
Professor Marks has declared no conflicts of interest in relation to this article.
Image published under Creative Commons.
This article has been republished to align with the International Day of Clean Air. It was first published on August 8, 2022.
Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.
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news-360info
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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463
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Published on August 15, 2022
|
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2,214 |
There's no such thing as a climate refugee - 360
Sanjay Chaturvedi
Published on June 20, 2022
Billions of people are likely to be displaced by climate change. But calling them ‘climate refugees’ oversimplifies the complex reasons people flee their homes.
In the world of migration law no one has successfully defined what a ‘climate refugee’ is. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees doesn’t endorse the term. Worse, the term ‘refugee’, as subscribed to by the 1951 Convention with its focus on fear of persecution, is unlikely to be of any value to those displaced by natural disasters or climate change – unless all concerned accept that ‘nature’ or ‘environment’ or ‘climate’ can be a persecutor.
Human mobility, compressed in the term ‘migration’, is not universal or linear – it defies a simple definition. Climate-induced migration is no less complex, and in reaching for the term ‘climate refugee’ the world risks overlooking the many interconnected issues driving people to move from one place to another, including unsustainable development, natural disasters and climate change.
From a geo-historical perspective, the decision to move from one place to another in order to escape risks and threats posed by environmental and climate change has been integral to human adaptation. And yet ‘climate refugees’ are flagged at times as a national security problem, when the issue of climate migration could just as easily have been approached and addressed, for example, as a ‘human rights’ or ‘development’ issue.
The growing view of climate-induced migration as a security issue, especially in a geopolitical climate of fear, sees homeland security responses aimed at border protection. The plight of irregular ‘transit migrants’ remains relatively unnoticed as they traverse in-between countries – with their own immigration laws and border controls – acting as buffers for the destination countries.
The International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) pays close attention to the interdependence of climate, ecosystems and biodiversity, and human societies. It says climate change impacts, risks and adaptation governance need to be addressed in conjunction with – and not divorced from – non-climatic global trends. These include loss of terrestrial and marine biodiversity, unsustainable use of natural resources, land and ecosystem degradation, urbanisation, human demographic transformations, social and economic disparities and a pandemic.
The IPCC points out with high confidence that climate and weather extremes are increasingly driving displacement and involuntary migration across regions. But “vulnerability of ecosystems and people to climate change differs substantially among and within regions, driven by patterns of intersecting socio-economic development, unsustainable ocean and land use, inequity, marginalisation, historical and ongoing patterns of inequity such as colonialism, and governance”.
Some 3.6 billion people already live in contexts highly vulnerable to climate change, according to the IPCC. Likewise, the CIFRC World Disasters Report 2020 says the impacts of climate change are now seriously undermining the livelihoods of ‘millions’ around the globe, especially in developing economies.
The total number of people identified in the report as directly affected by climate and weather-related disasters during the past decade – 1.9 billion – is both telling and terrifying.
Describing climate change as a risk multiplier, the report rightly points out that those dislocated and displaced due to environmental degradation and/or natural disasters are far more vulnerable due to existing threats. These include loss of habitat, depleted social capital, eroded socio-economic resilience and already precarious life in crowded camps, especially for women, children and elderly people. And yet migrants, especially those of the irregular anonymous kind, are conspicuously and largely absent in various disaster plans and policy action responses.
Regional instruments such as the 1969 Organization of African Unity (OAU) Convention and the 1984 Cartagena Declaration, besides incorporating region-specific attributes into their expanded definitions, have emphasised that the categorical understanding of a refugee should move away from a geopolitically dictated principle of ‘well-founded fear’ of ‘persecution’ to address the plight of those fleeing civil unrest, war and violence, and climate-induced or -multiplied disasters, irrespective of whether they can prove a well-founded fear of persecution.
More importantly, how does one ensure the category of ‘climate refugee’ is defined by the well‐founded fear of the ‘victims’ of climate change seeking protection and care, and not by the largely ill‐founded fear of those who suspect their borders are going to be violated by thousands and millions of helpless climate migrants, especially from developing economies?
The challenge is to ensure any attempt to broaden and deepen the humanitarian space through the introduction of the category of ‘climate refugee’ turns out to be progressive, emancipatory and inclusive, rather than regressive, oppressive and exclusive.
The challenge is further compounded by the gap in international legal protections in the case of cross-border displacements induced or abetted by environmental crises, natural disasters and the effects of climate change.
In the cobweb of climate-induced mobility/migration, it is difficult to distinguish neatly between ‘environmental migration’ and ‘climate migration’. No surprise these categories retain their moral appeal but remain contested. The who, how, when and where of the millions of upcoming ‘climate refugees’ is unknown.
And yet this category of climate-induced migration seems to have caught the strategic attention and imagination of both ‘national security’ and ‘human security’ narratives. How many of these millions of migrants can be neatly categorised as ‘climate migrants’ or ‘climate refugees’? It’s a difficult but important question to answer.
The alarmingly high numbers are seductive, particularly to those engaged in scenario-building and risk-assessment exercises for the market and the military. But the need for those at risk is location sensitive, locality specific and community centric.
The issue demands and deserves to be approached in conjunction with – and not divorced from — other forms of migration of this Anthropocene era, one characterised by unprecedented acceleration of human impact on the earth.
Sanjay Chaturvedi is Professor of International Relations at the South Asian University. He is the co-author of Climate Terror: A Critical Geopolitics of Climate Change (with Timothy Doyle), Palgrave Macmillan, 2015. The author declares no conflicts of interest.
This article is part of a Special Report on the ‘Changing face of migration’, produced in collaboration with the Calcutta Research Group. It was first published in June 2022.
Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.
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news-360info
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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463
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Published on June 20, 2022
|
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"author": "Sanjay Chaturvedi"
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2,215 |
There’s only so much a robot can do - 360
Shanti Sumartojo, Michael Mintrom, Dana Kulic, Leimin Tian, Pamela Carreno-Medrano, Robert Lundberg
Published on November 7, 2022
New cities should not be built to cater for robots and technology; instead robots must adapt to live with humans in existing cities.
Imagine a city of the near future where robots roam freely. They scoot along smooth footpaths, nimbly avoiding obstacles as they deliver groceries and medicines. They glide through supermarket aisles, detecting spills and mopping them up before anyone can slip. They provide valuable backup support in busy, understaffed restaurants, efficiently taking food to tables of waiting diners.
Robots are already doing these tasks. However, the utopian vision of efficient and problem-free robot helpers is a long way from reality. Recent reports highlight some difficulties: they have had trouble recognising people using wheelchairs on shared footpaths. They have been labelled ‘creepy and useless’, and suspected of following shoppers for unknown reasons. In busy restaurants, they cannot navigate narrow aisles or customers’ bags and coats.
So how can we make the best use of robots in shared urban spaces?
Cities are complex, dynamic and diverse – this is part of the reason so many of us enjoy living in them. But their unpredictability is what robots struggle to cope with. While some robots can operate successfully in shared city spaces, many can’t and there is a long way to go before they’ll be able.
There are several reasons for this. Most importantly, the complexity of apparently simple tasks is an ongoing technical challenge. Although advances are constantly being made, research by Monash University found that there are fundamental reasons related to the logic of their programming that shape how robots perceive the urban environment.
The study found the growing army of robots has distinct ways of understanding the city through what is called ‘robotic logics’. Two things are essential to their success: Predictability and connectivity. Robots work best in situations where there are no surprises and where connectivity to bigger data networks – which robots rely on to sense, categorise and make decisions about the world around them – is available and reliable.
One solution is to design environments that are easier for robots to navigate. Early examples are warehouses where people and robots are kept separate to avoid accidents. Or dedicated road lanes specifically for driverless vehicles, as has been proposed in New South Wales. While such responses might be great for robots, by prioritising their needs, they risk diminishing what people value about urban environments by simplifying them to a level that robots can manage.
Instead, the question is to ask how robots can best negotiate the hurly-burly of our cities. Studies have shown people can tolerate glitches or failures in the technologies they use, as they come to understand their limits. This means that even when people’s expectations of robots are not met – because people often imagine that robots are more capable than they really are – they can still find ways to work with them.
So, restaurant workers with concerns about whether they will be replaced by delivery robots find that a crowded dining room will – possibly literally – trip up a hapless robot, so they only use the machine when the restaurant is less crowded.
There is growing acceptance that robots perform quite simple tasks and people can step in to help when necessary. This means thinking of robots less as replacements for human labour and instead as partners or helpers, akin to working animals, such as guide or cattle dogs.
A team from Monash University used an experimental scenario of a lost child in a shopping centre to explore how people understood a robot’s limits. They found people wanted to step into the role of decision-maker and leave less sensitive tasks – such as information about shop locations – to a robotic helper.
Another important shift in thinking is required in policy and regulation. Policies can sometimes struggle to keep up with quickly evolving technologies. Experts have found that principles-driven approaches that prioritise people’s needs without quashing innovative experimental technologies are possible.
Researchers have developed a checklist to help policymakers grapple with the complexity of new technologies and to guide policies on robots in public spaces. This list links to the classic goals of public policy analysis which include defending people and property, promoting human flourishing, promoting efficiency and promoting social equity.
For now, robots work best when their environments are predictable – and it is hard to assume how future cities would adapt to their needs. This means that rather than thinking about how we can simplify cities to accommodate robots, we need robots that work in existing urban environments in all their diversity and complexity.
To do this we must recognise the limits of robots’ capacities and focus on how best to collaborate with them. If we can address this, then we can support the sustainable and fair introduction of robots into our shared urban spaces. This is a challenge that needs to be addressed collectively by roboticists, policymakers, end-users of robots and urban residents alike.
The article is written by the interdisciplinary Robots in Public Space (RiPS) project team. The team is focused on understanding the impact that robots have on the spaces they share with people, and identifying the implications for roboticists, policymakers and the public. Shanti Sumartojo tweets at @bajak70
Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.
Editors Note: In the story “Robot cities” sent at: 29/10/2022 09:15.
This is a corrected repeat.
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news-360info
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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463
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Published on November 7, 2022
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2,216 |
Think bushfires don’t discriminate? They do, and this is who suffers most - 360
Quentin Grafton, Sonia Akter
Published on December 11, 2023
Bushfires hit hardest in the most disadvantaged areas – where residents can least afford to ‘bushfire-proof’ their homes
With a long, hot summer ahead, many Australians are bracing for bushfires.
But currently, Australia’s national disaster plans overlook one crucial fact: it’s the poorest communities that are most at risk of bushfires.
This is a problem because these disadvantaged communities can least afford to “bushfire-proof” their homes and take other preventative measures — especially as the cost-of-living crisis is squeezing many households.
And this is not just a concern for poorer communities, or the regions. Fires that discriminate are a problem for all Australians because they spread — meaning fires that start or are not put out in disadvantaged, regional areas could threaten those in better off outer-suburban or even metropolitan areas.
We spent six months analysing detailed data from the Black Summer fires of 2019-2020 — and our research found that socio-economically disadvantaged communities of Australia, especially the poorest 30 percent, were more exposed than the relatively less disadvantaged, in terms of percentage of area burnt.
This association was particularly strong in regional areas of New South Wales and Victoria. But it also held true in the rural-urban fringes of NSW, where half of the large-scale bushfires of the Black Summer fires occurred.
Our findings complement studies in low-income countries that show natural disasters such as floods and cyclones disproportionately affect poor and marginalised communities. That happens because these communities frequently live in hazard -prone areas (such as floodplains), and because they lack resources for preventative actions that might reduce their exposure to environmental hazards.
In Australia, there are several reasons why the poorest communities might have been most exposed to bushfires in the summer of 2019-2020. One possible explanation: these communities are less able to invest in prevention and fire-fighting equipment and/or to train volunteer firefighters. As a result, their fire hazard reduction and fire suppression may have been less effective than in better off areas.
As many Australian in regional areas know, preparing and effectively responding to fires when they occur is both time-consuming and expensive. This preparation can include installing sprinklers and hoses, adding shutters and screens to windows, and fixing roofing so hot embers can’t enter the roof cavity. Vegetation management, fuel load reduction, firebreaks, and fire track construction and maintenance are other measures that can also contribute to lower bushfire hazard risks.
Bushfire-resistant architecture and building materials are a rapidly developing industry, but these innovations are not affordable to all.
The cost of building a ‘fire-resistant’ home or a community in a bushfire-prone location can be considerably higher than building a standard home — at least AUD$100,000 more for a four-bedroom house, according to the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute. The affordability of bushfire protection is likely more of a challenge for poorer households given the cost of living ‘squeeze’ since 2020.
For those who can afford them, fire-proof bunkers have emerged as an alternative place to shelter during bushfires. Increasingly, households in the bush are adding Wildfire Safety Bunkers that cost at least AUD$14,000, with hundreds installed across Australia.
But authorities say bunkers should only be used with “extreme caution” and must meet rigorous safety standards — and sheltering in a homemade bunker-life structure can be unsafe (eight of the victims of Victoria’s Black Saturday bushfires were in self-built bunkers, cellars or shipping containers.)
The most disadvantaged communities are not only less able to protect against bushfires: they also struggle to bounce back afterwards.
In a follow-up study, we showed that poor communities take longer to ‘build back’ or ‘build back better’ after a fire hazard.
In this on-going research, recovery was measured as the change in nighttime lights in an area captured using satellite. We found less growth in nightlights in poorer fire-affected communities than in better-off communities. This finding was especially noticeable in the rural-urban fringe of NSW, where poorer communities were disproportionately affected during the Black Summer fires.
Australia’s disaster planning policies do not fully account for the fact that the poorest communities need greater fire prevention and fire-fighting resources, per capita, than richer communities.
Rather, the nation’s disaster resilience framework is centred on the idea of “shared responsibility,” which requires local community and emergency service agencies to work together for both hazard reduction and fire suppression activities.
It’s an approach that shifts the responsibility from authorities to individuals and the local community, with the assumption that communities and individuals at risk understand the risks and, importantly, have the capacity to prevent, prepare and respond.
But treating all communities the same is not equitable when some have higher risks and less capacity to prevent or to respond to bushfires.
Our key point is bushfire prevention, and disaster recovery, must account for socio-economic differences across locations.
This means local governments where poor communities are located should receive more per capita support from governments for carrying out their obligations of managing bushfire risks. This support could include capacity-building training for fire management, grants to buy fire suppression equipment, and assistance to undertake hazard reduction in public lands.
Governments could also recognise that fires that discriminate aren’t only an issue for disadvantaged areas: They are a problem for all, because they spread. Ensuring all communities are better protected requires both better resourcing and reprioritisation from states, territories, and the federal governments.
Australia needs socio-economically calibrated measures to ensure all communities, rich and poor, are well prepared for bushfires. Without coordinated and ongoing collective action, fires will continue to discriminate to the detriment of all, and especially the poor.
Dr Sonia Akter is an economist at the Crawford School of the Australian National University. She has worked extensively on agriculture and food policy, natural disasters, and women’s empowerment in South and Southeast Asia and published single and co-authored articles in top journals in the fields of environment and development studies.
Professor Quentin Grafton is a highly-cited economist based at the Crawford School of Public Policy at the Australian National University. He is an Australian Laureate Fellow and a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia.
Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.
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news-360info
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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463
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Published on December 11, 2023
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"url": "https://360info.org/think-bushfires-dont-discriminate-they-do-and-this-is-who-suffers-most/",
"author": "Quentin Grafton, Sonia Akter"
}
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2,217 |
Think global and act local to avoid a Day Zero - 360
Shafiqul Islam
Published on March 25, 2024
South Africa dodged a water disaster in 2018, providing lessons for cities facing similar crises. But copying everything from Cape Town would be a mistake.
In terms of navigating, not solving, a water crisis, South Africa’s 2018 Day Zero is often viewed as a gold standard. Although many missteps brought Cape Town to the brink of a disaster, its residents became water-wise, technical fixes were put in place and Day Zero never came to pass.
But as more cities find themselves experiencing water crises, any approach that tries to simply copy Cape Town will find themselves adrift.
The deliberate use of ‘navigating’ instead of ‘solving’ in talking about water crises is a nuanced yet significant distinction. It underscores how complex and interconnected water crises are with other global challenges, including food security, energy transition, climate change, and political will.
Despite warnings and calls to action over decades — notably in 1981, 2006, 2018 and 2024 — tangible progress remains elusive. The world’s water issues are not just a future threat, but a challenge of the present that demands different ways of thinking and acting.
Since 1800, the global population has gone fromone billion to over 8 billion. Yet the amount of freshwater available has not changed since the time of dinosaurs.
A closer look at a growing population and a shift towards more water-intensive consumption patterns can explain why global freshwater use has increased six-fold since 1900. Increased demand for the fixed amount of freshwater is creating more water-related conflicts.
But most water problems are local, not global One way to reframe the water crisis is to think about water as a variable and flexible resource meaning its availability and use is highly variable, geographically, and seasonally.
For example, Bangladesh — a flood prone country — receives nearly 90 percent of its annual precipitation in 100 hours over 100 days. The other 265 days it suffers from drought-like conditions.
In contrast, the US city of Boston has a fairly uniform precipitation regime, with about 1200mm of rainfall spread almost equally over 12 months. The management of water crises for these two places has to account for local conditions and seasonal variability in developing and implementing solutions.
Brazil has more freshwater than any country in the world, yet São Paulo — the richest, largest city in South America — faced a water crisis in 2015. But São Paulo’s crisis is different from Cape Town’s. And the crisis in the Indian city of Bhubaneswar, which saw its water surface shrink by 80 percent between 1973 and 2023 due to a ten-fold rise in concrete structures, is different again from São Paulo and Cape Town.
Talking about these water problems as part of a global water crisis provides a cartoonish version of reality. There is no actionable solution template for these so-called global water crises, each problem and related response is nuanced by the local context.
Between 2014 and 2018, Cape Town endured a 1-in-400-year drought. Between 1995 and 2018, the city’s population grew 79 percent, from about 2.4 million to 4.3 million Over the same period, dam storage increased by only 15 percent.
The drought in Cape Town was severe, but not the worst on record. More importantly, very little of Cape Town’s water is sourced from the city itself. Six major dams make up 99.6 percent of the volume of water in the Western Cape Water Supply System.
In 2007, the national water body issued a warning about Cape Town’s water supply, saying the city would need new water sources by 2015.
One of the biggest debates is whether local and national governments handled the crisis well. A closer look suggests politics, not drought, is at the heart of the problem.
The Western Cape is the only province in the country run by the opposition party, the Democratic Alliance. South Africa’s ruling African National Congress runs the rest.
This makes the relationship between the national government and the Western Cape water authority more complicated. Two tiers of governance — the Western Cape province and the City of Cape Town — apparently did what was required to prepare for drought.
Provinces, on the other hand, don’t have the power to make water allocations to agriculture. This is done by the national government. In 2015, the city of Cape Town was allocated 60 percent of the water from the Western Cape’s water supply system by the national government, despite the ongoing drought and looming water crisis. Many argue that the national government’s response to addressing the water crisis seems to have failed.
Blame shifting, fault finding, and panic are not unique to South Africa. It is the usual reaction to water crises all over the world, albeit with contextual nuances.
What was instructive about Cape Town’s response to Day Zero was its concerted effort to effectively engage water users through transparent public communications and innovative engineering solutions. This has resulted in an over 50 percent reduction in water consumption between 2015 and 2020.
Vagaries of climate uncertainty and seasonal variability of precipitation also helped. In September 2018, with more rain and dam levels close to 70 percent, the city began easing water restrictions.
Rainfall in subsequent years broke the drought and storage levels are at 69.5 percent, as of March 15 2024. However, the risk of future shortages remains as demand for water continues to rise.
In 2015, Sao Paulo faced a similar drought-driven crisis. Drastic water restrictions and short-term technical fixes averted a crisis in Brazil’s largest city.
These aren’t isolated incidents and drought is not the only water crisis.
Five 1,000-year floods happened in just five weeks across the United States in 2022. Pakistan experienced one of the worst floods in 2022, its second 1,000-year flood in just over a decade, affecting over a third of the country with an estimated damage loss that could exceed USD$10 billion.
As water crises — be it drought induced or flood related — pop up all over the globe, pragmatic steps to address these water problems at the local level will be more effective than simply ‘talking the talk’ about a global crisis. South Africa is not Brazil. The US is not Pakistan. Droughts and floods are not similar crises.
There is a value in developing awareness at the global level, but ‘walking the talk’ in a principled and pragmatic way is vital to resolving these water crises that are technically efficient, societally relevant, and politically feasible.
Creating resilient water systems will help the world avoid a Day Zero and taking preventative action ensures that a natural hazard like a flood does not become a flooding crisis.
Shafiqul Islam is a professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and a professor of water diplomacy at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. Dr. Islam is the Director of the Water Diplomacy Program and Data Driven Decision Making @ Tufts (D3M@Tufts). He is a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union and Editor of Water Resources Research and the recipient of the Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz International Water Prize for Creativity. More information is available here and here.
Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.
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news-360info
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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463
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Published on March 25, 2024
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"author": "Shafiqul Islam"
}
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2,218 |
Thinking about freezing your eggs? Beware the spin - 360
Karin Hammarberg
Published on May 10, 2024
It’s sold as a procedure that empowers women, but freezing eggs is costly, time-consuming and not guaranteed to be a success.
It’s sold as a procedure that can empower women, but freezing eggs is costly, time-consuming and not guaranteed to be a success.
That hasn’t dented its popularity in Australia, where use of the treatment has skyrocketed.
The number of Australian women freezing their eggs tripled over the five years to 2020. Egg freezing for non-medical purposes also increased by 56 percent in just 12 months between 2020 to 2021 as COVID lockdowns, which made dating difficult, drove more women to the procedure.
As women’s fertility decreases with age, freezing eggs can buy time for those who want to preserve their fertility for later.
But, as a growing number of young women say they feel pressured by fertility services who use social media influencers to advertise egg freezing, it’s important women be made aware that egg freezing is expensive and may not deliver all that it promises.
Egg freezing involves the woman self-injecting fertility drugs for a couple of weeks to grow as many eggs as possible. When the eggs are mature, they are retrieved in an ultrasound-guided procedure under light anaesthetic. The eggs are then stored in liquid nitrogen until the woman returns to use them.
While some women freeze their eggs to advance their career or to improve their financial circumstances before having children, the most common reason is they don’t have a partner or have a partner who is “not ready” to have children.
While egg freezing can be a useful and necessary procedure for some, the process is not a failsafe insurance policy.
The chance of a baby depends on the woman’s age at egg freezing. Of the women who froze their eggs at age 35 years or younger, 52 percent had a baby but this dropped to 34 percent for women aged 36-39 years and 19 percent for women aged 40 years or older when they froze their eggs.
It’s also pricey. Each egg retrieval process costs between AUD$5,000 and AUD$10,000, although there’s a Medicare rebate of about half of the cost if the procedure is for medical reasons.
Usually, more than one hormone stimulation and egg-retrieval is needed to collect enough eggs, meaning women often pay AUD$16,000 to AUD$60,000, depending on age, to have enough eggs stored for an 80 per cent chance of having a baby.
On top of that, egg storage costs around AUD$500 a year. Then there is the cost of the IVF procedure for those who decide to use the eggs down the track.
Research also shows that very few women come back to use their eggs. On average, only about one in 10 women (11.1 percent) return to use their eggs and of those 28 percent have a baby.
In Australia and most other countries, assisted reproductive technology treatments, including egg freezing, are delivered by private IVF clinics. Some of these are now corporatised and deliver healthy profits for shareholders.
Commercial interests can affect clinical practice in a range of ways, according to participants in one study about the potential for conflicts of interest that can arise due to commercialisation of the IVF industry.
Doctors might offer treatments to patients who don’t need it, or report high success rates based on women who do not represent the average patient, for example.
Another study of patients’ views on the pros and cons of the commercialisation of the IVF industry cautions that it might lead to misleading marketing and advertising. These concerns apply to egg freezing, too.
On clinic websites, egg freezing is promoted as an empowering option that offers “peace of mind” and allow women to stop “worrying about their biological clock”.
However, studies of the content on IVF clinic websites highlight several areas of concern regarding the quality of information about egg freezing.
They include the websites downplaying or not mentioning that egg freezing is costly and not risk-free, that it may require multiple rounds to get the number of eggs that give a reasonable chance of success, that eggs may not survive thawing, that embryos may not form, and that if they do, there is no guarantee of a baby.
Deciding what to do with unused eggs can be challenging, especially for those who still want but have not had children.
Some clinics have also begun using social media and influencers with huge followings in their marketing strategies.
These partnerships have sparked debate about their ethical, social, commercial, and legal implications. They include that when influencers promote the clinic’s egg freezing services, they may present biased, incomplete, or misleading information, which can affect followers’ decision making. This may mean that a decision to freeze eggs is swayed by personal stories rather than objective, comprehensive information.
Many of these social media posts use feminist language around increasing women’s autonomy to suggest that egg freezing is empowering — a way of taking control of one’s own body.
But as journalist Micaela Mackenzie has written for Bustle, “promoting egg freezing through the lens of a certain brand of ‘you can do anything you put your mind to’ Instagram feminism can be misleading.”
And as Cambridge researcher Katie Hammond has written, “egg freezing is not necessarily an empowering option. It is a risky, intrusive procedure for which there is still little research. It is shortsighted, and simultaneously fails to challenge the very conditions that produce its need.”
Online marketing on egg-freezing has a lot in common with promotion of the anti-Mullerian hormone (AMH) test as a way to learn about your future fertility potential: both examples of how commercialisation of reproduction is letting women down.
AMH levels are a measure of the number of eggs remaining in the ovaries — but there is no evidence that this predicts chance of pregnancy now or in the future, and studies show no difference in chance of achieving pregnancy between women with high and those with low AMH levels.
Despite this, advertising on clinic websites and by online companies selling AMH tests direct- to-consumers often have false and misleading claims about the utility of the test and suggest it can help women ‘take charge of their fertility’.
Women deserve factual and realistic information about what is possible with egg freezing to allow them to make informed decisions and manage their expectations.
A new Decision Aid, free of commercial interests, that details all the pros and cons of egg freezing might help women make the best decision given their cicumstances .
While a Decision Aid is a start, and early research suggests most women using the tool found it useful, more is needed to ensure women can access trustworthy and impartial information about egg-freezing.
This should include tighter regulation around social media marketing of egg freezing and AMH testing to make sure women make reproductive decisions based on facts rather than on spin.
Dr Karin Hammarberg is a Senior Research Fellow in the School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine and Senior Research Officer at the Victorian Assisted Reproductive Treatment Authority (VARTA). She is a Registered Nurse with 20 years’ experience as clinical co-ordinator of IVF programs Karin’s main research interests are fertility and preconception health promotion; the psychosocial aspects of infertility and infertility treatment; health and development of children born as a result of assisted conception; infertility care in resource-constrained settings, and women’s health in midlife.
Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.
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news-360info
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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463
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Published on May 10, 2024
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"author": "Karin Hammarberg"
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2,219 |
This could stop pandemics in their tracks - 360
Lucky Ronald Runtuwene
Published on February 28, 2023
Cheap, portable sequencers in poor countries could be key to identifying and halting emerging diseases before they have a chance to become a pandemic.
The cost to decode the entirety of someone’s genes has dropped dramatically, paving the way for improved disease surveillance. The lower cost has made this technology accessible for people living in poorer economies giving hope that emerging diseases will be spotted and characterised sooner.
The human body is an information keeper. Each of our 30 trillion cells, give or take, keeps information on how body machinery works and passes the information to the next generation in strings of code using only four letters, ACGT. Each stands for a type of molecule called nucleotide. The string has a total length of around 6 billion letters, condensed into 23 pairs of chromosomes that make up the DNA.
Seventy years ago, James Watson and Francis Crick discovered the shape of DNA and how the ACGT code fitted together. All living things are identifiable by reading their DNA code, or in some organisms their RNA, known as their genome. In the 1970s Frederick Sanger developed a method, known as sequencing, to read that code. The first reading of a human’s DNA was laborious; it took around 10 years to read the majority of the three billion letters.
Now, sequencing is performed regularly for many purposes, from pathogen detection to determining drug resistance to understanding how a disease works. The amount of data a sequencer can produce has become exponential: one platform is able to sequence the whole genome of eight people in 72 hours or less. In 2022’s report, the Sanger Institute has sequenced 243,633 human genomes in a record 3.5 years. The enormous data yield has helped to drive sequencing cost to as little as USD$600 per genome.
By using nanometer-sized proteins, one sequencing platform has been miniaturised. With a technique known as nanopore sequencing, the sequencer is shrunk to the size of a chocolate bar. With the portability, researchers can bring the sequencer to the field and perform sequencing where they obtain the sample. It also eliminates the logistics of transporting samples to sequencing centres in a more developed country. Only the data can be uploaded to the cloud for analysis in other parts of the world. But the best part of this miniaturisation is that investment starts at USD$1,000.
This opens many possibilities for disease surveillance. A blood sample can be sequenced to detect the presence of the genes of disease-causing agents such as bacteria or viruses in a sick person or even a person with no symptoms.
Whether or not a pathogen will be resistant to a drug can be determined by reconstructing the pathogen’s genome post-sequencing. Information about drug-resistance can be obtained in less than half a day. Compare this with the standard process of identifying drug resistance for tuberculosis that needs two weeks to obtain the results.
Drug resistance in falciparum malaria parasite is very important nowadays as it has developed resistance to nearly all antimalarial drugs. As the parasite cannot be reared in the laboratory for traditional drug resistance tests, identifying the mutation-causing resistance with sequencing is vital. The additional benefit of the portable sequencer to read long sequences of DNA is the ability to construct the whole genome of a pathogen, even without prior knowledge of the infecting organism.
And it is not limited to infectious disease. Although portable sequencing does not have the capability to output a complete human genome, by using targeted sequencing, in which the signal from a particular gene or genes can be amplified beforehand, mutations or alterations in a human gene can be investigated.
In non-small-cell lung cancer, mutation at an amino acid level of a gene can render resistance to specific inhibitors. The fastest way to identify the prospect of failure is by detecting the mutations and modifying the therapy based on this information. Portable sequencing can usher in the advent of personalised medicine, where a therapy is adjusted based on the genomic information rather than empirical method. Every clinic now has the power to perform sequencing.
Nevertheless, the wide availability of sequencing due to its low price has disadvantages. A DNA sequence is an identity. An individual’s sensitive information is kept in their DNA. Cancer-inducing mutations or other alterations that may predispose a person to chronic illness is there for anyone with a sequencer to see. Information that can lead to stigmatisation may be readily available in the DNA, for example information about an asymptomatic HIV infection. Previously, information was limited only to the disease being screened for. Now, cheap genome sequencers may readily build the whole picture of a person’s health.
The handling of genome sequences, especially the whole genome, must be regulated as strictly as other sensitive information. While the portable sequencer does not yet have the capacity to output human-genome-sized information, that time may soon come. In the meantime, even parts of human DNA information must be handled sensitively. Patients must also be informed and be given choices on how their information will be handled.
As human development encroaches in previously wild areas, scientists expect more new diseases will make the leap from the animal world to humans. Cheap, portable sequencers in such areas could be key to identifying and halting emerging diseases before they have a chance to become a pandemic. Nevertheless, the ease of sequencing must be accompanied with strict data protection policy to prevent leakage of sensitive information.
Lucky Ronald Runtuwener is a researcher in HIV genome at AIDS Research Center National Institute of Infectious Disease Japan. He is also a visiting researcher at the Graduate School of Frontier Sciences at the University of Tokyo Japan. He is deeply interested in infectious diseases and wants to apply portable sequencers to help advancing genome surveillance in developing countries. This research has been supported by the Japanese Society for the Promotion of Sciences.
Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.
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news-360info
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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463
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Published on February 28, 2023
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"url": "https://360info.org/this-could-stop-pandemics-in-their-tracks/",
"author": "Lucky Ronald Runtuwene"
}
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2,220 |
This is how to increase EV uptake - 360
Andrei Kwok
Published on November 22, 2023
Getting the supply chain right is a key to encouraging consumers in developing nations to buy EVs.
There is a huge untapped market for electric vehicles in developing nations.
Given the right incentives, the rising middle class — whose buying power is also growing — can follow the growth of EV sales in countries such as Norway, Iceland and Sweden.
The market in those countries has been boosted by proactive government policies, investment support and incentives such as tax credits and rebates.
There is a very good reason to encourage uptake of electric vehicles.
The use of fossil fuels almost doubled in 2021. Fossil fuels are one of the major contributors to global warming.
EVs use less energy and emit less pollution than internal combustion engine vehicles, therefore minimising the impact of pollution from fossil fuels.
So far, consumer adoption of EVs in developing countries apart from India and China has been relatively slow. That is mainly because EVs are not as affordable, due to their upfront costs, insurance, repairs and battery replacement, along with charging costs.
EVs are up to 40 percent more expensive to buy than a similar internal combustion engine vehicle.
This has been the primary concern for consumers in developing nations, despite the potential long-term cost savings of going electric.
The predominant cost of an electric vehicle is in its powertrain, which can make up to 51 percent of the total cost.
The powertrain consists of the battery pack, power controller, traction motor and semiconductors that make up the entire electronic system, along with the computer software required to keep things moving.
Of all these parts, the most expensive is the battery pack. Its production process requires intensive labour, high amounts of energy and raw materials such as lithium, nickel, manganese, cobalt and rare earth metals.
Keeping the costs down on EVs is therefore very challenging.
One solution is to improve the supply chain and production networks.
This would require collaboration across different supply chain tiers, transforming the raw materials and integrating components and battery modules with the final assembly of the vehicles.
It would also require car companies to integrate regional and domestic suppliers into the value chain. A complex operation, but possible.
Global EV companies such as Tesla, BYD, General Motors and Volkswagen can send their manufacturing to developing countries that offer investor-friendly policies.
For example, Mercedes-Benz is using its existing factory in Thailand to build the fully-electric EQS 500 model, the first EV to be built by the company outside of Germany. It also manufactures the batteries there.
Thailand has grand designs to transform itself into a regional EV manufacturing hub. It has attracted several global EV companies with tax incentives and subsidies.
Chinese EV maker BYDis setting up a facility in Thailand not only to export its cars to Southeast Asia and Europe, but also to manufacture EVs for the Thai domestic market.
This strategy provides vehicle makers the opportunity to build cars more cheaply while benefiting from the subsidies and the opportunity to sell their cars in an emerging market. Southeast Asia has a population of around 675 million, but fewer than 16,000 passenger EVs were sold there in 2021.
Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia are Southeast Asia’s largest passenger automobile markets (in descending order). As existing bases for companies such as Toyota, Honda and Mercedes-Benz, they already have car-building capabilities, production networks and, most importantly, access to cheap commodities.
Malaysia, which pioneered indigenous automobile companies such as Proton and Perodua, can rely on its significant competitive advantage as Southeast Asia’s primary semiconductor and electronics manufacturing hub.
This can enable it to leverage its value chain, vendor development know-how, and vertical integration of parts and components. There is huge potential to retool or convert existing facilities from combustion engine vehicles to electric ones.
China is already doing this successfully.
Another strategy is to outsource to contract manufacturers, which has the potential to reduce operations and supply chain costs.
New EV entrants could bypass the massive capital investment of setting up manufacturing facilities while focusing their resources on core functions such as research, design and development.
Saudi Arabia does this in its partnership with Foxconn, the contract manufacturer known for assembling the Apple iPhone, to launch the EV brand Ceer, targeting consumers in the Middle East and North Africa.
With most of the raw materials, parts and components supply base located in Asia, EV companies can source from local suppliers.
Indonesia, the largest nickel producer globally and rich in other critical minerals vital to EV battery production, is leveraging its natural resources to attract foreign investors to develop the battery supply chain.
Building gigafactories close to the source of raw materials can significantly lower transport and labour costs.
While tax incentives to bolster vehicle ownership have helped, the EV industry will need to eventually wean itself from reliance on government policies and incentives for sustainable long-term growth.
Supply chain and production network improvements to make EV ownership more affordable would help EVs eventually become cheaper and more attractive than fossil-fuel vehicles.
Given these possibilities, developing countries have the potential to leapfrog in EV adoption. However, manufacturers would need to watch out for supply-side disruptions that can lead to cost spikes, such as critical mineral and semiconductor shortages.
Andrei Kwok is Senior Lecturer and Director of Graduate Coursework Studies, Department of Management, School of Business, Monash University Malaysia.
Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.
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news-360info
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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463
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Published on November 22, 2023
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"author": "Andrei Kwok"
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2,221 |
This is how we'll know if we're in recession - 360
Radhika Lahiri
Published on June 26, 2023
There’s been talk of a recession but what does that actually look like?
There are fears Australia may be headed for a recession.
Some analysts say the chances are around 50-50, although the government is more upbeat it won’t happen. Other developed economies have entered recession in recent weeks, with New Zealand the latest. Germany, Europe’s largest economy, went into recession in May.
A recession happens when there is a slowdown of economic activity for a prolonged period. There is low demand for goods and services — consumers spend less — and this leads to a slowdown in production.
Given the low demand, producers cut down production of goods and increase their inventories of unsold goods. A cut in production means workers are not needed and this increases unemployment or leads to a fall in income as workers are laid off or hired for fewer hours per week.
This causes a further reduction in demand as incomes are low, and the economy can get trapped in a low-income cycle that perpetuates itself.
While ups and downs in the economy happen all the time, a recession occurs when there is a slowdown of economic activity that lasts for at least a few months and is reflected in a slowdown in indicators like Gross Domestic Product, industrial production, wages and unemployment.
Recessions can happen due to disruptions in economic activity caused by events or a chain of events.
The COVID-19 pandemic caused a contraction of economic activity due to restrictions such as lockdowns and travel bans, and disruptions to supply chains and international trade on a worldwide scale.
At the end of 2008, the so-called ‘Global Financial Crisis‘ occurred due to excessive and risky lending, and consequently loan defaults in the US housing sector, which spilled over to the rest of the world due to global financial linkages between world economies.
Recessions can also occur after a period of inflation, as central banks increase interest rates to maintain low inflation targets and price stability, which is what has been happening in Australia.
If inflation is persistent, the successive and frequent interest rate increases that follow can increase the cost of borrowing, discouraging investments in new ventures by firms and spending by consumers, thereby leading to a slowdown of economic activity.
Recessions can last from anywhere between a few months to a few years, and longer ones are likely to have a long-term impact.
In longer recessions, the fall in investments by businesses diminishes the productive capacity of the economy and prolonged unemployment can cause a decline in job-related skills.
Younger people may opt out of higher education due to unaffordability, which can lead to reduction in the skills of the future workforce.
The psychological impact due to uncertain conditions and lack of job security can lead to poorer health. The poorer, disadvantaged sections of society are more adversely affected which can lead to social divisions and conflict.
However, a recession can have positives, acting as a catalyst for cost-reducing innovation and technological advancement.
The 2008 financial crisis led to the development of financial technologies and processes that replaced traditional banking models.
Governments can further encourage this through reforms aimed at making the economy more resilient to adverse shocks.
Businesses can become more prudent with their finances and risk-management, leading to greater stability in the long term.
In Australia, the high inflation rates and interest rate rises suggest a potential slowdown but there are other counteracting forces at play, with the global economy recovering, albeit gradually, from the pandemic.
As such it is hard to predict what might happen in the next 12 months.
Dr Radhika Lahiri is a senior lecturer at the School of Economics and Finance at Queensland University of Technology. She received a PhD in Economics from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas and had academic appointments with Southern Methodist University and the University of Western Australia. Her research interests include macroeconomics and monetary economics, business cycles and economic growth, public economics and development economics.
Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.
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news-360info
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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463
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Published on June 26, 2023
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"url": "https://360info.org/this-is-how-well-know-if-were-in-recession/",
"author": "Radhika Lahiri"
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This is how you build trust with Indonesia's police - 360
Adrianus Meliala
Published on June 14, 2023
After separating from the military, Indonesia’s police still struggle to gain public trust. Have they missed their best chance of winning over the people?
It’s been a bad couple of years for Indonesia’s police, or Polri, beset by a series of high-profile scandals.
A two-star general shot dead his adjutant. Police firing tear gas at football fans in Kanjuruhan Stadium set off a deadly stampede which left 135 dead. A chief inspector was jailed for selling drugs seized from traffickers.
Indonesian and international media covered these and other stories for weeks, severely embarrassing the police. Twenty-five years on from the end of the Suharto regime and Indonesia looks to have missed its best chance of reforming the organisation.
Trust in Polri has reduced significantly. The police not only lost their confidence but also their pride and public support. Polri successfully improved their image based on the graphics below but reducing crime (instrumental justice) is somehow inevitably put aside.
Lay-down policing, where police reduced their use of decisive force, is taking place in most areas in Indonesia, especially after the Kanjuruhan Stadium disaster.
Recent attempts at improving the effectiveness of the police have focused on changes to empower officers to deter, investigate and solve crimes. This, however, assumes the police have legitimacy, relying on the public’s preference for results over procedure.
Research into the public’s perception of the Indonesian National Police revealed people place more importance on how police do their job — treating people fairly and with respect, unbiased decision-making based on facts, and transparency in their procedures — over how many crimes they solve.
Traditionally, the prevailing belief was that individuals obeyed the law solely to avoid punishment, leading to punitive approaches that sought to impose harsher penalties to deter potential offenders.
However, studies have shown deterrence-based models don’t reduce crime rates. People are more likely to comply with the law when they believe in its righteousness and perceive authorities as just in their enforcement.
When police adhere to principles of procedural justice during interactions with the public, positive perceptions of the police, confidence in their abilities, and cooperation are more likely.
Individuals are more inclined to view the police as legitimate figures of authority and are more willing to abide by the law. Given that encounters with the police often arise in moments of shame for individuals, the way they are treated by authorities becomes crucial.
Nevertheless, some segments of society may be suspicious of police, irrespective of their behaviour. Consequently, improving public confidence in the police may present a challenge.
Since its separation from the military in 1999, Polri has experienced significant growth, becoming the world’s fifth largest police force. It now has 343,134 personnel with a police-to-population ratio of 1:600, more than many developing countries. This represents a considerable improvement from the early 1980s when it stood at 1:1200. It is gradually approaching the United Nations’ recommended ratio of 1:500.
However, this achievement is overshadowed by the fact that the province of Papua, which has endured conflict for decades, holds the unfortunate distinction (minimal infrastructure, especially roads) of being the most heavily policed society in the world, with a police-to-citizen ratio of 1:100. This is unavoidable while the ratio seems too many compared to the other areas in Indonesia.
Despite its growth, Polri’s structure remains militaristic and strictly hierarchical. The organisation continues to grapple with endemic corruption, blatant human rights abuses, inadequate training and high levels of inefficiency.
Ensuring police legitimacy hinges upon the demonstration of moral alignment with the public, emphasising the need for police to act in accordance with shared moral values. While instrumental concerns hold significance, research indicates that procedural justice principles play a secondary role in shaping public views of the police.
In Indonesia, the impact of procedural justice policing on public perceptions of the police is often deemed insignificant. However, it is precisely the deficiencies within the Indonesian police force that render procedural justice concerns more influential in garnering public support than instrumental concerns.
Indonesians tend to emphasise their experiences with police treatment rather than the effectiveness of law enforcement, underscoring the importance of addressing these concerns in reform programs.
While operational training remains crucial, prioritising procedural justice principles is more likely to win over the hearts and minds of Indonesians. Due to factors such as the kinship of shame and social disengagement, Indonesia, as a diverse nation with over 350 ethnic groups and a history of conflict and dictatorship, faces challenges in achieving social cohesion.
As a result, instrumental concerns often overshadow procedural justice concerns. However, in situations where trust between police and citizens is fragile, the treatment individuals receive becomes more significant than the ultimate outcomes.
To bolster public support of police, it is crucial to prioritise procedural justice principles such as police friendliness, approachability, fairness, transparency, and moral alignment, into how police operate. Such efforts will prove instrumental in addressing the pressing need for improved police-public relations in Indonesia.
Adrianus Meliala is a Professor in Criminology at the University of Indonesia. He used to work as Adviser of Partnership for Governance Reform in Indonesia UNDP, then being Commissioner of National Police Commission (Kompolnas) and then Member of Ombudsman Republic of Indonesia. Research interest: Policing, Forensic, Fraud and White-Collar Crime, Prison, Terrorism.
Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.
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news-360info
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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463
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Published on June 14, 2023
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"author": "Adrianus Meliala"
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This is what drives reckless behaviour on the road - 360
Kira Mauseth
Published on December 6, 2022
The uncertainty and stress of the pandemic can trigger a part of the brain which causes reckless behaviour — with potentially fatal results on the road.
Picture this: you’re driving along in traffic when another car cuts you off. Suddenly you have the urge to flip the other driver the bird, drive more recklessly, speed, or just yell obscenities at the vehicles around you.
This behaviour doesn’t make sense as it is so out of character but the reality is many people would have felt these urges at some time over the past three years. There are basic physiological reasons why. It’s just that when it happens on a highway at 100 km per hour, in congestion or when a traffic light turns red, the consequences can be disastrous.
COVID-19 has exacerbated the issue. With lockdowns and uncertainty, the pandemic has been a long-term disaster cascade which has put everyone under stress, ranging from mild to severe.
When reacting to stress, the human body has an innate overriding function — to stay alive and safe. People often behave in a way that seems contrary to this but the physiological mechanisms are straightforward.
