title: When salient science is not enough to advance climate change adaptation: Lessons from Brazil and Australia

authors: Serrao-Neumann, Silvia

subjects: Boundary organisation

abstract: Increased social and environmental vulnerability to extreme climatic events and inherent aggravation of environmental and social problems has placed climate change adaptation as an urgent challenge for decision-makers. Understanding and using climate change information to advance the implementation of climate-friendly policies further compounds this challenge. A rich scholarly literature focusing on climate change adaptation endorses that investing in mechanisms that narrow the gap between climate change information production and its use is crucial to increase adaptive capacity. Based on this assumption, this paper investigates the extent to which two collaborative projects that functioned as boundary organisations in Brazil (CiAdapta project) and Australia (Climate Change Adaptation for Natural Resource Management in East Coast Australia) increased access to information, and enabled the continual and continuous usefulness of produced knowledge for climate change adaptation. Considering the distinction between usable and useful information, we applied six criteria to guide the data analysis and extract key lessons from each project. Our findings confirm that face-to-face interactions are more likely to result in research having the societal impact that is being increasingly required by research and funding bodies. Our findings also indicate that two key systemic changes are critical for the long-term influence of boundary organisations for advancing climate change adaptation. These include changes to the science, knowledge production process; and shift in the political culture.

text: When salient science is not enough to advance climate change adaptation: Lessons from Brazil and Australia Increased social and environmental vulnerability to extreme climatic events and inherent aggravation of environmental and social problems has placed climate change adaptation as an urgent challenge for decision-makers. Understanding and using climate change information to advance the implementation of climate-friendly policies further compounds this challenge. A rich scholarly literature focusing on climate change adaptation endorses that investing in mechanisms that narrow the gap between climate change information production and its use is crucial to increase adaptive capacity. Based on this assumption, this paper investigates the extent to which two collaborative projects that functioned as boundary organisations in Brazil (CiAdapta project) and Australia (Climate Change Adaptation for Natural Resource Management in East Coast Australia) increased access to information, and enabled the continual and continuous usefulness of produced knowledge for climate change adaptation. Considering the distinction between usable and useful information, we applied six criteria to guide the data analysis and extract key lessons from each project. Our findings confirm that face-to-face interactions are more likely to result in research having the societal impact that is being increasingly required by research and funding bodies. Our findings also indicate that two key systemic changes are critical for the long-term influence of boundary organisations for advancing climate change adaptation. These include changes to the science, knowledge production process; and shift in the political culture.

year: 2020

title: Improving prospective memory in normally developing pre-school aged children.

authors: Hamling, Chelsea Sara Jean

subjects: prospective memory

abstract: Prospective Memory (PM) is a type of memory where an intention needs to be remembered in the future. As existing literature in the area of PM abilities generally, and improving PM through the delivery of reinforcements, specifically, has been both inconsistent and sparse, this study aims to help clarify and extend this knowledge using three separate PM tasks. In this study I aimed to investigate PM abilities in pre-school aged children and examine whether these abilities could be improved through the delivery of positive reinforcement. A computer-based Shopping trip simulation game was used where I used PowerPoint slides to show pictures of different local locations and children were asked to remember which shops needed to be stopped at. They then were required to state what items were needed in each location, using a Multiple baseline design with four children aged 2-5 years old. Two separate naturalistic PM tasks were also included in order to remove any bias that may have been found with the laboratory-type task. They included a simple recognition task embedded in the Shopping task and a second task where the children were asked to remind the experimenter to ask for stickers at the conclusion of the initial task. Results from the naturalistic tasks showed ceiling or near ceiling effects across all scores in all participants. The results of the ‘Shopping trip’ task found a positive effect of reinforcement on PM performance with two of the four participants with no to little effect shown with the remaining two children. Possible reasons for those individual differences occurred are discussed.

