Sing for Fukushima

The Fukushima Response Bay Area (FRBA) in collaboration with the Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists (BFUU) Poetry Committee and the BFUU Social Justice Committee developed the Fukushima Poetry Anthology project to highlight the ongoing disaster at Fukushima Daiichi, Japan. All works in the Anthology are in response to the nuclear disaster in Fukushima and the ongoing impacts, including this work. Japanese anti-nuclear protest songs first surfaced in the 1980s after the Chernobyl disaster. Since this time there have been numerous anti-nuclear songs, with some still being produced. Research was required to search for such songs along with understanding who sang them. A process of listening to the songs, reading the English sub-titles and sharing the music with others took place. The most popular in the sharing being the song titled You Can't See It, And You Can't Smell It Either by Rankin & Dub Ainu Band (2011).This song and others, includes a mixture of music styles from pop, punk, rap, rock, storytelling, dance hall reggae and traditional Indigenous Japanese music (Tonkori, Ainu). You Can't See It, And You Can't Smell It Either is a catchy song with a rhythmic beat that remains in one’s head long after the song has finished. This music and the people who sang it became the basis for this poem that attempts to capture the style and backgrounds of protest songs within one creative work. It is hoped that the work encourages people to continue singing for Fukushima.

Integration of Geospatial and Built Environment - National Data Policy

Digital technology offers enormous benefits (economic, quality of design and efficiency in use) if adopted to implement integrated ways of representing the physical world in a digital form. When applied across the full extent of the built and natural world, it is referred to as the Digital Built Environment (DBE) and encompasses a wide range of approaches and technology initiatives, all aimed at the same end goal: the development of a virtual world that sufficiently mirrors the real world to form the basis for the smart cities of the present and future, enable efficient infrastructure design and programmed maintenance, and create a new foundation for economic growth and social well-being through evidence-based analysis. The creation of a National Data Policy for the DBE will facilitate the creation of additional high technology industries in Australia; provide Governments, industries and citizens with greater knowledge of the environments they occupy and plan; and offer citizen-driven innovations for the future. Australia has slipped behind other nations in the adoption and execution of Building Information Modelling (BIM) and the principal concern is that the gap is widening. Data driven innovation added $67 billion to the Australian economy in 20131. Strong open data policy equates to $16 billion in new value2. Australian Government initiatives such as the Digital Earth inspired “National Map” offer a platform and pathway to embrace the concept of a “BIM Globe”, while also leveraging unprecedented growth in open source / open data collaboration. Australia must address the challenges by learning from international experiences—most notably the UK and NZ—and mandate the use of BIM across Government, extending the Framework for Spatial Data Foundation to include the Built Environment as a theme and engaging collaboration through a “BIM globe” metaphor. This proposed DBE strategy will modernise the Australian urban planning and the construction industry. It will change the way we develop our cities by fundamentally altering the dynamics and behaviours of the supply chains and unlocking new and more efficient ways of collaborating at all stages of the project life-cycle. There are currently two major modelling approaches that contribute to the challenge of delivering the DBE. Though these collectively encompass many (often competing) approaches or proprietary software systems, all can be categorised as either: a spatial modelling approach, where the focus is generally on representing the elements that make up the world within their geographic context; and a construction modelling approach, where the focus is on models that support the life cycle management of the built environment. These two approaches have tended to evolve independently, addressing two broad industry sectors: the one concerned with understanding and managing global and regional aspects of the world that we inhabit, including disciplines concerned with climate, earth sciences, land ownership, urban and regional planning and infrastructure management; the other is concerned with planning, design, construction and operation of built facilities and includes architectural and engineering design, product manufacturing, construction, facility management and related disciplines (a process/technology commonly known as Building Information Modelling, BIM). The spatial industries have a strong voice in the development of public policy in Australia, while the construction sector, which in 2014 accounted for around 8.5% of Australia’s GDP3, has no single voice and because of its diversity, is struggling to adapt to and take advantage of the opportunity presented by these digital technologies. The experience in the UK over the past few years has demonstrated that government leadership is very effective in stimulating industry adoption of digital technologies by, on the one hand, mandating the use of BIM on public procurement projects while at the same time, providing comparatively modest funding to address the common issues that confront the industry in adopting that way of working across the supply chain. The reported result has been savings of £840m in construction costs in 2013/14 according to UK Cabinet Office figures4. There is worldwide recognition of the value of bringing these two modelling technologies together. Australia has the expertise to exercise leadership in this work, but it requires a commitment by government to recognise the importance of BIM as a companion methodology to the spatial technologies so that these two disciplinary domains can cooperate in the development of data policies and information exchange standards to smooth out common workflows. buildingSMART Australasia, SIBA and their academic partners have initiated this dialogue in Australia and wish to work collaboratively, with government support and leadership, to explore the opportunities open to us as we develop an Australasian Digital Built Environment. As part of that programme, we must develop and implement a strategy to accelerate the adoption of BIM processes across the Australian construction sector while at the same time, developing an integrated approach in concert with the spatial sector that will position Australia at the forefront of international best practice in this area. Australia and New Zealand cannot afford to be on the back foot as we face the challenges of rapid urbanisation and change in the global environment. Although we can identify some exemplary initiatives in this area, particularly in New Zealand in response to the need for more resilient urban development in the face of earthquake threats, there is still much that needs to be done. We are well situated in the Asian region to take a lead in this challenge, but we are at imminent risk of losing the initiative if we do not take action now. Strategic collaboration between Governments, Industry and Academia will create new jobs and wealth, with the potential, for example, to save around 20% on the delivery costs of new built assets, based on recent UK estimates.