When we are overly stressed, feel threatened or sense danger, our limbic system activates in order to engage a response that will protect us. This is where ‘fight, flight or freeze’ comes from.
The part of the brain responsible for logical reasoning, good decision making, and consideration of consequences tends to disengage. The limbic system responds irrationally, emotionally, and sometimes aggressively.
Here is where the ‘rubber meets the road’. When the limbic system is highly active, people may do things that are more reckless, impulsive, even dangerous. Not for the sake of it, but because that part of the brain isn’t designed to consider the consequences of our actions.
As many people have probably experienced, the physiological directive caused by the limbic system in a highly active state can cause problems in our day-to-day encounters and choices. Think of an incident when you have responded emotionally or uncharacteristically then asked yourself later ‘why did I do that’ or ‘where did that come from’?
The same physiological challenges take place on the road, but under driving conditions we may also be in a position to take risks that have life-or-death consequences.
This has the potential for the perfect combination of circumstances that lead to road rage, reckless driving and impaired driving. With the limbic system in full flight, it may be more difficult to slow down and consider alternatives.
One of the other neurological complications of recovery from stress is an intense desire to feel good again.
During COVID, people were limited in so many ways to socialise and have a good time that now, when an opportunity arises, many seize it with both hands with little regard for the consequences. We are motivated by our neurochemistry to feel good, to seek out pleasurable experiences and find a rush from taking chances and risks.
There is another factor which puts many younger, inexperienced drivers at risk. The logical, consequence-oriented part of the brain (the prefrontal cortex) does not reach full development until humans are in their early 20s.
Globally, road injuries are the leading cause of death for people aged 5-29. About three quarters (73 percent) of all road traffic deaths occur among young males under 25 years who are almost three times as likely to be killed in a road traffic crash as young females.
As a colleague who works at a hospital emergency department in Seattle said over the US summer “the kids have gone outside and lost their minds”, referring to the increase in horrific car accidents and injuries she was seeing.
These physiological experiences and challenges are the norm as part of the incredibly complex disaster cascade recovery process.
Still, there are solutions. Disaster science has much to say about positive long-term recovery outcomes and resilience. What it takes is being aware of the risks associated with limbic responses. ‘Practising the pause’ before responding to others — before hitting ‘send’ on an aggressive text or email, before yelling at another driver, or before taking any unnecessary risk behind the wheel.
Giving pause gives the whole brain, not just the limbic system, a chance to engage and make rational decisions. When on the road this awareness might increase the chances of being less aggressive or impulsive and lessen the chances of disaster.
Dr Kira Mauseth is a practising clinical psychologist who teaches at Seattle University and serves as a co-lead for the Behavioral Health Strike Team for the Washington State Department of Health. She also owns Astrum Health, and consults on disaster preparedness and resilience building. Her work and research focus on disaster behavioural health, resilience, and recovery from trauma as well as small and large-scale critical incident response.
Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.
Editors Note: In the story “On the road after COVID” sent at: 05/12/2022 09:52.
This is a corrected repeat.
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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463
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Published on December 6, 2022
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"author": "Kira Mauseth"
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This is what's stopping women in peacebuilding - 360
Eleanor Gordon
Published on March 8, 2023
Barriers to the engagement of women in peace operations can sustain harmful workplace cultures, scuttle gender equality and even peace outcomes.
I worked for 10 years in UN peace operations, mainly in Bosnia and Herzegovina. I helped return refugees and internally displaced persons to Srebrenica, prosecute war criminals and protect and promote human rights. I was also involved in the creation of new security and justice institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo.
I left to have my son. The decision to leave the work I loved and where I felt I could make a positive difference was hard.
Many of my colleagues, of all genders, also faced the difficult decision between their career and caring for or even having children. I’ve reflected on the harm these decisions have on people, who choose to leave or stay in the sector, and on the harm this can have on the organisations they work for – as people leave, try to juggle both caring and paid work responsibilities, or choose not to have children at all.
I then began to see the subsequent harms this can have on the work culture and practices of these organisations and, fundamentally, on peace outcomes.
Working in peace operations and the broader peacebuilding sector often entails working in unstable and insecure environments with poor health, education and utilities infrastructure. However, women with caring responsibilities often leave the sector not through personal choice but because of other practical, organisational, work culture issues and gendered assumptions about who does peace and who does care work.
Beyond potential insecurity and lack of amenities, there are practical challenges such as expectations of frequent travel, very long working hours, frequent rotations or the need to move every few years, the need for flexibility (to travel at short notice and work out of office hours), and the limited number of positions in family duty stations, where staff are allowed to take their children.
Many decisions to leave the sector are driven by challenges associated with these work conditions but also a lack of adequate organisational support and mechanisms to recruit, train, retain, promote and deploy people who are parents.
There is often insufficient maternity and paternity leave, limited access to childcare or crèches, lack of support for nursing mothers, and lack of time once deployed to find schools, creches or support networks.
Compounding this are workplace cultures not conducive to managing caring responsibilities or raising children, along with gender assumptions about the role of men and women in peace operations. There can be gender bias and overt discrimination against women and mothers in particular, fed by assumptions that mothers are less productive, less reliable, and not willing or able to prioritise the needs of the organisation or mission.
Women with children are often disinclined to raise issues about their caring responsibilities for fear they will be judged as unprofessional or not committed. Conversely, women with children may sometimes be judged as poor mothers when they choose to work in this sector, seemingly prioritising the needs of their work above their children. Men with children are not often judged in this way, but they may suffer in different ways in organisations that don’t recognise or support them in their caring responsibilities.
These barriers to the engagement of parents in peacebuilding is a significant factor in the underrepresentation of women in the sector. The UN is one of the largest employers in the sector with women comprising a third of personnel in the field. Women make up 29.9 percent of civilian and 7.8 percent of uniformed personnel in UN peace operations. This is despite gender parity being a strategic goal of the UN and the UN Women, Peace and Security agenda underscoring the importance of women’s engagement in efforts to build and sustain peace.
Scholarship also tells us that women’s meaningful engagement is critical to sustainable peace, and that gender equality and peace are mutually supportive. When organisations do not adequately address barriers to gender equality, their effectiveness and credibility can be undermined when advocating for such principles in peacebuilding. This can compromise peacebuilding endeavours.
The departure of women can hamper an organisation’s effectiveness in other ways. Less diversity can narrow skill-sets, knowledge and ways of thinking. An organisation’s operations are less likely to be responsive to diverse needs and less able to enjoy public confidence and trust. They also have less capacity to respond to complex and dynamic challenges. That can mean missing opportunities to build peace.
When organisations do not communicate a commitment to an ethics of care, including the care needs and caring responsibilities of its personnel, the well-being of all staff can suffer. Ignoring these responsibilities can lead to a work culturecharacterised by long hours, dislocation from family and little work-life balance. This can lead to stress, burnout and the type of scandals that continue to blight the sector, including sexual exploitation and abuse.
There are many practical ways to address these barriers to women. A toolkit developed with a colleague from the University of Warwick, Associate Professor Briony Jones, details the many ways that organisations engaged in peacebuilding can better support their employees with caring responsibilities.
Recommendations include a range of human resource policies including more parental leave, re-engagement policies to support returning employees, spousal policies that support the transfer of spouses to the same mission and prioritisation of family duty station posts for employees who are parents including crèches and safe spaces for nursing mothers, flexible work schedules, and more part-time and job-sharing opportunities, work-life balance messaging and practice, transparent disciplinary procedures to guard against discrimination, role models, mentoring schemes, peer support mechanisms and support networks and awareness raising campaigns.
Fundamentally, an ethics of care should be advanced in peacebuilding. It would acknowledge interdependence between people, promote engagement that is more attentive and responsive to the needs of others, and reconceptualise peacebuilding practice and practitioners as embroiled within rather than divorced from practices and principles of care.
Dr Eleanor Gordon has spent 25 years working in the field of post-conflict security, justice and human rights, including 10 years working in UN peace operations in management and advisory roles. She is currently a Senior Lecturer at Monash University, where her research, teaching and practice focus on inclusive approaches to building security and justice after conflict.
Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.
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news-360info
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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463
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Published on March 8, 2023
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This is why airfares will stay sky-high - 360
David Beirman
Published on May 2, 2024
The post-pandemic surge in airfares is easing, but a return to the halcyon days of cheap tickets abroad might be finished.
To the shock of many, airfares out of and into Australia have considerably risen since 2022.
In 2023, politicians and the media rushed to interrogate why airlines had become so “greedy“, charging so much for airfares despite posting profits for the year.
But the success of most airlines from the middle of 2022 onwards cannot be viewed in a vacuum.
From early 2020 to that point, the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, most airlines practically ceased doing any business. Operating on life support, all airlines lost billions and relied either on government support or bank loans.
Partly, the increase in fares can be attributed to a need to repay debts.
More significantly, airlines learned a harsh lesson after more than two decades of operating on a business model known as “high volume, low yield”.
For an airline to be profitable, it had to operate and be full of passengers, mainly paying relatively little. In practice, it meant that if a passenger paid AUD$2,000 for a return trip between Sydney and London, the airline would be lucky to make $10 per passenger.
This worked well for customers who enjoyed cheap airfares for 20 years, but airlines were left with slim profits and no reserve cash to ride out a pandemic-borne crisis that lasted over two years.
Post-pandemic, airlines have ditched this model and airfares have risen to more commercially realistic levels (especially in 2023) — much to the annoyance of long-pampered customers.
The cost of operating an airline has also grown.
Having fired older, experienced staff during the pandemic, airlines have had to recruit and train an entirely new set of employees, and pay them much higher salaries than the pre-COVID days. Despite this, airfares in 2024 have moderated as competitive pressures have increased.
Still, new challenges continue.
The conflicts in the Middle East are likely to prompt a sharp rise in oil prices, especially if these conflicts escalate and expand geographically. Fuel represents at least half the cost of an airline’s operation, so its fares increase in accordance with oil prices.
That’s bad news for would-be travellers to relax their guard and get excited for any incoming drop to airfares.
Despite the dreams of some travel writers, it’s highly unlikely airfares will ever return to their 2019 levels. What consumers can realistically hope for is good value for their higher fares and special deals, often cropping up when airlines promote to fill empty seats.
David Beirman is Adjunct Fellow in Management at University of Technology Sydney (UTS).
Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.
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news-360info
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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463
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Published on May 2, 2024
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"author": "David Beirman"
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This museum is a blueprint for disability inclusion - 360
Suchaita Tenneti
Published on May 20, 2024
Designing museums for people with disabilities is a critical step towards democratising the arts and challenging power relations within museums.
When Akhileshwari*, a person with visual impairment, visited a museum in Bangalore with her visually impaired friends, the authorities told them, “this museum is not accessible for people like you.”
Munir*, a wheelchair user in his 20s, had a similar experience: “I went to a museum in Bangalore with my friends. Many parts of it were accessible and I could reach it with (their) help. But parts of the museum were not accessible for me. My friends and I decided I would stay behind while they went ahead … I felt very upset.”
These vignettes capture the common experiences of exclusion of many people with disabilities in museums and art galleries.
Rather than serving the public, museums have earned a reputation for being static repositories of cultural artefacts and custodians of oppressive colonial histories.
The onus to immerse oneself in the museum was placed on the visitor rather than on the museum itself. But this notion has evolved.
Museums are increasingly being perceived as learning spaces with immense scope for social empowerment. Museums across the world are looking to learn from the experiences of historically excluded groups, such as people of colour, indigenous people, gender and sexual minorities, and people with disabilities, who have previously been denied access to museums.
It is hard to make a case for purple inclusion of leisure and recreation — purple being the colour of disability rights — than it is for other public resources.
Giving people with disabilities basic essentials such as education, nutrition, livelihood and health are often prioritised over opportunities to connect with their cultural and historical heritage.
As Heena*, a person with multiple sclerosis says, “for people with disabilities, leisure is an alien word.”
Designing museums to welcome people with disabilities is a critical step towards democratising history and the arts, and challenging the power relations within museums.
Disability rights advocacy in India has made tremendous progress. Inclusive heritage and arts have also begun to gain attention.
The Anubhav gallery in Delhi’s National Museum contains tactile replicas of museum displays for visitors with visual impairment.
Some prominent museums in India, such as the Victoria Memorial museum in Kolkata and the Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya in Mumbai, have also instituted accessibility measures including elevators, wheelchairs, braille signage and audio guides, among others.
But a common aspect to all these museums is that accessibility features were introduced several years after the inception of the museum.
The Bangalore-based Museum of Art and Photography (MAP) is one of the first museums in India to introduce cross-disability inclusion into its foundations.
Launched in 2023, its mission was to democratise art by creating opportunities for diverse communities to actively participate in various events at the museum.
This involved consultations with various organisations engaged with disability inclusion as the museum building was being built. Alongside that, education outreach programmes for children with disabilities began and people with disabilities were hired as inclusion managers.
It is the first known museum in India to have conducted a user experience study to understand the expectations of people with disabilities from the museum. These findings were recorded in a research study on inclusion in museums.
Ninety-nine people with various disabilities as well as caregivers, parents, teachers, disability studies scholars, accessibility consultants and disability rights advocates were interviewed. Most were residents of Bangalore but the scope of the study was expanded to other cities to obtain diverse perspectives.
The participants were interviewed about their expectations from the physical infrastructure of the museum, including lighting, sound, washrooms, staircases, elevators, restaurants, display styles as well as their expectations from museum staff.
A common thread across their narratives was “quality” inclusion. Some spoke about how audio guides in museums were sometimes not clear. Some mentioned how descriptions of artworks were not rich enough. “The description [of Starry Night] by my wife was much more potent than what was written,” says Bholanath*, a visually impaired person.
Others mentioned how museums sometimes have plenty of accessibility features but inadequate signage explaining these features.
Many respondents expressed the desire to explore the museum at their own leisure. Sharanya, the mother of a child with autism, said her son had very specific interests in music and photography and would only be willing to explore these artworks.
A few participants asked for benches to be provided in halls so they could carefully peruse artworks of their choice.
Disability inclusion requires decentering the expertise of the curator and the museum guide. People with disabilities are often perceived as incapable of appreciating art. Their visits to the museum risk being overplanned by museum professionals.
It is essential to take their interests seriously to make their visits memorable.
Language was another major theme in the study. Participants with hearing impairments spoke about the importance of providing Indian Sign Language (ISL) interpreters in the museum and ensuring that social media updates were in both English and sign language.
Naresh*, a wheelchair user, mentioned how his preference for Kannada over English often restricted his mobility. He appreciated MAP’s bilingual focus on English and Kannada.
Hanifa*, the principal of a school working with children with disabilities, emphasised the potential of museums to help them grow into artists. “The problem is when arts-based activities are just one-time things … There is no continuity, no chance for the child to carry their interests forward.” This is a valuable caution against tokenistic attempts at disability inclusion.
Several people with disabilities were eager to think of the museum as a space for non-disabled people learning about disabilities through the museum.
They urged the museum not to ghettoise people with disabilities through dedicated visitor tours or events, but to create a blend of opportunities for people of different kinds of disabilities as well as for disabled and non-disabled people to collectively engage with each other in the museum.
This cross-disability, inclusive and diversified approach is the crux of any policy of museum inclusion.
Accessibility and inclusion are dynamic processes and require constant reviews and upgrades. Committees of people with disabilities and their allies could be constituted to ensure that the inclusion strategy of the museum is regularly revised in accordance with the latest research and standards.
People with different kinds of disabilities as well as diverse social caste, class, gender and religious backgrounds can be given the opportunity to be members of these committees to avoid reproducing structural inequalities.
MAP has set a standard for inclusion towards which all cultural institutions need to strive. How well they do so depends on how they embrace the knowledge embedded within lived experiences of people with disabilities.
*The actual names of the interviewees has been concealed to protect their privacy.
Suchaita Tenneti served as the Lead Researcher for the study ‘Inclusion in Museums: Perspectives of People with Disabilities’ commissioned by the MAP and conducted by the ReReeti Foundation. She is currently Associate Scientist for Gender and Social Inclusion at the International Rice Research Institute, Bhubaneshwar.
Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.
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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463
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Published on May 20, 2024
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Three Australian policy experiments to reshape the future - 360
Alex Fischer, Martin Stewart-Weeks, Sharon Bessell, Janine O’Flynn, John Thwaites
Published on December 18, 2023
Pessimism about our ability to address the issues that face humanity is understandable, but there are many signs we’re making progress across multiple pathways.
The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals had a very tough year in 2023.
The wars in Gaza and Ukraine, the climate crisis, the pressures on democracy and stalled development in low-income countries after the COVID-19 pandemic. These starkly highlight the shortcomings in our local, national and international institutions aimed at global cooperation.
There are serious questions about whether we are failing to reach these goals, and what should be done differently.
Adopted in 2015, the 17 SDGs seek to provide a globally endorsed and unified framework to pursue a sustainable and inclusive future for all countries, regardless of income or geography. It was a moment driven by necessity but underpinned by the potential of a shared vision for a different pathway.
Since then, however, the world has continued to see cycles of violent wars, accelerating rates of natural disasters driven by changing climate, limited commitments for development financing, global pandemic and reversing trends with rising levels of global poverty.
At this halfway point, evidence suggests too much of the agenda will miss its 2030 target.
The challenges are considerable.
Achieving these goals requires aligning decisions and investments at global, regional, national and community levels and across multiple interconnected, but often separate, policy areas. That’s a not a trivial undertaking, so we shouldn’t be surprised it’s hard and is taking longer than anticipated. But that doesn’t mean it is not happening.
The second challenge is tougher in many ways. It speaks to a growing anxiety about whether our current institutions are designed appropriately to lead us to the inclusive, equitable and sustainable future we imagine.
In a recent roundtable between Australian academics and the Director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University, Professor Jeffrey Sachs, participants identified a few reasons for optimism.
In 2024, at the Summit of the Future in New York, the UN will call on world leaders to reaffirm and advance an international consensus to deliver on ambitious shared goals including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the SDGs, and the Paris Climate Agreement.
This gives Australia a major opportunity to consider ways for more effective global cooperation and demonstrating national leadership.
Rather than give up now and declare the SDG mission a failure, we should not only keep going, but hold faith in the progress we have achieved, even if it’s slow.
Progress towards the global goals, in the context of multiple complex crises, is more necessary — and more urgent — now than in 2015.
This is a critical moment and an opportunity for Australia to recommit to an action-oriented leadership in the Pact for the Future.
There are three areas where roundtable participants thought things might be done differently.
It took at least five years for many countries to interpret and integrate the ambitious Sustainable Development Goals into national policy frameworks and national development agendas.
There is now an opportunity to recommit to integrated frameworks beyond 2030, addressing the goals themselves and how they connect and impact each other, trade-offs and spill over effects.
Australia could lead global innovation by implementing wellbeing budgets to help integrate complex social, economic and environmental goals and align with regional and global agendas. This includes using planning tools and better data to manage trade-offs within national development agendas.
It could also measure what matters by expanding the value of subjective measures of wellbeing as part of wider development goals. Specifically concepts of happiness, belonging, social connection and resilient democracy, and recognising that ending poverty in all its forms (SDG1) is the essential scaffolding for wellbeing.
Reconsidering regional alliances to build regional trade and collaboration, recognising the nation-state model continues to fail to solve complex problems. A strong system of connected community, national, regional and global institutions is required.
Australia could strengthen regional collaboration and contribute to regional dynamics through the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, whose member countries represent 30 percent of the world’s population and GDP constituting the largest trading bloc in history.
There is an opportunity to recognise explicitly that increased trade and economic engagement are not ends in themselves, but — considered innovatively — vehicles for enhancing human wellbeing and planetary health across the region.
A possible addition to Professor Sachs’ six transitions is a big shift in thinking about governing, policy and public work. That’s often characterised as a search for a new paradigm for government to replace the ‘new public management’ framework, whose values and motivations seem increasingly out of step with contemporary and emerging conditions.
The nature of the problems we’re trying to solve, and the opportunities we’re trying to realise as we confront digital capitalism’s tectonic shifts are crying out for a new set of assumptions and expectations for the work of government and approaches to public policy.
In many ways, we are seeking more human and relational forms of government. While we want to leverage technology and expertise, human wellbeing must centre our policy frameworks and collective decisions. This paradigm shift might be considered as a “seventh transformation”, whose impact includes the ability to dramatically improve the chances of achieving the other six.
Australia has much to contribute to the 2024 UN Summit of the Future in both content and commitment.
While the Sustainable Development Goal targets provide a critical accountability measure for countries, they do not recognise the unfinished and often tortuous path that many countries have taken to embed the integrated agenda into their national institutions and policy frameworks.
There has been major progress setting the pathway for enduring change in the rhythms of communities’ planning, corporate accountability, and government policy frameworks. There is significant evidence that we’re making progress.
As Prime Minister Anthony Albanese reminded us in his speech following the Voice referendum, courtesy of Winston Churchill, success is not final, failure is not fatal; it is the courage to continue that counts.
In its own way, it’s an inspiring rallying call for our shared goals.
Dr Alex Fischer is an Adjunct Senior Research Fellow at the Monash Sustainable Development Institute, an Honorary Research Fellow at the Australian National University’s School of Cybernetics and a member of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) Thematic Research Network on Data and Statistics (TReNDS).
Professor Sharon Bessell is a Professor of Public Policy at the Crawford School of Public Policy at the Australian National University and Director of the Children’s Policy Centre.
Professor Janine O’Flynn is Director of the Crawford School of Public Policy at the Australian National University. She is a public management expert, and an award-winning scholar and educator.
Professor John Thwaites is Chair of Monash Sustainable Development Institute, Climateworks Centre and the McKinnon Institute for Political Leadership. He is a Co-Chair of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network and a former Deputy Premier of Victoria Australia.
Martin Stewart-Weeks is Principal and Founder of Public Purpose and is a Practice Fellow with the Australia and New Zealand School of Government. He has a long background in public policy and public management and has written and advised extensively on digital transformation in government and the public sector.
Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.
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news-360info
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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463
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Published on December 18, 2023
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"url": "https://360info.org/three-australian-policy-experiments-to-reshape-the-future/",
"author": "Alex Fischer, Martin Stewart-Weeks, Sharon Bessell, Janine O’Flynn, John Thwaites"
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Three dead parrots show need for proper ban on wildlife trade - 360
Ragnhild Sollund
Published on March 7, 2023
Despite an international treaty to prevent illegal trade in wild animals, the industry is worth billions. The treaty needs an overhaul.
In November 2019, three African grey parrot chicks (Psittacus erithacus) were seized at Oslo airport by customs inspectors. As endangered species, they did not have the required permits to be transported to Norway. During the month that officials contemplated what should happen to the birds, they were hand reared by veterinarians. Then the decision was made: euthanasia.
These highly intelligent birds had a potential 60-year life ahead of them; a life that was abruptly concluded in the hands of the vet. “I have euthanised many animals, but I cried when I euthanised these birds,” she said. “They understood… [And I did] not want to work as the Norwegian environment agency’s executioner of endangered species.”
In Norway, this was the standard outcome for illegally traded animals that are listed in CITES, the United Nations Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. On March 3, International Wildlife Day, it highlights why addressing the wildlife trade, its regulation and enforcement, is urgent.
Generally, international wildlife trade is not forbidden. Rather, it is regulated through CITES. The legal trade is largely to blame for African grey parrots becoming endangered: parrots make popular pets due to their intelligence and sociability, so they have become “over exploited”, meaning the trade endangers the survival of the species. But the concept of over exploitation fails to cover the individual suffering or death of the animals involved in the trade. In view of species justice, any exploitation may be too much.
CITES entered into force in 1975. Eighty-four parties have signed the convention, including the European Union as one party. Each country must have a management authority, and all countries are obliged to submit annual reports to the CITES secretariat.
Animals are listed on three appendices of CITES, according to how endangered they are. The African grey is listed on appendix I as threatened with extinction. It was moved from appendix II in 2016, since trade in them was no longer deemed ‘sustainable’. Currently 5,950 species of animals and 32,800 species of plants are listed across all three appendices.
CITES has been criticised for being an overly human-centred convention. It fails to take into consideration the fact that animals are sentient beings with capacity to suffer who have interest in living their lives in their natural habitats, free from human inflicted harm.
Instead, CITES frames wildlife species, whether plants or animals, as resources that are available for humans to exploit, until exploitation reaches a level that threatens the survival of a species. According to this logic, one individual can easily be disposed of and replaced by another; an individual’s intrinsic value is not recognised.
CITES has been criticised for not functioning even within its own parameters. For example, many parties to CITES never submit the required annual reports, and much trade is never recorded. And many species become threatened and go extinct from trade without ever being listed on the CITES appendices. For example, there are 10,247 known reptile species in the world, but only 8 percent of the reptile trade is regulated through CITES. Newly discovered species can be swiftly exploited, and 79 percent of traded species are not subject to CITES regulation.
According to CITES records, a staggering 2 million mammals, 5 million birds, 41 million reptiles, half a million amphibians, and 6 million fish were traded legally between 2011-2022.
Animals are used for medicinal purposes (often with no effect), fashion, as game hunting trophies, pets and as high-status food items.
Wildlife trade is big business. Advocacy group Traffic estimates the economic value of legal wildlife trade including plants, at approximately US$323 billion. One important reason for the foundation of CITES was to secure the economic gains of wildlife trade for biodiverse, but poor countries in the global South.
Wildlife trade can be viewed as transnational, global, organised state corporate harm.
Given the general failure of CITES to protect animals from harm and species from extinction, there have been many calls to remodel the agreement. The logic behind CITES implies that the harms of wildlife trade shall continue relentlessly, with new individuals abducted, killed or in other ways exploited in a ‘sustainable’ way for human benefit.
A better CITES would be based around animal protection. Wild animals should have rights not to be exploited as pets, killed for their flesh or skin, teeth or whiskers, tusks, horns, or used for entertainment in zoos, circuses and aqua parks. CITES could rather become an instrument promoting justice both for nature, humans and animals.
One way to do this would be to transform it from a trade convention to an aid convention. The convention could be reformulated to promote species conservation and the protection of individuals’ and species’ rights.
CITES could then become an instrument to funnel economic resources from rich economies in the North to poor economies in the South, if their national budgets partly rely on wildlife trade. Aid, distributed by an accountable secretariat, could be conditional on the ways in which the recipients succeed in protecting the natural environment and its inhabitants.
This system is already in place when it comes to the protection of rainforest: Norway and Germany contribute significantly to the protection of rainforest in places such as Brazil, Colombia and Ecuador through the UN; the amount of economic resources allocated from Norway to these countries depends on how much rainforest is spared from logging and emissions reduced.
A ban on the trade in wild animals would be easier to enforce than the current murky market, in which some trade is legal, other parts illegal, and which demands significant skills by law enforcement officers and offers ample possibilities for fraud.
Ragnhild Sollund is professor at the Department of Criminology and Sociology of Law at the University of Oslo, where she has done research into the wildlife trade for 12 years. She is currently leading the research project: Criminal Justice, Wildlife Conservation and Animal Rights in the Anthropocene, which studies the implementation and enforcement of two nature conventions: CITES; and the Bern convention that protects wild animals and their habitats in Europe, in Norway, The United Kingdom, Spain and Germany. Her research is funded by Norwegian Research Council.
Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.
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news-360info
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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463
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Published on March 7, 2023
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"author": "Ragnhild Sollund"
}
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Three essentials to cashing in on population growth - 360
Deboshree Ghosh
Published on November 21, 2022
The benefits of agrowing demographic are not guaranteed. Governments need to ensure the right tools are in place as well.
If nations want to reap the benefit of what is called the demographic dividend — when economic growth is tied to the change in the age structure of the population — three things are essential: quality education, affordable healthcare and decent work opportunities.
The demographic dividend contributed substantially to the rapid growth of east Asian economies from the 1960s to 1990s, aka the East Asian Miracle.
In Thailand in 1970, World Bank data showed the 15-64 age group accounted for 52 percent of its total population. In 30 years this rose to 70 percent.
Right now, countries such as India are going through a demographic dividend process which is expected to transform the nation into one of the world’s main growth powerhouses.
This growth is expected off the back of the digital revolution — assuming nations can harness the energy of a younger workforce.
While there is evidence of the positive relationship between the demographic dividend and economic growth, government policies do not always nurture these factors which can lead to a bottleneck that hinders progress.
According to the World Bank, nations can be arranged by their fertility rates and working-age populations. There are 37 countries which are categorised as pre-dividend, 62 as early dividend, 37 as post dividend and 51 as late dividend.
But don’t expect economic growth to happen just because the population is primed.
Research suggests that a population with healthy women and children, a skilled workforce and plentiful job opportunities can reap the benefits. There also needs to be policies in place to support these.
Research indicates that the increase in per capita productivity due to the sharp rise in the working-age population during the East Asian miracle was only possible because the region’s economic, social and political policies and institutions were aligned.
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These three dimensions (above) are usually governed by different government agencies but they are deeply integrated.
Affordable and quality healthcare has two parts: the provision of services to all, along with access to modern health facilities.
This is only possible if the government ensures more scholarships to produce more quality doctors and that subsidised treatments are available.
Proper health education — including sex education — for schoolchildren should be part of this strategy.
Nutrition is crucial as well. Studies suggest a low nutritional intake directly affects the cognitive abilities of children and eventually their capacity to obtain quality skills and education.
The importance of including rural populations in these initiatives should not be underestimated.
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In India, the anganwadi system in rural villages creates hubs for contraceptive-use counselling and nutrition education to ensure better rural childcare. These systems, however, need a revamp with sensitive health issues being discussed with adolescents at school.
The International Labor Organization’s decent work framework lists generating employment opportunities, acceptable labour standards, social protection and social dialogues between employers and workers, as essential for progress.
Creating more jobs will require a detailed analysis of skill gaps which can then be taught by education institutes.
Given the strong links between these three dimensions, government agencies need to have frequent discussions to act on feedback from one another. Regional (state) governments need to be part of the solution.
Reaping a demographic dividend requires careful and long-term planning.
It includes not only increased investment in education and healthcare but also strengthening government department cooperation to ensure the opportunities of this ‘golden period’ are not squandered.
Deboshree Ghosh is research consultant and adjunct lecturer at the University of Malaya. She declares no conflict of interest.
Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.
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news-360info
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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463
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Published on November 21, 2022
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"author": "Deboshree Ghosh"
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Tighter financial belts leading to expanding waistlines - 360
Sinéad Furey
Published on September 29, 2022
Requiring retailers to be involved in promoting healthy options can help people better manage their cost of living.
We’re all feeling it — incomes are not keeping pace with the cost of living. In the United Kingdom, the consumer prices index rose to a 40-year high in 2022 and there are warnings that the worst is yet to come.
The food budget has long been seen as a flexible household expense. It is also most likely to be reduced during financial pressure. The way people select their daily meals can be heavily influenced by supermarkets, which remain the go-to destination for food shopping across developed economies, including the United Kingdom and Ireland. Supermarkets select the products that people can choose from, while promotions also play an important role in how householders manage food budgets.
But discounts are more frequently applied to less healthy products, meaning that as financial belts are tightened, literal belts may need to be loosened. Approximately three in five UK adults are already overweight or obese.
A 2021 Northern Ireland study found that a family living on government benefits with two adults and two children in primary and secondary school would have to spend almost half (46 percent) of their household income to afford a healthy diet. Irish research in 2019 found that more than one-third (35 percent) of promoted food and drinks was categorised as high in fat, sugar and salt.
Requiring retailers to be involved in promoting healthy food baskets can help people better manage their cost of living. Retail food promotions can help people to afford and access nutritious food, particularly if they are informed and designed with population health guidelines in mind, for example, the Eatwell guide and the food pyramid.
Research in 2021 added up the cost of a healthy shopping basket, respecting the general customer preference for named brands, where possible. Prices were gathered for the three largest UK supermarkets (Tesco, Asda and Sainsbury’s), using their online shopping feature. A separate promotional price was recorded for items on special offer. But the research found promotional offers were relevant for only a limited number of healthy shopping list items. Price matching, keeping prices for staples low and loyalty card benefits contributed to reducing some product prices.
The online shopping was complicated by the unavailability of certain branded products or products that were not available in the required volume or quantity (including loose fresh produce). Special offers existed for other variants but not always the preferred branded items in the shopping list, while promotions were more evident for larger product sizes.
There is also mixed evidence as to whether existing promotions are making healthier products more affordable. For example, 2011 research found that promotions were applied to healthy choices, but they tended to be multi-buy style promotions (buy one get one free). The straight discounts were applied more frequently to the unhealthy items, placing the onus on consumers to shop carefully and avoid overbuying.
Recommendations proposed in England’s National Food Strategy outline “overwhelming support for much stronger restrictions on the advertising and promotion of junk food” with some wanting “tougher regulations for retailers selling junk food”. Unfortunately, the UK Government has decided to delay some restrictions on food promotions and television advertising of less healthy products.
Legislative measures have already worked in other European countries including in France where food and drink are controlled in schools. All marketing of foods high in fat, sugar and salt is banned unless they are taxed and marketed with a health warning.
A 2011 review of policy interventions to promote healthy eating concluded measures to support informed choice have a mixed and limited record of success. Policies which target the market are more intrusive but may be more effective. A collective effort by government, industry and consumers can ensure access to affordable food for all.
Sinéad Furey is a senior lecturer and researcher into food affordability and food insecurity at Ulster University Business School. Her research has been published as commissioned reports and in academic journal articles alongside other more accessible media, including trade association press and popular media.
Part of the research was funded by Safefood, Ireland.
The author declares no conflict of interest.
Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.
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news-360info
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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463
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Published on September 29, 2022
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"author": "Sinéad Furey"
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TikTok enters the battlefield in US-China tech war - 360
Piotr Łasak, René W.H. van der Linden
Published on June 28, 2023
The response to Montana’s TikTok ban reveals lawmakers’ misconceptions about privacy and data security and hints at how they could get it right.
The tech war between the US and China has reached its most public battlefront as the back-and-forth between the superpowers over Chinese-owned TikTok reaches a boiling point.
It’s the latest clash in a cold war which started when China began its tech ascendancy in 2015.
Fuelled by a skilled and cheaper workforce, massive government subsidies and a willingness from investors to fund expensive manufacturing sectors, China has fast become one of the leading countries in tech and software.
The feud has prompted a spate of tit-for-tat actions over TikTok.
In August 2020, then-US President Donald Trump set in motion a ban on the app, which ultimately never materialised after Joe Biden came to office.
Since November 2022, TikTok has been banned on government devices across the US and Canada. In April 2023, the Australian government followed suit.
US lawmakers pushing for a full ban of the app claim the platform hosts harmful content and is a threat to younger users. They also frame the app as a risk to national security, allowing huge chunks of data to be tapped by the Chinese Communist Party.
But the appetite in the US to undercut the growth of TikTok speaks to an American discomfort with the Chinese-owned app’s rising market share, a sector traditionally dominated by the US.
The first salvo in the war was fired eight years ago with China’s ‘Made in China 2025‘ strategy, a 10-year blueprint to transform the country from a “manufacturing giant into a world manufacturing power”.
A key part of the plan involves corralling mass surveillance, big data and 5G technology to solidify the Chinese Communist Party’s domestic rule, creating an emerging state-led authoritarian regime.
It gives rise to two major worries from the US in its digital competition with China and other autocracies: the use of social media to collect and exploit personal data for political purposes and the spread of misinformation, propaganda and censorship.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has repeatedly said that control of big data will be critical to the next political and economic powerhouse.
Former US government officials say China is “winning” the war over data.
In part, it’s because of an asymmetry of access: Chinese entities have unfettered access to troves of American data through apps such as TikTok, while Beijing’s tight control over the internet in China prevents the US from doing the same.
Termed the “Digital Great Wall”, many Western websites are inaccessible on the Chinese internet. The list is long — social networks like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, as well as many Western news sites, blog platforms such as WordPress and search engines such as Google and Yahoo.
Instead, Chinese users are limited to homegrown products that try to emulate and sometimes compete with their big tech counterparts in the West.
Internet users in China don’t use Google, they search on Baidu, which has about 700 million users. Social networking and messaging is widely done on Weibo and WeChat.
The US retaliates through restricting tech companies rather than the websites themselves.
Huawei and ZTC are among the Chinese companies who cannot sell or import their products in the US, banned on the basis of weak circumstantial evidence.
When the US issued the prohibition, it did so because of the belief that China had no separation between the technology and data gathered in private commerce and in state-led military efforts.
This same thinking is fuelling tension around TikTok, an app which has more than 150 million monthly users in the US.
While the US targets short-term tactical assaults on China’s tech sector (a potential TikTok ban, draconian export restrictions on advanced semiconductor chips), China is building self-sufficiency, strengthening domestic science and technology and diversifying trade away from reliance on the US and Europe.
Partly, this means bilaterally recruiting developing economies as supporters and helping it build capacity, targeting nations dissatisfied with the American-led status quo.
It also means co-opting international bodies and redefining the principles that underlie them, like using World Trade Organization rules to boost exports while ignoring others which do not.
The aim of Chinese policy makers is not to make other countries more like China, but to protect China’s interests and set a standard that no sovereign government should bow to anyone else’s definition of human rights.
With many Western countries seeing a recent rise in populism and more liberal democracies turning inwards, losing interest in emerging regions, Chinese leaders see an opportunity to create a stripped-down, interest-based world order.
To some extent, the US and China are interconnected and dependent on each other — especially financially — which makes full separation of their economies impossible.
Excessive losses to one country will affect the other. Cooperation will happen, but it may be done with more caution and limited to areas where mutual benefit exceeds loss.
Economic rivalry between the countries is manageable, but a political conflict does not serve anyone.
The spectacle of TikTok bans in the US, underscored by a law in Montana that may be unenforceable and/or unconstitutional, risks becoming more of a political conflict.
Piotr Łasak (Ph.D., Hab.) is Associate Professor at the Institute of Economics, Finance and Management, Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland. His research, publication and teaching activities focus on finance. Among the main research topics is the development of the financial market in China.
René W.H. van der Linden (MSc) is a senior lecturer and researcher in Economics, Finance and Business Research at the International Business program of The Hague University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands. Together with Piotr Łasak, published at Palgrave Macmillan the pivots The Financial Implications of China’s Belt and Road Initiative in 2019 and Financial Interdependence, Digitalization and Technological Rivalries in 2023.
Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.
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news-360info
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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463
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Published on June 28, 2023
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"author": "Piotr Łasak, René W.H. van der Linden"
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TikTok’s battle between politics and popularity - 360
Marina Yue Zhang
Published on June 28, 2023
Some see the fight over TikTok as a fight for data sovereignty, while others see any ban as a threat to information democracy.
Calls to ban TikTok have turned the political landscape into something more like a theatrical spectacle.
During a recent hearing by the US House Foreign Affairs Committee, Republican Congressman Michael McCaul made bold claims that downloading TikTok opens a personal information gateway for China.
The hearing revealed a lack of understanding and technical knowledge among lawmakers, as they asked elementary questions about TikTok’s ability to connect to wi-fi or access device cameras.
Based on such superficial inquiries, Congress drew conclusions about the threat posed by TikTok without a fundamental understanding of what it actually is and how it operates.
Misguided national security rhetoric was employed to justify actions against TikTok and suppress foreign investments, particularly from China.
While there have been bans on government employees having TikTok, in May Montana became the first US state to ban the app on all devices.
The Biden administration has threatened to do the same.
Banning TikTok in the US could be seen as a form of political censorship like what is already enforced in China.
Some argue that the use of security and privacy concerns by Washington is a thinly veiled excuse, as the essence of the “TikTok ban” issue lies in politics rather than genuine security or privacy concerns.
TikTok is not fundamentally different from similar platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and many emerging competitors when it comes to data security.
It is primarily an entertainment platform, connecting content creators with audiences.
The distinction lies in the fact that TikTok is owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. ByteDance, founded by Chinese entrepreneur Yiming Zhang in 2012, has become the world’s largest unicorn with a valuation of $220 billion (as of 2022).
The company has attracted investments from 30 prominent investors, including Softbank, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Tiger Global, KKR Japan, Sequoia Capital, as well as Chinese investors.
While TikTok is owned by ByteDance, its diverse shareholding structure means it is inaccurate to classify it solely as a Chinese company.
TikTok experienced rapid market success upon its launch in the US in 2017, becoming the most downloaded app in the country by October 2018. Globally, it has amassed over three billion downloads and boasts over one billion monthly active users.
Concerns surrounding TikTok primarily stem from its Chinese identity, despite the common safety challenges faced by the entire industry regarding data collection and analytics.
TikTok owes much of its success to its AI algorithm, particularly its information flow funnel mechanism.
These algorithms function akin to a talent show, allowing creative content to be selected based on the preferences of the target audience.
In other words, TikTok’s algorithms enable unknown content creators to reach specific niche audiences interested in their particular content.
If the content resonates and gains enough audience engagement, it can reach a larger audience and rise to the top, regardless of the creator’s established fame or fan base.
Conversely, TikTok’s algorithms filter out content that fails to capture user interest, meaning internet influencers or politicians may find it challenging to push their messages through the selection mechanism if their content is found to not be of interest to the audience.
What sets TikTok apart from other social media platforms is its ability to connect content creators or influencers with their desired audience, as long as their content or products appeal to a niche market.
TikTok operates on a model where ‘content searches for the right audiences,’ shifting away from the traditional model of ‘audiences searching for the right content.’
This shift has dismantled the entry barriers prevalent on platforms, where established creators/influencers tend to dominate due to early-mover advantages.
The real challenge posed by TikTok, lies in the platform’s ability to inadvertently but intelligently push content that resonates with audiences at the right time, leading to audience addiction and a more passive approach to content discovery and critical thinking, particularly among teenagers who form a significant portion of TikTok’s user base.
It is crucial to recognise that data collection and sharing present challenges across all social media platforms, not exclusive to TikTok.
TikTok has made substantial investments in initiatives like Project Texas, which aims to isolate US user data through Oracle’s cloud infrastructure, safeguarding the data stored on American soil and preventing unauthorized foreign access.
Additionally, source code audits serve as viable methods to address any safety concerns that may arise.
Merely prohibiting TikTok may not be the ultimate solution to address data privacy concerns, let alone cybersecurity threats faced by modern society.
China’s approach to internet governance, exemplified by the strict control of the Great Firewall, deviates from the fundamental principles of freedom and liberty on public platforms.
It transforms the Chinese internet into a surveillance network, characterised by the widespread use of face-recognition cameras and internet “nannies” responsible for monitoring online activities.
TikTok is inaccessible to users in mainland China due to restrictions imposed by the government’s Great Firewall, preventing Chinese content creators from spreading potential political influence.
Washington’s attempts to ban TikTok establish a worrisome precedent that jeopardises the openness of the internet and introduces unprecedented threats to information democracy.
These actions accelerate the fragmentation of the internet, emphasising local data storage, virtual boundaries, and closed internet domains, which challenges free flows of information, data and capital critical for global trade.
TikTok has 150 million users, including five million businesses, in the US , so banning it can have political repercussions. It is crucial to note that TikTok enjoys significant popularity among young Americans, with Generation Z constituting 60 percent of its user base.
Politicians risk missing out on engaging with nearly half of the population on TikTok if they fail to grasp how the platform operates.
TikTok also serves as a platform where information not covered by mainstream media can reach a targeted audience and create ripple effects among a broader audience.
This paradigm shift aligns with Washington’s increasing embrace of techno-nationalism, advocating for state-guided and controlled technology rather than global market forces.
While this concept has long been accepted in various countries, its growing prominence in Washington shapes the evolving cyberspace.
Resolving these issues means there will need to be collective efforts to establish a global digital order that takes into account China’s rise in digital technology and the diverse needs for data sovereignty and governance from different nations.
The key question is whether banning TikTok alone can effectively address data privacy and safety concerns.
Privacy concerns related to TikTok require collective measures within the industry. It’s important for governments to strike a balance between protecting data privacy and ensuring the benefits of an open and connected digital environment.
Dr. Marina Yue Zhang is an associate professor at the Australia-China Relations Institute, University of Technology Sydney (UTS: ACRI).
Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.
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news-360info
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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463
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Published on June 28, 2023
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TikTok’s transparency sets it apart from other social media - 360
Farhana Nusrat
Published on June 28, 2023
TikTok’s meteoric rise preceded key figures being hauled through courts and Congress over alleged security issues, but does it deserve the heightened scrutiny?
TikTok has been an outlier among its peers since its launch in 2016 — it achieved one billion monthly active users faster than any app in history (five years) and is the first social media platform to resonate with the West that isn’t based in the US.
It has also garnered more fervent opposition than any social media platform preceding it, banned outright in many countries and restricted in others. TikTok has been taken to court, dragged before Congress and condemned in ways its peers have not.
Launched in 2016, TikTok broke out in part because of its powerful algorithm. It takes only 40 minutes of observation for TikTok to pinpoint a users’ interest, with many drawn to the app for its ability to curate a highly personalised feed better than their rivals using the data the app collects.
But many governments are uncomfortable with the amount of data being collected by TikTok because its parent company ByteDance is based in China. ByteDance has faced accusations of sharing user data with the Chinese government, a claim the company has repeatedly denied.
In 2021, TikTok was brought to court over allegations it was collecting users’ biometric data without consent.
The parties settled for USD$92 million. TikTok has been banned in India since 2020, while the European Union, US, UK, Australia and Canada are among the jurisdictions which have banned the app on government devices. The US has toyed with an outright ban on the app since the presidency of Donald Trump.
