A missing peace? The role of religious actors in countering terrorism

Despite the surge of scholarly interest in terrorism and counter-terrorism in the post-9/11 world, surprisingly little attention has been paid to the role of religious actors (especially faith communities and faith leaders) in combating the threat of terrorism. However, the resurgence of religiosity in contemporary politics should not be viewed as an inherently dangerous force. As Appleby has argued, a new secular-religious model of inter and intra-state diplomacy looms as a development with significant potential to resolve conflict and deny terrorist groups access to communities of support. By drawing on an Australian example, we argue that in societies that have a strong multicultural and multifaith character secular-religious diplomacy pitched at the national and sub-national level can play an important role in the formation of a flexible long-term counterterrorism strategy.

Diversity and thermal comfort in outdoor places

Sustainable cities should be livable cities where people from different backgrounds and with different aspirations can meet and interact with each other. Public places being the urban stages where the social interactions happen are considered important parts of cities (Thompson, 2002; Varna, 2009). They can contribute to enhance the quality of life within cities, or contrarily increase isolation and social exclusion (Lo et al., 2003). As a consequence of globalization and the development of global cities, the level of international migration has been growing in the last decades creating a plurality of different cultures in global cities and inspiring in such cities a multicultural nature (O'Byrne, 1997; Short and Kim, 1999; Hawkins, 2006). This created new challenges in urban planning or the management of the coexistence of different people that are having different characteristics that shape their unique identity and needs in the shared spaces (Sandercock, 2004). Ideally, in order to invite a diversity of users, urban outdoor places should provide significant functional and physical qualities, and accessibility to them, which induce the fulfillment of physiological, psychological and social needs (Carr et al., 1992; Jacobs, 1993; Sandholz, 2007). Users’ state of comfort as stated by researchers gives a good indication for how successful is the public outdoor places (Rosheidat et al., 2008; Kwong et al., 2009; Aljawabra and Nikolopoulou, 2010). In order to create a successful open space usable by all members of a community, urban designers need to satisfy their comfort needs in its wider meaning according to a variety of different ages, genders and cultural backgrounds (Knez and Thorsson, 2006; Thorsson et al., 2007). The main aim of the research is to examine the influence of culture and environmental attitude on participants’ thermal requirements in outdoor public places. The paper explores the variables that constitute a successful multicultural design, issues of cultural complexity, and the measuring comfort in specific outdoor public place. Qualitative analysis of a case study provides the main research methodology of the research. The conclusion will provide a set of criteria that guide future design and development of a successful shared outdoor public places.

So much more than just the music : Australian pre-service music teacher education students’ attitudes to artists-in-schools

Contemporary Australia is a country of ongoing migration and increasing cultural diversity which is reflected in its arts practices. This article considers the views held by Australian pre-service music education student teachers and their tertiary music educators about their perceptions concerning artists-in-schools programs in school music. This discussion reports on data collected for a study undertaken in Melbourne, Victoria, Intercultural Understandings of Pre-Service Music Education Students (2005–2009). Fifty-three interviews were analyzed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. The findings provide insight into teachers’ recognition of the need for artists-in-schools programs. In particular the ways in which teachers can link theory to practice, fill in omissions in their own knowledge, skills and understandings, and heighten student understandings of multicultural musics. The promotion and provision of multicultural music education is essential at all levels of education. This can be achieved by the inclusion of diverse culture bearers, artists-in-schools, and community engagement to work with both teachers and their students.

Muslims in the West and the challenges of belonging

Offers not only rigourous accounts of current difficulties, but also new thinking and deeper understanding about race relations and intercultural engagement in multicultural societies.

Komunikasi budaya silang, kompetensi, pengajaran dan pembelajaran : satu analisis

This paper examines several issues related to intercultural communication competence and shared reality or inter-subjectivity when teaching in multicultural classrooms in Australia. Using the research method of personal narratives and autoethnography, it examines the challenges faced by lecturers and students in the classroom such as the use of different vocabulary, slang, idiom and keywords and the prior culture-specific knowledge required of both the lecturers and students. The paper also discusses how these challenges can be identified and addressed and how to prepare for future situations more effectively and in advance. It will be examined within the contexts of culturally responsive teaching, communicaiton competence, the hidden curriculum, instructional scaffolding, understanding and being open to other cultures and acknowledgement of the richness and relevance of multicultural students' varied experiences and social realities, from the point of view of the academic discipline of communication studies.