Collaborative data exploration interfaces - From participatory sensing to participatory sensemaking

As technological capabilities for capturing, aggregating, and processing large quantities of data continue to improve, the question becomes how to effectively utilise these resources. Whenever automatic methods fail, it is necessary to rely on human background knowledge, intuition, and deliberation. This creates demand for data exploration interfaces that support the analytical process, allowing users to absorb and derive knowledge from data. Such interfaces have historically been designed for experts. However, existing research has shown promise in involving a broader range of users that act as citizen scientists, placing high demands in terms of usability. Visualisation is one of the most effective analytical tools for humans to process abstract information. Our research focuses on the development of interfaces to support collaborative, community-led inquiry into data, which we refer to as Participatory Data Analytics. The development of data exploration interfaces to support independent investigations by local communities around topics of their interest presents a unique set of challenges, which we discuss in this paper. We present our preliminary work towards suitable high-level abstractions and interaction concepts to allow users to construct and tailor visualisations to their own needs.

From users to citizens: Some thoughts on designing for polity and civics

This paper presents an essay aimed at prompting broad discussion crucial in keeping the interaction design discourse fresh, critical, and in motion. We trace the changing role of people who have advanced from consumers to producers, from stationary office workers to mobile urban nomads, from passive members of the plebs to active instigators of change. Yet, interaction designers often still refer to them only as ‘users.’ We follow some of the historic developments from the information superhighway to the smart city in order to provide the backdrop in front of which we critically analyse three core areas. First, the issue of echo chambers and filter bubbles in social media results in a political polarisation that jeopardises the formation of a functioning public sphere. Second, pretty lights and colourful façades in media architecture are increasingly making way for situated installations and interventions fostering community engagement. And third, civic activism is often reduced to forms of slacktivism. We synthesise our discussion to propose ‘citizen-ability’ as an alternative goal for interaction designers to aspire to in order to create new polities and civics for a better quality of life.