TikTok faces more legislative pressure than other social media giants. While it collects a significant amount of user data, so too does Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat and any other social media platform.
TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew addressed the concerns of US lawmakers, appearing before Congress in March 2023.
In his five-hour appearance, Chew denied claims that TikTok shared data with the Chinese government and emphasised the security-strengthening measures the company had put in place, such as moving its data centres to the US.
Chew also made a precedent-setting pledge that separates TikTok from any social media giant that came before it — volunteering to submit TikTok’s data security policies for an independent audit.
It is a step not taken by Facebook (whose legal issues run long and include the Cambridge Analytica scandal) and Twitter (alleged to have leaked personal information on “tens of millions”).
The concerns around TikTok’s management of user data reflects the broad leeway tech companies are granted, rather than specific issues exclusive to the platform.
A focus on policies that address data security concerns across all social media and tech platforms may be the more comprehensive way forward.
Rather than be vilified, TikTok instead represents the only social media platform to have a strong record committing to transparency and systematically cooperating with regulators.
As governments seek collaboration to build strong laws and regulation to safeguard users’ data and security, this standard of compliance should set the new normal — not attract condemnation.
Dr. Farhana Nusrat is Assistant Professor of Marketing at the University of San Diego.
Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.
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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463
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Published on June 28, 2023
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"author": "Farhana Nusrat"
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Time for lab-grown fish balls instead of burgers? - 360
Bianca Wassmann
Published on August 4, 2023
For lab-grown meat to be a global success it needs to be accepted by consumers in both Western and Eastern countries.
Cultured meat, also known as lab-grown meat, has been green-lit for sale in the United States. In June 2023, Good Meat and Upside Foods became the first-ever companies allowed to sell their cultured meat products on the American market.
This innovative technology entails growing animal cells in a lab without raising and slaughtering animals, purporting to offer a more sustainable and ethical meat production method.
The first nation to approve this product for sale was Singapore back in 2020.
Singapore pioneered legalising cultured meat to boost its food supply. With 90 percent of its food imported due to limited land, cell-based technology offers the potential to increase domestic food production without the need for agricultural land.
Other Asian countries are considering following Singapore’s lead in adopting cultured meat technology to address similar challenges.
Despite this, an Asian perspective within the cultured meat industry is lacking.
In 2022, only one fifth of the 156 active companies were based in Asia, with the majority — 61 percent — in North America and Europe.
As a result, most cultured meat companies cater to Western diets: classic American burgers, chicken Caesar salads, and French charcuterie boards are flaunted on the websites of the top industry players.
It’s unlikely these products will appeal in Asia like they do in North America and Europe.
The industry’s focus on the West extends to consumer research.
While extensive studies have explored North American and European perceptions of cultured meat, the Asian market remains underexplored and questions like ‘Which cultured products would align with Asian diets?’, ‘What are Asian concerns about this new technology?’ and ‘How do we spike interest in this region?’ aren’t adequately answered.
Of course, culturally universal psychological factors are at play.
Disgust and food neophobia — the tendency to reject new foods — are innate to all humans and the main drivers of consumers’ worldwide scepticism towards cultured meat.
On the other hand, educating the public about the promised societal and environmental benefits can boost acceptance, as concluded by studies from across the globe.
However, considering culture-specific factors is crucial.
Asian companies and consumer researchers could address these issues to effectively promote cell-based technology on their continent:
Even though burger patties are the flagship product of many meat alternative (including cultured meat) companies, the Asian sector will need to think locally. In Southeast Asia for instance, familiar foods like fish balls, dumplings, or satay, that can be cooked in curries, noodle soups or rice-based dishes are likely to be more in demand. More companies and researchers need to consider regional culinary preferences across Asia.
‘Cultivated meat’ (instead of ‘lab-grown’ for instance) has established itself as the most widely accepted terminology in the West, translating well into European languages. However, difficulties arise in Asia. In Mandarin and Japanese for example, ‘clean’, ‘pure’, or ‘synthetic meat’ are commonly used terms. It is yet to be seen which nomenclature will prevail in different parts of Asia.
Asian religious beliefs can interfere with perceptions of cultured meat. For Hindus, extracting animal cells may conflict with nonviolence principles, while Muslims may question the meat’s halal status. To address these issues, specific regulations and certifications for cultured meat will need to be created.
Company slogans like “a greener and kinder way of making meat” are used to convince Western consumers of the technology’s environmental and animal welfare benefits. However, motivations in Asia may differ. Singapore, for example, commercialised cultured meat to strengthen its self-sufficiency and position as ‘technology trailblazer’. In China, food’s health benefits are prioritised, and consumers may embrace cultured meat if it is nutritionally superior to conventional meat. Strategies to win over Asian consumers need to be explored.
It’s time to put the ‘culture’ in ‘cultured meat’. Increasing the acceptance of this technology cannot succeed with a one-size-fits-all approach.
Instead, industry and consumer science must strive to examine the topic from diverse cultural lenses.
Bianca Wassmann is a researcher at the Urban Microalgae-Based Protein Production project at the Singapore-ETH Centre (SEC) and ETH Zurich. The project’s research is supported by the National Research Foundation Singapore (NRF) under its Campus for Research Excellence and Technological Enterprise (CREATE) programme. Her work examines consumers’ acceptance of alternative proteins like plant-based meat substitutes, insects, microalgae, and cultured meat.
Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.
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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463
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Published on August 4, 2023
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"author": "Bianca Wassmann"
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Time is now for the next rights of nature phase - 360
Erin O'Donnell, Alessandro Pelizzon
Published on January 10, 2023
Half a century since it was conceived, rights of nature is a movement with momentum. The next test? Making its impact felt the world over.
Accelerating biodiversity loss and the catastrophic effects of the climate crisis show that the relationship between humans and the environment is broken. But an idea from legal scholars, now gaining traction around the world, is pushing us to rethink that relationship.
Western law and legal theory (or ‘jurisprudence’) operates from the viewpoint that the natural world exists for human use. Such thinking has shaped the world: European colonisation of other nations stemmed from the belief that they, and the Indigenous peoples who have inhabited them since time immemorial, were there for the taking.
But more recently, a new idea of law has emerged — rights of nature — underpinned by the belief that the environment has inherent value and is worthy of the highest legal protections.
The idea was first proposed in law by American professor Christopher Stone over fifty years ago. Thomas Berry and then Cormac Cullinan took the idea further, and eco-feminist author Carolyn Merchant connected ideas of nature with the self-destructive world view that has dominated Western thought for centuries. More recently, Indigenous scholars Jacinta Ruru and Anne Poelina have shown how Western law can engage with Indigenous laws that respect nature as a living entity.
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Beginning with a new Ecuadorian constitution in 2008, rights of nature initiatives have grown. The ‘Eco-Jurisprudence Monitor’ maps these initiatives: over 430 distinct initiatives across 42 different legal jurisdictions.
Around the world, different countries have extended different legal powers and rights to different natural entities. And in some countries court cases are beginning to show on-ground results: in 2021, Ecuador’s Constitutional Court prevented a company from mining in cloud forests, ruling that rights of nature exist everywhere, not just in protected areas.
But not all examples are successful. Although rivers have received the status of legal persons and/or living entities in some countries, this hasn’t granted any of them the powers needed to fight water scarcity. In the US, rights of nature legislation operates mostly at the local government level, which is then successfully challenged on constitutional grounds. The Lake Erie Bill of Rights, designed to protect the lake from pollution, was challenged and struck down the day after it came into effect.
Critics see the shortage of success stories as a sign the rights of nature movement is nothing more than an empty symbol. But a symbol can still be powerful. Even when rivers don’t hold rights, changing their legal status to a living entity can alter the way humans relate to, and treat, the river: people may begin to see the river as an actual being, with whom they are in an enduring, mutually interdependent relationship. Even a symbolic change in humanity’s relationship with nature carries meaning.
A powerful example of this is the Birrarung (Yarra River) in Melbourne, Australia. The river is beloved, even while it is used as a stormwater drain by the city — for its lower reaches, it’s sometimes too polluted to safely swim in.
Yet the river is home to birds and mammals, with the occasional seal venturing up the estuarine reaches into suburban Melbourne. In 2017, the Birrarung (Yarra River) was made a living natural entity in law, leading to a new community vision for the next 50 years and a new strategic plan to give effect to this vision.
Indigenous leaders, scholars and activists played a pivotal role in the current shift in the status of the Birrarung.
The rights for nature movement is an inherently multicultural pursuit, bringing together all the communities who care for and depend on the environment. But an ever-present risk remains. Those who hold power can determine which worldviews are to be seen as legitimate, and which can be discounted. Entrenched colonial power can still result in Indigenous exclusion.
If the rights of nature is to be a way to bring people together with different ideas of nature, it has to avoid this trap.
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As rights of nature continues to build momentum as a global environmental movement, reform to laws the world over offer a chance to reset humanity’s relationship with nature. This global conversation on the rights of nature can be best seen as a gateway to relationality, a world in which what matters is not a chaotic swirl of conflicting rights and powers, but a harmonious chorus of mutual obligation and care.
Erin O’Donnell is a senior fellow at Melbourne Law School. She has worked in water law and policy for over 20 years and is internationally recognised for her work on the ground-breaking new field of legal rights of rivers. Erin is also a member of the Birrarung Council, the voice of the Yarra River.
Alessandro Pelizzon is an academic in the Faculty of Business, Law and Arts at Southern Cross University, as well as a founding member, an Executive Committee member and the Director of the Academic Hub of the Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature.
Dr O’Donnell is a member of the Birrarung Council, the voice of the Yarra River.
Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.
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news-360info
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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463
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Published on January 10, 2023
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"author": "Erin O'Donnell, Alessandro Pelizzon"
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Time ticking for TikTok to review its policy - 360
Nuurrianti Jalli, Ika Idris
Published on June 28, 2023
Banning TikTok doesn’t solve the problem, TikTok needs to revisit its policies.
TikTok may have sparked cybersecurity and privacy concerns in the West but the app has been successful in Southeast Asia, transforming from a mere entertainment platform to a thriving e-commerce hub with a staggering 325 million monthly active users in the region.
Yet the platform’s approach to handling harmful content, including disinformation, hate speech and propaganda, has attracted widespread criticism from governments and civil societies alike.
TikTok has often come under fire for allowing controversial content to proliferate, especially during election periods.
During Malaysia’s 2022 general election, TikTok failed to detect and remove disinformation, propaganda, and political content, resulting in the emergence of alarming trends such as the #13mei hashtag.
This refers to the 1969 racial riots between the Chinese and Malays, featuring racist content calling for street protests if Chinese-dominated parties such as the Democratic Action Party were to win the election.
In response, Malaysian authorities summoned TikTok and demanded swift removal of such content. Although TikTok did remove thousands of contentious posts, many still remained on the platform.
A study conducted during Malaysia’s 2022 General Election tracked 2,789 election-related videos using selected keywords from November to December.
It found that nearly 400 videos contained black propaganda, defined as disinformation or misleading content shared with the intention of confusing the public, shaping opinions and tarnishing reputations.
Of these, 97 were identified as ‘astroturfing videos’, a form of propaganda where participants disguise themselves as regular citizens acting independently. Despite TikTok’s policies, some of these videos were still on the platform as of June 2023.
Despite explicit policies, TikTok’s perceived failure to effectively remove harmful content during Malaysia’s 2022 general election has raised concerns, particularly with upcoming elections in other Southeast Asian countries like Indonesia next year.
Preliminary research on TikTok’s role in Indonesia’s election has already uncovered propaganda videos, including disinformation inciting ethnoreligious hate, available on the platform ahead of the election.
Propaganda techniques, including priming, are used by loyalists and buzzers (or better known as cyber troopers) to circulate hate-filled content in local languages and have been discovered on the platform.
Politically-biased ideas spread through localised content in local languages highlight the platform’s limitations in promptly identifying such material.
Another study revealed pervasive Russian propaganda infiltrating the Indonesian TikTok landscape, with such materials blatantly violating TikTok’s guidelines.
Many news-like TikTok videos used materials circulated by pro-Russia propaganda sources. Those videos are uploaded by independent accounts that are not affiliated with official media institutions.
These accounts have the potential to confuse their audiences, making it difficult to determine the reliability of the information they present. Such content can mislead the public and lead them to believe in misinformation.
Combatting disinformation on TikTok presents significant challenges due to its video-centric nature.
Unlike text-based content, fact-checking on platforms like TikTok requires evaluating multiple elements such as text, sound, images, and videos. The fact-checking process must understand the interplay between these elements and identify any misleading connections.
Developing a machine learning fact-checking system for TikTok involves transforming each media file into text and analysing it for potential deceptive narratives. While individual components may appear legitimate, their combination can result in misinformation or disinformation.
TikTok claims to partner with global fact-checking organisations but not all these entities possess the capacity to handle content quickly.
For example, during the 2019 Indonesian election, one candidate orchestrated a disinformation campaign that overwhelmed fact-checking organisations.
Besides, TikTok’s system may not be able to promptly identify localised or politically charged disinformation and propaganda conveyed in local languages.
This has been evident in significant events such as the protests during Myanmar’s 2021 military coup, the Philippines election in 2022, and most recently, Malaysia’s last general election.
In response to the inadequacy of existing measures, some regional governments may consider imposing a ban on TikTok if it is deemed to cause significant harm and fails to adequately moderate harmful content.
However, such a move could also infringe upon freedom of speech and expression.
The problem can be fixed.
It is crucial to acknowledge that engagement serves as the driving force behind social media platforms. Controversial and challenging information tends to attract more attention and generate greater engagement.
Considering this, TikTok and other platforms could establish a system of rewards and penalties for its users.
Currently, TikTok’s algorithm “penalises” creators who do not post regularly, offering them reduced visibility and fewer chances of featuring on the “For You Page” (FYP).
However, this could inadvertently incentivise content creators to prioritise quantity over quality, potentially amplifying the spread of misinformation.
Alternatively, TikTok could encourage the creation of high-quality, fact-checked educational content by rewarding creators with incentives such as financial bonuses or increased visibility on the FYP.
Additionally, TikTok could establish a reward system to encourage users to report instances of misinformation.
If the reported content is validated as misinformation by TikTok’s moderation team, users could earn points. These accumulated points could then be used for purchases from approved merchants within TikTok’s e-commerce ecosystem, hence offering a real-world reward for users’ proactive moderation efforts.
In addition to its ongoing efforts, TikTok could enhance transparency in its moderation strategies, policy updates, and progress. This could involve publishing detailed transparency reports and actively engaging in dialogue with users and stakeholders.
TikTok could also strive to strengthen partnerships with local NGOs, particularly those with expertise in local socio-political dynamics and languages.
All users, including academics, NGOs, government agencies, and media practitioners, can significantly contribute to improving TikTok. They can use the platform as a primary media outlet for countering propaganda and the dissemination of fact-checked information.
Given TikTok’s extensive reach, it has the potential to be a powerful platform for promoting informative and positive counter-narratives. However, this requires careful and strategic planning from content creators, NGOs, and governments.
Journalists and media organisations also have a pivotal role to play. They can leverage the platform to disseminate accurate information, debunk misleading narratives, and hold TikTok accountable by scrutinising and reporting on its policies and their enforcement.
Nuurrianti Jalli is an assistant professor at the School of Media and Strategic Communications at Oklahoma State University. Her research ranges from mis/disinformation, propaganda, media and information warfare, and media and information literacy in Southeast Asia. She tweets at @nuurrianti.
Ika Idris is an associate professor in the Public Policy and Management Program, at Monash University Indonesia. Her research interests focus on government communication, digital platforms’ policy, and digital literacy. She tweets at @ikakarlina.
Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.
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news-360info
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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463
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Published on June 28, 2023
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Time to defend science under attack - 360
Grace Jennings-Edquist
Published on April 17, 2024
In an age of “alternative facts” and conspiracy theories, protecting trust in science is crucial.
We live in an age of declining trust in institutions, “alternative facts” and — in some countries at least — the increasing political polarisation of science.
It’s the era of TikTok wellness influencers spruiking miracle cures with no scientific basis; of Florida’s surgeon-general, a COVID vaccine sceptic, ignoring medical science as measles outbreaks riddle the state; and of AI algorithms and snappy sound-bites — rather than reasoned analysis — often shaping the public’s media consumption.
It’s an age in which the epistemic authority of science has been repeatedly challenged by climate science deniers, by anti-vax groups, and by certain politicians promoting conspiracy theories and anti-science views.
There are also a number of powerful sectors with economic interests that run counter to scientific findings, as Naomi Oreskes has written: From the fossil fuels industry to soft drink, fast food and tobacco companies, several of these groups continue to sow doubts about science.
So how have these factors impacted the public’s trust in science? It’s a mixed picture.
A recent large post-COVID survey across 67 countries (currently still in preprint) recently found trust in scientists is high globally, and above the worldwide average in Australia. But globally, there is a discrepancy between the public’s perceived and desired priorities of scientific research.
The 2024 Edelman Trust Barometer found that 74 percent of people across 28 countries said they trusted scientists. But this was on par with how much they trusted their peers — and 45 percent of the same respondents said scientists did not know how to communicate with people like them.
A Pew Research Centre study released in November 2023 found only 57 percent of Americans thought science had a mostly positive effect on society.
And a UK survey published in 2023 found that although there has been an overall increase in trust since the COVID pandemic, there is also evidence of polarisation of trust.
This polarisation is concerning.
Science has a seminal role to play in tackling many of the world’s key challenges, from climate change, to infectious diseases, to loss of biodiversity. A lack of trust in science — and a lack of understanding of the scientific process —could have significant impacts on how science is used and applied in society, and who gets the benefits.
Produced in collaboration with Australia’s national science agency The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), this 360info special report examines current barriers to trust in science — and potential solutions for maintaining and strengthening this confidence.
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news-360info
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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463
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Published on April 17, 2024
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"url": "https://360info.org/time-to-defend-science-under-attack/",
"author": "Grace Jennings-Edquist"
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Time to rethink humanity's relationship with the oceans - 360
Ria Ernunsari
Published on June 8, 2023
The COVID-19 pandemic exposed the fragility of economic systems focused solely on economic growth.
With the value of the ocean economy predicted to double from USD$1.5 trillion in 2010 to an estimated USD$3 trillion by 2030, experts are calling for a more sustainable approach when it comes to exploiting coastal and marine resources.
They argue it is possible to both use the oceans to support economic growth and employment, while also protecting them for decades to come — a concept known as the blue economy.
As the planet marks United Nations World Oceans Day on 8 June, experts say more investment, further research and rethinking our relationship with the oceans is required to realise the full potential of the deep blue sea.
Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.
Editors Note: In the story “Blue economy” sent at: 07/06/2023 16:41.
This is a corrected repeat.
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news-360info
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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463
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Published on June 8, 2023
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"url": "https://360info.org/time-to-rethink-humanitys-relationship-with-the-oceans/",
"author": "Ria Ernunsari"
}
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To change corrupt behaviour, change the message - 360
Nicholas Cheeseman, Caryn Peiffer
Published on December 1, 2022
Telling people not to do something because everybody’s doing it will often backfire.
Every day we are bombarded with messages that try to persuade us to change our behaviour for the good of ourselves and society. Drink less alcohol! Eat less food! Wear a mask! Get vaccinated!
Millions of dollars are spent each year on information campaigns designed to foster more cohesive and inclusive societies. In developing economies, this includes efforts to foster democratic attitudes and more effective political systems. Say no to gender-based violence! Reject corruption! Do not sell your vote!
Given how pervasive they are, the most surprising thing about these campaigns is that many just don’t work. Some even make the situation worse. The reason why is important, because it tells us something about why it’s so hard to change human behaviour.
Take anti-corruption campaigns. Almost all of the programmes designed to reduce graft in high corruption countries include an ‘awareness raising’ component. The idea is that through raising awareness about an issue, citizens will become more willing to reject requests for bribes and act against corruption. The hope is they’ll report it or vote against corrupt politicians.
But until the last five years, no one had systematically tested whether these messages were effective. When researchers started to look into this, they got a nasty surprise: in most cases anti-corruption messages don’t make citizens more likely to reject or condemn graft.
A test in Lagos, Nigeria, a nation with a history of high-level corruption, had some alarming results. From 1200 randomly selected participants, it found people were actually more likely to pay a bribe. The 1200 took part in a bribery game. They were told that paying a bribe would mean another participant would lose money – much like in the real world. Some participants received an anti-corruption message and some did not. Those who received an anti-corruption message were on average more likely to pay a bribe. In other words, the effect of the messaging was the opposite of what was intended.
This means the millions of dollars being spent on anti-corruption messaging in countries like Nigeria may not just be wasted – it may actually be making things worse.
Blame human nature. Recent research in political and social psychology found that when we hear about topics that are pervasive, we tend to become cynical and focus on how big the problem is. The way we behave is less shaped by what we are told to do than by what we believe our peers are already doing. So, we are more likely to get vaccinated and follow social distancing protocols if we think all our friends have already done so than if the government tells us. The consequences of this for how governments need to communicate are profound.
If a campaign focuses on how corrupt the police are, or how few people are recycling, we point out how big the problem is and so run the risk of undermining people’s confidence that a better future is possible while simultaneously suggesting that ‘bad’ behaviours are socially acceptable.
The effect of this double whammy is perfectly illustrated by anti-corruption messaging which confirms people’s most cynical inner beliefs – that the system is beyond repair and the only way to get things done is to take part in corruption by paying bribes. Individuals who were already particularly pessimistic about the prevalence of corruption were significantly more likely to be negatively affected by reading an anti-corruption message.
The biggest worry is that this logic doesn’t only apply to corruption.
One study tested messages designed to prevent the theft of wood from Arizona’s Petrified Forest National Park. It found that signs that described the problems caused by others’ behaviour – stealing wood – were “most likely to increase theft”. A more recent paper on how to encourage people to respect social distancing protocols during the pandemic in Australia concluded that telling citizens that others are not following the rules is dangerous because “people match their behaviour to perceived social norms”. Similar conclusions have been reached with campaigns to stop gender-based violence and vote-buying.
It’s important, then, to realise that raising awareness may actually make the problem worse. Before embarking on awareness-raising campaigns policymakers could try and design less problematic messages. One way to do this may be by focusing on those who behave ‘appropriately’, and the negative feelings people hold about those who do not, rather than highlighting the extent of the problem. Emphasising the strength of feeling within society and the number of people who want to see change can inspire and motivate rather than depress and discourage.
But even then messages still have a risk of backfiring – and so no message should be communicated to the public before it has been systematically tested. Only then can we make sure that when we try and do good, we do no harm.
Nic Cheeseman is a Professor of Democracy, University of Birmingham and was formerly the Director of the African Studies Centre at Oxford University. He mainly works on democracy, elections and development and has conducted in-country research in a range of African countries including Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, but has also published on Latin America and post-communist Europe.
Twitter account: @Fromagehomme
Caryn Peiffer is a Lecturer in International Public Policy and Governance at the School for Policy Studies at the University of Bristol. She has worked on a wide range of issues relating to anti-corruption work, specialising in the impact of anti-corruption messaging, advising organisations such as Transparency International. Her studies have been conducted in a wide range of countries including Albania, Papua New Guinea, Nigeria, South Africa, and Uganda.
Twitter account: @DrCarynPeiffer
Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.
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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463
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Published on December 1, 2022
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"author": "Nicholas Cheeseman, Caryn Peiffer"
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To go nuclear, the public must be onboard - 360
Sri Hastjarjo
Published on April 15, 2024
Surveys over the past decade show that nuclear energy as an energy option is being increasingly accepted in Indonesia.
In a meeting with the Indonesian Nuclear New Energy Society (MEBNI) in January 2024, Indonesian Vice President Ma’ruf Amien said public perception of safety was one of the main issues challenging the development of nuclear power in Indonesia.
The meeting was one of the latest efforts by the proponents of nuclear power in Indonesia to encourage the government to ratify the Bill on New Energy and Renewable Energy that was proposed in 2019.
The use of nuclear energy on a large scale in Indonesia cannot be implemented if the bill is not enacted.
Like elsewhere in the world, public acceptance of nuclear power as an energy option is crucial if it is to be adopted. However, three big nuclear accidents since 1979, at Three Mile Island, Chernobyl and Fukushima, are still fresh in the memories of people, including those in Indonesia.
The development of nuclear power plants requires significant investment and long-term operation. Public acceptance ensures that communities and other stakeholders are supportive of these projects.
Public opinion often influences political decision-making and regulatory frameworks. If the public is not supportive of nuclear power, politicians may be less inclined to support policies that promote its development.
Research on public acceptance of nuclear power as an energy source has been conducted in various countries. Shortly after the Fukushima accident in 2011, a global survey of 24 countries conducted by IPSOS found that the average public acceptance of continuation using nuclear power was 31 percent.
The more recent survey in 2023 by Radiant Energy Group found that across the 20 countries surveyed, 28 percent of respondents opposed the use of nuclear energy while 46 percent supported it. Support for nuclear power was three times higher in the world’s two most populated countries, China and India.
According to the World Nuclear Industry’s Status Report, there are 407 nuclear reactors in operation in 31 countries around the world. Studies of public acceptance have been conducted in 29 countries that operate nuclear reactors.
The average level of public acceptance in those countries was 38 percent, the lowest being 15.7 percent (Slovenia) with the highest at 63 percent (United Arab Emirates). An interesting fact is that there are countries that operate nuclear power plants despite very low public acceptance.
While Indonesia does not yet have a nuclear power plant, it has been operating three nuclear reactors for education and research purposes since 1965. The radiation they emit is considered too small to be dangerous to nearby communities.
In 2007, the Indonesian National Atomic Energy Agency (BATAN) made plans to build a nuclear power plant in Jepara, Central Java but was opposed by local communities and several NGOs including Nahdaul Ulama (NU), one of Indonesia’s largest civil society organisations.
Since then, BATAN has conducted several national surveys on public acceptance of nuclear power plants in Indonesia. The results from the 2011 to 2017 surveys show that public acceptance increased from 49.5 percent in 2011 to 77.53 percent as of 2017.
In 2019, an idea emerged to develop a Molten Salt Reactor (MSR) type nuclear power plant with thorium as the main raw material as opposed to uranium. A private company proposed to build the plant in the Bangka-Belitung Islands province, which is known to have abundant thorium deposits.
PT PAL Indonesia, a state-owned enterprise that manufactures ships for military and civilian use, signed a contract with the government to build the reactor.
A public acceptance survey involving 1,500 residents of Bangka Belitung was conducted in 2021, to measure public perception towards the proposed plant as well as public trust in the competence of nuclear power plant managers.
A total of 73 percent of Bangka Belitung residents agreed with the plan to build the nuclear power plant in their area. Observers, however, say that historically, the population of Bangka Belitung have always been supportive of the government’s stance, pro-nuclear or otherwise.
In 2020, the proposal for developing nuclear power plants in Indonesia was supported by Prabowo Subiyanto who was then Indonesian minister of defence. With Prabowo’s victory in the 2024 presidential election, it remains to be seen if the push for nuclear power generation will gain a new impetus.
Sri Hastjarjo is Head of Department of Communication Science at Universitas Sebelas Maret, Surakarta (UNS), Indonesia. He is also a 360info Commissioning Editor.
Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.
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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463
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Published on April 15, 2024
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"author": "Sri Hastjarjo"
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To restore trust in science, we need great storytellers - 360
Peter Doherty
Published on April 17, 2024
In the disinformation war, scientists will fail if their only weapons are critical thinking and a respect for evidence. We must engage more broadly.
All good scientists are sceptics. Scepticism is central to the scientific method, which is basically designed to prevent the most human of all errors: fooling yourself and, in turn, fooling others.
That’s why the rules of science, set-up in the 17th century by Britain’s National Academy of Science, the Royal Society of London, require that all acceptable scientific work must (after critical peer-review) be published for anyone interested to read.
But while the scientific method relies on rigorous investigation to reach our best possible understanding of the underlying reality, society does not treat all scientific findings equally.
As we have seen over several decades, there is a polarising division in society around what can be thought of an ‘inconvenient science, linked to a sustained attack on some forms of scientific research.
This trend has continued in alarming fashion in recent years, as we have entered an era of “fake news” and compulsive lying in politics.
In 2015, I published a book called The Knowledge Wars, laying out a short history of modern science and seeking to explain how science works. The book examined how society variously receives, and deals with, a diversity of information that is of intense human concern.
As I wrote then, when it comes to public perception, medical discoveries and innovations improve lives and are generally welcomed. Antibiotics, for example, have always been considered one of the 20th century’s “wonder discoveries”.
On the other hand, climate science has been met with many detractors — because climate scientists are telling us something that is extraordinarily difficult, on many levels. Namely, that we must change!
Specifically: climate scientists are telling us to phase out the fossil fuels that have transformed society for the better, in so many ways, over the past 200-plus years.
In both cases there’s a “big money” component, embedded in the major pharmaceutical companies (Big Pharma) and the fossil fuel (coal, oil and gas) industries.
The difference is that, if Big Pharma gets it wrong, they risk enormous financial penalties if they don’t “fess-up” fast and make the necessary changes.
Fossil fuel producers, however, seem to operate in a penalty-free zone, using their massive resources to promote climate change denial — masquerading as “scepticism” — and avoid corrective measures, like an escalating carbon price.
It is important to note that this “scepticism” pushed by the fossil fuel producers is not the same thing as the genuine, rigorous scepticism inherent to the scientific method.
It tends to be economic-driven denial using rhetorical tactics in order to give the appearance of a scientific controversy where there is none.
One chapter in my book was about “Scepticism and Denial”, while another bore the label “Deliberate Ignorance and Invented Narrative”.
This was, of course, before the world encountered the reality of Donald Trump. If the book is ever revised, the “Deliberate Ignorance” chapter would likely be entitled “Fake News and Compulsive Lying”.
In one sense, Trump has done the world of intellectual inquiry a service: he’s left us in no doubt that scientists and those who believe in evidence-based facts will fail if the only weapon we can bring to the disinformation war is ideas based in critical thinking and a respect for evidence.
We must engage on a much broader front.
As we move through this election year, we are acutely aware that US society is roughly divided into pro-Trump, rural and middle-America, high school educated communities, versus a never-Trump, college/university-educated, big-city and east/west coast demographic.
Given that the US Constitution is basically a secular document embedded in the philosophical perspective of the 17th century European enlightenment, it should be no surprise that enlightenment thinking is at the core of US higher education.
This is a stark divide, with the two groups staring at each other in mutual incomprehension.
The reason Trump appeals to so many people, I think, is that he provides a core narrative many relate to.
Country towns are dying; the local newspaper has gone; the family farm is disappearing; people who were independent now find themselves as employees, often in poorly paid or casual jobs.
Trump’s “drain the swamp” narrative blames this on a “deep state” embedded in the “swamp” of the Washington DC political and administrative culture which, by employing many highly qualified and talented people is, in fact, a major factor in the global dominance of the US.
The massively disruptive changes that have so compromised the working lives of many “ordinary people” have little to do with politics.
They are largely driven by the evolution of agribusiness conglomerates, the aggressive operations of companies like Walmart that undercut small businesses, online marketing, and rapid delivery via Amazon, FedEx or UPS.
Simultaneously, the internet, streaming services, social media and so forth have eroded advertising support for TV, radio and print. Right now, the application of AI may be coming for workers further up the business hierarchy, too.
Trump, in effect, tells people: you aren’t to blame because you’ve changed how you shop and access information, because you prefer cheaper goods and convenience. This has been done to you by “bad guys” in government.
The other component to this narrative based in half-truths is that: “you can’t trust people who have real expertise”. They have to go!
We saw that play visually during COVID in the interaction between Trump, who is profoundly ignorant, and Anthony Fauci, who has deep expertise!
If those of us who value truth and evidence want to have impact, we have to put out stories that everyone can relate to.
One night recently, a TV show featuring “the Boss”, Bruce Springsteen, was on in the background. Using music and linking different stories, he was laying out a narrative of a working life. How many of us have interacted with Chasin’ Wild Horses (I did for a bit), albeit certainly not with (as in his song) “two men in the chopper [and] two undersaddle on the ground”.
Though few will have had anything like that specific experience, Springsteen’s little story is somehow universal and rings true: Life is tough, we work hard and sometimes dangerously, we make mistakes, we behave badly and lie at times, but still we come through and there’s value, satisfaction and love and hope. Here, he’s echoing common themes from the country music industry.
The lesson for us is we can try to change minds by encouraging intellectual enquiry, scepticism and a respect for evidence. But we must also engage the heartland by, in effect, recruiting great story tellers to the cause.
Professor Peter C Doherty shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1996 with Swiss colleague Rolf Zinkernagel, for their discovery of how the immune system recognises virus-infected cells. He is Professor Emeritus at The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, the University of Melbourne Medical School, Victoria, Australia. Find him on X at @ProfPCDoherty.
Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.
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news-360info
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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463
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Published on April 17, 2024
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"author": "Peter Doherty"
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Town planners sidelined in Dhaka's development - 360
Tareq Zahirul Haque
Published on January 12, 2023
Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka is the 11th largest and the fastest-growing megacity in the world and faces an acute liveability and sustainability crisis.
The city is home to 18 million people and despite socio-economic, cultural vibrancy and a rich natural environment, unprecedented population growth, climate-change effects, economic growth imperatives and poor institutional capacity have challenged planners and policy makers to deliver liveability and sustainability outcomes. The city has become chaotic and socially iniquitous, its natural environment destroyed.
Like many other parts of the Global South, Dhaka’s urban planning has been historically controlled by the colonial and post-colonial regimes with minimal public input. As technical experts, planners cannot even fulfil their roles except as lip service to higher authorities. In Dhaka’s urban planning, professional planners are not major players.
Liveability and sustainability are contested concepts and linked in ways that must be understood in any planning initiative. While liveability is present and local, sustainability is a long-term and global phenomenon. These differences in scale account for the tension between the ‘local and the immediate’ and the ‘global and the long-term’. Liveability and sustainability planning for a city thus creates power and political tensions among various groups with conflicting priorities.
Dhaka’s planning process is being shaped by poverty reduction, economic growth and modernisation dictated by the political, bureaucratic and technical elites, along with the private interests of powerful forces. This elite group uses their administrative as well as formal and informal political power to influence planning decisions and implementation. This has shifted decision making away from planners to others such as a cabinet committee, donors, the military, police and developers, who all have competing interests.
Although Dhaka’s more recent planning documents attempted to address liveability and sustainability issues, translating them into practice is not straightforward. The western modernisation and neoliberal city ideals held by different elites of Dhaka are at odds with the city’s planning practices mainly due to its status as a developing country’s capital, as well as poor institutional capacity and democratic immaturity.
This, in turn, gives rise to a complex post-political condition, a ‘depoliticisation’ process which seeks to exclude contentious political relations created by the lack of democratic participation combined with neoliberal thinking held by the elites. It suppresses planning experts in particular, and democratic participation generally. Although international donor agencies impose governance changes to some extent, planning in many developing cities of the Global South, including Dhaka, is still state-led and centralised.
Dhaka’s urban planning system is thus synonymous with a cumbersome bureaucracy, procedural inefficiency and lack of public accountability.
In the Transport and Wetlands planning cases, planning in Dhaka seems dominated by urban political elites (cabinet committee, ministers); bureaucratic elites (top officials of ministries and planning authorities); technical elites (engineers of relevant state agencies); professional elites (the military and police in the wetlands case); business elites (real estate leaders in the wetlands case); and economic elites (international donor agencies in the transport case).
These elites exercise power to ensure their own interests influence planning decisions. State elites force planning authorities to engage selected professional civil society bodies (Bangladesh Institute of Planners, Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association, Bangladesh Poribesh Andolon) to legitimise decisions. But planners in general have little scope to consider recommendations from professional groups or go by their own sustainability rationales. The government elites shift planning power away from the planning institutions and planners.
In the colonial period, planning ideas and practices, including master plans for cities and urban modernisation, were transferred from Europe to the colonial cities of the global South. Dhaka was no exception.
It inherited its bureaucratic organisational framework from the British Colonial Government via the Pakistani regime (of which Bangladesh was a part as East Pakistan before independence). However, independent Bangladesh continues to maintain this structure in its planning and land-use activities. The master planning tool has failed to control messy urbanisation and maintain a planned development of Dhaka.
Findings from the transport planning practice (through interviews with planners/practitioners and documents analysis), showed that despite planners’ intentions and planning recommendations for active modes of transport, improved public buses, railways and waterways, only modern mega road projects such as elevated expressways, metro rail and flyovers received attention.
The underlying rationale for mega-projects rests on mobility, economic growth, poverty reduction and urban modernisation. On top of that, politicians think such projects are their achievement and use them in election campaigns. While large-scale metropolitan transport projects in Dhaka improve current liveability benefits from economic growth and mobility, this trend largely ignores localised sustainable transportation and creates tensions for both present and future generations concerning liveability and sustainability.
Similarly, the efforts of planners in conserving Dhaka’s wetlands are often disregarded by interest groups motivated by economic growth, modernisation and private benefits. The outcome is the continuous decline of wetlands leading to waterlogging, flooding, waterborne diseases and biodiversity loss from water pollution.
An important outcome is also an increase in social inequity ⎯ a serious concern for current liveability and future sustainability. Overall, urban planning and practices do not, and cannot, manage the twin challenges of liveability and sustainability in the city.
Tareq Zahirul Haque is a PhD Candidate (Teaching and Research Sessional), School of Global, Urban and Social Studies, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia.
This article is part of a Special Report on ‘Cities after colonialism’, produced in collaboration with the Calcutta Research Group.
Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.
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news-360info
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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463
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Published on January 12, 2023
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"author": "Tareq Zahirul Haque"
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Tracked during COVID, India’s citizens gave away personal data - 360
Anurag Mehra, Indian Institute of Technology
Published on November 29, 2021
By Anurag Mehra, Indian Institute of Technology
Like long COVID, the side effects of India’s rush to track its citizens could linger longer than anyone bargained for.
Already conditioned to handing over their private information to officials, India’s citizens were quick to adopt apps designed to surveil them during the pandemic.
Aarogya Setu, an app to track the infection status of individuals, and CoWin, an app to book appointments and record vaccination status, would appear benign. But privacy and data security laws are woefully absent in India. There have already been many breaches.
India prioritises community rights over individual rights. A general fear of officialdom means many citizens part with private information subserviently and uncritically. Pandemic-induced anxiety only enhanced this behaviour. The right to privacy was disparaged, seen as undermining national security.
A bill to protect personal data is still pending in India’s Parliament, leaving no fundamental right to privacy. Despite some scattered protection provisions in other Indian law, data seekers of any kind — apps, websites or application forms — can freely extract, store, share or even sell personal data.
The Aarogya Setu app essentially carries out contract tracing using Bluetooth to capture the location of an individual and those in proximity. The captured data is stored on the owner’s device as well as central servers, and while anonymised, its single layer encryption provides little security.
Singapore uses a dynamic digital ID and multiple encryption layers to deliver greater security. Location tracing — recording absolute location (latitude and longitude) — is not needed for proximity or contact tracing, yet it was bundled into the Aarogya Setu app.
The government can now monitor the actual movement of people and even identify them, a situation made worse by the use of central data storage. Combining the data of different individuals, it could prepare social graphs or map interactions — who met whom, where, and how frequently.
While no instances of security breaches (except that reported by a cyber-security firm, and contested by the Union government) or social graphs have been reported, these factors provide scope for surveillance by hackers as well as official agencies. There has already been scope creep, the app deployed as a travel or entry pass (there have been many flip-flops on this), and some users even asked to donate to the PM-Cares fund.
Privacy issues are rife.. While the government asserts that the extracted data will not be shared with third parties, there are back doors. For example “to provide persons carrying out medical and administrative interventions necessary in relation to COVID-19”. These persons could be anyone the government decides.
The terms & conditions of use absolve the government of all liability, including even for “accuracy of the information provided by the App or the Services as to whether the persons you have come in contact with have in fact been infected”. The near-mandatory nature of the app does not leave the user with much choice and amounts to coercion.
Various Indian states, as well as some cities, developed their own apps for tracking COVID-19 patients. Most of these have carelessly drafted privacy policies, and seek excessive permissions.
Quarantine Watch, an app from the south Indian state of Karnataka, made people post selfies at fixed times to show they were quarantined at home. Another app, Cobuddy, from Tamil Nadu, used GPS location and facial images for tracking. There was also an attempt to rope in mobile phone service operators to provide user locations. It is not clear where and to what extent this has been implemented. The information collected by these apps has often been shared with health agencies, municipal corporations and the police.
There have already been innumerable violations of privacy. The names and addresses of people who broke quarantine were published by the Karnataka government. A cyber security researcher showed that the Madhya Pradesh government’s Covid-dashboard could be accessed and information about quarantined people — with names, location and device details — gathered. Such leaks can stigmatise and endanger people.
The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare initially claimed that the CoWin app did not need a privacy policy because it was accessible only by National, State and District level Administrators. It later adopted one after it was found the app could be used to reverse engineer a user Health ID (UHID). These IDs store a person’s historical medical and hospitalisation records. Health IDs were created for people without their consent.
Despite the breaches, there is no sign the government will adopt a personal privacy law, or even formulate an interim one.
Guidelines are already in place for the Indian government to follow. The European General Data Protection Regulation (EGDPR), for example, mandates that personal data be extracted lawfully and in a fair and transparent manner for a specified purpose. The data collected should be minimal; stored data should be accurate and clean; data storage should be for a limited period and should be deleted subsequently; the data collector should be responsible for its integrity and confidentiality; and, the authority that “owns” the data should be held accountable to ensure adherence to these principles.
The formulation of data protection policies should be an intrinsic obligation under emergency legislations like the Disaster Management Act (2005). India, well down the path of “digitising everything,” needs comprehensive data protection legislation encoding a fundamental right to privacy.
Even more important is the need to educate people on the sensitive nature of personal data. The pandemic has highlighted a culture of obsequiousness. It’s time that shifted to one that thoughtfully demands a robust right to privacy.
Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.
Professor Anurag Mehra teaches engineering and policy at IIT Bombay. His policy focus is the interface between technology, culture, and politics. Professor Anurag declared no conflict of interest in relation to this article.
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news-360info
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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463
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Published on November 29, 2021
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"author": "Anurag Mehra, Indian Institute of Technology"
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Trance away the pain - 360
Lee Ji Kwan
Published on December 14, 2022
While how it works is not fully understood, hypnosis shows potential for being part of a multi-pronged pain management approach.
Pain relief involving hypnosis remains mysterious but can no longer be called a myth. Pain, after all, is a composite experience produced by various parts of the central nervous system, not simply the result of tissue damage.
Psychological techniques and interventions that modify activity in the brain and spinal cord can alter pain perception.
During a clinical hypnosis session, a trained professional brings about a trance-like state of heightened inner concentration and then helps the patient via suggestions geared towards better emotional or physical well-being.
Scientists have long known that hypnosis is effective in alleviating pain, but speculation rages as to why it works. Two areas of the brain appear to be involved in processing pain: the anterior cingulate cortex and the somatosensory cortices.
One study showed hypnotic suggestions addressing the ‘unpleasantness’ of pain elicited changes in the anterior cingulate cortex but not the somatosensory cortices. Meanwhile, suggestions targeting the intensity of pain elicited changes in the cortices but not in the cortex.
This is evidence that hypnosis alters pain perception by changing activities in brain areas associated with pain processing.
Another way to prove this is by doing it in reverse: inducing pain with hypnotic suggestion.
In this study, researchers compared brain scans of participants who were subjected to mild pain via a heating pad on their hand, hypnotically suggested pain, or were just asked to imagine pain while not under hypnosis.
Not only did the participants report experiencing pain when it was suggested under hypnosis, the scans showed their brains lit up in a similar way to those with real pain. The scientists did not see such patterns when they asked participants to simply imagine pain.
Another study found that good pain relief from hypnosis can be achieved when directly suggesting numbness. For example, “You cannot feel pain because the glove you are wearing prevents you from feeling it.”
Some people are more susceptible to hypnosis than others. An individual’s level of ‘hypnotisability’ is influenced by biological, psychological and socio-environmental factors and can vary from situation to situation.
Medium to high suggestibility individuals were estimated to experience 29 to 42 percent reductions in pain while low suggestibility individuals had minimal benefits at around a 17 percent reduction.
With more than 80 percent of the general population being in the medium to high hypnotic suggestibility range, hypnosis is potentially very useful.
On top of reducing pain, hypnosis can reduce the amount of painkiller medications and mental distress associated with surgery and medical procedures. Multidisciplinary long-term pain management is another important application of hypnosis.
The fact that pain can be hypnotically induced means the risk it could be caused unintentionally should be investigated. This also highlights the need to improve the regulation of current practices.
One review of the safety of clinical hypnosis found no evidence of ill effects in individuals treated with hypnosis. But the level of professionalism of the hypnotists was presumed to be high in these studies.
Whether hypnosis can be effective and safe when done by individuals with minimal professional training remains to be seen.
Like all clinical interventions, hypnosis to relieve pain should be done by legitimate clinicians who have been professionally trained to manage a given condition. Having training in hypnosis alone does not qualify someone to manage pain.
This is because the treatment and techniques are not inherently meaningful, rather it is people’s ability to properly employ them that matters more. Pain relief will not occur by simply performing hypnosis, similar to how we should not expect patients to be up and about just after surgery.