text: Improving prospective memory in normally developing pre-school aged children. Prospective Memory (PM) is a type of memory where an intention needs to be remembered in the future. As existing literature in the area of PM abilities generally, and improving PM through the delivery of reinforcements, specifically, has been both inconsistent and sparse, this study aims to help clarify and extend this knowledge using three separate PM tasks. In this study I aimed to investigate PM abilities in pre-school aged children and examine whether these abilities could be improved through the delivery of positive reinforcement. A computer-based Shopping trip simulation game was used where I used PowerPoint slides to show pictures of different local locations and children were asked to remember which shops needed to be stopped at. They then were required to state what items were needed in each location, using a Multiple baseline design with four children aged 2-5 years old. Two separate naturalistic PM tasks were also included in order to remove any bias that may have been found with the laboratory-type task. They included a simple recognition task embedded in the Shopping task and a second task where the children were asked to remind the experimenter to ask for stickers at the conclusion of the initial task. Results from the naturalistic tasks showed ceiling or near ceiling effects across all scores in all participants. The results of the ‘Shopping trip’ task found a positive effect of reinforcement on PM performance with two of the four participants with no to little effect shown with the remaining two children. Possible reasons for those individual differences occurred are discussed.

year: 2016

title: Te reo Maori, philosophy and colonialism: A conversation with Maori philosopher Carl Mika

authors: Peters, Michael A.

abstract: Kia ora Carl
Some advice if you have the time... I have been asked to give a paper at Uppsala on philosophy of language and autonomy. I want to focus on colonialism and use some examples from the colonial history concerning te reo Maori. I did a little research at the time of the Royal Commission in 1988 but have lost touch with the literature. Are there a couple of strategic texts you would recommend?
Nga Mihi

Kia ora Michael
You tend to get two types of writing about the language: its revitalisation; and its link to the natural or spiritual worlds – which is to do with philosophy in a particular sense, but in my view doesn’t have an eye towards the “autonomy” part you raise (i.e. isn’t cognisant enough of colonialism). The latter writing theorises around the traditional place of language, or describes it as a traditional phenomenon. I’ve been considering writing something for some time on it, but just haven’t gotten around to it.
You could discuss it in terms of how current uses of it in government policy etc. force the Maori language to become no more or no less than its English counterpart. So, for instance, language is an arbitrary (Saussure) thing that has very little in the way of “essence” in its own (autonomous) right. Terms like “whakapapa” equate precisely with “genealogy” but their interconnecting sense is lost in that translation. From a Maori belief, it could be argued that everything contains an essence, including words, and this essence precedes our interaction with language. In a way, language very much opens up a worldview, including the autonomy or essence of things in the world and their interconnectedness. pp. 101–110

text: Te reo Maori, philosophy and colonialism: A conversation with Maori philosopher Carl Mika Kia ora Carl
Some advice if you have the time... I have been asked to give a paper at Uppsala on philosophy of language and autonomy. I want to focus on colonialism and use some examples from the colonial history concerning te reo Maori. I did a little research at the time of the Royal Commission in 1988 but have lost touch with the literature. Are there a couple of strategic texts you would recommend?
Nga Mihi

Kia ora Michael
You tend to get two types of writing about the language: its revitalisation; and its link to the natural or spiritual worlds – which is to do with philosophy in a particular sense, but in my view doesn’t have an eye towards the “autonomy” part you raise (i.e. isn’t cognisant enough of colonialism). The latter writing theorises around the traditional place of language, or describes it as a traditional phenomenon. I’ve been considering writing something for some time on it, but just haven’t gotten around to it.
You could discuss it in terms of how current uses of it in government policy etc. force the Maori language to become no more or no less than its English counterpart. So, for instance, language is an arbitrary (Saussure) thing that has very little in the way of “essence” in its own (autonomous) right. Terms like “whakapapa” equate precisely with “genealogy” but their interconnecting sense is lost in that translation. From a Maori belief, it could be argued that everything contains an essence, including words, and this essence precedes our interaction with language. In a way, language very much opens up a worldview, including the autonomy or essence of things in the world and their interconnectedness. pp. 101–110

year: 2015