'But I've never sent them any personal details apart from my driver's licence number...': Exploring seniors' attitudes towards identity crime

Identity crime is argued to be one of the most significant crime problems of today. This paper examines identity crime, through the attitudes and practices of a group of seniors in Queensland, Australia. It examines their own actions towards the protection of their personal data in response to a fraudulent email request. Applying the concept of a prudential citizen (as one who is responsible for self-regulating their behaviour to maintain the integrity of one’s identity) it will be argued that seniors often expose identity information through their actions. However, this is demonstrated to be the result of flawed assumptions and misguided beliefs over the perceived risk and likelihood of identity crime, rather than a deliberate act. This paper concludes that to protect seniors from identity crime, greater awareness of appropriate risk-management strategies towards disclosure of their personal details is required to reduce their inadvertent exposure to identity crime.

Voice, deliberation, resistance and persuasion through networked journalism

The pervasive use of the World Wide Web by the general population has created a cultural shift in “our living world”. It has enabled more people to share more information about more events and issues in the world than was possible before its general use. As a consequence, it has transformed traditional news media’s approach to almost every aspect of journalism, with many organisations restructuring their philosophy and practice to include a variety of participatory spaces/forums where people are free to engage in deliberative dialogue about matters of public importance. Moreover, while news media were the traditional gatekeepers of information, today many organisations allow, to different degrees, the general public and other independent journalism entities to participate in the news production process, which may include agenda setting and content production. This paper draws from an international collective case study that showcases various approaches to networked online news journalism. It examines the ways in which different traditional news media models use digital tools and technologies for participatory communication of information about matters of public interest. The research finds differences between the ways in which public service, commercial and independent news media give voice to the public and ultimately their approach to journalism’s role as the Fourth Estate––one of the key institutions of democracy. The work is framed by the notion that journalism in democratic societies has a key role in ensuring citizens are informed and engaged with public affairs. An examination of four media models, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), the Guardian, News Limited and OhmyNews, showcases the various approaches to networked online news journalism and how each provides different avenues for citizen empowerment. The cases are described and analysed in the context of their own social, political and economic setting. Semi-structured in-depth interviews with key senior journalists and editors provide specific information on comparisons between the distinctive practices of their own organisation. In particular these show how the ideal of democracy can be used as a tool of persuasion as much as a method of deliberation.

“It puts a human face on the researched”: A qualitative evaluation of an Indigenous research governance model

Objective This study aimed to describe the Inala Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community Jury for Health Research, and evaluate its usefulness as a model of Indigenous research governance within an urban Indigenous primary health care service from the perspectives of Jury members and researchers. Methods Informed by a phenomenological approach and using narrative inquiry, a focus group was conducted with Jury members and key informant interviews were undertaken with researchers who had presented to the Community Jury in its first year of operation. Results The Jury was a site of identity work for researchers and Jury members, providing an opportunity to observe and affirm community cultural protocols. Although researchers and Jury members had differing levels of research literacy, the Jury processes enabled respectful communication and relationships to form which positively influenced research practice, community aspirations and clinical care. Discussion The Jury processes facilitated transformative research practice among researchers, and resulted in transference of power from researchers to the Jury members to the mutual benefit of both. Conclusion Ethical Indigenous health research practice requires an engagement with Indigenous peoples and knowledges at the research governance level, not simply as subjects or objects of research.

Voice, deliberation, resistance and persuasion through participatory journalism business models

The pervasive use of the World Wide Web by the general population has created a cultural shift throughout the world. It has enabled more people to share more information about more events and issues than was possible before its general use. As a consequence, it has transformed traditional news media’s approach to almost every aspect of journalism, with many organisations restructuring their philosophy and practice to include a variety of participatory spaces/forums where people are free to engage in deliberative dialogue about matters of public importance. This paper draws from an international collective case study that showcases various approaches to participatory online news journalism during the period 1997–2011 (Adams, 2013). The research finds differences in the ways in which public service, commercial, and independent news media give voice to the public, and ultimately in their approach to journalism’s role as the Fourth Estate––one of the key institutions of democracy. The work is framed by the notion that journalism in democratic societies has a crucial role in ensuring citizens are informed and engaged with public affairs. An examination of four media models, OhmyNews International, News Corp Australia (formerly News Limited), the Guardian and the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), showcases the various approaches to participatory online news journalism and how each provides different avenues for citizen engagement. Semistructured in-depth interviews with some of the key senior journalists and editors provide specific information on comparisons between the distinctive practices in each of their employer organisations.