Health professionals need to factor in the type of pain (that is, acute or chronic, cancer or non-cancer, neuropathic, nociceptive, or nociplastic) and patients’ profiles.
Pain, as a complicated phenomenon, should not be approached with a single-mode solution. Hypnosis could be implemented alongside a complete treatment plan by trained professionals for clinically meaningful changes to occur, and regulation will be required if hypnosis is to become a reputable therapeutic approach.
Lee Ji Kwan is a practising clinical psychologist and teaches at Monash University Malaysia. He declares no conflict of interest.
Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.
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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463
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Published on December 14, 2022
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"url": "https://360info.org/trance-away-the-pain/",
"author": "Lee Ji Kwan"
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Transcending politics with space flight - 360
Chaitanya Giri
Published on April 12, 2022
As global tensions rise, India’s burgeoning space programme could become a tool for peace.
The 61st anniversary of the fabled first flight of Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin will prompt mixed feelings. Celebrated every year as the International Day of Human Space Flight, April 12th will be unique in many ways.
Ongoing conflicts in Ukraine, Ethiopia, Afghanistan and Myanmar, economic collapse in Sri Lanka and Pakistan, severe drought in Madagascar, and the COVID-19 global pandemic have put tremendous pressure on international trade and relations. Not many human pursuits can take us out of such dire circumstances; human space flight is one.
The profession of astronautics is strong on marvel and inspiration. These attributes go far beyond national borders and the agencies that carry them out. Until human space flight becomes as mundane as suburban travel, it will motivate people worldwide. Yuri Gagarin is celebrated as much by the Americans as by the Russians. Black trainee astronaut Edward Dwight is an inspiration not only to African Americans but also to native Africans. Astronauts of Indian descent Kalpana Chawla and Sunita Williams are muses to Americans and the Indian populace, including the vast ‘desi’ diaspora.
Flight into the global commons of outer space is flight into open and unowned expanses. Indeed, as the Americans and Soviets raced to the Moon, neither extended their political acrimony into space. However, things have gradually changed.
Outer space today is frequently visited by space agencies and private-sector players. Almost every high- and middle-income economy has at least one satellite orbiting the planet. From foreign space enterprises, nations receive downstream space-utilisation services: satellite telecommunications, meteorology, remote sensing. Satellites are being miniaturised and rocket launches can be done on demand. This conducive environment for frequent small satellite launches has led to constellations of thousands of satellites.
Skylab, Mir, Salyut and the International Space Station (ISS) were accustomed to traffic-free orbits. Not any more. Contemporary human space flight must dodge through the densely packed satellite constellations in Earth’s orbit.
In December 2021 China notified the UN Office for Outer Space Affairs that it took evasive action to prevent two Starlink satellites operated by the American aerospace company SpaceX from colliding with the Tianhe module of its nascent space station. Chinese media speculated that the American company might have been deliberately testing Chinese manoeuvrability. A month earlier, operators of the ISS publicised how they had had to manoeuvre the space station to avoid hitting a piece of the defunct Fengyun-1C satellite, which had been blown to smithereens by a 2007 Chinese anti-satellite missile test.
India, too, is entering the echelons of human space flight. Its first orbital crewed mission, Gaganyaan, is planned for 2023. The Indian Space Research Organisation is also working to raise a compact space station by the early 2030s and place it in low Earth orbit.
As the Russo-Ukrainian War continues, it is evident that the simpatico between the US and Russia is spiralling into a chasm. The escalation of tensions has led to speculation about their collaboration on the ISS. If they were to divorce, the US and Russia will seek partners that share their vocal disdain for the other bloc.
The creation of blocs may dislodge any hotline or détente mechanism that would previously have alleviated differences. In this scenario, the role of neutral nations – those that do not belong to any bloc but work with both – will become vital in cooling off confrontations between the two. Neutral nations will not be peacekeepers as such, but they will help maintain equilibrium.
Both Russia and France have immensely assisted India with the Gaganyaan programme: Russia with training for the Indian astronauts, or vyomanauts, and France with its competence in space medicine. In turn, India is likely to invite universities and private space startups from developed and developing economies to participate in the Indian Space Station by contributing cutting-edge scientific payloads and performing groundbreaking experiments.
India could encourage greater participation from South America, Africa, Eastern Europe, Central and West Asia, Southeast Asia, and Oceania. A diplomatic hand, full of soft power, could be extended to countries from these regions. Encouraging universities and research institutions from developing economies to build payloads would have a progressive impact on the quality of education they impart. India could benefit from bright ideas coming from these countries, and it may lead to fruitful collaborations. The Indian Space Station could become a hallmark of harmonious international scientific progress in the global commons.
The International Day of Human Space Flight 2022 will be brimming with constructive developments, from Gaganyaan to Tianhe to the US-led Artemis programme. But the day will also be rife with concerns about space debris, the malignant growth of satellite constellations, and technopolitical competitiveness mutating into conflict in Earth’s orbit.
India has the task of progressing its space programme thoughtfully, without joining any blocs, and demonstrating stability in stormy waters. Peace can be achieved by forging partnerships with friendly nations from both blocs for the Indian Space Station. Human space flight continues to be an endeavour that can transcend the politics of Earth.
Dr Chaitanya Giri is a space policy and diplomacy consultant at the Research and Information System for Developing Countries, New Delhi, and an affiliate scientist with the Earth-Life Science Institute, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan. His research interests span space policy, planetary exploration, astrochemistry and space diplomacy. He has no conflicts to declare.
Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.
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news-360info
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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463
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Published on April 12, 2022
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Treating chronic pain requires more than pain killers - 360
Michael Nicholas
Published on December 14, 2022
With scans often showing no damage to people with bad backs, doctors were forced to rethink how they approach pain.
When we experience a sudden pain it is natural to look for the cause and eliminate it. If the pain was triggered by a thorn in our foot, we’d simply remove it. If the pain persists for longer, we might take a paracetamol, or use an ice-pack. Usually, such methods work. But sometimes the pain does not go away. When the pain persists for more than three months, it is called chronic pain, and the story becomes more complicated.
Around 20 percent of adults experience some form of chronic pain. For many, it can be disabling and distressing. Chronic pain is rarely relieved by painkillers (analgesics) or surgery — although that doesn’t stop people trying these options.
When any pain persists, it is important to have a thorough medical examination to identify or rule out specific causes that might be treatable or manageable. Some kinds of chronic pain can be due to an underlying disease or condition, like arthritis or a tumour.
But in other chronic pains, like most back pain, no specific physical cause can be identified. Even if degenerative changes are found in spinal scans, these may not be the cause of the pain: many studies have found people with spinal changes who are not in pain, while other people with back pain may have no spinal changes.
Not surprisingly, many people with chronic pain find it hard to believe that modern medicine and surgery cannot fix their pain. They often report a sense of bewilderment and of being let down by their health professionals. Many even describe feeling stigmatised; they say it’s almost as if they are being blamed for still being in pain despite all the treatments.
People in chronic pain have not been the only ones puzzled by their persisting pain. In 1982, a US neurosurgeon, Dr John Loeser, at the University of Washington in Seattle described becoming increasingly frustrated by his failure, as a surgeon, to reliably relieve his patients’ back pain.
In his efforts to understand where he was going wrong, Dr Loeser came to realise that the answer to back pain did not lie in the back. The result of his investigations and discussions with colleagues became known as the “biopsychosocial model of pain”. This says that persisting pain is the result of a dynamic interaction between psychological, social, and biological factors. In other words, for most people with chronic back pain, continuing investigations of the back won’t help.
Treatments aimed solely at the presumed biological, or ‘pathophysiological’, problem are unlikely to be sufficient. Instead, Loeser (and others) realised they needed to get a better understanding of how factors outside the back (or wherever the chronic pain was felt) might be contributing to each patient’s pain problems and to incorporate them in any treatment plan.
In the 40 years since 1982, researchers from many countries have confirmed that scans or physical examination often bear little or no relationship to the experience and impact of pain reported by patients. Even when there is evidence of injured or sensitive tissue, there is often considerable variation between patients on the impact of such changes.
At the same time, evidence has grown that psychological processes, such as attention, beliefs about the pain, and the person’s current mood, as well as behaviour patterns (for example, avoiding activities expected to be painful) can also contribute to the experience and impact of pain.
The same is true for the social context. For example, just having a workers compensation claim for injury has been associated with worse outcomes from surgery than not having an insurance claim. This doesn’t mean people with an insurance claim are feigning their injury; it may reflect the fact that they face different pressures and demands compared to people without insurance claims. Another review of low back pain studies found that level of education and socioeconomic status can affect the experience and impact of pain.
Unlike the simple situation of extracting a thorn from a patient’s foot to relieve that pain, treatments for people where a range of biological, psychological and social factors are thought to be contributing to the person’s pain must attempt to address these contributors as much as possible. Failure to do so, risks perpetuating the kinds of failures that so frustrated Dr Loeser.
Given this analysis, social interventions should be part of helping injured workers with back pain to return to work. Indeed, a study in the Australian state of Victoria in the late 1990s found that an advertising campaign (called “Back Pain; don’t take it lying down”) to promote return to work despite persisting back pain, combined with management by their doctor, was more effective in reducing time off work and changing beliefs about back pain in comparison to the neighbouring state of NSW where no such advertising was provided. Importantly, the Victorian campaign was conducted with the support of that state’s workers compensation authority, as well as by employer groups and medical associations.
Another Australian study has shown that treatment that addressed identified psychological and social risks for delayed recovery in injured workers, alongside the standard medical and physiotherapy management, was more effective in reducing lost time from work than usual medical care.
We have come a long way from Dr Loeser’s frustrations. We now know that more comprehensive approaches that address biological, psychological and social contributors to persisting pain are more effective than treatments that target just the painful parts of the body. The painful part now is implementing a biopsychosocial approach in a health system that still tends to prioritise biology.
Professor Michael Nicholas is a Clinical Psychologist and the Director of Pain Education at Sydney Medical School (Northern) at the Royal North Shore Hospital, Sydney. He declares no conflict of interest.
Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.
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news-360info
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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463
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Published on December 14, 2022
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"url": "https://360info.org/treating-chronic-pain-requires-more-than-pain-killers/",
"author": "Michael Nicholas"
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Treating ‘data as oil’ squanders its immense potential - 360
Rishab Bailey, Urvashi Aneja
Published on October 3, 2022
Open data initiatives could give developing economies the edge in the fourth industrial revolution. India’s approach offers learnings for all.
A country of over 1.3 billion people with rapid technological growth, India is a data goldmine waiting to be tapped into. The Indian government is trying to do so with Digital India, a flagship mission that seeks to transform the country into a world-leading knowledge economy.
Having missed out on previous economic and technological revolutions, there is a pressure to leverage India’s position as a data-rich country to power development of the AI ecosystem. Succeed with data, and India will be well-placed for the fourth industrial revolution. Giving domestic corporations the power to access open data is also a way to power domestic innovation: thie can divest power from Big Tech, making it harder for the major players to monopolise data collection and value in the digital ecosystem.
Digital India adopts a nine pillar approach to digitising India, with one dedicated to enhancing “information for all”. The vision is that of transparency and easy access — swathes of public information in open formats, usable by all. Policy frameworks already in place, such as the National Data Sharing and Access Policy (NDSAP), and programs like the government’s open data platform, fall under this pillar of Digital India.
However, these initiatives suffer from a number of gaps. The NDSAP is just a policy document, meaning it doesn’t have the statutory power of a law. The NDSAP also doesn’t have a mechanism that ensures datasets are published fully or in a timely fashion. Without a guiding law, government departments already straining with a lack of capability often adhere to the policy pro forma.As a result, datasets on the open government portal frequently have many issues — they may be poorly standardised, not provided in open formats, incomplete, outdated, or lack proper annotation and metadata. The NDSAP framework hasn’t implemented processes to make republishing and reusing data easy.
The government has recently proposed a National Data Governance Framework Policy. This seeks to promote data-driven governance and catalyse a start-up ecosystem in India by providing access to data sets containing non-personal data that have been collected and curated by the government. The framework envisages a new data portal to make government data accessible both to government entities, as well as companies and researchers, on a permissioned basis.
The platform will be overseen by a new (non-statutory) institution — the India Data Management Office (IDMO) — which will be responsible for framing rules and standards for data management across government departments, and managing access to data sets. Importantly, the policy seeks to promote capacity development within each government department by establishing dedicated data management offices.
While the policy seems well intentioned, it has shortcomings. Developing an alternative data access portal could lead to existing (permissionless) open data initiatives (such as the data.gov platform) being orphaned, thereby reducing open access to government data. It is notable that the framework does not specify any objectives around citizen participation in governance or enhancing government transparency and accountability. In the framework, the government is essentially extracting and providing a resource to the (domestic) private sector, so as to enable economic growth; and to enable data to be used within government for policy making and governance purposes.
That the most widely available and used datasets are those that are commercially lucrative, not the most socially valuable, is a problem even for traditional open government or open data initiatives. But the Indian government’s new policies seem to double down on the perspective of “data as oil”, treating it as a tradeable commodity.
The framework reduces the ability of citizens to exercise control over how their data is used or demand a return from the use of data. These issues have been foreshadowed: a government-appointed committee recommended methods to ensure greater community control over their data through innovative methods, such as a stewardship-based model for governing non-personal data, which has not been adopted.
In addition, if datasets were used unethically, or caused harm, there is limited recourse that citizens could take. Considering India does not yet have a modern data protection law, this is a notable vulnerability. The policy seeks to empower the India Data Management Office to lay down standards to anonymise datasets, but there are major harms that could come from enabling easier government-to-government access to datasets that previously existed in silos that have not been properly accounted for.
The policy also has issues with its design and envisaged processes. For one, the India Data Management Office doesn’t have statutory backing or clarity on how it should be set up organisationally, or how it could ensure institutional independence from the government. Given it will function as an arbiter of who gets access to specific datasets, determining issues like this will be critical: this is the body that could pick winners and losers in the data ecosystem.
There is sincerity behind the new framework — the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has carried out multiple rounds of consultation on the policy. But as it stands, the new framework falls short on practical and substantive aspects.
There is no easy way to develop holistic data governance policies and implement fair frameworks that account for the disparities specific to India. Data governance frameworks today strive for fairness by zeroing in on key information management principles — how easily can data be found, accessed, reused? Is it interoperable? However, these principles don’t take into account relationships, power differentials and the historical conditions associated with the collection of data that impact ethical and socially responsible data use.
Open data policies could be anchored to more than procedural or usability principles. A practical manifestation of such frameworks could involve governments working with select communities, such as farmers or gig workers, to understand their context-specific needs, and then curating public data sets that can address those needs. These data sets could then be made available for a wider community of innovators, but on terms that are identified by localised data trusts or cooperatives.
Open data frameworks that push to release as much data as possible and leave the rest to market dynamics might be asking the wrong questions. Moving forward, a stronger approach might be one that uses these frameworks to curate data that ameliorates specific problems of communities, and ensures data is used in line with the needs, capacities and vulnerabilities of the community in question.
Rishab Bailey is an advocate and technology policy researcher, currently a visiting fellow with the xKDR Forum, Mumbai.
No conflicts of interest were disclosed in relation to this article.
Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.
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Published on October 3, 2022
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"author": "Rishab Bailey, Urvashi Aneja"
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Treating postpartum depression with psychedelics - 360
Chaitra Jairaj
Published on October 11, 2022
Psychedelics could potentially improve mother-infant bonding during postpartum depression. But studies have not looked into it.
Postpartum depression is a significant public health issue, costing the UK economy around £74,000 for a single case according to 2018 research. Postpartum depression, among other symptoms, typically involves the mother feeling ‘disconnected’ — from herself, her infant and her support system. Current treatment for postpartum depression is largely based on that used in general adult depression. While these treatment options help some women with postpartum depression, they don’t work for all.
A recent review of the therapeutic use of psychedelics such as lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) and psilocybin (the active agent in ‘magic mushrooms’) suggests they may be useful in treating postpartum depression by improving the mother-infant relationship. Clinical trials have shown that psilocybin can be safe when used in therapeutic environments alongside appropriate psychedelic therapist support. Psilocybin also shows promise in treating depression in adults, but larger trials are needed before it can be approved.
The symptoms of postpartum depression can include low mood, an inability to feel pleasure, insomnia, poor concentration, and feelings of inadequacy or guilt. One in five women with postpartum depression think about self-harm, and some have thoughts of harming their infant. In addition to these symptoms, or perhaps because of them, most women with postpartum depression lose confidence in their abilities as a mother.
Current antidepressant drugs are a valuable treatment option for many women with postpartum depression as they can improve mood, but there is no evidence these drugs improve mother-infant bonding. It is also becoming clear that postpartum depression has some biological differences from general depression, in addition to the added unique aspect of the mother-infant relationship. Treatment options researched specifically for postpartum depression are needed.
The only drug to be internationally approved specifically for postpartum depression is brexanolone. It’s given as an intravenous infusion for over 60 hours in hospital and rapidly improves mood and suicidal thoughts. Most antidepressants take between two and four weeks to work, and a more rapid improvement is required in some women with postpartum depression.
Psychedelics are thought to work by stimulating receptors in the brain for a chemical messenger known as serotonin, setting off a cascade of effects. Hallucinations are thought to occur partly because the drugs affect the way our brains filter sensory information through the thalamus. Psychedelics may also affect how different regions of the brain communicate with each other. Ongoing research continues to expand our knowledge of exactly how psychedelics work.
Psilocybin can induce altered states of consciousness through ‘mystical-type experiences’. People have reported feelings of interconnectedness, sacredness, and transcendence of space and time. Participants in psilocybin trials to treat depression describe a transformation from a pre-psilocybin ‘disconnection’ from the self, others, and the world, to a renewed sense of ‘connectedness’ after psilocybin. Psilocybin also fosters a sense of openness, self-compassion, and self-acceptance, which is reported to persist for several months. These features may allow a mother with postpartum depression to reconnect with herself, the infant and the people around her, and regain confidence in herself.
However, psilocybin’s effect on postpartum depression is yet to be examined in trials. Major challenges to conducting such trials include the lack of safety data on the use of psilocybin in postpartum women, particularly while breastfeeding. Any trials in postpartum women will need to either exclude breastfeeding women until there is evidence of its safety in breastfeeding women, or request that women abstain from breastfeeding for a some time following psilocybin dosing. Further advances in psilocybin clinical trials for depression will continue to improve our understanding of its effect on postpartum depression.
Postpartum depression can worsen with socioeconomic stress, which is mounting worldwide. Newer treatment options for postpartum depression with a focus on improving the mother-infant relationship are much needed, both for the mother and the infant. Psilocybin may have the potential to fill this gap.
If this article has raised issues for you, or if you’re concerned about someone you know, visit Find a helpline for free, confidential support from a real person over phone, text or online chat in your country.
Dr Chaitra Jairaj is a psychiatrist and researcher at Trinity College Dublin whose research interests include psychiatry and neuroscience, in particular, perinatal and infant mental health, mood disorders, and psychedelic science.
She declares no conflict of interest.
Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.
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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463
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Published on October 11, 2022
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Treaty to protect high seas too late to stop mining - 360
Mohd Hazmi Mohd Rusli
Published on July 5, 2023
Deep sea mining is about to get the green light and companies itching to exploit it have a head start on authorities.
When the International Seabed Authority begins accepting applications for deep sea mining operations in the coming weeks, there will remain a lingering question.
How much control will authorities have over operations to ensure environmental protection of marine habitats far from coastlines, or will it turn into a wild high seas free-for-all?
The answer seems to be: the new High Seas Treaty is powerless.
The International Seabed Authority, established under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982, regulates and controls all mineral-related activities on seabeds in international waters and is currently negotiating a mining code to establish the rules under which companies will be allowed to extract minerals from the seabed.
But the clock is ticking. The Authority has been forced to speed up finalising the code after the tiny Pacific nation of Nauru triggered a two-year rule to allow applications for seabed mining from July 2023.
Although commercial mining has not yet started, companies such as De Beers, China Minmetals Corporation, UK Seabed Resources Ltd and others from Tonga, Nauru, Germany, Japan and Singapore are lining up to make it a reality.
As a result, there are fears environmental protection for international waters will be drowned in the rush by these companies hoping to exploit one of the planet’s final frontiers for mining.
Deep seabed mining for metals such as cobalt, manganese and nickel could potentially support mass production of essential electronics such as smartphones and tablets as well as stimulate the development of green technology like electric vehicles and wind turbines.
Realising the imminent impacts of deep-sea mining and how it could affect the marine environment, the world in March this year reached what could well be a turning point in the protection of the world’s oceans — the adoption of the High Seas Treaty.
Without such a treaty, the high seas and deep seabeds beyond national jurisdictions had for decades been governed and managed in a fragmented way.
The Treaty — which took two decades to finalise and will not be signed off until later in 2023 — seeks to change this by establishing a new framework to address marine resource conservation with new management tools and institutional mechanisms for decision-making and equitable benefit sharing.
But the treaty doesn’t have any power over mining activities overseen by the International Seabed Authority because it does not apply directly to activities already regulated by existing bodies.
In other words, the High Seas Treaty would not impede or hamper deep-sea mining exploration and any mining activities.
It only prepares the world with an institutionalised and coordinated protective measure without any clear provisions to obstruct mining. The International Seabed Authority can issue licences to companies intending to explore the deep sea without much hindrance.
Not only that, there are no guarantees the High Seas Treaty could even offer environmental protection despite clauses in it allowing for the creation of marine protected areas beyond national jurisdictions.
It also remains to be seen how nations might work together for the establishment of marine protected areas beyond national jurisdictions.
Proposals would first have to be submitted by participating countries to the International Maritime Organisation supported by a draft management plan detailing whether or not activities like fishing, shipping and deep-sea mining would be restricted within the suggested designated area.
Such proposals may likely face opposition resulting in years of delay before designations of marine protected areas in the international high seas or seabeds could be realised.
In the meantime, regulations allow countries to apply to the International Seabed Authority for 15-year exclusive rights to explore a specific area for deep-sea mining.
To receive such contracts, they must submit work plans demonstrating the contractors they are sending out for explorations possess the financial and technical capabilities to fulfil their obligations.
It’s an expensive endeavour, costing up to USD$1.4 billion over five years. A 2017 UNESCO report stated that ocean research vessels may cost between US$10,000 to US$40,000 a day to operate. The projected total cost to process the minerals is estimated to be approximately USD$135 million.
Contractors are expected to follow best environmental practices and work closely with the Authority to come up with programmes for monitoring and evaluating the biodiversity impacts of their exploration and mining activities.
As seabed explorations are now ongoing but mining is yet to start, contractors, scientists, legal experts and the Authority must continuously work together to monitor the environmental impacts.
With more scientific data, it would then be possible for member countries under the High Seas Treaty to unearth the most sustainable way of balancing mining activities with the protection of the marine environment.
Dr Mohd Hazmi Mohd Rusli is associate professor at the Faculty of Syariah and Law, Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia, and a former research fellow at the Australian National University, Canberra. He declares no conflict of interest.
Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.
Editors Note: high seas treaty
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Published on July 5, 2023
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"author": "Mohd Hazmi Mohd Rusli"
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Trees please me, but we also need biodiversity in our cities - 360
Sarah Bekessy
Published on May 22, 2024
Increasing the amount of nature in our cities can provide many benefits as long as it’s done with biodiversity in mind.
A tree-lined city boulevard on a hot summer’s day is often a welcome sight for the weary pedestrian.
But such streets, while cooler than their canopy-less counterparts, may provide little benefit for biodiversity or native wildlife if they’re filled with a single species of non-native canopy tree.
This is because many of the benefits of nature in cities are linked to biodiversity — not just greenery.
For example, native vegetation in parks has been linked to enhanced gut health in park visitors.
Nature in cities can play a mighty role in helping to address many of the unprecedented challenges to liveability, including adapting to extreme weather and helping with a mental wellbeing crisis.
Cities with nature enhance our mental and physical health, improve the cognitive development of our children, clean our air and water and lessen the impacts of storms and heatwaves.
Cities also have an important role to play in tackling the biodiversity extinction crisis, with a disproportionate number of threatened species living in, or on the edges of our cities.
Rather than leaving it to chance, intentional strategies that bring back and care for native plants and animals in our cities would benefit both nature and people.
To this end, biodiversity sensitive urban design is now a recommended approach for urban developers in several Australian states and has been legislated in South Australia, which also recently launched an urban greening strategy for metropolitan Adelaide.
This approach aligns with Target 12 of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, ratified by 196 countries, which focuses on the importance of finding space for nature within built landscapes.
Biodiversity sensitive urban design requires developers, architects, and urban designers to think about the history of a site, its current condition and the potential to restore, or bring back nature — summarised as a site’s past, present and potential.
For example, a site might currently be devoid of trees (present) but might have supported an endangered ecosystem in recent history (past) and could potentially be reconnected with nearby remnant vegetation providing an opportunity for wildlife to return (potential).
Setting clear objectives is the next step, for example, bringing back a locally extinct species, or making a local river ‘swimmable’ again.
Once objectives are established, designs can be developed to deliver resources to support target species, including vegetation, water and nesting habitat. Designs can mitigate threats, for example through wildlife-friendly lighting, bird-sensitive glass, road under- or over-passes; and create ecological connectivity to allow wildlife to move across a site.
An important additional step is to design for ‘cues to care’ — encouraging people to engage positively with nature in cities and be active biodiversity stewards.
There is great potential to use the urban renaturing agenda to create a sense of place and identity in cities, rather than accepting the homogenisation of urban areas around the world.
Further, highlighting biocultural diversity in urban renaturing — nature that emphasises the traditional use of plants or cultural significance of wildlife — can build knowledge of and respect for Indigenous or traditional land management and culture, including medicinal plants and cultural stories about wildlife.
In Surabaya, Indonesia, for example, urban greening using traditional foods and medicine plants can also provide a source of income for residents.
Another example is a nature playground in Melbourne, Australia, that celebrates the seven Wurundjeri seasons.
The motivations for designing for nature in cities have never been more compelling.
With the global urban population projected to increase by 2.5 billion people over the next 30 years, urbanisation is one of the defining transformations of the 21st century.
Biodiverse cities have the potential to reverse the fate of the many threatened species that depend on cities and deliver a remarkable array of benefits that will prove critical to the liveability and future habitability of cities.
Professor Sarah Bekessy leads the Interdisciplinary Conservation Science Research Group (ICON Science) at RMIT University, which uses interdisciplinary approaches to solve complex biodiversity conservation problems. She is a lead councillor of the Biodiversity Council, a board member of Bush Heritage Australia, a member of WWF’s Eminent Scientists Group and a member of the Advisory Group for Wood for Good.
Professor Bekessy has received funding from the Australian Research Council (ARC), the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), the Ian Potter Foundation and the European Commission.
Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.
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Published on May 22, 2024
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"author": "Sarah Bekessy"
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Trendy weight loss solutions often a lost cause - 360
Pui San Saw
Published on May 10, 2024
Unproven weight loss products and social media hype mislead women. Why is it so easy to fall for it?
The health and wellness industry bombards women with weight-loss solutions like detox teas and waist trainers, promising effortless results. These products often lack scientific backing, leaving the glossy advertisements and influencer endorsements far from reality.
Semaglutide, a medication approved for the treatment of type 2 diabetes, has found its way into the hands of women seeking quick fixes for weight loss.
Marketed under brands such as Ozempic and Wegovy, semaglutide works by lowering blood sugar and regulating insulin levels. The drug also mimics a naturally produced hormone called glucagon-like peptide-1 that limits appetite so that we feel full, prompting our stomachs to empty more slowly.
Overweight and obese people do experience weight loss from consuming the medication. But experts warn of the dangers of this trend and the importance of consulting a doctor before taking any medication.
Studies have highlighted its potential benefits, such as weight loss and improved energy intake, while others raised concerns about its misuse resulting in prescription shortages and potential risks, ranging from nausea and diarrhoea to more severe complications such as pancreatitis.
These risks are often downplayed or overlooked in the pursuit of a slimmer figure.
Social media influencers promoting prescription drugs such as Ozempic for weight loss also raises concerns about safety and unrealistic expectations.
This has prompted TikTok to actively crack down on content promoting weight loss products on its app starting this month as part of its new community guidelines.
Ozempic, Wegovy and Rybelsus are registered medicines in Malaysia and can be purchased in pharmacies with a doctor’s prescription. Ozempic is available in two forms; one in 0.25mg delivering 0.5mg/dose and another that delivers 1mg/dose.
The accessibility of these medications may be too expensive for those without health insurance. However, some people have resorted to unconventional means to obtain prescriptions, including soliciting prescribers who may be inclined to accommodate such requests or procuring the medication online.
It is crucial to recognise that these medications have not undergone systematic evaluation in people with lower body weights, which raises concerns about the potential for side effects. In the absence of comprehensive research, the full extent of these remains uncertain.
Consequently, people obtaining these medications online deprive themselves of regulatory safeguards potentially compromising their health.
By promoting unhealthy weight-loss practices and reinforcing societal pressure on women to conform to unrealistic beauty standards, these products contribute to the broader systemic issues that disproportionately affect women.
They reinforce the notion that a woman’s worth is tied to her appearance, undermining true gender equality. This pressure to conform to society’s beauty standards takes a toll on women’s mental health.
Research has highlighted the link between exposure to idealised body images and negative body image outcomes, including body dissatisfaction, low self-esteem and eating disorders.
Regulatory bodies and healthcare organisations have a responsibility to monitor and regulate pharmaceutical marketing practices on social media.
Clearer guidelines could also be established to ensure that influencers disclose any partnerships or financial arrangements with pharmaceutical companies when promoting medications like Ozempic.
Medical professionals in Malaysia are typically guided by established clinical practice guidelines, regulatory requirements and ethical standards when prescribing weight management medication. These guidelines often emphasise evidence-based practice, patient safety, and the importance of considering individual patient characteristics and medical history when making treatment decisions.
Stricter penalties for medical professionals who irresponsibly prescribe Ozempic for weight loss would deter inappropriate prescribing practices and protect patients. Such penalties could include disciplinary action by professional regulatory bodies, revocation of their medical licence or hefty fines.
Efforts to educate consumers about the proper use of prescription medications and the importance of consulting healthcare professionals before starting any new treatment are crucial for promoting informed decision-making and protecting public health.
It is also important that women remain vigilant against these exploitative tactics.
Women can prioritise informed decision-making by building a trusting relationship with their healthcare provider so they can express their concerns, ask questions and properly discuss treatment options. Good preparation — research, asking questions, knowing their rights — will help them make good choices.
Stopping the medication may lead to weight gain. Public health campaigns can focus on promoting healthy and sustainable weight loss practices while countering the allure of quick fixes like Ozempic.
Saw Pui San is a registered pharmacist and public health researcher dedicated to advancing community health and empowerment through education. Currently serving as a lecturer and discipline head in pharmacy practice at the School of Pharmacy, Monash University Malaysia, she brings expertise and a passion for public health advocacy to her work.
Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.
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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463
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Published on May 10, 2024
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"author": "Pui San Saw"
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Trouble is brewing for the future of beer - 360
Aaron Staples
Published on June 29, 2022
Brewers are pursuing solutions to reduce water usage, encourage more sustainable farming, limit material use, and power facilities with clean energy.
What does torched earth taste like? According to New Belgium Brewing Company’s CEO Steve Fechheimer, it “tastes like eating a Band-Aid“In 2021, New Belgium wanted to raise awareness of the impact of climate change on America’s favorite alcoholic beverage. The result: Torched Earth, a beer brewed with smoke-tainted water, buckwheat, and dandelion root. A bitter warning to consumers of what beer could taste like in the not-so-distant future.
Beer production relies on water, barley and hops. But climate change is leading to scarcity of these key ingredients. This raises the price brewers must pay for production and increases beer prices for consumers. Climate change can also affect the quality of ingredients, meaning brewers may have no choice but to resort to inferior products.
With beer potentially costing more while tasting worse, this is not good news for hopheads.
But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Water comprises 90 percent of beer inputs, meaning water quality is front of mind for brewers. Polluted waterways cause this delicate resource to become unusable or, at the very least, more expensive to treat.
It can take seven barrels of water to produce a single barrel of craft beer — nearly a gallon of water to produce a single pint. As rivers dry up, water scarcity becomes a major threat to this water-intensive industry.
Shifting climate zones also lead to more unpredictable weather patterns and extreme weather events, increasing pest and disease pressures and greater strains on agricultural markets.
In the United States, barley and hops are primarily grown in the upper-west region. Over 75 percent of barley comes from Montana, North Dakota, and Idaho — states that are becoming more susceptible to the combination of excessive heat and drought. These factors have altered farmer planting decisions and impacted barley yield. It’s estimated that barley production in 2021 was down 31 percent from 2020, and this shift in market conditions leads to elevated prices across the supply chain.
The United States accounts for approximately 40 percent of global hop production. Approximately 96 percent of the 60,000 acres are grown in the Pacific Northwest — Washington, Oregon, and Idaho — and the hop giant’s climate is changing. Changes in temperature and precipitation can alter the crop’s chemical properties, which impact flavor, taste and aromatic qualities of the finished beer product. The region is also becoming increasingly vulnerable to wildfires.
By mid-August 2021, nearly 80 wildfires had burned through more than 1 million acres in Washington and Oregon. Fires can destroy hopyards, but the smoke and ash can also affect hop quality, leading to smoke taint. This condition creates unwanted sensory attributes in the hops such as tar and burnt toast while masking the desired aromas like citrus or pine.
Whether through brewing Band-Aid-tasting beer, environmental-themed beer packaging or marketing campaigns, brewers are bringing sustainability and environmental consciousness to the forefront of the industry. They are reducing their environmental footprint by tracking sustainability metrics, publishing sustainability reports, and investing in sustainable technologies.
The Brewers Association, the primary craft beer organization in the United States, has created sustainability manuals to help brewers navigate energy, water and solid waste. Investments geared towards sustainability include low-cost practices like reusing rinse water, installing energy-efficient lighting systems and donating spent grain to local farmers.
More advanced investments include automated cleaning systems, solar panels, electric vehicles for transportation and converting spent grain into upcycled foods. The scale of investment depends on brewery size and location, with individual brewers balancing decisions between both sustainability and business standpoints.
Regardless of scale, informing consumers of brewer commitments to sustainability through company websites, social media accounts or labeling may be beneficial. There is recent evidence that some consumers are willing to pay a premium for beers produced using sustainable techniques, particularly for beers targeting water sustainability practices.
On the agricultural side, there has been increased investment in scientific research for selective breeding, the development of climate-resilient crop varieties and regenerative agriculture. And as climate regions shift, agriculture adjusts, leading production to shift towards more favorable growing regions.
America’s beer industry was built on innovation, experimentation and entrepreneurship. Each of these defining features will be important as the industry combats impending climate challenges.
Aaron J. Staples is an Agricultural Economist in the Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics at Michigan State University. His research centers on food supply chains, food choice, and food policy.
This article is part of a Special Report coinciding with Covering Climate Now’s joint coverage week on Food & Water.
Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.
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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463
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Published on June 29, 2022
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"author": "Aaron Staples"
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Trust fractures run deep - 360
Mark Duckworth
Published on April 11, 2022
Fractured by the infodemic and falling further into decline, trust in democratic governments is needed to ensure misinformation doesn’t thrive.
When COVID-19 took hold around the world, trust in some governments soared, after decades of decline. It was a false dawn. Cries of “We’re all in this together” were trumped by what the World Health Organization had already identified as the ‘infodemic’: an overabundance of information making it hard for people to take the right decisions to protect their health.
The pandemic has led to some people distrusting medical experts and others they used to rely on in their community. There have been fractures over use of vaccines within families. The consequences of declining trust are creating major social problems.
We’re left ill-prepared for another crisis. As the analysts at Edelman, a public relations firm, put it, the world finds itself “ensnared in a vicious cycle of distrust, fueled by a growing lack of faith in media and government. Through disinformation and division, these two institutions are feeding the cycle and exploiting it for commercial and political gain”.
Distrust has become the default. A majority (55 percent) of Australians in a 2022 Edelman survey said their default tendency was to distrust something until they saw evidence it was trustworthy.
A majority believe that journalists (65 percent), government leaders (61 percent) and business leaders (61 percent) are actively trying to mislead them by saying things they know are false or grossly exaggerated.
Trust inequality in Australia is the worst in the world – it is distributed across different communities in different ways. It’s high for the well off and the more highly educated and low for the rest of society.
Governments are left communicating with two audiences: one that trusts, and one that doesn’t.This matters because trust inequality is linked to radicalisation and extremism.
Trust, and trusted information, are also essential during emergencies and for building disaster resilient communities. US emergency management agency FEMA calls it “the glue that holds different groups together, strengthens and sustains solidarity, and supports the means for collective action”.
The fracturing of trust also has economic repercussions: the OECD says it compromises the willingness of citizens and business leaders to respond to public policies and contribute to a sustainable economic recovery. It wants the public sector to “challenge existing models for measuring trust”.
As a social construct that demands reciprocity, trust is based on emotion, on experience, and evidence. When we trust someone, we think about a relationship that goes both ways. We can be vulnerable with them because we can rely on them in times of need, and we can confidently expect that they will act in a way that we can predict. In this way trust acts as a “protective cocoon”. It can be broken when one party does not act as expected.
Without the glue of trust our society will continue to fly apart and the resilience and inclusiveness central to a well-functioning open society will be difficult to maintain.
The flows of trust between communities and government are central to a properly functioning civil society and building resilience to social harms. But the collapse of public trust in information from authorities makes it more difficult for them to take action to reverse this trend.
Fixing the trust deficit is in the interest of governments, business and the whole of society. But it requires action by those in authority. Worryingly, it is those in authority who have broken the bonds of trust who seem most paralysed about what to do to fix it.
Mark Duckworth PSM is a Senior Research Fellow at the Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation at Deakin University working in the Centre for Resilient and Inclusive Societies (CRIS). The author declares no conflicts.
Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.
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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463
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Published on April 11, 2022
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"url": "https://360info.org/trust-fractures-run-deep/",
"author": "Mark Duckworth"
}
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2,254 |
Trust us: how India takes control of personal data - 360
Pradip Thomas
Published on September 15, 2023
A creeping authoritarianism now extends to the digital sphere in India.
India is often called the world’s largest democracy. While this brand had cache in the post-independence period, India’s status as a liberal democracy is losing its lustre.
Democracy indexes that have consistently downgraded India on their lists during the past decade have been dismissed as ‘conspiracies’ by the government.
After India recently slumped 11 places on the Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Index — from 150th to 161st — S. Jaishankar, the Minister for External Affairs, said “somebody is getting something fundamentally wrong in a country that has an uncontrollable press”.
“These are the ways of playing mind games which are like lowering the rank of the country whom you don’t like while others do not,” he said.
But a creeping authoritarianism now extends into the digital sphere.
The Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 was approved by the President in August. It replaces the Personal Data Protection Bill introduced in 2018 and withdrawn in 2022 after criticisms from industry.
The general response to the new Act can best be described as lukewarm since there have been little more than cosmetic changes to its original, draft version.
The focus on the governance of personal data is long overdue, particularly for a country with ambitions to become a cashless society.
Indian citizens are already using smart devices to pay for purchases, to claim entitlements and to access information from the public and private sectors. This includes information on health, education, land records and pensions.
A range of national digital projects covering health, employment, education and other portfolios has given the government extraordinary access to citizen transactions through the national Unique Personal Identity (Aadhar) ID.
Previously and in the absence of privacy laws, some government departments have monetised this data and sold data to third parties in the private and public sector.
In 2019, data from 250 million vehicle registrations and 150 million driving licenses was sold to 87 private companies and 32 government departments for almost AUD$12 million.
These records were sold without owners’ consent, in stark contrast to what is now expected from the private sector and ‘significant data fiduciaries’, as expressed in the new data protection act.
While Big Tech have rightly been brought under a consent framework, the new law appears to still allow government ministries and various government-linked organisations involved in data collection to have unlimited control over all personal data.
This position has been taken supposedly in the interests of national security.
Trust is one of the central issues around personal data protection in India. In liberal democracies, that trust lies mostly with public entities — especially after Big Tech’s repeated missteps. In the context of illiberal democracies, control over such data is an even bigger problem.
The current government has a reputation for excessive control over the internet, for censorship in the name of national security, and for enforcing internet shutdowns when it sees fit.
While clampdowns in the interest of national security can sometimes be justified, the religious-nationalist bent illustrated by the current government’s constant marginalisation of minority groups often dictates where and how these clampdowns are most forcefully maintained.
The result is extended information blockades, as was the case in Kashmir in late 2019 and recently in Manipur state, where open WiFi hotspots have been banned, social media websites blocked and VPN software removed.
While Big Tech certainly needs to be regulated, the government’s actions suggest its inability to accept critique, dissent or opposition. This was most visible during the farmers’ strike in 2021, when it ordered Twitter to remove posts critical of the government and threatened to arrest Twitter employees if the company didn’t comply.
After so many years with little or no regulatory oversight over the use of personal data, forcing Big Tech — also referred to as systemically important digital intermediaries — to get user consent is a sensible development.
However, plain digital intermediaries, including Indian start-ups, are not required to abide by the rules in the Digital Personal Data Protection Act.
With the Indian government openly stating its intent to be a frontrunner in the AI space, experiments by firms using personal data in areas like health are not covered by the Act.
The government also has no plans for legal guidelines regulating the use — and limiting the abuse of AI. In fact, start-ups in general have been granted exemptions from labour and environment laws and compliance with financial reporting that are in place for brick and mortar firms.
There is a larger issue. Much of the data generated by Indian citizens finds its way to data and cloud centres owned by Big Tech — companies like Amazon’s AWS or Microsoft’s Azure. Although the government has invested in its own Meghna (‘cloud’ in Hindi), hyperscale cloud storage in India is all owned by Big Tech.
Big Tech is thriving in India irrespective of attempts to regulate its activities. Arguably, the Modi government is too caught up in its ambitions to transform India into a digital nation and all its citizens into digital natives.
The question is whether this ambition will be shaped by authoritarian pressures or liberal freedoms.
Pradip Thomas is an associate professor in the School of Communications and Arts at the University of Queensland.
Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.
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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463
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Published on September 15, 2023
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"url": "https://360info.org/trust-us-how-india-takes-control-of-personal-data/",
"author": "Pradip Thomas"
}
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Tsunami pushes native language to the brink - 360
Vysakh R
Published on August 16, 2023
The displacement of communities due to climate change can have unexpected impacts on the language landscape of a region.
A devastating natural disaster 19 years ago has pushed the native language of a tiny island in the Bay of Bengal into decline.
This could be a sign of things to come for many languages as climate change gathers pace and such disasters become more frequent.
The case of Teressa Island in the Nicobar group of the Andaman and Nicobar archipelago underscores the difficulty in predicting how climate change will affect the language landscape in various regions.
Teressa and its smaller neighbour to the north, Chowra, had their own distinct yet highly similar languages named Lurö and Sanenyö, respectively.
After the Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004, Chowra’s inhabitants were relocated to Teressa after all their coastal villages were destroyed.
Nineteen years later, Sanenyö — the language of the displaced community — is replacing Lurö, the language of the community native to Teressa Island.
What makes this situation peculiar is the fact that Teressa and Chowra, where the migrants came from, have been in contact for centuries, and inter-island migration was a very common practice.
Also, many of the refugees actually returned to Chowra after three years, after they petitioned the government for the right to go back.
In such a context where multilingualism was the norm, the tsunami not only altered the island’s geography but also significantly altered the social balance of the place and led to a situation of Lurö becoming endangered.
Climate change affects linguistic communities in multiple ways.
Change in weather patterns can adversely affect small-scale seasonal farming communities that depend on rainfall for irrigation. This could lead to them migrating somewhere else in search of employment, mostly towards bigger towns and cities.
The local language of the community will gradually fall into disuse in such cases. Over time, the language risks becoming endangered because it is no longer being passed down from generation to generation.
Parents often discourage their children from learning and speaking their mother tongue in favour of becoming fluent in the dominant language.
The younger generation also faces such pressure from other institutions such as schools, colleges, government offices and the job market.
For displaced communities, learning the dominant language of their new space, often at the cost of their own language, becomes the only way to secure a living.
Language endangerment is a major social issue that predominantly affects Indigenous and other minority communities.
Scholars predict that up to almost 90 percent of the languages currently spoken around the world will go extinct in the coming 50 to 70 years.
There are multiple causes attributed to this, such as globalisation, social and economic oppression, lack of representation in education and entertainment, and pressure from dominant languages.
When communities are displaced from their original inhabited spaces, many of the words and usages in the language that refer to local geographical features and biodiversity will fall into disuse if these features and elements are not present in their resettlement area.
This will greatly compromise the richness of parts of the vocabulary such as spatial references.
It can even affect performative aspects of language such as its usage in rituals, storytelling and public speaking.
Stigma caused by lack of fluency in the regional language, which is often the medium of instruction in schools, can adversely affect the academic performance of children from these displaced communities.
In recent years, climate change has emerged as a major factor leading to language endangerment. This is most visible in the case of island communities that are becoming the first victims of rising sea levels.
The relationships between language and social structures are highly dynamic.
Climate-induced displacement can lead to unexpected outcomes, like in the case of Teressa where the dominant language spoken by the local community falls into disuse due to the migration of another community affected by the 2004 tsunami to the island.
