Targeting social need in a divided society: an evaluation of a community-based adult education initiative

This article examines the impact of a community-based adult education initiative designed to target social need in Northern Ireland. Set against a backdrop of extreme civil unrest and disadvantageous socio-economic conditions a cohort of adults was identified to participate in a personal and social development programme. The initiative was funded from Peace and Reconciliation resources made available to Northern Ireland by the European Union. High levels of unemployment and negativity about previous learning experiences were characteristic features among participants. An evaluation of the effectiveness of the programme was carried out and a follow-up qualitative survey ensued 6 months after the completion of the training. Results indicate that the learner-centred methodology was effective in providing a gateway to further education and training and enhancing participants' self-esteem, confidence, motivation, tolerance, social skills, community involvement and

Revised age estimate of the Mjauvotn tephra A on the Faroe Islands based on Bayesian modelling of C-14 dates from two lake sequences

Tephra horizons are potentially perfect time markers for dating and cross-correlation among diverse Holocene palaeoenvironmental records such as ice cores and marine and terrestrial sequences, but we need to trust their age. Here we present a new age estimate of the Holocene Mjauvotn tephra A using accelerator mass spectrometry C-14 dates from two lakes on the Faroe Islands. With Bayesian age modelling it is dated to 6668-6533 cal. a BP (68.2% confidence interval) - significantly older and better constrained than the previous age. Copyright (C) 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Evaluation of effective groundwater recharge of freshwater lens in small islands by the combined modeling of geoelectrical data and water heads

In small islands, a freshwater lens can develop due to the recharge induced by rain. Magnitude and spatial distribution of this recharge control the elevation of freshwater and the depth of its interface with salt water. Therefore, the study of lens morphology gives useful information on both the recharge and water uptake due to evapotranspiration by vegetation. Electrical resistivity tomography was applied on a small coral reef island, giving relevant information on the lens structure. Variable density groundwater flow models were then applied to simulate freshwater behavior. Cross validation of the geoelectrical model and the groundwater model showed that recharge exceeds water uptake in dunes with little vegetation, allowing the lens to develop. Conversely, in the low-lying and densely vegetated sectors, where water uptake exceeds recharge, the lens cannot develop and seawater intrusion occurs. This combined modeling method constitutes an original approach to evaluate effective groundwater recharge in such environments.
[Comte, J.-C., O. Banton, J.-L. Join, and G. Cabioch (2010), Evaluation of effective groundwater recharge of freshwater lens in small islands by the combined modeling of geoelectrical data and water heads, Water Resour. Res., 46, W06601, doi:10.1029/2009WR008058.]

Citizenship education in divided societies: Teachers’ perspectives in Northern Ireland

This paper aimed to investigate in what ways teachers’ developing understandings of citizenship education in a divided society reflect discourses around national citizenship and controversial issues. Based on thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews with 13 post-primary teachers in Northern Ireland undertaking an in-service programme in citizenship, findings indicate that the controversial nature of past conflict maintains its sensitivity in the educational context though other categories of potential exclusion, such as race and sexuality, compete for space in educational discourse and teaching. Few teachers used controversial issues identified as challenging hegemonic beliefs as an opportunity for role modelling citizenship. However, teachers rarely explored the complex interlinkages between traditional and alternative categories of exclusion. It is argued that this may render teachers’ understandings of citizenship and societal conflict disconnected, which in turn may hinder the potential for citizenship education to address societal divisions and to promote active peace in the long-term.

Maternal situations: Sectarianism and civility in a divided city

This paper explores the tensions between civility and sectarianism in contemporary Belfast. Drawing on interviews with mothers engaged in raising young children in the largely working class and divided inner city, the paper offers a pragmatic account of the dynamics of social reproduction and change. This is pursued through an analysis of the interplay between expectations of civility and sectarianism in four specific situations: walking, shopping, playing and schooling. The tensions and dilemmas of maternal action as the divided inner city is navigated indicate the constitutive role situations play in shaping maternal action. The situation of motherhood itself, both at the centre of ethno-national reproduction and at the interface of public and private life, is not insignificant in routinely drawing mothers into the everyday dynamics of post-conflict continuity and change.