Herätys kylässä ja tuvissa : Rääkkylän Oravisalon kylä ja renqvistiläinen herätys 1820-luvulla

A Revival in a Village and its Households. The Village of Oravisalo in Rääkkylä Parish and the Renqvistist Revivalism in the 1820s. My purpose is to apply the science of religion and the study of past communities to the study of religious revivalism. Revivalism will be considered a religious phenomenon as well as a cultural and social phenomenon. What makes this study unique is the possibility to reconstruct a list of participating revivalists based on entries in the communion book of the time. The conflict between the revivalists and the chaplain of Rääkkylä also generated other documentary material. The community in Oravisalo was relatively stratified. People lived in complex and varying forms of households. They also had plentiful contacts both with unrelated inhabitants of Oravisalo and with the neighbouring villages. Through these contacts the inhabitants of Oravisalo were introduced to revivalism. In Oravisalo, the revival for the most part fell into a certain social stratum and did not severely damage existing relationships within families or among acquaintances. The revivalists formed a new community within the village but the community was neither very tightly-knit nor was it closed. The revival was an individual phenomenon affected by general factors. First, there were factors that brought about a quest for an applicable system of meanings. These factors included at least three important issues: the Great Partition of land, the crisis of slash-and-burn cultivation, and a population growth that increased the proportion of the landless in the village. As a result, many of the revivalists had low status and poor expectations for the future. Second, there were factors that appealed to the people in the message and character of the preacher, Henrik Renqvist. Third, the proximity of the village to Liperi, where the revival got its start, was crucial to revivalism s spread to Oravisalo. Culturally, the revival meant a change in the system of symbols or meanings, so it was not solely a matter of intensified religious fervour. For instance, Communion, prayer, reading, and perhaps baptism symbolised different things to the revivalists than to other villagers. However, the revivalists do not seem to have started any moral revolution in their village. The religious aspect defined the limits of the protest and the resistance towards authorities. The revivalists wanted only to have the right to follow their conscience. The freedom granted the female members was limited to the religious sphere. No social or economic claims were made. The revival altered the situation of its members only on a symbolic level, yet it also offered them status within their own group.

Melun sieto kaupunkielämän välttämättömyytenä : Melu ympäristöongelmana ja sen synnyttämien reaktioiden kulttuurinen käsittely Helsingissä

Tolerance of Noise as a Necessity of Urban Life. Noise pollution as an environmental problem and its cultural perceptions in the city of Helsinki This study looks at the noise pollution problem and the change in the urban soundscape in the city of Helsinki during the period from the 1950s to the present day. The study investigates the formation of noise problems, the politicization of the noise pollution problem, noise-related civic activism, the development of environmental policies on noise, and the expectations that urban dwellers have had concerning their everyday soundscape. Both so-called street noise and the noise caused by, e.g., neighbors are taken into account. The study investigates whether our society contains or has for some time contained cultural and other elements that place noise pollution as an essential or normal state of affairs as part of urban life. It is also discussed whether we are moving towards an artificial soundscape, meaning that the auditory reality, the soundscape, is more and more under human control. The concept of an artificial soundscape was used to crystallize the significance of human actions and the role of modern technology in shaping soundscapes and also to link the changes in the modern soundscape to the economic, political, and social changes connected to the modernization process. It was argued that the critical period defining noise pollution as an environmental problem were the years from the end of the 1960s to the early 1970s. It seems that the massive increase of noise pollution caused by road traffic and the introduction of the utopian traffic plans was the key point that launched the moral protest against the increase of noise pollution, and in general, against the basic structures and mindsets of society, including attitudes towards nature. The study argues that after noise pollution was politicized and institutionalized, the urban soundscape gradually became the target of systematic interventions. However, for various reasons, such as the inconsistency in decision making, our increased capacity to shape the soundscape has not resulted in a healthy or pleasant urban soundscape. In fact the number of people exposed to noise pollution is increasing. It is argued that our society contains cultural and other elements that urge us to see noise as a normal part of urban life. It is also argued that the possibility of experiencing natural, silent soundscapes seems to be the yardstick against which citizens of Helsinki have measured how successful we are in designing the (artificial) soundscape and if the actions of noise control have been effective. This work discusses whose interests it serves when we are asked to accept noise pollution as a normal state of affairs. It is also suggested that the quality of the artificial soundscape ought to be radically politicized, which might give all citizens a better and more equal chance to express their needs and wishes concerning the urban soudscape, and also to decide how it ought to be designed.