Scholars have been considering solutions to endangered languages since the late 20th century.
There has been a push to consider linguistic rights as part of human rights and guarantee constitutional and legal protection to speakers of minority languages.
Linguistic rights include ensuring linguistic diversity through comprehensive documentation combined with sustained efforts at revitalising languages.
Several governmental and non-governmental bodies, such as UNESCO, Endangered Language Documentation Program and Summer Institute of Linguistics currently work with communities around the world to document and revitalise their threatened languages.
Scholars have also developed reliable revitalisation methods that cover curriculum planning, textbook development and content creation across mediums and genres.
The institutional support that the projects have garnered has proved vital in determining the effectiveness of these efforts.
Even as climate change continues to displace native communities, language activism in this direction can go a long way towards supporting endangered languages.
Vysakh R is a PhD scholar at the Indian Institute of Technology in Gandhinagar. He currently works in the field of linguistic anthropology. His research interests include multilingualism, language ideologies, linguistic identities, language endangerment and language ecology.
His research has been funded by a Wenner-Gren Foundation Dissertation Fieldwork Grant.
Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.
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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463
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Published on August 16, 2023
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"url": "https://360info.org/tsunami-pushes-native-language-to-the-brink/",
"author": "Vysakh R"
}
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Two ways to fight land subsidence - 360
TamilSalvi Mari
Published on May 17, 2023
Artificial recharge and deep soil mixing are two techniques showing promise in rescuing sinking cities.
Cities all over the world are sinking.
In Southeast Asia, the rapid growth of megacities has led to a pressing design problem that many governments are only just starting to address. Jakarta is considered the world’s fastest sinking city, with some areas experiencing subsidence of up to 15 cm per year.
With 40 percent of the city already below sea level, it is predicted that by 2050 95 percent of North Jakarta will be underwater.
Bangkok and Ho Chi Minh City are also sinking, with subsidence rates of up to 2cm and 5cm per year respectively. Some areas in Bangkok may be sinking even faster due to the heavy use of the aquifer system (2 million cubic metres a day) and the weight of buildings.
Urban sinking, also known as land subsidence, refers to the gradual sinking of the land surface in urban areas. It is caused by natural and human-made factors including groundwater extraction, construction works, soil consolidation and geological processes.
Land subsidence is a human-induced event. Of all the cases of land subsidence worldwide, 77 percent are caused by human activities, with groundwater extraction accounting for 60 percent.
Excessive extraction of groundwater often causes land subsidence in urban areas due to the increasing demand for water due to rapid urbanisation. The construction of heavy buildings and infrastructure and changes in land use cause soil compression leading to land subsidence. The most significant consequence of land subsidence is more intense city flooding.
When groundwater is extracted faster than the recharge rate of the aquifer system, it causes the land to subside, endangering buildings and urban infrastructure. In California’s San Joaquin Valley, the land is sinking by 0.3 metres per year due to excessive pumping of groundwater for a commercial orchard which has caused permanent subsidence and landslides in the area.
Land subsidence damages critical infrastructure such as buildings and roads, changes drainage patterns and increases the risk of flooding. It can also affect groundwater availability with significant environmental implications for cities and their inhabitants.
Innovative solutions are being explored to combat this issue. Two such methods are artificial recharge and deep soil mixing.
Artificial recharge involves injecting water into depleted aquifers to replenish them, thus reducing the need for excessive pumping and preventing further subsidence.
Deep soil mixing involves injecting stabilising agents deep into the ground to reinforce the soil and prevent land subsidence caused by soil compression. While these methods have shown promising results, they require careful planning and significant investment. Nevertheless, they offer hope for mitigating the damaging effects of land subsidence on communities and infrastructure.
Using alternative construction techniques such as lightweight building materials and foundation systems can help reduce the weight of buildings thus minimising the risk of land subsidence. Ground improvement techniques, such as deep soil mixing and soil stabilisation can help reinforce weak or soft soils to enhance the stability of structures and prevent subsidence in cases where a mass of buildings is unavoidable.
Deep soil mixing involves mechanically blending weak soils with a cement-like binder to enhance their properties without compaction to increase the strength and stiffness of the ground. Mechanically mixing the soil with cement or other binders can increase the ground’s strength and stability.
The technique can be used in various geotechnical applications including for highways, railways, airports, embankments, levees and industrial facilities. Deep soil mixing can address this problem by improving the soil’s load-bearing capacity and reducing its susceptibility to settlement. As land subsidence becomes more common in urban areas with intense groundwater extraction, engineers can turn to deep soil mixing as a potential solution.
Two main methods are dry deep soil mixing and wet deep soil mixing. Each involves mixing a binding agent with the soil, such as cement, lime, or biodegradable materials, to enhance the soil’s properties. The choice of method depends on the soil conditions, site characteristics and the desired improvement in soil properties.
Studies have shown that deep soil mixing stabilised the ground and reduced subsidence rates in areas where peat and other organic materials were being extracted. It’s been widely used in China and Europe for various construction projects such as embankments, deep excavations, retaining structures and ground improvement.
Cities rely heavily on groundwater and excessive pumping can cause the soil to compress and settle, resulting in land subsidence. Urban areas are particularly vulnerable to this problem due to the high concentration of buildings and paved surfaces which increase the weight on the soil surface and contribute to soil compaction.
Reducing water extraction, promoting water conservation and implementing groundwater recharge can mitigate the effects of subsidence in cities.
Groundwater recharge involves intentionally replenishing groundwater resources through various techniques such as artificial recharge which adds water to the ground to replenish depleted groundwater resources. This process is used to increase the volume of water in aquifers, improve groundwater quality, and prevent land subsidence caused by excessive groundwater extraction.
Various methods can be used for artificial recharge, including redirecting water over the land surface using canals, infiltration basins, or ponds, installing irrigation furrows or sprinkler systems or directly injecting water into the subsurface through injection wells.
One study confirmed the effectiveness of artificial recharge in stabilising land subsidence in Bangkok. In the Kathmandu Valley which is also sinking, the injection well method was used to recharge the groundwater.
These case studies demonstrate the potential of various groundwater recharge methods for stabilising land subsidence caused by groundwater extraction. These methods can not only address land subsidence but also provide an alternative source of water for irrigation and domestic use as well as improve groundwater quality.
Utilising deep soil mixing and artificial recharge is a sustainable approach to building more resilient cities. With the proper implementation of deep soil mixing and artificial recharge, we can create a future where sinking cities are a thing of the past and our urban landscapes are better equipped to handle the challenges of the 21st century.
Ts Dr TamilSalvi Mari is Programme Director and Senior Lecturer in Architecture at Taylor’s University. Salvi’s research area revolves around investigating humane design-the interaction between humans, the built environment and the natural environment focusing on current societal and environmental needs. She declares no conflict of interest.
Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.
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Published on May 17, 2023
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"url": "https://360info.org/two-ways-to-fight-land-subsidence/",
"author": "TamilSalvi Mari"
}
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Uber might not be the traffic buster you'd expect - 360
Alejandro Tirachini
Published on February 16, 2023
Despite their environmentally-friendly perception, ride hailing platforms do not appear to reduce traffic congestion.
Millions of people around the world have a car in the palm of their hand, even if they do not own the car. This is how ride-hailing platforms such as Uber, Lyft, Didi and Ola have redefined the idea of car access.
Thanks to the mass uptake of smartphones, riders enjoy door-to-door car transport whenever they desire, for instance, when public transport is not available or not convenient, or after drinking alcohol on a night out. Ride-hailing has increased mobility for car-free households and for people with physical and cognitive impairments, boosting participation in new activities: people usually report that 5 to 7 percent of ride-hailing trips would not have been made if ride-hailing was not available.
Beyond these clear social benefits, a key question for society is whether these tech-based mobility innovations play any role in reducing some of the negative consequences of motorised traffic. For instance, the social cost of traffic crashes around the world are enormous: according to the World Health Organization, around 1.35 million people die and between 20 and 50 million are injured every year. Air pollution from traffic is responsible for ill health and premature deaths, crop losses, negative impacts on ecosystems and exacerbation of climate change. Traffic congestion is more than annoying; the social cost of congestion has been estimated in the order of billions of dollars per year in countries like Australia.
In this context, ride-hailing is sometimes perceived as environmentally friendly because, through sharing, fewer cars are used to satisfy people’s mobility needs; and because ride-hailing should support a lifestyle in which people travel by public transport, walking, biking or ride-hailing, depending on the occasion, without the need to own a car. In fact, people with a stronger pro-environmental attitudes can be more likely to use ride-hailing.
However, the actual evidence on the relationship between ride-hailing and societal costs of traffic paints a darker picture. Despite the fact that car owners tend to drive their own cars less once they adopt ride-hailing, several studies from both developed and developing countries have shown that ride-hailing likely increases traffic and urban congestion. This is mainly because a large share of ride-hailing trips replace trips previously made by public transport and because there is also a sizeable addition of ’empty kilometres’ (without passengers), when drivers move from the drop-off point of one passenger to the pick-up location of the next, an action repeated millions of times every day.
Researchers have also estimated that the increased traffic due to ride-hailing has increased fatal traffic crashes in the United States, for both car occupants and pedestrians.
Results on the relationship between car ownership and ride-hailing adoption are also mixed. On the one hand ride-hailing users may decide to sell their own car or delay the purchase of a new vehicle due to the availability of ride-hailing, while on the other hand many drivers have acquired a car with the purpose of becoming ride-hailing drivers (in fact, in countries such as Mexico car purchase to become Uber drivers is explicitly supported by Uber through deals with local car financers). Studies have shown both increases and reductions of car ownership due to ride-hailing, although, more commonly, estimations point to a reduction in car registrations.
Governments could step in to improve the sustainability of ride-hailing, in a way to strike the right balance between the social benefits and social costs of this type of mobility platform, for instance by encouraging ride-pooling (shared rides) and implementing synergies between ride-hailing and public transport systems as a first and last-mile connector, especially in locations and periods where ride-hailing does not increase congestion. This would increase the catchment area of public transport and the accessibility to jobs and other opportunities.
Applying a per-kilometre charge that depends on the time and location of ride-hailing driving and on the type of vehicle being used (for example low versus high emission cars) is a way to pursue several sustainability outcomes, and can be used to test new road-charging technologies that could be later applied to all cars in order to reduce congestion and environmental damage. Such actions are unfortunately still lacking in many countries, some 10 years after ride-hailing vehicles took their first disruptive ride on our streets.
is associate professor of civil engineering at the University of Twente in Enschede, The Netherlands and at Universidad de Chile in Santiago, Chile. His research interests cover he planning of public transport and shared mobilities, the behavioural and sustainability effects of emerging mobility technologies, and the analysis of traffic externalities. He declares no conflict of interest.
Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.
Editors Note: In the story “Gridlock unlocked” sent at: 13/02/2023 10:51.
This is a corrected repeat.
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Published on February 16, 2023
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"url": "https://360info.org/uber-might-not-be-the-traffic-buster-youd-expect/",
"author": "Alejandro Tirachini"
}
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Ubiquitous and mysterious, algorithms are ruling our lives - 360
Daniel Angus
Published on February 14, 2022
Algorithms hugely impact our consumption of news, media and much more but very little is known about how they do it.
Automated decision-making systems have crept into every corner of our lives — they impact the news we see, the songs we’re recommended, the products we buy and the way we travel.
At the heart of these systems lie algorithms — computerised instruction sets that operate over data to produce controlled outcomes. Algorithms that, until recently, operated with very little scrutiny.
When it comes to news, algorithms can determine what content comes top of your search, what advertising is targeted at you, and what is and isn’t allowed to exist on a platform through automated moderation.
Despite their ubiquity, algorithms can harm. Automated decision-making can discriminate on the basis of race, sex, age, class and more. These systems have been exploited by individuals and groups to proliferate misinformation.
Many news algorithms operate in closed proprietary systems shrouded in secrecy — aptly described as “black boxes”. To best assess the potential and risks of automated decision-making in news and media, the community would need to access information about how these systems work in practice. That requires transparency.
Most of us would have encountered collaborative filtering— a prevalent content recommendation algorithm popularised by Netflix. Collaborative filtering makes recommendations by extrapolating from shared qualities between items and/or users, directing audiences with messages like “people similar to you enjoyed this film, so you should also enjoy this film”. More data improves this prediction accuracy.
The volume of user preference data collected by platforms such as Spotify, Facebook, and YouTube is now so vast that serendipity is rendered mostly absent. These platforms instead resemble what marketing researchers Aron Darmody and Detlev Zwick describe as “highly personalised worlds that are algorithmically emptied of irrelevant choice”.
As algorithmically-enabled social media platforms become embedded in our cultural fabric, many users are developing their own beliefs about how algorithms work. Not all are correct. Two commonly encountered beliefs are that our devices are listening to us all the time, and that we collectively exist in filter bubbles.
We’ve all heard stories along the lines of: “I was discussing a fairly niche topic with friends and shortly afterwards I started receiving targeted advertisements about the topic we were discussing”.
This idea has been widely debunked — the data transfer requirements alone make it implausible — but the pervasiveness of this belief speaks to a deeper concern: that algorithms know more about us than we feel they should. The fact that many believe our phones are listening to us is partly psychological, but also a testament to the power of modern algorithmic recommendation systems.
The reality is our devices don’t need to listen in to our conversations to know how to profile us and target advertising. It’s much easier than that: we give away thousands of data points each day by sharing our location, click-throughs, text comments, status updates, and broader web-surfing behaviours.
A lot of this data isn’t even captured inside the app we’re using — web trackers mean our ordinary internet-surfing activity can be made available to big social media platforms. If we appear predictable, it is because our phones — and the platforms behind them — can figure out an awful lot about us through our everyday activity.
Fear around algorithms has led to other exaggerations and moral panics, particularly around so-called “filter bubbles” and “echo chambers”. Coined by activist Eli Pariser, the filter bubble hypothesis suggests that as platform algorithms tune towards our specific tastes, those systems would self-reinforce us into ‘bubbles’ where we eventually only encounter materials that confirm our pre-existing world views.
The bulk of work on this idea has so far failed to produce such evidence. Most evidence suggests we are consuming a wider variety of content in the modern digital news era.
While platforms attempt to optimise their algorithms and drive specific user experiences, there are also external actors that attempt to exploit such algorithms for their own gain. For instance, YouTube’s search ranking has been gamed by highly active “niche entrepreneurs” who were able to gain exceptional levels of visibility by posting inflammatory and controversial content.
On Twitter, coordinated inauthentic activity has been noted around major elections, the agents behind these campaigns exploiting the networked and algorithmic structure of the popular social media platform, “purposely entangl(ing) orchestrated action with organic activity” to boost platform visibility.
The myths and harms of algorithms point to a bigger issue: consumers do not know much about how these systems function.
What is being done to address these problems?
Those methods seek to bring transparency to otherwise opaque algorithmic processes. But some approaches have been met with resistance. In 2021, researchers at AlgorithmWatch and New York University NYU were threatened with legal action by Facebook over alleged violations of the platform’s terms of service for developing plugins that allowed users to anonymously donate advertising-related data. In the case of the NYU project, several researchers had their personal Facebook accounts suspended.
A way forward from this impasse is the recently tabled US “Platform Transparency and Accountability Act”. The Act is yet to pass and only provides coverage within the United States. It proposes that platforms be forced to make certain data available to researchers and provide basic computational tools for supporting transparency research.
It suggests appointing the US National Science Foundation to act as the arbiter of these data requests, but it is not clear whether they would support non-US citizens from making data requests. Given the global reach of these platforms the internationalising of any data access model would be highly practical.
Prof Daniel Angus is Professor of Digital Communication in the School of Communication, and leader of the Computational Communication and Culture program in QUT’s Digital Media Research Centre. He is an Associate Investigator in the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision Making & Society, and a Chief Investigator on the ARC Discovery Projects, Evaluating the Challenge of ‘Fake News’ and Other Malinformation, and Using machine vision to explore Instagram’s everyday promotional cultures. Prof Angus declared no conflicts of interest.
Prof Angus’ research receives funding from the Australian Research Council through the Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision Making & Society projects DP200100519 ‘Using machine vision to explore Instagram’s everyday promotional cultures’, DP200101317 ‘Evaluating the Challenge of ‘Fake News’ and Other Malinformation’ and LP190101051 ‘Young Australians and the Promotion of Alcohol on Social Media’.
This article was first published on February 14, 2022.
Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.
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Published on February 14, 2022
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"author": "Daniel Angus"
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Ukraine a cautionary tale for a China eyeing Taiwan - 360
Kacie Miura
Published on May 24, 2022
China has long wondered how the world might react to a conflict in Taiwan. The invasion of Ukraine has given them good insight.
China is watching, listening and learning to the world’s response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The blanket refusal of the United States to deploy combat troops in Ukraine is not lost on Beijing, whose leaders have long been deterred from using force to achieve full unification with Taiwan out of fear of US intervention.
While the willingness of the US to defend Taiwan is an open question, Beijing also understands that it cannot discount the lessons from Russia’s faltering war effort.
At the very least, the stalled Russian offensive reveals to China that the costs of attempting to fulfil its goals in Taiwan are likely to be intolerably high, even without a direct military conflict with the United States.
Russia’s failure to take Kyiv reportedly left Chinese officials, who have traditionally admired Moscow’s military capabilities, “surprised and unsettled”. Russian forces underestimated the ferocity of Ukraine’s resistance — a mistake that Beijing would be wise to avoid making in a war with Taiwan.
At the same time, the Ukraine crisis has emphasised to Taiwan the importance of boosting its civil defence, and has prompted its leaders to consider extending the amount of time that citizens are required to serve in the military. The US has encouraged Taiwan to acquire more mobile weapons for its military that would better enable it to carry out asymmetric warfare if faced with an all-out assault by Beijing.
Such efforts would further complicate a Chinese invasion. While a surprise blitzkrieg attack could blunt Taiwan’s ability to mount a Ukraine-style resistance, Chinese forces would face the additional obstacle of launching a difficult, full-scale amphibious invasion of the island nation of Taiwan. All of this compounds the difficulty of achieving forceful reunification for China, which, unlike Russia, has not fought a war in over four decades.
China’s leaders also have reason to be unnerved by the breadth and speed of the financial and economic sanctions levied against Moscow. Of note, the joint effort to sanction Russia included several Asian countries including Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, which have sought to signal their opposition to the invasion of a weaker country by a more powerful neighbour.
While China’s economy is much larger than Russia’s, it will not necessarily be more resilient to international sanctions. China is far more integrated into the world economy and international community than Russia. The Chinese Communist Party has staked its legitimacy on continued economic growth and prosperity, and is likely to be far more sensitive than Russia to economic disruptions.
The Ukraine crisis has understandably led China to double down on its quest for self-reliance. But Beijing’s ability to insulate the economy from a hostile foreign environment is riding on strong domestic demand, which its “zero-COVID” policy, looming real estate crisis, high debt, and ageing population could undermine.
At the same time, Ukraine has been the recipient of a torrent of military assistance from the US, most European countries, Australia, Canada, Japan, and South Korea. While this international assistance has not included direct military intervention, it has undeniably added to Moscow’s troubles on the battlefield.
Ukraine now has access to a steady supply of military equipment that will help it withstand a war of attrition against its much larger and conventionally more powerful neighbour. Intelligence shared by the United States has also proven critical – it handicapped Russia’s invasion by eliminating the element of surprise and has reportedly enabled Ukrainian forces to take out numerous Russian targets.
China should expect assistance to Taiwan by the US and its allies to be just as (if not much more) robust. And while the US has been careful to avoid coming into direct conflict with nuclear-armed Russia, China has little reason to doubt the commitment of the US to defending Taiwan. US-Taiwan ties may be unofficial, but as the Ukraine crisis has amplified Taiwan’s profile, the relationship has only continued to strengthen. A recent Congressional visit to Taiwan, led by the chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee Bob Menendez, reflects the political will that exists in Washington to support the island’s democracy.
But Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the refusal of partners like the US to put boots on the ground, has prompted concerns about the future of Taiwan, a fellow democracy that is also the target of irredentist claims by a nuclear-armed autocratic neighbour.
These concerns have prompted calls, including by former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, for the US to make clear that it will defend Taiwan against a Chinese invasion. Yet even absent a clear commitment, Russia’s failure to achieve a quick and decisive victory in Ukraine, combined with the devastation to Russia’s economy from wide-ranging international sanctions, may serve to deter China from mounting an invasion anytime soon.
Kacie Miura is an Assistant Professor at the University of San Diego. She is also a US-Korea NextGen scholar and a recent China Fellow at the Wilson Center.
Prof Miura declared no conflicts of interest in relation to the article.
Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.
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Published on May 24, 2022
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"url": "https://360info.org/ukraine-a-cautionary-tale-for-a-china-eyeing-taiwan/",
"author": "Kacie Miura"
}
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UN Arms Trade Treaty’s difficult first decade - 360
Roderic Alley
Published on August 23, 2022
It is eight years since a UN treaty on the trade in arms came into force. As the world meets in Geneva this week to assess progress and pathways for the treaty, a look back reveals mixed results to date.
The 2013 Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) was the culmination of protracted negotiations over agreed common standards regulating the conventional arms trade, and reducing the flow of unregulated arms. However, among the top 25 arms exporters in 2020, eight were not ATT parties, yet represented 62 per cent of recorded exports. One hundred and eleven nations are party to the treaty; the ATT absentees include the United States, Russia, and India.
Yet viewed positively, the treaty to restrict arms proliferation and gender-based violence has strengthened and legitimised local and international advocacy to end human rights violations. When it comes to gender-based violence, small arms and light weapons are the most utilised — much of them diverted and transferred illicitly from official trade shipments. The ATT has allowed the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women to repeatedly recognise the detrimental impact of this weaponry upon women and girls.
The ATT has also fortified legal challenges against governments, providing support for the argument that arms transfers are violating international human rights and humanitarian law. For example the advocacy group Campaign Against Arms Trade made the case against the British government that its extensive arms sales to Saudi Arabia resulted in gross human rights and humanitarian law violations in Yemen. After suspending, but subsequently renewing relevant export licences, the then British trade minister, Liz Truss, (now standing for election as prime minister) mistakenly dismissed the humanitarian law violations committed by Saudi operations in the Yemeni conflict as no more than “isolated incidents”.
Although interrupted by COVID-19, the treaty’s annual Conferences of States Parties have also allowed both official and non-government advocacy to urge stronger implementation of the ATT. That includes improved reporting by states; fuller recognition of ammunition controls as an aim and objective; demands to end weapons supplies to armed proxies and non-state actors; and enhanced funding for national and regional controls over illicit arms transfers.
By contrast, the ATT’s shortcomings are apparent. It lacks a central mechanism capable of driving measures that states are committed to introduce. Such a body is needed to set best practice standards; foster national control of brokerage activity; challenge patently unwarranted state secrecy of arms transfer data; and promote expanded treaty membership.
In addition, as the treaty is implemented by individual nations, it is heavily reliant on good faith that includes passing national legislation to regulate, for example, arms brokering. Frequently, regulation is either absent, inadequate, or unenforced. In 2021, of the 110 nations that were party to the ATT, 26 failed to submit required annual reports. Of the 84 that did, 15 did not meet obligations to enact arms brokering control measures, while a further 20, including China, Greece and Nigeria, sheltered under provisions restricting public disclosure of their reports.
Finally, ATT aims and objectives frequently fall subject to the political vicissitudes of our time. President Trump symbolically, but without legal meaning, ‘unsigned’ the United States from the ATT in 2019, making it plain that commercial objectives were behind American conventional arms sales. Yet for US arms control expert Rachel Stohl, the Biden administration has been “frustratingly slow and disappointingly silent” on rejoining the ATT, despite it being part of the Democratic Party’s platform. And it will prove unhelpful to the ATT if the Biden administration, as has been reported, frees the notorious Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout in a prisoner-exchange deal with President Putin.
The war in Ukraine has seen constantly shifting front lines and largely volunteer forces struggling to receive outside military aid via interrupted supply lines. Concerns have been voiced about weapons diverting into Ukraine’s black market.
In the UK, outrage over the loss of innocent civilian lives in Yemen pushed public opinion against continuing British arms sales to Saudi Arabia. The outrage was boosted by Saudi involvement in the 2018 assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Despite those continuing concerns, the world is a better place for having the ATT in place. Nonetheless it remains an instrument in need of dedicated high level political fortification to deliver on its mandate.
is senior fellow with the Centre for Strategic Studies Victoria University of Wellington. He declares no conflict of interest.
Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.
Editors Note: In the story “Weapons trade” sent at: 22/08/2022 10:22.
This is a corrected repeat.
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news-360info
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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463
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Published on August 23, 2022
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"url": "https://360info.org/un-arms-trade-treatys-difficult-first-decade/",
"author": "Roderic Alley"
}
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UN tries again with outer-space peace treaty - 360
Melissa de Zwart
Published on April 12, 2022
International agreement on a peace treaty for outer space has been lacking for decades. A new working group is attempting a different path.
The use of Elon Musk’s Starlink satellites to bring internet connectivity to Ukraine following the Russian invasion and the cyber-attack on the Viasat network has again focused attention on the importance and vulnerability of space assets in a time of war.
While Starlink helped Ukrainians communicate during the invasion, Musk warned users that the distinctive antennas could become targets for Russian attack. The Starlink satellites, which operate in low Earth orbit, may also be legitimate targets under international law. This is only one example of the growing concern about space as a warfighting domain. A UN working group will meet for the first time next month to consider paths to peace.
Space has been used for military purposes since the first communication and observation satellites were deployed in the 1950s, and the military has been deeply involved in the space programmes of many nations. Weapons testing, including nuclear detonations, was conducted in space in the late ’50s and ’60s, raising concerns about the devastating possibilities of a war in space and its effect on Earth. Just as exploration of space was becoming a technical possibility, we veered dangerously close to destroying ourselves and our future.
This fear led to the creation of the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space in 1958 and the drafting and negotiation of a 1967 agreement known as the Outer Space Treaty.
The most widely adopted set of space laws, the treaty contains no explicit prohibition on war in outer space. It does say that space shall be used for “peaceful purposes” and no nuclear weapons “or any other kinds of weapons of mass destruction” are allowed in orbit around Earth or otherwise stationed in space. Nations are also forbidden from testing weapons or conducting military manoeuvres in space. But directing a weapon from Earth to space or using assets in or through space for hostile purposes is not expressly prohibited.
The Outer Space Treaty is a very well subscribed treaty. One hundred and eleven nations are party to it, and a further 23 nations have signed it. Since it was agreed, four other multilateral space treaties have been adopted. The last of these was the Moon Agreement, which finally entered force in 1984. But each of these treaties achieved a diminishing number of signatories and it seemed that the age of multilateral space treaties had passed.
None of the major space powers is a member of the Moon Agreement and the United States explicitly stated in a 2020 Executive Order that it believes the Moon Agreement does not reflect customary international law.
In a time of rising tension between various spacefaring nations, the United Nations continues efforts to prevent the armament of space. PAROS (“Prevention of an Arms Race in Outer Space”) has been in discussion since 1978. Disagreement on the method for achieving the aims of PAROS, including the definition of a “space weapon”, binding or non-binding rules, and verification of compliance, has meant little progress has been made.
However, a major leap forward happened in December 2020 with the UN resolution on “Reducing Space Threats Through Norms, Rules and Principles of Responsible Behaviours”. This was followed by resolutions from the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) and the General Assembly, which established the Open Ended Working Group on Reducing Space Threats Through Norms, Rules and Principles of Responsible Behaviours.
That working group will meet for the first time in May 2022. Its job is to assess existing international laws concerning threats and space; identify existing and potential threats to space systems; and make recommendations on guidelines – “norms, rules and principles” – including how they might contribute to more legally binding treaties. Ultimately it is looking to prevent an arms race in outer space.
While the resolution to establish the working group received extensive support in the First Committee, with 163 nations voting in favour, there were eight votes against (including China, Iran, North Korea and Russia) and nine abstentions (including India, Israel and Pakistan). This means progress is not assured.
Notably the resolution uses the phrase “norms, rules and principles” when describing the guidelines the working group is to investigate. Since getting agreement on legally binding rules has proved impossible, “norms” have been employed to encompass the spectrum of views on responsible uses of space, without demanding agreement. Norms, in this context, are regarded as behaviours that “one ‘ought’ to comply with” – a kind of social expectation. Norms may evolve into laws, but until then they require voluntary adherence and acceptance.
Smaller nations, not just the powerful spacefaring nations, are required to create international norms. Relying upon blocs of like-minded states will not be enough to develop globally accepted standards. Given the differing views among the key space powers, a larger group of non-traditional space operators will also have to espouse particular behaviours for them to become norms. This is where, as Center for Space Policy and Strategy analyst Michael Gleason observes, independent verification will be vital for the global acceptance of voluntary norms. Without the ability to see compliance, norms may be abandoned and eroded. This will involve the willingness of government and commercial services to share their space traffic monitoring information.
At a time when the potential for weaponised uses of space threatens the development of a vibrant space economy and the return of humans to space, the working group is a vital step beyond the impasse in progress on PAROS. However, it will require the genuine engagement of both spacefaring and non-spacefaring states to ensure practical success.
Melissa de Zwart is professor (digital technology, security and governance) at Flinders University and the deputy chair of the Space Industry Association of Australia. She is is a member of the Strategic Advisory Board of Leo Labs Pty Ltd.
Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.
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news-360info
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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463
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Published on April 12, 2022
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"author": "Melissa de Zwart"
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Unbridled greed still plagues banking - 360
Paul Mazzola
Published on July 3, 2023
The global banking system is facing another potential crisis, raising the question of whether the world has learned any lessons from recent financial history.
Earlier this year, the world was once again brought to the brink of a systemic banking failure after the collapse of relatively unknown US-based Silicon Valley, Signature and Silvergate banks.
It took US President Joe Biden to announce publicly that depositors in these banks would be protected to avoid further bank runs and a potential collapse of the entire financial system.
It is reminiscent of the 2008 financial crisis, triggered by the collapse of several large banks and the failure of Lehman Brothers, and shares the same underlying cause.
George Santayana put it best in his 1905 book, The Life of Reason, observing “those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it”.
Although detailed post-mortems, reports and government inquiries are routinely conducted after such crises and governments customarily implement incremental improvements to financial regulations, this hasn’t prevented subsequent catastrophes.
The answer to why the world is repeatedly brought to the brink of systemic failure lies beyond the obvious causes.
The causes of the 2008 financial crisis were distilled by the G20 Leaders’ Declaration in November 2008 as a confluence of events including the creation of an unsustainable housing bubble, unbridled and unsound lending practices combined with increasingly complex and opaque financial products, consequent excessive leverage, misguided and outdated legislation and accounting standards, ineffective regulators, and growing capital flows fuelled by extremely accommodative monetary policy settings.
But underlying all of these lurks a failure of the human condition: incessant greed was allowed to dominate.
This manifested in misconduct and decision-making driven by excessive self-interest by a variety of financial market participants including bankers, politicians, credit rating agencies, mortgage brokers and others.
On an institutional level, such behaviour can be seen in an organisation’s culture.
Andrew Bailey, now Governor of the Bank of England, said in 2016: “There has not been a case of a major prudential or conduct failing in a firm which did not have among its root causes a failure of culture.”
The failure of Silicon Valley Bank was no different.
According to a report by The Washington Post, when the bank identified potential problems in its portfolio from rising US interest rates by using an established forecasting model, management simply changed the model’s assumptions to give the impression rising rates would have minimal impact.
This shows management were informed early of the problems but were more willing to manage external stakeholder perceptions.
“Management always wanted to tell a growth story,” one former employee said.
Referring to the CEO, Greg Becker, a venture capitalist who frequently dealt with him, said: “It’s fair to say he was more focused on the upside than risk management.”
The search for a solution to this problem may be found through examining the institutional forces on large organisations such as these.
These include coercive factors involving political power and influence.
Numerous studies have shown lobbying has been used successfully in the US to exert political influence to either stave off unattractive reforms to the banking sector or pass legislation supportive of bank profitability.
In either case, it is at the expense of the public benefit.
There is also pressure to conform to social practices or norms.
The banking sector is one where the pursuit of profits at all costs in some institutions is considered normal.
When management is seen to be supportive of any behaviour that achieves this profit objective, the behaviour is validated.
This could help explain how organisations such as Credit Suisse consistently find themselves embroiled in scandals.
Wrongdoings have included spying on employees, a bribery scandal in Mozambique involving loans to state-owned companies; operating accounts for drug lords and sanctioned businessmen, publicly known for their involvement in human rights abuses, drug trafficking, corruption, money laundering among other serious crimes.
All this in just the past four years.
Credit Suisse finally announced in March of this year that it will no longer pay bonuses to board members.
Norms and expectations within a profession are established through education. Professional networks where ideas are exchanged are influential in establishing these norms.
It seems logical to embed ethical training at the university and professional body levels to instil the appropriate norms in students and young professionals. Getting in early before the minds of the world’s future financial operatives can be corrupted seems to make sense.
Naturally much can be done at the board levels of banks to foster the most appropriate corporate culture. This is a work in progress.
There is also a role for selective mandatory reporting on compliance breaches to be made public. There’s nothing like being shamed publicly to motivate a board. The International Integrated Reporting Framework is the ideal instrument to pursue this.
However, the fear remains that while the management of financial institutions continues to be subject to decisions influenced by greed and the pursuit of profits at all costs, bank failures and associated risks to financial stability will continue.
Dr Paul Mazzola is a lecturer in banking and finance in the Faculty of Business and Law at the University of Wollongong. Before he joined the university, Paul enjoyed a senior executive career in banking and finance spanning 25 years covering the Australian, European and Asian Pacific markets, including general management responsibility for a major Australian bank.
Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.
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news-360info
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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463
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Published on July 3, 2023
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"author": "Paul Mazzola"
}
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2,263 |
Underwater gardening could save vital kelp forests - 360
Aaron Eger
Published on June 8, 2023
Restoring kelp forests to sustain the vital role they play in the blue economy will require people rethinking their relationship with the ocean.
Kelp forests are the largest marine ecosystems on Earth.
They grow next to 740 million people — or 10 percent of the world’s population — and sustain cultures through connections to stories and traditional practices, and economies by providing food and materials for society.
They are also some of the most productive ecosystems on the planet, able to grow 30 centimetres in less than a week.
But as important as they are, kelp forests are also threatened.
A combination of increasing water temperatures, invasive species, coastal pollution and development means that 40 to 60 percent of kelp forests have been degraded in the last 50 years.
As the first economic assessment of the global value of kelp forests showed, this puts at risk USD$500 billion of value in the benefits provided by these ecosystems to humans every year and threatens the people that rely on them.
Unfortunately, kelp forests don’t seem to rebound on their own once some of these human impacts — such as pollution — are reduced or taken out of the picture entirely.
If people want to restore kelp forests and help sustain the vital role they play in the blue economy, they may need to rethink their relationship with the ocean and start thinking about how they can play a central role in restoring it.
Around the world, from Norway to the United States of America to Chile to Korea and Japan, many people are doing just that.
In Korea, there is a term for this work that roughly translates to ‘marine gardening‘ and is applicable anywhere.
This philosophy suggests that people are not separate from nature, and by working with it we may be able to save these underwater forests.
The gardening term is apt because the ways that people can save kelp are a lot like the ways people work in their own gardens.
Restoration projects can till the soil by making it easier for kelp to grow on the seafloor.
They can distribute seeds into the ocean and hope that they take root, or they can grow plants in a nursery and transplant them fully grown into the sea.
Another group co-founded in Australia, the Green Gravel Action Group, grows juvenile kelp on small rocks and then scatters this gravel in the field, similar to seeding on land.
If the waters are now too warm, projects can select and breed heat tolerant species and individuals to add back into the ocean.
Underwater gardening also has its share of pests.
Similar to caterpillars that chew through tomatoes in a garden, kelp can be munched on by spiny herbivores called sea urchins.
In some cases, restoring kelp can be accomplished by harvesting or capturing the sea urchins. This activity can even be a win-win as urchins are a seafood delicacy in many parts of the world.
Classical protection can also play a role. If sea otters, lobsters, and fish are protected or restored, these animals naturally prey upon the urchins and help kelp forests thrive.
Society has the tools to protect and restore kelp forests, but there is a lot of work left to do.
There are now restoration projects in at least 16 countries, and local municipalities through to national governments are thinking about how to restore kelp forests.
But it is a big task.
Currently, approximately 15,000 hectares of kelp forests have been restored, but experts suggest that society should restore 1 million hectares by the year 2040.
Filling in this gap would require a big investment from governments, businesses, and society but it can return billions of dollars in ecosystem services and reconnect people to the ocean all around the world.
Investing in the ocean can also create a whole new regenerative industry that works to reverse past damages and sustain those forests into the future.
A project of the Kelp Forest Alliance is the Kelp Forest Challenge, which calls on everyone to not only restore 1 million hectares of kelp forest by 2040, but protect another 3 million hectares while also educating society about their importance.
Anyone can become a marine gardener and play a role in saving kelp forests.
is a marine scientist researching how we can combine people with ecological, social and economic knowledge to provide solutions to wicked problems in our world’s oceans, and is a postdoctoral research fellow at UNSW. He is also the founder and program director of the Kelp Forest Alliance — a research-driven not-for-profit dedicated to accelerating the protection and restoration of kelp forests worldwide.
Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.
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news-360info
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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463
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Published on June 8, 2023
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"url": "https://360info.org/underwater-gardening-could-save-vital-kelp-forests/",
"author": "Aaron Eger"
}
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Unforgettable images help fans forget the dark side - 360
Alfred Archer, Kyle Fruh
Published on August 9, 2023
Sportswashing’s goal is to distract from a nation’s dark deeds but it can corrupt the sport in the process.
It’s been described as the “year that sportswashing won”.
Manchester City — owned by Sheikh Mansour through the Abu Dhabi United Group, the investment vehicle for the United Arab Emirates royal family — became the first football club owned by a nation to win the UEFA Champions League. Mansour is vice-president of the UAE. His brother is the president.
City’s win came six months after the 2022 FIFA Men’s World Cup was played in Qatar amid widespread criticism of the country’s human rights record. Shortly afterwards, Cristiano Ronaldo became the first of a conga line of high-profile stars to sign for Saudi Arabian clubs.
These moves were made possible by massive investment from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, which also owns English Premier League Club Newcastle United and is controlled by the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
This investment has prompted accusations of sportswashing from human rights organisations, due to Saudi Arabia’s use of torture and the death penalty and the denial of freedom of expression and association.
Sportswashing allegations accuse those responsible for serious moral violations of using sport to distract attention away from this wrongdoing. People love sports and that positivity can be gleaned through association to influence a regime’s reputation.
The problem with sportswashing, especially successful sportswashing, is that it also corrupts the sports involved.
Sportswashing is generally engaged in by states or regimes. With Qatar and Saudi Arabia, both are accused of trying to use the positive associations that people have with football to diminish their responsibility for human rights violations.
Qatar can expect an emotionally laden image of Lionel Messi hoisting the World Cup trophy while wearing a bisht, a traditional Arab robe, to overwhelm the emotionally fraught image of abused and exploited migrant labourers in a global audience’s thinking about the country.
And Saudi Arabia may hope that soon it will be closely linked in popular imagination with all the excitement and fondness elicited by elite boxing, glamorous global football stars, and the world’s best golfers rather than, for example, the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
It is not only Qatar and Saudi Arabia that can be accused of sportswashing.
The 2018 World Cup in Vladimir Putin’s Russia could be viewed as a case of sportswashing. Further back, the 1934 World Cup hosted in Italy during Benito Mussolini’s reign and the 1936 Berlin Olympics in Nazi Germany can both be seen as sportswashing.
Each accusation must be judged on its merits to determine whether the regime involved has engaged in major wrongdoing and is attempting to use sport to distract attention from this.
The most important and obvious problem with sportswashing is that when successful it enables countries to continue engaging in human rights abuses without facing any reputational damage.
But this is not all. Sportswashing also damages the sport itself, together with all those who participate in it.
It does so by making those involved in sports complicit in the state’s human rights abuses. This does not mean that players, fans, journalists and others involved in sports are actually violating human rights themselves.
But when sportswashing succeeds it does so in part because of the contributions people in all those roles make.
The unbelievably compelling World Cup final, played so well by so many stars, the indelible image of Messi in a bisht, and the fervour of fans around the world following every twist in the narrative – this is why the event is attractive for sportswashing purposes, and the complicity it creates is shared far and wide.
Put to these purposes, the value of sport itself is corrupted – it’s no longer just a contest of skill, wit and determination, but also something quite distinct – an exercise in diminishing moral accountability.
These issues present the difficult question of how those involved in sports should respond to sportswashing.
One extreme option is a boycott. This response received wide coverage in the run-up to the 2022 World Cup, when German football fans in particular called for a general fan boycott of the games.
Had this boycott received widespread uptake amongst fans, journalists and perhaps even players, then it could have made a powerful statement.
But boycotts ask a lot of participants.
For players and journalists, it could have meant missing out on the most important moments of their careers, while for many fans the World Cup is the highlight of the football calendar.
Alternatively, there are ways of remaining engaged while counteracting sportswashing. Fan groups such as Newcastle United Fans Against Sportswashing conduct a range of campaigning activities against the Saudi ownership of their club.
For some fans, this means refusing to renew their season ticket, while others continue to go to matches but transform the way they support the club. These fans may attend games but bring banners of protest along with them.
They write letters to football governing bodies and politicians calling for a ban on the state ownership of football clubs. They continue to raise awareness of the human rights abuses by the Saudi regime, using attention on the club to motivate enhanced scrutiny and effect positive change rather than allowing the sport to diminish responsibility.
We may hope that small successes here can accumulate and help reclaim sport’s potential as a force for good.
Alfred Archer is Associate Professor of Philosophy, School of Humanities and Digital Sciences, Tilburg University, Netherlands and Kyle Fruh is Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Duke Kunshan University, China. This article was co-authored together with Jake Wojtowicz, an independent scholar. They declare no conflict of interest.
Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.
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news-360info
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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463
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Published on August 9, 2023
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"author": "Alfred Archer, Kyle Fruh"
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United Nations arms treaty an example, not an answer - 360
Owen Greene
Published on August 23, 2022
The effectiveness of the United Nations Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) has been under fire. Designed to regulate international trade in conventional arms, lack of support by some of the world’s great powers has reduced its reach.
But it is important to have realistic expectations. It is too much to expect that the ATT, or any other international treaty, can force major powers to resist actions that they judge to be against their strategic interests.
Setting international principles and standards and enabling coalitions of willing governments, civil society groups and international organisations to co-operate on implementing control even without the co-operation of some ‘sceptical’ states remains an important aspect of the treaty, and one worth emphasising.
In much of the world, arms transfers are badly regulated leading to destabilising or abusive arms flows and misuse that are not in any nation’s real interests. ATT membership commits member countries to ensure good standards in the criteria and procedures they use when deciding whether to authorise an arms import or export or transit or transportation of an arms shipment through their jurisdiction. Each government retains its independent decision-making authority in almost all cases, deciding whether the arms transfer is in line with international criteria. The ATT does prohibit arms transfers that would break UN Security Council embargoes or other relevant international obligations, or if the government “has knowledge at the time of authorisation” that the items would be used to commit genocide, crimes against humanity or war crimes.
Only some of the problems the ATT aims to address arise from deliberate strategic decisions by major powers to authorise arms shipments. Many of the dangerous and destabilising arms flows arise because of inadequacies in national regulations, control and enforcement systems, or lack of national capacity to monitor and assess risks.
Often, the problems arise because corrupt or irresponsible state officials are able to exploit these weaknesses to authorise arms transfers for their own interests without adequate accountability.
Where the ATT has had some success is in establishing good standards for national control systems and has mobilised substantial international programmes to assist countries to achieve them. The ATT can provide the necessary standards and assistance to help with national reforms – directly through official assistance programmes but also indirectly as a reference point for national campaigners.
These types of influencing mechanisms are unlikely to lead to improved arms transfer controls in authoritarian states if their elites resist. But they can be important in countries that are undergoing wider political reforms.
This includes many countries in Africa, Latin America, and elsewhere. ATT norms and assistance programmes have become influential and prominent in several regions; including West and East Africa; Latin America; and Oceania.
One of the biggest international challenges involving the ATT is to prevent and reduce the diversion of arms transfers to unauthorised destinations or end-users. In practice, this is the biggest source of arms flowing to areas of civil war, social violence or terrorism.
Licensed arms exports may be diverted during international transit. Alternatively, the arms arrive at their authorised destination but are then re-exported or allowed to fall into the wrong hands.
There are many ways to reduce risks of diversion – including denying licences for exports that are at risk of diversion, post-delivery checks, and restrictions on re-export. The ATT includes clear legal obligations to prevent and combat diversion, and in practice has become the main global framework for developing international good practices and co-operation to address it. Although European Union and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation states have closer and more trusted mechanisms for sharing sensitive information between themselves on this matter, ATT working groups enable discussions and cooperation with other countries and regions.
This is probably the most dynamic aspect of ATT activity currently. Even if there are some states that cynically neglect or exploit diversion activities in practice, they can scarcely object to the majority of ATT members co-operating to tackle the problem.
As of now, some 111 countries have ratified the Arms Trade Treaty with another 30 countries having signed but not ratified – leaving 54 states entirely outside the treaty. There is a well-established ATT secretariat, a suite of ATT expert working groups and regular meetings of the countries.
