COMMUNICATION AND GREEK ENVIRONMENTAL ORGANISATIONS: MEANS OF COMMUNICATION AND INFLUENCING FACTORS

A basic operational objective of any environmental organisation is to raise awareness among the public on issues of environmental protection, through the dissemination of knowledge and experience to local communities, so that the conservation and ecologically sound management of natural resources can acquire a local dimension. This can be achieved either through interventions directed at the State, mainly in relation to its legislative function, or by encouraging citizens to change or improve their attitude regarding environmental matters. In order to ensure a successful outcome and the efficient functioning of any organisation, a feeling of mutual trust and understanding should exist between the latter and its various audiences, i.e. the State and society. A basic ingredient of this balance between the organisation, the broader public and the State is effective communication and activity planning. As a way of contributing to the exploration of this process, this paper describes the means of communication used by Greek environmental organisations, and presents, through a non-linear model, the differentiation amongst them, in conjunction with aspects of the profile of those running each organisation and other indicators, such as the years in operation and the membership figures in each sampled organisation. The paper concludes by arguing that the diversification of communication means is related to the head person's years as a member of the organisation and the extent of its total membership. Another important finding is that the more the involvement in activities within the organisation, the less differentiation we observe amongst the employed means of communication.

The Role of Subjectivity and Knowledge Power Struggles in the Formation of Public Policy

There is a growing incentive for sociologists to demonstrate the use value of their research. Research ‘impact’ is a driver of research funding and a measure of academic standing. Academic debate on this issue has intensified since Burawoy’s (2004) call for a ‘public’ sociology. However the academy is no longer the sole or primary producer of knowledge and empirical sociologists need to contend with the ‘huge swathes’ of social data that now exist (Savage and Burrows, 2007). This article furthers these debates by considering power struggles between competing forms of knowledge. Using a case study, it specifically considers the power struggle between normative and empirical knowledge, and how providers of knowledge assert legitimacy for their truth claims. The article concludes that the idea of ‘impact’ and ‘use-value’ are extremely complex and depends in the policy context on knowledge power struggles, and on how policy makers want to view the world. © The Author(s) 2012

Trends in skin cancer knowledge, sun protection practices and behaviours in the Northern Ireland population

Background: Sun exposure increases risk of skin cancer, especially melanoma, incidence of which continues to rise. Reported skin cancer knowledge and trends in sun care behaviours are documented in a UK region where there has been 20 years of sun-related health promotion campaigns. Methods: In 2000, 2004 and 2008, a 'care in the sun' module was included in the Northern Ireland (NI) Omnibus survey. Randomly selected subjects were asked to complete a sun-related questionnaire and proportions of respondents analysed by demographic and socio-economic factors, with differences tested using z-tests and the chi-squared test. Results: Around 3623 persons responded. Skin cancer knowledge was high (97). Sun avoidance decreased with time and was lowest among younger age groups and males. Sunscreen use was high (70), unchanged over 8 years, and more likely among younger age groups, females, those in paid employment, and those with tertiary level education. Use of sunscreen with minimum Sun Protection Factor (SPF) 15 (a campaign message) increased from 45 to 70 (P

Expertly validated models and phylogenetically-controlled analysis suggests responses to climate change are related to species traits in the Order Lagomorpha

Climate change during the last five decades has impacted significantly on natural ecosystems and the rate of current climate change is of great concern among conservation biologists. Species Distribution Models (SDMs) have been used widely to project changes in species’ bioclimatic envelopes under future climate scenarios. Here, we aimed to advance this technique by assessing future changes in the bioclimatic envelopes of an entire mammalian order, the Lagomorpha, using a novel framework for model validation based jointly on subjective expert evaluation and objective model evaluation statistics. SDMs were built using climatic, topographical and habitat variables for all 87 lagomorph species under past and current climate scenarios. Expert evaluation and Kappa values were used to validate past and current models and only those deemed ‘modellable’ within our framework were projected under future climate scenarios (58 species). Phylogenetically-controlled regressions were used to test whether species traits correlated with predicted responses to climate change. Climate change is likely to impact more than two-thirds of lagomorph species, with leporids (rabbits, hares and jackrabbits) likely to undertake poleward shifts with little overall change in range extent, whilst pikas are likely to show extreme shifts to higher altitudes associated with marked range declines, including the likely extinction of Kozlov’s Pika (Ochotona koslowi). Smaller-bodied species were more likely to exhibit range contractions and elevational increases, but showing little poleward movement, and fecund species were more likely to shift latitudinally and elevationally. Our results suggest that species traits may be important indicators of future climate change and we believe multi-species approaches, as demonstrated here, are likely to lead to more effective mitigation measures and conservation management. We strongly advocate studies minimising data gaps in our knowledge of the Order, specifically collecting more specimens for biodiversity archives and targeting data deficient geographic regions.