Matkalla suomalaiseksi ja hoiva-alan ammattilaiseksi? : Venäläis- ja virolaistaustaisten naisten ja suomalaisuuden kohtaamiset kuulumista rakentamassa

The research examines the process by which a sense of belonging to Finnish society is constructed among women of Russian and Estonian background who are multiply marginalised in Finnish society. It does so by analysing the encounters between their nationality and 'being Finnis'. Attention is focused on the question of what kind of "journey" they take after moving to Finland, how a sense of belonging is constructed especially along the paths followed in education and at work, and what kind of agency is available to them. The thesis is connected with post-colonial research and also draws from studies on citizenship and nationality as well as the social structures of interaction, when analysing careers. As the educational system forms the most central context of the research, the work is also focused on educational sociology. The research methodology includes life history and a narrative approach. The raw data is from thematic interviews concerning the life experiences of women of immigrant backgrounds. They were studying in Finland to be practical nurses or to complete Bachelor of Social Service degree. According to the study, the women had been encountered as alien, strange, and carrying a shade of "otherness". The experience of inclusion in Finnish communities and society turned out to be conditional, an inclusion based on the notion of a citizen worker, which is defined by national needs. The person from abroad is placed in the position of someone who fills gaps in the services of the welfare state. The choice of education in the care sector and the overall necessity of obtaining Finnish education turned out to be socially directed. Gendered structures of education and working life were found to act as a frame in which the decisions of the immigrant women were made. Although national education policy emphasis as an orientation to global labour markets, the immigrant student is placed above all in the position of an object to be made suitable for the Finnish labour market. Citizenship, a goal of education, requires consent to being "socialised" into Finnish society as well as learning to be Finnish. One s only option to negotiate appearing suitable as a member is to construct oneself into someone who adopts Finnish and Western cultural values, values which favour individuality. However, Finnish education is a resource to Finnishness. Finnish education enables a sense of being Finnish, and empowers the job applicant for example, and in addition to providing cultural, human and social capital strengthen inclusion as well. The study confirms the view that the encounter of an immigrant is still characterised by its colonial nature. It shows that encounters with Finns and Finnish society place the person of immigrant background, even one receiving a Finnish education, in the position of "the other". The journey as an immigrant continues. The immigrant has access only to certain predefined subject positions, which limits agency. When categorised as an immigrant, one becomes a per-son who is different and "other", while the sense of belonging as a member of Finnish society without conditions appears to be somewhat unreachable. Yet, new arrivals are capable of acting change. An immigrant woman can challenge the positions offered to her and present herself as strong. Her life story has often included struggle, and she has the fortitude strength to change her circumstances. Key words: life story, post-colonial encounter, nationality, citizenship, the career of immi-grant, position, agency

Written numeracy assessment in the early years: The challenges of pronouns and noun groups

