Delivering sustainability therapy in Sustainable Development projects

This paper explores the apparent contradiction between the 'linearity' of most Sustainable Development projects, with time-bound and defined outputs achieved at a fixed cost, and an implied 'circularity' of the theory whereby there is no 'end'. Projects usually have clear parameters within which they are implemented, and the inclusion of elements such as the need for accountability, measurable impact and,value for money' have grown in importance. It could be argued that we live in a 'projectified' and therefore linear world. The paper explores the potential contradiction between 'linearity' and 'circularity', and suggests that one way around this is to frame the project within a form of the Kolb Learning Cycle heuristic. This will facilitate a rationalisation from those implementing the sustainable development project as to why decisions are being made and for whom. If these questions are opened up to the project stakeholders, including beneficiaries, then the Kolb cycle could encourage learning and understanding by all involved. It could also provide Sustainability Therapy to those trapped in processes, which they find orthogonal to their own perceptions. It is suggested that such learning, therapy and reflective practice should be a valid output of the sustainable development project, although typically the focus is only upon the final outputs and how they feed into policy. Ironically funders would be well advised to take a broader perspective in order to achieve true 'value for money' within such projects, even if learning is not an easily measurable or tangible outcome. These points are explored within the context of the wider literature and experience with a sustainable development project undertaken in Malta. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Everything and nothing project

An EPRSC ‘Partnerships for Public Engagement’ scheme 2010. FEC 122,545.56/UoR 10K everything and nothing is a performance and workshop which engages the public creatively with mathematical concepts: the Poincare conjecture, the shape of the universe, topology, and the nature of infinity are explored through an original, thought provoking piece of music theatre. Jorge Luis Borges' short story 'The Library of Babel' and the aviator Amelia Earhart’s attempt to circumnavigate the globe combine to communicate to audience key mathematical concepts of Poincare’s conjecture. The project builds on a 2008 EPSRC early development project (EP/G001650/1) and is led by an interdisciplinary team the19thstep consisting of composer Dorothy Ker, sculptor Kate Allen and mathematician Marcus du Sautoy. everything and nothing has been devised by Dorothy Ker and Kate Allen, is performed by percussionist Chris Brannick, mezzo soprano Lucy Stevens and sound designer Kelcey Swain. The UK tour targets arts-going audiences, from the Green Man Festival to the British Science Festival. Each performance is accompanied with a workshop led by Topologist Katie Steckles. Alongside the performances and workshops is a website, http://www.everythingandnothingproject.com/ The Public engagement evaluation and monitoring for the project are carried out by evaluator Bea Jefferson. The project is significant in its timely relation to contemporary mathematics and arts-science themes delivering an extensive programme of public engagement.

A lightweight technique for assessing risks in requirements analysis

A simple and practical technique for assessing the risks, that is, the potential for error, and consequent loss, in software system development, acquired during a requirements engineering phase is described. The technique uses a goal-based requirements analysis as a framework to identify and rate a set of key issues in order to arrive at estimates of the feasibility and adequacy of the requirements. The technique is illustrated and how it has been applied to a real systems development project is shown. How problems in this project could have been identified earlier is shown, thereby avoiding costly additional work and unhappy users.

Goal sketching and the business case

This paper describes how the business case can be characterized and used to quickly make an initial and structurally complete goal-responsibility model. This eases the problem of bringing disciplined support to key decision makers in a development project in such a way that it can be instantiated quickly and thereafter support all key decision gateways. This process also greatly improves the understanding shared by the key decision makers and helps to identify and manage load-bearing assumptions.

Goal sketching from a concise business case

This paper describes how the business case can be characterized and used to quickly make an initial and structurally complete goal-responsibility model. This eases the task of bringing disciplined support to key decision makers in a development project in such a way that it can be instantiated quickly and thereafter support all key decisions. This process also greatly improves the understanding shared by the key decision makers and helps to identify and manage loadbearing assumptions. Recent research has revealed two interesting issues, which are highlighted in this paper.