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Thus the ATT is fully operational. West European countries, Japan, and key members of the African Union and Organisation of American States, prominently support the ATT. But Russia, India, Saudi Arabia and several other major arms exporting and importing states have not even signed the ATT. The United States has signed, but strong Republican Party opposition means that it is unlikely America will ratify it in the foreseeable future.
Interestingly, shortly after former president Donald Trump declared his opposition to the ATT in 2019, China proceeded to ratify the treaty. This indicates that China decided it can live with the ATT’s legal obligations while taking a diplomatic opportunity to demonstrate its multilateral credentials in contrast to the US.
China and the US both believe that their existing national arms transfer control systems meet ATT standards and principles. Their contributions to the effectiveness of the ATT depend less on their ratification status and more on their willingness to share relevant information, assess and reduce risks of potential arms transfers, and co-operate with wider ATT implementation efforts.
The Biden Administration has at least resumed co-operation with the ATT. Hopefully, China’s membership will enable further development of working-level co-operation with Chinese officials. India argues that the ATT does not sufficiently reflect states’ rights to import arms for their national security. Russia on the other hand makes it clear that it will continue actively to use arms exports as an instrument to promote its international interests, and ‘does not see the point’ of signing up to the ATT and its norms on arms transfers. Similarly, Iran and Saudi Arabia appear to have little interest in supporting the ATT.
It seems clear that it will be a struggle to change the policies of several of the great powers; particularly on arms transfers to sub-regions where there is hot geostrategic competition such as the Middle East.
But it’s not all about ratifying the ATT. The principles and norms embedded in the treaty can still act to draw nations away from allowing illicit trades. The case studies of good standards for national control systems, and frameworks for international collaboration on the issue remain useful in establishing a wider narrative that diversion and unrestrained trade are not tolerated by the international community.
The treaty sets a standard. From there, it depends on the extent to which countries and civil society groups are willing and able to improve their regulation of all aspects of arms transfers; and to co-operate to tackle problems.
Owen Greene (ORCID) is Professor of International Security and Development and Director of Research and Innovation at the Department of Peace Studies and International Development, University of Bradford, UK. He was closely involved as an advisor and expert in the process of negotiating the Arms Trade Treaty and subsequently in the establishment and activities of ATT and associated working groups since 2014 working with governments, regional organisations and international civil society networks. He declares no conflict of interest with the above article.
Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.
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news-360info
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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463
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Published on August 23, 2022
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"author": "Owen Greene"
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Universities can help fix governments hooked on consultants - 360
Duncan Ivison
Published on August 17, 2023
There is no question that we need a more active, creative and capable public service. To do that education and research in the area needs urgent attention.
The sheer scale of the use of consultants and external contractors in Australia’s levels of government is staggering.
According to the Centre for Public Integrity, the use of ‘management advisory services’ by Australia’s commonwealth government is up by 1,276 percent over the past decade.
The overuse of these external contractors has been headline news in Australia for months. The breaches of confidentiality and conflicts of interest that have been exposed have rightly been the subject of public outcry.
There is a feeling, too, that these advisors are used to rubber stamp or legitimise policies public servants are no longer capable of developing themselves, either because they lack the capacity to do so, or are afraid to.
While it’s reasonable for the government to call on external experts for help dealing with the myriad complex issues facing the country, there are downsides, as the PwC scandal has shown.
Consultants have little incentive to offer genuinely impartial and frank advice, given the commercial incentive to maintain their client relationships. As a result, we get bad policymaking, the hollowing out of state capacity and the public good loses out.
Whether or not the consultancy industry is mainly to blame for this hollowing out, there is no question that we need now, more than ever, a more active, creative, and capable public service, given the scale and urgency of the challenges Australia and the world face.
It’s no wonder that people are increasingly exasperated by government inertia and partisan bickering while — quite literally— the world burns.
One way to address this is to think more boldly about the way we harness expertise across the public and private sector to address the challenges we face.
If we could close the gap between the groundbreaking discovery research carried out in universities and institutes, and the ability of policymakers and industry to use those insights to address our collective challenges, perhaps we’d be better off as a nation.
Right now, one in four people working for the public service are employed externally rather than directly by government through a combination of consultants, contractors, labour hire and outsourced service providers.
This amounted to over AUD$600 million in 2021-22 of taxpayers money in contracts with the ‘big four’ consultancies (Ernst & Young, PwC, Deloitte and KPMG) with a further AUD$1 billion for future work.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s Labor government is moving to reduce this expenditure and the reliance on external firms.
But the current debate gives us a chance to ask some deeper questions about what else might be happening. Why have governments (and other public institutions, including universities) come to rely on consultants so heavily?
The more cynical explanation is that the big consultancy firms will often recruit former senior civil servants to work for them. They bring their networks and inside knowledge to the business and build trust with their government clients, who are often former colleagues.
Senior civil servants like outside firms because they provide independence from government and thus greater flexibility regarding the advice they provide. The recent Royal Commission into Robodebt shed light on the dark side of this process.
Advice that is politically uncomfortable can be quietly buried and projects wound up in ways that would be more difficult if they were being carried out within the public service itself.
However, we shouldn’t allow cynicism to overwhelm our analysis.
For one thing, there is no question that specialised expertise is sometimes required from outside of government to address highly complex issues. It’s not surprising that governments have turned to consultants for help in relation to Defence and IT for example, given the limited scope of expertise within the public service in these areas.
It’s also understandable that for some time-critical projects extra help is required to deliver them on time.
Much of the criticism of governments’ overreliance on consultants has focused on the cost, blatant breaches of confidentiality and conflicts of interest.
It reinforces a general sense that managerial elites can take advantage of their position to pay themselves first, usually at the taxpayer’s expense.
But an overreliance on commercial firms to provide expertise also undermines the public service precisely when governments face increasing demands from the public to address deep societal and global challenges.
This is by far the biggest issue emerging from the debate about the role of consultancy firms that we should be focusing on.
Banning consultants or external contractors in government isn’t practical or desirable since there are times where they are genuinely needed. Tougher guidelines about managing conflicts of interest, and more investment in boosting the capabilities of the public service (starting with the funds that were being spent on consultants) is critical.
However, we also have an opportunity to think more deeply about how we can draw on expertise from across society to improve public debate and decision-making given the scale and urgency of the challenges we face.
Mariana Mazzacuto and Rosie Collington’s book captures one important aspect of this conundrum. Their argument is nicely summarized in the title: The Big Con: How the Consulting Industry Weakens our Businesses, Infantilizes our Governments and Warps our Economies.
The gist is that state capacity for responding to the problems our societies face today has been weakened since the neoliberal reforms of the 1980s and 1990s, introduced and sustained by all sides of politics, that limited government to focusing mainly on market failures.
The role of government has thus become essentially reactive — to ‘enabling’, ‘fixing’, ‘de-risking’ and ‘re-distributing’, as opposed to intervening and investing directly to create new solutions. The view has been that real value is created by business and entrepreneurs, not governments.
But this approach has turned out to be doubly mistaken.
First, governments can and do invest directly to help create value. Mazzacuto’s example from her previous book The Entreprenurial State on how government-backed research helped build the iPhone is a killer example of this, as is the role that publicly funded mRNA research played in the development of vaccines for COVID.
However, it’s also problematic because business doesn’t invest in basic research, and moreover, at least in Australia, is failing to invest adequately in research and development more generally.
Mazzacuto and Collington’s claim is that the ‘infantilisation’ of governments has been aided and abetted by the way consultants are used.
Governments and businesses use PwC, McKinsey and the like to provide expertise and validate policies.
To make it worse, because the big consultancies’ largest clients are on both sides of the table, so to speak, they have little incentive to offer genuinely impartial and frank advice.
The country loses out as a result.
To turn this around re-investing in our public service is crucial. But we also need to think more boldly about the way we harness the expertise in innovation, science, the social sciences, and the humanities across the public and private sector to address the challenges we face.
The key is how.
First, we could re-energise and re-invest in our research and development sector. Just about every study over the last decade in Australia and overseas has shown that investing in research delivers one of the best returns on investment governments can make.
However, in Australia, investment in research and development in both the public and private sector in Australia is declining.
Business expenditure on R&D has declined from 1.37 percent to .92 percent of GDP between 2008 and 2019 (well below the OECD average of 1.92 percent). Government expenditure has declined too, from .33 percent to .17 percent of GDP between 2000 and 2020.
Meanwhile, universities have been picking up the slack, raising their investment in research from .40 percent of GDP in 2000 to .61 percent in 2020 (taking their share of the nation’s total spend on R&D to 37 percent in 2020). Overall, we are spending 1.8 percent of our GDP on R&D, well below many of our competitors and the OECD average of 2.7 percent.
Universities also do almost all the basic research conducted in Australia, but which in turn is declining as a proportion of all research done — a worrying development at a time when we need new ideas to address our biggest policy challenges.
Fortunately, we have the opportunity through the government’s Australian Universities Accord process, to tackle some of these issues head-on. It’s an opportunity we can’t waste.
But even if we can get the funding right, there is still more to do.
We need new bridges and pathways between government and the research and development sector to help rebuild state policymaking capacity in areas such as climate, health and technology, among others.
This means forging new kinds of partnerships between governments, universities, research institutes, community organizations and industry. It also means a change in Australia’s research culture.
What this looks like is to continue to create policy incentives for universities to think creatively about the impact of their research.
We can do this by encouraging pathways for the commercialisation of research, to get it out into the world more quickly, as well as community-engaged and community-led research, to ensure we are not only aligning more of our research with community needs, but also learning from a close engagement with the users of our research on the ground.
We also need universities to reward and value this work within their internal incentive structures — including how staff are assessed, remunerated, and promoted.
Finally, we should be encouraging greater mobility between academia and the public service. If the movement between the upper echelons of the civil service and consultancy firms is currently something of a vicious circle at the moment, then we need to create more virtuous circles between public good-oriented institutions like universities and research institutes and the public service (as well as with industry).
Australia is poor at doing this (with some notable exceptions) compared to other countries like the United States.
But we also need new kinds of institutions. A greater diversity of universities and colleges with distinct missions and areas of focus, rather than everyone being incentivised to look the same, would help.
Australia could use its own version of the London School of Economics and Political Science , for example, or a Caltech, or something like the Institute of Fiscal Studies, to help train future policymakers and inform complex policy debates. Again, the Universities Accord process offers us an opportunity to explore these possibilities.
We also need more bridging initiatives. For example, in the state of New South Wales, the University of Sydney, the University of Technology Sydney, and Western Sydney University, joined forces with the state government to create a new public policy initiative which the author helped lead.
This was inspired, in part, by the government’s desire to tap into the expertise held in NSW universities that could help them address their most difficult policy challenges.
Hence the James Martin Institute for Public Policy was born. It has a mandate to work closely with the public service in co-designing and collaborating on policy-related research, and orienting its work around the priorities the public service and government are grappling with. It also has a mandate to help researchers develop the skills required to produce policy relevant research. It’s got off to a great start.
Of course, there are other similar initiatives elsewhere in Australia — including the work done by the Crawford School of Public Policy at the ANU, the Melbourne School of Government, the Sydney Policy Lab, as well as private think tanks such as the Grattan Institute, the Centre for Public Integrity, the Australia Institute, and Blueprint Institute.
We need more of these, and greater interaction between them and governments at the state and commonwealth level, to lift our capacity to develop public policy suitable for the complex times we live in.
Focusing on the harm that an overreliance on consultants can cause isn’t enough. We need to rethink and reinvest in the intellectual infrastructure of our country to help our governments and policymakers make better decisions in all of our interests.
Professor Duncan Ivison is Professor of Political Philosophy in the Department of Philosophy, and was most recently Deputy Vice Chancellor (Research) from 2015-2022 at the University of Sydney.
Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.
Editors Note: In the story “The consultancy conundrum” sent at: 15/08/2023 06:00.
This is a corrected repeat.
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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463
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Published on August 17, 2023
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Universities find they can't silence victims of sexual assault - 360
Rabi'ah Aminudin
Published on November 25, 2022
In the face of silence from their universities, students have taken to social media to demand better action against sexual harassment and assault.
It took until September 2022 for student Farah Azuin Abdul Razak to receive justice, some 15 months after she first reported she had been sexually harassed by her lecturer from Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM). Initially, her complaint to university management was met with silence, prompting her to go public on social media.
Such digital activism is showing a significant impact on university policies and changing the attitudes of university administrators towards violence against women. The constant pressure and actions by the victims, members of the public, and civil societies have prompted universities to take heed.
The stories emerging from Malaysia’s education sector in recent years are almost too shocking to believe. When 17-year-old student, Ain Husniza Saiful Nizam brought to light the lackadaisical attitude of her school in addressing and conducting appropriate action against her teacher for making rape jokes to students, the teacher decided to sue Ain for defamation.
Such examples reveal the deep-rooted sexism and misogyny in Malaysia’s education intuitions.
Several schools across the nation were found to be practising spot checks for whether a student had her period. Muslim women refrain from prayer during their menses, so these checks were performed by female teachers who claimed students were falsely skipping their prayers. Students alleged the teachers groped their crotches to check for sanitary products and that they were handled aggressively. Again, responses from relevant authorities have been slow and non-government organisations believe this spot check is the most underreported form of abuse happening in schools. The only visible result was the verbal reassurance by the Minister of Education that proper actions have been taken to prohibit such practices.
Higher education institutions have more rampant and embedded issues with sexual harassment. Institutions that are characterised by precarious working conditions and are hierarchical enable sexual harassment. Studies have shown that female staff and students are found to have a higher risk of sexually assault or harassment compared to men.
Due to the sensitivity of the issue, there is a lack of data to illustrate the real number of sexual harassment cases that happen on Malaysian campuses. But a 2017 survey with 351 respondents from a public university in the east coast of Malaysia found more than half of the respondents, mostly women, reported they had experienced sexual harassment. A 2019 study showed international students at public universities in Malaysia were also susceptible to threats and harassment on campus.
University students have taken the lead to pressure universities and authorities to take action against sexual assault and harassment. Online platforms are the tool most often employed in this objective.
In a different case in June 2021, multiple current and former students from UiTM came forward with allegations of a lecturer’s predatory behaviour. Evidence such as screenshots of inappropriate and lewd messages sent by the lecturer to his students faced a lukewarm response from the university. So the students shared them more widely online.
Over at Universiti Malaya (UM), a student who alleged harassment by her lecturer made a police report after hearing nothing back from the university. However, the police decided not to pursue any further action as they were told the lecturer had already received disciplinary action from the university. An online petition was launched by Tiada.Guru, an online whistleblower site demanding the case to be reopened and investigated. They argued the authorities’ lenient response would discourage other victims to come forward.
The National University of Singapore has also received numerous misconduct complaints against students and lecturers. Some of the victims were even subjected to harsh interrogation tactics aimed at undermining their claims. This has prompted the university to update its Complaints of Sexual Misconduct to reaffirm the institution’s ongoing efforts of fostering a safe, inclusive and respectful environment for everyone.
Back in schools, the period spot-check issue has created an uproar on Twitter. Civil society groups such as All-Women’s Action Society and Sisters in Islam condemned the practice and urged the government to take immediate action.
To combat the clearly rampant problem, universities could introduce clear and concise policies specifically addressing the issue of sexual harassment. These policies can not only be a tool to prevent sexual harassment from taking place on campus but can provide a mechanism for sexual harassment to be reported and proper actions taken to ensure the issue is addressed fairly, transparently, and justly.
In September 2021, UM introduced the Zero Tolerance Code of Exploitation, Abuse, and Sexual Harassment to replace its prior code of practice. The new code of conduct provides more comprehensive coverage of sexual harassment by specifying the definition, type, and role of authorities in addressing the issue. The policy outlines the mechanisms to address the issue from reporting to providing support to the victims. The university also reiterates its commitment to addressing sexual harassment issues through training programmes to raise awareness and improve existing infrastructure to prevent potential cases from occurring within the university.
In 2020, the Ministry of Education also attempted to amend Act 605 which governs the statutory bodies including universities to include sexual harassment as a serious offence which carries legal repercussions. Progress has been slow.
Although most universities have a code of conduct that include indecent acts, the emerging number of cases of harassment shows it to be insufficient to address the issue of sexual harassment on campus. Often it does not specify sexual harassment as a criminal offence, leaving the victims to find their own way to deal with the abuse.
A support system could assist the victims during their traumatising and painful ordeal. The attitudes of university administrators and the authorities toward sexual harassment cases could be improved. Gender-sensitive training could be given to staff and students dealing with alleged reports. Understanding the severity of the situation might enable them to push for better policies in addressing sexual harassment cases.
Rabi’ah Aminudin is an assistant professor at the department of political science, at International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM). She tweets at @DR4814H.
Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.
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Published on November 25, 2022
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Unlocking Indonesia's potential through a blue economy - 360
Zuzy Anna
Published on June 8, 2023
In the wake of COVID-19, Indonesia has the opportunity to shift away from a growth-oriented economic model towards an inclusive blue economy.
COVID-19 sent shockwaves through economies worldwide, causing severe disruptions and exposing the fragility of growth-oriented models. The pandemic’s impact has forced governments, policymakers, and economists to re-evaluate the traditional approach of focusing solely on economic expansion and imagine alternative economic models.
For Indonesia, this opportunity to reimagine the post-COVID economy is centred around implementing a blue economy.
A blue economy aims to reset inclusive and long-lasting economic growth by harnessing sustainable marine resources. Growth is achieved through economic interventions that support development while preserving and protecting marine resources.
Indonesia has more than 17,500 islands, 108,000km of coastline, and three-quarters of its territory at sea. Oceans are central to Indonesia’s prosperity through economic activities such as capture fisheries, aquaculture, coastal tourism, marine construction and transportation.
Indonesia has the world’s second largest fishery sector, worth around USD$27 billion and providing seven million jobs and over 50 percent of the country’s animal-based protein needs. Oceans are a key asset for the country’s tourism industry, which was worth around USD$21 billion to GDP in 2019.
Indonesia’s unique reliance on the ocean for its economic and cultural development has led its government to adopt the recommendations of the United Nations Environment Programme to promote a low-carbon economy.
This agreement involves adopting policies and implementing initiatives supportive of a low-carbon economy, prioritising clean water access, mitigating climate change, protecting marine resources, and preserving terrestrial ecosystems.
These goals reflect Indonesia’s commitment to sustainable development and its recognition of the interconnectedness between economic growth, social wellbeing and environmental protection.
Indonesia’s commitment to incorporating blue economy principles into their policies is not new. During a June 2012 UN conference, the administration of then-Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono voiced their commitment to implementing a blue economy.
His successor, President Joko Widodo, has established a blueprint known as Nawacita, which outlined the government’s vision and priorities. The commitment to implementing a blue economy was a key aspect of Nawacita, highlighting the administration’s determination to prioritise sustainable practices, including the responsible use of marine resources.
In June 2021, Indonesia committed to the Initiative Natural Capital Carbon Communities Super Power at the Tri Hita Karana Climate Forum. This initiative emphasises the importance of natural capital, including marine resources, in mitigating climate change and promoting sustainable development.
By recognising the significance of natural capital, Indonesia aims to position itself as a leading force in addressing climate change and fostering sustainable communities.
The opportunity to pursue a blue economy in Indonesia is strong and potentially lucrative. The World Bank estimates the value of Indonesia’s blue economy at USD$1.338 billion, which includes opportunities for revenue through coastal culture, capture fishery, treasure-laden shipwrecks, marine tourism, coral reefs, seagrass and mangroves.
There are challenges implementing blue economy principles in Indonesia. Coastal areas are facing population growth, which will lead to more demand for land in limited space, leading to internal migration and environmental strain. Tidal flooding due to land subsidence poses a significant threat to coastal urban areas, damaging infrastructure and affecting communities, households and individuals.
Indonesia produces the second largest volume of marine debris after China; it is vulnerable to oil spills and marine fisheries are unsustainably exploited. Ninety percent of Indonesian boats draw their catch from areas that are already overfished and overcapacity.
Traditional communities in Indonesia, whose lives have long revolved around the sea, face challenges to their way of life due to rising populations, coral reef destruction and the abandonment of traditional fishing practices.
With many significant challenges, Indonesia needs to carefully pick its battles, considering its limited resources.
The Indonesian government still heavily relies on revenue from the mining and fossil energy sectors. The objectives of promoting a low-carbon economy cannot be achieved if the government continues to depend on these sectors.
To meet its commitment to transition to a blue economy, Indonesia must diversify its economy, reduce reliance on extractive industries, transition to renewable energy sources and promote sustainable practices. This shift would align with the principles of a blue economy and contribute to mitigating climate change, ensuring a more sustainable future.
To finance this shift towards a blue economy, Indonesia could consider investing a minimum of 10 percent of its marine economic output in managing ocean governance and health. Seeking funding from developed countries through debt conversion or debt-for-nature swaps could be explored.
Environmental fiscal reforms can be implemented, including incentives and disincentives such as taxation, fees, pricing mechanisms and phasing out harmful subsidies. In addition, private investors and capital markets could be encouraged to scale up investments in blue economy practices and principles through mechanisms such as green banking.
Encouraging insurance companies to design new products that proactively support sustainable marine sectors is also important. Promoting public-private partnerships for research and development of financial solutions for the ocean and investable marine pathways can be beneficial. Providing concessional, catalytic and patient capital for the transition to a blue economy is essential.
By implementing these financing strategies, Indonesia can mobilise the necessary resources to support the implementation of a blue economy. Collaboration among various stakeholders, including government, private sector, and international institutions, is crucial to ensure effective financing mechanisms and the sustainable development of a blue economy.
Zuzy Anna is a professor at the Faculty of Fisheries and Marine Science, Universitas Padjadjaran. She serves as the Head of Fisheries and Marine Socio Economics Department at Universitas Padjadjaran and is Director of the SDGs Center. Her research interests include resources and environmental economics, marine and fisheries economics and Sustainable Development Goals.
Professor Anna declares she has no conflict of interest.
Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.
Editors Note: In the story “Blue economy” sent at: 08/06/2023 11:24.
This is a corrected repeat.
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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463
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Published on June 8, 2023
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Unnecessary hysterectomies are still happening - 360
Alison Downham Moore, Fouzieyha Towghi, Tinashe Dune
Published on September 16, 2022
While hysterectomy surgery has seen a drop in developed economies, it persists in the global South reflecting a racist, sexist, and prejudicial legacy.
Hysterectomy rates have declined in developed economies over the past 30 years. But in India, Africa, and South America, they have increased. This raises the question of whether forms of gender, race, class, and caste discrimination are still influencing decisions about this surgery, as they have throughout history.
Even in the United States, where it is one of the most common surgical procedures among women, hysterectomy is not always necessary and informed consent requires improvement. ‘Long-term’ clinical studies in North America and Europe have used questionnaires to ask women about their health one to five years after their surgery. They found out that ‘only’ 10 to 20 percent had a negative experience. It is on these grounds that hysterectomy has been regarded as well tolerated. Although, as cancer researchers, Ethan Basch and Christina Yap have observed, tolerating treatment is not the same as living quality and healthy life.
Hysterectomy is, of course, important in the treatment of aggressive cancers and may be appropriate for a variety of non-cancerous conditions that have not responded to more conservative treatment.
Historically, clinicians and practitioners have been divided over the question of whether hysterectomy was the best treatment for non-cancerous conditions. Recent work by medical ethicists and gynaecologists questioned whether hysterectomy is being used excessively and unnecessarily and whether this shows disregard for women’s health relative to men’s. Both prostate and testicular cancer are more common in men than uterine and ovarian cancers are in women, yet removal of men’s reproductive organs is far rarer.
In theory, only specialist gynaecologists are qualified to provide gynaecological surgeries, following clear communication with patients about when hysterectomy may be medically necessary or when it is simply one of several possible treatments.
Nonetheless, a gynaecologist may more often recommend hysterectomy to older women and to those who do not intend to have children, in the view that their uterus is a useless organ, representing merely a liability for future cancer risk. For women with elevated risk for such cancers due to Lynch syndrome, common family history or identified breast cancer genes, optional hysterectomy, removal of the ovaries, and breast removal can all reduce cancer risk. But for women without a such family history, prophylactic body-part removals may be riskier. Clinicians who prescribe hysterectomies to all their patients without discussing cancer risk versus surgery risks are not providing patient-centred care.
Some women may indeed prefer to have a hysterectomy even where alternative treatments are available, and experiences of the surgery vary significantly between patients, with some reporting significant improvement in quality of life. There is nothing wrong with patients voluntarily choosing hysterectomy as long as they are fully informed of the risks, disadvantages, and advantages of different treatment options, receive high-quality specialist surgical care, and have access to appropriate aftercare and recovery support. Where those standards of care do not exist, hysterectomy surgery may be more problematic or detrimental.
The negative effects of unnecessary hysterectomy are gravely felt in global South countries. For instance, in India, there are reports of doctors deceiving women into undergoing unnecessary hysterectomies, causing these women serious medical and financial consequences. In rural India and Pakistan hysterectomies are performed by non-specialist surgeons or general practitioners. Women are likely to suffer far worse outcomes of the surgery in contexts where aftercare is non-existent and general poverty levels are high.
In many parts of the world, and throughout history, the surgery has been performed without considering a woman’s social, health, or economic background or even without her consent.
Black women in the US are more likely to undergo hysterectomies than other women. Australian Aboriginal women in Western Australia have been more commonly hysterectomised than other Western Australian women. As recently as 2012, Romani women who were hysterectomised as a form of coercive sterilisation were still pursuing reparations. Even in the last three years, media reports of non-consensual hysterectomies performed on women in immigration detention centres in the USA have emerged.
Hysterectomies have disproportionately impacted the most disadvantaged women and have frequently been concentrated in populations that are already marginalised on the basis of race, ethnicity, age, criminality, disability, gender deviation, lower class, caste or poverty. Perhaps understandably, Black American women have been more sceptical of doctors’ recommendations of hysterectomy.
Because hysterectomy remains widely prescribed as a therapeutic surgery for multiple benign conditions, it may be used to mask sterilisation practices that would otherwise draw attention as violations of human rights, such as in the gynaecological treatment of women and girls living with intellectual disabilities. Monitoring by public health agencies, with investigations for higher rates in specific populations, would help to prevent this from happening.
In cultures where more women than men work as gynaecologists, hysterectomy rates are lower than in cultures where the profession is dominated by men. Doctor’s wives are less likely to receive them than women in the general population. Both these things suggest that gender biases may be partly responsible for unnecessary hysterectomies.
Safety of surgery and post-surgical recovery are not the only concerns about hysterectomy. Data indicate a greater chance of multiple diseases in older women whose uterus had been removed before menopause, including Alzheimer’s disease, other forms of dementia, hypertension, stroke, other cardiovascular diseases, thyroid cancer, new mental health problems, and ‘multi-morbidity’.
Emerging links between hysterectomy and diseases of age raise the question of whether unnecessary hysterectomy should be the default, recommended as the first line of treatment for uterine fibroids and other non-cancerous conditions. Clinician training needs to take account of this new evidence. The risk of these potential detriments may be just as important for many patients as the equally hypothetical risk of reproductive cancers.
Gynaecology teaching in universities might also include greater consideration of the diverse experiences of hysterectomy in different cultural and historical contexts to ensure that clinicians appreciate how the surgery has disproportionately impacted women from the most disadvantaged backgrounds. Currently, there is little evidence of such content in university curricula.
Alison Downham Moore is an associate dean of research in the School of Humanities and Communication Arts at Western Sydney University, and an associate professor of History and Medical Humanities in the Translational Health Institute (THRI). Her latest book is The French Invention of Menopause and the Medicalisation of Women’s Ageing: A History. She tweets @AlisonM29608021
Fouzieyha Towghi is a lecturer in medical anthropology at the Australian National University.
Tinashe Dune is an associate professor at the Australian College of Applied Psychology and an adjunct associate professor at the Translational Health Research Institute, Western Sydney University. She tweets @DrTMDune
Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.
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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463
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Published on September 16, 2022
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Unravelling Antarctica's sea ice puzzle - 360
Ariaan Purich, Edward Doddridge, Benoit Legresy
Published on January 24, 2024
Sea ice around the Antarctic has shrunk and is responding to the atmosphere differently. The challenge is to work out why.
Throughout 2023, the area of ocean around Antarctica covered by sea ice was so far below the norm that scientists have struggled to communicate their shock.
This month, as the sea ice shrinks to its smallest point of the year, it is once again tracking well below its previous levels.
Research released in September 2023 shows that ocean warming was a key contributor to the dramatic change in sea ice.
The question is where the heat comes from.
A new satellite launched recently may provide the key to understanding how the ocean transports heat to Antarctica’s margins where it has a devastating impact on sea ice and ice shelves.
Sea ice insulates the ocean, reflects heat, drives currents, supports ecosystems and protects ice shelves.
Every year, its annual cycle of freezing and melting around Antarctica has been extremely reliable. Until recently.
Now we have a preliminary indication that since 2016 Antarctic sea ice coverage has shrunk. Changes in the relationship between the ocean and sea ice suggest that the current low sea-ice state may represent a new “regime” for Antarctic sea ice.
After years of relative stability, Antarctica’s sea ice appears to have shrunk since 2016.
Sea ice forms a thin layer between the ocean and the atmosphere and is affected by both.
Lately, sea ice seems to be responding to atmospheric drivers differently than it did in the past, suggesting a stronger influence from the slowly varying ocean.
Parts of the ocean 100–200m below the surface began to warm in 2015, and those same regions lost substantial sea ice in 2016. Since then, the warm subsurface ocean seems to have maintained the low sea-ice coverage.
The record-breaking low sea ice of 2023 may be the new abnormal, the beginning of the inevitable decline in Antarctic sea ice, long projected by climate models.
For millions of years, the icy continent has been ring-fenced by the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, separating the warm northern waters from the cold polar ocean.
Flowing clockwise around Antarctica and driven by westerly winds, the current is the world’s strongest, with a flow 100 times stronger than all rivers combined.
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The current ‘feels’ the seafloor and the mountains in its path. Where it encounters barriers like ridges or seamounts, ‘wiggles’ are created in the water flow that form eddies.
Ocean eddies are the weather systems of the seas, and they play a key role in transporting heat through the circumpolar current to the ocean around Antarctica. But they’re small and hard for satellites to see.
Broad-scale ocean mapping identifies at least five major ‘heat flux gates’ or eddy hotspots in the circumpolar current.
One is south of Australia, about halfway between Tasmania and Antarctica.
To understand the ocean dynamics happening now and how these may change in the future, we need much higher-resolution data to see smaller-scale features like the eddy hotspots.
Enter the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite. Jointly developed by NASA and French space agency Centre National d’Études Spatiales (CNES), the SWOT satellite measures differences in the height of the ocean within a few centimetres from an orbit of more than 890km above the surface.
The advanced radar altimeters on the two-tonne satellite detect surface water features with 10 times better resolution than previous technologies.
Oceanographers say it’s like a short-sighted person looking at a tree in the distance, and then putting on glasses to reveal all the leaves.
As SWOT passes over the Southern Ocean, the high-resolution topography it records of the shape of the ocean surface shows the fine streams of current to capture the eddy hotspots spinning off the Antarctic Circumpolar Current.
This means scientists can monitor these smaller-scale circulation features thought to be responsible for transporting most of the heat and carbon from the upper ocean to deeper layers – a critical buffer against global warming.
For the first time we can see them on the surface in detail – but we still need to work out what’s happening beneath the waves.
In November 2023, scientists were able to validate the SWOT satellite data from an eddy hotspot in the Southern Ocean in an ambitious voyage on CSIRO research vessel (RV) Investigator.
The five-week FOCUS voyage travelled 850 nautical miles south of Hobart to the Macquarie meander, one of the five eddy hotspots.
A meander may sound gentle and slow, but in fact it’s where the world’s strongest current races through a series of hairpin bends, steered by mountains on the seafloor.
As the satellite passed overhead, the team led by CSIRO and the Australian Antarctic Program Partnership deployed a variety of high-tech observational equipment.
Researchers and crew anchored a tall mooring 3.6km high at the centre of the survey area, carrying over 54 instruments on a cable stretching from the seafloor to near the surface.
They also released free-floating autonomous instruments like floats, drifters and gliders into the eddies, while more than a hundred CTDs – conductivity, temperature, and depth sensors – plumbed the depths and a Triaxus was towed behind the ship through the satellite’s path.
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The wealth of information gathered by all these instruments ‘ground-truths’ and validates the satellite data from the surface.
The Antarctic is rapidly changing, and with further disruptions to the sea-ice cycle on the cards, there’s a race to understand why.
Strong winds over the Southern Ocean have been increasing for decades and are likely to continue. It’s expected this will send more heat southward through leaky meanders, accelerating ice shelf melting in Antarctica and sea level rise.
Ultimately, this research aims to turn daily maps of ocean sea surface height from satellites into daily maps of the movement of heat in the Southern Ocean toward Antarctica.
This is vital information in a climate crisis. It will help governments plan how to respond to ocean warming and rising sea levels and how quickly action is needed.
At the same time, as the transition to a net-zero world gathers momentum and carbon levels in the atmosphere start to level out, we need to be able to track the response of the Southern Ocean and the global climate system.
Ariaan Purich is a lecturer in the School of Earth, Atmosphere and Environment at Monash University, and a Chief Investigator with the Australian Research Council Special Research Initiative Securing Antarctica’s Environmental Future. She has worked previously with CSIRO.
Edward Doddridge is a physical oceanographer working in the Australian Antarctic Program Partnership (AAPP) based at the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS) in Hobart, Tasmania.
Benoit Legresy works with CSIRO as climate scientist leading the Oceans group and is a co-leader of the oceanography project with the Australian Antarctic Program Partnership.
Edward Doddridge (University of Tasmania) and Ariaan Purich (Monash University) both receive funding from the Australian Research Council.
The research of the FOCUS voyage is supported by a grant of sea time on RV Investigator from the CSIRO Marine National Facility which is supported by the Australian Government’s National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS).
The Australian Antarctic Program Partnership is funded by the Australian Government Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water through the Antarctic Science Collaboration Initiative.
Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.
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news-360info
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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463
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Published on January 24, 2024
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"author": "Ariaan Purich, Edward Doddridge, Benoit Legresy"
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2,271 |
Unravelling the Belt and Road puzzle in Indonesia - 360
Nur Rachmat Yuliantoro
Published on July 10, 2023
Building infrastructure is President Joko Widodo’s priority. China’s lending filled a funding gap, but can Indonesia avoid a debt trap?
In an unprecedented move, in May 2023 former Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla spoke out against the sitting administration’s willingness to let China dominate the Indonesian economy. Kalla claimed that the country’s debt had bloated to 1,000 trillion rupiah or USD$67 billion, although this figure is at odds with government data.
China’s engagement with the Indonesian economy is tied to the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a 2013 project that was embraced by Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo. Widodo recognised a natural fit between Indonesia’s untapped marine resources and China’s enthusiasm to expand its business in the region.
Indonesia knows that cooperation with China is important, but its engagement with Belt and Road is a measured play to protect its interests and maintain sovereignty.
China and Indonesia have strong bilateral ties. After a history of strained diplomatic relations, both countries re-established official ties in 1990. Since then, they have strengthened the relationship, signing a strategic partnership agreement in 2005 and a comprehensive strategic partnership in 2013.
China has become Indonesia’s largest trading partner and a significant investor in the country, fostering closer economic cooperation and becoming one of Indonesia’s top three foreign investors.
As an emerging global economic force, Indonesia’s participation in the BRI aligns with its aspirations for continued development and regional leadership.
Indonesia’s membership in the G20, its involvement in the China-ASEAN free trade scheme and its participation in the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank strengthens its position.
With their respective economic strengths, China and Indonesia have valuable assets for increasing cooperation and chasing shared interests through Belt and Road.
The Indonesian government’s commitment to speeding up infrastructure development lines up well with the goals of the BRI. Indonesia needs investment in many sectors: better transportation networks, more roads, airports, ports and other public facilities that could help improve logistical efficiency.
The BRI’s emphasis on regional connectivity and economic cooperation aligns with Indonesia’s goals and presents opportunities for everyone to win. Leveraging their strong bilateral relations and economic prowess, China and Indonesia can work together to drive sustainable development and prosperity within the framework of Belt and Road.
While Indonesia’s economy has grown significantly, red tape and bureaucracy continue to hinder progress. The government’s efforts to reform bureaucracy have had mixed results despite the passing of several economic policy packages aimed at streamlining regulations and law enforcement.
The USD$6.2 billion high-speed railway project connecting Jakarta to Bandung is an example of the challenges posed by Indonesian bureaucracy. The project commenced in 2015 but land clearance issues and regulatory hurdles have left it suspended. After many adjustments, especially on budget issues, the limited operation of the project is scheduled for August 2023.
By prioritising its maritime strength, Indonesia can align its development goals with Chinese President Xi Jinping’s vision of advancing his country’s economic interests through the sea.
Building port infrastructure and improving inter-port connectivity would benefit both countries and facilitate trade activities. Widodo’s initiatives — such the Global Maritime Fulcrum — align well with China’s emphasis on sea-based cooperation, creating collaborative opportunities.
However, China’s BRI comes with risks as well as opportunities. Concerns arise when recipient countries struggle to repay their loans from China, leading to a loss of control over the infrastructure projects. Indonesia’s increased debt under Widodo’s administration highlights the need for caution in managing financial obligations tied to the BRI.
The influx of Chinese workers into Indonesia is another situation worth monitoring. While Chinese labour and technology can contribute to project efficiency, the availability of local job opportunities and potential illegal labour practices create social tensions.
Stricter controls and enforcement mechanisms to ensure compliance with labour laws may help maintain social order.
Indonesians have varied views on China and its ambitious BRI according to a study conducted by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Jakarta. The perception of China among Indonesian bureaucrats and academics has been mostly negative, with concerns about China’s economic power and its potential threat to Indonesia’s national interests. Suspicion and a lack of trust have shaped perceptions from people who question China’s true intentions in Indonesia.
But some Indonesians support the initiative, seeing an alignment with Indonesia’s own maritime ambitions. Others were pessimistic, fearing that the Belt and Road would further strengthen China’s dominance over Indonesia in economic competition. A significant number adopted a cautious “wait-and-see” approach towards the initiative.
The study also highlighted a lack of awareness among Indonesians regarding China’s geopolitical and geo economic influence. A survey conducted by the Centre of Chinese Studies found that many Indonesians were familiar with traditional medicine, culture, and communism when asked about their knowledge of China. Respondents lacked awareness of China’s economic and military rise.
The BRI holds potential for infrastructure development which aligns with Indonesia’s national development plan, aimed at promoting the welfare of its people. Some commentators believe Indonesia is the ASEAN country poised to benefit most from the initiative, with over USD$87 billion allocated to infrastructure projects. The challenge lies in aligning Indonesia’s development strategy with Belt and Road to realise mutual interests.
To maximise the benefits and address potential challenges, Indonesia must balance its national development goals with the BRI. Environmental conservation considerations should be integrated into infrastructure projects, especially regarding sustainable energy and clean water supply.
The BRI has its problems, but Indonesian democracy protects against adverse consequences. As long as Indonesia maintains its democratic checks and balances, it will continue to pursue the right approach to the initiative. Other nations have learnt the hard way and Indonesia should not underestimate its own capabilities.
Nur Rachmat Yuliantoro is an Associate Professor and the Head of Department of International Relations at Universitas Gadjah Mada in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. His main areas of interest are China’s international relations, American foreign policy, and political corruption. He declared no conflict of interest.
Twitter: @masrachmat
Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.
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news-360info
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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463
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Published on July 10, 2023
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"author": "Nur Rachmat Yuliantoro"
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2,272 |
Unstable and insecure: Being an academic is a tough gig - 360
Oki Rahadianto Sutopo, Gregorius Ragil W
Published on December 27, 2023
Young workers in higher education face less job security and more monitoring of their work.
Note: Names of people in this article have been changed to protect their identity.
Tomo and Mulan are junior and mid-career lecturers at state universities in Java and east Indonesia. Each day they scan their fingerprints to sign into work, where their academic performance is constantly monitored and they are expected to do extra work for no pay.
While they are contracted employees, these elements of the casual ‘gig economy’ have become increasingly common for younger higher education employees in Indonesia, whose job performance is increasingly overseen by various online apps.
This digital based-audit culture entrenches the neo-liberalisation of Indonesia’s universities, creating new rules which change the nature of work in academia as ‘uncertain, unstable and insecure’, thus shifting into what is called ‘the gig academy’.
This gig academy treats higher education workers like minicab drivers, food delivery people and others more commonly identified with the gig economy.
Short-term contracts are just one element of this change. Lecturers employed under faculty contracts not only become a tutor for students, they’re also expected to take on extra administrative jobs, assisting research, community service, and participate as event organisers for faculty-related formal and informal events.
Department and faculty bosses evaluate their achievements and decide whether they are ‘proper’ enough to get their contract extended.
Young higher education workers, therefore, are forced to carry the risks of the job with limited perks or welfare protections.
For early and mid-career workers, there is a pressure to achieve ‘job targets’. Failure to do so will reduce their chance at a pay rise, professional certification and career promotion.
In 2022, we interviewed 15 young lecturers from public universities in Java and outside Java.
For Tomo and Mulan, a typical week at work would have them not only supervising undergraduate students, but also performing administrative tasks. They must also submit to a regular per-semester audit and continuously update their academic ‘performance’ via apps called ‘Simaster’, ‘Sinta’ and ‘Sister’.
This audit culture forces them into a form of obedience dictated by bureaucratic apparatuses from local to national level.
Tomo and Mulan said that none of these extra administrative works are paid well, since it is constructed as part of and embedded in their daily jobs. Often, they are also obliged to ‘help’ senior lecturers who are unfamiliar with digital technology, thus adding more non-paid work.
In an arena where the old hierarchical values remain strong, it can be argued that it is the younger generation of intellectual workers who have to deal with these multiple burdens, while the older generation remains in the privileged position.
Nevertheless, our empirical data shows young Indonesian university workers remain flexible despite the abundant administrative work and audit control.
Some find active ways to find the ‘space of idealism’ for themselves in teaching, research and community service.
Aya, a young female lecturer from a state university in Sumatra practises alternative curriculum in the class by inserting reading materials related to media studies, not only to keep her students updated, but also to fulfil her own passion. She does not earn more from doing this but it keeps her happy and motivated to continue her academic career.
In the field of research, Felix, a rising young lecturer from one of the biggest universities in Indonesia, told of how administrative workloads have sucked up his time.
Yet he sticks with his principle to publish at least one journal article each year in a reputable international outlet. For him, it is important to build his ‘academic identity’ based upon scientific recognition from the global academic community, instead of being a fully obedient intellectual worker.
In the arena of community service, Markus, a middle career lecturer from a state university in Central Java creates his own version of ‘pengabdian’ (service) through intense engagement with teacher associations at the local level.
He voluntarily gives training to high school teachers in rural areas as a way to upgrade their teaching skills not only related to relevant academic subjects but also in general.
Similar to Aya and Felix’s stories above, Markus does not gain extra income, nonetheless, he puts confidence in the important role of teacher for building a better future generation.
Like the gig economy, which operates under the guise of flexibility, these young higher education workers are able to straddle the app-based culture of their employers and articulate their idealist values to make their jobs more meaningful.
Oki Rahadianto Sutopo is associate professor of sociology and director of the Youth Studies Centre at the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Universitas Gadjah Mada. He is also senior research fellow at Asia Research Centre, Universitas Indonesia.
Gregorius Ragil Wibawanto is sociology lecturer and researcher at Youth Studies Centre, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Universitas Gadjah Mada.
The research is funded by the Indonesian Endowment Fund for Education (LPDP) on behalf of the Indonesian Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology and managed by Universitas Indonesia under PRIME program (Grant No. PRJ/120/2021).
This article is part of a Special Report on the ‘Asian Gig Economy, produced in collaboration with the Asia Research Centre – University of Indonesia.
Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.
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news-360info
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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463
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Published on December 27, 2023
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"author": "Oki Rahadianto Sutopo, Gregorius Ragil W"
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2,273 |
Urban farming taking root in Malaysia - 360
Jia-Qi Cheong
Published on April 4, 2022
Almost 10 million Malaysians face food insecurity. Initiatives to support alternative food sources are taking root, but challenges remain.
The pandemic’s impact on food supply chains showed how quickly urban communities can face shortages and spiralling food costs. In Malaysia the price of cooking oil spiked in February 2022, following record prices for soybean oil and palm oil in 2021.
Unicef estimates the pandemic will leave 9.76 million Malaysians food insecure.
In response, a growing movement seeks to convert empty spaces in Malaysian cities into urban farms. Malaysia’s government is acutely aware of the country’s dependence on food imports, and wants to see the agricultural industry boosted by technological adoption. This will also create much-needed jobs, with unemployment still above pre-pandemic levels.
But Malaysia has limited land for urban agriculture, and further challenges include inadequate resources, uncertain returns, lack of knowledge and insufficient training.
Planned urban agriculture can address limited farmland – and beautify city environments. Cities around the world have set up vertical farms using advanced facilities to contribute to food sustainability.
Urban farming specialists, tech businesses, academics and young talent have collaborated to produce transformative resolutions through agrotech.
Mainstream urban farming methods now offer a well-structured set-up that requires minimum irrigation and zero pesticides. This allows mass implementation any time and anywhere.