What counts and what is being counted – The social organization of knowledge on the front lines of emergency medical services.

Paramedics are trained to use specialized medical knowledge and a variety of medical procedures and pharmaceutical interventions to “save patients and prevent further damage” in emergency situations, both as members of “health-care teams” in hospital emergency departments (Swanson, 2005: 96) and on the streets – unstandardized contexts “rife with chaotic, dangerous, and often uncontrollable elements” (Campeau, 2008: 3). The paramedic’s unique skill-set and ability to function in diverse situations have resulted in the occupation becoming ever more important to health care systems (Alberta Health and Wellness, 2008: 12).
Today, prehospital emergency services, while varying, exist in every major city and many rural areas throughout North America (Paramedics Association of Canada, 2008) and other countries around the world (Roudsari et al., 2007). Services in North America, for instance, treat and/or transport 2 million Canadians (over 250,000 in Alberta alone ) and between 25 and 30 million Americans annually (Emergency Medical Services Chiefs of Canada, 2006; National EMS Research Agenda, 2001). In Canada, paramedics make up one of the largest groups of health care professionals, with numbers exceeding 20,000 (Pike and Gibbons, 2008; Paramedics Association of Canada, 2008). However, there is little known about the work practices of paramedics, especially in light of recent changes to how their work is organized, making the profession “rich with unexplored opportunities for research on the full range of paramedic work” (Campeau, 2008: 2).

This presentation reports on findings from an institutional ethnography that explored the work of paramedics and different technologies of knowledge and governance that intersect with and organize their work practices. More specifically, my tentative focus of this presentation is on discussing some of the ruling discourses central to many of the technologies used on the front lines of EMS in Alberta and the consequences of such governance practices for both the front line workers and their patients. In doing so, I will demonstrate how IE can be used to answer Rankin and Campbell’s (2006) call for additional research into “the social organization of information in health care and attention to the (often unintended) ways ‘such textual products may accomplish…ruling purposes but otherwise fail people and, moreover, obscure that failure’ (p. 182)” (cited in McCoy, 2008: 709).

Assessing elements of a family approach to reduce adolescent drinking frequency: parent-adolescent relationship, knowledge management, and keeping secrets

AIMS: To estimate 1) the associations between parent-adolescent relationship, parental knowledge and subsequent adolescent drinking frequency and 2) the influence of alcohol use on parental knowledge.

DESIGN: Path analysis of school based cohort study with annual surveys SETTING: Post primary schools from urban and intermediate/rural areas in Northern Ireland PARTICIPANTS: 4,937 post primary school students aged around 11 years in 2000 followed until around age 16 in 2005.

MEASUREMENTS: Pupil reported measures of: frequency of alcohol use; parental-child relationship quality; sub-dimensions of parental monitoring: parental control, parental solicitation, child disclosure and child secrecy.

FINDINGS: Higher levels of parental control (Ordinal logistic OR 0.86 95% CI 0.78, 0.95) and lower levels of child secrecy (OR 0.83 95% CI 0.75 0.92) were associated with less frequent alcohol use subsequently. Parental solicitation and parent-child relationship quality were not associated with drinking frequency. Weekly alcohol drinking was associated with higher subsequent secrecy (Beta -0.42 95% CI -0.53, -0.32) and lower parental control (Beta -0.15 95% CI -0.26, -0.04). Secrecy was more strongly predictive of alcohol use at younger compared with older ages (P=0.02), and alcohol use was less strongly associated with parental control among families with poorer relationships (P=0.04).