(Re)viewing the landscape inside and outside the box : providing effective support for early childhood student teachers

This paper presents key findings from a study that investigated how early childhood student teachers perceived the support, guidance and mentoring facilities that were available to them and aspects of their courses. The study was conducted by lecturers who were delivering the three year Bachelor of Teaching (ECE) degree to a multicultural student cohort in a New Zealand polytechnic. A multi-method approach was taken and involved practitioner action research, questionnaires and interviews with students. The findings showed that whilst first year students found large group guidance useful, second and third year students preferred small group and individual support. Being able to email lecturers, particularly during practicum placements, was important for students. During practicum placements Associate Teachers who were culturally competent communicators and fully informed about students’ coursework were important for student success. Practicums where students experienced open communication were included as part of the teaching team and felt well-informed about the philosophy and practices of the centre were found to increase their confidence and competence. However, students expressed concern that in some placements, they felt under informed or isolated. Hence, this paper argues that lecturers and Associate Teachers should be proactive about initiating communication with students and optimize opportunities for individual mentoring through questions and guided reflection.

Effect of personal and cultural diversity on outdoor thermal comfort perception

The urban squares are the gathering places where people interact with each other. Therefore, they are seen as important places contributing in the integration and social cohesion within societies. To ensure equality in urban places, designers are to take into considerations the need of the diverse nature of different users. This task is hard especially in global cities where populations are characterized by their cultural plurality. To ensure the creation of successful urban places, the designer is to take the comfort of users into consideration. However, the outdoor thermal comfort is not easily assessed as it examines the climatic and personal variables for users. This paper aims to contribute in assessing the thermal comfort for users of different personal and cultural background in Melbourne city, Australia as one of the global cities characterized by the diversity and plurality of its population due to migration. A case study approach is adopted to examine the users’ thermal comfort within the contextual variables of Federation Square. Multiple sources of evidence such as climate measurements, observations and questionnaires will be used to ensure the validity of results. The findings are to contribute in the quality and equality of design for outdoor urban places in multicultural cities.

Effect of thermal adaptation on outdoor comfort perception

Thermal comfort in outdoor places has proven to have a strong relationship with their users’ attendance and behaviour [1]. Creating comfortable places is therefore to be considered a crucial part of the design process, as taking it into consideration help increasing the social integration between people and therefore fosters sustainability within cities [2]. With the increasing number of migrants within global cities, a new challenge has been facing thermal comfort studies. This challenge is related to the different cultural and climatic origins of those migrants and how they can adapt to the new climatic conditions they are to move in. This paper aims to explore the impact of thermal comfort adaptation on users’ thermal perception in multicultural cities. Consequently, a quantitative field study is applied in Melbourne city, Australia in order to investigate peoples’ outdoor thermal comfort. The analyses were based upon the measurement of climatic parameters that were monitored simultaneously with a questionnaire to determine users’ thermal comfort perception in relation to their time spent in the city. The findings of thermal comfort investigations could be applied into improving the quality of urban areas within global cities and therefore promote the integration within individuals in those societies.

Interethnic understanding and belonging in suburban Melbourne

Modelling and mapping ethnicity is a methodological approach used to understand the changing socio-spatial structure of the city. Such an approach uses a range of indicators to identify ethnic groups, map them in urban space and explain the changing nature of ethnic concentrations. The unintended consequences, however, are the labelling, marginalisation and exclusion of ethnic minorities. Critical approaches, in contrast, focus on making visible the politics of representation that mark and stereotype ethnic minorities and ethnic concentrations. Within contemporary research on ethnicity such work has drawn attention to the exercise of power in the constitution of ethnic identities, the invisibility of whiteness and the inherent tensions that are likely to arise in negotiating ethnic cultural differences in local places. Although this article draws attention to such tensions in a particular place, Dandenong, it engages in this discussion to argue that the everyday negotiation of cultural difference also provides the potential to blur fixed ethnic boundaries and contribute to interethnic understanding and a sense of belonging. Drawing on in-depth interviews with people who live and/or work in Dandenong, suburban Melbourne, this article underlines that such positive insights from everyday multiculturalism have the potential to inform and broaden policy debates on diversity and social inclusion in the multicultural city.

Can social dancing prevent falls in older adults? a protocol of the Dance, Aging, Cognition,Economics (DAnCE) fall prevention randomised controlled trial

Background:  Falls are one of the most common health problems among older people and pose a major economic burden on health care systems. Exercise is an accepted stand-alone fall prevention strategy particularly if it is balance training or regular participation in Tai chi. Dance shares the ‘holistic’ approach of practices such as Tai chi. It is a complex sensorimotor rhythmic activity integrating multiple physical, cognitive and social elements. Small-scale randomised controlled trials have indicated that diverse dance styles can improve measures of balance and mobility in older people, but none of these studies has examined the effect of dance on falls or cognition. This study aims to determine whether participation in social dancing: i) reduces the number of falls; and ii) improves cognitive functions associated with fall risk in older people.