We examine the challenges of pronouns and noun groups in the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority’s (ACARA) Year 3 National Assessment Program - Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) Numeracy Example Test (ACARA, 2015a). Framed by discourses of Literacy as a General Capability (ACARA, 2015b) in the Australian Curriculum: Mathematics (ACARA, 2015c), the pronouns and noun groups used in the Example Test are mapped onto the Australian Curriculum: English Content Descriptions (ACARA, 2015d). The findings are that some of the pronouns and noun groups used in the Example Test are more complex than what Year 3 children are expected to achieve in the Australian Curriculum: English. We thus stress the need for early years teachers of mathematics to account for the unique mathematical register of written mathematics problems so that young children are not only prepared for high-stakes written numeracy assessments, but are also enabled as a numerically literate citizen.

“We don’t tell people what to do”: Ethical practice and Indigenous health promotion

Health promotion aspires to work in empowering, participatory ways, with the goal of supporting people to increase control over their health. However, buried in this goal is an ethical tension: while increasing people’s autonomy, health promotion also imposes a particular, health promotion-sanctioned version of what is good. This tension positions practitioners precariously, where the ethos of empowerment risks increasing health promotion’s paternalistic control over people, rather than people’s control over their own health. Here in we argue that this ethical tension is amplified in Indigenous Australia, where colonial processes of control over Indigenous lands, lives and cultures are indistinguishable from contemporary health promotion ‘interventions’. Moreover, the potential stigmatisation produced in any paternalistic acts ‘done for their own good’ cannot be assumed to have evaporated within the self-proclaimed ‘empowering’ narratives of health promotion. This issue’s guest editor’s call for health promotion to engage ‘with politics and with philosophical ideas about the state and the citizen’ is particularly relevant in an Indigenous Australian context. Indigenous Australians continue to experience health promotion as a moral project of control through intervention, which contradicts health promotion’s central goal of empowerment. Therefore, Indigenous health promotion is an invaluable site for discussion and analysis of health promotion’s broader ethical tensions. Given the persistent and alarming Indigenous health inequalities, this paper calls for systematic ethical reflection in order to redress health promotion’s general failure to reduce health inequalities experienced by Indigenous Australians.

Discovering urban citizenship in the surveillance society

Cities and urban spaces around the world are changing rapidly from their origins in the industrialising world to a post-industrial, hard wired landscape. A further embellishment is the advent of mobile media technologies supported by both existing and new communications and computing technology which claim to put the urban dweller at the heart of a new, informed and ‘liberated’ seat of participatory urban governance. This networked, sensor enabled society permits flows of information in a multitude of directions ostensibly empowering the citizenry through ‘smart’ installations such as ‘talking bus stops’ detailing services, delays, transport interconnections and even weather conditions along desired routes. However, while there is considerable potential for creative and transformative kinds of citizen participation, there is also the momentum for ‘function-creep’, whereby vast amounts of data are garnered in a broad application of urban surveillance. This kind of monitoring and capacity for surveillance connects with attempts by civic authorities to regulate, restrict, rebrand and reframe urban public spaces into governable and predictable arenas of consumption. This article considers questions around the possibilities for retaining and revitalising forms of urban citizenship, set in the context of Marshall’s original premise of civil, social and political citizenship(s) in the middle of the last century, following World War Two and the coming of the modern welfare state.

Compulsory Voting, Encouraged Tweeting? Australian Elections and Social Media

This chapter examines patterns in social media activity around Australian elections, focusing primarily on the 2013 federal election and supplemented by extended research into social media and Australian politics between 2007 and 2015. The coverage of Australian elections on social media is analysed from three perspectives: the evolution of the use of online platforms during elections; politician and party social media strategies during the 2013 election, focusing on Twitter; and citizen engagement with elections as demonstrated through election day tweeting practices. The specific context of Australian politics, where voting is compulsory, and the popularity of social media platforms like Twitter makes this case notably different from other Western democracies. It also demonstrates the extended mediation of politics through social media, for politicians and citizens alike.