CONCLUSIONS: Adolescent alcohol use appears to increase as parental control decreases and child secrecy increases. Greater parental control is associated with less frequent adolescent drinking subsequently, while parent-child attachment and parental solicitation have little influence on alcohol use. 

Interactions of cetaceans with Spanish and Portuguese fisheries in Atlantic waters : costs, benefits and implications for management

With the aim to provide new insights into operational cetacean-fishery interactions in Atlantic waters, this thesis assesses interactions of cetaceans with Spanish and Portuguese fishing vessels operating in Iberian and South West Atlantic waters. Different opportunistic research methodologies were applied, including an interview survey with fishers (mainly skippers) and onboard observations by fisheries observers and skippers, to describe different types of interactions and to identify potential hotspots for cetacean-fishery interactions and the cetacean species most involved, and to quantify the extent and the consequences of these interactions in terms of benefits and costs for cetaceans and fisheries. In addition, the suitability of different mitigation strategies was evaluated and discussed. The results of this work indicate that cetaceans interact frequently with Spanish and Portuguese fishing vessels, sometimes in a beneficial way (e.g. cetaceans indicate fish schools in purse seine fisheries), but mostly with negative consequences (depredation on catch, gear damage and cetacean bycatch). Significant economic loss and high bycatch rates are, however, only reported for certain fisheries and associated with particular cetacean species. In Galician fisheries, substantial economic loss was reported as a result of bottlenose dolphins damaging artisanal coastal gillnets, while high catch loss may arise from common dolphins scattering fish in purse seine fisheries. High cetacean bycatch mortality arises in trawl fisheries, mainly of common dolphin and particularly during trawling in water depths below 350 m, and in coastal set gillnet fisheries (mainly common and bottlenose dolphins). In large-scale bottom-set longline fisheries in South West Atlantic waters, sperm whales may significantly reduce catch rates through depredation on catch. The high diversity of cetacean-fishery interactions observed in the study area indicates that case-specific management strategies are needed to reduce negative impacts on fisheries and cetaceans. Acoustic deterrent devices (pingers) may be used to prevent small cetaceans from approaching and getting entangled in purse seines and set gillnets, although possible problems include cetacean habituation to the pinger sounds, as well as negative side effects on non-target cetaceans (habitat exclusion) and fisheries target species (reduced catch rates). For sardine and horse mackerel, target species of Iberian Atlantic fisheries, no aversive reaction to pinger sounds was detected during tank experiments conducted in the scope of this thesis. Bycatch in trawls may be reduced by the implementation of time/area restrictions of fishing activity. In addition, the avoidance of fishing areas with high cetacean abundance combined with the minimization of fishery-specific sound cues that possibly attract cetaceans, may also help to decrease interactions. In large-scale bottom-set longline fisheries, cetacean depredation on catch may be reduced by covering hooked fish with net sleeves ("umbrellas") provided that catch rates are not negatively affected by this gear modification. Trap fishing, as an alternative fishing method to bottom-set gillnetting and longlining, also has the potential to reduce cetacean bycatch and depredation, given that fish catch rates are similar to the rates obtained by bottom-set gillnets and longlines, whereas cetacean by-catch is unlikely. Economic incentives, such as the eco-certification of dolphin-safe fishing methods, should be promoted in order to create an additional source of income for fishers negatively affected by interactions with cetaceans, which, in turn, may also increase fishers’ willingness to accept and adopt mitigation measures. Although the opportunistic sampling methods applied in this work have certain restrictions concerning their reliability and precision, the results are consistent with previous studies in the same area. Moreover, they allow for the active participation of fishers that can provide important complementary ecological and technical knowledge required for cetacean management and conservation.