A lightweight technique for assessing risks in requirements analysis

A simple and practical technique for assessing the risks, that is, the potential for error, and consequent loss, in software system development, acquired during a requirements engineering phase is described. The technique uses a goal-based requirements analysis as a framework to identify and rate a set of key issues in order to arrive at estimates of the feasibility and adequacy of the requirements. The technique is illustrated and how it has been applied to a real systems development project is shown. How problems in this project could have been identified earlier is shown, thereby avoiding costly additional work and unhappy users.

Trees outside forests and rural livelihoods: a study of Chitwan District, Nepal

Trees outside forests (TOF) in Nepal’s Terai have significantly increased over the past decade. The Chitwan District was one of the focus districts in the Terai Community Forestry Development Project that promoted a tree seedling distribution program. This paper examines the current position of tree integration on farmland and its contribution to livelihoods of rural households in this district. Interviews with local key informants, government and non-government agencies and woodbased industries, as well as an in-depth study of 32 households were used to describe the constraints faced by the households in management of trees on farmland. Most households cited disease, poor growth, lack of preferred tree species, lack of technical support, an uncertain tree market, and lack of financial support as constraints. Despite the important role of trees in subsistence and marketbased rural livelihood diversification, and the consequent reduction in pressure on national forests from on-farm trees, current government policies and practices fail to recognise the value of these trees. It is argued that there is substantial potential for improving on-farm trees to enhance rural livelihoods. A responsive service mechanism centred on tree growing households would help the management of tree resources on the farmland.

A method for assessing confidence in requirements analysis

Context: During development managers, analysts and designers often need to know whether enough requirements analysis work has been done and whether or not it is safe to proceed to the design stage. Objective: This paper describes a new, simple and practical method for assessing our confidence in a set of requirements. Method: We identified 4 confidence factors and used a goal oriented framework with a simple ordinal scale to develop a method for assessing confidence. We illustrate the method and show how it has been applied to a real systems development project. Results: We show how assessing confidence in the requirements could have revealed problems in this project earlier and so saved both time and money. Conclusion: Our meta-level assessment of requirements provides a practical and pragmatic method that can prove useful to managers, analysts and designers who need to know when sufficient requirements analysis has been performed.

Hyperactive governance in the Thames Gateway

This paper examines the implementation of brownfield regeneration policies in the UK within the context of complex systems of multi-level governance. Using the regeneration of the Thames Gateway as an example, it explores how the Government's centrally driven institutional arrangements have undermined leadership in this key development project. The Government's approach to brownfield governance is characterised as one of constant intervention in the Thames Gateway in an ad hoc and incoherent fashion. Congested and fragmented governance structures are the result. These, this paper argues, have diffused the focus and undermined the leadership of policy and implementation. It is suggested that the adoption of the principles of policy mapping and weaving would bring more clarity and coherence to the governance of the Thames Gateway.

‘In the air’ and below the horizon: migrant workers in UK construction and the practice-based nature of learning and communicating OHS

Local, tacit and normally unspoken OHS (occupational health and safety) knowledge and practices can too easily be excluded from or remain below the industry horizon of notice, meaning that they remain unaccounted for in formal OHS policy and practice. In this article we stress the need to more systematically and routinely tap into these otherwise ‘hidden’ communication channels, which are central to how everyday safe working practices are achieved. To demonstrate this approach this paper will draw on our ethnographic research with a gang of migrant curtain wall installers on a large office development project in the north of England. In doing so we reflect on the practice-based nature of learning and sharing OHS knowledge through examples of how workers’ own patterns of successful communication help avoid health and safety problems. These understandings, we argue, can be advanced as a basis for the development of improved OHS measures, and of organizational knowing and learning.