Urban farming has numerous benefits. First, it minimises waste: around 30 percent of fresh produce perishes during transport to shops and supermarkets. By contrast, urban farming provides an on-demand harvest that guarantees freshness.
Second, urban farming can be implemented by individual households. It provides alternative food sources to combat hunger and malnutrition, and improve community health.
Relatedly, urban farming means households can save money by consuming produce they have grown themselves. It can deliver an alternative source of income if households sell their excess produce.
Still, urban farming is a daunting task that involves the consistent cultivation, processing and distribution of food. Its goal is to create a parallel food supply chain.
Urban farming requires capital investment for which returns are not immediate. It also requires labour, though technology can alleviate this requirement.
The bigger challenge for Malaysia is competing with the global supply chain.
Mega-farms, extensive transport connections, well-established distribution networks and intensive food-preservation technologies create economies of scale that allow the global supply chain to deliver the most competitive prices for fresh produce.
To begin to meet this challenge, the Malaysian Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industries has set aside 17,000 hectares of land for paddy cultivation under a food security scheme that runs to 2025.
The program promotes private-sector cooperation with paddy owners. It sets out to improve Malaysia’s rice self-sufficiency by using a modern agricultural approach and efficient management to increase yields. .
Urban farming can address the supply-chain gaps and vulnerabilities that COVID-19 has exposed. It has the potential to increase food supply, stabilise food prices and lessen the impact of supply disruptions.
Jia-Qi Cheong holds a PhD in economics and is a senior lecturer at University Malaysia Sabah. She works in the areas of gender earning differentials, youth employment, food insecurity, and small and medium industries.
The author declares no conflict of interest.
Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.
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news-360info
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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463
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Published on April 4, 2022
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"url": "https://360info.org/urban-farming-taking-root-in-malaysia/",
"author": "Jia-Qi Cheong"
}
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2,274 |
US endangered species law too little, too late - 360
Erich Eberhard
Published on March 7, 2023
Nearly 50 years since its introduction, the US’ Endangered Species Act is plagued by decades-old criticisms that hinder its ability to help.
Over one million species globally are projected to go extinct in the foreseeable future. How humans, today, respond to this extinction crisis — or don’t — will permanently shape the diversity of life on Earth.
For the past half century, the United States has leant on its Endangered Species Act as the strongest law to prevent species extinction in the country. The Endangered Species Act has also served as a model of conservation policy to other nations.
However, a longstanding concern of supporters and opponents of the law has been the relatively low number of listed species that have recovered to the point where they no longer need protection. Only 54 species in the US have met this goal in the 50 years since the law was enacted.
Many reasons have been given for this low recovery rate, such as a pattern of not protecting species until their populations have become very small. Small populations are more vulnerable to environmental and genetic threats, and more likely to go extinct before conservation intervention can recover the species to a stable population size.
This pattern was first detected in 1993 in a study that found species being listed for protection under the law had, on average, just 1075 remaining individuals for vertebrate species, 999 for invertebrate species, and 120 for plant species.
Ahead of the 50th anniversary of the Endangered Species Act, researchers in the United States repeated the methodology of the 1993 study to determine whether the US had become more proactive in listing imperiled species before their population sizes are dangerously low. The “wait times” (the length of time between a species being first identified as potentially deserving of protection and it being granted protected status) and trends in funding for listing and recovery of endangered species were also examined.
The results paint a grim picture: most species are still not receiving protection until their populations are precariously small, dimming their prospects of recovery. First reported in 1993, this pattern has persisted throughout the intervening quarter century. Consistently, the majority of species petitioned for protection under the law have experienced delays in receiving protected status, which further increases the risk of extinction to species with already small or rapidly declining populations.
The results suggest that inadequate funding of conservation activities under the US Endangered Species Act has persisted for decades, with no clear relationship to which political party is in power. As the number of imperiled species — and the threats they face — multiply, the bodies which oversee management of endangered species in the US are being asked to do more with less resources.
In 1973, the US signaled a commitment to conservation when it passed the Endangered Species Act. But in the 50 years since, the policy has been blunted by delays in listing imperiled species, typically small population sizes when species are listed, and inadequate funding for recovery actions.
The framework for an effective policy still exists within the law. However, the US is overdue in backing up the lofty goals of its conservation policy with the funding necessary to fully recover imperiled species.
Erich Eberhard is an ecologist from the United States. His research focuses on biodiversity and its role in ecosystem dynamics.
Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.
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news-360info
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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463
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Published on March 7, 2023
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"url": "https://360info.org/us-endangered-species-law-too-little-too-late/",
"author": "Erich Eberhard"
}
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2,275 |
US has a golden chance to bet big on India's China policy - 360
Jabin T. Jacob
Published on June 21, 2023
India feels it has a strong case to be the natural leader of the Indo-Pacific. Whether the Americans agree may shape the future of their partnership.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s state visit to the United States at the invitation of US President Joe Biden is being viewed in Washington DC as a “great opportunity” to review their growing trade, investment and defence relations as well as discuss fresh areas of cooperation.
However, an article by former US Department of State and National Security Council official and India hand, Ashley Tellis, calling India a “bad bet” could well be the inside view in the American capital that Indian officials will have to deal with during the visit.
Tellis’ argument — that India has its own view about its bilateral relations and foreign policy in Asia — should not be a cause for any disappointment in the US. It is simply a description of reality.
India can hardly be expected to play second fiddle to US interests in Asia, a point Modi may once again make clear in his address to US Congress.
Perhaps Tellis’ “bad bet” case is not so much about US frustration with India on the China front as much as it is about mystification over the nature and purpose of India’s China policy.
Three years after the 2020 clashes, India continues to have trouble putting together a coherent military and diplomatic response to Chinese transgressions. There are several reasons for this, including domestic politics, lack of diplomatic capacity and a poorly prepared military.
Today, no conflict can be joined without a degree of international support, especially if your economy is a quarter the size of China’s – or at least that is the thinking within the corridors of power in India.
This reality drives India’s calculations on the Quad and the larger India-US relationship. There is great doubt in New Delhi about the reliability of the Quad and the US regarding China.
All it took for the first iteration of the Quad to fall apart was Chinese diplomatic pressure on the Australians in 2008. That the Quad rose again suggests the security challenges posed by China could no longer be ignored. And yet, like India, its members continue to dither, individually and collectively, on how to respond credibly to China’s provocations.
While its salami-slicing tactics in the South China Sea are too well known to require detailing, China has also targeted Australian and Japanese citizens recently. The Quad has responded to the provocations and international law violations in a roundabout way.
This approach does not address the immediate security challenge from China. Its troops attempted to encroach again into Indian territory in late 2022 and Chinese surveillance balloons were found intruding into US airspace in February 2023.
China’s confidence has at least partly to do with it seeing the Quad as pulling in different directions with a general inability to achieve big-ticket strategic goals.
The US deciding to start an alternative security-focused forum in AUKUS (with the UK and Quad partner Australia) suggests a degree of American frustration with the Quad’s progress.
But from the Indian perspective, it also suggests the Americans can’t stick with it – the last Quad summit of heads of government scheduled for May 2023 had to be cancelled because of American domestic politics.
Given its physical proximity to China and an active boundary dispute, India is naturally cautious about making big moves against its neighbour including through the Quad. Other members of the Quad can more afford to blow hot and cold on China.
In Japan and Australia, it is difficult to escape the impression that changes in policies on China are just an election away. The recent resumption of high-level economic dialogue between China and Australia is taken as a sign of improving relations.
In the US, greater bipartisan consensus on China is simultaneously accompanied by more domestic disarray, polarisation and navel-gazing. Under these circumstances, it is difficult for India to fully believe in the Quad’s intent to act against China.
The US (and the West at large) is unhappy with India’s refusal to condemn Russia over the situation in Ukraine, a somewhat ironic position given the West’s long unwillingness to heed Indian advice on Beijing’s bad behaviour.
India was the first to actively discourage Confucius Institutes, to warn about the dangers of the Belt and Road Initiative and to ban Chinese apps on mobile phones, for example.
India’s lessons learnt from Chinese transgressions along their disputed boundary are also something the rest of the world has ignored.
Such experience gives India a claim to leadership over the Indo-Pacific, something the Quad partners are yet to acknowledge.
Indian troops are also the only ones that have physically clashed with Chinese troops in recent years and might have to do so again in the coming years – even as the rest of the world engages in feverish speculation of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan.
India already feels short-changed by the international community because it is not a permanent member of the UN Security Council – support for its leadership of the Indo-Pacific should, therefore, be considered entirely appropriate.
Of all the Quad members, India stands to lose the most from equivocating on China. Empowering India to lead the region could be the soundest bet the Americans have made in decades — such a confirmation could spur the growth of the Quad and other security architecture in the region.
Until then, India will continue to pursue its own agenda and at its own pace.
Jabin T. Jacob is Associate Professor, Department of International Relations and Governance Studies, and Director, Centre for Himalayan Studies, Shiv Nadar Institution of Eminence, Delhi National Capital Region, India. His Twitter is @jabinjacobt.
Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.
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news-360info
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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463
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Published on June 21, 2023
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"author": "Jabin T. Jacob"
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2,276 |
Using artificial intelligence to red-flag emerging pandemics - 360
Raina MacIntyre, Kirby Institute
Published on March 28, 2022
AI filtering and analysis of open-source data could stop future epidemics from becoming global pandemics.
Serious infectious diseases have become more frequent in the past decade. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, infectious diseases such as tuberculosis, malaria and influenza killed more than 17 million people a year. COVID-19 has claimed at least six million lives (with estimates up to 18 million) and is expected to cost US$12.5 trillion globally by 2024.
COVID-19 could have been a localised epidemic instead of a pandemic if it had been detected and acted upon early.
Using artificial intelligence (AI) to mine vast open-source data can rapidly identify serious epidemics in their early days. AI can scan global news reports and social media for signs of a new illness or unfamiliar disease symptoms in the community.
A team of medical researchers and epidemiologists at the University of New South Wales developed such a system in 2016. EPIWATCH uses machine learning and natural language processing — the ability of a computer program to understand human language as it is spoken and written — to generate epidemic early warning signals. It then uses the datasets it produces to create a map of upcoming epidemics and provides risk-analysis tools to help health authorities mount an effective response. A Canadian system called Blue Dot has similar capabilities but is largely for paying private clients. We have vast amounts of open-source data that can provide early warning of epidemics, but this data must be filtered to eliminate irrelevant information and improve the accuracy of forecasts.
AI-driven data filtering can detect signals of serious outbreaks much earlier than traditional public health surveillance, which relies on reporting by doctors, hospitals or laboratories. A signal for the West African Ebola epidemic in 2014 could have been picked up using Twitter data three months before the WHO declared an epidemic, even though smartphone use in West Africa is lower than the global average. Using mapping of outbreaks and statistical methods we can automatically generate red flags. While the field is rapidly developing and more systems are coming online, public health has been slow to adopt digital technologies.
The method used by Joshi et al. (doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0230322) was able to find Ebola signals in social media data three months before official alerts were issued.
However, attention to epidemic warning systems has increased since the COVID-19 pandemic, with the launch of a Center for Forecasting and Outbreak Analytics in the United States, the announcement of a Pandemic Radar in the United Kingdom, and the establishment of a WHO Hub for Pandemic & Epidemic Intelligence, part of the World Health Organization (WHO) and co-funded by the German government, all in 2021.
Several publicly available web-based applications collect open-source information based on incidents and events. HealthMap collects data on all health conditions, infectious and non-infectious, and detected an alert for a “mystery haemorrhagic fever” nine days before the WHO declared the 2014 Ebola epidemic. The Global Public Health Intelligence Network, developed by Canadian Public Health and the WHO, provided intelligence drawn from open-source data. Had the network not been defunded in 2019, it could have picked up COVID-19 before it became a global pandemic.
ProMED-mail, a moderated site developed by nonprofit organisation the International Society for Infectious Diseases, receives alerts from health professionals about unusual, severe outbreaks and illnesses. The site was the first to report the Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus and Ebola in West Africa. ProMED-mail has also collaborated with three international health organisations to create a closed global community of vetted public health experts, EpiCore, which gathers information on epidemics.
Systems that do not rely on expert input and moderation can also be valuable. From 2008 to 2015, Google ran Flu Trends as an influenza-forecasting tool. Metabiotia, a biotech company, has an epidemic tracker that provides a map of outbreaks. In 2017 the WHO began a system called Epidemic Intelligence from Open Sources, which receives feeds from open sources and other systems such as ProMED-mail. The US Department of Defense launched a Global Biosurveillance Portal in 2015. The portal is an internal tool that collects a range of data but is not publicly available. Other approaches include citizens reporting directly to public health authorities using digital platforms.
To prevent a pandemic, time is of the essence. Even a few days’ warning can make a considerable difference to the long-term outcome. Epidemics are characterised by exponential growth: 20 cases today could be 80 cases in three days, which could be 320 cases in six days. This rapid growth means health systems are functioning one day and collapsing only days or weeks later. When large numbers of people are away from work, critical infrastructure is disrupted and supply chains fail.
Governments plan for pandemics and serious epidemics due to their immediate social and economic impacts. Even the relatively small SARS outbreak in 2003 cost the global economy US$54 billion. There is also the risk of unnatural epidemics due to bioterrorism. The value of an effective early-detection system for serious infectious diseases cannot be overstated.
Raina MacIntyre is Professor of Global Biosecurity, NHMRC Principal Research Fellow and Head of the Biosecurity Program at the Kirby Institute, UNSW, Australia. She leads a research program in control and prevention of epidemics, pandemics, bioterrorism and emerging infections.
The author declares no conflict of interest.
Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.
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news-360info
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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463
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Published on March 28, 2022
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"url": "https://360info.org/using-artificial-intelligence-to-red-flag-emerging-pandemics/",
"author": "Raina MacIntyre, Kirby Institute"
}
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2,277 |
Uttarakhand's Civil Code breeds an Indian surveillance state - 360
Sadaf Javed, Reecha Das
Published on April 10, 2024
Efforts to address social issues risk being co-opted for political gain or used to further divisive agendas.
When the state enters people’s private lives, it sets the stage for debate and discord.
In February, the Uttarakhand Assembly passed the Uniform Civil Code Bill, marking the first legislation in an Indian state that proposes uniform rules for marriage, divorce, inheritance and — contentiously — live-in relationships for people across all religions.
While conversations around a uniform civil code are not new, implementing it in a diverse and culturally pluralistic society like India poses several problems. A primary criticism is its potential to stifle personal choice and autonomy.
Live-in relationships, which have gained acceptance and legal protection as a legitimate lifestyle choice, could face more regulation and surveillance under the Code.
Such interference infringes upon people’s rights to privacy and freedom of association and perpetuates conservative social norms that deem certain relationships morally unacceptable.
The Code must be considered in the larger, changing legal landscape where laws on conversion and “freedom of religion” scrutinise religious conversions on grounds of marriage, especially conversions to Islam.
By requiring live-in relationships to be registered and investigated by the registrar, the state is positioning itself as a guardian or parental figure, exemplified in cases like Hadiya vs. the State of Kerala.
Registering live-in relationships is part of the state’s mechanism to govern love. Tedious bureaucratic processes and paperwork are the state’s way of imposing upon its citizens that it is working efficiently.
Requiring couples to submit forms and subject themselves to an investigation by a state official for intending to enter a live-in relationship seems like an inconvenience not just for the couples but for the state, whose resources are stretched.
The government is motivated to do so to appear as efficiently run and position itself as a parental figure for women, especially Hindu women who it views as inherently vulnerable, incapable of making rational personal decisions and in need of protection. It also allows the state to surveil citizens, especially those in what they deemed as transgressive relationships like interfaith and inter-caste romantic relationships.
The Code is a mechanism to receive the state’s approval of a romantic relationship, going beyond the consent of two individuals.
For relationships the state disapproves of, the Code allows the registrar to investigate an application by a live-in couple for 30 days before issuing a registration document. It is vague on what happens if the registrar refuses to issue a registration document. Will couples need to break up?
On a more menacing note, the registration of live-in relationships, especially those seen as undesirable by the majority — such as interfaith relationships — will contribute to a database of couples that could have serious, even fatal, repercussions.
This new dataset could empower the state and state-supported vigilante groups to regulate and influence the dynamics of love within cohabiting relationships.
Such measures may inadvertently foster vigilantism through platforms like housing societies and reinforce the concept of the “deeper state“, which operates as a clandestine entity employing surveillance techniques.
The implementation of the Code should also be seen in light of rising cases of vigilantism against cow slaughter under the larger context of bovine politics in Uttarakhand. The notion of ‘affective labour for bovine love’ — love for the cow framed as love for the state — intertwined with the Code discourse on ‘love jihad’ in a sacred Hindu geography is particularly concerning.
In framing the Code as a means to uphold traditional Hindu values and protect sacred geography lies the risk of perpetuating a form of Hindu nationalism that prioritises homogeneity over diversity and tramples individual freedom of choice in the matter of courtships.
Conspiracy theories like love-jihad — which claims that romantic relationships between Muslim men and Hindu women are ploys by Muslim men to convert women to Islam — were often used by right-wing Hindu vigilantes. This is now entering the state’s language and policy. This theory that Muslim men trap “innocent” Hindu women into marriage is not only blatantly false but is a dangerous conspiracy theory that undermines women’s autonomy and portrays Muslim men as hypersexualised enemies.
Supporters of the Code celebrate that these provisions will offer protection to women but conversely, it undermines their ability to make decisions. It infantilizes adult women, suggesting they require parental oversight and support for personal choices, reinforcing the notion of women’s dependence on external guidance and refuge.
Romantic relationships between consenting adults who choose to cohabitate are not illegal but are considered a cultural taboo. The Supreme Court of India has in several cases pointed out that live-in relationships are not an offence, most notably in Lata Singh vs. State of U.P. in 2006. Despite this, couples still face harassment and discrimination for basic amenities like housing.
Live-in relationships are also legally recognized under the category of “domestic relationships” under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005.
Despite legal recognition by the highest court, there are many examples of state representatives using their own standards of morality to approach unmarried couples. An Allahabad High Court judge recently stated that live-in relationships are “timepass” and “temporary“.
The Uttarakhand Code is yet another example of attempting to legislate on grounds of morality. Its supporters argue that registering live-in relationships is progressive and will extend recognition and protection to those in such relationships, such as allowing for claims of maintenance and recognising children born from such unions.
However, there are several issues with its provisions and how they may be implemented in reality, given the current socio-political climate in India.
The code defines a “live-in relationship” as “a relationship between a man and a woman, who cohabit in a shared household through a relationship in the nature of marriage”. This definition is much narrower than the Domestic Violence Act. By defining the gender of the partners, the Code excludes queer or same-sex relationships from legal recognition.
In addition, the age criteria for both partners is listed as 21. This is inconsistent with marriage laws where the minimum age of women and men to enter wedlock are 18 and 21 respectively. If live-in relationships are to be viewed as the “same as marriage”, then the different age limits are meaningless.
The other problem is that parents or guardians will be notified if the partners are under 21 or for any other reason the registrar might find necessary. This could prove restrictive as, in many jurisdictions, some registrars contact parents and guardians for registration of love marriages based on their own moral assumptions, even though both parties are of legal age and it is not required.
That means, for live-in relationships, it is highly likely that parents and guardians will be contacted, which defeats the purpose of having the autonomy to enter into a relationship of your own choice.
Perhaps the most dangerous provision of the Code is that it will criminally punish those who fail to register their relationships with the state. This begs the question — why register at all?
To avoid inflicting harm on many couples, policymakers have to approach the issue of live-in relationships under the Uttarakhand Uniform Civil Code with sensitivity and caution. To function well, any proposed legislation has to be inclusive, respecting the diversity of beliefs and lifestyles within the country while upholding fundamental rights and principles of equality and privacy before the law.
Efforts to address social issues should not be co-opted for political gain or used to further divisive agendas that undermine the secular fabric of the nation. Only through genuine dialogue, empathy and a commitment to pluralism can India navigate the intersection of law, politics and culture in a manner that promotes harmony and justice for all its citizens.
Sadaf Javed is a PhD candidate at the Department of Geography, Rutgers University, New Jersey.
Reecha Das is a PhD candidate at the Department of Anthropology, Rutgers University, New Jersey.
Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.
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news-360info
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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463
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Published on April 10, 2024
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"author": "Sadaf Javed, Reecha Das"
}
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Vaccine hesitancy rising as climate-related disease spreads - 360
Alessandro Siani
Published on January 31, 2024
COVID increased vaccine hesitancy. With immunisation crucial to protect against the impacts of climate change, the test is how to restore vaccine confidence.
As climate change causes more extreme weather events, increased rainfall and rising temperatures, it’s increasing the spread of infectious diseases.
While this claim might sound like scaremongering, it is not a prediction — it’s already happening now in our cities, as exemplified by news reports of the streets of Paris being fumigated to limit the spread of tiger mosquitoes known to carry Zika and dengue.
Vaccines are a key tool in the fight against these diseases. They can protect against some tropical and mosquito-borne illnesses, such as Japanese encephalitis, dengue or yellow fever, as well as many diseases that can thrive when drought and flooding reduce access to clean water, such as cholera and hepatitis A.
With new global pandemics also predicted to emerge with climate change, vaccines will likely play a key role in mitigating their most devastating impacts.
But troublingly, vaccine hesitancy appears to have increased since the COVID-19 pandemic, and it’s not just COVID vaccines that are subject to this hesitancy, but vaccines more broadly — even those that have been successfully used for decades and led to the near-eradication of some infectious diseases.
Just a few days ago, the UK Health Security Agency warned that urgent action should be taken to curb the re-emergence of measles outbreaks caused by the decline in MMR (Measles, Mumps, Rubella) vaccine coverage in some communities.
The increase in vaccine scepticism presents a real challenge for healthcare organisations and national governments as they attempt to incorporate a climate resilience lens into their public health plans.
The decline in vaccine confidence was a key finding of a study I carried out with my student Amy Tranter comparing survey data collected before and after the onset of the pandemic.
As part of this research, my students and I ran two anonymous online surveys of more than 1000 adults in November 2019 and January 2022 respectively, with the aim of investigating public perspectives on the practice of vaccination and the factors that might underpin hesitancy and refusal.
Both surveys asked respondents to indicate their attitudes towards statements including “vaccines are safe” and “I think vaccines should be a compulsory practice.”
Because the second survey was carried out after COVID-19 emerged, it contained two additional questions specifically focused on that pandemic.
The results were troubling: They showed that confidence in vaccinations was considerably lower in 2022 compared to 2019 across all demographic groups.
Almost one quarter (23.8 percent) of participants in 2022 reported their confidence in vaccines had declined since the onset of the pandemic.
A decrease in vaccine confidence was found across participants’ ages, genders, religious beliefs, education levels and ethnicities.
We found that, among our participants, some demographic groups were more vaccine-hesitant than others. In both 2019 and 2022, participants who held religious beliefs were more vaccine-hesitant than agnostic or atheist individuals. Respondents of Black and Asian ethnic backgrounds were also less vaccine-confident than White respondents in both surveys (although for the Asian participants this difference was only statistically significant in the post-pandemic survey.)
There was also a key age-related difference between the 2019 and 2022 groups: while middle-aged (46 to 60-year-old) respondents were more vaccine-hesitant than any other age group in the 2019 cohort, this was no longer the case in 2022, when middle-age participants appeared more confident than those between 18 and 30 years old.
This finding gels with previous findings of a separate survey carried out during the Delta wave of COVID, which indicated that “younger populations had less willingness to receive vaccinations”.
The trend might also reflect the disproportionate severity of COVID in older patients, which may have prompted a higher perception of the infection risk in elderly participants, spurring a greater willingness to get vaccinated.
Ultimately, our research found that, despite the fact that the COVID-19 vaccines have allowed us to move past the acute phase of the pandemic and put lockdowns and social distancing behind us, vaccine confidence may have been yet another victim of COVID.
While the practice of vaccination has been met with controversy and opposition ever since its inception, the COVID vaccines were met with particularly heated scepticism and hostility.
Several studies have investigated the reasons for this hesitancy, including the role of social media in contributing to the spread of vaccine misinformation during the pandemic.
While some degree of scepticism is justifiable by weariness of a relatively new technology (mRNA vaccines) and concerns surrounding their fast development and testing times, COVID vaccines were the target of unprecedented levels of deliberate conspiratorial misinformation.
Countless fake news about the vaccines (for example allegations that they contain mind-control microchips or are part of a global conspiracy to sterilise the masses and depopulate the planet) have been fabricated for financial gain or political traction, and spread online at an alarming rate despite having been entirely debunked by fact-checkers.
This decline in vaccine confidence post-COVID has significant public health implications — especially given that vaccine hesitancy was already a key threat to global health even before the pandemic hit.
The World Health Organization wrote in 2019 that vaccine hesitancy “threatens to reverse progress made in tackling vaccine-preventable diseases,” pointing to the sharp increase in measles cases globally as a potent example of vaccine hesitancy in action.
Today, millions of children remain unvaccinated and therefore vulnerable to numerous vaccine-preventable diseases. We know that climate change disproportionately impacts the most disadvantaged and marginalised groups: in addition to the direct effects of climate change (e.g. floods and droughts), it is the poorest populations in developing countries who will likely suffer the most if vaccine hesitancy drives down vaccination rates.
Thus, rebuilding vaccine confidence must be a priority for all governments and health agencies seeking to build climate-resilient health systems. Ideally, authorities should consider specifically tackling vaccine hesitancy in their plans for climate adaptation.
Health authorities seeking to address vaccine misinformation should be non-judgemental in their approach, and mindful of cultural and religious factors that might underpin the hesitancy.
Vaccine communication works best when it is culturally appropriate and tailored to the individual’s position on the vaccine hesitancy continuum: “By engaging with specific groups based on their concerns, discussions can be focused and are more likely to be productive and less confrontational,” as researchers from The University of Melbourne have found.
Emphasising support for vaccinations, rather than focusing on detractors and conspiracy theories, may also be a wise approach in attempts to overcome vaccine hesitancy, since research shows that making vaccine uptake visible will encourage vaccine acceptance as a social norm.
Public health campaigns should also emphasise the many success stories linked to vaccination campaigns throughout history, for example the drastic reduction in typhus, cholera, plague, tuberculosis, diphtheria and pertussis in the early 1900s, the elimination of polio, measles, mumps and rubella across several regions over the following decades, and the global eradication of smallpox in the 1980s.
Ultimately, it is essential to acknowledge that climate change and vaccine hesitancy are not only existential threats to our species, but also extremely polarising and controversial topics. Considering the enormous political and financial interests at stake — think of the billions spent by fossil fuel lobbies to spread false narratives denying human impact on climate change — dispelling misinformation on these topics is one of the most challenging collective endeavours of our times.
To succeed, it is crucial that governments and health authorities work together with scientists, educators and community leaders to coordinate a response that is global in scale but tailored to individual local communities.
Dr Alessandro Siani is the Associate Head (Students) of the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Portsmouth in the UK. With a research background on cellular and molecular bases of human pathology and a keen focus on science communication, education and pedagogy, he authored several peer-reviewed papers in both biomedical and educational journals.
This article has been republished as part of a package on Climate and Health. It originally appeared on January 29, 2024.
Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.
Editors Note: In the story “Climate resilience” sent at: 29/01/2024 06:00.
This is a corrected repeat.
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news-360info
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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463
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Published on January 31, 2024
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"url": "https://360info.org/vaccine-hesitancy-rising-as-climate-related-disease-spreads/",
"author": "Alessandro Siani"
}
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Vegetarian by default - 360
Johanna Meier
Published on July 28, 2022
Switching menus so meat is not the default option dramatically reduces meat consumption. But will the effects last?
When you order a burger, you usually expect to receive a meat patty – but Burger King Austria has set out to change that. In July 2022, the company launched a campaign called ‘Normal or with meat?’, making plant-based burgers the default option on its menus. The fast-food chain now has a plant-based version of almost every item and customers have to explicitly say if they would prefer the meat-based version.
In the United States, coffee chain Blue Bottle has made a similar shift. In 2021, it tested an oat-milk default at its West Coast locations, so if customers order a latte without specifying a milk preference, it’s made with oat milk rather than cow’s milk. Based on the overwhelmingly positive results, Blue Bottle has expanded its oat milk default nationwide.
These food giants are posing a question to the public: ‘How can we define a new normal?’
As the climate crisis continues to worsen, this shift towards plant-based defaults is an attempt to address it. Approximately one-third of demand-side greenhouse-gas emissions are related to food consumption and several studies show dietary changes will be critical if we are to stand any chance of keeping global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius. Consuming less animal protein (and so reducing its production) is essential, as the average climate impacts of livestock are significantly higher than those of plant-based alternatives.
But food choices are not easily changed. What we eat is embedded in social and cultural contexts. Especially in affluent societies, animal-protein consumption is high and considered ‘normal’. Changing the default, as Blue Bottle and Burger King Austria have done, has the potential to change diets and shift social norms towards more sustainable eating patterns, while maintaining freedom of choice for consumers.
Defaults promote one option without prohibiting the others. They have been shown to be effective in many contexts, such as sign-up rates for organ donation, participation in retirement savings programmes and uptake of green energy. Defaults work because of three main psychological mechanisms. First, making decisions takes effort: it is easier to rely on the status quo. Second, humans are social beings who want to comply with their social environment. Making something the default means it is likely to be perceived as the recommended or socially expected choice. The third reason is slightly more complex: the default can be seen as an ‘instant endowment’. People use it as a reference point to which they compare all the other options, and giving it up can feel like a loss.
As Burger King is finding, defaults aiming to reduce meat consumption work. Virtually all the circumstances that have been studied show default vegetarian options reduce meat consumption – in the most impressive examples, by more than 80 percent. But success has been affected by various factors. For example, consumers’ gender seems to make a difference.
Men appear to have stronger preferences for meat that are harder to overcome. This may be related to other studies that have found a link between perceptions of masculinity and meat-eating.
The level of difficulty not to choose the default also differed across interventions. In a collection of studies, meal selection at a conference could be changed via an online form, while in another study the meat options were on a separate menu posted on a wall approximately 3 metres away so people had to physically move to see those options. How obvious and attractive the alternatives were relative to the default also differed. In some studies, the default vegetarian option was presented in a more mouth-watering way, while in other studies the options were presented more neutrally.
The studies on vegetarian food as the default option suggest that defaults are a promising addition to the toolbox for climate-sensitive food policy. Further research is needed to understand questions critical from a climate-change perspective. Two such questions relate to how long the default effects will persist (will food choices revert to the previous ones if the default is implemented long term or removed?) and whether compensatory behaviours will emerge (will consumers compensate for the vegetarian default by eating more meat later?).
As more and more institutions and companies search for ways to meet sustainability goals, innovative behavioural-science strategies such as plant-based defaults are increasingly employed. For instance, the nonprofit initiative Greener by Default is working with universities and corporations worldwide to test plant-based defaults in a variety of dining settings and make plant-based defaults a new permanent reality as part of institutions’ climate-action strategies. In the coming year, researchers working with Greener by Default will analyse the impact of plant-based defaults at hospitals, corporate cafeterias, catered events and more.
Burger King Austria’s campaign is an ambitious and courageous move, especially for a brand known for its flame-grilled meat. While research continues and more companies choose to default to a sustainable future, we as a global community must ask ourselves: what do we want our ‘new normal’ to be?
Johanna Meier is a PhD student at Ruhr University Bochum, Germany. Her research interest lies in the transition towards sustainable food systems and planetary diets. She focuses particularly on the demand-side design of food choice environments. She has no conflicts to declare.
This article was prepared with the assistance of Ilana Braverman, Director of Outreach for the Better Food Foundation.
Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.
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news-360info
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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463
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Published on July 28, 2022
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"url": "https://360info.org/vegetarian-by-default/",
"author": "Johanna Meier"
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2,280 |
Vehicle emissions are polluting Malaysia's cities - 360
Siti Haslina Mohd Shafie
Published on January 10, 2024
Despite some progress in improving air quality, Malaysia needs policies to combat new challenges including climbing transport emissions.
Malaysia has made some improvements to its air quality since 2005 when a state of emergency was announced as its Air Pollution Index exceeded 500.
Its most recent annual Air Pollution Index rating, from 2022, was an improvement on the previous year, partly because the country experienced more humidity and rain in 2022.
Despite some steps forward, vehicle smoke, industrial activity emissions and the burning of plantations for land clearing and landfills continue to contribute to suboptimal air quality in Malaysia.
For decades the country has also experienced haze, which has been blamed partly on smoke from forest fires blowing over from Indonesia.
In more recent years an increase of vehicles on its road has also caused an increase in carbon monoxide in Malaysia’s air, especially in its cities.
As Malaysia grapples with these challenges, it will need forward-looking new initiatives – including policies to reduce greenhouse gases and air pollutants – to ensure its air quality doesn’t further deteriorate.
The latest Air Pollutant Index indicates that in 2022, Malaysia’s urban areas recorded the highest levels of the air pollutant PM. – inhalable particles with diameters 10 micrometres and smaller, which can induce adverse health effects – compared to non-urban areas.
One factor impacting Malaysia’s air quality is the growing number of vehicles on the nation’s roads. Records from the Road Transport Department Malaysia in the 2022 Department of Environment report indicate a 4.5 percent increase in registered motorcycles in 2022 compared to 2021; in the same year, cars increased by almost 4 percent, and vans by almost 2 percent.
Urban areas also recorded higher levels of tropospheric ozone (O), a secondary air pollutant gas that is primarily released on hot days, mostly from industrial emissions and motor vehicle exhausts.
Malaysia has also recorded climbing carbon monoxide (CO) emissions in recent years mainly due to the increase in motor vehicles, which mostly consume fossil fuel.
To put these figures into perspective, data on Malaysia’s air quality are not all bad: The country has cleaner air than its neighbours Indonesia and Thailand, and national emissions data obtained from the Department of Environment Malaysia (DOE) shows significantly lower levels of PM overall when compared with other Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries.
But there is, nevertheless, some cause for concern.
Newly registered vehicles in Kuala Lumpur contribute approximately six percent of these emissions nationwide, an analysis of urban air pollutants has found.
That research determined that emissions of PM from private cars were the most dominant at 214,427 kg, followed by emissions from motorcycles, at 118,582 kg.
Private cars also contributed more carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxide (NOx) in 2014 compared to 2010 (14,605 kg of CO and 5,726 kg of NOx in 2014, compared with 9,830 kg of CO and 3,854 kg of NOx in 2010).
The increase is small compared with other OECD nations. Total emissions for PM and NOx were also lower in Malaysia than in most countries in 2022, the Department of Environment report shows.
However, there is some room for improvement: the study also found that carbon monoxide emissions in Malaysia were higher than in Asian countries such as Japan and Korea, as well as in other European countries.
And the number of cars on Malaysia’s roads shows no signs of slowing. Nor is its uptake of electric vehicles currently significant enough to counter these increasing vehicle emissions.
Some of the Malaysian national policies already in place for better air quality include the national target to cut carbon intensity against Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 45 percent by 2030; the Renewable Energy Act; the National Green Technology Policy; the National Energy Efficiency Plan and the National Policy on Climate Change.
Malaysia also pledged, at the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in 2021, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Through these policies, the country is committed to implementing self-adjustment measures against the effects of climate change by accelerating the phase-out of coal use, reducing deforestation, converting the use of motor vehicles to electric vehicles, and encouraging investment in renewable resources.
The reduction of carbon emissions in the power generation sector and the improvements to energy efficiency are expected to contribute as much as 70 percent of the overall carbon mitigation potential in Kuala Lumpur by 2030.
But more is needed.
Malaysia could consider adopting more green transport initiatives, as the trend of emissions of pollutants from the transportation sector in Malaysia is on the increase compared to other OECD countries.
On this front, the Kuala Lumpur City Hall’s membership of the C40 Cities Climate Leadership can play a role. Indeed, the issue of climate change has significantly encouraged the development of more intensive, practical and integrated acts, policies, and strategies by policymakers and stakeholders in Malaysia to combat air pollution.
Incentives such as tax credits for those using green technologies, including electric vehicles, should encourage more consumers to use affordable green vehicles that consume less fossil fuel.
Incentives can also be given for the use of energy-efficient vehicles and plug-in hybrid-efficient vehicles, as implemented successfully in other Asian countries (China, Japan, India), Europe, and the United States.
However, the growth of the electric vehicle industry in Malaysia is hampered by factors such as high prices, slow infrastructure implementation, and technological limitations.
If Malaysia is to successfully combat vehicle-related emissions to avoid further deterioration of its air quality, efforts must be undertaken by stakeholders to address these issues.
Dr Siti Haslina Binti Mohd Shafie is a Senior Lecturer at the Geography Section, School of Humanities, Universiti Sains Malaysia.
Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.
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news-360info
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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463
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Published on January 10, 2024
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"author": "Siti Haslina Mohd Shafie"
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2,281 |
Video: Better care for childhood cancer survivors - 360
Sam Hendricks
Published on February 5, 2024
Researchers in Sydney have designed a way to bring distance-delivered care to childhood cancer survivors, even in remote settings.
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news-360info
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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463
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Published on February 5, 2024
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{
"license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
"url": "https://360info.org/video-better-care-for-childhood-cancer-survivors/",
"author": "Sam Hendricks"
}
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2,282 |
Video: Currents may hold the key to Antarctica’s shrinking ice - 360
Michael Joiner
Published on January 24, 2024
The Antarctic Circumpolar Current usually shields Antarctica from warmer waters. That might be changing, explains Associate Professor Helen Phillips.
Antarctica is kept cold by the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, an ocean current that runs around its perimeter throughout the Southern Ocean.
But as Associate Professor Helen Phillips from the University of Tasmania explains, Antarctica has been warming up — and it could be because more warm water is getting through the current.
The Antarctic Circumpolar Current is a key piece of the Antarctic puzzle.
Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.
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news-360info
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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463
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Published on January 24, 2024
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"url": "https://360info.org/video-currents-may-hold-the-key-to-antarcticas-shrinking-ice/",
"author": "Michael Joiner"
}
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2,283 |
Video explainer: Could Israel's war in Gaza reshape the Middle East? - 360
Lachlan Guselli, 360info
Published on November 13, 2023
Geopolitics in the Middle East are clearly being reshaped by Israel’s war in Gaza but how still remains unclear.
Since the gruesome Hamas attacks on October 7 Israel has waged war on the Palestinian group Hamas. Israel says its attack will not stop until Hamas is defeated, despite calls for a ceasefire. As violence threatens to spill out across the region, we show you who is involved, why and where things could go from here.
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news-360info
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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463
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Published on November 13, 2023
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{
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"url": "https://360info.org/video-explainer-could-israels-war-in-gaza-reshape-the-middle-east/",
"author": "Lachlan Guselli, 360info"
}
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2,284 |
Video: Has southeast Australia always burned so hot? - 360
Published on December 6, 2023
Both historical and scientific records show an increase in the number of fires since the mid-1800s.
Bushfires have increased in Australia’s southeast since the arrival of the British and the removal of Aboriginal care and management.
Importantly, this happened prior to the onset of climate change which is now making the situation worse, says biogeographer Professor Michael-Shawn Fletcher from the University of Melbourne.
One fundamental thing that needs to underpin all the solutions to this problem is engaging traditional owners, he says.
“The 2019/2020 catastrophic bushfires that impacted an enormous area of southeast Australia. The narrative around these fires, that are actually increasing in time, is that they are an inherent feature of the Australian landscape. They’re something that we need to deal with and that are being exacerbated or made worse by climate change. And we really wanted to interrogate whether that was true or not.”
“The understanding that I have, both from my cultural background as a Wiradjuri person but also in my research with and for Aboriginal communities, is that landscapes and Country in Australia was very different prior to the British invasion and that it’s quite possible that these catastrophic fires have been made more frequent and more severe not only through climate change, but more deeply through the lack of care and management of Country.”
“There’s a whole bunch of different kinds of information we can glean views of the past from and what Country was like or what landscapes were like in Australia prior to the British invasion and the removal of Aboriginal care and management. There’s writings of settlers and farmers and colonists. There’s the paintings from realist painters such as Eugene von Guérard, whose paintings are considered so accurate that they’ve revegetated landscapes based on being able to identify species within his paintings.
“And there’s the empirical scientific data that I collect, which is essentially microscopic remains that are produced by plant communities and by fires and all of these kinds of processes that happen, get blown around in the atmosphere and they land on lakes and swamps and bogs and they settle and build up over years and years and years, and sometimes millions of years, much like an ice core but on land.”
“By piecing these various fragments together to build up a whole picture of how Country has changed, we know that there was a strong narrative that Australian landscapes, particularly in the southeast, were open. So we can glean from that that the landscape has changed a lot.”
“We’ve got sites ranging from Bundjalung country, which is a little south of Byron Bay, right through to Wadawurrung country, which is to the west of Melbourne in the southwest, and they are all from within contemporary forest ecosystems and they all show a significant increase in eucalyptus trees occurring immediately following the removal and suppression of Aboriginal care and management in the mid-1800s.”
“You see this increase in eucalypts and why that’s important is what we know is that eucalypts are incredibly flammable, they’re fast growing and flammable.”
“So this increase in eucalypts is associated almost uniformly once again, with an increase in charcoal, okay, the products of fire being deposited. Eucalypts increase and then fire increases and we see this as a uniform pattern right up the east coast of Australia and through the southeast. And really importantly, this happens prior to the onset of anthropogenic climate change.”
“And now we’re in this situation where we have overloaded forests that are not cared for or managed as they have been for millions, sorry thousands of years. We readily conserve or protect, but we don’t return the kind of care and management that these forests need and that keep them safe to live in.”
“The approach to looking after Country that dominates now, the conservation, the national park ideology, is based on a fundamental lie, which was that this landscape was uninhabited, was that Aboriginal people were intelligent parasites who had no discernible impact on the environment, all they did was happen to glean their vegetable and animal sustenance where it arose.”
“And this lie perpetuates. It stems from those early colonists’ ideas about Country. They would write these open landscapes, the splendour of these open landscapes, that we know ecologically if you leave them alone turn into forests. So the fact that they were open and grassland meant that there was some intervention happening.”
“So right at that foundation, the founding document that terra nullius is based on was unoccupied land, terra nullius so nobody’s land. And that myth and that lie is perpetuated right through to the present day.”
“In terms of solutions it’s multifaceted.”
“We need to address that deep, fundamental cultural schism that is perpetuating this problem, that is setting up things like, you know, our firefighters, they are incredible people. But the fundamental paradigm that you need a paramilitary organisation to fight fire in a landscape that is incredibly flammable and has been cared for and managed with fire for at least 60,000 years is one of the the systemic things, or at least representative of the systemic schism, the split between reality and where we’re existing today that exists in this continent.”
“And I see societies sitting now, you know, a very simplified spectrum between this narcissistic view that environments and the world is there for us, we take, take, take, take, take. You see this in mining sector, logging sector, all this that everything’s there for us. That has given rise to this misanthropic, the human-hating group. The antidote to that is to lock humans out and keep them out.”
“And it misses the whole appropriate engagement with Country and the very fundamental principle of healthy Country, healthy people that Aboriginal people, because we are a part of it.”
“We need to get inventive, you know. If we’re not happy with handing over the reins to Aboriginal people and letting them take control, and in many cases that’s not very possible because we’ve let these systems get so wild and so sick that converting them back to healthy Country with fire becomes too dangerous. So do we have to go in and intervene? Selective logging, follow up with some burning? There’s resistance to that, but let’s try it. Let’s try these different things. We have to get inventive. We’re in this moment of almost chaos or uncertainty and we have to start trying different things.”
“But the one fundamental thing that needs to underpin it all is engaging traditional owners.”
“This isn’t an us or them situation. We all live on this country now, on this continent and we all live on Country.”
“This is about empowering Aboriginal people to reconnect and bring their enormous reservoirs of knowledge to solve the wicked problems that we have now.”
Professor Michael-Shawn Fletcher is a biogeographer and Wiradjuri man whose research tracks the long-term interactions between humans, climate, disturbance and vegetation at local, regional and global scales. This research has been funded by the Australian Research Council.
Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.
Editors Note: In the story “Living with fire” sent at: 01/12/2023 16:58.
This is a corrected repeat.
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news-360info
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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463
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Published on December 6, 2023
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"author": ""
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Video: How do we address the needs of young people struggling with mental health problems? - 360
Published on October 10, 2023
The University of Sydney’s Professor Adam Guastella says mental health needs to be seen in the same way as we see physical health conditions.
Professor Guastella, who is a clinical psychologist, says most Australians would be quite concerned so many young people seem to be struggling with mental health problems.
What he finds surprising however, is the lack of support for young people to address their needs.
With the data clearly showing most people will experience a mental health problem over their lifespan, Professor Guastella says it’s really about trying to get the supports in place so that people have the skills to make the best outcome from having a mental health problem.
Quotes attributed to clinical psychologist Professor Adam Guastella from the University of Sydney.
“I guess what concerns most people about the ABS data that’s just come out is the 38 percent figure on the 12-month incidence rate for mental health problems in young people aged between 16 and 24. I mean, by any measure that is a substantial amount of the population and I think it’s quite concerning for most Australians that so many young people seem to be struggling with mental health problems.”
“There’s been three reports like this over the last decade. And since 2007, there’s been a quite significant increase in the reports of young people having mental health problems. So we know back in 2007 it was around the 24 percent mark and now the rate is around the 38 percent mark.”