Patient´s knowledge about radiation and radiological protection

Purpose: To obtain and analyse patient´s knowledge and perceptions regarding radiation exposure, from both natural and man-made radiation of medical procedures and interventions. Verify if patients worry about their exposure when undergoing medical exams, are aware of associated risks and means of radiological protection and if their knowledge on medical radiation exposure affects their own decisions. Methods and Materials: On a medical environment a self-applied questionnaire was used as instrument and assigned to patients who would undergo medical imaging exams involving ionising radiation. A total of 300 valid questionnaires were interpreted and statistically analysed through descriptive statistics and Phi & Cramer´s V correlation tests. Results: 44.3% of patients believe most of their exposure derives from electronic appliances and 25% from medical imaging exams, while patient´s with higher education levels tend to consider is comes from the environment. The great majority of patients (95%) consider that only certified personnel should operate medical imaging equipment, but 74% never ask for their qualifications. 66.3% of patients claim that Technologists have more education on radiological protection and about 60% of patients rarely or never worry about radiation exposure when undergoing medical imaging exams. Conclusion: Patients overestimate the risks of industrial radiation exposure while they underestimate the associated risks of medical radiation exposure and the Technologist´s ability to reduce the inherent radiation exposure of medical imaging exams. Patient´s knowledge on radiation and radiological protection is based more on perceptions and beliefs, rather than factual knowledge.

Bycatch and discards of commercial trawl fisheries in the south coast of Portugal

Bycatch and discards are a cause of great concern in commercial world fisheries, with important ecological, economic and conservation implications. With the recent inclusion of a discards ban (‘landing obligation’), in the reform of the EU CFP, these issues have gained a tremendous attention from the economic, scientific, political and social point of view. Demersal trawl fisheries off the southern coast of Portugal capture an extraordinary diversity of species and generate considerable amounts of bycatch and discards. Bycatch includes commercially valuable target-species and bycatch species with low or no commercial value, but the great majority consists of unmarketable species, that are discarded. Bony fishes are dominant in bycatch and discards and the most discarded are of low or no commercial value. The reasons for discarding are fundamentally economic in nature (lack of commercial value) for bycatch species, and legal and administrative (legal minimum landing size) for commercially important species. The study of the reproductive biology of Galeus melastomus, discarded by crustacean trawls, suggests that a minimum landing size should be established for this species, and explains the importance of such a study in the assessment and management of fisheries. The discovery of a new species of the ray Neoraja iberica n. sp. contributes to the knowledge of the local marine biodiversity in Portuguese waters and of the global marine biodiversity. The three cases of abnormal hermaphroditism recorded in Etmopterus spinax, are the first cases known to date of hermaphroditism in this species. There is a need to find solutions to the problem of bycatch and discards of trawl fisheries in the Algarve coast. A combination of technical, regulatory and economic measures to minimize bycatch and reduce discards, before implementing a ‘landing obligation’, is thought to be the best approach to apply in the southern Portuguese multispecies trawl fisheries.

Recreational shore fishing in southern Portugal: biological and socio-economic aspects and perspectives for management