Methods/design: A single-blind, cluster randomised controlled trial of 12 months duration will be conducted. Approximately 450 participants will be recruited from 24 self-care retirement villages that house at least 60 residents each in Sydney, Australia. Village residents without cognitive impairment and obtain medical clearance will be eligible. After comprehensive baseline measurements including physiological and cognitive tests and self-completed questionnaires, villages will be randomised to intervention sites (ballroom or folk dance) or to a wait-listed control using a computer randomisation method that minimises imbalances between villages based on two baseline fall risk measures. Main outcome measures are falls, prospectively measured, and the Trail Making cognitive function test. Cost-effectiveness and cost-utility analyses will be performed.

Discussion: This study offers a novel approach to balance training for older people. As a community-based approach to fall prevention, dance offers older people an opportunity for greater social engagement, thereby making a major contribution to healthy ageing. Providing diversity in exercise programs targeting seniors recognises the heterogeneity of multicultural populations and may further increase the number of taking part in exercise.

Type 2 diabetes prevalence varies by socio-economic status within and between migrant groups: analysis and implications for Australia

Background:
Ethnic diversity is increasing through migration in many developed countries. Evidence indicates that type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) prevalence varies by ethnicity and socio- economic status (SES), and that in many settings, migrants experience a disproportionate burden of disease compared with locally-born groups. Given Australia’s multicultural demography, we sought to identify groups at high risk of T2DM in Victoria, Australia.

Diabetes care provision: barriers, enablers and service needs of young adults with Type 1 diabetes from a region of social disadvantage

AIMS:
To determine the barriers to and enablers of engaging with specialist diabetes care and the service requirements of young adults with Type 1 diabetes mellitus from a low socio-economic, multicultural region.

METHODS:
A cross-sectional survey targeted 357 young adults with Type 1 diabetes, aged 18-30 years. Participants completed questions about barriers/enablers to accessing diabetes care and service preferences, self-reported HbA(1c), plus measures of diabetes-related distress (Problem Areas in Diabetes), depression/anxiety (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale), and illness perceptions (Brief Illness Perceptions Questionnaire).

RESULTS:
Eighty-six (24%) responses were received [55 (64%) female; mean ± sd age 24 ± 4 years; diabetes duration 12 ± 7 years; HbA(1c) 68 ± 16 mmol/mol (8.4 ± 1.5%)]. Logistical barriers to attending diabetes care were reported; for example, time constraints (30%), transportation (26%) and cost (21%). However, 'a previous unsatisfactory diabetes health experience' was cited as a barrier by 27%. Enablers were largely matched to overcoming these barriers. Over 90% preferred a multidisciplinary team environment, close to home, with after-hours appointment times. Forty per cent reported severe diabetes-related distress, 19% reported moderate-to-severe depressive symptoms and 50% reported moderate-to-severe anxiety.

CONCLUSIONS:
Among these young adults with Type 1 diabetes, glycaemic control was suboptimal and emotional distress common. They had identifiable logistical barriers to accessing and maintaining contact with diabetes care services, which can be addressed with flexible service provision. A substantial minority were discouraged by previous unsatisfactory experiences, suggesting health providers need to improve their interactions with young adults. This research will inform the design of life-stage-appropriate diabetes services targeting optimal engagement, access, attendance and ultimately improved healthcare outcomes in this vulnerable population.

White tribe: echoes of the Anzac myth in Cronulla

Since the publication of Fiske, Hodge and Turner’s Myths of Oz: Reading Australian Popular Culture (1987), Australian Cultural Studies has turned to the beach as a primary site for examining national identity and the myths of Australian culture. In the text the beach is read as a liminal site between ‘culture’ and ‘nature’, represented respectively by lifesaver and surfer. The meanings of anti-authoritarianism attached to the surfer are significant to the reading. And yet Fiske, Hodge and Turner also locate a heritage of authoritarianism, discipline and civic duty in the figure of the lifesaver: 

'Lifesavers have drills, march-pasts and patrol squads, while exercising a conservative pastoral interest in their members’ moral health. They are agents of social control. Further, they see themselves as servants of the community, sacrificing their weekends for others—a tradition of sacrifice dear to a nation which twice voted no to conscription in the Great War.' (Fiske et al. 1987, 64–65) 

Alterations

Alterations
A project conceived by Paul Carter, Professor of Design / Urbanism, Architecture & Design, that explores the theme of 'Alterations' in clothes, identities and spaces. The project is inspired by Dandenong's rapidly mutating public and commercial spaces and the multicultural communities that animate them. The project features a multi-monitor video work Loops, textile-based installation, documentary photography, and poster manifestos. Artists featured include Dirk de Bruyn, Ed Carter, Paul Carter and Soo Yeun You.