“So you know, the increase is significant, but also it was significant, the increase came in the previous report during COVID. So this report isn’t particularly startling because we had the large increase post-COVID in the previous report. But it does suggest that and confirm what we know as researchers and clinicians that mental health is the major cause of concern for young people and cause of burden for young people in Australian society.”
“What is, I guess, surprising to me is the lack of support for young people to address their needs.”
“So lots of young people are reporting great difficulty accessing support, even to the point of digital tools. We saw that seven percent of young people report using digital tools for support. And in this sort of society where young people are on their phones and use computers all the time, it really surprised me that they’re not getting high-quality supports using digital technology in the current day.”
“For too long mental health has being seen as something that if we can, we will address it and the impacts of mental health both on the individual, the family, across society, whether it’s education, juvenile justice, it shows that mental health is not if we can, it’s a we must address and it needs to be seen in the same way as we see physical health conditions.”
“And the government needs to support mental health strategies at a systemic level in a more serious way.”
“We speak to young people all the time that simply say they cannot see a psychologist, they cannot afford to see a psychologist, and they don’t know where to access the right amount of care.”
“So there’s a number of things that can be done to address some of those things. First thing is the Medicare billing rate has not increased for psychologists for about 10 years. It was about $118 10 years ago and it’s $124 today. And if rents had increased that much, if food prices had increased that much, we’d all be very, very happy. But they haven’t.”
“And so that’s meaning that most psychologists are charging a significant amount above the bulk billing rate, which leaves financially vulnerable Australians, which are typically young people, unable to access services.”
“The second thing we could do is both improving digital technologies and improving digital access to evidence-based supports. We don’t need influencers, media influencers, providing evidence about what works. What we need is reliable information about supports that can help young people deal with anxiety, substance misuse and other mental health concerns, and also as a source of truth that they can rely on this information and get the supports they need.”
Quotes attributed to clinical psychologist Professor Adam Guastella from the University of Sydney.
“So we know that from a very, very young age, young women report high levels of anxiety.”
“We finished a study just recently in four- and five-year-olds showing women were reporting or girls were reporting much higher rates of anxiety than boys. And boys, of course, report more if you like, typical naughty behaviours and also aggressive behaviours from a younger age. That follows through throughout the lifespan.”
“What we really need are strategies targeting the different ways that girls and boys present with mental health concerns, seek help for mental health concerns.”
“We need different strategies to reduce stigma and also to promote mental health-seeking as an appropriate, acceptable and also admirable thing for people to do. And something that not only looks after themselves, but also looks after their families and the community by doing so.”
“So I think, you know, for too long we’ve seen mental health and young people see mental health as something that makes them weak.”
“And the data here clearly shows that most people will experience a mental health problem over their lifespan. And it’s not necessarily getting the mental health concern that’s the issue. It’s really about trying to get the supports in place so that you have the skills to make the best outcome from having a mental health problem.”
If this article has raised issues for you, or if you’re concerned about someone you know, visit https://findahelpline.com/i/iasp.
Professor Adam Guastella is the Michael Crouch Chair in Child and Youth Mental Health, based at both Sydney Children’s Hospital at Westmead and the Brain and Mind Centre, University of Sydney.
Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.
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news-360info
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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463
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Published on October 10, 2023
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2,286 |
Video: How Modi's campaigning influenced the world - 360
Published on September 15, 2023
Siva Vaidhyanathan from the University of Virginia answers the question if Narendra Modi would be Prime Minister of India without Facebook.
With the world’s three largest democracies — as well as several nations across Asia — set to go to the polls next year, the role of big tech and social media platforms will come into sharp focus once again.
Speaking to 360info, the author of the book Anti-Social Media: How Facebook Disconnects Us and Undermines Democracy believes that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 2014 campaign set the pattern for proto-authoritarian campaigns in weak democracies across the world.
Quotes attributed to Siva Vaidhyanathan, Robertson Professor of Media Studies and director of the Center for Media and Citizenship at the University of Virginia.
“What if the world had no Facebook in 2014, 15 and 16? Right, when Narendra Modi set the pattern for proto-authoritarian campaigns in weak democracies.”
“Modi leveraged teams of trolls who would flood Facebook with messages that would harass critics, with messages that would rile up crowds, and indignation mostly toward Muslims, but in some cases toward others.”
“An authoritarian figure like Narendra Modi, they’re so willing to leverage the amplification power of these platforms, but that’s not just leveraging the power of the algorithm. It’s leveraging the social organisation that occurs on these platforms by willing participants as well.”
“At that moment, the Congress party was also fairly pro-Hindu, like not standing up for Muslim rights or diversity or equality in any effective way. The Congress Party was also as it has been for 60 years, deeply corrupt. Everybody knew it, everybody was sick of it. The Congress Party lacked inspirational leadership as it had since the death of Indira Gandhi.”
“Facebook or not, I’m fairly sure Modi would have triumphed. What would not have happened is that Modi’s model of running a campaign would influence the rest of the world.”
Professor Siva Vaidhyanathan is the Robertson Professor of Media Studies and director of the Center for Media and Citizenship at the University of Virginia. He is also a 2023 James Fellow at the Sydney Social Sciences and Humanities Advanced Research Centre (SSSHARC) working in collaboration with Dr Olga Boichak (University of Sydney).
Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.
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news-360info
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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463
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Published on September 15, 2023
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"author": ""
}
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2,287 |
Video: Infectious disease control, elimination and eradication: what's the difference? - 360
Laila Khawar
Published on February 19, 2024
Eradicating an infectious disease is a lofty goal and not possible for every disease. Controlling or eliminating a disease can be the targets countries aim for.
Dr Laila Khawar from the Kirby Institute at UNSW explains the difference between disease control, elimination and eradication.
“Infectious disease control is all about managing the spread of an infection. It’s like taming a wildfire rather than extinguishing it. When we talk about elimination, that goes a step beyond control. And by definition, it means bringing the number down, the locally acquired number of cases down to zero in a defined geographical location or even at a country level.
“Eradication is the pinnacle of disease control. It means zero cases globally. So every single country needs to locally eliminate the infection for eradication to happen. Eradication is difficult. It requires a lot of public health investment and resources. But more so, it’s important to understand that not every infection is practicable. There are certain critical elements that need to be met before it happens.
“And it is so difficult that we have just been able to eradicate one infectious disease so far, which was smallpox in 1980, and that was over 40 years ago. So the World Health Organization is the central body that develops and defines disease elimination, disease control and eradication targets. Sometimes these targets are called advanced control, where the target approaches zero but doesn’t actually reach zero.
“If you take the example of tuberculosis, the target, the control target is to bring the number of new cases down to ten in 100,000 population. Now, it’s a very aspirational goal for countries that have a high burden of disease, such as India, which in 2021 was at 200 new cases per 100,000 population. So from 200 going all the way down to ten, it is a bit challenging, but far lower in countries like New Zealand and Australia.
“The target is to bring the cases down to less than one case in a million population, which is equivalent to 0.1 case in 100,000 population. So close to zero but still not zero. And these goals are often termed as elimination as a public health problem, elimination of a disease as a public health problem. But it’s important to reinforce that it’s still an advanced level of control and not elimination.”
Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.
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news-360info
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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463
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Published on February 19, 2024
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"author": "Laila Khawar"
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2,288 |
Video: Nike, the Houthis and the Red Sea - 360
Lachlan Guselli and Michael Joiner360info
Published on March 26, 2024
Even your sneakers are affected as the Yemen-based Houthi movement causes havoc to a trillion dollars worth of global trade in its attacks on ships in the Red Sea in support of Hamas fighting Israel in Gaza.
The Yemen-based Houthi movement has wrought havoc on more than a trillion dollars worth of global trade since it joined the fray in support of Hamas as it contends with Israel’s all-out assault on Palestine.
The response from outside has been fast and lethal. Militaries from all over have descended on the region to defend the trade corridor.
The United States and the United Kingdom are leading airstrikes aimed at disrupting and weakening the Houthis. India has at least a dozen warships in the region, the European Union is offering a fleet while navies from Singapore and Sri Lanka are joining the fight to defend trade.
The Suez Canal shipping route is one of the most important trading arteries in the world.
So far, the disruptions have not plunged the world into economic turmoil, but with the global order recovering from a pandemic and its economic upheaval, what impact is this having on major companies like Nike?
The global sneaker market is worth $147 billion per year, so the company that gets more than 90% of its shoes made in east Asia is left to scramble in an attempt to rediscover how it can get its goods from Asia to Europe, the Middle East and North Africa.
To get around this crisis, shipping companies are using alternate routes and have so far managed to find ways to limit price rises to moderate levels, relative to what they could have been.
However how long can this go on for, and what can be done to stop the Houthi hold over global trade without yet more bloodshed in Yemen.
Sarah Phillips and Michael Bell from the University of Sydney provide expert knowledge and insight to help tell the story.
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news-360info
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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463
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Published on March 26, 2024
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"url": "https://360info.org/video-nike-the-houthis-and-the-red-sea/",
"author": "Lachlan Guselli and Michael Joiner360info"
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2,289 |
Video: Science on the high seas - 360
Michael Joiner
Published on January 24, 2024
In their efforts to understand the rapidly changing Southern Ocean, scientists are taking the lab onto the waves.
With Antarctic ice melting and the future of the frozen continent in question, there’s never been a more critical time for scientists to learn its secrets.
But in order to monitor the surrounding Southern Ocean in sufficient detail, researchers must deploy hundreds of instruments — and that means going out into the field.
Co-chief scientists Helen Phillips and Benoit Legresy explain why scientists headed out to the Southern Ocean, and what it’s like working on a research vessel.
Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.
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news-360info
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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463
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Published on January 24, 2024
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"license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
"url": "https://360info.org/video-science-on-the-high-seas/",
"author": "Michael Joiner"
}
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2,290 |
Video: The difference between anti-Zionism and anti-semitism - 360
Published on February 7, 2024
When is anti-Zionism anti-semitism?
Professor David Slucki from the Australian Centre for Jewish Civilisation at Monash University explains how the history of anti-Zionism and anti-semitism is tied to the other, and there isn’t always a clear difference between the two.
Quotes attributable to David Slucki from the Australian Centre for Jewish Civilisation at Monash University:
“Anti-semitism is a historic phenomenon. We call it the oldest hatred because it really goes back to antiquity.
“The way we recognise anti-semitism today. Really, we can trace that back to the kind of early to middle 19th century where this pseudoscience emerges through which really follows the revelations of Charles Darwin on the Origin of Species.
“And Darwin’s principles get misapplied to analysing human beings and humanity. So what we get with the rise of these kind of ideas is the notion that there are inherent traits leading to your racial makeup.
“And it’s nonsense, but it becomes quite popular in certain parts of the world. And so this kind of this modern anti-semitism, which revolves around race science and around Jewish conspiratorial thinking, you know, it brings hatred in all kind of into the modern world. This transforms anti-semitism, and it persists to this day.
“The biggest flash point is the Holocaust. And really those that first half of the 20th century when violence against Jews is almost nonstop.
“Even though in the West anti-Semitism became less acceptable after the Holocaust, it never went away.
“People still have not stopped blaming the Jews for their problems.
“The rise of social media has played a huge role in the spread of anti-Semitism.
“You know, with the rise of YouTube, Twitter, Tik Tok, it’s just much easier to be confronted with anti-semitism. You don’t have to go looking for it.
“Zionism isn’t one thing, and it’s never been one thing that’s been attached to a whole range of political worldviews.
“There was rarely agreement on what that all looks like, whether that took the form of a nation state, which was the most kind of prevalent version of it, but you know, Zionism was one of many political movements in the pre Holocaust Jewish world.
“It wasn’t even the dominant one, but the Holocaust changed things for many Jews. The fact that there was nowhere to go, establishing a Jewish state in what was then Palestine came at a huge cost.
“As Israel developed ,decades of war marked its foundational years and its difficult relationship with its neighbours continues.
“It sparked war with not only Palestinians but also surrounding neighbours. It saw the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from their homes, and it’s been an intractable quagmire, I guess.
“So this is kind of in a way unsolvable problem between the notion that only Israel can shore up the Jews’ existence. And if you don’t have a Jewish state, then that leaves Jews vulnerable versus at what cost.
“And I think that’s really the position of many anti-Zionists, that the cost of statehood is too great. And there are people on all different positions along the spectrum.
“Is anti-Zionism antisemitism? It can be. And you know, this is part of the struggle to define anti-Semitism.”
“… and that was adopted by countries, by universities, as the definition. And one of the critiques that came out of that was it was a bit too rigid in some ways that it would have a kind of chilling effect on a particular academic freedom of speech.
“You know, we’re in a heightened period right now as well when many Jews in places like Melbourne and Australia more broadly still carry vulnerable and very sensitive to anti-Zionism. And when I say many Jews, I say that because there’s also like a cohort of Jews that identifies anxieties and so on and generalise and say Jews feel this way or another way, again, it’s a spectrum,
“One of the things that’s concerned me locally, you know, obviously I’m very concerned about the unfolding crisis in Israel, in particular in Gaza. But one of the things I’ve been concerned about locally when I look around me is the impact that it has on our social cohesion and our ability to connect with one another and our ability to have difficult conversations. And these are difficult conversations necessarily.
“So, and I think it starts from a place of empathy, you know, and that’s our role at universities also to teach how to teach and model, how to have those discussions.
“So I think it comes from a place of like understanding why people feel the ways in which they do and seeing them as fully human and imperfect.”
Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.
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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463
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Published on February 7, 2024
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Video: The power of circadian rhythms - 360
Shantha Rajaratnam
Published on February 12, 2024
Circadian rhythm plays an important role in medicine and cancer treatments.
Professor Shantha Rajaratnam, Professor of Sleep and Circadian Medicine in the Monash School of Psychological Sciences and the Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health explains how shift workers can make simple adjustments to maintain a healthy circadian rhythm, and the important role these rhythms can play in medicine and cancer treatments.
“So there are lots of situations in which our circadian rhythms can become disrupted.
“Shift work is a common example of profoundly disrupted circadian rhythms.
“So what can we do to support shift workers? Well, we’ve developed a digital intervention in which a shift worker can input their work schedule and it will provide an optimal sleep/wake schedule.
“It will also provide advice on appropriate light/dark exposure and timing of things like caffeine and so on to support the shift worker as they’re going through a cycle of shifts.
“Medicine can be transformed through understanding the role of circadian rhythms in diagnosing conditions and in optimally treating conditions.
“There’s also a branch of medicine that is understanding that the way in which treatments work can vary depending on the time at which the treatment is taken.
“We know that cancer drugs can vary in their efficacy and also their toxicity, the side effects from those drugs, can vary depending on the time of day or the circadian time at which the drug is administered.
“So if we’re able to harness this kind of knowledge, we can potentially really, really advance medicine in a number of different areas by researching and understanding the power of circadian rhythms.”
Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.
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news-360info
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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463
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Published on February 12, 2024
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"url": "https://360info.org/video-the-power-of-circadian-rhythms/",
"author": "Shantha Rajaratnam"
}
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Video: This paint will stop your house burning - 360
Published on December 11, 2023
Researchers spent five years developing a fire-retardant paint which has become the first to pass a tough Australian standard test that simulates a bushfire.
A new fire-retardant paint, formulated by engineers at UNSW Sydney, has become the first to pass a stringent Australian standard test that simulates a bushfire attack.
The paint achieved the Bushfire Attack Level (BAL) 40 standard which assesses the bushfire resistance of buildings and construction materials.
“What we have developed here is actually quite a breakthrough because it’s a paint that has satisfied the second highest fire rating, which means that it can protect houses.”
“If you apply the paint, which is an undercoat onto the house, it will transform itself to a very thick, carbon or char layer that actually protects the substrate and deflecting the heat away from the bushfires.”
“It’s basically just like the normal undercoat that you will use for a lot of paints at the moment. But it’s just that it has some so-called secret ingredients that actually grows the layer.”
“That’s basically what it is, yeah. I can’t reveal my secret ingredients to you. You know, I have to do like Colonel Sanders, protecting the KFC recipe.”
“So basically, this is the holder of the sample itself. I’m going to put it in. So this is the untreated wood, that is the treated wood … you can see the difference because of the undercoat being applied onto the surface of the timber.”
“So what happening here is that the surface or sample is subjected to, I would say a temperature now, roughly 800 degrees C. The surface of the wood is turning black, or it’s called charring as well. And eventually it will come to a point where you reach a certain threshold, a certain temperature that you will ignite spontaneously.”
“When you talk about fire, it reach about 1000 °C to 1200 °C, that is how hot the fire is. And basically when it reaches the surface it’s around that temperature.”
“And what you tried to do then is to have a protective layer that can decrease the temperature from 1000 degress C to roughly around 25 to 30 degrees C at the substrate surface.”
“We’re going to carry out the same experiment again. That means that by putting the the treated sample into the core.”
“Okay, so I’m putting the treated sample into the furnace or the oven. And I’m going to start the test by opening the shutter.”
“The same process will occur on the timber as well, but now what happened here is the heat is affecting the paint layer, not on the timber substrate, it’s the paint layer.”
“You can see that now the layer of the paint is transforming into a carbon layer, or the char layer. It is activated around 200 degrees C.”
“So what happened here is that we are trying to ignite the layer with the flame itself, right? But it’s not igniting.”
“Eventually what happened here is that it’s just activating the carbon. It’s trying to grow the carbon to a certain layer to protect the timber substrate.”
And eventually what you will see is that basically the flame will be extinguished all together, not like what you seen with the untreated one where the flames keep burning or whatever.”
So what this equipment try to do is try to ignite the layer itself, but it’s not igniting, you know, it’s just flashes of flame.”
But you can see that now it’s gone. The carbon layer now has rose to you know, you’re talking about 0.5mm right up to almost 20mm.”
It’s grown from a very thin layer to a very thick layer. This is still some residue of the paint there, but you can see that the wood itself is actually not burnt at all.”
Prep your surface again and then you repaint it. It is as straightforward as that.”
We all recognise that the climate is changing. The climate is actually moving very quickly, so to be very extreme. So we just need to get prepared, especially for dry weather.”
We need something to increase the resilience and hope that this will be the start of the development of what people think of using common things like paint, or even other devices, whatever, to actually increase the fire resilience.”
It comes in 4L and 10L and it comes in two colours, white and grey.”
Professor Guan Heng Yeoh is Director of the ARC Training Centre for Fire Retardant Materials and Safety Technologies.
The fire-retardant paint was developed at UNSW in partnership with Flame Security International. It was partially funded via a $3 million Cooperative Research Centres Projects (CRC-P) grant from the Australian government.
Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.
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news-360info
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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463
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Published on December 11, 2023
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Video: What do people want out of HIV PrEP? - 360
Published on December 6, 2023
A study has found that cost and access are the main barriers to more people using pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP.
The PrEP Appeal Study surveyed more than 17,000 men who have sex with men and 1,200 transgender women across 16 countries in the Asia Pacific.
The countries surveyed included Australia, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.
Quotes attributed to research associate Curtis Chan from Kirby Institute, UNSW.
“In the last decade, one of the biggest innovations in HIV prevention is the pre-exposure prophylaxis or PrEP, which is medication that you take to prevent HIV acquisition.”
“So we see that in Australia, we’re at some of the lowest HIV diagnoses in the world, and a lot of that has been attributed to our success in PrEP upscale.”
“But we see that in the Asia-Pacific region there are some of the fastest growing HIV epidemics in the world. Making PrEP more accessible across the region is really important.”
“UNAIDS has set targets for about 4 million people, all in the Asia-Pacific region, to have ever taken PrEP by 2025. But as of 2021, you know, there’s only been about 100,000 who have been estimated to take PrEP. So we are well behind our target.”
“We conducted this survey known as the PrEP APPEAL Study, where we looked at over 17,000 men who have sex with men and 1,200 or so transgender women, and we asked them what they knew about PrEP and what they wanted out of PrEP.”
“So in some countries like Australia, Thailand and Vietnam, you can just go down to the local pharmacy and get PrEP. But in reality, in most of the countries that we surveyed, PrEP is not readily accessible.”
“In some countries you’d have to import it from overseas at a higher cost. So places like Hong Kong and Japan, that’s usually some of the more common ways of getting PrEP. Some countries have clinical trials and other demonstration projects, which means that people are researching PrEP and they’re giving it for free in that way, but it’s not really incorporated into the regular medical system.”
“One thing we asked is how aware people were of PrEP and we found that a lot of people were very aware of PrEP, but of the people who were aware, very few people had actually ever taken PrEP. So about 20 to 30 percent of the men in our survey in Asia had ever taken PrEP, compared to about 66 percent of our Australian respondents. So there was a big divide there.”
“So of the people who had heard of PrEP but had never taken it, about 70 percent said that they wanted to take PrEP, but they commonly cited that not knowing where to get it as well as cost were important factors on why they didn’t initiate PrEP.”
“When we surveyed individual countries, we found that India had a very low PrEP experience. Close to 90 percent of people had never taken PrEP in their lifetime, compared to somewhere like Australia 30 to 40 percent of people said that they’d never taken PrEP.”
“We know that people in places like Taiwan, Hong Kong really liked event-driven dosing. When PrEP was first endorsed by the WHO, it was kind of conceptualised as a daily medication. But we since now know that an effective way of preventing HIV amongst cisgendered men who have sex with men is using what’s known as event-driven dosing. So that means that you can take pills around the time of sex known as on-demand PrEP or 2-1-1 PrEP.”
“You could theoretically get PrEP in Hong Kong and Taiwan because it’s actually not subsidised by the government, it is at a very high cost. And you can import it from other countries overseas.”
“If you have to spend money to get PrEP in a different country, you might want to think a bit more carefully of when you want to take your PrEP and event-driven dosing really suits that kind of dosing strategy.”
“One of the big points of this study was we wanted to know what people thought about hypothetical PrEP options as well as options that were currently available.”
“Some people preferred daily PrEP, some people preferred event-driven PrEP, some people were interested in the new two-month injection known as cabotegravir. But we also know that there’s a large proportion of people that would be interested in taking a six-month injection, a pill that you only take once a month, a removable implant and other options. And so in the future, a big challenge for PrEP implementation is making sure that people have choices available to them.”
“So to make PrEP more accessible, we need more advocacy in this space. So we need more information of what people want, how people want to take PrEP and take it to the governmental bodies in each country and lobby for PrEP uptake.”
“When we think about choice and PrEP implementation, we have to understand that it’s not a one size fits all. What works for Australia might not work for Cambodia, which might not work for Myanmar, and thinking about what each country’s strengths are and what they want from their PrEP implementation is really important.”
“We hope that studies like ours can guide the future of PrEP implementation and bring us one step closer to ending HIV through greater PrEP access.”
Curtis Chan is a research associate and PhD student in HIV prevention at the Kirby Institute, UNSW. You can find him on TikTok @curtisxchan.
Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.
Editors Note: In the story “Still fighting HIV” sent at: 30/11/2023 06:00.
This is a corrected repeat.
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Published on December 6, 2023
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Video: What is El Niño? - 360
Suzannah Lyons, James Goldie
Published on July 12, 2023
Dr Kimberley Reid provides an explainer of the climatic phenomenon known as El Niño.
Dr Kimberley Reid from Monash University explains El Niño, the impacts it has in the Asia-Pacific region, how scientists predict it, and how it’s being affected by climate change.
Dr Kimberley Reid explains El Niño.
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“So El Niño, and the flip side La Niña, is collectively known as ENSO or the El Niño-Southern Oscillation, and it’s this coupled phenomena between the atmosphere and ocean.”
“So what that means is the atmosphere and ocean are talking to each other and influencing the weather around the globe. And it’s one of the biggest influences of weather patterns globally.”
“The Bureau of Meteorology won’t actually declare an El Niño year unless they see a signal in both the ocean and the atmosphere.”
“During El Niño, there’s typically warmer ocean temperatures over near South America and cooler ocean temperatures near Australia. And what this does is it weakens the winds that move from east to west across the equator.”
“And this weakening of the winds sort of pushes this region of lots of rainfall and convection that’s typically near Australia out towards the middle of the Pacific. And that’s why in Australia, El Niño is typically associated with warmer than average and drier than average weather conditions.”
“Places in Asia also typically get hotter weather as we’ve seen in the last few months with strong heatwaves over Asia.”
“The funny thing about El Niño is that it was actually discovered by Peruvian fishermen hundreds of years ago because they noticed that the warm ocean temperatures off the coast of South America was impacting their fishing.”
“And so because there’s less cold upwelling from the deep ocean and less nutrients rising to the surface, they actually would catch fewer fish. So it can have far-ranging impacts not just on the weather but on aquaculture as well.”
“So scientists use what we call subseasonal-to-seasonal forecast models to try and predict El Niño events. And so these models are really looking at this time period from two weeks to nine months, which is quite a murky area.
“It’s very difficult to forecast that far in advance because the atmosphere is what we call very chaotic.”
“We can’t really forecast the atmosphere that far in advance but we can have an idea about what the ocean’s doing that far in advance.”
“So that’s why there’s a lot of emphasis on the sea surface temperatures and what we call this Nino 3.4 region. So that’s a box over in the middle Pacific where scientists look at whether the ocean temperatures are at a level above or below average. And once they’re above about 0.5 degrees [Celsius], if you’re the US NOAA, or if they’re about point eight [degrees Celsius] if you’re the Bureau, that’s when they consider this to be an El Niño.”
“Climate change is impacting the baseline. So when we just define an El Niño, we’re looking at temperature anomalies.”
“Because the ocean is hotter generally in order to get a 0.5 [degrees Celsius] temperature anomaly, we actually need more heat than we previously did.”
“And so there’s a lot of debate going on about whether we need to redefine our El Niño definitions to take into account climate change.”
Dr Kimberley Reid is a postdoctoral researcher with the ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate Extremes, based at Monash University. Her research focuses on understanding extreme rainfall, climate change impacts on rainfall patterns, and evaluating the devastating east coast floods of 2022.
Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.
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Published on July 12, 2023
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Video: What's the problem with the global banking system and how do we fix it? - 360
Published on July 3, 2023
Monash University’s Barry Williams says as technology changes our world it will change our banks too.
Associate Professor Barry Williams from Monash University breaks down the pressures and strains weighing on the global banking system.
Since the failure of Silicon Valley Bank and the acquisition of Credit Suisse by UBS earlier this year, central bankers and business leaders around the world fear the world economy could tip into a recession. If it does the banking system will need to be strong to survive it.
Barry Williams from Monash University says that the system is undergoing a crisis of confidence flowing on from the recent failures in the industry.
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“Because we’re already getting forecasts of recession. The regulators will hopefully in most countries be working with the banks to look at their books as we call them. There is a process called stress testing which occurs pretty much annually now. Many of the bank failures we occur, we’ve seen occurring are either due to a lack of capital or a lack of liquid assets like Silicon Valley Bank or the wrong sort of liquid assets. And this provides the space to deal with the problem. So we will find out the hard way in some cases, the question will be then also transmission risk.”
“The banking system as it’s regulated properly, should hold enough capital as the economic cycle changes. The problem is sometimes we fail to learn from history, which is part of my job to remind people of these problems and say, look, we do really need to build up this buffer of capital but a buffer of capital is expensive. And so of course, we don’t want to hold too much of it just in case. So we have a series of plans in place. We have a series of ideas in place like capital buffers, holdings of capital.”
“My personal concern is that some of those buffers have declined over the last few decades since the GFC experience.”
“In the case of the current crisis of confidence, we’ve had this situation. Well, in part, it’s a fear of what’s going to happen next and will the bank survive. And in part, it’s driven by what happened with Credit Suisse. Credit Suisse effectively made a series of mistakes in a world with information asymmetry, so we reached the point well, what’s next?”
“Can we tell they’re really fixing themselves because they’ve said they’re doing a better job each time and then they have another crisis and they said they’re going to address it and then they had another crisis? And banking is in effect about trust, the trust that when we tap that card, and go online, the money is there and we can use it.”
“And in effect with Credit Suisse people just simply said, we don’t trust the management anymore and it reached the point, a tipping point where the crisis of confidence, the reputation capital of the bank reached a point where it was no longer going to be viable in its current form and something had to be done.”
“We’ve got to remember that just like my analogy of toothpaste or other necessities, we need the banking system. The alternatives are costly, inefficient and we just don’t want to go there. We like to be able to just tap our card. We rely on that easy movement of cash. Now, electronically and the banks provide an essential service.”
“We need the banks to land on their feet. It doesn’t necessarily mean that we want every bank to survive. If they’ve made bad commercial decisions, the shareholder should bear those costs. We want the system to keep working.”
“Looking to the future, we know it’s going to be change. Technology is going to be a word that we’ll be dealing with and change. So, it’s a question of how well we manage the technological process. There will be mistakes made.”
“The technological change. Well, we can’t predict it, but we’ve got to know that we going to have to respond and react to it. And the banks need to have in place processes which are robust enough to both embrace the change and overcome the occasional mistake.”
“You know, the attention on technology should act alongside the importance of ethical conduct, having a robust internal culture which focuses on doing the right thing for society. These are elements that we need to keep on reminding ourselves are important. The bottom line isn’t just the metric we need to look for. The ethical bottom line is equally as important.”
“The sustainable bottom line responding to society, not lagging society but responding to the impact of the future in an ethical way. I think these are going to be the hallmarks of surviving institutions.”
Barry Williams is an associate professor of Banking in the Department of Banking and Finance at Monash University.
Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.
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Published on July 3, 2023
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Video: Why do we sleep? - 360
Shantha Rajaratnam
Published on February 12, 2024
Sleep is of fundamental importance to our health, wellbeing and productivity.
Professor Shantha Rajaratnam, Professor of Sleep and Circadian Medicine in the Monash School of Psychological Sciences and the Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health explains why sleep is of fundamental importance to our health, wellbeing and productivity.
Quotes attributable to Professor Shantha Rajaratnam from the Turner Institute for Brain & Mental Health at Monash University.
“We know that sleep is of fundamental importance to our health, our wellbeing and our productivity. We know this because actually virtually every organism studied has some form of sleep.”
“We know that sleep is important for maintaining energy and restoring energy. We know that sleep is important for vital functions such as metabolism, cardiovascular system, immune function. We know that sleep is important for a number of other brain functions, such as cognition, learning, memory.”
“More recently, there’s been increasing evidence that sleep plays a role in the clearing of toxins through a system called the glymphatic system in the brain.”
“Our sleep/wake cycle is regulated by multiple processes and one is called a circadian process. It’s regulated by a clock system located throughout the body.”
“And we probably should view this system more like an orchestra with the conductor of an orchestra in the brain and multiple components of the orchestra distributed throughout the body.”
“The circadian system’s function is to maintain the appropriate timekeeping mechanisms within the body and also to ensure that we are at appropriate synchronisation with the external environment.”
“Apart from light and dark information that our system is receiving, we know that other cues are also important. For example, the liver and the pancreas all have clock systems that are acutely sensitive to the timing of meals, and so appropriately timed meals, we understand now, are going to be really important for preventing diseases such as diabetes and other conditions like that.”
“So to maintain good circadian health really is all about having regular sleep/wake cycles, regular behavioural rhythms including the cycles of eating, and also ensuring that our light and dark environment and our exposure to light is optimal.”
Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.
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Published on February 12, 2024
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Vietnam’s illegal fishing could earn it an EU ban - 360
To Van Phuong
Published on June 8, 2022
Once among the world’s worst nations for illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing, Vietnam is battling to redeem itself after a yellow card warning.
Rogue fishers could see Vietnam barred from the European Union seafood market. Despite making considerable efforts to halt illegal fishing by 2022, at midyear the country is still hobbled by weak policy administration and lax enforcement of fishing regulations.
Illegal fishing earned Vietnam a yellow card warning from the European Commission in 2017. Non-EU countries that export fish to the EU or lend their flags to vessels that do so must meet strict standards for fisheries management.
If they do not, they may be ‘carded’ and could have their fish excluded from the EU market. In 2019 a global watchdog ranked Vietnam fifth worst in the world for illegal fishing. By 2021 it had improved significantly to 56th worst – but further improvement means tightening its fisheries management across the board.
Vietnam’s recently increased penalties are still less severe than in other countries where illegal fishers face prison. Some local authorities ignore violations, and few cases are prosecuted. Brokers collude to bring Vietnamese vessels into foreign waters to fish illegally, and bribes see Vietnamese fishers arrested there returned to Vietnam along with their boats.
Collecting data and evidence about illegal fishing is difficult because the wrongdoers use sophisticated tricks to avoid detection.
The monitoring system for controlling boats at sea is intended to provide onboard warnings when a vessel crosses an international boundary. But this is easily evaded: many Vietnamese fishers remove or turn off their units or even place them on another vessel while their own boat is out at sea.
Catch certification at Vietnamese ports is limited and traceability activities do not meet European Commission requirements. Fishing boats commonly dock without proper declarations and violations go unpunished. Many captains fill in their fishing logbooks at port as catches are unloaded, rather than at sea as required.
Efforts to prevent illegal fishing are disconnected across state and local levels. Numerous sanctions exist on paper but are not enforced in practice. Fisheries agencies and fishers have ignored numerous administrative decisions.
The division of sea areas means too many vessels work in near-shore fishing grounds. Marine resources are depleted and fishing grounds overlap. All this acts as an incentive for fishers to operate in foreign waters instead.
Patrol administration varies between provinces, leading to weak law enforcement because areas of responsibility are unclear. In Binh Dinh and Khanh Hoa, for example, the Fisheries Inspectorate Division of the Fisheries Branch Department runs the patrols as part of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD). But in Kien Giang and Binh Thuan, the DARD runs the patrols directly. Even basic improvements would go a long way to fixing the problem.
Decrees to fight illegal fishing need to be revised and finalised as quickly as possible. At the moment, high profits mean Vietnamese fishers dodge and break the rules to continue illegal fishing. To be a deterrent, the new regulations need robust sanctions such as prosecuting violators and regularly publishing lists of boats and owners caught breaking the law. Information about fisheries law and regulations also needs to be disseminated widely.
The Vietnamese government needs to strengthen its monitoring, control and surveillance systems for fishing vessels and clarify the responsibilities of law-enforcement stakeholders. Implementing the electronic catch documentation and traceability (eCDT) system would be a significant improvement over existing pen-and-paper methods.
And better late than never: Vietnam needs to join the relevant international treaties on illegal fishing.
Vietnam has come a long way in addressing illegal fishing. Whether it can end the problem by its self-imposed deadline of 2022 depends on how fast it can toughen enforcement, improve education and streamline surveillance measures to keep illegal boats out of its neighbours’ waters.
Dr To Van Phuong is with the Institute of Marine Science and Fishing Technology and Director of Academic Affairs, Nha Trang University, Vietnam.
The author declares no conflicts of interest.
Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.
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Published on June 8, 2022
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Violence continues under Indian piecemeal approach - 360
Hoineilhing Sitlhou
Published on October 3, 2022
In the North East of India, the army can open fire on a gathering of five or more people if they feel the need, and can do so without fear of prosecution.
The extraordinary powers are the result of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 (AFSPA). Initially justified as a temporary means to contain an insurgency in the Naga hills of Assam, the act later extended to other areas of the North East. It gives special powers, liberties and impunity to Indian armed forces posted to ‘disturbed areas’. Arrest and search warrants are not required for any operation; army officers can fire upon and use lethal force on an unlawful assembly of five or more people or for the illegal possession of firearms; and no army personnel are prosecuted, unless sanctioned by the Indian Government. It gives the armed forces powers to arrest on insubstantial pretexts, conduct warrantless searches and shoot to kill without the fear of being held accountable.
Since it came into force, disturbing reports have emerged from the region. Soldiers allegedly raped and murdered Thangjam Manorama Devi during interrogation by paramilitary group the Assam Rifles; women were raped during ‘Operation Birdie’ in 1997-98; the Assam Rifles used women as human shields; a 13-year-old girl was gang-raped by five soldiers; and 14 women were raped in 1988. Moreover, AFSPA has caused human rights violations including enforced disappearances, faking an encounter with a criminal, and extrajudicial killings.
The social anthropologist Dolly Kikon writes that the AFSPA has transformed the North East into an area occupied by people viewed as ‘suspicious’ and ‘dangerous’ by the military.
But who the ‘real’ and ‘alleged’ perpetrators of violence under AFSPA are is less clear.
In the state of Manipur, the Manipur Commando takes the most active role in operations. In the 1980s, a small force of commandos was set up from the armed wing of the Manipur Police to strengthen counter-insurgency operations. They were given special training in weaponry, strategies, unarmed combat, cordon, search, and so on, and were also given special financial assistance by the State Government.
Human rights activists have catalogued a strong correlation between extrajudicial killings and commando activity. Their allegations were strengthened by a confession made by T. Herojit Singh, head constable of the Manipur Commandos in January 2016. He confirmed the fake encounters and extrajudicial killings and writing false reports to cover them up. He said they were carried out on the direct orders of the superior officers, contradicting the official line from the Indian Army and the Manipur Police that all the encounters were in self-defence. Many of the perpetrators were never brought to justice and some of them have received promotions or gallantry medals and recognition of their dedication as police officers. According to researcher Jyoti Belur, “it is not what actually takes place in an encounter situation but rather how it is represented on paper that is important, because all inquiries or the court is going to examine the paperwork done by the police as documentary evidence.”
The violence has inspired activism, particularly from women, in the North East. Collectives include women-led associations like the Meira Paibis, Extrajudicial Execution Victim Families’ Association (EEVFAM) and Women Guns Survivors Network Manipur (MWGSN), and individual activists including famed hunger-striker Irom Sharmila.
They highlight the dangers of the AFSPA to a democratic society, critiquing it as being draconian, inhuman, unconstitutional and irrelevant.
The Meira Paibis received international recognition when twelve members stripped naked outside the gates of Assam Rifles headquarters in 2004. The outcome of the protest was that the Rifles vacated their headquarters and AFSPA was withdrawn from seven local government jurisdictions. Similarly, the EEVFAM, in cooperation with Human Rights Alert and the Human Rights Law Network, was instrumental in filing a petition in 2012 to the supreme court sparking an investigation of 1,528 extra-judicial killings in Manipur.
Despite a 2016 Supreme Court judgement that said the Indian Army and paramilitary personnel may not use excessive or retaliatory force even in zones that come under AFSPA, the struggle continues. AFSPA is still understood to be operative in many districts of Manipur. Extrajudicial killings continue. For example Mangboilal Lhouvum, a low-wage earner and father of four, was shot in the abdomen and abandoned on the roadside on the night of 4 June 2021. Before succumbing to his injury, in a video that has gone viral, he testified to being shot at the command of a major in the Assam Rifles in Manipur.
In February of 2022, EEVFAM and Human Rights Alert released a joint statement condemning the Manipur Government for not fulfilling its promise to investigate and punish perpetrators of extrajudicial killing despite highlighting the issue during election campaigns. The statement said, “in the last five years of its rule, the state government did not initiate a single criminal investigation into these cases.”
In April 2022, the Indian Ministry of Home Affairs suspended AFSPA in seven districts of another state, Nagaland; six more districts of Manipur; and 23 districts entirely and one district partially in Assam. In Manipur, the Act remains intact in the hill districts. The Indian Government’s strategy towards the plea for repeal of AFSPA seems to be to respond in bits or parts but without actually doing away with it. The way AFSPA is applied illustrates how certain spaces and populations become marginalised through the administration of the state. Selectively reducing AFSPA from the valley districts while retaining them in the hills might add fuel to the already contentious political relationship between the hill tribes and the Meitei community who are more populous in the valley regions.
Under the present dispensation, violence perpetrated by insurgents is curbed by another form of violence — similar in form and content but legitimised by the state. It highlights the need to reinstate and restore faith in the democratic process of the state. If the partial removal of AFSPA was deemed possible in some regions, due to “improved security situation”, a similar assessment may be possible in the near future that will result in a complete removal of the Act.
Hoineilhing Sitlhou is an assistant professor at the Department of Sociology, University of Hyderabad. She is a recipient of the M.N. Srinivas Award, 2016. She has published two books ‘Kuki Women’ (Ed.), 2014 and ‘Deconstructing Colonial Ethnography: An analysis of Missionary Writings in North East India’. 2017. The article is based on a project funded by UGC-UPE Phase II (2015–2017). The data on EEVFAM was updated with funding from UGC-SAP of the Department of Sociology, University of Hyderabad.
Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.
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Published on October 3, 2022
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Violence or poverty? The stark choice for many women - 360
Alice Campbell
Published on November 29, 2023
For domestic violence survivors, the cost of living crisis makes leaving an abusive relationship harder than ever.
Jessica, a domestic violence survivor in her late 30s, already spends almost one-third of her income on rent. Now, the single mother-of-two from Brisbane is facing a further rent increase — and she doesn’t know how she’ll cope.
“When rent went up, it went from $380 to $430,” says Jessica*.
“It is a nightmare, so I’m worried because if he puts it up again, I can’t afford it,” she adds. “I’m only paying it because I don’t want to be homeless. I don’t want my kids to be homeless. I don’t want to be living out of my car.”
For many Australians, the cost of living crisis is hitting hard, with an increasing number of families struggling to keep a roof over their head. For renters, the news just keeps getting worse. National rents have risen for 38 months straight and are 30.4 percent higher than in July 2020.
This crisis is especially acute for those experiencing domestic, family, or sexual violence (DFSV).
In September this year, I spoke to 10 victim-survivors , including Jessica, as part of my ongoing research on the relationship between gender-based violence and poverty. Most of the women had children, and many described the stress associated with cost of living increases.
Women experiencing severe intimate partner violence are more than three times as likely to move into financial hardship than women who are not experiencing any intimate partner violence. Victim-survivors of domestic, family, or sexual violence are also one of the highest-risk groups for homelessness.
In 2021, it was estimated to cost AUD$18,000 for a victim-survivor to leave a violent relationship and establish safety — a figure that would have now increased thanks to rising rents, utilities, and other living costs.
In increasingly precarious times, women in an abusive relationship face a stark choice: to stay in the violent relationship, or leave and risk entering poverty.
Adding to this, many perpetrators engage in financial abuse – using money or finances to hurt or control their victim. This form of abuse has increased over the past three years, banks have reported, and service providers only expect violence to increase as the cost of living crisis continues.
Often, perpetrators weaponise financial processes after separation to retain control over their ex-partner. Mothers relying on financial support to care for their children are especially vulnerable.
In a recent study from Swinburne University, 80 percent of women reported their ex-partner had replaced physical abuse with financial abuse via child support after separating.
According to the Federal Government, approximately AUD$1.7 billion in child support has gone unpaid since Australia’s Child Support scheme was introduced in 1988. Worryingly, this figure excludes the 50 percent of families who opt to collect their child support privately, rather than through the agency, meaning the true figure is much higher.
The government does not have any data on these parents, but anecdotal evidence suggests they are often not receiving the financial support for which they are eligible. Many women fleeing a violent relationship are likely to fall into this category.
Victim-survivors can also be left with debts accrued in their name by abusive ex-partners. For example, the ex-partner of one of the women I interviewed had committed fraud of nearly AUD$100,000 in her name.
While this problem is undoubtedly wicked, it is not insurmountable. Poverty is not the inevitable outcome of violence and it can be reduced with gender-responsive policies, laws and services, increased investment in social housing, and more funding of the DFSV services sector.
The women I interviewed were unanimous that the support they had received from specialist services had been instrumental in escaping their psychological entrapment and rebuilding strength and confidence. This enabled them to enter the workforce or commence studying, leading to a more secure future for them and their children.
However, funding of these specialist services is not keeping pace with demand. Many victim-survivors described waiting longer than they should to access this support and had to exit services before they were ready.
Victim-survivors also acknowledged that there was only so much these services could be expected to do. Broader, system-level changes could ameliorate the impacts of violence on the poverty of women and children.
Mainstream services such as banks, real estate agents, utility companies, employers, educational institutions, Centrelink, and the Child Support Agency encounter victim-survivors of domestic, family, or sexual violence every day. Ensuring these services are gender-responsive and their workers are educated on trauma will make it easier to stop financial abuse and support victim-survivors to recover from its effects.
Increased investment in long-term social housing would ensure every person fleeing domestic violence has a safe, affordable, and stable place to call home.
The Australian Government has signalled its commitment to support victim-survivors to recover from the economic impacts of violence.
Implementing the First Action Plan of the National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children 2022–23, and the recommendations of a recently released report of the Women’s Economic Equality Taskforce, would both be an excellent place to start.
*Name changed for privacy reasons.
Dr Alice Campbell is a research fellow at the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Children and Families over the Life Course at The University of Queensland. Alice’s research expertise falls under the broad themes of the sociology of gender and sexuality, family dynamics, social inequalities, and longitudinal and life-course studies.
Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.
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Published on November 29, 2023
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{
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"url": "https://360info.org/violence-or-poverty-the-stark-choice-for-many-women/",
"author": "Alice Campbell"
}
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{
"license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
"url": "https://360info.org/visuals_category/conflict/",
"author": null
}
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"license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
"url": "https://360info.org/visuals_category/data-journalism/",
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"license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
"url": "https://360info.org/visuals_category/economy/",
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"license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
"url": "https://360info.org/visuals_category/education/",
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"license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
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"license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
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"license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
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"license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
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"license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
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"license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
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"license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
"url": "https://360info.org/visuals_format/type-graphic/",
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