Although overfishing is a concern for many fish stocks, it was for a long time only associated with commercial fishing exploitation, with less or no attention being given to the recreational fisheries. Recent research has shown however that the impact of recreational fishing on particular species can be considerable, and that the recreational harvest needs to be taken into account if fisheries are to be accurately assessed and effectively managed. In Portugal, the first recreational fishing regulations were only recently implemented. However, mirroring other European countries, regulations lacked scientific support, and specific knowledge of the activity was limited to a few studies with limited coverage. This thesis aimed to characterize the biological and socioeconomic aspects of the recreational shore angling activity in southern Portugal, to investigate whether the regulations in place were adequate and effective, and to provide recommendations for improved management and conservation of the inshore fisheries resources. A combined aerial-roving survey was conducted to gather data on fishing effort, catch, fishing trips and socioeconomic aspects (including anglers’ perceptions of regulations) of the recreational angling activity. The analysis of anglers’ catches suggested that compliance with daily bag limits was high, with less than 0.5% of creels exceeding the 10 kg angler-1 day-1 bag limit. Overall, 11.5% of the retained fishes were undersized, but non-compliance with minimum size limits was found to be high for some species (e.g. seabass, 73% undersized). In terms of the impact of recreational shore angling, the total estimated catches corresponded to less than 1% of the commercial landings for the same period (shared species). However, shore angling catches for white sea bream (Diplodus sargus) were found to be considerable, corresponding to 65% of the commercial landings (39.4% of total catch). In terms of anglers’ perceptions about the recreational fishing regulations in Portugal, the present study has shown that the majority of anglers accepted the existence of some kind of SRF regulations, but in general there was a partial or total disagreement with the recreational fishing restrictions recently put in place. Most anglers perceived themselves as not being involved in the decision-making process and claimed that some restrictions lacked a meaningful rationale (e.g. prohibition of fishing from piers/jetties). Fishers’ awareness with regard to specific aspects of the restrictions (such as the rationale for minimum size limits) was found to be very limited. During the same period, catches from sport fishing competitions were examined to test for differences with the recreational activity in terms of catches, and evaluate long term trends in catch and mean size of fish. Catches of the sport fishing competitions were found to be different from those observed for recreational fishing, being dominated by different species (e.g. garfish, mullets), and suggesting different fishing strategies of the the two types of anglers. High percentages of undersized fish were observed to be captured (and retained) during the competitions (in particular seabass, with 100% undersized), probably as a result of a single allowable minimum size (AMS) of 15 cm for all species in use in competitions. Lastly, catch and release fishing experiments were carried out to assess post-release mortality of three recreationally important species: two banded sea bream Diplodus vulgaris; black sea bream Spondyliosoma cantharus; and gilthead sea bream Sparus aurata. Post-release mortalities were found to be low (0-12%). The main predictor of mortality for Sparus aurata was anatomical hooking location, with 63% of the fishes that died being deeply hooked. The results support the release of fish, either from mandatory (e.g. minimum landing sizes) or voluntary practices. In summary, this thesis has demonstrated that the impact of recreational fishing for particular species is significant and needs to be taken into account for more effective management and stock assessment purposes. It has also highlighted several management issues that should be addressed in order to promote more adequate regulations in the future and prevent noncompliance issues. A periodic monitoring of the recreational fishing activity including all fishing modes (i.e. spear fishing, boat, and shore angling) would also be beneficial to ensure a timely knowledge on the global recreational fishing activity and support future management actions.

Biology and ecology of the white prawn Palaemon longirostris H. Milne Edwards, 1837 (Crustacea, Decapoda, Palaemonidae) in the Mira River, Portugal

Tese de doutoramento, Biologia (Ecografia), Universidade de Lisboa, Faculdade de Ciências, 2014

The Professionalisation of Non-Denominational Religious Education in England: Politics, Organisation and Knowledge

In response to contemporary concerns, and using neglected primary sources, this article explores the professionalisation of teachers of Religious Education (RI/RE) in non-denominational, state-maintained schools in England. It does so from the launch of Religion in Education (1934) and the Institute for Christian Education at Home and Abroad (1935) to the founding of the Religious Education Council of England and Wales (1973) and the British Journal of Religious Education (1978). Professionalisation is defined as a collective historical process in terms of three inter-related concepts: (1) professional self-organisation and professional politics, (2) professional knowledge, and (3) initial and continuing professional development. The article sketches the history of non-denominational religious education prior to the focus period, to contextualise the emergence of the professionalising processes under scrutiny. Professional self-organisation and professional politics are explored by reconstructing the origins and history of the Institute of Christian Education at Home and Abroad, which became the principal body offering professional development provision for RI/RE teachers for some fifty years. Professional knowledge is discussed in relation to the content of Religion in Education which was oriented around Christian Idealism and interdenominational networking. Changes in journal name in the 1960s and 1970s reflected uncertainties about the orientation of the subject and shifts in understanding over the nature and character of professional knowledge. The article also explores a particular case of resistance, in the late 1960s, to the prevailing consensus surrounding the nature and purpose of RI/RE, and the representativeness and authority of the pre-eminent professional body of the time. In conclusion, the article examines some implications which may be drawn from this history for the prospects and problems of the professionalisation of RE today.