The MaPS project: mapping teacher conceptions of musical development

The chapter starts from the premise that an historically- and institutionally-formed orientation to music education at primary level in European countries privileges a nineteenth century Western European music aesthetic, with its focus on formal characteristics such as melody and rhythm. While there is a move towards a multi-faceted understanding of musical ability, a discrete intelligence and willingness to accept musical styles or 'open-earedness', there remains a paucity of documented evidence of this in research at primary school level. To date there has been no study undertaken which has the potential to provide policy makers and practitioners with insights into the degree of homogeneity or universality in conceptions of musical ability within this educational sector. Against this background, a study was set up to explore the following research questions: 1. What conceptions of musical ability do primary teachers hold a) of themselves and; b) of their pupils? 2. To what extent are these conceptions informed by Western classical practices? A mixed methods approach was used which included survey questionnaire and semi-structured interview. Questionnaires have been sent to all classroom teachers in a random sample of primary schools in the South East of England. This was followed up with a series of semi-structured interviews with a sub-sample of respondents. The main ideas are concerned with the attitudes, beliefs and working theories held by teachers in contemporary primary school settings. By mapping the extent to which a knowledge base for teaching can be resistant to change in schools, we can problematise primary schools as sites for diversity and migration of cultural ideas. Alongside this, we can use the findings from the study undertaken in an English context as a starting point for further investigation into conceptions of music, musical ability and assessment held by practitioners in a variety of primary school contexts elsewhere in Europe; our emphasis here will be on the development of shared understanding in terms of policies and practices in music education. Within this broader framework, our study can have a significant impact internationally, with potential to inform future policy making, curriculum planning and practice.

On the development of horizontal CEN standards supporting the implementation of EU directives on sludge, soil and biowaste - Project HORIZONTAL

We give an overview on the development of "horizontal" European Committee for Standardisation (CEN) standards for characterising soils, sludges and biowaste in the context of environmental legislation in the European Union (EU). We discuss the various steps in the development of a horizontal standard (i.e. assessment of the possibility of such a standard, review of existing normative documents, pre-normative testing and validation) and related problems. We also provide a synopsis of European and international standards covered by the so-called Project HORIZONTAL. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Perspectives on experiences of innovation: the development of an assessment methodology appropriate to construction project organizations

The UK construction industry is in the process of trying to adopt a new culture based on the large-scale take up of innovative practices. Through the Demonstration Project process many organizations are implementing changed practices and learning from the experiences of others. This is probably the largest experiment in innovation in any industry in recent times. The long-term success will be measured by the effectiveness of embedding the new practices in the organization. As yet there is no recognized approach to measuring the receptivity of the organization to the innovation process as an indication of the likelihood of long-term development. The development of an appropriate approach is described here. Existing approaches to the measurement of the take up of innovation were reviewed and where appropriate used as the base for the development of a questionnaire. The questionnaire could be applicable to multi-organizational construction project situations such that the output could determine an individual organization's innovative practices via an innovation scorecard, a project team's approach or it could be used to survey a wide cross-section of the industry.

When school is not enough: new initiatives in intergenerational language transmission in Wales

This paper examines language reproduction in the family in the context of a highly innovative project in Wales, where the Welsh language has been in decline for over a century. Although Welsh-medium schooling has played a pivotal role in slowing and even reversing language shift in recent decades, there is mounting evidence of the dangers of over-reliance on education. The Twf (Growth) Project was established in 2002 with funding from the National Assembly for Wales with the aim of raising awareness of the benefits of bilingualism among parents and prospective parents. Analysis of interviews with the main stakeholders in the project (managers, the Twf project officers, parents, health workers and a range of other partners), publicity materials and observations of project staff at work suggests that the achievements of the project lie in two main areas: the recognition of the need for building strong alliances with professional groups and organisations that work with families with young children; and the development of a marketing strategy appropriate for the target audience. It is argued that the experience of the project will be of interest to those addressing the issue of intergenerational transmission in a range of other minority language settings.

The effect of cleft lip on cognitive development in school-aged children: a paradigm for examining sensitive period effects

Background:  Our previous investigation showed that infants with cleft lip who had undergone late (three-month) surgical repair (but not those with early, neonatal, repair) had significantly poorer cognitive development at 18 months than a group of unaffected control children. These differences were mediated by the quality of early mother–infant interactions. The present study examined whether this pattern persisted into later childhood. Method:  At 7 years, 93 index (44 early, and 49 late repair) and 77 control children were followed up and their cognitive development assessed (IQ, language and school achievements). Results:  Index children (particularly those with late lip repair) scored significantly lower than controls on tests of cognitive development. Group differences in Verbal IQ were mediated by 2 months’ maternal sensitivity; this was associated with 7-year Verbal IQ, even after controlling for later mother–child interactions. Conclusions:  Social interactions in the first few months may be of especial importance for child cognitive development. Interventions for infants with cleft lip should be directed at fostering the best possible parental care in infancy.